#Tempted to make an alternate one for Nico here-

[stories-of-the-multiverse]

"I didn't mean it like that, hold on" {catpico/rosie and or. from Jayden}

"What did you mean it like, then...!?" Rosie croaked, rubbing the heel of her hand into her eye.

Pico couldn't help the grimace that crossed his face.

All three of them, though admittedly mostly him and Jayden, had a habit of ribbing at each other.

This... Was just a harsh reminder that there was such a thing as too far.

He gave Jayden an uncharacteristically uncomfortable glance before awkwardly pointing off to the side in a silent "I'm heading out." Then he moved behind the couch... Disappearing down some non existent stairs.

Time to nab some comfort food. Hopefully Jayden would have already calmed her down even if just a bit by the time he got back.

[squishmallow36]

Keeper of the Lost Prepositions - Forty-one 

Word count: 2.2k

Tw: nothing major but lmk if i should add anything

Taglist (lmk if you want to be added/removed!): @stellar-lune @gaslight-gaetkeep-gayboss @kamikothe1and0lny @nyxpixels @florida-fruity-frog @poppinspop @crystallinewalker @uni-seahorse-572 @solreefs @books-over-boys @rusted-phone-calls @when-wax-wings-melt @cotyledon-tomentosa @good-old-fashioned-lover-boy7 @dexter-dizzknees @abubble125

On Ao3 or below the cut!

Fitz Pov

    Before letting me in Sophie’s room, Sandor checks me for tracking devices, other than the ones he put in my clothes that Grizel did not realize were there. 

    She doesn’t exactly appreciate the fact that her boyfriend doesn’t trust her enough not to lose me somewhere in a field or not carry Neverseen trackers on me. 

    “Hey,” I say, walking into Sophie’s room and sitting on the bed across from her.

    “Hey,” she replies, smiling. 

    “What’ve you been doing?”

    “Losing my mind. You?”

    “Same, not going to lie.”

    “Telepath time? Or do you want to find a stupidly insane topic and waste a few hours of our lives?”

    “I’ve already wasted enough time before texting you,” I answer. 

    “What kind of Telepathic exercises were you thinking, then?”

    “The classic secret sharing one works pretty well for us. I just want to make sure I haven’t messed up our connection.”

    “Don’t be silly. If it’s messed up, it’s my fault.”

    No you didn’t, I’m tempted to say. But she’s so stubborn it won’t go anywhere.

    “Do you want to start with three out loud? And then test if I can get in?”

  �� I mentally cringe at the preposition and wait for her to nod before saying, “I’ll go first. I’ve been baking way too much and I’ve eaten more mallowmelt recently than I’m sure is healthy.”

    “I want some of that mallowmelt,” Sophie remarks. “No judgement, right?”

    “Of course.”

    “Because I’ve been stuck in here for so long because someone’s paranoid, I've finally had enough time to update my Solangelo fanfic on fanfiction.net from three years ago.”

    “Okay, I’m going to need some words defined.”

    “Solangelo is the name for the relationship between Nico Di Angelo and Will Solace from the Riordanverse, usually used in a romantic context. There’s a bunch of books, so no plot for you. That’d take forever. Fanfic is basically when a fan of a certain piece of media doesn’t have enough for their liking or doesn’t like what happened in the canon or was bored, so they take the characters and write their own story with them. Sometimes they can be in the same setting, sometimes not so much. We call that an AU, or alternate universe.”

    “Oh. Cool.”

    I’m starting to love learning about human things and asking a gazillion questions.

    “No judgement!”

    “Can I, uh, can I read it?”

    “Oh gosh, no, it’s terrible.”

    “Then why did you bother updating it and what does that even mean?”

    “It means adding new content, in the form of a new chapter, and I was bored. At this rate, I may end up rewriting it with ten times as much angst.”

    “How would one go about writing a fanfic?” 

    I notice Sophie’s bright red from embarrassment, which isn’t all that unexpected. 

    “How I do it, at least, is I let headcanons float around in my brain for a while, which can converge into an idea, which, if it’s persistent enough, can get written down as an idea in my WIP folder, where is will stay unless I go and write it out, but I’ve got enough WIPs that it won’t be. Before you ask, headcanons are little interpretations of the characters that I think make sense with the characters. If they’re widespread through a fandom, then they can be considered fanon. For example, most, if not all, of the Percy Jackson fandom has simply disowned the movies. And WIP stands for ‘work in progress.’”

    “Now I want to know who this Percy Jackson is.”

    Sophie sighs. “It’s a very long story and the last time I read anything canonical, Percy and his girlfriend, Annabeth, were left in Tartarus, and I should really find out what happened between that and Solangelo becoming canon. But there’s this camp of Demigods and then there’s monsters, and titans, and lots of other things, and the more I say, the more I’m going to have to explain. Welp.”

    “Do you mind if I ask what ‘canon’ is?”

    “That’s the least embarrassing thing you’ve asked me to clarify yet. Canon is the official content of the world. Anything contained in the books, movies, show’s episodes, et cetera, is considered canon.”

    “I don’t have any more questions to keep stalling, so I guess it’s my turn. I don’t know if this really counts because my Dad knows, but you don’t. I don’t just know entry level English. I was also taught a bit of Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, Arabic, French, and Russian because we had no clue where you were, so my Dad just kept shoving more human languages into my brain with the hope that you’d have learned one of those while growing up. My poor seven year old brain. I’ve lost most of them, but I still remember my Russian swears.”

    “Ah, yes. The most important part of a language, other than ‘Where is the bathroom?’ But how’d a seven year old learn how to swear?”

    “We were searching for a long time and people kept telling me to go away the mean way. I mean, most places had basically the same reaction to me, but Russia’s so huge it stuck with me more, I guess.”

    “That’s interesting. Why hasn’t this come up earlier? It seems like an easy thing to admit compared to some other things, but, yes, I’ll count it.”

    Keefe’s a wanker, that’s why. 

    “Biana was being particularly annoying today and I accidentally switched to Spanish…”

    “Oops. My turn I guess. I also used to write fics for Destiel and I definitely wasn’t involved in the bisexual!Bella Twilight fandom. And also Klaine. I miss Klaine.”

    “What are these words?”

    “Ship names, mostly. Destiel is the ship name of Castiel and from the show Supernatural. Never seen it. Just read that many fics. Twilight’s...a fandom. That’s all I’m going to say. Books made into movies. Klaine is the ship name of and from Glee. It’s the one of these things that is actually canonical.”

    “Back to my turn.” I sigh. “Dex has successfully made me unable to unhear phrases or clauses or sentences or somethings--I don’t know the grammar well enough sorry--that end in a preposition, but he knows that, so…”

    “He might know that, but does he know that you have no clue what the correct rules are?”

    “No. But it’s still not the best secret I could’ve shared.”

    “Fine. A pathetic secret for a pathetic secret. I hid Amy’s karaoke machine before you took me here and she hasn’t gotten it back since to my knowledge. And the world is better for it.” 

    “That’s not a pathetic secret, it’s a useful one. Remind me to make sure Biana’s iPod gets lost.”

     ‘Lost’ is obviously contained within air quotes. 

    “How’d she manage to get an iPod?”

    “Dex is building them for everyone at this point. He built himself one when he was working on yours and now...Biana’s blasting everyone’s eardrums out. I think that was our third round, so Cognate test time?”

   “Okay. If you’re ready,” Sophie replies. 

    Lacing our fingers together, it takes somewhere in the range of several minutes of chanting It’s me before Sophie’s mind gives me that familiar tug. 

    She’s thinking about a uvula. 

    Always with the uvulas. 

    Oh, hey. I didn’t see you there. 

    Wow. I forgot how intense your mind is.

    Sorry. 

    It’s not your fault. I know I have to transmit super loud to get anything in there. I’m probably going to have a mild headache after this, that’s all. 

    Quiet down, brain, Sophie thinks. Can’t you see we have company? Behave. 

    I smile. 

    I guess we should continue sharing secrets. One time, I put green hair dye in Biana’s shampoo and blamed it on Keefe. To this day, she still believes he lied to her about it.

   That’s amazing. Now I have good blackmail.

    Nope. It’s part of the Cognate bond that I have to have full trust in you, and threatening to share my secrets isn’t good for that.

    Okay. Fine. Try not to tell anyone this, then.

    Five secrets each, which turns out to be about an hour later, it’s my turn again. 

    I’m running out of secrets. 

    Quietly, my least favorite little voice in my head tries, you could--.

    NOPE.

    I can feel Sophie’s confusion as more of an abstract thought than a verbal one. 

    Nope. Nope. Nope. That’s off limits. 

    What’s off limits? Sophie asks innocently. 

    Telling you would defeat the point, I snap. 

    Sophie mumbles something, and I ask, What?

    Nothing!

    It’s just tough for me because I can’t imagine sharing this one but at the same time we’re cognates and I have to tell you everything. 

    Do you want to call it good for today and do dumb friend things?

    I blink, breaking eye contact, and run my hands through my hair as soon as I get them untangled from Sophie’s.

    Sophie gives me Ella, but it does little to slow my racing thoughts trying to form a rudimentary pros and cons list. They don’t help the headache that started pounding at my temples a half-hour ago either. 

    “Just do what your gut is telling you to do,” Sophie suggests, rather unhelpfully if you ask me. 

    “My gut says it wants to be outside my body. So, no.”

    Sophie sighs, and I think the pros and cons chart has organized itself into a clear solution.

    Gathering my nonexistent courage, I force out, “I think I might be bisexual.”

    Sophie stops. 

    “Oh. Was not expecting that. Okay. I didn’t realize Elves could be, you know. I mean, it makes sense, but it’d never occurred to me.”

    “Me neither, as of like two weeks ago.”

    “That’s, uh...that’s pretty recent of you there.”

    I clarify, “That’s not when I started questioning. That was five days ago.”

    “Do you mind me asking who your bi awakening was?”

    “I’m not really ready for that much yet. But I’ll get there eventually.”

    “Makes sense. Can same-sex couples be on each other’s match lists or get married?”

    “Not to my knowledge. Again, I learned that not all people are straight two weeks ago, and that was my brother, so I was almost certain he’d lost his mind. And before you fixate on the conclusion that if I were to date a guy, it’d inevitably be a Bad Match, so there’s no way I’m going to do that.”

    “Well, why not?” Sophie asks. 

    “It’d be a Bad Match,” I answer, thinking that it’s obvious.

    “Not if nobody knew.”

    “So I’d potentially have to lie for the rest of my life? No thank you.”

    “Maybe not all of it. Maybe in a century or two, attitudes towards the Matchmaking system will be different.”

    “Or I can definitely find a nice girl on one of my match lists and not have to worry.”

    “So you’re telling me that you’d settle for a nice girl if she was on your Match Lists instead of going out on a limb to find the perfect person for you?”

    “The matchmaking system was designed to match up people to have the strongest possible kids and take into account personal tastes, so yes.”

    “That’s what it’s become. Was it not designed to make sure relatives don’t marry each other?”

    She’s got me there. “How would I go about proving that I’m not related to, you know…” 

    I’m not quite sure how to phrase it. 

    “Your current hyperfixation?” Sophie suggests. 

    That works. 

    “Do some research. The US will allow marriage between third cousins. At least that’s what I remember. I don’t know why I know that. They’ll have shared two of their sixteen great-great-grandparents. Add another generation or two and it’ll be far enough to be negligible, and follow down the family trees. It’ll as least cover the worst of it. And the whole point of not marrying family is to reduce the likelihood of certain recessive genetic diseases. Like the Habsburg chin.”

    Sophie shows me a picture of a guy she calls, “Charles the second of Spain.”

    His chin doesn’t look healthy. 

    “Oh,” I manage, considering all the marriages of cousins that must’ve led to this. 

    “You haven’t even heard of Alabama. Don’t ask.”

    “...what’s wrong with this Alabama?”

    “I told you not to ask. Do you have any more worries I have to prove aren’t as justified as you think they are?”

    “What if the subject of my current hyperfixation, as you called him, hates me?”

    “I don’t know. Take a chance, lay out your emotions, and see what happens?”

    I raise a suspicious eyebrow. 

    Because you did that with me. 

    Before I can argue, my Imparter buzzes with a message from Biana. 

    “Biana says that it’s time for me to eat dinner, so I’ve got to get home. Bye. I’ll see you later.”

   “Please come over here as much as you want. Please. Bye. The only reason I’m letting you leave is because I know you’ll come back.”

    Interrupting the death glaring contest between Sandor and Grizel, I leap away, feeling lighter than usual. 

    When I see Biana, she asks me, “So. What did you and Sophie talk about?”

    “The fact that you just ended a sentence in a preposition,” I reply, barely suppressing a smirk. Although I’m not sure why it wanted to tug at my lips.     

[eat0crow]

What is your favorite relationship dynamics?

There’s two relationship tropes I go absolutely feral over and they are;

1. Punk boy/Preppy girl—listen, it’s a vast generalization, but from my experience hanging around various alternative communities, alt guys always go for preppy girls. Alt girls who are attracted to girls go for preppy girls. Who can blame them though, there’s just something magical about someone who’s confident and has their life figured out.

And, like, when you turn this dynamic into a trope! Fucking suburb! There is nothing like taking the girl who’s stressed and overworked and sticking her with the guy who’s only got a few things to prove. Like, the appeal of the punk guy is that he gives her the space to be vulnerable and helps her learn to accept that no one can actually be perfect and that making mistakes is okay. It lends itself to a very character driven female lead story. Which is why punk girl/preppy boy doesn’t have the same appeal.

Think: Lukanette, HoriMiya, Jasonette, Hermione/Fanon Draco, Lily/Sirius, Zutara.

(I’m really tempted to put Tohru/Kyo and Tohru/Hatsuharu here, but she’s not really a prep. She’s more solidly in the good girl/bad guy trope, which, hey this is just a niche of it.)

2. One’s goth, the other is broken—this can go one or two ways, either they’re going to commit and accidentally help each other get over their trauma, or they’re going to burn in a gloriously toxic garbage fire of an unhealthy relationship, and I’m a slut for all of it. Sometimes it’s not about healing, it’s about getting worse in a really interesting clusterfuck.

The trope’s pretty solid, and has a lot of room to become a character driven story, too. It’s all about the direction you want to take them in. They can hit rock bottom together and start swimming up, or they can make the world burn and look fabulous doing it. Usually characters in this trope are pretty devoted to who they view as their one connection.

Think, Rogue/Gambit, DabiHawks, JayRoy post Red Hood and the Outlaws, Shigaraki/Aizawa, Shagaraki/Dabi, Percy/Nico, Sakumo/Orchimaru Loki/Tony....You know what, if it includes a villain, anti-hero and someone who’s been through the emotional ringer they probably fit here.

I’m also a big fan of ot3’s, idiots being idiots together, and only one of them having the brain cell,

[green-and-grey-kenaz]

Solace in Plato

Language: English

Characters: Nico di Angelo, Will Solace, Chiron

Summary: With the now rather alarming prospect of actually reaching adulthood being a reality, Nico has agreed to tutoring under Chiron's guidance. When Plato is suggested as something to study, Nico is not impressed and avoids it. A few weeks later and Will Solace asks him whether he's actually read Plato or just an abridged version.

Just a little fic exploring their relationship and Nico's internalised issues with being gay.

Word Count: c. 2 500

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32634607

“I hate Plato.” Nico muttered, staring at the book placed in front of him as he sat in the library of the Big House. Having not had any formal education since the ‘30s, Chiron had taken it upon himself to help educate Nico should he wish to get exam results - which would be useful for getting a job or Athena believe it, going to University. Neither was a prospect that he had ever really considered possibilities but the alternative was staying here and helping out with the new recruits while Will went to University in a few years time or doing the same thing but in New Rome.

Because Will insisted that he wanted to help the world, not just demigods. Nico didn’t deserve him.

So he’d agreed to go along with this and when Chiron had asked him if there was any subjects he thought he might take at University (and after Nico had suggested undertaker, mortician or detective based on a TV show Will had told him about, don't ask) he had begrudgingly admitted that he had more than a passing interest in Classics. Try as he might, his childish obsession with mythomagic had left him with more than a passing knowledge of Classical characters and he got a strange, warm feeling in his chest when he knew the answer to ‘how do we kill this obscure monster’ and no one else did.

Based on these answers, he had a somewhat tailored learning with Classics in both Italian, English and the Original Ancient Greek (his Greek was amazing for his age - a by-product of being a half-blood - but apparently his English reading skills were that of a kid and his Italian not much better, Hades knew why) and more than his fair share of biology and chemistry. Will had been only too delighted to help him with the sciences, although was suspiciously absent when it came to physics and math, but that was OK, really, and he probably wouldn’t make a good mortician anyway because he shouldn’t pick careers based on how many spirits he could raise, tempting as it was. The rest of his schooling thought? That fell to Chiron.

And today? Well, apparently they had progressed onto Philosophy and a man who's work made Nico's stomach plummet. Plato.

“Why is that?” Chiron asked, a patient expression on his face. Nico just glowered at him but like Will, he seemed impervious to it. It was irritating when people did not cower and cave in to his glares. He was used to inspiring fear in others.

“Do I need a reason?” Nico his arms, leaning back on the chair, returning a dark gaze to the book as if he could cause it to wither and crumble under his gaze. If he could do it to food, why not books? Plato sat cheerfully happy there without so much as a speck of mold coming to grace it.

“When discussing philosophy, it can be rather helpful.”

“Well I just don’t like him. Pick some other philosopher.”

Chiron had stared at him for a good few seconds before relenting, choosing some other book and asking no further questions about it. Nico hated that he could feel just how his heart rate had picked up, thundering in his chest as if it would crack open his rib cage. He knew people suspected… that the people he tolerated as friends already knew and accepted him for his inclinations… for what he was… but he wasn’t ready to confront the proof that he was different. Wrong, a voice always threatened to whisper in his ear. An abomination. A freak of nature. Nico knew that he couldn't read Plato, not with Chiron standing there and dissecting the merits of this particular work. It was never easy to look in the mirror and see just how messed up you were.

Despite the time it took for his heart to return back to normal, he did manage the text they’d chosen and perhaps sensing his unease, Chiron had used it as a chance to work on his reading more than the philosophy. He even finished the lesson with a kind smile and was informed that his modern language skills had far approached where they should be for someone his age. This followed with a suggestion that he could go into translation work. It was tempting, he would be better able to hide away in a darkened room as a translator than becoming an academic (sadly, these days academics had more obligations to teach), so Nico nodded and promised to think on it.

