#There's not much a difference until 'Oh. Oh that. That th-thing is r-real. and it is talk-king to me. Oh no. This is f-fine--'

[freezinglemur]

Sorry Five I'm getting into a thing which means you're getting put into a situation related to said thing!

I love putting him in situations. I'm so sorry Five the horrors are probably kidnapping you again and you're going to get along with unconventional beings and not know why but roll with it anyway

@lieutenant-fred I am blaming you for getting me interested originally in this stuff I've been slowly looking into it (when I rember n have the time in between bugging the weapons lol) (playful)

[ilbound]

@nexarerum has requested a story : “  i don’t think hearts break. shattered things can only be broken once. but torn things can be mended again and again until it’s all scars and stitching.  ” gabs to kaen!

𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒅.

Hard to say exactly WHAT got them onto the topic ; as usual , when the two get together it is either extremely lighthearted or extremely involved in terms of conversation ( not that kaen ever held much complaint either way , as much as the witch enjoyed picking their brain on certain things , they liked to do the same to her ; such is friendship , they suppose ) .  As she talks , Kaen hovers by the microwave , waiting for the popcorn to finish so they can get on with their movie-night.  Furred ear flicks to attention , quirking back in her direction to l i s t e n intently to what she has to say.  Kaen tosses their best friend a quizzical look , a frown beginning to tug at their lips ; the current subject is one that is assuredly dredging up some UNPLEASANT / UNCERTAIN FEELINGS ( & it shows in the unspoken storm beginning to descend on their person , darkening their ever-bright glow to an uncharacteristic dim glimmer ) .  But Kaen is more than aware that Gabriella will neither push them for a response nor judge them for whatever they might think to say ( good or bad ) .

❝ … ‘S tha’ really better , though ? ❞  Kaen asks ( more to themself than her ) , turning back to collect the popcorn and dump it into a large bowl , walking with her back to the small living room to unceremoniously p l o p down on the couch causing an upstart in the snack still held in their hands.  ❝ Y’know , Ah’m not so sure tha’s true , ❞ They wait , letting her come join them before continuing , ❝ Ah think- Ah think hearts c a n and d o break. ❞  Why else would there be a WORD for it ?  Why else would there be a SICKNESS dedicated to the phenomena of its effects on a person ?

They tip their head , looking over at Gabriella ; their expression is t i g h t and tense in the way it always tends to be when the poor thing starts OVERTHINKING about something that’s been said or done , their mind rushing far too fast for their tongue to keep pace with the overwealth of thoughts coming forth.  ❝ An’ Ah’m not really sure there’s a difference , either ; shattered , broken , torn — ❞ Lists these things off by ticking their fingers , ❝ — ‘S all th’ same thing , innit ?  ‘R at least , it seems like it.  Ah wanna say tha’ th’ real difference lies in ‘ow people learn ta’ recover from it when it ‘appens.  Puttin’ yerself back t’gether , makin’ sure y’e’en got all’a yer pieces so ye can be WHOLE AGANE … Tha’s th’ part tha’ matter mos’ , fer me anyways. ❞  A pause , ruminating for a second whilst they munch on some popcorn.  ❝ … ‘Onestly , Ah dun’ think many people would come outta’ shit like tha’ WITHOUT scars , either.  But , y’know , scars’re sexy so who cares ! ❞

Rather like the godling to launch into a sudden diatribe , isn’t it ?  Kaen s m i l e s and l a u g h s to punctuate the lingering humor at their final sentiment , but there’s a hidden sorrow there just the same … Like speaking from EXPERIENCE .  Well , hopefully it was a good enough response.  ❝ Oh , uh … Wha’ movie did ye say ye wanted us ta’ watch , by th’ way ? ❞  And , as usual , the KING of changing the topic.

[han-shinsuke]

l e v i a c k e r m a n

content warning

•s t a r t•

“Still dating,” I really don’t mind elaborating the kind of relationship and interaction Levi and I had every time we were together. As long as he’s happy and contented, I won’t ask and won’t even dare open up if he has plans to level up ‘us’. It’ll just make things complicated between our hearts and our real agenda.

“Did you fuck each other already?”

“What? No.”

Although, some nights, he’s in my dreams, fucking his loads into me until he fulfilled his bank of satisfaction.

Let’s just say I’m indebted to him that’s why I am letting him use me as a bait or a shield againsts those women who tries luring him to a marriage or to any responsibilities that would tie him up in a kind of life he never wanted.

Willa flashes a malicious grin and pinches my side, “what if he asks you to do some job for him, will you do it?” I did not falter when I responded.

“I will if he wants me to but, I’m just a bait and nothing more than that.”

“He’s here.” My friend cocks her head to the main gate and we watch his expensive rover enters our University and park right in front of us, “Levi.” Willa acknowledges his arrival and he responds with a nod, “Willa, it’s good to see you.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Wils.” I give my friend a hug and hop on in his car.

Levi drives in silence which was his usual behaviour when we’re together. We lived in a same house but sleeps in different rooms and definitely not into romantics. Though, I’d be happy if we could engage ourselves into it.

He’s just uh, too uptight to be as sweet as a candy.

“Hey there, wait a sec.” His left hand almost got squeezed by the door of my room but he managed to remain calm and unbothered.

The door creaks open and slams closed when we stepped in to my room, him dragging me to the bed I don’t sleep on.

“Wh–why?” I ask when he instructed me to kneel. He sits on the edge, unzips his pants and freed his thing.

I gulp secretly and even curse under my breath. My eyes water at the sight of it and he’s very attentive in cupping my face and wiping the moisture on the corner of my eyes.

“We’ve been dating but you haven’t had a taste of me, right? Let’s start from the bottom, yeah?”

Can I do it? I have never sucked a man’s thing before nor had a chance to touch one.

“You can do it, baby. I’ve seen you licked an ice cream before. Close your eyes if you must, hmm?”

Sounds easy but too hard to execute. I shut my eyes closed. Pray first. Put my trembling hands around his long rod and breathe in strength and confidence.

Its skin feels soft and delicate between my lips but the whole thing is far different. It’s thick and hard as his fingers combing my shoulder length hair, slightly pulling the tension from the scalp. My mouth feels full by just having the tip around the circumference of my lips. It is bigger and harder, enough to piston down the sensitive muscle of a woman.

“Full already?” he teases, grabbing my hair fully as he lifts my head to spit in my mouth. It caught me off having a man’s saliva on my tongue but it feels warm and sweet and arousing that when he dropped his lips onto mine and kissed me hard just to force more of his spittle down my throat, I did nothing but moan alongside with his rough and sloppy kisses.

“Ooh, God!” I gasp after feeling his tight pull on the strands of my hair.

“Do it, baby, ‘kay?” I nod, lowering my head back to his tip, swallowing it first and clenching it against my lips. Levi let out a grunt and before I could even ask if I’m doing the job right, he pushed my head deep to his member, slamming the hard cap against my throat. I squeal and squirm and cry in my head all at once. The feeling of his erection installed fully and deeper in my mouth feels lethal and the tension down my pipe was forcibly undeniable. I let out choking noises and I heard him laugh at it, pulling my head up and slamming it back again. Then pulled again, withdrawing his size to look down at my tears dampened face.

“First time, baby?” I nod again, muffling my cries from the rough force that lingers in my mouth and down my windpipe. I failed in suppressing my cries that’s why I ended up sobbing on his muscular thighs, “ssshh, baby, it’s fine. You hurt?” I shake my head no. Liar. I scream in my head. My throat was throbbing in pain and my mouth feels numb by his huge size that previously stuffed in my airways.

Levi pulls me back to my feet, squeezing my sides with his calloused palms and fingers, face leveling with my chest.

“Why are we doing this?” I sob, holding onto his arms that continuously squeezing and kneading the skin under the uniform I am wearing.

“Can’t we do it?” he asks back, lips thinning into a mischievous grin.

He warms my heart and eases the pain in my throat by lacing his fingers along the lines of my lips, then pushes a digit between it, pressing softly and then poking my tongue with his sharp nail. I closed my eyes as I moan his name, almost like a whisper but loud enough for him to hear.

“Le–Levi... Levi... ” want him to do something to me. Something dirty. Something new. But how can you name a feeling so new, so strange and so addicting?

Another digit was added between my lips, pumping gently, heating the already burning fuel in me, “say it, baby. Say it.” He knows I’m craving for that heat. He’s putting me on the edge like how a bait should be treated. On the edge. On the brink of death.

Completely succumbed, I whisper those filthy shits, “fuck me, please.”

Those words were just a whisper but strong enough to snap him out of his own reverie. I’m just as lost as him. So high and dumb that I didn’t even notice the force he uses on me, tearing the front of my blouse, buttons flying everywhere. Finally, the part of me that aches for some attention, he didn’t think twice and cage the perked buds alternately in his mouth, lapping the pad of his tongue around its tiny size, sucking it hard that makes me bend my top body in a curve of delight as I ask for support through his head.

“Oh my! Levi!” the sounds of his lips between those cruel kiss as he pops each buds with force were enough to take away the remaining sanity in my head. My knees betrayed me, trembling down from the obvious defeat, Levi scoops my weight onto his lap, wrapping my legs with eagerness around his waist, putting his mouth back to business, my grip tightened on his hair, pulling his face tight against my aching breasts.

“Shit, baby!” I feel soaked and it was because of his habit spitting the spot he wants to claim as his own, “damn tits! I can suck these all night aah!” I follow his thirsty moan with a loud gasp and tight squeeze on his shoulders as he devours my chest with so much hunger. The kisses were soft but the teeth works were harsh, leaving marks of his pure desires.

“Come on, Levi! Aah! I–I hhyaahh! I–I need to pee, ooh!” I push his face and look at him pleadingly. The heat was turning up in my stomach. I really need to pee, “Hwait—Aaah!” He bites hard the left bud and I swear I fucking shit myself in my skirt but it was far different from my normal urine. It feels warmer and thicker that a question in my head pops up, “you’re quick to cum.” He confirms it, humping my hips against his protruding erection that has white cream on its tip.

Panting, I crash my lips on his and he’s quick to catch mine and give it the kiss I wanted.

“Levmmpphhh! Haahhh! Too hard hhmmpp!” He uses more of his teeth and tongue, biting the corner then licking the part he made to bleed a little. Levi was strong, his arms were crashing me with its tight embrace, holding me with so much force and selfishness. Trying my best to cope up with his need, I return the kiss in a very sensual manner, moving softly on his lower lip, nipping it, sliding my tongue inside his mouth. The table was turned. His kisses changes course, mimicking the slow pace of my mouth on his.

“Hmmm... ” I moan between his hungry but careful kisses, swallowing everything he could.

The kiss paused for a moment, engaging our eyes full of lust, I dip my mouth once again for a quick smack on his softness. He smiles, tugging down the blouse he tore apart down my elbows, exposing the cold skin of my shoulder and back. I tilt my head voluntarily for him to dip his own with ease. His hot mouth touch my skin, tracing warm kisses from my shoulder up to my neck. He blows a kiss on my throat and suck its skin, nibbling, determined to leave another mark .

“Fuck me, Levi. I want you in. Rail me, please.” He chuckles against my skin, peppering my softness with his cruel kisses. God. Unknowingly, humping and grinding my bottom against his hardness that screams for attention and womanly flesh.

“So desperate, baby huh! Can you take me huh? You don’t blame me if things gone wrong huh?” I won’t hold him accountable for things I pleaded him to do. I want it and I’ll deal with it.

Levi lays me down on the bed, pulling my lower half near the edge, folding my thighs to his heart’s desires after removing my undergarments. He eyed me down there carefully, constantly looking at my worried face. He must have noticed it, the flesh blocking his passage.

“I won’t scream. I won’t make a sound and I won’t hold on to you.” I heard these information from all the girls he had fucked to sleep. He despises women who screams, who cries and those who dares touch him while reeling deep a hole.

It would be painful, I know, but I prefer myself ready if something like this happened and it’s happening.

Levi tosses the clothes around the room, flaunting his perfect built and massive thing. I hold my legs for him, shutting my close as he rubs his tip on the hood, gradually pushing its head.

“G–go on... ” I encourage him, tilting my head to the left, biting my lips hard.

“You desperate little shit!” I unconsciously let go of my legs to cover my mouth when he goes really deep and penetrates the intact hymen to reach the place only his thing can touch.

My whole body shakes as my fingers clutches the bedsheet for external support.

His thing burns the life out of me, burning the core further, suffocating me with how his thing feels like, throbbing ang growing bigger from the fact that he’s the first man to use me like this.

I breathe his name helplessly, “Levi. Levi.”

He’s not making a move yet. He’s watching my every reaction and how my face contorted due to the pain he caused me.

“Are you expecting something after this?” his thing throbbed, growing even bigger. What a cruel way of knocking down my airway.

My lips parted, gasping for air. Pain from the bottom flesh increasing rapidly all over my veins, “N–No... don’t worry.” I give my most genuine smile and swallow my cries and sobs.

“I–I know my place, Levi.” I added before he gone merciless with his deep thrust and cruel kisses.

“Levi, ooohhh!” tightly, hold on to the sheet tightly. There’s no one to cheer me all throughout this session so I did what I needed to do. I comfort myself on my own, grabbing for support onto the sheet as he strikes harder and fast with those thick hips and thighs, spreading my legs with his expert hands.

“Shit, baby! So tight here hah! Damn!” hard blow followed by another blow, forcing my core to accommodate his growing size by folding my legs and spreading them when he’s not comfortable.

I need something to hold on but who and what to hold.

“Lev—” his lips crashes back again on mine, kissing me torridly, fucking my tongue with his tongue, swirling, tasting my mouth full of his spittle.

My heart swells in affection, my tummy from his long and thick manhood. He says, surprisingly, “hold tight, baby.” When I didn’t move because I couldn’t comprehend his words, Levi grabs my right hand and put around his toned arms while lacing his other with my left as he picks up his face and strength. Drilling his rod deeper and fast as he buries his face on my neck, sucking its crooked part, licking his way up to my mouth to kiss me again.

“Aaahhh~ oh my God! You’re so deep! Aahh!” I couldn’t contain my moans anymore. It’s getting louder and he’s not bothering himself with it. He keeps ramming his hips against mine, creaming the already drenched hole.

Another heat is building up in me, making me hold tighter on his body and hand. I started squirming when he put a finger on my clit, rubbing it hard as he pumps hard his long shaft, “shit, baby! Aahhnngg cumming! Aah!”

My body convulses with his shaking ones, pumping even harder, filling me with warm cream until it oozes down my core down to the anus.

“Levi... ” his name rolls out my tongue before I dropped flat weakly on the bed, him on top of me, pressing more of his weight ‘til he completely dry his member out of his jizz.

He moves again. Blowing off another strikes but I’m too weak and too tired to cooperate with him. I just let him use me again and again.

He’s the love of my life after all.

•••

I woke up alone on my bed, feeling numb from the last night activity. He wasn’t here. He must be out and working already. My stomach growls, hunger occupying my senses. I force myself out from the bed, heading to the bathroom to clean myself. His marks are all over my body. The most visible were the one around my neck and my left wrist. He’s gone hard and wild last night, holding me by the neck to kiss me while fucking me from behind. Ah, Levi, what a poison you were.

I dress in my usual boyish clothes, leaving the house with my sore body and numb legs.

The day was peaceful and I’m having my breakfast at a café when this man storms in and snatches my aching body.

“Ouch.” I hiss lowly, not wanting to draw attention on us.

He sits me back on my chair, setting down really close to me, pressing our forehead together.

“You’re not allowed to leave me, Y/N! Fuck. I was so scared!” he’s breathing heavily and angrily.

I sip my coffee before answering, “I can’t even if I want to, Levi. Not in this condition. I can’t even feel my legs.”

I giggle at my own helplessness but he’s still mad, “I have been calling you! Where’s your goddamn phone?!”

“Oh! I think I left it in our house.” I answer innocently, grabbing a waffle from the white china, “hey! that’s mine!” my lips pouted when he stole my food and bit it angrily.

“I love you!” I think I misheard him.

“Huh?” I questioned.

“What an idiot and slowpoke.” Levi commented before gripping my chin and pressing his lips hard on my mouth.

•e n d•

[pastelwitchling]

Somebody to You (Chapter 2/4)

               Isobel was not even a little bit what Alex expected her to be. She flipped her hair as he’d imagined she would, and she had the same sneaky smirk that Michael did that made Alex’s heart ache, but as they strolled the museum halls, passing painting after sculpture after painting after ancient pieces of New Mexican history, her remarks were never teasing but genuine.

               She seemed fascinated less with the actual artwork and more with what Alex thought of it himself. As if she hoped to unravel the mystery of him by knowing his opinion on the mundane.

               “What about this one?” she pointed at a piece. “And that one? What about this?”

               “Isobel,” Max panicked, “don’t touch that!”

               Alex hid a smile. Max and Isobel had the relationship he’d always secretly wished he had with his brothers, despite their differences. Despite their father trying to get in between them and pin them against each other.

               He should’ve been sad, should’ve felt left out as he usually did when Michael started flirting with a girl when they were hanging out; like everything was a reminder of how much he didn’t fit, but . . . Max kept looking for his reactions, and Isobel kept her arm hooked around his and glaring at anyone that gave the only gay kid a sideways glance, and both of them felt the need to fill Alex in on any inside joke they had.

               By the end of the museum visit, Alex realized the entire trip had been listening to more of the Evans’ stories than knowing anything about the pieces they’d seen. It was nice, like being with Liz and Kyle, except one of them kept watching him, raising an inconspicuous brow whenever Alex pulled his phone out and the other kept giving him covert glances and smirking, like she knew something Alex didn’t.

               Alex almost wanted to tell Isobel that he knew about Max’s feelings for him, as surprising and out of character as they were, but couldn’t bring himself to confess to them. They’d feel real, like he was humoring Max instead of the truth, which was pining and loving his brother and forever miserable at the strange distance Michael seemed to be taking with him now.

               Too lost in his thoughts about Michael, Alex didn’t even realize that Max was holding a smoothie in his face until his nose hit the cold cup.

               Alex blinked, startled, and Max smiled softly. “Sorry. Pineapple’s your favorite, right?”

               “Yeah,” Alex said slowly, taking the cup. Isobel was holding something aggressively pink and Max’s own was a deep blue. “How’d you know?”

               An unreadable expression crossed Max’s face for a split second, but it was gone so quickly that Alex was sure he must’ve imagined it.

               “I asked Michael,” he said, gaging Alex’s reaction as he took a sip.

               Alex had no idea how much it felt like he was suffocating until he had something cold and delicious trickle into his chest, like a window was open to his heart and he was able to breathe.

               His eyes fluttered and he sighed, content. Max’s smile widened.

               Alex pulled off the straw and looked down. He was used to being watched, but people’s interests usually quickly faded. Max, on the other hand, seemed to stare more and more.

               He cleared his throat, swirling the yellow smoothie. He glanced at Isobel, to make sure was busy harassing the enamored girl behind the desk about her right to have more granola. “Can I ask you something?”

               “Me?” Max blinked. “Yeah!”

               “Why now?” Alex asked. “I mean, we’ve been around each other since middle school.”

               Max seemed to think about this a moment, then, “I guess I just never looked at you that way. I mean, you’re – you’re my brother’s best friend.”

               “But that hasn’t changed.”

               “No,” he agreed. “But . . . Michael told me you play the piano.”

               “So?”

               “So,” Max swallowed, “I didn’t know that. I never even imagined it. You have this whole emo thing going, but . . . it feels . . . like . . . there’s more to you, I guess?” He shut his eyes. “Which I know is so stupid to say because I don’t know you that well, but I – I want to. I want to . . . know the guy that looks like he could rule the Underworld and still plays beautiful music on his piano and who laughs around his friends and who’s always there for the people that need him. You’re just good, Alex.” He turned red and wouldn’t meet Alex’s eyes when he continued, “You’re – you’re cute and you’re good, and . . . I don’t know, that feels like the best kind of story.”

               Alex stared until beads of ice water fell down the side of the cup and over his fingers. He blinked, and looked down. He should’ve been angry that some stranger would claim to know anything about him, but only Michael had ever been able to tell when Alex was angry about his father, and rebelling in everything from his clothes to his makeup to his words. When he found comfort in the dark aesthetic, but everyone else was uneased by it. Alex was scary and unapproachable. Only Michael had ever known of how weighed down he could be by others’ aversion to him, how much mattered to him. And now, it seemed, so did Max.

               Alex swallowed thickly, running through the million things he would say. How’d you know? Don’t read my mind like that. How did you so easily say what Michael never seems to want to? In the end, however, he settled for, “Oh.”

               *

               Watching Alex and Isobel together was . . . not unpleasant. Far from it, actually, Max found himself laughing when Isobel eagerly tugged Alex along every few blocks to gossip about who-knows-what, and Alex scrunched his nose every so often in a way that made Max’s heart flutter. It was either giggle a little breathlessly at his reactions or press his hand over his chest and question what his racing heart meant.

               “What’s so funny?” Alex asked at one point.

               Max blushed at the idea of confessing, but he figured it would help his case, so he murmured, “You’re kind of adorable,” and took a long gulp of his drink, refusing to look at Alex for his reaction.

               They walked along the neighborhood for a long time. Isobel treated them each to a beer, and if Alex was annoyed by her at all, he definitely didn’t show it. In fact, he looked amused every time she spoke, and it made something in Max’s protective heart melt.

               Stop it, he scolded. This is fake, this is all fake. Remember your mission.

               When the time came for them to part ways, Max insisted on walking Alex to his house.

               “Ooh, Max,” Isobel hooked her arm around Alex’s. “Such a gentleman! Ready to go, Alex?”

               But Alex, Max now realized, had faltered.

               “Erm,” he gently removed his arm from Isobel’s. He looked, for the first time that Max had ever seen him, nervous. “Th-That’s okay. I like walking by myself.”

               Max shook his head. “Alex, it’s really late, I can just –”

               “It’s fine, okay?” Alex said with some edge, walking backwards. “Seriously, I don’t need help.” Then, as an afterthought, he added, “Thanks though. I had a lot of fun. Really. Goodnight.”

               “Goodnight,” Isobel murmured back, her brows pinched, and when she looked to Max, he saw the same confused concern on her face that he felt. He’d thought everything was going fine. He’d thought offering to take Alex home would be a good thing. Had he said something wrong?

               When he and Isobel made it back into the house, they stopped in the corridor that separated their rooms. Isobel leaned her shoulder against her door a moment, and with a gentle smile, she said, “I like him.”

               Max pursed his lips. The same words were on his tongue, but they felt wrong to say. Isobel didn’t know that all of it was an act, that he had only gone out with Alex to help get rid of his feelings for Michael. The softness of her blue eyes forbid Max from confessing to that truth.

               So all he did was hum, mutter a goodnight, and open his door. When he stepped in, he found Michael on the edge of his bed, leaning his elbows on his knees, his hands interlocked tightly.

               Finding Michael in his room at ungodly hours was no surprise, but Max rarely saw him so distressed, his jaw clenched, his eyes focused ahead as if he barely noticed his brother, his thumb carving into the back of his other hand, his foot tapping restlessly on the hardwood floors.

               “Hey,” Max said warily, closing his door.

               “How was the museum?” Michael said in lieu of a greeting.

               Max understood, closing the door. “Good. Great, actually, you don’t have to worry.” He sat down next to Michael with a sigh. “Isobel came with, he had a lot of fun.”

               Michael dropped his head into his hands, his fingers tugging at his curls. “Great,” he said hoarsely.

               Max stared a long moment, and his shoulders slumped. “Michael, you got to stop this. Just talk to Alex –”

               “Stop it, Max,” he ground out.

               Max shook his head. “What happened? I thought Saturdays were for you and Alex, why’d he call me?”

               “I . . .” he growled and stood, kicking a dresser. Max said nothing as his brother paced the length of his room.

               “It’s okay,” he finally said. “He couldn’t hate you, no matter what you –”

               “You didn’t see his face,” he said. “I said – I can’t believe I . . . but it had to be done. I had to . . . he wouldn’t have called you otherwise.”

               Max swallowed. He didn’t know why, but the idea that Alex wouldn’t have called him if Michael hadn’t pushed him to do it upset him more than it should.

               “R-Right,” he said and cleared his throat. “Look, would you just sit down please?”

               Michael sat down with a  huff, his foot still tapping. Max gripped his knee firmly. “Hey,” he said. “I can tell you what he did.”

               Michael nodded, eyes wide and afraid. “O-Okay. Yeah, okay.”

               So Max told him everything, from the moment Alex had come over, to Isobel inviting herself along, to the museum trip, to the smoothies they had, to the beers. When he told Michael about offering to walk Alex home and Alex’s reaction, Michael didn’t look the least bit surprised. If anything, he looked angry all over again.

               “Asshole,” he grumbled, rubbing his face with one hand.

               “Hey,” Max said heatedly, “I tried to –”

               “Not you,” Michael rolled his eyes. “Alex’s dad. Jesse Manes.” He sighed. “If he gets even a feeling that Alex might be dating a guy, he . . .” he shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”

               “It does,” Max said, remembering the fear in Alex’s eyes when he had offered to walk him back. “Michael, he was freaked out –”

               “I know,” Michael cut him off firmly. “Just . . . let it go, Max. There’s nothing you can do. Just don’t let his dad see you together. No matter what. Alex will be the one paying for it.”

               Max swallowed, thinking. He had rarely seen Jesse Manes around town, knowing only that everyone admired him for his military service. Max had never had an opinion other than the fact that Jesse had seemed too cold to approach, but he was nothing like Alex.

               With Alex he saw a warm light. With Jesse, there was none.

               Nonetheless, he just nodded until Michael stopped looking worried about it, and brought in another pillow and blanket for his brother to sleep in his room.

               When he laid there in bed, he pulled his phone out, scrolling mindlessly for fifteen minutes before he convinced himself that pulling Alex’s number was a good idea. He didn’t think he wanted to or should call, but . . .

               Get home okay? he texted, and regretted it the second it sent.

               “Shit,” he whispered, his eyes falling shut. Michael was asleep against the wall, snoring away. Max tapped the edge of the phone when he got no response, then shut it off, leaving it on his nightstand and not at all expecting a response. Then –

               Ting!

               Max swallowed and grabbed his phone.

               Safe and sound, Alex’s message read.

               He bit his lower lip, hesitated, then typed out, Good. Sweet dreams.

               Now that was the one he regretted. Sweet dreams? He groaned, turning his face into the pillow and tossing the phone aside.

               He stared at it from where it sat on the carpet, not expecting an answer, or maybe for Alex to make fun of him or tease him for it. Then the screen lit up and he almost fell off the bed.

               You, too, Max.

               It was stupid. It was so, unbelievably stupid, but a smile tugged at Max’s lips and a chuckle escaped before he even realized it had formed. He could almost hear Alex’s voice, soft and amused, saying his name. What if he thought Max was cute? Or kind? Or unique? What if he was just humoring Max’s ridiculousness? It didn’t matter. He hadn’t laughed at him, he hadn’t ignored him. It made Max smile.

