#and its not done yet either they got more comin

[fixations-101]

Talons of Destiny on Roblox just looks so damn good. Its the best looking one Ive seen thus far and probably wont be topped at least until Journeys comes out in full

[drc00l4tt4]

wave wave wave

hellooo its me again uhmmm

saw ur reqs were open and i have a couple

Melvinborg:

Melvin and reader like exploring parenthood with their new baby(i thought the idea was cute)

NSFW - Reader giving Melvinborg a blowie in his office teehee

Webslinger:

I thought reader maybe helping him tend to wounds from a recent fight? If you haven't done that already

I don't know if this was too much srry if this was too much,,,

Already did the borg parent one (and I'll do the blowie one l8r) so here's the Webslinger one!

Fuckin love this req <33

Obv not proofread, just wrote this as it came to mind :]

"Ow!"

Web-Slinger winced as you tightened the bandaging around his arm. "Sorry," You said softly, gently patting his arm before tying off the bandage. "S'fine," He sighed out, "It's my fault y'gotta tend t'me in th'first place."

"You were helping catch an anomaly, I wouldn't exactly say that it was your fault you got hurt." You lightly argued as you started to clean another wound that was on his leg, just under his knee. "Let's agree t'disagree." He shrugged slightly. He then winced as you applied medicine to the wound. "You got hurt because you were attacked from behind, that's not your fault." You continued to argue as you grabbed more bandaging. "S'my fault f'not bein' careful." He argued back. "Yes because you have eyes in the back of your head." You said sarcastically, earning a light chuckle from him.

"No, but most'a everyone 'ere has um.. Spider-sense. All I got is my rider-sense, n' that jus' connects me t'Widow. Doesn' really help me with dodgin' or-" Web-Slinger paused to inhale sharply as you tightened the bandaging around his leg; he then continued, "Or, uh, sensin' whats comin' towards me unless it's Widow. Feels like I should have that but I don't."

You gave him a puzzled look. ".. You know Miguel doesn't have spider sense either, right?" You asked. "Yet he ain't the one gettin' patched up right now." Web-Slinger shrugged. "I dunno. I don' want you thinkin' I can't protect ya or that I'm gonna come back n'.. not be okay." He admitted.

You looked at him with a soft gaze. ".. You know I can protect myself right? We both have the ability to do that, spider-sense or not." You said in a soft tone. He almost looked like a kicked puppy (just judging from the way his eyes on his mask moved.) "Yeah," He muttered out, "But," He clapped his hands against his thighs, "I promised t'protect what I could. N' that includes you."

"I'm not a civilian though, Patrick." You continued to speak softly, and you could see his gaze soften from kicked-puppy to calm. "I understand that, m'just.." He trailed off. "Worried because of my line of work? Since you know how dangerous it is?" You finished for him. You could see the fond smile in his eyes as he let out a quick, "Yeah." He then continued, "Especially when I can't handle these other villains. Makes me think y're handlin' somethin' I can't n' that just.."

"Hey," You lifted your mask and his bandana enough to show your mouths, and you laid a gentle kiss on his lips. "I'm not going to be your canon event, Patrick. I'm not from your dimension, I'm safe." You said, and you saw how he melted from the kiss and felt him wrap his arms around you. "Also my villains aren't too difficult, I kick their ass each time and you are stronger than me so I'm not worried." You added, making him chuckle. "If y'say so." He muttered before kissing you gently.

When he pulled back, his lips still grazed yours as he spoke, "Speakin' of our dimensions," he whispered, "Y'feel like lettin' me come over f'some alone time, darlin'? Promise I won't strain nothin'. 'Less y'want me to."

Reqs are Open! | Comms

[this-should-do]

Barney x Lauren for the Ship Ask Game. I know the latter hardly exists outside of pure fanon, but I gotta say that I appreciate the sheer dedication and effort put towards creating a character whose existence is near hypothetical. Yes, Barney Calhoun totally definitely had a girlfriend or spouse at some point in time prior to the ResCas (which, if you're unfamiliar with 'Lauren', this post puts it quite nicely [https://www.tumblr.com/shrimpkidd/694596732780249088/theory-about-lauren] Or, TLDR; it is most likely that Barney's to-do list in the Half Life: Blue Shift manual is referencing the surname of an established coworker [that of Otis Laurey], rather than the forename of a partner who is not mentioned anywhere else in or out of the series). Considering the speculative nature of Half-Life as a series, it's not too much of a shocker that people went hog-wild with this idea. It's cute I suppose? Not that I particularly have strong feelings on the subject matter either way. I just think it's a neat tidbit of fandom trivia, y'know? Dubious canonicity aside, I've seldom ever really seen people bring her up at all nowadays. If I could be bothered I'd love to figure out how to incorporate Lauren into my little interpretation of Half-Life, but that's for another day.

oh no shes def a canon character in my lil brain, and she and barney did date for a while, but personally i wouldnt say i ship it in the traditional sense, its kinda complex

the way ive sorta got it is that she and barney started dating in college or in the short time barney was inbetween college and working at black mesa, and into barneys time at black mesa as long distance partners, but the romantic relationship part kinda died off within a year or so at the longest, but they still remained friends afterward given that hes still making sure to get her presents n all

im havent yet solidified what exactly their relationship was like, cuz on the one hand it coukd have been a they dated genuinely but long distance killed it, but theres also the fun concept of lauren kinda using barney as a beard with or without his knowledge becuz they were already kinda friends so she knew he porbably wouldnt like freak out too bad if he knew she was queer (cuz ykno its the 90s and comin off the 80s and the aids crisis)

so in terms of shipping, i guess i dont ship it, But i do think this relationship is one thats important for barney in terms of life experience and expanding his social circle

i guess dont ship it cuz shes just a name literally and its alot harder to like develop and get attached to it lol

if she had been a character we see and meet and if there were more to develop off of the way there is for barney and gordon (since gordon is personality wise nearly blank but we get to see interactions between him and barney and hear about things theyve done together that shows a close relationship hypothetically)

in terms if positive stuff allot of it i kinda already addressed in laying the ground work to even answer this ask proper lol, she is another person in barneys social cirlce, and if shes also queer him knowing eould suplly him another person to help him to overcome his own internalized stuff, not that im saying its her job to help him bit like her queerness should he know about it is a little example that he personally knows tht he can compare his own experiences with and see live happily as she is should she come out to him, as opposed to her having to coach him thru it ykno? it as a ship is also just fun in terms of just a sweet little normal relationship if they are genuinely dating (meaning we ignore my idea of them not being in a relationship by thebtime of thebrescas) just barney being goofy and working hard to have that long distance relationship and its cute how he makes a note to remind himself to get her flowers, i dunno theyre just sweet regardless i think :)

[digitalsatyr23]

Bebop Bayou Tales #2

Red on Black

Setting: Bebop Bayou Characters: Rina, Lafayette, Scarlet... Word Count: 21,853 Tag List: @gummybugg (ask to +/- yourself)

Once again, we find ourselves in the low-lying wetlands of Bebop Bayou. Ever since Rina and Lafayette saved the land from the terrifying Swamp Shark, the kids have been keeping themselves busy, goin’ out on adventures and fightin’ any no-good monsters that caused trouble. Rina brings the brawn, and Lafayette brings the brains, but these days they get a little extra help from Alyssa, the egret woman of the bayou. With her swift wings, it’s no trouble at all takin’ to the air and spottin’ incoming varmints. And so, we join them rough-and-ready kids once more as they brave the wild and fight to keep their homeland safe. Little do they know that a great change is comin’…

---

The gigapede attacked, its snapping jaws oozing with dark venom. Rina stood her ground and caught the gigapede by its huge mandibles. Her boots dug into the moist earth beneath her, and she stared the monster down.

“Ain’t no way I’m lettin’ you in here!” Rina growled. Yet the gigapede continued to press forward with its dozens of legs. Then, its antennae sparked.

“Rina, look out!” shouted Lafayette.

“Oh shoot!”

Electricity arced between the gigapede’s antennae as it readied its attack. Before the worst came to pass, Alyssa swooped down and grabbed Rina by her overall straps. A blinding blast of electricity hit the ground where Rina once stood, and the gigapede looked up with curiosity and irritation.

“Thanks a ton, Alyssa! I was almost roast gator!” said Rina.

“It’s no fuss! Besides, your ma would tan my hide if I didn’t pitch in,” said Alyssa. “Now, I don’t suppose our resident monster expert has a plan, does she?”

“I might,” Rina said, looking down at the gigapede. Its chitinous hide had proven too tough to crack for either her or the others. Its face was the least armored, but it still had those venomous jaws and special antennae. As Rina pondered the situation, she saw electricity arc between the monster’s antennae once more. “Alyssa, dodge!!”

Alyssa swerved mid-air to dodge a bolt of electricity, then a second, then a third.

“Man, this thing doesn’t let up!” said Alyssa.

“Lafayette! You still down there, bud?!” shouted Rina.

“I’m still here!” Lafayette shouted from a tree. “Can’t say I’m happy about it, though!”

“I need me some good rope! Do you still have any?”

“O’ course I got rope! What do ya need it for?”

“Just trust me!” Rina then looked up at Alyssa. “Mind movin’ me closer to him?”

“I can certainly try!” said the egret.

Alyssa swooped down, giving Rina the chance to grab Lafayette’s rope – and not a moment too soon, for the gigapede had lined up its shot and fired on where Lafayette was hiding. The grey fox boy hopped out of the tree and into the mud, which he used for cover. With Rina’s instructions, Alyssa dropped the gator girl onto the gigapede’s armored backside. Rina lassoed the rope around the monster’s huge antennae and used it to steer the beast like cattle. The giant insect bucked and wriggled, moving faster and faster to try and throw Rina off its back. While she kept it busy, Alyssa and Lafayette passed mud back and forth to put out the fire on the burning tree.

“What’s she doin’?” Alyssa asked Lafayette.

“The only thing she knows how to – followin’ her gut!”

Despite the gigapede’s best efforts, Rina gained control of which direction the monster moved, and with a twist and a yank, she caused it to ram right into a giant boulder. The momentum alone threw Rina off of the beast, and she dropped onto the boulder on her backside. Even though her view was upside down, she could tell the gigapede had stopped moving.

“Good goin’, Rina!” said Alyssa, flying down to the base of the boulder. “Are you okay?”

“This rock done popped my back in places I didn’t know I had, but I’d say I’m doin’ fine,” said Rina. “Is Lafayette all right?”

“I’m okay,” said the fox boy, catching up. “Got a bit dirty, but nothin’ a dip in the lake can’t fix.”

“I just can’t believe somethin’ so dangerous found the bayou,” said Alyssa. “And you two fight these things all the time?”

“More or less,” Rina spun around, standing up. “Not the worst we’ve had, mind you, but I’d say this is a good refer… Refen… A good perspective. And as you can see, we get along just fine.”

Alyssa was a recent recruit to the monster-fighting team that Rina and Lafayette had formed. Having helped during the invasion of the Swamp Shark, Alyssa’s flight and keen eyes proved invaluable in finding threats that encroached upon the swamp. She was a tall thin bird woman with a pale feathery body. Prominent wings grew from her back, and both her arms and legs ended in scaley dark claws – with her legs in particular being quite long and thin, much like a great egret’s legs. Her eyes were bright yellow, her neck was long, and her face was human-like, with flecks of green and gold around her eyes like natural eye shadow. Her only clothes were a black sleeveless zipped-up vest and torn jean shorts. Rina thought Alyssa was as pretty as a painting, and she liked the woman’s singing voice too.

“Now what should we do with this thing?” asked Rina, sliding down the boulder.

“It’s big, but it’s not too heavy,” said Alyssa. “If I could bundle this thing up somehow, I could probably carry it out of the bayou.”

“I got a net,” said Lafayette. “Rina, help me with this thing.”

“Sure thing!” saluted the gator girl.

Rina and Lafayette wrapped the gigapede’s long thin body around itself, trying not to hurt it in the process. Rina and Lafayette’s monster fighting squad wasn’t about killing monsters, just doing enough damage that the monsters thought twice before causing trouble in the swamp again. It was only natural for beasts to fight over food and territory, so as long as Rina and her friends proved their grit, the monsters they fought never came back.

With the gigapede bound in the net, Alyssa grabbed the top of the rope with her talons and hoisted it into the air.

“All right! I’ll go ahead and take this thing to the north, so why don’t you two head on back to the village?” said Alyssa.

“Sounds like a plan. Thanks for all the help!” said Rina.

“Oh, it’s nothin’ at all. It’s you two I should be thankin’. Take care, now!”

Then Alyssa flew off. Rina watched her go with a smile on her face. “What a nice lady.”

“Good thing she was here,” said Lafayette. “I felt like a second fiddle in this fight.”

“It’s okay, bud!” Rina wrapped her arm around Lafayette. “What’s important is you were here. You’re our fastest runner, so I’d be relyin’ on you to warn the others if things went south.”

“Then I’ll take today as another victory.”

“That���s the spirit!” Rina patted Lafayette on the back. “Now let’s head home. I’ll bet my mama’s cookin’ somethin’ real good by now. It’s almost lunch time!”

“I like the sound of that. Race ya there!”

Lafayette took off in a sprint down the dirt road. Rina gave chase, and even though she was leagues slower than her friend, every day it felt like she got just a pinch faster. She wondered if there would ever come a time when she could outrun her friend, or if there would be a day when Lafayette got stronger than her. Every day was a chance to learn, see something new, grow, and improve, and Rina relished every second of it.

After the pair got too winded to run, they stopped to catch their breath. There was a stream nearby, so they got down by its edge and splashed cool water on their faces. The wind was gentle and sweet that day, and the happy buzzing of insects made Rina feel at ease.

“Say, what plans you got for the rest of the day?” asked Lafayette.

“Can’t think of much,” said Rina. “Unless another monster shows up, I was thinkin’ maybe I’d dust off my banjo, or maybe go feed Tabasco. What about you?”

“My lucky coin’s been givin’ me that feeling all day.” The fox boy reached into a pocket and pulled out his coin. It was small and flat, with a gold color and an uneven cross on both sides. Its corner spaces were occupied by engraved symbols, like lions, bulls, or buildings, and despite its size, it had a surprising heft to it. In the past, Lafayette had claimed that the coin led him to the bayou years ago, and each time it gave him that special feeling, something good always seemed to happen.

“You wanna go treasure huntin’?” asked Rina.

“Mayhaps,” Lafayette pocketed his coin. “I’m sure I’ll figure out what’s what after lunch, but I thought I’d give the offer.”

“Then mayhaps I’ll come along, even if it’s just to provide musical accompaniment.”

Rina laughed as she stood up, but as she did, she noticed a strange shadow looming over the bayou. It wasn’t a cloud, nor a bird. When she finally looked up, she was astonished, and was quick to point it out for her friend.

“Lafayette, you said that feelin’ always proceeds somethin’ good, right?” asked Rina.

“I… I think so,” said Lafayette.

“Then should I be worried about that or not?”

Up above, a large unknown object was floating in the air, slowly levitating closer and closer to the bayou. Rina rubbed her eyes, but the object remained. It was a house – two stories tall, with an attic on top. It was the fanciest house she had ever seen, the color red, black, and white, with a nice front porch, wooden pillars supporting the overhang, and windows that shimmered in the sun. It seemed to be floating on a giant flying carpet. Rina just couldn’t believe it. Given Lafayette’s slack jaw, she suspected he couldn’t either.

“Rina… You seein’ what I’m seein’?”

“I do believe I do, Lafayette.”

Without so much as a word, the pair darted off towards the village. It was unlikely the other residents had missed a flying house in the sky, but just in case, the pair ran as fast as they could. Whether the residents of the house were hospitable or hostile, Rina wasn’t sure, but if there was one thing she knew for certain, it’s that caution was always rewarded.

---

By the time Rina and Lafayette arrived in the village, the residents of the bayou had gathered together in front of a large clearing. Up above, the house was still floating on its carpet.

“Ah shoot, I can’t see a thing,” said Lafayette.

“That tree outta give us a good view. Come on!” said Rina.

The pair circled around the huge chattering crowd, clambered up the tree. They then sat on a branch together, anxious to see what happened next. In time, the house began its descent. Slowly but surely, the house landed in the clearing. The giant carpet remained underneath the house, protecting it from sinking into the soft soil of the bayou, and a small breeze was kicked up when it finally touched down. Rina gawked at the sight. She had never seen something so outlandish before – and she had seen some strange things in her time.

“Do you think anyone’s home?” asked Lafayette.

“Beats me,” said Rina. “Now I’m wonderin’… If the house can fly, do you think it can talk?”

The pair’s conversation was cut short, however, when the front door to the house opened and three people walked out. There were two adults and one child – likely a family, since they resembled each other in their own way. The man in front of the group was a tall and distinguished individual with swept-back red hair, red eyes with black slitted pupils, pointed ears, and peach skin. He wore a fine grey suit decorated with a red and white handkerchief in his left breast pocket. His black dress shoes were covered in white spatter guards (fancy foot attire Rina had seen once before), and a gold chain in a lower pocket connected to a pocket watch, which the man pulled out to check. A red snake tail with black and white stripes swayed behind him. His mouth moved, but Rina was too far away to pick up what he said.

“Did you catch that, Lafayette?” asked Rina.

“‘Noon – the perfect time for talk.’ Or somethin’ like that,” said Lafayette as his ears perked up.

Behind the snake man was a beautiful snake woman. Like the man, she had pointed ears, peach skin, and red eyes with black slitted pupils, but she wore a light pink floral dress with plenty of frills, along with a red sash around her waist, and black silk gloves. Her hair was long, blonde, and in curls, and the way light shimmered across her eyes made her seem oddly cute. She wore a sunhat with a red bow around it, and her parasol was the frilliest thing Rina had ever seen.

Lastly, there was a snake girl. Standing no taller than four feet, the girl had red hair that came down to her waist, which was topped with a big blue bow, all while strands of her hair grew past her pointed ears. She shared the same eyes, ears, and skin of the two adults, with her nails being black and notably sharp. Her attire was red, black, and white – just like the colors of her long and slender tail. An open red vest sat on a fancy-looking long sleeved white blouse, and her red skirt came all the way down to her ankles. She wore black boots, as well as white spatter guards over them. As she yawned, Rina couldn’t help but notice the girl’s prominent fangs and forked tongue.

The distinguished man in the front of the snake folk stepped forward, asking, “Who here is the leader of this fine settlement?”

Old Man Eli, who was at the front of the crowd below, stepped forward as well. “You can speak to me if you want.”

“Good, good! Allow me to introduce myself, then.” The man took a bow as he said, “My name is Crawford Beauregard, and this is my wife Victoria and my daughter Scarlet. We of the Beauregard family have been in search of new land to settle, for our old home had grown… Unsafe, you see. Lawless ruffians and monsters left us little choice but to migrate.” Crawford looked around. “Given the remoteness of this place and its warmth, I’d say that this would be the perfect spot. What manner of compensation would you like for this plot of land?”

Eli stuck his hand out, saying, “That won’t be necessary. I just need to discuss things with the others. Can ya spare us a moment?”

“Of course, of course. Take your time.”

Eli returned to the rest of the villagers, and they started talking things out. Even Rina’s parents seemed to be in on the conversation.

“What are they sayin’?” asked Rina.

“Mostly talk about whether they want a fancypants newcomer in the area. No one seems to really mind, though. Can’t say I’m opposed to it, either,” said Lafayette. “What do you think?”

“Well I’m always happy to make new friends,” said Rina. “The little one looks a bit nervous, but I don’t blame her.”

“Nervous?” said Lafayette. “She looks downright bored.”

“What, ‘cause she’s yawnin’? Yawnin’ don’t mean yer bored!”

“Then what would it mean?”

“She’s tired! Who knows how long she’s been flyin’ around in that crazy thing!”

Rather than rebuke this, Lafayette pointed down to where the others were and said, “Hey, somethin’s happenin’.”

In the clearing, Eli returned to Crawford and said, “We’d be happy to have you and your family, Mr. Beauregard. However, I think it’d be in your family’s best interest if you took more of a look around. I’d hate to have ya settle here without knowing what’s what.”

“Of course. Would you be willing to give me and my family a tour of the grounds?”

“I’d be more than happy to. Whenever you’re ready.”

“Splendid!” Crawford flagged down his family. “Victoria! Scarlet! Let’s go see the village!” Then they and the rest of the crowd moved away.

“Should we follow ‘em?” asked Rina.

“I don’t see why not. I doubt we’ll be gettin’ that lunch soon anyway,” said Lafayette. The pair then climbed down and followed after the others.

Rina and Lafayette kept pace with the locals and newcomers, doing their best to get a good view of things when they could. Everyone seemed so curious about the new people; it was hard to get their attention for anything else. Rina was most interested in Scarlet, as she seemed to be about hers and Lafayette’s age. There were other kids in the bayou, of course, but most were either too young or too old to play with. The thought of there being a third kid in her age range absolutely delighted the gator girl. More than once did Rina try getting closer so she could introduce herself. Unfortunately, there was simply no opportunity, what with the tour going on and the huge crowd of beast folk blocking the way. When it became clear there’d be no chance for introductions, Rina returned to Lafayette’s side, and the pair stayed in the background, observing how things went.

Old Man Eli headed the tour, taking the Beauregards all over the village. He showed them the generator, where they could wire themselves in for power – should they need it. It was a large hydrogen engine that Eli had secured for the village many years ago. It required a good deal of maintenance and only Eli really understood how it worked. Most of the villagers thought it was magic, though Rina knew better. She had seen a fair number of movies, so she knew what an engine was. It was something you put in cars that made them go vroom, and all Eli had done was hook the engine up to houses so they went vroom instead. Simple enough. The hydrogen engine was also hooked up to what Eli called “solar panels” and only required water, which was filtered through the machine… Somehow. According to Eli, older models used to produce something nasty called “NOx” and the gas could easily poison the air if the engine wasn’t treated right, but the particular model Eli found ran as clean as a whistle, so it was plenty safe.

“I must say, I’m rather impressed to see a hydrogen engine here,” said Crawford. “Wherever did you get it?”

“You’d be surprised what kind of stuff you can dig up just outside of the bayou. Most abandoned cars are stripped clean, but every once and a while you get lucky and find things like this,” said Eli.

“Splendid! What else is there?”

Eli continued the tour, showing the Beauregards where everyone lived, which primarily centered around a large pond full of lily pads. He also showed them the water tank, which was a huge water filter Eli had set up so people stopped getting sick from the river water. Refilling it was a shared task in the community, and Rina had helped carry bucket after bucket from the local rivers and streams many times in the past. She relished bucket duty, as it was good exercise.

“Ooh, what’s that over there?” asked Victoria.

“That’s the gazebo,” said Eli. “Sometimes we like to gather together and hold cook-offs under its roof.”

The gazebo was one of the larger structures in the community, with a flat stone floor and a sturdy tiled roof supported by several tall wooden beams. The gazebo was made before Rina’s time and was suited to beast folk of all shapes and sizes, including Rina’s gigantic parents. It even had a multi-layered barbeque pit in the center for cooking up huge amounts of meat. While the gazebo was primarily used for cook-offs, celebrations, and similar events, it also worked as a place for village meetings, in case Eli or anyone else needed to discuss something important with the others. A bell on a metal pole and a hammer hanging off of a hook on the pole was indicative of that. In times of emergency, people would smack the bell over and over to get everyone’s attention.

“And to your right, you’ll see our community theater,” said Eli.

“A community theater?” asked Crawford.

“Yes. It was set up by Matthew – he’s a mink that lives in a wagon. Anyone is welcome to use the performance stage – so long as they tell Matthew about it first.”

“You hear that, darling? They have a theater.”

“Ooh, how wonderful!” said Victoria. “I would love to see what kind of plays and concerts the village has to offer. What do you think, Scarlet? Isn’t that exciting? You could play for the whole swamp!”

Scarlet didn’t say anything. She seemed downright despondent. Eli gave the family an odd look and continued.

As Bebop Bayou was mostly a hodge podge of different houses, with no meaningful businesses – save Kylie’s trade store – the tour did not last for a particularly long time. That being said, Eli was sure to bring up the kind of rules for residents of the bayou, of which there were only a handful.

If you’re in trouble, let someone know.

If someone helps you, remember to help them out the next time that neighbor needs it.

Don’t be a stranger. Say hi every once and a while.

Sharing is caring.

And lastly, don’t do anything to your neighbor you wouldn’t want done to you.

“That’s it?” asked Crawford.

“That’s it,” said Eli.

“Does the village not have a standing guard? What about a court?”

“Don’t need one,” said Crush Woodshed. “If there’s a problem between two neighbors, they need to work it out themselves.”

“Is there a council of any kind? Who makes the decisions around here?” asked Victoria.

“Well… We all make the decisions,” said Eli. “There aren’t that many of us, so if there’s something that concerns the whole village, we just talk about it over in the gazebo.”

“Fascinating,” said Crawford. “I don’t think I’ve ever been in such a small community before, so you’ll have to forgive our reactions. What happens if someone steps out of line and disobeys these rules?”

“We tell ‘em to stop,” said Shelly Woodshed. “And if they don’t, we give ‘em a good boop on the snoot and tell ‘em to stop firmly.” Shelly made a flicking motion with one of her hands when she said that.

“And that works?” asked Victoria.

“It has so far,” said Shelly.

“Not a whole lot of trouble happens around here,” said Eli. “Sometimes wildlife from outside the bayou might wander in and cause issue, but we have that covered too. I know it might seem strange, but we’re simple folk. We try not to make things too complicated.”

“I see…” said Crawford. “What do you think, darling?”

“I think it’s wonderful,” said Victoria. “What about you, Scarlet? What do you think of this place?”

“I liked our old land,” Scarlet crossed her arms.

“I did too, honey, but we can’t go back now.”

“Don’t worry, Scarlet,” said Crawford. “I’m certain this will be perfect for us.” He then turned to Eli and said, “We’d be happy to join your little community.”

“Then welcome to the bayou,” said Eli, extending a scaly hand. Crawford took it, and the two men shook. All the other residents let out hoots and hollers, happy to welcome the new neighbors. And just like that, the tour was over, and everyone went home.

“What do you think?” asked Lafayette, watching the crowd disperse.

“I think they seem like mighty fine folk!” said Rina.

“Yeah… I just can’t get a read on that Scarlet girl. She doesn’t seem to wanna live here at all.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Rina gave her friend a pat on the back. “She’s just homesick, is all. She’ll be fine once she gets her footin’, plays with kids like us, and goes on my patented Rina Tour!”

“The Rina Tour, eh?” said Lafayette. “You really think that’ll work?”

“Trust me! When she sees all the real interestin’ spots here, she’ll be dyin’ to stay!”

---

The very next day, Rina and Lafayette went to the Beauregard family’s house. Standing on the porch before the front door, Lafayette hesitated to knock.

“You sure this is a good idea?” asked Lafayette.

“About as sure as sugar cookies!” said Rina.

Lafayette sighed, his ears drooping. “All right… Let’s give it a shot.”

The fox boy knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Victoria opened the door. She was in a different but equally fancy-looking dress, and her eyes lit up as she saw the two children.

“Well hello there! To what do I owe the honor of you two little darlings showing up on my front porch?”

“We just wanted to know if Scarlet could come out to play,” said Lafayette.

“Oh, of course! She’s been indoors all day, and she really could use the sunshine. You know we snakes always need a little bit of sunshine if we wanna digest nice an’ proper.”

“Hey, I need that too!” said Rina, visibly excited to join the conversation. “Since ya’ll just moved here, I can show Scarlet all the best rocks to lay on!”

“That sounds wonderful! Why don’t you two come inside and sit a spell while I go get her?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to impose,” said Lafayette.

“Don’t you worry one bit,” said Victoria. “It’s no trouble at all! Just… Make sure to wipe your feet before you step inside.”

Lafayette looked down at his paws. They were all muddy – same as Rina’s boots. He gave the snake woman a nod and used the welcome mat to the best of his ability. Once inside, Victoria led the kids down the entrance hall, which was modest in size but not in décor. There was a finely woven rug that sat on the wooden floor of the house colored black and red, and most of the furniture was white-painted wood with elegant, hand-carved designs. Everything was clean and beautiful, and the air smelled like roses. It was clear that the family came from wealth, though that made him wonder how they’d get along in the bayou. As he looked around, Lafayette couldn’t help but whistle.

“Man, this place sure is somethin’!” said the fox boy. “How’d you get such a fancy place like this, anyway?”

“The Beauregard family has always been in the weaving industry,” said Victoria. “Even I learned a thing or two after joining their ranks. We make everything from clothes, carpets, tapestries, and even personalized towels! Our works were highly sought after – which is probably why we had such trouble with bandits in the first place.”

Lafayette nodded along, eventually noticing a series of framed family pictures on the wall, as well as small figurines. Some were carved from wood, others a pale yellowish material that he didn’t recognize, and a few seemed to be made from bronze. They looked like snakes and snake folk, each figurine unique in its design, as if they all came from different parts of the world.

“Hey, what are these things?” asked Lafayette.

“They’re souvenirs,” said Victoria. “Even before the move, we would sometimes travel here and there, and I do love me some knicks and knacks, so they’re just a few of the things I’ve collected over the years.” Victoria then picked up a frightening figurine of what looked like a man bound to a rock with a giant serpent looming over him, a render of venom dripping from its fangs onto the man’s belly. “Aren’t they precious?”

Lafayette tensed up at the sight. “Y-yeah… They’re… Real cute.”

The kids were then led into the dining room, where they sat at a table while Victoria looked around, finally snapping her finger. Then, a strange creature appeared. It was shaped like a person (or at least a close approximation), but it was made entirely out of rope. Wearing a black and white suit and black dress shoes, the rope-man took a bow.

“This is another example of the kind of things we make. You can call him Percy.” Victoria then turned to the rope-man. “Percy, why don’t you fetch the children some refreshments while I check on the lil’ one?”

With a silent nod, Percy got to work in the kitchen as Victoria excused herself and went upstairs. Lafayette and Rina were treated to freshly squeezed lemonade with ice, as well as a plate full of snickerdoodle cookies. Lafayette was unsure about taking the snacks, even though they were offered, while Rina drank the juice and ate the cookies with a big smile on her face.

“Don’t you want some?” Rina asked, her mouth covered in crumbs. “If you don’t eat ‘em, I sure as heck will.”

“Are they good?” asked Lafayette.

“Yeah! Soft, chewy, and sweet. Just the way I like ‘em!”

“Well… If you insist…” Lafayette took one of the cookies in his paws and sniffed it. There was nothing strange about them as far as his nose was concerned, so he took a bite. Then another. Pretty soon, he was helping himself to a second cookie. “Hey, yer right! These are good!”

Truth be told, Lafayette had been more than a little suspicious of the family. It’s not that he was opposed to new neighbors, but the way they arrived, their strange accents, mannerisms, and everything else about them made him worried. He had wondered if there was another reason the family was forced from their land. Those worries began to subside, however. As strange as she was, Victoria was at least cordial. Lafayette took a swig of his lemonade, and his cheeks pursed up. Once he was over the sourness, he laughed.

“You know what, Rina? Maybe havin’ new neighbors ain’t so bad!”

“Heck yeah!” said Rina, raising her own glass. “To new neighbors, new friends, and new adventures!” The pair clinked their glasses together and they finished off their lemonade. Rina then turned her head. “Speakin’ of which.”

