#and I hadn’t saved in too long to make it worth redoing

[flashhwing]

starting with +19 approval with oghren because I found two of his gifts earlier in the game and been holding onto them. he’s known me all of 5 minutes and already likes me better than Alistair

[reidsconverse]

memories • spencer reid

Spencer Reid x Reader

Warnings: none! just 4000 words of pure angst

This was an old fic reworked to be about around spencer so its taking a lottt of creative/artistic liberty with the character, so it kinda sucks im sorry! 😁

Every moment you had with him was one to be remembered and cherished for better or worse.

It had been a few weeks since Spencer had officially ended things, he had moved all of his stuff out of your apartment and now it seemed as if he had never even existed in the same place as you, as though you two were strangers. That is had it not been for the images of memories the two of you held. So, here you were sat alone in your room, your only company the half-empty bottle of wine and photographs of the two of you which sat strewn carelessly across your floor.

You picked up a picture and stared at it realising you both looked so happy. His arm was wrapped around your shoulder, a cup in his hand and his signature grin sitting across his face. Your head was leaning against his shoulder, the smile on your face reminding you of how free you had felt that night, you had never felt happier and you recognised that night as the night you realised...you were so in love.

"We should have a party," Spencer yelled despite there being no one else other than the two of you in the room.

"Right now?" You looked at him as if he was insane, not only was it completely out of character for your boyfriend but also, it was 1 am on a Wednesday and although your friends weren't those with a regular schedule you presumed most of them would decline a house party in the middle of the week.

"Yeah right now, c'mon doll I'll call Derek and some of the others and you call your friends." His hand was already on his phone texting Derek before you could protest so you followed his instructions and went ahead and invited your friends before getting up and preparing for this impromptu party.

It had only been 10 minutes when you heard Derek and some others open the door shouting for Spencer and you walked over with a grin on your face, "Hey D, Spencers being a diva and redoing his hair, he'll be right down." You said, rolling your eyes as Derek pulled you into a hug, he may have been Spencer's best friend but he thought of you as a sister and always treated you as such.

"Well I have look good for my girl," You heard Spencer say from behind you quickly placing a kiss on your cheek before doing his weird handshake with Derek, "Hey, thanks for coming'."

The three of you made your way to the kitchen to grab some drinks and greet some more guests who had congregated in that area and before you knew it, you were 4 shots in, feeling way past tipsy and in the mood to dance.

"Hey Spence," You said walking over to where he was now sat, a cup in his hand as he held a conversation with JJ and Emily about something that you didn't care too much about. You waved a quick hello to the girls so as not to be rude and then placed your head on his shoulder to let him know of your presence.

"Hey darling, you feeling good?" He turned his face and flashed you a wide grin before wrapping an arm around you to pull you close to him. He enjoyed being near you whenever he could, when he was away he would long for the days where all he did was sit and hold you close to him regardless of what the two of you were doing, so now whenever he had the chance he would hold you close.

"Feelin' great Spence.. wanna dance with you..."  You said pulling out of his hold and grabbing his hand leading him onto the 'dance floor', which was just the open space in your living room. He laughed and quickly finished his drink, discarding the cup somewhere in the room and held you as you both danced to the music playing through the speakers.

After a couple of songs, you both made your way to get another drink and get a break from the crowd, you sat at the kitchen island and passed him a drink."You know, considering you're a genius, I would've thought you'd be able to coordinate a bit better."  You said teasing him about his choice of moves which had essentially been him waving his arms in the air attempting to be in tune with the music.

He looked at you in fake shock and scoffed, "Yeah well it was still better than whatever you were trying to do." Referring to your horrendous attempt at trying to be sexy which in truth was never going to be anything but embarrassing. You stuck your tongue out in a childish manner causing him to laugh and quickly move to place his lips against yours giving you a soft kiss.

You jumped down from the counter after pulling back as a couple of your friends walked in and struck up a conversation about nothing interesting yet you made the effort to look engaged as Spencers's arm slipped over your shoulders and you placed your head against his shoulder.

"Hey guys, look here." You both turned to see your friend Harry, as always with a polaroid camera in his hand. You and Spencer gave each other a quick smile before grinning wide for the camera, both your faces full of love and happiness.

You sat there thinking about how quickly things can change, the people in the image you held so young and naive to the struggles the future would hold. Taking another sip of your wine you skimmed through some more pictures before stopping at one that held a bittersweet meaning. A picture that was taken a few days after what had been your worst fight, you both looked happy but all you could think about the events leading up to the image being taken.

It was your and Spencers 5th anniversary and he had promised he would make it to dinner. You hadn't seen each other in weeks because he was away on a case but he had promised he wouldn't miss this day, he had asked for permission from Hotch to leave for a couple of days so he would be there. "No excuses, No ifs and buts...I'll be there babe. I promise."

But there you were, alone at a table for two. The look on the waiters face held nothing but pity as he walked over for the fourth time to ask if someone would be joining you. Finally, you gave up and shook your head to let him know you would be leaving and would like the cheque. You had never felt so humiliated walking out of the restaurant head held high but tears building up in your eyes and so you cried. You felt so broken, almost as broken as all those promises Spencer had made you. The word promise and sorry had lost all meaning in the last 5 years, simply a courtesy rather than meaningful.

The minute you got home your phone began ringing, it was Spencer.

"Hey doll, I'm so sorry I couldn't make it, the team wanted to go out last night and I kind of missed my -." He began to explain causing you to scoff, 'no ifs or buts' my ass.

"How could you?" Your voice cracking as you tried to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill for the second time that night. "I waited for 2 fucking hours Spencer, I felt like a fucking idiot."  

"What? What are you talking about?" His voice was full of confusion. "Didn't you get my text?"

"No, I fucking didn't. I didn't get a fucking text. But that's not the fucking point, You should've been here, you promised you would be here."

"Babe, I'm so -," He began but you knew what he was gonna say. The only conversations you seemed to have were stuck on a loop like a broken record.

"Save it. Don't say you're sorry when you don't mean it, stop saying sorry and show it instead."

"Look, I'll get on the first flight out. I'll see you in a few hours, I'll make it up to you I prom-." You hung up the phone before he could continue, his promise worth nothing to you anymore. Walking over to the couch, you fell asleep the minute your head rested against one of the many cushions populating the seat.

You woke up to keys jingling in the door, yet you made no effort to move from where you were. The sound of his footsteps got louder as he approached.

"Babe? I know you're up." He said, kneeling beside you making you sigh and sit up. "Babe, I'm so sorry. I fucked up."

You just stared at him, it might have been petty but you didn't want to give in to his apologies just yet, he had to understand just how much he had hurt you first.

"I couldn't care less anymore, Spencer. I just need to remember that I'll always come second to work and that's fine, it's important to you and I understand that." You got up and walked over to the kitchen to gather yourself.

"Babe you are the most important thing to me, I'm sorry-."

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. "Here we go again, Spencer there's only so many times you can say you're sorry before it loses all meaning. I'm sick and tired of this, I don't know if I can do this anymore. You're never here, you make promises you can never keep and I'm pretty sure you've told me you're sorry more times than you've told me you love me."

"Please don't do this. I love you." His voice was shaking, breaking down at the thought of you leaving him. He moved over to you and turned you so you were facing him. "I know this means nothing to you but I am so sorry. I've been so shitty to you and I know it."

"Spencer, I deserve better than this and I'm sick of forgiving you and acting like I'm fine with how you treat me, you might not mean it but it fucking hurts. I love you so much and I know you love me but would it kill you to put me first for once in your fucking life."

This annoyed him, the lack of sleep and being overworked leaving him less patient and more irritable, "That's not fucking fair, you knew what you were signing up for when you started dating me, I'm doing my fucking best. I go to work for US, to support US. If I could devote all of my time to you if I could, but I can't and it fucking kills me. You can't understand how much I miss you when I'm not here."

Tears welled in your eyes seeing him breakdown, unable to keep up the unbothered facade you had on, "I just...Spence, I miss you too. It hurts not being able to be near you and so when you're not there when you promise you will be, it hurts it really fucking hurts not to mention it's terrifying, how am I supposed to know you're ok if you do shit like that."

He pulled you into his arms as you sobbed into his chest, all the emotions you'd kept bottled up during the argument letting go. "I know baby, I'm so sorry I hurt you. I promise, and I mean it this time, I won't let you down again. I love you." He mumbled into your hair, slowly kissing your forehead whilst consoling you and holding you like he never wanted to let go.

The two of you went to bed that night in silence, not a word was spoken until the next day wherein Spencer switched off his phone and dedicated the whole weekend to you and only you. He kept his word once he had to leave, always fulfiling his promises, never pushing you to the side and communicating with you always. The two of you felt strong again, you were happy.

You put your glass down and walked out of your room and began pacing around the living room, pictures of you and him still up on your walls, the walls that no longer belonged to the both of you. You thought back to when he asked you to move him, how nervous he was and how excited you were.

It was movie night at Spencers house. Each week he invited everyone over to watch a film, everyone taking it in turns to select a film. This week Emily had chosen Midsommar, a film you were yet to see so you were excited. You were sat beside Spencer on the loveseat, his arm around you and your face resting against his chest, a blanket covering you both for extra comfort. You looked up and saw Derek and Penelope lay spread across the floor whilst JJ and Emily sat on the sofa. Bowls of popcorn and sweets were scattered around the room and beer bottles were piling up. It was nights like this that you wanted to treasure forever, for the first time you felt like you had a family, people to call your own, people you could trust.

"Watcha thinking about?" Spencer asked, glancing at you and realising your mind wasn't directed at the movie anymore.

"Nothing, just really lucky to have you in my life," You reached your hand up to hold his face and gave him a soft kiss. "I love you."

He pulled you in closer if that was even possible, "I love you too."

"Ugh, get a room." Derek groaned making you both chuckle.

Spencer responded by throwing some popcorn at him, "Aw is someone jealous, don't worry you'll find someone soon enough."

Derek murmured a quiet, "Fuck off" before turning his attention back to the movie, making everyone laugh.

The movie ended shortly and everyone was discussing what to watch next, you were in the mood for a comedy but Derek wanted to watch Die Hard for the millionth time. After several minutes of slight arguing, you finally decided on rewatching Moana for the 12th time.

Everyone was pretty much settled, drinks refilled, popcorn replenished and everyone back in their positions. Emily was about to press play before JJ stopped her, "Wait before you start I'm kinda cold can I borrow a sweater?" She asked Spencer.

"Yeah sure, take one from our room." He said casually like it was normal but it made your breath hitch in your throat, did he just say our room? As in, yours and his. Unofficially he wasn't wrong, it was your room as much as his, you spent pretty much every night here making having your own apartment redundant, but he hadn't yet asked you to move in with him. You couldn't help the small blush on your face and the way your lips turned upwards at his words. It made you happy knowing he thought of it as something for both of you.

"What has you so happy?" Penelope asked in a teasing tone, she'd picked up on Spencer words and knew exactly why you were smiling.

You just stuck your tongue out at her and looked up at Spencer, "Our room huh?" You asked making him smile.

"Yeah I mean, you're here every day, maybe more than I am. You should just move in at this point." He let out a little laugh after he said leaving you confused as to whether he was being serious, so you just laughed along and waited for JJ to come back so you could start the movie.

A couple of hours later almost everyone was half asleep, everyone apart from you and Spencer. You began making your way to his room followed by him carrying the blanket he had taken from his bed. The two of you went about your night routine, Spencer had insisted on keeping at least half of your things at his place hence why you never had to leave. You quickly changed into one of his shirts which fit you just right and climbed into bed where he was already sitting, reading a book.

"Spence, were you being serious...earlier when you said I should move in?" You asked him, making him put down his book and look at you.

"Would you like that? You don't have to say yes but I would love it if you moved in. The mornings when I wake up and you're still next to me, are the best mornings. Honestly, knowing I'm going to wake up next to you makes falling asleep easier. Plus Tesla and Edison love you, maybe even more than they loves me." He asked, the mention of his fish making you laugh despite the fact your eyes were welling up, what had you done to deserve the sweetest man to walk the earth.

You shifted yourself so you were straddling him and held his face in your hands, "I would love to move in with you." You answered placing a soft kiss to his lips.

"I love you so much," He said as you moved back to laying down next him. "You make me the happiest man alive and I'm so lucky to have you."

"God, Spence you gotta stop before I start crying, I love you too." You said, as he laughed and pulled you into a comfortable sleeping position.

"Goodnight love." He mumbled, already falling asleep.

"Goodnight Spence." You responded, closing your eyes and beginning to drift off but not before saying, "By the way, the fishies definitely love me more."

You hadn't realised you were crying until a tear fell onto the frame you were holding. The image just as blurred as the memories it held. You carefully placed the image face down onto the table rather than placing it back up. Making your way to the sofa, you got your phone out and glanced at the image that had left you in this state. A picture of him and her, his hands holding hers as tight as they once held yours, the grin on both of their faces wide. He was happy, only it wasn't because of you anymore. You closed your eyes again, remembering how it all ended.

He had been distant since he had come back from this last case, he had been away for almost two months trying to catch this unsub and you had thought he'd be more excited to come back to you and finally be home. But he hadn't spent more than 10 minutes with you, the only time the two of you were in the same room for longer than that was when you fell asleep. Recently that had also stopped, he spent more nights away from home and at clubs with Derek and Emily , only coming back once he knew you weren't there. It was killing you but every time you questioned it he shrugged you off, telling you he loved you.

You wanted to scream at him if he loved you why isn't he showing it, why does he refuse to acknowledge you. You knew he was lying to you, he didn't love you anymore, you could see it in his eyes, how he never looked at you as he used to, he never held you like he used to. It was killing you and you knew you should ask him but you also knew that would lead to conversation you didn't want to have, an ending you didn't want to happen. So you kept quiet, went about your day and didn't question his actions, you had decided you would rather have the worst of him than not have him at all.

But that didn't last long. A few weeks later something happened, something you could ignore. Spencer had barely been home, only coming back to grab new clothes and leaving again often returning at 4 am or not all. The nights you spent alone, his side of the bed going cold broke your heart bit by bit. But you weren't ready for it to completely shatter, the images Penelope sent you of him holding that girl, a little too close, a little too tight, a little too much, start to fill your screen causing a lump in your throat and tears threatening to spill. You walked to the kitchen, surprised to see him there, he was sat at the counter head in his hands and a coffee in front of him.

"Spencer, what fuck is going on?" You all but shouted.

"Shh, my heads killing me." He said, burying his head in his hands attempting to block you out.

"You fucking asshole." You screamed at him, the pain and hurt evident in your broken voice as you tried your best not to cry.

This made him look up, far quicker than he should've causing his head to fill with pain and throb, but he didn't care, the memories of last night were coming back he knew he had fucked up. "I-I'm sorry, I was drunk and she was just there, nothing happened.

"You're sorry? Are you fucking kidding me?" You said, moving away from him as he got up to come closer to you. "No, don't fucking touch me. I'm done."

"What? No look I'm sorry, it won't happen again, I love you." The words were said, but the tone held so much uncertainty you couldn't tell if he was trying to convince you or himself.

"No you don't Spencer, not anymore. I know you don't and I've been lying to myself, saying that I'm ok with it when I'm not. I love you so much but I can't keep hurting myself by pretending like we're fine, We're not fine, we haven't been for a long time. Yes that fucking hurts, I thought we were forever, I thought we were going to grow old together and have kids and show them that we were soulmates. I thought we were perfect but we aren't."

"I never wanted to hurt you, I love you so much but-" He started with a sigh.

"You're not in love with me anymore..." You finished for him

"I'm so sorry. I wish things were different, I wish I could control how I felt. You were everything to me, I really did picture a future for us but things changed, I don't know why and I don't know how. You don't deserve this, I'm so sorry."

"I know Spence, I know." You moved closer to him and he held you like it was the last time... because it was. "I'm sorry too."

You pulled away from him."I'll grab some stuff and go stay at my mom's for a few days. I just need to find a new place to move my stuff to." You said, trying to brush some tears away but failing as they kept falling.

"No, it's fine. I'll go, this is just as much your home as it is mine. I'll stay with Derek for a bit, you take your time sorting stuff out ok?" He said, using his thumbs to attempt to wipe away your tears. You sighed but nodded knowing he wouldn't take no for an answer.

You sat down as he went to the room to gather some things, your mind reeling from the last half hour. How could so much change in such a short period of time, years spent together thrown away so quick.

"I'm done, I'll get going ok?" He said placing his duffel bag down beside by the door.

"So this is it huh?" You said, with a sigh. You felt him walk towards you and take a seat next to you.

"The last 10 years have been the most incredible time of my life, you put up with so much of my shit and loved me unconditionally and I can't thank you enough for giving the eager 25-year-old who wanted nothing more than to impress you a chance. I'm never going to stop loving you, you know that. I'm never gonna forget about you, my first love, the first woman to capture my heart. I'm so sorry things didn't work out like how we'd imagined them. If I could change how I feel I would, I wanted nothing more than for this to be a silly phase, for me to wake up one day and feel how I felt again. But it didn't happen and it fucking sucks."

"I get it, Spence, you have to do what makes you happy and I'm not gonna stop you. I'm just sorry it wasn't me that could give you want and need, but you're gonna make some girl out there very happy if you're even half the man you were when you were with me." You gave him a soft smile as he stroked your hair and kissed your forehead.

He stood up and walked to the door. "Call me when you're ready ok? I love you." He turned and gave you a soft smile before picking up his bag and walking out the door.

You just broke down, you don't know how long you sat there sobbing your heart out but it felt like forever. Everything hurt so bad you didn't think you'd ever feel any emotion other than heartbreak for as long as you lived.

You took a deep breath as your hand hovered over the delete button on your phone, it was time to move on just as he had. As you released the breath you were holding, your finger pressed against the button, deleting all the pictures you had with him and you felt like a weight had been lifted off your shoulders and the realisation sunk in.

You loved him so much, but he wasn't yours to love anymore.

He was just a memory.

-

tagged: @gcblers​ @187-reid​ @mgg-theprettiestboy​ @mggbler​ @snitchthewitch​

[misha-moose-dean-burger-lover]

Smith & Smith

There are a few things everyone knows at Sandover Bridge & Iron Inc.

The coffee bagels are inedible, Adler will fake-fire someone on your first day, and you do not hit on Dean Smith, Senior VP.

(Not that Sam wants to - gross. But apparently it's salient information, because it's the third ever text message Gabriel Milton (HR) sends him. Maybe because he'd just joined as Smith's intern, Sam reasons. Well, to hell with stereotypes. Smith is going to be nothing more than a boss - or mentor, if he'd so be willing; Sam's heard of him, and he's kind of a genius after all. That's it.

Plus, Sam's in love with, and engaged to a nurse thankyouverymuch.)

And in any case, it's not like he'd needed a memo.

Smith is obvious enough.

Obvious, with his packed lunches and secretive screensavers. Obvious, in the way he unfailingly redoes his hair before leaving, cause he's "picking Cas up first" - and with his bright smile on Mondays, because "Cas only has Sundays off".

He grins non-stop, the half hour before lunch, and then spends it holed up in his office entirely - and if Sam returns early from his own break, he can't not catch the unicorn laughs emerging from there, glass walls be damned.

Once, in fact, a package got misdelivered, and Sam returned from lunch to a bouquet on his desk, labelled on a recycled paper card with a pickup line so ridiculous - wordplay on 'honey', in fact - that it almost verified the domesticity singlehandedly.

Dean Smith is married.

There can be absolutely no other explanation.

*

As days pass, Sam's workload increases, but he's learning what he's here to learn and is grateful for it.

He also notices him and Dean grow into a friendship of sorts - finding common ground in football, not liking pineapples on pizza, and having a Navy dad - and just like that, mentions of the latter's wife start coming up more casually.

Nothing unprofessional, or overshared - just a, "you know who eats burgers like no one's business? Cas." When he brings Sam a couple of burgers back after an assignment runs late into his lunch break - or even a, "Cas's brothers are dicks," when Sam goes into his office to submit a report from Sales, and finds him, as he rarely does, texting.

As long as Dean isn't dismissive of the work Sam puts in, and he never is, Sam's fine with it. To be honest, it's kind of refreshing to see a guy be a total goner for his wife. And he is - Sam can tell from his heart eyes, if not the fondness that envelopes his voice whenever he speaks of her.

It makes him happy as well, cause he's worked here about five weeks now, and it's enough to see that Dean deserves to be as happy as 'Cas' makes him.

All things considered, Sam's definitely getting used to it.

Until one friday, when Dean shows up at nine am and declares that Cas will be picking him up today.

"There's a strike at the library."

"I see." Sam returns, eyebrows raised.

"Isn't that ridiculous? Libraries going on a strike?" Dean grins. "It's like, you know, a book-march."

Sam fights the whelming urge to bitchface.

"Stop that." Dean swats at the air. Sam hasn't said anything, so he bites his cheek. "You're basically dying to roll your eyes. Friggin' take my jokes for granted." Sam shakes his head, suppressing a smile. "No, seriously. Go on, do it. Didn't stop Cas either."

At that, Sam breaks.

Mirrors Dean's grin from before he'd put on the mock-offended glare, and Dean soon joins in.

"I'll just save my fantastic sense of humor for later."

"For Cas?"

"Nah, someone who can appreciate it -" Dean cuts himself short. "Hell, who am I kidding? Yeah, for Cas."

Sam grins wider.

"I'll be leaving at five today." Dean informs him, before disappearing into his office. Seeing as the office hours are nine to five in the first place, that isn't off the norm, but since Dean finishes late almost regularly, it's probably worth pointing out.

This way or that - Sam knows he's going to be waiting for it to be five almost as eagerly as Dean.

He's heard so much about this woman. There's almost an air of mystery surrounding her at this point. All the facts Dean's ever dropped are cloaked with something close to fictional, because Sam doesn't know her at all.

And now he's finally going to meet her.

It's not like all he does, the entire day, is think about it. But it does make writing the reports for, and inputting April 2020's data into the server that much more of a fast process - since time flies until it's five.

And then, relatively, decides to stop.

Sam stares at the elevator.

He's done with his day - prepared to leave after Dean does, though definitely not before.

