#Xeph's Muttering

[puppyluvsyu]

Jhin x Hwei x reader (my guilty pleasure)

I have been gripped with the idea of a dynamic of Jhin and Hwei and Reader and I might or might not type about it.

Like it starts off with a creative reader frustrated bc they're in a creative block and had tried a lot of different stuff to get out of it until one of their fellow guild members (think more like an artisan guild) suggests going to a nearby park/plaza for a breather (taking a step back).

Reader bumps into Hwei, who was painting in the area to capture the moment during his travels and they go to ask him for help bc he surely understands the pain of wanting to create but not having any subject or inspiration to act on.

But he's no help unfortunately. His advice to look inside and simply take in your surroundings and feelings and let them flow into your hands to create is frustrating despite knowing he has good intentions so you spend a couple days just sorta flopping around until you decide to visit the same park/plaza at night.

And there you see a man simply playing a violin. Even though his face is serene, the notes tell a different story, sounding angry and harsh. You've never seen this man before either, but you stay for the song and even give a polite clap at the end as a sign of appreciation. He only gives you a glance and proceeds to leave before you had the absolute gall to stop him.

In your attempt to reach out to another person for advice to escape your creative rut, you are berated bc how dare you put your hands on him. In your shocked state at how vitriolic the stranger was, he takes the chance to leave. Unfortunately for him, you take the chance to tail him. To his surprise, you are successful as you take note of his eerily silent stride and the faint smell lotus flowers (there's a reason why I'm not saying blood just hold on)

Now you've gotten his attention, so he decides to keep a close eye on you after sending you on your way with some general artistic advice that was enough to satisfy you.

After a few days passed and you're still left grasping at nothing, the town is shook by a sudden murder. It's gruesome, frightening, yet oddly poetic as it displays the poor victim's body for display, reaching out to the crowd to see them, almost tauntingly. You find yourself standing next to Hwei, who seems almost entranced yet regretful at the sight before a messenger approaches you with a strange letter that simply reads,

"a gift for you"

Hwei, who had snapped out of his trance to look at your letter, suddenly grabs you and asks if you met someone who he described perfectly. Once you confirm that you did indeed meet him, he warns you to stay away, as he takes it upon himself to act as your protector.

This leads to the unstable dynamic of Hwei protecting and using Reader to find and stop Jhin bc he just wants Jhin to understand that death isn't a proper muse for his beautiful art.

Jhin, who is relishing after the fact the reader was able to tail him despite his unassuming behavior, finally being able to leave his mark in this town after Hwei's various attempts to stop his performances and dedicating them to you as thanks for that night.

And then the Reader, who is morbidly fascinated by the history of the two and filled with guilt because finally FINALLY they have the inspiration they were looking for to create.

[lemonsrosesandlavender]

have a sneak peek:

‘You’ve changed your tune,’ Lia observes later, as they’re covering one of the loaded carts with wax cloth. 

‘About what?’ Rolan asks.

‘About us. I mean all of us. Not just our family, but the others.’

He sighs.

‘I don’t mean it in a bad way, Rolan.’

Rolling his eyes, he finishes lashing down the corner and turns to face his sister. 

‘No, you mean it in an I-told-you-so way,’ he says, with an exhale of sarcastic air. ‘But you are right. Both of you - all of you were right.’

‘All of us?’ Lia asks, looking a little amused. 

‘You and Cal, of course. And’ - he hesitates - ‘Catrin.’

‘What, did she tell you to stay in the Grove too?’

‘No. Just that… well. It doesn’t matter.’ 

He thinks of her, scrambling to help people she didn’t even know; of the dead bodies of the others, Pandirna and Xeph and Zorru, without whom Lia could never have got close enough to kill Minthara. They were strangers to him, even after their many tendays on the road together. Strangers and kin. Like them, and not. Better than he ever gave them credit for, of that much he is certain.

‘You’d like Catrin more than you think,’ he mutters, in summary. 

‘I know,’ Lia sighs.

planar tears update

sorry to be so slow, peeps! life (and other Rolan WIPs) got the better of me. C15 is now being split into two: 'Strawberries and Iron' and 'Spin Your Partner'. Most of Strawberries and Iron is done, but there's still some left. I have a seriously busy weekend but I will do my best to get it out ASAP!

[bbyboybrock--archived]

The Assistant (Colby Brock Imagine)

Summary: *REQUEST* I saw your request are open what about dating colby and the trap house gets an assistant like how David dobrik has Natalie and reader gets jealous cause the assistant is openly flirting with Colby regardless of him having a girlfriend

Written: 2020

Word Count: 1,716

Warnings: Swearing, angst?, possible cheating?

Masterlist

“I know I’m the first to preach about women supporting women and all that. But I swear to God, if this bitch makes one more pass at Colby in front of me it’s on sight. Look at her, you can’t tell me that she isn’t dressed like that just to get his attention.” I say to Kat and Tara. I invited them over to relax and try to get them to see what I have to deal with daily.

The boys have a new live-in assistant; which is fine. Having an assistant is kind of like the newest trend right now. Like everyone on YouTube suddenly getting an editor. Which is fine; I pay Reggie everyone in a while to help me edit my videos. Don’t get me wrong, having an assistant in our lives was great when we lived in the apartment. Zoe would come over to our place a couple of times a week. She would openly flirt with Colby, but at the end of the day, she crawled back to wherever her broom brought her from. But when the guys decided to move into the trap house 2.0 they decided to let her take the spare room. And then quarantine happened so we were all stuck in the house together.

The flirting was always subtle, so I didn’t pick on it at first. Maybe it was because I was rarely there when all of the guys were together, so I wouldn’t notice that Colby was getting more attention than Sam, Jake, or Corey. She would occasionally, “forget” something at our apartment. Sometimes she would call at random hours “asking for help.” I didn’t realize that she was an actual threat until I came home from a meeting one day and caught her trying to sink her claws into Colby. And my sweet, innocent, stupid boyfriend thinks she’s just friendly. Secretly, I think he just likes the attention.

Since moving into the house, she’s gotten bolder. First, she started working in whatever room Colby was in. Then, she started wearing fewer clothes. Not to slut-shame anyone, people can wear whatever they want, but when your style changes ever so subtly and without notice it’s bound to get the attention of your roommates. It was like she went from Hannah Montana to Kim Kardashian in a day. To make matters worse, she started copying my styles. I dye my hair one color, she dyes it the same color a week later. Her clothes started to reflect mine. It was almost like she had the mindset that if Colby was going to ignore her, she had to make herself someone he wouldn’t ignore, me.

All of the guys think I’m overreacting, Sam and Jake know better. Kat and Tara would make their lives hell if the situation was different. I’ve told her to stop countless times, and I tried to get Colby to talk to her, but either he hasn't or she’s ignoring him. Colby doesn’t like drama and tried to avoid it as much as possible. I mean, I do too, but I’m not beyond being petty. Some of the fans have started to take notice and I’ve been liking tweets or any post that mentions of Zoe trying to seduce Colby.

“Y/N, I get where you’re coming from, but maybe it’s nothing. I mean, Colby hasn’t done anything and Zoe technically hasn’t tried anything so I think you’re fine. Maybe quarantine is getting to you.” Kat says trying to reassure me.

“Yeah, maybe we should do like a social distancing girls’ road trip with Xeph, Devyn, and Cass,” Tara suggests.

“That sounds like a great idea, but no offense, I’m not going to let little that little minx get to opportunity to ruin my relationship while I’m gone.” I glare at Zoe hanging around Colby in her too-small bikini that definitely doesn’t cover everything. She’s practically sitting on his lap when there is a perfectly good seat near Corey.

