#also dropping it all as one big final chapter WOULD be funny and i did consider it

[cloud-somersault]

Soul anon here

Just saying it would be the funniest fucking thing ever is you changed the chapter count on the epilouge and dropped one absolutely massive final chapter. I'd wait and then give a dissertation of a comment.

Speaking of, (this is gonna get ramble-y so please excuse how unstructured this is, and forgive any spellling errors because I'm on mobile)

Holy shit I love the epilogue so fucking much. We didn't see too much of Mac's thought process in Constellations but with the epilogue I feel like you've read my fucking mind.

Like Wukong getting to spend time with Mac in the here and now, wistfully thinking at the beach about how things could have been different as his attempt at a subtle apology for what he ruined vs Mac can't even daydrean of it because he lived through the cold harsh reality of death, how he can't ever forget what Wukong did to him and yes, granted Wuking was tortured, but it wasn't death. It wasn't near the amount of suffering that Mac went through and continues to go through. Mac taking Wukong's wistfullness of what could have been as an insult (which is how I see it but may not be what you intended) is extremely fitting and very compelling. Wukong is genuinely trying to reach out, knows Mac the best out of all the characters, and still doesn't see how it comes off is very insightful into his thought process. In my view, Wukong is coming a bit from a place of privilege, his punishment while harsh, does lead him to becoming a heroic legendary figure while Mac is...not really well known in the story of LMK itself.

So of course Mac is going to be angry when Wukong says what he does, Mac never got the chance to have a fraction of the peace, healing and resolution and respect that Wukong got. Adding in with a lot of the shit talk Wukong gives him in S1 and S3...how can Mac take the chance that Wuking actually means what he says? Wukong has burned Mac not just once, but verbally several times in the show and granted that in S3 Mac is very much trying to help the crew from the other side...man. and that's not including that Wukong deliberately went against Mac's wishes in regards to talking about heaven and asking about the curse being removed. As much as I get where Wukong is coming from and why, it still does show that Wukong can and will cross Mac's boundaries because he thinks he knows better. I'm not decrying Wukong's action to help as bad, merely that he IS disrespecting a boundary Mac made crystal clear. Wukong is really going to have to prove that he's got good intentions here, and I can't blame Mac for being distrustful.

All that said, I love the epilogue and everything it's doing. I am eating so GOOD with everyword!!

WOW thank you so much for this ask, it's beautiful 🥺💞💞 I love all your thoughts and insight into their relationship! You're right about practically everything LOL but there's some key things in this ask that I'd like to touch on.

In regard to Wukong's reminiscing being taken as an insult, Macaque absolutely took it as an insult. There was no sensitivity to how Macaque sees their past and his feelings about it after everything. Wukong was also pointing all that out to show how much he's changed, but in doing so, he revealed how much he changed, and Macaque's mad that Wukong didn't show restraint or mercy or anything when they were fighting.

Macaque has a hard time (with good reason) moving past that. He says himself that this is going to be a huge blockade to them becoming friends again. But he's trying, despite Wukong's failed attempts and insensitivity.

And Wukong really is trying to do everything he can to make Macaque see that he's different now, but he hasn't done enough thinking on how Macaque is feeling. And, granted, Macaque hides his feelings and isn't as open about them as Wukong is, so Wukong has to try his best to discern how Macaque feels. That's why he's taken to asking Macaque directly what he's thinking so he can get a clear answer (and also because he just wants to know).

The mention of Wukong coming from this place of privilege (ABSOLUTELY SPOT ON) is so important!! There is a fundamental lack of understanding of what Macaque went through. Wukong has never asked (because he's terrified of death) about Macaque's experience with death and he's never given Macaque a space to vent or sob or whatever he may need to do. Wukong isn't offering that comfort because of his fear. So it comes off to Macaque as him slightly not caring or just outright ignoring Macaque's feelings about the complications of death and resurrection.

Again, Wukong is denying things or turning a blind eye to them because he doesn't want to confront them. We saw him do this for various things in Constellations (Not saying Mei/Tang/Sandy/Pigsy's actual names, not mentioning Little Star or what happened to them, not thinking too hard about MK's origins, not thinking about his punishment, etc.) so this isn't new for him. There is a sort of lack of vulnerability on Wukong's account. Like, he's being honest and introspective and self-reflecting and voicing the results of his reflection, but he's only allowing himself to be a shoulder to cry on in some aspects. Which is fine, in general, but when it's about the SUPER BIG ISSUE THAT TORE HIM AND MACAQUE APART, he might need to do a listen. I dunno.

oh, also, when it comes to Macaque not having much of a story in comparison to Wukong, that's something I touch on later. Wukong does come from a place of privilege because of his journey and being given the chance to improve and change. Macaque wasn't given that chance. And Wukong is revered and worshiped and remembered, and Macaque is left in the dust. There's definitely resentment and envy and jealousy there, and Wukong needs to recognize that, too.

And Wukong breaking Macaque's boundaries -- this is going to be a point of contention continually in their relationship because Wukong just has this drive to fix things, to shoulder things on his own. He's operated on his own for so long, it's hard to unlearn that. He trusts in his own abilities because he's prevented catastrophe's and saved lives countless times just on his own.

And he believes without a doubt that he can save Macaque. He believes he can get rid of that curse. It's just another "Monkey King problem fixed" for him. And he's aware of Macaque's boundaries and he knows he should do better and communicate and respect them, but all that consideration goes out the window when it comes to Macaque's well-being. Because Wukong absolutely wants Macaque to be okay again. He wants to get rid of this curse so Macaque stops suffering.

And he actually truly does understand that this doesn't make up for him killing Macaque. Like, Wukong gets that, at least. He just doesn't like seeing his mate in pain. And if there's a way to fix it, he wants to find it. But Macaque has expressed his boundaries and he expects Wukong to respect them. This constant disrespect is not okay to him, because he's aware that things could go awry.

But that's just one facet of them getting to an okay-ish place. They've got their whole punishment and separation, they've got the curse and how to get rid of it, they've got training MK, they've got Little Star, they've go the monkeys of FFM, they've got residual feelings for each other. There's so much that goes into their relationship that trying to fix it is a huge mountain of issues that they have to tackle.

And that's why the epilogue is so long. Because it takes time to build trust and talk things out and apologize and make mistakes and share feelings. And as each chapter comes out, you can see subtle changes, you can see them take a step forward, but there's inevitably going to be times when they take steps backward.

progress isn't linear. and they've got a lot of baggage. but they decided to try together. they each have a want deep inside them to fix this. And whether that's because Wukong is alone and hurting and desperate for affection and love and friendship or if it's because Macaque is hurting and feeling unlovable and unwanted and teetering between two very different desires. They keep meeting up and going on walks together.

Because every step is important because it speaks to the effort being made. It speaks to the intent change things. It showcases a desire for improvement. They both want something to change on some level. And I think that story, is incredibly interesting. It's been really fun writing it out to see how everything unfolds.

[kiwiikato]

mommy’s here // ken sato x reader

Chapter Four

masterlist

your eyes followed him as he slowly walked over to where you sat. he took a seat next to you, not to far but not too close. a good distance for the strangers you were to each other. "who are you?" he looked at your face, examining your features from the color of your hair to the shape of your eyes and face.

you could only sigh at the tension in the room. "i work with your father. my name is y/n l/n. your father has been training me for some time now when he was still known as ultraman as a back up plan in case you did not want to step up for the position as ultraman. i have only shown up now since your father thought it best to have two heroes instead of one."

kenji could only stare at you, his eyes sharp, almost focused like a lion stalking it's pray. you gulped as you waited for him to make any comments. "but why? why would my father have a backup plan for me? why didn't he tell me about you when he asked me to take up this position?" he looked at you confused by all the new information.

"your dad knew that you liked playing baseball. he did not want to force you to choose between the two. we met many years ago, during his hero days, and had created a plan for me to take up the job so you would not lose your dreams of being an athlete in case you were to deny. i genuinely mean you no harm and i do not plan to reveal who you are to the public."

he sighed, rubbing his hands through his hair. "but how can i trust you?" he said looking at you. "you can't. but you can learn to trust me." you smiled at him, making him return a little smile back. "besides, i can help you take care of the infant kaiju as well. better two than one. i can take care of her when you're out for your games. also big fan by the way."

he could only laugh at your last comment, finding it funny how you didn't mind to praise him during a serious conversation like this. "i don't know much about you, but i would appreciate the help. i hope i can get to trust you y/n. please prove me right." you nodded your head, watching him stretch from crouching down as he sat down. "you can trust and count on me ken."

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after a bit of talking and getting to know each other a little bit better, ken offered for you to stay with him in the duration of the baby kaiju being here. he didn't know how long she would be here but in his head she wouldn't be here long before she is dropped off at kaiju island.

you didn't know whether to believe his idea of it not being that long but you agreed to stay there with him. he showed you a spare guest room he had, telling you that you could temporarily live there if you wanted to, unless you would return back to your house in the city.

you decided to stay, worried for the safety of the baby kaiju and any issues that kenji would face in taking care of her. so there you were, currently laying on the bed that kenji offered to you as you heard the cries of the baby kaiju finally end.

your eyes were red, tired from staying awake so late, as your hair stayed slightly messy. you laid in a spare shirt and pair of joggers that kenji gave to you out of pity for your uncomfortable jeans and blouse that you wore long before the two of you met.

your eyes finally moved to close, taking the chance to knock out. peace and quiet enveloped your body as you felt yourself relax. or so you thought. a loud cry erupted through the house as you heard ken yell right after. you rose from bed, going to the door and out the hallway that led to the living room.

your eyes landed on ken who slammed his face in a pillow in annoyance. his hair was messy and covered part of his face. "can't sleep, huh?" you croaked out. he could only groan in response as his hand fell to his side. "nope, but by the looks of it, you couldn't too." you laughed at him.

the both of you sluggishly went to the tube like elevator, slowly going down towards where the baby kaiju was. you both walked out grudgingly, as mina floated to the two of you. "she settled down for a minute. then started right back up." her voice yelled over the crying that was happening.

"yeah! i can hear it!" ken's aggravated voice yelled through the crying as he set a box of food down of the steps. "she's still scared of you both, ken and y/n." you could only frown at the scene, fixing the blanket that wrapped around your body.

he groaned and then turned to you. "follow my lead please." you nodded and watched him as he yelled for the baby kaiju's attention while clapping his hands. "hey hey hey!" you walked backwards with him.

"before." he opened his arms wide. you quickly caught onto what he was trying to do. "after!" you both changed into your ultra forms, with kenji hitting his head. the cute pink kaiju stopped crying and smiled at the two of you. she jumped slightly in joy as you waved at her. "hi baby." she could only coo in excitement.

you and kenji both went back to your human forms making her cry. and then you both went to your hero forms. kenji repeated before and after as the baby kaiju went from crying to jumping to joy to crying over and over. it wasn't long till the both of you stood in front of her in your normal forms and she smiled.

"you see. it's me. us." he said as he walked closer to the containment unit. you followed behind him, sitting next to it as you tapped the glass. the baby kaiju could only reach for you as you tapped the glass back at her, making her mimic your actions. "hi baby, its me. everything's okay." you said smiling at her. she smiled back making her cheeks look chubbier and cuter.

she then turned to look at kenji, watching him as he ate from the box of food he brought down with him. her stomach grumbled as she whined while hitting the glass. she pressed her cute face against the glass, trying to eat the food that she couldn't reach.

"what now?" kenji grumbled to himself. "she must be starving." mina responded. "do i look like i have any idea what to feed a giant pink lizard baby?" he sounded annoyed but you could tell it was from the lack of sleep.

"lighten up kenji. she's just a baby. she can't control when she's hungry or not." you said as you pulled out a donut from the box next to him. he only playfully glare at you before sighing and turning to mina seeing the baby kaiju throw a tantrum.

"mina, hurry! give her something to eat before she stomps another car!" you couldn't help but cackle at him worrying about his already destroyed cars as mina brought out a table inside full of different types of foods.

"nice! maple and brown sugar oatmeal. new york strip. mmmm. go on, try it!" ken pointed at the food that rotated in the table, trying to sell off the food for the cute kaiju to eat.

"ken- i don't think she can eat that." you said worried for her. "shhh y/n, no one can resist a new york strip." he said putting a finger to your face playfully to shush you, which you slapped away while rolling your eyes.

the baby kaiju cautiously picked up a piece of meat from the table. she took it into her mouth, taking small bites. ken turned to you with a cocky smirk on his face. "see, she likes it-" the meat she ate was spit out in front of ken, only missing him because of the glass that separated them.

"uhuh, you were saying." you smirked at him, putting your hands on your hips jokingly. ken went to make a remark only to stop when the baby kaiju slammed the table of food against the walls, making the plates breaks. "hey stop that!" she could only cry more as he yelled at her.

"you're gonna be in big trouble, young lady!" he raised a finger in a threatening manner, trying to scare her to behave. she didn't bother to listen to him, only to halt her crying as she stood up.

"what is she smelling?" you turned to watch where she moved towards, seeing as she sniffed the air where the fishes from the ocean swam along.

"what? what is it now?" ken asked annoyed from the lack of sleep and events of the day. "hey lighten up, she's just a baby." you said furrowing your brows at him.

you looked to see as your adoptive baby faced the fish. a form of vibration shook the air in front of it, only to bounce back to her after it hit the fish. "what the heck is that?" kenji asked confused.

"it's echolocation, you idiot." you said to him. "who are you calling an idiot??" he raised a finger at you. "you! the guy who doesn't know what echolocation is!" you yelled at him as you both fault like kids.

your bickering was cut short to the sound of the baby crying, causing you both to look at her as an hit the glass and motioned towards the fish.

"you want fish, we'll get your fish!" ken shouted. "we?" you asked raising a eyebrow at him. "yes. we. you're going to help me catch fish for the baby." he said sticking his tongue out at you.

you rolled your eyes and threw your blanket off your body to the side. "fine, let's go get some fish."

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you both swam through the water in your ultra forms, chasing after fish that swam away from the both of you in fear. it had taken longer than expected to get the amount of fish you had now. the fish were slimier and faster than you expected in water. you underestimated them.

your body walked over to the top of the container as ken removed the lid from it, showing a happy kaiju reaching to you both in joy. you both dumped the fish that you caught in with her, making her jump with joy as she stuffed them into her mouth.

you both zapped out of your forms, back to your human sizes, as you fell to the ground. you let out a yawn, finding yourself cradle yourself on the ground with your blanket, that you left behind on the floor, now wrapped around you again.

ken fell next to you, not too far from you but not too close as he laid down with you. you both silently stared at the ocean from the windows, taking in the scenery.

the peaceful silence was broken by kenji talking. "thank you for helping me take care of them. i know i dragged you into this in a way but i really needed this help." his voice was soft but you could still hear him.

"of course ken, i told you i'd help you the second we found her. it's not that no one can raise a kid by themselves but it's because the extra support in raising a baby is always needed to feel better. don't feel bad, okay?" you ended your words with a unsaid promise as you stuck your pinky finger out.

ken groaned seeing your finger poking out. "do i really have to do that? i'm not a kid no more." you glared at him from the blanket that partially covered your face. "pinky promise, now." you said sternly.

he sighed but stuck his pinky finger to do the little pinkie promise you asked for. he looked away as his finger intertwined with yours but not without failing at hiding the small smile that graced his lips.

"thank you. now goodnight kenji." you whispered to him. "goodnight y/n, well chat more tomorrow." you hummed in approval letting yourself drift off to sleep on the cold metal floor. sleep enveloped your frame, but not without the feeling of someone fixing the blanket around your body more.

TAGLIST !

@ilovemyhusbandaaravos @miffysoo @dumbkira15 @chaoticotaku @channit @shingsoluvely @vampz-cats @mixvchelle @ifharbingerbad--whyhot @dreamayy @justanotherkpopstanlol @bat1212 @angelitadiaz

[somethinginthewayiam]

The girl behind the bar (Part 8 - Final Part)

pairing: Jake Hangman Seresin x plus-size reader

warnings: slight arguing

words: 3.2k

Summary: Jake has one last try to fix it with you and he was gonna make sure to give it his all. Go big or go home, isn’t that what they say?

a/n: Here it is, the final part of my series. How did we get here? It's crazy! Thank you all SO MUCH for all the likes, reblogs and comments, they mean the world to me!! I hope you like this chapter!

Link to my masterlist

It’s been over a week and you haven’t seen or heard anything from your favorite group. They all had become friends to you and with Hangman, you would also get there eventually.

You got increasingly nervous and as well as Penny tried to hide it, she did too. Maverick being part of the mission seemingly wasn’t planned as to what she had told you and now that he was, made the whole thing even scarier. If they needed someone as experienced as him…you didn’t want to think about what they had to do and where they had to go.

You only knew one thing for sure, you had definitely seen too many action and disaster movies to uphold any state of calm.

Showing up for work and getting through a shift was your only constant right now and you held on to it for dear life. Fuck, you really hadn’t realized how much every single one of those idiots had found their way into your heart.

It was shortly after you had begun your shift on a Thursday when you heard familiar voices coming from the entrance. When you looked up, you saw Rooster first and then the others in their khaki uniforms following him into the bar. Your whole face lit up and you had a bubbly feeling in your stomach.

You got out from behind the bar and ran over to them. “You’re back!”, you exclaimed excitedly and hugged Phoenix first. Then you went on to hug everybody and greeted them with a kiss to the cheek, so happy to see them back in this bar, alive and well.

You looked behind them, searching for Jake but nobody was coming in after them. Your heart sank and you felt a twist in your gut. The smile dropped from your face.

“He’s fine. He’s coming over later”, Rooster eased your mind and put his hand on your shoulder for comfort. You wished you weren’t that relieved to hear that because that meant you cared more for Jake Seresin than it was good for you.

“And you’re all fine? Nothing broken, nothing missing?”, you asked them and checked their faces for bruises and their bodies for any missing parts. “We’re all good”, Rooster laughed off your concerns. “But we’re all quite thirsty”, Fanboy stepped forward. “Of course, come with me”, you smiled and motioned them to follow you. Rooster put an arm around your shoulders and you placed your arm around his middle as you walked to the bar circle together.

“First round tonight is on me for our heroes”, you said as they all lined up at the counter and you grabbed bottle after bottle of beer, placing them in front of each one.

It got quite busy quite quickly at the Hard Deck and at the moment, you handled the circle alone. What would have led to a complete meltdown on your part just a few weeks ago, you now handled with some sort of grace and calm. At least you’d liked to think so.

Out of the corner of your eyes, you watched a man in a suit taking a seat at the counter, looking already annoyed. He looked so out of place here that it was almost funny.

"Hey, get me a scotch", he demanded more so than he asked. No please, no smile, whatsoever.

"I'll be right with you", you told him and didn't let his tone get to you. You were in the middle of serving a group of ten and had your hands full.

"How long is this going to take?", he called out in your direction after waiting for just 2 seconds. "Just a second", you said as politely as you could and even shot him a kind smile which was met by furrowed brows and a more than annoyed expression on his face.

"Hey girl, can I get another round for the table?", Rooster appeared at the counter next to you, using the nickname he had heard Phoenix and you use for each other. "Sure, just a moment", you told him, knowing he would have no problem waiting.

"Hey, lady. How much longer for my drink? What kind of service do you offer in this joint?", he asked full on angry.

You looked over at the suit, ready to say something to him, but then you saw his phone laying on the counter and had a better idea.

You looked over at Rooster who had followed your eyes over to that douchebag and then looked at you. You gave him a wink and then walked over to the sign Penny had hung up.

“May I divert your attention here for a moment?”, you asked him and gestured elegantly at the sign like you were the prize lady at a game show.

You gave him a few seconds while his eyes flew over the words carved into the wooden plague before you rang the bell.

A cheer erupted across the bar. “What’s that supposed to mean?”, he asked in an intimidated yet aggressive tone. “Means you’re paying a round for the whole place”, Rooster appeared next to the suit. Without a word you handed him a bottle of beer.

“Much appreciated”, he toasted the guy with a smirk. “I’m not paying for shit!”, the guy exclaimed with furrowed brows. You looked over at Rooster with a satisfied grin. You had expected that answer.

“Overboard?”, he asked. “Overboard”, you confirmed with a little nod. “Ah, I always wanted to say that: Hold my beer!”, he exclaimed excitedly and handed you the bottle. Rooster whistled and motioned to the pool table and was quickly joined by Payback and Coyote.

You rang the bell once more and he called out “OVERBOARD!”. The whole room joined in on the chant. The guy’s face changed from rage to honest concern as the three tall men surrounded him. They grabbed his arms and legs and carried him out the back door to the deck and threw him into the sand.

“Come back when you found your manners”, you called after him and laughed as you watched him getting flung off the deck.

When you turned around, you found yourself face to face with Hangman and froze, but only for a second. “Same goes for you”, you told him as the smile dropped from your face, sure that he had just witnessed the moment before.

You looked him up and down, checking for any bruises or injuries but you gladly didn’t find any, just like Rooster had told you earlier.

You thought that him being gone for over a week would ease your mind about the whole situation, assuring yourself that you had found your inner peace with Jake and his stupidity. But no. Right when you saw his face, it all came back to you.

You wanted to walk to the other side of the bar circle but Jake’s hand reached over the counter, grabbing your arm. “Wait, Y/N, can we talk?”, he asked with a hopeful expression on his face. You looked at his hand on your arm and then up to his face. “You’ll be next if you don’t let go”, you said with a nod towards where the suit had landed in the sand. He let go of your arm and held his hands up, showing that he would play along.

"We already talked", you told him and walked half the circle to the other end of the bar. Jake followed you. "We're not done", he told you in return. "Oh, we're so done", you said and Jake heard the double meaning in your words.

“Listen, I’m glad you’re okay, I really am, but turns out, I’m still mad at you”, you told him straight out.

He took a deep breath before he walked around the edge of the counter and behind the bar.

"Y/N, I need you to listen to me", he said and his voice had an urgent undertone.

"Hangman, what have I told you about being behind that bar?", you heard Penny behind you, who had appeared out of nowhere.

"I just need two minutes", Jake told her and the pleading look in his eyes made her tolerate his presence behind the counter. For now. She turned away and took care of the customers waiting for their drinks.

"You got two minutes", you told him as you crossed your arms in front of your chest. He just looked at you, seemingly lost for words all of a sudden.

"119, 118...", you started counting backwards. "Okay, okay", he stopped you by holding his hands up in defense. “I was acting like an idiot”, he said and paused. “I’m not disagreeing���, you told him as he didn’t continue talking right away.

“But so were you”, he said and you looked at him with big eyes at the unexpected words. “Excuse me?”, you asked in disbelief, putting your hands on your hips.

“You said you were over it which was clearly a lie. And then you go on to say that we would just go back to being a bartender and a customer, which is bullshit. We are friends. And as a friend I messed up, I know that. And I will never stop apologizing for it, but…”, he suddenly stopped himself in his tirade.

You just looked at him with big eyes, your heart beating faster with his every word.

“When I was away, I thought about you constantly. And when the mission went well, you were the first person I wanted to call. And I finally realized that I…I, uhm…”, he paused again, seemingly mustering up the courage which was an odd state to see Hangman in.

You just looked at him, holding your breath, not daring to speak.

“Y/N, I want to be more than friends with you”, he finally said and it felt like time stood still for a moment. Your eyes focused in on his and the pleading look that was in them and the hopeful smile on his lips took your breath away.

You wanted to believe him. You wanted it so bad. But with everything that had happened between the two of you and also everything that had happened to you in your past, you just couldn’t bring yourself to do it.

“Jake”, you said and the almost apologizing tone in your voice made the smile drop from his face.

“You don’t believe me”, he said, a resigned tone in his voice. “I mean, how could I? You kiss me and the next day you act like you don’t even know me? How’s a girl supposed to feel with something like that?”, you told him and hoped that this was explanation enough.

“And my words don’t matter?”, he asked in return. You just looked at him, not knowing what to say.

“Your time is up, Hangman”, Penny called out from the other end and she didn’t know how right she was.

“I’m sorry”, now it was your turn to apologize. It surprised you how much turning him down actually hurt you. It should make you feel better, make you feel somewhat empowered but it didn’t.

You turned around and walked over to a new customer sitting at the counter. “Hi, what can I get…”, you started.

“Hey! Can I have everybody’s attention for a moment?”, you heard Jake behind you, yelling to tune out the chatter and laughter in the bar.

When you turned around, you found him standing on the bar counter. Your eyes got big and a shocked expression washed over your face.

“Hi, I’m Jake. Most of you know me as Hangman”, he began and the people around quieted down bit by bit. Someone even unplugged the jukebox.

“What the hell are you doing?”, you quickly came over and hissed at him, but he ignored you.

“Everybody that knows me knows that I can be a real asshole sometimes”, he continued. “Yeah, no shit”, Rooster called out from the back and some people chuckled.

“Thanks, Rooster”, he nodded in his direction. “But I really messed up this time because I was stupid enough to hurt this beautiful woman right here”, he said and pointed to you by his feet.

Your cheeks turned bright red as you found the whole bar looking at you.

“Jake, get down there. You're embarrassing yourself. But most importantly, me”, you hissed at him, grabbing his ankle. You would have loved nothing more than to just yank him off this bar and end this charade.

“She doesn’t believe me that I actually like her and I can’t blame her for it. But I need her to understand that I really do like her, very much”, he said and looked at you with a hand on his heart when he said it.

Normally, you would have rolled your eyes at a cheesy gesture like that but for the first time ever in your life, a cheesy gesture happened to you. It felt like you had an outer-body experience, watching yourself watching Hangman. This wasn’t actually happening to you, was it?

“And that’s why I’m using this, arguably, very drastic move to officially ask you to please go out on a date with me?”, he asked.

You knew that every single pair of eyes in this room were looking at you right now and you never hated Jake more than this moment. You loathed being the center of attention and for him to put you on blast like that…

But at the same time, you thought about the fact that never in your life had someone done something like that for you.

“Come on, Y/N, say yes”, you heard someone from the back of the room. Probably Coyote. “Say yes”, you heard someone else from the other side. You glared up at Jake, chewing the inside of your cheek. He looked back at you with a hopeful expression.

“Will you finally come down if I say yes?”, you asked loudly so that the people could hear it. “Then, and only then”, he said and a smile played around his lips.

“Okay, I’ll go on a date with you”, you finally agreed. “She said yes!”, he called out with a big smile and the whole place erupted into cheers.

“Good god”, you mumbled under your breath and felt your cheeks burning.

