#and the girl I said I'd make one for asked for teal

[fioletowa-krowa]

it's so terrible when I decide to make something for someone but I don't have the colours of yarn they want and then premier texts me with a 20% off the exact type of yarn that I need so I have to stock up on my yarn and buy like 15x more yarn than I had planned because it's halloween and xmas season for crafting and the last time I put off restocking, I ran out of orange and they were sold out of til like February so all of my pumpkin plans had to be scrapped

[gallusrostromegalus]

Ask game: 39, 39, 39, 39, oh and also 39

Blease give me more of your writing your brain weirdness is extremely satisfying to my brain weirdness in a way that few others understand or can replicate

Immediately after the battle with Aizen, in what's left of Fake Karakura:

--

Something neon pink appeared at Shinji's elbow At Speed and he startled, yelping loudly and having to fight the reflex to kick what appeared to be a small girl.

"HeyifyouseemydadIwaswiththefallbacktimethewholetimeokay?" She spoke at a speed Shinji had only ever heard from a dangerously overcaffienated Mashiro before.

"I'm not lying for you, Kusajishi." sighed Kuchiki.

"YACHIRU!" someone bellowed loud enough to make the few unbroken windows ring, and Shinji turned to the sound of Ominous Jingling to see a giant of a man with a peculiar vertical hairstyle and a captain's Haori approaching, livid.

"Shit." She muttered, turning to grin sheepishly at her father as he stomped over, expression dark and a tiny, teal-haired toddler on his hip.

"Where were you supposed to be today?" The Giant growled down at Yachiru, and Kuchiki excused himself to sit down on a nearby piece of bench-height rubble.

"...You told me to stay with the fallback team in Seireitei." She sighed.

"So why are you here?" the giant growled.

"BECAUSE YOU'VE BEEN WEIRD ALL MONTH AND IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO YOU IN LAS NOCHES I'D NEVER FORGIVE MYSELF!" She shouted, reflexive foot-stomp blasting out a wave of enraged reiatsu.

"So, uh, who're Pinky and Punky here?" Shinji asked, limping over to sit down to watch next to Kuchiki.

"Eleventh Division Captain Zaraki Kenpachi and his daughter, Yachiru Kusajishi." Kuchiki nodded. "They're loud, but honorable and reliable."

"I'VE BEEN WEIRD ALL MONTH BECAUSE- Shit, it's- Its complicated, okay?" Kenpachi groaned.

"And the other girl?" Shinji asked.

"I believe Kurosaki said her name was 'Nel' or similar." Kuchiki nodded. "Not entirely sure why Zaraki is the one carrying her around but it's nothing to worry about. He's great with kids."

"SINCE WHEN HAS 'COMPLICATED' BEEN A REASON TO HIDE STUFF FROM ME?" Yachiru demanded, bristling at him.

"Great with kids, huh?" Shinji glanced over at Kuchiki.

"-BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON EITHER UNTIL ABOUT TWO HOURS AGO! WHAT IF SOMETHING HAD HAPPENED TO YOU, HUH? IT'S *MY* JOB TO WORRY ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND DAMMIT!"

"Oh, nevermind, I see what you mean." Shinji nodded and there was the barest hint of a smirk on Kuchiki's face.

Yachiru sniffled, tearing up with rage. "WHAT? I'M NOT ALLOWED TO WORRY ABOUT YOU!?"

"YOU CAN WORRY ALL YOU WANT BUT YOU CAN'T RISK YOUR HIDE FOR MY SAKE, THAT'S NOT HOW IT FUCKING WORKS-!" he roared, jabbing his finger at Yachiru.

"Can I have a juice?" the teal-haired toddler asked from Zaraki's hip.

"-In a minute Yachiru, I need to-" Kenpachi started and stopped. He blinked a few times, then slowly turned to frown at Nel, then at Yachiru, then back at Nel, pointing between the two girls and expression shifting from rage to utter confusion.

"Did you see another abandoned baby and just pick it up because it was Yachiru-shaped and Neon Colored?" Kuchiki called, teasing.

Kenpachi looked up at him, bewildered "MAYBE??" and Yachiru rolled her eyes behind him.

"That’s the most 'Raised By Birds' thing you’ve done in a while." Kuchiki laughed, getting up to peer down at Nel with curiosity.

"Raised by WHAT?" Shinji asked, jogging up after him.

Kenpachi Stood up straight, shaking his shoulders like he was ruffling feathers. "One, I’m not putting her back, two, who the fuck are these assholes?" He asked, gesturing at Shinji and the other Visored who had started to gather in the rubble to catch their breath after the battle.

"Remember how half the captains had fallen in battle or otherwise vanished before you showed up?" Byakuya asked.

"No, because I wasn’t there." Huffed Kenpachi, rifling through his Kosode and producing a Juice Box for Nel. "-but I remember Ikkaku complaining about the employee turnover."

"-AND I WAS RIGHT!" Ikkaku bellowed from his stretcher behind them, too injured to stand but not about to stop fighting, as expected of someone wearing the 11th Division's lieutenant insignia.

"YOU'RE STILL IN DEEP SHIT FOR THAT BANKAI THING, CUEBALL." Zaraki holled back at his lieutenant, who only turned his head away, sulking.

"Apparently the assorted missing officers weren’t dead, they just caught an artificially induced case of hollowfication from Aizen, but managed to survive and stayed out here in the living world to recover and learn to control their abilities out of sight from him." Kuchiki explained. Beside them, meaningful eye contact was exchanged between father and daughter, and he gave her a juice box as well. "Tactical." Zaraki nodded approvingly. "Also, non-zero chance The Old Man would have killed y'all on sight."

"Er. Yeah." Shinji winced, looking over his shoulder to where a surprisingly non-apocalyptic-looking Captain-General was discussing something with Unohana.

"This man specifically is is Hirako Shinji, Aizen’s former boss." Kuchiki continued, introducing them properly. "Captain Hirako, Captain Zaraki."

"Hiya!" Shinji grinned, holding out a hand for Zaraki to shake, but instead, he too was handed a juice box.

Kenpachi eyed Shinji in a not precisely hostile but still unnerving manner, as he offered Kuchiki a juice box as well and when turned down, opened it for himself and drank, studying him.

"…This explains six or seven things." Zaraki finally spoke, nodding sagely.

Shinji glared up at the giant. "Excuse me?"

Kuchiki waved a hand between Shinji and Zaraki. "I promise, it’s technically a compliment."

"Yeah, if Ken-chan didn't like you, you wouldn't have a head right now." Yachiru giggled.

"Mostly explains the two sets of teaspoons in the 5th division break room." Zaraki nodded, holding his hands out to his sides. "You're, whatsit- tiger-tiger thing?"

"Huh?" Puzzled Shinji.

"Symmetry?" Tried Kuchiki. "I do recall Captain Hirako having immense talent with mirroring and reversing text and other things."

"That's the bitch!" Zaraki grinned. "Not a bad idea though, you always have enough spoons."

"Huh. I guess so?" Shinji pondered, eyeballing Zaraki in turn. "Kenpachi, so you're captain of the 11th? If I remember correctly, Kiganjo was the tenth Kenpachi- so how many Kenpachis did we run through while I was away?"

"Just him for the last century. Only the two serious challenges to his post." Kuchiki explained, looking almost... proud? There were strange political currents swirling here, leaving Shinji feeling adrift.

"For real?" Shinji asked with genuine admiration. Outside of statistical outliers like Unohana and The Old Man, it was rare for a captain to hold their post for more than two centuries, and the average in the 11th more like 60 years.

Kenpachi waved his hand noncommitally. "One and a half. Tetsuzaimon Iba was really challenging his Mother by proxy." he corrected, head tilting with a jingle and Shinji realized the vertiginous hairstyle was there to support a dozen or so small bells, before the rest of the sentence caught up with him.

"Tetsuzaimon?" Shinji blinked. "Wasn't that what Chikane Iba was going to call her son?

"Yah." Zaraki nodded, sounding like a sleigh full of presents.

Shinji stared blankly. "But- but- She was still pregnant when I.. left? He’s an infant!

"Nah, Lieutenant Iba's a whole-ass man now." Zaraki looked over his shoulder. "Ay Iba-" he called to a robust man with sunglasses wearing the 7th Division's lieutenant's badge, currently engaged in picking up Ikkaku and moving him out of the way for the 4th division triage. "-How come you're spotless when my vice looks like someone fucked up at the abattoir?"

"Hi Captain Zaraki!" Iba waved back, , Ikkaku slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "It's because he's a fucking idiot, sir!"

"FUCK YOU!" Ikkaku shrieked, flipping them off from where he hung awkwardly over his friend's shoulder.

"FUCK ME YOURSELF YOU COWARD!" Zaraki bellowed back.

Shinji watched the spectacle with wide eyes, slowly coming to an unpleasant realization, before slowly putting a hand on Kuchiki’s shoulder. "…Sojun." He sighed, using his colleauges given name with heavy morose. "I’m afraid we may be Old Men now."

Kuchiki turned and blinked at him, confused. "I’m Byakuya."

It was Shinji's turn to stare in confusion. "...Kuchiki Byakuya isn't even in the Academy yet?"

"No, I'm a captain now. Sojun, my father, died shortly after your disappearance." Apparently-Byakuya explained, arching a concerned eyebrow down at him.

"Fucking what." Shinji said flatly, feeling like he'd been drained of all color and redrawn with a sharpie by someone's off-hand.

"HAH!" Barked Zaraki. "Yer Old Fart, Tiger."

Byakuya scoffed up at Zaraki. "What’s that make you then?"

"An Ancient and Revered Relic, thank you." Kenpachi said, puffing up his chest in mock-pride.

"What's going on?" Nel asked Yachiru in a loud whisper.

"Bowlcut here is an old fart who is just now realizing that he's an old fart, but he’s younger than me, so he’s also a baby." Yachiru explained. "Either way, impressive bowel control for his age!"

"HEY!" Yelped Shinji.

"Drink ya Battle Victory juice, Tiger." Zaraki said, giving Shinji a consoling pat on the shoulder.

"...It's a bitter Juicy Juice I drink this day." Shinji sighed, disconsolately stabbing the box with the straw and drinking with despair.

[ask-crimson-weaver]

Her Love

(content warning for blood, violence, and manipulation/mind control)

When the term 'blood magic ritual' comes up, one might automatically think of it as taking place in some hidden sanctum, or a grandiose temple... a setting befitting of the term 'blood magic', or even just the word 'ritual'. A furnished basement in the middle of suburbia, in all of its possible aesthetics, is far from it, and yet that was where Hannah and Melly had been brought to by Mrs. Clearlee, entering the room just as seamlessly as they had left their own bedroom.

The room was already populated by a half-dozen other individuals as the three new arrivals made their appearance. Their appearances-- equally as white, suburban, and Karen-esque as Mrs. Clearlee herself-- made the gathering feel like an HOA meeting. The outskirts of the room were lined with stacks of pink and teal cardboard boxes, emblazoned with the Clearlee Cosmetics logo. The topmost boxes of each stack had been opened, with products having been pulled out an arranged into lace-draped baskets and floral-printed cases.

"I'm back, ladies!" Mrs. Clearlee chortled, confidently strolling towards the group. The six of them perked up, excited to see the return of their leader.

"Mrs. Clearlee!" they greeted her, scurrying over to cluster around her and Hannah. Each one of them bored a fanged smile: vampires, all of them.

"Ladies, please-- let's not crowd Miss Alba, now," Mrs. Clearlee said, waving her hands in front of her. The group parted without further prompt, allowing Mrs. Clearlee to lead Hannah further into the room.

"Just over on the table should be fine to set her down," Mrs. Clearlee said to Hannah. She called back to her underlings "Ladies-- a tablecloth, please."

The two nearest vamp-Karens jumped into action, hurrying off to a nearby closet and withdrawing a set of painter's tarps. They took them to the table Mrs. Clearlee had indicated, spreading them out just as Hannah stepped up alongside it. Mrs. Clearlee indicated for Hannah to put Melly down once the two had stepped away, and Hannah did so.

"Good, good-- now, everyone gather 'round," Mrs. Clearlee instructed the group. The others quickly made their way over, chattering with excitement. "I know I've mentioned her before, but tonight I'd like to officially introduce you all to Miss Alba, the newest member of our exclusive Clearlee Cohort!"

A chatter of various greetings swelled up from the ladies. Hannah, however, did not greet them in return, continuing to stare blankly at them.

"She's... interesting," one of the ladies said skeptically.

"She seems a bit unrefined," another added more bluntly.

"Now ladies," Mrs. Clearlee interrupted, "there's still a lot of work to do to make Miss Alba a true Clearlee lady-- in image, most of all. But! No time for a makeover tonight, girls. You see, I have something very special in mind for Miss Alba tonight."

Mrs. Clearlee pushed herself up onto the table, living herself to be just ever so slightly taller than the others in the room.

"Miss Sasha-- the book, please?" Mrs. Clearlee asked, turning a commanding gaze to one of the ladies.

"Of course!" Miss Sasha replied. She skirted over to a Clearlee box sat apart from the others, opening it and reverently retrieving the tome that rested inside.

The Malsanguis Dux Libri, as seen in the photos provided in Prim's file, had an air about it that fit its contents. Black leather binding, gold-leaf pressed into its ridges, and weathered pages that were softened by time at the edges. Its original state, however, was nowhere to be seen in the item that Miss Sasha carried back towards Mrs. Clearlee. The leather cover had been replaced by a plastic facsimile of the original -- pink, teal, and white to match the aesthetic of Clearlee Cosmetics. A rainbow of sticky-notes poked out of the side, bringing attention to certain pages that were labeled in handwritten cursive.

"Thank you, dear," Mrs. Clearlee said to Sasha, who bowed before backing into her place in the group. She began to thumb through the book as she continued, revealing a series of penned-in notes and highlighted portions written in alongside the blood-ink lettering. "Now, I'm sure you all have noticed that Miss Alba has brought her first downline bond with her tonight, yes?"

"So that's who that is?" one of the ladies asked.

"She's a cute thing," another added. "Could make a decent Clearlee lady herself.

"Or a group snack..." a third proposed. "Some of us had to delay our bonding sessions with our downlines to be here on such short notice."

"No," Mrs. Clearlee hissed at the third lady, a fierce authority radiating from her. All of the ladies-- Hannah included-- recoiled from Mrs. Clearlee. "Miss Alba put in the work, so this one belongs to her."

Mrs. Clearlee cleared her throat, shifting back to a chillingly cheery tone.

"In fact... that very bond is what we will be celebrating tonight!" she continued. "In what little time she has been a part of our cohort, Miss Alba has only formed this one bond... and yet the time, the dedication she has been able to feed into it is remarkable, beyond anything any of you have accomplished before. So much so, that Miss Alba has maxxed out the amount of influence that can be put out through a downline bond. And that just won't do, ladies-- if we want our profits to grow on, our bonds should be able to do so as well."

Mrs. Clearlee stopped flipping through the book, raising a finger to the page and running it across the surface, skimming the words on the page as her fingers passed by them.

"Ah, here we go-- so! Ladies, tonight I would like to present you with a new incentive to build up those bonds. To reward her hard work, we'll be helping her elevate her bond to Platinum status!"

Gasps were shared throughout the ladies of the cohort, followed by an energized round of excited whispers and speculations.

Hannah, through all of this, had remained stoic. As Mrs. Clearlee's attention focused on the other ladies, however, her gaze had drifted back towards Melly, still laying on the table. Melly's eyes flickered between being half-open and closed, and her hand had slowly rolled itself over in an attempt to reach her. Her mind pushed back, but it couldn't do much against the affect the spell had on her physical body.

"So, Miss Alba," Mrs. Clearlee said, causing Hannah's attention to snap back to her, "are you ready to see your bond go to the next level, and truly claim your place in the Clearlee Cohort?

Yes, Mrs. Clearlee's eyes conveyed, pressing the word into Hannah's mind and out through her mouth.

"Yes..." Hannah spoke in reply.

Mrs. Clearlee smiled at her answer.

"Then let's do so, Miss Alba."

----------

While the other Clearlee vampires set about gathering the last few items for the ritual, Mrs. Clearlee herself took the liberty to explain to Hannah the nature of what they were about to take part in.

"Now you see, Miss Alba," she began, "the magic we deal with is all about bonds. And, through bonds, comes influence. It's Clearlee Cosmetics' secret to success. Every small business gains its first customers through word-of-mouth, and a bit of added persuasiveness to go along with that makes gaining a steady profit all the more easy. The nature of the blood bond makes those in our downlines all the more receptive to expectations and feedback. We get some blood, and they get to have an easier time putting in the work to make their sales quotas. It's a win-win!"

Mrs. Clearlee pushed herself down off the table, cradling the open book in her arm.

"But even the best influencers never truly have control over the influenced," she sighed. "The sway of the bond only goes so far if something else begins pulling on our ladies in the downline: family troubles, job opportunities, their brat's dance recital... bonds outside of blood have a sway too, Miss Alba. And when other bonds vie for their turn, it can weaken the one we form with them. If a downline bond is broken, their own downlines may end up drifting away from us... and that simply won't do. Fortunately for us, our lovely guidebook here has something that could very well be the solution to that problem."

Turning the book around, Mrs. Clearlee showed the page to Hannah. The blood-text on the page was written in Latin, but pink-penned words were squished in alongside them to provide translations into English. Sticky-notes covered a majority of the diagrams on the page, though one drawing that poked out from under one of them seemed to feature a dagger.

"'Blood Thrall' was much too dour of a title," Mrs. Clearlee explained, "so I decided to consider it a Platinum-status bond-- much more fitting with the Clearlee image. The concept itself is simple enough: while the normal blood bond is subject to fraying, the Platinum bond is solid, and-- more importantly-- permanent. The entirety of their being becomes devoted to you, and more importantly, to Clearlee Cosmetics. You cut off their other bonds, and they'll have no place in their hearts to think about anything other than our cause. Granted, it's a bit of a messy process. The 'cutting bonds' part is, to some degree, literal. However! If upgrading your bond goes smoothly, we'll be looking at a whole new era of Clearlee."

One of the ladies-- Sasha, who had retrieved the book earlier-- brought over a long, hinged case and opened it for her sire. From it, Mrs. Clearlee pulled out an oddly-proportioned dagger. While the hilt was of an expected size, the blade was much smaller and narrower than what could have been affixed to it.

"For you, Miss Alba," Mrs. Clearlee said, taking one of Hannah's hands and wrapping it around the hilt. "Take it to your palm, and draw blood-- might sting a little, but it's all a part of the process."

Hannah did as she was told, though her expression furrowed as the blade drew blood.

"Now hold it there, and repeat after me," Mrs. Clearlee continued. She cleared her throat, then read aloud from the page.

"Sanguis acutus fit, ut transfigat et obsignet."

Hannah repeated the words.

"Sanguis acutus fit, ut transfigat et obsignet."

The blood that had pooled in Hannah's palm stirred, rising up and beginning to curl around the blade in her hand. The wound sealed after enough had been drawn, and the blood coalesced around the dagger's small blade, and solidified into a more formidable, blood-red edge.

"Lovely work, Miss Alba," Mrs. Clearlee hummed. She snapped her fingers. "Alright, ladies! I believe it's time."

The other vampires returned to the table, spacing themselves out into a circle around it. Nodding in approval, Mrs. Clearlee turned back to Hannah, gesturing to the table.

"We'll help you with the words, Miss Alba, but the most vital part of upgrading your bond is up to you," Mrs. Clearlee said. She paused for a moment before continuing, double-checking something in the book. "The blade is of your blood, and of your bond, and is a means to drive your bond deep into the heart of your selected thrall. And so that is the action you must take: drive the blade into her heart, and she will be yours. Forever."

Mrs. Clearlee's face grew more intense for a moment before abruptly shifting back into a crocodile smile and a chuckle. She reached up and patted Hannah's cheek.

"Easy enough. I think you'll do it well, Miss Alba. Now-- hop on up!"

As Mrs. Clearlee turned to join the circle herself, Hannah pulled herself up onto the table, positioning herself above Melly. Her movements, however, had become far less still, and she found herself fidgeting uncomfortably as she waited for the others to begin.

"Alright ladies, let's begin," Mrs. Clearlee announced. "Repeat after me--"

"Ferrum, sanguis, cor."

"Ferrum, sanguis, cor."

"Relinquere nihil nisi te ipsum."

"Relinquere nihil nisi te ipsum."

"Mea voluntas pro tua."

"Mea voluntas pro tua."

"Sanguis tuus sum-- meus es tu."

"Sanguis tuus sum-- meus es tu."

Led by Mrs. Clearlee, the cohort of vampires continued the chant, repeating the lines one after the other, again and again. The stench of blood magic in the air overpowered even the heavily-perfumed scents of the creams and products around them, drawing out an excitement akin to bloodlust. Perhaps they didn't notice it, but they had begun to change as well: their nails grew sharper, their teeth longer, the features of their eyes and ears distorting into something less human as the concentrated blood magic in the room saturated their bodies.

The dagger seemed to hum in Hannah's hand-- a hand increasingly beginning to look more clawed as its grip on the blade tightened-- and she found herself slowly raising it above her head, pointed down at Melly. The words of the others pounded in her skull like a drum, a beat that egged her on to follow through, to complete the spell.

Melly, through the haze, felt her spider-sense rise in pitch. She pushed her eyes as open as she could, looking up at her girlfriend hovering above her and the knife poised to descend into her. Spider-sense begged her to pay attention to the dagger, but Melly instead focused her gaze on Hannah. Hannah, her love. Hannah, who wouldn't do anything to hurt her. Hannah, whose hands had begun to shake as a flicker of light, of presence crept back into her eyes.

