#and if milla sits with him and asks what he's building

[thenecropolix]

Y'all I've had a revelation

Do you think Sasha would like Legos

Like

I feel like that'd be the perfect thing to help him with reclaiming part of that childhood he lost upon leaving his home

Could be that Razputin gets introduced to Legos at the Motherlobe and little man is in love and maybe Sasha sees him playing and listens to him ramble and then Raz gets him to open up a little by asking if he'd like to help him

Just

Sasha finding a love for Legos and him bonding with Raz over it

[what-if-queen-camilla]

Like grandfather, like grandson - Chapter 3 - Grandma knows best

“Milla, darling, wait!”, Charles shouted in complete panic, running through the halls and corridors of Windsor Castle like an absolute maniac. After the sudden departure of his girlfriend, he had been in a state of shock for maybe about two minutes, she couldn't have come too far in the meantime… “Darling, please, don't leave me like this!” Camilla, crouching in a small gap between two walls, somewhere between the library and the state apartments of this huge, ancient building, suddenly felt so lonely and cold that she couldn't fight her tears any longer as she heard her boyfriend desperately searching for her. “Darling? Darling!’, she heard him calling out for her once again, and eventually admitted defeat. “Yes, darling, I… I'm here…”, she sobbed, and Charles’ heart stopped for a few moments. “Darling!!!”, he screamed, turned around, and immediately ran over to where he thought that her voice came from, and eventually found her, a little piece of misery, and protectively pressed her against his strong, manly chest. “Oh Darling, I'm so sorry!”, she sobbed, but he didn't even let her finish. “No, darling, I'm sorry!”, he said, tenderly stroking her back. “I shouldn't have put you under such pressure…” “You didn't, darling.”, Camilla responded, slowly but surely overcoming her short mental breakdown. “What you did was… so sweet. And just… perfect.”, she reassured him. “And I love you, darling, I really do. But I can't give you the answer you want to hear…” Charles desperately tried to hide his disappointment and tenderly wrapped his arm around her. You don’t have to, darling. Take your time. Let’s get back to London now and take you home…”

Buckingham Palace, London, two hours later

“But she didn’t immediately say ‘no’, lad, did she?” Bertie summed up what his grandson had just told him about his proposal to the girl he had lost his heart to and couldn’t help but smile, as he gently stroked over Charles’ back. The poor boy had had a complete mental breakdown as he, obviously slightly over dramatised, had told the King what had happened, and the young Prince nodded crestfallen. “No, she didn’t.” He replied, but immediately added bitterly: “Because she is too kind for that! But she will never agree to marry me! Oh grandpa, I am going to die! If I can’t marry her, I won’t marry anybody! And end up like Uncle David…” He sobbed and Bertie meanwhile struggled keeping his composure. The lad really was even more dramatic and sensitive than he himself. “Now, come on, my darling boy.” He tried to soothe him a bit. “May I remind you that I had to ask your grandmother thrice before she eventually agreed to marry me? And she did say ‘no’, plainly and clearly!” “Who said ‘no’ to what?” A well-known and always more than welcome voice asked and Charles' spirits immediately brightened up as he recognised his beloved grandmother standing in the door frame. “Granny!” He happily exclaimed and rushed over to and greeted her affectionately. Being the loving and caring grandmother she was, Elizabeth immediately noticed that something wasn’t quite right with her darling boy. “Charles, my dear, what’s the matter?” she asked concernedly as they jointly walked over to the two Edwardian chaise lounges in Bertie’s sitting room. “I was just telling our darling boy that I had to propose to you three times until you finally agreed to marry me.” The King said romantically, took his consort’s hand and kissed it tenderly, which made the Queen blush and the young Prince melt. “Well, my love, it can be quite frightening for an innocent, young girl to be asked THE question by somebody who could possibly be King one day!”, she chuckled before adding: “And you weren’t even heir apparent at the time, were you, Bertie?” “No, darling, I wasn’t. But I’ve always known that you’re the one. I’ve always seen the wonderful, loving and devoted Queen you eventually became, you’ve always been destined to become.” Now it was her who gently took his hand and lovingly pressed it. Charles had listened to his grandmother attentively and was left completely confused. “Granny - if I may…” He began and the Queen smiled at him. “Yes, of course, darling!”

“Why was it frightening? What exactly frightened you?” The young Prince could absolutely not understand what on earth could be frightened of the prospect of becoming a member of the Royal Family? In fact, he could hardly imagine anything more reassuring and safer. His grandmother threw her head back laughing. “Oh Charles, you really are exactly like your grandfather!” She giggled. “You two wonderful, sweet and naive lads, you…” Elizabeth laughed, before, a bit more seriously, adding: “Well, of course you wouldn’t know because you were literally born into this world, you don’t know anything else. But for me it was very scary back then. I had enjoyed a wonderfully, quiet and idyllic childhood up in Scotland, in a loving, normal family, without any pressure, protocol or any of that nonsense… I was used to having a certain freedom, which I appreciated and which was quite difficult for me to give up. I was a nobody, the ninth out of ten children of the 14. Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne. Nobody, no newspapers or anyone cared about me, what I did, what I said, what I wore, where I was and where not. I knew that, if I agreed to marry Bertie, I’d never have that again. I’d be in the limelight, be watched and my every step would be judged and scrutinised for the rest of my life. And that really frightened me.” Both, Charles and Bertie, had been following her reflections with great interest and attention. It was the King who first dared say something again, as he, almost anxiously, asked. “But, darling, you’ve never regretted it, have you?” “Of course not, darling!” Elizabeth replied and lovingly kissed his cheek, which left Bertie visibly relieved. “But, Granny…” Charles eventually dared ask.  “What made you change your mind? I mean… How did you eventually find the courage to marry grandpa?” “Well, my darling boys… I’m not sure whether I have ever told you this, Bertie, but in fact… I got a visit from your mother.” “You got what?” The King echoed in total disbelief. How on earth could that be? They’d be married for 50 years in a few months - how could it be that Elizabeth had never told him such a significant detail? “Yes, darling, your mother came up to Scotland one day and invited me on a long, nice walk. We walked and talked and at the end of it, she simply told me that she was now convinced that I was ‘the one girl that could make Bertie happy’, but that, of course, the choice was mine. She kissed me on the cheek before she left, and that was the moment I knew I was not going to turn you down again, darling.” “I can’t believe you’ve never told me!” Bertie said, looking at his wife slightly disappointed, but they both knew he loved her way too much to be cross with her for too long. “So apparently they’re actually right when they say ‘Mother knows best’...” Charles pondered and his grandfather added: “Or, perhaps in your case, grandmother!” And while Elizabeth was left entirely confused, the King and the young Prince exchanged a mischievous glance, and Charles knew exactly what he had to do…

[neopuff]

ALWAYS ON MY MIND

chapter nine: a load off my mind ships: sasha/milla characters: milla, sasha, ford, oleander word count: 5867 ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/53435410/chapters/137330296

[chap 1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

-

Whispering Rock was a very interesting place.

The valley was certainly remote - Sasha hadn’t expected to drive through the woods for almost two hours - but he couldn’t deny that it looked lovely. Oleander had done a great job, though he probably wouldn’t say as much to the man. He’d been getting enough praise for the camp already.

Sasha and Milla decided to arrive at the camp three days early in the hopes to familiarize themselves with the area and get used to the great outdoors. It’d been a long time since either of them roughed it, so to speak, and they needed to portray a good example for the children.

She was already there when Sasha arrived - her signature car sitting in the parking lot in all its shiny, red glory. His car was boxy and green and felt very quiet next to hers. He wondered if it would’ve made more sense for them to carpool. Perhaps he would suggest it if they decided to come back.

But before any of that, he needed to find her. Sasha reached out to her mentally and she sent back a relaxed aura and images of water. It wasn’t hard to figure out that she was by the lake. He grabbed the crudely-drawn map that Oleander provided them and started making his way towards Lake Oblongata. The path wasn’t too difficult to follow, which boded well for the campers.

A large building caught his eye as he made his way towards the water, and a quick look at the map told Sasha it was the main lodge. Agent Cruller apparently spent a decent amount of time there, and it would be where they ate all of their meals. It looked well-constructed, at least.

As the lake finally came into view, Sasha spotted his partner sitting along the edge of the beach - boots on the ground next to her so she could dip her feet in the water. He couldn’t say he was surprised by that.

Sasha levitated over and stood just a few feet behind her. “Having fun?”

Milla leaned her head back so she was staring at him upside-down. “The water’s very nice. Maybe we can go swimming before the kids get here!”

He smirked at that, then stared out at the water. It was quite nice. Oleander had really outdone himself. “I didn’t bring a swimsuit.”

She gasped dramatically. “You didn’t plan to swim at all?”

“Not particularly.” Sasha took a few steps forward, but not close enough for the water to touch his shoes. “I’m not much of a swimmer. But I’d be happy to sit here and watch while you enjoy.”

Milla chuckled and Sasha’s face immediately burned at the realization of what he’d said. He didn’t even bother correcting himself, simply sent a mental wave of you-know-what-I-meant towards her.

“I haven’t seen Agent Cruller yet,” Milla said, changing the subject. “Aaronson said that he’s even stranger here than back at the Motherlobe.”

“Is that so?” Sasha pulled out a cigarette, deciding he was getting a little too much fresh air. “It’s hard to believe Agent Mentallis’ theory was wrong.”

She shrugged and levitated into the air, shaking the sand and water off her feet before putting her boots back on.

“Did you look at anything else or just come straight to the lake?” Sasha asked, trying not to watch her every movement. She was hypnotizing to him sometimes, he couldn’t help it.

“Nope!” Milla smiled and plopped her feet back onto the ground. “I know there’s a fire pit on the other side of the lodge and the cabins are off in that direction,” she said, pointing to the north, “and I believe Morceau said there’s an off-limits area over that way.”

Sasha tilted his head. “Off-limits? For what purpose?”

“I’m not sure.” She started to walk back towards the main lodge and Sasha followed her. “He probably just meant it’s off-limits for the campers. Maybe something they haven’t finished building yet?”

“Hmm. I think we should check that out, then.”

A few minutes later and they found themselves staring at a very unexpected structure deep in the woods of Whispering Rock. Neither knew quite what to say about it, except that they never could’ve anticipated seeing something of that nature in a camp made for children.

Milla frowned, staring from the entrance. “These are psychoisolation chambers, aren’t they?”

“Looks like it.” Sasha levitated above the structure to get a better look. “I’m sure Morceau isn’t planning on throwing the children in here. That’d be…” He paused, then floated down on top of the highest part of the chambers. “Immoral. Probably.”

“Probably,” Milla repeated, doing nothing to hide her annoyance. “We’ll have to ask him about this when he gets here, won’t we?”

Sasha came back down and they made their way around the rest of the camp. Oleander had a large treehouse office that was, thankfully, very well-constructed, and also very close to the camper’s cabins. There were just three cabins - one for girls, one for boys, and one for the counselors.

“Ah.” Sasha stared at the counselor cabin, realizing something he should’ve realized earlier. “So. It’ll be you and me and…Morry. In this little space. Every night?”

Milla laughed and elbowed him in the arm. “You seem surprised, Sasha! What did you expect? Private rooms?” She floated inside and moved to the bed furthest in the back, wiping off the blanket. “I think I’ll take this one.”

Sasha followed her inside. He hadn’t thought about sleeping arrangements at all. He and Milla had shared hotel rooms in the past, but they usually had more space between them. He found himself both relieved and annoyed that Oleander would be in the room, too. And what about Agent Cruller? It didn’t look like Cruller had been staying there. Perhaps he had his own cabin somewhere else on the campgrounds. Or maybe a tent.

“Darling, you should take the bed across from mine!” Milla said, floating over to that bed and sitting on it. “I’m sure Morceau will want to be closest to the door, anyway.”

“Of course.” Sasha shrugged. He didn’t imagine he’d be sleeping much in such an uncomfortable space. But he needed to prove to Oleander that he was capable of doing this, and he wanted to support Milla by sticking around. There was no room for complaining about little things like sleeping arrangements. “Whichever you think is best.”

After that, they headed to the parking lot to grab their suitcases and bring them back to the cabins. If not for telekinesis, Sasha would’ve been annoyed that they were on complete opposite ends of the camp. He couldn’t imagine being forced to actually carry his luggage the entire way across.

Along the journey back to the cabins, they finally spotted Agent Cruller.

He was using a broom to sweep grass and dirt not far from the main lodge, mumbling under his breath. Sasha and Milla looked at each other, and psychically decided to wait until they were unpacked before they talked to him. They both had a feeling that he’d want to chat for a long time, as older people tended to do.

Agent Cruller was gone by the time they made their way back.

“Maybe he’s in the lodge,” Milla suggested, pointing towards it. “Morceau said he cooks all the camp meals, and it’s almost dinnertime.”

Sasha nodded and they made their way inside, unsurprised to find Agent Cruller standing there behind the counter. He was mumbling about burgers and fries and had on a chef’s hat and apron, which weren’t present when they saw him earlier.

“Agent Cruller,” Sasha said, walking towards him. “It’s good to see you.”

The older man tilted his head at the two of them. “Huh…you look different than before! What’s with the green? Huh?”

Sasha frowned and glanced at Milla, who simply smiled and came closer. “Hello! Do you remember me, Agent Cruller? My name is Milla. Milla Vodello!”

Cruller stared at her, his eyes slowly squinting until there was no way he could see anything at all. He then opened his eyes wide, made a noise of surprise, then looked over at Sasha, and then back to Milla again. “I know you two! You’re psychics! Hungry psychics, I’ll bet! You want some burgers?”

Milla’s smile softened and she tugged some hair behind her ears. “Um, yes, sure! That sounds lovely. Thank you, Agent Cruller.”

“Call me Ford, why don’t you?” the older man said loudly. “You two are much too tall to be talking to me like that!”

Sasha ran a hand through his hair, feeling a frustrated knot forming in his shoulder. That always happened when he talked to Agent Cruller for too long - the man’s mental state reminded him too much of exactly the type of damage a Psychonaut was constantly in danger of. “Of course, Ford. Whatever you’d like.”

Cruller gave them a toothy smile and disappeared to make the food.

“I, um. I don’t think Agent Mentallis had the right idea about the psitanium,” Milla said, clasping her hands in front of her. “But maybe the fresh air is good for him, at least?”

“Hopefully,” Sasha answered.

X

Milla woke the next morning feeling oddly achy. Her head hurt - not in a way she was used to. It was like a specific part of her brain was irritated. Almost like she’d spent all night listening to loud music, but somehow…different. It was difficult to explain.

When Sasha came out of their shared bathroom and expressed a similar type of headache, she knew she wasn’t crazy, at least.

“I just assumed it’s because I’ve been cooped up indoors for so long,” Sasha joked, though he also meant it genuinely. “But a headache after less than a day outdoors did seem a bit fast.”

She got up and rushed to the bathroom, desperately needing to brush her teeth and do something about her hair. Sometimes Milla remembered the first time she and Sasha shared a bedroom - she’d been so nervous about how she looked that she’d made sure to wake up before him so she could beautify herself. It took barely two days of that before she gave up and let him see her ridiculous bedhead. He never commented either way. “Could it be the psitanium?”

There was a pause before she heard Sasha’s muffled response from the other side of the bathroom door. “That seems likely. I've certainly not been around this much psitanium before.”

Milla stared at her reflection in the mirror, happy she didn't look as bad as her head felt. “Me neither,” she added before starting to brush her teeth.

She could hear Sasha moving around in the other room and reached out with her mind - somehow they’d gotten to the point where even thirty seconds of not knowing what was going on in his head made her curious. If they were in a different kind of relationship, they’d probably be described as clingy or codependent. But as Psychonaut partners, it was totally normal and fine.

“Maybe we can ask Agent Cruller about it,” Sasha said. Then, after a moment, he corrected himself. “Er, Ford. We can ask Ford.”

Milla smiled. He was never very good at being casual, especially not with senior Psychonauts. She sent him a mental agreement, then quickly finished getting ready and dressed and headed out the door. “Ready to go?”

Sasha nodded at her and telekinetically opened the cabin door, allowing her to leave first. Such a gentleman.

They wandered around for a bit, wondering if they’d find Ford outside somewhere. His persona in the main lodge - the one wearing the chef hat - wasn’t the most helpful. There was always a possibility that one of his other personas around the campgrounds would have better information. But they didn’t see the sweeping persona on their walk towards the lodge, so they decided it was time for breakfast.

“Good morning!” Ford shouted as they entered the lodge. He had a bright smile on his face and was chewing on a large piece of bacon. “We got the good stuff today!”

Milla and Sasha glanced at one another before walking closer to him. She smiled gently. “Good morning, Ford! How are you today?”

“Great!” He pulled the bacon out of his mouth and took a big whiff of it, then took another big bite. “I love this bacon! It’s delicious!”

Sasha sighed and stepped forward, much more impatient than Milla. “You’ve been here for a few weeks now, Agent-er, Ford. Did the psitanium have an adverse effect on you when you first arrived? Headaches? Anything like that?”

Ford stared at Sasha and blinked slowly. Once. Twice. Three times. Then he shook his head. “I’ve got no clue what you’re talking about. But I’ve got some fine egg ‘n bacon sandwiches for the two of you when you want ‘em!”

Sasha sighed again, and barely reacted as Milla put a hand on his arm. “That sounds great, Ford, thank you.”

The older man disappeared for a few seconds, then reappeared with the sandwiches. “All wrapped up, just like a fancy restaurant!”

Milla took them and gave one to Sasha, who seemed generally uninterested in the food. He was clearly disappointed in Agent Cruller’s response, but Milla figured it was what they were going to get. Cruller was…exactly who he was. There was no changing that. “Thank you,” she said quietly, smiling at Ford again.

He stood there silently for a few moments, then slammed his hands on the counter and stared at the two of them, completely bug-eyed. “Y’know where all the psitanium is? It’s underground!” Ford said, tilting his head too far to the side to keep his balance for much longer. “You’d be surprised what’s underground in a place like this!”

The two younger Psychonauts glanced at each other again, then gave a polite goodbye to Agent Cruller before taking their leave. It was a unique reaction from him, especially considering the lack of appropriate response they usually got. It seemed that he at least understood their question, though it was hard to say whether or not his answer held any useful information. Were they the ramblings of a madman? Or was he offering them some semblance of insight from the small parts of his brain that were still functioning?

“Underground, huh?” Milla muttered, finishing up her sandwich. It was very good. Seemed like the campers would be eating just fine during their week of training.

“I suppose it’ll be worth it to keep an eye out.” Sasha only ate half of his and folded the wrapper around the rest. “Maybe there’s some sort of…cave by the water.”

She smiled and grabbed his wrapped sandwich half, unwrapping it and shoving it towards him. He never ate enough, in her opinion. She’d swear that if she didn’t remind him to eat, he could go well over a day without anything but coffee and cigarettes. That wouldn’t happen while they were alone together, that was for sure. “Maybe! You should finish this, darling. In case we find a secret underground psitanium cave and need our strength to get out.”

Sasha exhaled through his nose, but relented and continued eating. “So we’re exploring again today?” he mumbled between bites.

“That’s what I’d like to do, at least. I mean…I’ve got all my lessons planned,” she answered happily. It was always nice when he listened to her in regards to his health. Now if only she could get him to stop smoking! “Reorganized my mind so the kids can practice levitation safely. So there’s nothing else to prepare.”

“Ah.” 

He nodded and then pouted, an expression that Milla didn’t expect to see. “What’s wrong?”

“I may need to take some time and…move some things around.” He took the last bite of his sandwich and crumpled up the wrapper in his gloved hands. “Maybe we’ll head back to the cabins early.” He paused, then corrected himself. “Er, I’ll head back early. You don’t have to. Also. You can do what you want, of course.”

She smiled brightly at him. He was so cute when he stumbled over his words. “Maybe I’ll go swimming, then.”

Sasha returned her smile with a small one of his own and they got up from the picnic table outside the lodge. It was a beautiful day out and there was plenty of campground for them to check out before he needed to start on his lesson plan.

X

Their third day on the campgrounds, aka the last day before the campers arrived and the actual camp started, did not get off on the right foot.

Milla and Sasha were loudly woken up by a loud - loud, loud, loud - trumpet playing a slightly off-tune Reveille. It didn’t take a genius to know what that meant: Oleander had arrived.

Of course, he chose to arrive at six-thirty in the morning. And he had to announce his presence as loudly as possible.

Sasha wasn’t ashamed to admit that he didn’t like Morceau. He didn’t get along with the argumentative man, who was always trying to pick a fight with him over everything. He made inappropriate jokes and comments, gave him insulting nicknames for absolutely no reason, and felt the need to heckle Sasha about his personal life and personality on a regular basis. He was genuinely surprised that anyone got along with the short man, though he supposed Milla got along with everyone.

The two of them got up and took turns getting ready for the day, despite Oleander’s attempts to get them up faster. Sasha just knew that the day was not going to improve with such a loud, little man having access to the camp speaker system.

On the plus side, he didn’t have a headache anymore and his lesson plan for the campers was all ready. It also seemed that Milla didn’t have a headache anymore either, since she hadn’t mentioned it.

While eating breakfast with Milla and Morry, it hit Sasha that he was already really missing the alone time with her. Sure, it wasn’t the romantic nonsense that Morceau had joked about, but it was still very nice. He really enjoyed spending time with her where they didn’t have to worry about danger potentially lurking around every corner.

“Did you get a headache on your first night here?” Milla asked Morceau over their egg sandwiches.

“Huh?” Oleander tilted his head. “Aaronson and Whittaker complained about that, too. The four of you just need to get used to the outdoors, is all!”

Sasha disassociated while Morceau continued to talk about how much stronger and more outdoorsy he was than everyone else, and stared down at his egg sandwich. Though Ford’s cooking wasn’t bad, he was beginning to realize that the food options were quite limited. He wasn’t a man who needed a lot of variety in his life, but he couldn’t imagine eating it over and over again for an entire week. Maybe he’d have to grab some fruit before the campers arrived the next day.

“What do you think, Nein?”

Sasha was pulled back into the conversation to find both of them staring at him. He had no idea what they were just talking about and shook his head. “I didn’t catch the question.”

Oleander rolled his eyes. “See what I mean? If any of this week’s kids give us a bad review, I’m blaming it all on you!” he said, pointing a finger in Sasha’s face. “If you’re gonna screw anything up, just try to keep it small, alright?”

“...alright,” Sasha responded, standing up. He wasn’t interested in listening to insults any longer, so he decided it was a good time to look around the camp. By himself. “I’m going for a walk.”

Milla gave him an apologetic smile, almost like she somehow knew he was leaving because he didn’t want to spend too much time with Morceau. She’d heard him complain about the man enough times to come to that conclusion. “Catch up with you later?”

“Of course.” Sasha nodded at her and levitated away, decidedly towards the geodesic psychoisolation chambers in the woods. He’d meant to ask Morry about them, but didn’t have the patience for it. Maybe Milla would remember.

As he came to the structure, he noticed a strange-looking squirrel out of the corner of his eye. Sasha turned to look directly at it, but the squirrel immediately ran off - though, notably, it fell into a large tree stump. After a moment the squirrel climbed back out, looking slightly worse for wear, then it ran off in another direction.

Bored and curious, Sasha walked closer to the tree stump. He’d noticed a few of them around the camp, though they didn’t really catch his attention considering they were in the middle of the woods. When he looked inside the stump, however, it was clear that it wasn’t a normal stump. It was hollow and the hole inside was very deep. One could even say that it led to something…underground.

Sasha raised a single eyebrow at his discovery. He looked up - turned left, then right, then looked back down into the hole. It was certainly big enough for him to fit into. Though now he was wishing he’d used clairvoyance on that squirrel before it got away.

With a shrug, he decided it was worth a shot to look, so Sasha levitated himself down into the stump to see what was inside.

He didn’t expect to land on an awkwardly small rail car. Even more than that, he didn’t expect it to talk to him.

"Welcome to the Whispering Rocket Underground Rapid Transit System. Would you like to go back to your private sanctuary now, Agent Cruller? Or...somewhere else?"

Sasha stared at the device in front of his face. What the hell was he looking at, exactly? Whose voice was that? And…it specifically mentioned Agent Cruller. Did that mean this was something Ford had managed to put together in the short time he’d been living at the camp? It looked like an entire underground tunnel system.

