#and now i can also make some lockpicks :)

[vvelegrin]

augh i need to get a new phone, and i need to give my doctor a form so i can get accommodations for the GRE, and i need to contact people for letters of recommendation, and i need to get my car smogged, and i need to make an appointment for a sleep study, and i need to get a livescan done like three months ago, and i need to fill out a thing for my master gardener project, and i need to scout out areas that are safe and legal to shoot some arrows and also maybe make a lesson with the local range to clean up my form, and i need to reach out to some local falconers so i can flush game for them and whatever and be best friends forever, and also get ear drops again for my recurring double ear infections lmao, and probably about 400 other things.

sigh. what if i... didn't.

[danielnelsen]

so ive beaten dao solo before (on easy) and ive never played it on nightmare, what if i.........................................hmm...

[swanimagines]

Please can I ask for some headcanons about dating Patrick Verona (10 Things I Hate About You)? Please? Thank you!

- When you started at your new school, you immediately grew to be intrigued by your classmate before even knowing his name.

- A classic bad boy, charming, handsome, breaking the rules...

- Just your type.

- Even when you knew such boys could be bad influence.

- Your new friends were worried about your crush, often those kinds of boys could be violent behind closed doors.

- And honestly, you were kind of afraid of such behavior too.

- But you couldn't help it, especially after he started to show interest towards you too.

- He began to be flirty, though also a bit cocky.

- But he got you flustered anyway.

- It was the first time a boy had showed any romantic interest towards you, so you weren't entirely sure if he was actually interested, if he was just messing with you or... if he was just after your body and not you.

- But as time went by, his actual crush on you began to be more and more genuine.

- Unless he was one hell of an actor, he seemed to be really into you.

- Your friends told you to be wary, but they admitted that he did really feel like he was being genuine.

- So, you began to meet him after school.

- You asked him that you'd take it slow, you wanted to get to know him properly without making it anything more.

- He agreed to that, understanding your doubts.

- It started with just casually hanging out. Getting some food together and eating at the park, just chatting about your lives, going to school parties together, going on walks together...

- But eventually, he asked you on a real date.

- He admitted he wasn't used to being a romantic who could sweep people off their feet, he only knew how to be a charmer towards new people. 

- And the basic dinner and a movie after was something he apologised for.

- You were more than happy about it though, being able to spend time with him.

- When you opened the door for him upon him fetching you from your home, he looked you over in your attire, seemingly stunned.

"You look amazing." - Patrick

- You chuckled, looking at your feet for a moment and biting your lip.

"Oh, stop it." - You

- You had the most amazing time that night, and when Patrick dropped you off, he asked for your permission to kiss you.

- You blinked at him, but then eagerly nodded.

- So he slowly leaned in, and then he carefully pressed his lips against yours.

- You had never kissed anyone before, so at first you weren't sure what to do, but quickly got the hang of it and rested your arms on his forearms as he placed his hands on your waist.

- When you parted, you both laughed quietly, and at that moment you both knew you were now a couple.

- The next morning, upon you arriving to school, you found the most beautiful bouquet of flowers from your locker, and realised Patrick had used his lockpicking skills to surprise you.

- He also began leaving love notes at the inside of your locker door.

- When you were together, he usually had his arm around your waist.

- He also wasn't shy with PDA.

- Kissing your cheek, neck, shoulders...

- At first you felt awkward by so many looking at you being lovey-dovey, but got used to it as time went by.

- And, you kind of enjoyed seeing that old grump Mrs. Highwood glaring at you in disapproval as Patrick's face was buried into your neck.

- Your friends also approved of Patrick in the end, and you often hung out together.

- Your relationship ended up being the couple goals for many in your school.

Requests are always open! FANDOM LIST | PROMPT LIST(S)

[the-ace-with-spades]

When Ice and Mav actually moved in together for the first time (after dodging it for about five years) when Mav had to take in Bradley, Ice found pretty soon that Bradley and Mav had no sense of safety --- would always forget to lock the door, either while leaving the house for the day or retiring for the night.

So he installed locks that would lock automatically as soon as the door shut.

Of course, Mav and Bradley didn't remember to lock the doors because they didn't remember to take the keys with them. One can imagine this becomes a problem.

After the twentieth time Bradley biked from school only to wait three hours for Mav, and then another two to wait for Ice because Mav also forgot his keys, Bradley decides to do something about it.

He's very much Mav's kid so instead of doing the normal thing and making key copies and putting them in some secret spots/his locker room, he decides he's just going to learn to pick locks.

It's the nineties so he basically just goes to a locksmith and asks if he can buy some tools off him and the guy is so fascinated by this scrawny thirteen-year-old who wants to learn to pick locks to break into his own house, he not only teachs him basics but also gives him lock picking mags and a book.

So Bradley learns on old locks and bike chains and then one day, he forgets the keys and breaks into their own house. It happens again and again.

Mav finds out when he picks Bradley up from the principal's office one day and arrives at the house to promptly realize he didn't take his keys in the morning. He asks Bradley if he has the keys, he doesn't, and Mav just gets fed up because there's no way they're waiting six hours until Ice comes back so he has to go back to base.

Bradley makes a deal with him. "If I get us inside, you won't ground me."

Obviously, Mav agrees. And Bradley picks the lock.

And like, Mav probably shouldn't indulge this, but it also means he doesn't have to worry about carrying keys again so, yeah, he buys Bradley a new lockpicking mini tool belt. And Bradley gets even better at it.

One day, Ice is supposed to be at home the whole day, brought a suitcase full of confidential documents with himself, the type that has both a lock and a code, and tells Bradley to tell Mav he's only going to be at the office fifteen minutes tops, he'll be home the whole day, please don't blow a gasket Mav. Bradley asks why, Ice explains he forgot the goddamn key for the suitcase and Bradley is like, "If I can open it, can you buy me that keyboard before my birthday?" and for funnsies, Ice agrees.

Before he finishes saying, "This is government property, kid, no way you'll be able to open it with some funny screwdriver," Bradley is reading the top secret mission plans out loud.

He gets that keyboard. Ice is the man of his word.

One time, Slider arrives on base in his new fancy BMW, showing it off and boasting so much he locks the key in by accident.

Ice is like, "Don't call the locksmith, I got it," and calls home and asks Bradley to check if he can open it and Bradley's answer is, "Only if Uncle Slider agrees to teach me to drive in it." Slider, obviously, agrees because there's no way --- he doesn't know what Ice is playing at but Baby Goose is not going to open his car.

Bradley opens the brand new BMW with about twenty Navy guys cheering him on in the parking lot.

Now, when Bradley is all alone at college, it's very tempting to use it for bad stuff --- to steal cars or rob shops, especially when money gets tough --- but the worst he does is breaking into the cafeteria and stealing sandwiches and bags of chips. He knows having a record would kick him out of NROTC, fast, so the lockpicking becomes a bit useless --- he does charge people from his dorms (which all have the same automatic lock on the doors) ten bucks to open them and avoid calling the RA.

Next time it has any significant impact on his life, Jake Seresin just forgot his key to his locker. He's got his flight suit but his boots and a space to leave his bag is behind the closed door.

Bradley only says, "You're not going to ask questions and you're going to owe me one."

He takes out a pin he always has attached to his car keys and within minutes, Seresin's locker is open.

He doesn't know it but Jake stares at him, not because he's wondering how much shit he's stolen (that too, a little bit) but also because apparently he finds lock picking really hot.

Now, Bradley goes about his life and soon enough finds out that Seresin's definition of 'owe you one' meant taking Bradley out on a date. Which, honestly, Bradley isn't that opposed to even if he puts on a face, Seresin is nice to look at and it's hard to find a guy to fuck when you're training six days a week in flight school.

They have a little routine of Jake calling with, "Hey, I locked myself out, can you get your ass here?" and Bradley lockpicking his door and then pinning him to said door as soon as they're inside. He's pretty sure he's seen Jake's keys in his back pocket a few times it happened.

This continues but Bradley keeps on staying longer and longer at Jake's place, more of his already small collection of things makes its way there, to the point that it's more like he's living there too and just breaking in every time, like back at the house in San Diego.

Obviously, he gets spooked, badly, when Jake finally says that when they move to Lemoore after they finish training, he's giving Bradley an actual key. The last time he shared a key with someone, he's been told he isn't enough and isn't ready and had all his dreams shattered --- like hell he's letting Jake chew out his heart, again.

So he requests change of target stations and doesn't say shit until the winging ceremony.

Next time he picks a lock, it's Nat's car in the NAS Oceans parking lot. He doesn't say she owes him one but she offers him a drink at the nearby bar as a thank you. He says no, just not to risk it again.

Nat sticks but nothing like with Jake happens.

Years go on and the second time around Bradley is at Top Gun, with Mav hovering over him like a goddamn shadow, with Nat's judgemental eyes and with Jake's big pretty mouth not knowing what he's saying, he gets a text.

I locked myself out. Can you get your ass here? with a base house location pinned in the next message.

Maybe he's naive but he goes.

"I really did lock myself out," Jake tells him straight away. "Don't think this means anything."

They haven't talked since he took out Bradley's dirty laundry in front of everyone in the debriefing room. Bradley opens his front door and is about to leave when Jake asks, "You wanna step inside?"

It doesn't solve anything. He doesn't know if Jake actually locked himself out or not.

When he and Mav are discharged, waiting to leave the base again, and Mav swears and mutters, "I forgot my goddamn keys," and Bradley knows Ice is currently in Hawaii, Bradley asks, "You got some paper clips on you?"

It doesn't solve anything but he breaks into Mav and Ice's house.

It doesn't solve anything but it's a start.