"Han... nah..." Melly muttered, eyes sliding shut again.

Hannah's eyes went wide, suddenly realizing where she was and what she was doing. Her whole body shook, trying to fight the control that had compelled her and placed her here. Her teeth clenched, wrestling with the muscles in her arms just as they swung the blade downwards. A yell escaped from her throat.

Thunk.

At the last moment, Hannah had lunged forwards. The dagger came down several inches above Melly''s head, and Hannah's forehead came to rest near Melly's own as she gasped for breath. The chanting around them had fallen silent.

"Miss Alba..." the sicky-sweet tone of Mrs. Clearlee's voce rang out. "It's okay-- we all get nervous about these sorts of things. Why don't you sit back up and try again."

Hannah's body jerked back upright, the dagger dislodging from the table along with the motion. Her eyes glazed over again for a split-second, but with her heart pounding in her chest she snapped herself back into focus. The hand with the dagger attempted to raise back up, but through Hannah's will it was pushed back down.

"I..." she growled, teeth bared. "No. I won't."

A look of displeasure crossed Mrs. Clearlee's face, and her eyes narrowed.

"Why are you..." she wondered aloud, before focusing back on Hannah. She moved closer to the table, staring directly into Hannah's eyes. "No, you shouldn't be. You are bound to me by blood, Miss Alba, and you will do as I say. Now take the dagger and complete the spell."

Hannah's grip on the dagger tightened further, her own claws digging into her hand, and though her arm twitched, it did not raise above her. With a yell, Hannah launched herself forwards, past Melly and straight towards Mrs. Clearlee. The dagger swung forwards, burying itself into the scheme-founder's shoulder.

Mrs. Clearlee roared, staggering back with the knife still dug into her shoulder. Blood began to stain her clothes around the wound, and eyes narrowed into slits turned to train their gaze on Hannah. The commanding farce behind those eyes, however, no longer held sway over Hannah.

"You--" she sneered, abandoning the cheery-toned voice, "I am your superior! The one who found the book, did with its magic what no one else had the nerve to do! The one who helped you forge the bond--"

With those words, there was a sharp inhale of breath from Mrs. Clearlee, only just now realizing the absence of her hold on Hannah in her veins.

"...broken?" she muttered, voice growing louder with frustration. "No-- what? What bond of yours could be stronger than--"

Mrs. Clearlee didn't have time to finish before Hannah had lunged at her once more, claws bared. A swipe across her face left a group of gashes, causing Mrs. Clearlee to shriek. A swipe of her own dug into Hannah's arm, and as the two toppled to the ground, Hannah sunk her teeth into the vampire's other shoulder. Teeth gnashed, voices howled, and the two became a flurry of claws and blood.

The other six Clearlee ladies stood poised on the outskirts of the scuffle, the smell of blood making their mouths water. Yet they didn't intervene-- though not through their own choice. The spell had been completed, in a way, though the form it had taken from the point Hannah's dagger plunged into Mrs. Clearlee was far from what was intended. Instead of creating a blood thrall, it had become a contest of dominion, of who would claim control over the other.

Mrs. Clearlee had the book, the blood magic she'd forced onto Hannah. But Hannah had her love-- her love for Melly. Melly, her love. She would never hurt her love. She would not let this woman hurt her love.

Her rage, amplified by her bond, caused the magic in her blood to surge further, becoming visible beneath her skin. Her own sense faded to the background, the vampiric instincts within her taking hold of her mind. They drove her to attack, to protect. And though she was still aware of herself to attempt to resist it, the unbridled urge to kill.

By the time Hannah's attacks slowed down, Mrs. Clearlee was unrecognizable-- though the feeling of her heart weakly beating in her chest indicated that she was still alive. Though not fully aware of it, she had claimed victory. The other ladies of the Clearlee cohort, their own wits caving to the hunger-inducing stench of blood in the air, now looked to Hannah as their queen bee.

Hannah looked back to the table-- to Melly. She smelled her blood, heard her heartbeat. She was alive.

She could feel the hunger gnawing at her-- the magic that had been cast, the sheer potency of it that still hung in the air, had drained the reserves from every vampire in the room. But no-- Hannah couldn't take more form Melly. Her love. She'd already taken too much. And no matter her state, she'd be damned if she let any of the others here take any more from her.

Hopping back up on the table, she reached for Melly with blood-soaked hands, gently picking her up and pulling her close.

Safe. She'd keep her safe.

Her love.

----------

No more than an hour afterwards, a spinning golden portal appeared just outside of Mrs. Clearlee's house. Several figures emerged-- Doctor Strange and Viper from Melly's own dimension, along with three Spiders: Specs, Gwen, and Amari. Using caution, the group descended into the basement.

What they saw invoked the aura of a massacre; furniture that had been in the way of the earlier scuffle was torn and knocked aside, and it along with the floors had been smeared with blood. Mrs. Clearly lay unmoving in the midst of the stains. Hannah turned as the group entered the room, letting out a low growl-- the other vampires jolted to attention along with her. Minds drenched in hunger, the new arrivals were threats... but they had blood as well.

The Clearlee vampires were quick to act, lunging at the new arrivals. With webs and silver, however, each of them were bound, leaving only Hannah in the middle of the room. She'd only lunged to attack once one of the Spiders had gotten too close to her, though Viper took the opportunity to pull Melly out of harm's way. Sensing this, Hannah turned with a snarl, only to be met with silver bindings latching onto her from behind. She struggled against them as Viper carried Melly up the stairs, away from her, and even in her starved, enraged state, she found herself starting to cry as she tried to break free and follow.

Her rage, her anguish and confusion did not last long, fortunately. Soon after Melly vanished up the stairs, a golden halo of light crept up in the edges of Hannah's vision. Her body relaxed, ceasing their fight against the bonds, and her mind drifted off into the golden glow that filled her sight.

[grapejuicegay]

Get to know me tag! :)

I was tagged by @telomeke here and @dribs-and-drabbles here.

do you make your bed?

I try to! On days that I'm too busy to make it in the morning I do so about half an hour before I'm getting to bed. I don't like the feeling of getting back into an unmade bed - it feels like a completely unproductive day and that just throws me off

what's your favourite number?

I don't really have a favourite but I love multiples of 7, they make my brain go brrr

what is your job?

Photography! It's something I always wanted to do as a child but gave up on as an unrealistic dream before eventually sort of stumbling into it. Happy accidents and all that.

if you could go back to school, would you?

Hah! No chance. I burnt myself out pretty badly through undergrad by taking on far too much - there were just so many things that I found interesting - and I'd much rather not repeat that experience.

can you parallel park?

I can't drive. I keep meaning to learn but the way people drive freaks me out a little too much. I've also been struggling with a bout of motion sickness recently and that doesn't help my comfort in cars. Someday though! Hopefully!

a job you had that would surprise people?

I worked on editing and post production on a documentary for National Geographic once

do you think aliens are real?

In what form, I'm not sure. But some forms of life that exist outside of our planet? Absolutely. My other answer, channeling the 12 years I've spent on this hellsite: doooweeeewoooooo

can you drive a manual car?

If/when I do finally learn to drive I'm going to make it a point to learn manual too. Idk, feels like an important skill to have

what's your guilty pleasure?

I make it a point not too feel guilty or embarrassed about my interests. If I started doing that far too many things I like would qualify and I just cannot live like that

tattoos?

I wish :( I have a bunch of small tattoos I've always wanted but I have a medical condition because of which I can't get any.

favourite colour?

It changes every so often but I'm particularly biased towards shades of teal right now.

favourite type of music?

I love rock of the general/alt/post/punk variety. Recently I've been listening to a goth-folk band called Charming Disaster and have been a little bit obsessed with their album Our Lady of Radium and especially Radium Girls

do you like puzzles?

Love love love puzzles of any kind. I just like having lil things for my brain to do.

any phobias?

I have a little bit of a phobia of falling off of high places which unfortunately comes from a close call during a hike where I slipped off a steep rock and almost into a sweeping rapids (luckily I ended up slipping sideways into a little pool in a gap between said rock and another big one... took a while to pull my short ass out of there but at least I wasn't being swept away!)

favourite childhood sport?

I was a sporty child, tried my hand at just about most sports. My go to was basketball for a while (though I don't play anymore) but now I'm more inclined to go for a swim or a bout of kickboxing, sometimes badminton. Funny story: over the course of a year I got hit in the nose with 4 different kinds of balls (not that kind!). My nose is fine but I was paranoid around sports grounds for a while after that 😂

do you talk to yourself?

All the time! It honestly helps me keep track of a lot of things, especially when I'm overwhelmed but it's a little funny when my everyday running commentary comes out in front of people. It gets me a lot of strange looks, especially when I ask everyday objects what they think they're doing

what movies do you adore?

Depends on the day you ask. I tried answering this 5 different times but each time I came up with 5 different movies to list out. I really could not pick for this one

coffee or tea?

Coffee! Far, far too much of it!

first thing you wanted to be growing up?

An astronaut. It took me far too long to give up on that pipe dream. But around the time I gave up on that I was getting interested in photography as something to pursue. I was bullied out of it for a few years sadly but hey, I ended up here eventually!

I'm coming to this way too late so I'm not really sure who hasn't done this yet. I'm just going to tag @casualavocados @celestial-sapphicss @jemmo

And like both Tel and Lin mentioned, I've been far too busy to be on tumblr too much recently (most of 2024) and so a lot of stuff I've been tagged in has slipped through the cracks. Most of it is in my drafts somewhere and sometimes it just feels too late to bring it back. I still love all of you though and I'm sorry!

[kidheart]

****************noticing anxieties***********************

It was the afternoon just before their first official game in Anaheim. I'd been waiting outside the locker room for my teammates to emerge in their new uniforms. While I did, I noticed our manager strolling over with a wide grin on his face. He was carrying a parcel, and spotted me standing near the door he was heading towards, "Ah-ha! Just the girl I wanted to see!" Raising a brow while I tilted my head, I asked, "You were looking for me?"

"I have an important job for you for the game! Got your uniform right here!" He said with a smile.

"What sort of job?" I inquired, my curiosity tugged on.

"Every team needs a cheerleader, right? I figured you hang around the ducks so much, you may as well be theirs," he replied while handing the package to me, "Your uniform got here just in time for the first game!"

"Do the guys know about this?" I asked.

"I thought it would be a nice surprise! You can show them before they head out on the ice!" He assured while gesturing to a side locker room for me to get changed in.

"What does this cheerleading entail?" I asked.

"Well usually there's a routine they follow on the ice, but everything was so rushed I figured you could do a little impromptu performance, cheer your slogan to the crowd, things like that," he said with a shrug.

"Wait….on the ice? In front of all those people?" Dread began to creep up into my throat.

"Yeah, you said you came from Puck World with them? They're naturals on the ice, so I'm sure you'll have no problem!" He encouraged me.

Before I could protest any, he gave a slight push towards the locker room, "Hurry! Before they come out!"

With this I rushed into the room and began fumbling with the tape to pry the package open. Unlike the main locker room where the others had each other to talk to and get excited with….this one was almost so quiet you could hear a pin drop. This became the case, in fact, as I dropped some items on the ground when I began searching the box.

Outside I could hear the barely held back enthusiasm of the crowd. A collection of countless voices called out to see my teammates, urging me to hasten my pace as I changed out of my usual attire. Once changed out, I started pulling on pieces without thinking. A skirt, a laced top in their colors, a pair of skates I placed to the side, fake wings. Wait? I looked over the white wings decorated with glittering feathers and ribbons. There was a matching pin on tuft of feathers to be the tail, as the label read. Despite the unease I had about these pieces, I put them in place. Then came the thigh high stockings in our colors, and my skates. Leaving the last piece waiting at the bottom of the box.

"Everything okay in there?" Phil called from just outside.

This allowed the voices of the massive crowd to trickle in, amplified by empty walls. Thus causing me to nearly drop the item I'd picked up to examine.

"Y-Yeah….." I looked at the foam beak in my hands, "and no….."

Almost every piece of this item felt awkward to me. I looked towards the other door, wondering if I could just run for it and hide?

Then I thought of my teammates….and how they were doing all of this to make things work while we were on this planet. They were going through their own anxieties and facing all of this. So I had to do the same.

Swallowing the nerves that nearly tossed up my lunch, I began tying the foam beak in place.

How was I expected to say anything over this? When I attempted, it was muffled.

Even with this, I stepped back out to meet Phil waiting, "Hey, that looks great!"

I raised a brow, trying to ask, "It does?"

He barely heard me as he looked over his shoulder to see, "Oh! Perfect timing!"

My teammates were now coming out of the main locker room. Each of them now wearing the emblem of the mask upon their white, teal, and burgundy uniforms.

My knees nearly knocked into one another as Phil started to wave them over, "You guys look amazing! What a great design!"

I'd noted the difference in how Phil had said they looked great, while with my own change it had been the attire he seemed to compliment. However I simply shrugged and focused on my teammates walking up to us.

It was here that I noticed Duke hadn't fully changed out just yet. During practice I'd picked up on him either changing first or last, and never fully with the others. I wondered why this was, but hadn't ever asked.

However, at the moment, I was shaking too much to think to ask anything as they drew near. Thus finding me standing right beside our manager….wearing…

"What have you done to Heart?" I winced at Nosedive's response, his jaw dropped in bewilderment.

"What do you mean? She's your cheerleader, and now she can officially dress the part!" Phil insisted with a gesture to the outfit as though showing it off, "I designed it myself!"

"It shows," Mallory commented with a hand on her hip.

Duke:

I had been walking up behind everyone, making sure they were all out so I could finish getting ready, when I caught sight of Heart standing beside Phil. Her knees trembling, threatening to fold under her thin frame. Her skin was nearly as pale as the feathers of her eldest brother. The one that began to speak up, keeping a thread of patience, "While I appreciate the thought, Phil, I don't think we need this."

"What? Every team has cheerleaders! She's here, and you keep mentioning she's part of your team. I figured this was perfect for her!" Phil tried to insist.

"You gave her a fake beak and wings!" Tanya exclaimed, "I'm pretty sure this might be considered offensive back home!"

Heart winced at this, looking as though she hoped the stadium floor might swallow her right then and there.

"You guys are ducks! If she's part of the team, I thought I should make her look like you somehow!" Phil attempted to push back, naive to how awkward this was growing to be.

However, the poor woman trembling in her skates beside him was very aware.

"Heart-?"

"What's the big deal?" Our manager asked, cutting over my attempt to bring attention to her discomfort, "She wanted to do it!"

Wildwing looked to his mortified sister, asking, "Is that true, sis?"

"You want to go out there on the ice in front of all those people?" Nosedive half scoffed.

I heard the muffled grown in time, and slipped between everyone to quickly snap the thread of that stupid foam beak. Freeing Heart just in time for her to catch the gag threatening to toss up what little was in her stomach. Catching her breath some, as I patted her back out of instinct to assist, she looked at the floor. Almost as though she were ashamed.

"Th-Thank you!" She nearly choked as she took in a clear breath.

"Yeah, I thought this didn't add up," Nosedive snarked, shooting a look at Phil.

"Take it easy, Heart," I assured while still patting her back in a gingerly manner.

"I…I need to do my part too. If you're supposed to have a cheerleader, I could…."

"Not getting sick, you can't!" Mallory exclaimed.

Poor Heart's cheeks flushed a deep red, and not in a pleasant fashion as I'd seen them before.

"We don't need Heart to be a cheerleader," Wildwing stated firmly, his arms folded over his chest as his gaze narrowed at our manager, "she is a member of this team, regardless of where she gives her support from."

"But, I, you need…"

"We have a game to finish getting ready for," our team captain stated firmly.

Though before they started to change subject and direction, I quickly recalled, "Hey, Wing, didn't ya have somethin' for Heart?"

"Oh, yeah!" He cheered up quickly, looking to his sister, "We do,it's back in the locker room."

"Why don't ya take her back there to show her? I'll be right there an' can change when ya guys come out?" I suggested with an encouraging pat on Heart's shoulder to gently push her in the right direction.

"Sounds like a good idea," Wildwing smiled, as Nosedive swung an arm around Heart's shoulders.

"Come on, girly-girl! You're gonna love this!" He assured while pulling her towards the locker room.

As the others all followed after the siblings, I hung back. Once they were out of ear shot, I turned back around to find our manager looking quite bewildered. Even grumbling, "That outfit wasn't cheap, guys…."

I took a deep breath, facing him as I spoke, my tone firm, "Look, Phil, I know ya didn't mean any harm. However, I'm not lettin' this one slide either."

"Huh?"

"Heart is not our accessory, so do not treat her like one," I stated, "an' she certainly doesn't need to look like us to be one of us."

"I don't get it? What's her deal?" He asked, a bit exasperated, "She just tags along and watches you play?"

I was trying to be patient as he accused her of this, "That's not what she does, an' there will be a problem if I hear ya say somethin' like that about her, or make her feel that uncomfortable again."

"Jeez, I get it! You're almost more protective than her brothers!" He retorted.

"Ya don't really know, do ya?" I realized.

"Know what? I've heard Wildwing and Nosedive refer to her as "sis", but I just thought it was a bird thing, making her one of the flock?" He questioned, "I haven't really talked with her much."

"So ya had no idea she gets nervous in front o' crowds? Have ya ever even seen her skate?" I pointed out, "I don't know if you've noticed, but she is eager to jump in on things, even if it means her own discomfort, if she thinks it will help us."

"I figured she'd be a pro like you ducks are?'

I took another quick breath, before saying to him, "Phil, Heart is an amnesia survivor. When she got to Puck World, she was attacked an' lost her memories as a result. She's still figurin' out who she is, an' has a hard time tellin' folks no when she's tryin' to trust them."

"The poor girl has amnesia?" He looked at me with genuine surprise, and I managed to force back the shudder from the memory.

I nodded a roughly voiced, "Yeah."

"Look, I wasn't meaning to force her or anything. I thought she wanted to do it, to be part of the team as you all keep mentioning," he replied, sounding genuine in his remorse.

"She is a part o' this team, whether others get it or not, includin' you. Though I hope you'll be more careful around her?" I still parried quickly.

He gave a quick nod.

"Now I need to get back an' be ready to do my part. I'll

"I'll go save our seats," he assured as I headed back.

Heart:

"Are you feeling better, young friend?" Grin asked as I sipped at the water I'd been given.

After taking a good gulp to clear my throat, I replied, "Y-Yeah."

"Sis, don't let Phil talk you into things you don't want to do, okay?" Wildwing then urged, a bit of a sigh escaping his beak.

I had ripped off the fake wings, tail, and stockings by now. While I was also trying to adjust my skirt. Until Tanya came in with my leggings and t-shirt I'd left in the other locker room, "Here, Heart."

"Thanks," I replied as I took them from her, though I couldn't help but feel how awkward things seemed to be.

"I wasn't sure what to do, I guess," I said with a shrug, "He said you'd like it, and I wanted to help in some way. This is a big night for all of you, and I wanted to show my support."

"You do, sis! You don't have to be a cheerleader to cheer us on!" Nosedive chimed in.

"Besides, while this is something we have to do, we all have a much more important mission to continue," Wildwing reminded me.

"Of course," I assured, "and while you're out on the ice, I will be there as I will be through this fight."

"And that is exactly why we got you this!" Nosedive gave a wide grin as he held up a jersey roughly my size.

"Guys?" My eyes grew wide as I looked at my brother and the gift now being handed to me.

"We had them ordered with ours. We've all got home and away game jerseys!" Nosedive informed me, as he turned it around to show, "And, look, it's got our name on the back!"

Indeed it read Flashblade, the last name shared by my brothers and I.

"Try it on, sis!" Nosedive insisted.

"I'm honored to!" I said, barely containing my smile.

"We'll wait outside then. Join us when you're ready," Wildwing couldn't help but smile a little as well, before leading everyone out.

I immediately changed out of the skirt and into my leggings. Then I pulled off the cheerleading blouse to be with the jersey I'd been given. Brushing a hand over the emblematic, I couldn’t help but feel that overwhelming warmth in my chest, even as I went to head out of the locker room.When I ran right into someone's chest, but felt a swift, feathered hand catch me by the elbow before I could fall back. Looking up, his name flew from my lips, "Duke?"

"That jersey looks great on ya, sweetheart!" I immediately felt the warmth spreading over my face from his encouraging tone.

Duke:

"Th-Thank you! I can hardly wait to see you in yours!" She replied, her enthusiasm returning.

As well as the color in her face.

"Yeah?" I tilted my head with a sly smirk on my beak, encouraging the shift by teasing her a little.

"I…I think, from what I saw with the others, it'll suit you. It really shows we're part of a group," she stammered at first, before striking solidly without realizing it.

The feathers on my cheeks fluffed up a bit from this response.

Despite joining the resistance, I hadn't really thought of things like that. That I was part of anything, freedom fighter, teammate, however you sliced it. Even now I mentioned, "It's been a while since I've been in a group for anythin'."

"You take to it well," she replied.

"Ya think so?" I asked, a little caught off guard.

She nodded her head, "You look out for all of us, you're ready and willing to follow a given plan, and you've been trying to let us lean on you through all of this. Especially Wildwing and-" She paused briefly, "…..and me."

She looked towards the door, "Even when it's over something seemingly small like what happened a few minutes ago…." She shrank from how sheepish she still was, "Thank you for that."

"I don't think needin' to breath is a small thing," I couldn't help but give a light chuckle.

"Still, thank you," she said nonetheless.

"No problem, sweetheart," I assured her.

Before she went to join the others, however, she paused and looked over me a moment. I couldn't help but inquire, "Somethin' up?"

"I'm sorry, I was just wondering why you didn't change with the others? Or haven't been?" She asked, looking incredibly nervous to do so, "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you by asking…"

"You're not, Heart," I assured in a softened tone.