Lafayette looked as well. Victoria and Scarlet had just reached the dining room. They stepped so lightly that he didn’t realize they were coming. Scarlet looked about as sour as the day before, arms crossed and hardly making eye contact.

“Heya, Scarlet!” said Rina.

“… Hey,” said the snake girl.

“Now Scarlet, don’t be rude. Introduce yourself properly. These two took time out of their day to come by and see if you wanted to play!” said Victoria.

“But I don’t want to play outside,” Scarlet turned her nose up. “The swamp stinks.”

“Scarlet!”

“What? It’s true!”

Lafayette narrowed his eyes at the prissy girl, but Rina just laughed.

“Ha ha! Yer not wrong about that!” said the gator girl. “It might take some getting’ used to, but trust me, this here swamp is the best around!”

“I still don’t want to go… I haven’t finished my studies yet,” said Scarlet.

“There will be plenty of time for studies! It’s not right for a youngin’ like you to keep yourself cooped up indoors all day!” said Victoria.

It was around this time that Crawford came through the front door, eventually joining the others in the dining room.

“Is something the matter?” asked Crawford.

“Momma’s making me go outside when I haven’t finished my studies!” said Scarlet.

As Crawford passed his hat and coat to Percy, he said, “I don’t see the problem. When I was your age, I couldn’t wait to set my books down and go outside. The sun is good for you.”

Scarlet grumbled. “We had plenty of sun back home…”

Crawford then got down on one knee, setting his hand on Scarlet’s shoulder. “I know you miss it. We all do. But this bayou is our home now, and I know you’ll love it. Just give it a chance. There’s sun, shade, kind neighbors, and most importantly, it’s safe. Isn’t that right, kids?”

Rina was about to say something, but Lafayette nudged her with his elbow. “Oh yeah, plenty safe.”

“See?” said Crawford. He then stood up. “Now don’t make anymore fuss and head outside. The fresh air will do you some good.”

“Yeah, fresh. Right.”

Scarlet then disappeared down the entrance hall, leaving the house. Seeing this, Lafayette and Rina got up.

“Well, that seems like as good a time as any. Thank you all for your kind hospitality,” said Lafayette.

“Yeah! And the snacks were good too!” said Rina.

“Don’t mention it!” said Victoria. “It makes me happy there are such friendly children in these parts. See you around!”

Lafayette and Rina waved goodbye, but as they walked down the entrance hall, Crawford called after them.

“By the by, I do hope you’ll take care of our daughter while she’s away. She’s… Going through a lot right now, and I’d appreciate it if you showed her a good time.”

“O’ course!” said Rina. “By the time we’re done, she’ll never wanna study again!”

Lafayette nudged Rina once more. “What my friend is sayin’ is… We’ll treat her right.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” said Crawford.

While Crawford came off as the poshest of the bunch, Lafayette couldn’t help but notice the man’s face soften up when talking about his daughter. The fox boy decided he was done judging others based on appearances and told himself to be better. After saying goodbye one last time, he and Rina went outside and found Scarlet sitting on a rock, looking as grumpy as could be.

“Well, you two certainly took your time,” said Scarlet.

Lafayette almost said something, but Rina interrupted him this time, saying, “Sorry about that. Your pa just had to ask us somethin’ real quick before we went out the door.”

Scarlet sighed. “Probably wants you two to babysit me or something… You don’t need to worry about that. I can take care of myself just fine.”

Lafayette glared at her. “Sure you can.”

Rina then stepped towards Scarlet. “By the way, my name’s Rina! Rina Woodshed! This here is my best bud Lafayette! Nice to finally meet ya!” Rina extended her hand to the snake girl, but Scarlet didn’t reciprocate the gesture.

“Scarlet. Scarlet Beauregard.”

Rina stared at the girl with a confused look on her face. “Uh… You gonna shake?” Scarlet said nothing. “Oh, I see! You must not know about handshakes since yer not from around here. You see, when someone extends their hand like I’m doin’…”

“I know what a handshake is, you country bumpkin!”

Rina tilted her head. “Then you ain’t very good at it. Don’t worry, though! There’ll be plenty of time to learn!”

Scarlet groaned, and Lafayette’s frustration only grew and grew.

“In any case, what do people like you get up to around here?” asked Scarlet. “It seems like it’s mostly forests and wetlands.”

“Oh, fer sure, but that’s the best part!” said Rina. “There’re all kinds of pretty places to see! In fact, why don’t I show ya? Think of this like a special tour only us kids are privy to.”

“Delightful. I’m sure it’ll be about as riveting as yesterday’s tour.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that, but I’ll try my best! Come on, now! There’s no time to waste!”

Rina then took Scarlet by the hand and raced off with her. Lafayette could already hear the snake girl complaining. With a sigh, he shook his head and followed after.

---

Even though her new friend was proving to be a bit noisy, Rina was happy to finally be showing Scarlet some of her favorite places in the bayou. Their first stop was a stump overgrown with moss and mushrooms, which Rina was certain would fill Scarlet with delight. When they reached the stump, Rina let go of Scarlet’s hand and gestured to the stump.

“Now then,” said Rina. “Our first stop is… This stump! It’s my favorite stump in the whole bayou! It’s great fer sittin’, thinkin’, and playin’ the banjo!”

Scarlet was rubbing her hand and wrist when she said, “A stump? Really?”

“Yeah! Ain’t it a beaut? Just look at the soft moss, the flat seat, the mushrooms!” Rina squatted down, plucking one. “This is what’s called an oyster mushroom, on account of them kinda lookin’ like oysters.”

“Lovely.” Scarlet’s face then scrunched up when Rina ate one.

“They’re pretty good on their own, though they’re real good if you sauté ‘em with butter, salt, and pepper. They take on this golden brown color and get nice an’ crispy around the edges. An absolute dee-light!”

Lafayette said, “What’s the matter, Scarlet? You never eaten a fresh ‘shroom before?”

“I’ve eaten mushrooms before!” said Scarlet. “But only after they’ve been properly cleaned and cooked! I would never pluck one from a stump and eat it as is!”

“Why not?” Rina talked as she chewed. “It’s good eatin’.” Rina then took a seat on the stump, kicking her feet back and forth. “If not mushrooms, what do you eat?”

“Eggs.”

“Like in a scramble?”

“In any form! Baked, fried, scrambled, over easy, poached, steamed, or in an omelet. Why, I dare say there isn’t a single way to eat eggs that I haven’t tried.”

“What about raw?” Lafayette grinned.

Scarlet winced. “I would never eat an egg raw.”

“But I thought you said you’ve tried every way to eat ‘em.”

“Eating raw food is a quick path to disease and parasites, and I certainly would not deign to poison myself in such a fashion.”

Rina just sat back and chuckled. “Ha ha. What’s a parasite?” She then burped up a fishing bobber. “Oh shoot, I was wonderin’ where that went!” Rina picked up the bobber, wiped off the saliva on her overalls, then pocketed it. Scarlet recoiled and gasped.

“I… I can’t believe you!” Scarlet said. “How could anyone be so disgusting?”

“We ain’t disgustin’,” said Lafayette. “You just ain’t used to country livin’ yet.” The fox grabbed an oyster mushroom cap, presenting it to Scarlet. “Here, eat this.”

“Why?”

“It’s part of the tour.”

“It is?” said Rina.

“Yeah, sure it is!” said Lafayette. “If you want the full experience, you need to eat like the rest of us!”

Scarlet stepped back, holding her hands up in protest. “Oh no, I couldn’t… I haven’t even finished Rina’s tour yet.”

“Yeah, Lafayette! She hasn’t finished the tour yet!” said Rina. “She can eat the mushroom after.”

The fox boy sighed. “If you insist…”

“Changing the subject a tad,” said Scarlet, “you mentioned that you play the banjo on this stump?”

“I do!” said Rina. “I’ve played for family, friends, and neighbors too! Heck, I’d play ya a song right now… If I had it. What about you? You ever play any instruments?”

Scarlet rubbed one of her arms and said, “I play the violin… But only because my parents make me.”

Rina frowned. She hadn’t considered that such nice folk would do something like that. Then again, Rina’s parents had locked her up plenty of times to keep her out of trouble… Not that it worked, but the point remained.

“Do you at least enjoy it?” asked Rina.

“I do, but only now that I’m decent at it,” said Scarlet. “Even so, I’m still mad at them for that. I just can’t enjoy something I’m forced to do.”

Lafayette looked away, rubbing the back of his head. Rina asked, “Well, if you had the choice, what kind of instrument would you have preferred to learn?”

“Hm… Probably the piano. I’ve seen people play it before, and the way the sounds of the keys mesh together to create a tapestry of sound and emotion… It’s really something else.”

“Woooow. That does sound nice! Lafayette, do you know if anyone ‘round here has a piano?”

“I can’t say for sure, but if there’s anyone who might have one, it’d be Old Man Eli.”

“That’s the snapping turtle man, right?” asked Scarlet.

“Yup! He’s the smartest guy in the whole dang bayou!” Rina slapped her knees, standing up. “Even if he doesn’t have one, I’m certain he’d know where to get one. C’mon, let’s go see!”

Rina almost grabbed Scarlet’s hand, but that hesitant look in her eyes told Rina everything she needed to know. She retracted her hand and stepped back.

“Ha ha… Sorry. Force of habit. It’s this way, if ya please.”

“Thank you,” Scarlet said as she walked forward. “I’m glad someone around here knows some manners.”

Rina watched the girl head off in Eli’s direction. When there was a bit of distance between Scarlet and her, Lafayette moved closer to Rina and whispered.

“The nerve of that girl! If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was a spittin’ cobra!”

“Lay off,” whispered Rina.

“Why? She’s been nothin’ but rude.”

“You heard what she said earlier. She didn’t want to be here, but her parents made her. She didn’t want to go on this tour, but we made her.”

“I mean… When you put it that way…”

“Let’s just give her a chance,” Rina put her arm around Lafayette. “She’s stuck with us anyhow, so let’s make the most of it.”

---

Scarlet and the swamp kids traveled to Eli’s house. It took a bit of walking from Rina’s stump, but they eventually made it to the heart of the village. While Scarlet hadn’t paid much attention to the snapping turtle the day before, the promise of seeing a piano enticed her enough to play along with Rina’s little tour. As for the swamp kids, they continued to be as obnoxious as possible.

“Eli!” Rina knocked loudly on the wooden door. “Eliiiii!!”

The turtle man swung open the door. “What?! Oh, it’s you two. Good afternoon, kids. I see you’re with the new arrival.”

“We sure are! Do you have a piano?”

“A… Piano?”

Scarlet stepped forward to clear things up. “We were talking about musical instruments, and I happened to mention I was interested in playing the piano. They thought you might know where to find one.”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” said Eli. “I’ve had one stored away for a while, though it’s seen better days. I can pull it out of storage though if you still wanna see it.”

“I’d love to!”

“Then come on in.”

Scarlet followed after Eli, stepping into his humble abode. Despite being touted as someone so important in the bayou, his home was rather modest. Scarlet walked around, noting the patched-up furniture, the old bookshelves, dirty coffee table, and a refrigerator covered in funny-looking magnets and scribbled drawings that look like they were drawn by a child. Her eyes were then drawn to a device hooked up to the fridge.

“Wait, is that a hamster?” asked Scarlet.

“Yup! That’s Josie. She likes to run all day, so I hooked her wheel up to the fridge so I didn’t draw as much power from the generator.” Eli was already rifling around inside of a large closet as he spoke. “I don’t mind if you wanna pet her, though I’ll tell ya now – she’s a biter.”

Scarlet grew curious and approached the hamster, who was currently racing around in her plastic wheel. As soon as Josie saw Scarlet, the hamster grew frightened and hid inside of a make-shift house in her shelter. Scarlet’s ears drooped, and she stepped away from the animal, disappointed.

“Sorry…” Scarlet mumbled.

“Rina, can you give me a hand with this thing?” Eli called out.

“Sure thing!” said Rina.

Not long after, the two beast folk brought a grimy looking studio piano out to the living room and set it down. Eli gave it a pat with his hand and said, “I found the thing a long time ago and it used to play fine, but at one point it went out of tune, and I just couldn’t figure out what was wrong. I’ve kept it in storage ever since.”

“Can I take a look?” asked Scarlet.

“Sure! Ain’t no harm in that.”

Scarlet approached the piano. It was about forty-five inches tall and made from spruce wood – though it looked somewhat warped. She noted the thin layer of dark, moist dust coating it. Just as Eli had said, it had seen much better days. She ran a finger across the woodwork, rubbing the strange substance between her thumb and index finger. She looked inside, and nothing was wrong with the strings or other mechanisms. After thinking it over, she spoke up.

“I think I know what the problem is,” said Scarlet. “This swamp is hot, but also very moist. Most likely, the wood fell prey to the humidity, which distorted the sound of the piano. Everything inside it is fine, but if the wood itself is warped, it’ll mess with the sound.”

“My word. You really know your stuff,” said Eli. “Wish that could help us, though. Not much we can do about the humidity around these parts, unless you had some kind of magic water vacuum,” the old man chuckled.

“Actually… I might be able to help.”

“You can?”

“You can?” asked Lafayette.

“I know a trick or two. Do you trust me?” asked Scarlet.

Eli shrugged, saying, “Not like there’s anythin’ to lose. Go ahead, kid.”

Scarlet gestured to the others to get back. Then, she reached into her vest and pulled out her embroidery hoop, which had an empty white cloth bound inside of it. She suspected what she was about to do would cause quite the fright, but she hoped nothing bad would come of it. She had such a fine piano in front of her, and she’d hate to stop now. So, she readied a line of thread, and began to weave her magic.

Light shined from the snake girl’s needle as she quickly sewed a pattern in the cloth. It was a sign that meant “Desiccate”, and the piano would be her target. As she sewed, Scarlet asked, “Can someone open a window?” Eli obliged, watching with an astonished look on his face. Scarlet channeled a pinch of her own ether into the spell, and when the symbol was complete, a magical force drew out all the water trapped inside the piano’s wood, slowly but surely returning it to its normal shape. The water floated in the air in a grey, musty ball. Scarlet directed the water out the window, and let go, causing it to splash outside.

“What the heck was that?” asked Lafayette.

“I’m not done yet. Just watch,” said Scarlet.

Another symbol, another spell. This time to clean the piano. Another ball of gunk was collected and thrown outside. Finally, she wove one last spell to enchant the piano and protect it from the elements. When she finished, the piano shimmered with a faint magical light. She put away her hoop and needle, smiling.

“That should do it,” said Scarlet.

“My word… A true magician,” said Eli.

“Magician?” asked Rina.

“Yes… They’re not common in these parts, but elsewhere in the world live those who practice the arcane arts. People who can bend the etheric energies of the world to their whim and cast spells. Magic takes many forms, but I’ve never seen a method quite like that before.”

Scarlet puffed up her chest. “Spellweaving runs in the family. We Beauregards are some of the best spellweavers in all the land, and our magic robes and flying carpets are always of the highest quality. I’m still an apprentice, but one day I’ll take my father’s place as the family’s lead spellweaver.”

“Woooow,” said Rina. “That’s amazin’! My folks just fix roofs and walls.”

“I… See. That’s certainly helpful in its own way…” Scarlet then turned to Lafayette. “What about you? What do your parents do?”

The fox boy’s expression turned sour. Eli butted in and said, “Why don’t we test the piano, hmm?”

“Oh right! I got so caught up in the discussion, I almost forgot. Silly me,” Scarlet chuckled.

The snake girl approached the piano, pressing down on a few of the keys. It sounded just fine.

“Say, Eli? You wouldn’t happen to have any sheet music, would you?” asked Scarlet.

“I might. Let me go check.”

Back in the closet Eli went. A minute later, he brought back a small thin book and passed it to Scarlet, who opened it up and set it on the piano.

“What are ya thinkin’?” asked Rina.

“Well… I came all this way to try playing the piano, so now that it’s ready, I might as well give it a shot.” Scarlet studied the sheet music before her, nodding along as she made a mental note of what keys she’d need to play. “I see… I see… I think I can do this.”

“Then let’s hear it,” said Lafayette.

Scarlet tested the keys once more, listening to the sound. She had never played a piano before, but she had been studying music nearly all her life, so she knew her A’s from her C’s. After scooting a chair up to the piano, she slowly played the song “Gymnopédie No.1” by an old musician from a bygone era…

Scarlet took her time to learn the notes step by step, but soon enough, she felt comfortable playing the song, and with every note she played, a strange sense of calmness fell over the room. The sound of the piano was beautiful, humble. Every key played exactly as it should, and as long as Scarlet never pressed them too quickly or too harshly, they helped her through the melody.

Scarlet’s mind went back to a time not so long ago. A time when she still lived in the beautiful kingdom of Xatelia, far to the west. She had lived out on a prairie where the grass was green, the skies were clear, and wonderful-smelling plants and flowers grew as far as the eye could see. She remembered the smell of the flowers, felt the wind rushing through her hair. The sun was shining high up in the sky, and everything was right with the world. Everything… Was right…

Then the song was over.

When Scarlet finished playing, Rina and Eli clapped. Even Lafayette clapped along, though with less enthusiasm. Scarlet was surprised she took to the instrument so quickly, but then again, learning new things had always been easy for her.

“That was amazing!” said Rina. “How’d you learn to play like that?”

“It’s simple, really. As long as you pay attention to the song notes, all you have to do is follow along.”

“You mean them squiggly things on the page?”

“The… Squiggly things? Wait… Do you not know how to read music?”

“Nope!”

Scarlet gawked at the gator girl, unsure what to say.

“But… But how did you learn to play the banjo? Were you taught by someone?”

“Nuh uh,” Rina shook her head. “I just played the strings until I got a nice feel for ‘em. It took a while, but after listenin’ to what the banjo wanted to say, I helped it speak.”

“And that really works?”

Lafayette spoke up, saying, “It does. Not everythin’ needs a fancypants teacher or education. Sometimes practice and dedication is all you need.”

Scarlet turned her nose up at this. “How uncouth.” She then looked to Eli and said, “I like this piano. Would you be willing to part with it? I can certainly compensate you.”

“Sorry, but the piano isn’t for sale. I will say, though, you’re welcome to visit anytime and play.”

“But… You kept it locked up in a closet!”

“Yes, but now that it works, I wanna play it too. Besides, we don’t use money ‘round here.”

“Y-you don’t?”

Eli rubbed the back of his head and said, “I guess you didn’t pay attention yesterday, huh? The short of it is that we just don’t use currency. We like things simple. You do someone a favor, and they do you a favor in turn. If you need somethin’, you just ask. And if that person needs somethin’ later that you have, it’s normal to give back. Understand?”

“I… Don’t… Are you saying people just… Do stuff? And get things? For free?”

“I wouldn’t say that. We exchange gifts and favors all the time!” said Rina. “It’s not expected, but always welcomed.”

Scarlet was still struggling to wrap her head around it. She had grown up in a wealthy family, and until recently, they never wanted for anything. But if Bebop Bayou didn’t take their coin, then what did that mean for her family?

“I don’t get it. Are there no shops or businesses?” asked Scarlet.

Rina rubbed her chin and said, “Actually, there is one shop.”

“There is?”

“Yeah! It’s run out of an old truck that Kylie uses. I’ll show ya!”

Rina then got up, making her way towards the front door. “Thanks for the help with the piano, Eli! Take care now!”

“You as well!” Eli said as he waved goodbye.

Scarlet followed Rina and Lafayette out of the house, noticing the fox boy still seemed visibly uncomfortable with her. He just stayed by Rina and kept his hands in his pockets. She tried not to let it bother her and followed after the swamp kids.

---

Alyssa was flying over the bayou on one of her daily patrols. As usual, she was scouting to see if there were any signs of trouble, such as from invading monsters. She had been doing periodic patrols like this for the past several weeks as part of her agreement with Rina, Lafayette, and the rest of the villagers. It wasn’t terribly difficult, and was even a good source of exercise, so Alyssa didn’t mind at all. Besides, knowing that she contributed to the safety of the bayou filled her with purpose.

On a typical day, Alyssa didn’t see much. There was no shortage of strange creatures in the bayou, but nothing she’d describe as hostile. They were just animals living alongside the rest of the local fauna, and as long as they were given sufficient space, they left the villagers alone. No, what Alyssa was looking for were monsters like the gigapede she saw yesterday – creatures from outside the bayou that would attack and destroy if left to their own devices. Despite the recent increase in monster activity, Alyssa had only seen a handful of monsters since she started her patrols, and for that, she was grateful.

It was a typical afternoon, with the sun shining brightly over the wetlands and bald cypress. The wind was gentle, and hardly any noise could be heard, save the songs of sparrows. But something caught Alyssa’s eye, so she descended to investigate. Landing on the watery, leaf-covered ground, Alyssa noticed a handful of fallen gum trees. Their roots looked like they had been chewed up, and the bodies of the trees had several bite marks as well.

What the heck is this about? Alyssa wondered. We don’t get beavers in these parts. Even if we did, these bite marks are way too big.

Alyssa searched the area from the ground, stepping lightly and keeping an ear out for possible threats. She only heard chirping insects and birds. Perhaps that was for the best. In her experience, nature only grew quiet when a predator was on the move.

Leaving the shallow waters behind, Alyssa stepped onto a patch of soft grassy soil. Nearby, she saw what looked like mole hills, though if they were made from moles, they would be the biggest she had ever seen. So big, in fact, that Alyssa could track which direction the creatures had gone from the upturned earth. They were circling around the area towards the bayou. Seeing this, Alyssa wasted no time and took to the air. If the burrowing creatures were the ones that felled the gum trees, they’d wreak havoc on the wooden buildings of the village.

I’ve got to warn the others! Rina, Lafayette, Eli, anybody! Oh, I hope I can make it in time!

---

Scarlet followed Rina and Lafayette over to the only store in the bayou, seemingly run from of a repurposed rusty food truck. It looked like it was open, and Scarlet saw an old raccoon woman inside the truck. Rina walked up to the truck’s counter and greeted her.

“Heya, Kylie!” said Rina.

“Bonjour, Rina. What’cha bring me today?” asked Kylie.

“Oh, I’m not tradin’ this time. I just wanted to show the new kid yer store. Scarlet, this is Kylie. Kylie, Scarlet!”

“Ah, the little enfant from yesterday. Bonjour, Miss Scarlet. Welcome to my humble emporium.”

Kylie was a middle-aged woman with black, grey, and white fur around her forearms and animal ears that topped her head. Her shaggy shoulder-length hair matched her fur’s color pattern, and dark streaks colored the skin around her eyes, almost like a natural face mask. Her dainty nose was somewhat darker than the rest of her face, and freckles dotted her cheeks. The woman wore a multi-pocketed vest over a black and grey plaid shirt with rolled up sleeves, as well as black worn-in jeans that hugged her hips, which was decorated with a thick belt and a shiny buckle. The woman rested her chin on one of her soft-looking hands, which ended in small dark claws, and her long bushy tail could be seen waving gently behind her.

Scarlet somehow lost her confidence, no longer sure exactly how to proceed. After clearing her throat, she said, “Yes, um, I shall have one of your finest snack cakes.”

“Snack cakes, eh? I’ve got a few of those. Un moment,” said Kylie. The woman dug around behind the counter and pulled out a box with a dark stamp on the side. The stamp had symbols that Scarlet recognized as a modern tongue, one that combined bits of older languages, such as French and English (the word likely being a brand name). Kylie pulled out what looked like a rectangular paper-wrapped snack cake with a colorful stamp on the side matching the box’s stamp. “These things I got here were made and packaged all the way in Stormtail. Trust me, though, they got enough sugar to make sure they keep for a while. Now what have you got for me?”

Scarlet reached inside her vest for her coin purse, passing a small silvery coin to the raccoon woman. “This should suffice,” said the snake girl. She couldn’t help but notice Rina eyeing the coin as if she had never seen such a thing before. When Kylie picked up the coin, she looked it over, then slid it back towards Scarlet.

“Sorry girl, but I’ve got no use for coin. I don’t sell goods, I trade. If you want somethin’ from my shop, you gotta give me somethin’ more useful.”

Scarlet was shocked. Even here? she thought. I know she said she’s a trader, but is my money really no good?!

“Don’t worry Scarlet,” said Rina, patting her on the shoulder. “I know it’s not what yer used to, but tradin’ is easy! Why, if I ever want a snack from Kylie, I give her a fish!”

“She has given me a lot of fish,” said Kylie.

“Wait,” Scarlet spoke up, “who decides the value of things being traded?”

“Whoever is involved in the trade?” said Rina. “Can’t imagine why anyone else would have a say.”

“But what if it only takes one fish for a snack cake today, and two fish tomorrow?”

“Weeeeell, that doesn’t sound like a fair trade. I’d much rather eat two fish than a snack cake, so I wouldn’t take the deal. Seems easy enough.”

Kylie gestured to get everyone’s attention. “I understand what you’re getting’ at, miss, but I don’t plan on robbin’ you anytime soon. If I want trade to flow, I need customers. So, now that you know how we do things here, is there anythin’ you’re willin’ to offer?”

Scarlet thought about what she could do. She hadn’t brought anything with her that she was willing to part with. Gripping the hems of her blouse and looking down, she said, “I… I don’t think so.”

“Wait a sec,” said Rina. “What about yer magic? You fixed up Eli’s piano earlier. Maybe Kylie’s got somethin’ that needs fixin’ too.”

“I don’t know… Is that something you’re interested in, Kylie?” asked Scarlet.

“Hm… I got a hole in my roof that I’ve had trouble with as of late. If you can fix that somehow, I’ll happily part with a cake.”

“Then let’s give it a shot.” Scarlet moved to the side of the truck. “Could someone give me a boost?”

“I got you,” said Lafayette, moving next to the girl. The fox boy helped Scarlet onto the roof of the truck, and after she found her footing, Scarlet looked for the hole. There was a noticeable pile of rocks on top of an old tarp on the other side of the truck, so she looked underneath it. While searching for the hole, Scarlet couldn’t help but notice Rina and Lafayette talking amongst themselves. They were too quiet for her to hear what they were saying, though.

They probably think I’m a fool, thought Scarlet. I’ll just have to prove them wrong!

After moving aside the tarp and rocks, Scarlet took out her embroidery hoop and began sewing a new spell pattern. The girl felt an etheric connection once more as her energy traveled through her arm, out her fingertips, and into her sewing needle. When the spell pattern for “Repair” was complete, the metallic hole in the roof seemed to melt away. By the time she was done, Rina had climbed onto the roof as well.

“Did ya get it?” asked Rina.

“See for yourself,” said Scarlet.

Down below, Kylie said, “Well I’ll be! You fixed it! Merci, Miss Scarlet! Merci!” the woman clapped.

“You really did! Nice work, girl!” said Rina.

The two kids got down from the roof of the truck, and Scarlet approached the counter once more.

“And here’s my end of the deal,” said Kylie before handing Scarlet three snack cakes.

“I don’t understand,” said Scarlet. “I thought I’d only get one.”

“That may be what I said, but roof repair is worth more than a single snack, if you ask me. Besides, now you and your friends can have one.”

“My… Friends?” Scarlet looked back at Rina and Lafayette. It didn’t occur to her until now, but this was the most interaction she’d had with kids her age in a long time. Her former homeland was an isolated prairie, far from any settlement. Even when she did get to meet kids while traveling, she never got along with them. A spark lit inside her in that moment, a thought that lingered in her mind. What if? They were only two little words, but there was a power in them. A power that made Scarlet look at the world in a way she hadn’t before. The girl smiled gently and said, “Merci, Miss Kylie. Merci.”

Kylie smiled back at her. “De rien, Scarlet.”

The snake girl then passed out the two extra snack cakes to Rina and Lafayette.

“Thank you kindly!” said Rina with a smile.

Lafayette reached out for his snack cake as well, but Scarlet pulled it away.

“Hey, aren’t you going to thank me?” asked Scarlet.

“I gave you a boost, didn’t I? I earned this,” said Lafayette.

“Rina could have given me a boost.”

“Yeah, but she didn’t. Heck, Rina, you didn’t do anythin’!”

“I did so! I gave Scarlet the idea for usin’ her magic!”

“But anyone coulda done that! I coulda done that!”

“But you didn’t,” Rina grinned.

“That does it! Gimme that cake!”

Lafayette chased after Rina, which caused Kylie to slap her counter in laughter. Even Scarlet started laughing, even though she wasn’t really sure why.

“Man, these two are always a riot,” said Kylie.

“Yeah… Yeah they are,” Scarlet smiled.

---

Alyssa soared through the sky, making her way towards the village. Down below, she heard someone calling out for help, so she flew down to investigate. When she landed, Alyssa found another spot that looked like it was hit by the strange new creatures in the area. She also found who was calling out for help – a familiar face hiding behind a big rock.

“David? Is that you?” asked Alyssa. The shaking deer man slowly poked his head out.

“Y-yeah. Are those things gone?”

“I think so. What happened here?”

David stepped out from behind cover. He was a six-foot-something man with wavy light brown hair, tanned skin, and hazel eyes with flat, horizontal-shaped pupils. He wore a ragged black t-shirt with mismatched patches from shoddy repairs, and his jeans were equally shoddy. His most recognizable features were his deer-like ears and pale branching antlers atop his head. Though he seemed visibly shaken, he wasn’t hurt.

“I seen things! Big little critters! They popped outta the ground!”

“So that explains the upturned earth… What about the trees? Did they eat the trees?”

“Yeah!” David nodded. “I was just layin’ around here, mindin’ my own business when the ground started shakin’! Next thing I know, these nasty-smellin’ hairless things start runnin’ around and bitin’ the trees! I tried fightin’ ‘em off with a stick, but they ate the stick too! They ate my stick!!”

“Hey, it’s all right. They’re not here anymore.” Alyssa took David by his hands. “What about afterwards? Did they hurt you?”

“Not exactly… I tried getting’ away by climbin’ into this here tree, but they ate the bottom of the tree and I nearly got flattened when it fell! I hid after that, and they were chompin’ and chewin’ the place up until somethin’ got their attention and they kept goin’. I think they’re headed towards the bayou, maybe Matthew’s wagon!”

“Do you think you can make it back to the village okay?”

“I… I think so.”

“Then what I need you to do is head back to the village and warn the others. If they’re headin’ in Matthew’s direction, he’ll need my help.”

David nodded. “O-okay. I can do that.”

“Good. Then with luck, I’ll be seeing you soon.”

Once more did Alyssa take to the air. Matthew the Mink lived in a refurbished traveling wagon. Made almost entirely out of fine wood, it was unsurprising to hear the creatures might be interested in eating it. Matthew might make it out unharmed like David did, but she knew his house was not something easily replaced. She sped through the air as quickly as she could. As she flew, she wondered if Rina or Lafayette had caught wind of the creatures yet, or if they were unaware of the encroaching danger…

---

Scarlet did her best to follow after Rina and Lafayette. She was getting dragged along to another one of Rina’s “favorite places”, and the soft wet ground she had to wade through left her in an impatient mood. Her socks were soaked, and the bottom of her dress was a mess. There were also swarms of mosquitos in the part of the bayou she was in, and though Lafayette had pulled out a lantern with some kind of bug-warding candle, the smell it gave off was downright putrid. She was not fond of the swamp at all.

“Where are we going?” asked Scarlet. “Why do we need to walk through all this muck?”

“Because I need to show ya one of my favorite signs in the whole bayou!” said Rina.

