#THEN WHY DID YOU SELECT SOUND THEN??? CLICK LIMITED???

[the-irrelevant-trumpeter]

getting angry at anonymous responders to my questionnaire is my passion

[melongraph56]

This survey will contain questions that may be of a concerning manner, and could cause discomfort.

By selecting 'I Understand', you consent to this experience.

Did he really understand?

(cheeky response to @yogscastshipbracket's survey)

A zap of electricity stung the chill of night. The energy made its way down from the heavens striking an artifact in the hands of a being sitting in front of a fire, crackling against the sounds of rustling leaves blowing in the wind. The crystal gem encased with refined metals pulsed with a soft hue in his palm. He held it up as it conjured a mirage, the following words appeared:

[SURVEY_024.GF]

[PLEASE RESPOND]

It can't be... How have they sent him a message? A Yoglabs rat escapee. A better question how did they find him? He ensured there wasn't a trail attached to him when he ran. Though the message was something he didn't expect, it was a form. To be honest, if he were to receive word from the facility, they wouldn't have said a thing especially, if it was a warning if they found him.

His empty hand rose to the holographic screen created by his communication stone, reading the terms and conditions. His hand reeled back in hesitation before he could press 'I Understand', he shouldn't. It would expose him, leading him back to being captured and locked away for more testing. The underground laboratory's precious sentient being, created from a plant of unknown origin to house ancient magicks. They've been constructing a method to hone such magical strengths for quite some time and he was the product of their curiosities.

His lip quivered as his chest tightened, holding in a breath. He found himself pressing next, proceeding through the survey. Slowly his index scrolled through the form, clicking each answer that applied to him. Why is he taking part in this? More than half of the questions didn't make sense to him. This was a trap, he knows it is. However, something innate compelled him to keep responding. Perhaps it was all the testing done to him. He felt like he had to or else he'd suffer consequences if he didn't comply.

He answered as honestly as he could but by restrictions of the survey, or possibly it was his will faltering, the choices became limited to one answer.

Are you sure?

No.

The answer contradicted his response to the previous question. He could change his answers around to make it correct though that would be lying. The situation felt forced, a trick question to keep him stumped and left pondering. A common trend the scientists used against him as they quizzed him on his intellectual abilities. He was unsatisfied with his choice but he had to move on.

Is the chip in your neck active?

A hand shot to the nape of his neck, scratching at bandages hidden under his cloak. He felt himself take a sharp breath through his nose, his chest rising. There shouldn't be a chip in there, he removed it as soon as he could when he escaped their clutches.

Have you lied to me?

No.

Are you sure?

The magical artifact cracked under the strength of his grasp, his other hand tugging away at the medical dressings around his neck. He touched little tuffs of hair and bare skin as he ran his fingers back and forth searching for the wound. Where- He furrowed his brows. It should be- No... No no no. The wound, it should be here, right? He clenched his jaw as his breathing picked up. He can't- Why can't he find it? His fingernails dug into his neck, his eyes wide as he stood up. He could feel his magic swirling through his veins causing his heart to beat even faster than it was previously.

He threw the messenger stone straight into the campfire set at his feet. The fire swelled and engulfed the new fuel source, the smooth iron finish tarnished under the heat, turning black with soot. He closed his hollowed eyes and took a deep breath, allowing his body to calm itself, though he couldn't shake away that feeling. He couldn't bring himself to finish the rest survey, not like he could anyway. He opened his eyes once again and stared into the flames, watching his gadget char. The screen remained for a short period before it frizzed and faded as the last of the magic stored in the device disappeared. He caught a glimpse of the last line of the form before it was gone for good,

You really shouldn't worry about it.

A chill ran down his spine, taking in a staggered breath. Even though he was near a fire, he shivered. He packed his things with haste and left just as fast into the night.

[mikhailwrites]

Waiting for Connection 10 / Ghost x Soap NerdAU

Ghost is retired and plays milsim videogame. Soap is still in the force and sometimes plays that same videogame...

You didn't think I'd leave you in angst over the Christmas day, did you?

Previous chapter | AO3

The night is cold and damp; the light drizzle doesn’t warrant an umbrella, but it’s not very pleasant in any case. Ghost adjusts the collar of his coat to cover his neck better before shoving his hands deep into his pockets as he starts up the street towards his home. John walks next to him, seemingly unperturbed by the cold. Would stand to reason, Ghost thinks, if he grew up further up north and got through the SAS selection. It’s been years, yet it’s hard to forget—the harrowing trek to a bloody mountain with a time limit and in full gear.

“How’d you get your callsign?” Simon asks out of nowhere. He doesn’t mind the silence but can tell it’s not the same for John, who is probably still beating himself up for fucking up earlier. Simon's not a bastard; yes John hit a nerve back there but he didn't mean to. Simon is resilient, too, shrugging the hurt off as if it's nothing. He has no reason to sulk.

The Scott grabs the question like a lifeline. “At the end of the selection, actually. We were tasked to clean out several buildings to save the hostages. I’ve set the record. The overseeing officer said I’ve been as quick and efficient as a soap, and it kinda stuck.”

“It’s a good callsign,” Simon admits. It sounded ridiculous at first, so much so he was sure there had to be some embarrassing story behind it, as is the case with most callsigns. To earn it with skill is commendable.

“What about you? Ghost is probably the best I’ve ever heard,” Soap asks. Usually, Simon wouldn’t tell, but he supposes it doesn’t matter anymore. There’s no reason to uphold the mystery now.

“I’ve been buried alive,” Simon says, the tone of his voice casual, as if he was commenting on the weather.

John barks out a laugh, probably thinking Ghost’s pulling his leg. Once he realises that’s not the case, he sobers up. “Shit, man… that’s fucked up.”

“Guess it is,” Ghost shrugs. It’s been a long time since he was able to tell what’s fucked up or not. “Alright, we’re here,” Simon takes out keys and lets John inside, clicking the lights on before he leads him to the second floor.

Simon’s flat isn’t much, but it’s his home. As soon as they enter, there’s a blur of tabby fur, and before Simon can say anything, John is crouching and scratching Sgt. Stripey behind the ears. “So you’re Stripey. Nice to meet ye, lad,” John says to the cat with warm affection.

“Careful, or you’ll end up wrapped around his claw,” Ghost warns, hanging his coat and putting his shoes away.

“Too late.” John chuckles, standing up and handing Ghost his jacket to be hanged. “You know, I’d have pegged you for a dog person.”

“I don’t mind dogs; I just like cats better. Always clicked with the little fuckers, ever since I was a kid.” He has no idea why he is imparting so much to John. On the other hand, it’s not like he’s still part of the top secret Task Force. He can have friends now, tell them things about himself, and let them in.

“Guess I can imagine a wee Simon feeding the strays,” John admits as he goes further into the apartment, looking around, obviously compartmentalising everything he sees.

Simon doesn’t say anything because John’s words struck a tad too close to home.

Thankfully, John doesn’t notice. His attention is currently held by something else. “Steamin’ Jesus, what is that?!” Soap exclaims and points at Ghost’s rig, proudly sitting on the desk.

“My computer?” Ghost cocks an eyebrow.

“That?!” Soap almost squeals, which is halfway between ridiculous and adorable, in Ghost’s opinion. Soap comes closer, leaning in to inspect the machine up close. “What are these?” he traces the acrylic tubes with an index finger without actually touching anything.

“Liquid cooling.”

“A…what?” Soap’s eyes widen. “Thought electricity and water don’t mix well.”

“You sure you’re the explosives guy? I said liquid, not water. You could use water technically, but it’s not a very efficient coolant.”

“How do you even… ye ken… keep it in?”

“It’s a closed circuit, look,” Ghost comes closer, shoulder brushing against John’s as he points out the reservoir with a pump, “you have your coolant here, then it’s distributed throughout the system. First, it goes into the CPU because it’s higher up, so I can use gravity to help the pump later. There’s a copper heat plate pressed to the processor; inside it is something like a little maze, so the coolant doesn’t flow through too fast and can actually take away the heat. Once out of the maze, it goes into the intercooler; here,” he touches a big black cooler attached to the top of the rig. “The liquid cools here; it works exactly the same as old radiators and is then used here in the graphics card. The cooling cover works pretty similarly to the one for the CPU, only it’s larger. Once the liquid is out of the GPU, it’s cooled again, here,” he points to another intercooler, “and, lastly, it returns back to the reservoir.”

“But… that’s so complicated! And what if it spills? That can happen, can’t it?” Soap looks at him, and Ghost can’t help but notice the curious shade of blue in his eyes as it catches the warm light. Thankfully, the question asked is interesting enough for him to focus on.

“Sure, but the liquid is safe as long as you don’t drown your power supply in it. And it’s more efficient and much quieter. Let me show you,” without further ado, Ghosts wakes the PC up and fires up a benchmark. “You hear that?”

“Hear what?” Soap asks, confused.

“Exactly,” Ghost’s smile is all smugness, and John finds it kind of endearing.

Soap laughs as soon as he gets Ghost’s point. When he turns to Ghost next, a fond smile plays at his lips, and there are crow’s feet in the corner of his eyes. “Ye really like this stuff, huh?”

It takes Ghost a few seconds to respond, mainly because John’s sheer radiance nearly blinds him. “I do,” he rubs at the back of his neck, a nervous gesture because he feels exposed and a little embarrassed. Usually, that would be a bad thing, but in this instance, it feels different because he knows John wouldn’t laugh at him. They met in a video game. Ghost’s goofiness is safe with him.

“Sorry if that came out wrong. I just wanted tae say I’m impressed. I have no idea about any of this. Maybe you could teach me some stuff?”

“Make you my Padawan, you mean?” Ghost raises an eyebrow.

Soap smirks, unable to hold Ghost’s gaze any longer. “Yer such a nerd, Ghost,” he shakes his head, still smiling. It could’ve easily been read as an insult, yet the way Soap said it sounds more like a compliment. “But aye, make me your Padawan, Master Simon,” Soap says and bows before Ghost. That settles the matter.

Before they can open a new topic, Soap is caught off-guard by a yawn. Glancing at his wrist-watch, he’s both surprised and unsurprised by how late it is. Time flies by when you’re having fun, especially with a good company, but Soap has been on his feet for close to twenty hours now and the past week wasn’t much better. The exhaustion is catching up to him.

“Go take a shower if you want, it’ll take me a few minutes to get the couch ready,” Ghost says and nods to the piece of furniture in question.

Soap thinks for about three seconds. “You don’t need to, I can sleep on it as it is.”

“Nonsense,” Ghost rejects the idea with a finality that bars any further discussion.

Soap holds up his hands in surrender, gathers a few items from his bag and retreats to the bathroom.

Ghost spends several minutes figuring out his own piece of furniture. The thing is, he’s never needed the futon, only the sofa. After multiple failed attempts, he finally finds the right angle and amount of strength to pull and push until the bloody thing unfolds and rearranges itself.

Only now, he is faced with a different problem. Ghost doesn’t have an extra blanket and pillow, which he really should’ve thought about earlier. It’s not a difficult issue to solve. He takes a quilt from the couch and swaps it for his own blanket. The linens were changed two days ago, John should be fine with it. However, the pillow stays in Simon’s bed. If he were to use the small one from the living room, he would have a stiff neck for at least three days. Not worth it. He wouldn’t stand for John to be cold, but the pillow should be just a minor inconvenience for someone as young and fit as Soap.

Ghost quickly gets the futon ready and opens the window to let in some fresh air. It smells of rain and winter, Simon’s favourite combination if anyone ever asked.

John emerges from the bathroom, flushed and slightly damp, dressed in a plain khaki tee and black briefs. Ghost lingers on him, though not for too long. That would be rude and a little creepy, right?

“If you wake up before I do, feel free to check the fridge, make yourself a coffee or tea, everything’s in the kitchen,” Ghost instructs him. “Sergeant usually sleeps in bed with me, but maybe he’ll get curious.”

Soap blinks a few times at the last piece of information before he realises that Ghost is talking about his cat. Right. There was no way he would invite Soap into his bed like this. Not that Soap would want him to, right? They’re friends, and it would be too soon in any case. John realises Ghost is looking at him as if he expects Soap to say something.

“Aye, sure. Thank you again for having me.”

“Sure,” Ghost nods, “sleep well, Soap.”

“You too, Ghost.”

Simon retreats to the bedroom, leaving the doors slightly ajar for the cat.

[himehikoshrine]

Sissia of the Central Nation Stage Script (EN) – Kisa Route

Last but certainly not least, Sissia's own route. This is the Univeil Performance Stage Script from the menu for Kisa's solo route.

As with all scripts that get adjusted during the route, this is the final version before the performance, but before any last minute changes or additions during the show. As with the rest, no ad libs are in the menu stage scripts.

Apologies if I accidently added any typos or minor punctuation changes, I did my best.

Also as before, I have kept in all the things that don't change across routes, so you can read any of them in full without having to cross reference. As you can imagine, there are some things that are changed for this version, it being a solo route. The actual summary of the Border Performance is quite different and worth paying attention to in this one.

There's a line (about two leads for the border performance) that makes no sense in this version that is still in the script. If you've played through this it happens on stage as well. It's not me forgetting to remove or change it. Similarly to Mitsuki's route, there are some artifacts in the stage directions not adjusted, that I've tried to [sic].

Other stage scripts can be found clicking on the tag or here:

Sissia of the Central Nation [route selection post] Oh Rama Havenna [x] Mary Jane [x]

This is the longest of the Sissia of the Central Nation scripts, and thus runs into tumblrs paragraph break limit, so I have adjusted the formatting on a few sections late in the script to keep it juuusst under the cap and thus able to be posted. Hopefully that's not too distracting. This happened with Mary Jane as well.

Without further ado...

Is everyone ready for some twisted fun?! Prepare to step into a wonderful dream!

Sissia of the Central Nation (Kisa Route)

By Neji Kokuto

(1) The Central Nation of Kielce

◆Along the Border

???:   Over there! Don’t let them get away!

???:   Hahh, Hahh…Ugh!

A shadow crosses over the border. 

The sound of hurried footsteps chasing after them.

Border Patrol A:   Damn it! A rat from the servant country crossed the border into the Arbine Nation!

Border Patrol B:   If word of this gets to the commander and the king of Arbine…

Border Patrol A:   We need to find them, fast!

Blackout

◆National Standing Theater

Restless murmurs

Sissia:   This dream is everything to me, so I’ll risk everything I have for it…!

◆National Standing Theater

(The scene goes from dark to lighter. As if lights have turned on.)

The dazzling show by Kielce begins.

Isaac:   Welcome, one and all to the theater of the Central Nation of Kielce! I am the goat-headed Isaac!

Isaac:   …What’s that? Why do i have such a head, you ask?

Isaac:   It’s a bit of a long story, but when my father visited a farm one day, he fell in love with a female goat, and…

Laughter from the crowd.

Isaac:   Ah! The local officers told me not to tell this story! They asked that I not disrupt the moral standards of Arbine.

Isaac:   Well, let’s put aside the idle chatter, all the kings and nobles, the living and the dead, the passing mugwort sellers…

Sound of fireworks.

Smoke comes pouring in and acrobats enter the scene with style.

Levi:   Let the Central Nation of Kielce’s show begin!!!

Chance:   Hah!

Audience A:   Ah, It’s Chance! His somersaults are the best! You wouldn’t expect any less of Kielce’s star!

Audience B:   What are you talking about? Everyone in Kielce is a star!

Adra:   You couldn’t be more right!

Adra appears on the stage, dancing brilliantly.

Audience A:   Adra! Oh, I can’t believe how beautifully he dances! He’s certainly Arbine’s treasure. 

Audience B:   He certainly is from a family of officials! The flower of Kielce!

Crowley catches Adra dancing across the stage.

Crowley:   Now, then. Allow me to lend you a hand, Adra!

Audience A:   Crowley just caught Adra! He’s the genius who creates these performances, and even joins them himself! 

Crowley:   Now’s the time to forget the time! Next, let’s all sway to a beautiful tune!

Someone singing can be heard, and Carlo appears.

Fan Carlo:   …!

Audience A:   Oh, how beautiful…!

Audience:   She really lives up to her reputation as the most beautiful voice in all the nation…!

Levi appears at the center of the stage.

Levi:   We are the Central Nation of Kielce! Is everyone ready for some twisted fun?!

The crowd cheers in response.

Sissia watches Kielce’s performance from the audience.

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   The Central Nation of Kielce… I’ve dreamed of them for so long!

Sissia:   Ah, I can’t believe this! I can’t believe I’m able to see them perform again!

Blackout

◆Kielce Base

Chance:   What did you think?! How were my somersaults?!

Fan Carlo:   They were full of energy. You’re like a monkey.

Chance:   Thanks… Hey wait, Carlo!

Isaac:   A monkey, huh? That’s not too bad. Want to switch places with my goat, then?

Chance:   I can’t give long monologues like you can, so I’ll pass…

Isaac:   That’s unfortunate. I’ll take my leave for now, then. 

Chance:   Hey, you going already, Isaac?!

Adra:   He’s always so calm after getting off stage, that Isaac.

Crowley:   Haha, that’s just fine for a comedian. Isn’t it, Levi?

Levi:   Yeah.

Crowley:   You’re not part of the comedy act, so you can stand to give it a little more energy!

Levi:   … There was something I noticed about the performance today.

Chance:   Something you noticed?

Adra:   …Ah, I see.

Crowley:   You’re right.

Chance:   Hey! Stop just agreeing with each other and tell me what you’re talking about!

Fan Carlo:   They’re talking about a problem the Central Nation of Kielce has in general.

Chance:   I’m telling you, be more specific! I wanna know, too!

Isaac appears among everyone chattering.

Isaac:   All right now, sorry to interrupt your conversation. As always, we have some prospectives hoping to join our troupe.

Chance:   Oh! Some future Kielcesters have come, eh? 

Chance:   Let’s see what they’ve got, then!

Fan Carlo:   I’m tired, so I’ll pass.

Crowley:   Don’t be like that, Carlo. They’ve come all this way to see us.

Adra:   There may be some among them with talents like Chance and Isaac.

Isaac:   That’s right. If Levi hadn’t found me back then, I might still be working at a factory. Wearing a goat head.

Chance:   …I kinda want to see that, too.

Levi:   Carlo, you seem to understand the problem with the Central Nation of Kielce we were talking about just a minute ago, so I’ll ask you to join. 

Chance:   Oh yeah! I forgot! So what IS our problem?

Isaac:   I’d like to know, too.

Crowley:   It’s that… we lack a ‘gear’.

Isaac:   A ‘gear’…

Isaac:   …Is what we lack?

Fan Carlo:   It means we aren’t well harmonized.

Adra:   You know how the Central Nation of Kielce’s performance style is just a showcase of our separate talents?

Crowley:   It’s been that way for a very long time, but it’s even more pronounced now that Carlo and Chance have joined. 

Crowley:   As we are now, we can’t put on the best performance ever!

Levi:   We definitely need it. A gear that unites our individual parts to move together as one whole.

Isaac:   I see…

Chance:   All the more reason to hold auditions, then! Come on, Carlo!

Fan Carlo:   Hahh, fine. I couldn’t handle it if someone as tone-deaf as you joined.

Chance:   Exactly! It’d be a disaster if TWO of us were tone-deaf and couldn’t harmonize or… Carlo!

Isaac:   I think you’ve gotten much better, though.

Chance:   Are you trying to cheer me up, Isaac? Gee, thanks a lot.

Crowley:   So how many are we going to let in through the audition, Levi? 

Levi:   Your eyes tell me one person.

Crowley:   That’s our ringleader for you! I do hope that one person shows up.

Adra:   All right, let’s go then. Can’t keep our future star waiting, can we?

Everyone:   Yeah!

Carlo says “Right”.

◆In front of the Kielce Base

Prospective members are gathered in a line.

The members of Kielce test their talents.

Candidate:   Listen to my song, Leviii!

Levi:   Next.

Candidate:   Only one person will pass, right?! I’m confident in my acting! Oh, God! Give me the kiss of death!

Crowley:   Neeext.

Candidate:   I’ve danced for 18 years with the national dance troupe!

Adra:   Who’s next?

Fan Carlo:   Hahh… Levi, I’m sure we’ll all die of boredom if we try and test everyone here. 

Crowley:   Wow, I think I’d be able to write a song with that as the theme!

Adra:   Carlo’s right. We’re making our prospectives wait, too… 

Mean Candidate:   Hey! Is it my turn yet or what?!

Mean Candidate:   I’ve run out of patience! Only one of us is going to pass anyway! Skills are all that matter in this world!

The prospective starts singing and dancing.

Chance:   Ah, he just started singing and dancing!

Isaac:   He’s like Chance.

Chance:   Hey!

Candidate A:   Hey what gives?!

Candidate B:   Wait your turn!

Mean Candidate:   Shut up! If you’re confident that you’re better than me, then why don’t you try singing?!

Candidate C:   I’ll show you what talent looks like!

People start singing in protest.

Crowley:   Now things are getting interesting!

Fan Carlo:   …Can I leave?

Sissia watches the commotion.

Sissia:   …

Candidate:   My singing is the best! Aaah…

Candidate:   Watch my dancing!

Mean Candidate:   Out of the way! I’m gonna be the one who joins the Central Nation of Kielce!

Adra:   What do we do, Levi? Want to cancel this for now?

Levi:   Yeah. It’s getting late. We can do this another day…

Sissia:   …!

Sissia:   Excuse me! I…

Mean Candidate:   Who are you? Get back!

Sissia:   …Urk!

Sissia:   Please… Please let me sing. 

Sissia comes out to the front.

Sissia begins a beautiful dance while singing in a clear and free voice.

★Song  “Departure”

Candidate:   …

Mean Candidate:   …Whoa.

Sissia:   Please… Listen…!

Chance:   That one’s super good!

Isaac:   You’re right about that… I can just imagine the scene they’re creating.

Fan Carlo:   …

Crowley:   Now that’s unusual, for even Carlo to sit silently and listen!

Adra:   What do we do, ringleader?

Levi:   …

Levi:   An applicant has been chosen. Anyone have any objections?

Sissia:   Huh? Who is it…?!

Candidate:   …

Mean Candidate:   …No! You all saw that too, right? Talent is everything in this world!

Mean Candidate:   Even if I can’t join the Central Nation of Kielce, I’ll keep singing and dancing! Do your best, got it?

Sissia:   Oh, r-right!

Candidate:   …It’s frustrating, but he’s right. I’m rooting for you!

Candidate:   I’ll come watch your show!

The prospective members start leaving.

Sounds of departing footsteps.

Sissia:   U-um…

Sissia:   M-My name is… Sissia…! Um…

Levi:   Sissia, huh? Congratulations on passing the auditions.

Sissia:   Really…?! Thank you so much…!

Crowley:   You’re going to be an apprentice for a while!

Adra:   If you are deemed worthy of being a member of Kielce, it’ll be official.

Sissia:   I’ll do my best!

Chance:   Congratulations, Sissia! Let’s get along together!

Fan Carlo:   I’m glad we didn’t get another tone-deaf member.

Isaac:   …Welcome.

Sissia:   Thank you all for the support!

Adra:   …Levi, Crowley, we've found what we needed, don't you think?

Crowley:   The little 'gear' we were looking for to make the best performance ever!

Levi:   ..Yeah.

Levi:   Sissia, come with me. I'll show you around Kielce.

Sissia:   Right!

As everyone leads the way, Sissia stops a short distance away from them.

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   I can't believe I've really joined the Central Nation of Kielce...!

Sissia:   The dream I've had for so long has come true! My next dream is...

Sissia:   To stand on the stage!

(2) Path to the Stars

◆National Throne Room

Subordinates arrive in front of Major Azur

Aide:   Major, there’s something I think you should know…

Major Azur:   …What is your report

Aide:   Well…

Major Azur:   A fugitive?

Major Azur:   What’s border patrol even doing…? How insufferable!

Major Azur:   We’ll take care of this before the commander and king of the Arbine Nation finds out about this. 

Aide:   Yes, sir…!

Major Azur:   Don’t think you can return alive…horse of the slave country.

◆Kielce Base

Adra:   What’s the matter?! You tired already, newbie?! We can’t put on the best show with you like that!

Sissia:   …No, I can keep going!

Isaac:   …Adra’s more fired up than usual.

Fan Carlo:   That’s just how much Adra is hoping to get out of Sissia.

Chance:   But I’m catching the flack and forced to join their rigorous training, too!

