#anyone wanted to join along that ride then awesome but it’s JUST WILD TO ME OK LIKE REALLY COOL KINDA WILD

[elderwisp]

a tessellate post got 70 notes which is like WILD to me bc the first year i think i got an average of like 5 likes per post WHICH IS LIKE NOT THE POINT the point is i’m glad people are enjoying getting to know the little ppl that have occupied my mind for like 8 years

[writethelifeyouwant]

Dive Bar Ch. 11/11 - Fin

Pairing: Dean x Sam

Rating: 18+

Summary: After a one night stand with a random college chick turns into a threesome that also featured his little brother, Dean- well, frankly, he panics. What’s even worse than gay panicking? Gay incest panicking. Luckily, Sam winds up being a little more cool about the whole thing than Dean ever would have imagined.

WC: 3,001

Tags: brother/brother incest, loss of anal virginity, anal sex, blow job, incest kink, dirty talk, top!sam, bottom!dean, happy ending - sue me 

Beta: @negans-lucille-tblr and @daydream3r-xo

Divider: @firefly-graphics ❤️

A/N: Okay I’m gonna do a separate post with a long sappy note so this post doesn’t become a mile long but TLDR - thank you for reading and coming with me on this wild ride 🥰

Fic Masterlist

Chapter 10

A few weeks later

Another hunt. Another drink. Another dive bar.

Sam killed his beer before Dean could even get his lips around his own, and once he saw Sam downing the drink, condensation running over his knuckles, his lips, down his throat– Dean didn’t care he had lost the game, he just wanted to lick the moisture off Sam’s neck.

“Take a picture,” Sam laughed when he noticed Dean’s staring, “it’ll last longer.” Dean dropped his gaze to his bottle and took a long swig. “Something on your mind?”

“Wh– nope, nothing,” Dean denied, seeing his beer off. “I’m buying right? You want the same?”

“Yeah, sure,” Sam looked suspicious, but let Dean go off to get their second round.

Dean grabbed the bartender’s attention and held up two fingers, pointing to the bottles he was returning, then dropped his head in his hands. God, he had to get himself under control. He couldn’t just zone out every time Sam did something that made him half hard in his jeans – he’d wind up getting them both killed at some point. It didn’t help that every time Sam had tried to fuck him, he’d chicken out the second he got another look at Sam’s dick. He needed to nut up and go through with it already. The bartender pushed new drinks at Dean, breaking him out of his reverie.

When he spun back towards Sam with their drinks, he saw a table of girls a few spots over from them making eyes at Sam, and he noticed one in particular looked exactly his type. She had those ‘come hither’ bedroom eyes, long hair you could wrap your hands up in, great boobs – This is perfect.

“You’ve got an admirer little bro,” Dean teased when he dropped the fresh bottle on the table in front of Sam. Sam glanced up and noticed the girl Dean was talking about, dropping his head behind his hair quickly. Dean caught her eye and gave her a wink before taking a draught of his beer and turning back to Sam.

“Stop being a jerk,” Sam shoved at Dean, “it’s not nice to lead people on.”

“What if I’m not?” Dean held his breath as he watched Sam’s face, unsure of how he was going to react to that.

“What are you asking me, Dean?” Sam fingered the label on his beer bottle – one of his nervous tics – and Dean realised he fucked that up.

“No! That’s – shit, that’s not what I meant. I meant like, what we did before, with Dany, we… y’know.” Dean fumbled through an explanation, but he saw Sam let out a breath and knew he was okay.

“You want to have another threesome?” Sam smirked, bemused, which was better than pissed so Dean was fine with that.

“Why not?” he shrugged, glancing back to the girl, who was still checking them both out, before focusing back on Sam. “We were pretty damn good at it the first time,” Dean grinned, pulling a huff from Sam.

“Yeah,” he shrugged, still smirking at Dean, “it was good.” Sam’s smirking was starting to unnerve Dean a little.

“And, y’know, the past couple weeks have been – awesome, really – but maybe we uh, spice things up again, huh?” Dean waited for Sam to chime in with something, maybe tell him what all the goddamn smirking was about.

“Already getting bored of me, Dean?” Sam’s smirk was actually becoming irritating, now.

“You know that’s not what I meant, stop being a bitch,” Dean grunted. Sam laughed to himself and took another drink. “So, what d’ya say, Sammy?” Dean waggled his brow, trying to draw an answer out of his brother. “Show another gal the time of her life?”

Sam could tell Dean was stalling. He’d been jumpy the past few times Sam had brought up having actual sexual intercourse – his cock in Dean’s ass – saying he wanted it, but not letting Sam go past fingering him open a little. And now Dean was finding another excuse to put it off, and Sam was getting desperate. It was time to give Dean a push off his cliff.

“We can do it again,” Sam nodded, rounding the table so he was behind Dean, and looking towards the girl he’d been pointing out. “But not just yet.”

“Hm?” Dean looked over his shoulder at Sam, puzzled. Sam bent over his big brother, bringing his lips close enough to his ear that he wouldn’t have to shout to be heard in the crowded bar.

“I don’t want anyone else fucking you before I get the chance to do it properly.” Sam felt Dean shiver against him. “Gonna let me fuck you, big brother?”

“Fuck,” Dean exhaled, trying to compose himself behind a swig of his drink.

“How much longer you gonna hold out on me?” Sam scraped his teeth along the back of Dean’s ear, pulling a whimper from him.

“You know what, fine,” Dean stood abruptly, knocking Sam off balance behind him. “You wanna do this? Let’s do this. Get in the car, Sam.”

Sam grinned triumphantly as he followed Dean out of the bar and out to the Impala, back to their motel room for the night.

-

Sam pushed Dean against the door the second it closed behind them. They were good at this part. He could take Dean apart with a few calculated bites along his neck and some very enthusiastic kissing, and Dean was becoming more and more comfortable letting himself be putty in Sam’s hands.

Not that Dean didn’t have the same effect on Sam. A short tug on his hair and Dean’s tongue between his lips and he would melt in his brother’s arms. Dean was a mind-blowing kisser.

Sam trailed his hands down Dean’s arms and grabbed his wrists, pulling him off the wall and towards the bed; still messy from the previous night. He sat Dean down on the mattress and stood back to strip off his shirts. He felt Dean’s hands at his belt undoing the buckle so he could pull his jeans down, and Sam kicked them off along with his boots. Dean went to unbutton his own shirt but Sam stopped him.

“Hey – I want to do that.” Dean gave him a confused sort of smile, but let Sam’s fingers cover his and take over stripping him out of his layers. He kissed Dean again, sucking on his lower lip and licking into his mouth, inhaling his every breath - consuming him. He dragged his fingers over every inch of skin that was revealed as he pulled off the flannel and then the t-shirt, kissing down his legs as he tugged him out of his jeans, before he had to kneel to unlace Dean’s boots. Dean propped himself up on his elbows to look down at Sam, still knelt at his feet.

“I know what you’re doing Sam, so you can quit it now,” Dean griped. “Stop treating me like some blushing virgin, I’m not a girl.” Sam grinned wolfishly and sprang back on the bed once he’d gotten Dean’s jeans off.

“No, you’re definitely not a girl,” he agreed, squeezing the bulge in Dean’s underwear and pulling a groan from his brother. “But I’m still gonna make you scream like one,” Sam breathed against Dean’s lips before he devoured them. “Gonna make you feel so good, Dean,” Sam groaned, pushing his hand into Dean’s briefs and grabbing hold of his length. “Love your cock so much, so hot,” Sam wasn’t sure what he was saying anymore, whatever popped into his head was going straight to his mouth without any filter, which wasn’t helped by the fact that Dean had gotten his hand inside Sam’s boxers and was jerking him off now too.

“God, wanted this for so long,” Sam moaned, sucking a bruise into the join between Dean’s shoulder and his throat. “Thought about fucking you so much,” Sam admitted, to hell with embarrassment at this point. “When I went home with that guy from the bar, I wanted it to be you. I thought about you when I was fucking him – said your name when I came inside him.”

“Jesus, Sammy,” Dean groaned, his mocking tone not disguising his arousal very well, “s’cute you’re so sweet on me.”

“Shut up,” Sam bit at Dean’s lip gently, “before I make you.”

“So then make me,” Dean growled, flipping them so Sam was below him and he could grind their erections together while he sucked his own mark into Sam’s skin. He dragged his lips down Sam’s chest, goal evident. Sam didn’t want to get too carried away, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want Dean’s mouth on him; blowjobs were a skill Dean had really been perfecting over the past few weeks.

Dean hummed happily when he got Sam’s cock in his mouth, and Sam relished the wet warmth that enveloped him, thrusting up into Dean involuntarily.

“Someone’s eager,” Dean chuckled before taking Sam back in his mouth.

“Someone’s being a tease,” Sam grunted, hauling himself up on his elbows so he could pull Dean off his dick and throw him onto his side on the bed. They kissed again, Dean wrapping his arms around Sam and getting his hands in his hair, like he knew Sam liked. Without breaking from the kiss, Sam grabbed for the lube that was still under the pillow from the previous night.

Dean was expecting what came next, and didn’t flinch when he felt Sam’s fingers trailing over his ass and dipping between his cheeks to find his entrance. Sam kept the touches light, teasing – soothing – until he felt Dean relax against him again.

“I want you to do it,” Sam breathed against his neck. Dean didn’t follow.

“Want me to do what?”

“Get yourself ready for me,” Sam elaborated, kissing along Dean’s neck. “Want you to finger yourself open for me.”

“Why?” Dean wasn’t necessarily opposed to the idea, but Sam had always been the one to do this part before.

“Because you’ll be able to feel when you’re ready, won’t be as nervous.” Sam kissed further down Dean’s chest, stopping to suck one of his nipples into his mouth, and pulling a gasp from Dean. “Plus, I think it would be hot,” he grinned up at Dean. “Want to see fucking yourself so good on your fingers that you’re begging for my cock.”

Dean felt his cock twitch against Sam’s hip, and he had to admit, when he said it like that, it did sound fucking incredible. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.” He grabbed the lube from Sam and turned over so he was on his knees, letting his shoulders drop to the mattress, his ass in the air.

“Fuck, you look hot like that,” Sam moaned. Dean could see Sam was touching himself as he watched and found that he liked putting on a bit of a show.

“You like watching me, Sammy?” Dean shivered as he pushed one slicked-up finger into himself. “Like thinkin’ ‘bout how much you wanna fuck me while you touch yourself?” He started to move his finger inside himself, in and out, searching… “Like thinkin’ about your big brother when you get off?” Dean moaned when his fingertip skirted by the spot he was trying to find.

“Fuck, yes,” Sam breathed, eyes fixed on Dean’s finger moving in and out of his ass. “Add another one, Dean.” Dean did as he was told and added a second finger, hissing at the stretch. “There you go.” Sam reached between his legs to play with Dean’s cock, and his hand felt so fucking good against his skin. That, coupled with the fact that Dean had managed to find the spot inside his ass Sam had shown him that made everything go fuzzy, Dean was pretty blissed out. “Think you can do one more for me?” Sam squeezed his fingers in a ring around the head of Dean’s cock, drawing another whimper from him.

Dean nodded and pulled his hand away to add more lube, and went back to his hole with three fingers. He pressed at his entrance slowly, testing the give, and found that when he finally pushed his fingers inside, he loved how full he felt, and he loved the small tingle of pain that was mixing with the overwhelming pleasure.

“Fuck.” Pumping his fingers into himself faster, Dean groaned wantonly, unreserved, relaxing into the feeling of being stretched so open.

“Think you’re ready?” Sam asked, obviously hopeful.

“Yeah,” Dean gasped, “yeah, Sam, want you. Please.” He let himself sag to the bed and rolled over onto his back. Sam kissed him shortly and pulled back, searching his eyes for one last okay, before Dean felt the tip of Sam’s cock pressing against his entrance.

When Sam pushed inside of him, Dean’s whole world whited out. He was bigger than the fingers he had been working himself with, and so fucking hard, but Dean loved every second of it. He couldn’t believe he’d made Sam wait to do this for so long.

“Oh my god, Sam, fuck -“ Dean panted.

“Told ya I’d make you feel good,” Sam groaned, pushing in a little more. “You’re doing so good, De, taking me so fucking good, so fucking tight.”

“Goddamn, you really never shut up, do ya Sammy?”

“Sorry,” Sam ducked his head into Dean’s neck, embarrassed.

“No, hey,” Dean pulled Sam back up to face him. “S’okay little brother. I, uh – I kinda like it.”

“Yeah?” Sam’s grin was unsure, but relieved.

“Yeah,” Dean nodded, kissing along the column of Sam’s neck, sucking the skin between his lips to leave another mark. “Never would have thought you’d be so good at dirty talk.”

“That’s not the only thing I’m good at,” Sam smirked, and pressed the last inch of himself inside Dean, pulling a muffled ‘fuck’ from Dean. “You still good?” Sam checked.

“So good,” Dean moaned, pressing his hips back into Sam’s, like he was hoping to fuse the two of them together permanently.

“Can I move yet, or do you need a minute?” Sam asked.

“Would you just shut up and fuck me alrea –” Dean’s gripe was cut off abruptly by a moan when Sam pulled his hips back and slammed home again. Dean couldn’t get too many words out after that – the pleasure thrumming through his body had short circuited his brain. All he could think about, all he could feel, was Sam’s cock moving inside of him. The hot drag of Sam’s flesh against his was intoxicating, and he felt himself fucking his hips back up into Sam’s without necessarily deciding to do that.

“Shit, that’s it baby,” Sam hissed through gritted teeth, picking up the pace of his thrusts. “Feel so good Dean.” Dean could barely manage a whimper in acknowledgement. Sam leaned back on his heels to get better leverage, moving Dean’s ankles to his shoulders, and on the next thrust in he found Dean’s prostate, which Dean’s choked whine made very clear. “There we go,” Sam grinned down at him. “Bet you're glad I didn’t let you go home with that girl now, huh? No girl could ever make you feel like this, could they?”

“No,” Dean admitted. “Fuck no.” And it was true. Sex had never felt this intense before, this all-consuming, this nerve-frying. Sam hadn’t even touched his cock since he’d pushed inside him and he was already so fucking close to losing it. And he knew Sam could tell, too.

“You gonna cum for me, big brother?” Sam started fucking into him even harder, quicker. “Gonna cum with your little brother’s cock inside you?” Dean thought he nodded, but to be honest, he couldn’t be sure. “Good,” Sam groaned, “because I am so fucking close.”

Dean reached up to pull Sam back down to him. He wanted every inch of his body covered by Sam’s, wanted to drown under him. They kissed fiercely, tongues tangling and teeth clacking against each other as Sam fucked him faster and faster. The sweat coating their bodies made for an easy slide of Sam’s stomach against Dean’s cock and that extra bit of pressure was exactly what he needed to finally spiral out of control. He came noiselessly, any sound he might have made dying in his throat as every muscle in his body seized up. Thick white spurts caught against the hair on their chests, smearing between them.

“Holy shit,” Sam gasped as he suddenly ceased his frantic pace and froze, cock buried inside of Dean as deep as it could go. “Fuck,” Sam’s whimper was barely audible, but it was there. Dean’s hands absentmindedly combed through Sam’s hair as they both calmed down their breathing, soothing his little brother like he’d always tried to do, even though, given the circumstances, it probably should have been the other way around right now.

Eventually, Sam pulled out carefully and flopped down on the vacant side of the mattress. Dean dragged the crumpled sheet from the foot of the bed and wiped over his chest, then over Sam’s, to get the cum off before it dried too badly, before dropping back against the pillows and rolling into Sam’s side. He felt Sam startle for a moment before pulling Dean against him, arm curling around his shoulder.

“Hey, you okay, man?” Sam’s voice was soft, like he was worried he would scare Dean off.

“Yeah,” Dean considered, “yeah, I’m good, brother.”

“Not too disappointed I didn’t let that blonde come back with us?”

Dean laughed. “No, Sammy, not disappointed.”

“What if I said that … I thought that – maybe – I wanted you all to myself from now on?” Sam’s eyes caught his, hesitant.

“I’d say…” Dean let sharp exhale and a short laugh. “I’d say, it’s always been you and me. And I’ve never needed anyone else.”

Sam beamed down at him. “Good enough for me.”

Tags: @vulgar-library @tintentrinkerin @negans-lucille-tblr @fandomfic-galore @petitgateau911 @whoreforackles @schaefchenherde @kickingitwithkirk @little-diable @delightfullykrispypeach @hawkerz12 @dylansbabygirl24 @mineshinamary @popsensationnicole23 @spn-problems @donthateme454 @doyouknowsamw @peridottea91​ @delightfulbakeryaliendeputy @fictionallemons @natastic @marvelfansworld @half-closeted-bi-girl @je-ai-de-la-amour-pour-dean @kiss-my-peachy-arse @tftumblin @alice101macwil @disneysloot @caitlinvd @crashlyrose @miufel @itsthedoctah10 @leftlokiofpuppy @devilsbbyy @austin-winchester67 @spnobsessed50

[queenof-literature]

I absolutely loved the gerudo story a lot! If you are still taking ideas/suggestions may you please continue on with wild telling them about the others? I liked medoh and the rito the most lol but any will be awesome I loved how happy wild and the others were while hearing the story of Riju and nabrois.. thanks 💚💜

Thank you for your kind words! I turned this into a series on my AO3 (queenofliterature) since it has gotten multiple requests. I hope you enjoy and your cosplay is super cool!

“Pleeeeeease!” Wind continued to beg Wild over dinner. It had been a couple of days since Wild told the story about his time with the Gerudo, and Wind was desperate for Wild to tell more, as he had made very clear. Since the first story, they had traveled to Twilight’s Hyrule, although no villages were close enough to get to tonight.

“Dear Hylia. Wild please tell him another story before he explodes.” Legend yelled from across camp.

“Wind, Wild doesn’t need to tell us anything else if he doesn’t want to.” Time lectured Wind, who was attached to Wild’s back, arms wrapped around him like a stationary piggyback ride. Wild didn’t find himself minding. Ever since he had returned Wind’s hug the first night he told a story, the kid had seemed comfortable with attaching himself to Wild like he would Hyrule and Warriors. It was surprising at first, but Wild got used to it, and kinda liked it.

“Um that’s okay. I can tell more stories. I just don’t want them to be boring or anything. There’s no more dressing as a woman and seducing people for items or sneaking into Yiga bases.” Wild joked although he was slightly nervous about his other stories not measuring up.

“But you still have three more divine beats to go right?” Sky voiced curiously.

“And your fight against Ganon!” Warriors called.

“And all your crazy ideas along the way!” Hyrule finished as the rest of the group laughed, Wild included.

“Okay, just let me pass out dinner.”

Once again, the group was all gathered around the campfire, eyes on Wild. Wild still found it intimidating, but it was far less scary this time.

“Well… I guess I could tell you about the Rito?” There were some questions and confused murmurs among the group, except Wind, who lit up at the mention of the birds who lived on Dragon Roost Island.

“You have Rito in your Hyrule too?” Wind questioned excitedly.

“Yeah I do. Do the rest of you not?” There were ripples of no’s throughout the camp.

