#Sunshine au

[stereoqueen]

sunshine - pt1 - l.hughes

summary: luke walks into media after a win and recognizes a pair of eyes he hasn’t seen since he left the university of michigan behind. espnreporter! x luke hughes au

< au what to know > < next >

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

"You have media in 10, Hughes!" Keefe yells through the locker room as Luke sighs, putting up his gear. Fresh off of a win, he was tired and ready to go home. He quickly showered and put his extra pair of clothes on, slipping on a hat over his wet curls. Leaving the locker room, bag in hand, he says goodbye to everyone as he walks to media.

The media room was large, podium in the middle with at least 20 reporters to talk to. Mercer walked out as Luke walked in. “Good luck bro, same old questions,” Dawson said as Luke sighed. He thought about even if they won, the questions are still the same and stupid. Dropping his stuff near the podium, he looks down to see a text from Jack.

Jack: Solid game bro. Have leftover pizza at home with your name on it! 🍕

He laughed as he quickly typed back,

Luke: Going to need it after suffering media… AGAIN!

Putting his phone down, he walks up the podium, fixing his hat so he can see through the bright lights better. The questions start to roll in as he gave the same basic answers. Nothing was new, until he heard the door open.

The back door creaked open as a woman sneaked in. She was wearing black trousers, white top, and a black trench coat. Her hair was pulled half up in a clip, and her media tags around her neck. She took a seat in the back, taking notes on her ipad in her left hand, and holding her recorder out in her right as Luke continued answering the question. His mind however, was on the woman, and why she looked so damn familiar. It’s like his memory was trying to assess why she was so familiar. Was it because she was one of the prettiest reporters he’s ever seen? Or was it the brown eyes that caught his attention.

“Luke— you were saying?” The reporter who asked him a question caught his attention back to reality as he sighed. A small smirk in his lips as he made eye contact with her and then back to the original reporter. “Sorry, I lost my train of thought. What I was trying to say is that this playoff push is….” He continues answering as his gaze lingers on the girl in the back.

15 minutes later and that was it. Questions were over, and the back lights turned on, giving Luke a clear look on who tripped him up earlier. She was packing up her stuff when he was leaving the podium. He was headed to ask what her name was and introduce himself when Amanda beat him to it. He tried to ease drop on the conversation, walking slow and taking his time out of the media room. He didn’t catch her name, but he did figure out how she looked so familiar.

“How was your first time in the media room? Crazy right?” Amanda asks her as Luke walks by. Her gaze follows him as she assessed his 6’3 frame. “It was great! Way bigger that Umich that’s for sure,” She said as Luke walked out the door.

His eyes widened when she said that.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Flashback: Umich, 2022

It was a cool September day walking to practice on campus. Sophomore Luke Hughes was feeling good. Games were about to start, and he was going to prove why he should be in the NHL now. He decided to stop by the coffee shop next to the rink before practice, as he needed a caffeine fix after a long day of class. Loud, full of students, and busy, but absolutely worth the wait. He placed his order and waited in the corner on his phone, texting Dylan, his roommate that he would be cutting it close to practice.

“Coconut latte for Hallie!” The barista said as Luke looked up, thinking that the H was going to be Hughes.

A girl in jeans and a bright sun yellow top went up to the coffee bar to get the latte. Luke’s eyes followed down her frame subtlety as she said thank you to the barista. Her hair was long, honey blonde highlights popping against her tan skin. She turned around to walk towards the door, and towards him — he couldn’t help but stare. She was gorgeous. The embodiment of yellow. She waved to a few girls to his right, smiling as she rushed off. He moved out of the way and held the door as she looked back to him.

“Thanks! I appreciate it!” She said to him, smiling big as she walked out the door. Stunned by her genuine thank you, his face turned pink. “No problem,” He mumbled to himself as the door shut behind him. All he thought of was how beautiful her brown eyes were. They looked like little chocolate kisses. Oh how he wanted to get lost in them—

“Iced coffee for Hughes!” The barista yelled through the shop, snapping him out of it as he looked down at his watch. “Shit!” He said to himself as he grabbed the coffee and sprinted out the door to practice.

Rushing to practice, the guys laughed as Luke ran through the front door and up to the locker room. His coffee, half full from sprinting in his hand as he dropped his stuff and put his gear on faster than one can say Go Blue!

He made it to the ice with two minutes to spare, gaining looks from his friends. “Dude, what took you so long?” Dylan whispered as Luke tilted his head, trying to make up a better excuse. “Um, took longer than I thought?” He mumbled as he fixed his gloves.

“Okay! Before we start, I want to introduce some of the ladies you are going to be working with this season. We have Gab, Maggie, and Lauren as our returning social media team! and our newest member is our on ice reporter, Hallie!” Coach said as Luke looked to the bench, recognizing the girl from the coffee shop.

He had his helmet on so he was praying she wouldn’t recognize him. He was embarrassed that the first interaction was that way. Him stumbling over words and being distracted by her smile.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Luke was on fire his second year at Michigan. He couldn’t help but wonder if she was the reason why. Scoring or making a crazy play would lead him to her to be interviewed. So, he did everything could to be interviewed, building his stardom as he did. It also helped that he had a crush on the reporter. Her energy was contagious, questions were detailed, and he could tell that she was into her job, and the sport which was a good change. Her soft honey brown eyes had him head over heels since the coffee shop. The team could see the change in the young defenseman’s demeanor. He wouldn’t avoid the camera as much anymore. He would try to interact with social media more, and get to know the social staff.

Hallie didn’t know that Luke was originally “afraid” of media. They would have to pull teeth to get him to interview or interact with the camera off the ice. But when she came around, it all changed. She noticed this when Gab came up to her after practice and said something.

It was December 2022, the high of the season before the break. Hallie had just finished interviewing Luke, who had scored twice this game. “Well that’s all I have for our superstar. Our next game is after the break, see you then.” She signed off to the camera as Luke wiped his face off, leaving the camera’s sight. “Thanks sunshine, see you after break,” Luke said, crooked smile as Hallie returned the smile. “See you then, superstar!” She joked as she walked over to Gab.

Gab was laughing as she passed Hallie her water. “What’s the laughs for?” She asked Gab as she shook her head. “I don’t know what you’ve done, but I’ve never seen Luke interact this way with media— ever!” Gab said as Hallie shrugs. “No idea, Maybe he likes the attention?” Hallie joked as Lauren comes up next to them, “If you’re talking about Hughes… he has a huge crush on you. Anyone with a pair of eyes can see it, Hals.” Hallie’s face dropped as Lauren said that, “No way.”

Lauren leans against the wall, camera in hand — showing a picture of the two of them interviewing. His eyes were locked into hers as she asked a question. Her smile bright. The Live Photo goes as she can see his eyes go down to her lips and back up to her eyes, a small micro change in view. Hallie’s face turns hot. “Oh my,”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Present time, March 2025

“Way bigger than Umich huh? That’s what Hughes said almost two years ago when he got here,” Amanda says to her as she smiles. “Did you know him?” She continues as Hallie tilts her head.

“Kinda. I wasn’t close to him but we knew of each other. But now, I’d be shocked if he knew my name,” Hallie tells her colleague as they walk out of the media room, walking down the hall to the parking garage. They talk about what Hallie needs to do for the upcoming week, with correlation to the Devils’ schedule in alignment with ESPN’s. By the time, they reach the garage, most of the cars are gone.

“Well, you have my number if you need me! See you on Sunday for morning skate!” Amanda yells across the garage as they go to their separate ways.

A BMW rolls past Hallie as she looks up to see the infamous man himself. He stops at the exit, not noticing her, but some little kids asking to sign their jerseys. He rolls down the window, signing them and making conversation. She walks by the exit, knowing her car is parked in a different lot since she didn’t get her passes until now.

Finishing up with the last kid, Luke looks up to see the woman walking to her car. She opens the back driver’s door to set her bag in the back. Looking up slightly, she sees his hazel eyes looking at her intently. He smiles, a real smile, not one he does for the camera as her brown eyes light up. He would never forget those eyes.

