#I found it amusing but mostly interesting and fascinating since it manages again to explain my functioning well without stretching anything

[tangleweave]

War and Peace

There was a brief thought of how odd it was (less so since she’d begun her adventures in Spaces but still rare enough) for her to have to look up to meet someone’s eyes. At 5'10", and with her confidence often seeming to add three inches, War was tall for a woman. Her embarrassing stumble only inspired that one thought since she couldn’t really find it in her to be irritated by his amusement. She only managed to softly scowl. Knowing if their positions had been reversed, War probably would find such stubbornness combined with wobbly legs amusing too.

War huffed silently and relented a little, letting his hand on her waist help balance her. Swallowing pride would always suck. He was surprisingly light with his touch and she did have to appreciate that.

“Skuttle-who?” The ginger muttered, mostly to herself, as Bill called out his order. His talking to seemingly no one gave her an idea of what exactly Skuttlebutt was. The disembodied response confirmed her suspicion. He’d likely be able to feel the way she tensed slightly when the ship spoke. AI’s like that, ones that seemed to lurk while seeing and hearing all, would never fully cease making War uncomfortable. But, she thought as the food was presented and her neck muscles unwound. At least this one calls me by my name.

Bill was hardly finished with his apology for the lack of flavor before War had taken two of the bars, one in each hand, and devoured half of the not-actually-chocolate in her right grip. She’d taken the same, ‘What would be the point in poisoning me now?’ Approach to the food that that she had with the water. Also as she’d done with the water, War was swift with her consumption. The way she ate was truly rapid, though not messy or obscene, and could really only be described as efficient. She was refueling. Nothing more. Nothing less.

“Food is food. Taste never matters.” War shrugged and slowed down a little on the second ration. Playing as though she was slightly less desperate for food after the first (she wasn’t), but actually taking the moment to give Bill another once over. His analysis of why she’d crashed was sharp.

Given the sheer enormity of the galaxy, it was unlikely Bill would even have heard of who, of what, War was truly fleeing from. However, War had no intention of risking it. She generally found the idea of covering with a lie to be tedious though. Lies often had to be covered with more lies and then there were all the details to remember. It was something War could do, but usually she preferred straight up avoiding lies if possible.

So she decided her response would be a light curving up of her lips joined by an easy half truth. Only going back as far as the reason she’d been on that particular ship. “I like to think of it less as fleeing and more making something not my business.” War did a stunning job of acting like the fact he’d fed her had edged off some of her suspicions.

She continued to lean tentatively into the hand on her waist, but as he guided her the calories from the rations gradually kicked her healing back into gear. The bruises that covered her turned green at the edges and shrank like a retreating tide while she explained. “I paid for a ride with a merchant who apparently drew the attention of some Ravagers.” War shrugged again. “It wasn’t really a squabble I was interested in getting stuck in the middle of. Though clearly my flying of spaceships needs some work.”

Her consumption of the ration bars was a thing of fascination to Bill; himself a product of engineering that prized efficiency, he found kinship in her attitude towards the flavorless supply and even in the way she ate the bars, not shoveling them with desperation but simply finishing them off as quickly as she could, like her mouth had more important things to do than eat.

He took note of how she seemed to ease a little more now that she had something in her stomach. Perhaps it meant that she might find reason to summon trust and a calmer demeanor. Even so, it was clear she wouldn't be satisfied until she'd found whatever she was seeking aboard her vessel, so he continued to guide her to the hangar bay at the fore of the warship.

"Ravagers." Now that was a term he had reason to know. Though he had a healthy respect for some who had found shelter and kinship with that notorious band of brigands -- Quill, Gamora, Groot among them -- he was not a proponent of their organization on the whole. He found thievery detestable, armed robbery and assault no less so. There was a reason the Nova Corps arrested on-sight those carrying the Ravager brand upon their clothing.

"I am glad you were able to escape, then. Did you leave behind any valuables with this merchant, or were you able to secure your possessions aboard the ship?" Then he glanced down at her, suddenly catching on to a piece of the tale she'd not explicitly shared. "For that matter... do you know what became of the merchant and their home vessel?"

The line of inquiry was barely out of his mouth before they were approaching an enormous airlock door. Proximity sensors bade the thick door to yawn open, leading to the massive bay, at the far end of which hung the backdrop of open space -- but less than fifty paces away from the entrance was docked the husk of the vessel she'd crashed.

[azenta]

I've always thought your answers and explanation to be very tert Ti...If you don't mind, could you explain what led you to retyping?

Ah yes finally... The question i was waiting for.

The main and simplest reason is because I switched of paradigm, for the one named CT: Cognitive Type. This approach has a visual typing method called Vultology, and from the videos I sent in the server the result was revealing most likely FiSe ("ISFP") with conscious Ni, thus the little l-l- thingy in my bio which stands for function consciousness.

Of course, simple visual analysis didnt convince me on its own at first, but when I read the theoretical part, it convinced me really fast. They basically articulated everything I conceived about Cognitive functions and got an objective methodology to assess them, which is the lacking aspect and biggest flaw of the jungian mbti (j-mbti) system mostly used on tumblr.

Anyway, when I read about "Ji lead", I had to constate two things:

1. It did still fit with my way of processing quite well, and which you, anon, and many others, have been also reporting about me.

2. It was overlapping a lot with the Ni-Ji descriptions made in J-mbti, especially the Ni-Ti one.

When I got into Fi descriptions, I got a bit flabbergasted. Within one single function, they explained everything I tried to convey within four ; Ni-Fe-Ti-Se. But when i read the Ti one, it was the most unrelatable shit i have ever read of my life. Ni was still relatable as well, but the only reason why i didnt retype to NiTe instead, else than because my vultology doesnt match NiTe one, is because of their theory on cognitive development and consciousness level.

As i mentioned, i have Ni "conscious", and within this theory, conscious functions share equally the energy used for cognitive processing with the leading function. So, it means Fi and Ni are used in equal measure, like a symbiotic whole. It's like if both were dominant, almost. However, if energy is restrained for some reasons and one has to be sacrificed, Fi will remain predominant.

Of course, this doesnt tell why I think Fi dominance explain my process better now, so here is the link, as it would take me way too much time and energy to write it myself when i have an article at my disposition to do the job for me. However, big disclaimer here: it is outdated and needs to be rewritten. Some parts are still "Meh" and this is why it needs to be revisited. But the overall is still very potent and i could relate to most parts.

Also, in this theory, my Se is still pretty much dead even tho it is still technically auxiliary. It is unconscious, and development requires some Ego work. And i am still in the lower stage of my Se development, according to how development happens through this paradigm (which i also fully agree with). I am even ironically more advanced in my Te development, which is near consciousness.

Anyway, I am derailing. There is a lot more that could be said, because the main reason of my retype is about the theory switch i have made. It would requires me to explain a whole theory which is masochistic at this point, especially when knowing the author himself has taken years to write it down, and is still refining it. But in the J-mbti, i'd still type as INFJ, however the CT theory aligns way more with my own conception of cognitive functions, so I identify way more with FiSe overall, which is not necessarily the same as "ISFP" in the J-mbti.

If you want me to explain some specific part of my retyping or have questions about this theory overall (like, wtf unseelie means lmao), i will gladly answer.

[adashofniallandasprinkleoflunacy]

does alien harry like titties? or does he just stick to apples and pussy?

Yeah I don’t see why not, not even aliens are immune

And what’s funny is he’d be so perplexed about his affinity for them. Like he’d lay on her with his head buried in her chest while she plays with his hair, practically drooling and falling asleep, and all she’d hear is a drunken mumble of, “Mammary glands are literally just sacks of adipose tissue meant for thermoregulation, nutrient storage, and feeding offspring. I don’t understand why I’m attracted to them, they don’t have any reproductive value!”

“Please don’t refer to my tits as ‘mammary glands’ ever again.”

“Sorry. I just…I can’t find the evolutionary link to why they produce a sexual reaction and it’s driving fucking mental. It makes no sense.”

“Maybe the reasoning behind it isn’t so scientifically cut and dry.”

Harry lifts his head for a moment, blinking his eyes at her drowsily, yet full of interest. “Elaborate.”

“Maybe it’s psychological.”

“How so?”

“God, this is going to sound ridiculously clinical and borderline Freud-like, but maybe you’re attracted to them because of an underlying reproductive value.”

“Explain.”

“Well, maybe your brain sees breasts as a symbol of passing on your genetic material, considering their main purpose is to sustain offspring. The natural instinct of any living organism is to pass on their DNA, and since mammary glands are technically meant to help that DNA survive and develop into a bloodline, that could possibly be your missing link. Maybe that’s where the sexual appeal stems from: the fact that they indirectly support an evolutionary primal urge.”

“But I don’t want a child.”

“Your hormones can’t differentiate between whether you do or don’t. They’re automatic, so your reaction is automatic.”

Harry stares at her in thoughtful silence for a moment, processing her theory and cross-referencing it with everything he’s researched about humans and their scientific background. He dismantles her hypothesis, studies it in pieces with immense scrutinizing precision, and then shuffles its contents back together, absorbing it as his own. She makes a great point; her opinions have a solid foundation, and though they’re based mostly off brain games instead of concrete data, he’s come to learn that humans rely heavily on the psychological aspects of things to find solutions to their problems. And more often than not, they manage to find a successful explanation.

Harry has never been one for implications and loose-ended deductions— he’s always preferred palpable proof as the source material for his beliefs, courtesy of his scholarly tendencies— but he can’t deny that he finds Y/N’s speculations fascinating. They’re refreshing, logical, complex, and completely different then what he’s used to. He never even thought to take the cognitive factors into consideration; he just assumed it was all purely physiological, and in doing so, limited the scope of his results. Despite being part of a civilization that is centuries more advanced than anything he’s found on earth, he’s shocked to find that a simple college student has managed to best his years of experience. The human mind is fucking insane, pun intended.

Harry glances up at Y/N once more with an awed tinge to the emerald green of his eyes, and then proceeds to plop his head back down against her chest, wordlessly surrendering to her working theory. His voice weighs in delicate and sleepy, full of admiration and fondness. “You’re so hot when you’re clincal.”

The girl smiles to herself softly, continuing to gently scratch at his scalp like before, swimming in his praise. It feels good to have her wits complimented by someone she holds to such a high standard. “I’m glad I could enlighten someone of your academic standing.”

“‘Enlighten.’” Harry murmurs through a chuckle, huffing in amusement and allowing it to mold into a long yawn. “Nice one.”

[keelywolfe]

FIC: Welcome to Backwater ch.7 (spicyhoney)

Summary: Stretch knows he can't really depend on the kindness of strangers, but oh, sometimes he wishes he could.

~~*~~

Read ‘The Kindness of Strangers’ on AO3

or

Read it here!

~~*~~

It was with a heavy, weird-ass book in hand that Stretch returned to the heat of the afternoon. This time he made haste getting back to the store while his knees were cooperating, almost jogging on the sidewalk and waving to any regular customers as he passed. The sun was on its downward path by now and the strollers were out in full force, the Human moms and pops pushing them hardly paying him any mind past a ‘good afternoon’ as he went by.

His knees were back to the wibble-wobbles when he slipped through the door, the bell announcing him with a muted clank. The first thing he noticed was that Red wasn’t behind the counter. He was standing at the back of the store, leaning on his cane and blocking off the hallway that led to both their living quarters. Yeah, that looked like insurance that Stretch couldn’t hurry on past him upstairs; Red wasn’t quick, but he also wasn’t stupid, and Stretch could feel his hard gaze scrutinizing him from across the store.

Wonderbar.

Stretch pasted on a grin and tried to act like someone who hadn’t been recently felt up by Red’s little brother in the public library. Not that Red said that he couldn’t, but some things, (for example, random groping) could probably be inferred.

“hey, what’s up?” Stretch said brightly.

“my bro called,” Red said bluntly, and Stretch’s feeble hopes deflated like yesterday’s party balloon. So much for discretion.

“i can explain,” Stretch blurted, “it wasn’t my idea, seriously, i was only—"

Red interrupted him with an amused snort. “easy, kid, don’t haul out your guilty conscience on my account. all he did was give me the gist of things, said you had yourself an unexpected adventure.” Red jerked his head towards the hallway. “g’wan, string bean, you can use my bathroom. take a shower and cool off.”

A cool shower pouring down on his dirty, sweaty bones sounded like Eden itself right about now, apple not included.

“thanks,” Stretch said gratefully. He skirted around Red, who didn’t move, only squatted there like a grouchy stump in the middle of the doorway while Stretch squeezed around him. Must be tempering his kindness with a little extra asshole to keep things even.

On his way to showerland, Stretch took a quick detour to leave the book on the coffee table amidst the clutter. Maybe he could ask Red about it, get the cliff notes version.

The shower in the downstairs bathroom was stuck with the same crappy water heater as upstairs, not that it mattered since Stretch was about ready to cuddle with an iceberg to cool off. Added bonus, the showerhead was a lot better and it managed to crank the feeble water pressure up to its max. There was a cheap plastic stool sitting in the tub, way too short for Stretch. He sat on it anyway, knees almost up to his chin as the cool water poured down on him and washed away the sweat and filth.

He was shivering a little by the time he was done, dragging a ratty towel over his dripping bones. The pile of his clothes was missing and there a new folded bundle sitting on the closed toilet lid. He must’ve been out of it more than he thought, he’d never even heard Red coming in. Unless laundry fairies were a thing and wasn’t that idea a lot more pertinent than it was yesterday.

Stretch picked up the bundle and part of it fell on the floor. Pajama pants, luckily not a pair of Red’s although it might’ve been hilarious to see Stretch wandering around like a scrawny hulk who sprouted upward out of his clothes instead of sideways. They were red plaid flannel and worn to the stage of being shiny at the knees and elbows. Probably an old pair of Edge’s, the fit was pretty close and not too many Humans wore their waistband quite as skinny as a guy without a waist.

(he was not getting a cheap thrill out of wearing a pair of Edge’s pajamas, no matter what his libido was trying to tell him)

He wandered out into Red’s living room, still squeegeeing his skull dry with the damp towel, and saw the sofa was made up with some blankets and a pillow, the television remote set helpfully in reach.

“you done?” Red’s voice echoed up from the store and his peculiar gait made its way down the hallway until he appeared again in the doorway. “then lay down and turn on the boob tube, zone out awhile. you’ll feel better.”

“what did your brother tell you?” Stretch asked. Not that he wasn’t willing to do what he was told. The couch was saggy in the middle, but the blankets were clean and smelling of laundry detergent. They felt blissfully cozy after the cold shower.

“said you met edgar allen,” Red said. “under less than stellar circumstances, i’m guessin’, since i don’t think ya got an invite for a meet and greet with the local scarecrow.”

This time his shiver had nothing to do with the temperature. Edgar Allen was an okay guy, (guy?) but Stretch was still on the fence about the corn’s attitude problems. “not exactly, no. thanks for the heads up, by the way.”

Red tilted his skull to one side, baffled, “heads up about what?”

“i dunno,” Stretch leaned up on an elbow to see him better and hopefully increase the effect of his dirty look, “maybe when you’re warning me off from the local landmarks, you could’ve touch on that fact that a stroll through the fields might involve the corn trying to hold me as a captive audience?”

“naaah,” Red scoffed. Stretch didn’t miss the way he absently started picking at his gold tooth; that was a nervous tell right there and maybe all this wasn’t just concern but dealing with a little guilt that Stretch’s latest town bonding experience was less than top notch. “that's why the damn scarecrow is there t'begin with. ‘sides, even without him you’d have gotten out before dark. anyway, never expected you to go tromping off into the corn in search of a maze, sorry i misgauged the direction of your dumbass.”

“no, i’m sorry, not your fault.” Stretch couldn’t hold back a yawn so wide it nearly split his skull, yeesh, it wasn’t even dinner time and he was ready to sleep for a week. The imaginary hamster running on the wheel in his head wasn’t quite as ready and it decided to race back to thoughts of Edge sitting in the library, alone. Researching he’d said, so intent on his books from the so-called restricted section, like a bargain basement Hogwarts. “hey, what does your brother do?”

“mostly he’s a pain in my ass.”

It was said with great feeling and Stretch snerked out a laugh. Yeah, kinda a universal trait with little brothers. “no, seriously, i mean, for a living, what does he do?”

Red shifted his feet, his cane scraping the floor. “why are ya askin’?”

“curious. bored,” Stretch shrugged, “take your pick.” He didn’t really want to explain to Red that his brother wasn’t just a sexy pair of legs in boots anymore, (but those hips would never be forgotten). He was interesting, no, fascinating. This whole town was turning out to be some kind of puzzle and it seemed to him that Edge might be a big piece. He’d said that figuring out Backwater was a fool’s errand, but he’d never met Stretch’s kind of fool before.

“kid—” Red sighed and that resigned tone snapped Stretch out of his whimsies. He cringed internally. What was he even trying to do here, he owed Red so much and not just for the job, and here he was digging for information about his bro after Red already warned him off, not once, but twice, so maybe what he was really digging was his own grave, if he didn’t knock it off.

“nevermind,” Stretch said hurriedly. “i shouldn’t’ve asked, none of my business, i get it.”

Red shook his head. “that ain’t it.”

Stretch tried on a little laugh, ha ha, see, it wasn’t that big a deal, right? “look, the state of your brother’s ass aside, i get it. that’s your little brother, and i didn’t forget what you said. we only bumped into each other at the library, i’m really not trying to get into his pants.”

He left off on making it a promise; he was telling the truth, but why take the chance on not keeping it.

He didn’t expected the hand that suddenly scruffed over his skull, like the noogies he used to give to Blue when he was little…well, okay, Blue was still little but noogieing was off the table since he’d started his guard training.

This wasn’t like that childish roughhousing, Red’s knuckles only scraped softly along his coronal sutures. “no, kid, you don’t get it. my bro can handle himself, it ain’t him i’m worried about. but you? don’t ya got the feeling you ain’t up to any new affairs of the soul right now? might want to take it easy awhile.”

That unexpectedly gruff kindness made tears sting in his sockets. Stretch guiltily leaned into that touch to absorb every drop, and how was it he could accept it from Red when he couldn’t take it from his own brother? “i don’t get you. you barely even know me. why are you so nice to me?”

Red huffed out a laugh. “you want i should be an asshole? okay, but i gotta warn ya, i’m a contender when it comes to dick moves.”

“thanks, but you can keep your dick in your pants.”

“your loss.”

“seriously, though, what i mean is. i just don’t get it. this place is so weird, but everyone is nice.” It didn’t exactly line up with Stretch’s view of the world. His brother was always nice sure and Snowdin hadn’t been too bad, if you didn’t count the fact that all his friends were from drinking his nights away at Muffet’s. The surface world ran about fifty-fifty with Monsters being on the kinder side of the scale…until he got dumped and found out he lost all his friends in the divorce, how was that for loyalty.

Red only chuckled. “now you’ve gone and cursed yourself. can’t say everyone is nice, you ain’t met everyone yet.”

That was true, fuck, he hoped the universe wasn’t listening and if it was, that it didn’t decide to drum up a little drama. “red?”

“yeah, kid?”

Stretch craned his head back on the pillow and met Red’s crimson gaze upside-down. “thank you for being nice.”

“don’t tell anyone. i’ll lose my resident asshole status.

“secret is safe with me, promise.” Stretch yawned again and the cow bell suddenly jangled loudly out front, startling them both.

Red shouted. “yeah, i’m coming!” He tossed over his shoulder back at Stretch, “take tomorrow off, sleep in, you ain’t had a day off since ya got here.”

“thanks, boss.”

Stretch started to settle in, nap ahoy, captain, hard to starboard and all that, and his eye lights snagged on the book. Shit, he forgot to ask Red about it. Probably didn’t matter, Red’s ingredient label kinda went equal parts of cryptic and cryptid, so he probably wasn’t gonna give the right answers even if Stretch figured out what to ask.

Wait.

If Red and Edge want to share the part of the local Obi-Wan with their mysterious ways, that was fine. He already had the perfect person lined up to ask about the town’s history. Well, part of a person, anyway, the most important part.

Plan formed, Stretch turned on the television and snuggled into the blankets, letting the dulcet tones of Pat Sajak lull him to sleep.

He didn’t dream.

~~*~~

The next day, Stretch headed over to the theater bright and early, still munching on the muffin Red handed off to him as he settled on the stool for the day with his latest book, this one with a bare-chested pirate embracing a busty Human woman as the ocean sprayed up over the hull over them. Seemed to Stretch that would be less smokin’ sexytimes and more cold and wet, but what did he know, his closest encounter with the ocean was extra salt on his Applebee’s margarita.

“thanks, mom,” Stretch said as he took the little paper lunch bag Red held out to him. Red only grunted and didn’t look up from his book. In the midst of rummaging for his tasty free breakfast, Stretch hesitated at the front door.

He felt a little guilty even though Red was the one who told him to take the day. Before he started working at the store, was Red really sitting there all day long, twelve hours of a cash register and customers while he drank beer and soaked up a little romance language in the form of a cheap paperback?

Not that Stretch was judging, hell, if that made Red happy, more power to him. Still, there had to be more to his life than that, didn’t there? Maybe he’d see if Mitch sold sudoku pads at the gas station, pick him up one along with a six-pack. Hard to guess if they carried that kind of entertainment; Mitch was either some kind of crossword grand champion or the kind of guy who ate ketchup on his cheerios and Stretch still wasn’t sure which.

The first movie showing wasn’t for another hour, but Igor didn’t make a fuss when Stretch asked him if he could go sit down early. (and holy shit, the proprietor’s name was actually Igor? He wasn’t sure if the guy’s parents hated him or if the universe sense of irony rolled a natural D20 when it hit this town.)

Igor only grunted and handed over two cups of popcorn without being asked, handing back a crumpled dollar in change. Aww, Stretch had a usual, see, he was settling into town just fine, suck it, Edge.

(don’t think it, don’t think it, don’t think it…)

Stretch made his way to the theater to his regular seat, propping his sneakers up on the chair in front of him. The popcorn he set aside for now, it wasn’t exactly his idea of a breakfast treat and that muffin Red gave him was still settling into his magic. To be honest, he wasn’t entirely sure if Doris could show up very long before the movie. He was no expert, but he did know that ghosts could have some peculiar rules about manifesting. Hopefully this wouldn’t mess with her morning routine, whatever it was.

He didn’t have to wait long. Maybe Doris could sense him or maybe she could just feel it when a living person came into the theater. She slowly came into focus next to him, pale ectoplasm coalescing, and the already cool air chilled even further.

Doris happily sniffed at her popcorn as she said, whispery soft, “Good morning, Stretch, you’re here very early.”

“yeah, took the day off work,” Stretch said. His voice sounded too loud in the empty theater, not even the elevator music was playing yet. “i need your help with something.”

He might as well have flipped Doris’s switch to ‘on’. She lit up, a smile curving her pretty mouth and seeming more solid than ever. The seat behind her was barely visible through her pale pink dress as she said eagerly, “Of course, anything that I can do.”

So that was how Stretch came to tell her the story about Edgar Allen. He didn’t leave out any details, including the bit about the kids shouting at him not to go in the field, the corn closing in around him in a dizzying maze of green, Edgar Allen’s assistance, and Edge’s cryptic warning that the scarecrow would disappear with the harvest.

Doris listened to it all raptly, her eyes wide and startlingly blue, and she never flickered once the entire time. The only unsettling sight was a single trickle of blood running down the side of her face, gathering in a heavy droplet on her chin.