               “You really are good,” he murmured into the night. Michael slept on.

               *

               As soon as he woke up, Michael half-groggily reached for his phone, expecting to find texts and pictures that Alex had taken on their Saturday together. Just before he opened his screen to a single text and picture from Isobel, he remembered that he and Alex hadn’t actually spent any time yesterday with each other.

               Michael deflated entirely, his phone in front of his face as he thoughtlessly clicked on the message. He sat up at once. It was a picture of Isobel taking a selfie with a begrudging Alex on her arm, laughing in that cute way he did when his nose was scrunched and his eyes narrowed.

               He swallowed. This was supposed to be him and Alex yesterday. But what really caught his eyes was Max in the corner. He wasn’t looking at the camera, but at Alex, and the look in his eyes . . . the way he smiled . . .

               Michael had never seen that before. He looked at Max, still sleeping soundly, and thought about this plan to bring his best friend and brother together.

               His thumb tapped the edge of his phone. He wasn’t bringing them together. He was just diverting Alex’s affections for a second. And then Max would go after Liz, the person he actually wanted, and all of this would be over.

               Max doesn’t have a crush on Alex, he told his half-asleep mind, trying to calm himself down as he stepped out of bed. He doesn’t.

               Then for no reason at all, Michael typed out a text to Alex, asking him to meet in the park nearby. Max murmured something in his sleep, and Michael snapped out of his thoughts. He pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. What was he doing? He was so close now. He couldn’t stop this.

               So he fixed his text. He asked Alex to meet both him and Max. Alex took an entire half hour to answer, and Michael knew he was an early riser, so he tried not to feel panicked that his best friend might be too angry to respond, and when the text came that Alex would need twenty minutes to get there, some relief settled in Michael’s chest and he went to wake Max.

               “Huh?” Max sat up, alert, his eyes still closed. “What – what’s happening?”

               “Get up,” Michael said with a heaviness and unwillingness he forced himself to push aside. “We’re going to see Alex.”

               *

               Alex swung back and forth on the swing, his phone clutched tightly in his hand, waiting for any other word from Michael. He was convincing himself that he was excited to see him, but the memory of his words yesterday had gone from the back of his mind to the forefront, and he couldn’t help but still feel hurt that he’d been dismissed so easily.

               “I’m just trying to have a little fun here. Am I supposed to turn down a hot girl for you?”

               Alex’s fingers gripped the swing’s chains tightly, his eyes burning. Like Alex was some nuisance, a second thought. He’d never imagined those words leaving Michael’s lips. He’d never imagined Michael, of all people, making him feel so . . . unwanted.

               Then, before he could help it, his thoughts wandered to Max. Max, who had hurried him away from the large mansion only because he was terrified his sister would scare him away. Who had been eager to get Alex’s opinion on every painting, sculpture, and relic, and actually listened when he spoke. He’d never been able to speak to strangers so easily, but sometimes it was hard to remember that that was what Max was supposed to be. It was just so easy to talk to him . . . and so easy to forget the bad things around him . . .

               Alex shook himself of those thoughts. What was wrong with him? Max was just a cuddly teddy bear, someone who had helped out once when Michael was too busy. No matter what he said or confessed to, he’d get bored and tired of the chase soon enough. He’d get bored and tired of Alex, just like everyone else did.

               When he looked up, he saw Michael first, and started to stand. Then he saw Max, and his shoulders fell.

               “Are you fucking kidding me?” he murmured, and heaved a sigh as he sat back down. He wasn’t going to just run back into Michael’s arms when his schedule allowed him to remember they were supposed to be best friends. Ruining the only day they might’ve had alone was the final straw.

               “Hey,” Michael smiled wide, and Alex’s heart started to flutter. It made him want to cry. It was so unfair, especially when he knew that Michael used that smile on every pretty girl he saw. Until yesterday, Alex had believed he was different.

               Alex ignored Michael’s greeting and glanced at Max instead, who was sleepily rubbing his eyes. Alex faltered. Had Max gotten out of bed just to see him? The thought made him soften. It wasn’t fair, after all, to blame Max for Michael’s behavior.

               “Hi, Max,” he said, and Max blinked, clearly surprised at being spoken to.

               He put his hands in his pockets and cleared his throat. “Uh – hey, Alex.” Another glance at Michael. “Y-You look nice.”

               Maybe Max was waiting for Michael to approve of this compliment, to tell him how smooth he was being with his crush, but Michael’s eyes were focused on Alex, his expression solemn.

               Max seemed to sense the tension because he exhaled slowly and pointed at the swing next to Alex’s. “That swing taken?”

               Alex couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at the corner of his lips, no matter how brief, and he shook his head. Max took the swing and swung back and forth as if nobody else was there.

               “Come on, Alex,” Michael murmured, kneeling in front of him. “If this is about yesterday –”

               “If it’s about yesterday?” Alex scoffed humorlessly. “Who are you, and what have you done with my best friend?”

               Michael looked hurt. “That – that’s not fair.”

               “No?” Alex shook his head. “Saturdays are supposed to be ours, Guerin, and you treated me like some brat you had to put up with!”

               “I didn’t –” Michael’s mouth opened and closed on several sentences, seemingly appalled at the idea. “Alex, I just –”

               In a voice too quiet for Max to hear, Alex said, “You invited Maria. Was that just to hurt me?”

               His eyes widened. “No!”

               “Did I –” Alex faltered. “Did I do something to piss you off, or –”

               “Alex!” Michael couldn’t seem to believe that Alex would go down that road.

               Alex clenched his jaw. “Well, what was I supposed to think? I can’t believe you would even talk to her again after what she did to me! I –” he broke off with a shaky sigh, looking away from Michael and Max to keep them from seeing the tears fill his eyes. “I thought you were my friend.”

               “Don’t say that,” Michael said hoarsely, taking Alex’s hand in his. Alex hated the shivers it sent down his body. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I – I just knew that it hurt losing a friend like that, and I thought that it would make you feel better if – if I could fix it –”

               “The only person in the world I care about losing is you,” Alex argued, and Michael said nothing for a moment. Alex realized his mistake at once, and he looked down, his face heated. “I thought I was losing you yesterday. I thought you’d . . . forgiven her for what she’d done. Like my feelings didn’t matter as much as a pretty girl.”

               A moment of silence. Even the creaking of Max’s swing had stopped. Then Michael tugged on his hand.

               “No one . . .” Michael started and abruptly cut himself off. Alex looked back at him to see his expression was conflicted. Before Alex could ask what was wrong, what had been wrong with him lately, Michael forced a smile to his lips. It was a play at his usual light one without any of the lightness.

               “You know the fair’s going on until next week,” he said. “Why don’t – uh – why don’t we go together? Tomorrow? Just you and me?”

               Alex should’ve been thrilled at the idea, but something . . . something was off. Michael looked like he was more miserable at asking for it, and Max was looking at them strangely solemn.

               Realization dawned. Michael was hesitant to go out with Alex alone when he knew his brother had feelings for him. Alex glanced at Max again. He would’ve preferred to be on his own with Michael, but the idea of going with Max didn’t seem so bad either.

               He internally sighed. “Max,” he turned to him, “why don’t you come with us?”

               Max raised a brow. Michael stopped pretending to smile and his brows furrowed. Alex didn’t understand. Wasn’t this what he’d wanted?

               Then Max smiled, and Alex’s attention was caught. “Yeah? You really want me to come?”

               Warmth bloomed in Alex’s chest, and something like a breath of relief escaped his lips, his first real breath since he’d gotten Michael’s text to meet. Maybe Max would get tired of the chase, but . . . better to get the inevitable over with sooner than later, right?

               “I mean, if you want to,” Alex played at a shrug. Max chuckled and looked down.

               He nodded. “Yeah, yes, I do.”

               Alex realized he and Max were just staring at each other. He blushed and looked back at Michael, expecting to see him overjoyed. But his smile was tighter than ever.

               “Great,” Michael said. “That’s just . . . perfect. Exactly what I was hoping for.”

               *

               “Okay,” Max plopped down on the bed, feeling filled up on lunch and something else he’d been feeling since Alex had invited him along with them to the fair tomorrow. “What’s wrong?”

               “Nothing,” Michael sniffed roughly, replacing his jacket with another one of his own that he’d left in Max’s closet. “It’s all going according to plan, right?”

               “Yeah,” Max nodded, “so why do you look like you’re two seconds away from clocking me?”

               “What?” Michael looked over his shoulder with pursed lips, without actually looking at Max. “I’m not. It’s great, right? He invited you all by himself.”

               Max smiled to himself at the thought. “Yeah,” he said, his voice soft to his own ears.

               Michael finally met Max’s eyes for a long while, studying his expression. Then he turned, smiling with narrowed eyes. “Are you . . . you’re not . . .?”

               Max raised a brow, waiting for his brother to elaborate.

               “You’re not . . . starting to actually like Alex, are you?”

               Max’s eyes widened and he scoffed. He started to say that he absolutely wasn’t when he caught himself. He thought of Alex’s kind eyes and his laugh and the hurt in his voice when Michael ignored him. He thought Alex had had enough people dismissing him behind his back.

               “Of course I like him,” he said. “He’s nice, you know? There’s nothing wrong with him.”

               “Yeah,” Michael said with a nod, as if reassuring himself. “Yeah, I mean . . . you like him like you like Kyle, right?”

               Max hesitated. “Michael . . . do you like Alex?”

               “I love Alex,” he said at once. “Just not like that.”

               No, Max silently agreed. Not like that. Michael’s feelings seemed more . . . possessive, though he didn’t want to talk about things he wasn’t sure of. All he knew was that Michael wanted Alex to himself. He didn’t know how to tell him that that wouldn’t work with the plan.

               “I’m sure he just brought me along because he felt bad for me,” Max placated, though the idea made him want to curl up on his bed. “You know, you did bring me along for no reason.”

               “No,” Michael said with that same forced lightness, turning back to his clothes. “No, this is good. Like I said, it’s great! Alex is starting to want you along. The plan is working perfectly.”

               “Yeah,” Max muttered, noticing the way Michael roughly tugged his sleeves down. “Perfectly.”

               *

               “This is a bad idea,” Kyle said as soon as Alex had called to tell him his plans for tonight. “I think you’re forgiving him way too easily.”

               Alex’s phone sat on speaker on his nightstand. He sighed, fixing his hair so that it looked less like he’d walked through a hurricane, but the strands remained windswept and messy and he gave up.

               “He made a mistake,” Alex said for what felt like the millionth time. “Everyone makes mistakes.”

               “Not that kind of mistake!” Kyle argued, his frustration evident. “Alex, he invited Maria!” Alex flinched at the name and was glad his friend couldn’t see him. “That’s like if I invited Jared!”

               “Jared Wilson is a homophobic ass,” Alex argued at once, and calmed the edge in his voice. “It’s not the same thing.”

               “Both of them made life a lot harder for you when they realized you were gay.”

               To that, Alex had no response. He didn’t care. He loved Michael, and being angry with him felt wrong. He didn’t want it.

               He sat on his bed’s edge and played with the buttons on his black cardigan. It was new, something he wanted to wait to wear until he and Michael were alone, because Michael always liked hugging Alex as they walked and clinging to his side, and Alex had wanted Michael to feel soft and warm when he hugged him. It should bother him that he did so much of what he did with the worry of how Michael will take it, even though they’re not dating and could probably never date, but every so often, that traitorous bit of hope would claw its way to the surface and tell him that it could still happen.

               Maybe all it took was Michael knowing how he felt. It didn’t matter. Alex could never do it.

               “I don’t want to lose him,” he said quietly. Kyle didn’t answer. Alex half-wished that he hadn’t heard him, but he doubted it.

               Finally, Kyle sighed and said, “I know.” A pause, then, “What about Max?”

               Alex blinked. “Max?”

               “Yeah,” he said. “Seems like he really likes you.”

               Alex wanted to scoff, but what left his lips instead was, “Yeah?” Kyle chuckled and Alex blushed. “N-Not that I care! I just don’t want to get his hopes up for nothing.”

               He hummed. Alex hated how he could hear the amusement in his voice. “Okay, well,” he said, “don’t count him out just yet.”

               Alex was about to retort when a door suddenly slammed outside his bedroom. He heard the heavy footsteps of hunting boots and swallowed thickly. He tried to keep his light voice as he turned off his speaker and held the phone up, “Hey, I-I’ll see you at school, okay?”

               “Uh –” Kyle was clearly thrown off by the sudden change in conversation. “Sure, but are you –”

               Before he could finish his question, Alex hung up and put his phone aside. Then he caught himself in the mirror. His eyeliner. He was already wearing it.

               “Fuck,” he breathed.

               His heart hammered in his throat as the footsteps stopped outside his room and the door swung open. His father stood there.

               “Did I hear you talking to a boy?” he demanded.

               “N-No,” Alex said at once, cursing his stammering. “I mean, yes, but it was just Kyle.”

               Jesse hummed. Alex’s heart sunk into his stomach when Jesse closed the door behind him and stayed inside.

               “Dad,” he started, “really, I was just –”

               “Come here,” Jesse said with a wave of his fingers. When Alex didn’t move, Jesse fixed his son with his cold blue eyes. “Alex, come here.”

               Alex swallowed and resisted the urge to cower away. If his father hated disobedience, he hated a coward more. So Alex marched up to him swiftly as he was trained to do, his shoulders straight despite his lowered eyes, and the second he was close enough, Jesse grabbed his face in one hand, his grip painful.

               “What is that,” he said coldly, “on your eyes?”

               Alex clenched his jaw, trying not to whimper even as his dad’s hand nearly broke his jaw. Even as he knew what was coming. Not for the first time, as his fingers trembled on his dad’s wrist, he wished Michael could be here to protect him.

               *

               Max was in Alex’s class, and it was rare that a Manes was late, but Alex didn’t show up until halfway through the first lecture. He had a black sweater on with a collar that hid most of his chin and long sleeves that fell past his fingers, despite the fairly warm weather. His arms were stiff at his side, and his eyeliner was smudged a little bit.

               The math teacher said nothing to his most brilliant student about being late, and just gestured at him to take a seat. Max lifted his head off his desk and tried to catch Alex’s eyes, but Alex was staring straight ahead.

               Liz turned around in her seat, her brows furrowed. Max didn’t hear her murmurs, but whatever she said, Alex merely nodded once in response, his smile small. Liz didn’t look reassured, and Max realized he was inching out of his seat.

               “Yes, Mr. Evans?” the teacher said.

               “Uh – nothing, sir,” Max said and sat back down. “Sorry.”

               Some of the other students snickered, but Max didn’t care, because at least Liz was looking at him. He swallowed and pointed at Alex, the silent message clear. Liz nudged Alex’s arm softly and gestured with her chin at Max. Alex looked over.

               Max didn’t know what to do but raise his hand in a little wave. Alex just looked away again, his shoulders scrunched as he almost folded in on himself. He looked out the window and didn’t seem to pay attention to another word of the lecture.

               Max tried to catch Alex in the hall in between classes, to ask him if he was all right, but Alex just shrunk away from him.

               “I’m fine,” he muttered.

               “Alex, wait a second,” Max tried, instinctively reaching for his wrist.

               He’d barely touched him when Alex flinched away. “Don’t do that!” he snapped, making the entire hallway of students stop and turn to stare. Alex looked furious and terrified all at once. “Don’t ever, ever grab me!”

               Max stood frozen with his hand outstretched, stunned, and the hall filled with a heavy, tense silence. Alex didn’t seem to care. He kept glaring at Max a moment longer, his breathing quick like he was on the verge of crying, and he whipped around to where a startled and concerned Liz was ready to guide him away.

               Murmurs broke out over the crowd, and Max heard more than a few people call Alex a number of things, all ranging from “freak” to “psycho,” before they came to check that Max was okay after that outburst. Max could only be offended.

               Alex was clearly suffering with something, didn’t anyone notice or care?

               When Max got to lunch, Isobel was already standing. She looked as she rarely did; her bright smile gone, replaced with a solemn frown. “Hey,” she tugged Max down as soon as she caught sight of him. “What happened with Alex in the hallway? Rosa said he suddenly started screaming at you?”

               Max shook his head. “Something’s wrong with him,” he said.

               Isobel’s frown deepened. “Hey, don’t say that, you don’t know what could be –”

               “No,” Max cut her off, indignant that she could assume he meant the worst. “I mean, something’s wrong with him, like something must’ve happened. He’s usually a lot nicer. And he showed up late. He never shows up late.”

               Isobel rubbed her jaw as she looked over at Alex’s table where both Liz and Kyle were encouraging him to eat something, the concern evident on their faces.

               “I mean, it’s not exactly new, right?” she muttered. “He’s freaked out like this before.”

               Max pursed his lips. Alex had seemed so excited yesterday when Michael had asked him to the fair. What could’ve happened from then till now? Had Michael done something? No, he would’ve warned Max.

               Then he remembered something Michael had told him about Jesse Manes . . .

               His shoulders fell. “Shit.”

               Isobel seemed to realize he’d figured it out, and eagerly asked, “What? What is it?”

               Max hesitated. “You can’t tell anyone. I mean, not even the Ortechos. No one, Isobel.”

               “My lips are sealed,” she quickly promised.

               Max licked his lips. “Well, remember how nervous he was when I offered to walk him home the other night?”

               “Yeah?”

               “Michael told me about his dad,” he said. “Apparently, he really, really doesn’t want his son to be gay.”

               Isobel’s eyes widened with horror. “Alex is scared of his dad?”

               “He’s wearing long sleeves, and he’s sweating through it,” Max said darkly by way of saying what he didn’t want to outright.

               Isobel gasped. “You think he . . . hits him?”

               Max shook his head, not wanting to believe that Alex had that kind of father, but . . . “I’ve never heard Michael so unnerved by someone outside of his foster parents.”

               “Oh my god,” Isobel whispered, her wide, glassy eyes turning to Alex who was sitting slumped in his chair as if allowing himself a few seconds to stop pretending he was fine. “Oh my god,” she started to stand, to go over to him, but Max grabbed her arm and sat her back down.

               “Don’t,” he warned. “Michael didn’t want to tell me, and I doubt Alex wants anyone to know.”

               “He’s beating him!” Isobel whisper-yelled through grit teeth. “We – we have to tell somebody!”

               “Not if Alex doesn’t want us to,” Max argued.

               “Max!”

               “He has brothers,” Max said, and Isobel fell silent. “The last thing Alex needs right now is for the only family he has to hate him because they think he told on their dad. Not if Alex doesn’t want us to.”

               Isobel clenched her jaw, her eyes miserable, and she nodded. It was clearly the last thing she wanted to do.

               “I don’t know how you can bear it,” she breathed, looking over to Alex like she wanted nothing more than to hug and protect him. “He’s so sweet, I don’t know how you can bear it.”

               Isobel, of course, couldn’t see Max’s clenched, trembling fists beneath the table as he watched Alex start to eat despite himself, start to smile like he was so used to the beatings that he’d learned to work past them after a while, wondering the exact same thing.

                 Technically, Michael’s official house was an airstream at the junkyard where old man Sanders had let him stay while he had a part time job after school. Max wished Alex hadn’t known the whole story because then at least, as they went together to the auto shop, Max would have something to say instead of wallowing in the awkward silence between them.

               In fact, awkward wasn’t really the right word. Heavy seemed more appropriate.

               The weather was cooling quickly, making it more bearable for Alex’s sweater. Max half-wondered what Alex would do if he reached down and looked for his fingers underneath the sleeves.

               “I’m sorry,” Alex mumbled, and Max snapped out of his thoughts. Alex had said nothing on the drive over, nodding quietly in thanks when Max had offered to drive him as they were both going together, but his eyes were on the ground now.

               He looked so shy for once that Max was caught off guard.

               “Huh?”

               “For yelling at you,” he went on, even more quiet. “I didn’t mean to . . . I just don’t like . . .”

               “Being grabbed,” Max finished. He stopped, and Alex did the same. “Alex, I would never hurt you, okay? I wouldn’t.”

               Alex wouldn’t look at Max, but Max could see his breathing getting quicker, his jaw clenching tighter and tighter.

               “What did Michael tell you?”

               Max tried to school his features. “Nothing.”

               He was sure Alex would snap at him, would turn right around and cut off his friendship with both him and Michael. Instead, he scoffed wearily. “You’re just as bad a liar as he is.”

               Raising his chin and pretending that it didn’t cause him pain to fix the bag on his shoulder, Alex forged on ahead. “I don’t need anyone’s pity.”

               Max followed in silence, but only for a minute. “My mom knows someone in the state council, I could talk to her –”

               Alex whipped around, his eyes wide and terrified. “Don’t! You can’t, Max, please, don’t ever –”

               “Okay!” Max took Alex’s hands to calm him. He was rambling, his fingers shaking. “Okay, I – I won’t, Alex, calm down.” When Alex had been reduced to a trembling figure, Max pulled him in gently against him. “I won’t tell, I promise. Just calm down, okay? Please, calm down.”

               Max’s chin was on Alex’s head. He had a hand in Alex’s hair – it was so much softer than he could’ve imagined – his other hand running up and down his back, trying not to scare him again with any sudden movements.

               “It’s just me,” Alex croaked out against Max’s chest. “It’s only me. Because I’m . . .” He shook his head. “He doesn’t hurt them. They – they don’t care about enlisting. They’re happy to do it. I don’t want to ruin their lives, please –”

               “Okay,” Max whispered into Alex’s hair. He smelled like vanilla. “Okay, Alex, it’s okay. I won’t tell, I promise. I promise.”

               They stood there like that for a long time, Max’s fingers raking through Alex’s hair, taking in the way each strand felt against his fingers. He felt the strong muscles of Alex’s back even through his sweater. He couldn’t help it. Everything about Alex was a mystery, and the more he uncovered, the more he wanted to know.

               A breath escaped his lips, and Alex tensed. He stepped back, unwilling to look at Max, his face tinged pink.

               “S-Sorry,” he murmured.

               Max nodded, putting his hands in his back pockets to keep from reaching out for him again. “Me, too. It’s – uh . . . been a long couple of days.”

               Alex sighed, rubbing his face with one hand. Max resisted the urge to ask how bad the pain was underneath the sweater, but if he was being honest, he didn’t think either of them wanted the answer to that question. So he nudged his head towards Michael’s trailer, and waited for Alex to lead the way.

               “What’s your favorite fair treat?” Max asked before they could get to the door. He didn’t know why, but he wanted just a few more seconds before Michael joined them.

               “What?”

               “Fair treat,” he repeated. “You know, they sell a lot of snacks at fairs. They’ll be selling a lot tonight. Which one do you like best?”

               “Uh . . .” Alex thought about it. “Cotton candy? I guess? The, you know, big swirls?”

               “Okay,” Max nodded, grinning. “Then I’ll buy you the biggest swirl they have.”

               Alex’s eyes widened and he turned pinker. It was so cute that Max had to giggle.

               “I have my own money.”

               “So?” Max shrugged. “I want to get you something. I thought about winning you a prize during one of the games, but that feels a little cliché, you know?”

               Alex opened and closed his mouth on several sentences, and Max wondered if Michael had ever offered to buy him anything with the promise that it meant something more.

               Alex looked away with a shake of his head. “You’re silly,” he muttered, and opened the door, climbing inside.

               Max followed, still grinning. They found Michael dressed and looking for the keys to his truck.

               “Hey!” Alex said a little breathlessly. “You ready to go?”

               Michael froze, looking over his shoulder. Max’s smile fell at once. Oh no . . .

               “Crap,” he said, sounding genuinely apologetic. “Crap, we said we were going to the fair tonight!”

               Another act, Max thought. “Michael,” he said quietly, a private warning, “today really isn’t the day to –”

               “I don’t get it,” Alex cut him off, his brows furrowed. “If you – if you forgot about the fair tonight, then why’re you in such a hurry to leave?”

               Michael shrugged, glanced at Max, and said, “I have a date.”

               Alex was silent a moment. “You . . . have a date.”

               “Yeah.”

               “But –” Alex shook his head. “The fair was your idea. Why’d you ask me to come with you if you knew you were going to be busy?”

               “I didn’t know when I asked you,” Michael said, and Alex stared. Despite his hidden fingers, Max did not miss the way they curled to fists.

               “So you –” Alex cut himself off abruptly, smiling incredulously, like he couldn’t believe his other half had stooped so low. “You made plans with someone else when you already had plans with me?”

               “Alex,” he huffed, exasperated. “Are you gonna get like this every time I’m meeting someone? A very attractive friend asked me out tonight, I said yes.”

               “But you’re my friend, too,” Alex argued. “When we make promises to each other, we’re supposed to follow through on them, it shouldn’t matter if you have a ton of friends or not.”

               “Well, it’s not my fault you don’t have any friends, Alex.”

               “Michael!” Max stepped forward, but Alex held a hand up. He didn’t look tense or frozen to the spot. He looked like every horrible thought that had ever crossed his mind about his friendship with Michael, every doubt that had ever haunted him, every fear of being unwanted or not good enough, it was all coming true.

               To Alex, Michael didn’t consider him worth anything.

               To Alex, Michael wasn’t protecting their friendship. He was shattering it beyond repair.

               He looked resigned and exhausted. Michael seemed to realize that too late.

               “W-Wait,” he tried, “I didn’t – I didn’t mean –”

               “You’re my friend,” Alex quietly defended. “You’re . . . you’re my . . .” He shook his head, like it didn’t matter anymore. He turned to Max. “D-Do you – uh – do you still want to come with me? To the – the fair?”

               He was clearly terrified, clearly unwilling to go at all if Michael didn’t want to, but wanting to prove that he was unhurt. That he wouldn’t break. Max was in awe of his courage.

               “I was just going to ask you the same thing,” Max said.

               A brief, barely-there smile tugged at Alex’s lips before it was gone. Without another word or glance at Michael, he left. Michael stared at the open door like he wasn’t even in the room, like he was numb and out of body. He’d gone too far this time.

               Max shook his head. “You were so terrified that he was in love with you . . . that you decided to make him hate you instead.”

               “I told you,” Michael said hoarsely, his eyes filling with tears. “He’ll only hate me for a little bit.”

               “And you’re willing to bet on that?” Max tilted his head. He promised Alex he wouldn’t tell anyone else what his father had done to him, but he leaned in anyway and said, “Because if I were you, I would think a little harder instead about why he’s wearing such a long sweater near the end of spring.”

               And with those final words, Max turned and left, catching only the realization in Michael’s eyes before he shut the door behind him. Alex was already in the car, hugging his arms and staring out the window.

               Max got in and shut the door. He exhaled slowly, “Alex –”

               “Just drive,” Alex said hoarsely, like he’d been crying for hours though his eyes were dry. “Please just drive.”

               Max swallowed and turned on the ignition. He didn’t want to be a hero here. He didn’t feel like one. The only reason Michael had hurt Alex this badly at all was so that he could swoop in. But this seemed like too high a cost.

               It didn’t matter in the end. Max did as Alex wanted, and drove.

