#and no one would probably ask unless they notice how her foot leans inwardly

[vhgr]

myrsini & injuries.

myrsini broke her ankle when she was fourteen years old by sneaking out of her chambers' window and so, her father refused to allow the maester to treat her. as a consequence, her left ankle/foot has a very subtle turn inwardly. it's a very small detail for which you really have to look out for, only really noticeable if myrsini is standing straight with her feet together. if she has to walk for long hours and carry heavy things, it aches enough for her to limp. from this same fall, she has a very faint scar across the tail of her left brow.

[highonchocolate]

Take Two: The Guardian in Gotham Chapter 7

First   Previous   Next   Ao3

As Marinette made her way out of the room, Dick turned back to Jason and Tim, the two of them wearing identical frowns he knew were mirrored on his face. “That conversation was not normal at all. That stuff she said about the man being over 150 years old..I get the feeling she isn’t just a regular civilian after all.” Tim and Jason nodded in agreement. “Do you think she was talking about the Lazarus Pits?” Tim asked, pulling up his computer and beginning a new search on their guest. “That man she was talking about seemed to be her mentor, but I didn’t understand the last sentence she said. It wasn’t in any language I know.” “She sounded fuckin’ terrified after hearing whatever that friend of hers told her.” Jason inputted, leaning forward. “Maybe we can try to hear the other end of the conversation, maybe that will help.” Dick said, turning to Tim hopefully. “Yeah, okay, just give me like fifteen minutes. I have to find her phone on the Manor WiFi and go from there, since she took it with her and I can't just directly hack in.” Dick nodded. “Do we want to tell Bruce now, or wait until we’re sure nothing crazy is going on?” “Let’s wait, I don’t need the old man getting worked up, only for this to be a false alarm.” Jason sighed, hands fiddling absentmindedly at the empty space where his guns usually sat. 

Noticing the movement, Dick laughed inwardly. ‘It’s like a little baby looking for his teddy bear!’ He wasn’t dumb enough to say it out loud though, he knew Jason would probably shoot him in the kneecaps if he dared to insinuate he used his guns as teddy bears. 

“I got it.” Tim’s voice interrupted his train of thought, fingers flying over the keyboard as he pulled up the call. They leaned forward to hear as he pressed play.

---

Flopping down onto her bed, Marinette let out an exhausted sigh before grabbing her pillow and screaming into it. Tikki rushed to comfort her, flying up to her face and gently nudging her cheek. “It’s okay Marinette-” Her sentence was immediately cut off by another loud groan/wail. “Tikki! What am I supposed to do?! Talia probably knows the Miraculi are active in Paris! What if she targets Maman and Papa? Oh no I’m such an awful Guardian Tikki! I’m going to get everyone killed!” 

She was interrupted by Wayzz, who flew over with a warm cup of tea balanced precariously on his paws. Since he couldn’t see over the top, he nearly crashed into Kaalki, who let out a little shriek and sped out of the way. Her lips twitched upwards at the sight, and she quickly grabbed the tea before it could fall. 

“Marinette you’re not an awful Guardian! Nobody can figure out a Holder’s identity unless they catch them detransforming, or the Holder tells them. So your parents aren’t in any danger!” Tikki explained, nestling in her hair and reached down to pat her on the forehead reassuringly. “Well not in any more danger than usual, what with the Akuma attacks happening almost every other day.” The girl quipped. “But the League could still try and talk to us after an Akuma attack before we detransform. Or they could just follow us until we detransform, and then attack our families.” She rolled over in bed, letting out a yelp when she jostled her foot. 

“Hey Roarr,” She called out. “Didn’t you say that the Order is more powerful than the League, even now?” The striped pink Kwami nodded in agreement. “Yes, Marinette. You are one of the strongest Guardians in history, and since your team is composed entirely of True Holders, the Order is definitely stronger than the League right now.” As she turned the information over in her mind, bits and pieces of a plan began to form. “Well, I could tell them I’m the Guardian...and maybe that will discourage them from trying to attack the rest of the team?” Before any of the Kwami could respond she sat up excitedly. “Oh I know! I’ll tell them I am the Guardian, and part of the Order. And warn them of the consequences that will occur if they try and attack any of us. And even if they do try, I can just transform and take them down using Mullo, Trixx, and Tikki!” She pumped a fist in the air proudly, before turning to the Kwami to see what they thought. Tikki and Wayzz looked like they were contemplating the idea, the rest of the Kwami were either vehemently shaking their heads, or nodding vigorously. Finally Tikki spoke up “I think...that would be alright, but only if they approach you first, okay?” Marinette nodded. “Of course! There is no way I’m actively going to look for ninja assassins!”

---

“Hey Chloé, what’s up?” Marinette’s voice crackled over the speaker. “Maribug! Fu’s completely lost it!”  The other girl-Chloé shrieked over the phone. “Tone it down a bit, Chlo. What do you mean?” Marinette asked. “He won’t stop mumbling to himself, and at random times he’ll just stare at the wall blankly!” The girl answered, though at a much quieter volume. “Well, I think that behavior should be normal for a man that just had memories from over 150 years of his life erased.” Marinette responded in French. 

At that, Jason reached over and paused the recording. “So their mentor is this ‘Fu’ guy, and he had his memories erased. That’s not normal Pit stuff. When I was dunked in, I still remembered everything, I just also wanted to kill everything I came across. Same with all the other fuckers that used it. Memory loss wasn’t a thing.” “Okay, so we can cross off the Pits, but that still doesn’t explain this dude being that old.” Tim agreed. “Let’s keep listening I guess.”

“No he says the Demon is coming!” At those words, the three of them tensed, but continued to listen. “Chloé,” Marinette spoke, “you need to tell me his exact words. Now.” Her voice hardened at the end, and the other girl immediately became serious. “It was mostly mumbling, and I couldn’t make out most of what he said, but I heard something about Al Guhl, and eternal life.” This time Dick was the one who hit the pause button. “How the fuck does she know about the League?!” Jason burst out, looking unsettled and angry. “I don’t know, but we might have to keep an eye on her.” Tim stated, looking worried at the idea of them hosting an assassin in their house. “Okay, let’s see if they say anything about being a part of the League.” Dick frowned, reaching over to press play. 

“You’re absolutely sure he said that? You weren’t just hearing things?”  Marinette asked, voice filled with barely-concealed panic. “Yeah, that's exactly what he said. Is something wrong?” Chloé responded, sounding worried. Marinette let out a strained laugh. She said something in another language, which caused the other to inhale sharply and let out a curse. “Yeah, we’re totally fucked.” 

“Okay then, looks like she’s not a part of the League I guess.” Dick frowned. “Maybe the League is an enemy of hers? Sorry, theirs?” “Okay maybe, but what does anything in Paris have to do with the League?” Tim responded. “I don’t know, maybe we can ask the rest of the JL if they’ve heard anything from Paris, or France in general.” He said, standing up and stretching. “Why can’t our lives be fucking  normal  for once?!” Jason groaned as they headed to the Cave.

---

“HI everyone!” Lila sang as she entered the classroom on Monday. “You’ll never guess where I went this weekend!” Pausing, she waited expectantly for the excited exclamations of her classmates wondering where she went, who she met, and how many celebrities she had turned down because they wanted to date her. But when no one responded, she felt her smile turn cold. 

Looking at Marinette’s empty chair, her mouth twisted into a smirk, ready to spin new tales of her exploits in foreign countries. Poisoned words, dripping in honey to hide their bitter taste, spilled from her lips. “Oh is Marinette still gone? I didn’t think she could get any worse, but now she’s skipping school as well?!” Faking sadness, she made her lower lip wobble; shoulders hunching in on herself in a false display of timidness. “I tried asking her for a second chance to prove myself since she hates me so much, but she slammed her door in my face and told me to get out!” Still, there was nothing but silence. She looked up, and saw her classmates huddled together around Adrien’s desk.

Gritting her teeth, she sauntered over to them, heels clicking against the hardwood floor. “Hey guys, what’s up?” She asked, voice sweetened to cover up the irritation. “Oh hey Lila!” Mylene looked up, noticing her presence. “What’s up?” She repeated, pushing back the frustration beginning to bleed into her tone. “Oh, well Marinette’s in America now!” Alya told her, nearly vibrating with excitement. “We don’t know where exactly, but maybe she’ll meet some celebrities while she’s there!” “Really?!” Lila exclaimed, forcing enthusiasm into her tone. “That’s so cool. You know, I went to America last month, and I met Lois Lane! She wanted me to intern for her, but I recommended you instead!” “Oh, that’s cool Lila. But aren’t you wondering where Marinette is?” Rose asked eagerly. She felt a white-hot bolt of anger flash through her veins. “Of course I am!” She lied, hatred welling up inside her. “Here, tell me more!” 

As she sat down next to Alya and listened to her ramble, she couldn’t help the furious thoughts running through her mind. ‘I had finally gotten rid of her, and what does she do? Continue to hog all the attention even when she’s across the sea!’ 

This would not do. She needed to make sure they all forgot about Marinette. With a plan in mind, she plastered on a knife-edged smile and began to enact her scheme. 

---

@laurcad123, @liquid-luck-00

[adenei]

Finding My Way To You - Ch. 9

AO3 // FFN

special thanks to @be11atrixthestrange for being my beta on this one <3

Stay or Go

The following day, Ron and Hermione had set up a spot on the beach, and Ron found himself lounging on one of the towels, watching the ebb and flow of the waves as Hermione sat next to him reading a book. Considering it was a weekday and the start of the colder season for Australia, the beach wasn’t terribly busy. It was definitely warmer, as Jean said it would be, and Ron was comfortable in his new swimsuit and tee. That meant it probably wouldn’t be likely he’d see the coverup dress Hermione was wearing come off so he could see her swimming costume.

He let his mind wander to last night, to that mind blowing kiss somewhere along this stretch of sand. Ron was hopeful that they’d pick up where they left off upon entering their flat, and they had for the most part. He closed his eyes and replayed their clumsy walk to the couch where the snogging continued. It was going well until their hands started to wander, and then Hermione excused herself to use the loo. She moved so quickly that Ron worried he’d done something wrong, not that he had a chance to ask her.

By the time she came back out, she suggested they watch a movie. Hermione found something fairly quickly, and the moment was gone. So he’d settled on wrapping his arms around her as they got comfortable. He tried to find anything off in her facial expression, but he wasn’t successful. What had changed?

“Do you need more sun cream?” Hermione asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

“I dunno, do I look red?”

“No, but it’s not like sun potion, where you take one dose and you’re fine all day. And I don’t particularly want to deal with your whining if you get a sunburn,” Hermione said sarcastically. He knew she was joking because she was trying not to laugh.

“Well, in that case, I’ll take some. Besides, I’m getting warm,” Ron said as he grabbed the back of his shirt and slid it off. “Can you get my back?”

“Um, sure,” Hermione said as Ron reached for the sun cream and began reapplying the lotion on his arms and face. 

“Am I making you uncomfortable or something?” Ron said as he flashed his lopsided grin at her.

“W-what?” Hermione said as she hastily tried to make herself look busy by setting her book down.

“You’re staring,” Ron laughed. “Like something you see?”

He saw the blush coat her cheeks and grinned even wider. “I- er- y-yes, I suppose so” she stammered, trying to save her dignity with that little quip at the end.

“Well, I’d hope so, seeing as we are dating,” he teased as he handed her the bottle and turned so she could apply some of the lotion to his pale, freckled back.

“You are quite fit, you know,” Hermione braved, using talking to his back to give her the courage to say something so forward to him. “I just wish I could have done more for your splinching. I’m sorry I left you with such an awful scar.”

“Hermione, don’t worry about that. You kept me alive, didn’t you? I’d say that’s a job well done. What do you say we go put our feet in the water?” It was really hard to focus with her hands rubbing his back. He could use the potential chill the water could give him to cool down.

“I don’t know...it’s probably rather cold,” Hermione said hesitantly.

“Won’t know until we try,” Ron pressed.

“Well, alright, but if it’s too cold I’m coming right back,” she said as she stood up.

She started to walk to the water before she turned around and noticed Ron was still sitting there casually. She gave him her typical ‘what are you waiting for’ look instead of actually asking.

“You’re going to go down to the water like that?” He observed casually.

“Well, why not?” she asked in a huff. 

“Unless you want to get your dress all wet,” Ron said with a smirk.

“One, it’s not a dress, it’s a cover-up, and two, I wasn’t planning on getting more than my feet wet, Ron,” Hermione put her hands on her hips, no doubt becoming frustrated.

Ron figured he shouldn’t test his luck, so he stood up and began heading toward the ocean. He kept walking past Hermione, figuring she would follow, but when he didn’t hear her behind him, he stopped and turned around. She looked conflicted, but before he could tell her to forget it and come on, he watched her reach down to the hem of her coverup, and lift it up over her head. The lack of coverall revealed Hermione in a bikini.

If Ron thought seeing Hermione last night for their date had rendered him speechless, he was fairly certain his voice box had completely disappeared as he felt his eyes bug out of his head. He’d never seen such perfection in his life. Ron knew he was staring, but he couldn’t take his gaze off of her. 

Whenever they were by the pond at the Burrow, she never actually had a swimsuit of her own, so she used an old pair of shorts and shirt. He remembered because he’d always inwardly curse that it was dark enough to not reveal anything underneath, but it still clung to her skin in a way that made Ron crazy. But now, now one of his dreams had been realized, as she was standing there in that sky blue swimsuit, revealing more skin than he’d ever seen from her before. He’d only ever had the opportunity of imagining it in his dreams, and he knew instantly that this was much better.

He watched her bite her lip as she stood there awkwardly. Hermione, who was always the source of confidence in almost everything, was suddenly standing there, quite vulnerable to the world, and to him. She twisted the fabric that was only seconds ago covering her in her hands, and he could clearly see she was having doubts about what she’d just done.

Without thinking, he walked the few paces back to her, and reached out one hand, gently prying the coverup from her fingers as he tossed it back onto their towels. He then replaced the empty space where she’d clung to the cotton with his own hand. 

“Let’s go,” Ron said as he leaned down slightly. 

He wanted to tell her how amazing he thought she looked, but anytime he thought of what to say, the words caught in his throat. They were still navigating that part of their relationship which allowed for compliments and praise. It was something neither of them tended to give very often, probably because in true teenage fashion, they were afraid they’d give their true feelings away. 

So, instead he opted for a joke that he determined could not be taken the wrong way. “So, you think you’ll wear that at the Burrow when we go for a swim instead of shorts and a tee this summer?” He tried to make his facial expression portray the hope of the possibility as there was a small glint of desire in his eyes.

“Is that an invitation to stay with you at the Burrow until my parents return to England?” She responded as they stopped just at the edge of the tide.

Ron pulled her close to him and wrapped his arms loosely around her neck. The contact of so much of her skin against his shot a feeling of desire straight through him, and he had to focus on his response to prevent his thoughts from becoming evident to the world. 

“Where else would you stay?” he asked playfully, but then a thought washed over him that made everything seem cold. “You aren’t planning to stay here in Australia with your parents, are you?” Merlin, please, no. Not once we’ve just sorted things out, Ron found himself thinking.

Hermione looked at the ground and turned her body out towards the ocean, breaking their contact. As the wave rolled in, she moved her foot out and dipped her toe in the water as it came dangerously close to where they were standing.

“Hermione…”

“I don’t know, Ron,” she answered honestly.

“Have your parents asked you to stay?” He wanted- no, needed- to know.

“Well, no, but-”

“Are you expecting them to?”

“I have no idea, Ron, I really don’t! But what if they do? What if they expect me to stay?”

“But your life is in England!” Ron couldn’t believe this was happening.

“It wouldn’t be forever. Just until they came home..”

Ron stared at her. “So you’ve decided you’ll stay if they ask, then,” Ron said. 

He let her hand go, and took a few steps in the water. They’d walked over here to take a dip in the ocean, after all. He felt the waves crash against his shins. If the water was cold, he couldn’t tell. How could his life go from finally feeling like the pieces of his life were falling into place, only to have it all ripped from him before it’d barely begun.

“Ron,” she heard him call, but he kept walking out into the water. He didn’t want to row with her now. 

By now, the water was up to his thigh. He was about to dive under and let the salty water distract him when he felt her hand wrap around his arm. 

“I never s-said I was going to s-stay!” Her teeth were chattering as she was looking intently up at him.

“But you never said you weren’t. C’mon, let’s get back to our towels, the water’s cold,” Ron told her.

“No, we need to talk about this!” She was pleading with him now.

“Hermione, I can see the gooseflesh on your skin, you’re freezing. Stop being so stubborn.”

“Why won’t you j-just talk to m-me!”

“I will! Just not in the middle of the bloody ocean!” Ron could not believe that she was insisting on having this conversation as the cold water slapped their skin every few seconds. It didn’t matter that the warmth of the sun was shining down on them.

“Why n-not?” she pressed. 

Ron had had enough. He refused to have this conversation here while she froze. With a grunt, he stepped forward, his arms extending out as he lifted her up and placed her over his shoulder.

