#also if i spread the residue around to someone who is affected by it. well now theyre fucked.

[orcelito]

I do always love dropping that "not even to poison ivy" when I talk about not having allergies. Majority of people are allergic to poison ivy (that's why it's itchy), but I'm not ❤️ and I in fact tested this by purposefully rubbing poison ivy on myself last year. So I know for sure ❤️

[alpacaparkaseok]

Book of Soulmates

pairing: Hobi x reader

premise: 1071 5th Ave, New York, NY 10128 is all you need to know.

Fire Starter

Endless circles carry me ever upward. I’ve begun to notice the slight burn in my calves as I continue to climb up the endless circular ramp, a famous aspect of the Guggenheim. 

Famous or not, it still has me contemplating just slipping my heels off and making the rest of the trek up to the top of the building barefoot.

Of course I refuse to take the elevator despite the rest of my group having done so. I mean, this is the Guggenheim. Who takes the elevator and misses all of the beautiful artwork and displays along the way? Not me. 

I pause for a moment before a massive painting that takes up most of the wall, pretending that I’m entranced by it rather than in desperate need of a break. In my defense, I wasn’t planning on having to leave the bottom floor so soon. However, when it was cleared for some exclusive party to come through, I wasn’t left with much of a choice. 

Echoes of the party going on downstairs remind me that I need to keep moving upward. No doubt my group has already made it to the top floor and are impatiently waiting for me. Maybe if I’m lucky they’ll just go on without me, leaving me to enjoy the famous art museum on my own. 

Peeking down a hallway as I pass by it I’m drawn in by the display I see on the floor. Deciding to spare another moment, I sneak inside, eyes wide as I take in the display taking up on side of the floor. Glancing at the plaque beside it, I marvel at Abbas Akhavan’s artwork. The bronze casts made to represent damaged and changed plants as the affects of war are spread out along the way, making me take my time as I walk from one end to another. 

“I don’t know, he just said something about wanting to find Van Gogh and ran up here,” a voice says from the ramp just outside the room where I find myself currently. It’s silent for a moment, and I realize that he must be on the phone. 

“Yeah, I’ll bring him back down. Just give me a few minutes to find him. Ok. Bye.” The end of the phone conversation is punctuated by a long sigh, accompanied by a disbelieving chuckle. “That boy...oh. Hi.”

I turn to find a man - no. Not just some man. Jung Hoseok peers into the exhibit room, glancing around as though looking for someone. 

So that’s why the bottom floor has been reserved. BTS is here. 

“Hi.” I reply rather dumbly. Shaking my head, I fight to not stare too hard at him. He’s wearing a red jacket that looks like it was crafted just for him, flowers and other plants embroidered into the fabric with loving care. Paired with his ripped black jeans, Hoseok looks like he just stepped out of a photoshoot.

“Are you looking for someone?” I ask, trying to get him to move on before I make a complete fool of myself. 

“Oh,” Hoseok repeats for the second time, eyes finally landing on me for longer than a couple of seconds. “You speak Korean?”

“Yep.”

“Oh.”

I can’t help but laugh a little. “You’re looking for someone? I haven’t seen anyone come up this way.”

“Oh,” Hoseok, completely oblivious to the fact that he’s just repeated the same word four times, steps into the exhibit with a soft smile. “My friend - Kim Taehyung, do you know who that is?” 

I nod. “Yeah, I do.”

“Right. We’re supposed to be doing some stuff downstairs but he took off saying that he wanted to go see Van Gogh, and now we can’t find him.”

Chewing on my lip, I frown a little. “But Van Gogh is downstairs...?”

At that precise moment Hoseok’s phone lights up, and he gives me an apologetic smile and half bow before turning and answering it. The call doesn’t last long - he’s only taken two steps before he’s turning right back around with a perfect smile on his face. 

“Well,” he sighs out, wandering closer, “He was downstairs. He just showed up again, I guess. Thanks for the help.”

“Of course.” Giving him a small smile, I turn back to the artwork before me, expecting him to step out. 

From my peripheral I can tell that he’s thinking about it, but he hesitates for a moment. Glancing my way, Hoseok takes another step in my direction. My heart clenches in my chest, but I refuse to look at him.

Sometimes, being painfully awkward is a bit of a crutch. 

“Excuse me,” he says softly, almost as though we were in a crowded room and he was trying not to startle me. “But have we met before?”

Now I do look at him, incredulity lining my features. “...don’t think so. I’m pretty sure I’d remember meeting you.”

He laughs, rubbing the back of his neck. “No, you’re right. That was kind of strange for me to ask that, wasn’t it? It’s just...” he pauses, then extends his hand out toward me. “I think that was my stupid way of trying to stall and get to know you before I have to leave.”

My jaw is probably on the ground now, and I continue to stare at the man with disbelief until I realize that his hand is still outstretched. 

“Oh!” I almost shout. “Sorry. Yeah. It’s nice to meet you.” 

I go to shake his hand, smiling a little at how he’s trying to respect my culture despite the obvious differences. Daring to glance up at his eyes, my breath gets caught in my throat as I see him doing the same. 

What I identify as warmth in his eyes may also be due to the sparks flying from our joined hands.

“Oh!” Hoseok shouts, jumping back as sparks fly and singe our hands. “I - ah! Fire!”

I jump out of my shocked state just in time to see what Hoseok - my soulmate - is referring to. A few loose sparks that didn’t succeed in burning and marking our hands have floated down to the ground and also the white tarp where Abbas Arkhavan’s artwork is set up.

It’s also in the process of catching fire. 

“Ah!” I shout now with Hoseok, and I rush about the room. “Fire extinguisher!” I shout, only making my soulmate more distressed when he realizes that I’m shouting in English.

“What?” He shouts unnecessarily. “What are you saying?!”

“Fire!” I shout again, heart pounding as adrenaline pumps through my veins. “Where’s the extinguisher?!” Tearing around the corner, I gasp in relief as the tell-tale red fire extinguisher hangs on the wall. Running as quickly as I can in my heels, I mentally curse my past self of fifteen minutes ago for not taking off my heels when I had the chance. 

Hoseok notices my predicament, rushing over to me and letting me hand the extinguisher off to him. I hobble after him, finally managing to slip my heels off. 

I watch with horror as the priceless artwork is covered with the white foamy substance of the extinguisher, offering up a pleading prayer that only the tarp was damaged. 

Hoseok sprays every last inch of the tarp, panting when he finally relents. For a moment, all is silent in the aftermath of our soulmate bond. Glancing around the room I search for any other fires that our sparks may have caused, and let out a long sigh when it appears that the damage was at least kept to one small space. 

Still standing before the display with the extinguisher in hand, I slowly make my way over to Hoseok and come to stand beside him. 

His eyes are a bit glazed over as he stares at the wall that’s blank except for Abbas’s plaque. His chest rises and falls with his deep breaths, his face a little flushed. 

Slowly, so slowly, Hoseok turns to look at me, disbelief obvious in his expression. “Did we just-”

“Start a fire?”

“Yeah.”

Looking down at the receding foam, a dry laugh escapes my throat. “I think we did.”

“Because we...we’re...”

“Yep.” My gaze is a little unfocused as I ease the extinguisher out of Hoseok’s grasp, the two of us wincing as our fingers graze each other and a few spare sparks shoot out, falling onto the foam and sizzling as they’re extinguished. 

Turning on my heel, I go to put the extinguisher back and attempt to find the curator to explain this entire mess. 

Hoseok trails after me, looking a little lost as he furrows his brow, still trying to understand what just occurred. My heart aches as he passes by my discarded heels, leaning down to pick them up and carry them along. Without a single word, he already has me swooning at his sweetness. 

I pause at the sight of my right hand as I raise it to put the extinguisher back. My hand is littered with angry red welts from the sparks of our encounter. It’s a sight that I thought I’d never see. 

Soon enough those red welts will fade into darker, lasting little scars. I’ve seen them a million times on other people. 

The soulmate scars. As telling as any wedding ring, and even more permanent. 

Hoseok appears by my side, seeing what I’m staring at. With heartbreaking tenderness, he raises his burned hand to mine, laying it on top. There’s a bit of residual warmth that kicks up at the contact, but no more sparks fly. 

The sentimental moment is quite literally burned into my memory as I stare at our hands, hardly daring to believe that this is real. The moment is ruined as my guilty conscience takes over. 

“We need to find the curator,” I mumble out. “Tell him what happened.”

Hoseok grunts in agreement, intertwining our hands before pulling me along with him, heading down the ramp. I frown up at him.

“What?” He asks, his eyes still a bit glazed over but the ghost of a smile on his face.

“Where are we going? The office is the other way.”

“Oh,” Hoseok says for the umpteenth time. “He’s downstairs...I’m supposed to be down there having a meeting with him.”

Eyes going wide and a groan leaving my mouth, Hoseok laughs at our predicament. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I whine. He shakes his head, eyes cleaning up a bit.

“I wish I was, darling.” My ears perk up at the pet name. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t kick you out, though. You’re with me.”

Squeezing his hand a little tighter, I allow a smile to break through.

masterlist

[kasey-writes-stuff]

Wooo first fic of the four I’ve been talking about!

You were visiting Niki for a few weeks and you guys had decided it would be fun to do a little media share you laugh you lose stream! It was about an hour in and things were going okay you hadn’t cracked once and Niki had only cracked twice! You guys had five lives and with it already being an hour in and still having three left you considered this a win already! Everything was going smoothly until suddenly a tickle scene from dragon tales showed up, your eyes widened as you felt butterflies swarming your stomach! A bright red blush danced across your face as your hands twitched desperately wishing you had something to fiddle with to help distract you from the scene before you. Niki’s eyebrow raised as she turned to look at you

“what the heck is-“ she cut herself off noticing your blush and fidgeting hands “y/n are you alright?” You suddenly snap your head over “w-what? What? Oh yea I’m fine it’s nothing” she looks at you curiously “Did that almost make you laugh? Because your face is really red, I wonder who would send something like that in probably just some really random fan” suddenly discord started going off, Niki quickly paused the media shares and switched to discord to see who was calling… you felt more and more butterflies swarming already having a good idea of who it probably was… and suddenly you heard the voice and your face went even redder… it was none other than your brother like best friend Quackity…

“NIKI! Y/N!” He excitedly shouted as he smiled happily but the smile quickly turning into a more devious smile as he looked at the two of you, Niki smiled happily with some surprise as she titled her head slightly “Hi Quackity! What’s up?” He glanced towards you as he spoke “oh nothing just came to tell Y/N they’re welcome for that little video I sent in” he giggled slightly as he saw your head fall into your hands as more embarrassment over took you, you staying silent for now not trusting your voice to properly from words. Niki’s mouth gaped slightly in surprise “you sent that?! What was it about anyways? Is it some kind of inside joke or something?”

Quackity smirked slightly “I’m sure you could call it something like that right Y/N?” You whined slightly “Alex if you don’t shut up right now-“ he snickered softly “what if I don’t shut up what you gonna do?” You whined again “I’ll figure something out I don’t know what but something” Niki looked from you to Alex “Would one of you please explain the joke” though he’s been teasing you he was carefully watching your body language for any signs of discomfort or need for him to stop the entire time and he only looked harder and longer before deciding on his next move with this specific request, despite him seeing no discomfort or distress he decided to wait “well it’s not really an inside joke but more so of a secret, so I’ll wait until streams over I don’t wanna go spreading her secrets in front of the whole internet” Niki nodded in understanding “that’s understandable, do you wanna stay on and do the challenge with us or do you want us to call you after stream?”

Quackity shook his head “no no it’s fine I’ve caused enough chaos for now, you guys call back after stream and I can explain everything” your blush stayed there same as your mind swirled with thoughts stomach filled with butterflies, you smiled slightly though very appreciative of Alex for not wanting to fully share your secret to everyone and instead just having some light fun! Niki nodded excitedly smiling “Sounds good! Bye Quackity!” He nodded as he smiled back “bye Niki! Bye y/n!” You nodded softly smiling as well, and so stream went on about another hour before Niki and you had broken twice and Niki broke the final time

Niki and you ended stream as your stomach still swarmed with anticipatory butterflies which only increased as Niki turned to you smiling excitedly “Ready to call back Quackity?” You nodded shyly as you covered your face and brought your knees to your chest curling up in flusterdness already, Niki excitedly clapped a small bit before quickly pulling up discord and calling Alex! He answered in almost no time at all “hi again Niki! Hi y/n!”

Niki giggled excitedly “hi Quackity! So what is it?! What’s the big secret!? If y/n’s okay with you telling it of course, don’t feel like you have to let him say it if you don’t want him to!” You lifted your head a bit as you smiled gingerly at her “It’s okay I trust you Niki he can say it I don’t mind it’s just… it’s just flustering is all” she smiled brightly as she awed and placed her hand delicately on your leg in a comforting manner “Awweee y/n I’m so glad you trust me that much it truly means a lot!”

You nod softly and motion for Alex to continue “Okay so why I sent that video is because I knew it would fluster y/n and why it flustered them is because they like being tickled” he smiled as he waited for Niki’s reply, her face broke into the biggest smile as she says “wait really?! That’s so cute! Y/n why did you never tell me?!” You shrug softly “it’s flustering and embarrassing and some people find it weird so it’s not exactly the kind of thing I’m open with often…” she pouted softly nodding understandingly “That’s understandable dear just know I think it’s very adorable and great”

You look at her with soft eyes as you smile tenderly at her “T-thank you…” you were never good with knowing how to respond to things like this, she nodded softly as she says “so is there any specifics I should know about this?” She turned towards Alex for answers not wanting to make you explain anymore than you have to, he nodded smiling happily “okay I can give you a small run down, the terms you need to know are a lee is a person who likes being tickled and ler is someone who likes tickling people, now y/n here is a switch! A switch is someone who likes tickling people and being tickled, they lean lee though usually preferring to be tickled but they’re usually fine with either.”

She nods carefully taking in all the information “Okay it’ll probably take me a little bit but I think I got that, anything else?” He continues smiling as he says “Hmm not really besides she likes using the stop light system when both being tickled and tickling, green means go,yellow means slow down and red means stop” she nods “That sounds easy enough to remember, okay so any tips on spots to go for?” He smirks slightly “well if I told you that would take away half the fun wouldn’t it y/n?”

You whine softly “shut up” he raises an eyebrow “oh you know I was thinking about leaving and just letting Niki handle everything on her own but maybe I do stay, maybe I stay around and help Niki out with the verbal side of things… the teasing side of things” your eyes widened as you shook your head no but you couldn’t help the excited and anticipatory grin that overtook your face, Niki nodded happily “I would love to have you stay an help!” “Well then let’s get started”

You smiled nervously as Niki slowly approached you “so what do I do first?” Alex shrugs a bit and says “Well usually I get them either when they’re standing or easily in a position where I can make them lay down so I’d say having them lay would be easiest way to do it and you can either sit on their waist or beside them whatever you guys would prefer” Niki nods as you slowly lay down on the floor, she takes a seat beside you “Anywhere you’d prefer me to start or not to start dear?”

You shake your head softly “no you can start anywhere…” you turn your head to the side feeling more and more giggles bubbling up and nearly spilling out, Niki carefully pokes your side making you jump and squeak softly she smiles as she does it again and again beginning to alternate sides making you squirm back and forth Alex laughs softly “yea poking their sides is always a good one especially when they’re working because they turn to you after about the third poke and they try and act all upset and annoyed but their cheeks are all puffed up and their nose all scrunched as they have the biggest smile and there face is a really nice pink and they just look so cute” Niki awes softly as you whine “ahahlleehexxx shuhush”

He shakes his head “nah that’s my whole point of being here is to tease you so I’m not gonna shush! Anyways poking is great I love it a lot because of what I just said but also all the squeaks they make! Squeezing is really great to and just normal scratching type motions just everything is great really” Niki nods as she begins squeezing your sides making you burst into non stop giggles “aaah nihihikkiii hehehehhahahahhahahah!” She tilts her head softly as she smiles at you “what I thought you liked this? Is it too ticklish hmm? Are you too ticklish I’m barely even doing anything I mean just imagine if I went” she paused her movements as she thought for a moment quickly scanning your body before deciding on her next target… that target just so happened to be one of your sweet spots your hips “here!”

You squealed and broke into loud laughter “EEP NOOHOHOTTT THEHHEERRRHEHHWHW NNIHIHIKKIHIHIHI” Alex smiled from where he watched nodding approvingly “Good job Niki you already found one of their sweet spots!” Niki smiled proudly but also curiously “How many do they have?” Alex thought for a moment “hmm well I think about three maybe five? Definitely three though but there’s two that are borderline sweet spots depending on the techniques”

You were blushing like mad as you laughed through his whole explanation, once his explanation finished Niki slowed to gently tapping your hips leaving you to giggle residually as you gratefully took in air “hehehahahahah” Niki smiled happily as one hand slowly ran through your hair “you doing alright dear?” You nodded shyly “yehehaha ihihimm gohohood” “that’s good I’m glad you’re having fun i’m having fun as well” Alex nodded softly “so am I, who knew I didn’t even have to be there to be able to affect you so much ” he smirked softly knowing very well he knew ages before now that he can very easily affect you despite not even being with you in person

Your giggles finally stopped as you groaned softly “oh shut up you’ve known this for ages don’t act like it’s some new knowledgeEEE” you suddenly squeal feeling Niki’s nails experimentally beginning to scratch at your stomach, having never felt such long nails on your stomach was a new feeling and much more ticklish than you expected! Niki’s eyes widened as she turned to Alex “Is this a sweet spot?” He looks at her as he says “It’s a semi sweet one usually depends on the technique you use, I guess long nails must tickle a lot more than short ones because usually tummy scratches just make them all melty and really softly giggly”

Niki nods softly “Awe that’s adorable, and yea I guess they do” You lay there giggling loudly suddenly squeaking when you feel one of her finger nails nearing your tum button “hahhahaHahhahahHheHEHHEhhahahahahahEEK nohohottt theHEHHE buhuhutohohonnn!” Niki grins softly “Awe why not? It looks so cute I just wanna poke it a little bit! And maybe scratch the knot at the bottom” Your blush is now beginning to spread to your ears as you shake your head “noohhoooo dohohhohonnttt ihihittlll ttihihihahhahahehe yyoouuu knohohoww whahahhattt” she nods “And that’s exactly why I wanna do it!” Alex nods “I think you should definitely do it Niki!” She smiles softly at him “I think I will!” You shake your head giggles already increasing at the mere thought… slowly she begins tracing a nail around your button making your giggles near soft laughter… and suddenly before you can even prepare yourself her finger dips in! Swirling around as her nail gently scratches the knot at the bottom!

You shriek before falling into full laughter “aAHh HAHAHHAHA NIHIHIKKIHIHI NOOHOHOHO AHAHHAA” Niki and Alex smile happily watching your squirm and laugh carelessly and joyfully, not wanting to fully tire you out just yet she stops after a few seconds. You lay there giggling residually as you catch your breathe “hohohoollyy cohohowww nnahahaiillss ahahhreehhe sohoho bahahaddd” Alex smirks slightly as he says “Well maybe I should grow mine out then or get one of those fake nail kits for when I tickle you” You whine softly as you say “shut up you wouldn’t do that” he snickers “watch me just wait and see next time we meet up” Niki giggles softly “I can message you later telling you what brand works the best!” Alex nods smiling “Thank you Niki I would very much appreciate that!” She nods, as you groan softly “I hate you both”

She gasps softly as she reaches out and squeezes the upper part of your side just below your bottom most ribs “Hey! That wasn’t nice I think you should apologize to us!” You squeal as your body jerks instinctively trying to curl up “EEP NO! Ihihi dohohonnttt whahahannnhahah!” Niki turns to Alex “Okay what’s the quickest way to make them apologize? We’ve been at this for a bit so I don’t wanna go too much longer seeing as we both know how they like to push themselves so much in everything else they do I can only imagine that that same mentality would carry over to this”

Alex nods “It definitely does carry over, well definitely I would say target that area you just squeezed, either squeeze some more or vibrations work really well there too also nibbles and raspberries there or there stomach just combining it all would probably be best, target one side with your hand and then the other and their stomach just nibble and raspberry and they’ll be apologizing and probably calling red very quickly” You grumbled softly about how you could take it and how Alex always underestimated you

Niki nodded taking everything in “Got it! Ready y/n?” You nod trying to seem unphased though your bright red cheeks and ears and your messy hair told a very different story “I’m ready!” Niki shakes her head “I don’t think you are but let’s go” she quickly leans down wasting not time starting to nibble and raspberry your left side as one of her hands vibrates into your right side and the other vibrates and squeezes your tummy! You scream before falling into your loudest laughter yet which after a hiccup eventually turns silent

“AAAHH AHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHEHEHHEHHEHEHEHAHHAHAHAHA *hic* …………….” Niki continues for only a few moments after your silent laughter began before stopping “Are you ready to apologize now?” You nod giggling and hiccuping softly “yehehhesss *hic* ihihihimmm sohohorryyy ihihihi *hic* dohohohnnttt hahah thehehe yoouuu *hic* guhuhyysss” Niki ruffles your hair softly “Well good because I don’t know what I would do if you did hate me”

Alex smiles softly “Yea if you hated me then who would I tease endlessly about their music taste and how terrible of a cook they are” he snickers softly as he says it and you shake your head smiling and rolling your eyes “I’m sure you could find someone, but no one would be able to live up to the same expectations so I guess I won’t hate you… for now” you giggle softly as he now rolls his eyes “yea yea whatever nerd, I gotta go but have fun okay? And come see me next!” You smile as you say

“Dude I haven’t even left yet and I would like to go home first before going anywhere else” he says “I know I know I just miss you is all, oh and Niki they’re a person of revenge so watch out!” You sigh softly “I miss you too, and he’s right you know” you turn to Niki grinning softly, her cheeks dust pink as she says “t-thanks for the warning” he nods “bye guys!” You and Niki wave as you tell him bye

And so with that the day ends

[whatisthiswritingthing]

Observation Skills - Part Six - Lindsey Horan x Reader

Lindsey is at camp, her relationship continues to develop and she returns with a new found confidence.

“Alright, who are talking to?” Rose interrogated the next morning. They had been down for breakfast for almost half an hour now and Lindsey had hardly looked away from her phone, a smile glued to her face.

She had woken up to string of texts from Sara.

               Hot Trainer:       Lindsey…

                                               Terrible news

                                               It’s a tragedy

                                               Prepare yourself, sit down, whatever you need, but be ready

                                               Are you ready?

                                               I came to the gym this morning, worked out, showered, and then it happened

                                               Are you sitting now?

                                               I WAS OUT OF DINOSAUR OATMEAL!

                                               Tragic isn’t it?!

                                               It’s bad enough I don’t get to see you for three weeks, but now this?!

                                               I’ll leave you process this tragedy, I’m here if you need to talk. We will get through this.

 Waking to the plethora of texts with such a ridiculous story immediately put her in a good mood. And the blonde implying she would miss her definitely helped too.

                 Lindsey:               That is a tragedy, however will you survive?

               Hot Trainer:       Which? Not seeing you or dinosaurs? Not seeing you, you’ll just have to find a way to help me with that. Dinosaurs, there is no remedying that, I needed to suffer through Apple Cinnamon. Like an adult!

 Lindsey had sent a selfie after she had gotten ready for breakfast. The two continued to text the rest of the morning until Rose finally called her out.

“Who are you texting so much?”

“No one, don’t worry about it.”

“Bullshit, you have been glued to your phone all morning!” Sam joined in. “And you have such a stupid smile on your face.”

“Did Russell-wannabe-muscles, get his shit together and try to make up again?” Mal questioned

“Nice,” the two high fived with a smile and the cheesy nickname, looking to Lindsey for an answer.

“Fuck no, that’s never happening again,” the blonde midfielder replied adamantly, struggling to not pick her phone back up after hearing it go off again.

“Finally! So, who’s the new bae that has you all smitten?”

“Gross, never say that again. And no one,” Lindsey caved, picking her phone up trying to ignore Mal and Rose.

“Sonnett you are far too quiet about this,” Rose narrowed her eyes at the defender, “You know!”

“Who’s hot trainer?” Mal questioned loudly with a smile. Lindsey didn’t even notice she had left her chair and snuck up behind her, too focused on her conversation with Sara.

“Fuck, no one,” Lindsey quickly locked her phone and shoved it in her pocket.

“Oh no, that reaction definitely means it’s a someone!” Rose bounced in her seat across from her, then turned her head back to Sonnett, “What do you know!? Who is the hot trainer? Is it the trainer at your new gym?”

Rose, Mal, and Sam continued to fire questions at their fellow midfielder, occasionally pausing to discuss different possibilities between themselves.

Lindsey shrunk in on herself, the insecurities returning. Tobin and Emily had been so supportive, Sara made her feel comfortable, not that the other three wouldn’t be supportive but the sudden interrogation made it real. Real that this could be more than a crush, real that her last relationship hadn’t ended well (several times), real that her last relationship had been with a man and so had all the others. She understood that sexuality was fluid and fully believed anyone could love anyone, that wasn’t what bothered her. What bothered her was the sudden reality that this was more than a crush; that she wanted to tell her friends all about Sara, but also keep it to herself to figure out and enjoy

Taking a breath, Lindsey cut the other three at the table off while Emily sat and watched Lindsey process her thoughts.

“If you would simmer down for a second, I’ll tell you. It’s new and I don’t know what it is yet, so I’d like to keep it between us for now, please?”

At their nods, Lindsey looked to Sonnett for encouragement who smiled and nodded, then glanced down to the table and took a breath to steady her nerves.

“Her name is Sara. She is one of the trainers at the gym, we met a few weeks ago when I started training there. I trained with a couple times and we hit it off, we even went for coffee before I came to camp.”

The other soccer players weren’t phased by the news at all, quickly asking rapid fire questions again.

“Is she hot?” Mal asked first.

“Of course she’s hot, she swung Lindsey!” Rose commented with an eye roll.

“Can we see pictures?”

“Tell us about her?”

“How was coffee? Was it a date?’

“Does she know who you are?”

Horan quickly pulled up the most recent photo the trainer had sent of her and Blaze, turning her phone for everyone to see.

“She has a dog too?!” Rose asked, excited, disregarding the woman in the photo.

“That’s Blaze and that’s Sara, she brings him to the gym most of the time.”

Rose quickly lost interest in the blonde, more focused on the dog. Mal and Emily sliding closer to scroll through all the pictures.

“She’s gorgeous Linds, tell us about her,” Sam prompted, sensing the residual nerves.

“She’s great, coffee was incredible. I have no idea if it was a date, it was the first time we hung out outside of the gym. She’s so sweet and funny and smart. And so hot! Fuck, she’s so strong. Oh, she’s a firefighter!” Lindsey rambled, nervously fidgeting with the sleeves of her sweat.

“Wait, I thought you said she was a trainer at your gym?” Mal wondered.

“She is, she works as a firefighter and a trainer.”

“That’s so cool!”

The group continued to ask questions, Lindsey more than willing to answer them all. Talking about Sara to some of her closest friends made her feeling lighter than she had felt in a long time. It started to sink in the extent of her feelings for the trainer.

