#I was yelling. putting my head in my hands. I was even showboating a bit

[courtillyy]

played the game of my life. feeling on top of the world.

[scarwwe]

8 Months | Rhea Ripley x Reader | Smut

"Our new Tag Team Champions are Rhea Ripley and Y/N L/N!" The announcer calls out. I yell out happily, pushing Carmella away from me, Rhea grabs me picking me up and spinning me around. I giggle and wrap my arms around her before the referee hands us the titles. I happily hold up the title, all smiles, as I look over to Rhea, my tag team partner of the last 8 months. Longer than most in this line of work and somewhere along the line I've fallen for her deeply but I know better that I'm only her tag team partner.  

"Here lemme put it on you," Rhea whispers. I nod and she takes my title and quickly attaches it to my waist. I feel my face heat up when her hands go around my waist, but I try and ignore it. I dance around a little bit our tag team remix playing in the background. 

The crowd's volume numbingly loud, from our long-awaited victory. Rhea lightly bumps my arm, signaling for me to head to the center of the ring for a planned spot. I walk and face the cameras, Rhea coming up close behind me, practically towering over me. She holds her title dangling it over my right shoulder. Something we will surely see amazing pictures of later.

After a few more minutes of showboating, we finally make it back to the ring. The second Rhea and I cross the barrier into the horrid, she is tugging at my arm pulling us away,  before we even talk to the officials. I silently go with her, whatever it is it must be urgent.

We make it into the halls and dodge the people trying to congratulate us. Rhea suddenly pushes me into a spare closet and I look up at her confused. "Rhea-" I try to say, but I'm cut off by Rhea slamming her lips against mine. I freeze up in shock for a second as I try to process what's happening and before I could even enjoy it she pulls away.

"Fuck please tell me I didn't imagine all these feelings the last 8 months," she curses out quickly pulling back, her voice filled with anxiety. I grab her neck and pull her back down to me, connecting our lips together once more. I can't help but moan in the kiss when Rhea begins to return it, the way she kisses is so filled with passion and heat it makes me want to melt.

Rhea's hands wrap around the back of my thighs, lifting me up, she pushes me against the wall, deepening the kiss. My mouth opens a bit and Rhea quickly slides her tongue past my lips rubbing her pierced tongue against mine. I grip onto Rhea's shoulders as my confidence grows. I push my tongue against her tongue fighting back a bit, I feel her smile into the kiss. Rhea pulls back making me pout, but she quickly replaces her tongue against my neck.

I immediately bare my neck to her, making her chuckle. "You're such a bottom it's so cute." She mutters making me huff. "Aww is my little champion upset," Rhea teases nibbling along my neck. "I'm not a bottom." I proclaim, Rhea pulls back giving me a little side-eyes. I lean into Rhea's neck applying love bites along the open space. My hand slides down to the front of her pants and she lets out a surprised moan as I rub the outside of her pants. "I promise you, Rhea I want to make you cum just as much as you want me," I say breathlessly making her freeze. I watch her pupils dilate and she gently wraps her hand around my neck pushing me further into the wall as her

Lips slam against mine.

"I need you please come back with me to the hotel." She says with a soft whine. "Who's acting like the bottom now." I tease wrapping my arms around her neck and pulling her into another kiss.

"We're going to have so much fun," Rhea mutters, dropping her hand, and sitting me onto the floor. "Now how are we gonna sneak outta here because it seems like everyone in this building wants to talk to us tonight," I say with a giggle.

"We can skate past the crew, but the locker room is gonna be tough," I add on, wrapping my arms around Rhea's waist. "You're making me just wanna fuck you here," she says leaning down to kiss me. I gasp into the kiss, and she immediately pushes her tongue into my mouth as we get into another heated kiss.

"Fucking hell y/n." She moans into the kiss making a wetness pool to my legs. "I love kissing you." She whispers. Rhea's hands travel down until she gently runs her hands over my ring shorts. I try to push against her hand, but she pulls back, biting my bottom lip.

"Let's get out of here baby girl," Rhea says kissing my forehead. I eagerly nod and she swings open the door. We do a surprisingly good job at dodging everyone making it back to Rhea's rental in under five minutes.

The car ride is torturous as Rhea runs her hand up and down my left thigh. I roll my hips in the seat, earning a chuckle from my tag team partner. "Please," I say throwing my head back against the headrest. Rhea's hand slips back up my thigh this time grazing over my ring shorts. Her eyes still focused on the road she begins to rub small circles around making friction against my clit.

I let out a soft moan and spread my legs wanting more.

"I want you so bad," Rhea says tightly gripping the steering wheel. "I want you too," I say softly, feeling my pleasure begin to build. She pulls away making me whine as she speeds up, getting us to the hotel quickly. We make our way to the elevator, and I immediately look up to see there are no cameras. I push Rhea up against the nearest wall, and slam my lips on hers once more. The tension driving me insane.

Rhea pushes back, sending us toward the other side of the elevator. Her tongue slipping back into my mouth, my hands grip at her leather jacket, and just as the kiss is getting good the elevator dings and we have to pull apart. The doors open and we swiftly make it to Rhea's room, she swings open the door and pulls me inside making me chuckle. She pulls me into her and lifts me up, sliding my back against the now shut hotel door, and reigniting our kiss. Rhea slides the deadbolt shut before lifting me back up. My tongue slips past hers this time, as she walks us over to the bed.

Rhea sits me down and her hands immediately yank at my ring gear. "I want you naked." She says breathlessly. My hands quickly find the zipper, of my top and I slide the brassiere off my shoulders. Rhea's hands run up my stomach before groping my chest. Her thumb rolls around my nipple making me sigh in pleasure. She nibbles at my ear before slowly kissing down my neck. "You're such a tease Rhea," I say earning a chuckle.

Rhea pushes me against the bed bed making me yelp. Her hands quickly remove my boots, before she yanks down my ring shorts. I gasp as I hear them tear. "Rhea!" I groan. "Woops." She says with a big smile, before throwing them across the room. I shake my head, sitting up. My hands push off Rhea's jacket. "You have too much on." I tell her. Rhea smirks and winks at me as she pulls off her top. I smile at the cheesy wink before leaning in and kissing her chest.

My hands grab at Rhea's waist, pulling her closer to me, I leave some light bruising from sucking along her chest. Her hands gently run through my hair, making goosebumps run along my body. My tongue slides down and runs along her nipple, a soft moan falling from her lips. My hands slide around and I grip Rhea's ass threw her leather pants before they slide back to the front. I unzip her pants and pull them off.

I sit back down, taking a moment to run my eyes along Rhea's perfect thighs, and the desire I have to be in between them begins to bubble over. Rhea walks forwards until she between my thighs and rolls her hips against mine making me gasp. "I wanna make you cum pretty girl," Rhea says. "Then touch me," I beg, pushing my hips into hers. She bites her lip and climbs fully onto the bed, she crawls up by the pillows and pulls me down onto her. "Ride my thigh." Rhea says need filling her voice.

I immediately grind myself onto her thigh and let out a soft moan. I'm still wearing my underwear just increasing the friction to my core. I roll my hips letting out a sigh of pleasure as I gain my rhythm. "You're doing so good." Rhea praises in my ear, making me moan. My hips immediately buck forward causing Rhea to chuckle. "You're a good girl aren't you." Rhea coaxes grabbing my hips, and guiding me onto her thigh. I let out a choked moan and bury my head into Rhea's neck. "Come on use your words love, or ill stop." Rhea says making me groan. "Yes." I say quickly, "Good." She says, I can practically hear the smile on her face.

"Ah." I whine as I feel my orgasm building. "More." I beg, Rhea hands keep guiding me along her. I feel my wetness begin to seep threw my panties and I cry out as my orgasm washes over me. I tightly grip onto Rhea's shoulder

"Rhea." I moan, rolling my hips threw my orgasm. I eventually slow to a stop and as soon as I catch my breath. I push Rhea against the bed and quickly yank down her underwear and begin to run my tongue around her clit. "Fuck." Rhea curses immediately gripping onto my hair and pushes me closer. Her legs wrapped around my shoulders and it feels like heaven as I listen to her beautiful moans as I devour her heat.

"Just like that." Rhea moans tugging at my hair making me moan. She gasps and just pulls tighter, only encouraging me. My hands slide up her thighs landing on her hips, where I lovingly rub as I please her. Rhea's moans begin to grow louder and I feel her legs begin to close tighter around my head. My eyes flutter open and I look up to see Rhea looking down at me. I immediately roll my hips against the mattress and I can't help but grind against it as I watch her flushed face, contorted in pleasure, something I surely thought would just be in my dreams.

I feel my orgasm quickly building as I hear her curses frequently falling from her lips, making me think she's close as well. She notices im grinding the mattress and her mouth immediately falls open. I watch as her eyes roll back and she throws her head into the pillows, her thighs practically crushing my head, I speed my hips feeling her juices against my tongue and my second orgasm pushes through me making me moan into her.

Eventually she releases my head and I scoot up a bit. Wrapping my arms underneath her chest. She returns my hold her arms coming around me, making me feel so warm and safe. Part of me is still in shock and I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

[quickspinner]

Blue Lightning

This is a sequel to Pink Frosting and while it should be mostly self-explanatory, it will make more sense if you read that story first.

Happy birthday to one of our lovely, dedicated fandom cheerleaders and fellow writer, @bloody-no-kissu! I'm a bit late but I hope you enjoy it anyway. <3

This fic was inspired by a few things. One of the @mlweeklyprompts a few weeks back was Trope: Blankets/Shirt Collar Shifting Just Enough To Have Bandages Peeking Out, and there was also this really cool video of a strong lady dancing in roller skates going around, plus it was Bloody's birthday and she inspired the original Pink Frosting fic, so all of those influences just came together to inspire and motivate this fic. I hope you enjoy!

Read it on AO3 | Fiction Master Post

Luka hummed to himself as he left the boat, which wasn’t unusual, but there was an extra bounce in his step as he began the familiar trek to the T&S Bakery. Because it was Wednesday, and Wednesday was his unofficial date night with his extremely very official girlfriend. 

Girlfriend. The grin that split his face wasn’t at all in line with his reputation for being calm and easygoing. He and Marinette were dating. Luka would never get tired of that thought. He was dating Marinette and she was his girlfriend and it was everything he’d ever pictured in idle, wistful daydreams.

Man, he felt lucky. He’d been in love with Marinette for years, but no matter how close they became as friends, she never seemed ready to cross that line. Luka had just accepted that it wasn’t going to happen, and tried to just be the best friend he could be to her, right up until she flung herself right across that line and into his arms and kissed the daylights out of him. It still gave him goosebumps thinking about it, even though they’d been dating for months now.

Luka greeted Sabine on his way through the bakery, waving to Tom behind her, and then puffed his way up the frankly indecent number of stairs it took to reach Marinette’s room. Her door was open and he knew she was expecting him, so he just called a greeting as he peeked in cautiously. 

“Hi, Luka,” Marinette said distractedly. She was leaning half into her closet, reaching for something above her head. “One sec, I just need to get this down.” 

“Do you need a hand?” Luka asked, lips quirking in amusement as he came the rest of the way into the room. Marinette gave him a dirty look over her shoulder and he just grinned innocently back at her, folding his arms across his chest.

“No, I got it,” she grunted, rising up on her toes and catching the edge of the box with the tips of her fingers. Luka’s eyes automatically flicked to the hem of her shirt as it rode up, expecting a glimpse of toned muscle rippling under smooth skin, but that wasn’t the view he got. 

“Here we go,” Marinette sighed, bringing her heels back down and turning to set the box on her desk. 

Luka was beside her before he’d even made a conscious decision to move. He caught her arm and lifted it out of the way, pulling her shirt up to expose her side. 

“Luka!” she gasped, jerking away and shoving her shirt back down, but they both knew it was too late.  

Luka straightened and looked at her, lips tight. She blushed and folded her arms, turning away from him a little, tugging the hem of her shirt lower. Not that it mattered. He’d already seen, and as much as he preferred to let Marinette have her space and come to him when she was ready to talk about things...but, well, he was human, and seeing her hurt was not something he could just let go. 

“Marinette,” Luka said, his voice tight though he tried to keep it calm. “What happened?”

“Nothing important,” Marinette shrugged, and then she shrank under his gaze. “I just fell.” 

“How hard did you fall,” Luka asked, one fist clenching as bad memories flooded in, “That you needed bandages on your ribs?”

Marinette pressed her lips together and stepped back from him a little. “You wouldn’t understand.” 

“Maybe not,” he sighed, fighting the urge to catch her and pull her back. “I’d like to think by now you should have a little faith that I’ll try, though.” 

She blushed at that, and looked ashamed, her gaze falling to her feet. Luka sighed again and forced his fingers open, then tilted her chin up to meet his eyes. “Just tell me, Marinette,” he said, some of the hurt he was trying to hide seeping into his voice. “Do you really feel like whatever happened is so bad that you can’t share it with me? Haven’t I always supported you?”  

Her eyes flicked up to the pink-tipped locks falling over his forehead, and she flushed with shame. “Of course you have,” she murmured, shoulders slumping.

“Then please, trust that I’ll be here for you however you need,” Luka urged, letting his hand fall to take hers. He tugged her gently over to her chaise and they sat down together as Luka considered his words. “I’ve always tried to let you talk about things in your own time, but I’m really kind of scared right now. I haven’t seen you hide an injury like this since—” Since she’d been fighting supervillains and bullies on the regular. Not that he was supposed to know about that first part. “Since the bad days.”  

“No,” Marinette sighed, bringing her hands up to frame his face. “It’s not—not like that, Luka. It’s just...well...stupid. I feel stupid. I did something stupid and I didn’t want to tell you and now you’re upset with me.”

“I’m upset that you were hiding that you were hurt,” Luka told her, putting his hands over hers. “I—you know I hate to pressure you, but you’re hurt and I’m not feeling very reasonable about it.” 

Marinette chewed her lip and looked away with a sigh and a defeated expression. “It’s really not a big deal. Not like you’re thinking anyway. I really did just fall. On my skates.” 

Luka blinked. “Your roller skates?” he asked stupidly, and Marinette rolled her eyes at him.

“Yes, my roller skates. I was wearing pads but I...well I was trying a trick I saw one of the other girls do, but I didn’t land it, and I hit the rail on my side, and…” And she had enough experience with rib injuries after everything that happened that she’d just taped herself up and gone on. But— 

“So this happened at derby practice?” Luka asked, confused about why she would try to hide it, especially if the rest of the team knew.  

Marinette winced. “No. After derby practice. After everyone else was gone.” 

Luka’s frown deepened. “You tried a new trick without anyone spotting you? Without anyone even coaching you? While you were alone?” 

Marinette sighed, pulling her hands away and turning away from him. “And that’s why I didn’t want to tell you.” 

Luka sat there for a moment, lips pressed together, and then he stood up abruptly. “I need a minute,” he said shortly, crossing her room and jerking open the trap door. He went down the stairs quickly, and paced in the living room where he didn’t have to hide the thunderous expression on his face. Part of him wanted to yell at her, to lecture her, to tell her how stupid and irresponsible that had been, and what if she had hit her head and there had been no one there to find her? He knew from his own ice skating experience that you couldn’t just pick up a jump without coaching, without having someone to break it down for you and show you how to achieve it safely. 

And why would she do something like that, especially after how hard she had to work to convince her friends and family that she could be trusted on skates at all without killing herself? She finally convinced them, all of them, that she wasn’t a disaster waiting to happen, that she could actually be good at something physical. Luka had seen it; he’d been there at every bout and seen the way her friends had slowly gone from skepticism to grudging respect to enthusiasm. 

Finally, Luka stopped pacing and put his hands over his face, taking a moment to breathe and calm down. He needed to hear Marinette out and freaking out wasn’t going to do anybody any good. The last thing he wanted to do was damage her trust in him. 

She looked miserable when he came back into her room, curled in on herself, one hand on her injured side and staring at the floor. It broke his heart a little and Luka sighed to himself as he crossed over to her, sitting back down in his place beside her. He cupped her cheek and raised her face so he could look in her eyes. Her lashes were wet and he hated it. 

Luka leaned in slowly, giving her time to pull away if she liked, but she only closed her eyes and let her cheek sink more solidly into his palm. Luka kissed her softly, and she pressed into him, clutching at his hoodie for a moment. He slipped his other arm carefully around her and focused on his feelings for her, kissing her as tenderly as he knew how. I’m here, he thought at her, I’m not going anywhere. You’re safe and I love you. I won’t leave you. 

Slowly she relaxed against him, tension easing out of her as they kissed and kissed again. She got like this, sometimes, afraid she would suddenly be too much for him, that he couldn’t possibly love her at her lowest—as if he hadn’t loved her through every up and down for years, even if they’d only gotten together recently. Luka was happy to reassure her in any way she needed. 

When the kissing wound down to an easy, natural end, Marinette buried her face in his shoulder. Luka held her, rubbing her upper back softly, staying well away from the bandages. “Can you tell me why now?” he asked softly, after a few minutes. 

Marinette groaned. “It’s stupid.” 

“Tell me anyway.”

Marinette sighed and pulled away from him, going over to grab her tablet from her desk. She brought it back with her and plopped down next to him, pulling up a video.

Luka watched the video, recognizing Marinette’s roller derby team by the uniforms, though the faces weren’t people he knew. They were on the rink but it wasn’t a bout; it looked more like a dance. The video shifted and showed what looked more like a skills drill, people weaving in and out of obstacles, cheering and showboating the whole time.

“The team—well, the whole league, actually—does exhibitions like this,” Marinette explained. “For fundraising or just to get their name out there. This one was a few years ago, but there’s one coming up soon. Some of the girls have been practicing some choreography and things for it, and I just...well that one—” she pointed to the video as a girl pulled off a trick that looked simple, though Luka doubted it really was. “I thought maybe I could do that one. I was the last one leaving the rink anyway, so I just...decided to give it a try.” She made a face. “Obviously, it didn’t go well.” 

“Did you tell anyone you wanted to learn some of these tricks?” Luka asked, frowning slightly. 

“No,” Marinette admitted quietly. “I guess I...well…I didn’t want any of them to see me mess up. They don’t know clumsy Marinette, except Alix, and I didn’t want to be that person anymore.” 

“Marinette,” Luka said softly, sliding his hand up to squeeze her shoulder. “It’s not clumsiness to fall when you try something new. I’ve fallen on the ice rink lots of times. It’s just part of the learning process. You’ve got plenty of strength and flexibility, it’s just teaching your body to do the right things in the right order. If you want to try and be part of the...exhibition team, or whatever you guys call it, then I think that’s a great idea. But I want you to do it safely. If you got hurt, it wasn’t because you aren’t capable, it’s because you didn’t have anyone there to teach you. Do you really think the team will laugh at you? Did they laugh at you when you were first learning to skate the incline rink?”

“No,” Marinette admitted, and then made a face. “Well, sometimes. But not in a mean way.”

Luka kissed her forehead softly. “And they won’t laugh at you in a mean way now. Even if you try and don’t like it, or you’re not any good—which I highly doubt since you’re amazing at everything you really put your mind to—they won’t tease you for it, will they? You’ve been so happy since you started doing roller derby, Marinette. If you want to get involved in more team activities I think that’s awesome.” Marinette gave him a tentative smile, and he smiled back. “If you want, I can come to your next practice. If you just want some moral support while you discuss it with the girls.” 

Marinette’s lips turned down. “I should be able to do something like that without you.”

“You’re plenty able,” Luka said, resting his cheek on her hair. “You just don’t have to.”

He felt her sigh and consider. He came to her practices, not regularly, but often enough that no one would think much about it if he was there. He had the impression from the giggling and whispering that the other girls thought it was cute. 

“You really wouldn’t mind?” Marinette asked in a small voice, and Luka turned his face and kissed her temple. 

“You know I love watching you in those shorts,” he teased, and then yelped as Marinette jabbed an elbow in his gut. “Ow,” he pouted.

“Here I thought we were having a serious emotional conversation and you just want to ogle my butt,” Marinette huffed, folding her arms.

“I learned how to ogle you and carry on a serious conversation at the same time years ago,” Luka teased. “It’s practically a survival skill for teenage boys. Especially those of us lucky enough to have super hot girlfriends.” 

***

A few days later, Luka lounged on the bleachers at the rink, a pair of headphones plugged into his guitar as he noodled idly and watched the team. He’d been a little self-conscious at first, but Marinette had been excited the first time he asked to come, and Suzette gave permission, so he tried not to think too hard about the fact that none of the other significant others ever seemed to show up. He grinned and winked at a couple of Marinette’s teammates when he caught them staring. They giggled and waved as they went on their way. The girls all knew he was completely devoted to Marinette, so he felt safe flirting a little, just for fun. Really it was less about the flirting and more about making Marinette look good. He had an inkling that Marinette kind of liked showing him off, which did all sorts of pleasant things to his insides, so he did his best to be charming without being a creep.

When he could spare the attention, at least. He loved watching Marinette on the rink, strong and graceful and confident, now that she’d moved past the initial awkwardness of learning how to move in her skates and building up the muscle she needed. Luka could see, even if Marinette couldn’t always, how much she contributed to the team and— 

Something banged on the rail in front of him and he started as Alix grinned at him, eyes knowing under her helmet. “Wake up, Couffaine,” she laughed, banging the back of her pad on the rail again for good measure. “Your lovesick puppy look is distracting everyone.” 

“Sorry,” Luka grinned, chuckling. He turned his attention back to his guitar as Alix rolled her eyes and skated off. She caught Marinette around the neck and gave her a vicious noogie, complaining loudly that her boyfriend was getting drool all over the rink. Marinette tossed her off and chased her around the rink. She still wasn’t quite fast enough to catch Alix, but the entire team whooped and started around the rink, and the whole thing became some kind of free for all that Luka couldn’t quite follow, until Suzette intervened and got them back into their drills.

Finally Suzette called that the team was free to go and just the exhibition squad should stay. Luka put aside his guitar and walked out onto the rink, slipping an arm around Marinette’s waist as she skated up to him. 