Two weeks later found Nico sitting in the shadows of the forest while Will quizzed him on anatomy which counted as studying for both of them. Annoyingly Will was refusing to sit anywhere other than the sunlight and so had coerced Nico into what they had settled on as being called ‘a potential threat to his aesthetic’, or in other words, dappled shade. It had promised to be a rather lovely day until a topic best avoided reared its head.

“Why do you hate Plato?” Will asked suddenly, looking up at him with those bright eyes and that warm smile that made something in his stomach twitch and his throat clench. Nico knew he shouldn’t feel so ill at ease with these feelings. They hadn’t put a word on it but it was a thing that they were doing. Having feelings together, exchanged smiles and moments of laughter when he thought no one was watching. Once, Will had even placed his hand down a mere inch from Nico’s and he had let his little finger flicker to just once lightly tap against Will’s in thanks for the silent support. He’d felt sick with guilt afterwards, but what was new? The little moments of happiness more than made up for it.

“I just do. And Chiron shouldn’t have told you that.” He muttered, shifting to move back under the full shade of a tree, pulling his legs in to his chest as Will closed the book. Right, study was over. Nico wrapped his arms around his legs, finger shifting the skull ring as he felt the pressing anxiety to run and escape the potential fallout. How many people knew? No doubt his unnaturalness was being spoken of throughout camp as he sat here. They would prove Jason wrong that times had changed. Their eyes would follow him, judging and radiating hate for someone who was so different. He’d have to leave and go back on the run, abandoning all he had built here. Nico closed his eyes as the feelings became overwhelming and claustrophobic, grass yellowing beneath his feet.

“He was concerned.” Will said softly, shifting over to sit next to Nico and breaking his silent panic.

“I’m not talking about it.”

“Is it Plato’s Sympo-?”

“No.”

“Hm. That’s what Chiron thought as well.” Nico could hear amusement in Will’s voice and concern. He dropped his hands from twisting the ring, suddenly subconscious of his tell and instead twined blades of dead grass between his fingers and yanked. His hand opened to let the picked grass tumble back to the earth.

“Did you read the original or just hear an abbreviated version?” Will pressed.

“Have you read it?” Nico challenged, ripping up more grass.

“Not until last week. Chiron sat me down with it and we discussed it.”

“Then you know why I can’t stand Plato.”

“Abbreviated version, huh?”

Nico looked over to Will who did not look disgusted, upset or any of the other myriad of emotions that he would have expected. Did he not read the whole mankind were once male and female, now split and eternally trying to recombine with their other half? Which left them and whatever they had rather in the dirt. Because if there was one thing that was worse than knowing he wasn’t right, that there had been some huge mistake with his creation, it was knowing that someone as good as Will Solace had the same affliction. Sure, he could be annoying but Will deserved more than that. He shouldn’t be a broken half. If anyone deserve to be able to become whole once more, it was Will. Will, who was staring at him like he expected some answer and Nico shrugged, yanking more grass.

“So what? I was like eleven. Not exactly likely to go and read the actual version. I deserve credit for even doing that much.” He couldn't actually remember how he'd heard it. He had found out that it was from Plato's Symposium after he knew the story, that much he knew. He assumed either he had read it very young or perhaps some ghost had told him. Most of his pre-Camp Half Blood lessons had come from ghosts in one form or another.

“Perhaps you should. I rather liked the bit about the straights all being nymphomaniacs and adulters.” Will smirked.

Nico frowned, his body freezing as he blinked very slowly trying to make what Will had said align with what he knew. A frown tugged at his brow.

“What… do you mean…?”

“Well, the whole bit about there being people made of two parts, either two men, two women, or a man and a woman, always trying to get back together. And the same sex ones generally being the better lot. Well, more the two men combos because they weren’t necessarily the most progressive in Ancient Greece. But in the end, that’s just a story that Plato had Aristophanes, who was a comedic playwright, tell. It’s not really anything to be taken too seriously.”

How had no one told him that? A dark anger settled into the pit of Nico's stomach and he found himself wanting to track down whichever spirit had lied to him and- Will continued speaking, his voice too light for Nico to continue his thoughts and the seething hatred dissipated.

“Honestly, read it if you don’t believe me. Chiron sat me down and took me through the whole story, every boring line after every boring line. I’m not supposed to tell you this because he’d rather you told him when you’re ready but he kind of clocked that you and I-” Nico shot Will a death glare and Will held up his hands.

“I was going to say get on well! And yeah, considering your aversion to Plato, he thought it might be you heard a misrepresented version of that story. We both know about festering wounds so agreed you should learn the truth of the matter. Preferably not by forced study so I kind of had to get an impromptu philosophy lesson. I think Chiron intended me to be rather more subtle about his involvement but my assessment is that it is better to know that you’re not alone and that it’s OK.”

Nico did not want to stare at Will. He did not want to look shocked nor rattled. He focused on plucking more grass and trying not to feel pleased that Will could sit in silence, knowing he needed time to speak and for it not to feel awkward.

“I just.” Nico frowned. The story had not exactly haunted him but it had lodged itself into his chest as further proof of all he had been raised to understand. It felt like a screw had been loosened somewhere deep within. “It isn’t saying that… well…?”

“No,” Will smiled. “And, I mean, the best thing about it is Plato actually wasn't arguing for the gays or the straights. There’s just like this collection of discussion by some old dudes on the meaning of love and then Socrates comes in boom at the end and we get Platonic love , or the basics of it. Big advocation for love being about the search for the meeting of minds rather than physical stuff, which I think is a rather good way to look at it. It goes on to being about then true love is a love of knowledge. That’s what the whole thing is kind of about. I think. Most of it went over my head.”

“That… doesn’t sound so bad.” Nico admitted, his hands winding around some grass but not yet pulling. He focused on the texture of it in his palm and it ground him.

“Besides, it’s not like it’s the be all and end all.” Will continued. “It’s just some guy arguing about love two thousand years ago and what do they know?”

Nico hummed, chin resting on his knees as he stared out at the camp below them. Will moved to sit closer, mirroring his position merely a foot away. If either of them leaned just a bit, their head might rest on the other one’s shoulder and Nico did not shift away.

“I just… As long as I can remember I’ve always been told that love is between a man and a woman. I just seemed inescapable. It didn’t matter who was teaching…” It wasn’t easy and words caught in his throat.

“Look, I know it’s complicated and none of this is going to be easy but I just want you to know that if you need to talk about something, you have me. And if you don’t want to talk to me about it, then Chrion is there too-”

“No.” Nico said hastily, blinking in surprise at that. “That is… I’d rather talk to you than Chiron. About things.” He noticed that at some point, Will had placed a hand, palm upwards between them. Hesitantly, Nico slipped his hand down, ghosting his fingers over Will’s. He did not move or even look at him and somehow feeling safer in that knowledge Nico let his fingers intertwine.

It was better than the grass.

“But when I’m ready. There’s… I’ve got a lot to figure out about all this but I know whatever I think, I enjoy what we have and I don’t want to not feel this.” He twisted their hands so Will’s was on top now and his fingers brushed against Will’s knuckles and down the proximal phalange before circling the knuckles again. Will’s thumb brushed against his and Nico felt his body begin to tense against the warmth and sparks of feelings. In moments like this, it was hard to believe that what they had was wrong.

“I don’t want to not feel like this either.” Will smiled and the distance between them seemed less, although Nico could not say how the gap had closed.

If they really were two halves of a whole, Will had to be his better half, Nico reflected as he felt his head drawn to rest feather light on his… on Will’s shoulder. Yes, it felt like this might be completion or at the very least something that Nico had not felt for an even longer period: contentment.

[peachhsocks]

Bloodlines

After a year of avoiding Camp Half-Blood (and his friends, and everyone, and everything) in the aftermath the Giant War, Percy returns. He quickly realizes that the gods never change, running from the past never works, and family is the one thing that might make all of the nonsense worth it.

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Chapter 3: Annabeth Makes a Good Pillow.

After Thalia gave Chiron a brief rundown, his face growing paler with each word, he waved their group into the Big House. Percy shook Grover’s shoulder and helped him up.

“Will,” Chiron said, “why don’t you wake the other cabin counselors.”

He muttered under his breath about how much the other campers would love him for waking them up before seven in the morning, but still jogged back out the door.

Chiron led them into the rec room. Percy spotted a cluster of three chairs and made his way toward it, feet dragging. Grover sat in the one on his left, so he kept his ankle looped around one of the legs of the chair on his right, to save it for Annabeth.

She was the first one to arrive. Her hair was thrown up into a messy bun that hadn’t quite captured all the strands. A large section of unruly curls hung down her back.

���Hey,” she said, sliding into the chair he’d saved.

She pulled his hood down from over his head and ran one hand over his cheek and into his hair. It was shaking slightly—from anger, not fear. Percy hoped it wasn’t directed at him.

“I can’t believe this. Your dad—”

Her voice cut off and she shook her head. Percy knew the look. Anything she had been about to say wouldn’t have been very deferential. He didn’t think his dad would incinerate his girlfriend over a few angry words, but with gods you could never be too sure.

He didn’t need to hear exactly what she wanted to say anyway. It was enough to know that she understood that everything about this situation sucked. Big time.

“I should have come to your cabin last night,” she said.

“How could you have known?”

That was the wrong thing to say. Her eyes clouded over like she was running calculations, trying to figure out the answer to that very same question.

“Hey,” he said, leaning his head into the crook between her shoulder and neck. “Better that you didn’t. The fountain...” He made a little explosion sound.

She rubbed a hand along his back, right over the spot where he used to have the Curse of Achilles. It wasn’t sensitive anymore, but it was still comforting to have her hand over it, especially after his dream.

Percy dozed off just like that. It wasn’t comfortable exactly, and couldn’t have been for Annabeth either because he was essentially in a half nose-dive from his chair into hers. But something about her presence put him right to sleep. He could never say that aloud because it didn’t sound like a good thing, but it was. She was safe. He could rest.

She shook him awake and he blinked a few times, raising his head slightly.

“Everyone’s here,” she whispered close to his ear.

Percy sat up despite the heaviness of his head and his limbs. He hadn’t slept well the night before either, or the night before that—too worked up about returning to camp. All he wanted was to continue using Annabeth as a pillow.

Piper had taken the seat on Annabeth’s other side. Leo, then Jason, were next to her. More familiar faces filled the table—Clarisse looked older, back from college for the summer—but there were also people he didn’t recognize.

“I’m sorry to call you all here so early,” Chiron started. The gathered campers grumbled back at him. “But, there has been an interesting development—perhaps one of you would care to explain?”

He gestured toward Percy. Percy looked around the table for help, but Nico’s face was unreadable, and Thalia just shot him a tired smirk and raised eyebrows that seemed to say all you.

Percy sighed. “Nico, Thalia, and I all had dreams last night. There were these kids—and our dads were in them...”

Clovis was snoring. He looked super comfortable curled up in his chair. They should use a picture of the kid, just like this, as the dictionary definition of ‘sleeping’. He could practically envision the little ‘z’s floating above his head. Percy envied him.

Chiron cleared his throat. Everyone else was still staring at Percy. He’d gotten distracted.

“Um,” he said, trying to get back on track. “We think the kids are our siblings. They’re all together. That’s, like, suicide. They won’t make it without help.”

“I can have a group of satyrs ready in an hour,” Grover piped up.

Percy turned to him. “Grover—”

“Okay,” Clarisse interrupted, “how is this any of the rest of our problems?”

A few other heads at the table nodded in agreement. Leo started to, but Piper elbowed him.

“Well, it seems to me that this is the closest thing to a quest that we have received since the oracle went silent,” Chiron said. “I thought the whole camp could work together to inform our strategy moving forward.”

Clarisse crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair with a huff.

“I agree with her, actually,” Thalia said. “I think it’s pretty clear what our dreams meant. Our fathers want us to get the kids safely back to camp.”

Grover sat forward. “That’s a protector’s duty!”

“Do we know where they are?” Leo asked. “Because no offense but if they’re a block away, why isn’t someone just—going?”

All of their eyes turned to Percy again. He shrugged. The forest he saw could have been anywhere.

“Colorado,” Nico supplied. “I found a sign.”

Hades kids could control their dreams, not as well as Hypnos kids were able to, but better than most. Percy sometimes forgot that. Even if he had the ability, he didn’t think he would have been able to stay in the dream any longer than he had. Nico had way more willpower than him.

“You’re sure?” Thalia asked. “Colorado?”

Nico nodded. A dismayed murmur passed through the circle around the ping-pong table, as dread resettled in Percy’s stomach. They’d never make it in time.

Jason stood up. “Someone has to leave now.”

Percy hadn’t even spared the guy a thought. They probably should have woken him up when Thalia arrived, but she hadn’t asked to, and Percy had been thinking about other things. It must have been hard to be the only other Big Three kid present who hadn’t gotten a mission from his father. Percy wanted to assure him that it was probably a Greek thing. He was also tempted to tell the guy that he’d willingly switch spots, but his conscience wouldn’t let him. That was his family out there.

“Even if you left now, there’s a very low chance of success,” a Nike girl that Percy sort of recognized chirped.

He’d missed the ceaseless optimism of these meetings.

“Once I get a hold of Hazel, she can try to get to them from Camp Jupiter,” Nico said, but he sounded apprehensive. “We could meet them somewhere and bring them back to camp?”

“Even New Rome to Colorado is pretty far,” Annabeth muttered. “And they’re running. Colorado is just a starting point for the search.”

Thalia hummed in agreement.

They would know. Their trio had bounced around the east coast for months before reaching Camp Half-Blood. And there hadn’t been a happy end to their journey. Percy reached over and squeezed Annabeth’s hand in case this whole thing was stirring up bad memories, but she just looked at him like she didn’t understand why he’d done that before turning back to the ping pong table.

“We need to think of an alternative way to reach them,” she continued. “Something faster than traveling on foot—or even driving.”

Percy shot her an inquisitive look. It sounded like she had an idea, but she wasn’t saying it. She was dropping hints, hoping that someone else would catch her drift and suggest whatever she had worked out. That was not an Annabeth move at all. The pool of dread in his stomach just kept growing.

“If all three of them are working together, couldn’t anyone take a plane? Even Percy and Nico?” Piper asked. “I mean, if Zeus knows that their end goal is to help his kid get to camp—”

Percy laughed and then tried to cover it with a cough. Based on the looks he received, it wasn’t very convincing.

“Sorry,” he said to Piper. “They just—don’t make it that easy. I’m not convinced they’re even working together. For all we know this is a game to them. Whose kid can collect their little sibling first?”

“No planes,” Nico agreed. “But since we aren’t playing into our parents’ possible motives—pitting us against each other, whatever—I can shadow travel.”

Will tensed beside him. “That’s far, Nico.”

“If you did, you’d have to bring me and Percy,” Thalia said.

Grover raised a hand. “Or a few—”

Thalia looked at him. The harsh set of her jaw didn’t leave much room for argument. She turned back to Nico. “You’d need help to fight your way back on foot. Unless you think you can shadow-travel the whole way in one jump with three or four kids.”

Or four . Percy frowned across the table at her. If she thought the fourth was the girl who had found the three others in the dream, he had some bad news for her.  

“It’s too dangerous,” Will declared before Nico could respond.

Nico glared at him. They looked like they were about to start going at it, with a little more ferocity than their bickering on the porch earlier, but Annabeth spoke up again.

“I think Nico shadow-traveling is an option we can keep in mind,” she said. “But we should assess all our options.”

Percy turned toward her, trying to beam his questions into her mind. What option are you thinking of? Why aren’t you saying it?

She refused to meet his eyes.

“First, an easier question,” Chiron said. “Who is going on this quest?”

He didn’t have to keep calling it a quest. There was no prophecy, no oracle. Percy understood that’s what it essentially was, but Chiron seemed so excited about it—like he’d been itching to send a demigod to their doom for the past year that the oracle had been MIA.

“We already know that, right?” Thalia said. “It’s me, Percy, and Nico. We had the dreams. We’ve quested before and we’re a good team.”

“This isn’t a quest!” Grover insisted.

Percy wanted to hug him. He knew he couldn’t actually let Grover go in his place, but he loved him for trying.

“Maybe we should wait to decide until we know how we’re getting there,” Annabeth said. “It might impact that decision.”

“Gods, Annabeth.” Clarisse propped her legs on the table, crossing one over the other. “If you have an idea, spit it out.”

Percy knew he should probably side with Annabeth, but he had to agree with Clarisse. The way Annabeth was talking—like she was a completely different person—was starting to freak him out. His mind conjured images of Eidolons that he couldn’t shake. The same feeling he’d had in the car a month ago, when he’d first tried to come back to Camp Half-Blood was creeping back up on him.

“I just think that we’ve only really considered a plane or shadow-traveling.” She was choosing her words carefully. “Those aren’t our only options.”

“Let’s see what’s left then,” Will said. Percy was pretty sure he was just trying to bump shadow-traveling off the list of options. “Flying would be a Thalia thing. Shadow-traveling’s Nico’s. So that leaves—” He studied Percy.

“Too bad Percy’s kinda useless for getting to a landlocked state,” Clarisse grumbled.

Just when he was starting to think they were on the same side, she decided to take a shot at him. Some things never changed.

“That’s what I’m saying!” Annabeth exclaimed.

That was different. Percy did his best not to appear too offended.

“Not like that. I just mean, we’re focusing on the Big Three and ignoring other solutions.”

“We’re all listening,” someone Percy didn’t know shouted. “Just say it!”

Annabeth shifted in her seat, eyes flicking to Percy for a moment, before falling down to her lap. “Air’s not an option. On the ground by car or train would be too slow. That leaves—”

“Underground.” Leo rubbed his hands together. “The Labyrinth.”

Everyone started talking at once. Or maybe a few people started talking and the rest of the sound was the roar in Percy’s ears. He must have heard wrong, but nobody was correcting Leo. Instead, they were taking the idea and running with it, starting to plan. He turned to Annabeth, desperate for some sort of explanation, but she still wouldn’t look at him. Because this was the solution that she believed in. She just hadn’t wanted to be the one to propose it.

He felt like he was in every classroom he’d ever been in. Everything was moving too fast, and he didn’t understand anything that the teacher was writing on the board. He’d missed the first part of the lesson because his brain had skipped over it, and now he was playing an impossible game of catch-up. Even Grover avoided his eyes when Percy tried to look to him for help.

“What are you talking about?” he blurted out.