“Even if she is hitting on Colby, shouldn’t you trust Colby to do the right thing? Like, trust him enough to not give in to her advances.” Kat asks. I finally take my eyes off the guys and turn to Kat and Tara.

“I trust him, and I’m confident enough to know that Colby loves me more than anything and wouldn’t do that to me. But that doesn’t mean I can’t get upset when girls are quite literally, throwing themselves at him. I mean, you two know more than anything, you have to have thick skin and confidence to date a social media influencer, especially our boys.” I don’t want to mention to Tara and Kat that Colby has been known to take the coward’s way out of a relationship by cheating on a girl so she would break up with him. Not that I’m sure he’s going to do that, we’ve been dating long enough, but you can never be too sure.

“She has a point, I know Jake wouldn’t cheat on me. But if I had to live here and had to endure watching some bitch trying to steal my man every day, it would be on sight. I don’t care that I’m short, I’ll fuck her up.” Tara says before lying back down and tanning.

“Thank you!” I decided to take a small break and tan regularly with Tara to avoid awkward tan lines from the way that I’m turning to check on Zoe and make sure she doesn’t try anything.

“Theoretically speaking, not that I’m manifesting it or anything, but let’s say Colby did give into Zoe’s advances. What would you do?” Kat asks after a few moments of silence.

“That depends…” I think for a few minutes of what I would do if Colby did cheat on me.

“What do you mean it depends? You should break up with him if he does cheat.” Tara interjects.

“No, I get that. If Colby ever did cheat on me, I would move out of our room and stay in the guest room until I got my own place or if someone would let me crash at their place for a bit. Would I be petty about it on the internet? Probably not, but that depends on how badly he fucked up. But, and this is a big but, but if Zoe like forced herself on him and like basically either somehow forced him to sleep with her or kiss him, and I knew that for a fact, I would beat her ass. And I’m not a violent person, you two know that, but if I have to fight a bitch I will; Zoe or any girl who tries to make pass at Colby.”

“Y/N, if you have to a fight a bitch could you call me so I could watch? Or at least film it for me? I really want to see someone throw hands.” Tara asks, sitting up and sharing a big grin.

“Tara, you might not have to wait too long for that. Y/N, look,” Kat points at the little bar area where the guys said they were having a meeting and making TikToks. I turn around in time to see Zoe showing Colby a bottle of sunscreen. She’s either asking him to help her get sunscreen on her back or asking if she can put sunscreen on him. Either way, she’s hoping that someone’s hands are going to be on someone else.

“Oh fuck no,” I stand up and practically run to stop any of this from happening. I hear Kat and Tara run up behind me.

“Oh shit…” Corey mutters under his breath when he sees the three of us coming. Sam, Jake, and Corey step back so they’re not on the battlefield.

“Speaking of the girls— We were just talking about you three. Zoe here was asking if I could help her get sunscreen on her back. I was telling her that maybe one of you could help her.” Colby says when he sees me. He looks uncomfortable but relieved now that I’m here.

“We can help with that. Sam, Jake, you two better come with us too, you’re looking a bit pale. Corey, I’m sure Zoe could help you out, right Zoe?” Tara says, standing next to me.

“Y/N, you got Colby, right?” Kat adds, trying to make our dislike of Zoe noticeable.

“Oh, yeah, definitely, I can take care of my boyfriend.” I smile at Zoe as she glares at all three of us but walks over to Kat and Tara. They lead her near the house and Jake, Sam, and Corey follow in tow. Colby and I are the only two left.

“Oh thank God, you save my ass back there,” Colby says as he engulfs me in a hug.

“Uh-huh, I’m just glad you didn’t do something stupid, like put your hands all over some other girl.”

“I’m not that dumb, I love sleeping in our bed next to you. One fuck up like that and I’m stuck on the couch indefinitely.” Colby places his hands on either side of my cheeks and kisses my forehead. I know he’s joking, but I’m glad that he’s starting to realize that Zoe is creepy.

We hear a scream from behind us. We both whip our heads around in sync. Kat and Tara pushed Zoe into the pull while Corey, Jake, and Sam try hard to suppress their laughter. I flat out laugh and run out to join Kat and Tara in their merriment. We’re having so much fun watching Zoe paddle to the other side of the pool and climb out. She definitely wasn’t planning on getting in the water, at least, not all the way in. Her makeup is running down her face. We’re enjoying this so much that we don’t notice each of our boyfriends sneak up behind us. They grab each of us and throw us in the pool. All four of the boys jump in after and we’re soon having a pool party while Zoe dries off in the corner. I look up at Colby, who is trying to take down Corey with Jake. He stops long enough to sign me ‘I love you.’ I sign him back that I love him too.

[movedto-spacemanxephos]

“Goodnight, Spaceman.”

Self-indulgent Xephna one-shot in 2020? More likely than you think.

Warnings: None (sleep deprivation and over-working ig? But it’s all fluff and cuddles)

Word Count: 621

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lalna wasn’t sure what had woken him up. Perhaps it was the plagues of ideas for the factory swarming in his head, or Honeydew’s thunderous snores, but now he was awake. A quick glance at his digital watch informed him it was 1:39 a.m.. He sighed.

As he turned over to try and go back to sleep, he caught a glimpse of an empty bed besides him.

His eyebrows knitted. Xephos wasn’t in bed.

Noticing that there were lights still on in the Jaffa Factory, Lalna sighed and crawled out of bed.

He trudged over to the factory, tightly wrapping his labcoat around him to hold in the warmth against the cold night air. He hadn’t yet prepared for winter there and only had his thin white labcoat to keep him warm.

He opened the factory door with a tired creak and immediately softened at the sight.

Xephos was slumped over, leaning against a marble wall, surrounded by a mess of colorful wires. His chest rose and fell gently in pace with his bioluminescence that brightened and dimmed with each inhale and exhale.

The scientist shook his head and smiled fondly, kneeling next to the sleeping alien.

“Xeph... Xephos... wake up...” Lalna murmured as he gently shook Xephos’ shoulder. Xephos stirred, muttering something in his native language that Lalna couldn’t decipher. The spaceman finally blinked awake, his azure blue eyes glowing brightly in the dim lighting of the factory.

“Lalna?” He asked sleepily as he slowly gained awareness of his surroundings.

“You fell asleep in the factory, Xeph,” Lalna chastised quietly.

That woke Xephos up.

“Oh, sugar! I didn’t mean to- I-!” Xephos began to say before Lalna shushed him.

“No, no, it’s almost two in the morning. It’s time for bed,” Lalna explained.

“But-“ Xephos was interrupted as Lalna scooped him up. Years of carrying heavy machinery made Xephos’ lanky form easy to hold. The spaceman yelped slightly in surprise but didn’t protest the warmth of the scientist, wrapping his skinny arms around Lalna’s neck and subconsciously burying his head into the crook of his neck.

Lalna blushed at the action and carried Xephos back to the shed and set him on his bed. He clumsily began to try and take off his boots and Lalna sighed, resorting to assisting the exhausted man.

“I can do it myself.” Xephos grumbled in protest but Lalna rolled his eyes.

“Just let me help you, spaceman. Your fingers are like lead right now,” Lalna grabbed Xeph’s freezing hand and tried to move the stiff joints, proving his point.

Xephos huffed but didn’t protest as Lalna started helping him with his shoes again. He smirked at the light blue blush that dusted the alien’s cheeks but didn’t say anything. He helped him tug off his signature maroon jacket, folding it neatly over a chair.

He figured Xephos would be able to get into bed from here, and began pushing their beds together.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Xephos stammered as Lalna crawled into bed next to him.

