#I'm going to go back and update all the previous parts before I post Ch 1.5 so new readers won't suffer

[amunisence]

I've been rereading my past parts of the Rogue Player AU to make sure I keep everything consistent (yes I've started writing Ch 1.5). I can't stand my past writing, so I'm editing all the previous chapters. It will be virtually the same just written better for future readers. I'm just editing grammar, some lackluster descriptions, and redundant adjectives/language in general. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[2030kamenriders]

Life update: accidentally landed myself in some kind of a Toshiki Inoue Drama situation, but I'm not sure where on the scale of Faiz to Donbrothers it lands. So instead, I'm gonna vague-post about it and then we can vote on it together like some kinda AITA post (but with Inoue shows instead. You'll see what I mean, hold on)

So!

(gestures next to me) this is Desk. Desk has been with sitting in my room for over 15 years, and is very reliable, helping me through various situations. Fun fact: it is a gift from an old family friend that passed away a few years ago. Other fun fact: it's the kind with the piece of wood that slides out for a keyboard, and the sliding parts are still perfectly intact (to be fair, I adjusted it near the start of the pandemic, so it's even better than new).

Anyway, when I had to rent a place this year for university reasons, my parents ended up getting me... a second desk. I insisted against this, but they insisted for it (our reasons will be obvious in a bit).

See, the place for rent is a small place. It doesn't fit a desk. I did the measurements before moving in and everything. (So already this is a source of stress rather than making my life easier.) So I've been keeping the desk in one of the emptier rooms for a while until some of the other tenants move in and out (lots of rearranging going on).

Mom and Dad kept insisting that maybe there was a chance that the desk would fit in once things settled down at the place (not in my room). Then Mom started saying stuff like "wouldn't it be nice to replace your desk at home? I mean, this one has drawers!" (Again, I don't want to. Desk 1 may be a bit worn-out here and there, but I like it and it does the job more than well enough.)

So I bring this up offhand at the place I'm staying. One of the other tenants brings up that they're looking for a desk. I figure that I may as well avoid the hassle of lifting Desk 2 into a vehicle and taking it back home, so I ask my parents and the landlady about it. Dad is chill with it. Mom isn't. Landlady says she'll move Desk 2 to the garage once all the tenants move in, and I can do what I want with it.

I go back home without the desk. Dad and I figure that Mom wouldn't mind. Sure enough, she hasn't brought it up (she's just happy I'm here for the weekend).

Now here's where things get complicated.

Before moving Desk 2 to the garage, it was in a room meant to rent out (the room I currently rent didn't have space for it, but a couple other rooms did. I was staying in one of those rooms before all the Rearranging).

(2030 why the heck did you move rooms?! Listen it's a complex situation and I'm trying to go with the flow. It's difficult and I have other things to worry about)

So. The turns out that, before moving the desk, the new tenant moving into that room (not the previous one, who was in the building before I got there) saw it and was like "oh neat."

And then the landlady was like "oh that's for someone else, but they're trying to figure out how to get rid of it."

And then this tenant was like "can I have it?"

So I get a text from the landlady being like "kid why didn't you take back the desk?"

And I was like "what?"

And then she explained this whole Dilemma I just explained right here. And then she brings up the following:

I can't physically give it to both of them

If I pick one then the other person will get upset, and the last thing the landlady or I want is a feud between tenants

If I really wanna get rid of it, I should probably state a price. On the one hand, maybe only one of them will be able to buy it, avoiding a feud. On the other hand, if I give it for free, the other person is gonna feel really upset.

However, according to her, it's just easier to take it back

Now you might be wondering "well 2030, why did you get this other desk in the first place?". And again I say: I didn't want it! I repeatedly said I didn't need it and couldn't bring it!

And finally, the cherry on top: the desk doesn't even come with a chair. We did get a chair, but I promised my brother to give him the chair long before any of the other tenants knew about the desk.