He always hated having to ask that question. It was usually met with disappointed frowns, eyes filled with pity, and ‘why don’t you stay after class, Percy?’s.

This time wasn’t much different. The chatter died and everyone either stared at him or wouldn’t look at him at all, like they’d said something they weren’t supposed to. He clenched his fists in his lap and waited.

“The Labyrinth’s back,” Clarisse said dryly. “They think it’s a fun toy.”

There was no love lost between her and the Labyrinth. Her boyfriend had nearly lost his mind down there. Once again, Percy found himself on Clarisse’s side. It was happening more than usual today. He wondered what that said about both of them.

“Clarisse, that’s not true,” Annabeth said. “Nobody thinks it’s a toy.”

“Could have fooled me.” She turned to Percy again. “They had a fucking relay race down there.”

“Three-legged death race,” someone corrected.

“What,” Percy said, but his voice sounded far away.

“That shouldn’t have happened.” Annabeth gave Chiron a pointed look and he pretended that he didn’t see her, picking at his cuticles. “It’s not a toy. But it is a tool.”

“I don’t understand,” Percy said.

Leo leaned around Piper and Annabeth so he was in Percy’s view. “Remember last summer? Pasiphae recreated the Labyrinth. Hazel led me through part of it.”

Everything from last summer was a hazy mirage that Percy couldn’t quite reach anymore. Except Tartarus. That was crystal clear. Although he couldn’t always be sure which of those memories were actually dreams.

“That was in Rome,” he said. “This is New York.”

He sounded like an idiot—and not even the persona he put on sometimes to seem unassuming so people would underestimate him or give him information quickly. He just couldn’t think. It wasn’t only his brain. His whole body felt fuzzy, too.

“Well, it’s everywhere now,” Leo said. “You can use it to get pretty much anywhere in the world.”

“Well, not yet.” Annabeth finally looked at Percy, but now he found he didn’t really want her to. She was too close. He needed some space. “Percy, it’s different now. Not as bad.”

He chewed on the inside of his lip. His hands fidgeted frantically in the pockets of his hoodie. “I—don’t know what that means.”

“Neither do we, really. Not yet.” She leaned toward him and he leaned back. Hurt flashed across her face, but she kept speaking. “We’ve been mapping it.”

Percy blinked. ‘We’ was inclusive. ‘We’ meant Annabeth. She had been mapping the Labyrinth. It wasn’t just an idea that she thought was the only solution. She’d been down there and she hadn’t even thought to mention it to him before now.

“A couple of weeks ago we found a path to Nebraska,” she said. “It felt like a day inside, but when we got out, only an hour had passed.

The static in his brain got louder. Annabeth hadn’t just popped into the Labyrinth a few times—she had willingly spent a day in there, completely unsure where in the world she would end up. She could have gotten stranded across the ocean, or died down there, and Percy would have had no idea.

“Is Nebraska near Colorado?” someone asked.

Annabeth looked like she was disappointed in the United States education system. It was a very particular look she got at least a few times a week. Usually it made Percy laugh, but right now he couldn’t enjoy it.

“You think that’s our best option,” Thalia clarified. “Going underground?”

Underground had never been one of Percy’s favorite places to go. The constant weight hanging overhead down there was suffocating, restraining. It made him antsy. But in the past year or so he’d actively rejected anything under sea level. He hadn’t so much as ridden the subway since they got off the Argo II because underground meant monsters and walls closing in around him and drowning and choking on the air and pits that fell down, down, down.

“I think so,” Annabeth said.

Thalia grimaced. “Fine. I’m in.”

“I still don’t understand why we’re insisting that this isn’t a mission for satyrs.” Grover’s voice shook over every word. “They’re young, unclaimed half-bloods. That’s always been our duty as protectors.”

Another swell of gratitude for his best friend swept through Percy. Satyrs hated being underground, away from nature. Grover had been none too happy about their first trip through the Labyrinth all those years ago.

“Grover,” Thalia said impatiently, “if there really are three Big Three kids out there, Percy, Nico, and I can protect them way better than a couple of satyrs can. No offense. Nico? You in?”

Nico was watching Percy from across the table.

“Yeah,” he said slowly. “But for our third—we need someone who’s been mapping the Labyrinth, right?”

He was trying to give Percy an out. Unfortunately, he couldn’t take it. The thought of Annabeth going down there without him—even if she already had without him knowing—was almost worse than going down there himself. Both were at the very top of the list of things he absolutely did not want to happen.

But if Grover could be brave for him, Percy could be brave for those little kids out there.

“Is it too late to reconsider the plane option?” he tried to joke. It came out flat and watery like he was about to cry. Nobody laughed.

“No, I’m going.” He stood, discreetly holding the table with one hand when the room tilted a little. He had to get out of here. He was going to pass out. “We’re good here, right?”

A few people called his name as he walked toward the door of the Big House, but he didn’t look back. One of them was Annabeth. Then she must have turned back to the table, because he heard her say, “I’m going, too. We need someone who knows the route, like Nico said.”

“Wait a minute.” Will’s voice. “If Annabeth’s going—”

Percy let the door slam behind him and staggered toward the Sound.

[miguel-manbemel]

Aspects & Fanfics Ep. 52: The Truth Is Revealed - Nico’s Reaction

I thought I wouldn’t have this ready on time, as for some reasons, this week has been kind of a torture for me and I found it really hard to find the motivation to write. Fortunately, I managed to overcome that sentiment and get in a better mood with enough time to finish this episode. We are slowly approaching the ending of season 2 of this fanfic. We’re not there yet, but we’re coming. I hope that the ending is satisfactory for everyone, when it comes. And with this said, I leave you with the episode. Until next time.

SYNOPSIS: Thomas has decided to tell Nico the truth about the existence of the Sanders Sides, as they need his help to save Dillon from the Paladin. However, he doesn’t know how Nico’s going to react and is afraid to lose him if he gets too scared of Thomas’ secret life with the Sides.

WARNINGS: A lot of romance and words of love, mainly from Thomas to Nico.

EPISODE INDEX

[Thomas is nervously looking at the door. Virgil is next to him, both are sitting on the couch]

THOMAS: I’m so scared, Virge… So scared…

VIRGIL: I’m sorry, Thomas, I can’t help it… I know what we’re doing is the right thing to do, but still, I can’t help giving you this nervousness…

THOMAS: Nico could be here any moment… And even though I’ve rehearsed and rehearsed what I’m going to tell him, something tells me that in the critical moment, my mind’s gonna go blank and I’m not gonna know what to say… For starters, I don’t even know if he’s angry at me over the abrupt ending of our date last time. He said he isn’t, but maybe he was just being nice… Maybe I’ve already blew it up and there’s nothing I can do already, so being so nervous would be silly in that case… and if he doesn’t love me anymore, my life is gonna be miserable, ‘cause I know I’ll never find a guy like him again, and I don’t know if…

VIRGIL: Whoa, whoa, Thomas, please! You’re going so fast in your nervousness I can’t even follow your rhythm! Seriously, what is my purpose in this Mind Palace if you already take all the work yourself faster than I do? Gosh!

THOMAS: Sorry, Virge…

[intro sequence]

[someone knocks at the door]

THOMAS: Oh, gosh, he’s here… Okay, don’t panic… It’s only Nico, your boyfriend… but for how long? Sush! Sush… Virge, you’re invisible for him, right?

VIRGIL: Yes, I am, but I’d wish to be invisible in your thoughts right now too… Good luck, Thomas.

[Thomas sighs]

THOMAS: What will be, will be… Let’s go.

[Thomas opens the door. Nico is there, smiling at Thomas]

THOMAS: Hi, Nico… Gosh, your sole presence already makes my day brighter. Come in.

NICO: Thank you, Thomas. I love you too.

[Nico kisses Thomas on the cheek and gets into the living room followed by Thomas. He sits on the couch… right on Virgil]

VIRGIL: What the… whoops!

[however, Nico goes through him as if Virgil was made of air, not feeling his presence at all. Virgil quickly stands up and sits down on another couch. Thomas looks at the scene a little nervous but quickly puts himself together]

NICO: You said you wanted to see me, and something tells me it could be important. What is it? Oh, but most importantly, how are you feeling today? The other day, I left a little worried. I kept thinking I should have stayed in case you got worse so I could take you to the hospital if need be.

THOMAS: Oh, I’m fine, Nico, don’t worry. It was just some feeling of nausea I suddenly had. It left me an hour or so later after I took a chamomile tea. It was a bummer that it ruined our date when everything was going so perfect.

NICO: Yeah, if I could have, I would have stayed all night with you. I was enjoying your company so much, I didn’t want it to end at all…

THOMAS: [silly smile] Me neither… It’s funny how we only met last Christmas, a few weeks ago, and yet it’s like I’ve shared my whole life with you and I couldn’t remember how I used to live before you came into my life. Does it happen the same to you?

NICO: Yes… yes, it does. But for sure you didn’t call me here just to tell me words of love, Thomas. I mean I could hear them and tell them back to you all day long, but you had something to tell me. What is it? Like I said, something in your voice on the phone made me think it was something important. What’s the matter?

THOMAS: [nervous] Yes… okay… Nico, you better sit down because what I’m gonna tell may shock you…

NICO: Thomas… I’m already sitting down. You are so nervous… and you’re making me nervous. Please, calm down. Whatever it is, I can take it.

THOMAS: You’re right, sorry… It’s something to be nervous about, because it’s something I’ve told very few people in this world. Which reminds me to tell you that everything I’m gonna tell you must be kept as a secret. No one must ever know. I count on your discretion.

NICO: Of course, Thomas, you have my word. Whatever it is, no one will know your secret through me, I promise.

THOMAS: Thank you. You see, it’s something that has happened to me since I was a little boy. I have… a gift, you might call it? Even though sometimes I’ve been tempted to call it a curse, I still call it a gift, because it has given to me a group of friends no one could ever be closer to. More than friends, they are a family, a family that has been with me, by my… side… since I was like three years old.

NICO: I don’t understand.

THOMAS: I know, it’s very hard to understand, so I’ll start from the beginning, although I fear I’m going to confuse you a lot. You see, there are some people in this world whose brain works in some particular pattern of brainwaves, a very rare pattern, that triggers a very special reaction, you could almost call it… magic. These people have the power of summoning the different aspects of their personality that normally reside in their brain as brainwaves and turn them into real people. Then they can sustain conversations with them about whatever is bothering them in their daily life, about any complicated dilemma… anything. Even more than that. These people have the power of creating a whole alternate dimension from these same brainwaves which act as a portal to said dimension, which hold everything that person is, has been or will be, in what regards to their personality, way of thinking and so on.

NICO: You are talking about “some people”, are you trying to tell me that…

THOMAS: Yes, Nico. I am one of said people. I don’t know why, I didn’t choose it or know how it works exactly, but I have that gift, and the aspects of my personality I summon, they are called the Sanders Sides, who live in the Mind Palace, the dimension I talked about.

[there’s a short silence before Nico speaks]

NICO: Thomas… are you drunk?

THOMAS: I’ve never been more sober in my life Nico. I expected you wouldn’t believe me, but I swear, for the love I feel for you, that what I’m saying is true.

NICO: This… I can’t believe all of this and you shouldn’t be surprised at all. All of this just looks like taken from a fairy tale, and I don’t believe in fairy tales. Thomas, please don’t take offense at what I’m going to say, but I think you may have spent so much time alone that perhaps you have started mixing reality and fiction. I have seen your YouTube series, Sanders Sides, and I recognize what you have just described to me as taken from that series. Yes, perhaps it happened to you as it happened to Alonso Quijano, who went crazy over reading to many chivalric books and thought he was Don Quijote de La Mancha and a vulgar woman from the next town a fair maiden named Dulcinea. That… or you’re playing a practical joke on me, I don’t know…

THOMAS: As I said, I didn’t expect you to believe me the first time I told you. No one I ever told this believed me on the first try… until I they saw proof. I anticipated I’d have to prove to you that I’m not insane.

NICO: Prove to me? What do you mean by that?

THOMAS: As I told you, the Sanders Sides are real physical entities surged from my imagination. Usually they live in my head, in the Mind Palace, but when they want, they can get out at will and wander through the real world, or as they call it, the “outer world”. They can make themselves invisible at will or shapeshift into any form, human or not, so as not to attract attention. Believe it or not, one of my Sides is in this room right at this moment.

[Virgil looks at Thomas]

VIRGIL: Should I, Thomas?

THOMAS: In a minute, Virgil, when I give you the sign.

NICO: Who are you talking to? Who is Virgil? You’re scaring me. Perhaps… perhaps I should go…

THOMAS: No, please. Don’t go, at least give me the opportunity to prove you that I’m not crazy.

NICO: [standing up, walking to the middle of the living room] Then what are you waiting for, Thomas? You said they can make themselves visible at will? [spinning around trying to find Virgil’s position to no avail, while Virgil stands up too and slowly walks towards him] Well then, Virgil, whoever you are and wherever you’re standing, why don’t you show up and end this entuerto once and for all. Show yourself!

THOMAS: Go ahead Virgil, show yourself.

[Virgil appears in front of Nico with his face right next to Nico’s face, his creepy music theme sounds]

VIRGIL: [tempest tongue] If you insist, nice to meet you, Nico.

[Nico only lets go a little gasp, then gets completely frozen, looking at the apparition in front of him. He doesn’t move a muscle]

THOMAS: Ni… Nico? Are you okay?

[with the same gesture, Nico collapses and would have fallen to the floor if Virgil hadn’t grabbed him midway]

VIRGIL: Whoa!

THOMAS: Oh, no! Virgil, perhaps you shouldn’t have appeared so close to him all of a sudden. And definitely, you shouldn’t have used your tempest tongue. Do you want to give him a heart attack?

VIRGIL: I’m so sorry, Thomas. You know, when I’m anxious, that voice can appear out of nowhere and I can’t control it. Now, will you help me or…?

THOMAS: Oh, yes, we’ll take him to the couch.

[Thomas and Virgil lay Nico on the couch]

VIRGIL: Well, now what, Thomas?

THOMAS: Perhaps you should step aside a couple of steps so as not to scare him again. I’ll try to wake him up.

VIRGIL: Okay…

THOMAS: Nico… Nico, are you okay? Wake up.

[Nico slowly opens his eyes]

NICO: Oh, Thomas… You wouldn’t believe the dream I just had, I… wait a minute, what am I doing sleeping in your house? Was it…? It was a dream, right? Tell me it was, Thomas.

THOMAS: I… I’m sorry, Nico… but it wasn’t a dream.

[Nico notices Virgil]

VIRGIL: Hello again, sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to scare you like that.

NICO: [sitting down] Oh, my goodness…

THOMAS: Are you okay, Nico? I really didn’t mean to scare you. It’s just that… I thought we were having something good, something that I, at least, want to last for a lifetime… and I thought that, if we were going to be together, I couldn’t have secrets with you… [scared] because you still want to be with me, right?

NICO: I… I… I’m so confused right now, I don’t even know what to think right now…

[Nico stands up]

NICO: I’m sorry, but I need some fresh air to put my ideas in order. I gotta go, Thomas.

THOMAS: [sighs] As you wish, Nico… I understand.

[Nico leaves the house. Thomas looks at the closed door while a tear falls down his cheek]

VIRGIL: I’m sorry, Thomas. I’m sorry this didn’t go as we wished.

THOMAS: [trembling voice, trying to hide his feelings and pretend he’s okay] It… It’s okay. If this was bound to happen… it’s better that it happened this soon in our relation and not when I was too invested into it and someone got hurt… [bursting into tears] Oh, who am I trying to lie to, I was already invested and it hurts…

[Virgil hugs Thomas]

VIRGIL: If it serves as consolation… he still hasn’t broken up with you, not officially at least. Perhaps it’s true that he just needs some time to think.

THOMAS: [sobbing] I really want to believe that, Virge… but I’m not so sure of it…

VIRGIL: Well, there’s nothing we can do about it right now, so… [sweet voice, petting Thomas’ hair] Oh, hush, my friend, hush. It’s okay… It’s gonna be okay…

[Thomas keeps sobbing for some time, but slowly he calms down]

VIRGIL: That’s better. Now, would you like to play some video games here? It’s been ages since we had a good old game and at least it would help distract you, and me to ease up.

THOMAS: Thank you, Virge, for trying to lift my spirits up even when it is against your nature. You truly are a good friend.

VIRGIL: I’ll always be here for you. So, wanna play?

THOMAS: [sniffing and cleaning the tears with his hands] Of course, Virge, of course.

[Thomas and Virgil start playing video games. After about an hour or so, someone knocks at the door]

VIRGIL: Were you expecting someone, Thomas?

THOMAS: [pausing the game] No… Oh… do you think it could be…?

VIRGIL: There’s only one way to find out, Thomas.

[Thomas rushes to the door and opens it. Nico is there]

THOMAS: Nico!

NICO: Can I… can I come in?

THOMAS: Of course you can, Nico.

[Nico comes in. He notices Virgil]

NICO: Hello, Virgil. How… how are you doing?

VIRGIL: I’m okay, Nico, thanks for asking, and as I said, I’m sorry about earlier, I didn’t mean to scare you.

NICO: It’s okay.

THOMAS: So… you came back…

NICO: Yes, I did… To be honest… I didn’t go too far. I didn’t even leave the neighborhood, nor I got into the car, it was still there at the door. I just walked for a while, then sat down in the park nearby, thinking about everything, reflecting about all of this.

THOMAS: And did you get to a conclusion?

NICO: I did. After some time, when the scare wore off, I reviewed things in my mind more calmly, and I realized something. I… really didn’t see anything bad at all in you having Sides. Like, nothing at all. Of course it’s weird, but that isn’t necessarily bad. And on the other hand, I was certain of something I already knew before. Thomas, I love you. I love you… like I never loved a man before in my life. I don’t care if you have Sides or not. I love you and I don’t want to give you up. There’s one word you mentioned earlier, a word that, without me noticing it, got stuck into my mind and my heart as something I really wanted to have: a lifetime with you. I envisioned a lifetime with you and I couldn’t feel happier. You can bet that, if you let me, I’m gonna fight to make that lifetime with you work and I’m not ever leaving you as long as you love me.

[Thomas, imbued by a sudden passion, hugs and kisses Nico, while Virgil watches the scene with a heartwarming smile and his eyeshadow turns bright purple. After the kiss, Nico notices Virgil’s change]

NICO: Whoa, what’s that?