A bit of a sigh found its way free from my throat as I gave her the answer I was willing to, "I guess I've got my own anxieties to work through. Bein' in a group used to be a lot more dangerous for me, an' let's jus' say I paid some prices for that…. I don't think I'm ready to share those stories yet."

"If, and when, you ever are, I'll listen to you," she offered, catching on quickly to the well hidden marks beyond my battle gear.

"I appreciate that, Heart; but try not to worry too much over it. Things are a lot better for me now, despite the circumstances," I assured her, despite knowing how many of those scars I was masking.

Then I was quickly reminded, "I'd better finish gettin' dressed. Why don't ya go ahead an' meet back with the others?"

"Oh, yeah! I'm sorry I kept you!"

I couldn't help but say, "I'm not, sweetheart. I'll meet ya out there in just a few minutes. They were waitin' jus' outside the rink."

"O-Okay," she paused only briefly to look back at me.

For a moment she seemed troubled by something, but it was fleeting. Then she left.

Once she was out the door, I couldn't help but ponder over her words as I changed into my new uniform. As I pulled my jersey on over my protective gear, covering most of the marks, I couldn’t help but feel some of those mentioned anxieties surfacing. I hadn't ever played officially, despite having a knack for the game. The love for the sport had never left me, but I'd clearly gone into a different direction with my career.

Now I was needed for our team to play, and needed for this group period. So, I laced on my skates, secured my hair back,

grabbed my helmet, and headed out. to almost step back a moment. Though she'd already seen me, and so I stood before her instead. As she did, those sapphires lit up as she exclaimed, "Duke, that looks amazing on you!"

Again my feathers fluffed up. Did she know? Was that why she'd waited? I thought about the flash of concern I'd caught in her eyes.

If this was the case, she didn't let on to knowing in any other fashion. Instead she smiled up at me as I , admiration showing in depths of blue to return some clarity that I dearly needed. Then came a boost of pride when Heart added, with her face blushing as she did, "You're going to be amazing out there, Duke. I wouldn't doubt that for even a moment."

Allowing me to finally say, with my confidence quickly returning, "Thanks, Heart."

With that I secured my helmet, and promised with a smile on my beak, "Should we join our teammates and win this game."

Her smile as she walked alongside me was more than enough of an answer for me. Though it didn't hurt to hear her say, "I'll be cheering all of you on!"

[presidentroarie]

Sophitz Week Day 1: Human AU

ft. Deaf!Fitz

Normally I'd put this on my writing blog, but sophitz week gets it everywhere. Written in a rush for yesterday and then I fell asleep, don't judge it too hard XD. I will be continuing and updating it (maybe ao3?)

Sophie sat in the second row in her second period class: Algebra 2. It wasn't exactly a great start to her first day, but that meant that her classes could only get better from there. 

“Alright, students, let's take attendance!” Sir Faxon said. “There's only twenty two of you of you, so this should be quick.” He went down the list, and each of the first nineteen people raised their hands. “Fitz Vacker!” 

No one raised their hand. “Fitz?” He asked again, and people started looking around.

There was a boy who sat three seats down from her who hadn’t raised his hand. It seemed he was looking at something on his desk. They almost looked like a set of light bulbs. 

Sir Faxon started and hit the button on his desk. One of the bulbs on the boy's desk lit up. 

The boy looked up to the front and raised his hand. 

“Sorry Fitz,” Sir Faxon annunciated sheepishly. “I entirely forgot. It's good to meet you.”

The boy—Fitz—held up the okay sign, partnered with an easygoing smile to show he meant it. Then he signed something else: he put his left thumb toward his chest and moved his hand between him and Sir Faxon, his right pointer finger aimed at him. Sophie didn't know much ASL, but she guessed it meant something like You too.

Sir Faxon finished attendance and smiled. “Well class, it's nice to see some familiar faces from our Algebra 1 class a couple years ago. To those of you who didn't have me, it's nice to meet you.” He gave them a moment of silence before continuing, “Now I know the first day is stressful, so for today's class, I'm going to allow you to talk to each other. Just don’t be too loud about it, or I'll have to hear about it from Magnate Leto.”

The room immediately started switching seats with each other to get closer to their friends.

Dex, who was sitting in front of her, turned his chair around and flopped over on her desk. “Math second period? I'm gonna die.”

Sophie just nodded her affirmative. Her eyes flicked to the boy—Fitz.

He was reading a book, his teal eyes scanning the pages intently. Every once in a while, he must've read something funny, because he’d get a small smile from the corner of his mouth. 

His cola hair and bronze skin made his eyes pop when he turned to look at her.

Sophie gave him a shy smile, slightly blushing from having been caught staring. and waved.

Fitz waved back with the same smile he'd had while reading.

Dex shoved Sophie's shoulder, and she turned her head back to glare at him. “What was that for?”

“Saving you,” he responded. “You've been staring so long at the deaf kid that he noticed.”

“First off, his name is Fitz, calling him the deaf kid is rude. Secondly, I was trying to see what book he was reading.”

Dex snorted. “More like you were trying to see his butt.”

Sophie went bright red. “Okay, was I noticing that he's cute, objectively? Yeah, sure. But he's not my type.”

“He's exactly your type,” Dex rebutted. “I mean, I get it. He's hot. But you don't usually oogle."

“Shut up,” she said, collecting her stuff. The bell rang, and Sophie nodded at Dex before making her way to Study Hall. Seeing the blonde girl in the back row, she snagged the seat beside her. “Marella!”

“Hey to you too,” Marella said. "What do you want?"

“Oh what? I'm not allowed to be glad to see you?” Sophie asked.

“No, but I'm assuming since we came in together with Dex this morning and you weren't so jovial, you have something to talk about. So spill.”

Sophie glanced around the room. Other than the teacher, whose face was stuck behind a book, everyone had headphones in and were doing work on their computers or were on their phones. She leaned in conspiratorially. “Okay, have you had a class with Fitz Vacker?”

“Oh,the deaf guy?” Marella asked.

“His name is Fitz.”

“I was just checking! Yeah, he's in European History with me first period. Elodie Musker and her posse were drooling all over him until they realized he was deaf. Lady Dara lit into them about it after class."

"Good for her. What the fuck is wrong with them?"

“Thats a long list. So, what were you going to say about him?” Marella asked.

Sophie blushed. “Oh, I just wanted to see if you knew anything about him. You know, normal stuff.”

Marella squinted at her. "Like what?”

Sophis shrugged, blushing slightly. “Like, just whatever you know. I'm curious.”

“Alright, you never ask me for gossip about anybody. Do you like him? Because I dont know if he has a partner, or even if he's interested in anyone."

“No!” Sophie said. “I dont know him. And that's the problem. How is it that I've never seen him before? What's the deal?” When Marella side eyed her, she gave her back puppy eyes. “Please?”

Marella sighed. “Okay, okay. I don't know much to be honest. I know that his parents are pretty rich and that they're really well-known. His dad is Alden Vacker.”

“Who?”

“Alden Vacker? The guy who used to date Governor Alina? He's a stockbroker.”

“Oh, that's cool I guess. So his family is a bunch of rich people?”

“Basically. I know he has an older brother who graduated a few years back and is now overseas in Germany, and his little sister Biana is our age. Fitz is the only one who's deaf. So maybe his family had him homeschooled.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Sophie said. “Okay, that's a good start.” She pulled out her phone and began typing away into the search bar.

"Sophie, where is this going?"

"I'm gonna talk to him. "

“You don't know sign language.”

“But I can learn. Honestly, I should've earlier. It's not like there aren't deaf people all over the country.” 

"Hmm," Marella said.

“Anyways,” Sophie said casually. “What's this year’s plan to get Linh Song’s attention?”

“Oh shut it,” Marella grumbled.

“You mean you've got nothing?” Sophie teased. When Marella grumbled more, Sophie said, “How about you just ask her out?”

“No, no,” Marella sighed. “It's okay, I'll think of something."

They spent the rest of the class period researching ASL, or stewing in Marella's case, until the bell rang, signaling lunch time. Sophie determined she would ignore Fitz for the rest of the day until she got home so she could practice some ASL and be back Monday, ready to try.

-----------------‐---------------‐------‐-------

Of course, life decided to put her in the same 5th period AP Bio class and the 6th period lab. But she managed to stay focused on the task at hand and only glanced at him a few times, thankfully without being caught.

At the end of the class, Sophie walked up to the teacher. “Hey Elwin,” she said. “Long time no see.”

“What do you want?”  Elwin said with an eye roll. “It better not be asking me why I'm not in the Healing Center.”

“Oh, not at all!” Sophie assured him. “Just wanted to ask if you could wait until Monday to make up lab partners.”

“What are you up to?”

“Nothing. Just asking.”

Elwin just shook his head. “Alright, I'll wait until Monday.”

“Thank you! Okay, gotta go, bye Elwin see ya tomorrow!” She stopped in the doorway. "Actually, why aren't you in the Healing Center?"

"I saw you on the AP Bio list and figured I could keep an eye on your accident prone self," Elwin teased.

Sophie stuck her tongue out at him and laughed when he did it back. The second bell rang, and Sophie said, "Shit, gotta go. See ya!"

---------------‐-------------------------------

Life gave her another shock when she walked in 8th period to find a worksheet on their assigned desks with another name on the top.

Tiergan said, "Yes, yes, welcome back, pupils. I thought today I'd make it easier than in the past and do a simple 'Getting to Know you' worksheet. Now, your partner's name is written at the top, and it's up to you to find them and ask them their questions. You can not trade partners, and at the end of class, you and your partner will be sitting next to each other in your new assigned seats. If you do the assignment, you get a 100. Don't, and you get a zero. If your partner isn't here, ask me your questions so you can get a grade. Sound good?"

Sophie read the name at the top of her paper three times. Fitz Vacker.

Well, shit. Hopefully, she'd researched enough during lunch, with no help from Dex and Marella, to be able to answer and ask the questions.

They found each other towards the back of the room and sat, staring at each other for a minute.

Finally, Sophie couldn't take it. She waved before rubbing a closed fist over her chest a couple circles and then holding it up, flicking her fingers behind her a little. Hi. Sorry for before.

Fitz looked confused. He tapped the side of his head gently before rolling two pointer fingers around in front of his chest and splitting them apart, laying them out. You know sign language?

She paused a moment, trying to figure out how to sign what she meant. Finally, she signed, Reading? Yes. Signing? No, but trying.

--------------------End here ------------------------

Leaving it here for later

[ase-trollplays]

When We Were Kids (Part One)

...s-so... how are you feeling?... ...s-still s-sore?...

Y'all got no idea. The only thing that don't hurt is blinkin'. I swear, soon as I can move again, I'm suplexin' Dan inta next sweep.

...he only picks on you because he cares... ...its his way of making s-sure you dont obsess over everything...

Ya mean like the fact I fucked myself an' can never have anythin' close ta a normal life ever again cuz I lost my fool head?

...yeah... that... ...im just relieved you werent killed... ...i... ...i was going insane thinking id have to bury another moirail...

I wouldn't be too relieved. I can't go out in public ever again with legis an' fleet dogs out fer my head. Prolly got a hefty bounty, too, an' rewards fer turnin' me in. Y'all two ain't safe either if anyone finds out y'all know me.

...yeah... ...when dantli comes back... we s-should all talk about where were going from here...

Ugh, I can't even get my shit from my hive. It's prolly bein' watched or somethin', or it's been raided an' bugged by now in case me'r one a y'all shows up. God, my lusus ain't gon' know what happened ta me, an' he can't come here like yers. I ain't sure he'll wait a sweep fer me ta come back like when I was a kid.

...that reminds me... ...when i was in the hospital... you s-said you knew exactly how i felt when i was being held captive... and that i s-should ask you about your childhood...

Yeh. Yeh, I did say that, didn't I? I'm guessin' this is yer way a askin'?

...yeah... if you dont mind...

Alright. It ain't a happy story, but I'm sure ya already figured that. I guess I'll start from the beginnin'.

I was even more a a hotheaded stubborn shit when I was a kid, if y'all can believe that. Pickin' fights with every troll I saw an' tryin' ta befriend the ones who beat me. Which was damn near all a them cuz fer all my bluster, I was a twiggy scrawny little toothpick, ain't had a ounce a muscle on me. I didn't want nobody thinkin' I was weak just cuz I was a skinny rust.

I was always gettin' my dumb ass beat up an' hurt tryin' ta prove I ain't no wimp, but I did get some good friends outta it. Even had a li'l flush crush on one a them, a girl who beat me in a fight just by knockin' me down an' sittin' on me 'til I wore myself out tryin' ta get her off. I had a whole group a friends back then. I can't tell ya what their names'r caste was, but we were a happy li'l group.

Here's the part where everythin' goes ta shit. When I was five, I was out patrollin' my li'l territory when I spotted a scraggly-lookin' teal prowlin' around. He was a adult an' a lot bigger'n me, but I challenged him all the same. He hauled off an' kicked me dead in the stomach an' told me ta get lost. If I was smart I'd a left it at that, but who said wrigglers are smart? I wasn't ready ta say I lost, so I picked myself up, grabbed a big ol' rock, an' chucked it square at the back a his head. Hit him so hard he started bleedin' an' staggered a good bit.

He looked back at me real mad at first, then he started smilin'. Said I had a lot a fight in me for a twiggy brat. I told him there's more where that came from if he don't git, an' he laughed an' said he'd have a ball breakin' me. 'Fore I knew it, he was right up on me, an' I didn't have no time ta react 'fore he got me in the gut with a stun gun an' knocked my ass right out.

I woke up in a cell with a couple other young trolls. I asked where I was, an' they said I was in the slave camp. Said I was here cuz they were gon' break me, train me inta a perfect li'l pet slave, then sell me off ta the highest bidder. Needless ta say, I wasn't havin' that shit. I made it my mission ta put up as much a a fight as I could an' refuse ta be domesticated.

First handler they assigned ta me was that teal that grabbed me. Since I already fought with him once, I knew what ta expect. He got a lotta good licks in over the first couple nights, but eventually he slipped up an' I was able ta steal his stun gun an' shock him dead in the eyes. After that, they decided to gimme their toughest, meanest, biggest handler.

He was a big blueblood who made us call him "Mister," an' he took that shit serious. I called him asshole exactly once an' he slapped me 'cross the face so hard he damn near snapped my neck. I couldn't feel my face fer a night afterward. Most a my abuse came from him, an' I just know he was havin' fun beatin' my ass every night tryin' ta make me give up.

But I'm the most stubborn bitch ever hatched, so I didn't make shit easy fer him. He beat me ta shit, starved me, locked me in a tiny li'l cage, an' made sure no one talked ta me'r tried helpin' me'r they'd be in the same boat. His favorite punishment fer me was the post. There was a big wooden post in a sort a courtyard outside with a pair a manacles attached. He'd lock me in, hike up my shirt, an' tear me ta ribbons with a whip. Afterwards, he'd leave me out there fer nights with only a thick blanket thrown over me ta keep me from bein' completely cooked ta death by the sun durin' the day.

He liked hearin' me cry an' scream in pain, so I'd try my damnedest to keep my mouth shut no matter how hard an' how much he whipped me. I'd stay quiet for the first thirty seconds, but after that I could never hold it in anymore. Then he'd whip me more fer resistin'. So many times I was close ta givin' up if it meant he wouldn't torture me no more, but I didn't wanna let him win.

...oh my god... ...im s-so s-sorry... ...i cant even imagine... and i s-said all that--

Y'ain't gotta apologize fer bein' mad. I get it. Ya were in a scary situation, an' hearin' that I never even tried ta find ya when this whole thing was my damn fault ta start with? I'd a been pissed, too.

...s-still though... ...it was s-so insensitive...

It ain't like y'all knew any a this at the time. It's fine.

...how did you get out??...

Heh, that's where shit gets real interestin'.

They kept me at that camp fer half a sweep torturin' me, but I held on. I dunno why they didn't just cull my stubborn ass a long time ago. My guess is cuz Mister wanted the satisfaction a breakin' me cuz ain't no one else been this much a a challenge fer him fer so long. If he let them cull me, it ain't a real win. But eventually he reached the end a his patience with me.

I managed ta get a hold a a fork an' taunted Mister 'til he grabbed me 'round the throat an' got right in my face ta threaten me. I stabbed him in the eye an' tried ta make a break fer the exit while he was screamin' an' cursin' an' bleedin'. A course, I didn't make it nowhere close ta the door 'fore I got caught. Mister was fumin' somethin' fierce, and I didn't even get a chance ta register what he was about ta do 'fore everythin' just became blindin' pain.

I remember one a the supervisors cussin' him out cuz they was plannin' on sendin' me ta The Pit, an' now I ain't in no condition ta be transferred. That fucker cut me open from rib ta hip with a dagger. I spent nights in the infirmary tryin' ta get stabilized an' patched up. I was so weak from bein' starved an' beat on a regular basis that I almost died.

But like I said, I'm the most stubborn bitch ever hatched. I was able ta recover enough ta get my stitches out, but after they they decided ta cut their losses and finally cull me. Mister wanted ta do the honors himself. After what I did ta him, he didn't care about winnin' no more. He wanted me dead. He filled a tub full a water, threw me in, an' held me down with his foot while I thrashed an' tried ta free myself 'fore I drowned. Eventually I lost consciousness.

I woke up chokin' on water an' hackin' the shit out my lungs in the middle a the forest. I figured they dumped my body fer the undead an' the animals ta eat once I blacked out. I didn't know where I was or how ta get back home, an' I was fuckin' scared. But I was free after half a sweep in captivity, an' that was more important than bein' afraid. I picked a direction an' started walkin'.

I didn't have no way a huntin' ta feed myself, an' I was still fuckin' weak as shit, so I didn't eat much a nothin' 'cept whatever bugs an' small animals I was able ta catch. I had ta sleep up in trees durin' the day ta avoid the roamin' undead. Eventually between the hunger an' bein' exhausted all the time, I dropped.

Next thing I know, I'm wakin' up in a hive belongin' ta some li'l jade even younger'n me sayin' him an' his lusus found me. I was still a ornery li'l shit an' wasn't exactly a good hiveguest. He still helped me an' everythin' though. Kept me fed, gave me a place ta sleep. Once I was mostly healed an' had my strength back, I robbed him blind an' ran. Took every piece an' scrap a food I could carry, stole a couple knives, an' I was off. I'd prolly apologize ta him if I ever see him again, not that I remember what he even looked like, an' I'm sure he don't remember me or wouldn't recognize me now.

I spent the next half sweep doin' whatever I could ta survive an' try ta find my way home. I stole, I killed, I broke inta hives, I did whatever I had ta do ta make it ta the next night. When I finally made it hive after that half a sweep, my pa was there waitin' fer me. He waited fer a whole sweep fer me ta come back instead a takin' in a new charge. I bawled the hardest I ever have in my life. Makes me feel extra shitty that I can't go back an' say my goodbyes ta him. He's prolly still waitin' fer me ta come back just like I did last time I went missin'.

...if you want... i can ask dantli to go to your hive and tell your lusus you arent coming back... ...i dont think hes on anyones radar s-since he doesnt s-socialize... ...i can tell him to make it look like he's robbing you s-so they dont get s-suspicious... and itll be a convenient way to get s-some of your things for you...

That ain't a bad idea. S'long as he don't say nothin' stupid'r incriminatin', that could work.

Anyway, speakin' a going back hive, when I finally made it back ta mine after my sweep in Hell, I couldn't function fer shit. I didn't wanna reach out ta my friends cuz I didn't want 'em ta see how broken I was. I didn't wanna look weak ta them, an' none a them reached out anyhow. In just that one sweep, they moved on from me, which still kinda hurts ta know that's all it took ta lose 'em.

Fer perigees after, I'd have daymares a bein' back at the slave camp, weak an' in pain with Mister standin' over me with the whip, then draggin' me out ta the post. I was barely gettin' any sleep, I couldn't eat, an' I was terrified a bein' in water. That's when I decided ta start bulkin' up an' gettin' stronger so I couldn't be taken back there or anywhere else.

Fer three sweeps, I had the mother grub a anxiety. A lotta nights, I couldn't even get the nerve ta leave my hive. I'd get anxiety attacks an' panic attacks when I saw highbloods, 'specially male blues. An' y'all know me. When I start gettin' anxious, I get real mad an' itchin' fer a fight. Even now, I don't hate highblood s'much as I get anxiety bein' around 'em. An' I do also hate 'em.

That's when I started drinkin'. It wasn't about gettin' drunk. It was a way ta calm my frazzled nerves an' keep my anxiety under control. Over time, though, it turned inta a addiction, an' y'all know how well that ended up workin' out fer me in the end.

That's basically everythin' about my childhood, so believe me when I say I know exactly what it's like ta not know if yer gonna live ta see another night, an' cryin' yerself ta sleep durin' the day cuz everythin's so awful, an' prayin' that yer loved ones ain't next or won't be too tore up if ya don't survive.

...i... im s-so s-sorry... ...no one s-should have to endure that... especially not a child... ...i... i...

C'mon now, y'ain't gotta cry about it. It sucks, but it's in the past now, an' fallin' ta pieces over it ain't gon' fix nothin'.

...i... i know... but...

It's okay, I get it. If it'll make ya feel better, go ahead an' cry it out. I can hold ya if ya want.

...but arent you s-still sore?...

Not so sore I can't comfort my pale. It ain't gon' kill me, so get yer li'l cryin' sniffly self over here.

[prince-toffee]

Birthday

Kind of a sequel to 'A New Breed of Rose'

Blaze almost had a heart attack as she entered her personal royal office.