“Your favorite… Sign?”

“Just go along with it,” said Lafayette. “Should only take a couple o’ minutes.”

Scarlet moved closer to Lafayette and whispered, “I take it you’re familiar with this sign?”

“You could say that,” whispered Lafayette. “Ever since I’ve known Rina, she’s talked to that old, busted thing. Never understood why, but it does no harm, so I make no fuss.”

“She talks… To a sign. Are you serious?!”

“Can’t be that strange, Miss Magician. You and your family flew a whole house into our swamp. How’d you do that, anyhow?”

“It’s called a flying carpet. My father enchanted every knot in that carpet to carry one pound each.”

Lafayette scratched his ear. “That… Doesn’t sound like a whole lot. How many knots did that thing have?”

“Our transportation carpet has a KPSI of 300, so every square inch can carry 300 pounds on its own. However, the square footage of the carpet is roughly 700, which equates to 8,400 square inches. Multiply that by 300, and you get-”

“A real big number. You know, you coulda just said magic makes it lift heavy things.”

“I could have, but as my father would say, ‘Any good answer needs context.’ If I just said ‘it works’, would that really be satisfactory?”

“I guess not…”

“Precisely!”

“Then how’d ya’ll keep yer house from slidin’ off?”

“Enchantments on the house itself, mostly. Magical force presses the house down and resists any momentum when the carpet travels forward. You can think of it like a kind of telekinetic glue.”

“Hm… Not sure what that means, but I think I get the picture,” said Lafayette. He then stopped. “Wait a tic. If you could just keep yer house afloat, why not just fly it above whatever was givin’ ya’ll trouble back west?”

“I… Don’t know. I suppose the logistics of living in the sky for too long isn’t feasible. We’d have to come down for food and supplies eventually…”

Scarlet pondered what Lafayette said. She had never considered the possibility before. Being able to raise their house above the ground was the ultimate defense. Her family had even less reason to leave Xatelia behind than she thought. The simplicity of the solution dug at the lingering sorrow in her heart, and the resentment she felt towards her parents only grew. Why didn’t her family stay and fight? They had the resources. They had magic. It just didn’t make sense. Why would they throw away everything they had achieved?

“Hey, ya’ll comin’?” asked Rina from up ahead.

“Sorry ‘bout that, Rina!” said Lafayette, moving forward. The fox boy looked at Scarlet, who was still standing in the muck. “Hey, you should come along too. I only got one of these lanterns and them mosquitos are extra bitey today.”

Scarlet sighed, her ears and shoulders drooping. “Very well… Give me a moment.” She dislodged one of her boots from the muck, then the other, doing her best to follow after the two kids. All around her was the constant chirping of birds and insects – cicadas in particular. Only the occasional caw of a crow pierced the mind-numbing noise of the swamp.

In time, the trio made their way out of the muck and into an area with fresher water, fewer trees, and cleaner-smelling air. Scarlet saw the roofs of old houses sticking up out of the water, as well as signs of broken streets below the water’s surface. Scarlet hopped after the others from roof to roof, eventually landing on a grassy hill occupied by a single sign. It was an old red octagon on a seven-foot-tall metal pole. A partially rusted white frame sat within the red of the sign, with the letters S T O P in the center of its face. The metal pole was also bent inward. It was as if a sudden impact had struck its base long ago. This caused the sign to bend forward, making it loom over those who stood in front of it.

“Is this it?” asked Scarlet.

“Yup! This here is my friend Stoppy! I call ‘em that on account of the writin’,” said Rina.

“Lovely.”

“Isn’t it?” a chilling voice called out.

“What?”

Scarlet looked around. She didn’t see anyone. When she turned her attention back to Rina, the voice called out again. It was as if it was coming from the sign itself. But that can’t be right, thought Scarlet. How could a sign talk?

“That face you’re making… You can hear me, can’t you?” asked the voice once more.

“R-r-rina? What the heck is that?” asked Scarlet.

“What’s what? It’s just Stoppy,” said Rina.

“Yeah, what’s the matter? You scared of a beat-up old sign?” asked Lafayette with a grin.

“You need not fear me, child. I am but an echo from the past.” The voice was eerily calm, with an off-putting tone that sounded like ten people speaking at once.

“Yeah, he’s not scary,” said Rina. “In fact you can ask him all sorts of stuff about the Before Times. Like for example,” Rina turned to Stoppy, “What did the Yesterday Folk use to do for fun?”

“People used to do all sorts of reckless things back in the day,” said Stoppy. “Have you ever heard of skydiving?”

Rina shook her head. “Nah. What’s that?”

“It’s when people jump out of planes for fun.”

“You mean those big metal flyin’ thingies you told me about before? Why would anyone wanna jump out of one?”

“No idea, but people loved to do it. They would say it was thrilling.”

Scarlet looked over at Lafayette, who shrugged at her.

“How’d the Yesterday Folk survive? I thought planes flew really high up,” said Rina.

“Oh, that’s an easy one. They’d use a parachute,” said Stoppy. “Although I should let you know, you don’t need a parachute to go skydiving.”

“You don’t?”

“No. You only need one if you want to go skydiving twice.”

“Wha-aaaah, I see what you did there. Good one, Stoppy!”

Scarlet moved closer to Lafayette. “Can you really not hear that?” she whispered.

“Hear what? It’s just a sign,” whispered Lafayette.

“But… It’s talking.”

“No it ain’t.”

Scarlet stepped back. “But… Then how…” She looked over to Rina, who was sitting on the ground and chatting it up with the bent-looking sign. For just a moment, Scarlet swore she could see something around the sign, like faint movement in the air, but it was gone as quickly as she saw it. Then, the pole seemed to twist, making the sign face in Scarlet’s direction.

“Fear not. There’s nothing I can do to harm you… At the moment. Besides, it is not in my nature to lash out at the living, even though you are so very lucky.” Stoppy twisted back around to its normal facing, and no one seemed to notice. “But if I could, I’d love to slip inside your body and drive you around like a car.”

“I’d… Really rather you didn’t,” said Scarlet.

“Hmm… Perhaps that’s for the best. If the state of the sign I’m bound to is any indication, I was never particularly good at driving anyway. If only I had hit the brakes and stopped…”

“Ha, I get it. ‘Cause the sign says stop,” said Rina. “Not sure what you mean by drivin’ Scarlet around, though.”

“Man, I don’t get you,” said Lafayette. “And what’s gotten into you, Scarlet? Why do you look so… Scared?”

“It’s… Fine. I’m not scared! T-that being said, I wouldn’t mind getting a move on. What’s next on the tour?”

“Aaah, bored already? That’s fine. What about…” Rina hummed for a moment, then her eyes lit up. “Oh, I know! The lake!” Rina then got up and started running along. “C’mon guys, let’s get a move on!”

“Coming!” said Lafayette, and the fox boy ran ahead.

Lastly, there was Scarlet, who was careful not to turn her back on the strange sign. It might be some kind of spirit. She had never been so close to one before, but she had no intention of showing signs of weakness, lest the spirit possess her. When she put enough distance between herself and Stoppy, she ran as fast as she could. As Stoppy’s voice faded, it left her with one final message.

“See you around now, child. Always remember… To watch where you’re going. If you don’t, you mind not like where you end up…”

---

Scarlet ran for what felt like ten minutes. Ordinarily such a short jaunt wouldn’t wear her out, but the stress of encountering such an off-putting spirit had her heart racing.

“Remind me… To… Avoid… Stoppy…” said Scarlet.

“Aah, I’m sorry, Scarlet. I didn’t know you didn’t like signs,” said Rina.

After catching her breath, Scarlet scowled at the gator girl. “That was not just a sign!”

Rina chuckled. “I’m prettysure I’d know a sign when I see one, and that was most definitely a sign. Although… Most signs don’t know how to talk. I guess that means Stoppy is a real smart sign, eh?”

Scarlet was ready to shout at Rina. She fumed with anger deep inside, but she knew the girl wasn’t at fault. So, she took a few deep breaths, doing her best to calm herself down.

“Okay… Stoppy is just a smart sign… We’ll go with that.” As Scarlet rubbed the bridge of her nose, she said, “Are there any other talking inanimate objects I should be worried about?”

“Can’t say I know of any,” said Rina as she walked. “There are lots of neat people who live ‘round here, though, if you know how to find ‘em. For example, if you ever need a haircut, I know a great barber!”

“A barber… Well that’s surprising. I just assumed your parents cut your hair for you.”

Rina chuckled nervously. “You know, maybe once I get bigger, but as of now there ain’t a pair of scissors my ma or pa could hold that I want anywhere near my head.”

“You know you never did show me where that barber lives,” said Lafayette.

“Oh shoot, I forgot! Maybe we can pay her a visit when the tour is over.”

The more Scarlet learned about Bebop Bayou, the stranger the place became. No guards, no walls, no currency, talking road signs… Scarlet was beginning to wonder if there was a single normal thing in the whole swamp. As the thought crossed her mind, however, she stopped, taking in the scene before her.

Scarlet was standing a few feet away from the shore of a massive lake. Tall strands of grass littered the nearby waters, almost like a green fence line around the shore. In addition to the grass, there was also weathered driftwood and large mossy boulders. Further still, the beautiful waters beyond glistened in the sunlight, rippling from shore to shore. It was quiet, beautiful, and serene. Scarlet’s eyes lit up. The lake was the prettiest thing she had seen in the whole bayou.

“See! I told ya she’d like this place!” said Rina.

“You did not!” said Lafayette.

“Well I said parts of my tour would be great, and she likes this, which just so happens to be part of my tour. Therefore, I’m right.” Rina then rolled up her pantlegs and kicked off her boots. “Speakin’ of which, let’s go for a swim! With the sun shinin’ so bright, the water’s bound to feel good!”

The gator girl stepped past the shoreline and got about waist-deep in the water, waving the other two over. Lafayette joined Rina in the lake, though he got in the water up to his knees before he looked back at Scarlet.

“C’mon, now. The water won’t hurt ya!” said Lafayette.

“I… I couldn’t,” said Scarlet.

“Why?”

“I… Never learned to swim.”

“Huh?” Rina stared from across the waters, eyes glazed over. “What do ya mean you never learned to swim? That’s like… The first thing I was ever taught… Ever!”

“We didn’t have a lake where I lived, okay?” said Scarlet. “Even if I could swim, I’m not… Properly dressed for the occasion.”

The truth was that Scarlet always wanted to try swimming, but she had never been permitted to. Her parents always worried about the water making her too cold, so even when they traveled, they avoided lakes and rivers when they could. Scarlet squatted down, feeling disappointed in herself. Technically nothing was stopping her. She was far from the prying eyes of her mother and father, and yet… She just couldn’t convince herself to move past the shore. It was like something deep within was holding her back. She sighed, resting her chin in her hands.

“You sure you can’t join us?” asked Rina.

“It’s okay…” said Scarlet. “You guys have fun. I’ll just sit here and watch.”

Lafayette swiped at the water passively, his ears drooping. “Well shoot. Now what, Rina? Do you still wanna swim, or should we do somethin’ else?”

“What if we gave Scarlet swimmin’ lessons?” asked Rina.

“She already said she ain’t dressed for it. I mean… look at her clothes. She’d get more tangled up in that than a bug in a spider web.”

“Hmm… I guess yer right…” Rina rubbed her chin, then said, “Oh, I know! If we can’t bring Scarlet to the lake, we can bring the lake to Scarlet!”

“Wait, what?” Rina stomped through the water, splashing Lafayette as she passed him. “What the heck does that even mean?”

“Just you wait, I got a plan!”

Scarlet and Lafayette watched as the gator girl moved off to a deeper part of the lake and stopped, dipping her hand into the water as if she were searching for something.

“Ooh, there he is!” And with a tug and a splash, Rina pulled a massive catfish out, one that had thoroughly latched onto Rina’s arm. She then moved back towards the lake shore, catfish in hand.

“Rinaaa? What are you doing?” asked Scarlet, standing up.

“I wanna show you my pet! His name’s Tabasco. Ain’t he cute?”

Scarlet looked at the grey and greenish whiskered fish. She was certain there was not a single thought behind its beady black eyes. “He’s… Certainly something. And you said he’s your pet? How’d you… Meet him?”

“It was just a normal day o’ fishin’ when I first met him. I forgot to bring my pole, so I was swimmin’ around in the lake to get fish the ol’ fashion way. Eventually, a found a deep dark hole where I thought I saw movement, so I stuck my hand in it.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“I know, right? Anyway, after I was riflin’ around in the hole, I felt somethin’ bite down, and when I pulled my hand out, there he was! I tell you what, when I first saw him, I thought he was tryin’ to eat my hand, but it turns out that’s just his way of sayin’ hi! He was awfully persistent, too! No matter how much I waved my arm around, he just wouldn’t let go! I couldn’t tell if it was fear, rage, or determination I saw in his eye, but I knew deep in my heart that I could be his friend.” Rina then plucked the catfish off her arm with little fuss, putting him on the wet sandy shoreline. The fish scooted along the sandy shore, seemingly able to move and breath just fine. By this time, Lafayette had stepped out of the lake, and was shaking the water off of his furry legs.

“That one’s a real foodie too,” said Lafayette. “He’ll eat just about anythin’ you give him. Here, watch.” The fox boy took out some leftover crumbs from his pocket and flicked them onto the ground. Tabasco lunged forward, snatching the crumbs up in his mouth. It was certainly amusing, but then a thought crossed Scarlet’s mind.

“Wait, doesn’t a catfish man live in your village? How does he feel about you keeping a catfish as a pet?”

“Oh, Big Pete? He don’t mind! … Not much, anyway,” said Rina. “The first time I introduced Tabasco to him, they both just sorta stared at each other. I think it was a kind of starin’ contest, and Pete lost. After that, he got on one knee and gave Tabasco a pat on the head, sayin’ some kind words to ‘pay respects to his ancestor’ as he put it.”

Scarlet’s face crinkled at Rina’s story, but she decided it was best not to say anything.

“By the way,” Rina picked up Tabasco. “Do you wanna pet him? I think he likes you!” Rina moved closer, carrying her pet fish like it was a dog. Scarlet couldn’t help but notice the fish eyeing her tail.

“I’d really rather not,” said Scarlet.

“Ah, c’mon. He won’t bite! Honest!”

“Rina.”

“Just one pet?”

“I said n-” Before Scarlet could finish, Tabasco leaped out of Rina’s arms and latched onto the end of Scarlet’s tail with its mouth. The girl was so shocked, she whipped her tail around and flicked the catfish off of her, sending it flying towards a rock. It hit the stone with a wet thud and landed on its side, motionless.

“Tabasco!!” Rina shouted, running over to the fish. Lafayette ran over to the fish as well. “You okay, buddy? You’re okay, right?”

Lafayette then stood up, gritting his teeth.

“That does it!” shouted Lafayette. “You’ve gone too far this time, Scarlet! I tried to be patient, I tried to be kind, but all you do is sneer at us and push us away! And now look what you’ve done!”

“It was an accident. He bit me!” said Scarlet.

“But ya didn’t have to throw him at a rock!”

“I said it was an accident!”

“Even if it was, that doesn’t excuse how rude you’ve been this whole time! You’re nothin’ but an arrogant, judgy, entitled brat! I hope you move back to wherever you came from, ‘cause you don’t belong here!”

“You… You don’t have to say it like that…” A tear streamed down Scarlet’s face. Lafayette’s expression softened, but only a little. Scarlet continued, saying, “I’m sorry, okay! I didn’t mean it!” The girl rubbed the tears from her eyes. “I didn’t ask for any of this.”

“What are you sayin’?”

“I’m the reason my family moved. I didn’t want them to. I never wanted to come here, but they made me! It was those bandits… Father thought it wasn’t safe for me anymore, so he talked my mother into it. Then we just… Left. All those years there meant nothing to them. Nothing!” Despite Scarlet’s best attempts to wipe the tears from her eyes, they just kept coming. “I just wanna go home… We should have stayed. We should have fought back! I… I would have helped if they just let me!”

“Scarlet, I-”

“No, don’t look at me!” Scarlet turned away. “You’re right. I am selfish. I’m arrogant, judgy, and just plain nasty. Every kid I’ve ever met knew that. I get it! It would have been fine, though. You didn’t have to be my friend. You could have left me alone, just like everyone else…”

Scarlet looked at Rina and the motionless fish, feeling a painful, choking feeling in her throat. She couldn’t bear the guilt of what she had done, so she did what she always had: run away and hide.

---

Scarlet ran and ran until her legs gave out, and she stumbled to the ground. Up ahead, she saw a jumbled pile of sticks and leaves. She crawled underneath it and hid from the world. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she thought back to the past.

She often played in the flowery fields near her home back in Xatelia. She liked to be outside. She liked to run, play, explore, and find new things she could show her mother and father. One fateful day, someone found Scarlet instead.

“What do we have here?” said a crudely dressed human. “A little far from home, ain’t ya, miss?”

“You outta be careful,” said another human, holding a machete. “You never know who you might bump into out here.”

“Yeah!” said another, who had his hand on a gun. “Didn’t yer ma ever tell ya not to wander too close to the border?”

“How did you people get in here?” asked Scarlet. “How did you get past the border guards?”

“We have our ways,” grinned the first human. “Nothing is perfect, after all… Besides, when I heard they were lettin’ freaks like you live on these lands when we have to make do in the Southern Wastes, I just had to see for myself.”

Scarlet stepped back. The way the men were eyeing her up, the way they looked at her tail… Something was wrong with them, but she didn’t know what.

“Stay back! If you so much as touch me, my father will-”

“He’ll do what?” The first human grabbed her by the wrist. “I’m not scared of your kind. You may walk, talk, and act like people, but you’re still just animals.”

“Let go! You’re hurting me!” cried Scarlet.

“You here that, guys? I’m hurting her! For fuck’s sake, like you monsters know anything about pain. I liked snakes better when they couldn’t talk back. I bet if I cut out that tongue of yours, that should set things straight.”

Scarlet slashed the man’s face with her claws. He let go, grasping at his wound. While he was distracted, the girl ran as fast as she could.

“That bitch!” cried the first human. “After her!”

The surrounding brush was tall, but she was still too big to run through it unnoticed. The only chance she had was to use her magic, but would that be enough? After frantically sewing an Invisibility symbol into her embroidery cloth, she disappeared. After that, she ran out of the grass and hid inside a hollow log. She could hear the poachers running about, shouting at each other. Inside the log, she hugged her knees and tried to be as small as possible while holding her breath. At one point a poacher looked inside the log. She saw his eyes looking in, but he didn’t see her.

“Wait, who are you people? What have you done with my daughter?!” shouted a familiar voice.

“There’s another one! Get him!” shouted a poacher.

What followed were the sounds of fighting, gunshots, and spellfire. Scarlet feared the worst, but when things grew quiet, the only voice she could hear was that of her father.

“Scarlet? Scarlet, where are you?!”

The girl took a chance and poked her head out. When she saw her father, she immediately let go of her Invisibility spell and moved towards him. Crawford moved towards her as well, and they hugged each other.

“Father, I-” Scarlet gasped before Crawford shielded her eyes. For just a moment, she saw what her father had done to the poachers. She hardly recognized them. To this day, she never forgot the sight of those burning husks.

“Don’t look, Scarlet. It’s… Not safe here anymore. We need to go home.”

“But father-”

“I said we need to go! Now!!”

Scarlet did what she was told and held onto her father’s hand. It was hard to run with her eyes closed, but it was over before she knew it. Once she got home, Crawford explained what happened, and after a long conversation between him and Victoria, it was decided that Xatelia was no longer a safe place to live. They would report what happened to the authorities, and when their affairs were in order, they would leave their homeland far, far behind them.

Returning her thoughts to the present, Scarlet continued to weep beneath the foliage. It had all happened so fast. First the move, then the searching, then landing in the bayou, and just like that, it was like she was in another world. She had lived in Xatelia for eleven long years. It felt wrong to leave it all behind. They had a flying house, magic, money… There were so many things they could have done, and they chose to run away. Just like she did…

Rina… Lafayette… I’m sorry, thought Scarlet. I’m so sorry.

Just then, a strange smell filled the air. She flicked her tongue. Whatever it was, it was getting closer. Against her better judgement, she decided to come out of hiding. She didn’t see anything at first, but she did feel a faint rumbling beneath her feet. Soon enough, the ground was practically shaking, and then it burst open. Three eyeless creatures with smooth hairless skin, four legs, sharp incisors, and webbed, clawed feet had dug themselves out of the ground. They began to chitter and growl, taking notice of Scarlet immediately.

The snake girl stepped back. As one of the creatures moved closer, it picked up one of the sticks on the ground and chewed on it before spitting it back out. It continued advancing towards her, and a grim thought dawned upon Scarlet.

Wait, if these things eat wood, then…

One of the creatures swiped at her hip, but Scarlet dodged just in time. She took her embroidery hoop in her hands, noticing the creatures’ heads move up slightly as they followed the hoop’s movement.

“You can’t have this!” said Scarlet. “It’s far too important to be used as food!”

The creatures clearly didn’t care. Another one swiped at Scarlet, and though she dodged that attack as well, she nearly tripped. Her legs weren’t obeying her. It felt like they were locking up.

Dang it, I can’t fight them like this! They’d be on me before I got off a single spell!

Thinking fast, Scarlet kicked a stick the other way, drawing the creatures’ attention for just a moment. Then she ran. It wasn’t long before the monsters gave chase, and as she looked back, she saw they were gaining on her. She had precious few seconds before they caught up, so she stuffed her embroidery hoop in her vest and leaped onto a tree, clambering up its trunk. As she reached the top, however, she realized something. Too little too late. The creatures quickly began eating the base of the tree. All she could think to do was hold onto a branch as the tree came crashing towards the ground.

The fallen tree slammed her into the dirt, and the impact knocked the wind out of her. She couldn’t move. In a matter of moments, the monsters would be upon her, and she’d lose the one thing she had to remember her grandmother by. But when all hope seemed lost, a voice called out to her.

“Get up, Scarlet! You can do this!”

It was a familiar voice. She wasn’t sure where it came from, as the forest was too thick with trees. Yet somehow, it gave her the strength she needed to get back on her feet. When one of the monsters leaped at her, she kicked it in the belly as hard as she could, knocking back. It wheezed and hissed, scrambling back onto its four limbs.

“Get away from me! I am Scarlet Beauregard, youngest in the Beauregard family, and you will not have me this day!!”

A sudden speed and clarity came over her as she sewed a new pattern into her cloth, and an invisible force punted another one of the creatures into a tree, causing it to grunt and yelp. The remaining monsters started to back away. Rather than flee, however, they circled about, reassessing her. Before any of them attacked, a voice called out once more.

“Get away from my friend!” shouted Rina. The gator girl swung her arm at one of the monsters, knocking it on its backside. Lafayette joined the fray too, throwing what looked like a bolas at a monster, entangling its legs.

“Rina! Lafayette!” said Scarlet.

“You can’t get rid of us that easily,” said Rina.

“Are you hurt?” asked Lafayette.

“I’m okay. What are these things?” asked Scarlet.

“Heck if I know. They’re certainly not from around here.”

“Well whoever they are, let’s give ‘em a warm welcome!” After Rina popped her knuckles, she charged the third monster, sending it flying into the air with a devastating uppercut. Soon after, the entangled monster let out a shrill cry, and three more arrived on the scene to help them. After two of them recovered from their initial injuries, they grouped up and howled at the three beast kids. Scarlet moved in front, embroidery hoop at the ready.

“Scarlet?” said Lafayette.

“We can talk later. Right now, we need to deal with them.”

“Well if you’re good to fight, then so am I!” said Rina.

Scarlet gave a nod and stared the monsters down. “I’m tired of being a coward. I won’t run anymore!”

The monsters roared and charged the three kids. With a quick pattern in her cloth, Scarlet caused a rock to burst from the ground, knocking one of the monsters into the air. The other monsters circled around the rock, and Rina punched and kicked two of them away. Lafayette ducked an incoming attack and smacked a monster in the face with his shovel. He then spun around, hucked something in his other hand into the mouth of another monster, and crackling sparks like fireworks lit up in its mouth, causing it to run off in a panic.

While Rina and Lafayette were fighting, one of the monsters closed in and swiped at Scarlet’s body. She dodged back, but suffered a cut to her side. It wasn’t deep, but she could tell it could have been much worse. Another sewn symbol later, and light glimmered in front of her body in a hexagonal pattern.

“What the heck is that?” asked Lafayette.

“It’s called a barrier. The first thing you do when you learn magic is how to protect yourself,” said Scarlet.

The monster swiped at her again, but its claws bounced off the barrier. As it was only in front of her, Scarlet made sure to always face towards the attacking monster, and while the barrier kept it at bay, Scarlet wove another spell. A fist of force manifested above the beast, slamming down on its body. The monster was knocked out cold.

“Hoowee! Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!” said Rina. The gator girl then charged a recovering monster, scooped it up in her arms, then suplexed it. She then used it to bludgeon another monster. After the beasts had taken so many harsh blows, they fled the area. The battle was won.

“Yeah! You better run!” said Lafayette. “And don’t come back, you hear?!”

When the fight was over, a wave of relief washed over Scarlet. She was about ready to thank the two kids, but Rina said, “Now, about that apology.”

“Huh?”

“You heard me!” said Rina. “You owe Tabasco an apology!”

Scarlet stared at the gator girl, dumbfounded. “I… Huh?” Scarlet shook her head. “Wait, how is your fish, anyway? Is he okay?”

“He’s okay, all right. Tabasco’s a real toughie. Still, it’s not proper to hurt someone like that and not say you’re sorry.”

“But… I thought I did.”

Rina crossed her arms. “Not to his face.”

“Are you being serious right now?! We just went toe to toe with a pack of blind wood-eating mole monsters, and that’s what you’re concerned with?”

“Monsters ain’t nothin’ new around here.”

“But I thought Eli said this place was safe!”

“It is,” said Lafayette. “As long as we’re around.” Lafayette rested his arm on Rina’s shoulder and said, “We’re the premier monster fighters ‘round the bayou!” Lafayette’s ears perked up. “Speakin’ of which, Rina. There’s trouble in the village. There must be more of them.”

“Then what are we waitin’ for? We gotta go help ‘em!”

And just like that, Rina and Lafayette took off running. When it finally clicked that they were already moving on, Scarlet tried to catch up.

“H-hey, hold on a minute! Wait for me!” The snake girl managed to reach Rina, and together they ran ahead, trying to keep pace with Lafayette. “Thanks for earlier, by the way.”

“What?”

“Earlier, when you told me to get up. I… I just wanted to thank you for that. If you didn’t say anything, I might have lost my embroidery hoop…”

“I don’t recall sayin’ those words, but I’m glad I could help either way.”

“But… If you didn’t tell me to get up, then who… Did…” Scarlet glanced behind her as she ran. She was certain she recognized the voice when it called out to her, but now she had no idea if it was Rina, Lafayette, or someone else she knew. She looked at the embroidery hoop she was holding for a moment before stuffing it in her vest and shaking her head. It couldn’t be… Could it?

---

Scarlet, Rina, and Lafayette ran into the heart of the bayou. Even before they reached the village, Scarlet could smell more of those creatures nearby.

“Most of the village homes are made of wood, right?” asked Scarlet as she ran.

“Yeah. I’ll bet them monsters are tryin’ to eat everyone out of house and home!” said Lafayette.

“But why attack this deep into the bayou?” asked Rina. “There’re trees everywhere!”

“Maybe they’re picky eaters?”

Then it occurred to Scarlet: her house. It was made from the finest lumber Xatelia had to offer and was rich in ether due to the enchantments placed on it. If her embroidery hoop was like a single egg, her house would seem like a huge cheese omelet to the beasts. Scarlet cursed under her breath as she tried to keep up with the others.

By the time the trio arrived in the village proper, the other beast folk were already defending their property against the monsters. Rina wore a serious expression as she looked around.

“Lafayette, you handle the ones on the right, I’ll handle the ones on the left.”

“You got it!” said the fox boy.

“I want to help to!” said Scarlet.

“Are you sure?”

Scarlet looked Lafayette in the eye and said, “Yes.”

“In that case, I’ll take care of the ones I see further up ahead,” said Rina. “Now let’s get to it!” Then she and Lafayette ran off.

Looking to her left, Scarlet saw Big Pete and a tall frogman with a banjo trying to keep three of the monsters away from a large log home. Since they were so close to the village pond, Scarlet got an idea. She sowed a long wave-like pattern in her embroidery cloth, telekinetically manipulating some of the water into a grasping tendril. The water tendril latched onto the three monsters, and while they were bound in place, the other two beast folk went on the offensive. Big Pete clasped his hands together for an overhead smash, the frogman clonked one with a club, and Scarlet dove into the fray with a kick. Working together, they were able to knock the monsters out.

“Thanks for that!” said Big Pete.

“It’s no problem. When did these things show up?” asked Scarlet.

“Wasn’t too long ago,” said the frogman. “David came runnin’ in and started shoutin’ about some tree biters, but just as he showed up, so did the monsters.”

“Are there any more besides these ones?”

“Actually, I think I saw a few headin’ out that way,” Big Pete pointed. It was the same direction as Scarlet’s house.

“Shoot, all right. Thanks for the info!” Then Scarlet took off running. Lafayette was still in the middle of a fight, so she joined in and helped finish off the monsters.

“You’re getting’ good at this,” said Lafayette. “Just don’t get a big head over it.”

“I’ll do my best. Now is Rina still around? I think I may know what’s going on.”

“See for yerself.”

Lafayette gestured across the pond where Scarlet saw two gigantic gator folk – one wearing a polka dot dress and the other wearing a dark t-shirt and overalls. She watched as the woman flatted a monster with a frying pan and the man knocked several to the ground with a bone-cracking tail whip. In the midst of the two large gator folk was Rina, helping the others fend off the remaining monsters.

“Are those her parents?” asked Scarlet.

“They sure are! Come on!” shouted Lafayette.

The pair ran towards the gator folk but were quickly cut off by two more monsters. Scarlet and Lafayette struck them down with kicks and a shovel as they shouted, “Out of our way!” in unison. When they made it to the other side of the pond, Rina excitedly introduced her parents.

“Scarlet, glad you’re doin’ okay! This is my ma and pa, Shelly and Crush.”

“Nice to meet you two,” said Scarlet.

“We can worry about formalities later,” said Shelly. “Right now we need to figure out why there are so many dang monsters here!”

“I… May have an idea,” said Scarlet. The snake girl explained her theory about the magical wood in her family home, expecting the others to blame her for everything, but once again, the locals surprised her.

“Yeah, that makes sense,” said Crush. “You better go see yer folks and check if they’re okay.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Oh pshaw,” said Shelly. “Like you asked for yer house to be eaten! Now get goin’! We’ll handle things here.”

“You heard ‘em,” said Rina. “Let’s move!”

Scarlet watched as Rina and Lafayette ran off towards her house without hesitation. She was quick to follow, and a few minutes later, the trio found Crawford and a pair of armed rope-men fending off more monsters. The trio joined the fighting and made quick work of the beasts. When the last of the monsters fell, Crawford ran to where the trio were and hugged Scarlet.

“Thank goodness. I’m glad you’re still okay. But… Look at you. These cuts, bruises, and your clothes!” Crawford looked at Rina and Lafayette and said, “You were supposed to keep her safe!”

“We did!” said Lafayette. “Though she hasn’t exactly made it easy for us.”