“Making sure you don’t sneak out of bed after I��m asleep to keep working.” Lalna quipped.

Xephos opened his mouth to protest and Lalna narrowed his eyes. “Again.”

The spaceman clicked his jaw shut before he grumbled incoherently and laid down next to the scientist.

Lalna chuckled and gently wrapped his arms around the alien’s slim waist. Xephos sighed with a soft smile, and looked up at him with glowing eyes. The blue blush on his cheeks had returned and he quickly snuggled into Lalna’s chest to hide it.

Lalna felt heat rise to his face and gathered his confidence, pressing a quick kiss to Xephos’ silky brown locks.

“Goodnight, spaceman,” he murmured as they both fell asleep.

[thethew]

I’m tired and life is going quite literally down the drain so here’s the next episode of Northwood Abbey! 

But to be completely serious with you guys, shit is currently (And quite literally) hitting the fan. The next episode might not arrive for an ungodly amount of time so please just hold on tight with me? (Also this episode is a lot longer than the others so bear with me)

Episodes: 0 1 2 3

Taglist: (Remember to contact me to get on or off it) @hannahs-creations @killer-badass @theshadowsofthenight @slythekiel @lucas-writes @ohlooksheswriting @waywordwriter @hufflepuffbanana @writerproject @omicronviolet @angelotakunerd08

Episode 3: Pilot Part 3

Aspen Brielle. A strange name to be honest. How fitting that it belonged to him. The man sat down on a bench. Sipping a lukewarm cup of coffee. It hadn’t been made that way, he’d just lost track of time. His throat itched, as it always did when he hadn’t spoken for long periods of time. Not because of any medical issues or disorders, simply because his voice always wanted to be in use. You could ask him what this means, but he’d probably dance around that subject or politely decline to answer the question, so I suppose I will as well.

He was sitting near the center of the town, staring straight down the street at an old mansion. Built by the town’s founder, whom many claimed to be insane. His wife had chased after him to the house, and, being obsessed with the forms of holistic cure and remedies, had painted the whole house light blue. The result hadn’t done much, except make the lovely property age very well.

But the building had its reasons for being empty.

I imagine that if you asked the man sitting on the bench. If you looked right into his eyes, which looked more green and bright than they had any right to, said his name, though I doubt you’d remember it, and asked him why the building was empty, abandoned, desecrated, defiled, any word you wished. He would look at you, tilt his head to the side and click his teeth together, then say, Why don’t you find out for yourself?

Of course, this would be horrible advice. Why? Because the building was haunted. And to all of you out there who snicker at the idea of a haunting, laugh in the face of death and danger, and are generally just a hapless lunatic, don’t ever enter that place. You may never recover from the discoveries you find there. After all, the welcome mat doesn’t say, Weak Minds Perish Here At Northwood Manor, for no reason.

I never said it was a good welcome sign.

Aspen stood up, finished off his bitter, stale coffee, then slowly walked off through the town. The sun had barely risen into the sky, but he, like several other inhabitants of the town, was wide awake.

…

“She killed someone?” Mychael said incredulously.

Xeph nodded, a pack of dice sprawled across the table. A newspaper sat below them a mortifying headline covering the front page.

Local Bakery Owner Killed By Wild Bear, Officers And CSI Say

“It’s obviously not a bear,” Hannah continued. “The town is warded from them.”

“How do you ward off bears?”

“Simple,” Xeph replied, “You build a giant blue house with more magical energy in it than the Taj Mahal.”

Mychael didn’t quite understand the comparison or the explanation. Xeph sighed and fiddled with one of the dice for a few seconds before answering.

“Animals are sensitive to magic and its transactions and stuff like that. Bears, for some reason, are the most affected by it. We used to have a zoo, but, surprise surprise, the bears broke out and ran as far as they could. And you don’t even need to be able to do magic to feel the crazy magical energy coming off that place.”

“You mean Northwood Manor,” Mychael replied, “The place that makes everyone’s hairs stand  on end whenever they get too close?”

Hannah made a clicking noise with her teeth and did an awkward finger gun motion before turning back to whatever concoction she was making on Mychael’s stove. It smelled rather sweet. Hannah seemed to notice his interest in the boiling mess of sickly sweet smells and flavors.

“Cinnamon and orange,” She said offhandedly, “As well as a few other ingredients, helps ward off bad spirits and bring in good ones. At least I think so. I haven’t done kitchen magic in a while.”

He nodded, then turned back to the table. Xeph was stacking his dice on top of each other, making a pyramid and other various shapes. With a halfhearted sigh, he blew on the tower and it fell over, clattering onto the table. His green hair looked as if it needed some touching up, the black roots starting to show a bit. He rubbed his eyes, then leaned over the table to grab the newspaper.

“So,” Mychael said cautiously. “How does magic work?”

“A crash course from two fellow idiotas?” Xeph replied, “It doesn’t, unless you want it to.”

“That makes no sense.”

“Yeah, it does,” Hannah replied. “Magic is completed by using the force of your will, personality, intellect, whatever, to get power from the earth and her energies. It’s like convincing her to give you magic.”

She snapped her fingers and a small leaf sprouted out of a little bamboo plant Mychael had gotten for himself a week ago. It was a small feat in and of itself, but Mychael was very impressed.

“For some, it’s like a battle of wits with her as they start out casting, they have to outwit her to get energy. For others, they have to work with her and satisfy her until they get power and manifestation. Others, they have to charm her into giving them power. And some just need to ask nicely. It’s different for everyone,” Hannah explained.

“And some people use different kinds of magic, which require different sources, different techniques,” Xeph continued.

“That still makes no sense to me but okay,” Mychael replied.

Xeph suddenly tossed the newspaper back down on the table. Hannah and Mychael gave him a confused look. He ran his hand through his hair, clearly stressed.

“This,” Xeph paused, “Cabrona.”

“Isabella,” Mychael corrected.

“Morkantha,” Hannah furthered.

“No me importa,” Xeph groaned. “Tenemos que detenerla antes de que mate a más gente.”

Hannah stopped her cooking. “You’re speaking Spanish again. You know he can’t understand you.”

He sighed and placed his head on the table. He waved his hand in the air and said, “¿Tu punto?”

“You speak Spanish?” Mychael asked.

Xeph glanced up at him and sighed, then laid his head back down on the table. He stared out the window for a second, then got up and walked over to the pantry, probably to look for more of Mychael’s food.

“Yeah, My mom and dad came up from Puerto Rico and Colombia. I grew up learning how to cook enchiladas the correct way, without store-bought sauce-” He said this as he pulled a can of Mychael’s off-brand sauce out of the pantry. He set the offending can carefully on the stovetop- “And the whole religion and chancleta and everything or whatever you want me to say.”

Xeph gave up on finding anything in the pantry and instead turned and leaned against the wall. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. The bandage around his arm seemed to need a replacement.

“So,” Mychael tried to move past the awkward hitch in the conversation. “What kinds of magic are there?”

“Well,” Hannah replied, halting her stirring for a few moments, “There’s a lot, but to start out, I would say sigils.”

“Why sigils?” Mychael inquired.

“The ones you make on your own are less likely to kill you,” Xeph replied.

“That’s reassuring,” Mychael replied, completely the opposite of reassured.

“And also,” Hannah replied, aiming a kick at Xeph’s shin. “They require the least amount of energy. And when the energy transit is small or near non-existent, the better chance you have of your spells manifesting.”

“And what about Isa- Morkantha?” Mychael changed the subject.