“SURPRISE!” Silver had come out of nowhere, cake in hand, and a party cone hat on each of his five quills. Eyes wide, lit up with joy and excitement. That goofy smile arching from ear to ear showing his gap tooth on the upper right side. He looked so silly. Blaze would have loved it if not for the shock. Her fight or flight instinct kicked in and of course Blaze being Blaze chose fight, and kicked the big cat themed cake directly into Silver's face. The hedgehog froze like a cat when you place anything on their head. Blaze covered her gaping mouth in realisation of what she had done.

After a brief second, she spoke, “S- Silver, I'm so sorry. Are you alright?” She quickly moved to him. A tongue suddenly appeared bursting through the thick layer of cake and began to lick the sweetness of his face. Eventually a teal aura permeated the cake remains and floated it off Silver’s face, revealing his bright eyes and even brighter smile.

“I'm okay. Just said that the cake got ruined.”

The cat sighed in relief, “Good... WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!? You scared the Hellfire out of me! I thought you were an assassin or a badnik or- or my mom!”

“Oh, sorry- wait what?”

“I could have killed you!”

“No, you couldn't.” He waved it off.

“With my superior firepower, and your petite, frail frame, you wouldn't stand a chance!”

“I- I wouldn't say that.”

“You could be ash right now.”

“I- I'd say I'm pretty strong.” He shrugged he scratched his arm awkwardly.

The purple feline turned up her nose and made her way to her work desk. She pulled out her chair and sat down, placing the stack of papers she held in hand onto the wooden desk. She looked up from her work as she was beginning to sign the documents to see Silver awkwardly standing in the same spot across the room. Her eyes returned to the papers, “So, what was the cake for?” She couldn't stay mad at him.

He swiftly glided over, crouching, placing his chin on her desk in front of her. “It was for you. Your favourite: coconut and banana, with extra chocolate in case MarMar wanted some.”

“You baked an entire cake by yourself? And Gardon allowed you in the kitchen? That’d be a first.”

“I snuck in while he was busy. And I tidied up after myself! I know you don't like big gifts, but I had to make cake! Had to! It's a special gift for a special girl on a special day!” He beamed happily. As he raised his arms in the air, teal psychokinetic energy shot out of his fingers and palms creating an Aurora Borealis-esk affect over his head. She half looked up, then back down, never stopping signing the papers. She read the whole document in a micro-second and weaved her signature onto the paper. And then placed it off to the side. The stock of unsigned papers was quickly shrinking as the stack of signed papers quickly grew. Her hyper speed was really giving her an advantage.

She asked with a smirk, “Did you really miss me that much? I was only gone on the business trip for a few days.”

“No. I mean yeah, always. But no, it's your special day today!” He proclaimed again, giving her his best jazz hands, teal energy shooting out like tiny fireworks. She just looked at him puzzled with a raised brow. Not looking down, but still not stopping the signing. “B- Blazey, come on, do you not know what day it is?” He asked genuinely worried. Blaze just shrugged; brow still raised. He floated up close to her, almost nose to nose, “Blaze! It's your birthday!” He exclaimed with a pout. That confused the cat even further.

“No, it's not. My birthday is in May, remember? You gave me the rose?” She pointed with her thumb to the windowsill behind her on top of which was ‘The Blaze’, the new breed of rose he cultivated just for her. The only one in existence in their current time. “Silvy, are you forgetting things again? Did you take your pills today?”

“Yes! I know my memory is like a sieve sometimes, but I remember the important stuff! I remember you! Yes, your birthday was last month... in this timeline.” He specified, pointing his fingers at the ground. Wide smile on his face, “But today is your birthday from the previous timeline.” Blaze rolled her eyes. Silver twirled his fingers, pointing up to the ceiling.

“Silver.” She spoke up unamused.

“I know you can't remember all of our previous life, but I do! And I thought it might be nice if-” She silenced him with a single finger.

“I already can't stand one birthday, I can't handle two. I don't need two.”

“But Blazey-”

“Ah. You see the finger? That means ‘Silver time’ is up.”

“No need to be so grumpy...” He said pouting. The greyish-white hedgehog looked down away from her eyes to her hand. She was still signing papers, even as she talked to him, “You're not even looking at it. Do you even know if you're writing in the right spot?”

She didn't look down. Kept her eyes on him. Took a paper from one pile. Signed it. Slapped it on top of the other pile. “Well? Am I?” She smirked.

He pouted. “Yeah. It's remarkable, actually.” She managed somehow to perfectly write her name, in cursive, on the dotted line at the bottom of each page. Over and over again. At hyper speed. “How do you do that? That's so impressive.”

She shrugged, “Muscle memory, I suppose. Been doing this all my life. I've been cramping since I was nine years old.”

“Can you write it backwards?”

She did so, without hesitation, starting with the ‘e’ and ending with the capital ‘B’ and in a split second it was on top of the signed stack.

“Upside down?” She turned the page upside down and, in cursive, wrote her name out perfectly. On the stack. Silver leaned in, amazed. “But seriously, it won't be anything elaborate or expensive-”

“Silver, I don't want any presents or parties. All I want is to finish this work, and then just for the two of us to relax later. You can tell me all about String Theory and quantum something something-“

“Quantum Reinstatement.”

“Yeah, that's it. I love to listen to you talk about that stuff. Maybe we can play that stupid video game you like so much or something.”

“TomatoPotamus 06?!”

“Sure.”

“That's the best one in the series!” He looked back down at the paper, “What if you stand on one hand and you alternate between cursive and standard?-“ Blaze’s pen swiped across Silver's forehead. Her name was now on his forehead.

“That's to make sure people know who you belong to.” Silver's markings lit up across his whole body, his equivalent of a blush. “Now shush. You're distracting me. Go bother Marine. I heard she wanted your help with a new project.” She remarked smiling. Silver just pouted and barrel rolled through the air out the window. “Silver.”

“Yeah?” He returned hopeful.

“Clean the cake mess up before you go.” He frowned.

-     - -

Blaze didn't believe him, chose not to. She, of course, believed that he was a time traveller, that he did in fact patrol time. She trusted him implicitly, trusted him with her life. And she knew that he was unable to lie, not very well anyway; He’d just light up like a Christmas Tree and stammer and trip over his words. It was more the fact that she didn't want to believe in the possibility that this wasn't her first life. That there was once a reality where she wasn't what she was now. It scared her. Made her uncomfortable. The fact that she saw that reality in half-remembered dreams, in her mind's eye, did not help. After their reincarnation Blaze hadn't reclaimed her previous life's memories.

But Silver did. He didn't know why. Maybe it was due to his tie to time travel. Maybe it was perhaps because when time reset he was plunged back into an apocalyptic future, so it was easier for him to accept that there was more outside of his miserable reality. Silver had nothing. But Blaze was different. Blaze was reborn into an alternate pocket dimension, as royalty, into a lineage of cosmic protectors; she had wealth, power, influence, land, a nation, a people to look after, a divine purpose assigned to her by a collective of ethereal relics. Blaze had everything. It was harder for her to let that go. She had more to lose. Silver was always a street rat in the apocalypse. Blaze escaped that fate. She had a new identity and a new place in the universe, and she was, justifiably, afraid of losing that. Silver never wanted to make her uncomfortable by mentioning their previous life. All that mattered to him was that she was safe and comfortable.

But-… It was foolish to feel so… But he was nostalgic for that time. It was a time of tragedy and misery and sorrow. But among the misery they had each other. There were some good times. He often reminisced about their childhood, about them growing up together, and he just wanted to share those memories with her. That clearly was not going to happen. He realised his gift might not have been as meaningful as he first thought.

“Hey! Mate!? Are you orderin’ or what?” The young little raccoon snapped him out of his train of thought. She was aggressively tapping the laminated menu. Silver quickly became re-aware of his surroundings. The hedgehog and the raccoon were sitting in a booth in a mostly empty diner, situated at the beach. “You promised you'd pay. You owe me.” She pouted, leaning over the table.

“Sorry MarMar, I was somewhere else.” His smile returned to him, “Anything you like, on me.” It was true, he did owe the young engineer a favour as right after he left Blaze this morning he made his way over to Marine’s workshop at the docks. The girl had requested the telekinetic’s help with building her new ship. He always helped whenever he could, with him around construction always went much faster as to him the massive components of metal and wood felt no heavier than a paperweight. However, today, his mind was elsewhere and absentmindedly he allowed his powers to slip up slightly and the massive piece of hull he was levitating pancaked another equally important component. Marine almost lost her mind in grief. All Silver could do was say he was sorry. He offered to take her out for lunch, anywhere she'd like, and that he'd pay in full. Marine took the offer. And they went to the same place they always did; a hole in the wall called ‘Meh Diner’. ‘It's food!’ Their slogan read. Which never really sat well with Blaze or Silver, neither did the ‘food’ they served, but the young shipwright loved the greasy fries at the ram shack establishment. So, they went. They chose not to argue with her apart from an occasional comment about how she should ‘slow down’ or ‘maybe eat something a little bit healthier’.

“Something's up with you.” Marine narrowed her eyes at him.

“Huh?”

“You're quiet. There's always a lot on your mind when you're quiet.”

“I don't know what you mean. I'm fi-”

“Like that time, we went to the gala last week and you just stood in a corner not talking to anyone for the whole time with a blank serial killer expression on your face.”

“That was the day I saw myself die in seven different time branches… the eyes were so empty.”

“Exactly my point. What's up with ya?”

“It's nothing, just... it's Blaze’s birthday, and I wanted to give her a present to show her how much she means to me. But she said she didn't want one.”

“Isn't B’s birthday in May? Oh shoot! Did I forget again?”

“No, her birthday from our previous life. It's today.” He placed his head in his palms, his arms supporting up his chin. “I had something special planned, and now- I don't know.”

“Oh this again?”

“What?”

“The ‘previous life’ thing.”

“Ugh, you think I'm crazy too.” He gave out a pitiful groan.

“No. I don't think you're crazy. I believe ya, mate.” The girl slammed her hands down on the table standing up on her seat.

“Really?”

“Totally! You know everybody thought my mother was crazy, she always talked about the doomsday, no one ever believed her, drove her out to who knows where with pitchforks and torches,” she clapped her hands and snapped her fingers, “And here you are. You deal with apocalypses all the time! Everything you've described to us is right on the mark about what she said! People always said: ‘She's crazy!’ ‘Don't listen to her she eats garbage out of the trashcan!’ ‘Marine, she's not your mother, she's a badger!’ You get what I mean?” She plopped back down on her seat.

Confusion was written all over Silver's face, but he answered, “I... think so... you believe me... right?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Heh.” A smile returned to his face.

“Soooo-” Oh no. Silver unfortunately knew that devilish smirk all too well, his markings began to glow bright once again, “What were you planning for tonight? A smooch party? Hehehehe!” She clasped her hands together and began to kiss the air.

Silver picked up the menu trying to hide his blushing markings, but he couldn't, “S- So, fish fingers? Cheese sticks?”

“I'm not going to stop unless you tell me.” She was insufferable sometimes.

He pouted. “Okay, okay, just don't start spreading rumours again. The gossip about... ‘us’ makes Blaze uncomfortable.”

“Oh, yeah? I think she likes it. Well?”

“Well, I know she doesn't like big gifts, so I thought I'd make something small, something personal. To show her how much I lo- how much she means to me. In our previous life, in Crisis City, most infrastructure laid in ruin, we had to scavenge for anything and everything; food, shelter, medicine. It was a tough life, but we had each other. She was the only person who was nice to me, so I shared my food with her, and we stayed together ever since. There wasn't much for children to do in the fiery hellscape that we lived in, but we made do with what we had. We had each other. Tag. Who can kill the most spawns. Who can catch the cockroach first.” He named all of the ‘games’ with a genuine nostalgic smile.

“Wow, that's... sad.”

“Very rarely were stores and homes intact. One time we found an apartment with TWO mattresses! What a score! Then there was a day we managed to break into an old jewellery store and took as much jewellery as we could, put it on, and pretended to be fancy rich people at a ball like the princesses in all the storybooks we found in our favourite abandoned library. Ha! The irony, right? But our favourite spot was an old basement club with a stage and a karaoke machine. Anytime Blaze felt down, I brought her there, and it never failed to cheer her up! The machine only had a handful of songs on it, so we learned them off by heart by going there over and over again. It was our spot. Or thing. She's been so busy lately. Every night she's exhausted and stressed. Whenever I'm stressed, listening to music always helps me relax. So, I thought maybe I'd make a playlist of all the songs we loved when we were kids. You know, I don't know, maybe it’d help her relax too.” He remarked grinning stupidly to himself just at the thought of her. Silver looked up from his fidgeting fingers at Marine, who was entirely engrossed in the story.

Her eyes wide and sparkling with joy. Her big eyes began to water. “Oh my God, you two really are perfect, aren't you? My ship has set sail.” Her voice shook as she wiped away tears of joy.

Silver bowed his head in embarrassment attempting to hide his own face in his fluffy chest fur, “N- No, we’re j- just friends.” His voice quivered.

“But seriously, give it to her, she’d love it. She loves literally everything from you. Flowers. Brownies. Chocolates. Books. Poems. All that dorky stuff. She keeps all of it.” She said as she waved her hands around.

“Really?” He grinned wide, his legs kicking back and forth underneath the table. Marine just smirked.

-     - -

Blaze was exhausted and the day wasn't even over yet, it was only 8:00pm, she still had a mountain of work to get through. The Flicky Preservation Union meeting ran over time and she completely forgot about the conference for grants for the local museums. Marching from one side of the castle to the other had exhausted her, physically and mentally. Somehow, she managed to lose her hair tie, and that meant her hair was dishevelled and all over the place. Bags under her eyes. She clutched a stack of papers, crumpled up, unaligned and dog eared, covered in notes she wrote herself, but couldn't comprehend now. She once again made her way back into her personal office. She closed the doors behind her with her foot and leaned back against it. Though foolish, she hoped that closing the door would mean that all the pressures of the world outside would be locked out and she’d safe in there. She sighed, she was both tired and relieved that she was away from the boardroom and all those vultures... literally, all her business advisors were vultures.

She looked around the office, yep, just as she left it. Her work table at the far end, the window behind it framing the landscape outside, her bookshelves at the sides filled with numerous tomes she'd loved to read one day, but never had the time to, one bean bag chair on the side where Marine usually sat while shovelling whatever unhealthy food she chose that day into her mouth. And one potted rose at the windowsill… and so she looked around once more, half expecting to see a familiar silver hedgehog somewhere in the room ready to surprise her with another gift. To her dismay his smile was nowhere to be seen. Blaze’s posture slouched, her shoulders loosened, her head sagged, and her ears fell flat. The sound of her heels clacking against the tiled floor stopped as she kicked them off her feet, and reclaimed her soft armchair. Blaze resumed with signing the documents, wanting to get it over and done with and go find Silver as soon as possible. She was meant to be done hours ago, but the work just kept expanding. She hoped that maybe they'd at least have an evening together.

But then she noticed that something was, in fact, not as she left it. A small white box with a little red bow stuck on it sat on her desk. There was a sticky note on it as well, she immediately recognised the handwriting, “You're so naive, Silver.” She tried to stay annoyed at him but couldn't help but smile. It read:

‘I know you said no presents, but I know you've been really busy lately. I know it can be stressful. Hope this helps. :) - Silver’

Blaze gently lifted the lid of the box and there inside sat a cassette player and a pair of headphones designed for her cat ears. Another note was set on the player:

‘Our playlist.’

She couldn't quite pinpoint why, but as she placed the headphones on her head and pressed play, tears began to stream down her face. So many different emotions swirled around in her mind. A feeling of melancholic nostalgia washed over her. So, for a moment she just sat there, just listening, her legs tucked up into her chest. A smile accompanied with tears. She just allowed the feeling to wash over her, a feeling she could only describe as ethereal. And for the first time in days; Blaze The Cat took a break.

---

If you’re interested, here’s the Silvaze playlist (feel free to add on, I’m looking for recommendations):

All Things End – Hozier

Through Me (The Flood) – Hozier

Paradise Warfare – Carpenter Brut

Out of Touch – Hall and Oates

I Gotta Try – Michael McDonald

Another Dimension – Pop Money

Mona Lisa – Dominic Fike

Hummingbird – James Blake

Link Up – Don Toliver

Take Me To Church – Hozier

H.S. – Tom Cardy

Adore You – Harry Styles

Need Each Other – TWRP

Out of My League – Fitz and Tantrums

[destinygoldenstar]

The Ultimate Delinquent And The Ultimate Heartbreaker (Full Gwuncan Story: TDDRI) (Part 1)

SPOILERS FOR TOTAL DRAMA DANGANRONPA ISLAND (Mind the tags)

But then someone else so happens to be in the back as well.

She's one to be in the shadows, but she won't even look me in the eye anymore. She's still dressed in all black, with a few blue and green trims here and there, still with her classic teal bangs for hair. I know already she doesn't want to talk, not after what I did to her.

There was a girl I used to get along with well, a goth girl named Gwen Ellis. I always thought she was pretty, but wasn't planning on pursuing anything with her. She was... the only person who was willing to put aside the fact that I was a criminal and just be there for me. It was something Courtney never gave me, and by the time Courtney tried to use me for a victory in Total Drama, I learned about the gossip online that Gwen had feelings for me. So in the third season, I took advantage of that, and pursued attraction towards her. I don't know what my intention was back then, to get away from Courtney, that I actually loved Gwen, to say 'f**k you Trent, she's mine now', to just... get away from life. I don't know. All I know is that it only made things worse, first Courtney hated me and tried to kill Gwen, then Courtney went with Scott to use him, Gwen turned her back on me when I saw the red flags there, and those two girls became friends solely to dump on me... Next thing I know, they're happy that I got arrested, and never wanted to see me again.

It's kind of hard to say who's fault it is. Maybe it's mine, since I kissed Gwen. Maybe it's Courtney's, since she was using me first. Maybe it's Gwen's, since she obliged. Maybe it was all for the sake of the reality show ratings. Either way, Gwen hates me. So much so that when before she wouldn't care I was a criminal, now that's the only thing she cares about when looking at me.

She dumped a musician named Trent on national TV, which stirred up so much drama on her. Then she went with me and caused all of that garbage. From there, that cycle never stopped for her. She's dated nearly twenty two guys total in her life now, and she's broken up with every single one of them for several reasons. Some were assholes, some weren't her type, sometimes it was just her being stubborn. But now it's pretty much a cycle she's never escaped.

That's all we know her as now, the Ultimate Heartbreaker.

"Hey you," Gwen finally says quietly at me, without even looking in my direction. "Yes, swe-Ellis?" I almost called her sweetheart. If I actually said that, I'd likely get a boot to the balls, or worse. "Is there a reason why you're here?" Gwen asks me, where she adds, "Chris must be a top tier bitch then, allowing you to return. Or myself, for that matter."

"It was uh... it was mandatory," I try to say to her, knowing she's not taking my presence well. Gwen still doesn't look me in the eye, and makes it clear, "If you're gonna be here, stand as far away as you can from me."

I don't know why she's saying this. My best assumption is that she hates me. I deserve it.

She says nothing else to me, and so I awkwardly step away to the fountain, trying to take a seat there and chill out. I would, if it weren't for another dude to be next to me and looking up from his book to mock me.

~~~

"Either way, we have to oblige," Leshawna adds, "Besides, we should be curious what this new season is going to be about." "Not at all Leshawna," Gwen snarls when she walks by, grabbing Leshawna's wrist to pull her away from us. Specifically me.

Gwen is kind of right either way. If I'm worried about something, that's not good. But it's not like we have a choice.

~~~

"You found out all of this from just scaling the fences?" I ask in amazement. I can't help but smirk and say, "Impressive."

To which Gwen snatches the paper back and scoffs, "Save your compliments."

Geez, I give her a compliment and she spits it in my face. How rude. What? Does she think I'm trying to hit on her again?

~~~

I go on to DJ, Cody, Geoff, and they all have the same answers. They don't know, or they don't want to talk to me. That last one is especially true with the last person by the plaza. Gwen.

"You seen Heather?" I ask, where Gwen hesitates and gives me a cold glare before answering, "She's over by the beach... I think?" She turns away from me and claims, "I'm only telling you so you have an excuse to leave."

Which prompts me to leave. If Gwen doesn't want to talk, fine. I don't care right now.

~~~

Lindsay and Tyler were both already at the plaza by the time we all got there. A few minutes later, Cody got Gwen as well. Nobody can believe the news we had to give.

"There he is!" Courtney shouts, spotting Chris by the fountain of the plaza. He turns around to grin at us, as if he can't read our grieving faces. "Oh hi campers! How you all doing?!"

Courtney jabs a finger at him bitterly, asking "What the hell is the meaning of this?! What did you do to Heather?!"

"I didn't do anything," Chris says innocently, "I simply watched on camera what happened, and let me say, it's not my fault."

"Is she okay?!" Bridgette begins the massive wave of questions.

"Where can I get an axe like that?!" Izzy asks in delight.

"What is with all the blood?!" DJ asks in horror.

"Is she really dead?" Gwen asks monotoned. She didn't see the body yet.

My mind flashes to the body itself briefly, and it makes me stomp on the ground and scream "Can everyone shut up?!" I'm breathing hard, making Bridgette ask "Are you okay?"

"She's dead! Okay?! Why don't you face the f*****g facts?!" I scold, "She's dead! Heather is dead! She's not coming back!"

"As if my barf wasn't obvious..." Noah rolls his eyes, solidifying "But yes. Heather is dead."

It already sounds bad coming from me, but coming from everyone else... I feel some black sickness rolling up my spine. It explodes out of me when I grab a running Gwen.

"Let go of me!" she tries to fight back my grip on her arm, "I don't believe this! I don't believe for a second that she's..."