“Ready?” he asked softly, and she nodded. They made their way back to where Suzette was giving instructions, and all eyes turned curiously their way.

“Um,” Marinette began nervously. “I was hoping that maybe I could, um, join the exhibition squad? I know I’m new and I don’t really know that much but I’m a fast learner and I could—” She cut off the ramble as Luka squeezed her hip.

Suzette smiled warmly at her and Alix gave her two thumbs up. “Of course you can,” Suzette told her, and then her smile faltered slightly. “Although I’m not sure if there’s enough time to get you up to speed with the other girls for this exhibition…” She looked down her clipboard, tapping her pen on her lips thoughtfully. “We could have you do a solo skills exhibition like Alix, except…”

“Alix is a lot better than me at all those things,” Marinette shifted uncomfortably. 

“You haven’t been doing them as long,” Suzette reminded her kindly. “We could maybe use that as an asset, though. Show them a beginner level drill while Alix handles the advanced stuff. If we came up with a few things and you really drilled on them—” Suzette began, but she was interrupted before she could finish the thought. 

“What about jam skating?” one of the girls spoke up. Everyone turned to look at her and she shrugged slightly. “It’s always a crowd pleaser. It’s fun and as long as the song is killer, it’ll look good even if it’s simple. We start out teaching her the basics and if she can manage some fancier tricks we can work them into the routine later. Marinette’s strong and flexible, I bet she can make it look good, and that way she can still participate but we don’t have to shoehorn her into something where she’ll have to do a lot of work to catch up.” She looked at Marinette. “How does that sound? I bet you can put together a killer outfit. If you like it, we can work on more complicated stuff for the next fundraiser.” 

“That sounds really fun,” Marinette admitted shyly. Luka squeezed her hip again. “I’m sure I could come up with a great song,” she added, glancing up at Luka. He blushed a little and winked at her. 

“I’m sure we can find something,” he agreed.

“Okay then,” Suzette grinned. “You can work with Danielle and we’ll see how it goes, and work it out from there. Welcome to the squad, Marinette.”

***

A couple of weeks later, Luka was lounging on Marinette’s chaise while she sat hunched over her desk, brainstorming outfits for her exhibition skate. “How’s the jam skate prep going?” Luka asked, bending over to plug his guitar into the tiny pink amp that now lived under her chaise. Marinette had giggled all afternoon the first time he brought it over, but it was perfect for letting him practice while she worked, without being in her way when he wasn’t there. Marinette had decorated the casing with some of her flower decals and now it felt like it had always been part of her room.

“Not bad,” Marinette said, refocusing on the outfits she was sketching. “It still feels a little awkward. Danielle’s trying to teach me this quick-change move and I keep getting my feet tangled up, but she promises me that’s normal and that I’m doing well.”

“You mean she didn’t call you clumsy and laugh you off the rink?” Luka chuckled, and Marinette pitched a discarded, crumpled up sketch over her shoulder at him, smiling in satisfaction when she heard it bounce off his head. 

“You were right,” she said, reaching for a different pencil. “Is that what you want to hear?” 

“I just want to hear that it’s going well,” Luka said innocently, and Marinette rolled her eyes. The soft notes of Luka’s guitar—no, actually, that was a lot more energetic than the last thing she’d heard him working on. 

“I haven’t heard that one before,” Marinette observed. 

“I know,” Luka chuckled. “I thought you might like something with a kick for your jam skate, so I’ve been messing around with a few things. I think I’m on the right track with this one.”

That got her attention, and she put her pencil down and got up from her desk. “You don’t have to write something new,” Marinette protested, shoving his legs aside so she could sit down next to him on the chaise. “You’ll have to finish and record it, and there’s not much time if I’m going to get a routine worked out and practiced—I can use a commercial album, or one of Kitty Section’s songs.” 

“I want to,” Luka shrugged. “Mom can record it for us. It’ll be good enough quality to play over the PA system. I can finish it in a couple of days, no problem. Besides, it saves you guys having to do anything about getting rights and stuff.” He grinned, reaching over to rub his thumb along the furrow between her brows. “Put a Kitty Section patch on your outfit and we’ll call it even.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “I would have done that anyway.”

“I know.” Luka leaned over and kissed her cheek. “You’re the most supportive girlfriend I could ever ask for. You might as well be the band’s PR manager at this point. The least I can do is support you too.” He kissed her lips, too, since he was there already, before winking and sitting back.

“Mm-hmm,” Mariette smiled, sliding over and leaning into his space before reaching up to flick his pink-tipped bangs out of his face. “You’ve always supported me. I’m sorry I didn’t...well, that I hid things from you before. I should have trusted you would understand.” 

Luka smiled, though his gaze was suddenly fixed on her mouth. “Forgiven. I’m just happy you’re happy now. I—Mmm.” He cut off in a contented hum as she closed the last bit of distance and kissed him. He smiled at her when she pulled back, but she set her hand on his, pushing lightly, and she grinned when she saw him swallow as he set the guitar aside. 

As soon as it was out of the way, Marinette slid into his lap and put her arms around his neck, kissing him soundly. “You’re the best,” she sighed, and then kissed him again. “I’m so lucky to have you.” 

Luka tried to answer but a kiss just below his jaw ensured that nothing came out but a strangled squeak. Marinette had no intention of letting him argue, and Luka seemed to realize that, so instead he just put his arms around her and closed his eyes as she peppered kisses over his face and neck. At last, Marinette took his face in her hands and kissed him slowly and tenderly, and as she pulled away, a sudden inspiration hit her. Luka opened his eyes and found her looking at him intently. 

She reached up and traced a line with one fingertip from his forehead, down over his eye, to his cheekbone.

Luka raised his eyebrows. “Marinette?” 

“Hmm?” Distracted, Marinette was still staring at him—not at him, exactly, but at his face. Except she wasn’t really seeing his face, her mind already racing, elements she had been struggling with suddenly coming together in her mind. 

The warm pressure of Luka’s mouth on hers brought her blinking back to reality. “Marinette,” he murmured, before kissing her again. “Come back to earth, please. At least long enough for me to say goodbye.”

“Oh,” Marinette gasped. “I’m so sorry, Luka, I—” but he was already shaking his head.

“Don’t be sorry,” he said fondly, brushing her bangs back gently. “I get it. But I’m not going to see you tomorrow so I’d like a decent goodbye before you get lost in the zone.” 

“Of course,” Marinette smiled, and put her arms around his neck, forcing herself to focus on him for the moment as he kissed her. “I love you,” she breathed against his lips, and he smiled. 

“I love you too,” he whispered, and kissed her again before pulling back. He packed up his guitar and slung the case over his shoulder. “Don’t forget to eat,” he told her, chuckling as he saw her already shuffling around on her desk. “Set your alarm so you don’t stay up all night.” 

“I will,” Marinette said, smiling at his care of her as she went over to her desk and flipped to a new sheet of paper, sparing a moment to appreciate the way he always knew when to give her space. She hummed a little bit of the peppy song he’d been working on as she picked up her blue pencil and began to sketch.

***

Despite her genuine excitement and enthusiasm, Marinette had had her reservations when Danielle suggested jam skating. She was acrobatic enough, when she wasn’t being a total klutz, but Marinette hadn’t been sure she was graceful or rhythmic enough for something that was supposed to be a kind of dance. She’d trusted her teammates though and it turned out that she was actually halfway decent at it after all. And it was fun. 

“Yes, girl,” Danielle yelled from where she was leaning against the rail, watching Marinette. “Now you’re getting it! It’s about time you stopped thinking so hard!” 

Marinette flashed her a grin as she whipped by.

“This music is killer,” Danielle commented when Marinette finished and skated back to her. “What’s it called?”

“Oh,” Marinette reached up and ruffled her bangs away from her sweaty forehead. “I don’t actually know if it has a name? Luka wrote it and recorded it for me.” 

Danielle grinned. “Are you kidding? Is there anything that boy won’t do for you?”

Marinette shrugged, blushing as she looked at the floor. “Not much,” she admitted, grinning. “He’s pretty amazing. He’s always been there for me, even before we were together. Even when it hurt him.”

“Ooohkay don’t get all sentimental on me,” Danielle said, throwing an arm around Marinette’s shoulder. “I’m not trying to pry into your business. I don’t know what happened in the past but right now? You two are pretty sickening. Gotta admit, though, I wish I had a relationship like yours. Does he have a sister?” she teased, and Marinette shoved her back with a grin.

“Yes, and you’ve seen her before, the tall girl with the black hair and the purple tips and the cute blond girlfriend hanging all over her.”

Danielle groaned, dropping her head back. “Figures.” 

Marinette patted her shoulder sympathetically.

“Well, you’ve got the rink for a while longer,” Danielle sighed, leaning over the rail to grab her bag from the bleachers. She slung it over her shoulder. “You can stay and practice a little more if you want, and then next time we’ll work on putting some fancy stuff in the middle.” She poked Marinette in the belly. “Maybe some breakdancing-type moves during one of those sick guitar riffs. Might as well show off some of those crazy ab muscles of yours.”

Marinette giggled, and waved as Danielle left. She did a few lazy loops around the rink, practicing her footwork, letting the breeze of her passing cool the sweat on her skin. She was tired, but it was the good kind of tired, the ache of hard work and the glow of accomplishment. 

“Looking good. You always do, though.”  

Marinette swung around, nearly losing her balance, to find Luka standing at the edge of the rink, grinning at her. 

“Luka,” she skated toward him, beaming. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I thought I’d go home with you,” he said, and then, to her surprise, he hopped over the rail, and she saw he had a pair of skates on. “But I was hoping maybe you could show me some moves first.”

“Really?” Marinette backed up a bit to gaped at his feet, and then looked up at him. “But...you don’t have to do that.” 

“I know.” Luka shrugged his hoodie off, laying it over the rail, and stuck his hands in his pockets, shrugging as he glided towards her. “But it’s important to you, and you like it. So I’d just like to give it a shot.” 

Marinette swallowed hard, still drifting backwards, eyes darting over the muscles in his arms and shoulders, the easy motion of his hips as he skated towards her, and the sly smirk curling his lips— 

Crap. He was smirking because she was staring. He bent down as he reached her, mischievous blue eyes peeking at her through the pink-tipped strands falling over his forehead. “Marinette,” he sing-songed teasingly, and blushing, she shoved his face away. He stumbled a little on his skates—Marinette supposed they weren’t exactly like ice skates, where she’d never seen him so much as wobble. 

Luka chuckled and maneuvered next to her. “Okay, so where do we start?”

Marinette swallowed her nerves. “Um, the back and forth? Like this.” She demonstrated with her feet. 

It didn’t take him long to get the hang of it, or the next two she showed him. Marinette wanted to pout. Luka was all sinuous, fluid grace, and it wasn’t fair. Oh, she knew he had his fair share of clumsy moments, usually when he was thinking about a song (or sometimes when he was thinking about her), but when it came to something like this, something that depended on rhythm and showmanship...he was in his element no matter the medium, and it showed. He had a confidence in himself and his body that she’d never been able to match outside of the suit.

Then he looked up and smiled at her, and she was reminded that this strong, hot, gorgeous man thought she was the greatest thing on earth, and she felt...she felt like it was true. Her smile lost some of its tightness, and some of the tension went out of her body, and she quirked a challenging eyebrow at him. 

“Okay, how about this one?” She knew he’d be able to do it, because this one was all balance and hips, but it wasn’t about how he moved right now. She put her hands behind her head and kicked her hips out to get the momentum she needed, and grinned to herself when she saw that she had his complete, undivided attention. It was intoxicating, having that complete laser focus entirely on her, and it made her want to really sell the performance.

“Well,” she said, after he’d watched her for a moment. “You think you can do it?” 

“Show me again,” he said, his voice at least an octave deeper than it had been a moment ago. “A little slower, please.” 

Marinette did it again, slower, keeping her eyes on him as much as she could. He shook his head slightly, lips curling. “You’re too good,” he murmured, and then smirked at her before trying the move himself. He had it down before long and Marinette giggled. 

“Okay, let’s put it together,” she murmured, sidling up next to him. Marinette started some music on her phone, counted out the beat in her head, and began putting the moves she’d just shown him together in a simple routine. 

Luka watched her intently for a moment, and then started to move next to her. It took him a couple of tries but he got it, and they grinned at each other as they moved around the rink in synch. It wasn’t perfect, they both stumbled a couple of times, and more than once they forgot where they were in their little routine, but they giggled their way through it and Marinette thought they were actually doing pretty well. 

Impulsively, Marinette flipped out of formation with him, circling around him as he kept going with their little routine. She threw in a little flare here and there when she knew he was watching, and then moved around to skate in front of him, mirroring the moves. That was harder and it took more concentration, she couldn’t show off as much. But it was worth it to be facing him, to see the way he looked at her. 

Finally he put on a quick burst of speed and caught her around the waist, and then stumbled over his toe stop, and Marinette had to hold him up, laughing. He grinned sheepishly as they skidded to a less than graceful stop, but didn’t let her go.

“You know something,” Marinette said, looking up at him through her lashes. “My boyfriend is really hot.” 

“You know something else?” Luka said, already bending towards her. “My girlfriend is irresistible.” He nipped at her jaw, palm flattening against the small of her back to press her close to him as he mouthed his way down her neck. Marinette tilted her head back and moaned softly, letting her hands drift down to his biceps. Luka moved down to her collarbone and Marinette leaned a little too far back. She yelped as her skates began to roll out from under her, but Luka caught her, letting her feet slide between his as she hung in his arms. He grinned down at her, and she giggled. “Maybe we should continue this somewhere a little more stable?” he suggested, with that same gentle mildness as always, that never mocked her or made her feel like she was...too clumsy, or too awkward, or too much of a spazz, or just too much.

This was one of those moments it hit her, how much, how truly he loved her, and as always it made her breath hitch in her throat and her eyes burn, and she yearned to show him how much she appreciated it, and how much she loved him in return, for just being the sweet, trustworthy, patient, dependable man that he was. 

She bit her lip, tightening her fingers on his biceps, and leaned up enough to kiss his lips lightly. “Let’s go.”

Luka smiled, and lifted her back onto her feet. He held her while she got her legs back underneath herself, steady as a rock as always. She smiled up at him, at his soft blue eyes looking at her under the pink-tipped fringe of his hair, and hoped the little surprise she was planning for the exhibition would show him how much she really did appreciate him.

***

Juleka was smirking, and Luka didn’t know why, and that was...worrisome. He tried to look like he didn’t care too much, because if she thought he really wanted to know, she definitely wouldn’t tell him. 

“Are you coming to the exhibition today?” he asked, as casually as he could, and Juleka’s smirk got broader, and now he was really worried.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” Juleka mumbled, her expression shifted to a wicked grin. 

Oh, that was bad. That was almost definitely bad. Especially given that Juleka had disappeared for almost the whole afternoon for the last two days. Coupled the fact that Luka had picked up a couple extra shifts and hadn’t seen Marinette in a few days...he had concerns. As if Marinette didn’t knock him on his ass (mostly metaphorically, but occasionally literally) on the regular without special Plans. 

Yeah, with the way Juleka was suddenly cackling at him, he was pretty sure he was doomed, he just wasn’t sure how . 

It was a really long day, and when they finally slipped into the seats Tom and Sabine had saved for them, right up in front, the grins on Tom and Sabine’s faces didn’t do much to ease Luka’s concerns. He tried not to let his knee bounce as they waited, but gave up even trying to keep his fingers in control, letting them tap out the rhythm of the music playing on the leg he was desperately trying to keep still. 

***

“That feels like a pretty big crowd,” Marinette breathed as she peeked out of the locker room door. 

“Good,” Alix said cheerfully, adjusting her helmet. “More people means more money.”

“Yeah, of course,” Marinette said lightly, like she wasn’t suddenly shaking in her skates. 

“Hey.” Marinette jumped as Alix threw an arm around her shoulders. “I know it’s kinda freaky, but you’ll be fine once you get out there. Besides, you and I both know there’s only one person in that audience you actually care about impressing.” She took a lock of Marinette’s hair in her fingers and waved it in front of Marinette’s eyes, before letting it slide away. “I hope you brought a mop and a bucket because that boy’s going to melt down completely, you know that right?”

“I know,” Marinette giggled. “That’s the plan.” She and Alix grinned at each other and shared a fist bump. 

***

There were several clubs participating in the exhibition, and the programs were interesting but the wait was killing him. 

He sat up a little straighter when Suzette finally took the microphone. Marinette was up first, he knew. Suzette introduced herself and told the crowd a little bit about the team, and then began to back up to the sidelines, calling, “Ladies and gentleman, give it up for our very own Petty Gâteau, Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Marinette’s new to the team and she came to us with barely any experience on skates and a lot to learn, but with a little perseverance and a lot of hard work, she’s become an absolute terror of the derby track! Not only is she a great jammer in the bout, she’s been learning jam skating and today she’s performing a routine she calls Blue Lightning.” 

Luka had barely registered the name when Marinette burst onto the rink, throwing her arms up in the air as the spectators applauded, and Luka lost his breath as he watched Marinette take a lap around the rink, hyping the crowd. Marinette wore a black sleeveless crop top that left her toned arms and midriff bare, with a sparkly blue lightning bolt lined in pink emblazoned bold and proud across her chest. She wasn’t wearing her helmet for the jam skate and her hair was loose, its bright blue streaks whipping around her grinning face—wait.

Luka’s mouth dropped open and he stood up, gripping the rail as he stared, and Juleka began to howl with laughter beside him. Marinette’s hair had always had a slightly blue look to it in the light, but now it was shot through with bright, jagged streaks of blue. His blue. His knees went a little weak and his heart began to pound as she locked eyes with him and winked. God. He dropped heavily back into his seat as Tom and Sabine began to giggle. 

“Either I owe you big time,” he muttered to Juleka, who was practically in tears from laughter at this point, “Or I’m going to kill you. I haven’t decided which yet.” 

Marinette really only got a glimpse at his face when she whipped by but she liked what she saw. She waved and blew kisses and circled to the center of the rink. The excitement of surprising Luka already had her on edge, and the energy of the crowd was addictive, so when the music started she maybe put a little more snap in her hips, a little more sass in her smile, a little more whip in her hair, and she had to laugh the next time she passed Luka, who was by now leaning on the rails for support while Juleka patted his back with faux sympathy. 

Marinette laughed as her feet wove through those quick-change moves she’d had so much trouble with a few weeks before, grinning triumphantly when she managed them without trouble. 

She wished she could have seen Luka’s face when she “fell” back, landing on her hands and kicking up into a handstand. 

Marinette finished her routine with a flourish and took another lap around the rink, waving both hands at the audience, though her attention stayed on Luka. She skated up to him as Suzette cried, “Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for our own Marinette Dupain-Cheng!” 

Luka leapt to his feet as she approached, and his hands were on her face before she even leaned over the rail, and as they shared a brief but fervent kiss. Through the whooping and applause they heard Suzette laughing over the microphone as she announced, “And just in case you were wondering, she’s taken.”

Marinette pulled back, blushing prettily, and turning even redder as she saw the way Luka was looking at her. She blew him one more kiss, waved to her friends, and skated off the rink to get changed for the bout. 

She was fired up when it came time for the actual competition, throwing her weight around and pushing off with her strong legs. There was no hesitation about her anymore as she worked with her teammates, calling out formations and strategies, slamming herself up against bodies of teammates and opponents alike as the situation required. 

In her eagerness she got called for a penalty, and since this was an exhibition bout more about entertainment than anything else, she ended up doing one armed push-ups balanced on her toe stops. She grinned to herself as she heard Luka’s roar cheering her on. Her quiet boyfriend knew how to make himself heard when he wanted to.

She maybe did a few extra push-ups, just to show off, and nearly fell over laughing when she saw Luka pretend to swoon onto Juleka. He nearly landed on the floor when his sister shoved him off mercilessly. Marinette blew him a kiss and got back in the bout, but she felt as if his eyes were burning her the whole time, even when she couldn’t see him.

They certainly burned her when the bout was over and she could look over at him again. Deciding it was best not to go over there again this time, she let Alix tug her along with the rest of the team back to the locker room. 

Marinette took her time getting ready, lingering until the locker room was empty. Alix was the last one out before her. She smirked at Marinette and gave her a two-fingered salute on her way out of the door. 

Marinette slowly, deliberately packed up her things, enjoying the pleasant flutter of anticipation in her stomach, the rush still singing in her veins, and then slung her bag over her shoulder and walked out of the locker room, humming Blue Lightning under her breath. 

Sure enough, no sooner had she come out of the door than a strong arm slipped around her waist and whirled her around so that her back was against the wall. Luka loomed over her, grinning as he nudged her nose with his. “Hi,” he said breathlessly. “Anything else you need to do?” 

“Nope,” Marinette giggled, letting her bag slide off her shoulder and to the floor. 

“Good,” he sighed, and bent down to kiss her—more softly than she expected, but as soon as she kissed him back and lifted her arms around his neck, he pressed her into the wall with a little moan and kissed her and kissed her, murmuring sweet little things that she barely managed to take in, about how proud he was of her and how amazing she was and how much he loved her while she squirmed and giggled and kissed him back. She laughed into his mouth as his thumbs slipped under her shirt to stroke across her abs.

“Luka, that tickles,” she told him.

“You’re so unfair,” he fake-whined teasingly. “You’re feeling up my muscles all the time, and then you go out there like that and now I’m not allowed to touch?”

“Your muscles are really nice,” she defended herself, grabbing his hand and sliding it flat against her stomach. “You can touch, just....” She cleared her throat, but her voice still sounded huskier than usual as she said, “Harder.” 

Luka growled and kissed her again, rubbing his palm firmly across her belly, and maybe she shifted a little on purpose to make her muscles flex beneath his hand, and he moaned into her mouth. Marinette couldn’t help reveling at least a little bit in her power over him, shifting again, and the noise he made had her giggling into the kiss. 

“You covered it up,” Luka murmured, reaching up to stroke the hair that now looked almost completely black.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, it doesn’t show as much when my hair’s up,” Marinette remembered, reaching up to touch her pigtails. 