                 The fairy lights were already strung up when Max and Alex got to the fair, plenty of booths already up with lanterns lighting the way, showering everything in gold. It looked more like a market with a few chances for the kids to win toys, but Max watched as Alex eyed each booth and necklace and dress like they were the only good parts of a bad memory.

               “My mom used to bring us here a lot,” he said, “back when she was around.”

               “When did she die?” Max asked quietly.

               “She didn’t,” Alex said simply. “She left. But this fair . . . it’s my favorite time of the year. Michael knew that.”

               “Alex,” Max shook his head. “I’m sure . . . I’m sure he had a reason for what he did.”

               Alex scoffed, but the press of his lips was both sad and sincere. “I know he did. But god, what could be worth all this?” he gestured at his own face, the exhaustion and misery there. “I can usually read him, but this time I just . . . can’t. I hate not knowing.”

               Max thought about that, and realized he was the same way when it had to do with someone he loved. How was he going to save someone who didn’t want to be saved?

               “Tell me something you do know,” he offered. “You said your brothers are happy to enlist. Does your dad make them all?”

               “No,” Alex sniffled. “No, dad would never make any of us enlist. He pushes it hard, and all the time, but . . . no, if you don’t want to enlist, then just don’t bother coming back home, you know?”

               Max hesitated. “Have you ever . . .?”

               He expected Alex to laugh it off or be indignant about anyone even considering that he would ever enlist, but he only sighed and confessed, “Sometimes.”

               Max stared. “S-Seriously?”

               Alex shook his head, smiling, and for once, he didn’t look sarcastic or amused. He just looked sad. “You don’t know what it’s like there. Or how bad it gets, and – and sometimes I think . . . I couldn’t afford a place of my own. I could escape him though. I could rise in ranks, I could beat him –”

               “Beat him some other way!” Max argued, and a few heads turned to look. Alex didn’t look like he cared, he never did, but Max stepped closer. “You can’t enlist, Alex.”

               Alex looked away. “I said I thought about it, okay? Only when things get really, really bad. It doesn’t mean I’ll do it. I’ll find some other way.”

               He didn’t sound sure, but Max couldn’t have been more sure of his abilities and talent. Alex was the strongest and smartest person he knew, he could easily make it out there. And what if . . . what if he had Max there with him? Supporting him? Helping him? The two of them together in a small apartment in New York or something –

               Max shut his eyes. He wasn’t supposed to think like that. This wasn’t supposed to be long-term. Soon enough, Michael would tell him the truth, and it would all be over. Alex might even hate him for it. He didn’t want to think about that though, so he bought Alex the biggest blue cotton candy swirl, got one for himself, and laughed with Alex about the sizes.

               About an hour in, Alex seemed to really be having a lot of fun. He was laughing at Max’s stupid jokes and tugging on his arm to show him little ceramic toys for sale and even a small aquamarine necklace that glittered in the moonlight with a gold chain so thin it was almost a silk thread.

               When Alex wasn’t looking, Max bought the necklace, and snuck up behind him, letting it rest in the dip of his collarbone.

               “W-What –”

               “For you,” Max said.

               Alex touched the stone, still stunned. “Max, I’m not – I’m uncomfortable accepting so many gifts from people.”

               “I’m not just people though,” Max said simply. “I’m your . . .” he caught himself, “f-friend.”

               Alex looked at him. Max may have been wrong, but he could’ve sworn Alex had seemed disappointed for a moment at the use of the word friend.

               “R-Right,” he murmured. “Still, no more gifts, okay?”

               “No promises,” Max grinned, and his heart jumped when Alex’s face turned that same shade of pink. He was starting to wonder if he could turn it any darker when Alex glanced up and froze.

               “Oh my god,” he breathed.

               “What?” Max followed his gaze, and understood what it was that had terrified him. Making their way towards them was some man in uniform, and beside him was Jesse Manes, hands folded behind his back with his medals shining on his uniform jacket, smiling at booths and laughing with children who ran past.

               That, Max realized, was the most frightening part. Who would believe Alex if he told them their beloved sergeant was a monster?

               Alex stepped back, already trembling. He turned, but the crowd had gathered around them. Even if he stood in the shadows outside the lanterns’ light, he was still visible to anyone passing by, especially if his dad was looking through the booths. He would see Alex here, and just the implication that he was here with Max would get him hurt again.

               Alex hugged himself. “Think, Alex,” he whispered to himself, looking around frantically for a hiding spot. “Think.”

               Max looked back at Jesse. He was getting closer. He couldn’t stand seeing the usually intimidating Alex so frightened now. He had to protect him.

               He took Alex’s hand in his own and pulled him into the shadows, up against a booth. “Is your dad uncomfortable with PDA?”

               “What?”

               “Is he?”

               “Uh – yeah!” Alex shook his head, confused. “He hates it –”

               “Good,” Max breathed, taking Alex’s face in his hands, and before Alex could ask what he was doing, Max closed the distance between them and covered Alex’s mouth with his own. Alex stood frozen against him, but Max wouldn’t pull away, his body blocking Alex’s from sight.

               Half of him was silently urging Alex to play along, if only long enough to get his father’s attention away, but as Alex whimpered softly against his lips, his body melting against Max’s, his hands coming up to Max’s chest, clutching his shirt, Max suddenly forgot all about Jesse Manes.

               He forgot about the fair, he forgot about the booths around him, the crowd of people. He couldn’t think of anything but how soft Alex’s lips were, how perfectly he fit in Max’s arms. Max wanted to taste more of him, so he slipped his tongue in. Alex moaned, pressing unbearably close, and Max could feel him. His toned chest, his flat stomach.

               Max had never wanted to feel another man’s chest until this moment, to claw down his stomach, to feel the muscles of his back. Max tilted his head, bringing his hand around the nape of Alex’s neck and reaching his fingers through his hair, tugging a little on the strands.

               Alex’s hands came up to Max’s face, one hand reaching into his hair. Max wanted to tilt his head, to deepen the kiss, to put his hands up Alex’s shirt and feel his skin. He wondered if it was as sexy as the rest of him – he knew it had to be – and his hand had just fallen to Alex’s hip, tugging at the hem of his sweater, when he heard someone behind him scoff –

               “Ugh, disgusting,” a voice said, and Max snapped out of his thoughts.

               He pulled away, pressing his forehead to Alex’s, the both of them panting heavily. Alex’s eyes were closed, and Max took the opportunity to trace his deeply red cheeks with the tips of his fingers, his rosy, kiss-swollen lips.

               “Wow,” he breathed.

               “Yeah,” Alex swallowed and opened his eyes. They fluttered again as Max traced his thumb across his lips for the second time. “That – that was –”

               “Wow,” Max finished.

               Alex huffed a breathless chuckle. “Are you okay?”

               Max shook his head. “Wow.”

               Alex started to laugh, but seemed to remember they were supposed to be hiding. He covered his mouth with his hand, his eyes wide. Max wanted to hear his laugh, so he looked over his shoulder for any sign of Alex’s dad, but he was so far down the path that by the time Max had tilted his chin up to get a better look, Jesse Manes and his friend were completely gone.

               When he nodded to Alex, Alex’s grin widened and he laughed happily into the night. He jumped into Max’s arms, his own wrapped around Max’s shoulders.

               “Thank you!” Alex said into his shoulder, his voice muffled and filling Max’s chest with butterflies. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” He heaved a deep sigh, probably the deepest he’d had in a while. “Thank you, Max.”

               Max wrapped his arms around Alex’s waist, keeping him close and steady against him. In the back of his mind, he could hear Michael’s one, big warning about Alex.

               “Don’t kiss him.”

               But now, in this moment, as he could still feel Alex’s soft, warm lips against his own, as he could hear his moans and smell his sweet scent, he couldn’t remember why.

               He smiled into the crook of Alex’s neck and said, “You’re welcome, Manes.”

It’s finally here! Please please please comment and reblog/share if you enjoyed reading even a little bit, it always makes the world of a difference 💗 I’m going to bed.

[jason-pipers]

the jason/piper breakup and jason’s subsequent death

it is a long and angry post so you have been warned 

 I’m really sick of seeing Jason Grace/Piper McLean slander in their own tag, and I’m really, really sick of seeing people justify their breakup/his death as good writing. 

As I’ve been studying literature and text for the past four years at Uni- I can say with absolute confidence that The Burning Maze utilizing Jason and Piper was horrible. Like a bag of shit mixed together then smeared on paper and published kind of horrible. Actually, you don’t even really need a degree to be able to point out the very basic absurdity of them appearing in TBM. So even though I have a paper due on a completely unrelated topic and a lot of homework, I naturally decided this was a much better thing to write about: 

 Maybe in another world, Rick’s ghostwriters will be better at writing his books. The reason why the Jason/Piper breakup was extremely confusing and done very poorly in the sense of their character arcs was that there was no buildup to the breakup. In fact, I think these two got together off-screen and broke up off-screen. Yet, I’m sure Riordan sat at his desk thinking “now why don’t people just like Jason and Piper?? I give them so much!” Actually, you gave them nothing. It’s also considerably easy to disguise their breakup as logical when it isn’t. Now, people will argue that the basic foundation of the relationship was poorly made because of Hera’s meddling and that’s why they broke up. This is a lazy way to think about it because it’s obvious you don’t care about the characters so you should just say that and go. Hera’s meddling (putting false memories of Jason in Piper’s head and wiping Jason’s brain) really only gave Piper a vague notion of Jason (based on real attributes the Mist pulls) and also gave PERCY and Jason multiple relationships after the switcheroo. But Piper actually meets Jason and then has a subsequent breakdown that maybe he’s not her boyfriend. However, once she gets to know the real Jason (very accurate to the one she knew in her memories because Aphrodite said she could sense real possibilities hinting at their romance), she is still developing romantic feelings for him. It’s implied that the reason why Piper is falling so fast is because the memories she has of Jason are based on the real Jason. It’s easy to establish that Piper has real romantic feelings for Jason, not the made up Jason because the majority of TLH is them getting to know each other. If she felt like there was some confusion on her part about developing feelings for him because of Hera switching Percy and Jason- why did it not come up EVER? The months where Jason and Piper started dating. How about that long ass quest on the Argo? It could have been a valid plot line but it never came up. If it had come up near the end of the series or maybe even if it was a small subplot in the series, it would make the breakup logical, at least narratively. But no, we end Blood of Olympus with Jason and Piper coming full circle with the moment in the stars. Flash forward three years later to TBM where everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) about Piper and Jason are thrown into the trash. They’re broken up due to the false memories and overall I guess it’s implied Piper doesn’t have feelings for him anymore or something? Or the trauma of being in something like that prophecy was a lot for her to handle and she needed some time to figure things out? Yeah of course! Just like when she will go through another trauma (Jason dying for her) and start dating someone new right after. This would be so much easier to read and digest if these things are shown- in their own series and maybe not as a side thing to Apollo’s series. Reading it in TOA was completely out of left field. I know SO MANY PEOPLE were like that makes so much sense! Good for you Piper! But I was like girl, who are you? I feel like I have not spent any time with you and none of what you’re saying is connecting to anything you were like before. Which leads me to believe people just did not like Piper in HOO but just say that and go. HOO Piper is not TBM/TOA Piper. RR doesn’t know how to characterize his own goddamn characters. Furthermore, everything in canon up until TBM implies and directly states that Jason and Piper are endgame. It’s not to say they didn’t have problems that were resolved or that the way they got together was conventional. There was not even a smidge bit of reluctance to admit they were canon endgame- I think RR even had Cupid involved. There was no prediction or even hint of what would happen in TBM in HOO, which is a very big narrative problem. Jason, always isolated by loved ones and quite frankly always shouldering way more than a human can handle dies exactly the way he suffers. There is no growth or even a small lovely moment where we can see Jason. 

This brings me to the most unnecessary death I’ve ever read in my life. I know RR’s ego hurt from the complaints about Jason/Piper/Frank/Hazel/Leo (basically a non-Percabeth character) being underdeveloped. I know his ego was fucked when he “killed” Leo but didn’t really kill Leo so everyone was like what the fuck. I know he wanted to prove he is a good writer but like any other bad writer, he decided to jump the shark. And I know he wanted Jason and Piper to be more likable but the fandom really wanted a Leo-esque character. The breakup really happened because he wanted to demonstrate to critics that he could live with couples not being endgame and knew Jasiper was relatively unpopular compared to Percabeth/Caleo/etc. He wasn’t thinking in terms of ‘does this fit what I’ve created’ but in terms of ‘people might be like oh shit this is violent and they’re finally gone!’. I don’t know what idiotic thought process made him reach the point of killing one of them but he obviously got there. See, there is no difference between Jason or Piper dying in TBM. It could’ve easily been Piper who was impaled by Caligula and reminded Apollo “what it’s like to be human”. They were made *that* insignificant in TBM. Pretty much fucking interchangeable. IN DEATH. It also could’ve been anybody else in the world. It could’ve been that cheerleader from The Battle of the Labyrinth. It could’ve been Piper’s dad. It could have been Sally Jackson. Not a single part of Jason’s death was really related to Jason or his growth. Jason was the main/lead from HOO and if he was destined to die (which he wasn’t because RR doesn’t think anything through anymore), he should have died in his own series. That would make his sacrifice more compelling and important, but dying in TOA is just a big fuck you to his character. I think the only equivalent I can think of is if HOO had solely been Jason’s series but RR pulled up Percy to simply kill him and then just kept writing. What the fuck does TOA have anything to do with Jason or Piper? Or even Leo? I usually love when characters make cameo appearances to remind us of the past we loved them in. Kind of like when Lynda Carter appeared as Asteria in WW1984. Conversely, involving them in the plot and then using them as a plot device for the main character- AKA USING YOUR MAIN CHARACTER AS A PLOT DEVICE FOR ANOTHER MAIN CHARACTER IN A SEPARATE SERIES- is not only dumb but it truly makes everything else you’ve written for the first main character devoid of any real significance. Jason was never a fully fleshed-out character, the way he deserved to be written, because RR couldn’t world build as well as he thought and that ‘every single character gets a POV’ didn’t do the legendary thing he thought it did. However, anything that mattered about Jason was pretty much killed in TBM because he was easily killed by a villain that was not even remotely interested in Jason or aware of his existence. What does FUCK does Caligula mean to Jason? Nothing. Did the final battle create a full circle for Jason other than the line “remember?” which is not really related to his amnesia- no. His character arc was about an identity crisis- being pushed and pulled in two directions. Jason barely means anything to Apollo so RR using Jason as a convenient kill to send home a message is also shitty for Apollo. Lead hero characters can die- they sometimes just have to. Marissa Cooper’s death in the OC narratively makes sense due to the nature of the character being a damsel in distress from the very beginning- a foil to her counterpart, Ryan Atwood. But in this case, RR knew he had to shock people to keep getting $$$. I never got the impression RR cared about Jason or Piper, especially since he was incredibly disrespectful and lazy when writing about Piper. (For that- I can link really detailed posts explaining his racism). The truth is Riordan cannot live without putting his characters in relationships- Frazel, Caleo, Tyson/Ella (?), Hedge/Mellie- but he wanted to prove that he could which is why Jasiper broke up.

Piper’s girlfriend in TON- I didn’t read TON for the reasons above and I don’t think I’ll ever read a Riordan book again: I did find out that Piper gets a GF in TON which at first I thought was incredibly neat but then later became angry when I learned it was only months after Jason’s death? I have always wanted Piper to explore her sexuality but RR has this case of never giving important things the development it deserves. He’s incredibly messy and inconsistent when he creates lgbtqia+ characters, usually only including them so he can get credit for including them. He’s never actually explored Piper’s sexuality fully in the series, but he threw her in yet another relationship we didn’t get to read about right after she was almost beaten to death and then witnessed the murder of her ex-boyfriend. If you think that is representation, please rethink that. We don’t get to hear her talk about anything at all, except maybe mentioning the girl’s name. A subtle hint. Just representation is not good representation and it is right that we demand better representation. Don’t settle for less. For fuck’s sake, Riverdale is only really good at queerbaiting but they get so much praise. (Do they? At this point I can’t tell). If we wanted to explore Piper’s sexuality, it could have been done while she was with Jason or even broken up with him in her own series- why didn’t RR explore the nature of being lgbtqia+ in an Indigenous family? He had the chance to demonstrate an awareness of intersectionality through Piper but he fucked up. He had so much to write about. So, people who are yelling happily about that Piper appearance in TON-??? 

 This was long and frustrating to write. But I had feelings.

[emersonfreepress]

What would the ro's be like in a zombie au?

whyyyyy anon whyyy. I'm actually gonna write this in like.. slightly different terms, you'll see. any time I even briefly think of a zombie au I'm just like

I WANNA WRITE IT SO BADDD

i don't even allow myself to entertain it for very long because getting into that would be the worst thing ever for my productivity with the alpha omg 😂😂 so I'll put like the ideas that pop into my head for writing a zombie au, to work some of that creative frustration out 😆

so in this very general, absolutely noncommittal idea of mine, the main cast are older and the setting is in and around a civilian settlement led by the Emersons.

and as a refresher, i like my zombie aus to have fast zombies and fast infections ^ ^ 28 Days Later/Train to Busan style babyyyy, we the Sprinting Dead up in this bitch 😆

= = =

Gabe is, predictably, looking for what's left of his family. Following rumors of safe havens and bunkers and such. Starts the story as someone who tries to be diplomatic, if not outright pacifist, but as times get tougher and resources dwindle, he'd become one of the most cutthroat motherfuckers in the wasteland. Low-key though, low-key. People won't trust you if they know you’re capable of throwing them to a horde for strategic reasons. Like if Rick turned into Shane (for those of us familiar with early Walking Dead--idk did that happen eventually? i gave up before we even met Negan lol). The end justifies the means :) Damn, I can legit see Gabe going full evil in a zombie au omg 😂😂 i want to write it so fucking bad

Preferred weapon for zed encounters: rifle

Preferred weapon for human encounters: handgun

Faith in humanity: fucking zero

Zombie kill count: plenty; the type to kill every zombie he has spare ammo and time for

Human kill policy: When it benefits him or the people he’s looking after

Survival rating: B+; he can make it out of some pretty dire situations through sheer will to live and ruthlessness

- - -

Kile has arrived--clearly, this is the timeline they belong in. They start their journey with Gabe (and their doggo) and stick to him like glue, even reluctantly so when Gabe eventually has them join the settlement. This can only go one way, though: Kile's just too much of a wildcard for the group and hates being told what to do. (Especially now that society has fallen, wtf) They'd make their exit alone and unannounced aside from a brief head’s up to Gabe. It's slightly bittersweet, but also? They get to loot and hunt and sneak around and kill fucking zombies, all by themself. Kile is a loner, a hiker, and a hunter to begin with so they do beyond fine on their own. However, once the inevitable violent human threat comes for the settlement, Gabe is sent out to convince Kile to come out of isolation, just this once please, to be the camp’s super soldier help defend the camp.

Zed weapon: p much anything they can get their hands on, ranged or melee, blunt or sharp, w/e; improvised weapons

Human weapon: hunting knife

Faith in humanity: never had any to begin with

Zombie kill count: lol infinite?? any zed they come across is double-dead if they have the time for it

Human kill policy: at Gabe’s direction or when provoked enough/threatened

Survival rating: A-; they trust no one, live in isolation, and prioritize survival above all else. only reason it’s not higher is they would risk their life for Gabe or their furbaby and also... their own Rambo-esque antics def attracts the occasional horde lmao

- - -

Jack... this poor boy, he doesn't deserve a zombie au 😂 He's one of those people that first believes zombies are just sick people, too squeamish to keep up with TV news coverage at the onset and too upset to consider anything else. He'd hunker down at home, staying holed up even while his neighbors evacuated, and probably be discovered while the main group is looting the same place as him. When people try to tell him the real state of the world, he'd be in denial until he absolutely couldn't be anymore. idk, probably after Kile shooting a bunch of non-lethal holes thru a zombie to make a point (attracting more in the process lol).

He’d almost immediately join the medical team at the settlement and as word spreads about how easy he is to talk to, he quickly becomes the literal on-site therapist. It's a role he embraces but... idk if it's an emotional burden he can bear. He's very emotionally resilient! But he ain't a professional lol imagine a whole settlement of traumatized zombie survivors seeking you out for counseling, yikes. He also can't say no to a person in need, so instead he quietly spirals into a very private depression while continuing to help others!!

Zed weapon: Oh gosh, do I really have to?

Human weapon: ...Kindness?

Faith in humanity: Unrealistically high

Zombie kill count: Single digit

Human kill policy: Not ever, unless completely unavoidable and to defend the defenseless

Survival rating: C...? idk, that feels generous. D+. To be protected at all costs!!

- - -

Jessie also had the initial reaction of hoping zombies could be saved, but she woke up from that dream swiftly. The science-minded person that she is, esp with her interest in biology, leaves her determined to find anybody who's got the intellect, expertise, and resources to start doing actual work toward a treatment, cure, vaccine—anything. Nothing would get her to finally unabashedly embrace her love of science (and innate leadership skills!!) faster than a zombie apocalypse! In fact, it’s thanks to her that the Emerson settlement’s got a small but growing team of scientists doing as much research as humanly possible to best educate the others on the outbreak and zombie behavior. Def no zombie experimentation going on though lol. ...Not yet, at least.

Zed weapon: rifle

Human weapon: rifle

Faith in humanity: High! We’ll find a solution! Don’t give up hope!

Zombie kill count: Double digits, but less than 30

Human kill policy: Only in unavoidable self-defense or defense of others

Survival rating: B! She has experience with ranged weapons, farming and gardening skills, first aid, camping experience, and a can-do attitude with a healthy dose of realism!

- - -

Rain remains cargo as I said in the last post about this 😆 They'd be very good for keeping clothes repaired and making useful modifications in the settlement, but their life up to this point has been very sheltered and privileged. We're talking somebody with a chauffeur and a personal chef before the outbreak! They would contribute to quality of life and homemaking efforts more than anything—an overlooked aspect of these scenarios tbh! After as many months of dragging their feet as possible and being nigh impossible to track down when you need them, they eventually become involved in meal planning and even help out with medical stuff if they're asked.

Zed weapon: how do you reload this thing again?

Human weapon: switchblade or other concealable sharp-pointy

Faith in humanity: Very low

Zombie kill count: 0! Can you believe it!

Human kill policy: Well if it’s you or me, of course I’m choosing me.

Survival rating: C. Being so tiny helps them find good hiding spots and their self-preservation is high enough to keep them from unnecessary risk-taking. Plus they're very stealthy! Self-defense is a major issue though, so hiding is always their best option.

- - -

Rupan/Rohan scouts for and leads scavenging missions and is Curt's right hand on the recruitment team. The two of them together are the perfect combo of diplomacy, debate, and deception--although R is more honorable about the last one and will only deceive for strategic reasons. When they aren’t looting and recruiting, they’re doing peacekeeping inside the settlement. Most social disputes end up getting brought to them for mediation and they’re pretty dang good at making and enforcing calls. One day they’ll wake up to realize they’ve basically become a sheriff and feel the need to puke their guts up and do something, anything, to reassure themself they’re still punk 😂

Zed weapon: SMG

Human weapon: shotgun

Faith in humanity: Believes in fundamental goodness but knows better than to trust first impressions

Zombie kill count: decent, more than 40; you won’t catch them having a field day tho, they’re trying to gtfo of most zed situations

Human kill policy: Violent threats have to be taken out. And they aren’t, at all, immune to a revenge rampage either...

Survival rating: B-. Can handle themself both with humans and zeds but is vulnerable to hostage situations and truly difficult sentimental/interpersonal decisions!

- - -

Vivian/Vincent manages inventory and stock and they run it so efficiently it’s scary! They're the perfect pick: a hawk-eyed tyrant and tattletale 😂 Despite constantly butting heads with just about everyone on every imaginable thing, they quickly become an important part of the inner circle of decision-makers for the settlement at large. Terrible at stealth, jumpy, and squeamish at the sight of blood and gore, they literally never go on missions unless they're 100% needed for their expertise on a supply run. (They would deny all of these shortcomings are that big a problem, meanwhile R is definitely acting as their bodyguard lol.) When they do tag along, they're prone to becoming the damsel in distress. Seriously, it happens near every fucking time. It's like they just attract only the most improbable and perilous zombie attacks and hostage situations 😆

Zed weapon: shotgun

Human weapon: handgun

Faith in humanity: Medium; seeing people work together at the settlement helps restore it a bit

Zombie kill count: Double digits, under 25

Human kill policy: Violent threats have to be taken out. Well, no, not by me! Get one of the ruffians to do it!

Survival rating: C-. They’d be higher if they weren’t such natural zombie bait.

- - -

Heidi is running the settlement, well-organized to the degree of actually managing to bring bureaucracy to a post-zombie apocalypse settlement 😂 People are free to come and go, but getting in if you don't live there requires trading something of value (fuel, med supplies, food, etc), temporary surrender and registry of firearms and explosives, and you gotta GTFO at the time and date specified upon entry! You can stay long-term if you contribute to the community in a tangible way—and each person admitted is approved by Heidi personally. Yes, every individual. No, she has no free time. And she is not known to be lenient with rule breakers—you want rule bending, you’ll have to go to Curt for that. People kind of hate her, but it can't be denied that she runs a tight ship. She kind of throws herself into the work to avoid the harsher reality at large and hasn't left the settlement in a long time. She's out of touch with how bad things have gotten in the wastes, but she knows better than to take reports at anything less than face value--even when she's skeptical.

Zed weapon: rifle

Human weapon: handgun; dagger

Faith in humanity: Medium. It fluctuates, honestly

Zombie kill count: Double digits, less than 20

Human kill policy: Violent threats must be taken out if they can’t be reasoned with. Spare those who surrender, eradicate those who don't, keep an eye on the newbies. Not tryin’ to nurse any vendettas around here lol

Survival rating: B. She's good with a firearm, masterful at persuasion, and savvy enough to calculate risks appropriately. Also far tougher than her prim exterior and demeanor suggests!

- - -

Curt leads the recruitment and reconnaissance teams! When a new person or group shows up in the area, Curt's the one who stalks watches them, decides if they're worth approaching, and if they should be approached with an invitation, a simple acknowledgment/announcement of their presence, or an outright armed warning to leave the area. He also keeps tabs on morale and general confidence inside the settlement, alongside R. When he isn’t leading those efforts, though, he’s flirting with settlers and squirreling his way out of manual labor and other chores. He’s also secretly growing weed at his place--don’t tell Heidi or Vi ‘cause they’ll wanna yell at him and ration it UGH.

Zed weapon: SMG, explosives

Human weapon: handgun, dagger

Faith in humanity: Pft, sorry, what now?

Zombie kill count: ...way more than you’d expect

Human kill policy: I don’t start confrontations, but I sure as fuck end them.