With that all being said:

[wonderswritings]

Fighting For... Shifting Sands pt. 1

Summary: We survived. Though we’re no longer together, separated by space, we survived the end of the human race. There were losses, but in the end, we survived. Six years is a long time. We’re no longer the same, hardened by our time in the unforgiving ground. We’ve managed to survive everything thrown at us so far, but this time, this time, this might be what breaks us. And we might not be able to come back from it.

Warnings: The 100 Themes so blood and gore I guess

Pairings: Bellamy Blake x Reader, Clarke Griffin x Twin!Fem!Reader, Bellamy Blake x Echo

I almost didn't post today. I haven't really worked on this since last week. I'm just not really feeling it but I was able to work on it today. I had to split this part into 2 parts so pt2 will be posted on Wednesday.

Fighting For… Masterlist

S5 Masterlist

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Updates every Monday!

Tags are Open!

Previously:

“I can stop this Kane. Let me stop this. Only the guilty fight in the arena.”

“We’re all guilty.”

“This has gone on long enough, hasn’t it? This fight between you and her. Wonkru isn’t really Wonkru when Dokworkru exists now is it?”

“This fight has a reason Marcus and you know it.”

“What if she didn’t do it? Did you ever think about that?”

“You know she did. There were witnesses. No one ever said it wasn’t her, and neither did she.”

“My daughter is dead because of her. Her hands killed my daughter. There was no justice, no fighting in the arena. My daughter died and you still chose her. You chose her and Abby chose her. I’m offering you the chance to live when she wants to see you dead. Remember that, when you’re fighting for your life.”

“We’re getting out of here.”

“Another queen.”

“Nyxlana.”

“It’s okay. She’s my sister.”

“How are you- Octavia said you weren’t in the bunker before the radio cut off. How are you here?”

“They came for me.”

“They’re my people too, YN.”

“No, no they’re not. They stopped being your people after you did what you did.”

“Our differences started because of you. You got power hungry, and it cost me everything. Everything! She was my skaifaya and you took her from me.”

“For whatever it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

“Too little too late, Blodreina.”

“Nyxlana doesn’t kneel to anyone.”

“Don’t you ever say her name again, natrona. Or I’ll kill you.”

“You can have her, and Kane. After all, they chose you, remember?”

“The valley is ours. Any attempt to get there will be met by overwhelming force. As long as you stay here, we won’t have a problem.”

“I trusted you. We trusted you.”

“This is your fault.”

“Blodreina. Nyxlana. What do we do now?”

“Now we go to war.”

“They don’t know we’re coming, so all three northern passes will be wide open. But the village will be fortified. Where’s the water source?”

Indra tilted her head to the side, making a face.

“Why? What are you thinking?”

“My question exactly.”

Octavia looked up, glaring at Miller who shrugged.

“I know my orders. I think we should listen to what Clarke has to say.”

“You can’t take the sea route.”

Octavia made a face, tilting her head to the side.

“Why? You said the sea is gone. Is it passable or not?”

Clarke nodded slightly, sighing.

“Yes, maybe. But you have to understand-”

Octavia moved towards the door, nodding slightly.

“Maybe’s good enough for me. Let’s move out.”

Bellamy moved in front of Octavia, shaking his head.

“O-”

Octavia glared up at Bellamy, shaking her head as he guards moved towards them, lifting their weapons, aiming for Bellamy.

“Stand down.”

They lower weapons as Bellamy looks down at Octavia, sighing softly.

“Please, O, just hear us out.”

Clarke stepped forward, looking at Octavia.

“Octavia, we’re all on the same team. No one wants to get to that valley more than me. It’s my home. But this way is too risky.”

Indra tilted her head to the side, looking over at Clarke.

“Risky how?”

Octavia huffed, glancing at Clarke as she waved towards the map laid out in front of her.

“Show me.”

Clarke walked forward, pointing to the map as she looked over the path they had marked.

“You chose the shortest route, which makes sense, but the dry seabed is hit by almost constant sandstorms.”

“We have the tents from the second down. Sand won’t be a problem.”

“It’s not just sand. Some of it crystallized in Praimfaya. I’m talking shards of glass like razor blades. Your tents will be torn to shreds and so will you.”