“Oh, well they’re basically really big, talking birds? That might be an offensive way to describe them. They’re like Zora are to fish I guess.” Wild stated awkwardly. He didn’t really expect to have to explain what a Rito was.

“I can just show you!” Wild remembered he had a picture of Kass and his children on his slate. When they first saw the Sheikah Slate, all five of the girls had crowded around him and demanded to see it. When they saw the photo rune, they wanted him to take a picture of them and their mother and father. He told them he had no way to let them have a copy or anything, but they just wanted to be with him in his travels. It was a very sweet sentiment and Wild absolutely loved that picture.

“Oh wow, you weren’t kidding about them being giant birds.” Hyrule commented when Wild flipped his slate around for them to see.

“They look a bit different from the Rito from my Hyrule but that’s kinda been a common theme among all of us.” Wind noted.

“They’re very nice and welcoming people.” Wild confirmed as he put the slate back on his hip. “When I first got to the village, I had to walk up a whole bunch of bridges that just kept getting higher and higher. The Rito were really upset and worried, since the Divine Beast, Vah Medoh, was causing chaos and shooting anyone down that flew up too high.” Wild remembered the ear-piercing screech that greeted him when he first arrived. All of the Divine Beasts had a call, but none were quite like Medoh’s.

“Oh no that’s awful! The Rito love to fly! Was anyone hurt?” Wind questioned, genuinely concerned for the villagers.

“Unfortunately yes. Some men went up to try and defeat Medoh, but one got shot down and hurt his wing, his name is Harth. He’s alright now. The Rito that went with him, Teba, got him to safety and was planning to face Medoh once again. I spoke with the chief of the village, named Kaneli. He’s very kind, and he has a very deep and hearty laugh.” That was one thing about Wild the group had noticed. He always remembered odd or specific details of people. It may be connected to his loss of memory, but that was simply the person he was. He wanted to get to know as many people as he could and help them when needed.

“So do any of the leaders know that you’re the hero from 100 years earlier?” Four questioned. He really hoped he wasn’t crossing a line by asking, he was just truly curious.

“It kinda depends. The Zora live to be centuries old, so most of them knew me, well… the old me.” Wild stated uncertainly. The rest of camp knew Wild’s struggles with his past self, almost seeing him as a different person than the one they knew now. They were slightly curious about what Wild was like before. They would never trade Wild for anything, but it would be interesting to see how much he had changed. Twilight, who was sitting on Wild’s left, put a gentle hand on his shoulder, while Legend scooted a little closer on Wild’s right, almost unnoticeable to everyone but Wild.

“The Gorons didn’t care all that much, just as long as I could board Rudania. Riju knew that I was friends with Urbosa, or that she at least sent me. And the Rito thought I was the champion’s descendant.” Some snickers left the group at that.

“Hey, I tried to tell him it was really me, but I didn’t have the Master Sword yet. Even then, I’m not sure if he would have believed I was the actual champion, but he was worried for his people. He asked me to help them with the Divine Beast since I was the only one who could board it.”

“Why are you the only one who can board it?” Warriors asked.

“Well, I don’t have a solid answer for you, but it’s because I’m the Hylian Champion.” Wild answered. There wasn’t a scientific answer he could really give, that’s all he really knew.

“Wait, since you’re a champion, do you have a Divine Beast too?” Hyrule exclaimed, eyes shining with anticipation and mischief. Oh Hylia, if WIld had one of those things and he and Hyrule teamed up... Please say no, please say no, please say-

“Well, sorta.” Wild rubbed the back of his neck as gasps (and some groans) arose around him. “It’s very small, smaller than a horse. But it has two wheels and it’s faster than anything I’ve ever ridden. It’s loud though and has to be powered by materials. I’ll show you when we get back to my Hyrule, I’ve tried summoning it here and it doesn’t work.” Wild wished he had a picture of it, but he would show them the real thing soon.

“That sounds amazing!” Surprisingly Hyrule didn’t yell this, but Legend did. He blushed, realizing how loud it was. The rest of the group chuckled. Legend could pretend to be snarky and cool all he wanted, he was such a nerd for new items.

“It really is. I can run over so many monsters, and jump off so many cliffs without getting hurt! And it goes over pretty much any terrain! I just have to be careful not to fall backward down a hill or something. But that doesn’t happen often and-” Wild rambled on, oblivious to the look of horror on Twilight’s face.

“Um, Cub. We love hearing about your Hyrule but… I think you’re going to give Twilight a heart attack.” Time teased, looking at his protege’s face.

“Hehe. Whoops.” Wild laughed, the rest of the heroes joining in, except for Twilight of course who simply glared at his mentor.

“Anyway.” Wild continued, still giggling a little. “The elder sent me to Teba’s wife and child, who begged me to go to the Flight Range and stop him. She said that I could just jump off the Revali’s Landing, a platform named after the Rito Champion from a hundred years ago.”

“Did you remember him at this point?” Sky questioned reluctantly. Like Four, he was nervous about crossing a line.

“I actually remembered him when I looked at the landing.” Wild’s eyes grew slightly distant. “Revali was a complete and utter asshole.” There were surprised huffs of laughter from around the group. That certainly wasn’t what they were expecting. “But… I understood why.” Wild stared into the fire. “He was hurting I think. I got to read his journal and he worked really hard to develop Revali’s Gale, the wind I use now. He worked to become the best archer and protect his village. And then, some random Hylian kid comes and takes the Master Sword and becomes the princess’ appointed knight. He always taunted me, kinda telling me that I was only getting to fight Ganon because of the sword, while he had to sit in his Divine Beast. But I got the sword when I was twelve, and my training started long before that from what I can remember. And I don’t - I don’t think I ever wanted that.” Wild’s breathing hitched the tiniest bit. Not enough to be noticed by anyone who didn’t know him, but this group knew him well.

Twilight instantly pulled him into a hug, and Wild didn’t fight it. He didn’t cry or feel a huge panic coming on, but the hug felt nice all the same.

“It sucks that Revali went through that Wild.” Warriors stated, smiling at the teen gently. “But that is not your fault. You didn’t choose the sword, the sword chose you.” Wild nodded from where his head was on Twilight’s shoulder, before pulling himself away gently. Meanwhile, Time cursed Hylia in his mind, again. Twelve… He understood there was a fight coming, he really did, but this boy was only twelve. No, he was younger when he was forced into training. Wild mentioned to Time when talking about Mipha that he traveled there with knights as a child. He was a child. He still was a child… Time pulled himself out of his own head. There was no changing Wild’s past. That was over one hundred years ago. They could help him now.

“I’m sorry, Wild.” Wind sighed out. “I didn’t mean to bring out bad memories.”

“You didn’t, bud.” Wild reassured. “Sometimes memories just come into my head, even if I’ve seen them before. I wouldn’t tell you if I didn’t trust you.” That halted the camp entirely. Wild had made a lot of progress in trusting them, but they were happy to hear him say it. Before they could dwell too much on what Wild said, he continued his story.

“So anyway, I talked to Harth, the Rito that broke his wing, and a couple of other Rito. Including the girls you all saw in the picture. They’re Kass’ daughters!” Wild stated excitedly. He told them previously about Kass and how much he adored hearing his songs. Wind once asked Wild to sing one, but he blushed a bright red and furiously refused. Wind bet Wild had a pretty voice and he was just embarrassed about it…

“Their mother was worried sick for her children, along with the other parents in the village, and the children were all disappointed they couldn’t fly and play. Well one didn’t want to go to singing practice, but I still had to get the Divine Beast under control as fast as possible. So I bought the Snowquill Set that keeps you really toasty and rushed to the Flight Range to help Teba. When I got there, Teba said he didn’t need any help but I insisted. So he told me that he would challenge my archery skills.” The group leaned in, what sort of test? “He made me shoot five targets in three minutes with my paraglider.” Wild stated in a deadpan voice. The boys froze, then burst out laughing. Wild could shoot three arrows at once, sometimes five with the proper bow! Five targets in three minutes were nothing! Wild chuckled along with the group. He wasn’t arrogant with his archery, but five targets in three minutes was a little too easy. He expected Teba to continue challenging him, but he never did.

“So he gave me some bomb arrows and told me to jump on his back, we were gonna go defeat the Divine Beast.” Wild continued.

“Woah wait, already? Didn’t the other Divine Beasts take you a little time to get too?” Warriors questioned.

“Well Naboris took a little more time since the Yiga clan were causing trouble, but there was nothing else I could do to prepare.” Wild shrugged. “So we flew up into the clouds, Vah Medoh was huge up close! It had a giant courtyard type structure on its back! And it could shoot lasers and had a shield around it! So while Teba distracted it, I used the updrafts to shoot at all four points the shield was powered by. Unfortunately, Teba got grazed by the lasers. He was okay, but he had to land. So I started the puzzles in Vah Medoh. They were so fun! There was one where I had to get in this ride on a track and tilt the beast so I got to ride to the other side! And I was so high up!” Wild continued rambling on about the puzzles he had to solve.

The other boys in the group smiled softly. One of the reasons they enjoyed Wild telling stories was because of how excited he would get while telling the parts that didn't haunt him. The others sometimes struggle with Wild’s Hyrule because of the ruins of the structures they know, but Wild truly loved it, which made sense, it was just like the hero who came from it, wild and untamed.

“So finally all the puzzles were done and all the terminals were unlocked, and the main control unit was unlocked. Like the others, when I put my slate up the control unit, a Ganon Blight came out. This time it was Windblight Ganon. He was easier than the others, but still hard. He could summon tornados! And I had to rely on arrows a lot since he flew out where I couldn’t reach him. But eventually, I got his health down enough for the final blow. When I activated the main control unit, Revali appeared.” Wild smile became bittersweet like it did when he talked about any of his friends from one hundred years ago. “He teased me again, but this time, it seemed more friendly and less bitter. He gave me Revali’s Gale so I wouldn’t always have to rely on cliffs and high places for my paraglider. I went back to see Harth and Teba, and they and their families were fine! The elder thanked me a lot and gave me Revali’s old bow. It’s in my house with the rest of the champion’s items. I used them against Ganon. A little bit to avenge the other champions. You know?” Wild looked to find them all staring at him. “Uh… The end?” Wild ended awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. The rest of the group seemed to snap out of it. Wild was amazing. And highly intelligent. His stories of battles and puzzles and shrines only proved that. Once again, just like when he ended the first story, Wind crashed into Wild and knocked the breath out of his lungs.

“You’re a great storyteller Wild!” Wind cried happily.

“The sailor’s right, Cub.” Twilight smirked, but the kind look in his eyes betrayed his teasing lilt.

“Well, that was a perfect little bedtime story.” Legend yawned and clapped Wild on the back.

“Legend is right, it’s getting a little late. Warriors, you have first watch right.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know Old Man.” Warriors huffed but smiled and ruffled Wild’s hair as he passed, earning a lot of protests to which Warriors just laughed at.

The rest of the group thanked Wild for the story and headed to their bedrolls. The Links were happy that Wild was talking more, and didn't want to make a huge deal out of it and scare him into science once again. But they also wanted him to know they appreciate him trusting them enough to tell them of his trials.

After making sure no one needed his help with anything, Wild collapsed into his bedroll. He enjoyed telling the others his stories, but he still wasn’t used to talking for long amounts of time.

A couple of minutes later, Twilight, who was preparing his own bedroll, realized he hadn’t heard Wild shuffling about like he normally did. He turned around to ask if he was okay, only to see him completely conked out on top of the blankets, apparently tired from talking so much in one night. He snorted softly at the smaller teen, before slowly going over and tucking him in. If Wild wasn’t completely passed out, he would have denied what he called being treated like a child, but there wasn’t a single protest as Twilight lifted Wild slightly and put him under the covers, tucking them around him. There was only a small sound that Twilight absolutely would not admit not to find adorable, as Wild snuggled into the blankets covering him. Time hummed slightly, making Twilight turn around.

“He was too young.” Time said solemnly, referring to what Wild told them earlier that night. Twilight had similar thoughts. Wild had told him after a memory that he was only twelve when he got the Master Sword. Twilight knew he was too young. A lot of the group was.

“Yeah… But he has us now.” Twilight smiled at Time, who looked at his pup with pride in his eyes. Those who weren’t asleep or didn’t have the first watch were soon wrapped in their bedrolls peacefully, the only sound being crickets chirping around them.

[jae-yoonie]

Dare (M)

A/N: first SF9 post! its a repost from a blog i was on for a bit but she “closed” it shortly after i joined. fun little request especially since Chani’s my ult ☺️

Request: can i possibly request either friends to lovers or enemies to lovers where nothing happens until sf8 literally have to lock you in a room with chani and suddenly everything happens ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

SCENARIO: Your best friend, Chani, invites you to a game night with his fellow members for their day off. Given their chaotic nature, you shouldn’t have expected things to go smoothly, but sometimes bad situations can lead to positive outcomes.

Pairing: Chani x Reader

Genre: Fluff, Smut - SEXUAL CONTENT

Word Count: 4.3k

Chani [5:31 PM]: Hey, just finished practice, meet at 6?

You [5:33 PM]: Yeah, I’ll see you then!

Your heart raced as you locked your phone, placing it on the kitchen counter before rushing upstairs to change.

Chani and you first became friends in your first year of highschool and have since, become best friends… but somewhere along the way, you ended up developing feelings for him and you had yet to build up the courage to confess… that is, if you ever did. You didn’t really have any intentions on making the first move, but rather, you chose to wait it out and hope that one day, as your friendship continued to grow, so would his feelings for you. Quickly, you picked out a cute outfit and then walked over to the cafe where the two of you were supposed to meet.

“Hey,” he greeted, arriving only a few minutes after you.

“Hey.”

“Um, before I forget… I wanted to ask if you’re busy on Saturday?”

“No, I’m pretty sure I’m free. Why?”

“Manager gave us the day off so we’re having like a game night. There’ll be food and stuff so I thought maybe you’d wanna come?”

“Oh, yeah, I’d love to! I haven’t seen everyone in a while.”

“Awesome, I’ll let Youngbin know so he can pick you up.”

“Thanks.”

The two of you ended up hanging out for another hour or so before deciding to part ways. Chani had walked you back since it was already dark out, giving you a hug before making his way back to the cafe where Youngbin picked him up.

*     *     *

Finally, Saturday came. From the moment you woke up, you were scrambling to get ready and trying to make yourself look as good as possible. When Chani said “game night,” you weren’t too sure what he’d meant as far as how casual or how crazy it’d possibly get, so you tried your best to find a happy medium.

After you showering, you blow dried and curled your hair, and as for clothes, you chose some high-waisted ripped shorts to show off your legs, with a cute crop top to make for a slightly revealing, but overall casual outfit. To top it off, you put on some natural makeup, just enough to make you look clean and to accentuate your good features.

Youngbin [5:22 PM]: I’m outside

You [5:23 PM]: Coming

The ride to the dorms took no more than 10 minutes, the two of you talking casually and catching up until you finally arrived. After Youngbin parked the car, the two of you quickly made your way up to the dorms, and upon entry, you were swarmed with greetings and hugs from the 7 boys. Chani stayed back for a little bit and waited for the other guys to disperse before finally going up to you and shyly greeting you with a hug.

“Awww,” the boys cooed, making Chani quickly pull away from you and glare at them bitterly, returning you an awkward smile before taking a seat on the floor.

“Go get some snacks,” Youngbin offered, gesturing towards the kitchen, “We have lots.”

“Thanks,” you smiled nervously before making your way into the kitchen to see what kind of snacks the boys had prepared.

“Hey,” Jaeyoon spoke up as he followed you into the kitchen.

“Yeah, hi,” you muttered, rolling your eyes as he made his way towards you.

“What’s wrong?”

“Thanks for keeping our secret…”

“What do you mean?”

“Um, when ‘you know who’ hugged me and everyone was ‘aw’-ing about it? Would you like to explain that?”

“Oh, that secret… I only told Inseong, I swear!”

“And then?”

“Well… I guess he told Dawon and then Dawon told—”

“Exactly… and now everyone knows…”

“Chani doesn’t know.”

“How wouldn’t he?”

“I dunno, but he’s pretty clueless…”

“Ugh… I swear to god Jaeyoon, I’m never trusting you with a secret ever again.”

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to!”

“Yeah whatever…”

Grabbing your food, you quickly made your way back out to the living room and sat on the couch next to Taeyang in an attempt to avoid the comments you’d get from the boys had you sat next to Chani.

“Hi,” Taeyang smiled as you plopped down next to him.

“Hey,” you replied as you started eating your snacks.

“You didn’t wanna sit by Chani?”

You almost choked when you heard what he’d said, assuming he was hinting at your crush yet again.

“No… why would I want to sit by him?” you remarked coldly, trying to hide your feelings.

“I don’t know,” he shrugged, “I just figured you guys are best friends so…”

“O-oh… right, yeah… but I see him every week. I’m here to hang out with you guys now.”

He only nodded in response, finding your reasoning plausible despite the fact you were stumbling over your words. It seemed that the rumor hadn’t quite gotten to Taeyang either, so you were really hoping Jaeyoon was right about Chani not knowing… maybe it was just amongst the hyung line.

Finally, after everyone was gathered back in the living room, Youngbin announced that they would be starting the first game, ‘Never Have I Ever.’

“I wanna start!” Dawon yelled excitedly, raising his hand, “Never have I ever sucked a dick!”

“Really?” Youngbin looked at him in disbelief.

“What? It’s true.”

Sighing to yourself, you put down a finger, trying your best to avoid eye contact with the boys… but at the same time, you already knew all eyes were on you, being that you were the only girl in the room and now, you were about to get bombarded with questions.

“Y/n put her finger down!” Dawon announced, pointing you out to everyone, “So who was it?”

“Was it someone in this room?” Inseong chimed in.

“I bet it was Jaeyoon,” Rowoon interjected.

“Me?!” Jaeyoon exclaimed, “You’re more of a flirt than me!”

“No guys, it was with Chani,” Zuho remarked, “Him and y/n are always together.”

“We only go to the coffee shop!” Chani replied defensively.

“Guys stop!” you snapped, “It was my ex, okay? And it was just once, Jesus Christ… will you guys ever give me a break?”

“Yeah guys give her a break, she’s our guest,” Youngbin scolded, “Now moving on to Hwiyoung.”

“Never have I ever drank until I was drunk,” Hwiyoung said confidently, knowing his hyungs had been drunk numerous times before.

“Aw man,” Dawon complained, putting a finger down, along with all the other boys except the maknae line.

“Ok…” Inseong started, “Never have I ever had a crush on anyone since we debuted.”

“What about that one girl?! The one you met at the club?” Jaeyoon, interrupted.

“I never liked her. We were just talking for a little bit.”

“Pft,” Jaeyoon rolled his eyes as he put down a finger.

Looking around the room, you noticed a few of the boys also put a finger down, Rowoon, Taeyang, Hwiyoung, and surprisingly… Chani. It made you jealous to think about him possibly liking someone else, but what took you aback was the fact that he never told you. Having been best friends for a while, you really thought he would’ve at least briefly mentioned it.

Once you snapped out of it, you noticed Jaeyoon staring at you intensely with his eyebrows raised, gesturing towards Chani while angrily mouthing, Put your finger down!