“What do you think you are d-doing?” Hermione said as she tried to push against his back. He couldn’t help but laugh inwardly at her meager attempts despite how angry and disappointed he was. “Ronald Weasley, you put me down right now!”

She never used his full name. At least he knew he had her attention now. He continued walking back to their towels. Ron set her down when they reached their spot on the beach and leaned over to pick up her towel. He shook the sand off it and wrapped her in it, ignoring her huffs and attempts to reignite the conversation as he rubbed her shoulders briefly to help her warm up faster.

Satisfied she was warming up, he picked up his own towel and began drying off the excess water before wrapping the towel around his waist. He put his shirt back on and placed the rest of their scattered belongings in the beach bag, including Hermione’s book and coverup.

Hermione watched in confused silence. “What are you doing?”

“Packing up. I think we should get back to the flat.” 

“W-why?”

“Do you really want to talk here? In public? Let’s go, Hermione. The mood’s gone, anyways.” Ron slipped on the sandals he’d purchased with Hugo yesterday and placed the bag on his shoulder. He waited for Hermione to wrap the towel around herself and slip her own flip flops on before he began making the short walk back to their flat. 

It wasn’t until they were safely behind the closed door of the tiny apartment that either one of them spoke. “I don’t have to stay here. They’ll understand. I’ll go back if that’s what you want,” Hermione spoke. 

He could tell she was trying to control her emotions, that she’d thought about those few sentences the entire walk back. Ron was sure she thought that’s what he wanted to hear. “I don’t want you to feel like you need to come back because of me.”

“Don’t you want me to go back?” she asked, clearly not expecting him to say that. Ron was desperately trying not to notice how her towel was slipping as Hermione loosened her grip on it.

“Of course I do! But I want you to come back because you want to. Not because you feel like you have to!”

“I do!”

“That’s not what it sounds like,” he muttered.

“Oh, so you think I want to stay here just when we’ve figured things out? Excuse me for anticipating that my parents might want me to stay and I can begin to repair the relationship I’ve caused a giant tear in because an evil wizard was trying to kill us!” Her voice was starting to rise dangerously high. “Don’t you realize how hard that decision would be if they ask?” She looked desperate for him to understand.

“Do you really think your parents would make you choose, Hermione? But I don’t want to talk about them. That’s not really what this is about, is it? Considering they haven’t even asked you to stay. I don’t know what to say, Hermione, because I don’t know what you want! But seeing as how we’ve somehow managed to start a relationship, I was hoping you might actually include me in what you were thinking.” He stood there, staring at her anxiously, waiting for her to say something.

“You’re right.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“I-what?” Ron looked at her in disbelief. 

“I’m scared,” she said. There was a slight tremor to her voice, and it wasn’t from the cold she’d experienced on the beach. He waited for her to go on. “I know we talked about it last night, but I- I’ve spent so long hoping that we could be something, and now that we are…”

Fuck, no, was she saying she didn’t want this? Merlin, he was used to their constant bickering, but he didn’t think he could survive if she decided she didn’t want this.

“...I don’t want to lose you. What if I choose you over my parents and you change your mind? I’ve already abandoned them for a world they’ll never be able to understand.”

Ron stared at her. How could she ever think he’d change his mind. He had to explain. Had to help her understand that that would never happen. “Hermione-”

 “-I’m terrified that I might lose you. That you’ll realize I’m not what you wanted after all.” 

Tears were pooling in her eyes as she spoke to him. He knew him leaving had done a number on her, but the fear was turning out to be deeper than he’d expected. The short distance between them felt like kilometers, and Ron couldn’t spend another moment without her in his arms. It only took two steps with his long legs before he wrapped her tightly in her arms.

“That’s never going to happen,” he whispered into her hair. He felt her tears soak his shirt as he shifted and cupped her face gently in his hands. “I promise, Hermione. I promise. I love you.”

Of course, he’d wanted the first time he said it to be special, but he didn’t regret it. In all honesty, he knew it’d been a long time coming. 

“I- I love you, too.” Hearing her say those words would be the only thing he needed to fuel his patronus for a long time. This was their story, and so far, he wouldn’t change a single thing. Ron felt his lips meet hers. His hands moved of their own accord as he felt himself lifting her up. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he moved them both toward the bedroom.

[oingos-bitch]

Another JoJo Mall Fanfic™ -- Rainforest Café (Part 1)

Part 5, Part 4 and Part 2 Spoilers!

"Y-YOU!  YOU'RE  THE  ONE  WHO  STOLE  MY  LUGGAGE!"

Giorno  gulped.  The  short  boy  stalked  over  to  him,  glaring  daggers.  

"I  haven't  forgotten  about  you,  I  hope  you're  ready  to  pay  me  back."  

Echoes'  summoning  was  stopped  by  a  hand  on  his  shoulder.

"Koichi,  dude,  are  you  alright?"

"Yeah,  Okuyasu,  I'm  fine."  He  trembled  in  anger.  "Unless  you  wanna  help  me  put  this  blond  son  of  a  bitch  in  his  place."

"Ohhh."

A  bass-boosted  fart  could  be  heard  as  a  blue  figure  appeared.  

"Why  didn't  ya  tell  me  sooner?  Whose  ass  are  we  gonna  kick  first?!"  Okuyasu cracked  his  knuckles.

"That  blond  bastard,  who  else?"

"Uhmm...Which  one?"  He  whispered.

"Huh?"

It  was  then  that  Koichi  noticed  the  much,  much  taller -- 'And  scarier!' -- blond  male  sitting  across  from  Giorno.  And  he  did  not  look  amused.

"Are  you  done  yet,  piccolino?"

"Wha- what?"

Caesar  sighed.  "I  would  just  like  to  get  my  order  without  any  trouble,  if  that's  not  too  much  to  ask.  However,"  his  green  eyes  narrowed.

"If  it's  trouble  you're  looking  for,  then  I'll  be  glad  to  indulge  you."

His  chair  fell  over  as  he  stood  up.  Maintaining  his  glare,  he  spread  his  arms  as  a  large  bubble  formed  between  them.  Anticipating a  fight,  the  two  teenagers  defensively  posed, shouting  their  stand  names.  Caesar was  just  about  to  strike  before  Deus  Ex  Josuke  appeared.

"Guys,  as  much  as  I  would  love  to  help  right  now,  there's  people  here. . ."

Koichi's  blood  ran  cold.  He  had  the  sense  to  immediately  call  back  Echoes  and  nervously  regain  his  composure,  straightening  his  pose.  Okuyasu,  however,  did  not.

"So  what??  Everyone  should  see  this  asshat  get  a  well-deserved  beatdown!"  He  growled.

"Okuyasu,  no."  Josuke  pulled  his  best  friend  aside  and  leaned  into  him.

"I  know  you  mean  well,  but  we're  probably  gonna  get  fired -- and  I  don't  wanna  make  my  great-gramps  sad!"  Josuke  slightly  teared  up at  the  thought.

Okuyasu's  face  flushed  in  embarrassment.  

"I  don't  wanna,  either!  I-I'm  so  sorry,  Josuke!"

He  began  to  sob  on  the  spot.  

"I-I'll  do  better  next  time!"

"It's  alright,  man,  just  calm  down  a  little."  Steak-hair  patted  his  back.

Everyone  within  a   ten-foot  radius  stared  wide-eyed  at  the  scene.  Even  passerby  stopped  for  a  few  good  minutes!  Josuke  slowly  got  up  and  let  go  of  Okuyasu,  facing  the  crowd.  He  knelt  down  and  waved  his  hands  vigorously.

"Aaaaand,  SCENE!  Uh,  we  hope  everyone  liked  it!"  

Crickets.

He  smiled  from  ear -to-ear,  sweat  beading  down  his  temple.  A  lone  clap  sounded  from  the  middle  of  the  restaurant.  A  few  more  claps  were  soon  drowned  out  by  diners  resuming  their  meals  and  their  conversations.  Josuke  let  out  a  relieved  sigh.

He  looked  around  to  see  if  anyone  else  was  staring -- 'Nope!' -- then  proceeding  to  step  towards  Caesar,  looking  him  square  in  the  eye.

"Next  time  you  mess  with  my  friends,  you  may  not  be  so  lucky."

Caesar  smirked  and  returned  his  icy  stare.

"That  doesn't  sound  like  much  of  a  threat,  coming  from  someone  like  you."

"What's  that  supposed  to  mean?"

Caesar  looked  him  up  and  down.  "Look  at  yourself. . .A  teenage  delinquent,  working  at  the  only  'high-paying'  job  that'll  accept  you,  picking  fights  with  those  obviously  more  experienced  than  you."

"You  don't  know  how  many  fights  I've  been  in!"

"Hm,  no,  but  with  that  attitude,  I  can  guess."

"Wanna  find  out?"  Josuke  grinned.

Caesar  cocked  his  head  to  the  side,  the  boy  seemed  familiar,  but  he  just  couldn't  put  his  finger  on  it --

"Yoo-Hoo!  Caesarino!~"

Caesar  groaned  and  turned  around.

"Hello,  JoJo -- DIO  MIO,  JOSEPH,  WHAT  THE  FUCK ARE  YOU  WEARING?!"

"It's  my  old  outfit! I  needed  it  for  my  job  and  it  still  fits  perfectly!"  He  laughed  heartily.

His  friend  buried  his  face  in  his  hands.  Joseph  took  this  as  a  sign  to  flex  in  front  of  him.

"Whaddaya  think?~"

Caesar  pushed  him  away.  "Awful,  awful,  everything's  awful.  If  you're gonna  dress  in  drag,  you  should  at  least  do  it  right."

"HEY,  that's  what  Jolyne  always  tells  me!"

"And  she's  correct.  Ugh,  JoJo,  you  could  have  at  least  shaved  your  beard."

"But  I  think  my  beard  makes  me  sexy. . ."  He  pouted.

"It  does,  but  that's  beside  the  point --"  Caesar  froze.

No,  absolutely  not,  this  was  the  last  thing  he  needed  today.  The  day  had  started  off  so  badly  already,  he  couldn't  have  Joseph  knowing  his  secret,  too!  It  would  all  be  too  much!

Thankfully,  Joseph  broke  the  silence  quickly.  Grinning,  he  posed  some  more.

"Sexy,  eh?  You  really  think  so?~"

Caesar  tried  his  hardest  to  sound  annoyed.  "If  you  say  so,  JoJo."

"Ah,  but  you're  the  one  who  said  it.~  So,  d'ya  really  think  so?"

The  Italian  pulled  his  face  away  from  his  hands  to  get  a  look  at  Joseph.  He  didn't  really  need  to  look  at  him  for  so  long  to  see  that  he  was  handsome,  but he  really  needed  to  save  his  skin  right  now.  So  he  eyed  Joseph  from  different  angles:  profile,  front,  three-quarters  view,  even  worm's  eye  view!  

This  went  on  for  longer  than  expected,  and  Joseph  began  to  whine.

"C'mon,  you  already  got  a  good  look,  just  tell  me  already!"

Begrudgingly,  Caesar  moved  his  eyes  away.  

"I  guess  so."

"Really?!"  Joseph  beamed.

He  nodded.  "I  mean,  I  think  Suzi --"

Inwardly,  he  groaned.  He  hated  to  think  it,  he  hated  how  it  sounds,  and  most  of  all  he  hated  to  say  it,  but  he  couldn't  risk  raising  Joseph's  suspicions.  Or  worse,  risking  their  friendship.

"-- I  really  think  Suzi  thinks  so."

For  a  moment,  Joseph  seemed  surprised -- and  a  bit  disappointed?  No,  must've  been  Caesar's  imagination.  He  rubbed  at  his  neck  and  shot  Caesar  his  signature  grin.

"Haha,  well,  thanks!  I  hope  she  thinks  so!"

He  placed  an  arm  around  him.  Caesar  jumped  lightly  at  the  contact.  He  knew  it  was  friendly,  something  he  was  used  to,  yet  he  couldn't  help  but  feel  so  wrong  after  what  just  happened.  It  wasn't  fair  to  think  about  having  a  chance  with  his  best  friend  when  he  already  had  a  life  to  live,  a  wife  and  a  kid,  and  a  grandkid,  for  crying  out  loud!  

And  he  had. . . Well,  nothing.  Any  chance  he  had  before  was  snatched  away  so  abruptly.  When  that  bright  light  enveloped  him  and  he  found  himself  laying  on  the  Earth's  soil  again,  he  was  ecstatic!  He  expected  to  find  everyone  else  in  the  same  situation,  waiting  to  reconnect.  Embarrassingly,  the  first  person  he  thought  of  was  Joseph.

Oh,  Joseph.  That  lovable,  goofy  bastard  had  no  idea  just  how  much  he  missed  him.  He  had  planned  everything  out -- how  he'd  introduce  himself,  how  he'd  explain  his  chance  at  a  new  life,  how  he'd  spill  his  heart  out  to  him  and  say  what  he  never  got  a  chance  to  say,  and,  hopefully,  how  he'd  grin  and  say  he  felt  the  same  way.  And  it'd  all  be  uphill  from  there.

However,  he  did  not  plan  to  run  into  Lisa  Lisa  first.  And  he  did  not  plan  to  sit  down  and  catch  up  with  her  over  tea.  And  he  did  not  expect  her  to  be  the  one  to  catch  him  up  on  what  had  happened  while  he  was  gone.  

And  he  certainly  did  not  expect  Joseph  to  be  married  and  have  a  kid.

The  deep  ache  in  his   gut  was  incomparable  to  the  pain  he  endured  before  his  death,  and  it  still  haunted  him  whenever  that  damned  memory  was  brought  up.

Much  like  now.

Caesar  smoothly  moved  Joseph's  arm  back  to  his  side.  Before  he  could  dwell  on  the  thought  any  longer,  he  changed  the  subject.

"So,  what  brings  you  here?"

"OH!  I  just  wanted  to  see  my  son!"

"Your son?. . .I  thought  you  had  a  daughter. . ."

Joseph  smiled  sheepishly.  "Uh,  yeah,  about  that. . .Let's  just  say,  I  don't  think  Suzi'll  ever  trust  me  the  same  again. . ."

Caesar's  eyes  widened.  Inappropriately  enough,  his  heart  fluttered.  Maybe  he'd  have  a  chance?

'No!  He  doesn't  need  his  marriage  damaged  any  further!'

While  he  was  still  deep  in  thought,  Joseph  brought  over  a  familiar  angry  teen.

"Ta-Daaaa!  This  is  my  darling  baby  boy!"

Caesar  did  a  double  take.  Oh,  he  couldn't  be  serious --

"T-this  is  your  son?!"

"You  bet!  Doesn't  he  look  just  like  me?"  He  brought  the  poor  boy's  face  against  his  cheek.

"A  chip  off  the  ol'  block!"

"Dad, stop  it."  Josuke  averted  his  eyes.

"Awwww,  but  it's  true!  Isn't  it,  Caesarino --"

He  scanned  the  room,  searching  for  him. "Caesar?"

He  found  him  by  the  aquarium,  making  his  way  to  the  bar.

"Oi,  Caesar!  Don't  you  wanna  say  hi  to  Josuke?"

Caesar  reluctantly  turned  around.  "Maybe  some  other  time,  JoJo.  My  lunch  break  is  almost  over,  and  I'm  still  waiting  on  my  order."

"Oh,  the  pink  girl  and  blond  boy  took  it."

"Huh?"

"The  pink-haired  girl  and  the  blond  boy,  they  took  your  food."  Repeated  the  elf-eared  bartender.

"Oh,  thank  you.  Where'd  they. . go. .?"  

The  bartender  pointed  to  the  west  of  the  mall.  

"Ah,  grazie."  He  made  his  way  there.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trish  had gasped  once  Caesar  stood  up,  ready  to  fight,  but  soon  lost  interest  once  Josuke  showed  up  and  started  speaking.

"So  boring."

She  and  Giorno  sat  silently  the  entire  time.  There  wasn't  much  to  talk  about,  and  she  didn't  recognize  anyone  else  (yet),  so  she  passed  the  time  counting  down  the  minutes.

She  had  attempted  to  ask  Giorno  about  why  the  midget  had  a  vendetta  against  him,  but  he  just  responded  with  an  "I  don't  want  to  speak  about  it."

'Tch.  You're  no  fun.'

Then  Joseph  appeared  and  she  giggled.  It  was  so  much  fun  to  see  her  usually  stoic  co-worker  get  so  flustered  by  the  old  man,  and  it  was  amusing  for  a  while.

That  is,  until  he  didn't  make  a  move.

She  spent  the  rest  of  the  time  reading  over  the  specials  pamphlet.  Luckily,  she  soon  heard  a  small  "Excuse  me,  Ma'am."

"Hm?"

A  tiny,  tall-haired  boy  anxiously  held  up  a  stack  of  To-Go  boxes.  

"H-Here's  your  order."

"Oh!  Thank  you."