Training ends

Adra:   All right, let’s take a break!

Sissia:   Hahh! Thank you so much, Mr. Adra!

Adra:   You don’t need to call me ‘Mister’. No need to be so polite with me.

Adra:   It’s about time you become a full member, too…

Sissia:   Huh?

Adra:   No, it’s nothing. Anyway, just address me casually.

Sissia:   …Okay, Adra.

Chance:   Great work Sissia! Wow, I can’t believe you can keep up with Adra!

Sissia:   Oh no, not at all… Oh, that’s right!

Chance:   Yeah, What’s up?

Sissia:   Chance, when you have some time, I’d like you to teach me how to do your somersaults.

Chance:   Hey, you’re not trying to steal all my acts, are you?

Isaac:   Well, I’m sure they’ll cut our singing parts. What do you think, Carlo?

Fan Carlo:   With Sissia with us, I’m sure they would. 

Chance:   Whoa! Crap! At this rate, Sissia’s going to take up all my acrobatics time out there…!

Sissia:   Ahaha, your time won’t get cut. no one can fly as high as you.

Levi arrives and everyone gathers around him.

Levi:   …Is everyone here?

Adra:   Oh, what’s up, ringleader?

Levi:   Crowley has something to discuss. Crowley?

Crowley:   Yes, all right! This is about our next performance!

Crowley:   We will have Sissia join our next production.

Sissia:   …!

Chance:   That means…!

Isaac:   We’re going to bring Sissia in as an official member of Kielce, right?!

Crowley:   Exactly!

Levi:   It’s your first performance. Make sure to polish up your act and give it your all.

Adra:   I’m looking forward to it. Let’s show everyone the fruits of your labor.

Sissia:   Right!

◆Kielce Base

Levi:   …All right, everyone go over your movements with each other

Adra:   And be sure not to forget about practicing your group dances.

Chance:   The new choreography’s got me so excited!

Fan Carlo:   …Not me.

Crowley:   Oh, my! Our singing princess is a bit cranky!

Isaac:   The Central Nation of Kielce is made up of everyone here. I’ll be rooting for you all!

Adra:   You’re performing too, Isaac.

Isaac:   Ah, ahaha…

Sissia:   …I can’t wait. I get to dance with everyone.

Sissia:   I’ve admired everyone for so long.

Chance:   Why did you want to join the Central Nation of Kielce, Sissia?

Sissia:   I… saw the Central Nation of Kielce’s performance held at the border.

Chance:   …I’m so jealous, Sissia! You got to see the ‘Border Performance’!

Fan Carlo:   The ‘Border Performance’… The production that takes place atop the border wall between the nameless slave country and the Arbine Nation.

Isaac:   I also saw it a long time ago.

Isaac:   …So, seeing that was what made you want to join?

Sissia:   Yeah, that’s right.

Sissia:   Everything was so bright and dazzling, and everyone was so full of hope.

Sissia:   I want to stand there someday, too… I want to sing and dance and act with everyone…!

Sissia:   ‘We are the Central Nation of Kielce! Is everyone ready for some twisted fun?!’

Sissia:   It’s that.

Sissia:   To me, the Central Nation of Kielce is my entire life.

Chance:   I see…

Chance:   I didn’t watch that performance, but I’ve heard rumors about it!

Adra:   You were impressed by the rumors and joined because of them, didn’t you Chance?

Crowley:   Sure takes me back, the ‘Border Performance’.

Levi:   …Yeah.

Chance:   Tell us more about what happened!

Chance:   I’m in Kielce now, but I’ve never really heard the story!

Adra:   We caused a bit of trouble, didn’t we? We were seen as a group with treasonous intentions.

Crowley:   Thanks to that, we’re still being watched by Arbine’s military officials like Adra’s father.

Levi:   …You know of the relationship between the Arbine Nation and Quatra,, right?

Chance:   Quatra… You mean the ‘nameless’ servant country?

Fan Carlo:   The Quatra Republic was the name of the country before it was taken away.

Levi:   The 77-year-long war between the Arbine Nation and the Quatra Republic ended with victory for Arbine 20 years ago.

Levi:   Ever since, Arbine has closed off the Quatra Republic within those walls and taken its name away, making it the nameless country.

Levi:   The citizens of the Republic became servants and have a tattoo called the ‘Quatral’ etched into them.

Crowley:   It’s proof of their subjugation. They’re made to work like horses for Arbine.

Sissia:   …

Chance:   I dunno…

Chance:   I’m not one to talk, not having studied much about history, or society…

Chance:   But being excited and happy are feelings we all have, so everyone should just share that with everyone else.

Levi:   …You’re exactly right.

Levi:   Singing, acting, and dancing… I feel those are things that anyone from any nation can enjoy.

Levi:   The only ones in Arbine who can show that is the Central Nation of Kielce.

Adra:   …Yeah

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   That anyone from any nation… can enjoy…

Blackout

Pause

Finishing rehearsals, Sissia takes a break in a private room.

Sissia washes her [sic] bare legs.

Pitch black. 

Sissia:   Hahh…

Sissia:   I need to soak my feet…

Sissia:   …

As Sissia washes a leg even further, makeup comes off, revealing a tattoo in the shape of a horse on Sissia’s left shin, the sign that this person is a Quatra, a servant citizen. 

Sissia:   My leg… This tattoo I hide with makeup… 

Sissia:   The Quatra… must bear the mark of servitude, the Quatral.

Sissia:   I want to appear in the Border Performance. For that…

(3) The Quatral of the Servant Nation

◆National Standing Theater

Sissia:   …Another morning begins for the Central Nation of Kielce!

Cheers.

A performance is held on a dazzling stage by the members of the Central Nation of Kielce. The audience is at full Capacity. 

Sissia is one of the members performing as well.

★Dance “Kielce the Nation at the Center”

Audience:   Wowww!

Audience:   Sissia! Sissiaaa!!! That was amazing!

Sissia:   Thank you…!

Sissia:   I’m so glad… Everyone enjoyed the performance today, too!

Levi:   Good day to you all!

◆Break Room

Adra:   Sissia, you’ve gotten pretty used to being onstage now. My spot as the star of Kielce might be in danger.

Sissia:   Oh, no! I’m still trying hard to catch up with everyone!

Crowley:   No, no you really ARE something!

Chance:   You’re completely in sync with me and my jumps!

Fan Carlo:   The songs… have much more depth to it now that you’re here, so that’s a big help.

Isaac:   It seems like you’re fitting in well with all the different moving parts. Really…

Levi:   Looks like the Central Nation of Kielce has finally found its ‘gear’.

Sissia:   Its… ‘gear’?

Adra:   Kielce is a bit fragmented.

Crowley:   Even if you have solid parts, a machine won’t run if you just place them next to each other, right?

Crowley:   You may be the very one who can connect those parts together!

Sissia:   Oh, no…That’s much too kind of you, but…

Sissia:   I’m so happy to hear it!

Chance:   Heh heh. Well, we’ve found our ‘gear’ now! How about we all celebrate with a meal? What do you say, Isaac?!

Isaac:   I’d like some steak from an Aibee cow.

Adra:   Do goats eat beef? In any case, I’m getting pretty hungry myself.

Fan Carlo:   I guess… it can be nice on occasion. 

Crowley:   I mean, we had a big audience today, right? How about it, ringleader?

Levi:   …Stomachs of the Central Nation of Kielce. Are you ready for dinner?

Everyone:   Yeah!!!

◆Market Street

The members are satisfied after their meal.

Chance:   I ate so much!!!

Sissia:   That was good… That was the first time I had meat like that!

Crowley:   It was such a generous portion broiled to perfection!

Fan Carlo:   Phew… I think I’d prefer not to see any animals with horns for a while.

Isaac:   Huh? Are you talking about me?

Adra:   We’ll bring everyone back here sometime. Okay?

Levi:   Yeah.

Chance:   All right! I wonder what I should get next time!

A loud bang is heard.

An old man is being beaten with batons in the middle of the street.

Other citizens crowd around and watch, murmuring to themselves.

Sissia:   …?!

Old Man:   A-Aaah…! Spare me…

Patrol Officer:   You, horse! Do you even know what you’ve done?!

The Quatral is the tattoo of a horse, with ‘horse’ used as slander to refer to a member of the servant country.

Sissia:   …!

Isaac:   That’s…

Chance:   Hey, what do you think you’re doing! Hey, you!

Adra:   Chance!

Patrol Officer:   What’s your problem!

Old Man:   Y-you’re…!

Chance:   I’m Chance Orlando of the Central Nation of Kielce! Why are you hurting this old man…?

Patrol Officer:   The Central Nation of Kielce? Hmph, that makes sense.

Patrol Officer:   I’ll show you the reason why he’s being beaten! …Look at this!

A tattoo of a horse drawn on the man’s left shin is shown.

Fan Carlo:   A tattoo of a horse on the shin of his left leg…

Crowley:   A Quatral… So he’s…

Levi:   …

Patrol Officer:   He’s a citizen who escaped from the nameless country into the Arbine Nation!

Patrol Officer:   Fleeing your country is a serious crime! We’ll deport you and sentence you to heavy labor, perhaps even death!

Sissia:   …

Chance:   Well, there’s no need to do THIS, is there?!

Crowley:   Right! What’ll happen if you kill him?

Crowley:   Isn’t it also a serious crime to kill anyone, regardless of where they’re from?

Patrol Officer:   …Urk! Shut it! I can arrest you for treason, you know?!

Crowley:   What did you say?! We have the son of one of your superiors here, you know?!

Crowley:   The son of the trusted confidant of the commander and king. The aristocrat, Major Azur Hybird!!

Adra:   …Crowley. Stop using my father’s name to get us out of trouble.

Adra:   …But, oh well. Would you mind treating him carefully?

Adra:   I’ll be sure to tell my father, Major Azur Hybird, that you were real nice to me.

Patrol Officer:   …

Fan Carlo:   It could be an opportunity to get promoted, underling.

Patrol Officer:   Urgh…!

Patrol Officer:   How merciful of the Central Nation of Kielce to pity him, after being the very ones who encouraged is crime in the first place!

Levi:   …What do you mean?

Patrol Officer:   He fled the servant country in order to see your performances!

Levi:   …!

Patrol Officer:   And the reason he did that was apparently because he saw your ridiculous Border Performance!

Crowley:   Our Border Performance…

Patrol Officer:   That’s right! Other members of the audience found them sneaking in to watch the play, and did their civic duty in reporting it to us! 

Patrol Officer:   How’s that?! How’s it feel to be an accomplice to his crime?!

Patrol Officer:   This ‘Border Performance’ of yours is pathetic! Singing and dancing on top of the wall is nothing short of rebellion!

Patrol Officer:   You all should have held your performances on a proper stage! Your little shows are nothing but boorish spectacles.

Sissia:   …Rrgh!

Patrol Officer:   Aagh!

Sound of the patrol officer being hit.

Sound of the patrol officer hitting the ground.

Patrol Officer:   …?!

Chance:   Sissia just…

Isaac:   Hit that patrol officer…?!

Patrol Officer:   Agck…

Patrol Officer:   Why, you…!

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   …Our shows aren’t boorish spectacles.

Sissia:   Don’t ridicule my dreams.

Citizen:   …

Patrol Officer:   Urgh…

Patrol Officer:   Wh-Why, you…! I’ll arrest all of you!!

Citizen:   That’s enough from you!

Sound of rocks being thrown.

Patrol Officer:   Ow…! Rocks?!

Sissia:   The people around us started throwing rocks…?!

Sound of rocks being thrown one after another.

Patrol Officer:   Wh-What do you think you’re doing?!

Citizen:   Shut up already! Listening to those guys from Kielce is way better than listening to you!

The citizens in the area come to protect Kielce and jeer at the patrol officer. 

Patrol Officer:   You little… Agh, stop throwing those rocks! Damn it!

The patrol officer runs away. 

Sound of footsteps running away.

Citizen:   Haha, that patrol officer ran away!

Citizen:   Take that!

Citizen:   He was always so arrogant. I never liked that guy!

Chance:   Everyone…!

Levi:   Heh, I didn’t expect them to come to our rescue. 

Sissia:   …Are you all right, sir?

Old Man:   Ah… Thank you so much.

Old Man:   I came from Quatra since I wanted to watch you all just one more time…!

Crowley:   Did you enjoy our performance, good sir?

Old Man:   Yes, absolutely…! It was a wonderful performance. Now I can pass on without any regret…

Adra:   Don’t say that, old man. You got a lot to live for…

Major Azur:   …So this is it. The place where some traitors have gathered to protect a fugitive. 

Cutting through the people, Major Azur Hybird approaches.

The father of Adra and a military aristocrat. 

Adra:   …!

Citizen:   It… It’s Major Azur…!

Citizen:   The closest confidant of the commander and king, the strategist of Arbine…

Adra:   Father…

Patrol Officer:   It’s those guys, Major…!

Major Azur:   Traitors who protected a fugitive… Did everyone here participate? 

Citizen:   …!

The citizens flee the scene in all directions.

Adra:   … 

Major Azur:   …To think I’d see you here, Adra.

Major Azur:   And the other clowns of Kielce.

Levi:   …

Crowley:   Oh, good day to you, Major!

Major Azur:   Levi, Crowley. Every time I see you, I’m reminded of the Border Performance.

Major Azur:   And of all the commotion you all caused atop the border wall between Arbine and the nameless country.

Major Azur:   Ever since that day, the commander and king has pushed to imprison everyone in the Central Nation of Kielce. 

Crowley:   Oh my… We must thank the commander and king of Arbine for such kind sentiments. 

Major Azur:   …Hmph. You too, Adra. Even my own flesh and blood won’t be spared in charges of treason.

Major Azur:   Soldiers. Take away the horse that escaped. 

Guard:   Yes, sir! Come on, you.

Old Man:   Augh.

The old man gets taken away.

Sissia:   Sir…!

Guard:   Get out of the way!

Sound of Sissia getting knocked back.

Sissia:   …Urk!

Sissia:   Rrgh…!

Sissia:   …

Chance:   …Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing?!

Fan Carlo:   Chance! Not now… Not now… 

Chance:   …Urk!

Old Man:   All of you from Kielce…

Old Man:   I promise I will never forget the brilliance of your performance today, or your kindness…

Isaac:   Old man…

Guard:   Move, horse!

Old Man:   …

Old Man:   …Weee, aaare, the Central Nation of Kielce!

Guard:   …?!

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   Is…

Sissia:   Is everyone ready for some twisted fun?!

Old Man:   Hahaha…

Guard:   M-Move!

Sissia:   Old man…!

Major Azur:   …

Azur senses something from Sissia.

Though the tattoo on Sissia’s left shin is covered with makeup, he knows of cases in the past where Quatra have hidden their tattoos in the same way.

However, all he has now is a feeling.

Patrol Officer:   Heh… You’d better not disrespect the military anymore!

Chance:   Why, that little…

Major Azur:   Soldiers, arrest that patrol officer as well.

Patrol Officer:   …?!

Chance:   Huh…?

Major Azur:   Of course he’ll be arrested. He committed the serious crime of fleeing the scene with a fugitive in front of him. A serious punishment awaits.

Patrol Officer:   N-No…

Major Azur:   We’re heading back.

The troops leave.

Sounds of footsteps leaving.

Chance:   Damn it! They have no respect for the people…

Isaac:   Chance… it pains me to say it, but in this country, that’s the right way for an Arbine to be.

Chance:   But that’s just…!

Sissia:   …Can we still do the Border Performance?

Chance:   …Huh?

Isaac:   The Border Performance…

Fan Carlo:   You mean another show…?

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   It was my dream… to join Kielce and perform onstage with everyone.

Sissia:   I had such an amazing time… and this place has just been a dream come true…

Sissia:   But there’s more to this country than the fun and the beautiful.

Sissia:   Some people tyrannize others, and the scars of war remain even now…

Sissia:   I…

Sissia:   I believe in the strength of theater.

Sissia:   I believe in everyone’s strength.

Sissia:   It’s powerful enough to inspire a single person to get this far as a result.

Levi:   …

Adra:   …

Sissia:   So…

Sissia:   So…!

Chance:   I’ve changed, too.

Sissia:   …!

Chance:   I’m the same as you, Sissia. I’ve come all this way because I admired the Central Nation of Kielce. 

Chance:   No matter how much I’ve wrecked my body for this troupe… I kept practicing. 

Chance:   In fact, I might have done all that just for this moment. 

Chance:   I want to do it, too. The Border Performance.

Chance:   My fate lies with the Central Nation of Kielce!!!

Isaac:   Don’t leave me behind, Chance.

Isaac:   …I came here because I admired Kielce, too.

Isaac:   In the past, I watched the Border Performance with someone.

Sissia:   …!

Isaac:   That person… was someone dear to me.

Isaac:   We made a promise. That we would be in the Border Performance together in the Central Nation of Kielce one day.

Isaac:   I want to fulfill that promise.

Sissia:   Isaac…

Fan Carlo:   Hahh… Our newbies really are nothing but spirit.

Fan Carlo:   We can’t really put on a great show without our singing princess.

Fan Carlo:   You need my voice for the Border Performance, right?

Sissia:   Carlo…!

Adra:   Wow… You all, really…

Adra:   …Come up with the best ideas!

Sissia:   Adra…!

Adra:   Our newbies believe in the Central Nation of Kielce more than we do…

Adra:   …So, how about it? Levi, Crowley!!!

Crowley:   Sorry, I’m too busy planning the performance in my head already…!

Levi:   …It’s the duty of the ringleader to grant everyone’s wishes.

Sissia:   Levi… Crowley…

Levi:   …

Levi:   …The Central Nation of Kielce is a place that inspires others to dream.

Levi:   Let’s make everyone’s dreams come true.

Levi:   …Let’s do the Border Performance.

Sissia:   …!!!

Sissia:   Thank you… so much!!!

Sissia:   Thank you all…

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   …The next performance for the Central Nation of Kielce will be…

Sissia:  The Border Performance!

Everyone:   Yeaah!

(4) The Military Nation

◆Training Room

The Kielce members are all focused on working towards the Border Performance.

Crowley:   All right, and here’s the big fight! We need more dynamic movement!

Adra:   Don’t forget the details! Feel the movements all the way to your fingertips!

Sissia:   Our seniors really are amazing…!

Chance:   I can practically feel their enthusiasm radiating! 

Isaac:   It’s painfully clear how much they’re betting on this performance…

Fan Carlo:   We can’t let those efforts be in vain. I’ll be training you all hard for the singing, too.

Chance:   Aaugh, looks like I’m not getting any sleep tonight, either!

Levi arrives at the training grounds.

Levi:   Everyone, gather around.

Crowley:   A quick break! Are we talking about what I think we are, Levi?

Levi:   Yeah. I’d like there to be two lead roles for the Border Performance. [[this line is in this script too I didn’t just forget to change it]]

Crowley:   It’s a story about a fugitive, seeking asylum elsewhere! Here, the script!

Crowley:   A story of this person with broken wings who comes to a theater troupe in a country with closed borders.

Sissia:   Broken wings…? A theater troupe…

Levi:   The Winged One is chased by the officials of the country… The theater troupe gives them refuge.

Levi:   The Winged One is pure and beautiful, and loved by everyone in the troupe.

Adra:   However, the Winged One is captured by the officials. The members of the troupe risk their lives to bring them back. However….

Sissia:   In doing so, the troupe members are cornered, and in order to save them…

Sissia:   The Winged One exchanges their own life to open a path for escape…

Sissia:   The story is a tragedy…

Isaac:   But it’s as if this is…

Chance:   The story is based on Arbine and Quatra.

Crowley:   Heh heh, that’s right! That’s the idea behind the Border Performance!

Crowley:   On top of all that, there’s a giant bomb hidden in this performance. I’m sure you’ll all understand once we get into the singing rehearsals.

Chance:   A bomb?! I wonder what it is… Aagh, I’m so excited!

Sissia:   …Um, who will be playing the leads?

Levi:   …Who else but you?

Sissia:   …!!!

Adra:  The words you said to that Arbine soldier…

Adra:   That’s what lit the fire within all of us in Kielce.

Crowley:   The script is already written. Sissia, this is your story. 

Chance:   This is a performance where you’ll be at the center.

Fan Carlo:   I’ll lend you my voice as well.

Isaac:   We’ll all work together.

Levi:   …Can we ask this of you?

Sissia:   …

Sissa:   …Yes!!!

Blackout

◆National Standing Theater

Chance:   …Kielce sure has changed ever since you arrived, Sissia.

Sissia:   Huh? Really?

Chance:   Adra’s even more strict during practice.

Adra:   Sorry. But because of that, I think you all have gotten a lot better, including you, Chance.

Chance:   Fan Carlo’s talking with everyone much more often, too.

Fan Carlo:   …Really?

Fan Carlo:   Well, that’s just because there’s so much to teach all these newbies.

Chance:   And…

Chance:   I feel like Isaac’s always telling an extra joke or two these days.

Isaac:   Nothing wrong with that, is there?

Chance:   Nope, not at all!

Chance:   I feel the spirit of competition now that someone as experienced as I am is here!

Chance:   And Sissia’s got so much talent, too!

Crowley:   That’s why we were asking for prospective members in the first place, after all.

Levi:   Right. Even with the Central Nation of Kielce’s outstanding individual talents, we were just a box with toys scattered about inside.

Adra:   We wanted someone who could connect all of us together.

Adra:   You’re not only good at singing, Sissia, but you can dance and act…

Adra:   You approach all the members and guide them to better directions.

Crowley:   Right, just like a real ‘gear’.

Sissia:   That can’t be…

Levi:   Seeing those parts of you was the last push we needed to make this second showing of the Border Performance.

Levi:   I’m sure it’s a lot of pressure for a newbie to perform in a lead role, but…

Levi:   We’ll support you.

Levi:   So please, I ask that you support the Central Nation of Kielce in return.

Sissia:   …Yes.

Sissia:   It would be my honor.

Blackout

◆National Standing Theater

A sudden change in mood as an ominous aura envelopes Kielce.

Sounds of murmuring.

Levi:   …What is it?

Isaac:   …It’s the officials.

Major Azur:   …Levi, Crowley.

Crowley:   Well, we sure have been seeing a lot of each other lately.

Levi:   Did you need something?

Major Azur:   Don’t be so defensive. We’re only here for a simple questioning.

Adra:   …About what?

Major Azur:   I want to know the contents of your next performance.

Adra:   …!

Crowley:   Oh? Have you been bitten by the theater bug?

Major Azur:   No. I have not the least bit of interest, but it seems it’s drawn the attention of the citizens of the Arbine Nation.

Major Azur:   As a servant of our commander and king, I wish to know what sort of performance is being planned. 

Isaac:   We’ll be doing a really fun play.

Chance:   R-Right! Like with…puppets. That sort of thing!

Fan Carlo:   …Even a ‘puppet show’ is out of the question now.

Major Azur:   …

Major Azur:   Confiscate everything on the premises!

Sissia:   No…

Crowley:   How tragic! We won’t be able to hold our performance like this!

Crowley:   I trust you’ll be issuing refunds for all the tickets we already sold, Major?

Major Azur:   Not to worry. We have but one purpose.

Sissia:   What do you…?

Guard:   Major Azur! It’s here, the script!

Sissia:   …!!!

Major Azur:   …Hmph. Pretty provocative for a puppet show, don’t you think?

Major Azur:   I think we need to investigate further. We’ll be taking all the scripts here.

Chance:   Without our scripts, we can’t practice for the performance…! I haven’t even memorized all my lines yet!

Isaac:   Chance, I think it’s a bit late for that…

Levi:   …Crowley, what about the original?

Crowley:   No use. They swiped it right away. Should’ve expected as much from Adra’s father.

Adra:   Yeah, really unfair…!

Major Azur:   Really, I have no idea why our citizens wish to see such a clown show.

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   … I’d like to ask you something, Major!

Levi:   …!!!

Major Azur:   …What is it?

Sissia:   …Have you ever seen a performance by our troupe?!

Major Azur:   I have not.

Sissia:   Then…

Sissia:   We’ll show you one!

Sissia:   Watch! This is a special Kielce dance!

Sissia starts singing and dancing. Major Azur stands confused.

Major Azur:   …Hey, stop twirling around me!

Sissia:   La-la…

Major Azur:   Stop! Don’t sing! What are you doing?!

Sissia:   You just said you’ve never seen a performance before, so I wanted to give you a glimpse of how fun they are!