Really?! You mouthed back, discreetly putting a finger down in hopes that no one would say anything… but of course, nothing goes unseen with these boys.

“Y/n put her finger down!” Dawon yelled, ratting you out again.

“Seriously?!” you groaned, “Why do you keep picking on me? There should be rules, only one remark per person.”

“Fine...” he replied, “Chani put his finger down!”

“What the?!” Chani remarked, his eyes wide as all the boys turned their heads toward him.

You had to admit, you felt a little bit bad, having been in his position just a few minutes ago, but at the same time, you were curious to know about this little crush of his.

“Do you still like her?” Rowoon asked.

“Um… I guess?” Chani replied nervously.

“I guess?! What kind of answer is that,” Dawon scolded, “It’s a yes or no question.”

“Okay, yes! Geez…” he sighed frustratedly.

“Is she in this room?!” Jaeyoon asked boldly, all the eyes in the room turning to you momentarily before returning to Chani.

His ears and cheeks began to turn red as the boys stared him down, his eyes quickly darting to the floor as he answered, “N-no…”

“I don’t know…” Inseong started, raising his eyebrows at the younger boy, “You’re pretty red right now.”

“Ugh,” Chani groaned, covering his face with his hands.

“Do you like y/n?” Taeyang interrupted, only embarrassing him more.

Chani paused for a moment before he finally willed himself to speak, “I don’t have to answer that, this isn’t ‘Truth or Dare’…” Letting out a sigh, he stood up from his place on the ground and made his way to the kitchen, “I’m gonna get food.”

“That’s a great idea!” Dawon shouted, “We should play ‘Truth or dare!’”

“We didn’t even finish this game,” Hwiyoung argued.

“We were never gonna finish anyways,” Jaeyoon shrugged.

“Alright then, let’s take five and then meet back here,” Youngbin announced, “There’s still tons of food that we have to finish.”

*     *     *

The five minutes went by way too fast; you were definitely NOT mentally prepared to play truth or dare with the boys. As much as you loved them, they were hella wild and you just knew you were going to get torn apart by the truth questions until you had absolutely no secrets left… it was quite terrifying.

On the other hand, you couldn’t stop thinking about the whole situation with Chani’s little crush. He didn’t say it out right, but it really did seem like you were the one he was crushing on… you wanted to know more, but given the situation, you knew it wasn’t the best time to ask.

“Alright,” Youngbin spoke up, “I wrote down everyone’s names and put them in this bowl, so when it’s your turn, you draw a name and ask them truth or dare. I’ll start this time.”

Sticking his hand in the bowl, he pulled out a piece of paper and opened it, “Zuho, truth or dare?”

“Hm… truth,” he replied.

“Okay, we’ll start easy. Has manager-nim ever caught you doing something bad?”

“Um… one time when I was a trainee, I really wanted ice cream, but I was on a diet so I asked manager-nim for money to buy ‘medication’ and then bought myself some ice cream... but then he found the receipt and banned me from going to the convenience store for a month.”

“I remember that,” Rowoon laughed, “He was so mad that he almost banned all of us from going to the convenience store!”

“Alright, your turn,” Youngbin said handing the bowl to Zuho.

“Jaeyoon, truth or dare.”

“Dare!”

“I dare you to call your most recent contact and tell them ‘I love you.’”

Shrugging, Jaeyoon pulled out his phone and called the first person in his contacts, putting it on speaker for everyone to hear. To everyone’s surprise, a phone in the room began ringing; it turned out to be Inseong.

“Hello?” he answered in a giggly voice.

“Inseong oppa! Saranghae!” Jaeyoon said in a high pitched voice, making kissy noises into the phone before hanging up, resulting in a roar of laughter from the boys.

Once everyone calmed down, Zuho handed the bowl to Jaeyoon.

“Y/n! Truth or dare,” Jaeyoon smiled.

Oh god… you grumbled to yourself, knowing that if you were paired with Jaeyoon, it was going to be a lose, lose situation no matter what. After thinking for a moment, you decided you’d be safer avoiding the questions after what happened with ‘Never Have I Ever.’

“Dare,” you finally answered, holding your breath as you awaited Jaeyoon’s response.

“I dare you to… sit on Chani’s lap.”

Your jaw instantly dropped as you processed what he’d said, your eyes narrowing at him as you remained glued to your seat.

“Go on now, you chose dare,” he stated smuggly, gesturing towards Chani.

“Dammit,” you muttered as you stood up and made your way towards Chani. The two of you made awkward eye contact before you slowly lowered yourself onto his lap, the sound of cheers and laughter from the boys filling the room soon after. Despite having fantasized about sitting on his lap loads of times before, the setting was definitely NOT how you’d imagined it.

It took a minute or so for the boys to finally calm down, Jaeyoon resuming the game by handing you the bowl.

“Hwiyoung… truth or dare?”

“Dare.”

“Uh… I dare you to… kiss the members on both sides of you.”

Once you’d assigned the dare, you stopped paying attention to the game, your focus reverting to the fact that you were sitting on Chani’s lap. Given the context, it was definitely awkward, but you were thankful it was Chani over any of the other boys… you could’ve easily ended up sitting on Jaeyoon’s lap or something and that would’ve been ten times more awkward.

As you continued to doze off, the thought of Chani liking you suddenly resurfaced. Did he really like you? And if he did, since when? All this time you’d had a huge crush on him without even the slightest idea that he might like you back… maybe you were just in denial?

It made you wonder how he felt about the current situation, considering, you were sitting on his lap. If he really did like you, he was probably feeling way more flustered than you were... and maybe even a little aroused? You could feel your face starting to heat up at the thought of getting him excited, convincing yourself it was a bit of a stretch to be thinking about that now; it wasn’t even really confirmed if not he had feelings for you or not.

“Chani!” Dawon yelled excitedly, pulling you out of your trance and drawing your attention back to the game, “Truth or dare?”

“Oh no,” Chani groaned under his breath; he was practically in the same boat that you were with Jaeyoon earlier, a lose, lose situation. “I’m gonna regret this…” he muttered before speaking up, “Dare.”

“Yes!!” Dawon cheered, “I dare you to go in your room with y/n for the rest of the game.”

“Nice!” Jaeyoon laughed, giving him a high-five.

“Seriously?” Chani sighed, looking at Dawon in disbelief.

“Mhm,” he grinned, “Now move along, love birds.”

“Ugh, fine,” Chani grumbled, urging you to stand up before standing up himself, “C’mon y/n, let’s go.”

“Have fun!” Dawon yelled, waving as the two of you walked away.

“But not too much fun!” Jaeyoon added.

“You guys are terrible,” Youngbin remarked, shaking his head.

“They needed a push!”

*     *     *

Finally the two of you were able to get some peace and quiet, but unfortunately, you had to be locked up together in a room for it. Despite being best friends for so long, you never felt more uncomfortable being alone with someone in your life than you did at that very moment. For the first few minutes, the two of you awkwardly sat together on his bed, neither of you saying a word.

“Um…” he started quietly, rubbing the back of his neck as he spoke, “Sorry about that whole situation… I know they can be a little crazy, but they really mean well…”

“I know, it’s okay…

…

So um… I-I was wondering…”

“Yeah?”

“They asked earlier about you liking someone… is it really… me?”

“Oh… that… uh…well…”

The room fell silent as Chani’s eyes darted to the floor, a tinge of pink reappearing on his fair cheeks.

“If it helps… I… like you too,” you reassured.

“W-wait, what? Really?!”

“Y-yeah…”

“Wow… I had no idea.”

“I didn’t know you liked me either.”

“The thing is, I’ve had feelings for you for a while now, but I could never figure out how to tell you… or how to gain the courage to… now I regret waiting though, I would’ve rather told you myself than be exposed by the boys…”

“It’s okay, I wanted to tell you too, but I couldn’t find the courage either… it’s hard.”

The room fell silent again, neither of you having the slightest clue of what to talk about; with all the thoughts and fantasies rushing through your head, it was hard to find words to say. Slowly but surely, your mind got a hold of you, slyly persuading you to make a move and act on your thoughts, but a part of you was still afraid. You gulped at the idea of imposing on him, worried that you’d end up pushing him away if he didn’t like it.

The worst case scenario is he’ll just say no, right? You finally convinced yourself, taking a deep breath before finally speaking up.

“Um, Chani?” you started, unable to make eye contact as you spoke, “It might be crazy to ask but… could I maybe… sit on your lap again?”

His eyes widened at your request, his adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed hard. You winced watching him sit there, completely motionless, the feeling that maybe it was too big of a request and that is was too soon making your insides churn. You were about to crawl off his bed and go sit on another member’s bed when he stopped you, the look in his eyes pleading you to stay.

“Please do… sorry, I just… I’m really nervous…” holding your hand, he gently pulled you towards him, guiding you over his hips so that you were straddling him. He bit his lip as you lowered yourself onto him, his arms wrapping around your waist as yours snuck around the back of his neck.

You could feel the tension building as the two of you stared into each others eyes, your faces no more than a few inches apart. Letting your eyes flutter shut, his lips finally met yours, the new sensation filling your stomach with butterflies.

You pulled him closer as you deepened the kiss, your hands quickly finding their way into his dark tresses and gently fisting at them.

You were filled with a sense of satisfaction when you finally elicited a moan from him, the sound of his deep, sultry voice making your stomach tingle, but even more so, the foreign feeling of his growing erection pressing up against your already dripping core firing a lust within you more intense than you ever experienced before.

Before you knew it, you had him pinned beneath you, your lips still attached as you passionately rolled your hips against his, his sweet moans vibrating against your lips. To your surprise, he slipped his tongue past your lips and swirled it around in your wet cavern, the feeling of his hand sliding up to the back of your neck sending chills down your spine.

“Chani,” you mumbled, barely separating your lips from his as you spoke.

“Hm?” he hummed back, stroking his fingers through your hair.

“Can we…?”

“Can we what?”

“Y’know… can we do ‘it’?”

“Oh… um… I dunno… I don’t think it’s a good idea…”

“But, Chani… please?” you pouted, teasingly running your hand down his body and landing on his crotch, “You’re so hard, and I’m so…”

“I know… I want to, it’s just… I dunno, I’m worried… A-are you on the pill?”

“No… but… there’s a condom here… on your nightstand…”

“What…?”

“And a note… ‘Thought you might need this ;) -Dawon.’”

“Well…”

“Please?” you begged as you started unbuttoning his pants.

“Y/n…” he grumbled in response as you continued to unclothed him, desperately pulling his stiff member out of the confinement of his briefs. “Fuck,” he muttered as you began to stroke him, the unbelievable amount of pleasure you gave making him unable to resist indulgence. You weren’t normally this bold, but you were so overcome with lust that you just couldn’t contain yourself; you wanted him to want you as much as you wanted him.

You pumped him a bit longer before impulsively taking him into your mouth, your lips closing tightly around his shaft as your tongue grazed the underside.

“Oh my god,” he gasped, his eyes widening as he processed what was happening.

You felt satisfied seeing his face start to scrunch up, his lower lip disappearing between his teeth as he struggled to restrain his moans. You were determined to get it out of him though, to make him want you so bad that he’ll practically be begging for it. Bobbing your head up and down, you continued to pump whatever part of him you couldn’t take, the little moans and curses that started to slip past his lips feeding your desire to make him feel good.

You didn’t hesitate to pick up speed, your controlling libido refusing to let you stop; seeing the way his body tensed, the way his breaths hitched in his throat, the way his legs shook… you knew he was extremely close.

“Shit!” Chani moaned as he suddenly yanked your head away from him, his breath heavy as his desperate, angry cock throbbed, “I was about to…”

“I wanted you to…”

“Sorry… I-I didn’t want to… not in your mouth… and sorry for pulling your hair…”

“It’s okay…”

“Did you still want to… y’know?”

“If you’re okay with it…”

“I am… but I’m nervous... and I don’t think I’ll last long.”

“It’s okay, I’m a little nervous too.”

After giving him a peck on the lips, you reached for the condom on the nightstand and tore it open, carefully pinching it as you rolled it down his shaft. Next, you discarded your shorts and flung them onto the floor, leaving you in just your thin lace underwear. When you noticed Chani’s intense stare, you couldn’t help but look away, your face burning with embarrassment as you fathomed the situation.

“You’re gorgeous… you don’t need to be shy…” he praised as he gently caressed your bare thighs.

His comment gave you some sense of confidence, willing you to finally crawl over him and position his member so your heat.

“A-are you ready?” you stuttered, the nerves you weren’t feeling earlier finally catching up with you.

“Yeah… are you?”

You hesitated for a moment, struggling to give him an answer as you swallowed thickly.

“We don’t have to do this you know…” he assured, lovingly cupping your face in his hand.

“N-no, I want to,” you finally replied, convincing yourself it was fine. Reaching between your legs, you pulled the thin lace aside and held his swollen tip to your entrance as you slowly lowered yourself onto him. You winced at the foreign feeling of him inside of you, the strange combination of pain and pleasure giving you a mixture of emotions.

“Are you okay?” Chani asked, noticing your change of expression.

“Yeah,” you whimpered as you began to slowly roll your hips.

“You feel so good,” he praised as you rode him, his hand going up to cup your face again.

“So do you,” you groaned as you continued to grind against him. As the pain subsided, you began to speed up, your slow, steady movements eventually becoming desperate and erratic. In no time, you found yourself bouncing on top him, the way his length drove deep into your core driving you completely insane; you could feel that your end was near, the high that you so badly longed for just barely out of reach.

Glancing down at Chani, you could tell that he was close too, his eyes squeezed shut and teeth clenched as he hung on by a single thread. Suddenly, he grabbed you firmly by the hips and began bucking his hips up into you, his thrusts hitting you even deeper than you thought possible.

In a matter of seconds he gave you that final push over the edge, your climax approaching quicker than you could adhere to.

“Chani I’m— !” you barely started when euphoria finally erupted inside of you, your weakening body collapsing on top of his as you rode out your high.

“Me too,” he groaned only seconds after you, your clenching walls milking him to his end.

The room felt hot as the two of you regained your breath, the sound of heavy panting echoing throughout the small room; you’d barely gotten a chance to relax when you heard a knock on the door, making you jump off of Chani and hide under the sheets.

“The game is over,” Youngbin said as he popped his head into the room, his neutral expression quickly becoming awkward at the realization that he’d ‘interrupted.’ “Um… you can uh… come down whenever you’re ready,” he mumbled before quickly closing the door.

“So did they do it?” you could make out Dawon’s voice from behind the door.

“I don’t know… maybe… it’s none of your business,” Youngbin replied.

“Hah! I knew they would, they’re soo into each other.”

“Oh god,” Chani groaned, facepalming at his groupmates’ remarks, “I’m never gonna hear the end of this.”

“I think… they were just trying to set us up…”

“I know, but you saw how they were playing ‘truth or dare’ and ‘never have I ever’... I’m telling you, they’re never gonna let me live this down.”

“At least you have an excuse now, right? We’re a couple now… couple’s always do this kind of stuff.”

“I guess so…

Wow… this is amazing, I can’t believe I can finally call you mine. You don’t even know how long I’ve been trying to ask you out...”

“Me too… you know, even though the boys always tease you and poke fun at you, we wouldn’t have gotten together if it weren’t for them.”

“Yeah, you’re right… I love you.”

“I love you too, Chani.”

[homogrimoire-archive]

The Remnant Branches

CH. 5 - Ash Qrow

Qrow ventures into the world where day and night are at a standstill. There, he gets stuck with a bunch of kids, and a book or two.

AO3 Link

You can kill two birds with one stone. But if those two birds are the same bird, are you really killing two birds?

-

Qrow flew right into a large rock that was hurled from below. With a caw, he flew away with it. It hurt like hell, but honestly, he was used to such inconveniences.

“Kainé! You hit that poor bird!” berated a child’s voice.

“What? It’s not my fault the damn thing came out of nowhere.” a woman said as she tore through a shadowy monster.

As Qrow recovered, he looked down below. There were four people: two young adults, and two children. There were also two floating books, one white, and the other red. The two children fought together, while the male teen and the white book fought together. The woman, whose clothing could hardly count as clothing, fought with the red book. He thought of joining in the fight to help them out, but they were taking care of the monsters, shades, he remembered, as if it were having a picnic. Not only that, they all used magic. He was happy to have found what he was looking for on his first day.

Qrow spent the rest of that first day scouting the surrounding area. Nearby, was a small village, a seaside town, a small desert civilization, a run down factory, a forest, and a village built into a cliff side. In the distance, he could see dilapidated buildings, an abandoned city in ruins. He knew that whatever happened to this world was unimaginable. He knew that if Salem won, Remnant could very well end up like that part of the world.

The first place he visited was the tavern of the village the four stayed in. His first order of business was to find out preliminary information on them. Bars were one of the best places to get info. Alcohol flowed, and information flowed with it. However, bars in small places could be either hit or miss with information. The people in such bars would either be too tight-lipped, wanting to keep their community’s secrets, or all too eager to share the latest gossip. He was all too happy to find this bar a hit. Great information, with even greater alcohol. He decided then that post-apocalyptic alcohol was the best.

“You mean you haven’t heard of them!? They’re like, only the strongest people in the world!”

“I’ve seen Grimoire Weiss and Nier take on an army of shades all alone! I wish I was as awesome as they were.”

“Kainé is soooo cool. She and Rubrum took down a shade the size of three building in five minutes flat. She even saved me from this giant shade and helped me up. I haven't washed my hand since she touched it.”

“Emil and Halua are soo adorable! And so strong too! Don’t let their looks fool you though. I heard that they took on Weiss, Nier, Kainé, and Rubrum on in a spar, and won.”

“They’re gonna save the world! Once they find The Shadowlord, we’ll be free of the shades at last!”

Qrow was having a great time. Apparently, he had showed up after a rare performance from the village’s leaders. The bar was filled with laughter and chatter. While he was chatting away with some man, he heard a roar rise from the crowd.

“Oh man! Here comes the main event!” said the man.

Qrow saw that an arm wrestling contest was going on, and the champion was one of the village leaders, the one with the straight hair. She seemed more drunk than anyone else, and did not appear particularly strong. The first opponent was a woman, a dainty thing that went down easy. Next was a beefy man. He went down with only a smudge of struggle on the champion’s part. After him was an even beefier woman. She was defeated just as easily.

“Come on! One more opponent! Who else wants to face me? You!” She pointed right at Qrow. “You’re a new face! Get over here! Let’s see how you hold up against me!”

Qrow shrunk and tried to get out of the challenge, but, the crowd pushed him forward. He may have been drunk, but still knew that it was almost never a good idea to attract attention on a mission. However, there was no good way of getting out of it, so he went to his slaughter. She sized him up and smirked. Their hands interlocked, and the match began. Qrow put up a better fight than the others. He assumes it is because of his aura helping out. But, she unleashes a burst of strength that not only seals her victory, but breaks the table they were playing on. While Qrow picks himself up, the champion raises a leg onto her chair and relishes her victory.

“Popola! Popola!” the crowd chanted. Qrow knew that there was more to this woman than meets the eye. But, pursuing her would have been illogical. He had his lead on magic, and would focus on that.