“How dare you! When Eli told me this was a safe place, I put my trust in you all! Now I see I’ve made a mistake. Scarlet, get in the house. We’ll make ready to leave soon.”

“No…” Scarlet whispered.

“What was that?”

“I said no!” Scarlet shouted. “Lafayette is right. He and Rina have been watching over me this whole time! They’ve done everything they could. All I’ve done in return is act like a spoiled brat, just because I never wanted to come here. I… I never wanted to move, but I was scared. Too scared to speak up. But I’m not scared anymore.” Scarlet did her best to look Crawford in the eye as she said, “I say we stay and fight!”

“That is not your decision to make. When we decided to move, it was to protect you! Do you know how much we’ve sacrificed to find a better place to live?”

“Then you’re just going to run every time there’s even a hint of danger?” Crawford narrowed his eyes at her, but Scarlet stayed strong. “I understand why you did it now, but we can’t just keep running forever. Eventually we’ll run out of places to live… We have to stand our ground at some point, so why not here? Rina, Lafayette, and the whole community are tough, and they know how to work together. So what do you say?”

“I…” Crawford hesitated. He looked back at the house. Scarlet could see Victoria through a window, watching them with a worried look on her face. Crawford then said, “If we were to stay, what do you propose we do?”

Scarlet explained her theory about the monsters to Crawford, stating that they must be attracted to the house.

“But… If they really are drawn to the house, then our presence here only makes things worse,” said Crawford. “Knowing this, you still wish to stay and fight?”

The snake girl nodded. “If we’re the reason the monsters came, then we owe it to the others to help deal with the problem.”

Crawford crossed his arms and smiled. “I see… Perhaps I’ve misjudged you two,” he said to Rina and Lafayette. “You’ve been a better influence on my daughter than I thought possible. But the question remains: how do we deal with the matter at hand? We know that these monsters feed on wood and seem especially drawn to high-quality wood steeped in ether. What else do we know? What should we call them?”

“I say ‘tree biter!’” Rina smiled.

“Tree biter?” said Scarlet.

“You know… ‘Cause they bite trees.”

“Tree biter it is then,” said Crawford. “What else?”

“There are a heck of a lot of them,” said Lafayette. “Even so, they seem a little more organized than other beasts we’ve fought.”

“I noticed that,” said Scarlet. “They move like pack hunters, even though they’re herbivores. More than that, I noticed something in the air. I believe they’re pheromones.”

“Pheromones?”

Scarlet nodded. “Back in Xatelia, we used to maintain a type of spider farm and harvest their silk. Whenever I cared for them, I always noticed strange smells coming from the spiders. My understanding is that certain types of creatures can release special odors from their bodies in order to communicate, and our spiders were no exception. The females used pheromones to attract males, as well as lure in potential prey.”

“I see… So perhaps the tree biters have a pack leader of some kind that communicates through their pheromones,” said Crawford.

“Ooooh. I was wonderin’ what that odor was!” said Rina. “So what yer tellin’ me is there’s some big tree biter out there that might be tellin’ the little ones to do stuff, like maybe gather food?”

“It would make sense,” said Scarlet. “Ants communicate in much the same way, signaling to each other where food is located. If they had an especially important member of their group, say a queen or an alpha, then it would explain this semi-coordinated hunt for food.”

“Well shoot,” said Lafayette, “I guess a fancypants education is worth somethin’ after all.”

“Hmm… I think I have an idea,” said Crawford. “If they’re most attracted to the house, then I could have it flown up into the air and see if it draws them away from the village. These tree biters don’t appear to have eyes, so they might not recognize the house is out of their reach. Then it’s just a matter of seeing if there truly is a leader among them, and if they can be dealt with, it may be enough to drive the others out.”

“Sounds like a plan. Rina, do you think you can help me track the leader?” asked Scarlet.

“Sure can!” Rina pumped a fist into the air.

“Wait, you don’t seriously plan on taking it on, do you?” asked Crawford. “But you’re…”

“I have to do this if what I said earlier is to hold any weight. Besides…” Scarlet looked at Rina and Lafayette. “My new friends will be there to look out for me.”

“Then before you go, let me see your embroidery hoop.” Scarlet passed her hoop to Crawford, who looked at it, smiled gently, then handed it back. “I see… You’ve come a long way, then. All right. I’ll trust you and your friends. Just promise me if things get too dangerous, you’ll get out of there.”

“I promise.”

“Then I’ll get the house in the air. Be seeing you soon.”

Crawford and his rope-men returned to the house, and as Scarlet and the others stepped back, the house gradually rose up into the air, moving north and west. Just as she suspected, the remaining tree biters in the area followed after it. With that taken care of, Scarlet worked together with Rina to track down the source of the pheromones. The girl knew it would be dangerous, and a small part of her still doubted herself, but even so, Scarlet knew she had to face the coming danger no matter what. For her family and for herself.

---

Scarlet and Rina led the search for the tree biter alpha while Lafayette watched their backs. Their combined senses made the search simple enough, and whatever was giving off the pheromones certainly made no attempt to hide themselves. The question was… What should they do when they find the alpha? What if it was too big or dangerous to fight? What then? Scarlet shared her concerns, as even though she knew this was important, she was not so foolhardy to think she was invincible.

“Well, I’ve never met somethin’ that I couldn’t handle,” said Rina. “At least, not at my age…”

“What about those land shrimp that could shoot high-speed bubbles? Or that giant tortoise that nearly snapped yer head off? What about the swamp shark?” asked Lafayette.

“The what?” asked Scarlet.

“Oh pshaw, we’re still here, ain’t we?” said Rina. “If this monster is anything like what we’ve faced before, then we’ll have this in the bag no problem!”

“Your confidence is… Admirable,” said Scarlet. “But what if-”

“No more of that! I know this is scary, but if you let the fear take hold, you’ve already lost.”

“Then what’s the plan?”

“Well… I’ll think of one when I see the monster. Can’t make plans around somethin’ if I don’t know what to expect. Although…”

“Yeah?”

“If you can come up with a use for yer fancy magicky stuff, then I’ll do what I can to follow along!”

Rina wiggled her fingers in Scarlet’s direction when she said “magicky”, and had she not known better, she would have thought she was being made fun of. But this was Rina. She was probably the sincerest person Scarlet had ever met… For better or worse.

The trio continued their travels. The sun was setting, and the sky was painted in shades of red, orange, and pink. A warm wind blew through the air, carrying the smell of the swamp, along with the mysterious pheromones, which were pungent and acrid. The kids had left behind the mucky part of the swamp and were now in a sparse forest of gum trees. Most of the land was beneath a few inches of water, though there were occasional wet grassy hills, often dotted with mushrooms. As the trio walked over one of these hills, Scarlet accidentally stepped on a mushroom. Instead of outright crushing it, however, the durable and spongey fungus sunk into the soft, muddy hill.

“Wait… I have an idea,” said Scarlet.

“What is it?” asked Lafayette.

“I think I can use my magic to stop the pheromones. If I can seal the glands somehow, it should confuse the little monsters.”

“You think it’ll work?” asked Rina.

“There’s no way to be certain, but I’m willing to give it a try. I’ll need time to complete the spell pattern, though. You think you two can keep the monsters busy?”

“About as sure as sweet potatoes!”

“Then it’s a plan,” said Lafayette.

With the three kids in agreement, they continued following their noses until they found the source of the pheromones. Beyond the sparse forest, Scarlet saw a gathering of tree biters. Out on some wetlands, the monsters were grazing and prancing about, and in the midst of the pack was a giant tree biter, easily bigger than a moose – and twice as wide. Its body shape was similar to the other monsters, though its hide was even darker, with its limbs colored a faded emerald green. Scarlet also noticed some of the tree biters approaching the alpha, dumping what looked like piles of chewed-up wood at the alpha’s feet. A long grasping tongue scooped up the wood offerings and ate them.

“I see… So the little ones hunt and forage, bringing back food to their leader. They really are like ants,” said Scarlet.

“Well I hope they enjoyed their meal, ‘cause it’s time for them to pay the bill,” said Rina.

“Do you even know what a bill is?”

“Not really, but I heard that line in a movie once.”

Lafayette was smirking and looked like he was barely containing his laughter. Scarlet just shook her head. “We’re still good with the plan?”

“I’d say so. Let me go ahead and get things started for ya,” said Rina. Then the girl dove into the water. It wasn’t too deep, but there was just enough for Rina to submerge herself and swim through the wetlands. The splash Rina made put the tree biters on high alert, so they fanned out and searched the area. Not long after, Lafayette moved ahead, using the wetland brush as cover. For the moment, Scarlet held off on preparing the spell. She knew that as soon as she pulled her hoop out, the tree biters would make their way towards her. So she waited patiently for the attack to begin.

Steady… Steady… Scarlet thought. Any moment now…

Then, just when the area got quiet, Rina burst out of the water and latched onto the alpha’s leg.

“I got you, you sonnuva gun!!” Then Rina bit down on the alpha’s leg, causing it to howl in pain. The other monsters changed course and made their way towards Rina. The final battle against the tree biters had begun.

The alpha first tried to shake Rina off of its leg, but the gator girl held on tight. As Scarlet flicked her tongue, she could tell the scent in the air signaled distress. The smaller tree biters splashed through the wetlands on their way to their leader. As they did, however, some of them stumbled in the water, getting tangled up in nets. Lafayette leaped out of cover and began swatting any other monsters that came his way with his shovel.

“Better get that spell goin’!” shouted Lafayette. “We’ll hold ‘em down in the meantime!”

“Right!” Scarlet drew her embroidery hoop and began the pattern. Ordinarily, spellweaving didn’t take her very long. Spells that manipulated the environment or caused a reaction of some kind were simple enough. Spells that directly manipulated a living creature, though, were more advanced. For this pattern, Scarlet chose the center of her cloth – a space she had been saving for just such an occasion.

While Scarlet worked on her spell pattern, Rina and Lafayette fought the tree biter pack. The alpha finally threw Rina off of its leg, and she splashed across the water like a skipped rock. But she made a swift recovery and used the other monsters as steppingstones, hopping off of their backs as Rina made her way to the alpha again. With a hop, skip, and a jump, Rina closed the distance once more. She spun about mid-air, landing a pulverizing strike with her hefty tail. The force of the blow caused the alpha to stumble. Scarlet realized she had stopped sewing in that moment, so distracted by Rina’s show of strength.

Lafayette was no slouch in the fight, either. What he lacked in strength, he made up for in speed and agility. He ducked, dodged, and leapfrogged over the tree biters as they attacked. Every time they left themselves open, he slapped them in the face with his shovel. Even when he did get cut from one of the monster’s claws, it seemed to be intentional, as Lafayette led some of the monsters into his impromptu traps in the water. Everything was going well. A little too well for Scarlet’s liking.

The snake girl continued her sewing, and as the spell neared completion, her needle and thread emitted a magical glow. The monsters didn’t react to the glow. What they did react to, however, was the magical energy Scarlet’s hoop was giving off. Looking up, she realized some of the tree biters were racing towards her. Rina was busy fighting the alpha and its protectors, and even Lafayette wasn’t fast enough to stop the stragglers out of his reach. Still working on her current pattern, Scarlet was defenseless. She thought it would all be for naught, but then something swooped down, grabbing two of the tree biters in her talons.

“Alyssa! You made it!” shouted Rina.

“Sorry for the wait, gang! Crawford filled me in on what’s goin’ on, so I’ll do what I can to help!”

Scarlet couldn’t remember seeing the egret woman before. She was tall, graceful, and seemed more than capable. The snake girl said, “I just need a little more time to cast a spell! Can you keep the others off my back?”

“Can do!” said Alyssa. Then the egret woman took to the air, swooping down on another pair of monsters. She grabbed hold of them with little trouble, flying across the wetlands, and tossing them aside.

With three beast folk helping her, Scarlet finally finished the spell pattern. With the last stitch, the pattern glowed with power. An invisible force traveled across the wetlands and latched onto the alpha. Nearly invisible holes on the monster’s sides closed shut, and soon after, the pheromones faded from the air. The little tree biters became confused and less coordinated while the alpha became enraged. Chaos erupted on the battlefield, and all the monsters lashed out in a panic.

The smaller tree biters became more ferocious in their confusion, but without the coordinating scents, they could be tackled as individual enemies rather than a group. Lafayette and Alyssa made short work of them, striking them down one at a time. Meanwhile, Rina was wrestling with the alpha. She managed to yank it to the ground by its leg, but as Rina tried to strike it in the face with a kick, the monster bit down. Now it had gotten a hold of Rina’s leg.

“Dang it, let go you overgrown beaver!” Rina tried pulling the alpha’s jaws open, but it was to no avail. “Can I get a little help here?”

“A little busy!” said Lafayette, holding a monster back with the handle of his shovel.

“I’m on it!” said Scarlet. In order to pull off her next plan, she needed to get closer. As cold as the wetland waters looked, she ignored her fears and jumped in. The water reached up to her thighs, making movement difficult. Even so, the path had been cleared for her thanks to Lafayette and Alyssa. All that was left was to complete the next pattern. As she waded through the water, her mind flashed back to that fateful day in the field. The memory of the poachers, what they almost did to her, and what remained of them after her father got to them still haunted her to this very day. The fear she felt wasn’t something that made her hide under her bed and cower, no. It was something more insidious. It made her defensive, made her paranoid. It made her lash out at others that didn’t deserve it. Rather than weigh her down, it had twisted her every action since that day in subtle, invisible ways.

But no more.

The monster before her may have been disconnected from the events of her past, but the threat it represented to her family and her new home was more than real. Despite the fear in her heart, despite the freezing cold of the evening wetlands, despite all of her guilt, Scarlet fought through it all, sewing just like her grandmother taught her. First, a simple telekinesis spell. It pushed in two directions, unlatching the jaws of the alpha, letting Rina go free. This, however, was just the catalyst.

There was a secret to spellweaving that the Beauregard family had discovered ages ago, passing it on from generation to generation. Each spell she had woven that day was a link in a chain, and now that the chain had formed a full circle, the final spell of the cloth was complete. Every spell, big and small, was unleashed upon the alpha. Though some of them accomplished nothing (and one was even beneficial to it), the jutting rock, the fist of force, the grasping tendril of water… These and all the others struck the alpha one after the other, pushing it further and further back until finally the telekinesis spell went off, tossing it up into the air, then spiking it back into the ground.

When the tree biters saw their leader knocked unconscious, they scrambled towards it in a panic. Working together, they bunched up around the alpha’s body and carried it off. When they were gone, Rina ran right up to Scarlet and scooped her up in a big bear hug.

“Scarlet, that was amazing! How’d you even do that?!”

Gasping for air, Scarlet said, “I-I’ll tell you if you put me down!”

“Oh, sorry.”

Scarlet landed in the water with a big splash. Her clothes were now completely muddy and soaked through, yet somehow, she didn’t mind at all. Rina extended a hand to help the snake girl up, and this time, Scarlet accepted it.

“Shouldn’t we stop those things?” asked Scarlet.

“Nah. With a beatin’ that bad, I doubt they’ll ever step in the bayou again!” said Rina.

“I’ll say,” added Lafayette. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a monster get whipped quite like that. What about you, Alyssa?”

“Can’t say I have,” said the egret woman. “Then again, I’ve never met a magician, either.”

“Oh please, I’m only a mage in training… You can keep complimenting me if you want to, though,” said a blushing Scarlet.

“Nah, I think you’ve had enough,” said Lafayette. Scarlet flicked her tongue in the fox boy’s direction. “By the by, we still have all these other tree biters they left behind…” Lafayette looked at the unconscious and tangled up monsters. “Any chance you can take care of that, Alyssa?”

“Should be easy enough.” Alyssa looked at the sheer number of monsters around, as did the others. “It might be easier if they were all in one net, though.”

The kids worked together, gathering up the monsters in one spot, placing them in a large net Lafayette made by tying up all the little ones together. With the monsters bound up, Alyssa tried carrying them off, but the pile was just too heavy.

“Shoot, I can’t lift ‘em.”

“Here, I’ll help,” said Scarlet. She replaced the cloth in her embroidery hoop, sewing an enhancing pattern in the fresh linen. Suddenly, the slim muscles in Alyssa’s form seemed to subtly bulk up, and she took to the air with no issue.

“Oh wow, this ain’t so bad now. Thanks, Scarlet!”

“You’re very welcome!”

Then the egret woman took off. As for the trio of kids, they made their way back to the bayou. But before returning to the village, there was one last thing Scarlet needed to do…

---

“Here he is,” said Rina.

“I’m glad he’s okay,” said Scarlet. “I’m sorry about what I did earlier… I was just scared. I thought you were trying to eat my tail!”

Tabasco just mouthed at the air silently. Scarlet reached out, hesitant at first, then she finally pet the catfish on his wet, slimy head. Scarlet drew her hand back, her face scrunching up at the sight of the slime.

“Seems he’s accepted yer apology,” said Lafayette.

“Oh hey, congrats, Scarlet! I’m confused, though. Since when could you speak fish?” asked Rina.

“I can’t. It’s just a feeling I get from him.”

“I see, I see…” Rina then spun the fish around to look him in the eye. “Anything else ya wanna add, lil’ buddy?”

Tabasco stared blankly.

“Huh… I think he’s saying he’s glad you feel better, Scarlet,” said Lafayette.

“That’s an awfully specific feelin’!” said Rina. The fox boy shrugged. Rina shrugged back. “Ah well. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get you home so we can head home.”

Rina returned Tabasco to the lake, then walked ahead towards the woods. She waved for the others to follow her, and they did, though Scarlet and Lafayette walked at a much slower pace.

“So…” began Lafayette.

“So?” asked Scarlet.

“I know I may have said a thing or two earlier, but… I wanted to apologize.”

“Why? You were in the right with what you said…”

“Maybe, but I didn’t mean to say things the way I did. I’ve been friends with Rina for over three years. Three years since I found my way to this swamp. Rina is like a sister to me, and the way you were shruggin’ off her gestures of kindness, well, it just rubbed me the wrong way. I don’t fully understand it, but you know how when you get mad you end up doin’ and sayin’ things you don’t really mean to?”

Scarlet nodded. “Boy, do I know that feeling…”

“So yeah, it was like that. I knew I took it too far, so I just wanted to say sorry.”

Scarlet smiled at the fox boy. “Well, apology accepted! Does that mean I’m not an arrogant, judgy, entitled brat?”

“Hey, don’t get ahead of yourself now.” The two children laughed together, and for a moment, Scarlet forgot just how cold and dirty she was.

“So now what? I take it you’re heading back to your family’s house?” asked Scarlet.

“Still haven’t figured that one out, huh?” said Lafayette.

“What do you mean?”

“Back when I found my way to the swamp three years ago… I found it all on my own. I don’t have anybody else.”

“Wait, then you’re…” Scarlet paused. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t fret about it.” Lafayette stopped at the edge of the forest, turning in Scarlet’s direction. “I have a new family now. Rina, Eli, and everyone else that lives in the bayou. Maybe if you stick around long enough, you can be a part of it too.”

As Lafayette said those words, Scarlet felt something deep within her. She wasn’t sure what it was, but she felt it, nonetheless.

“Then again, maybe not,” Lafayette continued. “I’m not sure I could ever get along with someone as uptight as your pa.”

Deep within, Scarlet heard the sound of glass shattering. What followed was a fiery rage, and she began chasing after Lafayette as she cried, “You idiot! Don’t talk about my father like that!!”

The pair ran off into the forest, and pretty soon they caught up with Rina, who said, “Oh, we’re racin’ now? You’re on!!”

The three children ran through the forest on their way back home, and though Scarlet was still mad for reasons even she couldn’t explain, a part of her was still having the time of her life.

The kids would later return to the bayou, explain what happened alongside Alyssa, and Crawford’s rope-men would aid the other beast folk in repairing the village. Scarlet’s parents were horrified at the state of her clothes and were quick to order Scarlet to take a bath. Nevertheless, they were glad she was all right. Collectively, they decided they’d stay in Bebop Bayou a little while longer. And when Scarlet went to bed, no longer did she have nightmares of the past. Instead, she dreamed about her new neighbors, new friends, and the new adventures that awaited her.

[komaedailoveyou]

when an i love you doesn’t fix things anymore - atsumu miya x reader angst.

just pure angst, also hey first post here :] , please dont be too harsh lol

2.6k

it wasn’t like this was something you could blame him for, in fact , this had been what you’d signed up for when you begun dating him, maybe this was just your heart being selfish.

your relationship hadn’t always been on the rocks with atsumu, there used to be a time when the two of you would spend your days together, living out the teenage dream, your hand in his, running to the who-knows-where of the future.

but when you grow up, that was when things had started to change between the two of you.

atsumu was late to dinners frequently, or missing them entirely, blaming it on his practise, or saying he already ate out with the team even though he’d never sent you any texts to inform you, of course it had upset you, yet you never had it in you to tell him.

his away games weren’t great for you either, you were happy for him, going out there and achieving his dreams, but you’d thrown away all of that shit, just for him, it was undeniable that you were jealous of your husband, you really were, and not to mention this meant you were left alone for tedious amounts of time, with only his texts as reassurance, well if he would even reply.

you really did love him, you’d loved him from since he was a boy, and he’d loved you too, but you didn’t have it in you to believe him at that point.

the way which he used to kiss your face and go on about how lucky he was before sleeping, had resorted to “ night, love you “ and maybe a quick peck if you were lucky, and it just wasn’t the same anymore.

maybe fame had gotten to him, or maybe your love was so worn that, you had no words left to speak to each other, and you weren’t sure which one would hurt more.

today, it was different, you weren’t sat at the dinner table, or in the kitchen when atsumu had entered your home, late.

he threw his jacket off to the coat-rack of your home, walking in with his usual peppiness.

you sat there, on your sofa, casually, not sparing the man even a glance, its not like he was looking your way to begin with.

“ and what made you late this time? “ there was a slight tinge of venom to your words.

“ well, we gotta big game comin up, so yknow we kinda gotta train baby! “ he shook it off like it was nothing; just like he always did.

“ what does that have to do with you being late? “ you had tried to ask in the politest way possible, not wanting to start an argument.

“ i jus toldja! we had to train more! “

was he deliberately ignoring the question you’d asked, or was he just playing dumb?

“ ..isn’t that what you’ve been doing the rest of the day? what have you been doing if not training? “ you were beginning to get annoyed by that point.

“ i jus got through the door and all yer gonna do is nag me? at least im fuckin workin for us! “

“ well one of us has to cook and clean, and since you cant be bothered be home half the fucking time then who the hell would if i didn’t? “

screw not wanting an argument, you were done just letting him trample over your marriage.

“ god, you were so much better when you-!” he began to snap at you, as if you were the one who’d done something.

“ nevermind, ‘m jus gonna leave ya to yerself since ya clearly dont want me here. “

how had love turned itself into this?

you could remember those days, where he told it would be you and him against the world, and what a lie it was.

and what was funnier, was that you

believed him completely.

you scoffed.

“ no, go on, since you clearly had something you wanted to say to me ” you dug deeper into the hole you’d both been digging, unknowingly.

atsumu didn’t say anything in reply, just edging closer to the bedroom door.

“ oh, what? have you gone shy on me now? you’re a grown man miya. “

atsumu hadn’t heard you call him by his last name before, when you were kids you’d always call him atsu.

he didn’t know why that made his heart ache.

“ are you afraid of ruining our marriage or something? maybe if you’d worried about that sooner, we wouldn’t be here!” it felt as if you weren’t in control of your words anymore, the composure you’d had for months had finally slipped, and out came a flood.

you’d heard him mumble something incoherent, and didn’t chase him up in it, just laughing dryly to yourself as he slammed the door behind him.

you’d done every single little thing, for your marriage to work out, you’d given up what you loved, you’d cooked every night for him, you always supported him unconditionally, went to all of his games, but no matter how much you did, he treated you like you were just a chore.

you held your face in your hands, sighing.

what was there to do now? he didn’t see anything wrong with what he was doing, he was so focused on his career that loving you had become a hobby, and volleyball was what consumed his heart.

maybe it would be better for you, if you started focusing on yourself more, but you weren’t sure if you were prepared for that heartache.

you shook your head, you needed to hear it from someone else, who wasn’t atsumu.

picking up your phone, your finger drifted over the contact button to your closest friend, osamu.

if atsumu had been there your whole life, it had been a given that osamu wouldve had to of been there too, they were inseparable.

whilst you hadn’t managed to speak to him in a while, you’d still thought that

you were close and all that jazz.

you tapped the call button , and sat there, waiting.

“ hello? “ you heard his voice, putting the phone closer to your ear.

“ hey samu…”

“ its been a while, how’ve you been? “

“ well, i’ve been alive which is a start..”

“ yer not really known for chitchat so why’dya call me? “

osamu had only just home as well after closing down his shop, you hadn’t rven thought to take that into account.

“ so..you know how atsumu and i are..well, married? “

“ considerin i was at yer weddin, i’d say i knew that..” he chuckled quietly, making you smile slightly.

“ it’s honestly beginning to feel like he’s married to volleyball , and not me, and im really not sure what i need to do, it feels like im the only one who’s trying to keep our relationship afloat..” you trailed off, not sure what else to add.

“ well, i can’t doubt the fact that tsumu loves ya, considerin how he proposed ‘n everythin….” he paused, thinking up what to say.

“ have ya directly spoken to him about the issue instead of jus glossin over it like ya normally do? “

there was silence on your end.

“ well, then tsumu aint gonna understand what yer gettin upset about then…god yer both just idiot..”

“ what if it makes things worse though? “

you spoke silently.

“ stop worryin, yer gonna be okay, now if ya don’t mind, ‘ve gotta go, ya should come round my shop sometimes, miss havin ya here. “

he gave you no time to argue back with that.

“ thank you, bye samu. “

and he hung up.

was that really what you wanted to do? talk it out with someone who would probably refuse to listen..?

well, some things had to be done, even if it would take you out of your comfort zone.

it had been about an hour of you deliberating, what to say, how to say it , but why? he had never cared to do that, he hadn’t tried to fix anything, he was fine with this.

maybe you just wanted too much, maybe this was how marriage was supposed to be?

not going on dates anymore, never cuddling, having one sided conversations about his job whenever you spoke, facing away from each other when you slept.

maybe that was all love boiled down to be, finding someone to put up with until you die.

that wasn’t what media had portrayed, but that was alright.

no, no it wasn’t alright , that was a lie, but you’d tell yourself it to make yourself sleep at night.

you took in a deep breath, finally getting up from your sofa , someone had to address the issue.

you walked towards your bedroom, where he’d resided.

before you could open the door , someone already beat you to it, and there you were face to face.

and just like the lovestruck teen you were, looking into his eyes had you at a loss for words, so you averted eye contact to the wall beside him.

you cursed yourself, after all these words, why did he still have that affect on you? you knew the answer, you just didn’t want to admit to it.

even after everything he’d done, you still loved him as purely as you had.

oh how hopeless you were.

“ we need to talk. “

sounds like a goodbye in one sense, its like a sign of maturity , growth, and no one has ever really used it in the good sense, its always something said before a serious chat, and thats something you’ve always been too afraid to say, even as an adult. you hated the way something could end so easily with just a few words, but if you didn’t say it now, when would you?

“ yeah..” well, at least he didn’t seem as pissed off as he had before.

you walked past him, taking a seat on your shared bed, patting the spot next to you for him to come over.

he did without a fight.

that was the first time he’d done something you said in a while.

“ listen , ‘m sorry that-“

you put you hand up infront of him, still not looking at him.

“ i dont want to hear an apology now, i would’ve wanted to hear one a while ago, but not now. “

he opened his mouth to say something again, but you just continued to speak.

“ things have been like this for a while haven’t they? “

he nodded.

“ and, we both know that they wont be able to change, because this is how things will always be , if we dont put an end to this. “

“ i’ve loved you for years atsumu, i mean it, i’ve loved you so fucking much, and the worst thing is, i still do. i’ll never be able to stop, but , i have to let go of you, for both of our sakes. “

atsumu hadn’t realised that he was crying, until he felt a wetness to his hand.

“ no-wait- please, darling, please just stop, i love ya, please dont go..”

“ i dont really want to, but how would you like it if the person who you loved rarely ever made any time for you, what would you do if they changed so much they became unrecognisable , but you love them too much to be apart from them, how would you feel? “

“ im so sorry please..i..know that i haven’t been a good husband to you, but i’m trying, i didn’t think ya felt like this..i ..all i’ve wanted was to make ya happy, ya’ve been my world since before i can remember…i promise i can fix it..i need ya..i know i said some stuff i don’t mean…but everyday i look forward to comin home n seein ya..no matter how tired i am from practise, i wouldn’t want anyone else to be married to me, please give me another chance, i’ll get home on time…everyday. “

“ this isn’t just about you getting homr late, you don’t understand the sacrifices i have made for this marriage, you have no idea how it feels to cut yourself into pieces just so you can fit yourself into someone elses life, im so fucking unhappy atsumu, i cant even think of the last time you genuinely said i love you to me without saying it out of pity…i’ve given you so many chances, but its always training that you prioritise, its never been me. “

“ no..yer wrong it’s always been you, hell i’ll retire if ya want me to, we have enough money, we could get a new house, anywhere in the world ya want, we can get pets, or have children if ya want..i’ve been a jerk..but please..i don’t wantcha to leave, i do mean i love ya..”

“ do you really love me though? or do you just love the idea of me? having someone make you meals and to share in bed so you dont sleep alone, do you even know anything about me? “

“ of course i do…” atsumu wracked jos brain, trying to think of something, but, it turns out, you had been right.

“ no, you dont atsumu, im sorry, but if you’re not even willing to have an actually conversation with me everyday that isn’t about how good you are at volleyball, then how would this work? you never even ask me how my day is? “

he bit his lip, hard.

“ im not asking you to pick your job or me, i know how passionate you are for it, i’ve grown up with you, and really you’re an incredible player, probably one of the best, and i am so proud that you got this far, but you put everything into it, and nothing into us. as much as i’ve tried to make this work, i’m the only one who had us in mind, this whole time. “

you stood up, but atsumu gripped your wrist softly, stopping you from leaving.

“ i messed up, i get it.. yer the only

person who i’ll love, please jus stay here with me, i’ll do anythin..please.. “

you could feel that he was shaking, and wanted nothing more to hug him and tell him that you’d stay, but if you did that, you’d be giving in to him. you couldn’t let yourself do it, he’d not comforted you at all, so it’s not like he was deserving of any back.

“ i’ll send the papers over when i can, i’ll be staying at my sisters house for the time being. “ you told him sternly, now you could hear him start to sob.

you grabbed his hand with your free one, and pulled it off of you, and wordlessly slided the ring on you finger off, placing it into his palm.

“ focus on your career, like you always have been doing. “

“ [Name] just, give me tonight, please, we can order takeout, watch a movie you like, and snuggle and i can have the day off tomorrow too..! we can go out somewhere ..we could do anything you wanted..stay here…i love you”

“ you shook your head, if you really wanted to do any of that, you would’ve done it by now. “

you could hear the creak of the bed as he stood up, as you briskly left , now that he wasn’t holding you back.

“ goodbye, atsumu. “

[fanficimagery]

When Enough is Enough pt. II

Imagine being let down one too many times by your best friend, only to end up making some new ones in the process.