Survival rating: A! He’s good at playing hapless idiot when it suits him to be underestimated, good with firearms, and capable of being ruthless and decisive in life or death situations! Plus he has no qualms about ditching the settlement if he decides it’s not working out for him. Just don’t tell Heidi lol

[votederpycausemufins]

another chapter for Summoning family (now that it has an official name) and this time i’m remembering to ping @petrichormeraki!

 stayed near Grian as he cried on the bench while Tommy, Techno and Phil yelled at each other. Jellie had moved from their lap and into Grian’s arms, not caring how tightly they were hugged by the distraught avian. 

He listened as Grian mumbled sadly, trying not to listen too much and hear something that he didn’t want to be shared. However Tubbo was still able to make some things out. It sounded like they hadn’t even been around for a year yet. Sure they were programmed and built older, but they weren’t even a year old. There was also something about a box and virtual reality which Tubbo wasn’t completely sure about. Perhaps they had just started as programs in some sort of computer before getting bodies.

Carefully, Tubbo put a hand on Grian’s shoulder. The avian jolted slightly, but otherwise didn’t react.

After a bit more waiting, there was a shout from Mumbo as he arrived. Grian immediately sat up, hoping for good news. “Please. Please tell me y-“ He didn’t need to finish the sentence, the redstoner looking like as much of a mess as Grian currently was. “No. No no no no no. Please th-they can’t. N-not again please.”

Jellie jumped off of Grian’s lap when Mumbo sat down on the bench. He hugged Grian as the builder continued to cry. “I- Xisuma said that he couldn’t force a respawn. As far as the world is concerned, they did respawn, but that they also aren’t in this world. I… I already checked their old bodies, and they’re not there. X also found the world we went to to rebuild them, but they’re not there either.”

Grian nodded as he pressed his face into Mumbo’s shoulder, letting the jacket absorb his tears. “If you think of anything else, I’m sure we can get someone to look into it, but, until then I could-“

“N-No. pl-please don’t r-replace them. I-if we find them… a-and they come home to that…”

“Alright, I won’t.”

Tubbo watched as Grian continued to cry before getting up and walking over to Tommy and the other two. “Can you three please stop arguing! I’m pretty sure that’s just going to make it worse. Instead we could try to help figure out what exactly happened to those kids.”

“Tubbo, you heard what Grian said. They didn’t respawn.” Tommy replied, crossing his arms, still upset at Techno.

“And Mumbo said that it was more an error with the respawn. From what they can tell, they respawned, just not here.”

Tommy’s brows furrowed at that. “So they could be somewhere else?”

“Yeah, they’re not sure where though.”

“G’s a Watcher, so he could try looking, but at the same time he’s already been a mess the past few days.”

“So we’ll need to try and do that on our own.” Phil piped up. “Where have they tried looking already?”

“They said something about the world where the two of them were built, but they weren’t there. Other than that, I think they’ve only looked here.”

Phil nodded. “I’m not sure what worlds Mumbo had been in, but I’ve heard a little about where Grian’s been. There’s a chance they could be in one of those worlds.”

“Also the chance they could be back at the old castle.” Techno huffed, reluctantly willing to help.

“Alright then. Let’s get to it.”

“So we are going... where now?” Grumbot piped up as he continued to follow behind Ghostbur, carrying Jrumbot who was holding what seemed to be a special type of blue dye.

“We’re going to Sam. I’m sure he’d be happy to help you!”

“And who exactly is that?” The robot spoke apprehensively, though he was pretty sure it was a different Sam.

“Someone who’s going to help!”

As they walked along what Ghostbur was calling the prime path, someone else showed up, coming from the other way. “Oh! Puffy! Hello! It’s me Ghostbur!”

“Hi Ghostbur. Who are these two following you along?”

“I’m not sure! They’re new and needed some help so I was looking for you, but you weren’t home so I was going to Sam next.”

“Well, now I’m here so I can help out.”

“Thank you Puffy!”

Grumbot took that as a chance to speak up. “I suppose now we will be returning to your house?”

The sheep hybrid nodded and Grumbot followed behind her now, though Ghostbur gave Jrum some more of the blue dye before he left. “So, I haven’t seen you two around, so I’m guessing you’re new here.”

Grum nodded. “Indeed. My brother and I arrived today on accident. We wish to go home as soon as possible.”

Before Puffy could ask for clarification, Jrumbot started with another bout of crying, clinging tighter to his brother. Grumbot patted his brother’s back before moving his hand higher and quickly pressing the power button at the nape of his neck, forcing the younger robot into sleep mode.

“Is he alright?” Puffy asked, a bit concerned about the sudden silence.

“Yes. He is simply sleeping for now. He should be better once he wakes up again.”

“So he’s your little brother I assume?”

Grum nodded. “Correct. He was built eleven days after I was. That being said, his programming and mine make us seem older and have a larger age gap.”

Puffy nodded as she opened the door to her home, letting Grum and Jrum inside. “Sorry if it’s not the best in there. Wasn’t really expecting to have anyone staying over any time soon.”

“That is alright. We were not aware that we would need to stay someplace other than home for the night. May I ask what you have in terms of redstone.”

“I’ll have to check.”

“I see. If you do not have an adequate amount, my brother and I can take shifts gathering some more.”

“Might not be the best idea. You only just got here, so you will need to get gear first before anything like redstone.”

“Redstone is extremely important for us.” Grum replied. “We are powered by it after all.”

“Well… alright then.” Puffy said after some slight hesitation before searching through her chests. “This is all I have right now.”

Grum took the redstone and put it into his inventory. “Jrum is the one who has the blueprints for what we will need, but I believe I recall what items we need, so I will begin to craft those.”

Puffy tried to make more conversation, but Grum brushed her off and began to work. He did want to talk with the sheep hybrid, but he knew that it would take more energy. As he began to craft, he glanced at his readings. Full health, almost full hunger, battery at 73 percent. He was glad they had been charged well before going to the shopping district. He glanced over at where Puffy had taken Jrum. Though Grum knew he technically had the better brains, Jrum had inherited their daddy’s knowledge of redstone. If push came to shove, Jrum would be more important than him to have full charge, so he was prepared to transfer power if needed.

“I have crafted all that I can. Are there any important questions for me before I put myself into sleep mode?”

“Well I messaged the admin here and he’s coming over to greet you.”

Grumbot nodded. “I see. How long will it take before he arrives?”

“Not too long. Even with everything he does, he still finds time to greet new members to this place.”

Grum nodded again before moving to sit next to where Jrum was sleeping. “I believe that will be important enough for my brother to be awake.” And he gently shook his brother, the screen on his face lighting up with a loading bar before his face reappeared.

“Nggh… I wanna keep sleeping.” Jrum grumbled a little.

Grumbot shook him again. “You will need to be awake soon. The admin of this world will be arriving shortly to meet with us.”

“Xisuma?” Jrum asked before sitting up. “Oh… right…”

“He may be able to assist us with getting home, so you should not feel too down.”

Jrum nodded before scooting closer to Grum. He then pulled out what looked like a diamond block and hugged it, making Puffy’s eyes go wide. “I thought you just got onto the server. Did you get that from Ghostbur?”

Grum looked between Puffy and the block before realizing the issue. “Oh no. That is not a diamond block. It just appears to be one. It is something from our home. Jrum, can you allow her to inspect it?”

Jrum looked nervous, but Puffy gave him a kind look and he reluctantly gave it up. The hybrid looked it over quickly before handing it back, Jrum hugging it tighter than he had a number of moments ago. “Huh, it does look like one, but it is smaller as well as lighter than a block of that size would be. Where did you get it?”

“Dad bought it for me when we found a trader selling it.” Jrum meekly answered. “Since he gave us more than one I have more at home… but this one I always keep with me.”

“Well you might want to be a little careful with that. Someone might think it’s the real deal and there are a few people who might want to take it.” Puffy didn’t want to scare the kid, but it was better he knew just to be safe. The reasoning still didn’t help the tugging at her heartstrings when the young robot hugged the toy block ever tighter, the slightly plush material warping slightly from the pressure.

Grum pat his brother’s head to give some comfort. “I am sure that as long as we reside in Puffy’s care it will be safe.”

Jrum nodded a little but stayed quiet as they waited, but they didn’t have to wait long as a man in green wearing a white mask entered Puffy’s home. “Hi Dream. These are the two kids who showed up.” Puffy greeted the admin and led him to the bots.

“Hello. I am Grum and this is my brother Jrum.”

“Well it is nice to meet you. I didn’t expect anyone more to be joining us so soon.”

“Well, we did not expect to end up here ourselves. I believe the last thing that happened before we ended up here was us dying and our respawn brought us here instead of where we likely would have appeared.”

Puffy took a step closer to ask a question. “What do you mean ‘likely’?”

“Oh, my brother and I have kept safe since our creation so we have not needed to respawn before today.”

“Well.” Dream spoke up, getting the attention of the bots again. “I’m sure those here would be glad to accommodate you as you get started here. It shouldn’t take too long for you to get settled especially with Puffy’s help.”

Grumbot frowned. “Settled? I am sorry, but we would like to get home as soon as possible. Our parents and family will likely be worried about us.”

“I see. Well I’m sure we can do something about that, but there’s no telling how long that might take. So it’s probably best if you prepare for the worst case scenario. But I’ll try my best to help with getting you home.”

Grumbot tried to ignore the feeling that this admin wasn’t telling the entire truth. But at the same time, Grum knew not every server was perfect and he and his brother were brand new. There was also the fact that they likely weren’t supposed to be here and the admin was wary, like Xisuma was when Tommy first showed up as well as when he briefly met with Tubbo and Philza. Even if this admin was wary of them, Puffy would likely give them more answers if he asked, so there was little worry.

“I supposed that is a valid argument. Though may I ask, do you have someone here that is proficient with redstone? We may need to meet with them with a concern of ours.”

Dream nodded. “Yeah, there’s Sam. He’s pretty good at that stuff and I’ve commissioned him for some work. He’s likely your best option.”

Grum nodded. “That name was mentioned by Ghostbur as he was planning to take us to him when we originally could not locate Puffy.”

“Well then, I’m sure you won’t have any trouble there. Now I need to go back to other things.” Dream said before leaving. Grum frowned as the feeling of worry returned. The tone of the admin’s voice sounded off there. It wasn’t anything too prominent, but Grum had caught it nonetheless.

“Well, I guess we should go visit Sam if that’s what you two are worried about.” Puffy suggested and Grum gave a small nod while Jrum started nodding furiously to his side.

“Yeah! Here! I think I can print out the blueprints for what we need! They’re probably going to have to be a little different because when daddy made them, it was in a place with kinda different redstone mechanics, but it wasn’t too bad and I can help out too!” And Jrum started printing out some schematics for a new redstone charger for him and his brother.

“Until then, I think I will need to conserve power.” Grum spoke up. “Jrum, how are you doing?” Jrum immediately looked down to the ground and twiddled his fingers. Grum sighed and pulled a cord out from himself. “I’m sure you need the charge more than myself.” And he plugged the other end of the cord into Jrum’s side before putting himself into sleep mode.

“We’ve checked all the worlds we have access to. And the admin from the other worlds haven’t seen anything?” Phil half grumbled as he sat in a chair at the table where Tommy and Mumbo were looking through some documents.

Mumbo shook his head. “No. I got a message from Ilmango just before you returned. He was the last one we were waiting on. I mean, technically there’s still one place we haven’t checked but… no they wouldn’t be there.”

Tommy looked up from what he was doing. “What are you talking about? What could possibly be left?”

Mumbo looked like he regretted saying anything, but Phil did what he could to get the redstoner to answer. “I… There… Hermitcraft has a sort of… parallel world. It’s not a different dimension, but the two are loosely connected. I’m sure if they somehow ended up there, Xisuma would have noticed, but…”

“But what?”

“There’s a chance True could have done something with EX’s help, so they still could be there without anyone knowing.”

“True?” Tommy asked. “Who the fuck is that? Is she their admin? Cause if so, that sounds like something Dream would try doing if he thought of it.”

“No, EX is the admin. It’s just that they had a sort of…” Mumbo waved his hand as he tried to think of what to say. “They had an election of their own and to them, she’s about as highly powered as an admin.”

“Alright, that doesn’t sound too horrible. If we’re just checking on the place we shouldn’t have to deal with all that. What is this place?”

Mumbo fidgeted, not wanting to answer, but Tommy did his best to convince him. “O-Okay. Um, It’s called Helscraft. I believe they’re on their fifth world as opposed to our seven.”

“Why does that matter?” Tommy asked.

“Because Helscraft is home to the Helsmits. They’re sort of like… our evil copies. We haven’t interacted with many of them, but the few we have met haven’t been the best. There’s EX who’s the admin. We’re not completely sure he’s really a Helsmit, but again, we don’t know that much. Helsknight is the first one we really met. After that was True and Bad Times.”

“So that’s… X, Wels, False and Scar?” Tommy asked, making sure he was following along, to which Mumbo nodded. “Yeah, Dealing with an evil False does not sound fun. But I still think we should try. I mean, We have Philza Minecraft and The Blade on our side. If anyone can deal with these guys, it’s them!”

Mumbo sighed. “Alright, but we’ll still need to check in with Xisuma before we try anything.”

“Alright, deal.”

[cyro-starfire]

Cyro meeting Lemon Monster for the first time - Lemcy fic

⚠️WARNINGS FOR THIS FIC: OC X CANON, VIOLENCE, CUSSING, KISSING, CRINGE⚠️

Character colors

Blue - Boyfriend

Red - Girlfriend

Green - Pico

Pink - Cyro

Orange - Lemon Monster

The night was still young, the stars shine brightly throughout the night sky, the full moon also gave a brilliant light that made the night seem less dark. Pico, Girlfriend, Boyfriend, and Cyro were having as friend's night out, just the four of them. They generally used their time in the night to goof around and have fun, visiting parks, getting ice cream and just messing around with each other.

As the night grew they decided to sleep over at Pico's place for the night, Girlfriend told her parents about it so they wouldn't panic if Girlfriend didn't get home tonight. On their way to Pico's house Pico noticed the mansion that Girlfriend's parent's had owned, the same one where Bee and Gee met the spooky kids Skid and Pump.

"Ayo, Bee, ain't that the same house you met those kids in?" Pico asked Boyfriend. "Hrm?" Boyfriend looked over and noticed the house. "Oh yeah, it is, what about it?" "Well ain't it also the same house where you told me you like dissed a weird lemon headed monster thing?" Pico added. "Uhh...y-yeah...? Where are you going with this Pico?" Boyfriend asked slightly nervous of what Pico's intentions could've possibly been...

"Well, it's been a long ass time since I had a good scare, not even Cassandra's stupid ass could scare me, you said the guy was genuinely terrifying, I wanna be the judge of that shit!" Pico exclaimed. "DUDE! ARE YOU FUCKIN INSANE? THAT FUCKER WANTED TO EAT ME AND BAE!" Boyfriend responded with a shocked screech. "Dude come on, how bad can it be for me? Besides, Gee can't die remember?" Pico tried to remind Boyfriend. "But he was still fucking creepy, even for a dearest like me." Girlfriend admitted.

"For real?" Pico asked, astounded by Girlfriend of all people admitting that. "Yeah dude." "Well if that's the case, i think it's about time you introduced me to him!" Pico chuckled. "DUDE NO! ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?! PLUS WHAT IF CYRO GETS HURT?!" Girlfriend states to Pico, obviously not happy that he would want to do something this reckless and life threatening. Pico looked at Cyro and felt bad that he almost forgot that they were there..."Well...you guys know I'll shoot up anything hostile." He responds bluntly. "Come on, it'll be worth it, i wanna meet this fucker" Girlfriend and Boyfriend looked at each other and then looked at Cyro for their input.

"o-o-oh uhm..." Cyro was taken aback by the situation being suddenly focused around them. "Do you think you'll be able to handle this shit Cy?" Boyfriend asks the alien in a gentle tone, as to not put more stress on Cy. "w-w-well i-i m-m-mean uh...i-i guess it sh-shouldn't b-be too b-bad if P-Pico is the o-one protecting us..." They replied quietly but not too quiet to where Bee and Gee couldn't hear. "You sure?" "I-I'm p-positive! P-Please don't w-worry about m-me too m-much!" Cyro reassures the two. Bee and Gee look at Cyro for a while and sighed. "Alright just...stay close to us alright?" Cyro nods in response.

Girlfriend finally responded to Pico "Okay, fine we'll go in again..." Pico cheered. "HELL YEAH! LES FUCKING GO!!!" Pico screamed out in joy as he immediately darted towards the mansion and wasted no time to get in, the other three followed but not as enthusiastic as Pico, they were more reluctant if anything, especially Girlfriend...

The inside of the mansion felt as dead and haunted as the first time Girlfriend and Boyfriend went inside it together for the first time. "I still hate looking at the inside of this hellscape babe..." Boyfriend shuddered. "Me too honey bun..." "Awe come on you guys are pussies!" Pico giggled. "EASY FOR YOU TO SAY MAN, YOU FUCKING KILLED A HUGE ASS ALIEN WHEN WE WERE IN FUCKING SCHOOL!" Boyfriend screeched at Pico in anger only making Pico laugh more. Cyro was shaking like a leaf, clinging tightly onto Girlfriend's red dress. "Y-You okay Cy?" Girlfriend asked, worried about the shivering alien. "i-i-i-i-i'm g-g-g-good..." Cyro whimpered silently.

"Okay this was obviously a bad idea, I'm pretty sure this place alone is gonna make Cy have a huge panic attack.." Boyfriend sighed but was cut off by Cyro. "N-N-NO! I-i-i-i-i'm okay, i-i promise...i-i-it's j-j-j-just c-c-cold here..." "You sure Cy?" Pico asked, concerned as well. "Y-Yeah...t-trust me g-guys i-i'm fine!" The alien tried their best to reassure the three, which only resulting in Pico, Bee and Gee sighing in unison, they couldn't just back out on this so quickly...right...?

After some time of exploring the mansion, it did take some time for Pico to get genuinely spooked by the place... "Wow...y'all weren't fuckin around..." He chuckled nervously. "This place is creepy as fuck...why do your parents even own this place to begin with Gee?" Girlfriend shrugged "I don't know man, sometimes they don't even make sense to me..." She responds. "Wait, so you admit your scared then?" Boyfriend asks with a slight giggle.

"WH-WHAT?! N-NO?! I AIN'T FUCKIN SCARED BEE!!" "Ya sure Pico?" Boyfriend giggled even more. "Your sure acting like your scared!" "THERE'S A FUCKIN DIFFERENCE WITH BEING SCARED AND BEING CREEPED OUT YOU FUCK NUT, GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK ASS HEAD!" "Okay but your stuttering, your clearly pissing yourself dude." "NO I FUCKIN AIN'T!" "Yeah you are!" "SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!" Pico screamed. And thus, an argument began with the two boys, Girlfriend sighed. Some things never really do change, do they? Cyro looked away from the arguing boys only to be met with an odd looking shadow in the distance. "h-h-h-huh?"

"g-g-guys...?" Cyro tried to get everyone's attention but they couldn't be heard over Boyfriend and Pico so they had to try again "G-Guys?" Still not being heard over, so Cyro took a deep breath and reluctantly scream to get their attention. "GUYS!" With them finally being heard all three of them turned their heads to look at the quivering alien. "Is something wrong Cy?"

"u-uh y-yeah, WHAT TH-THE FUCK IS THAT?!" The alien screeched in terror pointing at the lemon shaped shadow that was hiding behind a door. "What's wh- oh...oh no..." "B-B-Bee...?" "What the fu..." The shadow suddenly had a visible smile and finally spoke. "Well, well, well~ what do we have here~? A three course meal~? How thoughtful of you all~!" The voice was deep, soothing, and mesmerizing. The creature slowly opened the door and stepped out.

As seen through the shadow it had a yellow, lemon shaped head, it's eyes were huge with wide pupils within them, it's teeth were uncomfortably crooked, it's neck was a velvet red and the rest of it's body was a pitch, raven black, it had two fingers on each hand, and it had only two toes on each foot. The creature was very tall in compared to the four other beings within the room, it towered over all of them.

"It has been quite a long while since i have seen you two~! And i see you've brought that little schizophrenic ginger friend of yours~! And-" the monster paused to look at Cyro behind Girlfriend, still scared out of their mind. "Well now~! Who's this little friend of yours~? They look rather...appetizing~ in more ways then one if i must be so bold to say~!" He said, attempting to slowly approach Cy but was stopped by Girlfriend. "Don't go near them...O R E L S E . . ." She warned it with a growl, which only made the lemon headed monster roll its eyes in annoyance. "And you still don't know how to not be so RUDE..." The monster growled.

"Better not try jack shit bitch, i know how to use this thing." Pico aimed the gun towards the monster which only made it boom with laughter. "You think a puny little weapon like that scares me? How adorable~!" It chuckled before lunging at Girlfriend and attacked her which made Pico start firing bullets at the creature, and Cy ran as fast as they could into an empty hallway. Boyfriend stood still, he didn't wanna engage in the violence, he didn't sign up for this shit man...

After the monster and Girlfriend fought, monster while doing a number on Girlfriend decided that enough damage was done and went after Cyro. Pico and Boyfriend, instead of knowing Girlfriend can easily heal, and going after the monster and making sure he doesn't hurt them, went to Girlfriend to see if she was okay, Cyro was sobbing and whimpering while running, wanting to be home right now and not here.

"FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK!!! I KNEW THIS WAS A BAD IDEA WHY DID I TRY TO LOOK BRAVE FOR EVERYONE HHHH!!!!" The alien screamed internally and wished that they were just honest so that none of this would be happening right now, after some running they found themself in a dead end, and what was worse is that they could hear the monster's footsteps. "NONONONONONONONONONO PLEASE PLEASE OH PLEASE I DON'T WANNA DIE, WHY ME, WHY ME. WHY ME!!!" As much as they hated themself, but they were still terrified of dying, especially like this...

The monster got closer and closer until he was visible again which only heightened Cyro's anxiety, their heart was pounding through their chest and their breathing was rapid, they could barley think straight at all. "There you are my dear~!" The monster cooed. "p-p-p-please leave m-m-me alone..." They whimpered quietly. "Oh don't worry dear~! I won't kill you~! Will i possibly hurt you? Maybe, but then again..." He got closer to them and pinned them against the wall, he slowly put his two fingered claws against their face, and caressed their face gently.

"I would feel guilty if i caused any sort of harm to an adorable and beautiful creature such as yourself~!" It whispered in their ear making Cyro blush deeply and shudder they were so confused by this behavior. "You know, i normally don't have such feelings for prey...but you...your different..." The monster explained to Cyro. "wh-what d-do you m-mean...?" "I mean what i mean my sweet cherry cake~! Your seem like such a delicate creature~!" The monster slowly moved it's claws under Cyro's chin and began to rub the bottom of their chin gently. Cyro couldn't help but purr at the sensation.

The monster chuckled at Cyro's purring, they were so adorable. "Perhaps i won't eat you~ your so sweet, I'm afraid that if I eat you, I'll get a cavity~!" The monster joked. Cyro didn't respond, they only continued to purr at the monster rubbing their chin, until he took his claw away from their chin which only made them whine. "wh-why'd y-you st-" they were interrupted by the monster giving them a soft and gentle kiss on the lips, which surprised Cyro at first, but they slowly sunk into the kiss and kissed the monster back. There was some time before they broke away from the kiss, Cyro panted softly while looking at the creature

The monster chuckled. "While i would love to keep you, i fear that i have aggravated your friends enough, so unfortunately this will be goodbye for now, but i will be back soon, my little prey, until we meet again~!" The monster whispered to them beore giving them a kiss on the cheek and disappeared into the shadows again. Which only left Cyro in confusion but at the same time, they felt like they've fallen in love again.

After some time Pico, Boyfriend and Girlfriend found Cy, fortunately for them Cyro was okay, and the four of them darted out of the house as soon as fucking possible. Cyro never really forgot about that day ever since...

[pvremichigan]

Consequences. [Hell Arc Drabble - Aftermath]

TW: Blood, hallucinations, screaming in agony, burning, delusion, blindness, body horror

(Warning: Long drabble)

@yesfxckyxu @smokes-and-bullets

"There's no helping this... This is my consequence to face... All this, all this shit was on me and me alone... Sometimes you just can't do a thing about it. I'll be okay..."

Francis had come to visit while Mich had been healing. It had only been half a week, thank goodness she was able to talk somewhat...

Letting out a long sigh at this, the blond nodded. "Alright.. But if you ever need anything from me.. If I can help just.. say something. Call me. Hell we can just.. I don't watch a movie or play poker. Something." He knew Jack was there and helping her, but Francis didn't want her to be alone or think she had to recover alone. Even if  he came just to keep her company he would. "I know you'll be okay but it doesn't mean you have to deal with it on your own."

"I know... Having to deal with this and h-"

She stopped, still recalling what had happened last time. ... For now, she won't say it. Insults can wait.

"Having to deal with this is enough. You can do me one favor though..."

She couldn't choke back the struggled grunt as she slowly pushed herself up enough to try her best at sitting up on her own. It was slow, painful, and very difficult to do... But after a moment, she managed enough for the moment.

"Can you hand me that newspaper?"

Tilting his head from where he sat beside the couch, watching her speak before reaching over as she tried to get up. Not so much to assist, knowing she might want to do this alone, but in case she fell back. Once up he nodded and look around for the newspaper. Seeing it on a table he got up and  walked over. Assumed she wanted to check the date, see what happened while she was away. Returning to the couch, he handed it to her. "It has todays date."

"Even better..."

Before she took it, she rolled her shoulders and neck, trying to loosen the stiff muscles so she could... Read... Properly. It took a good minute or two to unstiffen, and she knew damn well this would take nearly all her energy too... But she reluctantly took the newspaper... Took a look at the date, though vision remained blurry a bit... And began to roll it up. And now, she was smacking him in the head with it.

"THIS. IS. A. SECOND. HOME. You ever chicken out... Again... And I will drag you back here by... Your damn ear... I allowed you in, you're not allowed... To be a stranger anymore... I won't STOP dragging you back... Until you get that... Through... Your skull..."

No, she wasn't mad. Irritated, but not mad at all to the point where this was making her look at him any different. Dropping the newspaper, it was then again time to get lightheaded and flop back down to her pillow, panting from the exhaustion of that exertion she just forced herself to endure...

Once he handed her the newspaper he sat back down beside the couch. Leaning against it but watching, she seemed to be doing better as she looked up the newspaper. What he didn't expect though was her rolling it up. Unsure what she was doing before.. She started smacking him with it out of no where. Crawling away in shock at the hits, Francis faced her with a look that was a mixture of shock and confusion by this action. Gray blue hue wide he reached hand over his head despite having crawled away from the couch. Away from her reach. "I.. Wha.." He was in shock and at a loss for words. At this point simply staring at Mich wide eyed. She wanted her here then? Allowed him in, allowed and intended for him to stay? Hell the woman even said she'd drag him back. All of this coupled with the fact she smacked him. Both were a shock.

"My... H-Home... Is home... To wh-whoever I say it is..." Her arm hung over the edge of the couch, now limp from the fatigue.

"And I refuse... To let anyone... Run away from home..." "There's no reason to... Unless I truly give one..."