She hops in the car, windows down as she goes to back up and exit the area. She looks to see the BMW pass again, windows down as “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison plays through his speakers.

“I guess he did remember me after all,” She said to herself as she backed up out of her parking spot to head to her apartment.

By the time she made it to her apartment, her phone had blown up with new followers on Instagram and Twitter.

Instagram: lhughes_06 has sent you a follow request!

Instagram: lhughes_06 has sent you a direct message!

Instagram: lhughes_06: Think I saw a ray of Sunshine in the Devils media room tonight.

She blushed, shaking her head as she approved his request and typed back a quick message.

halliebrooks: Just as original as the last time I saw you, superstar.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

“Rusty! You’re back! Traffic was that bad?” Jack asked from the couch as his little brother huffed into the apartment.

Luke shut the door, dropped his stuff and immediately flopped onto the couch. He felt so dumb, stalking her instagram and then immediately dm’ing her. His mood was ruined if she took it the wrong way. Jack, confused on why his brother didn’t run to the open box of pizza, stood up and over him. He put his hand on his face to feel his head. “Nope, not warm but something is definitely off,” Jack said as Luke swatted his hand away.

“I’m just not hungry,” Luke grumbled as he felt his phone buzz. Excitedly, his mood instantly changed as he sat up and read the notifications.

Instagram: halliebrooks accepted your follow request!

Instagram: halliebrooks has sent you a direct message!

Instagram: halliebrooks: Just as original as the last time I saw you, superstar.

Luke jumped off the couch, grabbing a beer from the fridge and starting to eat the pizza as he tried to craft a message back.

“Okay I don’t know what the fuck just happened but you need to explain. NOW!” Jack pestered as Luke talked through his pizza. “I take that back. Eat and then explain why you just pulled a 180 like that.”

The commercial’s annoying jingle ended as ESPN came back on the screen. Luke immediately pointed to the TV, where the Devils broadcast was wrapping up. Hallie Brooks, ESPN Reporter was doing her highlight review of the game, taking over for Emily Kaplan. Jack’s gaze whipped from Luke eating to the TV and then back to Luke who was glued to the TV.

“This is THE famous Sunshine? No way.” Jack says as Luke shoves another piece of pizza in her mouth. “You gotta explain, start from the beginning before you put another piece in your mouth, or I’m calling Q.”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

taglist: @chiblackhawks @hwalllllllelujah @dancerbailey3

[jarenka]

Kind of a continuation of this comic.

I headcanon that in sunshine AU there was a period when Anakin really got into growing plants.

[03owlyn]

Rereading @rosemaidenvixen 's sunshine au gave me inspiration. This fanfic is amazing. I reread it every few months and impatiently wait for new chapters.

I'm not good with describing my feelings and thoughts

[cablenskulls]

version with or without text

I just think they're neat, and they're definitely in love, your honour.

Also yes they have a canopy bed,.yes it was Jaro's idea.

[rosemaidenvixen]

Between Daylight and Darkness

Chapter 10

<Previous Next>

Ao3

Barbara shifted onto her other foot, there was a dented beer can to her right and a crumbled up fast food wrapper to her left. Lit under the sickly yellow glow of streetlights, natural light faded near to nothing, the sun having set twenty minutes ago.

“Are you kids sure this is the right spot?”

“Yep,” Toby grinned at her, stepping up to pat the concrete wall ahead of them “This is the place. Behind this wall lies a world of magic and wonder beyond your wildest dreams,”

A truck rumbled the bridge overhead, Barbara bit her lip, keenly aware of Toby ahead of her and Jim and the girls behind her, and tried not to look as skeptical as she felt.

It wasn’t as if she doubted the kids, not at all, she knew they were all being very sincere. It was just that their story was a bit…unbelievable now that she was actually here standing under the bridge in front of a concrete wall surrounded by rubble and litter. But given the things she'd lived with over the last decade she of all people should keep an open mind.

“Oh! There is one more thing you should know,”

She turned towards Jim “What is it?”

He gave her an awkward smile, tusks on full display, ompletely covered in shining silver armor from the neck down. She'd asked about his choice to go down wearing something so...conspicuous, but he'd brushed her off with a quick 'when in Rome'. This didn't strike her as the full truth, but it was neither the time nor the place to push it.

“Well you see...when it comes to…trolls, I’m uh…I’m one of the little guys,”

She looked up at him with a start. Little guys? What did he mean by–

A soft crackling pulled her attention back to the wall, a glowing arch appearing in the concrete right before her eyes, blasting away all her doubts. The gray stone crumbled away from the blue arc, creating an entrance where none existed before, falling back to reveal–

Barbara staggered back on reflex, a scream rose up in the back of her throat, though thankfully she stopped herself before it could escape. But a large part of her still itched to run as fast and far as she could.

A massive creature– a troll, stepped through the arch. He had had horns and stony skin just like Jim, but that was were the similarities ended. This creature lumbered forward leaning on his hands like a gorilla, powerful arms wide as tree trunks. He had to be nine- ten feet tall standing upright. As it was he towered over all of them, Jim included. The troll wore no clothes but had a massive, mossy mane running down his back, growing into his beard and covering his chest as well. Ears were long and floppy, a dark snout with vertical slit nostrils in place of his nose. But despite his...disconcerting size, the troll's expression was gentle. Green eyes radiating calm as he stepped clear of the arch, bending his arms to lean down to look at them something closer to eye to eye.

“Welcome back,” he rumbled in a low, gravely voice.

Toby stepped up to the troll without hesitation, giving Barbara heart palpitations “Good to be back big guy,”

Meanwhile Barbara was still trying to figure out how to make her voice work, neck craning from looking up at the troll. Who it should be noted, was bending down.

So this was what Jim meant by ‘little guy’.

“Mom?” a gentle tap on her shoulder pulled her back down to earth “You ok?”

“Y– yes I’m fine,”

The big troll let out a rumble, turning and inclining his head towards the still glowing archway “Come, AAARRRGGHH will show,”

Still reeling, and trying to get her heart rate back into the resting range, Barbara let out a small cough to get the troll's attention “Umm… sorry but what’s an Arrrgh?”

The troll raised a finger to point towards himself “AAARRRGGHH is AAARRRGGHH,”

So it looked like this…troll’s name was AAARRRGGHH, that made as much sense as everything else.

“Well thanks for the showing us the way AAARRRGGHH,” Darci strolled into the cave like this was entirely normal, the others following after a few moments later.

Barbara swallowed hard, fought back thousands of years of instinct in the back of her mind screaming at her to take the kids and flee far away from stone creatures and dark caves back to where there was light and crowds, and picked up her feet, following them into the unknown. She couldn't quite smother the flinch when the cave door reassembled behind her, sealing the exit.

Oh god what was she doing, there was no way out and no one knew where they were. She was one woman alone against an unfathomable number of trolls, and from the look of them one would be enough to overpower her with no effort at all. She needed to get out now, grab the kids, find the nearest exit, run before--

Barbara stopped in her tracks, netting her hands together and pressing them over her stomach, forcing her breathing to stay even. She ran through the various symptoms and stages of organ failure in her head until her breath was under control. Her heart was still speeding but it was no longer galloping. Her moment of panic had been brief enough the others hadn't noticed, trailing only a few feet behind them.

She needed to focus, even if her panic was justified this was the absolute last place to lose her head. And she shouldn't let her preconceived biases color her perception. The...people here had helped the kids, given them shelter and protected them from the troll that had tried to harm them.

So they were gigantic and made of rock, so what? Jim was the same and he was one of the sweetest, most harmless people she knew. Heck, for all she knew trolls considered them scary.

Uh oh, she'd fallen too far behind. A large gap had formed between her and the rest of the group, Jim had stopped and turned and was staring after her concerned, Darci had noticed and was now doing the same. It was only a matter of time until the rest of the kids took notice of her hesitation, then AAARRRGGHH surely would.