VIRGIL: What? Oh, this? Please, don’t’ mind me. When Thomas feels butterflies in his stomach, like you’re making him feel right now, I turn into a Glo Worm, it seems. It ruins my aesthetic, but to be honest, I feel so incredibly good when it happens that I don’t mind it happening at all.

NICO: [smiling at Thomas] Aw… that’s so cute.

THOMAS: [nervous giggle] Yes… it is, although I’m not so sure if I want anyone to rat my feelings out so easily…

VIRGIL: Well, sorry, Thomas, but I’m part of you as you know. He asked, I answered. Besides, with that kiss you have just given him, I think you made your emotions quite clear before he saw my purple eyeshadow.

THOMAS: You got me there.

NICO: Speaking about parts of you… how many of you, Sides, are there? I’m intrigued now.

THOMAS: Do you want to know them?

NICO: Yes, I would love to. And I would also love to see what you called the Mind Palace, that place must certainly be something.

THOMAS: If I could, I would take you to the Mind Palace, so that you could meet my Sides in their habitat. You would love it. Alas, that’s not possible yet.

NICO: Why not?

THOMAS: Well, I can only bring in and out of my Mind Palace people who have gone through a certain process. They must synchronize their brainwaves through hypnosis to make them compatible with mine. For that, we need my friend Talyn, but they’re out of town now. I can’t wait for that moment to come, though.

NICO: Gotcha. Still, I want so bad to know your Mind Palace. I imagine it to be such an incredible place. If I close my eyes, I can almost see it…

[Nico closes his eyes and smiles, rejoicing in his thoughts… then, out of a sudden, he sinks down and disappears]

THOMAS: [scared] Wait, what? Nico!

VIRGIL: [in shock, his eyeshadow turns black] Oh, my goodness! What has just happened?

THOMAS: I… I don’t know… Could he have… sank down into the Mind Palace?

VIRGIL: But he hasn’t been synchronized! That’s impossible!

THOMAS: And yet, there’s no other explanation. Come with me, Virge, we need to find him!

[Thomas and Virgil sink down, then they rise up in Logan’s room. Logan and Patton are there, playing Scattergories]

PATTON: Oh, hi, kiddos!

VIRGIL: Hi, dad.

LOGAN: What’s wrong, guys? You look concerned.

THOMAS: Have you seen Nico anywhere?

LOGAN: What? Nico? You have synchronized him without warning us to get into autopilot!? Thomas, how could you…?

THOMAS: That’s the weirdest thing, Logan! We didn’t synchronize him! He just sank down naturally!

LOGAN: Oh… and besides, Patton didn’t fall asleep as it happens to everyone but me when you’re hypnotized… That’s weird. Could it be that he has his own Mind Palace and has sank down there?

THOMAS: I… I hadn’t thought about that… Who knows…? But I don’t think so, otherwise, he wouldn’t have freaked out so much over knowing of the Sides’ existence. No, I don’t know how or why, but he must be somewhere in this Mind Palace. The question is where?

LOGAN: Don’t worry, Thomas, he can’t have gone too far. We’ll help you search.

THOMAS: Thank you, guys. Okay, you guys go to Roman’s room and I’ll go with Virgil to Janus’.

PATTON: Okay, kiddo. Good luck.

[everybody sinks down. Then Thomas and Virgil rise up in Janus’ room. Janus is touching up his snake make up and Remus is doing Remus stuff in the kitchen]

JANUS: Oh, hi, Thomas, hi Virge.

VIRGIL: Hi, Janus. Hi, Remus.

REMUS: Do you want to taste what I’m cooking? I just hunted it behind the counter!

VIRGIL: Uh… no, thanks.

THOMAS: We came here to check if Nico was here. But it seems you didn’t see him.

JANUS: Nico is in the Mind Palace? How?

THOMAS: That’s what I’d wish to know. He must be somewhere, but where?

VIRGIL: Well, we can rule out Sandersia, for sure. Unless you’re the Mind Palace owner, that is you, Thomas, from the outer world, you can only reach directly the rooms, and any other place must be reached once you are in the Mind Palace.

REMUS: And you can also rule out my room. It is protected by a barrier only Roman and I can cross as you remember, and the other door is through Sandersia, which is also ruled out, so.

[Logan and Patton rise up in Janus’ room with Roman and Ian]

ROMAN: They already brought me up to date. Nico isn’t in my room either, Thomas.

IAN: And we can see he’s not here either.

VIRGIL: Then there’s only one place he could have gone to. My room.

THOMAS: Oh, my goodness! Then, that means he must have met the ghouls that are living there! I hope they didn’t cause a shock too bad on him! We must hurry!

[everybody sinks down. Then, they rise up in Virgil’s room. Nico is there playing video games with the ghouls]

NICO: Oh, Thomas! There you are!

THOMAS: Nico! Oh, my goodness, you scared me so bad! Are you okay?

NICO: I’m fine, Thomas. I don’t know what happened I just closed my eyes, and when I opened them, your room had changed, and these guys were on the couch playing video games. They’re very nice, actually.

HEIGHT: Thank you. You’re very nice too, Nico.

THOMAS: Well, thanks guys for taking care of my boyfriend. I don’t know how he got here in my Mind Palace, but he just sank down in here.

NICO: Really? This is your Mind Palace? Wow…

VERTIGO: He just rised up in the middle of the room. We got a little shocked when we saw him, as it was clear he wasn’t one of the Sides, he didn’t look like you. But we just got along instantly. Are all humans so kind and fun to hang out with?

THOMAS: Nah, I just think that Nico is one of a kind, that’s why I love him.

NICO: Same, Thomas.

THOMAS: And now, how could this happen? How could Nico enter my Mind Palace barely without trying without going through the synchronization? Logan, have you got any explanation?

LOGAN: Well, if Nico could enter here, then that means only one thing: his brainwaves are naturally compatible with yours. He was born with the ability of entering your Mind Palace in particular.

PATTON: Awww, that’s so cute!

LOGAN: Why is it cute, Patton?

PATTON: Don’t you see? Thomas and Nico were born for each other! They are soul mates that were destined to be together, bound to meet and to be together sooner or later! So compatible that they read each other’s mind, or in this case enter each other’s mind.

[Thomas and Nico look at each other, then smile]

THOMAS: Do you think so, Patton?

PATTON: Yes!

JANUS: I don’t know if such thing as soul mates does really exist to begin with. To me it looks all a little… commercial, like St. Valentine’s Day.

ROMAN: Oh, shut up, Sulk Scales, I love that thought, it’s so romantic that it bums me I didn’t think of it first!

THOMAS: Roman, nicknames.

ROMAN: Sorry, Janus.

PATTON: Oh, Janus, don’t be like that! You know first hand that love is real. And that explains that huge force I felt the other day, so much so that it overwhelmed me and left me almost out of breath.

THOMAS: Wait, what? Patton, you never told me that! Are you okay?

PATTON: Yes, kiddo. I am now. I got accustomed to it. It’s just that your love for Nico is so strong it fills out the whole Mind Palace with its strength. That’s why the Core told me that Nico was needed to save Virgil and Roman’s son…

NICO: Wait, what?

[Thomas frowns at Patton]

VIRGIL: Great going, dad. Thomas hadn’t told him anything about that yet.

PATTON: [covering his mouth] Oh, I’m so sorry, guys. I thought you had already talked it out.

NICO: What does he mean, Thomas?

THOMAS: Well, I wanted to touch this topic later, when you got accustomed to the existence of my Sides, but as the cat is out of the bag now… You see, Roman and Virgil’s son, Dillon, is trapped by a malicious entity called the Paladin who has taken possession of his body. Patton has discovered that the only way to save him is by you going by my side into the Cave of Doom, where we have him contained, and help me take care of him.

NICO: That sounds dangerous.

THOMAS: It probably is. Inside the Mind Palace, I have power, and I would make sure to protect you from any danger we may face… But I’m sorry that my Mind Palace isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. It has its dark places and its malicious entities too. I’d wish to be, but I’m not perfect as that attests.

NICO: I don’t care if you’re not perfect. Is anyone perfect at all? I’m not perfect either, Thomas, and that’s okay. Don’t beat yourself about it.

THOMAS: Of course, Nico, I would never demand you to help us, especially if there is some kind of risk for you. Heck, I’m totally against you participating in this anyway because I don’t want to endanger you. [to Virgil and Roman] Sorry, guys, but I had to say it.

ROMAN: It’s totally fine, Thomas, we understand. And like we told you, there’s no need for Nico to participate. We’ll try to find another way.

THOMAS: Gosh, but it makes me feel so guilty… Dillon’s life is endangered… but at the same time… gosh, this is tearing me apart.

NICO: Thomas, I’ll do it.

THOMAS: What?

NICO: I know you want to protect me, because you always want to treasure and protect what you love, but I’m my own person to make the choice, and if you say that there’s one life endangered if I don’t help, my own consciousness tells me that I need to do my best to help. I’ll help you, in every way that I can, even if I don’t know what I am supposed to do, but I will. You can count on me.

VIRGIL: Thank you so much, Nico.

ROMAN: We can’t express how thankful we are if you’re willing to help.

THOMAS: Are you sure, Nico? I don’t know to what extent, but this could be dangerous.

NICO: I am sure. And as long as you are by my side, I won’t be afraid.

THOMAS: I love you. I love you so much, you don’t have an idea. Gosh, I know I’m acting so super sweet that I could cause diabetes on anyone passing by, but I can’t help yelling it to the world. I love you, Nicolás Flores.

[Thomas kisses Nico]

[ending card]

[some time later. Thomas has introduced Nico to all of the Sides and talked to him about their adventures]

VIRGIL: … and we also have another son, Chris. Well, his name is Christian Gerard Sanders but we call him Chris for short. He’s now in Sandersia, staying over in Roland’s castle for a few days.

NICO: What is Sandersia?

ROMAN: It’s a land attached to my room where all of Thomas’ characters and creations exist for real. I’m the Royal Prince that rules it, although Roland governs it in my place as regent. Oh, and Roland is my brother, by the way.

NICO: I see… Wow, there’s a lot to memorize here about this world, I hope I don’t get myself into a mess. So many people and places… and it’s all in your head, Thomas. How can you cope?

THOMAS: I’m accustomed already. I’ve been living through it since I was three years old. Don’t worry if you mess up here and there. We understand it’s not easy and it’s all kind of a shock coming all at once so suddenly.

NICO: So, let’s see if I got it right. You, Virgil, are Thomas’ vigilance and anxiety.

VIRGIL: Correct.

NICO: You, Roman, are Thomas’ pure Creativity, his romanticism and his ego.

ROMAN: Perfect.

NICO: Remus, you are Roman’s twin brother and Thomas’ not so pure creativity.

REMUS: Oh, I could kiss you. Can I kiss him, Thomas?

JANUS: [frowning] No, no you can’t, Remus.

NICO: You, Janus, you are Thomas’ deceitful nature and his self-preservation.

JANUS: Not impressed at all that you remembered…

NICO: Patton, you’re Thomas’ morality, his feelings and his inner child.

PATTON: Yes, kiddo, exactly.

NICO: You, Logan, are Thomas’ logical thinking and his acquired knowledge.

LOGAN: A+ for you, Nico.

NICO: You, Ian, you are Janus’ brother and encompass Thomas’ honest thinking. You two used to be kind of Siamese brothers sharing the same body in turns, but now are independent.

IAN: That’s right.

NICO: And then, there’s Chris, who, you said, is Thomas’ angsty creativity, and he’s Roman and Virgil’s son, as well as Dillon’s brother. I still don’t understand well how two people with the same reproductive organs could conceive a child, but the rest I got it right.

THOMAS: That’s easy to understand, though. As Sides are not human, they don’t follow the same biological rules as humans do and the laws of science don’t affect them. We’re talking about entities that can appear and disappear, can shapeshift, stretch their limbs as if they were made of rubber… it was only natural that reproduction didn’t work the same as with humans.

NICO: Gotcha… speaking about their son, there’s one thing I wonder. Each Side has at least one function in Thomas’ psyche. What does Dillon encompass exactly?

ROMAN: Well, to be honest, we don’t truly know.

VIRGIL: Yeah, we guessed that he encompassed Thomas’ hope, that’s why we named him Dillon, which means hope in Irish. You know that Thomas has Irish ancestors, right?

NICO: Yes, he told me. But you guessed he was Thomas’ hope? You’re not sure?

ROMAN: No, because that dang Paladin caught him even before he was born and we couldn’t identify him. Logan used to be able to examine us with an ability he had in his hands, he could have detected the Paladin’s presence inside Dillon’s body as soon as I delivered him. But he lost that ability in some unfortunate event we’ll tell you about some day, and couldn’t do it.

LOGAN: On the subject of my ability… guys, there’s one thing I gotta announce to you.

ROMAN: What is it, Logan?

LOGAN: Remember our latest adventure with the Core, how I had to stretch my arm to catch Patton before he was absorbed by the Core?

NICO: What?

LOGAN: Don’t worry, Nico, we’ll explain to you later. The point is that when my hand got closer to the Core… the Core’s influence touched it and its power imbued me without me even noticing in the turmoil of angst over saving Patton.

ROMAN: Are you going to tell me that the Core got you a gift, just like Patton now can heal us?

LOGAN: It got me a gift, but not a new gift like Patton’s. You guys, the Core has brought my examination ability back. We knew it was a matter of a long time that it was restored, but the Core accelerated that restoration. I can check you guys again.

THOMAS: That’s so great to hear, Logan! I’m happy for you! That ability was always very useful for all of us and it’s good to know that you have it back!

LOGAN: Yes, but not only it has restored it, it has removed the unpleasant side effect of electrification that I felt if I checked someone’s memories or that someone felt if I sent him mine. Now it’s all a more pleasant, totally painless process.

JANUS: Great, because I still remember that electric feeling and it wasn’t pleasant at all.

THOMAS: Okay, guys. Then if we’re all set, we need to start making a plan. There’s a Side in distress in the bottom of a cave that needs our help, a cave we also need to conquer back so that the ghouls can recover their friends and home. It’s time to face the Paladin once and for all.

[skvaderarts]

Chapter Eleven: Rumination

You can check out the Masterlist Here for more links to places to read!

Note: As per usual, I want to extend a warm thank you to Aureux, HunterJamie, BeansWithBones, RubixaSeraph, Random Reader Nothing Special, and He Who Wanters for their wonderful comments. I smiled like an idiot when I was reading your feedback. In fact, I wasn’t originally planning on writing out this part of the story, but I was so happy that I did. This intermission dinner chapter is for you guys! Enjoy it before things… change a bit. Thank you once again for your continued support. Means the world to me!

-~-

A bay window that spanned the entire outward-facing wall that overlooked the street below was all that separated the cozy dining room from the raging torrent of stormwater just outside the stone rowhouse. As the windows whipped and churned outside, the interior remained dry, even as the window rattled slightly in an earnest effort to not open in response to the prodding storm that it held at bay. The well-built structure served its purpose gallantly, those that dwelled within its walls not needing to worry if their home was going to come crashing down on top of them at any moment. And considering the fact that it was now time for dinner, that was a welcome relief.

In the center of the room sat an oblong table with seven chairs around it. Although generously sized, the eating space had originally been designed with six people in mind. This was clearly illustrated by the presence of the seventh chair at the table. Although it matched relatively well (I mean, what doesn’t match a white table?) The seat clearly originated from an alternate source; the custom stitched patchwork cushions in each seat being the only thing that tied everything together. And it was all very charming in a rather arts and crafts farmhouse sort of way.  

Various eating apparatuses were carefully positioned around the table, the placements having been set by the children while Kyrie was busy importing food front the kitchen into the eating space. As a result, several things on the table were crooked, but no one honestly minded. The little ones had tried their best, and that was all that really mattered at the end of the day.

While Kyle, Carlo, and Julio clambered into their seats, their adoptive mother opened the curtains to allow what meager light there was outside to shine into the room. While the space was not claustrophobic, at this given moment in time, it was a bit crowded. Four adults and three young children made for quite the dining experience, especially when everyone present was so vastly different than everyone else. Or, at least they were at first glance. It was true that their personalities were quite different, but they were all united by common goals and the care that they showed for one another. Even when that care was thrown for a loop as the children bickered with one another, causing a bit of a ruckus before Kyrie shushed them gently. They had a guest, after all. This was no time to be rowdy. 

“Now now,” She said with a happy but stern tone,” were at the table. No fighting.”

Just as Kyrie was in the process of setting down the ceramic bowls she had ladled hot soup into, Nero emerged from the living room with V in tow. A moment later, Nico joined them. She came down from the second floor of the house and slipped into the dining room, eager to experience whatever culinary delights Kyrie had prepared for them today. To say that she was a wonderful cook would be an understatement, and Nico was not a picky eater. She would eat just about anything that the brunette woman put in a plate in front of her, as long as she had cooked it.

Nico sat down between the two oldest boys, prepared to pester them senseless if the need should arise. V, almost predictably, sat nearest to the corner of the room, his back facing the doorway as if he were poised to take flight should the need arise. This entire situation was entirely foreign to him. In his entire life, he had never been invited to or subsequently experienced a family dinner. That was most certainly due to the fact that he hadn’t any family to speak of until now. In the blink of an eye, he had died, returned from the brink of damnation, and then awakened as if it were all an unpleasant dream, only to find out that he had quite the extended family. It was all a bit much to take in all at once, but he was trying. As much as he hated to admit it to himself, he longed for Griffon’s familiar -if not antagonizing-  voice within the confines of his mind. He had grown used to the wisecracking bird’s little jabs and jests, as they had always provided ample entertainment and distraction from the concept of actually having to socialize with those around him. As much as he wanted to get to know everyone, his social battery was rapidly depleting and he would be remiss to not acknowledge that being alone in his new room was a tempting venture.

In his current state, he felt very exposed and vulnerable, and that was not a sensation that he generally enjoyed. V couldn’t pinpoint what it was but, in a way, he felt like he was missing something. Yes, obviously he was missing much at the moment. Namely his loyal summons and their accompanying tattoos, but this was born of something more than that. When his mind wandered, his hands normally stopped that from occurring by turning his attention to something else entirely. But that something had been misplaced, and V was just now realizing what it was that was amiss. As he combed over the remnants of his still marginally fragmented memory, it occurred to him that he hadn’t the slightest idea where his beloved book had gone. Or his cane for the matter. While he didn’t require it to walk, it most certainly made him feel more secure in his person, as it reduced the risk of him falling flat on his face and breaking every bone in his body, or something else equally tragic and dramatic. And his book served a similar purpose, only for his mind instead of his body. He desperately craved a distraction despite not having a clear reason to need one.