“My, that sounds terrifying,” Doris breathed, unaware of the irony of her saying that while a slender thread of ghostly blood ran down her cheek. The droplet swelled fatly, growing until it finally fell with a plip onto her dress, leaving behind a perfectly round spot that would slowly vanish, only to be replaced by the next drop.

It didn’t really bother Stretch much anymore; he was getting used to it and an old memory of blood was nothing compared to his recent woes. “yeah, it was spooky all right.”

“But I’m not sure I can help you,” Doris continued sadly, “There wasn’t a scarecrow in my day, not that I remember. But the corn. Yes. That I recall.” She shivered delicately and her chair let out a strange groan of springs. “A person could get lost for days in the corn. I remember…” Her already faint voice went softer and Stretch strained to hear her, her gaze distant. “I remember one year at harvest time, they found a skeleton in the field, it was awful. Oh!” She gasped and pressed a gloved hand to her mouth, “I’m so sorry, it was a dead person, not a skeleton like you!”

“no offense taken,” Stretch assured her. He slouched down in his seat even more and waggled his feet, his untied shoelaces laces bobbing against the seatback “huh. so at least one person died out in the corn.”

“I’m afraid I don’t remember much about it,” Doris admitted. “whoever it was, they weren’t local.”

“uh huh.” An outsider, then, like him, getting munched up by the corn triffids. “who owns the corn fields, anyway?”

“I…” she hesitated, then apologetically. “I’m not sure. I don’t know if I’ve forgotten or if I never knew.”

Another mystery. If he was gonna play at Sherlock Holmes, he really needed to start taking notes. Maybe get a pipe.

“welp, either way, edgar allen bro out there saved my ass,” Stretch told her. He picked up a piece of popcorn and didn’t eat it, only crumpled it between his fingers and let the mangled bits fall to the floor, “and he’s gonna die come harvest time. i feel like i owe it to him to at least hear his story, you know? edge wouldn’t tell me much, just gave me that book and a scavenger hunt.”

“This Edge person doesn’t sound very nice,” Doris said disapprovingly. Her mouth pulled down into a frown that flashed briefly to a bloody smear. “Is he local?”

“kinda? he’s a monster like me, so he could only have been in town for a coupla years. since we came to the surface, anyway.”

Sudden relief washed over Doris’s pretty face. “He’s not a human, then.”

“nope, he’s another skeleton monster.” That seemed to satisfy her. Note to self, Doris wasn’t real keen on Humans, in a way that didn’t seem like it was only about the way they ran away when they got a good look at her. That mystery wasn’t all too mysterious, not with a big, bloody clue flickering in and out of view like a gory version of a kid’s flipbook. If that was a going away present from another Human, he didn’t blame her for being wary. He wondered if she’d met Edge before but Stretch hesitated to bring up that idea, or to mention Red; he didn’t want her to feel bad if she didn’t remember. “yep, another skeleton monster in town. he’s kinda rough around the edges, but he’s okay.”

“Okay, is that all?” Doris said with unexpected mischievousness, “he didn’t sound simply ‘okay’ when you were describing him.”

A blush flared hotly in his cheekbones and Stretch hunched down in his seat, weirdly embarrassed in a way he hadn’t been with Red. At least Red could see what he was staring at, Doris only had him waxing poetically about Edge’s hips to go by, and Shakespeare he wasn’t.

“yeah, yeah,” Stretch grumbled, and damn, he should’ve brought along his hoodie, at least he could’ve hidden from the laughter shining in her translucent eyes. She had a dimple in the cheek on her good side and it deepened as Stretch admitted, “could be that i enjoy the view. but that’s it, okay? just a little sightseeing, i don’t need any souvenirs.”

“Uh huh,” Doris clicked her tongue thoughtfully, “Stretch, my mama always told me you can’t hurry up a good time by waiting for it.”

Other people were starting to come into the theater now. One of them gave him a curious look, but they didn’t stop, only followed the others down to the front row.

“the only time i’m looking for is in the nick of,” Stretch sighed. “guess there’s no way around it, i’ll have to read the book.”

He should’ve known not to try to find an easy way out; seemed like all his shortcuts had abandoned him, lately.

Doris laid a hand on his arm and a sudden chill sank its teeth in deep enough for his bones to ache. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help,” Doris said softly.

“nah, you helped plenty,” Stretch told her. She had. Now he knew that scarecrows were slightly more recent, at least within the past century and that maybe the cornfield wasn’t quiet as safe as it’d been played off to be. At least a cornfield without Edgar Allen in it.

The lights started dimming, the first credits beginning to roll. His popcorn was cold, the butter congealing it into clumps of greasy blobs that stuck to his fingers. Stretch ate it anyway, hey, it cost him a dollar, and laughed with Doris as Buster Keaton escaped from a bumbling crowd of cops by grabbing onto a passing car.

His phone was in his pocket, tucked in deep and only lightly pressing against his femur through the thin cloth of his shorts. It vibrated once in a quick, staccato burst while the movie was playing but Stretch ignored it.

That was one lesson he’d learned very well while they still lived under the mountain; if you focused on the task at hand, you didn’t have to think about the ones you left behind.

~~*~~

tbc

[dragonoffantasyandreality]

Kamen Rider Thunderbirds chapter 2

Finally its here! I should thank @willow-salix​ for some tips and @gumnut-logic​ for the review *hugs you tightly* Hai! so on with the chapter! :D

-0-0-0-

With a turn of the tap, a jet of hot water cascaded down on the pruning skin and exhausted muscles. They welcomed its heat as they relaxed.

It was quite a stressful rescue of getting the poor fellas out of that cave in Mexico. After returning home and reported the rescue, nothing like a good hot shower for the all mighty Scott Carpenter Tracy

He washed his dark-brown hair with silky shampoo and scrubbed his fit body with sweet shower gel that smelled lavender

God, that felt good

With all the dirt and dust gone, Scott turned off the shower and got off

He then spends his time fixing his hair. He needed to look good… always! Even when his little brothers make fun of him taking too much time with his hair, the eldest will always be the most handsome one

Finally satisfied with his work, Scott got himself dressed with his classic blue turtle-neck, grey jacket and black jeans, then wandered off to lounge

Familiar harmonies filled his ears and the room, all coming from the beautiful white Grand Piano. Its keys been gracefully pressed by the oh so talented fingers of his younger brother, Virgil Grissom Tracy

The auburn haired man smiled at him the moment Scott entered the lounge and gave him a salute before continuing his wonders of music

Scott looked at the wall where five portraits of him and his brothers were hung. 

Underneath them sat his trouble maker of a brother, Gordon Cooper Tracy, who was playing chess with Brains, the genius who help turn International Rescue into a reality

Looks like today the redhead seemed not feeling like pranking anyone

All in all, it was another quiet and mundane day at Tracy Island

Until...

"Urgh~!" A prolonged groan caught the eldest attention of a young blonde, who just splattered himself into one of the sofas of the lounge

Ah! Their baby brother, the youngest of the Tracy brothers, Alan Sherperd Tracy

Looks like he just came back after a short sprint around the island exhausted as hell… again

"What's up, Alan?" Scott smirked

A pout combined with a grumbling noise gave him the answer

"Gee, you're really are not fit…" the eldest teased

"Scott…" Alan whined, only to hear Gordon snickering quietly in the background "Not funny… I was trying to keep myself fit yet you fellas like take a tease out of me every time I get tired,"

"Alan! That's enough," got out a baritone voice 

Their father, the famous billionaire ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy, was sitting at his desk with papers all over it. He starred sternly at his sons

"All of you need to keep yourselves fit, it's not just you Alan," Jeff began, "You need fitness in order to be capable of performing tasks to save lives. No one wants to be rusty during a rescue, right?"

"Right, father" affirmed Scott

"Guess you're right dad," nodded Alan

"Understood, father" agreed Virgil

"Loud and clear, dad" grinned Gordon

"Good," smiled Jeff, "Looks like I made myself clear"

After finishing signing some of the paperwork on the desk, he turned on the TV behind him

"Now, let's see what's on the news today..." The patriarch muttered

"Today this Friday morning, four Kamen Riders had been spotted fighting a monster in Moore, Oklahoma…"

Immediately, Alan was the first to rush to his father's desk and promptly sat on a chair, staring dead straight into the monitor with a face-splitting smile and his blue eyes sparkled with enthusiasm

The rest of the family followed suit, ears and eyes wide open with curiosity

"Witnesses said the monster was about to terrorize their neighborhood, only to be saved once again by the heroic Riders. As the masked heroes fought the monster, it gave time to the authorities to evacuate the area"

Alan was quietly squealing with excitement as he listened, much to the confusion of Scott and the amusement of Virgil and Gordon

"Some of the rescuees managed to videotape the fight before police arrived at the scene..."

The news switched to the videos that the witnesses managed to capture of the Riders fighting the menacing threat, the Tracy family watching carefully with awe

The videos were almost blurry and mostly shaking. But, they could see 5 figures… 4 of them are fighting a threatening looking creature, looking like it's trying its best to fight back but was outnumbered. The last video showed the monster exploding into nothing

"Once again, the Kamen Riders saved the day. We are grateful for their bravery and we all gonna hope they continue their amazing yet otherworldly work!"

"Those courageous guys," muttered Jeff, "They never fail to impress me"

"You don't say, father!" excitedly chimed Alan

"Not surprised…" smirked Gordon

"What?" Alan growled,

"What? Every time there's news about those Riders, either on radio, TV or newspapers, you get way too enthusiastic about them!" Gordon pointed out, "I wonder what so special about your 'karate bugmen'"

"And why are you so interested in them?"  Virgil raised an eyebrow teasingly, crossing his arms

"Why? Because they are the coolest fellas I've ever seen!" expressed Alan as he was waving his hands, "They say superheroes aren't real, but Kamen Riders do! They possess powers that exceeded our wildest dreams! Don't you think it's also amazing at the fact that they are saving people with those kinds of powers. It's like a dream come true!"

Oh, is it no wonder Alan was obsessed with them? Thought Scott

Well, it shouldn't be a surprise, their baby brother was obsessed with the bugmen since he was 14. 

It all started with a news magazine. There was a small section with a tiny history behind them accompanied by few low quality and blurry pictures. Since then, Alan was invested every time they appeared

Kamen Riders does spark a bit of curiosity in Scott, he had to admit, and the rest of his brothers

"Can't say I blame you, Alan" admitted Jeff while turning off the TV

Everyone turned at him with curious looks

"What do you mean, father?" Virgil asked

"They existed longer than any of us, even before we went into operations," he explained, "But it's not just that that fascinates me. As Alan had said, these fellas are gifted with powers beyond our understanding. It's still baffles me that such people exist (if they are people at all),"

Scott noticed Brains mumbling to himself. He was lost into his own bright mind, his face told curiosity

The eldest of the Tracy brothers was about to say something, but his dad had already beaten him

"What are you thinking, Brains? Do we know anything else about them?"

"W-well, Mr, T-Tracy, I have observed the f-footage and have deduced that their, uh, their powers, have to be organic in nature," Brains explained

"What do you mean by that?" Scott raised a brow

"That they are not derived from human technologies…"

"What about the monsters that they were fighting?" quipped Gordon, seeming interested, “Why did those creatures want to enslave or eradicate humanity?”

"That G-Gordon, I don't know. Either way, we, we better thank the R-Riders to stop whatever evil schemes they p-planned to do,” the genius answered

“It's like those… Um… What are they called?” Gordon rubbed his chin as he thought

“What 'they'?" Virgil raised a brow

"You know, those 'things' who started killing and possessing people and all that crap ever since we've started colonizing Mars?"

"The Mysterons?" Alan replied

"Yes! Those guys! And some races of 'seamen' who seemed to hate us 'terranians' for some reason"

"That is Spectrum's and WASP's job to keep them at bay," noted Jeff

"Now that I think about it, why does everything want to kill us?" commented the redhead 

"That’s enough, Gordon" Scott cuffed the back of the prankster's head

"Actually, why are they called 'Kamen Riders'?” pondered Alan, “That’s a really strange name for superheroes,"

" 'Kamen' comes from a Japanese word for 'masked', since they originated from Japan," said a smart and sexy sounding voice

All turned to the portrait turned vid-com of the middle child of the Tracy brothers, John Glenn Tracy, who smiled when his sudden appearance startled his youngest brother

"Which means they are 'Masked Riders', so this isn’t that ‘strange’", continued the space monitor, "It totally makes sense since they ride on their weird looking motorbikes and we have no idea what they look like behind those bug-faces, "

"Ah, look who decided to throw smartass facts from the floating space can" grinned Gordon teasingly

"I've been hearing you fellas this whole time, squid face," deadpanned John

Jeff chuckled at the little commotion

"Hi, John. How are you doing up there?" greeted warmly the patriarch of International Rescue 

"Doing fine, father," the tall blond replied with confidence that seemed to be unbreakable, "All systems are go and the frequencies are coming in smoothly,"

Jeff smiled hearing the excellent news

That John...

As much he is the introvert of the Tracy brothers, he never stop surprising his siblings with his calculated bright mind

"Uh, John?" Asked Brains so suddenly, but that didn't startled the astronaut

"Yes, Brains?" Responded the space monitor

"Can we talk to my lab so we can examine the, uh, the footage more closely? We can make out theories about how the Riders use their powers,"

"FAB," acknowledged John

"Already found another side-project, Brains?" Scott chuckled,

The genius smiled at him, excitement shone behind his glasses, "I need something to do, Scott. As a matter of fact, I always wanted to study the K-Kamen Riders for a while!"

"Aw, Brains…" groaned Gordon, but in a childlike manner, "We haven't finished our chess game yet!"

"Uh, later, G-Gordon," Brains affirmed, "Right now, I got some 'bugmen' to study," before doodling away to his lab as hummed in excitement

Scott’s father laughed wholeheartedly, knowing how invested his old partner can get with something as intriguing as the ever mysterious Kamen Riders

“Well, gotta go help Brains,” remarked John, “Thunderbird 5, out…” before cutting off, the screen returned back into a painting once more

After that, everyone returned to their daily activities after that. Jeff told everyone to relax while they still can, before grabbing a book to read. Virgil said he’ll go to Thunderbird 2’s hangar to do maintenance and true to his word he went . Scott decided to play chess with Gordon as there was nothing else to do, while Alan just referee the game

The thought of Kamen Riders still linger in Scott’s mind, however. Who are they? Are they just people, like himself and the rest of the world? Who just so happens being gifted with powers that surpasses science?

He doesn't know…

No one knows...

Scott must've been distracted, because by the time he was think about the subject, he’s already got checkmated by Gordon

After a couple of laughs, throwing each other challenges(with Alan wished he had with him popcorn to watch the ‘epic chess battle’), they re-matched once again

It’s just another day at Tracy Island

-0-0-0-

Somewhere in a deep, tropical jungle, there was a menacing looking temple

Inside was a man in black clothing, standing near a round, ancient altar

He had already finished the ritual

The altar awakened in a bright glow of evil aura

Four amulets was insert in each side of the altar, glowing with each of their elements when a chorus of voices echoed the chamber's of the temple

"Who thou released us, what is your wish?"

The man in black smiled grimly as he told the answer, "I want an organization known as 'International Rescue' to fall into oblivion, so I can be the most powerful man in the world!"

A red amulet suddenly glowed brightly and took off from it's socket of the altar. It flew to the center before it was then engulfed in flames. After a few moments, the fire had faded. Leaving in its wake a silhouette of a menacing creature

Glowing red evil eyes stared into the man in black, seemingly reading his mind, before letting out a chilling grin

“I shall melt their fragile ships into nothing but molten metal…”

“Then I shall burn their feeble flesh to ashes…”

“And your wish shall be granted within an essence made out of their souls…”

 The temple shook by the sounds of maniacal laughs and echoed through the forest. It scared the wildlife as they run away from its evil influence

The master plan had begun...

The nightmares had been unleashed to the world...

tbc...

[ranmanjuu]

Me again sorry if I’m spamming can request how the boys react to going to the future with mc be everywhere’s in lockdown thank you and stay safe love you~ (๑ゝω╹๑)

there’s probably a shit ton of them hcs around these parts and i feel like i’m just re-wording a lot of things so like,, ahaha i’m sorry. also the character cast is u-t forces cause ngl we have a lot of oda forces request previously and the coming requests dw just showing love to my kasugayama boys

—shingen:

the moment you stepped into the good ol’ modern times, the first thing you realized was that there’s a pandemic going on and with shingen being immunocompromised, it’s surely a danger more than ever. without a word, you quickly drag him into your apartment first thing’s first.

you quickly told him to take a shower (to which he’d probably jokingly invite you in, but to be fair, he doesn’t really know how bathtubs and shower heads are used). you didn’t have men’s clothing, not for his size so to say, so you just settled with your big, stretchy jackets you had.

after explaining the situation, you did consider going to the hospital for his treatment,, on one hand, if shingen doesn’t do it, he’ll. . .you know. and if he does, there’s a chance that he could get infected (with hospitals being a breeding ground for the virus). 

in the end, you decided to do it.

even after that, you were always careful with things like going out, mostly you taking care of the shopping and everything. you kept reminding him to wash his hands, social distance, etc.

and frankly, while he understands social distancing, he doesn’t like it. he just wants to hug and kiss his deity lover! prepare for the man to just recite poems so damn dramatically for this.

(^ this includes the amount of pickup lines increasing by a lot. the fact that he can now search some up from google doesn’t help.)

there’s a lot of things you do in quarantine, and you’ve found that the amount of carpentry has increased significantly prior to this.

said carpentry ranges from tables and chairs, to small decoration carvings of birds and the likes. the smell of wood now wafts in the air more than ever.

you’ve now replaced yukimura for his dieting of sweets. his illness may be gone, but teeth problems could still arise! but shingen can have some modern candy once in a while, as a treat. 

as for the reaction of the future in general—shingen finds it so, so warming how relatively peaceful it is compared to the sengoku. yes, protests are happening and there’s practically a new type of war going on (he most certainly advocates for human rights, etc), but it’s a step to a new light. a world he wants.

—kenshin:

you’ve had conversations of the future before—most of them on a,,, bizzare note, with the topic being on swords and war (or lack thereof), etc. a silent agreement was made between you two to not have kenshin be in the future since he’s missing one of the things he ‘needs to live with’ (them being war, sake, and you).

but a lot of improv had to be done when the wormhole was much more stubborn and managed to pull you through.

right after you figured out what happened, a security guard immediately came and told you to wear a mask (considering it’s a must). you had to haul kenshin back to your house before he attacks the guard with his sword.

after cleaning the two of you from any virus, you began running things over to him about the future. aaaand he’s already thinking about keeping you in your house by any means so you don’t get caught by it.

but you managed to convince him otherwise, you did have to go shopping and the thought of kenshin doing it with all the foreign technology around him made you sweat nervously.

no, kenshin, sake isn’t a need but you will buy it for him cause he won’t be able to survive, you feel.

you thought a peaceful modern world was bad enough for kenshin to reside in, ohoho, wait until you realize he can’t even go outside and fight sasuke and all that jazz.

a thought crossed your mind to learn how to duel and fight using mop sticks but he shot down that thought.

in the meantime, most of your days were spent in the garden with his sea of bunnies (how they got there, you don’t know) and mostly tending to them so they don’t contract the virus (kenshin almost flipped when you told him that rabbits could do that).

and by night, you spent it by looking out to the city skies (but the light from the buildings doesn’t hit like the stars do) and drinking sake.

he’d also be against social distancing, but—unsurprisingly—only to you. after a while that rule goes out the window as he cuddles you to death from being touch-starved.

i feel like he’d be interested in the past (or future, to him) wars just because. he’d read up about the wars from all sorts of places. and sometimes, you’d catch him with a deadly smile and say, “that sounds like a great idea, i should wage one like that.”

you had to remind him no, you can’t start a war cause you want to.

—yukimura:

he’d flip straight up by the idea of there being a pandemic in your time. you never talked about this when you told him you came from the future!

he’d probably groan at first with the thought of having to hole up for a long time, but he’d quickly understand. it’s for the benefit of the immunocompromised and the old, he’d like to help by following the rules.

besides, he has you. he’ll cope.

at first, his plan was for you to just let him do all the work during lockdown, like going out and stuff. he was non-chalant, if a bit stubborn.

until you mention groceries.

you start firing him questions, do you know what we need? do you know how much of it we need? or which one is which at all?

he shuts up after that.

yukimura will definitely do those workout things on youtube, and you’ll probably be roped into it. rip to you but you’re gettin’ buff during these lazy times.

small, silly arguments would most likely be the norm for you. it’s a bit of spicy bickering back and forth, you both find it amusing and it’s a way to stimulate the brain, no matter how stupid the topic is.

it can range from if mugwort mochi is better than chestnut dumplings, and you’ve even gone out to search for light topics to have small debates over.

occasionally, he’d invite you outside to watch the skies. the colorful lights from the tall buildings kind of reminds you of the loud fireworks during the festival back in the sengoku—only if they became stars instead.

much like shingen, yukimura is thankful of the positive changes in the future. horrible things may have stayed, but as long as there are people advocating for a fair and peaceful world, he can spend his days beside you.

—sasuke:

as any situation, sasuke was prepared as ever. the second you went to the modern days, he pulled out a spare mask (dw it’s clean) from his pocket and handed it to you. remembering the rule of mandatory masks, you quickly put it on.

you couldn’t really have a discussion about time-travel in the open, so you both went to your apartment.

sasuke is definitely well-versed in the virus, dumping most everything he knows unto you to better arm you with it yourself.

somehow, he could calculate how much groceries and overall shopping in any timeframe. a month, two, etc. so you find yourself bringing him out shopping with you.

since he’s now in the modern world, the amount of him being holed up kinda increases. if he’s learnt so much from a youtube tutorial, imagine the absolute machine he’d be by the end of it.

yeah he’s that guy who learns 45 million skills.

sasuke might seem unbothered by having to keep distance from you, but he really isn’t. you can tell; by the way his lips tighten, or the way his eyebrows furrow sometimes.

would regularly remind you to wash your hands, and would always say to take a bath each time you go home from the outside. if you’re ever sick, he’ll somehow have the perfect medicine ready.

you binge watch shows all the time, it’s another form of bonding cause you two already know about them. you’d spend nights on the couch with a blanket and snacks, discussing about things ranging from theories to crack cotent.

you really wouldn’t trade it for the world.

—yoshimoto:

honestly, yoshimoto isn’t even much interested in the future. mostly just how far art’s gotten (and trust me, it’s gotten so far). such is the situation when the wormhole caught you two.

he probably got sidetracked from the first art he could see (probably street art in this scenario) after you barely identified you went to the future.

again you must haul this pretty man after being told off by a security guard for not wearing a mask.

your biggest problem is probably his massive fascination with modern art. endless hours were used to have a talk that, no, he can’t go to an exhibit right now.

so you improvise.

you gave him a hand-me-down phone, or just share a laptop, and teach him the concept of digital art, along with how to operate certain social medias so he can browse around.

downside is he is currently—and unknowingly— planning to get you broke by commissioning artists. also he may or may not’ve been doing posting questionable things on his accounts (you really shouldn’t’ve given him one,,)

and so to fix the problem created to solve a problem, you decided to take it into your own hands.

popping out all the drawing supplies you’ve ever had, you began to doodle anything and everything, every day. and each one, you’d show it off to yoshimoto like a child to their parent.

and each time, he still looks at them so lovingly, no matter if it could hypothetically be classified as chicken scratches. as long as you make it, in his mind, it’ll be something worth cherished for.

but your strong suit has always been stitching, so you start a lot of projects of art on clothing. it counts as the one above.

oh—you know those pretty cloth masks? you now have about 100 of these at least, courtesy to yoshimoto.