Waiting, he realizes, that he's formed something of a mental image. She's blonde in his imagination - probably a generic 5'5 or 6. Blue-eyed, cause Dean's mentioned that at least twice. And not to be creepy, but he assumes she'd be pretty too, cause his boss isn't exactly what he'd describe ugly.

So without meaning to, Sam's got an eye out for someone who fits the mold.

First man in, at two past five, is short and stocky. Second is Mrs. D'souza, a receptionist on the seventh floor.

Third and fourth are interns.

Fifth is a trenchcoated guy, squarer than Sam, with a wonky tie.

Sam sighs.

It's almost ten past five - and tardiness really isn’t his thing. Or Dean’s, for that matter. Staring intently in the direction of his elevator, he’s about to start getting righteously annoyed on Dean’s behalf when there’s a tap on his shoulder.

Sam swivels in his chair, taken by surprise - and slowly, his eyes widen.

Dean’s arm is slung about the fifth guy’s shoulders, grin directed entirely towards him. And he - Jesus, he - is six feet tall, trenchcoated, and wearing a tentative smile as he looks down at Sam.

Blue eyes complete the picture - plus a five o’clock shadow which never came up - and Sam’s head reels as he finally pieces everything together.

“Dean!” He exclaims, and it must count as a greeting, because it can’t really count as oh-my-god-Cas-is-a-man.

“Hey!” Dean beams. “Figured you should meet Cas.” And turning to Cas, “That’s Sam. My prodigy, basically.”

The heart-eyes have never been more obvious. 

Sam’s an idiot.

He can’t even grin like he’s supposed to - earning himself half an eyeroll form Dean - because he’s trying to figure out how he hadn’t figured it out yet.

“It’s good to meet you, Sam.” Cas says - and the fact that it’s the lowest he’s ever heard a voice go, makes him refocus enough that he can respond.

“You too, Cas.”

Dean’s still beaming, and finally, finally caught up with himself, Sam grins back.

He’s an idiot.

Cas just smiles wider.

(Well, one thing he got right. He’s definitely pretty. But measured against a scale of everything else he got wrong - there’s a long way to go.)

“Okay so,” Dean declares, far more chipper than usual. Someone could just’ve painted smitten across his face, really. “We should go. You probably guessed this but Cas isn’t the biggest fan of where I work.”

“You have a treadmill desk, Dean.”

“And I don't see you complaining about my stamina.” Dean throws back, and their eyes lock in a silent stare - heavy enough, that neither notices Sam looking away as subtly as he can. He’s not really supposed to witness them flirting - misdelivered packages asides.

Thankfully, the stare-off breaks when Cas points out that they were leaving.

And to the backdrop of Dean grumbling about Cas’s hatred for his job, Dean puts on his overcoat - well, he hands Cas his briefcase so he can properly do so, and then Cas just holds onto it - and they say their goodbyes to Sam and take off, walking close enough to brush arms all the way to the elevator.

Once they’re out of sight, Sam slumps in his chair, scrubbing his face with an incredulous laugh. 

Of course Dean Smith is married. And of course, Cas is his husband.

[tlhrfanfic]

[Analogical ] Chemistry

Title: Chemistry Ship: Analogical Warnings:  Lots of cute and fluff. Words: 5,708 Request: So, this was the next request I chose: an analogical fic where Logan and Virgil are science partners would be vvv cute! if its ok! This was also sent in by an anon.

Summary: Logan is used to the routine of his typical life as a high school teen. When the new student becomes his brand new lab partner, however, changes seem to become the new norm. Logan, surprisingly, doesn't seem to mind.

Read on AO3

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The day was like any other.

 … until it wasn’t. 

 Logan hadn’t changed anything. He had woken up and gotten ready at the same time; he’d taken a shower just like he always did. He had then had breakfast before grabbing his backpack and heading out the door. It was the same ten-minute walk to the high school he’d been attending for the last two years. 

 Same morning chat with his friends, same walk down the Science hallway, and same Chemistry lab.

 Logan settled into his seat before pulling his textbook, notebook, and a pencil out of his backpack.

 “Logan.”

 He looked up, interest in his eyes. It was, after all, common enough for his teachers to ask him for help with little things from time to time.

 The moment his gaze shifted to the unfamiliar teen standing near Mr. Sanders was the moment that everything changed.

A young teen Logan’s age stood with his hands in the pockets of his purple and black plaid hoodie. He had his hood off but it was evident by the way it was scrunched around the back of his neck that it would definitely be on at that very moment if it weren’t for the dress code.

 Logan brought his attention back to the teacher as he started to explain that this teen was a new student. Logan glanced at the teen from time to time as he learned that his name was Virgil and that he would be Logan’s new lab partner. Mr. Sanders then asked if he would mind showing Virgil around. 

 “I would be happy to assist Virgil in any way I am capable, sir.”

 Mr. Sanders beamed at him and left Virgil behind as he left for the teacher’s lounge. 

 “Welcome to the school, Virgil. Are you from out of state?”

 Virgil shook his head. “No… he said softly. Perhaps a little shyly. Logan assumed he wasn’t going to say more but a few moments later Virgil spoke up again. “I was homeschooled up until now…”

 He shrugged, his hands still in the pockets of his hoodie.

 Logan found himself staring at the new guy, wondering why he found him so enchanting. He’d had a handful of crushes in the past but not one of them was as lovely as this one.

 “What?!”

 Logan blinked. He blushed a moment later, heat rising up the back of his neck, as he realized he had been staring at Virgil for a minute at the very least. 

 “I apologize. Now, as Mr. Sanders mentioned, my name is Logan. Logan Wright. We are going to be lab partners in this class, evidently.” A thought suddenly occurred to him. “Do you enjoy Chemistry?”

 Virgil shrugged. 

 “I’m not the best at science since my mom is the one who taught me but it’s got its cool factors, I guess.” He shifted a little nervously. 

 Logan smiled at him gently, nodding. 

 “That’s more than fine, Virgil. I am quite accomplished at Chemistry so we will not see you fail.”

 Virgil blinked before slowly smiling.

 “Well… thanks for that… I uh. I appreciate it.”

 Logan nodded. 

 “It’s my pleasure, Virgil. Feel free to take a seat.” He nodded at the empty stool at his lab table.

 Virgil hesitated before dropping his backpack onto the stool. He pulled out his Chemistry book, a notebook, and a pencil before setting his bag under the table and taking the seat.

 Logan, realizing how close Virgil was, cleared his throat nervously. 

 “After class, I’ll give you the tour. It’s a fairly big high school but you seem intelligent so I think you’ll learn your way around here in no time.”

 He glanced at Virgil who actually smiled. 

 It was small and Logan almost missed it but it had definitely been there. 

 “Thanks,” the emo teen said. 

 “As I said before, it’s my pleasure.”

 The smile grew just a few centimeters more and Logan knew that this specific crush would not go away any time soon. 

»»————　♞　————««

 Virgil walked into Chemistry class two days later and set one of two coffee cups in front of his lab partner. He grinned as the bespectacled teen looked first at the cup and then at Virgil, confusion evident on his face. 

 “Salutations, Virgil. What is this and what is it for?”

 “Mornin’ Logan. That is a caramel latte and it’s a thank you… for, you know, showing me around on Monday.”

 Logan smiled and nodded. 

 “As I said then, it was my absolute pleasure. Thank you for the coffee. Really very nice of you.”

 Virgil blushed, bringing a hand up to rub at the back of his neck. 

 “Don’t mention it,” he said, his voice a little quieter. He smiled softly once Logan looked away.

 Taking a seat, Virgil pulled out his things for the class. As he pulled his homework out of his notebook, the emo teen watched Logan from the corner of his eyes. He barely held back a sigh. 

 When his mom had told him that he would be going to public school, Virgil had had a lot of hangups. He had not expected crushing on the very first guy he met to be one of them.

 Then again, Logan wasn’t just some guy. Virgil had only known him for two full days but he already felt as if he knew him pretty well. He was different compared to most guys their age, just like Virgil. 

 “Did you have any trouble with the assignment last night?”

 Virgil jumped in his seat because suddenly Logan’s voice was that much closer. He glanced at the other teen, finding him leaning in some to get a look at Virgil’s assignment sheet. 

 “Oh… uh, yeah. A little but it wasn’t too horrible, I guess.”

 Logan nodded before pointing at one of Virgil’s answers.

 “Understandable why you got this but you forgot to consider the temperature of the heat source.”

 Virgil glanced at the problem and picked up his pencil, erasing before considering the answer once more, now equipped with Logan’s hint. When he had finished, he looked up at Logan with uncertainty.

 Logan’s proud smile at the now correct answer made having to redo the whole question completely worth it. He hesitated before pushing the paper toward his lab partner. 

 “Any others I need to rework?”

 By the time the bell rang, signaling the start of first period, Logan had helped him correct the remaining two problems with incorrect answers.

 “Virgil,” Logan said as Mr. Thomas started the class. Suddenly a cell phone that was definitely not his phone was being pushed into his hand. He didn’t need any explanation, however, because the phone—which he assumed was Logan’s—was open onto a new contact entry. 

 “I’ll text you so you have my number too. This way, should one of us require assistance we can help each other out.”

 Virgil nodded, not trusting himself to speak as he ignored the heat rushing up the back of his neck and into his cheeks. Instead, the emo teen entered his information, saved the contact, and passed the phone back to Logan. 

 True to his word, he texted Virgil, the emo teen’s phone vibrating in his back pocket. He would have saved Logan’s number at that moment but class had begun and the thought of sneaking it out had Virgil’s anxiety rising. 

 Turning to Logan, he mouthed a thank you before turning his attention back to the lesson. 

 »»————　☠　————««

 Logan had hoped but honestly, had not expected Virgil to actually utilize his phone number when he gave it to him. It was with delighted surprise that two nights later—coincidentally a Friday night—that Virgil texted him, asking him for help with the assignment from earlier that day. 

 Logan called promptly. Virgil picked up by the second ring and for some inexplicable reason, Logan smiled at that. 

 “Hey, Logan. Thanks for calling.”

 “It’s my pleasure.”

 Virgil chuckled and Logan got the image of Virgil sitting there in class, a little half smile on his face as he shook his head and laughed just like that. It wasn’t a mean laugh. Just amused. Almost… fond, even. 

 Logan blushed. 

 “So… how can I help?”

 Virgil proceeded to point out the problem he was having trouble with and Logan was able to figure out where he’d gone wrong. Unfortunately, it was far easier to explain Chemistry concepts in person. 

 Biting his lip, Logan glanced at his watch and considered the time. It was Friday night and was still fairly early. He and Logan could grab a table at the local cafe and work on the homework. Logan had, after all, promised to help him, and being in person would really make it easier on Virgil. 

 Not to mention, Logan really wanted to spend time with him. 

 “Would you want to meet up with me tonight?”

 Virgil made a noise that Logan surmised was some sort of sputter and hoped it was a sputter of surprise, rather than disgust. He quickly cleared his throat and pushed on.

 “I was just thinking we could grab dinner at the cafe in town and work on this. It really would be much easier to explain and assist you in person.”

 Virgil was silent for a moment. It was just long enough that the intelligent teen was worried Virgil had hung up. 

 “Uh… okay, yeah. Sure. Wanna meet over at mine and walk over?”

 “I don’t know where you live, Virgil…”

 “Oh, right! Well, I know the place you mean and it’s really close so I guess… I guess, I’ll see you there soon?”

 “Sounds good, Virgil. See you soon.”

 “See you soon, Lo.”

 Logan gave a start at that. No one had ever called him that before. If anyone else in his life had, he probably would have had some scathing words to throw their way. But for some reason… it just sounded so nice spoken by Virgil. 

 “Yeah,” he replied only to realize that Virgil had already hung up. Blushing, he grabbed his keys, pocketed them and his phone, and headed out the door.

 »»————　♞　————««

 Virgil chewed his lip as he waited. Glancing around at other people, recognizing a few from school as he buried deeper into his hoodie, Virgil wondered if this had really been a good idea. 

 Luckily, before his negative thoughts could even hope to rain on his Black Parade, Logan was suddenly standing before him. And like moths to a flame, his attention shifted to only him.

 “Hey,” he said, smiling a little shyly. He reached up to slide his hood back enough to see Logan fully and allow the other to see him a bit too. 

 “Hey,” Logan said, smiling back. The smile was soft. It did things to Virgil’s insides, but there were too many reasons why it was soft for Virgil to be able to bank on it being a specific one. If it was soft because Logan liked him and wanted to be with him, that would be very good. It could just as easily be Logan liking him as a really good friend or regarding him as family. 

 Since Virgil really, really, really liked Logan… those, while nice, would not be good. 

 They would not be good at all. 

 Silence settled over them. Virgil panicked, fearing that it felt a little awkward. However, he was suddenly unable to use his words because he had to go and think about his crush with said crush standing right there. So, the silence stretched, making him panic more.

 Luckily, Logan was pretty good at reading signs of a potential panic attack. 

 “Virgil.” 

 Suddenly, Virgil’s focus was on Logan. He was still feeling anxious but his focus had shifted enough. Logan was a little like an anchor in that way. 

 “What… uh, sorry.”

 “I was just thinking we should head in. Grab a table, get dinner ordered. We can work on some of the homework while we wait for our food.”

 Virgil beamed at Logan. 

 With such a plan in place, how could Virgil feel anxious? 

 Well, aside from the butterflies he constantly felt around Logan, but that was beside the point.

 “Yeah… that sounds like a plan.”

 Logan held the door open for him and Virgil, ignoring the heat rising up the back of his neck, headed inside.

 »»————　☠　————««

 Logan was beside himself getting to Chemistry class that next Monday. He knew he had no logical reason for feeling this way. Even the evidence of their rather enjoyable evening of dinner and homework on Friday, and the fact that they texted the entire weekend outside of school talk, was circumstantial at best. Yet, he still felt uncharacteristically giddy as he settled in his chair and got out his things. That done, his eyes panned to the door rather than to the clock, as they would have in the past. 

 The moment Virgil entered the classroom—exactly two minutes and forty-five seconds until the bell was due to ring—Logan’s heart beat rapidly against his chest.

 Whoever said falling in love was the best thing to ever happen to a person was sorely mistaken. This cannot be good for one’s health.

 Logan took a deep breath as Virgil made his way over, dropping his bag to the ground unceremoniously as he slumped into the chair. Logan took pity on his friend. 

 “I take it you couldn’t fall asleep after we said good night?”

 Virgil, who had his arms on the desk and face pressed into them, turned to look at his friend and shook his head with a frown. Logan resisted the sudden urge to pull the other into a warm embrace. Blushing at the thought, he looked away and flicked open his textbook to the lab they were meant to cover that day. He then got his homework out, watching from the corner of his eye as Virgil did the same. 

 “Sorry, Virge.” Logan resisted the urge to correct himself. Virgil had assured him it was fine if Logan wanted to call him Virgil still, but had been sure to advise Logan that his friends usually called him Virge if they didn’t want to use the whole thing. Logan wanted Virgil to be certain in their friendship and his desire to keep it.

 He also very much wanted Virgil to be certain that if he wanted more then Logan very much desired that as well…

... but how could he make Virgil certain of that without actually confessing his feelings?

 Pushing such thoughts and questions out of his mind, Logan returned to the conversation in time to catch Virgil saying “Insomnia is a bitch, dude.”

 Logan nodded. “Yes, it is a troublesome disorder indeed.” Logan glanced around before lowering his voice. “Medication not helping?”

 Virgil shrugged. “Kinda, I guess. But it doesn’t really help all the time. It’s inconsistent.”

 Logan frowned but nodded. He wished to say more, but it was at that moment Mr. Sanders came in to remind them they were doing a lab that day. 

 Thomas gave a brief demonstration of the lab and asked them to write down the exact measurements for it. Logan took his notes in his own efficient style, often finished before the others. Usually, he would just wait patiently for Mr. Sanders to carry on with the next part of the demonstration but now he found himself glancing at Virgil. 

 He watched, mesmerized, as Virgil made big bold circles around the measurements he’d jotted down. Where Logan’s were neat and tidy, Virgil’s were scattered all over the page but a quick look over told him it was still organized, in it’s own way.

 In a way he understands… fascinating.

 Mr. Sanders finished the demonstration, passed out all the necessary chemicals and safety gear for the lab. Under his supervision, the lab went underway. Virgil watched Logan as he worked for a good part of it. 

 Logan, so lost in his work, hadn’t noticed until Mr. Sanders came up to them. Leaning down, perhaps under the guise of answering a question, the Chemistry teacher lowered his voice.

 “Virgil… don’t you think it’s a little unfair to allow Logan to keep doing the lab himself? Yes, Logan, I am aware you enjoy it and don’t mind, but my point still remains. It’s also not fair to you, Virgil, as you aren’t taking part in the experience.”

 Virgil nodded, his face beet red. Logan frowned, resisting the urge to speak up and not quite sure how to feel about it. Mr. Sanders sighed and crouched down.

 “I apologize for embarrassing you. It wasn’t my intention.”

 “N-no. I know. I didn’t mean to make him do it all… I just kinda got…” He blushed again and looked away, mumbling something that neither Logan or Mr. Sanders could hear. Logan tried his best not to focus on Virgil but rather on Mr. Thomas. He felt a little bad finding blushy red to be quite a fetching color on Virgil, considering the circumstances.

 Thomas looked from Logan to Virgil and for a moment Logan was certain he saw a little smile slip onto his face but when he tried to look more closely, it was gone. Interesting.

 “Well, that’s fine, Virgil. I get it. You guys are talking and you didn’t notice how much he’d done. But now it’s your turn, okay?”

 Virgil nodded. He waited until Mr. Sanders had gone to help someone else before turning to Logan and mouthing ‘what do I do?’.

 Logan laughed to himself, knowing that laughing out loud with Virgil freaking out would not help matters, and reached out a hand to squeeze the other’s shoulder. 

 “It’s okay. You’ve got this. I won’t let you get it wrong,” Logan promised. Virgil smiled and blew his hair out of his eyes. Logan got lost in dark pools of near black for a few moments before his bangs settled once more. He could still see Virgil’s eyes but he suddenly longed to brush his hair back just to look into those eyes once more. 

 Virgil snorted. “My hero.”

 Logan laughed, but smiled. “If that is your wish.”

 Virgil laughed and shoved him playfully. He then took a deep breath and allowed Logan to walk him through the process. He was grabbing one of the chemicals that Logan was passing to him when their hands brushed. 

 It was definitely accidental but they both jumped. Logan laughed softly and Virgil laughed as well. The laughter was different than the normal one they shared, Logan noted. He leaned in a little and offered the chemical bottle once more.

 Virgil took it, their hands not brushing this time. Virgil was still not looking away. Logan would have felt a little insecure under his sharp gaze but he was already looking at Virgil for just as long. He swallowed, unsure of what to do or say.

 Logan knew something was definitely happening here, he just didn’t have a name or a verified set of instructions on how to handle it nor what to do next.

 Virgil leaned in a little closer, his gaze falling to what Logan could only assume was his mouth. Logan swallowed hard again and felt a slight moment of panic. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to kiss Virgil. 

 He wanted that very, very much. He just didn’t want it to be in the middle of Chemistry class surrounded by of a bunch of classmates and Mr. Sanders.

 It had to be his lucky day. 

 A sudden outcry broke whatever spell Virgil was under. He blinked rapidly and blushed completely before laying his arms on his desk and burying his face in his arms. Logan glanced over to see the reason for the commotion. 

 Remus Prince and Janus Noirblanc had, from their story, done everything right and still caused the chemicals to overflow. Mr. Sanders explained once more the importance of writing down the notes rather than doodling during note time, to which Remus and Janus laughed but nodded. 

 The class settled down once more. Logan quickly finished the lab for them, keeping an eye out for Mr. Sanders, before turning to Virgil. 

 “Hey,” he said, tentatively. “Is… is everything okay?”

 Virgil let out a laugh but it definitely didn’t sound happy.

 “I nearly made a fool of myself.”

 “Because kissing me would make a fool of you?”

 Virgil sighed.

 “Well, yeah. You’re just… you and so amazing and great and… ugh, do we have to do this here?”

 Logan glanced at the clock. He raised a brow at the other.

 “Are you going to run from me when the bell rings?” 

 Virgil clears his throat and looks away. “No…”

 “Virgil.”

 “Fine… I won’t… run away…”

 Logan gave a nod of approval. 

 “Then, very well. It can wait.”

 Which made for a very awkward ten minutes but Logan supposed Virgil had a point. Confessing to Virgil in the middle of Chemistry class hadn’t exactly been his own plan either.

 »»————　♞　————««

 Virgil was always nervous but that was nothing like how he felt when he followed Logan out of class. He was quiet and making as little sound as possible, hoping Logan might forget he was supposed to be following somewhere. Still, as he had promised his friend, Virgil did not run.

 Logan led them to a little lounge area. Other people were around, unfortunately in a school as big as theirs it was inevitable, but no one was paying any attention to them.

 Virgil sighed as he took the chair next to the one Logan chose. He turned toward him but raised his hood out of habit. Logan looked at him and Virgil couldn’t resist the urge to look up at him. Their eyes met and Virgil blushed but found he could not look away. 

 “Hey,” Logan said softly, a warm sort of smile on his face. Virgil couldn’t help but smile back gently at such a display of beauty. 

 “Hey… so…”

 “It’s okay… take your time.”

 “Dude, it’s like five minutes between classes. We literally have no time.”

 Hands were suddenly offered to him and Virgil took them without thinking. Logan’s hands were slightly larger than his own and he blushed to see how well they held his. He sighed, shaking the nerves off as much as possible. 

 “We have time and I’ll talk to the Principal or whoever I have to if by some chance we are late.”

 “Yeah, okay… fine. So, yeah… I don’t know… back there, in that moment, I just really wanted to kiss you and…”

 “I wanted to kiss you too, Virgil… just not in the middle of Chemistry class…”

 “Heh, yeah.” Virgil blushed at the admission, feeling butterflies in the bottom of his belly. “It was excellent timing on Remus and Janus’s part.”

 “A little too excellent… but yes.”

 Logan and Virgil laughed, the tenseness from earlier slipping away. 

 “Look… you were correct… we are a little pressed for time…”

 “Duh.”

 Logan laughed and Virgil smiled, pleased with himself. 

 “Why don’t… why don’t we walk home together? I’ll walk you home.”

