#and then i decided ‘eh what the hell we’ll just do everything until the camera switches to goro 😔’

[sunlightfeeling]

nakai’s breaking point 💔

(was already v poorly, then needed to do a 45 minute nonstop con, and then had to perform a song infamous for taking him out, utterly and completely)

[staranon95]

a little more action

a red hood au drabble

Trevor tries to get things back on track for the crew after Red’s disappearance. He starts up the plans for a job they intended to pull when Red first came into their lives.

Jeremy doesn’t blame him. He wants to get things rolling again. He wants the city to remember that the Fakes are still here and, yes, they will cause problems for the upper crust. Red or no Red, the crew needs to get back out there.

It’s an elaborate plan. Jeremy, Fiona, and Gav are dropping in from above on one of the tallest office towers in the city. Jack will be flying them in where they’ll parachute down in. They’ll infiltrate from the top where security is weakest and head down to the floor that has the information they need—bank account numbers, hidden offshore accounts, expenses. Which means they are going to make a living hell out of some very influential people’s lives.

They’re dropping in at around one in the morning. They’ve prepped this run for weeks now. With the clear skies, they’ll drop in at a high altitude. Jeremy can feel the fluttering beat of his heart. It’s all adrenaline, but he’s done this before. He gets a kick out of the high-altitude situation. He knows Fiona is ready to gun for it. She’s as adrenaline seeking as the rest of them and is always looking for a new rush to enjoy. She’s still pretty new at the larger jobs like this. This is the first time she’s going to take direct point and not be relegated to surveillance, getaway driving, or cleanup. And then there’s Gavin. His knees always shake badly when they’re attempting something like this, but when he gets into it, he gets into it. Usually screaming all the way down, but who doesn’t every now and then?

“All right,” Matt says from their earpieces, safely hidden back at his apartment and watching from his scores of equipment. “The jump zone is coming in quick. You’re jumping in at 10,000 feet. There are no approaching headwinds at this time, so it should be a fairly smooth decent. Keep your googles on because they’ll tell you where the building is so you won’t get lost and land on the wrong one.”

“Good thing that happened during the dry run, eh?” Gavin says, breaking the tension.

“Yeah, congrats. That took us some serious explaining as to why you landed in the penthouse pool owned by the mayor ten blocks away.”

“Cut the chit chat,” Jack says. “We’re heading into the jump zone. Good luck, guys.”

“Thank you, Jack!” Fiona is the first one out as soon as the green light is on. Then Gavin. Then Jeremy.

It’s always that first feeling of vertigo that Jeremy has to weather first when they make the jump. The feeling of his stomach dropping to his feet before his body gets used to falling. The display on his googles initiates at Matt’s command and Jeremy is given a digital layout of his target. The hard part will be the landing. They don’t have that much space and if they miss the rooftop, they’ll be sent drifting down the street.

“All right, you’ve entered the parachute zone. Pull now.”

Jeremy yanks on his cord and is prepared for the jerk back once the parachute fills. Now it’s just a matter of being gentle and patient in correcting his fall to the roof. Fiona lands first, carefully guiding herself to the edge of the building so she has the space to dig her heels in and drag her parachute down and clear the space for when Gavin makes a slightly less graceful landing. Jeremy watches him as he comes in at an angle and undoubtedly skins at least his arm along the ground before Fiona rushes in to help stop him.

“Okay,” Jeremy says. “You’re going to have to catch me.”

“We—what?” Gavin asks, sounding out of breath.

“I’m too high and I can’t take another lap or I’ll be too low. You guys will have to grab me.”

“You never make this easy, Jeremy.”

Jeremy kicks his legs in the air and prepares for his approach. Gavin and Fiona, free of their parachutes, come together and watch for Jeremy’s approach.

“Catch me, catch me, catch me!”

Gavin gets one of his legs first and pulls in on him. Fiona gets one of his arms and the three of them come crashing down onto the roof together, Jeremy laughing all the while.

“Oh man. Haven’t done that in a while,” he says, shrugging off his parachute and pulling in the lines to bundle up the fabric. They’ll be leaving everything here and take a basement exit if they can. The building isn’t tall enough to base jump safely, and Jeremy hates base jumping from within the city.

Gavin is quick to get his lockpicks out to open the roof access door for the three of them, while Jeremy and Fiona get themselves untangled from Jeremy’s lines.

“You do not make this any easier,” she says, letting a little of her frustration show, but she’s smiling.

“Where’s the fun in things going smoothly?”

“Door’s open!” Gavin stands and waves them over.

They descend with Matt’s instruction to the exact floor. They’re working into an office claimed by the CEO. From there they’ll have access to a personal computer and extract some encrypted emails. Then they go to the server room and wreak some havoc. Should be easy. They’ve been preparing for this run for months now. It’ll be a big pull in terms of information, intel, and so, so much blackmail material.

They get to the office. Jeremy is on point looking down the hall while Gavin gets Fiona inside so she can take direction from Matt on what to grab and what to do with the computer. They know all the security guards’ routines. There should be at least two of them on this floor. Maybe they’ve caught them at a break because Jeremy hasn’t seen a sign of them. All the better for them, but still. It strikes him as odd.

“Okay,” he hears Fiona say softly over their shared comms. “Downloading the emails. Should be done in thirty seconds.”

“Good, then you can get down to the server rooms,” Matt instructs. “Two floors down from your current location. The room is key card access only, so you’ll have to use that fun toy I gave you.”

“Oh, is that the one you have to pop the case off and plug into ports and shit?” Gavin asks.

“Oh, yeah. That’s my favourite.”

Gavin sighs, and Jeremy can’t help but smirk.

Once Fiona has everything, they leave, locking the door behind them to mask their presence. They move in a single file line, keeping low to the ground so they can get to the stairwell and head down two floors. The only thing about the stairwells is that they’re usually faintly lit. Nothing they can do about that, but there aren’t any cameras.

Jeremy, while still on point, takes the stairs first. He gets to the landing below and motions for the others to follow him. They repeat this until they’re on the right floor. The door to the floor requires key card access. Gavin makes a crouched approach to connect to the port and grant them automatic access. Jeremy is first out, peering around corners and keeping an ear out for the heavy footfalls of any security guard. He hears nothing so he heads in, following Matt’s instructions to where the server room is.

But the door is already open.

Uh oh.

Then the light from a flashlight pins him in his crouch. He rises up so he’s flat on his feet, keeping his center of gravity lower so he can’t easily be knocked onto his feet. From the corner of his eye he saws Gavin and Fiona move into similar positions. Gearing up for a fight.

“Well, would you look at that.” The familiar and cheeky voice cuts through the silent dark of the office. Jeremy has to squint against the flashlight to see who it is, but he already knows.

It’s Red. He’s wearing that familiar red hoodie with the hood pulled up. Over top is a heavy Kevlar vest. He’s wearing a slick mask with a set of goggles over top. It’s a neat looking piece that’s probably teched out. But surrounding him are five others. Dressed in black and wearing a form of tactical gear.

“You guys are a bit late,” Red says. “Decided to help ourselves to what was there. Don’t worry. You’ll get your turn. But, uh, oops! What do we have here?” He lifts what’s clearly a walkie talkie, the kind security guards usually carry. And it’s then that Jeremy finally notices the crumpled and bound form of one of the security personal on the premises. That’s why it’s been so quiet. Red and his team have already cleared the place. “You guys should know what the response time is for the police right? Ten minutes? Fifteen tops? That might be cutting it a bit close if you want to dip and run.”

He motions at his goons and they make a hasty retreat to the windows. They start stringing themselves on long run lines scaling the outside of the building. They clip themselves in and wait for Red to join them before ascending the building. Jeremy leans out to watch them go. He hears Red’s laughter as he goes—and it’s so much like Alfredo it hurts to think of him like that.

He turns back to the server room where Gavin and Fiona have gathered. They won’t have enough time to make this a clean job, and Fiona is already ripping out the drives she thinks are most important.

“Okay, we need to move,” Gavin says.

“No elevator, no stairs,” Jeremy says. “We won’t have enough time.”

“Then how do we get out?” Fiona asks. “We won’t have time to call in a plan ride out of here.”

Gavin snaps his fingers. “The roof,” he says. “I saw one of those window cleaning dealies. It can drop us faster.”

“This better fucking work,” Jeremy says.

Once Fiona has the drives in her back, they make their escape to the roof. In the distance they hear a helicopter cutting its way through the air. Likely Red’s ride out of here.

Gavin points to the lift that’s been left up at the top of the building. He vaults over the railing and waits for Fiona and Jeremy to join him. “We’ll have to do it manually,” he says. “It’ll be quicker than letting the machine handle it.” He breaks into the switch box and disables the safety features which would’ve slowed their descent. Jeremy stands next to one cable break while Gavin is at the other side. Fiona steadies herself in the middle.

“Okay,” Gavin says. “We need to be in sync with this. Hold it in place ‘round the middle. Don’t let it flip all the way otherwise the ropes go and we go as well.”

Jeremy nods. “Got it.”

“On three, yeah? One, two, three!”

Jeremy flips the gear and holds on while the lift begins a controlled fall. It’s a bit unsettling because this is dangerous. This could go so wrong. It’s dizzying, falling past the windows, down to the ground below. He looks to Gavin who looks back at him. He waits for the signal to halt their descent, and at Gavin’s sharp nod, he flips the gear back in place and they come to a jolted halt.

“All right,” Gavin says. “Go, go, go!”

The police sirens are coming from all over it seems. Fiona is already telling Lindsay where she should pick them up. Not at the agreed upon location, and their get away will be tight. Lindsay comes peeling around the corner in a snappy little hatchback. A stick shift so she can manage some tight hand-break turns if need be.

“Get in!” she says.

Jeremy dives for the back seat and barely manages to close his door in time before it’s taken off by a streetlamp.

“What happened?” Lindsay asks. “I only got bits and pieces.”

“Red was there,” Fiona says. “Either he got the drop on what we were doing or someone else wants what we were after.”

“He’s working with someone,” Jeremy adds. “He looked kitted out. Was working with some serious muscle, too.” He leans in with the sharp turn Lindsay makes as she guns for the Vinewood hills. The curved roads will work well for her car and leave the police cars far behind them.

“This is really starting to get on my nerves,” Lindsay says. “Did he look any good? He was pretty hurt when I picked him up.”

“Seemed pretty chipper to me,” Fiona says. “I have like ten hard drives in my bag right now. And we don’t even know which one has the information we need.”

“If he wanted us caught, he could’ve left the guards to grab us,” Jeremy says. “But he didn’t. He’s just making things difficult.”

“Yeah, apparently,” Lindsay says. “This is cutting it pretty close.”

Once they manage to lose the cops, it’s smooth sailing to the Vinewood house. Jeremy is too hopped up on adrenaline to feel like crashing. He is really hungry though, and usually when Michael stays behind, he cooks up a feast for when they return.

He takes a few steps towards the house with the others before he realizes Gavin is standing back.

“You coming?” he asks.

Gavin looks up with his phone in his hands. “There’s some stuff I need to deal with.”

“Listen, Gav, if this is about Red—”

“I need to do this. On my own.”

“You don’t have to. Not about this.”

“I know. But I’ve got some ghosts to bury.”

“Okay.” Jeremy knows he won’t be able to convince Gavin otherwise, so for now he’ll have to let him go. “You let us know if you need a bail out, okay?”

Gavin nods. “I know. I’ll be back. Promise.” And then he’s walking towards his motorcycle and heading back onto the streets.

[jane-fucking-seymour]

Twists and Turns

Happy birthday to @ichlugebulletsandcornnuts​! Just for her, I’m writing total fluff for her favorite person from Six King Henry VIII Katherine Howard. This takes place before the regen. This is fluff and not angst at all. And because it’s her birthday, we’re releasing this in UK friendly timezone!! Hell yeah!

Are you ready? Here we go! 

“No, no, absolutely not.”

Katherine Howard pouted to the best of her ability as she faced Catherine Parr herself, who was very unamused by Katherine’s suggestion.

“We’re not giving a damn quid to that capitalistic mouse that has stolen so many tales from the public domain and has completely monopolized an industry to within an inch of it’s life-”

“Come on, Cathy!” Katherine whines. “I’ve heard Disneyland Paris is great this time of year-”

“We’re not supporting Walt Disney!” Catherine replies. “No way.”

Catherine perks up then. “I think what Cathy is trying to say,” she says, moving over to Katherine. “Is that she’d like to go to another place that’s not Disney.”

Katherine pouts. “Disney.”

Cathy crosses her arms across her chest. “No.”

“Disney.”

“No.”

“Disney!”

“NO!”

“DISNEY-!”

“Okay, alright!” Jane says, stepping in between the two. “Enough, you two!” She looks at Catherine. “We won’t go to Disney-” she starts, but then looks over at Katherine. “But we’ll go to whatever other amusement park you’d like, Kitty.” 

Katherine huffs, leaning back as she thinks... and then smiles.

“Okay, I’ve got just the place!”

When they arrive, both Katherine Howard and Anne Boleyn are the most excited.

“Thorpe has the best roller coasters,” Anne says with a bright smile. “The fastest one in all of the UK - or, er, whatever they’re calling it for Fight Nights. Not entirely sure what it’s called right now, but I’m sure we’ll find it.”

“We’ll go on that one last!” Katherine says with a big smile. She’s practically bouncing in her seat as they pull into the car park. “But we need to go on The Swarm, too. It seems cool!”

“Do you want to go on the scary rides with me, Jane?” Anna asks, tilting her head curiously. When Jane nods, Anna smiles brightly. “Brilliant!” 

“Nemesis Inferno seems cool,” Cathy remarks. “I’d bet one of the Ladies would want to go on with me.”

They all get out of the car and, with a bright smile, Katherine all but drags Anna towards the entrance.

“Hang on, hang on! You need your tickets!” Jane says, rushing after them. “And remember, we’re meeting up at the main gate for lunch!”

Katherine’s almost out of sight, but thankfully a familiar face stops her in her tracks.

“Joan!”

Sure enough, Joan is there, smiling brightly at the youngest queen as the other three Ladies in Waiting stand at her side. 

“Hello, love,” Joan says with a smile, looking behind Katherine as the other queens catch up. “Good morning, everyone. I hope the drive went well?”

“Maggie!” Anne says, rushing over to her lady. “You, me, Bessie, Anna, Samurai.”

“You’re on!” Maggie says, quick to grab the offered tickets from Jane and rushing off into the park. Bessie smiles as she offers an arm to Anna, the two rushing towards where Anne and Maggie were headed.

Catherine, Maria and Cathy decide to head towards Amity Beach, leaving only Katherine, Joan and Jane.

“Where’d you like to go, love?” Jane asks with a smile.

Katherine walks towards the map, tilting her head in thought as she looks it over.

“Hmm... do you want to just go walk around first?” Katherine asks, looking over at other two. “This is all a bit... overwhelming, to be honest.”

Jane smiles and gently takes Kat’s hand.

“Of course, love. We’ll do whatever you’d like.”

Jane gently pulls Katherine closer, smiling brightly as she wraps an arm around Katherine’s. “Come on now, we’ve got a few hours to go before we all meet up again.”

The trio walk around the park, starting off with the Walking Dead rides. Katherine tilts her head as she takes it all in, makes a small face as she walks past.

Jane chuckles. “Apparently people really love that show, eh?”

“It’s weird, but I guess I see the appeal,” Katherine says with a smile. “Their version of the walking dead is a bit more... dramatic, than reality, isn’t it? None of us look like that.”

Jane chuckles at that before they wander down the path, taking in everything. Katherine stays as close as she can, Joan right behind them.

“How’re you feeling, Kitty?” Jane asks. “It’s a lot of people, for sure.”

“Yeah,” Katherine agrees, looking around a bit uncertain. “But I’m pretty fine at the moment. Besides, I have you and Joan here, so...” Kat shrugs. “I’ll be fine.”

Joan smiles at that, but the trio wander on down the path until they hit the Screamplexx Cinema. Katherine frowns at that before looking back at Jane.

“Next time we do one of these,” Kat says, “we’ll do it not during October. Fright Night is cool and all, but...  dunno about an entire theme part dedicated to it.”

Joan chuckles, pointing away. “I think the others are having fun, at least.”

Jane and Kat look at where Joan is pointing... and Jane gasps. Katherine excitedly waves.

“Look at that!” Kat says, smiling widely. Sure enough, it’s Anna, Anne, Maggie and Bessie on the Blair Witch ride. They’re screaming, naturally, but they look like they’re doing well enough. 

“That should be a place we can get their photo from, if memory serves,” Joan says with a big smile. “Let’s see if we can find a good one of ‘em, shall we?”

As they walk towards the photos booth, Katherine suddenly takes off. Jane’s about to rush after her until she realizes who’s approaching: Catherine, Cathy and Maria.

“I thought you all were headed to the beach part?” Katherine asks, arm instantly linked around Maria’s.

“We did, but it was boring,” Cathy explains. “So we figured we’d wander around, try to find you lot.” 

Maria, Joan and Kat head towards the photo booth while Jane, Cathy and Catherine lag behind a bit.

“How’s she doing?” Catherine asks, looking over at Jane.

“Quite well, better than expected in all honesty,” Jane explains. “I didn’t expect her to be this okay with everything.” 

“She seems to be just fine,” Cathy says with a nod. “Honestly, I had forgotten the park does the whole horror theme this time of year, I probably would have said yes to that blasted mouse had I remembered.”

“Yeah, well,” Jane says, watching as Anne and Anna pull Katherine away. Kat looks back at Jane for permission, and when she nods, follows with excitement. “She’ll be fine, as long as-”

But then, Joan and Maria walk back.

"Saw.”

Jane blinks.

“What?”

“They’re going on Saw.”

“What?!?”

Jane all but sprints away, the others following close behind. 

Just as Jane’s about to catch up with the three queens, they’re cut off to her by the line starting.

So, naturally, she follows.

Jane pushes past a few people, saying her group was right in front, when she gets to them.

“Kitty, what’re you doing?” Jane asks nervously.

Katherine looks over and smiles. “We’re gonna try the ride!”

“It’s based off that movie, isn’t it?” Jane asks, walking with them as the ride gets closer and closer. 

“It is, but no one’s supposed to jump out at you or anything,” Kat replies. “Besides, apparently that’s only the first, like, minute or so of the ride. It’ll be a bunch of cheesy horror tropes, I saw it online.”

Anne raises an eyebrow. “You previewed all the rides?”

“Wanted to make sure I knew what I was getting into when you dragged me on,” Kat replies with a smirk, right before she looked over at Jane. “I’ll be fine, mum, I promise.”

Jane looks at Katherine, then at the others, and with a nod, she moves backwards.

“Alright, well... Catherine, Cathy, Joan, Maria and I will be-”

But then, Jane bumps into someone behind her.

And that’s when she realizes she’s a bit boxed into the line.

Katherine realizes this and smirks. 

“Oh, no, mum,” she says, gently pulling Jane close. “I don’t think you’re going anywhere.”

Outside of the ride, the group that hadn’t gone is trying to figure out where Jane was.

“I haven’t seen her exit anywhere,” Joan observes, frowning. 

Maria looks around. “Maybe she went to the exit?”

“We can just call her-” Catherine starts, but they’re interrupted by Cathy’s laughter. “What?”

Cathy points to the ride.

Sure enough, it’s Jane.

In the front row of the ride.

Holding onto Katherine for dear life.

“It’s alright, mum, look!” Katherine says, pointing at the familiar faces in the crowd. “We’re not even that high up!”

“Yet,” Jane mumbles, a bit scared as she holds onto Katherine’s hand. Kat chuckles, looking over at the others for a moment before she closes her eyes in fright. She says another prayer.

They continue to ascend.

“This is probably going to be the most entertaining ride of our trip,” Anne quips from right behind them, laughing with Maggie. Bessie and Anna also laugh as they continue towards the top. “Remember there’s cameras near the end, Janey-”

“Oh, shut it, Boleyn!” Jane yells, clearly panicked. She lets out a yell when she realizes they’re at the top. “If you let go of my hand, Katherine Howard, I swear-”

“I’ve got you, mum,” Katherine promises, looking over the edge with excitement.

They’re just at the top now...

... high in the sky...

and the scream that Jane lets out as they tip over the edge is the loudest any of them have heard her scream before, stage quips included.

They all scream in excitement as they almost head straight down, through the loops and turns of the ride, eventually coming to a stop. 

Katherine laughs as Jane flips off Jigsaw at the very end of the ride, just as they come to a halt.

“See?” Katherine quips as they get to a stop. “Not that bad, was it?”

Jane huffs, helping Kat off. “It was fun after the scary bit at the front,” Jane explains, linked arms with Katherine once again. “Did you like it, love?”

“Yeah!” Katherine says. “It was a total rush.” 

“I can only imagine what Janey’s face was during the ride,” Anna teases, earning a glare from Seymour herself. “Poor girl probably almost had a heart attack.” 

As soon as they walk out of the ride, the others are there to meet them, save for Anne and Maggie, who said they’d meed them in a moment.

“How in the world did you convince Jane to get on that?” Catherine asks, following the group away from the ride.

“They didn’t,” Jane mumbles. “I got trapped there when I went to go after Katherine.”

“She was very brave,” Katherine teased, earning a roll of the eyes from Jane. She’s smiling, though, since Katherine was so amused by it.

“I think that’s my share of frights for the day, though,” Jane says. “Whatever you lot do now, you’re on your own.”

“I’ll be more than happy to take Jane’s place in that,” Joan quips, smiling at her mistress.

Anne and Maggie arrive just then, and Jane knows immediately that something is up by the look in Anne’s eye.

“What did you two do?” Jane asks, raising an eyebrow. “Do we need to leave the park?”

“Oh, no, nothing like that,” Anne says nonchalantly, practically strutting over to Katherine and Jane. “Just, uh... picked up a souvenir.”

Jane’s eyes go wide and Katherine squeals in delight when Anne shows what she has.

“Oh, that’s going up on the fridge!”

Sure enough, it’s a magnet of all of them on the ride, Jane’s terrified gaze clear as they descended down the first slope. Katherine and the others look like they’re having the time of their lives, though, and it makes Jane smile. 

“You win this one, Boleyn,” Jane says, pulling Katherine a bit closer to herself. “But no more!”

“I’ve got blackmail for years now, Seymour, don’t need another one, thanks,” Anne quips, smiling at the others.

Katherine giggles as they all head off to lunch. The rest of the day goes as normal, and by the time they all head back to the car - an hour or so after dark, thanks to the majority of the group not wanting to do anything at night when it became more packed and a bit more scary - everyone’s exhausted. 

“We’ll meet you guys back home,” Joan says, watching as Maria gets in shotgun of the lady’s car. Maggie is half asleep on Bessie’s shoulder as they pack it in.

“Right, text us when you get there, please,” Jane says as everyone heads in. Catherine would be driving with Anne as her shotgun copilot, leaving the rest of the group to filter inside. With final goodbyes and goodnights for the day, the queens all head inside the car.

Katherine, naturally, is with Jane in the back while Cathy and Anna sit in the middle row.

“Will you two be alright staying up?” Jane asks. “I can drive or sit shotgun if you’d like.”

“Nah, Catalina and I got this,” Anne says. “I’ve got a bunch of caffeine if we need it, but it’s only an hour drive or so with this traffic.” 

Jane nods, chuckling quietly when Katherine nuzzles into her shoulder.

“Are you tired, love?” Jane asks quietly, keeping the girl close. When Katherine nods, Jane is sure to put a blanket over the girl’s shoulders, smiling when Kat smiles. “I’m sure you’re tired after all those rides.”

“Mhmm,” Katherine says. “Thanks for coming onto the Saw one, by the way.”

Jane chuckles. “It was a lot of fun, but honestly rides aren’t exactly my cup of tea.” She smoothes out Katherine’s hair as they start to get moving. The low drone of the radio and Jane’s heartbeat are already doing their jobs, slowly lulling the youngest queen into a nice, quiet rest.

“You’re the best,” Katherine mumbles. “Thank you.”

“I love you, Kit,” Jane says quietly.

Katherine smiles, taking in the day. It was exciting, sure, but what really made it special was being able to hang out with her family all day. She couldn’t imagine anyone else she’d rather spend the day with.

“I love you too, mum.”

[couchpuddingg]

Death Note One Shot 2019 #2

Here’s the translation of the following pages I did today. Only proceed if you’re ready for spoilers of the new one shot.

Original one shot sketches: https://shonenjumpplus.com/episode/10834108156668356542

Translation Part 1 (P. 2-21): https://byouteki-cinderella.tumblr.com/post/186258918738/death-note-one-shot-2019

——————————————————-

Page 22:

Minoru: But now we live in a different era. We have surveillance cameras all over the city, they’ve even installed them in every car of every train. And buses and cars now have so called drive recorders installed.

Ryuk: Uh, under those circumstances it might have been impossible even for Kira to kill all the FB agents.

Minoru: They’ve also improved their techniques to deal with cyber crimes so they’d find out immediately if Kira sent messages via net or people send Kira messages via net. The police is even checking everyone’s phone transmissions.

Minoru: The police not being able to find a person who wrote something on the net…Today, that’s only possible in movies or drama series where it benefits the story.

Ryuk: …

Minoru: But I’m sure that if Kira lived right now he would have found a way to deal with this based on the conditions given to him in this era.

Page 23:

Ryuk: So, Minoru, do you think you can do it? (it says Minoru in Katakana here so it becomes 100% clear that this is the actual reading of the main characters name)

Minoru: Eh?

*the two of them staring at each other*

Minoru: So your goal is to make me do the same thing that Kira did, Mr.Shinigami?

I can’t believe all of this…This note is terrifying…

Page 24

Minoru *thinking*: So there’s two possibilities…either I give the note to someone else or I give it back to Ryuk. If I gave it back to Ryuk I’d loose all my memories about this and could forget about the note. Kira also gave his book back to Ryuk once. But if I give the notebook back to Ryuk right now he’ll just give it to someone else in the end…and that’s it?

A notebook that can be used for nothing else besides killing people…what am I supposed to do?

Ryuk: You became quite silent for a while now, what’s up?

Minoru: Nothing…it’s just that I’m the type of person who thinks everything through until I’ve found my own answer to the problem.

Ryuk: That’s my quiz king.

Page 25

Minoru: Ryuk, there’s two things I’d like to ask you.

Ryuk: Oh! What is it?

Minoru: So are there any other people who are able to see you, besides me?

Ryuk: …

Ryuk: I’m afraid so.

Page 26

Ryuk: The people who touched the notebook that I brought here last time should still be able to see me.

Minoru: You sure about that?

Ryuk: I guess so. People who’ve once owned the note but gave up their ownership wouldn’t be able to see me anymore, but people who’ve done nothing besides touching my notebook should be able to see me even now.

Minoru: …

Minoru: Well then, my next question…

Page 27

Minoru: So it says here that a Shinigami has to stick to the person who currently owns the notebook. How far are you able to go away from me?

Ryuk: Don’t ask me difficult things like this. I guess, uh, as long as I can still see where you are it should be fine, at least that makes sense.

Ryuk: No wait, I’d be able to see you even from the Shingami world, so…

Minoru: Get a grip and tell me how far exactly.

Ryuk: What am I supposed to do, there’s no exact regulation on how far I can go away from you.

Minoru: Then make one up.

Ryuk: …I’ll try.

Page 28:

Ryuk: How does 14 km in human world units sound?

Minoru: That’s fine.

Ryuk: From that distance I should still be able to distinguish the people around you and get back close to you immediately. So from now on, there should be no problem if I just decide on all the things the death note does not make clear.

Minoru: …

Minoru: Okay, I’ve decided.

Page 29:

Minoru: Take the note back and come back again in 2 years. In 2 years I’ll actually use the note and feed you apples, I promise.

Ryuk: What? You want me to hold in my hunger for apples for 2 years?

Minoru: I don’t mind if you give the note to someone else during those 2 years though, so.

Ryuk: Got it. I’ll wait.

Page 30

Minoru: Okay, then. I’ll give up my ownership and give the notebook back to you.

Page 31

-Present time-

Minoru: That’s how it was back then right?

Ryuk: Yeah.

Ryuk: I held in my hunger for apples for 2 years.

Minoru: Uhh, okay, so…I’ll go with the plan I thought about 2 years ago after all.

Ryuk: Plan?

Page 32

Minoru: Just as planned, I’ll sell the notebook.

(*note: he’s using the same expression that Light used when he got back all his memories after capturing Higuchi)

Ryuk: Sell?!

Page 33

Minoru: I’ll put it on a net auction.

Ryuk: Don’t get me wrong, it sounds interesting, but…you’re the one who said they’ll find out immediately if you write something on the net nowadays?