Kara stepped forward, glaring at Clarke and Bellamy, shaking her head.

“Blodreina is right. Besides, we can only carry rations for seven days. The sea route will take six. The next shortest path adds fifty miles. That’s two days if we’re lucky.”

“How do we know there won’t be sandstorms on the longer routes?”

Octavia shook her head, slamming her hands onto the table.

“Enough. We’re doing this. The hydrofarm is barely feeding us now, so if this is the last living valley on earth, then it should be ours.”

Bellamy took a small step forward, shaking his head.

“Diyoza thinks the same thing.”

“And so we fight.”

Octavia turned, nodding slightly.

“Someone find Nyxlana. Tell her the plan.”

Indra sighed, shaking her head as she looked over at Octavia.

“She won’t agree to this.”

Kara stepped forward, scoffing as she clenched her jaw.

“She hasn’t agreed to anything for four years.”

Clarke and Bellamy shared a look, Clarke shrugging slightly as Kara shook her head.

“It doesn’t matter what she thinks. She’s not Wonkru.”

Indra glared at Kara, moving to say something when Octavia looked up, glancing at Kara, shaking her head.

“No, she’s not. She’s Dokworkru, and she saved my life at the risk of her own. Now go find her and tell her the plan. The Dokworkru are now our allies. They are no longer the enemy.”

Octavia walked out of the tent, her guards following as Indra stopped at the door, turning back towards Bellamy and Clarke.

“Your sister needs you, Bellamy. I'm glad you’re here for her.”

She motioned towards her right, drawing their attention to the bags. “There are packs with the rations here by the door.”

Clarke stepped forward, turning from the bags to look at Indra.

“Indra, what happened between YN and Octavia?”

Indra looked over at Clarke, shaking her head.

“Six years is a long time. It- it wasn’t easy and things happen.”

Clarke shook her head, sighing softly.

“Indra please, what happened? They’re our family."

Indra shook her head, stepping back.

“It’s not my place to say.”

Indra turned, walking out of the room, Bellamy turning towards Clarke.

“Am I crazy, or were they gonna kill me for getting in her way?”

“Looked that way to me.”

Clarke sighed, shaking her head.

“What are we gonna do?”

“Raven and Murphy are in trouble, so I have to go with them.”

Clarke nodded as Bellamy grabbed the packs, pulling his on as he handed Clarke hers.

“Six day hike through sandstorm country with gladiator cults. What could go wrong?”

Clarke shrugged slightly as she looked down at her pack.

“What is it?”

Clarke shook her head, looking over at Bellamy.

“Indra had a point, YN won’t agree to this. I- she probably didn’t mean it in the way that I do, but YN won’t agree to this.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to talk YN out of it. Whatever happened between them, YN leads her own clan.”

“Nyxlana.”

Clarke nodded, slightly making a face.

“Shadow queen. YN has a say in what we do. I have to believe that if she knew the dangers of taking the pass, she wouldn’t take it.”

Bellamy nodded, looking over at Clarke.

“Well, let's go then.”

Clarke made a face, tilting her head to the side.

“What?”

“Lets go talk to YN.”

“YN.”

I turned, my guards moving to the side, smiling when I saw Clarke, my smile falling when I saw Bellamy walking behind her.

“Hey. What’s up?”

She looked around as they came to a stop in front of me, waving her hand around as everyone was getting ready to march.

“You agree with all of this? With Octavia’s plan to cross the seabed?”

I tensed, shaking my head.

“If it’s the only way to get to the valley, then we have to take it.”

Bellamy shook his head, looking over at me.

“It’s not the only way to the valley YN. It’s the quickest sure, but it’s not the safest.”

He stepped forward, his hand moving out towards me.

“Please.”

I took a step back, his face falling as Clarke huffed, shaking her head when I said nothing.

“Fine then tell me what happened between you two? Blodreina? Nyxlana? I don’t recognize you.”

She turned, waving her hand towards Bellamy.

“And Bellamy-”

I clenched my jaw, shaking my head. “It doesn’t matter.”