[twstedgrils]

Oc Master Post

Alright! I finally have all my ocs designed and written down! This is the official debut post for this oc blog! It’s really long (gotta go through 10 ocs lmao) so I’ll put a read more so it’s easier to scroll past. If your interested, please read and even ask me questions! I really want to interact with this fandom since everyone seems so nice and funny!

And yes, I did put grils instead of girls on purpose...I’m funny I swear

So I first want to say that my ocs are in an au, one which has NRC have female students (but still in low numbers) and an 8th dorm based on Captain Hook (making Ramshackle the 9th). Also Crowley is a tiny bit nicer to our mc in this au, mostly cause he’s basically her weird dad lol

There’s another addition to this au, but that’ll be addressed in my MC insert’s bio.

I’ll also list additional info that the text in the refs don’t address, including body types because I wanted my ocs to be diverse in that aspect.

Another thing, shipping. Oh great seven, shipping will be a free for all for me. I really like shipping. So any ship and every ship will be possible (as long as it’s not with Cheka or Ortho, cause no. Human Grim is fine, but he has to be in human form). With that in mind this blog will be very self-indulgent when it comes to shipping and such. 

I’ll come back to this to edit when I develop these girls more.

So first off we’ll start with my MC!self-insert!

I didn’t know what outfit to put her in, since Ramshackle doesn’t have a dorm uniform, so I just put her in her pjs (which were provided by Crowley).

Birthday: Feb 4 (my b-day lolol)

Best Subject: Math

Worst Subject: PE (for valid medical reasons)

Hobby: Drawing

Homeland: Not of TW

Body Type: Average

Charlotte (or Charlie as people call her) is usually quiet, especially when she first arrives in TW. But the more she’s comfortable around the people, the more she reveals her inner sass. She doesn’t want to admit it, but she’s as much as a dumbass as the ADeuce duo.

She’s also has albinism, but she used to constantly dye her hair into a more strawberry blonde so she wouldn’t get picked on by other kids. This condition also leads to her having to take many breaks during PE so she won’t burn.

She may like cats, but Grim really tests her fondness for them. But once it’s found out he can take a human form (and becomes more chill due to the amount of energy it takes to maintain said form) the two actually become the best of friends, which shocks the first year gang. 

Design Inspiration: White Rabbit and March Hare

Birthday: Feb 29

Best Subject: History

Unique Magic: Golden Doorknob (Summons a golden doorknob on any surface, making it a door to anywhere the user thinks of. Example, placing the knob on Ramshackle's walls and walks into NRC's Cafeteria via the door)

Worst Subject: Chemistry

Hobby: Track

Homeland: Afterglow

Body Type: Pear shape

Whitney is what you expect from a rabbit, timid, nervous, shy, anxiety filled, and easily intimidated. At first. If you manage it anger her, suddenly you’ll be hit by both a Scottish war cry and a rabbit kick. When she’s angry, she’s a rage filled bunny who throws the most foul of curses. Her switches are rivaled to Deuce’s bad boy switch. And just like the boy, when she calms down she get’s very flustered. 

She doesn’t talk to many people, as she hates attention. But after some she does become acquainted with the boys, almost on the line of friendship with each. 

Design Inspiration: Shere Kahn and Tigger

Birthday: Set 28

Unique Magic: Fun! Fun! Fun! (turns any part of their body into a bouncy spring. Often the tail is used)

Best Subject: PE

Worst Subject: Chemistry

Hobby: Basket Weaving and making jewelry

Homeland: Land of Pyroxene

Body Type: Apple shape (broad shoulders)

Kaya is seen as a tough no bs girl, many females admire how she can go woman-to-man with the Savanaclaw males. But actually she’s nothing but a goofball that loves to tend to baby animals and make cute things. She has a talent for making beautiful woven baskets and earrings. She helps Ruggie a lot whenever she sees him overun by errands. 

She does have a tendency to nap anywhere and everywhere like Leona and Silver, but she apologizes sheepishly when woken up. Because of her napping habit, she tends to stay up late into the night.

Design Inspiration: None

Birthday: May 24

Unique Magic: Second Chance (let’s the user go back to a certain point to try again. Only activated when close to death)

Best Subject: Chemistry

Worst Subject: History

Hobby: Singing and baking

Homeland: Coral Sea

Body Type: Petite

Wendy is a very small moon jellyfish mermaid. She was home-schooled by her mother under the sea, while her father ran a business on land. She visited land often to see her father, fascinated by all neon lights shining in the city.

She’s very quiet, like she’s actually a selective mute. She doesn’t tend to hangout with people because she fears most don’t like her because of her selective muteness. Oddly enough though, she’s always seen with Floyd, to the bafflement of everyone. She finds the eels mannerisms amusing.

She loves to sing, but doesn’t want anyone but her secret singing buddy (Daria) to listen to her. Her voice is very high pitched, but soft that it’s almost hard to hear. She also loves baking, often seen helping Jade and Floyd with preparing the sugary foods and drinks Monstro Lounge offers.

Design Inspiration: Iago and Jasmine’s red outfit

Birthday: Aug 5

Unique Magic: Dancer’s Delight (charms anyone who sees her dancing, perfect for distraction)

Best Subject: None

Worst Subject: None

Hobby: Dancing

Homeland: Land of Hot Sands

Body Type: Hourglass

Layla is like that one person who teases everyone and sees most as her friend. She uses both her height and pretty features to get a rise and fluster anyone. Her main victim is Jamil, much to his displeasure. She gets along great with Kalim, fueling his antics of carpet riding and shenanigans. But she does help Jamil in taking care of Kalim, often seeing the snake whisperer overworked.

She’s usually seen hanging out with Kaya and Whitney (with the rabbit being flustered by both of the taller females). She’s drawn to most in the Savanaclaw dorm, as she has the urge to pet their ears. She and Kaya are in the same class, so the two always buddy together, helping each other if needed.

Back home she comes from a line of exotic dancers, always entertaining other for money. With this in mind, she practices her dancing everyday. She hopes she can live up to the expectations her family has put on her. She’s not wealthy, but she’s not poor, so she doesn’t get too surpised over Kalim’s wealth. But she still does, especially when Kalim once offered to get her a tiger cub (she refused though).

Design Inspiration: Myself and Medusa (Hercules tv show)

Birthday: Mar 27

Unique Magic: Snake Eyes (paralyzes anyone with her stare if activated, even herself if she looks in the mirror)

Best Subject: History

Worst Subject: Math

Hobby: Painting and singing

Homeland: Isle of Lamentation

Body Type: Chubby

Daria is another quiet and reserved girl, she’s not shy per say but she prefers people to approach her than the other way. She doesn’t particularly like that she was sorted into Pomefiore, cause all she wants to do is paint and sing. This leads her to grow close to Epel and anger Vil. She purposefully doesn’t do anything to her appearance, only brushing her hair as she hates tangles. 

She tends to stay in a secret area with Wendy, singing with the fellow quiet girl. If not that then she’s doing artwork in her dorm room, ignoring anyone who dares to pull her away from her work. Often times this leads to both her and Vil having a glaring contest cause she didn’t sleep (”Too busy painting” she says.) or forgot to do her morning skincare routine.

Design Inspiration: Phosphora (Kid Icarus) and Electra (backstory)

Birthday: Jul 16

Unique Magic: Sparks Fly (allows the user to transfer any electricity from any device around her into her prosthetics)

Best Subject: Math

Worst Subject: None

Hobby: Modifying her prosthetic limbs

Homeland: Rose Kingdom

Body Type: Top heavy

Elina is the mom friend, always giving others affection and helping them when she can. Because of her affectionate self, she treats Ortho like her little brother. You’ll often see her playing with the boy, or in her room working on her prosthetics (with Idia helping). She loves making her limbs look non-human, but she has more human structure legs for school (as to not weird out her classmates too much). She’s made them since young, always improving and modernizing her limbs.

Because of a tragic accident, she has prosthetics for both legs and her left arm. And has trauma over car races or cars going over the speed limit. She never mentions her family around others, but it shows how much she cares for them. The same could be said for her friends.

Design Inspiration: Chernabog

Birthday: Jun 6

Unique Magic: ???

Best Subject: History

Worst Subject: Chem

Hobby: Making Clothes

Homeland: Valley of Thorns

Body Type: Shortstack

Maria is basically the opposite of Lilia, while he looks young but acts maturely she looks mature but acts like a complete child. Most believe she’s staff before she has to explain that she’s a student. She’s not a brat (thank sevens) but she is very naive and innocent. This causes for her dorm mates to become somewhat protective if someone makes a pass on her (she never notices cause she thinks they’re just being nice). 

She has a talent with designing clothes, no one can explain why. Many have approached her to pay for her designs, but she refuses. She says she much prefers to just make and gift her designs to anyone. When she’s working, it’s the most mature you’ll see her. Everyone she’s interacted with has at least one thing she’s made, whether they wanted it or not.

Design Inspiration: Hook and Scarlet (the female animatronic from the pirate ride)

Birthday: Dec 25

Unique Magic: The Sea’s Rage (a passive ability that allows the user to access inhuman strength, allowing her to lift even Jack or Malleus)

Best Subject: None

Worst Subject: All

Hobby: Pick-pocketing

Homeland: The Savage Seas

Body Type: Flat (Looks average thanks to her corset)

Jessie is the dorm leader of Bonäuber, a dorm based upon The Captain of the Seas, who is held almost as high regards as the Great Seven. She’s a very childish and extremely cocky girl. She always praises herself for being the best out of everyone, when in actuality she’s not the brightest. The only thing she is good at she is shooting a gun, loving a good hunt. She also has a child fascination for board games, so she often plays (and loses) with Azul and Idia. 

Most don’t like her because she has a bad habit of stealing from anyone and everyone. This is because of her hard childhood, having to steal to survive with no family. The Savage Seas, and the isles among it, were tough on those with no wealth. It wasn’t until a kind pirate gifted saved her from a beating and gifted her a gold coin, her first coin. She now wears the coin on her neck and vows to become a pirate as great as The Captain, using her loot to make others who were in her shoes to have a good life. Because of her ambitions, she always goes for the rich when looting, Kalim being her main target. But because of how nice and generous he is, she gets flustered and runs away without a single coin. (It’s really cute ngl)

As a dorm leader she’s overly not strict, the most she can be is over how clean the dormitory is. Uniform isn’t strict as well, only forcing those in the dorm to wear the striped shirt, vest, belt, bandanna, and boots. Bottoms can be anything, and the corsets were optional. Most dorm members were interestingly mostly females, which confused many. 

Their dorm building is a functioning pirate ship, usually docked on a deserted island. Occasionally the dorm will go on an adventure, since most are those who love the sea and can’t stay in one place. 

Design Inspiration: Smee and Tick Tock Croc (and maybe Louis from the princess and the frog)

Birthday: Oct 3

Unique Magic: When I’m Human (let’s the user take a human form with little drawback, like Kalim’s Oasis Maker. This slowly wears off if the user is over emotional, most commonly anger.)

Best Subjects: All

Worst Subjects: None

Hobby: Making tea and treats for Jessie

Homeland: The Savage Seas

Body Type: Hourglass (looks more exaggerated thanks to her corset)

Sammy (what Jessie calls her) is the vice dorm leader of Bonauber, she’s very mysterious and weird to most in the school. She’s always by the shorter girl’s side, and always takes care of her. She is a big enabler, sharing her ambitions with the leader. She’s very humble about her intelligence and abilities, often only giving praise to Jessie. She’s almost like a mother for the leader.

She’s secretly a crocodile that saved (and traumatized) Jessie when they were younger. As she saw the little girl run from an adult, causing the reptile to attack the adult. She didn’t know why, but at the time a sudden feeling of protecting for the girl took over. Ever since then the reptile was drawn towards the girl, almost obsessive. It wasn’t until she developed her unique magic that she stuck with the girl from childhood. Jessie never realized, as Sam is very keen on keeping the object of her affections(?) in the dark. If anyone threatens the two, Sam will open her eyes and glare with her slit pupils as scales appear faintly.

And that’s all of them! After posting this I’ll start working on two things.

1: cards, I want to draw cards for them as if they are canon characters. I’ll work on the school uniform cards first!

2: Grim’s human design, this one will be easier as he’ll just be a sketch. 

Again, feel free to ask any questions! I’ll answer with in character sketches! (with more elaborating in artist’s text) I’ll try my best to answer as many of them as I can! You can also dm me if you wish to just talk about twst with me!

[randomfandomimagine]

You Owe Me (Reese x Reader)

Character: Reese Wilkerson (ft. Malcolm, Stevie, Dewey, Hal, Lois & Jamie)

Fandom: Malcolm in the Middle

Categories: Reader Insert, Female!Reader

Title: You Owe Me

  Summary: Y/N seems to see something in Reese that everyone else ignores, so she tries to be nice to him. Things complicate, however, when she realizes that people might not be as wrong as she thought about Reese.

I just couldn’t understand. The more I stared, the more confused I became. I had seen it, Reese was aggressive and sometimes even cruel. He was a bully sometimes. Why did I find him so interesting? Why was it that, even as I watched him chuckle to himself while doodling on that text book, I still wanted to hang out with him?

A voice I recognized got me out of my thoughts as I finally spotted Malcolm and Stevie eating lunch at a close by table. I leaned off the wall and headed their direction.

We weren’t really that close, but they were the ones I got along with best. Especially now that Dabney, Lloyd, Kevin or Cynthia weren’t there. I felt inhibited with so many intelligent people.

“Hey, guys” I called them, earning curious glances from them. “Mind if I sit with you?”

“Go… ahead” Stevie replied with a small smile that I reciprocated.

“Hey, Y/N” As all response, Malcolm moved his bag so I could sit down with them. “Don’t you sit with your friends?”

“Let’s just say that they’re not really my friends…” I glared in their direction as they boisterously laughed in my absence. “Especially behind one’s back”

“Sorry to… hear that…” Stevie said, making me look at them again instead of my ex-friends.

“Yeah, what happened?” Malcolm asked me as well.

“Never mind that, I’m with you now” I showed them a cheerful smile and shrugged. “Forgive me if my conversation isn’t too interesting, though, I’m not as smart as you two”

Both Malcolm and Stevie mumbled humble replies, slightly flustered by my compliment.

“Hey” I hadn’t noticed Malcolm’s brother had walked up to us.

“Hi, Reese!” I waved at him, earning only a brief glance and a reluctant wave back.

“Give me your book” He demanded from Malcolm, who rolled his eyes.

“What’s wrong with yours?”

“I got artistic, but didn’t realize I was using permanent marker”

When Reese opened his book to a random page and showed us his masterpiece, I giggled at the sight. It was full of goofy doodles like rockets, skateboards, skulls, pirates and even some comical stick figures fighting like ninjas. He heard me laughing and dedicated me a cute toothy grin filled with amusement and pride in his work.

“Don’t… encourage him” Muttered Stevie.

“I’m not giving you my book!” Malcolm complained. “Just because-“

He was interrupted by his brother as he stole the bag from Malcolm, grabbed his book and then punched him in the arm.

“Thanks!” Reese then proceeded to leave like nothing had happened, with his brother’s unpainted book.

What went on in his mind? What was behind all that goofiness and violence and why couldn’t I pinpoint it? Even worse, why did he fascinate me like that?

I watched him as he walked away grinning, satisfied with the outcome of the scene. I still couldn’t understand why I found him so interesting. Maybe because he was oddly charming, or just because he was a mystery to me.

*

The next day went on as usual. My stupid friends pretended like I didn’t even exist, and I didn’t know if that was worse than knowing they insulted me behind my back. Whatever, I knew I could hang out with Stevie and Malcolm and they wouldn’t mind. Maybe I couldn’t talk about science or math with them, but we did chat about TV, videogames and comics.

I walked into Reese on my way out, right after the bell rang announcing the end of the classes for the day. We hadn’t really interacted much other than because of our mutual connection with Malcolm, but I smiled at him like I always did.

“Bye, Reese!” I waved at him, and he frowned as usual. This time, however, it wasn’t the only thing he did.

“What are you up to?” He exclaimed, holding me by the shoulders and shaking me.

“What?” I was confused by his sudden outburst and tried to get away from his grip, but he was really strong.

“Why are you always so nice to me?”

“And why not?”

“Tell me!”

“You’re hurting me…”

Reese paused and let go of me, watching me intently. His greenish eyes focused on me with suspicion. I took a step back, staring at him as well and waiting for his next move.

“Bah…” In the end, Reese rolled his eyes and walked away, leaving me alone.

A part of me shouted that maybe people were right about him. Maybe he was a little crazy and was nothing but a bully. A small side of me, however, looked into his behavior without really meaning to. Maybe he was so used to people being mean to him that he was suspicious when someone was nice for a change.

“Don’t let him intimidate you” Malcolm’s voice startled me as he had arrived behind me without me noticing. “You’re smarter than him”

“I’m not that smart”

“You’re still smarter than him”

I stared at Malcolm, surprised that his own brother talked like that of him. I shook my head, knowing that their family dynamic wasn’t really my business. I sighed and continued on my way outside the building, with Malcolm walking next to me.

“Did I say something wrong?” I asked, still confused about his reaction. “I just said ‘bye’ to him!”

“He’s paranoid” Malcolm tiredly explained. “He thinks you’re going to pull a prank on him or something”

“Just because I’m nice”

“Yup… Why are you that nice, by the way?”

“I don’t know, I just want to be!” I shrugged, self-consciously pushing the books I carried against my chest. “I think he can be sweet too… Deep down…”

To my surprise, Malcolm broke out in loud guffaws of laughter. After a few seconds, he looked at me and slowly calmed down.

“Wait, you’re serious?”

“Okay, maybe deep deep down… But still…”

“Look, Y/N, you’re really nice” He put a hand on my shoulder. “But I think you’re too nice to think that highly of Reese”

“He’s your brother!” I complained, shocked that he spoke like that.

“Yeah, and I will always defend him” Almost like he was surprised by his own words, he looked around to make sure no one heard. “But… don’t tell him I said that”

“What…?” I stuttered as he left. “But I thought… You said…”

That family sure was weird. But maybe that was why I was so drawn to them.

*

I couldn’t get Reese off my mind for some damn reason. Random moments of watching him goof around school kept popping up in my head. Like that time he squirted water in his mouth using a tiny water gun. Or the day I surprised him singing the catchy song to a commercial, he interrupted himself to say hello back to me, and continued. And how every time he did one of those things he chuckled or giggled to himself. I found him to be… endearing, adorable even.

I still didn’t let him take over my life, he just piqued my curiosity, that was all. But I continued with my day to day as usual, not being all that bothered when I bumped into him. Instead I kept hanging out with Malcolm and Stevie, went to class and forgot about him. Until one day he made me focus on him by the force.

I was walking around on my free period, taking in the tranquility of the school playground without all the people talking, shouting and laughing. But I guess he either had a free period as well or just skipped class, because Reese was there too.

“Hey, Y/N!” I heard his voice calling me, so I turned around to face him.

“Ah!” I squeaked when I was instead welcomed with something hitting me hard.

Something exploded over me, falling onto my head. When it did, it covered me with a gooey substance that spread through my clothes and stuck to my hair. I immediately heard him cracking up, coming to meet with me.

I was confused, but overall I was angry.

“You should have seen your face!” He pointed at me, holding his stomach as he continued laughing.

“Reese, you dumbass!” I pushed him with so much force that he lost balance and fell on the floor. “What was that for?!”

“Ha!” He said, even as I towered over him sitting on the ground. “That will teach you!”

“Teach me what? To hate you like everyone else?” I hoped my intense glare would pass on to him how absolutely furious I was since I couldn’t put it into words being so rattled.

Reese frowned, remaining silent for a moment, but he recovered quickly and stood up.

“No, to trick me trying to be nice!” He pointed a finger at me again, this time accusatorily.

“Trick you? Trick you?!” I looked up to the sky in exasperation, grunting in annoyance. “Ugh, Reese! You’re a brute and a jerk!”

“I… I…” He was suddenly rattled too.

“Maybe people are right about you��� I told him before I stomped away.

I was glad that people were in class and the hallways were empty, otherwise they would all have laughed at me and maybe even give me a weird nickname that would haunt me for years. I made it to the bathroom and watched my reflection in the mirror to analyze the damage.

I spent at least fifteen minutes in the bathroom, trying to get that goo off me. My clothes were completely ruined and I would have to throw them away, it was impossible to clean them no matter how many times I put them in the washing machine. But I had managed to mostly get it off my hair. When I was rinsing it for the third time, a knock came to the door.

“Occupied” I bitterly said to whoever was trying to get in.

“Y/N, it’s me, Reese” I rolled my eyes even if he couldn’t see me through the closed door. “You there?”

I didn’t reply, I was still mad at him. I didn’t know what I had done wrong, but mostly I was upset that I saw something in him that wasn’t there. He wasn’t sweet deep down, he was just cruel. What did I do to him to deserve such prank?

“Can we talk?” He insisted, knocking again. “Y/N?”

I continued giving him the silent treatment, even if a part of me wanted to shout at him and tell him to go away. The only sign that I gave him that I was still there was the sound of the water running.

“At least let me talk to you, you don’t have to say anything” His voice sounded genuinely regretful, almost… vulnerable. It was the softest I had heard him speak.

Malcolm was right, I was too nice. Heaving a resigned sigh, I turned to the door.

“Come in…” I budged, willing to at least let him, maybe to punch him in the arm.

“I can’t, it’s the girls bathroom” In any other moment, I would have found that comment cute. But not then, I just felt aggressiveness towards him at that moment.

“What a shame” I sarcastically replied, focusing on my reflection in the mirror again.

“Please, Y/N, I… I’m sorry!” He stuttered for a moment until he recovered. “You’ve been so nice, I want to apologize!”

I hesitated for a moment, but in the end I walked to the door and opened it. Reese jumped up when we were suddenly face to face, but before he could say anything I returned to my spot in the sink. He stood in the doorway, staring at me as I wrung water off my hair.

“I didn’t mean to do it” He began saying effusively, still not trespassing the threshold.

“Then why did you, huh?” I eyed him for a moment before returning to the task of cleaning my hair. “You seemed to be having fun too…”

“I thought you would find it funny, not hate me!”

“Funny?!”

“Yeah! A friendly prank!”

“How is this funny or friendly, Reese?! How-?” I cut myself before I lost my temper and took a deep breath instead.

“I feel terrible…” I wanted to believe him, but now I was too wary of him. Especially since his hands were behind his back and it felt like he was up to something.

“Why did you do it?” I tiredly asked him, trying to keep myself calm.

“I… I just wanted to get your attention!”

“You already had my attention!”

“Really?”

“Yeah… But maybe now you’ve lost it…”

A very awkward silent settled, and Reese fidgeted in the spot. Then he finally put his hands in front of him, so I feebly glanced at them.

“I made another one” He held a big water balloon, presumably filled with the same disgusting substance from before.

“I swear, Reese, if you throw it at me, I will-“

“No, it’s for me!”

“What?”

“Then we’ll be even”

He showed me that wide cute grin again and I swore under my breath, hating to be so vulnerable to its charming nature. I watched the balloon in his hands, considering the payback opportunity.

“It will get all over your clothes” I warned him, walking closer.

“I know” He calmly shrugged as I closed the distance between us.

“Wouldn’t you get in trouble with your parents if you went back home looking like this?”

“I don’t care”

Once we were at arm length distance from each other, I paused dramatically.