Words: 8.5K Author’s Note: Okay so some of you asked to only be added to part 2 of this while others asked to be added everything Bucky.. and a few others weren’t exactly clear. So if you want to be tagged in any future Bucky related imagines please let me know so I can get your blog name written down on my list.

Tags:  @aya-fay @70s-chic @sipsteacasually @kaitlyn2907 @scarlettwitch99 @thingsforimagination  @mimilh @felicityofbakerstreet @eternalharry @eliwinchester99 @intothesoul​ @wintershadowkat  @b1sexualtonystark  @meredeph @miszswan

The Sunday before you are to return to work, you sleep in until nine in the morning. Your thoughts are immediately on Bucky's impending arrival and you couldn't help the butterflies that took flight in your stomach. He's a friend, just as all the others are, but you couldn't help but notice just how attractive this new friend of yours is. But not only does his attractiveness draw you in, his easy-going teasing and protectiveness does too. However, Bucky Barnes is still a man trying to find his footing in this world after all that's been done to him and finally getting his name cleared, and if he finds comfort with you then you're going to try your best and be the friend he needs.

So since you're not dressing to impress, you dress in your favorite lazy outfit after your shower- leggings, sports bra, a faded sleeveless band tee with the arm holes having been cut down to around your ribs, and a pair of socks. Damp hair gets gathered up into a messy bun and you walk around your apartment to pick up some things you had unknowingly left out.

You've skipped breakfast, so when there's a knock on your door and you open up to find Bucky standing there, you groan in relief. He raises both hands with paper bags hanging from each. "I come bearing sushi. Wanda let it slip how much you love it."

"Yesss." You step back, quickly taking in his own comfort outfit of sweatpants and a plain black t-shirt under an opened jacket. "Did you bring plenty of wasabi? And you can just kick off your shoes anywhere."

"Of course." He hands you the bags so he can kick off his shoes and strip out of his jacket before hanging it up. You don't know why, but seeing him in a short sleeve shirt makes you happy, knowing full well he was weird about his metal arm being out in the open. "And plenty of dipping sauce as well. Wanda was more than happy to give me advice."

"Wanda, huh?" You chuckle, leading the way to your kitchen. "You actually told her where'd you be?"

"Apparently I looked very pensive this morning. She asked and I figured she was a better confidant than Steve or Sam who would have made a big deal about us hanging out."

"True." Setting the bags down, you let him empty them while you head to the fridge. "Beer?"

"Yeah."

Grabbing him a beer and yourself a can of Cola, you return to the table and your eyes widen at the sight of all the sushi. "Damn, Barnes. That's a lot of sushi."

"Don't act like you won't eat half of it."

You laugh as you take a seat, handing him his beer and pulling a few trays to your side of the table. You take a container of wasabi and dipping sauce for yourself, and grab a pair of chopsticks to start digging in.

You moan in delight at your first taste, happily shimmying in your seat before taking another. Eventually, you ask, "So what are you going to do when I'm back at work and I can't keep you entertained by getting shitfaced?"

Bucky grins around his mouthful of food before chasing it down with a swig of his beer. "We actually got a mission comin' up so I'll be leavin' around mid-week."

"Well that sucks." You sigh. "Now who am I going to send random pictures to when I have downtime at work?"

He grins. "You can still send them to me. I just won't get back to you until after the mission's complete."

"Yeah, yeah."

The two of you continue to eat- Bucky dodging Steve's texts about where he is and when he's coming back, and you sending the middle finger emoji over and over to Wanda who keeps wondering how your date is going. Then once most of the sushi is gone and Bucky puts what little is left into the fridge, the two of you head to the living room. You immediately flop onto the couch as Bucky takes the plush recliner, only for you to hear him moving the chair into its reclined position seconds later.

"Oh. I definitely need to get one of these."

You laugh as he snuggles down and you pick up the remote to bring up your streaming services. "Anything you've been meaning to watch?"

"Not really. Just show me your favorites."

You start off with some humor by playing the Goonies. It's a movie that no matter how many times you've seen it, it always seems to make you laugh. And it seems Bucky is not immune either when they make Chunk to the truffle shuffle. Titanic plays afterwards, but only after making sure Bucky found it somewhat interesting after reading the movie summary to him. He is interested from beginning to end and doesn't even laugh at you when you shed a few tears for the old married couple who opt to stay in their bed as the room floods.

When a break is needed, you head off towards the bathroom as Bucky finishes off the leftover sushi. Both of you check your phones and read each other the missed text messages from Steve and his worrying behavior.

"Wanna tell Steve to fuck off via video message?" Bucky takes a moment to think on it before he grins and nods. "Excellent. Sit in the recliner. I'm gonna crawl up all in your business. That okay?"

"Yeah."

As Bucky gets comfortable in the recliner, you sit on the armrest before sliding down sideways onto his lap. You bring up the camera app on your phone and switch it to video, sliding your right arm behind Bucky's neck while holding your left arm out to capture the two of you on the screen. "Ready?"

"Sure, doll."

You chuckle quietly and then smirk mischievously as Bucky relaxes his expression into his best resting bitch face. After you hit record, you say, "Hey Rogers, stop being a little bitch and sending us text after text. I'm tryin' to fuck your best friend here." Bucky's expression cracks as he barks out a laugh and you turn to face him while grinning. You share a laugh with him before facing the camera once more. "Only joking, but seriously stop buggin' us. I promise to send him back in one piece."

As you prepare to send the text to Steve, Bucky says, "You're terrible."

"Whatever. Admit it, you adore me."

"Occasionally."

You huff another laugh as the video message finally sends. You and Bucky both watch as the delivered status turns to read, and then those three little dots appear as Steve starts typing his reply.

"Tell Bucky to wrap it before he taps it." You burst out laughing at Steve's text, Bucky's rumbling laughter only fueling yours even more. "God I hate your best friend sometimes." And before you climb off Bucky's lap, because honestly you were getting a little too comfortable, you send Steve a few middle finger emojis before deciding on a third movie to watch.

The third movie you choose is one that never fails to make you laugh- Bridesmaids. You had a moment of hesitancy because of the sex scenes, but you figured they were ridiculous enough that it wouldn't be awkward. Thankfully you're correct and you get the added bonus of hearing Bucky's laughter again during Megan's scenes, especially when they get food poisoning and are all fighting for the bathroom.

You and Bucky take yet another break after the film, just stretching and finding something to drink.

"So what's the verdict, Barnes? Are you enjoying the films?"

He grins. "Your taste is all over the place, huh? That last one we watched was raunchy."

"But hilarious! You need to watch the Hangover trilogy, but you definitely need to watch that with Steve and then watch him squirm at the pictures that roll with the credits."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Jurassic Park holds his attention and he can't help but comment how stupid one has to be to replicate dinosaur DNA and then open up a park with live dinosaurs. You laugh, but don't bother commenting. You'll tell him later there are more movies involved, with yet another idiotic man who felt he could get the park up and running once more.

It's getting dark, but it's still a little too early for dinner. One more movie and then you'll order or go out and pick something up.

"So this last one for the day is a movie that's directed more towards the female viewers, but you did ask for my favorite films and Practical Magic is my absolute favorite."

"Well put it on, doll."

As you press play on Practical Magic, you quickly grab a throw blanket and snuggle in. Instead of watching Bucky, you watch the film and mumble certain quotes to yourself. The magic scenes always bring a soft smile to your face just as Gary's confession to Sally of I wished for you too breaks your heart, and Sally and Gillian's heartfelt sister moment makes you cry.

Afterwards, Bucky hums in thought. "So that's your favorite?"

"Absolutely." You tell him. He's watching you curiously and you grin. "If I show you something, you promise not to laugh?"

"I'll try."

"Whatever. That's good enough for me." Standing up, you walk towards him and kneel, and tell him to pull your shirt sideways by the armhole next to your left arm. There on the back of your left shoulder and forever etched into your skin is a salt shaker, a rosemary plant, a lavender plant, and a heart. You then rattle off one of your favorite quotes to him. "Always throw spilt salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Plant lavender for luck and fall in love whenever you can."

Bucky chuckles as you get up, retaking your spot on the sofa. "You really are a fan of the movie."

You nod. "As a little girl, I was fascinated by magic. I thought I'd grow out of it, but I only grew more fond of it. And then I found Practical Magic and it had a bit of everything I adored."

"So what's the one scene that just gets you every time?"

"Ugh. You're making me choose?!" You feign being distraught and he grins. As you think about it, you keep coming back to two scenes in particular. "So there's two," you tell him, "and I'm not choosing between them." Bucky nods, awaiting your answer. "Gillian's possession. When Sally calls together the other mothers who were mean to her in order to make a temporary coven to save her sister, and Gillian begs Sally to just let her ghost ex have her."

Bucky hums. "That was a bit sad, doll. I saw you shedding a few tears over that."

"Mhm. And the other scene is when Sally comes clean to Gary and admits that she did a spell as a child to call forth her perfect love thinking it wouldn't exist, only it did. When Gary tells Sally that he wished for her too, it just breaks my fuckin' heart."

"Let me guess, you were one of the girls who cast her own spell after seeing that scene." You stay quiet for a moment and the second you feel your face heat, Bucky laughs. "What did you wish for?"

You groan quietly. "If I tell you, you can't laugh!" He only smiles in response and you know he won't drop it until you tell him. "Fine. So even though I knew it would never work, I gathered the weirdest objects and wished for a significant other with dark hair and colored eyes. He had to be protective and funny and love me for me. Simple."

For some reason you can't seem to meet Bucky's gaze then and you feel awkward the longer the silence stretches on.

"So dinner?" He asks.

"Oh god, yes please. Pizza and wings?"

"Sounds good."

You have the nearby pizza place on speed dial, so after finding out Bucky's preferences you make the call and place the order. It's going to be about a thirty minute wait, so you fill the time sending Steve pic after pic of Bucky who's none the wiser as he scrolls through his own phone and adding the most asinine comments to each picture. Steve thinks it's absolutely hilarious.

Then when the pizza and wings arrive, you beat Bucky to the door and thrust several bills at the delivery boy. He's more than happy with his tip and you hurriedly wave him off before shutting the door. You laugh at Bucky's disgruntled expression and then place everything on the table while gathering a beer for both you and him.

"Don't let me have more than two," you tell him while handing him his own bottle of beer.

Bucky agrees and the two of you dig into your own personal pizzas and boxes of wings once you're situated around the table. As you're eating, Bucky asks about what other movies you hold near and dear. You fill him in on a few others and he hesitantly puts it out there that he'd be up for another movie marathon when you both have a day off. You agree that that's doable.

Halfway through dinner, as you and Bucky are chuckling over the thought of making Steve sit through Bridesmaids, there's a sound of glass breaking from your living room and a muffled curse. The two of you immediately cease making any type of noise and Bucky is up with a gun in hand.

"Where the hell did that come from?! You hiss.

The telltale sound of a window then sliding shut can be heard.

"Shut up and get behind me."

The authority in his voice makes you freeze and your heart flutter at the same time, and you have to mentally scold yourself before you quickly do as he says. You follow Bucky towards the living, ready to duck at the ready, only to sigh and roll your eyes when you see who it is.

Bucky stands tall and lowers his gun. "Parker." You can practically hear the annoyance in his voice.

"Mr. Barnes?" Peeking around his shoulder, you raise your eyebrow at your best friend who's been too busy for you and is now frowning at Bucky. When he catches sight of you, he asks, "What's going on?"

"Uh, well we were having dinner until we thought someone was breaking in."

"Alone?!"

Your brow furrows at Peter's incredulousness, only for him to realize you're not impressed with his tone. You raise an eyebrow at him and cross your arms over your chest. "Did you need something?"

"Oh, um, yeah." He shifts from foot to foot, gesturing to his face where there's a scrape on his cheekbone. "My ribs took a beating too. Can you patch me up?"

"Sure." You sigh. "Why not."

Before you can leave to go to the bathroom to get the supplies you need, Bucky says, "I'll just get out of your way then."

You stop and face him. "What? But we haven't even finished our food. It won't take me long."

"It's fine, doll." He grins when he realizes you're trying to get him to stay. "You gotta hit the hay early anyway. We'll talk soon."

You hold his gaze for a moment longer, sighing when he won't budge. "Well at least take your food with you. No use in it going to waste."

Bucky nods and heads back to the kitchen, collecting his food. You watch him and then follow him to the door, holding his food while he bends over to lace up his boots. Once he retakes his food and you open the door, he thanks you for the time away from the tower and disappears down the hall.

Shutting the door and then heading back into the living room, you tell Peter to get back into his regular clothes so you can get to his ribs while you go gather your medical supplies.

Meeting Peter back in the living room and setting everything down on the coffee table, he says, "So you and Bucky-"

"Don't." You pick up the peroxide bottle and soak a cotton ball in it. "Bucky and I are friends."

Peter manages to keep his mouth shut as you clean the scrape on his cheek and place a small bandage on it. Then when you've checked his ribs and tell him he just needs to ice them, he mumbles, "Friends who apparently lick each other." You snort and think nothing of his sullen tone, but when you look at his face you see he's actually being quite serious. There's no chuckle or boyish grin and for a moment you're absolutely floored at his attitude. "I don't think I'm comfortable with Bucky being alone with you in your apartment."

"Are you- are you kidding me?" You huff and take a step back from him. When Peter just continues to frown, you shake your head at him. "First of all, I'm an adult woman who can make her own decisions."

"I know, but-"

"I'm not finished!" You snap. Peter's eyes widen, but he smartly ceases talking. "I am allowed to have friends whether you like them or not. We have a pact, Petey, and since I'm still abiding by it I would hope that you would too."

"Yeah, but that's for significant others!"

"Significant others or friends, it doesn't matter. And you should be grateful I've kept my mouth shut when it comes to you and Leslie because let me tell you, I've been biting my tongue a lot these past few weeks. Bucky and the others have stepped up since you've abandoned me, so you have absolutely no room to tell me that you're uncomfortable with him or any of them being around me."

"Leslie isn't that bad and I have not abandoned you." You snort, but don't bother opening that can of worms even further. He finally gets annoyed with your quietness. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"You're here because you needed a bandage. Tell me, Peter, where are you going after here? Where are you going after making five minutes of small talk and calling it a night?" He opens his mouth and then snaps it shut, shrugs, and you shake your head at him once more in disappointment. "Exactly. Just go, Peter. I'm so over this conversation right now and I have work in the morning."

"Wait, but we promised we'd never leave a conversation where we were still annoyed with each other!"

"And we also promised we'd never judge who the other decided to spend time with, but here we are." He frowns at you. "Go to your girlfriend, Peter. We'll talk again in another few days or weeks or whenever. I don't care right now."

Peter stands there, gaping, before he pulls himself together and makes his way back towards the window he had crawled through. He glances at you one last time, but you merely keep staring until his mask encompasses his head once more and he lifts the window before taking his leave.

As the window shuts behind him, you sag in on yourself and your breathing stutters in your chest as your eyes fill with tears. You've never been this angry at Peter and the fact that he thinks it's okay to ignore you until he needs something and then has an opinion about who you hang out with was just too much for you to let slide.

You quickly gather everything from your coffee table and return it to its rightful place in your bathroom, and throw away the trash. Your appetite is long gone, so you put up what's left of your food and then head to your room to gather some clothes so you can shower and get into bed.

By the time you've crawled into bed, you're still a bit annoyed. So grabbing your phone, you pull up your text messages and click on Bucky's thread.

To Bucky: Well that was a shit show. I don't think I've ever made Petey leave my apartment while we were still angry with each other.

From Bucky: I'm sorry, doll. Anything I can do?

To Bucky: If he gives you attitude, get a non-serum individual to punch him. You, Steve, and probably Nat will send him flying into the wall.

From Bucky: If I remember..

To Bucky: Well I mean if you forget, I won't complain. I'll probably laugh when he comes crying to me.

From Bucky: You're a terrible human being.

To Bucky: Whatever. You adore me just the way I am. And now I should get some shut eye. I'll talk to you soon. Night, Sarge.

From Bucky: Night, sweetheart.

For the next couple of weeks, you keep yourself busy with work. Bucky and a few others do go on a mission as he said they would, so you keep your texts to a minimum of three each day- a good morning, a random story from that day, and a good night. They're gone for four days and in those four days you've not heard from Peter. The only reason you know he's not completely done with you is the fact he likes your posts that you put up on social media.

But since you're not currently speaking to your best friend and are too exhausted to hang out with anyone else, you're in a bit of a funk and completely caught off guard one evening when the patient a police officer brings in smacks you right across the face. You had been trying to insert an IV into his arm when he completely lost his shit, and then you were hit so hard that you were strewn across the gurney behind you. And in your vulnerable position, a fistful of your hair had been grabbed and yanked right before the police officer had intervened and pulled the patient off of you.

You had been given a bit of time to ice your cheek before you had to get back to work, but your face and scalp were hurting you the entire time.

On your way home, however, you're surprised to receive a call from Pepper. You're heading towards your apartment complex when she invites you to dinner there at the tower since Darcy is finally back in town, and you hate to do it, but you're not exactly up to be around such a rowdy bunch. So you apologize to Pepper and ask her to apologize to Darcy for you, and take a rain check. Immediately she knows something is wrong, but you only tell her you had a rough night at work and all you want is a hot shower and to crawl into bed. She hesitates but wishes you well, and the call ends moments later.

When you get home, you waste no time in locking the door behind you and heading straight for your bathroom. You strip down and take the hottest shower your body is capable of handling, and let yourself relax in the steam-filled room. Afterwards, as you're drying off, you gently dry your hair since your scalp is still sensitive and then get dressed in some of your comfort clothes.

Then heading out into the kitchen, you find some leftovers in your fridge and heat those up, tiredly sitting at your kitchen table and digging in. Just as you're done with your food and heading towards the living room, someone pounds on your apartment door. You sigh, hoping they go away, and have only plopped down onto the sofa when a familiar gruff voice speaks through the wood.

You quietly groan as Bucky tells you he knows you're there and you get up to open the door for him. He's on the verge of knocking again when you swing the door open. "Hey. Pepper said-" He trails off as he takes in your appearance, expression going slack before his jaw clenches in anger. "Who?"

You shake your head, gesturing him inside as you turn around and walk towards your sofa. You hear your door click shut before the footsteps follow you. "Work got a little hectic. No need to hunt down anyone, Barnes. I'm fine."

"Half your face is bruised, doll. You are not fine."

"It's all part of my job." You shrug and plop down onto the sofa once more. Pulling a blanket over your lap, you stare up at your friend. "There will always be a drunk and disorderly patient. I was just lucky he didn't do more damage."

Bucky frowns, but he doesn't push you on it. Instead, he walks over and sits next to you, angling his body towards yours when gentle fingers grasp your chin to angle your face more towards him. "What exactly happened?" He asks as his eyes dart over every inch of your face.

"Some petty criminal did some damage to his head in the back of a patrol car. Police officer brought him in and he seemed pretty docile up until I jabbed him with the IV. He got the drop on me. It happens." Gentle fingers brush along your cheekbone and you flinch. Tears sting your eyes as you sniffle. "I'm fine."

"Just because you keep sayin' that doesn't mean it's true."

Your bottom lip wobbles at his words and you lose the battle with keeping the tears at bay. The moment they fall, Bucky pulls you into a hug and you cry into his shoulder. "Dammit," you mumble. "See what you started!"

Bucky chuckles and he holds you a few moments longer, rubbing a hand up and your back to offer a semblance of comfort. When he lets you go, you fall back against the sofa cushions and wipe the tears away with your blanket. "So what are we watching?" He asks while settling in next to you and draping an arm behind your head.

"Shouldn't you go back to the tower and have dinner with the rest of them? I'm-"

"If you say you're fine one more time, I will drag you back to the tower and let Steve motherhen you."

You sigh. "Low blow, Buckaroo."

"And for that horrendous nickname, you've lost the privilege of choosing what we're going to watch."

You laugh and don't bother arguing with him about it as he leans across you to snag up the remote. When he settles back down and you snuggle into his side, you huff a small laugh when he settles on TLC which is showing 90 Day Fiancé.

"Why this show?" You ask.

"Because it blows my mind that some people are so oblivious and can't see that their chosen partner is only in it for the green card."

As you let his reasoning sink in, you can't help but giggle as you picture Bucky sitting in his own apartment and bad mouthing the TV because he didn't like the decisions the people were making in their love life. You watch along with him, cringing at the more obvious couples that are only headed for future divorce and smiling when one of the couples is actually in it for love.

You manage to almost watch a complete two hour episode when there's a knock on your door, but you're too comfortable to get up and answer it.

"You get it," you say as you nudge Bucky.

He nudges you back. "It's your apartment."

"Yeah, but I don't feel like getting up."

"You could have at least come up with a better excuse."

You grin, finally taking your eyes off the screen and glancing up at Bucky. "M'too tired. Brain's not working fast enough." He continues to give you a deadpan stare until you jut out your bottom lip. "Please?"

The second Bucky's lips twitch, you know you've won. He huffs and roughly pushes himself up off the sofa as if answering the door is a hardship, and you go back to watching TV. At least until you hear a familiar voice stammer, "Uh, h-hey Mr. Barnes. Is Y/N home?"

Your gaze snaps towards the door where Peter is standing out in the hallway, hands in his pockets as he sheepishly stares at Bucky. The man in question turns and raises an eyebrow at you as if saying what do I do and you give him a terse nod to let him know it's okay. Bucky steps aside and Peter readily walks in.

"I should be getting back to the tower," Bucky suddenly says. "You kids have fun."

This time it's your turn to give him a deadpan stare and he smirks right before slipping his boots back on. Then as soon as they're laced up, he's walking out the door and shutting it behind him. Peter, who hadn't stopped staring at the intimidating man, finally turns to look at you. And when he does, his eyes widen.

"What happened to your face?!"

You sigh. "I'm fine. Just had a little incident at work."

"And Mr. Barnes was what? Comforting you?"

"First of all, can you stop calling him Mr. Barnes? You two avenge together and what not. I'm pretty sure that means you're on a first name basis." Peter grins as he takes a seat on the recliner near you, shrugging. "And Bucky was here because when I turned down dinner at the tower, Pepper figured something was wrong. Bucky took it upon himself to check in."

"So are you two like a thing or something?" He wonders.

"We're just.. friends," you say. "For some unknown reason we clicked and we're comfortable in each other's company."

For a moment Peter doesn't say anything, nor will he meet your gaze, but then he's looking at you and sighing. "I'm sorry." You blink at him, surprised to hear the apology. "I shouldn't have freaked out that one night. Who you are friends with and who you decide to date is your business."

You finally smile, even though it's rather small. "Thank you. And don't get me wrong, I know you meant well, but you should have dropped it and just trusted my judgment."

"Yeah. I know," he mumbles.

"Soo.. are we good?" You ask.

"Yeah."

"Good. I was getting tired of you liking my posts and not commenting on them."

Peter snorts. A moment of silence passes and then he says, "So you'll be glad to know that Leslie and I aren't together anymore. I broke it off earlier tonight."

You wince. "Sorry."

"Nah. Don't be. She was totally using me for access to the tower." You're torn between being smug about being right and being sad for your friend who just ended his relationship. "I only realized it earlier when she got upset because Mr. Rogers posted a picture of you and Mr. Barnes together, and she had a few choice words to say about it."

"What? Steve posted a picture of us?" You quickly pull out your phone, checking social media for any notifications. There are none, but as you get on Instagram you check Steve's page and sure enough there's a new pic that shows Bucky staring fondly at you as you laugh at something on your phone. "That little shit didn't tag us!"

As your thumbs move furiously to give Steve a piece of your mind and to comment how adorable you and Bucky look, Peter can't help but say, "You're attracted to him."

Your texting falters and you quickly glance at your friend to gauge his reaction, but when he just looks amused, you shrug. "I mean have you seen him? How could I not be attracted to him?"

"Does he know?"

"I have a feeling he does. Asshole likes to fluster me every now and then."

"Well if it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty sure he likes you back." You snort and go back to finishing up the comment on Steve's post. "I'm serious. When we stopped talking, he threatened me. He was pissed that I made you cry and said I was lucky. He's actually really scary when you're on his bad side."

It takes a moment for his words to sink in and when they do you can feel your ears heating up, followed by your cheeks. Peter starts to laugh and you groan in embarrassment. "Why is this so weird? Dating should be easy!"

"Well he is an Avenger.."

"I don't care about that! He's just- he's really, really hot. It's intimidating."

"Wait, what?" Peter huffs. "So you're intimidated by his hotness and not because he's a super-soldier with a metal arm?"

"Well yeah."

Expression melting into one of confusion, your friend eventually shakes his head at you. "You're on your own with that. Good luck."

You hadn't realized how much everyone had known about your and Peter's brief falling out until the two of you were laughing together once again at the tower. It seemed like everyone had sagged in relief now that the two of you were poking fun at one another once more, and you had to apologize for apparently making it awkward for them.

And now that your best friend knew of your crush on a certain super-soldier, there was lots of teasing material. Of course you kept him in line when you could, but there was no stopping the force of Peter, Wanda, and Darcy combined.

It's a random Tuesday night when you've driven over to the Tower, Bucky having called you over for dinner with a few friends. You had the day off so you didn't mind heading on over, but as the elevator doors slide open after having ridden up to the communal floor, you yelp in surprise as the small gathered crows that shout, "Happy birthday!", at you.

Steve, Wanda, Sam, and Peter pop confetti poppers as you step out of the elevator, eyes wide as you glance between each of them. "My birthday is not until tomorrow!" You hiss.

"But you work tomorrow." Wanda frowns.

"Mhm." Your eyes then narrow, glancing behind them at the streamers and balloons hanging from the ceiling. "And how'd you guys even know?"

Everyone glances at Peter and he takes a step back when your gaze slides to him. He chuckles sheepishly. "I might have hid your birthday cupcake here and Steve found it."

"Petey," you groan. "Why couldn't you just hide it at aunt May's like usual? You know I dislike birthday celebrations."

"You don't dislike them. You just dislike all the attention being on you."

"Whatever. Where's Barnes? He's the one who lured me here under false pretenses. I got a bone to pick with him too."

Everyone turns around and Bucky's head appears from around the corner. He smirks and you glare at him. "Not false pretenses. We are having dinner," he says. "It just so happens to be a birthday dinner. And it's running a little bit late, so until the food gets here you get to open presents."

"You guys all suck."

Peter and Wanda each take a hand and drag you further into the room, heading towards the kitchen. Bucky fully steps out from behind the wall and you aim a kick at his shin as you're walking by. He laughs as he easily dodges it and then you're standing by the kitchen island that's been cleared of everything other than birthday presents.

You huff a small laugh and shake your head fondly at them. "I love you guys, but you do know you didn't have to get me anything, right?"

"Shut up and open the presents," Bucky says.

"Open mine first," Sam says, reaching into the small pile and pulling out a white envelope. "Unlike the others, I was literally told within the last thirty minutes we were doing this so yeah. It's not the best present, but I think you'll enjoy it."

You smile at Sam as you open it, chuckling at the plain birthday card and his brief personal message written inside. But it's what else that's inside that makes you meet Sam's gaze once more, smiling fondly at him. "Thank you. I can't get enough of bubble tea and I'm sure I can do some damage with this gift card."

"You're welcome."

"Mine next." Peter reaches in for a medium-sized box and hands it over to you. "I know you're not a fan of presents, so I got you something I actually knew you'd enjoy."

Raising an eyebrow at him, you pull the lid off of the box. Then glancing down, you snort before pulling out a bottle of Patron Silver Tequila. "I knew we were best friends for a reason."

Steve groans. "Please drink responsibly."

"Please. Responsible is my middle name, Rogers." Everyone snorts and instead of trying to remain serious and feign offense, you end up laughing. "Sam and Buck are good babysitters. You have nothing to worry about."

"That's to be determined," he says. "Here. Open mine. I honestly had no idea what to get you, but Peter assured me you'd enjoy this."

Putting the bottle of tequila back in its box, you accept Steve's gift. Pulling off the ribbon, you can't help but laugh when you see what's inside. "Cards Against Humanity." Peter cheers. "We're playing this the next time I have off," you say, grinning at Steve.

"What is Cards Against Humanity?" He wonders. "I just picked it up and boxed it."

"It's possibly one of the most confusing card games or raunchy card games you'll ever play," Sam says. "I, for one, am looking forward to it."

"Thank you, Steve. I seriously can't wait to play it."

"You're welcome."

Wanda claps her hands. "Mine and Darcy's next. She ordered online and I had to pick it up earlier. But, um, I'm not sure you want to open it up in front of everyone."

"Oh god. Don't tell me it's a vibrator."

Sam laughs out loud as both Peter and Steve start blushing. Bucky looks rather amused and intrigued as Wanda slides two boxes over to you. She shakes her head, giggling. "Not quite."

For a brief moment you're relieved, but then her answer sinks in and you're hesitant all over again. You groan. "Is yours safer? I feel like it is. Which one is it?"

Wanda only smirks as she pushes her box towards you. You open it, marvel at its contents, and then put the lid back on much to the boys' displeasure. Trying to keep a straight face, you look at Wanda. "How many sets did you get?"

"There's four. All in colors that will look amazing against your skin tone."

"Thank you. I'll send you pictures when I wear them."

"Yes please! Natasha wants to know how they fit as well. She was the one who suggested them."

"I'll send them to the ladies group chat then."

"Well that's not fair," Sam complains. "First for not showing us what's inside the box and then you guys have a ladies only group chat. I wanna be in the ladies only group chat."

"But then that defeats the purpose of it being a ladies only group chat," you muse.

"Come on," Peter then whines. "What was the present?"

Your gaze slides to Peter, but instead of outright saying what it is, you say, "Think back to that one Halloween night where you wouldn't let me out of the dorm until I switched costumes."

It takes him only a minute to understand and when he does, he snorts. "That wasn't a costume! That was lingerie."

"Whoa, what?" Sam exclaims, grinning.

"Lingerie can be worn as a costume?" Steve wonders.

"I was actually a Victoria's Secret Angel, complete with the most amazing set of wings, and Petey forbade me from leaving the room. It was a sad, sad night."

"As much as I wanna get into that," Sam says, "I wanna know what Barnes got you more."

You chuckle and glance at Bucky, smile faltering when you see him tense. But then he seems to shake himself out of it and offers you a grin. "Open the bigger one first."

Wanda clears away the other presents as Bucky slides his two towards you. You feel giddy as you grab the bigger box, untying the black silk ribbons and lifting the lid. There's tissue paper you open up and you gasp, happily giggling. "You didn't?!"

"Well you did say it was your favorite movie, sweetheart."

"Yes!" You glance up, beaming at Bucky, and your heart swells at his own smile being directed at you. "I really, really love this. I can't wait to hang it up."

"What is it?" Peter wonders, trying to peer across the island.

"It's a quote from Practical Magic," you say and Peter huffs a laugh, knowing full well your love for that movie. You carefully pick it up and turn it around so everyone can see it as you read it off by heart. "Always throw spilt salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Plant lavender for luck and fall in love whenever you can."

"Aw," Wanda coos. "That's adorable."

"I made Bucky watch this movie a while back," you say. "I need to show it to you one of these days."

"I'm looking forward to it," she says.

With nothing else to say, you place it back in its box and set it aside in favor for the second box. It's a little smaller, but you're excited for it nonetheless. Untying the ribbon and lifting the lid, you immediately laugh at the white petals scattered atop the tissue paper.