Unsure of what else to say, Sasha cleared his throat. “Uh…to the sanctuary. Please.”

“Yes, noble Psychomaster.”

He glared, unhappy with that nickname, and held the car tight as he was suddenly pulled in a random direction. The rail car seemed to be functioning well, though Sasha was understandably nervous about the construction quality. Did Agent Cruller build this secretly or did Oleander know about it? He had so many questions.

Questions that would be followed up by even more questions, Sasha realized as the car came to a stop. He levitated out through another hollowed-out tree stump and found himself in some sort of underground laboratory - or, sanctuary, he supposed, was the word the rail car had used. The space was still very clearly under construction, but there were floating screens all around, several comfortable-looking chairs, and a pile full of psychic devices that Sasha recognized from Agent Mentallis��� lab.

It was a strange sight to behold.

“...Agent Cruller?” Sasha said, unsure of what was going on.

No one responded. He supposed it was silly to think Ford would just be waiting around when he saw him in the main lodge less than an hour earlier. The man was probably working around the campgrounds somewhere, or maybe he was-

“Sasha!”

He turned around to find Ford Cruller floating up from somewhere below, a large piece of scrap metal in his hands. “Ford. What’s going on?”

“I didn’t expect you down here so soon,” the older man answered, plopping down on the same platform as Sasha. “You get into a fight with Oleander?”

Sasha pouted slightly. “Not a fight. Just annoyed with him.” He paused for a moment, then shook his head. “Wait, no, where are we? Why are you wearing your Psychonauts uniform? Are you-?”

“Oop! I’ll be right back!” Ford interrupted, then quickly dove into the tree stump that Sasha had come out of earlier.

“I…what?” Sasha felt positively bewildered. He needed to find Milla and bring her there immediately, maybe she’d be able to shed some light on the situation. Or at the very least, offer a comforting presence while they absorbed the insanity together. He reached out to her mentally to let her know that he wanted to speak to her alone, then jumped back into the tree stump from earlier. Somehow, the rail car was still there, despite the fact that Ford seemingly exited the same way. Sasha was very, very confused.

X

It didn’t take much effort to get Morry to walk away from her. Milla let him know that she had some womanly things to take care of, and he immediately bounced away without a single question. He was truly a man’s man, she supposed.

She was very curious about whatever Sasha had found. Milla could feel that he was surprised and confused by something and she hoped it was something exciting, because the past hour of talking to Morceau about his Basic Braining mental boot camp was exhausting. She could not have been less interested in the militarized jungle gym he’d set up for the kids inside his head. It was…certainly different from what she’d planned.

She agreed to meet Sasha near the woods where they’d found the psychoisolation chambers - which she’d almost forgotten to ask Morceau about, but thankfully she had the answer. Agent Mentallis had suggested them as a fun exercise for the kids, then after they were already built, Second Head Forsythe and Grand Head Zanotto rejected the idea completely. But they were already built, and no one wanted to see all that money wasted, so Agent Mentallis promised to come and relocate the chambers whenever he had enough time and found a good space to put them back near the Motherlobe.

It wasn’t a great solution, but the campers would probably be too terrified of the chambers to mess around. Milla knew she could scare them off if she told them exactly what they were used for, but she wouldn’t do that. She never wanted to scare children.

Sasha was waiting for her near the entrance, standing next to one of the large tree stumps she’d noticed around the campgrounds.

“Morry didn’t follow you, did he?”

Milla gave him an incredulous stare. “Of course not, darling. Why would he? Did you find something bad?”

“Not bad, just…secretive. I think.” Sasha tugged at the turtleneck of his sweater. “Follow me,” he said, and then levitated down into the stump.

She leaned over to see that Sasha had completely disappeared into the darkness. That was unexpected. “Um…Sasha?”

“It’s safe,” his voice spoke, echoing slightly. “Just come down.”

Well. She trusted Sasha more than anyone, so there was no reason not to do what he said. Milla floated down slowly and after a few seconds she felt herself land in Sasha’s arms. Another unexpected development. She looked around and saw that he was sitting in a small rail car and they were in a little tunnel.

“What is this?”

Sasha grunted as he tried to adjust the way she was seated - moving her legs around to make sure they weren’t sticking out too far, if she had to guess. “Sorry, just. Give me a second.”

She could’ve helped him, but it was kind of fun to just let him move her around. It wasn’t often that Sasha initiated physical contact with her, after all.

He seemed satisfied with her positioning - she was sitting on his lap and her legs were crossed over one another, laying on top of his left leg. Her shoulder was resting against his chest and she had her hands poised politely in her lap. Sasha glanced at her, a nervous blush on his cheeks, then reached out one hand towards her hair.

After a moment of hesitation, he pulled his hand back. “You, um. You should pull your hair in front of you. Just in case.”

Milla was entertained enough by the situation to do what he said without question.

Once that was done, Sasha cleared his throat and tapped the little screen in front of them. “To the sanctuary, please.”

“Yes, noble Psychomaster.”

Not expecting such a sultry voice - or any voice at all, really - Milla let out a nervous laugh. “Darling, what in the world is going on? Where are we?”

“You’ll see in a few moments,” he said quietly, and then the rail car started to move.

Instinctively, Milla pulled her knees up towards her chest and tucked herself into the tightest ball she could. The car moved faster than she expected and she wasn’t exactly seated very securely. Thankfully, Sasha caught the hint and wrapped one hand around her legs and the other around her back, keeping hold of her.

It was very nice. She’d have to thank whoever built the tunnel system for that little moment she got to have with her partner.

Less than a minute later and it stopped. Sasha didn’t wait even a second before wrapping his hands underneath her and levitating them both out of there. They exited through a similar hollow tree stump, but found themselves in a very high-tech-looking lab. It looked almost nicer than some of the things they had at the Motherlobe.

She levitated out of Sasha’s arms and floated over to the middle of the room. “I have never been more confused.”

“There you are! And good, you brought Agent Vodello.”

The two of them turned to find Ford Cruller walking towards them from a platform on the opposite side of the room. He looked more sober and focused than either had ever seen from him before, and his presence asked just as many questions as it answered.

“Ford…” Milla said gently, floating towards him. “What’s going on?”

“My question exactly,” Sasha added.

The older man shook his head. “Sorry for rushing out on you earlier, Sasha, but I could hear Oleander thinking about getting his hands on a boat, so I felt that inescapable urge to get out there and help him. You understand, I’m sure.”

Milla stared at the man, unblinking. She did not understand at all. “You remember our names?”

“I do,” he answered, taking a deep breath. “Just down here. Surrounded by all this psitanium…it’s enough psychic energy to keep my mind together. For now, at least.”

“I thought this much psitanium exposure was dangerous for psychics.” Sasha walked along the platform, coming to a stop next to Ford. “We’ve seen that in the past, at least.”

“Yes, of course, I remember the whole situation with that Rehm fellow a few years ago,” Cruller responded absentmindedly. “But he was an untrained psychic mind, someone who didn’t even know he was psychic until he was exposed. My mind is…well, it’s not what it used to be. But it’s used to psitanium and it’s used to psychic enhancements.”

Milla wasn’t surprised to hear Lucius’ name brought up - Whispering Rock was, after all, very close to the place where he’d first been exposed to the psitanium that made him lose his mind. His accidental discovery was helpful when Oleander was looking for the right place to build the camp. “But above ground you’re still…not quite yourself.”

“That’s true. I…can’t leave this sanctuary.” Ford sighed and sat in one of the chairs. “My every free moment has been spent working on this underground chamber, trying to make it liveable and giving myself access to all the classified information I can get my hands on.”

Milla noticed Sasha staring at a pile of gadgets sitting across the way. Those probably belonged to Agent Mentallis - she wondered if Ford had stolen them, or somehow convinced his old friend to give them to him.

“This is great news, Agent Cruller,” Sasha said. “Why haven’t you told anyone yet?”

“Hmmmm,” Ford hummed, closing his eyes and leaning his head back. “To be honest…I don’t think most of them will believe me. I’m just happy you two do!”

“It’s hard not to believe when you’re so much more, um…” Milla started.

“...coherent. Than usual,” Sasha added, finishing her sentence.

“Ha! That’s true.” Agent Cruller stood up and stretched, cracking his back loudly. “Oleander doesn’t know about this, alright? And I don’t want him to. He can’t keep a secret worth his life.” He scratched the top of his head. “I don’t know if the psitanium will keep me sane forever, but…so long as it does, would you two help me out with some projects?”

Milla and Sasha glanced at one another, not even needing telepathy to understand that the answer was of course.

“Excellent,” Ford responded, despite the fact that they hadn’t actually answered out loud. “And since you asked, Sasha - we’re just due north of the main lodge. Directly underneath.”

Sasha hadn’t asked anything like that, which made Milla wonder if Agent Cruller was able to read their minds so effortlessly while in his sanctuary that he didn’t even realize the telepathy was happening. It was a strange concept, though she’d certainly had moments where she couldn’t tell if Sasha was talking to her or thinking at her.

“I know you two have a lot to do, getting ready for the campers to arrive tomorrow,” Ford continued, “but I’d appreciate it if you could visit me down here sometime soon. I have some important things I’d like to discuss.”

“Of course, sir,” Sasha answered.

Milla wondered if he felt as intimidated by Ford’s commanding presence as she did. It was so strange to be talking to the Ford Cruller of legend rather than the Ford Cruller they’d gotten to know in the Motherlobe. All the stories they’d been told about him suddenly made sense, just from such a brief interaction.

“Is there anything we can do for you now?” Milla asked.

Ford shook his head. “No, I…oh. I need to go.” He suddenly rushed towards the hollow tree stump and jumped in, leaving the two active Psychonauts alone.

Milla frowned. “Maybe Morceau needed help with that boat again.”

“Perhaps,” Sasha answered, but he was already back to staring at the pile of gadgets in the corner. “These are definitely from Agent Mentallis’ lab. He was complaining to me about missing equipment just last week.”

“Ah. Well…too bad we can’t tell him where it is.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “This is a strange situation, right? This isn’t something you’ve experienced before?”

“Not at all.” Sasha stood up straight and walked closer to her. “I think I can say with absolute certainty that this is not something any Psychonaut has dealt with before.”

Milla nodded her head and took a deep breath, wondering if the extra psitanium exposure would have an immediate effect or if they’d have to wait longer to feel a difference. She felt a little lighter, maybe a bit stronger, but she also wasn’t sure if she was just imagining it. “Agent Mentallis would probably be very happy to know he was right.”

Sasha sighed and stuck his hands into his pockets. “Yes, yes he would.”

[atalho-s]

Light Up The Dark

Part 2 | We are accidents waiting to happen

pairing: bartender!tom x famous!reader

warnings: smut +18 miniors dni, swear words?, drinking, let me know if anything else!

words: 5.0 k

a/n: english it’s not my first language, so i’m sorry for any mistake! I don’t have a taglist yet, but if you want to be tagged in the next chapters let me know!! 

PART 2 if you want to read part 1 click here! 

It was already Saturday. The day Y/n took for herself. Writing was extraordinary, but she loved having a day off to take care of herself. She spent the day doing things she enjoyed, whether it was lying in bed watching a movie or trying to cook something.

After the fateful day of writer's block she started writing like crazy, so she didn't feel guilty about taking a day off without thinking about her characters and how they would get out of the challenges she had created for them.

The fateful day. For some reason she kept thinking about that damned Brit with that accent. For a moment she'd been scared that she'd been seen by paparazzi hanging out with the mysterious bartender, or even some picture of him leaving her apartment. But nothing came out in the news on the gossip sites, which made her relieved.

As much as she deserved to have fun once in a while and wasn't doing anything wrong, she still didn't want to bring attention to herself and even less to a guy who wasn't even famous. She was afraid to put anyone who wasn't famous in the media. Fear that one day suddenly, this person might be persecuted because of her.

Anyway, it had just been a crazy night. Nothing much. And she didn't intend to see him again. So she had nothing to worry about.

Sitting down in the kitchen counter with her familiar cup of coffee she got lost in some thoughts. Why hadn't she stopped thinking about him ever since? It had been a great night, but that was all. She didn't even know him well.

Maybe it was because her creative block had been broken after being with him. But obviously it was just a coincidence. She had just felt inspired after a distraction.

She shook his head away from the thoughts and placed the cup in the sink. She took a deep breath and thought about what to do next. But before she could think of anything else her cell phone started ringing on the counter. She was almost jump by the sudden sound, seeing the screen indicating that it was Milla, her agent, who had become one of her best friends.

- Hi Mil! - she said after sliding the screen.

- Good morning baby. - she said on the other end of the line. - Ready for the party?

- Party? What a party? - Y/n asked confused starting to wash the small amount ofdishes she had soiled.

- How you don't know? I thought I sent you the invitation on your email and I even sent you a message!

- Bestie, I haven't seen my email or message for days. I was super focused on the book, my writer's block finally went away.

- Really? I knew that would go away! You were worried for nothing. What did you do to go back to writing? - Milla asked and Y/n smiled a little.

- Well... I just went out to chill out a bit...Nothing much.

- Y/n getting out on weekdays? And even on the days you're writing a book? That's what I call grow. - she said and Y/n rolled her eyes laughing. - I'm even afraid to invite you to parties, because I know when you're writing you hate to go out... But it's good to know that you're getting out of your routine a little...

- Yeah, sometimes it's good to breathe new air. - Y/n replied drying his hands on a towel. - But what party are you talking about?

- A party of none other than Emma Brown. - Y/n snorted. Emma Brown was a great actress who to tell the truth she didn't know much, she only knew her from a couple of her movies, but other than that she didn't know much about her.

But what she did know was that she had some also famous friends of questionable taste. They were those famous people who only knew about money, women, cars and mansions. But she was tipped for a theatrical adaptation of one of her books and she wanted everything to come out perfect. She was very afraid the movie would end up ruining her work.

- Do I really have to go? - She asked in a tearful voice.

- Yes you have! It's going to be a really fancy birthday party for her, all the famous people in the industry are going to be there. You know you have to socialize with these people. Who knows, you can make some important friendships...

- Milla... I don't know... I don't need important friendships. I don't need anyone to stand up or approach others for interest.

- I know you don't need anyone for that... I just meant that you're very isolated, you need to make connections, understand? I know it's hard because you hate all that fame and stuff. But if you want the adaptation of your story to be good, there's no way... Besides, one of the great directors you left me on the list to research will be there too. So it would be really cool to kill two birds with one stone. - Milla said and Y/n sighed. She was right, if she wanted everything to work out she had to at least have a conversation with these people. It would be weird to refuse Emma's invitation to her birthday. It would just show that she was uninterested.

- Okay... You won ok? - She said and Milla gave an excited squeal. - But I won't stay long!

- Okay, okay... Just for you to go is great! Andrew will be there shortly for you to choose a dress. -Andrew was her stylist and she practically jumped every time Y/n had an important event, because it was rare for her to go. Good thing he didn't just have her as a client, because otherwise he'd be bored out of his mind for a long time.

- Okay Mil, thank you... I love you! - She said and Milla said goodbye hanging up the phone.

It was late afternoon when Andrew arrived at her apartment with several suitcases and bags in both hands. He really had brought up thousands of options. But Y/n ended up choosing a slightly shiny black dress that went just above the knee with a V-neck. Something cute, but nothing too fancy.

He did her makeup. Which wasn't too heavy either, as she hated things that were too heavy on her face. Finally she put on a mid-heeled sandal in the same color as the dress and her sparkly earrings. Before Andrew left her apartment satisfied with the result.

It was almost 7:30 pm when a black car that would take her to the party location arrived in front of her building and she got out enter the backseat right after. She was apprehensive. She hated socializing to tell the truth. Large crowds and cameras really made her anxious.

After almost 20 minutes the car stopped in front of what appeared to be a large gate. Several paparazzi showed up and started taking pictures of her car surrounding her or even tapping on the window a little, asking her if she could talk to them. Which she obviously ignored. The driver introduced himself to the doorman and he opened the gate letting the car pass and stop in front of a luxurious mansion.

Some people were coming in and others were standing in front talking. She saw that there were some familiar faces of the media. Actresses, actors, singers, famous people of every imaginable type.

She opened the car door and walked out towards the large entrance. She smiled at a few people, nodding her head as she passed and found herself in a crowd of people as she entered the place. There really were a lot of people, despite the place being even bigger inside. Many with fancy drinks in hand and chatting. A song playing on the background.

She walked deeper into the room and took a quick look around trying to find the birthday girl. After a few minutes she found her near one of the sofas. Y/n walked over and stopped beside her, causing Emma to stop her conversation with two more people and look at her.

- Happy Birthday! - Y/n said in the friendliest way possible and Emma smirked and hugged her lightly afterwards.

- Thank you! Glad you came! - she said, breaking out of the hug after a few seconds.

- Your party is very beautiful, I loved the decoration. - Y/n said looking around. Indeed Emma had decorated the place in a simple way, but at the same time fancy and beautiful.

- Oh thank you... - she said, still smiling. - I'm very happy that you accepted my invitation, we have a lot to talk about since maybe we'll work together, right?

- No problem, obviously I would come... - Y/n said and almost punched herself because she was very fake in saying that. - But we really have to talk!

- Well, I was talking to Jim just now... I can give you his number later... He's a great director and I think it would be great for your adaptation... - Emma said and Y/n thought that she was really interested in that adaptation, because she was even talking to the possible renowned director, which surprised her. She thought Emma was a little more oblivious to her books and even movie stuff. She thought she was one of those famous actresses who expected others to come after her, not being interested in the work itself, but only on the fame and money. - We love your book! I think it has great potential for a grand adaptation.

- Wow, that is good to hear! Thanks a lot! - Y/n said sincerely this time. - I'll love talking to him too...

- Sure! - She looked behind Y/n and motioned to someone from far away. - Hey Jim! You can come here? - She asked speaking loudly for him to hear and Y/n turned around watching the director approaching after saying goodbye to someone. He wasn't much older than she thought, maybe in his early thirties, he wore a small beard that fit his face and short hair, but with curls that jutted out around his head. -That's Y/n... Y/n that's Jim...-Emma said when he got in front of her and Jim held out his hand with a smile.

- Nice to meet Y/n, we finally met... - he said and Y/n shook his hand also smiling.

- Nice to meet you Jim! - She said and Emma sat in one of the armchairs indicating for the two to sit, which they did next.

- Do you two want something to drink? Champagne?- Emma asked and they both accepted as she motioned for someone from far away to bring them.

- Well, I found your book very intriguing Y/n... I can say I haven't slept for a while... - Jim said laughing a little and Y/n smiled. - It's a very well written story, I loved the plots and it has a great resolution. I think I would make a good 2 hour movie with all this material... - he said and Y/n paid attention until something took her a little out of focus. Something not. Somebody.

It was the waiter, and not just any waiter. It was Tom. He came into her vision and she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Maybe it was a mirage or she was mistaking him for someone else. But when he approached she was sure it was him. He came with a tray with drinks in one hand. He was wering a white dress shirt, with black pants. The typical pattern of a fancy party waiter. But he was beautiful. Y/n felt a shiver for a moment and tried to hide it by looking back at Jim who was still talking about his plans for the possible movie.

Maybe Tom didn't even remember her. She was just a one-night stand, he should do that with a lot of girls out there, so it wasn't something new to him. As soon as he arrived, he handed one of the glasses to Emma beside her and Y/n felt her breath quicken a little. She didn't know why she was so nervous. It was just a waiter she had slept with a few days ago.

- Excuse me... - he said and Y/n looked up at him quickly seeing that he was right in front of him. -Here it is miss...-he said looking her in the eyes and then winking at her, wich almost make her shrink in her chair. He held out the tray for her to take one of the glasses and she did, looking away at Jim.

- So, what do you think? - Jim asked taking the glass from the tray and Y/n took a sip of his surprise drink.

- Sorry? - She asked guiltily for having been distracted.

- About us meeting and having a meeting next week? That way I can show you my idea better. - he said and Y/n smiled.

- Of course, that would be great! - she said and Tom walked away not looking in her direction again, which left her disappointed for a second. She would going to love looking into those eyes again.

- Perfect! - Jim replied excitedly and started talking about other things as well as Emma.

They talked for almost an hour, until Emma went to talk to other people and Jim said he was leaving as he had some work in the morning. Y/n sat for a while and finished drinking the last of her champagne and placed it on the table in front of her.

She thought about leaving. She had already done the important interactions for the night. So, she had no reason to stay there. But she kept thinking about the damn waiter. Would it be weird to go talk to him? Maybe just say hi? But she doubted he would want to talk to her. Besides, he was working. She didn't want to get in his way.

Getting up from her chair and straightening her dress, she forced her steps towards the exit, but stopped midway as she saw Tom walking into what appeared to be the kitchen with the tray tucked under his arm. She looked at the exit door and sighed. Okay, if she went to him just to say hi, it wouldn't hurt would it?

Y/n turned and headed in the direction that Tom had gone. She couldn't even believe she was doing it this. She would looked ridiculous in his eyes. But she choose to ignore the little voice of reason again. Passing by a few people, and walking out into a empty hallway, she opening a single door at end. She closed in behind her and turned to see that Tom was on his back piling some boxes in a corner. His muscles in that outfit made her feel tempted somehow, so she swallowed hard. He turned at the sound of the door closing and looked at her with a mixture of confusion and curiosity.

- Looking for something madam? - He asked with a smirk.

- Actually... - Y/n thought of some excuse, maybe it would be better, so it would seem that she was there for something else and not for him. - Yeah... I was looking for the bathroom, I think I take the wrong direction...

- Yeah...Actually, the bathroom is on the other side of the hallway... - he said leaning against the kitchen counter and looking her up and down, making her feel completely vulnerable. After his eyes roamed her legs and bust, they came to her face and he grinned.

- Okay, I'll... - Y/n started saying and turned around taking a few steps. But she stopped midway, closing his eyes, tearing himself apart from the inside out of embarrassment. She turned around again seeing that he was still watching her, now with his arms crossed over his chest, wondering what she would do next. - You remember me don't you? - She asked fearfully.

- Of course I remember darling... - he said, practically intensifying his accent in that nickname that was so perfect in his voice. Y/n took a few steps forward also crossing her arms. - How could I forget the famous writer Y/n?- He raised an eyebrow and she rolled her eyes with his last sentence.

- It really was an...- She looked at her feet trying to find a word. - Interesting night… - she finally said and he chuckled, making her look up.

- Very interesting indeed... - he said putting his hands in his front pockets, pulling himself away from the counter and heading towards her. Y/n wanted to say goodbye and leave, run away as fast as possible. But she couldn't, every move he did was too tempting, so she just stood there watching him get closer and closer to her. He stopped in front of her and looked into her eyes, smiling slightly.

- What are you doing here? Do you work as a waiter at parties too? - Y/n asked curiously.

- My boss sometimes receives proposals for us to work at these rich parties... - he said with a shrug.

- Oh... Nice... - she said crossing her arms. - Well...Now I really have to go... - she said trying to get away from it one last time.

- Why did you really come here love? -Tom asked tilting his head a little to the side and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

- I told you, I was looking for the bathroom. -Y/n looked at his face trying to be firm, but saw that he still wore that smirk. Why did he have to be so confident like that?

- Oh sure... Just like you also looked for some excuse that day for me to leave, but failed miserably?- he asked making a thoughtful face and she still hadn't decided if she wanted to slap him or kiss him.

- Why did you leave without saying goodbye tho? - She asked ignoring what he had said.

- So that's why you came after me? Are you hurt that I didn't leave you a goodbye kiss? - he said pouting.

- Of course not, I just... I don't know, it would be nice to say that you were leaving and that you wouldn't stay for breakfast... - Y/n said looking to the side, avoiding those brown eyes that intimidated her.

- Darling, I'm not that type guy, sorry...

- What type of guy? - she still avoided looking at him.

- The type who stay for breakfeast. -he said taking a hand from her pocket and taking her chin gently, making her look at him. - But if you want some fun I'm at your disposal. -he said and she bit her lower lip lightly making him deviate his eyes towards her lips. - Do you want darling?- he asked quietly and Y/n seemed to be transfixed by her touch. She was surrendered, she couldn't deny it. Maybe even hypnotized.

- I...- she said with a little shaky voice. - I don't know...

- Yes or no?- he asked looking from her lips to her eyes and she felt her breath getting heavy.

- Yes...- she just spoke as a whisper and he smiled satisfied.