It wasn’t his first loss at arm wrestling. That was with Tai. Summer ended up winning Team STRQ’s little tournament. It was a nice memory. But, a memory is all it ultimately all was. He spent the rest of that day gathering bits and pieces of information on the group, nursing the great beer out of his canteen.

The Shadowlord and the black book, Noir, had taken the Nier’s kid sister. The two children were siblings and had lived at the mansion. Kainé had lived at the Aerie, the place built into the cliffside. Grimoire Weiss, who insisted on being referred to by his full name, and Kainé did not get along. Rubrum and Nier don’t get along. Rumor has it that Nier and Kainé are dating. Nier’s weapon is named Beastcurse. None of the info he gathers pertains to the specifics of the magic they wield.

Qrow always found sleep difficult, and the eternal sun only made it harder. He wondered why Popola was so strong. Ozpin didn’t mention anything about the people having such strength. He rested alone in a tree at the top of a hill in the village, and was grateful that it at least wasn’t cold. However, he was filled with apprehension. The previous two days had gone well. Too well for someone like him. All he could do was wait for things to inevitably go south.

-

Qrow was awoken by the sound of a scream. He quickly jumped out of the tree, but landed on his foot wrong and fell on his face. He quickly gets up and scans the area with his sword in hand. He notices that a kid is in front of him, protecting a shade.

“Don’t hurt him! He’s a good shade!” the kid pleas. Behind the child, the shade is cowering. Qrow then realizes that the two were probably just playing, and he heard laughter, not screaming.

“Don’t worry kid. If he’s a good shade, then I won’t hurt him.” He reassures as he sheaths Harbinger.

“Alright...” the kid says warily as she lowers her arms. From behind, the small shade seems to relax as well. “What were you doing sleeping in a tree anyways? Birds sleep in trees. Are you part bird or something?” the kids says, suspicious of Qrow.

“Nope, not part bird or anything.” he quickly clarifies. He’s technically not lying.

“What’s your name then, mister?” the child asks.

“Qrow.” he answers nervously. The child looks at the shade, and the shade looks back at her. Qrow knows that they know something is up.

“Ok then, Mister ‘not a bird’ Qrow. Wanna play with us?” she innocently asks, as if she weren’t just suspicious of him.

“No. No thanks, I’m good.” He says as he begins to back away.

“Sure?” she says. The shade comes forth, saying something in its odd voice as it holds out a palm full of worms. “We were just digging for worms. Don't you think that’s fun?”

“That’s, that’s good for you. I’m not interested though. I really should get going.” he lightly laughs to counteract the heaviness around him. The worms do seem enticing. The shade mumbles something again, and holds out some shiny objects. Qrow begins to sweat.

“Or maybe we could play with these shiny toys? They’re sooo shiny.” she smiles as she tempts him as she holds one up to the sun, making it sparkle brilliantly. He almost can’t handle it. He can’t handle it. With a loud caw, he transforms in an instant, and flies away.

“HA! YOU WERE RIGHT!” he hears her shout as he makes his escape. “You were right! He was magic! That’s how he lasted that long against Popola! I knew you were right!” Turning his head to look back, he sees the two dancing with each other, sharing their small victory. It was heartwarming, even if it felt like he was just being interrogated by them. However, he wonders why his avian urges were so strong. He chalks it up to his bad luck.

Since he was already flying, he decides to see if he can find that group of kids. He sees them in the plains below. And they’re riding huge, wild boars. They’re all laughing and screaming in wild joy as they head towards the town in the cliff face. However, he notices that the demeanor in the woman seems tense. He remembers that she lived there, and might have some bad memories of the place. He’s glad she had her friends with her though.

As they entered the cavern, he flew overhead and took the time to scan the town. It seemed no different than when he first saw it, save for a small gathering of people on one of the large platforms. He imagines that’s where they’re heading, but he knows he could be wrong. He perched on a wire above the group of merchants and customers.

“There they are.” One person says.

“Ok, get ready. Act like we planned.” whispers another.

“Did you say something?” asks one of the merchants.

“Huh, oh, no. I just remembered something.”

“Ah, ok.”

That’s not suspicious at all. Qrow thought to himself. He kept himself alert. The guy with the white book finally entered the little market. He hopped up the wire to see if he could find where the others were, and found them waiting at the entrance. They appeared to be chatting with each other.

Down below, he heard the book and the guy making small talk with the people there, and buying a few things.

“Everyone? Every one? Every one? Everyoneeveryoneeveryoneeveryoneeveryone…” said a guard as his voice morphed into the sound of a shade. And in a puff of smoke, he and a few others transformed into shades.

“Crap, an ambush.” Nier said.

“So it seems.” Weiss commented.

From his vantage point, Qrow could see more shades gathering around the other parts of the village. He decided then that now was the time to help.

He flies to a bridge where more shades have gathered, and with the slash of his sword, he sends them flying back. A few fall off the bridge to whatever lies below, but more shades manifest to take their place.

“Forget how to actually kill a shade, old man?” berates the female teen as she slashes through slade after shade on the other side of the bridge.

“Hey! I’m not old!” Qrow answers back.

“Then start killing them properly, or leave, dumbass. Rubrum, play Cold Steel Coffin.”

“Ooh, nice choice.” The red book compliments as she opens up and flies through her pages. “Tear those blood bags to shreds!” From her pages flows a song in an unknown tongue.

Vlee sieh tah, Vlee sieh reeh, Vlee raun stee yah, Vlee yon ston reeh. Begins the powerful, almost terrifying song. Kainé tears through the shades with even greater ferocity than before, their blood devoured by the red book as the volume intensifies.

“Kickass!” she shouts as a shade is torn to shreds, as promised. Her movements become quicker and quicker, stronger and stronger, and before Qrow can take care of even five, she’s already taken care of the rest of the shades on that bridge. “Out of my way old timer!” she says as she rushes past him.

“Kainé! Hold on!” Qrow hears a boy shout.

“Yeah, hold up!” A girl also shouts.

“We’re sorry about her.” The girl says.

“She just really gets into it when Rubrum plays a cool song.” The boy says.

“So, what’s your name? I’m Halua, and this is my twin brother.” she introduces.

“Hello, I’m Emil. It’s nice to meet you.” he says with a slight bow.

“Qrow. Nice to meet you two. We should chat later though, huh?”

“Oh, you’re right. We really should. Hm, follow me Emil.” she says.

“Okay!” he replies as he takes her hand. They proceed to walk off the bridge, and onto the empty air as if it were solid ground.

Nobody bats an eye at the two, but Qrow. The sound of a shade screaming right in front of his face scares him, and he jumps off the bridge. He turns into a bird to fly back up, but rather than his wings, he is instead brought back up by some unknown force.

“Huh? A bird?” Halua questions.

“You can turn people into birds? That’s new. Do you think you can turn me into a parrot later? I always wanted to be a colorful parrot!” Emil exclaims happily.

“Nooo. Waaaait… Qrowwww… Crowwwww… Sorry mister, I’ll let you go now!” she shouts from the center of the canyon as she releases her magical grip on him. “Let’s get back to this. Tell me when it sounds right.” she tells Emil as they toy with a glyph.

“What the hell???” he wonders. It’s the second time that day a kid guessed his magical secret. What that said about the adults in Remnant wasn’t good. Then again, it wasn’t like magic was common in Remnant.

He shifts back into a human and gets back to taking care of shades. By now, the song echoed through The Aerie for all to hear and empower. Qrow had to admit that it did help with the fighting, as it paired well with his fighting style. Despite the toughness of their armor and tendency to block, he soon finds himself flying through shade after shade at a good pace.

Everynow and then, he takes a look at one of the kids to see how they’re holding up. The villagers at the tavern had evidently placed their praise well. Nier and Weiss work as an experienced duo, efficient, clean, and powerful. Kainé and Rubrum, all Kainé really, were a shade killing machine. They are brutal, swift, and deadly. While Kainé hacks, Rubrum dances to the beat of the song as best a book can. Then it seems as if the young twins then appear to have finished their task.

“There! That’s it” Emil says excitedly.

“Alright. Applying the buff!” she announces. With an otherworldly, fear-inducing glow surrounding her, she absorbs the glyph, and Qrow finds that Harbinger is glowing as well. Looking around, he sees that Nier and Kainé’s weapons are glowing as well. A quick slash of the scythe shows what the buff was: armor nullification. Harbinger went through the armor harming the shade underneath.

“Fuck yeah!” Kainé yells with joy.

“Will she ever learn to hold her tongue around them?” Weiss wondered.

“Fuck yeah!” Emil and Halua echo as they jump with joy.

“I think it might be a little late for that, boo─ Grimoire Weiss.” Qrow corrected before he could finish.

“Well, at least someone has the decency to respectfully use my full name. Who might you be anyways?” Weiss asks

“Qrow. It looked like you guys could use some help, so here I am.” He responds.

“That’s nice of you, but─” Nier begins before being cut off by Weiss.

“Shush! No buts! We’re taking all the help we can get. Bah! Teenagers!” Weiss says as he shakes his head, or that’s what it looks like he’s doing.

“Don’t worry Weissy, we’ll be good teenagers when we grow up!” Halua says earnestly as she and Emil join them.

“But I wanna be like Kainé! She’s awesome!” Emil argues.

“Sorry Weissy, nevermind.”

“Apologize not. This old book has given up hope long ago.” he says tiredly.

“Done!” They hear Kainé probably declare as she joins them.

“Another day of honest work is complete!” Rubrum chimes as the song fades out. Slowly, they all begin to notice the ominous, dark mist that vibrates all around The Aerie.

“Rubrum! This is why you have to be more careful with the songs!” Nier reprimands.

“Oh calm down you big baby.” she tells him without a care in the world. “Like I said last time, it’s nothing we won’t be able to handle.”

“Last time?” Qrow asks.

“We were relaxing on the beach, and she was playing Repose. We even didn’t notice the giant shade in the ship.”

“Hey, things ended up alright, didn’t they?” she defended herself.

“I broke an arm! The mailman almost died! Halua was tired out for a week!”

“Well your arm’s okay now, the mailman is still alive, and Halua recovered. What’s your point?” she told him. Nier growled in frustration as he covered his face.

“Lose later Nier, we have a new friend to make.” Kainé smiled cruelly.

Before them, in the center of The Aerie, a giant shade formed. It was unlike previous shades. Its size made it in a part of a very small class of shades. It was a perfect, dark sphere. Tendrils, or perhaps tails, slithered to and fro to reveal what seemed to be an eye in the center. Its roar could be felt as it traveled through the air, rattling their bones through their flesh.

“Emil! Halua!” Weiss shouted.

“On it!” they answered, and began to manipulate a new glyph.

“Until they’re done, we’ll practice the tried and true method of concussive maintenance.” Weiss continues.

“If it worked on a grimoire, what wouldn't it work on?” Rubrum added.

“Emil and Halua.” Kainé answered.

“Dare I ask again?” Qrow dared to ask.

“Does it look like we have the time?” Weiss responded. As the monster appeared to wind up for an attack.

“Nope.”

With such a monstrosity, Qrow expected it to whip its many tentacles at them, or attack with some kind of magical energy. He expected wrong. It unleashed some kind of gas, a sickly pale green color. They all had no chance to try to avoid it.

What are you even doing here? You’re just endangering those kids. Don’t you know that, idiot? Or maybe you want bad things to happen to them? Why stop there? Make everyone as miserable as you! Oh wait, you already do that, you pathetic excuse for a human.

“I do, don’t I? That’s all I ever do, bring everyone bad luck and make them miserable. Why am I still here? I─”

“I am just a freak. I shouldn’t be here, near anyone. A monster with a cursed body like mine shouldn’t even exist…”

“Why is a broken guy like me even here? I don’t want to be here in this terrible world. It would be easier if I were gone.”

“I need to be alone. I need to be alone. They can’t turn to stone that way. If I never look at them, if I’m never close to them, my cursed eyes can't petrify them.”

“I’m just a weapon. That’s all I was ever good for. I couldn’t even protect Emil. A weapon like me shouldn’t exist. I never wanted this. I never wanted to be this...”

“I─ I─ I─ Snap out of it! Quit saying those things! Snap out of it!” Qrow yelled to the children.

“Use a song!” Weiss shouted as he fended off the shades as best he could.

“I have to find a proper one, or be given one! You know how this works!” Rubrum frustratedly replied. “God shit fuck!” she cursed as more and more shades inched closer, and closer.

“Hey, Rubrum, find one for me!” Qrow requested. All he knew he could do was protect the kids. “Weiss, try to wake them!”

“Scanning…” Rubrum said as Qrow began to attack the shades. “Searching… Found one. Ooh! She’s a beauty!” The song starts calmly enough. It gets a simple rhythm going in him, then…

Pain! Is your reward for being near me. Fate! Won't be your friend when I’m around. Blame! Me for the tragedy that follow. Grave! The situation that surround. …

Unfortunately for the armored shades, Halua’s buff was still active. They were felled easily, feeding more and more blood to the red book. More and more blood, more and more song and power, it was intoxicating.

“Blood!” she giggles. “Blood blood blood blood, blood!” She spins and twirls in ecstacy. “Make this song the end of the shades!” Qrow was happy to oblige. A tendril accidentally pierces an ally, a shade trips and runs its sword through another.

“Misfortune wins again!” Qrow laughs as he ends another shade. “I’ll bring you down! I’ll bring you all down!” he announces to his enemies.

His misfortune finally targets him when he gets unlucky and the last shade pins his cape down, causing him to fall onto Halua, waking her in the process.

“Huh?! What!?” she says, confused, having been broken out of the trance..

“I need to be alone… So my eyes won’t hurt anyone… Alone…”

“What? Emil, no, don’t say that!” she tells her brother. She then turns to the giant shade with fury in her eyes. The air becomes heavy, and the last shade runs away in fear..

“Weiss, Rubrum, get them out of here.” she orders. An image of a skeletal beast flickers around her. “Mister, get Emil for me.” He obeys, and picks up the child.

“What about you?” he asks her.

“Just get Emil to safety.” she solemnly tells him as she summons a glyph in front of her. The shade strikes it, but screeches in pain as dangerous power cackled from it in defense.

“You better come back safe too, kid.” he tells her.

“I will. Rubrum? Can you play the song? I need to be able to hear it too.”

“Sure can do. I have more than enough blood for that. And remember Halua, we’ll be with you no matter what.”

“We are a family, after all” Weiss says. Halua smiles, and the beast appears for a split second once more.

“I know.” The song begins, calm and soft with its ethereal vocalization.

Kaun mon-no ruutra, Kaun oulvadei-gyaiya, Droh fee lai-narszes, Whoul sheeg-ma rae, Restivaun, Whoul vajei hli mehg jzu, Sii-kyathrae, Whestel-ou har thehgehy, Quin-deskuel, Shoul-yaneiyan …

Soon, the song becomes not just calm and soft, but powerful and imposing as well. From the safety at the top of the canyon, the song echoes below. Qrow can see the beast flickering in and out of reality more and more.

“Earthly Zenith of Modernity, The uncontrollable might of solitons, The spiritus that threatens to devour all, Avenge and atone in the name of all that is accursed! Number Six!” Halua yelled as she activated the glyph. “Deconstruct!” The beast appears from behind her, and consumes her with a bone-chilling cry.

“What is that?” Qrow asks in terror with his mouth agape. Emil awoke and jumped out of his arms.

“It’s my sister, Number Six, The Ultimate Weapon. We were made to be weapons long ago.” Emil explains as he faces his sister, sensing the intense and unparalleled magic.

“What you are witnessing is perhaps the most powerful magic in all the world, much more powerful than even a grimoire.” Weiss reveals as The Ultimate Weapon latches onto the large shade and tries to tear through its protective tendrils.

“Mmnnn,” Kainé groans, “What the hell happened?” Number Six lets out a piercing screech as she jumps to cling to a cliff, and fires a beam of energy that the giant shade just barely avoids. The spot where the beam hit is pulverized into nothingness for who knows how deep. Quickly, Kainé jumps up to see her. “Halua! Halua! Goddammit!”

“Is she gonna be alright?” Qrow hopes she will be.

“She will recover, just like last time.” Weiss answers confidently. “But...”

Finally, she had the shade cornered. She howls as the song begins its closing. Cowering in horror, the shade makes a last ditch attempt to win, firing a volley of magic at Number Six. She is unphased as The Ultimate Weapon activates its true might. A bright light begins to grow from where they are. At a steady pace, it swells and devours the shade and everything else in the vicinity, turning it all into nothing. When The Ultimate Weapon deactivates, an unflinching Halua, eyes glowing a dull red, stands where Number Six once was.

-

“Are you sure you guys are alright with me being around?”

“Yeah old timer, we’re sure.” Kainé assures him.

“It’ll be only for a few days anyways, like you said.” Nier adds.

“Besides, fuckers like us have to stick together.” she reasons.

“And if the world can’t handle us, we’ve gotta find other fuckers who can!” Rubrum exclaims joyously.

“In a sense, we create a world of our own.” Weiss states.

“That’s… a nice way to think of it. A world of our own, one that’ll accept a bad luck charm like me. I like the sound of that.”

-

Qrow had arrived right in the path of a large rock that was hurled from below. He let out a pained caw as it struck him as he fell. It hurt like hell, but honestly, he was used to such inconveniences.

“Kainé! You hit that poor bird!” berated a child’s voice.

“What? It’s not my fault the damn thing came out of nowhere.” a woman said as she tore through a shadowy monster and looked up. “Wait, that’s not a bird. It’s a guy?”

“It is!” Emil gasped as he saw that Kainé was indeed right. “Don’t worry mister, I’ll save you!” With a wave of his staff, he slowed Qrow’s descent and uprighted him. Lightly, he landed on the ground. “Hmm?” Emil said as he cocked his uncanny head in confusion.

Qrow, meanwhile, realized that this was where the voice of the child was coming from. But he had little time to ponder the realization, as he sensed an enemy nearby, a skill honed from all his years as a huntsman. Swiftly, he unsheathes his sword and slashes at the shade to send it backwards. The lady in lingerie, Kainé, followed up and stabbed the shade in the chest, pinning it to the ground.

“Gawk later Emil.” she tells him as she extracts her sword and moves onto the next enemy.

“R─Right!” he says in an embarrassed tone. “Sorry mister!” he apologizes as he returns to fighting.

“Don’t worry about it kid.” Qrow replies as he joins the fray to help finish off the last of the little shadowy demons.

“So, who the hell are you?” Kainé asks him.

“Qrow.” he answers.

“A better question is, how does a man end up so high in the sky?” the book inquired.

“Ooh, I know that! It was magic!” Emil excitedly answered. “You were the bird Kainé hit huh?”

“Yeah, and it hurt.” an irritated Qrow said as he took a quick drink from his flask. Normally, it would be good to hide his little talent, but there was no reason to try to hide it now that the kid could sense the magic.

“Well damn. That sucks.” she replies nonchalantly.

“Weren’t you ever taught some manners?” he jabs.

“You’re wasting your time with this hussy. Manners are as foreign to her as proper attire.”

“Why don’t you two go and do whatever the fuck it is old timers like you do and shut up?” she jabs back.