[a-spawn-on-my-lawn]

date with astarion hc 😆

thinking about spawn astarion trying to be romantic. this man has been forced to stay in a fucked up palace for 200 years; only leaving it at night to seduce people in the shabbiest taverns and brothels.

he's not so much into details, he never had to think about taking his love to a date, because there was no one he loved and vice versa.

this man has no idea about what a "romantic date" is supposed to be, even if we consider that "romantic" is probably subjective, but you get the gist.

so suppose Wyll is not around the corner so he can ask him for help, what is he gonna do? what would he come up with?

He'd probably make a checklist.

Romance, that has something to do with flowers, doesn't it??(ew, flowers, they are only good for poisions!). But he'd bite the bullet for you, so... he knows there is a woman at the graveyard who sells flowers, how handy is that? he gets you a spray of flowers (that is supposed to be for a funeral.)

Flowers ✅

Now he really needs a nice location. That location should probably be shadowy and also provide some privacy for sure, he can't have any prying eyes near him when he's having a date with you. Thank the gods, there's an old crypt nearby, of course it is locked but what is he a skilled lockpicker for? yes it's perfect. no one is going to disturb them or make any weird remarks about him drinking a chalice of blood for dinner. There will be enough space to have a picnic. Maybe even a table. And possibly there's some loot left to find on top. Wouldn't it be extra romantic to find you a nice necklace in a coffin? it definetly would.

Romantic location ✅

Next one: Food. Astarion suddenly asks himself what you like to eat most. He figures he never paid attention to that. He's not into insignificant details, so he has no idea. He needs to get you something to eat and to drink for a dinner date, that's for sure! Drink: No problem, wine, lots thereof. Food? Needs to be handy and easy to transport. Food is food. He's going to stuff anything into his bag he gets his hands on: raw potatoes, carrots, sausages, pieces of cheese, a melon, other fruit, bread...

Food for his date ✅

And of course some food for himself, a generous bottle of some yummy blood. Ofc he counts on you letting him have a nibble.

Food for him ✅

Is there anything left? Oh, of course. A romantic dinner requires one (1) candle.

A candle ✅

The most important asset is of course

Astarion ✅

He's ready. 🥰

Ok, he's also slighly nervous about you enjoying the evening. But the better part of him is convinced you'll LOVE it.

(I would! :p)

[asouefanworkevent]

another fall is upon us! another woevember is coming!!

what is it?

woevember is an asoue fanwork event week, that will take place from november 10th through november 16th, 2024. every day of the week is dedicated to a different part of a series of unfortunate events or all the wrong questions for you to create something about! this year's theme is objects!

what do i do?

the prompts will be revealed now, so everyone has time to make something. between now and the week of november 10th, you’ll create fanworks about the prompts, and then post it on the corresponding day during november 10th - 16th! there will be the occasional countdown post between then and now too, so we all know how many days are left until posting begins.

don’t forget to tag this tumblr (asouefanworkevent) in the post so i can find it and reblog it, and tag the post with #woevember !

what do you mean by fanwork?

everything! fanfic and fanart are of course allowed, but woevember has always been meant to be an event that is as big or as little effort as you want! fanwork also means edits, gifs, analysis posts, headcanons!! your cosplay!! your photography!! your photosets!! your web weaving!! your moodboards!! your super short fics!! your sketchiest drawings!! your most ramble-y half-fic idea posts!! your wip scenes!! you merely saying ‘lemony snicket, though. am i right?????’ (and you are. you’re so right.) your loving macaroni art!! your embroidery!! your sculpture!! whatever you are moved to make from the prompts! i want people to be encouraged to and be able to create even something small that didn’t exist before for the snicketverse, and share it with other people!

are there any rules?

to keep the event open and comfortable for everyone, no explicit content. also, as always, sibling romance and age gaps will not be tolerated.

do i have to make something for every day?

only if you want to! feel free to just make something for one day if you want :) the point of having a different theme for each day is so some part of canon that you like comes up eventually, and you can at least make something for one of the days. or you get struck by an idea you might not have considered before! i want to get people thinking about all the intriguing things in asoue and atwq and the exciting, different ways we can interpret and create from the same idea.

what are the prompts?

the description under each prompt is just some ideas to get your brain going – feel free to take them in another direction too! whatever you want to come up with!!

november 10th - violet's inventions

the grappling hook! the toaster in the clock! the rock retrieval device! the bobblehead train stopper! even just lockpicking, and violet's ribbon, too! what else do you think violet has made, pre-canon or during canon? what does she make now? post-canon, does she have a job that relates to inventing? does she still invent in her spare time?

november 11th - the sugar bowl

the mysterious sugar bowl! lives have been lost in the quest to find it and it's important to both the snickets and the baudelaires, so says esme. where is it now? what was its importance? what was inside it? where was it during canon, before canon? who has had it before? did anyone have it before esme? what does it look like? how does it keep its contents safe? when was it first used? did it make it to the hotel denouement? is anyone still searching for it? what if it wasn't stolen?

november 12th - disguises

both the firestarters and the firefighters have used disguises --the same disguises, supplied by vfd. what other kinds of disguises have each side used, and for what ends? was a disguise ever seen through at the wrong time, or the right time? was a disguise ever NOT seen through when it should have been? even the disguises beatrice wore when she acted on stage, or the cow disguise worn by jacques snicket, or the denouement triplets pretending to be each other, what does it mean to wear a disguise and what do you do when you wear one? do the baudelaires, or the quagmires, ever wear disguises again? do frank and ernest ever pretend to be each other post-canon?

november 13th - the bombinating beast

our beloved statue the size of a milk bottle, valued upwards of a great deal of money! where do you think it is now? what did lemony do with it when he left stain'd-by-the-sea? who used it before canon? do the baudelaires ever encounter it? does it make its way back to stain'd-by-the-sea? and where is the bombinating beast itself now?

november 14th - books

lemony's a series of unfortunate events books do, after all, exist in asoue canon itself! what does vfd think of the books? who's read them? or books like the unauthorized autobiography, and the beatrice letters, and lemony's childrens books, what place might they have in canon? for all the wrong questions, who's read them? they were filed at vfd headquarters, after all. how many members of vfd know what lemony did during his apprenticeship? or books like caviar: salty jewel of the tasty sea, or stain'd myths, or lemony's pamphlets on the accordion, or even the classic children's lit books, like the ramona series by beverly cleary, and their place inside canon and especially vfd? or even beatrice and bertrand's a series of unfortunate events, the journal they contribute to on the island. who else has written in that journal?

november 15th - the duchess of winnipeg's ring

the ring that went from the duchess, to lemony, to beatrice, to back to lemony, to kit, to bertrand, to beatrice, to the box she kept it in, to widdershins as he searched the ruins of the baudelaire mansion, to ishmael when it washed up on the island, to violet, and to the second beatrice, who traded it to a shepherd for a yak ride. what other adventures has it been on? does the duchess ever get it back again? why did beatrice keep it in a box -- a box that kit's grandfather made the code for? what has the rest of the duchess' family done with it? what does it mean to them?

november 16th - free space!

do you have another object in mind? the spyglass, one of klaus's books, or sunny's meals, or the harpoon gun, or ellington's record player, or cleo's chemistry equipment, or something like the medusoid mycelium? the laudanum? all the things esme says are in or out? the baudelaire fortune? the quagmire sapphires? the fabled tito puente records? the ruins of the baudelaire mansion and what else might be there? all those objects mrs. bass had her students measure? jake hix's meals? cleo's car, or the bellerophon taxi? the vfd taxi? gustav's films, or the sebald code? violet's bread knife? kit's book raft? commonplace books? do you want to combine any of these objects with one of the previous days and create something with two objects for one of the previous days? so many options!! or do you care not for objects! use the free space to write about the item or character or relationship or thought or whatever of your choosing! feel free to pick a theme from a previous woevember event for the free space, if you'd like!

if you have any questions about anything, feel free to drop me an ask or a message!

happy creating, and i hope to see lots of you november 10th-16th!! ✨

[dandylovesturtles]

leo and mikey, treat

(fav duo tbh, pretty underrated)

More Sidelined AU! Are you sick of me yet? Hopefully not because this has consumed my brain.

Part 1

Part 2

We're jumping ahead a bit in time to hopefully give you guys a bit more idea of The Flavor of this AU. And also to give it a bit of a happier note. It's not all doom and gloom!

No content warnings to speak of on this one

---

Mikey lands on the roof and powers on his earpiece, whispering, "Mikey in position. Can you hear me, Base? Come in Base."

"Helloooo New York City," comes Leo's voice, loud and clear. "You're tuning into L.A.I.R 179.12, with your host, DJ Neon Leon! Bringing you the hottest rock from the other side of the millennia."

Mikey snickers, then tries to pull himself back together. "Leo, come on! I'm here."

"Who?"

He sighs, even though he isn't mad at all. "I'm here, DJ Neon Leon."

"Ohohoho, excellent." He hears the click of typing, and then Leo says, "Can you get me visuals, Shelldon?"

"Right away, Neon Leon," Shelldon's voice crackles through the comms. There's a moment of silence, and Mikey can just imagine Leo rolling his chair around his "command center."

(He and Donnie had spent ages building it to look like the bridge of the S.S. Starbolt, with added mobility access, of course. Leo loves it as much as Donnie loves his lab.)

"Got your visuals, dudes," says Shelldon. There's some more typing from Leo's end, then he says, "Alright, Miguel, you should see two guards coming around the building riiiiight... now!"

Sure enough, two guards in plainclothes circle either side of the old apartment building across the street. Mikey watches as the two of them meet in front of the entrance, exchange a few words, then turn and head back the way they came.

"Right on time, Leo."