- How about you meet me in 15 minutes in the bathroom of the pool house? - He said and she just shook her head slowly. Tom released her chin and backed away slowly, not taking his eyes off her, and then walked away leaving her alone with her heart racing.

Y/n took a deep breath and tried to place herself in what had just happened. Did she really want this? Her mind could try to hear the voice of reason, but it was drowned out by her body's reaction. She wanted to feel him again.

She walked away quickly, passing several people who were talking loudly or who were already drunk. She looked around and saw the door that led to the back side and sneak there, getting out and feeling the slightly chilly night air, closing the sliding door behind her.

She saw the pool that had some people around it and a little further to the right a door that opened into another closed space. Probably the pool house. She walked over there, trying to hide it so no one would see her, and went inside. She closed the front door slowly and headed towards the bathroom.

The place was dark, with only the lights outside. So she was holding her hand into to some stuff until he found the door. She went in and turned on the light. The bathroom was spacious, with a large sink and a huge mirror in front of it. She closed herself off and looked at herself in the reflection.

That was crazy. She had never done that at parties. Not even when she was drunk. And now she was there, looking forward to what might happen. In fact she knew what was going to happen, just as she knew when she invited him up to her apartment that night. But even so, she felt butterflies in her stomach in anticipation.

After almost 10 minutes of waiting she heard the bathroom door open and she turned in the direction, feeling extremely anxious. Tom came in looking over his shoulder and closed the door soon after, looking at her with an opening grin. He locked the door slowly with one hand and came towards her in a hurry.

The next thing she felt was his lips pressing against hers urgently. He kissed her like it was the last thing he would do. Running her tongue over her lips asking permission and Y/n opened it slowly letting him explore her mouth with his burning tongue.

She ran her hand around the back of his neck pulling his hair and he responded by holding her waist tightly. Tom walked forward and she leaned her back against the sink counter. Making him lift her with agility, sitting her down on the cold surface and getting between her legs. She grunted in surprise against his mouth and he broke the kiss for air. Kissing from her neck to her collarbone and she closed her eyes feeling his touch.

- Tom... - she said in a low voice. - You won't get in trouble if you disappear like that? -he now kissed her neckline and squeezed her thigh with desire.

- Not if we're fast darling. -He spoke a bit husky, moving his kisses to her earlobe, biting lightly and she moaned low. - And despite loving your sounds, you will have to be silent. - He looked at her smiling maliciously. - Promise? -He spoke touching her nose with his lightly, looking at her closely, and she nodded making him attack her lips next.

Still kissing her he pulled the hem of her dress up a little and she bit his lip making him smile against the kiss. Her fingers reached her inner thigh and then moved up to her panties. Tom put the fabric aside with one of her fingers and passed one slowly at her entrance feeling her wetness.

- Always ready for me aren't you darling? -He said pulling his mouth away from hers, staying just a few centimeters away from her. She moaned softly again and he smiled as he pulled her fingers away and replaced them around her thighs pulling her closer to the edge of the sink.  He started to finger her really slowly and she bite her lips, trying to control her moaning. Tom keep his pace just watching her face squirm with pleasure. After seconds he removed his delicious fingers making her almost protest out loud, makind him smile even more. If wasn't for the rush he would definitively make his time with you.

Y/n then put his hands on the collar of his shirt and opened the first buttons. Kissing his neck with desire, making him squeeze her thighs in response. Biting her lips he unfastened his belt and then the buttons of his pants pulled them down along with his boxers, revealing his cock. He pulled her in for one more kiss before taking the condom package from his pocket and opening it, meanwhile Y/n was kissing uncovered place she could reach, from his face to his chest, opening more buttons of his shirt.

Tom adjusted the condom on his cock before taking a few thrusts. He moved even closer to her, if that was even possible, and gave her a peck.

- Ready? He spoke softly against her lips and she nodded almost in despair, wanting to feel him inside her more than anything.

He smiled once more and slid his cock easily as she was completely wet. Tom growled low against her ear and Y/n bit her lip so no sound could come out. He started to move, after she was more adjusted to his size, at first slowly and starting to increase his pace with each second.

-Fuck... - he cursed softly against her ear and she pulled the hair from his neck with one hand, while the other squeezed his shoulder. The more he increased the pace she felt as if she were coming off the ground. - So tight darling... - he said between small grunts. - Feels so good...

- Tom... - Y/n spoke and he increased the pace even more making her moan with the sudden sensation of pleasure and he muffled her sounds by sticking his lips on hers.

-Shh… - he said after moving his lips from hers and Y/n tried her best to keep the sounds to herself, but he filled her perfectly and made her feel so good that she couldn't help it. Tom smirked and put his hand over her mouth, covering her moans. - Can't contain yourself? -he said and kissed her neck giving light bites and hickeys. -You're so easy for me, love... Look at you...- he spoke in a low voice, while still holding his hand firm in her mouth and kissing below her ear. - So easy...- he said going faster, as if it were possible, and bit his lower lip trying to contain his own moans this time, touching his nose to her cheek.

- Please…- she managed to speak muffled against his hand, feeling her orgasm quickly building.

- I know sweetheart... - he said making her feel his heavy breath into her cheek. -I got you ...-he finally said and that was enough for her orgasm to release with force, making him also come right after her with one last muffled grunt against her neck. He continued to move slowly for a few more seconds, before coming to a complete stop. The two of them with their breaths out of control. Reaching their high.

After a few minutes Tom took his hand from her mouth and soon after took his member out of her slowly. The two were silent the entire time. Y/n felt empty as  soonTom walked away to clean up, still half dazed from all the pleasure she just felt. He cleaned himself up and discarded the condom, zipping his pants and turned around, buttoning his shirt right away. Y/n didn't take her eyes off every move he made and he smiled approaching her.

- Want some help darling? - he asked standing in front of her and she held in his arms before he helped her getting down from the sink. She felt a little dizzy and if it wasn't for him holding her she thought she would fall. - You're right? - he asked still holding her on her waist.

- Yes...Thank you... - she managed to say.

- Well, I have to go, before they notice that I'm gone... - he said, releasing her.

- Of course... - Y/n said. - Tom… - she didn't know what to say. It might be the second time they'd done this, but it still felt like it was the first and she felt somewhat embarrassed. Maybe because she wasn't used to casual sex.

- See you soon? - He said giving a quick kiss on her cheek, fixing his hair in the best way he could and winking as he walked away, going to the door and unlocking it. He got out and closed it behind him while she back staring into the mirror.

She took a deep breath and was trying to figure out what to do next. After cleaning her up she finally got out of there. She crawled to the door and managed to get through the party without the weird looks she thought everyone would send to her when they bumped into her. For some reason she thought everyone would know, but obviously not. She felt weird doing that at an party, it really wasn't like her. But why did she feel so good?

She looked around before heading out of the house, but she didn't find Tom in her vision and she didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She wanted to look at him one last time from afar, but at the same time she didn't. Maybe that was the last time they were going to do that. She didn't think she'd find him like this anywhere else, and she didn't intend to go to the bar he worked at just to get another night with him. Besides, that's what she was, just one night, just a "quickie" in the bathroom. And everything was fine. He was that for her too, so what did it matter?

For a moment she felt his head fill with ideas. Y/n had a perfect plot for her story now. She had to go home and get back to writing right away. Calling the driver from a distance, she practically ran towards the car.

[gristol-liker]

Oo I have a bit of an angsty request; what if Gristol’s friend and/or lover got kidnapped? Why they got kidnapped can be up to you, could even be a misunderstanding and they went on vacation or something and he didn’t know

Alright, going to leave the exact relationship ambiguous so you can decide. This is post-game. For plot reasons, the friend/partner works at the Motherlobe.

Here we go~

Missing Friend/Partner

Even with someone he cares about, Gristol is still pretty self-absorbed. It takes him some time to realize this person is gone.

Once he finds out, he's outraged. No one takes his friend/partner! He'll form a plan to save them!

However, Gristol isn't very useful beyond making plans is above doing anything hands-on, so he's going to need someone to do the actual work. More specifically, he needs someone that can locate his friend/partner with no leads. In other words, the Psychonauts.

Although it pains him to ask for help from his enemies; he'll do it for his friend/partner. He begrudgingly asks for the Psychonauts' help saying whatever is necessary to get them to agree. He's had plenty of experience sucking up to them when pretending to be Nick.

Of course, the Psychonauts are going to help; the missing person works there too! The team is Raz, Milla, and Sasha - they're the only ones willing to work with him.

Throughout the whole thing, Gristol insists that he's in charge. He walks around giving orders to the team and refusing to listen to anyone else who tries to tell him what to do. The team puts up with it because they know how important the friend/partner is to him.

When Gristol isn't acting like he's in command, he's sitting around pouting; he's finally found someone that he actually likes in this country and now they're gone! He even confides in Raz a bit.

Once the team locates the friend/partner, they're on their way! (Sasha: I'll get the jet.)

Abducted

They've reached the location where the missing person is held and are ready to infiltrate it. Raz and Milla go in while Gristol and Sasha stay as does Gristol who insists on going it. Sasha stations himself at tactical. Raz and Gristol stick together and Milla splits off to get in another way.

Gristol and Raz reach the room where they're being held and Gristol enters with way too much confidence, ignoring Raz's protests.

When the enemies (the Gastronauts!) try to stop him, he orders Raz to attack. Raz has no choice but to do so, now that they've been seen. Gristol more or less hides during the entire fight. (Sorry, but he's worthless in a fight.)

After the battle is won, Gristol comes out of hiding and unties his friend/partner, embracing them in whatever way is appropriate for their relationship.

On the way back, Gristol boasts to his friend/partner about how instrumental he was in rescuing them; taking all the credit for himself.

Actually on Vacation

They've reached the location they've tracked the missing person to and split up. Sasha stays at tactical while Milla enters the building one way and Raz and Gristol go in another way.

Gristol and Raz break into the room where the friend/partner is and find-

Friend/partner is just sitting in a hotel room watching TV.

Gristol is elated to see that his friend/partner is well, while they're just confused/a bit angry. Everyone regroups and the friend/partner explains that they're on vacation.

Gristol gets angry that they didn't tell him. Now he's all worried for nothing!

Friend/partner is even more confused. They did tell him. And Truman and Hollis knew. They ask if anyone bothered to check with either of the heads of the Psychonauts. Everyone is quiet.

Gristol says that this works out anyway because now friend/partner can just come back with everyone else. They agree, but mostly because they get a free jet ride, and Raz kind of destroyed the hotel room door.

On the way back, Gristol tries to boast about his brilliant plan, but his friend/partner keeps teasing him about his mistake.

[otagamerkorin]

Trial by Fire (including very little actual fire and honestly just a whole lot of snow)

Merry (very belated) Christmas @blasphemousfungus! I was your secret santa for @kibasniper‘s Psychonauts Secret Santa! Unfortunately, due to a lotta stuff going on in my life, your present isn’t completely done yet, but here’s the first (honestly kinda massive) chapter of it! I plan on putting it up on AO3 as well, so I’ll ping you then too! For reference, this was highly inspired by mystery_notebook (or I think they might be @tvguts on here?) fic Like It Used To Be, But Better, which is amazing and you should totally check it out. Anyways, I really hope you enjoy it!

Edit: Just realized I completely forgot to give it a title. Whoops.

When they had gone into the asylum, none of the members of Thorney Towers had expected to come back out not only dear friends with a 10 year old, but also under the close monitor of an organization of secret psychic agents.  Initially is had only been to ensure that being around Loboto while in such delicate condition hadn’t left any lasting damage. Luckily from what they’d been able to work out from the fours scattered memories of the time, the dentist hadn’t involved them in any of his experiments, but better safe than sorry. The surveillance really hadn’t gotten in the way of their new lives much. A few calls a week, the occasional in-person check in to see how they were doing, not much to write home about in the grand scheme of things.

After a time though, things had begun to get...interesting.

It was actually Boyd who kicked the whole thing off, so to say. It had been a day like any other, possibly even more quiet and domestic than usual considering they’d just hit the weekend. According to the other three, he’d simply been drying dishes after dinner that night when a wayward mug has slipped off the counter behind him. The resulting crash has two effects. 1.) The former nightguard jumped about three feet off the ground with a startled shriek. And 2.) The dishtowel in his hands promptly burst into flames. Luckily he’d dropped the flaming cloth into surprise and a bit of group panic and rapid stomping has quickly put out the blaze, leaving the four gathered in the small kitchen, staring down at its burnt remains.

The lot of them, Boyd especially, were dumbfounded by the whole event and immediately phoned up their new psychic associates, if only to make sure they weren’t all going crazy again. There had to be some mundane explanation for this, right? But after a few quick tests from Sasha, it was official: Boyd was most definitely a psychic.

Signs from the others quickly followed.  Fred would frequently find papers and pens floating in orbit around him whenever he got embroiled in his nursing reinstatement exams. Edgar would sometimes find those around him caught up in a sort of bewildering mental fog, leaving them staring around in confusion. And while Gloria had always had quite the green thumb, now the plants in her garden flourished with just the touch of her hand, the woman assaulted with a hundred whispered voices of delight whenever she appeared at the gate with her watering can. Lili was especially happy about the latter, having never met a fellow connoisseur of florakinesis until that point, let alone one who was so friendly.

To say everyone, both Psychonaut and otherwise, was baffled was an understatement. None of the four had shown an signs of psychic powers earlier in life. So why now?

It was Razputin of all people who offered a hypothesis.  They were all aware that the large amount of  Psitanium around the camp and asylum had been less that helpful for the fours delicate mental state, what with the whole “making the sane less sane” thing and all. Perhaps though, the other half of the phrase may also be in play. What if being around all that Psitanium has brought whatever deeply buried psychic powers the four shared to the surface?

Honestly, it was the best they had to go on. There were hardly any cases of spontaneous psychic manifestation in those beyond adolescence and the four weren’t showing any of the usual symptom relating to those sort of circumstances.

Regardless, it didn’t change the fact that the organization now had a whole mess of new psychics in the mix who needed training.

Which is what brought Milla to the front gates of the Von Gouten Arts Academy for Girls (formally Hagatha Home) bright and early one Wednesday morning. The former actress had bought the dilapidated old academy around a year ago using some of the wealth she’s amassed during her glory years. (It was amazing how much interest a saving account left to sit could accrue.) Since then she’d been fixing the place up, hiring teachers and generally getting the place running even better than before, eventually joined in her endeavors by the other three Thorney Towers residents when they moved onto the grounds with her.

Milla found herself smiling up at the stylized “VG” woven into the metal of the newly installed gate in the stone fence that surrounded the property. Gloria really was doing an excellent job with the place. Rolling her window down, the Mental Minx leaned out and pressed the button of the call box installed in the fence wall. For a moment there was silence and then a familiar voice crackled to life on the other end.

“Good morning! Do you have an appointment?”

“Well, I would certainly hope so Darling.” Milla teased and she could practically hear the smile in Boyd’s voice when he replied.

“Dang, is it really Wednesday already? Well, head right on up Mrs. Vodello! I’ll let the rest of the gang know you’re coming.”

There was a buzz and the whirring of mechanisms as the gate opened and allowed access to the road beyond. Continuing on down the path, she soon found herself pulling into the large round driveway in front of the building. A group of students tending to one of the flower beds out front waved as she parked and stepped out of the car, Boyd likewise stepping out of the guard shack nearby and making his way over.

“Good morning to you Ms. Vodello! You the only one here today?”

“Not quite.” She replied with a chuckle, just in time for the back door of the car to fly open and Raz to stick his grinning face out around it.

“Hi Boyd!”

“Hey, good to see you too Raz! Come on inside, the rest of the gang should be on their way.” He replied with a grin, reaching down to ruffle the boy’s hair as he led them inside.

For as horrid as the place had apparently originally been ran, the former owner had at least had good architectural sense, and the large oak front doors opened into a soaring foyer, complete with a grand spiral staircase. One that Gloria was already beginning to make her way down as the doors closed behind them.

“Well good morning Ms. Vodello! And to you too Raz dear!” The former actress beamed, taking Boyd’s offered arm as she stepped down the last few stairs.

“You came at just the right time. I just finished up with morning announcements. Please, feel free to head right over to the practice room, the rest of the boys should already be on their way. Oh, and I’ve also had some snacks from the dining hall sent on ahead. I hope you both like blueberry muffins!”

“That sounds just delightful darling!” Milla replied cheerfully, smiling wider when she saw the stars in Raz’s eyes at the mention of food. Milla sidled up beside the actress as they started down into one of the academy’s wings, one of Gloria’s arms still linked with Boyd’s.

“So how have the plants been treating you darling?”

“Oh, better everyday! My garden is thriving and I think I’m really starting to get a good hold of this whole telepathy thing! Getting it across to all my little lovelies that there’s really no need to shout every time I come in hasn’t been easy, but I think it’s finally starting to stick. The roses and lilies are still a horrible bunch of gossips, but I doubt there’s much I’ll ever be able to do about that.” She replied with a laugh.

“They do come in useful to make sure none of the students are pulling anything they shouldn’t though!”

“That’s wonderful to hear! How about you Boyd? Have you been making any process in your off-time?” Milla asked, the guard rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Yeah, a bit. It ain’t exactly been fast progress, but one step at a time you know? But hey! At least I haven’t accidentally lit up anything important again since you taught me those exercises. There’s only so many times I can almost burn down Edgar’s classroom before it starts to get ridiculous.”

Milla smiled softly, reaching over to pat the guard on the back.

“Well, learning to fully control one’s powers can be a long path. It took me years to master my own skillset. Like you said, it’s just one step at a time. I think you’ve made wonderful progress though, and I’m very proud of you darling.” She mused and the man flushed a bit at her praise and mumbled a word of thanks, tugging his hat low over his eyes bashfully as Gloria gave him a smile.

The group of four quickly found themselves at the extra dance studio in the buildings far west they’d assigned at their practice room, and upon stepping inside found Fred and Edgar already waiting for them.

“Oh, hey Ms. Milla. And you too Raz. Sorry, gimme just a sec to finish up some papers.” The tall school counselor called over distractedly, scribbling away on a clipboard from where he was sitting on a nearby bench.

“Apologies for my rather ruffled appearance as well, mi amigos.” Edgar chimed in, wiping his hands down with a long-since-stained painting cloth. Both his hands and the old shirt he wore were splattered with the stuff, having somehow even managed to get some on his face and hair.

“You caught me in the middle of a bit of early morning painting.”

“Just be sure to remember and get some rest dear. We can’t have our best art teacher burning the candle at both ends.” Gloria replied with a smile as she strode over, reaching up to stroke away a smudge of paint on his cheek. The artist gave a soft smile as he leaned into the touch.

“Oh course mi amour.”

“Good. And that goes for your too Fred. Don’t think I haven’t noticed a certain someone sneaking out of bed early the last few mornings.” She called over, and the counselor jumped a bit at being called out, flushing bashfully as he looked at her over the edge of the clipboard.

“Right, you’re right. So, what’s the plan for today Ms. Milla? Seeing as how Mr. Dark and Serious isn’t here, I assume we’re working on our levitation?” Fred asked, setting aside the clipboard as he pushed himself to his feet, the Brazilian woman giving a laugh at his joke.

“Oh come now, Sasha isn’t that bad. But you are correct! Today we’re going to be working more on your levitation!” She replied, settling back as though sitting upon an invisible chair and crossing her legs as she floated up a few feet above the ground.

“Now, last time you all managed to manifest a “Levitation Ball” as we like to call it. This time we’ll be taking the next step and practicing our ability to balance atop them. Razputin darling, if you would demonstrate?” The Mental Minx requested and the young psychic nodded, raising a hand above his head.  A large ball of swirling orange energy formed in his palm and he tossed it down, easily jumping up and balancing atop it.

“Now then, we aren’t all trained acrobats like Razputin here, so it might take a while to find your balance and get the hang of it. Consider it like balancing on a medicine ball. Remember, thinking lighter, rounder, happier thoughts can help in manifesting the ball more easily. Go ahead and give it a try! And please let me know if you need any help at all.”

Early on in these lessons the group had felt a bit silly to be using psychic instruction methods typically meant for children, but they’d gotten over it quickly enough. After all, most psychics got their powers much younger than the lot of them were, so starting at a lower level of instruction was only appropriate. It helped that the simple exercises really worked wonders too.

Though that didn’t mean it was gonna be easy. Forming the ball was one thing. Staying on was another.

A fact the group quickly discovered.

Fred gave a squeak as his light blue orb suddenly slid forward, taking the foot he’d just managed to plant atop it along with it, threatening to pull the man into a split as he hopped forward to follow it. In his defense, Edgar and Boyd didn’t seem to be doing much better. The latter had managed to get atop his off-white bubble, but was now swaying about wildly as he tried to keep balanced, arms windmilling in an attempt to steady himself. The former was having much the same troubles, quickly getting dumped back onto the floor each time he attempted to clamber up.

Gloria was the only one of the bunch who seemed to be making much progress. The woman had moved over to one of the practice room’s ballet bars and was gripping it for stability as she gingerly set one foot on her own ball. With a small grunt she hefted herself up, the orb wiggling worryingly beneath her for a moment before stilling.

“There you go! You’re doing wonderful darling!” Milla cheered her on, clapping encouragingly as the other woman smiled.

“Why thank you Milla dear. After some of the ridiculous shoes I’ve had to wear in my years on the stage, this isn’t so bad.” Gloria replied, putting her arms out to balance as her stance wavered a bit.

“Oof! Well, I’m glad one of us seems to be getting it, mi amor. This is far less easy than Señorita Vodello makes it look.” Edgar replied with a grunt, the wind getting knocked out of him as he fell to the ground once more. Milla let out a thoughtful hum, tapping her lips as she watched the struggling group. Suddenly her eyes flashed with inspiration and she snapped her fingers with a grin.

“Well, I think I may know a way to help.”

The whole group, including Raz, whom had rolled over to try and help Boyd stay upright, turned to look at her in interest.

“I’d like you all to form two, smaller levitation balls instead of one.” She directed, miming the shape of two basketball sized orbs.

“Uh, ok. But how is that gonna help?” Fred asked, already focusing on trying to reform his ball into two even as he tiled his head in confusion.

“Well, as you know, those like me, who’ve had a lot of practice, don’t require a physical representation of their levitation in order to float. Most of those who do tend to only create a singular orb to assist them, so they can don’t have to split their focus. I’ve found that others though, who have a nice grip on the psychic side of things, but are having a harder time managing the physical part, tend to prefer use two. Think of them a bit like ice or roller skates.”

“Oh, I think I see what you mean amiga!” Edgar replied in excitement, focusing till his deep red ball split into two smaller ones. Carefully, he stepped atop on, managing to balance one-footed long enough to successfully stabilize himself using the other. Cautiously, he rolled forward a few feet, face splitting into a smile as he managed to keep his balance.

“Well, well, this actually is easier.”

The others quickly followed his example, and the slight adjustment seemed to do wonders. Soon Gloria was twirling lazy loops around the room like a proper skater, Edgar trailing a bit more slowly, but no less enthusiastically, after her. Fred seemed to be doing a tad bit better than before, but was still gripping tight to a much more steady Boyd’s shoulders as the two slowly drifted in circles, Fred’s long legs doing their damnedest to keep him upright.

“Never been great at skating either, but this is a bit better I guess.” The counselor murmured, glancing up to find his partner giving him an encouraging smile.

“Hey, it just takes a little practice! I’m sure you’ll levitating like a pro in no time!” Raz encouraged, giving a whoop of delight as Gloria grabbed him and twirled him around as he glided past.

“Impressive, but I’m afraid we’re going to have to cut the class short for today.”

The whole group gave a jump at the sudden voice, Fred giving a yelp as the levitation bubbles below him popped and dropped him on his ass, and they all turned to see Sasha standing in the now open doorway.

“Sasha, darling! What are you doing here? Didn’t you have other business today?” Milla asked in confusion, drifting over to help Fred up, and the German sighed seriously.

“Yes, but I just got a call from the headquarters. It seems...that Agent Pandor has disappeared.”

Milla gave a gasp, pressing both hands to her mouth, and Raz cocked his head in confusion.

“Uhhh, who’s Agent Pandor?”

“Ms. Tanya Pandor. One of the Psychonauts junior agents and a specialist in subterfuge and information gathering. I’m afraid you haven’t had the opportunity to meet yet.”

“But isn’t Tanya on vacation right now?” Milla asked and Sasha nodded.

