#anyone coming over to a dinner party: couldn’t you have gotten a normal pet?

[dazesanddoodles]

concept: one of the ripper’s victims was a really bad snake owner and hanners saw one while he was in their house and was like ‘pretty and threatening? my aesthetic’ rescued it and just had a pet snake

[britishassistant]

The Villainous Paranoiac Experiences Culture Shock

The Hannya of the Gracey and its Kitsune.

Tricky, cruel, deceptive, jealous, ungrateful.

That’s what you’ve been called ever since Nanji settled. It’s been whispered behind your backs and said outright to your faces.

Ever since Chichiue told you to take a more appropriate form if you both were going to eat dinner properly with the family, and his eyebrows drew down when you stuttered out that you were trying, you were, but Nanji couldn’t change back from the red fox that quailed under the glare of Chichiue’s eagle.

You were sent to their room in the middle of the meal because of that, Asahiko-nii-sama’s exaggerated faces of disgust, Leota-nee-sama’s quiet yet smug vindication and Enji-nii-sama’s open glares of disapproval following you both as you left.

Seven isn’t an…uncommon age for a dæmon to settle. Unusual, to be sure, enough to raise and lower eyebrows, prompt the start of a inquiry before the asker remembers which family they’re about to question.

But it’s just edging into more common for “early bloomers” that it’s usually assumed that you were closer to eight than seven when Nanji did settle. Besides, there are kids out there who have had their dæmons settle at younger ages, after all.

All the studies you’ve read say this phenomenon is near uniformly a result of a traumatic event or hostile living environment. But that’s probably more of a generalization than anything.

Still. At least the names and insults weren’t so bad. They were just words after all.

At least the people using them would steer clear. Keep at least a two foot distance between themselves, the Hannya of the Gracey, and its Kitsune. As though you and Nanji actually had any power to curse anyone with.

At least they wouldn’t try to keep fucking touching your dæmon every five minutes.

So pause. Rewind a bit. You and Nanji and your old middle school crush and his dæmon (who you’ve certainly gotten over, and who does not look any better than he had in middle school now his Sonata has settled, thank you very much) have been transported to another world. This world is called Twisted Wonderland.

The people of this world are soulless assholes.

Because none of them have dæmons.

And the vast majority of them you have met so far are assholes, in some shape or form.

You have yet to ascertain whether the latter is dependent on the former.

And yet they keep acting like normal people in spite of this absence, rather than the traumatized wrecks that are in textbooks in history class, all dead-eyed and unresponsive. So maybe there’s something to the headmaster’s claim that their dæmons are…inside them, somehow.

Though that just gives you the awful mental image of a person lifting a mouse or an insect dæmon to their lips and just…swallowing. Nanji nips your hand for putting that lovely idea in both your heads.

But back to the topic at hand: The people here don’t have dæmons. They have never had dæmons. So it’s understandable that initially all of them don’t quite understand that there’s a difference between them and just another talking animal, like Grim.

That it is NOT OKAY to try to scoop them up or punt them around like they do to Grim (and honestly, you’re not really okay with them doing that to Grim either— it’s why you and Yuuken trade off who has the monster cat perched on their shoulders or in their arms and out of harm’s way whenever you both can). That’s just down to cultural differences. You can understand it, if you cock your head, squint your eyes, and are very, very sleep-deprived.

What is not understandable is the assholes who think it’s hilarious to try to keep touching Sonata and Nanji even after you’ve repeatedly told them “no”.

Some of that might be Nanji’s fault. Though at the time it hadn’t seemed like a bad idea, considering how many curious would-be touchers immediately jerked away and lost interest permanently after he blurted out, “It’s a sex thing!!”

(It’s not exactly a sex thing, more of an intimacy thing at most. But there’s something much more visceral and back-the-fuck-off about “touching a dæmon is like shoving your hands down a stranger’s pants” compared to “touching a dæmon is the realization of a very deep and intimate bond between you and your partner”.)

But of course, many is not all.

And there’s always going to be some assholes who think that seeing how easily they can get away with harassment is a “fun game” rather than a creepy and messed up power play. Just like back home.

Yuuken and Sonata have it much worse than you and Nanji.

You’d thought the muskox form she settled into was noble, dignified, a perfect embodiment of Yuuken’s diligence and strength. (No, it has not made your crush on him worse, shut up.)

The only problem is that a muskox is not as small a creature as a fox. So while you can physically pick up Nanji and move him out of reach if some punks decide they want to cause trouble, poor Sonata has no such defense. She has to move away if they get between her and Yuuken, and their distance limit is so much smaller than your own, and both of them look so trapped—

It surprises everyone but Nanji and yourself when you take a page from Deuce’s book and ball your fist up to punch the asshole trying to bury his hand in the thick fur of Sonata’s flank.

The resulting crack is not from the asshole’s nose breaking, unfortunately.

You haven’t ever really punched anybody before, hadn’t ever been in a situation where you were justified in your retaliation.

Of course you manage to fuck it up on your first try.

Nanji does not thank you for the resulting limp in his one good leg until your hand and his paw heals, even if he understands why you did it. You give him lots of petting in apology, carefully avoiding the spots where his fur is now patchy and the skin is ridged with scars.

(And isn’t that a fun experience, whenever the ex-overblots’ eyes wander over him, catch sight of what they inflicted on you both, and suddenly can’t look at anything else fast enough. None of them have actually, explicitly apologized to either of you for it.)

Yuuken and Sonata hover over you both like concerned mother hens, despite how often and repeatedly you tell them this is not their fault and you’d do it again in a heartbeat. Sonata actually offers to let Nanji ride on her back while he heals.

You try joking you’d get jealous, so it’d be better not to, only for Yuuken to offer to piggyback you around campus as well.

Ace teases you mercilessly for how strangled you sound when you squeak out that that won’t be necessary, and Nanji buries his head under his tail and refuses to come out for the rest of the day.

Deuce is more concerned with teach you how to throw a punch properly, so you don’t hurt yourself next time.

Jack provides Nanji with a smaller version of the splint he sometimes uses if he hurts his paws when in Wolf Mode, which does help a bit, even if it does feel slightly surreal to feel the phantom press of the medical implement on your hand.

Grim delights in setting the assholes on fire whenever they’re within reach. Whether he can get away with it is another factor he doesn’t seem willing to take into consideration.

Crowley scolds him and the rest of Ramshackle by extension for “violent behavior on school premises”, and resorts to subtly threatening to cut off your food money whenever you try to pressure him to actually do something about your harassers, as though it’s somehow your and Yuuken’s faults for having dæmons.

As though it’s Sonata and Nanji’s faults for existing.

You resort to scribbling increasingly insulting caricatures of the stupid birdbrain headmaster for your theory wall to vent your frustration, in absence of any concrete way to get back at him. Nanji chews the cushion in your armchair to near rags as you pin them to the wall with more force than is strictly warranted.

Yuuken and Sonata turn out to be far more proactive than you when it comes to dealing with grudges of this kind.

Or, at least, more willing to go along with plans that allow them to do so.

You know Ace had a hand in it. His brand of vindictiveness and humiliation is pretty distinctive. Ortho is also clearly a culprit, thanks to the technological mishaps that had one of your tormentors in actual tears. From the garish, clashing pink and petty sparkles that have been added to Crowley’s attire, you’re fairly sure Epel was involved too.

Sebek…is a participant you’re on the fence about, for his conflicting claims that it was a childish prank to pull on the bullies and headmaster and that both parties had whatever fate they now suffered coming to them. Even if he wasn’t directly involved, you’re pretty sure he was in on it enough to not spill the details.

But the sudden influx of logs, which would require someone with an above average level of strength and/or the help of an animal that specialized in moving large burdens over distance?

Combined with the fact that Jack and Deuce were as mystified as you, Grim, and Nanji at the results of the prank?

Well, even if Yuuken hadn’t shot you a subtle wink (which most certainly did not have your cheeks heating, no sir) in Ramshackle’s kitchen while the two of you prepared dinner to the sound of Sonata’s quiet laughter, you’re pretty sure you would’ve worked it out sooner or later.

For now, you and Nanji are just glad that they’re both here with you to help navigate this Twisted Wonderland of soulless assholes.

Even if some of them aren’t as bad as the others.

[woodsteingirl]

chapter two is out here! or read below the cut!

Dean turned the key to unlock the door. they all stepped inside, still in their moment of Revelation. the silence was eventually broken by jack saying, “why’s it empty?”

“It’s ‘cause our furniture isn’t here yet,” Cas explained. Dean tacked on that it would be arriving sometime today. In the meantime, before the stuff arrived, Dean took the time to explain what exactly this endeavor meant for everyone. He had applied online for a mechanic job the week prior, they had only gotten back to him to tell him he got the job the day before. Dean was still reeling from everything happening so fast. it’s like everything hed wanted for so many years was finally coming to fruition, and it was an adjustment.

Cas had signed both Jack and Claire up for school. Jack was going into first grade and Claire into her senior year of high school. Obviously, Claire was older than that, but she could pass as younger just for a little while, while everything was sorted out. Plus she could gather valuable intel that way. The hard part would be getting her to agree to this plan. Jack, on the other hand, was completely thrilled about starting school. He couldn’t wait to be able to have friends his own age. Cas didn’t have much to do throughout the day, but with the other stay-at-home parents in the neighborhood, he was sure he could find some way to help out.

Snapping out of his daydream, Dean took the time to explain how everything would go in the next month or so. “I got a job at the repair shop down the road, Cas will stay here and look after everything, Jack will go to school like we planned, and Claire, we sort of set you up in school again.”

“Wow, you guys are really on a kick of making life decisions without asking me arent you!”

“Claire, it was the best option at the time, we needed the intel from kids that age, and its not like Dean or I could just walk in and ask,” Cas explained.

There was no doubt about it, she reacted as expected. Even though shed only been out of school for a year or so, she’d never enjoyed it when she was involved, so the thought of going back made her sick to her stomach. Since there was really no where to stomp off too, as the entire house was empty, she settled for sitting on the floor behind the kitchen island to process. Some ten minutes later Dean came and sat down on the floor next to her.

“Look, I get it. Nothing can be perfect for us, but sometimes you just gotta tough it out and it’ll be better than you think.”

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾

(This is a flashback to the action point just so everyone knows whats happening)

It was a normal Tuesday evening. The couple was eating dinner just as normal. Quiet conversation, and unspoken glances were commonplace for them, so the feeling over eerie silence was nothing new, and neither thought anything of it. They didn’t even hear the sound of the door open. Did the door even open?

The husband reached across the table for the salt, his wife screamed in horror when she caught sight of the tall hooded figure above him. The town was small and she shouldve known who it was at first sight, but unfortunately, when youre about to be stabbed, those things dont come as easy. She reached across the table for her phone to call 911, but she didnt make it before the figure had stabbed her husband and was moving on to her. Those were the last thoughts she had before being found in a pool of her own blood the next morning.

The neighbor had heard them and called the cops. News spread like the blight, and everyone was taken in for questioning, so far, no motive or prime suspects had been declared. It had been a month since, and the police presence was now slim to none, even though almost no progress had been made into the actual investigation. That’s just how it is when you have to solve a murer case with nothing to go on but a dead couple and a town of suburbanites.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾

(this is bak in normal time just fyi)

After about half an hour of just trying to process what was happening, Claire was ready to go back to join the rest of her family in putting their furniture together. Cas was sitting on the floor in front of what looked like it could be a table, if you positioned it correctly.

“You need some help?” She asked.

“Yes, if it isnt too much to ask, I could use an extra hand,” he gestured to the manual, “it says you need two people here anyway.”

Claire sat down next to cas and took the manual from his hands, “what step are you even on? None of the pictures look like whatever you’ve managed to create.”

Upstairs, Dean was trying to show Jack how to use an impact driver, “look, I know youre only like what? Five? But its never too early to learn how to use a set of tools.” He handed the tool over to Jack, it looked wildly disproportionate in his hands but that’s not what mattered, what mattered was the fact that he was having a bonding moment with his son, a positive one too. He was bridging the gap of what he missed in his childhood, and giving Jack what he had wanted.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾

The next day was spent almost exclusively on introductions. First they went over and greeted their new neighbors on each side, Tracey and Paul Wayne on their right, and Peter and Vicky David on their left. It seemed to them that neither of them had much of a clue as to what was going on regarding the murder, seeing as that was not mentioned even in passing. However it could be basic politeness and not wanting to scare your new neighbors away. Both couples were in their mid-fiftes and greeted them kindly. The Waynes had a wooden statue of an eagle with some pro-America quote on it, and that was one of the most memorable things about them. The other memorable thing was their brigh red Volkswagon Beetle in the driveway. Dean silently noted a love of older cars as something to connect over in case he ever needed to get closer to them. The Davids had 6 small dogs, and that was their defining trait, they seemed like the people to have “I love my shitzu” stickers plastered all over their car, but they seemed like fine enough people.

The next thing on the agenda was when someone rang their doorbell. It was a woman about their age, who had come to their door both to introduce herself, and to inform them of a house party happening later that night. The woman introduced herself as Hester Stewart from two houses down. Both Dean and Cas were glad to see that there was someone their age who didn’t have a strange amount of pets, or questionable taste in outdoor decor. They made introductions of their own, Claire and Jack even briefly appeared to say hello. They asked her for more information about the party, and she explained that it was being put on by the HOA president to distract from all that was happening, “I guess she figured one shindig would make everyone forget about the murder that happened a few houses down from her house.” She gestured down the road and to the right, apparently in the direction of the woman’s house, “Also she did ask me to invite you, I’m not just asking you to show up without anyone’s permission,” she clarified.

After that they thanked her and went on with their day. “Do you think we should attend the party later today?” Cas asked. Not looking up from the loveseat he was putting together

“I think I was planning on it, it’d be a good way to get out and meet people, not to mention gather details on what’s happening around here without looking suspicious,” Dean replied, flipping the page in the manual.

Cas agreed. Usually events like this weren’t his thing, but he could suck it up for an hour or two if it meant gathering intel. He made a mental note to prepare for more events like this one, and pushed it to the back of his mind. He found himself having to do that more often since becoming human. His angel brain could process more information than any human by hundreds, but downsizing the amount of space in his brain was an adjustment, and he found himself having to push things of the back of his mind more often.

Claire had been eavesdropping from the top of the staircase for the past exchange. Truth be told, she was almost excited to ‘meet the new neighbors’ in such a domestic fashion. She had just gotten off the phone with Kaia, she was showing her the layout of the house, as well as updating her on the situation she had gotten herself into. “They really put you back in high school?” Kaia had asked, thinking about how if anyone had done that to her, she’d’ve put up a lot more of a fight.

“They really put me back in high school,” she had replied. Maybe deep down she did want to sort of have the closure she missed in her high school years.  She missed Kaia a large amount for only not seeing her face to face for a little less than a week, but she had learned from all she’d lost, that she just had to let herself feel her feelings.

They all gathered in the empty living room shortly after. Cas explained the whole plan to Jack and her. Jack was thrilled to be getting out of the house, and getting to see new people. He’d always been a social person, even before becoming a child, but that certainly amplified his social need. This was part of the reason Dean and Cas wanted to get out of the bunker in the first place. Now that they were actually in a position for him to make friends his age, they were certainly going to make that a priority. Dean had noticed that there were more than a few kids Jack’s age in his walk around the neighborhood earlier that day.

The hours before the gathering came faster than expected. Everyone was in a rush to change into nicer clothes and make themselves not look like they’d been putting together furniture all day. (they had, but it was the act of making themselves presentable that matters in this case.) After all, weren’t first impressions the most important? Dean hadn’t really taken account the need for nice clothes this early on in his endevour, so the nicest things he had were a button down and his spare pair of jeans. Not that anyone else was much better off. Claire was wearing a skirt with a jean jacket and combat boots, Jack didn’t change at all seeing as he didn’t see the need, and who were they to argue. Cas was probably the most normal looking of them all, with his blue suit jacket paired with some jeans.

[riderunlove]

Guns and Ghosts 14/16(?)

Normal was more difficult than he’d hoped, because it was a new normal. Not that anyone would acknowledge the new parts. He remembered everything that he had done for Caleb- and how he had been treated there. Sometimes he flinched when Reggie threw himself at him for a tackle hug, or started looking for exits when Alex started a very frustrated rant. If they noticed his reactions, then they got twitchy. He tried explaining a couple of times, and they had just made feeble excuses and left, not ready to talk about it. It got even harder as flashes of the in between time started to come back. He stopped calling Julie “boss”, unable to stand her pained expression. They’d lived with his quiet shadow and didn’t want to be reminded of that. Undercover personas had never been his strength, but he would make this one work. He could be the version of him they needed, and he’d figure out the rest. He shoved the dark moments down, hid his nightmares, and never let on that some of the changes that made him into the ghost were permanent. There were days it was agonizing and overwhelming, but he would do what it took to protect his family-even if it was from him. It mostly worked, but nothing was foolproof. 

Last night, Julie, Flynn, Reggie and Alex had all gone to Ray’s for dinner- which he didn’t even find out about until he asked Bobby later while scrounging for leftovers. He told himself it was expected, it was almost Alex’s birthday. They always celebrated with Ray. Trevor wouldn’t have let him go anyway. He wasn’t supposed to leave the base.  He’d been wandering the halls, trying to relax enough to sleep when he’d overheard them return.  Alex had been ecstatic because he’d finally gotten to introduce Willie to Ray- and of course it went wonderfully. Luke wondered briefly if anyone had noticed his absence. 

But today was going to be great. He’d make German chocolate cake for Alex’s birthday, like he did every year. Reggie was the chef, but he was a better baker. Assuming Alex doesn’t think I'm trying to poison him, half the time he refuses to eat something if he knows it’s from me, he thought bitterly. He shoved those feelings down, if he didn’t get started he wouldn’t be finished before his spar with Reggie that afternoon. 

He wasn’t alone for long. 

“What are you up to?” Julie asked, a tentative smile on her face. 

“German chocolate cake for Alex,” he replied. A peace offering. 

“He’ll love it!  Can I help?” 

“Definitely, the recipe is a bit complicated.”

They fell into a rhythm, an easy conversation flowing as they reminisced on previous birthdays, terrible gifts and general shenanigans. 

Soon enough the cake was in the oven, and the topping was simmering on the stove, and all that was left was the clean up. The worst part of baking by far. 

He felt Julie looking at him, and he glanced up to meet her eyes. A soft smile turned into a smirk and they reached for the spoon at the same time. He grabbed it first, but she surprised him by closing her hand over his, lifting it and the spoon and smearing batter across his cheek. 

“It’s on now, Molina,” he threatened playfully. He swiped his finger through the bowl, and booped her nose, covering it in batter in retaliation. Their cake batter battle resulted in both of them covered in it, and the kitchen an even bigger mess. 

The unrestrained laughter, and Julie’s beautiful smile were more than worth it. She helped him clean up, washing dishes with her side pressed firmly against his. For a few brief moments, everything felt perfect. 

She pulled him into a gentle hug before going to a meeting and Luke headed towards the gym. He could get a couple of sets in before Reggie showed. He loved him dearly, but he was always late. 

When he arrived, Alex was already there, pretending to work out on the treadmill. Luke pointedly ignored his suspicious gaze  even as it made his skin itch. Sudden changes were difficult for his friend and he didn’t want to push him. It’s not personal. He’s always been anxious. The more times he told himself that lie, the less he believed it. He made Alex uncomfortable. He stretched, and started a short circuit workout. 

He’d completed the circuit twice when Reggie rushed in. “Sorry I’m late. I thought maybe we could use knives today.” 

A harsh cough from the other side of the room had Luke replying “I’ll pass, but you should use one. It’s good to practice with an armed opponent.”

Reggie nodded agreeably. “I’m ready if you are,” 

They started out simple, warming up muscle groups and practicing basics. Julie joined Alex, who was now just intensely observing. 

Reggie was struggling to focus and they definitely should not have been sparring with a knife. Distracted, he nearly stabbed Luke in the stomach. Unthinkingly Luke let himself phase out and the blade passed through harmlessly. 

For a beat no one moved, then Reggie’s face collapsed into guilt, “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention. I could’ve really hurt you.” 

Luke forced an easy smile, “I know you didn’t mean it, and I’m fine. But I think we’re done with weapons today.” 

Reggie nodded carefully, clearly waiting for some other reaction. It came immediately.

“What the hell was that?” Alex demanded, striding towards them. 

Luke turned towards him in confusion. Dread pooled in his stomach. 

“Are you okay? Did you get hit?” Julie asked, eyebrows creased in worry. 

He opened his mouth to reassure her, but was cut off. 

“You can phase? Can you do the poofing thing?” Alex was squaring up for an argument.    

Luke nodded. The sick feeling was spreading from his gut into his chest. 

“Oh, and now you stop talking too. I thought they had a solution,” frustration and hurt colored Alex’s voice.

“To stop the flickering, so my cellular structure doesn’t degrade. The rest is permanent,” he forced his tone to stay even.

”You didn’t feel the need to tell us? How are we supposed to trust you if you are going to hide things like this?” Alex’s expression closed off. 

“That’s not fair. I wasn’t hiding it, you assumed,” he countered desperately. 

“You let us, and we both know that,” Alex snapped coldly.

“I honestly thought you knew. I wanted you guys to be comfortable,” he was pleading now. 

“Comfortable, right, as if it’s that simple. You were Caleb’s pet nightmare for over a year. Don’t forget that I saw you in the field, I know exactly what you are capable of.  After Julie found you, you were incapable of making your own decisions. You wouldn’t even eat unless someone told you to but then miraculously you wake up as yourself again? Totally believable,” bitter anger leaked through Alex’s voice. 

“So what, you think this is some elaborate scheme with Caleb? That I’m secretly here to kill all of you?” Luke knew better than to rise to the bait, but the combination of fear, pain and anger swirling in his gut made it impossible to resist. First they wouldn’t talk about it, now they were going to use it against him. 

“I don’t know what this is, because I don’t know what you are. You’re not even human anymore.” 

Luke was too stunned to formulate a reply.

“Guys, this isn’t helping anyone.” Reggie broke in, voice shaking. He always hated it when they fought. 

Shock melting into a deep hurt, Luke took a slow breath and popped to the music room, grabbing his electric. He needed to be alone and they’d never look here. His friends still thought he couldn’t play. At first he was excited to tell them that he could, but a feeling of unease had stilled his tongue. Now he was glad he’d decided to wait. It gave him a safe place to be himself and try to work through his emotions. Emotions everyone believed he didn’t have anymore- or that he wasn’t allowed to have. Fuck he was so tired of being looked at like some kind of monster. Hell, Alex had essentially just called him one. The worst part is that he wasn’t even surprised.  He flipped through his notebook until he found an empty page, and let words flow.  

He played until his fingers bled, until his grumbling stomach and shaky hands pulled him out of his spiral. He checked his phone. No calls or messages, but it was much later than he thought. He’d definitely missed dinner, but the fridge had to have some kind of leftovers. 

“I thought you might have run off, you missed the big party,” Bobby drawled. 

Shit. Alex’s birthday dinner. 

“Nah, I just needed some time to myself. Process some things.” 

Bobby shook his head and chuckled darkly. “I’ll bet. Everyone seemed pretty tense.  Never thought I’d say this, but I think they preferred you the way you were when Julie found you.” 

Luke glanced at him sharply. 

“Sure, they kept complaining about wanting the real you back, but you were a lot easier to handle when you followed Julie around like a lost puppy.” 

He rolled his eyes, and huffed a bitter laugh, but the painful seed of doubt knotted in his heart grew. 

“They left you a plate. It’s in the fridge.” 

“Thanks.” 

“I’m sorry, for what it’s worth.” Bobby said gently, studying him for a moment before rolling away. 

The plate of leftovers wasn’t the only thing in the fridge. The German Chocolate cake he’d made for Alex sat there, untouched. He cut himself a small piece and threw the rest of it away, allowing himself the petty action. 

The next morning everyone acted as though nothing had happened. “Where were you last night? You missed Alex’s birthday dinner.” Julie asked. 

Yeah and you let me, the growing doubt whispered. “I just needed some time to think, so much has changed.” Luke answered mildly. 

“You’ll tell us if you need anything, right?” She looked worried.  

“Of course.” He smiled, even as the lie burned. No one called him on it. The seed bloomed into thorns. 

[wonderwomanfantasy]

almost, almost, almost

I feel like absolute shit so y’all can have a comfort fic. 

Sero x reader 

word count: 3,000 (about)

summary: I have nothing to offer but Sero fluff and cliches also this is an unedited mess and I’ve gone off the rails 

You were beside Sero both of you sitting casually in his hammock. Sero’s long legs reached to the floor rocking you both back and forth. A “chill vibes” playlist filled the empty space pleasantly. his attention was strictly forward. focused on some first-person shooter you didn’t know the name of. Technically you should be studying, that’s why you were in his room in the first place, but you didn’t want to suggest it and break the peaceful atmosphere. you also really didn’t want to study, but you decided that was a secondary concern. 

It had been a long, hard day, you just wanted to sit here with your best friend and relax. Sero lifted his arm, silently offering up his chest. You fell to the side resting your head in his firm chest and wrapped your arms around his waist he chuckled and lowered his arm on top of your back.

Sero was just a friend, but he had always been free with his affection and there was no one better to cling to. “You okay Sunshine?” He asked, quietly his breath tickling your ear. He already knew the answer, something was up. Normally when you watched him game you yelled at him to jump now!! or go left! but you were eerily quiet today. 

“My head hurts” you groaned back he hummed contemplating that. He shut off the game, deciding to find a quieter activity. He rubbed your back comfortingly making you relax without realizing it.

“It’s chill we’ll just hang until you feel better,” he declared softly. You muttered a thank you into his chest and breathed deeply. It was good just resting I top of Sero. He was warm and smelled nice, like fruit punch almost but more Citric. You stopped smelling him, mentally kicking yourself for doing something so creepy.

It was hard to say when your feelings for Sero had taken a turn for the romantic but one day you had just been looking at him, the two of you hanging out in the kitchen eating chocolate chips and spoonfuls of peanut butter and you had realized how handsome he was and you had to hide the blush that covered your face.

Suddenly you couldn’t help but overthink every kind gesture or lingering touch that Sero gave so regularly. You had gotten better about not showing how much you liked him, besides you had a strict no dating while you were still in high school rule. Becoming a hero was hard enough, you didn’t need a boy messing that all up for you. besides being his friend wasn’t so bad.

You tightened your grip on his side, balling the fabric of his loose-fitting shirt in your hand. He ran his fingers through your hair, pushing it away from your forehead and smoothing it down. It was a loving action. 

“Keep that up and I’ll fall asleep,” you warned making him huff in amusement

“Ah, Baby needs a nappy nap huh?” He teased you hit him in the side only making him laugh harder

“Okay ow I’m sorry, I’ll wake you in time for dinner okay?” He said going back to carding his fingers through your hair, this time the motion was accompanied by his nails gently scraping at your scalp. You yawned and quickly forgave him for mocking you and let yourself fall asleep in his arms.

Sero was glad that your face was mushed against his chest and you couldn’t see how pink his cheeks had gotten. He really hadn’t meant to call you Baby but the pet name had just slipped out and as a result, his face was as red as Kirishimas hair. You didn’t think anything if it so why was he making such a big deal out of it? well, he knew why.

Because he was an idiot and in love with his best friend and every little act of intimacy with you made his heart jump. He rocked back and forth on the hammock listening to the soft sounds you made as you slept. If he leaned down and kisses your forehead right now, you would never know and what harm would a simple innocent kiss do?

His phone buzzed making Sero jolt, although not hard enough to wake you luckily. It was Kirishima asking if Sero has seen you, apparently the two of you had made plans to work out together right now. Sero took a quick picture of your sleeping face and sent it. Kirishima could wake you himself if he needed a training partner that bad.

Kirishima didn’t come and you remained sound asleep. Sero sighed, he either needed to ask you out or just get over you because nights like these were getting him nowhere which wasn’t to say that he didn’t enjoy these kinds of nights, but it wasn’t good for his heart.

He looked back down at the photo. the picture was too cute no to save. Sero bit his lip and sighed before setting the picture as his home screen. Christ, he was whipped. 

Both of you were in your first year and he had the perfect idea to ask you out but a boy from 1B beat him to it. You shot him down telling him you didn’t want to date while you were training to be a hero still. So Sero has promptly dumped the idea of asking you out. But that had been two years ago, and he couldn’t seem to let go of the hope that you had changed your mind. 

He contemplated the issue battling out both sides in his head for the next few hours while you slept. Finally, it was close enough to dinner that he probably should wake you up.

You were too cute rubbing your eyes and yawning as you got up from his chest. “Feel better?” He asked with a gulp. You nodded and smiled sleepily at him.

“You know you make a great pillow,” you said gracefully stepping out of the hammock, Sero wondered how you made it look so easy, it was his and he still tripped half the time.  “you’re going to make a great boyfriend one day,” you added offhandedly. you meant it too. 

“yeah a great boyfriend for you,” he shot back without thinking. Sero tripped trying to get out and almost ate carpet but righted himself. 

“what?” you asked not sure if you heard him right. 

“What?” he repeated playing it off as if he hadn’t said anything all the while mentally hitting himself for being such a chicken. that was only the first of many almost confessions.

The next one came at a 1-A party, Aizawa had decided to actually chaperone this one so none of you had been able to get drunk like you had originally planned instead you were playing never have I ever. 

“never have I ever been kissed,” Midorya admitted and both you and Sero took a sip of your nonspiked soda. 

“Really?” you asked turning to him “Never been kissed huh?” you probed, although it really shouldn’t have been surprised if he had you would have been the first to know. Sero shrugged 

“nope,” it didn’t sound like it bothered him. you bit your lip and leaned in close to his ear, you had become more blatant in your flirting recently, just to see if the results could be any different. getting a rise out of him was more exhilarating then it should be. 

“I could help change that you know,” your volume was normal but your words lost in the music to everyone who wasn’t Sero, you just wanted to see him flush pink, but he didn’t miss a beat. 

“How? you’re a mega virgin too,” He laughed flicking your forehead. you didn’t know what to say next, was he really dumb enough not to get the hint? Or was this some way of letting you down easy?  you sighed and dropped it. Sero was still kind enough to walk you back to your room so at least you hadn't made things awkward. He gave you the standard side hug and casual ‘night’ then he was gone.

you sighed and flopped on to your bed, maybe next time you tried to kiss Sero you would ask him more directly. suddenly your body went stiff. next time? as if you were going to spend the rest of your life trying to kiss Sero Hanta. 

It was only when he was in his own room when he was trying to fall asleep when Sero realized what you had meant. Sero buried his face in his pillow and screamed. He was the dumbest person on the planet. If he went to your room right now would you kiss him? or were you kidding? there was a bang on his wall, Todoroki telling him to shut up. it was almost three in the morning, after all. His internal crisis about his own Stupidity would have to wait until the morning. maybe, next time he would have to initiate thigs. he screamed again thinking about next time, earring him another bang from Todoroki. 

The next incident came when you two were at the mall sipping on bubble tea and window shopping. it was comfortable if not a little flirty. Things had been really flirty between the two of you lately, not that either of you were complaining. 

You were preoccupied examing figurines and Sero was across the way looking at video games when a large man tapped you on the shoulder, at first you thought it was an accident, the store was fairly crowded after all. When you turned he was hovering right behind you. 

“you a fan?” he asked eagerly, nodding towards the figurine you had been examining. 

“oh- yeah,” you said, taken slightly aback by his forwardness. 

“If you want we can grab lunch together and talk about the show?” he asked 

“Sorry but I’m actually here with my boyfriend,” you lied without thinking. the stranger cocked an eyebrow up at you. 

“Really? I don’t see anyone here with you,” he challenged. you panicked 

“Uhm Sero?” you yelped and instantly Sero appeared beside you that Hero speed coming in handy.

“Is something wrong?” He asked sizing up the man in front of you. you grabbed his arm and pulled him in front of you like a human shield. If Sero hadn’t been ready to protect you before he certainly was now. the man scanned Sero and seemed to come to the conclusion that he could, in fact, be your boyfriend.   

“Nah,” the guy said before turning on his heal, still you didn’t let go of his arm. 

“what-”

“I panicked and told him you were my boyfriend,” you explained in a hiss, he smiled his goofy crooked smile and laced his fingers through yours, giving your hand a small squeeze. 

“wow (y/n) there are easier ways to ask me out- I mean getting other people involved is a bit dram-OW!” you had cut him off by stomping on his foot

“Alright got it,” he squeaked. “Let’s get out of here before anyone tries to steal you away from me yeah?” he asked you giggled at the mock possessiveness and let him pull you away. even once you were out of the store, He didn’t drop your hand. you didn’t complain. 

You were alone in the hotel room your hero suit on the floor in a crumpled pile, the shorts and tank top you had remembered to pack much more comfortable than the spandex. 

“I’m writing to the agency this is ridiculous,” Sero complained coming out of the bathroom, he had also changed. He was now wearing only low hanging sweatpants. He shook his wet hair like a dog sending water droplets flying. you couldn’t help but follow one of those droplets as it fell down his toned body, rolling between his abbs and down the sharp V that disappeared into the waistband of his pants. 

“First they make us share not only a room- but a bed too then the shower doesn’t even have hot water,” he complained flopping down beside you. You were an adult, technically, and a pro hero but things were still the same with him, just like when you were teenagers. 

“oh suck it up,” you laughed ruffling his still-wet hair. It wasn’t a surprise that you and Sero had been teamed up together, after all, the two of you made an excellent team. It was a little pathetic how in love with him you still were. but you were heroes now, you barely had time to date, still, all of your free time already went to him. how different would it be in a relationship? you realized you were unconsciously playing with his hair and you moved away slightly only for him to push your hand back to his scalp.

“You owe me head scratches,” he muttered into the pillow you scoffed and continued playing with the ink-black strands. 

“How exactly do I owe you anything Hanta?” you asked, not that the answer really mattered. Really how different would this moment be if you were calling him a boyfriend or a friend? what was holding you back?

“don’t act like I didn’t save your ass back there-” he had saved you, yanking shrapnel out of the sky moments before it could hit you, “-one life saving equals one head-scratching session,” he declared with a yawn. it was late, you both were exhausted, and had a long day ahead of you.

“Why don’t you cash that in later and we both go to sleep now?” you asked turning of the nearest lamp. Sero nodded turning off his own light, plunging the room into darkness. both of you slid under the covers, you had shared a bed with him before there wasn’t any need for you to be embarrassed, but here you were flushing at his proximity. 

“(y/n) let’s make a deal,” he said and you turned in the bed to face him, even though you couldn’t make him out yet.  “I will oh so generously wave your owed head scratches,” he started then paused 

“If?” you prompted. you felt his hand wrap around your wrist and tug you closer

“let me hold you while we sleep?” he breathed. now you were really grateful for the cover of darkness. you gaped at him your cheeks burning.  you were already pressed up against his chest, his skin still cool from the shower, the only question was if you would push him away or not. 

“I just- feel safer when you’re right next to me you know?” he mumbled, you could imagine he was blushing himself. you coiled your arms around his waist 

“you’re a chump Hanta trading my godly head scratches for me just laying here? rookie move,” you teased snuggling up to his chest. he relaxed, wrapping his arms around you a sigh of relief passing his lips, but you could still feel some tension in his body. 

“and just so you know, I feel safer with you here too,” you added and he finally relaxed completely. melting into your warm embrace. 

“Leah is an idiot,” you scoffed throwing a piece of popcorn in a high arch and catching it in your mouth. you were curled up on the corner of Sero’s couch, watching the terrible Rom-Com he was forcing you to watch this time during your weekly movie nights.  “I mean she has been in love with Tom for how long? why doesn’t she just come out and say it, like their best friends no way he’d be a dick even if he did reject her,” you argued all too aware of how similar this movie was to your own situation. 

“well, Leah has been dropping hints since day one maybe she is waiting for tom to notice and make the move,” Sero argued back. 

“Still- She’s been making all the moves maybe Tom is just waiting for her to stop flirting and do something meaningful,” you argued, mad at yourself more than the character. you had been the one really pushing things here Sero, only sometimes flirting back occasionally. 

“Maybe Leah doesn’t know what the hell Tom is feeling half the time and if he is only flirting with her as a joke or not. She doesn’t want to get hurt,” he snapped, you could see he was getting angry. normally you would drop it if it was pissing Sero off but you pressed.

“I mean Leah is scared but that’s not really an excuse is it? Leah, does more dangerous stuff every day can’t she just woman up and get it over with?”  you were talking about your self again. It was infuriating how asking a boy out was more trouble then capturing bloodthirsty villains.

“So what? Leah should just lean over out of the blue and kiss Tom?” he asked and you suddenly noticed how only a bowl of popcorn was separating you. he was looking at you with such intensity you were almost frightened of him.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m saying.”  

Sero was on top of you cupping your cheek with one hand and your hip with the other. your hands weren’t quite as stationary roaming from his hair to his chest to the waistband of his pants then back up again. 

He was kissing you with intense hunger. like a starving man presented with a feast. he tasted like candy, although you weren’t sure which one. you ran your tongue over his lips searching for a deeper taste. Sero didn’t seem to mind just kissing you back firmly. his tongue twisted with yours and instinctively you bucked your hips up meeting his making both of you groan. Strawberry Nerds you suddenly realized.  Sero tasted exactly like Strawberry Nerds. you could almost laugh at how dorky the idea was. 

“did you just call me a nerd while we are making out?” Sero asked pulling away incredulously.  

“no. shut up. keep kissing me,” you denied leaning up to kiss him again, an invitation he accepted greedily. he hummed against your lips and dropped his body, pressing you further into the couch. Sero had held you more times then he could count. but this was different, new in a way he couldn’t entirely wrap his head around. he broke the kiss for an instant and sat upright while pulling you into his lap. you followed eagerly. 

His arms wrapped around your waist locking you in place. you cupped his chin with both hands holding his face still as you took your turn attaching him. it felt so right to have you here like this. distantly he wondered how much time he had waisted not kissing you, not that any of that time was really waisted. 

“I love you,” he sighed against your lips 

“I love you too,” you replyed instantly, then a wicked smirk pulled on your lips, your oh so kissable lips. “you better buckle up Hanta I think you’re in for a long night,” you purred pulling off your favorite hoodie to reveal a plain white tank top. he smiled back.

“oh you’re on Babe I’m going to rock your world.”

[snowdice]

Finding the Time to Study Fic 2 [Day 31]

Here is my starting post for today’s study break stories session. See this post for more details and feel free to send me asks to keep me going! It’s been a lot of fun so far! I will reblog this post with the story as I write them today. I’ll be constantly looking for ideas of times and places for Janus to have missions, so feel free to send in any you can think of at any point!

If you are a new follower or just don’t want all of these posts clogging your dash, please feel free to block the tag “study break stories” as all posts and voting about it will go there. You can still see the finished product of the story even if you are blocking that tag as I will not tag the edited chapters with “study break stories” but with the tag “folds in paper.” See edited chapters below. Chapters 3-8 and what I have of Chapter 9 are under the cut.

My Masterpost Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

I also have a playlist on youtube (because Spotify didn’t have one of the songs I wanted). It’s short, and not really for serious listening, but I had fun with it.

Still feeling unmotivated. I’ve got to get this presentation done though.

Chapter 9

Khalid immediately called everyone back to base.

“What happened?” asked Fred when he and Lena arrived. The tech people were already scrambling to get through to the TPI and get the time lock broken from the outside.

“Remus, Remy, and Khalid got played by Pat or whatever his name is. It certainly isn’t Nick. He was just setting up a joke,” Janus told him.

“Stop being smug,” Remy said. “It’s not a good look for you.”

“Pat is…?” Lena asked.

“They guy who fucked me over in 1923,” Janus said, “and is currently in the middle of fucking us all over because he stole the pin timepiece, and by extrapolation, probably the time bomb too.”

 “It will be fine,” said Khalid, “because what he doesn’t know is that timepiece has a tracker on it. Wherever and whenever he went, we’ll have his coordinates.”

“Speaking of,” one of the techies said. “It’s about to break. You might want to hold onto something.” Janus grabbed for a support beam next to him as the techie put a device on the ground in the center of the base. It blinked once, twice, and on the third blink the ground rumbled. There were sounds of panicked yelps outside. The fail safe for the time lock was not nearly as gentle as ending it correctly.

 Everything settled after a few moments, and they all straightened themselves out. Janus’s timepiece buzzed to indicate it was now functioning normally. Khalid had returned her usual timepiece to her wrist and now used it to open a display they could all see. “The pin timepiece’s closest time/space coordinates are…” she trailed off. “Right outside?” She frowned. “That’s strange. Why would he still be here?” She turned to march outside, following the coordinates to a trash can. She pulled the pin timepiece out and stared at it. “Fuck,” she said.

“What just happened?” Remy asked.

“He ticked us,” Janus said. “Again.”