Barbara flashed Jim the most reassuring smile she could manage and hurried to catch up with them. Jim and Darci didn't quite look convinced, but they turned back and kept moving. The seven of them heading deeper into the earth.

But even though they were underground it wasn’t dark, a cool blue glow came from ahead. Following AAARRRGGHH they approached the source of the light. A glowing crystal staircase carved into the bedrock leading down into depths unknown.

Barbara was not thrilled at the idea of going even deeper underground than they already were, but AAARRRGGHH had already started to descend, the kids right behind him. And with how steep the stairs were if she didn’t close the distance between them now she’d end up falling behind.

And as much as she did not want to go down there, the thought of abandoning the kids to the unknown was even less appealing.

Acutely aware of the pounding of her heart, Barbara took a deep breath, then lowered her foot to the first step.

The descent wasn’t an easy one, the stairs were steep and so far apart she had to tread carefully to avoid slipping and twisting a leg. They were clearly made with larger creatures in mind. And now matter which angle she twisted and peeked at, she couldn't see how far down they went.

She snuck another glance at AAARRRGGHH, who was traversing the stairs with no trouble. Only this time she noticed something she'd overlooked before. AAARRRGGHH's feet and legs were tiny. Both compared to her own and in proportion with the rest of his body. From head to toe his legs only made up one third of his body length, maybe less. Compared to his arms they were even tinier. His feet were an unusual shape to, small and rounded with only three visible toes.

This made sense with his gorilla-like gait and posture, but it was a radical difference from Jim's own anatomy. While Jim did have the horns, tusks, and stone skin this other troll did, his proportions were human, or at least similar enough that Barbara had never noticed a difference.

Come to think of it there were other differences, AAARRRGGHH's ears, the shape and placement of his...snout she supposed, the markings on his chest and arms, she hadn't been able to get a good look at his hands but AAARRRGGHH's seemed to have fewer fingers. And it was stumpy but he had a small tail as well.

Jim was human shaped with stone skin, horns, and tusks. But AAARRRGGHH was something else entirely. Was Jim's shape the 'norm' for trolls or was AAARRRGGHH's? Or were trolls so varied in their body types that they didn't have a norm as she would understand it?

Barbara was so caught up in speculative anatomy that it came as a surprise when they reached the bottom of the stairs, a large arch ahead of them with more light pouring in.

AAARRRGGHH’s silhouette blocked off most of the entryway, preventing her from seeing what lay ahead “Stay close,” he rumbled, heading through into the beyond.

She and the kids stepped after him, trading a narrow stone cavern for a much more open space. Barbara blinking in the sudden brightness, as her vision cleared shock slowed her footsteps, until Barbara was standing there frozen, gaping at the sight unfolding in front of her.

When the kids had told her about an underground city the first image that popped into her mind was of homeless encampments in abandoned subway tunnels that she remembered watching on the news as a kid. Given that they’d also said it was a ‘magical’ underground city, she knew the reality was probably a bit more polished than her knee jerk impression.

But nothing her imagination could have dreamed up could have ever prepared her for what laid ahead of her.

They were standing in an absolutely massive cavern, so large that she felt a little exposed despite being underground, an entire metropolis sprawled out before them. The city had been carved and built from the bedrock of the cavern itself. Stone dwellings stacked up in hive like clusters of varying sizes, some clinging to the the sides of the cavern wall itself, only discernible by the glow of their windows in the distance. The entire cavern was alight with color, blue and purple crystals clinging to the walls and scattered between buildings, filling the space with cool light. Smaller, paler crystals stood atop narrow stone columns and tucked into the corners of buildings like crystalline streetlights. Which was probably exactly what they were. Rock and crystal where overwhelmingly dominant, but a second glance revealed pops of fabric and wood. A wheelbarrow, a purple tent, stacks of baskets and multicolored awnings. A rainbow of colors scattered across gray stone.

But what took her breath away was the people.

Dozens of them, maybe hundreds, more than she could count, milling in and around the carved out buildings and through the stone cobbled streets. Stone skin of various colors. Some built thick and stocky, others wiry and slender. Horns of all shapes and sizes, some even in clusters of two or three. One eye, two or three, extra limbs and digitigrade legs. Clothing was varied, some were as naked as AAARRRGGHH, some wore kilts with no shirt, some wore shirts with no pants. And while most of them were certainly bigger than Jim she was relieved to see that AAARRRGGHH seemed to be as big as they got. No two were the same, but each and every one of them was like Jim–

Barbara couldn't move, standing there absolutely stupefied, her heartbeat high and fluttering as she gazed out at the vast city before her.

This...all of this was right beneath their feet for the past ten years, this whole time...

A hand on her shoulder snapped her out of it.

“You doing ok I know all this...." Jim stretched out an arm and gestured towards the mystical stone metropolis in front of them "Can be…a lot,”

Barbara recovered and laid her hand over Jim's, squeezing his armored fingers while glancing up at him with a smile “It is...quite an adjustment, but I'm ok, let’s keep going,”

AAARRRGGHH led them down one of the narrow streets winding between the buildings, trading open space for a crowded corridor. Shops and stalls lined either side of them, positively bustling with activity. One troll dumped a cartful of light bulbs into another's barrel, another ladled out bowlfuls of a thick steaming steaming something to the trolls who were lined up in front of a massive cauldron, two trolls shouting at each other in a guttural language that was certainly not english, the subject of the argument appeared to be an old staticy television of all things tucked under one of the pair's arms, off to the side in one booth a troll leaned over a seated troll with-- Wait was that a chisel?

Apparently the markings on AAARRRGGHH's chest and arms weren't a natural pattern.

There was so much going on, so many different sights and sounds and smells. Despite knowing how decidedly not safe it would be to do so, part of Barbara itched to break off from the group, explore all the new, fascinating things around them.

A quick glance at the kids ahead of her told her they were feeling the same way. They were all glancing around with stars in their eyes, darting this way and that to get a closer look at whatever had grabbed their attention.

"What kind of skulls are those!"

"Hang on I think there's an apothecary over there--"

"Have you guys seen this embroidery!" Mary's phone was in her hand taking a near constant stream of photos.

"Can I live down here I totally want to live down here..."

Without even realizing it they were drifting farther and farther away from each other, a space growing between them and AAARRRGGHH as they fell behind. And their heads weren't the only ones turning...

The troll by the cauldron had dropped his ladle and was gaping at them in wide eyed shock, the troll being chiseled grabbed the chiseler's arm, pointing at their group while letting off a rapid fire of that same guttural speech. The two trolls who had been arguing over the tv stopped shouting to turn and stare, both their faces twisted with matching expressions of rage--

The observation sobered her in an instant, Barbara was suddenly very keenly aware of the growing distance between each of them and their escort. She quickly rushed forward and grasped Claire by the elbow, gently but firmly pulling her away from the table full of crystal carvings and back towards the center of the street.

"Come on kids let's try to stay together, we've got a schedule to keep,"

She strode over and reached up to grab Jim by the shoulder from where he was staring at the chiseler's booth.

"That means you to kiddo,"

Jim grinned sheepishly and followed her back towards the center of the street "Right, sorry,"

Barbara quickly corralled the others, Toby grumbled a little bit but Mary was easy because she was to busy taking pictures to protest, Claire having herded Darci back in while she was busy with the others. Once all six of them were gathered together again Barbara hurried them along as urgently as she could without slipping into outright panic, making a concerted goal to keep all the kids close and close the gap between them and AAARRRGGHH.

Only when AAARRRGGHH was a mere six feet ahead of them did Barbara risk a glance at the trolls around them.

They were still turning more than a few heads, but fortunately the predominant emotion seemed to be abject shock instead of hostility.

Still not ideal but Barbara would take what she could get.

Eventually their street opened up into a wide courtyard, ahead of them was a set of steps leading up to a larger cave dwelling, stepping off the street and into the building, following AAARRRGGHH down a narrow hall lit with small orange crystals embedded in the stone.