"Perfect, we're synced." Some more typing, and then, "The rooftop will be clear - let me know when you're over there and I'll get you inside."

"Roger that," he says. "Mikey out." Then he clicks his earpiece to silenced.

A hop, skip, and a jump later he's on the opposite roof. There's a door here, and he edges toward it before contacting Leo again.

"I'm here!"

"Alright... Disabling alarms... now!" Mikey can just see how dramatically he must have pushed the button. "Check the door to see if it's locked."

Mikey reaches out and jiggles the handle, but it doesn't budge. "Locked."

"Alright, no problem - you got your lockpicks?"

"Yep!"

"Remember what I taught you?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"Alright. Make me proud, little bro."

Mikey grins, pulling his lockpicking kit out of his gear. It takes him a few minutes, because he's nowhere near as fast at this as Leo is, but he gets it done without needing to ask for help. The training Leo made him go through is still fresh in his mind.

"Alright, I'm in," he says as he slips through the door. He's in a deserted stairwell, but just to be safe he crouches down into the shadows near the wall.

"So far, so good. You need to go down two flights of stairs. No guards are coming around right now, but keep it quiet just in case."

"Don't worry, I'll be silent as a mouse!"

"Knowing Dad that's not giving me as much confidence as you think."

Mikey giggles, then sucks in a breath and gets his game face on. Right. Silent. Ninja skills GO.

He does manage to make it to the right floor without major incident. There's no one in the hall when he enters, looking at the rows of numbered doors. He doesn't know why this is where the artifact is being kept hidden, but it doesn't matter.

"According to our intel, you should be looking for door four-oh-nine," says Leo. "The floor's clear, so get goin'."

"Got it," whispers Mikey, then hurries along in a silent crouch to the door Leo specified. He stops when he gets there, hissing in disappointment.

"What's up?"

"There's some kind of keypad lock."

"No problem. Just hook Donnie's doohickey in there."

Donnie would definitely hate it if he heard them calling it a "doohickey," and that makes Mikey grin. He pulls it out of his gear (it looks like a USB stick, but slightly thinner) and slips it into the maintenance slot on the keypad.

"Alriiight, hacking in progress," says Leo. "Big solo mish is going pretty smoothly so far, huh?"

"Yep," says Mikey proudly. "Told you guys I got this."

"That you did. Oh, and... alakazam!"

There's a click as he says it, then the red light on the keypad turns green. Mikey grins and opens the door, slipping inside the dusty apartment.

"You're getting pretty good at that hacking thing."

"Uh, you know I don't actually hack anything, right bud? I just get Shelly here to do it for me, or shoot it off to Dee if it's too complex."

"Don't sell yourself so short, dude!" says Shelldon. "You're picking it up real quick!"

"Ugh, don't say that. It makes me sound like nerd."

Mikey laughs again, searching the apartment for... well, he's not sure exactly. But he's pretty sure he'll know it when he sees it.

"What's the Foot Clan want this thing for, anyway?" he asks.

"Ours is not to question why, Miguel. I'm leaving that question for Donnie to answer."

"Mm... guess so..." He's about to say something else, but then he feels... something. Like a pulse, getting stronger as he moves toward a closet.

"...I think... I can feel it."

"Feel it?"

"Yeah... it's like..." He frowns, moving forward. "Like it's calling to me."

He opens the closet to find a safe. It also has an electronic lock, so once again he inserts the doohickey. The safe door opens with a click, and he peers inside.

There's only one item: a glittering green stone, with markings he doesn't understand carved in its surface. The pulse is super strong now, waves of energy washing over Mikey. Whatever this thing is, it's definitely powerful.

"I found it!" he says to Leo, a little louder than he should. He reaches in and wraps his fingers around it.

"Great! Hold on, just let me see if-"

Before he finishes his sentence, Mikey pulls the stone out - and immediately a loud alarm starts blaring, making him jump.

"What the heck is that!?" he yelps, jumping to his feet. He hears Leo curse on the other end of the line.

"Pressure alarm. Get out of there!"

The windows are barred - it's why he didn't come in that way in the first place. Mikey has no choice but to go back the way he came, dashing into the hallway. He turns on his heel and is making for the stairwell when his earpiece crackles again.

"No good, they're coming up the stairs."

"Then where am I supposed to go!?" he asks, frantic. All the windows are barred in the hallway, too, so that's no good.

"Okay, okay, hold on... oh, I got it! Opposite direction, about five doors down. Laundry chute."

Mikey sprints. Just as he hears the door of the stairwell open, he's tipping into the chute, pulling his limbs into his shell.

Getting chased by guards? No fun. Sliding down a laundry chute? Very fun.

"Whoooohoohooo!" he cheers when he reaches the bottom, landing in a pile of old rags and t-shirts. "That was awesome!"

"I remember having a distinctly less fun time the last time I had to do that," says Leo. "Anyway, stay there. I'm going to set off the roof access alarms and lure the guards up top, then you go up the stairs and slip out the front. Got it?"

"Got it!"

Leo's plan goes perfectly, and within a few minutes he's back outside. One later and he's back on the rooftops, running to safety.

"Yessss!" he yells once he's finally far enough away, jumping in the air and pumping his fist. "Mission successful baby!"

"I knew you could do it, little bro!" cheers Leo, his voice full of pride, and it makes Mikey beam.

"Couldn't have done it without you, Leo," he says back, truthfully.

It takes Leo a second to answer, which puts the smallest damper on Mikey's enthusiasm, but finally he comes back with, "Sure thing. You know I'm always here to help."

It's not perfect. But it's getting better. Leo is getting better, every day.

Mikey's celebratory mood cannot be quashed. He whoops again, eliciting laughs from Leo's end.

"Alright, now get your butt home before Raph freaks out. He's walked past my door twelve times."

"Thirteen," Shelldon corrects.

"Thirteen!" Leo echoes.

"You got it! Mikey out!"

He clicks the earpiece to silent, then runs and jumps to the next roof with an extra spring in his step. His solo mission was a complete success!

Of course, no missions were truly solo anymore. Not with his faithful older brother ever in his ear.

[bloodiedrogue]

THE PADLOCK PLAYOFFS

SUMMARY: Astarion and you compete for the camp's best lockpicker.

PAIRING: Astarion & Gender Neutral Reader

WORD COUNT: 1,190

WARNINGS: None?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: @leighsartworks216 is a genius and wrote the hilarious text post this little fic is based off of, so thank Leigh for their perfect brain! Also, no editing because I'm supposed to be on vacay.

MASTERLIST

-

“Are you two always this competitive?” 

The question originally had come from Wyll. After a particularly heated argument over the most effective way to distract and pickpocket, the answer quickly became obvious and the topic was dropped, knowing that forevermore, you and Astarion would always be seen as two opposing sides, competing for the ultimate prize of best rogue within the camp. 

At first, it was civil. At least to some degree. Discussions between the two of you would always rise to a boiling point but would never overflow the pot. Oftentimes both of you would just laugh at the other’s supposed perfected tactics, claiming to be the best before deciding a test would inevitably occur once the time was right. 

No testing ever followed through though. Considering you were far too busy with the threat of the Absolute and the fact that none of your discussions were ever that serious. Each time a competition was promised it was slowly forgotten and neither of you had a problem with it. 

Well, until now. Until Lae’zel absentmindedly makes some comment about how long Astarion’s taking to pick the lock of the chest in front of him.

All of you are back at camp for the night. After a particularly rough day of looting through an overflowing camp of Absolute cultists, the majority of you are lounging by the fire, drinking ale or wine, staring at the flames in silence as you all settle down. 

Towards the tents though, Astarion kneels in front of a large chest, brows pushed towards the centre of his face in deep concentration while Lae’zel stands above him, arms crossed angrily over her chest.  Both you and Karlach spare a glance, watching the inevitable argument that breaks out, noticing the exhaustion in Astarion’s eyes as he turns towards the Gith and yells. 

“If you’re so keen on rushing my craft then I’ll just piss off and let the second best rogue do it!” 

He motions to you with an open hand as he says it, catching the annoyed look you give him in the process. How your jaw all but sets into a stiff position, your lips pressing together in an attempt to surpass the insults you wish to throw his way. 

“Yes, perhaps such a suggestion is best.”

Stealing your attention, you watch as Lae’zel motions to the chest with her chin, giving you the kind of nod that has you jumping to your feet and readying your tools, watching as Astarion merely rolls his eyes. 

“Second best rogue —are you kidding me, Star?” You huff and shake your head, angrily shoving him aside before he can even react. Then, you shove the short hook into the hole, feeling three successful shifts before pulling open the lock. 

When you do you narrow your eyes at Astarion before faking a yawn, patting the palm of your hand to your lips in the most dramatic way possible. 

“You were watching me do it,” he immediately argues, pointing to the tools in your hands, glaring at them like they’re the most evil instruments in the world. 

“From across camp?” You raise your brow and smirk. “Sweetie, you and I both know my eyesight isn’t that good.” 

“It’s good enough to recognize technique, darling.”

Somehow this time the argument of who’s better than who doesn’t die down like it usually does. Instead, it merely escalates to the point of interruption, causing both Gale and Wyll to step in, suggesting you all go to bed. Neither of you relents though, knowing what’s at stake. Knowing that whoever gives in will always be referred to as the lesser rogue. 

“How about we settle this fair and square then?” Astarion says.

You look at him like he’s just lost his head. “Wait, you’re capable of fairness?” you ask sarcastically, watching him roll his eyes before changing the subject, asking the camp for their finest padlocks.

It’s decided then that your semi-consistent call for competition is finally answered. That after countless weeks of rivalry amongst varying tactics, you’ll finally get to decide on at least one of them. 

