#Like the while tome it's been about either material gain or feeling good about yourself while you shit on strangers

[brick-van-dyke]

If there's one thing I've respectively noticed from Zionists and defenders of Israeli war crimes, it's that every source, argument and potential avenue to explore each explanation is riddled with cherry picking, moving the goalposts and mental gymnastics to explain why their conclusions, which typically are barely even related to the sources they use, somehow overshadow literal reality and what we see with our own eyes.

While scrolling, one example I came across was the repetitive misrepresentation of BLM, antifa and quotes from Martin Luther King Jr, as well as statistics, scholarly journal articles and government website information. These are all good sources, yet every single time they're mangled completely until the only possible "interpretation" of any of them is "well Israel is right to defend itself after shorting rockets beforehand because the retaliation was brutal and all Arabs are bad by default therefore". As if any of these sources are even about individual exceptions of Israel versus hatred towards Arabs.

I think what I find most absurd, as someone in the middle of their own studies, is how every bit of critical thinking and logic goes out the window as they do every single thing possible to do what professors worldwide say NOT to do when evaluating sources. It's like watching a race to see who can tangle and misconstrue scientific information to fit their world view the fastest. Then said people say "um actually I studied at university before so it's actually not wrong that I'm doing this exact this everyone is warned not to do because I have a permit". Ignorance I can forgive, but willful and arrogant manipulation? That's another thing entirely.

[lemonjoonah]

Under Fire - Pt 17

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Title: Under Fire Word Count: 6K Rating: M Genre: Gang AU/ Mafia AU, Drama, Slow Burn Romance Warnings: Violence Pairings: Hyung Line x Reader (Primarily Namjoon x Reader), very slight OT7 x Reader.   Pairings (in this chapter):  Namjoon x Reader, Jin x Reader, J-Hope x Reader,  Jimin x Reader 

Summary: As a child you lived among the most wealthy and powerful, after the death of your mother you were shipped off to stay with her sister. Even after finishing your education you continue to live apart from the elite, but a visit home creates an unexpected disaster. You are suddenly roped into a darker world, and who better to be your guide than the infamous gang known as BTS.

Chapter 17 - When a Boy Meets Evil

POV Y/N

You stand outside of the library, hand hovering over the knob willing yourself to go in. Trying to assure yourself that you won’t see your father sitting there, tied to his chair, surrounded by pool of blood. The thoughts may be irrational, but the image still doesn’t leave your mind.

Your other hand holds on to the drafted bill that will be going before the assembly. With the foundation still closed and under investigation, Jin had redirected the legal team to work on this. You’ve been trying to familiarize yourself with the document for the past week. The legal jargon was easily solved by quick internet searches, but the obscure court cases used to build the claim were proving difficult to find online.  Your father’s law books carry transcripts of many of these proceedings but of course he keeps those in the library, bringing you to your current predicament.

You begin to shiver in the hall, you had forgotten how cold this house can be in the winter. The rooms always warm up quickly but the halls remain frigid. You finally convince yourself that you will go in, grab what you need, and then retreat back to the warmth of the server room. There’s no need to linger once you have the materials. With a deep breath, your fingertips brush the handle, the metal begins to turn, but not from your touch.

Jin throws the door open from the other side, not looking where he’s going he runs into you while making a hasty exit.

“(Y/N)?” He steadies you with a grip on your shoulders. You spot a black envelope in his hand, seeing your direction of sight he quickly tucks it away before returning to his hold to you. “Sorry.” He looks at you and back at the library in confusion, your behaviour in avoiding this room still known to him. “Were you looking for me?”

You hold up the bill, “No, I just need to look up a few things.” He looks back to the door with a slight grimace, and then his watch. “I have to run or I’d give you a hand... are you still good for tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah, hopefully I should be ready by then.”

He leans down to give you a swift kiss to the cheek and a few more words before departing. “You’ll be fine, this will speak for itself we just need to get it into their hands.”

You slowly edge into the library. The fireplace is still lit which you find odd, Jin wouldn’t have left it unattended. You look over to the shelves at the opposite end pinpointing the legal section from a distance. Once you reach the correct row that’s when you spot him, sitting on the floor with his head buried in a book, taking notes on a sheet next to him. Your father’s ring glints in the light as his pen scratches the paper.

You’ve only seen Namjoon in passing since the night of the accords, that was two weeks ago. You thought that he might be avoiding you, finding him in here confirms your suspicions.

As you approach he speaks up. “Jin I told you I’m not taking it off the table, we’ll discuss it later with everyone.”

Namjoon peers over his book making a small sound when he realizes it’s you he’s addressed instead. You feel bad for encroaching on his space. You find it difficult to be in his presence, if he is going to this extent to stay away from you, you can only assume he feels the same.

“Sorry, Jin didn’t say that anyone else was in here. I can go if I’ll get in your way.” Why didn’t he warn you Namjoon was in here? You could have prepared yourself better than the stuttering mess that you are now.

“No it’s fine.” His tone is low his eyes turn back to then book. You begin to search the shelves next to him, pausing when he addresses you again, “That night... you didn’t come back down.”

“No. I wasn’t really in the mood after what had happened. I wanted to think a couple things through.”

“In Suga’s room?”

You know that Namjoon had come looking for you. Suga accidentally woke you that evening when returning to bed. He had sent Namjoon away with the understanding that you didn’t want to see him. You didn’t expect Namjoon to bring it up though, as if he’s jealous of Suga.

You turn back to look at him, “Yes in Suga’s room. I was upset Namjoon, forgive me for not wanting to be completely alone in that moment.”

Namjoon clenches the book in his hand. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry I upset you I didn’t intend for that to happen. It’s better this way, I’ll hurt less now than if we carried on and I disappoint you in the future.”

You find that hard to imagine, the thought of being in more pain. “My intention was to let you know what I needed that night. I didn’t want to push you away, I wanted you to try. Loneliness hurts more... remember?”  

“Do you truly want that? Do you want me to lie and say that I can be better when history tells me I can’t? No, I’d rather have you hate me now than loathe me forever. I don’t want you to be alone either, but please just be careful. Be careful with Suga, he might not be as unattached from the situation as you think.”

“Even he is, he’s not one to let his feelings cloud his judgement. He’s not afraid to let me take part.” Suga has spent most of his time with you over the past couple of weeks. He would distract you with new skills to learn taking you to the shooting range and getting you to perform the calculations required to take an accurate shot. He may be keeping you close but he has barely touched you since that night. His number one priority it seems, is making sure you can defend yourself.

“Not in ways that you’ve seen. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“The only person doing that right now is you. Suga is trying to help me so please just let him.”

You take a step away from Namjoon, as you put an end to the conversation. You go back to searching the shelves pulling several books off and adding to your reference pile. Every now and then from the corner of your eye you can see Namjoon look over to you, eyes reaching over the pages of his book.

Eventually he gets up and approaches you this time. “If you’re looking for the case files you’ll need this too.” He hands you the tome that he was reading but the slip of paper he was taking notes on is nowhere in sight. “Good luck tomorrow. I’ll be meeting with the others but... I hope you know, that you can always call if you need me. That will never change.”

A short thank you is all you can manage to convey. You watch as he slowly saunters away leaving alone in the library, you last five more minutes before deciding to withdraw from the room too. Without Namjoon to distract you the memories of this place come to the forefront of your mind once again. Taking your stack you exit after dousing the flames.

Hauling the pile back to the warm server room as you had planned, you take a seat on the couch while JK works to gain entrance to the assembly building’s cameras.

Many of the cases focused on the management of drugs distributed by the pharmaceutical branch of Kim’s Company. They had sold medications and conducted trials without proper communication of accurate side effects. They weren’t just covering the drug that could be made into BlackDust, but everything from painkillers to cancer treatments.

The bill is trying to prove the need for government oversight and restrictions on their products including the need to brand the new medication as a narcotic. As the Kim company can not be trusted to place those labels themselves.

Namjoon had been looking through a select volume featuring corporate court cases from 10 to 15 years ago. The most prominent listing was a chemotherapy trial. There were more than 50 defendants lumped together with the same case, all of them suing on the bases of wrongful death on the behalf of a family member.

“JK, is there any reason why Namjoon would be looking into a case from 12 years ago?”