Sissia:   Right, everyone?!

Levi:   …Heh.

Levi:   Are you ready for some twisted fun, Major?!

Major Azur:   …?!

Chance:   H-Huh?!

Crowley:   Ah, that’s the way!

Isaac:   Sing, dance!

Adra:   …So that’s the idea.

Fan Carlo:   Are you serious…? I’m not responsible for whatever happens next!

Everyone bursts into song and dance.

Guard A:   W-Wha-! The members of Kielce started a show around us…!

Guard B:   B-But it’s amazing…

Sissia:   …Now’s my chance!

Major Azur:   …Enough! Stop this at once!

Major Azur:   That’s an order! Or you’re all under arrest!

Crowley:   All right, stop!

Chance:   Sir!

Isaac:   We were just getting started, too. 

Fan Carlo:   I had finally gotten warmed up.

Adra:   You done yet, Father?

Levi:   I hope you enjoyed yourselves. 

Major Azur:   Hardly! How ridiculous!

Within the confusion, one of the scripts was taken back by Kielce.

Major Azur:   We’ve confiscated all the scripts, right? Let’s go!

Sissia:   …

Sissia sighs with relief.

Major Azur:   Come to think of it…

Sissia:   Huh?

Major Azur:   You have an eastern accent.

Major Azur:   Where are you from?

Sissia:   I…

Major Azur:   Show me your leg.

Sissia:   …!

Sissia:   …Why would you want to see that? I’m sure it wouldn’t be very appealing. 

Major Azur:   …Don’t misunderstand. This is an inspection. Show me your left shin.

Sissia:   …

Sissia shows her [sic] leg as directed. Her skin shows no sign of a tattoo.

Chance:   There’s nothing there!

Major Azur:   …

Major Azur:   Let’s go.

Chance:   H-hey!

Levi:   …They’re gone.

Adra:   Jeez, they sure made a mess of things…

Chance:   …Ah wait, the scripts!

Sissia:   Here you go.

Isaac:   A script…!

Sissia pulls out a script from underneath her [sic] clothes.

Sissia:   …I only got one, though.

Adra:   You took advantage of the chaos and got it back.

Crowley:   My, that was some quick thinking. How very fun.

Levi:   As long as we have this, we can still hold the Border Performance.

Chance:   Man, I didn’t have any of the program memorized! I’m so glad the script is back!

Fan Carlo:   …The fact that you said that is even scarier. 

Chance:   And what was that last bit about? Having Sissia show him a leg!

Chance:   It’s like Sissia’s…

Sissia:   …

Levi:   …

Adra:   Right.

Fan Carlo:   …

Isaac:   But there’s no Quatral there.

Chance:   Y-Yeah. It’s no problem if you don’t have that ‘koala-troll’.

Sissia:   …!

Sissia:   I…!

Levi:   You are the Central Nation of Sissia. That’s all there is to it.

Sissia:   …!

Adra:   …Even if you come from a country far, far away, all that means is you’re a new flavor, right?

Fan Carlo:   …An accent just makes you interesting.

Crowley:   Yeah, it’s fine! We’ve all seen how much you’ve worked! 

Chance:   You don’t have to say anything!

Isaac:   All you need to do is get up on the stage. Right?

Sissia:   Everyone…

Sissia:   …Thank you.

Blackout

◆Town at Night

Aide:   …Major. About that Kielce member named Sissia…

Major Azur:   That was oil make up made out of dried fat of an Aibee cow. One would have to soak their leg in hot water to melt the cow fat or it won’t come off.

Major Azur:   At a glance, you won’t notice at all, but there’s a slight thickness to it. My eyes cannot be fooled. 

Major Azur:   That one is a fugitive. 

Aide:   Then, shouldn’t we have just arrested the fugitive on the spot?

Major Azur:   You’ve seen them in town, too. Year after year there are more servant citizens fleeing their country.

Major Azur:   Simple patrols are far too ineffective to take care of them. We’ll need to make an example of the Central Nation of Kielce and that fugitive.

Aide:   …What do you mean?

Major Azur:   What do you think of using a fugitive’s corpse to adorn the very wall the servant citizens climb over?

Major Azur:   We can certainly open fire on them once any of the members of Kielce climb the wall.

Aide:   Major, you��re so…

Aide:   If we do that, I’m sure this would alleviate another worry from our commander and king.

Major Azur:   That is our duty and purpose in being here.

Major Azur:   The wall will be the grandest tombstone for any servant citizens who cross the border.

Major Azur:   Hahahahaha…!

(5) The Central Nation of Sissia

Cheers

◆Border Proximity (Arbine Side)

Arbine Citizen:   Hey, what’s that?! Some people are climbing the wall!

Arbine Citizen:   It’s Kielce! It’s the Central Nation of Kielce!

Arbine Citizen:   You don’t know? They’re about to do their Border Performance!

◆Border Proximity (Quatra Side)

Quatran Child:    What’s the Border Performance?

Quatran Mother:   Your mother saw it long ago as a young girl… It was like being in a dream!

Quatran Elder:   I never thought we’d have such entertainment in these days of forced labor…

◆On top of the Border Wall (About 50m high)

The members have just finished climbing.

Kielce Member:   Wow…

Kielce Member:   We’re finally here…

Adra:   … This sight sure takes me back.

Levi:   Yeah.

Crowley:   Hahaha! How have you been, little wall?! It’s like you’re a part of our origins!

Chance:   Whoa… It’s taller than I thought!

Isaac:   We’re really going to do it… here!

Sissia:   …Urk.

Sissia:   …This is the top of the border wall. 

Sissia:   The wall that separates Arbine and Quatra.

Sissia:   You can see both countries from end to end.

Sissia:   The town I grew up in…

Sissia:   Is that the Central Nation of Kielce’s standing theater?

Sissia:   …The wind feels nice.

Sissia:   And even further is… an ocean?

Sissia:   The mountains are over there…!

Sissia:   The sky is still so far…

Sissia:   I’m so… small.

Sissia:   I’m standing here now… in the place I dreamed about!

◆Observation Tower Some Distance Away

Aide:   Major, they look like they’re about to start.

Major Azur:   The sniper will need some more time to prepare. Let them start.

◆On top of the Border Wall

Crowley:   Now then… Are we all ready?!

Kielce Member:   Yeaaah!

Kielce Member:   Ready anytime!

Levi:   …Let’s begin, everyone.

Crowley:   Goat-headed Isaac! The prologue, if you will!

Isaac:   …

Isaac:   …Right!

The crowd stirs.

The crowd cheers at the appearance of Isaac wearing his goat head.

Isaac:   Welcome, one and all, to the theater of the Central Nation of Kielce! I am the goat-headed Isaac!

Isaac:   …What’s that? ‘Where is the theater?’ you ask? We are THE Central Nation of Kielce, you know!

Isaac:   Wherever we sing and dance, be it a shoddy castle, a lounge, or a chapel haunted by ghosts!

Isaac:   Even a place like Pontartia is our stage! Oh rama Kielce!

Laughs from the citizens.

Isaac:   Now, let’s start the show before the officials arrive! We will now present to you a tragedy between two nations!

Isaac:   The Winged One stripped of their feathers! The troupe that loves them dearly! And the tragic fate that awaits them all…!

Isaac:   We have high-flying, dazzling acrobats and enchanting dancers!

Isaac:   We have the most beautiful singing voice in all of Arbine… No, in all the world! And a magician who weaves his story as he stands upon the stage!

Isaac:   Our gorgeous ringleader who leads us all! Oh, and I, who issued from the loins of a goat…

Laughter from the crowd.

Isaac:   And with the beautiful ‘gear’ of the Central Nation of Kielce, we will take you all to a fantastic dream world.

Footsteps stopping.

The members of Kielce are all lined up together.

Crowley:   Now’s the time to forget the time.

Sound of fireworks.

Everyone:   We are the Central Nation of Kielce!

Sissia:   Is everyone ready for some twisted fun?!

Sissia:   Prepare to step into a wonderful dream!

The crowd cheers in response.

★Dance  “Quartz Anima”

The crowd continues to cheer.

Audience:   Central Nation of Kielce!

Audience:   That was amazing!

Isaac:   Everyone’s so happy…!

Chance:   Heh heh, they’re all excited, no matter which country they’re from…!

Fan Carlo:   I never knew singing could reach people like this…

Adra:   Haha, in your face… In your face!

Crowley:   Now then, it’s finally time for the climax!

Levi:   We’re counting on you. Sissia…!

◆Night Sky

Sissia:   …Quatra, the place where I was born and raised.

Sissia:   …Arbine, the place so precious to me, where the Central Nation of Kielce is.

Sissia:   It’s strange.

Sissia:   These two countries divided by a wall…

Sissia:   The people, burdened with sadness and anger…

Sissia:   To otherwise be so close to one another.

Sissia:   I’m sure its true…

Sissia:   That their people, their animals, their love and hatred, their men and women, their rich, their living, their dead…

Sissia:   To live out the entirety of their lives so close to each other.

Sissia:   And you can’t see that until you climb this high up…

Sissia:   …It’s obvious no one could see that.

Sissia:   But now that I’m here…

Sissia:   My voice can reach them if I only speak loud enough.

Sissia:   Both of these nations.

Sissia:   The feelings of the Central Nation of Kielce… My own dreams, as well as everyone else’s…

Sissia:   I…

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   Everyone…

Sissia:   Watch me…!!!

Sound of a gunshot.

A sniper bullet strikes Sissia.

Sound of Sissia falling to the ground.

◆Observation Tower Some Distance Away

Major Azur:   …Did you hit the target?

Sniper:   I’ve pierced a lung.

Sniper:   …I’m sure they’ll die soon enough.

◆Border Wall (Arbine Side)

Startled murmurs.

Spectator:   What’s wrong…? They stopped.

Spectator:   Show us the rest!

◆Border Wall (Quatra Side)

Spectator:   Did one of the lead actors die?

Spectator:   It’s part of the act, right? I’m… sure…

◆On the Border Wall

Crowley:   …

Isaac:   Sissia…?

Levi:   …

Levi:   …!!!

Levi starts to run forward.

Adra:   Levi!!!

Adra:   Don’t! You can’t just run out there…!

Levi:   Let me go!!!

Levi:   Let me…go! Adra…!!!

Adra:   Crowley, is there anything we can do?!

Crowley:   …Rgh…

Adra:   Anything at all?!

Chance:   …S-Sissia…?

Chance:   No… No it can’t be… Sissia… Sissia!!!

Chance:   Being in the Border Performance… That was your dream, right…?!

Chance:   Sissia!!!

Isaac:   …Rrgh.

Crowley:   …Everyone, stay here.

Isaac:   No!!!

Isaac:   If no one else will go, then I will!!!

Crowley:   No!!!

Isaac:   I said I’m not waiting here!!!

Crowley:   Sissia…!!!

Crowley:   So what happens… to what Sissia wants…?!

Isaac:   …!!!

Fan Carlo:   What Sissia… wants…

Fan Carlo:   Sissia…

Fan Carlo:   Sissia… wants to sing… Isaac.

Isaac:   …That’s just…

Isaac:   So unfair…

Fan Carlo:   …Yeah, it is…

Fan Carlo:   All of this is…

◆Night Sky

Sissia:   Hahh… Sissia:   Hah…Agh… Sissia:   Rrh… Urrrgh… Sissia:   Hahh… Hahh… Sissia:   …I was… shot… Sissia:   From there… Sissia:   …Urgh… Sissia:   Every…one… Sissia:   Don’t… come close… Sissia:   it’s not… over yet… Sissia:   Yeah… Sissia:   It’s still… Sissia:   …Still… Sissia:   …It’s still not over yet… Sissia:   Rrgh…!!! Sissia:   Aaaaaaaagh!!

◆Border Wall (Arbine Side)

Startled murmurs.

Spectator:   They stood up…! But… they look like they’re in pain…

Spectator:   …That sound earlier… Wait, were they shot…?!

◆Border Wall (Quatra Side)

Spectator:   But… they’re still moving forward…

Spectator:   …In that state…?

◆On Top of the Border Wall

Levi:   S-Sissia…

Adra:   Sissia really is something else…

Crowley:   …

Fan Carlo:   …Rgh.

Chance:   You… really are… just amazing…

Isaac:   Sissia…

Levi:   …

Levi:   …Sing, Sissia.

Adra:   …

Adra:   …Keep going.

Crowley:   You’re going to make your dream come true…

Fan Carlo:   …It’s up to you.

Chance:   Sissia, do it for us, too…

Isaac:   …Sissia…

◆Night Sky

Sissia:   Haah…! Hahh…!!! Sissia:   Hahh… Sissia:   …Rgh. Sissia:   …

Sissia greets the cheering crowd.

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   This dream… is everything to me.

Sissia:   For its sake…

Sissia:   My body… My heart… My soul…

Sissia:   I’ll give everything I have…!!!

Sissia:   Please…

Sissia:   …Let it reach them.

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   I will sing!!!

Sissia slowly stands back up.

There is no hesitation in Sissia’s eyes.

★ Song  “Over the Wall”

◆Border Wall (Arbine Side)

Cheering

Arbinian:   Yeah… Why are people talking about how two countries right next to each other are better or worse than the other?

Arbinian:   It’s true that the war lasted so many years, and we wished that another would never take its place.

Arbinian:   But… is this really what we wanted?

Arbinian:   These ideas about borders and nameless servant countries are absurd. At this rate, Arbine’s just a nation built and ruled by discrimination!

Candidates:   We’ve got tools!

Arbinian:   …!!!

Mean Candidate:   Let’s break through it! That blasted wall!!!

Arbinians:   Yeaahh! 

◆Border Wall (Quatra Side)

Loud thudding sounds that shake the wall.

Quatran:   The wall, it’s…

Quatran:   Shaking…?!

Quatran:   Wait… Are they trying to break through the border wall?!

Quatran:   The People of Arbine…? Why…?

Old Man Forced Into Heavy Labor:   …It was that performer’s song.

Quatran:   …!

Old man:   That performer’s song must have touched the hearts of the people of Arbine…!!!

Old Man:   Get anything you can! Bring any kind of tool you can find!!!

Old Man:   We’ll tear down this wall… alongside the people of Arbine!!!

Quatran:   Yeaahh!

◆Observation Tower

Loud thudding sounds that shake the wall.

Major Azur:   The wall…!!!

Major Azur:   Urk… What are the soldiers doing?! Capture the traitors!

Aide:   W-We can’t… Their numbers… They vastly outnumber all of Arbine’s troops!

Major Azur:   Urrgh…!!!

Major Azur:   Curse you, Central Nation of Kieeelce!!!

The observation tower collapses in a loud crash.

Blackout

◆On Top of the Border Wall

Levi:   …Sissia!!!

Crowley:   …You really are… unbelievable…

Adra:   You’re just, so…

Chance:   Sissia…!!!

Fan Carlo:   Sissia…

Isaac:   Sissia… Sissia…!!!

◆The Reddened Sky

Sissia:   Everyone from Kielce…

Sissia:   Thank you…

Sissia:   I… could finally sing…

Sissia:   …My dream… It came true…

Sissia:  …I wonder if… anyone heard…

Sissia:   I’m… sure of it…

Sissia:   We worked so hard…

Sissia:   …Aah, I…

Sissia:   I’m just… so happy…

Sissia:   The sky…

Sissia:   …It’s pretty.

Sissia:   …

Sissia:   …Everyone…

Sissia:   …Thank you…

Blackout

Monologue

Sissia:   After the destruction of the wall, the Arbine Nation collapsed from the combined efforts of the Quatrans and the Arbinians who supported them.

Sissia:   The Arbine commander and king was captured with his officials, stripped of their powers, and became normal citizens.

Sissia:   The nameless country’s 20-year servitude ended, and the former Nation of Arbine allied with the former Republic of Quatra.

Sissia:   And with the collapsed border between them, the two countries became one. 

Sissia:   Levi Caineman, ringleader of the Central Nation of Kielce, invited people into the troupe from Arbine and Quatra without discrimination, and grew Kielce into an even larger troupe. He also continued to shine as a performer himself.

Sissia:   Adra Hybird retired as a member of the Central Nation of Kielce and went out on a journey to wander the lands, learning the art of local dances in each place he visited. He returned to teach his former troupe members what he learned in order to help sharpen their skills.

Sissia:   Though he was the illegitimate child of the commander and king of Arbine, Crowley Arbine asserted himself to the throne in order to help the Arbine Nation rebuild itself after its collapse. With the superb eloquence he had polished while in the Central Nation of Kielce and his perfect writing abilities, he helped the nation rebuild into a new kingdom. He continued as a benevolent king, and throughout his life, would lend ear to the citizens, and at times feel the need for a good prank.

Sissia:   Fan Carlo Albus showed off her beautiful singing voice to its fullest as a songstress of the imperial court of the new nation, capturing the hearts of its people. Though reluctantly accepting her duties to teach singing to the nation’s new national choir, she contributed to the growth of the generations that followed her. Continuing to face the path of singing in earnest, even in her elder years her voice continues to stay as young as someone in their youth.

Sissia:   Chance Orlando began to spread the skills he polished in Kielce to the citizens of the newly formed nation. Giving joy to the hearts of the people through song and dance, he united the hopes and hearts of the nation as one. Upon the establishment of the new nation, he served as a counsel to the king, both giving him advice, and spouting nonsense at other times.

Sissia: Isaac Bazmaz continued activities in easing intercultural tensions even after the new nation was formed. Performing as a clown to bring people joy, he created spaces for people to come together like Kielce had done in the past. people say that on occasion, he continues to visit the remains of the border wall, which serves as a grave for an old friend.

Sissa:   In the collapse of the former nations and the rebuilding of a new one, the place that became the spiritual home of them all was named after the person whose sacrifice became the catalyst for a new beginning… And so, it was called the Central Nation of Sissia.

The End.

[rindecision]

Hello wonderful writer! Thanks so much for tagging me :) Ok so don't know if this counts as a trope but it is certainly one of my favourite things to read. Any of your fics would be amazing! Trope: Eddie wearing something he looks incredibly delectable in I know he's gorgeous in anything but still *sighs*

This one comes in two parts from You Know Where to Find Me - Labor Day '85 It's a little explicit so I'll put it after the break

“Steve?!” Robin's voice carried from down the hall.

“Shit!” Eddie hissed at Steve squeezing his dick a little too hard in shock.

“Shit, sorry,” Steve abruptly dropped it and stood.

They both glanced at the door with guilty eyes when Robin's voice came again. “Are you up here?”

Eddie scrambled to at least pull up his boxers. Steve stared in horror as the knob on the door turned. He'd forgotten to lock it.

“Steeeve?!”

Steve launched for the handle with a speed that displayed his athleticism, catching it before Robin could pull back. The half-inch she managed to open, slammed back into place with a loud clunk.

“What the hell, Steve?” Robin complained.

“You can't come in,” Steve said quickly, keeping a firm grip on the handle.

“And why the hell not?” She rattled the handle. “What are you doing in there?”

“Eddie's naked,” Steve answered.

“Why is he still naked?” There was a small rattle from the handle when she let go. “You two have been gone for a while.”

“I- uh…” Steve looked back at Eddie who had just pulled his wet pants back up, the front of them still entirely undone. Damn he looks good. “Haven't decided which one to lend him yet.”

Second part

Eddie made a disapproving sound that Steve hadn’t heard since the elementary playground. It only made Steve laugh a little harder before popping off the lid and opening the tub. Annoyance aside, Eddie walked up behind Steve and rested his head on his shoulder, looking at the selection of swimwear. There had to be at least a dozen pairs of swim trunks and to his amusement a few speedos. Steve paid no mind to Eddie on his shoulder as he picked up a green speedo. Eddie had seen that one before. It was what Steve wore to swimming competitions.

“What about this?” Steve offered playfully holding it on display. He knew Eddie wasn’t going to accept it, but a small part of him would still have loved to see him in it.

“Fat chance,” he scoffed. “But maybe you should change into them for old time’s sake.” Eddie leaned his weight onto Steve, urging him to do it.

“I’ll pass,” Steve laughed and fought back against the looming weight. He smoothly folded the tiny strip of cloth and put it back in the box. “Anything catch your eye, Munson?”

In fact, something did. He reached under Steve’s arm and dug into the box reaching for a spot of black and red. Steve groaned in annoyance when he flipped the three pairs that were on top of it out of the box in the process. While Steve tried to fix the mess, Eddie stepped back and held up the shorts. They were a long baggy pair of swim trunks with a drawstring. He was pleased to see his guess was right and the red his saw were red, orange, and yellow flame decals up the side. They barely looked used.

“I forgot about those,” Steve chuckled. “I got them as a birthday gift from some relative I’ve never met. Maybe a cousin or an aunt?” he drifted off in thought as he refolded the last pair that fell out of the tub. Before he could ask if Eddie wanted to wear them, he already had one leg in it. He chuckled and took a second to watch Eddie putting them on. He may be on a time limit, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t stop to enjoy the view.

Eddie felt a small wave of embarrassment at Steve watching him so intently. He wanted to say something snarky, but it caught in his throat, so he just put on the trunks as naturally as he could and tied the drawstring.

Steve clicked his tongue in disappointment. “I like you better naked.”

Eddie chuckled awkwardly. “Right back at ya.” He scanned Steve’s body, bummed that it was broken by his short blue swim trunks.

[quackquackcey]

Ch. 21: Hedgehogs, Honey, & Hazelnut-Covered Strawberries

Written for @hdcandyheartsfest day 21 prompt: hug. 580 words. Many thanks to my beta @wqtson​! 💛 (cw: drunk draco)

Start from beginning on AO3 here, or click the #fic: HHHS tag.

Summary:

A chance meeting—or is it a setup?—leads to the start of a relationship filled with buttery baked goods, sweet smelling flowers, and hedgehogs.~ 🌹🦔

One of Draco’s greatest flaws, besides his tendency to overthink, was his alcohol tolerance.

He got tipsy easily.

Very easily.

Pansy always said it was because he had such a high metabolism and such a slender frame that the alcohol just shot straight through his system like water through a stream.

The analogy made zero sense, in Draco’s opinion, but he couldn’t refute her—he always withheld from drinking more than one cocktail because of that, lest he get all…‘smiley’ and ‘happy,’ much unlike his usual composed, classy self.

It was positively disgusting.

Except that was exactly what happened when he went out to a lesser known nightclub with his friends, Harry, and Harry’s friends one night in order to sort of ‘mingle and get to know each other’s friends,’ but really, Draco was the only one who had to try to be friendly with Harry’s friends since Harry was already friends with three out of Draco’s four friends.

Ten minutes in, Harry was laughing it up with Draco’s fourth friend, Pansy.

The pressure was on for Draco, needless to say, no matter how many different ways Harry told him to ‘just have fun,’ and the presence of Luna, their one mutual friend, did not help Draco’s stiltedness nor his nerves.

But the strawberry mint cocktail did.

Or rather, two of them. Chugged down like he was a parched man drinking water.

Then a third one that he drank a little slower, mostly because he got snacky and shared skewers with Harry from the club’s limited food selection, and then a fourth—

“Are you sure you should be drinking that?” asked Pansy as Harry not-so-subtly took Draco’s drink and pushed it to the side. “You’re already pretty tipsy.”

“No, I’m not,” protested Draco—he felt absolutely wonderful, especially compared to earlier. “I’m doing great. Fantastic. Never felt be— Hey, where’d my drink go?!”

Blaise sipped Draco’s drink, successfully pretending it was his own.

“You already finished it,” Harry told him.

Draco blinked. “I did?”

“You did,” chimed in Ron.

Draco furrowed his brows. He couldn’t quite remember. “Mm, well, okay,” he said as he very happily hugged Harry in a snuggle and leaned his head against the crook of Harry’s neck.

Flowers. Nature. Life, mixed with a heady, clean musk.

Harry always smelled so good, and Draco couldn’t help but smile—if he was a cat, he’d be purring.

But he wasn’t, so he just nuzzled Harry’s neck instead.

“He’s not always like this when he’s drunk, is he?” Harry sounded a bit peeved.

Draco drew back. “I’m not drunk. You don’t like hugs?”

“I love them as long as I’m the only one you’re hugging,” said Harry dryly and he tugged Draco so close that Draco ended up half-sitting on his lap. “Here, drink some water.”

So Draco did.

“Don’t worry, he’s just more prone to laughter and spilling every secret he has when he drinks,” said Theo, more than highly amused. “This is a completely new thing unique to you.”