“What about your hair?” I carefully studied his reaction, even if it was a late one.

“I…” He gulped, and there was clear agitation both in his features and his voice. “I-I don’t mind”

I stared at him, but he did not falter. I looked at his hair, realizing how perfectly styled it was. He probably spent a long time spiking it every day. Moving slowly, I took the balloon from his hands, but even then he did not back down.

“Yes you do” I gave him the balloon back. “You love your hair”

“Just do it, Y/N” He returned it to me, setting his hands over mine with determination to convince me. “It’s only fair”

I cocked an eyebrow and lifted the balloon over my head. Reese shut his eyes tight, bracing for the impact. He really was willing to let me do it to make it up to me!

Feeling too guilty to go through with it, I turned around and threw it at the sink instead. Reese gasped at the sound of the balloon exploding, but opened his eyes to see how the gross contents of it were spread all over the inside of the sink.

He gawked at me, blinking repeatedly as he assimilated what I had just done. Or rather, what I hadn’t done.

“Why didn’t you…?” He began, showing me a cute confused frown that reminded me of a puppy. Damn him and whatever I saw in him.

“Look, that I’m mad at you doesn’t mean I actually hate you” I sighed, smiling at him. “And I shouldn’t have said that either, I was just angry”

“Say what?”

“That you’re a dumbass… It’s not true, you’re not dumb”

He smiled, but instead of that toothy wide grin of his, it was a much smaller but much sweeter one. It looked more genuine and serious than the other goofy grin.

“Thanks” Reese finally said, and I smiled wider too.

For a moment, we both stayed silent, staring at each other. Then he suddenly took his plaid shirt off, leaving him in a yellow T-shirt, and handed me the plaid one.

“What are you doing?” I said before I considered taking it.

“Get changed” Reese energetically shook it until I finally took it from him. “Then at least you don’t have to wear that gross wet shirt”

I chuckled when he turned around to give me a little privacy. It was just that, gestures like those that told me that Reese was something more than what people thought he was.

“Fine” I grabbed the hem of my shirt, but stopped before pulling at it. “Don’t peek”

“I won’t” To reinforce his statement, Reese covered his eyes even if he was still facing his back to me. “I promise”

“Good” I quickly took my shirt off and put it over the sink as I put my arms over the sleeves of his plaid shirt. “If you do, I’ll punch you in the face”

“Good one” Reese laughed, thinking I was joking. I didn’t blame him for not taking my warning seriously, though, I wasn’t exactly threatening.

As I buttoned up the shirt, I noticed Reese slightly moved his head, tilting it to look over his shoulder. He slowly uncovered his eyes, so I glared at him.

“Don’t you dare” I said to keep him from giving in to the temptation.

“Sorry” He looked straight ahead again, covering his eyes and now also facing the ground.

I watched him carefully as I finished getting changed, and was glad to see he came through. He didn’t move other than to shift his weight from one foot to the other.

Moving to stay in front of the mirror once more, I saw that his shirt kind of suited me. It was a little too big and too long, but I looked okay.

“I know what to do!” Reese suddenly said, breaking the silence. “I’ll cook you dinner!”

“What?” Taking advantage that he still wasn’t looking, I quickly combed my hair as best as I could. “You can turn around now, by the way”

“I’ll cook you dinner!” He excitedly said, now facing me. “To make it up to you!”

I tilted my head, endeared by the sweet thought. I observed him as I rolled up the sleeves so they didn’t cover my hands, but he seemed determined.

“Are you serious? You can cook?” I examined his features, looking for any hints that he was teasing me.

“Yeah!” He nodded, excited. “What do you think?”

“That’s fair, I guess. You kind of owe me one”

“What would you like to eat?”

“I don’t know… Surprise me”

“Great! I’ll pick you up… Wait, I don’t know where you live”

“Do you have a pen?”

Reese held one finger up and proceeded to rummage through his pockets. He pulled out some coins, an empty gum wrapper, a napkin, and finally a permanent marker. Probably the one he used the other day to wreck his book.

I took it from him and wrote my address on his hand. As I did, I felt him staring at me and it made me smile a little. Were we… flirting?

“There” I returned the marker and he grinned widely.

“Cool!” Reese blew on his palm so the ink dried faster. “Pick you up at 8!”

Even if I felt stupid when my cheeks started burning, I couldn’t help but to also be excited myself. It was my chance to get to know him better and spend some time alone with him.

I hoped he hadn’t noticed I was blushing, but my hopes were foiled when he started snickering.

“What?” I averted my gaze, even if he playfully shoved me a little.

“You look small in my shirt” Reese replied, clear amusement in his voice.

“Shut up” I shoved him too, although a chuckle escaped my lips.

*

When Reese parked the car, I took a look at his house from the copilot seat. It was a medium size house, and the lawn was yellowish and unattended. The house itself seemed a bit messy, but somehow still homey.

We both got out of the vehicle, still silent as we had been since he picked me up. We had only said ‘hello’ to each other. Why were we so awkward all of a sudden? After the moment we shared in the girl’s bathroom, I thought it would be easier to chat with him. But maybe it was harder because of that moment we shared. Our relationship had evolved from being almost non existent to kind of flirty.

“You… You look hot” Was Reese’s attempt to break the heavy silence.

“What?” I mumbled to buy some time, feeling how my cheeks flushed.

“I mean…” Reese scratched the back of his head as we walked to the front door. “You usually look good, but tonight you look great and uh… yeah…”

I bit on my bottom lip as we stopped at the threshold and he occupied himself with looking for his keys. When he found them, however, he stopped before putting it on the lock.

“My parents are gonna love you” He said to change the subject, smiling at me.

“Wait” I put a hand over his arm to keep him from opening the door. “Your parents?”

“Yeah” He shrugged nonchalantly. “They wouldn’t let me have the house, and they insisted on meeting you”

“Your parents” I repeated, feeling overwhelmed to be meeting them.

“Yeah!” Reese insisted, now opening the door and letting me come in.

“O-Okay…” I was just… Why was I nervous all of a sudden? He was probably only introducing me as his friend, nothing more. Did I want to be introduced as something more?

“Dinner’s almost ready” Reese told me, a hint of pride glinting in his green eyes.

“Smells delicious” I genuinely said, because even if I couldn’t tell what there was for dinner, I sure was looking forward to eat it.

“Thanks, I-“ He interrupted himself, frowning as a sudden thought seemed to hit him. “Wait, where’s dad?”

That said, Reese walked away muttering something about his father eating the food prematurely. I stood there, but I laughed a little since it seemed like the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

“Hey, Y/N” Malcolm greeted me, walking into the room with me. “You look pretty”

“Thank you!” I played with my hair, relieved that at least my appearance was actually good. I chuckled, though, remembering Reese’s way of expressing the same thing. “Reese thought so too”

“Hi!” Someone else said, a slightly high-pitched voice. “You must be Y/N, I’m Dewey”

“Hello, Dewey” I smiled at the younger boy. “Then you must be their little brother”

“Yeah, but Jamie is the youngest now”

“I bet is a pain to have Malcolm and Reese as older brothers”

Malcolm rolled his eyes at me, but his younger brother laughed.

“I like her” Dewey said before returning to the kitchen, where Reese’s voice mixed with a male one that I assumed was his father’s.

I leaned on the wall and Malcolm gently nudged me in the ribs.

“You doing okay, Y/N?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You look a bit nervous, I don’t know what gave it away” He grabbed me by the wrist and softly pulled at it, making me realize I had been anxiously chewing on my nails.

“Sorry” I sighed, tightly holding my hands behind my back not to do it again.

“It’s fine” He shrugged casually. “But really, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just… freaking out a little”

“Why?”

“I’m really awkward around parents, you know?” Just thinking about meeting them caused my stomach to churn. I really wanted to make a good impression on them. “I… I just wanted to be friends with Reese and now I’m suddenly meeting his whole family”

“You didn’t expect to fall in love with him, huh?” Malcolm smirked at me, and I gawked at him for a moment.

“I… I’m not in love!” I whisper-yelled, hoping Reese didn’t hear. “Okay, maybe I have a crush, but…”

“Don’t worry” Malcolm chuckled. “I can keep a secret”

“You better, Mr. Smarty Pants” We both laughed at his new fond nickname.

Before he could come up with a witty or sarcastic response, however, a woman approached us.

“Hello! You’re Y/N, right?” I opened my mouth, but she continued before any words came out of my mouth. “I’m Lois, Reese’s mother”

“Hi, Lois, I-“ Without further ado, Lois took me to the kitchen to meet with the rest.

I looked over my shoulder to Malcolm in a silent request for rescue, but he shrugged a little even if with an amused grin plastered on his lips. Lois kept on talking, so fast that I barely understand anything. I caught Reese’s name somewhere in that myriad of words, but that was about it.

“You look like such a nice girl” She patted my back and basically pushed down into the chair. “Sit down, dinner’s almost ready”

The kitchen was a mess of people talking loudly, running around as well as the noise of cooking and plates clinking. Malcolm was the only person to stay calm in that craziness, as he serenely sat down in front of me and picked up a breadstick from a basket at the center of the table.

I thought that Reese could have warned me. A simple heads up would have sufficed, but he preferred to hide the fact that I was having dinner with his parents and brothers. He didn’t tell me that his parents were that eager to meet me either. Nothing.

Now I assumed I was to expect a couple of hours filled with awkward silences as well as lots of embarrassing questions about myself.

“Remind me to kill Reese?” I asked Malcolm, who boringly chew at the breadstick.

“Deal” He managed to make me laugh when he outstretch his hand over the table.

We shook hands to seal the deal as we waited for dinner to be ready.

*

I tried to be as polite, kind and helpful as possible. I offered to give Reese a hand with dinner, but he wouldn’t let me. The family insisted that I wasn’t allowed to set the table either, I was their guest. So I just sat there, patiently waiting to eat.

When the food was finally on the table, my stomach growled in hunger at the sight of the delicious rotisserie chicken with potatoes and varied great-smelling sauces, as well as the freshly baked bread. Did Reese make all of that himself? I was honestly impressed.

The bunch of us immediately started eating, giving our compliments to the cook for the exquisite feast. Who knew Reese was such a good cook?

Then we started chatting, and so it began. It was pretty insane:

Lois kept talking about how I could be a good influence on Reese and that lately he hadn’t been as reckless, ever since he spent more time with me, all this while the aforesaid complained under his breath.

Hal –the father, he had introduced himself –asked me lots of questions, wanting to know if I was in the same class as Reese and such. At least I assumed he meant to avoid any of those awkward silences I dreaded.

Dewey seemed to be more intrigued about what Reese had done to get me to come, did he threaten me? Had he intimidated me into that torture? He couldn’t understand why I was there.

The little one, Jamie, looked from one to the other in curiosity.

And Malcolm, all the while, was having the time of his life watching the whole thing while I suffered in silence.

“Malcolm” I kicked him under the table and mouthed the following words. “Please. Help”

“Okay” He finally spoke up, smiling in spite of himself. “Mom, dad, leave her alone. You too, Dewey”

“Sorry” Lois sat at my right, patting my arm. “We’re just excited that Reese decided to do something nice for you”

“Yeah, that means you’re quite the catch!” Hal cheerfully added.

“Stop it!” Reese said as he stood up to get the dessert. “You’re gonna scare her off!”

I had to chuckle in spite of it all. After the anxiety inducing start of the night, we were now having a more casual conversation. Then Reese put a soufflé over the table and we dug in too, moved by the delicious smell of his baking creation.

“This definitely makes up for everything” I bumped my shoulder against Reese’s as soon as he sat down to my left. “It was the best meal I ever-“

“Make up?” Lois repeated in outrage. “What did he do?”

“Oh, no…” I uttered, realizing I had messed up. “N-Nothing”

“For the love of god, Reese!” His mother insisted. “What did you do to this poor girl?”

“I didn’t do anything!” He defended himself, even if he wouldn’t meet with her eyes.

“He, uh…” I piped up, wanting to fix my mishap. “It’s kind of silly, really. No biggie, Reese was just…”

“What happened, Reese?” Hal asked him tiredly, but his son didn’t reply.

“He was sitting outside with his legs stretched out, right? And so, uh…” I gulped, seeing as Reese remained silent. “I passed by him, but I was reading a book as I walked and I tripped over his legs. Funny, right?”

“Reese, what did you do?” Lois didn’t buy my story at all.

“I threw a water balloon at her” Reese confessed. “Filled with goo”

“You did what?!” Lois’ volume suddenly increased, so much so that I winced at her shouting. “Are you really that stupid?!”

Reese clicked his tongue but didn’t respond. He didn’t seem surprised, offended or hurt by her words. He just accepted it, like he was used to it. It made me feel bad, that he truly thought himself to be that stupid or useless.

I noticed his elbows rested on his thighs instead of over the table, so I placed a hand over his forearm and squeezed it softly. When our eyes met, I smiled at him and he did too. Then, he didn’t seem all that bothered by his mother’s lecture anymore.

*

Everything settled down in the end and I ended up having a great time with the Wilkersons while we played charades after dinner. Lois was still convinced that I would do Reese some good sticking by his side since I was such a ‘good influence’ but everyone else relaxed and focused on the game instead of me.

When Reese and I got back in the car so he could drive me home, I was equally relieved yet sad to leave. His family might be a little crazy, but they were genuine and I appreciated them.

“So…” Reese began after a while, keeping his eyes on the road. “How did you like my family?”

“They were cool, but they were a lot”

“I know”

Another moment of silence followed, so I decided to lighten up the tension.

“You still owe me one, you jerk”

“What, why?”

“For what you just put me through!”

“You’re right”

“And… Wait, that’s it? No buts?”

“No, I should have told you as soon as I knew we wouldn’t be alone, but…” Reese frowned saddly. “I didn’t want you to get mad or not come. It was stupid, I’m sorry”

“Reese, you’re not stupid” I wanted him to stop feeling like that. “Maybe you’re not as… harmless or sensitive as I expected you to be, but you’re not dumb”

“What do you mean?” He pretended to be nonchalant, but I noticed how tightly he gripped the steering wheel.

“Just because you do stupid things, that doesn’t make you stupid”

“Why are you saying this?” Reese stopped the car, and I realized we had arrived.

“Because I know you think you are and I don’t want you to” Flustered by what I was admitting, I watched my house through the window. “Just because people say it, you don’t have to believe it”

He might not be the brightest, and he was a bit of a brute sometimes. But I had seen he could be sweet too, maybe even sensitive. He was just a bit of a mess, but then again so was I. After all, I knew what it felt like to have no friends, or to be judged by people. Or to hide my true feelings behind a facade. Mine was too nice, his was violent.

“What do you say we try this again some time?” Reese interrupted my train of thought. “Alone”

“No families?” I smirked, teasing him for the night we had just experienced.

“No families” He grinned, turning to face me completely.

“That sounds nice”

“Great”

“Great”

“It’s a date”

“Yeah, and it’d better be amazing”

“Why’s that?” I frowned, pausing when I realized he was smirking at me now.

“Because, as I said, you still owe me, remember? And-“ I was cut abruptly when he let out a mischievous chuckle, and his lips suddenly covered mine.

The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but it was surprisingly tender and filled with emotion and I treasured every milisecond of it. When we broke away, we looked into each other's eyes. In the end, I chuckled happily and so did he.

Tag list: @xionroxas // If you want me to add you or take you off the tag list, go ahead and tell me!

[shatteredglassanimated]

Shattered Glass Animated Season 1 Episode 3 - Transform and Rise Up!, Part 3

The Decepticons get to know their new allies a little more, but introductions are cut short when they discover they were not the only Cybertronians who crashed on earth and Overlord Sumdac is far from done with the Resistance...

“Failures! The whole lot of them!” Sumdac snarled, hauling his wrench at the wall next to the unfazed secretary-bot who had just reported to him. That was perhaps the only downside to having a non-human assistant, Sumdac thought. Machines might be more reliable, but they also lacked the satisfying utter fear in their eyes. They would not flinch, no matter how much his wrath flared up and that irked him. Everything he owned ought to fear him. Oh well. At least the robots were obedient. Not like that resistance-scum that had yet again managed to elude him. How they’d managed to somehow completely destroy that techno-organic abomination that some of his finest scientists had failed to contain or control was completely beside him. He’d been so sure that had them this time! So sure he had retreated to his laboratory for two days and had ordered the secretary-bot not to disturb him until his return. Clearly they’d had help. Perhaps even from the inside? Now here was something to consider. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. The high-tech weaponry, advanced enough to rival his toughest police-drones. The way his camera-bots seemed to mysteriously malfunction whenever a fight ensued between the resistance fighters and his own forces. Sumdac stroked his chin in thought. Yes, it seemed like the only logical conclusion. But who? It had to be someone high up, a human, obviously, intelligent enough to counter-engineer Sumdac-drones. Perhaps-