“Hey Emil, how were you able to tell it was magic anyways?” Nier asks as they continue arguing. He is mostly unphased by their conversation, and the fact that the man is walking with them to the boat, even though he could just leave. A man falling out of the sky and joining them hardly compared to a kid getting consumed by his weaponized sister, and then joining him.

“Hey! I’m not even that old!”

“And my age is a symbol of my infinite wisdom and arcane power!”

“I just sensed it. It’s different from Weiss’ magic though, and Kainé’s and mine too.”

“Weird.” Nier commented. “Hey, uh, Qrow?”

“What now?”

“What kind of magic do you have?”

“Hell if I know. It was a gift from a friend of mine.” he answers. “What about the rest of you?”

“Mine is from my sister. We were experimental weapons.” he answers solemnly.

“Wha─??”

“It is a sad, and long story.” Weiss says.

“Still, it’s pretty cool that you’re an ultra powerful weapon though.” Nier says.

“Yeah, it’s pretty fucking kickass.” Kainé adds on. “Way cooler than some boring old book.”

“Aww, you guys...” he says shyly.

“I’ll have you know that my magic is far older than you can even fathom, hussy. But I unfortunately cannot answer your question because someone,” he paused as he looked specifically at Nier, “found it acceptable to perform concussive maintenance on The Grimoire Weiss.”

“I said I was sorry like a million times already.” Nier exaggerated.

“You are fortunate you have my mercies.”

“As always Wiess, as always. But, we’re here.” Nier says as they arrive at the boat.

“I’ll go ahead and scout the area. That tower place, I’m guessing? I’ll let you know if I see anything unusual.” Qrow tells them as he shifts to his avian form.

“Hey, wait, don’t you want to─ Aww, he’s gone.” Emil lamented as Qrow flew away.

-

Qrow scans the backside of the structure. It’s a bunch of shoddy workmanship. Loose planks of wood, metal poles, and cheap ladders are what make up this sorry excuse. But oddly, it does not appear to be old. In fact, it seemed like a recent addition to the place. Nothing is rusted, and none of the wood is rotten either. A few shades even jumped about, and nothing creaks or breaks. It is suspicious, and screams that this is a set up.

Regardless, he defeats about half the shades that lingered on the platforms built into the stone by the time the boat arrives. They’re tougher than the ones on the plain, but they fall just the same, into a dark smoke, and then into nothing. Despite how uncanny it was that slicing into them felt somewhat akin to slicing aura, they were otherwise oddly reminiscent of grimm. What wasn’t reminiscent of a grimm was their ability to bleed.

“Damn, save some for the rest of us!” Kainé yells. “Some of us have a bone to pick with the fuckers!”

“Quit crying and hurry up then!” he shouts to her down below. “Damn kid…” he complains as he takes a small drink from his flask. For all he knows, he won’t be able to refill it anytime soon.

Kainé swiftly jumps up a few platforms above him and starts her slaughter. While Nier and Weiss slowly make their way up, taking care of the few shades that happen to appear, Emil floats up to Qrow.

“So mister, where are you from?” he asks curiously as he floats a few feet away from the platform.

“A place called Remnant.”

“Well that’s an odd name. What’s it a remnant of?”

“It’s just what we’ve called it. Don’t know why either.” Qrow answered as he climbed up a ladder.

“Oh… Well how about your name? Did you get it after the magic, or was it a cool coincidence?”

“It was the name I was born with. Can’t say if I know it’s a coincidence though.” Qrow quickly replied.

“Emil,” interjected Weiss, “leave the poor man alone. He appears to be tired of your barrage of questioning.”

“It’s fine.” he responded. “I’m used to this kinda thing.”

“If you insist.” the book replied in his snotty tone. Something about it seemed familiar, but he couldn’t quite put it on his finger yet.

“Are you sure? I don’t wanna be a bother.”

“If I can handle my two little girls, I can handle a single kid. Don’t worry about it. But─” He was cut off by a loud and excited gasp from Emil.

“Oh my god! You have two daughters? I bet they’re adorable!”

“What? No. I mean, they are adorable, but they’re not my daughters. They’re my nieces.”

“You just said they were your kids, dumbass.”

“How about you mind your own business?”

“How about I─” she began before her heel got caught in a gap in the planks of wood, causing her to fall backwards. “Ack! Fucking bitch! Stupidass wood!” she cursed as she got up and angrily punted the guilty board.

“Kainé! Look out!” Emil warns her.

“What?” she turns to see a shade about to strike her, and that it is too late to react. Ooh it’s gonna be my turn soon, Sunshine! Bwahahaha!

To her surprise, and Tyrann’s, they don’t feel the slash of the shade’s sword. Qrow is in front of her, blocking the attack. He knocks away the weapon, and brings the shade to its demise.

“I’ll be up top.” is all he tells her before he flies away.

“Hey, wait up! I’ll join you!” Emil says as he follows the black bird.

“Did you scare him off already?” Kainé hears the book assume.

“What happened?” Nier asks as he and the grimoire neared her.

“Shut up. He just went off on his own for no damn reason.”

“Hmm. Odd guy huh?” Nier asked no one, as Kainé and Weiss were already beginning the hour’s bickering.

Meanwhile, Emil chased after the man, wondering why he seemed so insistent on being alone. He didn’t seem like a bad guy who had anything bad to hide. Then again, looks could be deceiving. Emil knew that very well. Emil concluded that it was perhaps something about himself the man was hiding, maybe something he was ashamed of. Kainé was like that at first, and he probably would have really been like that without her.

“I’m here!” Emil announced once he caught up with Qrow. “Man, you fly fast.”

“Wouldn’t you rather be with your friends, kid?” he questioned the kid.

“Ohh, I don’t mind. I just wouldn’t want you to be alone. Being alone sucks most of the time, huh?”

“Meh. I’m used to it.” he waved dismissively, taking a small drink from his flask.

“Still, it’s better to be friends than alone.”

“Not always, kid.”

“Not always?! It’s always better to be with friends!” Emil shouted, to which Qrow winced at the young boy’s volume. “Oh, sorry.”

“It’s fine. But I just prefer to be alone.” Qrow said as he took a seat.

“Why?” Emil asked. He could see that Qrow was thinking.

“Back in my world,” he began, “everyone has a sort of ‘magic’ more or less unique to them. We call it a semblance, and mine is Misfortune. It brings bad luck to anyone nearby. I’m sure you can see why now.”

“Hmm, I do see. … Well, that’s alright. I’d still rather be here with you than let you be alone.” He could see that Qrow froze for a moment, as if the words were somehow familiar, then he regained his composure and let out a short chuckle.

“You’re a funny kid, you know?” Qrow joked.

“Im serious! I know I only sound like a little kid, but I’m older than you!” Emil fussed.

“Yeah, let me guess, a thousand years old?”

“Mmm,” Emil pondered, “somewhere around there.” Qrow looked at him as if he were telling an obvious lie.

“Well, I guess I should explain. You told me something about you, and I’ll tell you something about myself. It’s not a very happy story though.” Emil sat down to tell the tale of him and his sister.

“And so, Emil and Halua Grimm became the most powerful weapons in the world.” He finished wistfully.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that.” Qrow said solemnly.

“Yeah… But at least it led me to Nier, Weiss, and Kainé. I wouldn’t trade my time with them for anything. Okay! Now tell me something about yourself!” Qrow was shocked by the sudden shift in mood, but was happy to entertain the child.

“My name is Qrow, with a “q”, and my last name is Branwen, though that’s just the name of the tribe I grew up in. So, would your name happen to be spelled with two “m”s?”

“Yeah. Me and Halua always wondered why though. Do you think you could know why?”

“Well, like this world has Shades, my world has Grimm. I think it’s just a coincidence though.” Qrow says as he takes a sip. “Besides, you’re a hell of a lot better than any Grimm back home.” It was hard to discern, but Qrow could tell he was happier than before. That made him happier too. “So, were your eyes silver, by any chance?”

“No,” Emil began somewhat shyly, “they were more of a really light purple. Though, I think they were a different color before I gained my petrification, but I can't remember what color exactly if they were different.. Could people with silver eyes petrify things in your world?”

“They could petrify Grimm. That’s about it though. But, people with silver eyes are said to be destined to become great warriors.”

“I think Nier said that Yonah had silver eyes.” Emil mentioned.

"What about Yonah?" They heard Nier say as he climbed up to where the two were sitting. At their own paces, the two got up.

"That she has silver eyes, right? Qrow said that in his world, they become awesome fighters!"

"Hmm… I don’t think she’s fit for the warrior lifestyle. But, if it’s a sigh that she'll live a longer life, I'll take it. But until then,"

"We keep on going, yeah, yeah. Let's hurry up already." Kainé interrupted as she kicked the rock blocking their entrance out of the way. "I haven't killed enough shithole shades for today."

"The hussy is right that we should move along. The sooner we take care of things, the better." Weiss stated as he ushered them in.

Once inside, the place was virtually unchanged since Nier's last visit. Kainé didn't think much of the place. Weiss seemed shocked that this was the place where he was stored. Emil, however, was clearly enamored by the place.

"Wowww… this place is pretty, isn't it?" He praised quietly as he floated over towards the center where the towering tree stood. There, warm sunlight filtered through, alleviating the coldness of rusting metal and decaying concrete.

"Hmm. It would be a nice place to relax for a little bit." Qrow responds as he follows Emil. It's quiet and calm there. He thinks it could have been a hotel, based on the layout.

"Not while shades are here though." Nier commented as the soulless monsters readied to fight.

Promptly, the group got to culling the local shade population. Swords galore, magic, and a favored spear, all end the lives of the shadowy entities. Some are even left petrified.

"Emil, you can still petrify shit?" Kainé asks him out of curiosity.

"Yeah, I, um..." he begins as if feeling guilty.

"Sweet. Smashing stone shades really hits the spot." Kainé smiled cruelly as she reduced a statue to rubble. "Ahh, that felt bitchin'."

Briefly, Qrow contemplated if he should allow himself to cuss. On one hand, he would feel a lot better. On the other, he was just starting to be able to control his tongue around Ruby and Yang, and he didn't want to undo his hard work. It took a lot more effort than he would have wanted to admit.

"Hey, Qrow?" Nier called to get his attention.

"Yeah?" Qrow called back before tripping over a stair step and hitting his head. "Fucking stair!" he snarled. Cussing was fine so long as it wasn't around Ruby and Yang, he decided. If he wasn't around them, it was alright. He then noticed the shade above him.

"I've got you!" Emil shouted. Swiftly, it was petrified, and then destroyed by Kainé.

"Careful old timer." Kainé warned as she helped him up. "Can't have your ass dying on us."

"Such a kind soul you have, helping an old man like me." he teased.

"Pft." she responded as she rolled her eyes. She heard a snicker come from Weiss and snapped her neck at him. "Got somethin to say, book?"

"Oh, to a kind, young woman such as yourself? Heavens no." He replied.

"If you say so, Weissy." she glared at him with an innocent grin. As they continued their trademark bickering, with Emil joining in to unwittingly embarrass both of them, Nier returned to his conversation with Qrow.

"So, what else can you tell me about those silver eyed fighters?" Nier questioned as he stabbed another shade through it's armor.

"Back in my world, they're a myth at most to many. But, they do exist. With their eyes alone, they can take down hordes of Grimm. I guess the equivalent here would be Shades."

"I’d just be happy if Yonah could even go a day without needing a nap, if I'm being honest."

"What's wrong with her?"

"The Black Scrawl. There's no cure for it yet, but I'll take any kind hope I can get. As long as she's alive, even if it's risky like this, I'll be happy."

Qrow knew that there was probably no way the power of silver eyes would be in this world, but who honestly knew. Besides, he also knew that people needed all the hope they could get, even if he himself has mostly given up on the notion of hope..

"It's also genetic. Either of your parents had silver eyes?" Qrow asks

"Well, my mom did. I got my dad's eyes, but we both have his hair color. … Hmm, they were both great people. My mom was a good fighter too." He said fondly. “But when the Scrawl started to take over her, she had weird dreams. She said she saw weird but huge rectangular structures that went high into the sky, and things that moved on wheels at unnatural speeds."

"It sounds like she saw a city. Maybe one from before whatever happened that made this world like this." Qrow commented as he and Kainé slashed away at a huge shade.

"She also… she also had nightmares. In them, she fought these pale white beasts with glowing red eyes she said she fought them with incredible powers, powers like Emil's…" Nier had never really connected the dots before. It was just something he had never considered, always too busy with other things to reminisce about his mother like this.

…

No response. It was quiet.

"Huh?" He said in confusion as he looked around. Kainé and Qrow were gone. "Emil! Get close to me!"

"Huh? What?! Where'd they go?!" Emil questioned as he noticed the disappearance of his friends.

"It could be a shade, one with powers previously unknown to us. We should stay close to each other." Weiss advised.

"Right!" Emil nodded. Cautiously, they circled about, looking all over to see if they could spot anything unusual, and fending off the few shades that remained on the floor..

"I can sense some strong magic nearby, but I cannot pinpoint where. Can you two here us!" Emil shouted out.

"Perhaps w─" Weiss's words were interrupted by a sudden crash that caused the floor to give way beneath Nier.

"I got you!" Emil said as he lunged for. Nier. But, his efforts were for naught. He too was mysteriously swept away by a shadow. Thinking fast, Nier stabbed his sword into the wall to slow his fall.

“What kind of shade is that?! What did it do to them?!” he shouted as he landed.

“We are in the presence of a powerful shade, one capable of using incredible magic. They’re still alive, I know that much. If we kill it, it’s magic should be undone!” Weiss replied.

“All we have to do is find it then.” Easier said than done, but, it would be done.

Silently, they were back to back, waiting in anticipation for an attack. Nier was tense, ready to pounce at the vile shade. Weiss readied a sealed verse, taut and set to pin down the enemy for the kill. Nier looked up, left, right, everywhere he could look, except for below himself, where his own shadow betrayed him.

-

With heavy breathing, Qrow opened his eyes to be surrounded by darkness. It wasn’t the darkness of a moonless night in the middle of nowhere. That did not even compare. This was an advanced darkness very few things in the world could compare to. In front of him lay an unknowing expanse, a field of nothingness, a─

“Turn around, dumbass.”

“Huh? Oh.” Qrow sighed as he stopped flailing about. There was Kainé and Emil. She was lulling about as Emil did… something magic related. They all floated in the void, but were otherwise perfectly fine.

“Make yourself comfortable, or whatever. Emil will get us out soon enough. I swear to hell I’m gonna tear the little shit stain that did this to fucking shreds.” she hissed.

“I take it this isn't a thing that happens everyday?”

“No.” Emil answers as he fiddles with a glyph. “The craziest things tend to be giant, monstrous shades every now and then. But we always take care of them!”

“Yeah, we take real good care of them, don't we, sunshine?” a cold, cruel, and sharp voice says from the unknown. Qrow knows that this voice is dangerous. He can sense it, so he held Harbinger out, prepared to strike. Emil notices the voice too, and hurries with his magic. Kainé is unphased, and rolls her eyes at the remark

“Show yourself!” Qrow shouted into the void. For a moment, he thinks it is the monster that captured them.

“Hmm? Ooh, they can hear me. Finally! Do you know how boring it can get just talking to one person? Real fucking boring.”

“Ugh, do you ever shut up? Like really? I could cut your tongue out and you’d still find a way to talk more than anyone else.” Kainé complains. But, she is justified in her grievance. “Hm? Oh. That’s just the shade that lives in me. Just ignore his bitchass.”

“Hello mister shade!” Emil greets innocently.

“You’re supposed to tell this one to fuck off, Emil.”

“Oh. Okay. Fuck off mister shade!” he corrects, and resumes his work.

“Adorable.” Tyrann deadpans. “So, dear black bird. What sort of atrocities are there in your home. I’d kill to know.”

“There’s the kinds of things that would kill you first.” he retorts. Qrow didn’t like this thing. If this was the standard for shades, then it was a good thing they were being slaughtered.

“Fat chance, but that sounds like my kind of place. Tell me, is the death slow and painful?” Qrow is disgusted as the thing laughs.

“You get used to it after a while.” Kainé shrugs. Before Qrow can respond, they’re on the roof, where Grimoire Weiss also is.

“It worked!” Emil triumphantly shouts

“GAH! Don't sneak up on me like that! You’re all fortunate I can’t get a heart attack!” Weiss berated.

“Where’s Nier?” Kainé demanded.

“Beyond this door, but, it is blocked by a magical barrier. If we all focus our attack on it, we should be able to break it.” Weiss explained, and on the count of three, magic assaulted the door Nier was behind, breaking it and the barrier. They could see the shadow descending down onto Nier.

“YOU WILL DIE YOU FILTHY BROTHER KILLER!” it screamed.

Thankfully, Emil was quick enough to cast a protective barrier around him. It floated in place as it attempted to break the barrier. Quickly, Qrow rushed at the thing, except he could see that it wasn’t exactly just anything. It was Hazel, possessed by a shade? Qrow had a million and one questions, but he had no time for them. He kicked the monstrous man and fired a bullet to his chest. He knew it wouldn’t be enough to take Hazel out, but it was enough to send him flying, flying back into the shadows.

“We’re not too late, are we?” Emil wondered.

“Nope. Just in time.” Nier responded gratefully as Qrow helped him up.

“Hold your conversing for later. More pressing issues are at hand.” Weiss reminded them as he floated back over to Nier.

“Right. Let’s just stay close together.” Qrow ordered. “He can't take us all on at once.”

With great tenseness, they all cautiously made their way out of the shrine. They eyed every shadow they passed, and relied mostly on ranged attacks to dispatch any brave shades that dared to attack. Only when they finally left the shrine and onto the boat did they all begin to feel safe, all but Qrow. Something wasn't sitting right with him, and it wasn't just Hazel appearing. He couldn't make a sound conclusion yet, but he knew he would in time

-

“That guy, he was possessed too, but it was different somehow.” Kainé revealed.

“I have some information that might help make sense of things. We should try to settle down first though.” Qrow suggested.

“Agreed.” Weiss concurred. “It has been a long day, and we’ll be much safer in the sunlight and the open field.”

With that, resident expert campers Kainé and Emil decided on a good spot to set up on. While Emil got the fire ready, which didn't take long thanks to magic, Kainé reaped some fresh mutton. Before long, a fresh meal was served. It was plain, of course, but it was warm, edible food, that didn't taste like an abomination, which Nier was particularly grateful for.

“Old timer,” Kainé began as she bit into a piece of meat, “what were you gonna say about that possessed guy?”

“He’s from your world, isn’t he?” Weiss guessed. Qrow nodded his head yes, and swallowed a bite.

“Hazel. He works for the woman that controls the monsters of my world. I’m sure that at least one of his goals is to get in the way of my mission.” Qrow said with annoyance. But, if anything, he expected Hazel or someone to show up sooner and pose a problem.

“Why would he focus on me then?” Nier wondered. “It’d make more sense for him to target you then.”

“Maybe it was the shade that possessed him?” Emil Suggested.

“Could be. It looked like the shade in him had a lot of control.” Kainé answered. She remembered how the massive fiend was covered almost head to toe in the shade pattern. Filthy brother killer, huh? Sounds like someone was having a lot of fun before we even came along. A man after your own heart, ey sunshine?