Minoru: I won’t use the internet.

Minoru: That’s exactly why I asked you last time how far you are able to go away from me.

Ryuk: What?

Minoru: We said 14 km, right? Sakura TV is only 11 km away from here, so I’ll have you go there.

Ryuk: Eh?

Minoru: We’ll ask them for English…no wait, then I won’t be able to read it, let’s do everything in Japanese. We’ll use pens and paper from the TV station.

Ryuk: Eh, eh, eh??

Page 34

SINN NEWS XN

Newscaster: Good evening from News X. We’ll now present today’s news.

Piece of paper:

I’m selling Kira’s ability to kill people from the distance via auction. If you want to buy it, make a tweet using the hashtag #kiranochikara and propose a number in American dollars.

Page 35:

People: Eh?

Eh?

What the hell is this?

Page 36:

People:

-Selling Kira’s ability via auction?

-What the heck?

-Did they mistake the address?

-That Kira, are we talking about that Kira?

-He’s using Sakura TV again?

-What the hell is this pen?

Newscaster: I’m deeply sorry, please wait for a little while.

Newscaster: Explain this situation to me! And don’t touch that paper!

That paper is just floating around in the air…and saying something about Kira’s ability to kill people from far away!

Page 37:

Newscaster: We, Sakura TV, are absolutely not involved in all of this, please understand. We do not know anything about the contents written on this paper.

Page 38:

-At the police office-

*Ryuk showing the piece of paper*

*Matsuda standing up*  /bang/

Page 39:

Matsuda: Deputy chief! Ryuk is back and he’s trying to sell the Death Note.

Deputy Chief: You mean the person who got it from Ryuk don’t you?

Matsuda: Ah, I see…yeah, probably.

Matsuda(?): I hope this is just a joke.

Ryuk *thinking*: 30 secondhave passed, so…*throws down piece of paper*

Page 40

Page 41

-the next day-

-in school-

Person: Selling Kira’s ability? It just has to be some kind of joke.

Person: No matter if it’s that Sakura TV…bringing news like this is not okay.

Person: Hey, look. Not even one day has passed and people are already proposing over 3 million dollars for it.

Person: 300 dollars? That’s like billions in Japanese yen.

Person: There’s actually people who believe this?

Person: Such idiots.

Picture of Minoru looking out of the window/Person: If that really is Kira’s ability then even billions wouldn’t be enough though. I mean you can bring the whole world under your control with it.

Page 42

-in America-

Lester: L! There’s been news about Kira in Japan!

L: !

Ryuk: Oh, who do we have there?

Page 43

Near/L: It’s just another Shinigami replicate.

Near: I’m aware that its quite difficult but I’m working on a Shinigami authentication system right now.

Rester: …

Halle: But I thought only people who’ve touched the notebook can see the Shinigami?

Near: That’s why I said it’s quite difficult.

Near: So, let’s call this person who’s selling the notebook via net auction “Kira A“.

[tommyquackson]

Getting Me a Little Bit | t. holland | part 2

Not My Gif

summary: toms an angel but his life begins changing when he meets one of the most dangerous monsters he’s ever heard of, you. angel!tom and demon!au

warnings: cursing, uh angels? blood and stuff

note: yea idek why i made a part 2 tbh but make sure y’all request!!!

Walking into the Office of Heavenly Affairs, Tom is nervous. Y/ns walking next to him, somehow acting confident and innocent at the same time. She has a small smile on her face and a file in her small hands and she’s leading Tom through the building like she’s been here multiple times before. It isn’t until they arrive into the Demon and Unholy Creatures Department that he realizes y/ns winging this whole thing. He watches her as they both walk up to the secretary’s desk. The secretary, Harmony, recognizes Tom, but her face twists in confusion when her eyes meet Y/n.

“Tom, they’re almost ready for you in the conference room. May I ask who you are?” Harmony speaks to y/n.

“Harmony, I know i’m not down in this division a lot, but I do find it insulting that you don’t remember me. But I forgive you.” Y/n smiles sweetly, showing a ID badge with her name and picture on it. Harmonys eyes widen in shock.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met” Harmony speaks. Y/n sighs and rests on her elbows on the desk, looking into Harmonys eyes. It’s only a few seconds but suddenly Harmonys face flashes with recognition.

“Ms. Y/n! My deepest apologies, i don’t know where my mind has gone, please forgive me. Are you on official business with Agent Holland?” She smiles typing things into her computer.

“Yes I am, it was great seeing you again.” Y/n smiles, tapping the desk before looking at Tom and winking and walking away and towards the conference room where the meeting will be held.

She waits at the door for Tom and he pulls it open, straightening his collar while walking in. He and Y/n walk up to the table and sit down.

“Ah, Agent Holland, im fairly busy today so- oh, who is this?” One of his directors speak now looking at y/n, who immediately stands and hands the file over.

“Hi, I’m Y/n over at the Government Division, as you know, our reports show there’s a suspected 434 demons and other unspeakable creatures in the government in New York City alone, not including Lower Statten Island, but once we tackle our larger issues we’ll take care of the smaller challenges. Anyway, I was doing work in Hell’s Kitchen last night and realized you had field agents stationed there, specifically in The Devil, a popular nightclub. Now that’s not his fault, but it is yours because it has come to my attention that you haven’t alerted us or anyone for that matter about suspected demon activity, now as you know that’s a serious offense and I would hate to see a lot of your hard work be wasted simply because you were careless on a small intel project.” She finishes and looks sweetly at all the Angels sitting on the opposite of the table.

“We sent Agent Holland because we believe there to be a succubus in that nightclub, we didn’t think we’d have to alert anyone about our own mission. What did you say your name was again?” The first Director speaks up, looking her up and down.

“What is it with you guys today? Is there something in the water? Y/n with the Government Division. Have you not been getting my memos?” She puts her hand on her hip and looks at all of them.

“Uh no, I mean yes mam we have, but we had a credible lead that-“

“Well your lead isn’t as credible as you think, Tom, please give them the status report from last night.” She looks at Tom and nods.

“Oh uh, upon entering I saw no suspicious activity, everything was surprisingly human. I was there for a while and no trace or word of a succubus in that club,” Tom gulps, he hadn’t realized how much he didn’t think of what he was going to tell them.

“Great, so, I think you it’s safe to say you can stay out of GDs jurisdiction and we can avoid stepping on each other wings. It was lovely seeing all of you, see you at the Christmas gathering.” Y/n speaks, grabbing the file back and walking out of the room.

Tom is dismissed immediately after and jogs to catch up with her.

“What was in that file, they believed everything you were saying,” Tom gasps.

“Oh it’s empty, i just projected whatever I was saying onto the file and it appeared, simple illusions. Now shall we go get lunch?” She smiles, clothes changing as soon as she steps out of the stark white building.

—

2 weeks later and Tom has been hanging out with the literal spawn of satan nearly everyday. Except for last week when Y/n disappeared for 4 days and came back looking a little worse for wear. She demanded Tom to not talk about it or even question her when she arrived at his place.

Toms been neglecting his heavenly duties to spend more time with her. Although it always made him sick when she brought men to his place while he was out for a bit. He hoped it wouldn’t be a regular occurrence in the future.

He hadn’t seen her today however, she said yesterday that she had important things to do and wasn’t sure when she’d be back. She seemed annoyed at whatever she had to do, but Tom held his tongue.

He sat in his living room, eating spaghetti and watching a beautiful nature documentary. The polar bear cubs struggling to find food always struck a cord in Tom, it seemed so cruel and unfair. He watched as camera men followed penguins and seals around for 5 months and analyzed their behavior.

He’s interrupted by a quiet knock and then a large thump against his front door. He stands and moves quietly to the door, wondering who could be knocking at 11pm on a Tuesday? Y/n always appears in whatever room he’s in, usually scaring him half to death.

He slowly pulls open the door and her smaller body falls into his arms. Y/ns halfway covered in dark blood and her horns look battered. She looks up at him and her face is covered in cuts and more dried blood. Her “human” eyes are hidden and the whole space is covered in black with low flames flickering. She smiles lightly and he can see her sharp teeth barely poking out.

He pulls her in and lays the demon on the couch, spewing questions in her direction.

“Tommy, relax. You yelling at me ain’t gonna cure my headache” She winces, clenching her jaw.

“Y/n, what happened” He asks softly.

“Don’t wanna talk about it” y/n goes to turn over but quickly hisses and grab her ribs.

“You have to” He stands up straighter.

“I don’t fucking want to” She nearly growls. He’d be more scared if she wasn’t so pathetic looking.

“Y/n, I don’t care what you want to do. You need to tell me what happened so I can help you, NOW!” He shouts the last part and she almost chuckles at how adorable the angel looks yelling at her.

“had’t go t’hell and ran into s”trouble with m’dad” She mumbles, looking at the TV instead of Tom.

“I can’t hear you when you mumble” He says rolling his eyes at her stubbornness.

“I had to go to hell to do some shit and Lucifer found out I was there and decided to meet with me but things took a bad turn and I got my ass kicked by a bunch of leviathans while my dad watched” She spits out, louder and clearer.

“Oh”

“Yep, and since they beat me so damn bad, none of my powers or magic works, had to walk all the way here from the nearest portal, which i’m not sure if you’re aware, is VERY far” She pushes through and sits up on the couch.

“Why did he do it?” Tom asks quietly, unsure of the question was upsetting.

“Eh, there’s a few reasons. Main one being he’s god damn Satan. The other is he found out I was at the Office of Heavenly Affairs, got pissed and accused me of being a traitor” She shrugs like the information is nothing, leading Tom to wonder how much stuff y/ns already dealt with.

“Well, uh. I can do my best to patch you up and you can sleep in my bed.” Tom pushes his glasses up on his face and rushes to get some things to help, he doesn’t usually get hurt so he’s not super prepared, but he’s got the basics.

He spends a few minutes trying his best to disinfect her most serious wounds and cleaning the voood off of her. His hands are shaky as he sews a few cuts up but she doesn’t seem to notice, by looking at Y/ns face, you wouldn’t even know she’s in pain. She’s staring at the now black TV, watching her blurry reflection. Her eyes have gone back to normal and her horns have retreated, though it’s still not easy to read her. Tom usually prides himself on being able to read body language but he’s drawing a blank with y/n. Is she mad? maybe upset? maybe just tired? He’s not sure.

“Thanks tommy.” She winks as he wipes the last bit of ointment on her skin. She stands and clenches her jaw to stop from groaning in pain.

She walks towards the front door, leaving Tom in complete and utter confusion before he snaps to action.

“Wait! What? You can’t leave you’re hurt and in pain, you-“

“I’m fine” She shrugs, not turning around.

“No you aren’t! Why are you denying this, you need to stay here.” Toms eyebrows furrow together.

“Why does it fucking matter?” She finally turns around, eyes switched back to her demon form.

“Because you’re my friend,” Tom speaks quietly. He looks down at the ground afraid of her glare.

“Let’s get one thing straight Thomas. I don’t need a friend, which means i don’t need the bullshit that comes with them. I don’t need you to care about me got it? I’m perfectly fine without you, so don’t act like I need you to survive or like you’re the goddamn air i breathe. You’re nothing to me but an idiot fucking angel. So i’m gonna fucking leave and you’re gonna fucking let me. Any questions?” She throws her hands towards him. His head shoots up at her.

“You came here? You didn’t go to the club, you walked all the way from the nearest portal, which is 34 blocks by the way, you needed someone and you came here. Don’t get mad just because you want to be the one to hurt someone instead of the other way around. So you can leave if you really want to y/n, but don’t lie about why you’re doing it because you’re only fooling yourself” He spurts out, face red and hands shaky.

Y/n doesn’t say anything for a while. Just stares in anger, her eyes fill with tears and she quickly wipes them away as they fall.

“I don’t wanna be friends anymore Tom, that’s it.” She shakes out between her deep shudders of breath. She turns and limps out quickly, slamming Toms front door behind her.

[ronniesqueen]

A Journey To Find True Love

We start off with Archie as the bachelor, Ronnie is in his season. The story progresses, and she becomes the next bachelorette after he finishes his season. Both of them go on their journey to find true love.

I will be writing this AU in the form of a tv show. Since, we all know that “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” are reality tv shows.

Previously on “The Bachelor”

 Archie met the Coopers.

 Arche met the Lodges.

 Archie met the McCoys.

 And, Archie met the Blossoms.

 After realizing he and Josie wanted completely different life paths, Archie broke up with Josie at the rose ceremony.

 Oh, and Archie isn’t great at ice skating.

 Next up, is the iconic three-on-one date that most bachelors and bachelorettes typically do, when they’re close to choosing the final two.

 Veronica, Cheryl, and Betty remain.

 Who will Archie propose to?

 Who will get Archie’s final rose?

 Okay.

 Without further ado, 

 Buckle up, buckaroos!!!

Week Five. 

(setting: Confessional Booth)

             Archie sat down in front of the camera. 

                   “I’m not ready for this.”

            He put his face in his hands. “Last night was really hard. I hated knowing that I hurt someone, who was falling in love with me. And it’s even worse that I was falling for her, too. I’m just scared...of what it’ll be like when I finally choose someone. Josie was all in, until she realized how real this was. What if Betty, Veronica, or Cheryl suddenly wake up and don’t want this anymore?”

          He crossed his arms. “What if I get down on one knee for one of them, and they leave me completely blindsided? I went into this show, thinking that I’d find my person and there wouldn’t be any problems. But...”

                “Nobody said this was easy,” he groaned to himself.

(setting: Bachelor Mansion)

             “I can’t believe Josie got sent home,” Betty said, genuinely shocked.

            “Did you think it was gonna be me?” Cheryl chuckled.

           “No, of course not! Honestly, I thought it was gonna be ME,” Betty clarified. “I was the first hometown date. Out of four. My chances didn’t look good. People tend to forget about the first one.”

          “I thought it was gonna be ME,” Veronica sighed. “My dad really freaked him out. I wouldn’t have blamed Archie if he sent me home.”

       “Archie called your name first, V”  Betty said, encouragingly. “He genuinely likes you. I don’t think your dad would stop him.”

           Veronica smiled, and hugged Betty.

         “There was a moment, before Archie called my name, that I thought it was going to be ME,” Cheryl said. “Mother was overly eager. It could’ve scared him off.”

         “But it didn’t,” Betty said, rubbing Cheryl’s shoulders. “You got a one-on-one. And a hometown date. He seems like he really likes you.”

           Cheryl smiled wholeheartedly.

      “One of us is going home tonight,” Veronica whispered.

         “It doesn’t feel real,” Betty added.

     “Do you two feel okay about your relationships in general?” Cheryl asked.

      “I do feel good about where Archie and I stand,” Betty confirmed. “But.. I could be wrong. You never know how the other person is feeling. Maybe he could blindside me, the same way he blindsided Josie.”

       “Same,” Veronica agreed. “I can’t go into this week thinking that I have it in the bag, when none of us know what’s really going through his head.”

       “I feel...” Cheryl whispered. “I don’t know. Like it’s all or nothing. He’ll either decide he still wants to give our relationship a chance, or he’ll send me home.”

  (setting: Andrews Household)

                “Who are you leaning towards?” Jughead asked causally, taking a bite out of his pizza.

          “I don’t know anymore dude,” Archie responded, taking a sip of his beer.

                 “What? Come on.”

         “Any of them could turn me down if I propose.”

            “No shit. But isn’t that part of this whole process?”

                           “I mean, yeah. But-”

              “Did you think you were the only one who could end the relationship?” Jughead laughed.

               “When I agreed to becoming the bachelor, I did not picture this ending badly. I didn’t think it was possible.”

             “Ah. I see,” Jughead said. “Ten women who want to marry you. Competing against each other for your attention. Every man’s dream. Why on Earth would any of the women change their minds?” he chuckled sarcastically.

             Archie laughed. “I guess when I put myself in their shoes, I do get how this whole thing can be hard for them.”

           “Trust me, it’s just as hard for you as it is for them. They’re probably really scared of the same thing you are. Rejection.”

           Archie raised his eyebrows. “I guess I never thought of it that way.”

          “Yeah. So lighten up,” Jughead said, patting his back. “You’ll do great. Just trust your gut. Whoever you have stronger feelings for, she has to make it through.”

(setting: Three-on-one date in a fancy restaurant a little ways out of Riverdale)

        Betty, Cheryl, and Veronica were sitting at their table when, Archie arrived.

                     There were two roses on the table.

                            “You all look stunning.”

                   All three women giggled and blushed.

            He sighed. “I’ve given this a lot of thought. And I want to establish that, I’m really struggling here. This is really hard for me. And I can only imagine how hard it is for the three of you. So I just...I just...”

          He took a deep breath. “I wish I could stop the hurt. I wish that we could go into this without any hearts being broken. But, I know that’s inevitable. And we all signed up for this. So...that’s where I’m at, right now.”

                Veronica smiled. “We came into this knowing the risks of it all, Archiekins. You’re worth it.”

               “We’ve talked about it between the three of us, and, we just want you to be happy,” Cheryl added.

             “As much as we want for you to choose us, we’ll still be happy knowing that your hearts in good hands even if you don’t,” Betty said.

             Archie grinned. “I could not have asked for a better group of women.”

        After several minutes of wining and dining, Veronica reached for his hand. “Can I steal you away for bit?”

               “Of course, Ronnie.”

        As the two walked away together, Cheryl glanced at Betty. “And so it begins.”

                Betty laughed.

(setting: Lobby.)

                 They kissed softly for a moment.

         She looked up at him. “You okay?”

         “I wasn’t when I first got here. But you guys turned it around for me. I really appreciate that.”

          They sat down on the couch.

     “How are you?” He asked. “I didn’t really get a chance to talk with you after the rose ceremony.”

       “I’m good. I just want you to know that what we have is strong, and you don’t need to worry.”

       He kissed her forehead. “Thanks Ronnie.”

   She rested her head on his shoulder. “You were the strong one for me when my father came back. Now, let me be the strong one for you.”

     He sighed as he reached for her hand. “I don’t know what’s gonna happen.”

             “You don’t have to.”

        “But..” he began. Then paused. “I just don’t like knowing that there’s a possibility, that this could end badly.”

          “Of course there is, Archie. Life doesn’t work like that,” Veronica said, chuckling. “That’s why it’s so important to focus on this. This moment. Right now.”

        He smiled. “Moments like these make me sad when they end.”

              “Well they shouldn’t. Because,” Veronica said, kissing his cheek. ”You need to make them last.”

               He pulled her close. “I felt that spark and connection when we were together.”

            “As did I,” Veronica said, snuggling in his chest.

      He smiled, and stood up from the couch. “Ronnie. I’ll be right back.”

(setting: Dinner Table.)

                “And then I said, if you excuse me, I have a date to go to. Then I just stormed out of Pops,” Cheryl laughed.

               “Wow,” Betty reacted. “I cannot believe Valerie talked to you like that. And I can’t believe Ethel just threw you guys under the bus. That is so unlike her.”

                “Eh. She apologized to me afterwards. So we’re good. But that whole situation was really annoying.”

               “I bet,” Betty agreed, taking a sip of her wine. “I can’t even imagine. Poor Josie. It must really suck when you have to take time away from your date, to defend yourself from what someone said about you.”

             “Exactly! It was completely disrespectful to Josie. Thankfully, Josie had my back, and she explained everything to Archie. So that I wouldn’t have to take time away from my date.”

           “That’s so sweet of her,” Betty commented.

         “It was. But honestly Betty, when Josie called me on the morning of my hometown date to tell me what Valerie did, it really pissed me off. Like what the hell? Who does that?”

         “Valerie struck me as jealous when Archie took you shopping. But I mean. We all were. It’s normal.”

         “Yeah it’s normal to get jealous. But at the same time-”

        “It doesn’t justify her trying to sabotage you guys.”

        “Exactly. Thank you, Betty.”

      Archie walked over to the table, picked up one of the roses, and walked away.

        “Oh...” Cheryl whispered. “My. God.”

       Betty’s eyes grew wide. “I just...wow.”

       The two looked at each other in a panic.

       One. Rose. Left.

(setting: Lobby.)

             Archie entered the lobby, holding the rose.

             Veronica gasped.

            “When we first met, Ronnie, I was excited about you. And I still am today. Meeting your family last week was really amazing because I got to see where you came from. You always push me to be a better man. And I want to, not just for you, but for myself. You brought that out of me.” 

                 She giggled.

         He laughed. “Ronnie. Will you accept this rose?”

             “With gratitude, Archiekins,” she laughed.

(setting: Restaurant entrance.)

                   “I called you the limo to come get you. But I promise I’m not sending you home,” he laughed. “I’m sending you to the mansion to pack your things so that the next time I see you, it’ll be in our fantasy suite.”

                She blushed. “I could not be more excited. I can’t believe this right now!” 

                They kissed for a few minutes when the limo arrived.

         Veronica waved at him as the limo drove away. Smiling, Archie watched. Then sighed. He walked back inside the restaurant. 

(setting: Dinner table.)

                 “So I know this must feel kinda...” Archie began, as he sat down with Betty and Cheryl. “Tense now. I just sent Veronica back to the mansion. And, while I do feel good about that, I also feel really nervous. Because I do really enjoy my time with both of you. And I’m just hoping to have fun tonight and get some clarity with how we all feel.”

             The two women nodded.

        “Betty, can I steal you away for a bit?” Archie asked.

              “Of course,” Betty said, smiling coyly.

        Cheryl smiled briefly as they walked away together.

(setting: Confessional Booth)

               “WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Veronica cheered, popping open a bottle of champagne. “I’m going to the fantasy suites with my Archiekins!”

                She laughed as she put the bottle down. She took a deep breath. “Who do I think is going to make it? I don’t know. I can’t say. I grew close to both Betty and Cheryl. I’m not rooting against either one of them. But..whoever Archie chooses, they’re both incredible women.”

(setting: Lobby.)

       Betty sat down on the couch when Archie immediately took her hand and led her away from the couch.

        “Oh, you didn’t want to sit and talk?” Betty asked.

         “Not really,” Archie said, pushing a button that was on the fireplace. The lights grew dim.

       She laughed. “Smooth, Arch.”

      He pulled her close. “I just wanted to dance with you for a bit.”

      “Awww,” she whispered, kissing him. “What brought this on?”

     “I haven’t had a chance to talk to you after the rose ceremony. And I just...really needed you, Betty.”

(setting: Lobby.)          

              “I know I told you that you remind me of home. And I think I told you the reason why,” Archie began. “You’re my safe place.”

             “You’re my safe place too, Arch.”

         “I always feel...such a comfort around you. I never thought I could trust anyone this much.”

          She blushed. “I feel, really honored that you do.”

         They kissed softly for a moment. 

         “Everything about our relationship feels genuine. It’s like...the feeling of finally getting some fresh air after being underwater too long. Or the feeling of getting off a rollercoaster and that relief when you know, you can finally breathe again.”

     Betty smiled. “I feel the exact same way. I’ve never had a connection like this before. You always make it so easy. I know I keep falling for you more every day Archie.”

       “So do I,” he said. “And this process so scary. Because I look at you, I look at the others, and I just...”

        She looked at him, patiently waiting for him to continue.

      “I get so worked up. Being the bachelor isn’t...simple like everyone said it would be. I get so nervous, so riled up. And just a complete wreck. But then.. I look at you. And then I feel, like everything’s going to be fine. I feel comfort, I feel happy, I feel like me again.”

     She kissed him. “I love knowing that you feel so sure of me.”

        “I’ve never doubted you, Betty. And I never will.”

(setting: Dinner Table)

          Betty sat down at the table next to Cheryl. Archie walked over to them. “Cheryl, can we sneak away for a bit?”

           “I’d be more than happy to.”

(setting: Confessional Booth)

             Betty was smiling widely. “I feel good.”

             She sighed. “If I get the rose, I’ll be thrilled. But, if Cheryl gets the rose...I can still be happy knowing that the man I’m falling in love with, has two really great girls who won’t hurt him.”

            She looked down, and bit her lip.

(setting: Outside in the garden.)

             “I was hoping for some fresh air,” Cheryl said, leading Archie to the garden.

            “Whatever you want,” he said, with a grin.

           She turned to face him. “Our relationship has been sooo…”

           “Amazing,” he finished.

          She giggled. “I feel like we get each other better.”

         “We do get along really well,” Archie chuckled.

          “I think that there’s something you should know about me, if we make it to the fantasy suites.”

         “You can tell me anything.”

          She took a deep breath. “Before I agreed to come on this show, like many years before I signed up for this, I did have a past. But we all do. And so, in mine,” she began. “I did experience falling in love for the first time. And her name was Heather. We were best friends in middle school. One night, mother caught us sharing a bed during a sleepover, and she lost it. She destroyed us.”

         “I didn’t know you were..”

        “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. But, I wanted to explore my sexuality when I signed up for this show. But then, you just made it so easy to get caught in the moment with you. And I meant everything I said to you, one hundred percent. But I just wanted you to know every part of who I am.” 

      He hugged her. “I’m really honored that you were willing to share that with me. And I’m really proud of you. Cheryl, I think you’re so brave and so beautiful. I always knew how strong you were since our first date.”

        She leaned her head on his shoulder. “Thank you Archie. When you were talking with Betty, I was reflecting quite a bit. And while I do feel ready for an engagement, I think that...”

       “You might need a little time.”

      “This isn't me saying I don’t want to be with you. I was genuinely falling in love with you, Archie. And I still think we can get there. So, if you choose me at the end of this, I propose that we date for a while, and then get engaged.”

     He smiled. “I don’t mind taking things slow. As long as they’re going somewhere.”

(setting: Dinner Table)

                 Betty and Cheryl were sitting at the table, talking among themselves. Archie had decided to take the last twenty minutes to make his choice before the end of the night.

                 “That rose is just taunting us,” Cheryl laughed.

               “Do you think it can sense our fear?” Betty laughed.

                “Oh yes. It can.”

         Archie walked over to them and sat down. He took an extra long, deep breath. “This decision....has been, the hardest one yet. Because I’m saying goodbye to someone who, not only was I falling for, but also...”

         He shut his eyes for a moment. Then opened them. “I’m saying goodbye to someone who I feel would be much happier with someone else.”

               “Just know that this isn’t me abandoning you. This isn’t me giving up and walking away. This is me, following my heart. And looking at the situation from every angle.”

            He picked up the rose.

      Cheryl and Betty held hands under the table, as they waited.

              He bit his lip, and breathed heavily through his nose.

                           “Betty.”

                  Betty gasped lightly.

            “Will you accept this rose?” Archie asked.

                     “Without a doubt, Arch.”

             They stood up and gave each other a hug.

          Archie looked over at Cheryl, and whispered. “Can I walk you out?”

              “I’d be insulted if you didn’t,” Cheryl chuckled.

        The two walked towards the entrance of the restaurant.

                  “I’m so sorr-” Archie began.

         “Don’t be. I completely understand.”

             “This wasn’t me not wanting to be with you. I really saw a future with us. I just really think you might be happier-”

               “I agree with you.”

                      “You do?”

          “I do. Ever since my relationship with Heather ended, I haven’t...truly...explored that path. And I feel like I owe it to myself to figure out what I want. Figure out who I am.”

            They hugged for a moment.

     “But I did enjoy my time with you so much. Thank you for everything. You opened my heart to all the possibilities out there. I’m hopeful.”

        “I’m really grateful that I could help you that way.”

              She got inside the limo. “Goodbye Archie.”

                      “Goodbye Cheryl.”

(setting: Dinner Table)

             Betty was sitting at the table by herself, with the rose in her hand, smiling widely. She turned around at the sound of Archie’s footsteps.

            “Come here,” he said.

       She ran to him excitedly as he picked her up, and spun her around.

          “FANTASY SUITES!!!” They cheered in unison.

                         He pulled out his phone.

               “What are you doing?” Betty laughed.

                       “I want to remember this.”

-------------END CREDIT--------------

[thisisthe-way]

Proposal

Uraraka stared in awe around her at the large, traditional Japanese property, smoothing out the ruffles of her pink dress and clinging to Bakugou’s arm. She smiled over at him, fixing the collar of his dress shirt when it began to flap upward. “You look very handsome, Katsu.”

“Tch,” Bakugou snorted, but smirked down at her. The vile of pebbles he always wore was showing under the shirt, only the brown twine resting on his barely visible collarbone. Uraraka couldn’t complain that he never wore a tie with his dress shirts. She rather enjoyed him keeping the first few buttons open like that.

Luuuucky, she sometimes throught as she admired her well-built boyfriend’s hero body. She kissed his cheek. “And what about me?”

He glanced down at her again, and shrugged. “Passable,” he teased—and found himself flailing and yelling on the ceiling suddenly.