 “Logan… you live like two miles from me…”

 “Yeah. I’m aware.” 

 Virgil let out a whistle at that and sighed when the warning bell went off to advise students to start heading directly to their classes. 

 “Fine. You can walk me home.”

 “Wonderful.” Logan hesitated before leaning in to press a kiss to Virgil’s cheek. He blushed but smiled happily at Virgil, squeezing his hands. With that, he left Virgil in a bit of a daze. It wasn’t until some loud laughter broke through the fog that Virgil remembered he needed to get to class. 

 Taking off, Virgil smiled to himself. 

 »»————　☠　————««

 Logan had never looked forward to the end of a school day until that day. He wished all his classes would hurry up. He didn’t bother pacing out his work, instead getting the classwork done and waiting as patiently for possible for the class to end. 

 Lunch would have been a nice reprieve but due to being in a few Pre-Advanced Placement courses, the lunch he took was different from that of his friends and of Virgil. 

 He was grateful that his debate class took some of the edge off. He had been due to debate with Remy Lassus but, as Remy’s parents had called him out sick, Remy’s spot had been taken by none other than Janus. 

 The two weren’t exactly friends. Janus was dating Logan’s best friend Roman and they tolerated each other for the most part. In Debate class? Oh, that was another matter entirely. 

 Janus had been able to keep up with Logan for most of the class but Logan caught a weak point in his argument that unravelled the whole thing. In the end, they shook hands but both knew the rivalry was still going strong. 

 With Debate out of the way, Logan just had his teacher aide lesson and he was home free. 

 Free to see Virgil. 

 Free to kiss Virgil… 

 With such a happy thought in his mind, Logan took off for the last period of the day. 

 »»————　♞　————««

 Virgil couldn’t believe he was doing this. Just waiting out at the front of the school for his friend who he had almost kissed in Chemistry. If he were a smart man, he would have headed straight for home after school.

 Well, he’d never told anyone he was smart (but Logan seemed to think he was). For whatever reason, this seemed right, no matter how much his twisting insides seemed to tell him otherwise.

 “Virgil!”

 Virgil’s whole body spun in the direction of Logan’s voice, a smile slipping onto his face as he found the other in the distance, rushing his way.

 “Hey, dork,” Virgil said but his words were soft. His voice was even softer. 

 “Hey, you,” Logan said, wincing at what he had just said. He shook his head as if that would cause his perceived faux pas to disappear. Virgil, however, had found it cute. 

 “So, uh… walking and talking?”

 Logan smiled and nodded. 

 “Thanks for waiting.”

 “Always.”

 Virgil blushed. He’d honestly meant it. Well, as much as a 16 year old boy could mean such things, but the point was, it was true for him. He hadn’t meant to tell Logan as much. He was smiling, however, so maybe him knowing wasn’t such a bad thing after all. 

 “Shall we go?”

 Virgil could only nod as he smiled. They started heading in the direction of Virgil’s house when he suddenly wondered if Logan would want to come in. Then became a little worried that his room was messy. Still, his happiness at walking with Logan—being with Logan—outweighed all the worries in the world.

 “Hey, so… thanks. You know, for earlier… talking after…”

 “It was my pleasure,” Logan said, smiling earnestly down at him. Virgil was surprised, suddenly realizing how close in height they were. Yeah, Logan was taller than him but it wasn’t by as much as Virgil had always thought.

 Would make it easier to kiss him~

 Oh, shut up, you-me-argh, just shut up!

 “About that, and what had almost happened before… let me be completely honest with you when I say that had we actually kissed in Chemistry class, I would not have been upset. Far from it…”

 Virgil looked at Logan just as the other was glancing at him. 

 “Really?”

 Logan nodded as they turned a corner into Virgil’s neighborhood.

 “Without question. I would have been bummed about the location and the lack of some level of privacy for such intimate displays, but I would have been very pleased with the kiss.”

 Virgil looked at Logan with wonder, his butterflies returning.

 “So… uh… you like me too then? I mean, you like me back…”

 Logan laughed at that but there was no malice, only fondness.

 “What is it you say… oh, right… duh,”

 Virgil blushed and shoved Logan playfully.

 “Shut up.”

 “You know… I didn’t say this earlier for obvious reasons but you look so cute when you blush.”

 Virgil’s face heated rapidly. “I do not!”

 “Oh, but you do.”

 “Jerk!”

 “I suppose that is warranted, considering my flirtation through teasing.”

 Virgil just laughed at that, shoving his face into his hands for a moment. Logan reached out to guide Virgil to a stop with him. 

 “Virgil… are you okay?”

 Virgil nodded, face still in his hands.

 “Yeah, just… give me a minute.”

 Logan didn’t say anything and Virgil couldn’t see his expression. Instead, Virgil felt Logan's hand rubbing his shoulders as well as he could around the backpack strap. Gradually, Virgil turned toward him. The other seemed to understand because a moment later, Logan was wrapping his arms around him as much as their backpacks would allow.

 Virgil closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling of being pressed against the other. He already knew now that Logan liked him. The butterflies in his tummy now had nothing to do with that.

 Virgil really, really wanted to kiss him. 

 Thank God his house was not far from where they were. 

 Virgil pulled away from the other, though he hadn’t really wanted to ever leave his arms. He smiled at Logan and nodded.

 “I’m good now, thanks.”

 Logan nodded, hesitated, and looked forward in the direction they were headed. After a few moments of what Virgil assumed was deliberation, Logan looked at him with a little pink coloring his cheeks.

 “If you would permit me to, I would very much like to hold hands with you.”

 Virgil could see what Logan meant. He looked quite nice with pink cheeks as well. Of course, such a request got Virgil blushing more. Yet it was with no hesitation that he stuck out his hand closest to Logan for the other to take.

 Logan smiled and laced their fingers before they began walking once more. It was a silent agreement that any further talk could wait until they reached Virgil’s house.

 »»————　☠　————««

 Logan marveled at how wonderful it felt, walking with Virgil, the other teen’s hand in his own. Before Virgil, Logan had always wondered at how couples did such things. Now, after Virgil, he wanted all of those things. But with Virgil alone. 

 Virgil was leading them along the route he took home everyday. It was so interesting to experience, especially with the knowledge that Virgil liked him as he liked Virgil. 

 Logan squeezed the other’s hand only for Virgil to squeeze back, looking at him and smiling brightly. A little pink brushed his cheeks and covered the bridge of his nose. 

 How could one person be so mesmerizing?

 “We’re almost there,” Virgil announced. Logan swallowed hard. 

 Almost there. 

 Logan nodded and smiled. The smile felt a little forced, but Virgil smiled back. Logan tried to ignore the sudden nerves he felt and enjoy the walk. 

 Luckily, as soon as they turned the corner, Virgil was pointing out a house two buildings down on the side they were currently on. 

 “There’s my house,” he mumbled and Logan could just smile. 

 “Well, let’s go then.”

 Virgil led him to the house and inside. As soon as he opened the door, a short woman wearing a dress and apron came from what Logan assumed was the kitchen. 

 “My baby’s home!” She looked at Logan. He could see where Virgil got his sharp gaze. He smiled. “And he brought a friend…”

 Virgil cleared his throat.

 “This is Logan… I’ve uh… told you about him… he’s in my Chemistry class… we’re just gonna go up to my room for a bit before Logan goes home… kay now, bye Mom. Love you.”

 “Oh! This is Logan!” Virgil’s mom said, the words finally clicking, but Virgil had already dragged Logan down the hallway and into his room. 

 Closing the door behind him, Virgil sighed. Flicking on the light, he nodded at the bed.

 “Sorry, not a lot of options for seating,” he said with a soft laugh. Logan laughed as well and took the end furthest from the pillows. Virgil soon joined him. 

 “So…”

 “So…” Logan agreed with a little smile. He was silent for a moment more, teasing Virgil just a little, before he continued. “So… let’s go down the list, shall we?”

 Virgil snorted but nodded. Logan offered his hands which Virgil took immediately.

 Smiling, Logan began.

 “We both like each other…”

 “Check.”

 “We both want to kiss each other?”

 “Duh.”

 Logan gave him a look and Virgil rolled his eyes, smiling. 

 “Check.”

 “And am I correct in assuming that we both want… uh… something more? You know…”

 “Are you correct in assuming that we want to be boyfriends?”

 Logan nodded. “That’s better. Yes.”

 “Very check.”

 Logan grinned and Virgil grinned back. 

 Just like it had happened in Chemistry class, Virgil started to shift a little closer. Logan was more than happy to lean in as well. 

 This time, no chemicals overflowed and no one was around. This time, there was no almost.

 Virgil’s lips pressed against Logan’s first but he had definitely not been too far away. Logan hummed happily into the kiss, his eyes closed as he laced his fingers with Virgil’s.

 Logan felt such deep warmth like he had never felt before. He found himself immediately shifting closer to Virgil, as if he were his magnetic opposite. 

 Virgil chuckled into the kiss, soon having to break it. Logan looked at him with confusion and Virgil shook his head. 

 “What’s so funny?” Logan asked, tilting his head. 

 “Sorry, Logan… it’s just. I’m starting to think my mom sent me to public school just to make sure I found happiness… but I don’t really think she expected this. Maybe a favorite class. Maybe a best friend. I doubt a boyfriend was ever on her radar.”

 Logan laughed softly too. 

 “I think she will be happy with whatever happiness you find. And you’ll find many more happinesses… hopefully with me.”

 Virgil smiled. “Well, you haven’t actually asked me out yet.”

 Logan sighed. “Virgil Armitage, will you go out with me?” Though he had sighed, he was smiling by the time he finished.

 Virgil smirked. “Duh.”

 Logan would have groaned but Virgil was kissing him moments after and Logan really didn’t feel the need to stop him as he kissed back.

 A lot had changed in Logan’s life since Virgil entered into it but, as Logan had come to find, sometimes in life there were just some changes that were worth making.

»»————　♞　————««

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Thomas Sanders or Joan, nor the rest of their group. I do not own or make money off of these characters. I only own the story as it is written.

Super uber thanks to my beta reader for this fic @sunshineandteddybears​ and the two that preread my stuff to make sure its up to par: @romantichopelessly & @sunshineandteddybears.

[lunaverseimagine]

Golden

Pairing: Cedric Diggory x Hufflepuff!Reader

Request: “hi, i really love everything you've written and I was wondering if you could maybe write a Cedric Diggory fluff cuteness study with a hufflepuff female reader if not that's totally okay, just want to say your amazing! Thanks!” - @erikathehufflepuff​

Warnings: Food, slight angst but mostly fluff

Word count: 1.9k

Gif not mine, credit to owner

One paragraph. You were supposed to write a three-foot long essay about the use of boom berry in modern potions, and all you’d got so far was one measly paragraph. Open books lay haphazardly on the table you’d claimed for the evening, their pages void of any relevance to your assignment. You rested your forehead on the parchment in front of you, letting out a frustrated huff. How were you going to finish in time when you couldn’t find anything useful? You didn’t normally leave homework until the day before it was due, but school had been so busy lately, plus there was a quidditch match that you wouldn’t miss, even if it meant detention with Snape. 

You loved the thrill of matches, students sporting their house colours, energy radiating from every stand. You donned as many yellow clothes as you could, full to the brim with Hufflepuff pride. For this match you and your friends had made a giant banner depicting a badger that was enchanted to dance when Hufflepuff scored a goal. Holding the banner up made your arms ache, but it was worth the pain to see the Hufflepuff team mimicking the badger’s dance on their brooms. But even that couldn’t beat watching the way Cedric’s face glowed as he became absorbed in the game: eyebrows slightly furrowed, cheeks flushed from flying, hair sticking in all directions. You were convinced he was born to be a seeker. You were so lucky to have him as your best friend, and seeing him so full of life made you feel complete. The most wonderful part of all was after Cedric caught the snitch, earning a Hufflepuff win. Instead of enjoying a victory lap, he flew straight over to the Hufflepuff stand to share the win with his house, grinning at the first years who were so full of excitement they were jumping up and down. After holding the snitch in the air, erupting a cheer from the crowd, he turned to where you and your friends were standing, beaming up at him.

“Nice banner Sunshine.” He winked at you before joining his team, a chorus of cheers calling after him. You had tried to ignore the way his nickname for you made your heart race.

A poke on your shoulder pulled you out of your thoughts and back into the musty library, where you lifted your head with a small grunt.

“Whaddya want-” You stopped abruptly at the sight of the Golden Boy himself grinning down at you, holding a plate of steaming food. Much to your dismay, your stomach let out a loud groan as the smell of casserole hit your nostrils. Cedric laughed good-naturedly.

“I noticed you weren’t at dinner and figured you’d be here.” He shrugged. “Sounds like it’s a good thing I came.” He let out another chuckle, and you silently willed your stomach to be quiet. Noticing that the table was occupied, he placed the plate carefully on your lap and sat in the chair beside you. You took the cutlery he handed you with a nod of thanks, your heart swelling at his thoughtfulness. Sustenance was exactly what you needed right now. In fact, Cedric always seemed to know what you needed: when to bring you hot chocolate and a blanket because you were so absorbed in studying that you didn’t notice you were shivering. When to crack a joke because you hadn’t smiled in a while. When to hug you because sometimes words weren’t enough. Suddenly you were overwhelmed with a rush of feeling that made heat rush to your cheeks. Your stomach flipped in a way it never did for anyone else. But Cedric was your best friend, and you treasured that friendship with your whole being. You would never want to risk what you already had.

Realising you’d been still for too long, you started shovelling forkfuls of the delicious meal into your mouth. Cedric was perched at an angle so he could face you fully, watching with amusement as you wolfed down the food. “Graceful.” He remarked.

“Shuddup.” You replied through a mouthful, gravy dripping down your chin. You wiped it away shamelessly with the sleeve of your cloak. 

Glancing at your parchment, Cedric shook his head. “Did someone spend so long making banners they forgot to do their homework?”

“Oh shove off Ced.” You pushed his arm lightly, but there was no conviction in your words. Honestly, you were grateful he’d come, not just for the food but also the company. Everything felt easier when Cedric was around - your problems felt a bit lighter and the world a bit happier. “You know you loved the banner.”

“Can’t deny it.” You shared a playful look with him, both of you struggling to hold back grins, before placing your empty plate on the floor, not bothering to clear space for it on the table. “Come on Sunshine, let me help.” He nudged your knee with his, and the edges of your lips twitched into a reluctant smile. You couldn’t tell if it was the offer of help or the nickname that made you feel so elated.

“Really?”

“Of course. Now, what fun topic are we working on today?”

“Boom berry.” The monotony in your voice perfectly communicated your level of enthusiasm for this essay. Unaffected, Cedric’s brows furrowed as though he was trying to remember something, and your stomach flipped at how cute he looked when he was concentrating. It was like having a front row seat to a match, seeing the focus carved into his features. Suddenly his eyes widened, and he left you at the table as he roamed the shelves.

Not wanting to sit uselessly, you grabbed one of the books you’d abandoned earlier. You hoped you’d missed something on your first skim-through, that the book actually held all the information you needed. Alas, this was not the book to save your essay. Seconds stretched into minutes as you fruitlessly turned page after worn page, wondering where Cedric was.

Eventually a book thumped on the table beside you.

“Wiggenweld.”

“Bless you.” Cedric laughed affectionately at your joke, setting off a bubbly feeling inside you. There weren’t many people who would laugh at your corniness the way he did - full of fondness and sincerity.

“The Wiggenweld potion. It’s a healing potion that uses boom berry juice! This book has everything you need for your essay, I used it last year.” Cedric’s eyes were bright, pleased he’d found something that could help you. You let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you so much Ced. Honestly, what would I do without you?”

“Ah, we don’t have to worry about that Sunshine, I’m not going anywhere.” As if to prove his point, he sat on the chair next to you, opening the book to the chapter you needed. 

You spent a while poring over the pages, making bullet points on some scrap parchment that would form the outline of your essay. After finishing your last point, you looked up in triumph to find Cedric staring at you.

“What?” You asked, feeling suddenly self-conscious. Maybe you still had gravy on your chin? You wiped it again just to be safe. 

Cedric shook his head as if pulling himself out of deep thought. “It’s- it’s nothing.” You eyed him suspiciously, but sensed that he didn’t want to be pushed, so you stayed silent. He cleared his throat. “How’s the essay going?” 

You smiled up at him. “I’ve got the outline thanks to you, now just gotta write it up.” Your smile faltered a bit. “This is always the tricky bit. I never know how to word things.” You stared at the mostly blank parchment, the empty space so daunting, wishing it would fill itself.

“I can help.” He was being so kind to you, but to your confusion you felt conflicted. Cedric noticed the slight narrowing of your eyes, hastily adding, “only if you want me to, of course.”

“I appreciate the help, I just-” You thought about how to phrase your words. If only Cedric could help you with this. “I don’t want to take advantage of you. You do so much for me, but is redoing an essay you did last year really your top choice of pastime for a Friday night?” Cedric blinked, taken aback at your question, as though it had never occurred to him to be doing anything else.

“Well, I… I…” You took his loss for words as an opportunity to continue.

“You have so many friends, you could be with them, and yet you’re in the library with me.” You looked at the books in front of you, comparing them to the music and fire-whisky that you knew Cedric could be enjoying instead. You were holding him back from all of that fun. And yet- you hadn’t asked him to be here. You hadn’t asked him to play exploding snap with you in the common room into the early hours of the morning. You hadn’t asked him to sit with you at mealtimes when he had a whole table of friends to eat with. You hadn’t asked him to lend you his scarf in Hogsmeade when you’d forgotten yours, and then spend the rest of the day with you in the Three Broomsticks. But he chose to do all of those things.

Cedric held your hand in his, sending sparks along your skin. You suppressed a shiver. “Sunshine, this is where I want to be. With you.”

You looked up at him, expecting to see pity, but instead his face reflected the vulnerability on your own.

“With me?” For just a moment, your eyes flicked to his lips, imagining what it would feel like to kiss him. You thought that Cedric wouldn’t notice, but when your eyes met his you knew you were wrong. Cedric noticed. He always noticed. He was attuned to you, to every change in your expression, to every inflection in your voice. He often knew how you were feeling before you did. His attentiveness never ceased to surprise you, to make you feel seen and loved.

His voice was slightly husky as he replied. “With you.” You saw him mirror your actions, glancing at your lips before closing the distance between you, cupping your neck in his hands. You met him halfway, hands on his shoulders, and when his lips pressed against yours, it was better than you’d imagined. It was golden. Fireworks exploded in your stomach, sending a warm feeling to the ends of your fingers and toes. Nothing had ever felt more right. So exciting, and yet so safe. When Cedric finally pulled away, you couldn’t help but admire his tousled hair, the look of wonder in his eyes, the dimples in his cheeks as he beamed at you.

“Sunshine, you have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.” Your hands still on his shoulders, you kissed him on the cheek, and he watched you in adoration. He knew then that he would never tire of you. Your smiles were like gifts, and he treasured each one. It was why he called you Sunshine. A smile of yours could brighten up the darkest room, and he always wanted to be around you. Wanted to be the reason you smiled, the reason you were happy.

“Ced, that was...” You trailed off. How could you describe it? There were no words, so instead you kissed his other cheek. He crinkled his nose in reply. “I’d love to say we can make up for lost time but...” Your gaze travelled to your unfinished essay.

“I’ll be having words with Snape.”

End

Thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed please like/reblog, it’s what motivates us to write <3 Feel free to check out my other stuff too :3

[bippityboppitybibuck]

This ficlet is written for and inspired by @valleydeans A Ghost Story. It contains spoilers to the entire story, so please don’t read this if you haven’t finished reading it yet. Wc:1400, no extra warnings (warnings for original fic stand) Italicizes mark establishing narrative the rest is in Cas’ POV.

It first plays on the old radio that sits attached to the bottom of one of the kitchen cupboards in the townhouse. Both Sam and Dean forgot it existed, left behind by the previous tenants, since they never had cause to use it but it was simple enough that Cas managed to get it turned on.

Granted it was only because the button was labeled Power; Cas knows even a moron could have figured that one out.

Cas didn't know how to change what music played at first, so he pressed buttons until something happened and took note of the outcomes. Seek seemed to be his friend, AM did not, and one afternoon while Dean and Sam were out at class or work or the library - there were so many places for Dean to be now, back before his resurrection Cas could have just walked around the grounds of the manor until he came upon him but now Dean is as hard for Cas to find as his place in this new time is - he finds a station that played a lovely song with a piano (Sam later told him it was an ‘indie station’, he doesn’t know how to tell him that he has no idea what that means) soft lyrics fell upon his ears and he lost his afternoon to meaneal tasks while the music floated from the small machine.

He takes notice of a song that starts to play only because it is in such contrast to the music the machine has been playing for the better part of the afternoon. There's a heaviness to the melody, an intensity that the other songs lacked, he spends much of the song listening only to the instruments.

The only line that actually sinks in after that first listen is “there is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin” and he can’t understand why his chest seems to expand against his ribs while his lungs squeeze themselves together because he’s never heard the type of lyric that was made to hit you square in the chest because, well, there’s not been a lot of music listening aside from piano and string quartets in his life.

He asks Sam how to learn the words in a song and Sam shows him how to get to a ‘Google tab’ so he can look up the song (Sam reckons a genius lyrics page might be a little too much for Cas). He types the words he remembers into the ‘Google’, and is decidedly confused by what can only be the name of the song. Take Me to Church, while a lovely name, stands out like a sore thumb in his head alongside the titles of the pieces he aimed to perfect in his old life.

He spends as much time as possible over the next three days listening to the song on ‘Youtube’ while he reads the lyrics, he just barely manages to stop himself from writing the lyrics out on paper so he can look at them when he’s away from a computer (like when Dean heads to school with his laptop and he can’t listen unless the machine - a ‘radio’ apparently - decides to play it)

Each line draws him in and pushes him away in equal measure, humor for Cas doesn’t mean laughing at a funeral it means Dean teasing him, tickling him, smiling as he waits for the joke to land on Cas’ ears. But still they all seem to resonate beyond what he thought was possible, Dean was always met with disapproval, he always wanted to worship him in any way he could, even now he curses the moments they could have had together if only one of them had been braver before the night spent in their clearing.