JK continued to look at his screen, you can hear the hesitation in his voice, “No idea maybe he’s looking into new leads.”

“New leads for what?”

“You should ask him.”

“Is it something you don’t know, or that you can’t talk about?”

“For him, it’s something personal.”

...

Jin and Jimin wait for you in the entrance hall the next morning. Jin had reached out to his contacts organizing meetings with the members of the national assembly. While Jimin will be escorting you for security purposes.

The first visit is a bust, with the member of the legislature getting a call for a family emergency.

Your next appointment cancels due to illness. The third cuts your meeting short for an important last minute appointment.

After several more instances like this you know you’re all thinking the same thing, but no one will come out and say it to the officials. With each excuse Jimin’s eyes roll back, while Jin clicks his tongue and tilts his head, the sarcasm in his dismay always very prevalent.

“That’s such a shame.” Jin lightly taunts the assembly member as you leave another office, before leading you to the next. You’re early of course having expected the lasts appointment to have gone on longer. Jin excuses himself to make a phone call while you and Jimin sit on the bench out front. Out of habit you slowly leaf through the document to occupy yourself, trying to quell your anxiety over the prospect that this one will follow the same pattern as all the others.

Jimin angles his shoulder behind yours and shuffles closer. You can slowly feel his hand move across your lower back. He doesn’t make eye contact with you, and to an observer it look like he is keeping watch over a door down the hall. You smile at his attempt to maintain his professional cover, while making sure that your okay.

A secretary comes out of the office you are waiting to enter, but as she runs off to the restroom she leaves the door slightly ajar. You listen closely as two voices carry from the room.

“Shall we go grab some lunch?”

“I can’t I only have a few minutes left before I have to meet with that Park woman.”

‘That Park woman’... you don’t like how that sounds, and neither does Jimin, you watch as he goes rigid in his seat next to you.

“Ah you too? I had a meeting with her today, luckily my secretary was able to cut it short.” You remember the voice as the first member you had met today, the one with the family emergency.

“What did she want?”

“She had a bill to present, one that would raise regulations on pharmaceutical companies. Touching anything of hers thought would be political suicide. The woman has more scandals than a celebrity.”

“I’ve heard. She comes out of nowhere as the sole heir after the death of her father and you’re telling me she had nothing to do with it?”

“Don’t forget the relationship gossip, at first it looked like she was with Kim’s adoptive son but now she’s here with the one that was disinherited? Something just seems off about her.”

You thought that they cancelled out of fear of backlash from your attackers, but instead they banter their news of you as if it’s grade school gossip, this is unexpected. They don’t seem to care about the violence against you, just your reputation and they truly think the worst of it. You try your best to remain calm, confronting them or calling them out will just make the situation worse as it’s you that they dislike.

“I’ll have to figure out a way to cancel on her.”

Jimin gets up from his seat. You grip his arm attempting to hold on knowing, that he intends to interrupt their conversation. But he succeeds in breaking away,  and inserts himself through the crack in the door. “No need, Miss Park would like to thank you for following her personal life so closely, but I’m afraid she won’t have time to discuss those matters with you.”

Jimin returns back to you, not even slowing his brisk step for a second as he pulls you from the bench. He doesn’t say another word, just leads you outside. Sending a message on his phone before helping you into the back seat of the car and following you in. With the tinted windows the facade can be dropped, your shoulders slump and you let out a shaky breath.  

“You shouldn’t have done that Jimin, I might have been able to change her mind.”

“No, you think I’m going to let you put up with that?”

“This was supposed to be my task. It was the one thing requested of me, and without this step the whole plan will fail. I don’t want to be the reason we fall short of our goal.”  The things that the assembly member accused you of are not your fault but at the same time you feel responsible for her opinion of you.

Jimin turns your face to him. “This is not on you. Those things they said, you know they’re not true. There was a miscalculation, someone's been perpetuating the lies. You didn’t let those at the accords walk all over you. Treat these fools with the same force, they’re not so different really. They’ll bend with the right strength.”  

Jimin unlocks the doors seeing Jin make his way across the lot.

“I got your message to come out here but why? (Y/N) has a meeting with Rep. Wan in a few minutes.”

“Wan wished to cancel.” Jimin doesn’t explain anything further than that but as Jin glances over to you. You know that he can tell something else must have happened, but thankfully he lets it go. “Good that saves us the bother. I just spoke to RM if they won’t give you the time of day we’ll have to find another way.” He reaches his hand out to Jimin. “Give me the keys I’ll drive.”

...

When you arrive back at the manor you spot Monsta X’s van out front, giving you the slight hope that you can sit in on the rest of their meeting. But once you get inside you see J-Hope storming of out of the sitting room quickly followed by Namjoon. The door is left open allowing you to see several stunned faces inside.

“Hope don’t run off, we need to discuss this as a possibility.”

“What’s the point? You’ve clearly made up your mind, otherwise you wouldn’t have brought it up. I won’t do it RM, I won’t be responsible for giving him anything.”

J-Hope escapes down the corridor leading to the gym, while Namjoon is left speechless. Wonho slowly exits the sitting room to edge his way towards you. “What happened?” you mutter to him and soon as he’s within earshot.

“I don’t know RM had just gotten off the phone with Jin, so we were discussing alternate contact points. Looking for those who could be bought that hadn’t already sided with Kim. RM brought up a man by the name of Cha and J-Hope just lost it. Is he always this on edge?”

Jin cuts in, “No he’s usually the one that stops the fights. If you were discussing Cha though...” Jin pushes your lower back forward, “You should go talk to him, it’s not good for him to be alone when he’s like this.”

“But I don’t even know what’s going on.”

“That might be for the best, he won’t get mad if you bring it up.”  

“Coward,” You scoff at him.

“Damn right,” Jin laughs back at you.

You quickly change before entering the matted room finding J-Hope laying into a punching bag with his forceful blows.

“You shouldn’t take our anger out on something that can’t hit back.” You muse, he persists despite your entrance.

“Fine, go find for me RM then.”

“As much as I’d like to see that, I could use the practice.”

“I’m not in the mood to train you right now.”

“Then don’t, fight me instead. Either we fight or we talk it’s your choice.”

“Fire your not far enough in...”

“No, don’t tell me I’m not good enough to even be your punching bag Hope. I’ve had a hell of a day and I need to hit something too.”

“I’m not going to hold back.”

“Good.”

He takes up position opposite you, waiting for you to make the first move. You approach looking for any sign of weakness in his form that you might use to your advantage. He’s left side appears to be open, his back foot half a step too far forward.

As you reach to hit your intended mark he shifts back swiftly, his right arm makes contact, pushing you back mid lunge and sending you to the ground.

You jump up and ready yourself again. He sends you to the floor ten more times. His hits aren’t hard but manipulating you in a way that throws you down letting the floor do most of the work in exhausting you. It seems to be working, he’s barely out of breath and you’re already feeling the bruises.

You’ve been trying to avoid his attacks but that only seems to throw off your balance making it easier for him to knock you over.

This time instead of taking the opening you move to his dominant side. His eyes widen for a fraction of a second as you absorb the hit rather than flinch away. You get the chance land your own punch on his flexed core, but he barely even budges. A quick kick to your legs your down again.

“Better. You need to stop being so impulsive. If your enemy is more skilled they can feint a weakness to draw you in. If it’s too obvious it might be intentional.

You grin back at him, “What happened to not being in the mood for training?”

“You looked too pathetic on the ground.” He scolds, “How could I not take pity on you?”

You glare back at him. “Again,” You order jumping back up.

This time he makes the first move. The onslaught of his attacks is rapid, you can barely keep up. Now that you’ve caught on to his trick he’s changed his style again. You begin to reach the point of exhaustion, but you continue to persist seeing that he too is fading.  Every time you get up after taking a hit you see a pained look on his face.

“Fuck, will you just stay down?” He pleads.

“I’ll make you a deal. When you’re ready to tell me what happened I’ll stay down.”

With a flinal sweep of his leg and a shove to your shoulders you land pinned beneath him. His breathing is heavy with sweat dripping down his face.

“I really don’t want to fight you anymore.”

“Then tell me who Cha is.”

He slides down a little before collapsing onto you completely his head now resting on your stomach. “No and good luck getting up this time.”