A head of white hair with little red flecks peeked our or the house’s largest room, and blinked behind glasses. “You must be more of otouto’s friends. He’s told me about the loud, angry boy before.” She stepped all the way out and smiled. “I’m Fuyumi. Come inside. The rest of you are already here.”

Inside, the rest of class 1A was standing around a refreshments table, eating and drinking, and Todoroki was pacing at the back of the room in front of a frail looking woman sitting in a chair.

Endeavor was on the other end of the room, talking bolsterouslty to the only other elders in the room. He and the frail woman were as far apart as the size of the room would allow.

Uraraka released her boyfriend from the ceiling and trailed inside, waving to Midoriya and Iida, talking to Jirou and Kaminari near the refreshments.

Todoroki noticed them, and touched the seated woman’s shoulder before approaching them, glaring, his gaze only half-hearted as he still seemed preoccupied. “Could you two have made a louder entrance?”

“Gomen, Todoroki-kun,” Uraraka replied, touching Bakugou’s shoulder gently. “He’s an asshole.” Her smile only brightened.

“You say that too easily now,” Bakugou mumbled down at her. She grinned, sweetly.

Todoroki frowned and glanced over at his father and the other two elder Quirk users. “Momo’s parents. My old man is getting too friendly.” He scoffed. “He’s pretty happy I decided to marry the only other person from my class who got in on recommendation.” He laughed bitterly. “He actually thinks I’m doing this because of our Quirks. Delusional bastard.”

Uraraka glanced over st Endeavor. “I thought things were better between you two? That’s what Yaomomo said.” She felt Bakugou’s arm tighten on her waist, and she touched his wrist, discreetly. It was no secret to 1A anymore the way Endeavor had raised Todoroki. Their class tended to be a little warier around the flame hero now, number two or not.

“Sort of. He’s not that different. No one changes that quickly,” Todoroki replied, glancing down and shaking his head. He looked over at the seated woman. “At least Okaasan could be here for this. Did Momo text you, Uraraka-san?”

“Mm. She just got off. She thinks it’s just dinner between the four of us. Your secret is safe.” Uraraka smiled at him. “You ready for this?”

“Absolutely not,” Todoroki mumbled, and glanced up at his siblings who were bringing their mother a drink and a plate of food. “But it helps to have everyone here.” He fiddled with something in the pocket of his slacks.

Bakugou snorted. “Shut the fuck up. How can you pretend to be good at everything like you do if you’re afraid of something that’s actually supposed to be fuckin’ good? Screw what your old man says—you love her, right? So unfreeze your shriveled balls, man the hell up and do it.”

Todoroki chuckled and raised his white eyebrow at Bakugou. “Thanks for the pep talk, Bakugou. I feel so much better now.” He slid his eyes to Uraraka. “He’s a keeper.”

Sensing the sarcasm, Uraraka grinned. “Eh, passable.” She raised her eyebrows up at Bakugou, wondering if he’d catch the joke. He did, glaring playfully down at her.

“She’s coming!” Jirou called, her earphone jack plugged into the wall—she could hear Yaoyorozu coming up the path of the Todoroki residence.

“Shit,” Todoroki breathed and Bakugou smirked widely at how nervous he was all of a sudden.

“Does anyone have a camera? Stoic Half-half is shaking!” Bakugou growled in glee. “Someone take a picture!”

“....you really are an asshole,” Uraraka said to her boyfriend, her expression deadpan.

A moment later, the door slid open, Yaoyorozu having heard some of the commotion and she blinked when all eyes turned on her. “Oh. Uh. Okay....hey, everyone.”

Todoroki swallowed heavily and approached her. “Aisuru, there’s someone I want you to meet.” He placed his left hand gently on her waist, despite her having returned home and changed into regular clothes after work, and sent a small shock of heat through her body to warm her from the cold night air she’s walked through. He led her over to the seated woman, and smiled, gently. “Okaasan.”

Todoroki Rei glanced up at them, and smiled gently. “So, you’re Yaoyorozu Momo? Shoto never stops talking about you when he comes to visit me. He never stops smiling—more than I’ve ever seen him smile, even.”

“Okaasan...” Todoroki mumbled, blushing lightly.

Yaoyorozu giggled with her own blush, hiding her smile and embarrassment behind her hand. “Oh, Todoroki-san, arigatou. Shoto is very kind to me—he builds me up when I’m doubting myself. He’s a good man.”

Rei looked at her son with a small, distant smile. “He is. I wish I could’ve seen him become one.”

Todoroki shot a sharp look over his shoulder at Endeavor when he tried to approach behind Yaoyorozu’s parents. “She’s visiting from the hospital just for tonight,” he murmured, returning his attention to his girlfriend.

“Tonight? Why, Shoto?” Yaoyorozu asked with a curious frown. “What’s special about tonight?” She smiled at her parents and waved when they were close enough, and then turned her eyes again to Todoroki. “Why is everyone here?”

Todoroki swallowed and pulled her to the center of the room. “Momo, Aisuru, boku no kokoro,” he murmured, affectionately.

“Seriously, where the hell is a camera when we need one?!” Bakugou barked, gleefully, at seeing Todoroki in such a vulnerable state.

A sharp brown eye snapped toward him. “Damareyarou,” Todoroki commanded, his tone low, even and extremely irritated, emphasizing the words with a slam of his foot down, causing a line of ice to crawl over the floor and up Bakugou’s body until his mouth was frozen over.

Bakugou struggled, growled and yelled against the ice, snapping and popping small explosions against it until he was free. “TEME!!”

“KATSUKI,” Uraraka snapped, and Bakugou immediately stopped, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting angrily, steaming coming up off of his head.

There was a snorted laugh from someone in the room, and Bakugou’s eyes flared, and he started to lunge toward the noise, but was caught and held by Tsu’s tongue.

Uraraka looked at her friend and smiled. “Arigatou, Tsu-chan.” She looked back at Todoroki. “Go on. Sorry.”

Yaoyorozu was laughing a little at the familiar antics of her former classmates and she tilted her head at Todoroki. “What is going on with you? Bakugou-san is right; you’re acting strangely.”

She took half a step back in shock when a small velvet box was suddenly held between them, her eyes widening. “Sh-Shoto...?”

“You know what it means. I don’t have to say it. But I will if you want me to. I’d do anything you asked of me, honestly. I’ve never loved any one thing as much as I love you, Momo.” His eyes were sincere. “And the idea of loving something that much terrifies me.”

He turned a sharp glare at his father. “You may be strong, with an impressive Quirk,” and then his gaze was soft again, and only hers, “but I would love you even if you were Quirkless. So? What’s your answer?”

Yaoyorozu felt the sting of tears in the corners of her eyes, and took the box, opening it to reveal a silver ring with a diamond and ruby inlayed in separate settings.

“It’s my mother’s ring. My father had it made as a...tasteless symbol for what he was trying to do,” Todoroki murmured, softly. “But if you wear it, it’ll actually mean something. That’s what Okaasan told me when she gave it to me to give to you.”

The tears fell without warning, and she looked back up at her boyfriend, her lips pressed together tightly to keep from squeaking or sobbing. She swallowed, and swallowed again, and then nodded as little Russian nesting dolls started to fall out of her sleeves and skirt.

“N-nesting dolls?” Todoroki asked, eyes widening.

“Th-the first time you believed in me—I cant help creating them sometimes when y-you’re overtly kind to me,” she whimpered, wiping at her eyes.

“I’ve never seen you—“ He began, and she shook her head to interrupt him.

“You haven’t seen the back closet in my house!!” She cried, implying she would escape their to discharge her Quirk, and then return. Despite the sweet moment, he has to wonder how many were actually in the closet as of now—they had been dating for almost two years.

He chuckled, his own nerves suddenly dissipating, and he pulled her into a tender kiss as their classmates cheered, before sliding the engagement ring on her finger and kissing her again.

After all was said and done, the rest of the guests and family began to eat and drink and toast, and Kirishima approaches Bakugou and Uraraka with a grin.

“So how many of those little doll things do you think she’ll make on their wedding night?” He asked, quietly with a grin, tilting his glass toward them.

“Probably best not to think about it,” Bakugou grumbled, an arm sllung around Uraraka, all three sipping their drinks and watching Todoroki and Yaoyorozu mingle.

Hard not to think about it, now.

The trio snickered, and Uraraka looked up at Bakugou.

“Are we next?” She whispered with wiggling eyebrows.

“Hn.” He grinned widely. “Guess we’ll see.”

Indeed.

[kumkaniudaku]

Take Me Out

A/N: Happy Birthday to my girl @yaachtynoboat711. I hope this is to your liking. If not, we’ll give it another shot. 

Everyone has their own piece of Heaven on Earth. Your’s just happened to be baseball. While most people saw March as the first break of Spring, you considered March the beginning of the greatest sporting season on Earth. Since you were old enough to understand the wonder of baseball, you dreamed of seeing your beloved Washington Nationals in person. Unfortunately, childhood rapidly dissipated into the hustle and bustle of adulthood and the likelihood of fulfilling your wish seemed to wane.

Until he came along.

“Baby girl, should we wear the home or away jerseys today?”

Your face lit up as Chadwick held assorted jerseys to his chest for you to choose from, “Let’s do the home jersey. I like the white on your skin.”

He smirked at you, “Eh, I’d rather have on a Braves jersey but, if it makes you happy, I’ll do whatever.” Sliding the sleeves over his arms, he turned to the mirror to examine his outfit. The jersey remained unbuttoned, leaving his solid chest and torso open for your consumption. Your hands found their way to your neck, clutching your imaginary pearls as your breath hitched. The silence of the room exposed you, making your embarrassingly shaky breathing bounce off the walls louder than you intended. Chadwick turned to face you, tilting his head to the side curiously.  “You sure you wanna go out, Yaa? You look out of it and we haven’t went out in this Atlanta heat.”

“Y-yeah,” you stammered, trying to remember what the day’s purpose was. If he didn’t cover himself soon, you weren’t sure that you could keep your cool in the friendship.

Chadwick was everything you wanted in a partner and then some. Not only did he meet your physical wishes, he was smart, talented and a genuine person. 

You never intended for feelings to grow on your end. Heeding the warnings of your mother and friends, it was foolish to attach emotions to an artist on any level. Women threw themselves at him whenever they could, oftentimes ignoring your presence or interrupting conversations to speak and ultimately be declined. Chadwick’s time was valuable and adding a relationship to the mix at the height of his career would only complicate things for him.

But, you couldn’t help your feelings. 

Sometimes you wished that he wouldn’t hold doors open for you or spend time doting over you and your accomplishments so that you could detach from him and keep the relationship platonic. His constant attention and admiration made it difficult to separate friend Chadwick from the imaginary relationship you created in your head.

“Alright, it’s time to go,” He exclaimed, emerging from the bathroom of his downtown Atlanta hotel suite. “If we time it right, we can get to Suntrust early enough to get a drink before I show you your surprises.”

Your face scrunched in fake annoyance, “Chad, I done told you already that I don’t need any surprises. All I need is baseball and a beer.”

“Since when have I ever listened to you? Let me treat you to your first baseball game the way you’re supposed to enjoy it.” His eyebrows wiggled in excitement as he waited for your frown to transform into a smile. When you finally caved, he jokingly tickled your neck. “Ahh, there it is! Keep that smile on all day for me, okay?”

“Chadwiiiiick,” you whined, more from frustration with yourself than with his request.

“C’mon, Yaa, just loosen up. I promise it’ll be worth it once we get there.”

After some additional coaxing and an agreement to let you choose the breakfast spot the next morning, you agreed to let him handle all facets of night’s outing.

Your apprehension turned into childlike squirming in the front seat of his rental when the lights and sounds of SunTrust Park peeked over the Cobb County horizon. The smell of fresh barbecue from a restaurant inside The Battery teased your nose, connecting with your mouth to water in anticipation. The energy of all the baseball fans, young and old, seemed to bounce from their bodies to yours asChadwick tried his best to lead you through the crowd without being seen.

“Where are we going,” you asked once you passed what you assumed was the normal entrance for fan seating. If he was playing some type of prank, you wanted him to quit before the game started.

“I pulled some strings and got us VIP seating. There, I spoiled one surprise. Enjoy the rest of the evening with no questions.”

The stern look and finality to his request made you equal parts upset and turned on. Deciding to follow directions, you quickly emptied your brain of the six other questions you were carrying and followed his lead.

When your VIP seats came into view, your jaw dropped in shock. Chadwick had managed to secure seats that offered a near perfect view of the field. If you wanted to, you were sure you could call the players by name and get a response.

“You like it, Yaa,” Chadwick asked, a cheeky grin spread across his face while he gauged your reaction.

“I-I, I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything. Just enjoy yourself for me.”

His smile erased part of your anxiety. The whiskey neat he ordered for you did the rest of the job. By the top of the fifth, you were in full blown fan mode, abandoning your seat in favor of standing.

“Let’s go boys,” you hollered with your hands cupped to carry the sound. “Let’s get a fuckin’ run!”

Chadwick laughed at your obnoxious behavior before tugging on the hem of your jersey. “Sit down, Coach. They got it.”

“We need a win, dammit!” Sitting down, you took a sip of your whiskey and looked to Chadwick. “Am I doing too much?”

“No, you’re having a good time. That’s what you’re supposed to do.” His hand landed on your knee, gripping it lightly for reassurance. “Plus, the way these white people are looking at you know your shit is funny. So, keep going.”

Your hearty cackle rang out in the immediate area, drawing attention to the way your head was thrown back in laughter.

The sixth inning turned into more of the same, you standing to scream directions to the players and him reeling you back in. 

At the seventh inning stretch, he knew he needed to calm you down for his final surprise of the night.

“Alright, Yaa, have a seat. I got something to show you.”

“Wha-”

Your question was cut off by the announcer directing everyone’s attention to the scoreboard. Nothing could’ve prepared you for Chadwick’s face stretched across the large LED screen for everyone to see.

“Is it working,” he asked someone off camera. “Okay, cool. Uh, hey, Yaa. It’s probably weird seeing me up here in front of all these people.”

“Chad, what are you doing?” you hissed only to be ignored by your friend.

“We’ve been friends for a long time and, I’ve watched you grow into an amazing woman. You’re incredibly intelligent and caring. The way you are dedicated to helping everyone around you makes me want to be better. I’m not sure where I’m going with this so, I’ll try to wrap it up. In front of all these people and if you’ll have me, can we take this friendship to another level? I want you to be my lady.”

Your hands clamped over mouth in attempt to hold in your surprised scream.

“What do you say, Yaa,” the announcer asked.

To ratchet up the embarrassment, the ballpark camera panned to your exact location, highlighting the expectant faces of Chadwick and the people around you.

The longer you waited in shock, the more nervous energy you could feel radiating from him.

“If you not with it Yaa, we can just stop right here. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot,” He apologized, wringing his hands. “But, please, don’t zone out on me like that. Please.”

“Yes,” your answer was abrupt and almost unheard over the chatter around you.

“What? Did you j-”

“Yes, Chadwick. Hell yeah I’ll be your lady!”

Chadwick couldn’t open his arms fast enough to catch your body as you threw yourself into him. Had your wildest dream really come true? Were you really holding on to Chadwick in front of thousands of baseball fans as fireworks shot off in the background? You couldn’t have wrote a more fitting fairytale moment if you tried.

He buried his face in the crook off your neck, letting the vibrations of his relieved laughter rumble against your warm skin.

“Fuck, girl. You had me worried for a second.”

“I’m sorry, Chad. I just-are you sure? Me?”

Pulling back, he cupped your face with both hands to look into your eyes, “I’m sure. I will always be sure, Yaa.”

His forehead his dropped against yours as his hand traveled to grab the back of your head. Before you could refuse, his lips pressed against your set, gently at first to test the waters. When you didn’t refuse, he deepened the display of affection.

Time seemed to stop as your mouths danced in perfect sync, an expression of all the feelings both of you had concealed from each other. It took all your resolve to keep your tongue out of the mix, considering the headlines that would spawn from the Black Panther’s full blown makeout session during America’s past time.

“Baby,” he mumbled against your lips. “We gotta stop.”

“Huh? Why? What’s wrong?” You attempted to catch his bottom lip again, making him chuckle.

“Not here, Yaa.” Gripping your wrist to stop your hands from roaming, he kissed the inside of each one before getting close your ear. You could feel the scratch of his beard as whispered into your ear. “Save that energy for later, love. You gon’ need it.”

[calucadu]

Missing - Chapter 2

Missing, a League of Legends Fanfic. Chapter 2.

Summary: When a yordle goes missing, all Hell breaks loose. Or maybe it’s the best thing that could’ve happened to him.

Characters: Rumble, Ziggs, Tristana, Teemo, Poppy, Heimerdinger, Vi, Caitlyn

Rating: Mature

Prologue // Previous chapter // Next chapter

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Or read below the cut

Ziggs P.O.V.

 I wasn’t happy about my hunch being correct, but at least it was something. I had run to my room and came up with a quick sketch of the Institute and the buildings surrounding it. I tried to make it as simple and realistic as possible and when I had it done, I looked over it quickly, to check if anything was missing. Then I hurried to find Tristana, who was with Teemo. I hadn’t included him in my plans, but another brain on the job was actually a positive thing. I explained briefly what had happened and what we’d found and I showed them my map, explaining roughly where the security cameras were located. They listened intently and even asked a few questions.

“So, you’re saying” Teemo spoke after I’d finished “that if Tristy had left the Institute, she would’ve been spotted by the cameras here or here.”

“Yeah.”

“But you watched the footage and you found nothing.”

“But where is the mech, then? Where’s Rumble? How come they’ve disappeared?” Tristana asked, her brow furrowed as she inspected my drawings.

“I don’t know! That’s what we need to find out!” I nearly yelled, throwing my hands up into the air before they rested against my head.

“And the magic detectors, are they reliable?”

“They told me they were 100% trustworthy. Like, they can’t be wrong, all magic leaves traces and all magic can be detected.”

“Let’s look at it from a different point of view.” Teemo started, frowning. “Why don’t we treat it as if Rumble’s disappearance and Tristy’s disappearance are two different things?”

“But that’s impossible!” I whined, slamming my head against the table.

“Hear me out, Ziggs. Let’s focus on finding Rumble. So there are no security cameras in the living areas. What if he just took off from there?”

“No, I’m with Ziggs. There’s no way Tristy and Rumble’s disappearances are a coincidence. But this doesn’t add up. They didn’t teleport their way out, they didn’t leave using the main gates…”

We discussed it for a few minutes, feeling like it got us nowhere. So, I decided we should take a break. It was getting pretty late, and it had been a long time since I’d had anything to eat. With all the things going on, I’d ignored my grumbling tummy.

“I’m going to get some food. You want anything? We can’t come up with something on an empty stomach.” I said, getting up.

“No, I’m fine. I’ll look over your sketches while you’re gone.” Tristana said, shaking her head.

“I must say, these drawings are impressive, Ziggs.” Teemo whispered, a small smile on his lips. “Didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Yeah, he’s quite the artist.” The female yordle answered, grinning back at him.

“Thanks.” I muttered, my mind elsewhere. “Teemo? You want anything?”

“Eh? No, thanks. We had dinner a while ago.”

On my way to the canteen to see if they had any leftover food, I found Poppy and Heirmendinger talking, probably about Rumble. I asked them to join me and they followed me while she was explaining what had happened earlier.

I offered her some food, which she gladly took. She had skipped dinner with me to watch the footage, and then we’d just forgotten, too wrapped up in the recent events.

The two yordles went back with me and Poppy and I started eating while they went over what we already knew. They were silent before Heimerdinger spoke.

“The only explanation I can come up with” He said, his finger tracing over the drawings “is that Rumble tampered with the security cameras.”

“What?” I asked, incredulous.

“It’s literally the only thing that makes sense. No magic, he just vanishes? It’s scientifically impossible.”

“But he wouldn’t do that!”

“He would if he wants to get away! And to me it seems pretty clear that he does! Rumble’s good with this kind of thing. He could’ve forced the tape to loop or something while he escaped.”

We were all silent, letting that sink in.

“He’s pretty smart, Ziggs.” Poppy whispered, crestfallen. “If he’d wanted to leave, he’d make sure to make it impossible for us to track him down.”

“Did he know about the security cameras?” Teemo asked.

“They are pretty obvious to spot.” Tristana stated, pointing at one in the corner.

“I didn’t know that there were security cameras!” I lashed out at them, my fists hitting the table. “What makes you think he would know?”

“There’s one right there! Anyone could spot them! You’re just not very observant.” Poppy seemed pretty frustrated, but not as much as I was.

“And Rumble is?” I inquired, defensively. I knew him better than any of these yordles, and there they were, pretending that they did.

“He noticed when I got a new haircut.” Tristana whispered, looking down at her intertwined hands. No doubt she thought that Heimerdinger was right.

“That’s because he likes you.” I snapped back at her.

“Ziggs.” Poppy’s face had softened. She placed a hand on my shoulder and gazed into my eyes with what was probably a comforting look. “I know you’re only acting like this because you don’t want the truth to sink in, but I think you need to calm down.”

“You calm down when it’s your best friend that’s missing!” I snarled, getting up and brushing her off. “I’m leaving for Bandle. Where did I put my rucksack?”

I looked around me frantically until Heirmedinger cleared his throat, forcing me to look at him.

“Ziggs, don’t do this. Don’t put your career on the line for him.” He warned, his face stern.

“He’ll be back, Ziggs.” Teemo smiled, probably thinking that would make me calmer. “And with another mech or something. Maybe he just needs some alone time.”

“Just because you’re a loner doesn’t mean he fucking is.” I growled, taking him aback. His face showed surprise and then sadness and I clicked my tongue. “I’m sorry for snapping at you. It’s just… I don’t think this is like when he made Tristy. He warned me then. He was excited about it. He wanted to prove his point. This time he’s just vanished and we’ve got no lead and it’s really upsetting… and…”

I started sniffing and sobbing at that point. I let my body fall limp against the chair and I felt Tristana hold my hand and smile sweetly at me.

“It’s hard for us, too, Ziggs, but we’re here for you. Trust us. And trust him. He’s coming back. Please don’t leave.”

“What would you have me do?” I yelled, tears rolling down my cheeks, wetting my fur. I shut my eyes tightly, maybe to stop myself from crying any more.

“I’ll talk to the Tribunal.” Poppy whispered, sounding dead serious. “They’ll conduct an investigation if you’re that worried. But don’t risk your career. You’ll regret it if it really isn’t something important.”

Poppy came back with Vi and Caitlyn tailing behind. There had been the ones put on the case and had even came to hear us out, which was impressive, considering how late it was. I went over everything, while the others contributed by pointing out the stuff I’d accidentally left out.

“OMG, it’s so cute!” Vi squealed, a teasing smirk on her face. “Yordles conducting an investigation! Cupcake, I say we let them continue on their own, it’s just too adorable for us to interfere.”

Her partner shot her a look before she cleared her throat. “Just ignore her. We’ll do everything we can to solve this case.”

“Thank you very much, officers.” Poppy said, offering them a seat.

“I’m sorry, this might be a bit upsetting but I have to ask you some questions. Please answer truthfully and keep in mind that anything you omit will just hinder the investigation.”

“Of course.” The female yordle answered, eyeing me suspiciously.

“First of all, was Rumble acting strange before his disappearance?” Caitlyn asked, cocking her head to the left as she prepared to write down anything we might say.

“Yes!” Tristana hurried to answer. “He was very secretive! I mean, he’s always been a bit reserved but he was acting strange. He would hardly be with us, and when he did, he looked scruffy, wearing the clothes he’d worn the previous day and stuff like that.”

“He wasn’t eating properly.” Heirmendinger spoke carefully. I turned to look at him, surprised he’d picked up on that. I mean, I had, but because he was my best friend. Was whatever that had happened to him that obvious for everyone except for me? Was something wrong with Rumble that I hadn’t picked up on?

“Care to elaborate?” Caitlyn asked.

“He would hardly go to the canteen, and when he did, I barely saw him eat anything. I mean, I don’t know what it was like at his apartment, but…”

“He’s right, he wasn’t feeding himself properly.” I said. “Not even at his place. I didn’t notice, I…”

I stopped myself from sobbing when I saw the sad look the officers gave me, obviously struck by how much I cared for him.

“I’m sorry…” I sniffed, wiping my face with my paw.

“Don’t worry. We understand. Did anything happen to him for him to act this way?”

There was a silence I decided to break, thinking about what she’d said before.

“He’d been rejected.”

“What do you mean? Had some of his work been rejected or…?”

“I rejected his affections for me.” Tristana whispered, a lump in her throat. “I didn’t do it bluntly, and it was a long time ago, but Ziggs and I both think it had probably sunk in.”

“The last time I spoke to him it was about this. He’d realised she didn’t like him in the same way.”

“Anything else that was off about him?”

“He was never in his home when we went to see him.” Tristana stated.

“He claimed to be working on Tristy in his lab all the time. That’s pretty much all I can think of.” I whispered.

“I’m sorry, Ziggs.” Heirmedinger got up. “I really think Rumble’s run away. I’m not going to be of much help and it’s really late. If you need me to answer any questions, I’ll do so gladly, but that won’t change my opinion on what’s happened. Good luck on your investigation and I hope Rumble comes back soon, but I’m leaving.”

He nodded curtly at us before toddling off.

“It does seem like he wasn’t happy with his life.” Vi yawned, stretching. “I think he run away, too. Hey, Cupcake, mind if I hit the sack too?”

Caitlyn turned to her partner, a mixture of confusion and suspicion on her face.

“O…kay?”

“Night, yordles!” Vi had already turned around and was walking away as she said those words, waving back at us.

Caitlyn looked startled as she tried to get her head back on the current investigation.

“When did you last see him?”

While everyone there except me told her about the time he went to the canteen for breakfast and then not have anything to eat, I spoke about the time I’d gone to see him.

“I even invited him to come do something with me… but I was too stupid to realise something was up…”

“Ziggs.” Tristana put a paw on my shoulder, and I turned my head to look at her. “Don’t beat yourself up about this. None of us noticed.”

“Ziggs, I think you need to rest.” Poppy sighed, her face full of worry.

“It is late.” Caitlyn cocked her head and stared at me. “We will continue tomorrow. I have no more questions to ask.”

I wanted to whine, to complain about it, but they had all done more than enough so I just settled with burying my face in my paws and quieting an incoming sob.

“He’s taken it harder than I thought.” I heard Teemo whisper to the other yordles.

“You go on, I’ll take Ziggs to bed.” Tristana placed an arm over my shoulder and closed the gap between us, leaning in. One of her paws reached out to remove my hands from my face, and she looked into my eyes when I finally uncovered it. “Ziggs…”

“We will find Rumble.” Caitlyn spoke, and when I gazed at her, I found her standing up, a determined look on her face. “We will bring him home safe and sound. No, actually, you will. I am certain of it.”

“Yeah, Ziggs. Just you wait, he’ll be back.” Teemo smiled sweetly at me.

“Thanks everyone… for… for everything you’re doing for him… and for me.” I tried to smile but it was forced and hard, so I ended up giving up. “Good night.”

“Sleep well.” Poppy muttered as she walked away, looking back at me with worry.

Caitlyn bowed before heading out and Teemo snuck off before I noticed. Tristana and I were the only ones left in the room and I couldn’t hold in the tears anymore.

“Hey, hey, don’t cry!” She whispered, wiping the droplets away with her thumb.

“I can’t help it, I miss him so damn much!”

“Aw, Ziggs, everything will be okay.” She muttered, grabbing my head and rocking it gently against her chest, maybe to pacify my loud sobs. “We really should go to bed, though.”

“Yeah…” I sniffed, forcing myself away from her grip. I avoided her gaze as I got up and started walking out of the room. She followed close behind, not daring to break the silence and before I knew it, we had reached my apartment.

“Don’t cry.” She managed a smile. “It doesn’t suit you.”

“I know.” I croaked in between sobs.

We were eating our breakfast at the canteen when Caitlyn waved at me.

“Good morning, yordles.” She said when she was within earshot. “I’ve had specialists inspect the tapes and the footage. The security cameras haven’t been tampered with and the footage hasn’t been forced to loop or anything.”

“Okay…?” Teemo muttered, unsure of what to say. Tristana turned to me, a worried look on her face.

“What does this mean?” Poppy frowned, swallowing her cereal and lowering the spoon.

“What are you talking about?” Kennen asked, intrigued.

“Wait, wait.” I stammered. “So, we’re back to square one?”

“Seems like it.” Caitlyn whispered, a sympathetic look on her face as she stared at me.

“But then… what other option do we have…?” I mumbled, looking back down at my now soggy cereal that I didn’t really want to finish.