Jake hopped off the counter and stood next to you. Someone plugged the jukebox back in and the room was filled with music again. The chatter started back up and in a matter of seconds the bar was back to its old self.

“You know you’re crazy”, you said. “Crazy about you”, he said and put his hands on your hips, pulling you in a little bit. For some reason, you let him. A flutter moved through your stomach. Your arms automatically flung around his neck.

It felt like your stomach was full of butterflies. What was happening right now? Five minutes ago, you were mad at him and now you’re swooning?

“But you realize how embarrassing that was? For both of us”, you told him off.

“You’ve said you liked gestures”, he countered. You were surprised that he remembered what you had told him when you were trapped here in this bar on that stormy night.

“Small gestures like remembering the flowers I like or how I drink my coffee”, you reminded and lectured him at the same time.

He rolled his eyes at you playfully, looking up at the ceiling for a moment and then back at you.

“How do you like your coffee?”, he asked with a smile. “Nonexistent. I don't drink coffee”, you answered him and patted his chest with your hand before you stepped out of his embrace, attempting to get back to work.

“But you just said...”, he said in disbelief. "It was an example, Jake. Good god! Normally you're a bit quicker than that”, you teased him and couldn’t hold back the chuckle.

He reached out with his hand, hooked two fingers in the hem of your apron that was tied around your waist and pulled you close to him.

“You’re killing me”, he said and a smirk played around his lips. “A girl can try”, you shrugged your shoulders and shot him a wink and a grin before he bent down and kissed you.

The smile was wiped off you face rather quickly. He managed to surprise you one more time tonight.

You heard some cheers in the faint background but you couldn’t care less at the moment.

You flung your arms around his neck again, sinking into his embrace. You felt his hands roaming your back and you got on your tiptoes to be even closer to him.

“Alright, alright, enough with the show”, you heard behind you and reluctantly let go of Jake. He smiled at your lips before he let go as well to find Penny standing next to you.

“As lovely as this is, you’re still behind my bar”, she said to Jake. “And you are actually working right now”, she added towards you. The smile on her face took the harshness out of her words.

“Sorry, Penny”, you said and smiled apologetically. She looked at the two of you once more before she got back to the other end of the circle.

“Are you free this Saturday?”, he asked as he walked out behind the counter and leaned against it on the other side, giving you a big smile. You both felt giddy from your kiss.

“I doubt I get a Saturday off. How about a Tuesday-date? Those seem to work for us”, you asked and reminded him of the stormy night after you had met in the diner where you had your date with Joseph. You pulled a beer out of the cooler, opened it and moved it over to Jake.

“Sounds like a plan”, he agreed and grabbed his drink with a wink. Before he was able to walk over to his friends at the pool table, you reached out and grabbed the collar of his shirt to pull him close to your face.

“Don’t make me regret this, Hangman”, you told him with a low voice and pressed a quick peck to his lips before you shoved him back with a smirk. “Never”, he shook his head with a smile and winked at you again before he walked over to the pool table.

“You can take your 10 if you want”, Penny appeared next to you again. She was really quick on her feet tonight. Or you were just super distracted.

When you looked over to her you saw her gesturing towards Hangman who was talking to Rooster. Right when you looked over, so did he and his face lit up immediately, giving you another wink.

You thought about it for a second then a smile appeared on your face.

“He got his date. He can wait”, you told her and in response, she bumped her hips into yours with a chuckle and attended to some new customers.

You resumed to handing out drinks as well and got about 3 customers done until you suddenly looked up in nervous realization.

You had agreed to go on a date with Jake Hangman Seresin. How the hell did that happen?

a/n: You really thought I would let you guys hanging here? Well, you should know me better by now.

YOU WILL GET THE DATE!

Part 1 - the restaurant

[correlance]

Say what you will about the Charlie/Alastor (Charlastor) ship, but my God, the fanfiction "Similing Man" by MuseValentine, which was completed on 3 January 2022, so thoroughly called the following:

Alastor feeling insecure and threatened by Lucifer's power.

Alastor and Lucifer having a Texas stand-off over Charlie.

Alastor being a cocky little shit about it towards Lucifer.

The "oh shit" moment of panic where Alastor realizes that Charlie is the daughter of Lucifer Morningstar, and then Lucifer going "have a seat" in order to intimidate Alastor, is also so hilariously well-written.

Art by SpicyUnicornPowder on Twitter.

Excerpt from Chapters 24-25:

The party was really turning up and he was trying his best to be mindful of the drinks so that not even a drop spilled. Thankfully, Charlie wasn’t too far away, and it looked like her mother had found her once again. Keeping a careful eye on the refreshments in hand, Alastor beelined his way back to her, where she smiled at him once more when he returned to her side.

“Oh, you’re back!” he heard her say, and finally safe and still, he looked up to once more greet Charlie’s lovely mother and engage in a polite conversation with the two ladies.

And that’s when Alastor realised then that there was somebody else with them.

And he froze.

“Alastor, I’d like to introduce you to my father….”

This was impossible.

A cruel twist of fate.

There was no way this could be so.

Alastor wasn’t sure what was going on now, but what he did know was that in the short amount of time since he looked at him, his heart started racing and his tongue went dry, as did a familiar but unsavouring tinge of anxiety hit his guts, causing his nerves to start going off the edge, making him feel like the smile he had on was starting to crack.

Oh, how he must have looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

No. He probably looked more like the night they’d first met when all bloodied and crazed from the high of two kills on that corner in Lafayette.

“…Lucifer Magne.”

Standing before him, short and blonde and dressed from head-to-toe in white in a showman-like fashion, was the Big Apple.

“Have we met before?”

Unfortunately for Alastor, it had to be thrown right at his face.

“No, I don’t believe we have.”

But life was funny like that, wasn’t it?

“Strange,” the man – Lucifer – remarked with a tilt of his head, eyes studying him curiously. “You’re an awful lot familiar. Swear I would have remembered you anywhere.”

The mocking glint in the man’s eyes, watching the way he was bluffing, it all made Alastor’s nerves go on a frenzy while he remained still and stone-faced. The man was bluffing – Alastor was made and he knew it. He knew the stakes that were at hand here for him, considering the circumstances.

“You might have heard of him, Daddy,” Charlie quipped with a smile. “Alastor’s a radio host. A very good one too!”

But under all sorts of circumstances, did it have to be the one where he turned out to be the father of his goddamn neighbour?!

“Oh! I thought you sounded familiar!” Lilith suddenly exclaimed with a clap of her hands. “You’re the one who interviewed our darling for her hotel! Thank you for helping her out with that, by the way!”

While Lilith was somewhat gushing, her husband only quirked an eyebrow in curiosity, although the look in his eyes gave away the indication that it was something he already knew.

“A radio host? My, how interesting,” he said in a tone that seemed marvelled although it was clearly not, turning more questioning as he inquired, “Is there anything else that you do, Mr. Carlon?”

Hearing the question that, without a doubt, held a double meaning behind it, Alastor finally broke out of his stupor and cleared his throat, not realising until then how dry his mouth was.

“Nope, nothing else at all,” he answered the lie as calmly as he could, ignoring the scratchy feeling of the dryness of his mouth. “I’m quite a boring egg outside of work, I’ll say.”

The Big Apple only hummed, which might seem out of being unimpressed if not for the fact that Alastor knew better to realise that’s the bunk and he was truly unconvinced. And why wouldn’t he be? The man had seen for himself what he did outside of work. There was no point lying to him, and it was disconcerting to be standing in front of him feeling so bare despite being decked out in his best suit.

Looking away from the eyes of the Big Apple, he turned to Charlie and handed her drink, taking a sip of his gin-and-tonic to quench the cottony feeling of his tongue, although the burn from the alcohol made him wince slightly.

Over her drink, Charlie eyed him in concern. “Alastor? Are you alright?”

Hearing her concern made his grin widened instantly as if it was reflex. “Oh, yes!” he lied through his teeth, “Just that this here’s some real strong hooch.”

A laugh was forced out of him to cover up that close slip-up of his demeanour, but one quick look at her and suddenly he found it difficult to look at Charlie in the eyes, throwing him off immensely. How the tables have turned considering usually he was the one making her look away. Unnerved once more, Alastor moved his gaze away from her, and this definitely did not escape her notice.

But then Lilith leaned in to look at him with worry. “Oh, goodness. Are you feeling alright? You seem a little flushed.”

Alastor was about to give a quick response of assurance if it wasn’t for the look on Lucifer’s face that cut him short. The blond man was eyeing him carefully, watching his expressions and his movements, the corner of lips tilted up in a smirk as if he was waiting for a slip-up from him.

“Why yes, you do seem quite flushed, my friend. I wouldn’t think a simple gin-and-tonic would have such a bite on you.”

If Alastor hadn’t known any better, he would have thought that he was just poking fun at what seemed like his incapability to hold down his liquor. But he did know better, enough to quickly catch on to the last bit of the sentence that sent his nerves on end for the umpteenth time.  

Against the sinking feeling of his gut, he forced himself to stretch his grin further as he waved a hand in dimissory. “No, I’m fine,” he exclaimed a tad bit louder than he would like. “And this sure is a hooker! Been a while since I’ve had a good drink!”

The liquor did taste good, probably the most top-notch quality that bootlegged could offer. But the taste was soured by this moment, how it was all a farce on Alastor’s part, as much as it may have been for Lucifer, the both of them eyeing each other intently.

And this definitely was noticed by Charlie, who watched them quietly, sensing the building of tension in the air that came from the both of them.

But that tension was broken immediately by Lilith, who seemed to not have noticed the exchange as she was busy looking elsewhere. “Darling, I see that Stolas has just arrived. Goodness, he seemed to have brought that little toy of his instead of his wife! How scandalous.”

For that moment, Lucifer moved his attention away from Alastor, smiling kindly to his frau. “Now, my love, we shouldn’t stick our noses into his business. Let him have his fun. Shall we say our ‘hello’?”

Seeing that this was the end of their little meeting, he moved to his daughter, giving her a kiss on the cheek as he patted her head affectionately, and Charlie preened at this loving fatherly affection. A sight that would have made Alastor glad to see her so happy if it wasn’t for the fact that it was almost unbearable to look at the both of them together now.

And then a hand came to his shoulder in a friendly pat, immediately irking him from being touched but unable to do anything about it. From the corner of his eye, the Big Apple was looking at him with his lips pulled back into that familiar chilling grin, hidden from his wife’s and daughter’s view and given specially to him.

“Relax, my friend,” Lucifer said cheerily, an undertone clearly noted, “Enjoy the party, yes?”

Alastor could only watch as he linked his arm to Lilith’s and walked away. Despite the noise and activity that was going on around him, he felt like he had hit a standstill in time, his mind racing down a trail of spiralling thoughts, unsure of what to think or feel at this moment, amazed yet disturbed that he didn’t know.

”Alastor?”

Charlie’s voice calling his name in concern broke him out of the almost train wreck of his mind as he turned to look at her with unreadable eyes that did not give way to the turmoil inside him.

“I hope you don’t mind Daddy…” she said reassuringly, looking quite fretful.  “He’s a little intimidating, is all.”

A ‘little’ was clearly such an extreme understatement.

[...]

“Have a seat, Mr. Carlon,” Lucifer gestured to the seat opposite his and his desk, and Alastor accepted the invitation willingly.

An intricate silver cigarette casing was taken out from his jacket’s inner pocket, popped open and held out to Alastor, who took one with a nod of thanks. A stick to his own lips and Lucifer took a lighter to graciously alight both their cigarettes.

Alastor took a second to himself to enjoy a much-needed puff as Lucifer circled around the desk back to his armchair. “Are you feeling better?” he asked politely, making himself comfy in his seat.

Exhaling another puff that seemed like a relief to his lungs, Alastor replied, “What gave you the implication that I wasn’t?”

“The look on your mug when you saw mine.”

And just like that, it seemed the smoke did no use to ease him any longer, watching as Lucifer’s face split into a wide grin, laughing softly with a shake of his head. And yet, this was not all that shocking to him, taking a silent breath to himself as he willed his tense body to move, leaning forward to flick the ashes of his cigarette on a nearby ashtray.

“So, we’re dropping the pretence now, I assume?” Alastor questioned blankly, putting the cigarette back to his lips.

 “You’re not really someone easy to forget, Mr. Carlon,” Lucifer noted casually with the flicker of his own cigarette ash onto the ashtray. “Or should I just call you ‘Alastor’, now that we’re very familiar with each other?”

“Call me anything you want. Either one’s my name anyway.”

Lucifer only hummed in agreement, and quickly after, a silence ensued. Both men did not talk, just sitting across each other, focus on only their own gaspers within the silence of the study. But while Lucifer was reclining on his chair looking elsewhere, Alastor’s eyes were fixed on him – watching, waiting, anticipating, even though he had no clue what to expect at all.

And that bothered him to no end.

“Come now, no need to be so tense,” Lucifer suddenly broke the silence in a reassured tone. “Did you enjoy the cake, Alastor?”

A strange turn of a conversation, but one Alastor kept up with as she politely shook his head. “Didn’t take a slice, sorry. I’m not a fan of sweets.”

Lucifer looked almost disappointed to hear that. “Oh? What a shame. It’s a lovely cake. Pineapple upside-down. Very fashionable. My wife picked it out.��

Taking a drag before exhaling smoke in a puff, he continued almost mellow-like. “Ah, my Lilith. Such a catch, isn’t she? How I do love her so dearly.”

Alastor only nodded along, keeping a polite smile on his face. Any egg would know better than to show much enthusiasm when a man was talking about his wife, so he kept the niceties to a minimum in this strange atmosphere, still simply watching and waiting.

“Do you know who else I love dearly, Alastor?”

And just like that, Alastor immediately felt his smile dropping just the slightest.

“My daughter.”

Lucifer took a last drag, smoothly blowing smoke out in a smooth stream before butting it out on the ashtray, and that’s when his eyes turned to look at him, narrowed into dangerous slits that seemed reminiscent of a snake ready to pounce.

“Which is why I want to know how exactly did she manage to wind up with you.”

If looks could kill, then Lucifer was intent to do so, withdrawing from under his desk a revolver.

The silence in the room could have been quiet enough to hear the way Alastor’s heart dropped right to the floor as he stared at the bean-shooter aimed right at his head.

Even after he felt the last bits of his cigarette turning to ash and falling to the floor, he was too frozen to even move to discard it on the ashtray. In his standstill, his eyes remained on Lucifer, whose glare only seemed more menacing against his grin.

“Well?”

“We’re neighbours.”

It was the truth, so what else could he have said other than that? But judging from the way his eyes widened in slight surprise, the answer clearly wasn’t what Lucifer was expecting. Then again, maybe it’s how he answered so blankly that threw him off. Alastor couldn’t be too sure at which.

“Apologies if it isn’t as exciting as you might think I had more dire intentions,” he apologised for no reason in particular, “but it is as simple as that.”

The revolver unwavering, Lucifer rested his head on his free hand, looking thoughtful. “That’s not really much of an answer.”

“She’s the one who invited me.”

“And there she was, looking so shy and bashful when she wanted me to meet you,” Lucifer said with a hard edge to his voice, as if the words that left his mouth left a disgusting taste on his tongue at the thought of it. “So, is this some sort of sick plan of yours, then?”

Without a doubt, Alastor was taken aback by the blatant accusation that was directed at him.

“To be completely fair, I had no idea that she was your daughter,” he explained. “I think you yourself could understand that from our very inopportune meeting earlier on.”

Lucifer laughed as if the memory of that meeting was humorous to him, and Alastor couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit peeved that he seemed to be laughing at him. He didn’t appreciate really being taken for a joke, even with a revolver pointed at right between his eyes.

“Well, now you do, so what then?”

“What makes you think I’d want to do anything to Charlie?” he countered back, almost challengingly as though to make a point for himself.

Lucifer may have definitely seen the agitation on his face, looking more bemused as he leaned forward, the revolver inching closer to Alastor’s head, but the radio host he remained calm, not even flinching in the slightest as he continued to observe.

“No need to play coy with me, friend. I’ve seen the stunt you’re able to pull. The way your eyes dilate with the thrill of the kill. Almost seems like you think of it as some fun game!”

Alastor couldn’t help but huff in amusement, his face not denying the truth in the man’s presumptions, which only prompted him to continue with, “So, is that what you’re intending to play with Charlie?”

The room fell into a hushed silence again, as Lucifer waited for his answer and Alastor staring blankly at him.

One would not have felt the spark of irritation that was growing within the man in the red suit. The way Lucifer prompted curiously, pressing him to spill, it admittedly agitated Alastor. He didn’t like having to be given the third this way, especially with the revolver pointed right at his face, as though mocking him into submission.

An inkling in him saw this as a sort of cowardice, that he’d have to whip out a heat just to have some show of power to intimidate him in the slightest. How absolutely obnoxious, he’ll say!

And so, vain and cocky in true fashion, Alastor couldn’t help but bite back even in the slightest, confident and without resistance, doing so with a sharp grin.

“If I wanted her dead, she would’ve been long gone before you even met me.”

Now, that definitely seemed like the wrong thing to say.

Alastor watched as the look on Lucifer’s face shifted, turning darker as his eyes narrowed, his grin starting to become a tad bit more tighter, clearly having a chord struck in him, the murderous intent burning more as the seconds passed by quickly.

Well, quite understandable really, considering he just up and dared indirectly said he wanted to have the curse on Charlie.

Yet, the words that followed the expression had no match at all.

 “You know, Alastor, you remind me of a deer.”

His darkening aura started to lighten up as he regained his composure, and the sudden change in the conversation only confused Alastor once more. He was probably getting whiplash from the constant turn of events that he had endured for the just the past hour or so, too stupefied to say anything now. No response came, only silence in waiting for the continuation.

“You don’t seem like so, but such a bravado that exists within you. So poised and elegant, like a buck with impressive antlers – an assertion of power and dominance. How you bring yourself so confidently that it seemed like you rule above all, that nothing could bring you down.”

A loud click suddenly resonated in the room, coming from the hammer of the revolver that’s been pushed down and ready for ignition.

And just like that, Alastor was startled, eyes widening as it darted to the tip of the barrel that was still aimed steadfastly in the middle of his forehead, focus only on that instead of the crazed grin on the Big Apple. It probably wasn’t loud, but he could hear the hammering of his heart resonate loudly in his hearing, almost blocking out the next seething words that followed.

“But put a gun right on them and it’s just an act, revealing nothing more than prey.”

[fandom-lover2]

More Than Meets The Optic

Ultra Magnus learns he stans non-binary rights

Word Count - 1827

Author's Note: I wrote this for my platonic soulmate after they came out to their parents as non-binary and was not supported. @quilbug, reality may suck, but in my world you are unbelievably loved and supported. Thank you for the permission to post this. Luv ya

My head bopped up and down in time with the beat, my eyes sliding across the words of my laptop screen.

Man’s invention of fanfiction can be dated back to the 18th century, and provided endless hours of entertainment while also creating a person’s own impression of the source material and building on it.

I spent hours lost in the worlds of my favorite characters, amazed at the creativity of people as they made new storylines, and did away with events in the canon they did not like.

Ratchet barked out an order to Miko, pleading with her to turn the music down as a louder song filtered through the speaker she had placed on top of the TV. Miko sassed the medic back, something about appealing to the masses.

“Miko…” I called out, drawing out her name and dropping an octave. A clear warning.

She let out a wailing groan, but did as she was told and the music diminished in volume.

“Thank you.” Ratchet sighed, turning back to his station. I tossed him a thumbs up without looking away from the screen.

God this story was beautiful, and funny. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much, and my chest felt warm and bubbly. These happy fics, slice of life stories of the characters the shows and movies don’t get to bring to life made the characters seem so much more real, like they’re somebody you actually know and can converse with. That being said, when the story ended, or the author decided to stop writing, it felt like you mourned characters as if they were real people, because you never get the chance to see new events happen with them again.

I had just finished one chapter and was ready to start the next when my name was called, by someone I never expected.

I spun in my chair, looking up to meet Ultra Magnus’ optics. He was frowning, and shifted on his peds.

“May I speak with you? Alone?”

My eyebrows shot up. Without thinking, I turned to look at Optimus. Whether to get his approval or check if I’d heard his lieutenant correctly, I was met with his version of curiosity. Still, my guardian looked down at me and nodded.

“Uhh, yeah. Sure.” I gently closed my laptop and stood, walking towards the steps.

Ultra Magnus interrupted my journey, holding out a servo in front of me. Ok, this was getting stranger with every second.

I accepted his servo, sitting stiffly as he began walking down the hall.

The big guy never carried us humans, didn’t want to be anywhere near us. Till Optimus paired him with Merling. They were the only one of us “natives” he tolerated. They had their spot, nestled between his neck and that weird shoulder situation he had going on. And Merling loved him, kindred spirits finding solace in one another.

It was funny in the beginning, because both Merling and Magnus had been confused at how Optimus and I would go for patrols and get so lost in our conversation that we’d just end up parked somewhere talking, all sense of time leaving us. Now, since Optimus had spoken to his lieutenant and explained how things were different, Magnus actually slowed down, stopped expecting something bad to happen every second and he and Merling had started spending extended periods of time together as well. Merling was finally allowed to join him on patrols, and at the base (once reports had been completed of course), they would find somewhere to sit together, spending time in one another’s company.

To have him willingly wanting to converse with me, which hadn’t occurred often since our less than friendly meeting, and carrying a human that wasn’t his charge, it was a big deal. Something serious must be going on.

Magnus carried me into the empty hanger in the base and deposited me on one of the catwalks, then took a few steps back. I waited, watching him as he dropped his helm.  His optics were darting side to side, a quirk I’d learnt meant he was thinking. A minute later and nothing had changed.

“Everything ok?” I realized I probably needed to start this conversation.

“Everything is… well.” he said, hesitantly. And that was all he gave me, still looking down.

“Okaayyy.” I pierced my lips. “What did you want to talk about?”

He looked up at me briefly, unsure. I was so used to seeing him frown, always agitated by something, but this was more innocent, like he didn’t know what to feel.

“I have a question, regarding the one you share a namesake with.”

‘Quil.’ I silently wished I could correct. Merling hadn’t spoken to anyone at the base about their self-discovery yet. And I’d promised to keep it under wraps until they were ready for everyone to know.

“Ok.” I prompted.

His frown deepened, and he was still looking down.

“We were conversing while I took her home and she-”

He stopped suddenly, his expression turning into a scowl, and I swear I heard him growl softly.

“They,” he corrected, “told me they no longer felt content with previously used ‘pronouns’ or the name you share.”

Finally, he looked up at me. He shifted his weight again, servos twitching, like he was unsure what to do with them.

“Can you explain to me what this means?”

I couldn’t stop the smile that broke across my face, and my chest felt all warm and fuzzy again. This was the cutest thing, and the most caring thing, I’d ever seen the grumpy guy do. He wanted to learn.

“Firstly, thank you for coming to me to ask. It shows you really care, and that’s sweet. Secondly, I’m happy to answer any questions you have. Don’t feel silly for asking.”

He relaxed at my words, shoulders sagging just a smidge as the tension left his faceplates.

“Ok, to start. As you know, humans are often divided into two genders, male and female.”

Magnus nodded.

“Well, that can refer to what a person feels they are, and what they are biologically. For example, I am female, a woman. I was born a woman, have a body typical of that of a woman, and view myself as a woman. Jack is a male, was born a male and feels he is a man.”

Magnus nodded again.

“Now, some people aren’t happy with the gender they are born with, feel as though that is not who they are inside. In their souls.”

He frowned, helm cocking to the side slightly. It reminded me of what dogs do, and I really had to fight a laugh.

“They are not content in their own forms?” he reiterated.

I shook my head. “No. So what some people do, what doctors have developed, is a way for a person to change their gender.”

This caused him to look even more bewildered.

“Doctors can give people artificial hormones, and perform surgeries that allow the person to change into the gender they feel they are.”

“We did not have such things on Cybertron.” Magnus spoke, eyes shifting again. “Who you were forged as is who you were.”

I smiled at him, watching as he tried to comprehend what I was saying to him.

“So…” he trailed off, trying to find the word. He looked at me pleadingly.

“Quil?” I supplied.

“Quil,” he nodded. “Quil wishes to become a male?”

“No.” This caused him to look at me in exasperation.

“You just said-”

“I said in some cases.” I corrected. “Quil feels differently. They feel as though they are neither male, nor female. Man, nor woman.”

He stared at me blankly for a few moments, then blinked and continued to stare.

“Does that make some sense?”

“What can be done to make… make them feel content?”

I smiled again. “Well, for starters, doing what you just did. Calling them by a gender-neutral pronoun, so them/they, will make them feel as though you respect them, and support their decision.”

“And medical assistance?” he pushed, taking a step closer to me urgently.

“That’s their decision. They may choose to have a surgery to make them appear less feminine, or can use a binder, which they have already.”

He looked down again, silently taking in all I had told him.

Cybertronians already make so much more noise than humans, the sounds of their internal fans causing a constant hum to emanate from them. Now, even though it shouldn’t be possible, I could imagine hearing the sounds of gearing turning as he tossed around the words I had spoken in his processor.

“So, why ask to be called Quil, as well as ‘gender-neutral pronouns’, as you said?”

I paused, trying the find the best way to approach this.

“Kristin was the name they had when they were a girl. But they’re no longer a female, and that name is who they were, and so they need a new name for who they are now.”

Magnus nodded absentmindedly, still thinking hard.

“And who else knows? Because the other children do not refer to them by Quil.”

I nodded in agreement. “Humans can be… weird and intolerable at times. Many people won’t be happy or accepting that they have changed their pronouns and name. People will start to see them differently, but not in a good way.”

“And you think that others will treat them this way?” he asked. It was said harshly, almost like he was accusing them of it already. He was getting upset that someone might not accept Merling, treat them harshly. He was getting protective.

I bit back the smirk that played on my lips.

“I don’t think anyone here will, but Quil needs to make that decision. Who they trust to know this, who they want to tell. For now, it’s just us. When they are more comfortable, they’ll tell others.”

Magnus remained silent, contemplating again.

“Does this all make sense?”

He hesitated before speaking, “This would not of been accepted on Cybertron, and I have never heard of such feelings among my kind, but I understand what you have told.” He paused. “And I will try to refer to Quil as they wish.”

“That’s amazing.” I praised. “If you have any more questions, please come to me.”

“I will.” Magnus nodded once, then took a step back. “Thank you for your assistance.”