You laugh at his attempt subdue you. His playfulness doesn’t last long, as he soon goes quiet again. His arms encase your waist pulling you closer, “Please,” he whispers. “Just another minute. Can you let me have this?”

After the night of his nightmare you’ve come to the understanding of how much J-Hope needs the comfort of physical contact to help relax when it comes to his fear. The process of soothing his anger appears to be no different. Giving him that moment of silence, allowing him to rest before you try again. You run your hands through his hair playing with the strands between your fingers. The minutes pass, the lull stretches and he continues to clutch you. You find the embrace comforting, but you worry when you see no change in him.

“I don’t like seeing you like this. If there’s something wrong with RM’s plan I won’t be able to help fix it unless you tell me.” You confide to him softly.

J-Hope lets out a groan of defeat, “You’re too stubborn you know that?” He gives you sigh before caving fully to you request, “Cha is the reason I had to join BTS. I met him when I still went by Jung Hoseok.”

“Wait I know that name. My father, he went to a big sponsored fight featuring you... but I thought you were a street fighter.”

J-Hope nods against you, “I was. Cha was my sponsor, he took me on and brought me up to the competitive level. On one of the biggest fight nights the odds were heavily in my favour, 4 to 1 in fact. You don’t generally see a match that skewed. That night was when Cha asked me to take a fall. He couldn’t bet against me, but his friends could and he had a nice cut negotiated. So he told me to go down in the second round.”

“I had made it all the way there and he expected me to intentionally lose.” You notice his tone shift, becoming more dark as he relives his thoughts in that moment. “He didn’t care that it might ruin my standing. I wanted no part of it. I knocked my opponent out in the first round, and then I ran. My career was over either way, but I wanted to end it on my terms. Not because of his money, not because of his power, it was my talent that brought me to that stage.”

“They came looking for me. I had lost his partners a lot of money and they expected retribution. I had to keep moving, every night I had to sleep in another bed. One evening I was staying at an old friends house who had gone away on vacation.”

J-Hope looks up to you with his chin hovering as he makes eye contact again. “That was when your father found me. I remember seeing him standing alone in front of the door, determined and without fear. He explained that the rest of his men were taking care of some unwanted visitors that had caught up with me. He had seen my fight and one of his members had informed him that I had shown up on several hit lists.”

“He offered me protection, a home, and revenge. I declined at first, I told him that I had no  interest in dealing with his kind any more. That I didn’t think that wealth should come with power over others. To my surprise he agreed, but he also explained that sometimes you need someone on the inside to help break the cycle.”

“I take it you haven’t had your chance at revenge yet?”

J-Hope shakes his head “Shortly after I joined Cha ran for a seat in the assembly and he fucking won. Now RM wants to pay him to take on this bill. I won’t do it. I’m sorry Fire but I’ll leave before that happens.”

You nod in agreement trying to figure a way out of the dilemma. J-Hope lowers his head once again, never letting up from his hold on you but his breathing has slowed and he feels significantly calmer.   

“What if we don’t pay him, what if we threaten to pay his opposition?”

“The election isn’t until next year, we want to get this bill passed sooner.”

“But he doesn’t know that.”

...

Namjoon isn’t too thrilled with the plan. You join the meeting after you and J-Hope discuss the details.

“I’ve been watching his pattern for a while,” J-Hope explains. “Once a month he goes to the casino alone sitting at a table that’s always reserved just for him, his usual date is three days from now. This will be our best chance.”

“VIXX just sent word of a shipment to for GOT7 that’s moving the same night. We and several others plan to interfere with the delivery, we won’t be able to support you.”

“All I need is Hope, and a minute of JK’s time. Do you think you can at least spare that?”

Hyungwon makes his opinion known, “Isn’t he the one who left you alone at the foundation?”

“Yes, and I kick myself for that everyday since now we have to put up with you lot.” J-Hope bites back.

“Enough,” you call them to silence. “We all know that’s not going to happen again. RM can you give me that?”

“It’s not that I can’t spare them, it’s that I think you’ll need more.”

“We don’t have anymore time, thanks to Henry they’ve known for a while that we’re buying his stock. They’re probably trying to secure their investors so they don’t sell. The longer we wait the more difficult it will become. I just need to meet with him, preferably in a public setting, where I can show that I will out bid him if necessary.”

“Jooheon and I.M can do a quick sweep of the area beforehand,” Shownu offers. “We won’t need them until later.”

Namjoon slowly yields, looking you in the eye as he gives the final orders. “Use one of the executive suites as a base and pay enough that they allow anonymity. You will not engage until we’re sure that the whole hotel is clear. Thirty minutes, that’s all, and then I want you out regardless if you have him on the hook or not. ”   

...

Not wanting to draw attention to yourselves you and J-Hope decided you would both change at the hotel. Jin had booked an upper floor suite. With its own hidden entrance outback and private elevator, it will also grant you access to the high-roller tables.

You step into the bathroom to change, but the outfit you had thrown in your bag had been replaced, pinned to the new dress is a note.

...You can thank me later. -V...

You hold up the short black dress. The long sleeves with a boat neckline are nice, but the hugging material and length were not what you had in mind. After putting it on you groan in despair, you wanted to appear intimidating not uncomfortable.

“Everything okay?”

You open the door slowly trying to pull the hem of your dress lower, handing the note to J-Hope.

“This is not what I packed...”

He laughs, “I’m sorry I saw him hanging around your stuff earlier. I didn’t think he’d do this though.”

He turns you to the mirror and stands behind you in a sleek navy suit, his hands on your shoulders. “You look great, I know you had something else in mind but this dress will allow you to blend in easier.”

“Nothing I can do about it now I guess.”

Hope checks his phone, “Cha’s just arrived, still need the all clear though.”

He slumps down in a seat next to the mirror. “Never thought that I would willingly meet this man again.”

“Don’t think of it like that, we are not meeting him as an equal, this isn’t a friendly chat. We are going to use him for what he is, a pawn. That’s all he will ever amount to, he won’t be an ally he’ll be a tool.”

J-Hope nods, taking your hand he places a kiss on the tips of your fingers and another on the exact spot where your father’s ring should sit. At first you wonder if it’s a coincidence, but before his lips part you skin he looks to you with resolve.

He’s phone vibrates again giving you the cue to leave. “Thank you,” He smirks up at you, “I suppose we should get this over with then.”

Taking your personal elevator down to the casino floor you head straight to the exclusive room off to the side.

Much to your dismay, V had been right to make the switch. Every guest is looking for a break from reality, they’re here to relax and let their hair down. The other dress would have appeared too stuffy to deem natural in this setting.

Cha is found over at his table in the corner. J-Hope hangs back as you approach.

“May I?” You gesture to the chair next to him.

“Miss Park... please do, I must say that I’m a little surprised to see you here.”    

You find yourself on guard by the fact that Cha had recognized you instantly. You take your seat as the dealer plays you in.

“Since you already know who I am and I you. I’ll cut straight to the chase shall I?”

“I would prefer if you did, I don’t enjoy being distracted while I have money on the line.”

“No I’m sure you don’t, not while the odds are even.” You smile at the 21 you attained from your dealt hand.

“Excuse me?”

“My friend over there.” You nod to J-Hope waiting in the wings. “He tells me that you have a weakness for gambling. So much so, that sometimes you need to spin the outcome in your favour.”

The dealer looks at you for a split second hesitating before letting the next card loose. Almost as if in fear. No, you ponder, surely Cha wouldn’t be so stupid as to cheat here.

“If you’re here for an act of reprisal. I have to warn you I brought a few friends of my own.” He points to a couple bulky guards next to the closest exit.”

You can see J-Hope smirk after sizing them up, obviously finding them lacking.

“I’m not here for revenge, nor your poor skills in fixing. I want the influence of your seat.”

“Ah, this is about the bill you brought in the other day. What makes you think I’ll go against Kim?”

Finally, you rejoice, someone who has priorities that you could expect and work around. Cha manges to secure blackjack for a second time in a row, confirming your earlier suspicions. The first hand must have been to lure you in, whereas the rest will all likely fall flat in comparison to Cha’s cards. You give the dealer a kind smile. “I can see why Mr. Cha likes to come here you’re good. Tell me what’s your cut?” You pause to watch him freeze.