“Good morning.” Heimerdinger spoke as he put down the tray with his breakfast on the table. He watched the human and then cocked his head to look at me. “What’s going on?”

“The cameras haven’t been tampered with.” I sighed, pushing my food away and lowering my head.

“Oh.”

“So, ahm… what are we going to do now?” Tristana grabbed my hand as she spoke gently, looking into my eyes.

“Really, what’s going on? I don’t understand anything.” Kennen snapped, irritated after being ignored for so long. Poppy sighed and quickly informed the other of what had happened.

“Hmmm. What if he climbed out of a window or something?” He muttered after a small silence.

“Rumble? Climbing out of a window?” Heimerdinger nearly chocked on his breakfast. “Are you daft?”

“Or escaped through the roof?” Kennen was trying hard to come up with ideas, so I really couldn’t be angry with him.

“He couldn’t have done it with Tristy.” I mumbled, feeling a little disappointed.

“But she’s here… Oh, wait, never mind, you were talking about his mech.”

Caitlyn cleared her throat, maybe to make us focus back on her.

“I could ask them to look again, just to be sure.” She offered, but it was clear she thought it was hopeless.

I was about to reject her politely when the doors of the canteen opened with a bang and Vi came running in, a smirk on her face.

“Ziggs! Cupcake!” She screamed as she pushed her way to our table. She was panting by the time she got there but the smile was still on her features. “I’ve got a lead!”

[wasabicakes]

Uma and Harry's relationship: An Analysis

So I’m going to dive right into this. Heads up: All my info is coming from one of the books in the Isle of the Lost series, Rise of the Isle of the Lost (kinda spoilers, yeah?), as well as Descendants 2. In Rise of the Isle of the Lost, we actually find out quite a bit about their friendship and dynamics. This isn’t by any means an encyclopedia of their friendship nor their characters individually. There’s a lot I’m not including in here (Sorry!), but I’m just bullet pointing the most relevant parts that I’m comparing, so this thing isn’t just a massive wall of overbearing text that makes your eyes go bloodshot.

Uma and Harry are each others oldest friends on the Isle. They like to cause mayhem together. Gil peaced out from their group years ago for reasons unknown, so its been the fearsome twosome for a long time. Until he joins their crew later on in the book.

They decide to join a “boat” race run by Captain Hook where the winner gets one of his old busted ships from his fleet.

Uma takes Harry’s hook and tells him he’ll only get it back if either he or she wins that race. They make a deal that whoever wins gets to be captain and the other will be first mate. We already know how that turns out.

At first Harry is hopeful she will make him captain at some point, but after she rescues him during an adventure I won’t tell you about, he’s all on board with her being captain.

From there on out, he calls her captain multiple times, even lending her his hand and saying, “Captains, first” so she goes ahead of he and Gil. When Uma’s feeling down, he and Gil offer suggestions of what mischief they could cause and Harry goes, “Captain’s choice.”

Their relationship is full of banter. They take jabs at each other, they’re sarcastic. Examples: Harry teases her when she nearly falls off the ship twice trying to unfurl the masts in a hurry when she has no clue what she’s doing. She makes fun of him for not staying on his feet when the ship sways hard. And how he never beats her at anything. And that’s just a little snapshot.

I don’t know how much time has passed between the events of Rise and and Descendants 2 - they’re still close friends, still captain and first mate respectively - but their relationship seems different now in the weeks? months? that have passed. In Rise, Harry flirts with Uma, but she never once teases or flirts back. He’s the one who is more proactive in getting her attention in that sense and she is unfazed: “As if. You work for me, remember? Do I have to keep reminding you? I’m captain, you’re first mate,” said Uma, pointing a finger and stabbing his chest with it. “First date if you’re lucky,” said Harry with a wink, pulling on his collar and strutting a little. “Shut up,” said Uma with a laugh. “And see to that sail.” (Ch. 13) “A few minutes later, Harry swiveled on his boots and returned to her side, leaning in closely. "Uma, darling,” he said, in his rough brogue. “I just need to ask again - how are we going to find that thing in the water?” “Leave that to me,” said Uma. “Just get this ship ready.” (Ch. 13) “I don’t think this symbol marks the treasure. Remember, we’re looking for a trail. The path isn’t on the ground. It’s written on trees. If I’m right, there are more of these markings. Follow them, and we’ll find the treasure,” said Harry. “Or we’ll find out where two lovers carved a heart in some tree,” said Uma. “Are you trying to tell me something?” Harry joked. “That I’ll cut you if you don’t find the treasure chest?” Uma snorted. (Ch. 27) She also offers us this little tidbit (in Chapter 13, for reference): “Uma knew, try as she might, she couldn’t hurt his feelings. It was all part of the game of question-and-rejection they’d played forever.” What does this even mean though? With all of that in mind, let’s flash forward to Descendants 2. And for the tl;dr crowd here is essentially what this next part is all about:

Where we have scenes like these -

(x)

(x)

These moments occur when Harry is performing his part of the song from the What’s My Name scene. In the first gif, his lines at this part are: Never learned how to count ‘cause I’m number one. He crouches down in front of her and she says the words when he does, even putting her finger up to represent the number one.  In the second gif, Harry directly points to her and says, “she’s the captain”, then the camera flashes over to the moment in this gif, her winking at him and smiling.

(x)

Again during Whats My Name, Uma goes to the stage and he promptly joins her where this happens. They move closer to each other spurred on by her grabbing his hook. Their smiles after she says it. LOOK AT THEM GRINS. And immediately after they both laugh and she playfully bumps him. Remember those quotes from before? Where Uma’s not particularly bothered, enticed by or even interested in Harry’s flirting in Rise of the Isle of the Lost? Well, look at our little sea witch now. It looks like she’s very much enjoying his attention. For Harry’s part, he seems twice as smitten with Uma than he was before. If he was merely flirting with her for fun in Rise, his actions in the movie show it’s developed into straight up infatuation. This boy is S P R U N G. In the text? He flirts. In the film? We literally never hear a flirtacious line come out of his mouth. He doesn’t quite initiate contact between he and Uma in the movie. But Uma does. It’s almost like a reversal of their dynamic, but with actions instead of words. And Uma’s the one that starts it. Whereas Uma didn’t care when he flirted in the book, Harry is enthralled by her in the movie whether she’s giving him attention or not. All eyes on me, let me see 'em indeed.

(x)

I want to say this moment is the one that saw the S.S. Huma rise out of the waters all majestic-like and for good reason, too. Some context: She pushes Gil aside and turns to Harry. Her tone and his expression are serious when she asks, “What’s my name?” And this is how he responds. First, body language. He literally lowers himself by kneeling before her, putting himself in a position of reverence, submission. He takes off his hat - taking off one’s hat is typically done for courtesy - and says her name in…. awe? Adoration? Respect? [Insert adjective of your choice here]? You pick because - watch the scene again if you can - even the sound of voice is different when he says her name. And his eyes. He never breaks eye contact with her once throughout that entire exchange. (Remember that time in Rise he called her captain and didn’t genuinely mean it? My how things have changed.) Speaking of eyes…

(x)

She’s dancing on her throne and the camera turns away from her to Harry where he’s literally following her every movement.

(x)

(x)

Harry looks at Uma like he just discovered fire and is so captivated by what he’s seeing he can’t look away. He seriously isn’t looking away. None of the above gifs scream platonic from his side. Like, none. I can’t comprehend how you could even view him as thinking of Uma as merely a friend at this point. I never got the sense he was this interested in her in the book, but clearly his feelings for her have exploded since. What the hell happened with them after Rise but before Descedants 2 began?? Let’s talk about that second gif real quick. One of Uma’s moves involves swinging her arm around and pointing it at the crowd around her and they respond in kind by looking away. Except for Harry. Harry doesn’t flinch. Harry doesn’t move. His position remains the same. He keeps on looking. His eyes are glued to the girl in front of him. The line in the song before this scene comes from him, as well: Uma’s so hot they get burned if they look. They get burned, eh? I guess Harry is exempt from this particular fate.

(x) His body is turned towards her, watching as she mocks Mal. He’s biting his lip as he watches. Now a lip bite can mean a few things: scared, anxious, uncomfortable. But it can also be flirtatious. Nothing else about his expression or stature signals that he’s feeling anything other than good af, so its pretty darn safe to say he’s just plain into her.

As for Uma, she is winking at him again and she taps him on the chin (physical contact!). The moment after this is adorable - dare I say, better than this moment itself? - because she looks so pleased, backing up as he steps forward to get in Mal’s face and talk about the ways in which he’ll harm her boyfriend.

(x)

LOOK AT UMA’s GRIN. LOOK. AT. IT.

And of course, I wasn’t going to not mention this moment:

(x)

Again, she’s the one initiating contact with him - running her hands through his hair - and he genuinely looks like he could die in that moment and be perfectly content with that. She even bends down, increasing how close they are to each other.

Meanwhile he is leaning backwards into her touch, mouth agape, watching her the whole time (I wasn’t joking about his eyes never leaving her). His mouth curls up into a smile at the end! If that first moment where he says her name didn’t catch you, then this moment would have for sure.

Now I know there will be some who say: Well, those actions by Uma aren’t necessarily flirty. It could mean nothing. Some people are naturally more touchy feely - they like hugs, placing hands on shoulders, linking fingers - and those actions are never intended to mean anything more. All of which is true. All of which is fine. But Uma? She’s not one of these people. Not based on everything I’ve read and seen. We’re not (please, please correct me if I’m wrong!) presented with scenes where this kind of behavior is displayed by her in the book. In the movie, she does wrap her arms around Harry and Gil but for the most part we don’t see her initiating physical contact a lot. So I tend to think her behavior here means something. Even if its just her being playful. Because she doesn’t act this way, exhibit these particular behaviors (light friendly touches, the winking), towards anyone else but Harry. Which leads me here, the final scene I want to discuss:

(x)

Now this. This is intriguing. Scroll back up folks, look at Uma’s body language, her expressions in those moments she’s initiating contact with him. She’s oozing confidence. She’s joyful, bouncy. She’s totally in her element. But if you glance down here again. Her expression. It’s different. She looks vulnerable, overwhelmed (?), almost lost in Harry’s intense stare. Again with the eyes. Their eyes are locked. The space between them isn’t exactly wide. And Harry is the one leaning closer. Harry. And he’s biting down on his lip and he’s staring at her and his head is tilted. We’ll never know what was suppose to happen in this tiny moment - if anything even was! - as it was broken by Gil talking, shaking them out of this interaction. But to me, it looks like he wanted to kiss her and Uma was shook by the very prospect. And that is certainly something.

Because this is the same girl who - however long ago it was - told him to shut up about him being her first date or threatening to cut him when he teased her about couple’s carving hearts into trees and it having any relevance to them. In conclusion: Harry/Mal is nothing. Uma and Harry’s relationship has kinda sorta maybe changed, Uma is now Harry’s north star and moon and literally every celestial body in existence, and I really want to see where this is heading for these two pirates. Don’t let me down Melissa and Kenny.

[concussed-to-pieces]

ESC; Part Two

Fandom: WWE

Pairing: Jon Moxley/Roman Reigns

Rating: Holy shit M.

AN: Thirst Party Saturday ho! Tagging @toxiicpop, @oraclegazes and of course, @hardcorewwetrash! Enjoy!

Part One

[!TRIGGER WARNING!: This installment contains rape/attempted rape/vivid allusions to attempted forced sexual activity via pornography, as well as human muzzling of a non-BDSM variety. This gets heavy, so please read safe everyone!]

He had a real name once. He knew he must have at some point. But through the years he’d forgotten it. He was simply Lion now.

…

Elias fidgeted beside the counter, tapping his fingers. With his guitar slung over his shoulder via the strap and his sunglasses firmly in place, he surreptitiously scanned the coffee shop yet again. Probably his fifth time since he walked in.

His gaze kept getting drawn to an older man, maybe early forties. The man sat all alone by the window, his own coffee appearing forgotten beside his laptop. The guy constantly looked up and around, like he was doing something he shouldn’t. It immediately set off warning bells in Elias’ head.

“Pardon me, ma’am.” He said softly when the barista slid his coffee to him. “That guy over there has the look of a man trying to be sneaky. He in here often?”

“Wow, good eye.” The barista snorted. “Yeah, he’s a regular. We're pretty sure he comes in just to watch porn with our wifi. But since he’s not like, actively jerking off or bugging anyone there’s not much we can do about it. He buys a coffee, you know how it is.”

“Much obliged, ma’am.” Elias gave her a quick flash of his smile, taking a sip of his drink as he meandered away from the counter. There was a bulletin board on the wall behind that suspicious man and Elias knew that was always his best bet for finding more traveling shows, circuses and exhibitions. A lot of the mobile carnivals didn’t have websites or calendars to track, so his fieldwork was still important.

The man glanced up at him as he sauntered by, making a scoffing sound when he took in the mass of scarves around Samson’s neck. Elias paid him no mind, perusing the flyers on the wall silently. A few older ones for Heyman’s Delights, when he was still advertising the ‘turned feral’. Elias shuddered. Two for McMahon’s Dog And Pony Show, ‘fun for the whole family!’. Since Vince had sold the remainder of his ferals off to Heyman, the group had focused their efforts elsewhere. One of the bars in town was having a talent night.

Samson turned around to head for the door and froze as he caught sight of the suspicious man’s laptop screen. ‘RESTRAINED FERAL LION PLOWS TINY SLUT!’ screamed the title of the video. Elias forced himself to ignore the video, forced himself to instead commit the site’s name to memory and as he walked by on his way out he slammed the man’s laptop shut. The man looked up to protest and Elias narrowed his eyes, giving the man his nastiest glare and curling his lip in a snarl. Don’t even think about it.

The air from outside was cooler than he anticipated, shocking a little of the blind fury out of his system. Elias pulled his flip phone free of his pocket and started typing.

-Nev I’ve got something.

He sat down on a bench and drank some more of his coffee while he waited for their fearless leader to reply. His fingers tapped the fretboard of his guitar, twanging a string here and there. “Well, gold digger took my money, dipped my heart an’ hands in honey.” Samson began singing quietly, “Snake lady stole my savin’s, don’t go thinkin’ she was havin’ my babies.” He carried on, singing the tune of a disillusioned young man facing the electric chair in July. Nobody ever wanted to hear happy songs, anyhow. It was always Johnny Cash for these people. “You’re young, an’ qualified, got a date with that chair out in late July.”

A man walking with his dog smiled at Elias and Samson smiled back, tipping his head. He had to remember sometimes that most of the ‘regular’ folks weren’t scumbags. There were just an exemplary few in the herd that outdid the rest. His brow furrowed as he thought back on that guy in the coffee shop, rhythm faltering. He checked his phone quickly.

-Send location for pickup Samson.

-Not that simple this time Nev. Will explain when present. Get Mox. See you soon.

Samson got to his feet, dusting himself off and continuing down the sidewalk.

…

Moxley’s eyebrows ended up in his hairline when the name of the website left Elias’ mouth. “Listen man, I know everyone’s got their kinks but-” His protest was cut short by Samson’s blistering glare. “Oh, this ain’t a social visit.”

“No Mox, it’s not.” Elias grumbled while Neville typed.

“They literally just call him Lion.” Neville tugged his glasses down his nose. “What the hell kind of…this is some fucked-up shite.” He pointed to the screen, highlighting a paragraph after a moment. “'Sedated Submissive, Lion knows only to please!’ I’m going t' toss in my mouth.” Neville did look green.

Mox’s own stomach went queasy at the wording. “Sedated?” He asked weakly.

“He’s not a willing participant. That’s fuckin’ revoltin’.” Adrian said bluntly. “They get him out of his mind, muzzle him and restrain him. Can you even fucking imagine how terrifying that is?”

There were a few publicity photos for Lion’s profile, all without a stitch of clothing on the tattooed young man. Just another feral, what does he need to be treated like a human for? Moxley snapped his teeth angrily. Lion had that glazed stare over his stifler of something trapped for too long. “What’s the plan, Nev? I know ya’ got somethin’ brewin’.”

“Bits an’ pieces.” Adrian pushed his glasses back up. “I’ll circle the wagons when I’ve got more information.”

“Let me sponsor this one, yeah?” Mox asked quietly once Elias had departed back to his own trailer. “He’s gonna’ need some delicacy and I’ve dealt with the druggin’ before.” He still had nightmares sometimes, recalling the cloying pull of the substance Vince plied him with to keep his rages under control.

“If you think you’re up for it, Mox.” Neville shrugged. “This whole op is going to need some delicacy. Grab your spiral-bound.” Adrian had a tendency to over-prepare when it came to their data collection, but Mox knew it was either have as much as they could or go in defenseless. So he obediently collected his notebook and flipped it open to an empty page, beginning his usual work of writing down everything that came out of Neville’s mouth.

Regardless of whether it made sense or not. Adrian had a habit of lapsing into his accent a little harder than normal as he rambled (he called it ‘going Geordie’, whatever that meant), so occasionally Mox had to have him repeat things. But when Neville rattled on he claimed his brain worked twice as fast as his mouth, and Moxley had to admit that his smarts hadn’t failed them yet.

“The producer. A shadowy fuckin' title fer a shadowy prick that apparently makes fucked-up porn.”

Moxley grunted as he wrote that down.

It was well after two in the morning when Adrian pushed himself off the seat by the table and stretched with a loud yawn. “We’ve got him, Mox my lad. He’s as good as ours.” He grinned tiredly. “We’ll talk to Regal in the daylight, get an idea of what we’re dealing with. Maybe he’ll have another miracle cure, eh?”

Mox snorted, getting to his feet. “Yeah, maybe. I dunno’, man. He keeps telling me he’s close to figuring out why he can nuke Elias’ rages but not mine and it’s like, shit old man, prioritize.” Moxley scolded. “He’s gonna’ get behind on the antibiotic doses for the newbies and then we’ll be fucked, stuck with some kid that’s got super lice.”

Adrian chuckled, rubbing his nose against Moxley’s cheek. “Don’t worry about the old monarch. He knows what he’s on about.”

Mox pulled him in the rest of the way for a headbutt, grinning back. “Fucker, you’re in on his shit.”

“Oh, but that’s no secret.” Neville teased. “He's a stubborn old bastard, but he's our stubborn old bastard.”

…

The cement felt nice against his aching head. Cool. Solid. Real, much more real than the way everything shimmered like heat waves in front of his eyes. He groaned, half-wishing that there was something else in his stomach to come back up. Maybe if he got sick on himself again they would leave him be for a little while longer.

His thighs were sore and his wrists hurt, chafe marks still raised and raw on his skin. His throat was so dry from the muzzle that smothered his face in its grip. So it hadn’t been that long that he was unconscious for. He couldn’t decide whether it was good or bad that the dark patches were getting longer but thinner. He kept waking up, waking up with women on top of him, the scent of the cosmetic products they used to conceal his chafing thick like oil in his nose and mouth. Sometimes he wanted to cry, when he came to and couldn’t go back under to hide from the things they did to him.

Sometimes he wanted to rip everyone in the room apart, his chest heaving with fury and hands clenched into fists in his binds while he stared at the ceiling and just waited for it to be over. But those angry days were becoming fewer and fewer. His body wasn’t his own, his brain riddled with fever and drugs persuading him to just lie still, to move his hips and whimper when appropriate.

He was Lion, ‘Sedated Submissive’, those words he didn’t understand that dug into his skin like more needles and choked in his throat like more dry pills. This was who he was. He could grit his teeth, scream and strain while he had his mind, but it wouldn’t do him any good.

The cement felt like it was leeching all the heat out of his skin. He shuddered, getting up off the floor on shaky legs and moving to his cot. His restraints dragged heavily at his arms. Maybe…maybe more sleep would help.

…

Mox crept through the doorway after Neville. “Three seconds,” Neville muttered, staring at his watch. They both waited until the camera reset and then bolted down the hallway. Three seconds didn’t seem like much, but if Neville had done his math right (and of course, Mox had full faith in the notion that he had), it was more than enough to get them around the corner.

“This is a little different from our usual snatch an’ grab, Mox. We are officially cat burglars. So suit up.”

Moxley felt a little silly in his black jeans and turtleneck, but he knew he had to look the part. Plus, according to Neville the camera was old tech, a black and white CCTV kind of thing, so in all black he had a better shot of blending into the gray.

He eased open the first door on his right when they entered a hallway, an empty bedroom meeting his eyes.

“We’ll do a full sweep.” Neville said softly, “The only info we had mentioned a room off a hallway, yeah? You take the right.”

Mox nodded, closing the door and carrying on. Two more bedrooms passed with no incident, though Mox found it weird that they were made to look like they were in totally different houses.

The next door revealed a bedroom that was drastically different from the rest. Red carpet, no windows. Black straps attached to the headboard caught his attention and Mox took a cautious step in, clicking on his small flashlight to get a better look.

The bedspread and sheets were solid black, the fabric coarse and cheap under his touch. A simple video camera was set up on a tripod at the foot of the bed, another one resting on the flimsy bedside table. Mox felt the nausea build in his throat for a minute before he got a grip on himself.

The closet door by the bed was half open and he carefully crept to it, gesturing for Neville to follow him from the hallway. Adrian’s quiet gasp of breath alerted Mox to the fact that he’d noticed what the room was for.

There were stairs in the closet. Wooden stairs that led down, to what appeared to be a basement.

“Bingo.” Neville turned on his own flashlight. “This place seems…huge for one feral.” He pointed out as Mox descended the steps in front of him. “I wonder if their Lion is just a test run? Imagine how useful assholes like us could be in this industry if we were docile.”

“Priorities, old man.” Moxley reminded Adrian. His eyes widened as his flashlight swept over a collection of cells built all in a row like a prison. “Oh. Well then.”

“Sometimes ah’ hate bein’ so fuckin’ smart.” Neville grimaced, his accent thickening. “We need to get that lad out an’ nip this shite in the bud, yeah? I’ll stay by the stairs. Could be our only exit.”

Moxley nodded, creeping forward. All the room had for illumination was one red light, blinking sluggishly at the far end of the cells. His night vision might be good enough to draw from that, but his flashlight made him feel a little safer. Every cell that he passed seemed to be open and empty. He wondered if someone had tipped off the producer, scouring the cells for some motion, some flicker of life.

Then he found the locked cell. Mox’s heart jumped into his mouth but no, no, Neville had picked much harder locks than this one. There was a blanket-covered mass on the cot across the cell and Moxley took a chance. “You awake in there?” He asked quietly, eyes falling on the loop of chain that wound around one of the bars and led beneath the blanket.

The lump under the blanket stirred, raising their head to look at him. Lion’s eyes were a light shade of gray, but they looked eerily white now in the beam of his flashlight.

Mox made a soothing noise in his throat, lowering the flashlight so the other man wouldn’t stare directly at it. Lion responded listlessly with a quiet sound of his own, more of an echo, muffled by the thick piece of leather over his mouth. His gaze held absolutely no interest or curiosity, he just stared because there was something different in front of him. “Nev he’s here.” Mox called, beckoning his partner over. “Get this open, man. He’s all fucked up.”

Neville got to work on the lock, twisting his pick set this way and that with extreme care. Mox wanted to talk to Lion, make sure he was aware that they were there to help, but he knew Neville needed to hear the tumblers so he stayed silent. When the lock clicked open Adrian got to his feet and eased the door to the side. “Lion?” He asked softly. The man under the blanket made a noise of distress, peering out at Neville.

“He’s got one of those stiflers on, Nev. Dunno’ if he’ll bite.” Mox observed. Those pale gray eyes flicked to his face when he spoke. Lion shook his head, metal cuffs around his wrists displayed when he reached up to claw weakly at the muzzle covering his mouth and nose. Moxley took in the raw skin around his wrists, the leather burn marks on his neck and jaw. “Christ.”

“Watch his pupils, he’s fucked up hard on somethin’.” Neville gestured and Lion flinched back after a second, his reaction delayed. “Let’s get him out of his cuffs. Do you understand us, Lion?”

The young man groaned in reply, finally nodding. Mox breathed a sigh of relief. That made things a hell of a lot simpler. Lion held his hands out but he didn’t seem particularly happy or excited. It was just a motion, his eyes fixed on the floor.

“Mox, take off that muzzle while I work.” Neville directed, kneeling beside the cot and flipping through a small ring of cuff keys he had on standby.

Moxley moved forward, starting to wrestle with the stiff buckles securing the stifler. He felt Lion’s face press against his shirt and he heard a quiet inhale of breath whistle through the muzzle. “Hey there, you gettin’ all the good smells?” Mox asked gently. “One more second and I’ll have you out. It’s okay.” The leather under his fingers finally loosened, then pulled free. Moxley eased the muzzle off, letting it hang slack around Lion’s neck. “There, I bet that’s a little better.” He continued, watching worriedly as Lion just carried on staring at the floor. “Lion?”

That head of unruly black hair jerked back up, eyes wide in the dim light. Lion seemed to be having a difficult time focusing, looking like he was working overtime just trying to hold his head up.

“We’re getting you out of here, okay? We won’t leave you down here.” Moxley said slowly, hoping Lion could understand him. The whole cell reeked of cleaning chemical smells, Mox knew he was in for a splitting headache if they didn’t leave soon.

“Got it, here we go.” Neville said triumphantly, unsnapping the cuffs. “Alright lad, we’re gonna’ wrap this blanket around ya’ waist. I can’t believe I didn’t think to bring clothes.” He tied the knot on the blanket over Lion’s hip. “Now, neither Mox or I are strong enough to carry ya’ like a princess, but I figure between the two of us we’ll get some locomotion yet. On your feet.” He urged and Lion obeyed, almost collapsing a second later. Mox managed to compensate for the sway, draping Lion’s heavily-tattooed arm over his shoulder and hesitantly laying his hand on the other man’s ribs.

Lion’s skin was clammy, fever-sweat dampening the area under Mox’s touch. His head dropped onto Mox’s shoulder and he slumped, making himself dead weight. “Easy, easy.” Mox soothed, wondering if Lion knew that he wasn’t being dragged out for another…performance. “One foot in front of the other, okay Nev? Just nice and careful.”

“His body temp is all damn wrong.” Neville grunted as they left the cell and headed for the stairs. “Poor fucker.”

…

They weren’t usually this careful. And they never unlocked his restraints without putting his leather cuffs on first. The headache refused to abate. He was pretty sure that regardless of his empty stomach he was about to puke. They had asked if he understood, of course he understood. More work to be done.

The stairway opened up in front of him and that was when he realized where they were bringing him. He struggled. He usually didn’t, they usually dosed him and let everything settle into dark before pulling him up the stairs. But they hadn’t this time. They didn’t even kill his breath. The tall man with the bright eyes had taken the muzzle off.

He found his voice at the top of the stairs, the dark doorway into the fake bedroom yawning like the jaws of a hungry beast.

…

“No!” Lion suddenly exploded. Mox felt kind of dumb for not anticipating that, he’d gotten increasingly squirmy the closer they got to the top of the stairs.

“Whoa, whoa, easy.” Mox said firmly, maintaining his grip on the weakly-struggling man. “Easy, shh. Not today. Not ever again, got it?” Lion pushed his face into Mox’s neck, whimpering. Mox felt tears start to soak through his turtleneck. “Not ever again.” He repeated, digging his fingers into that thick mane of hair to keep Lion’s face where it was. “Shh, it’s alright. Nev, I’m maintaining his position. Go open the door.”

Adrian fairly bolted across the room, pausing to yank the memory cards out of both camcorders on his way by. “Confiscatin’ evidence. Dunno’ if they’re in standby mode.” He said to Mox’s unasked question. “Alright, you got him then? That last hallway is gonna’ be the hard part.”

“I need you to move your feet. Don’t look at the bed. Just keep your face tucked into my neck.” Mox continued to enunciate all his words as clearly as possible. Lion finally, finally shuffled forward, hiccupping loudly. “That’s right. We’re just going to the door. Gonna’ get you out of here.” Moxley tried to encourage him and it appeared to be working. Lion just didn’t seem to have much left in his proverbial tank, continuing to sag against Mox and allowing him to move him as he saw fit.

When they hit the edge of the rug was when Lion stopped. The rug in the hallway was a beige color, a stark contrast to the ugly red one in the room. Lion hesitated before taking a step out, his whole body tense enough to snap. Mox released his hold on the young man’s hair, letting him look up. Lion squinted in the light, his eyes obviously having a difficult time adjusting. “Who…” He began, his voice surprisingly deep when he wasn’t in a panic.

“We can explain later. You’re not out the woods yet.” Neville whispered. “I dunno’ if anyone heard ya’ little outburst at the top of the stairs.”

Lion winced. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. C’mon.” Mox had rapidly eased into his sponsor role, taking Lion’s hand. The young man clung to his arm like he was drowning, half-hiding his face. “It’s alright. We’ll just keep walking. Be outta’ here in no time.”