He  hurriedly  mumbled  and  speed-walked  over  to  the  waiter  from  earlier.  Shrugging,  she  and  Giorno  stood  up  to  leave.  Once  they  realized  Caesar  would  be  a  while,  they  exchanged  glances  and  walked  out  of  the  place.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Caesar  found  them  sitting  on  the  fountain,  digging  into  their  food.  They  nonchalantly  looked  up.

"Sorry,  we  just  couldn't  wait  any  longer."

"It's  fine.  Sorry  I  took  so  long."

Trish  smiled.  "Even  with  how  long  you  took,  you  still  couldn't  flirt  with  him  good  enough."

". .Shut  up.  Let's  go  get  Suzi's  wings."

[the-foxes-fangs]

I Wish I Was the Moon: Epilogue Pt. 3

Read the fic here and interludes here

Tagging @otomediary, @you-mass-effect-my-dragon-age, @louveau, @wingedtreecookiesludge with a special shout out to @vhaena who has been graciously waiting for this particular part of the story

                                       ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

He toweled himself dry meticulously, took stock of the austere little room he had been given and allowed himself a solitary sigh of frustration. He had expected Kenshin to have his little revenge for Sasuke but it was unpleasant seeing the flash of trepidation in her eyes just the same.

He went to sit on the veranda and stared idly out into the well tended garden. The guard had told him to wait for an attendant to show him back to the audience hall for a welcoming banquet in a tone that told him he’d be catching up on his foot dangling for awhile. He had made some tea and found whatever was at hand in the kitchen, and had settled in to wait.

The rain had passed into weak afternoon sunshine that gave everything a freshly scrubbed look, with the grime of winter rinsed away. He watched a few white rabbits poking around the greenery, apparently quite tame.

Too tame to notice the narrow face of a small, equally white fox poking through a hole in the wall that had been widened by the storm. He sat quite still, observing the little drama unfold as it squeezed its thin body through and slunk quietly and cunningly toward a particularly oblivious rabbit.

The fox looked bedraggled and more than a little hungry, which was probably why it didn’t notice the maid who came around the corner and catching sight of it gave chase with broom in hand.

“Get away from Lord Kenshin’s rabbits you vermin! Pest! Out! Get out!” She cried, chasing the poor creature around the garden until it squeezed back through the hole. She stomped away huffing, and silence fell on the garden again.

He glanced down at the dried fish he had been nibbling on, and sighed again. “I really am getting soft as hell,” he murmured to himself as he stood and made his way to the wall, crouching down to stick his arm through, fish in hand.

He waited patiently as the wet grass tickled his feet, and was about to give up when he felt a cold nose on his fingertips and smiled to himself as the food was snatched away. “Let’s both protect our reputations and pretend this never happened,” he said softly as he felt the brush of soft whiskers across his empty hand.

He withdrew his arm and rose to return to his seat. When he turned he found the creature had followed him, sitting just out of reach watching him with exceedingly hungry eyes.

“Well I’m not getting up again. If you want to eat you’re just going to have come over here.” He said, smiling as it cocked its ears and watched him with sharp, narrowed eyes.

“Do I look like I’m in need of a mangy fur?” He asked, waving a fish invitingly. The fox slunk forward cautiously, pausing to sniff the air and study him until it finally reached his feet and looked up at him expectantly. “Already plotting, I see. Well, I can respect that, but you’ve really got to learn the art of subterfuge, my little friend.”

He tossed it a fish, which promptly disappeared, as did the next two. “You know, Hideyoshi would’ve just given you a lecture on not giving up when things are difficult and sent you on your way, you’re lucky I’m such a soft touch.” He said softly, blinking in surprise as it jumped nimbly up onto the veranda, eyeing the basket of fish thoughtfully.

“Now see here, I respect your ambition, but these things require subtlety, my would be vassal.” He said, sliding the basket a little further out of its reach but passing it another fish. “First you earn my trust, and then you commit your inevitable betrayal. There’s an order to these things.”

He was withdrawing his hand when the maid came back around the corner muttering to herself, causing the fox to panic and dive for the nearest hiding hole, which happened to be right into his sleeve. He caught it by its scruff and folded his arms to his chest, slouching over as she passed by.

It poked its head out cautiously when he loosed his grip, but didn’t seem in any hurry to depart. “No. Absolutely not. That was strictly a fox to fox favor. Unless you’ve got a wishing jewel hidden in that muddy tail, no deal,” He said, shaking his head at it. He could feel its ribs as it shifted to look up at him questioningly.

“You audacious little beggar,” He said, laughing despite himself, as he laid the basket on his lap with a welcoming gesture. Upon closer inspection it was a young vixen, her tail waving happily as she devoured the food. She finished it and sniffed at his other sleeve inquiringly.

“Listen, just because I can’t taste it doesn’t mean I’m willing to share it. A little mouse made it for me.” He said, pulling out the carefully wrapped chimaki dumpling and unwrapping it and taking a bite. She had learned how to cook dumplings to the exact chewiness he preferred, despite swearing up a storm in the kitchen. He smiled at the memory and then looked at the expectant fox with a raised brow.

“Fine,” He said, dividing the remainder of the dumpling in half, “but I’m only sharing this because she’d want me to.”

The vixen licked her whiskers daintily after she finished her half, and looked at him with a curious sniff, before bounding down to make a dash back out of the garden.

“There’s just no loyalty in this world,” he complained with a laugh, and rose to return to his room and change into more formal clothes.

He heard the shuffle of vassals heading toward the hall as the shadows lengthened into early evening, and opened the door before the wide eyed attendant could knock. “Yes, fine, spare me the announcement. Let’s go,” he said with an impatient gesture and followed the man.

“…Lord Shingen and Lord Yukimura arrived just an hour ago! It will be like old times!” He heard an enthusiastic retainer say as they passed, and groaned inwardly.

Kenshin was bad enough, but Shingen was a canny bastard with a sense of humor and an axe to grind.

She was nowhere to be seen as he entered the hall, already abuzz with low conversation, which dropped even lower in his presence. Kenshin waved him over and gave him the seat his rank demanded with a curt nod of greeting.

“Well if it isn’t the great spy himself, out before sundown, even,” Shingen said with a broad smile that didn’t touch his eyes.

“The peaceful life does wonders for one’s habits and health,” Mitsuhide replied smoothly, “How’s Kai treating you these days? No problems governing?”

“We’re still recovering from the occupation.” Shingen shot back, curtly.

Their exchange was cut short by the sound of excitement when she appeared at the door with Sasuke behind her, looking so lovely that for a moment everything else receded except the smile she gave him alone, and the light in her eyes as they met his as she came to take her seat at Kenshin’s side.

“Seeing a goddess grace us with her presence was more than reason enough to make the trip, but besides that, it’s delightful to welcome you as new family to an old friend,” Shingen said smoothly, elbowing a blushing Yukimura.

“Uh… what he said.” Yukimura mumbled and nodded.

“We’re not friends. I’m still going to kill you both.” Kenshin interjected with a frown.

“Now, now, let’s keep the conversation pleasant for the lady,” Yoshimoto admonished with an amused smile directed squarely at Mitsuhide.

She glanced between them with raised brows, until Sasuke leaned in to whisper something to her, handing her a flask to pour for Kenshin, who acknowledged her with a polite nod and filled her cup.

“Let’s drink to the princess of the Uesugi,” he said, and lifted his cup to a surge of noisy approval as all of his retainers followed suit and drained their cups. The general consensus appeared to consider it a score against the Oda to have adopted one of Nobunaga’s favorites.

Mitsuhide drank and gave her the flash of a smile, drinking in the sight of her in an elaborately beautiful formal kimono bearing the Uesugi crest. “Why, you make that drab shade of blue look positively lively, my dear.”

She laughed softly and looked him over approvingly as Kenshin glowered at him, hand drifting toward his sword.

“I think it’s a lovely shade of blue myself. Not so different from the one you favor,” she replied graciously, her expression neutral except for the faint rebuke in her eyes. “I’m honored to wear something so beautifully made.”

Kenshin relaxed and the color returned to Sasuke’s face as Shingen snickered into his cup and Yoshimoto watched with detached amusement. Yukimura clicked his tongue in exasperation as a maid brought Shingen a plate of sweets.

“I thought you promised–” he began, cut off by Shingen’s airy wave.

“Yuki, it’s an occasion! We’re here to celebrate!” Shingen said with a charming smile.

“Yes but you haven’t even eaten dinner yet!” Yukimura replied with a defeated sigh as the rest of their food was served.

“Ah, but we’re already drinking, and you know I can’t bear to drink without something sweet. Never trust a man who drinks without a snack, Yuki. He’ll stab you right between the ribs every time.” Shingen countered, glancing meaningfully at Mitsuhide.

“I’m not sure how that sugary garbage counts as a snack anyway, the only proper snack for drinking is a good pickled plum.” Kenshin said dourly.

“Nonsense! Sweets are the best with sake, isn’t that right, princess?” Shingen asked her with a flirtatious wink that set Mitsuhide’s teeth on edge.

“There’s merit in everyone’s personal preferences I’m sure,” she answered courteously, giving Shingen a polite but bland smile as they began to eat.

“You’re my daughter as of tomorrow, you should take my side.” Kenshin said bluntly, holding his cup out to her.

“A lifetime of seeing the beauty of diversity will be difficult to overcome, I’m afraid,” she answered sweetly, “but I’m deeply grateful and honored at the favor you’re showing me.”

Mitsuhide kept his expression fixed, but felt a surge of pride at her adroit navigation of a situation that was surely more than a little surreal for her.

“You should be grateful that someone with such a fine sense for diplomacy is even willing– what on earth are you doing to the food?” Yoshimoto said, recoiling at the sight of Mitsuhide mixing everything together in his bowl.

“Oh dearest me, I didn’t mean to shock your delicate sensibilities, my lord. This is simply the most efficient way to eat.” Mitsuhide said with a sharp smile.

“Well that’s just plain weird,” Yukimura muttered.

“I can, much to my dismay, confirm that lord Mitsuhide is acting entirely consistently and means no insult. He always eats that way,” Sasuke interjected with a despairing gesture.

“What was it you said, you’d rather not waste time eating when you could be drinking? I’m sure that you can appreciate the sentiment, lord Kenshin,” she said with an encouraging smile.

“I can respect a man who appreciates the finer points of a good brew.” Kenshin said, with the faintest hint of a thaw in his tone.

“Well if nothing else it will be fun to watch these two try to drink each other to death, which leaves me to bask in the company of a beautiful woman on a lovely moonlit night.” Shingen said, with a dreamy look in his eye.

“Why, bad or good, it’s all the same to me. As long as it’s cold in the summer and warm in the winter I’ll drink anything,” Mitsuhide said, pointedly ignoring the bait that Shingen was waving.

“That’s an insult to the art of brewing sake, you know,” Yoshimoto said, needling him in tandem.

“Is it? I rather think it’s a compliment. Those who make swill need to live just as much as those who make elixir.” Mitsuhide answered levelly.

“I’d almost like to see you two duel, just to see who could actually lift a sword,” Kenshin remarked dryly.

“The best victories are the bloodless ones, my lord.” Mitsuhide responded ignoring the flash of heat in his chest at the sight of Shingen leaning close to her to fill her cup and practically breathe down her neck.

“Eccentricity is novel for awhile, princess, but the peculiar soon becomes grating. A man can be unconventional without straying into the uncouth.” Shingen said rakishly.

“Bloodless? What kind of rot are you talking? There’s no glory in that!” Kenshin exclaimed with a sharp gesture.  

“I’ve always favored outsiders myself– the more everyone picks on and dislikes someone, the better I like them and the more I take their side,” she said demurely, and took an elegant drink.

Mitsuhide downed his cup quickly and hoped that they’d blame the flush on his face on the alcohol and not the lovesickness that had him firmly in its grip. He prided himself on his self-discipline and patience, but it was all he could do not to take her by the hand and drag her to the nearest bed to show his appreciation of her unnecessary but perfect defense of him.

“Here’s to outsiders,” he said quietly and raised his cup to her.  

“I always thought you were kind of a dummy, but that’s actually pretty nice.” Yukimura said, oblivious to the hangdog silence that had descended on the others.

“Yukimura, please don’t throw your life away like this.” Sasuke mumbled, holding his hand to his forehead despairingly.

Shingen flicked him hard on the forehead with a rueful smile. “Y-u-k-i what have I told you about how we talk to women?”

“Ow! Why would I listen to you? You flirt with anything that moves!”

“Well, the delivery was rough, but I appreciate the intent, lord Yukimura,” she said with a beneficent smile that brought a bright blush to his face.

“Well I’m glad to see that you can keep up with these fools.” Kenshin said, casting an approving glance at her with unusual softness in his sharp eyes.

“I learned from the best,” she answered with an affectionate nod at Mitsuhide.

“Why, that’s a bald faced lie, you were exactly this adept at getting your way from the moment I saw you,” he countered fondly.

“Watch your mouth, Akechi, think about who you’re calling a liar.” Kenshin said sharply, the ice back in his tone and face.

Sasuke sighed, shoulders sagging defeatedly. “They’re flirting, my lord. Trust me, this is that man at his sparkling best.”

“Hmmph.” Kenshin said, studying her happy expression curiously.

“Flirting as a concept has been buried in a shallow grave tonight, in that case.” Shingen said with a shake of his head.

“Someone explain why it’s fine when he calls her names, but I get a smack to the head!” Yukimura muttered moodily.

“There are certain cosmic mysteries best left unexplained, Yukimura.” Sasuke said, and patted his arm fondly.

[akkeyagentofhelheim]

Screech (Sidestory)

X

"Hellooooo." Jin's face popped up on the display screen in the surveillance van, and Kenneth looked up from where he was typing away at his laptop. The sniper was lounging out on the wicker chair in the back porch of the safe house, his long legs stretched lazily before him, balancing his tablet on the arm rest and fiddling with his ear piece, "Am I the last one?"

"Yep!" Ken nodded with an eye roll and a smirk, still busily searching away on his device.

Victor's small face appeared from outside the open van door, smiling brightly. The medical officer's upbeat energy was endless, even in the morning, "Hi Jin! How's babysitting?"

"Ha ha, it's fine, Vic," he accepted the jab in good nature, "Where are the girls?"

"They're out here. Cap's kinda weird..." Vic scrambled up the vehicle to pull the display screen out of the side and pointed the camera towards a hidden clearing. It was less than a block away from the safe house, and they parked their van there to connect with Jin without the satellites.

Akira was crouched down, balancing on the balls of her feet, head lowered, hands supported squarely on her knees, her helmet abandoned on the ground beside her. Kaya, their engineering officer, stood a couple of feet behind her, arms crossed in concern, completely still.

Jin leaned forward as Vic continued to speak, "She got here a bit ago, and when she was getting off her bike, she caught her foot on something and fell over, and she yelled 'Ow!' really loud. Now she's just been sitting there for the past fifteen minutes."

"What? She injured?"

"Nope, she said she's fine. Doesn't look like she's bleeding anywhere either."

"Huh," Jin squinted at his screen, "Then what's up with her?"

"Dunno. She won't let me get close."

Kaya stared at her captain for another minute or so, before approaching her and leaning over to take a good look at her, "Akira? Jin's here."

She got a groan from the silver haired agent in response, before she lifted her head wearily, and mumbled distractedly to herself, "Jesus Christ. Shouldn't have ridden my bike on the way here." I swear I was okay when I woke up, I just ached a little. Now I hurt in places I didn't even fucking know could hurt...

Kaya raised her brows as her captain slowly, almost painfully got to her feet, dog tags hitting each other and clinking softly. They all saw the multiple dark spots on her neck and collarbone at the same time, peppered across her pale skin in angry clusters.

Vic immediately pointed and exclaimed excitedly, "Ah, Captain got lotsa hic--ow!" He didn't finish his statement before Ken threw a pen at his head to shut him up, and he closed his mouth; but they were all thinking the same thing. That's a lot.

They all exhaled a collective sigh of relief; she wasn't hurt, she was just... well, whatever she was feeling. Nobody wanted to imagine any further. Kaya hid a grin as she pulled the lawn chairs up around the van.

"Fun night, Cap?" Jin's voice crackled teasingly through the speakers. The rest of the team groaned inwardly in defeat; only he would dare ask Akira that. And get away with it. A lazy smirk danced on his face, but what the camera didn't catch was the momentary hard glint in his amber eyes as he watched Akira carefully take a seat, "Haven't seen you this crippled since Berserk." Ken choked on his spit as he tried to contain his laughter.

"Shut the fuck up, Juro Jin." she groaned, pulling her jacket off and throwing it over the back of her chair. Their eyes widened at the sight of bruises around her wrists, Vic's jaw visibly dropping in a large O shape.

"Goddamn, Akira," Ken couldn't help but comment, with an odd mix of disturbed and impressed in his tone.

"Well, that's new," Kaya muttered under her breath.

"Reeeaally fun night," Nothing could wipe the grin off Jin's face.

"Okay, that's enough. Do the fucking briefing already." she snapped, but not angrily. It was a good night. But she wasn't about to admit it out loud, especially not to these guys. She'd never hear the end of it. She was already starting to regret removing her jacket, and cursed herself for not checking the mirror before leaving the pub.