 “He was stuck in the time lock,” Khalid said. “That’s why he got our attention. He couldn’t leave with the time bomb unless he had the pin timepiece or we broke the time lock. Apparently, he’s smart enough to know that if he took the pin timepiece away from here, we’d probably be able to find him, but he knew we’d break the lock as soon as the pin went missing. So, he must have stashed his own timepiece and went back in time within the time lock to grab it while we were distracted with the past version of him. As soon as the time lock went down, I imagine he left.”

 “Probably with the time bomb,” Janus said.

“Probably with the time bomb,” she confirmed.

And everyone knew the only thing worse than a time bomb was a time bomb you didn’t know the location of.

They evacuated after that, of course, and time locked the location once they were out just in case they were wrong, but midnight 3000 struck without thousands of people dying in Brazil, so the time bomb had defiantly been removed from then.

The, they initiated a time travel lockdown for all nonessentials, not willing to let random history students get caught up in an explosion if Pat decided to set the thing off somewhere.

 Then, it was a matter of figuring out everything they could about ‘Pat.’ First, they checked the tracker data as Khalid had tagged him with one of the Millennium Bird trackers. It wouldn’t work outside of the zone they’d set up that day, but the record would show his behavior during the time lock after he’d escaped with the pin timepiece.

There had been many little green dots on the map that day as Fred and Lena had actually been doing the job they’d set out to do, but most of those were running around in the south. There had been one green dot, however, that appeared suddenly in the game area about 10 minutes before the time bomb had been stolen.

 They could see Janus’s yellow dot almost brush his when he’d been chasing the earlier Pat down, around when he’d lost him briefly. The earlier Pat must have all but handed it off to his future self.

“He doubled back,” Remus commented when they watched the recorded data. It was a ballsy move and one that most people balked at, because there were inherent dangers any time you interacted with yourself from a different point in the timestream. It was ripe for paradoxes. It made everyone at the agency even more worried, because if he was willing to risk that, then what else was he willing to do?

 Because of the lockdown of all nonessential time travel, people working for the TPI were not allowed to go home for the night. They were allowed to pick up anyone or anything dependent on them for care like kids and pets if there wasn’t someone in their home time to care for them, but other than that, they were unfortunately all sleeping in their offices for the foreseeable future.

“You are the only tolerable one,” Janus told the cat who upon being let loose in the office by Remus, immediately jumped on Janus’s lap.

“I have literally done nothing to you,” Lena said, but then added. “Yet.”

 “You exist. In my space.”

“Can’t we just all get along?” asked Fred. “It’s only been an hour past when we’d usually go home. I went and grabbed milk and I have my giant thing of different flavored hot chocolate under my desk. We can try them all and vote on which is better.”

“Fuck your hot chocolate, Fred,” Janus growled, having been one of the three who had chipped in to buy it for him on his last birthday.

“Don’t go after Fred, jackass,” Lena spat.

“He’s just testy because his boyfriend escaped,” Remus contributed.

Janus’s lips turned down into a frown and he cupped Diesel Fuel’s face. “We agree we’re eating him first, right?” he asked her.

 She purred her agreement.

“I’d have it no other way,” Remus replied.

“There is plenty of food,” Fred said, sounding stressed. “In fact, I was thinking we should all chip in on ordering take-out soon. “What does everyone like on pizza?”

“This is not a slumber party, Fred,” Janus pointed out.

“Shut it,” Lena snapped and turned to Fred. “I’m fine with almost everything, except…”

“Bananas and tuna salad!” Remus interrupted.

“…whatever Remus is about to say.”

Janus rolled his eyes as that started a debate about whether or not fruit and/or fish belonged on pizza. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, which was when there was a knock on the door.

 He froze when he heard the familiar voice. “Hello, hello,” said Emile, cheerfully. Janus looked up to see Emile standing at the open office door. Shit. Apparently, the man had decided to give up on sending lackeys to come fetch him and had decided to track him down himself when Janus couldn’t even escape without breaking a time lockdown. They met eyes briefly and Janus could see irritation if not anger in his eyes despite his otherwise cheerful expression and tone.

“Janus,” he said when he’d gotten their attention. “I’d like to have dinner with you.” The word choice told Janus everything he needed to know. Usually Emile was careful with how he said things to make sure people knew they had a choice. Typically he’d say something like, “I was wondering if you’d have time to have dinner with me tonight,” or “I’m about to go get food, would you like to come?” Today, there was no choice in the statement.

 Janus still dried to dodge anyway. “Uh,” he said. “We were actually about to order pizza.”

“Go ahead,” said Fred kindly. Janus wanted to strangle him. “We can order pizza with olives if you’re not here.”

“I…” said Janus. “Guess, I’ll be going with you.”

“Great!” Emile said. “Let’s go.”

“Oh,” Janus said. “Uh, now?”

“Now,” Emile said a bit of uncharacteristic steel to his tone.

 Well, Janus was screwed. He swallowed his nervousness and got to his feet, taking Diesel Fuel with him. He turned to hand her off to Remus with a plea in his eye, but he just got an eyebrow raise in return. Traitor.

Then, he followed Emile out of the office door. “What would you like to eat?” asked Emile.

“Uh,” Janus said. “I don’t know. You asked me to eat, don’t you have any ideas?”

“I don’t actually,” Emile replied. Right.

“…Noddle Bar?” Janus threw out the nearest restaurant he knew.

“The one noodle restaurant? Sure,” Emile answered simply. They walked side by side out of the front doors of the TPI building. Janus actually couldn’t remember the last time he’d taken these stairs. He usually used his timepiece to get in and out.

 The noodle bar was only moderately busy at this time. They were quickly able to find a table near the back and Emile pulled his menu up in front of him. Emile hummed as he flipped through the different displays. “What are you having?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Janus said, only then pulling up the menu himself, but still not quite looking at it.

“What about the fortune noodles,” Emile suggested.

Janus shook his head. “I don’t like those,” he said.

Emile glanced at him through the menu displays. “You used to.” Fortune noodles were a bit cheekily named. They didn’t actually indicate anything about your future. They were just supposed to taste like what you wanted from your future. A grad student might experience a feeling like they’d just aced a paper. A child that they got to stay up an hour later that night. Janus had liked the experience when he was younger, but in recent years, he’d begun to taste the underlying chemicals in the dish until that’s all he could.

 “Well,” Emile said lightly, eyes on his menu. “That makes me even more worried for your mental health than I already was because of the almost three years of you avoiding talking to me.”

“No small talk, huh?” Janus asked.

“Forgive me,” Emile said, eyes now focused on Janus, and tone much darker. “How has your life been since I last saw your face 5 months ago during a business meeting and you refused to look me in the eye? Anything interesting happen? Shave your head and let it all regrow? Develop an allergy to peanuts? Join a convent and take an oath of silence that you only just broke today?”

“No,” said Janus quietly into the table.

 “Great,” Emile said clipped. “Small talk over. Order your food.” Janus reached up blindly to select the first thing that came up on the food and drink menu as Emile punched something into his own and both menu displays disappeared, meaning there was nothing between their faces anymore. “You know, I was willing to give you a year,” Emile said. “I was willing to let you deal with it on your own because I thought eventually, you’d come talk to me about it, but apparently I was mistaken. The next year, I thought maybe you thought I didn’t want to talk to you, so I subtly made myself available, and you never took me up on the offer. I thought maybe I was just not being clear, and I should make my desire to talk to you more explicit, but as you have been routinely, clearly avoiding me at every single turn, I’ve decided I’ve had enough. So, let’s lay it all on the table. Is it me or do you need help?”

 Janus closed his eyes. “It’s not you.”

“Then you need help,” Emile concluded.

Janus shook his head.

“Yes,” Emile snapped. “Whatever this is has gone on far too long.”

Janus stood up and slammed his hand down on the table. “And it’s going to keep going on!” he said. The food popped up at that moment. It appeared Janus had ordered lasagna and bubble tea, and Emile had ordered something with spaghetti and a fizzy drink.

“So, you’re just planning to go on being miserable then?” Emile asked, and Janus wasn’t sure if it was worse or better that he didn’t sound angry anymore.

 Janus slapped his hand down on the “To Go” button and his dinner was insta-wrapped by the table. “Yes,” he said.

“What exactly do you think you’re paying penance for, Janus?” Emile asked.

“You wouldn’t understand,” Janus said, paying for both of their meals with his fingerprint.

“That’s a cop out and you know it,” Emile said. “All you’d have to do is talk to me. Or even just talk to someone else. Please.”

“Just…” Janus said, grabbing his bag of food to avoid looking at him. “Just, leave me be.” He walked out of the noodle shop without another word.

 Chapter 10

“And I thought Remus was going to be the most disgusting roommate in this equation,” Lena grumbled. Janus and Lena were apparently the earlier risers in the group as Fred was still curled up around a pillow and Remus was sprawled out under his desk.

Janus flipped her off.

“Protein infused Poptarts and caffeinated orange juice for breakfast?” she asked. “Just eat an energy bar and have a cup of coffee like a normal person.”

He took another pointed bite of his Poptart.

“You’re a horrible roommate. This is why they gave us different partners.”

“Yeah, well you snore, asshole,” Janus said after finishing off his meal.

 “I’d tell you to go eat shit, but you already did that once this morning.”

A pillow flew across the room and somehow managed to hit the both of them. “S’op fighting,” Fred mumbled. “It’s sleep time.”

“It’s morning Fred,” Lena said.

“No,” Fred mumbled.

Janus ignored them, turning back to his integration port to continue to keep plugging in phrases of interest, but he kept getting nothing.

“What are you doing?” Lena asked after a few moments of him huffing at his screen reader.

“Trying to do anything that may change our current living arrangements.”

She puffed out an amused breath. “Can I help?”

 “Can you see any connection between these words and phrases?” he asked, pulling away his screen reader and tapping at the words he’d typed out.

“Paranoid, tonight, I live to party, comeback, love Bug, BB good, Mandy, Macy Misa, I believe, cool, that’s just the way we roll, burnin’ up,” she said. “What are these?”

“They’re things Pat said when we interrogated that struck me funny,” Janus explained. “I feel like he was saying something more than what he said.”

“Hmm,” she said. “PTI for the first three?”

“Maybe,” Janus agreed, “but what about the rest of it? I feel like I’m missing something.”

15080

“Millennia,” Remus mumbled from under his desk. Janus hadn’t been aware he was awake. “He said something something about it being the only time he could see the change of the millennia.” He turned his head to look at Janus. “Considering he’s a time traveler, that’s definitely a weird thing to say.”

“Millennia,” Janus contemplated. “A different turn of the millennia. Oh no.”

“What?” Lena asked.

Janus sighed, and rubbed his temple. “I know someone who studied the 1700-2200s.”

“Isn’t that good?”

“No,” Janus groaned, “because now I have to go talk to him.” He stood with a sigh and then paused. “How do I even get to Silver Mountains University without my timepiece?”

 Luckily Sliver Mountains ended up only being about an hour away from the TPI by time adherent travel, but considering Janus was used to his travel being instantaneous, it was an aggravating trip. He had to show ID and be buzzed up to the fourth floor since it was usually locked to everyone not traveling by timepiece or who worked in the office.

The receptionist was the same man as before. “I’m here to speak to Professor Eran,” Janus said.

The receptionist nodded. “He mentioned you asked to meet him but didn’t know when you’d arrive. He’ll be done teaching his class in about 5 minutes. You can wait over there.”

 Janus nodded and sat, waiting for time to slowly tick by. Virgil arrived after a few minutes, lugging a giant bag with him. He caught sight of Janus and wordlessly jerked his head towards the hallway. Janus followed him.

“What’s in the bag?” Janus asked.

“Early 21st century cell phones,” Virgil said, dropping it on his desk. “I let my students mess around with them for their lab.”

“I see,” Janus said.

“What did you need?” Virgil asked. “You said it was official business.”

“You’ve heard about the lockdown, I presume,” Janus said.

“Yeah, it really screws up my research schedule for the summer,” Virgil said.

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“Do you know why the lockdown was instituted?” Janus asked. Virgil shook his head, so Janus explained briefly that they had been trying to find a timebomb on the eve of the year 3000, but it had been swiped by a free agent time traveler. “Some of the things seemed to be references to things that I couldn’t place, and I was wondering if you would recognize any.”

“Shoot,” Virgil requested, seeming intrigued by the prospect.

“Okay,” Janus said. “First, the alias he was using was Nick Jonas.” A weird expression crossed Virgil’s face immediately and Janus paused.

“You said the year 3000?” Virgil asked.

 “Er. Yes.”

“Nick Jonas. Year 3000,” Virgil repeated with a snort. “Were Joe and Kevin a part of this too?”

Janus blinked. “Yes, how did you know that?”

“Yo-you’re going to have,” his sentence was broken by a giggle, and actual full-fledged giggle, “have to give me a minute.” With that, he sort of listed to the side and seemed to purposefully fall off his chair onto the floor under his desk.

Janus blinked and when he didn’t surface after a moment, he stood up to lean over the desk and look down at him. Virgil had his arm thrown over his beat red face, as he shook from what Janus thought was suppressed laughter.

 “What?” Janus asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Just…” Virgil said, sobbing through his laughter. “Just tell me the things he said.”

“Er, mostly he just had weird inflections on words and phrases. There was ‘paranoid, tonight, I live to party, comeback…’”

“Wait, stop,” Virgil said. “Let me guess a few. That’s Just the Way We Roll, Burnin’ Up, Sucker.”

“The first two were, but not the last one.”

Virgil laughed. “Maybe the last one was just implied.”

Janus frowned down. “What are you talking about? What does this all mean?”

Virgil pulled himself out from under his desk and grabbed his bag of phones. He dug through it for a few seconds before pulling one out and handing it to Janus. “I have a lab for my students where they get preloaded phones from the early 21st century and are supposed to guess the demographics of the person who owns it. This one is an iPhone 3 meant to belong to a pre-teen to teenage girl from the year 2009. Look under music artists starting with the letter ‘J.’”

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Confused, Janus scrolled through the old style phone, finding the music app and opening it easily. Upon getting to the ‘J’s, he immediately paused on an artist called the ‘Jonas Brothers.’ He clicked on it and read a few of the song titles. They weren’t all there, but…

“That rat bastard,” Janus said.

“Scroll to the bottom,” Virgil said. Janus did and found a song titled ‘Year 3000.’

“You’re kidding me.”

“Click on it,” Virgil requested.

Janus did, listening to the fairly standard pop like intro from the time period. It wasn’t until he got to the lyrics saying, ‘He told me he built a time machine’ that he cursed, understanding exactly what Pat had been doing. When the singer a few lines latter proclaimed that his neighbor said ‘I’ve been to the year 3000’ he almost smashed the artifact to pieces right then and there.

“I have no idea who this guy is,” Virgil said, “but he’s a comedic genius.”

 Chapter 11

Khalid caught him on his way back into the TPI building. “I heard you went to Silver Mountains to follow up on a lead,” she said.

“Yeah, but it was garbage,” he seethed. “All I learned was ‘Pat’ knows early 2000s popular culture and likes to fuck with us.”

She hummed. “I’d still like a report about whatever you found. Who knows what we might end up getting from seemingly inconsequential data.”

“Sure,” he said.

“Anyway,” she continued. “I have a mission for you.”

“We’re on lockdown,” Janus pointed out with a frown.

“For nonessentials,” she said. “This is essential.”

 “What happened?” Janus asked.

“We picked up a small time distortion in France 2027. At the moment, it is small enough not to cause any disruptions, but it is slowly growing, and we don’t know what caused it. Usually we’d just send surveillance agents at this stage, but considering what’s going on, I think it would be best to send a field agent. And it would just be you, because we don’t want to send too many people out at once.”

“Is this related to the time bomb?” Janus asked.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “At the very least, it’s not it being set off as it was in 2999, but if it’s been altered for some other purpose…”

 “I’ll go,” Janus said.

“I’ll send over the mission directive to everyone who needs it. You’ll go in around 3 hours.”

He nodded. “I’ll be ready,” he agreed.

In less then 3 hours, he was dressed for 2027 France and in decontamination. “Well,” he said out loud when he was given the all clear sign, “I hope I don’t explode.” He selected the coordinates on the timepiece and the next moment he was in a small alleyway in the city of Montpellier, France in 2027.

It was a little bit warm, but not stifling even in the mid-afternoon and he could faintly smell the sea on the breeze.

 After a moment to get his bearings, Janus made his way out of the alleyway and onto a small street. The street was lined with restaurants and shops as people went about their daily lives. He carefully integrated himself into the crowd and began weaving his way through them. He needed to find the source of the distortion but doing a quick scan with his timepiece told him there wasn’t any sign of it yet. He’d have to wait for it to act up.

For now, he decided to get slightly away from people by heading towards the river. He found a park that had benches along water.

 As he walked towards the river, he noticed a man on the bench, angled slightly away from Janus and looking out at the water. He immediately recognized the man. “You!” he exclaimed.

Pat’s head shot around to look at him, and he gave a slight head tilt. Then, he smiled, amused. “You are not the person I’m here for,” he said.

“Well, I am now,” Janus snapped. “Where’s the time bomb?”

“Time bomb?” Pat asked, eyebrows drawing together, but amusement on his lips. “Oh sweetie, the time bomb happened a long time ago for me.”

“What?” Janus asked.

“Oh, you’re just a baby,” Pat laughed. “Don’t you get it yet? The two of us are out of sync timeline wise. You’ve been apparently running around with a much younger version of me, but all of that happened quite a while ago for me. Don’t worry though, it gets better.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The time bomb has been long deactivated. Here,” he reached into his pocket and tossed him something. Janus caught it on instinct. “Proof. Don’t worry, we took all of the dangerous bits out years ago from my perspective.” It was the core of a time bomb, the time bomb Pat had stolen if he was to be believed. “You can tell your people it’s safe to remove the lockdown.”

Janus curled his fingers around it. “I don’t get it.”

Something on Pat’s wrist beeped and he looked at it curiously before he stood from the bench, “and I don’t have time to explain it.”

Janus jerked forward to grab his wrist. “Don’t you dare.”

Pat reached up to pat his face. “Don’t worry honey, you’ll be seeing me later.” He twisted his wrist and a small electric current sparked between them. Janus jerked his hand away, and Pat smiled at him. “Or… earlier.” He winked, and then he was gone.

Janus cursed, but he didn’t have more than a moment to be angry because in the next second there was a yelp, and something landed on top of him. He was bowled over into a tangle of limbs and pained noises.

“Oh my god, we need to figure out the height thing,” a familiar voice groaned, just as Janus managed to pull himself away. Pat blinked up at him and his eyes narrowed. “You,” he hissed.

“…What?”

 Pat jumped to his feet, leaving Janus on the ground in front of him. “What are you doing here?” he spat, his tone much different then the one he’d been using a moment earlier. His hair was longer than it had been before, and if Janus looked closely, he did seem like he was a couple of years younger suddenly. Out of sync timelines. I’ll see you earlier. Holy shit.

He was suddenly very glad he’d been forced to let the other Pat (the older Pat?) go, else they’d have a whole thing on their hands.

“What are you doing here?” was Janus’s retort as he stood up and dusted himself off.

 “It’s none of your business,” Pat told him.

“It is my business,” Janus said, “because for all I know, you are the cause of the time distortions I’m after. Considering that I doubt you have a license for that,” he waved at the odd looking timepiece of Pat’s wrist, “it’s very possible.”

“What are you?” Pat asked, “the time police.”

“Yes.”

Pat dared to roll his eyes, but then he tilted his head slightly. “Time distortions?” he asked.

“Yes, that’s why I’m here.”

He still had a confused frown on his face. Did… did he not know what a time distortion was?

 Just then there was a sudden flash of lightening through the sky despite the absolutely lack of clouds. He and Pat both looked up.

“Is that the time distortion?” Pat asked.

“It’s probably the beginning of it,” Janus said.

“That doesn’t look good,” Pat said as he squinted at the sky.

“Just wait,” Janus answered grimly. He looked at Pat. “Usually I’d arrest you on the spot,” he said, “but I’m alone for this one, and that is far more important at the moment. So, have a nice day doing whatever bullshit you are doing.” He glanced at his timepiece.

 Janus turned to walk away from him.

“Wait!” Pat exclaimed, and Janus turned back to him to see that his eyes were wide. Janus raised an eyebrow. “So, this time distortion thing is dangerous, right?”

“Depending on the severity, it could cause time to fracture around this place and time, basically erasing it from existence and killing everyone in it.”

“Well, in that case, I should go with you. To help.”

Janus looked him up and down. “You… have no idea what’s happening, do you? You’re an amateur.”

“I’m not,” he claimed. “I just. Pooling resources. You know?”

Janus sighed. “Well, you going around mucking about this time period without knowing what you’re doing could just exasperate the situation, so fine, you can tag along.”

“I know what I’m doing,” he grumbled even as he rushed to Janus’s side at the permission.

“Sure,” Janus said with an eyeroll. He guessed he was a babysitter now. “I believe you.”

 Chapter 12

There was something off about his readings. Clearly the time distortion was starting to pull at this place with the way the weather was flickering between storming and sunny, but he still couldn’t quite pinpoint the exact location of the source of it. He could, however, get that it must be somewhere on this side of the river more into the downtown area, so that’s the way he was walking, Pat close on his heels.

“What’s your name, by the way?” he asked.

Janus shot him a glare. “Elvis Presley,” he said.

Pat frowned, clearly knowing who that was. “There’s no reason to be mean.”

 “You did it to me first.”

“…Introduced myself as a famous musician?” he asked. Janus didn’t respond, and after a moment, Pat laughed lightly. “You really don’t understand time travel, do you?”

“Oh, yeah,” Janus said. “Name the three types of time distortions.”

“Just because I don’t know the names of things doesn’t mean I don’t understand them.” He stuck out his tongue. Janus was dealing with an actual toddler. “Unlike you who has a bunch of fancy words, but just caused a time loop.”

Janus scoffed. “I did not just cause a time loop.”

“Maybe not a big one,” Pat agreed, “but you did.”

 Janus raised an eyebrow. “I’ve never introduced myself to you with a musician’s name, but now you’ve told me that I will. So, at some point in the future I will have to, thereby making you think to say that now. Time loop.”

“That’s not… that doesn’t count.”

“Does too,” Pat claimed. “Like I have said once before and you may or may not have heard me say before, anything you do to me to get back at me for something I haven’t done yet, just causes whatever that is to happen in the first place.”

“But you’re still going to do it.”

 “Then take it up with future me. I haven’t done anything to you.” Then he paused and sighed. “…Which I guess means you’ve done nothing to me.” He seemed to mull this concept over for a long moment. “Well you were a bit crabby about me not knowing what a time distortion was, but I can forgive you for that.”

“And I’m supposed to forgive you?”

“Like I said,” Pat said. “I haven’t done anything yet.”

“You also haven’t done anything to endear yourself to me either,” Janus grumbled.

“Hmm,” Pat said. “Fine.” He pulled something out of his pocket. “You’re obviously not having much luck finding whatever you’re looking for. Tell me what it is and I’ll help.”

Janus squinted at what was in his hand. “Is that… an iPhone 5?”

“No!” he said. “It’s super-secret time travel tech disguised as an iPhone 5!”

“We’re in 2027,” Janus said. “Not a great disguise. Those things have been obsolete for a decade.”

“Well I’ll keep in mind to have my tech disguised as phones from the right year next time,” Pat said, sticking out his tongue. “Now what are we looking for?”

“If my timepiece can’t find it, I’m certain yours can’t.”

 Pat rolled his eyes and tapped on the device’s screen a couple of times. “I’m going to guess it’s that,” he said proudly.

Janus leaned over to look at the screen. “Are you using google maps?” he sputtered.

“It integrates time relevant data like traffic conditions and local weather warnings with time travel technology,” Pat explained. “Something seems to be going on in a museum a couple of blocks that way.”

“I…” Janus said. That was actually a really good idea, usually unnecessary with scouts observing that data beforehand, and Janus wasn’t sure how good the accuracy would be considering whatever was taking it into account was automated, but still a good idea. “Well, I guess since we have no other leads, we can check it out.”

 Pat looked far too proud for having only used a piece of tech that hadn’t even been confirmed as accurate. “Then, let’s go,” he said right as a chilly wind started to pick up and a couple of snowflakes began to fall around them. “Before that gets worse…”

Janus let Pat lead with his iPhone. Janus’s timepiece still wasn’t picking up a clear signal for some reason, but it seemed to point in the same general direction as Pat’s. Strangely though, as they got closer to their destination, the signal started to get fuzzier. Pat’s tech seemed unaffected leading them closer to the museum.

 When they got to the Musée Fabre museum, Janus stopped. “What?” Pat asked. He was shivering slightly in the cold and holding his arms around himself.

“My timepiece stopped working completely,” he said.

“I’m assuming that’s weird?” Pat said.

“It is,” Janus confirmed, turning to squint at him suspiciously. “How do I know you’re not the one doing it?”

“If I was doing it, wouldn’t I have just knocked it out from the get go?” Pat questioned.

Janus pursed his lips. “I don’t know,” he said. “Would you have? Maybe it’s a trick.”

Pat’s eyes narrowed a bit on him. “Think what you want, but I’m freezing. Come in with me if you want.”

 He dithered from a few moments before following Pat inside. Pat had already struck up a conversation with the woman charging admission into art museum. She was looking at him, her brow knit as he spoke. Janus nudged him away from her getting a confused glance from him in return. He shot a smile at the woman.

“Two adult passes for the museum and the Hotel Sabatier d’Espevran, please,” he said, placing down 14 euro.

“Ah,” she said, still looking at Pat oddly. “Yes sir.” She gave them the passes and Janus quickly shuffled Pat away.

“What is wrong with your French?” he hissed once they were out of earshot.

 “What?” he asked, bewildered.

“You sound like you’re reading Le Comte de Monte-Cristo. No one talks like that anymore.”

“I’m a little rusty,” Pat defended himself.

“Two centuries?” Janus asked. Pat stuck his tongue out like a child once again. “Is that your only way to respond to legitimate criticism?”

“What does it even matter anyway? No one ever expects time travel, at least not for something so silly.”

“It’s not silly,” Janus said. “It’s a legitimate issue. The wrong person who’s watched too much science fiction notices and you’re putting the timeline at risk. Not to mention if there are other time travelers around that aren’t as nice as me.”

 “Are there a lot of time travelers around?” Pat asked, sounding intrigued.

“There are plenty, both legal and not.”

“Huh,” he said, “but what are the chances we’ll run into another one?”

“Considering the time distortion? There could be many. Opportunists wanting to capitalize off the chaos, people trying to stop it, like me, and not to mention the person who caused it.”

“Wait, someone made it happen?” Pat asked.

“These things don’t just happen naturally.”

“Huh. So, something like this has to be caused by a person?”

“Yes,” Janus said. “…Why?”

Pat smiled. “No reason. I think we should head upstairs. Whatever I’m picking up says it’s around here, but I don’t see anything. Maybe it’s a floor or two above us.”

“Which is why it’s ridiculous to use Google Maps.”

 “Would you rather use yours?” he asked sweetly.

“I’m still not convinced it’s not your doing,” Janus growled. “Why does your tech still work when mine doesn’t?”

“Probably the same reason the ring did,” he muttered.

“What?”

“What?”

“You may be the most aggravating being in the universe.”

Pat glanced at him with a bit of a smirk. “I can’t tell you,” he said. “It would be a much bigger risk to the timeline than me speaking in French from the 1830s. But, I’m pretty sure the reason mine still works is just a software difference.”

“What the hell do you mean a software difference?”

 Pat opened his mouth, doubtlessly to supply him with yet another frustratingly cheeky and unhelpful answer. Yet, Pat did not have a chance to do so as, just as Janus stepped onto the second floor of the museum, the ground started to violently shake. Janus tried to turn to catch Pat as the other man’s foot slipped on the last step, but he couldn’t do so in time. Pat fell onto his hands and knees, sliding back a few steps and smacking his face into the stairs hard once and then a couple of times more after that as he slid.

 Chapter 13

The room stopped shaking after a moment. “Ow,” Pat said. He seemed a bit stunned but was still moving at least. He carefully maneuvered himself into a seating position. “Ouch. Owie.” He reached up to poke his own nose. “Ow!” Janus slapped his hand away when he got there. A bit of blood was already trickling from his nose and there was a small cut over his eye, but it wasn’t bleeding too much.

Janus pushed him so he was leaning slightly forward and produced a pack of time appropriate tissues from his pocket. He pulled one out of the package and offered it to him.

 He took it and pressed it up against his nose to try to stop the bleeding. He seemed mostly alright though Janus imagined he’d have plenty of bruises down the line. The power in the museum flickered and Janus looked up. Now that he was listening, he could hear people panicking in and out of the museum.

“We should probably get off of the stairs,” he suggested.

“Yeah,” Pat agreed. Janus helped him to his feet, and they climbed back up the steps. Janus looked around and found an employees only sign a few feet away. Usually he’d not risk that as it could get him into trouble he didn’t want to be in, but considering the earthquake that had just happened, he could probably play it off as panic.

 He ushered Pat into a small room and found a chair and table. He had Pat sit in the chair and pulled out another one of the tissues to dab at the blood coming from the cut over his eyes. “Here,” he said. “Hold that there. I’m going to go see if there are any bandages about.”

Pat took the tissue with the hand not already holding one to his nose. “Thanks,” he said.

Janus nodded and got to his feet. The lights flickered once again but didn’t stay off for now. He didn’t know how long that would last.

 He couldn’t see anything that might hold bandages in this room, but there was a second door. “I’ll be right back,” he told Pat, exiting through it.

The lights flickered once more as the door closed behind him and he cursed. When they came back up Janus’s eyes immediately fell on a man. They both froze.

“Remus!” Janus hissed the second their eyes met. “What are you doing here?”

Remus blinked at him for a moment. “Hi. Janus,” he said. “I… come to France for… tea sometimes?”

“There isn’t any tea back here.”

“So, there isn’t…” he said. There was a moment of silence. “Uh, so I actually cannot talk to you right now.”

 “What do you mean?” Janus asked. Remus grimaced in a way Janus had never seen from him before. It immediately set off alarm bells in Janus’s head. “Oh my god,” Janus said. “Oh my god. You’re not from the same time as me.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Remus mumbled.

“Holy shit, you’re looping?!”

“It’s… not looping if I wasn’t here the first time.”

“Remus, we spend more than 12 hours a day together most of the time. The only thing worse than this is if I looped back to this time myself.”

“…Yeah. Anyway, I need to leave now.”

“Please do.”

 He turned to go, but then stopped. “Oh, and,” he reached into his pocket and tossed something at Janus. Janus caught it.

It was Band-Aids.

“Oh, shit,” Janus spat at the clear use of foreknowledge. “I hate this. I hate you. I’m going to kill you the next time you see me.”

“Sure, Jan.”

“Go.”

He did, slipping into the next room while Janus took a deep breath and then turned back to the door behind him. He schooled his face before Pat looked up. “I found some Band-Aids.”

Pat nodded and Janus came over to squat next to him.

 Janus opened the box and Pat looked down. His eyes lit up with sudden joy so intense that Janus felt like he’d just gotten a punch to the gut. “Kitty Band-Aids!” he exclaimed. Janus bothered to actually look at the design on the container, only to note the cartoon cats on the front. Pat was almost vibrating off his seat. “Look they’re all so cute!” He grabbed the container from him to inspect the different designs printed on the back with glee even as a bit of blood was still trickling from his nose.

Janus took the box back gently and guided the wad of bloody Kleenexes back to his nose.

 “Which would you like?” Janus asked.

“Oh, they are all so cute,” Pat cooed. “Um, how about that one!” he pointed. “Or that one! Or that one!”

“Pat you only have one cut.”

“But they’re all so cute!” Pat said, tongue tucking into his cheek. He contemplated the box again. “Let’s do the black one,” he finally settled on.

Janus selected one of the Band-Aids with a black cat wrapped around a pink ball of yarn and staring back at them with wide green eyes. The think looked like it had partaken in one two many doses of catnip, but Janus didn’t mention that.

 Instead, he just carefully unstuck the backing from the Band-Aid and motioned for Pat to remove the tissue from his forehead. He smiled at Janus as he drew back.

Janus cleared his throat. “How’s the nose.”

“It’s slowing down,” Pat replied. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Janus replied. They met eyes for a second before Pat looked away back at the box of Band-Aids.

“Oh,” Pat said. “There’s a grey one. I didn’t notice.” He pointed to it. “I should have used that one.”

“Do you like grey cats?” Janus asked.

“I like all kitties,” he said, “but one of my roommates loves grey cats. He had one when he was a kid and thinks of them as good omens. Seeing one always brightens up his day.”

“A friend of mine has a grey cat,” Janus said. “She’s much more tolerable than him.”

Pat laughed a bit. “Don’t be mean,” he said.

“Oh, he deserves it, don’t worry.” Janus considered him for a moment. “Here,” he said, pulling out one of the Band-Aids with the grey cat on it. It did, actually, look a lot like Diesel Fuel.

“But I don’t…”

Janus just shrugged and stuck it on his cheek where there was no wound. Pat giggled and touched it with a finger. Janus stood back up.

“Can I have another tissue?” Pat asked.

“Sure.” Janus handed a tissue over to him and he crumpled up the bloody ones in his hand.

“I think I’m good to keep going,” Pat said, putting the new tissue under his nose. “The nose will stop soon.”

 Pat got out his iPhone and directed him back out of the room. They checked the second floor and didn’t find anything and so went to the third floor. The second they arrived in the room that Pat’s phone was directing them too, Janus knew that it must be right. There was a strange, distorted whirling sound and the entire room was shaking slightly like they were standing next to a railroad track.

“I’m guessing this is it,” Pat said.

Janus nodded and looked over his shoulder at the screen. They both cautiously walked towards where the little dot was on the phone.

 “Is that it?” Pat asked, pointing at a small device on the center column in the room. Janus reached forward to flip the switch on it. The whirling stopped and the room settled. Janus’s time piece vibrated as it came back online. They waited for a few moments. “I assumed… time distortions would be more…”

“They are,” Janus said. “This one is artificial.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s a simulation,” Janus said. “It causes similar symptoms to a time distortion, but it’s not actually fracturing time at all.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?” Pat asked.

“I don’t know,” Janus said. He took the piece of tech of the wall and carefully stored it in his pocket, “but someone’s trying to get our attention.”

 Chapter 14

Janus didn’t feel comfortable leaving France 2027 just yet, still weirded out by the strange turn of events. So, he and Pat ended up sticking around for a couple of hours. They looked through the art museum for a bit, but Janus was having trouble focusing on the pieces, and Pat eventually suggested they get some air. Janus agreed considering the museum would close for the night soon anyway.

They wandered around the downtown for a bit. The people seemed to jump back from the strange weather and earthquake that afternoon rather quickly, and there were plenty still about to blend into.

 Pat was snapping photos every so often like a tourist which Janus shook his head at but allowed because even with the outdated phone it almost made them blend in even more. It also might stop any questions about Pat’s weird way of speaking French. They could just say he was an overeager tourist who watched too many old movies.

“Ooo!” Pat said. “We should get crepes.”

“Why?”

“You can’t go to France and not eat crepes.”

“I assure you, you can,” Janus said dryly.

Pat shot a pout at him and the next thing he knew he was in a small crepe shop.

 For Janus, choosing something was easy. He just ordered the first thing he found on the menu which seemed to be a standard one with ham and eggs. Pat on the other hand seemed to be struggling greatly, and Janus had to gently push him to the side to let some other customers order first.

“What should I get!?” Pat asked. “They all look so good! I could do strawberry preserves or maple syrup or just sugar!”

“Or you could get one that is actually food,” Janus suggested mildly. “I don’t think you need any more sugar judging by how you are acting.”

Pat rolled his eyes. “You sound like Lo.”

 Janus made a note of the name ‘Lo’ even though it surely was a nickname.

“But, since you’re insisting, I’ll get something healthy. I’ll have the strawberry one. That’s a fruit!”

“It comes with a cream cheese filling,” Janus pointed out.

“And it’s fruit!”

Janus shook his head and stepped up to the counter. “One ham and cheese and one strawberry preserve, please,” he said to the cashier as he was not allowing Pat to order in French and accidently say something stupid. He forked over some euros.

“You don’t have to pay for me,” Pat protested when he saw that.

Janus glanced back at him. “I was afraid you’d try to pay in francs,” he said dryly.

 It looked like Pat was about to stick his tongue out at him, remembered that Janus had criticized him for that earlier, and then just scrunched up his face in displeasure as though that was any less childish.

They waited for their crepes to be finished and then went to eat them outside near a water fountain.

“I can pay you back for the crepe,” Pat said after they sat down. “I do actually have euros.”

Janus waved him off. “It wasn’t that expensive.”

Pat hummed. “Well, in that case. I insist on paying for a wish for you.” Janus raised an eyebrow. “In the fountain!” Pat clarified.

 Pat set aside his crepe to dig in his pocket for a couple of coins. “Here!” he said handing one over.

Janus glanced over at the fountain. “No.”

“Oh, come on,” Pat beseeched. “You have to want something. I’ll even throw it in for you, but you have to make a wish first!”

“No.”

“Please!”

Janus sighed. “Fine.” He popped the rest of his crepe in his mouth. “I wish for a crepe,” he said after swallowing.

“You just had a crepe, silly.”

“But I liked it, so I want another one.”

“We can go back and get you another crepe.”

“Ah, but I’m not hungry anymore.”

Pat crossed his arms. “You’re just being difficult on purpose.”

 “Not me,” Janus said putting hand over his heart. “I would never do something like that.”

 Pat glared at him, but then snatched the coin out of his hand. “Fine!” he said. “One crepe wish coming right up.” He hopped up with the two coins and darted over to the water fountain. Janus turned to watch him go but then happened to catch sight of something out of the corner of his eyes.

Pat’s phone.

He didn’t pause in his movement, completing the turn, but as he watched Pat close his eyes, presumably to focus on his own wish, Janus snuck a hand out and grabbed the phone without looking. He slipped it into his own pocket.

 Pat came back over after throwing both coins in the fountain and didn’t even seem to notice that his phone was missing, picking up his crepe to take another bite. Just to make sure, though Janus decided to distract him. “What do you think of your crepe?” Janus asked.

“I like it! It’s sweet, but not too sweet. There was a crepe place across the street from my apartment in college, but they always put a bit too much sugar in the dough, I think. I’d still eat them, but these are much better.”

Janus nodded and kept up the light conversation until Pat was finished.

21088

“Well,” he said then, getting to his feet. “It seems that nothing else is going to happen regarding the time distortion. I should be getting back.”

Pat hummed. “I should too. It’s movie night!”

“I probably should arrest you,” Janus noted.

“In the middle of all of these people?” Pat asked mildly.

“Touché,” Janus said.

Pat gasped and pointed at him. “Pun!” he said. Janus blinked at him. “Because we’re in France! That’s French!”

“…Goodbye Pat,” Janus said, turning to walk away from him.

“Goodbye… wait I still don’t know your name!”

Janus stopped to look back at him for a moment. “Like I said,” he replied. “Elvis.”

“Fine,” Pat said. “Au revoir, mon chéri.”

“You never stop, do you?” Janus asked.

Pat giggled. “Considering I don’t know what you mean, I imagine I’m just getting started.”

Janus actually left then, walking off towards the alley he’d first arrived in. In some ways, the mission had been a bust, but in others it had gone very well.

He felt for the weight of the phone in his pocket before pulling up the display screen on his timepiece to go back to the TPI.

It had gone very well indeed.

 Chapter 15

The first thing Janus had done when he’d returned to the TPI was hand over the timebomb to Khalid who sent it to forensics. Within the hour, forensics got back to them that it was the same timebomb as 2999 and that it had never exploded, but simply been diffused. Which meant, blessings on blessings, everyone got to go home that night.

 Not that Janus went home, no, he ended up falling asleep on his desk somewhere between 3 and 4am, but at least he wasn’t sharing his space with anyone. He’d been trying to hack the cell phone all night to see if it had anything he could use, but he honestly had no idea what he was doing. All it seemed he could do was play some annoying song over and over again about never giving someone up. At around 2am, he’d finally broken and sent off an email, though, he’d continued to try to mess with it after that.

 He got woken up by Lena coming into the office at 7am, and noticed he already had an email response asking when Janus wanted to come in.

“Now?” he sent back.

“…Do you sleep?” was the immediate response. “And yes.”

His wrist buzzed as an appointment in 5 seconds downloaded to his timepiece. He selected the coordinates and landed at Cultural Outreach. The receptionist blinked up at him and then back down at the screen on his desk. “Oh!” he said. “I didn’t see this appointment. I think Professor Eran is in his office.”

He didn’t stand to escort Janus this time, so Janus went ahead and went down the hall to Virgil’s office himself.

 He knocked on the door and while he was waiting for Virgil to open it, the infernal contraption once again started to play the same stupid song.

“I didn’t even touch you!” he spat, getting it out and tapping on the screen.

“Jonas Brothers dude again?” Virgil asked causally upon opening the door.

Janus shoved it at him. “Make it stop.”

Virgil took it and fiddled with it for a few moments before it stopped with the song. “Oh my gosh,” he said scrolling through something on the screen.

“What.”