“We were born sick / you heard them say it” and “I was born sick, but I love it” stop his breath cold on every listen. He doesn’t allow himself to look too deeply into that, he’s long since accepted himself and delving into beliefs of a time long since past does no one any good.

What strikes him as odd is that there's a violence to the love and devotion that he can’t really understand, worshipping like a dog and revealing your sins to the sound of steel being honed isn't how he loves Dean, isn't how he sees Dean as his salvation, he writes hymns inspired by Dean. He doesn’t, could never, equate his devotion to something so lacking in softness, not when he can still feel the tufts of Dean’s hair under his nose or the petals of the roses Dean winded up the trellis on the side of his balcony.

The focus on a violent love turns him off from the song but there’s a pull in his mind with each iteration of “offer me my deathless death” he knows enough to know it might be a reference to sexual pleasure but he can't shake that something about the line draws him in, what with his death being undone when Dean brought him back.

The bridge, as the website calls it (Sam does eventually end up showing Cas the genius page), he reads the most, over and over and over and he thinks how it was just him and Dean in those stolen moments, how the doctrine he was told to follow labelled him a sinner but with Dean that didn't matter, it didn't even filter into the moment. The ritual the man sings of, the scene that plays out with it, becoming clean, human, he can’t even put words to why that settles so deeply into his chest, why it makes sense to him even though he never truly felt dirty about the things he and Dean did, the love they shared. But the truth of the matter is that Dean made him human again that night in the manor, and in doing so made him clean, clean of the never ending hell of the manor, just like he had promised to do all that time ago.

“Let me give you my life” sits heavy in his skull, it scratches at something deep within his brain for weeks. Ever since he first took the words into his head something about them made him think of them. It didn’t make sense though, Cas’ death hadn’t given Dean his life. Hell Cas’ death almost surely led to Dean’s own. So why would this lyric stick with him?

It's about a month after the successful ritual that he hears the song again, a fluke video on ‘autoplay’ on the youtube tab Dean keeps open for him. Let me give you my life. Let me give you my life. Cold fingers dance along the hairs at the nape of his neck, blood covers his hands, a redo, a trade off. Let me give you my life. And then a trade again, Dean to him this time. Let me give you my life. Good god, let me give you my life. The weeks spent ruminating over the line make sense now, as though some deep part of him always knew of the choice he made that night, the choice to save his love, the choice to give his life for the only thing that ever made him feel alive.

In the wake of his completed reincarnation, the sloughing off of death’s hold on him, the song takes on intense new meaning, which is no surprise really. His heaven is and has always been the moments he and Dean spend alone together, afternoons in the music room or midnights spent wrapped around each other. His lover is the sunlight, to keep the goddess on their side Cas and then Dean offered their sacrifices. Deathless deaths in multiples, love is worth more than what Sunday’s used to hold.

One night he plays the song for Dean, when the spring shoots are digging their way to the surface and the snowdrops are withering. He says nothing when Dean’s hold on him tightens as the song plays, he doesn't mention the hitches in his husband’s breath or the redness in his eyes when Dean hits replay on the song. He doesn’t bring up the way this song seems to recount their story with startling accuracy, he knows Dean understands. Take Me to Church... they needn’t worry, they’ve already reached salvation.

Sam sneaks the song into the playlist for the reception, their guests assume it’s just another popular song with a decent beat but for them it’s undoubtedly more.

[secret-engima]

Snippet of One in a Hundred

     It had been a long time since Oscar had cried himself to sleep in his aunt’s arms. A long time since the voices in his head were so loud he couldn’t sleep unless there was someone real and alive to hold him tight and make sure he didn’t shake apart in his dreams. But his last semi-solid memory was Aunt Parsine pulling him —them— down and pulling him close while she flicked the covers overtop of them. He dimly recalled pulling his magic around Ozpin, cradling him close as best he could, the nearest he could get to a hug when one of them was incorporeal.

     He dreamed of green magic and white hair. Of gold eyes that stared down at their intertwined hands and looked sad and confused.

     The morning felt sluggish and off when Oscar woke up. The world felt blurry, vague, far away. There were no ghosts haunting the edges of his senses, but it wouldn’t take much to bring them out. Oscar stared blankly at the empty bed, at the blinking clock that told him Aunt Parsine had let him sleep in a full hour past his usual time, and he sighed heavily. He felt old. He got up slowly, achingly, and before daring to brave the bathroom or the idea of getting dressed, he lightly probed his mind. Ozpin was back on his little island, magic flickering faintly in something akin to exhausted sleep. Oscar let him stay that way as he forced his body to hurry through getting up and getting dressed, through redoing the bandages around his neck and pulling his gloves back on and making sure everything was properly tucked in before buttoning up his shirt.

     Ozpin was still “asleep” as Oscar slunk out to the kitchen area and found his aunt had waited for him instead of heading straight out to the barn for morning chores. Aunt Parsine watched him with concern as she cooked him a breakfast that was easy to digest, just like she did on Quiet Days. He could feel her watching him as he sat down, trying to figure out if he was present or just drifting. Oscar made a point to look her in the eyes for several seconds. A silent confirmation that he was here and not entangled with ghosts. Then he looked down and shook his head. He wasn’t ready to talk about last night.

     Ozpin woke up just as Oscar was entering the barn and grabbing the feed for the old plow horse, Ben. Old Ben hadn’t actually done anything of use on the farm for a few years now, he was too old to pull a plow or even to be ridden by anything heavier than small children, but he had served the Pine family faithfully for over two decades, and he had even saved Oscar’s life more than once. Aunt Parsine and Oscar had both agreed that the old horse deserved a nice, relaxing retirement for whatever time he had left. Oscar let Ozpin flit about on the island of Oscar’s mind for a while without comment, pretending not to notice the sensation of Ozpin cautiously peering through Oscar’s eyes to watch the farm work.

     Finally, when he was out in the fields and out from under Aunt Parsine’s worried eye, Oscar said, “I’m not going to hurt you.”

     Ozpin stilled in his head, almost flinched back, then steadied, “…Even after what you have seen?”

     Oscar frowned faintly, “Because of what I’ve seen. You didn’t … you didn’t deserve that.” He took a breath, “Ozpin? I know I said it last night but-. I’m so sorry. For making you relive that. I … I won’t say that I wouldn’t have done it, and if the situation was the same, I know I would do it again. But for whatever it’s worth, I am sorry, and I was wrong.”

     The silence in his head was aching and confused, “You aren’t angry.” Ozpin sounded genuinely confused, “You know now, what I am asking of you. What I am dragging you into. You know that Salem cannot-. Yet you aren’t angry.”

     Oscar’s hands slowed down in their work and he breathed past the urge to hurt something. Betrayal, the taste of it from Ozpin’s memories, sat bitter on his tongue, “None of that was your fault. You were given a choice without being told what it meant. You made mistakes, yes. Forming a religion was a spectacularly bad idea, but … all you ever tried to do was protect mankind. All you’ve sacrificed has been for humanity, even though it has killed you again and again. I can’t be angry with you over that.” He tilted his head, tempted to say he had an idea about Salem and her supposed indestructibility, then decided it wasn’t important right now. What was important was Ozpin and the fragile equilibrium they needed to form, “I … I can’t do it right now. I’ll be non-functional for the rest of the day if I do but … I understand. More than you realize. I understand what that feels like, and I can show you why later.”

     Oscar straightened up and looked out sadly over his aunt’s farm, over the silhouette of his aunt a few hundred yards away, busily working. A peaceful life. Small and isolated but loving and … safe.

     And once again, destiny was calling him to leave his own happiness behind.

     At least I’m not alone in destiny’s grip this time, he thought, but it was a sour, bitter thing. Oscar sighed and pressed a hand over his chest, “I’ll help you.” Ozpin stilled, surprised and confused and a touch disbelieving and Oscar repeated, “I’ll go to Haven, and I’ll help you. I’ll fight your war with you.”

[linhlotus]

Tales of Lovebug and Kitty Noir Ch 5: Pixelator.

Marinette walked out of the elevator and past the front desk.

“Failed as a gopher already, Dupain-Cheng?” She heard Chloe laugh from the desk.

Marinette ignored her and kept walking, but before she was out of earshot, she heard Adrien say, “I’ll be right back. There’s something I forgot to do.”

She was a few blocks away from the hotel when she felt the eyes. When Marinette turned, though, she didn’t see anyone watching her. She shivered and started walking faster.

Even after she got to the Eiffel tower, she still couldn’t shake the feeling of someone watching her, so she backtracked to a nearby alley to see who it was. When no one followed her, she thought she was imagining things.

“What’s a pretty little lady like you doing in a place like this?”

Marinette whirled around. “Oh, it’s just you,” she sighed.

“Did I scare you?” he smiled. It was a kind smile that made Marinette melt.

“Yes,” she admitted.

“Sorry, Purrincess. I wasn’t trying to.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“It’s fine, Kitty. Do you want to help me?”

“With what?”

“I need to get Jagged Stone some Eiffel Tower glasses with the Parisian flag on them,” Marinette explained.

“I’d love to help.”

“Okay, let’s go then.” Marinette motioned for him to follow and started walking out of the alley.

Chat grabbed her arm. “Hey, where do you think you’re going?” he grinned

She looked back at him, quizzically. “To the Eiffel Tower? Where was I supposed to go?”

“Don’t you want me to give you a lift?”

“Oh. Yes, please,” she smiled up at him. The prospect of being so close to him was too good to pass up.

He scooped her up and readied his baton. “Hold on, M’lady.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck. It felt wonderful to be in his arms, pressed against his chest. It felt safe. She wasn’t even scared when Chat leaped up to a nearby roof. Although, part of that may have been because she did this as Lovebug.

Chat landed near the Eiffel Tower and set her on her feet. Was it her or was he reluctant to let go of her?

They saw a vendor selling sunglasses with little Eiffel Towers on the sides. Marinette was about to buy a pair when Chat set his hand on her shoulder. She turned and looked up at him. “What is it?”

“Don’t you think it would be better to make sure the glasses are exactly how he wanted them before you give them to him? That way, you won’t have to redo it and if you got it out of the way, we could go get that ice cream you promised me.” He smiled, his eyes twinkling.

She had an idea. “Hey, Chat, can you take me to my room? I need to get something.”

“Of course, Purrincess.”

------

“And . . . Voila!” Marinette held up her masterpiece. She turned to Chat. “What do you think?”

“They’re way better than the ones you almost bought at the tower. I’m sure he’ll love them. I might just buy a pair myself,” he grinned.

“You don’t have to buy them, I’ll make a pair just for you. You can call it a present for saving the city every day.”

“Hey, maybe I could model your designs!”

“Really?!” That way, they could see each other all the time! “I can pay you in sweets.”

“I wouldn’t say no to that . . .” he rubbed the back of his neck. “Why don’t we drop off these amazing shades and then we can write a contract.”

“Perfect! Come on.” They made their way to the balcony and Chat picked her up again. Oh, this was heavenly!

He leaped to the hotel and set her down. When they walked in, no one was there. Not Chloe, not Adrien, not even the hotel staff. Where was everyone? Marinette heard a series of muffled screams and crashes from above.

She rushed toward the stairs, yelling after Chat to follow her.“Come on!”

“Wait, Marinette, it could be an Akuma!” Chat rushed to keep up.

“Then I can help.”

“But you might get hurt!”

“Not if you’re there to save me.” Marinette stopped in her tracks catching him a bit off guard. Going by his side, she grabbed his shoulders and gave him no option but to look solely at her. “I'll be fine. It's probably nothing.”

“If it’s an Akuma, you have to leave immediately.”

“Deal,” she agreed. “Now let’s go check it out.”

She turned and they made their way up, checking each floor before moving on. When they got to the fourth floor, Marinette saw a man with what looked like a camera attached to his face. He watched them for a second and then pressed a button on his head.

Chat dived in front of her as a flash of white enveloped them.

When she regained her senses, all she saw was white.

A thud resounded around her and she looked down to see Chat on the floor. “Are you okay, Kitty?” she asked, kneeling next to him.

“Yeah, I’m fine, but what about you?”

“I’m alright. Where are we?”

“I don’t know, let’s see if we can find a way out.”

After walking for a few minutes and seemingly getting nowhere, Marinette looked to the side and saw- a crocodile?

“Chat, look. Isn’t that Jagged’s crocodile?”

“Watch out, M’lady, I’ll protect you.” Chat leaped in front of her and brandished his staff. “This is all my fault, I never should have let you come with me.”

“No, Kitty, look at me. We’re both fine. We just need to make a plan. If I hadn’t come, I would’ve worried about you the whole time.”

He considered this for a moment. “Fine let’s go make a plan, but we’d better put some distance between us and the crocodile.”

They started walking and it didn’t take Marinette long to come up with an idea. “Hey, we haven’t tried going up.”

“That’s true . . . but what if you fall?”

“I won’t.” She grabbed his arm. “Come on, let’s try it.”

Chat sighed and picked her up. “Hold on.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his chest which seemed to make him relax ever so slightly. Chat pressed a button on his baton and they shot upward.

After a few minutes, Chat pressed another button and they stopped. “It’s no use. It just keeps going.”

“Let’s go back down and try something else.”

He nodded and brought them down.

“Why don’t you try your cataclysm? If it doesn’t work, I’ll turn around when you change back,” she suggested as he set her on her feet.

“That might work!” Chat said and Marinette could see that he believed it was the best idea yet. “CATACLYSM!” he said and slammed his hand against the ground.

The ground cracked and disappeared and Marinette grabbed Chat’s arm for support. They reappeared in the hotel with Jagged’s crocodile bellowing down the hall.

“Let’s get out of here,” Chat said.

“I agree.” They backed into the stairwell and slammed the door behind them before running to the first floor where Chloe was throwing a tantrum.

“This is all your fault, Dupain-Cheng!” Chloe screamed when she saw Marinette.

“How is this my fault?”

“If you had been at the hotel like you were supposed to be, that hooligan wouldn’t have targeted me.” Chloe flipped her hair. “Because of you, my hair is ruined and Adrikins is nowhere to be seen!” she whined, turning to Kim and pretending to cry on his chest.

Marinette was fuming.

How could Chloe accuse her like that? She was the one that gave Marinette the job of ‘gopher’ anyway! If anyone was to blame, it was Chloe, herself. Not that she would admit it.

Chat settled his hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him, her expression softening. “Just ignore her, she’s not worth it.”

Marinette nodded. She knew he was right it was just hard with Chloe constantly getting on her nerves.

They walked out of the hotel and saw the Akuma again. This time, he was preoccupied with a civilian down the road, but he turned to them once they disappeared.

“So, you escaped. That won’t happen again.” He noticed Marinette. “Ah, who is this? Is she your girlfriend?” Marinette and Chat both blushed and looked away. “She’s very pretty. She’ll go very nicely with my other photographs. What do you think, Chat Noir? Wouldn’t she look good next to Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale?”

Chat glared at him. And- was he growling? Marinette had never seen him so mad. It was kind of fascinating to compare to the soft expression he so often gave to her. She felt honored that it was on her behalf, but at the same time, he was scary.

“Oh, didn’t mean to jiggle your tripod.” The Akuma laughed.

Marinette rolled her eyes. “That was so bad.”

“Hey! You’ll pay for that!”

He pressed a button on his head and Chat knocked her to the ground just in time, but her arm still got hit. Chat grinned at her from a few inches away. “You just keep falling for me, don’t you?”

“This isn’t the best time, Chat.”

“Sorry, M’lady. Couldn’t help myself.”

He stood up and offered her his hand. When she tried to accept it, though, her hand went right through. Chat looked horrified.

She couldn’t quite understand what was going on. She hadn’t been hit directly so she’d thought she was in the clear, but maybe it just had different effects. Marinette tried again with her other hand. This time, it worked. She just couldn’t use her right hand.

He let go of her hand and instead picked her up. “Hold on, Purrincess. Let’s get you somewhere safe.”

Marinette wrapped her good arm around Chat’s neck and let her other one hang by her side. Chat leaped onto the roof of a neighboring building.

They arrived at her balcony and Chat set her down on her chair. He was about to leave, but she grabbed his tail. “We have to figure out where the akuma is. You said Lovebug was unavailable for a while, maybe she’s still busy.”

She couldn’t let Chat know she was Lovebug and he was sure to find out if she transformed with her arm out of commission. What were the chances that two people who looked remarkably similar would have gotten the exact same injury at the same time? He’d never believe that.

He turned back to her.

“So we need to get something to trap the akuma in and you can deliver it to Lovebug with the other one.”

“You’re right. Any ideas?” he asked, sitting in front of her.

She thought for a moment. His weapon was on his head so that could be it. Did he have anything that didn’t match his outfit? She didn’t think so. That was their best bet.

“I can’t think of anything other than his camera. What about you?”

“I agree with you.” He stood up. “I’ll be back when I’m done.”

Marinette stood and adopted a defensive stance, bracing herself for his inevitable objection. “No.”

“What?”

“I’m coming with you.” She crossed her arms. As best she could, anyway.

“Absolutely not. You don’t have a miraculous.”

“Yeah, but I have ideas. And I have you. I know you would never let me get hurt.”

“But I already have,” he growled and gestured to her arm. “You were hurt because I couldn’t save you.”

“Technically not, because it doesn’t actually hurt,” she grinned.

“It doesn’t matter. You’re not coming. I will not put you in danger again.”

“If you don’t take me, I’ll follow you. And then you won’t be able to protect me.”

He glared at her for a few minutes, but Marinette could tell it didn’t have much spite behind it. “Fine, but if I tell you to do something, you listen.”

“Agreed,” she chirped.

He picked her up and she held on to him again.

He leaped to where they’d last seen the akuma and landed in an alley, settling her on her feet.

They looked around the corner and spotted him immediately.

Marinette pulled back and Chat turned to face her. “We need to get close to him.”

He pursed his lips but didn’t argue.

“Do we know what he’s after?”

Chat held up his baton. “Well, let’s check the news.”

They watched a video Nadija had managed to take before she was turned into a photograph, as well as one from Alya. They both said the same thing; the Akuma had been identified as Vincent Asa who now went by Pixelator and he was after Jagged Stone. But, curiously, he wasn’t seeking vengeance. Well, not really. At least, he wasn’t openly threatening Jagged so that had to be an improvement.

“I have a plan. You go recharge and get Jagged. I’ll stay here and wait for you.”

“But-”

She cut him off, “No time to argue, Kitty, just go find him.”

He scowled but extended his baton. “Don’t get near him. Just wait right here until I get back.” Then he was gone though she could still hear him landing on the rooftop. She turned back to keep an eye on Pixelator and found herself looking right at him.

“I see your pretty little kitty left you here all alone.” He pressed a button on his temple and, for the third time that day, a beam of white light shot at her. She jumped to the side, barely getting out of the way in time.

“He’ll be back.” She was confident in that at least, but whether she would make it till then was what worried her. She just had to keep from getting hit and she’d be fine.

After a few minutes of dodging attacks, there was still no sign of Chat and Marinette was getting tired. Pixelator sent another beam of light at her and she leaped out of the way, but when she tried to take another step, she collapsed. Pixelator must have remembered what happened to her arm and decided to incapacitate her before he returned her to her frame.

Marinette tried to scramble away, but with two unusable limbs, she wasn’t going anywhere. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited to be hit by another beam, but there was a yell from somewhere behind the akuma that made her eyes fly open.

“Hey, leave her alone!”

It was Chat! Perfect timing!

“A little bird told me you were looking for someone.”

Jagged Stone stepped out from behind Chat. “Hey, Vincent! I heard you wanted a photo.”

“The name’s Pixelator now. Come here so I can immortalize you.”

Jagged started walking to Pixelator and while he was distracted, Chat rushed over to help her up.

“Are you okay?”

“I’ve been better, but I think I have an idea for how to help Jagged.” She picked up her purse. “Can you open this for me?”

“Sure.” He opened it and was courteous enough not to look inside, which was nice because otherwise, as he would say, ‘the cat would have been out of the bag’. He held it out to her. “Here, I’ll hold it for you.”

“Thanks.” She used her good hand to pull out a small makeup mirror. “Help me over to them.”

“Are you sure abou-”

“Please, Chat.”

He sighed but helped her up and they hobbled over to where Jagged kept repositioning himself in an attempt to stall.

Pixelator was getting fed up. “Enough!” He smiled sadistically. “Look into the lens.”

Marinette hurled the mirror as Jagged braced himself for a hit that never came. Instead, the beam bounced off her mirror and hit Pixelator. He vanished, leaving the visor in his place.

“Great job, Purrincess!”

“Did you bring something to capture the akuma with?” she asked.

He held up a jar. “Yeah.”

“Go, quick so no one can do any more damage.”

He snapped it and a purple butterfly fluttered out, its wings glittering evilly in the sun. Before it could go more than a few feet, it was caught in a jar and a lid was snapped over it.

Chat turned back to her. “Do you want me to take you home before I go look for Lovebug?”

“That would be nice,” she admitted.

He scooped her up which was really awkward after what Pixelator had done to her. She held onto him with her good arm as he jumped across the rooftops. When they got to her house, he opened her skylight and lowered her onto her bed.

Marinette waited until she was sure he was gone before calling Tikki out of her purse. “We have to fix this and purify the akumas. TIKKI, SPOTS ON! LUCKY CHARM!” A mirror fell into her hand.

Marinette waited until she was sure he was gone before calling Tikki out of her purse. “We have to fix this and purify the akumas. TIKKI, SPOTS ON! LUCKY CHARM!” A mirror fell into her hand. </p>

“A little late for that. Don’t you think? Oh, whatever. It doesn’t matter anymore.” She threw the mirror into the air. “MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!” Ladybugs flew all around her and she sighed as she regained the feeling in her arm and leg.

“Time to go find Chat.” Lovebug opened her skylight and swung away. When she finally found Chat, he was leaping toward Notre Dame. “Chat Noir! Chat Noir!” she called.

He turned and they landed on a roof to talk. “Sorry I’m late. I had some trouble getting away. Do you have the akumas?”

“Yeah.” He handed them to her.

As Lovebug opened the jars, she told him that she had already used her lucky charm and the miraculous cure so she had only a few minutes. She purified the akumas and leaped back to her house as fast as she could, detransforming as she dropped onto her bed.