“I want to see it again though,” he complained, and Marinette giggled, reaching up to pull the bands out of her hair. She shook it loose and smiled up at him. 

“Sorry. I wasn’t even thinking about it, just put it up out of habit.”

Luka smiled and threaded his fingers through her hair, letting the strands slide slowly through them so he could admire the fall of the blue streaks. “It’s beautiful. You’re beautiful.” He sighed and rested his forehead on hers gently. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to,” Marinette told him, rubbing her nose against his lightly. “Besides, fair’s fair.”

“But I didn’t—” 

Marinette’s finger on his lips silenced him. “I know,” she smiled. “You weren’t expecting anything from me. But what I meant was, it’s only fair that I get to wear your colors if you get to wear mine. In fact, I was thinking maybe I need to start incorporating a little more Luka-blue in some of my accessory designs. Don’t think I don’t know you’ve been buying out my online shop, monsieur.” She giggled. “Not that wearing my flower keychain on your guitar case was particularly subtle.”

Luka smiled, unrepentant. “I like having little reminders of you. Thinking about you makes me happy.” He bent and kissed her softly. “I’m not opposed to you thinking of me, either, so if it makes you happy, I’m all for it. Now, can I take my amazing girl for some ice cream, or are you too worn out to go walking all over Paris looking for Andre?”

Marinette shrugged. “Andre’s is nice, but I think my legs would prefer the little parlor on the corner if that’s okay.” 

Luka chuckled. “Sure thing.” 

Fiction Master Post

[tabletopjourneys]

Session 39 Notes

(Skipping ahead so last session notes are in time for a quick read before next session) The Silver Scale Pack split up: While group A confronts The Superb Owl one last time, group B falls for a cryptid and gets teleported to the other side of Bouldergap from their recon mission. Plus: Shopping. Again. lol.

@gher-bear​ @aradow​ @telurin​ @epimetala

On this day The Silver Scale Pack's split missions get critical. Diem and Ixayl'anu have to battle it out with the The Superb Owl and her mob of charmed Bouldergap citizens.

Ultimately they win by deceit and successfully chase The Superb Owl off, back to The Iron Heights (mountains) without any loss of life or nonconsensual fey abductions.

The Bouldergap citizens are pretty grateful once the distance shakes off the last vestiges of charm and begin getting back to their lives, cleaning up the mess of a spontaneous tournament, and finding/checking on loved ones lost in the crowd and/or forgotten in their bespelled states.

In other words, nobody we know of is angry at us for chasing off the pretty owl. They're all pretty aware it was a spell that made them love and admire her so much.

Meanwhile, group B meet one of the near-mythical cryptids called a ropen up close. This one seems to be super ancient and magically potent with decorative colorful jewelry and tattoos that commonly get mistaken for "colorful plumage" in the rare (and doubted) accounts of sightings.

When first attempting to communicate the ropen (accidentally?) deals 3 psychic damage to the safety-bubbled forms of Rana and Fee. It sounds like the angels from Supernatural. Once it corrects this, it's voice still holds tangible power and sounds like an ancient being of immense power speaking to children.

It tells them both they are not safe here and that they have the situation contained and are handling it. Then puts them both to sleep and sends them safely to the other side of Bouldergap out into a field where they wake up about an hour later.

Just in time to hear Diem communicate through the stone that the owl has been handled.

The pack reunites and reports everything to Lawmaster Eldeth. They agree to gather in the morning for another trip out to Stoneroost with the help of two guards.

Their free night until then is spent shopping for gems and supplies. Afterward, Rana and Fee play a training game with their ratties and chill in the Temple of V'kandis until they wake there in the morning and procure another helper for the trip out in the form of a dwarven priestess who offers her healing skills in exchange for being able to check in on her family in Stoneroost.

Ixayl'anu spent the night in the stables with her newly resummoned elk. Diem went off to find and presumably spent the night with the other disguise-loving storyteller The Superb Owl had suggested they have a nice chat with.

(Read More)

(At Least Group A is Safely in Town…Right?)

The Superb Owl: Capture them! (80 ft reach command)

Initiative order starts with Ixayl’anu and then Diem; Ixayl’anu goes first and casts moonbeam on the Superb Owl (it really is a fey owl; though a typo does turn her into the super bowl instead. Just a thought.). Ixayl’anu then runs her 30ft south along the fence.

Diem has to run to catch up as Ixayl’anu shoots past them. “Fly, Ixayl’anu!”. They cast fly on them both as soon as they manage to catch up to her in about 30ft.

5 villagers jump the fence to try and grab us.

One guy across fence to her right manages to grab Ixayl’anu and yank her a little off balance and out of the reach of the guy coming straight at her who’d jumped the southern fence to follow the owl’s orders.

Two guys of three more guys who also jumped the southern fence manage to grab me - one to each arm.

The Superb Owl not only takes half damage from a save (8dmg) by staring her turn in moonbeam, she actually pretends she created the moonbeam as an awe-inspiring spotlight for attention. She spreads her wings and flies straight up in it, showboating a little, and says, in an enunciating announcer voice: Bring them to me and I will deal with the heretics!

Practically everyone near the owl by the northern gate of the square arena and out in an oval of about 40 ft east and west is gazing in star-struck admiration at the owl.

Ixayl’anu struggles to get loose and succeeds her strength check, gets loose and flies 30 ft up and 30 ft east.

Diem uses fey presence to go all Galadriel-style-you-would-have-a-dark-queen visage and voice to inspire fear (16 wis check): Not me you fools!

This works on four out of five of the guys around them, but the one who resists just happens to be one of the guys holding on to them, who actually tightens his grip in half panic as Diem tries to fly away with him still attached (contested strength check failed). They only succeed in lifting him a few feet off the ground.

Diem to Ixayl’anu: Get out of here, go get the others!

A new guy enters the area from the south gate and helps the first pull me back down to the ground as those other four continue to cower a few feet back from me.

The owl takes 4 dmg starting in moonbeam again and doesn’t care, the barely-felt pain is worth the extra awe-inspiring beauty of her spotlight. She is hovering there at about the same height as Ixayl’anu (about 30ft off the ground): Keep that one contained, I will get the flying one!

She’s sad to leave her moonbeam, but flies after Ixayl’anu and misses both attacks. Screams: Look at me! (tries to charm Ixayl’anu and fails)

Ixayl’anu screams right back at her and lands all 3 attacks plus a level 2 smite: 45 total damage. “Never trust owls!”

The Superb Owl screeches again.

Diem goes completely limp and in the owl’s voice says: I have possessed this one, you can let it go. (23 deception)

Everyone buys it and lets Diem go. They immediately zoom 30 ft up and 30 ft toward Ixayl’anu, flying with her between me and the owl.

Guys who let them go realizing their mistake: Oh shit!

(3D chess for everyone now!)

The Northern portion of the crowd begins surging toward us as well, both guys who had Diem are running after them even though they’re 30 ft up.

Korial, the feathered dragonborn from one of Ixayl’anu’s home islands (who had been in charge of and enlisted in the fighting competition) had come out at some point, disappeared in his tent again, and is now coming out, handing off nets to capable-looking people nearby so he can take a shot with his bow at Ixayl’anu. He hits her for 10 dmg

The Superb Owl screams in Ixayl’anu’s face again and tries to grab at her for a grapple. 18 slashing damage and a strength check of 20 vs 21. Ixayl’anu pulls herself away from the grapple at the last minute, which is ruled one reason why the claws hurt so much - made the wound worse pulling out of the grasp.

Ixayl’anu’s next attack misses, but her 2nd does 15dmg plus another smite for 9 more dmg (total 24dmg).

Diem still doesn’t want to hurt the owl if they can avoid it, it’s chaotic good, but just doesn’t understand the concept and finality of death for mortals or why consent is important for the little honor guard it’s trying to create. They are out of big spells, but still have a lightning bolt in their ring if it comes down to it. However, the people also need to know this fey is willing to kill them for the sake of convenience anyway. It’s not outright evil, but inhuman enough it will kill them as easy as praise them.

As such, totally trying to create some doubts and tarnish the awe, show a little truth in a dramatic way, Diem moves their hands in front of their face as if they’re casting a spell, conveniently blocking anyone able to see their face from seeing their mouth move as they mimic The Superb Owl’s voice again, as loud as they can supervillain style and say: I will kill anyone who fails me! (21 deception).

A good amount of people around the South fence pause a little bit at this, including the guys who let them go during the last deception.

After that, Diem shoots Northwest and up 60ft to get above and behind The Superb Owl without flying close enough on the way to cause an attack of opportunity (essentially 20ft behind the owl to the northwest and 30ft up for a total of 60ft above ground and away from Korial’s bow).

They cast an eldritch blast but their heart still really isn’t in killing this pretty fey creature yet (Ixayl’anu is definitely not holding back for sure). Their first blast of crackling iridescent magic misses entirely as a result, and the other is held back too much, doing only 3dmg.

The guys who got nets from Korial are now close enough to throw them at Ixayl’anu, but both nets go wide without accidentally ensnaring any of the people under her instead.

Korial shoots at Ixayl’anu again, but misses.

The Superb Owl: Get more archers! Stop using the nets!

She disengages from Ixie and flies a bigger circle away. She goes up to about 80ft off the ground and take a commanding view of the whole area.

Ixayl’anu has seen birds of prey do this maneuver - she’s getting height so she can do a dive at Ixayl’anu (from 50ft above her now/20ft higher up than Diem is). Diem is clueless what this means for Ixayl’anu.

Ixayl’anu drops moonbeam and downs a potion (16 healing) on her way to get behind the owl and in front of me, close enough she and Diem both get the advantages of the bless she casts in moonbeam’s place (add a d4 to any attack roll or saving throw for a minute - 10 rounds).

Diem casts message on The Superb Owl, speaking directly in her head in sylvan, using their patron’s voice: Harm my pets and mark my words you will have an archfey hounding your immortality, making sure no one anywhere ever even thinks about worshipping you ever again (Intimidation check of 26).

The Superb Owl’s wingbeat pauses and she dips down a couple of feet in reaction. She’s still for the moment.

Diem yells out as loud as they can, in part for the Northside audience this time (and in their own voice): This is your last chance, do this the right way, no one’s taken by force and no one dies if they refuse!

24 performance for the crowd gets another big circle near enough to hear who are beginning to doubt. This includes Korial who has run forward enough he heard Diem’s yell. He also pauses and shakes his head a little bit.

The owl takes a good look around at the chaos and doubters, she screams an angry and hurt sound: None of you were really worth it anyway!

She disengages, picks up speed by dropping about 30 ft (still about 50ft from the ground though) and books it back toward the iron heights.

Ixayl’anu misty steps after her and crackles lightning effects, swiping at the air in the Superb Owl’s direction, making noises to reinforce driving her away and generally trying to be intimidating “You better run!” style. She rolls an 11 for intimidation. She can’t see the owl’s face for obvious reasons, but feels like she did a good job.

(The “Victory Speech” No One Asked For)

Diem flies lower toward the ground and makes themself look like an autumn-and-firey-sun themed archfey with a slightly higher voice than their patron’s to address the people around then. Their impulsive goal here is mainly to check on the hostility levels of the crowd while also trying to make sure a the presence of an archfey makes it into some stories. Just in case any of those get back to The Superb Owl in the future. They don’t use their own patron’s looks because they don’t know how their patron would feel getting that credit. They do go for a fiery-autumn look thinking this heavily V’kandis sun god religious area might attribute the deed in story to V’kandis instead, or an archfey follower (vague spur-of-the-moment possibilities for how this story gets retold over the years lol). Their performance is only a 16 for this though and it’s ruled that most people are simply distracted by the charm suddenly getting dispelled, becoming worried about loved ones and children/parents, etc. no longer in sight. Either way, everyone clearly knows what happened now (insofar as being charmed goes). Diem finished the story with what the owl had been planning, that it wasn’t just harmless (to hopefully discourage later retellings from making the owl out to be something to be tolerated the next time it comes around. Like no, it was definitely planning to take people against their will and seriously considering killing anyone merely for refusing to go with it. As they see the mood of the whole crowd shifting toward deflated sadness and seriousness, they end with what they hope is an inspiring message to find their loved ones and celebrate the return of their freedom. Diem knows it’s not their best work for sure, but they think it went over reasonably well for people being understandably distracted by suddenly remembering all the things and people and tasks the owl made them forget. They do notice Korial is standing there just listening and watching, head tilted after the hold on him was also dispelled.

At the end, Diem then pretends, for the benefit of whomever might still be watching, to be released by the mysterious autumn-fire entity who’d possessed them, their own visage fading back in as they get their bearings and look up at Ixayl’anu. They pull out their sending stone and say into it: Owl taken care of, we’re on our way to you guys in Stoneroost, let us know if we shouldn’t.

(Rana and Fee are falling!)

Fee makes a perception or investigation of 23 right before they start falling, they both hear a crack of thunder even though the sky isn’t stormy. Arcana check of 2 - Fee thinks it’s thunderbird thunder, there might be a thunderbird nearby she just doesn’t know.

Rana was showboating a little like “look at my mountains!” before she fell.

They feel cocooned in this nice little bubble of antigravity and have a slow descent that stops right above the trees like levitating above the treeline.

The ropen are following their descent with intent. 30-40 ft away still, it has embellishment on it - what Rana assumed was a natural coloration, it’s a paint/tattoo and jewelry situation.

These details make no difference to Fee.

Rana has an arm extended toward Fee about to cast a polymorph, but then they’re slowing down to a stop. “Fee are you okay?”

“Yeah, you?” Fee was also reaching for her hand and they manage to grasp hands.

When they stop, Fee tries to see if she can swim in the air, but she doesn’t move.

Rana: were you hit?

Fee: No you?

Rana: No

Fee: Can you become an owl again?

Rana: No...well, yes, but not the same way and I don’t know what knocked me out of owl to begin with (Rana is watching the Ropen as they talk - it’s taking its sweet time to get to them like a turkey vulture rather than any bird of prey about to swoop down and snatch you motions.

Fee looks for the ground through the trees and asks something I missed.

Rana perceives 18 trying to see if there are any other ropen around. 100 ft or so and getting closer (overiding the shorter distance earlier). She casts speak with animals and calls out: “Hello!?” (holds her hands out in peaceful gesture, rats freaking out with “What the fuck is happening?!” type chatter in her ears now).

Rana and Fee must make a con save, both fail (7 and 9, respectively). Both begin to hear ringing sounds in their ears - it’s SPN angel speak type noise. It crescendos to the point it hurts, all in their head, past the point of unbearable for a half second before it cuts out and they take 3 psychic dmg.

The ropen is close enough to hover in front of them after that and they both hear an intense psychic voice “This is not a safe place to be so I am going to bring you back to the nearest settlement - you should not be here until we handle it.”

Rana: We can’t go back, we’re here to figure out what’s going on.

Ropen: We’re taking care of it, their invisible bubbles of levitation start moving both Rana and Fee back the way they came.

Rana makes one persuasion check of 6 before the ropen puts them both to sleep. The whole time the ropen made them feel like they were being talked to as a child by an ancient, one that radiates strong magic.

(The zone you tried to access is down for maintenance; have a portal, take a nap)

Both Fee and Rana wake up feeling like it was really brief, but find themselves in a field outside Bouldergap. (Tournament was southwest of Bouldergap, they wake up northeast of Bouldergap - slightly farther away from town, and directly North of the road in.

Wisdom saving throws: 13 Rana, 20 Fee; Rana wakes up without memory of why she’s even here, the last she remembers she was an owl flying to Stoneroost. She tries to point at the empty air like the ropen is still there though.

Rana: Look, look that’s the thing I saw!

Fee: Yeah we both saw it…?

Rana: Yeah it’s right there! (the air is obviously empty though)

Fee: Uuuhhhhh…

Rana: Wait a minute, why are we back here? (She checks on the rats, who she can no longer understand, but that’s okay because she doesn’t remember casting that spell anyway.)

Fee: Oh, I see, what’s the last thing you remember, friend?

Rana: Flying

Fee: And then we were falling.

Rana statues.

Fee: Here’s what I think happened, I think your bird demons have some kind of bubble around Stoneroost because you somehow became not an owl and we were plummeting toward the ground and they slowed our descent and they made this awful noise screaming in our heads or maybe just my head and then talked to us like kids and were like “No we don’t need your help, we got this dudes.” (She retells the whole thing with more words than this but this is all I got transcribed live).

Rana looks doubtful: I think I’d remember that...

Fee: Yeah you would think…

At about this time, Diem’s voice comes through on the sending stones.

Diem: Owl taken care of, we’re on our way to you guys in Stoneroost, let us know if we shouldn’t.

Fee picks up almost immediately: No, don’t go to Stoneroost - fly to the other side of the tournament just out of town, we’re, well...marco polo or something when you get close until you find us and we’ll catch you up on--

Rana interrupts: Meet us at the gate into Bouldergap.

Fee: Yeah. That probably works better.

It will take Diem and Ixayl’anu about 5 minutes to fly to their destination.

In the meantime, as Rana and Fee walk toward said gate, they talk about what Rana doesn’t remember. She is very VERY interested in everything Fee has to say about the ropen. Fortunately for her, while Fee didn’t care about all the details of the ropen, she did take note of them with her high perception and was able to describe them pretty accurately to Rana - including the detail that they aren’t naturally colorful so much as wearing paint or tattoos and decorative jewelry that glints in the sun. Rana doesn’t know enough about ropen to say whether any of this was normal or not.

The lore for them is only that they’re brightly coloured pterodactyl-like creatures. No one’s gotten close enough to realize it’s not a natural thing and Rana thought they were just animals until now.

They do both remember getting just past the area where we saw the abominations on the road before they were stopped and ported away.

(Together again)

As Diem and Ixayl’anu approach and land, they find Fee and Rana both looking pissed, Rana has her map out, half plotting a route through the mountains instead.

Diem: How’d you guys get over here? Nevermind because…(they proceed to excitedly tell how things went with the owl - including the bit Ixayl’anu was not yet aware of about the message spell convincing the owl that their patron promised retribution if their pets, plural, were harmed)

Ixayl’anu preens with pride over her actions and shining moments during the story. We did not highlight, live, that she would be hearing the message that chased the owl off for the first time though, so there’s no noted reaction to that bit.

Rana (after Diem concludes the story): I hope the Ropen gets it.

Ixayl’anu: Ropen?

Rana looks at Fee: Well, since I don’t remember what happened…?

Fee: Yeah...remember how Rana was gonna carry me safely and we were gonna do this recon mission…?

Rana glares into the open air at nothing over the whole situation.

Fee: Once we got a little more than halfway to Stoneroost, just past where we were before we hit a bubble or something I don’t know but that big Rope-Roc bird thing flew in and Rana got switched back and we were falling then we were not falling and then the bird thing screamed in our heads and it hurt. Then was all like, “Don’t come over here I got this.” and then I don’t know yeah that’s when we were put to sleep and moved over here. I guess Rana must’ve been dropped too hard because she doesn’t remember it all.

(Again, there were definitely more words used than this, more things said, all amusing retellings, but this is all I got transcribed live)

Rana: They’ve never stopped me going through the mountains before, so I’m thinking we go through the mountains and hike out there in the morning. (She also notes that they didn’t see abominations on the road though, at least).

We talk about possibly going by road one more time, but this time, coming out silver scale first to see if that gets us in the door with these Ropen. Among our options is Rana just straight flying out there again with one of us on her back, Ixayl’anu riding on her elk, or possibly hiking back out there and flying for the last 10-20 minutes. All with the silver scale and letter ready to show as a potential vip pass.

Diem pulls out their sending stone and starts to catch the guard captain up on everything as we head her way to check in.

Eldeth: Just meet me at the guard house, this is too much to take in over sending stones.

(At the guard house)

By the time we get there Eldeth says she’s heard many different stories but they all start with YOU (here she points at Ixayl’anu) breathing lightning all over the damned thing.

Ixayl’anu (not in the least as guilty as she should be lol): Yeah…

Eldeth: (nods to self like “Alright then.”) Well we hadn’t tried that, but it worked.

Diem fills her in with 25 performance on every little detail of everything tried first and failed and why etc. including visual demonstration of the archfey they tried to put in the story for retelling in case anything got back to the owl at least some versions might have an archfey involved.

Eldeth seems to appreciate all the details: Well, we had a deal and you handled it, but I’m not gonna lie I’d prefer to help you through to Stoneroost in the morning.

She calls in two guards for us though - a dark blue skinned goliath barbarian type named Mash Jufrin who has a pegleg (Mash was one of the dumb guards from the other day) and a reddish older looking warrior tiefling named Tioshikio Ayibi. Eldeth introduces them and says, “These are who I can spare - they’re the best at smashing things.”

Mash (laughing): Yeah I’m best at smashing things.

Diem: Delighted to meet you (to Eldeth after looking at the rest of their party) I’m definitely for the morning though too, I could use a short rest?

The others nod agreement.

Tio: In that case, I’ll go help out with breaking down all the festival havoc and meet you all at the gate out toward Stoneroost in the morning.

As Diem notices no one is telling the Stoneroost route story, they message Fee to ask why they’re not telling their story.

Fee out loud: Oh yeah you should totally do that!

Diem (also out loud now): Me? Oh...okay *tries to remember everything Fee said and does a 26 performance on telling their story*

Only because of that performance do they not laugh at Diem outright for talking about sky bigfoot but Eldeth is still looking at Rana (the local of our group) like “Seriously?”

Rana gives a look back like yeeaaaah...it is though, I know how it sounds. (She’d been wincing and frowning at every mention of ropen during the story.)

Eldeth believes us but points out that she wouldn’t otherwise if not for the owl and everything crazy that’s been going on of late. She recommends Tio to get more supplies to that end from the armory. We all part ways, Diem getting their extra sending stone back after announcing they have a date to get to.

(Free evening for shopping and more!)

We get the evening to do whatever we like. Rana needs a 300 gold diamond, so she’s going to go shopping. Since it’s on the way to other places we’re all headed, we all go with. Rana gets distracted by all the shiny pretty gems, Ixayl’anu has to pry her away eventually. Rana picks up 2 diamonds and can’t help herself, picks up 2 rubies, a sapphire and an emerald. Loose stones that call to her. Handful of rubies and pretty things.