“Sorry. M’ stomach…” Lion made a retching noise. “Nothing there.”

“The hell is it always like this for?” Neville griped. “Always with the no food, the shite conditions. What the fuck did any of us do to deserve this?”

“Grew teeth an’ didn’t use ‘em fast enough.” Mox answered bleakly, pausing at the corner of the hallway. “Here we are, now comes the hard part. So. At the end of this hall is freedom. Real, legitimate freedom that you can touch an’ taste, bury your fuckin’ nose in. The only issue is if we don’t make it in three seconds, we’re fucked.” He explained carefully to Lion, who instantly went back to tense. “Now, Nev can help on one side, I’ll take the other, and we’ll make a mad dash for it when he gives the signal. You ready to run?”

Lion nodded slowly.

“Take a couple deep breaths, get yourself centered. I know ya’ in a drug fog. I promise we’re real, tangible things.” Mox watched as Lion appeared to focus, his eyes narrowing slightly. “There ya’ go, s’ little bit better. You’re gonna’ be floatin’ again in a minute but all we need is three measly seconds.”

“Ready?” Neville asked, staring down at his watch. Moxley nodded, his grip tight on Lion’s hip. “In three, two, one.”

Lion’s fingers dug into Mox’s shoulder hard enough to bruise as they made a break for it, the young man obviously in full survival mode. Neville shoved the door open and they burst out into the night, hurrying down the side access steps that resembled an old fire escape.

“ETA minute thirty, we have to get to the safe zone so Samson can come grab us.” Neville whispered, all but pulling Lion along behind him.

“Easy Nev, he’s got no fuckin’ shoes on man.” Mox pointed out, a bit annoyed.

“Can go. Doesn’t matter.” Lion grunted, shaking the hair out of his eyes. He slowed abruptly when he caught sight of the moon, though. She was beautiful tonight, round and brilliant white. Mox wanted to laugh at the expression on Lion’s face. “Oh.” Lion said softly, reaching one hand up as if he could touch it. “Look, look it’s-”

“Yeah, the moon.” Mox’s brow furrowed. “How long has it been since you seen her, buddy?”

“I don’t…I’m not sure.” Lion mumbled.

Mox felt his throat tighten up at how confused the other man sounded. Neville made a noise of disbelief beside him. “Seriously? That’s awful.”

“No windows.” Lion pointed out.

“Never thought I would be lucky to be in a cage outside. But the idea of bein’ stuck inside…” Mox trailed off as Lion pushed away from him, almost toppling over again. “Easy, easy. I know the contact makes you uncomfortable. Just let us help ya’ to the van an’ then we ain’t gotta’ touch you again without ya’ permission, okay?” Lion made a low sound in his throat. “Where can I touch you?”

A huge part of being a sponsor was respecting the boundaries the newly-freed instated, regardless of how silly they seemed. It was about putting the power back in their hands after it had been missing for so long, about easing them into a life that they had direct control over. Numerous individuals had passed through their little organization, Regal setting them up with what they needed to balance things hormonally before they struck out on their own.

“Want to walk by myself.” Lion said determinedly.

“Alright. I’ll be beside you then. If ya’ feel woozy, just lean on me.” Mox stuffed his hands into his pockets, wishing he had his jacket. He quickly fell into step next to the other man, studying the hitch of his gait. He looked like he hadn’t stretched his legs in ages, which was entirely possible.

“Much further?” Lion asked, his steps faltering over the uneven ground. Mox shook his head and Lion clenched his fists, straightening his back stubbornly. “Okay.”

“What a fuckin’ trooper.” Moxley praised, “I promise once we get in that van we’ll bundle you right the hell up. You’ll be the coziest motherfucker this side of New York.”

“Am cold.” Lion admitted. “Sore.”

“You’ll get the once-over from Regal. He’s our doc, he helps all of us out.” Mox was used to having to defang the idea of doctors to new charges. He would call William a pharmacist, but that just tended to confuse. “Get that fog outta' you, huh?”

Lion didn’t reply as they came across the van, Elias ready and waiting with the side door open. “Nice to meet you. Climb on in and we’ll be on our way.” Samson was entertainingly formal, shaking Lion’s hand. He did it with all the new acquisitions, doing his part to drive home the point that they should be treated with dignity.

Lion looked back warily at Mox, who smiled at him. “It’s okay. Want me to get in first?” Lion nodded, moving to the side to let Moxley pull himself up into the van. “See? It’s alright.”

Lion had a little difficulty getting his legs up high enough, the blanket snagging around his thighs. He made a frustrated sound, finally resorting to tipping into the van on his stomach and fumbling his way up into a seat. “My head.” He said by way of explanation, wincing. “Dizzy.”

“It’s totally fine. You can sleep now, okay?” Mox slid the door shut and then tucked a blanket around Lion’s shoulders. Lion almost immediately snuggled his chin down into the soft material, his eyes already heavy. “I’ll be right next to you if you need anything.” He assured, settling onto the floor in between the two middle seats. Lion nodded sleepily.

Mox leaned his forehead against the plastic frame of the seat, yawning.

…

“Look at Mox.” Elias whispered, grinning. The third member of their operation was sound asleep, his face mashed up against the seat next to him while he snored. “He’s gonna’ have a corduroy imprint on his cheek.”

“M’ surprised Lion is sleeping.” Neville mumbled, his eyes fixed on his small laptop screen as he watched the footage he’d taken from the memory cards. “This is terrible stuff, Samson, Jesus Christ. The place was huge too, like a correctional facility.”

“Lofty aspirations?”

“Yeah, let’s fucking hope that’s all they are. Pipe dreams and great goddamn expectations.”

The audio cued up in the middle of a conversation and Neville turned it up a little, pressing his headphones to his ear. “-reasonable, come on. You know how this works--”

“Dun’ want t’.” Lion slurred through his stifler, his head pitching forward until his chin rested on his chest. “Legs hurt.”

“That’s too damn bad, isn’t it. Get makeup in here, it’s still a mess from the last bout.” The producer grumbled. “Its thighs, no shit. Fix it. It can’t rub off on her, either, so seal it.”

Lion struggled as best as he could, the faint click of teeth barely registering on the audio. “Bite you, dun’ touch.”

“If you don’t knock it off you’re gonna’ get knocked off.” The producer threatened. “This belligerent crap isn’t going to help you.”

“Hurts!” Lion yelped as the makeup girl liberally smeared his thighs with concealer. Neville had seen that his thighs were all raw and the idea of pouring thick cosmetics onto open wounds made his own skin crawl.

“We’ll just have to tone down the lighting I guess. Its hopeless.” The producer grabbed Lion’s jaw, growling in his face. “You’re fucking pathetic.”

“Need a break.” Lion begged.

“You can have a break when you’ve fucking earned one. All you do is lay here anyhow.” The producer flicked a finger roughly over the head of Lion’s stiff cock, making the dark-haired man cry out behind the muzzle. “We have two more scenes, two more girls. You’re fine.”

“Hurt.” Lion said desperately. “M’ hurt. Can’t.”

“You’re fine, you know how much I hate liars.”

“Please, I-” The producer quickly put an end to Lion’s mumbling by covering the nose opening in his muzzle. Lion’s chest heaved, eyes going wide in panic.

“No more talking or you’ll get shut up forever. Tell her we're ready. Remember, you idiot, you’re a feral and that means animal noises.” The producer slapped Lion across the face. “And no passing out!”

Lion’s breath wheezed loudly through the muzzle, the young man obviously panicking as a condom was rolled down over his cock. His hands tightened into fists when the woman climbed over him, his whole body gone  rigid.

Lion halfway sat up abruptly, making the woman scream and recoil when his face was suddenly inches from her own. Vomit bubbled thickly out of the bottom of the muzzle and Lion’s shoulders shuddered with his retching.

The producer swore loudly. “Fuck’s sake. Loosen that, don’t want it suffocating on its own vomit. Sorry sweetheart, looks like today’s shoot is cancelled.” He apologized to the woman, who mostly just looked annoyed as she wrapped herself back up in her robe. “You absolute dick. What the fuck is wrong with you?” He berated Lion, who at this point was coughing and hiccupping hard, his face wet with tears. “You cost me this fucking contract and I’ll leave you in your fucking cell for the rest of your pitiful life!”

“Good!” Lion spat, easier to understand with the stifler loosened. “Want that!”

“Yeah I bet you'd love that. I don't have time to deal with you being a dramatic little shit. Get it back in its cage. Cut recording. What a waste of--”

The footage ended with a crackle of static.

“Man, you look like someone just punched you in the stomach. What was that?” Samson asked quietly after a minute.

“None of us have had it easy.” Adrian swallowed hard, closing his laptop carefully. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “It's always something, Elias.”

Elias reached across the center console and squeezed Neville's shoulder comfortingly. “We're doing what we can.”

“I should have known that shite like this would happen. I never thought...druggin' us, usin' us like damn livestock. Some absolute piss-head makin' his money off the trauma. I...It's a lucky thing Regal can get rid of the rages for the most part.” Neville snarled, his accent thick with anger. “Ah'd like to go off on tha' motherfucker, right proper. We can't let Mox see this. He'd go to pieces on us.”

“Look at it this way.” Elias reasoned. “Lion's with us now. All that garbage is behind him. We're going to help. Focus on all the good we can do, not the bad that's already been done. It'll eat you alive.”

“I know you're fuckin' right.” Neville grumbled. “You can't just let me be angry?”

“Hell no, you're stuck on the wrong thing when you get angry and you know it.”

“Bloody impossible.” Neville slumped a little further down in his seat. Elias rumpled his hair out of the tight bun it was in. “Oh piss off.”

“Nope!”

…

Moxley became aware of a strange trend over the days that followed. Lion kept pilfering his leather jacket. Every time Mox would slip out of it for a second, his shadow was there to scoop it up. Which would have been fine, except for the fact that Lion was a bit broader in the shoulders than Mox. So there would be the squeak of stressing leather that would alert him to the fact that someone was wiggling into his coat again.

Baron thought it was the funniest thing, trying his hardest to keep from laughing whenever Lion crept past with the article of clothing. A lot of times Mox would pretend he didn't see the other man, carrying on with his repairs. It seemed like there was always a leak that needed patching in someone's roof, but he supposed that came with the territory of secondhand trailers. At least now he had Baron to help. The taller man had a definite knack for spotting problem areas before they became so.

Mox wasn't sure if he'd ever get used to how quiet Lion was, or how closely he followed him. As Lion's sponsor it certainly made his job a bit easier. Didn't exactly have to go looking for the guy every time Regal demanded to see how his thighs were healing. Moxley did his best to maintain a respectful relationship with Lion, knowing that he walked the razor's edge between friendly and beholden in his line of work. Debts of gratitude weren't really his thing, it just made him feel awkward.

In a way it was a good thing Lion wanted nobody to touch him. Things were simpler when that was removed from the equation. Casual touch was rife in the 'feral' community though, so it took some getting used to.

He still got antsy with William if he was left alone, and sometimes Mox would have to help when it came to that by lurking in the doorway. Lion's thighs became a...well, calling it a problem would imply that it was bad. It wasn't a problem. Mox kind of just wished he could touch sometimes, was all. He wished that Lion didn't flinch every time he had to take his coat back.

Lion would stay up so late at night, obviously not used to any sort of sleep schedule. And without the haze of downers that Mox knew so well, he no longer seemed to feel the urge to dream his life away. Consequently Mox would find him passed out in odd places, usually by one or two in the afternoon. Once he found him on the roof of his trailer and they had a serious discussion about structural integrity and not ruining the waterproof treatment. Then Lion just kind of...jumped down. Mox damn near had a heart attack at that, scolding the black-haired man roundly and realizing halfway in that he was definitely a mother hen. Lion smiled at him and that stopped him dead. “Th' heck is with the grin? You coulda' broke a leg!”

“You're worried.”

“Damn straight I am! You gotta' think before you do things.”

They talked at length sometimes, normally when Mox was trying to sleep. “Moxley?” The question would come quietly through the dark. Mox always knew he could ignore it, but he didn't really want to.

“Yeah 'sup.”

They still weren't sure how long Lion had been where he was. Neville couldn't rustle up any records if he had nothing to type in at the beginning. All searches on the producer turned up frustratingly empty. Lion couldn't even recall his first name, his real name. It felt wrong to call him his feral name but until he settled on another one, Lion it was.

Moxley, while not really granted permission to touch him, was gifted the odd privilege of being allowed to brush his hair. He had seen Lion struggling one day with a hairbrush (Mox had no idea where he'd even gotten it, probably from Regal), the dark-haired man appearing on the verge of tears as he tugged and yanked at his unruly mane. “Hey, lemme' help.” Mox had carefully taken the brush from Lion's hand, hearing the other man sniffle threateningly.

When Baron had come to them he was filthy, his long hair tangled with mats and the vestiges of creepy-crawlies. Needless to say, Mox got very good at brushing. So it was slowly that he started, separating Lion's hair out into smaller sections.

It became a ritual of sorts, one that Lion could have put an end to if he wanted. But no, he continued coming to Mox once or twice a week with his brush. And Mox knew it was dumb for him to feel special, knew it was stupid and a waste of his time and all it did was further a doubtless-forming codependency and...

...and none of these reasons were enough for him to resist the way Lion's eyes looked when he asked for help.

Lion was mostly content to wade and stumble along on his own, stubbornly rebuilding his humanity from the ground up. Regal for the most part salved him and sent him on his way. Maybe he understood a little more than Moxley ever would. Maybe he was just tired of dealing with the rub marks, the scars and bruises from shackles probably commonplace to the pharmaceutical veteran. Lion refused to have his hand held proverbially or literally, refused all but the most clinical of attention. He wanted to be given tasks just like everyone else but Neville was leery of his strength level, worried that he wasn’t fully healed yet.

So Mox would ask him for help with little things. Ask him to pass him a screwdriver. Ask him to toss him some more clothespins. It was silly small stuff but Lion lit up eagerly every time, because it was something to do and he was needed.

…

There was a name that had been on the tip of his tongue for a solid week. He loved how it sounded, repeating it over and over quietly when he was alone. But he knew everyone else would think it was silly.

Maybe…maybe Mox would like it. The light-haired man had mentioned that calling him Lion made him uncomfortable, like he was ‘reinforcing the bad shit that had happened’.

“I’ll be a lot better when you pick a new name for yourself.” Mox admitted.

It had eaten away at him, the search for a real name. Mostly because he wasn’t really sure who he was. Male, sure, but according to Neville that had no bearing on the situation. “Whateva’ name makes you feel happy, we’ll be more than glad to call ya’ that. Boy, girl, don’t matter.”

He would go through lists in his head, lying awake at night while Mox snored in his bunk. Steve was a nice name, simple, but Alex had the sharp letters in it which would be easier to write. He had asked Moxley what he felt about John and Mox got real quiet for a long time, before finally muttering that it “wasn’t right for him.”

But this name wasn’t a common Steve, or a sharp Alex. He said it aloud to Mox and watched the other man’s body language for anything bad. Moxley mostly just seemed confused, then asked him to pass him the new timing belt for the truck he was working on. Which wasn’t exactly the response he’d been going for, but it definitely wasn’t a negative response either.

…

“Mox?”

Moxley groaned, rolling over onto his side to face the bundled-up man on the opposite bunk. “’Sup, Lion?”

“Roman.”

“Yeah man, you said that earlier, what’s it me-”

“I want that to be my name.” Lion interrupted, his brow furrowed like he’d been thinking hard about this. “I like it. I like how it sounds.”

“Well I shoulda’ known you wouldn’t go the conventional route.” Mox propped himself up on one elbow. “If Roman is what you want, it’s what you’ll get. Nice to meet ya’, Roman.” Moxley extended a hand across the trailer for a handshake, which Lion-Roman returned (to his surprise). “Name’s Mox, I do the fixin’ around here. Welcome aboard.”

“I…yeah. My name is Roman.” The excited smile he gave Mox sat odd in Mox’s stomach. “I’m Roman. Hi, I’m Roman.”

“Yeah yeah, don’t wear it out. You’re stuck with it forever.” Moxley warned with a laugh. “Roman.”

“I love it!” Roman didn’t seem to be able to stop smiling. “It’s mine. I have a name. I…I’ll be back.” He flung off his blanket and unlocked the door of the trailer, heading outside. Mox sat up, a little confused as he heard Roman climb onto the roof. “Moon!”

Mox grumbled under his breath, pulling on some pants and stalking to the door. “Jesus Roman, you can’t just go hollerin’ to the moon every time somethin’ happens. Get down from there before ya’ hurt somethin’.” He ordered, trying to keep the grin out of his voice.

‘Roman’ didn’t make him think of all the terrible things that had happened. ‘Roman’ was a fresh start, clean and enthusiastic and currently yelling at the crescent moon.

‘Roman’ was a good name.

Roman dropped to the ground in front of him, a little breathless. “I told the moon.”

“I noticed. So did everyone else.” Mox said wryly. “I’m sure Styles will be over any second now t’ scold ya’ for disturbin’ the peace.”

“Don’t care.” Roman didn’t look like he was ever going to stop smiling.

Mox couldn’t help the little snicker he let out. “Alright, let’s get back inside. S’ fuckin’ freezin’ out here.”

Roman wrapped an arm around Mox’s neck, surprising the hell out of him when he nuzzled his nose against his cheek like Neville would do. “Because we’re friends, just like you and Adrian.” Roman said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Mox coughed. “Roman, Neville does that because he’s a fuckin’ weirdo. You might wanna’ pick a different call sign.”

“Oh.” Roman looked crestfallen and Mox felt a bit guilty. It had obviously taken a lot of guts to reach out like that and of course he shot it out of the sky. He bumped his forehead into Roman’s silently after a moment, displaying his own particular method of showing affection. Roman’s shoulders straightened out and like it was a reflex he full on headbutted Mox, cracking him right in the temple.

“Fuck!” Moxley yelped, taking a step back and holding the side of his face gingerly. “Christ, what gives man?”

“I…” Roman’s confusion was obvious. “…I thought I had to do it as hard as I could?”

“Fuckin’ hell, you really think that was all I had? Get over here you asshole, you’re gonna’ feel the wrath!” As the trailer was rather small, it wasn’t long before Mox had him in a loose headlock, undoing all the hard work he’d put in earlier when brushing.

Roman wound his arm around the back of Mox’s knees, freeing himself from the headlock by lifting Moxley bodily and then plopping him down onto his bed. Roman pinned him there, laughter coming in gasps as he dug his forehead against Moxley’s and rubbed it back and forth vigorously. “Ha! Now you’ll look like you headbutted the carpet.” He said when he pulled back to admire his handiwork.

Mox’s cheeks puffed out momentarily with the effort of stifling his own laughter. “You dope, you got the same mark on your forehead!” He laughed, rubbing his thumb over the red area.

“Kinda’ like the marks Baron makes? On his friend’s neck?” Roman sounded hopeful. “Is that his weird thing?”

On his friend’s neck. “Nah, Baron really likes his friend, so that’s a special thing he only does for them. I-” Roman buried his face in Mox’s neck and bit down, making Moxley snap, “Hey!” His stomach writhed at the way Roman instantly flinched back from his sharp tone. “Shit, sorry. You startled the fuck outta’ me, man. Can’t latch onto a guy like that.” Mox tried to play it off, tried to ignore the sad look that Roman got. “Roman, hey. You can’t just bite people. That’s rude.”

“But you just said…you said Baron did it special for his friend because he really likes them.” Roman pointed out.

“Roman, Baron’s friend also agrees to that beforehand. You don’t get to do something to another person without their permission.”

“Oh.” Roman’s eyes suddenly widened and Mox braced himself for the impact. “Why did…when I was at the other place, they never…” The black-haired man didn’t seem to be able to finish his sentences, sitting back on his haunches. “The…producer.” He finally snarled, his voice gone harsh.

Mox sat up cautiously. “What about him?”

“Never asked me.”

“You weren’t a person to him. Nobody like us is a person to that guy.”

“I am a person. You’re a person, too.” Roman insisted. “And Baron and Neville and Elias.”

“I know that, Ro. You’re more of a person than that fucker could ever imagine.” Mox said fiercely. “You’ve got a name now, a name that shithead never heard. A name he never touched. You ain’t ever been Lion, that’s not who you are. S’ just what they called you.”

Roman’s face was still troubled so Mox took his hand, slowly tightening his grip until Roman responded in kind. The two of them sat there in silence, Roman staring down at their hands and Mox staring at Roman while the other man was deep in thought. “Roman is my name.” Roman finally said softly. “Because I say so.” He raised their joined hands, making eye contact again. “And because you say so.”

“Your opinion is the only one that should matter here, man.”

Roman shook his head. “No. You let it be real. You said it out loud.”

“Hey, Neville told you we’d call you whatever you wanted. Plus, we aren’t assholes.” Mox didn’t really feel that this should be made into a big deal. The way that Roman was looking at him had his skin crawling with nerves and he swallowed hard. “It’s your name. Your body. Your call as far as who does what to you, from the second Neville opened that door. And don’t take any shit from anyone who tries to tell you otherwise.” Mox said gruffly, dropping Roman’s hand after one last squeeze. “Plenty of folks out there will tell you until they’re blue in the face that you shoulda’ stayed put, that you deserved whatever happened t’ ya’ because of who you are. You ever come across anybody like that, you jus’ tell ol’ Moxley. I’ll fix their fuckin’ wagon.”

“You’re a good friend, Mox.” Roman said shakily. He wiped at his eyes after a minute. “M’ sorry, I know it’s late. Just wanted to hear whether you liked my name.”

“That’s a proud as hell name. Tough.” Mox wanted to laugh at how red Roman got. “You don’t even have to grow into it.” He snapped his fingers after a second. “Oh, I keep meanin’ to ask. Why the hell do you steal my jacket?”

“Smells like you.” Roman replied simply. Mox wasn’t really sure what the noise that came out of him was but he was incredibly happy he managed to camouflage it into a sneeze. “Bless you.”

“I just…I uh, I’m gonna’ hit the hay. I’m glad you picked a name, man. Tomorrow you can tell Nev and he’ll get you squared away.”

…

Smells like you. Mox shook his head at himself, trying to keep reading the manual for the solution to the latest mechanical nightmare he’d come across. Through the screen door of the trailer he could catch glimpses of the fire Styles and Samson had built, and faint strains of guitar reached his ears as night fell on the small convoy.

Baron didn’t exactly have a great singing voice, but he definitely made up for his pitch with volume. Mox would have loved to join them, but he was extremely leery of fire. There had been an incident when he was in juvenile housing, a glorified kennel that turned into a firetrap when someone had dropped a cigarette.

He was grateful that his trailer had a microwave. Even the little propane stove made him anxious.

Roman opened the trailer door as Elias started a rousing chorus of ‘Wonderwall’, his face sticky with the remnants of a s’more. “You gonna’ come out?” He asked hopefully. “There’s an open chair.”

“Can’t. Gotta’ figure this out.” Mox grunted, staring at the same page he’d read backwards and forwards for the past twenty minutes.

“Please?”

“Ro, m’ busy. And I don’t do fires. Ever.”

Roman shut the door behind him, wiping the marshmallow off his chin as an afterthought. “What?”

“I said I don’t do fires?” Mox raised an eyebrow. “What, Elias didn’t tell you my deep dark secret? M’ scared of fire.”

“You’re scared of something?”

“Yes Roman, I am afraid of something.”

“But-” Roman gestured vaguely with his hands. “You’re so brave, though!”

Mox couldn’t help the little huff of laughter that escaped him. “I ain’t nothing like that. Somebody lied to you.”

“No, I’ve seen it.” Roman insisted. “Like the other day when the motor was still running in that truck and you just kind of stuck your-”

“You’re confusing stupid with brave. Common issue. See, Neville is brave. He’s brave because he’s smart and quick and quiet.” Mox pointed at the Band-Aid covering the busted-up area on his hand. “I am stupid.”

“Would a stupid person have pulled me out of that cellar hole?” Roman asked testily.

“Well that’s more of a morals question, Ro, we were definitely breaking and entering-”

“Mox.”

“A dumb person absolutely would have done it, man. Would a dumb person have succeeded, is the question you oughta’ ask.” Mox put down the manual, looking up at Roman. “If that dumb person is directed by Neville? Shit, he can take near any rotten situation and turn it into an advantage. If that dumb person is me? I stop at nothin’. Fuck that hell or high water shit. I’m useful in this group because I’m stupid. I embrace that talent, Ro.”

“You’re brave.” Roman repeated stubbornly. “Bravest person I know.”

“You say such nice shit.” Moxley scoffed with a grin.

“I’m scared of something.” Roman said hesitantly. “I…I mean if you can be scared of stuff, I can too, right?”

“Fear is healthy and natural. S’long as you don’t let it rule you, obviously.” Mox opened his mouth, then quickly shut it again. “If you…ever needed to talk to someone about what you’re scared of, you know I’m here.” He offered finally. “No judgement zone, Ro. I don’t even care if you think it’s dumb.”

“M’ scared of people touching me.” Roman mumbled, twisting the hem of his shirt. “I don’t…scared of…I’m scared of people touching me when I’m, um...”

“When your clothes are off?” Mox supplied. Roman nodded quickly. “That’s kinda’ to be expected, man. You got manhandled and you never want that shit to happen again.” Mox willed his jaw to loosen. It had gone tense when he thought about what Roman must have endured.

“I’m all messed up though. In my head. Because I want…I want to. But I’m scared.” Roman seemed frustrated.

“You want people to touch you…naked.” Mox said slowly, his stomach lurching at the idea.

“I want one person to touch me naked.” Roman corrected, refusing to meet his eyes.

“I…”

“It was always girls. He only let girls have me. I don’t know if that has anything to do with it.” Mox’s hands clenched down onto the bunk under him. “Sometimes he would flick me on the tip of my…he’d flick me with his fingers.” Roman just kept talking. “If I didn’t cooperate he’d cover my nose so I couldn’t breathe.”

“Roman, please, Jesus Christ.” Mox said weakly. “You shoved your face into my neck an’ started fuckin’ cryin’ when we came up those stairs. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that some terrible shit’s happened to you.”

“I want you to touch me.” Roman said, his voice faltering a little. “I want…I trust you. I want to know if I’m broken or not. I mean, it’s alright if I am, I’ll figure it out. I just want to know.”

“You want me to…”

“I want you to touch me all over and I want…I want to see what happens.”

“I can tell you what’ll happen, man.” Mox got to his feet, brushing off his jeans. “But if it’ll make you feel better, if it’ll help you? Yeah, I’ll touch you without ya’ clothes on. Pretty sure I’m getting the better end of this deal, anyhow.” He tried to joke, the humor falling flat when Roman hurriedly yanked his shirt over his head. “Hey, hey. Be gentle to y’self. You’re safe here.”

“Don’t want to waste your time, I know you’ve got the thing.” Roman nodded at the manual. “Have to fix problems.”

“Shh, that ain’t a priority. It’s alright.” Mox carefully laid his hands on top of Roman’s to still them, the young man already heading for his zipper. “So clothes-off one-o-one here, first rule is if you ain’t into it, clothes stay on. Simple. Easy to remember.” He murmured. “Second rule is ask first. ‘Can I’ or ‘may I’ always goes better than ‘I’m going to’. Can I unzip your pants?” Mox asked softly.

Roman’s mouth was a little slack, his eyes a little wider than before. “Y-Yeah.” He gulped.

Mox slid down the zipper. He watched with quiet fascination as Roman’s torso trembled from a shaky breath. “May I touch?” Mox flattened his palm on Roman’s chest when the other man nodded rapidly, just feeling the way Roman tried to keep his breathing under control. “Hey, I’m not gonna’ cut you off. Breathe regular.” He instructed. Roman looked guilty and Mox began tracing the lines inked on his chest. “No no, none of that. Just breathe. Nice and easy.”

“Want to.” Roman arched a little and Mox’s fingers trailed over his nipple. “Oh.”

That was a noise that would make anyone curious. “Like that?” Mox asked, lazily circling his index finger around Roman’s nipple, which began to harden from the attention. “Is that good?”

“Oh God, jeez, I-” Roman fumbled for his words, settling on a simple, “No one’s ever…not there.”

Moxley huffed out an annoyed noise. “’Course not. It’s never been about you, right?” He ducked his head to carefully lick the area, encouraged by fingers slowly working their way into his hair and Roman muttering oh God oh God over and over. Mox took it as a compliment. “Where do you want me to touch you next?” He pulled his mouth away to ask, walking his fingers over Roman’s other pectoral.

“Huh?” Roman asked dazedly. “Oh! Oh. Sorry. I um, I…this is so strange.” His hands continued to stroke through Moxley’s hair absently. “How do you make it so good?”