The camp reluctantly wanders to their tents then, allowing you and Astarion a few moments to stare the other down with newfound skepticism until the party all returns with various locks, holding them out for both of you to survey. 

“Forgive me for questioning, but are competitions like this common amongst thieves?” 

Gale looks at you as you lower your head to his hands, narrowing your eyes at the lock’s design. It’s intricate on the outside, displaying an ornate pattern that wraps around the opening in two mirrored filigrees. 

“Very,” you reply, snatching the lock from his hand with a grin, turning to Astarion afterward. “Basic rules? I pick your lock, you pick mine, any means necessary?” 

Astarion nods, holding out the lock inside his palm to you, prompting you to do the same. 

Once switched you both immediately get to work, running your eyes and fingers over the mechanisms, trying to form the best course of action. Next to you, Astarion looks at his with great attention, mumbling to himself as he picks apart all the padlock’s quirks, quickly discovering your choice is unfortunately smart.

Hailing from a specific locksmith who works with magic users exclusively, you know he can tell the lock inside is enchanted. That once you stick your hook inside it’s essentially a free-for-all in regards to what happens next. 

Based on the filigree design it’s obvious to those who know that it’s laced with illusionary magic. Something you’re certain Astarion’s at least somewhat familiar with, allowing you to take your time.

Not that you need it. Not with the lock he so foolishly chose. 

As soon as it was placed into your open hand you recognized the model. An old faulty lock that had been giving rogues like you grief for years. Back when it was first developed it was quickly run off the shelves once people found it was impossible to open without destroying them completely, prompting a surge of collectors to adopt most for display. 

Knowing this, you also know a bit of brute force in the right spot can remedy such a fault.

Smirking to yourself, you twirl the lock on your finger and wander over to Karlach, eyeing her competition offering before holding out your hand. 

“May I?”

She and the rest of the party look at you confused, watching as the tiefling hands it over almost immediately. 

You thank her kindly with a dramatic bow before glancing at your competitor, noticing how he’s finally found the right hook to ensure his success. 

“I’m surprised, didn’t think you’d get that far,” you tell him then, earning his attention long enough to hit the butt of Karlach’s lock against the other, triggering a loud click to signify its opening.

At which point, Astarion all but stares. With eyes so wide you swear they might fall out, you toss the lock in his direction, watching him fumble with the one in his hand before ultimately catching yours against the base of his forearm, looking up to glare as you blow him a cheeky kiss.

-

@poohxlove @gaiasmight @sassy-stupid @novarex @v-gremlin @sapphiccloud @lipstickghoulie @kuroitsukyo@jjfchk@idiotsatan@bluestuesday@bloopthebat@art-by-greenie@heneralmoon@sukunababe@dreamingaboutyousworld@ranfithegood@haniscrying@liadamerondjarin@the-lake-is-calling@marina-and-the-memes@rookieoftheyear@zraloci-cpr@kaetmo@snickerdoodle-daydream@wowowwild@d1anna@raswiet@conniesbbymama@venus-wrts@demonicthorns@kihten@deadglamsheep@sanscas@spammypasta@leighsartworks216@rose-gold-blue@p1ssmagg0t@hellish-writes@ghostinvenus@otayz@sexysquatch@sleepyeclair@colorful-anxieties@alina-exe@ilana-the-lasagna@lillifer@girlwiththepapatattoo@y2cade@acelin-ginsberg@pinkuranium@catrad0rable@scarletrosesposts@qwnamidala@itsrosebabe@bunnyperi@queenofcarrotflowers-s@tatumadams20@spkyxszn@chlort@f3v3rs@awkwardwookie@joy-the-reader@warm-milk-with-honey-blog@vertigocrime@iyis@wildpiper@pebblethestone@tillywasneverhere@bex-03@kaetmo@revemiya@staticspouse@itzagothamcitysiren@djarinsmixtape@when-the-night-came@epicy0n@bababahannah@sleepyred1703@lotus-99@lofcompass@r4d10h34d5@vampninjaz@itsmekalou@offbrandhand@yikes-buddy@konenichi@rainonarden@oceanbluesixeyes@bodtyworship@maydayitsjay@greasyslimebucket@yeeteth-the-raven@fantasyfairysworld@allexthakatt@flowersaretheshit@morglyne@thespectacularspaceace@cephiss0@use-your-telescope@furblrwurblr@kloverfield@angelofthorr@writervaul-t@starved-kitten@minixluvr@crowley--aziraphale@sapphicwren@alionera-blog@jennithejester@dezedrol@thisisew@saladalpaca@applepiewithbacon@httpbiohazard@aurasyn@nerdoodles@kingpinthedevil@itzkawaiix@domainoflostsouls@silverskylan@uminootome@helpidkwhatimdoingwrong@deadlyinfernos@blackbirdswhispers@sarahskywalker-amadala@writingmysanity@f3v3rs@jayjones03@quietlyebbie@optimisticprime3@eyes-for-daze@sunnytalia3@megoshh@maddiedott@cappsikle@mostbeautifulnightmare@lynnlovesloki@simpytheshrimpy69@astarion-archive@smaranshakthi@autistic-deer@shadowfeart@freckled-petals@candied-lavender@hp-art-studio@ghouligan@satelliteapotheosis@waywardwitch-hel@pandimoostuff@mythoughtsofinsanity@ilovelovelylove@oneandonlyizabelle

TAGLIST NOW CLOSED!

[stormy-river]

Transcripts from the Humanity Hotline 5

This one's been a long time in the making; had to make sure I did it right. Special thanks to @mothepissedoffmidget for the idea, and my roomie, @starryeyedlarkspur for helping with the advice.

-------

Operator: "Hi, thank you for holding. My name is Mindy. How can I help you today?"

Caller: "Yes, hi! I'm Nishel, the EMO [Entertainment and Morale Officer] on my ship. We hired a human about a month ago, and I'm struggling to keep up. Is it normal for humans to tire of activities so quickly?"

O: "That depends on the human, and the activities. Could you tell me a little more?"

C: "Yes. When we hired the human, she brought books and knitting supplies to entertain herself, which I though was helpful, but after a day or two she requested some puzzles. I was able to approve and acquire some fairly easily, but the human returned only a few days later asking for scrapbooking materials, and, well, the same thing happened. Over the last month, I've acquired puzzles, scrapbooks, a climbing wall for the gym, locks and a lockpicking set -- that one was a hassle to get approved, more knitting supplies, crochet supplies (I don't even know how that's different from knitting?), painting supplies, face painting supplies (again, I don't know how that's different), strange plastic bricks that fit together, and a violin. And that's just what was approved. I've also heard from the crew that she's downloaded more books, started writing stories on her personal computer, and started learning how to write programs, and yet, with all these things, she told me this morning that she has nothing to do and was bored. I don't know what else to do. I've spent 78% of this year's entertainment budget this month!"

O: "That's a lot. Some humans have a few different hobbies at once, but usually not that many. Do you have access to crew psychological evaluations?"

C: "Yes, when necessary for morale concerns."

O: "Is there anything in the human's file?"

C: "It says Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, which is also something she's mentioned a few times, but that's tagged for possibly interfering with work, not morale."

O: "ADHD would explain it. It shouldn't only be tagged as work-related as it can actually affect a human's whole life. This is another human thing that's different for everyone, with some hyper-fixating on one thing for a really long time, or different aspects of a single subject, and others, like your crewmember, gaining and losing interest in many different things very quickly."

C: "So this will keep happening? I can see about increasing the budget for next year, but I don't think this is sustainable long term."

O: "Don't panic, there's actually a cheaper method. Communicate with other ships and supply stations with humans on board to see if they are having a similar problem. If you can find others who get and lose hobbies quickly, you can trade the supplies; give them what your human is done with, and receive their extras for her. This will also have the extra benefit of building social connections as they discuss and trade."

C: "That makes sense. It would take a lot of coordination, but I can start asking the nearby fleet."

O: "Good. I will also send a report to the Alliance to see if something can be officially established. Is there anything else I can help you with today?"

C: "No, thank you, Mindy. You've been a great help."

O: "Of course. Don't hesitate to call again if something else comes up."

End Transmission

Transcription Note: Following this call, the Alliance established the Hobby Interfleet Trade Service, now the Interfleet Surplus Exchange (ISE), commissioning a fleet of delivery ships to shuttle supplies.

[kerizaret]

I have a hc that Saki picked up A LOT of various skills or knowledge while at the hospital that was just fun or distracting and a way for her to spend the days there and not be bored. Some of these are useful things, but others are just... completely random

Sure, she might've not had a chance to learn how to cook... But she can knit really well instead! The grandmas she met at the hospital were a huge help. All of l/n have at least one sweater hand knitted by her

Math was hard to learn when you didn't attend school a lot, but she found she's picked up learning languages a lot easier! So, she's been learning some by herself. She's really good at English and knows some Chinese too. She's even managed to pick up a little French because she thought it's classy. She's watched a lot of videos and movies and dramas or donghuas in original languages, and regularly listens to an English podcast on fashion. She ends up helping an embarrassed but very grateful Tsukasa with his broken English a lot later on, too, because she cannot listen to him. She's also practiced a lot of tongue-twisters which she can say really fast now, in all Japanese, Chinese and English

Also, sign language! She's learnt some basics of JSL

Obviously she's been following the trends a lot to see what's popular to wear right now, but then she got dragged into the hole that is fashion history... Now she can accurately describe you from memory what was commonly worn by any social class in various eras in Japan and also some in France (it's known as the country of fashion, after all! It's also part of the reason of her picking that language to learn), and knows the biographies of a lot of important fashion figures

She can fold very complicated origami deisgns by heart and also do miniature origami models. She's got boxes full of old origami sculptures(?) shes made over the years. She's also given a lot of them away to other patients when they were upset or when some were leaving the hospital, and also gifted some to all her doctors when she was finally discharged herself

She's TRIED to learn lockpicking, but the doctors once caught her sneaking out at night trying to pick at some medicine cabinet to practice and the conversation following it was so awkward that she didn't try it again...