“What maniac sets a custom alarm for every 30-60 minutes for a week that just plays ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’? Oh, and one ‘It’s Not Unusual’ on Saturday. He’s mixing memes at an alarming rate.”

 “Can you. Just. Make it not happen. Anymore?”

Virgil smirked at him. “Maybe.” He turned around to go back into his office.

“Virgil,” Janus growled following him in.

Virgil just laughed. “What do you want to know about it?” he asked. “Just a fair warning… the song means he… likely was aware someone would steal it.”

“Of course, he was,” Janus groaned.

“But I’m sure we can still get something out of it.” Virgil started tapping at the screen again. “Okay, let’s see. It’s an iPhone 5, and someone jailbroke it.”

“What does that mean?”

“Tampered with it so they could install non-company approved software,” Virgil explained.

“Well I figured that since he was using Google Maps to track time distortions,” Janus grumbled.

 “I think I have something,” Virgil said to himself while digging through his desk. “Ah ha!” He held up some sort of cord. “This will let me hook it up to my integrator.” He slotted the cord into the bottom of the iPhone and then crawled under his desk to fiddle around with some other things. “There we go,” Virgil said popping back up. “It might take a few minutes. Running the program any faster might overheat the phone.”

Janus nodded and sat back to wait. Virgil grabbed the phone and started to play around with it a bit even as it uploaded all of its information to his computer.

“Weird,” Virgil said after a moment.

“What?” Janus asked, sitting up straighter.

“There are exactly two contacts. Fewer than I’d anticipate for a regular phone from the 2010s. More than I would expect from one clearly not being used as a phone.

 Virgil glanced to the side, and it must have finished the download because he unhooked it from the computer. “I have a 21st century phone network adapter,” Virgil said. “It transfers call back to whatever date the phone says. Do you want to try calling one?”

“It’s worth a shot,” Janus replied.

Virgil dug back into his desk for a small device that he plugged into the same port he’d plugged the earlier cord. “Okay, which contact do you want to try first?” he asked. “One has ‘Ro’ with a crown, red heart, and a gold star emoji. The other has “Lo” with a book, blue heart, and Milky Way emoji.”

 “He mentioned a Lo,” Janus said. “So, try him first.”

Virgil nodded. “I’ll put it on speaker.” He pressed some buttons before setting the phone on the desk between them.

The phone rang three times before with a bit of a crackle, it was answered. “Salutations,” a voice said, voice sounding a bit scratchy as though he had only just gotten up.

Virgil motioned with his head for Janus to speak. “Are you ‘Lo’?” he asked.

The man hummed. “To some people.”

Janus… didn’t quite know what to say to that, or even what questions he should ask.

“I’m assuming you’re the man that stole my associate’s phone.”

 “Your associate?” Janus fished.

The man made an amused hum. “I believe you were calling him ‘Pat’ on your last adventure.” Janus could hear something being placed down on the other end of the phone. Before Janus could respond, he heard what sounded like an old keyboard being typed on. “Now,” Lo said. “I have to admit, I am surprised you were willing to oblige me so thoroughly by plugging the phone into your system. Let’s see…”

The screen on Virgil’s lit up bright blue all of a sudden. “…shit,” said Virgil.

“Well,” Lo said, “it seems you were clever enough not to plug it into the TPI system, which is disappointing, but…”

 There was more clicking on the other end. “Hmm, interesting music tastes for the 4000s,” he said.

“I’m an anthropologist,” Virgil spoke up.

“Ah, yes, I can see that,” Lo replied. “Virgil Eran, senior professor at Silver Mountain University, a vetted member of the Cultural Outreach program, and searched the phrase ‘How to eat sushi without making a cultural blunder and making everyone hate you and losing your job because what kind of shit anthropologist doesn’t know how to eat raw fish right’ which you then shortened to ‘How to eat sushi’ and proceeded to search 52 times in the last 48 hours.”

 Virgil went a bit scarlet around the ears. “Dude, did you really have to out me like that?” he hissed at the phone.

“My apologies,” Lo responded. “From my personal experience, don’t dip the rice parts in soy sauce, and don’t add too much wasabi. Overall, most people will be understanding of mistakes, and you will certainly not be fired or ostracized for handling food incorrectly. As long as you are not acting intentionally disrespectful, and I image you will not be considering your clear anxiety over whatever outing you are planning to attend, you will be fine.”

“Okay,” Virgil said. “Good point, but counterpoint, what if you’re wrong and everyone hates me forever?”

 “Is it the lunch meeting today at 11:30am?” Lo asked, “because I can see that a Professor Boris Laden has attended the event multiple years in a row. Considering he is a philosophy instructor, has no Japanese heritage that I can see, and I have found a photo of last year’s event wherein he has placed his chopsticks vertically in his rice, and he has yet to be fired or ostracized, I would postulate that your fears are unfounded.”

“Yeah but… okay, I really don’t have an argument for that one, except maybe I’m a piece of shit and everyone is looking for a reason to hate me.”

“Considering your many impressive accolades in your field, I would argue that ‘a piece of shit’ is not a good descriptor of you. Not to mention the fact that you are often a highly requested member for different committees in your department and outside of it.”

“Oh, but is that because people like me or because I’m an anxious mess and make sure events go off without a hitch?”

“From experience, disorder with people you enjoy the company of is far more tolerable than order with people you do not. Which explains my current living situation and the lack of finished dishes in my sink. Therefore, I would assume the former.”

22735

“A lot of assumptions,” Virgil commented, but he was smiling slightly.

“Assumptions based on data,” Lo argued back lightly.

“You really came in here, hacked into my computer and smacked my anxiety in the face, huh?”

“Glad to have helped.”

“Y-”

“Are the two of you finished?” Janus interrupted, finally getting sick of the two of them.

“Not nearly,” Lo said. “I have gained access to an entire network of a very large university and will be sorting through the data for a long time.”

“Ugh, right,” Virgil groaned, “and you got access through my integrator.”

“I doubt they’ll be able to trace it back to you if you don’t tell them.”

“Nice try,” Virgil said dryly, “but not likely. I’m telling them about you immediately so they can work to kick you out.”

Lo laughed. “Fair enough, but I’ve already gotten plenty of information at this point. Including the fact that you work with the TPI and scheduled an appointment with an Agent Janus Picani this morning set to start a few minutes before this phone call. So, hello Janus.”

“Bastard,” Janus shot back.

“And goodbye Professor Eran. It was a pleasure.” He hung up.

Virgil sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “This is going to be fun to explain to both of our bosses.”

  Arc II What We Do to Each Other

Chapter 16:

As it would turn out, Janus and Virgil did not get in trouble for hooking up the old phone to Virgil’s integrator, mostly because it wasn’t really a mistake on their part. The phone cleared all virus checks that the tech people both from the university and the TPI ran on it. The phone should have been clean and should not have caused an issue.

In fact, they were still trying to pin down the code on the general university server. They could tell that something was mucking about on the system but what or how was a mystery. This also meant that there was no telling what information had been compromised and considering how many things Silver Mountain had its hands in, that was… a bit worrying.

 Another worrying thing was there was suddenly more activity of late at the TPI. There were more time distortions popping up every day. Usually they would be few and far in between. There had been 3 total recorded the year before, but over 12 in the last week. Some of them were fake like the one Janus had investigated, but some of them were real. It painted a distressing picture and also was a drain on their resources. Khalid was actually looking to advertise positions to hire new recruits which was something she rarely did as she liked to keep appointments to the TPI in house.

 They’d even loosed the number of field agents needed for each mission and Janus and Remus had been splitting up just to get everything done. Today, he and Remus had thankfully only two missions scheduled for the day.

“Are we going together or separate today?” Janus asked Remus.

“Think they’ll burn me at the stake for being a witch if I go alone to either of them?” Remus asked.

“I don’t know. Probably. I think we’re getting a bit late into the 1700s for that in Cuba, but I have no idea about Mesopotamia.”

“Let’s just go together. I did not like almost drowning yesterday because I was the only stranger in town when the weather was going wonky.”

“Surely it isn’t because you opened your mouth. Ever.” Janus said dryly.

“How was I supposed to know he was the local clergyman’s son?”

 Janus rolled his eyes. “On second thought,” he said, pushing a button on his desk to choose Cuba as he next mission, and standing up. “I don’t want you coming with me.” Yet, he did not protest when Remus also signed up for the Cuba mission and he waited for him by the office door before going to talk to Rhi.

Rhi was a bit frazzled when which meant quite a bit as she was usually incredibly put together. Remus didn’t even seem inclined to tease her today.

“Okay,” she said once they’d closed the door behind them. She flipped through some documents on her desk. “Picani and Clockson. Camaguey Cuba 1755. Do you know Cuba?”

 “Uh,” Janus said. “Yeah?”

“Like you’re reading the things, right? I don’t have to babysit you, right? You got it? The Seven Year War was happening, but it won’t affect you much as it hasn’t really hit Cuba. It’s the middle of the Camaguey Carnival. Everyone will be everywhere and there will be chaos so as long as you don’t really fuck up you should be fine. Um…apparent races.” She looked up at them and studied them each for a moment as thought looking at them for the first time despite having known them for years. “It’ll work. Go to costuming.”

“Shouldn’t we…” Janus said, “sign things?”

 “…Yep,” she said, fiddling with her desktop and then sending documents over to their side to sign.

Janus and Remus both did before sending them back.

“Great. Good.” She stood and grabbed some things from behind her. “You can go.” She sat back down as they took their things and Janus noticed a message pop up on her desk. She looked up at Remus looking exhausted. “What?” she asked.

“Just open it,” Remus said.

Rhi tapped it and a photo opened.

“I got her a new mouse toy!” Remus said happily as Rhi looked at the picture of Diesel Fuel attacking a cloth mouse.

“That is… appreciated Agent Clockson,” Rhi said. “Now get out.”

 They did, leaving to get their costumes on and checked. Costuming was just as busy and frazzled as Rhi had been and they actually had to wait for decon because there’d been a mix up with the agents leaving before them. They landed in Cuba without issue. Janus could already hear the festival in full swing outside the small building they’d were in. Remy was standing there with a very not time appropriate mug of coffee.

“Sue me,” Remy said when Janus raised an eyebrow at it. “Please just… get in and out without causing trouble. Seriously. I don’t want to have to deal with that on top of everything else.”

 “We’ll do our best,” Janus assured.

Remy pulled his sunglasses down to look at him. He looked exhausted. “God please do more than your best.”

Janus nodded tightly. “We’ll be in and out,” he said, already glancing at his timepiece. It had been disguised as a golden bracelet which made it a bit harder to actually use, but wrist watches wouldn’t be invented for more than a century, so they’d have to make do. “The time distortion, if that’s what it is, should be in the middle of town. Let’s go.”

He and Remus exited the building onto the packed city street.

 Janus was immediately bombarded with all types of sights, sounds, and smells. There were many colorful articles of clothing and costumes as people went every which way along the street talking to other members of their community, playing instruments, and dancing. There was the sound of people speaking Spanish, still mostly almost pure Castilian Spanish with perhaps a bit of influence from Taino as the Haitian revolution had yet to push the Creole language over to Cuba. People must have been hard at work cooking different dishes for the carnival as many different spices wafted through the air. It was sticky hot considering it was the middle of June in the tropics and Janus was immediately sweating despite the temperature appropriate clothing he’d been outfitted with.

 He glanced around their immediate area, just scoping out the crowds. His eyes were immediately drawn to one person near them.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” he said out loud when he saw Pat. Remus looked in the direction Janus was.

Even if Janus didn’t recognize him the moment he laid eyes on him, he probably still would have ended up staring as he was the only person in the area who clearly did not know how to do the dance he was attempting.

Remus snorted and Janus shook his head in secondhand embarrassment. “Well, would you look whose boyfriend’s here,” he said to Janus. Make that firsthand embarrassment. “Has anyone told him the Mambo wasn’t invented until the 1900s and also that’s not how you do it?”

 Chapter 17

Pat stopped dancing the moment he saw Janus approaching him, but he still bobbed cheerfully ( and unrhythmically) to the music. “Hi Janus,” he said pleasantly.

“You just have to rub it in, huh?”

There was a flash of confusion across his face, but then he smiled. “Well, I know where in our relationship you are. How was France?”

“You’re a bastard.”

“You stole the phone,” he laughed.

“You stole the bomb,” Janus countered, “and you wanted me to steal the phone. You booby trapped it.”

“No,” Pat correct, putting a finger up. “We have security on my phone because in high school I once forgot it in the school locker room and long story short, the three of us ended up in a lake. So, then Lo made sure I always had some sort of tracker on it. When I started time traveling, he updated it and when I met you we updated it again in case there was ever an opportunity like that. Lo calls it using our weaknesses to our advantage.”

 “He’s a bastard too,” Janus growled.

Pat just laughed.

“Is someone talking about me?” Remus asked, stepping over to them. Janus rolled his eyes.

“Oh,” Patton said, blinking at Janus’s partner for a moment. “Remus.” He hesitated slightly. “How are you doing?”

“Me?” Remus asked. “Uh, I’m doing good. A little stressed out with work, but fine.”

“Good,” Pat said with just a little too much heartfulness to it.

“What?” Janus asked, eyes narrowed at Pat. “What is that?”

“What is what?” Pat asked. He met Janus’s eyes briefly and it made panic surge up Janus’s spine because the look Pat was sending him wasn’t one that said he was playing dumb. It was a warning.

 Oh, Janus did not like this. That look told Janus Pat had some foreknowledge that he absolutely could not tell Janus about without messing up the timeline spectacularly. This was why this mess the two of them were mixed up in was so bad, but it seemed Janus did not have much of a choice when it came to Pat.

Despite how bad of an idea he knew it was, he still wanted to push, because whatever Pat was hiding could be very, very bad and it had to do with Remus. There were so many reasons Pat could be acting like that around Remus, but the worst ones were definitely the ones on his mind. Death, injury, illness. They were all possible especially in their line of work and especially with how time was being screwed with right now. And Pat knew. He knew exactly what the answer was, and oh did Janus want to push.

Experience knowing what worse things could come out of having foreknowledge made Janus bite his tongue.

 “So, what are you two doing here,” Pat asked, and Janus unhappily let him change the subject.

“Oh, like you don’t know,” Janus replied.

“I don’t know,” Pat said innocently.

“There’s another time distortion,” Janus said, “and while you didn’t know what it was the last time I saw you, I’m pretty sure you do now.”

“Oh, I didn’t know there was a time distortion here. I can help you if you like,” he offered sweetly.

“Oh, yeah, sure. Then why are you here?”

“I wanted to see if I could find the Flying Dutchman,” Patton told him.

“And so you went to Camaguey?”

“Uh huh.”

“One of the farthest places from the ocean in Cuba?”

 “Is it?”

“I don’t trust you.”

Pat just shrugged. “Well, if you don’t want my help finding the time distortion, I’ll just be on my way then.”

“Wait,” he said when Pat went to turn away. Pat paused. Janus turned to Remus. “Remus, do you think he’s bullshitting me so I let him wander off and do whatever the hell he’s doing, or do you think he’s bullshitting me into letting him come with us.”

“Hmm,” Remus said, looking Pat up and down. Janus could immediately tell he wasn’t going to get any helpful answer. “Well, if we’re going with the how much do I get to see his, admittedly very sexy, ass criteria.” Janus pinched the bridge of his nose. “Letting him leave now means instant gratification and a nice full image when he turns away. However, letting him go with us means many more opportunities to get a glimpse, but they’d probably just be glimpses. So, yeah that’s a tough call.”

“You didn’t even bother to give me an actual hidden suggestion with that bullshit,” Janus groaned. He glanced at Pat only to see him hiding his very red face in his hands. Janus blinked. “Oh,” he said. “You got him, Remus.” Janus was surprised. He’d expected a bit more tenacity for someone with Pat’s personality. Of course, Janus was used to Remus, so that perhaps had some effect. Pat made a muffled distressed sound behind his hands and Janus raised an eyebrow. “You really got him.”

Pat flapped one hand around while still using the other to completely hide his face. “It’s just. His face. Saying that. Is weird.”

 Janus could not say that he didn’t feel a slight spark of joy at seeing Pat flustered. After all, Pat’s weapon of choice had often been flirting with Janus in the past. However, he still smacked Remus on the shoulder when it looked like he was about to continue with something likely far more inappropriate. “We are here for a reason,” he reminded. He turned to consider Pat and squinted at him. “You’re coming with us, I’ve decided. I don’t want to let you out of my sights. Don’t,” he said empathically turning to Remus as the man opened his mouth once more.

 Pat had mostly recovered, though his cheeks were just a bit pink still. “Yeah,” he said. “I’ll go with you. Where do we start?”

Janus glanced at his timepiece. “It’s not showing up on our trackers yet.”

“It messed with your tracker last time,” Pat pointed out.

“I know,” Janus said. “Which means it could be another fake one or whatever is causing it hasn’t started yet. If things start going wrong, but it still doesn’t show on our radar, it’s almost certainly a fake one, but some of the fake ones haven’t blocked our technology.”

“Here, I can check,” Pat said.

“Please don’t pull out an iPhone,” Janus begged.

 Pat stuck out his tongue at him, and then smiled. He reached for the bracelet on his wrist and twisted it back and forth a few times before pressing his palms together. He glanced around them quickly to make sure no one around them was watching and then peeled apart his palms like he was miming reading a book.

“What the fuck is that, and how do I get one?” Remus asked immediately. It was innocuous, whatever it was. If someone from this time caught a glimpse of the display, they’d likely assume it was a trick of the light, but staring right at it, Janus could tell it was a map of the surrounding areas with a softly glowing blue light marking their current location. Janus could see no screen or origin of a hologram. It looked like the image was drawn onto the man’s palms, but as he watched, the image shifted to zoom out.

[superboyz]

clone/human error (timkon)

in which Damian plays inadvertent match maker but only so Tim will stop being such an embarrassment.

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

Damian’s mind had drifted off, brow furrowed and hunched in his patented thinking position. How long had he been staring at the same words? But he couldn’t stop puzzling over the odd behavior he had witnessed- a kind tone of voice shocked him out of it.

“What?”

Grayson leaned over the back of the chair and began reading the screen, “what’re you thinking about?”

“Nothing,” he responded, a gut reaction. But he soon thought better of it: Dick understood that some actions that might seem normal to other people were incomprehensible to a thirteen year old ex-assassin- no judgement if Damian asked. And he was sometimes the only one who could make sense of Tim’s actions like the time he had starting investigating the Illuminati and filled a board with red string and pictures of the Denver airport, Dick knew that it was time to feed him and put him to bed. 

He cleared his throat and waited until Dick’s eyes were fixed on him expectantly before asking, “Drake, and that kryptonian clone… I don’t understand.”

“Yeah, Timmy and Conner- understand what?”

“Well,” he had to remind himself that Dick wouldn’t reprimand him for asking questions- force of habit. “Are we not supposed to acknowledge- is father-“ it was odd for him to stumble over his words, even more odd that Grayson was looking at him with a very confused expression.

“I’m missing something Damian.”

“Well,” he started impatiently, “I asked Jon about them, and he claimed that he was unaware they were in a relationship together. And Brown laughed, although it’s all very obvious… was I not supposed to mention it?”

Dick’s initial response didn’t help- he blinked listlessly before covering his hand with a guffaw. Damian’s face hardened and he quickly turned somber, “I wasn’t laughing at you Dami. It’s- well, Jon was right, they aren’t dating. What would make you say that it’s obvious?”

Now it was Damian’s turn to laugh, maybe Grayson was that obtuse. “Physical affection, pet names, dates, gifts: these are all signs of romantic partnership. You should know this better than me, Richard,” he admonished with a smirk.

“They’re just friends Damian.”

“He brought the clone as a date to the Christmas party,” he deadpanned.

“Not as a date per-say.”

“You would never invite Wallace to the Christmas party!”

“Exactly! Because- ... well-,” Damian smiled to see Dick falter for a few seconds. “Hmm,” he said finally, cupping his chin thoughtfully. “Good question,” he said finally.

“Well?” Damian prompted, impatient again.

“Well what?”

“Was it wrong of me to mention it? I’m aware father doesn’t allow meta-humans in Gotham, and they’ve somehow convinced people-“

Dick shook his head, "they aren’t together Dami.”

He sighed heavily, "Grayson, I find it hard to believe you already forgot our conversation of a few seconds ago-“

“They’re not dating."

“Well why not,” Damian exploded. He was even more confused than he had been before Grayson arrived, it didn’t make sense. At this rate he would never understand his peers, their actions were so counter intuitive. And just when he thought he might understand more than Grayson.

Dick laughed softly, "calm down Damian. If you care so much, why don’t you ask Tim? He’s coming home to pick up some things tomorrow.”

“I don’t care, only that it’s stupid,” he scowled as Dick continued to smile his amused smile, “and I will ask.”

“Good initiative Robin, tell me what you find,” Dick encouraged. Damian smirked ‘I will’.

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

“What are you starring at me for, demon spawn?” Damian’s gaze had been unsettling him all night, and did even more when he just smiled softly when Bruce yelled a half hearted ‘knock it off!’

Tim was confined to the table until he finished his food, a childish punishment that was sure to frustrate him in addition to Damian’s tactics to unnerve him, which seemed to be doing their job. The perfect conditions to launch his attack. Tim mocked Bruce under his breath but continued to sit petulantly, just pushing the spinach and bits of chicken across his plate with his fork. More confusing to Damian than his relationship-not-relationship was the fact that anyone would want to date Drake when he had such an affinity for acting like a petulant child.

“Don’t you have anyone else to torture,” Drake mocked with a mean smile. Damian responded tactfully with a kind one which made succeeded in making Tim even more frustrated and unnerved. “Fuck off.”

Bruce yelled something else unintelligible and Alfred peeked his head in to give Tim and his plate an unimpressed look before ducking his head out again.

“I’m hoping,” he started finally, “that you can answer a question for me.”

“Are you the worst Robin?: yes. Now leave.”

“You and your Superboy,” he continued.

“What do you want with Conner, demon spawn,” Tim snarled. ‘Protective’ Damian noted, as if ticking off a mental checklist.

“The nature of your relationship seems to be… close.”

“Yeah Damian, it’s called friendship- I’m sure its completely foreign to you,” Tim sneered. He punctuated this with a bite of chicken that he chewed noisily, and with his mouth open.

“Colin and Jon are my friends,” he pointed out good-naturedly. “But we’re not as close as to use pet names,” Tim cocked an annoyed eyebrow, suddenly clued into the line of questioning, “and I don’t take them as dates to social functions.”

Tim was silent, staring levelly at Damian and taking little bites every so often. After about a minute of the stand-off Damian finally continued as if Tim had replied, “those types of things could be mis-construed by some people, some very rational people, into thinking that the two of you might be in a romantic relationship.”

“Very rational is objective,” Tim said, suddenly calm and reasonable as if he was suddenly engaged in a debate in class, “for example I would say killing people isn’t very rational, but to a little psychopath like yourself, it could seem normal to a point of being instinctive.”

Damian felt a tt of annoyance if only because he found it irrelevant and unnecessary that Tim would dredge up the past, “killing is no longer something I can justify. I haven’t done that in a long time.”

“I’ve never killed anyone ever.”

“We’re not talking about me,” Damian said, trying not to let his frustration bleed through.

“Right,” Tim said, with his mouthful of a dainty bite of spinach. He punctuated his words with his fork, “we’re talking about how you’re obsessed with me and my relationship- I’m not entitled to answer any of your questions.”

“I only have one,” Damian tongued the inside of his cheek, “and I haven’t even asked it yet.”

“Fine, what is it?"

“What are you planning to do about your feelings for him?”

You could’ve heard a pin drop. Tim stared at him, eyes comically wide, before he suddenly started choking on an invisible bite of food. Damian smiled to himself, watching as Tim seemed to flounder. 

“What the hell are you talking about,” Tim eventually choked out.

“Surely you don’t think that people wouldn’t notice,” it was his turn to sneer. “Physical affection, pet names, extended amounts of time alone, together, gifts, all markers of a romantic relationship. And if that wasn’t enough you talk about him incessantly, call for him in times of emotional distress, prolonged stares, and a rational person might say that when someone dies, the obvious next step isn’t attempting to clone them.”

“You wouldn’t know how to interpret that behavior, let alone understand it,” Tim said, face livid at this read.

“Wouldn’t I? For example I can interpret Graysons caring actions towards me and understand it as brotherly love. Maybe you’re just saying that because your actions aren’t being interpreted or understood by the clone, and maybe you’re too afraid to voice them aloud. Or maybe you never realized it, which would be surprisingly idiotic even by your standards, or you have never let yourself acknowle-“

Damian was cut off by the loud sound of Tim’s chair scraping as he pushed it back. In a tense moment Tim considered his now empty dinner plate for a second before lobbing it at Damian’s head and storming off. It shattered behind Damian’s head and from upstairs Bruce swore loudly. He had gotten too off track with his line in questioning, Damian concluded, and then became annoyed with himself, he never got his question answered.

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

“I just don’t understand why you’re pushing this unless, of course, you care about Timmy and want him to be happy because you’re his brother,” Grayson teased him. Damian didn’t feel the need to even justify that with a response.

“It’s just frustrating.”

“Frustrating why?”

“I find it insulting to Father that he would chose to entertain partnership with someone so stupid. And you too, Grayson.”

“Gee thanks,” Dick scoffed, “but I still don’t think that that’s the reason.”

“Think what you want," Damian said, combatively, “but I’m going to bed now.”

“Goodnight Dami.”

“Goodnight Richard." He ended the call and set his phone on his bedside table. He looked restlessly around the room. Of course Tim would choose to whine to Dick. The idiot had stormed off without even grabbing the files he came for in the first place and had to double back for them, more than that he broke a plate that had been in the Wayne family for generations- thoughtless. In hindsight Damian guessed he could’ve been less pointed, but he just wanted Timothy to realize how stupid he was being and hopefully push him in the right direction. It may even be a nice initiative, but as shown by tonight, Timothy was filled with so much spite he would sit in front of his dinner for an extra hour just because he didn’t like steamed spinach. It was embarrassing by proxy. 

And hey- maybe if Timothy started dating Superboy he would come home even less. And maybe if Todd started dating his useless partner Roy Harper, he wouldn’t come home either… 

Just as Damian was being lulled to sleep with the nice prospect, Titus, who was at the foot of Damian’s bed gave a start. He rushed to the open window, ears alert and eyes trained on something in the darkness.

“What is it Titus?” His ear twitched, but he wouldn’t move when Damian called for him again. Damian climbed out of bed and shuffled over to his pet, intent on making him settle on the bed so Damian could sleep without interruption but when he gazed into the night sky he could see two blurry shapes on the horizon. He shied away from the curtain on instinct but wasn’t very much afraid as Titus’ tail began to wag and he began to whine, the way he did when he saw someone he knew… Through the open window he could hear the latch to Tim’s balcony open and without any warning Krypto came sailing through the open window, immediately hyperactively jumping around the space between Damian and Titus. He tried to quiet the Superdog, giving him a hug to keep him still and shushing him, but it was no use- over the panting he couldn’t hear a thing. Krypto wriggled in his arms, trying to get to Titus or to Damian’s closet where he kept some dog treats but he kept a tight hold on the dog, straining his ears to catch the conversation next door, but it would be impossible to make out from in his room. And if he let Krypto go he would surely make enough noise to alert Bruce that Superboy was in the house and then it would all be over, whatever it was.

It was a dilemma, but ultimately Damian knew what he had to do, he had to keep the dog still. He spent a whole five minutes wrestling with the pup until he started whining and pulling Damian towards the open window. He tried to hold on but ultimately couldn’t as Krypto began to pull him off the ground. In a last ditch effort he grabbed the stupid cape the clone kept tied around his neck but it ripped with what seemed to be an earsplitting sound in contrast the the quiet night. Krypto went sailing out the window and crashed the glass balcony door, so eager to get to his owner. Damian face-palmed, there was nothing he could do now. 

He walked to Tim’s door and pushed it open without knocking, but the sight inside gave him pause. Superboy was straddling Tim on the floor, the two of their faces only a inch apart and they only looked away when Damian announced himself to the two of them. “I hope it was worth it to bring that stupid dog.”

“He was only protecting me from the glass,” Tim stuttered pathetically.

“Whatever you say Drake, but father will see through that straight away if your boyfriend doesn’t leave before he gets up here.” That sentence was punctuated by Bruce’s feet thundering up the steps. Within a second both boy and dog had cleared and Tim was left laying in the middle of the floor when Bruce came barreling in.

“What the hell happened?” He didn’t even bother to grapple with which one of them did it, immediately and harshly yanking Damian around to face him.

“I’m sorry father, it was childish of me. I just wanted to give him a fright.”

“I thought you knew better than that Damian. I’m very disappointed in you- no patrol for a week.”

“Fine,” he said. If he sounded oddly compliant, or didn’t notice the way Tim looked after Damian as he padded off to his room, Bruce didn’t seem to notice.

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

The window was fixed within a week but by the time Christmas came around Todd not only knew about the incident months later, but kept bringing it up. 

“-sent a drone to attack him in the middle of the night!” Dick didn’t even try to give the proper response to what Jason considered to be a very funny story, and just gave Damian a costly look. Grayson’s admonishments had hurt much more than Bruce’s and continued too. He almost wished had just told the Dick the truth in the moment, it would’ve even sounded more likely than the lie, but he didn’t for some reason. He just waited until Jason left to go get another glass of “adult eggnog” and avoided Tim’s eyes. 

He honestly couldn’t tell if Tim was still preoccupied like the incident like Todd or if he just missed his boyfriend, but it soon was clear that the latter was the truth because Conner showed up a couple seconds later wearing a hideous ugly sweater, Tim didn’t look at Damian for the rest of the night. Their PDA had become more tolerable with time but Jon, who had tagged along, stuck out his tongue and mock retched when the clone pulled Tim in for a kiss under the mistletoe.

So his plan to get Tim out of the house had backfired, and now he had roped his stupid boyfriend into coming by too. Even if Todd became as annoying as Drake with his partner, Damian decided that he wouldn’t intervene in anymore romantic relationships, ever. Drake still wanted to rub his victory in Damian’s face however. When he got to his room in the evening the idiot had scrawled him a little ‘thank you’ on a holiday card. Damian put it in a box under his bed for safekeeping, but only so he would never have to look at it again.

[nineteenseventeenbarnes]

Good Thing

Pairing: Bucky x OC x rest of the Avengers Genre: idek Word Count: 2457 Warnings: n/a

You sit on the kitchen counter in your PJs, sipping your tea and scrolling through your phone. You look up when you hear someone walking into the kitchen, and you greet Nat good morning when she waves at you.

"Up to anything today?" Nat asks as she pours herself a cup of coffee.

"Pepper told me there's this amazing cake shop that just opened last week on Fort Street. Might go check it out," you answer her as you continue scrolling through your phone. There was an eye shadow palette by Anastasia Beverly Hills you really wanted, and you were looking at which store closest to the cake shop had it in stock to grab one on your way back.

"You're going alone?" Nat questions and you know she wants to see if you have a date. You look at her and roll your eyes. She knew what that meant.

"I can't believe you, Y/N," Nat sighs. "You're young, have no family left, have zero interest in men or women, how can you be so contented with your life?"

"Nat, we've been through this," you remind her in a sing-song voice. "You guys are my family, remember? And it's not that I have zero interest in people; I'm just not interested in relationships."

"So whatever is going on between you and Barnes is considered nothing?"

"Yes, Nat, it's nothing," you tell her. This was probably the 20th time you've said that since you and Bucky started sleeping with each other casually. One night, you wanted someone to warm your bed, Bucky offered, and so it began. "It means nothing, trust me."

"How do you know that?"

"Because..."

"Because?" And right on cue, they hear a door open and slam shut before a half-naked Bucky walks into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Buck," you greet him, passing him an empty mug. "Chloe's over?"

"Mornin'. How'd ya know?" he asks you before popping his neck and making his way over to the coffee machine.

"It's 11AM on a Sunday, you're usually up by 8, and you only get up later when you have company," you explain, jumping off the kitchen counter.

"Didn't know you were so interested in his life, Y/N." Nat teased.

"Observation skills, hun," you wink at her before turning around and heading back to your room.

Nat didn't miss the way Bucky watched your retreating figure, and at that moment, she knew.

Two hours later, at precisely 2PM, you emerge from your room and make your way to the lounge where Steve and Bucky sat watching the Sunday news.

"You look nice, Y/N," Steve compliments as you pop yourself next to him on the sofa, not missing the new coat or make-up you had on. "Got a date?"

Bucky tried to ignore your presence when you walked in the living room, but at the word date, he focused on the conversation you were having with Steve.

"Nope," you tell him, popping the P at the end. "Just spending some me time."

You bid Steve and Bucky goodbye after receiving a text from your Uber driver and make your way downstairs.

"Looking good, Y/N!" Tony calls out as you two pass by each other on your way to the elevator.

"Thanks, Tony!" you get to add before the elevator door closes.

"Is she going out with someone?" Tony asks Steve and Bucky.

"She said she wasn't," Steve answers Tony. "You think she is?"

"Probably not, she always looks nice when we're not on missions, nothing new," Tony shrugs before making his way to find Bruce in his room.

Bucky groans as he hears his phone ring. Steve throws his friend a sympathetic look as Bucky picks up.

"Hey."

"Baby, are you free this evening?"

"Chloe, you just stayed over."

"I KNOW, but I miss you."

"Steve says there might be a mission tonight, I'll see you another day." he doesn't even wait for her to reply before he ends the call.

"Must be tough having a girlfriend," Steve teases Bucky, who looked like he wanted to rip his hair out.

"She's not my girlfriend," Bucky mumbles with his arms crossed, focusing back on the news reporter on TV.

"Well, it's even tougher to be pinning someone who doesn't even like you back," Nat adds, coming out of nowhere and joining to two on the sofa.

You walk into the brightly lit shop. The counter was lined with almost 50 kinds of different cakes and you couldn't wait to try at least 5 of them.

"Y/N!!!" you hear someone call out from your right. You turn to see Chloe in line to order.

"Hey, Chloe," you greet as she waves you over. She had been seeing Bucky on and off the last 2 months, so you two were acquainted. Bucky had told you they were just seeing each other, so you still occasionally slept with him. If Chloe knows or not, isn't any of your business.

"What a coincidence! Did you come alone?" you tell her you did come alone, and she offered to sit with you.

Both of you sit down with 10 slices of cakes to share and start chatting. It was the first time you've exchanged so many words with her and you were beginning to see how in love she actually was with Bucky.

"So, Y/N, enough about Bucky and I," she giggles. "What about you? Seeing anyone?"

"Not really," you honestly tell her. "I mean, I sleep with people occasionally and I think it's fun to talk to randoms on Tinder, but other than that, nothing serious." "You're so gorgeous though, Y/N," Chloe tells you, a pout on her face. "Bet you have the people you sleep with waiting for your every command."

You laugh at her statement and sip your tea quietly.

"James Buchanan Barnes!" you call out when you return to the living quarters of the compound. "We need to talk!"

"Full name doesn't sound good," Bruce mumbles as he, Tony, Steve and Bucky hears you call from the dining hall.

"That's our cue to leave," Tony tells Bruce and Steve before dragging them both away.

"BARNES IS IN THE DINING ROOM!" Tony shouts loud enough for you to hear before winking at Bucky and disappearing with the other two.

Bucky gives you a small smile when you enter the dining room and you give him a smile back. You drop a take away box in front of him and sit on the seat across from him.

"It's for you, I know you like cheesecake," Bucky peeks into the takeaway box to see 2 slices of cheesecake.

"Thanks, Y/N." he grins.

"And Chloe knows that too," you add.

"Excuse me?"

"You haven't been very fair to her, Barnes. She's clearly madly in love with you, but you brush her off like she's just some random chick from a bar."

"She fell for me too fast," he mumbles, stabbing the cake with a fork and taking a bite. "I don't really like her."

"Well damn, Barnes," you shake your head. "Stop leading her on then!"

Bucky just stared at you. If only you knew the emotional conflict he was going through, you wouldn't be saying these to him.

"I think we should stop sleeping with each other till you figure things out with Chloe, Buck."

It's been a week since you last spoke to Bucky about anything personal. You tried your hardest not to make things weird, but the owner of a particular pair of steel-blue eyes refuses to let you play it off as nothing. He'd try to walk up to you and talk about what had happened, but you kept playing it off. You've started avoiding missions altogether now too.

"Hey, Y/N," Steve greets as you enter the kitchen one morning.

"Mornin', Steve." you greet back, pouring yourself a glass of coffee.

"So, there's a mission tomorrow and I was hoping you and Buck-"

"Sorry, Steve, I promised to help at the pet shelter tomorrow," you tell him with a smile and walk out of the kitchen.

"Not like you can tell her no, she's helping animals," Nat comments as she walks into the kitchen after listening in on the conversation.

"Why is this so difficult?" Steve mumbles, running his hands through his hair.

"Maybe because you're meddling," Nat tells him while walking over to the counter and pulling out a pan.

"I'm just trying to help!" Steve defends. Nat shakes her head before getting back to her eggs.

"Y/N, can we talk?" Bucky asks, grabbing your wrist as you pass by him in the hallway.

"Yes, Buck?" you face him, a fake smile on your face. "What can I help you with?"

"Why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not," you let out a chuckle, lightly pulling your wrist from his grasp. "I've just been... Busy."

"Y/N, please-"

"No, Buck, you please," you finally break the facade and tell him. "Stop messing with other people's feelings. Chloe is such a nice girl, and you made her think-"

"I called it off." You stare at him, trying to process what he said. 

"Excuse me?"

"I stopped seeing Chloe."

"Oh my God," you shake your head at what he said. "Did you at least lay it down slow? Or did you just ghost her?" Bucky didn't say anything.

"Unbelievable." you mutter.

"I like YOU, okay?" Bucky finally admits. "It's always been you!" 

"Goddammit, Barnes! That's not what we agreed on!" you yell out before walking away.

The next few days were unbearable. Word of you and Buck's falling out had gotten to the rest of the team, and they didn't want the team falling apart. You had always been the friendliest one, the one that acted most ordinary, and that gave them a sense of normality too, but the last few days, you've started to pull away, and that kind of scared everyone. Nat might have thought meddling was unnecessary, but she began to meddle too.

By week 2, you've had it. Stark had thrown enough parties and organized enough team building activities the last 2 weeks to last the year, Steve and Nat had tried to get you on as many missions with Bucky as you could, and everyone else has tried to get you to sit next to Bucky at every meal.

"That's it," you mumbled after dinner one night and headed back to your room. The rest of the team was confused, but Wanda knew what was about to happen.

"Hey, Y/N?" Wanda called out, knocking the door to your room. "Can Viz and I come in?"

"Yeah," you yell as you continued to pack your clothes.

"Where are you heading to, Miss Y/N?" Vision asks, looking at the suitcase on your bed.

"Away for a bit, Viz," you tell him with a smile. "I was thinking of sipping some coconuts in the Bahamas or something."

"That's a far place to go to sip coconuts..." Wanda mumbles, a sad tone to her voice, but you knew she understood.

"I think it'll be good for the team if I went away for a while, Wanda," you tell her, pulling her into a hug.

"But Miss Y/N, does Mr. Stark know?" Vision asks.

"Viz, there are somethings Mr. Stark doesn't have to know," you tell him.

The next morning, the whole team woke up to an unoccupied room at the end of the hallway and a handwritten letter on the kitchen table.

"Dear World's Mightiest Heroes," Steve reads out loud, chuckling at how she addressed it. "You guys, I don't know where to start. But also, before I start, hand Wanda a tissue because she probably cried all night, and it's probably gonna happen again."

"Wait, you knew?" Tony exclaims, looking over to the brunette and cutting Steve, who was reading the letter, off. "You didn't stop her?"

"Don't blame the poor girl, Tony," Steve continues, reading off the letter before Wanda could defend herself. "Did I assume what he was gonna say right? Anyway, none of you blame yourselves for what happened, please. I chose this path, and it was inevitably gonna happen, ask Bruce."

"I- what?" Bruce mumbles, thinking about what the letter had just said.

"Has she ever said anything to you about leaving before?" Nat asks him, her eyes getting teary.

"She mentioned wanting to live somewhere deep in the mountains or on a secluded island before... Would that be it?" Bruce questions.

"Keep reading," Sam tells Steve as he glances at Bucky, who looked deep in thought.

Steve clears his throat before continuing. "I'm still deciding between going to live in Bhutan, buying an island in the Bahamas or getting a house built in Africa -"

"Wow, nice flex, Y/N," Clint snickers.

"Where did she get all the money?" Tony mumbles.

"We get paid for missions, Tony," Nat reminds.

"Yeah, but not enough to buy a private island? Or build a house in freaking Africa?" Sam adds.

"Yeah, well, she used to take some of your photos candidly and sold them to fanboys and fangirls online," Nat nonchalantly adds in.

"Yeah, I remember that she made tons off of those," Wanda nods.

The rest of the team stares at the two girls in disbelief. Unsure on how to process that new bit of information.

"Steve, the letter?" Bucky reminds, finally speaking up. He wanted to know everything the letter contained.