I looked over at her, sighing softly.

“What matters is that Wonkru and Dokworkru are marching. You can either march with us, or you can stay behind. Either way, we are marching.”

I walked past her, hearing my guards following me as I walked towards Octavia, stopping in front of her when she turned towards me.

“Are you ready?”

I nodded, biting the inside of my cheek as I looked down at her.

“We’re ready.”

She nodded, turning.

“Today we march to our new home, as one.”

I turned, moving to stand beside her, looking everyone over.

“Today Dokworkru and Wonkru work together. From this moment, we are no longer enemies, but allies. Working together towards one common goal, the valley.”

I tensed when Octavia grabbed my hand, shooting her a look as she lifted our arms, everyone yelling and cheering. I turned, looking back at the crowd, seeing the looks Clarke and Bellamy were making, Delani glaring at Octavia as she squeezed my hand.

“I don’t like this.”

I clenched my jaw, glancing up at Delani.

“Is this how it’s gonna be for the entire trip?”

Delani looked down at me, opening his mouth to say something when I cut him off.

“This passive aggressiveness in you, saying you don’t like my choices.”

Delani shook his head, huffing.

“That’s not it.”

“Then what is it, Del? Because it sounds like you don’t trust me.”

Delani moved so he was standing in front of me, causing me to huff as I came to a stop, looking up at him as the others passed us, my guards moving to surround us.

“I trust you, YN. After all this time, that should not even be a question.”

I sighed, looking up at him.

“Then what is it?”

“I’m worried.”

He shook his head when I went to say something, placing his hand over my mouth, shooting me a look.

“Octavia used to be your best friend, your sister, and then she hurt you. She took a part of you, and she became the enemy.”

He shook his head, huffing.

“And now you’re trusting her? She’s done nothing but hurt you since we brought you back to the bunker.”

I shook my head, looking up at Delani.

“I’m not trusting her. You’re right, she’s done everything to lose any ounce of trust I may have held for her. Which is why I’m not trusting her. And no matter how much it pains me, we need Wonkru’s help to get to the valley. Which means we need her help. I’m doing what's best for my people. They have always been my priority.”

“Nyxlana.”

Delani tensed as he turned, glaring as Kara came to a stop.

“Blodreina wishes to talk to you.”

I nodded, stepping forward, placing my hand on Delani’s arm, walking past him. Kara clenched her jaw as she turned, causing me to roll my eyes as I followed after her, hearing footsteps behind me. I turned my head to the side, seeing Delani following after, causing me to grin slightly as I shook my head.

“This is where we are.”

“We’re almost there.”

Octavia nodded, looking over at me.

“Yes.”

“It’s getting dark. We should make camp for the night.”

Octavia nodded, walking towards me.

“Then we’ll make camp.”

Kara scoffed, causing Octavia to turn towards her, tilting her head to the side.

“Is there a problem?”

Kara clenched her jaw, shaking her head as she glared at me.

“No Blodreina, there’s no problem.”

Bellamy and Clarke were sitting a ways away from the group, looking over at Octavia and YN as they sat around a campfire. They lifted their rations, Octavia’s voice carrying.

“We honor those who died-”

She turned towards YN, slightly nodding at her. YN turned, slightly raising her ration a little higher than she was holding it.

“So we might live.”

They both spoke at the same time, causing Bellamy to make a face.

“Omon gon oson.”

They watched as they broke their rations in half, passing the remaining piece off.

“All of me for all of us. It’s kind of beautiful.”

Bellamy made a face, looking over at Clarke.

“How so?”

“They lost four hundred people. That’s a third of everyone in that bunker. They had no idea if they’d ever get out. Yet look at them, strong, unified.”

She shook her head, sighing softly.

“Even though they have their differences, they’re strong. They’re unified in their people, and in their beliefs. I can see why my mom was terrified, but you gotta admit, it’s impressive.”

“So is surviving alone. How’d you do it?”

Clarke shook her head, looking over at Bellamy.

“Well, I wasn’t alone. I had Madi.”

She looked back over at YN, shaking her head as she handed Bellamy her ration.