"Check if you want! It changes nothing!" I shout at her, "Heather is dead!"

"Think about it Gwen, what do you think will change if you of all people see it?" Izzy asks, where Gwen argues "And what good is it to just yell at Chris?! Even that's not gonna change it!"

~~~

Coming out of the shed, I look to see the others staring around going over notes. Seeing Gwen leaning by the corner, I might as well try to talk to her. But I already know what she's going to say.

"You think I'm the killer, right?" I ask, already knowing the answer. Sure enough, she says bluntly, "Correct."

And she wasn't even at the party, so... "Well, that doesn't make you off the hook, too. You know that?" I bring up, where Gwen looks over her shoulder and away from me. She claims, "I wasn't there. You guys decided to start killing each other, and I was not there when it happened. So really, that should tell you how Heather's death has nothing to do with me."

No it doesn't. Gwen could have easily snuck into the Mess Hall, killed Heather, and snuck out again. Those two always had beef with each other, so why wouldn't Gwen kill Heather for how much the latter mistreated her?

Gwen sighs, clear sorrow on her face. She adds, "Heather was a bitch. She always was... but what happened to her was... nothing short of horrible. And as much as I want it to be you, how much I want them to be right about you being the killer... I know it's not going to be that easy."

"Seriously?" Gwen... wants it to be me, but doesn't think it's me? That's... better than nothing I guess.

"Duncan, it's not as easy as blaming one person and being done with it, even if that person is you," Gwen tells me, the first time she's looked me in the eye since we saw each other again. "Everyone plays a part in the bad stuff that happens. There's never one blackened."

I have no idea what she's talking about. The whole point of being here is to find a killer. What? Does she think there's more than one culprit?

After realizing I can't counter that, Gwen turns away again, ordering me, "Just... go. If you can, prove me wrong. Prove to me you didn't kill her. But leave me out of your argument."

~~~

Well, just because the axe did the fatal blow, doesn't mean the knife wasn't used at all." I point out. Gwen jabs, "Oh? I see, so you used two different weapons to confuse us, is that it?!"

"Wha-?! No! Did you not hear me?!" I exclaim

~~~

"And to think she trusted Duncan with that warning knowledge!" Gwen rolls her eyes, "No wonder she died!"

"Hey!" I cry, "Not cool!"

~~~

"So that's how the blackout was caused!" | double down, only for someone to shout,

"THAT'S THE DUMBEST THING I'VE EVER HEARD!!"

Gwen.

"Let me clarify that as well!" She argues.

I can only groan, "Oh crud..." I know where this is going.

"You're saying the person just... blocked a wire?!"

She makes her argument, "That makes no sense! How did they even get in the electrical panel? And! How would they even block the wire without standing in front of it?!"

You're kidding me, right? That's your argument?

Fine, I guess I'll rebuttal.

Gwen starts: "So the wire to the lights were blocked..."

"But the panel was shut tight!"

"There's no way the culprit could have accessed it if that's the case!"

"And even if they did, it would take more than their hand to eut off the lights of the entire Mess-Hall!"

"No, I'm pretty sure they made it so that a blackout was guaranteed," I argue, "Otherwise, why bother?"

Gwen continues: "But Harold said it himself."

"It would take a long time for the lights to actually go out!"

"How eould the causer guarantee it would happen?"

"They would have to be next to it!"

"Especially if they somehow broke it WITH THEIR BARE HANDS!"

- Metal Tweezers

"I'M GONNA CUT THROUGH THAT CLAIM!!"

~~~

"Stop!"

Gwen suddenly speaks up, an ever so quiet, yet confident voice driving everyone's attention to

her.

She waits for Courtney's response. She waits for anyone's response.

All she gets is a question from Courtney, who asks, "What was that?"

"DJ has a clue that doesn't point to Duncan,"

Gwen says.

I widen my eyes. Really? He does?!

Gwen, of all people, is defending me?!

"You know who did it?!" Lindsay exclaims.

Gwen clarifies, "No. Well, not specifically to one person. But it's kind of a big hint.."

~~~

Gwen: "Okay, I'm about to guess something outrageous, but here it is.."

Gwen: "What if they WENT UNDER THE FLOOR?"

-Bathroom Manhole Cover

"I AGREE WITH THAT!!"

~~~

Gwen: "Good god, THE KNIFE SLICED THE WALL too…”

-Cut On The Wall

"NO THAT'S WRONG!!"

~~~

"Well, obviously she would have a target, right?"

Geoff wonders, "Like... someone she had a grudge on for so many years..."

"Don't you dare.." Gwen mutters, but Geoff does it anyway, "And considering they weren't in the dining room! AND, claimed they wouldn't even show up..

"Geoff, I swear I'll-" Gwen tries to hold back an outburst, only for Geoff to point at her and proclaim "..it's Gwen! Heather attacked Gwen! Gwen is the killer!!"

"I'm gonna come over there and slap that hat across your face!!" Gwen shouts back, "Do you realize how stupid of an accusation that is!?"

"Heather and I hated each other's guts, sure, and sure, I wasn't in the dining room, but that does not automatically make me Heather's killer!" Gwen explains, "And I already told everyone! I didn't go to the party! I wasn't in the Mess Hall at all! How could I be the killer?!"

"You're just saying that, but you actually intended to go in there the whole time!" Owen accuses.

"No, I didn't!" Gwen says again, "I was never in the Mess Hall for the entirety of the evening!"

"Then you should have been at the party to save yourself, be a part of the group!" Harold jabs, " told you, going off on your own is a bad idea! No one listens to mel"

"I thought I did," Leshawna mutters, where Harold awkwardly makes it clear, "Not you, LeGoddess... y-you know what I mean.."

Great, now I have to clear Gwen too?! It's pretty much impossible for Gwen to be the killer!

I think she might have an alibi...

Owen begins the argument: "The killer is someone who wasn't in the dining room..."

Owen: "And they WALKED in the Mess Hall, to be Heather's murder target!"

Tyler: "Then Heather would catch them off guard..."

Tyler: "To STRIKE with the axe!"

Geoff: "Is that how it happened, Gwen?"

Gwen: "How should I know?!"

Gwen: "I WASN'T THERE!"

Harold: "But you were alone."

Harold: "Which means that nobody saw you anywhere"

Harold: "That means that you have NO ALIBI!"

-Cody's Account

"NO THAT'S WRONG!!"

She does have an alibi because of Cody's stalking! She was never even close to the Mess Hall!

~~~

“You're actually disgusting Izzy," Gwen snarls, arms crossed as she leans by the corner away from everyone, "You and Duncan don't even care, do you?" Uh, hello! I do care! I just have a terrible way of showing it.

"You never got along with her," Izzy rolls her eyes at Gwen, where Gwen shoots back, "Not even Heather deserved to lose her life! Or Tyler, for that matter. He didn't deserve that, she didn't deserve that, I can't even imagine how Lindsay's going to turn out..."

"I mean... thanks for standing up for me back there," I say to her, where Gwen takes that harshly as she jabs, "Wow, that's all you care about! The only reason I stood up for you, was because we'd all die otherwise!"

"You didn't have to, though," I admit. I should really shut my mouth.

~~~

I look down to see Gwen leaning on the tree by herself. I didn't pay attention to what she was wearing before, but now I can see her black jean jacket and black jean shorts, alongside a few blue and green bracelets on her wrist, and black hiking books with blue laces. "Hey Gwen, want to come up here?" I ask, where Gwen doesn't even look at me to say, "No, I think I'll guard out here for anyone."

"You don't want to do that," I warn, where Gwen jabs, "Yeah. I do."

"Even for some... siren things?" That makes her look up, asking, "How do you know that's what'll happen?"

~~~

"Well, Duncan?" Leshawna asks, "Who did you hear?"

I want to say no one. I want to... but they're all staring at me. It's unsettling.

"He didn't hear anyone," Gwen assumes, where I stammer, "N-no! I heard people!" "Then who?!" Owen asks.

A few seconds of hesitation, and I sigh, admitting, "My mom."

They're all surprised by that. Noah goes, "Wait, you're a mama's boy?" "No!" I shoot back, "I'm not DJ! I just... I don't know why I heard her. I just... I just did, okay?" I didn't hear my brothers at all. I didn't hear my dad. But I heard her.

"You learn something new about people everyday," Noah says.

Gwen is shaking, hesitating to answer herself. She finally does, asking softly, "You know why I accepted my invitation to come to this island?" She hated Total Drama, so I don't know why she'd do it.

"Well my mom... uh... lost her job, so... the only one who could save us was me. And no one wanted to hire me because of my... horrible social rep. So I came here as a last resort, and my brother's by himself without a study partner for high school." I know Gwen's mom is single. When we were dating, one of our dates was to a graveyard. Gwen wanted to go there for an anniversary, when her father passed away from a heart infection. I don't know too much about her dad other than Gwen mentioning he was a night guard. Her mom's a little off the rails, but well meaning, and her brother... based on that line alone, it's clear. He means everything to her.

She came into this game to help her family...

Great, now I feel even worse. If I hadn't used her, she wouldn't get that bad social rep and wouldn't need to come here. And the fact that this is a killing game...

I got to find the Mastermind. We gotta take them out before they can kill anyone. Gwen alone, deserves to survive this more than I do. Everyone here deserves to be survivors in this game more than I do.

~~~

I watch Cody come up to her, trying to flirt with her as much as he can. I overhear their conversation. "Sunset's pretty, isn't it?" Cody asks, where Gwen expresses, "Yeah, it is." Despite the goth exterior, Gwen loves nature. "Got stung?" Cody asks in shock, where Gwen tells him, "It was one sting, I'll be fine."

"Perhaps I can help get the poison out..." Cody leans over, but Gwen shoves him away. "What's wrong with you?!" She scolds. What do you expect from the Ultimate Nice Guy, Gwen? "I-I-I just thought..." Cody stammers, but Gwen makes it clear, "I don't want to date anyone! Okay? I just want to get out of here. And if you and the others live, then that's the best thing that can happen."

"I..." Cody isn't sure what to say to that, "I don't want to leave."

Gwen is shocked at that, "You want to stay with Chris?! You want to stay in this Killing Game?!"

"It doesn't have to be a Killing Game," Cody claims, "If no one kills each other... we can contradict Chris's motives, and we can all live here together in peace. In a cozy island away from... all that political bull. Thinking of it like that, it's... just fine by me. I can live with all these people, even Izzy. That's fine by me."

Why would Cody prefer it though? He won't be able to become a doctor. He'll never see his family again. He'll never see Trent or Justin again. He'll never see Sierra again. He won't see this fiancé of his ever again. Why would he want to give it up?

The only thing I can think of, is that he didn't want any of it to begin with.

He grasps Gwen's hand, making it clear, "Look, Gwen, I don't... I don't want to force you into staying. If we defeat the Mastermind, we can work on getting you home to your family. Maybe you can even make things right with Trent."

"I would love that..." Gwen admits, "But Trent's moved on. He has his own music career, he's dating a nice girl... I don't know, maybe we could be friends again." Before me, Trent was a cool guitarist dude on Total Drama, and Gwen's crush. At the end of a season where she was the runner up, they tried to start dating... but it never worked out. Trent made her his world, threw away everything, she didn't like that, and she dumped him before things could get worse for all their relationships. What happened after that break up was a whole lot of internet drama, where people were one hundred percent on Trent's side, and one hundred percent against Gwen for making the call. There was no in between at all. Things would have been fine if it weren't for me butting in... after that, the whole internet despised Gwen. And myself, to be fair.

She should have gone with Trent. At least he didn't use her to get attention from other people.

"That's what I've been saying about going off on your own..." Cody says. He's looking at me. Don't you dare, Cody.

"You're gonna get hurt," Cody ends up saying, where Gwen states, "At least I know I'm not associating with a killer that way." "There are people here willing to help you..." Cody states, "Like... Duncan."

Cody, I'm gonna break your arm real bad! Why would you do that?!

I get it, he wants me and Gwen to be friends again, for me to apologize, but why?!

Gwen laughs that off, "Duncan? Are you serious right now?"

"Actually..." Cody makes it clear he's being serious, "He wants to talk to you."

It forces me to stand up and face her as she turns around to face me. She has a straight face, and I can't read her reaction at all towards me. She groans, "You..."

"H-hello, I... exist." I say, waving to her awkwardly. "Yeah, I know you exist," Gwen scoffs, "So what?"

At least she says that calmer than Courtney did.

Cody is behind her, giving me some hand motion. Apologize to her. Tell her how you feel. Apologize. She will feel so much better.

I sigh, looking at the time on her black and turquoise handbook. We have time.

"Can we talk?" I ask.

We head outside of the treehouse so no one else can hear. I can sense Cody stalking regardless, and believe me, I want him to get out of here. But there's nothing I can do about that. The sun is setting along the sky, leaving us with a decent amount of shadow.

As much as I want to deny it, I want to apologize just by looking at her. She's introverted, anti-social, yes, but getting to know her, she was such an amazing friend to hang out. A friend that understood you, was willing to open up to you, and allowed you to be yourself around them. I didn't have a lot of people who did that, and still don't, so Gwen was special to me.

Then I... ruined it.

I owe her an apology.

"This better be important, Duncan," Gwen sneers, "I'm not getting rained on."

I take a deep breath. Now or never, I'm going to tell her.

"Gwen..." I don't know where to begin, "When I was... in jail... I-uh... I had some time to think, you know?"

"Okay, so?" Her expression doesn't change.

"About... how much of a dick I was as a teen." "Heck yeah you were," she says to that.

"Look, what I'm trying to say is... I was wrong." I just say it upright.

She raises an eyebrow, not much else on her face changes. Maybe she's stoic? But that's not usually her.

I just have to let it out, "I was... one hundred percent in the wrong. I... I hurt you, I hurt a lot of people. The whole Courtney drama, and... doesn't matter how much of a grudge I had with her at the time, it was wrong for me to go behind her back, and drag you in for that matter... it was... even more wrong of me to see you not as you... but some escape door."

"You did do that," she admits. How has her face not changed at all?

I have to say it. She'll hear me. She'll forgive me.

"I treated you badly. I ruined your reputation. I dragged you in drama you didn't need to be in... I'm sorry."

I said it. Clearly.

I did it.

I look at her to see her reaction, hoping she'd hear me. In a perfect world, her grudge would vanish just like that, she'd smile, maybe cry, and she'd accept my apology. She'd forgive me, embrace me in a hug, and I'd get a friend that. I'd win someone over, make amends with who was once a close friend, before we lost the chance...

But this isn't a perfect world.

She isn't even fazed by my apology. In fact, she scowls at it, and she asks bluntly, "That's it?"

"U-uh..." did I miss something?

"Okay," she decides, turning away and saying, "I don't forgive you. We can go back up there now."

"What?" She... doesn't forgive me?! After all of that?! After I admit it was all my fault, apologize to her face, she doesn't forgive me?! I get I hurt her, but come on! You don't just reject an apology like that! "I-I said I was sorry..."

"I know," she says, "And I'm saying, I don't forgive you."

"You wanted me to admit it was my fault, and I did!" I argue, where she argues back, "Didn't ask. Don't care."

"Gwen, what do I have to do?" I ask her, where she doesn't answer that and states, "I know what you're doing, Duncan! You just want to use me again! You just want me to forgive you, so you can feel good about yourself. That's all this is. I'm not giving you that."

"Why not?!" I should know the answer to that, but Gwen makes it clear again, "You ruined my life, Duncan! In so many more ways than you think! You used me! You took advantage of a dumped girl who was being shat on online, cheated on your own girlfriend with me, and made that girl want to murder me with leaves! And then you used me as an object to make yourself look popular and well-knowing and cool, to the very person you cheated on! That triangle you drove me in ruined everything I had going for, because you only saw me as a tool to your ego boost. Because of you, all I'm known for is a goth chick who dumps men every single week. And I can never, EVER, forgive you for that!"

"Gwen-" I try again, but she cuts me off, "I don't want to hear it! Okay?"

"I literally said it was my fault, and I was sorry!" I claim, where she makes it clear, "I don't care! Doesn't change the fact that you still did it! I don't care if you feel bad about it, that changes nothing!"

"So I'm just incapable of change to you, is that it?" I ask, where she states, "It's not that. You could pretend to be an angel sent from the heavens, and still be an arrogant scumbag in intention, that's always going to show one way or another."

She's beginning to walk away, and I try to stop her, "Gwen! If there's something you want from me, tell me what it is!"

"I want you to back off!" Gwen scoffs, not apologizing at all, "Trent was right. You're trash. And as far as you're concerned, I am under no obligation to let you back in my life ever again!"

She climbs up the treehouse and leaves me there.

...she's right.

At the end of the day, she's right. I hurt her, I ruined a lot of stuff she had going. She has no reason to ever forgive me, let alone include me in her life ever again.

She's completely in the right to do that.

~~~

At first, I only saw Gwen as a friend, and an amazing one at that. I enjoyed her company a lot, gushing over horror movies, arguing over survival tactics, goofing off together. I made her smile in ways others didn't, which wasn't too often from how iron her mask was on her face. I had feelings for Courtney at the time, and that remained consistent for a bit. Looking back, the only thing that made us a thing was Courtney kissing me. Ever since, the game was more important to her than me. I mean, who would ditch a dude with a broken leg for a million dollars? Especially your own boyfriend? Courtney would.

Even in the season I'd eventually win, I never complained, or went after anyone else. I never had any grudge with Trent dating Gwen, and I thought he was a good guy. I didn't try to take her from him, Gwen dumped him on her own terms. Apparently the internet thought she dumped him for me, which probably got her thinking, as well as myself when I heard it. Gwen was great to be around, and the only person who truly got me, understood me, and accepted me for who I was. I was probably the only person who seemed to do the same for her at the time.

~~~

But the person I hung out with the most, was Gwen.

I'd call her, we'd chat, rant about our terrible love lives, and catch up with each other. I'd even come by her place to hang out. She'd offer some juice, we'd hang out, we'd often watch something horrific, play some darts, play some cards, walk out in the city, and we'd have a great time being ourselves. Whether it's ranting about the internet, about Heather trolling her, about Courtney, about the show mayhem, or about anything at all, it was great to listen to. And the more we'd hang out like this, the more I wanted to do this. I was so happy with her, and...

I told her once, "Can I be real? Being a millionaire dating Courtney sucks... I mean, tell me what to do, what not to do, make me be like her, little Morrow husband, and I'm just like, what say do I have in that? Here I thought she was great, I thought she was my ideal girlfriend."

She asked me what my ideal girlfriend was, and I said, "I think it'd be someone funny, sweet, chill girl that takes interest in the gritty and listens to every insult I made, and isn't a complete neat freak, not afraid to get her hands dirty."

She must have taken that to consideration. She must have realized my unhappiness in my relationship with Courtney. She must have thought I was eyeing her... because I was. I wanted to be with her in so many ways. If the internet's shipping was the way we had to do it... why not?

Courtney never thought me hanging out with Gwen was any big deal. I told her we were just friends. It was around when the lies began to start.

Right before World Tour started, Courtney and I called off the relationship, and she claimed I was a piece of work who could never change. Sure, we kissed again after that, but I was long gone.

I left the game to do some crime around the world, and let me tell you, it was miserable. So many cops chasing after me, no safe residential I could escape into for the night... and every time I ran from the cops, I thought of her.

I was caught on London, forced back into the game. Courtney went all about saying she missed me, and wanted me back, I admit, I was touched. It was bad enough out in the wild with no company that I preferred to put up with her...

But I still couldn't sleep that night, especially not on that plane. I didn't know where I was walking around, it was simply aimless. I didn't want to be back there, especially with these people. I couldn't stand that. I needed an out...

That was when I heard her.

"I don't know how anybody else can sleep, especially Courtney... I'm still fuzzy like I drank too much coffee, cause we won. And Duncan's back, and he... missed us..."

She made the most adorable giggle when she said that. I didn't know what to make of it. My heart was aching so much from it as I thought of her face from behind that door. Was it sarcastic, or was it actually...? She was so pale, yet so full of emotion at the same time, I'd get lost in it to wonder what she was thinking. I couldn't stop thinking about her.

It sounded like she...

That's when leaning on the door made it open wide, and there she was, her head whipping around as her eyes widened in shock to see me. Her arm was sunburned badly, but the rest of her was just how I remembered it. Gorgeous.

"Oh my gosh..." she stammered in embarrassment, red on her face, "I didn't lock the door?!"

"Locks busted..." I made the observation, trying to change the subject to not make this awkward, "What happened to your arm?"

"This is going to sound so stupid, but I have no idea," Gwen smirked, seeming glad this encounter happened, "And I'm so glad you're here to mock me about it."

"Me too..." As if I was controlled by a demon, I walked in the room fully, grasping her hand. She winced, and a sting in my heart happened when she did so. But she seemed relieved, happy even...

Even today, I don't know what to make of that kiss. It was the best, and worst thing that had ever happened to me. I had finally found her, I found someone who loved me, that I loved back, I had genuine feelings... and I had to perform so many sins to get to it. It felt like if Eros had to murder a ton of innocent humans to get to a love of his life, a girl of his dreams.

Courtney found out, and she never forgave me for that. Not even to this day, it's clear how much she hates me for that kiss. But back then, I didn't care. I was in something I was proud of. I had no regrets. I didn't care how selfish I was.

Not even when Courtney was constantly attempting to murder Gwen, did I care what I was doing. I just got mad that she succeeded in eliminating her. Gwen and I dated for a bit, and it seemed to be going great, as now we got to truly be together and be as chaotic as we wanted. Screw reality tv, screw Courtney, screw the world, it was just us. Even when she restrained and wasn't comfortable with certain things, I ended up respecting her for it, because I didn't want to lose the one good person in my life.