A few minutes later, Chat popped his head in. “Hey, Purrincess. Ready to go drop off Jagged’s glasses and get some ice cream?”

“Yeah, let me just go get a notebook. We still have to write that contract.”

When Marinette got home after her afternoon with Chat, all she could do was lay on her chaise and sigh. The day had been perfect and she hoped they could do something similar together soon.

Thank you to my wonderful beta @valiantlyjollynightmare!

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[lunarkittens]

now you’re on your own (won’t you come back home?) (2/?)

Word Count: (In this part) 2,035

Pairings: Gen

Rating: T

Summary: Dean doesn’t believe in fate. But it is a strange coincidence that the one time Dean is ever in California, pointedly trying not to think about his little brother hours away in Palo Alto, he gets a voicemail saying Sam’s in the hospital. Pre-Series.

Sam leaves two days later with the doctor’s approval. Dean lets Sam lean on him as he walks him to the car and it brings back a flood of memories. This weight is familiar, this bent posture and bodily support.

Last time he did this, it was a hunt. A werewolf got the drop on Sam while he was looking out for John. Sam was younger then, looked more fragile, and despite all the hours of sparring Dean still found himself thinking that if Sam were to get thrown around, he’d shatter into a million pieces.

It’s funny how the feeling resurfaces at the most inconvenient times.

It’s not funny how it seems to take near-death experiences to bring the Winchesters back together. If Sam heard him say that, he’d say that Dean was being dramatic, that appendectomies are a routine procedure and people get them done all the time. Yeah, Dean would say. Well, most people aren’t you, are they?

Sam sits down gingerly and a little hunched over. He can’t sit up too straight or he’ll tear the stitches. Dean starts the car and risks a small smile at Sam, who’s wincing as he shifts his weight. Some piece of him feels like it’s back in place. He can never sleep, not really, not when Sam is so far away and Dean doesn’t know what he’s getting up to, if he’s safe.

It feels good to look over at the passenger seat and have it not be empty for once. Good in a dangerous way, like it might be taken away from him.

They head to the dorm to get what little stuff Sam owns. His blanket and pillow, his backpack full of books. Some clothes. Dean shoves some guns and knives to the side and makes as much room as he can.

Dean takes a little mercy on him and plays his music more quietly than he’s used to. Sam is a bit like a horse right now, easily spooked and not to be snuck up on. Dean has to approach him very carefully. He’s scared he’ll come out of the fog of medication and realize he doesn’t want to stay with Dean after all, that he hates him too much, and Dean is trying to enjoy the time he does get with him while all too aware that it’s going to come to an end sooner rather than later.

You never can just be happy, can you, Dean? he thinks.

“Dean,” Sam says. “What is this place? I mean, how’d you find an apartment on such short notice? It’s not that easy, you know? There’s like, credit scores and interviews and everything.”

Dean laughs, turning into a parking lot.

“My friend Claire here’s dad owns these buildings. She said they’re between renters and she got her dad to swing it for us as long as I pay in advance and we don’t overstay our welcome.” Sam snorts, shaking his head.

“You’re crazy,” Sam says, and it sounds fond. Dean clears his throat against emotion and sneaks a glance to the side.

“So, uh...How you doin’? With the pain and everything.” Sam shrugs.

“I’m fine.” Dean gives him a look. “No, dude. Seriously, it’s not even bad,”

“Yeah,” Dean says. “That’s ‘cause you’re comparing it to getting your ass kicked by vengeful spirits.”

“Probably,” Sam agrees. He’s quiet for a moment, swallows and then clears his throat, eyebrows furrowing, and Dean thinks, here it is. Better to rip off the band-aid, right? At least Sam didn’t lead him on any longer, didn’t let him get all settled and happy in the new apartment first.

“Hey,” Sam begins. “I wanted to tell you...”

Dean’s hands tighten their grip on the wheel.

“Just...” Sam sighs. “Just thank you for coming, you know? I know we left on bad terms and-“ A shake of his head. “I didn’t wanna leave it like that, but Dean, I was...And then you just- I woke up and you were there, and I wanted to thank you for that.”

“Sam,” Dean says dismissively, trying to hide his surprise. “Come on,”

“No, really,” Sam insists. “It’s uh...It’s more than Dad would have done, you know? I’ve always been able to...to count on you. Always.” Dean looks at Sam then, holds the eye contact for a moment as he parks the car.

“Well, what kinda brother would I be if I missed the chance to see you in that hospital dress? A bit breezy, huh, Sammy?” Sam smiles.

“Shut up. Let’s get our stuff moved in.”

“Woah, there. I think you mean it’s time for me to get our stuff moved in.”

“Dean,”

“Sam, you just got surgery, okay? Sit down and relax for ten goddamn minutes. For me, alright?” Sam relents at that, sighs.

“Fine,” he says. Dean grins.

“Hey, there you go. This’ll only take a minute.”

After setting the things down on a couch (fully furnished apartment, thank you), Dean goes down and helps Sam get out of the car.

This would be a lot goddamn easier if Sam weren’t fucking ten feet tall but Dean manages, helps him slowly and carefully go up the stairs and threatens to redo the stitches himself if Sam tears them, just like the old days. Sam winces at the memory and says he’ll pass and Dean laughs.

“Who could ever pass up the surgical precision of Dean Winchester?”

“I could. And probably anyone else with a brain,”

“Saved your ass a few times,” Dean counters. “Sewed you up like a goddamn blouse,”

“Yeah,” Sam admits “But if it’s between you and the hospital...”

“California’s spoiled you,”

“And you disinfect cuts with Jack Daniels,”

“Ah,” Dean says wistfully. “Medicine,”

Dean holds up Sam while he twists the doorknob and pushes it the rest of the way open with his foot.

“Well, home sweet home, Sammy.”

Sam takes in his surroundings, eyebrows raising.

“You like?” Dean asks.

“Dean, it’s- It’s nice.” Dean smiles, pride or smugness. It’s fine, he thinks he deserves to have either after scoring them a place this nice. He could have just bought out a motel room, but he wanted this to be more comfortable for both of them, for it to feel like more of a home.

“You’re damn right it is. So, uh. It’s two bedrooms. One bathroom. Small kitchen connected to a living room.”

“And we’ve got it for the month?”

“Yup. This is home for the next 30 days. What time is it?” Dean asks, and Sam squints at the clock over the couch.

“3:45.”

“Okay, so it’s time for your antibiotics...What’s that face for?” he says, taking in the intense way Sam is looking at him.

“It’s just...You’re serious about this. A whole month, you and me.”

“That a problem?”

“No, it’s just...we haven’t exactly gotten along the past couple years. You think we can pull this off?”

“Are you gonna be a bitch?” Dean asks, eyebrow raised.

“Wasn’t planning on it,” Sam says, annoyed. Dean throws his hands up.

“Not really seein’ the problem then.” Dean says. “Take your antibiotics, Sammy. If that gets infected you’re gonna have more pressing things to worry about than the month of hell I’m apparently subjecting you to.” Dean tries not to think about the end of the month, about driving away from him. He doesn’t know if he’ll be able to do it.

“Dean,” Sam says firmly. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

“Well it’s been two years, just like you said. Maybe I don’t know you anymore. Maybe you’re someone else now.” Sam bows his head. A guilt trip from Dean has always been able to get to him, age be damned. He’s a little too soft, but Dean’s not gonna beat that out of him when it works so well in his favor, and besides, the kid’s got the perfect eyes for it.

“I’m not that different.” Sam says quietly.

“Well then, Sam” Dean says gently. “I think we’re gonna be okay, here. I mean, look around us. We have a nice place here, for once. It’s not some crap motel room in the middle of nowhere, and this time...This time I can take better care of you.” Sam’s jaw clenches.

“You mean it’s not gonna be like when Dad used to abandon us?” Dean sighs.

“He was working, and you know that, Sam. But yeah,” Dean says tiredly. “I mean, I’m older. I go on hunts alone, and- and I can take care of you the right way now. I’m not some dumb little kid anymore.”

“You shouldn’t have had to do that, you know.” Sam says, and it lands hard, shatters like a plate.

“Yeah, well.” Dean says. He gets up and puts his jacket on.

“Dean, I’m sorry,” Sam says hurriedly. “Don’t leave.” Dean turns around fast, eyebrows furrowed

“Sam- No, I’m- I’m gonna be right back. I just need to get us a few things. Food and stuff like that.”

“Oh,” Sam says, looking embarrassed. “Well, I still-“

“Dude,” Dean says, hand up in the air. “Don’t worry, okay? I’m not taking off. I’ll be back in 20. Just try not to die on Day 1, okay?” Dean’s just about out the door when he hears Sam call “Could you get some vegetables at least?” and he grins to himself, closing the door behind him.

He’s smiling while he drives. Sam hadn’t wanted Dean to take off, thought he’d really pissed him off with the Dad comments, and yeah, Dean definitely didn’t enjoy those, but it wasn’t worth getting into it. They had plenty of time to fight later on and after that night when Sam left, Dean was good on fights for a long time.

He just didn’t know if he could say the same about Sam. Maybe if he avoided those hot button topics they could make it. Maybe even be brothers again, like a real family.

Dad couldn’t know, would be pissed if he knew Dean was leaving people defenseless when he could be out hunting. The problem was that Dean had some kind of big brother loophole in his sense of duty that made Sam the most important person in the world, and if John got mad about that, well. It was his fault Dean was like this in the first place.

But Sam hadn’t wanted Dean to leave, had wanted him to stay, and he thought back to Sam saying he was scared and wondered if Sam thought about Dean as much as he thought about Sam, and all that had kept them apart was some Winchester pride and a huge misunderstanding. That would be so like them, two years of radio silence just because they were both too proud to make the first call.

It never used to be that way before. They used to be close. They used to laugh and joke and be kinder to each other, and then Sam grew up and got angry and him and John were in constant shouting matches and then Sam, well, the more Dean thinks about it, Sam got kicked out. He’d thought differently for so long, but after that conversation at the hospital he’d started to see it, see that night clearly and with new eyes and he saw the look on Sam’s face and the way he closed the door timidly instead of slamming it and he knew Sam was right.

And if Dean has been 22 and afraid of losing Sam, he wondered how it must have felt to be 18 and abandoned by your family. To take a bus all the way to California alone. Sam could have gotten into the wrong car while hitchhiking, gotten attacked and died before he even made it halfway there, and Dean had been so blind with rage he hadn’t even thought about it.

Sam could have died and Dean wouldn’t have even known, would have just thought Sam cut them off and decided to never talk to them again. New horror spread throughout his chest even thought it was a hypothetical situation and one from the past anyhow, and he decided to busy himself with looking at the produce, trying to find fresh fruit and vegetables so Sam wouldn’t starve to death.

[thatfanficstuff]

Forward - Thorin

Pairing: Thorin x reader

Warnings: Pure Fluff

A/N: I haven’t written Thorin in ages. This was for a request from wattpad.

***

The last thing Thorin expected to see when he entered the hobbit’s home was you. His eyes found you immediately and you gave him a soft smile. He fought his desire to return it. There was nothing happy about this moment. You shouldn’t be here. His gaze shifted from you to the wizard beside you.

Gandalf stared him down as if daring him to question your presence. It wasn’t worth it. Not now. They’d discuss this later. They had for more pressing things to talk about at the moment. Once matters had been settled and the hobbit discussed, the room’s attention turned to you.

“And who are you, lass?” Balin asked.

***

You cast a quick glance around the room before answering. “Y/N.”

After a pause, Kili spoke up. “That’s it? Just Y/N?”

You hummed in agreement. Your lips twitched when you felt Thorin’s heavy gaze on you. Oakenshield was not happy you were here. Not happy at all. And you didn’t care in the slightest. You were here because Gandalf told you that only you could save the line of Durin and then promptly forbid you from speaking of it. Stupid wizard.

“No offense, but I don’t think this to be the best journey for a female,” Dwalin said.

You glanced at Gandalf instead of responding.

He straightened as well as he could in the home that was much too small for him and cleared his throat. “Y/N possesses the skills and advantages of both her hobbit mother and dwarf father. She is more than capable of taking care of herself. And her presence is a necessity should you wish to succeed in your mission.”

Noise filled the room as the dwarves began to discuss Gandalf’s announcement. It went silent as their king spoke. “I don’t want her with us. In fact, I forbid it.”

You choked on your drink and turned to him with a lifted brow. He simply stared back with a blank expression. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing that I don’t take orders from the likes of you then, isn’t it, Oakenshield?”

***

A week had passed and while the others had warmed to your presence, Thorin had yet to say a word to you. While you had found it amusing at first, now it annoyed you. You quickly decided there was no better way to entertain yourself than trying to make the grumpy king talk to you. You started by doing minor things you knew would annoy him. But instead of chastising you directly, he’d tell Dwalin to do it.

After a solid day of playing annoy Thorin, which Kili and Fili enjoyed immensely, you decided to switch tactics. You waited until after the evening meal when everyone settled to spend a bit of time before sleeping. You dug your comb from your bag and settled behind Thorin on the log he was leaning against.  

The others went quiet and watched with wide eyes when you took a section of Thorin’s hair and started to comb through it. Gasps went up from the others and their king chuckled lowly. But he still spoke not a word to you. Which also meant he didn’t tell you to stop. So, you kept working through his hair a little at a time. The others soon returned to their conversations but they continued to look between you and Thorin.

You were nearly finished and he remained stoic and silent. Fine. What you were about to do would assure he had to at least acknowledge your presence. You knelt beside him and placed your comb on his thigh. He frowned at it before looking at you out of the corner of his eye. “Your braid needs to be redone,” you told him, keeping your voice low so only he could hear.

The corner of his mouth quirked up and he turned his head to give you a better angle. The moment your fingers touched his braid, the others protested loudly. Balin got to his feet. “Now just a moment, lass. You may have been raised among the hobbits but did no one tell you the importance of a dwarf’s braids? You are being entirely too forward.”

Thorin was grinning and you crossed your arms with a frown.

“And you,” Balin said, turning his fury on his king. “Not talking to her is one thing. Allowing this is quite another.”

Everyone had fallen silent again, waiting to see what your reaction would be. Your gaze narrowed as you realized Thorin had no intention of clarifying anything. So, you did what anyone would do in the same situation. You leaned forward and ran your fingers through his beard. As soon as Thorin’s eyes drifted shut at the contact, you tugged. Hard.

He yelped and glared at you.

“They think I’m being too forward, Thorin. What do you think?” If the dwarf king was a smart man, he would heed the warning in your tone.

“All right, amralime. I will cease my teasing.” He looked around the camp. “Y/N is my wife.”

That caused another uproar which you ignored. You simply nodded once and resettled yourself to redo his braid. You slid the beads off the end and slipped them into a pocket to keep them safe. While he told the story of how the two of you met and married within weeks, you redid the braid and put the beads, including the one signifying the marriage, back where they belonged.

You started to get up when you finished only for Thorin to grab your wrist and pull you into him. He wrapped an arm around you and held you against his side while he finished answering questions.

“Can we call you, auntie?” Kili asked and the others chuckled.

You blinked at him. “Only if I can box your ears when you misbehave.”

He frowned. “Y/N it is then.”

“All right, enough,” Thorin finally declared. “Allow me some time with my wife.”

After another round of congratulations, they moved around the fire so the two of you had plenty of room to either side. You nuzzled against his side and he kissed the top of your head. “I was beginning to think you weren’t going to tell them.”

“I was just seeing how long it would take you to demand I speak.” The laughter in his voice had you pinching his side.

“I don’t like it when you don’t talk to me,” you said.

He made a noise of agreement. “And I don’t like it when you sleep so far from my side.”

“Our bedrolls are literally three feet apart, Thorin.”

“Yes. Too far.” After another stretch of silence, he spoke again. “I still wish you hadn’t come. I worry for your safety.”

“I told you when we married that I would make a horrible housewife. My place is by your side. Wherever that may be.”

“So you did, amralime.”

That night, you laid wrapped in Thorin’s arms and knew there was nowhere else you belonged.

[seokiloquy]

For You, Black Petals - Oikawa Tooru

AU: Hanahaki

Revamp

FEM! Reader

Word Count: 2.3K+

It’s alright to love someone who does not love you back, as long as they're worth you loving them. As long as they deserve it. 

Cassandra Clare

When you woke up, you were drowned beneath flower petals. It got worse. They lined your pillow and fell in between the spaces beside your bed. How did it happen when you were sleeping? You guessed that unrequited love doesn’t stop even in your sleep. It stays with you. 

Every day when you woke up, you hoped that you wouldn’t see them. You hoped that you didn’t feel what you did. 

Just yesterday, the flowers were blood red. Now, they were black. The pressure in your chest grew every time you took a breath, the air you needed to live fed the flowers that killed you. You could tell it was nearing the end and if you were going to die soon then you had to see him one last time.

Slowly, you sat up on your bed and took deep breaths. It helped, but nothing could stop the pressure in your chest that led to nothing but flowers. A strong pull in your lungs bent you forward and a hard cough made black flower petals to fall from your mouth. 

It was getting more frequent. They started in high school when you first saw him. He was a second year volleyball player with light brown hair and a sweet smile on his lips. 

You knew from that moment that you were doomed.

Officially, you met Oikawa when he hit you with a volleyball and broke the school project that you spent two weeks making. After that, he offered to buy you lunch in repayment and talk to your teacher — who thankfully, allowed you to redo it. That lunch turned into another, which turned into another, which turned into another, and by the end of it, the two of you became close. 

Just not in the way you hoped. 

You’ve only heard random stories about the Hanahaki Disease, mystical rumours of family members and far away classmates getting it, and most of them got the cure right away at the request of their close family and friends.

The cure itself was simple. A surgery could easily remove all of the flowers that stemmed in the lungs and you’d be free. However, once you woke up, all of your romantic feelings, past, present or future, would be gone. 

Despite how it would save your life, you never understood how people could go through with it, get the surgery to live, but to never love again. 

You wouldn’t do it. You couldn’t live your life knowing that that part of yourself would be gone forever, that love would be replaced by emptiness. 

The coughing itself didn’t hurt as much as the first time it happened and now it was more like a numb feeling than actual pain.  

The coughing stopped gradually and you could finally breathe again, or at least the closest thing to it. You gathered all the flower petals from your bed and the ground and threw them in the garbage can. You dug through your nightstand drawer until you found your lighter. 

Over the years, you’ve gotten pretty good at hiding them. You’d wake up earlier than anyone in your family and dispose of them. No one could find out. 

You lowered your hand into the garbage can and set the flowers ablaze. 

If you were going to go up in flames, might as well bring them with you.    

“(Y/N)!!” You turned around at the sound of your name. A happy Oikawa flung his arms across your shoulder and hugged you tightly. You decked your head hoping that he wouldn’t see your blush. “Where were you yesterday? You were supposed to meet me for lunch at the park. I texted you like 20 times.” 

“Sorry,” you lied. “My mom wanted me to help her out with something, so I turned off my phone. I forgot to call you.” 

Oikawa looked at you skeptically. Panic flooded your chest. Did he know? He had to know. He could see right through you. His eyebrows furrowed and a small frown found his lips. “Fine, but you are not skipping on me at lunch today. I forgive you only because it’s you.”  

You smiled and maintained it as you lied through your teeth and you recalled what you did with your mom to Oikawa. You told him that you had to help your mom pick flowers, which you thought was kind of funny in the saddest way. 

It was worse than the day before. You woke up violently coughing up flowers which woke your parents up. They found you lying on the floor with a trail of petals led from your bed to your mouth.

Your mom screamed when she saw them and immediately rushed over to you. Once the coughing stopped, she dragged you back to bed and begged you to get the surgery.    

“Please, (Y/N), get the surgery. Please. I do not care who they are, you can’t die over them,” she begged. 

She was holding you in your bed as she cried. 

You shook your head. “I can’t.” 

“Please. He isn’t worth you dying.” 

“He is to me,” you said. “He is to me.” 

You sat there in silence as your mom kept begging you to get the surgery. You knew that she would have dragged you there herself, but the person getting the surgery had to be fully willing to get it and you clearly weren’t.

From that point on you tried to stop loving him for your mom, but even you couldn’t lie to yourself like that. Every day you whispered to yourself a monologue about how you were never going to be anything more than just friends and that you should just move on. However, it only made you sad to remind yourself about all the things you already knew and how it wasn’t going to change another.  

“Are you okay?” Oikawa asked as a concerned look flashed across his face. “You spaced out for a second.”  

You nodded. “I’m fine. I’ll meet you on the roof okay?” 

He grinned and linked his arms with yours. “Good. I’d be all alone if I didn’t have you.” 

“You have Iwaizumi.” 

“Yeah, but ever since he got a girlfriend he spends a lot of time with her. I’d be completely alone.”

“There are worse things...” you whispered. 

Oikawa peered closer to you. “What was that?” 

You shook your head and smiled. “Nothing. Let’s get to class.” 

You were waiting on the roof as promised. You heard the chatter from below you as you leaned over the edge of the roof. You couldn’t decide if it would be cool or terrifying to the people below you if they randomly saw flowers floating down from the sky if you coughed. 

Seeing Oikawa consistently during school helped with the flowers. It was like tricking your body into thinking that you actually had his love when you didn’t. You hadn’t coughed since last night and took that as a good sign. Maybe he was starting to love you back. 

“Ah! (Y/N), get away from the ledge. It’s dangerous,” you heard Oikawa shout. He quickly came behind you and pulled you back from the ledge. 

“What?” you said crossing your arms, “it’s not like I was going to jump or anything. It’s funny when it looks like people are five times smaller than you.” 

He rolled his eyes. “It’s just dangerous okay? I don’t want my friend to accidentally fall down and die.” 

You had to fight the urge to cringe at the word. You didn’t need another reminder that you aren’t going to be anything more than just friends with him, especially from Oikawa himself.

“Are you okay?” Oikawa asked. He was already sitting on the ground, his bento box in front of him. “You keep spacing out.” 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” 

You took off your backpack and sat down in front of him, taking out your own bento. The two of you ate in silence. The only sound was coming from below you where students were scrambling to find seats in the courtyard. 

After you finished your meal, both you and Oikawa put your things away and laid down facing the clear sky. 

“What are you thinking now?” Oikawa asked, pushing out his hand to cover the sun from his eyes. 