“I ask. And I only use my teeth when people beg for ‘em.” Mox’s hands moved down to touch Roman’s hips while he kept his mouth busy. “What do you want me to do?”

“I…oh.” Roman covered Mox’s hands, his face suddenly serious. “I almost forgot.” He said sheepishly.

“Hey, we don’t have to go any further than this.” Mox assured him. “I ain’t here for me, so don’t worry about stoppin’.”

“I know.” Roman tugged his pants over his hips, letting them settle around his thighs. “More? Please?”

“Much as you want.” Mox replied quietly. “Can I touch you? Through your boxers. I ain’t got to touch your skin if you don’t want me to just yet.” He slid his palm down the expanse of Roman’s stomach, chuckling a little when Roman sighed. “Touchin’ doesn’t have to be frantic. And it doesn’t have to lead t’ anythin’. When you say stop, it stops.”

“You can touch me. No…no flicking, please.” Roman mumbled, biting his lip and making another noise when Mox smoothed his hands down his sides. “Y-Yeah, mm, good.”

“I like when you talk.” Mox whispered, easing his palm over the front of Roman's boxer briefs. “When was the last time you touched yourself?”

“I um...” Roman was clearly, endearingly flustered.

“How do you touch yourself? Can you show me what you like?” Mox asked gently. Roman went silent, his fingers twitching nervously. “Roman? Do I need to stop?”

“No, no. I just...I mean, no one's ever asked me that. Dunno' what to say.” Roman shrugged, grimacing.

“O-kay.” Moxley said slowly, running his thumb down the curve of Roman's cock beneath his boxers. Roman put his hands on Mox's shoulders, exhaling hard into the air between them. Mox felt like he might be a little overdressed for the situation but the last thing he wanted was to scare Roman off.

Roman bumped their foreheads together and moaned, jumping slightly when Mox rolled one of his nipples between his fingers. “Ah, God, yes, that-” He pleaded, “More, touch me I--fuck-”

“Look at you, God.” Mox murmured, a little awestruck at the way Roman bucked his cock clumsily into his hand, practically rubbing himself off. “You like that? Y' like when I stay still an' you can just hump up against my fingers?”

“Make my stomach feel funny when you say stuff like that.” Roman groaned and Mox felt like someone had cranked the heat up.

“Yeah? So I shouldn't talk about how I want you t' rub yourself on my thigh until you come? Shouldn't say that, because it makes your belly drop out? I shouldn't talk about how I wanna' tease your chest until you're achin' for me to touch you, dick all stiff and leakin' on your stomach? Shouldn't talk about that?” He asked, his words tripping out in an excited rush.

“Fuck.” Roman whimpered, his fingers digging into Mox's shoulders and pulling him in tight against him so he could tuck his face into the other man's neck. “Mox, Mox, please-”

“You can bite me if you want to.” Mox offered.

Roman looked up, gray eyes wide. “But you said-”

“For special friends. Because I really like you.” Mox grinned. “You're lettin' me touch you all over. S' only fair.”

“I want to, I want to, Mox, are you sure I can?” Roman was half-asking, half-begging, his mouth already open over Moxley's neck.

“All yours, Ro.” Roman's tongue tasted the area momentarily before his teeth crushed down and Moxley had to choke back a satisfied grunt. “Yes, fuck, Roman-” He growled.

“I'm-” Roman's whole body went tight and Mox wasn't sure he'd ever been this satisfied by someone else getting off in his entire life. Roman's moans were stifled by his skin, the frantic bucks of his hips dissolving him into a quivering mess and then Roman kissed him abruptly, mouth hot on his own. “Oh! Shit, I...sorry.” The black-haired man gasped, pulling back. “Should have asked, sorry.”

“I am not complaining.” Mox panted, “Hi Roman, I'm Mox, and I am fuckin' here for this shit.”

…

He managed to convince Mox to come out and sit by the fire, now almost burned out. Baron had apparently decimated a bag of marshmallows all by himself, his friend beside him looking decidedly stickier than they had before.

“Look at you!” Elias praised Moxley, smiling broadly as the light-haired man settled warily into the folding chair. Once he pulled it a little ways back, of course. Roman sat on the ground between Mox's legs, having promised to keep him safe from the fire. “And of course, ever present Roman. I've got a song for you, man.” Samson tinkered with the instrument on his lap for a second, humming a few bars. “Me, and my shadow, walking down the avenue...” He crooned slowly, strumming away. “There's no one here but me, me and my shadow...”

Roman eased back against Moxley and felt careful fingers lace into his hair, stroking over his scalp. Without intending to, his eyes drifted shut. He fell asleep there, wrapped in the warm sensation of Moxley's body solid against his own and those fingers, gently rubbing.

“There's no one here but me and my shadow...”

Part Three

[somefinelipstickonthatpig]

Cadaverous Pallor

woops my hand must have slipped. what’s this?? a ghost au?? how original. grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize

Sorey's a charismatic TV show host. He explores places of historical significance and shares their stories with the world, and he loves his job. He's fairly good at it. He's been doing it on his own, even without professional funding, since he was in college.

He just doesn't expect the manor he's planning to film next to be extremely haunted--not by such a cute ghost, at least.

[Read on AO3] [Read Ch. 2]

Chapter 1 - When the Crypt Doors Creak

When hinges creak in doorless chambers, And strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls, Whenever candelights flicker, Where the air is deathly still, That is the time when ghosts are present, Practicing their terror with ghoulish delight.

-  “The Haunted Mansion,” Foyer Narration

“Wait, back up, sorry—who did you say you were?”

The bright-eyed brunet laughed, leaning back. His grin split his face a mile-wide as he threw one arm over the back of his chair. He had to his form a handsome charisma that even Rose grudgingly would admit was attractive as he sat there in the middle of a random restaurant in Ladylake. “My name’s Sorey. Sorry, I guess sometimes I forget not everyone watches my show.”

Lucas chuckled. “I don’t watch that much TV anyway.” The waiter shifted his weight as he surveyed the table of three before him:  a young woman with her blonde hair pulled tight to the side of her head and another young woman with bright red hair that barely brushed her shoulders sat across from the one who had identified himself as ‘Sorey.’ He placed a hand to his waist. “Are you all on this show? This…’History Hunters’ thing?”

The redhead laughed. “Oh, gosh, no…!” Her nose scrunched up and jerked a thumb in Sorey’s direction. “Are you kidding me? I don’t know shit about history! That’s all this nerd.”

Sorey flushed politely. He raised a hand to scratch the back of his head. “Don’t listen to Rose. It’s not all me. We have guest stars and speakers on the show sometimes, and they know a lot, too. It’s more like a collaboration, I think, than just me talking to the camera.”

The girl named Rose lifted a hand to shield her mouth from Sorey’s view. “It’s pretty much just Sorey talking to the camera.”

The blonde at their table giggled as Sorey’s face turned a deeper red.

“N-no, it’s not! People wouldn’t watch the show if it was just me!” he scrambled to claim. He turned back to his food and stuffed a fry in his mouth.

Rose waved a hand. “Relax. You’re the reason people watch it, ya dummy.” With a sneaky grin, she reached over to Sorey’s plate and snatched one of his fries to stuff in her mouth before he could stop her. She said, “Ain’t that right, Alisha?”

The other young woman smiled. She turned her pale green eyes to Lucas, and for a moment, the waiter was struck by just how mature a set of emeralds could look on so young a face. “Well, the show’s ratings weren’t doing too well until Sorey came along, I must admit. Our last host just didn’t have the same energy that he does.”

The redhead named Rose snickered. “Nobody has the same energy Sorey does.”

“I can’t tell if that’s an insult or a compliment…”

Rose stole another fry before Sorey could smack her hand away. “For you? Everything’s a compliment. Even if it’s an insult.”

Lucas shook his head; a smile was fighting its way onto his face even as he stood there, looking at the table he was supposed to just be checking on. But it was a slow time of day in the lull between the lunch and dinner rushes; what the hell. He could humor these guys for a minute or two more, right? “So what brings your crew into Ladylake, then? Going to do a bit about the Sanctuary?”

“We’ve already done one, actually,” Sorey said with a bright grin. Rose took the opportunity of his turned head to grab another fry again. Alisha hissed to her in reprimand. “I’d be lying, though, if I said I wouldn’t want to do another episode there.”

Rose shook her head, chomping on her stolen food with pride. “Nah. We’re not here for the Sanctuary.” She turned to Lucas and grinned. “Ever heard of the Camlann estate?”

“Oh.” Lucas’ response was short, curt. All three pairs of eyes were on him immediately. He sighed and reached up a hand to scratch at his chin. “Yeah…yeah, I have. I think you’ll find most Ladylake locals have, too, if you ask around.”

“Really?” Sorey’s own green eyes, earthy and less ethereal than Alisha’s own, brightened considerably. “What can you tell us about it? I’m just dying to see it—!”

“—that’s a funny choice of words—“

“—I heard that the guy that restored the place tried to return the mansion to what it would have looked like during its prime, y’know, over two hundred years ago—before it was burned down!” Sorey’s grin didn’t dim as he rattled. “All of that gorgeous Elysian architecture and stonework…!”

Lucas made a soft sound in his throat, something like a scoff and a bit-off laugh. “Yeah, well. Did you also hear that the man who restored the estate died there?”

A chilling quiet swept over the table.

“What.” The word that came from Rose was something between a question and a statement. Lucas decided to count it as both.

“That’s awful,” Alisha murmured, her voice turned soft.

Of the three, Sorey was the one who looked the least surprised. He had a thin set to his mouth and a disquiet in his eyes that spoke of knowing sympathy. “He wouldn’t be the only one. The Camlann estate has seen a lot of death:  they say the entire household of the family that lived there perished in the fire that burned it down over two hundred years ago, too.”

Lucas nodded. “Yeah. And that’s just the start of it.” He shifted his weight as he spoke, moving his serving tray from one hip to the other idly. “Word in town is that the place is one of the most haunted around here. So if you’re really planning on goin’ in…well. I’d be careful, if I were you.”

Rose’s spine snapped straight. Her blue eyes lit on the young man across from her, daggers fierce in their depths. “Wait, what? A-are you serious?! Sorey, what the hell—did you know about this?!”

Sorey shook his head. “No! I mean, I knew that people died there, but I didn’t think it would be haunted—“

“—uh, no duh, Mr. History Genius; dead people in giant mansions always equals ghosts! How come everyone seems to know this but you?!” Rose stood up. “Ugh, okay, you know what? Forget this shit. Sorry, Sorey, but we’re not doing the estate anymore.”

“What?” Sorey gaped at her.

Alisha winced.

“You heard me!” Rose pointed a finger at the TV host, and Lucas suddenly received the feeling he had unknowingly triggered something that maybe he should not have. “We’re not. Doing. The estate.”

“But—“

“—That’s it. No. Done. End of discussion. Pick a different historical joint you love so much and we’ll go there, first thing in the morning; I promise. But we’re not stickin’ around for a haunted mansion. Sorry, but no. That’s not our type of show.”

Sorey’s mouth flapped open and shut uselessly. “But—but Camlann—“

“—has a lot of important history to talk about, I’m sure.” Rose nodded to something he hadn’t even said. She gathered her jacket and slipped it around her shoulders. “And if you want to stay and try to film it on your own, be my guest; just know that this driver of yours is leaving with her van and your crew, at like, the ass-crack of dawn, so. Make your choice.”

Alisha sighed. Her hands fell to her lap. “Rose, we need to at least give the estate a chance.”

“Yeah, well. You can give it a chance, but I’m not. I ain’t gettin’ anywhere near that place.” She slipped her purse over her shoulder and pointed a finger at the blonde. “And you can’t make me. I’ll sleep on the couch if I have to, babe, but I’m not going to that mansion. Sorry.”

Exasperation crossed over Alisha’s face. “Rose—“

The redhead quickly turned away. “See ya back at the hotel!” she said and then she was gone, weaving around empty tables and chairs as she made her way out of the restaurant and into the mid-afternoon sun.

Alisha watched her go.

After a moment’s pause and with a frown tight on her face, Alisha bent to grab her purse and jacket. “I should go after her, just to make sure she isn’t actually planning on leaving us.” Her gaze flickered to Sorey briefly as she murmured, “You have one of the company cards, right? Use that to pay for the meal.” She bowed to Lucas. “Excuse me; I’m terribly sorry for my untimely departure.”

Lucas chuckled and waved a hand. “You don’t have to apologize to me. You’re still paying, after all.”

Alisha threw him a small smile before she left.

In the silence afterwards, now alone at the table, Sorey shifted in his seat awkwardly. He picked up a small fry.

Lucas sighed. “Look, sorry about whole the estate-thing. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Sorey blinked and looked to the waiter. “What do you mean?”

Lucas stepped forward to begin clearing the table of the abandoned plates, glasses, and silverware. His gaze flickered to the young man who watched him work. “Well, it’s over, now, right? If that young lady’s calling it off, that probably means you won’t be able to get to Camlann and do your history-talk thing, yeah?”

The young TV host hummed thoughtfully. His green eyes turned away to some unfixed point on the adjacent wall. He picked up another fry. “Eh, maybe,” he said quietly—too quietly for Lucas to feel completely comfortable about it.

The waiter shook his head. “Well, whatever you do, be careful, all right? For real. That place is no joke. People have died there. Watch yourself.”

Sorey turned to Lucas. The grin on his face was a mile-wide once more. “Don’t worry. I work with artifacts and historical ruins for a living. ‘Being careful’ is my middle name!”

Somehow, though he had only known the young man for half an hour at most, Lucas was afraid he’d say that.

“Woops.”

Sorey watched with wide, green eyes as one of the double-doors to the estate slowly swung open. It was a gorgeous, dark oak, he noted, with black metal hinges and spades plated to the side of it. His forehead still throbbed from where he had come into contact with its hard surface—right in the center where he supposed, usually, there was supposed to be a window.

He raised his free hand to his brow and winced. “What did I even trip on…?” he breathed to himself and turned to look down at the porch steps he had just came up.

Seeing nothing protruding from the stone that would be out of the ordinary, Sorey frowned. He turned back to the half-opened door and what he could see of the entryway beyond it, dimly lit by the late-afternoon sun.

He took a moment to collect himself and raised his other hand, fingers wrapped tight around his handheld camcorder. He hadn’t used it in years, not since he became a professional TV show host. Pulling it out and making use of it like he used to in his blogging days brought him an unexpected sense of nostalgia.

Sorey felt like an amateur anthropology and history university student scouting out historical sites and ignoring ‘DO NOT TRESSPASS’ signs all over again.

He turned the screen around to view himself. For a moment, he did nothing but practice his trademark grin, watching in the image feed the way his eyes crinkled at the edges with each try. He had to admit:  he did look incredibly different on a personal camera rather than the professional ones the Talfryn twins filmed him with. Sorey wasn’t quite sure yet whether that would be a good or a bad thing.

Finally, he straightened up and nodded to his reflection. He pressed the red button labeled ‘record.’

“Hey everybody!” Sorey greeted to the lens with a wave and smile. “Wow, this is…awkward doing this by myself after all this time—“

He quickly pressed the stop button and winced. He shook his head. “C’mon, Sorey. That’s no way to start the show.” He rewound through the few seconds he had just recorded. He readied himself to start over. “Okay. You can do this. Just do what you normally do.”

Sorey cleared his throat.

His eyes flickered to a window to the right of the door.

For a moment, his heart forgot how to beat. For a moment, it was almost funny, because just for a moment he could have sworn he just saw something move past that dusty glass and back into the obscured shadow of the ornate brick house.

Sorey watched it for a second more.

When nothing happened, he shook his head. “Must’ve just been the curtain,” he murmured. He steadied the camera in his hand. “Okay. Here we go!” Sorey puffed out his chest and took a great inhale. “History Hunters, episode one hundred and seventeen! Take two.”

There—he could almost hear the clack of the clapperboard that Rose liked to use when one of the Talfryn twins had their hands full with the cameras.

For some reason, that calmed him.

“Hey everybody!” he greeted to the screen with a red dot slowly blinking in the corner. “It’s your friend Sorey here, bringing you an exclusive, extra-special episode of History Hunters! Today, we’re going to finally explore the beautiful, tragic, and most mysterious Camlann estate!”

He turned the camera around to view the open front door. He spun the image feed to face him again, watching carefully, as he began his narration.

“Now, what you see before you isn’t the same Camlann that first existed over two hundred years ago,” he started, making sure to guide the camera so it took in the whole, ornately-carved stone doorway. Two unlit metal lanterns hung from either side of the double-door entrance. He made sure to film those, too, as he spoke. “This Camlann, standing in the exact same spot as the original estate, was restored and modeled as much as possible to the original mansion by a man named Runaaru Lunarre. He was a little like me, you could say:  a guy obsessed with history. At least he had enough money to do something about it, haha.”

Sorey stepped towards the front door, already ajar, and reached out a hand to press it open. It swung away slowly with a long creak.

“A-anyway…” For a moment, Sorey had to remember just what it was he had been going to say. It completely slipped his mind. All he could think as he stared into the dark and shadowed interior of the foyer of the infamous Camlann mansion was that it was creepy. With the dark red rug lining the wooden floor and the spider webs stretching across the upper corners of the hall, Sorey began to understand why Lucas had given him such caution, over and over again, about this place.

Boy, was he glad the sun was still up behind him. For a little while longer, at least.

“Anyway,” he started again and stepped inside. “About fifty years ago, or so, Lunarre had the place rebuilt. He tried to match the original brick on the exterior, as well as the wallpaper and carpet and furniture on the interior, to make it all like it originally had been, when it first received all of its fame.”

Sorey guided the camera to note the thin table pressed against the wall with fake flowers in a ceramic vase. There were other, rusted fake-gold knickknacks decorating its dusty surface.

Just above the small entryway table sat a golden-framed picture hanging on the wall. Sorey lifted his camcorder to view it as he, too, admired the illustration of a young boy, moon-faced and barely smiling. He had striking lavender eyes and glowing, ethereal, pale hair.

“As you can—uh—see,” Sorey muttered, committing the painting to memory. He would have to double-check his own sources later tonight to see who that was a portrait of. There were rumors that the sole heir (after Michael, of course) of the Rulay estate had hair ‘as soft as clouds’ and eyes like ‘amethysts.’ He couldn’t remember the young man’s name at the moment, but he would find it, for sure. Later. “He had to take some creative liberties in some places where we simply don’t have record of what the house actually looked like inside. But things like this, a portrait of what may be the infamous Michael Rulay’s nephew, tell me that Lunarre really did do his best to bring the mansion back to its old glamour. I can admire that in a guy.”

A sound—so soft, it could have been mistaken for his own breath except Sorey was pretty sure he didn’t laugh right then—came from somewhere behind him.

Sorey spun around, eyes wide. The camera turned with him.

Nothing.

Strange. He could have sworn there was someone…

He swallowed. “Uh, unfortunately, despite all of Lunarre’s hard work, we’ll probably never get the chance to see Camlann as it originally was. That fire I mentioned earlier…?”

Sorey stepped further into the hallway, slowly and carefully. Down to where it opened up into a great hall with a grand staircase on the far side of the marble-tiled floor. His breath caught in his throat, his eyes lighting up. In the falling sun, the ballroom looked magnificent. “The—uh—the estate. It burned down over two hundred years ago in a tragedy that brought the entire household and the Rulay family who owned it to their deaths.”

Another sound—this time to the side of him. Almost like a hitched breath.

Sorey turned and brought the camera with him.

Still nothing out of the ordinary. Just the large windows and their heavy velvet drapes set against the wall.

…what was going on, here…? Was he just getting jumpy?

“It’s…kind of a sad story,” he admitted quietly. More carefully, Sorey walked forward and further into the vast ballroom. “There are no records or evidence that tell us why or how the fire was started. One day, the home of the infamous Michael Rulay was there. The next, it was all gone and burned away.”

For a moment, Sorey wondered if he should go up the stairs. His eyes flickered up the tempting carpeted steps; then he thought better of it. Not yet, anyway, he told himself. He moved past and to the door to the right. “Along with his whole family and household. Besides Michael himself, this would have included his sister and her son—who may be the one in that painting we saw earlier—and those who worked for the estate.”

He grasped the handle of the door and swung it open as he ducked his head inside. A kitchen greeted him, with an odd mesh of more familiar and dated appliances pressed against ancient décor. The room looked half-finished, like Lunarre had still been in the process of restoring the room and filling it in with livable means when he abandoned the project.

Sorey stepped fully into the kitchen as he continued, slowly panning the camera around. His feet stepped carefully on checkerboard-tiled floor. “Although there is not a definitive record or number for the amount of people who were staffed at Camlann, we know that there was a butler who also acted as the head of the house, a governess for Michael’s nephew, a cook, a housekeeper, and a head gardener. If we assume that all of these people were all present and then died in the fire, then that would make it a grand total of—“

Sorey cut himself off. His green eyes widened.

He licked his lips as he found his voice go hoarse.

“—of…eight…deaths. Right h-here. Where I’m standing.”

On the wall to his left, just above what he could assume was an oven under a blanket of canvas, Sorey could see a red, curled handwriting pressed against the wall.

It was fresh, still dripping.

“Whoa…” Sorey breathed.

Letters that he could see, illuminated by his camcorder’s light and the setting sun seeping in through the kitchen window from outside, clearly spelled out two words, scrawled in an angry print:

‘GET OUT.’

[justmorefandomtrash]

Discovering Who I Am - Minami Week entry 1

Prompt: Friends/Rivals

(AO3 link coming asap)

Ft. Discovering oneself, genderfluid Minami, supportive friends and advice from fellow skaters with similar experiences. Also Minami trys to call out Phichit about his crush on a certain Korean…

This is, although part of Minami week, a continuation of a series of mine on AO3.

I believe that this under a divider thing purely for its length (I hope I did it right, I’ve never done it before)

M: Hey… P: You okay? M: No. P: Eh? Tell me! M: Skype? With you + Ji… P: Sure! 1 no M: Okay.

🌈

“Minami! Turn on your screen!”

“Yo!”

“No one says that anymore dude.”

“Well I do!”

As the pair of them bickered, he shuffled around awkwardly on his blanket pile. Sure, it was an ordinary occurrence for the two of them, but this wasn’t an ordinary conversation for them.

There was a pile of used tissues in the bin and he knew for certain, even without looking in the mirror, that his face was tear stained. Not that he’d be able to see anyway, what with the only light in the room coming from his laptop.

“Hey Minami… Are you okay there? You’re not speaking to us and you sounded rather sad in your texts.”

Phichit and Ji were concerned.

Of course they were.

“Y-yeah it was nothing I’m sorry for bothering you.”

His voice cracked slightly and he winced, pulling his blankets around him closer.

“Minami… Put on your webcam please?” Ji pleaded, tilting his head to one side on the grainy screen.

With shaking hands, he stretched out and clicked the camera on, settling back and burying his hands into his pile of blankets. God… He looked a mess on the screen, hair stuck up in random directions, a baggy T-shirt and shorts and a pile of random blankets. He looked washed out in the light.

“Mini! Have you eaten? Have you drank anything? When was the last time you slept?”

He flinched at the barrage of questions, something that didn’t go unnoticed by the others. There were times where he despised his body, especially now when it gave away his innermost thoughts.

“What’s bothering you?” Phichit, for all his enthusiasm and never ending energy, was calmingin in a way that many weren’t, many couldn’t be.

“I-I… I don’t know how to explain it… Um… Have you ever, like, met anyone who doesn’t fit in with the typical gender categories?”

“Gender’s a social concept to be truthful, and a pretty ridiculous one at that. Some people fit into the binary, others fall onto a spectrum whilst others fall outside it in terms of their identity.” With a smile, Ji counted off the points, Phichit nodding in agreement.

It felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders at this point. Phichit and Ji knew information that would be useful to him. Would they understand though?

“So… What if I told you that there are times where… It doesn’t feel right? As in, my body doesn’t feel right, it feels too flat or too heavy or too sculpted.” He was rambling now, everything spilling out to two of his closest friends.

“Leo might be better for this sort of thing but they’re not here right now, so I’ll do my best. What you’re saying is that there are days where you’re fine in your body and other days you hate it?”

“Yeah… Like I want to tear my skin to shreads and crawl up into a ball and not do anything. Not even eat or drink, which is ridiculous because I know that I have to.” He pauses for a moment, cocking his head to the side in thought. “Is that strange? I feel like is.”

“Nope. Yuuri described feeling similar, though perhaps not quite as intense when she was with me in Detroit.”

“She?” He winced at his tone, not intending to sound accusatory. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like that.”

“No worries! She’s okay with other skaters knowing her pronouns and that and we were skyping, would it be early morning in Russia? Anyway, we were skyping today when she declared it a femme day.” With a smile, he rapidly pulled out his phone and began tapping away, most likely a text to Yuuri.

“Leo’s described something similar too, but only on their worst days. It’s why their nails are so short, just in case.” A fond look came over Ji’s face as he though about Leo, jumping as their voice echoed through the house as the door opened.

“In the bedroom skyping Phi and Mini!”

A quiet response left Ji blushing and burying his face in his hands, much to Phichit’s amusement. He managed a small smile, not quite sure if it was convincing or not.

“Oh my god… They’re so cheesy.”

Phichit giggled at Ji’s blush and dreamy smile, fanning his face.

“What about you Seung huh? You two are just as bad!”

“Are not!”

“Are too!”

“Are not!”

“Are t- ah, sorry sunshine! We’ll keep it down. Shhh Phi, let’s not get distracted now from the point of this call. We’re here to help Mini.” He tugged the blankets back onto his shoulders as the attention focused back on him.

“Are there days were you feel more feminine?” Considering the question, he nodded.

“There are days where I feel masculine, days where I feel both and days where I feel like neither. Are you… Are you saying that there’s a name for it?” It would be a lie to say that he wasn’t excited at the prospect of finding a label and not feeling so…

Out of place.

Phichit scrambled around on his bed, muttering in Thai under his breath. Holding his phone up in triumph, he squinted briefly as it illuminated his face.

“Yuuri reckons that it would be called x-gender in Japan, but what’s the European term?”

“Nonbinary?”

“No no, not quite. That’s completely outside of the binary, no, oh god there was someone in our college…” Phichit threw himself backwards onto his bed with a dramatic groan.

“You mean genderfluid? That seems to be the closest to what you’re looking for.” The trio jumped at the new voice, Ji shrieking as Leo sat down onto the bed next to him. They chuckled and pressed a kiss to his forehead before turning to face the laptop.

“Genderfluid is the term for someone who’s gender identity spans the entire gender spectrum. Have you thought about pronouns yet?”

“Pronouns?”

His question was echoed by Phichit who looked incredibly confused at this point, probably because he’d been texting again and not following the conversation.

“Some people when they figure out their identity use different pronouns for themselves, like I did. I changed to using gender neutral pronouns, and Yuuri uses a range don’t they?”

“Yeah she does. I understand now, i just lost track of the conversation. Yuuri’s sent me a screenshot of a table of gender neutral pronouns, do you want me to forward it to you later to look over?” With a gentle smile, he held up his phone. On it was a series of texts from Yuuri, all containing advice for Phichit to pass on.

“Tell her thank you from me please. I… I don’t mind if you use my name.”

The conversation quickly dissolved into giggles and lighter topics, agreeing to refer to him by his current pronouns until he’d found a set he was comfortable with.

By the time he’d exited the Skype call and settled down to sleep, they’d made plans to meet up and go shopping the next week.

🌈

Over the course of the week, Minami had done several things.

They’d tried refering to themselves with different pronouns from the table Phichit had forwarded to them, eventually settling when they couldn’t pronounce half of them (yet).

They’d managed to successfully send an email to the one and only Katsuki Yuuri who just so happened to be their idol, and had maintained a conversation with them.

Finally, they’d come out to their brother (admittedly over Skype but it counted) who’d in turn come out as bisexual. After much deliberation between the two of them, they’d come to the conclusion that they were probably pansexual considering how they fell in love with anyone and everyone who was their type.

It had been a tiring week.

And now they were stood in front of the mirror and wishing their chest wasn’t so flat. It was frustrating, this detachment from their own body. With a groan, they tugged on a Pusheen T-shirt (the only feminine one they had at that moment but it would do, and it seemed to calm the agitation in their chest) and black skinny jeans before turning back to the mirror. Patting their butt in quiet delight, they winked and laughed as they watched their reflection mimick them. A notification startled them and they dived onto their bed, snatching their phone up and frowning at the unknown number.