He wasn't sure what to say at this, how to respond. Shuffling forward, closer as her arm fell, hang from the bed. Reaching over to gently lift her hand back up and against herself. He had no words for what she said, though he took it to heart. Couldn't shake how out of place he was here, it may have been a home he was allowed in but for himself it wasn't quite that yet. He looked sad, almost torn for a moment at this before his usual smile returned rather quickly. Despite his own feelings and the fact he felt he didn't quite belong, was thankful she meant for him to stay. That this was a place he could always come to. "Thank you.."

"Don't... Thank me... When you earned it... All by yourself..."

He's so confused. "I didn't.. do anything."

"If that's what you believe... Then think harder..."

She won't push, but... Everything he showed in the hangouts... All the potential and hope he held in that sparkle in his eye. His repressed but glowing urge for a better future for himself... He never failed her. He's not going to let her or himself down.

He stares at her confused by all this and unaware of what he has done or said that allowed this. Allowed him to earn this. Sighing he shrugged looking defeated but let it be. Took her words and the smack his head received from her to heart. Couldn't figure out why but she was allowed him welcome here. "Either way.. thank you.."

"What did I just say..."

She's just letting it go. It's whatever. She really doesn't mind anymore, let him thank her. He has before. But now... It doesn't mean as much as it used to, not until he figures out why he deserved it. It'll take him a while but as of now... She's got all the time in the world...

Sighing softly he nodded in response, looked somewhat nervous but let it be. "Yeah.." She seemed weak, tired. That smacking must have taken most if not all of the energy out of her. "You rest. Was it worth it?" It wasn't easy for him to accept what she said yet deep down it made him happy.

"It'll be worth it... In the end..." She used very few words as to not use up all her energy...

Nodding he leaned back against the couch. "Sleep then, rest. That whacking must have taken it out of you." He wasn't sure if he was going to be there when she woke. Stay as long as he felt comfortable anyway. Despite her welcome in this being his home as well, it wasn't. Not yet.

"M'fine... The only way... I'm getting any sleep... Is if I pass the hell out..."

And she's fighting to keep conscious as they speak.

"Maybe... If you didn't bolt like a hostage... I wouldn't have had to whack you like that..."

He could tell she was struggling to stay awake. Watching from where he sat as she spoke before laughing softly at what was said. "I'll try not to bolt like a hostage again." No promises, if he was alone or wasn't familiar with anyone there, he would leave. It was awkward being here with those he barely knew. If Mich were awake he didn't mind so much. "You pack quite a punch, that and took me by surprise." Even in her current state.

"It was... Fucking newspaper... Don't be a pussy..."

Heat flashes began to start up again, but she did her best to keep her calm and not give in to her body collapsing yet again.

"It was... R-Right after I b-lacked out... Gh-"

She can't even finish her sentence, her skin started to feel like it was being scorched by flame... It truly stung and burned like real flame. Despite her skin not looking like it, the feeling was far too real to ignore.

"Th... Moment I p-pass out... Y-ou'll... Bolt..."

Oh how her teeth wanted to crack under the pressure of her closed jaw, speaking gritted through clenched teeth.

"You rolled it up and I'm a weak old man." He was teasing somewhat, hoped to get some chuckle out of her. Right, he left after she passed out last time. "I know.." She sounded weak, and he was getting worried. "Are you alright.. Hey.. If you need to sleep don't let me stop you.. I won't bolt.. I'll wait for as long as I can okay.. I'll wait.." Sitting up he got on his knees to face her as he spoke. Worried for her and unsure what to do. "I'll be here.." He wasn't sure how long he'll be able to stay before his own panic sets in to leave, but he would try and stay as long as he could until she woke again.

She didn't need this, not now... She didn't need to burn yet again... There was barely hellfire when she was there but every attack from those beasts felt like she was being seared alive... Her vision kept flickering from her being able to see to just pure blinding white flooding her vision. Looking down at her arms, she began to see them bubbling... Slowly tearing themselves apart as the skin grew blacker with 3rd degree burns and worse. Even her muscles were growing large grotesque bubbles of fat and flesh, this was a horrific sight to witness on her own body. She was hallucinating. Mich did her best not to react, trying to keep from scaring Fran... But for a split moment, her brain was convinced this was real. The pain was dreadful, but she had to refrain from screaming out in agony. The woman had to bite down on her tongue just to stop, but unfortunately that caused her mouth to begin filling a bit with blood. Now she couldn't even speak. The woman did her best to try to look at Fran with sympathy in her eyes, giving him a warm look to assure him that she would somewhat be fine... But she pointed at the door. Not kicking him out because she wanted to, that's not it at all. Instead... She had to do it so he didn't have to witness any of this, much less witness HER like this. She would try to apologize later if need be... But she had a feeling this was only the tip of this ice burg for this hallucination. It was about to get ugly... And she didn't need to worry Fran with this.

Something was wrong, something was very wrong and he couldn't pin point what but her expression, the sudden silence. Watching as she pointed at the door still in silence before facing her with much confusion. "You want me to leave?" This was confusing him so much. One moment she wanted him to stay, now she was asking him to leave. He didn't want to leave her, wasn't sure what was happening. The expression she gave him wasn't angry, so he couldn't have done anything wrong to warrant her wanting him out. Looking down at her, Francis was torn and it showed on his pained expression. Confused and unsure what to do. Do as she said and leave, or stay and help with whatever it was that was happening. He hated this. Knew if he left it wouldn't settle well with him. Felt so wrong, but what would happened if he stayed. What repercussion would come from that. "I.. I'll go.. But.." Should he get Jack first? This felt so wrong, leaving her like this.

She didn't mean to expose him to this, this wasn't fair for him to witness but it was too late. Her mouth filled too quickly, and she quite nearly bit half of her tongue off. Physical healing took way longer than normal for her, so that... Was going to be a pain. It'll heal in about a day or two, yet normally it would take BARELY seconds. Her body turned to throw herself towards the edge of the couch enough to be able to release all of the blood in her mouth, which wasn't stopping either... It wasn't like she could run out of blood... Yet another bloodstain on the carpet, another reminder of everything that had gone wrong. Her mouth was agape, a bit stiff as she held back all the cries of pain her body was trying to force out of her.

She was boiling alive... Through her flickering vision, her arm was still practically melting off the bone and boiling to a disturbing extent. The pain slowly began to spread through her whole body, causing her to feel like she had been thrown in a pit of fire. These delusions were ruining her so terribly... She felt like the room was gone. It felt like a monotone void, all alone with only echoes of any sound that was made. Reality seemed to slip away as she strained and recoiled, falling off the couch as she let out the agonized scream-like cries from the physical and mental torture she was enduring at the moment. Nothing real was around her in her mind anymore, she was yet again alone, screaming in misery and pain with only herself to hear... While in Fran's eyes, it was all the same apart from her being away in a void and her skin boiling and melting. Still, the strain and tension in her body could tell anyone how bad it was what she was going through...

Scrambling back in horror as she dumped the blood from her lips onto the floor from where she lay. His gaze wide in shock and horrified by what he was seeing. The blood was from her tongue. "Shit.. Shit Mich!" Scrambling back to the couch at her scream, it was heart wrenching and painful to hear. Watching her writhe in pain. What could he do, what can he do. Wait it out? Watch her and let her ride it out? That felt so wrong, seeing someone suffer and not do something about it. Frantic he looked around the room, for anyone to help. Jack probably knew better how to deal with this. Facing back down at Mich as she screamed, she was in such agony and he couldn't do shit about it. Would touching her help? Would it make it worse? Biting his lip he stood from the couch and looked around. Was he seriously alone with her in this house. "What do I do.. What can I do.. " Her screaming, her pain was hard to bare. Leaning back down before her on the couch he reached for her hand. "You're at home.. You're safe at home." Squeezing her hand with both his, he felt a knot in his chest and throat. Nothing would help, as Jack said nothing here they could do. "You're on your couch.. at home.." He talked, just talked. Named the colors of her home, the couch she was on, the kitchen and television. He was rambling but he couldn't just sit by and watch her wait this out. The blood, the screaming, all of this was too much. Talking about the area her house was in, where she lived. What state she was in. Kept her hand in his. She was in pain, how would any of this help, she was hurting, scared and this was all he could do.

IJ had only been away for a moment, having had trust that Francis wouldn't do any harm to Mich while he was away. Jack had decided to do some minor cleaning - picking up some stuff that he had left out for awhile. Picking up papers that had dealt with the new warding, putting away books to ease any distaste for what she had to go through to get to Hell... That, and, he happened to get distracted with the cleaning that he had started to pick up his room. Within that moment, something caught his attention.

His senses... told him to go back downstairs. Something was wrong.

Without much hesitation, Jack did that, worry already painting his features as he got closer - those senses screaming at him that Mich was in pain. Which she was. He felt the heat. The scorching of fires blazing on his skin, to his bones, seering his nerves...

Gulping, he heard Francis talking - stating everything he could to bring Mich back to her home - to her reality, that she wasn't in Hell anymore. This also left Jack in a state of 'what to do', bringing a hand to his neck with his free hand placed on his hip... dealing with the pain Mich was dealing and... He closed his eyes trying to focus on how to help and what he could do - but he knew there wasn't anything other than to support her. Placing both hands on his sides, he walks over to her before placing those same hands on her shoulders, forehead to her forehead as he gently talked - not with worry in his tone and not with stress as he knew that would probably make things worse... but he talked of all the times they had playfully bantered, about how the dogs would be there and how Riley will bonk his head on anything even if it wasn't in his way. Adding jokes about she, herself, would be a pain just cause she can. Telling her that this pain, these fears, they will never take her down. She will only get stronger. That she will be more herself than she ever will be because she fought for her soul.

Everything will be okay in the end.

She tried, she really did. To hear anything, to hear the hum of voices. In her head, like before, she didn’t feel home no matter how much they tried to prove it to her. The burning grew worse and worse, her hand instinctively grabbing her arm, unsure why. Little did she realize during the screams, her grip tightened... She was digging her nails and nearly her fingers right into her arm, writhing in pain on the ground as more blood began to fill her mouth. The crimson leaked out the sides of her mouth, only released and spilled when she was able to turn over once in a while. The pain was so overbearing that Fran grabbing her hand wasn’t felt. It was numb, cancelled out with the amount of pain surging through her. Her eyes were tightly shut, but if she were to open them, she’d be watching her body practically boil and melt right before her very eyes. Slowly she began to believe that this wasn’t a hallucination. This felt too real... It was terrifying. There was a numb pressure against her forehead, but she was still unable to open her eyes. Her nerves kept them shut from the intensity of the pain. The hum of voice felt familiar... This one was deeper than the other. She knew Fran was there, probably the first one to speak when she was no longer able to comprehend the surroundings, but this one... Ah... Who was it...

Hearing Riley’s name, hearing... Very small situations that no one else would really know. No one else was around...

Of course...

Jack.

She had no time to be mad, the pain was only increasing... Her limbs began trembling, shaking as they were almost paralyzed with the tension of her muscles locking up. Her body forced quite a bit of blood out of her throat in the form of a cough as a fear response. Along with the blood that was pooling in her mouth, quite a bit was coughed right onto Jack as if it were a full cup that had been thrown on him. What a bitch to clean... But that’s not the concern right now.

The hum of the bass in his voice was fading in and out as she couldn’t help but gives panicked sounds before crying out in misery. How awful that must’ve been for Jack who was barely inches away from her. She was doing her best to come out of this but the burning would not stop. It wouldn’t, even when trying to imagine being home... It just kept going. There was an unbelievable amount of blood for a hallucination episode. Her fingers were still digging into her arm, blood pooling around the tips and trickling down more and more until the spot on the floor grew larger. Unsurprisingly, it was far too much to handle at the moment, tears only now starting to flood the mess of the situation. The bass kept getting louder, enough to bring her down a bit for her to open her eyes. As if she had gone blind, her eyes were clouded with a muted color, temporary but concerning in nature.  It was true, however, she couldn’t see a thing. Her eyes searched a bit in front of her, still unable to regain her vision. Terrified and panicked panting replaced the screams when they faded out, the trembling growing worse as her muscles stopped being as tense as before. There was no more strength and courage in her thoughts, it was genuine fear and worry.

”I can’t... I-I can’t see... I can’t... I-I...”

Her voice was quite faded, but she wasn’t shouting anymore. The panic was soft but frantic...

Seeing Jack rush over, Francis faced the man in both horror and an expression that was begging for help. Begging for him to do something, anything that could help her. Help ease whatever she was experiencing and the pain she was in. The screaming was heart wrenching and all he could do was hold her hand and talk. He hoped that Jack could do something more to bring her back. Anything. Watching the young man lean down, hands on her shoulders, head to head. He knew her better, lived with her. Maybe he could do something about this, do something to help. Silent now as Jack spoke though he kept hold of Mich's hand into his. Francis wasn't sure what good he was here. What else could he do but sit beside the red head and wait. Hold her hand and wait. As he hoped it seemed Jack managed to bring her back to some reality. Seeing her like this, screaming, blood oozing from her lips and writhing in pain, it was difficult to watch and bare. At least she had someone who could help, who was able to do something about it. Pull her out even a little. Watching Jack, his gaze on the other male then down at Mich as she spoke softly. She was scared, she was frightened. It wasn't much but it was something and she was talking, realized someone was there. That Jack was there. "Keep talking.." It seemed to help her, whatever Jack was doing it had some affect, even a little. This was good, right? Francis still didn't quite understand it all, only knew what he saw, the pain she was in and the fact he lacked much knowledge and knowing to this entire matter.

Francis was of no concern to Jack - as he had already blocked out those concerns before he could even feel them radiate off the man. Jack would rather focus more on Mich than to ease both of them at the same time. Besides, the immortal already knew what Francis wanted. It would be pointless to address the man's fears when those fears were aimed at Mich's state of being. The blood, the screaming... the sensation of melting flesh. Jack could only handle so much before a flicker of pain also spread across his features before he attempted to keep his composure again.

This was not the time to fall behind and give Mich the idea that there was something wrong on the outside world... as he could see the dimming of color in her eyes - the sign of blindness. He assumed this came from the response of her fear, her body reacting on it's own due to try to protect itself despite that if she was truly in a dire situation it would only do the opposite... Thankfully she was with people she trusted, well... At least with Francis.

"Mich, don't focus on trying to see..."

The man says slowly, cupping her cheeks... Despite the blood that had gone onto him, he paid no mind. Even if his ears ringed slightly from those screams prior... Her body was losing energy, and despite her panic still going strong - he had to focus on keeping that strong image for her.

"Focus on the idea that this won't last... the pain. Everything you've experienced in Hell... You're home. You've made it out. This pain is temporary. This healing process won't hold you down, because you've faced the biggest battle and you came out alive. Focus on that. Focus on the truth - no matter how the lies are treating you right now. Focus on my words. You're a survivor. You're a soldier. You have not fallen, and facing this... I doubt anything will take you down."

While speaking those words, he was stern but also soft. Having cupped his hands upon her cheeks, still having his forehead pressed against hers... He kept his energy stable. Keeping what he could, as if he was her rock. And he meant every bit of it.

Hearing the voice is all she could do to visualize him since her sight was still gone. The panicked breathing only quickened when, in her mind, the visual of Jack standing there was drawing closer. It was uncomfortable seeing him slide closer without moving a muscle, but his words were repeated in her head with the visual of Jack saying them as well. However... The voice nearly fuzzed out towards the end until the word soldier was blasted through her entire mind. That was painful in itself, but the worst was the flames that slowly started to spark on Jack. Within moments notice, the hallucination of him erupted in flames, his whole body giving into the heat as it began to melt and burst just as hers did. The flames reached his shoes, which would most likely cause it to not spread as much if it's just him.

Wrong call...

The fire raced towards Mich in her mind, quickly engulfing her in those same flames that sped up the agony of the burns... As if her nerves were never going to give in and accept defeat, the pain was never past the point of getting used to it. Over and over her body felt the same exact intensity of pain as when it first started, and catching on fire didn't make anything better. She screamed out yet again, trying to shove Jack away as if she were attempting to escape the flame again. That moment of calm when she grew blind barely lasted a minute before the worst of it all began for her. These screams were a mix of pain and panic, worse panic than before. Similar to those screams from the hug that one night, but these ones were worse. These signaled that she believed she was in legitimate peril... The words he spoke were heard barely but the focus on them left quite a while ago when the flames started. She could feel her muscles and organs begin searing from the inside, her heart in the process of being scorched. It felt like a heart attack on steroids, this was the worst thing she's ever been through in her entire life...

The flames reached for her brain and her soul, everything growing more intense and louder by the second. This was it... Was this the day she dies? There hadn't come a day in so long where she believed that she would not make it through. In her mind, this truly seemed like the end... The fire had reached her head. Her brain, slowly but surely, began to burn and collapse. But just like falling in a dream... Right before death... It stopped. The hallucination ended abruptly, the only thing left behind was the warm sensation of the delusional fire slowly fading by the moment.

Her vision was still practically gone, but she was able to make out shapes and figures just a tad. Not too easily... Her eyes were still fairly clouded over, though not as bad as before. The screams stopped. All that was left was frightened and exhausted panting, absolutely drained from that one... If that's not even the worst one, she's terrified to go through whatever's yet to come... Mich was still. Panting heavily, but still. Any movement of the jaw would grow uncomfortable as the dried and clotting blood began to harden around her mouth. As if something was pulling on her skin... It's over... But it wasn't something she'd be able to forget for a long time.

She hopes she never has to go through it again.

She doesn't believe she'd be able to endure it again at all without losing the battle...

It seemed for a moment Jacks words and actions were helping, she was calm, for a moment. Jolting as Mich suddenly screamed again, feeling that agony and shrill to his core. His gaze going from Mich to Jack, horrified. What happened, she seemed to be doing well but suddenly got worse again. What went wrong? Silent, almost afraid to speak. Afraid he would say something wrong, make this worse than it already was. The man was scared, genuinely scared for her and unsure what was happening and what could be done to help her. Ease Mich's pain. Then suddenly it seemed to end. Out of no where, he screams, her agony and writhing in pain. It stopped. Aside from her heavy breathing, her panting. Whatever happened, whatever it was that had been causing her such pain seemed to vanish. Francis didn't understand this, couldn't grasp it aside from knowing her pain was real. The damage to her mind and body, it was all real. Voice shaking, like a child afraid to speak in fear of some punishment, the blond faced Jack. "Her lips.. the blood.." Clean the blood from her lips, perhaps a cold wet rag over her head. "Cold rag over her head, it could help.. try and soothe her." Hated this, hated all of this and hoped that it was over. That she could rest now, not in pain, not in the agony she was in. His hands were still holding hers and wasn't aware he was shaking at all this. "Is it over.." Would whatever caused her body such pain suddenly return again?

Jack wasn't sure what could have caused this reaction. Feeling the scorching intensify - feeling the wave of heat under his skin - he felt as if he was starting to sweat. Though, he wasn't. As she tried to push him away, he didn't move - not because he felt it would make things worse - but also because he physically wasn't able to. The sensation she was experiencing now entered his own world of agony. Watching her and feeling the burns - he has now come to dissociate in a way that prevented him to move. He's never experienced this amount of agony from another living thing before. The screaming she was letting out has now embalmed itself into his mind. Leaving with the sensation that everything that has come up to this point has been a dream turned nightmare - literally.

Meeting her. Living with her. Bantering with her. Getting to know her. Seeing her lose her memories. Going to Hell... This has all been one long dream. One long nightmare. And when he wakes up... He'll be somewhere that isn't here... He doesn't know where. He doesn't know...

Finally, everything stops. Causing him to drift back into reality in his own way. The blood on the edges of her mouth, the panicked residue of the atmosphere, the exhausted panting of Mich...  Everything slowly starts clicking back into place. The feeling of the burns residing as he slowly, and carefully gets up. And with gentle ease, lifts Mich back onto the couch before slowly nodding to Fran. Granted, he didn't hear Fran say a thing. He's just going by instinct...

He isn't sure if he can hear anything for a moment... everything is buzzing. A low droning hum... He feels a bit dizzy. Though, he does what he can think of at the moment. Going into the kitchen, taking a wash rag and running it under cold water before allowing the excess water go down the sink as he twists it mildly. Keeping the needed water locked in. Going to Mich to wipe her face of the blood... before going back to the kitchen sink. Rinsing off the rag. Running it under cold water. Twists it. Returning back to Mich to fold the rag neatly over her forehead.

These movements came without thought. And before the immortal knew it, Jack had collapsed on the other couch.

[tigerdrop]

king u gonna elaborate on virgin benrey

 listen i have kiryu “is 100% a virgin at the ripe old age of 37, and this is appealing to me instead of fucking hilarious″ kazuma disease and it has followed me here. also this kind of branches into a completely different kink at the end b/c i am diseased

so you know how i write "obviously fucks good and hard all the time" benrey. well........you know.......like..........what if......................he didnt. what if he was. what if he had never fucked before in his life and his incessant flirting finally works and hes like "i did not expect to get this far."

envision, if u will, the delightful awkwardness of virgin benrey + "has never had sex with a dude before" gordon

ive definitely brought up the possibilities of gordon going all science-brain on null benrey before but i think it works just as well on virgin benrey too. its a learning experience for both of them and if theres one thing gordons good at, its research. and gordon probably gets way too up in his own head about making sure he does this shit right and spends a lot of sleepless nights googling "how to have sex with dudes" and, you know, researching, 

if benreys not the one fucking babying him thru his first gay experiences he is probably going to bungle it so fucking badly and i think it would be really funny 

alternatively please consider gordon being so fucking neurotic about benrey never having done this shit before that he avoids the subject as hard as possible, thinking that hes gonna dick it up hardcore, but the whole time benreys just thinking "bro i havent had my dick touched in [however long hes been alive]. come on". the tension

furiously making out with him behind a fucking crate in black mesa and then realizing this is Going Places and gordons voice breaks as he says, way too loud, "I GOTTA UHHH GO RELOAD MY SMG. RIGHT NOW"

you think gordon is touch starved ? no. Hell with this 

Im just tsying theres no evidence hes been touched at all by another human being in his life before this. if hes video game in real he benrey noclip out of being touched 

what if he like, chooses not to noclip/not feel....ON that time gordon catches him. just cuz hes curious, a gay impulse. or maybe hes so surprised (and gay) he forgets to avoid it

and oh, to be in gordon freeman's gentle grasp. makes him into an unholy annoyance of awkward gayness for the rest of the series

YEAS.......also he has definitely thought hard about sucking gordons dick but doesnt actually have any idea how he would go about it. hes just heard its cool

giddy thinking about the scenario where its actually benrey whos terrible at sucking dick b/c hes never done it before and gordon who actually does suck dick like a champ

i know that this is literally the plot of the very first serious nsfw fic in this fandom but still. virgin beney. benrey getting sucked off for the first time in his entire life and shaking like a fucking leaf......

Power trip of Gordon realizing this guy whose been hitting on him the whole time has no idea what to actually do 

Gordon Freeman Gives Benrey A Prostate Exam

its a joke but its not a joke. virgin benrey being vaguely aware that being fucked by gordon freeman would be cool, in theory, but not fully conceptualizing of how you actually get a dick in your ass until gordons like "what?? no, dude, you cant just stick it in there" and gives him a demonstration and thats how benrey discovers he has a prostate 

benrey like "idgi man this just feels weird. when do we get to theohhh my god what. what that" and gordons like "what, u mean this?" (curls his fingers again) mean smirk hours

i want him to make a squeaky little noise when gordon says that and curls his fingers again, and gordon's like "ha- knew he'd like it" and keeps kneading him a while; but oops, suddenly benrey's coming with an even squeakier noise 

gordon's so surprised he just keeps going, hes like, not comprehending until benys whining at him to stop

a thought: benreys not good at "being human" and probably doesnt actually know whats supposed to happen when u nut so every time hes been jackin it he just does it until it starts to be Just A Little Too Much and then hes like "mission accomplished" and stops. imagine his fucking surprise when  gordons jerking him off and he doesnt stop and hes like "wh ha hu what the fuck i already got off bro" and gordon just stares at him and the distinctive lack of cum on his hand and s like ".......did you?  you sure about that one." 

tl;dr benrey squirming and babbling and digging his fingers into gordons back as he begs him to keep going, he doesnt know whats gonna happen and hes feeling totally overwhelmed b/c gordons pushing him further than hes ever been pushed and he keeps inadvertently trying to wriggle away b/c its So Much but gordon, maybe, pins down his hips so he can get benrey off For Real....... 

even better if its when gordons sucking him off for the first time so he can wrap his arms and hands around benreys thighs to keep them spread wide open and firmly in place 

knees shaking and thighs jumping constantly 

and benrey has no idea when its supposed to be over so he cant even warn gordon properly. he just keeps getting louder and louder....... 

maybe even.......completely hunched over gordon......pushing him down on his dick with his hands in his hair....... 

alternating between babbling "stop" and "dont stop" b/c hes stupid 

eventually gordon gets so sick of benrey not being able to decide whether he wants to shove gordon onto his dick or yank him off that he just pulls off and says "look, man, do you trust me?" b/c he would really like to just get benrey to stop edging himself here 

UNINTENTIONAL OVERSTIMULATION.......THE TEARS........HHHHHHH

and he eventually gets benrey to nod furiously at him that he trusts him and gordons just like, okay, im not gonna stop then. im gonna keep going. and.......he does 

eyes glazed, hair sticking to him with sweat, hips all twitchy, dick all red, face also all red 

sucking benrey dry until hes over sensitive....... 