"Right," Ken cleared his throat and came out to sit at the edge of the van underneath Jin's screen, legs dangling above a patch of dead grass. Kaya and Vic took their seats beside Akira.

"So we searched all six Chroms' apartments," Ken casted files to each of their devices, blowing a black forelock out of his eyes. With their main intelligence and cyber security officer locked up in the safe house, he had been the one to pick up the job of researching their criminals, "All their laptops were wiped. Remotely, too. They have someone good on their back end. But we did manage to find this flyer in Devon's room. This is probably how they're recruiting," the screen changed to show a scan of a piece of paper with a bunch of numbers scribbled on it.

"This is an IP," Kaya observed.

Ken nodded, "Yep. We followed up on it on Tohr. We think it directs to the forum, but they seem to rotate addresses. Haven't been able to access it yet."

"They're probably bouncing it off multiple servers," the tablet screen reflected off Jin's glasses as he browsed the files, "Did you find a pattern?"

"Nope, not yet." Ken shook his head.

Akira's eyes flicked from left to right as she read quickly, "Do you think you can handle that yourself still? Or do you need Jin now?"

"We're getting close," the dark haired man replied with some confidence. Jin may be superior, but he could still get the job done.

"Okay. We'll go back to the original 72 hour rotation, then. Best to keep activity low. Yeah?" she glanced up towards the screen that showed Jin's perpetual pleasant grin.

His ears picked up on a shout from Deo, most likely in the game room, and he blinked slowly, "Copy that, Cap."

She quirked a curious eyebrow, but chose not to pursue it further, especially since there were no other complaints, "What about the targets? Any other connections besides 'smart and athletic students'?"

Their earpieces crackled as Jin adjusted suddenly in his seat, their mics picking up on the sound. He gripped his tablet, unseen from the camera. Yes. But how the fuck do I even explain it...

"No," Vic responded instead with a grim voice, "They're probably chosen by the Chroms themselves, so there's no clear pattern."

"They choose whoever they fancy for this Marionette Project as long as their brain's right for the picking, whatever that may be. It's basically a fucking tangle of MOs, we'll never be able to narrow it down," Kaya observed, icy blue eyes still scanning the rest of the file.

Akira drummed her fingers on the canvas arm rest in thought. She gave a humourless laugh, "Unless we bait them. Find their hideout."

They chuckled too, but it was a dead laugh. That was a plan none of them were inclined to resort to, not especially when their options for bait consisted of young students. But if it came down to it, then...

"Well," Akira spoke after a moment of thick silence, "Then our best bet is that forum. Do it quickly, Ken."

"Copy."

She leaned forward too suddenly and she winced, forgetting how much she ached. She grunted and tried to ignore it, "Anything else?"

They shook their heads in response, and she stood, carefully this time, "Sick. Keep security up on the safe house, and keep closing in on that forum."

"Roger that, Cap."

Akira made her way back to her bike as the other three packed up and left for their own posts. She leaned on the edge of the seat, not quite wanting to straddle it just yet, reading the case details again, making sure that nothing was missed. She ended up swiping to another app tab, and Blunt's number displayed on her screen by accident.

She chewed at her lip. It was a delicate situation. She was absolutely interested in him, there was no doubt about it. The night was electric in a way that she couldn't put into words, and she wanted more; but she was wary, reminded of her father and how this job destroyed every possibility of having a normal life to cultivate normal relationships. And she didn't want to put him through that.

Her earpiece beeped as a call came through, and Jin's number displayed on her phone. Right. And there's him, too.

She pushed a button and replied, "Yep."

"Hey." Jin said quietly, "Are you alright?"

She blinked. He never once expressed his concerns over her night outs before, so this was new, "Yeah. Why?"

He shrugged despite being away from her, "Dunno. I just... You look like you got beat up. I've never seen you like that. Other than Berserk."

Her face flushed pink. She was really starting to regret taking her jacket off, "Yeah, well. It was just... different than usual, I guess." She didn't know how to describe the entire thing, even beyond the sex. Her stomach did a flip as she recalled the night, and she blushed harder. She hid her nose behind one hand despite being alone in the clearing, her voice gaining an edge to it, "And it's not like Berserk. You know that; nothing tops that."

"I know. I'm just worried."

"I'm fine. It looks worse than it actually is," she reiterated, her cheeks getting warmer by the second. She fiddled with the chain of her tags distractedly, "Besides, you've never concerned yourself with wherever I get around, why start now?"

There was a pause from the other end, before Jin finally replied, "...yeah, okay. You're right. That's good." His eyes glinted harshly again in the mid-morning sun, but he didn't notice.

"What about you? You didn't put up a fight with the relief team. Deo beat you up and finally got some sense talked into you?" she asked with a grin in an attempt to change the subject.

There was another long pause, "...sure."

Akira raised her brows even more. Jin was acting really weird, and she didn't know what to make of it. She waited another heartbeat to see if he would say anything else, but he didn't. "Okay then, uh... go do your job." she said a little awkwardly, still somewhat confused as to why he called just to ask that. And his distant attitude during the entire call.

"Copy." he said, then hung up with a click.

The fuck was that... she thought to herself as Jin's name disappeared from her phone screen and switched back to her contact list, Blunt replacing his. She gave an audible sigh, tapping the edge of the phone as she stared at the number, like she was expecting it to reveal the answers to all her questions.

With a scrunch of her nose and another moment's hesitation, she finally gave in with a groan, and typed quickly in her phone, then hitting the send button with some reckless gusto. She shoved it into her jacket pocket, swung her leg over her bike with another disgruntled 'ow', and drove away.

--

Back at the safe house, Jin remained sitting in the back porch, the tablet screen dark before him and his phone idle in one hand. He could hear the thumps from the kids inside the house as they did whatever they did to pass the time.

His local communicator beeped again, "Jin. Single channel?" Kaya's voice sounded out through the ear piece.

He pressed a couple of keys on his laptop, "Yeah, you're good."

She sighed, running a hand through her mid-tone hair, "You called Akira, didn't you?"

Jin sucked the breath in through his teeth, "Ugh... was I that obvious."

"Eh... sort of. When the girl you like shows up looking all bruised like that, it'd be weird not to call and ask. Especially since Berserk," her fingers tapped on her knee crossed over the other leg, "She was hella obvious, though. We can all read her. She tried to hide it, but she was like... giddy. Dazed. But in a good type of way."

"Mm. Yeah..." the hard glint appeared again, but he didn't say anything more.

There was a comfortable silence between them. This core of five had a strong bond, especially after working together for the past four years. They knew how each others' minds worked. Akira and Jin were merely closer than the others.

"You jealous?" she asked quietly.

He opened his mouth to protest, but he knew he would never hear the end of it from Kaya if he lied, "Maybe. I dunno... What the fuck, I don't know." He ran a hand through sandy blond hair in some frustration, "I don't even know who the dude is. I called her 'cus I was worried. I'm just..."

"Mhm." she hummed in thought, letting the sniper process his thoughts on his own. She would have finished that sentence with 'unfairly possessive', but she didn't supply it.

It was quiet again.

"Thought you'd be more pissed about how I'm dealing with it. You crushed on me, no?" Jin said distractedly, after some time.

"As upset as I was, I knew it was never gonna be anything more than a one night stand. Not with Akira in the picture. And whoever it is that's keeping you there. Most probably the Deo girl." She had read the file.

He could hear the teasing grin from her, even through the phone, "Shut the fuck up."

"No, honestly. This is literally no big deal. It's not about me," she laughed, before her tone darkened. The same air of calm and calculating that every single one of them have as seasoned killers permeated even through the communicator, "But you better not fuck up whatever's happening here with Akira. And with Deo. Don't you dare halfheartedly chase after the captain like you do with every other person, not now that it's looking like she starting to get over you."

"Or I will kill you." she ended it with a smirk, but Jin knew she would follow through with that threat. Very easily, too.

He shivered, "Yes ma'am."

"Great. Good luck babysitting." the call ended with a cheeky click, and Jin shook his head, heading back inside.

--

Somewhere else, where the land stretched in a cultivated field before him, a notification pinged in his phone. It was an unknown number. He opened the message, and read the words on the screen: "To keep it fair, Sir Blunt."

[starunicornmoon]

Little Do You Know

'Love is never a straight line. Sometimes you've got to freehand.' Little Do You Know Head down to avoid making eye contact with too many people, I pushed the shopping cart down the aisle of the supermarket beside Amy, who had her cute nose in her shopping list and wasn't watching where she was going. I reached out and pulled her gently to the side so she wouldn't walk into a display of grapefruit at the last second. She looked up, seeming a little startled, gave me a small adorable embarrassed smile and went straight back to her shopping list. Shaking my head at her distraction, I chuckled lightly and carried on pushing the annoying cart with the dodgy wheel around the shop. I must've been giving out boredom vibes because Amy stopped me a second later. "You don't have to be here, Sonic. I can do my shopping alone," she rested her small hand on my arm and smiled at me with that too cute to ignore tug of her lips. She really meant it too, she didn't need me there and she wouldn't be offended if I zipped out of the store as fast as possible. She wouldn't take it personally, she wouldn't berate me later on because I left her stranded. After-all, it was me who asked if I could come along. I might have had ulterior motives for that this time though. "I know, but I just want to make sure you pick up the right chilli this time," I winked at her where I was casually leaning on the cart. Amy's cheeks flushed and she ducked her head to scout over her shopping list again. Her reaction surprised me and I stood back up to my full height and watched her. She knew I was, her face was getting redder the more I stared. Why was she acting all squirrely all of a sudden? Did I put my foot in it? Not that it would be the first time with her, but I like to think it's been a very long time since I did. I'm far past that slightly stuttery, AmyRosemakesmenervous stage of bolting and/or saying something to upset her accidentally. What's insulting about chilli? Narrowing my eyes I reached out and hooked a finger under her chin, making her turn to look me in the eye. I didn't say anything, I just gave her a look and waited. She bit her lip, her eyes shining with humour as we silently battled it out. I couldn't tell you who's the most stubborn out of the two of us, I think we're pretty equal on that battlefield. Amy did crack first though, probably because we were drawing attention to ourselves by having a stare down competition in the middle of an aisle at the store, our cart abandoned. She swallowed nervously, tucking a stray quill over her shoulder as she glanced down and looked back up at me. I felt like I was being played by her unintentional adorableness. "I've just been trying a new chilli out, that's all. I'll get your normal one from now on." she mumbled as she turned away and walked off quickly down the aisle. Being the fastest thing alive it didn't take me long to catch up to her, wonky shopping cart or not. She was distractedly throwing things in and ticking items off her list. I watched her for a moment, my mind rummaging back over the past couple of weeks, trying to remember the packaging of this new chilli she'd been tainting me with. When we got to the tinned chilli my eyes scanned the shelves trying to locate the right one. Amy placed a few of my normal favourite in the cart and started off at quite the quick pace. She was too late though, because my eyes zeroed in on the tin I was looking for and I almost dropped it on my foot out of terror. She has been tainting me! Amy Rose, one of my oldest and best friends has been secretly feeding me poison for weeks, on my precious chilli dogs no less! Is it some kind of practical joke? Was she hoping I wouldn't notice? How - how could she?! "Amy Rose!" I called, maybe a little too loudly as I appeared in front of her, stopping her from running away. She collided into me and jumped back just as fast. She looked nervous now. Nervous and like she was trying hard to not laugh at me. I know how I must've looked - a little crazed, scared and hurt. My poor chilli dogs . . . "You've been feeding me low fat chilli?" My voice was almost cracking just saying it aloud. And then a more horrifying thought occurred to me. "Ames, are you trying to say I'm getting fat?" I muttered, staring down at my stomach. Amy made a noise that made me look up in surprise. Was that a purr? Her eyes did a pretty quick and pretty thorough inspection of my body that more than inflated my ego, I can't deny it. Fat thought gone, it took a lot of willpower to not flex right there and then just to see what she would do. I settled for a familiar and proud smirk instead. When she met my eyes again her blush was back in full force from being caught out and I grinned even wider. "Oh shut up, you know you're hot," she huffed as she shouldered past me. True, I've lost my gangly teenage body and filled out a bit more since sparring more with Knuckles and doing more top secret missions around Mobius - a hedgehog's got to pay for said chilli dogs somehow. But still, it didn't hurt being told every now and again I'm buff. "Besides, I got it because it's healthier." she continued, back to her annoying list again. I nearly snorted at that. "Amy, in case it has escaped your notice, but I run at the speed of sound. If that doesn't burn off whatever I eat then I'm screwed. Low fat chilli not only tastes like crap, but ruins a decent chilli dog. Thanks but no thanks." I hummed, squeezing her shoulder once as I walked past her. She simply shrugged, the matter dropped just like that. That's one of the things I appreciate about Amy - she doesn't go on and on. We talk it out and it's finished, rarely to be brought up again. But now I knew she was getting the good chilli my itch to get out of the supermarket and burn off some energy was tingling through my body. Amy picked up on it instantly and nodded, "Go ahead, I'll see you later." she smiled. Grinning because my friends a mind reader I quickly kissed the top of her head and bolted out of the store. But then I remembered something and did a quick 360 to go back. I ran up behind Amy and whispered in her ear, "I think you're hot too, Ames." Grinning from her bodies shivery response I was about to run again when her matter of fact voice followed after me. "Yeah, I know I am." Jogging backwards so I could turn to see the smirk I knew she had on her face, I saluted her come-back with a laugh and wink, leaving for good that time. Maybe I'll join her shopping again soon, I thought. Just because. xXx I ducked back down behind the crackers I was hiding behind as I watched Sonic disappear out of the store for the second time. I stared at a random spot on the floor, confused and curious. Are Amy and Sonic - are they in a relationship? When did that happen? Why didn't he tell me? I thought I was his best friend, his little brother. And I use the term little very loosely these days as I'm almost on par of height with him now. But still, why didn't he tell me? Peeking back over the crackers to see where Amy was I watched her for a few seconds, part of my mind telling me this was being a bit stalkery, and the other wondering why I wasn't going up to say hello to her in the first place. It's not as if we don't bump into each other here on the rare occasion I do come here to get my groceries. I guess I'm still floored by what I just watched. I mean, they didn't kiss in the middle of the shop or anything. But they looked - familiar - with each other. Unless I've had my focus on someone else too much and haven't noticed. Embarrassment flushed my cheeks at the inner truth of that possibility. I know Sonic hasn't dated anyone in a while. The few relationships he has had haven't gone on for more than half a year at least. Though I've had my suspicions in the past that it's because he's never really acknowledged to himself his true feelings for Amy, the relationships he has been in seemed as though he was happy? Although again, maybe I wasn't paying enough attention. It's been a whirlwind few years as Eggman has eased off on his attacks and everyone has found other things to fill their time. I've thrown myself into my inventions and making a name for myself in the scientific field off my own merit and not someone who works alongside Mobius' hero. Not to say I'm not grateful to be best friends with Sonic! Of course I am and he's my biggest supporter and pusher. But to be acknowledged that I have reason to give other inventors a run for their money, especially someone like me at the young age of twenty is enough to give me the boost I needed to put more time into my own interests. We all make time for each other still, that's the important thing. And when Eggman comes rolling in with his bots, we're all there to take him down every time. Still, Sonic and Amy together? If it's secret they're doing a bad job of it. So it can't be that. "Tails?" Twin tails bristling in surprise as my ears flattened to my head with guilt, I spun on my heel to face Amy. I'd been so caught up in my own thoughts I hadn't noticed that she was gone and heading my way. I felt my blood rush to my face. "What are you doing behind the crackers?" Amy's asked not unkindly as she smiled coming in for a hug. I accepted it gratefully, hoping it would give me enough time to cool my engines. When she pulled away I hoped my face was a little less red than before. "Um, hi!" I answered, looking around for an answer that I hadn't come up with in those few seconds. "I thought I'd heard Sonic's voice, but I must've just missed him," I sighed inwardly with relief for not lying. I had heard his voice and I had missed him. Half truth or not, I hate lying and Amy knows me too well for me to even try to get away with it. "I wasn't expecting to see him here." A full truth, I don't think I have ever seen Sonic go willingly shopping before, let alone with Amy. Not a statement I ever thought I would say about my two old friends. Friendly as they were when we were younger, it's most definitely on a different level now. Sonic has always respected Amy and the skills and support she's brought to our team. Did she make him a nervous wreck? Absolutely! Was she a bit of a mad fan girl in her early teens? Without a doubt. But she is and always has been an integral part of our team and a good friend to Sonic as well and Knuckles and me. We fear her hammer more so now than ever, but she's a formidable friend and her and Sonic have gotten a lot closer and more comfortable with each other as they've grown up. Not just because she's stopped squeezing him and demanding dates with him either. Amy blushed slightly as she said, "He caught me out trying a different tinned chilli so he wanted to come make sure I got the right one," Her eyes shone with humour as she said it, that part of the conversation between them was a part I had overheard. I didn't miss the openly - err - appreciative look she gave Sonic too when he asked if she was calling him fat. I almost gave myself away from my hiding spot when he demanded to know that. The idea of Sonic getting fat is laughable after-all; he has the metabolism off the charts. I'm aware he goes to Amy's for dinner on occasion. But now I wonder just how often. "You can't fool Sonic when it comes to his chilli dogs," I laughed, knowing that one myself first hand. "Lesson learned," Amy laughed with me before sighing in defeat and waving her list in the air. "I have to finish this shopping, I've got a list of errands to run still. But I'll see you soon for our night at Rouge's, right?" "Of course, I wouldn't miss it." I answered, thinking of Rouge's club we make the effort to meet up at once a month since she opened it's doors. In support of her own business venture that suits her perfectly, clichéd as it may seem. A bat running a nightclub, who can be her own security if she wishes? It's a lucrative venture. She's incredibly popular for her own reasons, and she doesn't just open the doors for people to dance and drink. She holds fundraisers there too, supporting different charities. She's even held a few speed date nights too. They've proven to be very popular apparently. With us all being older now, it's nice to do something different. Something - normal. "Great! See you soon, Tails." Amy gave me a quick kiss to my cheek and dashed past me with her cart, leaving a subtle scent of her perfume behind in her wake. I shook my head as I watched her leave. I noticed one or two men watching her go too, much to her obliviousness. I ground my teeth and scowled when they turned back and caught my eye. My message clear as they ducked their heads and ignored me. I might be slightly younger than Amy, but I'm taller than her now and definitely don't appreciate her being ogled like that. She's like my sister. Even if I was kind of stalking her behind some crackers myself. Sighing because I was right back to that confused and curious state, I decided to grab what I came here for and get back to my workshop so I could disappear into the tornado again. If Sonic and Amy want to be together than great! I won't pop their bubble by bringing it up if they're not ready to tell people yet. Besides, it's taken them long enough. Damn stubborn hedgehogs.