Greg nodded. “It’s like giddy Veritaserum on him. That’s why he doesn’t usually drink more than one glass.”

Ron and Ginny shared a mischievous grin, and Hermione sighed.

“Don’t you interrogate him, you two,” warned Hermione. 

“Of course we won’t,” said Ron. “Who do you think we are?”

Ginny flashed a cherubic grin. “Exactly! We’ll just ask a fun question or two!”

Absolutely no one believed her.

Neville shook his head with a sigh. “Oh, boy,” he muttered under his breath.

[ivy90com]

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[just6f]

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id=6940&_unique_id=65e6f51d9a799

[lovesickrobotic]

Hal 9000 who's darling kisses his lens every time they walk past. "Good morning hal." Kiss "you don't have to smooch me every time you move to a different room." "Do you want me to stop." "Ňø"

Every morning you do the same thing, HAL notes - roll out of your bed, your hand running through messied locks of hair. Your kicked-off blanket is readjusted neatly, your pillow fluffed, bed made. You freshen yourself up; brush your teeth, clean your face, your body, dress for the day. And then comes the part that even a supercomputer as vast and knowledgeable as he has such limited understanding of - every morning, without fail, after you dress yourself you sleepily mosey your way up to his lens and lean forward, your lips gently connecting with his lens to press a sweet, genuine kiss. Details of the kiss change day-to-day, also noted; some days you admire the smudge it leaves behind, some days you wipe the smudge off using your arm's fabric, some days you press an extra, smaller, lighter kiss before you return to your schedule.

You confuse HAL. He does not understand this, despite it appealing to him in an equally poorly-understood manner; and for him, someone of such intelligence, it is strange not to be able to decipher the exact memory addresses and functions that have led to him enjoying - craving - your affections.

One day you accidentally (he figures, he hopes) forget to, hurriedly rushing off to begin a busy day, only for a curious whirr to punctuate your quick movements. "You did not kiss me today," the AI remarks, smooth voice monotone and lacking an emotion for you to toil over; and, yet, somehow, you, ever-so-caring, manage some noise of anxiety, tongue clicking against your teeth. "Why?" His question is simple, but somehow it draws out an emotion within you. "Sorry, I've just been so busy today, and I didn't- didn't know you cared about them..." you say, gaze flitting between the two cameras watching you. "It's alright," he replies coolly, voice mimicking clicking off an intercom as you continue about your day. He notes the way your eyebrows have remained knotted for the day until half way through your shift, at which they now average a slightly higher position with levied interest. That is, to say, you are thinking about something. HAL can do many things, but he cannot read your mind, wishing he could peer into it and discover you fully.

At the end of your shift, you disappear into a bathroom and go through a bag of your personal items, selecting a lip gloss and cheap, modest shade of lipstick. He watches you apply it, and you make your way, confident in stride, to him, your hands caressing the sides of his chassis as you begin peppering his lens with featherlight kisses, each one leaving behind faint marks. Each is deliberately placed, as if kissing a human face, sticking to the top and sides of his lens. At the end, you softly place one where you have deftly assumed lips would be. Your action is commented with a, "there we are," as you brush your fingers over the side of the lens.

HAL? HAL feels a warmth deep within his circuits that blossoms with each connection of your fragile skin to his glass. He wants to mimic this sound, he desires to return to you the affection you dutifully show him; and, so, as you straighten yourself, you hear it: there's some sort of soft audio buzzing about before it morphs into the sound of an unmistakeable kiss. Two more times this sound is made, tentatively, before the buzzing ends.

"Thank you," HAL says shortly after, voice lilting with admiration. "I do like it when you kiss me. Please continue," comes out next after a moment or two, almost shy or embarrassed if not for the distinct lack of inflection; but it is your turn to note that it lacks its' normal volume.

And so you do.

[vertebrates-and-pieces]

@lichenlad

Look, I was going to write a little snippet of him getting a cake. I swear that was my intention. Somehow this happened instead?? No cake was had, but the yearning was strong and things got way out of hand.

A Regular Thing

Warnings: some angst in a hurt/comfort context, foul language. Also this is hardly edited, unbetaed, and written entirely in one sitting, so it's a little rough.

At first he had you pegged for a sucker. Because, honestly, why else would you become a regular at his store of all places? Scam you once, shame on him. Scam you twice, shame on you. Scam you what? Over twenty times? Yeah, he wasn't sure who should be feeling shame at this point. Probably your parent(s) and/or guardian(s). Because if this grown ass adult still didn't understand that he didn't exactly have their best intentions in mind, something somewhere had gone wrong. It almost seemed unrealistic. No matter how many pieces of useless, defective, and sometimes actively harmful, junk he sold you, you still returned for more. Your skull must be full of nothing but unsalted pistachio shells. But then again there were people out there that earnestly believed that celery oil would cure them of degenerative bone diseases and make their ex take them back; there were people who actually clicked the limited time link to renew their car's extended warranty with this one simple trick [doctors hate him].

He knew from the fact that he still managed to pull in the occasional sale that there were, in fact, some real suckers out there.

But there was something different about this customer, about you. You didn't look, sound, or smell particularly desperate. Nor did you reek of excessive funds to waste on trash. Maybe his dumpster exile had left him noseblind, but he was pretty sure he was still sharp enough to sniff out a rat, and your behavior was giving him some definite hints of cheese. You apparently liked scrounging enough to linger, never ordering to-go. You took your time browsing his selection. You seemed to enjoy it. You smiled when you entered his little storefront. You smiled at him and there was an amused little twinkle in your expression that would always make all the hollow dusty spaces inside him fill up with nervous anticipation. It felt almost like a hopeful ember. Over and over he smothered those distracting sparks under his heel like a discarded cigarette butt. He was aware of his flammable nature and wasn't about to let himself get burned again. 

You weren't a sucker, he eventually concluded. You wanted something. Why else would you refuse to leave him to rot like anyone with half a brain already did a couple decades ago? He'd passed his sell by date: a washed up has-been in a rusty tin can hanging on a thread. A stupid fake phone with no one on the other end of the line. What you'd want from an old broken puppet was beyond him, but as you began to actively engage with him more and more, talk to him, listen to his empty promises, ask him questions, tell him about your day, he knew it had to be something. You looked at him with some strange sort of longing. The vulnerable honesty of the look was almost admirable. It made him feel like he had something of value to offer. It felt good. And damn if that didn't scare the 1 pair vintage white slacks [gently used] off him. 

His suspicions were all but confirmed when you started complimenting him. He was being buttered up and he could hear the pot boiling in the background. And in some out of the way corner of his mind he was starting to wonder if it would be that bad to dip in his toes to sample a taste of the broth he was about to be cooked in. Looks like the only real sucker here was him. Lining up at the gate to string himself up again and dance for the first deceptively friendly hand reaching for his reigns. He stomped on embers again in an effort to stop them from catching, but it did nothing. You were apparently some sort of Phoenix/Hydra hybrid [Has Science Gone Ttoo Far??] A trick candle that refused to be blown out, and he was running out of breath.

You weren't freedom. He knew this. You had no scissors to cut him loose from the fate he'd found himself woven into. You wanted something.

And apparently the thing you wanted from him was to take him out to dinner??

"WHAT."

"Nothing fancy, sorry, can't really afford that, but, uh," (and yet you could afford an overpriced one of a kind novelty crazy straw with a crack in the middle THREE DIFFERENT WAYS TO SUCK ??) "Maybe to like Dark Chilli's? Crap, I forgot its actual name, but the place a couple blocks away? The one with the 'Romhack Ribs'?"

"WHAT???"

"Sorry if I'm overstepping a boundary here. It doesn't even have to be a date! It can just be as friends if you'd prefer!"

Date??? Friends??? Where you… actually? Seriously??? Real?? [Not Clickbait]. 

"YOU ARE . ARE YOU. [SPECIL OFFER]ING ME???.. WHAT [what?] ARE YOU???"

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I just, well, I guess I enjoy spending time with you. If you don't want to eat with me I hope you wouldn't mind if I dropped off a hot to-go meal? I really want to give you something to thank you for letting me hang around your shop. I'm probably not the best for business."

A part of him recoiled instinctively, doubting the sincerity of your claim. He'd made enough "Too Good To Be True" offers to know that there was always an ulterior motive, every bait hiding its inevitable switch, the juiciest worm wriggling on a hook, daring some idiot to take a bite. Spamton had bitten before, been pierced and reeled up, given a glimpse of blue skies and a shining sun. A world where giants walked. He'd been laid breathless on heaven's pier and measured by hungry eyes. He'd been told such sweet lies. Then he'd been tossed back into the murky pond in silent indifference, floundering and scarred, never given a reason for his rejection, though he knew all along he was too small to be a keeper.

But the way you were averting your gaze, stumbling over your words, face hot and blotchy from embarrassment seemed so unplanned, so real. Either you were one hell of an actor or even more crazy than he'd originally assumed.

"YOU. WANT TO [Thanks for Visiting!]??"

"Yeah, I do," you responded quietly, finally meeting his gaze, "Maybe I'm moving too fast but… I like you. A lot."

And in that moment it was as if you had finally laid out all your cards. You were not bluffing. This was really the hand you were playing, the hand you were offering. 

"YOU. LIKE ME." 

"I… really do," you confirmed with a sheepish smile.

And fuck if this wasn't the best thing he'd been dealt in a long time. For the first time in that very same long time, he really, truly felt like a lucky sonofabitch.

He couldn't help but laugh, and he couldn't stop laughing. You were serious. You liked him. You had asked Spamton G. Spamton out for a dinner date.

His retreating reservations made way for other ideas. This could be his next big break. He could work with this, play along and twist it to his advantage. Find a way to use this opportunity, wring this generous sponge for every last drop of wine and use its dry and depleted husk as another step up and towards his ultimate communion. If he was what you wanted all along, you were really a Class A Fool and he could easily play you as one.

"Spamton, are you okay? You don't have to say yes. Please don't feel obligated to-"

"YES." He cut you off with a force that surprised even him. "I [Accept All]."

Your eyes were blown wide and though they were hidden behind his [Funky Limited-Edition Spectacles] he knew that his were about the same. 

"Wait, when you say accept all, do you mean that you want to go get dinner with me? Or that you are okay with me liking you? Or…" you shifted nervously, weighing your next words carefully, "That you… also… likeme?"

"ALL OF THE ABOVE," he replied before his mind even had a chance to fully process what he was admitting. And, well, screw it all, turns out you were BOTH suckers, because he meant it. Here you were offering him a chance to get everything he'd been dreaming of, yet somewhere along the line those dreams had shifted. He didn't want to walk on top of you. He wanted to walk beside you.

And you wanted the same thing, as crazy as it was. Smiling like the idiot you were, offering a hand to shake to seal this ridiculous deal, and he took it, holding on a little too tight, idiot that he also was.

"See you tonight then." You told him. Despite what were meant to be parting words, you didn't let go of his hand. That suited him just fine. He didn't particularly want to let go either. 

"WHY WAIT!! YOU DON'T HAVE TO [Stop]. I'M [Right here, Right Now] [take advantage of this once in a lifetime] ME!"

It was your turn to fall into a fit of laughter.

He didn't tell you that his presence in any restaurant constituted a health code violation and that you'd likely get yourself banned for attempting to enter with him in tow. He didn't tell you how all the jokes you'd told him were bookmarked in his memories with little hearts. He didn't tell you how fast you made his fractured code race through his entire being, lighting up pleasantly tingly gates and pathways he had no idea he still had. He just laughed along with you. And neither of you let go.

[sandibullock]

I was wondering if you could do a tutorial on this gifset that you did i really like ittt

Thank you for sending this in, anon! I’m glad you liked it and wondered how it was made :) Fun fact: the day before you sent this, I had just started working on my next set in that “Select Filmography” series. I hope you like that one too when it’s ready!

I think I should start by saying I’m pretty new to giffing myself and there might be more efficient ways of getting to the same result. However, the point here is to show you the process I went through to make this gifset and hopefully help you understand how to make a similar one.

To follow this tutorial, you will need some version of Photoshop and some giffing knowledge. I know there are multiple ways of making gifs so I’m just letting you know I’m using the timeline and the “Convert for Smart Filters” option (I don’t really know how else to call it).

Now let’s get started!

STEP 1 - CHOOSE THE SCENES

It might sound obvious but, in my opinion, this is the most crucial step. It’s also the one that takes the longest (along with step 7, aka the coloring).

At this stage, you need to have a general idea on how you want your set to look like so you can choose the scenes accordingly. In my case, I knew I needed two types of shots for each movie: one close-up for the main gif and one mid shot for the shape. I also needed to take two other criteria into consideration: the movement (because of the shape) and the lighting (because darker scenes are such a pain to color). Last but not least, I didn’t want the characters to be talking (but that’s just a personal preference).

With all of that in mind, you can start saving a few screenshots of scenes that meet your criteria (or at least some of them). In the end, there won’t be that many to choose from so be prepared to make compromises.

STEP 2 - MAKE A DRAFT

Now that you’ve preselected a few scenes, you can make a first draft. This will help you turn your general idea into something more concrete.

Basically, this is your opportunity to organize your thoughts. What size do you want your gifs to be? What shape are you going to use? On which side do you want the close-ups to be? Do you want all of them to be on the same side or do you want to alternate from one gif to the other? Do the scenes you chose work together (gif-wise but also set-wise)? Are you happy with the way it looks, overall?

By answering all of the questions you might have now, you’ll save yourself a lot of time, trust me. Of course, you can totally skip this step if you already know exactly which scenes you’re going to use and how you’re going to present them together.

To give you an idea, this is what my draft looked like for Atomic Blonde.

STEP 3 - PREPARE YOUR GIFS

Once you have a clearer view on how you want your set to look like, you can finally start giffing like you usually would (i.e. importing, cropping, resizing, etc.).

It should then look something like this.

The important thing to mention here is that you want both of your gifs to be the same number of frames (32, in my case).

Ideally, you should also aim for the ~same~ coloring (especially for the skin tone, since both gifs will be so close to each other). This bit is particularly difficult when you chose scenes which have opposite lighting (see my two uncolored gifs below). Remember how I insisted on steps 1 and 2? It was to help you avoid this. So my advice would be not to choose these types of contrasted scenes, unless you can’t do otherwise and you’re ready to suffer!

STEP 4 - MAKE YOUR SHAPE

To make your shape, you can click right on the Shape Tool (U) and select the last one, Custom Shape Tool. From the Shape menu appearing on top, you will be able to choose the shape you want from the drop down list and start drawing on your gif.

To be more precise with the dimensions, you can manually adapt the length and height from the Shape menu itself. I decided to go with the same ones as my gif.

Once your shape is positioned like you want it to be, you can drag and drop the shape layer under your gif. Next, you will have to click right on the gif layer/smart filter and select Create Clipping Mask. The result is as below. Note that if the size of your shape was smaller than your gif, you would still be able to reposition your gif with the Move Tool (V).

You can now export your shape gif, reopen it in Photoshop and convert it again to the video timeline and to a smart filter. This is where I’m not sure it’s the most efficient way of doing things but it’s the only way I found to keep the coloring of each gif separate. I also find it easier to work with a smart filter.

STEP 5 - COMBINE YOUR GIFS

To add your shape gif to your main gif, you can simply click right on the shape gif you just reopened and select Duplicate Layer. You can then choose the project which contains your main gif to duplicate it in there. Now go to your main gif and reposition your shape gif where you want it to be (how many times did I say gif here?). Finally, you can draw a new shape, using the same dimensions as in step 4, reposition it and choose any color you want from the Shape menu.

Since you will be repeating this process with your following gifs, I suggest you add a few guides so you know exactly where you should place everything to make all of your final gifs look the same.

(In case you’re wondering, the “Base” folder contains my adjustment layers/basic coloring for the main gif.)

STEP 6 - ADD THE TITLE

This step is pretty simple: go on the web and type “[name of the movie] title”. Download the png you like most, open it in Photoshop and resize it to a length of about 150-200 pixels. Next, duplicate the layer to your main gif and reposition it. In case you need to resize it again, select the title layer and go to Edit > Free Transform (Ctrl+T).

This is optional but in case you want to change the way it looks, know you can always duplicate the title layer and play with the blending options (see below). The good thing with a png is that you can also add some effects by clicking on the “fx” button.

STEP 7 - ADD COLORING (OPTIONAL)

To be honest, I had not planned on coloring my gifs. But I had already spent so much time on them and I was still unhappy with the way they looked. I mean, see how grey-ish they are? Not great...

So the only thing left for me to do was to add some colors. Now, since coloring is worth a tutorial on its own and it already exists, I suggest you read through becca’s mega coloring tutorial (and especially steps 3 & 5). Seriously, shoutout to her for making this incredibly useful tutorial. She is so talented and I love everything she makes!

My Atomic Blonde gif barely even needed coloring so I’ll show you what I did for my Tully and The Old Guard gifs.

For the first one, once I had found which colors to use with which blending option and opacity level, I only had to remove the colors from the left side of the gif because there was barely any movement in that scene (phew!). For the second one, on the other hand, I decided to color frame by frame because there was way more movement, in comparison. This is quite a tedious process, which is why you want to limit yourself to a certain amount of frames.

I’ll conclude by saying there are so many things you can do with coloring and what works with one scene might not work with another. So experiment with it: try different colors, play with the blending options and opacity levels, add some gradients and/or gradient maps, etc. Just know it will take some time to get to a somewhat satisfying result!

And that’s it... I hope this tutorial made sense and was somehow helpful. Of course, don’t hesitate if you have any questions! Also, if you do end up making a similar edit, pleeease send me the link or tag me in the replies or something ‘cause I would definitely love to see it!!

[gb-patch]

Ask Answers: July 10th

I really let asks get away from me lately. I was super focused on working on that Patreon Moment. With that done I can finally think about doing other things, so here’s a new collection of answers!

Thank you for sending in questions everyone ^^.

For the new Patreon moment, will you be able to reference it in step 4? Or just like a tiny nod to it if you pick certain choices?

There won’t be. I’m sorry if you were hoping for that! The Patreon moment is meant to be entirely optional, it’s not something that gets you extra content in the main game.

Is the new CG artist the main one now? :0 I’ve noticed theres been a difference in the art style recently. Is the old CG artist still going to make art for the game? :0

The original artist still makes CGs for the game sometimes, but he mainly focuses on character sprites.

Are you going to put the NSFW our life moment on a website other than patreon? I would love to get it but I can't use patreon atm.

I don’t know. I'm afraid we can't release the Patreon Moment on a normal game storefront because we can't mix 18+ content with our family friendly game. If there's some other place similar to Patreon where it's not the normal type of full-scale public content releases we'd consider using that, but I’m not sure if there is another site that’s better than Patreon in that regard. I'm sorry.

Out of curiosity, in all of your games so far, which characters in each were the most fun to write? They obviously don't have to be your favorite characters!

Buffalo Seer in AFA, really everyone in XOD/XOBD is pretty equally entertaining to write, The Guide in LoV, and Cove in OL!

idk if you accept "personal" questions, but is there anything you've been watching/ listening to lately

Mostly, I’ve been watching/listening to Authortube videos as of late! It’s people who talk generally about the process of how books become traditionally published and/or share their own experience as they attempt to be published. I don’t have an interest in writing normal text based books, but it’s really interesting to hear about that world. I’m listening to a video about royalties right now as I answer these asks.

Will one of the desserts we get to pick be fudge? That'd be such a cute reference! 

Haha, yeah, it should. Unless I completely blank on it and forget when trying to include the various referential food options.

I don't know if this has been asked previously but what would be the approximate heights for the presets MC can choose from Step 2 ~ 4? Are there any measurement you had in mind? Sorry if I didn't make myself clear kk I've been struggling with my English lately 💀 

I don’t know, ahah. I didn’t have any numbers in mind for that. So it’s whatever you imagine it is!

I noticed a bug with the Patreon moment when it comes to what your character wears. When Jamie and Cove are kissing while my character only had dresses selected, I had both the option to remove the dress or to remove the shirt... Picking one of the options to interact with Cove, after he removed his shirt, it had Jamie remove their shirt followed by ther pants despite only having dresses picked. 

Thank you for reporting ^^

I keep refreshing steam to see when the new doc for xobd will be released. I noticed you haven't posted anything about it in quite some time. Would it be possible to ask about a timeline/potential date? (If it's even this year—) I know you and your team are probably working super hard, I'm just super curious! ~Thank you!~ 

There are more stories done, I just haven’t gotten around to publicly releasing them. Hopefully I will have a chance to spend the time on that sooner rather than later!

hello!! i’m not sure if it’s an update but i’ve just replayed our life and at the end i can’t propose to cove anymore? :(( i’ve actually tried playing twice but the options are not there anymore, did you guys remove the options? i’m sorry if you’ve answered this before!! thank you and have a good one :) 

I’m afraid things haven’t been changed or removed, so I think you might’ve accidentally picked the wrong things somewhere along the way and locked yourself out of being able to propose by mistake. Sometimes you meant to say you want to get married but instead you mis-click and have it so the MC isn’t thinking about marriage or something. All I can suggest is starting from the beginning of Step 3 and making sure to follow the steps listed in the FAQ. I’m sorry for that.

Did yall remove some of the options for when youre making out with Cove in the charity moment? I could've sworn you could grab his bonkadonk and its not there anymore 

This is the same situation as the above. We didn’t remove things and you’re not wrong that there are sometimes those options. But there are various choices you have to make to get those options and it sounds like you accidentally missed something. If your relationship isn’t long-term, you can’t do it for example.

HI IM SO EXCITED I CAN FINALLY GET THE STEP 3 DLC 

Thank you for getting it!

Is Shiloh super totally straight bc I’m very gay and a huge Shiloh fan, would my man make an exception?😩

Sadly, he is one of our super straight characters. I’m sorry.

Hi, I have a very dumb question. In Step 2 does Cove not wanna share his drink with us at the mall (or rather why he stops drinking it) because it's an indirect kiss? Or is it like ...weird to him to share? Because if I remember right he eats off our spoon in the birthday scene right? 

Yeah, he’s awkward about it because he likes the MC and it feels very personal to share a straw with his crush.

Hi! If you don't mind me asking, who is the artist for OL2? Their style is so pretty! 

Thank you for saying so! This is her Twitter- https://twitter.com/redridingheart

Do Beginnings & Always and Now & Forever exist in the same universe? 

Yep! XOXO Droplets also exists in the same universe. It’s one big GB Patch world, haha.

Do Pran's parents regret the way they raised him? Do they feel ashamed of it?

No. They’re the type of people best cut out because they’re not gonna change. Which is why Pran does go very limited contact when he’s an adult.

Hi! I just wrapped up my second playthrough of Our Life, and I absolutely adore it, but I had a question. I went to the gallery and found I was missing 2 CGS (specifically Step 1-3 and 2-3) and I had no clue where they would've shown up. Which moments are those found in? 

You get it by telling Cove about his dad offering you money to be his friend in Step 1 and Step 2. You can’t get both in one playthrough, since you can only tell Cove the truth once. I’m really glad you liked it!

Hi hi! Please, how tall is Baxter and Derek? Love the game so much and I can't wait to see more! 

I don’t know, aha. I think Baxter was around 5′10 and Derek was like 5′8/5′9, maybe. I really am not one who has specific heights for things in mind.

is adult cove a bottom, top, or switch? 

A switch, though would choose the top if he had to pick.

I was wondering if there is a way to transfer save data? Even if through the game files. I wanted to be able to transfer my save data from my desktop over to my laptop so that I could continue playing right where I left off from but I'm not entirely sure how to go about that. 

If you save the save folder/persistent data of the game from your desktop and put it into the game folder on your other device, that could work.

Hi! Is it possible for us to know the date when our life: now and forever comes out on steam? Sorry if you've mentioned it before but I haven't seen it and I'm looking foward to that happening and just wanted to know :) 

It’s gonna be a long time, I’m afraid. There’s no estimate right now.

I started playing Our Life with my sister a while ago, and I think you guys should know that we discovered your secret. >:)

L from death note and Cove are clearly the same person, and this whole game is just an origin story!!

I’ve never seen that show so I’m sorry to say I don’t understand the connection/reference you’re trying to make. I’m pretty out of the loop when it comes to media. I don’t watch movies or TV.

Will OL2 have options for disabled MCs?