"Can we please try to minimize the interruptions?" Steve tells the team before glancing back at the letter. "No one should feel sad or upset that I've left. I came into the team as a temporary when Rhodey was unwell, and all of you extended your arms and welcomed me into this family with no questions asked, especially Thor, and I will forever be grateful for that. The feeling I had when Steve asked me to officially be part of the team? Best feeling in the world, I felt like I finally belonged somewhere. But even then, I had told Steve I would leave the team eventually, he knew I would."

"All in all, this isn't about who was the reason for me going away," Steve continues as Bucky glances out the window. "Or if you guys weren't worth the blood, sweat, and tears for, but I just wanted to be a bit more selfish and think of myself. You all know my history with HYDRA, I think I've done enough good for this world, I think I deserve this retirement. I know Tony can find me effortlessly, so can Clint and Nat, and I won't blame you if you do, but please remember that I chose this for me. I already have a good thing going for me, so don't tell me I can have better."

[nineteenseventeenbarnes00]

Good Thing

Pairing: Bucky x OC x rest of the Avengers Genre: idek  Word Count: 2459 Warnings: n/a

You sit on the kitchen counter in your PJs, sipping your tea and scrolling through your phone. You look up when you hear someone walking into the kitchen, and you greet Nat good morning when she waves at you.

"Up to anything today?" Nat asks as she pours herself a cup of coffee.

"Pepper told me there's this amazing cake shop that just opened last week on Fort Street. Might go check it out," you answer her as you continue scrolling through your phone. There was an eye shadow palette by Anastasia Beverly Hills you really wanted and you were looking at which store closest to the cake shop had it in stock to grab one on your way back.

"You're going alone?" Nat questions and you know she wants to see if you have a date. You look at her and roll your eyes. She knew what that meant.

"I can't believe you, Y/N," Nat sighs. "You're young, have no family left, have zero interest in men or women, how can you be so contented with your life?"

"Nat, we've been through this," you remind her in a sing-song voice. "You guys are my family, remember? And it's not that I have zero interest in people; I'm just not interested in relationships."

"So whatever is going on between you and Barnes is considered nothing?"

"Yes, Nat, it's nothing," you tell her. This was probably the 20th time you've said that to her since you and Bucky started sleeping together casually. One night, you wanted someone to come warm your bed, Bucky offered, and so it began. "It means nothing, trust me."

"How do you know that?"

"Because..."

"Because?" And right on cue, they hear a door open and slam shut before a half-naked Bucky walks into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Buck," you greet him, passing him an empty mug. "Chloe's over?"

"Mornin'. How'd ya know?" he asks you before popping his neck and making his way over to the coffee machine.

"It's 11AM on a Sunday, you're usually up by 8, and you only get up later when you have company," you explain, jumping off the kitchen counter.

"Didn't know you were so interested in his life, Y/N." Nat teased.

"Observation skills, hun," you wink at her before turning around and heading back to your room.

Nat didn't miss the way Bucky watched your retreating figure, and at that moment, she knew.

Two hours later, at precisely 2PM, you emerge from your room and make your way to the lounge where Steve and Bucky sat watching the Sunday news.

"You look nice, Y/N," Steve compliments as you pop yourself next to him on the sofa, not missing the new coat or make-up you had on. "Got a date?"

Bucky tried to ignore your presence when you walked in the living room, but at the word date, he focused on the conversation you were having with Steve.

"Nope," you tell him, popping the P at the end. "Just spending some me time."

You bid Steve and Bucky goodbye after receiving a text from your Uber driver and make your way downstairs.

"Looking good, Y/N!" Tony calls out as you two pass by each other on your way to the elevator.

"Thanks, Tony!" you get to add before the elevator door closes.

"Is she going out with someone?" Tony asks Steve and Bucky.

"She said she wasn't," Steve answers Tony. "You think she is?"

"Probably not, she always looks nice when we're not on missions, nothing new," Tony shrugs before making his way to find Bruce in his room.

Bucky groans as he hears his phone ring. Steve throws his friend a sympathetic look as Bucky picks up.

"Hey."

"Baby, are we meeting for dinner?"

"Chloe, you just stayed over."

"I KNOW, but I miss you."

"Steve says there might be a mission tonight, I'll see you another day." he doesn't even wait for her to reply before he ends the call.

"Must be tough having a girlfriend," Steve teases Bucky, who looked like he wanted to rip his hair out.

"She's not my girlfriend," Bucky mumbles with his arms crossed, focusing back on the news reporter on TV.

"Well, it's even more tough to be pinning someone who doesn't even like you back," Nat adds, coming out of nowhere and joining to two on the sofa.

You walk into the brightly lit shop. The counter was lined with almost 50 kinds of different cakes and you couldn't wait to try at least 5 of them.

"Y/N!!!" you hear someone call out from your right. You turn to see Chloe in line to order.

"Hey, Chloe," you greet as she waves you over. She had been seeing Bucky on and off the last 2 months so you two were acquainted. Bucky had told you they were just seeing each other, so you still occasionally slept with him. If Chloe knows or not, isn't any of your business.

"What a coincidence! Did you come alone?" you tell her you did come alone and she offered to sit with you.

Both of you sit down with 10 slices of cakes to share and start chatting. It was the first time you've exchanged so many words with her and you were beginning to see how in love she actually was with Bucky.

"So, Y/N, enough about Bucky and I," she giggles. "What about you? Seeing anyone?"

"Not really," you honestly tell her. "I mean, I sleep with people occasionally and I think it's fun to talk to randoms on Tinder, but other than that, nothing serious."

"You're so gorgeous though, Y/N," Chloe tells you, a pout on her face. "Bet you have the people you sleep with waiting for your every command."

You laugh at her statement and sip your tea quietly.

"James Buchanan Barnes!" you call out when you get back to the living quarters of the compound. "We need to talk!"

"Full name doesn't sound good," Bruce mumbles as he, Tony, Steve and Bucky hears you call from the dining hall.

"That's our cue to leave," Tony tells Bruce and Steve before dragging them both away.

"BARNES IS IN THE DINING ROOM!" Tony shouts loud enough for you to hear before winking at Bucky and disappearing with the other two.

Bucky gives you a small smile when you enter the dining room and you give him a smile back. You drop a take away box in front of him and sit on the seat across from him.

"It's for you, I know you like cheesecake," Bucky peeks into the takeaway box to see 2 slices of cheesecake.

"Thanks, Y/N." he grins.

"And Chloe knows that too," you add.

"Excuse me?"

"You haven't been very fair to her, Barnes. She's clearly madly in love with you, but you brush her off like she's just some random chick from a bar."

"She fell for me too fast," he mumbles, stabbing the cake with a fork and taking a bite. "I don't really like her."

"Well damn, Barnes," you shake your head. "Stop leading her on then!"

Bucky just stared at you. If only you knew the emotional conflict he was going through, you wouldn't be saying these to him.

"I think we should stop sleeping with each other till you figure things out with Chloe, Buck."

It's been a week since you last spoke to Bucky about anything personal. You tried your hardest not to make things weird, but the owner of a certain pair of steel-blue eyes refuses to let you play it off as nothing. He'd try to walk up to you and talk about what had happened, but you kept playing it off. You've started avoiding missions altogether now too.

"Hey, Y/N," Steve greets as you enter the kitchen one morning.

"Mornin', Steve." you greet back, pouring yourself a glass of coffee.

"So, there's a mission tomorrow and I was hoping you and Buck-"

"Sorry, Steve, I promised to help at the pet shelter tomorrow," you tell him with a smile and walk out of the kitchen.

"Not like you can tell her no, she's helping animals," Nat comments as she walks into the kitchen after listening in on the conversation.

"Why is this so difficult?" Steve mumbles, running his hands through his hair.

"Maybe because you're meddling," Nat tells him while walking over to the counter and pulling out a pan.

"I'm just trying to help!" Steve defends. Nat shakes her head before getting back to her eggs.

"Y/N, can we talk?" Bucky asks, grabbing your wrist as you pass by him in the hallway.

"Yes, Buck?" you face him, a fake smile on your face. "What can I help you with?"

"Why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not," you let out a chuckle, lightly pulling your wrist from his grasp. "I've just been... Busy."

"Y/N, please-"

"No, Buck, you please," you finally break the facade and tell him. "Stop messing with other people's feelings. Chloe is such a nice girl and you made her think-"

"I called it off." You stare at him, trying to process what he said. 

"Excuse me?"

"I stopped seeing Chloe."

"Oh my God," you shake your head at what he said. "Did you at least lay it down slow? Or did you just ghost her?" Bucky didn't say anything.

"Unbelievable." you mutter.

"I like YOU, okay?" Bucky finally admits. "It's always been you!" 

"Goddammit, Barnes! That's not what we agreed on!" you yell out before walking away.

The next few days were unbearable. Word of you and Buck's falling out had gotten to the rest of the team and they didn't want the team falling apart. You had always been the friendliest one, the one that acted most normal and that gave them a sense of normality too, but the last few days, you've started to pull away and that kinda scared everyone. Nat might have thought meddling was unnecessary, but she began to meddle too.

By week 2, you've had it. Stark had thrown enough parties and organized enough team building activities the last 2 weeks to last the year, Steve and Nat had tried to get you on as many missions with Bucky as you could, and everyone else has tried to get you to sit next to Bucky at every meal.

"That's it," you mumbled after dinner one night and headed back to your room.

The rest of the team was confused, but Wanda knew what was about to happen.

"Hey, Y/N?" Wanda called out, knocking the door to your room. "Can Viz and I come in?"

"Yeah," you yell as you continued to pack your clothes.

"Where are you heading to, Miss Y/N?" Vision asks, looking at the suitcase on your bed.

"Away for a bit, Viz," you tell him with a smile. "I was thinking of sipping some coconuts in the Bahamas or something."

"That's a far place to go to sip coconuts..." Wanda mumbles, a sad tone to her voice, but you knew she understood.

"I think it'll be good for the team if I went away for a while, Wanda," you tell her, pulling her into a hug.

"But Miss Y/N, does Mr. Stark know?" Vision asks.

"Viz, there are somethings Mr. Stark doesn't have to know," you tell him.

The next morning, the whole team woke up to an unoccupied room at the end of the hallway and a handwritten letter on the kitchen table.

"Dear World's Mightiest Heroes," Steve reads out loud, chuckling at how she addressed it. "You guys, I don't know where to start. But also, before I start, hand Wanda a tissue because she probably cried all night, and it's probably gonna happen again."

"Wait, you knew?" Tony exclaims, looking over to the brunette and cutting Steve, who was reading the letter, off. "You didn't stop her?"

"Don't blame the poor girl, Tony," Steve continues, reading off the letter before Wanda could defend herself. "Did I assume what he was gonna say right? Anyway, none of you blame yourselves for what happened, please. I chose this path, and it was inevitably gonna happen, ask Bruce."

"I- what?" Bruce mumbles, thinking about what the letter had just said.

"Has she ever said anything to you about leaving before?" Nat asks him, her eyes getting teary.

"She mentioned wanting to live somewhere deep in the mountains or on a secluded island before... Would that be it?" Bruce questions.

"Keep reading," Sam tells Steve as he glances at Bucky, who looked deep in thought.

Steve clears his throat before continuing. "I'm still deciding between going to live in Bhutan, buying an island in the Bahamas or getting a house built in Africa -"

"Wow, nice flex, Y/N," Clint snickers.

"Where did she get all the money?" Tony mumbles.

"We get paid for missions, Tony," Nat reminds.

"Yeah, but not enough to buy a private island? Or build a house in freaking Africa?" Sam adds.

"Yeah, well, she used to take some of your photos candidly and sold them to fanboys and fangirls online," Nat nonchalantly adds in.

"Yeah, I remember that she made tons off of those," Wanda nods.

The rest of the team stares at the two girls in disbelief. Unsure on how to process that new bit of information.

"Steve, the letter?" Bucky reminds, finally speaking up. He wanted to know everything the letter contained.

"Can we please try to minimize the interruptions?" Steve tells the team before glancing back at the letter. "No one should feel sad or upset that I've left. I came into the team as a temporary when Rhodey was unwell and all of you extended your arms and welcomed me into this family with no questions asked, especially Thor, and I will forever be grateful for that. The feeling I had when Steve asked me to officially be part of the team? Best feeling in the world, I felt like I finally belonged somewhere. But even then, I had told Steve I would leave the team eventually, he knew I would."

"All in all, this isn't about who was the reason for me going away," Steve continues as Bucky glances out the window. "Or if you guys weren't worth the blood, sweat and tears for, but I just wanted to be a bit more selfish and think of myself. You all know my history with HYDRA, I think I've done enough good for this world, I think I deserve this retirement. I know Tony can find me effortlessly, so can Clint and Nat, and I won't blame you if you do, but please remember that I chose this for me. I already have a good thing going for me, so don't tell me I can have better."

___________________

a/n this literally took forever. i wrote part 1 like a month ago and even then, i honestly didn't know how it would end. would y/n run into Bucky's arms in the end? i sorta played with the idea but towards the end, it really became a y/n x avengers fic instead of y/n x bucky. (p.s i know this isn't well written but i really just had to close this story)

[thelangdoncooperative]

Bleed to Love Her | Michael Langdon

Part 5

Y/N’s pregnancy advanced rapidly. It was something she wasn't truly prepared for, despite Michael's warnings. It wasn't long before she looked ready to pop at any time. The child inside her moved all the time and seemed ready to join the world.

“Little one,” he grasped her hands as he helped her stand from the bed, “You really don't need to come down. Rest,” he suggested as he rubbed her swollen belly.

She shook her head, “We’re a team. That means I help too,”

“I have Ms. Mead. She can help me. I don't want you straining yourself,” he continued to rub her stomach as she gripped his arms. He was the only person who could really soothe their child. They seemed to know exactly who he was. His smooth voice stopped any excessive movements and for that Y/N was grateful.

“You're not getting rid of me that easy, Langdon,” she smiled as she grabbed his jacket and helped him slide it on.

He kissed her forehead gently, “I wouldn't dream of it,”

When she passed him and headed for the door, he rolled his eyes. He should've known better than to expect her to listen to him. She was stubborn and he secretly hoped their child carried the fire that she possessed.

The other members of the Outpost were fairly nice about Y/N's condition once they got over the initial panic of adding another stomach to their dwindling food supply. The only one who hadn't quite gotten past it was Coco but she was of no real threat.

When they sat down for dinner, Y/N still joined them. Of course, they weren't aware that she had another meal when she went back to her room. A nutrition cube was not enough to sustain a growing fetus and it certainly wouldn't sustain the child of Michael Langdon.

On the night of Halloween, Venable had arranged a party, one Michael insisted Y/N sit out. It was only when she made quite a fuss that he told her his plan for the Outpost.

“Oh, naughty boy,” she smiled as she ran a finger along his jawline, “this took forever,”

He laughed at how blunt she was, falling to his knees in front of her to place soft kisses on her stomach, “This isn't the place for a child. Imagine if you hadn't gotten pregnant. You would've gone out of your mind with boredom. This was the faster plan,”

When the evening came and everyone was gathered in the common room for the party, Y/N went about her normal nightly routine. She left Michael to his work while she took a long, hot bath. Aside from the massages Michael gave her, it was the only thing to soothe aching muscles.

She sat in the tub, her belly the only part of her peeking up through the water, as she rubbed soothing circles to calm her child.

“My love,” she cooed at her unborn baby, “don't come yet” she warned when she began to feel a pain in her lower stomach, “Daddy isn't ready yet. He has work to do”

She began to take long inhales and exhales. The pain in her stomach was not abnormal but more intense than usual. Y/N flinched, grabbing her stomach, when she heard a gunshot from the other side of the bathroom door. She rose as quickly as she could, careful not to slip as she exited the tub.

As she wrapped Michael’s robe around her body, she was comforted by the sound of his voice on the other side. She opened the door to find Venable’s lifeless body on the floor and Ms Mead in their room.

“Careful,” he reached his hands out when he saw Y/N dripping water onto the floor. Her eyes were in a panic and she clung to her stomach. Taking her hands, he helped her around the mess and sat her on the bed, "Little one,” he knelt in front of her, “They're here. Do you understand?”

She nodded, “It's time then? I need to get dressed,”

“Absolutely not,” his voice was stern, a tone he never used with her, “You will stay here. You will not leave this room until I come back for you. Do you understand?”

“Michael, let me-” he cut her off, waving his hand for her to stop. She bit down on her lip to stop the sound of pain that threatened. She couldn't worry him with that now.

“Ms. Mead will be with me,” he took Y/N's face in his hands and kissed her passionately. It almost felt like a goodbye and Y/N didn't like it one bit. Before he headed for the door, his fingers came into a loose fist and Venable’s body was gone.

“Michael,” she called to him. He turned back, sensing something different in her eyes but all he could offer was an encouraging smile. Something was coming and he had to go.

Y/N put on a loose dress and tried to ignore the pain in her stomach as she brushed out the knots in her wet hair. It was fairly quiet for longer than she expected. She expected to hear a big blowout under her feet. She paced the room, fingers laced under her belly as she begged her child to be patient. The pain was becoming overwhelming but she couldn't do it alone.

Her hands began to shake when she heard multiple shots from downstairs. It was quickly followed by multiple pairs of feet bounding up the stairs. Y/N backed herself into the farthest corner of the room. She leaned against the wall for support and bit down on her bottom lip whenever she wanted to cry out in pain.

She felt more at ease when she heard the familiar sound of Michael's heeled boots calmly walk up the stairs and down the hall. She knew he had given her instructions but she couldn't ignore this feeling anymore.

As she looked for her shoes, it happened. Her water broke and the panic truly set in. Forgoing shoes, she left the room in search of Michael. Hell, she'd even take Mead if she had to. She held Michael's knife in one hand and leaned on the wall for support with the other.

She tried to breathe through the pain but her exhales were shaky and did nothing to ease her. Her forehead was damp with sweat and she fought the overwhelming urge to push. This was all happening much faster than she had imagined.

She searched through the corridors. She stepped over the charred body of a man she couldn't quite place. He was taller than Gallant and Andre but it didn't matter now. She had other concerns. As she continued searching for someone, she stopped for a moment. She reached down between her legs and when she brought her hand back up there was a bit of blood on her fingers. Still she pressed on. Her eyes were shedding tears without her consent, her face felt sheeted in sweat and whenever she felt the urge to yell, she covered her mouth to muffle the sound. The pain made her dizzy and she hoped that she would find Michael soon.

She turned into a room where she heard voices. She was desperate to find anyone to help her. The pain was too great and she couldn't fight the urge to push for much longer.

When she stepped inside the room, Coco lay submerged in a tub as a woman with large red hair stood horrified at the rooms other entrance. Whatever she was watching, she didn't wish to see. When she did, the woman cried out in agony. Y/N caught a quick glimpse of the woman the red head was mourning. Michael had spoken of her, showed her a file on her. It was Cordelia Goode, the Supreme witch. Y/N got on her knees, unable to stand the task of walking any longer and slowly crawled to the tub. She understood exactly what Coco was now.

Taking the knife she had swiped off Michael’s desk, she brought it down with all the strength she had left. The knife pierced into Coco’s chest and her eyes opened under the water as it turned to red. Y/N removed the knife and stabbed her once more before she finally succumbed to her own pain. She screamed with everything in her. She felt like she was being torn apart.

In her daze, she could make out the blurry image of her lover, blood stained face and hands coming to hold her. She did not see what became of the red-headed witch.

“I told you not to leave the room,” Michael half-scolded. His voice was panicked he wiped off the blood on his hands on his pants.

Y/N grabbed his hand, not caring who's blood stained them, “Michael, please. Please, I can't,” She cried out in pain once more.

Looking to what she had done to Coco, he turned back, amazed at the woman before him, “You did that?” He asked as he pushed up her dress to prepare for the baby.

“We’re a team,” she panted as she whimpered at the pain, “Now I need you to help me,”

He nodded furiously, giving her one hand to squeeze as he asked her bear down. Y/N pushed and pushed. She leaned back against the tub for support, exhausted. Her face was mixed with sweat and tears.

“Okay. You can do this,” he looked her dead in the eyes, “Do you hear me? I need a few more good pushes, okay?”

“Okay,” she nodded lazily. Her eyes had a glazed over look and he had never seen her so out of sorts. It worried him more than he would let her know. She screamed as she pushed. She didn't stop until she heard the small cries of an infant.

She let her head fall back against the cold metal of the tub and her eyes close.

“Little one, look at her,” Michael sounded in complete awe of the child but she could not find the strength to look, “Baby” his voice was laced with concern. He brought his hand up to stroke her face and gently pat her cheek, “Y/N, look at me”

She fought against every muscle in her body to open her eyes, “Give her to me,” Michael passed her the child, wrapped in a cloth he grabbed in haste, keeping his hands under Y/N's arms as she held the baby, “Such beauty surrounded by so much death,”

Michael frowned at her words, whispering words she did not understand but somehow gave her strength. He leaned down to kiss Y/N’s head as he sat beside her and wrapped his arms around her, holding his new family, “No need to ever worry, pet. We are giving her life. We are giving her a new world.”

@duncans-donuts @langdonfern @langdonsdemon @duncvn @goshdarnitthatsalongname @silkyhoneybaby @samanthasmileys @justareader @toohalseymuch @sloppy-wrist @xscarlett-rosex @lukeyasheycalymikey @14-bees @meggleangelo @kylolangdon @ofbadchoices @y0utoo @javeneov03 @our-mrlangdon @gallxntdean @drowning-ophelia-writes @bitchchatter @howaboutanap @tigers-pat @boofy1998 @hxdesworld @langdon-michael @ourownhorrorstory @moonandstars-xo @blood-on-my-french-fries @kellysimagines @freyjanovazusonnental @mystic-Reader @the-temple-pythoness @katgitana @lunaaugurium @cherryberryann @figlia--Della--luna

[missjanjie]

Branjie Fic | Hold Me Closer, Tiny Dancer (11/11)

Title: Hold Me Closer, Tiny Dancer Summary: Brooke Lynn is a graduate student anxiously embracing her new position as her favorite dance professors’ new TA. Vanessa is a sophomore dance major who just might make her way into being more than the teacher(assistant)’s pet. (lesbian/university AU) Word Count: ~2.5k (this chapter)/~28.9k (total) Relationship: Branjie (Vanessa ‘Vanjie’ Mateo/Brooke Lynn Hytes) Rating: E

Read on AO3 | Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch.5 | Ch. 6 | Ch. 7 | Ch. 8 | Ch. 9 | Ch. 10

Vanessa was breathing heavily, staring up at the ceiling. Her face was red and dotted with beads of sweat. “Fuck, that was intense. Was it good for you?”

Brooke Lynn nodded with a satisfied grin. “Best one so far. Think you’ve got one last round in you?”

“But I’m so tired,” Vanessa whined, pouting and stomping her feet.

“I know you are, baby. But this is your final project. I don’t grade it, so you’ve really got to be at the top of your game,” she explained. “Come on, I think you can get through one more time before calling it a day,” she insisted.

And sure enough, Vanessa was able to get through her routine one last time before she threw in the towel. “You know we ain’t fucking tonight, right?” she murmured as she grabbed a towel to wipe her forehead.

“You say that now,” Brooke retorted with a laugh, “But you and I both know you have the willpower of a toddler at a birthday party,” she smirked at how Vanessa huffed indignantly because they both knew it was true. It was impossible for her to withhold sex as a punishment when it meant she would have to go without it as well.

Vanessa rolled her eyes and gathered her things. “Well, you at least owe me dinner,” she decided.

The day of Vanessa’s final project left her full of nerves from the moment she woke up to the moment she and Brooke Lynn walked into the studio – something no one even bothered to question, it was an open secret as Yvie had once said – and she showed no signs of calming down.

Presentations went in alphabetical order, and Vanessa greatly appreciated that – being in the middle of the pack was the perfect place to be as far as she was concerned. Katya could see what she put together, get graded, and let it blend among the other students. Normally, she loved standing out and being the center of attention, but this was different, daunting. Everything rode on this and she just hadn’t gotten her confidence up to where it needed to be.

“Nice job, Olivia,” Katya smiled as the girl sat down. Had they really gone so far down the list already? “Alright, Vanjie. You’re up next,” she called out.

Brooke gave her hand a quick squeeze. “You got this,” she whispered before nudging her towards the vacant space in the studio that was being used for the final performances.

And so, Vanessa took her place with a deep breath. She looked to Katya with a nod, signaling her to turn the music on. The beat was different than any of the ones that had been used before her, but she did her best to let that empower her, reminding herself of everything Brooke Lynn would tell her – how her uniqueness could be the best tool in her belt if she honed it in. Nobody at this school believed in her more than Brooke, and she wanted to make her proud.

“Mary J. Blige?” one girl whispered to another, getting a shrug in response. But – admittedly to Vanessa’s surprise – most of the class was smiling and nodding along as ‘No More Drama’ played through the speakers as Vanessa danced.

It was a song she had fallen in love with the very first time she listened to it. The connection she had to it was strong and fierce, so when she suggested it in her brainstorming session with Brooke Lynn, it seemed like the perfect fit. She was able to lose herself in the music, her body moving without her brain telling her where or why. Suddenly, she wasn’t in front of her classmates or Katya or even Brooke Lynn. She was in her childhood bedroom in Tampa, dancing and lip syncing into her hairbrush after her first breakup, trying to convince herself that everything would be okay.

In those moments, Vanessa was fully submerged into her passion and it was clear to everyone in that room that she deserved to be there as much as any of her trained, polished peers. They all applauded when she finished, no longer gasping for air and sweating like she had been during rehearsal.

“Great job, Vanjie,” Katya smiled in approval as her student returned to where she had been sitting down.

Brooke Lynn also gave Vanessa a thumbs up from her chair, grinning from ear to ear with an overwhelming sense of pride. She did her best to professionally watch the rest of the students, but every now and then she would catch her gaze drifting towards her girlfriend. Luckily Katya had followed through on her stance of being the sole grader of the projects as well.

By the time the class was over, the air seemed to feel lighter. Everyone was relieved to be finished – for many of the students for the entire semester. Brooke Lynn gathered her belongings – her coat, bag, and Vanessa – and headed out of the building. “It’s snowing,” she observed. “Have you ever wished you stayed in the city long enough to have a white Christmas?”

Vanessa shook her head. “Nah, it’s more fun opening presents while getting a tan if you ask me,” she chuckled, exhaling to see her breath in front of her. “You can take the girl out of Tampa, but you can’t take the Tampa out of the girl,” Brooke chuckled as they got to Vanessa’s dorm. “How far along have you gotten on packing?” she asked as they got in out of the cold. Without waiting, she answered it herself. “Let me guess, you haven’t actually started yet?”

Vanessa pouted. “Shut up,” she crossed her arms, then sighed, “I hate packing,” she whined.

“You can’t get your beachy Christmas if you don’t clear this place out,” Brooke reminded her, gathering Vanessa’s luggage bags. “Your roommate left already, right?” she asked, putting the luggage down on the stripped-down bed.

“Last night, yeah. Took a five-a.m. flight back to Ohio,” Vanessa confirmed as she finally got around to packing up. They worked in relative silence for a while before she turned to her. “I want you to come visit me over break. Not for Christmas, I know you got family to see. But during January. We deserve some real alone time,” she mused.

At first, Brooke was a little surprised by the offer, but the more she thought about it, the more sense it made – they would have to go six weeks apart after spending almost the entire semester together. Their lives had become so deeply intertwined that separating them seemed wrong. “You don’t think your mom or anyone else would mind? I wouldn’t want to impose, I could always stay at a hotel, or—”

“Brooke, dial it down,” Vanessa put her hands up on her shoulders. “My family loves you. None of them would shut up about you after Thanksgiving. Seriously, it started to get annoying as hell,” she added with a laugh. “Everyone would be thrilled to have you if, you know, you don’t mind sacrificing some family time…”

Brooke smiled warmly and leaned down to kiss her sweetly. “Spending time with you will never be a sacrifice. I’ll make it work,” she assured. The way she figured it, it would all work out – spend the holidays with her family, get her fill of Canada, then migrate down south to spend a couple weeks with her girlfriend. Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t think of a better way to spend her break. “I’ll book a flight as soon as I get back home.”

----------

“Wow, you’re really hauling ass all the way down to fucking Florida for her? I didn’t realize you two were that serious,” Katya remarked as she handed a thick folder of paper to Brooke. “Oooh, do you think she’s it? The one? I honestly thought you guys were just going to fuck and go your separate ways. Frankly, I’m impressed,” she added.

Brooke’s mouth went agape. “Really? But you’ve been trying to play matchmaker from day one,” she blinked, shaking her head before opening the folder to enter the final grades into the system.

“Well, yes,” Katya conceded, “I was going into it with the intentions of getting you laid. Falling in love was all on you, babe,” she chuckled. “So? Is she the one?”

There was a silent moment. Saying something like that out loud was setting it in stone – you can’t simply bounce back after calling someone ‘the one’. “I love her,” Brooke finally answered. “And she loves me. Neither of those things are going to change any time soon. We’re in a good place, we’ve been together about four months now, and see a future on the horizon…if that makes her ‘the one’, then yeah, I guess she is.”

“I would definitely be lying if I claimed to have seen this coming,” Katya admitted. “But if you get me accused of favoritism, I’m hunting you down wherever you are,” she warned with a laugh.

When Brooke Lynn had gotten to Vanessa’s sheet, she understood what she meant. “Hey, as someone that spent many nights watching her study, I can tell you she earned this ‘A’ fair and square. But I’m not going to spoil the surprise,” she promised. “All in all, I think this was a pretty successful term.”

Katya clasped her hand onto Brooke Lynn’s shoulder. “I’m proud of you, kid. You did good.”

Brooke smiled and put her hand on top of Katya’s. “Thank you, mama.”

----------

A’keria shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t believe you went and invited Brooke Lynn down to Tampa. You ain’t even ask me down there yet. What the fuck?” she clicked her tongue as she wiped down the counter.

In the aftermath of the bribery and the subsequent mass walkout, the owner of a pointedly LGBTQ+ local café offered a position to A’keria, as she was the leader of it. On top of that, the pay was much better than what she would get at minimum wage in a popular coffee chain. “You just lucky I’m working here over break, Vanjie,” she added.

“Hey, this place is real nice. Got the right vibe and everything,” Vanessa chuckled. “But for real, listen, it’s…different with her, I don’t know. It’s like, I can’t stand the thought of being away from her for that long, going the whole break without her would fucking suck,” she looked down with a softer grin. “I know it’s corny as hell, but I love her. I really do.”

Looking at how happy her friend was, A’keria couldn’t stay bitter about it. “I better be your maid of honor, bitch.”

Vanessa leaned over the counter to hug her. “You know you will,” she looked at her phone and sighed. “Ima head out, go over to her place and stay there til I gotta catch my flight,” she explained, zipping her coat up. She waved as she left before shoving her hands into her pockets.

Normally, walking to Brooke Lynn’s apartment filled her with anticipation and excitement. Knowing she was about to spend time with her never failed to make her happy, something her friends would always tease her about. But this walk felt melancholic. It was the last walk she was taking there for the semester, the official signifier of the end of that chapter in their lives. She wasn’t ready for that, nor was she sure she ever could be.

Brooke Lynn had been staring out the window, waiting for Vanessa. She ran downstairs to greet her, hugging her tightly. “Hey, baby,” she greeted softly. “How long do I have you before you go?” Vanessa sighed, reluctantly pulling from Brooke to check her time. “I gotta call for an Uber in like, five minutes. I only have enough time to go grab my luggage,” she explained, going back inside with her to grab her things and bringing them back out to the sidewalk. They didn’t speak much, just holding hands tightly until the order had to be placed.

“Oh, I hate goodbyes,” Brooke finally said with a pout. The uber was rounding the corner, they had run out of ways to delay the inevitable. “I’m gonna miss you so much,” she kissed her for what could have been the hundredth time in the past ten minutes. “Promise me you’ll call as soon as you get home, okay?” she insisted, cupping her face and stroking her thumb across her cheek.

Vanessa giggled wetly, just enough to choke back tears. “It’s only a month,” she reminded both of them. “January nineteenth I got you all to myself again,” she assured. “I’ll call you, I promise,” the Uber driver honked the horn lightly. “I better get going. I’ll talk to you real soon. I love you.”

With one more kiss for the road, Brooke Lynn grudgingly let Vanessa go. “I love you too,” she replied and helped her load up the car. Even when she stepped back and the car pulled away, she stood on the sidewalk and watched it, staying in place until it left her field of vision.

The walk back inside felt colder, the wind felt harsher, and even escaping into her heated apartment didn’t take away the icy stinging that followed her. She hung up her coat and walked into the living room, a weak smile finding its way onto her lips.

Stacked in the corner of the room were multiple boxes of Vanessa’s things, left with the intention of her moving in for the next semester. With the apartment locked up for the winter, they could start the spring together as soon as they returned.

----------

“Flight 287 to Tampa International Airport is now boarding at gate fifteen. Once again, flight 287 to Tampa International Airport is now boarding at gate fifteen.”

Brooke Lynn looked down at her boarding pass – flight 287. This was it, the last moment she had alone before she would make the thirteen hundred-mile, three-hour flight down to Florida. She bet Vanessa was already preparing for her arrival, begging her family not to embarrass her. She bet she spent time convincing her mom to let them share Vanessa’s room and ignoring her siblings teasing her for it.

Deep breath. Go to the gate. For a moment, she wondered what would happen if she changed her mind – took the last chance she had to leave her first and most serious relationship. She would be lying if she said she hadn’t been scared, hadn’t spent days of the past month questioning everything that had happened, wondering if it was too good to be true.

But then she looked at her phone, at the lockscreen of the two of them. Brooke walked confidently to the gate and onto the plane. She had no desire to run away, something that surprised everyone back home, and even herself. She, no, they could do this – they could handle whatever happened next. Because that was what love is all about, isn’t it? Someone to hold your hand when you’re standing at a crossroad.

Or, throwing herself into your arms when you arrive in her hometown. It was about that embrace, that warmth, the satisfaction of longing coming to an end. Love was all about whatever they had, and whatever was coming next.

[audreycarlisle]

dinner with audrey’s mum | winlisle

audrey brings philip to dinner at her mum’s. her mum’s fiance happens to be there, too. 

Audrey had to admit she felt so much better after breaking things off with Dalton. Sure, she sort of felt like she'd be alone forever, but she didn't feel like she was cheating or betraying anyone, and that felt much better than the being alone fear. The last thing she wanted to do was prove her dad right, but she had time to find someone. She told Philip to pick her up at her place at six, which gave her plenty of time to get home from work and get ready to see her mum. She did love seeing her mum, which definitely calmed her nerves a bit. She didn't even really know why she was nervous, just that she was.

Philip was still kind of trying to wrap his mind around being home. He'd been looking forward to it for so long that actually being here felt like a dream. He was still getting adjusted to it. He had hardly had time to really process Audrey being with someone else, despite the fact that he'd known about Dalton for a while. Then suddenly she'd told him they'd broken up. Part of him wanted to believe it had something to do with him being back but he couldn't get his hopes up that high just yet despite what Leo said. He parked outside of her flat and went up to the door to knock. Why was he so nervous? He didn't know.

Audrey changed out of her work clothes and put her hair up. She was starving, but she knew her mum would be making something since she knew they were coming over, and it would be better than anything she put together before Philip got here. It didn't matter, anyway, because before she knew it, Philip was at her door. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, grabbing her bag and pulling the door open. "Hey! I'm ready, so we can just head out if you want," she said with a smile.

Philip smiled a little wider than he'd meant to when she opened the door. He had to shake it off. "Hey!" he replied brightly. "That sounds good to me. I picked up some tea at the shop around the corner. It's in the car. I hope you take it the same way." He stepped backwards to give her the room to exit. "How was your day, by the way?" he asked as they started back out to his car. He was so happy to spend time with her alone this time.

Audrey felt all warm and soft and mushy and she kind of hated it. At least she didn't feel guilty anymore. "Aw, that was sweet of you. Don't worry, I do," she said, more amazed that he remembered her order than anything. She remembered his, sure, but that was different. Wasn't it? She was in love with him, so it didn't count. "It was good. Busy. Good, though," she said. "And what about yours?" she asked curiously.

Philip was so pleased. He hadn't been too focused on how she'd made her tea the other night. If she'd changed something he'd be quite embarrassed. "Good. I was worried maybe you're too good for sugar now," he teased. He needed to relax a bit he told himself. It was only Audrey. It didn't matter that he was in love with her. She was still going to be lovely to him. "Good. I'm glad to hear it," he smiled. "Mine was about the same. I saw my parents."

Audrey laughed a bit and shook her head. "Definitely still a fan of sugar," she said lightly. "You know, I really haven't changed all that much. You seem really worried about it, and I just don't know why. We wrote so often, I should think you would know I'm still me," she teased a little. Was he going to suddenly stop wanting to hang around her or something? She didn't know, but she wished he'd stop worrying so much. "Oh? How did that go?"

Philip smiled at her. "Glad to hear it." He shrugged a bit at the teasing, unsure how to really explain himself. "It's not that I think you're not you. Things just feel a little different. For one, you work at the UN, we're not at uni anymore, Leo is obsessed with Nina," he said lightly. "It's not a bad different, it's just a different world from the one I left. We grew up," he grinned. "There's not a damn thing wrong with that." He opened her door for her before going around to get in his. "It went well. They want to host a small gathering to welcome me home."

Audrey thought it was silly of her to be so bothered that he felt like she was different. He kept reassuring her it wasn't bad, just different. And she knew they'd grown up and she held a serious job, but it bothered her. Maybe he'd find he didn't like the new her. Maybe she'd find she didn't like him as much as she had. Maybe he wouldn't want to be around her as much. She smiled a bit and nodded. "I suppose so," she said simply. She thanked him as she climbed in. "Well, that's not really all too surprising. We did do the same thing after all," she laughed.

Philip hoped she wasn't too upset that he thought some things had changed. He didn't really see how it was that big of a deal but perhaps he was missing something. He wasn't sure. "It's not surprising, no, but it won't be nearly as much fun. It'll be full of people I rarely saw before I left," he admitted. Fancy friends. "At least I'll have Leo as backup." That was something, at least. He'd at least have a bit of fun at his party. "I really appreciate that you threw me one, by the way."

Audrey laughed a bit and nodded. That made sense. She wondered if there would be any potential girlfriends there, but she was being so ridiculous, she hated it. "That makes sense," she said honestly. "I'm glad he'll be there for you," she smiled. She waved a hand to dismiss it. What kind of friend would she be if she hadn't thrown him a welcome party? "Oh, it was no trouble. We missed you, and we're all so glad you're back."

Philip hoped it didn't take too long. He didn't want to spend an entire evening trading pleasantries with people he wouldn't see again unless it was on official business. "He's good for that sort of thing," he smiled back. "It was still really kind of you," he told her. "I had a really great time." Except for meeting Dalton but he was out of the picture now. Should he bring that up? "I had more fun after the party, though," he said playfully.

Audrey figured that made sense. They both spent so much time dealing with that sort of thing, it made sense that they would use each other to get out of some of the formalities of it all. "I'm sure he is," she smiled. "Oh, well, you know. I was excited to see you," she said with a soft laugh. "I did, too," she promised. She laughed a bit. "I did, too. Those two with their constant flirting was the most amusing thing," she said with another laugh.

Philip smiled warmly at her. "I know. I was excited to see you too. I could hardly contain myself," he grinned. "They really wouldn't stop. I can't believe they aren't together. I don't buy the idea of Nina not having feelings for him. She's so transparent," he laughed. He didn't know why she was denying it. Then again, wasn't he doing the same? Pushing his feelings down as far as he possibly could?

Audrey hated when he said stuff like that. What did that even mean? "I bet you missed all of us a lot," she said, hoping he'd maybe say something that she could use. "I don't either. She even knows how he smells. That's not normal," she said, shaking her head at the hopelessness of it. She glanced out the window, then back at him. He was so handsome, it wasn't fair. She was so captivated by his beauty. She wished she could just tell him without ruining risking everything.

Philip shrugged a bit. "Of course I did," he laughed. "But I missed you the most. Don't tell Nina," he added to lighten the mood. He wasn't even sure why he'd admitted to that. It wouldn't make a difference. "She what?" he laughed. "God, she's hopeless. I hope you've told her that. Maybe we ought to try and get them together," he suggested. He thought they'd make a cute couple and they were both clearly interested.

Audrey smiled softly, looking down for a moment. "I missed you more than everyone else did. Don't tell," she added, smiling up at him. She shook her head as she laughed. It was so ridiculous. "She is! She will not listen. It's ridiculous, honestly," she said, shaking her head. "We could hang out with them more and try to push them together?" she suggested. They had, for whatever reason, spent an insane amount of time together last time they hung out. Maybe that would happen again. She'd never seen Nina that kind of happy before.

Philip hoped that was true. He hoped she missed him half as much as he missed her. It had consumed him. "I won't tell a soul," he promised. He chuckled a bit and picked up his tea for a sip. "She's being absurd," he teased. "We could. Maybe they'll continue to ditch us," he joked. He'd hardly felt like he'd been spending time with them the other night. He had a feeling the two would become a couple soon enough. Good, he thought. At least someone would be happy.