 For the rest of the day Lindsey felt incredible. Practice after breakfast had gone so well. Vlatco pushed them right from the start, and Lindsey felt like she had played some of the best soccer she had in a long. The fitness session in the afternoon she had passed all her previous scores, she felt strong, she felt fast, she felt good. Plus, between each session Lindsey came back to phone to a message from Sara, adding to her phenomenal mood.

Even the incessant teasing from her friends throughout the day couldn’t affect her mood. And totally worth it. Like now, with them all giving her strange looks while she laughs at the text Sara sent her. She had sent her a picture of two boxes of Dinosaur oatmeal.

               Hot Trainer:       Lindsey! Look it! All balance has been restored in the world!

At the loud snort of laughter, the table looked at her questioningly.

“You good there Linessi?” Sonnett question with a laugh of her own.

Lindsey gave vague yupp, never looking up from her phone, replying to the firefighter.

“I take it back, I do not support this,” Rose said, gesturing to Lindsey. “All those feels over there are disgusting me.”

Lindsey didn’t even look up from her phone.

The group just rolled their eyes, leaving Lindsey to her phone, knowing there was pulling her away from it.

For the rest of the camp, Lindsey’s routine stayed relatively the same. By the end of the second week, she was drained. Camp was exhausting, practices were hard, and fitness was harder, no matter how prepared you were. Being around so many people all the time was overwhelming. All Lindsey wanted to do wanted to do was curl up in her bed and sleep. Most of the team felt the same, so had all agreed to have a quiet night in in Lindsey and Emily’s room to watch a movie. Everyone already half asleep spread across the beds and chairs in the room.

Lindsey expressed how she was feeling to Sara, the other woman showing genuine interest in how camp was going. So really, she shouldn’t be surprised at how good she felt after opening up. It had never been like that with Russel; he always reminded her it was part of the job, Sara reassured her that feeling this way was normal. Where Russel would tell her if she trained harder, she wouldn’t be so sore, Sara would suggest a different stretch to help ease her muscles and joked to give her massage. When she would vent her frustrations, Russel would get irritated, Sara let her rant and express how she felt.

               Lindsey:               Sorry I’m not much fun to talk to today

               Hot Trainer:       Lindsey, you don’t have to apologize for anything. I’m here anytime you need to vent. Want me to tell you a funny story from work?

Sara validated her and made her feel better about herself in a few weeks than Russel ever had. Hell, she made Lindsey feel better in just this conversation.

Now laying on the bed surrounded by her friends, exhausted, hardly paying attention to the movie she still felt good. Being given the opportunity to talk about how she was feeling with judgment eased the tension in her chest. Sara was telling her a funny story about how her and the other firefighters convinced their rookie he needed to remind one of the older firemen to “use the potty” before bed to mess with him. The levity of the story helping draw Lindsey’s tense shoulders down and continuing to help her relax.

 The last week of camp flew by. Before she knew it, it was game day. They were playing Friday night, recovery and travel day Saturday; Lindsey couldn’t wait to be home. Lindsey had woken up to a hood luck text from Sara, who also said she would be watching the game as long as they didn’t get a call at the firehouse. Between that and getting the start, nothing could take away Lindsey’s good mood.

Knowing the blonde firefighter was watching her, Lindsey felt like she needed to impress her. And impress she did. There weren’t any nerves, she was motivated and ready to play come kick off. Right from the first whistle Lindsey was on fire; nothing got past her in the middle, she flew from box to box, nothing could stop her.

By the end of the game Lindsey had scored hat trick, plus recorded two assists, putting the US to 5-0 win. She was ecstatic, not only with the win but with how well shelf let she played the entire game. She felt like she was on such a high, roaming around the stadium taking pictures and signing autographs. Winning always felt good, but there was something about tonight, something about knowing she had someone special watching, someone that even though she knew wouldn’t judge her playing she still wanted to impress.

“Linds! You played incredible tonight!” Tobin came alongside her as they walked in the tunnel towards the change room. “Who knew all you needed was a hot blonde at home to get you to play this well.”

Lindsey gave Tobin a gentle shove, blushing and looking down. “Shut up,” she mumbled, shy because of the accuracy.

“What are you talking about Tobs, I live in Orlando now,” Sonnett joined in, slinging her arm around Lindsey.

“Wrong hot blonde Sonny,” Rose bounced past them, turning and walking backwards. “Toby definitely meant the hottie with the firefighter body,” Shooting a wink, she turned and skipped into the change room.

Lindsey again just blushed at how accurate it was. She made her way to her locker, immediately picking up her phone.

               Hot Trainer:       Great game superstar! You crushed it!

                                               The other team knew they were supposed to defend you, right?

Lindsey’s smile just grew at the texts. Mal leaned over to her, “you disgust me, you know that? Even Dansby and I weren’t that gross.”

“Yeah yeah yeah, I know, I just, I can’t help It,” Horan shrugged off the teasing, more than ok with it. It was more than worth it to get to talk to Sara.

The two continued to talk as they got ready to get on the bus, Mal teasing her every time Lindsey would reach for her phone.

 The next afternoon, after a quick recovery session, Lindsey was seated next to Tobin on the plane back to Portland.

“Alright Linds, what’s happening with you and your girl?” Tobin questioned once they were in the air.

“I really don’t know Tobs, we hit it off so well, this week has been great talking to her and I can’t wait to see her again this week. I just don’t know where to go from here, I want it to be more than just talking. But, but don’t know how,” the midfielder started to ramble, her nerves on the situation coming out. “What if she just wants to be friends? How do I know if she wants more? What if she doesn’t even like me?”

Tobin put a reassuring hand on her thigh.

“You’re overthinking it. She seems like she is pretty interested in you Linds. You just need to talk to her when you get home, ask her out again, make it clear you are interested. She sounds like she is pretty respectful, so I doubt she will be a jerk regardless.”

“I know; it sounds like it should be easy. She is relaxed and easy going, this whole camp she has been incredible to talk to.”

The continued to talk the entire flight, she was excited to see Sara, so it didn’t take much to convince her to tell her how she felt.

 Immediately after landing, Lindsey turned her phone on, eager to talk to the blonde trainer. Emboldened by the conversation she had with Tobin on the plane, she quickly texted her asking her to talk.

               Lindsey:               Hey! Just landed!

                                               Can we talk?

               Hot Trainer:       Uhh yea, I’m at work now. Did you want to text about it? We could call or we could do something when I’m off tonight?

               Lindsey:               How about tonight after you’re off work? In person would be better.

The two made plans to meet in two hours after Sara would get off work.

Lindsey rushed around her condo, quickly unpacking, starting a load of laundry before getting in the shower to get ready. Nerves returning while she thought about what she was going to say, she knew she had been vague when asking the blonde out, but she wanted to have the conversation in person. This conversation was too important to risk losing context over text.

Two hours later, Lindsey found herself waiting at the bar the two agreed to meet at, Sara coming right form work. Lindsey had chosen a quiet pub that would afford them the opportunity to have this conversation hopefully uninterrupted. She was seated at a booth near the back, legs bouncing, hands fidgeting with the coaster on the table, nerves settling low in her stomach.

The soccer player was startled out her thoughts as the object of her nerves slide into the booth across from her.

“Hey Linds, you alright?” Sara didn’t hesitate to question, her concern evident.

Lindsey sat up straighter in the booth, making eye contact with the blonde, forcing herself to stop fidgeting.

“Yea, I’m good, I just really needed to talk to you,” unable to make eye contact anymore, Lindsey looked at her hands at the table, hands resuming fidgeting.

Sara slid her hand across the table, grasping a fidgeting hand and rubbing her thumb across her knuckles.

“It’s alright Lindsey, take your time, you can tell me anything,” the trainer said soothingly.

“I know, I’m just nervous, I’ve never done this before. So maybe, fuck, just let me try and say everything and then you can ask questions? Or leave, umm which I hope you don’t, but yea,” Lindsey trailed off.

“Of course, take your time,” she repeated, still rubbing her thumb on Lindsey’s knuckles.

“So I like you, like, like like you. Fuck, I sound like a 13-year-old. But I do, I have feelings for you. I got teased all camp for being ‘smitten’ anytime we talked. These last few weeks have been great, talking to always puts a smile on my face and I look forward to seeing you at the gym every day,” Lindsey started, but then hesitated, debating what to say next. Sara’s thumb never stopping on her knuckles.

At her hesitancy, Sara stepped in, “I like you too Lindsey, as in like like you,” she mimicked. “I was so happy when you asked me out before you left, I’m not sure I would have had the guts to do it.”

Both women paused to look at each other, making eye contact they both smiled softly. Sensing Lindsey’s hesitation, Sara continued.

“I’d really like to take you on another date Lindsey Horan, if you will let me, of course.”

“Of course you can take me on another date,” Lindsey smiled, blushing. “It’s just, I’ve just, I’ve never done this before.”

“Never gone on a date?” Sara teased. “That’s fine, takes the pressure off on me to top any in the past.”

“No, I’ve been on a date before,” She chuckled to herself, but blushed, looking down again, still hesitating. “I’ve umm, never been on a date with a woman.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that Linds, we can do this entirely at your pace. Whatever you are comfortable with.”

Lindsey shook her head at that, she knew she had been nervous for nothing, how was this woman so perfect?

All her nerves before the conversation started gone, it had gone better than she could have anticipated.

The two stayed at the pub for another two hours, Sara promising to ‘woo’ her on a date when she was off next. Conversation moving on, flowing easy as usual.

Similar to when they went for coffee, Sara opened all the doors on the way out, placing a hand on her Lindsey’s back to guide her out and while walking her to her car.

“Is this ok?” the trainer asked, leaning closer to her.

“More than ok Sara,” Lindsey said, leaning even closer, pressing her side into Sara’s.

Lindsey felt like she was on fire as they walked down the street. She could feel the heat from Sara body, and solidness of her muscles; it made her want to feel more of it.

When they got to Lindsey’s car, the two blondes stayed close. Lindsey leaned against the car, boldly pulling Sara into her. Sara moved one hand Lindsey’s hip, her other hand resting on the roof of the car next to Lindsey’s head.

“I had a great time tonight, I can’t wait for this date you are going to ‘woo’ me with,” Lindsey placed both hands on Sara’s hips.

“I did too, glad you asked me out tonight,” Sara took a step back, removing her hands from the car and Lindsey.

Lindsey stood to her full height too, sensing the blonde’s hesitancy.

“You can hug me.”

“Yea?” Sara asked softly, stepping in close again, gently wrapping Lindsey in a hug at the midfielder’s nod.

Once they separated, Sara leaned down and opened the car for Lindsey. Lindsey slid into the driver seat.

The two bid each other good-bye, Sara turned and walked towards her own vehicle.

Lindsey sat back in her car, smiling as she watched the firefighter walk away in her rearview mirror.

[pigstepping]

I've decided that I want to start posting about my WIPS on my blog more, so it's SBI Vigilante AU worldbuilding hours! Time to bust out that biology degree \o/

So the system I developed has powers that stem from genetic predisposition + environmental factors. Kids who are predisposed to developing powers have a critical period around age 8 during which, if they have a significant-enough need, they can create a pocket of influenceable physical reality around themselves which allows them to develop superpowers.

Dense worldbuilding notes under the cut for those interested:

Genetic explanation

The gene that causes kids to be predisposed to developing powers is what's called a "repeat expansion mutuation." (This is a real thing, which causes a number of real neurological diseases!) Basically what that means is that this gene has a bunch of different versions (alleles) that are differentiated by how many copies of a particular sequence of DNA are present in the allele. The more copies, the stronger the expression of the trait along a spectrum of intensity.

In this particular case, the repeating sequence was introduced to the human genome around 40 years ago via an engineered retrovirus (famous example: HIV) that was designed and accidentally released by the government. The retrovirus was spread via contact transmission between adult hosts, who had no way of knowing they were carrying the virus as it only has affects on children. The retrovirus inserted varying numbers of copies of itself into the genome of infected individuals, and those individuals passed the mutation to their kids. Children who inherit the mutation cannot spread it to others, as they are born with the DNA sequence integrated into their genome rather than existing in transmissible viral form. In the current day AU, around 20% of the population in the country where containment was breached has at least 1 copy of the retrovirus in their genome, and the virus is slowly spreading via reproduction and residual viral transmission to other parts of the world as well.

The presence of even a single copy of the retrovirus in someone's genome is enough to give them a window of opportunity during childhood in which they have the ability to create a localized pocket of spacetime that allows them to alter reality. If this pocket manifests, both its duration and the degree of influence the child has over reality within the pocket are determined by the number of retrovirus copies in the host's genome. However, environmental factors determine whether the pocket manifests in the first place, as well as determining the nature of any resulting power.

Environmental explanation

If a child has 1 or more copies of the retrovirus, they enter a developmental critical period around the age of 7-8 years old. During this period of time, the kid will manifest the reality-altering pocket if they ever feel a sufficiently strong unmet need or desire. They will subconsciously use the pocket to alter reality in a way that they believe will improve the odds of their needs being met.

In practice, this means that healthy, happy children with capable guardians are less likely to manifest pockets, because they usually don't have strong unmet needs or desires. There are exceptions, such as kids who are extremely passionate about an interest or hobby, kids with particularly vivid imaginations who desperately wish they could live out their fantasies, etc. But a moderate majority of kids who manifest pockets do so because of trauma.

Generally, the nature of the need determines the nature of the power, although not necessarily in predictable ways. A kid who lacks food security might develop photosynthesis so they can "eat" without needing food at all, or they might develop the ability to digest things that don't normally give any nutritional value, or they might develop mind control that can be used to convince strangers to give them food. In addition, not all kids who manifest pockets will develop powers based on their needs during that time. If the need that triggered the pocket gets addressed before powers develop, the kid might develop powers that are completely unrelated, or they might not develop anything at all.

Mechanics of power development

The powers developed within the pocket are determined by three factors: the intensity of the trait's expression per the child's genome, the subjective manageability of the unmet need according to the child, and the way the child views the world around them.

As previously mentioned, the more copies of the retrovirus you have, the stronger your influence over reality, which means that kids with several copies will generally have the capacity to develop more outlandish powers than kids with only one or two copies. An example might be the ability to turn invisible vs the ability to blend into crowds. Both result in the child being less noticeable to the people around them, but one is clearly further outside the bounds of normal reality.

However, more outlandish powers don't always equate to more "powerful" powers. If a child believes, correctly or incorrectly, that they can handle their problem on their own, they will usually develop a "weaker" power regardless of how closely that power adheres to the normal contraints of reality. A weaker power might have a smaller area of effect, a longer cooldown between uses, a more significant physical or mental cost to use, or some other limitation.

Powers are also limited by the child's imagination and base of knowledge. Power development is subconscious and can't be consciously controlled or guided by the child, so powers will be shaped by the subconscious assumptions a kid makes about the world, as well as the ideas and concepts they've been exposed to. A kid who spends a lot of time thinking about animals might develop an animal trait as their power, while a kid who spends a lot of time thinking about cars might develop a knack for hotwiring. Likewise, a child will develop powers based on what they subconsciously believe will help them, even if this turns out to be inaccurate. For example, a child who is insecure due to irrationally critical parents might develop a skill they believe will make their parents proud of them, despite their skill level playing little true role in the criticism they receive.

Additionally, because kids at age 7-8 don't generally have a solid grasp of science or the limits of physical reality, it is very rare for their powers to develop with clear biological/physical mechanisms. This can make it difficult to study how powers operate, because powers usually have no associated concrete phenomenon with a function or structure that can be examined.

Because of this lack of any biomarker, it's often impossible to determine whether someone has a power unless it includes an obvious body modification or the person uses the power in front of others. The closest approximation is genetic testing which can tell whether a person is predisposed to developing powers in the first place. However, as only about 50% of people with the necessary genetic makeup go on to develop powers, this method is imperfect.

In fact, many people with only one or two retrovirus copies will develop subtle powers without initially realizing. There is no clear indication that a child has manifested a reality-altering pocket, so if they develop a non-obvious power during this time, they may go their whole lives without realizing they have a power at all.

Sociopolitical implications

Because the retrovirus responsible for superpowers only breached containment ~40 years ago, society is still trying to grapple with the ramifications.

The immediate response of the government to the breach was to try to suppress information, limit the viral spread, and limit the development of powers. One of their earliest steps was implementing a secretive parallel foster care system for genetically predisposed children, designed to minimize stressors during their critical periods to prevent power manifestation. Foster parents were sourced from the ranks of the economically and politically powerful, both because this was the population the government trusted most with information about the outbreak, and because this was judged to be the population with the best resources for minimizing stressors. However, this plan backfired badly due to poor vetting of prospective foster parents, leading to an influx of powerful adults intent on deliberately depriving their foster children of basic necessities with the goal of manifesting powers the foster parents could use to their own benefit.

This miscalculation, in addition to the rampant spread of the virus to unaware carriers who then went on to have children, led the government to decide to give up on limiting the outbreak. Instead, they covered up the unchecked abuses of the parallel foster system and turned their attention to recruiting powered people into voluntary government service where possible, and capturing and experimenting on the rest.

The recruiting process was initially slow-going, and both powered crime and powered vigilantism were rampant. A breakthrough was made with the launch of the hero guild, a powers-centric branch of the police force which was designed with a built-in PR apparatus to entice powered people into working for the government, as well as turn public opinion against powered people who choose to use their powers without government oversight. Powered heroes are highly praised, while powered civilians are often regarded with suspicion and powered criminals are particularly reviled. Powered vigilantes were relegated to the outskirts of society, trusted only by the small areas they serve, and they have become increasingly criminalized over time with the aid of anti-vigilante government propaganda.

The hero guild also instituted a separate "penal" system for powered individuals, particularly for powered "villains" and vigilantes. To the public's knowledge, the guild conducts trials behind closed doors to protect the identities of the defendants. The public also believes that powered criminals are kept in a separate set of prisons with special security measures to counteract power use. However, this serves as a smoke screen to conceal the fact that most powered criminals don't receive a trial at all, instead becoming unwilling subjects in a system of laboratories where the biology and mechanisms of powers are studied using experimental methods ranging from benign to horrifically inhumane. This reality is an open secret in the vigilante community, but pervasive anti-vigilante propaganda makes it difficult for vigilantes to blow the whistle. The guild carefully keeps the lab system hidden from their powered heroes to avoid widescale rebellion.

On the international stage, the containment breach country is serving as a case study in managing powers. Other countries, aware that their own population of powered individuals will only continue to grow, are watching carefully in order to learn from the original country's mistakes.

SO, that's the bulk of my general worldbuilding for this AU so far! I'm still fitting the backstories for SBI and Beeduo into this setting, as well as various background characters, but this will serve as a good scaffold for further world development.

[evolutionsvoid]

The sudden and inexplicable appearance of some alien entity was worrisome, but with all the other issues the earth was dealing with, it seemed inevitable. How a massive creature such as this one just happened to pop up in the middle of the country left many baffled, but since it was already stomping around, the higher ups decided that question wasn't top priority at the moment. Though it didn't seem to be targeting cities and military bases like many would expect for an alien invader, it quickly became apparent that this being was a huge problem. It showed no malice or anger towards humanity, hardly even raising a fuss when some idiots put a few tank shells into its hide. On its own, it didn't seem so bad, but unfortunately it brought something worse to the table than sharp claws and fire breath. It didn't take long for the creature to earn a name: Manic Burn. Though the passive bumbling giant doesn't seem deserving of such a title, it takes just one look at its victims to understand the destruction it can bring. The real danger that comes from Manic Burn is the vapor that is expelled from its body. This orange mist is pumped from the endless amount of holes and organic piping that cover its form, churning the stuff out at a rapid and constant rate. It creates so much of this substance that Manic Burn is always surrounded by a thick shroud of it, so much so that people have only been able to see its full body on extremely windy days. Unfortunately such days are the most dangerous to nearby organisms, because the wind spreads its vapors far and wide. Even on a calm day, its ceaseless expulsions can coat the landscape for miles around, requiring mass evacuations for any town in its vicinity. Such locations cannot be returned to until Manic Burn is out of the area for several days, as the residue left by the mist persists for days afterwards. Those exposed to its clouds of vapor will find it quite wet and sticky, the air practically clinging to your skin and clothes. Within seconds of exposure, one's whole body will be coated in the vapor's reside and that is when its effects kick in. The residue will undergo a chemical reaction with organic tissue, turning it into a caustic substance. The amount of catalyst and certain chemicals within the victim's body will affect the strength of the reaction. In normal conditions, the human body hardly creates enough of the currently unknown chemicals to create a strong reaction, greatly weakening the corrosive strength of the vapor. In this case, the vapor will give the victim something that is like a bad case of sun burn. The top layer of skin will be reddened and fried, but such injury will fade away as the dead skin sloughs off and the body heals. Unfortunately, it was soon found out that things like "normal conditions" and "calm and collected" were things that were not present outside a laboratory, and that is when the vapor revealed its true power. Though the residue does not react strongly to the body of a peaceful, calm human, it has a very different effect to those in a different state. When the human body is in an energized and stressed state, it seems to create much more of this certain chemical that the residue reacts to. Essentially, those who panic or are in fight-or flight mode will cause a severe reaction with the vapor and turn it from an irritating inconvenience to a horrific biological weapon. When juiced with these reactants and catalysts, the caustic strength of the residue spikes tremendously and it will begin to burn through the flesh. This effect is like napalm mixed with a chemical burn, as the surrounding vapor clings to the victim and continues to react. The sudden pain and panic that comes from watching your own flesh bubble and burn causes your body to create more of this reactant, further fueling this chemical fire. Once one delves into panic mode while exposed to this mist, there is little hope in stopping the inevitable escalation and death. A victim can go from perfectly fine to a melting skeleton in the matter of minutes, as all it takes is one strong instance of fear or excitement to catalyze the reaction. This is quite the problem for folk caught in the cloud of this massive beast, as it isn't exactly easy to remain calm in such a situation. 

To make matters worse, further studies show that the residue of this vapor contains trace amounts of pheromones that are released by Manic Burn. While it is unknown what these pheromones mean to the massive entity, they are capable of having a slight effect on the other organisms exposed to it. It seems the chemicals within it can imitate the effects of an alarm pheromone, tricking the brain and body. Exposure to this pheromone can cause victims to experience unease and anxiety, which is dangerous given the nature of the vapor. This slight stressor may be enough to push a victim into a scared state, which will trigger the caustic reaction. This makes the mist even more dangerous, as one cannot rely on their own mental strength to protect them. No matter how composed you may be, your body may be tricked by the pheromone and cause you to make a single, but fatal, mistake. It is highly recommended that those in designated risk zones should obtain gas masks, full body protection as well as sedatives. Those downwind of Manic Burn or in contact with the vapor should immediately take these sedatives and hunker down somewhere. Do not attempt to run or escape. Find a safe place and stay there. Do the best you can to avoid contact with the vapor and try to remain calm. If you or someone you know is not capable of doing this, then it is recommended that you obtain a tranquilizer and use it when exposed. All emergency response teams will be equipped with high powered sedatives and tranquilizers in hopes of preventing these reactions. Once the vapor is gone, one should find soap and water to wash off the residue. Take showers, not bathes, and be sure to scrub every inch of your body. While these precautions and steps are not foolproof, they can increase your chances of survival and hopefully save a few lives. The current plan is to destroy Manic Burn, but this has been found to be quite difficult. The entity seems to linger in zones that possess several cities and towns, creating the worry of collateral damage. With no current way to bait or lead the creature to some barren countryside, the fight has to be brought to it. However, previous attempts to wound or kill the beast has resulted in massive plumes of vapor being released. Injury to the body parts that emit this mist causes it to lose control of its output and release it in a powerful surge. This doesn't seem to hurt the creature in any significant way, but it does dump a large portion of deadly vapor into the air and possibly into the atmosphere. High reaching plumes may cause this vapor to spread over an even larger area, hitting populations that were believed to be safely out of range. It doesn't take long for Manic Burn to recover from these wounds, as its regenerative abilities are quite powerful. Holes are sealed up and limbs are regrown rapidly, making it a wonder of how much damage needs to be done before it truly dies. The other issue is that Manic Burn has remained quite passive during its time wandering the landscape. Attacks have pained it, but not too much. One has to wonder what will happen if the military chooses to up its game and unleash a full on assault. What will the beast do when faced with this threat? If it is capable of causing such misery and death while doing nothing, what will happen when it gets mad?     ------------------------------------------- Another entry for kaijune and another non-violent kaiju that somehow still ruins everything. Also I am pretty sure those aren't the lyrics.

[isidar-mithrim]

A new beginning

While Ron and Hermione are in Australia, Neville and Harry are about to begin their career as Aurors, the raw memories of the battle still fresh in their minds, among some happy thoughts.

{Written for the second weekly prompt on the Hinny Discord: “Think about a teacher who inspired you. What would you say to them if they walked through the door right now?”}

[Read on Ao3]

Edit: I forgot to copy here my thanks! So, many thanks to @glisseowrites for betaing <3 Goes without saying that any residual errors is her fault :P

And also thanks to Flo for spotting the misuse of ‘Minister’ ^^

___________________________________

Neville recognised him right away, his unruly black hair unmistakable even from the further corner of the cafe.

Harry let his gaze roam around the room and Neville waved a hand, nodding in salute when Harry spotted him and walked towards the table.

Grinning, Neville stood up to clap on his shoulder.  “Morning.”

“Hello, Nev,” Harry greeted him, taking a seat on the stool in front of him. “Ginny says hi too.”

“Oh.” He hadn’t expected her name to come up so soon (or at all, actually). “Well, er… thanks. So, does that mean you two…”

As Neville trailed off, Harry’s eyes went wide, a light blush spreading on his cheeks.

“Sorry,” said Neville hastily, cursing himself for making him uncomfortable. “I shouldn’t have asked, it’s none of my b–”

“No, it’s ok,” said Harry, raising a hand. “We, er... yeah... we’re good.”

Neville beamed. “That’s great. I knew you’d be.”

“Really?”

“Of course! She missed you a lot, at Hogwarts. Not that she ever admitted it out loud, obviously, but…” He shrugged. “We could tell.”

“Oh…” mumbled Harry, rubbing his scar absentmindedly. “That’s…”

He swallowed, clearly at a loss for words, and Neville felt a wave of affection for his friend.

“You really deserve it,” he said earnestly. “Both of you do.”

Harry’s lips were tugged into a coy smile. “Thanks, Nev. And… for what it’s worth… I’m sorry I –”

“Hello, guys. What can I get you?”

They both turned their heads towards the waitress, a very cute woman whose blonde plaits reminded Neville of Hannah’s.

“Er… coffee, for me,” said Harry. “And a treacle tart. Thanks.”

The waitress beamed at him. “You’re welcome.”

She seemed quite taken by Harry’s striking green eyes, noticed Neville with amusement. He had to clear his throat to get her attention, biting back a smile when the girl jolted in surprise, blushing.

“And for you?” she asked, her voice a bit higher than before.

“A slice of Victoria sponge and a cup of tea, please.”

“Perfect, I’ll be right back. Call me if you’d like to order anything else, I’ll leave you the menus.”