As his subconscious drifted into idly thought, he was suddenly made aware of his surroundings again when a small hand tugged on him. He snapped out of his delirium only to find that Carlo had clambered into the seat beside him. While Nero, Nico, and Kyrie were engaged in some sort of conversation with one another about the dinner that he had yet to taste, the small child had seen fit to take his bowl of soup and relocate. No one seemed to notice except for V, as their current conversation proved a formidable distraction.

The young child smiled shyly at him before reaching for the nearest spoon with the intention of eating his soup. V felt a wave of silent panic hit him as the thought of the young child tipping the bowl by mistake and scalding himself crossed his mind. He was on the taller side for a child his age, but not quite at the height required to reach the table safely. V held his hands out and gently stopped the child, garnering a curious look from him as he scooped him up and sat him down next to the table. V then took the cushion out from underneath himself and sat it on top of the existing one in the child’s chair before ushering for him to climb back up. After noticing the child’s hesitation, it occurred to him that he might not be able to do so, so he lifted him up under the arms and plopped him back down into his again.

Carlo smiled and then turned back to his soup, ready and eager to finally eat his dinner. V internally sighed, unnaturally relieved that the sweet child before him hadn’t managed to harm himself. While the liquid wasn’t hot enough to do any notable harm to an adult, it was to a child his age, and he felt compelled to prevent that. V then turned his attention to his own bowl of soup and somewhat hesitantly ate a spoonful himself. Admittedly, he hadn’t been that hungry before now, which was uncommon for him. But now that he had tried it, he was beginning to warm up to the concept. There were descriptor words that he could use to describe how good this soup was, but he had made the decision a lifetime ago to only use those specific words under special circumstances. This wasn’t quite what he had in mind when he had set those restrictions. Regardless, this soup was delicious.

After eating several spoons of the soup, it occurred to V that he hadn’t thanked Kyrie for dinner. He glanced up from his bowl and was slightly startled when he noticed that Nico and Nero were both staring at him like he’d grown a second head while Kyrie giggled happily. V mentally kicked himself. Why was his spatial awareness and concentration so bad today? Sure, he had plenty of reasons to not be feeling quite himself, but this still. Concentrating wasn’t something he had ever had an issue with. This was... unsettling.

V stared back at them, his eyebrow raised. What had he done this time? See this, this was why V was bad at small talk. The eye contact made his skin crawl, even when it came from people he actually liked. He could physically feel himself recoil in discomfort the longer they looked at him like this. After a moment he glanced back down at the bowl and continued eating. “... This is delicious. Thank you.”

If it was possible for a smile to physically render a person blind, then Kyrie succeeded. V stared at her and in surprise as she smiled, practically radiating actual light from her happiness. “Oh, thank you! I’m glad you like it! I noticed the weather, so I thought this would be a perfect time to make soup. And then you Nero brought you home and you seemed sick, so my mind was made up!”

Nico smirked and folded her arms as she gestured towards him. “I didn’t think you even ate food, V! Wow, it’s weird seeing you do… normal stuff, ya know?”

Nero nodded in agreement. Obviously, V ate food. He was a living, breathing being. But there was just something so oddly unnatural about having him over to eat with them. V was too mysterious and subtle to bother with petty normal people things like eating over with family. Or so Nero had figured for some reason that he couldn’t pinpoint. He didn’t really know what to say about it. In a way, he had been so wrapped in mystery and suspicion when they had first met that nothing he did or didn’t do didn’t seem unnatural or suspicious, but now he knew him much better than he had before. And yet somehow this was still just so surreal to him.

V shrugged as he finished eating his food, unsure of what to really say to that. “I would imagine that’s because I’m not exactly normal.” 

That all too familiar smirk returned as he put down the empty bowl, not at all noticing that he was the first person to finish eating by a longshot. He hadn’t exactly eaten the food quickly so much as he had simply not stopped eating it for even a moment from the second he tasted it. Part of him wanted to ask for more of it, but he decided against it. He had felt quite queasy earlier that day. It was best not to push it for now. He would sleep on this and see how he felt tomorrow.

Nero shook his head before going back to his food. “You got that right, V.”

-~-

When Kyrie had asked Nico to throw the clothes in the laundry while she put the kids to be, she didn’t hesitate. It was a better idea than allowing her to try and get them to calm down and actually go to bed. A much better idea. The last time that she had tried to do that, they had been up until three in the morning, and she had fallen asleep only to wake up the next morning to a catastrophic mess in the kitchen. No one wanted that.

Nero had volunteered to do the dishes in an act that had led to no small amount of friendly teasing from Nico before they had all gone their separate ways. And in an act that actually took every adult at the table by surprise, V volunteered to help him. Kyrie had insisted that he didn’t need to help since he was a guest, but he had politely insisted, partially from an incessant need to feel less useless, and because he had literally nothing better to do. And that was how they had ended up alone in the kitchen.

As Nero finished washing one of the dishes, he passed it to V who then dried it and placed it effortlessly in the overhead cabinet. Nero shrugged as if to ask his brother a question, testing the limits of how far he could push V in regards to jokes. 

“So what the hell,” He said as he handed him another cup. He accepted it nonchalantly as he leaned against the counter,” Have you always been this freakishly tall?”

V scoffed at the comment, idly drying the plastic drinking cup,” Absolutely. Walking with a cane simply makes that less apparent.”

Nero nodded. That made sense. “Then… why didn’t you just get a longer cane?”

V seemed to consider the question for a moment. Or rather, he debated if he should go into that right now. “I… wasn’t afforded the opportunity to pick in the situation I was in. I needed to act fast, or I wouldn’t have lived long enough to think about it later.”

An eyebrow went up at the answer. What the hell was he going on about? Had he been under attack? Nero knew just by the way that he answered that question that he wasn’t going to elaborate any further, at least not right now. But he still couldn’t help but wonder what he was referring to. His life before they had met seemed to be just as chaotic as ever. Would he ever tell him about where he came from? One thing at a time.

He gestured towards Nero’s arm almost lazily.” So, how did your arm grow back?” There was genuine curiosity in his tone, masked under a thick layer of sarcasm. He asked the question so bluntly that it nearly gave Nero whiplash. He stopped washing the dishes for a moment and gave V a sideways look. He didn’t sound like he didn’t care so much as he sounded totally unimpressed, almost like he already had an idea what had happened. Nero briefly considered showing him his Devil Trigger instead of just telling him about it and then came to his senses. If he triggered in the kitchen, he'd probably break everything in here. That, and he’d probably give V a protracted stroke, and he already had enough problems right now.

“I got some new powers and they just kinda fixed it. It’s complicated. I don’t know how to make it make sense,” Nero shrugged, unsure of how to really explain what happened. He wasn’t honestly one hundred percent sure himself. Just grateful.” It works like a normal arm and everything, but Nico modified the Devilbreakers so I can still use them. It’s pretty sweet.”

V nodded to himself, taking in what Nero had just told him. “So it didn’t grow back so much as it replaced itself, then.”

Nero paused for a moment to hand him the last dish before nodding to himself. “Yea, basically,” Nero turned the tap off and wiped his hands on the dish towel,” Why, you planning to cut something off and taking notes? I don’t recommend it. It’s fucking painful.”

He dried the dish and placed it in the cabinet, pausing for a moment. V gave Nero a subtle yet sympathetic look, nodding slowly. “Yes… I imagine that it did,” he reached over his head and closed the cabinet door,” And no, I don’t plan on losing any parts of my body. Dying again isn’t on my agenda as of yet.”

Nero stared at him for a moment in disbelief at the deadpan way he had just said that before bursting out into genuine laughter. Seriously, what the absolute fuck was wrong with him. He leaned on the counter for support for a moment as he tried to stop laughing, slightly lightheaded. V let slip a brief snicker before going totally silent again, trying not to let Nero’s stupidity get to him. When Nero finally stopped laughing, he shook his head and just rolled his eyes. “

“You’re the darkest asshole I’ve ever met in my entire life, you know that right,” Nero folded his arms and shook his head, suppressing a final laugh,” I and saw you fucking laugh.”

V shook his head once, his serious facial expression remaining. “No, I didn’t. I don’t laugh.”

Nero rolled his eyes again. Uh-huh. I’m sure.”

V scoffed, smirking wickedly. “That wasn’t a laugh. You’d be able to tell the difference.”

Nero turned in the direction of the doorway, en route to the stairs. “Whatever, V. Just-” Nero stopped for a moment, something occurring to him for the first time since they’d first met,” Actually what the fuck is your name anyway?”

He folded his arm, blinking a few times quickly. The totally calm look that he had on his face never wavered. V figured he’d ask that at some point, but it still didn’t change his answer. At least for right now. “No. Go to bed.”

Nero just looked at him for a second before. He had never thought that V actually had a sense of humor until now. Well, at least more of one than Vergil had. That wasn’t a very high bar to meet. Nero practically shuttered at the thought of Vergil ever trying to tell a joke. No, Dante had inherited all the funny genes. He utterly refused to believe that Vergil could be funny. And he never wanted to hear him laugh. EVER. He had just developed a phobia he didn’t even know existed.

As Nero took a step towards the bottom stair, he glanced back at V. For a moment the gravity of everything that had happened in the last two days hit him all at once and he couldn’t help but feel slightly emotional. He liked V. He didn’t know if he would ever tell him that straight to his face, but he did. And he was glad that he was back. Maybe they could start over. After he’d lost Credo, he didn’t think he had it in him to be close to anyone like that again. Not with that kind of relationship. But he was a different person now, so he could only hope, even if hope was a dangerous and foolish thing.

“... I’ll see you in the morning, V.”

V smirked, quietly pleased with himself. He turned towards the guest room, glancing back at him as he headed down the hall. “Yes,” he stopped for a moment, turning back to face him,”... Goodnight, Nero.

-~-

Finally, some wholesome family time for V! It only took his entire life, but here we are! As always, thank you guys for reading! The next chapter will be out on Friday, June 5th between Noon and 6 pm, depending on what’s going on. And also, how do you feel about these slower chapters. Obviously, we’re working towards something with some ACTION, but I hope I’m not boring you with the pacing. Let me know! And thanks for the kudos, everyone! Yes, you too, anons! This is the most read fic I’ve ever written. Amazing. Just wow. I couldn’t be happier!

P.S.I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned this, but I made a website just for reading my fics. It’s free if you want to check it out. I hope you like it. I made sure everything was really easy to navigate. Here’s the link: https://skvaderarts.wixsite.com/skvaderarts

[medea10]

My Review of The Rising of the Shield Hero

VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!

Yeah, this warning because apparently I curse more than normal here. That should give you a fun indicator of what you’re in for.

Is this a joke? Is Medea really going to watch a recent Isekai anime?

No joke. I am. Yeah, since just about every Isekai I’ve ever watched was made before the year 2012, I thought it was time. And in case you’re not hip to the lingo, Isekai is where a random person is transported to a strange world (different from their’s) and go on an adventure. Things like Escaflowne, InuYasha, Fushigi Yugi, Kyou Kara Maou, and to a far-lesser extent, Sword Art Online! But because I haven’t watched anything made past 2012, and haven’t watched things like Konosuba, ReZero, or Overlord, my knowledge is shit and I should be ashamed.

So I’m going to start with one of 2019’s best animes, The Rising of the Shield Hero.

Naofumi Iwatani was checking out light novels when he was transported into another world. But unlike many other Isekais with this similar setup, Naofumi isn’t alone.

He and three other boys (from alternate timelines of Japan) are transported as well to the kingdom of Melromarc. These four boys are going to be the saviors of the kingdom as the “Four Cardinal Heroes” where they must combat against these entities known as “waves”. However, Naofumi is seen as the weakling from the very beginning due to being the holder of the shield (and is now known as the “Shield Hero”). But it goes even further than that! The king of Melromarc immediately shows his disdain for the shield hero due to the previous shield hero doing something to him. I don’t know what, just fuck the king. The kingdom, the other heroes, and the people of the kingdom did just about everything to Naofumi to make him feel like trash. If he was on fire, they wouldn’t even spit on him to put him out!

Being the lowest-level weapon user, no one will join his team and even if they did…they would swindle him, set him up for failure, and spread the worst lie you could ever lie about. But Naofumi can’t return home due to all four weapon users must be there until they defeat the waves. So Naofumi is stuck in a new world where literally everyone hates him or fears him.

That is until he buys a slave (named Raphtalia) and their EXP points can grow. Along the way, he obtains an egg that hatches into a filolial (later named Filo) who has the ability of turning into a human female. And every now and then, the second princess of Melromarc (named Melty) will come along with Naofumi. Trust me, she’s the nice one in that family.

Let’s watch the struggles and rising of the Shield Hero!

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: So this is licensed by Crunchyroll (but I think FUNimation dipped it’s cookie in this milk). I know these two companies divorced some time ago, but FUNimation sees no problem piggy-backing off of Crunchyroll when they get a hit. And yes, this got an English dub and because of that, YES I watched the whole thing dubbed! Done by the good folks in L.A.! I gotta say this was a well-done dub. Well, they did one thing right by hiring Erica Mendez to play Raphtalia. Just about everything Mendez plays is friggin’ gold! Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Naofumi is played by Kaito Ishikawa (known for Kiawe on Pokemon SM, Genos on One Punch Man, Mitsuo on Golden Time, Urui on Tokyo Ghoul :re, Sakakibara on Assassination Classroom, and Rinne on Kyokai no Rinne)

*Raphtalia is played by Asami Seto (known for Officer Jenny on Pokemon SM, Mado on Tokyo Ghoul, Young Yukiatsu on Anohana, and Shizu Delta on Overlord)

*Filo is played by Rina Hidaka (known for Last Order on Index/Railgun, Ririchiyo on Inu x Boku SS, Kohane on xxxHOLiC, Silica on SAO, Nemesis on To Love Ru: Darkness, and Urara on Food Wars)

*Melty is played by Maaya Uchida (known for Norman on The Promised Neverland, Rikka on Chunibyo, Rui on Domestic Girlfriend, Frenda on Railgun, Yoshino on Food Wars, Irina on High School DxD, and Yusa on Charlotte)

ENGLISH CAST: *Naofumi is played by Billy Kametz (known for Jousuke/JoJo on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part IV, Osomatsu on Mr. Osomatsu, Metal Lee on Boruto, and Galo on Promare)

*Raphtalia is played by Erica Mendez (known for Ryuko on Kill la Kill, Haruka/Uranus on Sailor Moon redub, Emma on The Promised Neverland, Nico on Love Live, Yuuki on SAO II, and Tsubaki on Your Lie in April)

*Filo is played by Brianna Knickerbocker (known for Rem on Re:Zero, Akane on Durarara x2, Arisa on Love Live, Anna on The Promised Neverland, Iori on Charlotte, and Erica on Berserk 2016)

*Melty is played by Jackie Lastra (known for Conny on The Promised Neverland and Selka on SAO: Alicization)

FAVORITE CHARACTER: I know I’m gonna have fun with the next category, but I think I spent most of this series hating on several people where I forgot to pick a character I liked.

Well folks, I gotta say that I loved Raphtalia. And after her, Filo! Then Elhart, Queen Melromarc, Melty, and Fitoria! With the exception of Elhart, it’s all women! That’s rare! Don’t worry, there’s one woman that has received a restraining order from this category. On with the worst!

VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED!

Y’all know what’s coming!

DISLIKED CHARACTER: Prior to watching this series, I have gotten several warnings about one particular character! Princess Malty or Myne, whatever people call her. This woman is despised throughout the anime community and even going so far as to say she’s on “horrible character” status left only to infamous characters like Griffith, Makoto Itou, and Shou Tucker. And I’m like, “WOW, what did she do, kill a pope?” I mean seriously, how bad could she possibly…?!

*one episode later*

FUCK THIS BITCH: Oh this bitch can burn at the stake for all I care! Yes, everyone else who treated Naofumi like shit can go jump off a bridge. Because I hold no sympathy for towns-idiots that treat a hero with no respect (as I’ve said before with One Punch Man and Dragon Ball Z)! But Myne just took that zero respect and pushed it to a crispy 425 degrees of fuck-roast! In the first episode, she seemed genuine with pitying Naofumi because no one would join his team. That didn’t even last a whole day. Myne ends up faking a rape by lying to the kingdom that Naofumi sexually assaulted her.

Faking a RAPE!

Faking a FUCKING RAPE!

Bitch, this is 2019 (I KNOW IT AIN’T THAT IN THIS KINGDOM, I’M JUST FUCKING PISSED). Faking a rape is a big, fat, NO-NO!

After he spends the little money he had on her to buy equipment, she double-crosses him by setting him up for immediate trouble and switches to the Spear-Hero side. Well fuck you too, you skank! Have fun with your dickhead Spear Hero. And may that be the last time I ever see you!

*several episodes later*

WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?! You cheating, lying, slut! Just when you think she can’t possibly get any worse, this bitch takes worse and shoves it off a fucking cliff. As if faking an assault wasn’t bad enough, screwing townspeople for your own gain is another story. She would take over a whole town and give no fucks if it’s destroyed by her or her fuck-face spear-hero. Add to that fuck-cake, every time you run into Naofumi, you find some way to screw him over time and time again. This bitch tampered with a fight between the shield and spear hero so that Naofumi could fail and they could steal his only team member away from him! You have your father, the church, your dickhead boy-toy of yours, and the royals wrapped around your little finger. Myne just continues to be worse than tainted peanut butter. I wish she would catch the worst STD imaginable and die a painful death!

*several more episodes later*

AAAAAAAH gabba da da ffuuuu worble BITCH FACE gararba fruznuss SET FIRE plskay adkkin aidnnlwjsnda UP DONALD TRUMP’S ASS galidamdh amoiejwm wwwaasosoh A POPCICLE! FUCK! AAkajrriaja DIDIA LEJHE KLHAEHAE FYUEEajejioqih3hv SSLLSHE3V ADKDKDDHEI333!!!!

Oh, you do not want a translation from my…whatever the fuck I just wrote. Just know that Princess Malty or Myne is worse than hemroids up the ass. I can’t believe this woman is still around, breathing and shit. Also, I’m tempted in re-writing my Top 10 Least Favorite Anime Character list because Myne would definitely be at #4 after Griffith from Berserk.

Okay…Okay…I think I’m calm now.

WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE CUT THIS FUCKING CUNT’S HEAD OFF LIKE A CHICKEN IN CHINA TOWN?!