The sun was directly over you, but it didn’t bother you. “The sky is blue, and the sun is shining.” 

And you’re never going to love me like I love you.

Oikawa was walking home after practice. His school bag and gym bag weighed down on his shoulders. He turned the corner to his house and saw a person pacing on it. Their back was facing him so he couldn’t make out who they could be. They didn’t have a big build, so he could definitely take them if they decided to attack. 

He walked up slowly to his door, making his footsteps loud so that the person could hear him coming. The person turned their head towards Oikawa and stopped pacing.

Oikawa stopped in front of her. She looked like an older version of you, but there were worry lines around and redness around her eyes. 

“Oikawa?” she asked, her hand covering her mouth as if she was trying to stop herself from crying. 

He furrowed his eyebrows, but nodded. 

“You’re friends with my daughter, right? The one who plays volleyball?” 

He nodded again. 

The woman dropped to her knees and took Oikawa’s hands into her own. Oikawa widened his eyes in alarm and dropped to his knees too. “Are you already?”

“Please tell my daughter to get the surgery. I...I can’t lose her especially from the same disease that took my sister. (Y/N) needs the surgery,” she cried, tears falling from her face onto Oikawa’s hands. “She won’t let me take her. She refuses to take the surgery, and it got really bad. The flowers turned black.” 

“Wait, (Y/N)’s sick?” Oikawa croaked. 

“You didn’t know?” she wiped her tears with her shirt. “She has Hanahaki.” 

Oikawa forze. “What? Who?” 

The woman wiped her hand across her cheek and looked up to meet Oikawa’s eyes. She blinked and then shook her head. “For you.” 

You made your way slowly to the park, taking breaks every few blocks.

It was getting harder to breathe. Every step you took, made you take another breath, one you didn’t have, and with every breath you could feel more flowers grow in your lungs, blocking your airway. 

One more step, you told yourself, one more step to see him.

Eventually, you made it to the park where the cherry blossoms were. You saw Oikawa standing in the middle of the path. The sun had just come up and there wasn’t a cloud in sight, it was a beautiful day. The mixture of light pink and white blossom petals decorated the ground, but the trees that were over your head were still full of petals.

Once you stepped closer, you noticed the look on his face. His eyes were drooping, and his lips were pursed into a frown. You tilted your head to the side but still waved to him. 

Then you felt it. 

There was a sharp pressure in your chest, and you couldn't breathe. Your knees buckled from under you and you braced yourself with your hands so you didn’t completely fall over. 

You started coughing. 

The black rose petals stood out between the colours of pink and white. There was something different about the petals. Still black, wilted, but covered with fresh deep red blood. You put your hand to your mouth and when you drew it back it was saturated with the deep red. You stared at it as your hand shook. 

“(Y/N)!” Oikawa shouted. He was by your side within seconds.

You coughed again and more blood mixed with petals fell out of your mouth. 

He pulled out his phone to call an ambulance, but was stopped short by your hand. You gently pushed his hand down. 

“Stop it!” He shouted at you and winced back his hand. “You need to have the surgery. I don’t care if you never feel anything for me again. I don’t want you to die, I can’t let you die.” 

The pressure on your chest grew as you spoke, but he needed to hear the words even if it would kill you. “I’m not getting the surgery,” you wheezed, “I love you too much.” 

“Don’t be an idiot,” Oikawa started, but the words slowly died in his mouth. If you had really let the flowers grow this much, could anything he said make you change your mind? Wouldn’t you have done it already? He knew you. Your stubbornness came to the undying need to never stop loving and he hated you for that. 

He hated you. 

“I wish you told me,” he whispered. You laid in his arms, savouring the moment. Flowers came up once in a while, but your breaths were short and uneven. “I don’t know why this is happening. How could I not see this was happening? I care about you so much, that should be enough.” 

You shook your head. Your words were breathy and broken, as you said, “you don’t love me the way I love you. I can’t force you to love me. That’s not how it works.” 

“You should have told me,” he repeated. “I would have loved you. I would’ve loved you the same way, maybe even more.” 

You smiled slightly and shook your head, your breaths getting shorter. “It’s okay.” 

Oikawa closed his eyes, tears spilling out of his eyes. Your eyes started to close too. He could feel you letting go. 

The wind changed and more cherry blossom petals fell to the floor, covering the black roses and blowing them away. 

“It’s a beautiful day,” you whispered, with your last heartbeat. 

Oikawa nodded, biting his lip. “The sky is blue, and the sun is shining. It’s a beautiful day.”          

(has nothing to say) -Kiwi

Posted: 03/08/2020

[dreaming-gamer]

DMC Week Day 7: College AU

For my final entry for DMC week, I chose to write the trio as college students playing Final Fantasy XIV – Nero, V & Nico.

A self-indulgent AU fic (haven’t played Final Fantasy XIV in years) based on a few college headcanons.

Thank you to everyone and all that’s read my works during this week! Your support means a lot ❤️❤️❤️ Here we go, hope you enjoy!

Nero as Warrior, tank

Nico as Machinist, damage dealer

V as Summoner, damage dealer

***

Nero nervously stared at his health-bar steadily going down as attack after attack scratched down his life despite all the buffs his character had on. The controller vibrated furiously in his hands, his jaw clenched. The boss would be dead at any second and the healer was trying their best but the bad connection they had so far had was making Nero nervous. Wasn’t a heal long overdue? Weren’t their character just standing still?

“If you perish, I got Resurrection ready.” V said, his voice ever so calm that it actually made Nero grin. Was he ever happy he’d gotten himself this new headset that let him regulate game and party sounds separately? Yeah, they were in a bad spot, but the boss was so close to dead now. They’d get through it.

“Nico!” He called the second the limit break chime could be heard in his headset.

“On it!” Nero could basically hear the buttons on her controller being slammed, together with her laughter. “Eat this!” Nico’s machinist character pulled out the crossbow, ready for the shot that would send the boss to oblivion.

“Dammit!” Nero shifted his character as an AoE marker appeared under his feet, along with certain death as his health was reaching less than 5000. Even if V revived him instantly, Nero as the tank dying now might just spell their doom.

The boss inched after him, leaving the indicated line of Nico’s limit break. Winds whipped around their characters, but they all managed to avoid more injury.

“Whoa, whatcha doing?!” Nico exclaimed in disbelief.

“Just aim again!” Thrill of Battle was back off cooldown, restoring some of his health. Sweet.

“It got used up, asshole! Healer dc’ed!” Nico’s voice snapped his focus back. Another buff off cooldown and he used it.

“What?!” Did that have to happen at this crucial moment? One quick glance at the party list said ??? for the healer’s status.

“Nero, your Holmgang should be ready for use. Just hold on.” V calmly stated and Nero blinked as he realized V was right. Had he been counting seconds since the last four minutes??

“Fuck!” The progress bar over the boss’ life told him a tankbuster was coming. Nero waited, his finger on the trigger for Holmgang, his sweet 6-seconds of almost invincibility to save him if needed. He pushed the button, the bright orange line above the boss filled the entire way, the hit connected, the controller in his hands vibrating valiantly. Hit points sailing down to zero. Swears bubbled up in his chest, flowed out of him like a sailor when the boss started to move towards Nico. But it had sooo little HP left!

“I pushed the button, I swear!” Nero shouted in disbelief, heart pounding in his chest, did they really have to redo this??

A sharp blast of white light engulfed the boss, sending it to the ground and the screen faded to black for a second before the victory cutscene played, with Nero’s own character magically on his feet. This was why he loved having V as a summoner on their team.

“Freaking finally! We did it!” Nico celebrated. Nero grinned, feeling as if a stone lifted off his shoulders.

“Let’s check gear!”

“No healer means one less to compete with!” Nico singsonged, letting her character put her grabby hands on the treasure chest. A healer chestpiece popped up on screen. Nero’s sigh was mimicked by Nico, none of them were a healer, not even close. At least there was a Strength ring for him to grab.

Nero blinked as the notifications told him V had grabbed the healer chestpiece. Unprompted, the summoner spoke.

“Perhaps I should go as a scholar, for our next dungeon. Our luck with healers tonight has been… less than fruitful.”

“Nah man, continue with summoner if you want, we’ll be--”

“Do it!” Nico stated on the top of her lungs, her microphone bumping into her chin as she grabbed for a cigarette. “I wanna see the end of the next dungeon tonight!”

“I can go paladin for extra heals.” Nero shrugged, even if neither of his companions could see it.

“And give up that sweet damage, really?” Nico teased, making Nero huff.

“I can play defensively every once in a while.”

“Uh huh…” Nico snickered, while all he heard from V was a chuckle.

“What, I can! Come on, let’s go to the next one!” Nero prompted and grabbed for his soda, eager to go again. Leaning his head back for a sip, there were just two drops meeting his tongue. Damn, when had his beverage run out?

“As… enjoyable as progressing further would be, I am fairly certain you both have lectures in the morning?” V said matter-of-factly while there was a weak rustling of a book page being turned coming from his microphone.

“Yeah, so? I can do it for a bit longer--” Nero started, checking his phone for time. It was waaay too late! “It’s already FIVE?!”

Dry coughing made it clear Nico had just swallowed smoke.

“Y-y-yer…” Cough. “kid-ding!”

“Hell no!” Nero exclaimed.

“Why didn’t ya say somethin’?!” Nico coughed at the sole calm person.

“I did try to, both at one and three o’clock. You both were a bit too… absorbed in what we were doing.” V calmly stated, making Nero groan, oh yeah, they might have been into everything. It wouldn’t be the first time…

“I gotta scram, I’ve got an exam tomor-- today!” With that, Nico’s character was logged out, her voice chat icon offline.

Nero sighed.

“Hope that works out for her. What about you V?” The sign out option showed up at the click of a menu and Nero clicked himself out, the calming music of the title screen trickling through his second-hand headset that smelled of energy drink. At most he’d be able to get what, two hours of sleep? Was it even worth it at this point?

“I will attempt to sleep. I do not have a lecture until the afternoon.”

“Lucky you, vampire.” Nero snorted, his dormmate’s chuckle meeting his ears. “Catch you at lunch then?”

“If I have awakened until then, yes.”

“Great.” Nero knew he should log off, get some sleep. But damn, he didn’t feel sleepy at all. He knew something would keep him up, if he went now.

“Hey V?” He tried, hoping the other hadn’t shut off his headset just yet.

“Yes Nero?” V didn’t sound bothered by the quiet inquiry, despite being about to head to sleep. Nero inhaled, through his nose.

“I told you my grade dropped a bit, right? From last exam?” During the day, he brushed it off, no problem. But at night, it was hard to not feel some… nervousness over what could happen, if his grades dropped too much. Nero needed to keep it up, if he wanted a new scholarship and he not only wanted that scholarship, he needed it so badly to stay.

“Yes.” A pause, followed by V softly closing a book. “Are you worried it might happen again?” He softly asked.

Nero scratched his nose, V even knew before he voiced the issue? He wasn’t sure if he felt relieved or called out.

“Yeah, something like that. I know our subjects are pretty different…” No shit, considering V was reading the classical poems and literary works of people whose names Nero barely could pronounce. But V had great study technique, always fixing his assignments on time, something that Nero had failed to do, several times. He admired that, about the dorm vampire with a love for classical music. V’s voice was always a joy to listen to as well. Maybe he didn’t say everything he was thinking, but his voice was deep, calming at this late hour.

“But, you up for studying together? Someday this week? I think I need someone to help me not procrastinate so much and Nico is not that…” If anything, she either sat with her notes and realized she had found out something brilliant for her own studying, or she was digging the rock music Nero always put on while studying, just as much as he was.

“I don’t mind.” V replied, making Nero grin with relief over having one guy in his corner. “We can start with hiding your headphones. Or your Bluetooth speaker.”

“Right…” Maybe that wasn’t such a bad idea, Led Zeppelin did snatch his focus otherwise. Nero let out a small laugh. “But you’ll give the headphones back, right? I need those for my morning runs.”

“Hmm, perhaps.” His dormmate teased.

“Or you’ll come along on my morning runs to keep me company?” Nero tried, he had given hints to get V to join him in the fresh air, the early morning sun for weeks now.

“Too chilly for me, I’m afraid.” Was the soft reply. “I will retire for now, Nero. Do try to get some sleep.”

“Yeah, fine… Thanks V.” Nero’s eyelids actually felt a bit heavier now.

“You’re welcome. Goodnight. Or perhaps, good morning.” V replied with a chuckle.

Nero groaned, giving a goodnight before ending the voice chat.

[sasuhinasno1fan]

Eternal eclipse - Klance Month Week 4

I have no idea where I was going with this but it happened, so yeah. I do wanna redo week 2 of @monthlyklance at some point, but I’ve got a mer bang to finish, so don’t be too surprised if the last prompt for this week is late. Enjoy I guess. Eclipse/Victory

“I’m the sun and your the moon.”

“What does that even mean?”

“We’re apart, but an eclipse is a moment worth watching.”

Keith burst into laughter. “That made no sense.”

“Yes it does!”

“No it doesn’t.”

Crappy webcams couldn’t distort the pout on Lance’s lips.

“What I mean is when they do get to pass each other, it’s one of the world greatest wonders and us being reunited would be the airport’s greatest wonder. Or at least, me getting to see you would be mine.”

While the analogy made no sense what so ever, knowing that he was Lance’s always put a smile on his face. Even when they were miles apart.

He and Lance met at a convention and had a slight competition over who had the better mecha lion cosplay from their shared favourite show, Space Warriors. Keith wouldn’t admit it then, but Lance had won with his Blue Lion cosplay, seeing as the people he came with were engineers and had made the moving pieces of their costumes. Lance himself, despite being a professional stage manager, was able to create the light up weapons they used. Keith made his Red Lion cosplay with hard work and long nights but he was willing to wave the white flag, if Lance hadn’t been so smug about it. In the 3 days of the convention, they always seemed to bump into each other, competing over the smallest things, like who could get a better score in the game room or who could find the better deal on a plush in the dealer’s hall. Even though they spent a good amount of time arguing, Lance had given him his number and told him to call if he ever wanted to admit Lance was better.

Keith was mostly never planning but he was working on a cosplay and the top didn’t look right and he had no other friends who liked cosplay, so he texted Lance.

‘Ah, so you admit I am the better cosplayer. it’s fine, no need to send a voice memo saying so. By the way, the shirt is the wrong colour if that’s the character your going for. You can actually order to correct colour from Jo Anne’s if you want to make it yourself. Check H&M or Forever 21 for similar looking shirts in the correct colour.’

While he rolled his eyes at how utterly smug the guy sounded, he took his advice. It was easier to get the shirt and fix it up himself and it was actually surprising how close to the real thing he needed was. Their relationship continued in asking for advice on cosplays or line ups for conventions and then he happened to find Lance’s Instagram.

Keith kept his cosplays and personal life separate, but Lance combined everything. Pictures of his cat, pictures of the beach, pictures of his friends as they lounged around, somewhat professional pictures as Lance worked, even though Keith knew enough about theatre to know Lance should be completely in the dark in the booth. So, Keith started asking questions about his life, Lance asked about his and they started to become friends. Lance could still be as snooty about his cosplay skills as possible but he was always helpful when it came to offering advice. Somehow it took finding a small fandom they both liked to make them closer.

“Whoa, wait a second. You like Kirarin Revolution?”

“Yeah?” Keith had been playing his usual cosplay making focus playlist and the second opening had come on and Lance heard it over the phone.

“Do you have any idea how hard it is to find someone who likes that anime? Almost no one knows it! I’ve been trying to find someone to be my Hiroto to my Seiji for a cosplay. What convention are you going to next?”

“Um, Galaxy Con?”

“Prefect, text me your sizes. we’re doing a cosplay together.”

“Wait, my size?”

“How else am I suppose to make your cosplay?”

“Wait what?”

Lance would not be swayed and when he arrived at his hotel on badge pick up day, like a hound dog, Lance found him and put him in his cosplay to do finishing touches. He even styled his wig for him.

“Why don’t we do this more?” Lance asked as he fixed the feathered pieces for the coat.

“Because you live in LA and I live in Texas.”

Despite Lance claiming not a lot of people knew the anime, they had made quite a hit at the convention. He became good friends with Hunk and Pidge and got to see another side to Lance that wasn’t hidden in smugness. Lance was actually a pretty nice guy and once they had separated again, they still kept that closeness they gained during that convention. They had even started to stream animes together, texting each other on everything.

Even with the distance between and the fact that they didn’t always go to the same convention and see each other, they kept getting closer and closer. One day, they were video chatting and Lance had been falling asleep on himself. His cat had joined him and was asleep herself and looking at him with his face squished by his hand, his half awake eyes and how he was all cosied up, Keith couldn’t help thinking he looked really cute.

He might not of been one for relationships, but was he even considering doing a relationship when your significant other lived so far away. Ok, maybe not that far, but long distance was hard. There was a reason it had such a stigma around it, even if people claimed it could work out.

Keith broached the subject and while ecstatic that Lance felt the same, he’d been as worried as Lance was. They were such good friends, what if this relationship didn’t work?

It took a lot of communication to make it work. Keith tended to keep things inside, including his nerves about how to act around Lance when they could meet at conventions. Lance was always nervous he’d be too clingy. There was a good moment where they stopped talking because not talking meant things couldn’t change or get worse. It was miserable and if it hadn’t been for Shiro – and Hunk on Lance’s side – it would of kept up. Once they talked everything through, it got better. It wasn’t like they’d go ages without seeing each other. Keith always saved up his vacation days at the Fire Station for conventions and he was always working so often anyway that the guys kept insisting he take more time off. Plus they loved teasing him about Lance, trying to sneak into the background of any video calls.

Lance would talk to Keith during shows that he knew the cues for like the back of his hand. He considered it worth getting in trouble for. he’d always count down to the next convention they’d meet at, somehow always knowing where he’d bump into Keith. they’d been doing it for a year now. There were long periods were they couldn’t  see each other at conventions, maybe due to flight issues or work and the distance, while manageable, did hurt. Keith didn’t know why he didn’t just take a random week off when the theatre Lance worked with was in the dark and just spend the week with him. Maybe the fear that without conventions, they’d fall apart. Not a healthy way to live, which was why he was sure Lance announced on this very chat he was coming to visit him. Which kinda lead to their discussion on eclipses. When Lance was in town, in between actually hanging out and not sticking to a convention schedule, he wanted to make a couples cosplay with him. they’d been bouncing back ideas, almost going with Zuko and Sokka from ATLA (even though Keith knew he was more into Zuko and Katara), when Keith went on a tangent about the BNHA manga.

“You know I rarely read manga half the time.” Lance complained.

“I think you’ll like this one. The artist made this little drawing moon Todoroki and Sun Izuku and tododeku shippers have been going insane. it’s a whole huge thing now. I mean, everyone already says things like ‘oh the moon and sun get to kiss each other during an eclipse’. I must of seen 1000 fan arts of those two getting their kiss.”

“Oh! We should do that! it’ll be like us!”

which then lead back into their current conversation.

“Lance, when I get to see you, it’s not going to be a one time thing to kiss you. If it’s up to me, I wouldn’t stop. We might not even get any cosplay work done because I’ll be too busy kissing you.”

“Ooh, eternal eclipse. Kinda like the final battle with the Dead Moon Circus.”

Keith furrowed his brow. “What?”

“Sailor Moon? My god Keith, we might not be doing any cosplay stuff if I have to school you on essential anime.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “It’s not essential.”

“Keith, it’s changed the whole game. it’s essential.”

Keith could put up being school with ‘essential anime’, as long as he got Lance with it.

[patchworkideas]

FiKi Week 2019: Day 4, Pet

Had been thinking about the Fair Folk and Elves some months ago and the idea ended up running away with my two favourite characters. I'm actually pretty proud of this one and after seeing the Prompt I couldn't resist posting this. Hope it's as enjoyable to read as it was to write.

 Can also be found on AO3:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20002828

- 

Elves can be tricky, with an otherworldly morality system that no one quite understands.  

Kili finds that out the hard way.  

He has been sitting on the edge of Mirkwood for a few days now and the thought of leaving had been impossible until a few moments ago.  

All that he could think about was his star, his Tauriel. He hadn't even registered the words that echo so loudly through his mind now, as he's running away from a predator that thinks him an easy meal. 

In this unknown body he probably is.  

She bewitched him. Ever since she visited him in the dungeons everyday, he had been lost, unable to think of anything but her. Every time he saw her, just another opportunity for her to get her claws deeper into his mind.  

In the end, he left Erebor. Left his family, everything he cared about, because his mistress asked and he couldn't resist the sirens call.  

How long even did he stay in Mirkwood, a pet among the elves, unable to think for himself?  

If those Rivendell Elves hadn't come, hadn't seen, hadn't demanded that he was set free, he would probably still be there. 

If that thing hadn't tried to eat him, he probably would have waited there until she came to collect her pet back.  

But he has his mind back, he's awake and clear in what feels like the first time in forever.  

He runs, and he hides and he tries to hunt on four foreign paws, his fur dirty and his new senses almost overwhelming him.  

He makes it to the Lonely Mountain.  

He makes it unseen through the back ways, and runs like the devil through the places he can't hide in. Bides his time. He knows he's getting dangerously thin, that no dwarf will look at him and see something worth saving.  

None but one.  

And when the opportunity comes, he takes it. He evades Dwalins hands as he screams his brothers name, just the first syllable, his mouth grating and painful even around that. He evades everything grasping him while he weaves through his legs, hides behind him, calling, calling, calling, crying out through the pain and doing it again. 

Only Fili may lift him.  

May see his puppy eyes look that has never failed before.  

And it doesn't.  

Fili bathes him, brushes his fur, cuddles him close. He loves him, even if just as a pet. Kili returns the sentiment, even as his brother pours out his heart in front of him, crying in his empty room for the brother he thought lost.

He doesn’t understand his cats desperate tries of communication though. Scratched in runes are ignored, ink pots almost impossible to get his paws into before he is scolded and lifted away. 

He watches as his brother starts letters he never finishes, never meant to send. Tells his faithful feline friend that Kili is happy were he is. That he's choosen who he wants to be with and it isn't with him.  

Fili never stops mourning. Kili never stops comforting him, or trying to make him understand.  