"Barnes, you smooth sonuvabitch," Sam mutters.

Steve and Peter laugh, but you're so focused on the notecard that's under some of the petals. Lifting it up, you read the note to yourself because immediately you know it's personal. My better half has to be funny, get along with my friends, won't judge me for my past, and has decent taste in movies.

Heart fluttering, you bite the corner of your lip when it feels like you're smiling way too much.

"Well what does Prince Charming have to say?" Sam asks.

"That's none of your business." You close the note and then tuck into your back pocket, chuckling when Sam and Wanda complain. When you meet Bucky's gaze, you immediately flush and mentally curse yourself when you see him smirk in return.

Inhaling and exhaling deeply, you center yourself and then part the tissue paper. You look at the second portrait and gasp after you read it.

"What? What is it?" Peter wonders.

This second portrait is of a hand drawn bowl with a tipped over salt shaker, a small bundle of lavender, a small bundle of rosemary, and a heart beneath it. Above the bowl is a swirl of flower petals and inside the swirl of petals, in very pretty cursive writing, are the words I wished for you too.

Did he just- did he confess his own feelings by using a Practical Magic quote? Or was this just you overthinking his present? You glance to meet Bucky's gaze and at his gauging expression your eyes fill with tears.

"What did you do, Barnes?!" Sam scolds him. "You made the poor girl cry at her own birthday celebration!"

But Bucky isn't paying him any attention, instead he's solely focused on you. You set the present aside and walk around the kitchen island on shaky legs, and Bucky readily reaches for your waist as you grab his face and pull him down into a kiss.

You can't believe you're kissing Bucky, but then he squeezes your waist and returns the kiss, and you know you made the right choice.

Someone gasps, but then the following words let you know exactly who it is. "Darcy is going to be so angry she missed this." Wanda. That is Wanda.

"What the hell is going on?" Sam wonders. "What type of present can cause this type of reaction?"

You smile against Bucky's mouth, pressing a chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth before falling flat on your feet after having been on the tips of your toes in order to reach his mouth.

"It's my favorite quote from my favorite movie," you say. You turn around to address your friends, but Bucky doesn't let you go far. He wraps one arm around your waist and tugs you back so you're resting against his chest and tucked beneath his chin. "It's a movie about witches," you explain. "These two little girls are being raised by their aunts and they see them performing love spells for a local woman. Basically, one of the young girls refuses to fall in love after witnessing a love spell gone wrong and she does her own spell to call forward a love that would be impossible to find- a man who's favorite shape would be a star and who had one green eye, one blue. Years down the road, the sisters accidentally murder a man."

Sam snorts. "How the hell does one accidentally murder someone?"

"Shush." Wanda admonishes him. "I want to hear the story behind the gift."

You and Bucky chuckle, and you continue to explain. "Anyway, they send in an US Marshall to investigate the disappearance and the one who had done the love spell at a young age starts to fall for this man. She ends up telling him about the murder, but he doesn't quite believe her. Then they're on the verge of hooking up when she gets a good look at his eyes- one green eye, one blue."

"Oh my god. That's so cute!" Wanda says.

"It gets cuter. And sadder," you say. "So she explains to this man about her family, the murder, and how she can't be with him because he's only attracted to her because of a love spell she did when she was just a little girl. At first he's skeptical about this spell bringing him to her, but then he ends up believing her. And as he's walking away from her, he stops to tell her I wished for you too."

"So you made out with Barnes because of that?" Sam shakes his head, chuckling. "Wow."

"It's fuckin' adorable. Stop ruining the moment, Samuel!" Bucky laughs at your words and pulls you closer to him.

"So while I'm happy for Buck," Steve says, "I'm still really curious about what Darcy's gift is."

Peter nods. "Same."

Wanda giggles, but says nothing as she grabs the box and slides it over to you. You groan because you know it can be nothing good, but you still open it since everyone is watching and waiting. As soon as you part the tissue paper and read the box, alongside taking in the picture on the box, your face flames as you shove the lid back on. Wanda cackles.

"I hate her."

"She said to give the remote to-"

"Don't!" You cut Wanda off, blushing even further. "I know who she means to have control of that."

"They- they make underwear that does that?" Bucky muses and you die a little on the inside in embarrassment. You elbow him as he starts to laugh behind you.

Sam instantly knows what the gift is now and starts to laugh, but Steve and Peter apparently need some help.

"Lewis got you vibrating panties, didn't she?"

"Oh my god, Sam, if you don't shut up I'm gonna punch you in the throat."

Steve is torn between laughing and trying not to make you even more uncomfortable, but his amusement wins out. "Given Y/N's flustered state, I'm assuming Darcy wants Bucky to have the remote."

"I mean this seems like it could make for an interesting night."

Everyone laughs at Bucky's sudden interest in the box you're doing your damnedest to keep shut, but luckily Peter steps in. "As much I love watching Y/N squirm, can we get ready to eat? I'm starving."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go wait downstairs for it, kid."

Sam and Peter head for the elevator to take them down to the lobby, and you turn around in Bucky's hold. "Help me take this stuff to my car so I don't have to do it later?"

"Sure thing, doll." He grins. But instead of stepping away, he pushes you further into the kitchen island. You smile as he cages you in and then huff a laugh when he reaches for the box behind you. "So exactly how long do we have to be dating before we can test these out?"

You slowly lean upward so your lips brush his as you say, "I'd say very, very soon if you would put your ass into gear and help me move these presents like I asked."

Bucky laughs and presses a quick kiss to your lips. "Then let's get to it."

The telltale sound of a phone's camera goes off and you turn your face towards the sound. Wanda is beaming, her phone pointed towards you and Bucky. "Darcy wanted evidence I wasn't lying. She's going to be so happy."

Bucky turns his face to look at her then, his cheek brushing against yours where he's yet to back off from you. "Tell Lewis I said thanks for the present. I'll give her my review of them in a few weeks."

Wanda's eyes widen and you immediately blurt, "Don't you dare!" But she's already texting and you know the group chat full of ladies is going to be full of messages that you'll have to reply to later. Quietly groaning, you slap your hands against Bucky's waist and push him back. Looking up at him, you shake your head but the corner of your lips turn up in amusement. "You're terrible. I would threaten to withhold sex, but I've been looking forward to that for a while. I'd just be punishing us both."

"Just tell me when and where, sweetheart, and I'll be there."

"Oh no. You guys are going to be that couple," Steve complains.

And without missing a beat, you face him and say, "Fuck off, Rogers!" Bucky snorts.

"You're cranky when you haven't gotten laid."

You gasp as Bucky bursts out laughing right in your ear, but he quickly catches you as you try to lunge for his best friend. "You know what, I was going to be discreet when banging your best friend, but now I'm going to tell you all the filthy things Bucky likes to do just to annoy you. I will go into excruciating detail about the look and taste of his dick!"

Steve blanches as it's Wanda's turn to burst out laughing. "You've done it now, Steve."

And as Steve looks to Bucky for help, he merely shrugs. "You brought this on yourself, Stevie. Hope you enjoy the play by plays."

Relaxing in Bucky's hold and moving so you're hip to hip with him, you slide your arm behind his waist and hook your thumb into the belt loop of his jeans. "We're going to have so much fun."

[leo-interactive-fiction]

okay so i got this random idea rn but how would the ros react to the mc getting into a physical fight with someone?

E presses a wet cloth to your brow, a disapproving look on their face as they dab away the blood. "You have to think things through a little more. What am I going to do if you get really hurt? You're lucky this was the worst of it..." they chide before pressing a hand to your cheek, "...At least you're safe. Just don't forget what I said! You need to be more careful!"

----------------

R flops down on the couch next to you with an exhausted sigh as you press a wet cloth to your split brow.

"I suppose it could have been worse," R mutters, crossing their legs as they lean back against the cushions. "If I wasn't there to bail you out, how do you think it would have gone? You're not always going to have an attractive mediator to vouch you out of jail, you know."

"Attractive?" you mock incredulously.

R puts their hands up, defeated, "See? Now I'm regretting it. I'm too kind to you."

The two of you share a small moment of laughter.

-----------------

L stares at you with a mixture of worry and disapproval, a stilling silence hanging in the room as they await your response.

You take the wet cloth off, glancing down at the speck of blood-stained on its surface. "Does it matter why I did it?"

"I suppose it doesn't. My answer may still be the same," L's hands tighten, "I don't understand why you would resort to violence above all things. I'm certain there were better options -- different methods to diffuse the situation. Do you truly find this to be an acceptable resolution? When the animosity has only been elevated? That seems a hollow victory to me."

----------------

V slaps your hand away, "Don't touch."

"Right, right," you sigh, laying your head down on the couch arm and staring up at the rotating ceiling fan. V hovers over you, shaking a powder onto your wound.

"Why didn't you call me?" they murmur accusatorily, "I could have handled it."

"It was just a little fistfight. I can handle it."

"As the Commander, it's your duty to avoid unnecessary risk. It's my duty to fight."

"Why're you so serious about-- Ah! Hey!" you wince as V puts pressure on your wound, causing it to sting. You see their brow furrow minutely.

"Part of the healing process. No complaining," they respond strictly, slapping your hand away once more.

---------------

P brushes away a streak of blood from the corner of their mouth, glancing behind them towards you. "Dumbass."

"I heard that, you dipshit," you growl back at them, dabbing the wound with a wet cloth.

"You were supposed to."

"Trying to pick another fight already?"

P makes a humming noise, brushing a knuckle against their cheek, "At least you can land a hit. Once in a while."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Shut up. I'm just pointing it out. Don't try to inflate it."

You chuckle to yourself, stretching an arm, "I guess you're not too shabby either. There are worse people to make a rival out of."

"A rival huh...?" P stares past the red strands of hair that dip past their forehead, resting their eyes on the dark silhouette of your shadow on the wall. They close their eyes, a small smile working against their lips, "You're such a dumbass."

--------------

M pats their lap with a calming smile, "You need...to rest..."

You attempt to hide the rising blush behind your hand as you press a wet cloth to your wound, "I-It's alright, I think I'm alright--"

Before you can move to escape, M presses their hands on your cheeks and pulls you down. You accept your fate as you stare up at M's pleased look.

"You don't...need to be...so shy...I'm good...at these...kinds of things...too...Just leave it...to me..."

You feel a tender hand rest against your cheek as M presses the cloth against your brow, humming a small tune.

"What is that?" you ask.

"Hmm...?"

"The tune you always hum."

"It was...a song...my mom...used to sing...But I...forgot the lyrics..." M's eyes glance away from you for a moment, "Do you...like it...?"

"It sounds really nice," you say earnestly, attempting to ignore the intense blush spreading across your face.

"It sounded better...with words...If I learn them...I'll sing it to you..."

"O-Oh, you don't have to-"

"Ah-Ah," M taps a finger against your lips and wags it, "I've...already decided...So look forward...to it...Okay...?"

--------------

"You don't have anything to worry about..."

Slender fingers caress your cheeks, lifting your head and coaxing your eyes to open. Dark eyes stare into yours, their lids lifting in delight.

Your voice is slow to escape past your lips, "Raven? What...are you doing here...?"

"I've always been with you," they brush your cheek while inspecting the freshly opened wound on your brow, collecting a trickle of blood with their fingers, "We'll have to get something for this. You made me worried, you know."

The wound finally becomes apparent to you, along with the stinging memory of an assaulter's fist. Your eyes open wider.

"Where is-"

Raven moves your head back to face them, pulling you into a gentle embrace as they stroke the back of your head. "It's alright. You don't have anything to worry about..."

Their dark eyes look onwards, reflecting a world of spattered crimson centered around a indistinguishable mass of flesh and stained bones.

"You don't have to worry. I'll take care of everything for you."

-------------------

"Eh, you're already lookin' a little scuffed up, friend," S gives you a bright smile as he strolls in the middle of your fight, "I heard there was some troublin' rousin', but I ain't expect you'd cause somethin'!"

"U-Uh, that's..." you glance sheepishly at your assaulter past the trickle of blood beginning to flow down your sightline.

They glare at the newcomer, "Who're you?"

"Oh me? I ain't no one ya know. But ya know," S justs a thumb towards you, "They've gone an' helped me out a bit. So...I'll be returnin' the favor!"

S grabs at your opponent's tie, pulling them down as they wind up to smash their forehead into theirs. As they fall, S scrapes loose dirt onto their shoe and kicks it into their face, a smug smirk on their face.

"Hey, ya ain't lookin' half bad like that. How'd'ya feel about comin' back to do it again later?"

S waves the aggressor off as they retreat before turning to you, their expression turning intensely serious as they look at your wound. "Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, yes. You're..." the words drop off as S's face hovers mere inches before yours. Unable to hide the heat creeping up your face, S folds their arms.

"What's up? Ya gettin' sick? That stupid idiot must'a done a number on ya."

"I-I'm just a little...dehydrated...?"

"Ohh, I getcha! Well that's good, we can fix that!" S ruffles your head with a smirk, forgetting all about the welting wound.

"Ow!"

"Oh right! Whoops," they laugh, not seeming very apologetic.

-----------------

F stares at your wound, a finger tapping under your chin as they hold your jaw steady.

"A fight was it?"

You nod.

"With whom?"

Your move your eyes away, "I don't know."

"Is that so?"

"Are you going to let go now?"

F's finger halts its drumming, "And why should I do that?"

You slide your eyes back, taking in F's jade irises as they stare intensely into yours. You clench your jaw in annoyance.

"I'm not a pet you keep."

F smiles pleasantly, "Yet it seems you're in need of a keeper. Why else would you bring such trivalties to me?"

"That's..." your mind runs blank, only circling back to their gentle smile. You look away once more, "It's nothing."

"Yes, I am certain it is," F whispers, pulling out a piece of cloth and pressing it against your wound, "It is still my place to wonder."

"Why would it be? You're no keeper."

"Yet you come to me in times of strife and suffering? You are quite an indecisive pet."

"Get one that does what you want then," you bite.

"Oh, no, you misunderstand," F's lips part in a serpentine smile, "I'm not seeking obediance. Heeling is half the reward."

--------------------

Enjoy haha

[captainapple]

Universe Give, Universe Take (LAST)

Pairing: Andy Barber X Reader

Warnings: angst, unrequited love, heartbreak

Word counts: 700+

Summary: The final answer you and Andy have been waiting for

Part 1 || Part 2 || Masterlist

A/N: The story inspired by the song "Shouldn't Couldn't Wouldn't" by Niki (lyrics in italics) || Divider from @firefly-graphics

New York looked stunning at night. It is a city that never sleep. You sat on a couch, looking at the big window of your hotel room. You admitted Andy had taste in the city he picked. Andy. This name appeared the first time you looked at this city. The name that caused you heartbreak year ago. Why? – the only question that you could ask your brain.

Your finger moved itself to call Andy, numbers by numbers until it reached voice mail. You scoffed. It was dumb, but you decided to leave him a message.

Then a call on your phone came after a week. You never have to save his contact to know it was from him.

“I figured maybe we could talk?”

That word, talk, he finally understood it. Something that he should have done long ago.

You wonder why suddenly I'm comin' off indifferent

What you don't seem to understand is

It's not anything you said, it's everything you didn't

There was not much coffee left in both cups, yet no conversation flowing from either of you. It began with hello, how are you, what do you want and awkward smile between you and him.

“You know it was much easier to talk when we were in LA,” you broke the silence.

Andy hummed and nodded.

“Well, are you the one who wanted to talk?”

“Right, sorry.”, he sighed. “Hey, listen, I just want to apologize. You know, I shouldn’t leave you like that.”

“Yeah. You shouldn’t.”

The tension was in the air. Andy did not expect your answer to be cold. You, on the other hand, could not even make eye contact with him nor talk like you used to do. The word sorry just never touched your heart. You, yourself, wondered where all your feelings now. It seemed void. It would be perfect if you never call, it would be great if the time jumps into the future, maybe you would find solace, instead of trapped in this moment.

Yeah, you, you always answer with

More questions to questions that scare you

We're not always peachy, look, love ain't that easy

The one word that you always wanted to ask finally came out from your mouth, “why?”.

“To be honest, I am scared. I am scared to lose you. I know the feeling of lost and I don’t want to go back to square one, ever again. The thought always appears, what if I lost you, what if you walked away, what if it doesn’t work out. But I realized it is selfish. It shouldn’t be like this. As soon as I got your messages, it made me realize, I love you too”.

You laughed coldly. The funny thing is that once you wished to the universe for him to love you back, it has always been too late.

“I wish you said that way earlier, instead of running away”.

The universe always gives a way, yet it is human who late to realize it. Once it gives, it never gives it twice. It only takes away. Andy thought he deserved a second chance. Andy thought the universe shows him the other way. It does not. It just finds a way to tell him that he lost. Who would said that ‘love will find its way’? Andy felt so stupid to think that you still wait for him.

He could feel his heart sink. He should be happy for you right now, but he cannot lie. You adverted your gaze to your right hand. A ring. Something that Andy should notice when he saw you before, but he did not. It seemed his mind was playing trick on him, thinking how he could have another chance with you. That ring is a strong message. He was blinded by his own mind.

“Sorry, Andy”, you exhaled. “It just I-“

“I’m the one who should be apologizing. You’ve had enough”.

Something about his gaze should have make you sorrow. You thought you would be screaming at him and be mad for leaving you that long without an answer. However, that bubble of anger disappeared. It was something that you could not quite understand. It felt good to feel nothing.

Maybe all you need was a closure. Maybe all he need was letting go.

One thing I know, I know it for sure that it

Shouldn't be this hard

You couldn't DTR

Oh, wouldn't it be nice if we could stay friends? But we

Shouldn't, you know what I

Couldn't, 'nough's enough

If I had your heart, it wouldn't be this hard

[lizamango]

Finding You (Bucky Barnes x Reader) 3/?

 A/N: Hey everyone, sorry this took so long!! This chapter was kinda hard to write, I felt like there wasn’t much that I could add but I did my best! I wanna get to Bucky as much as you all do! 😭😩

Summary: You’ve been one of SHIELD’s top spies for years but what happens when the organisation you’ve put your trust in crumbles and Captain America gives you a mission to help him find his best friend? The last thing you expected to happen was to fall in love with your assignment and become best friends with a witch.

Taglist ~ just comment if you wanna be added

@buckylokisimp​​, @white-wolf-buckaroo​​, @austynparksandpizza, @markandlexies​

Word Count: 2098

​Masterlist

Chapter 1 ~ Chapter 2 ~

Warnings: none

Chapter Summary: You and Steve run from HYDRA

Chapter 3: TOMORROW ISN’T PROMISED TO ANYBODY

I enter a shopping mall where I buy a hoodie for myself and a jacket, glasses and a hat for Rogers using cash. I pass by JD sports and see some Supra Vaders I know the Captain will just love so I go in and grab a pair, and get a pair of Nike Dunk Sky His for myself. I leave and meet him where he waits, away from any crowds and we put on our simple yet effective disguises.

“First rule of going on the run, is don’t run. Walk,” I say, recalling my operations training.

“If I run in these shoes they’re gonna fall off.”

I smirk. “Sorry, thought you’d be bigger.”

Ignoring my innuendo, Steve huffs. “They’re ridiculous, why can’t I lace them up?”

“It’s a fashion statement.” I glance at a map as we pass by. “Apple store’s upstairs.” We ride the escalator and enter the store.

Finding an empty laptop, I get to work. “The drive has a Level 6 homing program so as soon as we boot up, SHIELD will know exactly where we are.”

“How much time will we have?” he asks, surveying the area not so subtly.

“About 9 minutes from…” I insert the drive. “now.” I enter the coding commands to unlock the intel but something inverts each one… now comes in my training from the Academy of Science and Technology. “Fury was right about that ship. Somebody’s trying to hide something.” As I look through the coding script my inputs are rewritten to counter the commands. “This drive is protected by some sort of AI.”

“Like Stark’s robot voice? Can you override it?”

I raise a brow as I type away. “The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me. Slightly. I’m gonna try running a tracer. This is a program that SHIELD developed to track hostile malware, so if we can’t read the file, maybe we can find out its origin.” The map tracks a location and pinpoints it as we are approached by a store employee.

“Can I help you guys with anything?”

I react quickly and give him my best charming smile. “Oh, no. My fiancé was just helping me with some honeymoon destinations,” I giggle, placing my hands on Rogers’ shoulders.

“Right,” he adds awkwardly. “We’re gettin’ married.”

“Congratulations! Where are you guys thinkin’ about goin’?”

I go back to the laptop and the state has been pinpointed.

“New Jersey,” the Captain reads aloud.

“Huh,” the employee lets out, surprised. “I have the exact same glasses,” he says after a pause.

“Wow, you two are practically twins,” I remark as I type away.

“Yeah, I wish!” he chuckles. “Specimen. Uh, if you guys need anything… I’ve been Aaron.”

“Thank you,” Rogers rushes out. “You said 9 minutes,” he checks his watch. “Come on.”

I shush him. “Relax… I’m working.” The screen reads Wheaton, New Jersey. “Done.” I look up at him and he has a frown on his face. “You know it?”

“I used to. Let’s go.” He pulls the hard drive out of the laptop and we walk out of the store. “Standard tac team. Two behind, two across,” he turns to face forward. “two comin’ straight at us. If they make us, I’ll engage, you hit the south escalator to the metro.”

As he speaks I roll my eyes, this guy was definitely not meant for the spy world. “Put your arm around me and laugh at something I said,” I say.

“What?” he sounds utterly confused.

“Do it.” I feel his arm rest on my shoulder and he gives the most awkward laugh I have ever heard come from a person. “See, Captain? No need to make such a scene.” We work our way to the escalator and I spot Rumlow on the escalator coming up. I turn to look up at Rogers. “Kiss me.”

“What?” he says again, flustered.

“Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable.”

“Yes they do!” he whispers.

I put my hand to the back of his neck and push him towards me so our lips meet and I feel his hand fall on my waist. I open my eyes and pull away slowly after enough time has passed.

“You still uncomfortable?” I ask turning and walking down the escalator.

“That’s not exactly a word I would use,” he murmurs and quiets down as we get to the parking lot.

“We could get bus tickets to New Jersey, think I’ve got enough cash for the trip,” I suggest.

“Keep a look out,” he says approaching a truck as I frown but do as he says. In no time I hear the start of an engine and whirl to look at him. “Come on, we don’t have all day,” he says smugly.

I get into the passenger’s side and he starts to drive to the Garden State.

“Can’t believe Captain America can steal cars…” I say striking up a conversation.

He chuckles. “Kind of a necessary skill when you’re fighting a World War and you’re in enemy territory.”

I hum and he glances at me. “And it’s not stealing if we give it back so get your feet off the dash.”

“Bossy,” I remark but do as he says. “I like that,”

There’s a pink tint to his cheeks and his jaw clenches but he doesn’t say anything.

“So I have a question for you…” I start with a raised brow. “But you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, although no answer is an answer in itself so-“

“Get to it, L/N,” he interrupts authoritatively.

“Was that your first kiss since 1945?” I smirk.

“That bad, huh?”

“I didn’t say that!” I laugh.

“Well it kinda sounds like that’s what you’re saying.”

“I was just… wondering if you’ve had practice… since going… into the ice,” for a super secret agent, that answer lacked finesse. “It’s just, I don’t know how you did it in 1945 but guys normally move their mouths for a long kiss like that,” I shrug.

“I don’t need practice.”

“Everyone needs practice.”

“It was not my first kiss since 1945. I’m 95, not dead.”

“Oh?” I say, curiosity piqued. “Who’s been kissing Captain America then?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Someone special?”

He chuckles. “It might come as a surprise to you but it’s hard to find someone with shared life experience,” he says sarcastically.

“That’s okay, you just make stuff up.”

“What, like you?” I know he doesn’t intend for it to sound mean so I shrug it off.

“Not everyone can handle the truth, can they? I wouldn’t mind a few white lies to keep something good going… and you don’t need shared life experience, right? Not really… there’s that whole opposites attract notion, after all.”

“But it’s good to have someone who understands what you’re going through, right?”

I shrug… sometimes not knowing is better. Safer. “Maybe. But in this occupation…” I sigh. “Well I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been in love.”

“You’ve – you never had someone?” Looks like I threw him for a loop.

Shaking my head I turn to look out my window at the trees we pass by. “I don’t hate love or anything… it’s just dangerous to love someone like… us. Isn’t it? They’d either get hurt by people we go after or… ya know, if we don’t come back… it hurts them too.”

“But tomorrow isn’t promised to anybody,” he reasons. “So why deprive yourself of something as great as love on the off chance you die?”

“Because it’s easier.”

“For who?”

“Why the interest Rogers? You wanna fill that spot? Play a little house? Imagine we don’t have to save the world from domestic terrorists?”

He hums at my decision to not answer the question. “No, that’s not what I need right now.”

“And what do you need?”

“Just…” he sighs. “a friend.”

Of course. “Well, there’s a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers…”

“Maybe we could start with not calling each other our last names?” he offers.

I smile. “Maybe.”

We arrive at the location the tracer indicated as the sun is setting.

Camp Lehigh is on a sign but it seems to be long abandoned.

“The file came from these coordinates,” I say as I pick the lock on the chained fence.

“So did I…” Steve says looking up at the sign in nostalgia. “This camp is where I was trained.”

“Change much?”

“A little…”

I wonder around, scanning the area for any thing to indicate a power source. “This is a dead end. Zero heat signatures, zero waves. Not even radio. Whoever created the file must have used a router to throw people off.” I tuck the scanner in my back pocket and the Captain looks up at me then shifts his gaze to behind me, frowning. “What is it?”

He starts walking and I follow. “Army regulations forbid storing munitions within 500 yards of the barracks. This building’s in the wrong place.” He breaks the lock with his shield and we enter as it leads us underground.

I turn on the lights and it reveals the insignia painted on the wall. “This was SHIELD. The early days, after it evolved from the Strategic Scientific Reserve,” I say, recognizing the outdated logo.

We wander around, finding a wall of three portraits. “The three founders.” He looks at me. “What? The history is one of the things they teach at the academies. Colonel Philips, Howard Stark and Margaret Carter.”

“There are academies?”

“Three. Very tough admission.”

Rogers spots something and looks closer. “If you’re already working in a secret office…” he pushes the shelves apart. “Why do you need to hide the elevator?”

Using my SHIELD issued code breaking device I type in the code for the elevator which takes us down even further to a room of computers, monitors and servers.

“This can’t be right… this equipment is ancient how could it be used to make the files?”

There was one place that looked like it came from this century and I decide to take a risk and plug in the usb drive. The servers whir and more lights come on.

“Initiate system?” a computerized voice says.

Yes, I type. “Creepy.” As we wait for the system to boot up I smirk. “Shall we play a game?” I laugh at myself. “It’s from a movie that was really pop-“

“I know,” he interrupts. “I saw it.”

A camera moves to Rogers and a voice recites his name and year of birth. Then it turns to me and does the same.

“Is this the AI that was blocking my commands back at the mall?” I say looking closer.

“I may not be the man I was back when the Captain took me in 1945 but I am.” A photo appears on one of the other screens.

“You know this… thing?”

“Arnim Zola was a German Scientist who worked for the Red Skull.”

“He’s been dead for years,” I add, remember something of the history lessons.

“First correction, I am Swiss. Second, look around you. I have never been more alive.” The robot voice recounts his end of life story and how he uploaded his consciousness into databanks.

“How did you get here?”

“By invitation.”

“It was Operation Paperclip after World War II. SHIELD recruited German scientists with strategic value. Always thought they shoulda just locked them all up… we probably wouldn’t be in this mess if they did.”

“HYDRA would have died with the Red Skull.”

“Cut off one head… two more shall take its place,” I recite their mantra aloud.

“When history did not cooperate… history was changed.” A flurry of photos of the Winter Soldier in the back ground of significant political events appear on the screens.

“That’s impossible, SHIELD would have stopped you,” I say, moving closer.

“Accidents would happen.” News of Howard and Maria Stark’s car accident shows up next.

Rogers punches the screen as Zola provokes him.

Does that mean…? I don’t finish the thought as the mad scientist explains what the drive contains.

“What kind of algorithm? What does it do?” I ask.

The doors begin to close as Steve is too late to throw his shield. A beeping comes from my communicator, detecting something. “Steve, we got a bogey. Short range ballistic 30 seconds tops.”

“Who fired it?”

“SHIELD.” I pull out the drive and Steve pulls a grate from the floor. I jump in and he follows, putting the shield up above us as rubble rains down on us. He strains against the weight of it all and the debris settles.

💖💖

Thank you for reading!

I'll be gone until Monday again but I'll try to write on my phone!! I have literally never been so busy throughout this summer until now!

Chapter 4

[hotchnersbiitch]

Hands of Another

A/N: I’m absolutely in love with this request. I hope you guys are too!! Buckle up my friends, its a long one. 

Request: @jojosgirlkat1dluvr

Pairing: Derek Morgan x Reader 

Category: Angst and fluff 

Warning: kidnaping, violence, cursing 

Word count:  2,003 ~ 8min

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“Good morning good lookin,” Derek says cheekily as you walk into the bullpen, you chuckle as you make your way to your desk, Derek close on your tail. 

“Good morning Derek,” you say with a sweet smile setting your bag down on your desk before flattening down your blouse. 

“I need everyone in the briefing room, we got a case.” Your boss Aaron Hotchner says sternly as he walks into the meeting room. 

“I’ll see ya in there sweet thing,” Derek says with a smile before turning to head to the briefing room, classic Derek you thought to your self. You would never admit it out loud but you had the biggest crush on your coworker and close friend Derek Morgan. You knew better than to think that you had a chance with him, you were nothing like the other girls he has dated in the past. There’s no way in hell he’d ever look at you as anything more than friends. You walk into the briefing room sitting next to Spencer. 

“Hey, Spence.” You say as you sit down patting his back. 

“Hi Y/N.,” he says with a smile as he hands you the case file. When you open it you couldn't help but cringe. You knew this was going to be a tough one. 

“Our unsub is abducting women in St. Louis Missouri, between the ages of 20 and 30, he tortures them before killing them by strangulation. He’s dumping the bodies behind local hospitals.” Hotch says explaining the case to his team. 

“It’s almost like he’s feeling remorse by dumping them outside the hospital,” Emily states looking at the crime scene photos. 

“How would that show remorse, they are already dead the hospital can’t do anything,” Derek says. 

“He thinks that by dumping them at the hospital gives them a ‘chance’ to be saved. He is clearly feeling remorseful after the fact.” You state before Spencer joins in. 

“It is not unusual for unsubs to drop their dead or nearly dead victims outside of healthcare faculties, it makes them feel less guilty by thinking that they are going to be able to be saved making the unsub feel like he’s almost doing the right thing.” Spencer elaborates and you nod in agreement. 

“Either way we have a killer on our hands and we need to hurry before he kills again. Wheels up in thirty.” Hotch says before walking out of the room. 

“Let's go catch this guy team.” You say before heading to your desk to get your go-bag and head to the plane. 

When the plane lands in St. Louis you and the team head straight to the police station to get to work, the whole team knew there wasn't much time until he strikes again. There wasn’t much done besides addressing the profile and checking out the crime scenes. 

“This guy is good Hotch.” You say standing next to him as you both survey the scene.

“Yeah, but we’re better. We better head to the hotel, there's not much we can do, and we're running out of daylight.” Hotch says in his signature authoritarian voice.