Now I’m calm! Now then…

ANYONE ELSE WHO NEEDS TO DIE IN THIS SERIES?: So obviously I hate Bitch and Trash (Myne and the King). And I have the same kind of respect for the townspeople who treat Naofumi like shit. I ain’t got time to be dealing with townsidiots again. But if there was anyone else that should get a mention of how much I want for them to be set on fire and I’ll just sit there drinking my ginger ale, it would be Motoyasu.

Now by no means do I hate him more than Miss Bitch over here. But I hate him on the same level as Shinji from the Fate series (which is now teetering on my top 10). I question why he’s still alive and why no one has introduced his face to a jagged boulder. Unlike the other heroes Ren and Itsuki, this guy has got a vendetta against Naofumi from the get-go. And this was like before the sexual alligations came about. After that incident, this fuckturd tries at every turn to make Naofumi’s life worse than it already is by stealing away his crew and challenging him every chance he gets. And when he’s not doing that, he’s screwing over the townspeople and doing very little to be a “hero” (which is his freakin’ title). Then again, Ren and Itsuki aren’t great heroes either, it’s just I really need to lay into Spear-Dick for the shit he’s done.

SHIPPING: Hmm…aaaaahhhh….eeeeee…urrrrggggh…

Naofumi x Raphtalia: I know Naofumi doesn’t see Raphtalia as a romantic partner and more as a partner on his team, but Raphtalia doesn’t see it that way. She is 100% loyal to Master Naofumi. Who could blame her? Naofumi saved her from a lifetime of enslavement and cured her from an illness she’s had for years. She’s grateful and every other hero is crap in her eyes! She’s worshipped the shield hero since she was younger when she would hear stories about the shield hero. So imagine her worry every time Naofumi talks about going back to his home world, she gets horribly upset. Me being very skeptical here, I can’t really imagine this going any further than team partners. I can’t see at the end of the day Naofumi staying in Melromarc forever or Raphtalia somehow returning to Naofumi’s world when all of this ends. So for now, I’m just going to see where this takes us.

FUNNIEST MOMENT: Whenever Motoyasu gets conked in his frank-and-two-beans by Filo! If anyone deserves to be whammed in the nuts, it’s Motoyasu.

SADDEST MOMENT: I don’t usually mention sad moments in anime anymore, but one moment touched me and that was episode 15 where we learned a little more about Raphtalia’s past. Raphtalia, even after losing her parents in a wave attack, she tries her best to keep a smile on her face. But shortly after that, she and many other demi-humans were taken away from their homes and sold off to a nobleman. This is when we see some pretty inhumane moments where Raphtalia and many of her friends are whipped for the fun of it, starved to death, and sold off to traders.

In this episode, we learn about a few of Raphtalia’s friends (Keel and Rifana) from her younger days. The day Raphtalia got sold off, it looked like Rifana was teetering towards death. When the Shield Hero’s party came to rescue the surviving demi-humans (like Keel), Raphtalia went to see if Rifana could possibly be alive. And if the disturbing picture of Rifana’s skeleton doesn’t churn your stomach, I really don’t know what will. God damn, that was just messed up!

I CANNOT TELL A LIE, THIS ANIME HURT: I know I have sadistic tendencies and take joy in the misery of others. But I seriously cannot enjoy any second of the humiliation and degredation given to Naofumi. And it was because of the abuse put on the Shield Hero that made me feel sick to my stomach just watching all this happen to this guy. I thought it would last for a few episodes at the most, but it carried on a lot further than I imagined. Almost to the very end! And every episode you put on, you just wish for some kind of karma to kick in or for one more person to be nice to Naofumi or something, anything to happen!

But because the king has a vendetta against the previous Shield Hero, Naofumi has had to pay a heavy toll by having every horrible crime or offense thrown at him including rape, murder, attempted murder, cheating, witchcraft, and treason. AND HE COMMITTED NONE OF THESE OFFENSES! So you spend just about 20 episodes watching this poor boy having to go through this hell. I can’t even imagine having to go through this kind of torment and some of these moments make me ill in my stomach and quite pissed off. So like I said, this anime hurts to watch.

ENDING: As it turns out, the kingdom is corrupt under the rule of the king and his daughter, Princess Cunt (yeah, BIG shocker there). How corrupt? Well, they were in cahoots with the church that had their own religion praising only 3 of the Heroes (guess which one they don’t praise)! That was until the pope decided that everything must be wiped away because they are “unclean”. That includes the monarchy, the heroes, and their crew! Thankfully, they were able to put an end to this cult, with a little help from the true leader of Melromarc, Queen Mirelia of Melromarc. She finally shows herself and her powers on the battlefield. And now ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for the moment everyone and their mama have been waiting for.

JUSTICE IS SERVED: With the queen’s return, come some harsh sentences to her own family. Her husband, the king and her daughter, Princess Malty! I gotta tell you, seeing these two in chains makes my heart so happy. The king was guilty of summoning the four heroes prematurely and causing a lot of harm to the kingdom of Melromarc with the church. Then the queen puts a seal on Myne’s chest, giving her unimaginable pain whenever she lied. That still didn’t stop the bitch from lying! In one swoop, it’s proven that Naofumi was innocent the whole time and that the king and princess were worse than period cramps. And for their crimes, THEY ARE SENTENCED TO DEATH BY GUILLOTINE!

FUCK YEAH! BRING IT ON!

CUT THEIR FUCKING HEADS OFF!

Yeah…unfortunately for my blood-lust self, that didn’t happen. Instead, Naofumi stopped the queen seconds before blood was to splatter. Claiming that the princess and king should be stripped from their titles and must go through life with new names! The king will be named “Trash” and Malty/Myne will be named “Bitch” (or “Whore” when she’s traveling). Okay, I guess it’s all good. With that, the church of the three heroes is abolished and handled a lot better than I thought.

But seriously Queenie, was it really, REALLY a good idea to keep your daughter alive? I know she’s your own daughter and you felt severe hesitation (in the anime) before calling for her execution. But for fuck’s sake, literally a day after she’s spared from the guillotine, she’s poisoning food meant for her sister Melty, Naofumi, and his friends!

IN THIS AFTERMATH: Now has Naofumi finally obtained acceptance throughout the kingdom? Yes and no! Yes, it’s true that the people of the land respected Naofumi after all he’s done. It’s just that some of the other heroes and castle men who still treat Naofumi with such disrespect. The queen wishes for all four heroes to be treated equally and to get along so that maybe they can defeat the waves without too much trouble. Hell, the queen of the filolials also said the same thing! I think Ren and Itsuki have kinda been on board with this for a while (even if they are kinda dickish about it). It’s just that Motoyasu’s still a condescending dick to Naofumi! Sigh!

FINAL WAVE ATTACK: Final one for now! On their way to another land, Naofumi ends up getting chummy with two travelers (L’Arc and Therese).

We meet these fuckers three episodes before the finale.

They’re bad guys, aren’t they?!

Something like that! Yeah, the next wave attack was coming up real quick. And the heroes have to go up against Glass again (the woman who caused a lot of trouble in the midway point of the series). But it turns out L’Arc and Therese are in cahoots with Glass. But it gets really…complicated here!

Glass and L’Arc are both fan and scythe heroes from another world. And they’re destroying the waves on this side along with destroying the people of this world to prevent catastrophy in their world. Yeah, finale time guys! How many parallel worlds and heroes are there?

READ THE LIGHT NOVEL!

Fuck me! Well, Naofumi and the other hammy heroes were able to stop the wave attack once more. And we even get to watch Queen Melromarc in action again! In this aftermath, Naofumi gets a new member on his team. Yes, it’s another female, but at least this one is older than all the other girls that hang with him (making this a little less ewwwie). Rishia was abandoned by Itsuki’s team for…reasons. So she’s going to join Naofumi after she helped in the last wave attack. And we get some last-moment hopeful scenes as we see things that give me hope for people in this series. Raphtalia’s old friends and homeland is getting back into the swing of things and Naofumi will take control over the land. And we wait for this promoted second and third season Crunchyroll swears by. Seriously guys, when are we getting more Shield Hero?

DON’T KNOW! READ THE LIGHT NOVEL AND STOP ASKING STUPID QUESTIONS!

If you can’t already tell, I liked this series! Yes it was unbelievably painful to watch certain things where all of these people gang up on Naofumi and screw him eight ways from Sunday, but I guess good stories have a little struggle. Except here, it’s a lot of struggling! It was an interesting tale and is giving me a little hope for the Isekai genre as a whole. Will I get into all the other recent ones so I can one day watch Isekai Quartet? Don’t get too cocky! I’ll stick to this and maybe head on over to Konosuba later on.

Rising of the Shield Hero was definitely a tale and I highly recommend it. It’s just that if you’re prone to anger when it comes to absolute injustice, half of this series might be a little unbearable to handle. But there were several great moments (particularly from Raphtalia) that kept me going with this series.

Especially episode 4! Best episode of the series! Her undying devotion for Naofumi was definitely one to behold! I can’t wait to learn more about these different kinds of worlds, kingdoms, and heroes in the upcoming stories. In the meantime I will await for these seasons two and three Crunchyroll assures us are coming…They are coming right? You guys weren’t just blowing smoke up our asses in the last CRX convention, right?

READ THE FUCKING LIGHT NOVEL, YOU AUTISTIC TWAT!

I can’t do it! There are too many chapters!

Currently, both FUNimation and Crunchyroll have the entire series subbed and dubbed.

Okay, great stuff! What’s next on my Amazon/Netflix…or Crunchyroll licensed anime!

Magical Girl Site?

Oh fuck. I heard about that first episode. This is gonna hurt.

[the-coconut-asado]

THE SPIRIT OF SWISSMASS

My daughter likes her Christmases to be cold-climate Christmassey. Which is unfortunate as most of our festive seasons in recent years have been spent near the equator. 

Between my family in Buenos Aires and Adam’s in Fiji the spruces always have to be plastic and the fans on full blast. One memorable Christmas Day in BA we ate our cold cuts buffet-style standing in my cousin’s swimming pool to counter the 38C heatwave; and on one Christmas Evening in Suva we dived into Star Wars: The Force Awakens in a packed Damodar Centre, motivated not by MIllenium Falcons but the cinema’s industrial-strength aircon.

However, every few years we swap our snorkels for snow boots and head for Switzerland. My cousin Dorothy, in a singular diaspora phenomenon, is one of several Latina women who have married Swiss men and live in or around St Gallen, about an hour east of Zurich. 

It’s fair to say that Doro has sought out every other living Argentine, Guatemalan and Spanish national within a 10 mile radius and made friends with them. And what about Swiss friends? A cultural aversion to spontaneity makes that difficult (though not impossible). Doro has been known to scare the bejeezus out of other mums that she has tried to drop in on when in their neighbourhood. Pretty common practice in BA but the Swiss, it seems, like to keep things formal.

St Gallen is  a chocolate-box-meets-cheese-board town nestling in the mountains; Heidiville complete with the sound of distant cowbells and a speculaas-heady aroma billowing from the Christmas market. The cobble-stoned Cathedral square hosts what I would wager is a bigger festive tree than the one outside 30 Rock in New York, and on Christmas Eve the whole town gathers around it for the serious - and it is serious -  business for carol singing. You can’t get more Christmassey than this.

Actually, to say Doro married a Swiss guy is only half true. Alejandro’s other half belongs squarely in Barcelona, so there is a proper cultural mix around their table on Christmas Eve: Alejandro’s twin sister Patricia from Barcelona, his brother Nico (feet squarely rooted in St Gallen, who talks of a trip to London as a Tripitaka-like quest he will one day complete) and Nico’s girlfriend Jenny whose father Ruedi owns and runs the Kobelt Brewery in neighbouring Appenzel with his San Franciscan wife Karen. As you can imagine, the cuisine is deliciously eclectic and the noise volume at a pitch only dogs can hear without screaming. 

And the board games, well, they just get plain nasty. 

If Doro loses a few rounds of Texas Dominoes her middle finger stays up for the night. And after losing an intense round of fussball with Ruedi on Christmas Day at the Brewery, Patricia was heard to mutter ‘tosser’ as she left the table (followed by ‘fack you’, which my 12 year old niece earnestly corrected to ‘fuck you’). Screeches of laughter and explosive cussing from breakfast bucks fizz to evensong and pretzels. 

But back to the safer territory of the food, and let’s start with the two things Switzerland has built its reputation on: cheese and chocolate. Just as well as outside of cheese and chocolate - and maybe some meat products - the Swiss don’t do variety. St Gallen supermarkets have isles of few things in many varieties, but like the song says, if a thing’s worth doing it’s worth doing well. Doro occasionally cheats the system by making dashes across the border to Austria to buy Argentine beef. But cheese and chocolate are always no more than an arm’s reach away. 

Although Appenzeller cheese was my top pick for many years, it’s now been overtaken by Tete de Moine (Monks Head). This is a creamier version of comte, and the paper-thin slicing with a special turntable gadget (which echoes the tonsured head of a medieval monk) is all part of the ritual of eating it. Paired with thin-ish slivers of chorizo, it makes for seductive pre-dinner ‘picos’. Add it to a cheese and potato pie (a perfect accompaniment to a Christmas rib roast if your oven, like Lara’s university one, is too small to roast potatoes at the same time) and you have an unforgettable melting pot of cheesy flavour. 

If you want to really stoke your migraine, then chocolate must follow cheese. There is a chocolate cafe near to that Hagrid-height Christmas Tree I mentioned earlier which does the most heady chocolate hazelnut drinks this side of Hansel & Gretel. And if you haven’t had enough of a fix after that then you can buy cellophane wrapped chocolate shards with nuts, or freeze dried fruit, or chilli...the list is endless. Chocolate sprinkles it’s fairy dust throughout the holiday - from Doro’s Nigella-inspired Chocolate Christmas Cake to the iced, spiced biscuits tempting you from every strategically placed bowl in the house. 

But at our most recent Swissmas, Doro decided to go off-piste and back to her Argentine roots. Dona Julia (who I have mentioned in previous blogs as the Julia Childs of Argentine cooks) has many little gems hidden in the 1950’s austerity of her work. One of them, a light mousse-like confection of cream, Aperol and grapefruit, made its Doro-debut as our Christmas eve dessert. Chilled and on-point boozy, it was the perfect end to the necessarily rich main course. 

So just in time for Christmas, wherever you are, here are three dishes that will give you an Argentine flavour of the Alps: That delectable carb-on-carb cheese and potato pie (a raclette pasty by any other name); a molten ginger-chocolate torte that will make you instinctively pull your furry collar around your ears and nestle in front of the telly; and Doro’s Aperol spritz in a dish, to give you a lighter alternative to figgy pudding. 

All worth dashing through the snow for. 

Cheese and Potato Pie (with or without Tete de Moine)

The Lancashire cheese gives this cozy pie it’s bite, but if you have some  Tete de Moine this will mellow the flavour into a pure cheese dream. If you have any leftovers, mix them into an omelette the next day. Makes a yummy packed lunch.Serves 4

Ingredients

3 large onions

50g salted butter

400g potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

50g salted butter

200g lancashire cheese, grated

50g Tete de Moine, sorn (or use 50g grated mature cheddar) grated

100ml double cream

2 x pkts ready-rolled shortcrust pastry (or make using your own recipe)

How to Make

Chop the onions finely and add to a frying pan with the butter and 20ml water. 

Cover and simmer for 15-20 mins, then remove the lid, and continue to simmer for about another 20-25 mins until most of the liquid has evaporated. Turn off the heat, season and cool.

Boil some well salted water (consult Samin Nosrat’s Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat if you are feeling faint- hearted), drop in the potatoes and boil for around 5 minutes until cooked but still holding their shape. Drain and leave to cool while you bring your pastry to room temperature. 

Unwrap the first ready rolled pastry sheet and use to line a 20cm pie dish, letting the pastry overhang, then pop it in the freezer. 

Heat the oven to 170C/ Gas 5. 

Gently mix the onions and potatoes in a large bowl together with the grated cheeses and cream (you don’t want the potatoes to break up). Then remove the pie dish from the freezer and empty the filling into it. 

Roll out the second pastry sheet, cut a circle large enough to cover the top of the pie, then do just that: cover the top of the pie, trimming the edges, then crimping them between your thumb and forefinger until you have sealed it. 

Whisk up an egg, then paint it all over the top of the pie. Use any trimmings to cut out leaf shapes, then pop them atop the pie and paint  them with the egg wash  too. 

Bake the pie for around 40 minutes until the top is golden. Let stand for 10 minutes, then serve. 

Ginger and Chocolate Torte

One weekend in New York, I turned up at my friend Lisa’s door with ingredients for this chocolate torte, which I made with her son Jasper before we settled down to watch the Oscars. It’s like a big molten chocolate cup, the centre oozing, the edges moist and cakey. I have since added ginger syrup and crystallised ginger to the mix which give it some seasonal bite. A perfect Chocolate dish for Christmas Day. Serves 6.

Ingredients

200g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)

200g unsalted butter

300g golden caster sugar

6 eggs

100g plain flour

2tbsp. Ginger syrup from a jar of candied ginger

2 pieces candied ginger, chopped up small

To decorate:

Chopped crystallised ginger

50g dark chocolate

How to make

Preheat the oven to 180C (Gas 4). Line a 23cm loose bottomed tart pan with buttered parchment paper. 

Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl or small saucepan over a saucepan with some gently simmering water. Stir so it is smooth and silky. Cool slightly then add the ginger syrup. 

Beat the eggs and sugar in another large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the chocolate/ butter/ ginger syrup mix with the chopped candied ginger and fold into the egg and sugar mixture. Then fold in the flour. 

Pour the mix into the lined tart tin and bake or 20-25 minutes until the top forms a crisp crust and the inside is the consistency of a chocolate mousse. Leave to cool. 

To decorate, chop the crystallised ginger pieces into small shards and decorate the tart. Melt the remaining chocolate, then pour into a piping bag (or improvise by making a piece of baking parchment into a cone, then snip the end off). Drizzle the chocolate over the surface of the cooled torte. Serve at room temperature or cold. 

Aperol Grapefruit Cups

This manages to be refreshing, decadent and Christmassey all in one. Serves 6. 

Ingredients

5 pink grapefruit

100ml Aperol

100 ml double cream

100ml whipping cream (this gives a lighter finish)

100g caster sugar

Mint leaves to decorate. 

How to make

Squeeze the juice from three of the pink grapefruits (you want 400ml), then add the Aperol. 