He started off spasming then he’s rocking into Gordon’s face by the time he’s wailing his name. Panting and gasping like he’s fucking DROWNING 

gordon meanwhile almost nuts in his pants from the fuckin show that benreys puttin on for him and hes not even trying. hes just Like This. gordons got jerkoff material for the next month just thinking about the way benrey wails his name and clutches his hair tight 

benreys like (slurred) 'u gonna jack off or sumn.......was it not hot'. gordon fighting with every cell of his body not to scream "WAS IT NOT HOT?"

trying to decide what would be hotter: gordon jacking off while hes on his knees with his head resting on benreys thigh or jerking off on benreys stomach and.....r.......rubbing it in

benrey watching gordon cum and feeling a whole new context for it cause now he knows how good it feels and gets turned on again faster-

thinking.......about.......th. next time. now that benreys figured it out. he gives it a try on his own time and hes so surprised that it works that he goes up to gordon like "yo. check this out. i figured out how to jack it" and gordon has the most unimpressed look on his face imaginable 

"proud of you, buddy. am i good to go back to watching storage wars, or" "you wanna uhhh.....wanna see it maybe?" and that changes his entire tune

imagining benrey being so fucking bad at it still that he keeps doing the start-stop shit b/c its so intense and hes not used to it and the thing that actually gets him to finish is gordon, pants down to his knees and fisting his own dick like he might die tomorrow, leaning forward and telling him that hes got this, benreys gonna come for him, right? come for gordon? 

gordon fucking telling him "dont stop" WRT jerking himself off and benrey just listening to him and pushing himself is ruining my fuckin mind 

its a really good thought......i love how it plays into non-human benrey having to figure out human stuff........makes me crayz

probably keeps being sensitive for a long while too........ (mumbling very very quietly) and if hes so sensitive from never being touched before......maybe hes kind of........uhhh..................ticklish

new layers to the whole "oh my god its too much stop it" + "i actually dont want you to stop touching" thing .. . . .. . . . + gordon powertripping when he realizes whats going on with him and why he keeps jerking away and trying not to laugh when gordon touches him like on his stomach or his sides

benrey accidentally jerks too hard and knees gordon in the dick from how ticklish he feels just from like, hands on his sides or something

i was actually thinking about......like.......gordon laying on the ground and suffering (because why wouldnt i be thinking about gordon suffering) and deciding that enough is enough and offering to.......desensitize benrey. you know. for his own health

you know. uhhh. tying up his arms and legs, perhaps, and. you know. "do not noclip through these. i swear to god, benrey, if you kick me in the dick again" 

i'm think about benrey begging gordon to stop, so he does, to check if this is a Forreal stop or a "hahah nooo~" stop, and benrey asks him through gasps to keep fucking tickling him (except he just says smth to the effect of ."gh.. ....keep doing it dude wuhdah hell...") and gordon gets an evil fucking grin and just feels on top of the world "yeah?? think you can handle it, huh???" and just destroys him. benrey thinks about gordon's horny manic face for weeks 

neither of them had a thing for this before this point but the combination of feeling like hes being tickled and gordons hands on him for the first time making him mad horny gives benrey a brand new fucking fetish. gordons manic fucking face im so glad we are on the same wavelength about that

i truly hate my own posts. incurable. diseased

[lucarioisinthevoid]

AHHHHHHH I HAVE IDEA!!

How about Henry interacting with Helpy and the “annoying” Ultimate Custom Night characters! Maybe throw in Funtime Freddy!! Helpy could be his son or maybe Bon Bon reincarnated! Just sheer silliness and stupidity :p

Animatronics: Bonnie, BB, JJ, Phantom BB, Phantom Mangle, Phantom Freddy, Old Man Consequences, Trash and the Gang, Helpy, El Chip, Funtime Chica and Phone Guy! (Sorry, no Funtime Freddy here, wasn’t an option- though I don’t mind adding characters that aren’t an option, I would just had to write around that a little more, so I didn’t want to go all in. Events and surroundings all randomly generated like this in-game! Just with slight adjustments for a bit of writing flow). (Special note: This is an experiment. This is a whole ass chapter. Tumblr might not be the right place for it, but I have no better place to put it. If you have an idea on what would work better, I’d love to hear it, but for now this is just it. If you don’t want to read a long chapter, you should probably not press “read more” Honestly, this might not be as much fun as I imagined it to be, I’m terrible at making fun events, heh. If it is, take solace in the fact that it might be the only chapter of this kind on this blog.)

Henry groaned, his bones sending agony through his nerves. It felt like his insides had splintered and were now stuck in his flesh. His throat was burning, but he managed to open his eyes. He was- somewhere. At least it was a place. That was actually news, good news, last time he hadn’t been that lucky after all. Having a couch below him and a room surrounding him was actually a deep relief- it was a room he didn’t have to create himself. Sitting up, he looked around. It seemed to be some sort of employee lounge, a coffee machine, a tv and a couch, with lockers against the walls. A few posters painted the walls. -CELEBRATE!- They said, over and over again. Henry showed his teeth, a grin with no hint of amusement. “… that is what you would like to do, huh?” Standing up he stumbled a little, but the pain only served to keep him awake and grow his confidence. It HURT. And it was GOOD. It hurt, his body hurt, HIS BODY was REAL and in PAIN. When he left to the outside, he was surprised to see that he was inside of one of the oldest locations- at least in form. He was standing beside where the stage was supposed to be, coming from where the saferoom used to be, but to his surprise instead of a stage it was a giant price corner, filled with all sort of plushies and other goodies. Sweets and candies, candles, little gadgets… … and a silver coin among them. It shined and felt oddly… powerful. Ten Faztokens. The other things didn’t even have a price tag, so he decided that he would check back on that later. All items were hidden behind a thin glass wall and he wasn’t sure if he could break through it. Maybe he should try later. Moving further down, he realized a few more things were different- There were TWO pirate coves in the main area and- ‘Pssssst… hey… I have something to tell you…’ Abruptly Henry turned around. Where had that voice come from?! ‘Hey… hey, down here…’ It seemed to come from one of the hallways, leading down to the office. As quick as he possible could, he followed the source of the noise, the mysterious whispers slowly growing louder. ‘It is really… really… important…!’ Finally, he was near the supply closet, looking around. “Hello? Where are you? Who are you? What is this place?” The questions broke out of him more erratically than he wanted them too, the desperation and quiet panic bubbling under the thin veil of cold control- it was almost cracking out of him. ‘Pssssst…’ He spotted a little crate with eyes, and leaned down to investigate- Suddenly a loud noise! The thing was all up in his face, making a low noise, pure bass, causing his head to HURT, but not enough that he would have to hold his ears- Just enough that it shook his skin uncomfortably, from the inside out. Stumbling backwards, he shook his head, the crate had disappeared, leaving him with a headache and burning aggression, so potent that his throat felt sore, as though he had screamed from the top of his lungs… despite not a single noise having come out of him. Moving inside of the office, he was somewhat stunned. It looked like a bedroom. With closet and everything. The wallpaper and whole atmosphere felt… old. A child’s bedroom… except there was an office desk, with a fan, a microphone and a weird little action figure of Bonnie on top of it. Some air ducts were hanging into the room and there were- multiple vents, two doors- A flashlight. Quickly he grabbed it. Great- now all he needed was a taser and maybe he would feel like- “… Henry Miller…” A raspy voice sounded to the side of him, causing him to make a few steps back. In front of him, a creature was forming, a Freddy, burned and see through- It grinned. “… long time… no see…” “I have never met you.” “… your memory is failing you, Mr. Miller…” At this point it seemed to become more and more corporeal, reaching out to the table, its paws scraping over and only slightly moving through the material. Turning to the Pink Guy, he opened his maw a little, nothing visible inside. It was getting ready… “… that’s on you however-“ A squeaky voice sounded. “Maybe you should shine your light at him, Mr. Miller!” Instantly, the flash of his light ripped through the ghostly Freddy, who was quite disgruntled to say the least. “… Helpy… you are supposed to help US.” With that he vanished, giving Henry the chance to turn to around and see who’s mysterious helper was. His eyes fell on a little walking bear standing on the blue shelf, trying to hide between the purple fan. “Whoops…” “… who are you? Can you EXPLAIN this place to me?!” “I’m Helpy! Don’t you remember me, Henry?” Fully irritated the Pink Guy stepped back. “No. No, I did not make you. I THOUGHT about making you, but I never did!” “Oh my, Henry, you must have fallen on your head!” Helpy laughed. “But- I can’t help you actually. Everyone else will be mad! So I won’t tell you how the other people here work!” “Can you at least tell me who exactly these ‘others’ are?!” “Uhm… no. I don’t think so.” Slowly he was reaching behind him for something- But Henry couldn’t worry about it, as a phone suddenly started ringing. Shoving off the bear off the shelf (resulting in a little squeak), he tried to find the source of the noise, his head throbbing. He thought he shortly saw a “mute call” button pop up, but as soon as he saw it, it was already gone. Instead a receiver just- fell from the ceiling, randomly. How? Who KNEW- “Uh- hello? Hello, hello?” “… Phone Guy?” “Scott. Uh- anyways- uh, anyways, I wanted to record a message for you, to help you get settled in on your first-“ “This is not a recording. You just interrupted me. And why would there be a phone RINGING if you were to play a recording!?” For a moment it was quiet, then Scott started laughing. “You never changed, did you?” Irritated Henry skipped past that question, having more urgent matters to talk about. “Scott. Good old Scott. Listen, I think I am in some level of hell.” Dumbfounded there was silence on the other end, while the ghostly Freddy tried to reform, being instantly shooed away by the light. Until finally- “… yes of course. Of COURSE you’re in hell, Henry. Uh. What did you expect?” “I-“ “No, no, no, let’s uh- let’s talk about this. Where did you THINK you are? Because, uhm- not sure how to say this, but- uh- I DIED and I’m in HEAVEN right now and you DIED, sooo… uh- yeah.” “I am glad we talked about this. I cannot recall how I GOT here, however. And everyone seems to know me.” Displeased he shined the light at the grinning grimace of the phantom, before he could even fully form. “Yeah… uh… can’t help you. Actually, I have to go. You don’t have a noise activated animatronic around, do you?” “A- what?” “Hm. Too bad. Talk to you later!” “Wait-“ But before he could say anything else, the connection was cut, and his camera system was blinking up red. ‘Catch a fish!’ the title said, his head becoming dizzy as he watched the little red thing move from one side to the other. Wait, that wasn’t just- the noise and the flashing, the air was getting harder and harder to breathe! … smells like brimstone. He managed to catch the fish, albeit just barely, then opened the camera feed, where a warning sign was blinking. The camera itself was completely covered by another phantomlike animatronic, the Mangle this time. Shortly he blinked at it, shaking his head, then clicking the button that said ‘RESET VENTILATION’. A gust of fresh air instantly blew through the location, allowing him to finally breathe again properly. The fan itself seemed useless- he deactivated it. Having climbed back up, Helpy was back on the shelf, looking at him happily. “Are you having fun?” For a moment Henry looked at him, shining away the Freddy once more. “… no.” Out of the corner of his eyes he spotted Balloon Boy, staring at him with his terrible grin. Instantly he hit the button to shut the door, a dull thud coming from it right away. At least that one gave him a hint of satisfaction, pleased with the mental image that the obnoxious plastic abomination ran face-first into the metal wall. “But you look like you have fun!” Helpy reached behind him, before Henry shoved him over again, still not interested in what he was hiding. “You are TERRIBLE at reading emotions then. A useless AI.” Pouting Helpy sat beside the shelf, not answering this time around. Looking around, Henry got comfortable in his chair, slowly growing… a little bit hot. Huh. Seemed like the fan wasn’t entirely useless after all. Maybe it kept the heat from the hell around them away. … what an image… a Freddy’s in the middle of a fire-y pit. He hoped it wasn’t the case. That would make getting out a lot more complicated. “Is this all I have to deal with?” Henry asked Phantom Freddy, who chose not to answer, but only smile grimly. “… I can live with that.” Leaning back, he quickly flipped up the screen once more resetting the ventilation and shutting the vent to the side one more time for good measure. Again, a bonk. Hopefully Balloon Boy. He relaxed. A routine would form easily. Shine your light, reset the vent, keep the generator going, close the side vent for a while. At least for now the place seemed empty- Suddenly something DROPPED from the ceiling. Lights flashed a heap of shadow-y humanoid figures entered with what sounded like cameras, flashing and shining, making Henry’s head spin. On the top of his table stood Funtime Chica posing elegantly. “Don’t get distracted~!” She spun around showing herself off, then blew a kiss down at him. Then she turned to Helpy. “Helpy!!! Why didn’t you tell me our guest was already here!!!” She whined, upset. Her paparazzi had vanished again, she however stuck around. “My first impression was TERRIBLE! Because of YOU!” “I’m sorry Miss Funtime Chica!” Helpy didn’t seem bothered by the accusation. “He was just suddenly here!” “Aw- well- at least he’s a total cutie!” “Why thank you.” Henry rose an eyebrow, but tried to continue focusing on the plastic children trying to enter the office, as well as the Phantom trying to materialize behind her. “I appreciate the compliments, especially from someone who seems to have an eye for it.” “Oooooh, look at him~ so adorable~ I wanna pinch his cheeks!” Sitting down on the desk, the bird smiled widely, watching him. “How’s the night going~?” “Rather fast. I think I have a grip on it though.” “Hm? Are you sure~?” Before Henry could answer his tablet acted up. For a few seconds he saw the little 8-bit fishing game- but before he could catch it, the screen changed showing an add. “COME TO EL CHIP’S FIESTA BUFFET, WE HAVE-“ Instantly clicking on skip, Henry managed to get another glimpse at the game- And then it was gone, a red GAME OVER stuck on his screen. His breath was getting shorter as the smell of brimstone slowly started filling the room again, the red alarms blinking, but the screen constantly flashing error when he tried to access it. More and more his head hurt, the room seemed to become darker and darker- was this smoke?! Was smoke entering the room? Would he be poisoned by the gasses!? Desperately he rattled the screen, while Chica only giggled and left, Helpy watching intensely from the shelf. “You know, if you just wait a few minutes, it’s gonna-“ Frustrated Henry shoved him down once more, his mouth filling with a disgusting taste as the room began spinning- It all come together, once Freddy formed, the Balloon Boy loomed in the vent, a second after, the telephone was ringing- Suddenly the screen flashed back up and he instantly grabbed it, trying to get his bearing as he hit the button to reset, being stuck for a second too long on the grinning grimaces of both a phantom Balloon Boy and Mangle- the latter of which suddenly crawled out of the screen and while he managed to hit the button, his office had descended into chaos. Helpy was holding a horn, the phantom Freddy had almost formed, the phantom Mangle was slowly extending its neck towards him, screaming and gargling in insane glee and to top if all off, the screen flashed red AGAIN, forcing him to focus on that instead of the other two things- Balloon Boy was snickering as he tried to make his way inside, Henry barely being able to shut the vent on him before discovering the stupid crate from the start looking at him from under the table. “Uh- hello? Hello, Hello?” “Scott. Bad timing.” “That is my job!” Cheerfully the Phone Guy said. “To be as much of a nuisance to you as possible. Uh- glad to hear the high praise. How are you? Bad? Good. Uh- anyways, I will now read to you the company greeting, but only the imperfect, first draft so you feel bad about what bullshit you wrote!” “I can crush this phone.” “No, uh- you actually can’t! The afterlife is neat, huh?” “I can mute you.” “If you are fast enough. Which you obviously weren’t. You really grew old, uh- up there…” “MY REFLEXES ARE GREAT AS EVER.” “If it were the case you wouldn’t, uh- y’know. Fighting with me over this.” “I am not fighting with you, I am merely correcting you. As I always did while we were alive.” Stopping the petty crap, seeing as he wasn’t even sure if this WAS actually the real Scott, he turned his attention to more important things. “What is this place? Who made it?!” “Uh- Welcome to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza! A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life. Fazbear Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or person-“ Instantly Henry tuned out. “Good riddance, Scotty.” He mumbled to himself, taking solace in the memory that no matter what, this obnoxious Phone-head had been dead for much longer than he himself. While the words kept going in the background, he kept working, pausing as a bright green mechanical parrot flew through his office. But- it didn’t really do anything, so he decided to ignore it for now. A good amount of time passed with his voice in the background, until it was abruptly cut off- seemingly by the ad for El Chip’s. Once that was skipped, the office was quiet, aside from the fan. Finally! The silence lingered. For a second Henry felt a bit lonely. Not even the little bear was there anymore. There was enough to do though, as the air kept needing to be reseted, Freddy kept popping up, the parrot came through once more, the minigame, the annoying balloon children wanted in- At last… … it was five AM. One last time the call sounded. Henry allowed it to come through, despite eyeing the ‘mute call’ button. “Hello? Hello, hello!?” It sounded on the other side. “Hey! You’re doing GREAT. I, uh- didn’t expect you to last this long! I mean-“ He broke off. “Y’know. Usually I expected you to move on to other things by now… disappearing into the void like you should, seeing as there’s no out.” “I will not disappear.” “Huh. Guess I owe the person who made this place an apology. I was wrong-“ “Who?! Who was it?! Who are you TALKING about?!” But before anything could be said, the bell chimed. Six AM His screen changed once more, a high-score board showing, then loud music started blasting from the speakers, hyper and fast paced, the numbers blinking and colorful, rapidly climbing higher and higher as fireworks were set up on the screen and around Henry, raining down confetti as they exploded- GREAT JOB! FANTASTIC! The fireworks stopped and the jingle ended with a congratulatory little up and down. Then the office was dark. Slowly he stood up, leaving to the outside, checking for danger- “Hey! You won. Here, take this for your trouble.” Suddenly ANOTHER Freddy was there, a golden star on his chest- he dropped a battery into Henry’s hands that he had grabbed, then he walked off. “Wait- wait a moment! I need an explanation! I need-“ The bear was gone. After a while of searching around the place and not finding an exit, Henry finally sighed and made his way back into the saferoom- or employees only lounge, or- whatever. Inside it was just like before. Safe. Except this time the TV was on. And there was a Fredbear suit on the sofa. How? Who knew. Why? Hopefully not to kill him. Slowly he moved next to it, inspecting it. At this moment it seemed completely lifeless, yet somehow he felt watched. “Am I… interrupting…?” No reaction. Walking past the suit, he put away the battery. Still no reaction, but he could swear the creature was looking at him. Unsure he approached it once more, sitting down besides him. “… looking at… fuzzystatic. I see. I think I will… join.” Suddenly, a loud noise of came from the tv, then it flashed. INTERMISSION. A little bit later, Henry was done watching a samurai Freddy fighting an ULTRA edgy Foxy, he put his face into his hands. “… send me back out. Please. I actually prefer it.”

[motorcitizens]

ive never seen anywhere to watch motorcity with subs? so i went looking and found transcripts of most of the early mc episodes (available in a reply so tumblr doesnt kill the post) but theyre missing a few towards the end. i decided on my fourth rewatch that id transcribe episode 9! whether youre a hard of hearing fan or just want the reference, here you go! let me know if the initials are annoying, ill edit them out.

-I got you with the slash!

-Nuh-uh!

-You first.

-Why me?

-Cuz you're dead anyway.

-There's nothing down here!

-Philip? S- stop fooling around, man. I- I can hear you down there.

-Aah!

[theme]

-The last time I bought anything from you, it took me a week to fumigate the kitchen!

-Okay, the reshcaps were a mistake, you're right about that. But today, I have something extra special...

D- ...then she says, 'that's why I can't eat the sandwich!'

[all laugh]

C- Wait, wait, I got one. Where does a snowman keep his money? In a snow bank! Eh? Get it? Come on, it's funny!

Th- We're searching for the Vanquisher, king of the realm?

T- Oh. I think they're talking about me.

M- Yeah, I have no idea who you're-

Th- There he is!

Burners- Chuck?!

T- [laughter]

R- Hey! You dare insult Lord Vanquisher? I should take your tongue and feed it to the birds.

T- Uh, you can't do that. I need my tongue.

C- Release him, Darkslayer.

R- ... Fortune smiles upon you today.

M- So, Chuck, you wanna introduce us to your... friends?

C- Guys, allow me to present: Thurman the Magnificent, and Ruby the Darkslayer!

Th: We are knights of the kingdom of Raymanthia.

C- It's called LARPing! [...] Live action role-playing? [...] Okay, I have a life outside of the Burners, you know!

D- Sure doesn't look like it.

T- Oh! I get it! Ahahaha!

Th- My Lord, a situation has arisen. The oracle awaits.

O- As you requested, Sam and Phillip were dispatched on a scouting mission early this morning. But we have not heard from them for many hours.

M- What do you mean you haven't heard from them?

O- I fear, Lord Vanquisher, they have gotten lost on the outskirts of the realm.

T- Texas is confused. Okay, now is this part of your little game or is this real?

D- We're standing behind some dude's van who calls himself the oracle. What do you think?

O- I demand silence!

J- I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm with Texas on this one.

O- Chuck! Make em stop.

C- Wait. Is this part of the game?

Th- No. Sam and Philip are really missing.

M- So, this is for real?

O- We need your help.

C- I vow to find our wayward kinsmen.

C- Guys, this is LARPing!

T- Woah. That's it?

C- Each weekend, teams battle for control of the realm. The rules are simple: First, once you step onto the field of battle, you must remain in character. Second, if you must be vanquished: do so with honor. It's neat, ain't it?!

J- The game's already started?

R- If by 'game' you mean a ferocious battle to the death for the crown of Raymanthia, then yes.

O- But we can't win unless we find our friends.

[at the same time]

C- I say we split up.

M- Let's split up.

M- No disrespect! Chuck- uh, I mean, Lord Chuck. What do you think we should do?

C- Ahem! If we split up, we'll cover more ground!

O/Th/R- As you say, Lord Vanquisher.

C- Okay guys. We'll check the warehouse near the old Renaissance center, you guys check the battlefield.

Th- I dunno where that is. Can somebody else drive?

M- So, King Chuck. How'd you win your crown?

O- It happened many weekends ago... Chuck stood as freedom's last hope against Mad Dog the Conqueror. If he were to fall, darkness would reign for yet another long weekend. Mad Dog summoned his dragon to finish off the Vanquisher once and for all, but fate had different plans. It was totally awesome!

C- Naw, it wasn't... that awesome.

D- Little dudes!

J- Sam! Phillip?

D- Where are you?

Guy- Huzzah!

R- Leave this to me!

Guy- The bards shall sing of this day... the day the Darkslayer fell!

R- Someone shall fall on this day... but it shall not be me.

[fighting noises]

Guy- Aha! Tsk, tsk. You've lost your sword!

T- hyah!

R- What are you doing! I had him right where I wanted him!

Guy- You're not playing by the rules.

T- These are Texas rules! [karate noises] Now. We need you to answer some questions.

D- We're looking for two missing kids, Sam and Phillip. Have you seen them?

Guy- I'd rather die a thousand deaths than help the likes of you.

J- Ahem! Forgive us, my liege, but we are but humble squires in search of our kinsmen. Can you help us?

Guy- I've never been one to refuse a lady, certainly not one as ravishing as you. Saw your kinsmen five hours ago, approaching the Dungeon of Anguish.

D- Neat trick.

Th- We're never gonna find them in time. Then the stupid Bardonians are gonna win, think they're all cool with their fancy mustaches.

C- Hey. Buck up there, camper! People said we'd never win the Battle Royale last Fall, but we did. Our friends are out there, and we'll find em! We just gotta keep-

M- Uh, sorry. Dutch just called. Your friends were seen someplace called the Dungeon Anguish?

Th- It's actually the Dungeon of Anguish.

C- It's, uh. Well, it's actually just in the basement right here.

C- Wah, ah! Get it off me, get it off me!

Th- This isn't part of the game!

M- Yeah, well, neither is this!

R- That was. Incredible!

D- What were those things?

M- Don't know. But I'm betting they have something to do with our missing friends. We have to move. [LARPers kneel] Uh, come on. Get up, guys, we don't have time for this.

O- From this day forth, you shall be known as "Mike, the Smiling Dragon."

Th- You just got a great name. Jealous!

C- For saving my life on the field of battle, I owe you a debt of life.

M- That's... really not necessary.

O- Actually, it's totally necessary. The king of the realm cannot rule while carrying a debt of life.

C- As such, I give the crown to the Smiling Dragon!

M- No. No, Please, look, I can't, I just- I was-

C- Mikey, you gotta!

J- Hey guys, check this out! I've never seen that symbol before.

D- That's really old.

M- Way before my time. Maybe Jacob can help.

Th- What if those... things have Sam and Phillip?

R- Never fear. We have the Smiling Dragon. As long as he's our king, we can't lose. Did you see his moves? They were just so- so-!

M- You okay, buddy? Look, if it's about what happened back there, I'm sorry man. I was just trying to help.

C- It's not that. It's just-

M- Just what?

C- Look, I tripped, okay?

M- Um... If that's some kind of LARPer slang, I have no idea what it means.

C- The story you heard. About how I earned my crown? That's not how it really... went down. It was my first real battle. I'd never held a real lance before. I was still getting my balance when Lord Mad Dog summoned his dragon... I ran forward but... I tripped. The lance fell and hit him by accident! I won my crown with a lie. Hey... it's better that you're king now. I was never fit for the post. I've been king for 48 consecutive weekends, and-

M- 48? Woah, you do play this game a lot.

C- Yeah, but... it took less than an hour of LARPing with you for the others to see me for what I truly am... a follower.

M- Hey, a follower couldn't have led his team to 48 consecutive victories. You can't fake that!

C- Mikey... Look, I appreciate your support but we both know I'm no leader. Not when I'm a Burner and not even when I'm here, playing make believe.

M- Here. Take the pin back.

C- You can't just give it to me! The only way I can get it back is to earn it by saving your life. And let's be honest. That ain't gonna happen.

Th- Never seen that tunnel before. You aren't planning on taking us down there, are you?

R- Well I'm going in!

Th- Do you know how much trouble I'll get in if my mom finds out I went down some crazy dark tunnel looking for killer robots?!

O- He's not joking. His mom is terrifying.

M- They're right. This isn't a game anymore. Texas will stay up here and keep you safe while we go get your friends.

T- What! Wait, why me?

M- Because you're the bravest warrior we've got.

T- Yeah, that's true, but come on! Don't leave me with the nerds!

D- What is this place?

O- Booyah! Mutant wolverine. I win!

Th- I could show you how to use that.

T- Save it. Not interested.

O- Why not? You're really good.

T- You really think so?

Th- Here, watch.

T- Hyah! Huh?

T- Mike, Julie! Incoming! We got trouble!

Th- Come on, I just got this!

O- Your mom is gonna be so mad.

J- This isn't working!

M- I'm open to suggestions!

R- A wizard!

Ja- Applesauce!

J- Jacob?

R- Aww!

Bot- The creator has returned!

M- Uh, Jacob? Care to fill us in?

Ja- It started back when Kane and I were partners- before there even was a Deluxe! I was designing our first ever Utility Bot. Its purpose was to make life in Detroit easier and safer. I equipped it with a new AI that would allow the bot to anticipate human commands, but I was the only one the bot seemed to listen to. But if it were ever to escape the lab, there's no telling the danger it could pose. I begged Kane to shut the program down! I always thought he did.

Bot: It began soon after you left us. Kane retrained us! We were instructed to capture enemies of the public and bring them back to Kane's new creation, an Interrogator. But the humans could not control it. Kane sealed the lab. Our new master told us every human was out to destroy us. As such, every human became our enemy. Disloyalty was severely punished. So we waited, until this door finally opened.

M- Our friends went missing this morning. Have you seen them?

Bot- Of course. We took them per our master's instructions.

J- We need to get them back!

[roar]

Bot- Our master has awoken. If he discovers you here with us, he will destroy us.

M- Get the LARPers out of here!

C- I'm not leaving you guys!

R- Our place is here, with our King!

M- This isn't a game! Get your friends to safety.

C- Let's move!

D- Come on!

J- Look out!

[rubble collapses the door]

T- Mike!

D- Julie!

Both- Jacob!

D- We'll never move this stuff by ourselves!

T- Says who?

Th- What do we do?

C- I know a way to get through there! But I will require your van.

Ja- There used to be another exit!

J- Hey, look at this!

M- The kids have to be in one of those rooms. If we can find a way past that thing we can rescue them and get the heck out of here! Think you can buy us some time?

J- Do you even have to ask? Hey, ugly! Over here!