Diem forgot in the live session but since it was determined they were there for the shopping on their way back to Emmen’s festival tent, they have been approved for also picking up some pretty stones and would have been just as enthralled by the pretties as Rana lol. Gem haul (whopping total of 1500gp lol): Includes 3, 10gp titanium rainbow peacock kyanite feathers, a large Iolite/Cordierite sample that is dark blue with white and clear crystal clusters in it at first glance - looking closer at various angles reveals the whites to shift into shades of silver that blend in with the blues that also shift with lighting into shades of black and violet as well (300gp for a small “brick” sized uncut chunk). Another normal-sized sample of this same uncut stone for 50gp, a water opal with an imperfection that looks like a crescent moon, worth 1000gp (the two big ticket items are to be gifts for their patron, if anyone asks), and topped off with a pouch of additional, hand-selected rough cut samples of asst other stones mostly in shades of teals and purples (basically would look like a small stash of rough fluorite, quartz, etc.). They also pick up a little amethyst cat figuring worth 100gp (because gifts to the fey should always come in threes).

Ixayl’anu hauls us out of there before we spend ALL of our money there (I mean for her goddess’ sake, it’s not like they’re the teeth of a rare and impressive beast or something) and goes off to find a shop with healing potions where she buys two common healing potions (100g total).

Diem gets 2 greater healing potions for 150 each.

Rana says she’s going to the temple, everyone but Diem is gonna join her there. Diem splits off from the rest to find their aforementioned “date.”

Ixayl’anu resummons her elk in the temple courtyard. It takes her 10 minutes to do so. He bugles frantically as though no time had passed since he was attacked and Ixayl’anu is there with horse girl hugs and affection that he appreciates as she calms him down.

Mutanamri quietly comes up to her during this: So while you’re welcome to stay here, and we appreciate all your help recently...your steed does have to stay outside the temple...it’s a little bit of a sacrilegious thing, so if you could put it out in the stables please?

Ixayl’anu nods and says she understands. She and her elk continue their affectionate reunion on the way to stables. She spends the night in the stables with her elk, sleeping together.

Rana floats the idea with Fee to do a find the item and retrieve course for the rats outside the temple somewhere. Fee agrees. Rana hands Fee a frickin ruby for this game and uses a frickin emerald for Hamlet, hiding them for retrieval. These are the games of the rich, people lol. Rana casts speak with animals and they send the rats out on their missions. They make animal handling checks of 8 for Rana and 17 for Fee 17. Horatio wins! It does help that he recognizes the “retrieve” game through practice a little better than Hamlet does.

We confirm that tiny animals stopped speaking draconic about a couple miles out of Longview. So Fee can also speak to and understand her rat through her ring.

Afterward Rana settles down by the flame and Fee with her, presumably.

(In the morning…)

In the morning, after everyone’s gotten up and performed early morning mass, Alka Briskfizz, a dwarven priestess in green, gold, and cream-colored robes, her orangey-red hair in pigtails approaches Rana and Fee: I heard you helped with the owl situation and I know you talked to Mutanamri a little bit about that already. I’m actually here right now because I’d like to offer my services for your other trip - I’ve got some family in Stoneroost as well. It would be nice to go up and see them with your group, make sure everything’s alright. I have some healing capabilities.

Rana nods: We’ll take all the help we can get.

Fee: Yeah…

Alka: Good - though...I thought there was more of you?

Rana: Yeah, we have to go collect one of us somewhere in town and the other is sleeping in the stables with her elk.

(some missed conversation for sure)

Fee: Have you heard anything more about what might be going on?

Alka: Every time I’ve been on the road it’s been uneventful, so this is new to me.

Fee talks about how the road was creepy and Alka says that’s definitely not normal for the pass.

Rana talks about what to expect on the road, mentions the ropen but frames it like, ‘yeah, we know it sounds crazy, but with everything else that’s going on, why not an impossible cryptid too?’.

Fee chimes in every now and then.

Alka’s listening politely. Rana insight checks at a 12 on her reactions - she seems skeptical but open to there being something best described, for now, as a mythological cryptid.

They swing by the stable first to pick up Ixayl’anu and that’s where the session ends.

[itsallavengers]

PLEASE MORE HARLEYPETER!!!!

This was a disaster. 

“HARLEY KEENER?” Tony’s eyes were almost out of his head as he looked back and forth between Peter who was at his side, and the boy working the counter of the coffee shop. “You’ve been talking to me about this adorable barista kid for months and all this time it’s been HARLEY KEENER?”

Peter grabbed his arm and slapped a hand over Tony’s mouth, his cheeks going crimson. Oh God, he was sure the boy must have heard Tony shouting his name across the coffee shop. Tony had promised he’d be subtle.

“How the hell do you know him?” Peter whispered to him, turning them both so their backs were facing away from the counter, “you said you’ve never been here before!”

“Yeah, because Harley never told me where he worked so that I couldn’t come in and embarrass him!” Tony’s face contorted into childish delight, and he clapped his hands together until Peter grabbed them and hastily silenced him with another hiss. “Oh, this is fucking classic! I’ve known that guy since he was what, 11? I’ve just been listening to you wax poetic about the kid who’s been sending me Captain America memes for seven months!” Tony dissolved into laughter again, and Peter thoroughly regretted taking him to the place where his long-time crush worked. Tony had bugged him about it for ages, and after he’d listened to Peter go on about the boy for so long, he’d figured that he may as well just let him tag along and get a look. Peter had assumed Tony might be helpful. 

He had, apparently, assumed incorrectly. 

“Okay, well this was a fun trip, let’s go now,” Peter declared hastily, grabbing hold of Tony’s arm and yanking him away again. Or at least, trying to. Tony didn’t budge. 

“What?” Tony looked at him incredulously, “no, we can’t go now. I want to talk to Mr. Keener over there, catch up, you know? He’s been working his ass off to afford his place in New York, so I haven’t had much chance to talk to him.” Tony wiggled his eyebrows, snorting inwardly at Peter’s intense glare. “Oh, come on, you gotta admit, this is like fate. You have to ask him out now. It was practically meant to be.”

Peter glanced over rapidly to the counter, where the boy was currently flipping an empty cup absently as he talked to one of the customers, a bright smile on his face. This place wasn’t even on Peter’s route-- he’d ended up here totally by accident after leaving a party one night a few months ago. He’d come in, laid his eyes on the barista with a name tag that read ‘Harley’, and... 

Well. Peter had been hooked. 

As often as he could, he came to this little place, tucked away on the end of Becker Street. And Harley always smiled when he saw him, and he didn’t even look at Peter weird when he inevitably stumbled over his words. He’d just say something funny, make Peter laugh, then take his order with a wink and a grin. 

And obviously, every time when he’d come back to the Tower to work on something with Tony, he’d inevitably ended up going on a little rant about the boy, and what he’d done on that particular day to make Peter fall a little bit deeper for him. Whether it was helping a deaf person by talking to them in sign language, or kicking out a customer who’d been harassing a woman in the corner of the room (that was probably the only time Peter had ever seen his face look anything other than charming and happy. It had been... kind of hot, he wasn’t gonna lie). Tony had ended up having to allocate a specific ‘Harley Time’ for them, so that they’d still have time to finish whatever it was they were working on despite Peter’s little rambles. 

Of course, Tony must not have realised that when Peter had been talking about Harley the cute barista that Peter may or may not have been taking 30-minute bus rides across the city in order to see, he had also been talking about Harley Keener, Tony’s first protégé and the kid he’d been helping to start up a life in New York after his mom had died. 

Talk about coincidence, huh?

“I can’t ask him out,” Peter said with a shake of his head, “he’ll just-- I dunno, he’ll say no, he’ll laugh at me, then you’ll laugh at me with him--”

“I wouldn’t do that, Pete, come on,” Tony’s voice went softer and he nudged Peter’s shoulder, “look, I’ll call him over right now--”

“NO, Tony, don’t you--”

“Hey Harley!” Tony waved across the room, and Peter took a small moment to internally burst into flames before he put on his best smile and caught the boy’s eye. Harley looked at the two of them in bewilderment, clearly wondering why the guy who came into his coffee shop and stared at him every day was now apparently in conversation with the man Harley had known for about 7 years.

Tony walked forward, tugging Peter’s shirt encouragingly. “Lets gooo,” he whispered, and God, he looked so fucking smug. Peter was going to kill him . He was never going to speak to him again, and then never come here again either, and never leave his room for the rest of eternity, actually--

“Hi,” Harley said, looking between the two of them, “this is a strange combination of people. Tony, how did you find me, and also can you please un-find me immediately so that I don’t have to kick you out--”

“Nonsense, I’m just a regular paying customer who can and will write a scathing review on yelp if the mood takes me.” Tony pulled out his wallet and looked at Peter. “What do you want, kid?”

Harley groaned. “I told you not to track down where I work! You’re so annoying--”

“Hey, this was totally an accident!” Tony pointed accusingly at Peter. “He invited me here, I had no idea this was where you were working at all! Pinkie swear.” He held out his little finger across the counter, and Harley glared at him unimpressedly before just turning to Peter.

Peter blinked as Harley’s full concentration shifted to him. Oh God, he was pretty. His eyelashes were so long, and his mouth, and his cheeks-- oh no, Peter had no idea what to do with himself. “So how do you know Tony Stark?” He asked, glancing back at Tony as the man subtly stuffed a couple hundred dollar bills into the tip jar. 

Peter took in a small breath. Okay. Uh. That was an easy question, right? “Internship,” he said hurriedly, “it was the-- the Stark Internship thing, I was... he said I had potential and wanted to, uh, take me under his wing. I guess.” Great, now he sounded like a showboater. Good start. 

But Harley didn’t seem to mind-- he just nodded, his face lighting up. “Oh wow! Me too, sort of-- well, I mean, I’ve signed up to the internship program, not sure I’ll get it though.” He stuck his tongue out at Tony. “I would have thought I could get some sort of fast-lane through, considering I saved your life and all.”

“You saved his life?” Peter asked, just as Tony rolled his eyes and said, “you hardly saved my life, merely... aided somewhat toward my survival.”

Harley turned back to Peter. “I totally saved his life,” he murmured, and Peter found himself grinning shyly at the way the boy leaned in conspiratorially close to him. 

Tony glanced between them both again, clearly hiding a smile of his own as he pulled out his phone. “Oh, would you look at the time,” he said loudly, glancing between the two of them, “I just realised I have a totally important-- uh-- thing, that I have to be at. That’s a shame. Hey, here’s a thought. Seeing as both of you are doing this Stark Internship, and both of you have the amazing fortune of knowing me, maybe you should exchange numbers? Get to know one another a little better?” Tony patted Peter on the shoulder as he started to back up, and Peter turned to face him, shooting him daggers as the man waved. I hate you, he mouthed, I hate you so much. 

“That’d be nice,” Harley said, and Peter turned back to him rapidly, trying not to blink like a total weirdo as the boy gave him another smile, “plus, I do love receiving phone numbers from cute boys who sit in my coffee shop and smile at me when they catch me staring.”

Oh, wow. Oh... Harley just called him cute. Harley definitely just called him cute, right?

“He called you cute!” Tony shouted helpfully back at him, and Peter once more turned around, trying to see whether his glare would be enough to make Tony shut up. It wasn’t. “That’s the cue for you to ask for his number!”

“Yes, thank you, I think he gets that!” Harley informed him, balling up a napkin and throwing it in Tony’s direction, “go away, old man. Read a newspaper or yell at clouds or something.”

Tony placed a hand over his heart. “You’ll miss me when I’m not there,” he said, waggling a finger and then turning on his heel in order to push at the door. He was still laughing to himself as he walked out, and Peter buried his head in his hands as he leaned against the counter.

“I hate him,” he declared firmly, “he’s... the worst.”

“Yeah,” Harley nodded, before adding, “although, I mean, he had one good idea.” When Peter looked up at him blankly, Harley just waved a hand. “Uh, phone numbers? Unless that’s not your thing, which is fine. I mean-- not fine-- I’ve been kind of trying to get up the guts to put my number on one of your coffee cups for ages now, but I kept pussying out at the last minute, so-- not that you needed to know that, wow, okay, so now I sound creepy.” Harley laughed nervously and ran a hand through his hair, pulling the dishtowel off his shoulder and then fiddling with it nervously. 

Peter felt a small smile bloom on his face. “You don’t sound creepy,” he mumbled, “at least not as creepy as walking thirty minutes to go sit in a cafe just because a really cute barista works there and you like to imagine one day getting the courage to go and ask him out.”

They both looked at each other for a second, before Peter nervously looked away with a little laugh. He heard Harley’s reciprocating one, and his heart fluttered. 

“So my break’s in like, fifteen minutes,” Harley said after another moment, “maybe we could go grab some lunch or something? Work out a really brilliant plan about how we can make Tony regret ever thinking us together would be even vaguely fun for him?”

Peter giggled, nodding jerkily. Was this seriously happening? Was this a date with the cute barista he’d been swooning over for months?

It seemed like it. Which was... admittedly terrifying. But also amazing.

“I’d like that,” he said, “I’ll, uh-- I’ll just get a coffee while I wait for you?”

“Sure.” Harley grinned and winked at him again, and it made something funny happen in Peter’s knees. “Your usual order, I take it?”

Pete nodded and handed him the money, then turned around and went to go sit in his usual spot. Don’t do a stupid happy jig, he told himself sternly as he walked over-- but even the internal chastisements couldn’t stop him giving the air a little fist-pump when his back was turned. 

He pulled out his phone, glancing up at Harley as the boy made him his drink on the other side of the counter. 

This time, he didn’t look away when the other boy caught him.

_____

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[nitewrighter]

Zen and the Art of Hovercycle Maintenance (Part 1)

A Bobyatta Fic

Summary: Zenyatta is separated from his team and picked up by Deadlock during a mission in the Southwest. Is this the end for everyone’s favorite robot monk? Or the start of something new?

-----

The Hover-semi roared down the highway, its carriage bucking and rocking from the combination of its speed and the damages to the mag-cable beneath the road. The rock formations of Deadlock gorge were flying past, a beautiful but stark reminder that if they lost control of the truck, it could be a very very long way down.

“Can you please drive more carefully?!” Jack’s hand was gripping the dashboard as McCree floored it.

“I’m tryin’! I’m tryin’!” said McCree, both hands tense on the wheel, “How are we looking?” 

Jack looked to the rearview mirror of the semi the flinched back as it was shot off with pulsefire. “About the same,” he said with a growl. He put a hand to his ear. “Orisa, Zen, you’re keeping them off the Mag-levs?”

“To the best of our abilities!” Orisa’s reply was chipper, but not reassuring. Something about the way Efi had designed Orisa to be a calming presence seemed to ratchet up anxiety even worse in situations like this.

Jack huffed. “Torb. Fawkes. How’s the payload looking?”

“Sweatin’ nitro like my dad in court!” Junkrat declared so loudly it caused feedback in the comms. Jack snarled. Why did they let the junkers on the team again? “Lindholm,” said Jack, “What does he mean?”

“He means a hot truck bed is no place for explosives!” said Torbjörn, “Dynamite naturally sweats nitroglycerine over time, and heat speeds up the process so--”

“So we could blow at any second,” said Jack, rubbing his forehead.

“Well I haven’t been able to take a full inventory. We don’t know how much of this payload is pulse or EMP based so---”

“Still don’t know when we could blow,” said Jack, he brought up his pulse rifle, “Keep us steady.” he said to McCree, “This is what we get for stealing from Deadlock.”

“These... aren’t Deadlock,” said McCree, looking in the rearview mirror at a hovercyclist coming up fast on his side. He raised an eyebrow at the decal on the back of the hovercyclist’s jacket.

“‘Sidewinders?’” McCree read the decal, “I’m like... 90% sure that’s been done before--”

“’Deadlock’ has definitely been done before,” said Jack. His hand tensed slightly as the hover-semi rocked again and a hovercyclist accelerated in front of the truck.

“Shit...” said Jack as two more flanked the hovercyclist at the front. The three hovercycles wove and braided between each other in some kind of showboating or intimidation tactic.

“Upstarts,” muttered McCree, “Ashe and I pulled the same shit back in our day.”

Atop the trailer of the hover-semi, Zenyatta and Orisa were laying down cover fire as several hovercyclists attempted to flank the semi. They were outnumbered, that much was clear. Each hovercycle carried two occupants--one who was steering, and one who was shooting. Orisa was laying down barrier after barrier just to protect herself and Zenyatta, but their pursuers managed to keep weaving out of her graviton charges.

Zenyatta ducked behind Orisa and Orisa fortified as one rider fired off a round of semi-automatic gunfire at both of them, before Zen was able to knock them off of the back of their hovercycle with a well-aimed orb.

“An excellent shot!” said Orisa.

“My thanks,” said Zenyatta, as Orisa fortified and Zen ducked behind her again as several more hovercyclists pulled up from the rear.

“Morrison,” Zenyatta spoke into the comms, “They appear to have brought in reinforcements.”

 The trailer of the hover-semi suddenly rocked hard and Zen looked out over the side. A hovercycle had hugged close to the side of the hover-semi’s trailer. Rather than shooting at him and Orisa, the rider on the back of the hovercycle was using an acetylene torch against the steel of their payload, sending a shower of sparks spilling off the side of the trailer. “It would seem they are no longer trying to blow out the mag-levs,” said Zenyatta.

“They are cutting through the hull!” said Orisa, firing down at the motorcyclists, only to have them weave out of her fire.

“Well, stop them!” said Jack, “We have to keep this payload from falling into their hands at all costs!”

“Wait a sec...” said Junkrat, “So you’re saying, the mission isn’t taking this big beautiful pile of ‘splodeys for ourselves... it’s just making sure no one else gets them?” 

“I mean--” McCree started.

“Well why didn’t you say so earlier?!” said Junkrat.

“Fawkes, don’t you dare--” Torbjörn started.

“Junkrat, you are ordered NOT TO DETONATE. You’ll compromise the whole team’s safety!” Jack barked into the comms.

“Oh, Beardy’ll be fiiiiine! I’ll make sure of that!” said Junkrat.

“Fawkes! Don’t you---PUT ME DOWN! I SAID PUT ME DOWN!” Torbjörn hollered.

Jack instinctively ratcheted a lever and unhitched the trailer.

“The omnics!” said McCree.

“Orisa! Grab Tekharta and fortify!” yelled Jack.

“Tekharta Zen--” Orisa flailed out her hand toward him, glittering green with her fortification field. 

“FIRE IN THE HOLE!” Junkrat hollered.

A bright light of transcendence burst off of Zen as the hover semi’s trailer exploded. Everything went red and yellow and white with hunks of metal flying through the air. Zen wondered if the shrapnel flying through the air were bits of himself, but felt little pain, and could feel the warmth of the iris around him. There was fire and then blue... a pretty blue. Zen realized he was flying through the air, then the sky was framed by orange rock on either side. The gorge. He was falling into Deadlock Gorge. Despite the disorientation of his fall, he kept the light of the Iris around himself.

Wham. He felt the first impact of the stone, muted by the Iris’s warmth.

Wham. He hit the wall of the gorge again. The second impact forced the transcendence to fade off of him and panic gripped him as he fell for some terrifying, dizzying seconds. Just how deep was the gorge anyway? 

Wham. He hit the wall of the gorge a third time and then found himself tumbling against sheer rock before dropping through the air one last time. His vision flickered. The last thing he saw and heard before blacking out were his orbs of harmony and discord, rolling and bouncing down the cliffside, chiming and clanging as they did so.

---

For better or worse, the Sidewinder gang was off their backs. The front of the no-longer-hovering-hover-semi was still screeching along the highway, the windshield warped and shattered, the remains of the truck bed blackened, and McCree and Jack still in the front seats as it screeched along until it came to a slow, shuddering stop. Even McCree’s prosthetic was shaking as it fumbled against the door handle. Both doors of the semi fell off and McCree tumbled out, flopping onto his back on the asphalt. Jack stumbled out the other side and dry-heaved for a second before rollicking back on his heels and trying to re-orient himself.

“’We need an explosives expert’ you said,” said Jack, looking over at McCree.

“Well.. t’be fair,” said McCree, grunting and bringing himself to his feet, “Deadlock didn’t get their hands on the payload.”

“Did you see that?!” Junkrat was shouting over a string of Swedish swears as he and Torbjörn both clung to the side of a rock formation bordering the road, “DID YOU SEE THAT!?”

“That’s another 6 months of Watchpoint probation!” said Jack, “If it wasn’t for what you found in that Omnium, we would have turned you in to Interpol the second we met you!”

“You’re welcome!” Junkrat hollered back, leaping down from the rock face and dragging Torbjörn down with him.

McCree looked back towards the smoking wreckage of the semi trailer. “’Risa!” he called, “You all right?”

McCree squinted in the sun as Orisa’s massive frame trod through the smoke and strewn metal. “My systems appear to be functioning normally!” she said, coming out of the smoke. Her fusion driver arm fell off. “Oh....”

“So we’re all alive,” said Jack, looking around.

“You mean you doubted me?” said Junkrat, “Cowboy here said I was an explosives expert! If I had wanted to blow us all to hell, you can bet we wouldn’t be talking, mate.”

McCree took his hat off and brushed off some shards of shattered glass and smoke stains. “Well, you can bet Deadlock saw that explosion from miles off. We’d better clear out before---” McCree looked around, “Wait--where’s Zen?”

“Who?” said Junkrat.

“Zenyatta,” said Jack, “The other omnic.”

“...There was another omnic?” Junkrat said sheepishly.

“Bronze? Floaty? Nine lights on his head? Ring a bell?” said Mccree.

“The floaty thing? Y’mean he wasn’t just a chunk of her?” said Junkrat, gesturing at Orisa.

“Excuse me? A ‘chunk’ of me?” said Orisa.

“Y’know how some toys have bits that can pop off and--” Junkrat was socked hard in the face by McCree.