“I have my suspicions,” Xeph said. He walked over to the table a pulled a briefcase out from under the table. Mychael blinked, not having seen the object a few seconds earlier. The case had a piece of masking tape across it with Morkantha’s name written across it in sharpie.

“We’ve,” he paused, “triangulated where we think we might be from where you two first met, the most frequent sightings of her, and the bakery guy. We think she’s in Northwood Manor.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Mychael replied.

…

Northwood Manor looked hauntingly beautiful at all times of the day. Even the beating afternoon sun and a few hundred years could not take away any of its splendor. But just looking at the building sent shivers up your spine. It made your palms sweaty and your throat itch. Just thinking about what might hide in those abandoned halls made you hesitant to enter. Even the dry, two-foot-tall grass that grew around and through the porch seemed to crackle with magical or supernatural energy that warned of what was lying in wait.

However, the group did not have the luck of entering the old house in bright midday. Rather, they had the misfortune of entering the building in the middle of the night. Under the cover of darkness, the building did indeed lose its cheery blue color, which, during the day, was the only thing keeping it from looking as menacing as it was now. Mychael’s breath started to hitch as he got closer to the building. The energy from it pulsed through them, making the hairs on the backs of their neck stand up. Their hearts raced, and their palms became clammy. Xeph muttered a few prayers under his breath in Spanish, and Hannah swatted him on the shoulder.

“Calm down,” she said. “It’s just a demon.”

“Just a demon,” Mychael replied.

“Just a demon.” Xeph chuckled nervously to himself, “Cabrona eso es lo que me da miedo.”

The briefcase banged against Mychael’s hip and he winced in pain. Hannah shushed him. Xeph looked ready to heave his lunch on the ground. Mychael readjusted the case and continued to sneak through the grass to the stair leading up to the porch.

“Tell me why we brought this thing again?” Mychael hissed over his shoulder.

“Insurance,” Hannah replied, “Demons and other supernatural beings don’t like it when too much information about them is gathered in one place. They can feel it. Like when you’re all alone and you feel like someone’s watching you? That level of uncomfortable. It makes them really angry.”

“Cool,” Mychael said, then quieter, “Then why did we do that?”

Xeph answered that last part, probably without realizing it, “Some people do it to blackmail a demon into doing things for them, others do it to create a beacon to lead the demon to them. That’s what we’re doing.”

“Fantastic,” Mychael grumbled.

The door creaked open a little too loudly. The group began to enter, and a loud crack sounded as Xeph’s foot broke through the wood of the porch. Silence fell upon them as Xeph muttered quiet prayers in rapid-fire Spanish. He slowly pulled his foot out of the whole and let out a relieved sigh as nothing happened.

“What are you so scared of?” Mychael joked.

“Old houses,” Xeph replied, “Old curses, old spirits.”

The inside of the house was even stranger than the outside. White cloth hung over all of the furniture, and Mycheal heard a crunch under his foot as he accidentally stepped on an old mothball. Xeph leant down and grabbed another one off the ground.

“This should be used up by now,” He mused.

“Probably the last person who lived here,” Hannah speculated.

“You mean the hair salon lady?” Mychael asked.

“No,” Xeph said, taking the case out of Mychael’s hands, “She was a distant relative, inherited the property from whoever had the bad luck of taking care of it at that time. She was in town for one month, vanished. Found her the next week belly up in a pond.”

Hannah slapped Xeph’s shoulder. He ignored the action and continued to fiddle with the briefcase. After a few moments, he stopped. He glanced down the hall and then walked down it. The other two followed him through the old and creaky house, ignoring the paintings on the wall of increasingly mad and sleepless people, all of the former owners of the house.

The hall opened up into a small ballroom. A large window spanned from the floor to the ceiling. A small record player sat in the corner with a few pieces of vinyl shattered on the ground around it. A gust of wind blew through the house, knocking over a flowerpot that had been inconveniently placed.

Xeph set the briefcase down on the ground and started muttering over it. A bright green sigil hummed to life on the back, then it flickered out and vanished. A small pile of dust fell onto the ground from where it had been.

“Now she’ll feel it,” Xeph said.

After a few moments of silent glances back and forth, Hannah turned to face Mychael. She seemed to have lost her happy go lucky demeanor.

“Do you have the book?” She asked, deathly serious.

Mychael nodded. She turned to Xeph.

“Open it,” She commanded.

Xeph took a deep breath, and his shaking fingers slowly undid the latches on the case. He flipped open the case and a rush of air flew past the group. The plant that had fallen to the floor earlier shriveled up and died. The old house creaked violently. The mothballs around the room melted up and vanished as pretty much everything alive in the room began to die except for the group. Even the papers inside the case seemed to crumple up, and the leather seemed to age several more years. Rust crawled across all the metal objects in the room, until the phenomena stopped a few seconds later.

“I heard you calling,” a voice rasped from above.

Morkantha’s shape had further shifted away from human now. Her pink hair was wild and had turned into more of a fur, sprouting from around her neck like a mane. Her fingers elongated into powerful claws and a tail with a sharp spike had sprouted from behind her. Her hind legs looked more like a lion’s than anything else. Her eyes were pitch black with little pinpricks of purple light in the middle. Her skin had changed color, with patches of purple, pink, blue. Overall, she looked like an oversized reptilian lion.

Not to mention the fact she had grown a few feet.

With the speed and agility of a cat, she landed on the floor of the ballroom, towering over the group. Mychael held the purple leather bound book up as a precaution as Morkantha continued to stalk closer.

“The Lady in Red has been waiting for you,” she purred.

Hannah frowned, but Mychael seemed terrified. He’d been able to hide it the other night when Hannah had mentioned the name, but hearing from the demon in front of him only made it worse.

“Don’t you miss her,” Morkantha interrogated, “And what you could do together?”

“Stop it,” Mychael shouted.

“Xeph, knock her out,” Hannah demanded.

Xeph closed his eyes and held his fingers up to his temples. A faint green light weaved around him. With a flick of her long tail, Morkantha pulled Xeph away from the group and dangled him up in the air. He shouted in pain as Morkantha’s tail wrapped around his body and squeezed.

“Not this time, little rapture,” Morkantha hissed.

“Mychael, keep the book up,” Hannah shouted.

“This was a stupid idea,” Mychael screamed.

Xeph groaned in pain as Morkanthat squeezed tighter. The action drew silence from the other two.

“Thank you,” Morkantha sighed. “The Lady wants that one-” she pointed at Mychael- “Alive. No tricks, no catch. Just hand him over.”

“You think that I’m just going to hand over someone I met like,” Hannah paused, “Three days ago?”

Morkantha opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Mychael’s phone in his pocket. Everyone stared at him, incredulous. He scrambled to grab it and answer as soon as possible.

“Hello?”

“Hi Mychael, it’s your manager, Kathy? I noticed you didn’t come in for work today, are you okay?”

“Uh,” He glanced around the room, “No, I dropped one of my...” he continued to frantically search the room, “Vintage records on my feet and it broke and now I’m bleeding all over the place.”

“Oh my gosh,” Kathy replied, “Are you okay? I can head over and get you to the emergency room.”

“No, no,” Mychael laughed nervously, “That’s not-”

His phone slipped from his hand as Morkantha plucked it from between his fingers. Mychael made a sound of protest as the demon crushed the device with her claws. Morkantha turned around to face them and growled threateningly, a small orb of light on her chest pulsating vibrantly. Mychael stared up at her black eyes

A voice in the back of his mind directed his gaze back down to the light coming out of Morkantha’s chest.

“How nice to see you again Mr. Harmeyer,” The Lady In Red crooned, “Shall we finish this?”