Pour the mixture into a shallow rimmed baking sheet and freeze for 3 hours. 

Using an electric whisk, whip both creams with the sugar and chill. Peel the skin off the two remaining grapefruit and cut them into segments (cutting between membranes so you are not left with any tough fibres). 

And now it’s an assembly job: to make the granita, use a fork to break up the grapefruit-Aperol water ice into a granita-like consistency (like shaved ice). 

Spoon alternate layers of granits, pink grapefruit segments and cream, finishing off with a layer of cream. 

Decorate with mint leaves (or as I have done here, dip mint leaves in lightly whisked egg white and caster sugar then chill, to give a frosted effect). Serve immediately.

[lonelypond]

Casual Lunacy, Chapter 9

Love Live, NicoMaki main pairing, 3.5K, 9/?

Hanayo goes on a solo mission and there's a MakiRinPana sleepover planned in the Nishikino treehouse, at least until Nico starts shivering on the Lakefill.

DANGER ZONE

Hanayo read the printout in her hand again, nervous. As a freshman biology major, she’d taken classes in Tech, but had never wandered down into the legendary sub basement level. But there had been the ad in The Daily:

Curious about werewolves on the Lakefill and demons in Deering? Help us find the scientific proof. Biology and biomedical engineering majors preferred. Stats experience necessary. Paying job. No Ghostbusters cosplay.  Contact: Anju@nu…

Hanayo had sent off an email, without telling Rin or Maki, and received an almost immediate reply with a time and a room number in the third level of the Tech sub basement. So now she was climbing down stairs, trying not to jump at various mechanical noises and not making eye contact with any of the shuffling, shaggy students, gender identities ranging the spectrum, whose only commonality was appearing never to have showered or slept. Hanayo cherished her eight hours minimum and wondered if the more time you spent as a college student, the less time you actually spent comfortably curled up with a pillow or loved one.

The number was obscured, the room was dark, no light to be seen beneath the door and Hanayo considered whether to knock. But the email had said nothing about that so she turned the doorknob and tried not to squeak as she said ‘hello!” into a room full of monitors running graphs and numbers in what must be real time.

“Koizumi?” A high voice trilled from the back.

“Yes.” Hanayo took a deep breath.

“5 minutes early. That’s a good sign.” The lights flicked on, fluorescent, buzzing and blinking a little. Hanayo raised her arm to shield her eyes instinctively. A woman with long hair not quite as orange as Rin’s stood in front of her. “And you’re cute too. That’s another plus.” Hanayo felt a hand on her wrist pull down her arm. Pale magenta eyes twinkled at her, “I’m Anju. Welcome to our little hideaway.”

Hanayo nodded, trying to make sense of what the numbers on the monitors around her were measuring and not really paying attention as Anju guided her back to a desk, until Anju pulled out what looked like a TSA handheld scanner.

“What’s that?” Hanayo hesitated.

“Nothing invasive. We just have to make sure that no supernatural creatures get access to our information.”

“Why?”

Anju winked as she passed the scanner over Hanayo, “Would you trust them?”

“Who?” Hanayo decided it was best to ask questions about everything, with as much interest and enthusiasm as she could muster.

“Werewolves, demons, witches, vampires, ghosts...beings that generate or use occult energy. All those horror stories must come from somewhere.” Anju’s eyes glittered. “Have you seen any? Is that why you’re here.”

Hanayo had been telling herself repeatedly since she sent the email to not ask any questions about werewolves if she got an interview. She couldn’t let her concern for Rin and Maki show if she was going to discover anything useful. She had met a couple of witches Fall Quarter but they seemed more interested in helping the environment than harming anyone. She remembered when Rin had dragged her down into the tunnels at Deering Library. That was a genuinely creepy experience. Random bursts of air had been cold on the back of her neck and she’s never been so aware of the smallest noises. Hanayo had been very happy for the reassurance of Rin’s superior senses that night, when she was starting at every noise, even safe in her own room. Hanayo let that flashback cause a tremor in her voice, “I can’t go into Deering alone anymore...there’s something dark...lingering.”

Anju’s eyes blazed with evangelical fervor, “Exactly. We need to identify the areas where the supernatural and paranormal lurk and gather as much information as possible. Places like Deering and the Music Administration Building and the Barber Theatre. My colleagues and I are doing a study and we need an assistant to monitor and analyze data while we do field research.”

Hanayo shivered and glanced around the room. It was easy not to sound too eager. “Would I have to be alone here?”

Anju’s high pitched trill of laughter seemed more sorority than sub basement, “Erena, Kira and I are down here all the time. There’s a mini fridge and a hot plate. It’s homey. And we can set up some kind of alert system to let you know when there’s a spike in levels and we need coordination or active data capture.”

“Is there a Faculty member overseeing this?” Hanayo adjusted her glasses to cover her nervousness.

“One of my colleagues is consulting with an Associate Prof in the Biomedical Engineering Department. We can’t offer you any course credits, but you will be cited in any publication and we can pay, although it’s not a work-study job. You said you were a freshman right?”

Hanayo nodded, her heart racing.

Anju glanced down at the scanner and smiled. “You’re clear. Take a seat. How much do you know about programming?”

Classes had been calm. Maki sensed that Nico was on campus too, but without the added sensitivity of her wolf senses, managed to control any urges to head Nico-ward. Late nights and no sleep and poetry and dreaming had cut into her studying time so she used her class time to figure out how far behind she was and how much catching up she had to do.  Hanayo sat subdued through Chemistry class but Maki assumed she was tired as well. Rin seemed to have an inexhaustible battery and had avoided morning classes so that must be hard to keep up with. Maki wondered vaguely if Nico were a morning person...couldn’t be with the late night hours, right? Now Maki was home to nap before Rin and Hanayo showed up. Her parents would be back after work, but for now Maki had the house to herself. Restlessness surged and she found herself at the piano. Something to do with her hands.

The intercom buzzed, breaking Maki’s fugue state. Maki had been at the piano for for hours, alternating between Beethoven and Chopin and now Rin and Hanayo had arrived.

“No biting.” Rin snapped as she tossed her duffle on the couch; Hanayo smiled at Maki, a little apologetic.

“I’m sorry about that Rin.” Maki sighed, this was the fifth apology and the third verbal one. Maybe she should just convince Rin to bite her back.

“Good. It hurt. And I was only trying to help Maki get a date.” Rin sniffled, Hanayo giggled and Rin turned to hug her fiancée .

“I don’t need your help.” Maki slid open the back door, letting the cold air blast through.

Rin let go of Hanayo and bounded over to Maki, “You and Nico went on a date?”

“No.” Maki blushed.

“Oh.” Rin’s disappointment disappeared in the wag of a tail as she transformed quickly and raced outside. Maki was only slightly tempted to close the door behind her, but when she snuck a look at Hanayo, her friend was giving off a worried aura.

“Is everything all right, Hanayo?” Maki inquired gently.

Hanayo smiled, pushing up her glasses before twisting her index fingers together, “Everything’s fine, Maki. I’m just tired. I’ll read for awhile.”

Maki nodded and stepped into a different room to transform, following Rin into the snow. Rin was leaping from snow drift to snow drift, angling herself to launch off trees whenever she could, howling happily in the twilight. The moon was only a few nights from full and the white snow gleamed brightly where the moon's reflected light fell. Maki joined the howl and jumped at Rin, forcing the smaller wolf into the snow as they wrestled.

Maki and Rin had been playing nearly for an hour when the Doctors Nishikino came home. Maki could hear Hanayo talking to her mother. Dr. Nishikino asked a question that ended in Nico and Maki rushed the door, barking a warning. Her mother ignored the attempted intrusion and continued to interrogate a Hanayo who was more than happy to answer her questions. And then Rin bit Maki’s tail, causing the redhead to turn on her friend with a snarl. Whatever was being said inside was now forgotten as Maki’s new goal was payback. Rin transformed and scrambled up into the treehouse, naked, before turning back, knowing Maki was reluctant to transform without privacy and clothes. Maki jumped over the half wall of the shed, and grabbed her poncho, following Rin, and transforming again as she reached the platform. Rin was already on the second floor and Maki took the ramp at full speed, ready to launch herself at Rin, not thinking too much about the 20 foot fall if they both went over the side. Werewolves bounced. She’d learned exactly how much after meeting Rin and Hanayo at the summer mixer for incoming Northwestern students. Rin had zero impulse control in either form and Hanayo had told stories of Rin’s exploits that made Maki shudder. Maki’d never really needed to test her rapid healing ability. Rin and Maki wrestled at the edge of the platform, growling and whining, Rin not caring which way they went and Maki trying to force them back toward the trunk. Eventually Rin got tired of being hedged in by Maki and dropped off the side, attempting to swing herself back to the first platform. Maki ran down the ramp, whining a warning only to see Rin fall past her and land in the snow. Maki knew she could reach the roof of the shed from the tree so she jumped over and then down again, to where Rin was, lying in the snow, whimpering a little, favoring a front paw as she attempted to stand. Hanayo had seen the fall and was kneeling next to Rin, soothing her. Maki remained stock-still, watching her two friends interact, a moment of jealousy pinching at her as she wondered if anyone would ever accept all of her like that. She felt a hand drop gently between her ears. Her mother, there were no scent descriptors Maki used when she thought about her mother, it was just Mama. No one else had that smell, it was mixed into so many memories.

“Rin will be fine.” Dr. Nishikino comforted her daughter.

Hanayo agreed, “She can put weight on it. She’s just a bit startled.”

Maki howled at her friend and Rin whimpered. Maki nudged Rin with her head, in an attempt to comfort.

“Let’s go inside, girls. Time for dinner.” Dr. Nishikino decided.

Dinner had been quick; Rin and Maki were quite hungry and Hanayo had little appetite. Now they were all up in the treehouse, Rin and Hanayo wrapped in a heavy wool blanket, Maki in wolf form, staring at the stars with occasional glances at her friends. And using her wolf senses to stay alert for any sign of Nico, but she wasn’t sharing that fact with anyone. Hanayo smelled sad and worried, but Maki didn’t think it was about Rin’s injury. Rin was in human form, leaning on Hanayo. Maki was a little surprised, knowing how comfortable Rin was in her wolf form. Hanayo smiled at Maki’s inquisitive whine and Rin laughed. Maki curled up into a ball, unable to ignore the feeling of being left out of some secret.

It was the music, Nico thought, as she shivered, putting on her coat and watching Kashima and Micah vie for the attention of a stagehand in a short skirt. Nico had read the Dracula in Mina’s bed scene in Stoker's book over and over again in an effort to play the emotions involved effectively; fear for her husband, frustration, half asleep, half entranced helplessness. Kashima’s Dracula performance, when not singing, was masterful, commanding, cruel. Nico had expected the taller woman’s skin to be cold and her breast to be still when she pressed Nico’s face to it. There was no mist or duet tonight, Professor Asuka was having them go through the scene multiple times without singing to set the feel. So Nico had asked for background music and Asuka had obliged, her sound designer offering a bleak Industrial Goth Christmas album that twisted familiar carols into dark metallic echoes of holiday horror. Nico could still feel harsh echoes in her skull, her neck muscles knotted and the feel of Kashima’s grasp burning into her skin. No wonder Nico was shaking. Micah was too caught up in whatever he and Kashima were plotting to acknowledge Nico’s wave so she headed out of the theatre alone.

The moon’s edge seemed jagged as clouds clustered around it and a mist rose off the snow and the Lake. It was after 10 and Nico had to walk home. Alone. No one was out, the wind was doing a knife’s work, lashing the chill through Nico’s multiple layers, and making a sound almost human as the shivers went up Nico’s neck. Kashima’s eyes, green and cold and sharp, came to mind and Nico found herself wishing for a warmer color, a softer touch than the wind’s, and company.

“Nico is too cute to be this cold!” Nico shouted, pumping her arms, following with a muttered “I bet Princess and Maki are warm.”  At least the thought of Maki’s mischievous grin cheered her up, until she remembered the one cute fang biting into the underlip, which brought back Kashima’s feral snarl, prosthetics sharp and bloodied, her breath hot on Nico’s throat and the pleasant image was ruined. This was going to be a long rehearsal process, Nico realized. She should probably make an effort in the future to leave in a crowd, not that she was scared, but…

Maki’s head whipped up, just as she was starting to doze off. Rin and Hanayo had gone inside at some point and Maki was alone. And Nico was...Maki sniffed the air, ears attuned to Nico’s voice, Nico was alone And anxious..

With a ringing howl, Maki made her way to the ground and ran for Nico’s voice.

Nico had pulled her parka tighter around her, rewrapped her scarf and stepped out from the building’s overhang, into the rising mist, too cold to stall any longer and ready for the trip home. Only a 20 minute walk. Nico did it most nights. It would be okay. “Nothing to be afraid of, Nico.” she repeated. And then a speeding form bolted into Nico, knocking her into the ground, nuzzling Nico frantically, whining as she sniffed the air around.

“Princess?” Nico pulled off a mitten, touching the warm fur with surprise. Where had she come from? Had she heard Nico say her name? Would Maki be upset now? Princess continued to frantically search for any threats or injury to Nico, her breaths warm and tickling Nico’s face. Nico giggled, surprised that her mood had lightened so fast.

“Hey, Princess.” Nico rolled her shoulder into the dog’s, hoping to get her attention. Princess did stop, her eyes warm and worried, lavender more than green, intelligent. Had Maki gotten a dog to match her eyes, Nico found herself wondering. Nico kissed Princess on the top of her snout. “Nico is glad to see you but you don’t have to worry. Nico was just cold and nervous.”

Princess kept staring at Nico, who felt like an explanation was being demanded. She’d have to ask Maki what breed of dog Princess was, it almost felt like a conversation as Princess pushed into her and whined softly. “Nico had to let Dracula bite her.”

Princess growled. Nico was fascinated, watching as green swirled into the lavender, “Not a real bite. She didn’t break the skin.” Maki tilted her head down, dubious, and Nico realized she was once again in the ridiculous position of sitting in a snowbank, trying to explain to someone else’s dog what had happened during rehearsal. And that dog was waiting and giving off an air of disapproval.

Nico groaned and stood, “Nico is not cut out to be a pet owner. Too many bruises.” She took off her other mitten and ran both her hands back and forth over Princess’s fur several times, enjoying the silky warmth and the activity, laughing when Princess whined, wagging her tail, then tipped up her head, nudging Nico’s chin.

“Walk Nico home, Princess, and then we’ll call Maki and I’ll explain.” Nico gave Princess's ears a last rub.

Princess sat and once again, shook her head. Nico shoved her hands into her pockets, “Stubborn.”

Princess whined.

“Walk Nico home and Nico will explain on the way?”  Nico really tried not to make it a question but she was having a temporary lull in tenacity. And arguing with a dog. Who was winning. What a night.

Princess stood, leaning into Nico and waiting. Nico chuckled at herself, of course, Maki’s dog wouldn’t know where Nico lived. It’s not like you could just tell her an address, Nico would have to lead...Nico glanced down, to be met by eyes that she was starting to read too well. Affection, concern, curiosity...Princess let out a snapped whine, impatience. “Orrington. I live on Orrington Ave, near the Plex.” And Maki trotted west, leaving a wondering Nico to follow.

Nico fumbled with her keychain as Princess jumped between the door and Nico, excited, tail wagging, howling softly, as if aware of the neighbors. Nico put her key in the lock and then forced Princess to sit, “Listen to Nico, pretty girl. Umi hates it when someone wakes her up so we have to be quiet.”

Princess, very alert, nodded. Nico had given up wondering and had just proceeded to speak to the dog as if she understood every word, a theory not contradicted by Princess’s habit of bumping up against Nico playfully and demanding petting when Nico was grumbling about Kashima or the weather.

Nico continued as she opened the door, “Now, pretty girl, Nico usually stays up to work on her lines after rehearsal but tonight, Nico is tired of pretending to be a victim. So I’m going to make a snack and we’re going to watch Noises Off, so Princess knows what rehearsal is like and because it’s the funniest play in the English language and Nico needs a laugh.”

Princess’s howl was quiet, but seemed to indicate agreement. Nico rolled her eyes at herself and they stepped inside the apartment.

“Good evening, Nico.” Umi was sitting on the couch, her voice surprised Princess, who barked and then Umi was no longer sitting on the couch, she was poised next to it in a defensive stance.

“It’s ok, Umi. This is Princess, the dog I was telling you about. She found me after rehearsal. I brought her home until I could reach her owner. I was walking home and it was too cold to stop and call. I'm sorry I didn't warn you.”

Umi nodded, acknowledging that the hour and chill outweighed normal formalities. Nico had a nervous hand between Princess’s shoulders and Princess dropped into a slight bow. This was Nico’s home, after all and Umi smelled of Honoka and another human and not like Nico.

“She is a beautiful dog.” Umi stated. “Can I pet her?”

Nico glanced at the very calm Princess and shrugged, “I guess.”

Umi reached down for a perfunctory rub behind the ears and Princess whined softly. Nico chuckled, “She's been growling at everyone else I know. You made a friend, Umi.”

“Smart dog.” Umi winked at Nico.

“You don’t know the half. I think she’d do better on non written tests than Honoka.” Nico removed her coat and Princess wandered the apartment, spending time with everything that smelled like Nico, rubbing against the furniture and counters, which now smelled like Princess. Mission accomplished.

Umi started to frown, debating for a moment if she should defend Honoka’s studiousness and then recalled the conversation she’d had earlier that evening with her ginger haired girlfriend, in which Honoka explained in great detail how being allowed to take tests while snacking would raise her scores by several grades. After that, Honoka had admitted she didn’t know where she’d left her textbook. So Umi changed the subject.

“Did you call her owner?”

Nico paused and looked around the refrigerator door as Princess whined at her, “No, I’ll do that right now.”

No answer, just a tone to leave a message so Nico put on her best smile, “Hi Maki! This is the irresistible Nico Ni. If you’re looking for Princess, she’s with me. Call me so we can discuss the ransom.”

Nico heated up some hot chocolate with cinnamon as Maki continued her explorations, “Want to join us, Umi? We’re watching Noises Off. I’m going to teach Princess about rehearsal.”

“She’s a dog, Nico.” Umi said disdainfully as Princess brushed by her. “And isn’t that the play where the actress runs around in lingerie?”

“You bet. Nico would be perfect and funny and sexy in that role. Sardines. Sardines. Sardines.” Nico grabbed a plate of cookies.