The dealer turns to Cha in a panic. “I’m sorry Sir, but I believe that there’s something that I must attend to. I’ll send another to take my place.”

Cha waves him off with an air of frustration.

“Money must be tight for you to risk it here of all places.”

“What can I say? Not all of us will inherit our massive amounts of wealth.”

And just like that you know you have him, he’s desperate. His foolish attempt to win has made this match so much easier for you. “Elections are difficult to rig Mr. Cha, and it’s just over a year until the next cycle. But the more campaign funds one has, the greater their chance of being elected, wouldn’t you say?”

“Are you implying that you wish to make a contribution to my campaign?”

“No, I’m say that I’ll fund your opponent. The biggest difference between you and me is that you need schemes and titles to keep your financials afloat. If you lose that’s it, but if I lose there’s nothing to stop me from cashing in another player. I will play this game for as long as I have to, until I get what I need, or you lose.”

Cha suddenly bursts out in laughter. “I like you Park, very straightforward.” He leans in closer to your seat. Hope seeing this moves in as well. “There’s a reason I haven’t been bought by Kim yet. He likes to keep his alleys in his collection. Now I don’t like to be owned, but he’s been pressing my hand recently to make a choice. I can’t sit on the fence much longer. I’ll take your bill, between you and him, you seem like a more candid choice.”

“You’ll get the 10 signatures required?”

“Consider it done, but I won't guarantee it will get passed.” He pulls out a black envelope similar to the one you had seen Jin with a few days ago. “I’m assuming you received one of these?”

Not wishing to appear in the dark you feed back a limited amount of information. “One of my associates did, yes.”

He hands the envelop over to you. “You should take mine as well, I think you’ll find the difference between our invitations very informative as to what you’re up against.”   

...

POV J-Hope

I try to keep my expression neutral while we retreat, I manage to hold it until the elevator door closes, but once they shut I can barely contain my laughter and smile. I hold your face between my hands as you mirror my grin. “Thank you. I don’t think I’ll ever see anything as enjoyable as what I just witnessed.” It wasn’t just seeing Cha losing at his own game, but seeing you take charge of the situation.    

“I’m sure JK could make a tape for you.” You quip back, still boasting your wide smile.

I slowly move in closer, leaning in to you until your back touches the elevator wall.  “It wouldn’t be as good as watching the real thing.” It wouldn’t catch my favourite parts, your subtle movements, the glint in your eyes, the small twitch at the corner of your mouth, the way your fingers rub your pendant. The last habit being a small nervous tick of yours that I don’t think that you are even aware of. It’s something that I’ve come to notice but keep to myself, using it as my way to read you. Even now as I look at you your index and thumb press on the delicate metal.  Does it make you nervous when I hold you like this? Is your heart beating as quickly as mine?

I never thought anyone could make me as happy as you have done tonight. You’re making it too easy to fall, I know I’m not the only one who adores you, but at this point I don’t care. I just need you to understand what you mean to me. The elevator door opens but I remain still.

“Hope?”

Your lips barely finish speaking my name before I take them as mine. Despite my sudden approach they feel so soft. You slowly relax closing your eyes and indulging me as I tilt your head up further. Your hand drops from your pendant, coming to rest against the lapels of my jacket. I too close my eyes and find the effect overwhelming. The warmth of you in my hands and on my lips is intoxicating, as if a flame is licking at my skin.  I part my mouth, my desire requesting to dive in further, you allow my tongue to glide inside.

You are that sip of whiskey, the honeyed liquid that burns so well at the back of my throat. You’re taste is far too sweet, pulling me down to take more and more. Leaving me drunk, with my eyelids heavy and unwilling to open. You turn away for a quick breath but I only give you a fraction of a second to rest. I know if we linger both of us will begin to focus the pain that brought us here. I have no wish to come to my senses, all I want is to think about you and how your body feels against mine.

I need to distract you from those you who might shift your thoughts away. I’ve seen Jin treat you as a child, Namjoon push you aside, and Suga fail to admit his feelings for you. I know I can do better by you, your hold on me is already so tight that I could never run away. Even if this is just a moment of weakness for you, even if it’s only for now, kiss me, it’s okay if it hurts.

I pull you from the elevator tying you with my grip, making it as far as the couch before the phone in my jacket begins to ring. I ignore it and continue to attend to you.

“Hope?’

“Mmm,” I respond with a hum to your ear.

“You should answer it.”

“It’s just V don’t worry about it.” The weight of my body presses you into the cushions.

“J-Hope.” You push back against me with the palm of your hands.

“Fine.”

I answer my cell reluctantly, but before I can even say hello V throws a question a me.

“Which elevator leads to your room, and what’s the code?”

“Wait, why?”

In the background I can hear Jin speaking frantically. “JK keep pressure on it. Jimin come on, stay with me.”

“We don't have time, just tell me Hope!”

...

A/N: Once again I would like to thank Blood Sweat and Tears for the inspiration in J-Hopes POV. I swear that that song just keeps giving and giving. Hope you enjoyed it and sorry for the cliffhanger.

[derkastellan]

Musings: A look at the OSR - Part II: Love the presentation, come to hate the rules

There’s countless people out there who cut their teeth on Classic Dungeons & Dragons (”little brown books” plus supplements, OD&D, Oe, 0e), Basic D&D (Holmes Basic, B/X, BECMI) or Advanced D&D (1e). And a lot of present day OSR games emulate these, for example OSRIC (1e),  Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea (1e), Swords & Wizardry (0e), Labyrinth Lord (Basic), BLUEHOLME (Holmes Basic), and so on. Some of these were specifically written to provide reference game systems to write for to retain compatibility with earlier editions of D&D without having to reference the D&D name or out-of-print products. Especially Labyrinth Lord. The basic releases of Swords and Wizardry integrate either only the original White Box, or also Supplement 1, or all supplements released for 0e. But these games also have been polished, unified, cleaned up, and updated a bit. S&W features support for ascending armor class, a feature introduced to D&D no sooner than 3rd edition. These games stay true to their preferred editions in most ways, while also providing a bit more streamlined experience than you might expect from 0e (where you had to construct your own game out of all released material and home rules) or Basic (where material was distributed across boxes and level-limited, and some material got never published before another, contradicting new line was released).

What they have in common is that they are labors of love of a devoted fanbase who enjoy D&D gameplay, consider D&D their favorite game or even only game of choice, and who devote significant time to playing it, writing for it, and refining it. 

The art is often a callback to earlier editions. I feel right at home with black-and-white line art. It gives me a cozy feeling and evokes the fantastic for me. The rules... not so.

The capabilities of D&D characters don’t seem so fantastic in earlier editions, there’s a long, arduous grind to go up in level, and not much is gained. Magic gear is where it’s at. What can a mid-level S&W Complete Fighter do? He can multi-attack mobs of pitiful monsters, is harder to hit if dextrous, is the only one who gets strength boni, can hit better, and has more hit points. He eventually gets to have a stronghold. If you look for a reason why there’s such a variety of magical swords back in the day, look no further.

This is not truly a surprise. The D&D character as we know it evolved out of Dave Arneson’s wargaming group. Arneson wasn’t a great rules writer or editor, but his group pioneered advancing by level because they moved away from one-shot encounters with meaningless pawns to keeping continuity for their chosen avatars. Frankly, players didn’t like seeing them dying, so they were given increased capability to increase survivability. (Don’t expect any Gygax fanboy-ing from me, I pretty much think Arneson invented the actual game and Gygax wrote the first ruleset for it. I’m not happy with all the “Gygax this” or “Gygax that” which - to me - seems to be endemic in the American player base. If I have to “worship” an individual “hero” or “titan” over everybody else, Arneson would be my pick. But frankly, I would rather not. I respect both and their legacy.)

And early D&D reflects this legacy in that characters are more capable than their fantasy wargame antecedents, but not very fantastic or awesome, really. I personally am just fine with the short time 5th edition let’s pass between level 1 and level 3 and the range of capabilities a 5e character can have. If somebody tells me they needed 10 years or more to get to level X and that is the right pace and was still an accomplishment, I gag a little. Because time is getting scarce, players are not necessarily easy to find, and there’s precious few opting for a punishing game. I love many things about the older editions but I consider a lot of it “a work in progress.” I appreciate the “use it as you want and extend it, it’s your game” culture ideals of 0e which seemed to come to lessen with 1e... a lot. I do appreciate the raw creativity of building fantastic worlds for the first time, no matter how eclectic, slapped together, improvised. But I tried to run games that are true to what some people believe to be the punishing ideal of gaming, and players ran for the hills.