“YOU SON OF A--”

“Agent McCree!” Orisa picked up her fallen off arm and put it between McCree and Junkrat to keep McCree from lunging at the junker.

 McCree looked at Orisa. “Don’t try and keep me from--”

“Tekharta Zenyatta transcended when the explosion hit,” said Orisa, “By my calculations of his healing output, it is likely that he survived--at the very least, his memory core did. We must focus our efforts towards finding him!” It was then that Orisa’s shoulder creaked and her other arm fell off as well, “Oh dear,” she said.

McCree gave a sharp look at Junkrat who just shrugged and chuckled nervously.

“Aw, jeez...” McCree hauled up one of Orisa’s arms, “Torb, how fast do you think you can get these things back on her?”

“OR-14′s weren’t my design, but I should manage,” said Torbjörn.

“Not before we get company, though,” said Jack, turning on his tactical visor, seeing movement along the mirage-rippled horizon, a cloud of dust kicked up by more hovercycles, “Company incoming, and no arms mean no shields.”

“We can take ‘em!” said Junkrat.

“No arm means no fusion driver either,” said Jack.

“But Zenyatta--” Orisa started.

“We regroup, avoid Deadlock, make the necessary repairs to Orisa,” said Jack, “Then we can search the area for Zen. Hopefully his comm’s beacon activated so he shouldn’t be too hard to find.”

----

“This is bullshit,” muttered Zeke.

“Hush up!” said P.T, “If Boss says we search the gorge, then we search the gorge!”

“Why do we gotta search the gorge?” said Terran, looking up at the cliff walls, “Place always gives me the creeps.... Bars never searches the gorge...”

“Boss need Bars’s eyes up top,” said P.T., “Maybe she got tired of listenin’ to your gripes.”

“Maybe the boss got tired of lookin’ at your face!” shot back Terran.

“Maybe the boss got tired of smellin’ your stank!” Zeke cut in.

“Maybe the boss got tired of---” P.T. tripped and fell hard on his stomach and Terran and Zeke snorted.

“You’d think Bars would point that shit out to you,” said Terran. 

“Har har,” said P.T flatly, “What the hell did---” He glanced back at what he had tripped on and found it was an intricately etched bronze orb. “...the hell?” he picked it up and turned it over in his hand.

“What is that?” said Zeke, looking over his shoulder.

“Hands off!” said P.T, pulling the orb close to himself, “I found it first!”

“You don’t even know what it is!” said Zeke, circling around him.

“Let me see!” said Terran grabbing for it.

“I said hands off!” said P.T, trying to hold it out of his siblings’ reach but finding that impossible with all of them the exact same height. P.T broke away from them and started running across the bottom of the gorge before tripping again. “Oh for the love of--!” he looked and saw another intricately etched bronze orb. “Huh...”

“Dibs!” shouted Zeke.

“I found it!” snapped P.T.

“You can’t keep both!” said Zeke, grabbing for the other orb now, “You know what the Boss says--one big happy family---”

“Guys,” Terran bent and picked up a third orb, “Look.” He pointed a ways away where several orbs were sitting in the gravelly dust of Deadlock gorge.

“There’s a bunch of them!” said Zeke, running past Terran and picking up two more orbs.

“Think it was from the blast up top?” asked P.T.

“Gotta be,” said Terran, shaking the orb next to his ear and only hearing a soft chiming sound.

Zeke had an armful of the bronze orbs at this point. “Bet that truck was from some kinda snooty art show or something,” he said, struggling to pick up another orb, “Whoever lost these would probably pay good money to get ‘em...” Zeke’s eyes fell on what he previousl thought was a pile of scrap, only to make out a silvery domed head and spindly yet strong metal limbs. He dropped his armload of orbs and hurried over. “Shit,” he turned the head of the collapsed Omnic slightly. A row of nine lights were on the omnic’s forehead, flickering weakly.

“Thrown into the Gorge and still tickin’...” Zeke said in awe. “Guys!” he shouted to the others, “Get the boss on the line! I found someone!” 

---

Bars’ scope scanned the wreckage. Most of the flames had died down but the air was still hazy from the smoke. Ashe chewed her red-rouged lips with white teeth.

“Don’t like this...” she muttered, nudging a warped and blackened metal plate over with the tip of her rifle, “Don’t like this one bit.”  Her head jerked up at some movement half-obscured by the brim of her hat, and she tilted her hat back with her thumb to look up at the sky rendered almost greenish by the haze and brightness to see a fluttering scrap of cloth and her eyes flicked to bars. Whoever was here had cleared out quick--far quicker than she would have liked. She didn’t like explosions on her turf. Even if it was in the ass-end of nowhere, it was the ass-end of nowhere on her turf, and she couldn’t have that. She had a reputation to maintain. Bars only gave her another nod that the area was still clear. She spat.

“Bob,” she said, and the massive Omnic a few feet behind her perked up. She pointed at the fluttering bit of cloth and Bob took a few brisk steps and easily snatched it out of the air. He handed it to her and she turned it over. It was charred at the edges, but she made out the image of a stylized snake with a ripple pattern in its wake, one of the ripples serving as the “s” in “Sidewinders MC Est. 2073″

“Goddamn amateurs,” she muttered, tossing the charred remains of the jacket back on the ground and stepping on it, “Well if there was anything of value here, it was blown all to hell in the scuffle over it.” She looked to Bob, “And we ain’t junkers. Leave the scrap for the desert to take. Let’s get back to--”

“Boss!” Terran’s voice hollered in the earpiece of her comm and she flinched from the volume.

“What?!” she snapped, bringing a finger to her ear.

“We found someone in the gorge! I think they were from the blast!”

Ashe smirked a little and looked to Bob. Sending the twins down into the gorge was half a fool’s errand, but if it actually yielded something, well who was she to argue with that?

“They alive?” said Ashe.

“They’re omnic, Boss,” P.T cut in, “We’d need to get ‘em back to the base to repair ‘em, but it’s nothing we can’t fix.”

“Well let’s show our new friend some Deadlock hospitality,” said Ashe, motioning to Bars, walking over to her (new) hovercycle and straddling it. Bars leapt down from his perch over to his own hovercycle. Bob clambered into the almost hilariously oversized sidecar next to her and Ashe smiled a little, “Meet you back at the hideout,” she said as she revved the engine and took off.

[darciacus]

Day to Day

Chapter 6: Us

Edwin

Romance/Humor

1,494 words

Summary: Winry worries about where she stands with Edward while he doesn’t

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16051460/chapters/40813154

Relationships were new to Winry. She had spent most of her life focused on one goal; perfecting her automail. She worked hard to be the best she could be and tried not to get distracted by thoughts of love or dating. She respected others who were interested in it and sometimes she felt jealous of those who got to experience it, but she had too much to worry about to dwell. She loved her work so she focused on that. By the time she even realised her feelings for Edward he was too far in on his journey, so she pushed it aside to help in the few ways she could.

But now things were different. Edward and her were in a relationship. I think it’s called dating. Or is it seeing each other? We do relationship things. So we must be in a relationship. Right? Winry was organizing her workshop. Her mind always drifted when she cleaned. It was a slow day, September had begun so the children were back in school and the adults were beginning to prepare for the harvest festival. She had a few days off before the new shipment of parts came in and she could never stay put for long. So she had decided to give her workshop an overhaul. It would probably take up most of the day and give her plenty of time tomorrow to help with Alphonse’s recovery.

He looked much healthier, able to run and move with ease. His muscle training was coming along but he wasn’t able to compete with Ed yet. They had attempted to spar a few times but Ed had called that off after winning all 3 matches. Winry chuckled at the memory, recalling how Ed had immediately let the success go to his head. “You need more training Al or you’ll never catch up to me!” He stopped showboating when she threw her wrench at him while she and Al had laughed up a storm. Other than his physical abilities, every other part of him seemed fine. The brothers had taken to studying alchemy every night after dinner and had recently been focusing on alkahestry and the country of Xing. Winry had no doubt that that was where Al was headed next especially after hearing stories of their travels. A certain talented alkahestrist and her pet panda came to mind.

Winry began cleaning off her desk, moving all her bigger tools to the side to make room for her polishing equipment. Granny always says a cluttered workroom is a cluttered mind. But before she could begin the task at hand, she heard familiar, uneven footsteps coming down the stairs.

“Hey Win, whatcha up to?” Asked Edward as he walked towards her.

“Oh nothing, just cleaning my work station,” Winry responded.

“Slow day, huh? Can I help with anything?”

Winry was taken aback. “You want to help?”

“I’ve got nothing better to do. Why not?”

“Edward, I sincerely doubt you don’t have anything important to work on. What’s Al doing?”

“He’s helping Granny put away groceries.” Edward leaned towards her. “I can’t help you out sometimes?”

“No, of course you can, I was just surprised. You’ve never offered to help out before.”

Edward furrowed his eyebrows. I’ve seriously never asked to help out. What’s wrong with me?

“You can start by sweeping the floor while I polish my tools. The broom is over there,” Winry said while pointing to the object in question.

Edward began sweeping as she began her task. A comfortable silence fell between the two as they worked. It had become commonplace for the two of them to sit and work together so Winry was used to the quiet. But she still couldn’t get rid of the nagging thoughts she had. Boyfriend? Relationships? Why do I even care about this? Eventually she couldn’t help it.

“Hey, Ed. What are we?” Winry asked, putting down her cloth and wrench.

Ed turned towards her as he finished his task. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, are we dating? Or in a relationship? What’s going on?” Winry felt strangely nervous. It felt weird to say her thoughts out loud and she had never been one to worry about her standing with Ed before. Everything feels way more difficult than it should be.

Ed paused and looked at her. He had thought about it in passing but had never felt the need to worry about it. Winry is Winry, not much else to it, he thought.

“I guess a relationship would be the best way to describe it. But I don’t think it really matters,” he said.

“Why not?” Winry questioned.

“There’s no reason to give it a name. I think it’s pretty obvious to the people who know us and for the people who don’t, it’s none of their business.” Ed scratched the back of his head and shrugged. “It is what it is.”

Winry leaned against her desk. He always makes everything so simple. Everything I was worried about always seems so much easier when I talk to him. Even if he is ridiculous sometimes. She started giggling.

“Ehh? What’s so funny?” Ed asked, chuckling a little to himself as he watched her.

“Oh, nothing,” Winry said through her laughter.

“Come on, tell me.”

“It’s just I always thought it would be you who would freak out about this stuff, not the other way around.”

Ed crossed his arms and began to frown. “Of course I wouldn’t freak out. I’m great at everything I do!”

Winry shook her head. “Suure you are. Edward Elric, love master.”

“You doubt my skills? I swept you off your feet, didn’t I?”

“Yup. And it only took you, what, a year? Not to mention all those times you wrecked my automail. I can practically feel myself swooning,” Winry said as she pretended to fan herself.

“Alright, you asked for it!” Edward lunged towards her and grabbed her waist.

“Ed!”

He reached down and grabbed her legs as she tried to twist out of his grip.

“Haha! I literally swept you off your feet!” He cried triumphantly as held Winry in his arms. She felt a little embarrassed to be picked up so easily.

“Ha-ha, very funny. Now put me down!”

“Nope, not until you admit it.”

Winry swatted his chest. “Edward! I have to clean,” she whined.

“Then you better hurry up and say it.”

“Fine. You swept me off my feet. Happy now?”

Edward smiled in the way only he can. “Very. I’m gonna pick you up every time we have an argument,” he said as he put her down.

“Try it again and you’ll get a wrench to the head.” Winry got to her feet and turned towards him.

“Damnit, Winry. Leave that weapon out of this.”

She smiled at him. She had to admit she felt a lot better now. It’s like my previous thoughts don’t even matter now.

“Thanks,” Winry said.

“Anytime, Win,” Ed responded.

She stepped forwards and stretched to kiss his cheek. Ed turned bright red and looked at the wall.

“How is it you can talk about something as sappy our relationship with no problem but can’t kiss me without avoiding me for days?” Winry teased.

“Whatever, that’s totally different,” Ed pouted.

“Edward, look at me,” Winry tugged on his sleeve.

He reluctantly turned his head to look at her. She smiled evilly as she pulled him down for a kiss. Ed flinched a bit at her actions but quickly settled into the feeling of Winry’s lips. He felt her mouth move against his and grabbed her waist to pull her closer.

After some time, Ed pulled away. Winry stared at him, dazed. He smiled at her, the care obvious in his eyes.

“I thought you were going to clean?” He asked.

“I got a bit distracted,” she answered.

“I can see that. Come on, let’s finish up quickly.” He lightly kissed her forehead.

From upstairs a shout was heard.

“YOU TWO BETTER NOT BE CANOODLING INSTEAD OF CLEANING! DON’T MAKE ME COME DOWN THERE!” Yelled Granny.

“SHUT YOUR TRAP, YOU OLD HAG!” Ed yelled back.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME, YOU BEANSPROUT?”

“WHAT THE HELL, I’M THREE TIMES YOUR SIZE NOW!”

“ENOUGH! WE’RE CLEANING, GRANNY!” Winry cut in before the argument could get any worse. She let go of Ed and turned to her desk once again.

“Wrinkly witch, I can’t believe she called me short,” Ed grumbled to himself.

“Yes, yes. It’s very upsetting. Get to work,” Winry replied.

They both went back to their previous tasks, falling back into the routine of cleaning. But not before certain promises were made for more canoodling later on in the evening.

“Hey, Ed? You’re the best boyfriend ever,” Winry said.

Edward’s eyes widened as he looked at the wall, trying hard not to blush and failing miserable. Winry laughed as she watched. So maybe he’s not so good at talking about it after all.

[needdl]

Morning, Afternoon, and Evening

Part One: Morning and Afternoon

“Tenten didn't always get the chance to jog in the mornings anymore- having a four-year-old tended to cut into personal time- but she tried to go jogging in the park once a week.

 It was nice to get back home and hear the sounds of her family in the kitchen.”

Read on FFN or AO3

Tenten came in from her jog feeling winded but energized. It was starting to get colder, the September wind whipping color into her cheeks and scattering leaves around her feet as she ran. The air felt brisk in her lungs, and she was humming as she entered the house through the garage.

She could hear the quiet clatter of dishes from the kitchen as she took off her running shoes, and every once in a while the piping voice of a child raised in exclamation. Tenten hung up her coat and put away her ear band and gloves, smiling to herself as she heard a loud giggle.

She entered the kitchen, and Hui Na looked up from her plate and book and regarded her very solemnly (as she often did). “Mama, lookit, dada made me eggs.”

“Oh! Are they yummy?” Tenten asked her, glancing up and giving Neji a soft smile as he flipped an omelet at the stove.

Hui Na stabbed a bite of egg and popped it into her mouth, chewing furiously with her brow furrowed in contemplation. She swallowed and declared decisively, “Yep.”

“Oh good. C’mere, gimme a kiss!” Hui Na paused with another bite of eggs on her fork and craned her head up to accept Tenten’s kiss, giggling as Tenten blew a raspberry on her cheek.

Tenten ducked her head and quickly stole the bite of eggs, then straightened up and spun away. A second later, Hui Na yelled, “Hey! My eggs!”

Tenten, obviously chewing something, turned back to look at her. Hui Na was frowning at her fork. “My eggs are gone! Mama-” She looked up at Tenten, then narrowed her eyes. “Mama!”

Tenten widened her eyes innocently. “Hm? What? Eggs?”

“You took them!”

“That’s a very serious thing to say! Do you have proof?”

Hui Na gave her a condescending look, one hand propped on her hip. “Mama, what are you eating.”

Tenten grinned. “Nooooothing.” She swooped down and kissed her daughter’s cheek. “You’re too cute, kidlet.”

“Mama, you took my eggs!”

“That’s right.” Tenten told her. “And they were very good.”

Hui Na nodded, ire forgotten. “Yep, dada makes good eggs.”

“That’s right,” Neji called from the stove. Tenten laughed and turned to face him, lingering a moment to take him in. He was dressed for work in a dark gray button down, tucked into his slacks with the sleeves rolled up. His tie was resting on the counter behind him, and Tenten noticed with some fondness that he didn’t have his shoes on yet. It was one of his little quirks- he never put on his shoes until he had everything else absolutely ready to go.

He was plating the omelet as she approached and wound her arms around his waist, pressing a kiss to his fine cheekbone before pulling away again. “How was your run?” he asked.

“Good,” she said as she turned to the coffee maker. Neji had already brewed a pot- if she wasn’t already married to the man, she’d get down on one knee. “A little lonely.” She turned and gave him an affected pout, filled mug in hand, and he chuckled.

“I’ll run with you when Hui Na goes to the dojo for her lesson.”

Tenten grinned and held out the hand that wasn’t holding her coffee to shake. “Deal.” He grabbed her hand and twisted it up so their fingers were entwined, then brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm. She actually blushed at the action, scowling at him as his mouth lingered with a wicked smirk.

After a few seconds, she yanked her hand back. “Showboat.”

“A Hyuga? Never.”

Tenten and Neji joined Hui Na for breakfast, and she happily chattered on with them about what she wanted to do in school today, and how she was super excited to go see Uncle Sensei at the dojo, and dada please please could she have a sip of his tea? Mama you should put your hair in curlies again today, it was so so pretty.

Neji and Hui Na naturally had all of their stuff ready to go (despite not needing to leave for another forty-five minutes), so Hui Na followed Tenten up to the master bedroom and into the bathroom to watch as Tenten got ready for work. She helped her mother pick out her outfit. (Tenten was very proud, as she seemed to have a natural inclination for pantsuits.) Hui Na also picked out some jewelry- Tenten’s “most dangla-glest” earrings and the matching necklace. (A set Neji had gotten her for their fourth anniversary.)

Tenten then carefully styled her hair into the partial updo Hui Na was so fond of, pinning back her bangs and upper portion of her hair, then curling it into loose spirals.

She curled the last strand and pinned it into place, then turned to Hui Na. “How’s that?”

Hui Na regarded her in the manner of one looking over a potential car purchase, then nodded in approval. “You look so pretty,” she told her firmly, one little hand rising, palm out, to emphasize the words.

Tenten laughed. “Thank you, my lovie. Are you all ready to go? Dada needs to drive you to school in a little bit.”

“Oh my goodness, I completely lost track of the time,” Hui Na murmured to herself, trotting out of the bathroom. Tenten bit back a laugh at the phrase- Hinata had said that in front of Hui Na enough for her to retain it, and there were few things funnier than a tiny, earnest, not-quite-five-year-old speaking like an elderly grandmother (or middle-aged but old fashioned aunt) and meaning every word of it.

After putting on some light makeup, Tenten headed downstairs to kiss her husband and daughter goodbye. Neji was helping Hui Na tie her shoes as she sat on the floor, petting his hair and giving him largely unhelpful instructions.

Tenten, unseen by both of them, dug her phone out of her pocket and snapped a quick picture of the image they made, Neji kneeling in front of his daughter and tying up her laces as she watched diligently, chin propped on one hand with the other resting on her father’s head.

Neji tied the last lace. “There we go, sweetheart.”

“Thanks dada.” Neji stood up and offered his hands to Hui Na, and she clasped her palms in his. He pulled her up onto her feet and then a little higher, sending her spiralling into giggles as she kicked her feet in the air.

Tenten descended down the last few steps as Neji put Hui Na back down. His shoes were finally on, she noticed with an internal laugh.

Hui Na looked up at Tenten and threw her hands in the air. “Oh my goodness, mama, you look so pretty.”

“Thanks, lovie. Are you guys about to go?”

“Yep!”

“Okay then.” Tenten bent down and pressed kisses all over Hui Na’s face. “Have a good day at school; I’ll pick you up this afternoon! I love you!”

“Okay mama. I love you too!”

Tenten straightened up and turned to Neji. “And as for you, my love-”

“Wait!” They both turned to stare at Hui Na, startled. She regarded them very seriously. “I am going to go into the garage, that way you and dada can kiss.”

Tenten bit back a laugh. “Lovie, you don’t need to leave-”

“No, mama, I don’t want to watch you kiss dada.” She raised her hand, palm out, and enunciated carefully, “But you havta wait for me to leave.”

“What, no smoochin’ in front of you?”

“No.” Hui Na walked past them, her backpack almost reaching down to her knees, and carefully opened the door into the garage, then paused. “Dada will you open the big door?”

“Of course.” Neji pushed the button, and the garage door started lifting. Over the noise, Hui Na said, “Okay, I am gonna sit on the step and wait for dada.” She started out the door, then paused and whirled back towards them. “But- but only for- for TWO MINUTES.” She carefully held up her fingers and showed them to her parents somberly. “Then you have to be all done with kisses.”

Neji laughed. “Yes ma’am.”

“Okay.” Satisfied, Hui Na stepped outside, and Tenten could see her plunk down on the steps before the door shut.

The two of them burst into laughter the second the door closed. “Oh my god,” Tenten wheezed, “She’s so cute! What a little bossypants!”

“That’s certainly new, that she doesn’t to watch us kiss,” Neji got out between chuckles.

“Speaking of,” Tenten walked towards him and linked her arms around his neck. “We’ve only got a minute here. Come on, lover, make me see stars.”

Neji slid his hands down her waist. “If you insist.”

Neji exited the house into the garage and found his daughter humming to herself on the step, playing with the straps of her backpack.

“Ready to go?” He asked her, pulling the car keys from his pocket.

“Yep!” Hui Na jumped to her feet and started towards the car. “Dada, what time is it?”

Neji checked his watch. “Almost eight fifty.”

“Okay.” Hui Na thought on it a moment as he opened the car door and settled her into her carseat, then asked, “What does that mean?”

“It means that we’re right on track to get you to school on time.”

“Oh good. I’d hate to be late.”

Neji laughed and kissed her head. “Me too, little bird.” He handed her the book she’d been “reading” and got into the driver’s seat. It was a short drive to Hui Na’s school from their house, and she remained occupied with her book for the entire ride, singing to herself and kicking her legs.

As usual, he walked her up to wait with the other children, kissing her goodbye before watching her trot over to a few friends. Right before she reached them, she stopped short with a loud “OH,” of realization and whirled back around to face him. “DADA I LOVE YOU,” she yelled over the heads of the other children.