“I’m going to stay behind and look around some more, we are missing something, I just know it.” You say, your boss lets out a sigh before nodding, he knew better than to argue with you. You were just so passionate about every case, you could never sleep on a case until it was solved. Hotch gathered the team, before everyone left Derek came up to you. 

“You comin’?” Derek asks placing a hand on your shoulder, you could almost feel yourself physically melt under his touch. 

“No, I told Hotch I’m going to stay behind and look around some more. There's something here we're missing, I’m going to find it.” You say and Derek chuckles, shaking his head. 

“I know you will, you're good at what you do. Be careful, call me when you get to the hotel okay?” You smile a soft blush forming on your cheeks at his sweetness.

“Of course,” you say before Derek walks off and your team heads to the hotel for the night, leaving you alone with the other officers that were still cleaning up the scene. You walk around the scene surveying different areas behind the hospital. By the time you made it to the other side of the building the cops were gone, they offered to wait but you insisted they went, you had your gun and your SUV was only a few yards away. Besides, you weren't afraid of this guy you knew he was a coward.

 You walk up to a dumpster, you don't remember you or anyone else checking it out earlier you went to step up to look into it when you felt something cold press your back. 

It was a barrel of a gun. 

You closed your eyes knowing exactly who it was, your unsub. 

“T-take your gun out and put it in the dumpster. N-now!” the man demanded, you knew better than to argue with him. 

“Alright, alright,” you mutter as you slowly pull the gun out of your holster before reaching up and dropping it into the dumpster. 

“I’m going to l-lead you to my car, you scream or try to run your d-dead.” the man stammers out, he was nervous you figured he would be, this isn't what he's used to. He’s becoming bolder you knew he would kill you if you resisted him. He pushes you to the car jabbing the gun into your back to hurry you up. Once your in the back seat he pistol whips you, then everything went dark. 

Back at the hotel, Derek was waiting for you to call or at least text him to let him know you made it to the hotel. It wasn't unusual for you to stay behind at a scene, you always felt like you could see things clearer when you were alone. And most of the time it did work, you'd discover something you missed before, it was almost like a sixth sense to you. Derek nervous about your whereabouts got up and went to Hotch’s room knocking on the door, he promptly answered looking tired as always. 

“Did Y/N come and get her hotel key from you? She hasn't texted me she's here yet so I didn't know if she got her key and maybe fell asleep forgetting to let me know or something.” Morgan explained, Aaron could tell he was worried. 

“No, she did not. Call her.” Hotchner ordered feeling much more alert now at the fact he didn't know where one of his agents was. 

“Straight to voicemail Hotch, this isn't like her,” Derek said running his hands over his head. 

“Gather the team...now!”

You woke to ice-cold water being poured over you, you gasped and quickly sat up shocked. You looked up and saw the unsub standing over you, an evil smile on his face. Out of nowhere, he yanks you up by your hair, you yelped in pain, you tried to fight back but to no avail. Your hands and feet were bound, the man laughed before dropping you on the floor, you take in a deep breath, you didn't want to fall apart in front of the man. You didn't want him to know you were scared and make him feel powerful. 

“My team is going to find you!” You yell but only to be silenced by being kicked in the face, you could taste the blood in your nose and mouth. 

“No they won’t, you're all too stupid to find me. I sat there and watched you all search the scene and no one even noticed me. You'll end up just like the rest of them.” He says that evil smirk still plastered on his face. 

“Fuck. You.” You state looking him dead in the eyes, his face filled with pure rage at your words. He immediately started beating you, kicking you in the stomach and back repeatedly, stomping on your head, punching you in the face. You tried to take it for as long as you could but the pain was becoming too much, tears started running down your face, mixing with your blood. The man smiled grabbing you by your face making you look at him. 

“Not so tough now huh? Bitch.” he said before spitting in your face and kicking you in the head, you were out like a light. 

You were awakened again, but this time by the man's hands around your throat. You panicked, this was it, you were going to die. You didn't know how long you were out or how long you have been here. Hours? Days? Weeks? You had no idea, all you knew you were scared and wanted out, you tried to squirm under him but he only tightened his grip on your throat. So tight you could feel your trachea being crushed under his grip, you felt like you were about to pass out.

“FBI! Step away from her!” You instantly recognized Aaron's voice, thank god. Your relief was cut short when the man ripped you off the floor and put a blade against your throat. You were gasping for breath your eyes wide as you stared at the wonderful team before you, they were your family, you didn't want to die in front of them. 

“Let her go!” Emily yelled stepping closer to you and the unsub, bad move. The man pressed the knife harder against your throat, he was about to drag it across your neck before gunshots rang out and you fell to the floor again. Derek rushed to your side cutting off the rope that was keeping you bound together, you were still gasping for breath from almost being strangled. 

“MEDIC! I NEED A MEDIC IN HERE NOW!” Derek hollered before looking down at your battered face. 

“You're okay pretty girl, you're gonna be okay.” He said tears stung in his eyes, you started crying clinging to him as EMTs rushed to your side loading you on to the stretcher. 

“Morgan you ride with Y/L/N and we will meet you at the hospital,” Prentiss instructed and he nods running after you, getting into the back of the ambulance with you. Derek held on to your hand as the EMTs addressed your less serious wounds and hooked you up to a morphine drip. 

“I knew you guys would find me.” You say your throat feeling incredibly sore, Derek nods kissing your knuckles, you blushed but you didn't care you were in pain. 

“I wouldn't ever leave until we did. I promise to make sure you're never hurt at the hands of another again. I promise.” Derek says tearing up, you were honestly quite shocked at his reaction.  

“Derek, why are you so worked up. It is okay, I’m okay. They got me hooked up to drugs, I feel better already.” You say with a small chuckle trying to lighten the mood but Derek didn't budge. 

“No Y/N I’m serious. I love you so much and I’ve been too much of a coward to admit it to you. Then he took you and I was so worried I was never going to be able to tell you how I really felt.” He says tears now streaming down it his cheeks, you were flabbergasted at his confession, you started crying too squeezing his hand that was still holding on to yours. 

“I love you too Derek. I’ve been afraid to admit my feelings also.” You say softly and Derek smiles kissing your hand. 

“I’m going to protect you, I'll never let anything like that happen to you again. I promise.” He says standing up in the ambulance and placing a soft kiss on your busted lip before sitting back down. You just smiled at him, you knew he would. At that moment you knew that Derek would love and protect you to the best of his ability, and you promised to do the same for him. 

[just-a-real-human]

Silver Warfare: Part 2

William stood on the bridge of his ship, The Silver Warfare. At 2000 meters long, 150 million kilos and still growing, it was the largest battleship in the human navy, except of course the Deus Ex Machina, but that's mainly a base of operations and basically a mobile planet, not technically a battleship. They were expecting an attack by the Dr’acha’lians, and usually William would call in reinforcements, a carrier maybe, or perhaps a couple destroyers. But with the recent additions and improvements upon the massive warship, William was more than confinent in the power his ship held. "So, have the radar crew spotted them yet?" William asked, putting a hand on his chin, stroking his beautiful, silver beard. "No sir, they're not within the 100 kilometre range, sir." "Have the gunners fire a couple radar shots, see what they can find." Radar shots were a special type of shell that can scan an area of about 100 kilometres of where they were headed, the negative is that due to the fact they're launched so fast, they can only take small snapshot of anything they find unless it's at least planet sized. They don't really use radar, not anymore at least, but when they were invented about 100 years ago they still used radar, hence the name. "Hmm...sir, not in the range of radar shots either, do you think they aborted the mission?" "Unlikely...Welp, if they won't come to us i suppose we can go to them...Let's fire up thrusters to gain some speed and go into their general direction, let's beat them down like the beasts they are." "Very well sir, those reptillian bastards'll get what's comin' to them." William chuckled, patting his navigator on the shoulder, looking out into the vast space ahead. Dr’acha’lians we're a rather...simple minder folk, related to the Dr'achs, they had a burning hatred for humanity for...well, exterminating their entire sister species in a way that can only be described as...excessive. It had been about 6 months since that moment, and the Dr’acha’lians had attempted to take revenge on human about 7 times now, failing everytime. Hell, they once tried to attack the Deus Ex Machina! Suffice to say, they didn't get far. William stroked his beard, looking out as they moved forward at a respectable speed "Say, do you think they might be wanting to ambush us? If so, do you think we should ready reinforcement, artillery?" The navigator frowned "You have a point, cap'n, maybe ask that new secretary, Peter, right? He knows them aliens better than us, he should have something to say about it, right?" William nodded approvingly, he knew he could count on his navigator for advice in a pinch. With the introductions of ships this immense, navigators changed from simple pathfinders to assistants that can both navigate the ship and give advice to the captain, as they were expected to know the ins and outs of their ships like the captain themself. William tapped the communicator on his wrist. The communicator beeped for a little while... At Peter's end he was nervously working on the tasks captain William had laid out for him, simple inventory counting, weapons checks, crew counts etc. When suddenly the communicator on the monitor bleeped with an urgent call! Poor Peter almost fell out of his chair, looking at the call, it was William himself! "Uh, Hello sir! Sorry for not picking up, i haven't quite gotten the hang of this thing just yet!" "No problem boy, i just need some advice, do you know about Dr’acha’lian tactics?" "Uh...enough sir, why, are we getting attacked?" "No, at least not yet, i just needed some advice about if they might be planning an ambush, and subsequently, if we needed to call some reinforcements." Peter thought for a moment, digging deep in his brain... "Uhh, well, the Dr’acha’lians aren't known for ambushes, and if the previous battle have been a good example, they aren't exactly worth heavy reinforcements...but you can never be too carefull. Give me a minute sir, i'll see if i can calculate some risks and costs, see what's worth what." "Very well, just try to make it a little swift, i

believe you in the lack of proper ambushes, but still, we don't wanna just blindly stumble into eachother." William looked around, a hand on his chin, the other fidgeting with his hair a bit. He wasn't NERVOUS so to say, but like, a step below that. He knew SOMETHING was coming, and he knew they'd most likely win, but still, a battle's a battle, and you never want to lose men. *Beep beep beep* After roughly 3 minutes the communicator bleeped again, Peter's voice instantly talking as soon as he picked up. "So, sir, i think the best choice might be to call in a couple corvettes and MAYBE a destroyer, judging by the last battles, misslecrafts might be a good choice, and the destroyed should probably be a modified broadsider, the Dr’acha’lians aren't the fastest, but they're not very slow either." William nodded approvingly, eyebrows raised in surprise "Well, thank you Peter! You've done a great job, grab yourself a drink, there's a particularily good soda in the first layer of the drink storage. Though i suggest you don't take anything alcoholic just yet, let's save that for after the battle" Peter chuckled heartily "Thanks sir, but i don't drink, i'll take a look at the soda though! Good luck, sir!" William smiled, ending communications and switching it to the coms devision. "Communications, order some reinforcements, send in 5 corvette missleboats and a destroyer, modified broadsider if at all possible." "Very well sir, punching in the order now...and done! They will be in in about 7 minutes" "Good, thank you, keep up the good work" William closed coms again, leaning against the terminals. "So, now we wait! Let's hope those dull reptillians make themselves and easy target...fire some more radar shots, see if they find anything." "Yup, will do sir." The navigator pressed a few of the buttons, which then sends orders to the artillery garrisons to send out shots. A very efficient system, it simply worked with buttons and orders, of course if specifics were needed or the order buttons were defective/in maintenance, coms can always be opened. They though of everything in this top-of-the-line warship.

The minutes passed rather slowly, but after they passed, it was always worth the wait seeing the ships come in from lightfolding, dropping into line smoothly with the wide lightshow of colours as the ships quickly go from a simple mass of warped light to a proper ship. "Sir William, the ships have all arrived" Said the navigator "Good, we can start speeding up! Send the order to search around for recon, let's find those bastards!" Although looking puny by comparison, the corvettes were still missleboats 100 metres long, and those destroyers were about 300 metres! A fleet of those can quickly turn any ship to spacedust, i mean human missles are no joke, they often carry thermobaric explosives that completely incinerate the inside of a ship as long as there is fuel! Brutal...but as they say, 'All's fair in love and war' After about 10 minutes or recon, the message came in...The enemy had been spotted! "Good! Well done boys, place a tracker in their direction and we can start ranging our shots" William looked outside to the general direction the recon ships were headed, and ask and you shall receive, the radar showed a beacon. William looked at the direction for a long moment, and then he noticed the tiny specs...yup, those were Dr’acha’lian ships right, ugly, weirdly coloured and overall horrible. "Prepare the 120cm cannons, we're gonna be hitting them hard right off the bat." The navigator nodded, punching in the order and readying fire. "Any more orders sir?" "Yes, missleboats, get in position to speed in, lock on and fire with everything you have, destroyer, stay with the S.W and join in fire accordingly, prepare concussive shells." "Yes sir!" Said the navigator, punching in the orders and sending them to the ships. In unison the ships started moving along, the corvettes taking up a wide pentagon, silently preparing missles and roaring up their thrusters, ready to rush in and fire. "Alright...Let's now wait just a moment, tell the artilerry to fire the moment they have a perfect shot, as soon as they fire, we will engage" "Understood sir, you heard the captain, the artillery batteries have the say now..." Seconds passed, feeling like hours, and then, dissapearing as fast as they appeared, immense tremmors shook the ship as an entire salvo of 120cm cannons fired their shells, the corvettes swiftly firing the engines and catapulting forwards towards the enemy. The Silver Warfare herself quickly started turning, the destroyer joining the corvettes in their ambush. They could see the shells hit from here, the absolute power in those thing tearing apart entire battleships in a single hit, followed by a positively gigantic swarm of rockets enveloping the enemy fleet, passing by and hitting ships as it passed before the swarm turned around, hitting again and again, continueing to batter the ships, giving them no chance at retaliation. The silver warfare was approaching swiftly, readying arms and armor as the enemy ships scrambled to put a resistance. William opened up shipwide announcements "General quarters, i repeat men, action stations!" The ship quickly armed and armored up, shields glowing, weapons humming, beeping or making other noises. The ship's immense generator went into battle mode, whirring up a storm as electricety went skyhigh to keep up with the demands of the powerful shielding and weaponry. As soon as the Silver Warfare got in range, all hell broke loose as the Dr’acha’lians opened fire upon them, luckily, their weaponry was vastly inferior to the Silver Warfare's bleeding edge tech and simply immense firepower. As the ships started firing, the Silver Warfare started turning, exposing its side to the enemy as to release the full power of the ship. As soon as the cannons were in range, all of them started firing, a swarm of glowing shells starting to pepper the enemy, destroying small ships and leaving only rubble and dust in their wake. "Sir! The ship is keeping steady and the Dr’acha’lians are struggling to mount a proper counterattack, shall we test the experiment, sir?" "Yes, let's try

that! Let's see if we can live up to the name 'Silver Warfare', shall we?" The navigator smiled, opening shipwide anouncement "All hands, stear clear of the generator, the silver test is about to start, this is not a drill. I repeat, this is NOT a drill. The test shall commence in 5 minutes" As soon as the announcement was made, the gunner crews started scrambling to prepare the experiment, removing the barrels from the massive cannons, swiftly replacing them with different ones, luckily quickened by advanced machinery, then they loaded special shells into the cannons, taking great care to damage neither. William looked at the battle taking place, balancing him every now and then as a salvo hit them or the cannons fired. "Are we sure it won't overload the generator?" "Yes sir...well, in a way it will, but not in a harmful way, you know what i mean" William nodded, looking at the battlefield and opening the anouncements channel once again "The test is now starting, gunners may fire when ready" As soon as he finished, the cannons fired, blasting immense amounts of strange dust across the entire battlefield, the cannon's barrels were replaced with smoothbore ones, and this dust was actually... Silver As the dust spread around the battlefield, William quickly opened up a pannel at the command terminal, revealing a large lever. After the dust had properly settle around the enemy ships, he pulled the lever... In the generator room, the generator itself started going faster and faster, threatening to completely destroy itself with the extra charge, when suddenly... The entire comparment was slid open to space, revealing a massive gaping hole in the ship leading directly to the generator, this was a weak spot...what was the plan? That became clear as soon as the silver came close to the generator, a violent discharge spread throughout the entirely of the battlefield, travelling throughout the silver and electrocuting everything in its path. Silver, being one of the most conductive metals out there made the perfect choice. The enemy ships were being completely fried, not even able to fire anymore as all of their inhabitant were either busy dropping dead from electrocution or exploding since it was like being hit by a lightningbolt all across the field. William laughed, looking at the chaos "Well, report to Yeshua the test was a complete success! The silver warfare was baptised not by fire, but by lightning!" William laughed again, pushing the lever and closing the generator off. The generator would need a little while to get back up to strenght, but it's not like the enemy could put up any resistance. While the generator charged, the Silver warfare and supporting ships simply took care of all enemy ships, like shooting fish in a barrel. (Welp! that was that c: I'll probably not stick to a REALY schedule, but i promise i won't just DIE like that again without telling anyone! BUT I LIVE! I LIVE! I already have a million ideas for the series, and it'll be more around a band of adventurers moreso than these battles, as you might see i'm not the best at writing those '^^. Feel free to drop critisism, have a very nice day and i hope to see you next time :D)

[1ddotdhq]

🍌Wed 2 Dec ‘20💚

Harry Styles Reacts to Banana Innuendo Rumors by Making EVEN MORE Banana Innuendos part TWO

Good morning/evening/night to Harry’s post and Harry’s post ONLY! (Okay that’s not true but it was definitely a highlight of my day). In case people haven’t seen it yet, it’s Harry in a light blue custom made suit putting a penis banana in his mouth. The picture is captioned “Bring Back Manly Men” so take a suck on THAT Candace Owens! It was only one of many great pictures in his variety shoot (including another, um, fruity picture of him biting into a pomegranate okay Persephone we get it), but Harry did indeed choose That One to post on This, the day after banana necklace dickscourse, BLESS. Harry’s interview was a little more in depth than they have been in the past, touching upon his feelings on race (“Historically, I can’t think of any industry that’s benefited more off of Black culture than music. There are discussions that need to happen about this long history of not being paid fairly. It’s a time for listening, and hopefully, people will come out humbled, educated and willing to learn and change”), as well as his tattoos (the only time he regrets them is in the DWD makeup chair), his love of reading, fashion and art, his exercise routine (Kid Harpoon couldn’t keep up!),  and his feelings on success and acclaim (“It’s never why I do anything...it's always nice to know that people like what you’re doing, but ultimately — and especially working in a subjective field — I don’t put too much weight on that stuff...Fans are the best A&R”). 

The problems arose - as they so often do - when One Direction was mentioned. The article said that “The proof [of the band’s benefits] is in the relatively seamless solo transitions of at least three of its members- Payne, Malik and Horan in addition to Styles- each of whom has landed hit singles on charts in the U.K., the U.S. and beyond”. Leaving aside the bad math (that's 4 people!) one name, of course, is notably missing: Louis has in fact enjoyed quite a lot of success both with Walls (remember when his album went #1 on iTunes in the UK AND the US literally 2 months ago?) and his pre-Walls singles like “Back To You” and “Just Hold On”. It got worse because the author tried to back up her claim with Harry’s quote, “When you look at the history of people coming out of bands and starting solo careers, they feel this need to apologize for being in the band...but we loved being in the band...I think there’s a wont to pit people against each other. And I think it’s never been about that for us. It’s about a next step in evolution. The fact that we’ve all achieved different things outside of the band says a lot about how hard we worked in it”. By linking her own words with Harry's quote she made it seem as though Harry said it to agree with her biased take, which we'd know he didn't even if we hadn't heard him say this exact quote without that slant multiple times before. Fans were quick to point out both to the author and to Variety that they were wrong (to describe the reaction mildly), and the author rather than fixing the mistake, doubled down and began blocking fans. Plenty of people were quick to say that of course HSHQ and Harry had approved this content, despite more knowledgeable fans trying to be heard protesting that that is not how it works. (Remember how just recently Vogue got Harry’s whole ass FAMILY situation wrong and it was not corrected until after print, for example?) In fact, even the magazine didn't really proofread this- the print version of the article is different and says, “The proof is in the relatively seamless solo transitions of at least three of its members - Styles, Malik and Horan”, effectively erasing both Louis AND Liam. It's an annoying take either way, but it's one the author more than likely picked up by doing her research on harrie twitter, not on orders from Jeff.

And because we DO NOT STAND FOR LILO ERASURE ON THIS BLOG, let’s talk about Liam’s Web Summit panel! It was 25 minutes of Liam and Marian Dicus (VP of Spotify) being interviewed about the current and future state of the music industry. Both of them, of course, noted that things had changed very quickly in their careers back at the beginning of lockdown, and how it had seemed surreal, at first, but that Liam had found that the way he was operating now (with Veeps and Tik Tok and Instagram lives) had made his platform a two way interaction with his fans. “For a long time I've been living in a dream world where I thought I was speaking with my fans but really I was just talking at them whereas we as artists ask a lot of rhetorical questions... I wanted to start a conversation”. Marian discussed how engaging fans differently WAS one of the most difficult things to puzzle out at the beginning, but that as months have passed, it seems artists like Liam have found a viable virtual future in the music industry (Liam tells us that he's been doing “stadium size shows” on Veeps which is an exciting clue about the mystery of how many tickets they're selling). They also went into the way music trends change as a response to social and political occurrences, how comfort songs gave way to protest songs this summer. Liam said, “People want their artists to have an opinion nowadays it's not that we can stay out of the conversation anymore-- and nor do we feel that we should in many places-- but for me it's a fine line because I realize what I do for people is an escape, people don't want things rammed down their throats every day and news messages from me about things that they don't want to hear about if they've come to listen to music, so its a real fine line that we kind of teeter on”. And about his opening acts, he acknowledges that his fanbase are mostly young women (based on the data breakdowns he gets from his team), and so he feels a responsibility to mentor young female artists in the industry so that more people like his fans have a voice. In an interview full of really fascinating music and technical discussions, this remained my favorite moment from Liam. Just like we won’t erase HIM, he refuses to erase US! And let's not forget our Liam alarm of the day-- it starts out absolutely adorable (“good moooorning!”), is hilarious in that apparently he just rambled completely unscripted and then they awkwardly cut it into 25 parts, but today's installment is frankly not relaxing! “only 23 sleeps til christmas have you done your shopping are you prepared” excuse me Liam YOU ARE STRESSING ME OUT. The promised relaxing sleep story affirmations are still 'coming soon'-- hurry up please I need them to decompress after that alarm!

Now for a lightning round of epic proportions: DWD darling pictures and vids keep comin’ and Harry and Florence are both looking GORGEOUS as Jack and Alice,  after the Variety shoot dropped ‘THE CAPTION’, ‘BRING BACK MANLY MEN’, and ‘LOUIS IS SUCCESSFUL’ trended worldwide on twitter, Tan France said “yes please” to Harry's banana post, Harry reiterated that London was home and he didn’t want to be in LA for longer than he needed to,Variety has its virtual show tomorrow at 5 pm PST so see you there! Veeps is sending out emails promoting Louis’ show to people who bought LP show tickets, fans have already started to receive their Louis Tomlinson Live From London merch, Trinity College in Dublin’s Law society presented Niall with an award for, uh, his Irishness, I guess? (Just kidding, it’s for “his incredible talent and work ethics which is famously underscored by a distinct humility despite unthinkable success”). It looks like he will be giving a talk when he’s presented with it, and I’m honestly really interested to see what it’s all about - is he...gonna be talking to law students? Idk but tune in on December 7th at 12 pm GMT to find out!

[yandere-daydreams]

Title: Awaited Reunions.

Commissioned by the lovely @99shadowcat99.

Word Count: 1.6k.

Pairing: Yandere!Dabi/Hawks.

Synopsis: Keigo’s never been the paranoid type, but when he’s ingrained with the League of Villains, acting as a double-spy too distant from both fronts to count on either’s supports, it’s difficult not to imagine all the grisly ends he could meet, if he’s ever found out. But, when it finally comes time to bite the bullet, Keigo finds out there are things much worse than death.

TW: Alternative Timeline, Kidnapping, Imprisonment, Smoking, Possessive Mindsets, Non-Consensual Touching, and Explicit Language. 

**Disclaimer: I don’t read the manga, so if some minor details are incorrect or misinterpreted, I apologize in advance. This piece deviates from the canon early enough for Keigo not to have completely earned the League’s trust, yet, but late enough for much of his behavior to be considered incriminating to the general public.

Keigo couldn’t remember the last time his wings felt heavy.

Or, this heavy, at least. He could always feel them, he was always aware of the breeze on his feathers, the pull on his shoulder blades, the way his spine began to ache whenever he’d overworked himself, but that was different, it was presence, tense and rigid and stiff but alive, nonetheless. This was different. It was dead, alien, wrong, as if someone had taken two metal rods and driven them into his back where his wings were supposed to be. As if he was being dragged down, and there was nothing he could do but fall.

Weakly, he tried to unfold his wings. He couldn’t remember the last time he had to think about something so simple, the last time he had to genuinely try, but he still did, he still put every ounce of concentration into one motion, one twitch, one sign that there was still something attached to him, something he could use. He tried, and he tried, and he tried, and...

And, nothing happened. Keigo slumped against the bare wall in defeat, letting his hand curl around the collar resting around the base of his neck, the metallic source of his current problem.

A quirk-cancelling collar. It was almost ironic, in a way.

There was a chain connected to it, the links bulky, leading back to a radiator that, thankfully, didn’t work. There were shackles on his wrists, too, and his ankles, but he’d already given up on prying them off. It was a futile effort, anyway. It was an old-fashioned method, but an effective one, too tight and too straight-forward not to be effective. Clunky, but not clumsy. Ugly, but purposefully so.

Then again, he wasn’t sure what else he could expect from Dabi. Bruised, battered Dabi. Simpering, smirking Dabi.

Dabi, who hadn’t said a damn word since Keigo woke up on the floor of this shitty, empty basement, the back of his head throbbing and his wings frozen to his back, despite his best efforts to thaw them out.

For the first time in the handful of hours he’s been conscious, Keigo let his attention drift to his silent companion. He’d changed since the last time Keigo saw him, put on a thinner coat, one without the fine layer of ash that turned a pitch-black to a muddy, distorted grey. He hadn’t combed his hair, but Keigo might’ve been more surprised if he had. The same went for the cigarette caught between his pointer and middle fingers, a new facet, but one that felt right, one that filled the air with a cloudy, darkened smoke that made Keigo squint and frown, despite knowing he should be doing his best to stay neutral in every capacity, right now, expressions included. If Dabi noticed the slip, though, he didn’t bother with a verbal critic. His eyes were the only thing that moved, flickering in Keigo’s direction from where he leaned against the furthest wall.

For a moment, neither of them spoke, waiting for the other to cave under the pressure. Keigo was the first to relent. He could take the hit to his pride, as long as it meant finding out what was going on. “Those things can kill you, y’know.”

Another drag, slow and careless. When he exhaled, the smoke was black, sooty. As if Dabi’s lungs were just as burnt as his skin. “If they want to get the job done, they’ll have to work a little faster,” He muttered, his voice so low, Keigo wasn’t sure whether or not he was supposed to overhear. “It’s a steep competition. I’ve got other ‘suitors to entertain’, and all that bullshit. But you know all about that, don’t you?”

“If you want me to know about anything, you’re gonna have to stop talking in fucking riddles,” Keigo groaned, letting his head fall back against the bare wall. There was a jolt of pain through his skull, the ghost of something hot and thick dripping down the back of his neck, but Keigo elected to ignore the bolts of reflexive panic that shot up, in response. “This is a joke, right? The last thing I remember is you storming into the bar, hitting me over the head with a pint I wasn’t finished with, and the next thing I know, I’m tied up in some dark basement, listening to you rant about ‘suitors’ and ‘competition’. If either of us should be asking questions, it’s me.”

Now, that got Dabi to laugh, a deep chuckle that, for whatever reason, did little to ease Keigo’s nerves. He almost regretted trying to keep the tone so light. “That’s cute,” He said, letting his heel knock against the skirting as he pushed himself away from the wall. “I thought spies were supposed to be good at sweet-talkin’.”

Keigo felt his heart drop.

It wasn’t an unfamiliar sort of dread, all hollow fear and sore tightness, the same thing he felt every time someone mentioned lying, or how close he seemed with the Heroes he supposedly hated, or stared too long or failed to smile or made a comment that just wasn’t trusting enough, for Keigo’s sense of skepticism. If he’d been able to use his wings, he might’ve taken his chances, running Dabi through like an especially hostile pin-cushion or going on the defensive and hoping most of him wasn’t burnt away in the process, but he didn’t. He couldn’t. He couldn’t do anything, and fuck, he was starting to get sick of it.

He couldn’t do anything, so he didn’t try to. For a long, calculated second, he held Dabi’s gaze, his expression shocked and confused, and then, he cracked a smile, bowed his head, and forced himself to laugh.

“You’re fucking with me.” Blatant, simple, vulgar. He spoke Dabi’s language, spoke like his friend. Like he was one of them, really one of them, rather than a poorly-crafted imitation. “You have to be fucking with me. A spy? Really? If you wanted to scare me, you could’ve just--”

“The League already knows,” Dabi cut in, not bothering to indulge Keigo’s attempts to backtrack. “Took a while, but no one was that surprised to find out the hero might not be on our side. Funny how quickly all that hard work goes to waste, right?” The cigarette fell from his hand, soon caught under the toe of Dabi’s boot. “Don’t worry about the Hero Commission comin’ for their golden boy, either, I’ll make sure no one puts you over daddy’s knee. The news about our dissatisfied, glory-speaking hero should start spreading in three... four hours? Just the part about you working with us, obviously. If the rest of your valiant friends want to save face in front of their adoring fans, they’ll drop the case quickly.”

In his defense, Keigo didn’t break down. He didn’t scream, he didn’t cry, he didn’t do much of anything, not as Dabi laughed, not as he stretched, and not as slow, careless footsteps made their way across the otherwise empty room, only stopping once he reached Keigo’s kneeling form. Keigo didn’t look up. He kept his eyes fixed on the floor, concentrated on one particular crack in the concrete as Dabi lowered himself to one knee, taking his time to settle into the position. He didn’t want to look up, but he didn’t have a choice, not after Dabi’s hand clamped around his jaw, his thumb just digging into Keigo’s cheek and forcing his head back. Forcing him to take in the glint of silver staples, those hooded eyes. That smile, crooked and sharpened and so, so satisfied.

Keio felt sick.

“The guys wanted your head on a platter for it, but let that scare ya’. Took a while to calm ‘em down, but your new jewelry helped, and no one hated the idea of seeing you placed in my loving care.” There was a slight squeeze, a sudden jerk that left Keigo scrambling to catch himself and Dabi releasing an amused huff, one seemingly unaffected by his hostage’s silence. “Think of this as a favor. A gift from an old friend, an act of mercy from the only person who’s ever going to care about you, going forward.”

It was an instinctive reaction, one Keigo didn’t have to think about. Not anymore. “You’re not my friend.”

“This again,” Dabi sighed, his tone anything but sympathetic. “Need another hint, Takami?”