You could blame computer games and their ever-evolving power fantasies. But many people have come forward and shown that computer games in turn owe the idea to an extent also to D&D. The chickens have simply come home to roost. History cannot be dialed back. And it shows. And why shouldn’t it? D&D was often a power trip in the first place. It just got “trippier” over the years.

Now, I’m not saying that you could not run a fantastic game with these rulesets and materials out of the box. You can. But it will depend on your charisma, inventiveness, and sheer skill as GM to actually sell these games today to new players. It can work, of course, and it can be great fun. I’m not denying that. But I’m not so sure why I should try to sell that in the first place?

Compatibility with old material is a great plus. There’s tons of existing material out there, especially starting with 1st edition or AD&D. But frankly, I hate AD&D. I have it standing on my shelf and I feel like it’s not a good ruleset. AD&D2 has it beat in my opinion. I’m not a big fan of Gary Gygax, rules designer. Gary Gygax the creator of adventures and evocative prose... that’s a different thing. Frankly, I am not a fan of where 1e tried to wander - into this semi-simulationist territory. I can do very well with a game that understands that it is merely a game and that complexity needs a well-defined pay-off.

In fact, in comparison the 1st edition Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide are both examples of lots of mini-rule-systems thrown together. Whatever Gygax could think of he foisted his own rule-systems on. And they lack in coherency. A lot. You also cannot play the game without the DMG - because even the actual to-hit matrices of player characters are hidden in that tome. I tried to like this game. I really did. It’s a disaster. People keep singing its praises but I’m not sure you can put these three books - including the Monster Manual, of course - into the hands of most 20-year-olds with an interest in roleplaying and expect them to like this stuff and starting to play. The legend of 1e lives on because the players who started with 1e (or spent a long time with it) live on.

None of those specific games I mentioned truly dare to transcend the original rulesets. Fixes. Unification attempts. It’s all in there. But there’s also “d100 for this” and “d20 for that” and “roll high for this” and “roll low for that”. That persists. Action resolution is a mixed bag of separate rule systems and little engines. It’s a replication of the rules more than anything else.

I find it funny because one of the OSR mantras is “Rulings, not rules.” Placing authority in the hand of the GM to rule individual situations from deliberating this instance (or set of instances) instead of relying on a fixed set of rules. But these games come with rules! They are just... messy, unnecessarily complex in some cases, underdefined in others, lack design or coherence. So, GM help yourself! No wonder there’s so many fantasy heartbreakers out there... People love playing D&D, but it’s hard to ignore there’s some - or many - things in there that need fixing! So they fixed and released and fixed and released.

And so did the owners of the D&D trademarks and copyrights. The game changed. Monster-killing became more important. But it’s not like many players already hadn’t thought that most of the time. It comes with a book full of monsters, after all. Player character capabilities increased. Rules were streamlined, unified. Not all for the better. I don’t exactly prefer Pathfinder’s heap of feats and 4e’s oodles of class powers to 1e or 2e or Basic. But I recognize that these newer games come with more deeply unified engines. 

How powerful a unified engine truly is can be seen in games like Dungeon Crawl Classics (which has a streamlined 3e under its hood, then grafted lots of tables on it) and... 5e. I like 5e. I’m really glad this edition came out because I like both the old school and new rules. And 5e came somewhere in between, if not perfectly then at least it tried. Because all the “d100 here” vs “d6 here” and “d20 high here” and “d20 low here” and their endless variations... I can’t be bothered with. Not truly. Not for long.

Because I love the old school feel. Not the rules. I suspect something like the Black Hack is more up my alley than 1e. I know Dungeon World definitely is. I have tried. I keep buying OSR material. But I don’t really get warm with the rules. I don’t feel “converted.” The rules of old D&D were a worthy first try. The game once was meant to evolve with the needs of the GM and the players. Instead the rules... stuck. At least for some. I personally see that as one of the unluckiest inversions. I think it was never meant to be.

And I’m happy every time somebody makes a new riff on D&D without simply going back. Kevin Crawford’s “Scarlet Heroes” is foremost on my mind. Moving towards elegance, simplicity, honoring the spirit of the game.

(to be continued)

[rudra-writes]

Pallas Meets Teekalos (Part 3)

In a library at Dalaran, Pallas the Anchorite meets Teekalos the Scribe. Teekalos belongs to his player.

Pallas laughs. “I suppose it must be a yes! I admit, I am enjoying the atmosphere of Dalaran; a trip to a cafe and some good company would only make it better.” The priest tries not to allow himself to become bashful in the face of this unexpected detour. The other draenei looks about a similar age as himself, and seems quite worldly and sociable.

The Anchorite feels rather less interested in his research now that he’s met this chatty and interesting new person. He reads over the spines, and quickly takes out a few tomes that look interesting and informative. “Light, this one’s bound in black leather and all of the pages are black! It’s written in glowing blue ink. Look!” Pallas shows Teekalos the particularly grim book about death knights, and he shivers. “It looks like it’s good information… Oh dear, runes of pain? Circles of defilement? Commanding bone wraiths? Ohhh, I feel as if I’ll be cursed if I read this. Dalaran doesn’t carry cursed books in its library, does it?”

"What? No." Teeks scoffs as he looks up from where he's replacing the last of the books Aelatrel had handed him earlier.

Pallas carries the black book to the front desk with him in spite of its scariness. "I feel quite ready to go to this cafe now."

Teeks had followed Pallas back to the front desk and placated the librarian there-not Aeletrel, but another, less friendly older Queldorei, that of course Pallas would return the book promptly, and why yes of course he lives here, Pallas is staying with him for a while, isn't he? With a pointed glare and a slap of his tail to the other man's thigh should he deny this falsehood. They make it out of the library with Teeks in high spirits, grinning and once again with an arm slung around Pallas's shoulders as they head back toward the cafe.

"Seriously," Teeks says, turning to spear Pallas with an equally serious look. "You have to return that book or they really will murder me in my sleep."

Pallas blushes faintly and swallows when Teekalos goes through a deal of extra trouble to allow him to leave the library with the creepy book about death knights.

"You didn't have to do all of that," he replies, but it's a token protest at best, and the little white draenei is soon smiling almost conspiratorially in response to Teeks's grin. He laughs gaily in response to the severity of Teeks's statement. "I shall take extra good care of it for you."

Pallas quickly forgets about the book's spookiness as he and Teeks make their way to the cafe. He looks high-spirited now, delighted even, to be shown such interest and invited back to a classy cafe with this handsome fellow. His cheeriness is enough that he becomes comfortable with Teeks's arm around his shoulders. "What a convenient city, to have a cafe and a library so close together. I could become used to this." He laughs, then blushes faintly. "City living is far nicer when you know someone, isn't it? Although I wonder how interesting you will find me. I'm a part of the priesthood."

Pallas makes a draenei sign of the priesthood on his chest in mock solemnity. "Very devout."

Teeks rakes his eyes pointedly over Pallas, one eyebrow raised in amused disbelief at his words. “I’m sure.” He says with a smirk. “I bet you’re the type to sneak in illicit materials when the senior Anchorites aren’t looking. It’s a needed profession, but I don’t miss it. Too many pointless rules. Cafes and libraries are often found together, in my experience, and I’d rather deal with a librarian any day over my old teachers.”

They reach the cafe a few moments later, Cafe Du Monde being only a stone's throw from the library. If Angie thinks it’s odd that Teeks has returned so quickly with another draenei in tow she doesn't say, though she does wink at him when she shoos them off to a table before turning to make their drinks. Teeks chooses one of the tables near the front windows since they intend to talk, where they can watch the passersby.

“So Pallas…” Teeks says, leaning toward him with his forearms on the table. “How long are you in Dalaran for?”

Pallas snorts good-naturedly. "Do I look like the type that sneaks in illicit books?" His face colors then, and he waves a hand dismissively. "Well... It might have happened. Until I met my late husband, I was quite lonely. Light rest his soul."