M- Sam! Phillip! Climb up here!

S- You're the new king of the realm?

M- You bet your butt I am. Lord Smiling Dragon, at your service. Now get up that rope, squire!

T- Okay, I admit. It's pretty cool.

C- But is it possible?

D- Sure. But there's no way the three of us can build it fast enough.

C- What if they helped?

D- I know you don't mean the little lunatics that just tried to kill us!

Bot- We cannot get involved. If our master were to find out-

C- He's not your master! You are in Raymanthia. And in Raymanthia, every man- or... freaky little Utiliton- is free! Free to stand up for yourselves. Free to fight back! And free to live! Our friends are down there, and I swear to you on the steel of my blade that even if I have to slay the beast itself, we! will! bring them back!

[utilitons cheering]

T- hwah! Nah, see, this ain't nerdy. This is a level 25 battle ax, okay? Twenty five. Think about it.

Ja- Maybe there wasn't another exit?

M- Stay here!

M- Way to go, Chuck!

S&P- The Vanquisher!

T- Make way for Texas!

C- The beast is absorbing the blasts!

[mike gets got]

C- Mike!

C- Drive! and when I say stop, stop fast! ...STOP!

M- Ha, oh yeah!

M- For saving my life on the field of battle, I owe you my life. My steel is yours to command, since a king cannot carry... I forget how the rest of it goes, here! All hail King Chuck, the Vanquisher!

R- This was the coolest game ever!

M- ... the game. Your win streak. You guys have to go defend your crown!

Th- We'll never be able to muster an attack in time.

T- What if we help.

M- We're yours to command, Lord Vanquisher.

C- For the glory of the realm!

[all yell]

[digimonnetwork-project]

Episode IV

Previous Episode

Leo’s Pride

Isamu was having lunch with the transfer student today.

Aki glanced over at Masato, noticing this fact as well. Mastato tapped his foot under the table, yeah, he knew Isamu had the right to sit wherever he wanted and talk to whoever he wanted, but he was spending an awful lot of time with the new girl.

“Do you think he’s going to stop hanging out with us?” Aki asked, worriedly adjusting his glasses with a disappointed frown, it wouldn’t have been the first time this happened to the duo.

Masato tapped his foot faster, “The least he could do is give us a proper ‘bye guys’ instead of this silent treatment.” The long haired boy huffed and tossed glare over at Imasu and Ju as they ate lunch together, “What does she have that we don’t?” He was more upset than Aki about this, he’d genuinely liked Isamu and believed that he’d stick around. After all the time they’d spent practicing for soccer and tryouts coming up soon...

Can’t be right all the time, Masato supposed.

Their comments did not go unheard, however, as it just so happened that Kaiyo Nakano was passing by their table with her bento box, “She’s got charm and wit, for one thing,” The brown haired girl said as she stopped and sat at their table with them, “And he’s smart and nice. Maybe they like each other.” She suggested.

“They’ve known each other for less than a week.” Masato pointed out, with an unimpressed sigh, “How could they possibly like each other that much?”

Kaiyo smiled and took a bite of her rice, “I haven’t known either of them very long, but I like them both just fine.” She announced.

Aki brushed some of his blond hair behind his ear, “That’s different, Nakano, you like everyone.”

“Just call me, Kaiyo. And I don’t see how that matters, there’s no waiting period to see if you like someone- unless” She started to snicker, “You thought I meant like-like!” Kaiyo giggled and broke into a laugh, “I just meant- he- she-! Haha guys and girls can just be friends you know!”

Masato and Aki stared at her, blushes rising to their cheeks as they realized how they’d misinterpreted her comment. Kaiyo wasn’t done teasing them though.

“Oh! But wait, what if they are in love!? Maybe they were star crossed lovers in a past life, bound to meet again and again in each lifetime, always to be torn apart, haha! It’s just like a Shoujo manga! Ha! Oh, don’t tell me, one of you is the reborn rival; here to win Ju away from him-wait not, it’s Isamu you’re upset about losing! Is he the love interest then?!”

“Th-that’s enough!” The pair sputtered in unison, making a few heads turn in their direction, but Kaiyo did manage to calm herself down before they drew too much attention.

Kaiyo chewed another bite of rice before speaking up again, “I don’t know Isamu very well, but when he served that detention for  Ms. Mazawa, he couldn’t stop talking about meeting you two at the park. He didn’t even mention that you were practicing soccer until I asked him, he just wanted to hang out with you.”

“R-really?” Aki asked, “Soccer is his favorite thing, he didn’t mention it at all?”

“Nope.” Kaiyo answered, “I know he’s been spending a lot of time with Ju the last few days, but she’s still adjusting to living in Japan, once she’s settled maybe Isamu will introduce the three of you. Who knows? Maybe you’ll like her too. Lord knows you boys could use a girl or two in your friend circle.”

“What’s that supposed to mean!?” Masato asked, Kaiyo giggled and continued her meal instead of answering.

Isamu and Ju stood from their table and started outside without emptying the remains of their lunch in the garbage bin. Masato stood up too, and started to follow them, leaving his lunch untouched on his table while Aki scarfed down a few bites and went after Masato, properly disposing of his lunch waste as he passed the bin.

Left alone at the table, with Masato apparently not hungry enough to care, Kaiyo reached into his bento box and swiped his dessert, “Well if he doesn’t want it.” She grinned.

Aki followed Masato into the court yard where they spotted Isamu and Ju sitting on a bench, looking over a nearby bush. More than anything, Aki wanted to tug on his friend’s sleeve and tell him to go back inside- whether it was just because whatever Isamu and Ju were doing was none of their business, or because he didn’t want to find out that Kaiyo was wrong about the situation, he wasn’t sure.

But he also knew that Masato wouldn’t stop, even if he did tug on his sleeve and insist they leave Isamu and Ju alone. They’re backs were to the approaching boys, both of them had put their lunch down and it looked as if they had decided to finish eating outside while the weather was still nice. Only Ju had her laptop resting on her knees, and Isamu appeared to be dropping bits of food into the bush.

Aki heard Ju speaking, “The Admins are all Tamers too,  but they don’t access the Network like everyone else, they program all city events, create new games, organize tournaments for the coliseum and monitor for bugs, all from the outside.”

“Do Tamers become Admins when they get too old?” asked a voice that came from the direction of Isamu, but didn’t sound like Isamu.

Ju shook her head, “No, Admins…I don’t really know actually, what qualifies someone to be an admin, I heard that the youngest admin is only seventeen.”

What in the world were they talking about?

Aki might have asked, but Masato was faster and bolder than him, and reached to tap Isamu on the shoulder, but in doing so came into Ju’s eye line. She gave a startled screech that made Isamu jump and shout in surprise. He whirled around, eyes wide searching for whatever had made Ju scream and his gaze settled on Masato and Aki, immediately relaxing.

However, it seemed he was not the only one looking. From the bush, three shapes leaped out at them, Aki screamed as a brown and red furry…thing knocked him to the ground, Masato gave a similar cry as two creatures, black and white dog-like animals, did the same to him.

“It’s alright Ju, we’ve got it, prepare the Digital con-” The white one on top of Masato started, but cut off when it realized that he was human and not…whatever it was expecting.

The creature on top of Aki noticed this detail too, and hopped off him, wide eyed and flashing a guilty look at Isamu. The brown haired boy fiddled with his goggles awkwardly “Er, Aki, Masato, I can explai-”

Aki didn’t give him a chance, once the initial shock was over he scrambled to his feet with a scream and made a break for the sports field. If he could make it passed to the road, maybe he could flag down a car or something. It flashed through Aki’s head that maybe he was being a bit of a wuss, but any thoughts about turning back to hear what Isamu had to say were dispelled the moment he realized Masato was running too.

Well, at least they were being wusses together.

“What the hell were those things!?” Aki shouted as he ran.

“I don’t know, I don’t care, just keep moving!” Masato replied.

Behind them, Aki heard Isamu call after them, “Guys wait!” They turned their head slightly to see that Isamu and Ju were both chasing after them, along with the three strange creatures that had jumped out of the bush at them.

It was the one that had landed on Aki, the cat-like animal with a red mohawk that shouted at them, “Watch out for the Digital gate!”

The what? Aki saw Masato turn his head back, and skid to a halt, but Aki wasn’t fast enough to stop and ran into him.  The force made them both tumble forward, into a strange distortion in the air he hadn’t seen until they were right on top of it. “Guys!” He heard Isamu shout before all sounds were cut off entirely.

Masato’s face planted into the ground, and was smooshed deeper into it when Aki landed on top of him. Dazed and confused it took Masato a moment to realize that he was not on school property anymore. Aki gave a terrified gasp at their surroundings.

All around them was blackness, a series of lines and dots lit the floor, going through a slow rainbow gradient. What Masato initially thought was a building, on closer inspection just seemed to be a block with no doors or windows. It almost looked like a Microchip. In the distance, Masato could just make out an outline of what appeared to be real buildings, a city of some sort.

Aki squeaked suddenly as Masato stared in awe, “Yeah, I’m seeing this, where are we?”

“N-no, Masato-” Aki tugged his sleeve and pointed across the strange space where a large furry creature stood glaring at them, “What is that thing?”

In response, the monster snarled, “Call me a thing, do you? I am Apemon! And I will crush all human parasites in the name of my Lord Nabermon!” The monster rushed them, as his name implied he was very apelike with wild yellow fur and a large bone strapped to his back.

“Masato!” Aki cried, clutching his sleeve.

The longer haired boy yanked him to his feet, “Run for it Aki!” He yelled, dodging to their right as the monster leaped into the air and brought his bone down like a club, completely obliterating the section of the floor they’d dropped onto only seconds ago and revealing more circuit-like lights underneath. Masato pushed Aki ahead of him, ducking behind one of the smaller block structures for momentary cover. “Go that way, I’ll draw it’s attention this way” Masato told him, pointing off in the direction of the distant city “When it’s clear you head back toward that gate thing Isamu mentioned!”

“”What about you!?” Aki gasped, clearly already out of breath from their previous flight.

Used to running for far longer, Masato waved his hand, “I can outlast you any day of the week, if I stay behind I can buy you enough time to get home and get help.”

“Like Isamu and the transfer student?” Aki asked.

Masato remembered the creatures that were with them, Isamu and Ju hadn’t seemed bothered by the presence, and, now that he was thinking about it, they must have been feeding them behind the bushes. Maybe those creatures could help. “Yeah, go find them, they can’t be far behind us.”

Right on cue, as if summoned by their names, Isamu, Ju and the creatures that accompanied them appeared through the gate. Apemon still stood between them and the two boys.

Isamu looked around in awe, “Is this the Digital world?” he asked.

“No,” Wemicmon replied, and pointed toward the far off city, “That’s the Network, over there, this entire plane is the dimension between our worlds. The Digital World is below us somewhere, I think.”

“Actually,” Ju corrected and pointed to a gateway across from the one they’d just come through, “The Digital World would be through there.”

Both of them fizzled in the air for a moment, they would close soon. Isamu feared for a second that if they missed their chance they might get stuck, but remembered that they could return to the real world through the Network.

“Where do you learn this stuff?” Isamu asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.

“I’ve been a Tamer for three years.” She reminded him with a smirk. “Don’t worry, you’ll pick it up.”

There was no need to open a Digital Construct in this space, so Isamu and Ju kept one eye on the battle while they searched the nearby area for Aki and Masato. It didn’t take long to find them, and give a brief explanation of where they were and what the Digimon were.

“But if we’re friends with these guys, why does the big one want to kill us for that lord Nabler- Nobba…” Aki struggled to remember the name that Apemon had called out earlier.

Isamu didn’t have the first clue what he meant, but Ju’s eyes narrowed as she thought about it, “Nabermon?” She asked.

“Yes!” Masato nodded, “That’s the one. Who is he?”

Ju didn’t answer, just pointed back to the Gate, “You two need to get back to the real world now. Isamu, you and I should lure the Digimon closer to the Network so we can call for backup.”

“What? Why, what’s happening?” Isamu asked, pulling down his goggles to scan the enemy Digimon.

Apemon was a champion level Vaccine Digimon, who used the bone club as his primary weapon. He didn’t seem that much different than the first enemy he and Wemicmon had faced together.

“Because if he’s with the Court of Demons we can’t afford to underestimate him.”

“The Court of what?” Masato asked.

“I’ll explain later, just get to the Gate!” Ju lifted her D-Gauntlet and punched in a code, activating a speed boosting item she had won in the Network. Cannismon and Leptomon began running faster, easily dodging Apemon’s attacks.

Isamu punched in his own code, he’d only played a few games at the City and mostly got more Digicures, but he did get one item that would be of use at the moment. Apemon wasn’t stupid, and realized that he would never catch the twins and turned on the much slower Wemicmon, the bone club swung down on him, but Isamu’s item activated a shield that deflected the blow.

The inventory menu on his D-Gauntlet had told Isamu that the basic shield item he won was only good for a single use in battle, he hoped they could get help on time.

“Fever claw!” Wemicmon shouted, slicing Apemon across the face and leaving a mark over his eye.

“Moon Surge!”

“Sun Blast!”  The twins attacked from either side of the yellow animal Digimon.

Their team attack usually worked like a charm, since their target could not defend against both attacks at once, but Apemon ducked low, “Metallic Fur!” He snarled, and the hairs on his body hardened to needles, shooting out and knocking the two canine Digimon out of the air.

Still on the ground, Wemicmon was spared the assault, but was also helpless to do anything to help his friends as Apemon’s fists caught flame next, “Magical Monkey Punch!” He shouted as he pumped them with his fire attack.

“Cannismon! Leptomon!” The golden haired Digimon shouted, his whole body began to glow “Lynx Fla-”

“Mega Bone Stick!”

Too slow to get out of the way in time, Wemicmon was thrown to the side by the blow. Cannismon and Leptomon were pinned to the ground by the needles and with Wemicmon out of the way the path was clear for Apemon to reach the children.

Wemicmon hopped back to his feet and dashed back toward the battle, but his Tamer knew he’d never make it in time.

Isamu swallowed hard, “Run!” he urged the others.

He grabbed Ju’s hand and dragged her away, they didn’t have time to call the Network for help they needed to get out of here and find a place to hide.

There wasn’t time for that either, and Isamu knew it, but if he could just buy a few seconds, maybe Aki and Masato could make it out. Apemon’s shadow loomed over him, he pulled on Ju’s arm and threw her ahead of him, hoping that maybe she could get out too.

“Isamu!” Wemicmon shouted, and his claws lit up for an attack but Isamu knew he was done for. He raised his hands to hide his face, it wouldn’t help but some instinct deeply rooted into human nature made him throw his arms up to block the attack. He knew he was going to die.

At least until his D-Gauntlet started reacting!

The light from his D-Gauntlet blinded Apemon, and the large Digimon stumbled back away from it. The device beeped wildly, and the boy shut his eyes against the light.

“Isamu! What did you press?” He heard Ju call over the beeping.

“I didn’t press anything!” He answered, Masato was running back toward them, reaching to pull Isamu back so they could escape, but Aki was staring out passed Apemon.

He pointed out where Isamu had last seen Wemicmon, “What’s happening to the cat guy?”

Isamu squinted, trying to see Wemicmon through the light of his D-Gauntlet, but couldn’t see him anywhere. It took him a moment to realize that the reason why was because Wemicmon was now glowing the same as his D-Gauntlet.

“Wemicmon Digivolve to…!”

A shape grew out of the smear of light that Wemicmon had become, growing taller, and bigger, the light quickly faded to reveal a new creature, similar to what Isamu had seen become of Scrofamon his first night in the Network.

“Nemaemon!”

The light faded from Isamu’s D-Gauntlet, and even Apemon had turned to see the new Digimon. He was the same color as Wemicmon, larger with a full mane, looking more like a lion. He had a belt wrapped around his torso that was keeping shoulder armor on Nameamon’s left arm, clothlike tendrils sprouted from his back between feathery patches of fur.

“His horn disappeared.” Isamu gaped, noticing that Wemic-no, Nemaemon’s face was far more cat-like than ever.

“Not going to comment on all those belts he’s suddenly wearing?”  Ju blinked.

“How about that he’s got to be like ten feet tall!?” Masato shouted in a near panic.

This detail was what Aki noticed too, and he shrunk back, “He’s not going to hurt us, is he?”

Apemon seemed to lose interest in the humans at the sight of the new challenger. Isamu dropped his goggles over his eyes again to read the scan data on his partner’s new form. Nemaemon,  mythical Digimon, Data type, Jungle Troopers. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing, this was Wemicmon? How cool!

“Metallic fur!” Apemon shouted, shooting needles toward Namaemon, who simply ducked low and his new shell deflected the attack.

Nemaemon rushed the enemy, dropping to all fours and now fast enough to keep up, “Inferno Bane!” He said, body slamming the other Digimon, raising back to two feet and holding Apemon down while breathing fire into his face.

Apemon grunted with pain and picked up his bone.

“Mega Bone Sti-”

“Eclipse Snare!” Everyone had been watching Nemaemon in awe, and hadn’t noticed the twins recover from the attacks they’d endured. Apemon was bound tightly by the beams of light and darkness that Cannismon and Leptomon wrapped around him, “Nemaemon, now!” Cannismon hissed.

The lion-like Digimon didn’t need to be told twice, “Leo’s Pride!”  He raised a fiery fist, the flames shot out and took the form of a lion, running toward the trapped digimon and engulfing him in the fire.

“-Lord Nabermon, grant me-” Apemon dropped midsentence, knocked out completely, Isamu raised his D-Gauntlet and entered the sequence to convert Apemon to scan Data.

The Digimon pixelated and was drawn into the device, but more than that, the computer voice of the D-Gauntlet had an announcement, “Conversion completed. Map piece detected, would you like to view?”

“Um, not now.” Isamu said, Nemaemon stomped over to them and shrank back down to Wemicmon.

Isamu was a little disappointed at seeing his partner return to normal so soon, but at the same time, he knew he was having a hard enough time hiding Wemicmon, he’d never be able to keep Nemaemon out of sight.

He scooped up Wemicmon, “Let’s get out of here!” He said.

Nobody argued, Ju led the way out and the Digital gate closed behind them.

-

After the kids disappeared, a set of shadowy figures looked down at the former battle field, “You weren’t ever going to grant him the blessing of a Demon Lord were you?” The female figure said, almost with a laugh.

The bestial Digimon only grumbled in response, the clearest no that he could be bothered to give. That seemed to be enough because the woman did start to laugh.

“I thought so. So his mission was nothing but a wild goose chase them?” Again her companion did not give a real answer, but that didn’t seem to matter to her, “Oh well, those Tamers didn’t seem to be too experienced. Only one of them evolved their partner. A Digimon who cannot beat such fledglings is not worth of the scum beneath our feet, let alone our blessing”

“Indeed” The other replied, speaking for the first time, and turning away, “Come then, Mephistomon will want a real candidate selected soon…”

-

Back in the real world, Masato resisted the urge to drop to the ground and start kissing the grass after their close call. Aki said nothing, but his face was still white as a sheet, so Masato put on a brave face and was the first to speak as they started to wander back to where Isamu had Ju had been feeding their Digimon.

“So...A Digital Gate, huh?” It was sort of a pathetic question, but at least it wasn’t total awkward silence.

Isamu continued to carry Wemicmon, who yawned sleepily in his arms, “Yeah, they connect our world to the one we just came from” He said, and nodded to Ju, “She knows more about it than I do, I’ve only been a Tamer for a little while.”

“That’s pretty much the gist of Digital Gates. It's kind of weird, though...” She commented, “I’ve never seen two Digital Gates open up so close together. Back in Beijing they always appeared months apart.”

They reached the bench and Isamu set Wemic down so he could rest after his battle. He lifted his D-Gauntlet in amazement, he’d been able to make Wemicmon Digivolve to champion. That was incredible! Ju said that she’d had her partners for three years and she hadn’t been able to do that.

The corners of the screen glowed in sequence, a new code he needed to memorize, Isamu mouthed along with it, top right, top left, left, bottom right, top loft again.” He fished his pen out of his pocket and wrote that sequence down on his hand so he could transfer it to his notebook later.

He’d ask Ju about that after school maybe, but right now they had a lot of questions to answer from Aki and Masato, and not a lot of time to explain. Lunch break would be over soon. Even with the two of them telling the story together it was clear that the boys didn’t fully understand, Isamu didn’t blame them, he had first had experience as a Tamer and he still wasn’t sure he understood it all.

“Could we be Tamers?” Masato asked excitedly, as he paced back and forth in the courtyard “Where do we find Digimon partners?”

“How do we get the D-Gauntlets?” Aki pushed his glasses up, showing extreme interest in this, which was sort of a surprise for him.

“There’s always Digimon in the Network who are looking for Tamers.” Ju said, “Maybe you could talk to them sometime this weekend, you might get lucky.”

“Can they get into the Network without an ID?” Isamu asked as Aki and Masato quietly celebrated the idea of maybe becoming a Tamer like their friend.

Ju shrugged, as they reached the bench they’d started at “I don’t know, but I didn’t want them running off to go looking for a partner. We have until the weekend to figure something out.” She checked the time on her D-Gauntlet and slung her bag back off her shoulders, pulling her laptop out to check her email.

“So what kind of Digimon are there in the Network?” Masato asked, “I want to partner with someone cool, like Nemaemon.”

“Aw, shucks, I’m not that cool.” Wemicmon blushed, Isamu rolled his eyes and ruffled his Digimon’s mohawk earring a squawk of protest.

“All kinds of Digimon,” Ju shrugged, “But remember I said you might get lucky, just because you meet someone cool doesn’t mean you’ll get to be partners. I’ll talk to a few of them tonight and see if anyone’s interes-” She cut off suddenly and her eyes narrowed at the sight of something on her screen, “Isamu, have you checked your email recently?” She asked.

“No, why?” Ju pointed her screen toward him, Aki and Masato exchanged confused looks.

Isamu read the email out loud.

Urgent, do not enter the Network. All Digimon and Tamers be advised that the Court of Demons is planning a strike against the Network this week. A new Firewall is being programmed to shield most damage, but as a precaution, if you are not an Admin, please do not put yourself at risk by coming to the Network.

Gray.

He glanced at Ju, with a startled blink “Gray, like, as in the legendary Tamer, Gray?”

She nodded, “This is the same email he contacted me from three years ago.” Ju went back to her inbox where several more emails with subject lines warning them to stay out of the Network were waiting.

“The Court of Demons,” Aki repeated, “You said something about those guys earlier…who are they?”

The bell summoning them back to class rang, cutting short their conversation. Ju stood up, closing her laptop and putting it back in her bag, “The bad guys.” She said, “No one’s going to the Network until we get an all clear. Being a Tamer isn’t a game, so you’d better think hard about if you really want to do it.” She added with a note of finality and packed up so they could go.

Aki and Masato turned to Isamu for an explanation, but this was the first he had heard of this Court, the Digimon looked frightened though.

“We should head back.” he said, moving Wemicmon back into the bush,Cannismon and Leptomon ducked into it too, where they would hide until school was out and their Tamers came to pick them up.

As they passed by the fountain in the middle of the courtyard, the trio  continued to talk quietly about the Digimon and failed to notice a small shape swimming in the water. A small furry face poked out to stare after the group, at a particular boy.

“I found him!” A feminine voice said, and brown eyes sparkled happily, “My Tamer!”

Next Episode

[outcasts-of-tw]

💚 "Our Secret" 💚

[ Warning: this is a long one, folks!

I'll probably edit in a 'read more' break later ]

---------------------------

A soft knock at the front door snapped Inora out of her thoughts. She looked outside the window. It's late... What could anyone possibly want at this hour? Especially when a storm is ahead...

Despite her confusion, she made her way to the front door of her dorm, catching the attention of Grimm. "Someone there?" The creature said, keeping his voice low.

"Yes... My guess is that it could be Deuce and Ace again..."

"Or it could just be one of the ghosts."

Inora sighs, remembering that possibility. "Or the ghosts, yeah... Well, we can't waste time-"

"Forgettin' something? Again?"

Inora raised a brow for a moment, then saw herself in a nearby mirror. "O-Oh! Y-Yes, right..." She says, a small blush filling her cheeks. Shifting into this other form is going to be hard to get used to...

A quick shimmer of magic and she was once again Alyon, the disguise she used to fit in to Night Raven College; similar features, but still different.

"Inora, you really need to be careful."

"Aw, are you worried for me, Grimm?" Inora said teasingly.

Grimm, somehow, blushed at the accusation. "N-No! I-I'm just warning you!"

Inora chuckles, turning her attention back to the door. She opened it, expecting the two first-years from Heartslabyul, Deuce and Ace, to be standing there.

"Now, what could you two possibly want-"

"Two?"

Inora trailed off, realizing the voice that answered was very much not Deuce or Ace.

It was someone new. Someone... Tall.

Inora slowly looked up for her eyes to meet bright, electric green ones. They almost seemed to be glowing in the dark of the night. The figure had pitch black hair that almost seemed blue... With two towering horns placed atop his head. And yet...

Inora felt no fear.

It was more confusion, really. She had never seen this person in her life, nor had this person ever met her... So why were they here?

"... Hello?"

Inora snaps out of her thoughts coming back to reality. "O-Oh! Uh... S-Sorry, I... I-I thought you were someone else... I-I don't get many visitors at this dorm. U-Uh... What are you doing here anyway, i-if you don't mind me asking...?"

"I... I've lost my way around this place, and I don't think I'll be able to make it to my dorm in time before the storm ahead hits."

"O-Oh! Well, then, come in! Make yourself comfortable."

Inora knew a little more information from just that conversation as she stepped to the side, letting the stranger in. They're a student here... But of what dorm? I'm sure I've seen that uniform somewhere...

It seems that her questions were immediately answered when she saw the crest on the armband of his uniform.

Diasomnia.

Inora kept her composure despite the revelation, but it was still a shock to her. She had heard others talk about the dorm. Most of the students practically revered them. She had only seen 3 of them that day when Trey had explained all the dorms to her... But she had never seen this man out of those three.

Who are you...?

"U-Uh... Do you want anything? Tea, maybe? I-I managed to find some in this place. You would think there wouldn't be much to find in an old dorm but... You'd be surprised." Inora says, chuckling softly. She was trying to make light conversation through her quiet shock.

"That... Would be lovely, thank you."

Inora nods, and quickly rushes into the small kitchen, taking Grimm in with her despite his protests. In an instant, a familiar shimmer of magic surrounded her and she was back in her normal form. This was... A constant issue that she could fix later. I really need to work on that... I need to control my magic a little better...

"Hey! What was that about-?!"

"Shhh! Quiet down, Grimm, please!"

"What's going on?"

"There's someone from Diasomnia here."

"... What?"

"I-I don't know either. He wasn't any of the three we've seen before either. I-I don't know who he is!"

"What are you gonna do?"

"Hopefully keep my form on long enough until he's gone. It's a risk but I can't let anyone find out."

"Are you sure you can do that?"

Inora hesitates, biting her bottom lip slightly in thought. "I... I'm not sure... B-But it won't hurt to try! I-It might even be a good form of practice!"