Neville didn’t miss the soft smile she gave to Harry before walking away.

“She’d be really upset to know you’re already taken,” he teased when she was out of earshot.

Harry blinked at him, bemused. “You mean the waitress?”

Neville tried not to laugh. “Who else? And to think she doesn’t even know you’ve just saved the world!”

“She was just being nice,” mumbled Harry, suddenly very interested in the menu.

“Yeah, you tell Ginny that,” said Neville with glee. “Merlin’s beard, witches from all over the planet are going to be desperate when they hear the news.”

Harry looked up, his expression sheepish. “Er, about that… we, erm… well, we’d prefer to keep it quiet, this time. You know, at least until things are a bit more settled.”

“Oh. Sure.” Neville privately suspected that that had a lot to do with Harry and much less to do with Ginny, but he certainly wasn’t going to address that. “I understand.”

“I mean, her family knows, and it’s not like we’re keeping it a secret, so I’m not asking you to lie for us or anything like that, but…”

Neville smirked. “But no more kisses in the middle of the common room.”

“Ha, ha. Very funny.” Harry had spoken in a deadpan tone, but he was smiling. “Just… don’t shout it around, will you?”

“Don’t worry, my lips are sealed. I was only planning to tell Rita Skeeter,” he assured him, thoroughly enjoying himself.

Harry, on the other hand, looked at him with a grave expression. “I mean it, Nev. Not even around the office.”

When Neville realised the implication of those words, his amusement faded away. “You think we can’t trust the others?”

“Most of them stayed there, did they?” Harry shrugged, resigned. “How can we know if they were sabotaging the Ministry from the inside, playing along, or right down helping them?”

Neville sighed. “We can’t,” he conceded. “But…”

He fell silent when he spotted the waitress coming back, and a moment later she arrived with a loaded tray balanced on one hand.

“Here we are,” she said, looking pointedly at Neville. “The Victoria sponge and the tea were for you, right?”

When he nodded, she took his order from the tray and laid it carefully on the table. Only then she finally locked her blue eyes with Harry’s, a dazzling smile brightening her beautiful face.

“So, the treacle tart and the coffee must be for you.”

Harry swallowed, awkwardly flattening his hair. “Er, yeah. Thanks.”

“Wonderful. Please, call me if you need anything else.”

Neville added milk to his tea and stirred it, forcing himself to stay impassive, but as soon as the waitress was far enough, he grinned at Harry, who rolled his eyes in response.

“She’s just being nice, eh?”

“Shut up,” muttered Harry, grabbing a sugar cube and throwing it at him.

Neville barked a laugh. “Tell me, how many marriage proposals have you received so far?”

Harry narrowed his eyes, looking unexpectedly pensieve with his coffee hanging in mid air. “None, actually,” he admitted, his tone perplexed.

Neville shot him an amused glance. “Aren’t you a bit young for that, anyway?”

Harry rolled his eyes again, but his lips twitched. “I was just wondering if someone at the Ministry is checking my mail or, well, intercepting it.” He took a sip of coffee. “I haven’t got a letter since forever.”

“Oh.” Neville thought of the bunch of letters he had received from his parents’ old friends to congratulate him. A couple of them were still in the Aurors, and that made him realise he ought to resume the conversation that the arrival of their order had interrupted. “That’s… weird, I guess.”

Harry sighed. “I’ll ask Kingsley to have a look into it. Who knows, maybe it was something organised by the Order so the Ministry wouldn’t find me.”

“Yeah, maybe,” said Neville, who felt like they had more pressing topics to discuss. He blew on his tea and took a long sip. “Look, about what you were saying before… My gran mentioned a couple of Aurors that were friends with my parents, so I’d like to think we can trust them.” He tried not to take Harry’s mildly skeptical expression too personally. “And about the rest… I know it’s no excuse, but lots of people in the Ministry had kids or nephews or even grandkids at Hogwarts, and… believe me, that means they weren’t exactly in the position to oppose the Ministry.”

Harry sent him an odd glance, and Neville wondered if he was thinking about Ginny’s dad as well. He waited in silence and took another sip of tea, suspecting Harry needed a bit of time to sort out his thoughts.

“Earlier, when you said that… that Ginny missed me… I was meaning to say... just, you know…” He took a deep breath, his eyes fixed on his coffee. “I’m very sorry I wasn’t there.”

Neville lowered his mug, staring at him in disbelief. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I’m not.” Harry had spoken firmly, and for a moment he looked again like he was carrying the weight of the world upon his shoulders. “What you went through… It must have been awful.”

“It was,” said Neville matter-of-factly. From the way Harry raised his eyebrows, he could tell he was taken aback. “One more reason for you not to be there, the way I see it. And in all honesty, I think we were better off without you.” He grinned. “Troubles always seem to follow you.”

Harry chuckled, and Neville felt quite pleased for cheering him up.

“And yet you want to work with me,” said Harry with a lighter tone, his lips curved upwards. “Doesn’t seem so wise, does it?”

“Not at all,” said Neville, still grinning. “But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Harry huffed with humour. “Suit yourself, then, but don’t hold it against me if you’ll end up with a weird scar on your forehead.”

“’Course I will,” he said cheerfully. “It’s clearly your fault if I’ve been asked to join.”

Harry raised his mug towards him in mock salute, smiling. “You’re welcome.”

Neville mirrored him, clinking their mugs together.

“I mean it, though,” he pressed after sipping his tea, more serious. “I wouldn’t be here, if it weren’t for you. You know that, right?”

Harry’s stunned expression was answer enough. “I…” He swallowed. “You would have done that too. Lots of people would have.”

Neville shook his head. “I wasn’t speaking about that,” he said gently, and Harry seemed even more puzzled. “I meant the D.A.”

“The D.A.?”

“You see, I never thought I had it in me to be an Auror… to follow my parents’ steps. It seemed like an impossible dream, one I barely allowed myself to dwell on... and then you started the D.A.”

“It wasn’t me,” said Harry decisively. “It was all Hermione’s idea, she was the one who –”

“It was you who taught us, though.” Neville looked at him into the eyes, his chin held up.  “And look at us now.”

Harry lowered his gaze to his plate and began cutting the slice of treacle tart in little pieces. “I made all of you believe that… that everybody had to fight, that it’d be cowardly not to do it, that…”

Neville felt a surge of deep compassion for his old friend and his unfair, aching guilt. “You gave us hope,” he said fiercely. “You made us survive.”

“Not all of you,” Harry murmured, so low that Neville almost didn’t catch it. His head was still bent, but Neville noticed his hard blinking nonetheless, and he felt a heavy knot clenching around his heart.

“Colin wasn’t your fault, Harry. If anything, I was the one to call him back. To call everybody back.”

“Only because I was there.”

Neville sighed. He felt like he was fighting a lost cause, but he owed Harry that much. “I promise you this year would have been even worse, without the D.A.”

“At least people would have stayed out of trouble,” muttered Harry, twirling his mug between his hands.

“Would they really, though? Because I clearly remember you saying you couldn’t have done it without all of us, after the battle. Bit pointless to stay out of trouble if you-know — sorry, if Voldemort would have won.”

Harry opened and closed his mouth. “I…”

“I know it’s hard on you,” said Neville. “But… I guess I like to believe that most of us would have stayed and fought anyway, even if the D.A. had never existed.”

Harry didn’t look so persuaded, and Neville decided there was only one way to pull him out of his own head.

“You know, it’s a bit rude of you to think we wouldn’t have,” he said provocatively.

As predicted, Harry’s head immediately jerked up: he looked half horrified, half mortified. “I… I didn’t mean… That’s not what I… I’d never… I’m just...” He took a deep breath, rubbing his scar again. “I’m not undermining what you did, Nev. That’s… the last thing I want, actually. I promise.”

“Yeah,” nodded Neville. “I know.”

“I meant what I said the other day. I’ll make sure people hear about you all.”

“I know you will.”

“I’m just…” He shrugged, letting out a breath. “I guess what I wanted to say is, I’m sorry I dragged you in all that.”

“Funny,” said Neville, “because I’m glad you did.”

Harry looked at him in disbelief. “Don’t say that,” he admonished, his voice sharp.

Neville ignored him. “I’m glad I could fight beside you. I’m glad I could help. I’m glad you asked me to kill the snake, even if -”

“You shouldn’t be!” said Harry, frustration blatant in his voice. “Can’t you see it? You shouldn’t have had to endure all this!”

“You shouldn’t have either.”

“I didn’t have a choice, did I?” bit back Harry.

“I know,” said Neville, placatingly. “And I’m sorry.”

Harry seemed taken aback by those words, and Neville wondered if he’d been the first person to tell him that. “But… even when I had the chance, I don’t think I could have chosen anything different either, you know? And if I’ve been able to outlive the consequences of that choice, it’s only thanks to your lessons. It’s only thanks to you.” He thought of the Chocolate Card tucked in the front pocket of his shirt, alongside the D.A. coin and the Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum wrapping his gran had sent him with her pride. “You’re the first person that really believed in me. The first to think I was worth something.” He thought of those meaningful words heard years before, words he’d never forgotten… words he’d never forget. You’re worth twelve of him.

“Blimey, Neville,” said Harry in a hoarse voice. With his eyes shut and his fingers pushing up the glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose, he looked at the same time incredibly young and years older than he was. It was odd to think they were born just one day apart.

“You know,” said Neville with a conversational tone, trying to spare Harry the embarrassment of acknowledging his words properly, “when we talked with Kingsley I realised that the only time I’ve been in the Ministry before then, was the day I went with you.”

“Oh. Right.”

Harry didn’t seem as relieved as he had hoped. A moment later, Neville realised with horror why: that was the day Sirius Black had died.

Unable to stand that awkward silence, Neville started rambling. “That… that was the first moment I thought ‘Hey, maybe I have what it takes to be an Auror, after all’; then of course my marks weren’t good enough, but… it was nice, to feel like… like I could have been.”

“You can be, Neville. You are.”

He chuckled lightly. “Yeah… I guess I am. Life is weird, eh?”

“It is,” agreed Harry. He checked his watch, and Neville threw him a questioning glance.

“We’ve still got twenty minutes before we have to go,” Harry reassured him, taking a sip of coffee.

“What about you, then?” asked Neville. “Have you always known you wanted to be an Auror?”

Harry looked pensieve for a moment. “Remember when you said life is weird?”

Neville put down his mug, nodding.

“Well… I didn’t even know that Aurors existed, until Moody. He’s the first Auror I’ve heard of, and he – the fake one, I mean – was the first to tell me that I’d –” He frowned. “Are you okay, Nev?”

Only then Neville realised he was holding his breath, his jaw clenched. He exhaled, relaxing the hand he had clamped around the mug handle. “Yeah,” he murmured, taking a bite of cake to buy some time. He chewed in silence, his blood pulsing in his ears, his mind going back to the awful day McGonagall had told him who had taken Professor Moody’s place.

“Shit,” blurted Harry. He was looking at him with wide eyes, comprehension written on his features. “I’m sorry, Neville, I shouldn’t have mentioned him. I’m an idiot.”

“It’s okay. I forgot about your godfather, did I?”

“Oh. Well, that’s not...”

Neville offered him a sheepish smile. “What if we call it even and leave it at that?”

“Sure,” said Harry hastily, shoving a piece of treacle tart in his mouth.

Neville took his lead and busied himself with his Victoria sponge, but he couldn’t stop dwelling about what Harry had said. To think that Barty Crouch had somehow inspired both of them was unsettling, but it was also oddly comforting to know he hadn’t been the only one to be fooled.

“He was also the first to acknowledge I was good in Herbology,” admitted Neville in a low voice. Against his expectations, Harry didn’t look so surprised.

“You already knew?”

Harry nodded, his face grim. “That book about aquatic plants... He gave it to you because he thought I’d ask for your help for the Second Task.”

Neville stared at him, his stomach squirming unpleasantly. He had never felt as used as he was feeling now, but in a way it was almost a relief to know that Crouch hadn’t taken him under his wing just for mere sadism.

Harry swallowed, looking anywhere but at him. “I’m very sorry I didn’t ask for your help, back then. It was very stupid of me.”

And of course Harry had to blame himself for that too.

Neville smiled kindly. “It’s water under the bridge, now. You made it up for it plenty enough.”

Harry didn’t look too convinced, but he gave him a weak nod. “Can I ask you something?”

“’Course.”

“You said Crouch was the first to recognise your talent in Herbology, but… what about Sprout?”

“Oh, well… I reckon she had always been pleased with my work, yeah, but I don’t think I ever thought I was good enough to make a career of it, before… before Crouch said he believed I could.”

Harry narrowed his eyes, looking perplexed and surprised at the same time. “I thought you wanted to be an Auror.”

“I didn’t really believe I could, back then, did I? But now things are different, now I know I can actually give a hand, and since Kingsley is asking for all the help he can get…”

It was weird to say out loud what he had kept repeating to himself for the past few days. He believed all of that, truly, but a part of him secretly wondered if the real reasons he was doing it was a different one.

I’m very proud of you, Neville. Your parents will be too.

“What did they do?” he blurted out.

Harry blinked at him, confused, and Neville felt his neck grew hot.

“Er… your parents, I meant.” He cleared his throat. “What did they do for a living?”

Harry was startled, his green eyes wide behind the round lenses.

“It’s ok if you don’t want to talk about it,” Neville hurried to add, fearing he had overstepped.

Harry slowly lowered his fork. “I… I don’t really know, to be honest.”

Neville really hadn’t seen that coming. It felt like a punch in his gut.

“I think they… they just joined the Order, after Hogwarts. I guess… I guess they thought they could start working after Voldemort had fallen...”

After that awkward confession, they stayed silent for a bit, eating their food and dwelling on their parents’ cruel destiny.

For once, it was Harry to break the ice.

“My mum was a good potioneer,” he said out of the blue. “Slughorn was very fond of her. I… I like to imagine she’d have been a good teacher, I think.”

Neville almost joked that she would have surely been better than Snape, but he remembered just in time that Harry had gotten a bit protective of their old professor.

“I’m sure she’d have been,” he said instead, smiling. “I bet you took it from her, you were great in the D.A.”

“Oh… thanks, Nev.”

“Have you ever considered becoming D.A.D.A. professor, one day?”

“Nah, I reckon I’ve already taken too many risks in my life. I much prefer the Aurors survival rates.”

Neville chortled, humored. “If there’s one person that can survive teaching that class, that’s got to be you, Harry.” He smirked. “Imagine how famous you’d become if you could last more than one year.”

Harry huffed, shaking his head in amusement, then he seemed to realise something, because he frowned, pensieve. “You know what, I actually think things might be different from now on. It was Voldemort who cursed it. He wanted it for himself, but Dumbledore refused.”

Neville froze in the act of biting a piece of cake.  “He wanted to teach?”

Harry nodded, his expression dark. “Insane, eh?”

“Well, I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised, after sitting through Carrow’s lessons,” said Neville grimly.

Harry sighed. “I guess not.” He checked his watch again. “Time to leave, I reckon.”

They both stood up, and Neville insisted on paying, knowing Harry was still sorting things out with Gringotts (and with the blonde waitress). “Help me with this sodding paper money, though. I’ve no idea how Muggles manage not to rip them up.”

Afterward, they headed out of the cafe, walking towards the Ministry.

“For what it’s worth,” said Harry, “I reckon you’d be a great teacher too.”

“Me?”

“Of course.” Harry looked nonplussed. “Kids would love you. But…” He took a deep breath. “I’m truly glad we’re in this together.”

Neville felt really touched by his words. Ignoring the lump in his throat, he gave him a proud nod. “I’ll watch your back, Harry.”

“I know,” he said, and Neville would have sworn Harry was a bit touched as well.

“Let’s hope there’ll be no need, anyway.”

“Yeah… I’m sorry I worried you with my paranoia, but Ron isn’t here, and…”

“I’m not worried, Harry,” said Neville earnestly. “I’m with you.”

Harry’s eyebrows shot upwards. “I…” He swallowed, at a loss for words yet again, and Neville waited patiently.

“Thank you,” said Harry eventually, his voice raspy. “For... everything.”

Neville nodded, and after a couple of steps a cheery thought struck him. He bit back a smile. “You know who we won’t have to worry about?”

“Who?”

“Dawlish,” he said with a smirk. “He’s still at St. Mungo’s. My gran can’t stop bragging about it.”

Harry laughed out loud, and they walked forward with matching grins, a new beginning waiting ahead.

[fuwafuwamedb]

Dodging Death Pt 9 (Hakuno, Caster Gilgamesh)

Previously: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 , 6, 7, 8

___

I had to bathe you…

I had to bathe you…

The phrase alone had her mind running haywire. She couldn’t breathe, especially after realizing that she was in his arms and she was having him help her eat. This guy was still just as cuddly as before. He still made small sounds here and there, nuzzling against her neck.

Gods, but she could almost picture the man actually bathing her like a cat.

He was already holding her so close. She could already feel his breath on her neck and shoulders. The nightgown, a gag gift from Rani, was slipping off her shoulders since she had thin lace holding the golden fabric up.

This is too much!

Far too much.

She wasn’t betrothed, she was bewildered.

Telling him anything was impossible at the moment though.

The fact that he was upright and holding her as a man was enough to have her stilled. The fact that the man, whom had just recently been the fluffiest golden feline that she’d ever seen, was telling her that her kiss, which she could faintly remember, was the cause of his being human again was enough to make her head spin.

True love’s kiss.

She looked up at him after another spoonful of the soup, seeing the king pull back enough to meet her gaze.

“You’ve barely eaten.”

Yeah, but Rin couldn’t cook. This soup was lukewarm at best and the ingredients left a bit to be desired. More than that, she wanted to understand what exactly she was in for.

“W-what are you going to do now?”

The soft chuckle did nothing for her.

“What?”

His finger wiped at her cheek, pulling back with some soup residue on it. He pressed that finger to his lips, lapping it off as those red eyes remained focused on hers.

“…I’m too young to marry.”

The man raised a brow.

It was true. She was in her early twenties. That meant she was still in the phase of making bad decisions and roaming around afterwards with her head held high and a handful of sleepless nights to think back on all those poor choices. She was still in that stage of life where she could stay up all night and go out to parties with Cu Chulainn without a second thought.

Responsibility was paying for things and that was already enough of a headache.

Marriage, and to someone like the great king here, was not on the table.

“In my kingdom, you would already be round with your second child,” Gilgamesh told her simply. “I did inform you that I would work slowly though. I will get you comfortable with-“

“I’m too plain.”

The man paused.

“…You’re a king, aren’t you?” Hakuno stared up at him, remembering bits of his speech from before.

“I am. Again, I am King Gilgamesh from Uruk.” He seemed to enjoy introducing himself.

“Shouldn’t you be finding some doe-y eyed, soft-spoken lady who is princess of some far off kingdom? Someone who is so pretty it literally hurts your eyes to look at her?”

That was how fairytales worked.

The king- or rather- the prince because princesses always married princes, would wander out and find the fairest lady of them all. They would safe the woman from danger and the woman would fall blindly and madly in love. She’d shit out some kids and the kids would do the same thing while the princess and the prince would grow old together in some musty castle.

Then again, this was an Uruk king…

Did they have castles in Uruk?

I should have really paid more attention to my books.

She’d gotten distracted by the Ishtar insults. That and the king’s insults to Humbaba.

Speaking of that…

This guy had more wives than all of Fuyuki. What did he need another wife for? Again, her becoming betrothed to him was becoming more and more farfetched.

“Do you think so poorly of yourself then?”

The man tilted her chin up, running his thumb over her lips once more.

She was still transfixed by that gaze.

“I’m not naïve,” she told him, meeting that gaze seriously. “I’m nothing like a goddess or a model. I am passable.”

“Passable.”

“I’m sure you had wives that were also passable. They were nice enough looking, but you wouldn’t seek them out for anything. That’s how I am.”

“That is nonsense.”

“And you have how many wives?” Hakuno shook her head, dispelling his bewitchment of her and standing up. She held the fabric of her nightgown tighter around herself. “I’m not a wife. I’m hardly even human with how much I work. You’ve seen me. Dawn ‘til dusk, always typing at my computer or working or studying. Even when I watch TV, I’m still studying during commercial breaks.”

He reached out, but she took a step further away.

True love or not, that didn’t mean anything.

His hand caught her own.

“Hakuno, sit and speak with me.”

“I can’t.”

She needed to be dressed. She needed to figure out what had happened while she’d been passed out. She’d already slept with this king and that was something that was going to earn her a one way ticket to the doctor’s office for a checkup and a good two minute test.

However, to her surprise, he released her hand and stood up. The bowl that she’d abandoned was pulled into hand before he was walking passed her.

“You’re being stubborn. I will assume that you’re not shamefully hiding from someone that you willingly slept with and shared magic with. You’re better than that. Fate would not chose someone weak at heart to stand at my side.”

“You’d be surprised.”

He threw a look her way.

Those eyes said nothing less than shut up.

“You saved my life.” He kept his voice level, but the tone was clear enough, authoritative enough. “You went out of your way for a creature in this world that you knew nothing about. I could have bitten you and you could have become injured. You could have died yourself. Instead, you put your faith in something and you cared for me. You showed your love to me, holding me to your chest while you slumbered and bringing me into your baths and to your meals to join you.”

She hadn’t known he was human.

“You think that I want some naïve chit that will wilt at the mere sound of my voice, but I have had many of those given to me. I’ve accepted many of those for the sake of treaties and peace. I’ve seen them into the homes of soldiers and nobles as well. They enjoy the comforts of Uruk, pledging their loyalty to Uruk and enjoying the benefits of their decisions.”

They…

That wasn’t something in the history books.

Hakuno found the man moving forward, setting the bowl down nearby. His hands went to her shoulders, wrapping around her to pull her in close to his heat once again.

The very nearness of him was like laying near a fire. And perhaps there was no better description for someone like this man, with ember colored eyes that burned you to the core.

“You, Hakuno,” Gilgamesh told her. “You’re defiant. You are interesting. Plain, of course, but there is something unique to the way you look to another. You show wit when the time calls for it. You show softness at times when I would appreciate it most.”

He slid the straps of her nightgown from her shoulders, holding it up with his hands alone.

“I intend to court you.”

That voice of his didn’t make it a goal or a desire. He said it like the courting was already done, like she would be stripping her body of all its coverings right here and now for his gaze to partake in.

“I intend to make you see what I have come to find in you. When you do ask me to take you again, because I will prove myself to you, you will find that you feel quite like those goddesses and models that you think yourself on uneven level with.”

The nightgown slipped.

His gaze remained on her face.

“Is this your necklace?”

“It is,” he told her.

She reached behind her neck, letting the thing fall to the floor with her nightgown.

“Are you inviting me to touch you or declining my courtship?”

“How expensive was that?”

He shrugged, “Perhaps the price of one of those car collections in the small showings on the television.”

She dove down immediately.

“YOU HAD ME DROP SOMETHING THAT EXPENSIVE?!”

“You chose to drop it, Hakuno!”

She picked it up, checking it and stammering away at an apology. The thing was heavy gold. Thick, heavy gold with jeweled accents here and there; she could almost hear the sounds of appraisers weeping at the sight of her treatment.

And then touching it with her hands.

Gods!

She wrapped it in her nightgown, glaring at him.

“You should have told me!”

He could have not put it on her!

Oh no, but Rin and Cu Chulainn had seen her in it. She must have looked like some bought off rich housewife to them.

She’d be stuck hanging out with Shinji in her classes.

This was it, the end of it all.

The man’s arms wrapped around her, earning another squeak as he touched her sides.

“STOP!”

“What’s wrong?”

“I need to put this in a safe or something!”

“Hmm?”

A certain softness pressed against her neck, a set of short hairs brushing against her skin. With that touch, she could feel chills run through her veins. Another press. Another.

She wasn’t even sure what had happened, but the feel of his lips made her whole body feel lighter. The light fluttering of what felt like wings were in her stomach as a warmth spread in her chest. Over and over, she could feel that rubbing and those fleeting presses of softness. The mewl that left her lips came a moment before she found them both on the floor.

“This… is too expensive,” she breathed, exposing more of her neck as she spoke.

There was a prickling to her eyes. She wanted to just lean in and get more but she wasn’t sure how to do this.

She wasn’t sure if she was even strong enough or wise enough to know how to ask.

“You need more of them,” he murmured. “I want to hear your wrists and your ankles jingle when you walk, Hakuno. That is something more I can give you.”

“I don’t need it.”

“And that makes me want to all the more,” he insisted, his voice becoming more upbeat by the minute. “You will become a great magician by my hand.”

“…I thought you were courting me?”

A soft chuckle came, she could feel him nip at her lightly.

Why did she have to be this affected by him?

“I am, but you can be both. You show great promise by being able to speak Sumerian fluently already. You don’t seem to realize how often you speak it, but your lilt to the tongue suits you.”

She needed ice cream.

The whole bucket. She was going to devour the whole thing and then take the coldest shower known to mankind. She’d freeze away what this warmth was doing to her brain. She wasn’t being foolish enough to turn slightly, looking up at him.

And he wasn’t brushing a hand through her hair, leading her back to lay against the floor.

And she definitely wasn’t pulling him in by the robes he had on, her eyes falling to those lips.

I’m not a romantic.

I don’t even read that kind of cheesy garbage.

“You look like you want me to touch you,” he murmured, brushing his cheek to hers in order to murmur into her ear. “Say that you want me and I will do what your body is asking. Do not tell me that I’m alone in feeling this heat between us.”

He’s too good.

Hakuno found herself holding him there, pressed against her chest. His body was pinning her down. His mouth was doing more of those soft kisses just under her ear. She was sure she was going to have some face burn or something from all of his rubbing.

Her chest would feel good with that…

“Gilgamesh,” she found herself almost moaning.

“You are the most breathtaking woman I have ever seen,” the man dared to tell her.

“Just do it,” she replied.

She held his shoulders as he carried her back to her room. She found herself stretched out across her bed and her hips lifted, that mouth of his with the small start to facial hair rubbing against the space between her legs.

Time failed to mean anything.

She could only perceive time in how many times the man seemed to get her to cry his name with that mouth of his. Words had been sweet, but the way he could devour her was far, far more dangerous to her senses.

He found her mouth when she cried out for him to come to her.

His fingers wreaked havoc then.

She could feel him clean her up later, tenderly moving his mouth along her body as she thought uselessly about holding onto the sheets.

First, she needed to have any energy at all.

He brought a cloth to clean her up with. Wiping her off and murmuring. So much murmuring. His voice was a permanent echo in her head as she lay underneath him.

“You can have this when you please,” he promised.

This was far too good, too perfect for asking to have whenever she wanted. They would never leave this bedroom. They’d never survive more than a week. The two of them would simply stop existing after that.

Even as it were, Hakuno wasn’t sure if she was going to live through this.

Was it all that bad?

She really didn’t need anyone else. She looked after herself well enough and she had her friends in times of need. 

A soft sound met her ears. 

It sounded like a light pounding noise.

Her neighbors must have forgotten their key. 

A louder sound cam now. 

Hakuno opened her eyes, staring up at the ceiling as she felt Gilgamesh stir next to her. He was moving to sit up, frowning as he stared towards her bedroom door. 