The comm on his desk sprang to life, interrupting his thought process. Sumdac growled and brought his fist down on the answer button, activating the small monitor. Seeing just who it was that had called him did nothing to improve his mood. A sturdy blond man with a much too eager look in his eye and a shiny badge pinned to his shirt. “What is it, Captain Fanzone?” Sumdac asked, in a tone that would have made a snow storm feel warm. “I am quite busy.” “Good morning, Overlord Sumdac,” Fanzone chattered giddily, either ignoring or not noticing his employers foul mood. “Me and the crew did a bit of clean-up in downtown, y’know, bringing back the drones that got shattered before the scavengers got to ‘em. We found a camera-bot and retrieved it’s footage - which is crispy clean, by the way. You couldn’t find a human making pictures like that in that situation! This is why I love machines-” “What did the footage show?” Sumdac interrupted, before Fanzone was able to descend into one of his unbearable gushing fits. He’d appreciated the man’s complete and utter loyalty and devotion to all things technological back when he’d hired him as his chief of police, but after soon thirty years of listening to his endless drivel, Sumdac wondered if perhaps he should have gone through with making his personal police force a hundred percent non-organic. At least robots had an off-switch. “Right, right! Well, I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t just seen it myself, to be honest I still don’t believe it. It’s amazin’, it’s groundbreakin’, it’s-” “Just send me the footage,” Sumdac groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. He felt a headache coming up. “Right away, sir!” A file popped up on his computer and Sumdac send the data over to the flat-screen facing his desk. As much as Fanzone liked to overstate, he had been right about the quality of the material the camera-bot had carried. The picture was sharp as could be. And what it showed raised Sumdac’s interest. Four gigantic robots, apparently able to transform into flying vehicles at will battled with his monster, each displaying a different set of skill and powers. The footage cut off when one of the beasts’ tentacles grabbed and crushed it in mid-air, but Sumdac had seen enough. He’d been right after all. The resistance had had help. Help from above. No wonder they had disabled his cameras. If he’d discovered their little secret earlier...although ‘little’ was perhaps not an apt descriptor for it. A sense of nostalgia overcame him as he thought back to that fateful evening fifty years ago. At that time he’d thought of his find as a once in a life-time occurrence. He wasn’t particularly angry to be proven wrong, though. Without knowing it, the resistance had possibly handed him just what he needed to sniff them out. He turned to switch on his computer, went through some files until he found what he was searching for, then contacted Fanzone again. “I am about to send you a probe of an energy signature. Do not attempt to find out what it belongs to, it is extremely rare and way over your head. You will feed it to a regiment of your police drones. And then you will dispatch them and let them search.” “So we’ve got a lead, sir?” Fanzone asked. Sumdac smirked. “Indeed we have. Tell the drones they have orders to take any robots they find and bring them to me, undamaged. And if they find any humans accompanying them, they are authorized to use lethal force.” ______________________________________________________________ A lean, great figure, raised it’s hand away from it’s head and left it’s hiding place outside the Terrordrome’s main tower to drop down onto and automated aircraft and onto the street. Transforming into a standard motorcycle and racing towards Downtown. ______________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, in an old abandoned factory on the outskirts of Detroit, the resistance in question were up to face another day. It had been a rather quiet two days since the incident and they’d gotten to know each other a little better. Currently, Amicable Archer had settled himself on Blitzwing’s shoulder and was rather enthusiastically explaining all the things that placed a bow above a regular plasma gun. The Decepticon listened and nodded politely after every second word or so, although he couldn’t for the spark of him understand what this conversation was actually about. But it was still fascinating to listen to a being that was so small and so vulnerable compared to him and his fellow ‘Cons, yet still threw himself into battle against opponents so much bigger and more lethal than himself to protect other humans. Lugnut and Cyrus were sitting side by side on an old assembly line, watching their respective partner and wishing desperately for them to break off and return. Neither of them knew how to talk to each other. Cyrus had mostly gotten over his discomfort after he realized the Decepticons were in no way associated with Sumdac, but they still unnerved him to a certain degree. So much so that he had forbidden Penny to interact with them until further notice. And although she had sulked quite a bit about his decision, she’d ultimately agreed to stay hidden in her room in their side of the factory, much to his relief. Lugnut felt much the same about the humans. He was by no means an organo-phobe, it was more that he’d never had the faintest idea what he was supposed to do with them. Most of the organic life he’d encountered in his life-cycle hadn’t really been intelligent enough to communicate in a way that he could understand and with how squishy and fragile organics were he’d always felt a mere touch with his giant metal claws was enough to make them wither away and/or break. True, this Cyrus looked a lot more put-together than his smaller companion, but still just as soft. The uncomfortable silence between them stretched out with every second, only highlighted by Archers’ and Blitzwing’s light-hearted chattering. Eventually, Cyrus gave an awkward cough and turned to Lugnut. “Umm, so. This ‘Cybertron’...is it...far away from earth?” “Very. Though without a proper star  map, I will be unable to tell you the exact distance.” “Ah. And, err...where did you guys say you came from again?” “New Kaon. It is the main capital of our colonies, a safe haven from the Autobots and their tyranny.” “Huh. Kinda like our factory’s a hideout from Overlord Sour-puss out there?” “...You could say that. Although New Kaon is much superior in size.” “I mean, if it’s supposed to host a whole bunch of you guys, I’d imagine it’d have to be.” Cyrus lifted one corner of his mouth in an uneasy smirk. Lugnut made a noise that could have been a laugh, but Cyrus couldn’t be entirely sure. The behemoths’ face wasn’t exactly what you’d call expressive. He came to the conclusion that, if Lugnut hadn’t been at least a bit amused by his comment, he’d have moved away by now and decided to leave it at that. The two of them continued to sit together in silence, though there was an air of comfort to it now. At the same time, Megatron and Blackarachnia were standing in the repair room. The techno-organic was checking the monitors showing  Starscream’s vital signs. He was still in stand-by, his condition having neither worsened nor bettered since her last check-up a few megacycles ago. Blackarachnia wasn’t sure how to feel about that. She supposed she should be glad he wasn’t going off-line at least. Megatrons was silent beside her, his optics firmly set on his second-in-command. She didn’t have the spark to tell him to leave and to be quite honest, there was no real need for her to do so either. It wasn’t like he was peeking over her shoulder non-stop. When Megatron hadn’t spend time getting to know their new human friends better, he had been in their makeshift med-bay, not saying or doing anything, just waiting for Starscream to wake up. Every time she came in, he would just mutely make room for her. The only time he had asked if she could tell him anything about his condition had been when he had entered the med-bay the morning after she had operated on Starscream to get his arm fixed on her behest. “We’ll just have to wait,” Blackarachnia had told him, trying hard to avoid his gaze by stubbornly busying herself with patching up his mangled servo. And that had been that. She finished her check on the monitor showing Starscream’s sparkbeats and ex-vented a little, turning to face Megatron. “I know you probably don’t want to hear this, but some time we have to discuss our next move. Particularly how we’re going to contact New Kaon.” She looked him right in the optics. “If what the humans say is to be believed, our crash-landing happened 50 of their years ago. And if my translations are correct, that means-” “We have been missing for 50 stellar cycles,” Megatron finished her sentence. There was fatigue in his voice. “I know. And you are right. Our main objective as of now should be to get in contact with our people. They need to know we haven’t perished. And that our expedition has been successful.” He ex-vented heavily, throwing one last look at Starscream and then turning towards the door. “Perhaps the humans can be of help. Their technology may not be as advanced as ours, but it has proven useful once already. If not communication, maybe we will at least be able to send a message.” Blackarachnia nodded, following him outside. When they entered the main hall they found themselves confronted by a very eager Blitzwing and not much less eager Amicable Archer standing on his shoulder. “Amicable Archer has just offered me to accompany him on one of his ‘patrols,” Blitzwing said, a wide smile on his face plate. “I feel that would help me learn more about the locals and their situation. With your permission, I would take him up on that offer.” Amicable Archer nodded. “Indeed! Methinks the metal knight would make a fine companion against Sumdac’s forces of evil.” Blackarachnia threw a cautious glance at Megatron. She knew he was usually more than capable of handling sudden requests, but it was safe to say the last few solar-cycles hadn’t really gone well for him. To her surprise, Megatron gave Blitzwing a soft smile with no trace of irritability or fatigue in it. “A good idea, Blitzwing. But do make sure to stay in contact. If this Sumdac is really as dangerous as our new friends say, he might well have something unpleasant waiting for us.” Blitzwing beamed. “I will! We will be back in about 2 megacycles.” “I doeth not know what that meaneth, but our watchful march should take no less than two hours,” Archer chimed in, putting his hands on his hips and striking a confident pose. __________________________________________________________ The two took off, Blitzwing transforming into jet mode in order to be less conspicuous. As Cyrus had told them in a rather bitter tone, drones flying their routes above Downtown wasn’t really anything special to the citizens and since everyone would be too busy keeping their head down and avoiding directly looking at whatever Sumdac aircraft was currently hovering over them, no one would notice that the jet was, in fact carrying someone. During their flight, Archer would occasionally point out places in which the resistance had fought (and won, as he never got tired to proudly proclaim) particularly tough battles against Sumdac’s forces. Ironically, the overlord’s stubborn refusal to use humans as well as robots in his newly instated police had made things a lot easier on the rebellion when it came to armed conflict. Since they weren’t in any danger of seriously harming some poor innocent sap who was forced to attack them they didn’t have to hold back and could use their bestowed weapons and abilities to their hearts’ content. As long as they made sure the civilians were evacuated first, of course. “After all, ‘tis our noble creed to protect the good people of Downtown from harm, not causeth them harm,” Archer said, crossing his arms and smiling proudly. “Funny,” Blitzwing mused. “We Decepticons have a similar ‘creed’, as you would say. We are programmed to respect and protect life at all costs. Before we came here, that usually meant the AllSpark. But you humans are life as well, which means we must protect you, too.” He paused for a second, before continuing: “Your little planet is so strange to me. You humans are so much smaller and so much more fragile than us and life has dealt you a heavy hand. Yet you just keep going and fighting the force that oppresses you, risking your life every time. It’s admirable, really.” “Oh, thou dost flatter, sir knight,” Archer chuckled, scratching the back of his head. “We doeth our best, but alas ‘tis not nearly enough to fully tame Overlord Sumdac’s forces, sadly. There art times I doth wish-” Archer suddenly interrupted himself and leaned forward to get a better look at the city passing below them. “Do I seeth smoke there?” A grey column rose in the distance before them, accompanied by a warm orange glow. “You humans have rather curious traditions,” Blitzwing said, chuckling nervously. Archer’s eyes widened. “Those arenst any traditions, friend! I knoweth these old factories, they have been shut down long ago when the tyrant Sumdac retreated the assembly of his armies into his fortress. Some of it’s old machinery musteth malfunctioned!” “But if I understand correctly, those buildings have long since been vacated. Why is it an issue if they get destroyed?” Blitzwing asked confused. “The fire couldeth take over to the city! Sumdac cares naught for the people who live here, so he will not send pawns to extinguish it in time if ever. We needeth to act!” Archer said, already fumbling for a particular arrow in his quiver. “Understood. Hang on tight, Archer.” Blitzwing turned towards the burning factory and put his thrusters to full power. Archer yelped as the sudden increase in velocity pressed him back into his seat. The two of them arrived and touched down a few meters away from the factory, Blitzwing transforming back into robot-mode as soon as the surrounding buildings hid them from sight. “Thankfully, our noble benefactor hast prepared me for this kind of calamity,” Archer beamed. He raised his hand to pull down a gas mask from a hidden pocket in his hat. The two took off into the fire. Blitzwing lowered his cannons, shooting ice beams into the highest fire walls. Ice crystals solidified in the spots the beams hit, suffocating the fire nigh instantly. Archer aimed arrows at the flames at his partner’s blind side, the tips of the projectiles releasing fire extinguishing foam upon exploding. In less than half an hour the fire was mostly under control, though Archer insisted on checking for any smaller flames they might have missed. They went deeper into the empty building, Archer lighting the way with yet another arrow. The ash and grime on the walls seemed to swallow the light as it hit them. The slowly melting ice created a steady background dripping. After the crackling and roaring of flames only a short time prior this place now seemed entirely too quiet. Archer had never liked places that were too quiet. It reminded him of... Cutting the memory off before it could fully form, Archer cleared his throat and stopped to turn to Blitzwing. “Well, it seemeth our work here is done. Shall we-” A quiet noise coming from the darkness interrupted him. It was a quiet, high-pitched sob, echoing from the high walls in an eerie manner. Blitzwing frowned. “It sounds like someone’s vocalizer is malfunctioning. Quite badly, in fact.” “We calleth that ‘crying’,” Archer said, slowly following the noise. “‘Tis a sign of distress and sadness among us humans. Though our youngest ones also often useth it to obtain things they doeth desire.” Not sure he entirely understood, Blitzwing followed the human. The light of the glowing arrow came upon a small human boy, curled up in the middle of the factory’s hall. His head was buried in his hands and he didn’t seem to have noticed them yet. Archer smiled warmly and approached the boy, extending a hand towards him. “Now what is a young one like you doing in a dismal place such as this? Didst thou get lost?” Blitzwing narrowed his optics. Something seemed off about this small organic. Archer had told him that humans were very susceptible to smoke and heat, to the point where it was impossible for them to function in an environment that had both aplenty. How had this little one be able to survive in here this long? And then the boy raised his head. It was only for a split-second and an organic eye wouldn’t have been able to catch it, but for a Cybertronians advanced optic it was visible enough. A flicker, like on a faulty monitor. Blitzwing’s optics widened. He jumped forward, servos closing around Archer’s body, just before an ear-shattering explosion blasted out the factory’s windows. ___________________________________________________________ Cyrus hated waiting. Especially if he had to wait alone. Sitting down and smelling the roses had never been his thing, not since Overlord Sumdac’s machines had overrun the city. Not that there had been many roses to smell after that. Aaron and Blitzwing had been gone for far too long for his liking now. And judging by the uneasy way Lugnut shifted beside him, he wasn’t the only one to think so. “Cyrus, was it not?” The voice startled him out of his thoughts and he jumped, looking upwards to meet Megatron’s worried blue....eyes? Lights? He wasn’t sure what they called it. It took him awhile to process what had been said to him. “Er, yeah. Yeah, that’s me.” “I do not mean to offend, but your human companion and Blitzwing have been gone for quite a while now. This patrol of yours, how long does it usually take?” Cyrus frowned. “Not that long actually. And seeing as they were doing it from a bird’s eye view it should’ve taken even less time today.” “I see,” Megatron answered. He seemed about as unsettled by this answer as Cyrus was. “Hey, um...you said you can stay in contact with each other, right?” Cyrus asked. Megatron nodded. “Maybe you should, y’know...contact him? Blitzwing? Just to be safe, I mean.” A penetrative beeping noise sprang up from Cyrus’ belt, making hism jump for the second time. “Sounds like somebody needs a check-up,” Blackarachnia pointed out. Cyrus looked down at the source of the noise, a small round device with a sleek white surface, his frown deepening. “No, that’s a distress signal. Archer, me and Pe- everyone else in the resistance has one of these communicators. We use it to call out to each other when we’re in a pinch.” He took the deice of the belt and tapped a button. “You okay, Archer? We’re all kind of starting to worry over here.” “As you should,” a metallic sounding voice responded. Megatron, Blackarachnia and Lugnut tensed up at hearing it, Blackarachnia even hissing slightly. “I must say, I never would have thought organics capable of constructing such a neat little communication device. It is remarkable primitive, but for your kind even that can be considered impressive.” Cyrus’ hand tightened around the communicator. “Who are you? What did you do with Archer?” “Nothing. Yet. And as for who I am...I am sure your new ‘allies’ can tell you more about that. We have met once before, after all,” the voice responded. Cyrus felt like he could hear the smug grin of its’ owner. He grit his teeth. “What do you want?” “First of all, I want to make sure that this is heard by the rest of the Decepticon-scum. Are they present?” “We are all here, Autobot,” Megatron answered, spitting out the word ‘Autobot’ like an insult. “I assume Blitzwing is with you as well?” “And you’d assume right,” the voice chuckled. “He is a bit worse for wear, but he’ll live...probably. Since you already deduced who I am, I will skip the introductions and get straight to the point. I know you are in possession of the AllSpark. And if you want your comrade and your precious little organic pet back, you will give it to me.” Megatron glared at the communicator in Cyrus’ hand. “We will need time to think about your offer. Give us a megacycle to debate.” “Stalling won’t help you, Decepticon-scum,” the voice spat. “But if you insist on wasting your friends’ time, you shall have your megacycle. And when it has passed, I expect to see you at these coordinates, with the AllSpark.” A light in the device flickered and it went out. Cyrus pressed another button on the surface, hurrying over to a control panel attached to a monitor and connecting the communicator with it. The screen flared to life, showing a map of Downtown with a small red dot flaring up to mark a specific spot. “I know that place,” Cyrus said, leaning forward. “It’s one of the abandoned factories on the other side of the city.” He turned back to the Decepticons, face hard. “If we hurry, we can make it there in under half an hour. We have to leave, now.” “Cyrus, it is not that simple,” Megatron said calmly. “We cannot rush into this without thinking. If this Autobot gets the AllSpark into his servos, this entire planet will be at risk.” “You’re not seriously suggesting that we’re refusing, are you?” Blackarachnia asked incredulously. “He’s got Blitzwing! And who knows what he’ll do to that human!” “Yeah, what she said!” Cyrus spoke up. “I’m not leaving Aaron with some crazy alien murder machine! I thought you Decepticons were the good guys and now you’re actually considering letting two hostages get who knows what done to them?” “You are both far too emotional.” Lugnut had stood up from his place on the assembly line and was now glaring at both Cyrus and Blackarachnia. “For once, I agree with Megatron. Handing the AllSpark over to the Autobot Empire is certain death. Two lives are not worth the prize of billions.” “So that’s it?” Blackarachnia asked, narrowing her optics at him. “We just let Blitzwing and the human die?” “We all must make sacrifices for the greater good,” Lugnut said gravely. “Do you think this is easy for me, Blackarachnia?” “I don’t know,” she hissed. “Isn’t it?” “Enough, both of you,” Megatron cut her off. “This is no time to argue amongst ourselves. Lugnut, I agree that the AllSpark must be kept from the wrong servos at all costs.” The big Decepticon straightened himself and opened his mouth to say something, but Megatron wasn’t finished. “However, I also share Blackarachnia’s feelings on the matter. We have already almost lost a fellow Decepticon yesterday. I do not wish to experience that again. Neither should an innocent human become victim of our wars.” Megatron turned and walked over to Cyrus, kneeling down in front of him. “Cyrus. You have stated that you know the place the Autobot has chosen for the exchange. Do you know it well enough to show one of us the ways around and inside it?” Cyrus nodded. “Yes, I think so. Aaron and I used to scout out these buildings regularly, in case we needed another hideout.” “Good,” Megatron said. “Then I would ask you to help us to prepare a nasty little surprise for our Autobot-friend. Though I must warn you, it won’t be without risk.” “Eh, what else is new?” Cyrus answered, giving a grin. “If it’ll knock that kidnapper down a few pegs, count me in!” Megatron smirked. “Oh, I should hope that it does. Here is what I need you to do...” ______________________________________________________________ Hothead rebooted to a a voice frantically calling Blitzwing’s name. In his processor he identified it as belonging to the organic who called himself Amicable Archer and whom Blitzwing had, apparently successfully, tried to protect from a booby trapped hologram. He groaned in annoyance, forcing the rest of his systems to reboot so he could access the situation and more importantly get Archer to stop yelling at him. His optical sensors reactivated slowly and he lifted his helm to see Archer standing on his chest, only a few centimeters away from his face-plate. Hothead quickly scanned the human’s body for any damage. Aside from a few tears in his costume and some grime on his face, Archer seemed unharmed. “Will you stop yelling at me, human?” Hothead snapped, still only half rebooted vocalizer making his voice sound hoarse. “My audials are functioning quite nicely.” Archer blinked in confusion and took a few steps backwards, but then shook his head as if recovering from some kind of stupor. “My apologies, friend. Thou seemeth to be rendered unconscious from that explosion and with the way the ghastly shadow knight treated thou, I wasnth sure you wouldeth make it.” He paused for a moment, as if uncertain about what to say next. “I couldeth not stop noticing that thine visage seemeth to have changed, along with thine manner of speech and demeanor. Artst thou truly not hurt?” Hothead ex-vented slightly. “No, I am alright. It is a long story. I am not the Blitzwing you know.. Let us leave it at that for now.” Suddenly remembering Archer’s earlier words, he frowned. “Who did you mean by ghastly knight? What-?” He tried to sit up and found that he couldn’t move his arms. A hastly look downward, revealed that someone had wound a thick metal cable tightly around his upper body, pinning his arms to his sides and keeping his cannons from lowering. Archer looked at him miserably. “I tried to stop him, but he tooketh my weapons and threatened to hurt thee.” “Not that he would have been able to stop me even with them. But I wanted to stay on the safe side. You never know with organics.” Hothead and Archer turned their head towards the source of the voice. A slender-looking Autobot with white armor-plating and a red triangular visor covering both of his optics was leaning on against the opposite wall with his servos crossed, giving a smug smirk. “I see you’ve finally decided to join us.” Hothead growled, trying to break his bonds. “You! I remember you, you cowardish, puny Autobot! Release me at once!” The Autobot chuckled. “So you can slag me like you almost did last time? I think not. And I’d advise you to behave.” He lowered his helm, so his line of sight now aligned with Archer. “You wouldn’t want anything to happen to the organic, would you?” “Touch him and you’ll burn, Autobot!” Hothead snarled. “Always so barbaric. You Decepticon-scum really are just mindless war machines,” the Autobot ex-vented in mock disappointment. “The only thing your kind is good for is destruction. Yet here you are, pretending like you’re actually capable of protecting anything.” Hothead flinched and grit his denta, lowering his helm. “Thou art wrong!” Both Hothead and the Autobot turned to look at Archer in surprise, who had lifted himself up to his full height and was now glaring at the Autobot. “Mine companion mayeth possess fearsome battle prowess, but that doeseth not make him less of a knight! He didst protect me from thy nefarious trap after all, didst he not?” For a moment, neither of the two Cybertronians said a word. Then the Autobot laughed. “You’ve certainly trained him well! If he was a little bigger he’d probably be easier to take seriously too, don’t you think?” Before Hothead could answer, the Autobot raised his helm as if listening for something, then put a digit to his auidal and smirked. “I’d love to stay and chat, but it looks like your friends just arrived with my AllSpark.” He walked out of the room, pressing a button on the other side of the entrance. A metal door slowly closed on cue. The Autobot grinned at them before it closed fully. “Don’t go anywhere.” _______________________________________________________ Megatron and Blackarachnia made their way into the burnt out building, carrying the AllSpark between them. Blackarachnia grimaced at the heavy smoke-smell in the air. It wasn’t bad enough to have a negative impact on her organic half but still strong enough to make her a bit uncomfortable. “Are you alright, Blackarachnia?” Megatron asked, giving her a worried look. “I can carry the AllSpark by myself, if you feel unwell.” Blackarachnia shook her helm. “I’m good. We should focus on getting Blitzwing and Archer back.” They stopped in the center of the hall, carefully lowering their cargo to the ground. “I see you’ve used your time well.” Blackarachnia and Megatron whirled around, taking defensive positions. Behind them stood an Autobot, servos crossed and an extremely smug expression on his face plate. Blackarachnia’s optics widened. “I know him! He was one of the ‘bots who boarded the ‘Nemesis’.” The Autobot laughed. “So you remember me? I’m flattered.” “I remember you getting your sorry soulanoid kicked by us,” Blackarachnia sneered. “Figures a spineless wimp like you would result to taking hostages.” The Autobot gave a derisive huff and put a hand on his hip, looking both of them over. “The name is Prowl. Though after this is over I won’t stay here long enough to get more acquainted.” His visor set itself on the AllSpark. “Leave it here and retreat.” “I think not, Autobot,” Megatron said coolly, stepping forward and drawing his sword. “Let us see the hostages first.” Prowl gave him an irritated look. “You will see them once I have the AllSpark. Now step away.” Instead of answering, Megatron gestured Blackarachnia to step aside, raising his sword over the AllSpark. “I do not like to repeat myself, Prowl. Release the hostages or I will destroy the AllSpark.” Prowl stiffened. “You wouldn’t dare.” “Wouldn’t I?” Megatron responded coldly, returning Prowl’s glare with steady optics. The Autobot hesitated, standing in place. Time seemed to stand still as the three Cybertronians stood off against each other, trying to figure out the enemy’s next move. _________________________________________________________ “Are you certain this is the right place?” Lugnut asked, optic trained on the wall in front of him. Cyrus was currently feeling said wall with both of his hands, teeth grit in frustration. “Give me a break, I haven’t been here in weeks! Ah, there we go.” He peeled off a part of the wall, revealing a hidden panel and pressed one of the buttons. Cyrus stepped back and watched nervously as the seemingly solid steel folded in on itself to form an entrance about Lugnut’s size. “Gotta be honest with you, I had no idea if this old  delivery gate even still worked. We found it some time during our second or third visit here and noted it as a possible emergency exit, if we ever decided to camp here. Guess I’m glad we didn’t now.” They entered the building together, treading carefully. After a while, Lugnut suddenly grabbed Cyrus carefully with his claw, making him yelp in surprise and placed him on his shoulder. “It is dark in here. I do not wish to step on you by accident,”he stated, when Cyrus gave him a confused look. “Er..thanks.” Cyrus stood up and balanced himself on the side of Lugnut’s helm. “Though maybe give a little warning next time.” Lugnut nodded. “Understood.” They made their way through the halls, Lugnut’s searchlights showing them the way. “Pick anything up yet?” Cyrus asked, stretching to look ahead into the darkness. “A faint Decepticon-signal, but it is dampened. Blitzwing must be damaged to some capacity.” Lugnut’s optic shrunk, an expression Cyrus had learned to identify as his version of a scowl. “The Autobot-filth will regret this.” “I hear ya,” Cyrus growled. “Still got a bone to pick with that guy for kidnapping Aaron.” Lugnut and Cyrus followed the signal until they came to a locked heavy metal door, not unlike the hidden one Cyrus had used to get them in. “The signal is clearest here,” Lugnut said, eyeing the door up and down. “They must be close.” “Great! Put me down, so I can-” Before Cyrus had the chance to finish his sentence, Lugnut retracted his right arm and rammed it into the door full-force. A loud crash, amplified by the echo of the empty hallway rung through the air. ______________________________________________________________ As soon as the sound reached the hall, Prowl whirled around. “What the-?” Blackarachnia lunged for him before he could run - only for her servos to close around nothing as the hologram of Prowl disappeared into thin air. She caught herself, cursing. “Slag! Of course he’d use that trick again.” “That was a mistake, Decepticon,” Prowl’s voice came from the shadows around them, impossible to pin down. “Your friends will not appreciate this.” Blackarachnia and Megatron positioned themselves back to back, searching the darkness for some hint of their opponent. “He has us pinned,” Megatron said through grit denta. “If we move he will either attack or flee without us even seeing him.” “Yeah, he- wait, seeing?” Blackarachnia’s optics widened. “That’s it! How was he able to react us in exactly the right way, if he was never really here? He has to have been close by. It was the same on the ‘Nemesis’! He attacked Lugnut right after his hologram was destroyed, as if he was just a few steps away.” She turned her helm to Megatron. “Fire your cannon about a few mechanometers to the right!” Megatron raised his free arm and fired at the spot she had pointed out. A startled yell came from the area the shot had hit and a heavy ‘clunk!’ filled the hall. The Decepticons turned, Megatron aiming his searchlight towards the sound. Prowl lay on the floor, glaring up at them and holding his left servo. It was almost entirely shot off, only a fracture of a base skeleton and a few sparking cables remaining. “You’ll regret this,” he growled, pushing himself to his pedes and taking a shaky step towards them. Before either of the three could do anything further, the door behind him was blown open, shrouding the room in smoke. When it cleared again, Lugnut stepped into the room, Cyrus and Archer riding on his right shoulder, while he supported a limping Hothead on his left. “Where is that  Autobot-filth?” Hothead shouted, trying and failing to push himself away from Lugnut and stand on his own servos. “I will incinerate him! Let me go!” “Thou art barely able to stand, friend,” Archer chuckled. “Perhaps thy vengeance can waiteth until a time thou art well again?” “Listen to the human, Hothead,” Lugnut said. Hothead growled, but he stopped struggling. “Hey guys,” Cyrus called to Blackarachnia and Megatron. “Where is that Autobot?” Megatron looked around, frowning. “It appears he has gotten away.” “And he didn’t exactly leave us with good wishes,” Blackarachnia added grimly. “We should go after him.” Megatron thought for a moment, then shook his helm. “We should get Blitzwing and the AllSpark to safety first. The Autobot was hurt. He will not come far.” After gathering up the AllSpark and Blackarachnia doing a quick patching up of Hothead’s wounds, the group took off in vehicle mode, Cyrus and Blackarachnia riding on Lugnut, while Archer remained with Hothead. When they arrived back at the resistance’s base, they were greeted by a bust-in entrance. Rubble from the door was strewn about and destroyed Sumdac-drones littered the area. “What the spark happened here?” Blackarachnia exclaimed. “Oh nothing to worry about really,” a familiar voice answered her. Megatron perked up upon hearing it, hope and joy filling his optics. Could it be-? It was. Starscream stepped out from the base’s entrance, smiling. “It is good to see you all again. Though we did have everything under control.” He turned his helm and raised his hand to give a (very gentle and disproportionate) high-five to a small girl with short pink hair who had made herself comfortable on his shoulder plate. “Hi Cyrus, hi Aaron,” she beamed, waving a wand-like object with a glowing tip at the two other humans. “I made a new friend!” _________________________________________________________ Prowl dragged himself through the empty narrow side streets, flinching every time his ripped off arm emitted a spark. This solar cycle had not gone at all like he imagined. As if waking up on this primitive planet wasn’t bad enough, that disgusting techno-organic had actually managed to see through his technique and now he would have to spend precious time to find a repair shop. At least things couldn’t possibly get any worse. A metallic noise sounded to his right and he turned his helm. A large assembly of drones, a sinister-looking ‘S’ engraved on their torsos stood there. “Energy signature match,” they chanted in unison. “Retrieve subject. Return to base. Retrieve subject. Return to base. Retrieve-”

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z 207

A couple of episodes back, Videl asked Gohan to teach her how to fly.    Today, she’s come to collect on that lesson.   