“Yes, she had gone skiing at a lodge up in Colorado. The HQ asked her to check in regularly for security reasons. According to what I was briefed with, reports dropped off a few days ago. After a few failed attempts to get ahold of her, eventually the HQ resorted to calling the lodge itself to check in on her, thinking maybe she’d fallen sick. When they checked her room however, the whole thing was empty. It’s as though she just vanished.”

“Oh my! That sounds troubling indeed!” Gloria gasped, mirroring Milla as she held a hand to her mouth dramatically, and the German nodded.

“It certainly is. While Ms. Pandor wasn’t one of our top agents, her skills are none the less important to the Psychonauts and her disappearing is far from ideal. Finding out what happened to her has been assigned as our team’s top priority.”

“Well, is there anything we could do to help?” Fred piped up and the two senior agents looked over at him in confusion.

“What do you mean darling?” Milla asked and the counselor fidgeted nervously with the hem of his shirt as he replied.

“Well, I mean we’re technically part of the Psychonauts to now, even if we’re just in training, right? So that means this agent is one of our buddies too. And it’s only right to try and help out our friends whenever we can right?”

“I agree!” Edgar exclaimed, clapping a hand down on his companion’s shoulder as he turned to face the assembled agents.

“If there’s anything we can do to help and find this missing girl, we’re more than happy to do so!”

Boyd and Gloria nodded along in agreement as Sasha’s gaze scanned over them, the German man’s head tilting in thought.

“Well, I suppose more eyes on the ground would certainly help. And since Mrs. Pandor wasn’t on a mission or anything, this could be a fairly safe environment for you all to get some field experience...”

“Well, I think it sounds like a great idea!” Raz chipped in, folding his arms and nodding wisely, earning an eye roll and a sigh from the older agent.

“...Very well, I suppose it couldn’t hurt.”

“Excellent! Don’t you all worry, I’ll get all the arrangements handled! Just be ready to go in a few hours and remember to pack warmly!” Milla replied, clapping her hands together cheerfully, as Raz gave out a quiet cheer.

The three agents departed quickly after that, leaving the group to make arrangements. It took a bit of scrambling to get everything organized with the rest of the schools staff, but soon enough they found themselves packing.

“I sure hope that poor gal is ok. Hopefully we can find her quick.” Boyd mused, leaning hard onto his suitcase in order to try and get it to lock around the mound of sweaters and other winterwear inside.

“Oh, I’m sure she’s just fine Boyd dear. Those Psychonauts are a tough bunch after all. No doubt she’ll appreciate your concern when we do find her though.” Gloria reassured him, folding up a thick woolen dress to tuck into one of her own bags.

“I must admit, I’m a bit excited. I’ve never been to a ski lodge before.” Edgar pipped up, an excited smile on his face as Fred let out an amused laugh.

“Can’t say I have either. Well, cept for this one time back in college. And with all the drinks that weekend, I can barely remember it. I’m sure it’s not gotta be anything tooooo over the top. Those places always talk themselves up.”

*

“Holy hell, they were not talking this place up.”  Fred muttered, his and the rest of the motley crews jaws dropping open in shock as they leaned out the windows of the truck to stare at the vista unfolding before them.

The place was really less of a lodge and more of a small village, what with the amount of connected buildings that made it up. The whole residence was constructed of pale wood, stone and brass, all woven together into a beautiful work of architectural engineering at the base of the snowy mountain. As they pulled into the parking lot at the place’s edge, they passed beneath a large ornate arch reading “Goldsmuth Lodge and Resort”.

“Yeah, Tanya does not mess around when it comes to her vacations. No really surprised, that girl barely gets any time off.” Oleander agreed, nodding in appreciating at the sight as the car slowed. When Milla and Sasha had announced their new plan to the other higher-up, the man had been assigned to the case as an additional supervisor, as well as another pair of eyes. Raz had tried to convince Lili to come along as well, but apparently there was few things the girl hated more than cold weather, not too much of a surprise coming from a florapath, so his requests had fallen on deaf ears.

Once their oversized vehicle had stopped, their collective group spilled out to stretch, several backs popping after the lengthy ride. They couldn’t very well retain their cover if they came flying in on a Psychonauts jet after all, so they’d been forced to stash it at one of the organizations safe houses and drive the rest of the way instead.

“Well then, let’s unpack and get checked in. The sooner we can find Ms. Pandor, the better.” Sasha announced, adjusting his glasses as he scanned the large plaza for the proper entrance.

There was suddenly a yelp and the sound of tumbling luggage from the rear of the vehicle. Glancing around the back of the truck, they found a mound of bags and suitcases that had no doubt tumbled free when the hatch had opened. A moment later a bag fell away as a familiar blue head popped up out of the pile and swiveled to look at them, the figure immediately giving them a sheepish smile, a hand also emerging from the pile to give them an awkward wave.

“I still can’t believe you convinced HQ to let us bring Loboto along.” Raz mused in amusement, Oleander shaking his head as he walked over to help extract the rehabilitated (in progress) criminal from his luggage prison.

“Well, Cagliosto is certainly in desperate need of some outside socialization. A relaxing place like this could be perfectly helpful with his recovery, darling!” Milla replied with a chuckle as she watched Morry lever the skinnier man up and almost fall over himself in the process. The former mad scientist quickly grabbed the agent by the front of his coat in a panic to keep him upright, the two flushing as the motion inadvertently tugged them chest to chest. Sasha gave as an amused eyeroll as the German could feasibly manage, while Milla and Raz gave a quiet giggle at his side. The two former villains had been dancing around each other for months now, much to the amusement, and occasionally frustration, of everyone watching.

“Well, like Sasha said, the sooner we get inside, the sooner we can really start enjoying ourselves. Here, let me help you there dear.” Gloria smiled, the rest of the group trailing after her as she stepped up to help retrieve the fallen luggage, Loboto giving her a thankful, if sheepish smile in return. While the four had long since forgiven Caligosto for all the asylum business (after all, he had been cursed at the time with, as he himself put it, the “insanity of a manatee”), things were still pretty awkward between them. Gloria though, every friendly, had doing her best to help bridge the gap in the meantime.

It took a bit to gather up all the luggage, and even longer to find the right entrance, but eventually they managed. The walk there had been interesting at least. Everywhere they looked, there was some new, interesting winter activity the place seemed to offer, from ice skating to toboggan rental. Their own rather modge-podge group was also getting a number of curious onlookers, which was far from ideal, but there wasn’t much they could do about it really.

The lodge’s lobby was wonderfully warm compared to the wintery chill outside, and they could already feel the scattered flakes of snow melting on their coats as they strode up to the main desk.

“Hello there! Can I help you ladies and gentlemen?” The brunette behind the desk asked with a smile, Sasha plucking his glasses off to wipe away the fog they’d accrued from the heat inside as he spoke.

“Reservations for Nein, Vodello and Gouten.”

“Alright then, just a moment!”

The young woman’s finger flew along the keyboard in a blur for several moment’s before she paused, biting her lip in concern.

“Oh, well there seems to be a small problem. You ladies and gentlemen called for a reservation rather last minute and it seems your rooms aren’t quite ready yet. My deepest apologies. You are all more than welcome to wait in the lodges lounge till they’re ready, free of charge.” She replied, giving an apologetic bow of her head as she gestured towards a pair of open doors nearby.

“Oh, it’s no problem at all darling!” Milla replied, waving a hand nonchalantly.

“Apologies for the rather sudden reservations. Our little trip was a bit of a recent development.”

“Thank you for your understanding Ms. I’ll come and inform you once your rooms are ready.”

The lounge was somehow even more impressive than the grand lobby they’d just stepped out of. He place was lit in a dim but cozy manner, a long bar stretching along one wall. The rest of the space was filled with a number of comfortable tables, armchairs and couches that encircled a handful of square open-sided pillar fireplaces that dotted the room here and there. With an excited “ooo!”, Raz rushed off to look around with Loboto trailing after him, the bunch chuckling at his antics as Sasha glanced around.

“How about you all stay here for a bit? We need to ask around the staff and see if we can find anything regarding Ms. Pandor’s disappearance.” He proposed after a moment.

“Are you sure? Is there any way we can help?” Boyd asked, fidgeting nervously.

“No, it would be best if you aren’t seen with us too much while we’re actively investigating. To help avoid casting suspicion on you lot as well and all.”

“Keep your eyes and ears open while we’re gone soldiers! Always vigilant!” Oleander commanded, giving them a little salute as the trio went off. Shaking her head in amusement at their antics, Gloria gestured toward the bar.

“Care for some drinks while we wait boys?”

Despite the lodge’s rather bustling crowd, there were only a few people at the bar and they were easily able to find seats.

“Hello there folks, what can I get you?” The bartender, a man looking somewhere in his 30’s, asked.

“Hot Chocolate!”

Gloria’s yelp of surprise at the sudden shout quickly devolved into giggles as Raz and the former villain popped up beside her, clambering up onto the next stools.

“And a cider for me sir.”

As the bartender went to work assembling the groups drink orders, he glanced over at them with a smile.

“Don’t think I’ve seen you folks around before. Welcome. What’s the occasion for the visit?”

The group glanced at each other, all trying their best to hide their slight panic. They hadn’t exactly been properly prepped for people asking them about their motives yet after all.

“Oh, uh, we, uh, came to visit with a friend we heard was staying here.” Boyd stuttered nervously. Picking up on what he was trying, Gloria slipped straight into her old actress skills and gave a sigh.

“Yes, a Ms. Tanya Pandor. She’s one of our old students. Unfortunately, it seems that we may have just missed her.”

The bartender paused, tapping his chin in thought.

“Ms. Pandor you say? Actually, I do remember her. Very exuberant. And you heard right, she seems to have left already. Was the talk of the staff rumor mill for a day or two actually. Some of her coworkers called asking to speak with her on some matter, but when the staff went up to let her know about the call, she was nowhere to bee seen. Must have left damn late at night for nobody to notice her. Which is odd really...”

“Odd, how?” Loboto asked, the group jumping a moment at his voice, seemingly having forgotten he was there, before leaning towards the bartender in interest, the man glancing around before lowering his voice.

“Well, we’re really not supposed to divulge things about the other guests, so you didn’t hear this from me, but I may have been one of the last people to see her. You see, I was assigned as a ski slope guard that day, you know, to watch and make sure nobody got injured and needed medical attention. I was stationed on one of our more challenging hills, the Black Diamond one, when I saw Ms. Pandor go whipping by. I know it has her because she had a very distinctive ski jacket she always seemed to be wearing. This whole black, purple and gold affair. Plus she has been very kind and gracious to the staff. We tend to remember those sorts of things. Anyways, she gave me a wave as she went past and seemed to be having the time of her life. It seems so strange that she would leave so abruptly without saying anything. I do hope something didn’t upset her.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much about it, dear.” Gloria replied with a smile, waving a hand nonchalantly.

“Tanya has always been the spirited type, zipping from place to place. Just a little lightning bolt.”

“Yes, she certainly did seem like that type. I’m sure you’re right. Ah, that’s right, your drinks!”

The group was quickly presented with their fine beverages, including a healthy topping of whipped cream and sprinkles for Raz and Loboto’s chocolatey treats. Edgar and Gloria’s cider was just as delicious, rich and warm. (Fred and Boyd’s spiked eggnog was perhaps not the most professional thing to be drinking during a spy investigation, but nobody was about to call them out on it.) For a time they sat at the bar, chatting away to the bartender about the various activities around the lodge, before Raz suddenly caught the shape of their other companions watching them from a nearby doorway. Nudging Gloria, he nodded over towards them, and the woman took the hint, turning to the bartender with a smile.

“Well, I’m afraid we must be going now dear. We can’t spend all vacation here in the lounge after all. Thank you for the lovely time.”

“My pleasure Ms. I hope to see you all again soon.” He replied with a nod and smile as they stepped away from the bar, his eyes widening in surprise and delight when he noticed the generous tip the group had left tucked under one of the empty mugs.

Following their missing members lead, the group ducked over into a more private corner of the lounge to meet them.

“Did you guys find anything?” Raz asked quietly, Sasha giving a frustrated sigh in return.

“No, unfortunately not. None of the night staff noticed her leaving that day. Which leaves us back at square one.”

“Well, luckily for you, we just might have a clue.” Fred replied with a smile, the trio looking over at him in surprise.

“Wait, really?!” Oleander exclaimed and the counselor gave him an unamused look.

“Geez buddy, give us some credit. We’re not completely useless. But yeah, apparently somebody saw Tanya out on one of the ski slopes earlier that day. Whatcha wanna bet there might be some sort of clue somewhere out there?” He replied, Oleander reaching up to stroke his mustache in thought as he considered the other man’s words.

“I’d say you’d probably be right on the money. Maybe Pandor saw something out there that made her haul ass out of here, though I’ve never known her for the scaredy cat type. And that would still leave the question of where she went.  But it’s a lead.”

“How’s about this?” Sasha pipped up, waving a hand to get all their attention.

“The three of us have worked out with the management to take a look in Ms. Pandor’s room, see if she maybe left some sort of clue behind. While we’re doing that, you six could head out onto the slopes and take a look around. A group of casual vacation goers, including a child, would likely draw a lot less attention than the three of us for the time being.”

“Well, I think it sounds like a marvelous plan!” Loboto replied exuberantly, pausing and rubbing his neck sheepishly when they all turned to look at him.

“If that’s alright with you all of course.”

He was met with a chorus of headshakes and “no, that’d be fine”s, so he grinned once more and nodded in satisfaction.

“Sounds like a plan then!”

“Just please all be careful.” Milla replied, eyes full of concern, and Raz gave her a comforting smile.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be ok! Besides, whenever are we not careful?”

The 50-yard stare of no doubt Whispering Rock related war flashbacks that she gave him in return spoke volumes.

*

“Thank god for government provided tailoring. Trying to find snow wear for proportions like mine is hellish.” Fred sighed quietly in satisfaction, adjusting his perfectly fitting ski jacket to a chorus of chuckles. The 6 of them were currently waiting in line at the equipment rental shop. Once they’d gotten their luggage up to the rooms and finally unpacked, they’d found the new sets of winter gear amongst their belongings, perfectly tailored and clearly a gift from the Psychonauts organization. How said organization knew their measurements was a mystery they neither had, nor wanted, the answer to.

“I must admit, they are rather fetching, aren’t they?” Gloria replied with a smile, giving a little twirl to let the hem of her longer coat poof out for a moment like the skirt of a dress.

Eventually the line cleared out enough for them to enter the small store displaying the various types of equipment available for rental and purchase. Splitting up to look, they all quickly selected their preferred styles. It didn’t take long for most of them to reconvene near the counter, each carrying a fairly simple pair of skis. There was no need for the super high-grade stuff, none of them were professionals after all. When Raz came running back with a snowboard, none of them were really that surprised. Skis had seemed a bit boring for the boy’s exuberant personality to begin with. What did draw their shock however was when Fred came trotting up behind the young psychic, a long light blue board slung over his shoulder.

“Uh, mi amor, are you sure that’s what you meant to get?” Edgar asked, eyeing the board in equal parts confusion and concern, and Fred laughed in return.

“Oh yeah, don’t worry about it. Never said I had been using skis when I went someplace like this back in college. Always been useless with them. Snowboards were a different story though. Used to skateboard a lot back in high school too. Now let’s go see if I’ve still got any of that old muscle memory still rattling around.”

As a group that was inexperienced, and in some of their cases completely unfamiliar, with the equipment, getting into their rented pieces ended up a tad more challenging than intended. Boyd nearly poked himself in the eye with one of his poles and Raz promptly fell backwards into a snowdrift after figuring out how hook his boots into the board, but eventually they managed to get their nonsense together enough to try and get in line for the ski-lift that would take them up to the Black Slope.

Try being the key word.

Just as they were in the process of settling themselves at the back of the line, a slightly nervous voice called out behind them.

“Hmm, now I don’t claim to be an expert on skiing, but something tells me this isn’t how it’s supposed to go.”

Turning to look back, they found Loboto had not only somehow managed to put both of his skis on backwards, but was now also slowly sliding away from them down the slight decline, ski poles digging into the snow in an attempt to stop himself. Boyd, being the closest to him, darted out to try and grab the man, but missed his hand by a hair, and he began to pick up speed.

“Whoa! Look out there!”

Someone suddenly darted behind the former mad scientist, catching him by the shoulders and stopping his uncontrolled journey. As the person carefully pushed the man back up towards the group, they got a better look at them. It was a young man in his early 20’s, with pale skin and messy sandy blonde hair.

“There ya go!” He announced, settling the dentist back in front of the rest of the group and crouching. down to look at his skis.

“Ah, here’s your problem! Here, this should help.”

With deft fingers, he unhooked Loboto from the skis, flipped them around and had him step back in, hooking him securely into place.

“Uh, thank you. I’m a bit of a beginner.” The blue skinned villain thanked him, cheeks flushing the tiniest bit of dark blue in embarrassment, the younger man glancing over at the sign announcing the coming hill at his words.

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly recommend this hill to someone still getting their snow legs, but I can’t fault you for wanting to jump into the challenge head first!” He replied with a merry laugh.

“Oh, don’t worry, we’ll be very careful. Thank you for your help, Mr...?” Gloria replied, the young man jumping to attention when he realized her pause was requesting and answer and reaching out a hand to shake.

“Oh, just call me Josh! A pleasure to meet you folks!”

He quickly exchanged handshakes with them all, Raz included, as the line to the chair lift drew shorter.

“You certainly seem to know your stuff.” Edgar complemented him, glancing over as Loboto turned his ankle this way and that to look at the ski mechanism in fascination.

“I would certainly hope so, considering all the years I’ve worked here! I know all the ins and outs like the back of my hand!”

“Well isn’t that wonderful. This seems like a splendid place to work.” Gloria replied with a smile.

“Oh it is, I couldn’t be luckier. Oh, looks like it’s you guys turn!”

Turning to look, they found the couple behind them settling into their chair on the lift, the next one incoming. As they stepped up to wait on it, Josh stepped away, giving them a wave as he turned to leave.

“Hopefully I see you guys around! If you’ve got any questions, just let me know. If want to know anything about the lodge or hills, I’m your guy!”

“We definitely will!” Fred called after him, the group raising their arms to wave back, before prepping to climb aboard the lift.

The benches ended up only being able to fit 3 people, so they ended up separated into two groups, Fred, Boyd and Edgar in the first chair, with Raz, Gloria and Caligosto grabbing the second. For the former, the ride up was honestly pretty pleasant and peaceful, the view from up so high showing them a beautiful vista.

“Wow, we really are up high huh?” Boyd, wondered out loud, glancing down over the side of the chair at the forest spread out below them.

“Si, we certainly are. Hmm, I wonder, is this the sort of view you normally have mi amor?” Edgar asked, looking at the lanky man between them with a cheeky smirk. Fred gave the painter an unamused look as on his other side Boyd let out a snorted laugh, breaking into giggles.

“Seriously? Your pulling out the tall guy jokes?”

With a grin and chuckle, the Hispanic man leaned up to give the taller man a peck on the cheek as their other partner leaned against his shoulder in a giggling fit.

“Apologies mi amor, I couldn’t resist.”

In the other chair however, things were going...less pleasantly.

Raz gazed down at the trees below as they rode along, humming some song the piano player in the lobby had been playing. Feeling something bump his leg, he glanced over, seeing Loboto’s legs jittering back and forth enough to jostle against him. Now that he thought about it, the whole man was shaking. Glancing up at the dentist’s face, he found the older man’s gaze fixed straight down at the ground. His hands were fisted in and tugging nervously at the strings of his ski hat (they’d all agreed the shower cap might be a bit too conspicuous), causing the large pop pom on top to bounce rhythmically. And judging by his harsh breathing, the guy was probably about 2 steps away from hyperventilating.

“Um, Loboto?” The young boy asked, seeming to snap the dentist out of his daze, at least partially, both he and Gloria looking over at him.

“Are you ok?”

“Now that I notice, you do seem a bit...tense, dear. Are you feeling alright?” Gloria added gently

“Oh, just fine! Happy as a clam! No reason at all to feel nervous!” He replied exuberantly, the smile on his face horribly forced, eyes darting to the drop below them every few seconds.

Raz stared at him, mind puzzling over the info. The slightly loony man was usually fairly fearless, sometimes to the point of his own peril. So what could have gotten him so stirred up?

Glancing down at the ground far below them, something suddenly clicked in the boy’s head. A memory rose to the front of his mind, one of a night at an asylum what seemed so long ago, and a certain dentist’s supposed demise at the hands of a turtle powered tank. Raz felt the pit of his stomach drop, guilt sweeping over him at the realization.

“Uh, hey, is there any way this about the time you...you know?” Raz asked gently, hand gestures miming the image of a person falling off something, and flinched when the man’s head snapped around to look at him, smile wide.

“What?! No, no, of course not!...Maybe...probably...” He replied, his vibrato visibly deflating as he tried his best not to look down.

“Oh, Loboto dear, it’s alright. There’s nothing to worry about.” Gloria fretted, catching onto the issue and reaching out to pat the blue man’s back.

“Yeah, these ski lifts are like, totally safe!” Raz exclaimed, in an attempt to help.

As though mocking them, the lift jerked for a moment, sending them swinging a bit. Loboto sucked in a sharp breath at the motion, hand instinctively tightening where it had been wrapped lightly around Raz’s forearm in a grip that would definitely be leaving bruises the next day. Gloria grimaced when she saw Raz wince, raising a hand to tap her chin in thought.

“Oh dear, well this isn’t good.”

After a moment an idea hit her, and she leaned over to catch the mad dentist’s gaze smiling gently.

“Loboto dear, have I ever told you about the first time I ever took to the stage?”

The man paused in his panicking, seeming to calm slightly as he gave her a confused look, Raz looking at her in equal confusion but seeming to roll with it.

“Um, not that I’m aware of?”

“Well, let me tell you. I’ve preformed on hundreds of stages of the years, all over the world. The theater was my lifeblood. But the first time I performed in front of people, oh, I was terrified.”

“R-Really?” The man replied, eyes widening.

“Oh, absolutely. It was the worst case of stage fright I ever felt. I was absolutely petrified. My palms were sweaty, my head was spinning. I completely froze up on stage. And that wasn’t the only time. No no, I’ve had stage fright hundreds of times in my career. I almost refused to go on stage for my own awards ceremony, I was so nervous. But let me tell you something very important I’ve learned.”

She leaned in close, taking the man’s hands gently in her own, both he and Raz leaning in in fascination.

“There’s nothing wrong with being afraid. Everyone fears something. I’m scared of messing up on stage, overwhelmingly so. Young Raz here has his own fears, as do you. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Being brave doesn’t mean the absence of fear. Anyone who says so is an idiot. No, to be brave is to look fear in the face and still continue on in spite of it.”

Leaning back, she looked out at the forest surrounding them.

“This really is a lovely view, isn’t it?”

“Yes...Yes I suppose it is.” The dentist replied quietly, gazing out at the landscape around them seemingly with new eyes. He still seemed nervous certainly, gaze fixed firmly on the horizon in an attempt not to look down, but his shaking had stopped and his breathing had steadied. From behind his back, Raz gave the actress two big thumbs up and a grin.

As they neared the peak of the hill, they could the others laughing about something in the chair ahead of them, quickly hurrying off of it to make room as they reached the landing. As soon as it was their turn, Loboto practically threw himself off the ski lift, clearly trying to reach Terra Firma as quickly as possible. Gloria and Raz followed at a more normal rate behind him, pausing for a moment when the boy looked up at her.

“Not gonna lie, that was kinda awesome.”

“Why thank you my dear.” She replied sweetly, before giving him a little grin and leaning in closer as she lowered her voice.

“I’ve had a lot of practice at that speech. You’d be amazed how many new actors and actresses get opening night jitters. Still works like a charm.”

Leaving the boy to sputter in surprise for a moment, she skied on to where the others were waiting at the hills peak.

“So, what’s the plan?” Fred asked, adjusting his feet in the snowboard as Raz caught back up with them.

“Keep together and keep our eyes out for anything suspicious I guess?” The boy replied with a shrug, earning a nod from the rest of the group.

“Sounds like a plan bud.”

After some quick adjustment of clothing, equipment and whatever else, they set off.