They followed him through narrow twists and turns until they reached a room that was entirely made of the same orange crystal as the hallway lamps. It wasn't as impressive as the view of the cityscape, but it still took Barbara's breath away. The entire space seemed to glow with the warm light of the crystals surrounding them, giving the room a cozy atmosphere. Still, as comfortable as it looked she couldn't afford to get swept up and drop her guard.

She adjusted her glasses and flicked her gaze from side to side, surveying the large room. Barbara's best guess was that this space was some sort of workshop. There were a few desks and what appeared to be workbenches scattered about, their surfaces littered with tools ranging from recognizable to completely foreign.

But most importantly, the room was occupied.

Standing at the largest table were two trolls, a smaller blue one with six eyes and four arms, this must have been Blinky, and a taller pale one. Both of them turning and standing at attention at their arrival.

Barbara wasn’t quite sure how trolls aged, she lacked the context and the wide field of background knowledge to make any conclusions about the ages of any trolls she saw. But if she had to hazard a guess she'd say the troll next to Blinky was an older one. His mane and beard were snow white and hung nearly all the way down to his kilt; large, twisting horns grew out of either side of his head, larger than both Jim's and AAARRRGGHH's. He was holding a large cane– staff? That appeared to be made from the same crystal as the room.

His eyes were completely milked over, no discernible iris or pupil, if Barbara had seen that in a human she would have assumed they were blind, but there was nothing unseeing about the shrewd way those pale eyes narrowed, the troll they belonged to briskly striding towards them.

“Oh wonderful, more humans, why even bother with secrecy anymore? Why not invite the entire city down for the next festival,”

Toby perked up “Really?”

The old troll shot him a sour look that silenced Toby in an instant.

Barbara dug her fingers into her palms and fought the urge to fidget. She was nervous-- scratch that she was terrified. They were way out of their depth here and the slightest misstep could land them in serious trouble. But running away wasn't an option, both physically and personally. This was the closest they've ever been to real answers, about what Jim was and what happened to him, and Barbara needed to see this through, and she owed it to Jim and the other kids to take the lead.

Forcing herself to move, Barbara approached the older troll “Pardon me, I know our presence is an intrusion in your...city, but as Jim’s mother I–”

Several pairs of rapidly blinking eyes over a wide grinning mouth filled her vison, Barbara jerking and taking an involuntary step back.

“Our Trollhunter’s mother! Bah-buh-rah!” Blinky rushed up to her, Barbara only barely managing to squash the urge to scramble back away from him “You must be so proud! Please let me know if there is anything we can do to accommodate your stay in our humble market,”

Barbara somehow found the wherewithal to nod back "Th-- thank you, Blinky right?"

Impossibly Blinky's grin got even wider "Indeed, I am Blinky, principal scholar and librarian of Trollmarket, and it is my honor to welcome you and your party to our fair market,"

From out of nowhere Blinky started vigorously waving all four of his arms.

The action was so out of nowhere Barbara could only blink back at him. Could trolls...fly? Because that seemed to be what Blinky was trying to do.

“Umm…what are you doing?” Mary spoke up.

Blinky paused, arms still splayed out midair “Is not shaking hands the traditional human greeting?”

From behind she heard Toby let out a chuckle "He's a little confused but he's got the spirit,"

Meanwhile Barbara managed to fight back a very inappropriate laugh and compose herself, Blinky might have some...misconceptions about human culture, but he was friendly and seemed to be happy to have them here. And right now that was immeasurably valuable.

“Thank you for the greeting Blinky,”

The blue troll practically glowed with happiness, Barbara managed to smile back as she stepped around him to look back up at the old troll “And I understand that all of us being here makes things more complicated, but Jim is involved, and as his mother I have a right to know what is going on mister...”

"I am known as Vendel," the older troll tapped his staff on the ground "Elder of Trollmarket, the one responsible for dealing with this mess your son and his companions of have caused,"

The words were spoken with no small amount of exasperation, but Vendel still turned and gestured for them to follow as he approached a desk.

Still not ideal but Barbara would take what she could get here. She stepped up to the desk, hearing the soft scuffle of sneakers on stone, along with the distinctive click of metal, as the kids followed her “Now from what Jim told me, I understand that this amulet--"

Her eyes flickered over to Jim hovering just over her shoulder, amulet still affixed to his chest, ticking softly.

"Chose him as this 'Trollhunter'. What exactly does that mean?”

Vendel let out a heavy breath, flipping open a book and pushing it towards them, Barbara got up as close as she could, the kids crowding in on either side, all six of them pressed up against the table staring down at the opened book. The book looked to be bound with actual leather, the pages velvety parchment, so heavy and large it clearly wasn't made with human hands in mind. The page it was opened to showed an inked illustration of a line up of several trolls, there was writing as well in a runic language Barbara didn't recognize. The trolls pictured were of various shapes and sizes, but all wearing silver armor--

Her breath caught in her throat, gaze flickering over to Jim then back down at the book. Not just any armor, Jim's armor. And now that she knew what to look for she could spot the same amulet on each of the armored trolls as well.

“The Trollhunter is the guardian and protector of all Trollkind," Vendel reached over and tapped the page directly above the picture of a stocky troll with twisting, branch like horns "Our sacred champion, part of a legacy stretching back thousands of years,"

"Ok I gotta ask," Mary shouldered past Barbara and leaned forward over the table, snapping a few pictures of the open book with her phone "What's with the name? So I get that this amulet chooses your new Batman or whatever, but why do you call them the Trollhunter? For you guys that sounds more like some kind of supervillain name,"

Vendel's expression puckered but before he could speak up Blinky popped up beside him.

"I can answer that, you see the name ‘Trollhunter’ is a bit of a mistranslation, the closest this tongue can manage. In common trollish the name is closer to 'The Troll who Hunts' or ‘The Troll who is the Hunter’,”

“So this Trollhunter…” Claire reached over, thumbing the edge of the page “This amulet...chooses them?”

“Correct,” Vendel reached over and flipped the page she was fondling. Now the book showed a close up illustration of Jim's amulet, the Trollhunter's amulet, surrounded by captions and notes in the same runic script.

“The amulet is a mystical artifact, crafted by Merlin and given to the first chosen hunter, Gorgus the Great nearly ten millennia past. It can be used to summon the daylight armor, and selects the new bearer of the mantle when the previous holder falls,”

Barbara traced her finger over the inked illustration of the amulet. It sounded like once this Trollhunter...died, the amulet would pick a new one, which was how it made its way to Jim. Which it could do because it was...magical. Barbara had questions about that, a lot of questions, but there were far more pressing matters right now so she'd save those for a later--

Abruptly Vendel pulled the book away and leaned down sharply, piercing all of them with a shrewd gaze.

“I have answered your questions, now you must answer one of mine,” Vendel briskly strode around the bench towards Jim, milky gaze boring into him “You claim to be human, so how is it that you can change your shape between human and troll?”

“Oh yeah, that,” Jim took a hesitant step towards him “Well I started out as completely human, like 24/7 365, then when I was little…I fell into a potion. Ever since then I change into this," he gestured towards himself "Every sunset, plus when I go underground, and if I get hit with uv light while I'm a...troll I guess, it turns be back human, otherwise I change back at sunrise,”

Vendel leaned in closer, his face only inches apart from Jim's, staring him square in the eye, making Jim shift uncomfortably. Part of Barbara itched to intervene, but things didn't seem dangerous just quite yet, and butting right now could very well do more harm than good.

Several moments of uncomfortable silence Vendel leaned back, shutting his eyes and letting out a soft breath, Barbara wasn't certain but it almost sounded like he was sighing in relief.

“Alright then,” Vendel moved back around to the other side of the workbench, one hand gripping his staff the other folded behind his back “The amulet has never chosen a human as its champion before, and Trollmarket cannot know the truth, such an unprecedented choice for their protector would spark untold panic and confusion. Therefore what we will tell the masses is that you,” Vendel jabbed a finger in Jim’s direction “Are the child of surface wandering exiles, and you sought out Trollmarket after the amulet chose you,”

Jim slowly nodded “Ok…”

“You will return here each night for your training, and your human companions will not.”