In the second few seconds, chaos. 

What sounded like splintering came from outside her room. The sound of glass, most likely from her living room, came next. 

“The door!”

She shifted, aching too much to move much as Gilgamesh leaped out of bed.

“Cover the door! Don’t open-”

The axe that wooshed by Gil’s face was enough to make her blood run cold. She could see him slam the door shut immediately, grabbing the dresser nearby and sliding it into place.

Her phone... 

Looking around, Hakuno all but crawled to where it was.

Hakuno dialed without a second thought. She could hear the operator, rattling out her address as reasonably as she could as she heard the sounds of someone moving through the house. Repeatedly, she shook her head at Gilgamesh.

They needed to stay.

Sirens could be heard. 

Lights flashed outside their room.

Hakuno could hear the sounds of several feet clambering along the outside of the house, moving around before she heard someone bang on the door to her room.

“Police!”

“We’re in here,” Hakuno called. “We’re okay!”

Well-

Gilgamesh opened one of the drawers of the dresser he’d moved, tossing her a shirt and pants. The task of dressing was impossible without him coming over to help her, telling the police they’d be a moment.

Her eyes were on him, but he was moving fast. He didn’t take any time for granted, nor did he bother with trying to allow her to move. 

That, of all things, was clearly pointless. 

There were a series of police outside her bedroom as the dresser was pushed aside and Gilgamesh carried her into the hall. 

She could see sparks coming from the light fixtures, books and items torn and chopped and shattered all over the place. 

In a matter of a few minutes, with them hiding in her room; her entire world had been sliced down to nothing. She had been reduced to an owner of very, very few things. 

Her arms tightened on Gilgamesh.

“We need to leave.”

She couldn’t agree more. 

[frizz22]

Summons

@conejocabron: Madam Spellman prompt. Lilith panicking because she feels Zelda summoning her with urgency but when getting there Zelda is, just plain drunk. 

Enjoy! Read on ao3

They’d only been in charge for a month.

A tumultuous month at that. Other covens and warlocks had tried to swoop in and swallow their little group up. Claiming it was for the best, but she and Zelda knew they just wanted the glory of saying they were now in charge of one of the more prominent Churches of Darkness.

They’d held them all off, whether with negotiations, partnerships or blunt threats; their coven held their own and grew. 

Despite the progress and smooth sailing for the past week, Lilith insisted that Zelda summon her should another threat appear, not wanting to lose the precious ground they gained.

She also didn’t want to be like Lucifer who had made her terrified of summoning him simply for instructions. He’d started to lose her loyalty some time before that, then his pursuit of Sabrina alienated Lilith further. And when he’d decided to punish her because she’d summoned him, questioned him... well, Lilith didn’t intend to make the same mistakes as her predecessor and lose her greatest ally.

And.... and perhaps there was another motive behind it as well.

A more personal one Lilith refused to acknowledge. One that whispered that she cared, rather deeply, for the strong, intelligent, secretly compassionate woman.... who also happened to be absurdly beautiful.

Prior to her revealing her true nature, Lilith had few interactions with Zelda. The witch intrigued her, certainly, especially after Zelda had burst into the room, crackling with power and finished the exorcism. But beyond that, Lilith had little reason to think of her.

Until Zelda helped Lilith onto the throne.

Until she became the first high priestess in the Church of Lilith. Until they fought side by side in a variety of ways to protect what they’d both worked so hard to achieve. Until they spent hours together pouring over texts and making sweeping revisions and raising witches up within the church to the same level as warlocks. Until Lilith got to know her, hear her biting wit, learn what her laugh sounded like, acquaint herself with the curl of Zelda’s lips when she smiled.

Until she came to relish the time they got to spend together.

So, perhaps her motives for asking Zelda to summon her should trouble arise weren’t as transparent as the witch imagined; but she didn’t want any harm to come to one of the few living beings she trusted and cared for—she’d already lost too many.

First Lucifer—when he transformed into Satan, then Stolas—when he betrayed her to Lucifer and forced her to kill him, finally the sweet mortal Adam, he’d truly been Mary Wardwell’s, but Lilith had come to trust and care for him in her own way only to lose him as well. And now, well, now she had Zelda and while there was no Lucifer to steal her away, Lilith still worried something else would harm Zelda.

Zelda rarely summoned her, regardless of Lilith’s assertions. When she did summon her, the spell was always tinged with the implication that Lilith could come when she chose, that Zelda wasn’t in great need of her new Queen, she merely needed to discuss something when Lilith had the chance.

Which meant, when Lilith was lounging in her new throne late one night, going over a series of documents Zelda had recently given her, she was startled when a summoning spell came through that demanded Lilith’s immediate attention. Flying to her feet and not bothering to put her heels back on, Lilith teleported to the Spellman home, ready to lay waste to whatever had frightened Zelda enough to call her with such urgency.

Appearing in the foyer, Lilith made straight to the parlor where a fire was going, spell already in hand. Bursting into the room, she was stunned to find Zelda draped on the couch, drink in hand.

Cautiously approaching, Lilith crouched next to Zelda. “Where is it?” She whispered, thinking the woman must be in some kind of spell induced stupor.

Head lolling over, Zelda’s mouth spread into a wide smile. “Lil,” she breathed, clumsily sitting up.

Placing a steadying hand on Zelda’s shoulder, Lilith cast a quick spell to reveal anything harmful in the house and it came up empty. Confused, she turned back to Zelda. “What happened?” She insisted, checking the woman for injuries or residual magic.

“I missed you.” Zelda admitted, attempting to whisper and failing.

She blinked, nonplussed. “What?”

Slugging back the rest of her drink, Zelda set the glass aside, almost missing the side table, and took Lilith’s face in her hands, sending thrills through Lilith’s body. “I. Missed. You.” Zelda repeated, biting her lip as she stroked her thumbs over Lilith’s cheeks. “I haven’t seen you in two weeks, Lil, I wanted to see you.”

It was then Lilith registered the words. Zelda had missed her, wanted to see her, had given her a nickname... and she couldn’t fight the blush and smile that crept across her face in response. Then she realized something else.

Zelda was drunk.

There was a glaze to her normally sharp green eyes and her cheeks were rosy from the alcohol. Some of Lilith’s excitement at Zelda’s declarations and physical affection waned, it wasn’t that Zelda felt the same, she was just intoxicated…. Extremely so.

Sighing, and gently taking Zelda’s hands between her own, Lilith stood. “Zelda, how much have you had to drink?”

Face scrunching adorably, Zelda cocked her head at Lilith. “What does that have to do with anything? Can’t I just want to see you? Spend time with you?”

Carefully leveraging the redhead up and ignoring how the words made her heart ache—for surely It was the incredible amounts of alcohol speaking and not Zelda—Lilith slipped under Zelda’s arm and wrapped her own around the witch’s waist to prop her up.

“We can do that when you’re sober.” She murmured, leading Zelda to the stairs. It was slow going, the stairs, and Zelda stumbled, giggled and spouted soft, sweet sentiments the whole time they made their way to her bedroom.

Once there, Lilith waved a hand to change Zelda into the nightgown laying on the bed and gulped when she saw the dark blue silk contrasted on Zelda’s pale skin; the depth of the neckline didn’t help matters either.

Grinning, Zelda stood up from the bed where Lilith had parked her. “So eager to see me out of my normal clothes, are we?” She teased, running a finger along Lilith’s cheek and standing far too close.

Biting back a flirtatious remark, Lilith let out a strained chuckle instead. “You should sleep, Zelda.” She guided the woman back to bed.

“Oh, but there are much better ways in which this bed could be used.” Zelda purred, her hands finding Lilith’s hips and squeezing deliciously.

And Lilith almost let a ‘Satan, help me,’ fall from her lips out of habit. But she’d overthrown her old master and now had no one to pray to when she needed help resisting the tempting witch in front of her.

Deliberately removing Zelda’s hands, Lilith pulled back the covers and helped the redhead slip under the covers. “I’ll go mix up a hangover potion for you for when you wake.” It was easier to avoid Zelda’s comment completely than to try and address it without making the situation worse.

As she turned to leave, Zelda’s hand shot out and grasped her wrist. “Stay. Please?”

She paused for a moment, but finally nodded and rounded the bed to climb on top of the comforter Zelda was tucked under. Lilith laid there stiffly, unsure what to do. Normally she wouldn’t hesitate to follow someone’s leads, but this was Zelda and she didn’t want to ruin anything. The witch meant more to Lilith than a quick, if satisfying, romp.

Zelda who was on her side and facing away from Lilith, blindly reached behind her until she grasped Lilith’s arm. Zelda then tugged until Lilith rolled over and spooned her; once her arm was draped over Zelda’s waist, the redhead interlaced their fingers.

Humming contentedly, Zelda settled more heavily against Lilith. “Feels better than I imagined,” she murmured.

The comment had Lilith perking up. “What does?” She asked tentatively, scooting closer until her knees were notched behind Zelda’s completely.

Wriggling a little, Zelda adjusted her hold on Lilith’s hand and pulled her more tightly in. “This.” She sighed, drifting off almost immediately, the alcohol assisting the process.

Heart pounding, Lilith could only assume Zelda meant being held by her. Exhaling slowly, Lilith buried her nose into Zelda’s hair and tried to match her breathing with the witch’s in her arms.

At some point she must have fallen asleep as well. Because the next thing Lilith knew, she was waking up to sun streaming through the window.

It was then she noticed that during the night they had shifted. Now on her back, Lilith was stunned to find Zelda sprawled half on top of her, face pressed almost into her neck. For a moment, she considered teleporting away, avoiding the whole ‘morning after’ and hoping Zelda didn’t remember what happened. Just as she’d made up her mind to do just that, the arm Zelda had draped over her abdomen tightened.

“Don’t even think of moving.” She mumbled, her breath ghosting long Lilith’s skin making it hard to concentrate. The redhead then surprised her further by tipping her head up and placing lazy kisses along Lilith’s neck.

Swallowing roughly, Lilith loosed a shuddering exhale. “Zelda....” she managed in warning, though her hand had come up and wound into her high priestess’ red locks on its own accord.

“Hmm?” She placed a few more choice kisses along Lilith’s skin. “I already made a fool of myself last night. It seems I said many things and when I woke up next to you, I found I didn’t want to take them back.” She pulled back then to look Lilith in the eye, and, really, no one should be allowed to look so deliciously rumpled in the morning—it did things to Lilith. Zelda’s next words recaptured her attention. “Do you want me to stop?” And from the arch of her brow and the glint in her eye Lilith could tell Zelda already knew the answer.

Not one who enjoyed being predictable, though, Lilith suddenly rolled them, so Zelda was trapped beneath her. “Not at all.” She purred, leaning in to wipe the smug smile off Zelda’s face with a kiss.

NOTE: I jumped ahead on my list again. But after the last prompt I needed fluff and a lot of the prompts at the top of my list right now aren’t fluffy. Sorry! Hope you still enjoy :)

[korora12]

Ladybug Week Day 6 - Kitchen Disaster

Day 5 Day 7

Word Count: 4881

The thing about working freelance is that sometimes there isn’t any work to be had. Sometimes you get a tip about a job on a distant moon, so you fly halfway across the system just to find out someone beat you to it. Then you’re stuck flying back at half-speed to a more populated part of the system in order to conserve fuel, struggling to find ways to pass the time that won’t eat through money you don’t have.

“Ruby, where did you put my flamethrower?”

Blake was sitting in Crescent Rose’s common room reading her newest novel when Yang’s voice chimed over the intercom, signaling the beginning of the day’s unrequested excitement.

Moments later, Ruby returned with, “I put it back in the weapons locker. Where it belongs. Should I be concerned right now?”

“No, no need to be concerned. We have everything under control. Right, Weiss?”

“Can’t talk right now, busy,” Weiss responded. A loud crash preceded the intercom cutting out.

Blake turned to look behind her. The kitchen was in a small alcove, just to the side of the common room, where she’d seen Weiss and Yang head about an hour ago. She’d been filtering out their bickering/flirting since then, until she’d heard one of them run out moments earlier, heading towards the cockpit door. Past the kitchen counter, she could see Weiss struggling with some amorphous blob.

Sighing, Blake marked her spot and placed her book down on the nearby table. What were those two up to this time?

Across the room the door to the main battery opened and Ruby stepped through. Her skin and clothes, a pair of overalls and an old shirt, were covered in grease and other unrecognizable fluids. Her hair was being held back from her face by a pair of goggles perched atop her head. “What’s happening this time?” she demanded to know.

Blake thrust her thumb over her shoulder. Ruby’s gaze followed where she was pointing; when she saw the state of the kitchen she ran a hand over her face, managing to dirty it further. “Someone’s losing kitchen privileges for this,” she muttered.

The couple made their way across the room just in time for Weiss to slam a lid down atop a 10-gallon pot. She struggled to keep it in place.

“Are we doing chemistry experiments in the kitchen again, Weiss?” Ruby didn’t get angry about many things, but reckless behavior that damaged her ship was one such thing. After what had happened the last few times Yang and Weiss had gotten bored, the razor edge in her voice was far from unwarranted.

“Of course not. We learned our lesson last time,” Weiss assured her. The pot in her grasp shook violently. “We were cooking, which Yang has assured me doesn’t count as chemistry.”

Ruby didn’t immediately snap at her. “Go on,” she said.

Motes of light flickered and swirled within Weiss, signs of anxiety and embarrassment. “When we were at the market yesterday I saw this strange animal being sold that I’d never seen before. I thought it might be fun to try and cook, so I bought it.” The pot shook again, and Weiss sped up her story in response. “Yang found out about it and thought we could make a stew. It was turning out really well; Yang even said it tasted good when she tried it. Then things might have gotten a tiny bit out of control.”

Blake cocked her head to the side, taking in the whole of Weiss’ being, as if to remind herself that her friend was, in fact, still made of crystal. “Weiss, you don’t even eat food. What made you think experimenting with cooking was a good idea?”

Some manner of sludge began leaking out of the gap between the lid and pot. It was thick, brownish-blue, and it bubbled when it hit the air. “I wanted to do something nice for the crew!” Weiss shouted, and in that moment she lost the struggle with her foe. The lid flew out of her hands, catching her on the head as it went. The contents of the pot followed moments later.

It moved too fast even for Blake’s eyes to track. One moment it was in the pot, the next it had tackled Weiss to the ground and spread across most her body. She only got an impression of colors, mostly purple and blue, before it disappeared again.

Weiss attempted to rise to her feet, but stumbled. Blake rushed forward to catch her before Ruby could try the same; Weiss was a heavy weight for a human to lift, being mostly rock, but Blake was more metal than not, so the weight meant little to her.

“I…not… so feel.” Weiss’ translator was having a hard time interpreting her words. Blake’s own fluency in Atlesian wasn’t serving her much better; every spot on her that the… thing had touched was glowing an iridescent ultraviolet in a shade Blake had never seen before.

“That doesn’t look good,” Ruby said

“We should get her downstairs,” Blake said in agreement.

Ruby moved to help her, then hesitated. “Where’s Yang? If she went to the cockpit to look for her flamethrower, then she should’ve been back by now.”

“Maybe she went to the weapons lockers in storage?” Blake offered. Then another thought hit her. “Weiss said she taste-tested the stew before it turned into whatever that was.”

“Oh no.” Blake couldn’t help but agree with Ruby’s sentiments. “Okay, you get Weiss down to the medbay; I’ll go find Yang.”

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Of the four members of Crescent Rose’s crew, Weiss was the one with the most medical knowledge. She wasn’t a professional, but she had thorough first aid training for all intelligent species. So of course she was the first one to be taken out when a monster attacked.

Blake knew how to care for FAUNIS, but her knowledge of the other species was limited. Still, Weiss had made sure they each knew the basics early on. She knew materia fed by absorbing minerals and nutrients in a water solution through their outermost layers, and that this made them especially susceptible to what few toxins could affect them.

She tore through the various drawers and cabinets until she found what she was looking for. It was a tube of translucent paste that she began slathering generously on the affected parts of Weiss’ body. The paste was a general antivenin that was supposed to draw out toxins from a materia while also encouraging the body’s natural defenses. Attempting and failing to move Weiss’ arm proved that she’d already gone static as her body attempted to use its own methods to remove the invading substance.

As Blake finished emptying the last of the tube, the door opened. Ruby came through, carrying an unconscious Yang to an unoccupied bed.

“How’s Weiss doing?” Ruby asked.

“Still glowing; still alive,” Blake answered. “Yang?”

“I found her passed out on the cockpit stairs. She’s even hotter than usual. What do we do?”

Blake wished she knew. If Yang had eaten something poisonous then maybe, “Induce vomiting?”

“She’s unconscious,” Ruby countered. “What if she chokes? I’m going to get her an IV and a wet cloth.”

As Blake washed her hands of the residual paste, she wondered aloud, “What kind of creature can poison both a materia and a protean? Their biology is so different; I’ve never heard of anything that could do that.”

“I don’t know,” Ruby replied, talking as she worked, “but I intend to kill it before it gets anyone else.”

Blake nodded in understanding. “How far out are we from Eltanin?”

“About an hour and a half. When I’m done here I’ll go set up the autopilot to land us at our usual dock. Meanwhile, I want all hands on deck for this. Go find our fifth crewmate and bring him here. And get our weapons, too.”

Brake managed to suppress her grimace. She didn’t like the newest addition to their crew, but she had to admit he had his uses. Hunting a mystery monster was one of the few things she could rely on him to do.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Zwei had only been with the Crescent Rose for a few weeks, but already he loved it. There were so many corners to poke around in and the new people were so much fun. The long trip here via mail crate had been more than worth it.

One of the new people, the one who liked to play hide-and-seek with him, had picked him up and was taking him somewhere. The sounds that people made were difficult to understand, but he could learn names and this one was called Blake. He didn’t understand what she was saying, but he caught the names “Yang” and “Weiss”, who were two of his favorite people. Zwei had known Yang for his entire life; she was a girl who was always ready to roll around in the dirt or pull on a rope with him. Weiss was newer, but she liked to pamper him with treats and cuddles, and Zwei’s affections were easily bought by such people.

Zwei was rather dismayed to find both of the people in question lying flat on their backs, the stench of sickness covering them. Ruby, his favoritest person in the world, was there too, though she was thankfully on her feet. She gave him only one command. “Hunt.”

Zwei knew how to hunt. As Blake lifted him towards both of the sick girls in turn, Zwei got a careful sniff of each. They were very different kinds of creatures, normally with very different smells (except on the rare mornings where they smelled like each other for a while), but there was something within the stench of sickness that they both shared. An underlying smell that suggested something had done this to them, and now Ruby wanted him to find it.

The moment his paws hit the floor he was off. Out the door and up the stairs, straight towards the food room, a place he normally wasn’t allowed in. He squashed the urge to slip open the fridge and steal a quick bite; there was more important work to be done. And anyway, he’d probably get a treat when this was all over.

A large pot lay fallen on the floor. Zwei poked his head inside. Yup, this was the strongest source of the smell. It must’ve come from inside the pot. He committed the scent to memory, then began to follow it. The trail led him out of the food room, past the couches, and into the large room with all the hanging cords, large pillars, and flashing tables that Ruby spent so much time in.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

“If this thing hurts my baby, I’m going to kill it,” Ruby said.

“I thought we were already planning on killing it,” Blake countered.

“Then I’ll kill it twice. It’s bad enough that it attacked my crew, I won’t be having it hurt my ship too.”

The main battery, along with the connecting engine room, was undeniably Ruby’s domain. The others didn’t spend much time in either places, usually only poking their heads in if an extra pair of hands were needed. With a crew as small as theirs was, everyone branched out from their specialty and learned other jobs, but Ruby was still the best engineer around. And the captain. And the best shot with the main gun, even if its computers did most of the heavy lifting. And, along with Blake, one of the only people on the ship who could man all the secondary guns simultaneously without a major drop in effectiveness.

Maybe she should delegate more.

The room was huge, taking up about a quarter of the ship’s third level. Thick wires and glowing tubes hung from the ceiling, connecting up to the massive main gun that sat atop the ship, itself about half as long as Crescent Rose. The main body of the gun took up most of the center of the room, surrounded by computer banks and held up by pillars so that it cleared the floor by about a meter and a half.

Zwei was wandering about the room, nose to the ground and following whatever trail he’d found. Ruby followed hot on his tail, eyes casting about and ears straining for any sign of their quarry. Boots on the metal floor made a heavy sound that echoed off the walls.

Movement in the corner of her eye had her whipping Bright Thorn around in its direction. Nothing, just an empty bank of flashing panels.

Zwei’s tracking took him between the central pillars and under the main gun. Ruby hesitated at the edge. Open panels and dangling wires from previous patch jobs reduced the already limited headspace underneath; following him would severely limit her mobility if attacked. She crouched down, following her corgi with her eyes as he darted here and there, trying to follow a much faster prey.

The lights cut out.

“Great,” Blake said. “We’re hunting a monster, on our own ship, in the dark. This is how horror stories start.”

“You have night vision,” Ruby snarked back, flipping on the flashlight attached to her gun. “What are you complaining about?”

“I’m just saying.”

Ruby shook her head in exasperated fondness. “I’m more concerned with why they went out. Either this thing is smart enough to intentionally cut the lights, or it’s attacking indiscriminately and getting lucky.” She rose from her crouch, standing back-to-back with her partner as they surveyed the room. “Whichever it is, now I have to kill it twice.”

Lazer fire behind her had her spinning around, Bright Thorn raised and ready to fire. “It came out of the wall,” Blake said, rapidly firing her lazpistol, first along the ground, then up overhead. Ruby tracked her shots trying to follow with her light.

“Ventilation shaft?” she asked.

“Maybe.”

She caught sight of a blur, passing through the circle of light projected on the ceiling for only an instant, but it was enough. She pulled her trigger and the thing dropped, releasing a whine like a deflating balloon as it fell.

If the shot injured it, it wasn’t enough to kill. By the time Ruby’s flashlight was pointed at the ground it was gone, only a small, bulbous part of it momentarily visible speeding away towards the center of the room.

“Zwei, look out!” Ruby called.

A series of barks and growls spoke of a tremendous battle between beast and monster. Ruby caught only flashes of it, as Zwei tumbled with and tore into something that was less of a shape, and more the impression of a mouth on a lump the color of an oil spill. She couldn’t even get a solid grasp on how big it was, with how fast and how much it moved, thought it at least seemed to be no larger than a fully-grown corgi. The thing tackled Zwei, knocking him out of sight. Before Ruby could refocus her light, Zwei let out a loud, pained yip and ran straight towards them, sliding to a stop and collapsing at Blake’s feet.

“Some fearsome monster hunter you are,” she said, scooping him up in one arm, the pistol in her other still sweeping the room. She paused her sweep, turning her attention more heavily on the dog in her arms. “He’s breathing really heavily, and I think I see a bit of blood.”

“Okay,” Ruby said, trying not to let her worry take control of the situation. She could do this. “Let’s fall back for now, get Zwei downstairs. Head towards the hatch at the back of the room.”

There were four ways in or out of the main battery. One was the door they came in through, and opposite it, on the far end of the room, was a door that led deeper into the guts of the ship, towards the engine and fuel tanks. Near the rear door was also a lift that connected all three of the ships levels, as well as a ladder, covered by a hatch, that exited near the medbay on the second floor.

The pair swept the room as they headed towards the ladder. This time, Ruby was the first to spot it. It moved too fast for her to line up a proper shot, but she fired anyway. The sound drew Blake’s attention, and she fired her own gun.

“Keep it away from the exits.” Ruby ordered. Together they managed to herd it towards the center of the room, firing ahead of it anytime it tried to head towards a wall or pillar, until they reached their destination.

Ruby knelt to open the hatch while Blake kept firing, her efforts alone less effective than the two together had been. Her success was marked by a beam of light from the lower level shining into the room. “Go,” Ruby commanded. Blake forewent the ladder, jumping backwards and dropping the entire distance in one go. Ruby swung onto the top rung, firing one last shot as she went, then slammed the hatch shut above her. Embedded in the wall nearby was a lever under a glass lid. Ruby lifted the lid, pulled the lever, twisted, and pushed it back in. A clunk echoed from the hatch.

“That’ll seal off the room. Even the ventilation is locked down now.” Ruby joined Blake on the second level. “It should hold for a bit, but I don’t want to leave it for long. How’s he doing?”

Blake held Zwei out for Ruby to see. His wounds were more visible in the still-active lighting of the hallway. He was indeed bleeding, from a bite mark on his side that was turning a disturbing shade of purple.

“Not you too, Zwei,” she moaned, letting Bright Thorn hang from his strap as she took the dog into her arms. “I’m going to get him set up in the medbay. When I get back, we’ll finish this thing off.”

The hatch above them shook violently, as if something had just slammed into it at high speeds. “Maybe hurry?” Blake offered, sword and gun drawn as she stared down the hatch.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

When Ruby returned, it was to a changed hallway. Blake was on the floor and the nearby lift was peeled open, the doors bending outwards. She rushed to Blake’s side, glad to see she was still conscious and struggling to her feet.

“Are you okay?” she asked, helping her up. “What happened?” Ruby fretted nervously, checking Blake over for bite marks or blood.

“I’m fine,” Blake assured her, waving off concerned hands, “just dazed. I wasn’t watching my six and it tackled me. There’s no lasting damage.”

Ruby eyed her suspiciously, not failing to notice the difficulty she showed finding her balance again. “You’ll let me know if you start to feel sick, right?”

Blake backed off, finally standing on her own without aid, and bowed exaggeratedly at the waist. “Of course, my queen.”

“Blaaaake,” Ruby whined, “don’t call me that. It’s embarrassing.”

A cute smirk played across Blake’s face. “As you wish, your majesty.”

Ruby huffed, ignoring the blush she could feel forming on her face and not dignifying Blake with another response. “Did you see which way it went?”

There weren’t a whole lot of places it could’ve gone. Aside from back the way Ruby came, or back the way it came, it’s only options for escape were down the stairs to the storage bay or… or down the hallway Blake was pointing at.

Exhaustion leaked out of her in a low moan. “Not life support,” she complained. Why did this thing keep getting into the sensitive parts of the ship?

“Royalty first,” Blake said, sweeping her arm in the direction they were headed.

“You’re a big old teasing meanie,” Ruby said, but she led the way regardless.

The life support room was more like a wide hallway than a room, several times longer than it was wide. It was full of variously-sized criss-crossing pipes, clumped together in places and jutting out of the walls at all angles, and thick, twisted cords of dozens or more wires stretching across the ceiling and walls. They were accompanied by controls and sensors for electrical energy, air circulation, and water filtration, amongst other things. Several large, boxy generators sat at the back of the room, their steady chugging providing both electricity and gravity. The floor was made of removable metal grates, granting access to the innermost workings of the ship.

“Come here, little abomination,” Ruby whispered as she stepped as quietly as she could through the room, the sound of her footsteps largely masked by the noises of the various machineries surrounding her. “Step away from the sensitive equipment and show yourself. I only want to talk.”

The room quieted midstep, the rumble of a generator cutting out. Ruby’s next step pushed her off the ground and sent her floating through the air.