The Anchorite looks over the coffee and drinks menu with some apprehension. He's not ordered from a cafe offering such a wealth of choices in a long time. Ever since his flight from the original Karabor back on their own instance of Draenor, times have not always been easy for him. "What would you recommend?" Pallas raises his eyes back up to Teeks's. Then he smiles and replies to the other draenei’s question, "I had been meaning to do some research on the psychological and physical condition of members of the Ebon Blade. This being Northrend, the library here seemed like a good place to start."

The priest shakes his head faintly. "I don't know if I dare attempt to interview a death knight." His thoughts briefly went to the surly, purple-skinned undead draenei death knight who had helped him back on the alternate Draenor. He did not look very friendly... The library was probably a safer way to begin.

"Anyway, I was expecting I might stay anywhere between a few days to a week, depending." Pallas tries to suppress a smile. "Although I could be convinced to stay longer... Yourself?"

Teeks laughs, and holds up two fingers to the brunette behind the counter, then tilts his head toward Pallas and shakes his head subtly, knowing Angie will know not to give Pallas his usual order.

“I have an apartment just down the street.” he explains, in answer to Pallas’s spoken and unspoken question. He touches the Anchorite on the arm and points to a table near the window overlooking the street. “I do travel enough that I’m only marginally considered a resident here, but it’s nice to have a place to call home, and a floating magical city is about the best this world can offer.” "Is Dalaran really the best city this world has to offer, in your opinion?" Pallas asks, genuinely curious, as he's led to the table the other draenei indicates. Teeks's usual appearance and manner cause him to blush - his smirk, his trendy clothes. The Anchorite finds himself wishing he could be as hip. It wasn't something he usually thought about.

"I take it there's a good draenei tailor here?" Pallas asks as he sits down. "Your clothes are, um... I haven't seen another draenei dressed so well in a while, to be honest." He laughs shyly.

“There’s a Sindorei who tolerates my endless need of custom alterations.” He says with a bit of a laugh as he sits down, perhaps to cover for the tinge of blue that colors his cheeks. “She’s pretty good, yeah? And there have to be some that disagree with me, and you can make arguments for some of the other major cities…. Darnassus, the Shrines in Pandaria, maybe even Silvermoon, though I’ve never been, but Dalaran, this is a city that was built upon magic, for mages and scholars to study and pursue their crafts, and to me that will always make it better than the others.”

It's difficult to tell with Teek's natural teal skin tone, and Pallas isn't sure if he's seeing what he wants to see versus what's actually there, but the priest is fairly certain he saw a blush on the other draenei's cheeks. The thought that he can cause such a confident individual to blush, even if only a little, fills him with a sense of delighted pride that pushes him outside of his reservations and shyness.

The Anchorite's tail starts to flick interestedly. "Do you have any affinity for magic yourself?" he asks. He fights the urge to bounce his leg or otherwise show a nervous reaction in the face of his smartly-dressed new friend.

“Might’ve been better if I had. No. Tried being an Anchorite for a while, that never really worked out either.” He pauses to take his coffee from Angie and raises his brows at the large slice of banana creme pie that she sets down along with the drinks. Angie just winks at him and heads back to the bar to help her other customers. Teeks shrugs and offers Pallas one of the forks.

“Anyways, turns out ‘scholar’ is still a valid profession here, and I’m a fair hand at it to boot. Better than healing and giving righteous sermons about living with the Light.” He smirks as he takes a forkful of pie, waving it as he speaks. “So, another reason I call Dalaran home. Best libraries on the planet.”

Pallas happily accepts the dessert fork, slicing into the pie and nibbling. He’s opted to have a hot chocolate for his own drink. The combination of hot chocolate with banana creme pie is starting to give him a sugar rush.

“I suppose everyone has their personal strengths,” he laughs. “I’m quite content with being an Anchorite, I find it a rewarding profession. Difficult, at times,” Pallas amends, his eyes lowering, “Due to the nature of the work, but I gain a lot of personal satisfaction from helping others.”

Teeks smirks as he takes a bite of the pie. A goody two-shoes, as the humans would say, but he finds he likes the honesty, and how easy it is to fluster the other draenei. Cute to boot, and already let slip he preferred males. Teeks’s grin widens as he wonders just how innocent Pallas is, and if he might come home with him.

Pallas looks back up at Teekalos and wrinkles his nose. “What do you like to do for fun here? Surely a cosmopolitan city such as this has a variety of entertainments?”

He remembers walking by one such “entertainment”, a fancy blood elf brothel with scantily clad male and female elves advertising outside. Thinking about the place causes him to blush.

"Oh, I'm boring that way, give me a book and a quiet place and I do just fine. Mostly I'm either found here or the library, though sometimes the mages put on shows, proving their skills at illusions..." Teeks pauses as he looks up and meets Pallas's gaze, raising an eyebrow at the blush. "Just what sort of entertainments are you thinking of, Anchorite Pallas?"

[storm-does-stuff]

Small Town Frights

I’m finally back from finals!

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

Others from the research group were already waiting in the lobby when Maude and Kenna finally arrived at the restaurant.

“Oh, hey Maude!” shouted someone from across the room. “I already put our group on the list.”

“Thanks Bilski!” Maude shouted back, recognizing one of her coworkers easily. “Did they give you a wait time?”

“Twenty minutes like ten minutes ago.”

“That works out great then.”

Maude began to make her rounds through the room, meeting up with all the members of her team. There were a couple that had come from her office in the south, as well as a few from the west coast, and an overwhelming amount from the NYC office. Not all of them were with her demonology research team, many of them were did more human research, like criminal profiling and psychology. It was confusing that the National Magical Investigation Institute had many human research groups, but it was all cool.

On Maude's team there were eight members. Jeffery Rodriguez, Hitomi Shirakawa, and Ana Rockfield in charge of runes and binding circles, Rocket Fisher, Laine McKillet and Earnest Lockheart on magical artifacts, and Lloyd Hershey as well as Maude herself as summoning experts. It was a rather small investigation team, considering the size of the case.

Maude didn't know Kenna's team's jobs as specifically, but she did learn all their names. She left Kenna with one person named Alex Gutierrez when they started talking about something Maude couldn't even begin to understand.

At dinner they wound up sitting at two different tables, one for the demonologists and the other for the Nerd Squad. The demonologist table was loud, with people yelling and reaching over each other, as was the personality demonology attracts, while the Nerd Squad calmly spoke about the best ways to gore a charging Wendigo, as was the type of person preternatural crime scene forensics attracts.

By the end of the night even an extreme extrovert like Maude was tired, and Kenna had taken the all-you-can-eat crab far too seriously.

When they finally parted ways and reached their hotel room, Kenna groaned before Maude had even taken out her room key.

“Really?” Kenna said, banging her head on the wall.

“What is it?” Maude asked, opening the door, only to see what Kenna meant.

Tyrone was sitting on the kitchenette counter eating cookie dough ice cream, the kind that was really more cookie dough than ice cream and probably had a good chance of giving even the strongest stomach salmonella, straight from the tub.

“I tried to wait so we could have ice cream together.” he said. “Then I got bored. You guys were out for a long time.”

“Sorry, we were hanging out with friends.” Maude said, grabbing a spoon from the silverware drawer and jumping onto the counter next to Ty.

“If you can call all fifteen of them our friends.” Kenna said.

“We were making them our friends.” Maude said. She crossed her arms and turned up her nose, before dropping the act to eat the ice cream.

“Ty, how did you even get into our room while we were out? How did you even know which room we were in?” Kenna said, walking over to the bedroom, stopping to lean on the door frame. She really just wanted to sleep off her stomach ache gained from eating copious amounts of crustaceans.

“Magic.” Ty said.

Kenna rolled her one visible eye. “Fine. Just, you're sleeping on the couch.”

“So rude.” Ty pouted. “I wanna sleep in a giant snuggle pile!”

“We can snuggle pile!” Maude said.

Kenna rolled her eyes. “Just don't wake me at odd hours of the night giggling.”

“I would do no such thing!” Ty said.

“I keep a journal, do you really want to know the answer to that?” Kenna said. “It's more likely than you might think.”

“Am I that bad?”

“Yes.”