Keigo opened his mouth, but he didn’t get the chance to answer. Dabi was already wrenching him forward, chapped lips soon pressed against his own. The kiss was harsh, sudden and forceful enough to be bruising and thankfully, thankfully cut short as Keigo shoved at Dabi’s chest, forcing him to draw back with a throaty laugh. It only lasted a second, less than that, but it lasted long enough for Keigo to remember the last time someone kissed him like that, long enough to remember his training, the cramped rooms and thin mattresses and the tiny cots that only seemed smaller when another warm body found its way onto his. To remember a boy with white hair and smoke on his breath, a boy who died, a boy who was still dead. A boy who Keigo had to tell himself time and time again couldn’t be in front of him, couldn’t be alive, couldn’t be Dabi.

A boy with a cracked smile, one that never seemed genuine, whose touch was too harsh and whose kiss was too hard and who thought he loved Keigo, who thought he could love Keigo.

Who thought Keigo could love him back, if he didn’t have another option.

“Touya.”

Dabi only let go of his jaw, taking Keigo by his collar, instead. Keigo didn’t look at him. He couldn’t look at Dabi, but he didn’t have to. He could feel the tug forward, the smile as a soft, chaste kiss was pressed into the top of his head. “I thought you’d never come around,” Dabi, no, Touya whispered, his teeth ghosting over Keigo’s skin.

“Miss me, sweetheart?”

[skylights2000]

The Things I Never Said (Fuyuhiko x Reader)

~

This is inspired by a game I’m playing right now. It’s called ‘Far From Noise’, and it’s about a person who’s teetering on the edge of a cliff and goes through their thought process as they face this near death experience. I haven’t finished the game yet, so this is really just a story based on the main idea of that game.

I’ve never written anything like this, but I hope you enjoy this story, so let’s get going. 💜

~~~~

So this is it.

The end of everything.

So much for clearing your head.

Soon you wouldn’t even HAVE a head.

You stared out at the horizon that stretched out before you, far beyond the cliff your car was teetering on the edge of.

The world seemed endless from this point of view, like the ocean stretched on forever.

It sparkled and shined under the light of the slowly setting sun.

You wondered what it would look like when you finally fell.

Would it send a shower of sparkling water into the sky?

Would crystal raindrops fall in front of your eyes?

You’d always liked the rain.

There were worse things to see when you died.

Died.

The reality of that death was hanging in front of you.

It was sad really.

Ending on so many regrets.

So many things you never said.

Your phone vibrated from its place in the cup holder.

It was a message from Sonia.

Who said you couldn’t say those things now?

You picked up your phone and hit call.

“Hello?”

“Hey Sonia.”

“Y/n? Where are you?”

“Hah..It’s a long story. Let’s just say I’m stuck somewhere. I’m not sure how long I’ve got, and I have other calls to make, so I’ll make it quick. Sorry I don’t have more time to explain.”

“Hey! Where the fuck are ya?!” Miu yelled in the background, and you smiled.

“Good, Miu is with you too. Can you put it on speaker?”

“Y/n-“

“Just listen, okay?” When they didn’t say anything, you continued. “Thank you both for everything you’ve done for me. Sonia, you helped me learn to be confident. You always knew when I was feeling bad, and you were there to comfort me every time. Miu, you were always there to drag me out of my house when I needed it. You taught me to stand up for myself and not take anybody’s shit. You two are the reason I got out of my shell and learned to take some risks. Thank you for always being there when I needed a push in the right direction. I love you guys.”

“Why’re ya talkin’ like ya ain’t comin’ back?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

You hung up before they could ask any more questions. Next was Kazuichi.

“What’s up?”

You heard talking in the background. “Who’s with you?”

“Hajime and Gundham. Why?”

“Can you put your phone on speaker?”

“Uh yea-“ You heard a click, and two voices came through at the same time, both greeting you.

“Hey guys, sorry for calling so suddenly. I just wanted to say something.”

“What’s wrong?” Hajime asked, and you couldn’t help but smile. He was always the most observant one.

“Don’t worry about it. Just listen for a minute.” You waited a second, and when you were met with silence, you spoke up again. “You guys have been really good friends to me. Kazuichi, you taught me how to fix a flat tire and always cheered me up when I was down. Hajime, you’re an empath, and it really shows. You always knew what I was thinking, and you never stopped caring for me. Gundham, you taught me about the supernatural and reminded me that the past doesn’t define me. I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for being there for me and for being my friends. I love you guys.”

Your voice was shaking, so you hung up before they could respond.

One last person.

Of course, he always had to be one step ahead.

Your phone lit up, Fuyuhiko’s picture flashing across the screen. You answered the call, and held the phone up to your ear.

“Will you hurry the fuck up an’ let me in?! I’ve been knockin’ on your damn door for almost five minutes!”

“I’m not at home.”

“Huh? Where are you?”

“On the edge of a cliff.”

“What the- Don’t joke about shit like that!”

“I’m not joking. Some drunk guy ran me off the road.”

There was a moment of silence before you heard him yelling to someone, probably Peko.

“Where are you?” He asked quickly.

“I don’t think there’s a point.”

“Where the fuck are you, (Y/n)?!”

You gave him the name of the street you’d been driving on and heard him shout it to Peko.

“Fuyuhiko-“

“Don’t!” He hissed angrily, but there was a hint of desperation in it. “Don’t say my name like you’re never gonna see me again!”

“I might not.”

“Shut up! What kinda dumbass are you?! I’m gonna find you!”

You chuckled breathily. Maybe you were losing it?

“Why the fuck are you laughin’?!”

“You called me that when we met, remember? I ran into you by accident. ‘Watch where you’re goin’, dumbass!’” You quoted his words with a smile.

“You remember that shit?”

“Course I do. It was a pretty memorable meeting.” You chuckled.

“How the fuck are you so calm?”

“I don’t know. I guess it’s cause I finally got to say everything I wanted. Well, almost everything.”

“Whaddya mean ‘almost’?”

“There’s one thing I haven’t gotten to say to you.”

“Well fuckin’ say it, then.”

You looked out at the pink sky, beautiful and bright.

“...You’re a good guy. Despite what you think sometimes, there are people that care about you and want to be around you just because they like you. Not everyone wants something from you. They’re not all using you for their benefit. Underneath the whole Ultimate Yakuza thing, you’re a big sweetheart. You care for the people close to you, and you’d do anything to protect them.”

“He-Hey! Don’t say such sappy shi-“

“You’re a hypocrite though. You always insist that I shouldn’t be around you, that it’s dangerous, and I could get hurt, but you come to my house, and you cheer me up, and you’re always there when I’m in trouble. You’re the biggest hypocrite I’ve ever met because you constantly tell me not to care about you, but you come around and make me laugh and tell me about your life and your family. You come to me after your missions when you’re injured and tired, and I always take care of you, and you stay at my house, and we watch movies until we fall asleep. You nag me to dress warm when it’s cold and yell at me when I work too much at one time. You’ve met my mother, and she loves you, and you know more about me than anyone else. You come around and tell me not to care, but you make me care so much because you’re just so..so you! You’re you, and I’m me, and I care, and I can’t stop caring because I don’t know how, and I don’t want to! I want to care! I want to love you, and I do!” You rushed all the words out and sucked in a breath when you were finished.

“I..love you. I love you so much that I smile when I think of you, my heart beats too fast when you smile, I worry constantly when you’re on a mission, and I wanna cry from relief when you get back. I love you, Fuyuhiko.”

There was a long moment of complete silence before “Fuck, why say that now?! Why wait until you might die to tell me that?!” His voice cracked, and you winced when you realized he was crying. “You’re an idiot! An absolute fuckin’ idiot, an’ I swear to god if you die, I’ll hunt down your ghost and kick your ass, (Y/n)!” He breathed in shakily. “So live goddammit.” He pleaded, and your heart felt like it was being squeezed to death.

“I’ll do my best..” You murmured in response.

Your phone beeped, and static crackled in your ear.

“Fuyuhiko?”

More static met you in response, and you sighed when the automated voice told you the call had been disconnected.

You tried the ignition one more time, but the engine only sputtered before going dead again.

“Hurry up guys..” You mumbled nervously.

~

The 20 minutes that followed felt like the longest of your life. You were exhausted but too nervous to fall asleep.

You were clinging to a single thread of hope, but as the sun set and night began to fall, that thread began to wear thin.

Just as it was ready to snap, light flooded through the back windshield, followed by several screams of your name. You leaned your head out the window as best as you could without leaning forward to far.

“I’m in here!” You called.

You were surprised to see not just Fuyuhiko and Peko, but also everyone else too. Directions were being shouted as half of them leaned on the back of the car, and the other half reached for you. Hands caught your arms, your waist, your legs, anything they could reach, and pulled. You squeezed your eyes shut and jumped, trusting them to catch you. They pulled even harder, all of you falling into a pile on solid ground.

It took literally all of you, but you even managed to pull you car off the edge too. As soon as that was done though, they all engulfed you in a huge hug.

You were still buzzing off adrenaline, barely managing to process their tearful happiness that you were safe.

Suddenly, everyone started leaving, all awkwardly claiming they had somewhere to be. Even Peko gave you a quick hug and said goodbye.

In a flash, they were gone, piling into cars that disappeared down the street.

“What the hell were you thinkin’?!”

Despite his angry outburst, Fuyuhiko wrapped you up in the tightest hug you’d ever received. “I can’t..breathe..” You choked out.

“Too bad.” He grumbled angrily, but he still loosened his grip.

You curled your arms around him with a soft sigh. “I’m sorry.”

“Huh?”

“For worrying you...and for what I said.”

“Why the hell’re you apologizin’ for that?”

“I mean, I get that you probably don’t feel that way for me. If you want, you can just forget abo-“

“No.” He stated bluntly, the scowl on his face contrasted greatly by the blush slowly creeping across his cheeks. “I’m not gonna forget it, and you aren’t either.”

“But-“

“I..” He looked away from you, that blush spreading all the way to the tips of his ears. “I-I love you too.”

You couldn’t do anything but just gape at him, shock branded across your face.

The longer you stared silently at him, the more nervous he felt. Hell, he didn’t even get nervous on potentially deadly missions, so how the fuck can one person make him feel like a nervous wreck?!

“Stop standin’ there an’ fuckin’ do somethin’!” He snapped, knocking you out of your disbelieving thoughts.

“I’m not dreaming?”

“No, you’re not fuckin’ dreamin’.” He grumbled. “This is re-“

You grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss. His stuttered words were muffled against your mouth.

This was real.

You smiled against his lips as you kissed him again. You ran your fingers up the nape of his neck and into his short hair. You held him close, like he would disappear if you let go, and eventually he kissed you back, his arms tightening around you.

You pulled away after several minutes and just grinned, your face just as flushed as his.

“I love you.” You repeated your earlier words breathlessly.

He nudged you away, straightening his tie embarrassedly, but even in the dark, there was no mistaking the smile on his own face.

“I love you too, loser.”

[breanime]

Theoretically if rio's cute neighbour, the one that watched his son, was being harassed by an ex or just some creepy guy. What would rio do?

So you can find the first neighbor headcannon list here. Also, this headcannon list got long as hell... haha, sorry?

*gif not mine*

Rio had been out of town for the last week, handling business

He’d texted you to let you know he’d be back soon--

--partly to be a good neighbor, and partly cause he wanted to see you

The two of you weren’t dating, but there was definitely something between you

(sexual tension)

And Rio was eager to see where it would go

He walked down the hall to his apartment, his bag slung over his shoulder, glad to be back in his own space

Then he saw your door

The wood was cracked, as if someone had punched it or something, and Rio stopped dead in his tracks

He knocked on your door, eyebrows knitted

You answered with a bat in your hands

“Huh...” Rio said, eyes roaming your body--from your tense posture to the bat in your hands to the tired, exhausted look in your eyes. “... Rough week without me, mama?”

“Oh, Rio,” you sighed, and Rio watched your body relax, “Sorry. I was just--”

“Expecting someone else?” He asked, walking into your apartment. 

He dropped his bag at the foot of the couch and turned to you, frowning

Rio watched as you locked both locks on the door behind him; he’d been in your place about 100 times now, and he’d never seen you do that before

“Yeah, kind of...” You answered. “How was your trip?”

“Fine,” he answered, sticking his hands in his pockets, “but I don’t wanna talk about that right now. Let’s talk about you.” He titled his head. “What’s going on here?”

You sighed again, and Rio wanted to hold you. You were stressed, and he longed to fix it

“I’ve just...” You crossed your arms, hugging yourself. “I don’t want to bother you with it.”

Rio took a few steps forward, until he was in front of you. He eyed you seriously. Someone so beautiful, he thought, shouldn’t look so sad. Not when he was around to help. 

“Bother me,” he said softly, his voice firm but low

“Last year...” You began, looking down. “...I dated this guy, and he was just...” You shook your head. “He was an ass. We broke up, and I never heard from him again... till a week ago... The night before you left.”

Rio’s eyes narrowed; he remembered that night. He’d taken you out for drinks before his trip, spending the night smiling and laughing with you. He’d gotten a call in the middle of it, and when he came back to the table, he saw a man walking away. But you hadn’t said anything about it, and you seemed fine, so he didn’t ask about it.

“The guy from the restaurant...” Rio said, nodding to himself. “That’s your ex.”

“He saw us out, and when you stepped away, he came up to me--but all he did was say hi. He wasn’t weird or aggressive or anything,” you said back, “But then he... I guess he found out where I lived...”

“Yeah,” Rio licked his lips, “that his handy work on the door?”

“Yeah,” you nodded back, “Every day since that night, he’s been calling me nonstop and showing up here, pounding on the door. I called the cops, but they said there’s nothing they can do unless he actually hurts me, so--”

“I got you,” Rio said, grabbing his bag 

He turned to go, but you held onto his arm.

“What are you gonna do?” You asked, eyes wide.

He looked down at you

On one hand, he could lie to you, keep up the polite charade that he made his money the legal way, that his business was simply in “providing capital” like he’d told you once before. The two of you hadn’t ever explicitly discussed what he did, but Rio knew you knew his vague descriptions of his business were just that: pointedly vague

But on the other hand... he could tell you the truth. Maybe you’d be cool with it.

Or maybe you’d shy away and turn from him. 

Either way, he was going to handle this for you, but he couldn’t deny--

--he wanted you to be ok with it. With him. For some reason, as Rio looked down at you, he saw something special, something that made him feel protective of you, something beyond the lust and friendly affection he had for you

When he looked at you, he saw a partner

 “I’ma tell him that the next time he so much glances up at this apartment,” Rio answered evenly, “I’m gonna put a bullet between his eyes. And if he doesn’t like that, I’ll put him down then and there.”

“You... You’d do that for me?” You asked, pretty eyes wide

“I’d of had this handled already if you would’ve told me before,” he confessed, reaching out to cup your face in his hand, “but since I’m here now, I’ll handle it personally.” He leaned down, his mouth just inches from yours. Rio wanted to kiss you so badly, he felt the desire in every part of him with you so close. “Stay here,” he told you, “I’ll be back in a few hours.”

He didn’t move, though, and neither did you.

Your hand flexed on his bicep, wanting to bring him even closer. “Rio, I...thank you.”

He smirked. “Don’t thank me yet.” He leaned in closer, about to say something else

And then you kissed him

Rio had kissed a lot of women in his life (a lot...like a lot a lot...)

But never had a pair of lips felt so good against his own. 

Rio’s arms wrapped around you, and he silently marveled at how perfectly you fit against him. He titled his head, slipping his tongue into your mouth, and you moaned into him. 

Chuckling, Rio’s hands went to your waist, and he led you towards the couch

You took a hold of his collar and dragged him down onto the couch with you, your legs wrapping around his waist as he laid on top of you

“Baby,” he chuckled into your lips, “I gotta go.”

“I know,” you said back, grinning, “I just need a few more minutes...”

He laughed. “For what?” He asked, even as he dipped his head down to start kissing your neck. The little sounds you made when his lips ghosted against your skin were driving him wild. 

...the ex might have to wait a bit.

Rio was kissing your collarbones while lifting up your shirt when a loud band sounded behind him

You jumped, but Rio just turned lazily, one eyebrow raised

“It’s him,” you whispered, and when Rio looked down at you, he could see the fear in your eyes

This, he decided, would be the last time you would ever look like that

“Relax,” he said, his voice low and calm. He leaned down and kissed you sweetly, and he felt you relax under his touch. “I got this. Just stay here,  mi bonita chica.”

Rio got up, kissing the top of your head as you sat up, and reached down into his bag.

“Y/N,” the banging was louder now, “I’m not playing with you--open this damn door right now!”

Rio grinned--it would be his pleasure

Rio opened the door and leaned on the doorway, a lazy smirk on his face. “Hey,” he greeted the man, “you know this is a private residence?”

The man blinked, taking a step back, and Rio chuckled. He knew this type: big, loud, and bad--until someone badder came around. 

“Wh--what the hell are you doing here...?” The man asked, craning his neck to try to peek into the apartment. 

“Yo,” Rio stood up straight, shaking his head, “What you lookin’ for? Huh?” He stepped up, and your ex stepped back again. “Y/N?” He asked. “She ain’t your concern no more, homie. I am.”

“I--I don’t--”

“Oh,” Rio chuckled, “That’s right, I’m sorry. I haven’t introduced myself.” He whipped out his gun, pointing it directly at the guy’s paling face. “I’m Rio. I’m the man Y/N’s currently seeing, and she wanted me to let you know that this shit,” he waved the gun, the smile no longer on his face, and the man backed up into the wall, eyes wide with terror, “Is done with. You stop callin’, you stop comin’ around, and you definitely stop trying to intimidate her into talkin’ to you. Matter of fact,” Rio went on, “the next time you see her, you better get the fuck away, cause if I hear about you even breathing in the same space as her again,” he stepped up and pressed the golden gun into the guy’s forehead, “I can’t promise I’ll stay this controlled. Is that understood?”

The ex nodded, looking like a bobblehead with his huge eyes “I---”

“No no no,” Rio smiled, “don’t speak.” He glanced back at you, you were standing in front of the couch now, watching. “You got any cash on you?”

He nodded

“Great,” Rio said brightly, “let’s see it.”

The guy reached into his pocket and took out his wallet, handing it over to Rio

“Mm...” Rio eyed his ID, memorizing the name and address for later use. “This looks like just enough to cover the cost of repairing the door,” he said, taking out a wad of bills, “and a lil extra for emotional damage.”

Rio threw the wallet back at your ex, who caught it, eyes never leaving the gun in Rio’s hand

“Okay now...” Rio grinned. “Run.”

He didn’t have to say it twice, your ex scurried away so quickly, that he fell half-way down the hall and just crawled into the elevator. If Rio didn’t know any better, he’d say he smelt piss in the hall now...

Rio closed your door, tossing the gun--which was empty--onto his bag on the floor

He turned to you, laughing when you launched yourself into his arms

“Thank you,” you said, your head buried in his chest, “thank you, thank you, thank you--”

“I told you,” he said, smiling down at you, “I got you. And yo, I was thinkin’...” He held up the cash. “...why don’t you use this on some self-defense lessons, just for fun?”

“But what about the door?”

“Ah, baby,” he leaned down, kissing you, “that’s what we got a super for!”

*******************************************************************************************

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think! 

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[nighttimepixels]

TALK TO US ABOUT MASS EFFECT I HAVE BEEN AN INSANE MASS EFFECT/SHAKARIAN TRASH PERSON SINCE 20-FUCKING-11 AND LEMME TELL YOU THOSE FEELINGS HAVENOT TARNISHED A SINGLE FRACTION IN THOSE TEN YEARS OH MY GOOOOOOODDDSSSS!!!!!!!

I DEMAND A PLAY-BY-PLAY UP TO THE MINUTE OF YOUR REACTIONS TO EVERYTHING!!!!

you are so valid and I totally see why everyone I've ever mentioned it to loves the hell out of it

aksdjlsdfj I meannnn if you want to hear my rambling about it then hell yeah

Okay, gonna put this below the cut to save everyone else XD also- since I'm not leaving this Mass Effect obsession anytime soon, if you're not interested in seeing occasional posts about it, please feel free to block the tag "night plays ME"~

(mild spoilers ahead??)

((also for real I mean it when I say this is rambling as hell lol, apologies and no stress if absolute no one reads all this))

OKAY SO Mass Effect 1-

Stars help me, I was honestly hooked right from the start?? Like even in Legendary Edition (the combined trilogy just re-released in one "can play it on one system + minor improvements", for anyone who doesn't know) where it's smoothed out, of course it's obvious that ME1 is a decade old... but the foundation for these relationships are all there and gods I love them already.

Like - Kaiden right off the top is a delightful good fightin lad, what the hell. I've heard that he's viewed as 'bland' by a good portion of the fan community but I dunno, he's a delight and even more complex by the time 2 rolls around and you encounter him on Horizon, it was honestly Ashley I was way more meh about - mostly because before you can learn about her family history/etc, she comes off as hella xenophobic and I was immediately offended for my growing space family that she didn't like/trust all the aliens around, pfff.

(she gets redeemed a bit through further actions/evolving thoughts, but I thought in retrospect it was a bummer that they didn't flip the order there, give her a chance to be liked before the complicating factor of being so rude about aliens >:c that then she could grow from... ah well. Apparently she has a good arc but uh, let's just say I chose Kaiden at the "key junction" in the latter part of the game so I won't be seeing anymore of Ashley uh... anytime soon, haha.)

Garrus??? Is??????? The ABSOLUTE best???????????

I liked him from the start, I'm always a bit of a sucker for a rogue-detective "the system won't bring this bastard to justice, so I've got to" type and all their moral shadiness XD But he just gets better, honestly, and where I'm at in ME2 (right before the Reaper IFF mission, as of typing this, with everyone's loyalty!) I am only digging myself deeper into this hole-

-*wheezing* okay anyways -

Wrex is AMAZING I love fightin' middle-aged krogan bastard, gods. Liara is great too, I'm a sucker for a wlw relationship (playing fem!Shepard, so) - buuuut I'll admit she's a bit more one-note in ME1. Last week while I was still on ME1 I remember hearing (while trying to dodge spoilers) that her arc is really good, though. I think they leaned a little hard on the 'innocent but sexy' sterteotype on her (so despite the yikes aspect of a few of the things I've learned in ME2, lol, I actually really like the complexity that's been added to her character.)

Saved Liara first, so by the time I got to Noveria and had the standoff with Benezia there was the chance to have emotions over Liara having to face her TwT and of course, I made the questionable but quality decision to free Queen Rachni heheh. no ragrets

More than a blow-by-blow of my choices though I totally wanna take the chance to say that even in the mild jankiness of ME1 (goddammit, the Mako.... please..... please just go up this impossible cliff I just want to resource hunt-) the way that the lore, both obvious/key to main plot and the lesser/filler/background/world-building kinds... I just love it. It incorporates it well, you can go ham in the codex learning more, or just dive into the basics - it's clearly a complex galaxy (and they do an even better job in 2 of fleshing it out further), and it never really felt overwhelming. It was pretty natural figuring it all out-!

Plus the interesting implications of resource hunting amongst the sapient races, and the little side missions you better bet I did every one of- there's so much rich depth in the story if you do 'em!! (And that lead with that Keeper side mission...? Looking back, damn, clever foreshadowing-!!!)

And oh my gods, Ilios??? hell yeah. I loved that mission so much, especially having Garrus & Kaiden with me when talking to the hologram/computer, and more than anything, that last sprint in the Mako trying to get to the jump before it closed-???

yeet the boi-

Also mannn I love a good setpiece, and having to go up the side of the elevator, space-side?? such a cool setup!!

Plus it felt good having been Paragon enough (as simple as the good v bad vibe system is, I don't hate it, lol) to avoid one of the Saren fights, ngl. And the er, "second fight" with Sovereign-Saren.... hell yeah

... I'll admit I had to double check my choice re whether to save the Council. I did in the end, but I swear, sometimes the way they phrase things I'm like ".... okay but Garrus is right, defeating Sovereign is more important than these few leaders??????" woops. Listen, priorities, is all I'm saying..... (￣ヮ￣|||)ゞ

'Course later they emphasize (in ME2) that there were 10,000 people on that same ship and I was like well I wouldn't have second guessed if I'd known that, I mean c'mon-

Also I did indeed romance Liara in this one, so I got that scene ;Dc But,,,, I also knew by the end that I was totally gonna romance Garrus in 2 since he's an option then finally,,,,, lemme tell you the guilt as I waffled over whether to romance Liara bc of it. hahaha.

Aaaaand Mass Effect 2-

So I'm only up to right before the Reaper IFF Mission, so I don't know the ending, etc etc lol. That said, I've just finished every side mission I've found with the exception of the Shadowbroker Quest and the Arrival Quest (I've heard the latter basically leads into ME3, and the former is best either right before the Omega 4 jump or in postgame).

So from the start - fuck yeah fuck yeah what a high adrenaline start Shepard noooooo but also yes save Joker aH-

The motion comic too hot damn nice job

I loved this setup, seriously - especially forcing Shep into this situation, having to work with/for Cerberus, and the compelling reasoning given behind "why" they do what they do (I especially found it a good point that the Salarians have the Task Force, the Asaris the Commandos, the Turians the- etc... like, true, when you put it like that, having a similar group advancing human interests/solving human interstellar problems is pretty reasonable...). That said, I love too that it really isn't shied away from how Cerberus is nonetheless fucked up - or its at least done fucked up stuff.

Listen, I still think some messed up stuff is gonna be revealed in 2's endgame......... after that Horizon mission and the Collector's ship???? TIM I SEE YOU YOU SHADY MF-

aaanyways lol...

I'm so so glad on a gameplay level they nixed the Mako style exploration. A few Hammerhead missions are fine and a lot more focused than the slippery ass navigation in that glorified ATV, pfff. The probes are a neat way of getting after similar resources - and more importantly, having good levels and some good hubs (the Zakera Wards, Omega, Ilium, etc) is way way more fun than having a more 'sprawling' space that is.... a lot of empty nonsense, lol.

Then there's the fact that we get Joker right off the bat and you can interact with him so much - and him and EDI??? Get out gods I love them. Kasumi is so right when she says they sound like a bickering old married couple lol. I have a terrible feeling that some shit is gonna happen with EDI..... but I don't think she's evil as-is, at least.

Side-eying the hell out of those "access forbidden" parts of her that she doesn't even know.... and the fact that her AI core has a locked door access................... something's gonna happen gdi LEAVE OUR ADOPTED AI ALONE.

(Also Joker pls stop fracturing your thumb on the mute button)

Also please save me there are so many hot aliens in this game,,,,, the xeno/monsterfuckers really comin' through strong in the sequels............... doin' the lord's work........................................

In general, I love how many levels ME stepped up in two with complexity and interwoven narratives!! Like, to the point it'd be almost a drag to replay ME1, even though it was fun going through it (if occasionally a bit tedious with the cookie cutter rando planet science/mine facilities, lol). Like, just from how fun and interesting ME2 is, mostly! more of all the pre-introduced races, plus new ones, plus more filling in of intragalactic politics, and more interesting implications of all these space-faring races mixing....

Also gods WREX and his planet holy shit,,,,, fuckin' hell yeah my man get their shit together and also adopt Grunt yes good-

And Mordin??? My singing semi-evil scientist best friend forced to confront his choices more than he thought he ever would have???? With some of the best ongoing general report chatter of all the companions??

(when I tell you I choked on my coffee when I talked to him after confirming romance choice w/ Garrus and that 'pamphlet' and 'anaphalactic shot if ingesting-' kajsldkfjsldfjk)

Like, fuck, the fact that they actually dive into the mixed morality and horrors of the genophage, and you can confront Mordin on it, for good reason, yet he still stands his ground, until finally some bits of his loyalty mission seem to... affect him, and I'm guessing might set up things for 3 with him? Unsure, but either way, damn, the fact that they start to dig into it...

And Taliiiii my beloved forbidden alien wife TwT her loyalty mission was SO GOOD. I love how varied they all are?? Getting to defend her and discover what she'd unwittingly been a part of-!!

Zaeed is a bastard but tbh I love that he is and that he's unapologetic in him - and Kasumi omg, best thief. A heist?? Gods, yes- I love our couch lounge chats XD

Samara is..... illegally.......... she's an illegally powerful and beautiful and eloquent MILF...........................

(.... listen I'm sapphic as hell and I'm kicking my own ass for picking her up last aksjdlfksjdfl - but her loyalty mission, damn. And seeing how there's this interesting cultural subset, and the struggle with the Asari in that they unquestioningly accept/respect justicars, but also know that the impact outside their culture is a diplomacy nightmare waiting to happen-)

,.,,,,,T,,, Thane,,,,,

I am weak for morally implicated murder dads okay?? And that voice??? His mannerisms?????? How you first see him, and that prayer after assassinating her...???????? And his history/his people's history with the hanar, gods I love how messy it is, it feels so much more real!

Also Jack is a mess and I love her (and want to get her some therapy, omg), and her and Miranda nearly duking it out after you've done both their loyalty missions??? so good and makes a lot of sense-! Honestly I would love more interactions between teammates on the ship, but there's already so much the devs had to balance I can't blame 'em for minimizing, heh. But suffice to say I also love Miranda and Jacob, even if I'm softest for my alien crew XD Hell yeah Jacob, we'll get loud and spill drinks on the citadel indeed TwT

.... I could write a whole essay on how much I love Garrus oTL Perhaps because he and Tali are the throughlines from 1 on your 2 crew, I have some of the strongest feelings about them... but genuinely, he was one of my favorite companions in the first game, and how you find him as Archangel in two? Getting to help him fight his way out after he's gone nearly 48 hours straight fighting off three gangs alone, jfc. His vengeance quest and what can happen there.... That line? fuck me, that line -

It's so much easier to see the world in black and white. Grey? I don't know what to do with gray...

How DARE you come for my heart like this, devs holy shit

(also, some other choice faves so far from the series from him include We can disobey suicidal orders?? and This wasn't in my training manual... [in 1, if you have him with you @ th Thorian fight] and his whole.... pop the heat sink - in his romance ;Dc)

asdasdfksadjfkl like I said I can write an essay on him PFFF suffice to say I'm very looking forward to his romance scene and where things go in 3

But yeah gods I'm just gonna keep rambling if I'm not careful lol. Gods I don't even know what to talk about it's all so good and while I can understand people roasting the obviousness of Paragon V Renegade (v neutral) choices/alignments, I think they do a pretty damn good job in 2 of pushing it further - to the point that there were some times that I accidentally got renegade points and I wasn't that mad, haha. There's so much fun in the interactions that I just have a good time anyways~

I have so many thoughts about TIM (The Illusive Man) and Cerberus.... theories evolving galore............... and like, what the hell!! Omega 4 going to the center of the galaxy is such a cool twist, goddamn - though my heart still breaks at losing Kaiden (his line if you haven't romanced him?? about feeling like he lost a limb when he lost you??? holy shit.... but I also can't blame him for not trusting Cerberus to the point of it affecting his ability to trust Shepard... like fuck Shep go after himmmm) I'm really excited to see where that goes since he comes back in 3, and what the fuck happens with Cerberus bc while I love the fact that obviously there are a lot of people in it for the right reasons, doing good work, there are those that are doing the opposite, and I have a very bad feeling about where TIM will end up landing....

All that said though I need to do the Reaper IFF mission (where I'm lightly spoiled as to getting That Boy, but not how/what happens to make it so - just that it's apparently wise to have all your side missions done before getting him...) and the actual Omega 4 jump. So we'll see what happens and what I think about it from there heheh!

.... major kudos and genuine props if you made it here to the end, I am so sorry for not editing on condensing all this, and appreciate you so much ;w;