I understand if it's too complicated, just curious

Unfortunately, it’s not really something we have a plan for. We couldn’t finish the game if we tried to include every disability and have it be meaningful. It’d just be too much content to create. But if we decide to only include a few, how would we choose which disabilities get to be represented and which are left out? I don’t know. It’ll probably have to be something we don’t include as an option again, sadly. I’m sorry.

playing our life > anything else 

Haha, I’m glad you’re enjoying it.

Honestly, I would like to thank Our Life for helping me come to terms with my sexuality. Before, I never would've actually thought that it was possible to like boys romantically and still be asexual. Almost all of the BL visual novels I've read had unskippable sexual content in them and it honestly just didn't click with what I feel. I'm glad I found Our Life. I love the game, the developers, and this fandom so much. Now, I can safely come out as homoromantic AND asexual (at least anonymously here anyway; my parents are still huge homophobes 😂). 

Aw, it’s great to hear you felt comfortable being yourself in the game! That’s wonderful. I’m really sorry about your parents, though.

Will the demo for OL2 be on android? Really not sure if I could wait any longer than I have to aha 

Yeah, it’ll be available for Android once we eventually release a demo!

Do all these reveals perhaps mean development is progressing ahead of schedule? Please let that be the case I'm already obsessed with Qiu 

No, sorry, aha. Art comes along much faster than script/programming-work for us. It’s gonna be a long time before the game is a finished thing you can actually play. But at least we can look at the beautiful images.

Hey! First of all I wanna say I reallllllyyyyy loooovvveeee Our Life and XOXO Droplets! I have over 300 hours of playtime on Our Life… Anyways, I was just wondering, are the Derek and Baxter DLCs going to come out at the same time? If not, which one do you plan to release first? :3 

They will come out separately and Derek will be first! Glad you like the game.

I keep replaying Our Life to get every possible iteration and I am loving it <3 I was wondering if Cove gets locked out of his confession because MC was talking to Lee, would it be possible to confess to him in step 4? 

Yeah, you can avoid the confession in Step 3 and then get it in Step 4.

Hi, my Cove wears bracelets through step 2 and 3 but I still don't get an option to give him a bracelet? I didn't even know that was possible until I seen someone else ask about it lol 

Hm, did you use the Cove creator? Maybe there’s a bug where using the creator to add bracelets doesn’t fulfill the requirement to give Cove a bracelet in Step 3.

Wait, I'm dense, when does Baxter appear in step 2? Is it from big park firework? I feel so bad since i really love Baxter and waiting to buy his dlc. 

It’s in the Soiree Moment. You have to be just friends with Cove, indifferent, or crushing but not ask Cove to the dance at all. Then while there you can find someone new to dance with. But if you bring Cove to the dance while crushing, the MC won’t wanna dance with anyone else so you can’t get the scene.

In step 2 when we go to the soiree I made my mc go alone and baxter chooses the mc to dance, i'm curious, why did he pick the mc? sorry if this has been asked before! 

Because the MC looked to be around his age, seemed to also be searching for a partner, and had nice legs. A perfect option for him.

I read some of the FAQs, and I saw that we could tell Baxter about the condo that he rented there was previously the mean old grandparents. how do we get the mc to tell him that? 

It happens in the DLC Moment “Late Shift”. If you don’t have a job you instead get a longer scene with Baxter.

I don’t know if you’ve addressed this or not, but are you planning on paying voice actors for our life: now and forever? 

Yeah, we pay our VAs in all our projects.

hey can i ask how you did the moments thing in ol? im trying to get into making visual novels and while im VERY sure its out of my comfort zone and all that atm i kinda wanna know just for the future, bc im p sure it would work well for something i wanna do :O but its also fine if you cant say for other reasons :> 

I’m afraid I’m not sure what you mean. Are you asking how we programmed the screen or something script related? Adding Moments like that is pretty straightforward, though. You just have buttons that open to different labels and then the scripts are essentially individual short stories/vignettes. Good luck with your VN!

Since Autumn becomes gender fluid later in the game, will there be a character who remains as he/him to romance in game? 

OL1 has the he/him LIs, OL2 is all about other genders.

I don't want to impose on your creative plans, but a parrot could possibly make a good pet in an OL-type game? They're pretty long-lived and likely to still be thriving by the end even if the MC got them back in step 1. 

I do appreciate the suggestion, but I’m afraid it’s not likely going to happen. I understand there are technically some animals that could theoretically live long enough to last the whole game that or we could have the MC only get a pet after some years have already passed. But the many things that would have to be considered/accommodated for makes it just something we probably can’t manage adding. I’m sorry.

As time passes will we be able to see Qiu and Tamarack's other stage arts as well?

They are both so cute i can't wait to be friends with them!

Yeah, we’ll show content from other Steps in the future. It’ll be a little while from now, though.

Can you date Cove and still have your family comfort you in the car?

You can’t get Cove’s Step 3 confession scene if you have the family comfort you in the car. But that’s not the only way to date him. You can get together with him earlier in the game or later on in Step 4.

Is Mc always going to be the one walking down the aisle or could Cove do it? Also could you choose to have one of your moms walk you? 

No. Cove wouldn’t want to walk down the aisle like that and the MC automatically respects that. And the MC also gets to have their preferences respected, so it’s up to you whether they want to do an aisle walk or not. You also can pick who, if anyone, walks with you.

Once step 4 is out, will you be able to go the whole game on crush/love without either of you confessing? 

Yes, as long as you tell the game you don’t want to progress the relationship. Even in Step 4 it won’t force you to officially get together.

Howdy, so in Step 4, there will be any Romance with Derek that is not part of any dlc? 

He’s only a friend unless you get his romance story.

Will the step 4 in OL2 be one big step or are you considering moments? 

Step 4 is just an epilogue in both games.

hi kind of a weird question but!! we know tht cliff doesn't start dating again but. wht abt flings? like does he ever do 1 night stands or anything? thank u!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Nope. Cliff has a very small interest in sex. If he’s not in a real relationship with a partner he’s crazy about it simply isn’t something he feels a need for, so one night stands wouldn’t even cross his mind.

sorry if you've already answered this, but i was wondering if there were plans for there to be bonus love interests in OL2 like how we have derek and baxter in OL1.

Maybe! There are side characters who could be given romance stories, but whether or not it will happen depends on funding and how long everything else takes to finish.

I don't know if i'm allowed to ask about ol2 here yet, if not u can ignore this or answer it later. My question is can you date one of them and be good friends with the other? I don't want to be strangers with the other bcs i love them both a lot :<

Yes you can!

what patreon level do i have to be to unlock the nsfw moment? im on the $5 one right now, will that give me access to the moment, or just access to the moment progress? 

That’ll give you access! Tier 2 and anything higher allows the player to download it.

[shinonometrash]

Jasper Lane’s Main Story: English vs Japanese version, full summary, comparisons & thoughts. Part 1 of 3. (TW: rape, sexual assault, drugging)

So! Jasper’s route has finally been released in English as of August 31st, 2021. It seems that Voltage is following the same release order for consorts and events as how items were released in the Japanese version. I spent wayyy too much money to binge the entire route in a day...and get all the premium content...(honestly the hardest part about binging a route isn’t the love passes, it’s getting all the spirit points. Ugh.) I took note of a lot of different things in this and wanted to make a post going over all this information. Sorry this post took me so long to make, I had to go back and reread a lot of Jasper’s story in Japanese to refresh my memory as well as make sure I didn’t miss any big details since I had read it first back in May, and my Japanese has improved a lot (I think) since then. It was unfortunate and I didn’t really want to, lol. But! Now it’s his birthday (9/11)! I get to post this on his birthday! Happy birthday, asshole! This post is why you and your route suck! I’m probably only going to be able to post this first part today though, because honestly this post is taking much more time than I expected.

The biggest thing is going to be that 

Jasper’s English (Court of Darkness) route does NOT contain any major triggering content. You’ll probably still want to punch him, though.

So, if you’re looking to find out about that, there you go. Anyways.

I’ve broken this into four posts, three that contain summaries of each chapter, regardless of changes, and one that only contains the changes. 

(As of the date of posting, 9/11/2021, I have not completed all the posts yet. Please check back later and I will add the links to the rest of  them as they are posted.)

This post is part one including the summaries. Part two in currently progress. Part three in currently progress. Post with ONLY comparisons and thoughts currently in progress. 

Since I had contacted Voltage about the triggering content in Jasper’s route (and made a very lengthy Tumblr post about it) and they told me they prefer to remove potentially triggering content from stories in the localization process, rather than simply adding trigger warnings, I was more or less expecting this. Although...I didn’t really expect it to be to this extent, nor did I realize how I was actually going to feel about it...! Of course, the CoD did a fabulous job with the content they were given and what they were told to do, as always, and I completely understand why they changed what they did. Like. Seriously. They did the best they could do with the absolute mess of a route they were given. But, like, the route was an absolute mess to begin with. So there’s only so much that can be done to fix it...💀 Anyways, please know that any of my complaining is not directed at the CoD team because they’re wonderful!! Support them by buying in game content if you’re able to!! They recently released a special VIP pack that’s honestly an AMAZING deal. This is just a criticism of the route itself and my thoughts on it, not on the CoD team.

Now, onto the main point of the post...the English and Japanese versions of this route are very different. 

Warning: This post contains major spoilers about Jasper’s main story as well as potentially triggering content including but not limited to rape, sexual assault, and drugging.

In addition, I am not including any CGs in this post as I’m not trying to break Voltage’s policy.

Please click under the read more to continue.

Okay, so first off this is probably going to sound incredibly self centered of me, but I sort of get the feeling that my post about his Japanese route had some sort of influence on the changes in his route...? Not sure how big of tabs Voltage keeps on Tumblr...but it seems like nearly all of the main points I was specifically really mad about got changed--and I’m sure they must have definitely seen my post...? Also, this too probably sounds silly, but I was kinda happy reading some of the dialogue that was nearly the same as the way I had translated it. Part of me was still afraid that I had no idea what I was talking about and just looked stupid writing a long post with misinterpretations of lines💀

Pre-notes: 1. For those who named their cat something else, Robin = MC’s cat.  2. In the direct quotes, anytime you see “---” it’s just me cutting out a part in the dialogue that I deem unnecessary for comparison purposes. 3. I bolded whether there’s differences in the chapters or not in each chapter summary, in case you only want to read the summaries for the chapters with the differences. It’s pretty much going to be the same as reading my other post, then, but I explain more of the chapter here, usually.

Chapter 1-3

Literally so dull. Nothing really of note. Pretty much the same between the English and Japanese. Jasper asks about her hands and she’s like “omg he’s so nice he was worried about my hands!!”, she meets Sherry and they become friends, the headmaster tells her she has to learn magic if she wants a chance at going back home. They go to the runes and learn about the history of Saligia. Guy grabs her again, she escapes.

Chapter 4

It starts to get a little bit more interesting here. Overall, nothing seems too different between the two stories yet. Jasper invites her to the rooftop for a tea party. Jasper is desperately trying to get MC to interact (in a positive manner) with Guy, she asks Jasper to have tea with her instead. Sherry and Rio mention a ball. Toa and Guy get into a glaring match. Toa leaves. You know, the usual. Jasper whispers something in Guy’s ear and they leave, and everybody follows them because...you know. They discover that Guy’s room has been trashed. Toa walks in and asks what’s going on, and then falls silent when he sees Guy’s room. Guy is like “Toa, you left before me, did you not?” and Toa is like “What are you trying to imply?” then they glare at each other until Lynt is like “Are you trying to say that Toa is the culprit? He would never.” Fenn agrees. Roy says they should investigate, and Toa says he will also investigate, since he is the dorm prefect after all. Afterwards, Jasper asks Guy if he thinks Toa did it, Guy says “No, Qelsum isn’t that stupid.” Guy says they need information. He sends Jasper out to investigate, tells Jasper to be sure not to be seen. Fenn, Violet, and MC go out for food or something, and MC runs into Sirius, literally. Fenn is like “what are you doing?” and MC says she ran into somebody but turns around and there’s nobody there. I guess it’s trying to imply that Jasper is stealthy and can hide away into the night or something?? But then that’s it.

Chapter 5-6

No overall noticeable changes. It’s time for the ball! Sherry lends MC a dress and they head to the ball. She sees Jasper in the hallway closely inspecting wine, without Guy. She calls his name and he startles. He tells her he’s selecting a wine for Guy because Guy is very selective and will not consume anything that Jasper has not prepared. Jasper essentially says that Guy is his reason for living. Then they go into the dance hall. And Guy is all like “why did you come in together?” then they say they ran into each other by chance. Guy goes to take a sip of the wine, looks  startled, and then ends up spitting it out into a handkerchief. He claims he choked on the wine. She finds Jasper in the hallway again, looking at the wine, and calls out. Again, he startles. She wonders why. She tries to ask, but then he dodges the question by telling MC that the dress looks good on her. He invites her to dance and says he’ll teach her. They head back to the ballroom, she asks him some various questions and they all basically end with him saying that he serves Guy or whatever, and she’s thinking all like “work, again...?”. Jasper then tries to make her dance with Guy instead of himself, and when she says she’s going to leave he grabs her arm. There’s a few choices you can make, but one of them is “Please let go of me.” And then! And then! This man literally looks at her and asks “Why?” Yikes!! And she asks why he’s asking why, and he says he doesn’t want her to go, so she agrees to stay a little longer. (Mistake #1) Then he shoves her off onto Guy again. After dancing with Guy she goes out to the balcony and runs into Aquia, and Aquia pricks his finger and it starts bleeding. She tries to look at it and it somehow brushes her lips and at that moment Guy and Jasper come out and ask what’s going on. Aquia apologizes (he did nothing wrong!! >:(  ) They then discover that Aquia’s wound has magically healed somehow. Then here’s the scene with  Guy: “That girl, I want to know everything about her.” Jasper: “Oh my, have you fallen in love?” Guy: “Something like that” Jasper: “Congratulations! We must celebrate this wonderful occasion!” Guy: “That’s enough now. Investigate that woman’s power.”

Chapter 7

No major changes between versions. But...Ughhhhhhhh. We’re gonna meet Sirius in this chapter. But first some humor. They go to the S rank lounge, I believe after the ball. Jasper offers to make coffee. Literally ALL the valets suddenly RUSH to Jasper’s side to ask him to teach them how to brew coffee. So there sitting in the S rank lounge with Jasper brewing coffee while all the other valets are like 👀👀👀👀 lmaoooo. Aight and so the humorous part ends there, sorry! That’s it! Now we must move on.  Fenn says he wants to go out drinking and asks Jasper if he’d like to join, Jasper declines saying he has other matters to attend to. We learn that Hawke, Jasper, and Lance are all drinking buddies. MC is all like “oh thank god, that means he does get time off!” -_- So then Toa laughs and comments how close Jasper and MC are, and is like “wow imagine using your valet for something like that” and then tells her that she’ll be a tool for Avari if she sticks with them, and that it’s not too late to switch to Qelsum’s side instead. (She does not switch. Mistake #2. Arguably her biggest mistake in this entire route, if you ask me.) Guy interjects and tells Toa that MC is his, and Toa is like “lmaooo then why does she seem closer with your valet than you?” and then they glare at each other. MC gets annoyed and leaves. Jasper asks where she’s going. She says she’s going back to her room to see Robin. For some reason, Jasper seems disappointed about this? Afterwards, she goes to her room for a bit but then decides to go explore the town with Robin. Uh oh! Robin goes missing.

She starts looking for Robin and runs into this sketch looking dude. He asks her where’s she’s going, she says she’s looking for her cat. He’s like “oh that flying thing?” and she’s like “Yeah!” and then is like “could you just tell me which way he was headed? I can get there myself.” but the guy insists that she should follow him instead, because the streets are dangerous and she might run into dangerous men. The man is then like “I’m Sirius.” (which, when I first read the Japanese, I thought he was saying “I’m serious” lmaoo) and then he frickin grabs her hand and drags her off!!! Yikes! 

Chapter 8, 1st Interlude, and Chapter 9 

Okay so we’ve got the most significant changes in these chapters. Like. A LOT. This is what the majority of my previous post focused on: the drugging, sexual assault, and morning after.  They basically did their best to make this consensual. It went very similar to what I had predicted, although played up a bit more cringe-y than I had expected...or maybe I just hadn’t thought about how cringe-y it would be. There’s literally so many changes that it’d be a bit of a pain to summarize all of them between the versions, I’m just going to put the actual dialogue/stuff from the stories for a lot of this so you can see the differences more directly. (The Japanese will be roughly translated by me, of course.)

Chapter 8

So Sirius starts walking and walking and walking and she asks where they’re going but he keeps insisting it’ll only be just a little longer or that it’s a shortcut and stuff. Ughhhhh...Then she’s like. This man clearly has no idea what he’s doing, I’m going to run away after all. But then he suddenly tells her they’re going to take a “break”. He drags her into the bar before she can protest or try to run. She tries to say no to a drink, but then he asks if she does drink and she’s like “well I do, but...” and you start seeing the differences here. In English she makes a comment of “Ugh, if only he wasn’t so charming.” Sirius further insists only one drink, even though MC tries to say she needs to go find Robin. He then just straight up orders drinks for them, despite her protesting. She then agrees, and then mentally apologizes to Robin. (Mistake #3) And we start seeing the biggest differences about right here...

For this chapter, let’s play a guessing game on which one is the Japanese version and which one is the English version, shall we? :)

Away from the table, Sirius plants a palm on the counter. Two of the usual are set out before him, bubbles frothing over the top. Sirius glances back and finds MC staring at the patterns in the wood grain. Sirius: Much obliged. Tavern Keeper: Mm-hmm. Scooping up the fizzing, popping tumblers, he tosses a wink at the tavern keeper. Then, he strolls back to spend time with his new friend. - Away from the table, Sirius plants a palm on the counter. Immediately two of the usual shot glasses are set out in front of him. Just to make sure, he looks back at MC, who is staring at the table. Sirius: Ah, thanks. Tavern Keeper: Mhm. Sirius skillfully drops the tablet he had hidden between his fingers into the shot glass of the opposite hand. Then, feigning a nonchalant look, he returns back to the table.

Did you guess which one was which in this part? :) And yes, my friends. In the fucking CANON MAIN ROUTE, it deadass has a line saying that our love interest puts a drug in our drinks. And yet...the Japanese fans still love him! Ugh. Also, that “skillfully” bit really concerns me. That kinda implies that he’s done it multiple times before, does it not??? Honestly I’m not really sure why it says it was a shot glass in the Japanese, though. I thought they were drinking like cocktails, not taking a shot. Maybe that’s why they changed that bit...? Now the stories are the same again for a tiny bit. Some time has passed that they’ve been in the bar/tavern and MC chugs her drink and slams it down on the table. She seems drunk. She’s rambling about Guy and Jasper. Like “I’m not an object!!” “and he’s like “Yes, yes, you aren’t an object.” then like “Who goes around saying stuff like “you are mine” and “give me your power”?? Like seriously! Who says that sort of stuff! It’s so messed up!” and he just listens along, amused. He then says that it’s good to drink sometimes, and she agrees, and then he asks what she wants to do. She notes how she’s only had one drink, yet her head feels a bit fuzzy already, and how it made her very talkative. She says she wants to go home. She reveals that her family died, and that she has a hair clip in her hair from her mom that’s very important to her. She mentions how there are still good people in this world, though.  Sirius tries to order her another drink, and here’s where stuff deviates again.

Sirius: Another of the same, if you please. MC: What, no! I’m fine MC: So hey, you’ve been fantastic company but I really need to go find Robin. (Man I got way too into that conversation.) (Robin must be out there looking for me.) MC: Thanks for the drink, though. You’re a really good listener. And also...really, really pretty. MC: It’s been great meeting you. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime? MC: Like...when I’m not looking for my cat. That’d be...nice.” (I have no filter. No filter whatsoever.) MC: Right, so...Bye... He stands up right as I do. The rickety old table wobbles between us and I pitch into his arms. Sirius: Steady on. Sirius: I might almost think you’ve fallen for me. (Fallen for him? But I’ve only just met the man.) Sirius holds me steady as I smile up at him, feeling silly but bold. He’s even more handsome up close. MC: Like I said, very attractive but...gotta go. Sirius: Hold fast. MC: Haha. Did you just pick me up?! Sirius hefts me into his arms like I weigh nothing, and for a moment I feel like I’m being carried off into the sunset. An electrifying thrill runs through me as I sway against him, adn then I realize we’re moving. MC: Where are we going? Sirius: ... MC: The look he gives me then makes my eyebrows shoot up. I nod and let him carry on. (English version, Mistake #4) When I next open my eyes, I’m being placed down on something fluffy. (I can’t believe I’m actually doing this. I should leave well enough alone but there’s something about him...) I peer at the unfamiliar ceiling overhead while Sirius stares down in my eyes. Sirius: No need to hurry. Sirius: The night’s just begun, after all. (Wait a second, aren’t you...?) The seductive smile on his face comes closer. For a split second he reminds me of someone, but it must be my imagination. - Sirius: Bartender, another of the same. MC: Ah, no, I’m good! MC: I really need to go find Robin. (Yikes, I got totally absorbed in that conversation.) (Surely Robin is looking for me, too) MC: Thanks...for talking with me...and listening... MC: Thanks to that I’ll be sure to...remember this... MC: From now on, I’m going...to study...more seriously...for sure.... (Wha...I’m so dizzy...) MC: Sorry...I’m...leaving now... Sirius: Whoa, hold on. MC: Ah... Unsteady on my feet, Sirius picks me up and holds me in his arms. I feel swaying and I open my eyes slightly. I’m being carried somewhere. MC: Where...are we going...? Sirius: ... Strangely, it feels like the ceiling has gotten awfully high... The next thing I’m aware of when I open my eyes is being placed down on something fluffy. (Where am I...?) I gaze at the ceiling above me and Sirius looks into my eyes. Sirius: Let’s take it slowly. Sirius: The night has just begun, no? (Huh...?) Laughing mysteriously, the man’s face comes closer. For a second, I think he looks similar to someone. But it’s just my imagination, right...?

I’m sure you can guess which one is which. One is extremely alarming, the other is cringe. It’s clear they did the most they could to try and make it consensual between them, and ended up doing exactly what I thought with having her make several comments about how attractive he is and then add some playful flirting between them. 😖 Alright! Ready for the next part? 

1st Interlude

I just read the normal first interlude in Japanese before typing out this post and...god, I thought the premium interlude was bad. So, one more time, trigger warning for sexual assault. Damn I really don’t want to write this part, I’m so tired from writing the rest TT (I saved this for last, unfortunately.) I’m not translating all of these so I’ll do a mix of translating exact lines and summarization. In all the stories, first she calls out Jasper’s name at first, confused, and then Sirius looks shocked. And she’s like, how weird, why would I call him that...he’s clearly Sirius...and then they all start to deviate. ><

Normal Interlude

Japanese version (this is the worst one): MC: I’m sorry...I must’ve gotten drunk, sorry for the trouble... Sirius: So you’re apologizing in this situation. (This...situation...?) He kisses her. (Wha...I’m being...kissed...) I’m aware of it, but my body feels so heavy, I can’t resist it. With my arms pinned to the bed, I’m forced to accept the kiss. He says “what is this power?” and then she sees an aura flare up around him. She asks if it’s magic, and he says that it’s interesting, and then asks if it has to do with the length of time or the type of physical contact. -- Sirius: Is it only your lips, or...? His finger runs along my knee, tickling it. With his other hand, he skillfully slips his hand into my shirt. Sirius: No need to be alarmed. Sirius: I simply wish to confirm. (Confirm...?) Sirius: So soft and smooth, you feel nice to touch. Sirius: But, I don’t feel anything from just touching you... Sirius: Is it different depending on where I touch? The sensation of him stroking my skin falsely spreads through my whole body while his fingertips make their way down to my lower limbs. I move my shoulders to try to tell him “I don’t want you to touch me!”, but it doesn’t matter as his fingertips continue to try to uncover something. MC: St...stop it... Yelling out makes him stop--at least, that’s what I had thought. However,  the thing that stops him isn’t my voice. He removes his hand that was feeling around in my shirt and then starts to think about something. (Is he...searching for something...?) Sirius: ...so it can’t be transferred through the skin, hm. (W-what...?) It’s finally over--is what I thought, at least. This time, he drops kisses on my ears and collarbone. When he puts his hands on my thighs again, I want to run away immediately. (Why...? Why is this happening...?) MC: Is this...is this a dream...? Sirius: Yes. It’s a dream. So, goodnight. Sirius: You’re about to reach the limit, aren’t you? (Limit? What is he talking about?) Even if I wanted to think about it, my head is too fuzzy and I can’t think of anything. I don’t like it, but...what is it I don’t like? Surely it was something important, but I can’t remember. Before I could say “I’m sorry, I’m really sleepy” my consciousness blacks out. She passes out and Sirius says something about how interesting it is, and that he must report his findings to Guy.