It became quickly apparent that none of them were even close to professional skiers, though some were faring better than others. Fred’s muscle memory did seem to be kicking in, handling his snowboard with surprisingly few complications, while Gloria’s seemingly natural graceful-ness was doing her skis well. Raz took a spill every now and them, but likewise, his acrobat training seemed to be translating pretty well to snow-sports.

The others weren’t faring quite as well. Edgar seemed to be developing a habit of falling over onto his back pretty often, his large upper body pulling him over whenever he began to lose his balance, while Boyd seemed to be having the opposite problem, having taken more than a few headers face first into the snow already. Loboto was surprisingly staying up pretty well, perhaps his long legs were to blame for his better balance, but every few second he would begin to weave wildly back and forth on the slope before correcting himself, only for the cycle to repeat again shortly thereafter. The whole lot of them were certainly getting a lot of curious looks from the more advanced skiers that would occasionally pass them, the occasional trail guard they passed seeming even more concerned.

With all the chaos, it’s a wonder any of them ever saw anything.

“Whoa, wait everybody!” Raz suddenly cried about halfway down the trail, skidding to a sudden stop. He was nearly bowled over by the others in their attempts to stop, Edgar managing to fall onto his back once more and slid a few feet past him with an exasperated sigh.

“Dios mio, this is becoming tiring. What’s the matter mi amigo?”

“Look at those trees over there.” He replied, pointing to part of the forest that lined either side of the path. Glancing to where he pointed, they spotted what he seemed to be gesturing to. A swath of low branches in a certain area were snapped and bent, as though something had run into them or pulled them out of the way.

“Yeah, that definitely looks like it could be something.” Boyd replied with the critical eye of a security guard, the whole group moving off the path and towards the woodland to examine them. Upon closer inspection, there was most definitely something amiss. While the branches closer to the path broke inwards towards the forest, others further in seemed to break outwards.

“Hey, what’s that?” Raz asked, squinting further into the woodland. Unhooking himself from the snowboard, he darted further into the trees, moving to the edge of the breakage, and crouching down, seemingly digging around near one large trees roots. After a moment he seemed to free whatever he was holding and started back in the others direction.

“Look at this guys.”

He held it up for them to see, the group leaning in for a closer look. It seemed to be a long scrap of torn fabric, patterned in thick, alternating purple and black stripes, with a flash of gold along one edge.

“What do you guys think it is?” Boyd asked in bewilderment, squinting at the piece. Beside him, Edgar gave a sudden small gasp.

“Wait, didn’t that bartender say that Señorita Pandor wore a jacket in these colors?”

The group gapped at him for a moment before turning back to the scrap with renewed interest.

“Holy hell guys, I think we just found an actual clue.” Fred sputtered in amazement, Raz’s eyes lighting up.

“Hey maybe there’s more stuff to find back there! Come on, let’s go look!” the boy crowed, moving to run back into the trees.

He didn’t get very far though, as the wind suddenly kicked up, nearly knocking him over as it ripped through the trees with a swirl of snow.

“Geeze, I though trees were good for avoiding wind. Come on!”

He tried to take a few more steps forwards, only to get knocked back by another gust, being forced to take a few steps back to the group this time. Quickly the wind began to build, howling around the lot of them and kicking up the snow into near white out conditions.

“Damn, they’ve got some crazy weather in these parts!” Boyd called over the noise, Fred replying as he threw up his arms as much as he could to block his face.

“Not the sort I’ve ever seen before!”

“Wait.”

They all quieted, turning to look over Loboto, who was currently looking around in confusion.

“Now, I may have been called crazy one or twice in the past, but does anyone else hear something odd?”

The group stilled, listening hard over the wind. All at the same time, they seemed to catch it, Fred glancing around the group in sudden nervousness.

“Does that sound like growling to anyone else?”

Indeed, the sound mixed in amongst the howling of the wind was much deeper and guttural, rumbling through the air.

Crack

They all froze at the loud sound of splintering wood, all slowly turning in unison to look deeper into the woods. A shape appeared through the blur of snow, the growling growing louder and the shape becoming clearer as it drew towards them. Eventually it stopped at the edge of the broken branches and their hearts all collectively stopped as they made out what it was.

A massive beast, easily 8 or 9 feet tall, bipedal, and clothed in long white hair, only it’s slightly darker face and palms peeking out through the thick fur. For a long, drawn-out moment, there was nothing but the howling of the wind. The only thing to interrupt it was a tiny, likely instinctual whisper from Raz.

“Holy shit.”

The beast didn’t seem to like that very much and its growl deepened. With one massive hand, it reached up and tore a branch from the tree beside it with the sound of screeching wood, before reaching back and hurling it at the group. With a collective cry of surprise and panic they all managed to throw themselves out of the way of it, the large chunk of wood landing amongst the other broken branches nearby. Its failure seemed to enrage the beast even more and it reached down, clawing and tearing a truly gargantuan chunk of snow up out of the ground. It lifted it up and above its head, clearly reeling back to launch it at them, and Raz let out another, this time very foreign sounding, curse.

“Oh, that looks like a real bad time! Boyd! I’m gonna need some help!”

With that, the boy darted out in front of the rest of the group, the security guard seeming to pick up on his plan and following along behind him. Just as the beast hurled the massive snowball, Raz threw his hands up to conjure a psychic shield, Boyd’s own hands joining just beside his to release a spray of flame outside the barrier just as it contacted.

The snow clump exploded around them. Most of it dissolved into steam under the sudden onslaught of the fire, what remained splattering against the curved wall of psychic force in a spray of water and slush, flying off on either side of the group.

“Where is it?! Can anybody see what it’s doing?!” Raz called out, trying to squint through the cloud of steam now surrounding them.

“I don’t know, I can’t see!” Boyd replied, waving his hands to put out the small flames sparking on his gloves.

As the steam was cleared by the slowly calming wind, Raz blinked in surprise at the scene before him, shield disappearing as he lowered his hands.

The beast had vanished, seemingly into thin air.

For a moment they all simply sat there, most of the group having fallen to the ground in the scramble to get out of harm’s way, the air thick with unspoken disbelief. Till finally, Fred said what they’d all been thinking.

“Was that a goddamn yeti???”

“In my professional dentist opinion...yes.” Loboto replied, staring equally slack jawed at the spot.

“What?? Where did it go?? A beast that big does not simply disappear into thin air??” Edgar sputtered, clambering back to his feet as though a higher viewpoint would somehow reveal the 9 foot tall creatures hiding place.

“I...I don’t...-“

“Oi! What are you lot doing back there!?”

The whole group let out a collection of shrieks and yelps at the sudden shout, whipping around to look behind them.

An older man armed with a hefty walking stick stood at the edge of the ski trail, staring into the woods at them with a grumpy scowl on his face.

“Wha- who are you?!” Raz asked, at a loss for words, and the old man’s expression seemed to sour even further.

“Ambrose. I’m the grounds keeper here. And I should be asking you the same thing!”

“Did...Did you see...?” Boyd asked, dazed by his seeming unconcern for the fucking yeti that had been in front of them 20 seconds before. The old man leaned to glance at the place he was gesturing to, brow creasing.

“See? I don’t see anything. All I see is a bunch of troublemakers putzing about in the woods. Get out of there! You’re supposed to stay on the trail!”

Like a bunch of scolded children, they all quickly gathered themselves and scurried back out onto the path in front of the man, who pointed an angry finger at them.

“Now don’t let me go catchin you messing about in there again, understood?”

They all obediently nodded and, seemingly satisfied, he turned away with a nod, grumbling the likes of “people these days” as he slowly hiked further up the path.

“...Ok, so we’re all in agreement that we gotta tell the rest of the gang about that right?” Fred asked, seemingly still dumbfounded, and was answered by a chorus of nods.

The rest of the trip down the hill was largely uneventful. Somehow, an encounter with a mythical creature has seemingly improved their snow-sports skills, and they managed not to have any more major spills on the rest of the way down the mountain. The sun was setting by the time they reached the bottom and, after getting their equipment situated, the six ventured back through the main lodge in search of their three companions.

They did eventually find them back in the lounge, tucked away in a corner table with their drinks.

“Ah, hello everyone!” Milla greeted them with a smile and wave as they made their way over.

“Did you have a good day out on the slopes?”

“Uh, yeah, it was, uh, pretty, pretty good.” Fred replied, sharing a look with others.

“How’s about you guys?”

Sasha gestured for them to sit, voice lowered as he spoke.

“Well, we looked over Ms. Pandor’s room and it was just as empty as we’d been told. Not a trace of her. The only things we found was the Psychonauts bug she put in the rooms phone when she got here. Which means that she likely didn’t leave willingly, if she didn’t have the chance to remove it. That or she simply forgot it when she left.”

“Yeah, and that sort of absentminded-ness doesn’t sound like her. Girl might leave her workspace a mess, but I’ve been on missions with her before, and she’s a neat freak when it comes to hotels and stuff. All the tidying she does, she probably leaves them cleaner than it was when she got there. Gotta ask her if she’s got some sort of service industry trauma from college or something...” Oleander added, trailing off into rambling at the end.

“So did you six find anything out on the slopes?”

The group glanced at each other and eventually it was Gloria who haltingly began, realizing just how insane what she was about to say was going to sound.

“Well, there may have been a bit of an incident out on the trails...”

“We got attacked by a yeti!” Raz suddenly blurted, bringing the conversation to a screeching halt. Sasha turned to look at him with a truly flummoxed expression, seemingly completely thrown for a loop at the boys’ words.

“...R...Run that by me again??”

“Well, it’s a bit of a long story.” Boyd replied with a sigh.

It took quite a while to explain the events that had befallen them all, added to by the fact that dinner arrived in the middle of it, but eventually they got the whole incident out in the open, the three senior agents staring at them in bewilderment by the end.

“Are you sure it wasn’t some sort of polar bear or something? Those things can get big as hell when they’re on their hind legs.” Oleander offered and Gloria shook her head.

“Now I know how this all sounds, Agent Oleander, but we know what we saw, and that was most definitely not a bear.”

“Plus, we found this!” Raz added, reaching into his jacket and pulling out the fabric scrap, handing it over to the trio.

“The bartender we talked to said he saw her wearing a coat like that!”

“Well, I’ll admit, this definitely looks like Tanny’s sorta style.” Oleander admitted with a shrug, handing it over to Sasha to look at.

“Regardless of what this beast you saw might be, there is most definitely more going on here than a simple wayward agent.” The german acquiesced.

“Well, how’s about we all get a good night sleep and continue the investigation tomorrow. You all must be exhausted.” Milla offered kindly and Edgar gave a groan as he stretched, back popping loudly.

“After the beating we took out there, you don’t know the half of it Ms. Milla.”

Luckily for them, their rooms at the lodge were, just like the rest of the property, amazing. They’d been separated across 4 adjacent, and connected, rooms, with the senior agents sharing one and the former asylum members another, leaving Loboto and Raz to bunk solitarily. Their mother organization had, knowing and being blessedly supportive all sorts of relationships, even been kind enough to book the four a California King, while Sasha, Milla and Oleander were more than happy to settle for a King.

“Ugh, we literally just started doing spy stuff and I already feel like an old man waiting for retirement.” Fred groaned, stretching and feeling some muscle in his back twinge.

“Hehe, implying you aren’t already an old man.” Edgar teased him with a chuckle from where he was kneeling in massage position over the lanky man’s hips, his own aching back already having been kindly tended to by Gloria before her bath.

“Hey, keep up that talk and I’ll have to revoke smooching privileges.” The counselor shot back, pointing a finger over his shoulder threateningly at the larger man, even as he melted blissfully beneath he ministrations of the artist’s talented hands. Edgar finally managed to work out the last knot at the base of the man’s spine and Fred gave a little groan of relief, going boneless on the mattress beneath him.

“You boys better not be having too much fun in there without me!” Gloria called from the bathroom and Edgar laughed, smoothing his hands lovingly up and down the thinner man’s back a few times before climbing off him.

“Alright, all done. Time to move mi amor.”

Fred gave a little grumble that sounded a lot like “Sleepy. Don’t wanna.” and the painter rolled his eyes fondly, grabbing him and, like an owner with a lazy puppy, simply dragged him out of the way, patting the spot that opened up.

“Your turn.” He called over to Boyd, who’d been looking out onto the rooms snow covered balcony that overlooked the lodge’s main square, and the guard abandoned his post with a grin.

“Oh thank goodness.” He replied, shucking his shirt off and flopping onto the bed with a sigh, sending the nearby Fred bouncing slightly. He gave another grateful sigh as he folded his arms beneath his head and Edgar set to work.

“Damn, today was a crazy day. The more I think about it the less it makes sense.” He mused, earning a snorted laugh from a slightly more awake Fred as the man reached out to run a sleepy hand through the guard’s hair.

“That’s an understatement.”

“Well, I must admit, I find it all a little bit exciting.”

The three men glanced back to find Gloria emerging from the large bathroom, dressed in a fluffy towel and currently braiding her long damp hair.

“Yes, there’s a been a bit of danger I suppose, but what adventure doesn’t have some danger?”

“Sure as hell beats grading papers at least.” Fred agreed, earning a collective laugh.

“Would you like one when I’m done, mi bella?” Edgar asked, gesturing to the massage in progress, and Gloria shook her head, stooping down to give him a kiss on the cheek regardless.

“No, but it’s sweet of you to ask.”

Soon enough they all found themselves properly prepared for bed, lights flipped off, and beneath the plush covers of the bed, tangling together in the warm heap they’d so quickly become accustomed to.

“Goodnight you guys. Love you.” Fred murmured sleepily, answered by a small chorus of similar sentiments.

Before long, the four found themselves drifting off, eager to see what new, and potentially yeti-related, adventures awaited them in the morning.

[yume-x-hanabi]

Echoing Song ~Kresnik Fragments~ (4th Night)

This is a translation of the fourth short story from the Tales of Xillia 2 Official World Guidance book. Prepare tissues.

--

The World Riding On A See-Saw

“Aah! I’m against tomatoes!” Elle’s tantrum could be heard all throughout the vegetable corner.

“They’re not just tomatoes, they’re cherry tomatoes. Aren’t they cute? You should try them at least once.”

“Boo! I won’t get tricked by a cute name!”

“Hey! Stop yelling, it’s embarrassing!”

Ludger and Elle both turned to me at the same time. “You’re the loudest one here.”

A nearby client snorted. My cheeks turned red. “You’re the ones who’re making me raise my voice!”

“Meow...” Rollo seemed to sigh in his carrier.

It had been a while since Spirius gave us a break. I was dragged on grocery shopping with Ludger and Elle.

Ludger looked like he was having fun as he pushed the cart around. Didn’t he have anything better to do on his rare holidays? … Well, not like I’m one to talk.

Setting foot in Trigleph’s giant supermarket was a shocking experience. A staggering amount of food was lined up in this stupidly huge building, in which more than ten times the total population of Nia Khera came and went to do their shopping. And perhaps the most incredible was that the food was replenished as soon as it was sold.

I had no idea there was such a world outside of Rieze Maxia… No, it was more that I had severed my ties to that world when I received my mission, because everything about the food lined up here—its production, export, sale—was based on devices using spyrix technology.

“Why do you hate tomatoes so much?” Ludger asked Elle.

“Because they’re all squishy and mushy.”

“But you like eggs, don’t you? Aren’t they squishy and mushy as well?”

They continued their chit-chat, ignoring how I was lost in thought. It was hard to believe this was an agent who destroyed worlds.

“Don’t compare eggs and tomatoes! It’s an affront to eggs!”

Elle tried to sound mature—and where did she learn that kind of expression anyway?—but the effect was a bit lost with her brown pigtails bouncing.

“Do you even know what an affront is?”

“I-I know! It’s when you make fun of someone.”

“Hmm. If you say so.”

“Hey! That’s an affront to me!”

Oh, so she understood after all. When you thought she was just trying to have the last word, it turned out she actually got the essential part down.

Ludger and Elle’s argument eventually settled on the decision to make rice omelette for dinner. In other words, Elle won. She marched toward the egg’s aisle with a triumphant look on her face.

“How soft.”

“Hm? Oh, she wants the sauce to be demi-glace. Instead of the usual, she asked me to cover the rice with a soft, fluffy omelet, like a bride’s lacy dress. She saw it on TV, apparently.”

“Not the food. You.”

Ludger’s eyes clouded from my brusque words. “That’s not true,” he answered bitterly.

I suddenly felt like water filled my lungs. …Ah, right. There was no way he was soft.

After all, you deceived me, killed my sister, and destroyed my world. What’s the point of acting humble now? It’s not like I’d ever forgive you. You, whose job is to destroy other people’s worlds. I’ll never forgive—

“Ludger! I found cheap eggs!”

The icy tension between Ludger and I was broken by Elle’s innocent voice. She was running toward us holding a pack of eggs.

“Look! It’s only 20 gald for a pack of six!”

“Don’t run! It’s dangerous.”

Just when Ludger yelled that, Elle ran into a cart pushed by a middle-aged woman.

“Elle!!” I screamed.

Packs of food and vegetables fell on the floor in slow-motion.

 Fortunately, Elle’s only injuries were slightly scrapped knees. However, Ludger was forced to pay for the food that was ruined due to her carelessness.

“You’re really stupid!” I told Elle. Relief turned my worry into anger.

We were sitting on a bench on the place in front of the supermarket. Elle’s clothes were sticky with egg yolk, and she looked dejected. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. At least you didn’t get hurt,” Ludger replied, wiping her shirt with a towel. He was being soft again.

Dude, that’s not how… Wait, why am I feeling so shaken?

“But you learned a lesson, didn’t you? Be more aware of your surroundings next time.”

“…Okay.”

I gasped.

Sparks ignited through my head. This was just like… just like the words of my sister when she protected me from Exodus fifteen years ago.

“You learned a lesson, didn’t you? You have to be more careful, Milla.”

“But… Muzét… Your eyes…”

Stop! Is this a joke!? It’s just eggs! Muzét lost her light because of that injury! That’s why she started hating me and she…

She…

“Unfortunately, the omelette will have to wait. …I’m broke.”

“You need to work, right? I’ll help!”

Like mirrors, the two smiled at each other.

“It’s not funny! Think of how it’d feel to be destroyed for some omelette!” Before I knew it, I had started screaming. “Destroying worlds! That’s what you mean by ‘work’!!”

“W-What’s wrong, Milla?” Elle asked in a shaky voice.

When I came to my senses, I was running through the streets aimlessly. There was nowhere I could go in this spyrix-infested world. My chest felt like it was going to burst open, but I couldn’t stop running.

 I knew what they were going through. I didn’t want to understand, but I did.

I kept screaming in my mind, and after running around for a while, I ended up at the park in front of Ludger’s apartment building. There was a long shadow basked in sunset. It looked silly, trembling along my unsteady breathing.

“Well, of course. It’s my shadow after all.”

I felt so tired… I sat down on a see-saw.

“In the end, there’s nowhere I can go…”

I sat alone in a city of steel and stone and spyrix.

An unknown city. Unknown people. An unknown world. The only thing that felt real was the warmth of my knees as I hugged them to my chest.

The shadow at my feet smiled faintly. “Haven’t you always been alone?” it said.

Back in Nia Khera, I knew the believers’ faces, but not their names. I didn’t know anything—not the meaning of my mission nor the true shape of the world. I didn’t know anything, did I?

“…No!”

I had a sister. A kind sister.

The shadow swayed eerily and whispered. “But that Muzét died because of you.”

No!

“Because you betrayed her.”

No!

“You killed her.”

No!

“She died hating you.”

No, no, no!!

I gasped. The shadow swirled and from its center came out my sister’s silhouette. I held my breath. Blood oozed from her mouth. A lance was sticking out from her chest and she glared at me, screaming…

“Milla!”

Something warm appeared by my side suddenly and called my name.

I raised my head and saw my red-eyed reflection in wide turquoise eyes. Elle’s face was so close I was startled. She looked like she wanted to say something but didn’t know how to word it. What a silly face. Heh heh heh… It’s funny how her feelings showed on her face, clear as day.

The moment I let out a breath, Elle jumped into my arms and hugged me. Just like that time when my world shattered.

“Don’t worry me like that! I thought you disappeared for good!”

Why was she angry? It didn’t make any sense. But…

“…I’m sorry.” I found myself apologizing, though I did not know what for.

The piece of board holding me and Elle creaked and lifted us in the air.

“Uwah!” Elle squealed excitedly, clinging to me.

On the other side of the see-saw were Ludger and Rollo. He looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t know how to word it. Pfft, peas in a pod, those two.

“Milla, the see-saw!” Elle adjusted her posture in my lap and rocked her body.

How complacent. The shadow sneered again. Playing with those who robbed you of—Yes, you’re right. I know that, painfully. But… Still…

“You know, that’s the first time I ride a see-saw!” Elle exclaimed.

My reflection in her turquoise eyes smiled.

I started rocking the see-saw vigorously, stomping on the shadow with all my force.

“Me too, actually!”

The world swayed, Elle laughed.

Ludger started humming a funny song following the rhythm of the see-saw going up and down. Elle joined him. How carefree, Mr. world-destroying agent. But that song felt nostalgic, as though I had heard it before… Should I start humming too? Only if I feel like it.

Ludger and Rollo. Elle and I. Back and forth. Up and down. The “world” riding on a see-saw in the corner of a city colored in dusk did indeed seem balanced.

 Extract from Spirius Corporation archives

Name: Ludger Will Kresnik

Address: Frères Apartments, Room 302, Trigleph

Date of birth: Primia 4285

Home situation: Foundling. Deposited at Zorya General Hospital, Trigleph. Family register and parents’ names unknown. Raised in Rodo Private Orphanage. Adopted in Primia 4290. Dependent of Julius Will Kresnik (foster brother).

Information compiled by: Julius Will Kresnik, Examiner

* P.S.: Evidence of tampering with the above data was found. Permission to investigate granted.

Signed, Vera Lou Leshy CEO’s Secretary

[vegetasleftsock]

A Devil’s Smile (Vegeta x OC)

Chapter 1

Here’s my first shot at a DBZ fanfic- obviously not canon. I haven’t written literally anything for fun since I was in early high school, so I’m sure I’m a little rusty. However, I hope some of those on Tumblr like it! I’m planning to make it a multi-chapter fic, but we’ll see!

Summary: Vegeta goes out with friends to a bar and finds interest (to his denial) in a girl that is performing that night. Milla, the girl performing, has a fearless, outspoken personality and a good sense of humor. Despite finding her attractive, Vegeta takes insult to her frankness and labels her as unpleasant. Regardless, he can’t fight his strange interest in her.

This first chapter is very sfw, but it won’t stay that way (;

Here’s the link to the song I reference in the chapter! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNJ26HxShvk

~

“Fuck, keep it going!” Milla exclaimed with one hand on her drink, the other on her microphone stand. “Y’all are one hell of a crowd.”

The sound of people whooping and hollering after the end of the song echoed through the small, dimly lit bar. Milla grinned and crinkled her nose with excitement. She was truly in her element.

She set her drink on the floor beside her and swiped her thick, dark brown hair behind her ear. It shone with highlights of red under the bright stage lights.

“This next one is a long time favorite,” Milla said. She leaned against a tall, wooden barstool with one tall Doc Marten on the stage and the other on the foot rest. “Go ahead, Joey.” She nodded towards her drum player and he kicked off the first few beats to ‘The Seed’ by The Roots. Milla closed her eyes with her head back and swayed to the music, tapping her heavy boot to the rhythm of the drums. Meanwhile, Goku, Vegeta and Bulma filed into the small crowded bar. Bulma headed straight to the bar to grab drinks for everyone while the two guys took a moment to get adjusted to how cramped the space was.

“I fail to understand why puny humans have no concept of personal space,” spat Vegeta. He hated when people touched him and it was almost impossible to file through the crowd without bumping shoulders with every other person.

“Come on, Vegeta! We came here to have a good time and enjoy the music. I thought you would like this kind of stuff,” Goku said, shrugging.

“Foolish Kakarot, what makes you think I would enjoy anything about this wretched-”

“Hey, guys! Over here! I found us a place to sit!” Bulma yelled over the music, hopping and waving her hand at an attempt to be seen. They took a seat closer to the stage than any of them expected to be and Bulma distributed drinks. They clinked their glasses together and did small cheers before taking heavy sips.

“Hey, Bulma- how’d you manage to get us a table all the way up here?” Goku grinned, happy to be close to the action.