“You know,” she said, just letting herself float freely for a moment. “I’m not usually one to swear, but this thing is really pushing my limits.”

“It’s okay,” Blake assured her, “You can say it, I won’t judge you.”

Ruby shook her head. “No, the moment’s not right.”

Bending down, not that down had much meaning at the moment, she flicked a switch on her boots and was pulled to the floor. She looked at Blake, slowly making her way towards the ceiling. “Where are your magboots?” Ruby asked.

“I didn’t put them on this morning,” Blake answered. “Funnily enough, I wasn’t expecting to get attacked by the Creature from the Black Lagoon today. A better question is, why are you wearing yours?”

Ruby shrugged. “It makes working on the engine easier.”

Blake caught and steadied herself on a thin pipe that ran the length of the ceiling. “So this thing’s probably back by the graviton generator, right?”

“Unless it’s moved already,” Ruby countered. “It is pretty fast.”

“It’s a place to start.” She shimmied along the pipe, heading to the rear of the room. Ruby followed slowly, keeping a careful eye on her surroundings as she went.

Every blind corner or obstructed section of floor had Ruby swinging Bright Thorn around. There were too many hiding spots in this room, even with all the lights still working.

“All clear,” Blake called from up ahead.

If it wasn’t by the generator anymore, then where had it gotten to? Ruby took a step forward, then froze. Whatever she’d stepped on had just squished. She looked down.

Bubbling up through the holes in the grate was a thick, purplish-brown sludge that surrounded and spread out from a burst water pipe. The sludge moved in ways it shouldn’t, rearing up only to slosh back down, spinning about in cyclones and eddies, and forming what looked like grasping tendrils. The more water it took in, the larger it grew.

“Blake!” Ruby shouted, “Shut off water to—” she checked the writing on the nearby pipes, since anything written on the burst pipe was now buried under an onslaught of sludge, “—pipe C126.”

“Where is it?” Blake asked, not able to see Ruby from her vantage point.

“In the floor!”

Ruby didn’t have time to watch Blake take action, too busy herself firing at the sludge monster while putting distance between it and herself. At first it didn’t respond to her actions, only continuing to grow even as Ruby blasted off bits of it. The moment it lost its supply of water, however, it screeched.

It began moving as a single solid creature, once again black with a rainbow sheen, bits of grating stuck inside it as it burst from the floor. It was larger than Ruby now, continuously shifting and oozing as it barreled towards her, as fast as an oncoming car.

“Oh, fuck.”

Ruby ran, racing to regroup with Blake. The thing following her was still fast, but all its added bulk slowed it down to below her top speed.

The moment she was in sight, Blake was firing at the monster chasing Ruby. Sustained lazer fire caused the creature to start to glow from the heat, one explosion of superheated air after another tearing into its bulk. Its wounds bubbled and burst, releasing hissing clouds of steam that diffused light, weakening successive shots.

Ruby ground to a halt at Blake’s side and spun around, bayonet pointed at their foe. Blake, sword in hand, joined her.

Ruby was less durable than her girlfriend, hence her preference for mid-to-long-range combat. In close range, without her cloak, she had to stay mobile, dodging what she could and letting Blake block what she couldn’t. Meanwhile Blake was taking full advantage of the lack of gravity, bouncing around the creature and attacking it from every angle, taking shots with her gun whenever she spotted an opening. Even with that benefit, however, Ruby noticed her reaction time was slower than usual.

Her mobility was enough to keep her in the fight for a bit, letting her hack of bits of the monster even as it tried to crush or suffocate her with its multitude of bulging appendages. But eventually Ruby mistimed a dodge, forgetting for a moment that she couldn’t rely on gravity, and it managed to catch her in the side with a pseudopod cloaked in steam, sending her flying into a bundle of hanging wires.

She was pretty sure she’d just broken at least one rib.

Ruby was tangled up tightly in the mess of wires and getting loose required more than a little wriggling. She screeched in surprise as a few wires came loose, releasing a stream of sparks.

The sludge monster was on her moments before she was completely free. It was smaller now, loose bits of it splattered about the room, but with every bit of mass it lost, it just got that much faster.

It slammed into her, spreading its mass as if to engulf her. Right in front of her face a crack opened up, the impression of a mouth forming, jagged edges loosely resembling teeth.

A frantic, desperate idea popped into Ruby’s head as the mouth drew near. Her hands were still mostly free, so she dropped Bright Thorn and instead grabbed the sparking, severed wires, plunging them into the sludge. A sustained current coursed through the creature, making it writhe and gyrate wildly. It gave one last shake, then, with a sound like the creaking hinges of hell’s front door, it exploded. Bits of it went everywhere; the walls, the ceiling, Ruby’s mouth. It tasted like fish stew, she decided, though it could’ve used a bit more salt.

She spat the sludge out, hoping just tasting it wouldn’t be enough to poison her like Yang had been.

“Ruby!” Blake shouted as she flew to her side. “Are you okay?”

Ruby nodded. “I think so. I’ve never been so glad to have insulating overalls, though.”

Blake shook her head. “Don’t scare me like that.”

“Sorry,” Ruby apologized. Blake hugged her in response, and Ruby screamed, pushing her away. “Nope, not okay. I forgot about the broken ribs.”

Blake looked about ready to smack her for that, but she somehow held back. “Okay,” she said instead. “Let’s get you to the med-bay with everyone else.” She grabbed Ruby more gently this time, fumbling as she did, her usual grace seemingly gone.

“Hey,” Ruby admonished. “You said you’d tell me if you were feeling sick.”

“I’m fine,” Blake assured her. “Just running a bit hot.” Blake pushed off the ground and the two began floating back towards the door. “Do you feel that? Gravity’s starting to increase, which means we’re getting close to the planet. We’ll land safely, then everyone can go to the hospital and we’ll all get better. We’re all fine now.”

Maybe it was the steady ache of her ribs, maybe it was the drawn-out hunt and fight she’d just undergone, or maybe it was Blake’s arms around her, but Ruby was suddenly feeling extremely tired. It was a struggle just to keep her eyes open. “Blake,” she said. “Have I ever told you how amazing you are?”

“You could stand to say it more,” she answered.

“No, seriously,” Ruby said. “No matter what happens, you always step up to the challenge. You always get the job done, with a big ol’ helping of beauty and grace, just ‘cause you can.” Her words were starting to slur, so she rushed to the point. “There’s somethin’ I wanna ask you. You’ve been doin’ it for a while already, but I wanna make it official.”

Blake was silent for a moment. “What do you mean?” she finally asked.

“Will you…” Ruby paused, taking a deep breath to fight off the encroaching weariness, “be my second-in-command?”

Blake sighed, then smiled. “Does this mean I get a raise?”

Ruby laughed. “No. But I can prolly get you a bigger room.”

Blake quirked an eyebrow. “The only rooms bigger than mine are the pilot’s and the captain’s.”

Ruby nodded slightly, too tired to feel embarrassment about what she was asking. “I don’t take up much space. You could share my room.”

Ruby didn’t hear Blake’s answer, unconsciousness finally making its claim on her, but she desperately hoped it was “yes”.

[worldviewcast]

Finch - Part 1 (Roleplay with @worldviewfinch/@Little-Noko)

Okay...so this is finally getting rolling...I would first like to start with a reminder that the Roleplays are NOT 100% canon - they are scenarios that myself and Little-Noko come up with to explore the characters and world, but I've been deeply influenced by the events of our RP's before.

They are ALSO VERY LONG- there most likely WILL be some mis-edits. Please just bear with us, myself and my RP editor are doing our best to catch everything we can, but there are literally hundreds upon hundreds of pages of text from our worldbuilding and character development pieces, and we want to be able to get content out in a timely manner.

I've been Roleplaying Worldview scenarios with Little-Noko/Finch for the past year. There is much to dig through and look at.

This particular roleplay has been available in my $10 tier on Patreon since April. I plan on having more things like this posted for patrons in advance, so if that’s something you’re interested in it’s there. :) 

WARNING: Most of these RP's WILL deal with MUCH more sensitive topics than some people will be comfortable with! I will DO MY BEST to put the proper content warnings before each posting but I don't know if I'll be able to cover everything - some parts, depending on content, might even have to be skipped entirely. Noko and I really like to push the envelope when it comes to character exploration and development...and we honestly try to be thorough. But, that's what makes a good character, I like to think.

There is no set schedule on these.

And now I'll be quiet so you can enjoy the content.

Special thanks to my editor for helping with these!   Content Warnings: Teen death, descriptive torture

Finch – Part 1 Necromancers

Noko: The teenager was making his way home, his school bag hanging on one side of his body while one of his hands rubbed the dark area under his eyes in order to soothe the pain, he wasn't subject to bullying, neither was he a bully, but one thing was sure is that he was a troublemaker, always bothering and teasing people in order to get some attention... he definitely tried to find how he would explain to his parents how he managed to get punched in the face. As he walked in a sparse area to be left alone with his thoughts, he heard something meowing. He looked up and saw a cat, visibly stuck on a third-floor balcony above him. The cat clearly belonged to someone since there was a collar around his neck. The teenager dropped his bag on the side and grabbed the metal ladder that led to the many balconies from the apartments. Many people would have left it alone, but... he couldn't just let this cat be all scared up there. Without any hesitation, he started to climb the building. He had never been scared of heights, and he was pretty confident that he could help up the cat to get off. As he reached the third floor, the teen moved over the metal fence to stretch a leg at the window's border. There wasn't much room to lay his feet on but there was enough grip for him to assure himself that he wouldn't slip. "Kitty, kitty, come here..."

The cat meowed in distress, the teen getting slowly closer to it. "It's okay... I'm here... just..." He felt his entire body work in order to stay balanceed as he tried to crouch down to reach the cat... it took one second... only one, and one of his foot slip away from the ledge, his body soon following. Hitting the dark asphalt.

Alaina: The street was quiet, despite being after school, the alleyway that the small body had managed to slip into was left... unspotted until a young man scouring through the dumpsters nearly tripped over it. He frowned, not expecting to come across such a... specimen. He looked around. No witnesses... being a rather built man he had no problem picking up the heavy cadaver and slinging it over his shoulder, slinking back into the shadows. Any untrained eye would have said the man simply disappeared, but those who looked closer could see they pressed against a dark, alley doorway - sealing back up right as he left. The man hauled the body down to the rotten-smelling sewers, alone. There was a hideaway about a mile walk underground, away from the city - that's where he liked to practice his arts. He sighed, exhausted from the long trip as he laid the body on his examination table, looking it over. The soul was still intact, but definitely ready to leave...it must not have been collected yet. He grinned. That was lucky. He rarely got the chance to practice with such a fresh body....

Noko: A woman drapped in dark clothes was collecting samples from cadavers that her partner in crime had been attempting to reanimate for months now. They were experimenting the limits of the dark art at their greatest extent, wondering if it would be possible to merge a dying soul to an inanimate body, trying passionately to find the answer to eternal life in one a way or another. So far, all attempts had ended in failure... The soul never managing to stay more than a few minutes in an unfamiliar body.

Alaina: He looked over the teen's body, pleased with its condition before thoughtfully looking over the few other bodies he had collected - one stood out, a skeleton race body that had been recently cleaned. He pondered a moment. The one in front of him was Masic... for some reason, Masic souls didn't last as long as any others, but maybe there was a missing connection? He hadn't tried this particular mix yet, but the goal was to practice handling the soul itself. He really didn't expect anything out of the experiment, and slowly, started to summon magic to his hands to build the small encapsulated cushion that would be used to transfer the soul. He had to draw all the magic from the body, absolutely all of it, and make sure that the being as a whole was fully transferred before starting to arduous process of re-distributing the soul into the new body. He called his assistant over- he needed to make sure nothing was overlooked.

Noko: The assistant noticed her partner came back with another sample, her eyebrow rose a moment as she observed him select a young skeleton body that would be perfect for the transfer, it was missing a leg but honestly a limb missing or not wouldn't make a big difference for an experiment. She remained serious, her expression cold as she walked over with a few instruments installed on a rolling table. She observed the corpse starting to move as the magic coursed out of the body, her own palms moving over the body to make sure that every residual magic wouldn't be wasted in the procedure. She took her recorder and spoke. "Experiment ST52.1 We got a new body, freshly dead, Masic, 5feet2, visibly a teenager. Body of transfer, skeleton, younger and smaller, missing left tibias. Preparing for the transfer."

Alaina: "Thank you my dear." The man stated plainly, a pleased look on his face. This was his favorite part! He watched as the soul was slowly drawn up from the body, still pulsing steadily and increasing in its 'beat' as he drew up all the magic he could, color swirling in his own clear encasing, the lightest hints of yellow spreading from his own hands. The energy swirled, the cadaver he was drawing from getting more stiff and hollow looking as the magic was drawn, and he smiled in satisfaction when the soul beat heavily, surrounded by its own life force. "Hmm. Strong soul. Might be an interesting one."

Noko: She smiled back at him, using her own hands to guide the magic as the corpse progressively stopped moving, only to reveal a green, strong and healthy soul. She felt as thrilled as his partner as she registered her voice once more. "Subject A is extremely healthy, magic levels are high, preparing the transfer of the soul on subject B in a second." She felt excited as she was preparing herself mentally to stabilize the magic of the fresh soul in the new body. They would probably manage to keep it alive for a while this time, long enough to see how it would react.

Alaina: "All righty -" The man grinned excitedly, carefully moving his small capsule over the skeleton body. This had to be done with precision, and practice makes perfect. He let the residual magic flow in first, carefully watching the flow as it was preparing the body for revival. It was a slow, careful process, one that he had repeated many times, but it was fun regulating and distributing and re-distributing the excess to make sure he had it just right. Revival was a form of art, really, in his mind, as how well the body was prepared affected how well the body would wake up. He smiled, happy to see the tiny, involuntary movements of the skeleton as he went about his slow and careful work, building up to the point where he could put the final piece in place.

Noko: The woman loved the preparation as she slowly guided the magic inside of the skeleton bones, it was like a massage, following the flow slowly as if they were imitating a bloodstream to acclimate the body to the revival. They were precise and meticulate, taking their time to make sure that the body and the soul wouldn't suffer much from the procedure. Not that she cared about the subject's comfort it was more about the success the experiment. She was thrilled to make further tests, to understand the new being they would create together. To know if the conscience of the soul would remain intact.

Alaina: He waited, patient as anything, wanting everything to be just perfect. The last bit of residual green trickled, working its way into the new bodies system. It was like building a new being, or painting a picture, the strokes having to be in just the right place - he smiled, thrilled with how evenly the magic spread despite being in a body that asked more of it to use, but it was a good, strong, positive flow, and he finally moved to press the soul behind the skeletons ribcage, being oh so careful to 'install' it properly, before manually encouraging the beating magical organ to connect to the various systems it would now be responsible for.

Noko: The assistant helped to encourage the magic to keep moving, impatient to reanimate the skeleton body, a few unwanted spasms happened as most of the residual magic was finally sinking into the system, she gave his partner more space so that this one could install the soul inside of the ribcage. It didn't take long for the soul to connect to the magic stream, the skeleton body arching all of sudden without any warning as it was getting reanimated, the woman forcing the body down as much as possible to not disturb her partner's work. She observed his fists clench, the subject trembling a moment before becoming motionless all of sudden.

Alaina: He raised a brow at the reaction, carefully moving to connect the last few streams of magic that needed it, stroking them carefully so they would start to flow on their own. Slowly, he finished his 'job' looking over the body for any unnatural reaction as he took mental note of what was happening.

Noko: As her partner was connecting the last streams, the woman stepped aside, recording the whole process. The first steps seemed to have been a success, the magic had spread without much resistance inside of subject B, it already showing some motor sign. She waited a moment, impatient to see if the transfer was a success. It only took a minutes for the body's chest to start moving as it took it's first breath. The process was a success, experiment ST52.2 starting once subject C show more sign of life.

Alaina: "This is looking rather hopeful..." The male muttered excitedly, as soon as his hands were free he practically ran to grab a clipboard, jotting down his own personal thoughts and taking note of every intricate detail, his hands moving to jot furiously. "He's breathing - just wait...." He stared over his clipboard with a broad grin, waiting to see if the body was going to move at all.

Noko: The assistant was just as excited as the man, waiting for more signs that their experiment was a success... she just hoped it would stay alive long enough. The skeleton body started to shift faintly, his brow furrowing a moment as it slowly opened it's eyesockets, the eyelights, his expression empty and probably still unconscious of his own existence yet. He seemed relaxed before it finally opened his eyes really wide as he took a deep gasp, as if he had held his breath for hours, his arms moving close to his chest, trembling as it struggled to move, clearly disoriented and lost.

Alaina: "Ahehhee!! Strong reaction!!" He gleed, not hesitating to look over and immediately try to check the skeletons vital signs for recording. "Strong movement, eyelights lit properly - the connection itself seems perfect!!" He shouted in triumph, proud of his handiwork as he kept jogging down notes, smile wide. He snapped his fingers in front of the skeletons face, trying to focus his attention. "Hey. Hey you. Can you hear me?"

Noko: It looked around his vision disoriented as it adjusted to the light and the movements, he was hyperventilating as he tried to understand what was going on... his mind trying to grasp what was in front of him as all he could recall was the impression of falling... His attention quickly moved over the sound of fingers snapping in front of his face, his vision blurred. "Hear.... you?" He repeated without really understanding anything of what he heard or said.

The assistant couldn't help but to beam at the result of their experiments. "It's responding!!!"

Alaina: "Consciously!!" He added, his voice loud and excited. His brow furrowed, his face lit up with pride over his own handiwork. "....I don't see any sign of decay in the magic...not yet anyway. This is definitely an improvement..." He muttered, and snapped his fingers happily. "Get the restraints! I want a full examination -" He smiled like a kid at Christmas thoroughly impressed and pleasantly surprised at the strength of the soul he had happened to find- it must have been his lucky day!

Noko: The subject kept looking around, still panicked as messages in his mind told him that something was clearly wrong... that he was too light... he felt sore... something was missing... there was voice talking... like echoes... but his mind was too confused to even wonder who they were and were he was.

"Alright!" She quickly took the restraints and grabbed one of his wrists to place it against the table, he was so weak that he didn't put any resistance as she attached the other's arms against the table. Progressively attaching the subject to make herself sure that it wouldn't hurt itself.

Alaina: He smiled happily, pulling on a pair of gloves as he tugged a medical trolley up towards him, helping himself to secure his projects head with a restraining leather strap before grabbing a flashlight, checking the subject's responses by shining the light in the newly formed eyelights, and prodding a finger against the inside of the socket to see just how strong the magic was flowing. He didn't stop there, working his way slowly down to poke at every major connective area, curious to see just how well he had installed the soul, rattling off comments for his assistant to jot down in their notes.

Noko: The skeleton tried to free himself, the sudden strain only making him feel more distressed. He shifted his head to the side letting out a grunt as he felt scared and disoriented about what was going on, before geying forced to keep his head straight, as he slowly became immobilized. He couldn't move anymore, only making him even more panicked, his soul thrumming really fast at the traumatic event as one of the two persons moved a flashlight over his eyes, closing them as the light burned him only to get forced to keep them open. Every touch making him react strongly in response. Jolting and hyperventilating as he tried to understand what was going on. "W-w...what?"

Alaina: "Subject is... aware." The male's voice rang in surprise, tapping at the table with a raised brow. He still didn't expect his subject to live very long, but this was a rare chance to test to see just how the transfer process affected the adrenaline in the new body. It was clear the skeleton was panicking, but that just made him more excited. "Lets get some samples! I want to see if he's got any elevated chemicals - this soul is good for endurance." He chattered happily, grabbing a syringe and vials from his cart before reaching over to handle the quickly thrumming soul, none too gently either, looking for a good spot where the magic was especially concentrated with all the new mixtures of body fluids from the revived body. He shoved the syringe deep into the thrumming heart shaped organ, eager to get a mixture of samples from his new creation as he wanted to analyze every bit of what he had made, clearly proud of himself.

Noko: The assistant smiled at the high response coming from the experiment. She started to record once more while his partner was taking samples from the subject. "Subject C respond really well to the soul transfer, it seems that his body moved properly to the new implanted magic. Subject C is conscious, it suffers clearly from disorientation, further tests will be needed to know the state of his mind." It started to yell as her partner sank a syringe straight into it's soul. "Subject C respond to pain. It's soul is clearly attached properly to the body and is in perfect synchronisation to it. We are still uncertain it will last."

The skeleton started to groan while tears came out from his eyesockets as it kept struggling in fear. "N-no.... no..."

Alaina: "This is uncanny." The male started, practically giggling in his excitement. He drew at least five whole vials of pure magic and bodily fluids from the soul before yanking out the syringe, wanting to hurry before the whole process potentially gave out. He made sure the precious samples were secure enough to not be endangered before grabbing a clamp from his table, affixing the device his test subjects arm as he talked. "Test #36, stability. The subject is of skeleton race and the most important part is proper magical distribution! Let's see how well we did!" He beamed, securing one part of the clamp to the table so it wouldn't move, the other pressing his subjects arm in between two metal plates - the whole thing controlled by a screw that would slowly press the plates together, testing how much pressure the bones could take before they snapped, and he carefully started to turn the metal, eyes fixed on the arm he was working on to see just how long it would take before it started to crack.

Noko: The woman blinked of surprise as well, herself extremely excited to push forward the tests and push out the limits of it's subject, this was the first time they had an experiment so aware of themselves. She quickly took the samples to the fridge to secure the vials. Before getting back to the subject as her partner installed the instrument over the skeleton's arm. It still couldn't see properly as his magic was still adjusting to his body. But he was clearly stressed by what was going on, not understanding what was around him until he felt a weird pressure on his arm. It didn't take him long for a sharp pain to made him scream when the bone snapped. The magic keeping the two parts linked.

Alaina: "It's...fully functional." The male stated dumbly, astounded as he stared at the shattered arm. His brow furrowed. He had honestly not expected that, especially from a Masic soul, and there wasnt much else they could study other than seeing how the subject progressed. He removed the clamp, getting out of the way to roll his experiment slightly, just enough to look at his back and get a good look at his still adjusting, but fully functional main magic line. "Hmmm...get it cleaned up, I guess? See if it eats. It... seems completely intact!" He exclaimed, pleased but floored at the discovery - he didn't ACTUALLY expect this to WORK. "It could still just die off, but - let's see how long it takes. I'm curious to know if it starts functioning normally."

Noko: She was extremely impressed by how well the body synchronization with the brand new soul. She didn't hesitate to take care of their experiment, determined to keep it alive for as long as he could as all she wanted to get answers from him. She quickly replaced the other's arm with no softness. Using plastered bandages to fix his arm temporary after her partner was looking at the magic line. They had been extremely lucky on this one and she hoped that she could find crucial information about how the transfer work. Using a smaller container and a strong soul seem to have helped for a stable transfer. She snapped her fingers in front of the experiment as the pain seemed to make him lose consciousness. She registered her voice once more. "Subject C's body seems to react properly to pain. It fainted when it's limb snapped." She looked at her partner, thrilled. A large smile drawing on her face. They will proceed with Experiment ST52.3 once said subject wakes up.

Alaina: "Thank you my dear, it was all in days work!!" He beamed proudly, watching as the soul was still beating heavily under the ribcage. "Passed out but alive...fascinating! We'll proceed to take regular samples until the subject fades. I'm not much interested in keeping a... pet, if it happens to turn out that way - which I'd be surprised if it did." He smiled at his assistant, pleased to see how happy she was. "Perfect step in the right direction! Maybe the secret is magic to relatability...? Skeletons are rumored to be a subspecies of Masic in the past at least - hmmmm...very interesting..."

Noko: "The pleasure is mine." She was so thrilled! This was the first time a subject showed so much awareness and reacted to that much! She hoped it would be coherent enough later... would it remember who it used to be? She started to clean off the bones with water to get rid of any trace of blood and residue over it's body. She didn't care about the experiment well being, she only wanted to make sure that it would last long enough. Only time will tell. "The transition between two races wouldn't be easy... there are so many questions without answers..."

Alaina: "Ahehehe, well - we'll get a few good ones out of this, I'm sure! I'm going to start running the samples, make sure it stays active!" He said with a grin, then yawned deeply. "Ah - he was heavy. I may need to take a nap before we continue - I don't want to miss any of its consciousness!" He called, moving to collect the samples from their cold fridge before ducking out of the dark experimentation room. "Call me if you need anything."

Noko: The woman smiled and waved her hand as if it was not a big deal. "Go sleep, I'll take care of it and tell you if there's any change, just like with the other's, just because he is a promising case doesn't mean that you shouldn't sleep." She kept cleaning its bones before throwing the filthy towel away. "It will be transferred to the cell until it wakes up, I'll keep a good watch on his vitals until then." She said before finally walking away, bringing their experiment along.

Many hours later, the skeleton woke up, opening its eyes before looking around at its surroundings. The room was dark... and it smelled pretty bad... He still felt a sore pain at the level of his arm, only remembering way too well what caused it, which made him soon start to struggle. Being conscious that their subject was awake, the assistant walked in her partner's office. "Subject C is awake."

Alaina: "Really!" The male leaned back from his desk, going over the results that they had gathered previously, before turning to face his assistant with a broad smile. "I can't believe he's lasted so long - lets see how he's holding up!" He popped out of his chair, making his way eagerly back to the test room. He didn't bother with gloves this time, he didn't expect to be doing too much extensively dirty work, and instead directly approached his waking subject. "Well would ya look at that..."

Noko: "I'm as surprised as you are! I was about to see if he got some primary needs, I thought that you would like to see how he behaves." She smiled almost cruelly, she would love to do some tests, especially now that her subject was so responsive. She opened the door of the room that confined him. Finding him struggling as it tried to free himself from the restraints that kept him immobilized him, jolting in fear as he noticed the two persons walking in.. "N-no ! No!"

Alaina: "So responsive..." He muttered, not hesitating in the least as he strode over to his subjects immobilized head. He was already curiously looking down straight at the skeletons eyelights, pushing a finger inside the skull to poke at the sensitive veins of magic that kept it lit, looking to see how steady it was now that the magic had had plenty of time to settle into its new home. "I can hardly believe it - but it seems well enough. Hey... " He poked at the skeletons forehead, his face showing nothing but pure curiosity. "Are you hungry?"

Noko: He grimaced when he felt man approach... and felt surprised and confused as this one sank his finger in his eye... or at least were his eye should be. His confused and lost mind for earlier was getting more precise about how wrong he felt. His eyesockets opened really wide, alert as this one poked his forehead until the man spoke once more... asking him if he was hungry which he replied fearfully in faint nods.

The woman smiled brightly at the response only to bring a nutritious pudding on a moving tray. "It can understand us! Wonderful!" She dipped a spoon in the cup of pudding before showing it to the skeleton. "Don't be scared. Be good and we won't hurt you today."

Alaina: "Right. REASONING!" The man tilted his head in honest confusion. He wasn't accustomed to working with - living things. It was a shift he wasn't sure he could handle. He shifted awkwardly, looking down at the skeleton before tapping at his own face thoughtfully. "Hm. It'd be better if you could talk. Can you talk?" He asked, his eyes suddenly wide with curiosity. He had heard the subject mutter protests earlier, but if he could form a conversation - it would be a good test to the mental state, anyway, and he kept staring at the other, an eager smile spreading over his face.