I stopped hanging out with Geoff and Bridgette when we started dating, DJ was told by his mama to not hang out with him, and other people, including my delinquent friends, would be sarcastic in saying I was doing the right thing. They were disgusted. I remember I asked to hang out with DJ, and his excuse for not doing so was, "My mama told me she wishes you were dead."

That cracked me up so hard.

I guess I should have seen the cracks on their warnings, but I didn't. I kept going.

Gwen asked once, based on all the hate mail she got, if what they were doing was right. I asked how she felt about it, and she claimed she... didn't know. She was glad they were dating, she loved him and all, but if everyone she was in a relationship with, platonically, was hating her and avoiding her for it, was it worth it? She lost all her friends when they started dating, even loyal Leshawna. My advice was to not worry about them, not worry about her, as long as they were happy, that was all that mattered. I'd hold her close to ensure her that she didn't have to worry about anything, and we'd kiss again. I was going to keep her. I wasn't going to lose her.

I even overheard a talk with Gwen and her brother, who advised her to break up with me. If our relationship was costing her access to the outside world, then that relationship wasn't worth it.

I didn't want to believe that.

I tried to make her happy by taking her out more. Some cameras would show, but I'd make all the calls, and tell them to go f**k off. I'd make the calls on when we'd go out, and I'd make the calls on what we did. If I saw Courtney, I'd make sure Gwen was as far away from her as possible. Soon enough, a ton of people tried to stalk on us, get to Gwen and tell her to stop dating me, and I'd shut out as many as I did. I wasn't going to let them tell us wat to do. Every time I did that, I told her it was okay. If we were bad, so be it.

I went to that season to be with her, even when she had something else in mind. She... wanted to be friends with Courtney? She believed that Courtney was right? I... no, Courtney was manipulating her, I wasn't going to let her do that!

No one around me liked me, or even cared for me at all. I was fine with that... until Gwen just... decided I wasn't worth a penny. I guess that whole feeling kicked in, and what my actions were costing me. Everyone was ignoring me now, and I was... alone. Completely, utterly, alone.

~~~

I tried everything to get Courtney to notice me again, even if I had to use every affectionate moment with Gwen to do it. I didn't consider her feelings at all, and I did it on my own will. She was my goal to achieving social acceptance once again, and I was gonna get what I want...

I should have seen it coming. Her shoving me and claiming it was over.

She'd broken off of my grasp, and left...

Off camera of the show, I tried to confront her, while she was still angry with me. I followed her into the woods to argue with her, try to make sense on what that was all about. Why did she call us off like that?!

The whole time, she was telling me, "Back off!" "Get away!" "Good night!" "I said it's over, so it's over!" "Leave me alone!"

Why did she hate me all of a sudden?! What did I do?!

Her face was a blood red, of complete rage, as she proclaimed, "Do you have any idea how mortifying it is, to realize that your boyfriend has been using you for their own pleasure and gain, cutting off your contacts, and treating you like some key to treasure and you went along with it?!"

"I never thought you'd still like Courtney," she sneered with a fake smile. I argued back, "She's using another guy for the game, and why does it matter who I hang out with?!"

"Uh-" she couldn't believe my answer, "You're the one who cheated on her!"

"And the others-" "Who cares about the others?!" I argued, getting her in a rally. "Who cares?!" "They don't-" "Who cares?!" "Why-" "What does anyone else mean to you?!" "They-" I tried to argue back, but she kept cutting me off, exploiting her anger, "Literally everyone hated us together, and you don't care at all, like I'm supposed to think Courtney's some supervillain here, like her feelings mean nothing at all if it's not jealousy that you and her couldn't work it out. 'Oh! Now look at me and my fancy new gal, Courtney! Aren't you mad? Aren't for begging to take me back?!' I don't even have a say in this!"

"Like you need to!" I argued back, which got her screaming, "SHE DOESN'T CARE!!"

She shoved me aside, rubbing it in my face, "That girl's moved on DUNCAN! READ THE ROOM!!"

"THEY NEED ME!" I shouted back, swatting her away, which got Gwen stepping away in shock and disbelief. What was her deal?! Why was she completely cutting off my voice like this? What was I doing?!

"You bitch..." she snarled, trying to keep composure of her anger. "Gwen, you mean-" I tried to say, but she cut me off once again, "NOTHING! I. MEAN. NOTHING. TO YOU! I'm just your play thing!!" I didn't think that! I was getting angry myself.

"You're my friend-" I proclaimed, where she argued back, "I thought you were!" "What kind of friend even are you!?" I was roasting her badly, "All you do is complain about other people, and dump everyone because they were weird! You never even listen to me! You never even notice me! You just pretended I didn't exist-"

"OH REALLY?!" she shot back, beginning to cry, "I tried!! I tried so hard!" I kept going, "Everyone keeps telling me I'm a bad kid, and that I'm a disgusting piece of garbage for just finding love, and that there's something wrong with me, and that I needed to be changed into some daily citizen, like you do!" I kept ranting, and Gwen tried to stammer again, "Okay, hold on-!" "Courtney just wanted to change me..." "You're making this all about you!" "And now they think I'm some hero..." "Do I have a voice at all?!" "And like, they don't get me!" "Hear me out!" "They don't get the memo!" "I stood up for you!" "Now everyone's like, 'Yeah you exist, so what?!'" "So I guess I can say anything I want, and it doesn't matter!"

"You just hate me now because I'm not a bad boy in this game, Courtney's on your team, and she's going around telling you that I'm ruining your life!"

"YOU!!" There was so many tear streaks on her eyes right now as she tried to scream back, "Were the only..." she didn't know what words to use after that, "I THOUGHT you were the ONE good thing that's happened to me this entire game, and... turns out the exact OPPOSITE is true... god, I'm awful..."

I couldn't believe her. She had nothing to cry about right now. She was thinking irrationally. All I could say to that was, "Well it's not my fault you don't know who you are."

I didn't see my face when I said that line, but whatever it was, it made Gwen gaze at me differently. She thought I didn't care at all, that I never loved her and just saw her as some object. She thought I was completely heartless the whole time.

"Courtney was right..." Gwen said softly, "She was trying to help you, and you didn't listen to her. My mom, my brother, everyone on TV, They were right..."

"You're TRASH, Duncan. You really are a piece of shit."

"I-" I tried to say something. What was I going to say? I'm sorry? I don't care? You're wrong? I love you? What was going on in my mind then?

Regardless, she cut me off, stomping away and demanding, "Get the f**k out of my life!"

She left me there alone, completely confused. Was I really trash? Did Courtney manipulate her? Was it because I was on the heroes team? Why did she do that?

Why did she leave?

~~~

"Duncan!"

I'm suddenly shook awake by Gwen, who is frustrated with me. She complains, "I swear, you're the heaviest sleeper ever..."

I'm having a hard time waking up...

Tyler's...

Was that how Tyler felt in the afterlife? Is he in hell?!

The Ultimate Punisher...

"Your shift, I'm going to bed," With that, Gwen leaves. I get up in the darkness, looking at everyone. 

~~~

"Wait, so they're back together?" Gwen wonders, "Over that?"

I don't get those two sometimes.

"Got a problem?" We hear Izzy shout in between a kiss. "I find that to be unhealthy," Gwen says. I think I know why she thinks that...

"This woman is the most insane gal I've ever met," Owen claims, still in the river, "You just can't let go of a gal who can do everything she puts her mind to!" They begin making out again.

"So... does this mean you two are lovebirds again?" I ask, where they both shout back, "Don't ask something so pointless!"

"I swear these two have such a simplistic romance," Gwen mutters, rolling her eyes. "Not that I don't have my far share of dumb ones." 

~~~

I already feel a massive sting hit my hand, as if a needle was stuck in it. I slap the bug off, and I start running over the river.

"The hell is wrong with you?!" I hear Gwen scream as she grabs me and throws me over to their side.

~~~

“Cody..." I mutter, which makes Gwen look up at me. "What about him?" she asks, where I can't help but say what I'm thinking, "Why would someone kill him? Why him specifically? He didn't do anything wrong..."

"There's... so much about him I don't know, and I'll never know now. If I knew this'd happen, I'd... well maybe I would have been there for him. Why did he not want to get married? What happened in his life that was so bad that he'd want to stay on this island?? All of those answers... gone with him."

"But... I know one thing. Cody didn't want to die. No matter how bad this situation was for him, he wanted to move on with his life. He wanted to see so much he could live for... he was the only person out of all of us willing to accept his fate and stay here forever... then someone killed him..."

I punch the tree, letting out a gritted, "Why?!! What did he do to deserve such a terrible death?!!!"

Gwen stands there, eyes widened. Courtney watches as well, and I hear her whisper in Gwen's ear, "Why does he even care? He didn't know Cody."

I want to scream at Courtney, but the words can't get out of my mouth to do so. Courtney truly believes I don't care about Cody's death even after hearing that? That I didn't get to know Cody well enough, so there's no reason why I should be saying these things?!

Gwen sighs, clearly not thinking the same way Courtney is. She admits to me, "I knew Cody... sure he wanted to bang me so badly, but... he stood up for me even when you were in my grasp, Duncan. He listened to me. Took my word for it. He helped me get with Trent. He was a great guy, and... and he's gone... he's really gone..." She hugs herself, unsure what else to say to that. It's clear she's mourning Cody's death, even if she isn't crying.

Gwen mourned Heather, and she hated her. There's no reason why she wouldn't mourn Cody, her friend.

Courtney wraps her arm around Gwen to comfort her, telling her, "We're gonna find Cody's killer. I know we will."

I have to ask, "Hey Gwen... do you have any idea why Cody would want to stay on the island?" That's the only motive I can think of on why someone would kill Cody, is if that desire to stay pissed the killer off.

She's hesitant to explain it to the both of us, but she goes ahead. "I don't know for certain what it is. That's coming from someone who was bugged by Cody nearly every day since we got here. Sometimes Courtney or Leshawna would have to get him to back off... there is one thing I can say though that he did tell me. He said something about Sierra wanting him to give her a postcard on his 'experiences with his fiancé'. She was happy for them and the arrangement of their marriage, and how much it'd help Cody in life to her. Cody said to me he never committed to any of that. I think he was scared... He was able to run away from his house for about a month, stay with Trent and Justin... I don't think his parents even noticed his disappearance, or the fact that he came to this island... now they're never gonna see him again."

~~~

"Well then, here we go again," Courtney claims, gazing at Gwen to say, "You don't need to associate with him on this, do you?" Gwen doesn't say anything, but goes with Courtney, and both girls walk away.

"Fine! More clues for me then!" I scoff. 

~~~

“Ah yes, the season you decided to run across the Mediterranean Sea just to dump your girlfriend for a goth!" Courtney scoffs, where I mock, "Yeah, good times..."

"You're a bad person." Gwen states, referring to me.

~~~

Gwen states, "We actually have one..."

She pulls out the Area 2 Data chart we made. "Check it out," she says, "We made an entire database regarding the disasters in Area 2." Bless Gwen. She's making this a lot easier.

"Surprised you picked it up," I say, where Gwen replies, "I doubt you expected anything of me. After all, since you only see your love interests as accessories-"

"I get it!" I cut her off, "Is there a damn pattern here?!"

~~~

Gwen: "So if we're to go off of what we do have..."

Gwen: "My party got caught in the flood yesterday, when we were at Area 1..."

Gwen: "But Area 2 SHOULD HAVE HAD FLOODING as well..."

- Area 2 Disaster Data

"NO THAT'S WRONG!!"

~~~

"And you know Gwen's party was in Area 2 at the time... how?" I ask, where Courtney answers, "Unlike you, Gwen and I actually trust each other."

"And I can absolutely confirm I told Courtney about that, and that she's telling the truth by saying this," Gwen says with a smile.

Courtney gleefully says, "I'm so glad we can agree on something!"

I can appreciate friendship, but seriously, stop ganging up on me when I didn't even do anything.

~~~

"Don't bother!" I jab, "Listening to her whining is a waste of time if you ask me!"

"I agree," Gwen says, "We need to find Cody's killer. For Cody."

I gaze at her starry eyed, asking, "So you forgive me?"

To which Gwen says, "NO."

"You have to admit, Courtney's pretty helpful, more helpful than you, I'll say." Gwen adds, where Courtney expresses, "Thank you!"

~~~

 Izzy: "Can we really trust Gwen's testimony?!"

-Testimony (Gwen)

"Gwen!"

Gwen: "That's alright. We have the TESTIMONY of all of Courtney's party as well!"

[kingfisher4130]

The Chocolate Caper

Ok so I'm in a creative writing class rn (specifically the creative nonfiction part) and I've just been remembering a lot of random stuff from my childhood in general so I wanted to post this here. Basically it's a very embellished retelling of my 9th birthday party but if you want to be pretentious about it you could say it's a cautionary tale about peer pressure.

Ok, for for my 9th birthday party I'd decided to have a sleepover (I really wanted a pool party but having the misfortune of being born in January and not rich enough to have access to an indoor pool, that was literally impossible). My mom had allowed me to invite four people, so I'd chosen my two best friends and two of my cousins.

Meet the brew: First, there was Emma, my best friend. We'd known each other since kindergarten and did everything together. She had black curly hair that she always kept cut shoulder-length and a huge My Little Pony obsession that she'd passed on to me. At the time we were still holding onto our shared dream of starting a horse ranch together. Yes, we were that kind of horse girl.

Unfortunately, my other friend Audrey, an intelligent strawberry-blonde girl with the memory of an elephant, was unable to attend due to an event at her family's temple (they were Jewish). Maybe if she'd been there, the whole thing would've gone much more smoothly. She had more brain cells than the rest of us combined.

Lauren, my cousin who was older than me by a little less than a year, was the planner. If we decided to do something, Lauren would plan every step to the last second. She'd brush her curtain of long, dark hair behind her shoulder and get right to business.

Alyssa, Lauren's younger sister, was her second-in-command, but if she didn't want to follow orders, she would make it extremely obvious. Her curly brown hair and bubbly personality was the antithesis of Lauren's. She and I loved to match with each other more than with our own sisters. We wore matching teal nightgowns with an ice cream cone print to bed that night and identical sunset orange t-shirts the following day.

My little sister Hailey was the last guest. Even though I hadn't invited her, my mother compelled me to include Hailey in every activity. Funnily enough, it was actually her idea to go through with the Chocolate Caper.

Much to my disappointment, nobody else wanted to watch The Sound of Music (a movie, according to my mother, that I'd had memorized since the age of two, thanks to my great-grandmother who always put it on when she watched me at her house while my mother was at work). Therefore, we retreated to the bedroom Hailey and I shared to turn our bunk bed into a fort. I designated Hailey's bunk (the bottom one) as our headquarters.

"Why?" Hailey asked. It was her favorite word, and every time I heard her ask it I felt a piece of my soul die.

"Because I said so," I told her.

That response usually worked, but since we had company, Hailey wasn't ready to concede so quickly this time. She narrowed her blue-grey eyes at me, put her hands defiantly on her hips, and declared, "Mommy says you're not the boss of me."

I knew this was true, but I was a manipulative little shit, and with our guests intently watching the exchange, I wasn't going to back down and lose my authority as The Birthday Girl. I retorted, "It's my party, and that makes me the boss tonight."

Hailey pouted like a four-year-old (which she was) and let us use her bunk as our headquarters. We hung our blankets down from the top bunk (which had been established by Lauren as our lookout tower), then climbed one by one into Hailey's bed.

We spent two or three minutes staring at each other excitedly. None of us had ever made a fort before. After those first minutes were up, we started to get bored. We'd left our stuffed animals in the living room where we'd be sleeping that night, and nobody wanted to go and get them, leaving nothing for us to do.

Hailey was the first to voice her opinion, since she had no filter whatsoever. "I'm boooored."

"Me, too," Alyssa chimed in. Emma, Lauren, and I all glanced at each other.

"We could play My Little Pony," Emma suggested. It was a game the two of us played at school during recess where we pretended to be two ponies that we'd made up. I was more than willing to play, but everyone else... not so much.

"Sure!" I chirped.

"No!" Everyone else groaned.

"I'm hungry," Hailey complained.

"We can go eat some of the snacks," I suggested half-heartedly, referring to the store-bought plate of baby carrots, grape tomatoes, broccoli, chopped celery, and ranch dressing my mom had prepared for us to snack on while we waited for the pizza to arrive. To five kids under the age of ten, this was less than appetizing.

"But broccoli is yuckyyyy," Hailey whined, once again stating what everyone else was too polite to say. "I want chocolate!"

Chocolate sounded much tastier than the vegetables and ranch. I remembered that we somehow still had plenty of candy leftover from Halloween, and as soon as I mentioned this, we were ready to plot a caper.

Lauren took control and made the plan. Hailey was the lookout. She would check to make sure there were no adults in the kitchen or the living room, where we'd be visible. If the coast was clear, we'd hurry to the kitchen and grab one of the swivelly bar chairs. I was the best at climbing, so I would climb on the chair to reach the candy that was hidden in the highest cabinet to prevent sneaky little girls from eating it when we weren't supposed to. While I did that, Emma and Alyssa would hold the swivelling seat still so I didn't fall. If the adults came, Hailey would report to Lauren and Lauren would stall until the rest of us bagged the loot and made our escape back to our "headquarters."

At first, it all went smoothly. Hailey reported that the adults — my mom, my two aunts, and my grandparents — were outside on the back patio chatting. We hurried unnoticed into the kitchen and set the barstool in place. I climbed up on the chair and opened the cabinet.

That was when my dad entered the house, having just returned home from work.

When I say everyone was scared of my dad, I mean everyone was scared of my dad. My cousins, my friends, even full-grown adult men were scared of my dad. A 6'3", broad-shouldered, stone-faced ex-Marine, the guy was pretty intimidating. To this day I am the only one of my siblings who isn't too scared to argue with him.

Lauren, despite being the adults' favorite, chickened out and was unable to stall him. Hailey couldn't stall to save her life, so our dad walked straight past her into the kitchen, where he found me perched on the bar stool that was being held steady by Emma and Alyssa. All three of us froze when we saw him.

Maybe he was being lenient because it was my birthday, or maybe he was just tired from work, but all he said was a stern, "No. Get down from there."

I was quick to obey, but I doubt it would've made a difference, because all he did was grab a beer from the fridge and head outside, where my grandparents were chatting with my mom and her two sisters, who were visiting for my birthday.

We watched him go, then glanced quickly around at each other, half-terrified that we'd been caught, half-relieved that we weren't in trouble.

I was the first to recover, and I looked accusingly at Lauren and Hailey. Lauren apologized sheepishly.

"He scared me," she admitted, shrugging.

"Guys, this is our chance!" Alyssa said, effectively getting us back on track. I climbed back up onto the chair, opened the cabinet, and fished out the canvas bag in which my mom had stored the candy. Once I'd hopped down, Emma and Alyssa put the chair back, and we hurried back to our fort to begin our saccharine feast.

When my Mom came to tell us that the pizza had arrived and it was time to eat, she found all five of us huddled on Hailey's bed with chocolate all over our faces. I was savoring a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup; Hailey was in the middle of testing how many Milky Way Minis she could fit in her mouth at the same time; Alyssa was working on her eighth fun-size bag of M&Ms; Emma was rifling through the bag for more Almond Joys, and Lauren had just finished her third Tootsie Roll and had begun to unwrap her fourth.

My mom didn't even get mad. She simply burst into hysterical laughter (though I'm not sure if she was actually amused or if she realized how hard it was going to be to get us all to sleep that night after all that sugar we'd just gorged ourselves on) and went to grab the camera.

Everyone, even Alyssa, who ate like a bird, had room for two slices of pizza and a slice of birthday cake. However, right before bed, we were all instructed to put our shoes on and go run laps around the backyard until we had a sugar crash and we were too tired to do anything but troop heavily back into the house, crash on the sofa, and go to sleep.

It was probably the last good birthday party I've had.

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Whumptober Planning, Day 18

Kauri sits at the edge of the bed, staring down at the simple rectangle in his hand, with its glittery teal case a comforting soft plastic wrapping, the screen lit up as his thumb inputs the numbers that he's written down on a piece of paper.

He glances back and forth from one to the other, making sure each press is correct, taking his time. Taking too much time.

He almost puts the phone down.

Almost.

Antoni, head laying on his thigh and the rest of him angled away across the bed, right at the edge, offers only the touch that he can stand right now. He tilts his chin up to look almost upside-down at Kauri. Something in the warm dark brown of his eyes is calming. Maybe just that Kauri has looked into them for so long. "Do not be afraid," He offers, voice low and soft. "Nothing bad will happen."

Jake, seated next to Kauri, huffs soundless laughter. When the other two men look at him in confusion, he sighs, running his hand down his face. "It just made me think… fear not, for I am with you," He intones in mocking seriousness. It pulls a slightly unwilling smile onto Kauri's face. "Be not dismayed, for I am your… Jake and Antoni… I will-"

"We," Antoni corrects serenely. "We will, Jasha."

"We, sorry Ant, we will strengthen you, we will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand-"

"You'll do what with your right hand?" Kauri actually giggles, his low deep laughter a relief to both of the other men. "Clearly the Bible is sexier than I think it is."

"It's really not. I've been trying to forget all that shit for years. I mean, the one part is… kind of. If you don't think too much about the metaphors. I wasn't allowed to read that bit for a long time."

"Why not?" Antoni blinks.

"Don't know. Maybe they were worried I'd start thinking girls could think sexy thoughts, too, and wonder why they were supposedly so bad to have if, like, the wisest king had them…" He trails off. "Probably just because we might read the word 'breasts'."

There's a pause. "I don't get it," Kauri says. "Did they think you didn't know, or…"

"Honestly? No idea. You weren't exactly allowed to ask."