He turned to the shards of old vintage records in the corner of the room. Morkantha followed his gaze and growled. Within a second, the two were bounding across the room. As Mychael reached out for a piece of the broken vinyl, morkantha slammed her hand into his back and he flew into the wall. He spun around, a few shattered records cutting into his leg. The demon towered over him and pulled back her arm to swing again.

A flash of green light swirled around her and straight into her eyes. She spun around wildly, writhing in pain. Xeph was tossed across the room, straight into the opposite wall. Hanna ran after him. Morkantha screamed and flopped around. Xeph slammed into the wall, his consciousness slipping out of his grasp.

And Mychael? The world slowed as his fingers wrapped around something that wasn’t a shard of vinyl, wasn’t a piece of wood, wasn’t a knife. Something that had never been there before. Morkantha turned towards him, blinded and furious. Mychael rose up his arm and plunged a blade of pure white energy into the orb of light inside her chest.

The world moved faster after that. Morkantha collapsed, white light crackling and licking flames across her body. Energy pulsed through Mychael’s fingertips, and the power of The Lady In Red left him. He collapsed on the ground, his vision fading fast.

The last thing he saw, was a man with long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, an aviator jacket, and tan converse snap the briefcase closed. He stood slowly and turned to face Mychael. And as he became closer and closer to unconsciousness, Aspen Brielle’s almost too green eyes seemed to swirl and fold in on themselves.

And with that, the man was gone.

In fact, he’d never been there. The briefcase and it’s contents had been destroyed in the battle, burnt up in the flames from Mychael’s powerful attack. Morkantha’s body had been burnt up in the climax of the battle.

And Aspen Brielle did not exist.

[authorforhire]

67 because come on

((I like the cut of your chin, Bethany. So have some of that beautiful crackship you and I love so much.))

“You’re bleeding all over my carpet.”

Xephos waved his hand nonchalantly. “It’s fine, Sparklez. It’ll heal.” He said, leaning up against the wall while his friend searched for a potion of some kind.

“Yeah, but my carpet, my very nice carpet, won’t.” The popstar retorted, shutting a chest and turning back around towards a different container. “And sit down, for God’s sake!”

Xephos sighed and limped over to do as he was told, slumping over the couch and wincing with pain as he tried to get comfortable. “You’re being overdramatic, it’s not the big of a deal. It’s gonna heal soon.” He hissed out, holding his side which currently had quite the gaping wound.

Sparklez gave him a sort of deadpanned look before walking over to him, three potions tucked in his arm. “Well, let’s make it heal faster then.” He sighed. “Take off your shirt.”

“I thought we were taking this slow?”“Xephos.”“Okay, Okay, fine.”

Xephos did as he was told with some help from Sparklez before they finally tossed the shirt aside. He had lost his jacket somewhere, which raised a few questions. He never left that jacket anywhere.

“Where’s that jacket of yours?” Sparklez asked, trying to clean up his boyfriend’s fluorescent blue blood off his skin.

The spaceman only shrugged. “Left it at home.” He muttered.

“That sounds like utter garbage.”“I’m serious!”“Xephos, come on, I’m not stupid.”

Xephos looked alarmed and frustrated. “I never said you were! I just-” He lets out a long sigh through his nose. “I lost it.” He finally muttered.

Sparklez stared at him. “…Xeph, sweetheart, that’s not a big deal.”

“It is to me!” Xephos snapped. The house went quiet. Sparklez just sighed and didn’t reply, pouring some of the potion into a cloth and pressing it to the wound.

Xephos covered his face with his hands. “I-I lost my coat. I-I just, I lost my friends, I’m losing Simon, my alien healing doesn’t work anymore, a-and now I lost my coat!” He finally cried out, luminescent tears spilling down his face.

Sparklez said nothing. He had a feeling there was more to this than his friend was letting on, and now the floodgates were broken.

He put a large bandage over the wound before walking out of the room and finding a soft t-shirt from one of his old concerts. He walked back in the room and sat down beside his boyfriend, holding out the shirt to him.

The space man finally put in on, his tear covered hands fumbling to find the arm hole. As soon as the shirt was on, Sparklez moved them so Xephos was laying against his chest.

“Xephos, they don’t hate you for what happened…”“Yes they do, Sparks!”

Sparklez sighed. “Simon chose to go after you. He didn’t have to follow you down that ravine, that was his choice.”

“But i-it was my fault he went down there in the first place! I-I was so focused on this damn machine, I yelled at him and Duncan for not getting the right materials, a-and-!”

“Xeph, sweetheart, shhh.” Sparklez said, combing his fingers through his hair. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t know he would follow you, and you certainly didn’t know that skeleton would be there. And Simon isn’t dead, Xephos. Rythian said it’s just gonna take time for him to heal.” Sparklez offered a small smile. “He’s a strong dwarf, Xephos. He’ll pull through.”

Xephos shook his head, sobbing quietly into Sparklez’s chest. “What, what if he doesn’t?”

Sparklez sighed. “He will, Xephos. But you’ve got to stop blaming yourself for this.”

Xephos didn’t respond. They stayed like that for a long time. Sparklez holding Xephos while he cried, being supportive and caring like he always.

“I’m sorry.” Xephos finally sniffled out.“For what?” Sparklez asked.

“I came in here and bled all over your carpet and couch and then cried all over you.” Xephos said softly. “I’m sorry.”

Sparklez smiled. “I’d rather it be me than someone else. Speaking of which, what happened to you?”

Xephos sighed. “I-I was in a mineshaft. I took of my jacket because it was getting hot, but then a bunch of mobs spawned. I had to leave it behind. Then I got lost, and I couldn’t find my way back to the cave. I searched for hours and only got more lost. Then I ran into more mobs, and well-” he gestured down at himself. “You know the rest.”

Sparklez kissed his forehead. “We’ll look for it tomorrow. And if we can’t find it, then we’ll try and make another one.”

Xephos nodded. “Thanks, Sparks.”Sparklez smiled at him. “Anytime, sweetheart.”

[lilyenderborn]

Captain’s Knight Part 3

1/ 2/ 3 Final part yay!

The silence turned out to be the worst. Lalna blinked watching Xephos move around in his factory. The man was still waffling to himself yet it seemed he had taken his earpiece out so no one could hear him or hear either of them. He turned to see Sparklez working in the field with ear buds bobbing his head to unheard music.

He frowned heading into the factory standing in between Xeph and the stores houses.

"Lalna move I've almost got this system for signs up and running."

"We need to talk Xeph. You and Sparklez keep ignoring me. What is going on?" Lalna asked refusing to move.

"It's nothing Lalna now please move." Xeph mentioned trying to move around him.

"It's not nothing. You have never taken your earpiece out. Even with me and Sjin. In fact I've never seen you take it out with..."

"What do you want Lalna?!" Xeph snapped.

"What happened between you and Jordan?" He asked frowning.

"Nothing happened between us. And he prefers Sparklez." He said turning to walk away.

"Lewis!" Lalna called. Xephos instantly froze looking at the ground. "Just talk to me! What is wrong with you?"

"Don't call me that..." Xeph muttered kicking off flying for the lookout tree leaving behind a confused Lalna.

He moved to the farm tapping Sparklez on the shoulder. The man paused undoing the headphones.

"Hey Lalna what's going on?"

"Hey Sparklez is everything ok? With you and Xephos I mean." Lalna asked and Sparklez froze slightly. He loosened quickly giving a soft smile.

"I hope so. I thought we were getting to know each other."

"Really? He just seems to be avoiding me lately." Lalna mentioned.

"When did he start doing that?" Sparklez asked seemingly hiding his eyes completely behind the sunglasses.