Then, he turned and began walking out the hanger, leaving me behind on the only catwalk that didn’t have stairs connecting it to the rest.

By the time I realized, he was already turning into the hallway.

So, maybe he wasn’t progressing too far in his understanding of humans, or his tolerance of us. And yeah, it was taking him time to adjust to how we’d changed the base and dynamic of the team. But no one could ever say he didn’t have the capacity to want to change and learn, he just chose who he’d do it for.

[politemenacephd]

Arachnophilia (Part One)

Drider!Miguel O'Hara x Reader (+18)

Chapter Masterlist 🕷️

You're a new recruit to the spider society, and you've just been sent on your first mission on one condition: Do not contact Miguel's variant in this universe. When your mission goes wrong you break that rule very quickly, desperate for help, only to find that Miguel's variant here is not what you expected. He's stoic but kind, awkward but sincere, and he's also an enormous human-spider hybrid: A drider, both human and arachnid. You decide to continue seeing Miguel in secret, with the rest of the society unaware. You really want to stay friends after all. That is, until Miguel suddenly goes into a rut. Word count: 2457 Notes: fun little thing i cooked up while ill and after being inspired by a mutuals work. chap 1 + 2 set up and characters meeting, chap 3 and onward is the smut, enjoy x

‘Hey! You got a mission!’

You glanced up from your desk and peeped around your holographic screen, curiously perusing for whoever had called. A mission? Who was it this time?

You spotted Jess making her way down the opposite hall to you, her eyes scanning the other desks. Ah, of course, you knew her voice anywhere. So this was an elite mission. With your curiosity now fully peeked you slyly leaned your chair even further out into the corridor, eyes peeled to try and see who she went towards.

One of the new Peters, perhaps? They were always clambering for a mission. Or perhaps the new Gwen? She certainly thought she deserved a solo mission, and she wasn’t even wrong.

You became so enraptured with your own office snooping that you entirely missed Jess as she walked up behind you.

‘You okay there?’

You jumped in your chair and nearly fell to the floor, only barely catching yourself on the rim of your desk. ‘AH- Oh, hi! Yes! Yes, all good. All- fine. What is up, boss?’

Jess flatly squared her hands on her hips. ‘I was literally calling you with exactly what is up’ she noted drolly. ‘You got a mission.’

You felt your shoulders tense as your stomach dropped. Your fear must have been clear because Jess immediately raised a brow.

You were getting sent out? Finally? You?

You swallowed down the growing lump in your throat. It was a justified fear, at least in your mind, as if this was true this would be your first big mission for the Spider Society. No more fighting minor crime in your own home city, now you were patrolling the multiverse.

‘Well?’

You jumped a second time as Jess interrupted your thoughts. It was very clear that you were wasting her time.

‘Oh! Ah, shit- yes, sorry.’ In a hurry you pushed your chair back and hopped to your feet, struggling to look as professional as you could. Jess’s face hardly moved. She seemed to be eyeing you up, making tiny little conclusions in her mind that you couldn’t see.

Luckily that didn’t last. Her face quickly changed back to that casual smile, and with a wave of her hand she beckoned you to follow. ‘My god you’re tightly wound. They were right. Come on!’

You quickly powered down the PC you’d been doing busywork on and rushed to follow her.

‘I thought Miguel was the only Spider who didn’t have senses. I've never seen another spider surprised like that’ Jess noted over her shoulder as you followed. You opened your mouth to reply but were cut off as you both exited the research block, with the sliding doors revealing a bright and blinding midday sun beaming down through the glass walls above. You shielded your eyes and hurried to catch up.

‘I do have senses, sorry, just- I’m still getting used to being here. I thought I lost it, actually, funny story, but uh- no, see I don’t know if you ever got told this, but apparently, I heard from one of the older Peter’s there’s this unofficial but pretty established thing called sense fatigue.’

‘Ahuh.’ Jess was obviously just trying to get to Miguel’s office as quickly as possible at this point, but you didn’t notice. You continued rambling.

‘It’s like whisker fatigue on cats, did you know cats got that? So spiders, we’re so used to being the only ones with senses, that when you first join the society it kinda exhausts your senses being around SO many other people that it stops working as well. I think that’s what’s happening to me. Did that ever happen to you?’

‘Nope.’

Jess’s curt response didn’t dampen your spirits. You eagerly jogged along the final main beam towards the go-home machine, jumping and dodging the other spiders as they went by.

‘Huh! Well that’s why you’re an elite, probably, right? Along with other reasons, I’m sure.’

‘Many other reasons’ Jess said.

‘But uh- I’m sure it’s fine. It’s better at home so, won’t affect me on the mission.’

‘Let’s hope not.’

With that being the final word Jess led you down the corridor towards Miguel’s office. It was darker there than the rest of the HQ, down in these tight-knit spaces covered in half-made junk and unfinished tech. You had to jump over multiple loose wires and metal plates to get to the door.

‘Miguel! I got who you asked for!’

You scurried up to Jess’s back as you both entered into Miguel’s domain. It was enormous in scope, dark and shadowed with jagged metal spires reaching so far up that you couldn’t see where they ended. In the centre of the room was that signature floating desk, and on that signature floating desk was the man himself.

Miguel O’Hara, slouched over his desk with his hackles raised and his neck bent.

‘Miguel! I brought ‘em over.’

Jess’s call caused him to pause. He was midway through typing something.

‘The new one?’

His voice was smooth, gruff and cold. It sent a shiver down your spine.

‘Yep. The new one.’

With a grunt Miguel finished typing and turned to face you. You jumped as he dropped down from his desk to the floor.

God he was pretty. You felt your heart thud a little harder as he stared down at you, hands carefully placed on his hips to highlight his shoulders.

No, not pretty. He was beautiful. You struggled to stand up a little taller.

‘Hi! Hello, ah- sir, you wanted me for a mission?’

Miguel looked you up and down like he could see through to your very soul. It was very strangely violating to be stared at by those cold red eyes. After giving you the up and down he turned and manifested a new screen at his back.

‘You’re going to E-298. There’s a vulture anomaly.’

‘Ah! Alright. Sounds, do-able. Who am I with?’

‘No one.’

You blanked. Your mouth moved but no words came out. ‘No- no one? Sir?’

Miguel grunted. ‘Somethings up. Almost everyone right now is busy, there’s anomalies everywhere, which is why I’m sending you to clear this up.’

‘Uh- I mean, Jess, is—’

‘Jess is coming with me to deal with an anomaly hole in E-345’ Miguel barked, quickly cutting you off. You pursed your lips on any further complaints.

‘Just subdue and cage the bad guy, then send him back here. Lyla will deal with any larger anomalies. Can you handle that?’

You shuffled your feet to hide how hot you felt. You shouldn’t be indulging this, but your body was reacting quite strangely to being ordered around by the larger man.

‘Ah- yes, sir’ you replied. Miguel nodded his approval, and you ate it up.

‘Good. I’ll need you to head out immediately.’

When Miguel failed to say anything else you assumed that it was time to go, and quickly turned to leave. Short and brief, you thought, what more could you expect though? He was a busy man after all.

But then Miguel spoke again.

‘Wait!’

You paused and turned to see Miguel holding up a single claw. His eyes were narrowed, his brows knotted in a way that was unusually intense even for him. You hated the way you cowered under his shadow.

‘I- I don’t usually bring this up, but, you’re… new, so I want to warn you’ he said, his voice going low. You noticed his nose flaring as he came closer, almost like he was breathing something in. You stood rigid beneath his enormous body. ‘This universe you’re going to, is- home to one of my variants.’

Your eyes widened a little, your mouth forming a soft ‘oh’. ‘Ah! Okay! Is, will you- or, he, I guess- will he be helping—’

‘Stay away from him’ Miguel barked. ‘My variations are not to be trusted. Understood?’

You slowly closed your mouth, giving a short nod.

‘Yes, sir. Of course.’ You pursed your lips as Miguel returned the nod. He slunk back to his office without a second word, and you followed Jess out of the office.

….

Later that day

...

‘God- damn it!’

You stumbled across the street floor, hand clutched to your side. You were hiding in a back alley of a smoking building, your body covered in dust and debris. The muted, muffled screams of a frustrated vulture filled the otherwise empty street.  

With a grunt you pressed your back to the wall of the opposing building. It was dark here and the bricks were wet against your suit. You forcefully and awkwardly pulled your mask aside to breath.

Your fight with the vulture hadn’t gone as planned. You’d started out well enough, but that’d just made you cocky. In an attempt to do your best you’d overstretched your web mechanism to the point of jamming it, and you’d soon been overpowered by your feathery opponent.

A few tosses into the wall had bruised at least one rib, and your muscles were straining to even stand.

‘I need… back up…’

It hurt to admit, but you had no other choice. You raised your portal watch and began scanning for anyone you could call for help.

You scrolled, and scanned, and scrolled and scanned until your finger hurt from scrolling. Your movements grew more frantic as your gut began to sink. No, no, no. You could feel your panic rising. Every spider you brought up had an X beside them, meaning they were out of reach for contact.

‘Shit- Shit! Everyone?! It’s really everyone?!’

X after X after X. there was no one who could help you now.

With a soft whine you sank back against the wall, gripping its sides for stability. This was bad, this was REALLY bad. Really, REALLY bad.

You gently cracked your knuckle against the damp bricks at your back. Idiot, you thought. Why had Miguel thought you were worthy to be in this society? Why had you taken the position at all?

In that moment, you felt very much alone.

But, wait. You weren’t the only spider in this universe, right?

Your eyes trailed down to your watch where it’d fallen on Miguel. His symbol for availability was red like the others, but it reminded you of what he’d said. He had a variant here.

Miguel said his variants weren’t to be trusted, but, why? It was strange for him to be so cagey with information like that. Miguel was famously too honest, too blunt, often to his detriment. He only left stuff out if it was inconvenient.

So, what was the issue? Your mind had, at first, gone to the worst possibilities. That he was a mad scientist, or a venom variation, or was so messed up by the DNA splicing that he was incapable of reason.

That didn’t have to be the case though, did it? Perhaps it was something else.

You unceremoniously scrambled to check your things. You had your weapons. You had your watch. Surely if he was dangerous you could just escape, and you could apologize to Miguel later for not listening to him.

Besides, what choice did you have? Either you failed to get the vulture and went back in disgrace, or it turned out Miguel’s variant is a bad guy and you go home in disgrace again. The only good option was the reveal that Miguel’s variant was just, weird, or made him feel inadequate, or wanted $10 for helping out. Thing’s that Miguel could conceivably view as making him unworthy to be a spider society member.

With that desperate cope you made up your mind. You drew your watch to your lips and whispered.

‘Lyla? Hey, Lyla?’

‘What’s up, newbie.’

The snazzy little AI appeared on your wrist, eagerly pacing back and forth as she waited for orders. You swallowed hard; it was now or never.

‘Ah- you, can trace people in this universe, right?’

‘Yep.’

‘You could, theoretically, trace any spiders here?’

‘Yeeeppp.’

‘Could… could you uh, please, trace the Miguel O’Hara in this universe, for me?’

At that Lyla paused. She spun on her heel with dramatic flair, her glasses falling down her nose without her even touching them. She looked surprised.

‘Wow! Didn’t take you for a risky little sneak.’

‘I’m not! I’m just- I need some help and everyone else is busy.’

‘Ahuh. Whatever you say, I don’t care. Honestly I’m just excited someone asked me. I’ve wanted to see his freaky variants for years, but he won’t ever let me look it up. Since you asked though, I got immunity.’

You tried not to think too much about the implications of what she’d said. You lay back and waited for Lyla to complete her scan, all while very aware of the vulture’s continued destruction going on in the building beside you. For now he was contained in there, as you’d put up a light shield, but that wouldn’t last forever.

Please let this work, you pleaded internally. Please.

‘Aha! Got ‘im.’

You let out a sigh of relief as Lyla re-appeared. ‘Great! Where is he?’

‘He’s close’ Lyla cooed, waving a fake document in front of you that was too small to read. You gestured with your hand for her to hurry up.

‘Yes! Okay! Where?’

‘The pine forest park just beyond the city line, to the north. Looks like he’s pretty deep in there.’

You felt your enthusiasm die just a little. He was in a forest? Why? You felt a little pang of anxiety in your gut about this whole thing, but you quickly shut it down as the vulture’s rampage grew louder. No, it was probably fine. Maybe he just had a hidden base in the woods, that was normal, right?

Besides, you didn’t have time to spare. Either he helped or didn’t, and if he didn’t want to help you needed to know that sooner than later.

‘Okay. Thanks Lyla, I owe you.’

‘Everyone does.’

Lyla zipped out of existence as you swung yourself back into the open air, flinging your body way above the city skyline. Up here, with the clear sky and wide-open city scape, you immediately spotted what Lyla had been talking about: an enormous pine forest way off in the distance, hugging the cities edge like a sleeping bear. It looked thick, untamed, and its edges were dark beneath the clouds of an oncoming storm.

You swung your way through the streets and watched the trees grow closer.

‘Alright’ you whispered, your body soaring through the sky. ‘Let’s meet the new Mr O’Hara.' Link to part two!

[gwiyeounsonyeon]

Growing Pains (MWC Day 7!)

Pairing: RE2 Leon Kennedy x Male Reader Summary: College AU! Your life kind of sucks but at least you have your job. Words: 1,693/200 Warnings: Nothing Happens! Not Edited! Notes: So far this first part is just me world-building and getting the feel of everything. Im hoping to turn this into a series, this is also an apology for the joke of a "fic" I left you with yesterday. Im on some new ADHD meds so I hope it's going to keep getting easier to be motivated. I actually enjoyed writing this.

Navigation | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

☁︎⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆

You were really starting to doubt walking to work was a good idea, It had stopped sprinkling outside and had turned into a full-on downpour. Earlier at home you’d reasoned with yourself that walking to work was a great idea and that the roads were probably icy from all of the rain you’d gotten yesterday. Yet, here you were; nearly soaked and not even halfway to the coffee shop you worked at.

Your shoes were starting to squelch and your socks were drenched, you just prayed that today would be slow so you could leave early and sleep. But If you did you’d probably feel bad leaving your co-worker, Claire, she was a good kid, pretty and sweet and really good with the customers. If she was working, everyone knew they'd be getting good tips, she was only a few years younger than you, and a freshman in the same college you attended. 

She always seemed happy and well-rested when she came in so you assumed she never had a ton of schoolwork. You finally arrive fully soaked to the bone and shivering, the lights inside are already on so you assumed Claire had gotten there first, how she’d gotten a key you really have no idea. The shop was small, located conveniently only a block or two from campus but you'd long since moved out of the dorms and into your own apartment. 

You probably wouldn't say your entire freshman year was awful but your dorm mate had been a lively Spaniard going by the name Luis. The man was funny and helpful but he would have been way more funny and helpful if he had been dormmates with someone else. He’d made your entire freshman year seem like one constant headache, his incessant yapping, smoking, and partying had been the candles atop the cake of stress that was your first year of college.

When he asked if you wanted to room together your second year, you’d lied and said you already had an apartment lined up. He caught you in that lie, and when you were rushing to get an apartment (and a job) he had ‘accidentally��� dropped a flier for a one-bathroom studio a few blocks from campus, he’d ‘coincidentally’ been neighbors too. You look back in the direction you came from dreading when Luis wakes up and would eventually wander into the shop. 

For some unknown (most likely paranormal) reason, Clair actually liked Luis, not having been subjected to his torture for a year, she said she found him weirdly charming and funny and they got along surprisingly well. Naturally, with their big-mouthed extrovertedness, they told each other absolutely everything, meaning Luis would have some choice words to say about your predicament later.

You huff and walk inside, already feeling a migraine coming on, your shoes track in water as you squelch into the back room. Claire looks up from her locker alarmed at the ungodly noises your shoes were making; it was  a mix of wet rubber souls on the glossy linoleum and the sloshing of your shoes holding more water than the ocean. She takes in your appearance, her eyes crinkling at the sides as she tries unsuccessfully to hide a laugh.

She gives you the dignity of hiding behind her locker door to cough out a short poorly disguised chuckle before composing herself and looking back up at you “The hell happened to you?” She squawks still trying to hold in a laugh. You can't really blame her and you dont, if the roles were switched you know you'd laugh at her too. “I walked.” it’s all you have to say for her to break into an unflattering cackle, 

She laughs and points as you flop onto a plastic chair to peel off your water-logged shoes, you pour the water out in the filthy mop bucket while making a promise to yourself to get new water in there before your shift is over. You get up to drop your sad wet shoes over the vent and then peel off your drenched socks, dumping them onto the vent next to your shoes with a gross slap.

For some reason Claire seems to find all of this incredibly funny, she’s leaned back dramatically against the lockers clutching her belly as she howls with laughter. You look over at her wholly unamused and sigh before padding over to the lockers, thankfully the workplace is prone to messes so you always keep a spare uniform at work. You pull the folded clothes out of your locker and fetch a pair of crocks from your manager's locker, 

Your manager, Jill, was a well-respected (and feared) hard-working woman. She’d been the manager for nearly as long as she’d worked at the shop, her great work ethic and no-nonsense attitude had gotten her noticed by a lot of people in higher positions. When you were hired at the shop she was finishing up her junior year and getting ready to transition into a senior, she was a lot easier to talk to and get along with,

Because of that the two of you clicked quickly and ended up with a lot of hours together. As time went on though, the two of you were getting more and more stressed, and dogpiled with work until you were both working fewer hours with different people. She still tried to keep in contact; always texting to ask you how your morning was or what you were up to, it was sweet and it made you happy when she texted, part of you was enjoying the feeling of having someone dote on you like this.

Your phone alarm chimes, reminding you that you only have a few minutes left until the store has to open, you can hear Claire leaving the break room to tidy up the eating area and wipe down the tables and counters. You quickly slip on a dry pair of socks and Jill’s crocks before making your way to the front of the shop to unlock the store and turn the open sign on, opening wasn't your favorite, 

But recently you’d been pulling all-nighters to get your work done so by the time you needed to get into work you were already awake, you worked in a coffee shop so you had everything you needed to keep yourself up for the day. Your routine is as natural as breathing at this point, blending the hours into one, you have no idea that it’s already lunchtime until the lunch regulars start pouring in. 

The sweet old Marine Biology professor is first to come in, she’s well over sixty but she acts like she’s still young, ordering a single shot of expresso heavy on milk and sugar, a tuna sandwich, and a cookie. She’s definitely your favorite regular, polite, and tips well, she always leaves with a bright smile on her face like she’s happy to be alive, it's infectious. The other regulars aren't all that notable, a few professors and students needing a pick-me-up to get through the rest of the day. 

The only other customer that sticks out is another student, he’s about Claire’s age, and by the way they act around each other, they're definitely friends. Claire always waits to take her break when he comes in, she gets the same sandwich and always pays for his cookie, if you weren't any smarter you'd think they were dating but you notice the way his eyes linger in your direction, 

You’ve picked up how he always comes in when you’re working. He’s helplessly obvious but you dont have the heart to confront him, he's always got this cute lost puppy look on his face when you take his order, helplessly stumbling out his words and blushing like a high school girl. You pretend you dont notice and play dumb every time Claire tries to play matchmaker purely because it's cute watching him fumble, and you’ve never claimed you’re not selfish.

Part of you wants to wait until he grows the balls to come up and confess but the other part is just content to watch him suffer like this forever- “I thought you left in different clothes, what happened to your sweater?” You’re pulled out of your thoughts by satan himself, Luis picks at your new shirt and pouts like a dejected child, “None of your business.” You brush his hand off, 

Not surprised he knew what you were wearing earlier, you tap the screen of the register having memorized his order; the same boring coffee with the same boring bagel. You can't help yourself, you try to keep quiet but you like teasing Luis back, he deserves it, “Keep eating carbs like this and you’ll get fat.” You’re not trying to be an asshole and he knows it but it doesn't stop Luis from acting like it was a personal attack. He feigns heartbreak as dramatically as he can, 

Catching the attention and stares of the other customers, you can tell Luis is about to double down but Claire swoops in and drags him off to her table along with his food. Most of the customers go back to their food but a few eyes linger between you and Luis, you roll your eyes and get back to work, not really, there's nothing much for you to do anymore, the lunch rush slows everything down, you look down at the time on your phone making sure your shift is nearly over before you disappear into the break room to refill the mop bucket and check on your clothes. 

Your clothes are sort of moist and have a weird rain smell, your socks have dried weird and your shoes should be ruined, but you dont really have the money to get a new pair. Hearing your other co-worker arrive you tuck Jill’s shoes back into her locker and put your shoes back on, you cringe as the squelch and water seeps out of the foam and into your socks, you shuffle awkwardly back to the front and clock out before hurrying out of the shop, not sparing anyone left in there a goodbye.

☁︎⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆

ADDITIONAL NOTES! //skip this if you dont care//

Let me know if you like this new format(?) its a lot more low effort than anything I've tried in the past, just coloring some things and putting little text dividers.

ALSO, Let me know if you want me to continue writing gender-neutral or just not being gender specific, I find writing from this perspective to be super easy but so far it's been pretty difficult incorporating gendered things into this style (not that I've tried)

you can either comment, ask, or dm, its up to you

[applepiesupreme]

American Apple Pie

Pairing: Low/Mid Honor Arthur Morgan and female OC.

Rating: Explicit

Summary: Savigne Ricci is a temporary guest at the Van der Linde camp. Her path crosses with the enforcer of the gang, Arthur Morgan, and despite their differences, a relationship develops between them. Whole lot of smut and fluff, slow burn-ish.

Chapter 37

AOC link:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/54945853/chapters/152613556

She crated everything of importance, then lingered around for a bit, equally relieved and sad to finally leave Shady Belle. Relieved because she had never liked it here and sad because this time she was definitely losing the tent. Sadie had told her that they were going to move fast, so they would only take the important personal items. Aside from Charles, there were no other men left to lug the big stuff - Uncle wouldn’t touch anything due to his lumbago, Swanson was perpetually stumbling around drunk and Strauss argued that if he had been built to do this kind of work, he wouldn’t be needing a collector for his debts in the first place.

She sat at the table as the day was still bluish, her breath misting a little and wondered where Arthur was and how he was doing. It felt a little ironic that she had arrived in this country on a ship in less than pleasant circumstances and now he was leaving on one the same way. Like a silly relay team, they had connected and brushed fingers for a second, then they were thrown hundreds of miles apart. Anger and longing mingled and intertwined in her heart. She thought of how he had explained to her in the Bayou that he didn’t have any other means to make money and that he needed money to break off. She understood that this was his only trade and yet, in her heart, she also resented him for it. Arthur was a smart, capable man. Most people in the gang were. They could do a million other things. Instead they were all addicted to easy money, and the funny part was that it wasn’t even easy.

She approached the horses and patted Frost's neck, cooing to him that his owner would be back, then climbed on Cricket and rode this particular route for the last time. Despite hours of thick, dreamless sleep, she was tired and worn out. Like a bucket brimming with water, she had reached the limits of her capacity. Every added drop now just slid off because there was no more room in her. Sister DuBois used to say bad news come in threes so if there was one more shoe to drop, she expected it to happen soon. 

Work was surprisingly boring. Despite their promise the previous day, the detectives didn't return. But the lunch crowd doubled in size, full with with people who wanted to mingle and gossip about the robbery. She fulfilled order after order, her plates meticulous and perfect but also repetitive and boring. When her shift ended and she walked out of Antoine's, Sadie was leaning against a lamppost nearby.

"Did you find a spot?" Savigne walked up to her. 

"Did. Ain't great but it's well hidden. Pinkertons are in a frenzy. ‘M sure they gonna find and swing by Shady Belle soon."

Savigne exhaled with frustration. Ever since the Heartlands, the gang's prospects were continuously declining. It was obvious to everyone but themselves. Every spot they picked was worse, with every move the noose drew tighter. If it wasn't for Arthur, she would have moved a long time ago, but here she was schlepping her stuff around with them and living off crates. Why even work in one of the most prestigious restaurants in the country if you're going to live like a fucking homeless person?

"You ready, Sugar?" Sadie straightened.

"Yeah, let's go. I still don't know what we're going for, but I guess you would have told me if it wasn't private."

"Feel crabby," Sadie rolled her shoulders. 

Savigne blinked up to her and half chuckled. "I thought that's just the way you are."

Sadie gave her a side eye. "More crabby than usual."

They checked Cricket out of the stable and tied him and Sadie’s horse a block away from the clinic. Then they filled out forms and waited in the small lobby. Sadie paid upfront and asked Savigne to get checked first when prompted and she relented. Maybe she would get some candy out of it and hell, even that would be an improvement to her current mood. Finally they were guided into a small, spotless room and she looked around with approval. You would expect all clinics to be clean, but in Saint Denis if that was your expectation, you were in for a rude awakening. This, no doubt, was one of the fancier ones. The clinics in the poorer neighborhoods stank worse than the neighborhood itself, which was an impressive feat. She poured herself a glass of water and inspected the books on the shelves - a mixture of medical works in French, German and English. 

A few minutes later a stunningly handsome, tall man with sandy hair, a slim mustache and soft hazel eyes walked in, their folders at hand. Savigne did a double take - in another life she would have been smitten with this man. Impeccable suit, well picked spectacles, an attitude exuding professionalism, discipline, precision and care. 

"Ladies!" She heard the slight French accent in his perfect English. "I'm Doctor Polleux. Welcome. Who goes first?"

"My friend here," Sadie ushered Savigne into the chair. 

She sat down, enchanted by the turn of events. She liked clean, well kept, professional, beautiful people and she liked watching them display their art whether it was food or medicine or something else entirely. His hands were silky and warm as he shook hers - clearly the hands of a man who handled delicate skin and turned book pages and wielded intricate tools instead of guns.

“So…” the doctor said and pulled a chair to sit closer. “…nice to meet you, Miss Ricci.”

“Likewise,” she breathed and took another sip of water. Up close, he looked even more handsome. There was a bit of yellow in his hazel eyes and his lashes were long and dark. She sat up a little and hoped that she didn't look like roadkill after the day she had yesterday. Was it odd to be enchanted by some stranger while Arthur was fleeing for his life, fate unknown? Perhaps. Had Arthur made that choice without even talking to her and practically abandoned her? Absolutely.

“Can you state your complaints?”

“She fainted a few times,” Sadie stepped up to stand behind her chair. "Overall tired. Gained a little weight. You get the picture.”

"W-what?" Savigne stammered up to Sadie and and turned back to the doctor. "Just a tiny little bit," she said hastily. "Also, the fainting - more like I was a little dizzy.”