“Geez, you two would kill each other if I left you in a locked room.” Maude laughed, standing between Ty and Kenna. “Do I need to get yall on leashes?”

“No, I can behave myself.” Kenna said, her lips tugging up at the corners.

“I do have some self control.” Ty said.

“In the form of Maude?” Kenna said back, falling into the usual routine of friendly bickering.

“She is like ninety percent of my impulse control, I will admit.” Ty said.

“You overestimate yourself.” Maude said around her spoon. “I'm at least ninety-five.”

“This wound!” Ty yelled dramatically, pretending to stab himself with the spoon. “How will I ever recover!”

“Well, considering I'm at least eighty-five percent of Maude's impulse control...” Kenna laughed, pushing off the door frame and leaning on the counter next to Maude.

“You think it's only eighty-five percent?” Maude asked, eyes shining.

“Well, you have gotten better.” Kenna laughed. “Now pass me a spoon, I want in on this ice cream business.” she decided that she might as well eat her fair share of ice cream now, she'd already passed the point of no return with all her crab.

Maude laughed and grabbed her one, taking the ice cream from Ty and balancing it in her lap so everyone could have better access. They spoke randomly, about how their days went, the horrors of travel, and in the end Maude and Ty settled on the couch to watch a series of documentaries about travel disasters. Kenna turned in early to go to sleep, deciding that the ice cream was quite possible the worst decision she had made all year.

Kenna's alarm woke her up at eight in the morning, and a quick glance to the bed next to her showed Maude had wound up sleeping on the couch—her colors weren't resting in the bed. Kenna took the opportunity to go through her morning routine before Maude or—worse—Ty could steal the bathroom from her.

At eight-thirty she went into the common area of the hotel room, and sure enough Maude and Ty were lounging on the couch, Maude snoring loudly.

“Wake up!” Kenna shouted, smacking her fist on the wall a few times for good measure. “We need to leave for the investigation sight in an hour!”

Maude yelped as she fell on the floor. “Kenna,” she whined. “Why'd you have to yell so loud?”

“Because if I was any quieter you wouldn't hear me.” Kenna said, vaguely noticing she hadn't properly turned on her Sensor Suit yet. It was too early in the morning to be alive.

She was about to begin the configuration process when Maude stopped her. “I'm gonna force you to wear a coat, so don't even bother.”

“Well, thanks for warning me.” Kenna sighed, and just pulled her foldable cane from her utility belt. “Get ready fast, we don't have any food in the kitchenette yet, so we need to eat out of the buffet downstairs.”

“We want first picks.” Maude said.

“Well, that and all the NMII agents are going to be going down at about the same time. I don't feel like waiting in ridiculously long lines today.” Kenna said.

“Me neither.” Maude said. “So I guess I will have to forgo my thirty minute shower?”

“You can shower tonight.” Kenna said.

“Fine.” Maude said, “Is Ty still asleep?”

“Yep.” Kenna said, “He's out like a rock, I guess.”

“Lazy.” Maude agreed. “Should I leave him a note?”

“He knows we're here for work.” Kenna said. “And besides, he's a big boy. He can figure it out himself. Just get dressed so we can eat.”

“Someone's grumpy.” Maude said, retreating into the bedroom and getting dressed in her uniform. “What happened to the cheery Kenna from yesterday morning?”

“I need my copious amounts of caffeine and sugar before I can be expected to be a good person.” Kenna said, yawning loudly. “Yesterday morning was an outlier and should not have been counted. No, I was awake for long before you and had already recovered, and drank my tumbler of coffee.”

“That's not very nice.” Maude said.

“See my previous statement.”

The breakfast buffet was, as Kenna had expected, absolutely packed. There were NMII agents scrambling all over the place, holding tablets and ancient tomes and big cups of coffee with food added on top of the stack as an afterthought.

Most of the tables had already been monopolized by stacks of paper and books and computers, with food slipped in wherever it would fit. The hotel staff was standing in the corner, clearly done with trying to control the chaos and merely focusing on keeping enough coffee out to fit everyone's needs. Maude and Kenna were preparing to find a nice length of wall, preferably with carpeted floors, when a voice cut across the chaos.

“Hey! Maude, Kenna! You can sit with me!” Jeffery yelled, sitting at a table that was, like the rest, covered in research materials, his covered in ancient and vaguely foreboding runes.

“Thanks dude!” Maude yelled. “I was getting ready to sit on the floor! You really saved my butt!”

“Maude, butt jokes aren't that funny.” Kenna said.

“Butt they are.” Maude said. “Get it? Butt?”

“You literal child.”

“You know you love me!”

“Not this early in the morning I don't.”

“Oh, is someone not a morning person?” Jeff asked as the girls sat down.

“You're a freak of nature.” Kenna said.

“Just because of the five cups of coffee mixed with energy drinks and straight caffeine pills.” Jeff said. “I can't feel my feet right now, but that will die down before I have to do real work.”

Maude stopped moving and stared at Jeff, “I can't tell if you're serious or not. Either way, you're dying and early death.”

“Probably.” Jeff said, taking a swig from his mug and shivering.

“I don't care, Maude, let's go get food.” Kenna said.

“Alright!” Maude said, “Hold down the fort!”

“The fort is not filled with helium!” Jeff said.

“Who cares!”

Surprisingly, the line for the buffet was pretty short. The coffee machines were swamped, but the actual food was had basically no line at all. They quickly went through the food line, and went back to the table.

“You're not getting coffee?” Jeff asked. “Want a sip from mine?”

“Gladly.” Kenna said, reaching out to take the mug from him. She only took a small sip, but it woke her up and tasted absolutely disgusting. “That's awful, I'm never eating anything you give me again.”

“Oh no, you've lost her trust.” Maude said. “And we will get coffee, just at a coffee shop on our way to the site.” she began to tuck into her meal, taking bites that were probably too big for a human mouth to hold.

“That's smart.” Jeff said. “I made this myself in my room, I brought my own coffee and caffeine pills.”

“You're gonna have a heart attack.” Kenna said, grabbing a muffin off her plate and eating it to get the taste out of her mouth. “I'm shaking so bad right now, you see this?” she held out her hand to show off the quivering.

“That's nothing, you should see mine.” Jeff said, holding out his own hand.

“Wow.” Kenna said sarcastically. “Like a leaf, I can really see it.”

“Oh, right.” Jeff said, pulling his hand back in.

“You're good, you're good.” Kenna laughed.

“Kenna, girl, eat faster.” Maude said. “There's gonna be a line at the Sunshine coffee shop.”

“Is that really the name of the closest coffee shop?” Jeff asked. “That's a little ironic, actually.”

“That's what I said.” Kenna said. “I think Maude was still asleep, though.”

“Oh shut up.” Maude said. “I'm not the one biting heads off 'till noon.”

“At least I'm sentient.”

“You mispronounced grumpy.”

“Good morning.” a new voice said, and Kenna let her head drop to the table, resting it on top of butter-less toast.

“Good morning Ty.” Maude said. “We would have woken you, but we needed to cycle through the bathroom quickly.”

“I'm hurt. You think I'm a bathroom hog?” Ty said, sitting down and grabbing a muffin off Maude's plate.

“Hey, I was eating that!” Maude swatted at his head.

“Historically, you take hour-plus long showers.” Kenna said. “I still have that journal.”

“Um, hi? Who is this?” Jeff said.

“Oh yeah! This is Tyrone, he's our roommate.” Maude said. “This is Jeff, he works in runes.”

“'Roommate'.” Kenna laughed. “More like insufferable pain in the butt.”

“Nice to meet you, Jeffery.” Ty said, ignoring Kenna and shaking Jeff's hand. “Hope you're not secretly evil and plotting to destroy us all!”

“Um... okay.” Jeff discreetly wiped his hand on his pants. “So, what division do you work in?”

“Oh, I'm not with the NMII.” Ty said, now grabbing at some of Kenna's sugary cereal. She gave up and pushed the entire bowl to him, rolling her eyes and sighing heavily.

“He's self employed.” Maude explained once it was clear that Ty had stopped talking. “He's a writer, does writerly things.”

“Flexible hours.” Jeff said. “Must be nice.”

“Awful hours, you mean.” Kenna said. “He is nocturnal sometimes, I swear.”