For the first time since coming down here Barbara allowed a frown to break through her composure, squaring her shoulders and reaching up to readjust her glasses while shifting her gaze towards Vendel.

She needed her vision sharp if she was going to be staring any of these trolls down.

“Um yeah, no way.” Claire perched her hands on her hips.

“You can’t just dangle trolls and a magical underground city in front of us and expect us to just walk away,” Toby said, throwing out his hands in exasperation.

Jim stepped to the front of the group and folded his arms “Yeah my gang and I are a package deal. Take it or leave it,”

Barbara sidestepped Jim and put herself in front of the group, raising her head to look Vendel in the eye, trying hard not to think about just how much bigger he was than her “And I don’t care what you or some amulet have to say about it. If my son is involved here then so am I,”

Vendel pinched his brow again and muttered something guttural, completely unlike english, before clearing his throat and scowling down at them "You know not what you ask. We are an old race, proud, slow to change. Humans have never been permitted to tread within our protected halls, and allowing so now, especially when our Trollhunter has their own...irregularity, would incite unimaginable chaos!"

Barbara folded her arms and narrowed her eyes "So your solution is to place the entirety of the burden of this cultural discrepancy on my son, who might I remind you, is a child!"

Vendel blinked back at her owlishly, all traces of grouchiness on his face replaced with abject surprise. He glanced backwards towards Blinky, who glanced over at AAARRRGGHH. The three shared a look, a silent conversation.

"Hey I turn sixteen next month..." Jim mumbled from behind her.

Barbara sucked in a breath through her nose and bit back the many more, far less polite, words in the back of her throat.

She needed to keep her cool here, there was nothing to be gained by being snippy, even if she was one hundred percent in the right. Blinky and AAARRRGGHH seemed friendly, and while Vendel was decidedly less so, he came off as more frustrated at the situation than hostile towards them. She had no reason to believe these trolls were her enemies, and nothing to gain by treating them as such.

"Look I understand this whole situation is less than ideal," Barbara risked a step towards Vendel "But the fact of the matter is, if my son is involved, then so am I. That is nonnegotiable."

"Yeah us to!" Toby piped up "Team sidekick is here to stay!"

"Ok we're not calling ourselves that," Mary groused.

In the interest of presenting a united front to the trolls Barbara didn't voice her own opinions on that particular matter.

Vendel held her gaze for the longest time, before slumping forward onto his walking staff with a sigh "Very well, you shall remain, both tonight and continuing on. But it is clear we have much to discuss, and you cannot wander around the market unescorted. Blinkous?"

Blinky-- or Blinkous it seemed, perked up at Vendel's words "Yes?"

"You and AAARRRGGHH will lead our Trollhunter and his companions through the market. Look after them and show our new hunter exactly what it is he shall fight for and protect. Bah-buh-rah and I shall remain here to discuss how we are to proceed going into the future,"

Vendel paused and glanced towards her "Of course, only if this arrangement is agreeable to you,"

Barbara let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. Cooperation. Collaboration. Compromise. Maybe things weren't as overwhelmingly impossible as she thought.

"Yes that would be fine,"

If Blinky looked happy before he was practically radiant now "Splendid!" he clapped both sets of hands together "The chance to show newcomers, humans who've never before seen the marvels of trollkind, the glory of Trollmarket-- I would be delighted! Oh we simply must stop by my library first--"

"Hang on are we getting a tour?" Claire grinned and hurried over to Blinky "Because I would love a tour!"

Jim frowned and glanced towards Barbara "But we'd be leaving you by yourself here..."

Barbara smiled back at him and tried to project a calm she didn't feel. The thought of Jim or any of the kids leaving her sight in this strange underground place made her stomach twist. But like it or not she couldn't protect them from everything down here, and they needed to indulge the trolls in the little bit of trust they'd earned. These trolls had saved them and given them sanctuary once, if Blinky said he'd look after them she believed him. There was still a lot she didn't know about trolls or this troll-hunting business, but her gut instincts, something she'd always relied on to keep her and Jim safe, were telling her that AAARRRGGHH, Blinky, and Vendel didn't mean them any harm.

"I'll be perfectly safe discussing things with Vendel. You and your friends go take a look around, just remember to stay together and stay close to Blinky,"

Jim slumped his armored shoulders, wringing his hands together "It's just...I'm worried..."

"I give you my solemn oath as the principal elder of Trollmarket," Vendel moved closer, crystal staff clicking against the stone floor "Bah-buh-rah shall come to no harm this night, I will protect her with my own stone and my own life if need be,"

"See there you go," Barbara gave Jim the sunniest expression she could manage "Go, explore, you and your friends get the lay of the land. And don't forget it's my job to worry about you, not the other way around,"

"Come on Jim!" Toby called over from where he and the girls were gathered by the entrance to the cave with Blinky and AAARRRGGHH, practically bouncing on his heels "We're getting a tour of the magical troll city!"

Jim's gaze flickered back and forth between him and Barbara, only stilled by her hand on his cheek.

"Go, I'll be fine. Vendel promised, and I'm promising to,"

Jim held her gaze, his expression deeply conflicted, before nodding his head, patting her fingers with his own before pulling away. He strode towards the entrance where the others were waiting, soon quickly enfolded in their excitement at the idea of exploration. The seven of them heading out of the tunnel and out of sight.

Barbara forced herself to turn away from the hall and back towards Vendel "Thank you for accommodating us, I know dealing with all this must be difficult for you,"

Vendel nodded his head in acknowledgment "I imagine this hasn't been easy for you as well," he moved back towards the largest desk and gestured for her to follow "But while circumstances are far from ideal for both of us, it is clear that we are far better off as allies than adversaries,"

He turned to face her across the work table, laying one hand down on the table "We do have a great deal to discuss regarding our Trollhunter-- your son's new role, but I must insist that we begin with another subject,"

He gestured for Barbara to take a seat at a bench alongside the worktable, she did so with only a slight bit of difficulty, feet dangling high above the floor, while Vendel did the same across from her.

"The circumstances of young Jim's transformation, the potion that altered him. I wish to know every detail, no matter how minute. I speak without exaggeration when I say that this knowledge is of dire importance for his future within Trollmarket,"

A sudden lump appeared in Barbara's throat. Discussing her greatest shame with someone she'd met all of ten minutes ago was the last thing she wanted to do, even coming after following a troll to his hidden underground city. But Vendel was right, this was absolutely relevant, and he didn't strike her was the type to exaggerate. If Vendel said this was critically important she believed him. Of course it didn't make the prospect any more appealing...

But how else was she supposed to get explanations, answers, a cure? The only way out of this was forward, and trust ran two ways...

Barbara cleared her throat "Of-- of course. I'll tell you everything, but there's quite a bit to go over to give you the full context,"

Vendel nodded and gave her his full gaze "Speak your story in its entirety and I will hold my questions until you've finished,"

She nodded once more in acknowledgement then spoke up before she could loose her nerve "I guess this all started a little over ten years ago, with my ex husband..."

[institute-of-planar-shitposts]

"...have any questions?" the Director asks as she finishes informing the brand new Reclaimers of what their new job will entail, as well as the fee she'd just had Davenport pay them.

"I've got one," Taako offers. "As far as we know, is there a bad Bureau of Balance?"

"A Bureau of Imbalance?" Magnus adds, grinning as he nods.

"Just general bad guys?" Merle agrees.

The Director exhales. "Of sorts, yes. To the best of our knowledge, the group that created the Grand Relics, known as the Red Robes for the bright crimson robes they were known for, are all but gone. The Red Robes were a group of powerful wizards, warlocks, and other magic users, and they created the eight relics according to the school they had the most affinity for. If you ever run into any of them, it's imperative you run away."

"So they're still around, then?" Merle checks.

"Most of them are not, no."

"Sooo, again, they're still around?" Taako says, raising an eyebrow.