“You should know by now that I have my ways, Goku,” Bulma beamed. She was obviously proud of her tactics. With just a few flirtatious looks and some compelling words Bulma was able to convince a group of college boys to basically offer her the table, no questions asked. Vegeta kept a heavy scowl on his face as he looked around at the environment. His eyes finally found his way to the stage to watch the performance. He convinced himself that if maybe he focused on the music, it would keep him from snapping the neck of the next person who barged into him.

“Whatcha lookin’ at?” Goku said from behind Vegeta. He had scooted closer to Vegeta to see if he could match his eyeline and catch what he was staring at.

“What the hell?” Vegeta recoiled away from Goku both out of surprise and anger.

“You just seem to be staring in one direction and I can’t tell what you're looking at,” Goku said, confused and determined. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think he was staring at the singer,” Bulma laughed.

Vegeta froze. How dare she claim that he was participating in silly games? He realized once she said it, his eyes were, infact, on the singer. He questioned himself on why he was even looking at her, especially for as long as he had been. He gritted his teeth.

“Silence, woman. I will not have you insinuate such things.”

“Whatever,” shrugged Bulma. “You’re still looking at her.”

Milla was walking across the stage towards the group’s table, starting her part after the first chorus.

“I don’t beg- for no rich man. And I don’t scream and kick, when his shit don’t fall in my hands man. And I know how to still.”

For a split second she looked up and caught Vegeta’s gaze. He was still scowling, but the look in his eyes led onto more. Milla caught onto this and gave him a mischievous, sideways grin while she sang. She winked at him before turning around and Vegeta ripped his eyes to the ground.

Goku laughed and grinned his typical goofy smile. “It looks like she likes you! She’s kinda scary for a lady- but in a cool way, I guess.”

Blood rushed to Vegeta’s face and he shot Goku a death glare. “Kakarot-”

Vegeta then realized that Goku and Bulma were both looking past him with big grins plastered to their faces.

“What are you fools smiling about?” Vegeta scowled and snapped his head around to see behind him. His eyes widened as he realized Milla was sitting at the edge of the stage, less than a few feet away, body facing towards him but her eyes temporarily focused on her band mate.

She posed herself at the edge of the stage, legs crossed. One hand held her red gem bedazzled microphone as she sang and the other curled the cord around her well-manicured finger.

Milla was short, but her body structure and thin, toned legs made her seem tall. She wore an oversized Dead Milkmen t-shirt as a dress that draped over fishnet leggings. Tattoos scattered her pale, olive-toned skin up and down her arms.

Vegeta, stuck in his tracks for a moment, looked right at her face as she continued to sing. She was actually attractive for a human, he thought. He looked at her deep brown, almond shaped eyes. They were almost cat-like- and her red lips that surrounded a glaringly white smile was definitely alluring.

No matter. This was starting to become an unpleasant situation for Vegeta. He realized that she was teasing him and almost mocking him in a way that was completely unacceptable. He was the Prince, ruler of all Saiyans, and one of the most powerful fighters in the universe! Just as Vegeta was getting ready to leave, Milla caught his angry gaze and smiled. She cocked her head and continued to sing, leaning forward towards him.

“Oooh-ooh-ooh, no dear, you’ll be keeping my legend alive.”

Goku and Bulma’s eyes widened out of both fear and shock as Milla tickled her finger under Vegeta’s chin. Before any of them could even react, she turned around and hopped back onto the stage to finish her performance.

“Enough,” Vegeta growled. He stood up, teeth gritted and palms clenched. He took his fist and knocked his chair over before storming out.

Goku and Bulma looked at each other, exchanged a small laugh and shrugged.

“Well, he didn’t stay long- but at least it was entertaining,” Bulma said.

**About an hour later** “Thank you guys for coming out tonight and for being such an awesome crowd. It really is such an honor to perform for you guys and be here every week. I hope everyone who comes out knows how much their support means to me,” Mila said. She held up her glass to cheers her audience, and the crowd lifted their drinks in return. People clapped and whooped as Milla walked backstage and the lights dimmed. Other bandmates started to pack away their instruments and tear down the set-up.

The bulk of the crowd filed out of the building, including Bulma and Goku. Others stayed and sat at the bar.

“Should we look around and wait for Vegeta?” Goku asked.

“Ha! Do I look like I have all night to hunt that jerk down? He’s perfectly capable of finding his own ride home, if he hasn’t already.” Bulma said. “I guess, if you say so,” Goku said, scratching the back of his neck, clearly feeling guilty. “You’re too nice,” Bulma said, dragging Goku out.

Backstage, Milla brushed her short hair into a ponytail and grabbed a makeup wipe from her duffle bag.

“Hey, Milla. That guy you were messing with earlier seemed pretty riled up,” Joey said.

Mila laughed as she swiped at her eyelids with the makeup wipe. “Oh, did he?” she replied.

“Yea, he even knocked over his chair before running out. Guess it was just too much for him.” Joey chuckled.

Milla tossed her makeup wipe in the bin by the door and slung her duffle bag over her shoulder.

“Alright boys, I’m heading out for the night. We kicked ass today. See you on Wednesday night for practice,” Milla said, heading out the back door of the building.

The guys waved their goodbyes and she exited. Outside it was cold, but the air felt nice after a long night of running around on stage. She walked to her car, which was parked the street over from the bar. Milla hated crowded parking lots and she wasn’t the best at parking. As she got to her car, she fumbled for her keys in the pocket of her cardigan.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” a voice said.

“Huh?” Milla whipped around to see the guy that her and her bandmates had been talking about. The one she caught staring at her while she sang. She laughed at the sight of him- brows furrowed and his mouth in a deep frown. His arms were crossed tightly against his chest as he leaned against her car.

“What is so funny?” Vegeta growled.  “You would not be laughing if you knew who you were dealing with.”

“Oh,” Milla said, raising her eyebrows, feigning confusion. “Let me offer my deepest apologies.” She bowed sarcastically and then rolled her eyes, dropping her smile.

Vegeta scoffed and started to walk away. “Foul woman.”

“Excuse me, who the hell do you THINK that you are?” Milla asked, walking towards Vegeta. He stopped walking and turned to face her. “You think you can just come and harass me after the show because of what? Because I flirted with you? Grow the fuck up, I saw the way you looked at me.” Milla continued.

Vegeta stared at her, silently. Still scowling. They were less than a foot away from each other at this point, just battling through glares. Milla rolled her eyes again and her long lashes fluttered.

Vegeta noticed her face looked slightly different. He realized her red lips were now a warm shade of pink and her eyes seemed brighter. He thought maybe that she had taken her makeup off, but he still thought her face was nice.

“Pathetic.” Milla said at Vegeta, squinting her eyes. She got into her car and started the engine.

“What a fucking weirdo,” Milla said to herself. She thought he was cute when she had flirted with him, but now she couldn’t tell if he was just strange or a serial killer.

She pulled out onto the road and he was still standing where he was before, glaring. Vegeta stood where she had left him, steaming mad, but also wanting her to come back.

“Get the fuck out of here, dude. Go home.” Milla said before driving away.

“Some people,” Milla laughed, shaking her head. “Too bad shit’s not entertaining like this all of the time.”

After seeing her drive off, Vegeta headed back over to the bar. He bought himself a drink and made plans with himself to return the following Friday.

[pluckyredhead]

Daredevil 101: Cruel & Unusual

Hello, friends! I am back to fill up 10 minutes of your pandemic self-isolation downtime. Today we’re covering the storyline “Cruel & Unusual,” which ran through Daredevil v2 #107-110. Greg Rucka joins our usual team of Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark as a co-writer, which means a hardboiled dame investigating corruption, because Rucka has a #brand.

Content Warning: Severe violence against children is described but not shown; attempted suicide.

In the aftermath of what happened to Milla, Matt has sunk into depression. His friends are understandably concerned:

While Foggy pleads with him, Luke has a more assertive approach: yelling. Matt doesn’t take it well:

Yes, Matt breaks his hand. Yes, I laughed.

Anyway, Luke wants Matt to help him on a case, but Matt’s not hearing it, so Luke goes to the rest of Nelson, Blake, and Murdock:

MCU viewers will remember Big Ben Donovan from Luke Cage and Daredevil. They didn’t change much for the show, except that in the comics he sometimes beats people up in addition to being a super sketchy lawyer.

Anyway, he is currently on death row for decapitating three children - siblings, specifically. Not only that, he confessed to it. But Luke doesn’t think it fits his MO, and is hoping Matt - or barring that, Foggy, Becky, and Dakota - can do something to save Ben’s life. As they all agree, Ben sucks, but he doesn’t deserve to die for a crime he didn’t commit.

They try to get Matt on the case but he’s not interested. Dakota talks to a cop friend of hers, Detective Kurtz, and finds a few weird loose ends:

She then goes to see Ben in prison:

With Ben’s permission, she records his confession. On her way home from (I’m assuming) Sing Sing, she stops at a diner - and is attacked in the parking lot by a stranger, who beats her up and tells her to stay away from the Donovan case.

Furious, she goes straight to Matt and tells him to get his head out of his ass:

She wants Matt to listen to Ben’s confession and see if he hears anything off - that is, if he’s not too busy sitting around feeling sorry for himself. I know she’s coming off really aggressive here but the implication in the comic is that Matt has basically shut out the world for a worryingly long time by this point.

Anyway, Dakota storms out and Matt decides to listen to the recording - and realizes that Ben is definitely lying about killing those kids. So he finally pus on outside pants and heads out to do something about it:

Ben tells Matt the same thing he told Dakota - he did it, he has accepted his punishment, leave him alone. But Matt knows he’s lying, so he sees if the other Ben has any information for him:

That missing dad is still the loose end. Is he alive and thus probably the killer? Or if he’s dead, why won’t Ben (Donovan) confess to killing him too? Matt asks if Ben knows anything else about the dad, and Ben says he worked on the docks.

Meanwhile, Dakota continues to poke around and get in trouble, because that’s who she is as a person (I love Dakota so much). The same dude who beat her up before attacks her again, but this time she’s ready:

Also, surprise! He’s with the FBI. Which a) means there’s a cover-up happening, and b) freaks everyone out a bit because Matt and the FBI don’t have the greatest history with each other.

Matt, meanwhile, keeps digging and discovers that the missing dad didn’t just work “on the docks.” He worked specifically for this dude: 

Eric Slaughter, one of Fisk’s early rivals! We haven’t seen him in a while but he was a regular foe in the early Miller years - here he is in the Guts Nelson issue. Anything, this can’t be good.

Meanwhile in prison, Ben attempts to kill himself and is stopped just in time:

(Please note if you read the comic that the attempt and method are shown on the page.)

This man is on death row, so why would he try to kill himself? He’s clearly terrified of the consequences of Matt and Dakota digging into this case, but why?

Meanwhile, Dakota’s father, a CIA agent, also shows up to warn Dakota off:

Dakota’s like, uh, how did covering up the decapitation of three children become about national security, and also why are the CIA and the FBI working on the same case? This is extremely stinky.

Meanwhile, Matt and Foggy go to see Ben, who is even more insistent that Matt drop the case, this time practically to the point of hysteria. It does a number on Matt:

Foggy is such a good friend! Matt is so sad! That is a very specific photo reference!

Back at the office, Becky gives Dakota some very good advice:

As I said, I love Dakota, but she is a liar liar pants on fire. LISTEN TO BECKY!!! She had a crush on Matt and got over it! She has survived for three decades (now four)! She knows whereof she speaks!

Dakota and her flaming pants head out on the trail of another lead Becky has dug up, this time up at Columbia:

Yeah. Big Ben Donovan has a son, and if he doesn’t take the rap for the triple homicide, whoever is actually behind it will kill his son.

As Dakota leaves the building, she is shot by a sniper. Meanwhile, Matt attempts to confront Slaughter and finds himself in a trap:

In an extremely Murdocky move, Matt escapes by leaping out the window and through the sniper helicopter outside.

Meanwhile, Dakota is taken to the hospital. Matt blames himself. Becky, who has witnessed five fridgings by this point, is officially Done With His Shit:

You tell ‘im, Becks! No but seriously, she’s completely right, because this is a Greg Rucka storyline: Dakota got shot because she’s a hard-nosed investigator whose personal demons won’t let her leave a case alone even when it puts her in danger. It actually has nothing to do with Matt except that he’s also working on the same case, and blaming himself won’t help her.

Instead, Matt tracks down the FBI agent who attacked Dakota, leans on him, and learns the truth: the children and their father were actually killed by Eric Slaughter’s right-hand man. Slaughter had ordered the father killed for stealing from him, and his killer went rogue and murdered the kids as well. But the feds are in bed with Slaughter, because they’re using his smuggling operations on the docks to track terrorist activity:

If Slaughter’s man got arrested for the quadruple homicide, Slaughter would stop cooperating with the feds. So they gave him a fall guy, figuring Ben was a shitty person anyway and an acceptable loss in the ~War Against Terror~. It’s pretty disgusting all around and depressingly plausible.

Matt’s like “Well, arrest the real killer and let Ben go or this ends up on the news.” And he brings Ben a visitor:

Little Ben is, unsurprisingly, rather touched to hear what his father was willing to sacrifice for his safety!

Agent North tells Slaughter that his free pass has expired:

With all the loose ends wrapped up, Matt goes to see Dakota:

Aw that’s nice. And hoo BOY that last panel is a Charlie Coxish expression if I’ve ever seen one. Can Michael Lark see the future???

Next Up: Greg Rucka leaves and the book gets lackluster again. But, um, there’s a lot of ninjas and more Milla-related ableism? Yay? Hold on to your butts, kids, it’s almost Shadowland time!

[reformedkingsmanagent]

A Werewolf in Vizima — Part 3

A/N: So. Yeah I know it’s been forever. I appreciate your patience. Thank the universe for that new trailer. I wrote more than this, not sure if you’ll get a fourth part today but it’s pretty likely at this rate. I hope you enjoy this.

[PART 1]     [PART 2]     [PART 4]

People were running, you attempting to make your way through them proving more difficult than you anticipated. Meanwhile, Geralt was already lengths ahead, having gotten quite the head start. After a few seconds you lost sight of the silver hair and almost gave up until you reached a gathered crowd.

In a dead-end alley between two buildings, a horrible scene waited. Once you pushed through the group, the iron hit your nose and you quickly turned around, eyes wide, hoping and praying to keep your composure. It wasn’t every day you saw someone’s innards spread across the cobblestones.

Before you could turn back around and put on a brave face, a gentle hand pressed comfortingly in the middle of your back.

Geralt.

“Go home, get inside. It’s not safe.”

You shook your head, the thought of sitting at home wondering if you’d ever see the witcher again—waiting for Johanna to die—seemed like torture. You were fine. You could handle this. 

Could you?

Moments later the city guards appeared, the clink of their plate-metal armor cutting through the whispers and quiet gossip as everyone craned their necks to try to get a good look at the mess.

“Everyone! Back in your homes, please! For your own safety, disburse!”

As one of the guards moved to push you back into the crowd, Geralt’s much kinder touch pulled you in towards his side.

“She’s with me,” he warned the guard. He got a look, but the guard soon returned his attention to the others gathered around.

You let out a sigh of relief, only then realizing how close you were to him.

“You should’ve gone home,” he sighed, eyes watching the guards attempting to get rid of the more persistent stragglers. 

“Where’s the fun in that?” you answered, though your stomach was in knots.

“I don’t like the thought of you leaving the city walls,” he explained, looking up at the top of the wall caging in this alleyway. You noticed the bloodied handprint, or...pawprint?

“Geralt, are you after a...dog?”

He sighed before taking a few steps closer to the bloody scene. “Not exactly.”

“Well, if it isn’t the Butcher of Blaviken himself,” a voice cut in. Both of you turned towards the new arrival to see Vernon Roche, a well-known Temerian hero, a loyalist to the end, and apparently an acquaintance of Geralt’s. “I knew they’d hired on a Witcher, but I never guessed you’d be back south so soon.”

They clasped arms for a moment and you saw an almost relieved smile on Geralt’s face. “Didn’t know they’d pulled you back. What brings you to this side of town?”

Vernon chuckled. “Once you’ve stormed a Nilfgaardian camp, this looks downright pristine.”

You huffed quietly to yourself, itching to berate him at the first opportunity for the slight against where you lived, but thought better of it. You were beginning to rethink this tentative ‘deal.’

While they talked you busied yourself with your own personal exposure therapy. Intent on being somehow useful, you turned towards the scene, looking it over until the mildly uncomfortable sensation deep in the pit of your stomach faded. 

The skin across the man’s gut was shredded, as if it had been a piece of parchment, something you never knew to be possible. You’ve seen sickness, which was a whole other beast, but besides the occasional drunken bar fight you had thankfully been spared of any serious violence.

Until today, you mused, glancing over at the well-outfitted witcher.

What had he done to earn a title like that? ‘Butcher of Blaviken,’ eh? Friends with Vernon Roche, and Keira Metz too. Even done some ‘favors’ for King Foltest. Why did you have to cross paths with someone like him?

After a few minutes of friendly conversation, Geralt turned to you, leaving Vernon to inspect the mess himself. He gently pulled at your wrist to turn you away from it all.

“I need you to go and collect the markings on Johanna’s door.”

“You’re not going with me?” The idea of walking around the city in the evening, especially after dark, didn’t sit well with you. You usually made the journey home with Milla as she lived pretty close to you. You weren’t very far from home even now.

Geralt glanced behind him, up towards the wall. “I can’t lose this trail.” He seemed to understand what he was asking of you, as he reached down to his boot and pulled a dagger and sheath free, holding it out to you. “I can probably meet you there, but if I’m not there soon, just go home, or find somewhere safe to wait out the night.”

You hesitated, but ultimately understood that at least being armed, you’d stand a slightly better chance. “You owe me for this.”

He offered an amused smile before nodding. “I do.”

You nodded back, tucking the dagger into the pocket sewn into your dress. Usually holding much more innocuous things than a blade, it still managed to stay hidden against your side. 

Now to see to Johanna.

***

The wooden door creaked as it was pushed open and you froze, crouched low just outside, waiting for any sign that someone was headed your way. While not exactly a private residence, there were still expectations that definitely put you outside traditional visiting hours, not that Johanna was allowed to have visitors anyway.

After almost a minute of silence, you squeezed through the doorway, quickly turning and using a gentle pressure to ease the door back into place. The rooms just inside were empty for the moment so you continued up the stairs, eyes set on the door right at the top at the beginning of a long hallway. Once you neared the top, you noticed that the dishes cluttered around the door still sat untouched, some likely spoiled by now. All of it felt unnatural. The chance encounter with the Witcher seemed more and more significant with each passing second spent standing at the top of the stairs.

Looking at the door, you couldn’t see anything like what Geralt had described. No markings, no words, no symbols—

There. There they are.

They were incredibly hard to see. You slowly knelt down as close to the door as possible, straining to pick up the outlines in the dark. You reached out, fingers falling into the grooves here and there on the inside of the doorframe. You had no idea what it meant. But Geralt might.

Taking a moment to rifle through your bag you never got a chance to drop off at home, you pulled a piece of parchment out, a note left from Milla regarding the supplies she’d set out for you that evening. Realizing you couldn’t get close to the notches carved into the wood without moving some of the dishes aside, you had a sudden epiphany. Whoever carved those markings into the wood was likely also the one making sure the offerings stayed there, to make sure no one got close enough to notice them, but also to see if Johanna tried to get out.

Feeling chills rushing down your spine, you moved some of the larger plates out of the way, getting ever closer to where you needed to be. Careful to lift and move the dishes instead of dragging them across the wood, you soon had a path. Without anything to make a rubbing, you used your nail, raking it across the carvings and hoping enough of an indentation would be made to be useful. With every bit of noise, your anxiety over being caught there, and possibly by the person who put those marks there grew. 

“H-hello?”

You fell back, reaching out to prevent your fall down the stairs, heart beating out of your chest at the small voice emanating from under the door.

You couldn’t believe it. 

“Johanna?”

“Please—”

“What?” you whispered.

“Get me out of here.”

You shot a glance at the end of the hall, as if the matron would be standing there, waiting. It was empty. Still, a lump in your throat remained. 

“Okay.”

[invaderdoom78]

Aziraphale, Crowley, Aro, and Peter all get to have some cannon children with Warlock/Adam and the twins so I figured why not these two, specifically Lucian, he deserves the chance to be happy with a family and a baby. That’s not too much to ask is it.

With a hard and well placed thrust from his partner Barty felt his arms give out under his tensed up and then relaxed weight, he collapsed face down on the mattress, panting heavily, tilting his head to expose more of his neck for Lucian could bite into the side it as he finished. Carefully pressing himself down against his wizard's back Lucian wrapped his arms around Barty’s waist and rolled them so they were lying on their sides, his back facing the door.

“I’m so lucky to have you next to me” Lucian murmured, kissing along the bite mark he’d left on Barty’s neck 

Barty could only hum in response, reaching back to cup the Lycans face, and was about to say something when they heard someone knocking on the front door “Who the bloody hell is that? What time is it?” 

“It’s about ten oclock” Lucian said, reluctantly pulling out of the warmth of Bartys body so he could roll of the bed

“No” Barty said reaching out to grab the Lycans hand “don’t answer it”

“What if it’s an emergency” Lucian sighed

“For who?” Barty groaned “both of us are supposed to be dead. What could anyone possibly need to tell us” 

“I’m still going to see who it is” Lucian said, taking a better hold of his wizards hand kissing the back of it before placing a kiss to his cheek 

Slipping into a pair of pants Lucian went to answer the door, opening to three women, the one standing in the front he recognized from the village, the other two he didn’t. The woman in the back had dark hair and was clutching something to her chest, and the other one, who looked like she could be the dark haired woman's sister, had blond and black hair and was holding a small chest under her arm.

“Hello, Georgina” Lucian said, hearing the shower running and assumed Barty was washing himself off

“These two are looking for Barty” Georgina said, motioning back towards the two woman behind her “I’m guessing he’s in”

“Yes” Lucian said, listening for the water to shut off “he may be a minute though” 

The dark haired woman looked like she was ready to bite his head off if Barty wasn’t in front of her within the next milla-second. Thankfully it didn’t take his wizard long to rid himself of almost all the evidence of what they’d just done and emerge from the bedroom dressed in a shirt and a pair of boxers, moving to stand behind the Lycan; all three women noticing the bite mark on his neck and Bellatrix and Narcissa were obviously staring at it. 

“I know them” Barty said

He was immediately suspicious of why Bellatrix was here, but he assumed she wouldn’t do anything too rash with her sister here. Stepping aside Lucian to give the two witches enough room to come inside, Georgena winking at them before she made her leave. It was a bit chilly out that night, enough for it to penetrate the insides of the cottage, but because of how much heat Lucians body generated neither one bothered lighting the fireplace for the night. So after he closed the front door the first thing Lucian did was get to work lighting a fire to help warm up their guests.

“This is quite a quaint little home you’ve made here, Barty” Narcissa said, trying to be polite “and...” she turned to look at Lucian 

“Oh, right” Barty said “Bellatrix, Narcissa this is Lucian” both witches looked up at him, startled, obviously recognizing the Lycans name “Lucian this is Bellatrix and her sister Narcissa I know them from school and…” he let his sentence drop off as the rest of it went without saying 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you” Lucian said, striking a match so he could light the fire place

“Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, why are you two here?”

“We are here on order of Lord Voldemort” Narcissa said

Lucian instantly felt his protective instincts bubbling to the surface as all of the muscles in his body tensed up, but he managed to restrain himself, for now. 

“What for?” Barty asked, taking a step closer to Lucian

Just then the bundle Bellatrix was holding began squirming and cooing in her arms causing part of the blanket to fall away revealing the baby that was hidden inside of it. It was a tiny thing that only looked to be maybe seven months old, had a mop of silver hair on their head (I don’t think it was specified whether her hair is dyed silver or not, but I could be wrong), that was probably going to have some curl to it when it got longer, judging by their mother's hair at least, and wide brown eyes that were currently busy looking around their new surroundings. 

“For her” Narcissa continued “our Dark Lord has requested your assistance in protecting his daughter as he and his army's attack Hogwarts”

“No!” Barty exclaimed, backing away, practically scurrying back to his and Lucian’s shared bedroom

Following him back to the room Lucian found Barty sitting on the bed with his head in his hands. 