Noko: She was so excited! She loved to work with dead and reanimate it, but this was even better! They could study their experiment, see how he would adapt to his body despite the drastically different nature of his soul. And she was even more pleased to see her partner further the experiment along as he asked if he could talk.

The skeleton frowned faintly as he tried to gather his thoughts before nodding nervously, clearly scared at the idea of getting hurt. "Y-yes... w-where-" Before he could ask further, the woman shoved a spoonful of pudding in his mouth, he swallowed quickly before coughing. This was wrong, something felt wrong.

"Good boy."

Alaina: "...Interesting..." He raised a brow, pleased to watch the skeleton while his assistant took care of it, looking for any signs of weakness or abnormal reactions - the boy seemed to be adapting at an incredible rate, which was making him giddy and proud with just how well he had done. He walked around the room a moment, watching to see if the eyelights were going to follow him or remained focused on the woman feeding him - he couldn't help but chuckle, she was kind of cute, so excited to 'care' for the little experiment. "He definitely looks strong - should we... see if he can move? I'd like to at least test his reflexes."

Noko: Surprisingly, the subject kept following the man's movements, alert and scared about what they would do next, after all, he was one that had hurt him. "how long? Where...? Who? What?" He closed his eyesockets, frowning as he was on the verge of panic, all he could recall for now was that impression of falling before he woke up... He opened his eyes once more as this one proposed to free him... or at least that's what he understood. He still felt wrong...

"Well... now that you say it... it's not like it can run with one leg missing." She put the cup of pudding on the side and loosened the straps that were straining the subject. The first thing the Skelton did was to sit up, grimacing before it froze at the sight of his bones... he... was sure it wasn't supposed to look like that. He stared at his hands, moving them, completely lost in his mind, a fascinated, yet scared expression on his face as it felt so light... they were not his...

Alaina: "Oh this oughta be interesting." The male interjected, turning to stand right beside his subject as he watched the skeleton move, definitely taking in his new body. "Pretty good, right?!" He stated proudly, looking the skeleton up and down. "The key to soul transfers is making sure the magic is JUST right! Building the whole system from the ground up! It's got to be PERFECT or nothing works. I must say I've totally outdone myself this time, I can't believe you're even awake - ahahha!" He laughed heartily, clearly proud of himself and his own work as he tended to ramble about his own accomplishments,turning to his assistant. "I've had plenty of practice, but this is a success definitely worthy of the record books if I do say so myself."

Noko: His hands ran over his bones as if he was looking for something that wasn't there, grimacing as his broken arm was hurting really bad whenever he was moving it... He barely registered what the others were saying as he tried to assimilate what he was supposed to be... trying to picture what he was supposed to look like, but failing no matter how hard he tried to remember. He barely had time to think that the woman distracted him. Poking his forehead to get his attention. "I need to see your motor skills." She offered him another spoonful of pudding. "Take it."

He started to shake, clearly due to the mental shock more then because his body had trouble to stay stable. He closed his fingers over the utensil before taking another bite of pudding, famished.

"Good boy."

Alaina: The male started to jot down notes, frowning as his subjects mental state was affecting his results - he wasn't too pleased about that, but he supposed there wasn't much helping it. Transferring bodies was sure to leave some sort of effect - it would be interesting to see if the subject could handle it. "Ehh... I'd like to see improvement over the next few hours." He said blandly with a shrug, tapping at his notes with a pen. "Not a bad start though. You - uh. C." He started, pointing at the skeleton. "Tell me - do you actually feel hunger, or are you just eating to eat?"

Noko: The assistant observed with attention how the subject was reacting... there was signs of trauma, which she expected from a soul that hadn't been revived in the 'proper' form of their art, she didn't care much for their experiment, but she definitely seemed more enthusiastic than her partner, using soft words to play with the 'child's mind. The more docile, the better.

And it was working, her encouragement, almost working like a maternal figure, seemed enough to keep the subject calm despite his clear confusion. As the man called him "C", this one looked at him, unsure... was it his name? It didn't feel like it. He hesitated a moment, nervous to reply. "I-I'm hungry... feels... empty." He moved one hand over his stomach... as if something was supposed there.

Alaina: "Hmmmm.... good, very good!" His smile returned, pleased as he started to return to his notes happily - jotting quickly. "Makes sense, after all - now... do you remember anything? I'm very curious to know how your memory has retained - if at all." He explained simply, flatly as he kept looking over the skeleton.

Noko: Memories... uh... He frowned, his mind more and more alert at the other words while he tried to reply to the question properly. "I r-remember... falling? That my body isn't.... like that... I... I don't know... I don't know!!!" He repeated, holding his skull on the verge of panic. The assistant quickly reacting by taking his hand, a serious expression on her face as she tried to be as sweet as possible despite her lack of practice.

"It's alright, it might take time for it to come back, you went through a lot of shock. We're just asking you a question, alright? Nothing to be scared about. You're doing good..." She took the spoon away from his hand to dip it in the pudding again and feed him. Here. Eat, you need it.

The skeleton obeyed meekly, fighting his weirded out mind.

Alaina: "Mmm...." The male quieted himself, withdrawing thoughtfully as he let his assistant handle the subject - he would like to get as much info as possible before something possibly happened. Either way, he took a step back, putting a sterile smile on. "Well, take your time then. Eat something. We'd like to keep a careful eye on you, of course...." He stated, voice starting to trail as he was more just trying to judge the skeletons reactions than purposeful prod at his unstable mentality.

Noko: She offered him the rest of the cup, stroking the top of his skull as she placed the spoon back in it. "Did you hear him? Eat as much as you can. You went through a lot, and you need to build strength. Alright?"

The skeleton nodded faintly before keep eating, his appetite growing as he ate more, he was famished, and it was enough to distract his unstable mentality. The assistant was disappointed… but she hoped that this one would start to remember who he used to be, even a little. She didn't let herself get discouraged, however glad that she had managed to make him docile for now, she looked at her partner. "Perhaps we could test his reflex and mind? I mean, he still pretty confused, but I want to see if only the memories have been affected."

Alaina: "Hmm.... I think I have just the thing." The male stated brightly, coming up with an idea as he ran out of the room for a moment. He returned shortly with a couple books and a pen - one was a dusty old workbook and the other was a simple word puzzle book. "Here - see if he can't work that brain of his just a little. Some focused thought might help him... stabilize." He gave an awkward look as he passed over the objects, not used to having to be 'delicate' as he was now minding what he was saying. They had trained themselves to not think of their subjects as people, it was easier that way - but this... thing was clearly scared and confused and he needed a calm mind to see just how effective his work had been. "I can go over his reflexes in a moment, maybe?" He offered as almost an afterthought.

Noko: As the man left the room, the assistant praised their experiment as it seemed to enjoy the taste of the pudding as he ate it faster at each new bite, stroking his head as if she was praising a dog. That's a good boy, keep eating as much as you can. She was actually really fascinated at how well this subject was doing as he was the first one to ever have an appetite. As her partner came back with books, this one smiled cheerfully. "Perfect! I think it's just what he needs." She took the empty cup and the spoon before looking at it. "Be good and there will be more for you... Understood?"

The skeleton nodded faintly as his attention moved over his bones once more. Why didn't he have any clothes? Who were these people? What happened to him? "Is....it going.... to hurt again?"

Alaina: The man looked thoughtful a moment - he definitely thought his assistant had the right idea about bribing the little 'pet' - and he offered a plastic smile. "I'm done with my extreme testing - I WOULD like to get some more samples as you stabilize but it will go a lot easier if you behave. Promise." He was not a warm person by any means, but there was definitely an edge of truth to his words - and he certainly gave off the impression that he was going to get what he wanted, one way or another. He noted the arm he had shattered the previous day, nodding towards it with the smallest smidgen of understanding. "There won't be any more of that, if that's what you're worried about."

Noko: She was glad to see that her partner played along to manipulate their experiment. As long they would give him a good reason to behave, it would make things easier if their experiment was stable enough for their numerous tests. She smiled as she saw subject C nod in agreement while his hand rested on his hurt arm. "O-okay..." There were so many questions... like where he came from and who was he and what happened to him... yet... he somehow didn't think that he was allowed to ask for an answer.

"Perfect! We will put you through a number of tests now, just do your best, we want to see what you are capable of." She looked at her partner, amused and thrilled to discover more.

Alaina: "Okay - now..." He paused momentarily, an idea coming to mind as he turned to his assistant. "My dear, maybe he would work a little better in some clothes? It is kind of cold down here. Here, my assistant will fetch you something to put on if you can show me how comprehensive you are." He said with a smile, pushing a book into the skeletons lap. "Just read and complete some of the puzzles if you can." He asked eagerly, a curious grin crossing his face as he pulled up a chair to sit in.

Noko: The assistant blinked in surprise as her partner proposed some clothes in exchange of a few puzzles... she didn't understand the point of giving the subject clothes but she shrugged before heading out, the skeleton following her with his eyes before the man placed a book over his lap. He stared at the book a moment before opening it.... finding the texture under his fingers different then what he was used to. "Uhm... I-I need a pen..." He said as he was looking at the puzzles in front of his eyes, some seemed really hard... but he honestly didn't know what else he could do aside from obeying.

Alaina: "All right." He waited just a moment before digging the required tool out of his pocket, holding it out for the skeleton. He purposefully held it a little further away, waiting to see if the subject had the coordination and strength to lean forward and reach for it. He continued giving a plastic smile, holding it just out of immediate arms reach. "Here ya go."

Noko: The skeleton blinked when the man handed him the pen... but too far away for him to reach it... was it another test... again? He shifted himself to sit on the border of the table to stretch his healthy arm and grab it. "Thanks..." He then reinstalled himself properly, as he started to solve the simple

crossword puzzles. Curiously, the words came easy in his mind as he actually... knew without really knowing where he had learned all that.

The assistant came back with a shirt. "This is the only clothes I have found that aren't covered in mold."

Alaina: "It'll do." The male nodded in satisfaction, watching his subject move and think naturally - he really had adapted to his body almost perfectly without even realizing it, only his mind was confused and lost. It became almost a game, watching the skeletons face when he got stumped only to see realization lit up his features - just like any other person, and he started to smile at his own accomplishments, so absorbed in just studying the other he barely acknowledged anything else happening in the room for quite some time, just...staring at the experiment like an animal in a zoo.

Noko: She noticed how well the experiment was doing with the crosswords... it was so goodbye to see how his cognitive mind seemed to work really well despite the lack of memories. "I'll have to test its memories some more since it seems to remember information from its past life... Mmmh..." She thought while stroking her chin, she would have brought memory games to test his vision even have a 'therapy' session. "I need to see how it thinks... Wait!" She looked at her partner. "Where is its old body?"

The skeleton raised his head as he listened to the woman. A confused yet worried expression on his face. "My... old body ?"

Alaina: "Oh, I haven't cleaned it up yet." The male replied, shrugging with a touch of disinterest. "We've been distracted, so its probably still on the examination table." His attention turned towards his little pet project, and he started to beam proudly. "Oh yeah, it was pretty beat up - still not sure what it was doing just lying in the alley though."

Noko: The woman smiled, please, the corpse was probably rotting, she had no intention to show it to their experiement, the shock would probably cause his mind to lose the little stability they had with him... at least for now. She wanted however, to stimulate it's long-term memories. "Perfect! I won't be long!" She walked away, far from caring about the experiment as the skeleton seemed to realize something.

The skeleton frowned as the man described his old body... "So... that feeling... that body.... it's not mine"? He moved his fingers slowly, clearly starting to depersonalize.

Alaina: "Correct." The man said with a pleased smile, gesturing towards his little experiment with a great deal of pride- he was happy to talk about how great he was, obviously very excited over his 'art'. "You were quite dead, but soul intact. I saved you." He emphasized with an excited grin, leaning over slightly to watch his subject. "Wasn't sure if it was going to work, but I must be more talented than I thought -"

Noko: Quite dead... then that impression of falling that he had when he woke up, the first memories that were in his mind... was it the moment he died? Did he really die? Who was this body he was in? His expression became empty for a moment before he looked up at the man. "You.... saved me?" It didn't feel like he had been saved... they called him subject C... this place didn't look like a hospital. "Y-you broke my arm..."

The woman came back, a set of clothes in her arms. I'm back, sorry to take so long, you were right. That guy is heavy!

Alaina: "Ahaha, sorry - " He stated emptily, waving his hand in front of his face dismissively. "I wasn't sure you were going to wake up! You're the first success we've had that's remained conscious - I test every new experiment for stability to see what I did right, what I did wrong...but you...you're my greatest MASTERPIECE!" He said with a grin, his face lighting up to ridiculous levels before his assistant's voice drew his attention, his head spinning around to watch her - and he quickly caught on to what she was doing. "OOOH brilliant my dear!! You never cease to impress - "

Noko: The skeleton looked away when the male apologized... it felt cold and empty... and he honestly didn't like it... He was so scared from the moment he had woken up... The man was talking about him like he wasn't even human. Like he was just some kind of object that he was studying... and nothing more. He started to distract his confused mind with more puzzles, at least they wouldn't hurt him more if he did good or bad, when the woman suddenly came back with something... familiar? Without really thinking, the skeleton slid off the table to walk toward her, but he only found himself falling into a faceplant as he attempted to walk on his missing leg. The woman couldn't help herself but chuckle at the result as she went over to help it stand up. "You're missing a leg, what were you thinking?" She looked down at the clothes as she found it grabbing at the fabric.

Alaina: The man let out a light laugh as well, almost smirking at him. "Well, he moved well despite it." He commented naturally, cocking a brow as they tried to stand from the floor, and he reached down to help pick up their subject, wondering lightly if he had managed to injure himself. "Still, that was a good effort."

Noko: She managed to help him stand up slowly and sat on the table once more. "Really good, it seems to remember all his motricity... or perhaps it's the body that recalls it, either way, they were pretty good." She looked at how the skeleton was holding at the clothes, staring at it. "Does it remind you something?"

He didn't say a word, his thumbs stroking the fabric, it felt like... he had worn that... that someone used to complain about how often he wore it. "It's my shirt?" But why couldn't he recall anything further than that...? What was his name?

"Yes! It's your shirt C. That's really great!"

Alaina: He also smiled, impressed with the progress. "Yes, your clothes." He pondered, his thoughts wondering if he should push it any further or not... helping to encourage the subjects thought process at all. "I found you face down in an alley, you looked like you had fallen from one of the apartments. That's all I saw though." He explained simply, looking down at the clothes. "Is that the kind of thing you like?"

Noko: The skeleton stared at his clothes silently, frowning as he listened to him and tried to remember what he had been doing. "I fell... I was... trying to do... something..." When the man asked him if he liked it... "I think... I wear that a lot..."

The woman rubbed her chin before looking at her partner. "Do you think it's a general amnesia or that its soul has trouble to dissociate from his current body?" She didn't care much about the young subject, only trying to understand why his thought process was so blurred when it came from its memories.

Alaina: "It could also be the trauma of the procedure." He stated with a shrug, tilting his head in thought himself. "Something about the mind tries to keep things... intact, when stuff gets too hard to 'handle'." He scratched at his own head in mild frustration - he wished that wasn't the case, it would make things a lot easier. "But it could also be a combination of everything, it's too soon to tell really. If it gets better with time, it's probably dissociation, if it isn't... could be the soul protecting itself, or amnesia is just a side affect... I'm not sure." He stated honestly, frowning at his lack of understanding.

Noko: As she saw her partner's frustration, she offered him an amused smirk, patting his shoulders. "There, there. It's why I'm here for, after all, I'll just keep doing more tests until we got the answers. If it's just his soul adjusting, some of his memories might just come back as time pass." She loved these kinds of puzzles, it was different than those mindless subjects that she had to handle every day at their lab. She looked at their experiment, a larger smile on her face. "There, how about we put your clothes on, mmmh? The woman slowly took the shirt from him. "Raise your arms."

He obeyed before raising his arms, grimacing at the pain coming from the fracture.

"Mgh...."

Alaina: "Well...if that's the case. I'll keep running tests - oh. I would like a sample, now that he's calmed down." He reminded, looking more at his assistant than the subject, as if searching out her approval to retrieve what he wanted. This was simply not his area of expertise, but he definitely wanted to see how the magic was acting now that it was given time to even out.

Noko: She waved her hand as she clearly didn't mind it. "Let me dress it up and you'll be able to take as many samples as you want." She helped the experiment to dress up as he visibly had trouble to move his arm because of the injury.

The skeleton moved down his arms down stretching the shirt in incomprehension. "Bigger than I.... remember..."

"Your new body is younger. And without muscles, you definitely need smaller clothes." She stated as she put his pants on before looking at him with a serious expression on her face. "Now be a good boy, we need magic samples to see how your body adapted. Then you'll rest."

The skeleton remained silent before nodding, sure that he had no choice.

Alaina: "Now lay back and stay calm." The man instructed clearly, his voice cold and sterile as he moved to retrieve his trolley of supplies, pulling it over as he glanced over his instruments. He definitely wanted a soul sample... and maybe a main line sample? He pondered a moment before snapping on a pair of latex gloves, reaching for a large syringe as he gestured towards the subject. "Soul first."

Noko: The skeleton was about to lay back on his table when he froze as the man put his gloves on, his own hand pressing against his chest when the man requested his soul, the large syringe scaring him... recalling way too much what happened a while ago. He shook his head slowly. "N-no... Please... that h-hurt a lot..." He admitted, terrified about the idea of feeling the syringe sink into his soul again.

The woman frowned, disappointed before pressing him down against the table. "I said, be good. So no complaining."

"N-no..." He started to struggle, terrified.

Alaina: "Would you rather I tie you down again?" The man stated warningly, narrowing his gaze at his subject a moment. "It'll hurt less if you cooperate, but you need to relax ." He frowned down at the other, displeasure hardening his features. "Soul. Now." He stated sternly, a certain level of threat holding in his tone - nobody was going to keep him from HIS research.

Noko: He froze as the man menaced to tie him to the table again. He was breathing heavily, still terrified by the idea a syringe would sink into his soul. "B-but..." He started, tears feeling up his eyesockets before trying his best to obey and relax just like the man said... it would be worse if he didn't. Without any hesitation, and far from delicate as well, she grabbed the subject's soul by force and handed it over to her partner. "Here." She looked at it with a cold gaze. "Now don't move and relax."

Alaina: "Thank you, my dear. See, being cooperative helps a lot." The man stated in partial encouragement, running over the small organ to look for a good spot - it was unfortunate for the skeleton but his most active, most concentrated magic was deep in the magical heart, and he looked over it like a puzzle before squeezing lightly to get a good grip, shoving the needle almost carelessly into the spot he needed.

Noko: He held his breath, tensing up as the woman held his soul, shivering and crying in response. That wasn't cooperation! Not at all! He was forced to do things he didn't want... It felt wrong... and when then man manipulated his soul. It felt even worse... it hurt, it made him twitch and shift of discomfort, near to lose the little calm he had left as he was close to panicking again. The skeleton started crying when he felt the needle sink deep into his thrumming soul. The woman sighed out of annoyance, keeping him in place as he started to struggle.

"Stop complaining. It's nothing."

Alaina: The male ignored him, fully focused on getting what he needed - several heavy samples from the small soul. He filled vial after vial, before finally he had enough to be satisfied, his face twitched in annoyance as the child continued to struggle. It was distracting, which was making the whole process less fun. He yanked the syringe when he was done, his movements a little more harsh as he was slowly growing frustrated. "Put him on his side." He instructed harshly, securing the samples before reaching over for a new instrument, the sound of metal clattering against the each other as he moved.

Noko: The woman obeyed without caring much about her struggling subject, only too start using the straps, becoming just as annoyed as her partner. "Stop moving! The more you will the more unpleasant it will get for you !"

The subject didn't listen, the sound of the metal instrument only create more fear out of him. "W-what are you doing ?! Please.... s-stop..." He sobbed. "Stop... no more pain... please..." He didn't like this... He wanted this to end. He didn't know what else was waiting for him... but being restrained made it worse.

"Manipulation doesn't seem to work... It isn't cooperative." She said with a frown.

Alaina: "Leave it then, don't tire yourself out." He returned with a sigh, pausing his work to help secure their struggling subject. "It doesn't matter anyway, it's clear the mind is mostly intact - I think we can consider this a full success, just make sure we note the deficiencies." He mentioned before setting himself in a chair next to the table, dragging his trolley over to settle in for some deeper experimentation. So long as he was here, he might as well do a little more, and with the subject restrained it was already much more enjoyable. The spread his tools out in front of him carefully, choosing a special scalpel made for skeletons first before choosing a vertebrae to cut into - no sense in wasting his time with a needle, and a closer look of how the magic line was looking would be nice anyway. He dug the tool deep into a middle bone, using his free hand to grasp at it while he did so, using deep, strong strokes to split the area so he could expose the delicate magic flowing underneath.

Noko: The skeleton kept crying, begging them to stop, what they were doing... it felt wrong and terrifying, like a nightmare of both confusion and pain and that since he woke up... He wanted answers, about who he was... what happened to him... what he had become and what would happen to him. The man said that he had saved him... but it didn't feel like it.

The woman attached it really tight so that it wouldn't move, the little warmth gone for good as she immobilized it. She nodded as her partner said to forget about making the experiment more docile. "Subject C ready." She ignored the experiment that was struggling, only amused by it's scream when the man cut into his vertebrae to expose the main magic line. "Try to avoid damage it. I still need to run some cognitive test later."

The skeleton closed his eyes, sobbing as he felt the instruments sink in his exposed magic.

Alaina: "No promises. I've never had an opportunity like this before..." The man muttered, poking at the line curiously. He spent a good few hours taking samples and poking at the area, surgically exploring it by cutting it open and peeling back the layers, in a couple different places, curious to see just how perfectly he had 'built' his little project. It wasn't until he felt tired that he even realized how long he had sat there, letting out a deep yawn before staring at his hands, a messy mix of blood and magic staining his work area, and he slowly stood to clean himself and his area up, whisking the samples away for analysis. "Do what you like. I'll be back in the morning." He shrugged, nodding towards his assistant tiredly before preparing himself to turn in for the evening.

Noko: The woman kept observing her partner's work, taking notes as if their experiments was nothing but a bunch of bones inert, ignoring the screams and cry coming out from it. At some point, all it managed to do at the end was shaking while whimpering faint noises of protest. His face damped with his own tears. He couldn't yell anymore, the pain too great to even make a proper sound. "Alright. I'll clean your mess." She started to clean the table, applying a rough bandage over the spine. She recorded vocal notes. Tossing the instruments on the rolling table before sending it out of the room. She installed their experiment on its back, too weak to fight back. "Rest. You'll have a rough day tomorrow." She turned off the light before leaving it alone in the dark.

Alaina: The male rose early the next day, eager to get back to work - but he checked on his running samples first, a faint frown on his face as he ran over the results. The soul was not what he wanted to see, the trait something rather unique, not something he expected to come across... it dampened his mood considerably, and he sat down to file at his findings a moment, looking extremely dejected the whole while before he debated on going back to his subject... well, he could get a few more good readings out of him, at least understand what they were looking for to accomplish. But his interest was quickly banished from keeping the so-called 'masterpiece' around...

Noko: The skeleton didn't sleep well, the pain too great for his body to manage, this one was suffering from a light and unpleasant fever, his breath uneven... The only time he dreamt was really terrifying, filled with fear and... the moment he died.

The man's assistant woken up much earlier. Filing some paper work, she didn't wait for her partner to wake up to disturb the subject's poor sleep to take a look at its condition. Despite the test from yesterday, subject C remained responsive to light, touch and pain... this was a little disappointing too, she was pretty sure that its cognition would be affected by the pain he was under... oh well... All she could do was work with was she had. "So, Sleepyhead. Still hungry? Hey, you." She tapped the boy's cheek as he was losing focus.

"Mgh... n-no... no more pain... please..."

Alaina: The male practically burst into the room, striding with heavy steps as he was clearly disappointed. "How is C responding?" He asked, sounding extremely bored. He let his own papers fall onto a nearby desk heavily, trying to distract himself by re-organizing his instruments. He was so bored. I wanted to make a masterpiece, a true one - this thing in front of him was nothing but another failure - he could only learn at this point.

Noko: "Still in shock from the procedure of last night. But still good enough for more test I assume." She paused, noticing the disappointed look on her partner's face... that was a bad news. And when this one dropped his papers on the table, she blinked out of confusion. "What's going on? How's the result from the simple? Not satisfying?" She moved her attention on the subject, snapping her fingers in front of its face. "Hey. Stay awake here."

The skeleton frowned as he started to cry, scared of what would come really soon. Thanks to the sound of the metal clicking on the platter. "P-Please... n-no more test... please..."

"Shut your mouth. I want you to respond to more test. I don't care if you don't want to. It's that or we hurt you more."

Alaina: "My dear I know how excited you were over this, but..." He sighed, passing over some of his findings. "His soul is endurance based - he probably only survived the procedure because of this specific soul trait - I have no doubt that it was a major attributing factor.... regardless, I have no interest in keeping it. I'd much rather harvest what I can and just.... send for a teleport. ...I want to move on." He sighed, definitely disappointed and discouraged - the subject was nothing but a husk to him now, and he wanted to CREATE - he couldn't do that working on a ruined project, and he reached over for his gloves. "Bring him here."

Noko: The woman's expression quickly flattered, clearly disappointed herself as she learned that the soul only survived because of its trait... She took a deep breath, trying to see the good out of it. "At least... We know that it IS possible... right? We just need to right formula, to make sure any soul could be as endurant as this one for a soul transfer..." She grimaced a moment before sighing. "Can we at least learn more about his mental state? I was just about to work on that. I want to know if that amnesia is permanent or not..." She wasn't trying to buy time with the experiment, but she wanted to make sure everything was properly done before they throw it away. She slides the weak, struggling and sobbing body near of her partner, disappointed. "All I would need is a memory, a clear one that would make it possible to transfert a consciousness in another body..."

Alaina: He looked over, but nodded. "Do what you want. I just want to make a few more extractions. I'll go ahead and schedule the teleporter while you... have your moment." He stated, clearly discouraged and lack of any enthusiasm. He didn't even really want to look at the thing, it was just a reminder that he hadn't been able to prefect his craft as perfectly as he wanted, and he turned to leave the room. "Take your time, I'll get what I want when you're done." He rambled as he waved a good bye, clearly done with the whole thing.

Noko: The skeleton listened to them... were they talking to get rid of him? Would they leave him for dead? He couldn't ask... he was too scared, especially since the woman told him to shut up.

"Perfect." The woman was now left alone, playing with the instrument herself before gathering her own documents. She took a deep breath before turning back to the subject. "You WILL cooperate, do your best and I MIGHT convince him to be gentle with you. Now, Remember anything about your past? A smell, a sound? Anything?"

The child shook his head a moment frowning as he did his best to remain calm and try to remember. "I... I fell from the building... I think I tried to... save something... a... a cat? And my foot slipped? I think... I-I don't know... I... dreamed about it..."