The Director looks between them, her gaze measured. "I suppose I shouldn't hide it from you, as Reclaimers," she decides. "I'm telling the truth - most of the Red Robes are no longer in existence. The entire Bureau knows about them, and the standing order to run, but due to the danger it poses, few know about the greater threat."

"And that is...?" Magnus gestures for her to continue.

"The story of the Red Robes isn't well known to most of the world," she says, getting up to look out a window. "Of course, that's partially due to the Voidfish. As I'd told you before, the only way to stop the war for the relics was to make the world forget, and that included what was already well-known about the group. I only have what knowledge I've been able to piece together about them. On their own, they're dangerous enough. That said, there's a threat to this world that's greater than the Red Robes.

"In the bits and pieces I've heard, there's a reason this group fell. The Grand Relics, once word spread of their power, were highly sought after. The Red Robes tried to hide them, but gradually lost each item they'd created. One of them became enraged over their loss, and decided to take matters into her own hands. The destruction of the group was due to this being turning on the rest. She was crazed, determined to recover what they'd lost by any means necessary, even if that meant taking out the rest of the Red Robes.

"The rumors about this being say that she's a warlock to something with power never seen otherwise on this plane, and that she causes destruction wherever she goes as she searches for the Grand Relics. I don't know how much of this is true," the Director adds, turning back to the new Reclaimers. "What I do know, however, is I've encountered someone who matches her description, and she is indeed bent on reclaiming the relics, no matter the cost. She's been named the Black Opal."

"'The Black Opal'? Isn't that a Goosebumps story or something?" Merle frowns.

"I think it's a separate series," Magnus disagrees.

"And it's called the Black Lagoon," Taako adds, snorting. "You know, creatures of?"

"Oh. Is that where the name came from?" Merle blinks.

The Director looks like she's resisting the urge to drag a hand down her face. "No. Black opal is a gemstone," she answers. "I hope you never have to meet her, but if you did, you'd understand why she's been called such."

"Is she made of the stuff or something?" Taako snorts.

"Or something," she confirms, expression grim. "It's impossible to know exactly what that substance is, but that gemstone is the closest description I can give. If you ever run into the Black Opal - and again, I dearly, dearly hope you never do - you must run as fast and far as you can. I don't want to risk losing anyone to her mad destruction."

"I'm sure we could take her," Magnus argues.

"No," the Director says forcefully. "Your direct orders are to run, if you ever see her. That's it. Do not engage, do not try to reason with her. Run."

"Okay, okay," Taako says, waving a hand. "We get it, we see the spooky robe, we run. You talked about a gachapon thing earlier, can we get going?"

She scrutinizes each of them for a long moment before exhaling. "So long as you've truly etched that command into your brains, then yes," she replies, sitting back at her desk. "Davenport will show you how to get there."

[liss-art]

Naruto adoration post!

[battle-of-the-jrwi-aus]

Wanna see what these aus about? See the summaries and check the tags for the posts! I reblog every piece of propaganda I'm @'d in!

Sunshine au

Poketide au

[bombfuse]

Oh yeah this was an old concept for the SUNSHINE au

[pumpkinnning]

hi I wrote something else to give myself a break from the winter madness, it's a short and summery sebchal one shot in which they're also magicians but a lot happier :

sunshine, starflowers, salamander root

enjoy 🌱☀️🛸

[wings-of-flying]

some more random sunshine au (edyn swaps with gill) things before i go sleep cause my mind is going feral rn:

chip stays a bit of a bastard throughout and his real true bastard arc lasts a little longer cause edyn isn't as focused on morality as gill

edyn fully believes niklaus is just a good guy trying to help out until like the desire island and edison stuff is revealed

cause edyn's quite a bit older than the guys, especially chip, they worry she's gonna take the role as leader (and by they worry i mean chip worries) but she's actually fine not being the captain. she doesn't even really want to be a pirate at first, but then she's sort of won over to the idea. they still all become co-captains in the edison arc

whilst edyn is quite protective of ollie, she doesn't particularly mind about chip keeping him along for so long cause she's more focused on find out what's happening with gill, with the navy and with her being the sun champion

felipe ends up hating chip after chip pulled from the deck of many things. same sort stuff happens, except he leaves earlier cause chip isn't taking no shit

edyn sketches all the time and ends up drawing all the crew members. to begin with she draws chip slightly wrong and exaggerates his annoyingness cause she lowkey doesn't like him, but after a while she stops with that. she draws gillion sometimes, but only rarely cause it's painful thinking about all the ways she's failed him. she draws jay the most

[stereoqueen]

sunshine - pt2 - l.hughes

summary: luke runs into a coffee shop before morning skate, semi-hoping that hallie is there like old times.

< previous > < next >

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

"Where you going, Rusty?" Jack's voice echoes through their apartment as Luke shakes his head, picking up his bag. "To morning skate, where else would I be going on Sunday?" He replies as his brother pulls a protein shake out of the fridge. "I've never seen you up this early for a morning skate," Jack says quizzically. Luke shrugs, walking out the door, "See ya!"

The drive to the practice facility was making him nervous. Nervous enough to drive in silence and drown his thoughts. Luke was never known to be an anxious guy, especially over girls. The fact that he could see her again and it would be real…. heightened his anxiety. The internet portrayed him in two ways -- the younger brother who has a lot on his shoulders: cute, quiet, and kept to himself; or the wildcard brother: cocky, arrogant, not Quinn and not Jack. Both sides had one thing in common: no public relationships.

In all honesty, he was a mix. He liked his quiet time; he was kinda reserved, but he was also headstrong, knew he could play better, and had big shoes to fill. The only person who really knew his love life was his best friend, Dylan. Sure, he tried to date a few girls in college, but they either wanted to date him to get to his brothers or just use him for his reputation on campus. That's where the "womanizer" branding came from; Jack's reputation also helped solidify it. He was hoping Hallie didn't know about it so he could have a fair shot-- or just didn't care.

Pulling into the practice facility garage, he decided to man up and go to the coffee shop across the street. He was over 45 minutes early before he had to change into his gear.

If she was there, he would work up the courage and talk to her.

If she was not there, he would get the coffee and get ready insanely early.

He exited his BMW, walked through the garage and across the street. The coffee shop's main windows had seating, and he could see her stuff through the window. He opened the door, and the dinging of the bell rang through his head like deja vu when he entered the small shop.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Hallie was in line, trying to read the menu to see if they had her signature coconut syrup to put into her latte. She got up super early since it was her first morning practice because she had never been to the training facility before (and would rather die of embarrassment than be late). When she parked, she realized that there was a coffee shop across the way as her saving grace for getting there insanely early.

The coffee shop was adorable. Sage green walls, greenery falling down them, and flowers everywhere. She felt transported back to her hometown coffee shop when she stepped up to order. Feeling a presence behind her, she slowly felt it creeping closer. Starting to tense up, she immediately let her guard down when she smelt the cologne next to her.

"What can I get you both today?" The barista asks as Hallie smiles at them.

"Two iced coconut lattes, please," Luke's voice rings through her ears as she hears the order -- he remembered her order. Hallie nods. "And a cinnamon bun, too," she adds and hears Luke lightly laugh.

"That'll be $12.50," The barista says as Hallie starts to pull out her card.

"Absolutely not, sunshine," Luke mutters near her ear as he reaches around her to pay. His arm curls around her waist to reach the card reader, causing Hallie to try not to melt at the feeling.

The two separate as Luke follows her lead to sit back at the table where she has her stuff. She takes the booth as he takes the chair, the two giving light smiles at each other, comfortable silence engulfing them.

"You remembered," She said, cutting the silence off.

"Remembered what? You? Or the way you take your coffee?" He questioned, a teasing smirk on his face. The answer was cut off short as he got up to get the order, hearing the barista say his name.

"Damn, he's good," She said to herself. She studied him as he walked back. He was wearing a red Devils sweatshirt with his number on the arm, grey sweatpants, and a black backwards hat hiding his curls. He looked good, handsome in her eyes.