“We had to carry you,” Sadie crossed her arms and threw a foot out. “And, like I said, y’aint exactly light no more.”

“That’s bull-” Savigne bit down the rest of the word, cleared her throat and glanced at Polleux sitting in front of her. “My friend exaggerates.” She glared up at Sadie, irritated. She was perfectly well and only here to do this woman a favor and there was absolutely no reason to mention any weight gain. 

“I see. Let’s get your blood pressure and all that. Please take off your coat.”

The doctor checked her vitals, her eyes, her ears, then put on his stethoscope and listened to her heart and her lungs. His touch was light and soft and she enjoyed his sharp attention on her, even if it was purely professional. 

“You seem a bit anemic, but otherwise fine.”

“Thank you,” she smiled and wished she had met him when she was cleaner. Judging by the immaculate white of his shirt collar, he was the kind of man who would have noticed that.

“Any unusual complaints?”

She inhaled and thought on this, milking her moments in the chair. "Well...I have a weird flutter in my stomach sometimes.”

He paused. “A flutter?”

“Yes, right here," she pointed to her abdomen. "It's not painful or anything. Feels like bubbles.” 

Savigne was pleased when he didn't give her a dismissive look and instead asked “May I see?”

"Certainly, doctor." She unbuttoned the bottom buttons of her blouse and pulled it up to reveal her chemise underneath. When he leaned in she smelled his cologne - very faint but vibrant and fresh, like his hands and his eyes.

He inserted the earpieces, held the bell of the stethoscope against her stomach and listened for a while. 

“When was the last time you bled?”

This gave her pause. “I don’t bleed very regularly,” she explained as she tried to remember. "Never have. But it’s been a few months. Maybe…three?” It occurred to her then that for a long time now she had been expecting a period that had never come. He moved the bell around, listened attentively, then folded it away as Savigne flitted through her memories and tried to pinpoint an approximate date. 

“Any nausea?”

“Sometimes. I threw up a few times, but the last one was weeks ago and..." Ecco's memory floated by and with it, her stumbling to the street and finding a dark corner to unload her stomach like some homeless wretch. "...I'm a cook," she explained as she wiped the memory away, "and I could have tasted something off." Then, eager to gain his approval, or any reaction whatsoever beyond the mild disinterest he was gracing her with, she added: "I work at Antoine's." If he was impressed he didn't show it, which bruised her ego a little.

“Your friend mentioned weight gain?”

“Just a little,” she shifted uncomfortably in her chair. Her dresses had been adjusted twice now but that wasn’t because she was enormous, only because she enjoyed a perfect fit.

“Mood swings? Cravings - that sort of thing?”

“Yeah but I have a stressful job,” she tried to gloat again. "It can be hectic at times." Again, he didn't react other than a mild "hmmm" which was disappointing. God, how much weight did I gain? she thought, a little deflated. Sure, I'm no staggering beauty like Sarah but I’m practically invisible to this man. 

“A fluttering you say…”

“Yes. Like bubbles.”

“Hmmm…”

Polleux gave Sadie a look and Sadie looked back, silent and unblinking.

“Miss Ricci, I think it’s safe to say you’re pregnant.”

Savigne blinked at him, then grinned and giggled with childish delight. “Very funny. I know you read my file, doctor.” He was flirting with her after all and that gave her a hefty boost of confidence.

His brows pinched and he opened her folder again. “What did I miss?”

“I was told the ship I arrived on had a typical outbreak of cholera a few days in. But the real kicker was the smallpox that broke out after.”

“Yes, I see.” He looked up at her with raised eyebrows as if he expected further explanation. “I mean…I almost died. Most of the passengers died.” His expression didn’t change at all. “Doctor Polleux," she cleared her throat. If he had a sense of humor, it was as dry as the Sahara. "I'm sure you're pulling my leg because we both know I can’t get pregnant.”

Those cool professional hazel eyes assessed her for a long moment. 

“Who told you that?” was his late flat question.

“I’m sorry?” she stammered. 

“Who told you that…” he repeated calmly and added “…nonsense?”

This threw her off and she struggled to find a response. Either he was exceptionally gifted at delivering dead pan jokes or he wasn't nearly as good of a doctor as he pretended to be.

Clearly ‘Sister Rodriguez’ would be a ridiculous answer so instead she opted to mutter a defensive “Everybody knows that.”

He gave her an owlish blink and closed her file.

A short silence ensued.

“There is no direct correlation between smallpox and female fertility,” he said carefully.

Something coiled around Savigne’s throat and started tightening.

“W-what?”

“There is no link. Scientific link. I know there are some midwives tales, but they’re incorrect,” he said calmly. "It might have made you less fertile but clearly it hasn’t made you sterile. While not the only criteria, the fact that you bleed indicates you’re fertile.”

“I bleed very irregularly,” she quickly countered.

“Indicates perhaps low fertility. But not infertility.”

She looked at him like he was speaking in tongues. “That’s…you’re clearly mistaken.”

He shifted in his seat, gently reached out to place the files on a nearby table. “I understand this comes as a surprise to you,” he said slowly, “and I’m trying to be…delicate. But there is no in between or 'a little bit' here. You are pregnant.”

“I can’t be!” she lobed back, now skidding dangerously close to irritation and panic.

His eyes, soft and warm when he had entered, hardened a little. He seemed to take her objection as an affront to science itself.

“Miss Ricci, I’m going to be direct…”

What the hell were you until now? she thought sourly.

“…unless you swallowed a pocket watch, there’s an extra heartbeat in your abdomen.”

“I’m sorry, WHAT?!”

He calmly studied her as her hyperventilating picked up speed.

"Check again! Please!"

"Certainly." The stethoscope was pulled out again and he meticulously listened to her abdomen as Savigne watched him with hawk-like attention and a growing sense of dread. 

He cleared his throat and put it away.

"I stand by my diagnosis."

The room darkened and brightened back up as if something monstrous had flown in front of the sun.

“This is...can't be," she panted. 

"Would you like to hear?" he held out the earpieces to her and she recoiled as if he had slapped her. "No!"

"I would," Sadie spoke up. 

She crouched down as Polleux offered her the headset and under Savigne's disbelieving stare, listened intently, then grinned up at her. There was a forlorn look in Sadie's eyes and it only disappeared when Savigne angrily slapped the bell on ther stomach aside. Sadie cleared her throat and moved back to her spot as the man sat back in his chair.

"Judging by your reaction, this was not planned," he remarked. "I'm sorry to hear that. I’m going to give you a few minutes with your friend.” He rose to his feet. “I will be back.”

The monster flew across the sun again Savigne felt herself go boneless on the chair.

“You faintin’ again?!” Sadie remarked above her and next thing she knew, she had grabbed a book from the shelf to fan her face. “Listen here,” she hissed, then softened her tone, “Savigne, honey, calm down, okay?”

“I can’t be pregnant,” she mumbled. Moving her lips was an entire endeavor. The dark spots were back.

“Well…” Sadie chuckled nervously, “…gonna have to go with the doctor I paid fifty fuckin’ bucks for on that one.”

Savigne tried to speak but words wouldn’t come out. Her mind went blank every time she tried to think about it; like it was so big, it wouldn't fit into her head. “I can’t,” she tried again. She hadn’t bled in a long time and she had gained weight and also her breasts had been sensitive for months now, but these were all fragments, tiny brush strokes on a painting, how could they add up to a child? She had been sexually active since she was a young girl. True that it hadn't been nowhere near as rampant and consistent as it was with Arthur, and true that her previous partners had pulled out more often than not…but still!

“Remember, children,” droned Sister Auchter in her spinning head, “the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. It is vain to do with more what can be done with less.”

“Calm down. It’s fine.”

“How…the fuck…” Savigne panted, “…is…it fine?!”

“Don’ make me hit you with this book,” Sadie hissed, fanning furiously. “Will, if I have to.”

She wheezed for air and loosened her top buttons, too. Impossible, she thought and yet, deep deep down, in the dark folds of her gut where instinct ruled, somehow it rang true.

She almost erupted into laughter at the absurdity of her situation. A child out of wedlock! Worst thing a woman could do to herself. A scarlet letter that she had hung around her own neck. And now of all times! The room did a full flip and settled down again.

The other shoe, she thought then as her humor curdled into misery. Has to be. Bad news come in threes. 

“It’s okay,” Sadie crouched down and grabbed the back of her head to press her face against a shoulder. “It’s fine. Breathe.”

Savigne exploded into sobs. “Oh my god! I want to die.”

“The hell?!” was the other woman’s gentle scolding. “Settle down. What if it was TB or somethin'?”

“At least that would kill me,” she cried harder.

“Hush sugar, just calm down. We’ll think of something, okay?”

“That’s right,” Savigne whispered hastily as she pulled back, “I heard there are places we can go! Doctors that will-”

Sadie gave her a look. “No.”

Savigne’s face fell. “What do you mean, no?”

“You know how many women come out those feet first?!” was the vehement hiss. “Ya gonna have to shoot me before I let you go near!”

“But…but…I can’t shoot!” Savigne wailed.

"Just breathe. Easy. Calm. Breathe."

Sometime later the door opened and closed again. 

“Miss Ricci,” said the doctor, settling in his chair across from her again as Sadie vacated it. He handed her an immaculately clean handkerchief. “I understand your worries. You might think this is the end for you, but you’d be surprised how many women come here in your condition. You are not alone.”

She wiped her face furiously and cried harder. “Can you give me something? A…a remedy?”

“No. You’re too far along. Heartbeat audible with a stethoscope means at least twelve weeks, probably more. Any concoction someone might offer you is likely to kill you. Do not - I repeat - NOT drink it.”

“Hand the damn thing over!” she sobbed.

The doctor and Sadie exchanged a look. “I’ll never understand why this country is so damn…puritanical,” he sighed and scraped his chair closer. “Young lady,” he started as if he wasn't a only a year or two older at most. “I understand you’re not married. Personally, I don’t give a damn. I’m a doctor, not a priest. Now…let’s be pragmatic. Is the father still in the picture?”

“He will be. He’s away,” Sadie piped up.

“That’s good,” he remarked.

“I will kill him when he returns!” Savigne yelped.

“I would rethink that strategy,” Dr. Polleux said drily. Then he turned to the blond woman: “Does she have others to lean on? I know she doesn’t have a biological family,” he sifted through the file.

“Course she has,” Sadie said, clenching her shoulder.

Savigne just cried and let them talk it out. Her head was reeling, everything was is shambles. Someone was standing in the room that was her mind with a sledgehammer and meticulously smashing every piece of furniture into smaller and smaller pieces until there was nothing but dust.

“Excellent! Women with experience in the matter?”

“Yes.”

“Very good. A little laudanum if she gets too worked up but keep it on the low end. I know it’s passed around like candy these days, but personally I don’t think it’s good for the baby. I recommend regular check-ins. And she is a little underdeveloped.” He eyed Savigne with some scrutiny. “There are maternity houses…”

“She ain’t goin’ there,” was Sadie’s sharp interruption. “Like I said, she got people.”

“I admit…I wouldn’t recommend it,” Polleux said with some resignation. “One hears barbaric things. But it would at least be a safe birth and if she doesn’t want the baby…”

“No maternity house for Savigne,” Sadie squared her feet as if she was going to get into a fistfight with the doctor over it.

“I’m glad for that. If money is an issue…I have sent many unwed mothers to the workhouse.”

“She good,” Sadie growled. “We got money, too.”

“I know she’s working but she might not be able to much longer. In this country, for whatever reason, that’s a scandal. I’ve seen mothers work in fields all over the world but here we get hung up on such things.” He turned to Savigne again. “You will start to show soon,” he said calmly and ignored her whimper of disbelief. “Only reason you haven’t already is because you’re undernourished and it’s your first. Your stomach muscles haven’t expanded before. But that will change very quickly. If you must, stick a ring on your finger and lie would be my suggestion. Wouldn’t fly in a small town but in Saint Denis, nobody knows their neighbors’ name.”

He watched her cry for a while longer, his face calm and composed. No sympathy but also a complete lack of judgement. “Of course I suggest you do it for real when the father returns, so he can claim the child. Otherwise things might get…complicated for both of you.”

“But I can’t have a baby!” Savigne sobbed miserably. “What the hell am I supposed to do with a baby?”

“Miss Ricci," he pushed his spectacles up with the faintest impatience, "I hope you’re not making a case for immaculate conception.”

“No but…”

“Or claim that you don't know how babies are made.” Savigne decided that she didn't like Doctor Polleux after all. Not even a little bit.

"I want a second opinion!" she spat. 

"Sure, that's your prerogative. Like I said, I stand by my diagnosis."

His complete confidence made her panic even more. “But…”

“Good news is that it’s only six months out - give or take.”

“Oh my god,” moaned Savigne, dizzy with overload. “What’s the fucking bad news?”

The doctor didn’t even flinch at the vulgarity, just looked at her, cool as a cucumber.

“Bad news is the same.”

“Thank you doctor,” Sadie said hastily and started to button up Savigne’s blouse. “We'll be back.”

The blond woman pulled Savigne to her feet and stuffed her arms into her coat, then hustled her out of the room. They stumbled through corridors and then back through the waiting room where Savigne’s clearly unwell state alerted the waiting patients and scared a child enough to make him burst into wails. Once they exited the clinic, Sadie turned her by the shoulders and propped her up against a wall. “Now listen, I need you to pull yerself together here! You’re pregnant, you ain't dyin’.”

“I can’t be! Sister Rodriguez said-”

“Bitch lied. Let’s go.” She grabbed Savigne’s arm and dragged her towards the horses.

The Saint Denis crowd parted around them, a sea of eyes brimming with curiosity, revulsion, sympathy at her state. Nothing felt as lonely and humiliating as being in a vulnerable state in a big city. People glanced at her like she was rude for crying in public, for making them uncomfortable and marring their perfect day. Women tsked with disapproval as they glided by and men averted their eyes, reluctant to shame her further. Don't you understand that it's crude to be upset in public? they said silently. That it's uncivilized to cry and moan out in the open? That’s what closed doors are for.

“Cheer up, sweetheart!” someone yelled.

“I'll cheer you up..." Sadie’s head snapped back, "you son of a..."

“She was a nun,” Savigne sobbed. “Nuns can’t lie.”

“Doctor didn’ even give you nothin’ and you gone stupid anyway.”

Savigne stopped in her tracks and forced her to stop, too. “What are we going to do?” she whispered with urgency, grabbing Sadie’s jacket.

“We gonna go back to camp,” she growled, peeling Savigne’s claws off herself, “Then we gonna eat. Then we talk.”

“But…”

“Asked n’ answered. Let’s go!” She dragged Savigne further down the street. For her size, Sadie was remarkably strong.

“Oh how dreadful!” was a tittering whisper from nearby.

“Then look away you ugly cow!” Sadie yelled before she turned back to Savigne and jabbed her head at Cricket: “Up you go. Preferably before I shoot someone.”

Savigne wiped her palms over her face, took a deep shuddering breath and put a foot in the stirrup. Then she blinked and looked over her shoulder: “How come you’re so calm?”

“I knew,” was the dry retort. 

“W-what?”

“I know what a woman with child looks like,” she glared. “My babies never grew full. But I been there. Three times.”

Savigne slowly climbed up the saddle and somehow found the decency to feel a little abashed. “I’m sorry.”

There was a curt nod. “‘M sorry too, Savigne, I am. Sorry y’aint ready. Sorry yer dumb man ran off. Sorry you had nobody around you honest. Or nobody to teach you. Cry about it, sure. I know I did. For my babies and Jake. Cry about it long as you need. But then you get up and go on. Life comes at you and you got no choice.”

“I can’t do this,” Savigne whimpered.

“You can and you will. Women been doing it since dawn of time. Your mom did it.”

“My mom wasn’t alone,” she hiccuped. “She had a husband.”

”First of all, y’aint alone. What the fuck am I? Furniture? Second, Arthur gonna come back.”

“We don't know that!” She flinched a little at the hard reaction in Sadie’s eyes.

“He ain’t dead," the blond woman hissed and inched closer to Cricket, her eyes blazing. "He was dead, I would have to give ya his bag, don’ I?” She shook Arthur’s satchel in Savigne’s face, her sisterly patience clearly running thin. “Y’aint gettin’ it cause he ain’t dead. Maybe will be by my hand or yours when he come back, that’s a different story. Now…” she swung herself up into the saddle and gave Savigne a fiery glare that didn’t brook arguments. “Camp. Food. Talk. Let’s go!”

She rode on and Savigne swayed on the saddle and turned Cricket to follow.

He had never been homesick before. Probably because, discounting the hellhole he had ran away from as a child, he never actually had a home. His home had been the gang and for over twenty years, he had never been apart from it. Even now, in this godforsaken place, he was with them. And yet, he was homesick. A deep painful yearning was burning through his gut, threatening to bore a hole through him as he longed for his tent. Not the old cot he had slept on for years. His tent of barely six months.

He sat apart from the others, elbows on raised knees, back against a crumbling ruin of a wall, trying to to ignore the sunburn that was blistering his skin and the dizziness dancing behind his eyes. That proved to be easier to ignore than Dutch's incessant droning in the background and the homesickness in his gut.

Turns out, washing up on a shore a thousand miles away with nothing but the clothes on your back and the bruise of colossal failures in your heart gave you a hell of a perspective.

Hindsight was cruel; there was little of value to be found in that garden of regret. But, spurred by his thirst for pain, he went digging anyway. He thought of Luther and he dug that bitter soil every day, every hour of every day. And just like Luther, he reached the same revolting truth:

Vanity.

Vanity had watched him from the corner of the room as he argued alongside Hosea to Dutch, all the while smiling coyly at his hubris. Vanity had cooed encouragement into his ear as he had lied on the bedroll the night before, thinking the plan was solid and doable and most importantly - his ticket out. Vanity had squeezed his shoulders and cheered him on as he sat that morning to watch Savigne ride away and Vanity had insisted all would be well. No trouble, Vanity had whispered, no worries, no hesitation. Hesitation is defeat. It had held his coat as he dressed up, had sat on the saddle behind him on Frost as he rode out, had followed him step by step when he fled from the gunfire and had crouched next to him in that deserted building as they waited for nightfall, purring that it wasn't over yet. Vanity had aided his steps as he boarded the ship and the next morning when he stood at the banister to watch the endless stretch of water, drifting away from everything that had any value to him, Vanity had stood with him and soothed his regrets. Vanity had woken him on a strange shore and urged him to go on, to fight, to try, to live. For what? To amuse me, little boy, Vanity smiled. To entertain me. To please me.

The colossal pompousness of thinking his participation was going to prevent another Blackwater! His gut had advised caution but his arrogance had won out. In the end, his arrogance always won out.

Now it was time to feast on the fruit of that arrogance: the loss of his home; the loss of a future with the woman he loved; the loss of a friend and last but not least: the staggering loss of a parent.  

But, in this vast dark ocean of despair, a single source of consolation: Savigne didn't need him anymore.

Truthfully, she never had. Her independence had been the source, the inception point of his desire for her in the first place. The way she had come and gone to camp, full with her own purpose. Her steadfast march through life. He was just the brute who had saved her from other brutes. And now that the last of them was rotting in a swamp, his mission was complete, his role fulfilled. She could finally ride on and prosper. Perhaps she would get that dinner shift. Perhaps she would go to New York. Maybe she would meet a man like Dunham. She had Luther, she had Sadie, she had his money and she would be happy. Hosea had told him that making her happy would make him happy and in a twisted, ironic way he had been right. He just hadn't known that the price of making her happy was removing himself from her life.

In this, at least, he had accidentally succeeded.

A hand landed on his shoulder and a water canteen appeared in front of his face. "Son," Dutch sighed and dropped down next to him. "How are you holding up?"

"'M fine," he rasped and took a swallow. 

"What a shithole," Dutch muttered, leaning his head back on the broken wall.

"Don' like islands no more?" Arthur chuckled bitterly as he took another mouthful. 

"I have to admit," the older man drawled, "The plan is going to need changing."

They sat in silence for a long while. The heat was as bad as Lemoyne heat because it had a habit on settling on everything like dust. There was no escaping from it in the shade, in the open, wet or dry. It was in your eyes, your lungs, between your toes.

"We need to get off this island," Dutch said at last. "Hercule says he can provide us a boat."

Arthur didn't answer. He wasn't interested in getting off the island. He had made peace with the fact that this was his final destination. 

"We need to get back to our people."

They better off without us, he thought but didn't say it. It was simply too hot to argue.

His silence must have bothered Dutch enough to push on: "They need us."

They need us like they need the plague.

His huff of amusement stirred Dutch: "You disagree?"

He sluggishly scratched his beard. "If you say so, Dutch."

"I know you're tired. God knows I am, too. But if we stay here, we will die."

That's the plan. Better than any of yer shit plans, that's for sure. Turns out, better than mine, too.

Dutch flustered a little at his non engagement. "He was like a brother to me," he offered at last. It was a seldom moment of sincerity for Dutch and Arthur took a deep breath and nodded and hoped that would be the end of it but of course he wasn't that lucky. "But we have people depending on us! You have people depending on you!"

Any other day, this would infuriate him. This cheap attempt to dangle Savigne in front of his nose to make him get up and trudge on. Today it only amused him. That's the thing, he thought, she don’ depend on me and she don’ need me. In fact, she better off without me. I played my part in her life, I killed that asshole and cleared the ladder for her. Now all she gotta do is climb and all I gotta do is die.

Dutch prattled on and on but Arthur hardly listened. There was a vast sadness in him, for things that would never be, but also gratitude for things that were. He hadn't managed to touch that untouchable thing - a family of his own - but he had come very, very close. And somehow, in the mayhem that was his life, he had stumbled upon a woman to allow himself to be vulnerable with; and when he had unwrapped his heart to her, she had handled it with care and tenderness. If that was all that was in store for him, so be it. It was more than he deserved.

Night crawled in and the music of the jungle changed. Dutch left his side at some point and at some other point he was given something to eat and he chewed on it listlessly. He wasn’t hungry but it helped to pass the time. Then true dark set in and he was looking forward to it, because night meant sleep and sleep meant dreaming. The same dream he had had since he had fallen into this hellhole. He wasn’t interested in escaping from the island, but he was very happy to escape from reality.

He stumbled to his hammock and lied in it, swinging and watching the stars, waiting for his eyes to grow heavy. Waiting for sleep to end the nightmare that was the day. And eventually, it did. 

Their tent stood before him, in this perpetually repeating dream, location unspecific and unimportant. What was important was the tent and what it stood for - home. White drapes hitched to the ground, firm enough so they wouldn’t blow in the summer breeze, but loose enough to let the air in. The thicker maroon canvas rolled up and tied off. In his dream, it was always summer. Maybe because that’s when he had built it. Some indeterminate time between twilight and the earliest hours of daybreak. 

Instantly he was in front of it, pushing open the flap to step in. The light in here was a muted blue, as if the tent was encased in ice. The covers on the bed were piled up and he knew she was there. A feeling of deep pleasure surged through him, cool in contrast to the hot flare of his homesickness. He unbuckled his gun belt and in the dream, it didn’t jingle. Then the belt of his trousers. One by one he peeled off all his clothes.

Then he carefully crawled on the bed and lifted the covers. A flash of her toffee skin, the curve of her buttocks, the slope of her hip. In reality, Savigne rarely slept naked. She claimed that if something unexpected happened and they suddenly had to run out, she would die of shame if she was naked. He remembered bursting into laughter at her admittance and he also fondly remembered how annoyed she had been at his mirth. But in the dream she was always naked. He moved the covers further: the gentle indentations of her spine, the soft shoulders and the waves of dark locks. He slid in behind her and settled against her back. This was his favorite position and maybe that’s why he dreamed about it so often. She was smaller and fit perfectly into his chest. He tucked an arm under his pillow as his other hand glided over her hip, her waist, up an arm, then down to rest against a plush soft breast and he spread his fingers to gently grasp it. 

She stirred a little and took a deep breath. Her skin was smooth and soft. He kissed her neck as he shifted to adjust behind her with little to no gap. Her hair smelled of lavender, the way it had when she had first approached him in Valentine way back when, but her skin smelled of lemon drops and that was new. He paused at the change, cautious. The dream was precious to him and the last thing he wanted was a deviation, a disfigurement, a change to it. Because it was perfect as it was. 

She sighed and dreamily grasped his forearm, her clutch weak with sleep. In his dream he somehow knew it was Sunday and the whole day was ahead of them, so he didn’t want to wake her yet. But when she did wake, he would make love to her, slow and lazy and he felt his cock between them harden at the thought. Then they would sleep some more, eat breakfast and go to Valentine. And there, in that warm pool of water he would make love to her again - this time rough and aggressive. His appetite and need for her never waned and he was fascinated by that. Why had that first tryst in the woods not been the end of it? Why had he circled back again and again, unable to stay away? It had to be the curse of good things in life.

“Welcome back,” she mumbled as he kissed her shoulder. 

Then suddenly the dream diverged again, sharply this time, because she said “You’re late, Arthur.”

He froze for a moment, finding himself in unfamiliar territory and not happy about it. This was all he had left and he liked it fine the way it was. Although it wasn't unpleasant, he didn't like that she smelled like lemon drops and he didn't like that she spoke those words. Before he could dwell on it though, she mumbled “Don’t smush the grub”. 

He blinked in confusion. “What d’ya mean?” he whispered, alert and wary.

She sleepily tugged at his hand resting on her breast and guided it to her belly. She pressed his palm flat on her pear shaped bump and folded her hand over his to keep it in place. He rose on his elbow in surprise. Under his fingers, the tremble of a rabbit heart, soft and hurried.

“The grub,” she murmured.

In his gut, currents turned, collided, swirled, spiraled and converged to form the point of a vortex. It grew and grew and expanded into a maelstrom that yawned open with quiet force. And in its dark center blossomed a dazzling flower of understanding. 

Arthur flinched awake and the hammock rocked wildly as he struggled to sit up. 

“Can’t be,” he mumbled softly into the thick cacophony of bug chorus. A sharp shake of his head to disperse the spell of sleep followed. The dream unfurled and blew apart like an apparition as he clutched at it. “Can’t be,” he said again, mouth dry. 

And yet, in his gut, it felt true. An instinctual certainty, like lining up cross hairs on a moving target and knowing the exact moment the bullet would fly true. 