“But…” she continued, ��he didn’t exactly seem out of control either.”

“Now that I think about it, the eyes seemed familiar. Remember those stone guardians that imprisoned you, Weiss?”

“Not fondly. It was hardly how a Grimoire such as myself should be greeted.” Weiss complained. “But, yes, why?”

“Remember that one of them had glowing red eyes? His had that glow to them.”

“I see now. My former wardens were siblings, and it appears as if one of them survived our initial attack and wants revenge.”

“And that would be a cause Hazel would sympathize with. I could be that they're in sync, rather than one of them being in control.” Qrow murmured as the gears in his head turned. Shades and Grimm appeared to have some similarities, so perhaps Salem had taken interest in that. After all, what better way to learn about the monsters than to become one?

"There's just one problem though, why would a shade have a brother? Shades don't have family." Emil reminded them.

"Just as I am a product of ancient magic that is unknown today, perhaps they are too. They may very well just be a special case of rare, ancient magic influencing an archaic pair of shades." Weiss reasoned.

Wanna tell them the truth? I wanna see the looks on their faces when they realize just what they've been killing! Ha ha haa!

"Doesn't matter. They're our enemy now." Kainé tells them firmly.

"Right. It doesn't matter what kind of shade they are. They're still a shade, and we have to kill them before they kill us." Nier affirmed after taking one last bite and letting out a long yawn.

"... You three get some sleep. Me and the book,"

"Grimoire Weiss." he interrupted to correct.

"Me and little Weissy Weiss here will keep watch." Qrow taunted. Qrow had to say he felt proud of himself when he saw the grimoire's reaction. It was like ruffling up an Atlesian, which always made him feel better.

"Oh joy. Another bane to my existence." Weiss commented sarcastically.

"Will you shut the fuck up already. We’re trying to sleep." Kainé

"And when you want some sleep, let me know. Don't feel bad or anything either. I hardly even need any sleep." Emil directed at Qrow.

"Sure thing." he answered.

As the hours progressed, Qrow and Weiss managed to turn civil with one another as Qrow sipped out of his flask every now and then. From Weiss, Qrow learned that blood and words were the focuses of the grimoire's magic. Blood was the physical component of the magic, and words were where the power resided. Although, the words used were a mystery much like the script that occasionally accompanied it.

In turn, Qrow shared the scant information he knew about magic. The most common magic of his world was elemental, the magic that belonged to the maidens. Then there was Oz. His powers included the elements as well. A simple way to understand the rest of his magic was that it concerned energy, the flow, transfer, and magnitude of it. A specific portion of that ability was given to him and his sister to aid them in their little parlor trick. Upon their deaths, that power would return to him.

And then there was the depraved woman known as Salem. The full extent of her powers was unknown to him. Power over the Grimm was an obvious magic of hers. He imagined her abilities included the elements as well, since it seemed to be a common magic. Beyond that, he could only guess with uncertainty.

“So, what about the magic that made you a book? I doubt you were always a grimoire.”

“Truth be told, I do not know if I ever was anyone or anything else. The best theory I have is that it involves humans of the old world. But, for what purpose I was intended to serve or how exactly I came to be, it is all hardly of any importance now.”

“Now?” Qrow wondered. The book looked around to make sure the kids were truly asleep.

“When Nier beat me out of my slumber, I only had my knowledge, no memories to speak of. Without him and my memories, I still could have done as I so pleased, but I did not because I couldn’t just let him end up hurt. And then it just so happened that our goals aligned. And then came the Shadowlord and Grimoire Noir. They almost succeeded in using me for what I can only assume was my purpose, but I eventually came to my senses thanks to a certain foul mouth. I didn’t want to leave them, you see.”

“Well aren’t you a big softie?” Qrow teased. He had a feeling the book would have rolled his eyes if he could have.

“You are a menace, second only to Kainé. But, I suppose I am. She is much the same. Therefore, I imagine you are much the same, hmm?” the grimoire accused.

“... I guess so.” Qrow admitted. “Can’t say it always feels good.”

“I imagine so.” The book commented as the man took the last drink of his canteen. “While it has been nice talking to someone who isn’t a moody teen, I’m sure you need some sleep.”

“Yeah. Some sleep sounds good.” He said as he gently awoke Emil, and took his place to rest for the “night.”

-

“So, where to next?” Qrow asked as he served himself a piece of mutton seasoned with nearby herbs courtesy of Emil.

“Back to the village. That was the best lead I had, and nothing came out of it. So I’ll have to see if Devola and Popola have any new information for me.” Nier answered.

“Me and Emil will be around then. See you two in a bit.”

“You two aren’t gonna go with us?” Qrow wondered.

“Yeah, the shitfaced villagers don’t really like us.” Kainé answered.

“So?”

“Devola and Popola thought it would be best if we stayed away so we didn’t scare them or anything.” Emil replied sadly.

“What? Do they own the place.”

“No, they do not, but─” Weiss was about to explain before being cut off.

“Who cares then. Come on Kainé, I never took you as someone who followed the rules like that stick in the mud over there.” Qrow taunted, referring to the book in the air.

“Alright then. Emil, we’re going to get in that dumbass village.” she said with finality.

“But what about the guards?” he asked, tilting his head.

“Hmm… Remember what I said about making people feel sorry?” she questioned him with a sinister smile.

“I do not like that look, hussy.”

“Fuck you.” she spat at the book and turned to Qrow. “And we have just the perfect prop.”

-

Two guards are stationed atop the gate see Nier and his friends rush to the gate. It’s difficult to tell, but one of the two outsides appeared to be holding a blob of black in their hands.

“Oh god it’s them again.” says one.

“What do we do? Popola said they wouldn’t be a problem.” said the other.

“Okay, let’s just remind them. Maybe they forgot.” guard A suggested doubtful they indeed forgot.

“Did you forget they have magic?!” guard B shouted quietly and fearfully as they neared.

“Shit.”

“Hey! You gotta let us in!” Nier shouted.

“Please, we have to help this poor bird!” Emil begged as the black bird twitched in his boney hands.

“I just couldn’t leave it to die at the hands of a shade,” Kainé began innocently, “Just like when I saved you two from that giant shade.” Her voice had added just a bit of edge to it, enough for the guards to feel the weight of her words.

“Or like when I helped fight the Shadowlord when everyone else ran away! Or when Kainé saved Yonah when no one else could!” Emil added.

“Won’t you please let us in? All so we can help this poor little birdy here?” At that moment, the crow let out a wheeze of a caw. The guards could not still help but feel somewhat threatened. But, despite this, they conceded.

“Fine. Just… neh. Nevermind.” One said with defeat.

“Thank you so very much.” Kainé smiled.

“Yeah, thank you mister guards!” Emil thanked genuinely. “Don’t you worry little birdy, we’ll fix you up in no time.” he cooed.

“Thanks guys!” Nier waved as they passed through the gate. They all tried to hide their giggling as they made their way to nier’s home.

“Well, that went better than I imagined.” Weiss admitted. “And here I thought you were going to directly threaten them.”

“That was plan B.” Kainé told him.

“Of course it was.” he deadpanned.

“Cheer up. You guys’ll finally, really meet Yonah. She’s always wanted to thank you two properly.” Nier told them.

“Oh I’m so excited! Should we surprise her?” Emil suggested.

“Umm, probably not. She’ll probably faint. Okay, just wait here for a moment.” He said as they got to the front of the home, and he quickly went inside. After making sure none of the villagers were looking, Qrow turned back into his human form.

“Excited?” he asked the two.

“Eh, sure.” Kainé shrugged with nonchalance. But, she could not hide her smile.

“I am! Do you think she remembers what we looked like? Does my scarf look alright? I want to make a good impression.” Emil worried.

“I don’t really think she’ll care about that, kid. But,” he began as he fixed the green scarf, “it looks fine.”

“Alright come on in.” Nier said nervously. “Sorry if it looks messy, I tried to clean up a little but,”

“I’m so happy you’re all here!” Yonah shouted, interrupting her brother. “It’s nice to finally get the chance to talk with you two!” she said to Emil and Kainé.

“It’s nice to officially meet you Yonah.” Emil greeted.

“Yeah. If Nier’s not gonna shut up about you, we might as well meet you.” Kainé reasoned.

“And it’s nice to meet you too, mister Qrow. I’m glad Nier has another friend for me to meet!”

“No problem kid. It’s nice to meet you too.” he replied. She was an adorable little thing, reminding him of Ruby with her bubbly demeanor. It was also obvious she was her brother’s kid sister. They had that same white hair, and a similar facial structure. And now that he could see her eyes, they were indeed silver. But, it was likely that didn’t mean anything.

“Do you guys want a drink or anything?” Nier offered.

“How about I make them something! Nier says I make great food!” she beamed. Behind her, her brother’s eyes went wide with fear, an emotion any of them had rarely seen.

“No! I’ll buy something!” he quickly interjected. “It’s a special day. We should buy them some food from the village. You guys’ll like that, right?” he said as if it were a plea.

“Sure.” Kainé said indifferently. While she had heard of Yonah’s atrocious cooking, she wasn’t a wimp and would have taken some of her cooking just fine. But, she figured Nier could use a break.

“I’m fine with that.” Emil answered. While he too had heard of her cooking, he doubt he would have minded it anymore.

“... I’ll try some of your cooking.” Qrow told her. If Nier’s reaction was anything to go by, it was a very bad decision. But, he couldn’t stand to see her face droop down a little, even if it meant suffering a single poor meal. He was sure it couldn’t be that bad though.

“I’ll go to the market real quick then.” Nier said as he made his way to the door.

“Or, how about you let me and the grimoire go. You kids should stay here and have some fun.” Qrow suggested.

“By my word he can think! We’ll be back soon then. Don’t tear the house down.” Weiss quickly agreed before Nier could say no.

“No promises Weissy!” Yonah shouted as she waved a quick goodbye.

“Yeah Weissy, no promises.” Kainé teased. Once outside, they could hear the lively and joyful commotion as it just barely escaped the walls.

“A rare moment of peace and quiet, I must thank you for that at least.” Weiss thanked.

“I just didn’t want them to think I’d run with the money.” Qrow reasoned.

“Believe it or not, they’re rather trusting.”

“And it hasn’t come back to bite you yet?”

“No, surprisingly. Though I suppose that should be cause for concern. Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now.” Weiss dismissed as they passed the fountain, absent of Devola for once.

“Well, did you notice anything odd about the back of the building as we climbed up it?”

“Hmm… I can’t say that I do. All looked as a rock face should.”

“Even with the ladders and wooden planks?”

“Well of course! How else─ Ooh, I see! Based on the location, it all should have rotted or rusted away.” Weiss finally realized.

“But it wasn’t.”

“Begging the question of who set it there for us…”

“Any idea who that might be?” Qrow asked.

“Well, Popola said it was near a trade route, so it’s possible traders built it.”

“But why would they?” Qrow asked.

“Why indeed. There was no other activity in the shrine save for us and the shades. My, this is a most concerning conundrum.” Weiss worried. “But, a small break from that is in order. The market awaits us, and I doubt you know what they want.”

“And that is also what I brought you for. See, I can think.”

“Indeed you can.” Weiss replied. All in all, the book was rather surprised by the man. He was much more capable and intelligent than he looked or let on.

After gathering a few items, some healthy fruits, a few vegetables, some juice, and a bit of seasoned meat, they began to make their way back to the small home.

“So, any idea on who could set you all up?” Qrow asked.

“If someone is in fact steering us onto a path of their creation, I do not know who it could be. Such a person, or group, would have to have quite the amount of resources and power to do so, as I imagine they would have been doing so for some time.” Weiss answered.

“Yeah, there is the chance it could just be some odd coincidence or some rare natural phenomenon that preserved the metal and wood. But still, I’ve got a feeling something’s up.” Qrow reasoned. His instincts tended to be rather good after a lifetime of honing them.

“As do I. But, I believe we should not mention this to Nier and them. They’re all stressed enough as is, and this may not even be a real concern.” Weiss suggested. His unparalleled wisdom told him it would not be a bad idea to suspect some foul play.

“If you say so. In the meantime, I’ll be doing a bit of recon. Hold these.” he said as he handed Weiss the groceries, placing them in a magical hand.

“Such a waste of my talents.” he huffed. “But if you could, give Popola a visit at the library on the hill? Tell her what happened and see if she has any new information would you?” he requested.

“Consider it done Weissy.” Qrow taunted.

“I will enjoy seeing you eat the lass’s cooking.” he said ominously before Qrow left and he reentered the home.

-

After scanning the town for half an hour, Qrow had found nothing of interest, save for a shiny coin. He was sure it likely wasn’t worth much though. He then made his way to the library at the top of the hill. Once inside, he could see that it was a rather small library, but all things considered, impressive. A number of patrons were scanning the walls of their contents. He asked one of them to point him to Popola, and told him where she was.

Just as he stepped onto the stairs, he could have sworn he saw Ironwood. He looked back for a moment, and saw that no one was looking at the books by the stairs. Children’s books, by the looks of it. Qrow laughed at his mind playing such a trick on him. Qrow had no affinity for men like him, but, Ironwood was not a bad man. Not exactly a good one either but the same could be said for many. At the very least, he was easy on the eyes and a decent drinking buddy, and very fun to rile up.

After knocking on the door and waiting for an answer, he entered when Popola told him to come in. In there were two women, twins by the looks of it. The main difference was their auburn hair, more red than brown though. One had slightly messy hair, with it jutting out in some places, while the other’s was perfectly straight.

“Hmm? You’re a new face. I was kinda expecting Nier.” said the one with messy hair to her sister.

“I’m Popola, and this is my sister Devola. Is there anything we can help you with?” The twin at the desk asked.

“Yeah, I’m a friend of Nier’s.”

“Oh, is that so? I’m glad then.” Devola said.

“He needs all the help he can get. So, what was it you needed?” Popola added.

The two seemed innocent enough, but Qrow could just feel that something was up with them. Though, he could not tell if it was something good or bad. Time would tell.

“Nier’s with Yonah right now, so he wanted me to pass on some info.” He began. He went through the gist of what happened at the shrine, to the possessed human. Though, he left out the info about he and Hazel being from another world. Around these two, he wanted to feel secure and revealed as little about him and his situation as possible.

“I see. That is concerning.” Popola commented.

“The shades are becoming more and more brazen, huh?” Devola commented as she lounged on the couch.

“Any idea why?” he asked them.

“Their leader is the Shadowlord. Whatever the reason, its because of him. I’m surprised he hasn’t told you yet.” Devola responded nonchalantly.

“I’m sorry, but was that all? We were kinda in the middle of something.” Popola explained. Qrow wondered what exactly they were in the middle of, but knew he couldn’t just pry like that.

“Yeah. Nier wanted to know if you came across any new leads.”

“Yes actually.” she responded happily. She opened a drawer and pulled out a piece of paper and an oddly shaped piece of stone. “This is a part of the key to the Shadowlord’s castle.” she said as she handed him the paper and key piece. The Stone Guardian, Sacrifice, The Law of Robotics, Memory Tree, and Loyal Cerberus.

“We’re not sure what Sacrifice and Loyal Cerberus are referring to, but its likely that The Stone Guardian piece was somehow connected to Gretel at the shrine.” Devola began.

“The Law of Robotics likely concerns the junk heap, and Memory Tree may have something to do with the Forest of Myth.” Popola finished.

“Alright then, Thanks ladies. I’ll be sure to give him this stuff.” Qrow waved goodbye as he walked out.

“Of course. Take care now.” Popola said.

“Yeah, and make sure Nier stays safe, will you?” Devola requested with undeniable concern. Of course, he agreed to.

As he closed the door, Qrow wondered just how they knew the shade at the shrine had a name. That was most concerning and suspect. Just how they came into the possessions of the items was a suspicious mystery too. Not only that, why just ask to keep Nier safe? What about his friends? He may not have been as capable as them, very few likely were, but there was no doubt they could be hurt too.

And then the Shadowlord. Qrow thought he must be somewhat like Salem, a manipulator of shadowy beasts. It was safer to assume he was intelligent, and leading those kids down some path of his creation. But why? And there was still the concern of who was helping him, if there was anyone.

By the time he made it back to the house, his mind was running through the possibilities. He was glad he could run them by the grimoire. While somewhat annoying, he was no doubt wise and smart. Though, he was snapped out of his thoughts by a terrifying smell.

“Brothers, what is ─”

“You’re back!” Yonah exclaimed, holding out a pot of… something. He wondered how she made it an unnatural looking bright blue. He doubted she had food dye.

“Just in time for your dinner, it seems.” Weiss snickered. Qrow gulped.

“Looks… interesting.” He commented with a smile. He reminded himself he was doing this to make a sickly little girl happy.

“It’s an awesome color isn’t it? I wonder if I could get Sebastian to make something as cool looking as that.” Emil said.

“Not unless─” Weiss said as he was cut off by a jab to his spine and a dirty look from Nier.

“I guess I’ll try some. I doubt it would taste bad to me.” Kainé said.

“Not that it ever tastes bad!” Nier affirmed intensely.

“I’ll try some too then! Can’t let Mister Qrow have it all for himself. I think it smells good anyways, so that means it’ll taste good.” Emil said as a bowl was set before him. Next was Kainé, and finally Qrow.

“Are you sure you don’t want any, Nier? I made a lot more than I meant to.” she told him.

“Oh, no, I’m fine. I already ate a lot.” he reasoned. He was thankful she didn’t press any further.

“Okay, on the count of three, all of you take a sip!” she adorably ordered. “One… Two… Three!”

Each of them took down some of the soup. Nier covered his eyes as he did so, and prayed they would all act fine. When he didn’t hear anyone gag, he uncovered them to see the trio gulping down the soup.

“This is good.” Kainé said in between gulps.

“My word, this is the quietest I’ve ever seen her! … See! The hussy didn’t even bark back at me! What kind of enchantments do you use young Yonah? I must know!” Weiss insisted as he moved about in grimoire fashion. It made her giggle.

“It’s my secret!” she joked.

“It’s sweet and salty, with a bit of bitterness to even it out.” Emil explained. “I really like it.”

“I love it.” Qrow said as he savored it. There was definitely some alcohol in this, weak, but alcohol nonetheless. Just how she got some in there, he did not know. He wasn't going to complain or question it though. “Pour some in here for me, will you kid?” he said as he offered her his empty flask. The soup, if it could be called that, wasn’t anything strong, but it was free, and the best kind of booze is free booze.

“Of course mister!” she replied gleefully. Internally, Qrow laughed that he would get a refill from such a situation.

“Hmm… I guess I could try some.” Nier said after contemplating grabbing a spoon.

“Hey! Back off, or else!” Kainé threatened as he went for her bowl. Cautiously, he backed away.

“You can have some of mine.” Emil offered.

As Nier took a spoonful out of Emil’s bowl, he inspected it nervously. It did not smell good to him, and was beginning to regret his decision. But, Yonah was watching, so there was no backing away. Quickly, he took the spoon into his mouth. It was terrible. Either they were good liars, or they somehow all actually enjoyed it. Quickly, he swallowed it.

“That was… Great!” he tried to say with enthusiasm.

“I’m glad you like it! Here, have a bowl!” She said as she slid him a bowl.