"You surprised I remember things about you or something?" Luke asked her as he sat the order down and then himself. She shrugged, "It's been a while since I last saw you, Hughes,"

"Oh low blow, not even Hughesy? No nickname?" He teased as she laughed.

"When were you going to tell me that you not only moved here but work for the NHL?" Luke asked as she took a sip of her iced latte. "I was going to, honestly, I just--" She cut herself off as she felt her phone vibrate.

Trevor: Have you talked with Hughes yet?

Luke's eyes flicker down to her phone. Who the hell is Trevor, and how does he know about him? A hint of jealously resides in him. It goes away when her looks back up at her. His curiosity about Trevor subsided as he really took in her face. She had light freckles on her cheeks, three sets of earrings in her ears that were all gold, and her lips were perfectly arched with liner, making them look so kissable-----

"Sorry, my nosey friend. I was trying to say that I was going to but was afraid you wouldn't remember me, Mr. Big Leagues." She said, snapping him back into the conversation.

He gave her a soft smile. "You were the only person on staff I enjoyed talking to; you were pretty." His sentence stops as she giggles. "Pretty memorable! I mean, you are pretty, but you know what? I am going to stop while I am ahead. I need this caffeine." He says, rambling, then cutting himself off to stop the embarrassment.

"Don't get all shy on me now, Lu," Hallie tells him, nudging his hand with hers. He normally hated that nickname until now. She picks up her fork to cut a piece of the cinnamon roll, plopping it in her mouth.

"So, you work for the Devils specifically now or..." Luke baits, hoping she doesn't have a crazy clause in her contract about dating players if she did work for just the Devils.

"My role is under Emily Kaplan. She's my boss. We work for ESPN and then go kind of wherever the network needs us. I'm currently working with Metro division teams. My time recently has been split between New York and New Jersey. I then write some articles if needed, but it's rare since I’m newer," She explains as he intently listens. He takes in everything: her voice, how she is talking with her hands, how her eyes crinkle up, how animated her expressions are.

“That’s amazing. I’m glad you’re here. I mean, you deserve it after how hard you worked at Umich. But I’m glad that you’re specifically here….” He trails off, stealing a piece of cinnamon bun. “Don’t tell Keefe or Nico I had sweets,” He mumbles as Hallie stirs her coffee.

“Your secrets are safe with me. I— I’m glad that I was memorable for you. You were definitely memorable for me,” She tells him, as he quirks a brow towards her.

“Really? In what way, Sunshine?” He asks, teasingly, hoping to get something more out of her.

“Well your cellys for one. The violin celly is still one of the best ones I’ve ever seen. I remember you running from the media girls all the time like toddler with Duker. The amount of times Gab had to convince me to convince you to answer the damn questions. Speaking of questions, my favorite— the if it could rain anything you wanted, what would it be. You were so sassy in that and I just found it so endearing,” Hallie rambles as Luke cracks a smile.

“I thought those questions were so dumb sometimes. The rain one is true! I would want it to flood everyday so I didn’t have to go to class. I did like the kitchen utensil question — I still think I’d be a machete,” He says, earning a smile from Hallie.

“Luke, you wouldn’t hurt a fly, a machete is very unlike you! Mr. I don’t fight I’m too scared,” She retorted in a different voice, impersonating him as he laughed. “Yeah….. I think I would be like a spoon or something,” He said, them both laughing as he took a sip of coffee.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

The pair had caught up for the full 45 minutes before morning skate. Hallie eating most of the cinnamon roll with small slivers left for Luke. It was nice, refreshing even, to catch up. Hallie never lied, she wasn’t very close to him in college, it would be unprofessional.

But, since she technically doesn’t directly work for the Devils…… her mind opens up to the possibility. He was kind. He was the same Luke from almost 3 years ago; genuine, talkative, soft but in a manly way. She didn’t have a crush on him in college (even though she did find him attractive), but right now in this moment — she felt a spark.

“We should go before Amanda thinks you’re late,” Luke tells her as he picks up the plate. Hallie looks up to see him putting away the breakfast silverware and plate, and she stands up to get her stuff and pick up the coffees. It was almost domestic.

She meets him at the door, passing his coffee over to him as he opens the door. She looks back, smiles, “Thank you!” He looked into her honey brown eyes and felt the deja vu all over again from the first time he held the door almost three years ago. “No problem, sunshine.”

They walk to across the street to the arena together. He gave her a mini tour of the practice facility as she took mental notes of where everything was. She’d look up to see Luke looking at her when he spoke, and then she would look away to hide the pink on her cheeks.

“And to finish off the grand tour! This is where the torture… I mean media! happens,” Luke says jokingly as Hallie pokes his side. “Just because it’s torture for you doesn’t mean it’s not work for me!”

She sees Amanda walk up to them as Hallie moves away from him. Hoping it wasn’t noticeable to either of them.

“Hallie! I see that Rusty has shown you around the practice facility?” Amanda says, throwing a wink to Luke as he scratches the back of his neck. “I’m— I’m going to go, see you around, Hal,” He tells the two as Hallie waves him off. Small smile on her face as a new nickname is unlocked for both of them.

“Rusty? I got to know where that came from. But yeah, ran into each other in the parking lot and he wanted to show me around,” Hallie tells her coworker as Amanda leads them to watch practice.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Practice was relatively quick. 2 hours of talking, planning and figuring out the schedule for the upcoming week. It was nice to watch practice again, after a few week hiatus from not being able to watch the Rangers practice due to scheduling problems. She liked the family dynamic the Devils had. It was hard not to let her gaze linger onto his for too long. His skating had always been effortless and she loved to watch it in person. He was calm, collected, calculated on the ice.

Luke could feel her eyes on him while he skated. It gave him motivation to be better. When he walked into the locker room, the single guys talked about her after practice. “So, new reporter huh? She’s hot,” Dawson said, looking to Nico.

Nico, knowing of the little crush Luke had on the reporter from an inside source (JACK), decided to stir the pot. “Oh yeah. She’s gorgeous. Can’t wait for my interview, what about you Luke?” He questioned, and Luke gave a hard glare to the pair.

“She is— a friend. I don’t want her to become locker room talk,” Luke told them, jealousy laced in his voice.

“All right, I respect it. Is she single though?” Dawson asked as they packed up their stuff before heading to media.

Luke thought on his feet, not even thinking through his whole idea, “She’s not.”

Nico smirked, fist bumping Bratt as he passed by. “Oh really?” Luke shrugged, “Yeah, has had a boyfriend since college.” Dawson gave Luke a grin, causing Luke to tilt his head in confusion. “You just outted yourself big time bud, not only are you a bad liar, you are even worse at hiding your feelings. Better ask her out now before someone else does,” The guys laughed as Luke turned as shade of pink at the words.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

“Good job today Hallie, Nico appreciated your time.” Amanda told her as they walked to their cars. Hallie smiled, “Just doing my job. I’ll see ya on Wednesday? I have to go to MSG tomorrow and then I have Tuesday off before the two games later this week.”

“Sounds good. See you Wednesday!” Amanda says as she goes to her car.

Hallie gets into her car, happy that her first morning skate went smoothly. She pulls out of her spot and starts her drive home. Luke runs out into the garage to try and catch Hallie before she left. The guys made a solid point in the locker room and he needed to make a move, quick. But by the time he got to garage, her car was gone.

Now, he walked to his car. Getting inside and turning the key into the car, the radio played a song that he recognized from his times on the lake.

Springsteen by Eric Church.

He hummed the tune while pulling out of his parking spot to drive back to the apartment. Siri notified the car that Like got a text from Quinn, and read it out loud:

Quinn: Heard sunshine is back in your life… going to do anything about it? Or dance around it like the last time?

That was it, he was going to man up and make a bolder move, as soon as the next time he saw her.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

taglist: @dancerbailey3 @hwalllllllelujah @chiblackhawks @cosmichughes

[jarenka]

Jedi Council: Anakin Skywalker seriously overstepped his boundaries and also can't be a neutral party in negotiations because of his connection to a Naboo senator.