U: Hey there M: Who is this? U: Oh u don’t have my number? U: this is Chris M: As in the Swiss guy? U: Giacometti to u! M: Hold on let me rename you M: Done C: I won’t keep u long because I heard u were going out but I wanted 2 tell u that I hope u find something u feel good in today M: Thanks C: Let me know if there’s anything I can get for u C: Now go shop u beautiful human being!

Chuckling, they threw their phone down and pulled on their socks, quickly followed by a pair of black converse. It wouldn’t take long for Phichit to pick them up from the hotel, then only a short time more for them to meet with the others at the mall. It had been a bit of a pain to get tickets from Japan at such short notice but they were nothing but resourceful. Snatching up their pastel backpack, they slipped their phone into their back pocket and checked that they’d got everything they needed for the day.

“Phone, wallet, jacket in case it rains, drink… Keys! Keys! How the hell am I supposed to lock the room up if I don’t have my keys?” Huffing in annoyance, their eyes swept over the room until they caught the shine of the keys on the desk in the corner. Triumphantly, they skipped over and swung their backpack onto their shoulders, picking them up and glancing around the room once more. Deciding that they didn’t need anything else, they opened the door, smiling at the other patrons and locking the door behind them. Pulling their phone out, they sent a quick text to Phichit.

M: I’m on my way down now :D P: Almost there, see u soon :p

Laughing, they slipped their phone into their back pocket and walked into the lift, thanking the teen already inside for holding it. Settling against the side, they felt the familiar lurch of the lift going down.

“Excuse me…” They jumped, turning to face the person opposite them.

“Yes?”

“I-I didn’t mean to startle you! Sorry…”

“It’s okay,” with a bright smile they checked the floor number, “I guess I was lost in thought. How can I help?”

“I was wondering, are you Kenjirou Minami? As in, the Japanese figure skater?”

Their eyes widened in surprise at being recognised before they nodded. It wasn’t often that fans approached them, startling them every time one did.

“Ah! I’m a huge fan! Your skating is amazing a-and oh god people always say that I’m too over the top at times, I hope I’m not being too invasive.”

“No no, it’s perfectly fine. You… You like my skating?”

“Yes! My friends and I sometimes try to recreate your routines but we can never replicate your energy.” They paused for a moment, nervously fidgeting with their phone. “Could I please possibly have a photo with you? I wouldn’t post it without your permission of course, it’s just, it’s always been a dream of mine to meet you.”

The hopefulness in their eyes reminded them of back when they were a huge fan of Yuuri, back before they’d made their acquaintance and realised that the person behind the skating was much more human than they could ever have dared to hope. Much more amazing as a person too.

“Sure, as long as I can take one too. That okay?”

“Yes, yes, perfectly okay with me!”

With a smile, they pulled out their phone again, opening up the camera app. After a couple of photos, the door opened on the fan’s floor and they jumped out, promising to tag them before they were separated by the lift door. Their last glimpse of the fan was them being swept along by people they guessed were their friends, all jumping around in delight. Giggling, they stepped out into the lobby on the floor below, waving to Phichit who waved back enthusiastically.

“Yoohoo! The others are almost there, let’s go your majesty!”

“Your majesty?” The confusion must have been obvious, even to Phichit who was dragging them through the crowds that had gathered.

“One time someone was being a dick to Yuuri about what pronouns he used and he snapped, turning around and yelling ‘your majesty to you peasant’. I wish I’d got it on camera to be honest. Oh, he wishes you good luck by the way and sends his apologies for not being here with us.”

“Oh…”

As they let Phichit’s words sink in, they peered over his shoulder at his phone.

Seung-gil Lee huh?

“Texting your boyfriend are we?”

Phichit shrieked, throwing his phone into the air before scrambling to catch it. They laughed in amusement as he clutched his phone to his chest, denying everything.

“N-no, we’re not dating! We just swapped numbers at Worlds last season!”

“Uh huh… The blush gives you away Phichit.”

“Gives what away?”

They both screamed as someone spoke behind them, spinning to be greeted by a grinning Leo and Ji.

“Oh you know, just talking about Phichit’s crush on S-”

A hand cut them off, Phichit denying anything and everything. The amused chuckles from the duo told them that they didn’t believe Phichit. Everyone in their little group knew about Phichit’s crush on Seung-gil Lee, the one and only Korean skater (at least, the only one they’d talked to).

“Come on, I need a new skirt today! And we need to find something for Minami.” Leo whined, tugging on Ji’s arm.

Sometimes it was difficult to remember who was the older out of the two.

They let themselves be dragged along, eyes wandering around the mall as the others chattered. They’d never really let themselves even consider looking at 'female’ clothes before and now it was strangely satisfying to note the larger range available to them.

“We’ll start small, one shop to begin with and if we don’t all find something we’ll look at another. Is that okay with you Minami?”

“Yeah, it’s fine.”

Looking up, they were greeted with cheerful smiles all round, and an outstretched hand from Leo.

“Ready?”

Nodding, they took their first steps into the store, a cheery shop assistant bounding over to help.

“Good morning! Leo, Ji, great to see you again. And you two, this is your first time here? Name’s Mina, she/her pronouns please and you?” She looked at them expectantly, almost blinding them with her dazzling smile.

“Minami, they/them pronouns please.”

“Name’s Phichit, he/him pronouns please.”

“Great to meet you all,” and it sounds like she genuinely means it too, “Is there anything I can assist you with today?”

They look to Leo for support, who smiles and nods their head, Phichit shaking his and wandering off the the makeup section.

“A-ah… I’m looking for something feminine. Like a skirt or something.” They sigh in relief, the words easier to say than they originally thought.

“Sure. I have a couple you can try out. Just give me a moment to get them.”

She bustled away, humming a happy tune. Ji squeezed Leo’s hand and whispered in their ear. He smiled, before making his way towards the shoes, muttering about needing a new pair of heels.

“Excited?”

They jumped, barely acknowledging Leo’s question.

“I was when JJ brought me here to buy my first skirt. I don’t think I could have chosen a better person to come with at the time. Who knew JJ had such a good fashion sense?”

Giggling, Leo started flicking through the skirts on the railings, folding a couple over their arm.

“When you try on your’s, I’ll try on mine as well, make you feel better yeah?”

“Yeah, that would be nice.” Leo’s smile made all their worries fade away, even as they were handed a selection of skirts by the assistant and guided to the changing rooms.

Smiling nervously, they stepped inside and shut the curtains, hanging the skirts up. The selection looked like they had been chosen to match their Pusheen t-shirt, something that made them smile. Slipping their shoes off, they wiggled out of their jeans and pushed them to one side. Taking a deep breath, they flicked through the skirts, settling on a black skater skirt. Unhooking it from the hanger, they held it against themselves and looked in the mirror.

They looked beautiful.

With great care, they stepped into the skirt and pulled it up to rest on their hips. Staring at the mirror, they wiggle their hips, smiling in delight as the skirt swishes around their thighs.

Their thighs look beautiful in the skirt.

Leaning over their shoulder, they pat their butt again.

“Damn… I look good in a skirt. Hey Leo! Can I show you the skirt?”

“Sure.”

They hear the curtain of the room next door open and they peek out, waving to Leo.

“Ready?” They don’t think they can stop smiling at this point.

The skirt feels right in a way little else has felt before.

Pushing the curtain aside, they stepped out, watching their face carefully.

“Ji! Phichit! Come look at how pretty Minami looks!”

Preening at the praise, they spun on the spot, laughing as it spun out into a circle. The others came over, both holding various bags. One moment, they’re looking over them approvingly, the next they find themselves enveloped by several pairs of arms.

“You look beautiful Minami. Don’t let anyone tell you any different.”

—

@ken_Minami Thanks for the great day guys! I couldn’t ask for better friends

@no1minamifan Thank you @ken_Minami for the photos today! Best idol ever!

@ken_Minami @no1minamifan It was wonderful meeting you too!

[bamby0304]

Victoria Grimes VI: Chaos

Chapter Twelve: Sorghum

Masterlist

Warnings: Nope

Bamby

VPOV

The sound of a click had me shake myself awake. Opening my eyes, I groaned and hid my face in the pillow. "Daryl!"

He chuckled, leaning closer to press a kiss to my shoulder. "Come on, one more."

Sighing I looked over at him again, watching as he took another photo of me with the Polaroid camera in his hands. The photo came out and he grabbed it, shaking it until an image appeared.

"Mm." he looked from the picture to me and then back. "Perfect."

"Let me see?"

Doing as I asked he turned the picture around to show me the image.

It was a nice picture considering I was actually naked. But I was still covered, so you couldn't see anything. The sheet lay on my back, leaving half of my back and my shoulders and arms bare. My hair was a mess, but after the wake-up call he'd given me earlier, I expected as much. I had a lazy smile on my face, and a look in my eyes as I'd been staring at Daryl. I wondered if that's what I always looked like when looking at him.

"You know, I got that camera for Aly. Not for you." I noted.

He shrugged, lying back down. "She's got enough film to last her years. A few photos won't hurt."

We'd found the camera on a run, and since then had picked up film for it whenever we found some. Aly had gone crazy, taking photos of everyone. She had a shoe box full of photos.

But every now and then I borrowed it, like last night. I'd been on patrol with Glenn and Maggie so I thought it would be nice to have some photos of the three of us together. Whenever I came across someone else I'd stop and take a photo with them as well. After everything we'd been through, having the opportunity to freeze a memory like that seemed important to me.

I rolled over, resting my hand on Daryl's bare chest and my chin on my hand. "Can we just stay home today? After the workout you gave me earlier, I'm not really sure I can move or not." I grinned.

He scoffed, shaking his head. "You know we can't."

During the two months that had passed since the walls fell a lot had changed. Not just the fact that everyone had finally settled into Alexandria, or the fact Carl had lost his eye. No, there was a lot more.

First of all, I'd decided to take up the role as a leader, beside Maggie and dad. So far, we'd been focusing on getting back on our feet, and working on the expansion by the church. Speaking of which, the new walls were up, adding the new building, and the old walls were almost down.

Secondly, because of the amount of people we had and our dwindling resources dad, Daryl and myself had started to set off and leave the community in search of supplies. We'd only started a few weeks ago but we went ever day- and usually didn't get home until dark. Though we hadn't actually found much of anything yet.

Thirdly, Daryl and I had decided to try for a baby. Maggie's pregnancy was kind of inspiration I guess, just pushing us over the line. So for the past month and three weeks or so we'd been having sex as much as possible. I mean every morning, every night and any alone time we got in between. Even though nothing had happened yet, we were determined.

I'd actually found that since we'd started trying to get me pregnant, and Daryl had specifically told me that he wanted a child with me, I hadn't been able to keep my hands off him. Even during the day I just had to touch him whenever I could. Not just sexually, but even holding hands, or leaning on him. I just couldn't get enough of him. I'd also noticed he couldn't get enough of me, always reaching out to wrap an arm around me, keeping me close.

Let's be honest none of that really seems odd. We'd always been drawn to each other, and felt the need to stay close. But there was a difference between before and now. There was both an intensity and fluffy-ness to it now. It was both sweet and spicy I guess.

So when Maggie and I agreed that someone had to go out and look for supplies, and dad and Daryl volunteered, Daryl made it perfectly clear that I was to go with them. I hadn't argued or hesitated. I'd simply gone with them from the first day.

Maggie had been worried at first. With dad and myself away she wasn't sure if she'd be able to keep the place in check on her own. But after the first day she'd quickly figured out that she'd be fine, and if there ever was a problem, she had plenty of help. I'd also reassured her that if I was needed, then I'd stay. But until then, I left with the guys.

Daryl looked over at the digital clock on his night stand. "Gotta get up. Get ready." he noted, staying where he was.

"Can't we just stay in bed for five more minutes?" I pouted.

Shaking his head, he gave me a tap on the shoulder, telling me to move. "Got things to do. You know that."

Sighing I rolled back over on to my side of the bed, laying there on my back, facing the roof. "My legs don't want to move. You turned them to jelly."

"Tell you what," he sat up, looking down at me. "You stay here, I'll get everythin' ready."

My grin returned. "You'd do that for me?"

"Do anythin' for you." he told me matter-of-factly as he bent down to give me a sweet kiss that lasted a second of two longer than he'd probably planned. Before things got hot again, he pulled back and got off the bed. "Don' be too long. A'right?"

Nodding I turned to look up at the roof again, unable to watch him get dressed without wanting to strip him naked. "Half an hour tops. Promise."

After a moment he finished getting ready and moved to stand beside my side of the bed. "A'right. Half an hour." he repeated my words, bent down to give me another kiss, and then turned for the door. "I'll be countin'." he called before leaving.

A smile crept on to my lips as I rolled over on to his side of the bed, burying my face into his pillow, inhaling the smell of him.

RPOV

Music played on the radio as I slipped my belt on before reaching for my watch. My eyes landed on Judith as she played on the ground with some red plastic cups and a ball, smiling up at me.

"Do you have any toothpaste left?" Michonne asked, walking around the corner to stand in my door way, dressed in a robe with her hair in a towel.

I shook my head. "No, 'cause someone's been borrowing it every day for two weeks." I grinned at her.

"Carl!" she called.

He was in his room, bouncing a ball. "What? Denise says this is PT."

"I can't hear you." I lied, wanting him to come out to talk to us. "Come on out."

Sure enough, he walked out, coming to stand beside Michonne. "What? Denise says this is PT." I said with him. He grinned. "You heard me."

"Yeah." I gave a short nod.

Michonne chuckled lightly before turning to him. "It's time to change your bandage. And I need to borrow some toothpaste."

"Okay, but I'm out of toothpaste." he shrugged before throwing me his ball. "Bye, dad." he called, walking off.

"I'll see you later." I called back.

It had been a couple of months since the wall fell. Carl was doing good. We all were doing good.

The house had emptied quite a bit over time. Michonne had her own room and so did Aly. Judith slept in my room, and sometimes Carl's. While Daryl and Vickie still stayed together. The rest had moved next door or other places. But it didn't really matter. We still saw each other. We were still family.

Since the wall fell and the walkers got in and Carl lost his eye, he'd healed up pretty well. It wasn't a hundred percent yet, but it was getting there, and he was dealing with it pretty well. Though considering everything else he'd been through I wasn't really surprised.

"Vickie." Michonne looked down the hall before my daughter appeared, dressed and ready for the day.

Turning to Michonne, stopping just behind her, she gave a short nod. "Hey, what's up?"

Michonne looked over her shoulder at Vickie. "Could I borrow some toothpaste?"

Vickie shook her head. "All out, sorry. But we'll keep an eye out today." she smiled before turning to me. "You ready?"

Nodding I bent down and lifted Judith into my arms. "Come on, sweetheart." rocking her on my side I started for the door.

Michonne stepped to the side so I could leave the room. "You be good out there you two." she told Vickie and myself.

"Yeah, we'll see." I shrugged, moving past her.

"Spearmint and baking soda, that's my favourite." she noted as Vickie and I headed off.

I chuckled lightly. "Soon as I get it, you will."

DPOV

"Hey." I called to Denise as I walked up to her.

"Yes." she nodded.

I gestured to the list in my hand. "This thing at the bottom right here, you're talking about the drink, right?" I asked as she came to a stop in front of me.

"I am, but... Eh." she shrugged.

"It's not medical." I noted.

"No, I drew a line between the important stuff and that." she pointed to the note to show we what she was talking about. "I just figured, if you saw it."

"A'right." I nodded, about to head off.

She started talking, stopping me. "Anything remotely medical is a priority. And food. Maybe even food before medicine. And gas or batteries or books for the kids or clothes. It's just, if you see it, if it just happens to, you know, be right there."

I shrugged. "You like it, right?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't drink pop."

I looked at her confused. "What the hell's pop?"

A laugh had me turn around, seeing Vic walking towards us, Aly and the dog close behind. "It's soda, Daryl. Fizzy drink. Cool drink. Soft drink. There's a few different words for it." she shrugged, coming to stand with us. "What's up?"

My arm went around her waist automatically. "Just askin' the doc a question about the list she gave me."

Nodding, Vic looked over at the list, seeming to figure out what I'd been asking right away. "So if you don't like 'pop' what's it for?"

Denise didn't answer right away, her eyes landing on Aly for a moment before she turned to Vic and me again, speaking up. "Tara was talking about it in her sleep, I think. Um, so, either she likes it or she doesn't, but it she likes it, it'd be a really nice surprise." she answered. "I'm not good with that kind of stuff. And she and Heath are going on that two-week run. I just thought it'd be a nice going-away present. Just, us, don't go out of your way. And, us, if it gives you any trouble-"

I cut her off. "We won't."

She nodded. "Okay, good, 'cause it's not important. I should've said so instead of just drawing a line."

Vic smiled at her. "It's fine, Denise." placing a hand on Aly's head, she gestured to the little girl. "You still okay with watching her? I can see if Carol's-"

"No." Denise interrupted her. "No, it's fine. I like watching her and Houdini. Tara likes it too. We don't get to see her as much now that Tara moved in with me." she smiled down at Aly. "You ready to come hang out?"

Aly nodded enthusiastically. "Can I play with the stethoscope?"

"Sure." with that one word from Denise, Aly rushed off excitedly, heading for the infirmary. "I better." she gestured towards the little girl.

Vic laughed lightly. "She's got an overnight bag just in case."

"Okay, cool, well..." Denise gave a short wave, turning in the direction Aly had gone.

Once she was walking away, I tugged on Vic's waist. "Come on. Better get goin'."

VPOV

Dad was driving, with Daryl in the passenger side and me in the back. Daryl had his chair pulled back as much as possible so I could lean my back against the door and reach forward to rest my hand on his shoulder.

We got to the front gate, stopping as we waited for Eugene to open it. But before we could go he moved to Daryl's window and leaned in.

"I mapped out some of the agricultural supply places in the area." he noted, handing Daryl a map. "Even if they've been cleaned out, my bet is that the sorghum would be untouched. Now, that there is a criminally underrated grain that could change the game with our food situation from scary to hunky-dunky."

Dad and Daryl just looked at him and I could tell in an instant that they could not believe Eugene was for real. The guy was a character, I could tell you that. No matter how hard the world got, he was still one of the more entertaining and interesting people I knew.

Mistaking the looks from dad and Daryl as confusion, Eugene explained himself. "I'm taking standability, drought tolerance, grain-to-stover ratio that is the envy of all corns." he looked at Daryl. "Think about it."

"Thanks." was all Daryl could manage.

"All right. Okay." Eugene nodded, and with that he stepped back from the car.

Dad slowly drove off, still watching Eugene with shock. It was then that I cracked up laughing, unable to stop myself. The look on their faces was just too funny.

When my laughter died down and the guys recovered, dad spoke up. "Today's the day."

Daryl lifted his right arm and leaned it against the door, before bending his elbow so his hand could reach mine- which still rested on his shoulder. "Uh-huh."

"We're gonna find food, maybe some people." dad nodded. "Law of averages has got to catch up."

"I don't know." Daryl started. "We ain't seen nobody for weeks. Maybe we ain't gonna find nobody. Maybe that's a good thing." he noted, looking out the window, getting himself more comfortable.

Dad just looked at him before shaking his head, grabbing a cd.

Daryl noticed what he was doing, turning back to dad. "Don't." he warned. "Don't. Please don't."

But dad ignored him, putting the cd in and turning the radio up before old country music started to play loudly. "Draws them away from home." he yelled over the music, clicking his fingers.

I laughed, shaking my head, watching Daryl through the mirror as he gave my dad death glares. Dad, who knew he was annoying Daryl, looked up at the rear-view mirror, setting his eyes on me before grinning as he continued down the road.

MPOV

"Hey." I called to Enid.

I'd found her sitting on a bench, writing or drawing in a book, by herself. She'd hadn't been around lately- at least I hadn't seen her- so now that she was here, I was taking the chance to speak with her.

She looked up at me and closed her book as I came to stand by her.

"Where have you been?" I asked.

"What?"

"I never see you." I noted. "Everybody's been working for weeks to get this place back together, and you just disappear. Do you sit in your room all day?"

"No."

"Then where'd you go?"

"Nowhere."

"You helped Glenn get home. You helped me when I was up in that guard post."

"Yeah?" she shrugged.

"So, maybe there are better places for you to go than just nowhere." I gave her a look, letting her know I was there for her, before putting it in words. "I'm around. Come talk to me." was all I said before turning around and walking off.

VPOV

"Dad, wait!"

Dad pressed on the brakes hard before turning to me expectantly, waiting.

I gestured over to my right at a building near an open field. On the roof of the building was one simple word. Sorghum.

Daryl and dad looked over to the building, before looking at each other. Then, without another word being said, dad reversed back a little and turned into a road, heading towards the building.

Once we were there, the three of us got out, Daryl waiting for me to join him before the two of us set out after dad- who was already moving to the front door of the building to see if it was locked and safe or not.

Daryl came to a stop by the roller-shutter, causing me to pause as well as he called out to my dad. "Hey, hold up." he pulled out the crow bar from the bag he carried. "It's best to be safe. You cover it?" he gestured behind him as he moved to the shutter.

Dad nodded, gun in hand. "Yeah.

Moving to join dad, my own gun raised, we waited for Daryl. Daryl pulled the shutter up quickly and stepped out of the way so dad and I could move forward a little and look inside, ready for any human or walker to jump out at us.

I looked down the side of the truck that was stashed in the building, before lowering my gun. "Clear."

"Yeah, we're good." dad agreed turning to the truck. "One more time?"

Daryl stepped up to the truck. "It ain't locked." he noted, getting ready. With a single nod to dad and myself, he pulled the trucks back up and open.

Dad and I had our guns raised, ready for anything to jump out. But we weren't ready for what was actually inside the truck...

Supplies. Lots and lots of supplies. I'm talking tin food, cleaning products, hygiene products, bedding, clothes. Everything you could need.

Dad stepped back, lowering his gun as he took it all in. "Well, how about that?" putting his gun away he looked to Daryl- who was climbing into the back of the truck. "The law of averages."

Daryl jumped down and moved to me. "You called it."

I grinned. "Yep."

Reaching forward, dad pulled out some toothpaste. "Let's get this thing going, grab our gear, come back for the car later." he put the toothpaste back. "We'll take another way back. See what we can see."

Daryl stepped up to the truck. "Think it'll start?"

"Yeah, I do." dad nodded, feeling confident about the day ahead. Chuckling lightly, he shook his head. "Sorghum."

...

Dad drove the truck, while I sat in the middle, leaning against Daryl. Going down the road, we all kept an eye out for any place we could search for supplies. Even though the truck was full, it would still be good to find some more.

We came to a gas station. Dad pulled up and parked the truck before getting out. Daryl got out as well, turning to me once his feet were on the floor, offering me a hand to get out. With a smile on my face, I took his hand.

Walking around the truck and towards the building, we started to look around, splitting up to search the place. Though we didn't stray too far or go into the building itself- we played it safe.

I lifted some material off a pile of junk and felt a smile creep on to my face. Sitting there, among the junk, was a metal baseball bat in perfect condition. Reaching down and picking it up, and gave a swing, my smile growing a little.

"What you got?" dad asked, stepping up to me.

I showed him the bat. "Remember? I used to be on my schools all girl team. Only for a while, but still." I shrugged. "Maybe I could teach Aly."

From behind us, Daryl tapped his hand on something. "Yo, give me a hand with this."

Turning I saw that he was standing by a flipped over vending machine. I had a feeling Denise' request was on his mind, so I tapped dad on the arm, telling him to follow before the two of us moved over to Daryl, ready to help.

Daryl nodded. "Let's flip it over." he said as he moved to a corner on one of the long sides.

Dad moved to the other corner and I stood in between them, hands in place, ready to push with all my mite.

The three of us tried, straining and pushing. But it was no use. There was no way we were going to be able to get this thing to roll. Not with only the three of us pushing. So we had no choice but to let it go.

Dad shook his head. "I don't think we got it."

Daryl moved over to the other side. I watched him as he looked around the machine, trying to figure out how we could roll it over. He wasn't going to just give up, not like that.

Then, he turned to the truck. "I got an idea."

DPOV

Vic and I stood behind the vending machine- was now had a chain around it, which was connected to the truck. Rick was in the truck, engine on, moving forward slowly, turning the machine over.

Once it was over enough, I gave a whistle, letting Rick know to stop.

Vic moved forward, crouching in front of the machine, looking in. "Can't really see much in there."

Rick walked over, both him and myself moving closer to Vic and the machine to look inside as well.

"It's soda and candy. Why the trouble?" Rick asked.

"It wasn't any trouble." I told him.

Before anyone could say anything else, someone barged into Rick, pushing him against the vending machine with a loud thud. The person then moved quickly, getting out of the way, stepping back from the three of us with his hands in the air.

Just as quickly, Vic, Rick and myself moved, getting our guns out, aiming them at the stranger.

The stranger was dressed in a long leather coat, jeans, a shirt, with a beanie on his head, his hair falling over his chest and a bandana covering the bottom half of his face.

He gave a short nod, hands still raised. "Hi."

Bamby

[backseat-imagines]

Can you do an imagine about Chocobros (finally!) asking they crush (who was a dear friend prior to that) out, but crush confessing to them about how their past relationship has a messy ending (because their partner cheated on them) and they're now afraid to date anyone (they also like Chocobro but afraid to be cheated on again)?

This was a fun one to do~ Scenario is under a read more for length

Noctis:

The smell of beef cooking filled your nostrils as even more patties were put onto the grills behind you as you were taking more customer orders. By now you thought you would have been more used to the smell and could have tuned it out better. But no.

 That’s where it was like your last job in a regard, just it having a smell you could never shake. Just that time it was heavy smells of fresh plastics and clean metal instead of food.

 For the most part you were just thankful this was a more boring job. Less customer arguments, you didn’t have to worry about things getting stolen as often.

 Not that it wasn’t without a downside; unfortunately your ex came by all of the time. They were dropping by nearly every work day of yours ever since they found you had switched jobs to over here. You weren’t entirely happy about this, especially since it was the same thing back at the camera store- except back then, along side the pathetic begging to get you back, you also had to endure developing films which would always be their ‘conquests’ (as they called them) which only served to be another slap in your face.

 They couldn’t do that here. But they could still pester you. And you were dreading that… 3:33, close to his usual time of arrival… just a couple more minutes and…

 A little bell jingled as the door opened. You had already braced yourself for you know who. But by surprise he didn’t come- instead you were greeted by a familiar face; To insomnia he was Prince Noctis, but to you he was just Noct, Friend, a ~cute~ Dork. You used to work with him back at the camera store.

 “Hey Noct!”

 “Hey.”

 “Dining in I assume?”

 “Yeah, just one today.”

 “Blondie’s not here, eh?” You come out from behind the counter and grab a menu. You gesture for him to follow you. Noctis was always the kind who prefered booths over chairs, so you lead him to one towards the back and by the window.

 “Someone will be right with you.” He nods and you move off. But it’s not too long before you come back, and with a drink and a little something of your own.

 “On a quick break, hope you don’t mind me joining.”

 “Not at all. What do I owe this pleasure to?”

 “Nothing! Just we haven’t talked in a short bit, I figured it might be nice to just sit down for a quick minute together.”

 Noctis agree and right away the two of you started to catch up. Or rather he was and you were just happily listening, resting your chin in the palm of one of your hands at the rest of your arm and elbow supported it- it’s like his voice was enchanting you and all you could do was go in a daze.

 You liked to imagine what all went on in Noct’s life. He seemed average to you, but you wondered what else was going on behind closed doors and what all else was behind them, after all he was born in the lap of luxury so curiousity was killing that cat. More often than you’d like to admit, when you were imagining, you liked to insert yourself into the scenario.

 Maybe that was something you shouldn’t do; having such fantasies of a friend. But then again they were just that- fantasies. Not that you would ever come to ask to be with him and make it a reality. After your last partner that was just out of the question. You didn’t need to be saddled with the worry of yet another romance, especially with someone who was a Prince of all things and could easily have anyone he wanted and at any given moment if he so chose.

 But fate had a funny way of working and it sure liked to laugh at you… As soon as your time was close to coming up and you had went to leave the table, Noct barked out a ‘hey wait’ as he reached for your wrist, halting you.

 “Hey, uhh, I was wondering if maybe sometime you’d like to go out to dinner with me?”

  You have got to be kidding me. “You mean… like a date sort of way or?”

 “Yeah!”

 You hated to have been that person, the one who would dare to turn down the prince for a date- who in their right mind would? But… “I’ll have to pass on that Noct. It’s too soon, I’m not quite ready.”

 Hopefully he would understand.

 Ignis:

The first couple of years after the darkness had came, you had lived in Lestallum where it would be safe. You helped work in the powerplant just to help make sure that the city could keep on a running.

 In that time you had met and gotten to know one of the women who also happened to maintain the plant as well; sweet, funny, rowdy boisterous, smart, charismatic, always seemed to know what to say- she was a handful for most people, but that was all apart of her charm and she drew you in.