"Just now... probably since I went to the end though and I just didn't notice." Lalna mentioned thinking back. He thought Xeph had just been silently working or muttering so low the headset mic didn't pick him up. Sparklez seemed to look down and away.

"Sorry it's probably my fault. If it'll help him when I'm done with these quests I can try to contact the gods in charge of my continent and trade back with your friend." Sparklez mentioned.

"You don't have to do that. We or at least I'm enjoying having you around. It's nice to get away from the mega troll Sjin for awhile but it gets quiet with just the two of us." Lalna mentioned before sighing.

"Say Sparklez could you do me a favor?" Lalna said glancing towards the tree.

"Depends on the favor." He mentioned putting away a few items into his bag.

"Talk to Xephos for me please. He won't listen to me and I'm pretty sure he's taken his earpiece out and misplaced it. He was headed for the tree took out" Lalna mentioned sighing.

"Alright. Here hold on to my ear piece in case you have to duplicate it for him." Sparklez mentioned taking the device out of his pocket and handing it to him. Lalna nodded taking it before the man took off heading for the platform half way up the tree.

He found the said man lying on his side staring at the area in front of him. Sparklez gently landed near him.

"Nice to see you out of your factory Xeph." Sparklez said sitting next to him. Xephos seemed to stiffen but remained silent. So Sparklez continued.

"It's peaceful without an earpiece. Quiet and you can talk without anyone listening." Sparklez mentioned watching Lalna move around down below. Once in a while glancing to Xeph's back.

"When do you have to go back?" Xephos asked so softly Sparklez almost missed it.

"I don't know. It depends on a lot of things. If Sjin wants to trade back. Our gods don't want him anymore. Or if you two want me to go." Sparklez answered looking straight out. "Do you want me to go?" He asked back glancing at him. The man curled in on himself to resemble a ball. There came a faint mumbling from the figure.

"And you say Lalna mumbles a lot." Sparklez mused more to himself "I told Lalna that if you guys want I'm almost done with Beta so it'll be a good excuse to go home. End this on a high note instead of the low of knowing you don't feel the same." Sparklez mentioned stretching. Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement telling him Xeph had moved to look at him. He continued on standing up.

"It was fun while it lasted though I have to revise that one answer I gave while we waited for Lalna..." Sparklez paused hoping Xeph would stop him. When he didn't he continued on, "I do know how you felt with Honeydew. I didn't back when we talked but now I do." He mentioned walking to the edge of the platform. Before he was able to take off he felt a hand grab his.

"Jordan..." He said softly. "I'm....I didn't know how I felt. Back when you said that I was still confused." Sparklez sighed slightly.

"Does that mean you've figured it out?" He asked glancing to him.

"Not completely. I still don't know how I feel but please don't leave." Xeph said as Sparklez bowed his head in thought.

"You willing to at least try? We'll move as fast as you want." Sparklez asked and Xeph nodded gently.

"I am if you are friend." He said bringing his hand into his other one as well. Sparklez looked to him a big smile across his face.

"Come on let's go let Lalna know we're ok you big dork." Sparklez said leading him away.

[puppyluvsyu]

Oh gosh, I'm so nervous posting this-

Hiya! I'm Xeph [pronounced Zeph] and this is my blog for my x reader ideas and fics! I'll default to a GN reader, but nsfw will be afab focused unless stated otherwise!

Terfs are not welcome here!

#Xeph Steps -> General Life Updates

#Xeph's Muttering -> General/Safe x Reader Posts

#Xeph's Barking -> Nsfw/Mature/Suggestive x Reader Posts

The Xeph Steps Tag link works, but the other two just default to the Xeph tag :<

[movedto-spacemanxephos]

“You’re Bleeding!”

(more self-indulgent Xephna in 2020 lol | also no beta we die like men | prompt list)

Warnings: blood, injury, surgery stuff, basically a lot of whump (it’s hurt/comfort tho it all ends in cuddles)

Word Count: 1,214

“You’re bleeding!” Lalna gasped as he limped in. Xephos immediately cringed and tried to shuffle away; he’d been trying to avoid Lalna’s mother-hen nature and deal with this himself, creeping back into the sleeping shed as quietly as he possibly could, but alas.

“Lalna-“ Gasp. “I’m-“ Gasp. “Fine!” He wheezed out, each breath drawing stabs on pain from his abdomen. He forced a weak smile, trying not to reveal his true feelings about the situation. “I can take care of it-“

“You’ve got a bloody arrow sticking out of your stomach! ‘You can take care of it’ my ass!” Lalna rolled his eyes, beginning to surreptitiously get out of his chair. Xephos knew Lalna knew how to deal with him being reluctant to doctoring by now, which included approaching him like a baby deer when things like this happened.

Xephos set his jaw to keep his confident expression on his face and not reveal the pain he was in. “Really, Lal, I’m fine-“ He took another step, and suddenly the world did a one-eighty. His eyes rolled as he tipped forward, his limbs not obeying him as he tried to get them to brace his fall. He grimaced as he expected impact with the harsh wooden floor, when instead soft warm arms greeted him.

“Xeph?” Lalna inquired nervously, as if he was unsure if he was still conscious, holding the shaking spaceman in his arms.

Xephos didn’t trust himself with words at this point. The arrow lodged in his abdomen was howling in agony at him, and although Lalna was doing his best to be gentle when he grabbed his falling form, he was in, for lack of better words, a great deal of pain.

He could only whimper in response as Lalna silently guided him to the bed, each step sending another wave of dizzying pain through his body. He hadn’t realized how much it truly hurt until his adrenaline began to run out and now it was all he could focus on.

Lalna scanned him with his blue-green eyes. His mouth was set in a neutral line, but his eyebrows were knitted in an unusually concerned and... fearful way; not a common expression he saw on the man’s face.

“I’ll be right back, just gonna grab the medkit, okay?” Lalna said, softly squeezing his hand. He nodded silently, clenching his jaw and trying to ignore the steady trickling of viscous luminescent blue blood seeping through his trembling fingers at the entrance of the wound. He tried not to look at the feathery fletching sticking out from between his fingers.

Lalna came back, holding a white box, and his usual grey mechanics gloves were gone, instead replaced by the clean white ones that Xephos recognized from many a confused Testificate and human clinic.

Lalna grabbed a stool and sat in front of him. Gently, Lalna tugged Xephos’ blood soaked fingers away from where they were clenched around the arrow. Then, he pulled out a pair of scissors. Lalna snorted slightly at Xephos’ resentful groan as he cut away the blood soaked material of his shirt. Honeydew was not going to be pleased that another one of the shirts he’d made was once again destroyed.

Lalna pulled away the cloth and suddenly the wound was fully exposed. Xephos instantaneously felt sick as he stared at the irregular object jutting out of his side.

A hand tilted his face up and away from where he could see it. “Don’t look at it, sweetheart.” Lalna said.

Xephos swallowed and nodded, looking away, but not just for the reason Lalna had told him too. It wasn’t all that often that Lalna used little nicknames like that with him, but each time it sent his heart ricocheting throughout his chest.

A cool, wet cloth gently dabbed around the area, making him flinch. He clenched his fists, trying to pay attention to his nails biting into his palms and not the projectile sticking out of him.

“Thank the gods it missed anything important...” Lalna muttered to himself. There was some clicking as he got some tools out. Xephos tried to guess in his head what they were, something else to focus on, he supposed.

Lalna tugged at his chin to get his jaw to open, and gently placed a towel in his mouth. This was the part Xephos had been dreading.

He flinched as Lalna snapped the arrow in two, discarding one side. Xephos’ knuckles were white. He trembled.