Audrey picked up her tea when he did. It was really good. Perfect, even. He knew what she liked, even after all this time. And boy had a lot of time passed. It warmed her heart. "I agree with you," she laughed. "They just might. If they do, then it'll work out perfect," she said with a laugh. The car pulled up to her mum's house. She hopped out of the car, smiling as her mum's puppy came running over. "Well hello Pudding," she said, getting down on her knees so she could pet him.

Philip hoped he could help ensure his brother's happiness. He also wanted Nina to be happy. He just knew all that was needed was for her to get out of her own way. He and Audrey could help with that. "It really will," he agreed. He followed her out of the car, though he opened the back to get out the present he'd prepared for her mum. "Did you say his name is Pudding?" he asked with a grin. "What a beautiful pup."

Audrey wondered what Philip had gotten for her mum. She wondered why her mum hadn't told her she was sending him packages. It sort of felt like she was trying to meddle. She knew how she felt about Philip, after all. "Pudding, yeah," she said with a laugh. "It's a fitting name! He looks like pudding," she said with a grin. She stood up, letting Philip have a turn with Pudding's affection. He was a sweet pup, and she could tell he had already taken a liking to Philip.

Philip thought it was a sweet name for a sweet dog. He set his gift on the ground and knelt down to greet the dog. "Hello Pudding!" he greeted. He rubbed the dog's ears and let him lick his face. "Oh, he's just as sweet as pudding too. Aren't you? Yes, you are," he grinned. What a delightful little pup. "I brought treats for you and a new toy, yes I did. I just want to double check with your mummy before I give you one. Unless," he drew the word out, pulling a dog treat from his pocket. "I think you can keep a secret."

Audrey smiled as she watched Philip with Pudding. He was so cute it made her heart ache. Who wasn't cute with puppies though, right? She nearly rolled her eyes at herself for being so annoying. She smirked a bit when he took out a dog treat, but then decided to head up to the house while he loved up on Pudding. "Hi, buttercup," her mum said, hugging her tight. "Hi, mum. I've missed you," she smiled, hugging her back. "You're so silly. You can visit me anytime! I'm not that far!" she faux scolded. "I know, I know," Audrey said, laughing a little. "I've been meaning to," she added. "Well you're here now. And Philip! I see you've met Pudding," she called out.

Philip stayed on the ground with the pup, rubbing all over him. Pudding was a sweet one, he had to admit. He'd never met a dog he didn't like. He stood up when he heard her mom say his name. "I have! He's great. I brought something for him but first," he picked up the gift for her and carried it over. "This is for you as a thanks for all the care packages you sent. There's a photo album of me sharing the biscuits with my squadron and there's a bunch of regional snacks from over there and, of course, that tea that you like that got discontinued. I may or may not have had a conversation with the company for you," he grinned. He wrapped her in a tight hug. "Thank you so much for everything."

Audrey couldn't help but be filled with all this fondness. Philip had that affect over her. Her mum hugged him with one arm as he held the other things in his other hand. "It's good to see you safe and home," she said with a smile. She took the gift from him, smiling sweetly at him. "Oh, dear, you didn't need to do all that. You're quite sweet," she smiled at him. She hugged him again, pulling him close. "You know I'd do anything for you kids," she promised. "I'm just so happy to see you in person!" Audrey couldn't believe how close they were. It made her heart warm.

Philip shrugged a bit before hugging the woman back tightly. He'd really missed her. Her care packages had really helped ease some of his homesickness. "It's good to be home," he told her. "I'm so happy to see you too! I missed you a lot," he smiled. He pulled back so he could grin at her. "It really did help a lot to get gifts from home. I feel like that was the first time I was truly happy when I opened the first one," he admitted. "Oh, I brought treats for Pudding and a toy."

Audrey wrung her hands a bit. She hadn't known he'd been so unhappy. She wished she'd known. She wished she'd done more. She should've written more. She should've sent him things. Pictures. Something. She had been so worried about getting him in trouble, or being annoying, that she'd only written when he did, but she wished she had done more. "Oh, honey, I'm so happy that I could help you feel better," her mum smiled, kissing the top of his head. "He's just going to love you," she smiled, nodding for him to go ahead and give them to him.

Philip smiled at the kiss on his head. He loved Audrey's mother so much. She was the kindest lady. He just adored her. She'd always cared for him like a son. "You really did," he smiled at her. He turned to kneel down on the ground with the toy he'd brought for Pudding. "Here you go, Pudding. You wanna play? Do you? Ready?" He shook the toy. "Here we go!" He tossed it in the yard and watched the pup skitter after it. "He's just adorable."

Audrey watched as Philip played with the dog, turning and giving her mum a look for not filling her in more. "How's Dalton?" her mum asked in a hushed voice. She cleared her throat and looked off to the side. "I ended things with him," she replied, turning her attention back to Philip as he tossed the toy for Pudding. Her mum shot her a knowing look all the same. "He's a cutie, isn't he?" she said with a smile. "Do you wanna go in?"

Philip played with Pudding for a few minutes before giving him another one of the treats. He laughed when the pup jumped up on him for kisses. "I love him. He's such a good dog. Aren't you a good boy? Who's a good boy? You are!" He gave him one more treat before kissing his snout. "I, for one, would love to go inside. I've missed this place. And your biscuits," he added playfully. He was so beyond thrilled to be here.

Audrey thought he was just so sweet. It melted her heart. He was so happy. There was so much warmth and love just radiating from him, and it made her so soft. She wondered if he felt this comfortable and at home with his mum. She hoped so. She followed her mum and Philip in, sitting down with him on the couch as he mum went to get tea and biscuits. "Why didn't you tell me you were so unhappy?" she asked curiously.

Philip didn't really know what to say about that. He hadn't wanted her to know because he didn't want to upset her. He knew she missed him. He didn't want to make it any worse for her by letting on how unhappy he was. "It just didn't seem important," he said instead. How could he explain that he hadn't wanted to worry her because he was in love with her? It didn't make sense. "It was just a thing I talked to your mum and Leo about, is all."

Audrey watched him as he seemed to tackle different thoughts. She frowned a bit before raising her eyebrows and shaking her head. "I don't see how you being unhappy could be unimportant," she said honestly. Why did he talk to her mum about it but not her? "You know you can trust me with anything," she said. She felt like her mum was a bigger gossip than she was. Why did he feel like he couldn't talk to her? "I would've written more. Or sent you something. I would've made Leo let me call you."

Philip didn't want her to think that he didn't trust her. He just... he hadn't wanted her to be more upset. It didn't seem fair. "I just wanted to put forth a happy facade and not burden you. You were so busy with your new job," he explained. "I do trust you. I just didn't want your whole life to feel like you just had to take care of me and send me more letters or presents. I thought I was being kind to you by not telling you."

Audrey understood where he was coming from, but it still upset her. He was just unhappy, by himself, and didn't think he could talk to her. "You're never a burden," she promised. "I understand. I just would've liked to have been able to help. I'm sorry you were unhappy," she said, offering him a small smile. She nearly reached out to touch his hand, but her mum came in with tea and biscuits. "I have your favorites," her mum said, setting it on the table in front of them.

Philip frowned slightly. He didn't even know what to say. "I know that but it just didn't seem fair to you. I told Leo because he understood. He'd been through it before. I told your mum because she was sending me so many parcels. Plus it's hard to lie to that woman," he said playfully. He looked up when her mum came back in and smiled gratefully. "Thank you. Oh, I do love these." He nabbed a biscuit. "How have things been going for you?"

Audrey thought it was kind of him to try to protect her, but she didn't need to be protected in that way. She wanted to comfort him. She wanted to hold him and rub his back and do anything she could. She wished he understood that. "Well, just, you know. In the future, you can tell me anything. Even if it seems unfair to me," she added. "Yeah, I know," she added with a laugh. Her mum hummed a bit. "Things have been well. I'm engaged, as you know. But mostly, it's pretty the same around here. I do enjoy getting to see Audrey more than I did while she was in Uni."

Philip had no intention to keep her in the dark ever again. He had no reason to. Not when he was home again. He'd tell her just about anything. Except that he was in love with her. "I will. I'll tell you everything. I promise," he smiled at her. He hoped she believed that. He focused his attention on her mother again. "I did hear about that! I can't wait to meet him and tell him I'll have him removed from the country if he doesn't treat you well," he teased as he selected another biscuit. "I bet you love seeing her."

Audrey smiled back and nodded. She didn't want him to feel like he couldn't share things, especially his feelings, with her. She loved how much he got along with her mum. It felt like they were family, but not in a weird way. She wished she could spill it all, but she knew better than that. Her mum laughed but shook her head. "I don't think that'll be necessary. He's a lovely man. He has a son, about your brother's age," she said. "Oh, I do. I missed you so much while you were off learning," she said, smiling at Audrey. "I missed you, too, mum," she promised.

Philip shrugged a shoulder playfully. "Maybe not but I'll have to tell him just in case. I have to look out for my best girls, don't I?" he teased. "Does he? I hope he's better behaved than Leo. He's been such a pain lately," he joked. He glanced over at Audrey as the two women spoke. He'd always wished for a simpler life where going home to see his mother wasn't such a formal affair. He envied them this. "I missed you too!" he interjected playfully.

Audrey felt so close to Philip, and it hurt her that she didn't think he could really feel the same. How could he? She wished. "He's very well behaved," her mum promised. Audrey laughed a bit. "I missed you, too," her mum added with a grin. Audrey heard the door and sat up a bit straighter. "Were you expecting someone?" she asked her mum. "Oh, yes, that's just Martin," she said with a smile.

Philip was glad to hear that. He just wanted the woman to be happy and to be loved. That was all that mattered. She deserved that. "Good," he said with a grin. "I will have him removed if he isn't." He didn't even think that was a real thing he could do. He looked around at the sound of the door. "Oh? I wasn't aware I'd be meeting him today," he admitted. He reached down to pat Pudding on the head.

Audrey hadn't realized they were going to be meeting him today, either. Of course, she already knew Martin, but she was a bit surprised. "Well, I hadn't intended for him to come over while you were still here, but there's no harm in saying hello now!" her mum said, matter-of-factly. Audrey stood up when her mum did, walking towards the front door. "Hey Audrey!" Martin grinned, hugging her tightly. "It's so good to see you! What brings you over?" he asked, before noticing Philip. "Oh shit. Today was the day I was supposed to come home late," he said, laughing a little. "Guess I might as well introduce myself now. Martin Williams," he said with a smile, sticking his hand out to shake Philip's.

Philip observed Martin for a few moments. He seemed like a pleasant guy so far. Audrey and her mother both seemed to really like him. He couldn't imagine that he wouldn't. He was a bit surprised by the introduction as most people didn't present themselves like that to him. "Oh. Hello, Martin. It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Philip," he grinned as he shook the man's hand. "I've heard quite a bit about you."

Audrey liked Martin a lot. He was a good guy, and her mum deserved that happiness. She hadn't even looked for a relationship until nearly six years had passed, but she deserved it more than anyone she knew. "Nice to finally meet you, too. I hear lots of stories about you," he said with a smile. "And I hear Annabel here sent you boxes while you were overseas. You must be quite close!"

Philip grinned a little bit. "Oh? I hope nothing too embarrassing. God knows these two have plenty of humiliating anecdotes about me," he joked. He nodded a bit. "She did, yes. Loads of them. She kept me fed which I appreciated. Unsurprisingly the food over there wasn't great," he chuckled. "She's like a second mum to me. I really adore her," he added, smiling at her mum.

Audrey hated how her mind went to places that weren't really hers to go to. All she could think is how they felt like a family, and she hated that. "No, nothing embarrassing. They both have nothing but good things to say about you," he said with a grin. "What a darling. Sounds just like her to do," he added. "Aw, I adore you, too, Lip," her mum said, hugging him and kissing the top of his head.

Philip smiled. They were a sweet unit. He already approved of Martin. He fit into their family. He clearly loved Audrey's mum and Audrey herself seemed to like him a great deal. That was more than enough for him. "She really is a darling. I don't think I can ever thank her enough," he added. He leaned into the hug with a grin and then shot Audrey a look. "Hey, why don't we take Pudding out back?" he suggested.

Audrey had been a bit in her thoughts when she noticed Philip look over at her. "Oh, yeah, that sounds like a good idea," she said with a smile. "C'mon, Pudding!" she called, going through to the backdoor and stepping out with Philip. She wondered if her mum was going to move after she got married. She sort of hoped she would. "He's really nice, isn't he?" she said to Philip once they were outside and out of earshot.

Philip smiled at the two older adults as they made their way outside. He followed Audrey and the dog outside and tucked his hands into his pockets and nodded. "He is. He was an interesting guy," he admitted. "Very personable. He really surprised me when he introduced himself," he admitted with a laugh. "But he seems nice and your mum seems really happy with him. I'm happy for her."

Audrey laughed a bit and nodded. "He's very interesting. He's a really good guy, though. Different, but in a good way," she said with a smile. She laughed. It was surprising. "I think he was nervous. We do talk about you a fair amount, plus, you know, you're the prince of England," she teased. "I'm so happy for her. She deserves this kind of goodness in her life. I hope they're together forever," she admitted.

Philip nodded a bit, picking up Pudding's toy and throwing it across the grass. He watched the pup bound after it with a grin. "He is different. I like him," he promised. He let out a chuckle. "Yeah, maybe. At least he didn't get all weirdly proper. I would have had a hard time not laughing," he admitted. "I wasn't aware you were gossiping about me to your mum's boyfriend," he added teasingly. "I hope so too. She's a wonderful woman."

Audrey liked him, too. Her mum deserved so much goodness. She just wanted her to be happy always. She still regretted not having done more to help her mum back in the day. She'd been so selfish. But her mum was getting everything she deserved now. "I like him, too," she agreed. "Yeah, that would've been awkward," she said with a laugh. "I hate when people do that," she admitted, even though she knew she had once. "I'd hardly call talking about one of my best friends gossiping," she laughed. "She is."

Philip laughed a little. "Yeah, it would have been bad. Especially if I'd laughed at him. He would have been embarrassed and your mum might have been too. I actually preferred the way he greeted me," he admitted. He tossed the toy again. "I hate it too. I never know what to say. If I were the oldest I'd probably try to change some of the stuffy rules but I'm glad that's not my responsibility," he admitted. "It's kind of gossiping. It's talking about me when I'm not around. What are you saying about me?"

Audrey laughed at that and shook her head. "That definitely would've been terrible," she said honestly. She was glad it all went the way it did. "Please, even if you technically changed the rules, people would still greet you with all that properness," she said, rolling her eyes playfully. "It is not! I'd be gossiping if I said I thought you were dating a girl you met before you left, or if I said you had a problem with authority. I just talked about our time together back in uni, and how much I love being around you, and how you always make me laugh, and," she trailed off, starting to feel a heaviness in her chest. "Just what a good friend you are. That's not gossip."

Philip waved it off. "If I were the king I'm fairly certain people would have to listen to me," he joked. He knew she was right, though. He didn't think it was something that could be changed. "I wasn't dating anyone before I left!" he interjected, maybe a little too loudly. He cleared his throat. He was about to say something else when he felt his heartbeat pick up. Was Leo right? Did she have feelings for him? It all came crashing down a moment later. "Oh. No, I suppose it's not."

Audrey rolled her eyes playfully. "I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way," she teased. She raised an eyebrow at him. She knew he wasn't dating anyone before he left. He didn't have to tell her that. There was something in his eyes as she spoke, and she really wanted it to be something, but she was sure it wasn't. She frowned a bit, clearing her throat as she turned away from him to pet Pudding. "I would never spread lies about you," she said.

Philip laughed a little bit. "It should. Thankfully I'll never be the king. Leo will marry someone and have a child and I'll be off the hook," he said happily. He didn't want that responsibility. It was too much. He noticed a change in her and wanted to say something but he couldn't find the words. He hated that Leo had been so insistent about this. It was making everything so hard. "I know you wouldn't. I was only messing around, Rae."

Audrey laughed. He was so much fun to be around. She was glad she broke up with Dalton, because she definitely would've felt guilty if she was doing this with him knowing she had a boyfriend. "Lucky you," she said playfully. She cleared her throat again, smiling up at him. "Good. You know I'd never do anything like that," she said. "I think my mum is making dinner. Do you wanna stay for that?"

Philip didn't know why this felt a little awkward now. He knew she didn't feel anything for him. She only saw him as a friend. Things would be different if she did. He couldn't change that. "I know you wouldn't. You're a good person," he smiled at her. "You've always been the best." He thought for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I can't say no to that. I'd love to," he smiled.

Audrey smiled back at him. "So have you," she promised. She held his gaze for a moment before Pudding tugged on the toy in her hand. "It's time to go in, silly!" she said to him, tugging it back. "Let's go help get the table set then. I think it'll be ready soon," she said. She walked to the door, opening it and holding it behind her as she stepped in for both Pudding and Philip. She was so glad he was home again.

Philip laughed a little when the moment was broken by the pup. They'd been playing with him for a bit, now. "He's going to be one worn out little guy later, aren't you Pudding?" he asked the dog. He nodded a bit and followed her into the house with the dog. "I'm just going to go wash up real quick and I'll meet you in the kitchen in a minute. He went down the hall to the bathroom and texted Leo before he washed his hands/

Audrey nodded and laughed. "I'm sure he will. Then maybe he won't beg for food," she suggested, laughing still. She nodded a bit when he said he was going to go wash up. "Alright. I'll see you in a minute," she said with a smile. She went into the kitchen, getting the plates out for dinner. "So you broke up with Dalton, huh?" her mum asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "Feelings still as strong as ever?" she followed up. "I'm not talking about this right now!" she replied in a hushed voice.

Philip leaned against the sink to send Leo a few texts about how he'd ruined everything by pushing him so much. Yes, he was being dramatic. No, he did not care. He exited the bathroom and followed the familiar path to the kitchen, frowning when he walked in. "Not talking about what?" he asked curiously. "How can I help, by the way?" he asked. He saw Audrey handling the plates so he went for the glasses.

Audrey looked up when Philip entered the room and shook her head. "Nothing," she dismissed easily. "If you want to grab the pitcher of water from the fridge after you get the glasses set out, that would be great," her mum said with a smile. Audrey put the plates down, going to get the silverware as Philip got the water. "What did you make, mum?" she asked as she set things out. "Lasagna!"

Philip found that a little suspicious. "Keeping secrets from me now?" he teased. He set out the glasses on the table and went to get the water pitcher to set it on the table. He straightened the places out a little bit out of habit. "Lasagna?" he repeated. His head snapped up. "You made lasagna? I've been dreaming of your lasagna for the past three years! What an angel you are!" he exclaimed.

Audrey shook her head and laughed. "No, just, mum was asking about when I'm going to get a puppy," she said, trying to play it off. "I've already told her a million times I can't get a puppy with the flat I have," she added. She rolled her eyes at herself once he couldn't see her face. "I know how you love my lasagna. And I always love how you compliment my food, even though I know you have a chef back home," her mum said playfully.

Philip thought that was weird. "I was going to say, I don't know that you're allowed a dog in that flat. I could probably get them to make an exception for you," he joked. Still, weird thing to be whispering about. "It's the best lasagna in the world. I've never had one that even remotely measures up," he promised. "We may have a chef or two but your food will always be my favorite," he smiled at her.

Audrey laughed and shook her head. "That's quite alright. I'm sure I'll get to see Pudding plenty to fill my puppy meter," she said with a grin. Philip was so cute. It was so overwhelming sometimes. "Your food is really good, mum. Why is that so hard for you to believe?" she teased. "He has professional chefs!" her mum exclaimed. "You're such a darling, Philip. I'm so glad you still love my food after all this time," she said playfully.

Philip waved it off. He didn't think someone being a professional chef meant their food instantly had to be the best. "It's not made with love the way yours is," he promised. "That's why yours will always be my very favorite. I promise," he grinned. He went over and hugged her with one arm. "I will always love your food," he added. "Is there anything else that I can help with?" he asked.

Audrey smiled fondly. "Thank you," her mum said, hugging him back. Audrey got the salad bowl out, nodding towards the fridge. "You can get the mix of greens from the fridge if you want," she instructed. She diced up a tomato for the salad, mixing it all together after he got the salad mix out. "I think we can just sit while the lasagna rests now," she said with a smile, moving to the table with the salad bowl.

Philip went to the fridge to retrieve the bag. He handed it to Audrey and helped her with the salad as best he could without getting in the way. He bumped his hip into hers playfully before grinning. "Alright, now we wait," he agreed. He pulled out a chair for Audrey so she could sit before he joined her. "Hey, did Rae tell you my brother is obsessed with Nina?" he asked her mum to make conversation.

Audrey felt a bright smile spread on her lips when he bumped her, her heart rate picking up for a moment. "Oh, thank you," she smiled, taking a seat. Her mum laughed and nodded. "Oh, yeah. I know all about that," she said. "We both think Nina should go out with him, but she made us promise not to bombard her and gang up on her," Audrey laughed. "I can't tell how serious he is, honestly."

Philip shook his head in amusement. Of course she knew. He missed being around to hear everything. He missed being a part of this group. "Well, she obviously should. He is pretty serious about her. We've discussed it. I'm sort of convinced they're together in secret," he admitted. He knew Leo had denied it but he wasn't sure. If they weren't then his theory that Nina liked him back had to be true.

Audrey rolled her eyes when he continued with that. "You're so silly. Why would they keep that from us?" she said, letting out a soft laugh. "She's obviously smitten, but I don't think she realizes it yet," her mum chimed in. "I don't think she'd lie to either one of you, though. I haven't met Leo, but I can't imagine he would lie to you, especially since he's so taken with her!" she added. Audrey gave him a look. "If she says so, it must be true. Told you."

Philip shrugged. "I don't know! They seemed smitten!" He frowned when her mum also disagreed with him, reluctant to believe he was that wrong. "Fine, fine. They're not together but they will be," he huffed. He just didn't know what the hold up was. They were at least both interested in the other. Audrey didn't see Philip in that way. He could live with it. "Well, I'll make sure they get together."

Audrey nodded in agreement, widening her eyes a bit. "Yeah, obviously!" she laughed. "I hope so," she said simply. She thought they'd be cute and adorable and it'd be nice for them. "Alright, the lasagna is ready," her mum said, calling for Martin to join them. He came into the dining room, sitting down and taking a drink of his water. "I heard you and Dalton broke up," he said. She nodded a little. "Yeah," she confirmed, letting out a sigh. He lowered his voice and covered his mouth so Philip couldn't see. "Is that because he's home?" he whispered, nodding a little toward Philip. She nearly choked on her water and gave him a look. "What? No, stop it."

Philip waited while her mum got the lasagna out and ready for them, smiling at Martin when he entered. It felt nice to be a part of the family again. He'd truly missed this over the last few years. He always felt like he was missing out on so much. He glanced over when Audrey made a strange sound and frowned. "You good, Rae?" he asked with a smile. "This looks absolutely delicious, by the way," he told her mum.

Audrey cleared her throat and nodded, smiling a little. "Yeah, I'm good," she promised. She knew her mum always wanted her to make a move with Philip. She didn't realize she'd gotten Martin on her team. "It looks so good, mum. I swear your food gets better every time you make it," she complimented. She put salad in everyone's bowls as her mum got the lasagna dished out. "Dig in," her mum said, taking a bite. "What are your plans now that you're back home?" Martin asked between bites.

Philip was a little suspicious, honestly. It felt like something was going on here. He wished Nina was here, she'd probably let something slip. He waited for her mum to take a seat and have a bite before picking up his fork. "Oh, wow. How on earth is this even better than I remembered? I used to dream of eating this lasagna," he said before he took another bite. He glanced over at Martin and took a sip of water before answering. "Well, I'll be volunteering with my brother at the UN. I also have some over the top welcome home party to attend," he rolled his eyes playfully. "But then I've been given some time to readjust before I resume my royal duties."

Audrey could tell her mum was just beaming. She had always liked Philip, and he really liked to stroke her ego. It made her fond, though, watching Philip and her mum interact. She was so glad that he'd be volunteering with Leo. She was always excited to spend time with him. She laughed when he rolled his eyes. "It's almost like you're the prince or something," she teased. "I'm sure your mum is happy to have you back. It's nice that they're giving you time to adjust to being home again," Martin said with a smile.

Philip chuckled quietly. "The second prince. Leo should take the lion's share of the duties," he teased back. "I just got home. I want to rest." He knew his mum was pleased that he'd returned home but it nearly made him laugh to hear Martin refer to the queen as his mum. He was an interesting guy. "She is. I just saw her and she was thrilled to see me back and with no intentions of returning for another tour," he explained. "It is nice to have time to just be. I'm having fun seeing my friends again."

Audrey rolled her eyes playfully. "You're still the prince! No one calls you the second prince," she laughed, shaking her head at him. She couldn't blame him for that. She would be exhausted if she were him. She still wasn't over how ripped he'd gotten while he was over there. She wanted to massage his shoulders just for an excuse to touch him. She blinked a little, realizing she'd gotten caught up in her thoughts. "I bet she missed you!" she heard Martin say, not having heard what Philip even said. She smiled fondly, nudging him gently under the table. "We're having fun seeing you again," she promised.

Philip rolled his eyes back at her. "The less important one," he teased. He nodded a little as Martin spoke with him. He really did seem like a good man, he thought. "She did. Scolded me for not calling enough and not coming directly home to hug her but that's understandable," he chuckled. He nudged Audrey back. "I'm just happy to see you again," he told her quietly, nudging her foot with his.

Audrey shot him a look, shaking her head a little. "You're ridiculous! No one thinks you're less important!" she shot back. The monarch hardly even did anything compared to in the past. She felt a bit guilty that she'd gotten him to come see her before his mum, but not that guilty. "I'm happy to see you again, too," she said fondly, nudging him back. "I still think you two would make a wonderful couple," her mum said bluntly, taking another bite of her food. "Oh, I agree," Martin tagged on.

Philip nudged her foot again with a small smile just for her. He'd just put a bite of lasagna into his mouth when her mum spoke and he nearly choked. It was like he'd forgotten how to swallow. Then Martin piped in and he had no idea what to say. He felt like he was turning pink and managed, somehow, to swallow before coughing. He didn't know what to say. "Sorry, it got stuck in my throat," he explained as he reached for his water.

Audrey felt her eyes widen as she glanced between them, but was distracted by the noise Philip made. Now he knew how she felt, but she didn't know why it made him react that way. "Are you okay?" she asked softly, raising an eyebrow at him a little. "I think Lip agrees," her mum teased. She shot her a look. "Please stop it," she pleaded, feeling her cheeks grow warm. She was worse than Nina!

Philip reached for his water to sort himself straight. What was this about? He felt like Leo was somehow orchestrating this from behind the scenes but that was impossible. "Just got caught in my throat, love, I'm fine." He took another drink of his water. He had no idea what to say. "Audrey just ended a relationship, Ms. Carlisle. I don't think she's too focused on what's next just yet," he tried to help. He felt like his face was bright red.

Audrey nudged him gently under the table. "You be careful," she warned. She didn't know CPR, and she wasn't about to kill the prince because her mum was impolite. "Are you saying you don't want to date my daughter? She's beautiful, Philip! Look at her!" her mum exclaimed, enjoying this way too much and smirking all the while. Martin looked amused, but was keeping his head down. "Mum! What has gotten into you?"

Philip felt like a deer trapped in the headlights. He looked between her mum and Martin and finally at Audrey, too shocked to even process that. "No! That's not what I'm saying! She is very beautiful, you're very beautiful, Rae," he said to her, a little panicked. "She just broke up with her boyfriend and I just returned home and I'm still getting settled in. I'm sure she has more to worry about than finding a new boyfriend, ma'am." He didn't think he'd ever spoken this fast in his life.

Audrey felt so warm. She was sweating, she was sure of it. She put her fork down and rubbed her hands over her face. "Oh my god," she said under her breath. Had Nina put her up to this? She couldn't believe this was happening. "C'mon, mum, he's just come back from war! Let him relax back into his life and his home before you start hounding him about who he's dating!" she said, shaking her head. She knew exactly what she was doing. "Alright, alright," her mum backed off, grinning still.

Philip felt like he was in a state of panic. This was far worse than Leo's teasing. At least that was done in private. This was far too public and embarrassing. He couldn't say he was in love with Audrey in front of her mother. He felt himself relax a little when Audrey cut in and he sank in his seat for a moment. "Why don't we talk about the wedding? Where are you having it?" he asked politely.

Audrey was so stressed. She didn't know what her mum was trying to do, but she was embarrassing her, and from the looks of things, she was embarrassing Philip, too. She didn't understand, but she didn't know why she was doing this. She sat back at the subject change, taking a drink of water. "Yeah, let's talk about the wedding," she agreed. "I think we're planning on having it here," Martin said, turning to Annabel. She nodded. "Mhm, yeah. I'd like an outdoor wedding, too," she said honestly.

Philip was beyond grateful that Audrey went along with his subject change. That was a safe topic. He didn't have to worry about divulging any of his feelings accidentally. "You're having it here in the back garden, then? Sounds beautiful. I'd like to help in any way that I can, if you'll allow me. I'll set up decorations, find you the best florist and bakery. Anything I can do to help, just name it," he said earnestly.

Audrey shook her head a bit. “No, he meant in London. I don’t think they’ve picked a location, but having it in the back garden would be beautiful,” she agreed. “Or you could have it in Martin’s garden, what with his being bigger,” she teased. Her mum waved a hand. “It doesn’t have the same charm and you know it,” she said. Audrey shrugged a shoulder. “We’d be happy to have any and all help you’d be willing to offer. I’m sure you both could help a lot, and Nina, too. You’re a very hardworking group,” her mum said.

Philip laughed a little bit. "Right, of course. I hadn't even expected you to go anywhere outside of London. The thought hadn't crossed my mind," he explained. "I'm sure wherever you have it will be beautiful. I can help with finding a location too then," he suggested. He wanted to help with everything. Annabel had always been so kind to him. She deserved the best day she could have. "We are. I'm sure even Leo wouldn't mind helping," he tacked on.

Audrey thought Philip was so cute with how much he wanted to help. He had so much love for her mum, it was so sweet. “You’re welcome to help all you want,” her mum promised. She laughed a bit and nodded. “If Nina’s around, I can’t imagine he wouldn’t want to help,” she teased. She felt much more relaxed by the subject change. She was a bit relieved, honestly.

Philip smiled. He couldn't wait to assist. He loved a wedding and he knew he'd never really get to plan one of his own, if he even married. He glanced at Audrey for a moment and nearly sighed. "I'll be your official wedding planner then," he joked. He was sure that was true. "He'd do anything for a scrap of attention from her," he said playfully. "Will your son want to help, Martin?" he wondered.

Audrey laughed a bit, shaking her head at them. She didn’t know why Nina was so resistant, but she wished she’d at least give Leo a chance. Maybe they had a shot! Who knew? “He really would,” she said honestly. Martin nodded a bit, but shrugged. “Probably so, but I doubt he’ll be as ambitious about helping as you,” he said playfully. “We’ll have to have him come over some time so you can both meet,” Annabel said.

Philip shrugged a bit. He was pretty certain no one would be as ambitious about helping as him. He just had a special place in his heart for Annabel. She was a second mother to him. He wanted her to be the happiest she could be. "I'd love to meet him. I've heard a bit about him from Rae," he added. "He sounds like a good fellow. I'm sure I can wrangle him into helping somehow," he added playfully.

Audrey nodded a bit, taking a drink of her water. “He is a really great guy. He’s very polite and kind, professional. He seems really busy a lot of the time,” she said with a laugh. “He is rather busy. He tries to not let it show, though,” Martin said. “I’m sure if anyone could get him to help, it would be you,” she teased, nudging his foot under the table. As they finished dinner, she stood, picking up dishes. “If you both want to go out, Philip and I can clean the kitchen,” she offered.

Philip wasn't too surprised. Martin seemed like a good guy. Annabel had good judgment. Of course the man's son would be great too. "Oh? Busy with what? What does he do?" he wondered. "Sounds like someone I'd get along with rather well," he smiled. He nudged her foot back playfully. He nodded a bit as he stood, helping with the dishes easily. "Oh, absolutely. You two go out. We've got this," he promised. "Take her dancing, Martin," he added playfully.

Audrey took a drink of water, watching as they talked. “He’s a personal finance advisor at the company I work at,” he explained with a smile. “I’m sure you’ll both get along great,” she said honestly. Her mum glanced at Martin then back at the kids and laughed a bit. “I hadn’t exactly planned on us going out, but we certainly could. We are both awfully busy usually,” her mum said with a shrug. “Yeah, let’s go do something. We don’t get out much lately,” Martin agreed. “We’ll just clean up here and then head out. Thank you for making dinner,” she said, smiling as she leaned down to kiss her mum’s cheek.

Philip nodded a bit. He didn't know too much about Martin but he figured he could get the gossip from Audrey later. "Sounds fun," he smiled. "I'm sure we will. It's hard to find someone that I absolutely cannot get along with," he joked. He nudged Audrey a bit as the other two spoke, giving her a playful wink. "Go on. Have fun. I demand it," he teased. "Yes, thank you so much for the lovely dinner, Ms. Carlisle." He took the pile of dishes he had over to the sink and started to wash them.

Audrey watched as her mum and Martin got up and left the dining room to get dressed, smiling over at Philip as she cleared the table. “I am so sorry about them,” she said with a laugh. She couldn’t believe how ridiculous they’d both been tonight. It was nearly too much. She didn’t know why they were so hellbent on embarrassing her. Unless they actually thought they were helping, which was even more ridiculous. She put away the leftovers as he worked on the dishes before going to see if he needed any help.

Philip had somehow managed to suppress the memory of the teasing only half an hour ago already. As soon as Audrey spoke, however, it came right back to him. "Oh, it's alright. Your mum loves to tease. I'm not surprised that Martin is the same way and he picked up on it. Honestly, it was nothing compared to Leo's teasing," he waved it off. He realized that sounded a bit out of place but he focused his attention on the dishes anyway. "Martin seems nice."

Audrey wished her mum would stop doing that, but she felt like it was at least a well established enough thing that it didn’t come off as odd. “Leo teases you?” she asked, a bit taken by surprise at that fact. She had sort of thought she was the only one who got teased. Plus, she was teased because they knew she liked him. What reason did Leo have to tease him? “He’s really nice. He’s good for her. And he tries really hard to be like, fatherly, but not be too much. Sometimes it feels weird,” she admitted, keeping her voice low.

Philip scrambled to think of a proper response to that. Why had he let it slip out? He had no idea what to even say now. "Yeah, yeah he does. It's always something with that lad. It might be retaliation for all of the teasing I do to him," he shrugged. Was that believable enough? He certainly hoped it was. "He does seem good for her. She really lights up around him. It's really nice to see. She deserves it," he smiled. "Yeah, I can understand that. Do you like it when he acts a little fatherly at all?" he wondered.

Audrey watched him carefully as he formulated a response. She didn’t realize she was holding her breath until she let out a sigh when he gave his explanation. “That makes sense,” she said with a laugh. For a second, she thought something else. “She does,” she said, pausing only because she heard her mum yell that she was heading out. “Love you! Have fun! Be safe!” she called back. “She didn’t date until I left for uni. I don’t know if she was healing, or just didn’t want me to feel weird about it, or what. But I always wanted her to be with someone amazing, so I’m really glad she found Martin. He makes her so happy. She feels safe with him, I can tell. It’s really nice,” she said with a small smile. She shrugged. “I don’t know. I like him, and I know he’s being nice, and his son isn’t that much older than me, but it feels weird. My dad was never like that, you know? I don’t know how to react sometimes.”

Philip hoped she believed him. He felt like it was perfectly logical for her to assume it was just Leo being Leo. Right? He tried not to think about it much. He needed to relax. He looked over his shoulder when her mum called out, shouting his own goodbye. He listened to Audrey carefully as he washed the dishes, handing them to her to dry. "She's an incredible woman. It's only right she found someone good like Martin," he smiled. He nodded a little bit. "I understand. It must be pretty strange to suddenly have a fatherly figure around, right?" he asked curiously. He didn't blame her for finding it weird but he was happy that she had that.

Audrey nodded in agreement. She thought it was natural for a woman like her mum to find such pure happiness. But she also knew that life wasn’t always full of happy endings. She was glad her mum was getting one, though. “It is. I love her so much. I love how happy she is. It makes me so happy and warm,” she said. As they finished the dishes, she dried her hands and then handed him the towel, leaning against the counter. “It’s so weird. It’s probably better he wasn’t around when I was younger, because I likely would’ve rejected him,” she said with a laugh. Her dad wasn’t even a fatherly figure when he was alive. It just felt foreign.

Philip smiled to himself. He loved how close she was with her mother. They were quite the pair. It was touching how happy she was for her. It just tied in with the sweetness of their relationship. "I'm really happy for the both of you," he smiled. He took the towel from her with a word of thanks and dried his hands off. He thought Martin would be good for the both of them, really. Granted, Audrey was a grown woman now, but there could definitely be a benefit of having Martin in her life. "Probably," he agreed with a chuckle. "Should we let Pudding out again before we head out?"

Audrey smiled and nodded. “Thank you,” she said sincerely. She was glad they were done talking about her dad. She didn’t wanna get into that too much. She hummed a bit and nodded. “Yeah, probably a good idea. I doubt they’ll be gone too long, but he’s just a pup!” she said. She went to the back door and let him out, standing back as they waited for him to come back in.

Philip nodded a bit and watched her go to let the pup outside. He'd had such a great day with her. It was definitely his favorite since being back. Everything just felt so normal. It felt right. "Thanks for letting me tag along with you today. It was good to see your mum and thank her for everything she did for me," he said with a smile. "You're a lot like her, you know?" he smiled as he leaned against the counter.

Audrey smiled, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms over her chest. “You know you’re always welcome here,” she said softly. “And she wanted to see you, too,” she added with a smile. He caught her off guard with that, bringing a different kind of smile to her face. “Me? Oh, I don’t know. I try, though. Thanks,” she said, letting out a little breath of a laugh. What a compliment. She wasn’t sure he even knew.

Philip knew that. It still meant a lot to him, though. He felt like he really belonged here in this little unit. There was no shortage of love. He liked to bask in it. "It's still nice to be asked and brought along," he said simply. "It was really good to see her. She was one of the people I looked forward to seeing the most." He thought she was a lot like the older woman. "You are. You're all the best parts of her and more."

Audrey smiled, straightening up to nudge him gently. “You’re always invited,” she said with a genuine, warm smile. She slide the door open, letting Pudding back in. “She has a lot of love for you, you know,” she said honestly. “She asks about you nearly every time she speaks to me,” she added. She laughed a bit, just a touch overwhelmed by that. “I’m glad you think so,” she said, not sure what else to say.

Philip knew that too but it was still nice to hear. "Still. Let me be thankful," he insisted. He reached down to pet Pudding when he trotted back inside. "I love her a lot too," he said, looking up at her with a smile. "Does she? I guess I'll just start ringing her every now and then so I can tell her myself," he said playfully. He straightened back up and stretched. "Of course I think so. I'm sure anyone would agree.”

Audrey laughed a little and nodded. “Alright, alright,” she said, letting it go. She laughed again and put her hands up. “You’re welcome to call her! She’ll still ask me about you every time I talk to her, though,” she said honestly. She smiled at him, wishing so badly that she could lean in and kiss him. Sometimes she just thought she should go for it. She shook that out of her mind, instead reaching out and touching his arm. “Thank you,” she said. “I mean it.”

Philip chuckled a bit. Maybe he'd try a few times. He always had a bit of spare time these days. "Well, I'm going to have to if I'm helping with wedding planning," he teased. He felt regret at the thought of leaving but he knew they'd have to head out soon. "Oh. You're quite welcome, love," he said with a smile. He covered her hand with his own for a moment and squeezed. "We should say goodbye to Pudding and let him nap."

Audrey smiled and nodded. “Yeah, yeah, that’s true. I’m sure you’ll talk plenty,” she said honestly. She felt like she was going to melt when he called her love. She was so in love with him. She nearly sighed longingly, but she got herself. She just kind of stood there quietly for a moment, enjoying the little moment they were sharing. “Yeah, yeah, we should,” she said, snapping out of it. She walked over, giving Pudding a little pet and leaning down to kiss his head. “Bye bye, Pudding. I’ll see you soon I’m sure. You be a good boy.”

Philip knew they would speak often. He looked forward to it, actually. He felt like he could talk to Annabel about anything and she'd keep it secret. He felt the same with his friends but that was different. Sometimes he needed some motherly advice that didn't come from the queen. He smiled at her as she walked off to pet the pup goodbye before doing the exact same. "Be good, pretty boy. I'll miss you," he promised. He gave the dog one more scratch behind the ears before leading Audrey out of the house. "What a day."