Kili makes his choice, somewhere between protecting him from the would be assassin whose eyes he scratches out and the gold digging dwarrowdams that Thorin thinks might cheer up his brother, unseeing that Fili agrees to being miserable for the sake of duty and nothing else. 

He wants to give a tongue lashing to them all, to let it get this bad. It will have to wait, like so much. 

Eventually, it's Ori that ends up seeing a pattern. Of a too smart cat that keeps desperately scratching in the same shapes whenever he can. His runes have become almost readable by then, from all the practice. Fili indulges the Scribe when he sets out a small bowl of ink and an empty piece of paper. 

Kili takes his time, careful to make the runes as clear as possible. With paws a piece of paper is not a lot of room. "Get Gandalf." is what he has to settle with. There's not enough room for more. Not with his blasted paws unable to write smaller. 

Ori brings out another paper, but speaks clear and slow, as if he hadn't proved his intelligence countless times by now, telling him to write the same message again. 

He does.  

He manages it smaller this time, adding a haphazard "HELP!" onto it. Partly to be contrary, and partly to get his desperation across. 

He knows he can't tell them his name. Too much hurt comes with the mention, too much that could distract. 

And if Gandalf can't help... Better not to give hope where there might be none. Kili doesn't know if his brother will survive losing him twice. 

- 

In the end, Fili swears Ori to secrecy and smuggles out a message requesting Gandalf's help.  

King Thorin will be furious, and his cat is already fairly disliked for being impossible to part from him, the Crown Prince, as is. He knows his Uncle allows it because his pet has made him smile again.  

Even though it insist on driving away any possible match.  

Fili thinks about yesterday, how he stood up about not wanting to have children with someone who couldn't even handle a cat, and how cats only live about a decade anyway, would it truly be too much to ask to wait that long to look for a match? 

His King might have been displeased, but it was the first thing his nephew had asked for himself ever since the battle, so his Uncle gave in. 

He asks the raven to hurry, wrote Gandalf the same. 

He doesn’t know how old his cat is, doesn't know how long he has, but after all it helped him with, all the comfort and quiet joy he had thought lost forever, well, they can call him insane and punish him all they want afterwards, he's not going to let his little friend down. 

Gandalf does eventually come, though unfortunately Fili can't get him alone before the old wizard strides into the hall and asks what the emergency is. 

Fili knows he can't bring this back into smaller circles, that, if he's wrong, he's going to show his insanity in front of the whole damn Court, but before he can truly worry his Cat jumps from his shoulder and runs away, towards the wizard.  

He has moved after it before he realises it, snatching it up just before it reaches the tall figure.  Every eye is on them, and Gandalf looks surprised for a second before a small smile breaks through.  

"Well, that is an emergency, I suppose. You did good in calling me." 

And he touches Fili's cat with his staff, the top of it just barely brushing it's head before a blinding light fills his eyes and the fur under his fingers changes and he becomes unable to hold him up anymore. 

And it is a him that now rest in his arms. A shape that's burned into his memory with the force of a thousand dragons fire, never, ever forgotten. Fili whispers the name like a prayer into the hair of the dwarf before him, before finally opening his eyes upon hearing what his cat has been trying to tell him all this time. 

"Hey, Fi. I'm home." 

- 

There are long discussions of course, after Fili used his coat to hide his naked brother from prying eyes before leading him to a smaller, more private chamber, with only their most trusted friends around.  

Kili tells the story, how he was enchanted, trapped and how he broke free, finding his way back.  

Gandalf looks caught between sad but resigned and angry and frustrated. 

Apparently making someone love someone else is not considered a crime among the wood elves as long as the person in question doesn't ask for the spell to end. Which was obviously ridiculous, considering the fact that he hadn't even known he was under a spell until his near death broke him out of it. (And didn't that change her appearance in the battle, never leaving his side. She was right there to redo the spell whenever the battle woke him up.) 

Kili knew there would be consequences for that disaster. 

But he was currently more concerned with settling something else, something that had become clear during his time as a pet. His eyes caught Fili's and he sent a short apology to him before he explained in detail why he had intervened in Fili's matchmaking. 

He made sure that both his uncle and his mother knew that Fili hadn't wanted any of it.  

That Fili had never said no to them before, never hid from duty, so how "could they" ask him to marry and act like he actually had a choice in the matter. Why, they were all but selling him off to the highest bidder and Fili would have accepted a lifetime of misery for a short economic boon to the mountain. 

Kili had a whole rant, all thought out, words sharpened over month and months and months of this nonsense, but he didn't need much of it before his family gave him what he wanted, without realising that that had been his goal all along. 

Thorin and Dis insisted that their happiness was their highest goal and that they would not try to marry either of them off. Of course they could wait for their One, or not marry at all if that made them happier. The matchmaking had only been because they had hoped that Fili would feel better with a Companion. 

In the end, it only took a few words in the right places, how Fili would do everything for that bloody mountain so how could they know he wouldn't pretend to be okay with it at a later time, and they had both Princes swear an oath that they would not marry for anything but the love of their One.  

Kili's included a vow to keep him away from any elves in the future. 

His brother was of course looking angrily at him the whole time. He was the only one who still saw through Kili like glass. Knew the Theatrics were deliberate. Knew he had made it sound as bad as possible and that nobody would believe Fili in this matter for quite some time. 

They would fight about it, when all was said and done, and they were finally allowed back to their room, with no eyes to watch them. 

Kili looked forward to it, to the rough and tumble, to the heated words pouring out of both of them, to feeling the weight of his brother in his arms and feel his strength when he reminded him that he saw and heard *everything*.  

That they had promised to never hide from each other and Fili had broken that promise long before the journey. 

Kili had made his choice while kneading his brothers skin with his paws, letting his rolling purr drown out the sobs and his rough tongue lap up the tears while his brother called out to the One he lost, Kili's name on his lips every night. 

He would eventually do the same in his own body, swallowing Fili's cries along with everything else Fili had wanted to give and hadn't let himself, afraid of hurting his little brother. 

But they were equals and Kili would make sure Fili finally understood that. He had their whole life for it now, with the oath to never love anyone but their One, anyone but each other, after all. 

Kili couldn't wait, and behind Fili's anger, the confusion and the fear of losing him again, well, he knew his brother inside out, and he wouldn't have to wait long at all. 

They were One, and nothing would come in between, never again.

[saltforthesea]

I don’t like you

Summary: Eleonora and Edoardo share their first kiss in the rain and Eleonora has to decide what happens next. And most of all: she has to admit that she does like him. More than she ever thought she would. 

Pairing: Eleonora Sava x Edoardo Incanti

Word Count: 1,7k

A/N: I haven’t written anything in nearly three years but after this cinematic masterpiece of a kiss I desperately wanted to write again. So this happened! English is not my first language tho so please bear with me <3

The rain was still pouring down on them when they finally separated. Edoardo was still holding Eleonoras face in his hands, cupping her cheeks carefully between his warm fingers as if he was holding some ancient dear to his heart statue that could break the second he let go of it. His thumbs were lazily caressing over her skin, running up and down her jawbone and then stopping right at her lips. Almost without realizing it, Eleonora planted a soft kiss against Edoardos fingers which made the latter let out a quiet chuckle. 

“You don’t like me, huh?” he asked her and closed the gap between them again. His nose brushed against hers, his hands moving from her face to her neck so he was able to tilt her head a little bit and give himself better access to her lips before their mouths finally reconnected again. Kissing Edoardo Incanti felt like watching a storm from the warm and safe comfort of your house. It was like watching the raindrops drumming against your window, demanding to be let in. It was wild and dangerous and untameable and at the same time, it felt safe and secure. It felt like coming home. It felt like being able to smile again after holding it back for an eternity.

“Not even a little bit”, Eleonora repeated her words from earlier and smiled broadly at him. It had only been a few minutes since she had told him these exact words. And they had hurt him. She had been able to tell by the way he looked at her. By the way, the almost too silent “Okay” had left his lips. But at this point, she had already said it. It had been to late to take it back.

She hadn’t meant to hurt him. Eleonora never wanted to hurt anyone. She had said those words because that had been the easiest things to say. It had been the easiest way to protect herself. Herself and her heart. The heart that had started to belong to a boy she had tried to hate so much but failed in the end. So of course, she hadn’t meant it. None of it. Of course, she liked him, but she had been denying it for so long now that it was hard to admit that she did care about him. It was hard to admit that she cared about Edoardo Incanti who did not only broke Silvia's heart but also played with so many hearts of other girls. Someone who had viewed girls as his personal trophies or at least pretended that he thought about them to be just that. It was hard to admit that Edoardo Incanti was nothing like the boy she thought he’d be. He was so much kinder than he tried to look like. He was soft and he cared. He loved deeply. He felt with his entire heart and he protected his friends. Edoardo Incanti was so much more than the cliché he tried to be. And she could see it now. She had been able to see it for a while now.

“Are you sure about that?” Edoardo asked her again and started planting kisses on her chin and down her neck. Ele could feel his grin against her skin as his lips brushed past the part of her neck where he could feel her pulse, giving away how fast her heart was beating in her chest. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump thump thump. Faster and faster the more he kissed her and the more the rain was pouring down on them. Faster and faster the more he made her feel like she was doing the right thing. That this was where she belonged. In his arms under the stars and in the rain. Safe. Secure. Home.

“Very sure”, she exhaled deeply and intertwined her fingers with his gorgeous hair. She had said so many times that she would hate his hair and now it was the only thing that kept her shaky knees from giving up on her. She was gripping on to the back of his head like he was her lifeline. Like he could save her from drowning.

They kissed for a few more minutes when Edoardo noticed that Ele was shaking. With the rain relentlessly pouring down on them it had gotten colder and colder with every passing minute. He started rubbing her back and pulled her even closer to him but that didn’t stop her from shaking. It was like her body had run out of adrenaline and had finally realized the noticeable temperature drop.

“Do you want me to walk you home?” Edo asked her and Eleonora could see in the way he looked at her that he didn’t want to let go of her yet. That he didn’t want to end the evening and whatever had just happened between them. He didn’t want to let them become strangers again who insult each other and eat cookies together whenever they weren’t fighting. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye. To let go. For now.

But still, here he was, asking her if he could walk her home. Just that. No intentions were behind it other than making sure she got home safe.

“I can’t let Filo see me like this. My brother. He already knows that we have been out before and when he sees me with you he –“

“Wait”, he stopped her, the grin from earlier back on his gorgeous looking face.

“So it totally counted as a date?”

“What?”

“You know exactly what I am talking about Eleonora Francesca Sava. It counted as a date. I was right.”

“Maybe”, was the only thing she replied and while she tried to stay serious, really tried to keep him believing she hated meeting up with him at this beautiful spot, sharing cookies with him and insulting him. She had tried to make herself believe that. But she had realized it was a lie long ago. Just like she had realized that it was impossible for her to hate him.

“We could go back to my place too? You could sleep in my bed again,” he suddenly suggested and reached for Eleonora's hand, weaving their fingers into another. He looked way more serious now than only a few seconds ago.

“Absolutely not”, she replied even though she really wanted to say yes. She couldn’t walk home like this, totally soaked from head to toes without having to answer to one thousand and two questions from Filippo. And she also couldn’t go back to the charity party. She had stayed at Edoardos place before. It wasn’t that bad.

“Ele”, he started but before he could continue with whatever he had wanted to tell her, she kissed him again. It was the easiest way to make him shut up and for her to express that she changed her mind. That she never wanted to say no in the first place. And it was also way too tempting to kiss him again. Over and over and over again.

“We’ll just redo the pillow barrier. I think we’ll be fine.”

“Do you really think you can stay on your side of the bed this time?” Edoardo teased her and raised one of his eyebrows as to demonstrate that he didn’t believe Ele had enough will power to keep her hands from him now. That boy really was thinking too highly of himself. She was a strong and independent woman. Of course, she was able to keep her hands from Edoardo Incanti.

“Do you want to make a bet out of this then?”

“Okay.” He wiggled his eyebrows which made Eleonora laugh. He was such a dork with such a big heart and she couldn’t believe she had agreed to go to his place with him. Or to suggest they’ll make a bet out of their shared bed situation.

“If I win, which means you won’t be able to stay on your side of the bed, I get to make you breakfast. You took that from me the last time and I -”

“Deal.” This time it was Ele who cut him off which made him laugh. It was an adorable sound.

“Hold on, I wasn’t finished yet”, Edoardo held up his hands, demonstrating that he indeed had not finished formulating his part of the bet. They were already walking down the streets of Rome now and luckily Edoardo didn’t live too far away from the place where they held the Charity Event in.

“I already accepted the Deal. You are too late Edoardo Incanti”, Ele stuck out her tongue at him and started walking faster so she could turn around and look at him. His place was only a few more blocks from here and the rain had finally stopped.

Her hair was stuck to her face and she was still cold, but she had to take these brief seconds to herself to just look at Edoardo. The boy she had kissed tonight. She was losing the bet. She already knew it. Of course, she wouldn’t stay on her side of the bed. She was convinced all of this must have been a strange dream. Something she could never keep up. It was only a matter of time she had to break up things with Edoardo again. No matter how hard it would be and no matter how much it could hurt both of them. But at the end of the day, she had to protect her friends. She had to think about Silvia even though it was almost too late by now. 

She wanted this one more sleep over at Edoardos place. Needed it even. More than anything. She wanted to be held in his arms and to have him kiss her good night. And because she knew that he was very aware of it too, she decided to just go for it. At least for this one time. This one night.

“I want croissants and cappuccino tomorrow.”

And seeing that broad, boyish smile on his face again made it totally worth losing her first bet against Edoardo Incanti. Her first and probably also the last.

[calliecat93]

RvB Season 16 Commentary Masterpost

This post details the commentary from the RvB16 DvD. I tried to add as much and be as detailed as possible and I apologize if I misconstrued anything. This was 12 pages long BTW... I hope you all enjoy!

Commentators

All Episodes: Joe Nicolosi (writer/director)

Episodes 1-5: Kyle Taylor (machinima director), Josh Ornelas (senior machinimator)

Episodes 6-10: Jason Weight (co-writer), Greg Slagel (show producer), Billy Burson (Visual Supervisor/Lighter)

Episodes 11-15: Phillip Sparn (Audio Mixer/Sound Designer), Ian Sheppard (Lead Animator), David Levy (Audio/Music Composer)

Episode 1

The intro scene with the knights involved zero machinima (Kyle very much appreciated that), IDK if this was a joke, but Joe said that he wrote the intro three years ago and sent it to Miles, who was confused by it. He thought this would be a good place to finally use it.

The Grif knight is now Sir Gryffandor and the Simmons one Simmtarian XD

Joe use to be in a time traveled-theme band and many of the unused ideas it's where he got several of his ideas for this season.

Joe felt that it took far too long to get into the action in S15, so he tried to have it go faster this time around. Hence why he sped through the setup in this and Season 2.

Kyle and Joe talk about how there was a joke in S11 where Caboose responded to his echo in a cave. Joe wanted the echo to have been time travel Caboose, but when they decided on the slideshow format he couldn't. Miles confirmed at RTX that it is now canon so yay!

Joe had gone back through the show and made notes about where the characters could mess with their past. He also has a fan theory that Two Coffee Mug Guy from the Freelancer Saga is the cause of everything bad that happened since if he didn't show up, North wouldn't have gotten caught, the mission would have gone fine, etc. I am on board with this theory!

In one shot, they forgot to put Huggins and Muggins in as the headlights and it was too late to fix when the time came to air it. Oops. Kyle jokes that they have to blink off every one in a while due to their anatomy XD

The scene where Donut has... broke I guess was apparently a pain in the ass to do. For example when there's like eight of him in a row, they had to time the shot exactly right to machinimate it properly. It involved a LOT of coordination. They all agree that the bit where Donut glitches/contorts is the stuff of nightmares.

Speaking of that bit, you'd think that would be easy since it's essentially glitched out animation. But doing it apparently broke all the rendering machines and they had long talks with the tech department to get it rendered properly. It got to the point where it actually went up to Gray Haddock, the Head of Animation. Daaamn.

Joe's original vision for Episode 1 was to have a long conversation about food that triggered a series of horrific events as it was going on. Kind of like a one act play. Only the Caboose bit with Donut made it through however.

Grif's love of Sammie Raphaello's is based on Joe's feelings about a similarly named place in New York, including eating it for 100 days straight. It had been worth it.

Starseat, the Cosmic Gods base. Is one of the only maps that they hadn't used form Halo 5. They used the majority in S15 so they needed to use some of the alien locations for this one. Since S16 has the Cosmic Powers, it worked out for them.

Episode 2

The forest area was a custom map made by Josh. They used several custom maps this season.

Josh calls layering trees the 'Bob Ross effect' XD

There's this lightning effect in this map that had to me timed perfectly to not mess up the shot. Lets just say that they had to redo several shots because they got the timing wrong or it was too distracting.

When there is a joke that has an awkward pause or silence in it, Joe likes to add a bird effect to it. In the bit with Caboose's 'Your Mama' joke, he used an owl effect

It is canon that Caboose has shy tinkle and can't do his business with others around XD

Because the Halo 5 models have this bad tendency with their coloring (ie, Simmons sometimes looks too much like Sarge), they hired a colorist for the first time in the series history. So every Simmons scene (IDK if they mean just this one or every single one) had to be hand colored to keep him as maroon as possible.

Kyle asked about what was going in on Chorus. Joe says that this is NOT canon, but in his mind Locus got arrested when he brought Wash back to Chorus. They want to try Locus as a war criminal where he COUDL escape, but since he swore off killing people he cna't without doing so. Apparently his ship has an AI ready to split the planet with him Locus gone so Kimball, whose in the middle of an election, has the choice to either let Locus go and save the planet, or not and not get re-elected. This is strictly headcanon, but Joe considered using it as a subplot but since it had nothing to do with the time travel, he opted against it.

Donut is now God Jesus Donut. Something that Joe was very excited to do.

Kyle had no idea how they were going to have Donut walk across water. Apparently Halo 5 has these invisible blocks that they were able to use to pull off the effect.

The music used in this scene is a genre called 'monk-step', which is like Gregorian chanting mixed with ETM (from what I can gather, it's some kind of electro music). Apparently this is a real genre.

The city and destroyed Sammie Raphaello's was made by Austin Clark and Kyle Moran.

Conner, one fo the editors, edited the scene pretty tightly as with most RvB scenes. Joe then made him go back and add a punch of long. pauses

The cop was indeed voiced by Jeremy Dooley. Joe's direction to him was that he thought he was the main character of the story and to just go off with it. He did so for several minutes and Joe had to cut it down, but you can see the full thing in the blooper reel.

Joe didn't want to lock onto a specific place aside form 'somewhere in America' for the city location. But since Grif said he went to Harvard in a PSA, he guesses that it's somewhere in Massachusetts.

Joe has this pet peeve about a truck in the shot as the exact same model was also there when we the place again in Episode 4. Kyle makes a backstory for it about being driven by a dump truck driver who cheated on his wife and was caught, left the truck there, and went on to become president. The truck is now a monument. I am all for this!

They storyboarded Donut putting the guns on the ground... and Joe decided at the last second to just have them flash and appear to not waste time just having him lay down guns for 20 seconds.

Kyle calls Grif a coward for not taking the bullet for Sammie's. That's not nice Kyle!

“Donut uses his shield powers that... never come up again” Thanks Joe...

To get Sarge and Simmons properly on the ground when they land in Egypt, Kyle simply had Josh kill them in-game. They landed perfectly XD

Episode 3

The snow scene with Grif and Doc apparently shows the horizon for the first time in the series due to using very boxed in multiplayer maps. It is also a custom map with the horizon point, which was green-screened, blending into the snow.

Sister and Tucker were green-screened into Halo 3. Apparently it wasn't too bad here, but it was MUCH harder for Halo 2. They VERY much appreciated having a green-screen within Halo 5.

The desert scene with Sarge and Simmons apparently had a shadow in it, so they had to color correct it to make it look more desert-like. Simmons color apparently overlapped with Sarge's a lot.

The storylines were supposed to be about the characters all trying to fix their past mistakes, but only make it worst. This was meant to tie into the season's theme on how fucking up is a part of life. Them not learning it, of course, causes what happens in the end. Joe does mention that it doesn't seem like it worked for everyone watching, however but Kyle mentions how rewatching it can get people to pick up on it more.

The map they used for The Battle of Broken Ridge went through several iterations. They went with one they called White Dwarf which was very detailed tot he point where they fuzzied it up to make it look less so. The rock formations are underwater rocks and have coral textures to them to make them look more alien.

Present!Sarge is wielding a sniper rifle in this scene, not his shot gun. They imply that he shot the previous CO so that his past self would be given the position. GDI Sarge.

Apparently Halo characters do NOT like rough terrain, so recording the soldiers running across it was difficult to make it look natural.

For the PoV shot with Caboose, apparently you can't move the camera much in Halo 5 but you CAN have the character walk closer into it. So Austin and Kyle Moran did so to get the shot and was one of the first they did on their own.

Lopez couldn't be color corrected apparently. They had to go with a shade nearly identical to Grif's because otherwise he looked onto much like Master Chief. As such he looks different in every scene. Thanks Halo 5.

Episode 4

Joe wanted to use all the main locations (Blood Gulch, Valhalla) at least once. He was able to use Halos 2 and 3, but didn't get around to using Halo 4, so we didn't get Chorus aside form the one we saw last season.

The Tucker and Sister storyline was the most changed. Originally, it was going to be about Tucker trying to stop himself from getting laid with all the women that got him a lawsuit last season. He succeeded... but his present self got seduced anyways. This however created a bit of a paradox (I assume since it was clear that Tucker remembered it last season) so he decided he wanted to do something more personal between Tucker and Sister.

Joe wanted this, Episode 5, and Episode 6 to feel more episodic. Hence why he get a major focus on Tucker and Sister here, Sarge and Simmons in 5, and Grif and Doc in 6.

Joe apparently cockblocked himself once. Oops.

Kyle wants to use a time machine to go back and mess with himself when past!him was working in a check out line. Joe would use it to go see old movies and bands when they opened up.

The Broken Ridge map made all the visors green.

Hammerspace exists in the RvB verse due to all the weapon shifts.