“Are you alright, Barty?” Lucian asked, placing both his hands on his wizards shoulders

“No” Barty said “I don’t know how to care for a child. I barely had parents growing up, I don’t know how to be nurturing. Why in the hell would they come to me for this?” 

“Calm down, love” Lucian whispered “I’m sure they’ve thought this out”

Looking up at the Lycan Barty was about to protest when he saw the pain in Lucians eyes and the desperation for a chance to regain what had been stolen from him all those years ago.

“We don’t have enough room for a baby” Barty pointed out softly “the cottage barely has enough room for the two of us!”

“I’m sure we can find someone in the village to help us build an extra room for a reasonable price or we could move next door. It's got more than one bedroom and it looks like it’s been abandoned for a while so we should be able to get it cheap. I even think it has a basement, I’m sure that will come in handy once she comes into her own”

“Yeah” Barty said, licking his lip “sending her to Hogwarts is probably not the best idea. But what do either of us know about raising a baby?”

“Not much” Lucian said softly, pulling Barty into his arms “but neither do any first time parents. They figure everything out along the way, together, and that’s how we’ll do it. Together!”

“...Alright” Barty relented “I’ll give it a try”

Hooking his arm with Lucians for support, the two walked back out to the main room of their home.

“I told you this was a bad idea!” Bellatrix growled, having not noticed Lucian and Barty were back in the room with them

“You know what his father is like” Narcissa said “he’s probably just nervous. This is still our best option of keeping her safe until the fighting has ended. Remember after everything that has happened he has yet to turn on Lord Voldemort and has made zero attempts to rat out any of his fellow Death Eaters” she noticed that Barty and Lucian had rejoined them “have you made a decision?”

“We’ll do it” Barty said, taking a tighter grip on Lucians arm 

Bellatrix obviously looked like she wanted to say something rather nasty to him, but was somehow managing to hold her tongue, either because she was afraid of what Lucian may do to her if she were to insult his mate or because deep down she knew that this was the best option for her child, regardless of how much she hated the idea. 

“What’s her name?” Lucian asked

“Delphini” Narcissa said, setting the chest she was carrying on the kitchen table “we didn’t have much time to put that many things together so all I was able to procure were some of Draco's baby things. So she’ll have some clothing, but they may not fit her well along with a few toys. And this” she set a sizable burlap pouch next to the chest “is compensation for agreeing to take her in for the time being and this” she handed him a long, thin box that had the word Ollivander scrawled on it “is for her added protection” 

This made Barty happy, he couldn’t even begin to the joy he felt as he let go of his Lycans arm so he could open the box and pull out his new wand.

“We have to leave now, Bella” Narcissa said, glancing at the clock hanging on the wall

Bellatrix obviously didn’t want to hand over her daughter and it didn’t help that Delphini started fussing as soon she was passed over to the Lycan, but she settled down pretty quickly once she was in Lucians arms. With a look of rage and sadness gracing her face upon seeing her child being at such ease in the arms of a stranger, Bellatrix took off the silver crow skull necklace she wore around her neck and shoved it at Barty without a word before practically running out of his house followed closely by her sister. Both looked at the door after the dark witch had slammed it shut, then at each other before they sat down; Lucian getting settled into the recliner, still holding Delphini, looking like this was nothing more than second nature to him as she babbled in his arms, her tiny hands held onto the ends of his long hair while Barty watched from the couch.

“I’m surprised, Lord Voldemort would ever agree to father a child” Barty suddenly said 

“From what I’ve learned about him I imagine he used sex as a form of manipulation, she wasn’t planed, and he’s faking concern for her safty to further cement her mothers loyalty”

“That sounds about right” Barty said “I remember him using my poor relationship with my father as a way to make me feel like there was a special bond between us” 

“Would you like to hold her, love?” Lucian asked, turning to face his wizard 

“No” Barty groaned “not really”

“Are you afraid you’ll drop her?” 

“...A little”

“Here” Lucain said getting up and carefully placed her in his wizards arms, adjusting the position of his arms so that the baby was secure in his hold

Everything was alright once Delphini was in Bartys arms, he even visibly relaxed, but after about a minute she started to whimper. 

“Oh no” Barty said, feeling the beginnings of panic set in “she’s crying. Why is she crying?”

Lucian sniffed her, but smelt nothing “She may be hungry” 

Passing Delphini back to the Lycan the two walked over to where Narcissa had left the chest so Barty could look through it, opening it up and pulling out some of the contents from the enchanted chest.

“What is this?” Barty asked, holding up a baby bottle

“Breast milk?” Lucian guessed

“Gross” Barty said, handing the Lycan the bottle “that’s closer to Bellatrix’s boobes than I’ve ever wanted to be in my life” 

The bottle was obviously charmed as the moment it got within a certain distance of the baby the milk warmed up to the appropriate temperature for her to feed off of. 

“So” Lucian said, holding up the bottle for Delphini so she could feed from it “we should probably decide on a surname for her if we do end up raising her”

“We’ll probably have to use mine since you don’t have one” Barty said, looking through the baby cloths that had been given to them 

“What about a middle?”

“...I think I have an idea” Barty said licking his lips

Looking up, Lucian looked at Barty and could instantly tell what he had in mind and felt the beginnings of tears welling up in his eyes. 

“Thank you” Lucian whispered, pulling Barty closer to him to kiss his temple  

About an hour later the new little family got settled into bed; Lucian laying on his back with an arm wrapped around Barty’s waist as the wizard rested his head on the Lycans shoulder and part of his chest as Delphini slept on the rest of it, the Lycans hand on her back, keeping her in place. The other two had already long since fallen asleep but Barty couldn’t, even though he was exhausted, his mind was too busy worrying about all the things that could go wrong. Primarily about what could happen after the second wizarding war ended. If Lord Voldemort and the other Death Eaters won, then Bellatrix would 100% be coming back for her daughter, but if they lost, while yes, they could raise Delphini as their own he feared what might happen if the Ministry of Magic were to find out about her existence. He couldn’t bare the thought of the pain Lucian would go through if he were to lose another child, but maybe that’s why Bellatrix and Narcissa came to him for this. After all, he had settled into a primarily Muggle village that may have had one or two magical folk mixed in he wasn’t sure, but he definitely had his suspicions, mainly about Georgina. He was finally pulled out of his thoughts by the feeling of a tiny hand grabbing hold of his finger. Getting a good look at her face for the first time he tried to look for any of the characteristic Black family elegance, but she kinda just looked like a potato to him. He could do this he realized, he was able to fool Dumbledoor and everyone at Hogwarts for almost an entire school year so this shouldn’t be that difficult to figure out; especially when he had Lucian by his side.

[writing-essence]

Switch Flipped - Sweet Pea

Chapter Two: Sober

Pairing: Sweet Pea x Andrews!Reader, Reggie Mantle x Andrews!Reader

Warnings: Riverdale being wack 🤷🏻‍♀️ also language

Summary: After your dad was shot by the black hood, Archie has gone off the deep end, little did you expect yourself to question your northside loyalties

Author’s Note: Slow burn with Sweet Pea. Slight relationship with Reggie. There’s lots more Sweet Pea in this one, I swear. Let me know if you want to be tagged! -Milla

Word Count: 2,608 (oops?)

A few days had passed since the night of the rumble. Archie made an official apology video per Weatherbee's request and disbanded the red circle. Fred Andrews was relieved his fiery son blew out the flame. It wasn't easily spotted on the surface, but you could tell Archie still harbored hot coals in the pit of his stomach. This was most apparent by his grumbling about a certain Nick St. Clair over the blasts of his punching bag.

Reggie had time to cool down as well. The boy would never fail to jump at the chance to show off his athletism and masculinity in the name of dawning school spirit, so it wasn't a shock when he walked out your door that night. The next morning school had been suspiciously quiet due to the hushed details of Dilton Doiley's "mugging." When Reggie walked to your locker ready to lament his actions and announce the fall of the red circle, you didn't give him a chance. The scratches littering his face, the star of the show being a split lip, was enough to bury yourself back into the warmth of his chest. The gesture continued until the grating pitch of the bell rang through the halls bringing you back to the reality of linoleum floors. For a moment you thought the madness was over. It hadn't even started.

Currently, you were sitting in your room studying for a math test you knew was hopeless. Watching the tree outside your window sway in the harsh November breeze, you were surprising thankful your stress would be coming from the angles of triangles and not a circle tonight. The sun was beginning to set causing an orange tinge to flood your room. Basking in the momentary warmth, you decided to call Reggie for geometry advice. Maybe not actual advice, mostly reassurance you couldn't possibly do worse than he had in the same class the year before.

One ring

Two rings

Three rings

Four rings

Reggie always answered his phone, especially after what happened with Jason. He would never admit it, but he would sometimes panic if you didn't answer in the first three rings, even if he had dropped you off at home within the same hour. It took time for fear of losing people to trickle away. So why wasn't he answering? It could either be a sign of progress or a sign of something you couldn’t bear to think.  Hoping for the former you continued to struggle through the practice test your teacher had given you. A few hours had passed, and once again you were graced with four rings and no Reggie. Fighting the nervous jolt in your stomach, you texted Midge instead who you were convinced could anyone off a ledge. Her comforting words lulled you to sleep.

 A rude awakening prompted by none other than Alice Cooper, would answer why Reggie's trend of silence continued. An extravagant, to Riverdale standard, party. With jingle-jangle supplied by your supposedly out of business boyfriend. Your chest tightened as your lungs grew three times their size trying to catch up with your frantic breathing. Slowly you backed away from the cracked window at the side of the Cooper house you crouched behind while snooping. Bushes hugged your shins as you ran back to your yard. The next time you saw Reggie, it was over.

Not only had he been continuously lying about his possession of jingle-jangle but he did something you never thought him capable of. You built it in your mind Reggie was better than them than Jason, Chuck, or any other bulldog who wrote the worth of women on lists. He wasn't perfect by any means but not once did you think he would ever cheat. Archie tried his best to comfort you the days following the break. You knew he was there at the party and knew about Reggie and Josie. You didn't know whether you wanted to curse him out for not telling you or hug him for attempting to protect his little sister's heart.

Business at Pop’s had been slow since the first incident with the Black Hood.  Understandably so, a place that once emulated comfort through neon lights now had an ever presence of darkness. The counter in front of you glowed after being wiped clean for the countless time this afternoon. The cycle of texting Midge and cleaning suddenly broke by the chime of the door and laughter of boisterous teens. Glancing up from your phone your eyes trailed to the rambunctious rebels sporting serpents on their backs.  Hopefully, this encounter would be less dramatic than the last. You grabbed your notepad and headed toward the booth.

"I'm telling you guys the milkshakes are crazy good!"

"Ya know Topaz I'm not sure I trust any milkshake Jones introduced you to."

"Get over yourself Swe-"

"Hi, can I take your order?" You interrupted. Sitting before you was a petite girl sporting pink hair, and two uneasily familiar male faces. Your eyes widened as you examined the two boys sitting on the other side of the booth. The two serpents seemed to notice your saucer-sized eyes and realization seemingly struck them in the chest.

"Uh, guys?" The girl waved her hand in front of their frozen faces, "what's with the staring contest?"

"You're the northsider with the shit for brains brother," the statement came out more like a question from the taller serpent. You sucked in a breath and squeezed your pen tighter, the word, 'unfortunately,' escaped your lips during the exhale. "You know he ruined our drag race today-"

"Wait," the girl cut him off, the corners of her mouth curling up, "you're Archie's sister? Y/N right?" She finished as you turned to her. Your eyebrows furrowed. How would she know that? She seemed to be a mind reader when she continued, "Jughead mentioned you, I'm his friend Toni."

You had practically grown up with Jughead due to his friendship with Archie. He had grown to be one of your most trusted confidants especially during your party girl phase brought on by Reggie. You were forever grateful for Jughead's myriad of cover-ups, saving you weeks of being grounded to your room. You considered it retribution for the time he managed to spill an entire milkshake in your hair when he attempted a magician career during seventh grade. While the chocolate scent could have been worse, it quickly turned to spoiled milk even after the fourth washing. His affinity for being quick with words almost made up for that catastrophe. 

"Good to know he hasn't forgotten about me, not like I've known him since he had that dorky headgear," you jested at the girl sitting to your right.

"No way really?" For the first time, you saw a smile creep onto the larger boy's face. He elbowed his friend in the excitement of the humiliation of young Jughead Jones. Deciding not to ruin whatever reputation Jughead was building for himself on the south side you simply shrugged letting your smile twist into a smirk.

"So what can I get for you guys?" 

Minutes passed as you returned with their burgers and shakes. They politely thank you and returned to their conversation. For serpents, they weren't as intimidating as you suspected. They acted like regular teens, not thugs as many made them out to be. While they looked rougher around the edges in leather and ripped jeans, they were just goofy kids. Throughout the evening you stole glances at the wild crew, catching snippets of their amusing antics.

"Fangs if you blow one more straw wrapper in my hair I swear-"

"Chill out Toni-"

"Oh, I'll show you who needs to chill out-"

Needless to say that dispute ended with twenty wrappers covering Toni's side of the booth and a splatter of milkshake on his face. A chuckle slipped past your lips. You coughed in an attempt to cover up your eavesdropping, but the milkshake free boy wasn't fooled as he looked to your hunched form over the register. You avoided his gaze long enough for him to lose interest and turned back to his arguing friends. Once they had calmed, you decided it was a good time to ask if they were ready for the check. Closing was approaching quickly, and you weren't a fan of riding home alone in the dark.

"We can clean it up," Toni hurried. Your eyes scanned the disaster zone. Straw wrappers, ketchup drips, and milkshake splatters littered the once sparkling table. "Sorry," she smiled sheepishly then glared to the shorter boy who you assumed was Fangs.

"Don't worry about it," you shook your head returning the smile. After momentary consideration you sighed, "look I know my brother won't apologize for any trouble he's caused, I guess this is me saying sorry. I can clean it up its no problem. Afterall it is my job."

"I wouldn't say it's your job to clean up your brother's messes," the taller serpent responded crossing his arms.

"That's not what I meant," your smile faltered. 

You rang the trio up at the front after bussing their table. After a hushed argument about who should pay or how easy they could divide the bill into thirds, they decided on the classic game of rock, paper, scissors.  Fangs' rock lost to the other two's paper. Not before pining for a rematch he gave in, including a commendable tip. You tucked the money in the register and grabbed your washcloth and spray bottle, ready to charge the Mt. Everest of messes. Still wiping down the table you had noticed the group's failure to leave, they were staring back at you while whispering. Toni shrugged, Fangs tried to fist bump the giant next to him just to be met with a smack on the head from Toni. 

"Do you need a ride?" the tallest ask asked.

"Excuse me?" All you could do was blink as you stopped cleaning. Had you heard him right? Was he talking to you? Of course, he was talking to you; he was staring right at you.

"That's your bike out there right?" He pointed out the door's glass window to the bright yellow metal of your bike. You nodded. "It's getting late, and Jones is a serpent now. He talked about you like family, we take care of our own,” he shrugged with his hands in his jacket pockets.

Your eyes involuntarily squinted at his generous offer.  From squinting, they shifted between each serpent as if to decipher a secret code. From the sincere looks on the teen's faces, you decided they harbored no ill will. Your choices seemed slim, either bike home alone in the dark with the Black Hood lurking in the shadows or catch a ride from Jughead's mysterious serpent friend. Even if they looked genuine, you had to establish some form of protection in case of a disaster. You walked toward the group stopping in front of the boy who had asked you the question.

"Promise this isn't your master plan to murder me in Fox Forrest?" You held up your pinky to his chest. The boy's dark eyebrows nearly raised themselves off his forehead staring at your gesture. His eyes switched to look at his friends on either side.

"You're serious?" he asked incredulously, a laugh peaking through his inflection. Toni and Fangs had amused looks pointed towards their friend.

"Deadly," you answered unwaveringly back. He shook his head in defeat as his pinky hooked around yours. "I'll be out after I finish with your guys' table," you made your way back to the damp milkshake covered towel. An uncontrollable smile played upon your face. You had managed to get a Southside Serpent to agree to a pinky promise and lived to tell the tale; Midge wouldn't believe it.

After you finished cleaning and put away your supplies, you grabbed your jacket from under the front counter and headed out. The three teens were still there laughing about something Fangs had said. The poor boy had a bewildered look on his face asking what the big joke was. You grabbed your bike from the rack tucked by the front steps and wheeled it towards your temporary carpool buddy. He kindly tucked your bike in the back of his light green truck. You could tell it had been a fair amount of years since its last paint job. There were chips, scratches, a few dents here and there. You wouldn't have described it as run down, but well loved. 

"Um, thanks for the ride," you broke the minutes of silence since you both sat down.

"Don't worry about it," he dismissed.

You took in your surroundings. It wasn't messy like you would expect a vehicle of a teenage boy to be. The knob on the out of date radio had been knocked off, and the seats squeaked if you moved an inch. They squeaked a lot as you fidgeted in your place not knowing whether to look out the window, at the inside of the car, or towards the boy next to you. You decided on the last option. His eyes were transfixed on the road you assumed he traveled down the night of the rumble. A few rings decorated his hands that were draped lazily on the steering wheel. He had soft features which contrasted with his jet black hair. At this moment he didn't ooze an ounce of intimidation even with a snake dancing across his neck. The snake which was the symbol of a gang. A gang that your closest childhood friend got himself wrapped into.

"You good princess?" He glanced at your prying eyes.

"Uh yeah," you started caught off guard, "how's Jughead?"

"A tool," he deadpanned. You smiled at his look of distaste for your "quirky" friend.

"Yeah, you know he probably thinks the thing about you," you let out a light laugh. "Jughead's a lot sometimes, but he means well."

"Sure he does princess," he responded. Your nose scrunched up at the nickname. 

"I have a name you know," you insisted even going as far to point at the name tag on your uniform. Then you realized something. Toni had introduced herself, and you caught Fang's name from the straw wrapper war, but the name of who was sitting next to you was still a mystery.  "Speaking of which you're giving me a ride home, and I still have no idea what your name is"

"Quite the scandal for you huh northsider?" He taunted with a smile. You rolled your eyes crossing your arms sinking deeper in the stiff seat. "It's Sweet Pea."

"You're serious?" A breath of air puffed out of your chest. He had to be messing with you. You watched his face contort with a mischievous glint.

"Deadly," he smirked, repeating your words from Pop's.

"Right, well this is me," you said as he pulled up past the Cooper's to your smaller house. After unbuckling, you hopped down to the pavement and grabbed the door to close it, looking up at Sweet Pea.

"Need help with your bike?" He asked. You nodded mumbling a quick 'thanks.' He pulled your bike out the back, passing you the handlebars. After a more formal thank you, you started your up the walkway locking your bike up at the side of the house in the bushes. Before walking up to the porch, you turned back to Sweet Pea who was leaning against the side of his truck.

"See you around, princess," he concluded, a look of victory strewn across his face. You shook your head at the hopeless nickname but smiled nonetheless. 

"Night, Sweet Pea."

Tags:

@the-original-penguin

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@star-mum

@andyl394

@yougottalovefandoms

[daresplaining]

Are there any instances where superhero’s would give Daredevil something to look at and he has to wing it/ tell the truth that he’s blind?

    Yes, there are! This happens all the time, and not just with other superheroes. My favorite example is a major moment in DD history: when Ben Urich uses this exact strategy to get Daredevil to reveal his secret identity.

[ID: Excerpt from McKenzie’s Daredevil run. Daredevil is wearing head bandages and a hospital gown (over his costume). Ben Urich sits next to him, a lit cigarette in his mouth, and holds up a photograph.]

Ben: “It’s the story of a lonely little boy blinded by a freak accident. And it’s the story of how he overcame his handicap to become a successful lawyer and a Man Without Fear. It���s your story, Matthew Murdock, and I can prove it!”

Matt: “Now just a minute, Ben! You can’t seriously believe I’m–”

Ben: “Well, if you’re not Matt Murdock and if you’re not blind, just describe this photograph to me and I’ll leave. I’ll forget the whole thing.”

Matt: “Photo–? Ben, I… I really don’t feel like playing games. I’m not Matt Murdock, I’m certainly not blind– and I don’t see why I have to prove anything to you. It’s none of your business… who I am. It’s… it’s… it’s true…”

Daredevil vol. 1 #164 by Roger McKenzie, Frank Miller, and Glynis Wein

    I love this interaction– the facial expressions, Matt’s flustered struggle to come up with an excuse, its significance as the start of a beautiful friendship, the fact that Ben barged into Matt’s hospital room (while smoking!) to get this interview– and it’s a testament to how vulnerable Matt is to this sort of situation. Years later, after Matt has faked his death and reappeared as a “new” Daredevil during Chichester’s run, Ben uses this same ruse to check if his friend is actually still alive. Sadly, what could have been a moving/hilarious recreation of this iconic scene is ruined by some silly sensory writing. 

[ID: Ben confronts Daredevil, who is dressed in the black and red armored costume from the end of Volume 1, on a darkened rooftop. Ben hands Daredevil his wallet, which contains a photo of himself and his wife Doris.]    

Ben: “Tell me about this picture.”

Caption: “Ben Urich has played this bluff before, to prove Matt Murdock and Daredevil were one and the same. Make a blind man describe a photograph. It worked then. Murdock can’t afford to let it work again.”

Matt: “Sure… okay. Bring it over here in the light were I can see it…”

Caption: “Light and dark areas absorb degrees of heat from the lamp above. Enough difference to paint a crude picture for hypersensitive fingertips. Some deductive guesswork on the photos a man might carry in his wallet. All adding up to enough for a stab in the dark.”

Matt: “That’s you… and she’s your wife?”

Daredevil vol. 1 #339 by Alan Smithee, Alexander Jubran, and Christie Scheele

    Sigh…

    In any case, as I mentioned, Matt (as Daredevil) is frequently confronted with these types of situations, thanks to people’s assumptions that he can see. The degree of success he has in maintaining that illusion of sightedness varies. Below are a few of my other favorite moments.

    This is another major one, and another rare instance in which Matt decides he has no choice but to reveal that he’s blind. During his early adventures in San Francisco, he develops a brief alliance/friendship/romanic tension with the cosmic hero Moon Dragon. When she gets seriously injured, Matt is the only person around to operate the machine that will save her life. Unfortunately…

Matt: “Moon Dragon… there’s no way I could grasp this–”

Moon Dragon: “Please… just… do exactly as… I say… Begin… with the… yel… yellow… dial… turn to… Dare… devil… what is… wrong? Begin…”

Matt: “I– I can’t!! Moon Dragon… I–I’m blind!”

Daredevil vol. 1 #106 by Steve Gerber, Don Heck, and George Roussos

    Being a cosmic entity, Moon Dragon deals with this inconvenience by casually restoring Matt’s vision. He asks for it to be removed again shortly afterward because he finds it annoying. 

    I pointed out Matt’s hand-wave-y deciphering of Ben’s photo (and Matt also mentions feeling colors in the Moon Dragon scene), and while that sort of thing has mostly been abandoned, unfortunately it informed many of these types of moments in early Daredevil stories. Rather than acknowledging the limits of Matt’s perception, the writers would simply skew and amplify his other senses to explain the problem away, as in this moment in Roy Thomas’s run: 

[ID: Daredevil is leaning on Foggy Nelson’s desk. Foggy hands him a newspaper, and Daredevil (with his gloves on!) runs his fingers over the front page.]

Matt: “Tell me– who were the joy boys?”

Foggy: “This paper will explain things…! Read it and weep!”

Matt: “Let me pore over this for a minute! (–’Specially since I’ve got to do my speed-reading casually– with my fingers doing the walking!)”

Daredevil vol. 1 #68 by Roy Thomas, Gene Colan, and Artie Simek

And this even more extreme example from the same run: 

[ID: Daredevil (still with his gloves on!) is running his fingers over a framed photograph, while a tearful Karen Page watches.]

Karen: “How could you have known that we needed you… when even I didn’t know it… until a few moments ago?”

Matt: “I’ll… explain all that later, Karen! Right now, let me study your father’s picture! (And I do mean study… not see! But she’s too upset to notice that I’m using my fingertips to learn her father’s appearance!)”

Daredevil vol. 1 #56 by Roy Thomas, Gene Colan, and Artie Simek

    Matt reading newsprint is fine; there’s a ton of precedent for it, it makes a certain degree of sense, and it’s been a part of his power-set for a long time. Matt reading newsprint with his gloves on without Foggy noticing anything weird is much harder for me to believe. And don’t get me started on his perceiving a framed photograph by touch with his gloves on. 