“I love you too,” he called back. Satisfied, she continued towards her friends.

Neji walked back to the car, idly realizing that he had a rather soft smile on his face.

Neji got home from work about a quarter after five, to find both Tenten and Hui Na lying spread eagled on the floor in the living room, eating chex mix from a shared bowl. Tenten had put her hair back up into her double buns and changed into some athletic capris and a long-sleeved shirt, and Hui Na was wearing sneakers with her play clothes.

They craned their necks to look up at him as he entered, munching away at their snack.

Hui Na swallowed her handful and piped, “Hi dada!”

“Hi, sweetheart. How was your day?”

“Good! Me and mama went to the park! But it got too hot, so we came back. Now we’re eating chex mix.”

“Join us,” Tenten added, smacking the ground next to her. He obliged, setting his briefcase aside and laying on his back with his arms folded over his abdomen. Tenten rolled over and pressed a quick kiss to the corner of his mouth before settling back as she was before.

Hui Na let out an annoyed sound. “No kissing!”

Neji laughed. “No kissing at all?”

“NO.”

“So I can’t kiss you goodnight anymore, little bird?”

“N- no, dada, you can kiss me.”

“So now I can’t kiss mama?”

“No! No kissing mama.”

“Drat.” Tenten murmured, mostly for Neji’s benefit.

“That’s too bad. Mama’s my second-favorite person to kiss.”

Hui Na was quiet for a few seconds, before her round little face appeared over Tenten’s torso. She cupped her hands around her mouth, whispering, “Dada, am I your fav’rite?”

“Yes,” he whispered back.

She grinned, delighted, then launched herself over Tenten’s body. Tenten let out a little “Oomph,” as bony knees and elbows scrambled madly against her ribcage.

Hui Na flopped across Neji’s body, giggling as he lifted her into the air to cover her face with kisses. Tenten sighed gustily. “I guess no one will ever kiss me again. Too bad.”

“Mama I can kiss you!” Hui Na shouted, wiggling free of Neji’s arms and hastily throwing herself to Tenten. She pressed three very serious kisses to Tenten’s face, before pulling away and regarding her earnestly.

“There. Lots of kisses.”

“Thank goodness. I’m still going to kiss dada though.”

“No, mama!”

“Why can’t I kiss him?”

“Because it’s gross when parents kiss. Lei told me.”

Both Tenten and Neji couldn’t contain their laughter at the statement, but bit it off at the Very Serious look on Hui Na’s face.

“We’re still going to kiss, little bird,” Neji told her, grabbing her under her arms and pulling her off of Tenten and onto his lap, “But we won’t be so kissy around you. How’s that sound?”

Hui Na mulled it over, patting his palms with hers as she thought. Finally she let out a tragic sigh. “Okaaaaaaay.”

Tenten snickered. “Oh, woe is you.”

Hui Na threw her hands in the air. “Mama, I don’t even know what that means.”

“Pass the chex mix, please.” Neji said.

[themurphyzone]

Aspects Ch 5

Ch 5: Performer

Perry gestured for Norm to restrain the Father until he calmed down. Norm eagerly obeyed, wrapping his dad in an enormous hug that lifted him off the ground. 

“Get out here right now so we can talk about this like mensch!” the Father howled, thrashing in Norm’s grip. “And if I find you treating my daughter like a science experiment, I’ll-well, I don’t know what I’ll do yet, but once I think up something it’s gonna be painful!” 

“Seriously, Dad. I’m fine. No weird cybernetics or wires on me,” Vanessa complained as she emerged from the lab. “He’s working on a few things in the lab, so don’t bother him.” 

Norm lowered the Father so that he was standing again, though he still scowled in the direction of the lab. 

“Hey, you two wanna watch a movie with me?” Vanessa suggested. “We can lipsync along to a non-subtitled foreign film and make up our own plot. I’ve done it with Norm before. He’s a master at plot twists.” 

“ROBERT WAS NOT A LIZARD PERSON AS DR. PIERCE ORIGINALLY SUSPECTED. HE WAS ACTUALLY A SNAKE PERSON.” 

Perry was glad that Vanessa knew exactly how to keep everyone occupied so they didn’t murder each other before the problem was fixed. The Father settled on the edge of the couch so he could be next to Norm. 

Vanessa sorted through a stack of DVDs until she found the movie, then turned on the TV. A reporter’s face popped up onscreen, an angry frown crossing her face at the overly cheery soundtrack behind her. 

“It’s National Kiss a Baby on the Forehead Day at City Hall, and lots of families are in line to see Mayor Roger Doofenshmirtz select one lucky infant from the crowd-ACK!” the reporter ducked when a guitar handle nearly clocked her in the shoulder. “I need security over here!” 

“Hey, you guys are cameramen, right?” a familiar voice asked. Suddenly another Heinz Doofenshmirtz appeared onscreen, and the camera jiggled as it was forcibly turned towards him. He was wearing that showboater hat again. Must’ve been in a musical number mood. 

“Hey man, this is expensive equipment!” someone protested. 

“C’mon, the speech isn’t starting for another twenty minutes. That’s plenty of time for a song!” Heinz exclaimed. “Oh, actually I got the number from the Chorus Girl Union here, lemme make a call! Then you can broadcast my message to the Tri-State Area! You hear that? You’ll be under my rule, and nobody can stop me!” He frowned. “I think I kinda overdo that last part with the whole ‘nobody can stop me now’ bit. Could I get a do-over?” 

“HI, CONVENIENTLY TIMED DAD!” Norm said, waving at the screen as though the Heinz on TV could hear him. 

“I guess you’d better get him before he does anything too crazy,” Vanessa sighed. “I thought the whole take over the Tri-State Area thing was in the aspect you just brought back.” 

“He’s not exactly a good role model,” the Father said. “You two aren’t hogging the spotlight like that if the cameras ever get turned on you.” 

“Norm can have my share of airtime. I don’t really care for cameras,” Vanessa said as she popped the movie into the DVD player.

Perry jumped off the couch and headed for the balcony. He opted for his glider this time, since he wanted to conserve the fuel in his jetpack. 

As he flew towards City Hall, he wondered if Vanessa and Norm would accept him calling this particular Heinz the ‘obnoxious aspect’. 

Perry decided to wait out the musical number in a nearby bush, one where he would be hidden from view but still have a front row seat to the musical number Heinz had put on. Thankfully, the reporters had moved onto interviewing the volunteers in charge of the event and were completely ignoring Heinz. OWCA would definitely get on Perry’s case if he allowed a fight to be broadcasted live to the general public. 

With any luck, the Flynn-Fletchers were pursuing their own activities and not paying attention to the local news. 

Perry could tell it wasn’t one of Heinz’s best performances. Heinz kept glancing over his shoulder towards the cameras, barely avoiding a high kick to the head from a backup dancer. Instead of focusing on the music, he was trying to be aware of his surroundings. 

Almost as if he expected someone to show up. 

Perry double-checked to make sure the cameras were far away. Then he crawled out of the bush, making sure Heinz spotted him. For the duration of the song, Perry sat attentively and listened to Heinz pour out all his frustrations about his brother being a natural people-pleaser. 

Heinz’s performance improved in just a few seconds now that he had an audience. The song reached a final crescendo and ended with Heinz and the backup singers striking a dramatic pose. 

Perry clapped politely, throwing in a whistle for good measure. 

The backup singers broke form and were about to leave when Heinz stopped them. “Hey, so if one of you is interested in a date-” Heinz began, but they  rolled their eyes at him and left at a much quicker pace than before. “Okay, I get it. My number’s on the list of clients if you need to mull it over a bit first!” 

Perry raised an eyebrow at him. 

“What?” Heinz protested. “A normal dinner date would probably be two hours. That’s plenty of time to get through the introductory phase! But I’m digressing. Anyway, you see this crowd, Perry the Platypus?” 

It was hard to miss, Perry thought. But he played along anyway, figuring this aspect was the one who valued their usual routine the most. He nodded. 

“They’re all lined up to give my brother Roger their full, undivided attention and their babies,” Heinz complained, gesturing to the gaggle of parents and children. “Why would you just hand your kid over to a total stranger? This whole National Kiss a Baby Day doesn’t make sense! And what’s worse is that one so-called lucky infant will get all this fame simply because Roger is holding him! And what did the kid do to earn it? Nothing! When the voters see how much of a baby magnet he is, they’ll keep him in office cause apparently holding a baby makes you trustworthy!” 

Perry glanced around, but didn’t see any inventions anywhere. Heinz didn’t seem to have a portable inator on his person either. There probably wasn’t one since the Scientist had Heinz’s inventiveness. 

At the same time, it didn’t seem right to cut to the actual fighting. 

“Perry the Platypus,” Heinz said. “Did...did you like that song? I just had to let it out, you know? Nobody else wanted to stop and listen. They don’t appreciate hard work, I think.”

Perry gave him a thumbs-up and an encouraging nod, which seemed to boost Heinz’s spirit. 

“Maybe we should find an adoring crowd elsewhere,” Heinz suggested. “You can be my musical buddy. Unless you know anyone who’d be willing to listen?” 

Nodding, Perry took Heinz by the hand and led the way back to the penthouse. 

Vanessa knew that most siblings fought over the bathroom, but seeing it occur with two copies of her dad was just downright awkward and embarrassing. 

“AT LEAST NONE OF YOUR FRIENDS WILL BE WITNESS TO THIS DISPLAY, UNLIKE THE TIME HE PICKED YOU UP FROM SCHOOL IN A BABY BONNET AND DIAPER,” Norm declared. 

“I’ve blocked 95% of that incident from my mind, Norm,” Vanessa muttered. “Please don’t mention it again.” 

She turned up the volume to drown out the ruckus the Father and Scientist were causing. The Shell slumped against the couch cushion on the opposite end, and Vanessa had no idea if he was actually paying attention to the movie. 

“Didn’t Vanessa put you to work or something?” the Father demanded as he pounded on the bathroom door. “And just how is Norm supposed to learn any work ethic if you’re goofing off in there?” 

“Geez, calm down!” the Scientist yelled back. “Can’t a guy take a bathroom break?” 

“You got thirty seconds and I’m counting down. Thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-eight....” 

“Norm, if I step out for a few minutes can you promise me that you’ll prevent any explosions or murders?” Vanessa sighed, deciding that she really needed to clear her head for a bit. She stood up and stretched, grabbing her phone off the nearby table.

“OKAY!” Norm exclaimed. “PLEASE TAKE THE CARDBOARD CUTOUT OF A COFFEE SHOP I CREATED AND PUT IT IN FRONT OF THE ENTRANCE OF THE BUILDING SO WE CAN DELAY PERRY THE PLATYPUS SO I CAN CONTINUE HAVING FUN WITH DAD.” 

Vanessa shook her head. “That’s not going to work on Perry and you know it.” 

The Scientist had stepped out of the bathroom to continue his argument with the Father, and Vanessa ignored them both as she exited the room. Grateful for the peace and quiet of the hallway, she decided to just wait outside for a few minutes. 

She checked her phone, finding that Perry had sent a text while she was watching the movie to let her know that he’d found another aspect. They were locating them at a decent pace, so hopefully this entire mess would be put behind them soon. 

Get rid of unsavory aspects of personality from target.

There were plenty of things about her dad she could name that embarrassed her. Sometimes he could be overprotective to the point of dressing up as a hippie and thinking that would fool a bunch of teenagers. 

Then again, he did save them all from a swarm of bees. And he did know a few tricks about roasting marshmallows over a campfire to make them taste even better. 

He could be obsessive about his schemes, and often spouted platypus and ocelot fun facts at completely inappropriate times. Her friend Candace fangirled over Ducky Momo and her boyfriend’s band a ton, so she found it pretty alarming that he acted more like a teenage girl than an adult. 

But since his brand of evil wasn’t all that malicious, sometimes good things came out, even if they were unexpected. She grew to enjoy being a big sister to a robot after all. Perry was a great confidant, no matter how trivial a problem seemed. And her Mary McGuffin doll was a reminder that he loved her to the point of spending nearly a decade rummaging through any garage sales in the hopes of finding a silly discontinued toy. 

In the end, she wouldn’t trade her dad for anything in the world. 

“Perry’s probably back by now,” Vanessa said to nobody in particular. Hopefully the aspects had given up their fight. Besides, she needed to check on the progress of the rebuilt Aspect-inator. 

“He’s probably just gonna run off again when you give him the opportunity. He never sticks around for the aftermath,” a voice sneered. “No surprise that Perry the Platypus overlooked me just like everyone else. And I never even left Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated.” 

Vanessa turned around, her eyes widening in surprise. An aspect of Heinz Doofenshmirtz had been in the building the entire time and they hadn’t even noticed. 

[thebrotherscupheadandmugman]

Ruse of an Ooze! With Goopy le Grande!

Before you read: This is a rewriting of the main game Cuphead. Characters, certain dialogue, music, and locations obviously do not belong to me. This is best read with the OST playing over it. And before you start reading, remember that anything on this blog that is tagged as “Word on the Wind” can be reblogged and shared! That being said, enjoy!

Special thanks to

@inkwellharlequin​ for the second pun,

@merrymugsy​ for the third pun,

@easyriches​ for creating the word “squonch”

Blogs with Goopy le Grande as a muse: @bnlgoopywooper​

“Where to next?” Cuphead asked his older brother. “Don't you feel guilty at all?” Mugman asked. “I mean, the way he was just...begging!” “I know.” The other sighed. “But do we really have a say in the matter? If we don't do this...” “I know...” Mug sighed. “Let's keep moving.” He decided, pulling out the list, as well as an ink quill to mark it with. “We got those first three.” He thought out loud, crossing their names off. “Let's see, let's see...Lettuce see.” “Mugs!” The younger growled. “I'll stop, I'll stop,” Mugman chuckled. “Hilda Berg...” The older looked to his brother. “Some guy on here actually has the name 'Goopy'.” “What?” Cuphead asked in disbelief. “You've gotta be misreading that! Lemme see!” Cuphead knew full and well that Mugman was better at reading, considering how much he loved to read, but he thought that maybe he could see something that Mugs didn't. Mug handed his brother the list, showing the debtor's full name. “Golly, Mugs! You weren't kidding!” Cup tilted his head, trying to figure out how to pronounce it. “Goopy Le...Grand?” Mugman couldn't help but snort. “I think it's Hispanic, Cuphead. It's 'Goopy Le Grande'...I think.” “This poor guy!” Cuphead joked, dramatically putting the back of his hand to his forehead. “Think of all the children that made fun of him growing up!” Mugman couldn't help but chuckle, knowing he shouldn't. “You're rotten, you know that?” He asked as his brother fell back into his arms to be overly dramatic once again. “Oh, I know!” He grinned, standing up again. “Let's check by the lake over there! With a name like 'Goopy,' the fella's gotta stay hydrated probably.” “Pfft!” Mugman snorted. “It's just a name, Cuphead!” “Yeah, and my name's Cuphead. And I have a cup for a head.” He pointed out comedically. “Hahah! Fair point.” Mugs conceded, rolling up the list again.

The boys walked down to the edge of the isle to look for Goopy, but the whole area was pretty much vacant, with the exception of grouchy Old Man Nickles grumbling to himself about how the Devil probably controls the bank, and how he's better off hiding his money rather than saving it. “See anything Cuphead?”Mugman called. “Not really. Oh!” He pulled out a hidden coin. “Never mind, I found money! You?” “Well, I found two wooden stakes in the ground, but it's probably for the showboat on the sign here.” Mugs pointed out. “Showboat? Lemme see!” Cups hollered back, dashing to his brother to read the sign. The sign itself showed a picture of an older fly woman in short and showy dress decorated with frills and sparkles all around, wearing a feathery hair accessory. “The Flapper Flies?” He read. “Golly, why's that sound so familiar?”  His brother shrugged. “I don't know. But Flapper shows are meant for adults I'm pretty sure, so we should probably avoid going in if we can.” Cuphead nodded in agreement, having caused enough trouble by going into places they shouldn't have been for one day. “Let's go that way and look from there.” Cup suggested, pointing to a rickety old bridge. “Uh,” Mug's eyes widened at the disrepair of it, it definitely didn't look like it could hold their weight. “L-let's just go around back the way we came.” He decided, taking his brother by his wrist and pulling him that direction. “Really? That's such a waste of time!” “I don't trust that bridge.” “Aw, c'mon Mugsy! Where's your sense of adventure?!”

As the boys were walking past an old, familiar shop, Mugs jumped back as a cat was quite literally thrown out. “And stay out, ya bum! I don't let just anyone loiter around this shop!” A familiar gruff voice screamed. The cat looked back with a hiss before running off from the hog. Cuphead, completely unphased by this, looked back towards the old family friend curiously, unlike his brother who never liked the way he yelled. His gruff voice always scared him when he got loud, and Mugs instinctively hid behind his brother, despite being just a bit taller than Cuphead. “Hey, Porkrind!” He waved. “Wha-? Boys! Sorry y'had to see that, Mugs! I've heard you two have gotten yourselves into some deep trouble.” “Big time.” Cuphead nodded. The shopkeeper and Elder Kettle seemed to have a long history together, and were close friends ever since the brothers could remember. Porkrind was a family friend, and even would watch the boys after school when the Elder Kettle was out. “Did Elder Kettle tell ya?” Porkrind nodded.  “Why don't you two come inside th'shop? I gots some wears that might be of some use to ya runts.” The merchant offered, stepping aside to let the two in, calling them 'runts'  in an affectionate way. “Whaddya mean by 'wears'?” Cuphead asked, walking in without his brother. “Hey, wait up!” Mugman called, running in after Cups. “I gots charms, weapons, and even some drinks that'll be of good use in a brawl!” Porkrind explained, going behind the counter once again. “Take this Roundabout shot for example! These bullets provide great coverage with average damage. You'll wanna aim backwards for maximum range with this beaut.” “That sounds kinda lame.” Cuphead pouted. “I don't know, I think it sounds like it could be useful! But we are still getting used to the Peashooters, so I don't know if it'd be a good idea to get it now...” Mugman shrugged. “Seriously? 'Peashooter'? Isn't that what the Root Pack called it?” “Well, I can't think of anything better to call it.” He confessed, shrugging again. “If ya boys don't want any new weapons, I also have some charms that might be helpful fer ya! This here heart medal will let ya take a hit better than ya could on yer own! But I've gotten some complaints in the past that folks' attacks became weaker while it was equipped.” “Aw, it's like a little heart buddy!” Mugs cooed. “'Heart buddy'?” Cup teased. “Not sure if it'd be worth it though.” Porkrind thought for a moment. “I think I gots something right up yer ally, Cuphead.” He searched through a drawer behind the counter, before pulling out a small purple felt string bag. “Ah, here we are!” He pulled the bag open, and took out what almost looked like a green smoke grenade. “Th'Smoke Bomb!” “The Smoke Bomb?” The boys repeated, curious. “Yeah! With this, you will not take damage during a dash.” He looked at the brothers. “This'd be a great defense maneuver for yer brother!” “H-hey!” Mugs interjected, but quickly realized that he had a point. He wasn't much of a fighter. “It'd be a great mix of getting somewhere quickly, and dodging! You could make good use of it too, Red!” Porkrind suggested, patting Cup's head affectionately. “'Specially with how reckless y'can get.” “That's so cool! How much is it?!” Cuphead beamed, staring at the Smoke Bomb intently. “Three coins.” Cuphead fished out the coin he just found, while Mugs pulled out four more. “Huh? How'd I get four? I thought Mac only gave us three.” “Maybe Grandpa slipped one in your pocket!” Cuphead answered, handing over his only coin to the hog. “Maybe.” Mugs hummed, giving over the other two. “Here y'go boys!” He snorted, handing the bag to Mugman. “Now git out there and kick some poor saps in the rear end, ya bums!” He waved off. “Thanks, Porkrind!” Mugs smiled, waving as he and his brother walked out of the shop. “Goodbye!”

The boys walked through an open field, continuing their search for Goopy Le Grande. They argued back and forth, quickly losing any idea of where he could possibly be. “Why are we even looking out here?! It's not like there's ever anything out here but grass!” “Well do you have a better idea of where to look, Cuphead?!” “Anywhere but in an open field where there is visibly nothing!” “Shut up! We wouldn't even be here if you had actually stopped to think! If you wanna look somewhere else so badly, then you can go look through the forest by yourself!” Mugs snapped, pointing towards the forest behind his brother. It wasn't long before their shouting attracted the attention of a yellow daisy, who ran towards the two. “What in earth is all this yelling?! Yer disturbin' the peace!” “S-sorry, sir!” Mugman apologized. “Don't you mean, 'what on earth'?” “I'm a plant!” “So?” “Where do plants grow, kid?” “In dirt.” “I think he was going for in the earth.” Mugman pointed out. Cuphead thought for a minute. “Oh...Oh so that's what the Root Pack was saying...” The daisy suddenly threw a punch at Cuphead at the mere mention of the Root Pack, pushing him back into his brother. There was a record scratch, then silence. “Ow! What was that for?!” “How do you know the Root Pack?!” “W-we're neighbors! We meant no offense!” Mug explained, holding Cups by the shoulders to try and hold him back to stop him from retaliating. “You spies for them or somethin'?! And you think you can just come into our forest?!” “Last I checked, the forest wasn't owned by anyone!” “W-we're not-” “Forest Follies! Attack these two mugs! Charge!!” From seemingly nowhere, a trumpet was heard sounding a short charge anthem. Suddenly, more yellow daisies came rushing towards the brothers, some even hovering down from the trees above. “Aaahh!” The boys both screamed. “Run to the forest!” Mugs called, attempting to run past them all. Sadly, his plan hadn't worked, and he was quickly grabbed by several of the daisies. “No! L-let go of me!” Cuphead, without thinking twice began firing at the flowers holding his brother, causing them to disappear with a puff of smoke and stars. “Don't hurt them!” “We need to get through, one way or another!” Cup excused. The brothers ran through the field, dodging the deadly daisies that they could, and jumping over stumps and small cliffs to get out of the way. “Dibs on the coin!” Cuphead shouted as he lunged over Mugman's shoulder, hopped on another small cliff, and jumped up on a floating chunk of dirt, suspended in the air by a small propeller underneath it. “Haha!” “Really, Cup?!” Cups noticed two more daisies below, and jumped down from the platform, trying to land on them. His little attack worked, in a small way, but he didn't have the best landing, so the child ended up falling and getting hurt as well. “Ow! Note to self: don't jump on people!” “Oh gosh, Cuphead.” Mugman sighed, grabbing him by the back of his shirt as he ran by. A red and yellow-spotted mushroom suddenly popped up from the ground only to fire a pink spore at the pair, then duck back under the safety of its cap. “Ah!” Cuphead was quick to act, he jumped over the spore, a hand extended from his red bendy straw as he parried the pink object before it could hit his brother. “I got you covered, Mugsy!” “Thanks!”