She knows a lot about flower language (thanks to Ichika. They discussed that a lot whenever she came to visit her and brought a new bouquet in tow). She can solve a Rubik's cube in under a minute and shuffle cards really quick, too. She even knows a few card tricks. She can twirl a pen, which she later does A LOT in class, quote several poems from memory. She's learnt to write basic calligraphy

Because y'know, sometimes you need to do something new and/or time/thought–consuming to distract yourself from the bad and painful stuff. And in the end it's still something she can use now and be proud of and that she can share to make others happy, too. And just have fun

[iconuk01]

Pouches - Who's to blame (Not entirely serious)

Now, we remember that the king of the super pouches is Cable, and for good reason... Since his intro in 1990 he has tended to be more than slightly... pouch intensive

This isn't even a spoof cover, it's an accurate representation of his costume at the time.

But did he START the trend?

I think not.

Leaving aside Batman from the 1966 series, who had hefty pouches in his belt...

Though still not remotely large enough for some of the stuff he randomly produced from it, even if it DOES fold up... sort of.

But I digress....

I did consider the Silver Age bat villain Cluemaster

But those are specifically "plastic-glass pellets" containing assorted chemical weapons, like explosives, gas, acids and the like, so not sure they count.

It's been suggested that one of the first in the modern era to develop this was Longshot in 1986, when he did indeed have pouches on his belt, because artist Art Adams thought he needed practically-sized pouches to carry things in.

But even then are there MANY pouches? His bandolier was to store his throwing knives for easy access, so weren't pouches per se.

So technically, the first X-Men character to really lay into the pouches side of things isn't Cable, not by a long shot... it's this guy, slightly later in 1986

So Doug Ramsey was leading the field of poucher-y in the X-Verse side of things.

Just look at that vest and belt, LOADED and lined with pouches, and we never even find out what's in them... Though I think it would include pens, pencils, notepaper, some money, spare keys to the Xavier school, first-aid kit, lock picks (because he's always wanted to carry lockpicks), string (Everyone should carry string), breath mints and other things a relatively sensible teenager would want to be sure he was carrying if he had the room in his outfit and wasn't given to cargo shorts!

And yet, there are other contenders, so let's work backwards...

Also from 1986, Batman (again) from "The Dark Knight Returns" where even his BELT looks to be on a course of serious steroids!

And in 1983 we got this stylish new costume retconned into the history of the Golden Age Tarantula in All-Star Squadron who, up until this point, wore a purple and yellow spandex outfit that was, oncufsingly, identical to the Golden Age Sandman's spandex costume outfit.

Notice that he has rings of pouches on both boots, where he keeps things like spare cash in case he needs to hire a taxi and probably some spare ammo for his wirepoon gun.

But I think I've found patient zero as, from 1981's New Teen Titans #3. we have the inventor and technologist par excellence, the man who would be known (Eventually) as Mikron O'Geneus, though he would, perhaps thankfully, becomes better known by his codename:

GIZMO!

Look, even his LOGO has pouches!

In fairness, given his speciality is creating techno-widgets and devices out of other technology, him carrying dozens of gadgets and components makes a lot of sense, to the extent that he even manages to carry MORE weapons than Robin's utility belt (Which is TARDIS like in and of itself)!

So I think we have a winner!

Gizmo started the modern pouch trend!

If anyone can find earlier/other contenders, then please feel free to add them!

[ceilingfan5]

🔒 blupjeans? :) 

🔒I broke into your car to impress you when you locked your keys in and now I have to construct an elaborate lie to explain myself 

“Huh,” Barry says, after Lup breaks into his fucking car. “Thank you, so much, honestly, I mean, I was going to be fucked, the locksmith quoted me like $300-”

“Yeah, no prob,” Lup says, so forcedly casual that she thinks she hears something important pop in her jaw. 

“But uh,” Barry looks at his car, a very, very sad blue Honda Civic belovedly named Crunch, and then at Lup, who is struggling with the knowledge that she is blushing hard enough to burn herself at the stake here. “That’s a pretty impressive skill you’ve got there?”

The how the fuck do you know that, and for why, specifically, is implied. 

“Thanks,” Lup says, opening her gumball machine mouth and letting a tasty, shiny lie ricochet through the spirals and tubes of her fucking idiot central and right out into the air, where she will now be responsible for it. “I learned it in the circus.”

“The circus?” Barry is wearing his stupid sexy strap on sunglasses, which are tentatively attached to his regular glasses, and thus make his eyes a little harder to see. He is, however, obviously having some kind of reaction to this information. Lup grimaces. 

“Yeeep. The circus. You know, the uh, the giraffes loved to steal keys.” 

“Giraffes?” Barry is incredulous. “That’s amazing. What for?”

“Oh, they’re mischievous fuckers,” Lup is just fully in it now. “Never trust a giraffe, I’m telling you. Elephants either, they’ll throw your keys right down a storm drain just to get your attention.”

“Golly,” Barry says. With his human fucking mouth. Lup wants to kill him and keep his soul in a jar. She promises she’ll poke holes in the lid. “I have to imagine you’d hide your keys after that happened once or twice, though?”

“The problem is, you see,” Lup is ascending, to live with the angels. Shame they’ll evict her as soon as possible, for all the lust and gluttony and wrath and so on. She can have another thing lined up. It’s fine. “Circus outfits never have pockets.”

“Really? Never?”

“Total design flaw,” Lup says, nodding, and also sweating so hard she’s afraid it might be audible. “Pockets would pull them down. And when you’re just wearing a leotard, you don’t want it gettin’ pulled down, obviously.”

“Obviously,” Barry agrees, looking dreadfully impressed at all this. “But then what about the keys, did you just hold them?” Him and his goddamn followup questions. Lup could grind him into a paste and study him under a microscope. 

“Yeah, or put them on a chain around our necks. But mostly we had a key boy.”

“A keyboy?” Barry’s eyes go way up. “One keyboy, to hold all the keys in the circus?”

“It was an illustrious job,” Lup says, with her lying, lying ass. “Everyone wanted to fuck the key boy.” 

“Wow,” Barry says. “Because of his access?”

“Because of the jingles, Barr, keep up!” Lup folds her arms. “Also, he was a pretty good juggler. Not as good as me, though.”

“You can juggle?” Barry grins at her. “I’d love to see that.” 

“I’ve been banned from juggling forever,” Lup says solemnly. “Because of the incident.” 

“The incident?” Jesus, can he just do this all day? Doesn’t he get tired?

“Yeah,” Lup says, and winks, and smacks him congenially on the back. “It’s a curse. Shame, cause I love juggling.” And before Barry can ask her another fucking question, she heads back in to work. 

God. It’s been years since she juggled. She cannot fucking believe she’s backed herself into a corner again about this shit. She should have just admitted to being obsessed with lockpicking youtube. 

[ekko-idk]

YOU 🫵

Explain what dungeon meshi is

(You don't have to i'm just new here and wanted to hear it from someone who already knows a lot about this media)

(If you can't / don't want to that's absolutely fine but I would greatly appreciate it if you did :) )

Be careful what you wish for! I'm a professional rambler :)

Dungeon meshi (or Delicious In Dungeon) is a manga that recently started getting an animated adaptation on Netflix. The Manga is completed and the anime is ongoing. And just to be transparent I'm anime only so I don't know the whole story yet :0

The story follows a party (like a DND party) after they lost one of their members to a dragon, and they decide to go back to the dungeon to try and save her.

Laios, the blond guy with the armor, is the brother of the lost party member, Falin. he's very passionate and excitable (some people think it makes him awkward or difficult to talk to), he's just very in his own world.

Marcille, the blond elf girl with the blue dress (i think it's a dress?), is a childhood friend of Falin, she's a mage and casts mostly explosions lol. Marcille and Falin went to magic school together and it's pretty obvious they also have feelings for each other, that's why Marcille wants to save her so much.

Chilchuck, the tiny guy with the green neck wrap, is the group's lockpick. He's often cynical and sarcastic, and honestly at the start of the series I didn't expect to love him as much as I do, there's way more to him than what it might seem at a glance.

There were two other party members in their party but they decided to quit, each for their own reasons, and since the party lost almost all of their belongings in the dragon fight they were now broke. Eager to go save Falin they had a debate on what to do next, in which Laios mentioned he had expert knowledge on monsters and had always wondered what they taste like. Somehow Laios managed to convince Marcille and chilchuck to eat monsters to save up on money, although they were very opposed to it at first.

Laios knows a lot about monsters, but he doesn't know a lot about cooking, that's when they meet Senshi. Senshi is a dwarf that lives in the dungeon and is very passionate about cooking and living healthy. Senshi decides to tag along with Laios, Marcille, and Chilchuck, on their quest to save Falin, slaying and cooking monsters along the way.

This is the premise of Dungeon Meshi! Obviously there's a lot more that goes into it like other characters I didn't mention and a whole bunch of twists and turns in the story. If it's not apparent already by the amount of fanart I did, I'm enjoying the anime a lot lol. I can wholeheartedly recommend it, it's genuinely hilarious, the characters are all expertly written and bounce so well off of each other, there's little to no weird yucky "fan service" (the author is a woman and treats all her female characters with the respect they deserve) and at its core (as I see it) it's a story about passion, and how far following it can bring you.