He fell back into the hammock and gulped deep breaths of the soupy air. He ran his hands over his face and then wiped the sticky film of sweat on his shirt. His heart hammered in his chest as the dream lifted and evaporated. It was still dark and the only sounds were the chirping of bugs, the croaking of frogs and the snoring of the other men. He shifted in the hammock and straightened a little to settle back in, but he knew he wouldn't sleep again. He lied there and thought and thought, and the more he thought, the more it seemed true. He thought on the little things and he thought on the big things. His mind flooded with memories, by themselves subtle and tenuous like wispy strings. But when he lined them up and coiled them together, there was a solid, firm rope in his hands. No wonder my plans derail, he huffed a quiet chuckle of disbelief to himself, 'm blind as a bat. 

It’s a dream, let it go, his head tried feebly. You’re just spinning tales.

But his gut held firm: you're going to be a father.

Rapture exploded and expanded in his chest and he took a slow, deep breath as it burned through him with blinding heat. He lied dazzled and faint as a tidal wave of pleasure rolled over him. And then another. And then one more. 

But underneath those waves: a dark undertow:

He had left his woman and his child behind, defenseless and alone.

Again.

The notion prickled the hair on his arms like the advent of a thunderstorm.

Years later the spiral voyage of his life had turned the same bend. Maybe the mere irony of fate. Or maybe a test of capricious gods to see if this time he would choose differently.

And he had chosen the same.

He scrambled out of the hammock, fully awake now and stood weak and trembling for long minutes, grateful that everyone else was fast asleep. Then he grabbed the half empty packet of cigarettes and walked away from camp on shaky legs.

Dark thoughts clawed at him. All this time he had convinced himself that she didn't need him. That his part in her life was complete. That she was better off without him. For days now he had taken countless casual risks, had tempted death, even chased it every time he had popped out behind a wall or a tree to shoot back just a little too early or had remained in the open just a little too long. His steps faltered as he realized that an enormous calamity had swum by him like a great shark in dark waters and he hadn’t even known, merely now felt the wake of its departure. His vision blurred with the afterthought. Because alone maybe she would have moved on and prospered. But a woman with child? His child?

The shark hadn’t swum by after all. It was merely circling.

What man would darken their door? Micah? O’Driscolls? Another group of drunk vagabonds? Come to bruise and smother what he had neglected and abandoned. Come to hurt what he loved.

He stood breathing the thick air of the jungle and watched the blue of daybreak settle around him. A new day was dawning. The fever dream of the past week shriveled and dissolved and the fool who had wallowed in aimless self pity gasped his last breath. A great weight rolled off his shoulders. He shifted on his feet and and straightened his back. Made a promise to an asshole in a swamp, he thought. And ‘m damn right gonna keep it.

Hercule heard the approaching steps and rose a little to see who it was. It’s the runt of the litter, the sickly man, he thought when Arthur strode out from under the trees and headed towards him. Only he didn’t look so sickly today. Today he looked like a whole new man. Taller and bigger somehow, with a different gait.  “Can’t sleep?” Hercule asked as he fished out a cigarette from the offered package.

The American grunted affirmation as he lighted first Hercule’s cigarette, then his own.

He was curious why this blan, this white man approached him now. All these past days as they marched to lose the men following them, he had barely spoken, rarely eaten, never even met his gaze. He had just trudged around with the rest of the group and whenever they ran into trouble, his friends had slapped a gun in his hands and he had shot back. His marksmanship was spectacular, but it was obvious that his heart wasn’t in it. He just did it reflexively, as if this was his second nature, something he could do in his sleep. His compatriots treated him like a formidable warrior, but Hercule had been convinced he would die within the week. He had seen people give up before. They had that particular look in their eyes.

So when Arthur’s cool blue gaze locked with his now, he was naturally startled to see a different man looking out. His curiosity turned into intrigue.

“Different climate?” This wouldn’t be the first man who looked tough until he met the Jungle. 

“Got things on my mind,” the other man grimaced.

“Your people back home?” 

The man exhaled out a long cloud of smoke, nodded, then quickly glanced over his shoulder before he said “My family.” The timbre of pride was palpable and pulled a grin of approval from Hercule:

“Lucky man.”

They didn’t talk for a while, just watched the day break as they smoked. The jungle sloped downwards ahead of them, lush and thick as he watched a flock of parrots take flight. Hercule had run into all manner of folk in his life and he liked to think that he was a good judge of them. These Americans acted like a band of brothers, a pack. The fancy man, the cunning one was the leader of the pack. But interesting enough, this man here was no follower. No, he was his own wolf.

“You got kids?” he was asked suddenly.

“Unfortunately no,” Hercule mused. “My life too crazy for that right now. Some day, I hope. When all this is behind me.” Then, just because it was the polite thing to do: “You?”

Arthur squinted into the distance and took a moment before he uttered a confident “I will.”

Hercule resisted the urge to smack him on the shoulder. He got the feeling that this man didn’t like being touched. “Congratulations.”

The cowboy nodded, then turned and gave him an intense look.

“Tell me ‘bout this boat.”

He sobered at that. “I need a favor first.”

“Name it,” was the flat response.

“Fussar. He’s enslaving people. Exploiting them, using them. They live in horrible-”

Arthur’s hand waved away the rest like it was unimportant. “Name it,” he repeated.

He hesitated. A no nonsense man. Not interested in plight and tragedy, just here for a transaction. So be it, he thought. “I need him dead.”

A nod as he smoked and scanned the horizon line. “Anythin’ else?”

Hercule huffed a half chuckle despite himself. “My apologies,” he laughed. “I think I made it sound too easy. Fussar has a small army in his command.”

The blue eyes flicked at him and his grin dissipated. Yeah, forget the others. Forget the fancy leader. Or the one with the cruel eyes and the big belly. This was the man he needed in his corner. Because, if he asked it, this man would burn the world and light his cigarette on the embers. 

“You got guns?” was the casual question.

“Of course,” he licked his lips.

Another silence ensued. He watched the bigger man smoke and wondered if he had had a heatstroke earlier. He had looked pretty miserable and spent. Now he stood shouders rigid, oozing competence and confidence. In truth, Hercule had offered the boat in a moment of desperation and hadn’t been too concerned with keeping his word. Now he thought he damn better made sure to arrange it for real, because it wouldn’t do to cross this man.

”Get me them guns,” Arthur said as he crushed his stub under a heel. “And that boat. Fussar is dead. He just don’ know it yet.”

Hercule watched him turn and stride back to the ruins of the church. Over the years, he had met many who vowed the same. But this was the first time he actually believed it.

[piinfeathers]

the scars we bare

it's a mid-january miracle, i actually wrote something. after threatening to finally start writing captain swan fics, i actually did it. thank you to all my beautiful friends on discord who encouraged me and to @dykelilypage i'm so glad you liked your gift <333 this is chapter 1 of 2, second one should be up tomorrow probably maybe who knows? :)))

summary: emma swan came to the underworld with one purpose; to rescue the man she loved from hades' grip. and she would do anything, sacrifice everything in order to that happen. when hades offers her a deal, a test of their true love, she takes it. in the end though, the bargain might just take more for them than they have to give. S5B canon divergence

tw: minor moments of gore and torture, also pregnancy and child birth

✨ ao3 link ✨

***

Emma had made plenty of bad decisions in her life. Big, catastrophic decisions, she could admit that. If she were to rank them though, willingly letting herself fall under a sleeping curse to rescue the man she loved from hell, probably would have ended up pretty high on the list.

She stared at him, across the wide airy field of middlemist flowers that wasn’t actually there, but felt nearly as real as she remembered, and wondered if he would feel the same.

“Swan.” Her name sounded like a prayer, rasped from his too-dry throat.

She was running then, or maybe she had started running before, she wasn’t sure. Her arms circled him when they met, his own grip nearly crushing as he lifted her off her feet. Frantic kisses and searching hands probed each other as incomplete pleas stuttered out of each of them. 

“You alright?”

“-m fine. You can’t be here-”

“-made a deal. Hades, he had a deal.”

“-have to go back. Please, you have to go back.”

“I can’t.” 

The last two words dropped like a stone between them and Killian jerked back. His face was the same as it had been when she’d last seen him alive. It was no longer the swollen mess of throbbing bruises Hades had left it in, when he’d shown Emma her lover’s broken body that was being torn and burnt and flayed apart until she had screamed to make it stop. Killian’s hand, the fingers still intact and no longer snapped and broken, cupped her face. He was trembling. Or maybe that was her. It was hard to tell at this point.

“Emma,” her name came out as a whisper. “Emma, where are we?”

She smiled as something huge and terrifying in her chest threatened to burst open.

“Somewhere... Somewhere in my mind. I think? Maybe,” she glanced around again, trying to focus. “A memory. He kept saying something about memories. Our memories.”

“Love, you aren’t making any sense.”

She laughed and it sounded like a watery hiccup. “Hades. Hades and I made a deal.”

The hand on her face tensed as she watched his expression grow brittle. “Emma-” his throat bobbed. “Emma. What kind of deal? What did you promise him?”

She held up her right hand, her index finger raised. A small droplet of blood welled up in the sensitive pad of flesh at the tip where she had pricked it only moments earlier.

“Sleeping curse,” she tried to keep her voice calm as she risked another glance at him. His face was ghost white, completely drained of colour. “I think he thought he was being funny. Something about “the old Charming family tradition.””

Killian’s head was shaking, his eyes darting away from her as he scanned the edges of the tree line behind them, looking for a way out. “We have to wake you up. Emma you don’t understand, Hades he-”

She watched his gaze go unfocused, the nerve in his jaw popping.

“Hey,” she said quickly, her hand curling around his neck, pulling him back to her. “He can’t get you, not here. Not unless he feels like breaking our deal.”

His eyes were still nervy, and she could feel his pulse jumping beneath her palm, but he focused on her again. God she had missed him. Missed the way he smelled, the way his scruffed jaw felt when she held it. It suddenly seemed so hysterically unfair that they’d only had a few months together. They deserved a lifetime. 

“This deal,” he rasped after a moment. “Tell me exactly what he asked of you.”

“He wanted…” she trailed off, trying to remember what he had said. “He said he wanted to test us. To see if what we shared was true love or not. That we needed to really see every part of each other before we made our decision.”

Killian was holding very, very still, his expression unreadable. “And for us to do this test, you needed to be cursed, is that right? Am I cursed as well? Is that how I’m standing here with you?” His voice sounded calm, almost reasonable, as if they were discussing the rules to a complicated board game. But Emma could still feel his panic, could see it starting to edge into the corners of his eyes, turning them glassy. Another one of her huge, catastrophically bad decisions alright. 

“No. No you aren’t under a sleeping curse,” she tried to make her voice comforting, but doubted it had much effect. “He said that souls without a living body don’t need curses to be moved to the dream realm, as long as they’re tethered to someone alive they just sort of- “hitch a ride,” or something.”

A smile started to spread across his face, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “So I’m tethered to you then?”

“Seems that way,” she said, her heart feeling like a dead weight in her chest. “I’m not exactly sure about the next parts, he was talking about memory magic, about old wounds needing to be opened up. He said the dream realm made the magic more…” she waved her hand. “Potent or something. Made it easier to find old memories.”

Killian’s hand dropped to her shoulder, his hook resting against her hip. “Why does he want us to explore old memories? Which memories? What does he gain from that?”

“I have no idea, I’m pretty sure he was just talking to hear himself speak at some point.”

“I don’t like this. Hades wouldn’t make a deal unless it was to punish or to trap you here. Emma, please,” his tone was growing frantic and it was making her own nerves start to fray. “Try and remember exactly what he said. Every word. If he’s trapped you here-”

“I don’t remember all the specifics! I was a little distracted watching you get tortured. Hades didn’t exactly have my undivided attention.”

Killian’s eyes shuttered and Emma could feel the slight tremor in his hand as it fell from her shoulder. She wished she hadn’t mentioned the torture. The second she had, she’d seen his face go blank. When this was over, she would kill Hades. She wasn’t sure how exactly, but she would get creative. Somehow she would figure out a way to make the god of death hurt in the same way he had made Killian hurt. 

“Look,” she said, her voice thick. “All you need to know is that he can’t hurt us. I made him swear it. He can’t touch you here, and he can’t kill me. Everything that happens now is up to us.”

He looked up, staring at something far away from them, like he was remembering something he’d rather forget. “And if we fail? What then? Does he get both of us to torture for eternity?”

“We won’t fail,” she told him. They wouldn’t. She couldn’t let that happen. Even if it killed her, she would never let Hades touch Killian Jones again. “I got down here didn’t I? And I found you. The hard part’s already done.”

He huffed out a laugh that sounded wrong to her ears. “Your confidence is admirable, Swan. But you don’t know what Hades is capable of. What he does to you once he has you.”

She could feel him slipping from her, could feel the despair coming off him in waves, and it killed her. “There’s a fail safe,” she told him quickly. “I can call off the deal at any time.” 

He jerked his attention back to her, suddenly alert. 

“But Killian, if I call it off, if I choose to end this, you go right back where I found you. Back to Hades,” she said, a world of meaning in her words. 

“But you’ll be safe?”

She looked at him. She should tell him. Tell him the entire truth. Tell him exactly what she had promised to keep him safe, to bring him back home. What she had signed away. But if she told him, if he knew everything, he would never agree to it. He would refuse and send her back and all this would be for nothing. He would go back to the endless, screaming pain that Hades had cleaved into him until there was nothing of him left. She couldn’t let that happen.

“Yes,” she said. “I’ll be fine. But you won’t. Please Killian. Please just let us try this first. We have to.”

He blew a breath out of his nose, looking down when she grabbed his hand in both of hers and squeezed. “Alright,” he said. “Alright, we'll try.”

She grinned as she wrapped her arms around him, kissing him, holding him. His hand moved up to her hair, cradling her head, his forehead coming to rest against hers. 

“So. How exactly does this trial work? What do we have to do?”

There was a quick burst of magic to the left of them, and a door twisted into existence a few feet away. The carved wood groaned slightly as it seemed to sway towards them, rocking on its frame, before coming to a stop. They both stared at it. 

“Well. Guess that answers that,” she said.

“Indeed,” he sighed, turning back to look at her. She saw a question, huge and all consuming in his stare that went unasked. Right, this was her deal. Her curse. He would follow her lead. Like he always did. Whatever happened, no matter how much it took from her, she would do whatever it took to make sure he got out of this. 

“C’mon,” she nodded towards the door. “Let’s get this over with.”

He grimaced as they walked towards it, reaching down to grip the brass handle and opening it for her. “Any idea what’s awaiting us on the other side?”

She squeezed his hand, raising her brows. “Nope.” 

They walked through. And the ground beneath their feet vanished.

***

She was falling. Her hair was whipping around her head while the wind rushed up and made her eyes water. Images and noise strobed past like flickering television screens as she plummeted down towards a huge, white nothingness. If she focused she thought she could make out faces, blurred and half formed, but they streaked past her, faster than her eyes could follow. She tried to reach out, tried to find something to grab a hold of, something to slow her fall, but it was like falling through light and sound and a great vast emptiness eager to swallow her whole.

Was this it? Was this what Hades had planned all along? No harm to her physical body sure, but trapping them in some fucked liminal space for eternity? Well. That was a different story.

She tried to look up, or whatever passed for up in this space and suddenly felt something grab her arm. Killian, his grip tight on her, was falling beside her. His mouth was open, mouthing something she couldn’t hear over the roar of noise and wind and her own frantic heartbeat. She tried to reach for him, her fingers outstretched-

When everything slammed to a sudden stop.

Her mind lurched, feeling like the contents of a car with its brakes hit too hard. The tunnel of noise, whatever it had been, was gone, and a blindingly blue sky stretched out in front of her. She tried to blink and turn her head, but her body was locked in place, no longer listening to her.

Only…only it wasn’t her body. 

She heard someone call for her, but it wasn’t her name she heard, it was Killian’s. She twisted and when her mouth opened it wasn’t her voice that boomed forth, but a man’s, low and accented, and oh-so familiar to her. 

She’d dealt with memory magic before, had stayed up long, magic-drunk nights as the dark one weaving dream catchers together in order to snare memories. She’d been expecting something closer to that, where memories played like snippets of old tv reruns. This was something completely different. She wasn’t just watching Killian's memories, she was living them. In his head.

“What news do you bring me then?” he called.

He sounded happy, and Emma could feel it then, he was excited about something. Somehow, inside his head, she could feel thoughts, could almost reach out and touch them.

He stood on the top deck, near the massive helm. Below him, near the rigging of the sails, a woman with dark hair and seafoam eyes grinned at him. Even before Emma felt the sudden rush of love and recognition, she knew exactly who she was looking at. Milah. 

“No news that can safely be shared among mixed company, captain ,” Milah called with a wink. She had Henry’s smile, Emma realized distantly.

The crew around Milah laughed uproariously, and her wide grin was a twin to the one stretching across Killian’s as he swung round the deck to go meet her.

Just as Emma was greedily drinking in the image of the image of the woman who had her son’s grin and Killian's heart, the world suddenly melted and shifted around her. It was as if the memory smeared, all the unimportant bits forgotten and discarded. She moved through short, foggy glimpses of old points in time. Moments alone with Milah, the sound of her laugh, the feeling of her eyes watching him, her laugh lines fanning out from the corners. At the core of it, his love for her was like a warm, even glow in his chest. Emma was suddenly sad that she would never get to meet this woman. This woman with the sharp wit and an easy laugh. She thought she would have liked her.

She kept floating through memories until they solidified all at once into sharp focus. Killian was back on the deck. Only he couldn’t move, something tight twisted around his chest and pinned him down. In front of him, Milah was on her knees. A man stood before her. His hand was buried into her chest. 

Emma recognized Rumpelstiltskin as blind, frantic panic tore through Killian, choking her. Killian had never told her explicitly how Milah had died, only that Gold had killed her. But she knew this moment. She knew what happened next. 

Rumpelstiltskin's hand tore free, Milah’s beating heart in his grip. He stared at it almost hungrily. Emma heard Killian shout, felt him pull himself free from the ropes binding him and dive for Milah as she slumped back. He caught her, begging, pleading words stumbling from his lips. She felt so light in his arms, a hollow empty shell. They shared a look, Milah’s gaze full of an unspoken farewell. 

She heard, rather than saw the crunch of the heart as Rumpelstiltskin crushed it. Milah gasped, dead even before the ashes crumbled and fell to the deck. 

Rage built in Killian, blinding and useless. It pushed him to his feet, surged him forward. He cursed Rumpelstiltskin, his hands in fists, desperate to drive them into the scaled skin and rotting teeth of the man who took his love. Rumpelstiltskin's grin was sharp. A blade flashed. Men shouted. A horrible, exquisite pain erupted from Killian’s left wrist and drove him to his knees. Emma wanted to scream.

Everything started moving too fast. The memory grew blurry again, every part of it dulled by the all consuming pain and rage boiling in Killian. He was screaming, driving a hook into Rumpelstiltskin's chest, mocking laughter meeting his ears. Then hands were grabbing him, pulling him back. Pain. Oh god there was just so much pain. Emma felt herself being dragged down with it, Killian’s vision growing black. But even in the darkness she felt the agony, unable to escape it. All alone in his head, she ached. 

The memories came and went. Bright flashes of faces crowding into his vision, frantic voices and bloody rags. Blood. There was so much blood. She could smell it, the sharp, copper tang of it. It felt like it coated his tongue, filled his nostrils and tried to drown him. He was being moved, every bump and bounce he felt sending jolts of pain through his system and forcing him back into blank unconsciousness.

Then heat. It was so sudden and sharp it brought him back to bleeding, screaming life. The world around him was thrown into abrupt focus as molten heat was pressed against the agonizing, throbbing stump of his wrist. He looked at the white hot blade being forced against his skin, watched as it melted his flesh and made it bubble around the edges, cauterizing it. He was screaming. It filled his head, an endless bellow of animalistic pain that crashed into Emma like a blow. 

When the darkness came for him again, Emma welcomed it with a sob.

She didn’t know how much time had passed when he started to wake again. She didn’t care. Every part of his body was one, long, endless agony. She couldn’t breathe from the force of it. Above him, it grew dark, then light, then dark again. Time moving on with or without him.

A noise woke him at some point. She blinked the grit from his burning eyes, trying to look at where Killian's hand had been severed. His wrist was an angry, mottled thing, the skin around it too pink, too tight. Thick blisters, fat and stretched taunt, seemed too shiny in the pale light below the deck of the ship where they had left him.

Her head lolled, their shared vision turning syrupy around the edges as the pain rose up again and smothered her in burning heat. 

She could hear voices, pitched low, all whispering with a panicked edge.

“Fever.”  

“ Infection…”

“The amount of blood he lost-” 

“No one could survive that.”

Emma writhed inside the shell of the memory. Killian , she sobbed, unsure if he could hear her. Was he in here with her? Was he reliving this too and she just couldn’t feel him? Or had Hades taken him away from her again? It was so quiet now. Killian. Killian. She repeated it again and again, his fever touching her own mind, choking the air from her lungs. How could he bear this? How could anyone bear this?

Fresh pain shot from his wrist and Emma threw her head back and screamed. Tears rolled down her cheeks when it was Killian’s voice, Killian’s pain she heard echoing endlessly in her head as she was pitched sidewise into another memory.

He was vomiting, heat and misery burning him, leaving him feeling feverish and delirious. He was fading in and out of consciousness, through the days, maybe weeks, he could no longer tell. Food and water had to be forcibly shoved into his mouth until he swallowed it, all the while he cursed at them for daring to try and keep him alive in his grief.

Emma watched it all, helpless inside his head. Killian had been right. Hades had found a way to torture them after all. Because this? Watching Killian break apart, unable to help, was agony. She wanted to fight, wanted to scream at the unfairness of it. But she could do neither. She could only sit and witness it all.

More memories faded in and out. In his rare moments of lucidity, the image of Milah, her heart torn from her chest, burned across his brain. His heart felt empty, like a hollow burden, sinking his body down deeper. His love for her burned itself away, twisted and malformed from grief. In its place, only one thought remained. Revenge. 

The word repeated itself, over and over, until it became a mantra. As his body healed, as the scar tissue on both his wrist and his heart thickened, he swore it to himself, again and again. He would have his revenge. No matter the cost. 

Trapped inside his tortured mind, Emma mourned for him.

***

Killian woke in agony. Pain snaked around his spine and sank into his bones, leaving him too weary to move. For one, terrifying moment, he thought he was back in the underworld. That all this had been a ruse. Emma had never come for him, Hades had simply split open his head and planted the idea of her, giving him hope and then taking it. Yet again.

But this place didn’t feel like his hell. There were voices around him, low murmuring, distinctly human voices.

He tried to open his eyes, but they stayed stubbornly shut. Another wave of pain twisted inside him, washing over him as his back arched and a low, sobbing moan filled his head. Emma. That was Emma’s voice.

“You’re doing great Emma, just a little longer now,” a strange voice near his feet comforted.

He felt her then, Emma. She was scared and exhausted and so, so heartbreakingly sad that it nearly swallowed her. 

He wasn’t here, he realized as her emotions buffeted him and surrounded him from all sides. This was Emma’s body. Her memory.

Her eyes opened and Killian looked across the room through tear blurred eyes. She was on her back, doctors and nurses standing around her, their faces hidden with masks and hair coverings. Blinding, overhead lights seemed to beat down on her, making her even more uncomfortable. She tried to move and Killian felt something tug on her wrist.

She let out a small sob of annoyance and pain, looking down at the silver cuff that chained her to the bed. They’d restrained her. She was in pain, she needed help, and they’d restrained her.

Fury raced through him, though he couldn’t tell if it was his or hers he felt, or a combination of the two. She felt so small in the bed, and so completely alone.

Another rush of pain, this one stronger than the first two, sent stars across their shared vision and Emma fell back.

“Okay Emma, you’re ready. It’s time to push, alright?”

She was shaking her head, and Killian felt her panic and his own bleed together. She was giving birth. He was about to witness her giving birth inside her own mind. For some reason the complete invasion of it flooded his brain, made him want to climb out of her head and simply hold her. This was her memory. Hers. He had no right to witness this and Hades certainly had no right to take that choice from her.

But he was here. There was no taking back what had been started. So he sat in the mind of the woman he loved and felt her body tear itself apart.

She was screaming, her body bearing down, the act of giving birth overwhelming her rational brain and simply taking over, trying to push. Sweat poured down her face as she strained, her pain now just a constant steady stream of misery. She wanted it to end. She needed it to end. She just wanted to lay back and sleep and never wake up. She’d fought so hard her whole life and now she had no fight left. She was done.

“You've got this Emma,” a nurse soothed from her left side, her gloved hand rubbing circles on her back. Emma liked her, Killian could feel it. This was a kind person, the only person who treated her like a patient and not a prisoner. A good person, a decent person. Someone who would make an amazing parent. Unlike her.

“Emma, I need you to work with us,” the doctor positioned between her legs called. “You need to keep pushing, your baby is ready to come out.”

Her baby. Killian felt a spark of something light inside her. Emma was too scared to give the feeling a name, but Killian recognized it instantly. Love.

Oh how she loved this little baby. She adored it. She sang it songs in her head and read to it in the bed of her prison cell when everyone else was asleep. She would give anything to her baby if it asked.

So she pushed. She pushed even as she felt like she was tearing in half, when the pain grew knife-sharp and carved her open. Voices blurred around her, all speaking over each other, telling her to take deep breaths, that she was almost there, that it was almost over. She gripped the sides of the bed, shoving forward and pushed until she thought her bones would crack and she would break apart until there was nothing of her left.

“Big push now Emma! Big push!”

She screamed and it was like the ozone in the room ignited, the lights in the room glowing white hot and shattering. Killian felt a punch of raw, primal magic explode from within her and then-

A baby’s cry, small but strong, broke through the silence. Henry. He was here. Killian wanted to look at him, wanted to see the boy's face, the feeling nearly overwhelming him. But Emma didn’t turn to look. She squeezed her eyes shut, and sank into the mattress.

“It’s a boy Emma,” the doctor said, a smile in his voice.

A boy. She had a son. A beautiful, perfect son. He cried out, and Killian felt it drive into Emma's heart like a knife. Every part of her wanted to turn, wanted to take him in her arms and hold him, to soothe his cries and protect him from every bad scary thing in this world like it was her only job in this life.

But…she couldn’t. She loved him more than anything. She would give him anything to make him happy, to keep him safe. And because of that she knew that meant he had to go away. As far away from her as possible. He deserved so much, he deserved the whole world. And she couldn’t afford to give it to him. All she had to give him was a chance. A chance at a better start. Without her. She couldn’t be a mother, couldn’t be his mother. She would ruin him. Taint him somehow. She wouldn’t do that to him.