As the two entered the forest, the enemies became more and more abundant and harder to manage. Terrible tulips began firing explosives at them, bothersome blueberries wouldn't stay down. They eventually came across a gap with nothing more than a dead tree trunk for a bridge and a thorn brush below. “W-we gotta cross that?!” Mugs gasped, afraid of falling in. “Looks like a fun challenge!” “Fun?!” The brothers looked back to see more daisies headed straight for them. “Better hurry up and cross!” Cuphead said, carefully and briskly walking across. “C-Cuphead, w-wait up!” Mug climbed on top, and slowly stood, trying to find his center of balance before slowly starting to walk forwards. “Just don't look down, Mugman!” Cups called. “Th-that just makes me want to look down!!” “Well don't, ya dummy!” Mugs shook, trying to keep his eyes forward. “C'mon, you're almost halfway- Mug, look out!” Mugman unfortunately didn't have enough time to react to Cuphead's warning, and was smacked in the back of the head, just above the handle, by a pink spiky bulb falling down from the trees. “Oof!” Mugs fell forwards, but luckily, he hadn't slipped off the tree. When he pushed himself up, he looked down to see something black with yellow spots and large teeth rushing at him from the brush below. “Aah!” He jolted and threw himself back to avoid his nose being bit, but the action caused him to slip from the trunk. He screamed even louder as he began to fall, just barely managing to grab a hold of the makeshift bridge. He let out a grunt as he started to try and pull himself back up. “C-Cuphead!” “Hold on Mug! I'm coming.” “Hurry! I-I think that- that...toothy terror is coming back!” Cuphead carefully crossed the tree again, making his way to his brother before kneeling and helping him up. “Gotchya!” “Th-thanks. Now let's make tracks!” The boys crossed the gap, only to be met with another shortly after, only difference being a downward slope and a lack of thorns. “Free coin!” Cuphead called, snatching another gold coin he spotted near the inside of the trunk. “Are you serious?!” “Let's cross together this time.” Cup suggested, ignoring his brother's annoyance. “Good idea.” Mugman nodded, grabbing his brother's hand as they crossed with ease. “I'll never let you pass!” A small blueberry threatened. Cup simply shot the tiny fruit a few times before it turned into a mushy mess. “Ah, no!!” They hopped off one tree, and onto another that seemed to be a host for fungi. “How dare you shoot Billy! Eat spores, you pills!” The mushroom shouted, firing a purple spore at the brothers from behind. “Duck!” Mug ordered, firing at the 'shroom with his left hand until it exploded. “S-sorry!” “Man, I never thought I'd be thankful for you being ambidextrous.” Cups admitted, standing once the spore passed over them. “You really gave that murderous mushroom what for!” “Never mind that! Let's keep moving!” As they got off the trunk, another tulip was lying in wait, and fired an explosive seed at the two as they stood on the ledge above. “Mugs watch out!” Cuphead warned, pushing his brother away as he backed up himself, falling back and tumbling down to the ground below where the tulip was. “Ow!” As the seed landed on the ground above, a small explosion fired off, disorienting the older brother for a moment. “Cuphead?!” “Gyah!” Cuphead fired at the flower, but the tulip was quick to retaliate, before he could even get back on his feet. Mugman instinctively followed the sound of his brother's yelp, looked down at the scene, and began snapping, shooting the flower. “C'mon!” He called, pointing to the jump they'd have to make. Once across, another blueberry rushed them. “I'll protect you, Uncle Goopy!” “Goopy?!” “As in Goopy Le Grande?” Mugs asked. “What's it to ya?!” “We need to fi-” Mugman quickly covered his brother's mouth before he said 'fight'. “We need to speak with him. Where can we find him?” “Well, if you really needed to talk to Uncle Goopy, I wouldn't have to tell you that he's over by those trees over there!” The blueberry pointed. “If you really needed to talk to Uncle Goopy, you'd already know where he is! So I don't believe you liars!” “Did...he just tell us where he is?” Cuphead asked in disbelief. “Thanks, Billy!” “I'm Bobby, and I won't let you pass!” The boys ran past Bobby, and onto the next log. “Coin!” Cuphead greedily called yet again as he jumped up to parry another pink spiky bulb, and grab the coin. However, as he fell back down, an acorn came flying from the trees, and fell on top of Cuphead, knocking him down and away from the tree trunk bridge. “Ow!!” “Cuphead!” Mugs just barely grabbed his brother in time. “Just hang on!” The forest itself seemed to be laughing at them “Nowhere to run, nowhere to go – This forest is yer foe! Ahahaha!” Mug ignored the taunt, and swung his brother back onto the wood. “Are you okay, that looked like a hard hit!” “Ugh...I'm fine.” The younger whined, holding his arm. “Here, let me see it.” Mugman asked, rolling up his sleeve. “I'm fine! It's just a scratch!” “Yeah, pretty big one.” “Ugh! Forget about it! Let's just keep moving!” Mugman nodded, and the boys continued to run through the forest until the came across a group of daisies pushing away a trunk from a gap. “No!” Mugs shouted as the tree fell below, knowing they wouldn't be able to make the jump across. “Let's get a running start, Mugman!” Cuphead suggested, running faster before jumping and dashing across, giving him a sort of glide as he soared to the other side. He turned around to face his brother. “It's easy Mugs! Try it before they catch up to you!” Mugs timidly looked across before decidedly shaking his head. “Y-you can jump farther than I can!” “Just dash across, Mug! You can make it, I promise!” Suddenly more acorns hovered over, making it increasingly difficult for Mugman to find the nerve to jump across, for fear of being hit like Cuphead had been earlier. “I-I'll fall!” “No you won't!” “I'll get hit like you did!” “You'll get caught if you don't try!” Cuphead thought of an idea as indicated by the light-bulb that popped above his head. He grabbed the purple felt bag, and pulled out a Smoke Bomb. “Mugsy! Smoke Bomb!” He threw the grenade to his brother, who caught it with ease. “Now you can't get hit! And if you fall, I'll catch you! So hurry up!” “O-okay...” Mug nodded, taking a deep breath as he backed up. He looked behind them to make sure the daisies weren't too close behind them, before realizing that he didn't have much time. He gulped, and ran towards the edge at top speed. “J-Jumping!!” He called before leaping off the cliff. He saw another acorn start to plummet towards him, so Mugman pulled the pin, and threw the Smoke Bomb downwards, dashing and gliding as he avoided being hit. Mugs almost didn't make it across, but he managed to grab his brother's hand, and true to his word, Cuphead caught Mugman, and pulled him up. “Gotchya, pal.” “Th-thanks.” Mugman praised, shaking as his feet were on solid ground again. “L-let's keep moving. I think he said Goopy was just over there!” Mug pointed forward.  The boys began running, before Mugman finally found his own coin, although he said nothing about it unlike his brother.

After another, albeit shorter jump, the boys finally found out where those aggravating acorns had been coming from. “An acorn maker?!” “And I always thought acorns grew on trees.” Cuphead joked. “Look out!” Mugs warned as another acorn began to fall on them, forcing the boys to dodge out of the way. “Mega Blast!” Cuphead fired off an Ex move, ready to scrap that acorn maker and be done with it already. “Are you going to say that every time you use an Ex move?!” Mugman asked, as he fired at the machine as well. “It's a signature move! Ya gotta do it!” Thanks to the Mega Blast, the acorn maker quickly began exploding, allowing the boys to pass. “And good riddance!” “Bravo to you, Cuphead. And I think we lost the flowers.” Mugman said, looking back towards the thick of the forest. “Let's keep going until we find Goopy.” “Are you sure you don't want to rest first, Cuphead? You took some pretty hard hits back there.” “No, I'm fine.” Mugman sighed. “If you say so.” With that, the boys began to hop across the pits of the forest, Mugman snagging another coin as they traveled.

Finally, they reached the trees Bobby mentioned back in the forest. As the boys entered the clearing, they couldn't help but notice a large, round patch of dirt that seemed like it'd been trampled and damaged so much that nothing could ever grow there. Even some of the trees seemed damaged. “See anything yet, Cuphead?” Mugman asked, looking towards his brother. “Not really.” The younger shrugged. “Maybe he left? I guess globby Bobby could've-” “Wait, do you he-” Mug suppressed a smile at his brother's joke. “Be nice.” There was a short pause, as Mugman listened to something. “Can you hear that?” “Hear what?” Cuphead asked, trying to hear what his brother was hearing. “Shh!” Cuphead paused, listening carefully. He heard the familiar sounds of the forest, but then he finally noticed something different. It sounded like... “Is someone...talking?” “Take a look over here.” Mugs motioned towards the babbling brook not too far from where they were standing. They saw a blue blob staring at himself in the reflections of the pond nearby. “Boy howdy, am I a looker or am I a looker? The world sure is lucky I exist.” He said to his reflection. “That's our guy. 'S just gotta be.” “Excuse me!” Mugs called with a friendly wave. “Could we speak with you?” The slime turned around at the sound of a young, unfamiliar voice. He looked over the two small figures for a moment, before bouncing his way over. “Yes?” Now that the other was facing towards them, the brothers could see his features better. There wasn't quite much to him, he simply appeared as a small, round blue blob, with a small red nose, and large black eyes. “Hello! My name is Mugman, and this is my little brother, Cuphead.”| “'Sup?” “I was wondering, um...You wouldn't happen to be Goopy Le Grande, would you?” The blob seemed to perk up at that, his lips curling into a large, proud smile. “Why, yes I am! Would you youngsters care for an autogra-” “So wait,” Cuphead interjected as a thought crossed his mind. “Yer Bobby Blueberry's Uncle or whatever, right?” “Uh...Yes?” “Cuphead, don't interrupt!” Mug scolded, trying to be quiet so Goopy wouldn't hear. “And yer name's Goopy?” A small smile crept up on the child's lips. “Uhhhh...Yes?” “So does that mean yer actually a Gooberry?” He cracked, causing his older brother to hold back a small snort in an attempt to not laugh. However, it seemed Goopy didn't find it clever, or funny for that matter. “And you think that's funny?!” “Uhuhh, don't mind him, he didn't mean any offense by it.” Mugman saved, still suppressing laughter. “Yeah, lighten up, Goopy! For someone so 'Grande,'  yer actin' like a real slimeball!” “Pff-” Mugs quickly put a hand to his mouth to avoid laughing. “C-Cuphead...” He tried to scold, but it was no use. Trying not to laugh only made the child all the more giggly. He really wanted to just talk things out, but he was worried that laughing at the other would make him mad. Plus he knew he just shouldn't laugh, it was just mean. If only his brother wasn't being so funny. “I'm a what?!” Goopy growled, far from laughing. “Lookee here, y'little brats, I don't know what your problem is, but if this is all you wanted from me, I'd say you'd better go home to your parents! I'm sure they've got some nice peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for ya or something.” It was clear that Goopy didn't want to cause trouble for the kids, given how he was urging them home for lunch. “Aw, man! Don't be silly! 'Sides, you're the only kinda Goober we need to talk to!!” That's what sent Mugs over the edge. He doubled over in laughter. “Goober!! Oh my gosh!!” He gasped. “That's it!!” Goopy finally snapped, “I'll put you brats in your place!!”

Goopy took the top of his head off and tipped it towards the boys with a polite bow, as if the portion of his head were a hat, before placing it back where it belonged. Immediately after, he began hopping towards the cups, Cuphead smirking confidently as he began to shoot. Truly, Mugman had tried his best to stop his laughter, but once he was giggly, it wasn't easy for him to stop.

Once Goopy got too close to the boys, Cuphead dashed under Goopy when he bounced, where as Mugman backed away to cover more ground as he finally began to shoot.

“You think it's funny to make fun of someone's name?! This'll teach ya t'laugh, blue brat!!” The slime growled, before taking a deep breath as he leaned back. Mugman continued his attempts to stop his laughter as he continued to back up until he bumped into a large oak tree. Upon realizing he was cornered, he finally stopped giggling. Goopy lunged forward, curling into the shape of a boxing glove in an attempt to hit Mugman. “Ptoo!!” Mugs just barely managed to dash towards Goopy in time to dodge. “Woah!! Don't you normally just spank kids for discipline?!” He half-joked. Cuphead quickly realized that their Peashooters didn't seem to be phasing Goopy much at all. When he saw that he had Mugs cornered, Cup knew he had to do something else to draw the slime away. Suddenly, a light-bulb appeared above his head once again as he thought of something, he took a deep breath. “Mega Blast!!” Cuphead fired off the blue Ex Move at Goopy, which seemed to do the trick for him. “Ouch! Little rascal!!” The blob growled, turning around to face the younger cup, who went back to snapping and firing. Goopy turned around again, and hopped towards Mugman, who tried to dash underneath him as Cuphead had done earlier, although unfortunately, this did not work out as well as it had for the cup, as Goopy then bounced off the tree he'd cornered Mugs in moments before, and landed right on top of the boy. “Oof! Ow!” The older brother whined. “And you! How dare you make fun of a man's name!” Goopy condemned with malice and anger in his voice as he glop hopped his way to the red-clad boy. “Then you've got the gall to attack me!”  “Ya misunderstand, goop-man! We're here for a contract! Your Soul Contract!” “My Soul Contract?! And did you expect me to just give that over to ya?! Fat chance! You finks must work fer th'Devil himself then, huh?!” Once he was close enough to Cuphead, Goopy lunged forward again, curling into the boxing glove again to try and hit him. “Ptoo!” Luckily, Cuphead was all too quick to utilize a Smoke Bomb, and appeared behind the blue blob unscathed. “Little fink!!” He coughed out. “I-it isn't like that, sir! W-we're being forced against our will! W-we don't wanna do the Devil's dirty work! Honest!” Mugman explained, finally peeling himself off the ground. “But he'll take our souls if we don't do what he says!” “Oh, so it's my soul or yours! Is that what I'm hearin'?!” Goopy spat. “Oh, well gol-lee gee! That's perfectly reasonable! Get lost, brats!! I'm done playin' around!” The brothers looked back to each other, and quickly nodded, then both proceeded to open fire upon the slime. “Ouch!” There was a bell ding, and Goopy gave a low growl. He seemingly pulled something out of his pocket, and flipped a small white pill into his mouth, swallowing it with a gulp.

Disoriented for a moment, three pink question marks appeared around Goopy, and since the boy had just depleted his Super Meter with the Mega Blast, Cuphead seized the opportunity to parry slap the expression marks, bouncing off the first two with ease. However, after a couple of blinks, Goopy quickly grew twice in his size, opening his mouth wide with a confident, “heh!” Cuphead was caught off-guard by the sudden change, and was knocked from the air to the dirt. “Aah! Oof!” He grunted as he landed on the other side of Goopy, who seemingly ignored the cup, and began to bounce towards Mugman once again. “Woah!” Mugman was left with little room to move around thanks to Goopy's new size, he knew he had nowhere to go if he backed up, so instead he waited for Goopy to get close, and dashed underneath him before he was cornered again. Once on the other side, Mugman opened fire on Goopy, calling out to his brother, “Cuphead! Toss me a couple of those Smoke Bombs!”  “Whaddya need those for?” Cuphead asked, reaching in the felt bag. “Just ta have 'em!” Cuphead threw one to his brother, “incoming!” Mugman switched hands, firing with his left and catching the toy grenade with his right before stuffing it into his pocket. “I won't give ya the chance to use it, squirt!” There was a boxing bell, then Goopy reeled back his boxing gloved fist, looking straight at Mugman. “Mugs, get down!!” Mugman just barely managed to heed Cuphead's warning before Goopy threw a punch at the boy. “Woah!! Thanks, Cup!!” “Grrr! You little brat!” Goopy hopped over Mugman to make his way over to Cuphead once again, all while ignoring Mugman's Peashooter bullets. Cuphead suddenly began firing at Goopy again as well, but he decided to stand his ground, thinking Goopy would bounce off the tree as he had done with Mugs earlier, but instead of that, Goopy hopped right on top of the child, crushing him into the ground. “Ahh! Mmff! G-get o-off m-me!” “Cuphead!!”  “Heh heh heh! What can I say? I'm a handsome slime bringing pain – one bounce at a time!” “Get off him!!” Mugman demanded. “Or what? You'll tea-se me ta death?!” Goopy glared at the mug again, and wound up for another punch, and while Mugman had been running their direction, he stopped and ran back to avoid getting hit. Mugs then gathered the magical energy that he had been feeling grow stronger with every shot he landed and willed it towards his hands as he took a deep breath.  “Ru-aaugh!” The child bellowed, firing off his Ex move at Goopy. “Ouch!!” “Hey! You're supposed to say 'Mega Blast' when you do that!” “Is that really important right now?!” Cuphead didn't have much time to respond, as the slime was far from pleased, and immediately hopped off him, and bounced his way towards Mugman. “Little! Blue! Brat!!” Once he had the poor boy cornered, Goopy reeled back for another punch, leaving Mugman with no other option but to duck. “Mugs!!” Cuphead tried to draw the debtor away, but the Peashooter seemed to only be a mild annoyance. “Save it, brat!” Goopy spat, turning back to face Cup. “Those wimpy little finger guns of yours don't even brooze me!” This didn't stop the younger cup from shooting Goopy, who turned to face the older mug again. “Your stupid brother here is mincemeat!” The slime resumed his pre-punch position, ready to hit Mugman full-force. However, before he could throw his fist, Mugman discharged another Ex move at Goopy, hitting him dead in the face. “Oof!” The blob began to sway side to side, moaning and groaning as his eyes began to spin wildly in different directions. “Please Mr. le Grande! We don't want trouble, but we need your Soul Contract! Give it over to us and we'll leave you alone, okay?” Mugman begged.

Suddenly, a giant tombstone fell from the sky, only being indicated by a short whistle before it crushed Goopy with a horrifying, echoing squonch. Everything went dead silent. The brothers completely froze in place. The gravestone depicted none other than Goopy le Grande himself, with the letters, 'RIP' engraved beneath his face and a cross to top off the curved tip of the grave.

“Oh my gosh...” Mugman muttered, tears bubbling in his eyes. “I...we...oh good gosh.”  “I- he wouldn't- we didn't-” “W-we killed him!!” Mugman suddenly wailed, feeling a horrible guilt. “I-I mean, c'mon! I-it was an accident! It was in self-defense!” “Good gosh, Cuphead, I'm the one that killed him!!” Mugman fell to the ground, rubbing his eyes with balled-up fists as he sobbed. “I-I didn't mean to! I-I didn't want to, I-I just-” “Hey, hey! It, uh, i-it's okay! I mean he was kind of a jerk anyway, right? So-” “What'd you say about me?!” The tombstone suddenly spoke, as if Goopy had become the memorial. “Aaaaaahhh!!” The boys screamed in unison as the music kicked back up.

Goopy le Gravestone dragged himself towards Cuphead,  who snapped out of his fear and confusion and began firing the Peashooter once again. The grave scraped its way past Cuphead, then back over to Mugman, who was still sitting on his spot on the ground. “Goopy, just give us your contract! Nobody needs to get hurt anymore than they already are!!” Cuphead tried, but it seemed the debtor wasn't having it. “You wish! You come into my part of the forest, insult my name, demand my Soul Contract, and insult me at my grave?! No more mister nice goop!” Goopy towered over Mug, who was frozen in fear. “You boys are in grave danger now!!” “Mugs, get outta the way!!” Before Mugman had time to react, Goopy suddenly slammed down on top of the boy, crushing him instantly. “Owwww....” Mugs whined, his blue spirit slowly floating away from his body as Goopy slid back and forth once again, passing by Cuphead as he ran towards his brother. “Hahaha! I'm very smashing! Even in grave situations!” “Mug! Waddya doin'?! We got work ta do!!” Cuphead extended his straw upwards, parry slapping the pink heart in his brother's ghost as he grabbed on and shoved his soul back into his head, “Thank yooouuu....” Mugman said woozily. “Shake it of, bro! We ain't outta the woods yet!” Cuphead looked back to Goopy, who was headed straight for them once again. Cup wrapped his left arm around his older brother, and continued to shoot Goopy with his right hand as he ran towards the gave. “Get ready to throw a Smoke Bomb!!” As the brothers passed by Goopy, he started to slam down on them again, but Mugman was quick to pull out a Smoke Bomb and hurl it at the ground as Cuphead dashed, allowing them to escape from harm's way. Once Mugman recovered from being squashed into the dirt, he began firing with his left hand at Goopy as well. “Give it up, deadbeat!!” Cuphead yelled, letting go of Mugs. “Just give us the contract before you dig yourself into a hole!!” “Never!! I'll never let you take it from me!!” Mugman kept up his fire as he turned his head towards his brother. “Let's get on opposite sides of him! He can't hit us both at the same time!” “Golly! Ya sure, Mug?” “I have a Smoke Bomb still. I can get out of the way if he goes after me.” He looked back towards Goopy. “Which he most likely will.” Cuphead nodded, and just as the tombstone went in for another smash, the boys ran in opposite directions. “I won't let you take it, little brats! I won't I won't I won't I won't!!” “Yeesh, man! I know yer desperate but have some dignity. Oh and one more thing. Mega Bla-” “Woah!!” In order to keep consistent fire on Goopy, Mugman was forced to run backwards, which resulted in him tripping over a rock and falling on the ground once again. “Oh come on! I just picked ya up!!” Cups huffed out, not noticing Goopy was taking the opportunity to make his way over to the fallen child. “Sorry! I tripped!” Mugman was already starting to get back up, but once he saw the gravestone passing by him, side to side, he began to panic, shooting it wildly as he froze in place. “It looks like your time has come, blue boy!!” Goopy leaned his grave back, ready to finish of the frightened mug. Mugman let out a fearful squeak as he threw his arms over himself to brace for impact again. “Mega Blast!!” Cuphead fired off the Ex move once again, breaking the grave in half upon the blue blast's impact just as it slammed down onto the ground on either side of his older brother. Mugman opened an eye, then saw the broken grave. “Oh thank goodness...” He breathed. “Yer welcome!” “Right, I'll buy you some lunch or something later...if we live long enough that is.”   “Nice optimism, Mugsy.” The brothers could hear Goopy mumble something into the dirt below. “Um, sir, we can't understand you when you talk into the ground like that...” There was a large puff of smoke, and Goopy suddenly was back to his original form, save for a few bandages, bruises, and a black eye. “Fine...you boys win...” Goopy grumbled, shoving his Soul Contract into Mugman's chest. As soon as the child had it, he unrolled the paper, checking the golden seal that sparkled and twinkled with a shing! “I...I'm sorry Goo-” “Just take it and go.” He said coldly. Mugman came to a stand. The boys said nothing more as they looked at each other before taking each other by the hand, and leaving.