“Oh no, I’m still to full Yonah, I─”

“Mine now.” Kainé announced as she stole the bowl and began to wolf it down. Qrow chuckled.

“More please!” Emil asked as he held out his bowl.

“Fill me up again, yeah?” Qrow asked as he offered his half empty bowl. Happily, she refilled both of their bowls.

“I’m so glad you all liked it!” she said, smiling brighter than the sun.

It made Nier the happiest among the group. Despite everything, she wanted to help, so seeing her actually able to do that made him feel a warm feeling he hadn’t felt in some time. She proudly placed the pot back on the stove and resumed eating her meal from earlier.

“Hey, you’re not gonna eat any?” Kainé questioned, hoping she wasn’t taking any food away from the little girl.

“Oh, no. It tastes terrible to me. Devola said that it’s because I have weird taste buds.” She answered cordially as she reheated some food from earlier. Nier lamented the fact that he didn’t think of that excuse for himself. Well, he could perhaps use it in the future, blame it on puberty or something if he had to.

-

After a day of rest in the home, the group decided to leave for the Junk Heap. Yonah begged for them to stay just a little longer, but Nier was quick to say he needed to take care of things. As she deflated, he was even quicker to remind her that they all had such a fun time together, and that they would do it again soon enough.

“So, what’s the junk heap like?” Qrow asked aloud.

“It’s in the name. It’s a heap of junk, duh.” Kainé sassed.

“To be precise, it’s a place filled to the brim with junk from the old world, before it regressed to become what it is now.” Weiss explained.

“There are a lot of machines there. They’re a mix of technology and magic. The world sure had a lot of power and knowledge back in the day.” Emil reminisced sadly.

“Well, the machines still break against our weapons, so the old world couldn’t have been that powerful if you ask me.” Nier added.

“Power alone only does so much. Still, let’s just hope we don’t have to spend more time than we need to. But, based on what your friends said, I’m thinking the piece might be tied to a specific machine. And that, might take some time.” Qrow lamented.

He had already learned some nice info about magic from Weiss, but it wasn’t enough to feel satisfactory. He doubted a place filled with machines would reveal much to him, even if they also were part magic. However, he was glad he was able to help these kids. That was a goal he came to value more than he originally thought he would.

When they made it to the entrance to the heap, Nier made one stop at the brother’s weaponsmith to see about upgrading Beastcurse. He left Emil, Qrow, and Kainé outside longer than he anticipated. Weiss expected some sort of verbal spat when he joined them back outside. To his surprise, the two were formally sparring, with Emil as their referee.

Kainé was strong and quick with her swords, but Qrow still surpassed her. Serrated blades screeched against the sword Harbinger. Weiss could see that it was a well crafted weapon. Their back and forth was a sight to behold, though Weiss was sure Kainé could beat him if she used her magic. With a skillful parry, Kainé was sent skidding back.

“You’re a pretty good fighter, no surprise there, but you could still use some more experience.” he told her.

“Experience this!” she yelled as she rushed at him. Once they met, a volley of exchanges could be heard echoing.

“Get his ass Kainé!” Emil cheered. So much for a clinical ref.

“You got him now Kainé!” Nier assured.

“Show that hussy the might of incomparable wisdom!” Weiss cheered on Qrow. Someone had to.

In one swift motion he kicked her away. And almost as if by magic, the blade transformed into a scythe before their eyes. Kainé, however, did not notice, and sped back to him for another assault. That was her error. The scythe hooked the blades out of her hands by their chain, and a low kick felled her to the ground.

“Like I said earlier, power alone only does so much.” He told her as he held out a hand to help her up. Rolling her eyes, she took the help.

“Yeah, whatever.” she said.

“Your weapon, how did it do that?” Nier wondered as Qrow handed Kainé back her swords.

“Huh, wait, when the fuck did that happen?” Kainé exclaimed as she noticed Harbinger’s new form.

“That?” he said as it transformed back into a sword. “In my world, this kind of thing is commonplace. Its just a series of gears and stuff. Nothing special.” he replied dismissively. “... Well, no. It is kinda special.” His weapon was a rather unique one, even among the many huntsmen of Remnant.

“Impressive indeed, but our fun has been had. We have a new clue on the Law of Robotics. There is a machine that has partnered with a shade. If there is anything that is our target, that must be it.” Weiss announced.

“Don't be such a stick in the mud, book. The fun doesn’t even have to end, you know.” Qrow told him as they made their way into the heap.

“There is such a thing as a time and a place, you know.” Weiss annoyingly reminded him.

“I’d say this is a good time and a place.” Qrow replied. Then, an idea came to him. “For example, this is a good time and place for a bet.”

“... Really? I never would have guessed.” he replied sarcastically. “Please impart your wisdom unto me, Grimoire Weiss, as to how this is the proper setting for what is likely a petty bet?”

“Simple. I bet I can teach beach day over here better than how you can teach big brother here.”

“Pah! Do you truly think a ruffian such as yourself would serve as a better instructor than me? I agree to your little bet. I am sure some humility will do you good, once you lose.”

“Hey! Who said I gave a shit about this?” Kainé protested. “I am not gonna spend some time listening to some old timer telling me how to fight.”

“Here take this then.” Nier said as he held out a large sword with a bird motif. “You can wield two swords like Kainé.”

“Uhh, are you sure? I mean─”

“Yes, it’s fine.” he assured. “I still have the spear and dagger anyways on me anyways. It’s no big deal.”

“If you say so.” he said as he somewhat reluctantly took the sword. Now, he matched Kainé with two swords in hand. Granted, his were larger and heavier and lacked the chains her sword had. Looking at the golden sword, it was rather simple. But, it did have a strong and unique silhouette.

“Good. With that settled, let this one-sided battle begin!” Weiss announced confidently.

“I still haven't agreed to this crap.” Kainé reminded them.

“Don’t worry. I was a combat teacher for a bit, and I was amazing.” Qrow proudly assured.

“Wait, what about me?” Emil asked.

“You’ll be our judge.” Qrow answered him.

“It is an important and honorable task, one I am sure you will perform well in.” Weiss added.

“Yes!” the little mage excitedly nodded. “Don’t you worry, I’ll be a great judge!”

“Ugh…” Kainé sighed as she rolled her eyes. Now she had to do it, for Emil.

“Hey, It’ll be fun, Kainé. If you end up winning, that means you’ll have helped beat Weiss in a bet too.”

“Well, when you put it like that…” she chuckled, a grin spreading across her face.

“It was nice knowing you, Weiss.” Nier said dejectedly.

“And what is that supposed to mean? I will not accept a defeatist attitude!” Weiss yelled affirmatively.

“Let’s show those losers how its done!” Kainé yelled excitedly as a wave of machines approached.

“Now you’re talking my language.” Qrow replied as he swiftly felled some machines in a display of bravado. The other sword, it felt surprisingly good in his hands, almost empowering as if by mysterious magic.

As they progressed, Weiss barked “tips” for Nier to follow. Most of the time, he followed them well. Nier didn’t mind. It was different fighting without Weiss’s magic, as he focused his attention onto studying Nier’s movements and technique, but Nier considered it a good challenge. Plus, it was safer to practice on the machines rather than shades. They had become more and more dangerous, just as he did. The machines remained much the same as they were when he last visited, and the time before that, and the time before that.

As for Qrow, he found that Kainé was difficult to teach, at first. She was a difficult person in general. But, he knew that he was too. In a sense, that made her easier to deal with. Qrow quickly found that she didn’t take well to being told what to do, even if it meant improving her fighting. What she did take well to was being shown what to do without being told to do it. She was someone who learned by observing, which is what he realized after going down the first elevator.

The machines at the lower levels of the Junk Heap were more of a challenge, but still nothing compared to their talent and skill. Dual wielding the large swords, many automatons were easily felled. Qrow had half a mind to take up dual wielding back home. An impressed Kainé followed in his footsteps, turning machines into scrap much more efficiently than before, and without the aid of magic.

However, Qrow’s semblance was starting to act up, and it was eating at him. Nier had tripped and nearly met the electric end of an automaton. And sure, some machines were crushed by falling ceiling tiles, but one even fell near Weiss, almost flattening him.

It was at that point Qrow said they could spit up in their search. To cover more ground. At first, Weiss and Nier wondered if that was a wise move. But, Kainé convinced them, saying that if they ran into the shade and machine, they’d reduce it to smoke and scrap metal easily. Emil also supported her and Qrow, but opted to stay with Nier and Weiss.

Having split up, Qrow was sure less bad things would happen to the people around them. But, it seemed as if his semblance just decided to focus more on him and Kainé. At one point, he fell down one of the bottomless pits, and had to fly out. A few feathers were singed as a result.

Later, in a dead end room, Kainé got body slammed by a machine because she was too preoccupied mangling a P-33. Thankfully, the machine that body slammed her didn’t have its electricity on, for some reason. Regardless, Kainé quickly exacted her furious revenge. After that, Qrow suggested they take a break out in the empty hallway.

“Dammit, what the hell?!” Kainé yelled frustratedly as she kicked the wall. “Why the fuck is today so shitty!” Again, she kicks the wall. “What! The! Fucking! Hell!” Qrow leans against the wall, and she takes a deep breath and joins him for a moment of rest. “Well, at least its not boring today.” Qrow lets out a quick chuckle.

“Sorry.” he apologizes. “Not everyday I hear something good about me.” She could now sense his unease. She looked at him, and saw that he seemed hurt. Well, not hurt, per say. More sad, the kind of sadness that comes from the bitter acceptance of what one perceives as terrible. It was familiar to her.

“So, what’s up with you, then?”

“Would you believe me if I told you I was a curse?” he asked her. She gave a quick laugh in response.

“You’re asking another walking curse that, you know?”

“Oh. For what its worth, I don’t think that shade makes you a curse.” he earnestly told her. After all, you can’t really blame a person if a literal monster inhabits their body against their will. Her sad and bitter laugh surprised him.

“He’s hardly a curse. More of an annoying bitch than anything.”

“That’s not hard to believe.” he scoffed all too knowingly. From what he could infer about the shade’s personality, he was the very sadistic, and very annoying type, He’d come across a few similar people in his work for Oz. In Qrow’s eyes, the only thing that separated such people from Grimm was their intelligence and other desires aside from sadism.

It did not escape Qrow that this meant that some other thing weighed her mind, some other thing that made her mark herself as cursed. He knew better than to pry. If she wasn’t going to say, she didn’t have to. He could respect that. He knew he’d be a hypocrite otherwise. Still, he felt that she at least deserved to know what plagued him, what was plaguing her because of him.

That, and she was still just a kid, an teen hardened by cruel life, but a kid to him nonetheless. If his time teaching had taught him anything about kids, it was that they opened up to adults who took the time to understand and empathize with them. Mr. Branwen, man who had lived through a hell of a youth worse than most, found that he was rather good at getting the kids to open up about their feelings and concerns. It was one of the few things he could say he was proud of about himself.

“I told Emil already, but I guess you should know too. I… ”

“Uhgg. I’m gonna stop you there. These kinds of things are always sob stories.” she told him, rolling her eyes in usual teenage manner. “I fuckin hate sob stories.” she said under her breath. “It doesn’t matter what’s wrong with us. At the end of the day, we’re abominations either way, and we’ve still gotta live on regardless.”

“You’re pretty smart, you know?” Qrow chuckled. He’s sure she had a shitty life too. In an ideal life, kids don’t get that kind of thinking, so young at least. “You still wanna beat that book with me, yeah?” he asked, getting off the wall to stretch.

For a moment, Kainé hesitated. There was just something about him she felt that she could trust. She then noticed the concern, almost hurt yet resigned look on his face because she was taking so long to answer.

“Yeah, definitely.” she quickly confirmed. “But first, can you keep a secret?” she asked.

“Of course. What is it?”

She motioned for him to come closer. Even though it was just them two in the empty hallway, she still felt the need to whisper it. He lowered his head down, and let her whisper her secret to him. He was surprised at first. It was not what he was expecting in the slightest, but it was something he could very personally understand. In return, he shared a “secret” with her too.

He assured her, they were not monsters because of the body they were born with. She was a strong young woman. He told her that he felt much the same once, a long time ago, but assured her she too would overcome it.

Qrow knew he was not an epitome of self-love by any means. Far from it. But, his body was not a source of his self-hate. With an uncontrollable and unfortunate semblance, he was going to love that aspect of himself that he decided on, the part of himself that he could control. That part of himself he did not, would not, hate was a source of solace and comfort.

Qrow knew that Kainé wasn’t just going to love herself overnight, but he had given her some hope. That, she was thankful for. Just knowing that someone like Qrow was kinda like her, was comforting.

Don’t lose your hate so quickly now, sunshine. A weak, sad, pathetic voice told her.

-

While they all lost to Hazel and Gretel at the Junk Heap, they did manage to find the Law of Robotics key piece among some rubble.

But, Emil did later declare Qrow and Kainé the victors of the bet. Nier was ambivalent, but Weiss was absolutely livid, nearly unable to accept defeat. Qrow and Kainé had a lot of fun rubbing it in.

By the time they returned to the village to rest, he had come to accept his loss. Though, he stated that if their bet concerned magic, rather than weaponry, Qrow wouldn't stand a chance. He teased the book, saying he shouldn't be so sure of that.

Although reluctantly, the guards opened the gate on their command. Devola was playing the Song of the Ancients at the fountain this time around, eyes closed and focused on the song. So, it wasn't much of an issue to get past her unnoticed.

Once inside the home, Yonah squeaked with joy that they all returned so soon, and ran to hug her brother.

"It's nice to see you again too Yonah, but take it easy, ok? I don't want you to overexert yourself so much." Nier worried as he hugged her back.

"Ohh, you worry too much!" She scolded.

"He's just concerned, is all. Besides, you've got a good big brother. It's only natural for him to worry." Qrow explained.

"Well…" she sighed, "I guess you're right. I do have a pretty good big brother. I probably shouldn't complain too much. I promise to take it easy today then."

"Thank you Yonah. I heard that Popola managed to find some cards and taught you how to play with them. Maybe you could teach us, and we all could play?" He suggested. A smile beamed from her happy face at the idea.

"Okay! I'll go and find the cards." she announced as she went upstairs.

"I'm gonna go to the store real quick then!" He shouted.

"Alright! Don't take too long!" she shouted back.

"We'll help her look then." Kainé said.

"Sure. Want anything in particular?" He asked.

"No, I'm alright." Emil answered.

"A potato. … Two potatoes." Kainé said after a moment.

"Alright… Two potatoes." Nier said. He was unsure why she would want such a plain food.

"I'll go with you." Qrow offered. "I'm sure you need a break from the book."

"It is a pleasure and honor to be in my presence you know? Honestly, do you think the Grimoire Weiss is as common as a crass paperback?"

"Sure." Nier agreed as the two were walking out the door.

"Have fun, Weissy." Qrow goaded.

As the door closed, Weiss sighed. But, if he were being honest, he wouldn't mind just resting on a nice bookshelf for a moment. Nier was with Qrow, and the other kids were just upstairs where they could cause no trouble. He deserved a little rest, and there likely wouldn't be a better time for quite a while.

So, he found a spot on the nearly empty, but comfortable shelf in the corner near the staircase, and felt himself slowly drift into a calm and relaxed state.

-

"Thanks back there. For talking to Yonah and convincing her for me." Nier said graciously as they entered the shopping district. Truly, he was thankful.

"Eh." he shrugged. "Think nothin of it. Besides, you are a good brother. Trust me, I know what a bad sibling is, and you definitely aren't."

"It doesn't feel like that sometimes…"

"Yeah. It's easy to feel like you're never doing enough. I can promise you though, you're doing all you can, and it is a lot." Qrow assured him.

"Thanks. Again. That means a lot." Talking to Qrow, hearing him reassure him, it felt good, like it was something he needed, but didn't know he needed.

"You're welcome kid. Now come one, we've got some memories to make." He said, and proceeded to trip in front of the women at the fountain. He could hear them giggle. So much for trying to seem cool and stuff.

-

"Well, here are your potatoes." Nier said as he tossed them to her.

"Nice! You don't know how much I've been fucking craving these." She said, and took a bite out of one potato like it was an apple.

Qrow was not a man easily caught off guard. But that, that was shocking, and frankly, revolting.

"What?" she said to a staring Qrow as she took another bite.

"Why??? That's not how you eat them…"

"How the fuck are you supposed to eat 'em then?"

"Cook them?"

"And lose the crunch?"

"Ok my gods… give me those, I'll make fries."

"What the hell are fries?"

That broke Qrow's heart. After all that happened to him, it was not an easy thing to break. He could almost cry. He had to sit for a moment to process this. All the while, Kainé loudly munched on her potato.

"Okay." Qrow said once he recovered. "Just find me the other potato. I promise you will love fries. If you don't I will literally give you Harbinger."

He gave her a confused look. Right.

"My weapon." He clarified. Satisfied with the offer, she tossed him the other potato.

"You really named your weapon? You sleep curled up next to it or something?"

"That reminds me," interjected a refreshed Weiss, "the other blade you are currently in possession of is the Phoenix Sword."

"That's pretty believable." He said as he cut up the large potato. He was glad they bought cooking oil earlier.

"Would you like to hear the story I've collected on it?"

"Sure. Why not."

"Ugh." Kainé groaned. "I'm going upstairs so I'm not bored to fucking death." With that, she joined the others in a game of cards.

So far, Yonah had beaten both Emil and Kainé. Qrow imagines Nier was next to lose, and that Yonah was probably making up rules as they went. He'd figure he'd indulge her and lose later.

"Anyways, let me begin." Weiss said, and told the story.

This is an old story. A beautiful bird with brightly shining feathers lived silently and carefully in the depths of a forest.

One day, a child abandoned as a burden wandered into the depths of the forest. The bird took pity on the starved and sunken child, and pecked off one of its feathers to give to the child. The child brought it back and pleased his relatives, and he was able to live with his family again.

Hearing the story, people barged into the forest one after another, and told the beautiful bird of how poor, how unfortunate and how unrewarded they were. The beautiful bird took pity on them, and gave them one shining feather after another, and when it gave its last feather, the bird’s beautiful body was reduced to a sorry state. However, the ugly bird did not have any regrets.

The ugly bird that lost its feathers was freezing in the cold, and the child from before appeared in front of it. He told it that he was searching for a brightly shining and beautiful bird to repay his debts. The ugly bird was overjoyed, and told the child of its desire. "That was me. Please, would you not keep me warm in your chest?" But the child merely took one glance at the ugly bird and called it a liar, killing it with a huge sword and eating the burnt bird. Afterwards, he continued to search for the beautiful bird.

"... Well, that was something." Qrow commented.

"What were you expecting?" Weiss said accusingly.

"I don't know." Qrow responded defensively. "Ow!" He hissed as some oil splattered onto his hand. "Maybe how it was created, or something about its original owner?"

"Hmph, I imagine your weapon's story isn't to your tastes then."

"It doesn't have a story!" Qrow affirmed.

"Pah! All noteworthy weapons have a story, and yours is no exception!"

"Wait, wait. You're saying that Harbinger, my Harbinger, has a story?"