[antomec]

our nights are endless, just like the stars and sand

heyo! back with another fic. this one is the third part to the series the skies are bright tonight, and so are you.   [part 1]     [part 2] 

beta’ed by the lovely @newghet

summary:  gray hadn't expected that their first date would go flawlessly. hell, he had absolutely zero expectations even for the second one. but the fact that they have had to reschedule their first date three times – probably because the universe hated young love – keeps throwing gray for a loop.

words: 4.5k

rating: T for swearing

you can also find this on AO3 and FF.net!

gray is a man of simple habits. he wakes up, suffers through classes, and maybe goes out to the convenience store on the corner of the street to stock up on instant ramen and the rare vegetable. he even gets dragged to the occasional party. although that was more cana’s thing than him.

but dating someone like natsu would be a...first.

don't get him wrong, gray adores natsu. he's utterly sweet, texts gray all the time, listens to him ramble. he even showed up with emergency coffee that one time gray tried to pull an all-nighter for his midterms.

but natsu is wholly different from gray than he first assumed. and gray doesn't know why, but he’s attracted to natsu. it'll probably take him a month at the very least to disentangle those feelings, and gray has no plans to do any kind of emotional dissecting soon.

perhaps there's some truth to that old phrase: maybe opposites do attract.

cana grumbles, and shakes her nearly empty styrofoam cup. “i really don't wanna listen to you go on about how natsu is the moon to your sky, please. i've already suffered through one of these with juvia, i don't wanna go through this again.”

“cana, for the love of all that's holy-”

“whiskey, definitely.”

“-will you just help me plan a goddamn date?”

cana stands up. “you're a big ball of fluff, that's what you are. just ask him out already. take him out to see a movie!” cana throws her hands up in the air, flinging the cup expertly into a nearby trash can. “for fuck’s sake, he's been staring at your ass ever since that party i took you to.” cana pauses, and adds, ”you know, i kinda regret that decision now.”

gray bites his lip in worry. “do you think he’ll want to go out with me?”

cana sputters in disbelief. “i literally just told yo-you know what? i'm leaving, goodbye!”

gray watches mutely as she walks away. he yells her name, and cana gracefully reacts by flipping a finger above her head.

was it just him, or did cana seem sort of averse to all his planning? maybe he should just listen to her and take natsu out for a movie – he couldn’t fuck up a movie, right?

this is it. moment of truth. all he has to do is walk up to him and ask natsu out. knowing himself, that's probably the one thing that he'll fail to do.

juvia kicks his foot under the table. “it won't be weird unless you make it weird.”

“sage advice,” gray grumbles.

juvia kicks him again.

they're in natsu's place of work, the university coffee shop, and maybe the universe really has it in for him, because no sooner does juvia kick his ankles again – “god, how does lucy put up with you,” he hisses under his breath – natsu looks up from the register and locks eyes with gray. he waves him over, gesturing wildly.

gray swallows. takes a deep breath. and gets up to go over.

natsu smiles when he approaches. “took you long enough. don't worry, i don't bite,” natsu adds, snapping his teeth playfully. “your usual, then?”

gray nods, and hands him the change. gray moves over to the next counter, where lucy’s already making his drink, and he's not completely sure, but it feels like juvia’s staring holes into his coat, so he just goes, fuck it, and says in a rush, “why don't we go out tomorrow? there's a movie playing that i wanted to watch.”

and this is when gray’s stomach drops, because natsu was serving a customer when he'd asked, so now he has four pairs of eyes on him.

the customer clears their throat awkwardly, and moves on the next counter. gray is flushing. he can hear juvia snickering behind him.

natsu, though – oh bless this adorable man – natsu simply laughs and repeats himself. “took you long enough.”

natsu comes over early to pick him up for their date. gray nearly has a fit over the callous attitude cana adopts – until she gets fed up and throws a dark blue sweater at his head.

natsu's wearing a peach coat, and gray finds it oddly adorable, the way it doesn't clash but rather complements his similarly coloured hair.

and judging by the way natsu blushes when gray catches him staring, natsu must be a little less confident tonight.

gray: 1, natsu: 0.

since the theater is close enough to walk, they decide against a taxi and take to the streets. as they walk, gray notices how long natsu's arms and how they swing past. he's wearing long sleeves under his coat, so there's no chance of seeing his tattoos tonight. gray sighs inwardly.

they make idle small talk as they walk, and gray's eyes keep darting to natsu's (empty, his mind supplies unhelpfully) hand, until finally, gray prays to the stars above and quietly takes hold of natsu's hand.

natsu jerks and looks at gray for a second, but immediately softens and smiles. gray’s eyes are still wide.

natsu softly squeezes back in reassurance.

snacks? check.

drinks? also check.

movie? the ads have begun playing, so partial check.

natsu? in the bathroom; he promised to be quick.

it's just a simple date, but he anxiety keeps blowing it out of proportion. no, natsu is not doing this out of pity, it's out of genuine interest in him. no, nothing will go wrong eith-

“hey! so, did i miss anything?” natsu says as he plops down next to gray.

“nah, you're just in time.”

gray passes over the popcorn, and settles in as the movie begins playing.

they're barely fifteen minutes in before gray suddenly sits up, and whispers urgently, “natsu, is it just me, or do you smell something burning?”

natsu looks confused for a second. he takes a deep breath and frowns. he suddenly smiles and leans in to whisper in gray's ear, “maybe it's my heart burning for you.”

gray pulls away and looks at him with unconcealed disgust. “really? of all the things y-”

gray stops, because the acrid smell of smoke suddenly gets stronger, and someone in the front row screams.

natsu and gray both get up, and with the added height, they see the source of the smell.

the screen is burning. flames lick across the edges, and gray is suddenly jostled out of the row, as natsu pulls him along to the outside.

“call the fire department!” natsu yells at the cashier.

between the two of them, and the cashier, they manage to get out the very few people inside. it isn't long before the fire department shows up and hurry inside. meanwhile, the rest of them are carted to the street, and the police take down their information in a notepad like a badly written cliche.

natsu bumps his shoulder against gray's. “well, this is a date i won't be forgetting soon,” he jokes.

gray stares at him in horror. “i can't believe this happened.”

natsu laughs. “yeah, but our friends are gonna get such a kick out of this.”

gray swallows. “how about we go home?”

natsu grins. “and reschedule?”

“definitely.”

“you should have just taken him to a diner.” cana’s lying on gray's bed, head hanging off the edge. she yawns, flips over on her stomach, and holds her chin in her hands. “cheeseburgers and fries solve any kind of crisis, trust me.”

gray lifts his head from his desk and looks at her murderously. “you're the one who convinced me to take him to a movie,” he grits out.

“well,” cana begins, “in my defence, it was like nine in the morning, much like right now, and i'd only had one cup of coffee.” she himself, and adds thoughtfully, “you know, now that i think about it, that theater’s been standing for like thirty years. what did they say caused the fire?”

gray lets his head hit the desk with a low thud. “the projector apparently overheated,” he says.

cana lets out a loud laugh. “this is not funny, cana!” gray says, but he can't keep off a tiny smile from his face.

“yeah, but can you believe the timing of-” a sudden chirp causes her to jerk, and she balances herself on one elbow as she pulls her phone out of her pocket.

gray gets up and falls on his face next to cana. “who is it this time?” he asks, voice muffled by the bed.

“mira – she wants to meet up.” cana sighs deeply.

“oh, really? have you told her what happened with laxus yet?”

cana glances darkly at gray. “no. and she doesn't need to, either.”

“just saying, it would've been better for her to hear it from you than someone else. that would be like a bad cliche.”

cana grunts.

“alright then, shakespeare,” gray snarks. cana gets up and sits on his back in retaliation.

gray's trying to shake her off his back when there's a knock on his door. it takes cana by surprise, and it's enough for gray to topple her to the ground. so when gray looks up at the door, natsu's wide eyes are trained on cana.

“huh,” natsu says. “is this a bad time?”

“life is a lie,” cana says from the floor. “time is a concept made by capitalists. what are we humans, but mere-”

“okay, that's our cue to leave,” gray interrupts as he gets up and grabs his coat from where it was hung on the back of his chair. “we can listen to your existential crisis later.” he pushes natsu out of the doorway and waves goodbye to cana. “i'll buy some instant ramen on my way back!” he yells as he pulls on natsu's wrist and runs through the corridors.

once they're outside the dorm building, natsu stutters to a stop, halting gray as well. “well, that wasn't weird at all.”

gray laughs. “nah, i needed to get out of there, anyway.” gray cocks his head. “wait a second, why did you come over?”

natsu scratches behind his ear, and says, “i wanted to ask you if you wanted to go out. with me, i mean. there's this flea market in town and i thought you'd want to go – with me, obviously.”

holy shit, he's so adorable, gray coos internally. thankfully, he doesn't say it out loud. instead, he says, “yeah, i'd love to.”

natsu takes him to the park on the other end of town. thought he doesn't mention it, it isn't gray's first time at this particular park. the only way natsu will ever know his past adventures with cana would be either over his dead body, or if he got cana drunk enough.

the market is big, bright and colourful; the vendors sell cheap trinkets like bracelets and plastic toys. they're beautiful, but gray can tell that they won't last a month.

natsu is almost like an overexcited puppy in the way that he pulls gray to each stall. natsu pulls him more often to the food vendors but gray won't complain. cana had begun her spiel early enough that he wasn't able to eat any breakfast, and once natsu learns this, he eagerly pushes gray to the closest park bench.

“you have to eat,” natsu repeats, and gray smiles fondly at his actions. it isn’t long before their table is filled with enough food to supply a small army. natsu laughs at the analogy when gray tells him.

“sure, but we’re a two-man army, we gotta fill up,” natsu says thoughtfully. “oh,” he adds, “let me go buy a bottle of water. be back soon!”

gray watches him walk away mutely. if he hadn’t been fortunate enough to walk into the university coffee shop rather than the one he usually goes to, gray wonders if he would have met natsu in some other way. maybe it was meant to be.

or maybe the sap in him was clawing his way out.

gray hasn’t taken his eyes off natsu even though natsu had muttered a quiet, “you can start eating, it’s okay,” before leaving. it’s precisely because he hasn’t stopped watching natsu that he sees what happens so very clearly.

natsu’s walking on the bicycle path back to their table, but before gray can tell him to step off the path, he sees a cyclist behind natsu coming at an unimaginable speed. gray gets up and yells, but the damage is already done.

natsu’s on the ground, hand clutching his head. the bottle of water he had bought rolls away from him, and gray scoops it up as he runs over. a few people are already crowding around natsu and the cyclist. gray pushes his way forward through the crowd, and kneels next to natsu.

“that was a hell of a crash,” gray starts. “are you okay?”

natsu doesn’t reply, and merely points to the cyclist next to him. she’s clutching her foot, and her face is screwed up in pain. gray shifts over to her, once he glances over natsu to see he’s okay. “on a scale of one to ten, how much does your foot hurt?”

“ten,” she whimpers out, and gray blindly reaches back for the bottle of water he had set down before. he hands it to the girl and she gulps it down hurriedly. natsu appears behind gray, and nudges him. “do you wanna take her to the hospital?”

the girl doesn’t seem to hear natsu, so gray relays the question once again. she hesitantly nods, and says, “i need to call my parents though.”

“sure. do you want to borrow my cell phone?”

the crowd dissipates, and after a while, gray talks to the girl’s parents himself. they agree to meet at the small clinic close to the park (gray doesn’t know where it is, but natsu shakes his shoulder and says he’ll guide them), and gray hangs up.

“so,” gray begins awkwardly. natsu jabs him in the ribs with his elbow and helps the girl onto her feet. she’s shaky on her feet and her knees nearly buckle, but natsu holds on.

“i’m asuka,” she says. gray notices natsu cock his head slightly at her voice.

“wait,” natsu interrupts. “asuka connell?”

asuka grins in surprise. “yeah!” she suddenly frowns. “i'm sorry, do i know you?”

natsu shakes his head. “no, no, i know your parents! i haven't seen them in a long while – this is going to be fun.”

gray crouches down, and with natsu's help, they get asuka perched on gray’s back. gray stands up straight, and asuka giggles.

the clinic is right around the bend, and they arrive in less than a minute. natsu barges ahead and opens the door for them, and a little bell sounds overhead. the place smells of faint disinfectant, gray notes, though that was probably expected of medical centres.

a head pops up from behind the counter, and gray whips his head around. asuka giggles from behind his shoulder and exclaims, “hello, wendy!” wendy is a short blue-haired girl who looks younger than gray, but seems to be old enough to hold down a job, judging by her nametag. wendy frowns at gray, and gray is confused for a moment before he realises that he still has asuka on his back. he moves to set her down, and wendy comes closer. “i’m pretty sure we’d be out of business if asuka didn’t come in every other week,” she jokes. “what is it this time?”

asuka's parents arrive fairly quickly, and after a quick lecture on safety, they spot natsu, and there's a sudden cry of joy. natsu hugs them so fiercely it has gray feeling slightly jealous, but he’s soon pacified when natsu holds his hand afterward and introduces gray as his boyfriend.

it isn’t until they’re walking back that it suddenly hits gray – their date was ruined again. gray looks over at natsu to voice his thoughts, but he falters when he sees the serene smile on his face.

gray holds his hand a bit tighter.

he opens his mouth to speak but natsu beats him to it. “this is sort of funny, you know.”

“how so?”

“i don’t think i’ve had to work this hard for a date in a long, long time.”

“that’s a big fucking mood,” gray breathes out, and they both burst into a fit of giggles.

“do you wanna try again? i mean, there’s only so many dates that could go wrong before the universe decides to throw us a bone.” natsu shrugs, and gray finds it endearing enough to want to tease him.

“someone’s pretty eager,” he remarks, and gray won’t deny it, it’s an absolute pleasure to see natsu’s ears go red.

natsu glares in faux anger, and gray laughs and pinches his cheek. natsu gently shoves his hand off and pouts. “let’s reschedule again,” he sighs.

and gray doesn’t know what possesses him to do it (cana would say that he was “in the moment”), but he tugs on natsu’s hand, leans in, and softly kisses him. when he pulls away, natsu’s looking at him with wide eyes. “that was... nice,” natsu tells him.

they both flush red, and natsu refuses to speak a word out of embarrassment all the way back to the dorms.

gray still kisses him again when they get to his room, even if it’s just to see the red on natsu’s face again.

cana slaps his thigh in laughter. “watching you two dance around each other is giving me an aneurysm,” she tells him mid-cackle.

they're in the common grounds in front of their dorms, cana sprawling across the grass and gray with his legs crossed leaning against a tree. the tree is large enough to provide shade for a good two meters in perimeter and gray wonders how old the tree actually is.

cana slaps him again. “hey, don't ignore me!”

“i wasn't aware you had anything to say.”

“you know, it sucks being the only single one in your friend group,” cana huffs, “because then i have to listen to all of your whining.”

gray narrows his eyes. “juvia's been talking to you, huh?”

gray laughs when all cana does is groan out loud. “you don't get to comment,” cana says. “i still think you should take natsu to a diner.” “cana, please.” “it’s indoors, safe, and also an additional bonus: food. the worst you can get is a coffee stain on your clothes.”