[finalfucketry]

Was She Impressed?

G

No Pairings

TW: Emetophobia Warning ( I've tagged the emetophobia with a * to indicate where to stop reading should you want to avoid it.)

Series: Untold Ethnographic Archive of Galahd

Feelings are hard when you're a kid. They're even more difficult when you're also a big showboat in a world full of daemons. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Nyx and Libertus are shin-deep in the river, languidly jabbing spears at passing fish. They weren't old enough for real spears, but they were warned if they were to become hunters they had to practice early and often. They pause when they hear a scuffling of rock on the bank behind them. They turn in sync, and see a girl looking a bit startled that she'd drawn their attention. In fact, Nyx knew this girl, he'd had his eye on her. She was only a year younger than himself, hair pulled back, ready to be shorn and beaded the day she turned twelve. As far as he was concerned, his extra year having earned him a rite of passage in braids and his first bead, meant he was already well on his way to becoming a man. Which probably meant he was supposed to talk to her, or something. Instead of saying something reasonable, like “Would you like to come fishing with us?”, he speaks in the stupid way young boys do. 

“Why are you watching us?” he asks, eyeing her. The girl, Osra is her name, flusters and huffs, crossing her arms.

“I'm not!” she insists angrily. He stretches with his spear behind his head.

“Then why are you standing there?” he goads, stepping over the rocky sides of the river.

“You don't own the river, Ulric! I can stand here if I like,” she says, stubbornly planting her feet in the dirt. He shrugs.

“You probably don't even know how to fish, yet.”

She shrieks with indignation and picks up a few small pebbles, tossing them in his direction. They don't go far, but he dodges dramatically anyways, perhaps hoping she'll see how swift he is.

“I do, too!”

Nyx lets loose a playful grin and holds out his spear, walking back into the river.

“Then prove it.”

    Osra takes the bait, as she can't help doing at her tender age with any boy she wants to impress. She storms into the river and snatches the spear with such ferocity it makes Libertus back up a couple steps. They watch her, tensed and focused with her mouth drawn into a thin line as she stares into the water. She thrusts the spear into the water and misses a fish, Libertus takes a stab at it but it escapes him as well. She glares daggers at Nyx before he can say anything. It is a while before another fish comes by, and the sun is making them sleepy while they wait. When Osra makes another jab into the water, both boys jump. She emerges triumphant with a small fish on her spear, giving one last gasping wiggle before dying.

“I told you!” she says, detatching the fish before giving Nyx his spear back and stuffing the prize in her bag sitting on the bank. Nyx doesn't give her the praise she;s hoping for, but he notices.

“Come on, there's always more fish upriver,” he urges, waving them further along. Libertus looks up at the sky.

“I dunno if we'll make it back before dark, maybe we should--” he's interrupted by a look from Nyx that he knows well, begging him to go along with it. Except this time it's more desperate than usual. His eyes flicker back to Osra, then to the sky, then back to Nyx as he trudges forward.

“-- Probably make it quick,” he finishes. Nyx grins widely and gives him a friendly punch on the arm before traipsing upstream. Osra is about to protest that she never agreed to go with them, but they seem one-track minded. Anyways, she couldn't quit now.

    Upstream, the fish are finishing their migration into the caves inland for breeding and they are plentiful. The three trade off between the two spears, whooping when they score a fish (which is not often) or exclaiming at their near misses (more frequent). Nyx uses his free time to splash his companions. Libertus would kick water back in return. Osra would occasionally yell things like “That's cheating, Nyx” or “No fair!” all the while biting back the urge to smile. She doesn't hold out long before she's splashing back and, needing to upstage him somehow, pushes him down into the water. It backfires when his quick reflexes grab onto her arm and pull her down too. They skirt downstream a couple feet, incredibly glad the riverbed is sandy where they are, then manage to find their footing.

    As they chase the fish, they find themselves closer to the mouth of the cave, and further from home than they planned. They only notice the darkness has snuck up on them when Osra extracts herself from the river, shivering in the cool air. Nyx tries to put on a brave face.

“I guess we should go home.... If you're nervous,” he says. They don't get more than two steps before a noise both familiar and foreign reachest them. Something strange. Like walking through mud or wet clay. Accompanied by a foul smell that makes them want to stop breathing as they turn around to investigate. They don't need to look far, feet from where they stand a massive flan is coagulating quickly. They start to back up slowly, but as it slides effortlessly towards them they all let out a shout. Nyx and Libertus hold their spears aloft, while Osra grabs a handful of rocks. For a good thirty seconds it's a staring contest, until the daemon rears back for a heavy handed slap. Nyx instinctively does his best to deflect with the spear. Mostly the spear gets sucked into the gelatinous appendage and ripped out of his hand. When he lunges for it, his arm is encompassed, making him stumble forward and step in it as well. He can feel it slowly pulsating and absorbing him. Swallowing him. Libertus is there in an instant, grabbing a hold of his hand and trying to pull him out. The effect is much like quicksand. Nyx tries to get a foothold in the dirt but it's too slippery. The slime is already up to his stomach and now he's panicking. The monster makes it more difficult by spewing out toxic smelling sludge, which drips warmly onto Nyx and completely douses Libertus. To his credit, Libertus doesn't let go and in fact doubles his efforts. It's only when the creature slaps him away that his grip slips. He immediately slips further in and is struggling to keep his head out of the muck. It feels like swimming in place, simply exhausting. His limbs are burning from the struggle and every so often his head dips below the surface, on more than one occasion slipping the odorous filth into his mouth before he surfaces. He's close to giving up and his vision wavers before the light of lanterns beat back the darkness and make the flan gurgle wetly as it tries to get away. Someone drags him out by the collar and he finally lets himself rest as he's cradled into arms.

    Nyx regains consciousness as he's placed into a tub of warm water, where his mother begins to scrape the slime off him. Ordinarily he would object to her bathing him, but he's exhausted and could use a comfort right now. Even though her face is hard with worry and anger her touches are gentle.

“How could any son of mine become so careless?” she scolds.

“Sorry, Titi,” he says obediently. She narrows her eyes at him as she sets the sponge down and tugs him out of the bath, wrapping a towel around him and leaving clothes on the sink.

“You will be,” she warns. Nyx is still too tired to be afraid. Hearing his mother scold him is almost a blessing after thinking he was going to suffocate to death. Thinking back to the event makes him look around in a panic.

“Where's Libertus?” he demands.

“Never you mind him. He's at home, probably getting a bath of his own and a few words to boot.”

Nyx tugs at her arm.

“It wasn't his fault! He wanted to come back. I made them go look for fish,” he insists. His mother softens a little at her son's earnest pleas.

“Get dressed and go see your Didi,” she says and leaves the bathroom. He dresses, deliberately taking as long as he thinks he can get away with, but eventually he has to drag himself into the kitchen where his father is.

“Nyx, do you remember what is at the heart of every good hunter?” he asks. Nyx doesn't have to wrack his brain.

“Strength.”

“What kind of strength?” his father persists. When he doesn't get an answer he turns to face his son.

“Not physical strength. The strength to make good decisions even if it hurts our pride.”

Nyx squirms on the spot. He expects more, but the talk is over. *

Instead his father is holding out a cup.

“Drink this,” he orders. Nyx does it without argument. Before he can ask his father what the bucket is for he feels his insides in turmoil and heaves everything he's eaten into it. There's only a minute amount of purplish-black ichor in the mix and his father seems relieved. He takes out a new cup and Nyx eyes it distrustfully until he fills it with tap water for him. When he's finished, his father gathers up his face in his hands, forcing him to look at him.

“I will not lose my only son to the Scourge,” he says with determination. He presses a kiss to his forehead before swatting him off to bed.

[bubblesthemonsterartist]

For promptathon: obi spending time with his daughter (baby or otherwise)

They told her that she needed to clean her room.

They told her that she needed to finish her studies.

They told her that she wasn’t allowed to go outsideuntil she was done.

Hereally should be more upset.

Obi tilts his head, arms folded and lips trapped between his teeth, staring up at the fugitive.

Amamidangles precariously from a branch, her legs swinging freely as they grapple against open air. From his place several feet beneath her, he can hear her grunting as she struggles to pull herself up.

Shirayuki was going to skin this girls hide. Probablyhis, too, for putting the idea in her head. It wasn’t like she was treating walls and roofs of the Palace like a training course.

Well, if he’s going to be in trouble, there’s nothing to be done but show her how to do it right.

He scales the tree quickly, one eye on his little girl as he swings through the branches until he lands on hers, silent as ever. From this angle, he can see her face a shade of puffed out red so familiar that he wants to pinch her nose.

He sinks down next to her. “I don’t think this is your room.”

Amami’s head twists towards him and she yelps, her grip slipping. Obi’s arm strikes out, grabbing the belt of her dress to keep her from her first broken bone.

“Needhelp?” he grunts, pulling her back to where she can grip the tree.

“No!”she spats, feet swinging faster in the air. Now that she knows she has an audience, her struggles become worse. He watches her flailing uselessly, burning out her pride until she huffs, slumping over. “…Maybe?”

“Maybeor yes?”

Her eyes go round like a fawns and he’s almost angry. He knows every trick in the book and that one is at the top of the list. It shouldn’t work. “You won’t yell at me?“

“Whywould I do that?” he asks, gesturing with a swoop of his arm. “You seem to be a good enoughjob at punishing yourself.”

Her pout becomes more pronounced. “Papa!”

He’ll take that as a yes.

“Now,”he drawls, looking over her predicament. “How did you get yourself intothis mess?”

“Ithought-” She grunts, pulling herself up and sliding back down. Hisfingers twitch to catch her again, but she recovers, legs still flailing for a foothold. “Isaw you pull yourself up like this and I thought I’d try.”

Hislips quiver and he rubs them with the back of his hand. Absolutely no laughing. “Soyou picked a branch this high to fall from?”

“Ididn’t know it would be this hard!” she snaps.

He tsks. “Doyou want me to show you how to do it?”

She slumps. “Yes.”

Obisighs dramatically, swinging his leg over the other side so she can watch him. Her eyes are wide with open wonder and he holds back from what his wife calls “showboating,” simply smoothly controlling his descent until he is chin to the bark, justlike her.

In the back of his head, he can still hear Shirayuki accusing him of preening like a vain cat.

He ignores her this time. Such talk, my Lady.

“Watchme,” he says instead. Swinging his hips side to side, he gets enough momentum going totoss one long leg up, heel catching on the bark. He adjusts his grip, huggingthe branch, and pulls himself until he is laying flat on his stomach. 

Amami isfrowning.

“Gotit?”

Greeneyes flicker to his and she nods carefully.

“Okay!” he smiles, hands at the ready. “Give it a shot.”

She swings her hips slowly, not putting enough force into it, and tries to throw her leg up a little too soon. Amami squeaks in alarm, arms hugging the branch like a lifeline. Her skin is red and raw under her arms and chin.

“Mylegs are too short!” she whines. 

Her fingertips dig into the bark and Obi shakes his head. Game over.

Reaching down, he scoops one arm under her ribs and lifts.

“No!”she demands, arms tightening around the branch so that he’d have to pry her off. “No. Just- just put meback where I was. I can do it.”

He hums in disapproval. 

Stubborn. 

“Bea little more patient,” he instructs, releasing her. “Swing just a bit more before you-”

“Igot it!” she grunts. “Just- just move a further away.”

Obifrowns. “Amami.”

“I got it, Papa!”

What is it with these women in his life?

Hescoots further back, but not by much and rests his hands against his thighs. He’d probably pull his back out catching her like this and then Shirayuki would be scolding the both of them even more.

Amami starts swinging again, muttering to herself. “One… two… THREE!”

Her boot catches just enough against bark for her to grab hold and she shifts her arms, dark braid flyingfree as she swings one arm around. For one terrifying second he can see her in his mind’s eye,falling head over heels towards the unforgiving earth.

And then she’s up, belly flat to the branch, scrapes and leaves and huge smile, all staring up at him with pride. “I did it!” she cheers.

His heart restarts. Ah, this was whySir started to go gray early. “You sure did,” he says shakily,reaching out to help her up. She shimmies up to sitting. 

Hereyes sparkle when she stares up at him. “One day I’ll be ableto climb castle walls just like you!”

“Hah,”he breathes, and he doesn’t know how to articulate how he is both incrediblytouched and severely disapproving of her ever climbinganything ever again.

Thankfully,he doesn’t have to.

“Amami!Amami where are you?”

Her face falls to a grimace, staring down towards the ground. “Uh oh.”

Obipulls a twig out of her hair before smoothing it down. “Over here!” he calls.

Under his hand, shewilts.

“Obi?”Shirayuki comes closer, their son balanced on her hip. Her eyes go wide whenshe sees the two of them. “What are you two doing up there?”

Amami squirms in her seat.

“Amami wanted a treeclimbing lesson,” he calls down.

Shirayukihuffs, bouncing Ren when he starts grabbing at the décolletage of her blouse. “She’s notdone with her actual lessons yet,” she scolds. “And her room is still a mess.”

“Sorry,Mama,” Amami sulks.

“Itwas my idea,” Obi says. “She looked like she needed a little fresh air.”

HisLady’s face sets in a way that he knows means no good for him later on.

“Come back inside,” she says, holding both of Ren’s hands in her palm. “AfterI’m done feeding him, I’ll take a look at those cuts.”

Bothof them flinch. Of course she would notice.

Ren fusses and she turns, heading towards the house, fingers already unlacing her top. Obi stares longingly after her before sighing, jumping down from one branch to another, pausing at each step to help his daughter. She climbs down behind him, cautious as a kitten.

“Youshouldn’t lie, Papa,” she says when he lowers her the last few feet to theground. “I should get in trouble. Not you.”

Obismiles down at her fondly, thumb grazing the raw skin at her chin. “Ah,I’ve been in worse trouble,” he winks. “But next time I’ll let you takethe fall.”

Amami rolls her eyes.

[wwereaderinserts]

Shauna I told you that you were gonna hate and love me for this one and I think I'm definitely gonna be right. Ok so I need me some Jeff Hardy worry/fluff. So reader is a wrestler and does a lot of high flying stuff, occasionally pulls a Swanton out of her ass when she wants to pay homage to Jeff cause he's her idol. So she's in a huge match for the championship and it's TLC so she's doing all this crazy shit off ladders and not even paying attention to what she's doing to herself and (1/?)

(CONT.) her opponent (pick any diva you want). So it’s getting near the end of the match and she ends up doing a perfect Swanton off the highest ladder they’ve got to the other chick through a table and ends up knocking herself completely unconscious because she knocked her head off the side of the ring on her way down. So the other girl wins the championship but reader still hasn’t moved, Jeff has been watching the whole thing from backstage and he’s been impressed with everything he saw but when he saw her Swanton he knew that she was injured so he rushed from backstage immediately down to ringside to check on her and he’s signalling the medics to come out. Once they get her back and started to get checked out is when she wakes up and sees Jeff and she’s like stammering over her words and shit cause she likes him, like really likes him. And he’s telling her some cute shit and stuff and she just randomly kisses him then pulls back once she’s realized what she’s done and blamed it on her head/neck injury and he just pulls her back in for more kisses cause he’s always thought it was hot to see her doing his moves since he had seen her before he came back to WWE.

A/N: Wow, a lengthy prompt, that’s what I like! Don’t be daft, I love you for it, and I hope you enjoy it!

Pairing: Jeff Hardy x Reader

Word Count: 1,185

You’ve taken so many risks throughout the entire match so far. Why wouldn’t you? It’s pay-per-view, it’s for the championship, and you want to make sure the fans get their money’s worth. Not to mention, it’s arguably the biggest match of your career, and you’ve pulled out all the stops so far in order to win. And, secretly, you’re hoping that Jeff Hardy is watching all of this backstage right now.

With each high flying move you’ve carried out, you’ve kept Jeff in mind. From top rope moves, right the way down to moves performed from halfway up the ladder. It’s all been for show, and you’re on such an adrenaline high that you don’t notice how much damage you’ve done to yourself, and Natalya. You’re both pretty battered and bruised at this point. It’s been an arduous match, but you know exactly how you’re going to get that win, and that championship will be yours.

Sliding under the ring ropes, your hands fumble under the ring in search of a table. When you find what you’re looking for, you slide it into the ring, and then you turn around and reach for a nearby ladder. It just so happens to be the highest ladder in the vicinity, which you think is all the better for what you have planned. With a slight struggle, you maneuver it into the ring, propping it up right in the centre before you set the table up. Then, finally, you haul Natalya up to her feet, landing a forearm smash on her before you lay her down across the table.

“C’mon…I got this…”You talk yourself up as you stand at the foot of the ladder, and as soon as you begin to climb, the crowd gets right behind you. Cheers erupt throughout the arena, and they only spur you on even more. You reach the top of the ladder, taking in the view of the arena. The lights, the shadows of fans, you can see it all.

Then, you throw in a taunt, unable to help showboating before you take a dive off of the ladder. If you do say so yourself, the Swanton you manage to pull off is perfect, if not as close to perfect as you can possibly get it. Jeff would be impressed. You just know it.

But you don’t land well. No, you’re out cold. Hit your head on the side of the ring when you put Natalya through the table. How you managed it, you’ll never know. No amount of replays will be able to pinpoint the moment where it all went wrong. You’re out cold, while Natalya is merely dazed. Neither of you gets up for a good few minutes, but then Natalya begins to move, and manages to cover you, albeit weakly, to get the pinfall.

One…two…three.

It’s done. It’s over. Natalya retains. And you’re still not moving, not even curling up into a ball of pain. Nothing. Even when she’s finished her brief celebration and made her way backstage again, you haven’t moved.

Jeff saw the entire match. Every single bit. Your high flying moves, pure skill, even the showboating. He’s been in this situation many times himself, and he knows something is wrong. He doesn’t waste another moment, and he rushes down to ringside as fast as his legs will carry him, already signalling for medics to get out here right now before he’s even reached you. Clambering into the ring, concern filling his face when he kneels before you and checks you over, but it’s like he’s too scared to touch you, let alone move you.

“C’mon, she needs to go backstage!”Jeff yells, making way for the medics to get to you. The stretcher is already laid out ready to take you backstage, and Jeff can only look on, sticking right by your side when the medics lay you out on the stretcher, when they take you up the ramp, even all the way back to the medic bay to get you looked at. He waits. He waits until you wake up, and he doesn’t leave your side. Not once. When you do begin to stir back to consciousness, though, Jeff sits bolt upright, then leans into you.

His face is the first thing you see once your eyes have adjusted to the light. You’re bemused, to say the least, and your cheeks grow warm when you lock eyes with Jeff. Your mouth opens, but no sound comes out. Instead, you begin to stammer, unable to form a sentence. Luckily, Jeff breaks the silence.

“Shit, I’d say you got out pretty damn lucky back there.”

Jeff sighs, truly relieved. You’re too scared to nod right now, so you just hum in agreement. When you attempt to sit up, Jeff is quick enough to jump to your aid.

“Woah, woah…take it easy…” he tells you, lightly resting a hand on your upper back, “Can I get you anything at all? Y’know…medics said it’s a concussion. You’ll have to take it easy for a while, okay?”

You’re only now aware of how close he is to you. You nod, only subtly, now you know that there’s no damage to your neck. Your head still kills, but that was to be expected.

“No, I…I’m fine.” you manage, “Think I’ve worn myself out for the night, though.”

“I’ll say. You put on one hell of a show out there. Seriously, I’m impressed with what I saw. You’re a real talent.”

Jeff smiles at you, and you try fighting it, but you smile back at him even wider. You know how much you’re blushing, and you’re aware of how clammy your skin has become, but when Jeff doesn’t look away from you, you make a move.

Whether there’s still a dredge of adrenaline left, you don’t know, but you draw him in kissing him briefly, yet softly before you pull away, suddenly. You’re trying to find the words to say, any excuse for your actions, and then, you realise that you have the perfect one.

“Fuck, sorry, I-I…my head it all over the place right now-”

Before you can finish, Jeff leans in, rather than cup your face, and he repeatedly kisses you. He’s so gentle, and you’re slightly taken aback by it. You freeze for a moment, in shock, but then you kiss him back when you’re able to process exactly what’s happening.

When Jeff pulls away, he’s smiling, and you mirror him. Even though he may not admit it if you pointed it out, you can tell he’s blushing a little.

“So…I’ve been thinking about this for a while now…” he begins, and you let him continue, “When you’re fully rested, healed, whatever you want to call it…would you wanna go out with me sometime? On a date? I’ll take you for dinner. That Swanton you did tonight kinda earned you that much.”

You don’t even need that much time to think it through. You grin, nodding a little, and you can’t help but giggle out, “Jeff, I’d love to.”