Anakin (complaining to everyone who is ready to listen): They think that's I am going to seduce and make babies with every politician I would work with! Even with male ones!

[boilingcoldtea]

✨self-promoting time✨

I have ao3 account where I definitely will post smth (maybe in English cause I'm forgetting russian grammar) after the semester ends. for now there're a short fivan romcom and a Darkolai с вайбами Мельницы. also there is an old acc I lost access to, where most of my works are: a few sunshine grindeldore things, a bunch of lil fluffy romance

secondly, I have twitter for shorter and more casual thoughts, usually in russian. I actually mainly post there

and now telegram to shitpost about one piece

[cablenskulls]

sketch of @fluoricburn's oc Nyce, with a Snapchat filter while he's talking to Jaro.

[rosemaidenvixen]

Between Daylight and Darkness

Chapter 8

<Previous Next>

Ao3

“So yeah that’s basically everything, you have any questions?”

Barbara sat in the driver’s seat, fingers locked around the steering wheel even though the keys were in her pocket. Staring out the windshield into the dark parking lot. Wondering exactly what choices she’d made in her life that had brought her here.

When she finally got back in contact with the kids after over an hour of radio silence they’d promised her a full explanation. Wanting both to hear that and reassure herself of their safety, Barbara had all but raced to the canal to pick them up. When she’d gotten there they requested that she stop at a parking lot so they could explain things in detail before she dropped them off at their homes.

She’d now been sitting in the back of the Walmart parking lot for well over an hour. Long enough for Mr. Scott to send a text querying when his daughter would be home.

She really shouldn’t leave him on Read for so long but honestly Barbara was still trying to put her brain back together.

“So…” she sucked in a deep breath and drummed her fingers on the wheel “You’re a troll…”

A single blue eye peered out of the trunk, peeking at her past the partially folded seat “Yep, that’s what I am alright,”

Barbara looked at him in the rearview mirror with her mouth pressed into a thin line. She still wasn’t thrilled about Jim riding in the car that way, but the fact remained that with all six of them there just weren’t enough seat belts to go around. And if they were in an accident Jim was the least likely to get hurt and the most likely to inadvertently hurt someone else. That and watching him tear his way out of the locked trunk of a junker last summer killed all her protests.

That was what her brain choosing to focus on instead of the many many very shocking things they’d all just told her. 

“So let me get this straight. Jim is a…troll. Another troll tried to…attack you…”

Another thing Barbara couldn’t let herself think about for too long without getting heart palpitations.

“Because that amulet you have belongs to the Troll…hunter, and you were saved by two other trolls that took you into an underground city full of trolls,”

“Yeah that’s what happened alright,” Mary mumbled.

Barbara didn’t say anything else, just kept straight ahead at the parking lot, brightly lit with streetlights, empty save for her car, two trucks, and a smart car. All of these ordinary things somehow existing in the same world as trolls and magic and underground cities and– oh what the hell, maybe unicorns to!?

She tightened her grip on the wheel and pulled in a deep breath through her nose, if she didn’t focus on her deep breathing she was going to scream.

God she wanted to call Rose right now.

Instead of voicing any of that she cleared her throat and only spoke when she was sure her voice would be even “So what exactly is this Troll-hunter, because if Jim and the…others are trolls does that mean Jim is supposed to…hunt them?”

“We’re not sure,” Claire spoke up from the back seat “When we showed them that Jim was human Blinky and the spiky troll started freaking out. So the old troll kinda chased us out the door. But he made us promise to come back tonight,”

“Ok,” Barbara let out a heavy breath, pinching the bridge of her nose to try and dispel the oncoming tension headache “Ok…”

“Mom?” Jim poked his head a little further out of the trunk “You ok?”

I’m the parent, you're the children, children who were nearly hunted down by an angry troll– Trolls, which are real apparently, I should be asking you that

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she turned back to face her passengers again “How are you all doing?”

Darci twidled her thumbs “Ok…ish,”

“Yeah okish pretty much sums it up,” Toby shifted in the passenger’s seat to face her “Really glad tall dark and spooky didn’t get us, but still kinda freaking out a bit inside. The whole learning about the secret society living right under our feet thing takes a bit to sink in,”

“We should get more answers tomorrow night,” Claire added.

Barbara pressed her lips together but said nothing. She didn’t like how the kids just assumed she’d let them all go back to the mysterious underground troll city.

Especially since right now she couldn’t come up with any good arguments to stop them.

“We can make plans for tomorrow night after we’ve all got some sleep,” Barbara pulled the keys out of her pocket and started the engine “Right now we need to get you kids home,”

They all either nodded or made sounds of assent at that.

“Remember guys,” Mary said loudly “Our cover story is we were hanging out at Jim’s place and lost track of time playing Go Go Sushi,”

“Got it,”

“Affirmative,”

“Understood,”

“Crystal clear,”

Barbara bit back a heavy groan as she pulled the car out of the parking lot and onto the street.

Trolls.

Secret Cities.

Cover stories.

Just what had her life become?

Focusing on turns and street signs was easier to think about. Darci’s house was closest and was the first one they stopped at. Less than ten seconds after Barbara’s car pulled to a stop at the curb the door swung open and Louis came striding out. 

Darci hopped out of the car and bounded up to him “Hi dad!”

“Hey there pumpkin,” he flashed her a wide smile “How was your evening?”

“Good, we really got sucked into Go Go Sushi,”

“Alright,” Louis turned his gaze towards Barbara, warmth sliding away into cool amiability “I take it you also lost track of time?”

Her throat tightened “Yes, sorry about that, I was busy and didn’t notice how long the kids were playing their videogames,”

Louis nodded “No worries, it happens,”

Barbara didn’t let out the breath she was holding until Louis and Darci were inside their house and she was already driving away. Dropping off Claire and Mary went similarly, with their parents mercifully skipping the third degree–

No, that wasn’t fair. It had been first or second degree at the worst. And it wasn't as though he wasn’t completely justified with his suspicions. If it had been her and Jim in that position Barbara knew she would have been even more skeptical and less polite.

Pulling into the end of their cul de sac, Toby hopped out and ran up to his house. Barbara watched and made sure he made it inside before pulling into their garage.

Barbara killed the engine the second they were inside, slumpling back in her seat and shutting her eyes, a shuttering sound in her ears as the garage door shuffled closed behind her.

“Mom?”

From the backseat she heard the soft slide of Jim folding down the seat, shuffling sounds as he crawled out of the trunk “Are you ok?”

The knee jerk response–

I’m fine hon

Rose up in the back of her throat, but Barbara bit it back before it could escape.

She shouldn’t unload all her stress and worries onto her teenage son, but she shouldn’t pretend everything was fine and dandy when they both knew it wasn’t either.

“I…I’m worried, this is all a lot to take in,”

“Oh yeah,” Jim let out a chuckle and a gusty exhale “I’m right there with you on that one,” 

Despite the situation Barbara felt a tiny smile twitching at the corners of her mouth. Finding it in her to push away from the seat and turn to face him.

“I don’t like the idea of you kids being in danger, or going back to a secret troll city by yourselves,”

She had to fight back an inappropriate laugh at the half stunned half affronted look on Jim’s face, could already hear the protest he was forming, and cut him off before it could leave his mouth. 

“Which is why I’ll be coming with you,”

Jim’s went blank, eyes going wide and mouth gaping op “Oh…I mean…are you sure you’re up for it?”

This time she did laugh, twisting back to playfully punch Jim in the shoulder “Kiddo there’s not a single thing you or any other troll in this city can do to stop me from looking after my son. And if that means going to an underground city, well hand me my pickaxe and headlamp,”

Jim huffed a laugh again “Ok but…it’s…it’s kind of a lot down there, so if you want to sit it out…”

“Not a chance, we’re in this together, and any troll that wants a piece of you is going to get a taste of my krav maga first,”

Jim chuckled at that, and Barbara smiled back.