Audrey always hated saying goodbye to Philip, and she had a few moments longer, as he was her ride. But she hated that they were going to have to part soon. It was always hard. She followed him out of the house, locking the door behind her, and moving to get into his car. “No doubt. I’m glad you got to see my mum again, though, and it was nice that you got to meet Martin,” she added. “Plus my mum makes a killer lasagna,” she laughed a little.

Philip opened her car door for her to get inside. He went around to his and offered her a smile when he sat next to her. "What a day, right? Who knew I'd be a wedding planner now?" he offered as a joke. Anything to stall taking her home. He knew it was selfish, she was probably tired. "It was nice to meet Martin. He really lights her up. That's how I can tell they're in love," he admitted with a smile. "She really does. It was delicious."

Audrey climbed in, thanking him. She laughed a bit and shook her head. “I couldn’t have predicted that,” she said honestly, though really, the more she thought about it, it was rather Philip of him. “I’m so happy for her,” she said, smiling sweetly. It made her so happy that she was happy. She deserved that more than anyone she knew. “I love when you come over,” she admitted, sort of randomly.

Philip couldn't have either. It'd be a lot of fun, though. The closest to a royal wedding a commoner--and he loathed that word--could have. He simply couldn't wait. "I am too. I've never seen her so happy. I hope some day someone looks at me the way she looks at him," he said to himself. He glanced over at a stop. "I love when you invite me. I promise," he smiled.

Audrey wanted to scream. How had he never noticed she looked at him like that? She let out a soft sigh, looking out the window. “I know someone will,” she said, trying not to sound too weird. She looked over at him when he spoke to her again and smiled a bit. “I’m glad. I’ll have to do it more,” she said. She wished she could just tell him everything. She just wanted him to love her. She felt like she was going to spend her entire life pining after him.

Philip hoped that someone was her one day but he wouldn't get his hopes up. Surely if something was going to happen between them it would have by now. Leo had to be wrong. He felt like he'd been watching for signs but he just wasn't picking up on any. Surely that meant she didn't feel the same. "Perhaps," he agreed. "You should. I will gladly accept any invitation you offer to me. I'd drop all my plans," he added with a playful grin.

Audrey let out a sigh. Did he really think no one was ever going to love him? Was he that stupid? He was such a catch. She could make herself cry thinking about how much she loved him. She schooled herself, taking a deep breath. She smiled a bit. She wanted to hear that he would drop anything for her, but she knew better. “I’ll definitely invite you more then,” she said playfully.

Philip tapped his hands on the wheel a little as he drove. He felt like he had so much he wanted to say to her but he didn't know how to bring it up. He didn't know that he'd ever be able to. "Well, I appreciate that. Invite me everywhere, actually. I've missed being around you, Rae," he sent her a twinkling smile. He didn't really want to say goodbye to her so he drove a little slower than he needed to

Audrey felt a funny feeling in her stomach and chest. She hated the way her mind ran away with things he said like that. She hated that smile, the way it made her heart skip. She smiled, letting out a little laugh. “I’ve missed being around you, too, Philip,” she said. How could he not see she was looking at him the way her mum looked at Martin? She really wished she’d fallen out of love with him while he was gone.

Philip wished things were different between them. He wished they could just be together. It should be easy. They'd known each other for so long. "Well, I'm not going anywhere for a good long while," he promised. "I'll be around. We'll just have to see each other more," he said with a grin. "I mean, I will be bothering you at work from now on, you know," he teased her gently. "Might as well start calling me Leo."

Audrey smiled and glanced over at him. “I’m holding you to that,” she said, laughing softly. “Maybe you can come over for a movie night this weekend? I’m sure Nina would be down. You can crash on the couch if you want, too, just like back in uni,” she said with a smile. She laughed, smiling widely. She loved the idea of him being around all the time, always talking to her. “I’m never bothered by you,” she insisted. How was she going to get any work done? She’d have to bring some home.

Philip thought that sounded like fun. It'd be good to feel like they were back in uni where things had felt easier. "Yeah, that absolutely sounds like fun," he grinned. "Sounds like the good old days to me. Just the three of us, staying in instead of going out to the pubs like everyone else," he teased. He thought that was a sweet sentiment but he was sure he'd distract her a fair bit. "If you say so, Rae." He idled the car in front of her flat, looking up at it. "I can walk you up, if you want?"

Audrey was glad he liked her idea. She missed him so much when he was gone. She was so happy he was home for good. “Just like the good old days,” she grinned. “It’ll be great. We can all pick a movie,” she suggested. She noticed they were at her flat and let out a sigh. She didn’t want to go up and say goodnight to him. But she knew she had to, even though she’d rather just sit here with him. “Yeah, that’d be nice,” she said, opening the car door and stepping out.

Philip couldn't wait, honestly. He'd thought about those nights in a lot over the last three years. He'd often wished he was back in the flat with them, laughing over a silly film and fighting over the snacks. "Sounds like just what I've been missing," he smiled. He nodded when she agreed and undid his seat belt to follow her out onto the street. "I had a lot of fun with you today. I know I've already said that but I mean it. It's been my favorite day back."

Audrey smiled at him, really excited to get back into the grove of things with him being home. She’d missed him so much. “Perfect then,” she said. She walked with him toward her flat, smiling again as he talked about the night. “I had a lot of fun with you, too. You know you haven’t been back that long, right?” she teased. She walked up the stairs slowly, not in any hurry to say goodbye, though she knew she shouldn’t linger too long.

Philip walked as slowly as she did, not in any particular rush. He didn't want this to end. He knew he only had a few moments longer. He hated that. "Yeah, I know. Trust me, I know," he laughed. "I'm just saying. It was the best day I've had. It was good to just spend time with you," he told her. "And I got to play with a dog and see your mum, so I mean," he trailed off playfully. As they reached her door, he stopped and pulled her into a hug. "Have a good rest of the night, Rae."

Audrey smiled at the way he laughed. Every laugh from him made her heart swell. She felt like she was just beaming at him all the time. She nudged him a little, still smiling. “I enjoyed spending time with you, too. You have no idea how much I missed you,” she said honestly. She laughed a bit. “Yeah, a bad day with mum and Pudding is still better than a good day without them,” she teased. She was so relieved he hugged her, because she wanted to hug him so bad. She held him tightly, breathing him in. “Have a good night, Philip.”

Philip had a feeling he knew because he was certain that he'd missed her more. He didn't want to insist on that, though. It might send a weird message that he wasn't able to explain. "I missed you too," he said instead. "It is. Way better. But hanging out anywhere with you today would have been a good day," he promised. He hugged her to him tightly, so reluctant to let go. He lingered a moment or two too long before he finally did. "Say hello to Nina for me. I'll see you at work." He waved.

[ladyluck852]

Starcrossed (Ravenclaw!Yuto x Reader)

A/N: the first of the series! I really really enjoyed writing this, I love this series so much already and cant wait for you guys to read the rest:) the next fic I’m dropping will be *drumroll* Slytherin!Shinwon x Reader, yasss (hiss hiss bitch) heart eyes for days for me. 

Word Count: 6.4k

Genre: fluff/angst

Warnings: insecure MC, teenage angst, mentions of injury, said injury described in detail, mentions of a dead pet, nothing too bad, some curse words :)

Moodboard|Masterlist

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Ravenclaw Common Room// 1:37AM// October 15th The ravenclaw common room was silent, save for the occasional turn of a page or the crackling fire that was close to dying out, the last thing keeping the winter chill out and helping Y/N get sleepy at a time like this. She’d been up all night, reading books and preparing for the winter constellations that were so close she could taste them, sleep was the last thing on her mind and she knew she’d regret it in the morning. She kept telling herself she’d use her free period to take a nap, her morning class was easy she could just sleep, she technically didn’t have to study for her N.E.W.T.s if she just decided to change her career when it was all said and done.

Y/n was in the middle of stressing over her sudden train of thought, not even noticing the boy who had snuck right past her in the room before he was almost out of sight, “Hey!” She hissed, dropping her books when she jumped off of her chair, “What are you doing out so...late”

Her voice died in her throat when he turned around, the look on his face was something that truly terrified her, mostly because he was scowling but still managed to look handsome at the same time. He was also out of uniform, looking like he’d wandered in off of the street, she swallowed hard as she struggled to speak. Y/n was a prefect after all, this was her job, make sure no one was sneaking around while being able to express her bossy tendencies. She just had a bit of a weak spot when it came to him.

Adachi Yuto was a Seventh Year student like herself, oddly quiet and ridiculously smart, she’d had a stupid crush on him ever since their second year when he’d conjured butterflies in the courtyard on a warm spring day. Her stomach flipped just thinking about it, but she shook it off as she waited for him to answer.

“I was...busy” he mumbled, his voice barely audible as she raised an eyebrow at him and placed her hands on her hips. Yuto held in a laugh, wondering if y/n did this to every student who came in late or if he was a special case. He wasn’t even mad that she’d caught him, he’d snuck past her too many times that he’d begun to wonder just what she’d do if she saw him. He’d seen her chew out first years in the hallway like she was their mother, sending them straight to the headmaster crying, she was scary for a girl. And Yuto wasn’t scared of much, just the dark, and y/n.

“Busy?” She asked, a sharp and demanding tone in her voice as she pushed her level of authority to the last line. She was just being nosy because she’d never actually had the chance to talk to him and she wanted to impress him. Which was stupid, she knew this, but she couldn’t help it, “What exactly were you doing. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t report you right now”

Yuto shrugged, narrowing his eyes as he wondered if she knew how red her face was. He would say anything to make her shut up, he was tired and cold and wanted to go to bed, he studied the dying fire and her books on the floor before sighing. He waved a hand through the air, y/n’s eyes widening when one of her books hit her on the hip on its way to the table beside her beloved chair, “You should go to bed. It’s late”

“You’re-“ y/n had already begun to fuss but he was gone before she could say anything. She growled in frustration, ignoring the pounding in her heart and stupid butterflies in her stomach. This wasn’t over, she would threaten him in the morning if all he was going to do was ignore her, but right now she had books to read.

Yuto wasn’t impressed, far from it, he knew y/n was bossy and annoying but he didn’t expect to kind of like it. No one really talked to him, in return he didn’t talk to anyone, he just shut up and did his work. He got the sense that people were afraid of him and that was nice and all, just a bit lonely, that’s why he spent most of his time in the astronomy tower scaring away couples so he could look at the stars. He tossed the book he’d ‘borrowed’ from y/n’s pile onto his nightstand noisily, not even waking his peers before crashing into bed and grabbing his wand.

He didn’t know y/n liked stars, that made him like her a little bit more, but not too much. She seemed really into her book when he walked in, her nose buried in the pages as she read a bit too quickly than he thought was normal. He assumed she was some sort of genius, getting tremendous scores on her O.W.L.s and on a good path to becoming an auror like she’d been saying since she got to this damn school. Yuto dreamed of becoming an auror as well, just quietly, maybe he’d be more motivated once he got his head out of the clouds.

“Black Holes And Time Warps? Freak” he whispered, holding his wand in his mouth as he turned the page of her book and read through the first page. He’d never read this book before, and assumed it wasn’t from the library because it was a muggle author and there was a lot of science involved. He appreciated the new point of view, finishing the book as the sun came up and curling up into bed grumpily when his roommate Jinho got up early to yell about quidditch practice. Quidditch was stupid, maybe he should spend more time studying instead of riding a broom. But he was lucky Jinho wasn’t the prefect on duty last night, he would have gotten his ass chewed out in front of the whole dorm if he’d caught him. Which is why he only snuck out on the nights y/n was on duty, it was one of the only times he saw her anyways, not that it mattered.

* *

Potions Class// 9:17AM//October 15th Y/n was up bright and early, hoping to catch a glimpse of Yuto after her first class in the morning, knowing this was around the time he’d be finishing up Charms. Not that she had planned this all night while she lay in bed, it was just a sudden thought she’d had after class when she realized she really wanted to know what he’d been doing last night. She didn’t really want to get her hopes up but was a bit disappointed when she didn’t see him, going back to the dorm for a nap when she heard a noise and glanced around the room, admittedly getting a bit scared. She kicked her shoes off before sitting on her bed, getting comfy before she heard a tapping noise and her eyes shot to the window. There was a huge black bird in her window and it was staring straight at her with big pretty eyes, trusting eyes, she got up to let it in and it just dropped a book onto her floor before perching on the window sill.

“Where’d you come from? Is this my book?” She asked softly, petting the owl who leaned into her touch with a chirp, “wait there a second”

She ran to her desk and pulled out a treat she’d saved for her own owl, wanting to thank the bird for returning her book from an unknown source. It flew off after devouring the treat, y/n smiled after it before remembering her book and opening it absentmindedly. Her eyes bugged out of her head when she found words etched into the first page, a simple ‘thanks, Yuto’ written in big bold letters making her let out a frustrated scream.

*

*

Great Hall// Dinner time// October 15th Yuto was trying to ignore his peers talks about a party they’d had the previous weekend, trying to drink his pumpkin juice in peace when a loud slam made the whole hall go silent. He was almost afraid to look, feeling hot breath on the back of his neck and already smelling y/n’s nice perfume to know he wasn’t about to get his ass beat by the slytherin he’d hexed in the restroom this morning.

“Did you write on my book?!” She hissed, her book appearing in front of him on the page he’d thanked her on. He wondered why she didn’t like it, he said thank you, what was wrong with that? Maybe he should have written it on the back instead, that did look a bit like he’d signed an autograph or something.

“Y-you didn’t like it?” He asked, feeling her shove him over as she positioned herself between him and a Sixth Year who had been staring at him all dinner. He could feel everyone’s eyes on them and it made him a bit anxious, but her angry eyes were the only thing he could focus on and the stirring in his stomach confused him.

“The ink bled through the first six pages. This is my favorite book! When did you even take it?! I’m going to tell on you!” She hissed childishly, making him laugh a bit. Y/n’s cheeks went red again, a look he realized he kind of liked on her, Yuto just sighed as he thought of a way to fix this. He wasn’t really good at this type of stuff, he was an only child for crying out loud and didn’t get out much, how was he supposed to make her feel better? He really wanted to.

“Uh, sorry? Can I like, make it up to you?”

Y/n’s eyes widened, the darkest crimson shade reaching her ears as her eyes suddenly dropped to the table, “it’s fine” she said, her voice barely a whisper as he grabbed onto his cup of pumpkin juice again and shrugged.

“Whatever then, it wasn’t even that bad” Yuto shrugged, enjoying the shriek that left her lips and narrowly dodging the book that was aimed right for his shoulder.

“I’m reporting you to the headmaster!”

Astronomy Tower// 12:56AM// October 20th Yuto didn’t see y/n tonight, wondering if she was sick or something, kind of hoping she’d be there when he got back so he could bother her some more and sincerely hoping Jinho wasn’t waiting for him. The climb to the astronomy tower with a backpack full of books was annoying, almost as annoying as the chirping owl on his shoulder that had been carrying a letter for the last two days. He wasn’t quite sure when he’d send that one, the owl already knowing it was to go to y/n but not until Yuto said so. He was planning on drawing her a map of the stars, knowing her favorite constellation was Gemini but only because of the star Alhena. He’d heard her talking about it in DADA before the professor had told her to shut up and focus. She was really annoying sometimes.

“What are you doing up here?!” Someone asked, he nearly slipped on the last step and had to bend over to steady himself as he peered into the darkness. Two of his biggest fears in one place really unsettled him and seeing y/n leaning against the wall in pajamas was really weird. She looked like a housewife, he half expected her to have her hair up in those curler things. She looked angry to see him and he wondered what he ever did to her, he was going to say something snarky before his stupid owl flew off of his shoulders and towards her before he could protest.

“N-“

“Oh, hello again, I didn’t bring any treats with me this time. Does he not feed you? Want to come live with me?” Y/n asked gently, her h/c hair shining in my moonlight as Yuto shoved his hands in his pockets and rolled his eyes at the owl that was literally cooing at y/n.

“Your owl,” Yuto mumbled, his feet carrying to the spot right next to her as he glanced down at her, “it um...”

“Died. Yup. No one talks about it, but it was pretty sad, she was a good girl” y/n said quietly, rubbing his owls feathers gently as he managed to let out a small laugh.

“He really likes you”

He regret saying it almost as soon as the last word left his mouth, wishing his brain was in a bit more control sometimes when it came to her. He could see y/n blushing in the minimal light, she looked oddly nice right now and he wanted to throw himself down the stairs and go straight to bed. He got the sense y/n was ignoring him as she moved to the telescope, his owl perched on her shoulder as he remembered the letter and rushed to remove it before any accidents could happen. His hands brushed her shoulder and she jumped out of her own skin, bumping her head on the telescope and landing on her butt with a hiss, “thanks a lot!”

“I barely touched you” he muttered, shoving the letter in his pocket before bending down to see what she’d been looking at. He didn’t expect to not see Gemini right now, rolling his eyes a bit at how predictable she was but adjusting the scope a bit more to his liking anyways. He could hear y/n talking to his owl quietly as it’s wings flapped, wondering why he liked her more than he liked Yuto. Maybe he should ask her where to buy the treats she’d mentioned, the owl probably thought she’d feed him something extra special every time he saw her.

“What’s this? A love letter?” Y/n asked a bit teasingly, making Yuto make the same stupid mistake as her and hit his head on the telescope as he scrambled to see what she was talking about. She already had the letter open, her eyes scanning it’s contents as he reached for it instinctively. He knew y/n was fast, she’d been the Quidditch Seeker before her accident on the field, he made the stupid mistake of judging her reflexes and was now losing his balance.

He was sure he heard y/n’s bones crack underneath him, her nails digging holes into his damn shoulders as she wasted no time in shoving him off of her. He narrowly avoided a knee to the crotch as he caught his breath, staring at the ceiling as his heart beat too fast for comfort and y/n was complaining in his ear.

“Sorry”

*

*

Potions Class// 2:34PM// October 30th Y/n was crying again, a potion gone wrong and too much yelling from the professor overwhelmed her and she admittedly couldn’t handle it. Yuto felt bad, he didn’t know what to say, but he felt bad. He knew her partner was useless, he probably handed her the wrong ingredients and caused the potion to overflow and damage nearly everything around it. Y/n was crying in the back of the room and Yuto couldn’t focus, his own perfect potion being left abandoned as he left his table and made his way to y/n.

“Hey. Your crying is distracting me” he whispered, sitting on the window sill next to her and offering y/n a tissue. He actually didn’t know what the tissue was doing in his robes and if it contained boogers or not but her sleeves were wet and gross and he couldn’t stand to see her continue to wipe her eyes with them.

“Why can’t I do anything right?” Y/n cried, burying her face in his shoulder as his hands twitched uncomfortably in his lap. His body went rigid, he didn’t know what to do, he rarely did when it came to her. He knew he should probably touch her, people liked that, but she was so uptight sometimes she’d probably cast a nasty spell on him for even poking her.

“Well, it’s not that you’re not doing it right, you just have high expectations. Maybe relax a little and stop being so uptight?” He mumbled, posing it as a question in case it was the wrong thing to say. Y/n pulled back to look at him, her red and puffy face sending a awkward feeling to his stomach and causing his heart to accelerate as he forced himself not to break eye contact, she wiped her eyes before nodding a bit.

“You’re right. I’m so uptight, everyone hates me” she whispered, a stupid pout framing her lips as Yuto scowled.

“You’re so stupid” he grumbled, rolling his eyes before realizing what he’d said and fearing her expression, “I don’t hate you”

“Maybe not you,” she mumbled, Yuto breathed a sigh of relief as she stared out the window, “but everyone else does. They think I’m mean, and bossy, it’s not my fault I have nothing better to do. The girls in my dorm are so snarky, they make fun of me when I say good morning”

“Maybe because your breath stinks” Yuto shrugged, nudging her shoulder as y/n felt a stupid smile creep onto her face.

“You’re an asshole you know that?”

“Yeah, but you still haven’t stopped talking to me so you must like it” Yuto whispered with a small smile. Something about this felt good, he didn’t really like it, in fact he wanted to run far away from it but it was too late for that, “if I help you with your potion will you do something for me?”

“I guess”

*

*

Grand Staircase// 1:58AM// October 31st “If we get caught I’ll just blame it on you” y/n mumbled, adjusting her prefect badge on her robe as she stopped on the staircase. Yuto had been dragging her around the entire castle, his route to the Astronomy Tower the stupidest thing ever. The staircase began to move underneath her, and she might have been a little tipsy from the firewhiskey Yuto carried around or something, but she tried not to yell as she toppled over.

“Are you always such a mess?” Yuto sighed, grabbing her hand and pulling her onto the last step of the opposite staircase, holding onto her tightly as they moved places for a few more seconds. Y/n felt sick, her head was swimming, she blamed the alcohol.

“I’m normally much more put together than this” she admitted, feeling her face heat up when he didn’t let go of her hand and started to pull her up the staircase before they could switch places again. She’d never once gotten lost on the stairs, but that’s because she avoided them as best as she could if she was alone, and with Yuto she was basically alone since he often let her fend for herself.

“Happy Halloween” Yuto said to a portrait as they passed by, most of the portraits happily saying it back as they greeted him. Normally the portraits were always grumpy, especially this late at night, she was slightly relieved they weren’t yelling at them. Yuto’s idea of fun seemed to be sneaking around the castle, whether it was with his owl or not, and he had to admit it wasn’t the first time he’d thought of bringing y/n with him. Or the first time he thought about holding her hand.

“So,” y/n croaked, her palm a bit sweaty beneath his fingers as she swallowed nervously, “come here often?”

Yuto just laughed, his fingers intertwining with her own while the both of them blushed. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it’s because if he got caught he wouldn’t take all of the blame, but it felt comfortable. He couldn’t remember the last time he held someone’s hand, his whole life becoming a blur, probably the alcohol.

“You know, you’re a lot nicer when you shut your mouth” he joked, glancing back at y/n who’s eyes were wide as she stared at the floor. He bit his lip as he turned away, finally making it to the top floor of the Astronomy Tower and letting her go, “wanna, I don’t know, eat dinner with me tomorrow?”

“Yup” she said quickly, ducking her head as she went straight to the telescope and avoided him. Did she even hear him? Was it really that easy?

Y/n was freaking out a bit, her hand still tingling and her body feeling awkward around Yuto. She was sure these were normal feelings she usually got around him, just intensified by a lot. Her eyes could barely focus on the stars before she felt Yuto behind her, his arms above her shoulders as he adjusted the telescope. She turned around quickly, hitting her head on the telescope like it was tradition, her eyes taking in every detail of him this close like she’d never seen him before. He was so gorgeous to her, tan skin, so flawless, his eyes were so beautiful and he was staring at her with a look in his eye she knew mirrored hers. Maybe it was the alcohol, but she couldn’t be sure, she felt something she never really felt before but at the same time she’s sure it had always been there.

“You have stars in your eyes” Yuto mumbled, the hand that had been on the telescope had moved to sit comfortably on the back of her head, her soft hair sliding between his fingers as she stared up at him with a mix of awe and shock in her eyes. Yuto was in a daze, the half a bottle of firewhiskey and the smell of her perfume feeling dangerous to him, he didn’t know what to do. Well he knew what to do, he knew he should kiss her, but he was too scared to make it happen.

“I-“

“Who’s up here?!” The voice that interrupted them made y/n jump, once again hitting her head on the telescope, making her cry out in pain and give them away. Yuto sighed, nothing ever went according to plan.

*

*

Ravenclaw Common Room// 4:37PM// November 28th

Yuto couldn’t stay away from y/n even if he tried, it was pathetic really. The one night they got caught may have cost them 5 House points and got them banned from their last Hallowe’en Feast as Hogwart’s students but it might have been worth it. It kind of created a stupid inseparable bond between the two of them, they made it a thing to head to the Astonomy Tower at least twice a week, and either of them would be lying if they said they didn’t look forward to it. Although y/n liked to complain and Yuto liked to bother her, something about looking at the stars together was really really nice.

“Hey y/n!” Someone said, making Yuto scan the room for the girl he rarely saw if it wasn’t in potions class or the middle of the night. She was sitting on the couch between two other girls, some girls he saw around the dorms that liked to stare at him. He didn’t really like them, but if they were friends with y/n they couldn’t be that bad.

Yuto pretended like he was interested in his book, waiting for y/n to walk by to catch her attention, his ears feeling hot as she stared at him expectantly. Maybe she was busy, she did look like she was in a rush, but he felt a little bad. Normally she gave him her undivided attention with cute little eyes, but she really did look busy. Yuto’s words got caught in his throat, “u-uh I was just wondering if you wanted to, um, go to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow? Well not go, but you can meet me there. I’ll buy you butterbeer?”

Y/n just stared at Yuto and he was cussing himself out inside, seeing how she barely reacted when normally she’d be a blushing mess, “sure. See you”

He stared after her wondering what the hell was her problem, knowing she probably liked him better when he was an asshole or something, he should’ve just asked her tonight when they went to see the stars. He felt like a piece of crap, and was too mad to even read his book as he got up to take a walk and saw some seventh year quidditch asshole in the hallway talking to y/n. He debated on whether or not he should cast a bad spell on him when he walked by but then he heard y/n laugh the ugliest laugh ever and her friends joined in.

Y/n pretended not to see Yuto when he walked by, feeling some kind of longing in her stomach as her friend drug her away by the arm to go pick out an outfit for tomorrow. It was snowing and the last thing she wanted to do was look ‘cute’ but this is the first time she’d really felt welcomed by her roommates and she’d rather be on their good side than bad side. It wasn’t news than y/n used to be popular, she was a star Quidditch player and had so many friends, her accident was really bad and she was lucky to be alive, but she lost a lot more than confidence when she never returned to the Pitch.

She supposed people were mad at her for not wanting to go back, she got lucky with her position as prefect because it helped her get her mind off of things, then people started to dislike her more because she wouldn’t let them break the rules. She’d begun to get really tired of the mistreatment, then her roommates started being nice and she couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

“So what’s up with you and that Adachi kid. Isn’t he a Mudblood?” Y/n’s roommate asked, making her nose wrinkle at the ugly word she’d used. Y/n just shrugged to avoid a conflict, pulling a pink sweater out of her trunk that she thought would be perfect for tomorrow. In the back of her mind she knew Yuto wasn’t a Mudblood, but who was she to correct people? Maybe she knew he was actually a Half-Blood and he’d lived with his wizard family his whole life.

“I don’t know. He’s nice” y/n said quietly, her face heating up as she folded her clothes and put them on her nightstand for the weekend.

“Yeah but he’s not the best Quidditch player in ravenclaw is he?” Her roommate said, causing the other girls to giggle. Y/n wasn’t sure why that guy had suddenly started talking to her, he never talked to her before, in fact she was sure he was part of the reason she’d gotten hurt all those years ago.

“I suppose not. I’m going for dinner”

*

*

Astronomy Tower// 12:43AM// November 29th Yuto got tired of waiting for y/n, his frustration making him too upset to even look at the stars and something stupid blurred his vision as he sat against a pillar. He and y/n normally ate dinner together, whether she sat across from him or beside it didn’t matter, but today she sat with her friends and that stupid Quidditch Keeper. Yuto wasn’t quite sure what she saw in them, taking back his previous thoughts that they were possibly good people, y/n would never be this cold to Yuto and he knew it. It just made it worse when she didn’t meet him in the Common Room at the usual time and wasn’t there 20 minutes later either.

Yuto debated on whether or not he should even go on the trip tomorrow, no longer having the motivation if y/n was going to ignore him for her friends. He knew it was stupid, he was 18 and was way past the age of crying over stupid girls. But y/n was everything but a stupid girl, and it didn’t count if the tears never fell. Right? * * Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop(Hogsmeade)// 12:20PM// November 29th

Y/n sighed as her friends shoved her into the stupid tea shop behind a stupid boy who had spent the entire ride to Hogsmeade cracking dirty jokes and wrapping his arm around her. It was awfully uncomfortable in there, there were people kissing everywhere and she was sure he asked her what she wanted about 15 times before she could say she wanted a chocolate cookie and called it a day. He wanted to sit at a table near the window, and y/n cringed when he led her by the small of her back.

“So,” he began, flashing a toothy grin as he sipped his tea, “What do you like to do for fun?”

Y/n paled, did he not ask her the same question just two days ago in the Common Room? Did he already forget, was she that basic and boring? She caught a glimpse of a sullen figure out the foggy window walking with his shorter friend, and wondered where he was heading, “do you like butterbeer?”

“I prefer firewhiskey. It’s more of a man drink you know?”

“I drink firewhiskey?” Y/n said, raising her eyebrow as she shoved the rest of her cookie in her mouth and wiped her hands on the stupidly frilly napkin on the table.

“Well if you want something to keep you warm, that’s what my hands are for” the boy across from her said smoothly, winking at her as her cookie almost didn’t go down. She gripped her knees under the table, praying for a miracle when the shop door opened and she heard some weird whistling noises, “Yooo!! Jinho!!”

Y/n jumped from the sudden loud noise, turning to see Jinho and Yuto in the tea shop and feeling her face heat up. What normal person comes in here? She’d never even dream of coming to a place like this and was 800% sure neither would Yuto, she saw him go to order something and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. When the Quidditch players got to talking and soon attracted two more rowdy boys she got up, making a break for the front door Yuto had just left out of.

“W-wait. Yuto!” She panted, the cold weather making it hard for her to catch up with Yuto and his long ass legs. He turned around with a grumpy face, shoving cake into his mouth as y/n panted.

Yuto remembered how bad her injury had been, how hard it now was for y/n to even do things normally after what happened, still remembered her face when they drug her out of the pitch with  seven broken ribs, a punctured lung and a fractured Tibia. That’s what made him stop for her, he would never have done it otherwise.

“Now you wanna talk?” Yuto grumbled. That didn’t mean he had to be nice.

Y/n ignored him, knowing him a bit too well, “w-what kind of cake is that? Do you always get that?”

“Yes,” Yuto mumbled, shoving a spoonful of cake into her mouth and kind of wishing she’d choke on it, “it’s rose flavored. It’s my favorite”

Y/n’s face went red, it was relieving to see her normal face was back, “it’s good. How did you even know about the cake there?”

Y/n had never been in there before in her life, maybe once just to see, but never on a date or anything. She never wanted to again after today, Yuto just blushed and wanted to avoid saying he’d gone with an ex-girlfriend. Y/n got the idea and they fell into step together as Yuto finished his cake.

“Want one?” Yuto asked, pointing to the three broomsticks as y/n nodded, looking cute and comfortable in her pink sweater as Yuto stifled a groan when he opened the door for her. He hated her.

Y/n froze in the doorway, seeing her roommates gathered at a table and waving at her, their faces falling when they noticed Yuto behind her. Yuto saw them, he wasn’t going to pretend like he didn’t, he wasn’t going to pretend like he didn’t see y/n’s shoulders falling as she moved to a table and sulked behind a menu. He gave her roommates a dirty look, they looked like a bunch of cat hair bunched together and it was ugly.

“Two butterbeer’s please” y/n sighed, not wasting any second when the butterbeer was brought out instantly. Yuto wasn’t sure why she was a mess right now, he just hoped it wasn’t because of him. Y/n placed her near empty cup in front of her as Yuto sipped at the foam off the top of his, staring at her and noticing a look in her eye that made him wince.

“What now?”

“Why does everyone hate me?” Y/n moaned, burying her face in her arms as her head hit the table with a thud. He moved her glass of butterbeer before she could knock it over, her loud crying luckily drowned out by all the noise in here.

“You’re so...” Yuto refrained from saying anything rude, instead shutting his mouth and waiting for her to stop being dramatic.

“I try so hard to get people to like me and then they give me dirty looks, what am I doing wrong?” She whined, wiping her eyes with her sleeves as Yuto searched for a napkin. He hated when she did that.

“Maybe you should stop hanging out with me” he said truthfully, “then maybe your ‘friends’ would like you more”

Y/n made a noise, searching for her cup of butterbeer that Yuto pushed into her hands, “don’t be ridiculous!”

“Okay, then get new friends? You know there are other houses besides Ravenclaw. Ever considered venturing outside of stuck up brainiacs?” Yuto sighed, knowing he was one of them but that didn’t exactly prove to be useful information right now.

“I’m not good enough for them” she mumbled, a red blush creeping across her face as Yuto finished the rest of his butterbeer and rolled his eyes.

“Why are you like this?” He asked, expecting an answer but not getting one, “seriously. You know your worth, you know how smart and talented you are. Why do you waste it on people who are no good for you? Who are so ugly on the inside?”

Y/n just stared at him, her eyes narrowing before she got out of her seat and Yuto looked at her like she was crazy. She was crazy, they were both crazy, “going”

“Okay?” He muttered, still getting up to follow her as she stumbled out of the pub and into the snow. She was going in the direction she shouldn’t be if she wanted to take a carriage back to the school, kicking snow as she went, hitting trees with her hands as she wandered deeper into the forest full of dead trees, “stop being dramatic!”

“Why? I mean if no ones ever going to like me why does it matter how I am?” Y/n called out behind her, not bothering to look at Yuto who’s long legs kept getting stuck in the snow.

“Do you realize how pathetic that sounds?” Yuto groaned. He understood how she felt, she was popular and a star player, she had so much going for her and everything changed in an instant. But didn’t she realize that if people didn’t stay they weren’t meant to be there in the first place? That the people who wanted to be there would always be there, and they’d never ever lie to her?

“Just add it to the list of all the stupid things I am” y/n muttered childishly, her eyes widening when Yuto spun her around. She was surprised by the look on his face, he looked so irritated by what she was saying. Truth be told she never really meant it, she knew deep down she was better than what she said, but she got insecure and it was her downfall.

“You know what you are?” Yuto hissed, his brow furrowing as y/n prepared herself for the worst. She knew how he could be when he was angry, it wasn’t pretty, she got upset just looking at him.

“What?”

It couldn’t be worse though, what could he possibly say to hurt her anymore?

“Beautiful...” Yuto sighed, his head hanging and his voice dropping, “and I love you. And I want to kiss you so badly”

“Y-Yuto-“ y/n mumbled, her body smashed against Yuto’s in an instant as he pressed his lips against hers. He was surprisingly gentle for how angry he always looked and was, his hands moving to cradle her face and brush away the stupid tears that were pouring from her eyes. He loved her so much, he always knew that, how long would he have waited to tell her if his emotions didn’t get the best of him?

“I love you. You make me happy, let me make you happy too” Yuto whispered, pulling away to see her looking at him with those pretty stars in her eyes. Y/n was absolutely positive that she’d never looked at someone more beautiful in her life, she thought her world would be changing more, but all the changing had already been done that night she caught him sneaking into their dorms at 2AM.

“I love you, I really do” y/n said, reaching out to caress his cheek as he leaned into her touch just like his owl would.

“But?” He asked, his brow furrowing as he kept his eyes closed, the warmth of her hand everything he could ever want or need. Neither of them were quite sure when they fell so deeply in love, maybe it had always been that way and they (y/n) were just too stupid to see. But he was glad it was all out now, he was tired of wondering what it was like to hold her and tell her how beautiful she was.

“No buts, I just want to know something”

His eyes snapped open, that question sending a shot of anxiety through him that had him tensing up immediately, “w-what?”

“Did you really transform into an Animagus? Because those rumors...you’re so quiet it would have been easy for you” she mumbled, knowing the rumored way involved holding a mandrake leaf in your mouth for a long long time.

“I mean...” Yuto mumbled, unzipping his sweater and walking of deeper into the trees, shedding layers as he went, “wanna find out?”

[snowdice]

Finding the Time to Study Fic 2 [Day 30]

Here is my starting post for today’s study break stories session. See this post for more details and feel free to send me asks to keep me going! It’s been a lot of fun so far! I will reblog this post with the story as I write them today. I’ll be constantly looking for ideas of times and places for Janus to have missions, so feel free to send in any you can think of at any point!

If you are a new follower or just don’t want all of these posts clogging your dash, please feel free to block the tag “study break stories” as all posts and voting about it will go there. You can still see the finished product of the story even if you are blocking that tag as I will not tag the edited chapters with “study break stories” but with the tag “folds in paper.” See edited chapters below. Chapters 3-8 and what I have of Chapter 9 are under the cut.

My Masterpost Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

I also have a playlist on youtube (because Spotify didn’t have one of the songs I wanted). It’s short, and not really for serious listening, but I had fun with it.

Feeling very unmotivated, so let’s see if this can get me out of my funk or if it’ll stop after two rounds.

Chapter 9

Khalid immediately called everyone back to base.

“What happened?” asked Fred when he and Lena arrived. The tech people were already scrambling to get through to the TPI and get the time lock broken from the outside.

“Remus, Remy, and Khalid got played by Pat or whatever his name is. It certainly isn’t Nick. He was just setting up a joke,” Janus told him.

“Stop being smug,” Remy said. “It’s not a good look for you.”

“Pat is…?” Lena asked.

“They guy who fucked me over in 1923,” Janus said, “and is currently in the middle of fucking us all over because he stole the pin timepiece, and by extrapolation, probably the time bomb too.”

 “It will be fine,” said Khalid, “because what he doesn’t know is that timepiece has a tracker on it. Wherever and whenever he went, we’ll have his coordinates.”

“Speaking of,” one of the techies said. “It’s about to break. You might want to hold onto something.” Janus grabbed for a support beam next to him as the techie put a device on the ground in the center of the base. It blinked once, twice, and on the third blink the ground rumbled. There were sounds of panicked yelps outside. The fail safe for the time lock was not nearly as gentle as ending it correctly.

 Everything settled after a few moments, and they all straightened themselves out. Janus’s timepiece buzzed to indicate it was now functioning normally. Khalid had returned her usual timepiece to her wrist and now used it to open a display they could all see. “The pin timepiece’s closest time/space coordinates are…” she trailed off. “Right outside?” She frowned. “That’s strange. Why would he still be here?” She turned to march outside, following the coordinates to a trash can. She pulled the pin timepiece out and stared at it. “Fuck,” she said.

“What just happened?” Remy asked.

“He ticked us,” Janus said. “Again.”

 “He was stuck in the time lock,” Khalid said. “That’s why he got our attention. He couldn’t leave with the time bomb unless he had the pin timepiece or we broke the time lock. Apparently, he’s smart enough to know that if he took the pin timepiece away from here, we’d probably be able to find him, but he knew we’d break the lock as soon as the pin went missing. So, he must have stashed his own timepiece and went back in time within the time lock to grab it while we were distracted with the past version of him. As soon as the time lock went down, I imagine he left.”

 “Probably with the time bomb,” Janus said.

“Probably with the time bomb,” she confirmed.

And everyone knew the only thing worse than a time bomb was a time bomb you didn’t know the location of.

They evacuated after that, of course, and time locked the location once they were out just in case they were wrong, but midnight 3000 struck without thousands of people dying in Brazil, so the time bomb had defiantly been removed from then.

The, they initiated a time travel lockdown for all nonessentials, not willing to let random history students get caught up in an explosion if Pat decided to set the thing off somewhere.

 Then, it was a matter of figuring out everything they could about ‘Pat.’ First, they checked the tracker data as Khalid had tagged him with one of the Millennium Bird trackers. It wouldn’t work outside of the zone they’d set up that day, but the record would show his behavior during the time lock after he’d escaped with the pin timepiece.

There had been many little green dots on the map that day as Fred and Lena had actually been doing the job they’d set out to do, but most of those were running around in the south. There had been one green dot, however, that appeared suddenly in the game area about 10 minutes before the time bomb had been stolen.

 They could see Janus’s yellow dot almost brush his when he’d been chasing the earlier Pat down, around when he’d lost him briefly. The earlier Pat must have all but handed it off to his future self.

“He doubled back,” Remus commented when they watched the recorded data. It was a ballsy move and one that most people balked at, because there were inherent dangers any time you interacted with yourself from a different point in the timestream. It was ripe for paradoxes. It made everyone at the agency even more worried, because if he was willing to risk that, then what else was he willing to do?

 Because of the lockdown of all nonessential time travel, people working for the TPI were not allowed to go home for the night. They were allowed to pick up anyone or anything dependent on them for care like kids and pets if there wasn’t someone in their home time to care for them, but other than that, they were unfortunately all sleeping in their offices for the foreseeable future.

“You are the only tolerable one,” Janus told the cat who upon being let loose in the office by Remus, immediately jumped on Janus’s lap.

“I have literally done nothing to you,” Lena said, but then added. “Yet.”

 “You exist. In my space.”

“Can’t we just all get along?” asked Fred. “It’s only been an hour past when we’d usually go home. I went and grabbed milk and I have my giant thing of different flavored hot chocolate under my desk. We can try them all and vote on which is better.”

“Fuck your hot chocolate, Fred,” Janus growled, having been one of the three who had chipped in to buy it for him on his last birthday.

“Don’t go after Fred, jackass,” Lena spat.

“He’s just testy because his boyfriend escaped,” Remus contributed.

Janus’s lips turned down into a frown and he cupped Diesel Fuel’s face. “We agree we’re eating him first, right?” he asked her.

 She purred her agreement.

“I’d have it no other way,” Remus replied.

“There is plenty of food,” Fred said, sounding stressed. “In fact, I was thinking we should all chip in on ordering take-out soon. “What does everyone like on pizza?”

“This is not a slumber party, Fred,” Janus pointed out.