Killian felt the decision form in her mind, felt her shake her head and grit her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut as tears spilled down her face. He heard the doctor tell her that she could change her mind, that it wasn’t too late. But he knew. He knew what happened next. He wanted to beg her to change her mind, to see that she already was a mother, he wanted to be there and tell her over and over until she believed it. But he couldn’t change the past. He could only watch it.

“No. I can't be a mother,” her voice was so small, it broke him.

He felt her heart tear itself in two. When the doctors carried her baby away from her, when Henry’s small, searching cries faded down the hall into silence, Killian felt as a piece of Emma’s heart went with him. Heartbreak didn’t come close to describing this feeling. It was as if a huge, yawning emptiness split open in her chest where her heart had once sat and consumed her.

***

Killian woke with a start, jerking up and dragging air desperately into his lungs. Beside him, Emma shot up, panting, eyes darting until she saw him. Her face was pale, her hair damp from sweat and sticking to her face. She opened her mouth, her eyes rapidly moving over his face, before flinching away from him and vomiting into the tall grass. He shot forward.

“Emma, breathe. It’s alright, it’s over. What did you-?”

“Probably a good idea to give her a minute,” a taunting voice called from behind them. “She had a hell of a ride in there.”

Killian’s head spun, white hot rage spilling into his blood. Behind them, Hades sat back in a plastic lawn chair, one ankle crossed over his knee, grinning.

“You bloody bastard,” Killian was on his feet, his hand clenched. The overwhelming urge to stomp the heel of his boot into Hades’ cold, dead smile, nearly blinded him.

“Ah, ah, ah!” Hades warned, a single finger raising in the air. “We wouldn’t want to do anything rash now, would we Emma?” He leaned over, calling to her. From her kneeling position, she shoved her middle finger over her shoulder without turning and spat in the grass.

“Hades if you’ve hurt her-”

“Me? Oh no, I didn’t do anything,” he said with mock innocence. “All I did was show her your memory.”

Killian felt his blood run cold. What memory could he have shown her for her to react like that? He knelt back down when Emma moaned, wiping the back of her hand against her mouth. 

“Ignore him,” she rasped. “I’m alright. It was-it was just intense.”

“Emma love, call off the deal. I won’t have you in pain like this, I can’t-”

“No!” her eyes burned as she reached up to grip him. “Killian, no, I can handle it. Please. I promise.”

Killian blew a sharp breath from his nose, trying to keep his composure. “Emma,” he tried to make his voice gentle but it still carried an edge. “Love, what memory did he show you?”

Her eyes went distant for a moment, and Killian felt his stomach tighten. He had lived centuries, had done countless brutal things. Any of them were enough to have her react like this. The question was, which one had Hades chosen?

“It was Milah,” she said after a pause. “The moment Rumpelstiltskin killed her, and took your hand.”

Killian went still, staring at her. Hades had shown her that moment? Milah’s face, frozen in fear, floated in front of his eyes, there and gone in seconds. A phantom twinge of pain jolted from his wrist reflexively.

“How much-” he swallowed. “How much did he show you?”

“Oh, I showed her everything, don't worry!” Hades's cheery voice called. “No gory detail left out. Gave her the full surround sound experience, didn’t I Emma?”

Beside him, Emma's face turned pale, her tongue darting out to wet her dry lips. Killian remembered the pain he had felt trapped inside her memory of Henry’s birth, the agony she had gone through, and felt dread turn his skin cold. She had experienced him losing his hand. Even in his most lucid recollections of that day, Killian had never managed to remember that pain in anything other than hazy, blurred-over recollections. He had pushed it so far from his mind to protect himself from reliving that brutal torment.

And Hades had just made her experience it in full, merciless detail.

“You bastard Hades, there was no bloody need to show her-”

“Show her what? The moment you decided to dedicate your life to avenging your one true love?” Hades asked, his eyes growing wide with mock innocence. He turned to Emma and grinned. “No offense of course. No shame in being the runner up.”

Killian surged to his feet, blood pumping, hook raised. He would bloody end him. Here and now.

“Don’t let him get to you.” Emma said, pushing herself up on shaky legs, to grip his arm. “He's not worth it.”

Killian spared her a glance. “He doesn't have the bloody right. He doesn’t have the right to reach into our heads and pull out our pain just to torture us with it.”

“Oh I’m pretty sure I do though. After all,” Hades steepled his hands together, his gaze locking on Emma. “We made a deal.”

“The deal was to test our true love, not whatever twisted game you’re playing at Hades,” Killian snapped.

“And that’s exactly what I’m doing,” Hades said, his tone taking on an edge of false sincerity. “True love isn’t just some cheap card trick, it’s the most powerful magic that exists. To have it you need to love so fully and completely that it’s like second nature. And you can’t have love like that when you don’t really know a person, now can you?”

The god of death gestured with both hands, like a demented talk show host. “Seriously this is a once in a lifetime opportunity here! I really wouldn’t pass this up if I were you. You,” he pointed to Killian. “Get to finally see inside the head of the saviour, finally learn what makes her tick. And you,” his hand swung to Emma. “Get to learn what kind of man Killian Jones really is.”

His words felt ominous. A promise and a curse all at once. 

“Ignore him,” Emma said. “I already tried to tell him earlier that this whole test was pointless.” She turned to look at him, her mouth turning up at the corners as a fire lit behind her eyes. “I already know exactly what type of man you are.”

“Mmmm, do ya though?” Hades asked with a hiss of breath, tilting his head to the side. “See, I'm not so sure about that. I mean you two have known each other, what, a few months at most? He’s got a whole three centuries worth of history before meeting you. Entire lifetimes lived before you were even born.”

His gaze sharpened, the edge of his smile growing pointed. “Are you really sure he’s even worth it?”

“Yes.” 

Killian sucked in a sharp breath at her sudden certainty. She turned and looked at him, her eyes holding promise. “Yes, I know he’s worth it.”

“Touching,” Hades said dryly. “Really. And for your sake, I hope you’re right. We’ve got a hell of show left to get through.”

Killian could feel the magic starting again, could feel the rush of it start to build, and shook his head. He still didn’t trust this, any of this. He knew how Hades made deals, and he knew there was no way he would give either of them up so easily.

“Emma said you agreed on a fail safe, a way out for her if she needs it. How do we know you’ll honor that?” He asked, stopping the god from conjuring another door.

Hades turned to give them a bored look, as if the question was barely worth his time. “Emma isn’t dead, not yet anyway. I don’t have any way of keeping her bound in the underworld with me. She has the ability to leave whenever she wants.”

“Yeah sure…one small problem though,” Emma glanced between the two of them. “I can’t exactly get up and walk out while I’m stuck in a sleeping curse, can I?”

Hades’s smile turned wolffish, his eyes lighting as if she’d finally said something interesting. “Well now, how funny you bring that up. I was wondering when you would.” 

When they both only stared at him, the god’s face fell. 

“Hello? Sleeping curse?” he said, gesturing to Emma with a flicking hand. “True love’s kiss? Big flashy light show? Thought this was all sort of obvious? Gods you two really are slow. Here.” he jumped to his feet, hands tucking into the pockets of his pants, and stalked towards them. 

“Let me break this down for you. You have two options, one; you see my test through to the end and test the strength of your love, or two;” he held up two fingers on his left hand. “If at any point you want the trial to end, all you have to do is kiss her. She goes back home, no hard feelings, thanks for playing, and you,” he turned to Killian, his grin predatory. “Stay here with me. And we go back to our fun little games.”

They were still for a moment, Emma hand in his squeezing tight. They could. They could just end this now. He could end this now, and save her. He turned to her, caught her tortured gaze. Her head gave one, barely noticeable shake, no.

“Unless, of course,” Hades continued, taking a step towards them. “You’re worried it won’t work?”

Killian blinked. An old, nearly buried dread rising in him like ocean water in a sinking ship. That old fear that Hades was right. That it wasn’t true love at all. 

Oh he loved her of course. He had never loved anyone the way he loved Emma Swan. Even the way he had loved Milah had been different. Not any worse or any less but…different. Loving Emma Swan was like loving the sun. It came as natural to him as breathing.

But in his weakest, most torturous moments of doubt he wondered. He wondered if she ever felt the same. She loved him, of course, in her own quiet way. And he had taken that love and cherished it, held it closely to his heart and lived off it, satisfied with all she gave him.

But. True love? In the depths of her heart was it really true love? The uncertainty of it killed him. And he knew that Hades was perfectly aware of that fact. He had practically split Killian’s head open, torn out chunks of him. Every fear, every doubt, every agonizing thought that Killian had ever felt, Hades knew. And now he planned to torture both of them with it.

“We’ll keep going with the trial.” Emma said, breaking Killian’s thoughts apart and scattering them.  “But we need real memories this time, not whatever sadistic thing you find in our pasts that you feel like torturing us with.”

“Ugh. Fine then, since you two want to be boring, we’ll do this your way! Let’s start at the beginning.” He flicked a hand through the air and another door appeared before them. “No more skipping to all the fun bits first. Off you go!”

They stared at it for a moment. It seemed to pulse with magic, threatening and inviting all at once. In his hand, her fingers were cold, the knuckles white where they gripped him tightly. He shifted, lifting his hook and brushing a lock of hair from her shoulder. Her eyes found his and locked on, a question in her eyes. He waited.

“What memory did he show you?” Emma asked finally, glancing up at him. “I’m guessing it was one of mine. Which one?” 

Killian debated not telling her. Did she really need to know how Hades had stolen that moment from her? But her face was resolute, her gaze steady. There was no point withholding this from her.

“You were in the hospital,” he said, watching her face. “Giving birth to Henry.”

“Oh.” she said, so quietly he barely caught it. Pain flashed across her face, fast and sharp, before her walls went up again and her expression grew blank. 

They both turned to look at the door as it swung open, the hinges squeaking slightly. He gripped her hand tighter, felt her hesitation before she squeezed back. Side by side, they walked through together. 

[yumedoca]

Alright, my fellow UY folks!! Since the new trailer has dropped, why don't we unpack everything they've shown us so far?

Or more specifically, what all chapters are getting adapted in the third cour (only third since they won't reveal footage for the fourth one till the third is over.)!!

Also, ignore the stupid quality since I took the pictures on my phone..

First up is the Kurama - Ran - Rei two-parter!! Nice to see Kurama again since I was worried she would be a one time character since she didn't appear in the eye catches. However, I'm pretty sure this is going to be her last appearance since it's her final appearance in the manga (not counting cameos). It's one of the funnier Kurama chapters, so this will be great fun!!

Next up is the 'Fantasy bubblegum' chapter!! Another one I didn't think which would be adapted since we see Ten order the key item in this chapter in the post credits of the love-love crystal ball episode. Maybe the order was delayed? Or Ten didn't use it till now? Who knows. Anyways, this is a pretty funny chapter and I'm excited to see how it turns out (Also BenOyu yuri, Let's goo!!!)

AtaLum fans, Let's rejoice, because it looks like they're adapting "Love knows no barriers" aka the chapter where Lum gets hit with the rice cooker!!! This one is my favorite singular chapter in the series and I absolutely hated the original anime's version of this one so I hope the remake does this one justice!! I'm not sure whether the first one is from this chapter since Ataru's wearing his school uniform instead of his casuals, but maybe it's because of a few changes here and there. DavidPro, you better not disappoint me considering what the original did.

Looks like we're going to get the chapter which introduces the Ryuunosuke's mom (Masako) saga. I'm not sure whether they'll adapt everything under this saga, but the first one seems to be there. I really like this chapter because we get a wholesome relationship between Ryu and Ataru's mom.

THE BODYSWAP CHAPTER!!! This one comes a bit earlier from what I remember and not to mention, it's pretty hilarious (literally any chapter where Sakura has to deal with Ataru's BS is an A+ for me) so I'm super excited!!

ASUKA, MY CHILD!! IT'S HER!! Finally one of my UY Blorbo's gets animated!! And considering the shot of her and Ton- chan, yes guys, they're keeping the incest. I've never understood why there were some who said they wouldn't adapt it but like, it's one of Asuka's main character points and the incest is clearly portrayed as wrong and unacceptable, similar to Ataru's lecherous behavior (They might still tone it down though). Anyways, I'm so excited for Asuka, I can't wait!!!

And finally, two very beloved and very important arcs!! First, I can't believe we're getting three AtaLum stories in this cour, I mean we deserve it after being fed with only one last cour. And second, I'm pretty sure both these arcs are going to be at least a whole episode long considering how big these two are. And I have to admit, the door realm looks so pretty.. and I'm so excited for Shingo, Inaba and their arcs, can't January come already???

And that's all for it!! Other than these, there were two to three shots I couldn't exactly place which chapter they belong to, so sorry about that. And I wanted to point out that the animation looks quite fluid in some scenes as well, so it looks like DavidPro is doing great work as expected. Anyways, UY is coming back once again on January 11th and I am so ready!! THE HYPE IS REAL!!!

[tlbodine]

Overthinking: You Can't Scare Me

This is one of those Goosebumps books that completely missed my radar at the time. I didn't know it existed until I started doing this series. Which is, on the balance, probably for the best. I think kid-me would have been very excited by the cover, which is one of the scariest in the series, but disappointed by the story, which is basically a daisy chain of shaggy dog stories.

You Can't Scare Me came out in January of '94, the first book in the second year of the original run and #15 in the series. It's also a playful, one may say indulgent, experiment with form. A frustrating near-miss of a story? Or a thoughtful treatise on the art of writing horror? Let's overthink it.

First, the Plot: This one has another ensemble cast, and much like Say Cheese and Die, a great deal of You Can't Scare Me is simply spent riffing on the interplay of its various characters. You've got Eddie, his friend Hat (who always wears a baseball cap), and a couple gum-chewing girls named Molly and Charlene.

All of them are jealous of class know-it-all and possessor of Big Dick Energy, Courtney.

It starts with a field trip where Courtney not only shows off her academic prowess, but fearlessly handles a snake and some bees, both of which had frightened Eddie. He's embarrassed about this and vows to get revenge by scaring her, and his friends conspire to make it happen.

Unfortunately, no matter what they do, they simply cannot scare Courtney. Their plans keep going sideways.

They hide a rubber snake in her lunch bag, but she shares her lunch with the teacher and HE gets the scare instead.

They try dropping a tarantula on her head but miss, catching Molly instead, and Courtney saves the day.

They try to get Charlene's dog to do a vicious Cujo act and scare her in the woods, but they lose the dog and Courtney ends up finding him -- and another, vicious-seeming-but-sweet-in-her-hands stray.

Courtney is infuriatingly calm and heroic. She even rescues a cat out of a tree.

Finally, at wit's end trying to find something to do, Eddie convinces his brother to help join the scare attempts. Eddie's brother has been filming a movie about a local legend of mud monsters, who were created when a poor part of town was flooded and the rich folks did nothing to save them. Now, on full moons once a year, the mud monsters rise up for vengeance.

Nobody believes in the mud monster myth, but they decide to give it a shot anyway, having the older teens dress in mud monster makeup and luring Courtney out into the woods by the creek. Just as they are creeping up on her, staggering and moaning their way toward her...Eddie sees his brother and friends. They had a flat tire and were late.

The mud monsters coming up on Courtney are REAL.

She is scared for the first time -- truly terrified! -- and runs away. Unfortunately, Eddie and his friends are ALSO too scared to gloat and enjoy it, so they also have to run away.

Later, Courtney is gloating about having seen real monsters, and Eddie is resigned to the reality that they will never be able to scare her. They're just too scared themselves.

Overthinking It: This book is so strange. The backstory of the mud monsters is both tragic and horrific, but they are relegated to a final twist, more background character than anything. The majority of the "scares" in this book are actually inverted. We see, time and again, Eddie imagining how the scary scene will play out. And then we witness how it ACTUALLY goes, unravelling the frightening bits.

It's like that forum game, where you undo the thing the person above you said. Or like de-powering a boggart with laughter.

You know how every Goosebumps book has a fake-out "Gotcha!" scare in an early chapter? This book is all gotcha, all the time.

What's particularly funny about this book is that the main characters are clearly the villains. Courtney is a little condescending, but she's well-meaning and generally kind. She's not a bully. This isn't like a Haunted Mask situation, or Be Careful What You Wish For, where she's tormenting these kids and they're here to get back at her righteously. Eddie and his friends are kind of dicks, and they deserve to have their pranks blow up in their faces once in a while.

I think in some ways, You Can't Scare Me is actually a book about writing Goosebumps books. It feels like an exorcism of sorts, a release valve for the frustration of churning out title after title of what you hope will be your best, scariest work, for an unappreciative audience who is impossible to please. You want to be scared, kids? You REALLY want to be scared? Well, damn -- how do you do that without getting too real, and actually traumatizing the little brats?

But perhaps that's too cynical of a take. It's not rooted in anything - just my own projection - and it may simply be that Stine (a comedy guy at heart) wanted an excuse to write something funny. And this book is funny, if you meet it on its own terms. It made me laugh aloud more than once. And, hey, you know what? Sometimes that's enough.

If You Liked This, THESE Will Really Give You Goosebumps:

Weird recommendation, but hear me out: Last Cut of the Dead. It's a zombie movie in three acts, and I don't want to spoil it for you, but let's just say it's a movie about theater, and it's both scary and extremely funny. Very similar vibes.

For another darkly funny take on the "friends conspire and scheme, and a prank goes horribly wrong," try Jawbreaker (wherein a group of girls has to cover up an accidental murder).

Incidentally, there's a folklore root to this particular story, as collected by the Brothers Grimm: The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was. It's one of my favorite fairytales, actually, because it's about a guy who spends the night in a haunted house and just repeatedly fails to be afraid by all the spooky shit going on around him.

[russenoire]

in response to this post:

ONE-sensei is a bit of a troll, not gonna lie.

but... i actually like this ending, at least for comedy's sake. the stark juxtaposition of

'boy gets hit by a truck and his unexamined jungian shadow self flattens a city before he finally makes peace with it'

with

'and everything was just fine six months later'

is funnier than spelling out exactly how we get from point A to point B, because we KNOW — as the audience — that it wasn't 'just fine'. after everything we saw, how could it be?

subverted expectations underpin a lot of comedy, even dark comedy, especially absurdist comedy. MP100 is practically built on both. this story wrings a lot of humor out of sad, if not tragic, situations: witness shigeo's 'who told you you could pass out?!' after his home has been reduced to kindling. or ritsu's admission that he only recently stopped crying himself to sleep at night over his inability to bend spoons like his big brother. while he's letting shigeo know just how much he supposedly hates him in that alley.

not expanding upon the real-life consequences of said city-flattening is funny precisely because dropping 'i wrecked my hometown after nearly dying in a car accident on the way to ask out my crush when i was a teenager' in a conversation and just... leaving it there? would be fucking horrifying in real life. here, in the elastic magical-realist context of MP100, it's more darkly absurd than anything else...

more to your point, OP: in this particular series, ONE-sensei tells so much of this story by implication. the answers to some of your questions are in the text, only... alluded to.

this might get long. bear with me:

the fact that joseph from the government exists? and that he's an esper working in secret? implies that the knowledge of destructive espers might need to be concealed from the public at large, perhaps to prevent wide-scale panic or ostracism of espers themselves. i doubt the government was forthright with its citizens about the confession arc disaster or the actual cause, for the same reasons.

that suzuki's broadcast-hijacking world domination announcement is met with public disdain and ridicule, especially over social media? outside of our cast, no one actually takes his threat seriously until it happens. reigen's trash-talking claw's seventh division down to earth also shows how little respect espers who don't make themselves useful to society actually get here. he is, after all, just another member of the public.

that reigen agrees to take on haruaki amakusa as a client after the world domination arc in part because he's worried about losing business? people have begun to move away from seasoning city in the aftermath; whatever the threat amakusa's hyakki present, neutralizing them as soon as possible is best for reigen's continued financial health. i can see even more residents deciding they've had enough and leaving after shigeo's last brush with death. would you stay?

how many people know shigeo is connected to reigen, apart from the people they both know? out of his own inflated and fragile ego, reigen presents himself as a sole proprietor on his website; it doesn't seem his business or its reputation would be directly affected at all.

and the injuries caused? possible deaths? we get a taste: early on in chapter 100, several people are trapped and unable to move in a 地盤沈下 (jibánchinka, literally: 'land subsidence', which can apply to a sinkhole, a landslide...) shigeo has left in his wake. we only find out because a cop is being briefed on this and its cause while trying to detain the suspect for questioning.

but like all other bodily harm caused in this story, we aren't treated to the fallout. did the elderly ishiguro survive shou plowing him into the earth? did miyagawa die after teruki flipped his barrier onto him and broiled him in his own flames? did those high school bully boys live after shigeo cracked their heads open on the pavement like eggs? like, these are good questions. (i'm inclined to believe that all these people died, but many would call me harsh for saying that about an otherwise kind story. we never see them again, either way.)

shigeo actually has a healing factor of sorts; his jungian shadow self keeps plucking him from death's arms. we have no way of knowing if this is true for anyone else, because that isn't the story ONE wanted to tell. if nothing else, the mangaka's lack of desire to engage with this question of lethal consequences is at least consistent across MP100.

any questions that aren't answered either directly or that can't be answered by easy extrapolation can foster continued engagement with the material.

for example: we don't know what shigeo's parents think about much of anything in this story, besides how little they expect from him and how ritsu sets a standard they feel shigeo should live up to. this boy goes through hell multiple times and is never shown to confide in either of his parents about it, instead suffering in silence for some time until he finds someone he feels safe enough to talk to. all this gives me the distinct impression that shigeo just isn't that close to his mother or his father. i can understand why. it's actually kind of sad, even as readers' frustrated expectations of real-life parental involvement with — and confusion over — his and his brother's shenanigans also generate some dark humor.

this also establishes a precedent: since we never check in with them, by the time the confession arc rolls around, their opinion hardly matters. (but i'm sure someone has written a fic fleshing that out! i'm somewhat curious myself.)

[that-one-anxious-mango]

You + Me = US (1)

Summary: After a shocking discovery is made that you decide to keep to yourself out of fear..you realize your secrecy may be doing more harm than good.

Content: BIG ANGST. Reader feeling sad and conflicted. Appearance of a friend. Argument and Tension between Austin and reader. Tense and sad Austin. Just all around Angst. 

A/N: Hello Beautiful humans! I hope you’re all well. I know this is something I hadn’t planned out putting out so soon. But seeing as ya’ll wanted the first part of the juicy angsty story I mentioned so bad..this is it. I hope you all enjoy because..yeah. Much love. *hugs*

P.S Please Always feel free to comment, reblog, and send me letters about the fic and anything else pertaining to the series!  And also let me know to be added to the taglist! 🏷️

Taglist: @purejasmine , @wacoshuffle

---

So here you were.

One Bathroom Counter

Six tests.

Twelve brightly positive lines.

One Shocked Alana

And one terrified you.

The room was so silent you could have heard a pin drop.

You almost couldn't believe it.

You were pregnant and scared shitless.

Immediately you’d burst into tears while Alana who usually wasn’t one for traditional methods of comfort..did her best.  

From there a hour crying session began until you got the strength to talk.

" Alana what am I gonna do. This isn’t suppose to be happening right now. Not n-now." You sniffled out hanging on to your friend tighter.

This was bad..no scratch that...it was terrible timing.

You had just finally broken some ground at work and was finally feeling like your contributions were being used. Austin was riding the high of Elvis and had also just finished filming Dune part 2. Not to mention you'd only gotten engaged not even three months ago and hadn't been in the new condo two good months...which you'd been literally going at it like rabbits in.

But still, everything was flowing just the way it needed to flow, and something like this was certain to disrupt it.

" You're gonna have to do what you need to do, babes. No matter what you need to take care of you first above all else." Alana offered.

Looking at her with red eyes you asked, " What would you do? "

Mirroring you back with a face of stone Alana was hesitate to answer because in her mind.. you may not have wanted to hear her true opinion. 

She replied, " Honestly."

Taking a breath you nodded.

" Well...."

—-

It'd been almost a month since you'd found that you were pregnant. And it had not been a easy ride. Between the fatigue, constant nauseous feeling, tiredness, and the task of doing your best to hide all signs of the minimal morning sickness from everyone.

You were exhausted.

But still the only two souls that knew were you and Alana.

And as much as you wanted to tell Austin and everyone else...you weren't ready.

Immediately when you stepped inside your home you smelt the delicious scent that carried through the air along with the soft jazz music you could hear from the kitchen. When you entered you were greeted by a enthused Magnus who did his everyday duty of administering your daily dosage of puppy kisses. After you went to the kitchen.

" Hey, mama. Been waiting to see you all day." Austin chirped from his post at the stovetop. He looked to have been making Fajitas and yellow rice, one of your favorite things he made, but  your stomach didn't jump at the sight of them like they normally would.

" Hi. That smells good, babe." You responded slowly inching toward the living room faking a smile. Really the closer you got, the more you wanted to gag. It smelled so funny.

" Thanks. I figured it had been a hot minute since I'd made it and I know its a favorite of yours. I thought we might eat this for dinner then maybe we could finish another chapter of the book we got Saturday upstairs."

You just nodded, " Yeah, Aus. That sounds nice. I'm gonna go lie on the couch for a little bit though. Feeling little tired." You informed.

Austin had to hold back the sullen expression that wanted to form and instead replace it with a small smile, usually whenever he cooked you were perched right on a seat at the kitchen island chattering and giggling. But as of recent that hadn't been the case and Austin would be lying if he said it didn't bother him.

" Okay."

From there the two of you had dinner as normal making little small talk here and there. Mostly work talk and little about plans for the summer the two of you had made which now made you said since they might not be feasible with the new information of your...condition.

Post dinner Austin let Magnus out to potty before you both ventured upstairs with the happy hound following where the two of you separately shower and change to then got in bed and Austin took his turn to read.

Feeling actually tired you let him sort of cuddle you with his unoccupied hand on your back while your head rested on his chest and your legs were intertwined.

Seeing that the book was a romance once you'd hit a certain part of the chapter it'd gotten..spicy . And with the two of you particularly in a enclosed space like your bed, it wasn't shocking to you when Austin decided to make a move.

He'd leaned in and grabbed your face pulling yours to his in a sweet kiss. A kiss that you couldn't help but naturally blend into. This was the most action the two of you had seen in a while. He was enjoying being this close to you. He drank in the scent of mango and vanilla that came from you and savored the soft of your skin on his fingertips. 