There's a million and one other positive things I can say, like the LGBT and neurodivergent representation (Marcille and Falin are very clearly Sapphic, and Laios is widely headcanoned as autistic) and the various and diverse body types for both men and women, but I don't want this to go on for too long 😭

I hope this is what you had in mind when you asked me the question lmao💀

[farter-imperator]

Since we all know how much I love whumping Dew...

Dew's heats are hell.

They're not sexy in the slightest. They used to be, back when he was a water ghoul, but something changed in the makeup of his body after he changed essences, and now heats are just a week long hell for him.

He usually gets about a week's prewarning before his heat hits. He knows it's coming when his chest is so sensitive he almost cries at the feeling of his partners playing with it, and when he keeps getting told off by his packmates for 'snapping', even though he hadn't realised he was so pissed off.

He knows exactly when his heat hits, because he'll be struck by an almighty cramp that makes his guts feel like they're twisting around themselves, caught in a vice. Normally it hits during the night, when he's thankfully alone, but it's happened during the day, only a few times. He'd dropped to his knees and his packmates had been so concerned the first time that they carried him straight to the infirmary, just to be told that he was in heat.

Dew doesn't get horny during his heat. At all.

He used to, back when he was a water ghoul. Water ghouls are famed for their wetness (obviously) and Dew would somehow wreck even the waterproof sheets with how wet he would get during heats.

Nowadays, he still soaks through the sheets, but it's with sweat rather than slick. He has high fevers, above what is lethal for a human, burning up like a furnace as he lays in bed, surrounded by a puddle of sweat.

With the stomach aches he has, too, there's no question why he isn't horny. The pain gets so intense that all he can do some days is lay on his side in the fetal position, his arms wrapped tight around his waist, and cry. He doesn't want anyone up in his business when he's like this.

Swiss tried, once, just to see if it would ease Dew's pain. It did not. And he ended up with a slightly burnt cock for his efforts.

He's not very sociable during his heats. He prefers to lock himself in his room and deal with the heat alone, not wanting the pity from his packmates. However, his packmates always seem to come and sit by him anyways. Damn Sunny and her lockpicking skills.

Cumulus helps him sip at some broth when he has no appetite, then strokes his hair and holds the bin when the cramps get so bad that the broth comes straight back up.

Aether tries to use his quintessence on him, but it doesn't put a dent in the amount of discomfort Dew's in. He can't even get him to sleep with his quintessence when he's at the peak of his heat.

Cirrus offers a cooling touch with her air essence. She'll rest her hand on his forehead and his brows will relax, his glazed-over eyes drooping in pleasure as he cools down ever so slightly for the first time in days.

Mountain trims some herbs for Dew and strains them into a tea that Dew doesn't drink. He also offers companionship. He sits by the bed, on the floor, in complete silence, his pinky finger linked with Dew's. He knows that Dew gets headaches during his heat, and he knows that he wouldn't like to be talked at when he's in this much pain, anyways.

Rain helps with Dew's hydration. Dew has no appetite or thirst like this, but with the amount he's sweating, he needs to keep his water intake up. They figured out a few hears ago that Dew had small patches of skin over his body that hadn't quite transitioned to fire ghoul, where he could take in water through his skin. Rain holds his hands over these patches and transfers some of the water from his essence to Dew this way, to ensure he doesn't get too dehydrated.

Copia worries. He stands by the doorway, unsure if he should bother his little devil. Sometimes he goes in, only after Dew weakly calls for him. He sits on the edge of the bed, strokes Dew's hair, works out all the tangles with his fingers. Dew will hold onto his wrist tight, as if he's steadying himself against the way that the room spins. Copia tries to soothe him the best he can. He doesn't really know how to help in this situation. He absolutely hates seeing him in this much pain, they all do.

[captmickey]

Graham has found a dusty door in one of Daventry Castle’s basements (disused dungeon?). It is locked, and they have no key. The guards are defensive and take charge. Do they get in and what’s behind it, or are they forced to give up and it remains a mystery?

I'm so so so sorry it took forever and a half, I was just debating how the story should go and then got busy and-- well, now I had time. And a story.

So here ya go! ---

“Leave it to you to find something that was not meant to be found.” Number One grumbled, standing with his arms crossed as Graham kneeled in front of the dusty door attempting (and failing) to pick at the lock.

“If it wasn’t meant to be found, it should have been turned into a wall.” Graham pointed out.

“It was hidden behind one. AND a tapestry.” 

“Then whoever bricked up the wall did a poor job.”

“Wasn’t our fault the budget was abysmal during the Missing Treasure Fiasco.” Number One muttered just below enough so none of the other guards could hear, but Graham heard clearly.

“Say, why was it bricked up in the first place?” Number Two asked, leaning on the adjacent wall as Graham continued to pick at it. “I don’t recall that being a thing.”

“It was something spoken exclusively between the late King Edward, Gideon, and myself.”

“Gideon?” Graham looked up.

“Our original captain before Ken took over.” Number Two explained.

“Number Two!” Number One snapped at him. “On duty–”

“Names aren’t to be used, yeah yeah, I know.”

“I can see your blasted eye roll from here.”

“Can you see this too?” A pause. “On second thought, nevermind, the helmet tastes terrible.”

“Disgusting.” Number One stated.

Graham sighed and lowered the lockpick tool. It looked so much easier when Ginger or Anisette did it, maybe it was the movement of his wrist?

“Giving up?” Number Two asked.

“Never.” Graham stood up, pocketing away the kit and placing his hands on his hips. “Just… are you sure there’s no key?”

“Positive!” Kyle shouted from down the hall as he came running down the hallway with Larry stacked on top. “We just examined every nook and cranny and found nothing.”

“Did Number Three find anything?” Number Two asked.

“Also nothing, but she said she wanted to give it one more go with Number Sixty Four in regards to the whereabouts of all the keys.” Kyle said. “So until then, we got nothing.”

“Sorry, Majesty.” Larry apologized.

“No need to apologize. I appreciate it, thank you.” Graham said before turning his attention to Number One. “What was this place before, anyways? I don’t recall seeing it on the castle plan when I first came to rule.”

All their attention went to Number One who was standing back with his arms crossed, looking to be anywhere but here before sighing and leaning his head back to exhale through his nose. 

“It used to be part of the dungeons.” He answered. “Before King Edward’s time, this castle had excess dungeons for enemies… though stars help me, I wouldn’t constitute goblins or faeries as enemies so long as you don’t step on their turf. Maybe the average thief or assassin, but they’re so far and few in between one could arguably say they’re not even worth a thought.” 

“Goblins aren’t to be taken lightly…” Graham rubbed his arm from the last encounter he had with one of them tossing their brethren at him like a common snowball.

“But when King Edward realized that it wasn’t making Daventry much allies, he had it ordered that these dungeons be transformed into storage, as you can plainly see by the one-too-many-boxes that I’m dying to be rid of but life insists some other trivial matter takes top priority.” Number One finished. “Such as that blasted door.”

“So this door is another dungeon?” Graham pressed.

Number One paused and ‘hmm’ just quietly enough in contemplation. 

“Wait, is it?” Kyle spoke up, shocked.

“Is this for the more intense criminals? Traitors of Daventry?” Larry added.

“Clearly it’s bad enough if it was sealed behind a wall and a tapestry… say, lad, how’d you come across this place, anyways?” Number Two asked.

“I was just strolling about, trying to get a hang of the castle’s layout when I saw the door that led in here… and then I heard a whistling sound and I followed it to here.” Graham explained. 

“And you’ve been trying to open it since?” Larry asked.

He pulled out the lockpick kit and showed them. “With nothing but failure to show for it.”

“Shame, was really looking forward to know what was behind that door.” Kyle sighed.

“I didn’t think I found something so cryptic. W-what is behind that door, Number One?” Graham looked at the captain who had remained frighteningly quiet, still humming under his helmet.

“Ken?” Number Two pressed. He looked away when Number One gave him a sharp stare. “Sorry, Number One.”

“Actually… I’m not quite sure.” He confessed. “I only came to the conversation as they were discussing sealing it up, but I never knew what it was.”

“So, aren’t you just a little bit curious?” Number Two asked, going over and draping an arm around him. “You are the head of the Royal Guard and the lad here is our king and is oh so curious what’s behind that door.”

“You just want to know what’s there.” Number One bluntly stated.

“Don’t you?” Graham asked, getting a bark of a laugh from the second in command. 

“Sorry, sir, but we won’t be able to go back to our usual work until we figure out what’s behind the door.” Kyle said.

“And that’s two less guards that can patrol considering we’re inseparable.” Larry added.

“We don’t have the key and none of us are exactly proficient with breaking and entering.” Number One said. “And if we slam the door down, who knows what sort of damage it could do.”

“We could always take it off the hinges.” Number Three’s voice rang through as she walked over to them. “Or is it too rusted?”

“Going to assume rusted…” Graham admitted, looking now at the hingest. “But maybe a good strike would make it crumble. I could– huh?”

He felt Larry and Kyle pulling him to the side and saw Number One give a nod. 

“You won’t be touching that door anymore, Your Majesty.” Number One stated. 

“But I want to see what’s behind the door!” Graham pouted. 

“Who said we won’t?” Number One looked at him. “No offense, Pockets, but with your luck, the door could potentially fall on you much like last week’s avalanche.” 

He recalled the time Number One caught him trapped under a pile of addendums. It was one of those memories where his face burned so hot as Number One fell to his knees and was wheezing with tears staining his face. His cheeks turned red slightly. 

“Exactly.” He drew out his sword. “Number Two, Number Three, please stand ready to catch the door.”

“Sir!” The two saluted and walked into position.