"Well, I bet the Bible would all be sexy if I read it," Kauri points out, his thumb hovering over the little phone icon, not quite pressing to make the call. "Just think about what I could do with all the shit Jesus said."

"Probably would be, but then my relationship with religion would get even weirder than it already is, so maybe not a great plan." Jake leans over and presses a kiss into Kauri's black curls, still damp from the shower. "Hey. You're stalling."

Kauri wrinkles his nose. "Am not."

"You absolutely are." Jake speaks into his soft hair, lips moving against his scalp as he breathes in the scent of shampoo. "I get it, but it's okay. You can do this."

"We are right here for you," Antoni adds.

Kauri nods, resting his hand in Antoni's messy mop of dark hair, biting his lower lip. "Right. You're both right here."

Kauri takes a deep and shaky breath.

"Okay. Let's get this over with."

He presses the call button, the phone on speaker so the sound of its ring echoes through the room.

[interstellarre]

Delve In The Depths. Chapter II.

Word Count. 1.5k

a/n. Just a quick btw, Meno gave Xiao the nickname "Emerald duck" because emerald ducks have greenish teal stripes on their heads and Xiao has teal undertones in his hair.

Trigger Warnings. Mentions of death and violence

Series Masterlist

Chapter II.

Again and again these waves crash over Xiao's subconscious. Riptides of lost human dreams, the tsunamis of guilt, and the eons of pain build each other up, growing larger as they drown him in endless suffering. Waves of black vapor cloud his person. He clutches his mask

He can hear their screams now as he writhes on the top floor of Wangshu Inn in agony, barely supporting the weight of his body with his arms leaning on the balcony rails.

"Xiao, Xiao!" he turns his head to see Verr Goldet franticly searching for him.

"There's someone downstairs, the-they, Verr Goldet stutters on her words, waving her arms around unlike her usual composed self.

Xiao doesn't wait for to finish, he grabs his pole arm by reflex prepared to strike the threat down.

Instead he's met with a person grappling with pain on the floor.

"Why slime condensate exactly?"

"Hm?" Xiangling gives you a genuinely confused look despite it not exactly being the social norm to add slime liquids to a meal. She was climbing up a sandbearer tree. The striped squirrels on the ground scatter upon her arrival.

"What gave you the idea to add slime into your dishes?" you clarify, trying not to come off as rude. Tossing the wicker basket between your hands as a form of entertainment while your culinary friend ducked her head underneath a branch.

The trees ruffle and flocks of crimson flinches and golden flinches fly off to the sky as Xiangling forages around in the tree branches for bird eggs.

"What gave you the idea that not everything is edible?" she playfully teases, now placing bird eggs by sets of two in the basket she previously gave you in Wanmin Restaurant.

You giggle, covering your hands with your mouth. She motions for you to put the basket down and come over while she grabs you by the shoulders ("Don't you dare-") and hops down. Unfortunately, you aren't heavy enough to support her body weight when she jumps down with her full force.

"Ugh!" you groan as you both tumble down to the floor. You raise a hand to your head and cover your forehead. "Was that really necessary?" you sigh, already far too used to her antics. She snickers.

As you regain your footing, you ask, "How far along are we exactly? My mother will have an aneurysm if we step foot in Moon City.*" Xiangling had already run off, and with the basket no doubt.

You look to your right and find her by the lake counting hydro slimes behind a crack between a few slabs of stone. You crouch down besides her. Her charcoal hair brushes against your mulberry silk skirt.

"1,2,3,4." Yes! this is definitely enough for my new dish!" she pumps her fist in the air.

You don't remember there being a lake to the far right in the places your mother told you to stick to.

"Let me guess," you strike a thinking pose, you want me to set up a new shop here for your new culinary competition?" you sarcastically muse.

She rolls her eyes. "No, silly I-," she stops at your amused expression. "Ah- well go on than."

You reach your arm to summon your now unsheathed dagger attached to the leather belt on your waist, ignoring the long bow and arrows attached on your back and rather choosing a melee weapon,

Standing up from your hiding spot, the group hydro slime flock, well bounce towards you.

The air turns frosty and Xiangling's teeth chatter while she rubs her arms in hopes of warming up. "Don't turn me into a chef popsicle before I get the slime condensate [Name]!"

As you kneel down to slam the stiletto dagger into sand, sharp edged flower patterns appear on the ground. The slimes teeter back at the sound chill between their mass before large icicles spring up, piercing their bodies and turning them into goo.

"Woo!" Xiangling jumps above the rock pile and excitedly cheers. Pumping her arms up. "That's my girl!"

"It was nothing really. What was it you needed next again? Of course after you've collected the slime condensate of course." you stop talking as Xiangling sweeps the slightly frozen slime fluids off the crystals you've created into a glass bottle.

"Well talking about other ingredients, I actually wanted to try something." she mentions with a certain twinkle in her eyes.

"You have my attention." You wave your hand at her to go on.

"You know that cooking competition? The one I had in the Mondstadt with the chef named Brooke?"

"I don't recall you telling me that, can you specify?" racking your brain for memories of Xiangling's rantings about food. You suddenly feel drops of sweat on your back despite not being lukewarm at the very best. It must just be from the excitement from fighting the slimes, you think pushing away your other thoughts on the matter.

"Well anyways, we found this extinct species of boar with the help of the traveler, I believe they're called the honorary knight now?" she taps her chin. "That's besides the point but, anyways, it made me think of the different varieties of possible meat options I could use with different monsters. Can you go with me north of Jueyun Karst with me to find a Stonehide Lawachurl?" She claps her hands together into a begging motion. "Please, Please?"

"Mhm, I'm not sure how fast we can make it there? You didn't hear my question before when I was asking where we were before. I'm planning on packing my bags early when I go home overmorrow." you say counting the possible time it would take you to pack all your belongings. Black spots appear in your vision. You open your mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.

"Hmm, I'd say if we're lucky, a few hours? It's lucky that it's still the early morning huh?" Xiangling turned her attention to you from the mushrooms she was picking underneath the trees.

"[Name]?"

She looks over to see you on your knees, black substance withering out of your body. Sweat drips down your forehead.

She frantically shakes you, but your vision has gone black.

"[Name]!"

The blood on Bosacius' arm dripped to the ground creating a thin string trailing only to be diluted by the pouring rain water behind Bosacius and a certain teal haired adeptus. Bosacius gripped his injured arm with his other.

"You need to treat that wound," Xiao said, glaring at his fellow adeptus' wound. He could see the majority of Bosacius bone creeping out of his flesh. A familiar sight.

"Rest assured, I've been in worse state. I just never expect it to hurt as much as it always does," grimaced Bosacius through his smiling expression. The water soaked through his garments and drenched his hair.

"You sound like one of those mortals, trying to fight through their deathly injuries only not to see the next day," replied Xiao looking forward to their destination of Jueyun Karst. He could see the towering peaks getting larger and larger as they move on despite the misty atmosphere.

"We're all too mortal for our liking these days." said Bosacius, his expression unreadable.

The sound of steps softly crushing the blades of grass underneath them and thunder rumbling filled the air while their owners remained silent.

"Have you told Rex Lapis about the constant pain you've been experiencing?" said Xiao, breaking the silence.

Bosacius bit his bottom lip while his working hands, well, what was left of them tensed up. "No, I didn't see the need to bother him. I'm sure he has other pressing matters to attend to now, especially with the incline in aggression from monsters around Liyue Harbor recently. It's strange," The older man looked up to the sky, while Xiao had a distracted look on his face from thinking about the increased monster attacks. "I have yet to figure out the cause behind it."

"I believe Cloud Retainer and Mountain Shaper are free this evening, I'll ask them for their input on the situation later."

They had arrived at Jueyun Karst, the floating island in the middle of the adepti abode was lit up, symbolizing the availability of Cloud Retainer.

"I'd imagine we don't have the need to place an offering in the middle of the lake huh?" Bosacius winks at Xiao. Xiao looks down at the lake, full of ripple currently from the cloudburst. The empty bowl in the middle overflowed with liquid.

Bosacius gave a forced smile at his correct prediction of their fellow adepti's availability. "Well, I suppose it's best for me to head off and find Indarias to heal my wounds."

"That would be for the best." confirmed Xiao

"Thank you for accompanying me for this trip."

Xiao turned his back and Bosacius was gone

"Hey! Emerald duck!"

Xiao swore he heard the inter layers of hell again as he pinched the bridge of his nose

"Oh archons," he cursed under his breath. Menogias tumbled towards him, no grace or posture in her current childlike state.

*Moon City refers to Mondstadt as Mondstadt translates to Moon City in German.

a/n. Incase anyone was wondering the reader's constellation is "The Maiden" or "Virgo". I'm planning on making a character sheet for the reader soon, so watch out for that!

[thewidowsghost]

The Daughter of the Sea - Chapter 9

(Y/n)'s POV

It doesn't take me long to pack. I decide to leave the Minotaur horn in the cabin, which leaves me only an extra change of clothes and a toothbrush to stuff in a backpack Grover had found for me.

The camp store loans me one hundred dollars in mortal money and twenty golden drachmas. The coins are as big as Girl Scout cookies and have images of various Greek Gods stamped on one side and the Empire State Building on the other. The ancient mortal drachmas had been silver, Chiron had told us, but Olympins never used less than pure gold. Chiron said the coins might come in for non-mortal transactions - whatever that might mean. He gives Annabeth, Percy, and me canteens of nectar and Ziploc bags full of ambrosia squares, to be used only in emergencies, if we were seriously hurt. It is god food, Chiron reminds us. It would cure us of almost any injury, but it is lethal to mortals. Too much of it would make a half-blood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn us up, literally, Fun.

Annabeth is bringing her magic Yankees cap, which she tells me had been a twelfth-birthday present from her mom. She is also bringing a book on famous classical architecture, written in Ancient Greek, to read when she gets bored, and a long bronze knife, hidden in her shirt sleeve. I'm sure the knife is going to get us busted the first time we go through a metal detector.

Grover is wearing his fake feet and his pants to pass as a human. He wears a green rasta-style cap, because when it rains his curly hair flattened and you can just see the tips of his horns. Grover's bright orange backpack is full of scrap metal and apples to snack on. In his pocket is a set of reed pipes his daddy goat had carved for him, even though he only knows two songs: Mozart's Piano Concerto Number 12 and Hilary Duff's 'So Yesterday,' both of which sound pretty bad on reed pipes.

We wave good-bye to the other campers, take one last look at eh strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hike up the Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia, the Daughter of Zeus.

Chiron is waiting for us in his wheelchair. Next to him stands the surfer dude I'd seen when I was recovering in the sick room. According to Grover, the guy is the camp's head of security. He supposedly had eyes all over his body so he could never be surprised. Today, though, he's wearing a chauffeur's uniform, so I can only see the extra eyes on his hands, face, and neck.

"This is Argus," Chiron tells me. "He'll drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things."

I hear footsteps behind us.

Luke comes running up the hill, carrying a pair of basketball shoes. "Hey!" he pants. "Glad I caught you."

Annabeth blushes, the way she always does when Luke is around.

"Just wanted to say good luck," Luke tells us. "And I thought . . . um, maybe you could use these."

He hands Percy a pair of sneakers, which look pretty normal.

Then, Luke says, "Maia!"

White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels. The shoes flap around on the ground until the wings fold up and disappear.

"Awesome!" Grover exclaims.

Luke smiles. "Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days...." His expression turns sad.

Annabeth stomps down the other side of the hill, after arguing with Percy, where a white SUV waits on the shoulder of the road. Argus follows, jingling his car kees.

Percy picks up the flying shoes and then looks up at Chiron. "I won't be able to use these, will I?"

Chiron shakes his head. "Luke meant well, Percy. But taking to the air...that would not be wise for you."

I nod, getting an idea, "Hey, Grover. You want a magic item?"

His eyes light up. "Me?"

Pretty soon, we'd laced the sneakers over his fake feet, and the world's first flying goat boy is ready for launch.

"Maia!" Grover shouts. He gets off the ground, okay, but then falls over sideways so his backpack drags through the grass. The winged shoes keep bucking up and down like tiny broncos.

"Practice," Chiron calls after him. "You just need practice."

"Aaaaa!" Grover goes flying sideways down the hill like a possessed lawnmower, heading towards the can.

But before I can follow, Chiron catches my arm. "I should have trained you two better, Percy, (Y/n)," he says. "If only I had more time. Hercules, Jason - they all got more training."

"That's okay. I just -" I stop myself.

"What am I thinking?" Chiron cries. "I can't let the two of you get away without these." He pulls two pens out of his coat pocket and hands one to me and one to Percy.

Looking down at it, I see a teal-colored gel pen. Maybe cost thirty cents.

"Gee," Percy says. "Thanks."

"Percy, those are gifts from your father. I've been keeping them for years, not knowing you two were the ones I was waiting for. But the prophecy is clear to me now. You two are the ones."

Instinctively I take off the cap, and the pen grows longer and heavier in my hand. In half a second, I am holding a shimmering bronze sword with a double-edged blade, a teal and silver leather-wrapped grip. This is the first weapon that feels balanced in my hand.

"That sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into," Chiron tells Percy. "Its name is Anaklusmos."

"Riptide," Percy translates.

"I have never seen anyone use that sword that I'm aware of," Chiron says, turning to me. "Yours is named Τυφώνας."

"Hurricane," I translate, surprised that the Ancient Greek came so easily to me.

"Use them only for emergencies," Chiron says, "and only against monsters. No hero should harm mortals unless absolutely necessary, of course, but neither sword would hurt them in any case."

I look down at the wickedly sharp blade. "What do you mean it wouldn't harm mortals? How could it not?"

"Those swords are celestial bronze. Forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, cooled in the River Lethe. It's deadly to monsters, to any creature from the Underworld, provided they don't kill you first. But the blades will pass through morals like an illusion. They simply are not important for the blade to kill. And I should warn you two: as demigods, you can be killed by either celestial or normal weapons. You are twice as vulnerable."

"Good to know," Percy says.

"Now recap the pens," Chiron says.

Percy and I touch the pen cap to the sword tips and instantly Riptide and Hurricane shrink to ballpoint pens again. I tuck it in my pocket, a little nervous because it's pretty easy to lose a pen.

"You can't," Chiron says.

"Can't what?" I ask, slightly confused.

"Lose the pens," he says. "They're enchanted. They'll always reappear in your pockets. Try it."

Warily, I throw the pen as far as I can down the hill and watch it disappear in the grass.

"It may take a few moments," Chiron tells us. "Now check your pocket."

Sure enough, the pen is there.

"Okay, that is extremely cool," I admit.

"But what if a mortal sees one of us pulling out a sword?" Percy asks.

Chiron smiles. "Mist is a powerful thing, Percy."

"Mist?" I ask.

"Yes. Read The Iliad. It's full of references to the stuff. Whatever divine or monstrous elements mix with the mortal world, they generate Mist, which obscures the vision of humans. You will see things just as they are, being a half-blood, but humans will interpret things quite differently. Remarkable, really, the lengths to which humans will go fit things into their version of reality.

I put Hurricane back into my pocket.

For the first time, the quest feels real. I'm leaving Half-Blood Hill. I'm heading west with no adult supervision, no backup plan, not even a cell phone - Chiron said cell phones were traceable by monsters; if we used one, it would be no worse than sending up a flare. I have no weapon stronger than a sword to fight off monsters and reach the Land of the Dead.

"Chiron . . ." Percy says. "When you say the gods are immortal . . . I mean, there was a time before them, right?"

"Four ages before them, actually. The Time of the Titans was the Fourth Age, sometimes called the Golden Age, which is definitely a misnomer. This, the time of Western civilization and the rule of Zeus, is the Fifth Age."

"So what was it like...before the gods?"

Chiron purses his lips. "Even I am not old enough to remember that, child, but I know it was a time of darkness and savagery for mortals. Kronos, the lord of the Titans, called his reign the Golden Age because men lived innocent and free of all knowledge. But that was mere propaganda. The Titan king cared nothing for your kind except as appetizers or a source of cheap entertainment. It was only in the early reign of Lord Zeus, when Prometheus the good Titan brought fire to mankind, that your species began to progress, and even then Prometheus was branded a radical thinker. Zeus punished him severely, as you may recall. Of course, eventually, the gods warmed to humans, and Western civilization was born."

"But the gods can't die now, right? I mean, as long as Western civilization is alive, they're alive. So...even if I failed, nothing could happen so bad it would mess up everything, right?" I ask, feeling rather uncertain.

Chiron gives me a melancholy smile. "No one knows how long the Age of the West will last, (Y/n). The gods are immortal, yes. But then, so were the Titans. They still exist, locked away in their various prisons, forced to endure endless pain and punishment, reduced in power, but still very much alive. May the Fates forbid that the gods should ever suffer such a doom, or that we should ever return to the darkness and chaos of the past. All we can do, child, is follow our destiny."

"Our destiny...assuming we know what that is," I say grimly.

"Relax," Chiron tells me. "Keep a clear head. And remember, the two of you may be about to prevent the biggest war in human history."

"Relax," I say. "I'm very relaxed."

When Percy and I get to the bottom of the hill, I look back. Under the pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus, Chiron is now standing in full horse-man form, holding his bow high in salute. Just your typical summer-camp send-off by your typical centaur."

Argus drives us out of the countryside and into western Long Island, It feels weird to be on a highway again, Annabeth and Grover sitting next to me, Percy on the other side of Grover, as if we were normal carpoolers. After two weeks at Half-Blood Hill, the real world seems like a fantasy. I find myself staring at every McDonald's, every kid in the back of his parent's car, every billboard and shopping mall.

"So far so good," Percy tells Annabeth. "Ten miles and not a single monster."

She gives Percy an irritated loo. "It's bad luck to talk that way."

"Remind me again - why do you hate us so much?" Percy asks.

"I don't hate you two."

"Could've fooled me."

Annabeth folds her cap of invisibility. "Look...we're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals."

"Why?" Percy asks.

Annabeth sighs. "How many reasons do you want? One time my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena's temple, which is hugely disrespectful. Another time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god for the city of Athens. Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift. My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her."

"They must really like olives," Percy comments, and I stifle a snort of laughter.

"Oh, forget it," Annabeth grumbles.

"Now, if she invented pizza - that I could understand," I add, in a slightly teasing tone.

"I said, forget it!" Annabeth says, hitting me lightly on the arm.

In the front seat, Argus smiles. He doesn't say anything, but one blue eye on the back of his neck winks at me.

Traffic slows down in Queens. By the time we get into Manhattan, it is sunset and starting to rain.

Argus drops us at the greyhound Station on the Upper East Side, not far from my mom and Gabe's apartment. Taped to a mailbox is a soggy flyer with mine and Percy's picture on it: Have you seen these children?

Percy rips it down before Annabeth and Grover can notice.

Argus unloads our bags, makes sure we get our bus tickets, then drives away, the eye on the back of his hand opening to watch us as he pulls out of the parking lot.

I think about how close I am to the apartment. On a normal day, Mom would be home from the candy store by now. Smelly Gabe is probably up there right now, playing poker, not even missing her.

Grover shoulders his backpack. He gazes down the street in the direction I am looking. "You want to know why she married him, (Y/n)?"

I stare at him. "Were you reading my mind?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Just your emotions," Grover shrugs. "You were thinking about your mom and your stepdad, right?"

I nod.

"Your mom married Gabe for you and Percy," Grover tells me. "You call him 'Smelly,' but you've got no idea. This guy has this aura . . . Yuck. I can smell him from here. I can smell traces of him o you, and you haven't been near him in a week."

"Thanks," Percy grimaces from Grover's other side. "Where's the nearest shower?"

"You should be grateful, Percy. Your stepfather smells so repulsively human he could mask the presence of any demigod. As soon as I took a whiff inside his Camaro, I knew: Gabe has been covering your scent for years. If you hadn't lived with him every summer, you probably would've been found by monsters a long time ago. Your mom stayed with him to protect you. She was a smart lady. She must've loved you a lot to put up with that guy—if that makes you feel any better."

I soften, looking down a the ground. I'll see her again, I think. She isn't gone.

You will be betrayed by one who calls you a friend, the Oracle whispers in my mind. You will fail to save what matters most in the end.

The rain keeps coming down.

We get restless waiting for the bus and decide to play some Hacky Sack with one of Groer's apples. Annabeth was unbelievable at it. She could bounce the apple off her knee, her elbow, her shoulder, whatever. Percy wasn't too bad either, but I found that I wasn't that great at it.

The game ends when I toss the apple towards Grover and it gets too close to his mouth. In one mega goat bite, our Hacky Sack disappears - core, stem, and all.

Grover blushes. He tries to apologize, but Annabeth, Percy, and I are too busy cracking up.

Finally, the bus comes.

I am relieved when we finally get on board and find seats together in the back of the bus, Me and Annabeth in one row, and Percy and Grover across from us. The four of us stow our backpacks.

I glance over at Annabeth beside me, who keeps slapping her Yankees cap nervously against her thigh.

As the last passengers get on, Annabeth claps her hand onto my knee. "Look!"

An old lady had just boarded the bus. She is wearing a crumpled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadows her face and she is carrying a big paisley purse. When she tilts her head up, her black eyes glitter.

I see Percy slump down in his seat.

Behind her comes two more old ladies: one in a green hat, one in a purple hat. Otherwise, they look exactly like Mrs. Dodds - same gnarled hands, paisley handbags, wrinkled velvet dress. Triple demon grandmothers.

They sit in the front row, right behind the driver. The two on the aisle cross their legs over the walkway, making an X. It is casual enough, but it sends a clear message: Nobody leaves.

The bus pulls out of the station, and we head through the slick streets of Manhattan.