"Mmmh..." She seemed disappointed before making him do a few tests to play with his memories. But after a while, she simply gave up. The subject was too stressed to give proper results.

Alaina: After awhile, the man returned, still clearly having a bit of a loss of interest at the project, but he made sure that his assistant was at least mostly satisfied before he instructed her aid of his final extractions. He dug into the small soul, cutting out a small piece for himself with a biopsy tool to keep, something of a 'souvenir' as it was, that could easily be used for more readings later. He poked at the skeletons systems, snapping a lower rib just to watch the magic and marrow flow, gathering some of the fluids before setting his little experiment back on his side, cutting open no less than three more of the vertebrae, all in vital places to get a good idea of the more important junctions of the magic system. He was nearly done when a third person showed up, rolling his eyes around the room boredly and knocking.

"Yo. Ya called for a bug out?" The new person was Metazoan, mouse-like animal traits formed his features, and he glanced at the broken body lying on the table, his face cocking into a grin.

"Whoa."

"Ah, yes! Nearly done here, just need to...grab this..." The male stated simply, pulling away his final extraction before rising, moving his tools so he could enjoy to properly clean them himself. "We just need him away, of course."

"Aight...any place in particular?"

"Just not here." The man stated, nodding. "Nowhere near here."

Noko: At first the child responded to pain like before, screaming every time the man cut through his bones, sobbing heavily as he begged him to stop, his body trembling as it was going under a lot of stress and torture. Without any painkillers, the instruments were burning him, and the restraints stopped him from moving like he wanted. But when then men snapped one of his bones, the child almost immediately lost consciousness, from both the pain and the lack of blood he was going through.

The woman only gave it a few hours before it would die without the proper care, it was already feverish,

it's breath irregular and loud... what a disappointment. Another failure...

Alaina: "Not our problem." The man stated, nodding toward the teleporter who just shrugged, grabbing at his 'assignment' with little care or reason before vanishing in a blink. He had meant to just dump the body on the outskirts of a town somewhere, off the side a road in a ditch where he could just let the sand naturally cover the victim - but somewhere along the line his calculations messed up, and he smacked into a hard wall, groaning as he dropped his 'package' in an alleyway. They were definitely hundreds of miles from their origin, but not quite as far as he had hoped - frowning when a scream alerted him - he wasn't alone. He stared dead at the woman who had seen him appear, horrified by the mangled body that had slumped to the ground - he blinked once before disappearing on reflex, trained to be seen as little as possible. The woman scrambled to call the emergency number after attempts to rouse the young, abandoned skeleton were a total failure... and it was clear he was getting sick, his fever starting to pitch high.

Once in medical hands, the emergency team that he had happened to fall under care of just grimaced - his bones had been methodically torn, he was losing blood and magic all over the place, and was rushed almost immediately into the ER surgery. With no ID and nothing to identify him, calls went out all over the place...but nobody seemed to be missing a young skeleton child in the area, and even as the calls went further and further out...nobody seemed to know anything... and he matched no missing persons record...

The surgery took hours, the on hand staff spending meticulous, careful time to rebuild the split and broken vertebrae, as many of them were almost damaged beyond repair, but with the help of good practice and a healer they managed to restore it almost perfectly. He was lucky the rib was an easy fix, but the surgeon was so exhausted he didn't have time to fix the arm - it was so shattered it would need to be taken care of separately at a later time. The John Doe skeleton was set up carefully in bed to lay on his side, propped gently with pillows and his arm suspended from the ceiling so that it was comfortable, his body too wracked to lay him down properly without causing more soreness. It was clear he would be in pain, even with a heavy dose of painkillers and antibiotics running through him. The nurse assigned to him settled him in a room, carefully reading his condition. They couldn't even write his name down... she was an attentive person though, and at one point, after waiting long enough to get accustomed to the mystery patient, she carefully sat at his bedside and start to clean his face and body tenderly, hoping that he would wake in at least a bit of comfort....

[kittkatt-420]

Endeavors of the Mind (Part Four)

Bakugo and Midoriya both struggle with different aspects of their newfound relationship. Katsuki wants to be more open with his affections for Deku, but is hindered by his intimacy issues. Izuku covets Kacchan's affection, but is too afraid of being overbearing.

~Or the one where Bakugo and Midoriya both want the same things from each other, but are too oblivious to notice.

BakuDeku-centric with mentions of KiriShido and TodoMomo. Yaoi. M/M

X

Midoriya overthinks things, causing Bakugo to have some self reflection. This leads Katsuki to make a big decision about their relationship.

Part Four

x

x

x

Izuku's emerald eyes shot open, wide and fearful, blood running cold. His scarred fingers went slack against Kacchan as the loud snap echoed loudly amidst the darkness. It reverberated ominously in his ears until it was all he could hear over and over again, drowning out all other noise and thought. His heart clenched, knot forming in his stomach, twisting his insides until he thought he'd puke. This was bad.

'We've been caught...' His mind numbly informed him, heart picking up pace as the words swirled in his head, nauseating and oppressive. His body quivered anxiously, lump forming in his airway. The thought of exposure set his body into a spiral of fear, dread clawing away inside him, causing his vision to tunnel and blur. This would ultimately cause complications for Kacchan. Kirishima finding out was one thing, but this...

This would not settle well with Bakugo - Deku knew that without a doubt; it'd put a heavy strain on their relationship, leaving Izuku to try and mend the damage it would inevitably cause.

Kacchan put up a strong front, seemingly unbreakable and indifferent to others opinions and thought - a hero who showed no weakness, and the green-haired teen knew that was true most of the time. Bakugo was as fiery and unwavering as his Quirk, passionate and all consuming, unafraid, reckless and proud! It's what he loved most about him - what pulled him towards him! But Midoriya also knew Kacchan wasn't always such a thick wall of confidence and bravado - that wall would crumble sometimes, insecurities visible to Izuku alone; the mossy-haired teen had always been the exception to the blonde's breakdowns. Kacchan never hid his feeling from Deku, and even when he did try, it wouldn't be long before he opened up to the smaller hero - one way or another. Kacchan was human and subject to human emotions, even though he acted otherwise, and the freckled teen knew something of this magnitude spilling out before the explosive hero adjusted would leave Kacchan vulnerable and open. The shorter boy knew that would devastate Bakugo. He'd see it as a weakness, and he was too proud to allow himself to be seen in that light. It would probably cause him to withdraw from Izuku - seeing him as the cause of that weakness!

'I can't lose this progress with Kacchan!'

The younger boy knew that'd be like starting all over again, making him swallow hard against the lump that threatened to choke him - the mere notion made Deku's stomach twist painfully, heart pounding with bruising force against his rib cage.

The freckled teen feared losing the progress they'd just achieved!

Another snap echoed in the dark, causing Katsuki's vermilion eyes to dart around the dark foliage. Trying to find the source of the sound, the older teen gripped harder onto Deku, knowing the green-haired hero still didn't have full control of his legs. Bakugo's heart beat erratically, blood rushing in his ears - adrenaline pumped throughout him at the fear of being caught. He didn't know what he'd do if someone was out there lurking like a fucking creep, watching them and then speaking even a word about them.

The thought of their relationship being broadcast to the world before its time made the explosive hero's stomach churn nervously, and he fucking hated it. It was one thing to be anxious when it involved doing things with Izuku - cuz that damn nerd had a way of making him feel all these jittery feelings all the time - but to feel them out of apprehension was infuriating. He didn't like these stupid feelings running through him. The blonde knew he had to find a way out of this damned dilemma if he wanted it to stop. The aggressive teen couldn't deal with this right now. It was too stressful of a time already with graduation right around the corner, and he didn't need to add this on top of his already preoccupied mind!

'Fuck whatever asshole is out here!'

Another snap resounded, and Bakugo's glare zeroed onto a rustling bush. His palm flickered with the beginnings of an explosion, ready to blast whatever shithead crawled out,  heat of his Quirk slowly burning away the sticky substance that still coated his hand.

On top of everything, things were finally starting to become comfortable between him and Deku; they were making so much fucking progress, it almost blew his fucking mind. But still, the explosive hero wasn't quite ready yet - Katsuki needed just a little more fucking time, then it'd be time to announce it after they graduated! A small part of why he wanted to stay private about their relationship was to avoid everyone meddling in their affairs, causing them both undue stress; Bakugo didn't want to risk distractions - they couldn't afford it with their goals coming so close to fruition, and he wanted to make sure he and Deku graduated together!

The rustling increased, and the taller boy tensed, anticipating someone tumbling out. But to his relief, a small rabbit hopped out instead, staring at him with wide eyes before scurrying back into the brush. The bomber hero could only assume that's what caused the twigs to snap, but even so, Katsuki was still on guard.

If someone really was out there and saw anything, it would ruin both his and Midoriya's hard work keeping it on the down-low. Most of their classmates were shit when it came to keeping things secret, and if even a hint of a rumor hit Ashido's fucking ears, it'd be a matter of minutes before word spread like a disease among everyone in the party, forcing his hand in the situation.

Katsuki cursed aloud at the notion, scowl prominent on his lips, "Fuckers."

Bakugo knew he simply couldn't allow that - to have one of those idiots decide something of this caliber for him, it was un-fucking-acceptable! His teeth ground together, clenching hard at the thought, heart thumping with anger. This relationship was a choice he and Izuku made together, and he'd be damned if he allowed some fucking prick to take that from them, but most importantly - to take that from Izuku! If the crimson-eyed teen was going to go public before his allotted time, he would do so with his nerd at his side and not because some loud-mouthed asshole outed them. The bomber teen owed that privilege to Deku alone for being so understanding and patient with him!

"-ro- you-," came a distant echo, voice carried by the soft breeze, yet muddled by the swaying trees, making it difficult to distinguish. It confirmed that someone was indeed out there -  which wasn't good at all. But if Bakugo focused on the brighter side of this shit scenario - the voice sounded far off, meaning they had some time before whomever ventured close enough to find them.

"We got some time, nerd. But we can't stay here long," he spoke, glaring angrily into the trees. He found a modicum of relief in the fact, but he still didn't like this at all. "If we don't leave soon, whatever dumb fuck is out there will find us."

The aggressive teen felt Deku quiver in response, but he didn't speak. Katsuki didn't think anything of it, mind racing as he ground his teeth harder, wishing he could just use his Quirk to get them out of their situation. His palm twitched with aggressive anticipation, smoke wafting off his free hand, heat burning away the remainder of residue of their intimate affair. He didn't like this at all - standing here on the defensive just waiting. The blonde hero didn't have much patience, and what little he did have was quickly running out. The taller teen didn't know how long he could stay here, lingering in place, observing for movements, waiting around just to be found. But he had to wait for Deku to recover, nerves and body still over-exerted if his continued shaking and breathlessness was any indication - then they could get the fuck up out of here and waltz back into the stupid party like nothing ever fucking happened!

"-ooo!"

The carmine-eyed hero heard the soft echo of that voice calling out again, but it was difficult to pinpoint exactly where it came from - sounds bouncing in the darkness. His sense were on high alert, ruby orbs scanning the blackness but seeing nothing, moonlight casting deep shadows across the earth, shapeless figures swaying with the breeze; ears perked yet hearing far too much, the stirring of leaves, scurrying of small animals, the soft thuds of footsteps, the buzzing of the insects, Izuku's shallow pants and the thumping of the music that still managed to seep outdoors.

It was too much!

Lips pulling into a deeper angry scowl, ruby eyes glowered vehemently into nothingness. Katsuki couldn't keep himself from growling out, teeth exposed as he gnashed them down. Body tense with energy, every nerve in his body eagerly demanded he move - to do anything but fucking observe and wait! The explosive hero couldn't see or do shit in the damn dark and it was driving him crazy! He'd always been a man of action - one to be on the offensive rather than defensive -  and this was killing him!

The older boy's mind raced angrily, debating on whether he should wait for Izuku to fully compose himself or not…

"Fuck this shit!" He seethed, ire bubbling inside him.

"Can you stand on your own yet, Deku?" He asked, voice low with pent-up frustration. Bakugo's agitation was apparent by the way his lip curled viciously, palm flickering with sparks, smoke becoming thicker. He was trying to keep his mounting anger in check, but it was proving more difficult as the seconds ticked past. The blonde teen wanted nothing more at the moment than to exert all this turbulent energy into a giant explosion - blowing things up always made him feel better - and the more the scarlet-eyed hero contemplated the thought, the more it appealed to him. But for obvious reasons, he couldn't;  it'd be like putting up a giant arrow over their fucking heads - somehow, that thought made him angrier.

Deku's forehead rested against his shoulder, but he could feel the puffs of his warm breath against him even though he didn't speak. The taller boy turned his vermilion eyes down towards the smaller teen - feeling Midoriya's scarred fingers clutch his shirt with more force, knuckles turning white.

"Dumbass, you fuckin' ready or not?"

Seconds passed, but Midoriya still didn't reply - even though Katsuki could still feel his hot breath. A vein throbbed hard along his temple, and the blonde teen pulled back from the green-haired hero, lips peeling back, baring his teeth as an ugly grimace marred his features. Ruby eyes narrowed furiously upon the freckled teen.

"Deku!" He growled, arm still enclosed around Izuku's waist, thought not as tightly as before. Bakugo felt the smaller hero tense in his arms, body shaking even more as the older teen slowly unwound his arm from around him.

'What the fuck?' The blonde thought, irritation riling him up. This entire fucking situation was stressing him out more than he'd ever admit.

"Dumb fuck!" The bomber hero snapped harshly, trying to pull his boyfriend from his weird stupor. Damn it, why did the damn nerd have to get all weird now of all fucking times!? He hissed out, teeth grinding, "Can you put your fucking clothes back on yet, fuckface?"

Izuku's warm breath continued to puff against Katsuki's clothes, inaudible murmuring suddenly hitting the blonde's ears. Bakugo released an aggravated groan - knowing Deku was in one of his mumbling modes now. The blonde hero couldn't help but curse the green-haired teen's timing; Midoriya tended to get caught up in his own head every time the mumbling started. The explosive hero dropped his calloused hands onto the smaller hero's shoulders, hoping to rouse the nerd from his thoughts like he'd done in his bedroom.

"Dipshit!"

But it didn't work - Midoriya kept staring unfocused into his shoulder, still fucking mumbling.

"Useless fucking Deku," Bakugo sneered angrily.

The older boy couldn't make out what the viridian hero was murmuring about, and it didn't help that his freckled face was pressed into Katsuki's body, muffling his soft voice even more. His chattering increased, fingers digging further into the cloth of the aggressive boy's shirt as his breath became slightly labored. Katsuki's blonde brows furrowed in confusion, wondering what the fuck could be wrong with the nerdy teen.

"Deku?"

'Things can't go back to the way they were!' Midoriya's mind yelled, panic clouding his mind. The thick haze of his dread drowned out the sound of Kacchan's voice - of Kacchan's touch. The smaller hero's own fears enveloped him; he couldn't handle losing all their progress - he knew that well.

Deku was patient for so long - for so many years...

'Kacchan will close off again. Kacchan will close off again. Kacchan will close off again. Kacchan will close off again. Kacchan will close off again. Kacchan will close off again. Kacchan will close off again.'

...Waiting for the right time to tell Kacchan how he felt - waiting for his affection -  waiting for his kisses - for his touches - for his gaze - for Kacchan to be his! He was patient for so long, and to have all his hard work backfire and set him back to the beginning...

It would absolutely hurt - in every sense of the word. Izuku knew that well - just as he knew how deeply he loved Kacchan; Deku's spirit could only handle so much!

'I can't lose this progress with Kacchan…'

That lump reformed in his throat, clogging his airway, threatening to asphyxiate him. The green-haired boy could feel his panic ripping at him from within - its tendrils spreading throughout his body like a virus - quick, debilitating and destructive. Mind going numb with trepidation, everything started to ebb away, leaving the freckled hero in a suspended state of fear - for Kacchan - for their relationship - and for himself...

'I can't lose this progress with Kacchan! I can't lose this progress with Kacchan. I can't lose this. I can't.'

"Deku?" Katsuki spoke again, voice hard and stern. Yet the anger from before was gone, replaced by confounded worry. Deku wouldn't stop mumbling or gripping tightly onto him, and he wasn't responding to anything. Talking to him or even shaking him did nothing - he just continued to stand there like a zombie, muttering who knew what under his breath. His eyes stayed trained onto the ruby-eyed hero's chest, yet they were hazy and unfocused, staring into vast nothingness. Seeing the smaller boy look so out of sorts made the explosive teen's gut twist; it felt wrong to see the usually smiling nerd like this.

"Talk to me, nerd," he plead, anguish beginning to bleed into his voice. The blonde hero's fingers gripped into Midoriya's shoulders as he shook him slightly, trying to break him from his weird trance. He didn't know what was wrong, and couldn't help but wonder what could put him into a state of mumbling paralysis. It was starting to make him uneasy and fearful - and Katsuki didn't deal with either of those emotions very well.

"Deku?"

'Kacchan isn't ready and they're all gonna know!' Midoriya mused restlessly, words permeating his head like venom. Dread clouded his mind, poisonous ideas taking hold of him, forcing all rational thought out.

He'd worked so hard to keep rumors from spreading about them -  taking extra caution not to be too personal when they weren't behind closed doors. Todoroki knew, but the heterochromatic hero figured it out on his own and asked Deku directly; Kirishima knew too because of Izuku's mistake and Kacchan's confession, but both Shoto and Eijirou were their equivalent best friends. They wouldn't say a word without either Midoriya or Bakugo's consent - their secret was safe with them. And Deku only ever kept their relationship hidden because he wanted the blonde hero to be comfortable - to not feel pressured - to make the choice - and it had worked!

By being patient and taking things at the aggressive hero's pace, Midoriya finally started to break down the walls the older boy put up around him. They made progress in the form of kisses, names and intimate actions. Kacchan even spoke to him through his eyes - like Shoto and Momo did often! Bakugo showed Izuku how much he cared for him, all without uttering a single word - Kacchan's smoldering gaze and selfless actions conveying all he felt for Midoriya! The most progress in the entire course of their relationship was made in this single night!

But they were going to be outed prematurely because not everyone had that level of loyalty to them like Todoroki and Kirishima - alll their hard work would crumble, revealing Kacchan to everyone's prying eyes.

His hysteria rose alongside his pulsing heart.

'I can't lose this progress with Kacchan! I can't! I can't! I can't!'

The curly-haired teen suddenly went silent, viridian gaze dropping to stare absently and wide-eyed into the dirt. Bakugo's brows furrowed deeper in distress, unnerved by the abrupt quietness from the mumbling teen.

"Deku?"

Still, the freckled teen remained mute, causing the taller boy's stomach to knot harder. It was only then that the explosive hero felt how badly the shorter boy shook; Bakugo's lips pulled into a sullen glower, scarlet eyes glued to his boyfriend.

Katsuki spoke again - that undertone of misery lacing his words completely as he watched his nerd, trying to find out what was wrong, "Can you hear me, Deku?"

'It's all my fault! I should've left when he told me to leave!' Midoriya mulled, too far into his own panic-induced thoughts that Bakugo's voice couldn't penetrate the haze. Izuku knew he should've left earlier - he'd even debated on obeying the blonde's words and going back to his friends...

'It's all my fault..'

… Until he'd glanced up and seen that hungry gleam in Kacchan's eyes. It was that same predatory look the blonde hero gave him in his bedroom right before their intense kiss, and in the elevator when he noticed him chewing his lips. He knew what that smoldering glimpse meant now - knew where it could potentially lead - and it had sent his hormones into overdrive. Coveting that gaze for so long, he couldn't leave Bakugo alone once he'd recognized it - so Midoriya willfully stayed, fully aware of the possible consequences, praying for Katsuki to lose control again! He so desperately longed for Kacchan's touch and kisses that he'd stubbornly refused to go away; Deku wanted to bask in the explosive teen's company and also stick around in hopes of sparking another intimate affair.

'I should've left...' Izuku thought in anguish, 'I should've left - I should've left!'

In the end, the green-haired teen got what he wanted - Kacchan lavished his body with his kisses and touch, showing complete devotion with his attentiveness. But the exchange for a moment of passion with Katsuki was a much higher price than the freckled hero wished to pay, but there was no turning back now.

'It's all my fault!'

The deed was done and now he had to face the consequences of his actions.

'I should've left!'

Once more, his drive forward in hopes of carnal pleasures lead to a bigger problem...

'I should've left! This is all my fault.'

… Bigger than he could handle...

'I should've left...'

They were about to be discovered!

'It's all my fault!'

Izuku's actions were forcing Bakugo into a situation where he'd have to choose to publicly accept Deku or reject him!

'I should've left...'

Bakugo placed his hands over Izuku's curled fist, gently prying his fingers from their vice-like grip on him. The green-haired teen's chest heaved quicker, breathing shallow and fast, causing the blonde hero to grit his teeth, brows drawing together with renewed concern. His pupils were fully dilated, emerald irises barely there. It didn't take a fucking genius to realize Deku was in the midst of a panic attack, and he cursed himself for not noticing sooner.

Every fiber in his being demanding he console his nerd, but the blonde hero didn't know how. What was he supposed to do to help cull the anxiety running throughout his boyfriend?! He wasn't good at comforting anyone - dealing with emotions weren't really his forte!

Fretful and apprehensive, Bakugo internally fumed, 'Fuck.'

Midoriya's chest constricted, lungs spasming, failing miserably to supply his body with oxygen.

'Forcing Kacchan into p-publicly-' Izuku's inner voice stuttered, mind refusing to accept his own statement.

Midoriya felt lightheaded, darkness spinning all around him.

'F-forcing Kacchan into publicly accepting me or- or-'

The words stuck in his head, heart squeezing painfully between sporadic lungs.

'R-rejecting me...'

White noise assaulted him, making the beating in his ears sound distorted and warped, akin to being underwater.

'I can't lose Kacchan!' Deku internally screamed. The younger teen felt like he was drowning, gasping for breath as his panic became all-consuming.

Bakugo's rejection would do more than just hurt...

'I can't lose Kacchan!'

… The smaller hero knew that completely.

'I can't lose Kacchan!"

The timid teen's labored breaths multiplied, heart pounding at a dangerous pace.

'I can't lose him!'

The viridian hero's pupils constricted, shrinking until they were barely visible, eyes becoming large lifeless pools of jade.

'I can't lose him!'

Kacchan's rejection would destroy Izuku!

'Kacchan!'

"Fuck," the bomber hero growled aloud, lips pressing into a thin line. Once more Katsuki found himself cursing his ineptitude - Deku needed him now and Bakugo didn't know the first thing to soothing the hyperventilating hero. His heart pounded, self-loathing filling his chest as he watched Izuku's panic visibly spread. Katsuki wasn't an idiot - he knew with certainty why his nerd was having an anxiety attack, and it made his heart lurch painfully.

'Izuku,' the taller teen mused, heart heavy as his scarlet eyes narrowed on his nerd.

Izuku needed him and Katsuki was a fucking hero - and not just any fucking hero; Bakugo was Deku's personal hero and he'd be damned if he let his nerd keep hurting!

Releasing a suddenly determined growl, he dropped the smaller teen's hands, reaching up to cup his round freckled face in his palms. Even if he didn't know what the fuck he was doing, he couldn't stand idly by, watching the anxious teen fall further into his panic; Katsuki was a man of action, and he had someone precious to protect!

"Deku, we're fine," he spoke, soft and pleading as he pressed his forehead against the viridian hero. The aggressive hero's cherry orbs peered into cloudy emerald eyes, but those large green eyes remained dull and unfocused, making his heart clench harder. Katsuki knew his pleas fell on mute ears, making his lips pull into a deeper frown, realizing just how deep into his own head his nerd was struggling against. Heart thundering, he closed his ruby eyes, continuing in a strained voice, "I'm right here, Deku..."

Katsuki didn't know what the fuck he was doing. But he'd seen Kirishima do this with Ashido once to calm her down, and he prayed it worked for Izuku too. His heart beat so fast inside him, slamming with bruising force against his ribs. Guilt and concern filled him as he whispered his boyfriend's name, "Izuku."

(Continue reading by following the link)

[obibail]

20-29 for my main mann (😉 get it??) vince!!!

20. Something they do that seems childish to others?

He tends to count on his fingers and he’ll gnaw on his thumb sometimes (it’s definitely his idle animation). He’ll also take any opportunity to sit cross-legged on any flat surface he can fit on. This has included the roofs of moving train cars and tables during briefings. No one can stop him from his comfortable sitting, even if they would love to.

21. What is their all-time favourite TV show?

Vince never really watched TV but he tended to be a fan of stuff like Breaking Bad & Better Call Saul and It’s Always Sunny.

22. What is their all-time favourite movie?

Treasure Planet has a very special place in his casual sci-fi nerd heart. It was one of the first movies he remembers seeing (he was 5 when it came out) and he used to make his mom put in on over and over again. He probably saw that movie and Mulan (his sister’s favorite) more times than he ever saw anything else in his life.

23. How big is their family?

His immediate family was pretty small, himself, his parents, and his sister, but they had a pretty large extended family - a generous handful of aunts and uncles and cousins spread out around New York and New Jersey, grandparents who came for holidays and special occasions, and some family friends that might as well have been blood.

24. Are they close to anyone specific in the family?

He was really close to his sister before she passed - they were only two years apart and he really looked up to her. They were almost as close as twins and a lot of people mistook them for twins. From the time he was born they shared a bedroom and never really minded this set up. It was only when he was 13 that they actually got an apartment big enough for them to have separate bedrooms and even then it wasn’t really all that uncommon for one of them to crash in the other’s room - that’s just how their relationship was. She tutored him in science and he would read parts so she could practice for all the plays she was in - she was a great actress. Aside from just normal sibling squabbling, they only actually fought a few times, and mostly about trivial things that they got over within a few days. She was always a really level headed girl and was always looking out for him. He misses her immensely.

25. Have they got any allergies?

Peanuts, penicillin, and bee stings.

26. Are they an emotional person?

He definitely can be. He feels everything very intensely and has never run from how he feels - he’s always kind of been a wear your heart on your sleeve kind of person. He was really emotional as a kid, he showed both his happiness and his frustration very plainly. He shuts down a little after he loses his sister - she was always the one to push him to be open about how he felt and not bury how he feels - but he starts to open up again after high school.

As security captain, he’s very open about positive emotions - he shows affection easily and people get used to his constant stream of check-ins and sincere compliments pretty quickly. And he’s definitely not a crier - he can count on one hand how many times he’s cried in his life - but it’s not hard to tell when he’s feeling negative.

27. Do they get angry/lose their temper quickly?

Oh yeah. While he tries to project a facade of cool serenity, Vince can go from perfectly calm to shaking rage in about a second but he does tend to try and swallow it before he can act on it. Before the apocalypse, he would withdraw emotionally before he lost his temper because he didn’t like people to actually see him upset and it was smart to not let people see you angry or perceive you as threatening them.With the group he was with before Rush, they cultivated his anger and his resentment towards the world - his grief at losing his parents, residual anger from the crash that cost him his arm, his uh really bad fallout shelter situation - and turned it into a fun game. They found a lot of little ways to rile him up and for the year or so he was with them, he was pretty constantly a softly simmering pot of rage that violently boiled over not long before he met Rush.