Umi’s confusion was evident, “Those are cookies.” Nico snorted but Umi continued, ignoring her “Are you sure you should be showing that to…”

Nico’s mouth dropped as she watched Umi stiffen, her arms across her chest. Then she mimicked Umi’s tone of a minute before perfectly, “She’s a dog, Umi.”

Umi was not amused. “I’m going to bed. Put a blanket down. Will she be quiet?”

Nico looked to Princess, Princess looked to Umi and nodded, waiting while Nico spread out a tattered afghan. Then she hopped on the couch, waiting until Nico settled down to position herself.

“Enjoy your company, Nico.”

“Thanks!” Nico waved back at Umi, “We won’t disturb you, I promise.”

Umi watched as Nico started the dvd and Princess wagged her tail and rooted into Nico’s side, encouraging Nico to drop an arm around her. Umi was reminded for a second of Honoka in her affectionate moods and decided to make a phone call before bed. Just to clarify a few party details, of course.

The movie started and Nico’s whispered commentary began, “this is a dress rehearsal that’s been running all night. People in shows that are about to open never sleep, pretty girl, but Nico always tries to steal a nap. Keeps the face fresh…”

Umi grabbed her phone, dialing Honoka as Nico’s whispers were occasionally answered by whines and short howls. If anyone in her dreams tonight actually conversed in normal tones of voice, Umi would consider it a blessing.

A/N Hello! Still not quite used to not having rehearsals and performances, although there was a thunderstorm today and I just got to enjoy the cool without worrying so that was nice.

Are you a party animal or a movies on the couch person? And what movie? Shin Godzilla arrived in the mail today so that's my weekend plan.

Oh, I remembered which universe my werewolf physiology ideas are riffed off of: Terry Pratchett and his Discworld series. The books about The Ankh-Morpork City Watch are my some of favorite go to reads to relax and one of the characters, Angua, is a werewolf. I realized this around Chapter 3 so it's absorbed werewolf knowledge I was using as a foundation. 

Thanks for joining me on this adventure. Let me know what you think as we get closer to the revelation. d(-_^)

[cheriemelody]

How Demons might be Satisfied

Grace was humming and wandering around in the deserted city when she heard a commotion in the distance. There wasn’t really anything else to do, and she was curious, so she used her magic to form feathery wings to fly there quickly. She couldn’t remember the last time that there was anything worth checking out.

ao3

Before long, she arrived. What was being surrounded by the other demons? Oh, a human! Quite a scared and confused human. In fact, they looked like they had just woken up from a nightmare and didn’t realize yet that, yes, their nightmare was still going to continue for a while. (Grace couldn’t tell from her location what their gender was. Grace flew closer. She looked at their facial features and body type and still couldn’t tell. Hmm, it would be nice to know their gender. Grace peered into and examined their mind.) He noticed Grace and stared back at her with even more confusion.

“Are you flying?!”

Oh. Right. Humans can’t fly naturally.

“Why’s he payin’ attention to you, Grace?”

One of the demons from below glared at Grace.

“I’m the demon who deserves the most attention, you know!” Grace giggled. “I’m the prettiest of you all.”

As annoyance grew on some demons’ faces, the young man’s face grew paler.

“Wait, demons?!”

He took a step back, and then another. Grace noticed, and giggled. Wouldn’t he make very nice prey? It had been a while since she had last hunted for a fresh soul. Wait, he’s actually trying to run away. Grace giggled again. She flew down, and before he even had time to turn his head around when he heard her approaching, she grabbed him underneath his arms and pulled him upwards into the air. She ignored both the demon’s indignant cries and the cries of the poor man she was carrying.

After a while, he quieted down. Grace hummed again, and not from boredom. Eventually, they arrived at the Tyler mansion. When they reached the front door, Gloria, Grace’s sister, called out from a window.

“Grace, did you actually bring something useful this time?”

“Gloria, I brought a human!”

“Wow, you did something useful for once.”

“Oh, come on!”

Gloria looked out of her window. She almost smiled at Grace’s exasperated expression.

“Well, you might as well get in through this window.”

It took some time for him to calm down. It required cookies and milk.

After some hesitation, he finally asked, “You’re demons, right? You still eat human food?”

“Yes, in a way,” Grace answered. “Most demons should actually eat some human food to be fully healthy. But.”

Oh, dear, he was back to not being calm. She did need to explain this, though.

“But all demons need to consume human souls to survive.”

He paled. “Was… Was that why you took me?”

Grace started to stare at him intensely. “Not necessarily for that reason.”

“Eh?”

“I saw through your mind, you know.”

“Eh??”

“Yuya. Sakaki Yuya, the entertainer. Planning to pursue professional Entertainment Dueling after graduating from high school. You’re currently finishing up the last year of high school, if I remember correctly.”

“Eh???”

Grace continued to stare at him. He’s actually pretty cute when this surprised. Adorable, even. Unfortunately, he was speechless after this revelation.

“Do you know what this city of demons needs? More than just one human soul?”

Yuya didn’t respond.

“Do you know how bored we are?”

Gloria interrupted, “Just you, Grace. I’m perfectly fine with just eating him right here and now.”

Poor Yuya. He paled again. Grace wasn’t sure if she could stand eating him if he actually did fail.

“Gloria! I’m not the only demon bored out of my mind. The entire city population would gather around him if they could because what human ends up in the middle of a demon city out of nowhere?” Grace whined.

“Anyways,” Grace continued, “even if I had the heart of an angel and tried to help you escape back into your own world, the entire city would be out to get you. But don’t fear just yet! There’s an alternative!”

Gloria rolled her eyes. Yuya, however, seemed to catch on very quickly.

“I just have to entertain them, and then I’ll be free?”

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!!”

How is he sooo adorable when he says that?! Grace was practically squealing in her seat and didn’t even try to prevent herself from standing up from her seat. She didn’t even notice Gloria rolling her eyes up at her. Yuya had just pendulum summoned Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon along with an Entermate companion.

“Since an Entermate monster was pendulum summoned, Entermate Pendulum Sorcerer’s pendulum effect adds 1000 ATK to all of my Entermate monsters!”

The audience of demons stared in wonder as the sorcerer enhanced Entermate Odd-Eyes Light Phoenix on the field, increasing its attack to 3000 ATK. You can never go wrong with sparkles~ Grace giggled at her own thought.

“Grace, please,” Gloria grumbled. She didn’t bother asking Grace to sit back down, though. Once Grace was this excited, whether it be from having a crazed duel or sucking someone’s soul dry, nothing could be done to contain her excitement.

“Battle! Odd-Eyes Light Phoenix will attack Ojama Blue!”

Ojama Blue was in ATK position, but due to the Ojama country field spell, it had 1000 ATK.

“Aargh!”

The opponent’s life points went down to 2000.

“Hmph! Since Ojama Blue was destroyed by battle, I can add two Ojama cards from my deck to my hand.”

The opponent oh so happened to be the one demon to be the most annoyed at Grace’s antics (except for Gloria). That was one of the reasons why Grace didn’t offer to duel Yuya herself, as tempting as that sounded. She wanted Yuya to defeat this stupid demon.

As strange as it sounded, though, the main reason was so that she could be part of the audience itself. As much as she enjoyed dueling, she wanted to experience this Entertainment Duel from the audience’s perspective.

That won’t be enough to stop Yuya’s attack, and you know that. Even though Ojama King currently has 3000 ATK, and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon only has 2500 ATK, there must have been a reason why he didn’t choose to crash Odd-Eyes Light Phoenix with Ojama King. More importantly, it’s just that Yuya looks like he will win this turn. His confidence. He’s so...

“YUYAAA!!!”

Grace screamed again, and Gloria wondered why her sister had to have a crush on Sakaki Yuya out of everyone. Why did it have to be a human and not a proper demon? Stupid Grace...

“Battle! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon will attack Ojama King! Spiral Strike Burst!”

Nico Smiley, the announcer, exclaimed, “Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon currently has less ATK than Ojama King! What is Yuya Sakaki planning to do?”

“The fun has just begun!”

Grace screamed yet again, and Gloria just wanted this duel to end.

Yuya jumped on top of Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and then rode it towards Ojama King.

“I activate Entermate Odd-Eyes Unicorn’s pendulum effect! I target Odd-Eyes Light Phoenix and add its original attack to Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!”

A rainbow road formed underneath the dragon and led to Ojama King. The audience gaped, amazed at the sheer brilliance of the color palette that the rainbow offered to the stage. With 4500 ATK, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon battled Ojama King.

Grace was looking at heaven itself.

Yuya continued, “Since Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon is battling a LV 5 or higher monster, the battle damage is doubled! Go, Reaction Force!”

With only 2000 life points left, the opponent took 3000 damage.

Nico Smiley proclaimed, “The winner of this duel is, the Entertainment Duelist, Sakaki Yuya!!!”

The audience resounded throughout the stadium like a thunderstorm.

“Congratulations, Yuya!”

Yuya turned around from his new demon fans who visited them at the Tyler mansion and faced Grace.

“Thanks, I wouldn’t have gotten this far without you. If it wasn’t for your idea-”

“No need! That duel was spectacular! I couldn’t believe my own eyes! It was incredible!”

Yuya laughed sheepishly. “Thanks! I’m so glad to hear that!”

He paused, however, when Grace approached his fans and told them that she wanted to talk to Yuya privately before he left for the human world. After they left, Yuya still had one question to ask.

“I’m honestly surprised that the demons would let me go after just one duel. Actually, I’m surprised that they would let me go at all.”

Grace giggled. “I told you, didn’t I? That this city is waaay too boring. Your entertainment was worth far more than one human soul.”

Yuya supposed that he could live with that compliment.

“But if you still feel indebted to me…”

Before Yuya knew it, Grace pushed him down on the sofa and straddled him. Yet again, Yuya’s mind wasn’t working, but for completely different reasons. Grace leaned down and whispered in his ear, “I don’t know if I told you this, but I’m a succubus.”

Yuya flinched, his face becoming even redder. “Oh, I guess I didn’t. Well, hehe, now you might have an idea how I suck human souls dry from their bodies…”

Yuya really wasn’t sure how to feel about this situation. Grace’s voice lowered. “Don’t worry. I’m still never going to harm you. I just want to offer… hmm… my company if you return to visit. Or what about right now?”

She nibbled on his ear. Yuya yelped and slid his way out of the couch, face red as a tomato. And stumbled.

“Grace, I- I really appreciate it, b- but I want some time to think about it.”

Grace chuckled, still lying down on her side on the couch. Shy, wasn’t he? He didn’t seem that opposed to it, fortunately.

“Take your time~”

Yuya looked down in embarrassment. Grace rose from her couch and stood in front of him. And tenderly held his face in her hands and looked into his crimson eyes.

And then kissed him.

For once, Yuya didn’t flinch away. He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her.

“Grace, why is it that the first thing I see when I enter is you and that human kissing?”

[maemusicmelody]

Fighting For Love || Ch.1

Fandom: Love Live! School Idol Project Pairing: NozoMaki vs. NozoEli Chapter Word Count: 1k+ Story Summary: Time is ticking until graduation. In the recent months, Nozomi has been spending more time with Maki and less with Eli. When Eli and Maki realize they both have feelings for Nozomi, both set out to win Nozomi's heart. Will one of them manage to succeed? What friendships will be destroyed in the process?

Fanfiction: Chapter One

Next chapter

The days seemed to go by faster and faster as they fell into the same routine: get up, school, lunch, more classes, practice, then home. Each day passed at a blink of an eye and no one seemed to notice. Everyone was too busy with their activities and getting through the day to even think about it.

Maki, however, spent much of her time thinking about just that. Her quiet evenings alone, sitting at the piano to play some music or at her desk doing homework gave her all the room to just think.

Today was no different. Nimble fingers danced across the white and black keys, filling the school's music room with a sweet melody. Despite the music she was making, her mind wandered off into its own little world. She thought about how she had got to this point, how she become part of muse and formed friendships with all its members. She thought about how nice it was to finally have people in her life instead of isolating herself the way she had done most of her life. She thought about how three of them were going to graduate soon, bringing an end to their group. Then what? She wondered if the remaining six would stick together even if they weren't spending their days training and making music together. Would they even speak to each other as much as they did now? Would the three leaving for college have enough time to visit, or even contact any of the six friends they left behind?

Completely engrossed in her thoughts with her fingers still playing songs on autopilot, Maki didn't even notice someone walk in until she felt the warm body against her right side and a familar voice speak.

"Neh neh, Maki-chan. As pretty as it sounds, you're being really sloppy... How disappointing! To think I came all the way here to listen to ya play."

The teasing words caused her to make a sour face. Stopping what she was doing, she placed her hands in her lap then looked at the older girl with a pout. "L-like you can play any better, Nozomi-chan!"

"Is that a challenge?" The purplenette rose an eyebrow.

"If you can even call it a challenge."

"Alright then. Watch an learn from your senpai!"

Maki scooted over slightly, giving Nozomi a bit more room to play. She listened to the older girl play and instantly recognized the song. The familiar tune made her feel at home, bur she wouldn't admit that. "The River Flows in You? You always play that Nozomi... Play something else!"

Nozomi chuckled, giving Maki a little nudge. "But you always love it when I play this song. You even fell asleep on my lap last time." Her words left Maki huffing with bright red cheeks. Nozomi started adding notes to the current song as she transitioned to a different piece. Unlike the relaxed tone of the first piece, this one was much faster with a more lively pace.

"Fantasie Impromptu? When did you learn that one?" Maki blinked in surprise. She's never heard Nozomi play that song before.

"Ya know I like Chopin. I prefer slower songs, but I learned this one a while back." Nozomi grinned, pleased to give Maki a little surprise. "Impressed?"

"Mmm.. Not really. I can still do better!" Maki shrugged, unwilling to admit to Nozomi that she was indeed impressed.

"Alright after you." Nozomi put her hands down, giving Maki access.

"Hmph. Watch a master." Maki smirked back at her. She began to play. Unlike Nozomi's airy and light piece, she went for a more dramtic tone. Fingers pressing heavily onto the keys and alternating between slow and fast parts. Eventually as she got into the rhythm of the piece, she began to put her heart and soul into the piece. The further into the piece, the faster it became until her fingers could barely be seen pressing the notes. By the time she finished the song, she was out of breath. When was the last time she had played that particular piece?

She felt an arm wrap around her and warm breath against her neck as Nozomi rested her head against her shoulder. "That was beautiful Maki. You should teach me that one!"

Maki smiled softly at her. The first time Nozomi had showed up to watch her play, it was so awkward for her. She thought that the older girl would give up at some point and leave her alone to her music, but Nozomi kept showing up. At some point, she learned that Nozomi could actually play as well, much to her surpise. Nozomi really was like a mystery box which anyone would love to open up and learn its secrets. After some time, the shy first year grew used to the third years company to the point where she could now welcome the older girl's affection. To think that only months before, Maki would have been super uncomfortable being this close to anyone. How time has changed... Time.

"Of course I can show you. Well... If you have time, that is." The last few words coming out as a silent mumble, clear disappointment in her voice.

"Maki..." Nozomi sighed. So thats what this was about. When she had come here to spend time with Maki, she really did notice how sloppy her playing was. It was as if the girl wasn't even playing attention to what her fingers were doing. So she was right to believe that Maki had been lost in her own thoughts. "I'm sorry I haven't been around as often. Student council and work on top of graduation-"

"I know." Maki cut her off. The hurt tone in her voice rang throughout the room. "You, Eli-chan and Nico-chan are graduating, I get it. Off to college."

Nozomi paused, letting Maki's words sink in. "You know we will all visit. Remember Nicocchi has her siblings to take care of still, and Alisa will be going here so Eli will be visit often."

"What about you. I'm guessing you'll just forget about us, right? It's not like you have any reason to come here all the time like those two." Maki's smile had faded by now as she stared angrily at the piano keys, not even willing to look at the other.

"I have you." The words caught Maki's attention. Nozomi chuckled as the redhead turned to stare at her, a blush clear across her cheeks. "And I have the rest of the girls. I care about all of you. I wouldn't just abandon you like that."

The ressauring words helped Maki to relax, but not by much. She couldn't help but feel a little pang of disappointment when Nozomi grouped her up with the other girls, but it was to be expected. Its not like she was special to Nozomi in comparision with the others. "Hmph. Whatever. It's not like I care if you visit or anything!"

"Uwah. How mean, Maki-chan. I thought we were friends." Nozomi made fake upset noises. "You don't wanna see me anymore?"

Maki flinched. Part of her knew Nozomi was just trying to tease her, but the other part of her felt just a smidge bad. "I-I didn't mean it like that! Mou... Nozomi..."

Nozomi wasn't done messing with her. With a pout across her face, she cupped Maki's cheek with the hand that wasn't at Maki's waist and forced her to look at her. "Then say you want me to visit you!"

Staring into Nozomi's emeralds only made Maki's face flush a deeper shade of red. Her rested her head against Nozomi's chest and burried her face at the crook of her neck in an attempt to hide her burning face. "Of c-course I want you to visit me you idiot! S-stupid Nozomi..."

Nozomi laughed, utterly amused. She hummed softly, playing with Maki's red locks for a few moments before pulling out her phone to send a text.

At the same time, Maki was busy trying to relax so the blush would go away. She closed her eyes and listened to the soothing sound of Nozomi's heart beat. It was tempting to stay like that, warm and comfortable with a silent tune being played only for her to hear, but of course the world didn't work that way. That and she didn't need Nozomi assuming weird things! She got off Nozomi a bit to see her busy on her phone.

"Eh... Who ya texting?" She asked.

"Elicchi." Nozomi replied, keeping her eyes on the phone. "Just letting her know I won't be going to her place for dinner."

"Huh? But you don't have work today. Why aren't you going?" Maki gave her a confused look.

"Cause I'm hanging out with you tonight!" Nozomi grinned brightly at her. She got up to pick up her bag then headed towards the door. "Well ya comin' or?"

"Eeeeehhh?!" Maki got up and started to gather her stuff. Nozomi had already left the room by the time she was finished, forcing Maki to scamper after her. "Nozomi! Who even said I would hang out with you tonight?"

Nozomi turned around, glad to see the younger catch up. "Do you not wanna hang out then?"

"I m-mean! I do-"

"Good!" Nozomi smiled at her happily. "Let's pick up dinner then you can sleep over at my place~"

"Mou... Fine..." Maki sighed, giving in. There was no use arguing with the older girl anyway. Nozomi woild figure out a way to get what she wants anyway. Still, Maki couldn't help but smile to herself with a light feeling in her heart.