“Shut it,” Lena snapped and turned to Fred. “I’m fine with almost everything, except…”

“Bananas and tuna salad!” Remus interrupted.

“…whatever Remus is about to say.”

Janus rolled his eyes as that started a debate about whether or not fruit and/or fish belonged on pizza. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, which was when there was a knock on the door.

 He froze when he heard the familiar voice. “Hello, hello,” said Emile, cheerfully. Janus looked up to see Emile standing at the open office door. Shit. Apparently, the man had decided to give up on sending lackeys to come fetch him and had decided to track him down himself when Janus couldn’t even escape without breaking a time lockdown. They met eyes briefly and Janus could see irritation if not anger in his eyes despite his otherwise cheerful expression and tone.

“Janus,” he said when he’d gotten their attention. “I’d like to have dinner with you.” The word choice told Janus everything he needed to know. Usually Emile was careful with how he said things to make sure people knew they had a choice. Typically he’d say something like, “I was wondering if you’d have time to have dinner with me tonight,” or “I’m about to go get food, would you like to come?” Today, there was no choice in the statement.

 Janus still dried to dodge anyway. “Uh,” he said. “We were actually about to order pizza.”

“Go ahead,” said Fred kindly. Janus wanted to strangle him. “We can order pizza with olives if you’re not here.”

“I…” said Janus. “Guess, I’ll be going with you.”

“Great!” Emile said. “Let’s go.”

“Oh,” Janus said. “Uh, now?”

“Now,” Emile said a bit of uncharacteristic steel to his tone.

 Well, Janus was screwed. He swallowed his nervousness and got to his feet, taking Diesel Fuel with him. He turned to hand her off to Remus with a plea in his eye, but he just got an eyebrow raise in return. Traitor.

Then, he followed Emile out of the office door. “What would you like to eat?” asked Emile.

“Uh,” Janus said. “I don’t know. You asked me to eat, don’t you have any ideas?”

“I don’t actually,” Emile replied. Right.

“…Noddle Bar?” Janus threw out the nearest restaurant he knew.

“The one noodle restaurant? Sure,” Emile answered simply. They walked side by side out of the front doors of the TPI building. Janus actually couldn’t remember the last time he’d taken these stairs. He usually used his timepiece to get in and out.

 The noodle bar was only moderately busy at this time. They were quickly able to find a table near the back and Emile pulled his menu up in front of him. Emile hummed as he flipped through the different displays. “What are you having?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Janus said, only then pulling up the menu himself, but still not quite looking at it.

“What about the fortune noodles,” Emile suggested.

Janus shook his head. “I don’t like those,” he said.

Emile glanced at him through the menu displays. “You used to.” Fortune noodles were a bit cheekily named. They didn’t actually indicate anything about your future. They were just supposed to taste like what you wanted from your future. A grad student might experience a feeling like they’d just aced a paper. A child that they got to stay up an hour later that night. Janus had liked the experience when he was younger, but in recent years, he’d begun to taste the underlying chemicals in the dish until that’s all he could.

 “Well,” Emile said lightly, eyes on his menu. “That makes me even more worried for your mental health than I already was because of the almost three years of you avoiding talking to me.”

“No small talk, huh?” Janus asked.

“Forgive me,” Emile said, eyes now focused on Janus, and tone much darker. “How has your life been since I last saw your face 5 months ago during a business meeting and you refused to look me in the eye? Anything interesting happen? Shave your head and let it all regrow? Develop an allergy to peanuts? Join a convent and take an oath of silence that you only just broke today?”

“No,” said Janus quietly into the table.

 “Great,” Emile said clipped. “Small talk over. Order your food.” Janus reached up blindly to select the first thing that came up on the food and drink menu as Emile punched something into his own and both menu displays disappeared, meaning there was nothing between their faces anymore. “You know, I was willing to give you a year,” Emile said. “I was willing to let you deal with it on your own because I thought eventually, you’d come talk to me about it, but apparently I was mistaken. The next year, I thought maybe you thought I didn’t want to talk to you, so I subtly made myself available, and you never took me up on the offer. I thought maybe I was just not being clear, and I should make my desire to talk to you more explicit, but as you have been routinely, clearly avoiding me at every single turn, I’ve decided I’ve had enough. So, let’s lay it all on the table. Is it me or do you need help?”

 Janus closed his eyes. “It’s not you.”

“Then you need help,” Emile concluded.

Janus shook his head.

“Yes,” Emile snapped. “Whatever this is has gone on far too long.”

Janus stood up and slammed his hand down on the table. “And it’s going to keep going on!” he said. The food popped up at that moment. It appeared Janus had ordered lasagna and bubble tea, and Emile had ordered something with spaghetti and a fizzy drink.

“So, you’re just planning to go on being miserable then?” Emile asked, and Janus wasn’t sure if it was worse or better that he didn’t sound angry anymore.

 Janus slapped his hand down on the “To Go” button and his dinner was insta-wrapped by the table. “Yes,” he said.

“What exactly do you think you’re paying penance for, Janus?” Emile asked.

“You wouldn’t understand,” Janus said, paying for both of their meals with his fingerprint.

“That’s a cop out and you know it,” Emile said. “All you’d have to do is talk to me. Or even just talk to someone else. Please.”

“Just…” Janus said, grabbing his bag of food to avoid looking at him. “Just, leave me be.” He walked out of the noodle shop without another word.

 Chapter 10

“And I thought Remus was going to be the most disgusting roommate in this equation,” Lena grumbled. Janus and Lena were apparently the earlier risers in the group as Fred was still curled up around a pillow and Remus was sprawled out under his desk.

Janus flipped her off.

“Protein infused Poptarts and caffeinated orange juice for breakfast?” she asked. “Just eat an energy bar and have a cup of coffee like a normal person.”

He took another pointed bite of his Poptart.

“You’re a horrible roommate. This is why they gave us different partners.”

“Yeah, well you snore, asshole,” Janus said after finishing off his meal.

 “I’d tell you to go eat shit, but you already did that once this morning.”

A pillow flew across the room and somehow managed to hit the both of them. “S’op fighting,” Fred mumbled. “It’s sleep time.”

“It’s morning Fred,” Lena said.

“No,” Fred mumbled.

Janus ignored them, turning back to his integration port to continue to keep plugging in phrases of interest, but he kept getting nothing.

“What are you doing?” Lena asked after a few moments of him huffing at his screen reader.

“Trying to do anything that may change our current living arrangements.”

She puffed out an amused breath. “Can I help?”

 “Can you see any connection between these words and phrases?” he asked, pulling away his screen reader and tapping at the words he’d typed out.

“Paranoid, tonight, I live to party, comeback, love Bug, BB good, Mandy, Macy Misa, I believe, cool, that’s just the way we roll, burnin’ up,” she said. “What are these?”

“They’re things Pat said when we interrogated that struck me funny,” Janus explained. “I feel like he was saying something more than what he said.”

“Hmm,” she said. “PTI for the first three?”

“Maybe,” Janus agreed, “but what about the rest of it? I feel like I’m missing something.”

15080

“Millennia,” Remus mumbled from under his desk. Janus hadn’t been aware he was awake. “He said something something about it being the only time he could see the change of the millennia.” He turned his head to look at Janus. “Considering he’s a time traveler, that’s definitely a weird thing to say.”

“Millennia,” Janus contemplated. “A different turn of the millennia. Oh no.”

“What?” Lena asked.

Janus sighed, and rubbed his temple. “I know someone who studied the 1700-2200s.”

“Isn’t that good?”

“No,” Janus groaned, “because now I have to go talk to him.” He stood with a sigh and then paused. “How do I even get to Silver Mountains University without my timepiece?”

 Luckily Sliver Mountains ended up only being about an hour away from the TPI by time adherent travel, but considering Janus was used to his travel being instantaneous, it was an aggravating trip. He had to show ID and be buzzed up to the fourth floor since it was usually locked to everyone not traveling by timepiece or who worked in the office.

The receptionist was the same man as before. “I’m here to speak to Professor Eran,” Janus said.

The receptionist nodded. “He mentioned you asked to meet him but didn’t know when you’d arrive. He’ll be done teaching his class in about 5 minutes. You can wait over there.”

 Janus nodded and sat, waiting for time to slowly tick by. Virgil arrived after a few minutes, lugging a giant bag with him. He caught sight of Janus and wordlessly jerked his head towards the hallway. Janus followed him.

“What’s in the bag?” Janus asked.

“Early 21st century cell phones,” Virgil said, dropping it on his desk. “I let my students mess around with them for their lab.”

“I see,” Janus said.

“What did you need?” Virgil asked. “You said it was official business.”

“You’ve heard about the lockdown, I presume,” Janus said.

“Yeah, it really screws up my research schedule for the summer,” Virgil said.

15412

“Do you know why the lockdown was instituted?” Janus asked. Virgil shook his head, so Janus explained briefly that they had been trying to find a timebomb on the eve of the year 3000, but it had been swiped by a free agent time traveler. “Some of the things seemed to be references to things that I couldn’t place, and I was wondering if you would recognize any.”

“Shoot,” Virgil requested, seeming intrigued by the prospect.

“Okay,” Janus said. “First, the alias he was using was Nick Jonas.” A weird expression crossed Virgil’s face immediately and Janus paused.

“You said the year 3000?” Virgil asked.

 “Er. Yes.”

“Nick Jonas. Year 3000,” Virgil repeated with a snort. “Were Joe and Kevin a part of this too?”

Janus blinked. “Yes, how did you know that?”

“Yo-you’re going to have,” his sentence was broken by a giggle, and actual full-fledged giggle, “have to give me a minute.” With that, he sort of listed to the side and seemed to purposefully fall off his chair onto the floor under his desk.

Janus blinked and when he didn’t surface after a moment, he stood up to lean over the desk and look down at him. Virgil had his arm thrown over his beat red face, as he shook from what Janus thought was suppressed laughter.

 “What?” Janus asked. “What’s wrong?”

“Just…” Virgil said, sobbing through his laughter. “Just tell me the things he said.”

“Er, mostly he just had weird inflections on words and phrases. There was ‘paranoid, tonight, I live to party, comeback…’”

“Wait, stop,” Virgil said. “Let me guess a few. That’s Just the Way We Roll, Burnin’ Up, Sucker.”

“The first two were, but not the last one.”

Virgil laughed. “Maybe the last one was just implied.”

Janus frowned down. “What are you talking about? What does this all mean?”

Virgil pulled himself out from under his desk and grabbed his bag of phones. He dug through it for a few seconds before pulling one out and handing it to Janus. “I have a lab for my students where they get preloaded phones from the early 21st century and are supposed to guess the demographics of the person who owns it. This one is an iPhone 3 meant to belong to a pre-teen to teenage girl from the year 2009. Look under music artists starting with the letter ‘J.’”

15810

Confused, Janus scrolled through the old style phone, finding the music app and opening it easily. Upon getting to the ‘J’s, he immediately paused on an artist called the ‘Jonas Brothers.’ He clicked on it and read a few of the song titles. They weren’t all there, but…

“That rat bastard,” Janus said.

“Scroll to the bottom,” Virgil said. Janus did and found a song titled ‘Year 3000.’

“You’re kidding me.”

“Click on it,” Virgil requested.

Janus did, listening to the fairly standard pop like intro from the time period. It wasn’t until he got to the lyrics saying, ‘He told me he built a time machine’ that he cursed, understanding exactly what Pat had been doing. When the singer a few lines latter proclaimed that his neighbor said ‘I’ve been to the year 3000’ he almost smashed the artifact to pieces right then and there.

“I have no idea who this guy is,” Virgil said, “but he’s a comedic genius.”

 Chapter 11

Khalid caught him on his way back into the TPI building. “I heard you went to Silver Mountains to follow up on a lead,” she said.

“Yeah, but it was garbage,” he seethed. “All I learned was ‘Pat’ knows early 2000s popular culture and likes to fuck with us.”

She hummed. “I’d still like a report about whatever you found. Who knows what we might end up getting from seemingly inconsequential data.”

“Sure,” he said.

“Anyway,” she continued. “I have a mission for you.”

“We’re on lockdown,” Janus pointed out with a frown.

“For nonessentials,” she said. “This is essential.”

 “What happened?” Janus asked.

“We picked up a small time distortion in France 2027. At the moment, it is small enough not to cause any disruptions, but it is slowly growing, and we don’t know what caused it. Usually we’d just send surveillance agents at this stage, but considering what’s going on, I think it would be best to send a field agent. And it would just be you, because we don’t want to send too many people out at once.”

“Is this related to the time bomb?” Janus asked.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “At the very least, it’s not it being set off as it was in 2999, but if it’s been altered for some other purpose…”

 “I’ll go,” Janus said.

“I’ll send over the mission directive to everyone who needs it. You’ll go in around 3 hours.”

He nodded. “I’ll be ready,” he agreed.

In less then 3 hours, he was dressed for 2027 France and in decontamination. “Well,” he said out loud when he was given the all clear sign, “I hope I don’t explode.” He selected the coordinates on the timepiece and the next moment he was in a small alleyway in the city of Montpellier, France in 2027.

It was a little bit warm, but not stifling even in the mid-afternoon and he could faintly smell the sea on the breeze.

 After a moment to get his bearings, Janus made his way out of the alleyway and onto a small street. The street was lined with restaurants and shops as people went about their daily lives. He carefully integrated himself into the crowd and began weaving his way through them. He needed to find the source of the distortion but doing a quick scan with his timepiece told him there wasn’t any sign of it yet. He’d have to wait for it to act up.

For now, he decided to get slightly away from people by heading towards the river. He found a park that had benches along water.

 As he walked towards the river, he noticed a man on the bench, angled slightly away from Janus and looking out at the water. He immediately recognized the man. “You!” he exclaimed.

Pat’s head shot around to look at him, and he gave a slight head tilt. Then, he smiled, amused. “You are not the person I’m here for,” he said.

“Well, I am now,” Janus snapped. “Where’s the time bomb?”

“Time bomb?” Pat asked, eyebrows drawing together, but amusement on his lips. “Oh sweetie, the time bomb happened a long time ago for me.”

“What?” Janus asked.

“Oh, you’re just a baby,” Pat laughed. “Don’t you get it yet? The two of us are out of sync timeline wise. You’ve been apparently running around with a much younger version of me, but all of that happened quite a while ago for me. Don’t worry though, it gets better.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The time bomb has been long deactivated. Here,” he reached into his pocket and tossed him something. Janus caught it on instinct. “Proof. Don’t worry, we took all of the dangerous bits out years ago from my perspective.” It was the core of a time bomb, the time bomb Pat had stolen if he was to be believed. “You can tell your people it’s safe to remove the lockdown.”

Janus curled his fingers around it. “I don’t get it.”

Something on Pat’s wrist beeped and he looked at it curiously before he stood from the bench, “and I don’t have time to explain it.”

Janus jerked forward to grab his wrist. “Don’t you dare.”

Pat reached up to pat his face. “Don’t worry honey, you’ll be seeing me later.” He twisted his wrist and a small electric current sparked between them. Janus jerked his hand away, and Pat smiled at him. “Or… earlier.” He winked, and then he was gone.

Janus cursed, but he didn’t have more than a moment to be angry because in the next second there was a yelp, and something landed on top of him. He was bowled over into a tangle of limbs and pained noises.

“Oh my god, we need to figure out the height thing,” a familiar voice groaned, just as Janus managed to pull himself away. Pat blinked up at him and his eyes narrowed. “You,” he hissed.

“…What?”

 Pat jumped to his feet, leaving Janus on the ground in front of him. “What are you doing here?” he spat, his tone much different then the one he’d been using a moment earlier. His hair was longer than it had been before, and if Janus looked closely, he did seem like he was a couple of years younger suddenly. Out of sync timelines. I’ll see you earlier. Holy shit.

He was suddenly very glad he’d been forced to let the other Pat (the older Pat?) go, else they’d have a whole thing on their hands.

“What are you doing here?” was Janus’s retort as he stood up and dusted himself off.

 “It’s none of your business,” Pat told him.

“It is my business,” Janus said, “because for all I know, you are the cause of the time distortions I’m after. Considering that I doubt you have a license for that,” he waved at the odd looking timepiece of Pat’s wrist, “it’s very possible.”

“What are you?” Pat asked, “the time police.”

“Yes.”

Pat dared to roll his eyes, but then he tilted his head slightly. “Time distortions?” he asked.

“Yes, that’s why I’m here.”

He still had a confused frown on his face. Did… did he not know what a time distortion was?

 Just then there was a sudden flash of lightening through the sky despite the absolutely lack of clouds. He and Pat both looked up.

“Is that the time distortion?” Pat asked.

“It’s probably the beginning of it,” Janus said.

“That doesn’t look good,” Pat said as he squinted at the sky.

“Just wait,” Janus answered grimly. He looked at Pat. “Usually I’d arrest you on the spot,” he said, “but I’m alone for this one, and that is far more important at the moment. So, have a nice day doing whatever bullshit you are doing.” He glanced at his timepiece.

 Janus turned to walk away from him.

“Wait!” Pat exclaimed, and Janus turned back to him to see that his eyes were wide. Janus raised an eyebrow. “So, this time distortion thing is dangerous, right?”

“Depending on the severity, it could cause time to fracture around this place and time, basically erasing it from existence and killing everyone in it.”

“Well, in that case, I should go with you. To help.”

Janus looked him up and down. “You… have no idea what’s happening, do you? You’re an amateur.”

“I’m not,” he claimed. “I just. Pooling resources. You know?”

Janus sighed. “Well, you going around mucking about this time period without knowing what you’re doing could just exasperate the situation, so fine, you can tag along.”

“I know what I’m doing,” he grumbled even as he rushed to Janus’s side at the permission.

“Sure,” Janus said with an eyeroll. He guessed he was a babysitter now. “I believe you.”

 Chapter 12

There was something off about his readings. Clearly the time distortion was starting to pull at this place with the way the weather was flickering between storming and sunny, but he still couldn’t quite pinpoint the exact location of the source of it. He could, however, get that it must be somewhere on this side of the river more into the downtown area, so that’s the way he was walking, Pat close on his heels.

“What’s your name, by the way?” he asked.

Janus shot him a glare. “Elvis Presley,” he said.

Pat frowned, clearly knowing who that was. “There’s no reason to be mean.”

 “You did it to me first.”

“…Introduced myself as a famous musician?” he asked. Janus didn’t respond, and after a moment, Pat laughed lightly. “You really don’t understand time travel, do you?”

“Oh, yeah,” Janus said. “Name the three types of time distortions.”

“Just because I don’t know the names of things doesn’t mean I don’t understand them.” He stuck out his tongue. Janus was dealing with an actual toddler. “Unlike you who has a bunch of fancy words, but just caused a time loop.”

Janus scoffed. “I did not just cause a time loop.”

“Maybe not a big one,” Pat agreed, “but you did.”

 Janus raised an eyebrow. “I’ve never introduced myself to you with a musician’s name, but now you’ve told me that I will. So, at some point in the future I will have to, thereby making you think to say that now. Time loop.”

“That’s not… that doesn’t count.”

“Does too,” Pat claimed. “Like I have said once before and you may or may not have heard me say before, anything you do to me to get back at me for something I haven’t done yet, just causes whatever that is to happen in the first place.”

“But you’re still going to do it.”

 “Then take it up with future me. I haven’t done anything to you.” Then he paused and sighed. “…Which I guess means you’ve done nothing to me.” He seemed to mull this concept over for a long moment. “Well you were a bit crabby about me not knowing what a time distortion was, but I can forgive you for that.”

“And I’m supposed to forgive you?”

“Like I said,” Pat said. “I haven’t done anything yet.”

“You also haven’t done anything to endear yourself to me either,” Janus grumbled.

“Hmm,” Pat said. “Fine.” He pulled something out of his pocket. “You’re obviously not having much luck finding whatever you’re looking for. Tell me what it is and I’ll help.”

Janus squinted at what was in his hand. “Is that… an iPhone 5?”

“No!” he said. “It’s super-secret time travel tech disguised as an iPhone 5!”

“We’re in 2027,” Janus said. “Not a great disguise. Those things have been obsolete for a decade.”

“Well I’ll keep in mind to have my tech disguised as phones from the right year next time,” Pat said, sticking out his tongue. “Now what are we looking for?”

“If my timepiece can’t find it, I’m certain yours can’t.”

 Pat rolled his eyes and tapped on the device’s screen a couple of times. “I’m going to guess it’s that,” he said proudly.

Janus leaned over to look at the screen. “Are you using google maps?” he sputtered.

“It integrates time relevant data like traffic conditions and local weather warnings with time travel technology,” Pat explained. “Something seems to be going on in a museum a couple of blocks that way.”

“I…” Janus said. That was actually a really good idea, usually unnecessary with scouts observing that data beforehand, and Janus wasn’t sure how good the accuracy would be considering whatever was taking it into account was automated, but still a good idea. “Well, I guess since we have no other leads, we can check it out.”

 Pat looked far too proud for having only used a piece of tech that hadn’t even been confirmed as accurate. “Then, let’s go,” he said right as a chilly wind started to pick up and a couple of snowflakes began to fall around them. “Before that gets worse…”

Janus let Pat lead with his iPhone. Janus’s timepiece still wasn’t picking up a clear signal for some reason, but it seemed to point in the same general direction as Pat’s. Strangely though, as they got closer to their destination, the signal started to get fuzzier. Pat’s tech seemed unaffected leading them closer to the museum.

 When they got to the Musée Fabre museum, Janus stopped. “What?” Pat asked. He was shivering slightly in the cold and holding his arms around himself.

“My timepiece stopped working completely,” he said.

“I’m assuming that’s weird?” Pat said.

“It is,” Janus confirmed, turning to squint at him suspiciously. “How do I know you’re not the one doing it?”

“If I was doing it, wouldn’t I have just knocked it out from the get go?” Pat questioned.

Janus pursed his lips. “I don’t know,” he said. “Would you have? Maybe it’s a trick.”

Pat’s eyes narrowed a bit on him. “Think what you want, but I’m freezing. Come in with me if you want.”

 He dithered from a few moments before following Pat inside. Pat had already struck up a conversation with the woman charging admission into art museum. She was looking at him, her brow knit as he spoke. Janus nudged him away from her getting a confused glance from him in return. He shot a smile at the woman.

“Two adult passes for the museum and the Hotel Sabatier d’Espevran, please,” he said, placing down 14 euro.

“Ah,” she said, still looking at Pat oddly. “Yes sir.” She gave them the passes and Janus quickly shuffled Pat away.

“What is wrong with your French?” he hissed once they were out of earshot.

 “What?” he asked, bewildered.

“You sound like you’re reading Le Comte de Monte-Cristo. No one talks like that anymore.”

“I’m a little rusty,” Pat defended himself.

“Two centuries?” Janus asked. Pat stuck his tongue out like a child once again. “Is that your only way to respond to legitimate criticism?”

“What does it even matter anyway? No one ever expects time travel, at least not for something so silly.”

“It’s not silly,” Janus said. “It’s a legitimate issue. The wrong person who’s watched too much science fiction notices and you’re putting the timeline at risk. Not to mention if there are other time travelers around that aren’t as nice as me.”

 “Are there a lot of time travelers around?” Pat asked, sounding intrigued.

“There are plenty, both legal and not.”

“Huh,” he said, “but what are the chances we’ll run into another one?”

“Considering the time distortion? There could be many. Opportunists wanting to capitalize off the chaos, people trying to stop it, like me, and not to mention the person who caused it.”

“Wait, someone made it happen?” Pat asked.

“These things don’t just happen naturally.”

“Huh. So, something like this has to be caused by a person?”

“Yes,” Janus said. “…Why?”

Pat smiled. “No reason. I think we should head upstairs. Whatever I’m picking up says it’s around here, but I don’t see anything. Maybe it’s a floor or two above us.”

“Which is why it’s ridiculous to use Google Maps.”

 “Would you rather use yours?” he asked sweetly.

“I’m still not convinced it’s not your doing,” Janus growled. “Why does your tech still work when mine doesn’t?”

“Probably the same reason the ring did,” he muttered.

“What?”

“What?”

“You may be the most aggravating being in the universe.”

Pat glanced at him with a bit of a smirk. “I can’t tell you,” he said. “It would be a much bigger risk to the timeline than me speaking in French from the 1830s. But, I’m pretty sure the reason mine still works is just a software difference.”

“What the hell do you mean a software difference?”

 Pat opened his mouth, doubtlessly to supply him with yet another frustratingly cheeky and unhelpful answer. Yet, Pat did not have a chance to do so as, just as Janus stepped onto the second floor of the museum, the ground started to violently shake. Janus tried to turn to catch Pat as the other man’s foot slipped on the last step, but he couldn’t do so in time. Pat fell onto his hands and knees, sliding back a few steps and smacking his face into the stairs hard once and then a couple of times more after that as he slid.

 Chapter 13

The room stopped shaking after a moment. “Ow,” Pat said. He seemed a bit stunned but was still moving at least. He carefully maneuvered himself into a seating position. “Ouch. Owie.” He reached up to poke his own nose. “Ow!” Janus slapped his hand away when he got there. A bit of blood was already trickling from his nose and there was a small cut over his eye, but it wasn’t bleeding too much.

Janus pushed him so he was leaning slightly forward and produced a pack of time appropriate tissues from his pocket. He pulled one out of the package and offered it to him.

 He took it and pressed it up against his nose to try to stop the bleeding. He seemed mostly alright though Janus imagined he’d have plenty of bruises down the line. The power in the museum flickered and Janus looked up. Now that he was listening, he could hear people panicking in and out of the museum.

“We should probably get off of the stairs,” he suggested.

“Yeah,” Pat agreed. Janus helped him to his feet, and they climbed back up the steps. Janus looked around and found an employees only sign a few feet away. Usually he’d not risk that as it could get him into trouble he didn’t want to be in, but considering the earthquake that had just happened, he could probably play it off as panic.

 He ushered Pat into a small room and found a chair and table. He had Pat sit in the chair and pulled out another one of the tissues to dab at the blood coming from the cut over his eyes. “Here,” he said. “Hold that there. I’m going to go see if there are any bandages about.”

Pat took the tissue with the hand not already holding one to his nose. “Thanks,” he said.

Janus nodded and got to his feet. The lights flickered once again but didn’t stay off for now. He didn’t know how long that would last.

 He couldn’t see anything that might hold bandages in this room, but there was a second door. “I’ll be right back,” he told Pat, exiting through it.

The lights flickered once more as the door closed behind him and he cursed. When they came back up Janus’s eyes immediately fell on a man. They both froze.

“Remus!” Janus hissed the second their eyes met. “What are you doing here?”

Remus blinked at him for a moment. “Hi. Janus,” he said. “I… come to France for… tea sometimes?”

“There isn’t any tea back here.”

“So, there isn’t…” he said. There was a moment of silence. “Uh, so I actually cannot talk to you right now.”

 “What do you mean?” Janus asked. Remus grimaced in a way Janus had never seen from him before. It immediately set off alarm bells in Janus’s head. “Oh my god,” Janus said. “Oh my god. You’re not from the same time as me.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Remus mumbled.

“Holy shit, you’re looping?!”

“It’s… not looping if I wasn’t here the first time.”

“Remus, we spend more than 12 hours a day together most of the time. The only thing worse than this is if I looped back to this time myself.”

“…Yeah. Anyway, I need to leave now.”

“Please do.”

 He turned to go, but then stopped. “Oh, and,” he reached into his pocket and tossed something at Janus. Janus caught it.

It was Band-Aids.

“Oh, shit,” Janus spat at the clear use of foreknowledge. “I hate this. I hate you. I’m going to kill you the next time you see me.”

“Sure, Jan.”

“Go.”

He did, slipping into the next room while Janus took a deep breath and then turned back to the door behind him. He schooled his face before Pat looked up. “I found some Band-Aids.”

Pat nodded and Janus came over to squat next to him.

 Janus opened the box and Pat looked down. His eyes lit up with sudden joy so intense that Janus felt like he’d just gotten a punch to the gut. “Kitty Band-Aids!” he exclaimed. Janus bothered to actually look at the design on the container, only to note the cartoon cats on the front. Pat was almost vibrating off his seat. “Look they’re all so cute!” He grabbed the container from him to inspect the different designs printed on the back with glee even as a bit of blood was still trickling from his nose.

Janus took the box back gently and guided the wad of bloody Kleenexes back to his nose.

 “Which would you like?” Janus asked.

“Oh, they are all so cute,” Pat cooed. “Um, how about that one!” he pointed. “Or that one! Or that one!”

“Pat you only have one cut.”

“But they’re all so cute!” Pat said, tongue tucking into his cheek. He contemplated the box again. “Let’s do the black one,” he finally settled on.

Janus selected one of the Band-Aids with a black cat wrapped around a pink ball of yarn and staring back at them with wide green eyes. The think looked like it had partaken in one two many doses of catnip, but Janus didn’t mention that.

 Instead, he just carefully unstuck the backing from the Band-Aid and motioned for Pat to remove the tissue from his forehead. He smiled at Janus as he drew back.

Janus cleared his throat. “How’s the nose.”

“It’s slowing down,” Pat replied. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Janus replied. They met eyes for a second before Pat looked away back at the box of Band-Aids.

“Oh,” Pat said. “There’s a grey one. I didn’t notice.” He pointed to it. “I should have used that one.”

“Do you like grey cats?” Janus asked.

“I like all kitties,” he said, “but one of my roommates loves grey cats. He had one when he was a kid and thinks of them as good omens. Seeing one always brightens up his day.”

“A friend of mine has a grey cat,” Janus said. “She’s much more tolerable than him.”

Pat laughed a bit. “Don’t be mean,” he said.

“Oh, he deserves it, don’t worry.” Janus considered him for a moment. “Here,” he said, pulling out one of the Band-Aids with the grey cat on it. It did, actually, look a lot like Diesel Fuel.

“But I don’t…”

Janus just shrugged and stuck it on his cheek where there was no wound. Pat giggled and touched it with a finger. Janus stood back up.

“Can I have another tissue?” Pat asked.

“Sure.” Janus handed a tissue over to him and he crumpled up the bloody ones in his hand.

“I think I’m good to keep going,” Pat said, putting the new tissue under his nose. “The nose will stop soon.”

 Pat got out his iPhone and directed him back out of the room. They checked the second floor and didn’t find anything and so went to the third floor. The second they arrived in the room that Pat’s phone was directing them too, Janus knew that it must be right. There was a strange, distorted whirling sound and the entire room was shaking slightly like they were standing next to a railroad track.

“I’m guessing this is it,” Pat said.

Janus nodded and looked over his shoulder at the screen. They both cautiously walked towards where the little dot was on the phone.

 “Is that it?” Pat asked, pointing at a small device on the center column in the room. Janus reached forward to flip the switch on it. The whirling stopped and the room settled. Janus’s time piece vibrated as it came back online. They waited for a few moments. “I assumed… time distortions would be more…”

“They are,” Janus said. “This one is artificial.”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s a simulation,” Janus said. “It causes similar symptoms to a time distortion, but it’s not actually fracturing time at all.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?” Pat asked.

“I don’t know,” Janus said. He took the piece of tech of the wall and carefully stored it in his pocket, “but someone’s trying to get our attention.”

 Chapter 14

Janus didn’t feel comfortable leaving France 2027 just yet, still weirded out by the strange turn of events. So, he and Pat ended up sticking around for a couple of hours. They looked through the art museum for a bit, but Janus was having trouble focusing on the pieces, and Pat eventually suggested they get some air. Janus agreed considering the museum would close for the night soon anyway.

They wandered around the downtown for a bit. The people seemed to jump back from the strange weather and earthquake that afternoon rather quickly, and there were plenty still about to blend into.

 Pat was snapping photos every so often like a tourist which Janus shook his head at but allowed because even with the outdated phone it almost made them blend in even more. It also might stop any questions about Pat’s weird way of speaking French. They could just say he was an overeager tourist who watched too many old movies.

“Ooo!” Pat said. “We should get crepes.”

“Why?”

“You can’t go to France and not eat crepes.”

“I assure you, you can,” Janus said dryly.

Pat shot a pout at him and the next thing he knew he was in a small crepe shop.

 For Janus, choosing something was easy. He just ordered the first thing he found on the menu which seemed to be a standard one with ham and eggs. Pat on the other hand seemed to be struggling greatly, and Janus had to gently push him to the side to let some other customers order first.

“What should I get!?” Pat asked. “They all look so good! I could do strawberry preserves or maple syrup or just sugar!”

“Or you could get one that is actually food,” Janus suggested mildly. “I don’t think you need any more sugar judging by how you are acting.”

Pat rolled his eyes. “You sound like Lo.”

 Janus made a note of the name ‘Lo’ even though it surely was a nickname.

“But, since you’re insisting, I’ll get something healthy. I’ll have the strawberry one. That’s a fruit!”

“It comes with a cream cheese filling,” Janus pointed out.

“And it’s fruit!”

Janus shook his head and stepped up to the counter. “One ham and cheese and one strawberry preserve, please,” he said to the cashier as he was not allowing Pat to order in French and accidently say something stupid. He forked over some euros.

“You don’t have to pay for me,” Pat protested when he saw that.

Janus glanced back at him. “I was afraid you’d try to pay in francs,” he said dryly.

 It looked like Pat was about to stick his tongue out at him, remembered that Janus had criticized him for that earlier, and then just scrunched up his face in displeasure as though that was any less childish.

They waited for their crepes to be finished and then went to eat them outside near a water fountain.

“I can pay you back for the crepe,” Pat said after they sat down. “I do actually have euros.”

Janus waved him off. “It wasn’t that expensive.”

Pat hummed. “Well, in that case. I insist on paying for a wish for you.” Janus raised an eyebrow. “In the fountain!” Pat clarified.

 Pat set aside his crepe to dig in his pocket for a couple of coins. “Here!” he said handing one over.

Janus glanced over at the fountain. “No.”

“Oh, come on,” Pat beseeched. “You have to want something. I’ll even throw it in for you, but you have to make a wish first!”

“No.”

“Please!”

Janus sighed. “Fine.” He popped the rest of his crepe in his mouth. “I wish for a crepe,” he said after swallowing.

“You just had a crepe, silly.”

“But I liked it, so I want another one.”

“We can go back and get you another crepe.”

“Ah, but I’m not hungry anymore.”

Pat crossed his arms. “You’re just being difficult on purpose.”

 “Not me,” Janus said putting hand over his heart. “I would never do something like that.”

 Pat glared at him, but then snatched the coin out of his hand. “Fine!” he said. “One crepe wish coming right up.” He hopped up with the two coins and darted over to the water fountain. Janus turned to watch him go but then happened to catch sight of something out of the corner of his eyes.

Pat’s phone.

He didn’t pause in his movement, completing the turn, but as he watched Pat close his eyes, presumably to focus on his own wish, Janus snuck a hand out and grabbed the phone without looking. He slipped it into his own pocket.

 Pat came back over after throwing both coins in the fountain and didn’t even seem to notice that his phone was missing, picking up his crepe to take another bite. Just to make sure, though Janus decided to distract him. “What do you think of your crepe?” Janus asked.

“I like it! It’s sweet, but not too sweet. There was a crepe place across the street from my apartment in college, but they always put a bit too much sugar in the dough, I think. I’d still eat them, but these are much better.”

Janus nodded and kept up the light conversation until Pat was finished.

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“Well,” he said then, getting to his feet. “It seems that nothing else is going to happen regarding the time distortion. I should be getting back.”

Pat hummed. “I should too. It’s movie night!”

“I probably should arrest you,” Janus noted.

“In the middle of all of these people?” Pat asked mildly.

“Touché,” Janus said.

Pat gasped and pointed at him. “Pun!” he said. Janus blinked at him. “Because we’re in France! That’s French!”

“…Goodbye Pat,” Janus said, turning to walk away from him.

“Goodbye… wait I still don’t know your name!”

Janus stopped to look back at him for a moment. “Like I said,” he replied. “Elvis.”

“Fine,” Pat said. “Au revoir, mon chéri.”

“You never stop, do you?” Janus asked.

Pat giggled. “Considering I don’t know what you mean, I imagine I’m just getting started.”

Janus actually left then, walking off towards the alley he’d first arrived in. In some ways, the mission had been a bust, but in others it had gone very well.

He felt for the weight of the phone in his pocket before pulling up the display screen on his timepiece to go back to the TPI.

It had gone very well indeed.

 Chapter 15

The first thing Janus had done when he’d returned to the TPI was hand over the timebomb to Khalid who sent it to forensics. Within the hour, forensics got back to them that it was the same timebomb as 2999 and that it had never exploded, but simply been diffused. Which meant, blessings on blessings, everyone got to go home that night.

 Not that Janus went home, no, he ended up falling asleep on his desk somewhere between 3 and 4am, but at least he wasn’t sharing his space with anyone. He’d been trying to hack the cell phone all night to see if it had anything he could use, but he honestly had no idea what he was doing. All it seemed he could do was play some annoying song over and over again about never giving someone up. At around 2am, he’d finally broken and sent off an email, though, he’d continued to try to mess with it after that.

 He got woken up by Lena coming into the office at 7am, and noticed he already had an email response asking when Janus wanted to come in.

“Now?” he sent back.

“…Do you sleep?” was the immediate response. “And yes.”

His wrist buzzed as an appointment in 5 seconds downloaded to his timepiece. He selected the coordinates and landed at Cultural Outreach. The receptionist blinked up at him and then back down at the screen on his desk. “Oh!” he said. “I didn’t see this appointment. I think Professor Eran is in his office.”

He didn’t stand to escort Janus this time, so Janus went ahead and went down the hall to Virgil’s office himself.

 He knocked on the door and while he was waiting for Virgil to open it, the infernal contraption once again started to play the same stupid song.

“I didn’t even touch you!” he spat, getting it out and tapping on the screen.

“Jonas Brothers dude again?” Virgil asked causally upon opening the door.

Janus shoved it at him. “Make it stop.”

Virgil took it and fiddled with it for a few moments before it stopped with the song. “Oh my gosh,” he said scrolling through something on the screen.

“What.”

“What maniac sets a custom alarm for every 30-60 minutes for a week that just plays ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’? Oh, and one ‘It’s Not Unusual’ on Saturday. He’s mixing memes at an alarming rate.”

 “Can you. Just. Make it not happen. Anymore?”

Virgil smirked at him. “Maybe.” He turned around to go back into his office.

“Virgil,” Janus growled following him in.

Virgil just laughed. “What do you want to know about it?” he asked. “Just a fair warning… the song means he… likely was aware someone would steal it.”

“Of course, he was,” Janus groaned.

“But I’m sure we can still get something out of it.” Virgil started tapping at the screen again. “Okay, let’s see. It’s an iPhone 5, and someone jailbroke it.”

“What does that mean?”

“Tampered with it so they could install non-company approved software,” Virgil explained.

“Well I figured that since he was using Google Maps to track time distortions,” Janus grumbled.

 “I think I have something,” Virgil said to himself while digging through his desk. “Ah ha!” He held up some sort of cord. “This will let me hook it up to my integrator.” He slotted the cord into the bottom of the iPhone and then crawled under his desk to fiddle around with some other things. “There we go,” Virgil said popping back up. “It might take a few minutes. Running the program any faster might overheat the phone.”

Janus nodded and sat back to wait. Virgil grabbed the phone and started to play around with it a bit even as it uploaded all of its information to his computer.

“Weird,” Virgil said after a moment.

“What?” Janus asked, sitting up straighter.

“There are exactly two contacts. Fewer than I’d anticipate for a regular phone from the 2010s. More than I would expect from one clearly not being used as a phone.

 Virgil glanced to the side, and it must have finished the download because he unhooked it from the computer. “I have a 21st century phone network adapter,” Virgil said. “It transfers call back to whatever date the phone says. Do you want to try calling one?”

“It’s worth a shot,” Janus replied.

Virgil dug back into his desk for a small device that he plugged into the same port he’d plugged the earlier cord. “Okay, which contact do you want to try first?” he asked. “One has ‘Ro’ with a crown, red heart, and a gold star emoji. The other has “Lo” with a book, blue heart, and Milky Way emoji.”

 “He mentioned a Lo,” Janus said. “So, try him first.”

Virgil nodded. “I’ll put it on speaker.” He pressed some buttons before setting the phone on the desk between them.

The phone rang three times before with a bit of a crackle, it was answered. “Salutations,” a voice said, voice sounding a bit scratchy as though he had only just gotten up.

Virgil motioned with his head for Janus to speak. “Are you ‘Lo’?” he asked.

The man hummed. “To some people.”

Janus… didn’t quite know what to say to that, or even what questions he should ask.

“I’m assuming you’re the man that stole my associate’s phone.”

 “Your associate?” Janus fished.

The man made an amused hum. “I believe you were calling him ‘Pat’ on your last adventure.” Janus could hear something being placed down on the other end of the phone. Before Janus could respond, he heard what sounded like an old keyboard being typed on. “Now,” Lo said. “I have to admit, I am surprised you were willing to oblige me so thoroughly by plugging the phone into your system. Let’s see…”

The screen on Virgil’s lit up bright blue all of a sudden. “…shit,” said Virgil.