“is mira not available to annoy? or is this special treatment?” “i oughta lock you out of your room for this disrespect.”

“i still have your photos from when you were a teenager, do you really want to piss me off?”

“...have fun on your date.” cana acquiesces. “that’s what i thought.”

gray whips out a pair of tickets and waves them in front of natsu. “so? how about it?”

“you’re delusional if you think i'm going to turn that offer down,” natsu scoffs. “i mean, cotton candy? it’s a big yes from me.”

“good, the carnival’s only half an hour away and the next train is in twenty minutes,” gray says, grabbing natsu’s hand and pulling him along. the wind is cold against their face, and gray pulls up the collar of his coat. he’s wearing his lucky brown coat, the one that’s long enough to cover his knees. this is the third time they’ve rescheduled – gray is going to need all the luck he can get.

natsu pays for their train tickets (“you got us the carnival tickets, so shush”) and the train pulls in exactly ten minutes later. natsu looks a bit green when they climb aboard, but gray doesn’t mention it. it’s only after a while when natsu looks absolutely dead inside that gray cautiously asks him if he’s alright.

“oh yea- just peachy,” natsu chokes out. gray gapes at him in shock.

“no way,” gray says. “are you motion sick?”

natsu doesn’t reply – rather, he just looks at gray pleadingly. if that look was supposed to make gray sympathetic towards natsu, then he had another thing coming.

gray pulls out his phone. “blackmail is always a good choice.”

they’re entering the fair when gray cheekily pipes up, “so i suppose roller coasters are a no, then?”

natsu whines as gray laughs at him. “don’t be mean to me,” he pouts, and it’s so unbearably adorable that gray reaches up and kisses him. natsu smiles at him so sweetly afterwards that it physically hurts gray, and since gray doesn’t know how to handle it, he pulls them to the closest food stall. by his logic, natsu should have his attention diverted.

“cotton candy!” natsu exclaims. fuck yeah, gray thinks.

natsu sneakily puts his hand in gray’s coat pocket, and gray simply curls his fingers around natsu’s and doesn’t mention it. they make their way around each stall, not buying much, content with just perusing.

“haunted houses are a must,” natsu says a few minutes later, through a mouthful of cotton candy. gray fights back a smile because natsu probably thinks that he’ll scream, but gray doesn’t know how to break it to him that he’s never been one for jump scares.

he doesn’t tell him, and instead enjoys the disappointed look on natsu’s face when they come out. “you didn’t even scream once,” natsu accuses.

“were you expecting me to?” “it would have been appreciated, seeing as i was the only one who did scream in there,” natsu says.

“yeah, but you have to admit – it was sort of funny.”

natsu scowls and walks ahead, forgetting that gray still had his hand in a vise grip. as a result, gray gets pulled along roughly too, and he nearly trips. natsu looks over his shoulder at him, and asks in a singsong voice, “are-you-okay?”

“that’s it, come here,” gray yells, and natsu books it. gray chases him as fast as he can, but natsu’s too fast for him, and gray ends up having to rest on a little bench by the entrance. natsu tries to walk past him, pretending to ignore him, but gray reaches out a hand and pulls him down to sit next to him.

they sit close together, natsu slightly out of breath, and gray humming. they sit in silence, watching family and friends enjoy the carnival. there’s a little girl with a teddy bear running around with her brother, and gray points them out to natsu. he smiles at the sight, and in turn points to a boy piggybacking a girl through the carnival. gray laughs – the scene is absolutely adorable.

“okay,” natsu says. “not to freak you out, but i think it’s – maybe? – raining.”

gray sticks his palm out and almost immediately catches a few drops. “oh fuck,” he utters.

natsu grabs his hand and pulls him quick to the exit hoping to outrun the rain, but the rain is hard and it is fast. it doesn’t take long before they’re both completely wet, and gray has to fling his overly long coat over the both of them to protect them. they duck into an storefront that has a sunshade over the front. they're accompanied by a family of five, and gray stands as close to natsu as possible so as to let them stand comfortablely. it's while he's shifting that gray sees it – a diner, right across the street.

cana's words float in his head, and gray laughs out loud. natsu cocks his head and looks at him oddly, and gray simply points to the diner.

“do you want to go in?” asks natsu.

“it's warm, safe and there's food. you're delusional if you think i'm going to turn that offer down,” gray says with a cheeky smile.

they run through the rain one last time and approach the door of the diner. they're shielded from the rain at this angle, and natsu shakes himself dry like a wet dog. gray puts his arms up, and yells, “no, stop it! bad natsu!”

that only makes natsu shake his head faster, and gray’s previously dry face is now completely wet.

“you’re horrible,” gray tells him. natsu sticks his tongue out at him in response.

the blast of warm air from inside the diner nearly knocks gray off his feet – he wasn’t expecting it at all. the diner’s pretty crowded, mostly full of people who were caught in the rain like themselves. the waiters are passing out spare towels to the ones who came in, and gray and natsu thankfully accept. gray starts toweling his head and watches as natsu does the same. when they’re done natsu excuses himself to go to the restroom and gray tries to find a spare table.

he finds a small table in the corner, wedged between two others, and natsu joins him soon. they flag down a waitress and they order themselves cheeseburgers (gray can already hear cana's laughter in his head) and fries.

“why do you keep giggling like that?” natsu suddenly asks.

gray's caught off guard. “say what?”

natsu repeats the question. gray buries his head in his hands. “that's because cana kept telling me to take you to a diner as a first date, and i kept shooting her down.” gray gestures around them. “and now look where we are.”

“and why didn't you? take me to a diner, that is?”

gray pauses. “because i wanted to take you someplace fun.”

natsu clicks his tongue and places his hand on the table. gray automatically places his hand on natsu's and natsu clutches it tight. “you keep forgetting that i'm trying to date you because it's you. as long as you're there, any place will be fun.” natsu has an earnest look in his eyes, and fuck, if gray isn't weak for big expressive eyes.

“that's...a very sweet thing to say.” gray finally says.

“i meant it,” natsu tells him.

their food arrives and they unlink hands to dig in. it isn't soon before they're done and paying the check (“let's split it,” natsu says, and gray agrees). the rain hasn't completely stopped but it's turned into a light drizzle. the station isn't far away, and they make it there before the rain picks up again.

“are you sure we can't walk back to campus?” natsu chances.

gray looks at him, affronted. “campus is half an hour away, natsu! and that's by train!”

natsu grumbles, and he turns a little green when the train pulls in to the station. gray holds his hand tighter and tells him, “you can lean on me if you want.”

“that would be appreciated, thank you,” natsu answers gratefully.

he's adorable, gray thinks. and when they're seated and the train begins to pull away from the station, and natsu immediately leans his head on gray's shoulder, gray thinks that it would be very easy to fall in love with natsu.

very, very easy.

[timelordthirteen]

Some Other Time - Part 4

Mr. Gold/Lacey French, Explicit

Summary: College student Lacey dumps her boyfriend and needs a new apartment, it just so happens her professor, Dr. Gold, has a room to rent.

Chapter Summary: The incident with the lollipop behind them, Gold and Lacey look forward to the holidays.

Notes: I'm sorry this is so bad. For the 31 Days of Fandomas prompt #11 - Bows. 

[AO3]

Gold didn’t have to wait long after the incident with the lollipop to sort things out with Lacey.

She came to him less than a day later, and admitted that she was only trying to be funny with her little display. After he’d flashed her in the hallway, she thought it would make things less awkward, not more, and she accepted responsibility for misreading the situation. Likewise, he apologized for having to see him in such a state, and though she insisted it wasn’t an issue, he knew she was only being nice.

Still, it was enough to dispel whatever cloud had settled between them, and they moved on rather easily, maintaining status quo through the Thanksgiving holiday. Over the long weekend, she assisted with reviewing his midterm exams, and he gave her advice on how to steer her romanticism paper back on track. They shared a nice cozy meal or two, and if he spent too much time gazing at her over the length of his dining room table, she didn’t object. He’d caught her staring a time or two as well, but the look in her eyes was odd and he didn’t press it. While he understood that they couldn’t be anything more than friends, he felt like a corner had been turned.

And then came the bows.

While Gold wasn’t a Scrooge by any means, he also wasn’t one for large, ostentatious Christmas decorations, big light displays, or holiday music on repeat from Black Friday to New Year’s Day. For the most part, Lacey seemed to agree, cringing at the thought of the endless drone of songs every store played up and down the Eastern Seaboard, and wrinkling her nose adorably when he forbade any LED, motion-sensored, flickering icicle lights on his roof or animatronic reindeer in the yard.

He was fine with her outlining her street facing window with multi colored rope lights, and the artificial wreath she hung on the door to her ‘apartment,’ as they’d started calling it, was quite fetching. It was decorated with small, faux pine cones and holly berries, that shimmered with a dusting of glitter. A big red and green plaid bow sat at the bottom with its tails hanging halfway down the door. He had to admit it was a nice, festive sight in the mornings.

But then she talked him into putting one on the banister, along with a fake pine garland on the railing. There were velvety green bows at every swag that dangled into the foyer below. After that came a wreath on the front door, with one of the largest red bows he’d ever seen. Matching ones were tied around the posts on the porch, and that was when he’d started to notice that Lacey might have a thing for giant ornamental holiday bows.

Gold was about to try to confront her on this topic, and ask her to dial it back a bit, but before he could, she took him by the hand, lead him into the living room, and presented him with her pièce de résistance: a ten foot, pre-lit artificial tree set just to the left of the fireplace. The tree was covered in a tasteful combination of mostly silver and gold ornaments, with dots of red and green. He assumed she’d purchased them all as coordinated sets, unless she just happened to have that many stashed in the small closet in her apartment. Around the entire thing was a sheer gold ribbon, woven in and around some of the branches, filling in the gaps among the ornaments. A huge bow with ten loops was tied around the top, just beneath a twinkling star.

“Well,” she said, grinning widely. “What do you think?”

He blinked and looked the tree up and down again, letting his satchel fall to the floor. “It’s, um, it’s...big?”

Her face fell. “Too big?”

He met her eyes and gave her a plaintive look before looking at the tree once more. It wasn’t overly tall for the space, given that most rooms in the old Victorian had twelve foot ceilings, and the brick and marble fireplace with its heavy varnished mantle could certainly support being next to such a heavily decorated tree. It wasn’t...distasteful exactly, just more than he would have done.

She had clearly spent a lot of time on it, and he felt awful for not loving it like she clearly wanted him to.

“It’s not,” he said finally. “Really, it’s -”

Lacey worried her lip. “I, um, ran out of the boxes of ornaments, so I went looking for some. I hope you don’t mind...”

He moved closer to the tree, around to the side closest to the fireplace. There were a few ornaments he recognized from the boxes he kept in the basement, ones he rarely bothered to dig out since Neal moved away. Seeing some of them, a little tattier and worse for wear from years of a toddler turned grade schooler playing with them like toys, mixed among the newer, shinier baubles made his chest ache.

He smiled and turned to her, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze without thinking. “It’s - it’s lovely.”

Her eyes lit up and she bounced on her feet. “Really?”

“Yes,” he replied softly, looking the tree up and down, his eyes finding more and more little things that endeared him to the whole of it. “Thank you.”

She gave his hand a squeeze back, and it was then he realized he was still holding on to her. But she didn’t let go, and instead drew him over to the fireplace where she pointed up at the candlesticks on the mantle.

“I was thinking about putting red tapers in half of them, kind of like candy canes?” She leaned to the side and bumped his shoulder, still holding his hand in hers and pulling it against her thigh as she moved. “What do you think?”

For a long moment all he could think about was how warm her hand was and how close his hand was to the edge of her skirt, to being under her skirt. He must have managed to squeak out some sort of agreeable noise, because she beamed at him, and clapped her hands together. A moment later she produced said red candles from a box on the sofa, he hadn’t noticed. He watched, dazed, as she stuck them in the holders, the hand she’d been holding curled into a fist at his side. His body was humming with unspent energy he was doing his best to ignore.

The bow thing was still on his mind, however, and he wondered what her obsession was with them. At that moment, Lacey stopped and turned to him with a strange look on her face. He groaned inwardly. He’d said it out loud and hurt her feelings, again. It was the second time in ten minutes, and all he wanted to do was run out of the room and lock himself in the safety of his undecorated bedroom.

“You don’t like them?” she asked, frowning when he shook his head.

“It’s not that, it’s…” He sighed. “Why so many?”

He had expected her to be offended, but she didn’t seem to be, at least not if her shrug was anything to go by.

“They make everything look like a present,” she said, smiling and stepping back to admire the tree as the light faded outside. The room started to sparkle with a golden hue, the glass and metal ornaments reflecting and making the light dance against the walls.

Gold caught himself smiling again. “Makes everything a surprise.”

Lacey spun on her heel, grinning with her bottom lip caught between her teeth. “Exactly.”

Later that night, Gold was staring at the wall of his room, unable to sleep for the visions of Lacey and bows and the warm glow of the fireplace. In two weeks it would be Christmas break, and there would be no respite from her presence. He wouldn’t be able to hide away in his office at the university or pretend he had an early class. Unless she kept to her room the whole time, they would be well and truly living together. He wasn’t sure he could take that.

Rolling onto his back, he forced his eyes closed and tried to breathe slowly, in and out. He pictured the tree downstairs and the ribbon woven through it. Then an image of Lacey in a gold bow popped into his mind and he ran a hand over his face. That was the last thing he needed, a fantasy version of her like a present to be unwrapped, a naughty gift just for him because he’d been so very good this year.

Groaning, he reached down and rubbed his hardening cock, knowing he wouldn’t get any sleep unless he followed the fantasy to its inevitable conclusion. He pictured her undoing the bow, pulling it the ends slowly until she was bare before him. He stroked his length, squeezing it at the base, and biting back a moan as he thought about her hand around him, her mouth, or maybe even that ribbon. Maybe she would take it and tied around his cock before she fucked him, make him watch that ridiculous, shiny bow as she slid up and down and -

Gold bit his lip and let out a low grunt as he spilled himself in his hand. Panting into the dark room, he cursed his weakness, and let the guilt twist in his gut. It wasn’t the first time he’d done that while thinking of Lacey, but that didn’t make it right. He climbed out of bed, pulling a face at the sticky wetness in his pajamas. It wasn’t fair to objectify her for his own carnal needs, not when she was his friend and his - roommate?

Shaking his head, he cleaned himself up and put on a new pair of pants before getting back in bed. His body felt more relaxed, and as he drifted in a sleepy haze, he resolved not to let his desire get the better of him again.

Upstairs, Lacey slumped against the pillows, gasping as her fingers rubbed the last tingles of pleasure from her body. She smiled as she pulled the short length of ribbon from between her legs, feeling deliciously naughty for having given in to the fantasy. The whole time she’d been decorating the tree all she could think about was tying herself up in a big bow and putting herself beneath it, waiting for Gold to unwrap her like a present.

He probably wouldn’t though, and she sighed as she rolled over and dropped the ribbon to the floor to be cleaned up in the morning. Her body was humming pleasantly, and as she wriggled down under the covers, she thought about the new holiday catalog from her favorite lingerie store. Since she wasn’t likely to get a present, or to get to be someone’s present, maybe she’d buy herself something nice for Christmas.

[newyorkcitywater]

@thereallyrealironman

Chapter the First

The Headingleys were throwing a party, and when the Headingleys threw a party, one could reasonably count on shenanigans, escapades, and waking up in the morning remembering either all of it or none of it. Everyone over the tender age of eighteen was invited, and this lucky group included Anne St. Clare, who considered herself a heroine but was clever enough not to let this show. She had gone to two Headingley soirees and found them a bit dull, due to the lack of handsome young men as well as a lack of escapades suitable for one clad in heels,  and her over-high expectations, gained from reading far, far too many novels. Even her sister Kitty, who thrived on gore and ghouls, thought that Anne should try something else for a change, such as one of the racier Shakespeares* or, as she put it, “anything other than those blasted romances. Try The String Of Pearls, it’s fascinating!”

Anne had declined politely, but as she stepped into Headingley Hall, she wished she hadn’t. The “set” that she was friends, or rather acquaintances, with was deathly boring. This was not because of any misguided thoughts of “not being like the other girls;” this was because when one is friends with a set that has quite different reading tastes, ones that lean towards the educational or improving sort, one learns to ignore them or to begin writing a novel in their head. If she had had something with her to read, even a smudged dime novel, there would have been something to do. Anne continued to regret her decisions until she saw a man who her novels would have described as “dashing” or “breathtakingly handsome,” but even without the hyperbole he was quite good-looking. She recognized him without trouble, seeing as Edward Hudson was well-known among girls through the ages of seventeen to twenty-one. Anne was one of the lucky set who was almost friends with him, and since he was quite choosy with who he made friends or almost-friends with, this was the highest of honors.

She sped up, wobbling a bit in her heels, and managed to reach Edward without falling over. He looked surprisingly glad to see her. “A dance?” he said quickly, and Anne nodded without reservations.