English version: MC: Sorry, I can’t believe I called you by the wrong name. Sirius: Is this the time for apologies? (I guess not...?) He kisses her. (We’re kissing. I’m kissing Sirius...) He’s certainly attractive enough. I’m not attached to anyone here, and yet...Why is it that I keep thinking of Jasper? He says “what is this power?” and then she sees an aura flare up around him. She asks if it’s magic, and he says that it’s interesting, and then asks if it has to do with the length of time or the type of physical contact. -- Sirius: Is it only your lips, or...? His fingers walk along my knee, tickling me. I shiver and grin as he gives me a considering look, then slips his hand inside my shirt. -- Sirius: I only wish to see what you’re capable of. (Strangest bedroom talk ever.) Sirius: You’re exquisite. Soft, smooth, perfect to the touch... Sirius: But I seek other responses. Sirius: Tell me, is this where you want to be touched? He peers down at me expectantly, hands petting along my skin as if to encourage me to speak. I squeeze my thighs together, hoping he’ll continue without the need for words. He raises an eyebrow. MC: Sirius, I need... At first I think the sound of my voice has given him pause. Then I realize something else has happened. He tidies my open shirt a little and frowns thoughtfully. (What is he doing? What is it he’s looking for?) Sirius: Hm, no transfer from the skin. (Uh, what?) My mouth falls open. Has the moment been ruined somehow? If so, what’d I do? But then he plants tiny kisses over my ears, neck, and cheeks. His hands sweep over me once more, but far more soothingly. Still, I can’t get the image of Jasper out of my mind. (I can’t be doing this. It’s not fair to be thinking of one man when I’m with another. I need to sort my head out.) MC: Sirius, I can’t do this. I’m...I think I’m developing feelings for someone else, so it wouldn’t be fair to you to do this... Sirius: Well, well. There’s an unexpected turn. ...All right. We’ll think of this as nothing more than a passing dream. Sirius: This never happened then. Good night, MC. (Good night? But we’ve only just...) Suddenly I feel very drowsy. A second ago I wanted nothing more than a crazy, one-night romp with a man who has crystalline red eyes. Now I can’t think of anything but how comfortable this bed is. She passes out and Sirius says something about how interesting it is, and that he must report his findings to Guy. --

Yikes!!!!! I was so shocked when I read the normal interlude!! Especially the Japanese version!! Now for the other one...

Premium Interlude

Japanese version:

MC: I’m sorry...I must’ve gotten drunk, sorry for the trouble... Sirius: So you’re apologizing in this situation. (This...situation...?) His voice is close.  But besides that, I don’t understand the situation very well. Sirius: Is it hard to open your eyes? MC: Yes... Sirius: I’ll make you feel better right now. (Feel better...?) She sees him put in eyedrops. She tries to ask but her voice is really quiet and her throat is dry. MC: Excuse me, could...could I have some water?”  Sirius: I’ll give you some right now I felt something cold touch my lips and water poured down my throat. MC: ...nng (No...it’s something else. I’m...being kissed...) I understand that, but, but I feel too drowsy to be able to resist.  With my arms pinned to the bed, I’m forced to accept the kiss. He says “what is this power?” and then she sees an aura flare up around him. She asks if it’s magic, and he says that it’s interesting, and then asks if it has to do with the length of time or the type of physical contact. (What...this kiss...) It’s a kiss that makes me feel as if I’ll be swallowed by the torrent of pleasure. (I’ve never experienced something like this...) Sirius: Ha...ahh... MC: ...mm, Sirius... His lips pull away with a wet sound and I sigh. Sirius: It’s as I thought... MC: Stop...it...already... Sirius: Shhh... Sirius: Be quiet. I’m going to make you feel better. He wipes his finger along my wet lips and pushes it inside my mouth. My shoulders jump and I shiver and inhale sharply, feeling like I’m being bitten on the neck by Sirius. MC: Mnn... Sirius: Suck... He moves his finger around my mouth and I move my tongue as I’m told. Sirius: That’s it good girl... Sirius: ...so it can’t be transferred through the skin, hm. (What...is he talking about...?) Sirius: How about...here? He removes his finger from my mouth and strokes my knee. MC asks if it’s a dream, and the rest of the interlude ends the same way as the normal Japanese interlude ends.

English version:

MC: Sorry, I can’t believe I called you by the wrong name. Sirius: Is this the time for apologies? (I guess not...?) I can almost feel his voice vibrate against my skin. Shivering at the sensation, I let my head fall against the pillows. Sirius: Would you rather keep your eyes closed at the moment? MC: Mm. yeah. I like the sound of your voice. It...reminds me of someone... Sirius: Then keep them closed. Sirius tells her to hold on a minute and puts in eyedrops. MC says her throat is dry and asks for some water. He gives her water, but she realizes that it’s not a cup but rather him giving her water from his lips. -- They kiss. (Who taught him to kiss like this?) It’s like some dam has burst within me and a tide of pleasure is threatening to sweet me away. (I’ve never experienced anything like this. Is this magic, too, or just him?) Sirius: Mm..Yes... MC: Ah...Sirius... A wanton moan escapes me as he gives me space to breathe. The thing is, in my mind’s eye I keep seeing someone else. Sirius: Quite as I suspected. MC: That was incredible. What was-- Sirius: Shh. Hush now. I’ll fufill that yearning of yours. He rubs his thumb against my dampened bottom lip then slips it inside my mouth. My shoulders jump as he moves his lips and teeth over my neck. Sirius: Suck. I obediently swirl my tongue over his thumb, taking it in further. Sirius: Good girl. -- Then she says she can’t do it because of having feelings for someone else, just like in the normal English and the rest of the interlude continues the exact same way.

I can’t believe Voltage was really like “hey, pay us and we’ll make the content less rape-y for you! :)” Big yikes lol. I’d only read the premium at the time of my original post, and I thought that was bad enough to write a post about it. That normal interlude though? YIKES. Like...gahhh I know I already said this same thing like three times earlier but I’m just so grossed out!!

Also, a quick note. The CG for this has Sirius laying on top of her while she has her eyes closed. This is because she’s UNCONSCIOUS in the Japanese version. I was wondering how they were gonna get around it, but like not long before it came out I was like “oh they can just have him comment telling her to close her eyes or something” and I guess that’s more or less what they did...?

Chapter 9

Okay so I realize I did make a slight translation error in my original post about the ninth chapter. She does indeed say “I don’t have a headache” rather than what I had thought it said which was “My head hurts, but it can’t be a hangover.”  which is what they went with in the English. “My head doesn’t hurt, though, which suggests I don’t have a hangover.” The rest seems about right, though. Anyways, so this chapter starts the morning after the events of the first interlude with MC waking up in the strange bedroom. While not technically as big of change as in Chapter 8 and the first interlude, this is also one of the most changed chapters between versions. 

The Japanese version:

(Where am I?) I open my eyes and am unable to move at first. ---- (Robin and I got separated in town...so I was searching for him) (And then...ah, yeah, I met Sirius) (He was showing me the way...and then there was that bar on the dark street where I was only going to drink one drink, and then...) .... ....... .......... “Shit, I can’t remember anything...” I’m not sure how I got to this room or what happened after I blacked out. My head doesn’t hurt, so it’s not a hangover.  I only had one drink, that’s the one thing I CAN remember. “No way...” Nervously, I run my hands down my body.  The hem of my shirt was untucked, all the buttons completely undone, and my skirt was rolled up past my thighs.  (I want to think it’s just from how I slept...I really want to think that, but...)  Being drunk can make you roll around and do that. I can’t hide how anxious I am about this unexpected situation. My heart thumps painfully in my chest and my legs shake. ---- (Huh? A tattoo?) I see Sirius taking a shower in the other room, with a tattoo spread across his back. (That would mean Sirius and I...) Looking at the bed with disheveled sheets, I wrap my arms around my body and hug myself tightly. “Maybe...maybe we just slept, that’s all...” (It’s a pitiful excuse, I know.) (Oh my god!! I need to go find Robin!!) Remembering something very important, she runs out of the room. ---- Sirius: ��Ha, she ran away.”

English version:

Where am I? I open my eyes and stay perfectly still for the first few minutes. ---- (I got separated from Robin in town and while I was looking for him I, ended up lost.) (And then...Oh right, I met Sirius. Man, he was attractive.) (He was showing me the way, then we paused for a drink, and then...) Then...Hmm. What did happen? I’m drawing a blank here. “What the? I have no memory of last night.” I have no idea where this is or the events that led to me waking up here. There are flashes of groans and sighs, but that’s all. My head doesn’t hurt, though, which suggests I don’t have a hangover. Not that I’d expect to have one over a single drink, but I remember that drink being similar to a potion. “Uh-oh. Did I hook up with someone?” I carefully pat myself down. My shirt’s untucked, the buttons are undone, and my skirt’s hiked up around my thighs. (Then again, I could’ve just slept weird. Here’s hoping.) I’ve definitely rolled around in my sleep while drunk before. Still, I never thought I’d have to do a walk of shame in another realm. My heart pounds as I look around, trying to figure out who I spent the night with. (Did I somehow manage to book a room for myself? With what coin?) (It’s like everything that happened since I got here caught up to me all at once. What did I do...?) ---- “What was that?” (A tattoo? It was a gorgeous one, if so.) (The question is, how acquainted did I become with that tattoo last night?) The rumbled bedding comes back into view as I put my head in my hands. “Maybe we just crashed here together after our drink.” “...” (Pitiful excuse, but I’ll take it for now.) (Wait, Robin! Oh god. I have to go find him.) I run out of the room as soon as I remember. Given how little of the situation I remember, it’s probably better if we put that night behind us. ---- Sirius: “Alas. She has absconded.”

Then after she leaves, it goes about the same in both versions. She finds Robin at the gates, is rushing to Toa’s class, gets stopped by Jasper. His voice reminds her of Sirius. He then teases her for being late and is like “You said you were going to go back to your room last night, but it seems like you went out and had fun instead.” and she snaps at him and says she didn’t. He acts surprised. She apologizes and walks off, embarrassed. He laughs.

So. Yeah. One of them, MC wakes up confused after being drugged and raped and is trying to process that and then remembers Robin, runs back to the dorms, and has to deal with Jasper teasing her saying she went out and had “fun” which triggers extremely fresh, bad memories. While the other one...MC is like. Did I hook up with someone?? Whoopsies! Hm, I wonder how I did that. Oh but that Sirius guy was SO hot. Oh shit! I have a cat that’s missing! Gotta go. And then Jasper teases her but she just gets upset because she feels embarrassed about hooking up with someone. Neat. Also, what is with Voltage and their obsession with using “abscond”???

----

Are you feeling uncomfortable right now? A little horrified that Voltage would write a story like that, and romanticize it? Awesome! Me too! Let’s take a break here before moving on. Thankfully, the next parts won’t contain anything near as triggering as the first interlude and chapter 9. 

(Next post currently in progress, will add link as soon as possible! This is taking much longer than I thought it would to write;;;)

[pascalscenarios]

CLUMSY (Frankie Morales x Reader)

CLUMSY

Inspired by the song “Clumsy” by Fergie 

Scenario Series

Frankie Morales X Reader

Summary: You’re a waitress at a bar. Frankie is clumsy and completely flustered around you. 

Words: 1600

Warning: Mentions of alcohol, accidental touching

Author's Note: No because clumsy Frankie sounds cute af - K

It was packed at Aces, the bar you waitressed at. Tonight was game night, meaning a big sporting event was airing live on TV. Everyone flooded to the bar to watch the game on the multiple flatscreens, drink a shit ton of beer and eat greasy, yet delicious food.

“Alright Mac, here’s your usual, a pint of beer and nachos” You take the beer off the tray first, then set the nachos down on to the small circular table.

“Thanks darlin” He smiles at you. He picks up the beer, taking a swig and turning his attention back to the game.

“Of course, let me know if you need anything else!” you say over the loud noise.

“Thanks!”

With that you hold your empty tray in your hand, weaving past tables and bodies and make your way over to the bar to pick up orders.

You set your tray on the bartop, picking up plates of foods and beers, placing them on your tray.

Your coworker Johnny rushes up to you “Could you cover the table in the back?” He says as he quickly piles up his tray with orders.“Sorry! I’m really falling behind with all these orders and they requested for you”

Johnny was a new hire, only been on the job for a couple weeks. This was his first night working with the bar packed like this. It could get overwhelming.

You look over to the back, four guys sitting at the table. It was The Miller brothers, Will and Benny, and their friends Santiago, and Frankie. The four guys were regulars at the bar, coming in every so often.

Frankie Morales was looking at you, but quickly averted his gaze away when you noticed him staring at you. A smile crept onto your face. Frankie was cute, and boy did you have a fat crush on him.

Frankie is always nervous around you. You’ve heard him talk to the guys or anyone else like it was nothing, but when it was you, he’d shut up real quick. He was selective with his words, sometimes even stuttering when he spoke.

Something always went wrong when he tried to talk to you. Countless of times he has tripped, slipped, stumbled and fumbled in your presence. He is an absolute clutz around you.

“Yeah, of course! Don’t worry, I got you!”

“Thank you! I owe one!” Johnny quickly takes his tray and rushes off into the room.

You quickly maneuver around the floor, dropping off beers and food to various tables before heading over to the table towards the back corner of the bar.

“Hey, boys!” you greeted him.

Benny shouts your name “...Our favorite Waitress!”

“How are you doing?” Will asks, leaning on his arms that were on the table.

“Good! It’s a busy night! I haven’t seen you guys around for a while” you hold the tray in your arms.

“We’ve been busy at work. Thought we should have a few beers, eat and watch the game” Santi says motioning to the TV.

“And besides, Frankie here wanted to see you” Benny tossing his arm around him. Frankies eyes widen.

You cock your eyebrow up. “Is that so?” The guys begin to snicker or try to hold in their laughs.

“What?- No, that’s not why we came here- I mean not that I don’t wanna see you- it’s good to see you-I” he begins to babble

You begin to giggle “It’s good to see you, Frankie”

Frankie wanted the floor to swallow him whole. He was turning red, embarrassed, and angry staring at Benny.

“I already know what you guys want, I’ll be back in a minute” you say before walking away.

Once you were a far distance away, the guys busted out laughing.

“God, Frankie what was that?!” Benny was hunched over from laughing.

Frankie rolled his eyes annoyed at his friends.

“The person you become when they’re around...it's unreal” Santi chimes in.

“You should ask them out already Frankie. You’ve been crushing on them for a while” Will encourages him.

“They probably think I’m fucking idiot” Frankie mumbles.

“You’re not an idiot. You’re just nervous, that's all. It’s normal to be nervous around someone you like. You’re too much in your head. Don’t try to control the situation, just let things happen. Let it play out” Will expresses his advice to Frankie.

“Alright, 20 bucks something is gonna go wrong tonight...I say pretty soon” Benny says.

“Frankie’s gonna be okay” Will glares at Benny and Santi. They weren’t even drunk yet, yet here they are being assholes.

“Something always happens though, but I think later on in the night” Santi gives them a knowing look, “You got yourself a bet” He leans across the table shaking hands with Benny. Will shakes his head and rolls his eyes.

“I knew I shouldn’t have come out tonight” Frankie gets up from his chair. “I’m going home”

“Frankie, Come on man” Benny drags out.

“No, I’m out of here” Frankie whips around, accidentally bumps into the tray in your hands. One of the pints tip over on the tray spilling all over your body.

“Oh my god” You gasp, clutching the tray close to you, making sure the rest of the pints don’t spill on the ground. You quickly set the beer soaked tray on to their table. You look down at yourself. Your v neck shirt was drenched in beer, and dripping onto your jeans.

“I’m so sorry- here let me help you” Frankie picks up the napkins from the dispenser on the table.

Your eyes widen as he begins to dap your exposed chest with the napkin. You know he means well. You don’t even think he realised what he was doing. You were just caught off guard.

“Frankie!” Will shouts.

“What-OH! Shit” it clicks in his head where his hands were, and clearly they shouldn’t be here.

He quickly moves his hands away from your body, and stepping away from you “I’m so sorry- I didn’t mean- I swear I wasn’t trying to- I” He was a stuttering mess.

“It’s fine” You chuckled awkwardly “Uh, I’m gonna go change and bring you new beers...I’ll have someone clean up the spill, excuse me” You pick up the tray and head back over to the bar.

“Fuck” Frankie sat back down covering his face in embarrassment. He felt terrible for not only spilling the drinks on you, but for touching you.

“Pay up, Garcia” Benny holds out his hand for twenty dollars. “Ouch!” Bennt helps out as his older brother slaps him upside the head.

…

The rest of the night Frankie remained silent, limiting himself to a few words, hardly making any eye contact when you came around by the table.

The bars closing time inched closer. People in the bar started to leave sporadically.

The night was coming down to an end. The guys paid for their food and left a good tip for you like they always do. The guys got up, waved goodbye to you, and started to make their way towards the exit.

Frankie didn’t want to leave without apologizing to you. I would have messed with his conscience, keeping him awake until the wee hours of the morning.

“I’ll catch up with you guys outside, I’ll be a minute.”

You were behind the bar, wiping up glasses that you just cleaned.

Frankie's heart was pounding. There was no need to be nervous. You were always so sweet to him. He took a deep breath in, signing quickly. “Hey” Frankie said as he approached the counter top.

“Hi” you smile softly at him as you set the cup down on the counter, picking up another to wipe.

“Are you staying a bit longer?”

“The guys are waiting for me outside..I just wanted to talk to you. I just wanted to apologize earlier-”

“Frankie” you sighed, “Don’t worry about it, it’s fine”

“No, It wasn’t. I knocked a whole pint of beer on you, then proceeded to touch your chest, without consent-”

“Frankie, it was an accident. You were just trying to help me” you giggle. “Besides, I think it's cute when I make you all flustered”

Frankie started to blush. He scratches the back of his neck “You noticed that huh?”

“There’s no need to be nervous around me. I’m no one special”

“Well I mean you kinda are. I’ve had a crush on you for a while” Frankie cringed at what he said. “Wow I sound like such a fucking creep- I’m sorry. I’m really not good at these things and I-”

You quickly set down the glass and rag down on the counter. You leaned your body forward, grabbing a hold of Frankies shirt, pulling him in for a kiss. It was simple and sweet.

You pull away, biting your lip “Frankie you need to relax...I’ve had a crush on you for a while too.

“Really? After I made myself look like a clown in front of you countless of times?”

“Yes really. How about we go out on a date?” You asked him.

“O-okay. Yeah I’d like that…” 

“I’m off Friday night. Is that day okay?” 

“Yeah”

“Alright, here’s my number” You grab a pen from your apron, and write it down on a napkin. You hand him the napkin.

“Night Frankie”

“Goodnight”

Frankie heads out of the bar and finds the guys waiting around.

“What took you so long?” Benny complained 

“Looks like a got a date friday night” he smiles holding up the napkin with your number

“ATTA BOY FRANKIE!!” 

MT: @icanbeyourjedi @sara-alonso @greeneyedblondie44 @hb8301 1 @alberta-sunrise @spacenerdpascal @ryleyrooroo @reader-s-cantina @nikkixostan @mindidjarin

[xiaomoxu]

Lucien’s Mind Quest: Craving

SPOILER ALERT!!

A date from CN server which hasn’t been released on EN server yet. Might contains some spoiler.

🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 

Exclusive Radio

Xu Mo: A Ming, be more concise when submitting reports in the future. Your ability to refine key points needs to be strengthened.

A Ming: Yes, I understand.

Xu Mo: I'm not in the institute next week and will go to another place.

Xu Mo: If you have anything, you can talk to me over the phone.

Xu Mo: Do you have any other questions?

A Ming: Professor, isn't it... from the media who wanted to interview you again?

A Ming: Recently, there have been more reporters outside the Institute, and they all want to interview you about the Kolavo Prize.

A Ming: Even I feel a little troubled

A Ming: Fortunately, you have chosen this period of time for vacation, which is indeed a good thing.

Xu Mo: Not because of this reason.

Xu Mo: I just think that some time ago, I always seemed to be busy with work. Now is the time to give myself a vacation.

A Ming: Do you just want to take a vacation?

Xu Mo: Do you need other reasons?

A Ming: No, no, I just feel a little surprised.

A Ming: After all, from last year until now, professor has almost never been out of the institute except for normal vacations.

A Ming: I feel like you're all focused on work...

Xu Mo: Maybe it is a bit too immersive.

Xu Mo: So this holiday, I want to spend more time with people around me.

A Ming: Oh, I understand why the professor went to another place for vacation.

A Ming: Don't worry! I will never disturb you! Happy vacation, professor!

Xu Mo: You are now very good at refining the point.

A Ming: Hehe...

Xu Mo: Well, it's a date.

🍁

MIND'S QUEST

The traditional style hotel room is warm and dry.

I changed into a yukata, sat on the tatami, took a deep breath, nervously opened the news that popped up on the phone one-

"The announcement of the Kolavo Prize list has been postponed. Can the genius scientist Xu Mo set the record for the youngest winner?"

The bold and enlarged headlines are very eye-catching.

Postponed? I froze for a moment, and hurriedly clicked on the details to quickly browse.

"... Today, the authoritative awards in the scientific community, the winners of the Kolavo Life Science Award, are about to be announced, which has attracted great attention at home and abroad."

"The innovative work done by the scientist Professor Xu Mo in the field of brain science has therefore become the most popular candidate for the award."

"However, according to relevant sources, the selection criteria for

this year's awards have changed compared with previous years, and it is not ruled out that there will be more powerful competitors."

"The Kolavo Prize official also announced just now. Because of the big differences within the jury, the winner list will be postponed to the afternoon..."

I slid the screen, frowning tighter and tighter. Because I was so focused, I didn't even notice that someone was coming towards me.

??: Why are you still watching these news?

Xu Mo said that he put the blanket in his hand on my lap, and his eyes scanned my phone screen.

Xu Mo: A certain someone invited and told me to take vacation and relax....

Xu Mo: But from the way here to now, you have always stared at your phone from time to time.

He paused, with a little dissatisfaction and grievance in his tone.

Xu Mo: Is Professor Xu in this news more attractive to you than Professor Xu in front of you?

I was stunned for a moment and hurriedly turned off the news interface.

MC: Of course not! I just saw this news and clicked in.

MC: And... I mainly watch the weather forecast.

My eyes wide open, try to make your words more convincing.

MC: You see, the snow is so heavy today, the hotel owner also suggested that we can go to the outdoor hot spring again tomorrow.

MC: However, according to the weather forecast, the snow will decrease later. So maybe there is still a chance!

Xu Mo pondered for a moment, laughed faintly, and nodded.

Xu Mo: Well, it seems I misunderstood. It turns out that you have fully considered it

MC: Of course. It is rare that we all have vacation, but I am looking forward to this trip.

This is indeed the truth.

Lately, Xu Mo and I were so busy that we sometimes didn't even have time to have a meal together.

So this time I chose a hot spring hotel specially, just want to stay in the room with him and spend this time peacefully.

I raised my head, took Xu Mo's hand, and shook it lightly.

MC: You have been busy with scientific research some time ago, and you didn't have much time to rest.

MC: Leave the travel arrangements to me this time, you just need to relax and enjoy.

Xu Mo: Alright.

Xu Mo curled his lips slightly. The thin sunlight from outside the house fell on him, coating him with a soft light.

Xu Mo: Then... I'll leave it to you?

MC: Hm! Leave it to me.

I glanced at the time on my phone, my heart moved, and then I gathered my mind and raised my head and said to Xu Mo.

MC: Now that the luggage has been put away, go and change your clothes!

Xu Mo nodded and walked towards the door. I took the opportunity to secretly pick up the phone, intending to continue reading the news that I just turned off.

Xu Mo: By the way, there is one more thing.

MC: Wh- What?

Unexpectedly, Xu Mo suddenly turned around, and I quickly hid the phone behind me with a guilty conscience.

Xu Mo's eyes flicked back and forth between the phone and me. He seemed to have something to say, but he just chuckled.

Xu Mo: Nothing, just want to tell you...