The problem is that Gohan flies by manipulating the ki in his body to propel himself in midair, but Videl doesn’t even know what ki is.    So Goten blows up a rock to demonstrate what they’re talking about, but Videl has never encountered such a thing before.  

And Videl gets pretty frustrated over this, probably because Gohan and Goten take it for granted.  

This episode has always fascinated me, because it’s the first time that DBZ really goes into how the super powers work.   In Dragon Ball, Goku starts out about the same level as Videl.    Maybe a step behind, even.    But he learns superhuman abilities so gradually over time that it’s hard to tell where the line is between regular martial artists and gonzo-powered martial artists.    Flight didn’t really become a thing until Tien showed up, and sustained flight over long distances wasn’t really a thing until the Saiyans Saga.  

In DBZ, Gohan didn’t even learn ki from anyone.    He just zapped some wood in one episode to start a fire.    That was around the time Piccolo abandoned him to fend for himself for six months.    I assume Piccolo taught him how to fly later on, but I found it curious how Gohan managed to master ki control on his own.   Yeah, he was a prodigy, but still.    

So it’s kind of interesting to see him trying to explain it to someone else.    in Dragon Ball, this sort of knowledge had to be discovered by traveling the world and proving your worth to some obscure master.    Gohan seems to think that everyone knows about ki, and Videl just calls it something else.   I suppose this is because Gohan’s lived his whole life surrounded by people who know about it.  

Gohan sends Goten off to play while he gives Videl a demonstration.    He doesn’t really explain how he’s making a li’l energy ball in his hands, except for vague instructions like “clear your mind”, and the repeated assurance that all living things have ki energy.   

But it’s not so easy for Videl to replicate his ability, an this really seems to bother her.    I’m not sure why, unless it’s because she’s used to being pretty good at martial arts, and she doesn’t like running into a technique like this where she knows nothing about it.   

They break for lunch, and Videl praises Chi-Chi’s cooking as much better than what her cook makes back home.   Chi-Chi realizes Videl’s rich, so she asks how many rooms they have in her house.  

Videl isn’t even sure, so she guesses fifty, and Chi-Chi immediately starts to take a liking to her.    She asks Gohan when they plan on getting married.

And Gohan does a spit take, only his mouth is full of rice and he spits it all over Goten.   

Later, Videl finally gets the hang of Gohan’s lesson, and she looks so happy when she pulls it off.   Gohan’s impressed that she managed it so fast, but she still has to learn to control her ki in order to fly.  

Meanwhile, Goku’s training in Otherworld.   The South Kai shows up to talk smack, and to introduce his latest acquisition, Papoi, a warrior from the South Galaxy who recently died.   

King Kai suggests that Papoi enter the 25th Budokai, but I don’t see how he can.   Goku’s been given permission to return for one day, and maybe Papoi is entitled to the same privelige, but why would he want to blow it on this?   He could fight Goku whenever he wants on the Grand Kai Planet.    Anyway, King Kai show off by having Goku switch from two-ton weights to ten-ton weights.    The five-fold increase is difficult for Goku until he turns Super Saiyan, which is why this episode is often cited by battleboard nerds trying to calculate power level charts or mathematically prove that Goku could beat Superman.   In any event, South Kai and Papoi suddenly decide they have other plans for that day.

Back on Earth, Gohan checks in on his students to find they kind of suck at this.   Goten just keeps jumping up and down, while Videl looks like she’s trying to launch herself into the air through sheer force of will.

But Goten can actually understand Gohan’s instructions, so he figures it out first.    Unfortunately, he only manages to get into the air, and when he tries to go fast he ends up crashing into the ground.     Goten wishes Videl would leave so they could train more seriously, but Gohan can’t send her away until she can fly, so he’s gotta wait.  

Videl insists on staying until she gets it down, but fortunately she’s a quick study.    By the end of the day she manages to float a few inches off the ground, which really impresses Gohan, since he never dreamed she’d get this far on her first day.

Of course, Goten picked it up much more quickly, but Gohan explains that he understood ki already. 

So Videl decides to leave, but she insists on returning tomorrow.    Gohan tries to talk her into practicing alone, but she won’t hear of it.  

So then Gohan suggests that Videl cut her hair.    She blushes and asks if he prefers girls with short hair, and he backs off and says all this stuff about how short hair is better in a fight, since it can’t get in your face and it’s harder for an opponent to grab it.   

Then Videl gets upset and flies off in a huff.    In her aircraft, I mean.   She isn’t good enough at flying to fly home under her own power. 

Meanwhile, Trunks turns Super Saiyan while training with Vegeta in the gravity room at Capsule Corp.    Vegeta had no idea he could do this, but Trunks wants to train harder, because he heard from Goten that he and Gohan plan to enter the Budokai next month.  

So Vegeta decides to test Trunks’ power with some sparring.   Trunks doesn’t get it at first, but Vegeta offers to take him to the amusement park if Trunks can land a single blow.    Also, Vegeta’s been hitting the steroids pretty hard lately.   Dude looks like a He-Man doll. 

Trunks gives it a shot, and he actually does manage to hit his dad once...

...And Vegeta instinctively hits back.     He’s visibly worried at first...

But he’s okay, albeit a bit upset that Vegeta didn’t warn him he would be fighting back.   Nothing a trip to the amusement park can’t fix.

Before they go, Vegeta asks how Trunks stacks up compared to Goten, and Trunks says he’s a little stronger, mostly because he’s a year older and Goten can’t fly.  

Now, episode 2 of Dragon Ball Super establishes that Vegeta didn’t take Trunks to the park until after the end of the Buu arc, but I consider this to be bullshit.   I prefer to think that he took him immediately after this episode, because he said he would, after all.   

Back at Gohan’s house, Videl returns the next day, as promised...

With a really short haircut.  Okay, so I know there are fans who prefer the original pigtails look, and I get it.    It’s a cute design.    But for me, nothing  can top this short hair look, because this episode provides a story to explain it.   Gohan told her to cut her hair, and then the next time we see her, she has shorter hair.    And neither of them are willing to admit why this has happened, but we know, don’t we, folks?

This here is chemistry.    If I off-handedly suggested some lady make some aesthetic change, and then she actually went and did it... well, I’d probably react a lot like Gohan, to be honest.    That’s a lot of pressure, to have that kind of influence over someone’s look.     Then again, you gotta figure this is exactly why Videl did it.   Not because he suggested it, but because she knew it would drive him wild if she went through with it.   The pigtails just can’t compare to that.

[psychosistr]

A Playful Spark- Chapter 5, Present Day

Summary: Quackerjack returns to the hideout he shares with his electrifying partner and some interesting facts come to light when they have a conversation regarding their names...

Notes: Final chapter! Hope everyone enjoyed the short but (mostly) sweet and fluffy ride xD

-First Chapter-

<-Previous Chapter

~Age: No Longer Sure~

Quackerjack kicked open the door of his current hideout with a chuckle, a bag of stolen goodies hoisted over his shoulder. “Oh Sparky, I’m hoo~ooome!” He called up towards the top of the lighthouse.

“Don’t call me Sparky!” Came the immediate reply of his electrically themed partner in crime from up the stairs.

Quackerjack giggled to himself as he hauled the loot up the stairs so he could show it off to the other super villain.

The insane toy making enthusiast had been introduced to the amped-up lightbulb liberator through another super villain named Negaduck, who, together with Quackerjack, his partner Megavolt, and their cohorts Dr.Bushroot and the Liquidator, formed a terrifying group dubbed “The Fearsome Five” that briefly took over St. Canard and regularly committed great acts of theft and mayhem throughout the town.

While he didn’t see the others as regularly outside of Fearsome Five (Fearsome Four if Negaduck was absent) work, he’d formed a rather special bond with the charged menace and found himself spending more and more time with the rodent. They worked exceptionally well together, able to match each other’s strengths and weaknesses quite well.

It also didn’t hurt that Megavolt was just as insane as Quackerjack AND that he shared the jester’s love of puns, jokes, and theatrics.

Aside from their bond as villains, though, Quackerjack couldn’t help but feel a certain kind of kinship with the unhinged rat that he hadn’t felt with anyone in a particularly long time. Even outside of causing mayhem and destruction, he liked spending time with the other villain doing whatever either one of them felt like in that particular moment. It didn’t take long at all for the two to become partners in more than one way…

As he reached the top of the stairs and tossed the bag into the room carelessly, Quackerjack finally got a good look at his electrifying counterpart.

The yellow-wearing rat was currently hard at work on some blueprints for a new gadget that he said would give them control of every electronic lock in the city- allowing them to steal its most heavily guarded items with ease. Megavolt had a strained look of concentration on his face as he frantically scribbled across the paper, likely trying to jot everything down before he forgot about it again.

With a mischievous smirk, Quackerjack snuck over to his distracted partner and placed his hands over the other villain’s goggles to cover his eyes. “Guess who, Sparky?”

“Quackyyy!” Megavolt groaned in frustration as he pulled the toy maker’s hands off of his goggles. “I told you to stop calling me Sparky!” As if in counterpoint to his claims, or as a demonstration of his nickname, a small spark of electricity jumped from his whiskers when he turned to glare at the duck.

“Aww, lighten up, Megsy!” Quackerjack teased, putting his hands on the other’s fluffy cheeks so he could squish them together. “Sparky’s a great nickname!”

“No, it’s annoying.” Megavolt said while swatting the other’s hands away with a pout. He then folded his arms and looked away, clearly sulking. “Can’t you call me something else since we’re, you know, dating?” He paused, blinked twice as if something just occurred to him, then looked back up at Quackerjack with a confused expression. “We..are dating, right, Jackie? Or is that something I just thought up?”

Quackerjack giggled quietly and wrapped his arms around his partner’s neck with an amused smile. “Yeah, Megs, we’re dating.” Megavolt’s short-term amnesia problem had made the first few months of their relationship interesting, resulting in many times where Quackerjack had to remind him of the TRUE nature of their partnership. He didn’t mind repeating himself a few times- after all, it just meant he got to do little things like give Megavolt a first kiss all over again! “Besides,” He continued after giving the rodent a smooch on the tip of his long nose. “If we weren’t dating, you wouldn’t know my name!”

He let go of the confused rat and walked over to where he’d left his stolen goodies, pulling out an equally mixed assortment of valuables, money, and snacks. He found one of his favorite chocolate bars and peeled the wrapper off so he could take a big bite, humming in satisfaction as he ate.

“I know your name?” Megavolt asked, walking over to join Quackerjack and take out the loot. He grabbed a chocolate bar as well and peeled it open to take a bite.

“Mhm, you said it a minute ago- you called me Jackie.” Quackerjack explained, finishing his chocolate bar and tossing the wrapper aside carelessly.

“I did?” Megavolt questioned, still looking confused. “I thought I called you Quacky?” He finished his candy as well and tossed the wrapper aside in a similar fashion.

“You did, but you called me Jackie, too.” Quackerjack paused briefly to think over a rather crucial bit of information. “Say, Megsy, I don’t think we ever actually TOLD each other our names, did we?”

“Did we?” Megavolt wondered aloud, trying hard to remember if they had or not. “We must have, right? How else would I know YOURS?”

Quackerjack shrugged. “Could’ve just been a lucky guess. Buuuuut-” He cartwheeled over to the still confused rodent and pointed at him dramatically. “You should tell me your name, too, Sparky!”

Megavolt gave his companion a half-hearted glare. “If I do, will you quit calling me Sparky for five minutes?” When Quackerjack just shrugged again with a giggle, Megavolt rolled his eyes. “Fiiiiiine. But you have to promise not to laugh!”

“Sure thing, sparkles.” Quackerjack teased with a chuckle, one hand moving so he could cross his fingers behind his back.

Megavolt grimaced at the irritating pet name and hesitated a moment more before glancing away and finally revealing his name. “…It’s..It’s Elmo…”

Quackerjack’s previous chuckling came to a sudden and abrupt halt.

A simple name. Four letters, two syllables.

A once familiar word he hadn’t said aloud in who knew how long.

“El..mo..?” He repeated the name back, his voice trembling as he stared at the rat in disbelief.

There’s no way…

He couldn’t be…

“Yeah, yeah..” Megavolt said irritably. “I know, it’s a dorky name. Go ahead and get it out of your syst-AAAH!” He yelped when the clown suddenly tackled him to the ground, hovering over him with a strangely desperate and bewildered look on his face. “Owww!” He whined from the pain of hitting the ground, reaching around to rub the back of his head. “What was that for Quack..er..jack..?” He trailed off when he finally took notice of the way the duck was looking at him. “What???”

Quackerjack didn’t answer his friend at first. Instead, he just reached down with shaking hands and began to remove the other’s hat and goggles.

Everything else about him fit: The name, the rest of his face, the engineering brilliance, the fascination with electricity, the way they got along so well, his sense of humor-

He wanted so desperately for his assumption to be true, but he HAD to be sure.

Once he finally had the confused rat’s hat and goggles off of his head for a change, he let out a choked gasp. “Elmo..”

There was no mistaking it..

The brown hair and the shape of his head confirmed it.

He may have changed a little due to age and his eyes had shrunken quite a bit, but he really WAS Elmo Sputterspark.

While he was busy being blown away by this revelation, Megavolt was getting frustrated from his position beneath the jester on the floor. “You’re weirding me out, Quackerjack..more than usual..can you just get o-?” His complaining stopped when the bird above him suddenly wrapped both arms around the electric rat in a tight embrace and he buried his face against a yellow-clad shoulder. “Quacky..?” He asked with a frown, clearly confused by the other’s extra-weird behavior.

Quackerjack’s body began to tremble as he held onto the smaller man, almost as if he were afraid to let go. “Heh..heheh..ehehaha..” A sudden giggle-fit consumed him that rapidly escalated into full-blown manic laughter. “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAHAAHAHHAHAH!”

Megavolt finally had enough of the duck’s odder-than-usual behavior and managed to sit up, giving the duck a light shove so that he began to roll around on the floor during his laughing fit. “I don’t get it- what’s so funny?” He asked with an annoyed pout.

“LIFE!” Quackerjack answered breathlessly between his loud bouts of laughter. “Life is HILARIOUS, Elmo! LIFE! Woohoohoohaha! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!” The insane clown eventually gained enough control over himself again to sit back up and give the beyond-confused electrophile a proper explanation. He did so by reaching into the chest area of his costume and pulling out something that was carefully preserved in a plastic baggy. “Do you remember this?” He asked, handing the object over to Megavolt.

“??” The rodent took the offered bag with a curious tilt of his head. He saw that inside the baggy was a worn out photograph of a young rat boy and an older duck boy dressed as a pair of prisoners with the words “Jackie and Elmo, PARTNERS IN CRIME!” around the white boarder. “This..This is..me..and..” Megavolt stared at the image for several seconds before something seemed to click in his mind and he turned to the smiling duck with wide eyes. “You…” Unfortunately, he seemed to get the wrong meaning from the picture because this time he was the one to tackle the other to the ground. He held the grinning madman by the front of his shirt while his other hand held the picture tightly. “Where did you get this?! I swear, if you hurt him, I’m gonna-!!”

“Slow your roll, Mo.” Quackerjack giggled, thinking the other looked so cute when he was all protective and angry like that. “I’m not THAT much of a masochist- I wouldn’t hurt myself over a picture.”

Megavolt apparently still didn’t get the meaning behind the other’s words, electricity sparking along the hand that was holding the duck’s colorful costume serving as a clear sign of his frustration. “What are you talking about, Quackerjack?”

With a smile that was slightly less insane than his usual ones, Quackerjack brought his hands up towards his bizarre hat-mask combination. “You don’t have to call me that, y’know. I already told you, Mo-” He pushed the fabric up enough to reveal his face to the other super villain. “Call me Jackie.”

Megavolt stared long and hard at the face below him before, with a blink that left his eyes wider than before, a jolt of electricity visibly passed up his body and through his hair- as if the realization was trying to physically manifest itself. “!!” He dropped the picture and brought a quivering hand to the clown’s face, touching it as though he wasn’t sure if what he was seeing was real or not. “J..Jackie…?”

Quackerjack grinned up at the stunned rat and placed one of his own hands over the one on his face. “Took you THAT long to get it, Mo? Guess you really did fry your brain, huh?”

“You-You were wearing a mask!” The rodent looked slightly embarrassed over being called out in such a way. “How was I supposed to know it was you?!”

“Are you kidding me?” Quackerjack asked as he sat up abruptly, knocking both of them over in the other direction so he was on top again. “I used the same name as my toy company! How could you not know?! And why didn’t you ever come visit me, you jerk?! I was worried sick!”

“I…I forgot..” Megavolt admitted with a frown, bringing a hand to his head as a look of pain crossed his face. “I couldn’t remember where you lived..or where I lived..I couldn’t remember where to find you or what your company was called..I barely remembered my own name, but I…I tried so hard to make sure I at least remembered YOU..I-I couldn’t remember your voice, but I tried to hold on to your face..” He opened his eyes and looked up at his closest friend in the world with an expression full of pain and remorse. “I’m…I’m sorry, Jackie…I tried..I-I really..”

“Elmo..” Quackerjack’s expression softened as he sat back up, pulling the other into his arms the same way he had so many times when they were younger. A hand instinctively found its way to the other’s slightly singed hair and pet it in a familiar, soothing motion. “It’s alright, buddy..we’re together now..” He hugged him tighter and planted a kiss on his cheek. “I’ve got my partner in crime again.” He tilted both of their heads down so that their foreheads could touch and he closed his eyes with a peaceful smile on his face.

“Heh, me too.” Megavolt said with a small smile, wrapping his own arms around the older duck and holding onto him just as tightly. “…Hey..Jackie..?”

“Yeah, Mo?” Quackerjack asked while opening one eye so he could look into the other’s shrunken pupil.

The sight that greeted him was a bright smile on that familiar-yet-new face. “Guess I’m finally old enough to take you out for that drink, huh?”

“Pfft! Hahahaha!” The question earned a snort of laughter from the duck. “I guess you are, kid!” He jumped up to his feet agilely, pulling the maniacal rat up with him. “C’mon, let’s paint the town red!” He joked while pulling his red mask/hat back into place.

“We’ll light up the night!” Megavolt cackled in agreement, putting his own hat and goggles back on and sparking brightly with electricity while taking Quackerjack’s hand in his own.

Jumping down the stairs two at a time while Megavolt walked at a steady pace beside him, Quackerjack couldn’t resist bringing up something that he felt needed to be said. “Oh yeah, by the way- I kicked your old man’s butt.”

Megavolt let out a loud laugh at that. “Really? Great! He was a jerk!…At least, I think he was…”

Quackerjack chuckled in agreement. “Yeah, he was. He punched me, so I kicked his butt…and his head, guts, ribs, and chest. Your parents refused to come back after that, for some reason.” He giggled gleefully as he remembered the feeling of beating the obnoxious rodent with such primal rage. He was suddenly jerked to a halt when he realized that the voltage junkie behind him had stopped moving. “Hm?” He tipped his head all the way back so he could see Megavolt upside down behind him. “What’s up, Megsy?”

Megavolt had a dark scowl on his face, eyes narrowed. “He HIT you?!” Sparks began flying off of his body as he seethed in anger. “Ooooh, if I ever get my hands on him, I’ll-!!” He didn’t even finish his threat, he just let out a frustrated shout and shot electricity out in a wide burst around himself and Quackerjack.

The crackling energy tickled as it raced across the duck’s body, like it always did whenever his partner let loose. He was more than used to it and often enjoyed the feeling, but, for some reason, it seemed especially attractive to him in that moment.

“Ya know, Mo..” He began with a giggle, wrapping his arms around the other villain’s shoulders. “You’re kinda cute when you’re crazy.” He pulled the startled rodent that was still standing a couple steps above him into a surprise kiss.

At first, Megavolt was too startled to do anything, but his body guided him in the proper way to kiss his partner back while his mind was still catching up. When they eventually broke apart for air, Megavolt had dull waves of static circulating around his body that were being passed along to Quackerjack’s own, causing their respective fur and feathers to fluff up slightly.

“You’re cute when you’re crazy, too, Jackie.” He said with a slightly unhinged grin. “And I love you for it.”

Quackerjack returned the grin with a less-than-sane smile of his own. “Love ya too…Sparky.” He finished with a hysteric laugh at the glare the other man shot him.

Together, the pair ventured out into the night with plans to muscle their way into a fancy restaurant and, likely, steal the wallets and valuables of the rich customers while they were there.

Many things had changed for them over the years: Neither had gotten what they dreamed of in life. Neither of them had a family or a home to go back to. Neither of them were sane, and probably never would be again.

However, those things mattered far less than what had remained the same between them:

They were still the best of friends and partners in crime, no matter what life threw at them.

<-Previous Chapter

End Notes: Decided to keep the last chapter short but sweet. This was a lot of fun to write and it was fun revisiting one of my first ever villain ships. I have plans for future fics involving these two, as well as my other favorite villainous ship from the Fearsome Five XD

Also, since this is the end, just wanted to share the fact that I partially based the events of this fic off of the relationship between my cousin and his husband. They met when they were kids, with my cousin being about 8-9 years younger than his future husband. They were close friends growing up and, around the time he got into high school, my cousin started to realize that he was gay and, at the time, the only one he told was his best friend, who also came out to him as being gay.

My cousin ended up developing a crush on his friend and eventually told him, but his friend had to turn him down because of his age. They got separated for a while and lost touch just because of school and work and life- my cousin finished high school early and went to college and his friend’s company had him move out of state, plus it was before the big boom of social media so they didn’t have as many ways to keep in touch.

They met up again years later in a gay bar in New York and started flirting with each other, and eventually started going out. It wasn’t until they’d been dating for a few months that they finally realized who the other was: My cousin’s then-boyfriend came over to his apartment to pick him up for a date and, while he was waiting for him, he looked at the pictures my cousin had on his wall and shelves and stuff, and spotted one of the two of them from when they were kids.

Needless to say, they had a big “OH MY GOD, IT’S YOU?!!!!” moment before they broke down laughing and caught each other up on their lives. They’ve been together for over twenty years now and they were one of the couples that rushed to the courthouse as soon as gay marriage became legal in New York XD

[imagine-loki]

Packless Monsters

TITLE: Packless Monsters CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: 26/? AUTHOR: nekoamamori ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine you’re a werewolf who ends up in the company of Loki in the Avenger’s tower after saving Pepper’s life RATING: M NOTES/WARNINGS: Also on AO3 click here

     “Stark, have you had any luck finding out where that box came from? Or how it got under the Christmas tree?” Cap asked over breakfast Monday morning. Loki and Thor must’ve told Cap and Tony about the collar Jareth had sent you.

    “It came in with the mail. No one thought anything about yet another Christmas present coming in. We all get so many,” Tony answered finally, sounding frustrated. “Jarvis is screening any future mail that comes for the puppy so we don’t get any more nasty surprises,”

    “I’m not a puppy!” you growled down the table at him, though you were relieved that the team had looked into it and were finding a way to keep something like that from happening again.

    *

    You held tightly to Loki’s hand as you boarded the SHIELD jet that came to collect the team after breakfast. “What’s wrong?” Loki asked when your grip tightened on his hand.

    You loosened it sheepishly. “Sorry. Nervous. I’ve never flown before,” you explained.