With Rush, he’s definitely attempted to go back to that pre-apocalypse mindset of get angry but don’t act on it, get angry but don’t let people use it against you. Get angry but don’t let it show and don’t be stupid. When he’s too angry to actually swallow it down, he tends to excuse himself and find someone to spar with or something inanimate to hit.

28. What are some of their guilty pleasures?

Nighttime skinny dipping

Little Debbie’s Cosmic Brownies. He has a lot of food-related ones in general, too, stemming from how self-indulgent he was when he was in college with junk food (something that he never got as a kid and always envied about other kids). College student budgeting aside, he used to set aside a few bucks every payday to buy a small hoard of chips and snack cakes and soda, enough to last a week or two. The sweet tooth on this man. 

He would pretty happily watch reality tv shows with his college girlfriend, only ever pretending to kick up a fuss about it (he would watch them sometimes without her, and he will never admit this to anyone).

Jewelry in general, but especially big chunky rings. He wears them like one would wear brass knuckles and he polishes them every chance he gets. He’s especially covetous of anything turquoise, the color or the stone, and has a small dragon hoard of antique-looking turquoise rings. 

Definitely sleeping in, at least until the sun is high enough to be in high eyes. Never long enough to outright ignore his responsibilities but long enough to pretend for a little while that things are normal and the only things waiting for him when he gets up are mundane.

29. Do they have pets? Do they want pets?

I actually have a whole long self-indulgent post in my drafts about all the pets my kids have had SO

Vince’s family had dogs all of his growing up - usually mutts from shelters, often pitbull mixes. His family tended to take on any dog they were afraid the shelter might euthanize. At one time they had three pits in a tiny two-bedroom apartment and it was a chaotic joyful mess. The dogs used to pull him and his sister - 10 and 12 at the time - bodily down the sidewalk when they were on walks.

Vince himself had a corn snake and two leopard geckos - William Snakespeare, and gecko #1 & #2. His sister haaaaated them and refused to come near the tanks ( for most of their shared bedroom time he has his hell reptiles) but her cat - Howie - liked to sit and watch the geckos in their tanks. He takes on caring for Howie after his sister passes. It’s one of the things that keeps him going after she dies, knowing that Howie needs someone now that his Person is gone. He spends a lot of time with that cat, who takes to sleeping in his lap while he did his homework - they help each other mourn.

He sells Billy Snakes and and his geckos after high school but takes Howie with him to college because he didn’t feel comfortable leaving the poor old boy in an apartment with two pits. He keeps Howie until he passes at the age of 19. He doesn’t ever get the chance to get another pet.

[atomkrp-blog]

WELCOME TO XAVIER’S, SONG DAEHYUN !

… loading statistics. currently aged twenty-two, entering first semester of xavier’s in seoul, south korea. decrypting files… mutant has the following records: strength +4, durability +7, agility +4, dexterity +4, intelligence +6. currently, he is classified under tier omega.

BACKGROUND.

this is a story where a boy eats himself and never spits the flesh out. shrapnel bones and papier-mâché skin against your palate: hemorrhage painting your insides with the color of unrest, carving a private death in the confines of your own ribcage.

the corpses of your sanity taste like copper in your lonely mouth.

licks your lips clean from the residue of your nightmares—                                                           sanity never comes away in a bang.

you partake in the game played between mortals made serpents. your unholy intents, their forked tongues. it’s an all-night dance. the music is an overture of reprised elegies. hands on hips, hands on shoulder blades, hands on throats.

             you come out alive.                            but not intact. never intact.

turn the clockwork around, however, and clasp the zeroes between your teeth.

            o.

your body is a husk, containing the hollow echo of your scream.

             i.

she is the baby’s breath in his summer, counting filaments of the sky through the rim of her sun-kissed dress. when she threads her fingers between his, heat. pooled at the stomach, rusting on his cheeks. some of those afternoons smell like forgotten nightmares, sunk in the collarbones of his daydreams. some of those evenings haze his thoughts in the stained glass of emotions, cracking through his visions. he brings her home and locks his monsters in their caskets.

how the nights end: arched spines, tiptoeing whispers. she washes his mouth with her wine. he is afraid of diluting her insides with acid.

she maps poetries into his skin and he traces the constellation of her teeth. she is made of soft carnage and he, the victim. he doesn’t mind the casualty, cutting his ribcage to let her fingers curl around his heart. she pulses red and he breathes in her dust.

knees to the floor, mouth colored with wishes. there is something different about the way her tongue wraps around the simple word.

darkness descends. you consume her.

             ii.

                                 maybe more than you should have.

she holds the small of your fingers. a smile splinters the pale of her lips. he isn’t smiling. he reads between the lines, catching implications between his trembling teeth. she holds the small of your fingers. he caresses the brittle of her skin.

the silence echoes. her tongue wraps around three syllables, tasting more than a whisper. the silence blossoms and suffocates the room. except for the static noises, always the static noises. it’s a uniform sound that punctures his ears they bleed shards.

you make her a martyr, and him, a fallen soldier.

             iii.

he fills you with his ruins.

her residue. his empty daydreams. somehow the color of the summer sky resembles blood more than sorrow. he keeps bleeding; there’s no scar tissue, just open wounds. he decorates the jutting bones of his knuckles with ire. catharsis comes in the beauty of bruised roses. sometimes when he laughs, you think he’s angry.

             he lathers his mouth with her ashes.

you have her eyes. sometimes he looks into them, looking past you. he stares at them for the longest time.

             iv.

he says you learned fast, breaking sentences into slivers, smearing fingertips with ink. what you failed to learn: your shadows sometimes flicker.

             you fear darkness but it fears you more.

the black is serrated, teeth razor sharp against your jugular. your moments between sleep are painted with ragged breaths and unspoken pleas. there is something moving in the dark.

he believes it’s her, keeping you company.

monsters don’t live in the absence of lights, he says. they live in your bones, gnawing at your sinews. you were born with them inside you.

            v.

what you were born with besides the monstrosity: demise, spelled another way.

                                       you were architected to carry an empire in you.

             vi.

he slips bloodshed into your lullabies.

bruises embody his detonations. he looks tired, but alive for once. you don’t speak when his knuckles rupture the fragility in the dying war. you don’t move when his weary limbs pretend that they aren’t weighted by the lingering ghosts.

it’s a cyclical catastrophe, your feigned innocence. how the nights end: you, collecting his pieces and trying to reassemble his bones.

but they have been too dislocated.

yet you talk to him, talk talk talk until your mouth blooms poppies, trying to keep him alive.

             vii.

there is a pool of moonburst in your head, carving craters and dents to soak them in liquid destructions.

there was a part of you littered with everything soft. you’d like to think of these: bird-bones, tender skin. think of gentleness. think of baby’s breath.

there was a part of you littered with everything soft. what’s left: splinters. these days fill themselves to the neck with digging your nails into your skin. you are a cathedral of burning, tendrils of black billowing from your crevasses. you are a pair of tangled feet on the brim of apocalypse, waiting for darkness to swallow you whole.

when it does, it never spits you out.

             viii.

you don’t know which to sacrifice: your mind, or your body.

                                                      ( or both. )

             ix.

how does it feel, being a stranger to your own body? you imagine that your fingers aren’t yours, standing under the shower for hours hoping to shed your skin off your flesh. the sight of the red and blue can’t be more fascinating.

                                                                     a dissected mind.

you breathe in decay until your lungs shiver. you wear the rust until your knuckles turn gaunt.

            x.

they saw: how your shadows flicker. they saw: how your darkness enshrouds.

             somebody tells you to run, run, run. from yourself.

last time you did, you broke a bone and handed the pieces to them. last time you did, you bruised your mind and the capillaries are still severed.

                             ( but this isn’t a compromise, this isn’t a discussion. )

             xi.

you bite the pomegranate of chaos and swallow the seeds, the flowers blooming in your stomach.

                                             question:

             do you run from the beasts in your reality,                   or do you run from the monsters your invented in your head?

and this is it — the run, run, run. in your fisted palm is a lungful of blood, drained from others’ veins. they call it a sacrifice. they call it an escape. what they actually call it: an exodus. what you actually call it: your carnages. how do you tell bloodshed apart from your fractured facts?

              ( you don’t. )

MUTATION.

he has the ability to become the embodiment of contagion, meaning that he can spread influences accordingly. his state of abilities is dependent on his current mental as well as physical status, although at the peak he can infect up to one kilometre radius, or even more considering the complexities of the influence being spread. his influences include, but not limited to, diseases and insanity, as well as appeal to negative emotions. when it comes to emotions, he finds it easier to amplify than inflict from zero, although the latter is far from impossible. negative influences in the mind are usually formed through the similar systematics of killing serotonin, and sometimes, in more severe cases, inducing necrosis. he’s most educated in terms of disease manipulation, however, compared to the other aspects of his powers.

STRENGTHS.

he can generate, induce, and manipulate diseases — also called disease manipulation in terms of power. while this application greatly varies, it’s highly based on his own knowledge in regards to these illnesses. he cannot inflict what he doesn’t know, and while he can create the diseases, he needs to comprehend the systematic of the diseases: how it affects the immune system, how it affects the body, etc. his understandings about diseases when it comes to this ability are vastly different from that of medical knowledge, and it cannot simply be explained in words.

he can also accelerate and suppress diseases, although healing is a far-fetched idea that he has yet to apply a lot. thus, curing is an aspect least touched upon, rendering it almost obsolete in his deposit. other applications of this are: infection empowerment ( ability to become empowered by the presence of diseases ), pathogen manipulation ( transferral, mimicry, elimination, hypnotic ), cellular disintegration ( to destroy cells by inflicting diseases ), healing factor nullification, as well as mutation inducement, although this one is extremely limited to what might be received by the victim’s dna. poison manipulation — which includes all scopes of poison, including toxin and venom, is also within his reach considering the similar systematics to disease manipulation.

he also possesses a fragment of parasite physiology and virus mimicry, although this is the least harnessed out of the other powers. through his parasitic characteristics, he’s able to tap into genetic memories, and upon touch, replicate an extent of knowledge, despite not much. it’s typically only on the surface, enveloping the conscious. through this, he can read the minds, be they memories or understandings, although this doesn’t last long after the contact is cut off.

in a sense, he’s also bestowed with regenerative healing factor by absorbing someone else’s health, also through direct contact. as for the virus mimicry, while he’s unable to perform anything that alters his solid form, he’s able to execute some of the applications in it, such as rupturing internal organs, although in order to do that he needs to have the victim remaining still — for it takes time. he can also perform cellular disintegration, which relates back to regenerative healing factor nullification, in which he can overpower cellular regeneration.

WEAKNESSES.

he is, by no means, immune to his own powers, and therefore anyone who mimics this power can hit him at his point of vulnerability. he has no superhuman immunity, albeit slightly more enhanced in a way that he doesn’t fall sick as easily, but he’s definitely still able to contract diseases that he himself can spread onto others. the only way to cure himself is by applying his own healing power, which is far from polished. another way to lessen this effect would be through empowerment, although not all diseases can be empowered, and may weaken and eventually kill him instead.

emotional influences are limited to negative scopes only, with the spectrum lying at the corner of fear and madness, and he cannot spread other types of emotions apart from these. it also limits the amplification of emotional states for those around him, where he can only magnify the negative ones as opposed to the positives.

also, in terms of mental stability, he’s slowly decaying considering his powers consume a lot of him. they feed off his sanity, in a way that his emotional responses towards his own influences cause a decline. these powers also rely heavily on his imagination, and most of the time, he feels the imaginary pain of the emotions and diseases before being able to transfer them.

the spectrum of illnesses that he can spread highly depends on the amount of knowledge that he has on said specimens. it’s easier for him to inflict diseases on humans, knowing their specifics of immune system and whatnot, rather than vigils and mutants considering that they vary highly. with the variants, he needs to gauge a measurement as to how much influence is needed to affect them at all.

his power is mostly effective towards those around him as opposed to himself, meaning that while he’s able to apply some of them onto his own benefits, most of it is actually an output. his powers rely on offensive instead of defensive manner, in which if someone manages to replicate and outpower him, he’d be unable to form a defence mechanism. his mimicry might bring some powers inward, but as they’re not as trained as the rest of the powers, they do not work as effectively either.

being mentally unstable also takes a toll on his powers, seeing that they’re reliant on his stability to perform the tasks. it turns into a paradox where his abilities make him unstable; it formulates a never-ending ring of fire, which he knows will eventually consume him mentally. while he can regenerate his own brain cells by the various techniques that he can apply, be it through absorption or empowerment, he cannot fix what’s broken from the sanity for it’s intangible, leaving him with a rotting mind. and unfortunately, his ability to affect emotions are also increasing the volatility of his mental state, further worsening his conditions.

knowledge replication through parasitic tendencies can only be acquired through direct contact, skin on skin without any hindering fabrics and the likes. upon having the contact terminated, knowledge that isn’t obtained in his understandings ( e.g. adoptive muscle memories, as well as other types of knowledge which systematic is foreign to him ) would dissipate as soon as it comes. this doesn’t mean that he can replicate powers either, unless it has something to do with the mind. he can only read memories and thoughts superficially, and although some might be retained depending on how long the contact remains, the majority of it is usually forgotten.

[badmuslim-blog1]

Dun-Dun-Dunnn

December 4

I saw the right hook coming at me out of nowhere. I was shocked, I just didn’t expect it. What followed was a series of follow up punches and hits. I’ve forgotten what kind. I guess I just couldn’t believe he felt he had a right to strike me, albeit so violently. When he got tired, due to his age, he picked up a stick, the broomstick that was being used earlier. That stick was swung and struck my body, my arms, my head, my back. It pressed into my flesh, leaving dents but no pain. My body only registered the sting of the first contact. I did not feel pain but a hefty bellowing scream was released. I screamed in agonizing frustration. I screamed because my 21-year-old body was being physically pushed back and down by an assault. I was meant to cower. I was meant to cry, to yield, back down. Instead, I grit my teeth, clenched my jaw and got louder. Staring right at my mother who had called for this. She had made the call for me to get physically disciplined the way daughters are meant to get from their fathers. I looked at my mother who stood a couple of feet away, calling in feeble protest for him to stop, saying I’ve had enough I suppose. She had called him right after I told her that I was going to take a taxi and go to Baghdad. I told her I was going to the Embassy to get a temporary travel document, one that I was assured by consular officials via email that I could get within 48 hours of a meeting.  She asked me questions about my intentions if I actually was able to pull that off and get the document, once I returned, would I go to Mexico? Would I still pursue the plan to go on exchange there? What she didn’t do was show any interest in looking into this promised document that would allow us to leave this country without passports. She didn’t say “Okay Huda, wow that’s great that you have that meeting, of course, you can’t go without us so let's go together.” I was planning on insisting against that if it happened but it never came. She had no interest. She had re-tied the knot with this fucking animal. She had recommitted to being his wife again, his responsibility. His property. And for what? Apparently, for our future.

I looked at her and told her that the difference between her and I, was that I would never sell my freedom for money. Of course, someone in that position would never admit to themselves that was the case.

I was outside, standing in the porch walking towards the door in one moment, the next, I was physically holding myself together while I told my mother over an over, “you think you can hit me into submission?” Without knowing it I had been beaten back into the house. I stood in the room feet apart, angered, enraged, and bewildered. I never took my eyes off my mother. She stood there telling me this was all my doing. I did this, I caused this. He stood in the doorway, making a show of being held back by the other men of the house. He yelled, “Go get the gun”, the way you would demand to no one, in particular, to go get the phone so you could call the cops, or go get the lighter so you can burn whoever’s being naughty. He was trying to scare me into submission, the way you would scare a misbehaving child who might be throwing a tantrum. I looked straight at him and yelled: “Get the gun and kill me now!” I stood there looking into his eyes daring him to follow out his threat. He exited.

Thinking about it now, I’m reminded of something a certain someone said long ago. “Give me liberty or give me death”. Which is exactly the way I was feeling? Like I was carrying a pedestal on my back. One that housed my burning need to feel free again. To feel in control and be let go. Cut free from the braided knots that held me firmly against my mothers bosom. Or to die trying to free myself. For the first time since arriving in this country, I realized that I was exactly the kind of girl that would get killed in an honor killing and my mother had officially put herself in the category that might allow such a thing to happen to her daughter. Or at least she wouldn’t realize it until it was too late. I also realized that it was possible that I would never leave this country and sooner rather than later… I might die. It was a strange feeling that launched something into my throat. I briefly wondered what the authorities, both the government and the tribal authorities would do or not do in the case of a girl murdered by her own ‘walid’. ‘Father’. I can’t imagine such a thing is legally overlooked, surely it is against the official law of this land. But with the obvious corruption within the government and the way the tribes clearly outrank police officers on these streets, I could see it. I could see my body being dropped in the river. My life being nothing but a friend who went on vacation and never came back. A niece and granddaughter who went to live abroad and just lost touch. A student who went ‘back home’ and didn’t come back to pay off her student loans. An abandoned facebook account, twitter, briefly started blog. A blog that might never see these pages, might never know my story, may never know the truth. Who I am, what I believe, It’s all I’ve ever had, my values and my way. I was going to carve my life from it, pave my path, do the work that I know needs to be done. Now, I’ve been reduced to a prisoner, with no internet, no phone, just an ability to write what may never be read. Pour myself out onto this white page. Hope that one day people will know of me, my story is read, maybe one day affect change in someone’s life or situation. Teach something, help someone, inspire survival and the never-ending fight for freedom. I’m not trying to sound conceded or self-important… lol. But yeah.

Later I felt what I thought was a grain of sand in my mouth. I spit out the small white object out, not sure what it was. After a while, I began feeling my bottom front teeth tugging at the tip of my tongue the way a small hook would threaten to tear at the skin of a finger. I grabbed my compact mirror and realized what the white stuff was. Somewhere along the way, likely when I got punched in the face, I must have ground my teeth and caused the tip of the bottom front ones to be grated off. I also found white gooey residue on my tinge which I guessed was related to the tooth enamel. The tips were now threatening to pierce me so I grabbed a nail file and tried to file the sharpness away. Unfortunately, nothing was quite doing the trick, maybe I couldn’t get the right angle.

What have I learned from this experience? You may not feel the pain at the moment, but you will find the bruises and feel the soreness and scrapes later. I already have fibromyalgia that keeps my upper back permanently inflamed, now they’re bruised too, increasing the pain and sensitivity. Wonderful. I definitely won’t be laying on my back again any time soon.

II

Time to recalibrate. I walked straight into the ‘bedroom’, put my bags down and opened them up. I couldn’t risk them making the decision to take my IDs, ticket info, papers, my money, or my remaining electronics. I took out my coin purse with my money, my printed plane ticket info, and my credit cards and IDs and I put them in my pocket. Then I took my laptop and my notebook out of the bags and hid them in the corner behind my carry on. I locked the door and took the time to process my situation. I couldn’t spare any tears for getting beaten, but I did feel the impact of the situation and what it meant for my future, my fate. Attempting to escape had just become 300% more scary and dangerous. It didn’t mean I wasn’t going to do it again, only that I needed more courage than before. And I needed to be smarter. I know now than an honest straightforward walkout is not an option anymore. I also know that they’re going to continue locking all the doors, including the kitchen door that leads to outside so that's not an option anymore. I also know when I walk out that door, they’ll all continue to be watching and spying on me to make sure I don’t try to leave again. All eyes are on me, daytime escape is out of the question. In fact, with this new intense atmosphere, I’m going to need to wait a while for things to calm down and guards to start dropping before I try anything again. At night, the room I have to walk through contains the grandmother and grandfather, but sometimes their sons as well. So 2-4 people who can clearly hear the huge front door being dragged open and closed. I need a better plan than just sneaking out. Luckily, the bathroom is located outside. Ding, ding. I’ll fake a shower. I’ll have to take a long ass middle of the night shower prior to set the standard, a few days before. So they see that it’s not out of the ordinary and don’t suspect anything. Set a precedent. I will walk out in my abaya, a small bag containing only the things I’ve just hidden away, the things I consider absolutely essential. The bag will have to be very discreet and invisible behind the towel and toiletry bag I’ll be holding. I’ll walk into the bathroom and turn on the shower. I’ll wait a few minutes then sneak out to make sure no one walking around or waiting for me right outside. Once I confirm the coast is clear, I will step out, using a coin I will lock the door from the outside. After that, I will briskly collect whatever buckets or pots I see loitering their tiny lawn, stack them, and climb over the wall. I’m confident I can get over using what I see laying around. The problem is what I’ll do after I get over the wall. It will be night time, pitch black. No way I’m going straight for a taxi, even if there are any taxis at that time of night, I wouldn’t trust them. Plus, as soon as they notice I’ve spent too long in the shower and break in to find me gone, they will be out looking for their stray. They will call in favors and spread the word I’m sure. I will need to lay low, basically, hide. I might look for an outhouse to hide out in, but I don’t even know where to find one of those. I just haven’t seen enough of this village to know spots or places to go. In other words, it was another unknown factor. I hate unknown factors and uncertainty. If I manage to find any begging women sleeping on the street or even if I find them during the day, I plan on joining them and thereby hiding in plain sight. Which will also be risky but I’m hoping to cover my face with my scarf will keep me from being identified. I don’t plan on waiting too long, perhaps 15 hours max, before I make my move and try to catch a cab to the city. Whenever it’s busiest I suppose, I’ll just have to cross that bridge when I get to it.

[anoptimisticsnarker]

Hopper is getting scrubbed down to get rid of Upside Down residue he might possess given he was down there for a long time, Will is shrieking like a banshee due to pain, and Joyce is sobbing, wondering what the hell is going on. This is how we're starting things, everyone.

Dustin's enlisted the help of Steve to try and deal with Dart though Steve seems skeptical. Really? After what you went through at the end of last season, you're skeptical of Dustin telling you about Dart? Really? Doesn't matter since Dart escaped anyway while Dustin was getting Steve. Good... Gosh...

Joyce is livid. Pissed. She has had it with the bullshit the researchers and doctors are dealing her. Joyce wants answers, and I don't blame her. Will has gone through too much at this point, and something needs to change soon.

This dude just called Nancy and Jonathan out on all their shit, and I'm here for it. I mean, their plan seems ready to go, but this is the good part right here. For knowing them for only a couple of hours, he basically got their personalities down accurately.

Holy shit. It finally happened. These two finally made out! The sexual tensions been real these last few episodes. Thank God they dropped the charade and just let it all out. I wasn't even super sold on them at the beginning of this season, but I ship them now. They've earned this.

Well, Lucas has finally learned what Dustin went through. I wonder how Steve will actually fari against Dart given he got beat up by Jonathan last season. Also, Erica is kind of funny when she's just being sassy, but I don't care for her when she's actively disrupting the group getting things done.

Each new development for the Upside Down makes me more and more nervous. Like, this thing is spreading throughout the town already, but what we just saw was even worse than I thought. It almost makes me wonder if more Demogorgons got out and Dart was unlucky enough to have been found.

I'm glad Bob is not freaking out and at least trying to be here for Will and Joyce. He's a good guy, even if I'm still not crazy for him and Joyce being together. And Will seems to have forgotten Bob. I know he's not the most remarkable character ever, but he's not that bad. Not enough to want to forget. Why is Will losing memories now though?

Well, Jonathan and Nancy are being awkward at breakfast. Finally looked up the dude they're with and he name’s Murray Bauman. I completely forgot if I'm being honest. lol Also, "How was the pull-out?" He knew exactly what he was saying. He doesn't want to be bothered by them again though, and I don't blame him. Too much attention will get him into some serious trouble.

Oh shit, Lucas is at Max's house. This isn't good. If Billy finds out he's here, Lucas might actually die right here and now. And Max knows this seeing how she hid Lucas being there for Billy. And now he's walking toward the door, the background music fading away. Oh, but Lucas got away in the knick on time, going around back and Max covering for him. And they're off to where Dustin and Steve are!

This whole thing kind of confirms what we already know. Will is connected to whatever is happening in the Upside Down. Though, hearing him say, "It upset him" was chilling. And I can't believe it took Joyce screaming for them to stop burning that piece of... whatever took over Will. Also, hearing Joyce be terrified at the thought of Will forgetting her and everything about himself... Ugh, my heart! Give the Byers a break, please?

Steve is so heartbroken over Nancy though. She hurt him bad. Seeing him bond with Dustin was nice though; if more comes from this, I'd be alright with that. It'd be good for Steve especially seeing how he can really grow from all this.

Hearing Hopper call El to let her know that while he's been away for longer than he'd like, he'll try and be back soon for her hurts knowing full-well she's not home to hear this. Hopper is going to be heartbroken considering he just said he didn't want to lose her. This show loves to make me feel everything.

So, the scientist I will now be referring to as Sam is the only one who doesn't want killing Will to be the option. I get Will could be lost by the end of the day, but killing him will only invoke Joyce's wrath, a wrath that cannot be quelled by any force known to man. Also, Will figured out how to maybe beat the Shadow Monster? Possibly? Hopefully...?

I'm glad there's no ill will between Lucas and Dustin over Lucas telling Max. Mostly because Max still thinks this is all bullshit. And Steve is confused as to why the only one helping is her, the one least in the know.

"What is all of this?" Welcome, Nancy, to this year's house decorating party, courtesy of Joyce Byers. Seeing Jonathan be so out of the loop with his family is funny given how he's in the loop in other ways few others know about. And Jonathan just found out someone else has been in their house. I'm glad him taking pictures is relevant to the plot like this. It's the little ways they make things like that work that I love.

Everyone's getting their plans together, and I love it. Hopefully Will doesn't lead the scientists/doctors astray, and hopefully the others' plan of luring Dart to his demise actually goes without any problems.

I guess Dustin's over Max now? He's pretty adamant about that to Steve, who didn't get the hint. Or maybe he's lying. Who knows? Speaking of Max, seeing her and Lucas just talk was kind of nice. It's the first time we get to hear about her parents, and seeing how the divorce and the move has affected her. She seems kind of broken, and Lucas telling her she's not like her brother was sweet.

Too bad a hellish scream ruins their moment. Dart doesn't seem to be taking the bait, so Steve has another idea. Don't like where this is going at all. He's using himself as bait, dear God... And there's more of them. A whole ass herd of them. Steve barely got his ass in that bus in time, and if not for them going away to wherever, they would have come in through the roof and killed them all. That went terribly wrong, but no one is dead yet.

Wow, did I speak too soon. Will was forced to lead the scientists into a trap and get them all killed. That's why the Demogorgons left Steve and the others. And him warning his mom to leave before she gets killed, trying to hold back tears while he's doing it. Or Mike catching on and trying desperately in vain to tell them it was a trap. Or Hopper, who caught on when he saw them walk away from the graveyard of sorts. That cliffhanger though. What will happen next?

Unfortunately, I'm now at the episode that kept me from wanting to finish for about a month now. Episode 7 didn't get a good reception from people I follow here, so I'm not looking forward to seeing it. I have to though to see what happens. Gosh...