*Otherwise known as most of them, or, as Kitty liked to say, “anything other than Romeo and Juliet, Anne, they’re children and they’re in love and six people died.”

Chapter the Second

William Thander seemed to have rather a wandering hand. While dancing with Anne, he managed to move it from her back downwards, and then squeezed. Anne, unsure what to do, stepped hard on his foot, and he drew away his hand with a smirk. It was back in its old position, and creeping downwards fast, before the minute was out, as well as moving in several more distinctly impolite ways.

Anne looked at him, feeling intensely hurt. “I’m quite sorry, Mr. Thander, but I must go talk to Lady Headingley. My friend Clara is right this way, and I’m sure she would love to dance with you.” She moved away as quickly as possible, muttering to Clara, “It’s important. Stop dancing as soon as you can and say your head aches. I must leave as soon as possible. Get away from Thander quickly. He’s a menace.”

“I do apologize, but I must leave immediately. I did have a lovely time,” she told Lady Headingley, turning on her heel—oh, why had she worn those damnable heels? and almost running out of the ballroom. Ignoring Lady Headingley, who was walking after her, a little worried and turning a frosty glance on the footman who brought her coat, she opened the heavy front door and inwardly groaned. The carriages no longer stood in a row down the drive; they were all gone.

Anne supposed that no guests would be leaving early or that most of the attendees would be staying the night, which were perfectly fine if one wanted to stay, but if one didn’t—ah, there lay the sting. She would have to walk. In a chill night with a joke of a coat and the damnable, damnable, damnable heels. Ah, how wonderful it would be to return home and tell the whole story to her dog. And, of course, because the laws of the universe were conspiring to make her as miserable as possible, the grounds were huge and thick with trees. She’d noticed it on her way to the party, but hadn’t taken it as important until now. The drive was a sort of gravel, which was both lucky and maddening. She would be able to hear anyone else walking on it, but with or without the heels, she would have a hard time walking. The night was lit by a huge and luminous moon, so at least she wouldn’t have to slink back in, shamefaced, and borrow a candle.

A crunch of gravel alerted Anne to the presence of another person. She turned around, marshalling her wits in a vain attempt to keep the fear off her face. “Who’s there?” she cried.

“It’s only me, Miss St. Clare.” Edward looked slightly amused, which Anne found irritating on a level previously unknown to humanity. “Your—” —he paused for dramatic effect— “exodus did not go completely unnoticed.”

“Ah.” It was a statement. Anne stalked up the drive, as much as one can stalk while wearing pin heels on a gravel surface.

“If you’re going to continue your escape, you might want a companion, to help you over a fence when your feet give out.” Anne continued to walk away. “I’m not joking, you know!” he shouted after her. “The estate’s quite big and fence-y and dangerous, they’ve got their own burial plot, and if I know anything about William Thander he’ll set up a bit of a chase once his ‘precious darling’ whom he danced with once, for Christ’s sake, leaves early before he can begin his real flirting!”

She stopped. “Real flirting?”

Edward nodded. The bright moon made the expression on his face as clear as day.

“Well, all right then, but if you use this as an excuse to do anything indecent, I’m switching shoes with you.”

He raised his eyebrows. “If it sweetens the deal, you can take my coat. You’ve been shivering for the past five minutes.”

“But won’t you be cold?”

“A Hudson is never cold— oh, I admit it, I’m freezing. Do you want me to dash in and steal a coat from the footman?”

Anne laughed. “It would be lovely to stand here talking all night, but by this point I think Clara will have extricated herself from ‘the grasp of William Thander’ and be out for my blood for making her dance with him.”

“Lady Anne, shall we?” Edward bowed to her dramatically.

“Why yes, my good Lord Edward, we shall.” She curtsied, took his hand, and the two walked quickly off the gravel drive and into the well-groomed grass of the lawns.

“I do think you should be able to remove those torture devices you call shoes. There’s nowhere you can leave a footprint and it will be much harder to run with them on.”

Anne kicked off her shoes with a sigh of relief and watched them fly onto the gravel drive, landing close together in a heap. Edward pulled her by the arm quickly over the lawns until they were sure that they were in the shadows of the trees. From their vantage point, they could just see a spot of light appear on the drive as the front door was opened and the silhouette of William Thander was visible.

“Get back,” muttered Edward. “He can’t see us, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

Thander walked briskly up the drive and stared at the heels lying on the gravel. He let out a soft “hmph” and turned toward Anne and Edward, who shrank backwards quickly into the trees. He began to walk, slowly at first, but soon speeding up, with the air of a man who has his prey exactly where he wants them.

Edward grabbed Anne’s hand without warning and pulled her quickly backwards into the forest with a rustle of leaves. The ground was uneven and slightly damp, and she spared a rueful glance for the hem of her dress. She wouldn’t have worn white if she had known how much adventuring would be happening, but ah, well, it was what it was. Thander stopped walking, shook his head, and turned, starting to walk at a right angle to them.  

“Ouch!” Anne hissed, a little louder than necessary. “I’m not even wearing shoes, you’ve dragged me over at least ten roots, and my toe’s probably bleeding from that sharp rock over there.”

Edward gave her a cursory glance. “You’ll live.” He stared over her shoulder. Thander had turned again and was walking more quickly towards them. The original change of direction had been a trick. “Try to tolerate it, unless you’d like to be left to the mercies of Thander.”

Anne set her teeth. She’d be damned if she wasn’t going to try to outrun that bastard.

Edward grabbed her hand again and she began to run, then sprint. He dragged her in a different direction, and she barked her shin on a log that she wasn’t able to jump over in time. “What are you doing?” she hissed through gritted teeth.

“How are your acrobatics?” he asked.

“I’m sorryyyyyy!” She was cut off as he turned again and thankfully paused.

“Can you climb a tree and not kill yourself in the process?”

“I’m glad you have enough confidence in my tree-climbing skills, but probably, depending on how tall it is and whether it’s made out of knives.”

“The trees get thicker up there. Climb one—don’t worry, I won’t leave you up there in some useless show of cowardly bravery—and wait. If Thander passes by, stay completely silent. Once he’s gone, climb down. We’re going to the graveyard.” Edward scrambled quickly up a large tree and waited until Anne, making great use of the knobbly bits and handholds, climbed up next to him. He grabbed her hand and helped her up onto a sturdy branch, where they both perched a bit awkwardly. She tried to resist the urge to giggle. It was all so odd, being perched on a branch with a man in the middle of the night evading capture.

“Like something out of a penny dreadful, isn’t it?” she said.

Edward looked at her. “Not gory enough for one of those, and anyway, you don’t look like the sort to read them. More like the novels where everyone sighs every minute and faints twice every hour.”

“My little sister has ghoulish taste in literature, and she’s only fourteen, for heaven’s sake. The gorier it is, the more she wants it. They’re something to read when I’m bored out of my wits.” She chose to ignore the slight to her reading tastes.

“Well, you might have a tale to tell that’ll beat all of her dime novels hollow.” There was a rustle of leaves. Thander wasn’t even trying to be quiet at this point. Anne could see a silhouette picking its way over the roots, rustling more and more fallen leaves as it went.

Thander paused at the base of their tree. “I know you’re there,” he called up. “Or are you in some different tree? I’ve got all night to wait. There are measures I could take, although it would be quite painful to see that happen to your pretty body, Annie.” She could hear, in the quiet, a pistol cocking.

Edward clapped a hand over her mouth quite unnecessarily, as she wouldn’t have made a single noise for all the jewels in the crown. Be quiet, he mouthed. Stay here. Edward moved over slightly and climbed off the branch, managing to get down the tree as quietly as could be expected. He walked almost silently, balancing on the roots, around the tree and off a very short distance before turning around and walking loudly towards Thander.

“Ah, William. I think you’re here for the same reason I am.”

Thander, startled, turned toward him but relaxed when he saw Edward.

“I’m here,” he continued, “to look for that minx Anne St. Clare. Surely she can’t be too far away. She’s only a girl, and she’d be too scared to spend much time near the graveyard or in here. She’ll probably be hiding near the edge of the trees, shivering and sobbing. I’ll let you do the honors.” Thander looked gleeful in a deeply sinister way. He turned and almost ran out of the woods.

“Jump down. I’ll catch you,” Edward stage whispered when Thander was almost out of sight.  

“Risk breaking my legs or getting the Thander treatment from you? I should think not!”

“Climb down, then. I’m sure it will take only another half hour.”

Anne ignored him and proceeded to pick her way down the tree, which was not exactly the easiest endeavour that she’d undertaken that day, even without heels. She jumped down, wobbling slightly, from a large and knobbly protrusion near the base of the trunk. Edward applauded sarcastically. “Let’s all give three cheers, since if we wait much longer we won’t be alive to give them.”

“I thought you were trying to help me. If you want to leave, it’s your choice.”

“Hurry up. I’m changing my plans. We’re leaving here as soon as possible. I trust you know Thomas Worth?”

Chapter the Third

Thomas did not know exactly what he expected to see when he opened the door at one o’clock in the morning. A hobgoblin, maybe, with an eye for mischief, or Edward, who was the only person he knew who would also be awake. What he did not expect to see was Anne, who looked slightly the worse for wear.

“Tom! Oh, it’s been far too long. We really should make some pretense of keeping in touch.”

“Glad to see the wounds are superficial,” he said. “It really has been too long, you said you’d try to write-”

He was cut off by Edward. “How well do you two know each other?” His voice was tinged with the faintest hint of jealousy.

“Old school friends,” said Thomas flippantly. “We used to go to the same places in the summer. Good times.” Edward looked mollified. “Come in already, it’s freezing cold and neither of you have a proper coat.”

Clustered around Thomas’ kitchen table, Anne and Edward were looking a bit less blue about the lips. Edward slipped a flask out of his pocket and took a short swig. Anne grabbed it and drank from it slightly longer than was necessary. “What?” she said. “I’m in shock, and I’m cold, and my feet hurt!”

“Nice to see you haven’t changed,” said Thomas. Edward, tucking the flask back into his pocket, shot him a look that said plainly, You have no idea.

“So. Are you going to stay the night, or at least what’s left of it? I’m not personally opposed to staying up all night, but it’s your choice.”

“Is there really any point to going to sleep now?” Edward looked at the kitchen clock.

“Seeing that it’s one o’clock in the morning, probably not. A more pressing issue is the fact that we’re going to have a hard time getting home. Clara doesn’t know where we are, or else she might be able to help us.”

“You’ll have to walk, I’m afraid. I might have a pair of boots you can borrow, since walking home barefoot seems like a horrible idea. I was also planning on making tea, but you two seem to be quite all right with your flask.”

The two immediately clamored for tea, and Edward, rolling his eyes, soon set three mugs down with slightly more force than necessary.

“To staying up all night!” Anne lifted her mug.

“To hell with sleep and consequences!” Thomas lifted his. “She doesn’t care about my swearing, she’s just as bad herself,” he added.

“To our walk home in the morning!” Edward lifted his mug, and with a clink of china, Anne and Edward simultaneously burned their mouths.

“I’m ashamed of you two. How long has it been since you’ve drunk tea, and didn’t your mothers teach you that you don’t drink something hot until it cools down? Or possibly to stir?”

Anne, with a mock shame-faced expression, hung her head for a second but then grinned. “I’ll wait before I toast my friend and an almost-stranger in tea next time, Mother.”

“If I die young in some freak accident, such as, oh, I don’t know, an avalanche, you can be my next of kin and inherit this beauteous mug.” Thomas waved his mug aloft.

“I’ll read your tea leaves!”  Anne tried to snatch his mug, but settled for stealing Edward’s.

“Anne, there’s still a whole mug of tea— oh, forget it, but I still want my tea, I’m just as cold as you are.”

Anne, not to be dissuaded, sloshed the tea around, spilling a bit. “Oh, take your tea back, I can’t see a thing.”

“Gladly!” said Edward, reaching across the table. “I’m frozen through.”

[jaredkleinmanisanerd]

If you're still doing the drabble thing could you do “Hey, hey, calm down. They can’t hurt you anymore." for tree bros. If it's not to much to ask, that is.

This is probably ooc, but I hope you enjoy it!

Contrary to popular belief, Connor Murphy is not, in fact,the worst kid in school.

Sure, there was the whole Mrs. G/printer fiasco in secondgrade, but, aside from that isolated incident, Connor hasn’t done much thatwould label him as a bad kid. He turns in his homework on time, he does well ontests, and he doesn’t talk to people in class. Well, that last part is lessbecause he’s a good kid and more because he doesn’t have any friends to speakof and so doesn’t have anyone to speak to in class, but still. He doesn’t getinto fights. Not really. Connor’s shoved a kid or two in his grade, but that’salways just been in response to someone being an asshole to him, and he shouldn’tget in trouble for standing up for himself. But he does.

Not that he even has to stand up for himself much; therearen’t even that many kids who dare to bother him since he shoved that one kidin the parking lot and the kid ended up with a broken ankle. Which wasn’tConnor’s fault—how was he supposed to know the kid was going to lose hisbalance and take a dive off the edge of the pavement? And isn’t it the school’sfault that they built the parking lot right beside a ditch so if someone tripsor is gently pushed they’ll fall straight into the ditch? But, Connordigresses. The only kids who really bother him are the few brave soulsdesperate enough to be considered cool that they’re willing to bother theschool’s resident psychopath, and even they have started laying off of himrecently. Connor guesses everyone’s started in on the kids even lower on themiddle school food chain than him.

Which brings us to now, when Connor’s standing outside theboys’ restroom in the science wing, listening to Evan Hansen’s stutteringexplanation of why he doesn’t have any lunch money to give whatever dipshitcornered him in the bathroom peppered with an obscene amount of apologies. Seriously,this kid is apologizing a lot forsomeone who’s being harassed.

The way Connor sees it, he has two choices: go in there andhelp this kid out or continue onto another bathroom, leaving Evan to theinevitable swirlie that middle school boys love so much. He’s leaning towardsthe second because what’s the point of getting involved and making himself atarget when things have started cooling down for him, you know? But something’sstopping him from walking away.

Evan Hansen is one of those kids who tries to survive byflying under the radar; he never speaks unless spoken to, he always agrees withother people’s opinions to avoid confrontation, and he doesn’t really do anything. Evan doesn’t make waves.

He also doesn’t have any friends, which Connor figures iswhy he’s found himself in this situation. Unless people are afraid of you likethey’re afraid of Connor, you need people to back you up. The only peopleConnor’s ever seen Evan have anything resembling a conversation with are JaredKleinman and Alana Beck, and Alana Beck talks to everyone and Jared Kleinman isan asshole. So, Evan’s fresh out of luck when it comes to having someone tostand up for him.

Connor knows he should just leave. Evan Hansen has never—andwould never—look out for him, so there’s no reason Connor should look out forEvan. But he feels bad, leaving this kid who tries so hard to go unnoticed tobe treated like garbage by Brent Whatever-the-Fuck and his goons. So, Connormakes a bad decision, which probably wouldn’t come as a shock to anyone.

Connor makes a lot of bad decisions.

He shoves the bathroom door open hard enough that whoeverwas standing against the door to keep it closed from prying eyes stumbles andnarrowly avoids falling by catching himself on one of the sinks.

Connor doesn’t have to do much besides stand theremenacingly and glare at the boys bothering Evan before they bounce, mutteringhalf-hearted apologies to Evan on their way out, looking almost guilty to beabandoning the kid they were just bullying with the infamous Connor Murphy.Evan certainly doesn’t look any calmer with Connor being the one cornering himinstead of the other punks. Well, thiswas a shitty idea.

It’s barely two seconds after Connor turns his gaze on Evanthat the boy is bursting into tears, scrubbing at his face with the sleeve ofhis sweatshirt and muttering apologies between loud, shaky gasps. Fuck. Connor isn’t exactly the type ofperson who comforts other people. Hell, Connor isn’t the type of person whosaves people from bullies either, but look where he’s landed himself now. In agross public restroom during his lunch break with a boy who seems to havesprung a leak.

He takes a few steps forward, hands raised in a placatinggesture, coming to stop about a foot in front of the other boy, who doesn’tseem any closer to shutting off the waterworks than he did when Connor wasn’tencroaching on his personal space. “Hey, uh,” Connor starts. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine—sorry, sorry, I can’t—I’m r-really sorry—”Evan chokes out and honestly this is the saddest fucking thing Connor’s seen ina while. Evan’s face is red and blotchy and his face is scrunched up in thishorribly pained expression like someone just punched him in the chest orsomething. He’s shaking like a leaf. He looks really… Pathetic.

Connor grabs some paper towels from near the sink andreturns to his spot that’s close-but-not-that-close to Evan, holding them outlike a peace offering. Evan doesn’t seem to notice them through his tears, soConnor pushes out a low sigh, letting the hand with the paper towels drop tohis side while he brings the other one up to hover a few inches above Evan’sshoulder. When Evan still shows no sign of calming down a few seconds later,Connor drops his hand on the boy’s shoulder, cursing inwardly when Evanflinches at the sudden contact. Thisis why Connor doesn’t try to help people—he’s supremely shitty at it. He’sprobably making everything worse, but it doesn’t seem right to leave Evan cryingby himself in the bathroom, so he stays, trying to calm him down.