“Well,” Lo said, “it seems you were clever enough not to plug it into the TPI system, which is disappointing, but…”

 There was more clicking on the other end. “Hmm, interesting music tastes for the 4000s,” he said.

“I’m an anthropologist,” Virgil spoke up.

“Ah, yes, I can see that,” Lo replied. “Virgil Eran, senior professor at Silver Mountain University, a vetted member of the Cultural Outreach program, and searched the phrase ‘How to eat sushi without making a cultural blunder and making everyone hate you and losing your job because what kind of shit anthropologist doesn’t know how to eat raw fish right’ which you then shortened to ‘How to eat sushi’ and proceeded to search 52 times in the last 48 hours.”

 Virgil went a bit scarlet around the ears. “Dude, did you really have to out me like that?” he hissed at the phone.

“My apologies,” Lo responded. “From my personal experience, don’t dip the rice parts in soy sauce, and don’t add too much wasabi. Overall, most people will be understanding of mistakes, and you will certainly not be fired or ostracized for handling food incorrectly. As long as you are not acting intentionally disrespectful, and I image you will not be considering your clear anxiety over whatever outing you are planning to attend, you will be fine.”

“Okay,” Virgil said. “Good point, but counterpoint, what if you’re wrong and everyone hates me forever?”

 “Is it the lunch meeting today at 11:30am?” Lo asked, “because I can see that a Professor Boris Laden has attended the event multiple years in a row. Considering he is a philosophy instructor, has no Japanese heritage that I can see, and I have found a photo of last year’s event wherein he has placed his chopsticks vertically in his rice, and he has yet to be fired or ostracized, I would postulate that your fears are unfounded.”

“Yeah but… okay, I really don’t have an argument for that one, except maybe I’m a piece of shit and everyone is looking for a reason to hate me.”

“Considering your many impressive accolades in your field, I would argue that ‘a piece of shit’ is not a good descriptor of you. Not to mention the fact that you are often a highly requested member for different committees in your department and outside of it.”

“Oh, but is that because people like me or because I’m an anxious mess and make sure events go off without a hitch?”

“From experience, disorder with people you enjoy the company of is far more tolerable than order with people you do not. Which explains my current living situation and the lack of finished dishes in my sink. Therefore, I would assume the former.”

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“A lot of assumptions,” Virgil commented, but he was smiling slightly.

“Assumptions based on data,” Lo argued back lightly.

“You really came in here, hacked into my computer and smacked my anxiety in the face, huh?”

“Glad to have helped.”

“Y-”

“Are the two of you finished?” Janus interrupted, finally getting sick of the two of them.

“Not nearly,” Lo said. “I have gained access to an entire network of a very large university and will be sorting through the data for a long time.”

“Ugh, right,” Virgil groaned, “and you got access through my integrator.”

“I doubt they’ll be able to trace it back to you if you don’t tell them.”

“Nice try,” Virgil said dryly, “but not likely. I’m telling them about you immediately so they can work to kick you out.”

Lo laughed. “Fair enough, but I’ve already gotten plenty of information at this point. Including the fact that you work with the TPI and scheduled an appointment with an Agent Janus Picani this morning set to start a few minutes before this phone call. So, hello Janus.”

“Bastard,” Janus shot back.

“And goodbye Professor Eran. It was a pleasure.” He hung up.

Virgil sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “This is going to be fun to explain to both of our bosses.”

  Arc II What We Do to Each Other

Chapter 16:

As it would turn out, Janus and Virgil did not get in trouble for hooking up the old phone to Virgil’s integrator, mostly because it wasn’t really a mistake on their part. The phone cleared all virus checks that the tech people both from the university and the TPI ran on it. The phone should have been clean and should not have caused an issue.

In fact, they were still trying to pin down the code on the general university server. They could tell that something was mucking about on the system but what or how was a mystery. This also meant that there was no telling what information had been compromised and considering how many things Silver Mountain had its hands in, that was… a bit worrying.

 Another worrying thing was there was suddenly more activity of late at the TPI. There were more time distortions popping up every day. Usually they would be few and far in between. There had been 3 total recorded the year before, but over 12 in the last week. Some of them were fake like the one Janus had investigated, but some of them were real. It painted a distressing picture and also was a drain on their resources. Khalid was actually looking to advertise positions to hire new recruits which was something she rarely did as she liked to keep appointments to the TPI in house.

 They’d even loosed the number of field agents needed for each mission and Janus and Remus had been splitting up just to get everything done. Today, he and Remus had thankfully only two missions scheduled for the day.

“Are we going together or separate today?” Janus asked Remus.

“Think they’ll burn me at the stake for being a witch if I go alone to either of them?” Remus asked.

“I don’t know. Probably. I think we’re getting a bit late into the 1700s for that in Cuba, but I have no idea about Mesopotamia.”

“Let’s just go together. I did not like almost drowning yesterday because I was the only stranger in town when the weather was going wonky.”

“Surely it isn’t because you opened your mouth. Ever.” Janus said dryly.

“How was I supposed to know he was the local clergyman’s son?”

 Janus rolled his eyes. “On second thought,” he said, pushing a button on his desk to choose Cuba as he next mission, and standing up. “I don’t want you coming with me.” Yet, he did not protest when Remus also signed up for the Cuba mission and he waited for him by the office door before going to talk to Rhi.

Rhi was a bit frazzled when which meant quite a bit as she was usually incredibly put together. Remus didn’t even seem inclined to tease her today.

“Okay,” she said once they’d closed the door behind them. She flipped through some documents on her desk. “Picani and Clockson. Camaguey Cuba 1755. Do you know Cuba?”

 “Uh,” Janus said. “Yeah?”

“Like you’re reading the things, right? I don’t have to babysit you, right? You got it? The Seven Year War was happening, but it won’t affect you much as it hasn’t really hit Cuba. It’s the middle of the Camaguey Carnival. Everyone will be everywhere and there will be chaos so as long as you don’t really fuck up you should be fine. Um…apparent races.” She looked up at them and studied them each for a moment as thought looking at them for the first time despite having known them for years. “It’ll work. Go to costuming.”

“Shouldn’t we…” Janus said, “sign things?”

 “…Yep,” she said, fiddling with her desktop and then sending documents over to their side to sign.

Janus and Remus both did before sending them back.

“Great. Good.” She stood and grabbed some things from behind her. “You can go.” She sat back down as they took their things and Janus noticed a message pop up on her desk. She looked up at Remus looking exhausted. “What?” she asked.

“Just open it,” Remus said.

Rhi tapped it and a photo opened.

“I got her a new mouse toy!” Remus said happily as Rhi looked at the picture of Diesel Fuel attacking a cloth mouse.

“That is… appreciated Agent Clockson,” Rhi said. “Now get out.”

 They did, leaving to get their costumes on and checked. Costuming was just as busy and frazzled as Rhi had been and they actually had to wait for decon because there’d been a mix up with the agents leaving before them. They landed in Cuba without issue. Janus could already hear the festival in full swing outside the small building they’d were in. Remy was standing there with a very not time appropriate mug of coffee.

“Sue me,” Remy said when Janus raised an eyebrow at it. “Please just… get in and out without causing trouble. Seriously. I don’t want to have to deal with that on top of everything else.”

 “We’ll do our best,” Janus assured.

Remy pulled his sunglasses down to look at him. He looked exhausted. “God please do more than your best.”

Janus nodded tightly. “We’ll be in and out,” he said, already glancing at his timepiece. It had been disguised as a golden bracelet which made it a bit harder to actually use, but wrist watches wouldn’t be invented for more than a century, so they’d have to make do. “The time distortion, if that’s what it is, should be in the middle of town. Let’s go.”

He and Remus exited the building onto the packed city street.

 Janus was immediately bombarded with all types of sights, sounds, and smells. There were many colorful articles of clothing and costumes as people went every which way along the street talking to other members of their community, playing instruments, and dancing. There was the sound of people speaking Spanish, still mostly almost pure Castilian Spanish with perhaps a bit of influence from Taino as the Haitian revolution had yet to push the Creole language over to Cuba. People must have been hard at work cooking different dishes for the carnival as many different spices wafted through the air. It was sticky hot considering it was the middle of June in the tropics and Janus was immediately sweating despite the temperature appropriate clothing he’d been outfitted with.

 He glanced around their immediate area, just scoping out the crowds. His eyes were immediately drawn to one person near them.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” he said out loud when he saw Pat. Remus looked in the direction Janus was.

Even if Janus didn’t recognize him the moment he laid eyes on him, he probably still would have ended up staring as he was the only person in the area who clearly did not know how to do the dance he was attempting.

Remus snorted and Janus shook his head in secondhand embarrassment. “Well, would you look whose boyfriend’s here,” he said to Janus. Make that firsthand embarrassment. “Has anyone told him the Mambo wasn’t invented until the 1900s and also that’s not how you do it?”

 Chapter 17

Pat stopped dancing the moment he saw Janus approaching him, but he still bobbed cheerfully ( and unrhythmically) to the music. “Hi Janus,” he said pleasantly.

“You just have to rub it in, huh?”

There was a flash of confusion across his face, but then he smiled. “Well, I know where in our relationship you are. How was France?”

“You’re a bastard.”

“You stole the phone,” he laughed.

“You stole the bomb,” Janus countered, “and you wanted me to steal the phone. You booby trapped it.”

“No,” Pat correct, putting a finger up. “We have security on my phone because in high school I once forgot it in the school locker room and long story short, the three of us ended up in a lake. So, then Lo made sure I always had some sort of tracker on it. When I started time traveling, he updated it and when I met you we updated it again in case there was ever an opportunity like that. Lo calls it using our weaknesses to our advantage.”

 “He’s a bastard too,” Janus growled.

Pat just laughed.

“Is someone talking about me?” Remus asked, stepping over to them. Janus rolled his eyes.

“Oh,” Patton said, blinking at Janus’s partner for a moment. “Remus.” He hesitated slightly. “How are you doing?”

“Me?” Remus asked. “Uh, I’m doing good. A little stressed out with work, but fine.”

“Good,” Pat said with just a little too much heartfulness to it.

“What?” Janus asked, eyes narrowed at Pat. “What is that?”

“What is what?” Pat asked. He met Janus’s eyes briefly and it made panic surge up Janus’s spine because the look Pat was sending him wasn’t one that said he was playing dumb. It was a warning.

 Oh, Janus did not like this. That look told Janus Pat had some foreknowledge that he absolutely could not tell Janus about without messing up the timeline spectacularly. This was why this mess the two of them were mixed up in was so bad, but it seemed Janus did not have much of a choice when it came to Pat.

Despite how bad of an idea he knew it was, he still wanted to push, because whatever Pat was hiding could be very, very bad and it had to do with Remus. There were so many reasons Pat could be acting like that around Remus, but the worst ones were definitely the ones on his mind. Death, injury, illness. They were all possible especially in their line of work and especially with how time was being screwed with right now. And Pat knew. He knew exactly what the answer was, and oh did Janus want to push.

Experience knowing what worse things could come out of having foreknowledge made Janus bite his tongue.

 “So, what are you two doing here,” Pat asked, and Janus unhappily let him change the subject.

“Oh, like you don’t know,” Janus replied.

“I don’t know,” Pat said innocently.

“There’s another time distortion,” Janus said, “and while you didn’t know what it was the last time I saw you, I’m pretty sure you do now.”

“Oh, I didn’t know there was a time distortion here. I can help you if you like,” he offered sweetly.

“Oh, yeah, sure. Then why are you here?”

“I wanted to see if I could find the Flying Dutchman,” Patton told him.

“And so you went to Camaguey?”

“Uh huh.”

“One of the farthest places from the ocean in Cuba?”

 “Is it?”

“I don’t trust you.”

Pat just shrugged. “Well, if you don’t want my help finding the time distortion, I’ll just be on my way then.”

“Wait,” he said when Pat went to turn away. Pat paused. Janus turned to Remus. “Remus, do you think he’s bullshitting me so I let him wander off and do whatever the hell he’s doing, or do you think he’s bullshitting me into letting him come with us.”

“Hmm,” Remus said, looking Pat up and down. Janus could immediately tell he wasn’t going to get any helpful answer. “Well, if we’re going with the how much do I get to see his, admittedly very sexy, ass criteria.” Janus pinched the bridge of his nose. “Letting him leave now means instant gratification and a nice full image when he turns away. However, letting him go with us means many more opportunities to get a glimpse, but they’d probably just be glimpses. So, yeah that’s a tough call.”

“You didn’t even bother to give me an actual hidden suggestion with that bullshit,” Janus groaned. He glanced at Pat only to see him hiding his very red face in his hands. Janus blinked. “Oh,” he said. “You got him, Remus.” Janus was surprised. He’d expected a bit more tenacity for someone with Pat’s personality. Of course, Janus was used to Remus, so that perhaps had some effect. Pat made a muffled distressed sound behind his hands and Janus raised an eyebrow. “You really got him.”

Pat flapped one hand around while still using the other to completely hide his face. “It’s just. His face. Saying that. Is weird.”

[starkatana]

Love to me is when I’m better because you’re here. (Part 2)

Credit to @toxsfandomstuff

Based on: https://toxsfandomstuff.tumblr.com/post/178037560969/hewocan-i-request-a-todoroki-imagine-where-his

I just want to say thank you for writing this and for getting me out of my slump. I also apologize for its similarity.

Shoto Todoroki x Female Reader (Y/N)

Part 2/???

---

A couple of weeks passed and the date for the party was coming up soon. Meaning the stress was definitely piling on to make sure everything was in tip-top shape. You noticed yourself not feeling well, but figured you could continue going to work and to just fight through it. You were pretty sure it was stress from the late nights preparing for the banquet ceremony. Then the fever hit, that’s when you decided it was best just to work from home to make sure no one else got sick.

 Shoto always looked forward coming to work and seeing you at your desk. He always had a crush on you, but had always watched you from a far because he was just never sure how to approach you. He didn’t know how to have a conversation with you that wouldn’t end in an awkward silence.

But now that he had already asked you to the party, everything just felt easier. Like all of his worries had washed away and the pressure was gone. You two were able to talk like you were always friends. He loved getting to know you and making you smile.

Coming into work, you weren’t at your desk. Endeavor’s personal secretary, Violette, was. Normally your desk was crowded with different interns and heroes just talking and getting help. Everyone avoided her gaze except for Shoto, since he knew her personally.

“Hey, where’s Y/N?”

“She’s working from home today.” She replied not looking up from her computer, “Says she has a fever.”

“Ah.”

“Yes, and since I have you here, your father-“

“I’m taking a personal day.” He responded taking his phone out to text you.

“I’m sorry?”

His mind was set. He wanted to take care of you since you do such a good job taking care of everyone, he wanted to help you out. “Tell Endeavor I’m taking a personal day, if I can’t take a personal day, I’m taking a sick day. I know I have enough hours saved up. Goodbye Violetta, I’ll see you tomorrow.” And just like that he skipped out on work and was on his way to your place.

Texts:

Todo: “What’s your address?”

You: Don’t worry about me, I’ll be back tomorrow. I don’t want you getting in trouble.

Todo: “I’m the boss, I’ll be just fine. Plus Endeavor is here, no problem.”

You felt your face get hot, Todoroki was really coming over to your apartment and it was not in any shape ready for anyone but you and your cat to see it. Your phone went off again.

Todo: “Address?”

You take in a sharp inhale and releasing the breath you text him back.

You: -insert address here-

Todo: Thanks Y/N, I’ll see you soon.

You could hear him saying your name and it made you blush. You really liked this stupid man. And the more time you guys spent together the more you liked him and came to term with your feelings that yes, if you can, you will date your boss. And he must like you some bit too. Obviously.

You’re typing away making a list for the interns to give to the hero/sidekick interns when your phone goes off. It’s Shoto. You feel your face get warmer and your heart beat faster. You answer it.

“Hi, uhm, Shoto.” You blush, still not used to just calling him by his first name.

“Hey, I’m at your apartment building.”

“Oh yeah, I’ll ring you in. I’m on the third floor in apartment 34.”

“Okay and I brought you some chicken noodle soup.”

“Oh t-thank you.” You respond walking over to your buzzer, buzzing him in, unlocking the door, and taking a seat on the couch with your computer, draping a blanket over your lap. “I left the door unlocked for you.”

“Sounds good, I’m almost there.”

You turn on the smart TV going into Netflix. You hear his footsteps arriving at your door and watching the door open, you see his white hair as he enters your apartment. He smiles softly at you as he closes his phone and shuts the door behind him.

A smile instinctively just appears on your face and you immediately feel better now that he’s here. “I see you found the place quite easily.”

“Yeah, I just mapped it. No big deal.”

You watched from the couch as he took his shoes off. This boy was looking good wearing a black v-neck, a red flannel, and some nice fitted jeans. While there you were looking like a slump in your pajamas. You couldn’t believe that he was here. Let alone skipped out on work to be here with you.

“Oh, who’s this fella?”

Your cat had gotten off from his spot on the couch and immediately walked over to Todoroki and was rubbing against his legs.

“That’s my cat, Anton. It seems like he really likes you.”

“He’s cute.”

“I know he gets it from his mom.” You give a chuckle as you take your eyes off him to finish up your email.

You hear Todoroki give a slight chuckle. “I’m just gonna warm up some soup for you okay?”

“Sure, the bowls, will be in the cabinet next to the stove, and please help yourself to anything here.”

He gives a nod. You put something on Netflix that you’ve seen a thousand times, but it’s still your favorite. Overlooking your email, you double check that you have a list of things for each group of interns to do, just because you were gone doesn’t mean that they get to slack off.

“Here.”

Shoto said handing you the bowl of soup, it was the perfect temperature. At first you were confused, how did he get this ready so fast without the stove or microwave. You face palmed, maybe you were more delirious then you thought you were, half cold, half hot duh.

“Mind if I take a seat?”

“No not at all!” you said moving the blankets over. He took a seat next to you having his right side close to you since he knew you had a fever. Instinctively you leaned up against him. He was cold, but warm, it was nice it was like being next to a cooling ice pack that was the perfect temperature.

“Ah, I’m sorry.” You apologized sitting back up.

He shook his head, “don’t worry about it. I’m glad to help you.” You smile and lean against him again as you look at the laptop and start eating your soup.

“What’re you working on?”

“A list for the interns.”

“Tell them that I say to run 50 laps around the building.”

You laugh and type that into the email. And after it you put ‘JK love Shoto Todoroki’ you showed him and he gave an approving nod. You hit send and closed your laptop for the day.

“I’m curious how many of them actually do it,” He wonders out loud.

You shrug, “Guess we’ll find out tomorrow.”

You said adjusting your body to being closer to him, trying not to spill your soup.

“So what’s this show about?” he asked invested in the show’s premise.

“It’s about a wizard and a prince, but the prince doesn’t know he’s a wizard, and the wizard always ends up saving the prince.”

“And the wizard is a servant to the prince.”

“Yup, they are best friends even though the prince doesn’t want to admit that.”

“Does the wizard?”

“Well,” you put the bowl down, “the wizard thinks the prince is a Royal Prat.”

“That’s a funny dynamic.”

“It’s my favorite show.” You said with your head leaning on his shoulder. You feel him put his arm around you and immediately you’re starting to feel better. You feel your body temperature go down. You watch the TV for a little bit as your eyelids get heavy and soon enough you’re lulled to sleep by the sounds of the television and Shoto’s breathing.

You jolt awake, feeling as if you had slept for ages, but it had to have only been a couple hours since the TV hadn’t gone into sleep mode. Looking next to you, you must’ve woken up Todoroki too, because he was stirring. Your cat was also laying on his lap, curled up against his right side.

“I’m so sorry.” You apologized, “you came here to keep me company and I fell asleep.

“No, no, it’s fine.” He yawned, “fevers take a lot out of people and your cat just started purring on my lap and I couldn’t say no to a nap too.”

“Yeah he doesn’t normally like people, but he really likes you.”

“I like him too.” He said giving the cat a few pets. He looks at you with his heterochromatic eyes, “Are you feeling better?”

You nod, “Much. I told you, you didn’t need to come by. I would’ve been fine tomorrow.”

He shrugged and gave you a smile that made you melt, “I just like seeing you.”

You felt your face get hot again and you quickly turned away.

“Are you okay Y/N?”

Ahh and the way he said your name basically made you a puddle.

“yeah.” You respond looking back at him. How about I make us some tea and we play a game.

“sure, what did you have in mind? It’s called Question, Fact, or Memory, you can either ask me to answer a question, tell you a fun fact, or give you a vivid memory. And vice versa. If you want to skip, just choose one of the others that you’re willing to share. Easy right?”

He gives you a gentle nod. “yeah, sounds easy enough.” You smile at him and start brewing some tea.

You guys end up playing the game getting to know each other pretty well. You answered all of his questions and you tried to stay away from asking for a memory because of his past. One of your questions was “Why do you call Endeavor by his hero name and never his first or just dad?” Instead of answering Todoroki, gave you a fact that he loves cats and your cat was definitely at the top of the list. So, after that you stayed away from that territory.

You both play well into the afternoon, when you guys decide to make breakfast for dinner, just fried eggs and toast, nothing fancy. Just what you have in the house. You’re eating and laughing together and everything just felt right. Until he got a phone call.

“Excuse me, I’ll be right back.”

You give him a nod as you begin to clear the table into the sink. Todoroki is in the corner of your house looking at your cluttered bookshelf pinching the bridge of his nose. You could only imagine what the phone call was about, but you turned your attention away. Not that it was your business, but you hope you didn’t get him into any trouble.

“Sorry about that.” He says coming over to you.

“No worries, heroes always have something that they gotta do.”

He gave you his signature Todoroki half smirk and nod, “Today has been really fun y/n, but I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Wait.” You reach for his hand. He stops and turns around to look at you. “Do you want to stay the night?” you ask feeling your face get flush, your turn away from him trying not to make eye contact with him.

He seemed to debate for a second or two and you felt like an idiot. You guys weren’t dating and you just became friends with this boy. Of course you had a massive crush on him and you didn’t want him to leave, but fuck. You might’ve just messed everything about this up.

He moved his face in front of yours and you felt your heart race. He places his right hand on your forehead, checking your temperature. “That’s good your temperature has really gone down.”

You nod, “I feel a lot better too. All I have left is this headache, but if I take a shower tomorrow I’ll feel a lot better too.”

He smiled, “I’m just glad you’re feeling better. Well, do you want to go to bed early or watch some more of the Royal Prat?”

“I’m ready for bed so I can beat this fever into submission.”

“Alright. I’ll turn everything off out here and I’ll meet you in the room.”

You go lay down in your bed and can’t believe and began to wonder where that confidence came from when you asked him if he’d like to stay the night. You couldn’t believe you asked him and you couldn’t believe that he also said yes. You watch the hallway light flicker off and he walks into your room.

He crawled into bed with you and you curled against his right side. You felt him hold you close, cooling you down, you relax and even after your nap today, you let out a sigh of relief. You felt guilty keeping him to yourself today, but it seemed like he didn’t mind. He was so hard to read. You wondered if Todoroki liked you as much as you like him.

“Good night, Shoto.” You muttered.

“Good night, Y/N.” he responded holding you close.

You felt like out of all the moments in the world. The only one that mattered was this one. Right in his arms and you dozed off with thoughts only of him.

This is, again, one of the first things I’ve actually wanted to write in over two years. So sorry if it sucks. But please, tell me what you think. Thank you to @toxsfandomstuff for posting your headcannon/imagine.

Link Right Here! Please Give It A Read! <3

https://toxsfandomstuff.tumblr.com/post/178037560969/hewocan-i-request-a-todoroki-imagine-where-his

Bonus points if you know the TV Show they are watching!

[whalefairyfandom12]

Your Love’s a Fucking Drag (But I Need It So Bad)

Summary: Dan likes black and leather jackets, Phil likes reading in solitude and playing video games. But they have one thing in common as new roommates at uni: They are both completely straight. Just because they like to get each other off every once in a while doesn’t make it any different. 

A/N: So I just checked the masterpost and apparently it’s almost been a year since my last chapter. Open apology to Rachel and anyone that still reads this for the massive delay--hopefully I won’t take another year next time haha. Also the Halloween parts are because I was going to post this in October/November until I lost power so enjoy some seasonally appropriate spooks.

Word Count: 3383

tw; language, smoking, smut

co-written with botanistlester

Masterpost

Chapter Ten

There were certain facts in life that were indisputable. Beyonce was queen, Jar Jar Binks was a stain on humanity, water was wet, and Dan Howell was hot. And because it was indisputable acknowledgment of the latter was normal, healthy even. It didn’t mean Phil was gay or anything, just that he had eyes and appreciated aesthetically pleasing things.

So noticing the strangely attractive combination of sexy and adorable that was Dan’s still damp hair was a perfectly heterosexual thing to do. Phil was just confident enough in his masculinity to notice.

Dan was surveying himself in the mirror, arms crossed. A black and white plaid shirt tapered around his waist over a pair of black skinny jeans. “How do I look?” he asked, turning to pose dramatically. It should’ve looked ridiculous--and it did, but Dan broke character, smiling widely enough for his dimple to show and fuck if he didn’t look good.

“Yeah. Really good.” Phil cleared his throat, mouth dry. “You’re leaving your hair curly?”

“I was thinking about embracing the hobbit hair on a more permanent basis.”

“Why?” The word emerged more incredulous than Phil had intended, but the unrelenting curliness of his roommate’s hair had always been one of his favorite subjects of complaint.

Dan made a contemplative sound, reaching for his jacket. “It never stays straight for one. I step outside and if there’s any humidity I look like a deformed hedgehog. And…” he trailed off, shrugging. “I guess it doesn’t look that bad when it’s shorter.” He slung his coat over his arm, popping open the door. “You sure you don’t want to come?”

Phil shook his head. “I don’t want to crash your date,” he said, supportive smile strained.

“What?” Dan blinked at him uncomprehendingly. “What are you talking about?”

“Your romantic evening with Cheryl?”

“We’re just going as friends,” Dan clarified. “We talked a few days ago and realized there was no point in letting something like what happened ruin a perfectly good friendship.” Personally, Phil wasn’t sure how cheating could be summed up as casually as ‘something like this,’ but he nodded anyway. “So you wouldn’t be crashing. I think Jo and Avery are coming too.”

Phil choked on his own spit, book tumbling to the floor. Dan was there in a flash, dusting the cover off and handing it over. “Sorry,” he said, clearing his throat. “I was just surprised.” Surprised was putting it lightly, considering one of the last times he’d seen Dan and Avery together they looked like they were going to punch each other. He sighed, making a face as his gaze returned to his English. He did have the whole weekend, and part of him wanted to be there in case anything happened. “Okay,” he said finally. “If you’re sure.”

Dan’s expression lit up. “Positive.”

Phil rolled off the sofa, shoving his feet into his trainers. He wasn’t anywhere as dressed up as Dan, but he figured Illuminati t-shirts were always in style. “One condition, you have to share your popcorn.”

Dan rolled his eyes, lips pressing together in a smile. “And here I thought you actually wanted to spend time with me.”

“I do, but it’s mostly about the food.” Phil ducked through the door, Dan following and locking it behind them. “Did you grab the key?”

Dan jangled the keys in his pocket. “What kind of fool do you take me for?”

“One that usually does.”

The boy elbowed him in the ribs. “Shut up, spork.”

Phil elbowed him back, smiling. Dan’s nicknames devolved on the daily, and he’d be lying if he said they weren’t at least a little endearing. “What movie are we watching?”

“It. I’m excited to see it, but in terms of movies coming out at the end of this year I think I’m more hyped for Star Wars,” Dan said. “I really hope they don’t show the trailer because I’ve been trying not to watch it. I want it to be full immersion.”

“For it to be a ‘star war’ does it have to involve multiple planets or does it just have to happen on a planet far far away?” Phil mused. “Like if someone on Tatooine was learning about World War II would that be a star war or an earth war?”

“I think it has to involve other planets?” Dan said, frowning. “So earth war? I still don’t understand why Kylo Ren built what was basically a clone of the first death star. I get he had a thing for Vadar but that was stupid even for him.”

“I think that’s just called bad writing,” Phil said wryly.

Dan laughed. “I think you’re right. There’s a special place in hell for plot holes. They’re not even a pet peeve anymore--they’re ruining my life.” He pulled out his phone, turning it on to reveal a picture they’d taken at Marzia’s last month. Dan’s arm was slung over his shoulder, free hand making his signature peace sign. Phil had pulled a face at the last minute, crossing his eyes and making a fish mouth. “We’re running a few minutes late,” he said.

“I don’t mind missing the previews.” Phil gave him a wary look. “Are you going to fall off your chair when there’s a jumpscare?”

Dan’s eyes widened in horror. “I hadn’t even thought of that. Jesus.”

“I’ll pretend to spill my Pepsi so no one sees.”

“Thank you Phil. What a true friend.”

“I try.”

“Seriously though,” Dan said, with another glance at his phone. “We were supposed to be there ten minutes ago.”

“I’ll race you there,” Phil offered. “And by race I mean run three meters before collapsing on the ground from lack of exercise.”

Dan was grinning, already getting into position. “It’s on Lester.”

-

“Are you going to make me sleep with all the lights on again?” Phil asked.

Dan nodded. “Protect me dad. And also move over.”

Phil rolled his eyes, sliding further into the booth nonetheless. They were grabbing dinner post movie before heading back to campus, and he was crammed in between Jo and Dan in the middle of the bench. Cheryl and Avery were draped over each other across the table, and the rest of them had come to a mutual agreement not to disrupt them for the sake of everyone’s innocence.

“I didn’t think it was that scary,” Jo said, winding one of the straw wrappers around her finger. “More suspense than horror.”

“I might have some clown related nightmares,” Phil said. “But only for tonight, not the whole week unlike someone I know.” He turned towards Dan, nudging him with his foot. “I could always tie a red balloon to your bed when you’re least expecting it.”

Dan narrowed his eyes. “Only if you want to me to put knives in the cereal.”

“What? Why?”

“Because then,” he said empathetically, face centimeters away from Phil’s. “Maybe you’d learn your lesson Lester.”

“Save the domestic shit for the bedroom,” Avery interrupted loudly. He and Cheryl had finally remembered they were two separate entities and dismounted, though Phil noted with some amusement that their knees were still pressed together under the table.

“Only if you do,” Dan retorted.

Avery huffed amusedly. “Fair point.” Surprisingly, he and Dan had gotten along fine so far. He and Cheryl spent most of the evening off in their own world, and the few interactions had been civil enough.

“Hey Phil.”

Phil looked up at the sound of Cheryl’s voice, chewing on the end of his straw absentmindedly. “Yeah?”

“You’re coming to my party this weekend, right?”

He spat his water onto the placemat, Dan patting him on the back helpfully. “Sorry?”

“Dan already said he was coming,” Cheryl continued.

“I did?”

“--And you can be his plus one! It’ll be so much fun.”

Phil couldn’t help but remember what had happened the last time he’d attended a party Cheryl had promised would be fun. “I’m not really a party kind of person.”

“Please?”

He met Dan’s eyes, raising a questioning eyebrow. Dan inclined his head, shrugging as if to say if you’re in. Resigned, he looked back to Cheryl. Hopefully the alcohol would be stronger this time. “Okay.”

-

Thursday afternoon Phil came home to two boxes of flying saucers, enough Cadbury eggs, Aero bars, and Galaxy chocolate to feed his entire English class, and another box of what he was pretty sure were Maltesers sitting on the floor. Dan was sprawled across the carpet, phone in one hand and a Mars bar in the other.

“I’m glad you remembered to buy food for game night,” Phil said. “But I think you might’ve overdone it a little.”

Dan smiled innocently, holding aloft a bursting bag. Phil didn’t even want to know where he’d been hiding it. “Actually, that’s mine. This is for tonight.”

“I don’t understand how you we haven’t died from a heart attack yet.”

“Says the one who ate all the marshmallows last time we tried to bake.”

“I have no idea what you’re on about.”

“Or the chocolate chips last time I wanted to bake cookies?”

Phil shook his head disapprovingly. “We really need to take care of the mouse problem. They keep eating all of our hard earned ingredients.”

“Yes, because I’m sure the mice have developed opposable thumbs advanced enough to open packaging.”

“It’s possible. Can I at least have a Cadbury egg?” Dan tossed him one wordlessly. “Thanks.” He settled next to the other boy, back resting against the sofa. “Do you want to watch the episode of Riverdale we missed?”

Dan held up a finger in the universal wait for it symbol, pulling his laptop out of his bag and opening it. The page was already queued to the episode, and the cursor hovered over play. “I thought you’d never ask.”

-

Phil adjusted his grip on Susan’s arms, eyes widening in amusement at his reflection. Because he wasn’t already broke enough, he had a slightly unhealthy hobby of investing in strangely wonderful crap that had very little actual use. The stress mushroom had been bad enough, but he thought maybe the inflatable gargoyle could be considered slightly worse. Or better, depending on your point of view.

“What the hell is that?”

Phil patted Susan’s head, beaming. He spun to face Dan, throwing his arms out in a dramatic pose. His inflatable Halloween costume had arrived this morning, but he was only just getting a chance to try it out. “What do you think? It’s for Cheryl’s party.”

“I think it should go back to Hell where it belongs,” Dan said. He reached out and poked Susan’s head, making a face. “Do I even want to know where you found this?”

“Her name is Susan, and you know how Amazon suggests things for you?” Phil shrugged, an impressive feat given his current position.

Dan shook his head. “I’m not even surprised anymore.”

“I think they had a pink version if you’re interested.”

“You know, I think I’m good.”

Phil bent over, giving him a headbutt from Susan. “Try laying on it. It’s really comfortable, actually.”

Dan gave him a look. “No thanks.”

Susan gave him another headbutt. “Come on.” His roommate gave a long suffering sigh, resting his head against the gargoyle’s shoulder. “Weirdly comfy, right?”

Dan sighed, pressing a hand against his forehead. “Yes Phil, I love having an air pump bore a hole into my pocket.”

“It’s okay Susan,” Phil said. He leaned further back and patted one of her horns reassuringly. “I still love you.” He jumped as something vibrated in his pocket, locating his phone. A picture of he and Maria at their senior prom flashed across his screen as he swiped to answer. “Hello?”

“Hey Phil! Are you still coming up this weekend?” Susan knocked into the refrigerator. Shit. Maria correctly took his silence as an answer. “You forgot, didn’t you?”

Phil wondered if it would be too much to ask the floor to swallow him whole. “Maria I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I forgot.”

“So you’re not coming?”

He collapsed on his bed, cradling the phone against his ear. “I was invited to a party this weekend and I said I would go.”

She made a disbelieving sound. “You hate parties. Can’t you just cancel?”

“I would, it’s just…” he glanced towards Dan, who was graciously studying through his phone like it held the basecode of the universe. “I promised Dan I would go.”

There was a pause. Maria’s voice was icy when she spoke again. “Dan, huh? Well you promised me you would visit a month ago and I’m the one you’re dating. Or have you changed your mind?”

“Of course I haven’t changed my mind,” Phil said defensively. Okay, so maybe he’d been bad at remembering to call and he’d almost forgotten to wish her luck on her last exam but he’d been spending a lot of time with Dan lately, and maybe it wasn’t so strange Maria was questioning his feelings.“I love you, Maria. You’re the only person I want to be with.”

Her tone softened fractionally. “I love you too. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have gotten upset. I really am glad you’re making friends. I guess I just miss you.”

Phil winced, shrinking under the guilt. He was really losing points in the boyfriend department. “I miss you too,” he said. “But next weekend I’m all yours. I promise.”

He could hear Maria’s smile through the phone. “I’m holding you to that. Have a good time at your party.”

“Thanks. Happy Halloween.”

“You too. Class is starting, but I’ll talk to you later.”

Phil ended the call and returned his phone to his pocket, waving a hand in front of Dan’s face. “You can stop pretending to play Angry Birds.”

“I never pretend about Angry Birds.” He held up his phone. “I almost beat my high score too.”

“Sorry to kill the streak.”

“Is everything okay? It sounded like it was getting pretty intense.”

Phil sighed, starting to roll over before remembering Susan and thinking better of it. “I completely forgot I was supposed to visit her this weekend.”

“I don’t mind if you’d rather do that,” Dan said. “She is your girlfriend, after all.”

“It’s okay, we rescheduled for next weekend.”

Dan stared at him for a moment, expression uncharacteristically unreadable. “If you’re sure.”

“Positive.” Phil reached for the Susan’s kill switch, watching it the gargoyle deflate. “Remember? It’s going to be the most fun I’ve ever had.”

-

Phil was not having the fun he’d ever had. At least there hadn’t been any crying so in that aspect it was already better than last time, but he supposed that was a pretty low bar. In the end he’d left Susan at home, but he wasn’t sure if he stuck out more being the only person not in costume. He’d worn a Halloween themed jumper at least, and Dan was similarly dressed, but even Avery had made a lame attempt at a zombie costume.

“I feel slightly underdressed,” Dan said, echoing his thoughts. “Maybe we should’ve looked harder for the cat ears.”

“I don’t know,” Phil said. “I think my costume as ‘internet introvert that finally left the house’ is pretty scary.”

Dan laughed before screwing his features into a mask of terror, pressing a hand to his heart and backing against the wall. “Get it away from me! It’s hideous!”

Dan’s laugh was infectious, and for a moment Phil was able to forget the stares from everyone around him and the way his shoulder was plastered uncomfortably to the arm of the person beside him. “You should’ve gone as a rat to embrace your true self.”

“I take back everything I said earlier. You’re a terrible friend.”

Phil shot him a look of pure betrayal, or as close a one as he could muster anyway. “How fickle of you Daniel.”

Dan opened his mouth to respond when a third year shoved him into Phil as she pushed past. Her breath smelled like beer, laugh loud and intoxicated. Phil staggered under her and Dan’s combined weight, bracing himself against the wall and knocking into the man behind him. Dan managed to regain his balance, mouthing an apology. The music swelled as the song switched to an electronic remix of Call Your Girlfriend that was a little too loud to be comfortable. Phil wondered how bad it was that he’d only been here for half an hour and he was ready to leave.

Dan wrinkled his nose, plugging his ears. His lips were moving again, the sound inaudible. Phil made an ‘x’ and pointed to the door, inclining his head in question. Dan frowned, shaking his head. Phil sighed, leaning in. “Do you want to get out of here?” he asked, raising his voice.

Dan looked relieved. “I thought you’d never ask!” he shouted. It was all the warning Phil had before he turned and plunged headfirst into the crowd.

Despite his roommate’s height Phil lost track of him after a few seconds, and quickly found himself pathetically and hopelessly lost. Sweat was starting to gather at the base of his neck, and he stumbled to a halt, standing on his tiptoes and scanning the crowd. Still no Dan--not that he could see or hear him anyway over the blood rushing in his ears that was almost as loud as the music and infinitely more headache inducing, He took a step and tripped over the couple beside him, the boy’s elbow catching him in the throat and knocking the air out of his lungs.

Phil had gotten lost the first and only time he’d ever gone to America. He and his family had taken an afternoon trip to the mall, but he’d gotten distracted by the Pikachu plushies and when he looked again everyone had disappeared. He’d been seven then, but the feeling of abandoned terror was the same.

He forced in a shuddering gasp of air, pulse thudding under his fingertips. The room felt like it was getting hotter, or maybe it’s just him because he can’t breathe and he doesn’t know where the door is or even a bathroom and he can’t find Dan and everything is so loud and he thinks he might die here and--

“Phil!” Dan shoved through the crowd, coming to a halt with visible relief that quickly turned to concern. “What’s wrong?”

He shook his head, forcing himself to speak past the tightening of his throat. “Outside.” Dan’s expression softened in understanding, and he reached for his hand. The pressure was familiar, grounding and reassuring as Dan led him along the edges of the room to the door. The exit had never looked better, and Phil fumbled for the handle with his free hand, sweat slicked fingers slipping over the brass. Dan nudged him out of the way and pushed it open, ushering him outside.

He relaxed at the first breath of fresh air, sinking against the wall. He exhaled shakily, head resting against the brick to face the stars. From out here he could tune out the music, and he dropped Dan’s hand to wipe his palms against his jeans. “I’m sorry for making you leave,” he said. “I don’t mind if you want to stay.”

Dan smiled, something in the gesture subdued. Guilt twisted at the knowledge that it was probably because of him--because he couldn’t walk the fifteen meters to the door like a normal person without almost having a panic attack. “Trust me, I’m more than happy to leave. Do you feel any better?”

Phil nodded. “A little. Thanks for not leaving.”

“I would only consider it if you actually did put a red balloon in my room. I think we still have Chinese in the fridge,” Dan suggested lightly. “And there’s season two of Stranger Things to finish.”

Phil managed a weak smile. “That sounds great,” he said, conveying as much gratitude in those three words as he could. He wondered what he could’ve possibly done to deserve someone like Dan as his roommate, but whatever it was he was thankful. Somehow he always knew he what he needed, even if Phil himself hadn’t figured it out yet.

Without thinking he reached for Dan’s hand again, falling into step beside him as they headed home.