Number One raised the hilt of the sword and gave a solid whack to the rusted hinges, startling himself as it collapsed just as Number Three said it would. 

“One down!” Number Three cheered.

“Two to go!” Number Two cheered as well.

“Go Number One!” Graham pumped his fists.

“It’s just a rusted door hinge.” Number One muttered. “Hardly anything to cheer about.”

He whacked at the other two hinges and just like the first one, they collapsed as though it were nothing. The door teetered back and forth but couldn’t fall in either direction as both Number Two and Number Three caught it and carefully moved it to the side, revealing the inside of the room to the six of them. 

Graham took a step before getting, once more, harshly yanked back by Kyle and Larry as Number One stepped in first.

“Hey, wait a second, I was the one who found it, why don’t I get a first look?!” Graham called out.

“You’re the King.” All the Royal Guards reminded him in a unison that was done one too many times.

“Right. That.” Graham’s ears burned.

Number One shook his head and stepped inside, his sword still drawn just in case. As he took a look, he sheathed his weapon and placed his hands on his hips, his brow furrowed underneath his helmet. “It’s safe for Pockets.”

Quickly in a blur of red and blue, Graham rushed in and looked around trying to take in the sight. There was a window with a broken glass, allowing undoubtedly the wind to whistle for his attention. Surrounded were barrels and barrels of rolled up parchments, tapestries that had to deal with decades of the elements but still told its story, treasure chests stacked on top of one another like a makeshift mountain.

It looked, frankly, like another one of those storages just outside.

Graham’s shoulders sagged, disappointment read loud and clear as he let out a sigh.

“Well.” Larry spoke up, having unstacked off of Kyle so that the two could look at the room. “This is frankly disappointing.”

“I’m a bit sad, if I’m being quite honest.” Kyle frowned.

“I thought it would be gold.” Number Two sighed. 

“Why would they seal up gold?” Number Three stared at him. “That makes no sense.”

“Unless it was cursed.” He countered. “Everyone seals up cursed gold.”

“But why—”

“Like pirates!” Kyle joked.

She paused and quietly agreed. 

Graham looked around as the guards got into a conversation about a PIrate King of Daventry and pulled one of the scrolls from the barrel, making sure to handle it with absolute care in case it would disintegrate in his hands. He tilted his head and rolled it back up, pulling another one and unfurled that as well as he pulled it closer to read.

Number One noticed his sudden change in expression and walked over, his hand on the hilt of the blade as he tapped Graham’s shoulder.

“Something about it caught your eye?” Number One asked.

To his surprise, Graham turned to look at him with stars in his eyes and a smile that shined brighter than any gold. 

“These are maps to all the treasures in Daventry.” Graham said. 

“We’re not short on gold, sire–”

“No. Not treasure as in gold.” Graham handed the parchment to Number One. “Treasures as in all the hidden legends of Daventry. Not just the floating island.”

“They could belong to faes or goblins.” Number One warned, but the excitement of a new discovery of his homeland was bubbling. 

“We’re not gonna conquer, but we can befriend. Make allies.” Graham explained. “You said King Edward tried to make peace once with the faeries, elves, and such?”

“With poor success, yes.”

Graham tapped at it. “We can do it. We can go and find them, ask for an audience and build a strong relationship. Plus… wouldn’t it be grand to see what more stories Daventry has to offer?”

Number One stared at the parchment and the various barrels, realizing that there was much to Daventry that was left to be properly explored. He looked at Graham with that excited and welcoming smile of his… he rolled it up and sighed.

“If there is anyone that could make an audience with them… it’d be you, Pockets.”

“Well then, lets get to work!”

[pineapples-spooky-month-blog]

A Not-So Flawless Robbery

Welp, I've been pretty hesitant to post this here thanks to my ✨anxiety✨ making me feel like the fic is bad and no good and that you're all gonna hate it, but I finally managed to work up enough courage to post it, sooo I hope you guys like it! (Btw CW for stabbing and blood)

It was the dead of night, in the middle of April. At this hour, most residents in the town of [Name unknown] found themselves fast asleep, resting comfily on their warm beds and wrapped up in their soft blankets as they slept the night away... 

“Ooo, look at this~! What a neat little keychain~!”

... And then, there was Thin and Fat. Or Theobald (More commonly referred to as Teddy) and Carlos as they were actually named, at least in this particular universe anyway. These two wannabe robbers were currently a little down on their luck financially, so they decided that they were gonna have a go at burglary to try and obtain some things of value that they could sell. But, while looking for their house of choice, Teddy got distracted by a cute little bat keychain he had spotted nearby. Somebody must've lost it when walking by earlier.

“*Sigh* Yep, sure is Teddy, now come on!” Carlos shouted with an annoyed tone as Teddy quickly shoved the keychain in his pocket and apologized before running after his partner. Teddy had a tendency to get distracted by little things while he and his friend were trying to do something else, which, if his tone was any indication, was rather annoying to Carlos.

After a few minutes, the two of them eventually settled on a house. It wasn't a super fancy one or anything, but it was still decent enough to where there could be some valuables in it, so it seemed like a good pick for this Duo’s first time robbing a place. “Alright, let's do this...” Carlos said to Teddy before pulling out a lockpick.

Meanwhile, we can see that these two are not the only ones who were awake much later than they should’ve been, as within this particular house, a young, sweet girl is seen sitting on the floor of her bedroom. The girl had blue hair tied up in 2 sets of pigtails, her canine teeth are seen sticking out of her mouth due to her overbite, and she wore a purple dress with a spiderweb patterned poncho on top of. The girl’s name?

Bew.

Currently, Bew is sitting in front of multiple terrariums of varying sizes, each of which containing a different type of spider which also varied in size. She was speaking to these spiders like you would to your human friends, rambling on about the day she had to them. Obviously the spiders didn’t seem too interested in what she was saying to them though, since... Well, they’re spiders.

“Oh yeah! And a brand new episode of the Happy Fella show aired today as well! It was amazing!” Bew said with an enthusiastic tone, “It revealed some more stuff about Sad Guy, who's like, my favorite character of all time, so of course that alone made the episode super good to me! And the sweet moment he and Happy Fella shared near the end as well, OUGH, MY HEART COULD BARELY HANDLE IT!! Sad Guy revealing that he had trouble looking for the good in himself, and that he felt like others didn't like him for being him, and then Happy Fella reassuring him and helping him gain enough courage to go out to that party with him, IT WAS TOO CUTE!!”

Bew then kinda moves her gaze downwards for a moment, beginning to gently twiddle her thumbs as she did. “Y'know, sometimes I kinda wish I could have a friend like Happy Fella in my life... a fella who's always there to make me happy... I mean, of course I have all of you guys, and you all make me happy obviously... But... I don’t know, I just... I guess it'd just be nice to have a human friend I could chat with sometimes as well. And yeah, I know I have my older brother to chat with, but he's over at the station so much, and it'd be nice to have someone to talk to while he isn't around...”

Suddenly, Bew's conversation with her spiders came to a halt as she then heard the sound of the front door slowly creaking open. “Huh?” She whispered confused, before she then began to hear footsteps and the sound of people whispering to each other... and neither of them sounded like her brother, the only other person who lived in this house with her.

Oh no... no no no no no, not again. Please not again.

Bew's heart began to pound as she veeery slowly opened her bedroom door, where much to her horror, she saw 2 masked men roaming around their house in the dark, shoving things into their bags as they wandered around. Bew instantly began to hyperventilate slightly as she backed away from the door and began to panic, but she managed to pull herself together slightly after a moment.

No. No, this was not happening, she wasn't letting this happen again. She couldn’t let this happen again.

Gathering all of her bravery, Bew quietly snuck out of her room and tried to keep out of sight of the thieves. She considered making her way to her brother's room and waking him up, he was a cop after all and as such had lots of experience in dealing with bad guys, but the intruders were too close to his bedroom door to get there without them noticing, and she wasn’t willing to wait around and pray to god that they moved away. She wasn’t gonna risk letting them enter her brother's room and hurt him. She was gonna have to fend them off by herself.

Bew quickly snuck into the kitchen and pulled out a knife from the knife rack. Her hands shook a little bit as she took a few deep breaths, staring at the knife as she tried to reassure herself before she headed back to the living room and stared at the larger of the two intruders. *Ok, you can do this Bew, you can do this. Just run up to them and attack...*

Bew then shakily lifted the knife up, took a deep breath, ran towards the intruder, and-

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!”

Carlos flinched and jumped a bit as he suddenly heard his partner let out a giant, pained scream. “Dude, what the Hell!?!” Carlos grew an angry expression and tone of voice as he turned to his partner, assuming that he had just seen a bug or something and freaked out. “You’re gonna get us caught, you-”

Carlos’ angered expression quickly turned into one of horror as he watched his partner violently shaking his leg, trying to get Bew off as she held onto him, the knife planted into Teddy's leg. “GET IT OFF!!! GET IT OFF OF ME!!!”

Bew quickly yanked the knife out of Teddy’s leg before stabbing him again in a different spot, making Teddy scream in pain again. Before Bew could stab him a third time, she lost her grip on Teddy’s leg as he finally managed to kick her off, knocking her a small distance away from him as he stumbled onto the ground, his leg now in a great deal of pain as blood trickled down it.

“JESUS CHRIST!!” Carlos shouted as he kneeled down next to his injured partner, and then over to Bew as she quickly stood back up and grabbed the knife off the floor, before starting to approach them again. “W-Waitwaitwaitwait, kid, stop!! P-Put the knife down!!”

“Why should I!?” Bew shouted, still trembling a bit. “I-I know why you two are here!! You’re here to hurt me and my brother, aren’t you!? W-Well I won’t let you!!”