The machinima team used the PC version of Halo 2 (the same one used for the Blood Gulch remaster) due to technical reasons. The problem is all the servers, services, etc that were available when doing the remaster no longer exist in 2018. While they have copies of the game, to do what they need they had to use fan hacks, a laptop, and Joe's home computer to make the scenes properly.

Lindsay Jones (VA for Kimball) plays one of the three kids using her Space Kid voice form Camp Camp. Kyle thought one of the actors was the VA for Qrow in RWBY (Vic Mignogna) but it wasn't.

They had a lot of fun macinimating Grif's freakout and Joe outright called Geoff's performance Oscar worthy. They considered submitting it XD

The guy left the truck (form Episode 2) on this very day XD

Tucker asking Sister if she turned off her radio was a reference to O'Malley since at this time, he was still around and going through different people's heads. It was important to make sure that he paid attention to continuity in the time he was going to mess with. Since he felt that this was a memorable event in Blood Gulch, he wanted to go back to it and make sure that he wasn't accidentally messing up anything.

This is the third time they've gone back to this in RvB's history as Josh previously directed a S14 episode written by Barbara Dunkleman (VA for Jensen) about O'Malley in different headspaces. Wow, they must love this scene XD

Joe made Nico (one of the composers and part of Trocadero) make porno music for the cave pond scene. He said “On it Joe!”

Joe liked making Tucker dense when it comes to sex, especially in this scene.

There were talks about if Tucker and Sister should still be in Halo 5 armor when time travleing or if it should change. They ultimately decided to stick to the Halo 5 armor, which Joe felt was the right choice since he was no real reason to have them in the game's default. RvB14 had a similar philosophy where whatever time period the story is taking place, ti had to match that version of Halo.

Episode 5

The map used at the very beginning was a user-made map that's meant to be reminiscent of a Halo 3 map.

Using John Wayne was apparently a pain in the ass. They couldn't refer to him as John Wayne and several other names like The Duke due to legal reasons. It was at the point where they had to have Gus and Matt frequently come in to do re-recordings due to all the changes. They finally settled on Private John... and they hope that they don't get sued for saying it in the commentary.

To remake Desert Gulch, they had to use all the characters at the same time and do several different shots for several reasons.

George Washington was voiced by Todd Womack, a Creative Producer for Broadcast at RT. He also voiced the Simmons knight in Episode 1.

Chris Kokkinos, a Lead Audio Engineer for RT Animation, played Alexander the Great. They did ten minutes of Google searches to put together a voice that sounded accurate enough to what Ancient Masadonian (I think) would sound like.

There's a radio effect in the movie filming scenes where, if you listen close enough, you can hear someone trying to find the bestboy. When I rewatch this with commentary off, I am ging to listen HARD to find those lines.

Kohan Wooter, the producer Jax torments, was voiced by RT's 3D Animation producer Koan Wooten. Joe jokes that he's a 'pathetic ball of anxiety' so he based the character on him. Don't worry, he actually loves Koen XD Koen produced Seasons 13, 14, and 15, but 16 has a new producer, Greg who we'll hear in Episodes 6-10 commentary.

Apparently in Halo 5 (Kyle isn't sure if this was an update or he just never saw it there's an option to max character speeds. So when Jax, Simmons, and Sarge are walking through the set, they were able to set all three to the same speed without it looking like they're sprinting, something that is normally difficult to do in machinima.

In S15, Joe wanted Jax to get successful at some point... and then fall back down off his horse due to his ego. So he did it here!

They wish that they showed Jax's version of S15, though we do get a sample in Episode 12.

Austin and Kyle Moran worked on the scene where Sarge and Private John are doing lines.

For this scene, Matt was late for a CEO meeting so he had to do all of his lines in one take in quick succession. He nailed every single one of them.

I think most know this, but just in case, Atlus is voiced by SungWon Cho aka ProZD. Joe was a big fan of him and was really excited to cast him.

All the Gods we see who aren't Atlus, Kali, Genkins, and Burnstorm are Minor Gods and this is the only time we get to see them all. Kyle says one is the God of Anxiety XD

Kyle made Atlus' throne and used spaceship parts to make it. It was also a chore to decide on all the Gods guns.

Episode 6

Jason wrote Episodes 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, and 14 (Joe confirmed the latter four on Twitter).

Joe says that Grif and Doc are somewhere in Calabria, Ancient Italy. It is known as 'The Boot of Italy'.

Greg previously on a 2D show at another company (I couldn't make out what he said it was) before arriving at RT and being put on RvB. Since machinima is treated more like live action when filming, it was a very different experience along with storyboarding the animation. He had to learn a lot about what can and can't be done in machinima.

Billy previously worked on a live action RvB short (I assume the RvB14 finale but they didn't specify) and before this worked on RWBY and RWBY Chibi. He works on both lighting and composition.

Billy really liked working on the lens flare shots XD Which are also apparently hard to render despite how easy it looked at first.

Jason wrote most of Sister's dialogue, which had to be cut down a bit. Apparently one line he wrote was Sister saying “I want Lancelot to slay my p***y like a Dragon”. This once got cut because Microsoft told them to, which is a VERY rare occurrence.

Genkins was the one going crazy with the airhorn during Atlus' intro. They used up all their airhorn budget for that one XD

Joe credited Jason for Atlus' portrayal. Jason feels that Atlus is very human and fragile on the inside and the kind of characters that he likes to write.

They all laughed at Tucker and Sister being blown up, which they tried to reuse form other stuff, but Joe refused. They joke that they just got it off the internet.

Joe feels that he could have done this episode better as he didn't feel anything for Doc at the end like he had intended.

They have an animator specifically for O'Malley's finger motions. He'll be in the 11-15 commentary and is reffered to as 'The Fingerer'

Episode 7

Since this is an episode that mixes live action, they started working on this even before Episode 1. They were excited at first... until they finally started doing it.

Gus Sorola (VA for Simmons) played the Cyclops as well as his wife.

Joe knows that some people weren't happy with this episode, but he still liked it cause Tucker and Sister got to fight a giant cyclops. They do admit it is one of the stupidest thing they've ever done though XD

They went over budget doing the scene and had to go all the way up to Matt to get more. At RTX, Matt said that he allowed it when they said that Gus was going to be uncomfortable for several hours. Best CEO XD Joe brought in Koen to convince help him.

Huggins had several different animators, but most of the credit goes to an animator named Owen for giving a glowing sphere so much energy with the animation.

Gus' scenes were shot in one day, but because they had to change the lighting so much to correspond with Halo, it took a LOOOOOT of hours.

When the cyclops bit into the Tucker armor, Joe had it in the script that Gus just pulled the head off. Gus asked if he could eat it, which Joe allowed. Joe had to paint it the day before the shoot after Greg went and got it. They used a toy since animating Tucker in Gus' hand would have been too much work to get right.

Joe did a lot of the work on the scenes while listening to an audiobook, so now he just hears it whenever watching the episode. Fortunately, he has a lot of work with green-screen XD

David Levy composed the music for the scene and Joe had him listen to stuff from Jason and the Arganots and such things to give him an idea of what to do.

Tucker jumping to hit the Cyclops'... privates...w as a reference to Independence Day apparently.

Joe wished that, when we see the location again in the finale, he just showed the Cyclops' corpse rotting away... so I guess that confirms that he's dead. He thought of it after the fact however so he couldn't.

Joe deliberately told the Art Department about the female cyclops at the last second so that they would buy a shitty costume for Gus to put on. Greg was confused. The shot later for Episode 15 was a surprise shot Joe did since he was writing the finale around this time, so he wanted it just in case he wanted to use it... which he did XD

Episode 8

The map with the Chorus towers were a Live Map. IDK what that means, but apparently they can't use. So the machinimators had to go around it and take various shots of the towers to put them in the opening scene. It got several accounts banned as a result XD

After the last episode used so many different things (animation, machinima, live action), the fact that they were able to get an animation sequence into this one had Joe feeling good about the production flow for the season since the previous one would normally go over deadlines. Fortunately, the production went through seemlessly.

The animation team is mostly from RWBY Chibi.

Originally Carolina and Dr. Grey's talk was in Grey's office. Miles said that it wasn't weird enough to fit Grey though, so Joe change the setting to a morgue. The dialogue stayed the same though! The feet of the body were apparently hard to render XD

Joe wished that Carolina was holding some guy's intestines to further show how creepy it is.

With the cyclops, Joe apparently wanted him to have a giant, hanging dong cause he things it would be Tucker's worst nightmare. Greg immediately shot that down since no amount if pixilation would be able to hide it.

Joe wanted to give Grif a magic fairy companion, ehnce why we got Huggins and the two would learn form each other.

Huggins is based off of her actress, Ashley Spillers, in terms of personality.

Apparently doing shots showing tall buildings like in Chorus is much easier than getting a dead guy's feet in properly. Huh...

Joe got obsessed with doing different shots to make shots of a character just talking interesting and he felt he went a little too crazy.

Joe felt bad that he couldn't use more of Dylan, but he learned last season that RvB has a TON of characters and he needs to break them up when it's necessary. This is part of why the Reds and Blues were split up this season.

Billy did a lot of work on the wrestling scene in the finale due to how much lighting was needed. It also involved a lot of comp due to the amount of shots.

Wash's cat, Loki, is based off a cat Joe had in RL. Many of the same things happened to it and lived for over 20 years. Wow...

Episode 9

Joe makes it clear that he loves Koen and he only made fun of him because he loves him. Greg felt much of Kohan's portrayal hit too close to home XD

Since they used most of the maps in S15, Joe knew that they were going to have to reuse some of them and the filmset plotline was done in order to do so. Considering Wash's state, he felt that it worked well for character.

The Female Frozen Freelancer was voiced by Minni Clark, their Animation Coordinator.

Joe considered what Wash and Carolina would do with a time machine. For a while, he considered having Carolina use it to go to the future, but he felt that could botch future storylines so he decided to not use the future at all.

They liked the campfire map and giving Huggins sparkles. The sparkles got added late into production. Luckily they emphasized that no one was harmed in the making of this production XD

Huggins will only swear when quoting Die Hard. The lens flare in the movie was also Joe's favorite lens flare in film XD

Joe was originally going to have Grif come across Lopez's head after he sank in the titanic. But since Grif was in Ancient Italy, that would not work so it was cut.

Joe also intended for Grif to use a boat to get over the English Channel, but since it would have been a hard set-piece to make and they already had an underwater map, they went with that instead.

The effect to make past!Simmons portal appear/green-screen was apparently fun XD Joe also liked having Sarge stab Achilles in the foot.

This season has the most green-screen used in any season.

Apparently there are a LOT of time travel stories out there with very complicated rules. Joe went with the ones that he felt were the most common.

Joe got very mad because The Covlerfield Paradox came out sometimes before the season starts. He also gets mad in the finale cause Infinity War did what he did essentially XD

Joe found using time travel to test free will interesting as he doesn't recall anyone doing it before.

Matt improved his lines regarding the back and forth on deciding to open the door. He does that a lot XD

They didn't want to add a shot of Simmons pressing the keypad, so they just showed the door opening.

Episode 10

To make Caboose's vacation easier, they decided to go with the slideshow and just use stills. Most were easy to comp, but some like the monkeys were more difficult. It was orignally going to be animated.

With the shot of the RT Founders, they originally had a Halo helmet in the photo. Joe changed it to a bowling ball.

Joe was counting down the days of production and told no one. Greg was very confused when he saw '100 Days' on Joe's calendar.

Jason wrote Camelto and voiced Lancelot/Sir Gryffandor. Joe used all of his first takes XD

Jason writes long scripts, so Joe had to cut them down and he felt bad about it. Jason said that he got rid of the garbage bits XD

There is some kind of cannon by Tucker's shoulder when he meets with Grif. Joe headcanosn that Tucker just demanded that they make a cannon.

Even Joe points out that Grif's trying to push the plot forward now. They joke that it's just so it an end faster.

The reason why Tucker started the war with France they decided was because they ate snails, hence his line “Those fancy f***s eat snails!”

Joe clarifies on what turning into a shisno means. I wrote about this already, but I'll do so again here. It is not a form of corruption or mind control, but people like Tucker giving more and more into temptation and as such, the worst part of them comes out. He felt that them trying to make the past better is a big convenience in time travel and decided that them screwing it up and therefore still trying was an effect of Chrovos. It's not direct mind control however, it just makes your darker impulses stronger.

Joe confirms that Genkins was the PA who lead Wash to the scene recreating where he got shot solely to make him worst and keep the plan going in the right direction.

Joe, having grown up on films like Evil Dead, really likes bloody shots and thinks that his seasons have had the most blood effects XD

They checked over Donut and O'Malley's scene a LOT due to a lot of screw ups and using a large white void.

Billy's favorite thing to have lighted was Chrovos. They were very happy with the gears design.

Joe really liked Chrovos' VA

Episode 11

Phillip played one of the guards that got crushed by the horse in the finale. It is his proudest moment.

Doing work for Huggins was painful since she required several swooshing effects and her animation turned out to be much more work due to Ian deciding to make her more energetic to not make it boring.

Muggins is less energetic due to being older

Joe had to get special permission from Miles and Kerry to use the RWBY moon and now calls it canon... which he honestly isn't all that wrong if you've watched RWBY V6...

Audio liked adding the effects to Atlus' voice, something that ProZD apparently does in his videos.

When he decided to use God sin RvB, Joe had wanted to have a wish granting scene and the one we got is one of his favorites. He also mentions how most Gods go to places, mess with younger races, so he felt like this fit.

The music for this was challenging for David as Joe instructed him to base it on Danny Elfman-esque scores. The guitar rift when Grif makes the sword wish was treated like a sound effect.

Apparently they used a laughing seagull effect to laugh at Tucker. I need to listen for these things more.

They used a sunset map for Tucker and Sister's talk, and while lighting is often difficult in RvB, Joe felt that this worked very well. Using Halo 5 in general was hard, but after last year they had a good grasp on what they could and couldn't do. They'll be us9ig a new Halo next year, which since Halo 6 isn't out I assume is referring to Halo 2 Anniversary

Okay... so this bit is probably gonna be the biggest part. So the whole scene with Tucker and Sister's talk? Originally in the outline, Joe simply had Sister go 'And I don't care!' when she and Tucker realize that their s*xventures were coming to an end. Then he sent it off to Jason, who expanded on it in the script to have Sister's verbal beatdown to Tucker. Joe let it stick, and we got what we got.

Episode 12

This is the first episode of RvB shot in 4K

You know the opening shot where Actor!Wash dips Actress!Carolina? The scene was mo-caped by Joe as Wash an an animator named Harley (she works primarily on RWBY) as Carolina. When they acted it out, Joe tried to catch Harley when she fell back... except that he had recently dislocated his arm. So he ended up just dropping her and he fell over and hit his head. The mocap for it looked really funny though XD

The reason why Joe used 4K for this episode was in order to do wide shots so that After Effects could put in the shaky cam. He did it in one weekend. He's not a fan of 4K however due to feeling it adds too much production time, so he used it for only this episode.

They joke about making an RvB Soap Opera where Church has a twina nd Sarge goes into a coma. I WANT THIS!

Joe had not seen The Office when he went with the interviews idea.

This, and the later episodes, were written during the production.

This episode was the RvB equivalent of a Beach Episode like you see in anime. But because of armor and stuff, he couldn't go all the way. Also apparently if Halo characters hit the water unless it's an underwater map, they die. Huh...

Joe continues to make it clear that he loves working with Koen. Good job on making sure you don't piss your boss off dude!

The Chinese Finger Trap gag with Caboose was improved by Joel. The trap was composed in and they used the Huggins rigs to help with the stretching.

Joe felt he went a little too strong with the color correction in this episode and that the colors came off too strong, especially with Donut.

Joe liked the audio cue used for when Wash has one of his memory blocks.

There was a lot of improve done with the actors for Jax's movie. Phillip also didn't get the Rodney Dangerfield reference. Joe put that specific one in because the Private John actor did one for funsies in his session.

According to Joe, after he gets hit by Atlus' hammer, he forgets all of his movie ideas and is now in the next stage of his life in trying to figure them out. They ask if this is autobiographical for Joe XD

The gold club is an actual weapon in Halo 5 (some kind of multiplayer mode), huh...

In the original take where everyone is saying titles, Joel had Caboose curse. Joe found it funny... but since Caboose doesn't swear to that level (I think in another interview Joe said he used the F word), he decided two days prior to cut it and edit several takes together to get what we got. They added it back in for the Blooper Reel, and I can confirm that it is hilarious.

Episode 13

David used wall to wall music for this episode.

The first drafts for the final three episodes were over 70 pages long. The average is around 12-18 pages, so... yeah... he had to cut it down to 54 within about three days.

Joe didn't get to work a lot with Genkins' VA (Ricco Fajardo since he forgot the name in the commentary) since Genkins had very few lines. He really enjoyed working with him and the other professional voice actors since he can really push them and they love going along with it.

Jason did the script for this episode.

This episode, along with 13, had very little animation due to the finale going crazy with it. So they cut down on it in these two to make up for that time.

Joe's not a fan of exposition scenes, but since Starseat was a unique set design, he felt like it was a good place to do it.

The Cosmic Powers are always green-screened so that they can look much larger.

David wanted to listen to his master work XD

Joe hadn't told mahcinima what swords to give everyone and is happy with the options that they went with.

Burnstorm's VA is a theater actor in Dallas

Joe regretted that he wasn't able to have the Gods in action much and wishes that he was able to fit in one God fight at least. But he had gone over the animation budget, so even if he wanted to he couldn't.

The Neanderthals hair in Caboose's slideshow apparently didn't work at all, so they photoshoped it in.

Joe really enjoyed doing Carolina and Wash's scene, especially with how well Jen and Shannon performed it. He felt so much regret for what he did to these characters XD

Joe did research on brain injuries to make sure that he portrayed Wash's condition as accurately as possible.

Machinima built the room that the Reds and Blues were teleported to. It was originally a hallway apparently.

Episode 14

The intention of the episode was to be a runway into the finale and to be a bit of a cool down after the last one.

Jason once more did the script for this one.

Halo 5 armor in multiplayer apparently can't be black, so in shadows it just glows. Huh, weird.

No one aside from Joe saw the shot of the Fates. Ian never saw them as he handed them to someone else while doing 15, and they did them all without him having to check them.

Joe wrote the demo for The Fates song to give to the singers who auditioned.

Joe thought a lot about Carolina time traveling prior to this, but felt that she was too responsible and smart to use it the same way the Reds and Blues did.

Phillip was kind of glad that Huggins got 'killed' (I'm still denying it) since it meant no more swoosh sounds

The buildup to the... death scene... dropped the ambiance to build up the creepiness factor.

Joe did the black hole effect and went on until it made him too sad and he kicked his computer. You have only yourself to blame.

They like how the Cosmic Powers just become more and more normal acting as time goes on XD

Joe had been very nervous about The Fates and considers it the weirdest sequence in the season. He suggested the orchestral tuning build-up.

Joe explains how The Fates work. The Cosmic Powers are AI/computers, and that includes The Fates. They are like a series of quantum supercomputers who scan the atoms around them to determine the outcome of the future. Their prophecies are mere projections.

Episode 15 (Season Finale)

They call this 'The Beast Episode'

David added 15 minutes of music with no stop. It continues to accelerate as it continues on.

The episode was done more like a music video. All the animation was done first, and then David composed it to the animation instead of before it. He used bits of previous cues and themes as well. It took him two weeks to do.

The room that Carolina and the others hid in had been very bright, so they had to darken it.

This was very tightly edited in order to stay matched up to the music.

The strategy for the Donut vs O'Malley was to treat the finale as two episodes. The fight was done by one team and all the other stuff was done by another.

They like the 'Use what you learned' advice.

Audio used a program called Vocaline to dot he effects for Chrovos' voice and the gear ticking effects.

The edit for the episode was very different from the script as Joe did a lot of re-arranging of scenes to improve the flow. He got advice form Connor, one of the editors, to pace them better.

The pizza is a photoshopped Home Slice Pizzal

If you watch the scene where Caboose hits the Red with his golf club in slow mo, the body flies off but his soul stays put in an extra frame. If you watch it frame by frame, you can see the soul dissolve. Will make a note to do so later.

David wrote three separate tracks for each storyline in the episode (Donut vs O'Malley, Grif vs Genkins, and the others saving Wash) which all blend together as they go on.

The cue playing when Genkins goes on his boredom rant is Joe and David's favorite cue.

Genkin's rant was also much longer and was pretty much Genkins breaking up with the universe. Joe felt that it was losing momentum as it went on however, so he cut it down.

Phillip had a ringing bell sound effect play when Donut hit the plane on the commentary track. All of them lost it XD

The longest scene to animate was Donut jumping after The Hammer.

Each bit of the fight went to different animators. Ian worked on the Blood Gulch part and reference show he's known for being good at finger animation. Hence why we got O'Malley's evil finger wiggling XD They were bummed that they didn't have more time, but with so much going on, they had no choice. Everything was mo-caped and hand framed due to the uniqueness of all the scenes, all of which used no machinima, which normally has to be in a specific view. Joe was happy since he could move the camera around more.

The city for the final part of the fight was stolen taken from Gen:Lock. It's meant to be New York.

Joe has no regrets regarding the fight scene and was very happy with how it all came together.

There's a ticking effect during the episode that accelerates, but during the final part where Grif is running and stuff, the ticking significantly slowed down.

Grif's running was machinimated and they used an after effects plugin to slow him down properly.

Again, Joe was very mad that Infinity War came out during this time XD This happened a lot this season apparently, such as Legion.

The final scene is done in Halo 2 Anniversary. Joe chose this because it looks familiar, yet is different. He did this specifically to not make people think that they were rebooting it... which happened anyways XD

Again, they confirm that they are NOT doing a reboot. Joe tried to put in as many clues as he could (like Church not being voiced by Burnie) to demonstrate that. There is a reason for why things are like this and why the final three shots are in reverse order from the events in Blood Gulch.

Joe watched all of Deep Space 9 while editing the season. All 6 seasons! Two he watched during the cyclops episode!

Apparently the Security part of the credits (which lists pets) hjust gets added onto without chances, so many of them are probably dead... ending on a morbid note then!

This took like... five hours to type up. But I always like listening to behind-the-scenes stuff and I had a lot of fun doing this! To all of those who actually made it through the entire post, thanks for reading! Looking forward to S17!