"I-Inora-"

"Don't worry, Grimm, everything will be fine!"

Inora turns away from Grimm to get started on the tea for her guest...

Only to find those same bright green eyes staring straight at her.

A long, long silence filled the room in that moment. Inora could hear her heart thumping loudly in her ears. When... When did he come in here...?!

Fear started to creep in her veins. She had been caught so easily, and now she had to do something about it... But just what could she do?

"You want me to torch him-"

"No. No. No, Grimm. L-Let me handle this."

Inora's voice shook slightly, but she kept her composure. "N-Now... L-Lets talk about this. Th-There's no need to freak out and make any sort of scene-"

"... Interesting."

"... Huh?"

The student in front of her looks over her form, more intrigued than freaked out. "... And here I thought you didn't have magic. This certainly is quite the development."

"... Y-You... You know who I am?"

A small chuckle escapes him, sounding like the thunder that raged outside, threatening to get closer. "Is there anyone who doesn't know you and your little furry companion? You clearly underestimate how fast information spreads around here."

Inora, weirdly enough, felt relieved... But that didn't make her less wary. "You... You're not mad? You're not freaked out or anything...?"

"Far from it. Yes, this is quite the turn of events but... An interesting and plesant one, I must admit."

Inora was now the one shocked. She had feared this moment would happen with anyone but... Not like this. What is happening here? He seemed so stoic earlier.

"Tell you what. We'll discuss it over some tea. That should calm the situation down. You look like you've seen a ghost. I'll be waiting."

"... Right."

------------------------

"So this happened recently?"

"Practically after the first day I arrived. This is me normally. I knew something was off when I arrived... I just had to look in the mirror."

"... Does anyone else know?"

"Well, only Grimm knew... But now you know as well. Not even the headmaster knows."

"Impressive. Perhaps you can keep the illusion up until you eventually go home."

Inora laughs, almost sad. "Well... If I go home, that is."

"Are you worried you might stay here forever?"

"If the the headmaster can't find any way, then... Yes."

The student chuckles. "It's not so bad here. Sure, you may have your fair share of enemies and friends... But, it could be worse."

"That's fair... So what will you be?"

He raises a brow. "Pardon?"

Inora chuckles. "You. What will you be? A friend or an enemy?"

"... A friend, of course. You've given me no reason for me to become an enemy."

"Despite the fact that I tricked you?"

"Dear, I consider that bravery. People tend to be... Afraid of me."

Inora tilts her head slightly. "Afraid? What reasons would I be afraid of you? Sure you've... Caught me by suprise within the last hour but... Your presence hasn't made me afraid."

He looks at her, his eyes having a gleam of slighg hope despite their stoic demeanor. "... You really mean that?"

Inora nods. "Every word."

He smiles, his fangs prominent; a genuine smile. A rare occurance, considering very few people have been able to do such a thing.

"Well... I suppose we are friends, then... Or allies, even!

"I suppose."

They both laugh. Inora felt slightly better at the situation, as if this stranger-turned-friend was someone she could confide in other than Grimm. She surely couldn't do so with Deuce and Ace. It's not that she didn't trust them, she did trust them... She was just afraid of the outcome.

"So... What's the new students real name, hm? I've heard the name 'Alyon' around, but what do you truly call yourself?"

"...Inora. Alyon is my surname.... Which also works surprisingly well as a normal name."

"Well, Inora... It's been lovely meeting and talking with you... But I must go."

"W-Wait! There's a storm out there... A-Are you sure you wish to go all the way back to the Diasomnia dorm?"

"So you've noticed... Very perceptive." He says, not bothering to question the fact of how she knew. He simply smiles at her worry. "It's fine, really. I just remembered a quicker way back. I wouldn't want to worry the others in my dorm."

Inora hadn't thought about that. "O-Oh. R-Right, then... I-I'll walk you out."

Inora follows the mysterious student to the door, opening it for him.

"Well, it was a pleasure talking to you, Inora... Or, should I say, Alyon?" He says, a knowing smile on his lips.

A faint blush appears on her cheeks. "... Th-This stays between us, right? You won't tell anyone what you saw?"

"Of course I won't. Now why would I do that to a friend?"

"You have a point..." Inora replied with a small chuckle. "Our secret?"

"Our secret."

She then remembered something, and was quick to bring it up as he started to walk away.

"W-Wait! I-I never got your name!"

"You'll know in time!"

And with that, he was quickly out of her sight.

Inora knew what just happened was entirely real, yet it felt surreal at the same time. She couldn't help but... Laugh at the situation, still laughing as she closed the door.

"Well, then... Until we meet again, Horns."

[hyocherie]

AtsuHina: T w o W o r l d s (侑日:2つの世界)

Previous: Next:

第3章

1.

"You see," she whispered onto his warm slender arms, wrapped with thick cotton. "They were kicked out of the palace."

"Palace?" Seiji looked at the girl in his arms. "What do you mean 'palace'?"

"Oh! I didn't tell you yet, haven't I?" Her amber orbs looked right into his blueberry orbs. He flushed all shades of red. He can't find the reason why but it made him...uncalm or what's the word? Ah, uncertain that makes his heart beat an unhealthy pace, I guess? He then shook his head slowly, still staring onto those two sparkling stars of the petite girl.

"I'm a crown princess. I'm part of the Imperial Family. Not the human Imperial Family, but the Imperial family of Kitsunes..."

"Oh, you mean a Kitsune or a fox spirit?"

"Yeah! Wait how did you-"

"We learn Japanese Mythology."

"Oh-wait-Japanese Mythology?! We're myths?!"

"Yeah. Why are you so shocked about it?"

"Baka! We thought that human beings-li-like you know that we're real."

"No, you're just myths to us. I feel like I'm dreaming when I saw you."

She was now the one who was flushing all the shades of red. She saw that statement differently. Like, she was a miracle or a blessing from the heavens to him. Maybe she's being a little assuming. But, while he spoke that statement, she heard him muttering it, so softly that she doesn't know if she really heard it right. Seiji gazed down, staring at the concrete playground ground with rose-coloured cheeks.

"Dreaming? Did I hear that right?"

"Yes, you heard that right," He baffled out the words, not making contact because of shyness.

"Well, this isn't a dream."

He looked at her.

"You just hugged me."

He stared at her.

"Are you okay?"

He was back in reality.

"Sorry, I spaced out."

She giggled, he flushed all colours of red once again. The feeling in his stomach and mind is woozy, he's quite unfamiliar in what he's feeling. Has he fallen in love? His older brother said to him that if you feel something peculiar in your stomach and head, your heart beating fast, and you feel warm with them, you have fallen in love. He wants to deny these feelings, he just met her. But his heart whispers, she's someone that he will spend the rest of his life with, even after death. He started to forget the reason why her twin brothers were kicked out of the palace, her too.

2.

"OSAMUUUUUU"

Osamu, who was making Origiris for Akari, looked startled when he heard someone say his name angrily. He looked at the person to shout his name, being irritated that the fact it was his bothersome and dramatic twin, Atsumu.

"What do you want?" He inquired with an annoyed tone in his voice.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY STUFF?!"

"What do you mean, I never touch your things-"

"My bracelet?!"

"Oh that," he then looked back at his Onigiris. "I did nothing to that."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DID NOTHING?! I SMELL YOU SCENT ON MY ROOM!"

"Because," He answered, wished he did not but he needed to or he will hear his annoying brother scream at him for the whole day. "We share the same room. Are you an idiot?"

"NO!" He groped the grey hakama Osamu is wearing and shake him hard. "WHERE'S IS MY BRACELET?!"

"Alright! Fine!" He then pushed Atsumu's hand away from gripping his shirt then gave the chrysalis blue bead bracelet from his pocket and gave it to him. Atsumu then snatched it from him, leaving a grumpy pout on his face. "I don't like you!" He then left. Osamu the shouted.

"Do you think I like you too?! Baka!"

"Hmph!" Atsumu then squirmed out of the room, wearing his blue bead bracelet on his left hand. He stopped in his tracks and looked at the bracelet in his wrist. This bracelet was given to him or practically made for him by his older sister, to know he lost contact to. He looked up at the sky with a sad expression on his face.

"Onee-chan," he began to sob, missing his elder sister. "I miss you..."

"I miss you so much. I want to see you again."

Osamu then went out of the kitchen, holding an Onigiri in his hands. He then strode over to his sobbing brother, looking at him.

"You miss Onee-chan?"

"I do..."

"Here," He then handed the Onigiri to Atsumu. He gladly took it.

"I also miss Onee-chan...I wonder what happened to her now?"

"There are rumours that she turned into a human and married one too."

He then took a bite from the Onigiri, still looking up at the sky with crystal tears shedding from his eyes. Then, to his surprise, the one beside him started crying too. He looked at him, confused.

"Why are you crying?"

"I-I-I..." He covered his face with his fists, crying as softly as he can. Atsumu then softly patted his back.

"I miss her..."

"I want to see her again. Play with her again. I want to her incredible stories, her vicious imagination. I want to hear her pleasant and angelic voice. I miss her hugs. I miss her advice. I miss her love. Onee-chan...come back...please..."

Atsumu started to cry even more.

The two foxes cried in the middle of a meadow, screaming on top of their lungs how much they miss their beloved sister.

And from afar, Akari was eating her Onigiri, dumbfounded about why his older brothers (that's what she calls them) are crying on a happy day in Autumn.

3.

Hinata looked at the distance with blank eyes. He's always curious about that forest, so dark that you can't see anything else from 5 feet deeper into the forest. His best friend, Yamaguchi and Yachi looked at him, then looked at each other with 'what's wrong with him' faces. Yachi then tapped Hinata's shoulder, he looked at her.

"Why do you always look far if we pass this forest?"

"I do?"

"Yeah," Yamaguchi muttered, looking at the forest standing in front of them.

Yachi then moved closer to Hinata, whispering in his ear. "There's a rumour that an old Shinto Shrine stands in the middle of the forest."

"I also heard that once you go in, you'll never find your way out," Yamaguchi scooted closer to Hinata, also whispering.

"I want to go inside..."

"You're going to get lost!" Yachi whisper-shouted, looking at Hinata. Yamaguchi nodded in agreement.

"I know...but..it's killing me..what's out there..."

"Just, don't," Yamaguchi took Hinata's arm and held it tightly. Yachi pleaded him with sad eyes.

"Why are you two looking at me like that?" He inquired, giggling.

"Please..." Yamaguchi muttered.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll get lost," Yachi said.

"And you won't come back," Yamaguchi started to sob.

Hinata laughed as carefree as he can. Yachi and Yamaguchi looked at each other, confused.

"Don't worry, I won't be lost! C'mon, let's go back home."

And the three children went back home, Yamaguchi clinging onto Hinata's arm and Yachi leading the way. But little did the two children know that Hinata, the oldest one out of all of them, is going to go there at night out of curiosity.

4.

He braced himself. He's ready.

"Alright, I got my flashlight. I'm good to go," He told himself. His friends told him not to go into that scary forest but he will, though he himself is scared too. He looked at the distance, the forest having no artificial lights except the sidewalk's light. He walked towards the dark forest, putting his flashlight in front of him. His hands are shaking, he breathes in and out slowly and quietly. He thinks there may be predators ready to eat him, a little child, alive. He stopped in his tracks hearing a faint rustle of bushes in the distance. The sound went closer and closer until it was approximately 10 meters away. He looked at where the sound came from, only to see almond eyes tinted chestnut. He gasped. He wanted to run away but his feet are glued down the ground. The figure then got out of the bush, making Hinata scared even more that made his cry. The figure then spoke with a gentle voice, taking all the child's worries away.

"Why are you awake at this hour?"

Hinata then looked at the guy. He had a slender built, his hair coloured like the sun, his tail also coloured the same hue, his eyes tinting different shade of chestnut, hinting with a little bit of green and grey. He had 9 tails spreading out behind him, and his ears tall and large. He stared at the child. Hinata stared at the mysterious young man.

"Who are you?"

"Before I answer your question, answer mine first," His tone so cold that it made Hinata tremble more in fear.

"I-I just as cu-cur-curios abou-about-t th-thi-this pl-pla-place," The words were clogged up his throat, the feeling of fear arousing.

Is this a predator? Is he going to eat me...He thought.

"Thank you for answering my question. But, aren't you scared?"

"I am."

"Then, why are you here?"

"Before I answer your question, answer mine," he smugged.

This boy, Atsumu said to himself, scoffing mentally.

"Miya Atsumu. I'm a fox spirit. You?"

"I'm Hinata Shoyo..."

"Now, answer my question."

"Rumours say that there's an abandoned Shinto Shrine here so I want to check it out..."

He looked away, Atsumu tilted his head in confusion.

"You want to see it?"

"Yes please..."

"Follow me."

He walked away slowly, showing the little boy the way. Hinata then put his flashlight in front of him to see where the fox spirit is walking towards. Atsumu then stopped then turned to where the light came from.

"What's that?" He inquired, stepping closer to the boy. He kneeled and stared at the small artificial plastic-covered light the child's holding. "Can I see?" Hinata then gave the flashlight to Atsumu, who was playing with it in curiosity.

"That's a flashlight..."

"Like a lamp?" He looked at the owner of the flashlight. Hinata nodded.

"Oh. Never have I seen this before."

He then handed the artificial plastic-covered light back to Hinata. He stood up, steadying his position. He then dug in his shirt to find something. Hinata watched Atsumu, he has no clue what he was taking. Atsumu then showed a green pendant tied up in a brown rope. It then lit up. Hinata was amazed.

"You like it?" He asked, smirking with arrogance.

Hinata nodded.

"This will help more," He then placed it on his neck, and it emitted more light. He then offered his hand to the little boy, and Hinata gladly took it.

"Let's go."

"Hmm!" He said, beaming.

Atsumu's heart then skipped a beat.

5.

They then arrived at the old abandoned shrine, where vines and leaves inhabitant it. This is what Hinata imagined, but a little dirtier. Atsumu then let go of Hinata's hand. And when he let go, Hinata runs around the shrine.

"Shoyo-kun!" He then shouted as Hinata is on the verge to trip. Good thing he caught the excited little lad. "Are you okay?! Don't go running here! It's dangerous!"

Hinata then looked at Atsumu's tail. He looked at it and offered, "You want to touch it, don't you?"

"It looks soft..."

Atsumu then gave one tail to Hinata. He then smiled and started touching it. 

"Soft..."

Atsumu then wrapped his tails around Hinata that made a comfy chair for him. He then stood up, carrying the small Hinata in his tails, and went to the shrine's stairs, in which where he sat down, still Hinata behind him, playing with one of his sun-tinted tails.

"Is it soft?"

"Yes..."

"Is it comfy there?"

"Hmm," he mumbled a yes, he was busy getting comfortable with the soft tails around him.

"Mr Atsumu..."

"What's with the foreign honorific?" He questioned, looking at the distracted boy.

"Oh sorry, I'm used to it."

"Alright, what's your question?"

'Can I come here to meet you often?"

"Of course," He gladly agreed. It feels like there's a connection between them.

"How?"

"Hm?"

"I don't know which way."

"Oh right..."

"I also don't know how to go home..."

"It's getting late, I guess..."

Atsumu then saw something shimmering from his wrist. To then, it was the bracelet his older sister made for him. He didn't really want to give it to the child, but he has to. The bracelet has its kind of peculiar magic to show the way, where you want to go and way back home. He then removed the bracelet from his arms and gave the little boy the bracelet. Hinata stared at it.

"What's this?"

"It will help you find me. It has some magic that will tell you your way back home or the way to me."

"To you?"

Atsumu then realized what he just said. 

"To the shrine, to the shrine."

"Oh, okay," Hinata then took the bracelet and wore it. The blue chrysalis then shimmered brighter, making Hinata amazed by it.

"It's glowing!" He then looked at Atsumu, who was staring at the glowing bracelet. "Is this normal?"

"Ah yes, it is."

"Ooh..."

Atsumu then looked at the sky. The full moon watching over us. He then found someone watching them, like the silhouette of a woman. When Atsumu made eye contact with that mysterious woman, she looked at him with fondness in her eyes. He found out that her eyes were coloured amber, just like her sister's. She then glanced at the little boy who was sitting on Atsumu's tail. A tear then fell from her eyes, making Atsumu tilt his head to the side in confusion. and in a blink of an eye, she was nowhere to be seen. He thought he was seeing things. Then, Hinata's voice suddenly caught his attention. He turned around, seeing the little boy gazing at him while holding his tail.

"I want to go home, Atsumu-san..."

"Alright, I'll walk with you until you find your way out."

But instead of Hinata getting off from his tails, he then wrapped his arms around Atsumu's neck and rested his head on his shoulder. He then fell asleep.

"Shoyo-kun? Shoyo?" He then looked behind him, he found the little boy is asleep.

"Oh no, how am I going to do this?"

He then carried the little boy and walked him home, using the bracelet's line light to show the way home.

6.

"So, how was he?" A man then stood up from the living room, ready to greet his wife home.

"He was with someone," she looked at him with eyes wet. The man then went towards his wife, holding her in her arms. She then started to cry.

"It's him..."

"You found him?"

She then looked up at his husband.

"Looks like your sister took care of him..."

He then smiled.

"I'm happy."

Chapter 3 is done! Finally! Good thing this just took me just a few days than before...and wow, that word number...more than 2500...wow...

But anyway, I posted this story on Fanfiction.net too! If you want to check that out, then check that out!

And yeah, about the 6th vignette, I just wanted to add suspicion...

But again, Notes:

-In the anime (and manga I think?), Atsumu called Hinata by his first name, Shoyo-kun (kun is a Japanese honorific).

-the bracelet and necklace are just made up. None of these is part of a fox spirit's traditions nor equipment. They use magic, but this story will be different from how it should be to fit the storyline.

-Onigiri is a type of snack or traditional food of Japan. After the time skip in the manga, Osamu owned an Origiri shop called "Onigiri Miya" (I think, I'm not sure).

-A chrysalis is like a cocoon, strictly used for a butterfly pupa. I'll use chrysalis (in this story) as the name of a stone. This story is fictional, anything can be made-up or changed.

-Amber eyes are a golden yellow or a coppery colour without specs of gold, green, and brown. Hazelnut eyes somewhat have specs of gold, green, and/or grey in it, the base colour being brown. Atsumu's eye colour will be hazelnut, not chestnut-tinted like the manga and anime.

-there are flashlights that have a plastic or metal over in it. I'm basing it off by my flashlight I have at home.

That is all, I hope you stay tuned for the next chapter! Goodbye!

And, if you want to talk, you can dm me on Twitter (Moon_ARMY007, with the same Japanese name as in my profile)

[imaginariumrpc]

okay so the lovely @imbicilite​ / @whitrph​ and i were talking and it gave me the idea and we thought it was a great idea to spread it around so here’s how it goes: when talking with someone about pretty much anything tbh, but especially for something that could potentially be triggering, communicate with color codes based on city traffic lights ! GREEN means it’s good to talk about these things and you’re not feeling triggered by the topic, YELLOW means to slow down or stop talking about the topic at for now while RED means to stop the conversation about the topic immediately until green again where the conversation can divert into another topic or they feel safe to talk about it again !! this is EXTREMELY important, because it’s a way to alert others that you’re going to be talking about something that could possibly upset someone because of the subject matter, especially for those who may get triggered by a certain topic - even without you realizing it because squicks and triggers can honestly be anything, it could be different words or phrases or certain topics - and can cause severe anxiety in those affected, even panic attacks or flashbacks, and because we want to be considerate and respectful towards one another, it’s important that we use these to help our friends and fellow rpers know that we’re going to be posting or talking about something they might not want to see or talk about, and it’s of utmost importance to make them feel safe, it’s best to use this to be a more supportive friend and a member of the rpc!!

on a sidenote, i’m also here to tell you about tone indicators !! keep in mind that i didn’t come up with nor invent the concept of tone tags itself, but it was being spread around for a while now and i’d figured i’d talk about it !! essentially, tone indicators are used to indicate if the person is joking, being serious, etc., neurodivergent people often have trouble conveying and understanding emotion and tone through written text, using tone indicators is really helpful for neurodivergent people to make it easier for them to read/convey, it is also very helpful for people with anxiety. i encourage anyone who reads this to also type the meaning of the tone tag ( i.e: i love you !! /p for platonic ), so it is more accessible for neurodivergent and disabled people, like those who use screen readers.

“why should we use tone tags?” one might ask, but as an autistic, disabled and otherwise neurodivergent person myself, sometimes i don’t always get my friends and fellow mutual’s tones by their message but when they use tone indicators, it helps me understand and, not to mention that it can be really helpful and avoid misunderstandings. i would also like to note that NOT ALL neurodivergent people want you to use tone indicators on them, so if they don’t want you to use tone tags on them, please respect their wishes.

“i don’t like tone tags!” one might add, well, okay... but don’t make fun of the people that use them, it’s not a big deal, and if you’re a neurotypical who insists on not using tone tags when a neurodivergent person clearly asked you to, get your head out of your ass.

“using /j at the end of a joke ruins it!!” one might bitch, and okay but... it might be ruined for you, but it still makes me laugh, personally, so please try and get used to it, and not to mention, what’s more important: making sure you’re clear with your tone so that there’s no misunderstandings or throwing a fit just because the joke’s ruined for you?

additionally, some other things to keep in mind !! please do not mock the use of tone tags, you may not need them but some people do, not everyone can tell when something is a joke, when someone’s either being platonic, romantic or sexual in intentions, etc.,, especially when there’s no visual cues or tones of voice to help us, just be nice about it, it’s... really not hard, man. if you don’t use a tone tag and someone reads the tone of your statement incorrectly, do not get upset with them or laugh at them for not getting it - that is perpetuating ableism and/or sanism, whether you intentionally intend it or not. just kindly clarify and next time, keep in mind that tone tags are very helpful for neurodivergent, disabled and people with anxiety disorders. using a tone tag isn’t an excuse to be mean either, you can’t just say something mean or not cool and then put /j ( “joking” ) after it to get away with it, don’t be an ass. if you’re saying something that could be anxiety inducing for others, i would highly recommend putting the tone tags at not only the end but also the beginning of that post. do not intentionally use tone tags incorrectly “as a joke”, to confuse people, etc., the entire point of tone tags is to clarify, not confuse people, if you intentionally use them incorrectly, you’re an ass. keep in mind that no one has to use all the tone tags, use what you’d like, respect others who use what they would like, use them however feels rights to you. for me personally, sometimes i use multiple, sometimes only one, or sometimes none at all, just do what feels right, depending on who i’m talking to and how long i’ve known this person or group of people i’m speaking to, it’ll be fine, and if someone asks for clarification on what you mean, that’s okay, kindly clarify for them. additionally, please be patient if people don’t know what tone tags are, someone might not even be aware of what they are and that’s not their fault, just patiently explain it to them or link them to a source !! education always helps !! please don’t use “/srs or serious” as a joke, some neurodivergent and/or disabled people don’t need you to use three tone tags, and in my case, i’m presuming you’re neurotypical if you’re doing that when conversing with me, but what i’m trying to say is it looks like you’re babying us neurodivergents / disabled folx, so try to use only two tags ( that is, if that person is okay with it !! ), because some people don’t need you to use three tags.

please note that the following aren’t every single example out there and there are different terminologies in different languages, but they are important, a few examples of these are: 

“/j = joking / used when saying something in a joking manner, “so im pretty much the president of oreos /j”, 

“/hj = half joking / used when saying something that’s kind of a joke but kind of serious / “well,,,,, im usually right /hj” / 

“/s or /sarc / refers to the opposite of what you really want to say / “i just [clenches fists] love...... being sad..... /s”, 

“/srs / used when saying something you really mean / “i really appreciate you /srs””, 

“/nsrs = not serious / used when saying something not too seriously / “you’re the worst /nsrs”, 

“/lh = lighthearted = used when something’s said lightheartedly / “hEY LEAVE ME OUT OF THIS /lh” / i’d say something like this when me and my friends would get into a silly argument and they’re trying to ask my opinion on a topic”, 

“/ij = referring to something that’s only understood by people with special knowledge about something, typically only a small group of friends or a group of people would be aware of, those outside of the group would most likely be confused by it or not find it funny in the same way people within in the group would / “aAAAAAAAAA MY NUGGIES!!!!! /ij””, 

“/ref = a reference to media, usually movies, tv, music, etc., “yOU SHALL NOT PAAAAAAAASSSSSSS /ref”, 

“/t = teasing, use when teasing someone or provoking someone, often playfully, “aiight sure mx idk wtf im doin /t”, 

“nm = not mad, to indicate you’re not actually mad or upset about something / “ow... i felt that /nm”, 

“lu = a little upset / used when about about something or someone, but not too upset / “oh... that sucks /lu”, 

“/nbh = “nobody here” = often used when talking about something vague to ensure your friends it’s not indirectly to or about them / “sometimes i just wanna..... tell someone to shut the fuck up /nbh”, 

“/nay = not at you / used when saying something but not meaning it at the person you’re responding to / “god i can’t stand lame people /nay”, 

“/ay = “at you”, make the person aware you’re addressing them”, 

“/g or /gen = used when saying or asking something for real / ��i’m proud of you /g” or “have you watched the news?? /gen”, 

“/th = threat, used when giving a genuine threat / “if you don’t stop, i’ll block you /th”, 

“/p = platonic, a friendship type of love, used when saying something with platonic intentions / “i love you /p”, 

“/r = romantic intentions, typically of partners when saying something with romantic intentions / “i love you /r””, 

“/a = alterous, an attraction best described as wanting emotional closeness without necessarily being at all or entirely platonic and/or romantic, used when saying with alterous intentions / “i love you /a””

“/m = metaphor / used when saying something metaphorically / “god you’re a shining star /m””

“/li = literal / used when saying something literally / “i hate pears /li””

“/rh = rhetorical / a question asked in order to create a dramatic effect or to make a point rather than to get an answer / used when saying or asking something rhetorically / “who cares? /rh””

“/hyp = hyperbole, exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally ; “i have a million things to do today”

“/sx = sexual intent, used when meaning something in a sexual way”, 

“/nsx = nonsexual intent, used when meaning something in a not sexual way”, 

“/pos = positive / used when saying something and meaning it in a positive way / “omg im gonna cry /pos”, implied they’re crying for a happy reason”, 

“/neg = negative / used when saying something and meaning it in a negative way / “omg im gonna cry /neg”, implied they’re crying for an upsetting reason”, and 

“/neu = neutral / used to show that what you’re saying is neutral or that you feel indifferent about it / “yeah i don’t care man do what you want /neu”, you don’t care about something but not in a mean or a negative way, you’re just indifferent”.

on a final note, HERE is a list of tone tags both in english and in other languages ( namely italian, spanish, portuguese, french, polish, german, lithuanian, serbian, dutch, indonesian, romanian, bulgarian, russian, hebrew, japanese, mandarin and korean !! ) and HERE are the list of sources about the content of tone tags !! i wish everyone reading this a lovely day !!