Gaining more traction without breaking the union Austin had managed to to set the book aside on the nightstand while maneuvering to hover over you. Everything was okay until you felt a hand move from caressing the top of your breast down to brush the top of your stomach.

Startled you abruptly pulled away alarming Austin.

" Whoa. Hey you alright? What's the matter? " He questioned searching your face.

Putting on a poker face you nodded, " Yeah I'm fine, babe. Just..do you mind..." You trailed silently gesturing for him to move off.

Obliging instead of just rolling over, Austin got up from the bed standing to look at you. You couldn't quite pin-point what he was thinking, but from his expression it was clear he was bothered.

" Y/N what's going on? Is it me? Have I done something? "  He asked.

Shaking your head you scooched off the bed moving to stand, " Of course not, Aus. Why would you think that? It's fine. I'm fine." You said feeling a whoosh of anxiety enter your chest.

" Well I honestly don't know what you want me to think, baby. I mean as of late every time I come near and try to hold you , you move away from like I got the plague. We haven't had a date night in three weeks because you always keep saying you're too tired or busy. Whenever I'm home and I cook dinner for us you don't wanna even sit down and eat with me." Austin poured looking at you with pleading eyes. " It feels..like you don't want me around most days."

Your eyes began to water hearing his outpour of concern and neglect. 

“ That’s not true, baby. You know I want you around all the time.” You tried assuring.

You hadn’t meant to get this way. You felt terrible. Like a monster. You'd never meant to make him feel this way.

A bitter laugh left him, “ I can’t tell.” 

Looking at you he could see that you felt bad and once your tears began rolling,  he felt his eyes begin to feel moist.

" Baby...." He dragged out trying to keep the strain against his voice small, " We're not even making love anymore. The last time you let me touch you was almost a month ago. A-and before that we could barely keep our hands off each other." He painfully pointed out thinking about all the passionate love making the two of had been doing. You used to joke around with him and tease that he had to be part energizer bunny because he never needed a recharge.

But nonetheless it was true.

You'd been avoiding him, and tucking yourself away while you tried to figure out what you were going to do.

Doing little things like wearing loose clothes even to bed when he knew you preferred to be near naked most times. When he'd offer shower with you, you'd always politely decline brushing it off as you were just going to be in and out. You put space between the two of you when you watched shows or ate dinner. Austin had taken note of it all, and while he had been trying to give you some space and be supportive. But he feared he was at the end of his rope.

But still you couldn't find the voice to say anything back to him, and this unfortunately heighten his emotions so bad that he said the unthinkable.

" You know what cut the shit, Y/N! " Austin sighed placing his hands into his face. " Who is he? " Austin accused feeling like you'd just been struck in the chest.

" E-excuse me." You gawked in disbelief at what your fiancée was shockingly insinuating. He had to know better than even letting a passing thought like that enter his mind.

" You heard me. Who is he? " He repeated with more attitude. " Because whatever you're not getting here you gotta be getting somewhere, right? It's Lucas isn't it?" He sourly threw out the name of the name of your friend who'd been helping with your photography classes you'd enrolled in. The same Lucas from the night at Alana's party that had tried to get extra friendly with you. “ You’re fucking him, aren’t you?” The words thrown out like venom.

You felt you heart race prompting you to rest a hand on your chest as you tried to calm yourself down. But no much how much steady breathing you practiced, it wouldn't help stop the tears that began cascading down your face, " Austin...H-how could you even think that. No! There isn't anyone else. Not Lucas..not anyone!" " You choked out in disbelief full on crying now.

Raising his head to look at you he sighed, " Ah hell, Y/N." He mumbled in discontent at seeing you cry the way you were. He hated when you cried. " I don't know what to think at this point! This isn't like us. This isn't like YOU."

You nodded feverishly trying to calm down, " I know...I-I just don't feel like myself, Austin." You half confessed being sure to leave out the major components of why.

" Okay, I understand. And I absolutely hate that your feeling that way. But I can't help you if I don't know what's going on. Can please you tell me what's wrong. I wanna be here and help you. But you're shutting me out. Please." Austin pleaded looking at you intently, all he was asking was for something..really anything that you could tell him to steer him in the right direction. Because right now he felt lost.

Biting your lip to the point of near bloodshed and twiddling your thumbs you contemplated just spilling your guts and telling him right then and there, but the little voice in your head agonizingly sniping at your thoughts wouldn’t allow it.

If you tell him now it becomes real. And there isn't anything guaranteeing that he'll be happy. I mean you told him about your childhood, why would he want someone damaged like you to raise a child with.

Who would want you as a mother?

Feeling like the walls were caving in you just barely spoke, " Austin. I want to....But I can't.... I just can't."

The words had come out.

And now you had to painfully watch as his face fall at your response. It was like you could see a little embers of hope die behind his eyes, and it broke your heart even more to watch as he sniffled up what would have been a stray tear.

When he responded his voice sounded taut, " You know when we first started dating and we played that game with all the questions. And I asked you to describe our relationship in three words. One of the words YOU specifically picked was honest." Austin reminisced reminding you both of the happier time. He took a second to breath until his glossy eyes met yours in a intense lock, " W-when did that change?"

Once he finished, he then proceed to back away from you softly wrenching the bedroom door open, he casted you one more look before closing it behind him.  Leaving you to shakily lay yourself down on the bed and wrap yourself in the covers to ensue in a good old fashion sob out.

That night for the first time since the two of you had gotten engaged and moved into the loft you'd sleep alone in your king size bed. You heard when the guest bedroom had opened and closed. This only made you cry more.

You felt cold. And not just because the usual warmth Austin gave off holding you in the night wasn't present, but really because it was as if you were standing in the middle of nowhere with no shelter and no place to turn.

You felt alone.

In the wee hours of the morning while your fought yourself in and out of sleep you'd heard the bedroom slowly creep open. With your back to the room you listened as he moved about the bathroom and the closet in what you knew was him getting ready for the interview line up he had today for some of the precursors for award season.

You so badly wanted to turn around and call out for him. Apologize and explain everything a thousand times over. But still it felt like your body physically wouldn't move.

When he came out the final time, you could hear him come to his side of the bed and put something on the duvet. He sighed before turning around and back out the door closing it softly behind him. The alarm chime could be heard soon after and that's when you knew he was gone.

Slowly pulling yourself up to turn around. You hit the toggle for the lights and looked at the folded note that sat on his pillow.

You'd be laying if you said that your heart didn't fall to your ass. Was he leaving you?

Numbly you grabbed the note bracing yourself to take in it's contents.

Then you read it,

Dear Y/N,

I know that I already told you that I'd be out for most of the day today but I also wanted to let you know that when I get home I'll be retiring to the guest room.

I don't exactly know what's going right now but I just feel like I'm putting in so much effort into this relationship as of recent only to receive half of it back. And as a couple who recently got engaged..this worries me. I understand that you have a tough time opening up about certain things bothering you and that is completely understandable. But just what I don't understand is why your pulling back from opening up to me after all we've been through in two years of progression.

With that being said, for right now I think it'll be good if we just take some space. Hence why I'll be staying in the guestroom for a couple of days. Unless you're ready to talk in some type of honest capacity or there is some type of emergency, I ask that you please respect this boundary for the time being.

I love you, Y/N. And I know we can work at this and overcome whatever is going on.

But I badly need you to try.

I'll still be home in time to make dinner as normal and I'll leave you a plate in the microwave.

All my love always, forever, and beyond,

Austin.

[lockes-woods]

Stuck Chapter 4

Himiko sighed in content as she stretched. Thursdays were her favorite day of the week. While she did still have two lectures, she didn’t work at either of her jobs again until the next morning. She always treated Thursdays like a recovery day. A groan escaped her as she changed positions and stretched the left side of her body. She was doing a bastardized version of yoga based on her high school gym classes and the stretches she learned throughout the years at different Dojos. She normally would wait to stretch until after breakfast, but she was trying to keep her mind off the text she sent to Shanks the night before. Her nerves got the best of her when she tried to eat earlier. She had two spoonsful of cereal before nausea set in.

          She was still trying to convince herself that it was fine that Shanks hadn’t replied yet. It was only nine in the morning, and she had sent the text at around midnight the day before. She had no idea what his schedule was, and he might want to talk to Mihawk before responding to her. All she had texted was a basic ‘here’s my number' text’ followed by a text that she had also gotten his card from Mihawk.

While part of her was able to rationalize the delayed response there was also a part of her that was deeply anxious. Did she overstep? What if he didn’t want his husband to know about her? Sure, they playfully flirted with each other, but it wasn’t serious. Still, she worried that she had crossed a boundary that she didn’t know existed.

          “Are you okay?” Nami asked as she entered the living room.

          “I guess, why?” Himiko asked as she dropped her pose and turned to face her.

          “You’ve been holding that pose for like five minutes; I can practically hear you overthinking from here,” Nami said as she slipped on her jacket. She had class in an hour and work afterward.

          “I’m just still waiting for Shanks to reply,” Himiko admitted bashfully. She avoided eye contact as she took a swig from her water bottle.

          “Ah, how’s your stomach?” Nami asked leaning against the couch.

          “Alright I guess I was planning to hit up the café for lunch before class,” Himiko answered.

          “Did you eat breakfast?” She probed.

          “Sorta; I just wasn’t hungry.” Himiko fibbed.

          “You weren’t hungry or were you not able to eat?” Nami pushed. Himiko loved their relationship, but it was at times like these that she wished Nami didn’t know her so well.

          “I had a couple bites of cereal before I got nauseous,” Himiko answered truthfully, finally looking Nami in the eye.

          “Damn, you’re really down bad for them huh?” Nami teased.

          “Is that a bad thing?” Himiko asked.

          “No, it’s just funny. I’ve never seen you get like this over a guy. The only times you’ve ever been like this were always for women.” Nami said. It was true while Himiko was bisexual 90% of her romantic endeavors were with women. The farthest she had ever gotten with a guy was a few dates, or a one-night stand.

           “It’s not even a romantic thing; I just get anxious around them individually. Thinking about interacting with them together makes me nervous on a whole different level. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s not in a bad way, but it’s also not good either. I’ve never felt this way before. I’m just more conscious of my mistakes when I’m around them and I want to make the best impression I can.” Himiko said.

          Nami paused before replying, “I know you said it isn’t romantic, but to me, it sounds like you have a crush.”

          “Maybe? But my crushes are never this intense. I already know nothing could ever happen romantically; they’re married to each other. Before I even knew that they were an item I had ruled out pursuing either of them. If not for the fact that I don’t even know their sexualities, there is also an age gap between us.” Himiko sighed.

          “Aren’t they in their mid-thirties? That’s not that big of an age gap; especially in the queer community. It’s not like you just turned 18 or anything. You’re all adults.” Nami responded.

          “I guess I just feel bad that I’m having these feelings about them at all. I just respect them a lot. They’re literally the definition of a power couple. Both of them are at the top of their fields.” Himiko said.

          “I wouldn’t feel bad for feeling this way. It just sounds like you admire both of them and want that feeling to be mutual.” Nami said sympathetically.

          “I guess; I just wish I could put a name to this feeling,” Himiko said while fidgeting with her hands.

          “I gotta go. Maybe you should just go to the café now to get your mind off things. I feel like you’re just going to spiral if you stay here alone; plus, you’ll probably feel better once you eat.” Nami said.

          “You’re probably right,” Himiko agrees, “Gimmie a second and I’ll head out with you.” She quickly went to her room to grab her bag. She rushed back out to the main room and slipped on a pair of shoes and her jacket before following Nami out of their apartment.

           “What do you think is the best-case scenario for your situation?” Nami asked as they made their way down to the street from their three-floor walkup.

          “I don’t know, I guess Shanks represents me in court and I don’t have to worry about dealing with that scum bag ever again,”  Himiko said.

          “So, if you were able to enter a romantic relationship with them you wouldn’t?” Nami asked.

          “I don’t want to entertain that idea even as a hypothetical. It’s never going to be on the table.” Himiko dismissed.

          “Alright if you say so,” Nami started as they paid their fare. “For what it's worth it sounds like your goal is pretty easily attainable. I can’t see any reason knowing his husband would cause him to renege on his offer to you.”

          “You’re probably right. This is just a new level of social anxiety that I wasn’t aware I had.” Himiko responded as they got onto the train and snagged two seats.

          “I always knew you had it in you,” Nami joked causing Himiko to roll her eyes.

          “You’re hilarious,” Himiko said dryly.

          “I know right?” Nami said ignoring Himiko’s deadpan look.

          “Are you going to be home for dinner tonight?" Himiko segwayed.

          “Nah, I was going to take Vivi out on a date. Well, she’s technically taking me out. There’s a new Thai place that opened up near school that we’ve been wanting to try.” Nami answered.

          “So, in other words, you plan, and she pays?” Himiko joked.

          “Yup,” Nami said back.

          “What’s it called when you date someone younger than you, but they spoil you?” Himiko asked.

          “Reverse sugar daddy?” Nami said after thinking for a second,

          “I guess, I can’t think there’s any other way to phrase it.” Himiko said with a laugh before continuing, “I do love that you found someone that you like and takes care of you; Bell-mère would be proud.” Himiko said with a smile.

          “Now we just have to get you, somebody,” Nami said with a matching smile as she bumped shoulders with Himiko.

          “Maybe after I graduate,” Himiko said, “I barely have enough time for myself.”

          “That’s in like forever; you know mom always said that living is for now, not the future,” Nami replied.

          “I know, I know, I just made a promise to myself that if I was going to get my degree I wouldn’t half-ass it,” Himiko said back.

          “I get that, but this feels extreme; when’s the last time you even got laid?” Nami asked.

          “I don’t know,” Himiko paused to think, “Last Labor Day?”

          “That was over two months ago!” Nami said in shock, “I know you don’t like dating apps, but there have to have been people you could have been with since then.”

          “Maybe? That was the last time I had off from class and work. It just doesn’t work for my schedule to date someone. I also hate one-night stands; I’d rather have an emotional connection with someone with no sex than sex with nothing there.”  Himiko vented.

          “Maybe you could take less classes next semester?” Nami said.

          “I wish, I’m already only taking three classes at a time. If I take any less, I’ll have to start paying back my student loans.” Himiko said with a frown.

          “Could you work less?” Nami asked.

          “Nami, we barely make rent every month. I’m not going to risk us being evicted because I want some action.” Himiko dismissed, as they pulled into their stop. Both of them get up and make their way to the street.

          “I wish there was another way,” Nami sighed.

          “It sucks, but I think I just need to focus on my career right now or quit.” Himiko agreed, stopping in front of the café, “Are you going to get anything or are you heading straight to class?” Nami glanced down at her phone before replying.

          “Nah, I have to get to class. We have a semester project coming up     and I have some questions about the assignment.”          

          “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow?” Himiko asked.

          “Probably not til Saturday, I’m going to stay over at Vivi’s tonight,” Nami replied.

          “Alright, be safe,” Himiko said squeezing Nami’s hand.

          “You too, keep me updated on the DILF situation,” Nami said as she started walking backward away from Himiko towards campus.

          “I will,” Himiko waved before heading into the café. It was packed, but some of the sitting area was open. She quickly walked over to the half-booth section and placed her bag down on the table to claim her spot. Afterward, she got in line. While it was only three people deep Himiko still pulled out her phone to kill the time. Her stomach dropped when she saw a text notification from Shanks. She thought she’d be relieved when he finally responded, but her nerves tripled instead. She hesitated before opening her phone and reading the texts.

          Shanks: Wow, small world.

          Shanks: Are you free at all this week? Or next week?

Himiko: I’m free tonight after 5 and Sunday afternoon.

Himiko: Why?

“Himiko you’re up.” She heard Robin call out to her. She snapped her head up realizing that the three people ahead of her had moved on to the handoff area. Himiko quickly stepped forward to close the gap between her and the counter.

          “What can I get for you today?” Robin asked.

          “Um, can I have an order of the shortbread cookies and a large honey lavender oat milk latte?” She asked putting away her phone away and pulling out her card. She had never been more thankful that she had her read receipts turned off. She tapped her card to the card reader before shuffling over to the espresso bars.

          “Whoa, you good Himiko?” Usopp asked looking over the machine.

          “I’m fine,” Himiko started before getting cut off by Sanji.

          “Are you sure? You look like you just got sucker punched in the gut.” He said in a concerned tone.

          “Like physically I’m fine; there have just been developments with the whole DILF situation.” She explained.

          “Ooo, what happened?” Sanji said handing her drink to her over the machine.

          “It’s kind of hard to explain and is still developing. I’ll update the group chat when I can.” She promised after grabbing the cookies she ordered from Usopp.

          “You better,” Usopp said.

          “Yeah, your love life is never this exciting,” Sanji tacked on.

          “And because we care about you,” Usopp said nudging Sanji.

          “Yeah, that too,” Sanji agreed. Himiko rolled her eyes and turned on her heels to head back to her table. She stopped in her tracks when she noticed it had been encapsulated by a large group of teenage girls on either side. If she had to guess it was probably a group of freshmen from the college. She glanced around and noticed all the other tables were full. Suddenly feeling claustrophobic Himiko decided to leave the café and head for the botanical garden nearby. Technically it was part of the hospital’s campus, but she had never really seen any medical staff around it. She waved to the guys as she headed out.

          This was one of her favorite times of year to go to the garden; while most things had died off for the year there were a good number of trees and bushes that had changed colors with the season. This was also the time of year it was least busy. During the spring and early summer, it was packed with tourists and city dwellers alike who admired the flora. It wouldn’t be that busy again until they put up the decorative lights in December. Himiko was thankful for the good weather. The temperature had peaked above fifty degrees and there was no wind chill for once. A smile graced her lips as she made it to the center of the garden where there were metal benches and a grand water fountain. While the fountain had been turned off for the year, she was still able to admire the sculpted metal of different flowers. She was surrounded by hues of yellow, orange, and red.

          After settling onto a bench, she pulled out her phone and saw a new text from Shanks.

          Shanks: We’d like to take you out for dinner.

          Shanks: Only if you’re comfortable with that; you can pick where we eat.

          Himiko paused and read over the text twice before clicking on the Going Merry group chat.

Himiko: Update: The DILF Surgeon and DILF Lawyer are married.

Himiko: Nami and I figured it out last night and I texted them.

Himiko: And now they want to take me out to dinner tonight.

King: That’s crazy

NomNom: Are you going to go?

Himiko: IDK I haven’t texted back yet

Loverboy: This feels like a sex thing

Himiko:You say that about everything

Captain: They could just be going over the next step in legal action

Loverboy: Both of them wouldn’t need to go if it was that

Mosshead: I hate to agree with Mr. Prince but it could be that

Mosshead: That lawyer has always flirted with you

King: The surgeon too

Himiko: The surgeon has never flirted with me

King: He always perks up when you’re working

Loverboy: That’s true

Captain: I’d go if I were you

Captain: Worst case scenario you get a free meal

Himiko: I guess that’s true

NomNom: Um no. Worst case scenario they abduct and kill you

Himiko: I feel like if they were creeps I would have caught on by now

Himiko: Plus I can take care of myself

Mosshead: I’m free tonight if you need an out

Captain: Me too

Himiko: Okay, I think I’m going to go

NomNom: You better have your location on the whole time

Mosshead: Drop a pin when you get to there

Captain: Text us when you get home

          Himiko was about to reply when a shadow was suddenly cast over her. Her head shot up as she squeaked before realizing that it was just Mihawk. He huffed a laugh through his nose in response.

          “Hey, what are you doing here?” Himiko asked, still recovering from the fright.

          “I could ask you the same thing; I do work at this here after all,” Mihawk responded with an amused look on his face.

          “Oh, right,” Himiko said with a sheepish smile. She could feel the heat of embarrassment rise up her neck to her face before she responded, “I sometimes come here to kill time before class. I like to watch the leaves change before everything goes dormant for the winter.” Mihawk nodded in understanding as he took in the trees himself. While he was distracted Himiko sneaked a glance at him. He wasn’t wearing scrubs today; instead, he was wearing a charcoal grey button-down, black slacks, and a white coat. Himiko tried to ignore the fact that she could see his figure more clearly than normal. She couldn’t help but stare at where the fabric strained against his body. He was muscular, but not in a bulky way. If Himiko had to describe it, she’d call it a swimmer’s build.

          “No surgeries today?” she asked, looking up at him.   

          “No,” he said in agreement, “I have to catch up on some paperwork today as well as check in on patients. I was on my way to grab an early lunch when I saw you out here.”  He finished nodding up at the bridge above them that connected two wings of the hospital together.

          “May I sit?” he asked.

          “Oh, sure,” Himiko said scooting over and shifting her backpack from the bench to the ground. He sat and turned to face her.

          “It’s funny I was just texting Shanks about dinner before you showed up.” She said with a smile.

          “Oh? Have you decided if you are going or not?” Mihawk said quirking an eyebrow.

          “Yeah, I was just trying to decide where I wanted to go,” Himiko started, “Do you guys like diner food?”

          “I’m sure we’ll like wherever you decide on; we’re more concerned with the company than the food,” Mihawk said looking down at her.

          “Okay,” Himiko said shyly. “I still can’t believe that you two know each other, let alone are married.”

          “We were equally surprised to come to the revelation that you were the same worker we’ve both taken a liking to.” Mihawk agreed.

          “Why do you want to have dinner with me?” She asked. Mihawk paused before responding.

          “I believe it would be best to tell you when we are all together.”

          “Okay,” she nodded looking down at her phone, “I have class soon, but would the diner on the corner of Thirty-second Street and Poplar Street at six-thirty tonight work?”

          “That sounds perfect,” Mihawk confirmed with a slight upturn of his lip, “I’ll let Shanks know.”

          “Okay, cool,” Himiko said sliding on her backpack.

“See you later.” She said giving him one last look before heading back out to the street towards the university.

MASTER LIST

[noffy96]

Kustard kid fic

Decided to add something to my 'Back Home' Series. Red is panicking about seeing his young son battle.

that was the whole premise. hope you all enjoy

Also Nicecreamguy/Burgerpants are here. Finally getting into this part of the story as well.

First Encounters

Word count: 6,210

Chapter 1/1

Summary:

He had to suppress another chuckle. It’s kinda funny their fight was basically seeing which of their parents was better. Also, it was kinda sweet to hear what they found cool about each of them.

“That’s it! I challenge you to a duel!” The young cat monster declared

“I accept!” Nova quickly answered with no hesitation

He felt himself freeze, as he heard those words, the grin dropping from his face as he stared at the two kids.

or

The first time a monster has a monster battle is very important. Battels is how you show affection between friends. With friendly magic attacks Their son was now at the age where he and his classmates would have them. Red had expected to hear his happy son’s ramblings about it…not see it happen. And he isn’t quite sure how to feel…seeing his 5-year-old fight

--link here to AO3--

or continue below the read more line

He stepped out of the shortcut about a block away from the school. Slowly meandering his way towards the crowd of parents picking up their children. He looked through the crowd if he spotted Sansy.

Nova would hopefully be thrilled that he was here to pick him up as well. He wondered what he had got up today. It was a Friday, so that meant free picking of activities. Which also meant, one of three things. Nova had gotten to play with the Sandbox, so his clothes needed to be washed. He did some painting again..which also meant the clothes needed to be washed. Or he played tag with the other children…

Well, it basically meant that Friday was the day that his son came out very messy and in need of a shower. But also with a big grin on his face, and maybe even a project he had worked on. And he was excited to see what it was this time.

He finally saw Sans leaning on the fence of the playground around the school talking with Napstablook. The smile on his face came a bit easier, and some tension melted away, stepping up beside his husband, wrapping an arm around him.

The collar around his own neck let out a pleasant hum, as he nodded towards the shy ghost. Who had seen him do this enough times, that he only turned a tiny bit transparent, instead of up and disappearing completely.

And he tuned into their conversation.

“Sooo….yeaaah.. We hope… we can get Dawn…enrolled… next year.”

“Yeah, I think it will be fine pal,” Sans responded.

“And if for some reason it doesn't work out, look for me at Grillby's on Wednesdays, Me and Red still have some stuff for when we were looking into clubs for Nova”

Blooky nodded happily

“Thank…youuu….you really are…kind….you…still play…trombone…at Grilby’s?”

His mate laughed.

“The whole reason I am there,”

then leaned forward to the shy ghost

“And if you and Shyren even wanna perform, just say the word,”

The shy ghost turned more transparent

“Ohh….nooo… I dunno.. I have to go….my friend….meeting…nice..to see you…Bye, Sans…Bye Red”

He raised his other arm and waved, as Napstablook floated towards the school, where a teacher seemed to be waiting for him.

“So, him and Shyren settling down after Mettanton's next tour?” he asked his husband who had crossed his arms to lean more on the fence.

“Looks like it, don’t wanna be touring all over, with their kid growing up. They want them to have friends”

He nodded. Nova was starting to make his own friends, and it was a joy to see. These would be people that he chose himself. And not. Happenstance cause they are the only couple of their age group around the block. Or within their parents' friends circle with kids which weren't many. But people his own age he could relate to and hang with. Still limited to a small class size of course but more choices than he ever had

He had heard all kinds of names come and go these first few weeks. But not yet a consistent name. Nova seemed to play with someone new every day, and he was happy to see that his son was so social. Even as it made nerves crawl at his spine sometimes.

Sans gave a short soft squeeze at his spine. Right. Nothing to worry about.

“I never get why, he is so nervous about performing at the bar, they perform for millions with Mettaton” he continued their conversation instead. Gesturing towards where Napstablook had disappeared

Sans shrugged, leaning more against him.

“Maybe it’s cause it is filled with familiar faces”

He let out a hum.

“So, how come you so early?”

The other asked while leaning over to peck his cheek.

“The workers installing the new airco for the server room came early. So we shut down so that they could start. And then we could hopefully get everything back online today instead of tomorrow”

Sans hummed.

“ Will That be your job later?”

He shook his head

“Nah, it’s Frank’s, only on call in case something goes wrong”

Sans straightened himself. And they both noticed the small heads of the children in front of the windows. He noticed children sitting next to the window peeking outside every now and then, looking for their parents instead of paying attention. It made his heart grin. He had barely any memories of going to school himself. He was sure that he did at some point, but mostly it had been Gaster teaching him.

He wouldn’t have stood for being distracted, He saw one kid stare at him through the window. Probably staring at his prosthetic arm, He leaned more on the fence bringing it more into view. Slowly swaying it back and forth. Seeing the kid follow it with his eyes. Then the kid snapped his head back. Looks like he was caught by the teacher.