    Loki gave you the barest hint of a smile. “Nothing to fear, little wolf,” his tone had changed, getting a harder edge around the SHIELD agents. He was more hostile and defensive around them, though in the absolute most polite way possible. It was a defense against how badly they disliked him. All it made you do was to comfort your Loki and get him to smile again. You also saw what he wouldn’t say: even holding your hand was showing more sentiment and feelings than he wanted to display in front of these strangers.

    You dropped his hand and smiled at him when he looked at you to see what you were up to. He was so used to your presence nearly always including physical contact that the absence got his attention. He huffed in exasperation when he realized that you’d read him too well and had taken his comfort into account above yours. He draped a possessive, protective arm over your shoulders, glaring at the agents who dared look at you. “Finally found a Midgardian whose company you can stand?” one of the older agents teased. You grinned, he had seen through Loki’s act too.

    “Yes, this little mortal amuses me. And she’s mine,” Loki glowered at the man who was looking you over, interested in the person who Loki could stand.

    “I’m no more mortal than you are, your highness,” you teased, sticking your tongue out at him. He turned to you with a disapproving look, he’d been avoiding announcing you were a werewolf. You bounced up on your toes to kiss him. “Drop the act, Lo. They’ve seen through it. Besides, we’ve been plastered kissing all over the tabloids and news. I think they know you like me.” Loki sighed heavily in exasperation, but his cold mask faded away.

    “Annoying puppy,” he grumbled in loving exasperation.

    “Stubborn god,” you teased back. With that settled, you finally took seats in the jet. Tony handed over the briefcase that held his Ironman suit. The rest of the uniforms and weapons were also given over to the agents, except Mjolnir, since no one else could lift it.

    The jet took off and you watched out the window like an excited child, fascinated. The novelty wore off quickly, though and you settled back in your seat. Loki was reading, as per usual. You peered over his shoulder to see what he had chosen. It was some text on magic you couldn’t read, so you lost interest in that quickly. You looked around for something to do. Loki wrapped his arm firmly around you and pulled you against his side without looking up from his book. “If I’m telling you not to go looking for mischief, that is a bad sign indeed, little wolf,” he teased, still holding you firmly. You stuck your tongue out at him in reply. He handed you a book. “Read quietly,” he told you firmly, but warmly. “I dislike flying and I feel better knowing you’re safely here with me as opposed to bouncing around annoying everyone,” he explained.

    “Fine,” you huffed, but it was in teasing. You curled more comfortably against him and opened your book. He kept an arm around you, but relaxed his grip. Everyone else seemed to relax once you were occupied as well.

    “Um…Mr. Loki, sir?” a terrified looking, obviously new, agent was standing in front of Loki a couple minutes later.

    “Mr. Loki?” you giggled at the odd term of address. The kid flushed.

    Loki rolled his eyes. “They refuse to address me by my proper title,” he told you mournfully. “Though they manage to address the cat-man by his proper title,”

    “Loki,” Thor’s voice was a warning, but not a severe one, just a simple reminder to his brother to behave and stop tormenting the agents.

    The kid found his courage again. “Sir, it’s regulation. You know the rules,” the kid was clearly terrified as he held up the item in his hands. It looked like some sort of manacle a metal/technology/magic hybrid of some creation.

    Loki sighed heavily and and pushed up his sleeve, holding his arm out. “Very well,” he finally consented, though was obviously upset about it.

    You perked up, feeling his uneasy and displeasure, snarling softly and shifting your position to one better to defend him. “What is that?” you demanded of the kid, who finally seemed to realize you might be dangerous too.

    “SHIELD believes that I am a danger and insists that my powers be bound while I am on their airship,” Loki explained while the terrified agent did his job and secured the manacle around Loki’s wrist. You growled, glaring at the kid who was upsetting your Loki. Loki petted your hair, calming. “Hush, love. It’s alright, just inconvenient,” he soothed. “And if there is an emergency, they will remember I am useful and deactivate it. It’s not hurting me, so there is no need to scare the poor kid,”

    “You don’t deserve it and it’s upsetting you,” you replied, fighting back more growls. Instead, you pouted over the manacle on his wrist and fiddling with it to make sure it was laying as comfortably as possible against his skin.

    “Ma’am. You get one too,” the kid agent said, coming back with a second manacle.

    Loki was standing defensively in front of you before you’d gotten a good look at the silver manacle. “No,” he protested. “She’s allergic to silver and there’s enough in that thing to kill her,” Loki snarled at the kid.

    “It’s regulation, sir. All werewolves on the Helicarrier need to be controlled so they can’t shift to wolf and endanger the crew,” the kid recited.

    “Son, don’t,” Cap said, coming over to stand with Loki in front of you. When he had backup, you reached out and took Loki’s hand, scared of this confrontation. Loki reached his hand back, letting you wrap both of your arms around it. This was a situation where you couldn’t fight effectively. You had to be extra nonthreatening to the humans so they didn’t see you as a monster. “We’ll take responsibility for her.”

    “I’m sorry, sir. The orders come directly from Fury. He said to remind you about the meeting and the mission,” the kid added cryptically.

    Cap sighed, seeming defeated by the kid’s message. “Stand down, Loki,” he ordered. Loki didn’t move. “Loki. We’re not going to hurt her. Stand down.” Loki took a step back, but stayed ready to defend you, still mostly in front of you. Cap turned to you. “Y/N, I wouldn’t ask or allow this, but Fury made the order. I don’t care about that, but we need to show Fury how much silver affects you so he won’t try to pull this stunt again, especially when the team isn’t around to watch out for you. He only listens to hard evidence. Please, try?”

    “No!” Loki protested.

    “Brother, it is important that we show Fury that she is different from the werewolves that he usually deals with. Do this now while we are here to protect her,” Thor bid his brother to see reason.

    Loki looked at you. “Which one of them would you like for me to kill first?” he asked you pleasantly.

    “Lo, let them play out their dominance game with Fury,” you told him, holding one of your wrists out to Cap. You glared between them both, then gave a look to the rest of the team. “I’m putting a lot of faith in you all,” you told them firmly, still scared and refusing to let go of Loki with your other hand.

    “And we won’t let you down,” Cap replied with such honesty that you knew it to be true, no matter what happened, they would defend you to the last. The agent rushed in quickly while Loki sat beside you again and quickly fastened the silver bangle around your wrist.

    The effect was almost instant. The silver was stronger in the bangle than it had been in Tony’s necklace, though not nearly as pure as whatever was in that collar. It didn’t burn your skin, but you were nearly immediately lethargic, the wolf curling up to sleep, defending herself against the silver. You slowly, lethargically, curled yourself against Loki, laying your head on him and closing your eyes.

    “Love?” Loki asked, concerned at how fast the silver was taking you down. You cracked an eye open and tried to look up at him.

    “I have never seen silver have that effect on a wolf,” one of the agents commented.

    “It affects her worse,” Cap explained as your eyes closed again. “She’s a natural born wolf, not a made wolf like the mercenaries and lone wolves you deal with. She’s also female and weighs at least a hundred pounds less than every wolf you’ve ever met,”

    Loki fought to keep you awake, but it was a losing battle. He reached for your wrist. “She can’t handle this. It’s cruel to ask her to try,” Loki snarled at them.

    “No,” Cap ordered him firmly. “Y/N, are you alright?” You managed to nod and murmur something that might have been a ‘yes’. “Let her sleep, Loki. Let Fury see what silver does to her so he doesn’t try this again,”

    “Love? Y/N, look at me,” Loki ordered when you just moaned instead of doing anything. It took effort, to open your eyes enough to look up at him. “Did you hear the Captain? Are you sure you’re alright with this plan?”

    “Yes,” you managed to get the word out before your eyes closed again. You were getting dizzy and nauseous from the effort to stay awake and fight the silver. Loki sighed, though you could hear the concern even in that small noise. He lifted you and settled you in his lap, his arms wrapped protectively around you.

    You must’ve made a noise when he moved you. “Hush, love. I’ve got you. You’re safe.” With that reassurance, you passed out, succumbing to the silver.

    *

    “What the hell is wrong with her?” a man’s voice demanded, fighting through your haze of lethargy. The silver was gone, but it was so hard to fight your way up from its effects.

    “We tried to tell you that silver affects her more strongly than the other wolves,” Nat replied firmly, defensively.

    “We’ve been living with the wolf for months now. Trust us to knew more about her than you do,” Tony added, actually defending you.

    You were safe in Loki’s arms and he was holding you effortlessly. You felt the tension in him, though. He hated you being in this state. “Come on, love, fight through it,” he bid you softly when he realized you were starting to wake. It still took a few minutes and urging from him and the team to fight your way awake.

    “I hate silver,” you groaned when you finally fought awake, though you were groggy still and your brain felt fuzzy and ached, like you were hung over.

    Loki chuckled softly and kissed your forehead. “Are you awake enough for me to put you down?” he asked softly. He would know that you wouldn’t want to be carried in front of strangers.

    You nodded. “I’m awake,” you told him. He carefully set you on your feet. You were on the bridge of the Helicarrier in front of a man in an eyepatch. He was a very intimating man, an alpha if you ever felt one, though he wasn’t a wolf.

    Introductions were made, this was Director Fury. He apologized sincerely for the treatment and promised you’d be immune to the silver rule from now on. There was a tour of the helicarrier while Fury explained operations on board and some of the missions they were working on. He stopped in front of a conference room on one of the lower levels and gestured to Nat.

    “I am sorry about this, Y/N. We couldn’t tell you who we brought you here to meet until we got here. Fury was just a red herring. Thanks boss,” Nat nodded at him. He returned the gesture. Loki stiffened beside you. “Loki, knock it off. If we had told you, you would have told her,” she added at his glare.

    “Would not,” he protested.

    “Don’t lie, love. It hurts my nose,” you reminded him patiently, which was impressive with how your head ached. He chuckled and kissed the top of your head.

    “Sorry, darling,”

    “Jareth and the Alpha would both have beaten the shit of her if they had found out about this meeting before it happened,” Nat continued, ignoring your adorableness. She was kind about it.

    “So who am I meeting?” you asked, that was important. You knew that was important no matter how fuzzy your brain was.

    Instead of answering, Nat opened the door to the conference room you’d been standing in front of. You and Loki stepped through first, together, steeling yourselves for whatever you’d find on the other side. Thor was right behind you, followed by the others.

    There was a lone occupant of the room, a man sitting at the head of the large table. He looked to be about 25, but he was ancient. You dropped Loki’s hand and went to the stranger. Loki didn’t stop you out of sheer shock. You fell to your knees in front of the stranger, your head bowed. You were completely enthralled by the man and overwhelmed by the sheer power of this alpha wolf. It took a lot of power to enthrall an Omega. A lot of power. It was stronger than anything that you’d ever felt before.

    “Fenrir?” Loki and Thor demanded incredulously at the same time, staring at the man in shock and confusion.

[loyaltyburdened]

five times kissed

send me five times kissed for a drabble about five times our muses kissed // @shcdidgood

          ok so this is p long obv, so i’m putting it under a cut!

I. ‘I LOVE YOU’.

          the words hit him so hard that it knocks the breath out of him. one second passes, then another, and another, and another… he’s breathless, speechless, and slowly trying to wrap his head around the three words that just left her mouth. he blinks repetitively off at nothing in particular, can hardly feel her eyes on him, slowly letting the GRAVITY of those words process. his heart hammers, his stomach flips, skin grows clammy and tingly with goosebumps, and the hair on the back of his neck stands on end.

          he can feel the heat spreading like a wildfire over his body, reaching every nook and cranny. flames lick at his skin, all the way from his collarbone to the tips of his ears. in any and all scenarios he’d EVER gone over in his head, HE was the first one to admit it. this had thrown him through a loop– he hadn’t been expecting it. then again, he also hadn’t been expecting the talk about benny either… el was just FULL of surprises tonight it seemed…

          just like the feeling of her pulling away from him. that was enough to pull mike out of his thoughts, to allow his voice to finally return to him, and for him to quickly leap into action.

         what was SUPPOSED to be a harmless night of mindless stargazing had turned into one deep, personal conversation after another, and now here they were...

          “ i– ” he stuttered out, feeling the next words tumbling out of his mouth so quickly that they might as well had been falling over each other, OVERLAPPING, “ no, el– wait, i– ” he didn’t want her to get the wrong idea. he didn’t want her to think that he was rejecting her! so what did mike wheeler do?

          he reached for her, pulled her towards him, and kissed her. a big, deep, breathtaking smooch. he pulled back just enough to still be able to feel her breath on his face, to stare into her eyes, and try to regulate his own breathing as he gathered his thoughts. finally, he leaned back in to press his forehead to hers, eyes fluttering shut and finally responding, “ i love you too… ”

          then a giggle escaped him, then another, and the next thing mike knew, he was in a fit of them. laughing at himself for being so dumb, laughing because of the relief that fell over him, or the immense JOY he felt upon hearing those eight letters and finally managing to say them back.

          either way, mike continue to laugh then leaned in to kiss her again.

II. SOAP OPERAS

          it wasn’t exactly mike’s idea of entertainment, but he endured them because EL liked them, so here mike was, sitting on the couch in hopper’s cabin, watching them with her. he was only watching with mild interest, though he’d mostly been glancing over at el out of the corner of his eye. every once in a while he’d hear her quietly repeat the actors’ lines under her breath and he’d feel the corners of his mouth twitch upwards. she was too cute. even if he wasn’t really a fan of these things, it was worth it to watch them with el because of the amusement of her love for them. her being happy was enough to make mike agree to just about anything.

          el ended up repeating a particularly CHEESY line from the female lead, and mike couldn’t help himself. he turned his attention to her, reached out to tuck a stray curl behind her ear, and smiled when he’d gained her attention. the male lead said his line next, and mike followed suit, repeating the words to her, just above a whisper.

          “ you drive me crazy... ” definitely not far from the truth. el made mike experience things that he never had before. she made every nerve ending in his body go haywire, and she was always on his mind. she made him crazy. crazy for her. 

          after the successful line delivery, mike leaned forward, capturing her lips in his. he only pulled away from her ( or more like JERKED away ) when he could hear hopper’s boot-clad feet marching up the steps of the porch.

III. THE PATH TO SUCCESS

          it had been about a week since mike found out that he’d actually be able to go to NYU to pursue his dreams. mike had always been fascinated by science, and he wanted to get as far away from hawkins as humanly possible, so applying to a school in new york ( or, MULTIPLE ONES, really ) was a no brainer. mike had his heart set on NYU, but tried not to get his hopes up. really, any of them would be fine, but NYU was one of the BIGGEST, one of the BEST, so how could he not pine after that one?

          when the letter had first arrived, he had to have holly open it for him. his nerves had been too out of wack to even attempt it. but he knew, as soon as he saw that LOOK on her face that he had gotten in. when karen found out, she’d hugged him so tightly that it was a miracle that he could actually still BREATHE afterwards, but she made him is favorite dinner and even got the ingredients to make homemade ice cream. mike hadn’t remembered her doing THAT since he was really little. it was still nice though, and he appreciated it all the same.

          once he’d gotten free of his mother’s grasp, before dinner was ready, he’d called el. she’d been the first person he’d actually wanted to tell. thankfully, she answered on the third ring. before she could even get her greeting out, mike started talking. he couldn’t help it. the words, “ I GOT IN!!! ” spewed out of his mouth before he could stop himself in a mixture of excitement and still disbelief. he happily chattered on about that until karen had to practically PRY him off the phone. he promised to call her back after dinner and reluctantly hung up.

          true to his word, mike had, and continued to do so until the both of them had to finally call it a night. if el had felt anything other than pride for him, he hadn’t picked up on it.

          a few weeks later, around that same time, mike had already been asleep. he’d turned in early that night, practically COLLAPSING onto the bed after his closing shift at blockbuster. he had to’ve only been actually asleep for maybe an hour, hour and a half, before he was stirred awake. he could register the voice, but couldn’t place it. it sounded too warbled in his foggy mind and it was too dark to make out much of anything.

          then, the lamp on his side table was clicked on and he was temporarily blinded, then JUMPED when he saw el. when he actually realized that it was el standing there and not some creep there to rob him, he visibly relaxed, though his heart still hammered in his chest.

          “ you scared the SHIT outta me! ” he yelled in a hushed tone, though there was no malice behind his words.

          “ i got in, ” was the only response he was greeted with, accompanied by a letter being shoved into his face.

          after taking a second to collect himself, mike reached forward and took the paper from her, looking it over and reading the same response he’d gotten a few weeks prior. el had gotten into NYU, too. immediately, mike’s face lit up, smile stretching from ear to ear.

          “ el, oh my god, that’s-- that’s AMAZING! ” he had to fight to contain his excitement, or, at the very least, keep his voice down so that no one would hear them. it hadn’t been the first time they’d had to be quiet from sneaking into each others’ rooms in the middle of the night, and he doubted it would be the last. “ you didn’t tell me that you were trying to get into NYU, too! ”

          “ i wanted it to be a surprise, ” she replied with a light smile of her own.

          and it certainly was. a HUGE surprise! not that mike didn’t think she could do it, because he thought that el could do anything she set her mind to. she was one of the smartest people he knew. he was just surprised because he hadn’t seen it coming. he hadn’t expected to see that he and el would be going to the same college TOGETHER! but he wasn’t complaining. oh definitely not! in fact, he couldn’t have been happier!

          wordlessly, he set the acceptance letter onto his bedside table and reached for her. once he had her in his grasp, he tugged her down onto the bed with him and held her close, snuggling against her.

          “ this is so awesome, ” he murmured into her hair, “ i’m so proud of you, el. ” he squeezed her for emphasis and pressed a sweet, lingering kiss to her forehead.

IV. TALK SHIT, GET HIT

          a busted lip, sore ribs, bruised knuckles, and various other small cuts that littered mike’s body was none other than the result of what happens if someone EVER disrespects eleven. mike could usually give a stern warning and threat if they were to call her a freak, a shove against the lockers and a DEMAND for them to take back what they said if cruel words such as ‘dumb’ or ‘stupid’ was spat out, but one thing that mike wouldn’t tolerate and would NEVER tolerate was someone EVER accusing el of being promiscuous or otherwise. even if they so much as HINTED at it, mike wouldn’t hesitate to lay them flat. ... which is exactly what happened.

          mike just remembered jumping on them and then having to be pulled off, followed by a grueling trip to the nurses office, then the principal's office. it went without saying that he was most definitely SUSPENDED. he’d gotten suspended for a week and had to wait in the principal’s office for karen to come pick him up. he knew, before she ever even showed up that he was screwed.

          sure enough, the entire car ride home consisted of her scolding and lecturing him. he tried to explain to her that he’d only done what he had because he was sticking up for el, but karen had told him, as admirable as it was that he’d stood up for his girlfriend, that was no reason to be fighting... and then she told him that she was at least glad that he won and that she was proud of him for defending his girlfriend, buuuuuut that still wasn’t enough to warrant NOT being grounded when he got home.

          thankfully, he’d managed to get a relatively SHORT sentence-- well, shorter than what it might’ve been otherwise... a week. he would be grounded for a week, and when he got to go back to school, he could have all of his privileges back. mike didn’t even try to fight her on it. yeah, he wasn’t HAPPY about it, but the fear of running his mouth and being grounded for even LONGER was probably the least appealing thing to him at that moment. so, he kept his mouth shut, went up to his room, and quietly skulked.

          a part of him contemplated sneaking downstairs to watch tv while his mother was out -- something about ted’s tire getting a flat and she was going to have to go pick him up from work while he was getting it fixed -- but before he could bring himself to heave up off of his bed, his thoughts were interrupted by a light tapping on his window. glancing over, he saw that it was el.

          after carefully easing himself up off of his bed -- those damn sore ribs -- mike moved over to the window to let her in. he barely managed to say anything at all before she was checking him over.

          “ el-- el, i’m alright, ” he tried to reassure her, pulling away from her grasp and moving back over to sit down on his bed. she joined him and listened as he went on to explain what had happened. it pretty much lined up exactly with what she’d heard-- not that she had any reason NOT to believe what mike said, anyway. but it also didn’t make her feel any better about the situation either-- well, sort of. 

          she’d be lying if she said that she didn’t like the fact that he’d beaten someone up to defend her honor. she liked that a lot, actually.

          at least he didn’t look as bad as she’d feared. the old mike probably would’ve come out of something like that a lot worse. the new mike-- the mike from the ninth grade and onward didn’t take anyone’s shit. he might not have ALWAYS won the fights that he got into, but he was one hell of a scrapper.

          mike could feel her eyes on him still and he turned to look at her. he opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off before he could. the sudden pressure against his lips made him wince and pull back.

          “ ah-- hhh----- ” he quietly hissed, gingerly running his tongue over the busted part of his lip before looking at her apologetically. “ i’m sorry, el, just-- it’s sore, and-- ” the words died on his lips slowly as he felt her hands caressing either side of his face, carefully pulling him back in. he let her.

          she was more gentle this time, and though mike could still feel the slight sting, it was nowhere near as bad as before. and, just like his fight earlier, everything became a blur in his mind. he would only be able to recall everything clearly later on when his brain wasn’t confused over whether or not it should be registering pleasure or pain.

V. STUDY SESH

          to mike’s credit, he TRIED to help el with her studying. he tried to help her prepare for a big exam or help her with a part of her homework that she couldn’t quite get, but it never really worked out the way he’d planned. it was honestly a miracle whenever eleven managed to retain something. and it wasn’t because mike thought she was dumb, or that she couldn’t comprehend it. no, it was because nine times out of ten, she was too damn distracted to actually get what he was trying to explain to her. it would be damn near exhausting and frustrating if not for the fact that she was cute as all hell and that he loved her. she was lucky.

          “ el, are you even listening? ” mike couldn’t suppress a sigh. he did his best to give her his most UNAMUSED look.

          “ no, ” she answered simply, giving him, what mike liked to call, one of her shit-eating grins. she knew very well that she hadn’t been paying him a lick of attention and she felt no remorse for it either.

          “ c’mon, el-- ” mike pursed his lips, index finger tapping at something on one of the pages of the textbook he currently had laid open. “ how’re you supposed to pass if you don’t pay attention to what i’m telling you? ”

          el responded with a shrug, making mike hitch up his shoulders and puff out his cheeks in mock annoyance. he couldn’t ever really bring himself to get too upset with her.

          el giggled at his silly expression and responded again, but this time, wordlessly with a peck to his cheek, quickly deflating mike and causing color to spread to every inch of his body.

[calimera62]

Krolfred headcanons nobody asked for...

I wanted to write some Krolfred headcanons for a while, but @penhales’s HCs made me want to write some! Please bear in mind those are only headcanons, I don’t claim it can happen in canon if you disagree with some of them!

Now that’s cleared, here I go:

Krolock had his eyes on Alfred since they met, possibly even before that since I think Krolock definitely knew about Abronsius and Alfred being here since they step a foot inside Chagal's inn (because, hey it's not everyday you had strangers coming into your territory!)

While he focused more on Sarah, Krolock also intended to have Alfred and not only for Herbert’s sake, because Krolock too was interested in Alfred and I think, if there were no Sarah, Krolock would have focused more on Alfred.

Because, let's face it, even if he put more efforts in seducing Sarah, he definitely seduced Alfred as well.

Krolock himself is seduced by Alfred, mostly his innocence. He’s attracted to it, and he’s also very eager to conquer it in some way. Part of him wants Alfred to stay innocent, another part of him wants to turn Alfred. I think he would be curious to know how Alfred would be as a vampire.