“I’m tired, you can have the rest of my rations.”

Screaming filled the camp, causing everyone to move, grabbing their weapons.

“It’s the scouts!”

I pushed my way through the crowd, seeing Miller running towards us, holding Obika against him.

“Medic! We need help!”

I helped Miller lower Obika to the ground, reaching out and pushing his hair back out of his face, trying to calm him as he thrashed around, screaming. I looked up when I heard footsteps, seeing Octavia and Indra running towards us, a few of her guards following behind them.

“Are we under attack?”

Miller shook his head, looking down at Obika as I held him.

“I don’t know what’s wrong. Please, hurry! Someone help him!”

“Out of my way! I can help!”

Kara blocked Clarke, shaking her head.

“Octavia.”

I rolled my eyes, glancing up at Kara.

“Let her in.”

Clarke rushed forward when Kara moved, kneeling down on the other side of Obika, checking his pulse.

“He’s alive, but his heart’s racing.”

“What the hell happened out there?”

Miller shook his head, his chest heaving.

“We separated to cover more ground. Then I hear him screaming out that they’re everywhere. I get to him and there’s nothing. It’s just more screaming and-”

I helped Clarke lift Obika’s shirt, my eyes widening when I saw something move under his skin, leaning back.

“There’s something inside of him.”

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Likes are loved. Reblogs are gold. Comments feed me.

[darlingrose07]

Because It’s Witchcraft

Ch. 7: Expect the Unpleasant

A/N: Not going to lie, this chapter was hard to write. I've rewritten it I don't even know how many times and so I'm just going to post it, because I haven't updated in so long and I don't want to end up not finishing this story. I have it all mapped out, it's just the actual writing it down part.

You can find the rest on AO3!

~

While it was true that Loki wished to take things slowly with Olivia, there had been another reason he wanted her out of the house. An acquaintance was coming to discuss something she swore was business related, and he had to prepare the house to ward off her inevitable snooping. If he was feeling kind, which he rarely was, he would say that Olivia had put him in a very good mood. As it was, all he was willing to admit to himself was that she had put him in somewhat of a relaxed mood.

This friend or acquaintance or problem or whatever title he saw fit to bestow at the moment, Lorelei, was someone who he used to share his bed with on occasion. Her relentless ambition without much actual talent to back it up made him distance himself from her. They had had their fun and while Loki felt their relationship had reached its natural end, Lorelei disagreed. She was forever trying to get into his affairs, wanting to know what he was doing and if there was anything she could do to make his life even the smallest bit more difficult.

He had told himself several times that his dalliances with witches were over, and yet here he was walking down that same path with Olivia. She was different from his previous lovers though, he doubted there was a malicious bone in her body and that for now was all the justification he needed. He grinned to himself thinking of her little speech about not getting emotionally involved. It all sounded sincere enough, maybe she truly believed it, but she was quite young to be saying such things. Even if things between them ended badly, he doubted she could give him any serious trouble, though she had the potential for it some day. A wiser man would tread more carefully, he knew, but what was the point of a life lived completely risk free? That, and the possibilities of her were far too tempting not to explore.

Before his thoughts could wander too far into much more pleasant territory, the skin on the back of his neck prickled, signaling to him that someone had walked through a ward he placed on the edge of his property line. Focusing on that feeling, he knew they were trying to approach his house from the back. He sighed.

Why use the front door when you know trying to sneak in would be that much more irritating?

With a roll of his eyes, he left his workroom. He thought to himself as he descended that perhaps it was not Lorelei, but some interloper he could play with.

Alas, he saw through a window a swish of perfectly blown out golden blonde hair approaching his deck.

He watched her through the window of the door leading out to that deck. It had been almost a year since he had last seen her but she looked just the same. Large, fashionable sunglasses covered her eyes and she was dressed as if attending a business meeting on a yacht. A well tailored linen pant suit covered a silk top, her pumps giving her no trouble as she navigated his backyard. She was stepping carefully up to the garden he kept up, as if she were sneaking, and trying to get a close look at everything. Did she think he wasn’t home? That he wouldn’t be able to stop her snooping for a few moments?