Sans chuckled,

“You shouldn’t distract them”

He shrugged in response

“Not my fault, they think my arm is cool looking”

“Fair enough”

There was a brief silence, then was filled by the gentle buzz of other parents' conversations that he half paid attention to.

“By the way, Is Blue still coming over later? “ he asked remembering suddenly

“As far as I know, yes “

“So Taco’s tonight?”

“Unless our brothers bring leftovers, yes.”

“Sweet, it’s been a while”

It really had been. Blue had been back in underswap for a while. Having missed some bestie time with his Alphys. Stretch had certainly missed his younger brother. And Edge and Pap had been very busy between work and the twins. It helped of course that Stretch stayed home. But two young monsters that started to develop their magic? It had been hard with just one. The guy deserved some relaxation

“Probably means Nova gotta bath twice today”

“Wow, it would be the lowest record, we’ve set in months, Ow..Hey!”

His husband had shoved him out of his personal space

“Behave you”

He gave a gentle shove back. His lover rolled his eyes at him, as they got interrupted by the school bell.

They both straightened themselves and walked closer to the gate, waiting for their son. More and more children walked by. And as the minutes ticked on…he was slowly growing more worried

“I think I saw some of his classmates…”

He pointed out.

“Yeah…he might still be inside?” Sans stated but it came out more of a confused question

Why tho…? went through his mind

There were still quite a few people around…but most were parents with older kids.

“One more minute..and then we check?”

He asked, sticking his hands in his hoodie and Sans gave a nod of agreement Nova probably got talking with a classmate..it happened last time he was late. They were both probably worrying about nothing. But maybe he got in trouble with the teacher?

“Okay,...let’s go”

He gave a nod and followed behind Sans. Slowly they made their way through the hallways, some of the older kids running by. As their son's classroom came into sight, at the door was Toriel taking to two other adults. A blue bunny monster and an orange cat monster.

Oh, that is the guy that sold the Nicecreams. And the guy that used to sell the burgers at MTT resort back underground. At least…he looked like a grown-up version of that kid from his dimension. And unlike Stretch and Blues Home. Most lookalikes were pretty one-to-one here.

Toriel turned to face us

“Oh, Sans, Red, good to see you both”

She greeted the both of them with a warm smile, She didn’t seem to be panicking so that was a good sign. Nova was likely still here. But he also knew the boss monster poker face could be really good.

“Hey, Tori, Nova hasn’t shown up yet, is he still here”

Sans asked her with an air of familiarity that some people found rude to speak with the former queen. No matter how long it has been or how she insists that people act casually.

The boss monster gave a nod, and he felt his own chest ease

“Yes he is, I made him help clean up, as he and Roman have been getting into some spats all day”

The Nicecream guy smiled apologetically

“I am so sorry for the trouble miss Toriel”

She turned to the other pair of parents with the same patient smile.

“Oh don’t be dear, It’s a good teaching moment, and your kids aren't the first, and won’t certainly be the last,”

“What made them start fighting?”

He asked her. As far as he knows. Nova hadn’t gotten into any fights before today. Well nothing more than what could have been resolved at the end of the day Toriel made a sound between a sigh and a chuckle

“Roman was convinced someone had stepped on his cape. Nova pointed out it actually got stuck between some bags. And basically been a back and forth ever since, nobody could back up either one of them”

The orange monster nudged his partner.

“Told you the cape was a bad idea”

The blue one rolled his eyes in response. They got interrupted by shouting coming from the classroom they stood in front of.

“No, I AM not!”

That was their son's voice.

“Yes you are, you are just jealous!”

Came a different child's voice

“Noooo!”

“Yess!"

They all glanced inside as Toriel sighed, and stated the rather obvious.

“They are it again”

The five of them walked into the classroom. And in the center of the room were the two children. Nova seemed to have thrown a rag on the ground, the sleeves of his dark purple hoodie a bit wet from cleaning. Across him was a blue-haired cat monster. Who was wearing what looked like a handmade prince costume. Complete with a handmade paper crown and a toy sword. And of course, as indicated before. There was a bright red cape strapped to his shoulders

Toriel stepped forward and spoke up using her teacher's voice.

“Boy’s, this doesn’t look like cleaning”

Both boys crossed their arms and looked embarrassed.

“But miss Toriel.” Nova started

“No Nova, It doesn’t matter who started it, you were supposed to work together”

Nova crossed his arms again and sent a glare to the side. His eyes looked back every once in a while like Sans also does when he is frustrated.

“I am not working together with someone who calls me a poopyhead” he muttered

And the other kid let out a loud gasp

“Well, I am not working with someone who calls me a dumdum!”

He puffed out his chest as he turned away. Nova turned back in response All of them tried to hold back some giggles at their children's small argument and childish insults. As Nova turned back around angrily. Getting right back to the argument

“Well, maybe you should listen to Miss Toriel. So I don't need to repeat it"

“And last time I checked, you aren’t Miss Toriel so I don’t gotta listen to you”

The blue monster stuck out his tongue

“Yeah you do, I am older!” Nova argued

“I am taller!” Roman responded

“My pops is friends with Miss Toriel” Nova pointed at Sans who could only shake his head in amusement

“Well my dad makes ice cream, which is way better” The child waved his arms toward the blue bunny monster next to them

“Kids” Toriel spoke up. Trying to cut in between their arguments. But both kept going

“My dad has a cool robotic arm,” Nova said pointing at him

“My papa wrote Mettaton's best play!” The blue-haired child said pointing at the orange one of his two fathers

“My dad's a better fighter!”

“My dad taught me how to fight!”

“Pops did too!”

“Oh yeah! Bet you are bad at it!”

“nu-uh!“

“Ye-ah!”

“Children, please” Toriel sighed impatiently

He had to suppress another chuckle. It’s kinda funny their fight was basically seeing which of their parents was better. Also, it was kinda sweet to hear what they found cool about each of them.

“That’s it! I challenge you to a duel!” The young cat monster declared

“I accept!” Nova quickly answered with no hesitation

He felt himself freeze, as he heard those words, the grin dropping from his face as he stared at the two kids. Beside him, the Nicecreamguy stepped forward.

“Roman come now, there is no need for that"

"Actually I think it's a great idea!" Toriel said. And everyone in the room turned to gape at her.

“You mean that Miss Toriel? "

The young cat monster asked, stars seeming to fill his eyes

“of course my child, I think it would be a good opportunity for the both of you"

Toriel said while continuing to smile kindly. Meanwhile, the feelings of dread didn't subside The young cat monster let out a small cheer and then pointed at Nova with a sneer.

"You will taste my crushing defeat, you foul beast"

Foul beast!?! What kind of language was that? No monster called another one a beast unless they wanted to be like the humans that still tried to drive them back underground. He was shocked at the kid's language but was even more surprised when Nova only rolled his eyes. Was this kind of behavior normal?!

Then the orange cat monster that stood next to him spoke up gruffly

"Roman! That was not very princely of you. Was it now?…you know better. What does a prince do?"

The kid's ears flattened and suddenly looked quite embarrassed. And inwardly he sighed as he felt Sans settle a hand on the low of his back.

"Always be kind, even when fighting you don't go for the same tactics as the villain"

The monster next to him nodded. While the blue-haired one let out a chuckle in between font and tired. Like this was something they had to deal with regularly

His eyes flicked between the kid and his parents. As he took in the uniform of the orange guy. It was of one of the employees of the theatre. And he started back at the child's costume. And it all just clicked

The kid was not a bully. Just a theater kid with the flair of the dramatic.

He looked at the kid again. The young child was probably just parroting what he heard from plays and movies Not yet fully realizing what all the things he said could mean. Luckily Nova didn't seem bothered by the name calling so he could let it slide.

"Tori, don't like to be the skeptical one. But you are sure this is safe?" Sans spoke up beside him as they all looked back up at the boss monster who simply clapped her hands together delighted.

"More than my good friend, I wouldn't suggest it, if it wasn't. But the classroom is hardly the place for a friendly battle. Let us go outside "

The grown-ups gave some skeptical looks all around and followed the two excited kids and boss monster outside to the outdoor field.

Toriel grabbed a stick from the ground and drew two lines in the sand. And directed both children behind one each. And both took their position, bouncing excitedly.

Toriel stood in the middle overlooking the would-be battlefield, addressing them all.

“Okay, I am laying out the rules. And if they are broken that means you have lost the duel. Understand boys?"

"Yes miss Toriel,” both boys said.

He shifted uneasily, as Toriel had herded the four of them behind her. A good view, but not one that could easily interfere with the battle. He could feel the nervous energy around them. He trusted this Toriel. She was kind and had taught many kids over the years. She knew what she was doing. Didn't mean he had to like it.

“First. We are only using magic attacks. No objects are to be picked up and thrown or any form of physical contact. Only throwing magic attacks Am I clear?".

Both boys nodded.

'We are just going for one point. So focus on dodging each other's patterns. So the first hit wins."

Nova nodded again. But slowly the other kid raised his hand.

"We…we are only trying to get a hit in…and not like…not take hp off right?"

He fidgets in place. Ears flicking back and forth.

"Because… I don't wanna … " the boy trailed off looking worried.

He gave a half smile, seemed he really misjudged that kid at first glance, man he was getting rusty. Or he was doing the overprotective parent thing again. Likely the latter.

But his son's response kinda shocked him

"What? Suddenly afraid to hurt me!? " Nova slapped his own chest. "Don't you dare underestimate me! I am sturdy!"

Sans sighed beside him. And he himself let out a little hopeless laugh. Sans seemed intent on speaking up. When Roman cut him off.

"We all know you got the lowest hp in our class! You may be a meanie but I don’t wanna send you to the hospital!"

The kid genuinely looked distressed. And it made something awkward stir in his chest. He knew how Nova felt about his low hp. He also hated what people thought of he, or sans for that matter were fragile for their single hp.

But it also soothed him that this kid was looking out for Nova. Probably aware of how much damage an attack could actually do and what that could mean. It was a rare trait to find, especially in kids.

The Nicecreamguy leaned over and nervously asked Sans.

"Sorry to ask like this…but how much hp, DOES he have?"

He turned to glare at the tall bunny. But was surprised by Sans strong hold on his spine and answering honestly before he could tell him to mind his own damm business.

"Five….and Roman?"

To his surprise, the blue guy let out a sigh of what seemed relief. While the orange cat looked mildly horrified.

"Thank goodness. The highest damage Ro can do is three. Then I ain't too worried and Roman sits at eighteen"

Wow…pretty high for a kid that age, he thought as the blue guy's partner stuttered.

"five…just five…? That's…"

He cut him off with a growl

"More than we thought he would ever have"

The cat's jaw clicked shut. And to his surprise, the bunny chuckled

"Don't worry Cal. If Sans could handle Papyrus's teenage energy with less hp than that. Then I am sure his son can too"

The orange monster stared between his own husband and Sans with wide eyes. And Sans gave a hearty chuckle

"Not just Paps. I remember you and your siblings chugging a few attacks my way back then as well Felix"

“Sucks to be the oldest.”

"Oi, you weren't the youngest either." Sans accused him and the blue bunny shrugged.

"Not the oldest either. So your brother got younger sibling solidarity"

The two of them gave each other what seemed a fist bump of understanding. While he and the orange guy just gave each other a look of mutual confusion.

He had personally never hanged with the bunny's back when he still was in Underfell. But then again. There had been a lot more territorial spats between the bunnies and dogs. Long before he and his brother ever arrived in Snowdin.

Here the two groups of monsters seemed to get along. At least from what he could tell when he visited Sans at Grilby's for his jig. But the dogs seemed to invite every and anyone into their game nights anyway.

They all looked up when Toriel coughed loudly.

“If the audience would be silent, we are about to begin.”

The woman had a small grin that told him that she was enjoying telling them off. Especially as the two kids snickered as well. It seemed the boss monster had managed to settle the situation between the kids as well as they had been talking.

Toriel turned fully back around.

“Any more questions?”

Both kids shook their heads and steadied themselves.

“Begin”

The soft pressure of a battle starting began to fill the air. And Nova had the first move, it surprised him for half a second before realizing it had been Roman who challenged him and not the other way around. Nova took a deep breath. Placing his hand on the ground, and summoning three small bones in a line sending them towards Roman.

He gave a proud groin as the summoned attacks held. And watched as the cat’s eyes widened but managed to jump over them easily. Responding with a simple round magic bullet most kids learn early on. It didn’t have a lot of speed so Nova stepped out of the way easily as well.

He was feeling a weird combination of tension and calm. He had the feeling he had to be looking everywhere. That everyone here was a threat, and could any second. Would step in and interrupt the battle. Making it much more dangerous.

He never really got used to the turn-based system they had here. But at the same time. Seeing how small and weak the kids' attacks still were. Made him ease. It was like seeing Nova roughhousing with kids in the neighborhood the first few times. Nervewerking sure. But you slowly learn when the play fighting stays that way or turns into actual fights.

A couple of turns passed like that. Both kids easily avoid each other's attacks. Both only used small white bullets. After Nova’s first attack. He wondered if Nova had tried to imitate their ‘strongest attack first’ strategy from stories he must have heard from his Uncles at this point.

It was Roman’s turn again. Who was looking at his paws frustrated. Beside him, he saw the blue Bunny’s arm rise up. Before being quickly halted, by his orange-haired partner.

“He gotta do it himself, Felix. No hints”

“Right…Right, sorry..”

Sans's hand had migrated from his spine to around his hips during the battle but was now warming itself inside his hoodie pocket right now. Where his own clenched fist was hidden.

He gave a quick glance at his husband, but when he felt the hand move in the limited space his grin turned up a grad.

Seemed the Blue guy next to them wasn’t the only one who was having trouble keeping down the hints. As he slowly intertwined their fingers together to stop the hand signs at all.

Roman let out a grow of frustration as he shot off another pattern of bullets. They were a bit more erratic As the frustrations messed with his aim. Nova managed to dodge out of the way of all of them, but only just so. The last one had nearly hit him. He stood still just in time for it to fly past him.

He felt his own soul almost jump out of his chest as he saw it nearly hit his son in the side. But somehow managed to not move an inch forward even though he really wanted to. Nova panted a few times with a scared look in his eyes. But then a grin overtook his face that reminded him of his own.

Nova was having fun.

Nova was having his first actual battle, and he was clearly having the time of his life.

“Almost Got me. But it aint good enough! Prepare yourself!” Nova Declared.

He took a deep breath. And Nova’s eye flashed for a second. Which made his soul thrum anxiously and excitedly. Nova spread his arms beside him and summoned two really big bones taller that were than himself. One on each end of the battlefield only leaving space in the middle to pass through. But it was smaller than Roman could fit.

Sweat was breaking out of his son's face. Struggling to keep the bones summoned. Then with all his might, he swung his arms forward making them move towards the blue cat boy. Nova was shivering as he did it. And they were not moving quickly at all. But Roman had nowhere to run. Unless he wanted it to count as fleeing

The kid's eyes looked scared for a brief moment. The parents beside them trembling with probably the same feelings of wanting to step in and interrupt. But then the young boy's eyes filled with determination. And what surprised everyone he ran towards the moving bones.

“Roman?!” The blue-haired father of the boy suddenly exclaimed in panic

“What is he?!” Sans muttered worriedly.

All of them had taken a step forward. But where stopped when Toriel had held her arm out. Making them all pause. He saw the young cat monster near the gap, Surprised that Nova didn’t let the wall fall at all. Out of exhaustion, surprise, or both. No, he was shaking badly. But he kept the attack up. Heels digging into the ground. His other eye started blazing as well with the magic input. Giving up a dark-blue nearly purple glow.

Roman got closer and closer. Then he jumped and twisted his body a bit. But then…Roman just…squeezed through the widest part near the top. His body seemed to morph into just a little so that he could slip through easily. He landed on all four of his limbs before standing up with a smile. His Crown has flown off in his sprint.

Beside him, he heard a loud groan and grew worried as the tall bunny fell to his knees hand over his heart.

“Shoot…right..he’s part cat..how do I keep forgetting”

His partner laughed at him. But it had been filled with anxiety. “Dunno babe, you’ve seen him slip through tighter spaces.”

“Uugh, kindly shut up love.” the taller one said as he got back up. Still shaking lightly

His own arms were trembling. But that exchange made him grin a bit. It seems the four of them were way more terrified then. The children and the teacher in front of them.

He stared back at the battle. Both boys were panting, and also slightly shaking. The end of the battle was approaching.

“My-My…My TURN!”

Roman said in between pants. Holding his hands together. Exclaiming a shout of triumph as he suddenly held something round and white in his hands. Seemingly having conjured his own attack this time. instead of the standard bullet.

"Take this!"

The blue cat threw whatever he had made. It was a bit powdery, and flakes were falling off.

“Huh..wait what?!” the kid seemed suddenly confused. Under what Roman had just thrown, patches of ice were forming where the flakes were landing.

But it mattered little as Roman was of course now closer than he had been before. Nova had no way of avoiding the incoming snowball and threw his hands up instinctively. Making a small bone appear and it was sent hurling towards Roman as well.

“Ah!"

"No!"

Nova hadn’t been quick enough to catch the snowball and it hit him square in the face making him fall backwards. At the same time, the young cat tried to step away from the accidentally thrown bone, slipped on his own ice landing face-first into the dirt.

The feeling of a battle stopped as they both hit the ground. All four of them quickly rushed forward. But before any words were spoken by the adults

Nova had sat back up with wide star eyes, looking towards his fallen-over opponent.

“Dude you can make snow?!”

The cat monster was slowly getting up but slipped again. Falling into the dirt again, with a little groan.

“Ow…ye-yeah?”

They all stood still as Nova quickly got up and rushed over to Roman to steady him as he got up a second time. There was some dirt stuck to his fur, but he seemed fine

“That is so cool! You can have a snowball fight every day!”

The Cat boy grinned.

“Me?! What about you?! How did you make that huge attack?! Darwin is always bragging about making the biggest construct but that was way cooler! Why have you never shown it before?! “

“That was my first time doing it” Their son exclaimed proudly.

“No way!? I don’t believe you” Roman was gaping

Nova scratched the back of his head sheepishly

“I haven’t. Truly. My uncle has been trying to teach me how to make this like…Really tall bone. Just like he can. That is part of his. ‘Super cool regular attack’ But I never managed anything bigger than my leg. Let alone two! But you got me really fired up with that wild attack pattern! I just had to try!”

He let out a shaky laugh. A few seconds ago they had been at each other's throats but now they were both gushing about each other's moves. Toriel was smiling satisfied.

Right… battles were meant to forge bonds of friendships. Not like where he was from. Where everything was kill or be killed. Isn’t that why his Edge and he still sparred regularly? They might say it’s because no one else could keep up with their style of fighting. But that was just not true. It was their own form of bonding. Even if it left a lot more bruises than anything the kids here could come up with.

Nova got rid of some of the dirt on top of Roman's head.

"Also look at all this ice!", Nova pointed behind them. Continuing on excitedly "I don't think I ever saw you do that in class?"

"That has never happened before. I didn't know that. Could happen" The boy stared at the small patches of ice

"Never?"

"Never" he shook his head to confirm

"So cool!" Nova muttered. And the other boy flushed proudly.

Nova had wiped away the last of the dirt and now seemed to be absentmindedly playing with the kids' ears. Clearly finding them interesting

“I didn’t hurt you? Did I? I didn’t mean to throw that last attack!”

The young cat's ear twisted, leaning slightly into the light petting he received happily... And shook his head

“No not at all!” then seemed to pause for a moment and said with a huge toothy grin. “I’m sturdy”

Both kids burst out laughing, holding each other up through their giggles.

Toriel walked towards them and gently grasped both their shoulders. And knelt between them.

“You both did very well, I hope this has settled everything”

Both boys nodded excitedly.

“Then it is time for both of you to head home, don't you two say”

He smiled as Nova, locked eyes with them. Stars in his eyes. Clearly very eager to start gushing about what just happened.

“Uh…Nova..wait..please”

They all looked at the small cat monster, whose ears flattened as all eyes landed on him when he spoke. He clearly was surprised that everyone looked but he took a step forward and addressed their son.

“Uh…I’m…I’m sorry for calling you names all day. I just….well..” He bristled and shrugged

“Dunno…I was really convinced someone had stepped on the cape…And thought you were suggesting I was dumb. But you are pretty cool. So..yeah...Sorry..”

It was quiet around them for a couple of seconds. Before Nova rushed forward and enveloped the other monster in a hug.

“I’m sorry too. You aren't dumb. I was just trying to help. And didn't want anyone getting accused of something they didn't do”

The young cat looked happy, then guilty, and then happy again

“Hey…how about next week we play together!” He said as Nova pulled out of the hug, keeping a hold of Nova’s shoulders.

“Yeah! That be awesome! I would love to see you make that snow up close!”

“Sure!, but then you gotta try and make another big bone wall!”

“Deal!”

Both kids stepped fully out of the hug and shook hands like they just made a business deal instead of a playdate.

Before both let go and ran towards their parents. And he couldn’t help but smile at his son’s beaming face.

“Dad, Pops! Did you see how big that attack was? It was almost as big as Uncle Paps! “

It hadn’t been. But he wasn’t gonna burst that bubble. Sans chuckled picking up their excited child. And nuzzling his skull affectionately

“It sure was, little star”

He gave Nova a firm affectioned rub on his back

“Well done Starburst, Also excellent evading skills. Have you been practicing when we weren't looking”

Nova nodded.

“I let Selene and Solis throw cushions at me and avoided them!”

Oh boy…so that is why the twins were giving their parents such a hard time. He and Sans shared a look that went over their son’s head. Seemed they needed to have a conversation with their kid in the future about not Involving his younger cousins in training when they haven’t even learned to summon to control magic yet.

“I can’t wait to tell everyone! We are gonna see them this weekend right?!”

Nova swung his head between the two of them. Trying to see who would answer. Still bursting with energy that only a five-year-old can have.

He gave his son a smile

“Well, your uncle Blue is coming home early so-”

“YAy~!”

His son's cheering cut him off causing him to chuckle. Nova loved family nights, but most of all surprise family nights. And after a day like this, he was sure, his son was gonna talk everyone's ear off the second he had the chance.

They turned to face the other small family. Roman was being held against the blue bunny’s hip, much the same as Nova was. The young boy also still smiling ear to ear.

“It was nice to see you again Sans. I am sure this isn't gonna be the last” The blue bunny said with a smile.

Sans laughed,

“No, I think not. We’ll come by the shop sometime.”

Both boy's eyes widened

“Really!”

“Promise?!”

Both of them exclaimed. He sighed at the kids' enthusiasm. And he answered

“Sure, Well buy you something as a treat for an amazing fight from both of you”

The orange cat scoffed. As the kids gushed excitedly

“You might wanna make it a treat, but this one ain't gonna let you pay, and make it his own treat instead.” He pointed his thumb at his husband. Then he tried to soothe Roman's excited wriggling so he wouldn't fall out of his father's arms.

“Callied…please” The Nicecreamguy rolled his eyes.

“What I AM, right? Ain't I Felix?"

“That isn't the reason and you know it” the blue-haired guy sighed again.

“Still right you ain't gonna let them pay. Are I?"

His partner didn't deny it.

He liked the rough orange guy he decided The guy seemed fun from everything he heard him say today. Plus he respects a guy that didn’t mind calling people out on their shit. Be it good-natured or otherwise.

They all waved and said their goodbye Nova finally grew tired in Sans's hold, leaning against his chest sleepily. Not surprising with how much magic he had used. Especially for that last attack.

As Sans stood still just outside the gate. So he could hold him a bit more securely around his hip. While he tugged his son’s hoodie a bit more around him. As he slowly dozed off. Giving his skull a brief kiss. Meeting Sans's eyes for a second.

“Yeah…yeah, I know he’s fine. Not even a single hp was taken off. “

He mumbled at the unasked question

“I ain't judging you Dear. I nearly ran in myself a couple of times”

He eyed his mate again, who raised him a single browbone. Trying to dare and contradict him

“It didn’t show Sweetheart, probably for the best…for his sake”

Nova let out a soft grumble and then snoozed on.

“Probably, wouldn’t have wanted to interrupt that”

No…it was a good thing for their son to learn and fight his own battles. Friendly or otherwise. Knowing that in the future could handle himself. Even if I did now it had happened in a controlled environment. Still hard to stand there and do nothing the entire time.

He nodded. And they walked home.

Seeing his son fight had been nerve-wracking. Downright bone-chilling and made his soul give out nearly five times. But he was also damm proud he had seen it. The smile on his son’s face. The way he was now lying so satisfied in their arms. How neither He nor the young cat monster had cared who had won in the end. Both were just excited that they had been allowed to have a friendly battle at all. It all made him just that more thankful that he could have these moments.go, witness.

Little did they know then. That they hadn’t just watched their son’s first fight. They also had seen him make his very best friend

[whetstonefires]

For the ask game, "occluding junction (and other incidences of biology)" and 7?

7: Where did the title come from?

Hah! You hit one I put some thought into, actually. But I'm not surprised you have to ask.

This one was of the class that's difficult to name, because I had to strike the balance between 'this is a fic built primarily on the conceit that Keith just moves into the voltron castle's vent system and stays there, and everyone has to kinda deal with that and yes, it's super funny' and the fact that keith is doing this because he's undergoing heavy angst and every single other character does have some kind of stress or guilt or drama arc about the situation.

So I started running google searches and playing wikipedia surf looking for something that had the right vibe and let me pick up both the idea of a system of circulation or ventilation and the idea that this fic was about the process of connecting or refusing to connect with other people.

(This fic was based on just season one of Voltron, which was all that was out at the time. Someone spoiled the Big Twist of season two in the comments on the final chapter like 18 hours after it dropped, which is definitely one of the downsides of the full season tv show deployment schedule.

It was a gift for my sister, who'd sat me down and made me watch Voltron a few months earlier, while Trump was getting elected and I was not handling it well, but my mom would not stop blasting the news coverage. I thought Keith's arc had a lot of promise in terms of his difficulty communicating and relating to others but also his intense sense of loyalty.)

So eventually I hit on the term occluding junction, aka tight junction, a structure in animal cell membranes vital to their ability to impede the passage of molecules, that also contributes to tying the cells to the protein cytoskeleton so they can participate in being tissue.

This got at the various thematic things I wanted the title to do, but was not lighthearted enough, so I added the subtitle, et voila.

Probably nothing else has ever been named with that string of words huh. And if it was it wasn't about a children's cartoon.