Lalna looked up at him sympathetically. “I’m not gonna lie, this is gonna hurt.” He said quietly.

Xephos let out a whimper that had been crawling up his throat. He wasn’t going to cry, he couldn’t, he wouldn’t-

“Two, one-“ Xephos hadn’t realized Lalna had been counting until he felt the arrow being ripped out of him.

He saw white. His entire world was a blank canvas of white hot pain and he heard screaming.

Oh, that’s me. I’m screaming. He thought dazedly in the back of his mind.

“-os. Xephos!” Lalna shouted and his sight returned. He saw the scientist looking at him with teary, panicked eyes. His own vision was blurry with tears.

He tried to talk, but it was muffled.

Oh, right, the towel.

Lalna, who’s hands weren’t shaking only because of years of medical training, removed the towel. Another cloth was pressed gently to his side, soaking up glowing blood.

He gently rested his lips against Xephos’ forehead. “It’s okay, the worst is over, I’ve just got to do the stitches now, okay?” He whispered softly.

Another whimper carelessly escaped his lips. He cursed himself.

He closed his eyes, barely feeling the needle of painkiller breach his skin. The stitches were painless, and the spikes of pain were temporarily dulled to a throb. Soft bandages were applied, but he could barely feel the light touches of the human’s fingers on his stomach.

He heard Lalna remove his surgical gloves and sigh. A warm hand caressed his cheek, and a gentle kiss on his forehead.

“You did great, starlight.” Another burst of butterflies in his stomach. He smiled weakly, blue blush dusting his cheeks.

Lalna giggled victoriously, always one to enjoy seeing the spaceman get flustered. He paused, and turned serious. A pale finger was pointed in his face. “I swear, if you try to get away and perform surgery on yourself like that again, I will-“

“Yes, okay, okay!” Xephos rolled his eyes pushing the digit away.

Lalna laughed again. Xephos felt pure joy when it hit his ears. He was exhausted, but Lalna’s laughter filled him with a burst of energy, very nice even if it was short-lived.

Lalna’s smile turned more gentle. “Come on, cuddles now.”

He turned an even darker shade of blue. More giggles.

His stomach was practically numb at this point, which he was thankful for since he was sure Lalna picking him up and putting him into bed would’ve hurt a lot more if not.

Warm arms wrapped around him, carefully avoiding his wound. He intertwined his fingers with Lalna’s and hummed tiredly.

He knew he was going to be in a great deal of pain for the next few days, but he also knew he had nothing to fear with Lalna taking care of him.

[authorforhire]

The Secret Weapon (Xephlez)

Summary: Xephos has volunteered for an unhealthy amount of missions, and the Yogs are growing concerned.

((Featuring @doctorbethanysartblog ’s Suit AU)) _________________

Xephos had a small habit of taking things to far. Whether it be work, miscellaneous tasks, or doing things with his friends, he always had to go one step further.

Or in this case, a whole marathon forward.

They were all proud and happy for Xeph to be given the legendary position of a Suitor. It was one of the highest honors in the multiverse, and the Yogs couldn’t think of anyone better for the job. However, they all knew eventually Xeph would start overworking himself.

Simon was the first to catch wind of his unhealthy behavior (he always was). He’d wake up in the middle of the night to see Xephos stumble out of the portal in a white suit with blue blood dripping down his mouth and ugly bruises along his face. Then the alien would down a potion of healing and sleep for 3 hours before going back through. He’d try talking to him about it, making only half-joking comments about Xephos being in over his head. The man just smiled and laughed, and would continue on with whatever plans they had made.

Sips and Sjin noticed when during a visit to the farm they found Xephos sleeping in the middle of the Ender Lily patch, propped up against a hoe. When they asked him why he was so tired, he would just shrug and say he had a mission the other night and forgot to have coffee the following morning.

Lalna himself knew it was all unhealthy, and he practiced many of the same habits. He gave Xephos some special brewed gin, hoping it would make him fall asleep, but it only gave the alien a hangover during his impromptu mission the following day.

“It was just a small thing, investigating some rumors spread through different worlds. Nothing huge.” He would say, waving the situation off and grabbing a mug of coffee.

“It isn’t small, Xeph. You look like hell!” Simon had argued. Xephos only scowled before burying himself deeper in his coffee.

The dwarf sighed before grabbing Xeph’s communication tablet. The alien looked up in surprise and made a motion to grab it, but Simon was already across the room and typing away at the transparent screen.

“What do you think you’re doing? Give that back!” Xephos sputtered out, standing up.

“I’m trying to help you, you psychotic bugger.” The dwarf muttered, focusing on his task.

“Simon, I really don’t have the energy to fight you. Please give it back, I need it to get in contact with the others.”

“Nope. Bringing out my secret weapon.” He said, finally pushing the “send” button.

“Taking away my tablet won’t make me stop working. You’re only making me upset.” Xephos pouted.

Honeydew sighed and slid the tablet back over to him. “Fine. Have it back.” He said before grinning. “But Sparklez isn’t going to be happy to find out you canceled on him to beat up ‘rumors.’

Xephos froze. “What? I don’t have plans with-” He started before looking down at the tablet and gasping. Sure enough, a message had been sent to a contact named ‘Mr. Sparkly Pants’ Asking him to hang out with him the next day.

“Simon, no! Why!?” Xephos groaned. “I’m on standby for a possible mission tomorrow. What am I gonna do if they call?”

“Ask them to send someone else. Because if I can’t ask you to relax, I know Sparklez will and I know you’ll listen to him.” The dwarf said, his eyes filled with concern.

The alien slid back into his chair, grumbling into his arm. The dwarf smiled slightly, patting his arm. “Besides, when was the last timw you’ve had a proper date since you got this job?”

Xephos sat up for a second as he thought carefully. He and Sparklez chatted all the time between missions, but they hardly ever saw eachother face to face anymore. Perhaps he has been a little too busy.

“Alright, Simon. You win. I’ll take a day off.” Xephos sighed, putting up his tablet.

Honeydew smiled. “Good. Now go to bed. I’m not having Sparklez come over and you look like a disaster.”

Xephos smiled tiredly. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.”

The dwarf smiled. “I always am.”

[lilyenderborn]

Captain’s Knight Part 1

First try at writing this so here you go Bethany

1

Xephos frowned slightly looking up from his machines. He'd been muttering to himself in his factory again only to realize his friends had stopped talking suddenly.

"Hello? Friends?" He asked confused.  There was a long silence.

"Lalna? Sjin?" He asked his voice becoming more concerned.

"Xephos? Are you still working?" The man heard over his earpiece.

"Yeah of course where did you two go?" Xephos asked walking towards their hut.

"Sjin mentioned like an hour ago, he had to fly off for a bit. He also mentioned that he'd found someone to help out while he was gone. Since you tend to ignore the quests." Lalna mentioned landing near him opening a leather book.

"What? Me? Excuse you! I finished Alpha while you two were messing around with flowers or whatever." Xephos sputtered annoyedly.

"Yeah well we needed to get you out of that factory." Lalna mentioned touching a page in the book. A bag appeared in front of him. Xeph tapped his foot impatiently.

"What?"

"So, who did he get?" Xephos asked quickly. "Nano? One of the Hat boys?"

"Uh no not that I know of. I wouldn't be surprised if it was Sips." Lalna mentioned opening the bag. "Shoot another record..."

"If Sjin had found Sips then that might explain why he left. So, where's this new person?" Xephos asked looking around as Lalna began to skim the book again. He happened to turn as a figure appeared in Sjin botania area.