With a theatrically dramatic sigh that he admitted to himself might be a little much he went outside, Lorelei snapping her pretty blonde head up as soon as he opened the door.

“Hello, darling,” she called to him, her voice soft and smooth as honey. Her perfect pearly white teeth flashing as she beamed at him with what she must have thought was her prettiest smile.

Loki crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow, awaiting an explanation.

“Just thought I might get a look around before we got down to business,” she smiled coyly, looking a bit put out when his stony expression didn’t budge. “Are you in a bad mood already?”

“What do you need, Lorelei?” He drawled.

“Are you not going to invite me in first? And here I thought you were a gentleman,” she pouted, crossing her own arms to mirror him.

He ushered her in and a few moments of him guiding her away from things she didn’t need to poking her nose into had them seated across from each other in his living room.

Lorelei crossed her legs and made herself comfortable on her chair, looking Loki up and down not unlike a cat who found a particularly amusing mouse to play with.

“How have you been?” She asked.

“So this is just a social visit? Am I to believe you just want to catch up, have some tea and chit chat?”

“You haven’t offered me any tea, though I would take some if you had it.”

Loki pasted on a solicitous smile, “why don’t you just cut to the chase, dear? You know that I’m a busy man.”

“Oh, I know. I imagine you have a million papers to grade.” she said sarcastically, the flirty smile dropping somewhat as her eyes narrowed.

Loki simply stared at her.

“Alright,” she sighed, “there’s a problem with a nightclub downtown, I think there might be some kind of poltergeist, though nothing terrible has happened. Maybe just some kind of mischievous spirit? The owners have said so far it’s a lot of spilled drinks and a couple instances of laxatives in the hot wings. I’ve been down there, but couldn’t put my finger on what sort of energy it was. I thought you and I would head down tomorrow night and see what you make of it.”

“A poltergeist is nothing you haven’t handled before, and beyond that why should I feel so inclined to help you?”

“Your naturally charitable spirit?” Her flirty smile was back in place. “Because it’s interesting, the owners are offering a reward, and maybe,” she leaned forward,

“we could spend some time together afterwards? Like old times?”

“Like old times?” he leaned forward, Lorelei’s smile grew wider thinking she was succeeding in her ridiculous seduction attempt, “like all the times I would fuck you and then you would try to sneak into my workroom or my storage and I would throw you out?”

They both leaned back, Loki gracefully with a smirk and Lorelei with a sigh, exasperated.

“You are absolutely no fun at all,” she cocked her head to the side, “It’s not like I ever actually took anything-”

“Because I would always catch you before you could.”

“I just wanted to see what you had, what you were working on! Is a woman not allowed to be curious? Perhaps I could have helped you, it was always so fun when we worked together.” She purred, reaching and putting a perfectly manicured hand on his thigh.

“You call me constantly having to pull you out of whatever mess you put yourself in fun?”

She withdrew her hand and gave him a withering look, “will you at least go have a look around? You don’t have to dance with me if you don’t want to.”

“Fine, though I’ll head there tonight, and alone. I don’t have the time tomorrow, or the desire to have you distracting me.”

She rolled her eyes, then looked around, interested, “has there been another witch in this house recently?”

“And if there was?”

Lorelei’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, “what’s her name?”

“Feeling jealous, are we?”

“No,” she huffed, shrugging her shoulders casually continuing to look around, “whoever she is, she has an interesting aura. Maybe you should introduce the two of us.”

“I don’t think so, darling.”

The nightclub looked loud and irritating as Loki strolled up to it, and he felt a pang of longing for the quieter clubs he used to frequent so long ago, with elegantly dressed patrons and music he could look forward to listening to instead of having to work to ignore.

There were a few young men hanging around the entrance, the bouncer several feet away keeping a wary eye on them. They’d clearly all been drinking heavily and were loudly discussing which of them were the drunkest at a gathering they had recently been to.