 It’s what apparently drew others in too, and in that same span of time you watched as your own relationship blew to hell in the very instant you went home early and caught everything that was going on behind your back.

 After that you needed a change in scenery. You confided in your old friend Ignis the last time he had been around and told him your need to leave and your want to join in the fight. He’d recommend training with Cor if it just weren’t for the fact that he already had his hands full with Ignis, Iris and Aranea (Aranea was in to learn a few new tricks, Ignis was getting back on his feet fully, and Iris was getting the full training that even her family had failed to provide- she couldn’t be a daemon slayer without it). But he did manage to get you into contact with a hunter named Dave who ended up paving the way.

 Dave and some of his crew taught you to better fight and defend yourself. Not the best, still best in a group, but you at least had a chance now. It was good enough and helped you last until Cor could take you under his wing. And once you were a decent enough slayer, Cor put you into Ignis’s hands where you could learn how to better survivor in fewer numbers, and it would help Ignis along the rest of the way.

 It was good to be back with a friend. The next seven years spent fighting alongside him gave you more of a sense of normalcy than what living in Lestallum for those two years ever did.

 No real possessions to call your own, staying up for days at a time before crashing at any uncomfortable bed at some outpost, almost always nonstop sore, but as long as you had Ignis you wouldn’t change that for the world.

 Upon return to another outpost, you had sat at the table all while Ignis cooked. Amazing, you thought as the scent of his cooking food hit your nose. It was a miracle; Ignis had doubted himself so much and thought he would never be able to go back to the life he knew before, including cooking. Altissia knocked the winds out of him when it rendered him blind, but now he was better than before.

 “Looks delicious.” You commented on the plates he was setting out before you.

 “I would certainly hope so. But why not take a bite and tell me how it tastes.”

 Eagerly you complied, and his food tasted like a paradise. “You know Ignis, I don’t think I’ve ever had food as good as yours.”

 “You flatter me.”

 “Maybe I do, but it’s also the truth. Seriously, I’ve ate a lot of food from really good chefs- but where they are five-stars you’re like a nine.”

 “Not a ten?”

 “Well, every time I thought you were, you always found a way to improve. If we want to go by all the times I thought that and climbed over then by now you’re most of the way there to reaching triple digits!”

 “That’s good to hear.” There was a brief silence before Ignis continued, “I’ve been thinking lately…”

 “Yeah?”

 “When the light returns to Eos, I was thinking about maybe opening up my own place.”

 “Like a restaurant?”

 “Perhaps. Maybe that, or a place like Weskham’s. Perhaps something a little different.”

 “That sounds like a good idea! You should go for it!”

 He hum in agreement, “Just I would like it if… maybe you were there with me.”

 “Oh? I would be more than happy to be under your employ.”

 “Yes, but I was hoping for a little more.”

 “Oh!” Oh… though the wound in your heart was old, just a few more years and it would have been a decade since the incident, it was still fresh.

 “It’s alright if it’s something you wouldn’t be comfortable with. It won’t hurt my feelings any.”

 “No, it’s fine but-” Not that there was anything wrong with the idea of him. Ignis was sweet, and within these last handful of years you had thought about him in other regards. Hell, you even had the thoughts of how good of a husband he would make even. But- Old habits, die hard right? Same goes with feelings.

“I know I can’t promise that things won’t end up like that, I would like to think I’ve got a better head on my shoulders than to do such things. But ultimately the only one that can place that trust on anyone is you, and I won’t push it.”

 “Yeah… Thank you though Ignis. That all is still a bit reassuring. Besides, we don’t know when we’ll have the sun back. So who knows! Maybe by the time that comes I’ll be a little more ready to try.”

 Gladio:

  You and Gladio had frequently gone out together. Not in the date way, but the two of you frequently went to a lot of places just as friends. Or at least as frequently as work could permit either of you.

 Everything was always spontaneous and always decided at the last second. It was fun this way.

 Of course not everything led off into fun adventures. Sure sometimes there was that, sometimes getting lost in a different part of the city neither of you had been too or stepping right outside of everything and having to chase off wild animals that approached. But there were plenty of calm moments where it was just you both going out for rides or sitting out someplace talking nonsense.

 Most of the time it was the boring latter, but boring in a good way.

 You and him had been out again, this time at some old diner to wind down. And what better way to take away the dull and bad of the day by grabbing a bite with a friend and enjoying the best milkshake Lucis had to offer?

 Everything had been going good- great in fact- until Gladio had left to go to the bathroom.

 As soon as he had gotten out of sight, another had taken his seat.

 “So what’s a good looking face like yours doing in a place like this.”

 You already knew where this was going, and you chose to ignore.

 “You must not have heard me. I said-” They went to repeat themselves and all you wanted to do was roll your eyes.

 “Eating, what else?” You answer in a tone more irritated then you had intended. Not that you were going to sound overly polite in the first place, but your annoyance slipped out a little more than you had meant.

 “Cool, cool. You know I really like it when people can pack the food down. It’s kind of attractive…”

 Oh boy, here we go. If you weren’t rolling your eyes before then you certainly were now.

 Again you chose to ignore this comment and all the ones that kept on rolling off of this stranger’s tongue until finally the creep put their arm around you. Immediately you tore that right back off.

 “Come on, there’s no need to be like that.”

  So help me, Astrals…

 “Say, you wouldn’t happen to be alone, would you?”

 “No, I’m not.”

 “You look it. Say, why don’t you and I-”

 “Look, I said I wasn’t alone. Go away.”

 “And? Come on… I don’t see anyone here with you.”

  Gods Gladio, where the hell are you?

 “I can’t promise that it will stay like that for too much longer.”

 “Maybe not, but right now it’s just you- say, you up for a quickie?

  Oh my loooooord, you shrieked on the inside, please come back already!

 It’s like something had heard your prayers because within moments Gladio was strolling right on up.

 “Sorry about the wait there babe. But you’ll forgive me right?” Gladio says, taking a seat on the other stool beside of you instead of trying to take back his original one from the stranger.

 It was already obvious Gladio had a decent idea as to what was going on. But if it wasn’t by his ‘babe’ comment then it certainly would have been as soon as he started to put his arm around you- warm lips quickly pressing to your cheek briefly. “Hey, who’s this guy? A friend or something?”

 “Nah. But I was just informing my new pal that I have a boyfriend.”

 If you had been with any other friend, you’d be afraid that a person like this stranger would get angry and pick a fight. But this was Gladio you were hanging out with and the stranger was already eying him up and down, and anyone would be a fool to take one look at him and think they could compete with him.

 After a  few minutes of them awkwardly talking and a few public displays of affection, the stranger left you alone. And you and Gladio could finish your meal in peace before heading out.

 The two of you had been walking down the streets when Glaidio had broke the silence, “You know, I think I could get used to that.”

 “Used to what?” You ask him, completely unsure of what he was even talking about.

 “Thing’s like that always keep happening and I always get to pretend I’m your boyfriend, but I was thinking; what if we stopped pretending and actually made it a thing?”

 Oh no…

 Flashbacks to your last partner flooded your mind. In a lot of ways he was like Gladio; the big tough type with the heart of gold, real blunt sense of humor, hearty, and pretty good with people- too good. So good in fact that he had bought somebody else to -your- bed, and gods did it spark one hell of a fight. In every way you felt betrayed.

 And worst of all you have a definite type going on, which is where this was terrible.

 You stopped in your tracks. “No, no, no, no, absolutely no!”

 He scowled, “Look if you didn’t want to a simple no would have sufficed. You don’t have to go off like I’m the least desirable thing.”

 “Hey now, I didn’t mean it like that…”

 Gladio was a handsome guy for sure. A talented one for sure. Both of those together would have had you sweating buckets if you were in the market for another.

 “It’s just that I’m really not ready.”

 And it was partly due to his personality that drew you in. If things had went differently you might have considered him-

 “I’m not sure I buy that given your first reaction.”

 You wanted to to consider him, more than you even wanted to admit to yourself.

 But for now you wanted to keep things strictly friendly between you both. It -had- to be like that.

 “Gladdy, you have to understand; it’s not that you’re revolting, but I don’t think I could find it in my heart to open up myself back up to anyone right now.” -I can’t trust you.- After the last one, how could you trust him?

 “Some guy ran around and broke your heart before huh?”

 “Oh, he ran around alright.” Gladio understood what you had meant by that and he gazed at you with a sympathetic gaze. “I just… really can’t right now. I can’t rely on it not happening again, even if it is you.”

 Gladio nodded, “I can understand that.”

 He might not have been so peeved with you anymore, but he was to the bastard who broke your trust.

 Prompto:

 Prompto was there for you when you had broke up with the last guy. He never knew the reason as to why things went south between you to, and so suddenly too. One day everything seemed fine, and the next he heard you had packed the guy’s bags and that the two of you had one of the most nasty fights of the century.

 He never asked why or what happened. But he did help pick you up from all that.

 If anything the breakup was like a godsend to your’s and Prompto’s bond.

 The first handful of days you had leaned heavily on him for comfort, but that after that it settled back into regularly hanging out- you had more time than ever on your hands now that the other guy was out of the picture.

 Over the next few months you and him spent most of the days together. So much time together and yet you both never ran out of anything to talk to in a day, and it was nice not having to fear sounding “stupid” in front of him too (something that your ex would criticize you for), but then again he wasn’t afraid of being that way around you either.

 Often times he and you would have late night shopping runs before sleeping over at each others places, or rather try to but some nights you both stayed up just playing King’s Knight or other games.  You finally had a chance to go out to places you were dying to see and you didn’t even have to go alone.

 The two of you might as well been fused together.

 Anymore the two of you were already subject to speculation; people already pondering and asking if the two of you finally became an item, something you both laughed off but it got Prompto to thinking more and more about it.

   And yeah… He thought he kind of wanted that…

   He’d just have to figure out when and how he was even going to ask you to go out with him.

   Should he just casually ask? Like when you both are playing around? Ask you to dinner? Does he confess anything first?

 Is this too soon? Should he wait?

 He’d figure it out…

 One clear night you and Prompto were sitting out and enjoying the scenery from the balcony of your apartment; him leaning on the balcony rails and overlooking the town while you sat down and just enjoyed the cool breeze.

 Or rather you tried to. You wanted to. You wanted to enjoy the night with Prompto. But downer nights happen and there was something greatly tugging at your mind.

 Self doubt. Self loathing. Past failures kept coming into mind and being bitter reminders, one of which was your ex. What happened, what went wrong? He wasn’t the first ex on your list, the first cheater yes but- what about you was so bad it made him flee into another person’s arm like that?

 Why couldn’t you just not fuck up everything?

 “Hey, Y/N? Is something wrong?” snapped from your thoughts, and could feel the feeling of being watched. You look over at him and see that he’s looking at you with concern. “You just seem awfully quiet today.”

 “I’m fine.” He flashes you a scrupulous look- Prompto doesn’t believe that statement and you know he doesn’t. “I’m just thinking is all.”

 “Oh? What about?” -What’s got you down?-

 “Nothing much, just thinking.”

 “I wouldn’t say it’s nothing much, not when you look like someone kicked a puppy in front of you.”

 “It’s just something silly and dum-”

 “Naw, if it was dumb then it wouldn’t be so important to you, now would it?”

 You wanted to argue the point. It was important in the way that that it was affecting you- but yet all the self depreciation going through your head would likely seem so trivial to anyone else. And now it had you feeling even more terrible for this.

 Now you’re just causing worry for him.

  Gods I’m such an idiot. I’m a terrible friend.

 “Prompto?”

 “Yeah?”

 “Why are you here?”

 “What… do you mean?”

 “I mean, why do you hang out with me?”

 Ah- he’s heard that before. Out of his own mouth actually.

 “Feeling like a loser or something?” You nodded at him. “Been there, done that, still doing that.”

 “The hell are you talking about? You’re not one, you’ve always been pretty cool, and great. And that’s where I don’t understand why you’re here?

 “I don’t understand why anyone would be around me, or actually even want me…”

 Prompto took a hard swallow. He knew it was a risky thing to say but… not only was it a chance to get it off of his chest, but maybe hearing them could help you in some way? “I’d want you!”

 “No you wouldn’t.”

 “Um, yeah? I totally would, and do! C’mon you’re smart, you’re sweet, you’re interesting, lovely in every way, and cute to boot! Anyone would be crazy not to w-”

 “So said my ex, but well… He found someone else to say it to on the side.”

 So that’s why…

 You sighed. “I’m sorry Prompto. You didn’t come here for this. Why don’t we go in and maybe try out that new racing game I got?”

 Prompto nods, knowing better than to persist on that any longer. Maybe some months down the line he’ll approach you again, this time asking for a date for real. But for now he knew it would be a sore subject.

 “Yeah. Let’s go have some fun!”

*******

 A handful of days had passed, and by now the talk that you and him had a few days prior had completely left his mind.

 But it hadn’t quite gone from yours.

 The two of you were out together again, this time going where he wanted just for photography reasons and it lead you to one of the city’s bigger parks.

 You were left sitting on the bench nearby as Prompto’s eyes was looking right through the camera, waiting for the perfect shot of anything and everything- the butterflies, the people walking right on by, the swans in the lake- just everything.

 He heard your voice calling from behind.

 “Hey Prompto?”

 “Yeah?” He said, not diverting his gaze off the camera’s view, following up was a couple of clicks.

 “About what you said, the other night… Did you really mean all of that?”

[facarous]

THE ADVENTURES OF NYAN NYAN KAMEN|PART 1

by Facarous & Sophcaro

Hi! Facarous here. This little baby is a collaboration project between Sophcaro and I. We are posting in Spanish and English, and it will be a 3-part fanfic. Please enjoy it!

It was a beautiful day: the sun was shining, the wind rocked the treetops, the birds chirped and she had won a coupon with 50% discount for her next visit to the Doki Doki bar. It was a quiet and peaceful Sunday with nothing to do at the police station…

It was.

Who the hell was in charge of the weather section in the newspaper?

Sunny all day long or at least that's what they promised. She didn’t remember reading anything about a sudden 'apocalyptic storm' on the forecast today. It had to be a joke designed by a very sick mind.

So there she was: in a dumpster, completely soaked from head to toe, thunder echoing in the background, and lightning flashing as cameras trying to immortalize her moment of shame.

Could this get any worse?

“Senpai, are you all right?”

Oh, of course it could be worse!

“Of course, officer Matsui. I'm just enjoying the view from here. It's so…” she took a deep breath, “refreshing…”

“I only smell garbage…”

“Shut up and help me out!” Wan Wan Yuko stamped her feet, exasperated. She surely didn’t want to stay stuck there. Soon, a pair of restless ears with dark fur appeared, followed by two sparkling brown eyes. Her partner smiled cheerfully.

“Hai, hai…” A pair of hands began to pull her out forcibly. After several failed attempts - and covering her with even more garbage from various and very suspect origins - she managed to stand up at her full height. Which was not much considering she was only 4 feet 11 inches tall.

“Oh, senpai… you have a banana peel on the top of your head…”

“Stop it, stop it!!” Yuko slapped her hands away to try and stop her partner who was clumsily attempting to clean her up. “Puppy, stop it!”

Yuko had a headache. Her brown fur was a mess, and she smelled so bad she was pretty sure she would need at least two showers to get completely rid of the smell.

“I’m not a puppy anymore,” Her partner frowned, “I’ve not been wagging my tail in days.”

Yuko looked at her in skepticism. Despite her vehement protests, the young officer was wagging her tail in excitement.

“Sure, sure,” Yuko waved her hand at her to calm her down, “What about that cat. I suppose you did not catch it?”

“She is very fast! Bad cat! Daring to steal from the cute shop owner…” the puppy-not puppy pouted in displeasure.

Yuko sighed. That was the third store in a week that was stolen by a mysterious - and sexy - looking-cat thief.

One hour and two showers later...

 No money stolen. She had only emptied the cat food section. Well, apart from a certain brand, the whole cat food had been stolen. Just like with every shop in the neighborhood.

“That’s suspicious…” Yuko massaged her forehead as she waved her tail lazily, “Why did she leave that brand behind?”

“It’s the cheapest and less popular brand,” Yuko turned around to meet with the owner of the shop, immediately noticing her elegance and beautiful features. Thin ears, black curly fur nicely brushed, serene eyes and short tail. A real ojou-sama, Yuko thought.

Her partner was following the owner of the shop's every move, her eyes glued on her with a sparkling intensity. Yuko could almost see small hearts emerging from her chest, and flying around in the sky as butterflies.

She sighed for the umpteenth time that afternoon.

“Don’t worry, miss!" Her partner suddenly exclaimed. "We’ll catch that thief! She’ll never set a foot in your shop again.”

Yuko raised an eyebrow and growled at her enthusiastic words. The puppy had a silly expression on her face, and was waving her tail cheerfully. Why couldn't she have a normal partner?

She cleared her throat, and addressed the owner of the shop once again. "You're saying you didn’t notice anything unusual in your store, until the thief ran out with all the food?”

“I don’t understand how she managed to enter," The princess replied. "Believe me officer; if I had seen her before, she would never have set foot in this place. Would you let someone wearing a mask and with a huge bag in her hand enter your shop?”

“Definitely not,” Yuko wrote down in her notebook, while sniffing the air here and now to try and capture the scent of the thief better. “Well, miss… uh… uh…”

“Matsui. Matsui Rena.”

 “I’m Matsui too! Matsui Jurina!” Jurina, who had been in her own dreamy little world until now - and staring almost obsessively at the shop owner - suddenly exclaimed while agitating her hands in the air.

The victim of the theft and owner of the shop, Matsui Rena, raised an eyebrow at the young officer's childish enthusiasm. Now, she was truly starting to doubt those two officers' ability to solve the mystery of this theft.

As of Yuko, she took a deep breath to try and calm her nerves at her partner's impossible behavior.

Kojima Haruna was not very happy right now. She adjusted as best as she could the huge bag on her back, and began looking for her keys. She was completely wet… and her damn keys were nowhere to be found.

She felt the pain in her arms once she finally dropped the bag inside the hall. A small sigh escaped her lips in relief before her attention got caught by a strange, strong smell.

“Guys?” She called, slightly apprehensive about what she was going to see. She took a few hesitant steps towards the living room, her eyes widening in shock at the terrible sight in front of her.

Chaos… that was the correct word to describe what she was seeing. It was as if a hurricane had suddenly invaded her apartment and destroyed everything on its passage.

"What did you do!" Haruna protested.

Soon, several meows could be heard, and a few pair of ears appeared behind furniture and at every corner of the room. "Mou... I told you I wouldn't be long... I went to look for some food!"

Meows increased and soon a mountain of fur, claws and tails approached her.

CATS.

Dozens of cats approached the newcomer. With their large, bright and hypnotics expectant eyes never leaving her.

"I brought food... lots of food." Haruna said with a proud smile. "This time, it was a big success!"

Walking into the kitchen she cleverly jumped over clothes spread onto the floor and avoided puddles of water, all along while trying not to step onto any of the little fur balls that were following her closely and wagging their tails.

She took multiple bowls that she brought back to the living room, doing her best not to trip on any cat in the process.

Kojima Haruna also known as ‘Nyan Nyan Kamen’ for the police and media - but more known as ‘mom’ for all those cats she has rescued and were homeless until two months ago - slumped into a chair. Well, one of the chairs that was not already occupied by one of her adopted cats.

It had not been an easy task to enter that store. Not since pictures of her wearing her legendary mask were posted everywhere in the city. The police was clearly adamant to catch her, and doing everything in their power to reach their objective.

She had to sneak discreetly into an alley, climb on garbage cans and jump into one of the windows that she knew belonged to the store. Or at least, that was what her logic was telling her. She was very happy when she realized that she was not mistaken. She was successful in finding the small storehouse.

There she found enough of everything. She opened her bag and grabbed all the cat food she could, only leaving behind the cheap brand her children didn’t like. When the bag was about to burst, she decided it was time to go. Lightning could be heard from afar, and it was obvious a storm was coming.

And the storm did come sooner than expected.

She hated rain. Her cat part bristled and hissed. She didn't want to get wet, of this she was certain. She couldn't stay here much longer. It was a matter of time until the staff or the owner of the shop would find her with her large bag full of cat food she had stolen.

She was trapped.

But she could not give up. After all, she was Nyan Nyan Kamen: the very sexy and elusive thief who had emptied two stores in solely one day. She had a reputation to maintain, and staying here waiting for people to catch her was not an option.

So, she did the first thing her brain could come up with…

RUN!

She opened the door of the storehouse, and ran through the store without looking back once. Police was shouting and ordering her to stop, but she successfully managed to make her way out and slip through their fingers.

Once outside, she ran like hell with the bag secured on her back.

The last thing she saw before jumping over a fence and finally losing her pursuers was a cute and small police officer falling into a dumpster.

She smiled.

It had been a piece of cake.

Rena counted once again the money in the cash register. She was about to close the shop, but the whole thing about the theft had left her nervous enough to keep an eye on the door every five seconds. In addition to that, she had this annoying feeling that every one of her movements was being watched.

Feeling a bit uncomfortable she massaged her neck, before clearing her throat and finally tearing her eyes away from the money when she was done counting. A pair of lively and big brown eyes stared back at her. Silence enveloped her for a little while, not sure what she was supposed to do. She sent a desperate glance at her employee who was cleaning the window glasses, but she didn’t get the expected help.

"Officer, is there something I can help you with?" Jurina's tail stirred warmly when she was called. She shook her head vigorously.

"No, I'm just doing my job. I’m looking after the shop in case the thief tries to come back." Rena gave her a somewhat cautious look.

"Officer... don’t you think..."

"Jurina," the officer stopped her abruptly. "You can call me by my name... and so I could call you Rena-chan."

"Eh?"

"By the way Rena-chan, when you close the shop, I have orders to escort you home." A huge bright smile was the perfect finale for such a claim.

"EH?"

Yuko was looking with displeasure at the infamous cat-food bag resting on her desk. It didn’t seem to have anything special; it was blue and had a photograph of a grey cat with blue eyes, long whiskers and a focused look on it. Yuko raised an eyebrow... the latest victim of the thief who was named by the press as Nyan Nyan Kamen, had mentioned that this was the less popular brand of cat food. It had to be very bad to sell so less despite its low cost.

How badly could it taste?

She smiled.

There was only one way to know.

"Takamina..." she called the catlike officer who was sitting at the desk next to her.

"Hmm?" It was a disinterested response, but Yuko could see the ears moving in curiosity.

"Have you ever heard about this brand of cereals?"

"Cereals?"

"Humm, it’s a new brand. Yesterday, they gave us a bag at the store where we went to investigate."

"Ah, you're in charge of the case of this Nyan Nyan, right?" The honey-colored eyes of her partner looked back at her.

"Hmm... yes... Would you like to taste it? There’s a picture of a cat on the bag."

"Doesn't sound bad. Today, I didn’t have time for breakfast and I was thinking of going out to buy something." The catlike ears’ twitched happy. Takahashi Minami better known as Takamina by her friends, got up from her desk and grabbed the bag under the expectant look of Yuko. "It really won’t cause any problem if I take some?"

"No, no, go ahead."

Smiling, Minami opened the bag and slipped her hand inside, only to grab a handful of the croquettes and unceremoniously throw them at her partner’s face.

"Hey!" Yuko got up quickly from her seat, wiping off her uniform.

"Do you think I'm stupid? This is cat food!”

"I just wanted to know how bad the taste is..."

"Am I a guinea pig?"

"No, you're half cat...” Yuko started amusingly, before clearing her throat nervously under Minami’s angry gaze. “Okay, bad joke...”

Haruna walked around the neighborhood with attentive ears and her eyes checking every centimeter of the place.

"Brandy!" she shouted for the umpteenth time. She kept quiet for a moment, attentive to any reply. "Brandy!"

Think, think... if you were a naughty kitten, where would you go?

She sighed. She had repeated over and over to her cats that they were not supposed to go too far away from the apartment. They were still small, and could get lost very easily. Her missing kitten had missed lunch, and she was beginning to fear the worst. It wouldn’t be the first time a cat ended up under the wheels of a car.

She felt a lump in her throat. She had to stay positive.

"Brandy!"

A very soft mewing stopped her immediately.

"Brandy? Brandy!" she shouted in hope, hearing the same mewing a few meters forward. Haruna smiled in relief... but that smile faded when she noticed where her little friend was. Indeed, the small Brandy was trapped inside a sewer. How on earth did it get there? Haruna had no idea how long the cat had been trapped inside but it was wet and looked very scared, ears pulled back and eyes anxious and wide open.

"Brandy? It’s me... I'm going to get you out of there."

Haruna, not caring in the least if she was in the middle of the street, lifted the grid and laid down on the pavement to try and catch the little animal inside. Everything would be much easier if her arms were longer and Brandy wasn’t moving backwards, completely scared.

"Brandy, It’s me. Come closer, let’s go home."

"S-Sorry...” a tentative voice interrupted her desperate attempts to convince Brandy that it was much safer to come back with her than to stay in the sewer.

"Can’t you see I'm busy?" she replied without looking away from the small and wet hairball. "Brandy! It’s me! You need to get out of there."

"Miss... I must insist..."

Haruna ignored again the unwelcomed interruption, instead focusing on trying to get her hand closer to the kitten. She pushed her arm further inside, ignoring the pain of her skin scratching against the pavement. She was just a few centimeters away from the scared kitten.

"Miss, this is very dangerous..."

"I’m really busy here," she said in annoyance, finally turning around to look at the person who was constantly interrupting her. Behind her, was standing a blushing police officer. Haruna frowned at the sight of the visibly hesitant and uncomfortable officer. That’s when she realized her embarrassing position - her behind was raised in the air with her tail wagging from side to side - and her cheeks colored immediately. Hurriedly, she stood up from the floor and adjusted her skirt as best as he could. "I’m sorry, officer…"

"You can't stay in middle of the street like that... it's dangerous."

"I’m really sorry, but Brandy is trapped in there," she explained, pointing at the sewer. "My cat is very scared, and doesn't seem to recognize me. I've been looking for him all day long."

"I understand, but you could have called the fire department for help."

The cat-girl kept silent at the suggestion. She had not thought of that.

"I’m officer Oshima. Let me take care of the situation."

Haruna was about to scream. She knew that police officer: she was the one who had chased her the other day. Oh yes, she remembered her perfectly.

"Of course…" she replied, even though her guts were telling her to run away as fast as she could. The officer didn't seem to recognize her, but she was sure it was just a matter of time.

Three hours, two firetrucks and an ambulance later, the small Brandy was purring inside Haruna's lap. The police officer had a slight nervous tic in one eye as she thanked and dismissed the poor injured firefighters who had received more than a few scratches thanks to the wild hairball.

Yuko looked up to the sky and thanked the gods who had so generously given her such a beautiful view of the girl’s ass. To be honest, she had to use all her self-control to face the situation with professionalism.

Her day had not started well. Takamina had technically kicked her out of the police station, and her interview with the owner of the brand of cat food Cat Chow Chow had simply been unproductive. The whole thing did nothing but reaffirm her suspicions of the possibility that the brand was probably launching a campaign of sabotage against its competitors.

It was obvious that, if there were no other brands in the stores, customers would be forced to buy their food of dubious origin.

However, her day improved greatly with that glorious vision. That cat girl had a very nice ass, and what about the rest? She was just stunning.

"Yuko... concentrate, you're on duty," she scolded herself as she approached her.

"Thank you very much…" the cat girl smiled and Yuko believed that was the most beautiful smile on earth.

"Yuko, Yuko Oshima..."

"Ah... yes, sure... Oshima-san, thank you very much but I have to go."

"If you want, I can walk you home. It’s my duty to protect citizens from any danger..."

"Uh... well... but my apartment... is really close..." Haruna was starting to feel really nervous, every second spent with that officer putting her in danger of having her identity revealed. The police officer was very insistent, and she couldn’t tell if it was because she had already been recognized.

"At least, tell me your name," Yuko inched closer to her and looked straight into her eyes. For a moment, Haruna was mesmerized by those brown, clean and crystalline orbs. She had to admit that since the first time she saw her, she found her very cute.

Officer Oshima suddenly stepped back, and her eyes widened in amazement. Haruna hugged tightly Brandy against her... That’s it, she had discovered her! She needed to escape as soon as possible! She stepped back slightly, ready to turn around, when two hands grabbed her shoulders and the officer’s deep look made her freeze.

"Your eyes..." Yuko seemed so focused, "your eyes..."

"Officer... you’re hurting me..."

"Your eyes are beautiful!” Yuko exclaimed. “My decision is made! Please go on a date with me!"

Haruna wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh, cry or run away.