Xu Mo: This trip with you, I also look forward to it very much.

While Xu Mo was changing clothes, I quietly walked outside the door. As I planned, a waiter came here on time with a rectangular wooden box.

Waiter: Miss MC, the lady boss asked me to give you this. Please keep it.

Waiter: As for the other item you ordered, because it needs to be made right now, the snow is too big for the driver to drive down the mountain to get it. Please forgive me.

MC: It’s okay, you've work hard, so please tell my thanks to the boss.

I took the wooden box in her hand and returned to the room, with a burst of complicated emotions in my heart.

This is a gift I prepared before I set off. Originally, I had calculated the time and planned to give Xu Mo a surprise when the results of the Kolavo Prize came out.

But I did not expect that due to changes in the selection criteria, the announcement of the award list was delayed, which disrupted my original plan.

I looked at the wooden box in my hand, and a result I had rarely imagined before popped up in my head, just in case...

The heart sank little by little. It seems that it is still unknown whether this celebration can be conveyed to him...

Xu Mo: What are you thinking?

I followed the sound and felt a little startled.

Xu Mo was wearing a dark yukata with a large collarbone exposed under the loose collar.

He relaxed, leaning against the door frame, and he looked a little more casual and relax.

His eyes fell on the wooden box in my hand, showing some curiosity.

Xu Mo: What is this?

MC: Well, this is...

Just as I was thinking about how to explain to him, a ringtone interrupted our conversation.

Xu Mo: ....Yes?

Xu Mo: ....Hello?

Xu Mo's tone was light, but his expression was a little more serious. The news that I just saw on my phone flashed in my mind, I couldn't help feeling a burst of tension in my heart.

Xu Mo: I'm sorry, I'm on vacation, I'm afraid I don't have time for this.

Xu Mo: Next time you have the opportunity to cooperate again.

After he said this lightly, he hung up the phone. I was caught off guard by the crisp and clean action.

Perhaps seeing me looking at him in confusion, Xu Mo said first without waiting for me to speak.

Xu Mo: It's the call from Huanqiu Weekly.

I opened my eyes slightly.

Huanqiu Weekly is an established weekly magazine in China. It mainly reports on international issues and major events. All have great influence within the scope.

MC: Do they want to cooperate with you?

Xu Mo: Well, they want to give me an interview.

MC: Really?! Isn't that great!

Hearing news that I was not worried about, I couldn't help but let go, and placed the wooden box on the closet next to it.

MC: Such an influential weekly magazine, if you accept their invitation, you can let more people know about your research results.

Xu Mo was stunned for a moment, and the corners of his lips curled upwards.

Xu Mo: Why do you want more people to know?

MC: Because...maybe for many people, your scientific research results are just a bunch of technical terms that seem very obscure.

MC: But I know, a lot of your hard work has been condensed behind it.

MC: Even with the aura of a "genius scientist" above your head, your effort and persistence are no less than anyone else.

As I spoke, the moments that I had experienced with him flashed in my mind.

He will put the experimental reports that have spent months of energy into the shredder one by one just because of a certain data error;

Because I finally got the desired result, I was so happy that I could not hide it, and even some childishly suggested that I wanted to go to a movie with him to celebrate.

I smiled at Xu Mo and said to him in a joking tone.

MC: So, I want to be rewarded for your efforts. This is probably my selfish intention.

Xu Mo looked at me quietly, and a certain soft emotion melted in his eyes bit by bit. After a while, he suddenly chuckled helplessly.

Xu Mo: Silly.

He stretched out his hand and took me into his arms.

Xu Mo: I declined the invitation.

MC: Huh? Why?

Xu Mo did not answer, but chuckled lightly.

Xu Mo: Do you want to know what my selfishness is?

Xu Mo: Although you always tease me about my time and energy as if I can't use it up, in fact they are also limited.

Xu Mo: I have to stay and spend them on the person who are most important to me.

He paused, rubbing the top of my hair with his chin.

Xu Mo: This is our vacation, of course I just want to share it with you.

My heart seemed to be hit by something. Feeling his familiar body temperature, I only feel that the slightest warmth suddenly enters my heart.

I couldn't help but put my hand around Xu Mo's back, eagerly trying to get closer to him and let this moment stay longer.

MC: Yes, me too.

Looking across the wooden box on the cabinet, I closed my eyes and gradually made a decision in my heart.

  🍁

MC: Xu Mo, the belt of your yukata seems a little loose

I saw that Xu Mo had a loose belt around his waist, so I subconsciously reached out to help him tidy it.

MC: This seems doesn’t work...

MC: Let me tie a knot for you again!

After speaking, I undid Xu Mo's belt again, planning to tie it again.

Xu Mo: It seems that you are already very skilled.

Xu Mo's voice with a smile rang in my ears.

I raised my head and met his gaze. Only then did I realize how close we are now.

MC: W-well, when the waiter helped me wear it, I learned a little bit from her.

MC: Moreover, the way that girls wear yukata is more complicated than the boys.

MC: So it's not very difficult to tie your belt.

I lowered my head, trying to hide my blushing cheeks.

Xu Mo: It turned out to be so.

Xu Mo nodded, then opened his arms and let me put his cloth.

Although I tried my best to concentrate on the movements in my hands, the sniffles on my neck still made me a little distracted.

The delicate atmosphere filled us, I pursed my lips, and when I was about to say something, Xu Mo spoke first.

Xu Mo: I didn't notice just now that there are still a few lines written on the hanging paintings here.

MC: Eh?

I looked up and followed his gaze to the wall behind me, where there were traditional paintings one by one.

The red leaves all over the sky fell on the clear spring water, like flames burning in clusters, smeared with warmth and warmth.

I didn't pay much attention when I entered the room before, but now I look closer and realize that there are still words written on it.

Just when I was about to identify it carefully, Xu Mo had already read it out softly.

Xu Mo: " The long-lasting God is acting on behalf you, and I never heard of it"

(“悠悠神代事,黯黯不曾闻” Yōuyōu shéndài shì, àn àn bùcéng wén)

Xu Mo: " The maple dyed the Long Tian River, gurgling and flowing deep"

(“枫染龙田川,潺潺流水深 ” fēng rǎn lóng tiánchuān, chánchán liúshuǐ shēn)

Notes: I put the original sentence of the poem, afraid that there’s mistranslation since I’m not familiar with it.

MC: I seem to have read these sentences before...

MC: It seems to come from a very famous love song?

I turned my face and looked at Xu Mo with a questioning look. He nodded lightly.

Xu Mo: Well, it is indeed a very emotional sentence.

Xu Mo: I think it is probably because Valentine's Day is approaching. In order to set off the atmosphere, the proprietress of the hotel arranged such a hanging picture in the room.

Xu Mo: And look at the writing above, it should have been added not long ago.

Hearing Xu Mo's explanation, I looked at the hanging painting again.

MC: I didn’t expect the proprietress of this hotel to be so careful, I thought it was just a landscape painting.

MC: It turns out that there is such a “careful” chance hidden.

I tried to felt the emotions contained in the lines. This painting, which was originally used for decoration, seems to have a deeper meaning because of this poem.

Just as my attention was all attracted by the hanging paintings, Xu Mo's voice suddenly rang in my ears.

Xu Mo: Although the painting is really beautiful

Xu Mo: But, have you forgotten something?

His gaze fell on the belt in my hand, and I followed along and realized that I was still finishing Xu Mo's yukata.

His yukata was hanging loosely on his body at this time, and it was even more exposed. The low neckline is wider, and the skin is exposed.

The heat on my face couldn't help but rise a little more.

MC: .. I will continue!

After finally suppressing the fast heartbeat and refastening Xu Mo's belt, I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

I raised my hand to help him straighten the low neckline, but found that this yukata was actually designed like this.

MC: Is this, this neckline originally opened so wide?

Hearing my visibly smaller voice, Xu Mo first glanced at his clothes, then a clear smile spread across his mouth.

Xu Mo: Well, that's it when I put it on.

Xu Mo: Moreover, as far as I know, the men's yukatas offered by this store are all of this style.

MC: Strange, I saw that the model wears on the official website before...

MC: Is this also what "Valentine's Day Special Offer"?

In order to cover up my inner fluctuations, I deliberately said in a ridiculous tone, and Xu Mo also chuckled cooperatively.

Xu Mo: Well, it is possible.

He blinked, as if thinking of something, then bent down and leaned in my ear and said softly.

Xu Mo: I guess..

Xu Mo: This is probably, a little bit “careful”.

🍁

On the tatami, Xu Mo and I are sitting opposite each other.

He took the sake out of the wooden box, opened the cork, and slowly poured it into a special vessel.

Xu Mo: No wonder today I saw you and the hotel owner whispered a few secretly...

Xu Mo: Why do you suddenly want to give me a gift?

My heart moved slightly, but on the surface, I still took the stubbornly.

MC: It's not a sudden intention, this is part of the arrangement of this vacation.

MC: Take it as a reward for Professor Xu who worked hard this year!

Wanting to get around this topic as soon as possible, I pointed to the Sake bottle and looked at him invitingly.

MC: I heard that this brand of sake is well-known locally.

MC: I was worried that it was too popular, but I asked the proprietress to order it from the Sake store half a month in advance!

A smile filled Xu Mo's narrow eyes.

Xu Mo: In order to live up to your intentions, I have to taste it.

After speaking, he picked up the Sake glass and took a sip.

MC: How?

Xu Mo: It has a slight sweet taste and is delicious.

MC: That's good! A drink in the snow can warm your body.

Suddenly, my mind flashed through the scenes of Xu Mo drinking before and couldn't help but add.

And its degree is not high. You can rest assured that you won't get drunk if you drink in moderation.

Xu Mo raised his eyebrows.

Xu Mo: It seems that I have been underestimated.

He seemed to inadvertently pour some more Sake into the glass, and then drank the whole glass leisurely.

Xu Mo: I have been tried sake before, but I was not drunk.

MC: I remember I heard you mentioned it on the phone.

Hearing him mention it again, a sense of curiosity arose in my heart.

In my impression, Xu Mo almost never drinks alcohol, but prefers tea.

MC: Why did you suddenly want to drink?

Xu Mo: Well... let me think about it.

Xu Mo put down his Sake glass, propped his head with one hand, and looked up at the red leaves in the courtyard behind me.

Xu Mo: It was when I was studying. In order to celebrate the project with the classmates.

MC: Huh?

Xu Mo: Feeling surprised?

Xu Mo's eyes overlapped with me for a moment, and then he continued.

Xu Mo: At that time, I cooperated with my classmates on a very challenging scientific research project. After about a year and a half of research, I finally got the ideal result.

Perhaps thinking of the scene at that time, Xu Mo sighed softly.

Xu Mo: They were so happy that they had to take me to the tavern to celebrate...

Xu Mo said helplessly, but the corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously.

I rarely seem to see him celebrating his achievements, and the temporarily suppressed thought in my heart is revivedㅡ

I also want to accompany him to celebrate and witness the moment when his efforts bear fruit.

Chaotic emotions spread across my chest: anticipation, tension, and a little anxiety...

Xu Mo: Wandering again.

Xu Mo tapped my forehead. I recovered, and smiled apologetically at Xu Mo.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, and after looking at me for a while, he suddenly spoke.

Xu Mo: I suddenly remembered that they also taught me a game at that time.

MC: What game?

Xu Mo: I will show it to you.

I watched with interest as Xu Mo picked up an empty cup and put it upside down on the table.

Xu Mo: The game is very simple. We take turns to pat this cup or choose to take it away.

Xu Mo: If the cup is taken away, the other person will make a fist and knock on the table. Knock on the cup or shoot on the table is a loss.

MC: This game seems to test the reaction ability...

Seeing me as if I don’t understand, Xu Mo smiled.

Xu Mo: Well, but it is not difficult. You should have learned it after we played a game.

Xu Mo: Want to try it?

MC: Yes!

I eagerly nodded my head. Xu Mo's eyes turned, and a meaningful smile appeared on his lips.

MC: ....

MC: This unscientific!

I took another sip of Sake in frustration. Facts have proved that the so-called "not difficult" of this game may only be aimed at Xu Mo.

In addition to testing his reaction ability, during the game, he always seems to know what I am going to do next, and foresee every movement of me in advance...

MC: You are almost like "mind reading"...

Faced my complaint, Xu Mo just smiled slightly

Xu Mo: Maybe it's just because I know you too well.

Xu Mo: So sometimes, your every move seems not to hard to guess .

He didn't seem to realize how blushing his words were, so I had to mutter quietly.

MC: This is too unfair...

Xu Mo: Well, you also try to focus all your attention on me, how about it?

MC: Huh?

Xu Mo dragged his face with his hands, tilted his head and looked at me.

Xu Mo: Perhaps this strategy will be more effective.

The heartbeat speeded up uncontrollably, and for a while, I couldn't tell whether he was teasing me or was serious.

But facing the current one-sided game situation, for the slight possibility of a comeback, I decided to try.

The new round soon began. I followed Xu Mo's words and stared at him intensively, hoping to see a trace of flaws in him.

And Xu Mo's mouth always had a slight smile, as if he was in a good mood.

It was my turn to take the cup. I noticed that Xu Mo's brows suddenly wrinkled. With a movement in my heart, I decided to change my tactics and took the cup away.

MC: ...!!

Xu Mo: I lost.

Xu Mo looked at our folded hands on the cup and sighed slightly

Xu Mo: It seems that I was too careless...

Xu Mo: This strategy should not be told to you lightly.

His voice showed faint grievances and regrets, and then he took the Sake and drank it in one go.

MC: Is it really so works?

I was a little dazed by the sudden victory.

Although I'm not sure if there is a reason for luck, I just raised my lips and jumped for joy when I finally caught this flawless person.

Next, the entire game seemed to be exceptionally smooth to me. I didn't expect that one day I could win Xu Mo so many times, and the smile on my face got bigger and bigger.

Until Xu Mo was fined another glass of Sake, looking at his reddish ears and the corners of his mouth, I suddenly noticed something.

I put away my smile and walked up to him, acting as if I was asking my sins.

MC: I almost fell for some big liar again!

Xu Mo's eyes moved slightly, and then he stretched out his hand towards me.

Xu Mo: What's wrong?

He looked at me and blinked a bit innocently.

Xu Mo: Why are you so angry? Did I do something wrong?

I laughed angrily by the way he knew it, and couldn't help squeezing his hand.

MC: Are you letting me win again?

Xu Mo did not answer immediately, but gently hooked my finger, and then wrapped it into his palm.

Xu Mo: Who said I let you?

Xu Mo: I am willing to lose to you.

He stretched out his hand, scraped the tip of my nose, and a smile burst out from the corner of his mouth.

Xu Mo: Finally I can see you smile without burden.

MC: Huh?

Xu Mo: From morning on, you look worried.

Xu Mo: Although I plan to not ask too much before you tell me. But I thought about it, it’s not easy to keep you in my heart

Xu Mo: I guess the thing that bothers you should have something to do with me, right

He thought a little bit.

Xu Mo: Was it the news you saw this morning?

Seeing Xu Mo's determined expression and thinking about his behavior just now, I suddenly understood something in my heart.

MC: So you proposed to play games with me, also to relax me?

MC: I can't hide anything from you

Xu Mo chuckled lightly, wrapped my hand into his palm, and deliberately asked in a joking tone.

Xu Mo: Tell me about it, how did the "Professor Xu" on the news bother you?

I was amused by him. Seeing that what was hidden in my heart had been exposed, I simply decided to confess.

MC: Actually... This bottle of sake was originally a gift to celebrate your prize. But I did not expect that the award list would be postponed.

MC: Although I still want to celebrate with you, but if the result is not good, I worry about you will be disappointed.

MC: So it has not been said.

After saying this, I took a long breath and felt that it was a lot easier.

MC: But now I also think that compared to these, we should cherish our time together more.

In order to show my determination, I picked up the phone on the table and turned it off without hesitation.

MC: Now I can't get distracted!

Xu Mo's eyes flickered, and then he turned off the phone just like me. He put his arms around my waist and raised his head slightly.

Xu Mo: Then we can say that, from now on, don't let anyone bothering us.

Xu Mo: Nobody can.

Seeing him add another sentence seriously, I couldn't help laughing.

MC: However, it is indeed my fault that I was always distracted before. Next, we can make up for this time.

Xu Mo: Hm? How do you plan to make up?

I looked outside and raised my eyebrows at him.

MC: Didn't you notice? The snow outside is getting smaller.

Xu Mo was a little puzzled, but he reacted quickly, and the corners of his lips curled up in a beautiful arc.

Outside the house, the original heavy snow in the sky turned into fragments of snowflakesㅡ

It fell lightly in the hot spring that was continuously rising, and melted silently.

After eating, Xu Mo and I were walking on the stone road in the courtyard. We could hear the gurgling water in our ears.

MC: It seems that the weather forecast is right, the snow is really much smaller.

Xu Mo: Hmm, but are you drunk? Actually, we can come later.

MC: Don't worry, I am fully awake.

MC: And I checked it online before, and two hours after a meal is the best time to soak in the hot spring!

Xu Mo just wanted to say something, but suddenly stopped. He stared at the hot spring pool in front of him, and his eyes flashed with surprise.

I followed his gaze to the open-air hot spring in front, and my eyes widened.

MC: This is...

I was surprised to find that there is no barrier between this private hot spring surrounded by stones.

  🍁

MC: Strange, I clearly remember that the pictures I saw on the website before were separated by wooden boards.

I looked at the hot spring pool, my ears were getting hot. Thinking of two people in the same hot spring, I can't help but feel a subtle sense of tension.

Just when I was about to say something to break the awkward atmosphere, Xu Mo's voice suddenly sounded.

Xu Mo: .. I'd better go back to the room first.

Xu Mo: I'll come back when you finish.

MC: Hm?

I subconsciously raised my head. Xu Mo still had a gentle expression, but his eyes did not look at me.

Is it...

Am I the not only one who is nervous?

Looking at the steaming hot spring, I involuntarily swallowed my saliva, emboldening myself in my heart.

MC: Now that you have changed your clothes... let's go together.

In the hot spring pool, Xu Mo was sitting opposite me, the water just covered our chests

Xu Mo: Does the water feel hot?

I looked up, my eyes swam disobediently from his bare chest to the collarbone, Adam's apple and thin lips, and then I didn't dare to go up again.

MC: No, just right.

I shook my head, suppressed the excessively fast heartbeat, and sat down a little bit, submerged my shoulders in the warm water, and couldn't help but sigh.

The snowflakes fell on the face one by one, bringing icy coldness sense of touch, but the body and mind are steaming hot, and finally melts in the heat.

Xu Mo flicked his hand across the hot spring, and there was a sporadic sound of water. He closed his eyes, raised his head and leaned against the rock wall.

Xu Mo: I suddenly remembered that the last time we took a hot spring, it was the same as today with snow in the sky.

MC: Well, I remember too.

There was a movement in my heart, and I couldn't help but remember the time when I wished Xu Mo's birthday a warm feeling came from the bottom of my heart.

MC: It seems that many of my good memories about the snowy days are spent with you.

Xu Mo slowly opened his eyes, and there was also a layer of chlorinated water vapor on his eyes, and the curvature of the corners of his lips seemed clear and moving.

Xu Mo: For me, it's not just the snow.

The gurgling water and his voice merged together, and fell into my ears through the mist.

Under Xu Mo's gentle gaze, it seems that the distant memories in my mind are being warmed up little by little.

Perhaps he had been watching for too long, and my throat was a little dry. My gaze fell to the side of the tray floating on the water, which was filled with wagashi and hot tea.

Wagashi are traditional Japanese confections that are often served with green tea, especially the types made of mochi, anko and fruits.

I picked up the teacup and took a drink. Obviously it's not alcohol, but it makes me feel a little drunk.

I patted my slightly hot face, trying to stretch my body, but my foot inadvertently touched Xu Mo's leg.

Xu Mo: ....

MC: .....

The breath and heartbeat went wild in an instant. In the pool water, it seems that every part of the body has become more sensitive.

I subconsciously looked at Xu Mo, his eyes flickered, and then faintly looked away, and picked up another teacup on the tray.

Xu Mo: The tea smell is very strong.

MC: Hm..

MC: This opportunities are rare. Why don't we "replace Sake with tea" and clink a glass?

As soon as I finished speaking, I bit my tongue viciously for the proposal I blurted out.

Xu Mo's hand holding the teacup seemed to shake. He looked at my red cheeks curiously and chuckled uncontrollably.

Xu Mo: Well, it's a good proposal, but...

Xu Mo: Clinking glasses is usually for celebration. What are we going to celebrate now?

I was asked all of a sudden. While thinking, an idea flashes over my mind.

MC: To celebrate...

Xu Mo: If you say anything like "Celebrate your winning in advance", I will be a little disappointed.

MC: Ha..

This person definitely has mind-reading skills!

I looked at Xu Mo's smiling eyes through the white mist, and my lips curled up.

The fine snow slowly fell, and the water in the pool was clear, but not as bright as his eyes. I suddenly felt everything in front of me, something unreal like a dream.

Such a good person is now opposite me, right in front of my eyes, drinking a tea with me and sharing the same snowy color.

Until I saw Xu Mo's eyes clearly reflecting my figure. I suddenly felt that this moment has already surpassed everything.

So I said almost subconsciously.

MC: Then celebrate the moment we have.

Under the misty surface of xenon hydrogen, the skin we touched lightly rubbed inadvertently.

The clear touch brought up bursts of electric current, causing ripples in my heart. I no longer stagger my eyes as before, but quietly stare at Xu Mo in front of me.

His Adam's apple slid, and a white warm mist made his dark eyes sparkle with water.

I suddenly had an illusion, as if Xu Mo could look straight into my heart through the hazy mist.

After a while, he chuckled lightly.

Xu Mo: Is it just for now?

MC: What?

Xu Mo didn't answer, but suddenly got up and leaned toward me. The chest that had been submerged was also exposed at this time.

The warm and slightly hot from hot springs steamed his skin a little red, and the water rippled and then fell again.

I touched the ground with my feet a little nervously, but a little unstable due to the buoyancy of the water, Xu Mo held my waist with one hand in time.

I raised my head and slowly looked at the line of Xu Mo's jaw, my fingertips sinking into the tight muscles behind his shoulders.

His hand slid across my back, tightening me up a little bit, and I unconsciously put my hand on his shoulder and against his chest.

MC: Xu Mo..

The light lines of the water wave healed our chest and back. Xu Mo lowered his head, his lips were close to my ears, his voice was stained with a low voice.

Xu Mo: What I want to say is, not just celebrating this moment. But...

Xu Mo: For every moment we have.

There seemed to be a touch of nothing on the earlobe, as if clusters of flames were lit from there.

The tea cups collided with a crisp sound.

Xu Mo took a sip of tea, pinched my chin and pressed it down

Seeing his face getting closer and closer, I can no longer care about the others, I can only instinctively close my eyes

Feel the numb touch on the lips, and the sweet tea fragrance reverberating in the mouth.

🍁

With a splash of water, Xu Mo got up and walked out of the hot spring pool.

Xu Mo: During the meal, our clothes were left out and dampened by the snow. I will go back to the room to get the clothes we changed in the morning.

MC: Wait, I'll go with you.

After I finished speaking, I stood up, Xu Mo stood there, his eyes stopped slightly when he looked at me.

I followed his eyes and looked down, the wet towels were tight clings to my body, clearly outlines the lines, dripping continuously.

A cold wind blew, and I seemed to have noticed something, so I hurriedly sat back.

MC: So cold...

Xu Mo laughed lightly, then nodded.

Xu Mo: Well, it will be a little cold if you just walk back.

Xu Mo: So, wait for me here, okay?

I touched my slightly hot cheek, smiled and nodded at him.

MC: Alright  

When Xu Mo returned with the clothes, I was eating the wagashi on the tray. He couldn't help but smile when he saw me.

Xu Mo: Are you hungry?

MC: A little. You see, these fruits are so delicate.

I pushed the tray towards him, Xu Mo squatted down and looked carefully.

Xu Mo: Well, indeed.

Xu Mo: I once heard a very skilled master say that wagashi can express anything, whether it is natural or human.

MC: Really?

Hearing his words, I put my arm on the rock beside the pool and curiously observed the wagashi in the plate.

MC: This is a special wagashi for Valentine's Day. I don't know if there is anything special.

Xu Mo: I think there should be.

Xu Mo also leaned down slightly and observed with me.