Being able to influence animals into doing one's bidding was difficult work, but very rewarding, and so Loki prided himself on his ability to do so easily. Influencing insects was very similar and so enchanting a few bees that had been happily buzzing around a flowering tree nearby was something he could do with barely a thought.

They were so drunk though that it took the men a few moments to realize there was a bee sitting square in the middle of one of their compatriot’s forehead. Without hesitation or even a warning to the unfortunate man, the other two both swung at the little bug. Bees are faster than your average drunken idiot, so the only one hurt was the man who was slapped twice soundly on the forehead.

“Dude, what the HELL?” He shouted, shoving one of the other men.

The one shoved was about to shove back when he caught sight of another bee, now sitting on the forehead of the third man.

Another swing, another miss to the bee but a direct hit to his friend's forehead. All three were now yelling over each other and shoving one another just as much as they were trying to hit one of the bees.

Loki dispersed the little things as he walked past the group into the club. He didn’t even have the bees sting them and they were reduced to yelling and smacking one another. Still chucking as he took in his surroundings, he tried to focus on the task at hand.

There was some strange energy in the building, he could tell that much easily despite the ridiculous techno music making it hard to concentrate. A quick circle around the main floor confirmed a looming presence of some kind of spirit, and after a drink was tipped directly onto one man’s rather expensive looking trousers Loki was able to pinpoint it.

Lorelei’s first guess had been right, it was a poltergeist and a rather weak one at that. Surely the blonde could have handled this on her own, though he knew this was all probably a ploy to check in on him from the beginning. Why he had agreed was beyond him.

He huffed and turned to leave, knowing that there would probably just be more of the same kind of mischief until he came back with the proper supplies to dispel the thing. He ignored the suggestive looks he drew from some of the women in the club, and a couple of men as well and walked out the door half expecting the drunken men to still be out there brawling.

They weren’t, and Loki suspected the bouncer had a hand in that.

He was mulling over what to do about Lorelei’s renewed interest in him and what exactly to bring back or to just send Lorelei with to deal with the poltergeist when he noticed two women staring at him from down the darkened street.

The streets were somewhat busy, because although it was dark out the night was still young enough that people were still just coming out to start their evenings. These two women, looking to be in their mid to late thirties were staring right at him and looked.. Off. Loki couldn’t quite put his finger on it and they were a bit too far away from him for him to get a completely clear look. They simply stood there while people milled around them.

Loki moved towards them cautiously, and they began to advance. Their gaits were uneven, almost as if they were drunk but they did not stumble and each had expressions of clear intent.

He tried to feel out their energy, get a sense of their auras but all he picked up was a confusing swirl of what he thought to be their natural energy and something he couldn’t name. These was something wrong with these women, and they wanted something from him.

One was walking slightly ahead of the other, with disheveled bleach blonde hair. Her make up was heavy and looked like it had been applied days ago and her sweat stained t-shirt read, “my third eye can see through your bull$&*#”. The other had darker hair with dyed blue streaks, her clothing and makeup were similar to the blonde’s.

“You!” they were about twenty feet away from him now and Loki still waited to see how he should act. He always prided himself on his patience, and then speed when he needed to strike.

“Can I help you ladies with something?” He asked politely.

They both grumbled something intelligible and when the lead woman was in range she lunged for him, or more specifically, the inner pockets of his coat. He side stepped her easily, and dodged her friend who lunged in the same graceless way. The first woman lost her balance and tumbled to the ground, while the other stayed up but took a moment to regain her bearings. They both turned back to him and tried again, going for the pockets of his jacket.

“What are the two of you after?” he demanded, not expecting a response, and continued fending them off. They were clearly under some kind of enchantment and not acting of their own volition, which explained why they moved as if sleepwalking. Were they enchanted by someone who wanted to mug him? Sending someone else to do their dirty work was a good idea where he was involved, but sending two regular women with a spell that didn’t even seem particularly strong was strange. Was this the trial run or was the person pulling the strings an idiot?

Finally having enough of their antics he grabbed a vial of powder he always carried, mostly lavender and valerian root with some other choice ingredients and as discreetly as he could, as there were passers by who had noticed the two women stumbling around and harassing a random man on the street, threw it in each of their faces.