"Ah so that's what he meant good to know." The new man said dusting off his black jacket. "Ah floating lands been a long time since I've seen something like this. My times have changed." He mentioned messing with what seemed to be red sunglasses. Lalna gave a side glance to Xephos who began to walk towards him.

"Hello? Friend?" Xephos asked.

"Oh, hi there." The man said turning to him. He had a bit of a goatee as he smiled. "I'm Sparklez. Jordan Sparklez but no one calls me that." He said extending his hand.

"Name is Lewis Xephos but you can call me Xephos. And my friend Lalna Jones." Lalna waved slightly.

"You talked to Sjin right?" Lalna asked as Xephos continues to watch him.

"Oh, yeah lovely fella ain't he? We ran into each other in passing. Said you guys could use a hand." Sparklez said chuckling.

"Well yes actually. Though I think Sjin is more paranoid we'll get everything done without him." Xephos said shaking his head. "Lalna could you set him up with the book and lives?"

"Lives?" The man asked following the two men towards the large brick building.

"Yeah reapers have given us a certain amount of lives before they basically change the world for good. We have a habit of uh total destruction? And Xeph got into a pretty heated argument with the reaper who used to be in charge of us." Lalna explained rummaging through a chest before moving towards a couple machines. "And our original skyblock was a test to see if he was alright to be placed in a new world."

Sparklez glanced to see Xephos take off to the second floor playing with the cables.

"So... why are you two here this time?" He asked taking the book.

"My fault honestly. My partner and I got into a nuke war but..." His voice lowered slightly hearing the man above them muttering again.

"The reapers blamed him and his partner for not stopping us. We got separated because of that. He found his partner Honeydew after we built armor to let us fly. I don't know what happened but he came back without Honeydew and he's been like this." Lalna said sighing rubbing the back of his neck.

"That really sucks." Sparklez mentioned readjusting what looked like red rimmed normal glasses now.

"Whoa how'd your glasses do that?" Lalna asked watching him.

Meanwhile Xephos had sat on one of his factories looking over. He saw Lalna and the new guy talking heading out of the factory. He scratched his head slightly.

"Xephos can you hear me?" He blinked hearing the voice in his ear.

"Yeah I'm busy Lal what do you need?"

"Sjin put down more before he left!" He heard before hurrying out towards the blond. Near him was a large stack of the blue cubes.

"You have got to be kidding me!"

"Ok let me find my portal gun. If you want to set Sparklez up with a task, I'll try to get rid of them." Lalna mentioned heading towards the garden.

"Are these chances cubes?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah they are absolute rubbish." Xephos muttered as the word came out he heard a ding noise.

"What was that?" He asked quickly pulling out a small screen. "Lalna what does 'going poof' mean with chance cubes?"

"Don't know never got that one before." Lalna said coming back with a portal gun. He blinked Xephos and Sparklez were nowhere to be seen. "Xephos? Where did you two go?"

"Um we don't know it seems to be a dirt.... hovel. Hold on let me get my coordinates." The two men were in a dirt room somewhere far from where they had started from.

"Can't you fly back?"

"He can't fly Lalna. Sjin didn't get him our spare zivicio armor. Can you please get it out of the store house and get to the coordinates I'm sending?" Xephos mentioned typing on the small device.

"Alri... j... ho... on you t...." Lalna said before going silent. Xephos blinked before hearing a ding. He looked down to see the chat message. 'You seem to have lost radio contact I'll be there asap.'

Sparklez gave a slight chuckle reading over his shoulder.

"Sorry about that. I didn't realize what they'd do." Sparklez mentioned rubbing the back of his head.

"Like I said rubbish. I'm just thankful you didn't blow up or otherwise destroy my factory. Also, when we get back don't touch the big ones. You have a chance of a giant nuke." Xephos mentioned taking the armor off putting it against one wall before sitting leaning against it.

"Shouldn't we dig our way out of here?" Sparklez asked looking up. "It's only dirt anyway."

"Maybe but my guess is there's a ton of monsters up there and I left my crossbow at the factory. Not to mention you have nothing on you by the look of it." Xephos explained as the man sighed sitting next to him.

"So, what do we do while we wait?" Sparklez asked moving his glasses to rub his eyes before readjusting them to fit comfortably.

"20 questions? May as well find out about each other. Since you might be hanging around us for a while." Xeph said shrugging.

"Sure, I guess I'll start. Straight, gay, or other?" He asked smiling to himself.

"Wow starting with a heck of one aren't you friend? Alright other. I'm bi but I do prefer guys." Xeph mentioned shrugging. "Same question to you then."

"Me? Bi too with no big swing one way or the other." Sparklez gave a chuckle leaning his head back.

"Why go by your surname?" He asked.

"I like how it sounds more. Also, it's not actually my surname I don't really remember my name. I had an accident and it left me confused. Honeydew gave me the name Lewis because I looked like one I guess. I think Xephos may have been my first name but we made it into my surname." Xephos responded. "Same question to you."

"Mines not as dramatic as yours. My nickname growing up was CaptainSparklez. So, I started going by my last name. Anyway, only friends who ask call me Jordan. Such a boring name compared to CaptainSparklez you know?"

"Yeah Lewis is pretty boring too. Your turn by the way friend." Xeph mentioned smiling at him.

"Ok why do you do that? Say friend at the end of most of your sentences." Sparklez asked raising an eyebrow.

"Old habits die hard. I say it when I'm stressed usually but you'll know the difference." He responded giving a small chuckle. "Do you actually need those glasses or is it a fashion thing?"

"I really do need them. My friend made them custom for me so I don't have to worry about sunglasses." He thought for a second. "You ever had to?"

"What wear glasses? I think so? At one time, maybe but again memory is a bit off before a certain time. So maybe when I was a kid. Alright where did Sjin find you?"

"I was honestly looking for some place new. I was on this continent filled with trolls. I signed up for an exchange. The exchange brought in Sjin. I showed him around, told him the rules of Trollcraft and then was poofed into your garden. He had a chance to explain why we were trading and where I was going but that's about it." He said chuckling.

"He'll do well there."

"Say... This Honeydew fella. He your boyfriend?" Sparklez saw Xephos stiffen slightly.

"No....no he's just a friend. I asked him out once and he turned me down. Still a good friend despite...." He stopped looking at his legs.

"The separation?" Sparklez asked. He gave a small stiff nod. "Can I ask what happened? Lalna said you went to talk to him."

"He's been hanging out with my ex-girlfriend and Lalna's partner. I didn't even talk to him. Saw him talking and laughing with the two them and well..."

"You just came straight back." Sparklez mentioned shuffling closer to him.

"Yep. You ever get crushed like that?" He asked not caring about the sudden closeness.

"I don't usually let people in that close honestly. To many times, I've been let down. Work best on my own usually." He mentioned watching Xeph's grey hazel eyes. "You think you could let someone else in despite what happened?"

Xeph looked up at him meeting his dark eyes for the first time. "I don't know friend. Maybe..." He moved to be closer as daylight hit their faces.

"There you two are. Am I interrupting something?" Xeph looked up to see Lalna above a freshly dug hole.

"No no we were just getting to know each other right Xephos?" Sparklez said standing up offering his hand. Xephos gratefully took it standing up himself. There was a pause where they had each other's hand that the other didn't know if they should stop.

"Come on you two" Lalna said and a blue portal appeared. "Through the portal so we can get Sparklez some armor." Xeph let him go putting the armor back on.

"Alright but if I find the spare you won't hear the end of it."

"Got it Xeph." Lalna responded as he walked through. Sparklez blinked slightly before following after him. Lalna chuckled slightly before making a new blue and jumping through after them.