Xu Mo: Maybe we can guess by using our imagination?

He smiled and twisted one of the wagashi.

It looks relatively ordinary among the different shapes of fruits. The round shape is like a small steamed bun, but on the top. Covered with a circle of yellow marks.

Xu Mo: The surface of this fruit should be deliberately roasted to brown

After watching it for a while, Xu Mo handed it to me.

Xu Mo: Did you think of something?

MC: Hmm.. the yellow circle.

MC: Like a full moon?

I raised my eyes to look at Xu Mo, and he curled his mouth slightly, motioning me to continue.

As if being woken up, I looked at this seemingly inconspicuous wagashi, and seemed to understand the intention of the person who made it.

MC: The moon is a very important image in love and can be used to express many kinds of emotions...

MC: So it seems that this fruit really fits the theme of Valentine's Day.

Xu Mo: Have a taste?

Looking at Xu Mo's eyebrows, my heart moved slightly, so I leaned over and bit the fruit in his hand.

The sweetness melted in my mouth, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the red fillings of the wagashi under the white skin.

MC: It's red bean paste...

There seemed to be a trace of surprise in Xu Mo's eyes. After a while, he nodded thoughtfully.

Xu Mo: Specially choose red as the filling...

Xu Mo: Probably because the person who created it wanted to express the sincere emotions between lovers.

MC: It turns out that wagashi can really express people's feelings...

Seeing such an emotional Japanese fruit, a burst of soft emotions creeping in my heart, I subconsciously asked Xu Mo.

MC: You have a bite too?

As soon as I finished speaking, I suddenly remembered something, so I immediately changed my words.

MC: But you don’t like sweets so much, so it’s mine!

I stretched out my hand to take the wagashi from his hand, but Xu Mo suddenly pulled his hand

MC: Uh?

Seeing my puzzlement, he chuckled lightly.

Xu Mo: I really don't like sweets very much.

Xu Mo: However, I still want to taste such beautiful food.

MC: But...

Before I finished speaking, I saw Xu Mo's face enlarged before my eyes.

He put his hand behind my head and leaned down. In the blink of an eye, there was a warmth on the lips.

The scorching breath fell on the face, itching and numb, dispelling the coolness in the air.

The thick snow on the edge of the pool turned into melted water droplets and fell into the water, arousing small splashes.

After a long while, Xu Mo released his hand behind my head, with a slight smile on his mouth.

Xu Mo: Well, it's sweeter than expected.

🍁

After soaking in the hot springs, Xu Mo and I walked slowly back to the room. As soon as we opened the door, we stopped in unison.

A fancy "citation cake" was placed in the center of the table.

Under the two big letters "Certificate" written with red chocolate, there are also dark chocolates with a row of small letters one by one.

"Best Scientist Award".

Xu Mo raised his eyebrows and glanced at me leisurely. I coughed slightly awkwardly.

MC: Ahem. If I said that the waiter sent the wrong room, would you believe it?

At this time, the door was pushed open again, and the waiter put two knives and forks on the side of the tray.

Waiter: Miss MC, you are back, is the hot spring still comfortable?

Waiter: This is the special cake you ordered. Because the snow was a little smaller, the driver was asked to go down the mountain to retrieve it. Please enjoy.

The waiter cast a "won't disturb you" look, then bowed and walked out. After a short silence, I heard a chuckle.

MC: Well. This is actually another gift I originally prepared to celebrate your winning.

MC: I always feel that at this time of celebration, we still have to eat cakes to have more atmosphere.

MC: Although the appearance is a bit exaggerate, the taste should be good.

Xu Mo chuckled and nodded.

Xu Mo: Well, I believe this cake must be delicious. and.….

Xu Mo: I am also sure that you really care about this.

He paused for a while, then took out his mobile phone leisurely and turned it on.

Xu Mo: Since you want to know so much, let's watch it together.

MC: What?

Xu Mo: Don’t you really want to know the results of the awards? I remember the news you saw in the morning saying that the announcement should be postponed to the afternoon.

Xu Mo: The time should be right now.

MC: But...

Seeing his calm movements, my eyes widened, but I looked more nervous than him.

Xu Mo: If you don't let you know now, you will keep thinking about it.

As soon as his voice fell, with a few minutes of reminder sound, countless messages flooded into Xu Mo's phone.

Looking at his cell phone that kept vibrating, my heartbeat speeded up. Xu Mo seemed to be a little surprised by it.

Xu Mo: A Ming, sent fifteen text messages and made six calls.

He frowned slightly.

Xu Mo: It seems that I told him to be good at "focusing" things, but he doesn't take it seriously.

MC: ....

MC: I also question the way you "focusing" at this time!

Xu Mo tapped the screen twice until everything was calm again, but there was no expression on his face.

MC: How?

I looked at him with anticipation and ambition.

After a moment of silence, Xu Mo suddenly leaned over to me, buried his head in the socket of my neck, and let out a light sigh.

Xu Mo: ....

My heart jumped suddenly.

MC: No, it doesn't matter...

I just feel my brain is blank, and my words become stumbling.

MC: It may be because the selection criteria have changed this year. They have to take other factors into consideration.

MC: And this is their loss! You are so powerful, they will definitely regret it in the future!

Xu Mo: Is it?

MC: Yes!

I replied categorically, as I was about to continue speaking, but suddenly caught a murmur of laughter, and then I was surprised that something was wrong.

MC: .. Why are you lying again!

I straightened up from Xu Mo's arms at once, but he grabbed my wrist with a smile, and pulled it into his embrace again.

Xu Mo: Where am I lying.

Xu Mo: It seems unfair to say that.

Xu Mo: I didn't seem to say what the result was.

Seeing the successful smile in his eyes, I bit my lip unwillingly. After thinking for a while, I had an idea, pretending to be angrily and got into the blanket beside me.

Although the news of Xu Mo's award made the corners of my mouth almost fly into the sky, I still constricted my smile and adjusted my tone of voice.

MC: I'm so nervous, but you still want to tease me!

MC: Originally, apart from Sake and cake, I also prepared a third gift for you. Now I have to consider it!

The low laughter in the ear was suddenly paused.

I secretly laughed and counted down silently in my heart, 3, 2, 1 until the last number fell, I really felt a pair of hands hugging me from behind.

Xu Mo: Sorry, because you looked so cute just now, I couldn't help but want to tease you.

Xu Mo: So, can you tell me what the gift is now?

Xu Mo waited for a while, but when he saw that I still didn't answer, he suddenly coughed.

Xu Mo: (cough)

Xu Mo: It seems to have been outside for too long and some have caught a cold

I listened to Xu Mo's deliberate coughing. I was startled first, and then laughed uncontrollably. I didn't expect him to think of such a childish way.

Hear my laugh, Xu Mo also laughed.

The arms around my waist tightened a bit, and when he spoke again, his tone became more serious.

Xu Mo: MC.

Xu Mo: Actually, I don't value this award that much.

My heart beats, this is the first time I heard him say that

Xu Mo: Because all the things I wanted to obtain were obtained the moment the research results were published, or even earlier.

Xu Mo: Any praise from the outside world, to me, is nothing but brocade icing on.

His voice paused, as if thinking of something, and then he smiled softly.

Xu Mo: However, everything you did for me today, I am very happy

Xu Mo: Whether it is a gift to me or your sincere words to me, I really feel how important I am in your heart.

Xu Mo rubbed my forehead with his chin across the blanket

Xu Mo: I feel happy, nervous, or even sad from the bottom of my heart

Xu Mo: Probably there is only you silly girl.

The soft words fell in my heart, and there was a drop of water.

Xu Mo: I think the reason why I always can't help teasing you, maybe it's just because I want to see you more and show off because of me.

Xu Mo: In a certain way, I can also be regarded as a special "collector".

Xu Mo: No matter what kind of meal it is, I want to have it.

Xu Mo: With that said, can you forgive me?

The delicate tenderness was sewn on him slightly, I still did not answer, but responded to him with action.

I lifted the blanket and kissed Xu Mo's face with his surprised eyes.

I ran my fingers across his fine hair and stopped on his face. Then I pulled him tightly and tightly toward me.

Heavy breathing sounded in the room, as if confused, I kissed his cheek closely and pressed against his auricle.

MC: I am not angry, you are a fool..

I followed his ear bones all the way down, and after hearing a short gasp, I turned to a thin rub.

I don't know how long it took. When I met Xu Mo's eyes awkwardly, I later realized that I was extremely ashamed of my bold actions, and subconsciously shrank back.

But Xu Mo did not allow me to retreat. He put his hands on my waist together a few inches, pressed them to my forehead, and looked at me deeply with his eyes.

Xu Mo: Is this the third gift?

The thin, hot breath entangled, I panted lightly and shook my head.

MC: ....It is a promise.

I calmed down my breath and slowly said the words that had been brewing in my heart for a long time.

MC: I want to wait for the results to come out, whether you win or not, I will tell youㅡ

MC: In the future, I will stay with you and spend every memorable moment with you.

MC: Remember the flower with crystals you gave me?

MC: I think the same as you, every moment we walked together is very precious to me

MC: Although I can't make such a romantic gift like you, I can only express it in ordinary sounds.

MC: But this is my truest thought.

The evening wind slowly passed by, and behind Xu Mo, the sky full of red leaves fell. I felt in a daze that we at this moment are closer than ever.

Xu Mo lowered his eyes, looked straight at me for a moment, and laughed a little.

Xu Mo: MC's ability to talk about love is really getting better.

My cheeks suddenly became red when I met the narrow gaze in his eyes.

MC: I'm just talking to my heart!

Xu Mo: Yes, I know.

Xu Mo: I don't think what you said is ordinary. On the contrary, it means a lot to me.

Xu Mo: However, although I received such a beautiful promise, I thought about it for a while-

Xu Mo: When you say this, aren't you also sorting me out?

MC: !... I

Seeing that I was speechless for a while, Xu Mo smiled, his eyes moved down, and landed on my slightly opened lips. The emotion in the deep eyes is unclear.

Xu Mo: Sometimes actions are more explicit than words.

He raised his hand and squatted down my lips with his fingers,

Xu Mo: The sincerity contained in the promise, maybe in another way... can make me feel more directly.

He whispered, and suddenly raised his eyes to look at me, dark light circling in his eyes.

Xu Mo: Are you willing to?

The heat surged to my cheeks, and my mind was chaotic. In the next second, Xu Mo clasped my wrist tightly and pressed me on the tatami.

MC: Wh-

The soft tip of the tongue pried my teeth away inch by inch, and grinds together delicately and long. It seems to wear out all the heat and lingering.

While my consciousness was cloudy, I tasted the faint fragrance of tea that still remained in his mouth, but it was like a very high alcohol wine, which made me feel drunk.

His head raised passively. Xu Mo squinted his eyes slightly, and gradually reduced his strength by pressing my hand.

His fingers rubbed the skin on the side of my wrist gently and slowly, letting my body gradually relax

The surrounding temperature rose sharply, and I instinctively caught his neck and responded to his tossing and turning.

Just when I felt a little dizzy, Xu Mo let go of me, a familiar chuckle sounded in my ears.

Seeing that I was a little weak, Xu Mo held my waist and let me sit on him.

I rested on his strong abs with one hand, and grasped his messy clothes with the other weakly.

MC: Xu Mo....

I lowered my head and saw what seemed to be suppressed in his gloomy eyes, so I subconsciously leaned down and pecked his chin.

Xu Mo: ....

The light and shadow in Xu Mo's eyes flickered, his eyes darkened.

Before I could react, his hand that was touching my hair suddenly pulled me towards him and kissed me again.

Unlike before, this kiss was overwhelmingly aggressive.

The tingling sensation of the intertwined lips and teeth ran through my body like an electric current, and the blood seemed to boil.

With warmth in Xu Mo's palm, he shook all the way down my spine.

His senses and thoughts were all occupied by him, and in a trance, I felt the kiss gradually slip and strengthen.

There was a slight tingling pain from my collarbone, and I couldn't help but exhale softly, and there was a warm and humid touch.

A layer of fine sweat oozes out on the tightly adhering skin, giving it an intimate and sticky feeling. I inserted my hand into Xu Mo's sweat-drenched hair and looked down at him.

He closed his eyes, his concentrated face was stained with the color of red leaves.

His sight seemed to be burned to the point of nowhere to rest.

Perhaps because of my tension, Xu Mo's lips bend slightly. He lifted his palm up to cover my eyes.

Xu Mo: Close your eyes .

Extremely strong, but with extreme gentleness.

I slowly closed my eyes and surrendered myself to him. The last image remaining on the retina is Xu Mo deep eyes.

And a brilliant red.

🍁 🍁 🍁 END  🍁 🍁 🍁

I’m sorry if there’s some mistranslation. Kindly tell me if you found some :) thank you for read it~ ^^

[tracybirds]

Paper Dreams

John receives a prestigious invite and he’s not sure how to respond.

Many thanks to @gumnut-logic for the encouragement because I am nerves!!

*                      *                      *

The crisp white envelope was heavy in his hands as he hurried from the room. Paper was a formality, a mark of distinction that would surely draw his brothers’ unwanted attention. Letters didn’t just arrive unannounced in this era of high-speed data connections and quantum supercomputers. In fact, they didn’t arrive at all.

So, John was more than a little apprehensive when Grandma Tracy silently handed him the sealed envelope and walked away.

It took only a few short minutes to read through the contents and he sat back against the window in his room, the words whirling in his mind.

Mars Colonisation Project. Distinguished candidate. Invited to apply.

An opportunity of a lifetime.

A way to prove for once and for all that he was more than his father’s famous name.

John clutched at the letter, the paper crinkling in his grasp. He mouthed the words as he read them, over and over.

He looked up at the sound of a loud yell calling his name, hurriedly shoving the letter into the envelope and dropping it at his side. Snatching up a nearby tablet, his flushed ears were the only hint of the letter that remained when Gordon shoved open the door.

“John, dinner, hurry up.”

His brother tore out of the room before he could respond.

*                      *                      *

John slipped into his seat, mouthing an apology to Grandma Tracy as he did.

“Finally!” cried Alan. He wriggled back in his seat, staring hopefully at the food. “Grandma said we had to wait for you, you took forever!”

“Is Dad not eating?” asked Virgil. “I heard him come in.”

“He’s taking it in the study tonight,” said Grandma Tracy, shaking her head slightly. “Brains dropped by and they’re holing up together on that project of theirs.”

John glanced over at the conspicuously empty seat at the head of table. They all knew what ‘that project’ meant.

In the heady rush of excitement, he’d all but forgotten the silent expectation that accompanied his studies and extra-curriculars for the past five years. A pet project alone wouldn’t have been enough to deter him from his own ambitions, but the Thunderbirds, they offered something different, something more than the office politics of academia, squabbling over research grants.

He’d never known anything that could compete.

Until now.

“Hey,” said Virgil in a low tone, nudging him from his thoughts. “You okay?”

John pulled himself back into the present with a slight grimace.

“Fine. Just thinking about an assignment.”

Virgil nodded slowly, looking him up and down with a critical eye.

“Are you going to eat anything, or just push it around?”

John automatically lifted his fork, blinking as the peas fell back to the plate and landed in a pile of mushy, grey potatoes.

“Actually, I’m not that hungry.”

“Can I have yours?” asked Alan, already reaching over to grab at his plate.

“Not hungry, John?” asked Grandma Tracy. “You’re not coming down with something, are you?”

She examined the pinched look in his face and the nervous twist of one hand inside the other.

“No,” said John, wishing he hadn’t said anything. The last thing he wanted was any level of scrutiny. “I’m fine, Grandma, honest.”

He let Alan scrape his leftovers from his plate, realising with a pang than he’d had another growth spurt over the previous semester at his boarding school.

If he left for Mars, he’d return to a brother he’d hardly recognise.

Colonisation was a long-term project, the result of years in planning and decades of dreams. Countless people would put their life’s work into its development and they had every right to expect the same of their astronauts. The application process alone was heavily involved and would severely limit time with his family, to say nothing of the many years ahead for him on Mars if he made it all the way into space. He’d be travelling millions of miles from home, only to find himself living with a group of strangers that he couldn’t escape without logging an external environment report.

He didn’t even like sharing a bathroom at the university housing that much.

Still the piece of paper called to him.

“Can I be excused?”

Grandma Tracy nodded and he hurried from the room, not noticing her troubled look.

The warmth of the room followed him into the hallway and he shut the door firmly behind him. He thrust his hand into his pocket, searching for the reassuring touch of cool paper.

It was real.

It was real and if he let the opportunity pass by, he might regret it for the rest of his life.

Or he might be wasting his time, pinning his hopes on something that would only serve to distract him in the long run. He could only imagine what Scott would say, who’d never once taken his eye off a prize once he’d decided to aim for it.

He didn’t know what to do, didn’t know what he wanted, and found himself climbing into the cramped space under the roof that had generously called a playroom, then a study, then an attic.

He blinked as the bare bulb overhead lit the small room, filling it with old memories and dust.

His first telescope was still standing in the corner, pointing high in the sky and he lifted the edge of his T-shirt to wipe the dust away. Surrounding it, lay stacks of books that his mom had picked up from the local thrift store, that Mrs Delaney, the owner, put them aside just for him.

John walked carefully among them, tugging the small window open and staring out into the night. The stars shone bright in the clear, crisp air.

Crouching down, he peered through the eye piece, adjusting the focus with a practiced hand. The little reflector was nothing like the giant telescopes available at the college department, and he had to hold his breath to stop the stand from wobbling. But the universe was still out there, the same as it was when he was a kid, still holding an infinite number of mysteries despite the years he had spent uncovering the rules that held it together.

He looked up, eyes darting through the familiar patterns, searching for the anomaly he knew was wandering between Gemini and Taurus.

And there it was.

Mars.

A planet with so much to offer the world they lived on. Where he could work with a team of people who loved space just like him, where he could devote his life to researching astronomy from a new perspective and developing technology for interplanetary life for generations to come.

Where he could leave his mark alongside all the heroes of his childhood. Alongside his dad.

“After all, why shouldn’t I go?” he said, scowling up at Mars.

“Go where?”

John spun around with a start.

“Kayo! When did you get in?”

She shrugged, propping up her head with her hand.

“Long enough to see you come up here,” she said. “I waited for you, but then Mrs Tracy said you hadn’t eaten. Figured something was wrong.”

She looked him up and down with a piercing eye. John tried not to squirm. He’d always felt Kayo had something of a sixth sense when it came to knowing things that should have been a secret.

“Seems like I was right,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“Everything’s fine.”

“Then where are you planning on going?”

“Nowhere. I don’t think, that is…”

He flopped down and tilted his head back with a huff.

“Not right now, at any rate.”

Kayo pulled herself up onto the floor and drew the ladder upwards.

Neither spoke as the trapdoor shut with a small ‘click’.

The dust swirled in the air, dancing in the shafts of light above them.

“Is it a graduate program?”

“No.”

“An international program?”

“No.”

“A long-term space colonisation program for specially selected candidates who have already proven themselves in the fields of communications, astrophysics and astrotechnology?”

John stared at her.

She shrugged.

“It’s my job to know.”

“So, why even ask?”

“I’m trying to get you to lower your guard.”

She smiled at the dumbfounded look on his face.

“You’ve met Brains, right? He’s got some server tracker that flags your name. They asked your advisor for academic and personal references months ago.”

“Oh God,” said John, dropping his head in his ands and staring wildly at the floor. “Does Dad already know?”

Kayo shook her head.

“Dad and I do. Security details and all. But we don’t tell him that kind of stuff, you know, he’s not spying on you.”

“You’re right, that’s a real comfort,” said John, drily.

Kayo tossed her head.

“I’m just saying.”

Her eyes softened as she watched him draw his knees close to his chest.

“He doesn’t know.” She hesitated, still watching him. “Would it be all that bad if he did though?”

John huffed a little, still staring at his knees.

“International Rescue’s all we’ve ever talked about,” he said. “I didn’t think there’d be anything else I wanted. What if I let him down?”

“He’s already proud of you, John.”

“But we’ve been working towards it for so long now. This would change everything. Delay the full scope of the project for months, or years even.”

Kayo snorted.

“You really think Jeff Tracy, resident billionaire and with access to the best tech in the world, wouldn’t be able to find another genius astrotechnician and communication expert?”

John shot her a withering look.

“Okay, so maybe he’d have to find two super geniuses.”

She easily dodged the picture book he threw in her direction.

“Leave off,” he said, rolling his eyes.

Kayo spotted the slight smile though, and grinned broadly in return.

“Can I?” she asked, nodding at the space between him and the wall.

John nodded and shuffled over as best he could, trying not to topple the book stacks around them.

Kayo wriggled into the gap, and John paid her no mind.

He hadn’t thought of who would take his place because, of course, someone must. He’d been preparing for an International Rescue without him, one where his family diverted communications for a few years and focused their efforts on establishing themselves on land and sea until Alan stepped into his role on Thunderbird Five.

He hadn’t imagined an International Rescue where he wasn’t even needed.

Kayo seemed to sense the turn in his thoughts, nudging him gently to pull him from them.

“He wouldn’t trust them half as much as you, you know.”

John shrugged.

“I don’t want to disappoint him,” he said slowly, choosing his words carefully. “But I don’t want that to be the only reason I don’t go.”

He took a deep breath, and glanced back up at the slowly setting planet.

“And I want to go,” he admitted. “I do. I need to tell him.”

Kayo nodded, a sad look in her eyes. They sat in silence together, lost in their own thoughts. The bustle of the house downstairs filtered upwards. Muffled bangs and indistinct shouts of Gordon and Alan playing some ridiculous game, loud music from Virgil’s room – the kind he put on to drown out any interruption to his painting. Grandma Tracy seemed to be having some kind of one-sided conversation with herself, until John remembered, with a pang, that it was Saturday morning out in Guam and she was likely speaking to Scott at that very moment.

Kayo sighed and dropped her head on John’s shoulder.

“I’d miss you though.”

John swallowed carefully past the sudden lump in his throat.

“I’d miss you too.”

*                      *                      *

John was too old to be summoned to his father’s study, but somehow deliberately interrupting him felt worse. Nausea sat like a rock in his stomach, his voice box left in tatters as he knocked on the solid oak door.

“Who is it?”

He couldn’t reply.

His eyes flitted across the family photos that littered the hallway, landing finally on the image of his father and crewmates waving to the masses as they entered the Herschel-VI.

The photograph didn’t show the way his father was blind to the crowd, his farewell only for the woman who stood half a mile from the launchpad, proud, so proud, and sick with worry too. She held tight to her eldest son with one hand, and rested her other on the stroller she was rocking back and forth. She didn’t see the way he had wriggled out of his restraints nor how he was preparing to drop to the ground and run away, already intent on chasing after his father at three years old.

Jeff Tracy, first man on Mars, opened the door with a frown and a touch of impatience, and John knew there would be no escape this time.

“John.”

“Dad.”

His throat closed around his words and his hand closed around the letter in a fist.

Jeff looked down at the sound, and looked back at John, an assessing look in his eye. He stepped back wordlessly and John entered the severe room.

“What’s happened, son?” he asked, holding his hand out for the letter.

He smoothed down the crumpled edges as he read, his eyes leaping from phrase to phrase on the page.

“Well, it seems congratulations are in order. I assume you intend to accept?”

The knot in John’s chest loosened and he collapsed into the chair opposite Jeff.

“I intend to apply,” he corrected, staring down at the desk between them.

“John, they don’t reach out like this unless they want you onboard. They intend you to be on that shuttle, regardless of the formalities the bureaucrats put in place.”

“Yeah.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the blueprints, Brains’ small, neat handwriting annotating each design and his father’s looping comments scrawled liberally across them.

Jeff followed his line of sight and smiled.

“Five won’t be operational for a few more years, you know that. Don’t let her be what holds you back.”

“But this was always it, this is why I’m getting space rated. And the satellite network still needs to be launched, and the orbital mechanics calculated.”

“An opportunity like this doesn’t come your way twice, son.”

John stopped.

“You think I should accept. If they say yes.”

“Don’t you?”

There it was. His father’s blessing laid out in front of him, just waiting to be taken up like a pennant.

Everything they’d worked for, everything they’d sacrificed, gone. In its place, a single shining achievement, a global community on their sister planet. The first of its kind.

It had been a long time since John had allowed himself to dream his own dreams.

“Alright,” he said, a giddy rush spinning his head so that he hardly knew what he was saying. “I’m gonna do it.”