“Hey, hey, calm down,” Connor mumbles, trying to make hisvoice sound comforting and not confrontational, “they can’t hurt you anymore.”He awkwardly rubs the other boy’s shoulder as he continues to assure Evan thathe’s okay, the other kids are gone, Evan’s going to be fine. It takes a while—or,it feels like it takes a while, itcould’ve been less than a minute for all Connor knows—but Evan stops crying andgets his ragged breathing under control, accepting Connor’s offering of therough paper towels and using them to clean the tears and snot off his face.

“S-sorry, I just—I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have kept you, youprobably had way more important things—just, sorry. I’m really sorry.” Althoughthe waterworks have stopped, Evan still looks like he’s two seconds away fromhaving another breakdown.

“Uh, it’s fine. No big deal.”

“It is a big deal,”Evan mutters in a soft enough voice that Connor figures he didn’t mean for himto hear it. “Th-thanks. For—for, um, everything, I guess. You didn’t—you didn’thave to do that, so. Thank you.”

“Like I said, it’s fine.” The discomfort that comes withinteracting with other people that subsided while Connor helped Evan iscreeping back in, settling in his chest like a physical thing. Connor doesn’tknow how to do this—how to properly talk to a kid who just spent half theirlunch period crying in front of him.

“It’s not fine, but, uh, thank you for. Saying it is.” Evanseems to be returning to his usual, awkward self, which makes Connor feel alittle better. He’d been getting worried that Evan was going to be stuck as ablubbering mess for the rest of the day, which would not have helped him withthe whole getting picked on thing. “I should—I should go.” Then Evan’s dumpingthe soiled paper towels in the trash can and scurrying towards the door,probably planning on running off to tell Kleinman what just happened. He stopsbefore he’s out the door though, looking over his shoulder at Connor. “Th-thanks,Connor.” The words come out soft and his lips are curved in a weak smile, likehe’s trying to assure Connor that he’s fine now. He’s out the door beforeConnor can respond.

Connor doesn’t stay in the bathroom long after that. Lunchis over by the time he emerges, so he walks to the science classroom, takinghis seat beside Alana and half-listening to her chatter on about someassignment or other. Normally, he’d listen to her talking, offer a snarkycomment here or there, but today he’s too hung up on thinking about Evan Hansento be an active listener. Connor wasn’t expecting to be thanked for his gooddeed—he was more expecting for Evan to tell him he didn’t need his help or thatConnor should leave before he made things worse. That’s what most people atthis school would do. But Evan apologized—for what Connor doesn’t know, beingthe target of bullying maybe? But that’s not his fault, not at all—and thankedhim for helping him out. He treated Connor like a normal good Samaritan, notsome social reject trying to make a friend by helping someone when they’re attheir most vulnerable. Not that Connor was trying to make a friend by doingthat, or whatever. He was just trying to be a decent person.

Connor thinks about Evan a lot that afternoon. He thinksabout him through the rest of his classes, through dinner, and all the way upto bedtime. Even his parents notice that he seems distracted, and they don’tnotice anything about him that isn’t decidedly negative. Evan’s kind of a weirdkid, he thinks. He gets good grades, but he doesn’t talk to the other smartkids. He dresses nice—Connor hasn’t seen him in anything but a polo and khakipants—but he doesn’t hang out with the other kids who make a point to dresswell. He’s on the basketball team with the insufferable Jared Kleinman, but hedoesn’t hang out with his teammates. Evan seems to have a million opportunitiesto make friends, so why hasn’t he? If Connor was in his position, he’ddefinitely—

Well. Connor’s never been in his position so he doesn’tknow, exactly, what he would do besides the fact that he wouldn’t pass uphaving friends.

Connor’s still thinking about Evan when he gets to schooland finds the person taking up his thoughts hovering awkwardly by his locker,playing with the hem of his shirt and looking like he’d rather be anywhereelse. “Hansen.”

The boy nearly jumps out of his skin when he notices Connorstanding there. “Oh, h-hi, Connor.”

They look at each other for a moment, neither one of themsure of how to continue, and Connor realizes as the silence continues tostretch on that he’s going to have to be the one to move this conversationalong. “Do you need something?” The question comes out harsher than he intendedand he can see Evan’s shoulders tense in response, preparing for confrontation.

“Um, well, n-not really, but, uh, I have something to—to giveyou for, for helping me out yesterday.” Evan pulls his backpack off and startsdigging through the main part, producing a plastic bag filled with cookiesafter a few seconds of searching. “I didn’t, uh, I didn’t know what type youwould want, so I figured chocolate chip would be the best way to go—I mean, whodoesn’t like chocolate chip, right—not that there’s anything wrong with you ifyou don’t like chocolate chip! S-sorry, you probably don’t like it, I shouldhave—sorry.” Connor’s staring blankly at the bag when Evan finishes his word vomiting.He made him cookies. Evan Hansen made Connor cookies.

What the fuck.

“It’s okay if you don’t—if you don’t want them, I totallyunderstand, I mean who bakes people cookies anymore, that’s weird—that’s soweird, I don’t even know why I did it.” When Connor doesn’t reply, Evancontinues, cheeks bright red with embarrassment. “But, um, I wanted to thankyou and, you know, my mom—er, people tell me that everybody loves baked goodsand, uh, I like baking, it’s cool, you know, you just follow instructions andget cookies—but I mean, I don’t bake like a lot, you know, that would—that wouldbe weird if I did, right? Um, I just bake when I’m nervous—not that I’mnervous, or that you make me nervous, or anything! I just, uh. Sorry, this wasa bad idea, wasn’t it? I’m sorry. I’ll just—I’ll go, sorry.”

Connor grabs Evan’s arm when he realizes the boy is about torun away. “Um, no, it’s. It’s cool. I just wasn’t expecting,” Connor glances atthe bag of cookies, surprised to find that they look like actual cookies and nothunks of raw dough, like Evan actually put time and effort into baking these, “this.”

“I made it weird, didn’t I? I should have just left these inyour locker, but I was worried you might think they were like weird poisoncookies or something—which they aren’t, they aren’t poisoned or weird, they’rechocolate chip, not—not poison—and I didn’t want to leave a note because thatseemed weird, too, but, uh, I think I—I think I, um, made it weird.”

“It is kind of weird.” Evan’s face falls and Connorscrambles to fix it because Evan thanked him and baked him cookies and Connordoesn’t want to upset him when Evan’s been so—so nice to him. “But not in a bad way. Like good weird.”

“Are you—are you sure?”

“I’m positive.”

A shy smile spreads across Evan’s lips and, for some unknownreason, Connor can feel his face heating up. “Good—or, uh, cool. Cool.” Evanholds out the bag of cookies and Connor accepts them, marveling at how softthey feel even through the plastic.

“You should, um,” Connor starts, feeling his cheeks burnbecause you’re being stupid, Connor, stopwhile you’re ahead, “do you maybe want to share these? At lunch?” Themoment the question is out there, Connor wants to take it back. Of course he doesn’t want to, who would wantto be seen with a freak like you?

“Yeah, no, um,” Evan clears his throat, looking off to theside like he’s embarrassed, or something. “That would be—that would be great.”

“Great. See you later then, Evan.”

“Uh, y-yeah, see you later, C-Connor.” Evan looks happy,which is weird, because people never look happy when they have to spend timewith Connor, but Connor’s already established that Evan is a weird kid, so hejust chalks it up to Evan’s preexisting oddness.

He looks down at the bag of cookies in his hands, a physicalreminder that Evan Hansen did just give him cookies that he baked himself tothank Connor.

Well.

Fuck, then.

[eigwayne]

Happy Birthday Choriisu Setsuna!

Gundam 00 Week, Day 6 - April 7th Can also be interpreted as: Setsuna’s birthday, UC Gundam crossover/AU, Gunpla, Mobile Suits

Saji and Louise discover it’s Setsuna’s birthday. The world’s tamest birthday party ensues, but ‘tame’ doesn’t mean Setsuna knows what to do. Birthday fluff, chorii~su!

———–

It’s set toward the end of the first season and there are some references to events in Season One, so mild spoilers. There’s also a reference so a drama track but you should be able to get the joke without it? I hope?

Or you can watch/read these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXKA_9RoRY8

http://dramacdtranslations.tumblr.com/post/55193324939/cd-drama-special-mobile-suit-gundam-00-another

Oh, and the AO3 mirror for the story is here.

———–

“Sa~ji~” Louise whined. “But I don’t like him!”

“Louise,” Saji said, who resisted the urge to whine himself and instead tried to placate her, somehow. “You do not not like him. Plus, it’s his birthday, and Sis said he was all alone over there.” He didn’t know how or when Kinue had gotten their taciturn neighbor’s birthday out of him, or even when they had talked at all, but she had.

“Oh. That’s sad.” Louise’s expression fell and she stopped kicking her feet against the couch. “No one should be alone on their birthday.”

She said it with such a melancholy tone that Saji suspected she had been alone for one of hers. It wasn’t the last one; she’d been with him for that and the date they’d gone on had cost him an arm and a leg. But she’d smiled the whole time so it had totally been worth it. Louise’s smile was like sunshine.

“So does that mean you’ll go next door and get him so I can finish decorating the cake?” Saji asked gently.

“I’ll do it,” she said. There was a pout in her voice and she bounced off the couch with more force than was strictly necessary, but she headed to the door, her hair swishing against her back.

Saji sighed heavily, wishing she wouldn’t put on such a show all the time, and turned back to the cake.

*~*~*~*~*

Louise knocked loudly on the neighbor boy’s door. “Setsuna?” she called. She waited, not exactly patiently, for him to get to the door. She could hear him moving inside so she wasn’t leaving. She told Saji she would get him, so she was going to get him.

Finally the door opened a crack and Setsuna’s gold-brown eyes peeked out. “Louise Halevy,” he said by way of greeting.

“Good afternoon, Setsuna,” she said, putting on her brightest smile. “I’ve come to invite you over to Saji’s.”

“Thank you. No,” he said, and started to close the door.

Louise was a smart girl. She’d already tucked her toe in the crack, expecting him to shut the door at least once. Instead of closing shut, the door was stopped by her shoe.

“Saji has been working really hard on this meal,” she scolded. “And I know you’re not doing anything for your birthday, you’re too quiet to be doing something. So you are going to come to Saji’s and have some food and cake and I bought you a present so you’re coming over.”

Setsuna was a smart boy. He’d already picked up that he shouldn’t refuse Louise, especially when she got that tone. “All right. Let me put on a shirt.”

Louise’s eyes widened at the thought that he might not be dressed. Her gaze fell and she caught a glimpse of a bare arm (what on earth did he do to get such muscle definition as a just-turned-seventeen-year-old!?), and she quickly looked away from the crack in the door, her cheeks getting hot. But she didn’t move her foot in case he tried to close the door and escape. There was a soft rustling and he came back to the door with a plain, high-colored button down shirt that he was swiftly doing the buttons on.

“Are we going?” he said in the same flat tone as always. Louise let out a small, annoyed huff, and whirled on her heel. She had half a mind to close Saji’s door in Setsuna’s face.

*~*~*~*~*

Setsuna hadn’t had a real birthday party since he was eight or so. There was a few attempts to exchange gifts in the interim years, but they were mostly hushed, hurried affairs, the other boys in the KGB giving him tokens, and him returning the favor when he could. Those gifts were useful and therefore used, or destroyed in the fighting. Gone.

So he was completely out of his element even though his ‘party’ consisted of himself, Saji Crossroad, and Louise Halevy. Louise chattered to fill up the quiet, and Saji played host, and Setsuna sat like a lump.

The food was great, though, and he happily cleaned his plate and nodded when Saji asked if he wanted another helping. Saji beamed at him and went to get him seconds. Louise leaned over and whispered, “See, I told you. Saji’s the best cook.” Setsuna nodded again, although he was fairly certain Kinue was the better cook. Still, the Crossroad siblings had made him the tastiest meals he’d had in a long, long time.

(In the years that followed, he would think back on those meals as he ate MREs and energy bars to survive. They were a precious, painful memory of the world he was trying to protect.)

“Open the presents!” Louise said after Saji cleared their plates from lunch. “And then we can have cake!” She seemed far more cheerful than when she had pried him away from his nap. Even though it wasn’t her birthday, she was enjoying the festivities. Good food, some TV show they were all ignoring in the background, Saji waiting on her… It must be everything she wanted, Setsuna thought.

(Setsuna didn’t know, but in the years that followed, she would look back on this as the day Saji’s weird neighbor was almost human, and Saji was an angel. It was a precious, painful memory of the world she could never have back.)

Saji deposited a box on Setsuna’s lap. “Here. It’s from my sister. She had to work today so she couldn’t be here, but she left this for you. I guess Celestial Being is keeping her busy again.”

“Celestial Being is keeping a lot of people busy,” Setsuna muttered. He tore the tape on the box. Inside was a photo of Exia in exceptional quality, a print from a newsreel about Azadistan. The Gundam stood in the palace courtyard, hand extended. The shadows were long, showing it was late in the day, but the whole thing had a serenity to it, the calm of a clear sunset.

He’d slipped when Kinue was talking to him once, probably the same day he’d let his birthday out, and Kinue had found out that he didn’t entirely hate the Gundams and liked ‘the blue one, that rescued a religious leader in the Middle East.’ Her description, not his, but at least he hadn’t given away anything else.

“Oooh, that’s a cool shot,” Louise said. She sighed. “Remember when they did their first thing, and it didn’t seem so bad? I mean, they did stuff like this back then.”

“Louise, that was only six months ago,” Saji pointed out.

“Yeah, but it’s like they’re two completely different people now! Ever since the red ones-”

Setsuna stiffened and wished he’d grabbed his gun. Did she know? He could probably take one of them bare-handed if there was trouble, but that would give the other time to call for help or escape. He’d have to take Louise out first- she looked like she could scream louder and run faster than Saji.

“Let’s not ruin the party with politics,” Saji said, waving his hands. Setsuna relaxed, just a little. Saji’s eyes were guileless as always. The only thing Saji could threaten was a sink full of dishes.

“Oh my god, she gave you that, too?” Saji’s face fell and he pointed at a video in the box.

It had been underneath the photo frame. A video of classic Japanese comedy, a compilation of the best stand-up and variety acts from 300-200 years ago.

Setsuna groaned inwardly. Damn Personality Type R35 and it’s idiotic verbal tick! At least he had talked Sumeragi out of making him use it more than once (he vaguely remembered saying ‘This is supposed to be a safehouse, not a madhouse!’ in a rare act of rebellion), but he’d had to explain his personality shift to Kinue and now she thought they shared an interest in this… drivel.

“I’m sorry, choriisu,” Saji said, patting his shoulder. Setsuna didn’t like the laughter in his tone and scowled. If he never heard that sorry excuse for a catchphrase, it would be too soon.

“We’re not watching it,” Louise said with authority. Setsuna silently thanked her imperial attitude for the first and only time. “Do Saji’s next! We’ll save the best for last.” She grinned and winked, and Saji flushed.

“Sorry it’s not very flashy,” he said as he gave a slim wrapped package to Setsuna. When the paper was off, Setsuna held a book of recipes for college students.

Saji awkwardly had a hand behind his neck, a pose that Setsuna had come to equate with Japan in general and Saji Crossroad in particular. “Sorry,” he said again.

“It’s fine,” Setsuna said, thumbing through it quickly. “It will be useful.” It would, with all the tips on cooking fast and buying cheap and adding nutrition to near-garbage.

“And now mine!” Louise plunked a box in his lap. It was a clothing box and very lightweight. Saji let out a low whistle when he saw the emblem on it, some expensive brand name Setsuna wouldn’t recognize until he looked it up later.

It was a scarf in a creamy beige color. Setsuna gingerly stroked the fabric. “Soft.”

“Mm-hm!” Louise said, still as excited as if the present was for herself. Setsuna would learn later that she loved gifts. Giving was as good as receiving (unless it was Saji and then she expected to receive). “It’s nice and light for summer! So you can keep your look even when it’s hot out. Don’t think I didn’t notice you’re always in one!”

“Thank you,” Setsuna murmured, unsure of how else to respond. “And thank your sister for me.”

“Sure!” Saji said, beaming.

“Saji, Saji! Take a picture!” Louise held out one of their phones- Saji’s probably, from the lack of cutesy straps dangling off it- and once Saji took it, she picked up the scarf and wrapped it around Setsuna.

Saji squeezed closer to Setsuna and held out the phone. Louise grinned and flashed a peace sign.

“Happy Birthday, Setsuna!” they both said as he took the picture.

Setsuna’s cheeks felt warm and he wondered if he was over-exhausted or if the pair were just too close, snugged up against his sides. He found that he was okay if it was the latter, and hid his smile against the silk of his new scarf.