    Fortunately, more recent writers have moved away from these types of shortcuts, and are willing to acknowledge that Matt’s other senses can’t fully compensate for his lack of vision. The usual outcome is that Matt manages to improvise an excuse/alternative approach that allows him to maintain his secret, or he’s lucky enough to have someone else inadvertently help. 

[ID: A bystander shows Daredevil an image of a man (labeled as John Powers) on his tablet screen. Daredevil’s radar sense perceives the screen as a blank rectangle.]

Bystander: “Except this guy! He’s not one of us!”

Matt (caption): “What?”

Bystander: “I’m not on the list, but he is! See? Who is he? Do you recognize him?”

Matt (caption): “Ummm…”

Judge: “John Powers. Does anybody here know that name?”

Daredevil vol. 3 #31 by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, and Javier Rodriguez

[ID: Daredevil is standing by as a man feeds a key card into an old-fashioned computer. The address “13 Wall St.” appears on a small screen.]

Matt: “Can you determine what building this key is for?”

IT guy: “Certainly! That data is coded into the key with magnetic particles which our computer can decipher– and there’s the address as you can plainly see!”

Matt: “Uh– yes. Are you sure there is such an address?”

IT guy: “Thirteen Wall St.? Of course!”

Matt: “Thanks! (I wonder what that technician would think if he knew Daredevil was blind and couldn’t ‘plainly see’ anything!?”)

Daredevil vol. 1 #144 by Jim Shooter, Lee Elias, and George Roussos

[ID: Matt (in civvies as his alter ego Jack Batlin) is “watching” a muted TV with his friend Stithy. The TV appears as a vague box shape in Matt’s radar. On the screen are the symbols of the U.S. government, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers.]

Stithy: “Maybe I start makin’ ‘em for Uncle Sam though, huh? Plenty o’ need in the Big Apple now!”

Matt: “What do you mean?”

Stithy: “See for yourself…”

Matt: “I… uh… turn it up, will you?”

Stithy: “Picture there doesn’t say it all? Lazy S.O.B.!”

Daredevil vol. 1 #329 by D.G. Chichester, Scott McDaniel, and Joe Andreani

[ID: Daredevil is inside a building. On a table in front of him is a bomb, with several wires exposed. He is communicating with Steve Rogers (Captain America) via communication devices.]

Steve (off-panel): “We’re all right. I can talk you through defusing it. You’re looking for two wires. Green and yellow.”

Matt (caption): “Damn. He doesn’t know you’re blind.”

[ID: Daredevil dives out the window, comes back in with one of the guys who set the bomb, and slams him down on the table.]

Matt: “Turn it off.”

Daredevil vol. 5 #4 by Charles Soule, Ron Garney, and Matt Milla

    And finally, my other personal favorite category, in which Matt deals with this problem by just… leaving:

[ID: Daredevil is standing on a city street, talking with two cops.]

Cop: “Nobody recalls anything… except running to escape… from something.”

Matt: “Then, Lieutenant, we’ve got a first class menace on our hands.”

Cops: “Can you give us a description, DD? Hair color? Eyes? Distinguishing marks? We’ll put out an A.P.B. on him right away.”

Matt: “I’m, uh, still a little shaken, I think… Let me get some rest, okay…? Collect my wits. I’ll be in touch.”

[ID: He runs and swings away.]

Daredevil vol. 1 #101 by Steve Gerber, Rich Buckler, and George Roussos

[ID: Daredevil is standing in the middle of a diner. Two bystanders are sitting at a table next to him, reading a newspaper article that reveals his secret identity.]

Bystander: “Hey, Daredevil… Hey, uh, Daredevil… what color’s my shirt?”

[ID: There’s a moment of awkward silence, then a loud boom from outside. Daredevil runs out of the diner.]

Bystander: “He didn’t answer…”

Daredevil vol. 2 #35 by Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev, and Matt Hollingsworth

    While Matt has worked hard over the years to maintain his secret identity and hide his blindness as Daredevil (with… varying success), it’s definitely a relief to him when the people around him are in on the secret and he can be honest about his limitations. 

[ID: Daredevil and a cop are on a rooftop at night. The cop shows Daredevil a smartphone screen.]

Matt: “Someone want to describe to me what’s on that phone?”

Daredevil vol. 4 #8 by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, and Matt Wilson

[avoutput]

What were my parents thinking? || Childhood Autonomy and Child's Play 3

I have the most vivid memories of seemingly useless points in my childhood. To this day, I often wonder what made them stick in my mind so clearly. Years ago, I would have called it “trauma”, but today I would call it “moments of unwarranted autonomy”. Children are often given time to themselves, unsupervised, that ultimately go unquestioned by their parents. In 1991, I was almost 6 years old when the film Child’s Play 3 released in theaters. It was still quite warm out, late august, and school had or was about to start. I lived in a sleepy neighborhood in Texas among a block of starter homes for young families built just the other side of a major thoroughfare, with next to nothing interesting on our side of the tracks. On the other side of the road was a sprawling, lively sub-division from the late 70’s that housed the girth of the families in the area. Because of that, there were very few children on my side of the road, but we were close with our neighbors. So much so that I could walk out our door and right through theirs without saying a word. (I would later find out that my walking into people’s homes was… less than desired, but reluctantly acceptable. The kind of thing you learn from context. “Did you know your son just walks right on in, like he’s family. He didn’t even care that I was on the toilet…”) This is precisely how I walked out of my house and right into Child’s Play 3 at a theater near me.

As was my custom, I had wandered from my house down to one of the few neighbors with kids my age. They were a large Latinx family, only the children spoke any english, and I managed to always find my way into their house at dinner time. After some back and forth, and maybe a plate or two whatever they had left (I was very chonk back then), I was told they were all headed to the movies. I took this to mean I was invited, ran home, yelled into the house, and jumped into their van. Now, rightly, the title makes it seem like my parents had some idea what I was about to go see, or that they were given a chance to parent me, but the way I see it, they set this behavior as the norm. And really, this was only the beginning of a series of questionable parent/child entanglements that made up my 18 years with my parents.

There would be more chances for them to intervene in my shenanigans, but they remained unsavvy, willfully ignorant or otherwise. I can still recall inappropriate movie rentals that made for ill-advised sleepover screenings, the kind of nights other kid’s parents call and rebuke you over. I can’t really be sure their parents ever called. It could have been that my friend’s parents were just as informed as my own, or that my friends knew to keep their mouths shut. Having spent the night at some of their houses, places of rules and caffeine-free, sugar-free sodas, the latter was more likely. My parents were the kind of people you could tell the truth and they would believe you were lying, lie and believe it the truth.

Back in the van, we drove just past the dead end of the highway and pulled into a large parking lot across from an empty shopping center. The only action that night was a group of teens playing outside an old, well lit Taco Bell. I think I saw one of them throw a burrito at the others. We parked outside a squat, one story building and quickly made our way past the ushers. The movie theater was one of those older, cheaper venues with sticky floors, broken seats, and the coldest a/c known to man. It didn’t look like it was ever a happening spot, but it had the latest flicks. We sat down just in time for the previews, which was when I was starting to realize I might not like the movie we were about to see. Now, this is where my memory gets a bit fuzzy, as I only remember feeling a kind of creeping dread as the coming attractions hit the screen, but after some research I assume that the trailers were for films like The People Under The Stairs, Highlander 2, Cape Fear, and The Addams Family. At the time, I thought the Land Before Time was scary. Be kind. And then, Child’s Play 3 started.

The opening moments of the film drew my little hands to my chubby face, watching between my fingers as a melted doll is shown being re-animated in reverse with the same care and cadence of a Velveeta commercial, both lacked an appetizing appeal. I looked to my friends sitting next to me, all of them wide-eyed and beaming. I couldn’t reconcile that we were seeing the same thing. I couldn’t even eat the bits of candy we snuck in, not that I would have eaten twizzlers anyway, but I liked to pretend I enjoyed it. I turned back to the screen as the film continued, Chucky terrorizing the Good Guy dolls CEO with a series of Home Alone tricks, that did get me laughing, but instead of comical minor injuries, the man ends up dead. I couldn’t help but think of my own toys getting back at me for letting Donatello beat Batman in a battle royale on my dresser. The film changes focus to a military school, where the troubled Andy of the first two films has enrolled due to his trauma in the fallout of his encounters with Chucky. Finding his way to the school, Chucky ingratiates himself with a little black kid named Tyler, but not before pulling a huge knife on him. I immediately identified with Tyler and decided in that moment that I had reached my limit. As an only child, my toys were my friends, my outlet, my confidants, and while I always wanted them to talk, I decidedly didn’t want them to talk like Chucky. It was at this point that I remembered that some of the family did not follow us into the Child’s Play. Without saying anything to my cohorts, I walked out of the theater to look for them, hoping they were seeing something I could stomach. As it would turn out, they were. The film had waves crashing against the shore, calming me with every lap. Again, I had to do a bit of research to figure out what film that would have been. It seems to have been Return to the Blue Lagoon, a horrendous flop starring Milla Jovavich. At this point, I don’t remember much, but I must have fallen asleep. The next thing I knew, I was ushered to the lobby by some staff after the lights went up. The family had been waiting for me, but they didn’t look concerned.

Without incident, question, or consequence, we piled into the van and headed home. The Taco Bell was dark and closed. There were no kids throwing burritos anymore, and the streets were empty. My memory fades here. Maybe I fell asleep, maybe they carried me home. What I remember most is that no one made fun of me for leaving, but no one asked why I left either. My parents didn’t ask about the movie and as far as I know, they didn’t speak to the neighbors about it. As a child, I lived with a lot of autonomy. I didn’t need consent from my parents. I moved past barriers other kids experienced with ease. I don’t think it was because my parents didn’t care, but maybe because they didn’t know they should care. The children’s stories I loved were often about acquired autonomy, accepting adventure with reckless abandon. In hindsight, as I yearned to be these free, heedless children from my storybooks, it turns out that’s exactly what I already was. The only difference was that, instead of being a boy who pulled a sword from a stone, I pulled a key from my pocket. I was merely a latchkey kid living and thriving in a quiet suburb in Texas. To this day, people are always surprised by the freedoms I was given, especially with every passing year. I have a different kind of confidence in myself because of it, and it also transforms into a certain amount of social currency with acquaintances whom I bore to death with stories of my past. So, at the very least, I can always thank my parents for that.

[applegelstore]

What a wonderful summary of basically every JRPG ever! Welcome on board then, Milady of Calamity. As usual, have my pointless dumb commentary on the latest Rays chapter. Spoilers: I loved it. I know I say that every time, but I, like… loved loved loved it. More spoilers: Mileena’s gayness reaches critical levels that go beyond human comprehension. Velvet’s boobies on constant display are simply too much for her. It was to be expected. Actual spoilers (very vaguely for Berseria and Zesty, but you all know them, anyway) and said commentary with lots and lots of screenshots under the cut.

I would have to comment on basically every single line to pay this wonderful rollercoaster of laughter and feels proper credit, but then we’ll sit here all day, and I still intend to draw and work and such. But let me tell that absolutely every line that comes out of Edna’s mouth is gold. That’s not news, but still. She’s got a field day here. Okay, let’s go back to the beginning of our adventure…

OMG Mileena

So am I. Ix clearly ate that worldbuilding guidance timeline whatever book

Shhh Edna, you don’t understand. Nerdy protagonists are cool these days.

It’s okay, Mileena, you no longer need to hide it, we know that you have a crush on every single girl that has ever crossed your path so far

Mileena, there’s at least two reasons why what you just suggested is not even remotely okay…! But as for the threesome with Velvet and Ix, I’m glad you’re at least asking for his consent

Am I the only one who keeps thinking you could do a Berseria-Zesty protagonist swap and playing them off against the respective game’s big bads would still work? I mean Sorey’s Dream (TM) would still make him want to viva la revolution the entire church, and Velvet would go HE HURT PHI, HE’S GOING DOWN against Heldalf in no time. It’d be a blast

I hate to tell you this, honey, but the only person whose self-preservation skills are officially even worse than yours is Milla and that’s not saying much

THAT’S TYPE 3 MALEVOLENCE IT’S OKAY SHE’S JUST CLINICALLY DEPRESSED AND HAS ANGER ISSUES no harm done I’m sorry

Well, I guess a confession is better than bottling up all the feelings and sexual tension. All that the motherfucking lady of calamity needs is looooooooooooove

…and being spoon-fed by a cranky old auntie stuck in the body of a twelve-year-old

Can we appreciate the beauty of said cranky old auntie stuck in the body of a twelve-year-old standing between the motherfucking Lady of Calamity and our resident baby Shepherd to stop them from hitting each other with sticks

Ix needs help. So much help. Poor Ix. Save him

It’s okay, Velvet, don’t panic! They’re married, that’s all. Probably since age 5 or something. But it’s okay. It’s consensual. Just a bit unusual, maybe!

Helpful advise from big sis Edna

I’ll send this memo to Ufotable. BTW I’m glad that the kids already start to build up trust, it’s gonna take some if you intend to spend a few hundred centuries locked up together in a shared apartment, aye? I mean not that it’s gonna happen in this AU I guess, but… still.

Save him

Ix doesn’t seem to mind?

Pretty sure that’s enough people to found a club?

I’m glad that this particularly cracktastic skit will not ever be forgotten

You have weird hobbies, Edna

Goddamn, you should have learned THAT lesson aeons ago you nerd

Ow yeah, end this chapter by trampling on my feels, why don’t ya! But hey, if nobody dies in this fluffy canon divergent AU, and nobody goes dragon…?

BONUS:


RAINE NO

[sky1news]

TV Movie Guide: 23 – 29 November | Movie News

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FOR SBS WORLD MOVIES HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK:

  Closed Captions (CC) available for Destroyer, Her Smell and Final Portrait Audio Description (AD) available for Destroyer and Annie Hall

  MONDAY 23 NOVEMBER

The Work 1:00pm, NITV (repeats Saturday 28 November, 8:35pm)

PG USA, 2017 Genre: Documentary Language: English Director: Jairus McLeary, Gethin Aldous What’s it about? Set entirely inside Folsom Prison, this acclaimed fly-on-the-wall documentary follows three men during four days of intensive group therapy with convicts, revealing an intimate and powerful portrait of authentic human transformation that transcends what we think of as rehabilitation.

Streaming after broadcast at SBS On Demand:

  TUESDAY 24 NOVEMBER

The Editor 12:35am, SBS VICELAND

MA15+ Canada, 2015 Genre: Comedy, Horror, Mystery Language: English Director: Adam Brooks, Matthew Kennedy Starring: Adam Brooks, Udo Kier, Paz de la Huerta, Conor Sweeney What’s it about? Rey Ciso (Brooks) was once the greatest editor the world had ever seen. Since a horrific accident left him with four wooden fingers on his right hand, he’s had to resort to cutting pulp films and trash pictures. When the lead actors from the film he’s been editing turn up murdered at the studio, Rey is fingered as the number one suspect. 

Streaming after broadcast at SBS On Demand:

  WEDNESDAY 25 NOVEMBER

Her Smell 8:30pm, SBS VICELAND

M, CC USA, 2018 Genre: Drama, Music Language: English Director: Alex Ross Perry Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Cara Delevingne, Dan Stevens, Amber Heard, Agyness Deyn What’s it about? A self-destructive punk rocker (Moss) struggles with sobriety while trying to recapture the creative inspiration that led her band to success. From writer-director Alex Ross Perry (Listen Up Phillip, Queen of Earth).

Faces of Harassment 8:30pm, NITV

MA15+ Brazil, 2016 Genre: Documentary Language: Portuguese, International Director: Paula Sacchetta What’s it about? On Women’s Week, a studio-van was parked in locations across rich and poor areas of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The studio-van was made available to any woman who felt like sharing her story. The film, which is part of a transmedia project, is comprised of a significant number of testimonies, and reflects upon an important part of the filming process: how did these women feel when they were telling their stories?

Streaming after broadcast at SBS On Demand:

Pariah 10:55pm, SBS VICELAND

M USA, 2011 Genre: Drama Language: English Director: Dee Rees Starring: Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Aasha Davis, Kim Wayans What’s it about? A Brooklyn teenager (Oduye) juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for sexual expression. The acclaimed directorial debut of Dee Rees, director of 2016’s Mudbound.

Final Portrait 11:50pm, SBS

M, CC UK, 2017 Genre: Drama, Comedy, Biography Language: English, French, Italian Director: Stanley Tucci Starring: Geoffrey Rush, Armie Hammer, Clemence Poesy, Tony Shalhoub, Sylvie Testud What’s it about? In 1964, while on a short trip to Paris, the American writer and art-lover James Lord (Hammer) is asked by his friend, the world-renowned artist Alberto Giacometti (Rush), to sit for a portrait. The process, Giacometti assures Lord, will take only a few days. Flattered and intrigued, Lord agrees. So begins a touching story of friendship and a uniquely revealing insight into the beauty, frustration, profundity and, at times, downright chaos of the artistic process.

The Last Days of Disco 12:30am, SBS VICELAND

M USA, 1998 Genre: Drama, Comedy Language: English Director: Whit Stilman Starring: Chloë Sevigny, Kate Beckinsale, Matt Ross, Jennifer Beals, Chris Eigeman What’s it about? Charlotte (Beckinsale) and Alice (Sevigny) are friends and roommates who must deal with the changing dynamics of their social group at the end of the disco era. From Whit Stilman, writer-director of Love & Friendship and Metropolitan.

NOTE: No Catch-up at SBS On Demand

  THURSDAY 26 NOVEMBER

Twelve Canoes 12:20pm, NITV

PG Australia, 2009 Genre: Drama, Omnibus Film Language: English Director: Rolf de Heer, Molly Reynolds What’s it about? A series of short films that paint a compelling portrait of the people, history, culture and place of the Yolngu people whose homeland is the Arafura Swamp of north-central Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.

Once Were Warriors 9:30pm, NITV

MA15+ New Zealand, 1994 Genre: Drama Language: English, Maori Director: Lee Tamahori Starring: Temuera Morrison, Rena Owen, Cliff Curtis What’s it about? A family descended from Maori warriors is bedevilled by a violent father (Morrison) and the societal problems of being treated as outcasts. This 1994 drama opened the eyes of audiences world-wide to the reality of life for a small section of New Zealand, broke domestic box office records, and was followed by the 1999 sequel What Becomes of the Broken Hearted?.

  FRIDAY 27 NOVEMBER

The Panther Within 11:00am, NITV

G Australia, 2016 Genre: Documentary Language: English Director: Allan Collins, Edoardo Crismani What’s it about? A family’s quest to unravel the mystery of Joe Murray, an Aboriginal boxer and vaudevillian known as, ‘The Black Panther’.

Sunny and the Dark Horse 12:00pm, NITV

PG Australia, 1987 Genre: Documentary Language: English Director: David MacDougall, Judith MacDougall What’s it about? The story of an Aboriginal stockman, Sunny Bancroft, and his family at Collum Collum and their growing enthusiasm for “picnic races” on bush tracks in New South Wales. The film follows Sunny and his wife Liz, in their search for a winning horse to triumph on the local picnic racing circuit – but things don’t always go their way.

Mosley 8:00pm, NITV (repeats Saturday 28 November, 10:00am)

PG China, New Zealand, 2019 Genre: Animation, Family, Adventure Language: English Director: Kirby Atkins Starring: Lucy Lawless, John Rhys-Davies, Temuera Morrison, Rhys Darby, Kirby Atkins What’s it about? Tells the story of Mosley, a “thoriphant” who rebels against his life of servitude and embarks on a treacherous journey with his father to find the fabled city of Uprights.

The Claim 12:10am, SBS VICELAND

M USA, 2000 Genre: Drama, Romance, Western Language: English Director: Michael Winterbottom Starring: Peter Mullan, Wes Bentley, Sarah Polley, Milla Jovovich, Nastassja Kinski What’s it about? Dillon (Mullan) is a pioneer who defied the harsh winter in search of rumoured gold. Having amassed unimaginable riches, he runs a thriving mining town called Kingdom Come. But the blind ambition and greed that drove him to succeed finally catch up to him with the arrival of three strangers. Based on Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge, and directed by Michael Winterbottom (24 Hour Party People, Code 46).

NOTE: No Catch-up at SBS On Demand

  SATURDAY 28 NOVEMBER

Annie Hall 12:00pm, SBS VICELAND

PG, AD USA, 1977 Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance Language: English, German Director: Woody Allen Starring: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Tony Roberts, Carol Kane, Shelley Duvall What’s it about? This landmark romantic comedy (and Best Picture Oscar winner) stars Woody Allen as a neurotic, New York comedian who falls for a quirky midwestern girl (Keaton) in an on-again, off-again romance.

NOTE: No catch-up at SBS On Demand

Destroyer 9:30pm, SBS

MA15+, CC, AD USA, 2018 Genre: Thriller, Crime, Drama, Action Language: English Director: Karyn Kusama Starring: Nicole Kidman, Sebastian Stan, Tatiana Maslany, Bradley Whitford, Toby Kebbell What’s it about? Erin Bell (Kidman) is an LAPD detective who, as a young cop, was placed undercover with a gang in the California desert with tragic results. When the leader (Kebbell) of that gang re-emerges many years later, she must work her way back through the remaining members and into her own history with them to finally reckon with the demons that destroyed her past. Directed by Karyn Kusama (Girlfight, The Invitation). 

Streaming after broadcast at SBS On Demand:

  Do the Right Thing 10:10pm, NITV

MA15+ USA, 1989 Genre: Drama, Comedy, Crime Language: English Director: Spike Lee Starring: Spike Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito What’s it about? This award-winning and critically acclaimed drama, written and directed by Spike Lee (who earned a 1990 Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay) takes place on the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. Everyone’s hate and bigotry smoulders and builds until it explodes into violence.

ORIGINAL MOVIE SHOW REVIEW

Code 46 12:10am, SBS VICELAND

MA15+ UK, 2003 Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi, Thriller Language: English Director: Michael Winterbottom Starring: Tim Robbins, Samantha Morton, Togo Igawa, Om Puri, Jeanne Balibar What’s it about? In a futuristic world, an insurance investigator (Robbins) embarks on a brief but dangerous affair with a woman (Morton) wanted for holding a fake DNA identity and passport. He overlooks her crime but soon finds out that she stands accused of violating a reproductive code. From director Michael Winterbottom (24 Hour Party People, The Trip).

NOTE: No catch-up at SBS On Demand

  SUNDAY 29 NOVEMBER

Invaders from Mars 4:10pm, SBS VICELAND

PG USA, 1986 Genre: Horror, Science Fiction Language: English Director: Tobe Hooper Starring: Karen Black, Hunter Carson, Timothy Bottoms, Bud Cort, Louise Fletcher What’s it about? This space-age creature feature from director Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist) is crawling with horrifying hordes of Martians hell-bent on stealing your soul – as well as your planet. Little David Gardner’s starry-eyed dreams turn into an out-of-this-world nightmare when invaders from the red planet land in his backyard and unleash their hostilities on unsuspecting earthlings. 

NOTE: No catch-up at SBS On Demand

Yusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklyn 8:35pm, NITV

M USA, 2020 Genre: Documentary Language: English Director: Muta’Ali Muhammad Starring: Yusuf Hawkin, Joseph Fama, Keith Mondello, Al Sharpton What’s it about? The 30-year legacy of the murder of black teenager Yusuf Hawkins by a group of young white men in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, as his family and friends reflect on the tragedy and the subsequent fight for justice that inspired and divided New York City.

Streaming after broadcast at SBS On Demand:

Hard Eight 12:30am, SBS VICELAND

MA15+ USA, 1996 Genre: Drama, Thriller Language: English Director: Paul Thomas Anderson Starring: Philip Baker Hall, Gwyneth Paltrow, John C. Reilly, Samuel L. Jackson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Melora Walters What’s it about? Veteran gambler, Sydney (Hall), befriends John (Reilly) and proceeds to tutor him in the art of making a living as a gambler. Sydney also takes an interest in Clementine (Paltrow), a cocktail waitress and sex worker. One night, Sydney is called to a dark hotel by John and Clementine who have bound and beaten one of her ‘Johns’ for non-payment of services – Sydney engineers their escape. The directorial debut for Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood, Phantom Thread).

Streaming after broadcast at SBS On Demand:

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