It took a moment to take effect, and he backed away as much as they would let him while they slowed and then laid down on the sidewalk.

“Are you alright? Are they drunk or something?” the bouncer from the nightclub called over. He hadn’t walked away from his post, but he was avidly watching. Loki simply shrugged at him and bent to get a closer look at the women.

With a slight wave of his hand, something that the other people on the street watching could dismiss as him checking if the women were truly unconscious, he neutralized the sleeping powder and woke the women. They both jolted and sat up straight, then slumped and looked around confused.

“Are you two alright?” A man who had wandered up asked, “do you want us to call a doctor? An ambulance?”

“What’s going on?” the blonde woman wearing the third eye shirt asked, looking at her friend and then up at Loki and the man.

“You were stumbling around, lunging at me.” Loki informed her. The energy surrounding them was normal now, the same as most people he encountered. Whatever he had been picking up on while they were still being influenced was gone.

“Lunging at you?” She asked, looking startled.

“You have things in your pockets,” the other woman murmured.

“What was that?” Loki asked her, taking a step forward.

She blinked up at him several times and then shook her head as if trying to clear it, “What?” she asked stupidly.

Loki was beginning to get frustrated. Could they truly not remember what had happened to them while they were enchanted? An enchantment like that, not only controlling the victim but also wiping their memories would be outstandingly complex. Or perhaps they were simply pretending to not know.

“What do you remember? You just said something about my pockets,” Loki's sharp tone earning him a concerned look from the man who had stepped forward, and a couple who was still lingering nearby. He should have lured the women away from others before breaking the enchantment, having to deal with this was enough without the added burden of nosey people.

“I don’t remember anything,” the dark haired woman said, scrubbing her hands across her face.

“We were out for a cup of coffee!” The blonde woman blurted out, “I got a large iced vanilla chai, or no actually today I got a large cold brew with vanilla cream and cinnamon, but the girl forgot to the put the cinnamon on and then she was so disrespectful and snooty about making me a new drink when I told her it was wrong- Steph do you remember that- like it was my fault she forgot the cinnamon-”

“Why on Earth would I care about your coffee order?” Loki demanded, cutting off the woman's babbling, “I asked you what the last thing you remembered was.”

“Well, excuse me,” she snapped back at him, puffing herself up, “this is what I remember, anyway, Steph ordered a medium-”

“Did anything out of the ordinary happen?” he tried again.

“Do you ladies want us to call an ambulance for you? Get you to the hospital?” Some asked.

“Oh, gosh, no hospitals are terrible. I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Steph said, unsteadily rising to her feet. The blonde woman followed suit.

“What is the last thing you remember?” Loki asked. Personally, he felt his tone was reasonable considering the circumstances, but the first woman raised a haughty eyebrow at him as she put her hands on her hips.

“Excuse me,” apparently that was the woman's catchphrase, “I just had a traumatic experience and you are being very toxic right now, honestly, now that I’ve had a moment to feel your energy you are very unbalanced,” she said.

“Unbalanced?” Loki asked, incredulous. He very much doubted this woman had a correct sense of anything in her life, as her aura felt as unmagical as a spectacularly unmagical parsnip.

“Yes, and if you would like I can give you the number of my guy, Mark, he would be willing to completely cleanse your chakras-”

“You want a man named Mark to… you know what, ladies? Have a wonderful rest of your night, get home safely,” he gave them a grin that made both of them take a step back and walked away, leaving them to their little crowd of onlookers. It was clear to him that he wasn’t going to get any useful information from the women.

He kept a wary eye out on the way home, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. It was rare that he was at a loss for what to do next, but as he continued to mull over the events of the evening he couldn’t come up with a plan other than to wait and see if there were more instances similar or if this were isolated.

Unfortunately this meant he would need to speak more with Lorelei, and that meant a continued worry that he wouldn't be able to keep her out of his hair. He dreaded to think of what would happen if she crossed paths with his new assistant.