"She didn't stay dead long," Percy says, his voice quavering a little. "I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime."

"I said if you're lucky," Annabeth murmurs. "You're obviously not."

"All three of them," Grover whimpers. "Di immortales!"

"It's okay," Annabeth says, obviously thinking hard. "The Furies. The worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We'll just slip out the windows."

"They don't open," Grover moans.

"A back exit?" she suggests.

There isn't one. Even if there had been, it wouldn't have helped. By that time, we are on Ninth Avenue heading for the Lincoln Tunnel.

"They won't attack us with witnesses around," I say. "Will they?"

"Mortals don't have good eyes," Annabeth reminds me. "Their brains can only process what they see through the Mist."

"They'll see three old ladies killing us, won't they?" Percy asks.

She thinks about it. "Hard to say. But we can't count on mortals for help. Maybe an emergency exit in the roof . . . ?"

We hit the Lincoln Tunnel, and the bus goes dark except for the running lights down teh aisle. It is eerily quiet without the sound of the rain.

"I need to use the rest-room."

"So do I."

"So do I."

All three demons start coming down the aisle.

"I've got it," Annabeth says. "Percy, take my hat."

"What?" he says with disbelief.

"You're the one they want. You killed one of them. Turn invisible and go up the aisle. Let them pass you. Maybe you can get to the front and get away."

"But you guys -"

"There's an outside chance they might not notice us," Annabeth says as she glances over at me. "You're a son of the Big Three. Your smell might be overpowering."

"I can't just leave you," Percy says, looking desperately at me.

"Go," I say, frowning and Annabeth hands him the cap.

The old ladies are not old ladies anymore. Their faces are still the same - I guessed they couldn't get any uglier - but their bodies had shriveled into leathery brown hag bodies with bat's wings and hands and feet like gargoyle claws; their handbags had turned into fiery whips.

The Furies surround me, Grover, and Annabeth, lashing their whips, hissing: "Where is it? Where?"

The other people on the bus are screaming, cowering in their seats. They see something, all right.

"He's not here!" Annabeth yells. "He's gone!"

The Furies raise their whips.

Annabeth draws her bronze knife. Grover grabs a tin can from his snack bag and prepares to throw it.

Word Count: 3222 words

[dishonestkilla]

Hate Me

This is a very short headcanon I thought of while listening to the song below.

TW: Angst, language, NSFW, 18+ content, mentions of violence, smut, toxic relationship, nasty smut it's nasty so read at ur ownnnnnnnn risk

Pairing: Drug Dealer!ReaderAU × Dabi

words: 3k

There was a thick silence in the dark alley where they stood. The only sound being the sound of tobacco burning on the other side of the cancer stick that was placed between her plush lips, the smoke she inhaled being freed the moment she breathed out, letting the toxins out towards his furious face.

Teal eyes burnt through her soul, shooting daggers at her. If a gaze could kill, she would've been long dead.

"So, that is all you are? A petty criminal?" The question was more rhetorical than something that actually needed to be asked. Dabi never knew what she actually did, hell, he now wanted to know if he ever actually was aware of who she was..But now, all that he could feel was a slice of anger blinding his sight.

"Yeah," She shrugged, still unfazed by his shaking figure and in one second, she could've sworn that a blue flame sparked on the surface of his scarred face but being the stubborn woman, the warning sign of his rage was ignored.

To her, his wrath was not justified nor was it plausible. This was her life, it had always been. Just because she let him spend a night here and there, caressed the side of his rough face, kissed his lips tenderly and loved him dearly, holding him close whenever she felt like breaking, it didn't mean that he could interfere in her business life.

"You have been lying to me all this time? Staged working at Kurogiri's bar for what? To get your hands on some filthy money?? Is that it? Money? Is that all you care for? Don't you think that our world has enough problems, wouldn't you like to be part of something that is actually worth a thing?" Dabi's voice raised slightly at the end, his hands flying up in dissatisfaction as he eyed her, but the sight he saw was anything but pleasant.

Her face had been contorted into a crooked smile, head tilted go the side just a little, orbs darker than usual. That grimace made him so mad, he could've sworn a vein in his neck popped from how tense he had become.

"Listen to yourself, acting all big and tough. Fucking hell," Y/N blurted, a big puff of smoke leaving her throat as she laughed out, "So what if I am not the Messiah. So what if I am not like you, a saint, a chosen one. I have been doing this ever since I left home, if you don't like it, you don't have to be going out with me." She continued, face turning serious, her orbs now igniting a new flame in themselves.

"You don't have to love me, if you don't want to accept me," her voice was barely audible when she said that but knowing Dabi, Y/N was sure he heard her.

"Why don't you let me help you then? Because I do love you, fuck, I love you so much, isn't it proof enough that I'd put myself as a villain at risk to be exposed to some junkie that would die to sell me to the police? Just to be able to he-" before the real eyed male could continue, he was interrupted, Y/N now also tensed up, lips quivering, she was mad and it was evident.

"I don't need your damn help, you bastard!" And in the next second, her hand had made contact with the surface of his face, leaving a red print behind.

"I owe you nothing and don't want to either," she hissed, jaw clenching, hands balled into fists as her gaze was now hunting him down.

"Owe me? Who in the fuck told you that in a relationship people owe each other things?!"

"Who in the fuck dated you, so that you know now?!" Her words weren't little knives into his hearts, no, it was like her ever so soft hands wrapped around the organ itself, crushing it inside of his chest. Just like that.

"You don't mean that," He whispered, now suddenly vulnerable, hurt and saddened.

"Yes, I do. I do, because you always claim to know everything, mess up my business, try to tell me what the fuck to do, and then dare to teach me on relationships. Reality check, Dabi. You're a villain, a burnt, brutal, scary villain. Nothing more." She yelled at this point. Tears welling up in her eyes, entire body shaking in frustration as her voice made it's way to the ears of the black haired man.

His lips were shaking, and now it wasn't only anger and sadness inside of his guts, it was something much worse.

Dabi wanted to wrap his hands around her throat and squeeze. Hard.

But no, not like one of the times where he had her against the wall, hips plowing into hers, one nipple between his fingers as she moaned loudly at his ministrations, head against the concrete. Not like those times where he let out his steam on her, ravaging her body, leaving purple marks on her satin alike skin that he had adorned with love bites moments before.

It wasn't one of the many moments in which she submitted to him with a mewl because of how roughly his digits burned her as a sign of affection alongside of his length caressing her velvety walls, bruising thrusts being the source for the nasty clapping and squelching noises that filled the room of the empty bathroom stall in some random club.

This was different, he wanted to cut her oxygen supply for good, watch as her face started to grimace, eyes rolling back as he took her life ever so slowly before burning her perfect body in his flames, feeling her warmth one last time before extinguishing her.

Without even noticing, he had moved forward, trapping her between the brick barricade behind her, caging her between his arms while holding her down with his own weight.

The way she looked at him caused a low growl to erupt his chest, a rush of heat running down his spine as he watched her with intent eyes.

Now, it was his turn to smirk twistedly at Y/N as the girl gulped. It wasn't like she was weak, the opposite, her quirk was one to be feared at least to say, after all, she could manipulate other people's nerves to bend at her own will, if she wanted to, she could cause him severe pain, but instead of that, she let him pin her down with his eyes. Despite of being powerful, she was fairly aware of Dabi's high pain tolerance as well as his immense strength. Y/N wasn't stupid enough to try and fight the male when she was intoxicated at that.

"Let me show you what you do to me.."

Before she could even protest, his lips had been attached to her sweet spot right below her right ear, a meal leaving her plump lips, melting at his touch and the way his calloused hands traveled the surface of her body. Arms now around his neck as she pulled him impossibly closer, causing Dabi to snicker against her throat while leaving wet kisses on her neck, marking her in his wake.

"Look at you, already a whimpering mess and I haven't even started yet," he rasped, now standing up straight again to meet her desperate gaze.

"Shut up," the girl retorted with sass, now it was her turn to tease him.

Lips colliding with his own, the taste of nicotine and whiskey flooding her senses, everything a blur and the reason on why they had started to banter long forgotten, the only thing mattering being their lust and desire for one another.

While his fingers tugged at the strands of her locks, her own had started to fumble with his belt, haphazardly ripping away the leather piece before she slid down the wall to kneel in front of his growing erection.

The heels of her shoes now meeting the wall as he had granted little space so she could do whatever she wanted to.

Soft pecks placing themselves against his restrained bulge before his hands wrapped themselves around her hair, making her look up at his gaze, "Get to it," he ordered and Y/N didn't have to be told twice before pulling his pants and boxers down to below his thighs, just enough to grant access to the angry tip of his cock, precum already leaking down the slit.

Experimentally she licked a stripe from his base to the tip, tasting his slightly pineapple flavoured release.

Yes, pineapple. She had forced him to eat the fruit regularly, if he wanted her lips around his length and his shaft down her throat.

One hand wrapped around him, thumb and index finger not able to touch, she started to jerk off the tall individual in front of herself, eyes focused on his leaking tip, paying attention to the area with kitten licks.

"Did you forget how to suck dick? Do I have to remind you?" He snapped at her, a sneaky smirk on his face.

Not wanting to play his petty game, the female let her head down till her nose met with his pubic bone, irises blown wide with lust at the sight of him groaning, his head lulled back at the immense pressure of feeling the walls of her throat inviting him.

Repeating the action a few times she then proceeded to suck down his erection with quick yet impactful bobbing motions, cheeks hollowing around him, practically milking him for whatever he was about to give her.

The two were fighting, they hated each other at times and probably had been at the verge of killing the other more than just once, however, they also knew each other more than anyone else did and not only physically but also emotionally. Now, the knowledge of one another's body and sweet spots were the advantage of their frankly scandalous little escapade in some dark alleyway where she had been dealing some of her 'happy pills' and 'devil's lettuce' the latter being what she was high on herself. The only difference being the passion and burning desire that fueled her intoxicated mind to wander even more. 'Test the waters and play with fire', as she liked to say.

One of his scarred hands darted out into her hair, nimble fingers digging in as he took a fist of her locks into his palm, pulling her head down his entire shaft, the intrusion causing a soft gag to escape her throat, eyes shooting up to meet his mischievous gaze upon her, the sight of his lazy smirk yet fiery orbs sending a jolt straight to her core.

He had regained control of what was going down, his hips now ramming into her mouth as if it was a fleshlight for him to abuse. The mere sight of how her pretty lips wrapped around his tip just to be parted more whilst he forced her down onto his length, the way she salivated all over him, drool now dribbling down onto her exposed cleavage that was peeking up from underneath the flimsy top she wore, her eyes slowly watering as she laid her hands on either side of his thick thighs. It was mesmerizing, if he could he would take a picture of it.

Finally satisfied with one last thrust into her sloppy cavern, the male didn't wait any longer before pulling her up to her wobbly legs, turning her around, he pushed her face into the wall behind herself, moving behind her as his lips latched onto her neck again, leaving bite marks here and there while his hands made quick work of her leather pants, pulling them down her thighs hastily, groaning at the sight of her lacy panties, "Seems like you've expected this, yeah? Getting fucked by no other than your man in a nasty alleyway." Making her sneer at him, she was quick to reply to his comment, "My man? Darling, you're not even a man in the first place!" That was it.

That was what caused his next moves to be crude and rougher than usual.

Pinning her arms behind her back as he bent her over against the wall, hips plowing into her, intruding her insides to spread for him, grunting as her wet, spongy walls clenched around him.

Without further do, he started to slam into her with slow, yet deep thrusts, the force of each thrust causing her entire body to jolt forward, pushing her against the wall even more.

His moves never faltered as he pulled out of her so merely his tip was coated in her juices, forcing his entire dick into her repeatedly before he set a steady pace of in and out.

Dabi was taking his time judging on how he dragged out the moment by changing between steady thrusts and reckless ramming.

One hand that supported her hips whilst she moaned and mewled at her insides being rearranged by him over and over, lifted, igniting a fire for a second before raining down onto each ass cheek of the girl in front of himself, leaving red hand prints that would stay for quite some time, marking her squeal at the force, the rough treatment being painful yet so pleasant that she couldn't help but moan out incoherent words as his hips sped up to an erratic pace, knocking the air out of her lungs.

"Yeah? What was that? Who isn't your man, huh? Say that again, I want to hear you say it." The way his voice seemed so unfazed caused her to roll back her hips like some sex-crazed animal, whimpering at the lack of treatment when he suddenly pulled out just to forcefully pull her flush against himself.

However, Y/N wasn't that fragile, with that being said, a smirk crept onto the female's flushed face, "Not you-" Her answer caused a low growl emit from the male, as he pulled her back by her hair, now back arched even more as he groaned against her ear, voice raspy, the hand that held her wrists wrapping around her throat, cutting the air supply of the girl, hips assaulting her again, the sound of skin slapping filling the quiet alley.

As her walls clenched yet again caused by him abusing her cunt for more than half an hour without letting her release, each time pulling out just to make sure she'd get the message of who was in charge. At this point she was shaking, her jaw slack while tears ran down her cheeks, staining her face.

"Come on, baby, tell everyone here who your man is and I will fuck you until you cum all over my cock, little slut," He could swear that he felt her grow even tighter around his length as he degraded her yet again.

"D-D-Dabi.." her voice was a mere whisper and not enough for the hot headed man, shaking his head as his hips came to a halt again. Denying her release all over.

"What, princess, I couldn't hear you and I bet no one else could either. Use your pretty brain if you want to cum."

Those words finally pulled her trigger as she started to beg the wanted villain, "H-hah~ Please, Dabi, I am yours, all yours and - you're my m-man, please make me cum.." She pleaded, voice desperate and in a hoarse tone.

Pleased with her begging, the black haired criminal picked up his recklessly rough pace again, one hand creeping to her front as he started to rub her clit in circles, and all of that combined to the low growl and grunts coming from him while biting her neck was enough to make white flash in her vision, body trembling as her release gushed out of her abused hole, screaming out his name.

Vigorously shaking in his arms as he worked her furthermore until he released his seed into her, painting her walls white whilst she milked him.

"I've got you, I've got you." The man cooed, caressing her body as he slowly let her calm down before pulling out of her, helping her redress as he pulled his pants up himself, watching her lean against the wall, hair tousled and mascara running down her eyes as he held out a hand, wiping away the black streaks lovingly, her head automatically leaning into his touch.

"I hate everything about you," she mumbled, making him chuckle, cocking an eyebrow at her as he watched her put a blunt between those lips of hers, lighting up the piece before inhaling the toxins inside of it, eyes rolling to the back of her head in comfort.

Moving forward he took the piece from her, he grabbed her jaw after she took another big hit, kissing her softly, tongues and smoke mixing together before he took her hand and lead her to his nearby apartment, with her just strolling after him like a lost puppy just to be cuddled up on his chest moments later upon her arrival in his shabby little space, arms around him while smoking yet another blunt.

Looking up at his turquoise eyes that held so many unreadable emotions, she let out a huff, pouting at him before laying her cheek flat against the surface of his sternum again.

"I didn't mean that," She slowly admitted, looking up to see him smirk a little, man if she could've just punched him. Well, she could..But shouldn't..Unless..

"I know that you were just Dic-"

"Don't say it, I swear to god, do not say it!"

"Dickrived,"

"Ugh! you're such a dork."

Both laughed at the silly comment Dabi made proudly, his entire chest puffing up before he embraced her with his arms, "Am I really such a monster?" He suddenly asked before she unexpectedly kissed his lips with passion, in an attempt to quiet him down.

"Shush, no you aren't. And even if you were.. You are my monster." Those were the last few words he heard before they both drifted off to sleep, never knowing what would expect them next.

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

A/N: This took longer than I thought, phew. Hope y'all thirsty ones liked it hehe.

[delightfully-deranged-dagur]

Started a Total Drama fic.

What if Camp Wawanakwa was an actual summer camp instead of a TV show?

Check it out if you're interested. Here's a preview,

A bus was riding across the Canadian wilderness. A girl riding the bus was quietly watching the trees pass by. It wasn't the most exciting scenery but it was better then the chaos she tried to ignore inside the bus.

The Goth girl turned her her head from the window to look at the girl sitting beside her. The girl was stiff as a board and her eye twitched in annoyance. Clearly she wasn't having a good time. She flinched as a blur of green and orange cartwheeled past her.

Gwen give a sympathetic look toward her seat mate. "Hey, you want the window seat? It might help distract you from...all that." The uptight girl turned her head. "I'd appreciate that." She said in a tone that indicated she was trying her best to be civil even though she was about to snap.

The girls swapped seats which gave Gwen a better look at the chaos around her. The green and orange blur came back. She couldn't quite make out what it was before her attention was caught by the girls on her right.

The two were being quite loud as they talked. Probably because they could barely hear each other over the music being blasted somewhere.

One girl was skinny and had tan skin, the other girl was chubby and pale. They wore identical white and black shirts and pink shorts. Both their were in pigtails.

Gwen turned to the girl beside her who was visibly calmed down. She had tanned skin and dark brown ombre hair. She wore a brown sweatshirt over an off-white undershirt and green pants. She was quite a contrast to Gwen's pale skin and black hair with teal streaks. She wore a large black hoodie with noticeable blue and green paint stains. Ripped black jeans and big black boots completed her look.

The now familiar green and orange blur giggled as it passed by, this time followed by a flash of red that crashed in between the seats of Gwen and the chatting girls.

Now not carthweeling she could see a boy with shaggy brown hair held up in a red headband and red track suit rubbing his head.

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay!" The skinny chatty girl asked the boy as he got up. "Yeah I'm fine, it takes a lot more then that to take me down!" He announced right before being barreled over by the green and orange blur. "Sorry Tyler!" It called as it wheeled back to the front of the bus.

Tyler groaned as he lay face down on the floor. "Someone really has to tell her to stop before more people get hurt." Someone said behind Gwen.

She turned to see a tall tanned girl with dyed long purple hair tied into a braid looking concerned at the front of the bus. She was wearing a lime green tank top and teal pants. She was also wearing a pendant necklace with "Sierra" engraved onto it.

"I can get her to stop." A gruff voice beside Sierra said. A muscled girl with a unibrow and black hair tied into a ponytail said. She wore a similar track suit to Tyler but blue and with shorts and no sleeves. She got up as Tyler ducked for cover besides the chatty girls.

The green and orange blur came back but the girl in blue grabbed her leg before she could continue. The blur crashed to the floor as her leg was let go of. She let out an "ooph" as she came down. Now that she was lying still they could finally get a good look at her.

The girl had bright curly orange hair and freckled skin. She was wearing a green top with 3 tear dropped shapes at the front and green sweat pants.

"That was fun!" The girl exclaimed as she shot up. "HI! I'm Izzy!" She said as she stuck her hand out to the girl that stopped her. "Eva." Came a gruff reply as Eva ignored the offered handshake and sat back down besides Sierra.

Izzy seemed unfazed as she was still smiling. "Oooh. I'm gonna go ask what music Geoff's playing! Bye!" She exclaimed as she surprisingly walked back to the front, Tyler following her.

If you wanna read more, click the link above!

[kaesaaurelia]

Shining Nikki chapter 2 challenge stage outfits. (That suit the situation, not that are actually good to pass the stage.)

So challenge stages usually offer a more lighthearted subplot that takes place alongside the main story, and also, you have a smaller amount of times to play through them every day which means it takes longer to grind the items they drop to make outfits. Anyway, this challenge stage storyline is that Nikki and Momo have been asked to go around and interview various local designers for Vivian, a reporter.

The themes are:

The Real Stylist: Remember that shitty judge from the main storyline? Well, Nikki's been told to go interview him, only she didn't know it was him. Caught off guard, she tries to back out but this guy insists on a rematch and claims he only lost because he "didn't bring enough clothes" the first time. Whatever, dude.

Fashionable Office Girl: Vivian, the reporter, decides that Nikki should interview her. That's... sure a thing! Vivian is a bit of a gloryhound and has bounced from job to job to job because various TV news networks won't let her be on camera, so this is honestly on-brand for her. Anyway, she wants Nikki to dress up in fashionable officewear. This was really hard because all the office-y stuff I have in the game is kind of ugly and boring or it clashes really badly, but I did my best. I tried for little pops of color in teal and gold.

Practical Hiking Outfit: Vivian then drags her camerawoman, Jiang Beixi, into the spotlight. Poor Jiang Beixi; she always comes across as Very Tired Of Vivian's Shit. They're very cute together. Anyway, Jiang Beixi suggests something that's practical for hiking because she is all business. Sadly, again, I don't have a ton of stuff that looks practical and also cool. Beixi's outfits are actually pretty great so it's not like she's totally disinterested in fashion but alas I do not have enough stuff that coordinates. I think if I ever come back to this one and redo it I'll need either better jacket options or better shirts.

Outfit of Ambassador of Elegance: Nikki's next assignment is to interview Lolory, a very famous local stylist whose whole schtick is prim and proper elegance. Nikki goes backstage and Lolory challenges her to a styling competition in her signature style. Honestly, I just like that dress; that was my outfit on display for a while.

Wish-Fulfilling Demon: Nikki's final interview for Vivian is based on an urban legend that there is a demon stylist who preys on girls and promises to fulfill their wishes in exchange for their souls. (Spoilers: This is actually all true! Because this game is fucking bananas!) Anyway, our intrepid fashion reporter Nikki looks up how to summon a demon (you have to leave the demon cake, and burn some of your hair) and goes to the place where the demon is said to lurk, but then gets spooked before she can complete the ritual. So instead she sends Vivian an account of what happened, and designs an outfit based on the urban legend. (I really wished I'd shelled out for those red contacts before doing this, but what can you do. Maybe I'll redo this outfit later when I have more demonic stuff.)