“Nonononono, we aren’t!! W-We promise we aren’t!!” Teddy said, his body also trembling a bit.

“Then why are you here?” Bew asked, causing the thieves to begin desperately stuttering as they tried to think of an excuse that wouldn’t end with them getting chased around the house with a knife.

“Uhhh- W-We just, uhhh- W-W-We’re here... t-to be your friend! Y-Yeah, that’s it! We just wanted to be your friend!” Teddy blurted out in a panic. Wasn't the most convincing lie in the world, but he couldn't really think of anything better in the stress of the moment.

Luckily though, it still seemed to do the trick, as Bew lowered the knife down a bit upon hearing that, seeming to be a bit surprised by that response. “... You want... to be my friend...?”

“Uhhh, yep!” Carlos responded as he nervously played along, also unable to think of anything better, “Just wanted to get friendly with you, that's all!”

“But how do I know you aren't lying to me?”

"C-Cus we... we uhhh... Oh! Cus we even got you a gift! Y-Y'know, just so we could start off on good terms!" Teddy then reached into his pocket and pulled out the bat keychain from before. Seems like Teddy getting distracted by the keychain earlier was a good thing after all, as it seemed to do the trick in getting the girl to calm down. She continued to slowly approach the two, still holding the knife, but not pointing it at them anymore.

“You... You got me a gift...?” Bew asked softly as she reached out and grabbed the keychain from him, “Y-You even knew to get me a bat one... those are one of my favorite animals...! Thank you...!” 

Bew then slid the keychain into the pocket of her dress. She looked so happy now, like Teddy's gift had really touched her... which honestly made him feel rather guilty since he knew he didn't actually get it for her... 

“I guess you two seem pretty nice... So we can try to be friends.” Bew then set the knife down on the ground, no longer seeing the two as a threat. Bew then looked at Teddy's bleeding leg as he winced and teared up a bit in pain. “O-Oh yeah, sorry about that...” She said with some guilt in her voice, “H-Hold on, I think we've got something that can help! Just wait there!”

Bew then ran over to a nearby closet and looked through it for a moment, before pulling out a first aid kid and running back over to Teddy. She then pulled out a roll of gauze bandages from the kit, asking Teddy to roll up his pant leg before beginning to wrap the bandages around the wounds.

“There we go, all better!” Bew said after she finished wrapping up Teddy's leg. She then went to put the kit back into the closet as Carlos helped a limping Teddy get over to the couch, which the two then took a seat on.

“Ok, now that things are calmer, we should probably get each other's names!” Bew said as she walked back over to the thieves. “My name is Bew! Bew Redips! What about you two?”

“Oh, uhhh, we’re-”

“Carlos and Theobald! But you can just call me Teddy if you like!”

For the sake of not making Bew suspicious of them again, Carlos didn’t say anything to his partner, but on the inside he was screaming at him. He didn’t want to give Bew their actual names, just in case she ended up giving their information to a cop or something later, but clearly that thought didn’t cross Teddy’s head as he happily gave this random kid they just met who was living in the same house they were currently trying to rob their identities!

“Ok, Teddy and Carlos! Got it! Would you two like me to get anything for you? Like a drink or something?” Bew smiled warmly at the two of them as she waited for a response.

“Y-Yeah, sure! A drink would be nice.”

Bew then headed off to the kitchen to get them both a drink, leaving them by themselves for a moment.

 “... Huh. Well I'll admit, that was actually pretty smart of you, Teddy.” Carlos whispered, “Using the keychain as a gift to get her to trust us. Good job.”

“H-Heheh, yeah, t-thanks...” Teddy was trying to choke back his guilt as he spoke.

“However, I unfortunately can’t say the same thing about GIVING HER OUR ACTUAL IDENTITIES, YOU IDIOT!!!” Carlos’ tone suddenly changed completely, causing Teddy to get started and jump back a bit. “WHAT IF SHE GIVES OUR NAMES TO THE POLICE OR SOMETHING LATER!?!”

“I-I’m sorry, Carlos, I- I-I didn’t really think about that!!”

“*Sigh* Whatever, it’s done now, so let’s just hope that she doesn’t say anything... In the meantime, let’s just keep playing along with this whole “friend” thing for now. She’s gotta get tired and fall asleep eventually...”

After a few minutes, Bew returned to the living room holding a few mugs. “Here you go!” She said as she handed the mugs to the two of them. Upon grabbing them, the two could feel that the mugs were pleasantly warm to the touch, and they could also feel a faint warmth hit their faces as they held the mugs beneath them. “I decided to make you guys some Hot Cocoa! I hope you two like it!”

“Ooo~! Thank you so much!” Teddy said excitedly before blowing on the cocoa a bit and taking a sip. It tasted amazing... It was definitely some of the best cocoa he'd ever had. “Mmmm~! Wow, this is amazing~!”

“Thanks! I used some of my homemade cocoa powder to make it!”

Teddy quickly gulped up the rest of the delicious cocoa while Carlos just kinda stared down at his own cup. In all honesty, he wasn't the biggest fan of sweet stuff, so once Teddy was done with his cocoa, he went ahead and let him drink his cup as well.

“Well, at least one of you likes it!” Bew said before hopping onto the couch next to them. “Sooo... What should we do now? Do you guys just wanna... chat for a bit, or something?”

“Sure! That sounds nice! What do you wanna talk about?”

“Uuuuuhh, I'm not too sure...” Bew tried to quickly think up a conversation topic. “Hmmm... Oh, I think I got something! Do either of you guys like the Happy Fella show?”

Teddy let out a gasp of excitement as his pupils grew wide, “OOOO YES, I LOVE THAT SHOW~! Did you see the newest episode?”

“Oh heck yeah I did!! Was it completely amazing or what!?!”

Bew and Teddy then proceed to just go on and on and on and on about everything they liked about the new episode, then about how much they loved the show in general, then about their favorite character, then about other episodes that they enjoyed, etcetera. Carlos just kinda stared at them and sighed in annoyance as they went on, realizing that this night might end up being a lot longer than he had hoped...

..................................................

Several hours later, Carlos and Teddy found themselves slowly awakening, as Carlos had passed out due to the immense bordem he was experiencing, and Teddy and Bew ended up chatting until they were exhausted, and the two of them also fell asleep.

"Oh, good morning!” Bew said with a smile, having woken up about half an hour or so before they did.

“Wh... H-Huh...?” Carlos mumbled as Teddy leaned up and stretched.

“Mmmm... How, uh... How long have we... b-been asleep for...?”

“Long enough for me and Bew to wake up before you did.”

Carlos and Teddy's faces went blank, and they both simultaneously thought *OH FUCK*, as they found themselves directly in front of Bew's older brother, who definitely did not look very pleased with their presence.

“Guys, this is my older brother Jace!” Bew said enthusiastically to the thieves, “He's, like, super cool! One of the coolest people on earth probably! He fights bad guys and throws them in jail for a living!”

Carlos and Teddy grow even more nervous as they realize they had not only broken Into someone's house and gotten caught, but by some horrific luck, they had broken into the house of a COP. They were so screwed and they knew it.

“Bew... Do you think you could go into your room for a moment...?” Jace asked his little sister, who nodded before heading back into her room, leaving the thieves alone with her brother... 

“... Uhhh... N-Now please wait a second, we swear it’s not what it-”

“Yes. Yes it is.” Jace interrupted, “Nobody is breaking into a house in the middle of the night with ski masks on because they wanted to be friends with someone they’ve never even seen before. I’m not stupid.”

“A-Are you gonna throw us in jail...?”

“I probably should, but I’m not going to. I do not wanna start off the day by making an arrest. Besides...” Jace gestures to the gauze bandages on Teddy’s leg, which were visible through the holes that the knife had made in his pant leg. “I think getting stabbed in the leg with a knife was punishment enough. Speaking of which...”

Jace goes to the closet for a moment and soon comes back holding the roll of bandages Bew had used last night, which he then handed to Teddy. “Just go ahead and take this with you. You’ll need to change the bandages once or twice a day until the wounds heal.”

“O-Oh, uh, thank you.” Teddy said as he grabbed the bandages from Jace.

“You’re welcome. Now please get out of my house. I need to get Bew ready for school and myself ready to go to the station.”

Carlos helps Teddy stand up and walk over to grab their bags-

“And leave the bags.”

Teddy and Carlos leave their bag’s in the house as they go to the door and exit, Jace closing and locking it behind them.

“... W-Well... That could’ve gone a bit better...”

“Oh yeah, ya’ THINK?!” Carlos shouted before groaning in annoyance. “God, that was embarrassing! First you got stabbed by a child, then we both passed out, and then we found out that the house we broke into belonged to a COP of all people, and we didn't even end up leaving with any-” Carlos cuts himself off as he takes a deep breath to try and calm himself down. “You know what... Whatever. It's fine. Let's just go home...”

Carlos continues to help Teddy walk as the two of them make their way back to their house... However, Teddy couldn't help but glance back at Bew's house before it went out of view.

Even if they weren't there for very long, and even if she did kinda... stab him in the leg, that girl was honestly pretty nice once she calmed down, and she was definitely really fun to talk to. It wasn't very common for him to find someone he connects so well with... Most times when he tried to talk to people in the past, whether it be about things he liked or just about himself, it always seemed like the other person was barely listening, just waiting for him to shut up. Heck, even Carlos, who was supposed to be his best friend and someone he personally viewed as a brother figure, was often guilty of that... but not Bew. It genuinely seemed like she was listening to him... like she was really enjoying chatting with him... and because of that, he honestly couldn’t help but feel a little bad that he couldn't even properly say goodbye to her before they left...