Despite his fear of Krolock, Alfred is fascinated by him ; Krolock is such a mysterious and sophisticated man after all. Despite what he is, I think Alfred would like to be like Krolock: someone handsome, sophisticated, in control, cultivated, a cool figure of authority. He would definitely be his role-model if Krolock was not a vampire.

What Alfred heard in the graveyard (aka Krolock’s thoughts and the conflict inside of him) only increased his fascination for him, and he grew to feel, not only fear, but also pity, sympathy.

I headcanon Alfred being fascinated by what’s forbidden, the dark while being afraid of it ; so a small part of him could understand why Sarah is attracted by the Count, despite how dangerous Alfred knows he can be.

Alfred knows it’s wrong, and he knows Krolock is the enemy he and Abronsius have to fight, but he can’t help it and tries to fight his fascination for him.

Krolock knows the conflict inside Alfred and he definitely enjoys that game of cat and mouse they’re playing. 

Krolock also knows what Alfred dreamt about in Carpe Noctem, and knew he left some impact on Alfred, which would explain his “Alfred's soul already belong to me” in Sie irren, Professor.

Alfred has trouble seeing his worth and while Krolock mostly said it to seduce Alfred into the dark, I think he... meant it when he told Alfredhe found him brave and daring. I think he honestly think Alfred is capable of having a bright future, without the Professor.

Alfred wears a cross around his neck, Krolock has a problem with that.

Krolock could grow to give Alfred some nickname, beside “My boy”, “My dear boy”.

Krolock is very good at reading Alfred. It’s something that amazes and annoys Alfred. While Abronsius has (in my mind) some affection for his student, he never quite understood him, his dreams and his desires, and there’s Krolock who can see right through him (it’s basically canon, in Vom der Schloss)

I believe, in a way, Krolock sees his human self in Alfred, the man he has once been and someone a part of him longs to be again.

Krolfred HCs with vampire!Alfred:

Let’s imagine Krolock got Sarah and Alfred back at the end of the musical.

Alfred is expecting revenge from Krolock, after what he and Abronsius did. He never expected Krolock to took him in and willing to guide and teach him the ways of the vampire life as well, but he did. And he’s giving him as much attention as he’s giving Sarah.

Sure, he taunted Alfred because he became what he and Abronsius swore to fight, and because Krolock predicted this moment, but he still acted as his vampire mentor.

While Alfred is still wary of Krolock, he grew used to his presence and came to see him as more than he used to see him.

Alfred doesn’t want to sleep in a coffin at first, and wants to sleep in a bed. Krolock indulges him, for a while.

Herbert, Magda and Sarah are his vibrant fledglings, all three in love with the night and when Krolock wants some sort of calm, comforting silence, he would spent time alone with Alfred. He would sit and write or play piano while Alfred would read. Sometimes, Krolock would ask Alfred to read aloud, and Krolock would listen.

Despite the bloodlust, Alfred managed to stay as human as possible, clinging to his human feelings. It both amuse and fascinate Krolock.

Alfred is also very much like the part of Krolock that see his condition as a burden. He’s the only one to feel this way, so it makes him special in a way.

That’s all for now! I’ll update or make a new post if I find other headcanons!

[endless-vall]

Love is like a flower, You’ve got to let it grow - Kenna & Raydan florist AU fanfic

Summary: Set in present days, Kenna is a flower shop owner for a living. A regular costumer she has seems to know more about flowers and plants than she does, making Kenna wonder why he keeps coming back everyday, anyway. Author’s note: @coffeandcheese​ requested a florist AU, and It just clicked for me! I hope you’ll like it! Enjoy :* This is the first clear “AU” fanfic I wrote, so I hope it turned up well. I really enjoyed writing this one!

Kenna had finally managed to fulfill her dream and to open her own flower shop about a year ago.

She loved working there, introducing new kinds of flowers to people passing by, and to know that the flowers go to their loved ones, to make someone happy. Her mother, Adriana, was a big fan of flowers, and that made Kenna feel like she was honoring her memory, as well. She was also the one to teach Kenna her love for plants and how to take care of different types. The doors of the flower shop swung open, hitting a set of bells that was hanged in the entrance of the shop, and a costumer marched in. HIM AGAIN. There was, though, a particular regular costumer that gave her a hard time.  It’s not like he wasn’t nice or something. He wasn’t rude, or behaved badly. It’s just that… He managed to gracefully get on her nerves. And he seemed to know that, and found it amusing.

“Good morning. How may I help you?” She “formally” asked, though they already knew each other pretty well. He was charming, actually, and attractive, intelligent and also just... Kenna might’ve had something for him. He came by her shop a few months after she had just opened, and been coming in ever since. Truth was, he didn’t need her help. He knew his flowers better than she had. With the competitive nature Kenna had, It was enough to irritate her. “Good morning,” He just smiled back, flashing his charming smile. UGH. Kenna forced herself not to look at that smile, and to make herself look busy instead, until he approaches back at her. This particular person, also happened to be a master when it came to flirting. Kenna had found him attractive, but with how he seemed to always correct her and out step her, she thought he found her ridiculous.  “Any new arrivals this week?” He asked. There was, actually, and Kenna flashed a victorious smile. She studied well for this encounter. “There’s this new columbine flower, if you’re interested.” She picked a pot with some columbine flowers, ranging in color from blue, to purple, and yellow. His next question was always ‘and what does this flower mean?’, and Kenna, being the busy woman what she was, usually failed to know the answer to that. She knew the obvious ones, like roses, sunflowers, lilies and different tulips, but usually not the less known ones. He – on the other hand, seemed to know all of them. She was ready for his next question this time, or at least she thought so. “They’re beautiful, but I think I’ll be taking the Jasmines today instead. Do you know what they mean?” He flashed another smile, this time it looked even… mischievous. Like he knew exactly what he was doing.She blinked blankly at him, and then shook her head. “No, I don’t, actually.” She shrugged. “Would you like to enlighten me?” She asked, half teasing, as she prepared his order. Better enjoy it while you can. She already knew he’d want a small bouquet, made of just a few flowers, tied up in a neat bow. It was never about the price, but about the aesthetic look of that. “Well,” He followed her to the counter. “Jasmines meaning various from culture to culture, as well as the importance of the color. But mostly, they mean attraction, sensuality, grace and elegance, as well as overjoyed happiness.” He told her. “Raydan… this is beautiful.” She always found herself mesmerized by his words. While it irritated her, she was also unable to resist finding out something new. Something that this not-so-stranger, Raydan… Had told her. “Well, I’m glad you like it, Kenna.” He jokingly bowed his head at her. She couldn’t help but wonder, who was this lucky person Raydan was buying flowers for this entire time, but she never had the courage to ask. She finished his bouquet, and charged him his price. “All set?” She handed him the bouquet. “It seems so.” Raydan said, as if he was sad to leave so soon. Kenna nodded towards him. “Have a nice day,” She wished him. “You too.” He shared a smile, and left the shop. Kenna watched as the bells jingled as he got out of the door, and thought about her ridiculous crush on that stranger. Even though he didn’t feel like one. She felt like she knew things about him. They often fell deep into conversation during his visits to her shop, sometimes he spent almost an hour before picking his flower that day. She knew his favorite flowers were Night Gladiolus and Heliotrope flowers. She knew the reasons, too.  Night Gladiolus - Was a flower that could bloom in the dark night, in the shadows, blooming usually in the late spring and early summer. Gladiolus is a word in Latin that stands for Sword. This plant is attractive to all sorts of insects, butterflies, etc. However, parts of this flower are also poisonous. As for Heliotropes - Its striking beauty and alluring scent, caused the heliotrope plant to find its way into myths and storytelling. One of the best known stories is of Clytie, a water nymph, who was deeply in love with the sun god Helios. This god, however, had his eye on another, and one day abandoned Clytie for her. Finding that she had been forsaken, she spent the rest of her days pining away. Upon her death Helios, took pity of her, and turned her body into the heliotrope plant. Ever faithful to her beloved, the plant dutifully followed the sun every day. Other tales tell of this plant having a prophetic effect on sleep; dreaming of the plant itself is said to represent unrequited love. Kenna was fascinated by those two stories, and remembered them by heart by now. He had also told her that purple & lavender Asters suited her best, but never explained. According to her own findings, purple Asters were associated mostly with charm, wisdom and royalty. She wondered what was it about her that made him come into such conclusions. Especially the wisdom part, since he was such a know-it-all. Sometimes, he’d leave her wondering about something he had said, sometimes she’d research their meaning herself after he’d be gone, but sometimes she’d wait for him to come back and solve the riddle himself. Today’s visit was a short one, and Kenna found herself upset because of it. Now she’d be waiting until tomorrow eager to see him again. She wanted to out-smart him, this time, though she didn’t know what to expect. As the day passed by, she found herself thinking about him. Usually, her silly crush on Raydan was just something in the back of her mind, never on the surface. But not this time… She sighed as she waved goodbye the last costumer, and closed for the day. She headed towards the supermarket, before going back to her apartment, to buy ingredients to make her roomie a chicken soup. Her roommate, Val Greaves, who also happened to be her worker, was sick with the flu. She’s a tough person, a bit aggressive, and not someone you’d usually imagine working with plants and flowers, but she had an unusual gentle hands with the flowers. Raydan, however, always made sure to come by when it was Kenna’s working hours, or when she was still in the shop. The shop was pretty close by where they lived, and some mornings she saw Raydan on his way and he’d accompany her to her store. She actually liked when he walked her there – she was the one to suggest it in the first place, one early morning when she met him by chance. Entering her apartment, she immediately heard Val sneezing hard, almost shaking the entire house with her. “Are you alright?!” Is Kenna’s first reaction. “Oh.” There’s a voice coming from behind the couch. Kenna tries to look behind it, but only sees legs hanging from the back of the couch. “Kenna, you’re home,” Finally Val stands up, and tries making her way towards her. Unfortunately, she fails miserably, as she slips and falls on her face, suppressing another sneeze. “Val, you should take a rest,” Kenna commands calmly, picking her up. “I’ll make you some soup and you’ll be better in no time.” She promises, throwing Val back on the couch and cleaning up after her. Val enjoyed the soup, finally feeling better, and went to bed early, leaving the living room all to Kenna, and her thoughts. Could there really be anything between her and that Raydan? She was getting tired of playing this game, and while he had flirted with her numerus times, he never had the courage to act on it. And there was also the mystery of who was the lucky woman – or person – that was receiving his flower bouquets. Kenna shook herself out of these thoughts, and went to bed as well. The next morning was… well, horrible, actually. She caught Val’s flu, having a bad cold, and a stuffy nose. Still, she went to work, ignoring Val’s protests. The worst part was, when Raydan came in, and a startled Kenna ended up sneezing all over the flowers that he chose. Raydan wasn’t upset with her, though, he just chuckled, and suggested that he should arrange the bouquet this time. “Maybe I should do it,” He suggested, looking at the poor flower in her hands. “You’re always so full of good ideas.” She teases, but lets him in behind the counter. Raydan arranges the flowers with skilled hands, like he’s been doing it for years. Kenna doesn’t realize she’s staring at his strong, muscled hand, until he stops midway and turn to her. “Am I doing this wrong?” He asks, worried. “What? Uh- No. You’re doing just fine.” She assured him, smiling. She could help but wonder though. If he was so good at this, if he knew so much about flowers, anyway… why bother coming here? He could so this very well on his own. “So, are you allergic to some new kind of flowers that you brought in to the store? Or did you just catch a cold?” Raydan was finished with the bouquet, but didn’t hurry to checkout. “Allergic?” Kenna question. “Maybe to you,” She raised an eyebrow, before both burst into a lightheaded laugh. “I wouldn’t dream of it, ever.” He assured her, and their gaze lingered for just a second too much. “Uh… It’s because of my roommate. It’s Val, actually. You’ve met her.” Kenna explains, quickly changing the subject. Raydan blinked at her with a puzzled gaze. "What?” Kenna demanded to know, more than asked.  “R-roommate?” Raydan mumbled, still with shock in his eyes. Shaking his head, he composed himself, and got ready to explain. “I just always assumed you lived with you fiancé.” Raydan told her. What?! This was the most ridiculous thing Kenna has ever heard. “Fiancé?” It was Kenna’s turn to watch Raydan with puzzled look and mouth dropped wide open. Raydan motioned to Kenna’s hand, where she wore a ring around her ring finger. “Oh…” She sighed, the nickel finally dropping. “This ring used to belong to my mother. I wear it because it helps me remember her, and where I came from. It’s not an engagement or wedding ring, actually.” She explains, but understands where the confusion came from. “I’m so sorry I asked.” Raydan tells her, obviously feeling uncomfortable for mentioning Kenna’s lost loved ones. “It’s okay.” Kenna assures him, placing a hand over his shoulder. After they share another, long lasting, comforting look, Raydan’s lips curl up into a smile that Kenna finds hard to resist. He probably catches her watching his lips, since when she looks up, he’s staring at her with a sly smile. “So, you’re not getting married?” He asks, wanting to know if she’s single. “Not anytime soon…” Kenna jokes. “What about you, though?” She asks, making him blink at her again. “Who’s the lucky woman that gets all the beautiful bouquets of flowers that you always buy?” She dares to ask. Maybe today will be the day. “Don’t you know?” He asks her, as if it’s obvious. “No?” She questions back. Is this some sort of game, again? Or is she really missing something here? Raydan considers for a long moment, before taking Kenna’s hand and looking deeply into her eyes. “Can you take a break and come with me somewhere?” Raydan asks her. “I… Sure.” It’s worth a shot, to finally get some answers about that mysterious man, who happened to take over her fantasies. They walked a familiar way, this time the opposite way. He walked her home, and then, took the bouquet of flowers he had made beforehand, and placed it on the footstep of her door. Kenna blinked at him in shock. “What… is that supposed to mean?” She asks. “What do you mean?” He asks, back. “I asked first.” She notes, squinting her eyes at him. “Did you really, never notice?” He asks her, almost offended. “You never left them there!” She accuses. “Actually, yes, he did. I’ve been waiting for you to figure this out, but I guess you’re just as hopeless as he is.” Val stands at the doorway, looking much better than yesterday, and lectures them both. “Val?” Kenna asks, sounding betrayed. Did Val know something that Kenna didn’t, and failed to mention it to her? “Every day, since he first walked you to the store, he comes in. Every day, he buys a small but beautiful bouquet of flowers, and leaves it here, at our doorstep. I found the first few and brought them inside, placing them in vases and planters around the house. And you never noticed. You never once suspected the similarity of our new plants to the ones that he bought that day? Kenna, I thought you were more observant than that.” Val told her the entire story. “I took me a while to figure out it was him, until I saw him leaving them. I immediately knew they were for you. But by that time, I also figured you knew. And you never said anything, so neither did I.” Val ads. “Do you wanna come in?” She now addresses both. “Only if it’s okay…” Raydan looks now at Kenna. “It’s… defiantly okay.” Kenna nods, and they follow Val in. Val quickly disappears to her room, leaving them both to talk things out. “So, you really never noticed?” Raydan asks her. Kenna nods, slowly. “I guess I didn’t pay attention. I just assumed these were flowers Val’s boyfriend, Claude, was giving her, so I never gave it much thought. I can’t believe I missed that!” She sighs, and Raydan chuckles. “I guess I could’ve made it clearer.” He shrugs, too. “You thought I was engaged.” She notes. “There were times I was upset that you weren’t upfront about… well, anything.” She explains. But now, she knew he was a honest person that would respect her choice, even though it would hurt his happiness. “You were upset I wasn’t upfront about…?” Raydan wanted her to say it. She shook her head, wearing a flirty smile. “You know about what…” She said with a mischievous tone. “About being into you?” He ‘guessed’. “Uh-huh.” She nods, not taking her eyes off of his. He’s unable to look away, either. “And why would you be upset with that?” His gaze is intense on hers, making her bite her lip. “Because I’m obviously into you, too.” She gives in, telling him. “It wasn’t so obvious to me.” He shrugs, saying in a teasing tone. “Then let me make myself clear.” She stands up, he follows her, standing up too. She makes her way towards him, from the other side of the table, and wraps her hands around his neck. Touching him this way… this is all so new to her. She had been with other people, before, but… touching Raydan this way… this only ever happened in her mind, before. His body replied to hers, and his hands were holding her waist steadily in place, his mouth flattering on her neck, only slightly touching. All until she can’t hold it back anymore, she looks down at him, and plants her lips over his. He moans into the kiss, sharing their first of many.

Two years later, Raydan’s standing behind the counter at Kenna’s (and his, by now) flower shop.  “Happy two years anniversary,” Kenna calls as she enters the store, kissing him briefly, but lovingly. They were dating for two years now, ever since the day they both were brave enough to finally confess their feelings. “Happy two years anniversary,” He replies, handing her a special bouquet of flowers. “You’re giving me flowers? It’s no big deal when we work at a florist shop-“ She stops mid-sentence, when she spots the surprise in the bouquet. “Raydan…” Her voice is excited, as she pulls the ring off the bouquet. She lowers the enormous bouquet, only to see him kneeling on one knee.

“Kenna Rys, Will you marry me?”

[evakteket]

Watchlist update

The usual: When it’s been more than three weeks since a fic was updated we consider it to be on hiatus and remove it from the watchlist. However, we don’t cancel our subscriptions and if one of the removed fics gets updated again, we’ll put it right back on the list.

The usual II: feel free to send us an ask if you have suggestions for fics we should check out – even if they’re not Evak-centric!

Update summary:

Completed: 2 Added: 4 Removed: 0 (hallelujah)

News:

Alphabet Aerobics by @nofeartina NEW

Rating: explicit. And is it ever. There are 26 letters in the English alphabet, and the author has set out to write 26 chapters of pwp, one for each letter as Isak and Even play a letters sex game. And yes this is smutty, yes the plot is virtually non-existent, but there are feelings and character development as well as very well-written, imaginative smut. - kit and immy

tender (is the night) by kittpurrson (@towonderland72) NEW

For the record, this is written by one of the Evakteket librarians. She has not been allowed an opinion on whether to put this on the watchlist or not, as the other librarian thinks it's amazing. In this magic AU Isak and Even accidentally soulbond - however, while a bond mate is something Isak has desperately yearned for, Even is not at all enthused. Deliciously understated, fine-tuned angst and a well-built magical concept will keep the reader on tenterhooks. - immy

a careful hypothesis of the heart by StMisery NEW

This AU, while not extremely Norwegian although it's set in Oslo, shows Isak and Even as co-workers who inch their way from quite a bit of dislike for each other towards, well, we would be very surprised if Evak isn't endgame. Engaging and entertaining as the guys slowly make progress, and featuring an adorable Magnus. - kit and immy

I Tveksamhetens tid by Always_and_ever (Swedish) NEW

Even is having doubts about his and Isak's relationship in this angsty fic, set ten years from they got together. The updates are short, but every one packs a serious punch, escalating the inner and outer conflicts. Isak and Even are very human and real as grown ups here, and if you can read Swedish you should definitely check this out. - immy

Vivid in Black and White by @fxckxxp COMPLETED

Complete, rec here.

All Stories Are Echoes by sebastianL (@e-sebastian) COMPLETED

Complete, rec here.

Still on the watchlist:

Er vi lykkelige no? by Frieda Echte @friedaechte (Norwegian)

Mixed POV of Isak and Even’s first summer together, starting on Isak’s birthday. Gorgeous, understated everyday scenes, where some days are good and some are not so good, sometimes there are misunderstandings and mistakes, but being Isak and Even they figure it out as they go. A moving, lovely read for those who can read Norwegian. Note that it’s rated mature. - immy

Blood vs. Water by bri_ness (@brionbroadway)

This author’s Big Brother AU was a gameplay treat, and this Survivor AU promises to be just as addictive and fun. We’re looking forward to another round of Snakesak playing the game, skilfully written nods to canon and messy relationships. There’s no need to have watched Survivor, the game is explained in the notes as you go. - immy

I skyggen av solen by Kudzibisa (Norwegian)

Charter holiday AU where Isak and Even meet on the plane. Isak is on holiday with his dad and little sister, while Even is travelling with Sonja, for one week of sun and sea and things getting in the way of spending time together. Norwegian charter tourists are perfectly portrayed in this, expect to cringe a lot if you can read Norwegian. - immy

glovarm/iskald by liljesmoothie (Norwegian)

Isak is so deep in the closet in this AU in Norwegian that he’s managed to get to 27 without experiencing love, and has basically run away from Oslo to a job on Svalbard. Enter Even, coming to film at Isak’s workplace, the Global Seed Vault. The setting is fascinating and the progress towards a relationship is sweet, but note that there’s homophobia, internalised and otherwise. It’s not rated by the author, but I’d say it’s mature. - immy

Legitimate Expectations by @champagneleftie In this AU Isak is a lawyer specialising in matters of freedom of the press, and the setting seems wonderfully real. His life as a successful young lawyer (with some interesting SKAM character colleagues) is all neat and tidy, until there’s an Even-shaped spanner thrown in the works. Beautifully written, this is perfect for fans of grown-up Isak and Even with careers. - kit and immy

the truth about my disguise by mikaeloboukhal

The first chapter of this childhood friends AU is the beautifully paced story of Isak and Even growing up, until Even moves away, and it continues to be well worth reading from there. This is a lovely, well written, well characterised take on the reunion trope. Watch out for your heart though, it’s it for some breaking. - kit and immy

Digging upwards by Allieverwas (@grensevokter)

Few fics go into season 2 Isak, but this AU (where he meets Even in April 2016) does, and the author does it excellently. It’s a captivating story about Isak’s life while living in Eskild’s basement storage room, with a lot of details making it very realistic, and the characterisation is amazing. It feels very true to canon while being an AU, and I absolutely love how this important period in Isak’s life is depicted in this fic. - immy

all i wanna do is be near by hippopotamus (@evenshands)

A 5+1 future AU where Isak and Even were friends as teenagers and meet again a couple of years later, this has a confident Isak and lovely dialogue. So far it’s bittersweet and a bit heartbreaking, and we’re very excited about where it goes. Mind the explicit rating. - kit and immy

Like barn leker best by Kikki1 (Norwegian) 

In this AU, student Isak has just broken up with his boyfriend, but he knows Even from school and is not a fan. Since his crap boyfriend is (mostly) out of the picture Isak needs a roommate. Enter Mikael. An engaging story featuring an annoyed and a bit weary Isak, amusing rather than angsty, and quite realistic about being a young gay man in Oslo. A very satisfying read for those who can read Norwegian. - immy

You’re my (arche)type by @evakuality 

This is a fairytale AU that isn’t based on a specific story, but rather on the archetypes found in fairytales worldwide, where the interaction and characterisation is shaped by the archetypes each of the characters belongs to, and by the struggle against the confines of the archetypes. It’s an interesting and very well written take on nature vs. nurture and rigid societal structure, and the characterisation is wonderful. - immy

Hjerterytmer og ekstraslag by Without your breath (@livreddare) (Norwegian)  Hospital AU where Isak is a nurse and Even is a surgeon in training at an emergency department, packed full of realistic detail and gorgeous slow burn (so far). I adore the characterisation in this, and it’s always a treat to read a well-written AU in a setting the author knows really well. If you can read Norwegian, don’t miss out on this. - immy

Forsvarlig behandling by Frieda Echte @friedaechte (Norwegian)  In this hospital AU get-together, nurse Isak gets a patient (oh yes) with a somewhat annoying girlfriend (oh no) tagging along to the ED. Vividly detailed, engaging and funny, this promises to be a very special treat for those who can read Norwegian. - immy