“You too, dear!” Maude said.

“I'm blind I have an excuse!”

“And I'm an artist!” Ty said, and Kenna could feel his smirk.

“Well!” Maude said. “Kenna, we're supposed to be at the site early, we should have left five minutes ago.”

“Why didn't you tell me!” Kenna shoved an entire waffle into her mouth.

“Well, like, we were talking, and Ty showed up, and we were having fun, and so I just forgot.” Maude said.

“We're gonna have to drive through time.” Kenna said, grabbing her coat off the back of the chair.

“See yall later boys!” Maude agreed, sweeping her flowing coat over her shoulders. “Don't kill each other!”

“So um...” Ty trailed off. “Sports?”

“No.”

“Dissected creatures?”

“That's cool.”

Kenna just finished off her coffee, black and piping hot, when they pulled up in front of the crime scene.

“And it's kinda weird, you know?” Maude said. “This is like just, a normal neighborhood. It actually looks a lot like your house did in middle school, Kenna. And to think that such a thing happened here... and all the magical energy, it's almost uncanny.”

“I think I know what you mean.” Kenna said, looking out the window. “The house is on my side?”

“Yep.” Maude pulled her bag off of Kenna's legs and began digging through it for her things.

“And... all of the neighbors have been evacuated, right?”

“They're staying in the same hotel as us, on different floors of course.”

“Does everything look normal to you?”

“What's wrong?” Maude asked, zipping her bag up.

“The whole house has an... aura, sort of.” Kenna said. “But it's not like an aura it lacks... texture. It's just blank. Like white noise, that's what it is. The house's aura looks like white noise.”

“Looks like white noise...” Maude repeated, scribbling the words down on her notepad, a type made specially for the NMII so that no one accidentally summoned a demon while taking notes. “Is there anything like, remarkable about it?”

“It's so unremarkable that it's remarkable.” Kenna said. “Does that count? It just looks like... all the ambient energy in the entire town decided this was the one place to gather at. It almost feels like electricity on my arms.”

“Like... electricity...” Maude repeated. “Well, I think I'm gonna go with a little more safety gear than I'd planned. I'll send out a memo too...” she reopened her bag and dug around for her phone, tapping out a message for her people to dress as though there were a possible miasma/vengeful spirit/demon lingering in the home.

'Extra safety gear' to Maude meant her rune-riddled vest over her shirt, and her special anti-demon headband that folded out into a helmet. For Kenna that mainly meant a necklace with a purity sigil ingrained on it and making sure that her hair securely covered her right eye.

It was while watching Kenna secure her bangs that Maude got an idea. “I have a pretty bad and kinda selfish idea.”

“No judgment zone.” Kenna said, taking a quick inventory of everything in her utility belt. “Shoot away.”

“Like, maybe you could take a look with your right eye?” Kenna's hand froze. “Like, it might get us a better idea of what we're working with here! Though, if you're uncomfortable with it you don't have to! This was a terrible idea.”

“It wasn't a terrible idea.” Kenna said, resting her hand on top of the velvet pouch of her belt. “I just think it would be like using a sledge hammer to plant a daisy, at this point. Like, we could get the same result by using less drastic measures.”

“That makes sense.” Maude said. “Sorry for bringing it up.”

“It was a good idea, in the right direction.” Kenna said, “I just don't think we need it yet.”

“Well, let's get going!” Maude swung her car door open, and Kenna followed suit.

Maude rolled across the hood of the car, and grabbed Kenna by the hand. “Now, let's go investigate a murder!”

“You don't have to sound so cheerful about that!” Kenna laughed scandalously.

The NMII had already set up a type of airlock at the entrance, where agents had to get checked in and out, and get sprayed down with a type of mist that eliminated outside contamination. There, Maude and Kenna had to ditch their shoes and coats, and had to wander the house bare foot.

“This feels really weird.” Kenna said, standing in a corner while she calibrated her sensor suit. “I don't like being barefoot in strangers' homes.”

“Don't worry Kenna!” Maude said, “I'll keep vengeful ghosts from eating your toesies!”

Kenna laughed. “You know, strangely enough, that's not my main concern.”

“We'll bring slippers tomorrow.” Maude said.

“You know what, I think that would make me feel even more awkward than walking around in my socks.” Kenna said, looking around the house.

“So, let's check out where the fuzzy aura is thickest, okay?” Maude said. “Lead the way, girlie.”

“Okay.” Kenna began walking, narrowly avoiding walking into a door. “Man, the energy's interfering with my suit. This sucks.”

“Don't worry I wont let you run into any walls.”

Kenna walked into the large kitchen, rubbing her hand along the cold tile counters. “The energy in here is also elevated, but I think it's just by proximity. The most of the fuzz is in that way.” she pointed directly in front of her, across the counter. She went around the island, and stopped short, eyes fixed on the ground in front of her.

Maude tried to continue on into the living room, but Kenna grabbed her arm.

“Don't go in there.” Kenna said. “There's... glowing lines, all over the ground.”

“Glowing lines?” Maude asked.

“Yeah, just all over that room.” Kenna said, gesturing with her hands. “Is that where the crime was committed?”

“Yeah, it was.” Maude said.

“Can you not see the lines?” Kenna said.

“Not at all. I only see a bunch of blood, and chalk outlines where the bodies were.” Maude said. “I'm gonna ask you to draw the lines for me, do you think you can do that?”

“Of course.”

Maude turned around to one of the other agents milling about the house, “Grab me a marker and some papers. Also I want the living room wrapped in two layers of caution tape, no one goes in there. Thank you!”

She slipped the paper and the marker to Kenna, who was sitting on the floor now, rubbing at the floor. Kenna nodded and took them, turning the top page to be landscape oriented, and scribbling the word 'door' at the bottom corner.

What she drew was full of swooping curved lines, with many circles and runes scribbled inside the gaps between the lines. In the end she took another piece of paper and wrote out all the runes individually, with a finer tipped pen.

“Does that look good?” she asked when she was done.

“Well, these are real runes, but the order they're in looks like complete gibberish to me.” Maude said, tilting her head at the rune only page. “Well, a few of these are unfamiliar to me, but that's fine. I'm no expert in runes, we'll send these off the Jeremy and his group to crack.”

“Sounds good to me.” Kenna said. “And the lines.”

“It looks really intricate, very complicated.” Maude said. “It looks kind of like a summoning circle, or one chunk of one. Now the most likely culprit is a demon, but I don't recognize the circle at all. I'll have to do a lot of research.”

“I agree.” Kenna said. “I wanna get a sure source on all of this energy, and see if we can create an energy detector sensitive enough to give us a sure number on the amount of energy in this place.”

“Whoo, big task.” Maude commented. “You ready to head out now?”

“No, not yet.” Kenna said. “I want to check upstairs, there's a lot of energy condensed up there as well.”

“Upstairs?” Maude asked.

“Unless all this energy is in the attic.” Kenna said. “It's just up.”

“Well, to the upstairs I guess.” Maude grabbed Kenna's hand, leading her to the stairs that led out of the kitchen. “I wasn't doubting you, by the way. I was just surprised that we had to go upstairs. Nothing happened up there.”

“Well, it must be some invisible culprit.” Kenna said, laughing as she pointed at her eyes.

“Must be.” Maude agreed.

The upstairs had a game room right at the top, with a crystal television screen mounted on the wall. “Rich family.” Maude noted. After the game room there were two bedrooms. It was one of the bedrooms where Kenna stopped.

“This room.” she said. “This room is the one that's the source of the problem.”

It was a child's room, a nursery more specifically. The walls were painted a pale yellow color, with a white cradle in one corner, and a matching dresser near the window, and a lavender rocking chair in the corner across from the cradle. There was a flower wreath mounted on the door.

“The couple didn't have any children, did they?” Maude asked cautiously.

“No?” Kenna said, “Why?”

“This is a baby nursery.” Maude said. “Were they expecting?”

“Why would there be this much energy in a nursery?” Kenna said.

“I guess this is something we'll need to tell the more human side of the investigation.” Maude said. “I think we have enough notes to work with for now, wanna hit up that crappy Mexican place for lunch?”

“The like, what Samantha's Enchiladas?” Kenna said, following Maude to the exit.

“Close enough.” Maude said, laughing along.