"Naturally. Do weapons in your world not have stories? Most odd." Weiss said before letting Qrow answer. "I suppose it is my duty to tell you your weapon's story then. So, I implore you to listen and listen well."

In a time not known, there lived an archer with jet black hair who killed, and killed, and killed the allies of the wretched light. The Goddess of Light ordered his death, as he was far too much of a threat for a mere mortal. She sent her greatest warrior to slay him. Equipped with divine magic and a holy armament, he obeyed his Goddess and killed the Hero of Innocent Darkness with his own fiery arrows.

Being an honorable and just soul, he ascended to an afterlife within the light. There, the cruel goddess controlled him as another one of her puppets. In her name, he ended the lives of many valiant souls who sought a world of freedom. Wherever he went, the goddess’s will followed in the form of a fiery arrow. To his dismay, he soon even surpassed the one who killed him, and became her new greatest warrior.

So, when a new living, breathing soul threatened her as he once did, it was this warrior’s duty to dispatch the threat. The threat was a young woman, much younger than he was when he took up arms against the goddess. He announced his arrival with the shining shot of a holy arrow into the air.

The woman… she seemed familiar to him. But, it was no time for distant memories. He had to carry out the will of the Goddess of Light, even if he did not want to. While a magic user, she was unique in how she wielded it. Rather than fight at a range, she fought up close. She lasted much longer than he had in his last fight, but even she too was felled. However, he too succumbed to her efforts. He lay there, burning by fiery arrows once more. In his final moments, he wondered, and feared, what awaited him in the death after death.

“Well, there’s your story. More satisfactory than the Phoenix Sword, hmm?”

“No.” Qrow deadpanned. “In fact, I’m gonna forget it. Well, I’ll forget it soon.” With that, he popped open the flask and downed it. He was hoping to ration it, but in all honesty, he’d rather not have to live with the fact that even his weapon was a sad mess. He was sure the alcoholic “soup” wasn’t going to be strong enough to actually help him forget, but, it was worth a shot.

“Underappreciated as usual.” Weiss sighed to himself.

“You’ll get used to it soon enough.” Qrow joked. “Come one, we’ve got kids to feed.”

Qrow carefully ascended the stairs, as to be sure he wouldn’t drop them. A cautious Kainé scrutinized a fry before taking a bite out of one. Her face lit up and she quickly shoved it into her mouth. The others quickly joined in on the indulgence, enjoying the simple treat as much as their voracious friend.

Nier threw money at him to get some more potatoes, and Yonah begged him to teach her how to make them. He was happy to oblige. It made him happy to see them all so energetic and pleased. He also made the book go with him to the shopping district so they could discuss some important matters.

All in all, Qrow was satisfied in how things were turning out. Sure. things could be better, but they definitely could have been a lot worse. So, this is a win in his book. It seemed odd that he felt so happy in this world, but he knew that he would have to leave this world soon. If anything, he preferred that. That way, he had less of a chance to ruin his time here, or ruin anything else. But, for now, he would enjoy this mission.

-

Qrow woke up feeling groggy, and was hit with a terrible headache. His first thought was that he had gotten stupid drunk before returning to Oz and was paying the price. But, as his senses came back to him, he noticed that he wasn’t at Beacon. He wasn’t sure where he was. He quickly got up and searched for his weapon. It was at the side of the bed he was on, and he quickly shifted it into its scythe form.

Cautiously, he went for the door. He found it odd that his capturers let him hold onto his weapon, but he wasn’t going to complain. Just as he was about to touch the handle to make sure it wasn’t rigged or anything, the door shot open.

“Hello there.” A woman greeted as she blocked the scythe with a suitcase. “Just on time. I was hoping to have a few words with you, if you don’t mind?”

Qrow really wasn’t going to take his chances entertaining this woman, so he figured that the best course of action was flying past her as a bird, which he did. Though, he didn’t get far. He flew straight into another suitcase and fell limp to the ground.

“Thank you Accord.”

“You’re welcome Accord.” cordially replied Accord. She walked over to pick up the knocked out bird, and took measurements and notes as she walked to her destination.

When Qrow awoke, a different woman was in front of him. She was eating some fries, sitting on her comfortable looking bed. She had off white hair, and silver eyes. Qrow shifted back into human form.

“Yonah?”

“Oh Qrow! It is you!” she shouted as she jumped up and pulled him in for a hug. “I almost didn’t believe Accord when she said you’d be here. I’m so glad you’re alright. I’m glad you remembered me too.”

“I’m glad you’re alright too. Couldn’t forget someone like you if I tried. But, uh, mind filling me in on all this?” he requested as she released him from the embrace.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah! I guess Accord didn’t have time to huh? Come and walk with me, and I’ll give you the basics.” she said as she picked up her sword, one with a phoenix motif, and then her fries.

“Still hooked onto those fries, huh?” he asked. He was glad to see a familiar face. It put him at ease. That, and he did not feel or sense any danger in this place. It felt safe. That was a good sign.

“Mmhm.” she said with a mouth full of fries before swallowing them. “I always remembered how to cook them how you taught me. In fact, because of you, this place has fries now.”

Qrow lightly laughed. It was an odd honor to have, but an honor nonetheless.

“So, what exactly is this place?” he asked, still smiling.

“This, is the base of the organization known as The Dragon Guard. Though, dragons are practically extinct in most timelines now. But, we do have Mikey. He’s funny. But anyways, our goal is to defeat god. His goal is to destroy humanity and our creation.”

“And naturally, you guys aren’t gonna let that slide, right?” Qrow stated. Yonah eagerly nodded.

“Yup! I was recruited a couple years ago. Though technically, its been millenia since then.” she said as if it were no big deal. Qrow looked at her, eyes wide with surprise. “It’s actually not that complicated if you want me to explain it.”

“I’m good. My head hurts enough as is.” he complained as he rubbed it.

“Yeah… Accord said that might happen.” Qrow looked at her curiously, almost concerned.

“Did you call for me?” they heard a voice say from behind. He jumped up with a yelp in shock.

“On time, as always. How are you Accord? Come across anything that needs some of my special attention?” Yonah casually asked.

“I’m good, as always.” Accord smiled. “Though, there have been reports of another dangerous interloper. This one wields elemental magic and a bunch of swords. But, I doubt you’ll need to take care of her. She’s in one of the timelines where the Seeds of Destruction activate the goddess.” Qrow wondered what the hell any of that meant.

“Another moment of rest for me then, I guess.” she sighed. “Hey, do we have time to spar real quick?” she asked Accord, who thought for a quick moment.

“Sure. I’ll be sure to set up an arena for you.”

“Thank you Accord. Alright, follow me!” she said as she excitedly led Qrow to what he assumed would be the training area.

They passed many different places on their way. There was a large mess hall, a weapons room Qrow would have to see if he could look at later, a magical test center, and he even saw Mikey. Apparently, the white dragon loved his fries, which he confirmed Yonah made perfectly just as he did. When they finally reached the training room, he was out of breath.

“Here,” she said as she pulled out a seat, “rest for a moment. Do you think you could watch my swordsmanship and critique it? Kainé said you were an amazing teacher.” Her face betrayed her cheerful voice, as a hint of sadness could be seen.

“That, I am. So show me what you’ve got.”

After watching her go toe to toe with an android in black, he could say he was very impressed. Her attacks were quick and precise. Additionally, some damage she took seemed to be shrugged off by her own attacks, as indicated by the health bars on display. As the battle ended with Yonah as the victor, he proudly made her way over to Qrow.

“So, what do you think?” she huffed excitedly.

“I’d say you’re even better than me.” he answered honestly. Time had been kind to her. He hoped it would stay that way. She deserved it.

“Really, you think so?” she asked. Qrow nodded his head to reaffirm. She squealed in joy. “I’m so glad you think so! It means so much to me!” she yanked him in for another hug. It was rough, but he didn’t mind too much.

Just then, they heard the door open, Accord walking in.

“Oh, you’re here early, er, on time, actually. I guess it just feels early.” Yonah said. Sadly.

“Your time’s almost up. The magic that brought you here is strong. We were lucky enough to even be able to intercept it.” Accord neutrally explained. “You know, you’re a singularity. Of sorts.”

“You’re someone who causes timelines to branch and split off. You even made a timeline that survived.” Yonah said happily.

“Yeah, an incredible feat. If I were you though, I wouldn’t feel bad about the ones that didn’t survive. Those ones were gonna fail regardless. But man, you did give me a lot of work, not that I mind though. It provided some nice data. That brings me to this: I’ve temporarily sealed off a majority of your memories from during your time away from your world. You have a choice. You can choose to remember or not. It will be a lot to take in, and you’ll have a nasty headache for a bit. So. what’s your choice, avian interloper?”

“I…” he wasn’t so sure. He had a bad feeling about this. But, something compelled him to choose to remember. It felt like he had a duty to remember. It felt somebody was convincing him it was the right choice. “I want to remember.”

“As you will.” Accord answered, pulling out her large phone. “Alright. Initiate code. MEM-3313.”

She was right when she said the headache would be nasty. But, the memories were worse. So many things made sense, and it was all saddening and terrifying. But, mixed in there, were some good memories, ones people wouldn’t trade for the world. There was little Yonah, so much like Ruby to him. Her, Nier, Kainé, Emil, Halua, Weiss, and Rubrum, were a part of many wonderful memories, memories of a world where he felt normal, even if just for a moment. And there they were, in a few terrible memories too, reminding him of his fears and hatred.

“We have another choice for you. Do you wish to keep your memories?” Accorded asked. “Regardless, I already have the important ones recorded, so don’t let us influence your choice.”

Those memories worth more than the world, weren’t worth more than all the suffering and sadness and betrayal he had witnessed so many times. He could barely handle it.

“Take them… take them all…”

“Are you sure?” Yonah asked this time.

“Kid… I’m sorry. I’m not that strong of a person.”

“You are a strong person, Mister Qrow, just not that kind of strong, and that’s alright.” she sat down to take a seat next to him. “The world is a pretty terrible place. And we can all only take so much. I don’t blame you, okay? Accord, transfer them to me.” Qrow looked at her in shock.

“You’re a good man Qrow. Don’t forget that. I know that someday, you’ll be stronger for the people who need you. I believe in you. You have someone who believes in you. Don’t forget that, okay? You have someone who believes in you.”

Qrow wasn’t sure what to say as she tearfully pulled him in for one last hug. He just noticed that he was crying too. He began to feel sleepy.

“Thank you for so many good memories, Qrow. You helped make those days with my brother and friends possible. …Thank you, and goodbye…”

“Goodbye. . .”

You have someone who believes in you.

[jamielea81]

Just a Simple Lie

Chapter 1

Pairing: Chris Evans x Reader

Description: Having worked on small independent films for the better part of a decade, your friend tells you about an opening for a script supervisor with a large studio. Wanting to advance your career, you apply and get an interview. The only downside, they prefer to hire crew who are married. It’s just a simple lie, right?

A/N: This fic is simply for fun. I know nothing about the personal lives of the two actors in this series and mean no harm. I am also totally guessing regarding the studio talk. This particular chapter is Chris light as it’s mainly a getting to know the reader. Chapters going forward will be heavy on the Chris aspect. Comments, reblogs, and likes are always welcome. Tag list is open, please send me an ask.

“Do you have the ring?”

“Of course, I have the ring.” You let out a frustrated breath. “This is so silly.”

Joanna chuckles over the line. “Where did you manage to get a ring from anyway?”

“It’s my grandmother’s. I feel like I’m majorly disrespecting her by wearing it when I’m not even engaged. Not to mention I’ve been single for-ev-er.” You drawl out.

“Breathe babe. Just breathe.” She says softly.

You inhale deeply and exhale it slowly.

“Maybe don’t do that directly into the phone.” She laughs again.

“Joanna Elizabeth.” You growl. “Why am I doing this?” You ask catching a glimpse of your reflection in the review mirror. Running a hand through your hair, you see the diamond engagement ring on your left finger. It feels so foreign, even stranger seeing it.

“Because this is a great opportunity to advance your career. Stone Lite is a major studio, Y/N. You can’t keep working on those student films.”

“Hey! I worked on a couple of independent movies. One even showed at Sundance.” You defend.

“And that’s awesome. Really. But this could be your big in. You’ve been doing this, what, for ten years?”

She was right. Ten years and the majority of your income came from student funded films and slinging beers three nights a week.

“And by your silence, you know I am right.”

Smug bitch.

“Ahuh.” You sigh.

“Look, I know it’s not right, but if this increases your chances of getting hired, just wear the damn ring.” Joanna huffs out.

“Easy for you to say, oh, wise married one.”

Joanna previously worked for Stone Lite Studios before moving on to Sony. It was a well-known amongst the employees that if you wanted to get hired for any position that put you in direct contact with any of the actors, you needed to be married. The studio was concerned with fan girls and fan boys. As if adults couldn’t control their urges and not make unwanted advances. Not to mention, married or not, some people still have affairs. Now granted, not every person there was married, but you had a greater advantage to get the job if you were. Right or wrong.

You drew the line at saying you were actually married and settled on being engaged. Not wanting to worry about details like how you kept your last name and lying on the tax forms you’d have to fill out. Even though you’ve only worked on small projects, Hollywood was surprisingly small when it came to the industry. It would be a lot harder to explain a sudden husband versus a fiancé. With Joanna’s agreement, you took your grandmother’s engagement ring from your jewelry box and slipped it on your finger.

“I’m just saying, give it a shot and see where this goes.” She reasoned.

“You’re right. You’re right. I better go in anyway. There’s a golf cart that keeps circling around the lot. They’re probably getting suspicious as to why I’m still in my car.”

She let out a chuckle. “They’re going to give you a ride to the offices. Welcome to the big leagues baby.”

 “Ms. Y/L/N, may I call you Y/N? Barbara Floyd, the interviewer and also the production manager asked.

The two of you had already gone over your previous crew history where you held a variety of positions including editor, grip, writer, and even wardrobe. On a whim, you took a script supervisor position on an independent short and really enjoyed it. The next job you took was on full length film in the same position, that’s when you decided that’s where your passion lied. Despite the copious amount of responsibility and that often brought on your anxiety, you loved the challenge.

“Of course, Mrs. Floyd.”

Her eyes went directly to your left hand. “That’s a beautiful ring.” She says.

Here we go.

“Thank you.” You stick your hand out for added affect.

“When’s the wedding?” She asks.

“Next year. We have a lot of out of town family. We just want to make sure they have time to arrange travel.”

Look at me lie. Maybe I should have tried acting.

“I’m sure it will be lovely.” She replies with a wide smile. “I’d like to introduce you to a few people. Please come with me.”

You received a contract via e-mail later that evening. They were bringing you on for one film with the option of three additional films after production. Granted, that’s if you didn’t mess up. Joanna was right, this is the big leagues. If you could make it through the next three to four months, you’d have a long term contract with a major studio.

The next day you received the script. Winter’s Sin was the working title. Whether or not the title would stick was anyone’s guess. You had worked with a few well-known actors, but more of the B list variety. Wonderfully talented actors, but they just didn’t get the parts or the recognition they often deserved. This film had a couple of big names, Keanu Reeves and Chris Evans to be exact. Maggie Jessup was this year’s it girl and rumor had it, this movie was going to launch her into stardom. Generally, you didn’t get star struck, but this was Keanu Reeves! You first fell in love with him when you saw Speed. And again, when you watched The Lake House. Too bad you were technically “engaged”.

Pre-production was set to start next week. This week would be spent going over the script a few times and creating notes. Some wouldn’t consider it the fun part of the job, but you loved diving into a script before it was brought to life. It was also a bonus that you generally liked the script. It was sort of a weepy drama with a love story tied in. But the main plot was between two friends, Milo played by Keanu and William played by Chris. You stayed up half the night and made it almost all the way through. To say you were invested was an understatement.

You read through the script twice more over the next few days and felt ready. Next week you would meet with wardrobe and the writers. The cast would be fitted and you would take photos for your own personal files to make sure styles remain the same for the shoot. Of course, this could all change the day shooting begins which is why you needed to be on your A game and get all the drinking out of the way tonight. You’d have Sunday to recover before starting at the studio on Monday.

 Laurel Tavern wasn’t necessarily your favorite bar, but it had become the place to get a bite to eat and a few drinks. It was also the most centrally located place for you and your friends to meet. Joanna and her husband Ian picked you up on the way, knowing you wanted to drink to excess. The three of you along with Travis and Jemma were celebrating your new job tonight. The five of you often found reasons to celebrate whether it was finding a twenty dollar bill on the side of the road, not getting fired from a particular job you’ve been slacking at, for the record, that was Travis, or getting a full eight hours of sleep. Tonight, was really worth celebrating.

“What do you want girl?” Joanna asked, getting up from your usual booth. “First rounds on me. If you’re nice, I might even buy you a second.” She throws you a wink.

“Ummm. I’d like a margarita, hold the margarita.” You say in all seriousness.

“Tequila. Got it.”  She says before turning away and heading to the bar.

“Extra limes.” You shout.

She waves her hand behind her head, not bothering to spare your table a look.

Travis joins your booth, a couple of pints of beer in hand. “Here, I brought you one.” Setting a pint of golden goodness in front of you.

You lean over kissing his cheek. “I feel so special.” You coo.

Travis wormed his way into your life seven years ago. He was a senior in college at the time, tall and lanky with hair that stuck out from under his hat. He was filming his final project before graduation. The two of you had a mutual friend in common, Jemma, who was an ex-girlfriend of Travis, how they stayed friends, was beyond you. You helped with directing, a little bit of script management, and even filled in for makeup on a few days. Anything to help a friend of a friend. Travis became your pseudo little brother, well, a brother that you kissed once. You had just broken up with Chad, never date a guy name Chad. Anyway, you had just broken up with Chad and were feeling down in the dumps about yourself. He fed you some bullshit about never being there for him when he needed you. You got angry, he got angry, and then he told you that you weren’t hot enough for him. Yep, Chad was a douche. Travis invited you over, feed you pizza and a ton of beers, then you kissed. He wasn’t a bad kisser, but it felt weird. He was five years younger than you, but it wasn’t just that, he was too much like a brother. The two of you agreed that it was a mistake and never brought it up again. Not even Jemma knew.

The five of you munched on burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. Jemma bought you a margarita, even after you told her you just wanted the tequila. Her motive was to mooch some of the beverage off of you.

“I don’t want all of the calories. I just want to try it.” She grins. Big rosy cheeks and wild blonde hair. Her British accent on full affect after already consuming a few shots herself. She had lived in the United States most of her life, but when she drank, the accent became heavier.

She grabs your drink, taking a hold of the straw and consumes half of it in one go. If you didn’t love her, you would have ditched her years ago.

Pushing Ian out of the booth, you get up on wobbly feet and make the long twenty foot journey to the bar. “I’ll get my tequila myself. Thank you very much.” You tell the table.

 It’s after midnight by the time you’re dropped off. Running a makeup remover cloth over your face and stripping down to a cami, you call it good enough and crawl into your cozy bed.

 After a pit stop at Starbucks, you make it to the studio an hour earlier than you need to be. After parking in Timbuctoo, you graciously accept the golf cart ride from security.

One of the admins directs you to a small office down a long hallway with similar offices. There’s a laptop computer, various pens and notepads on the desk. You unpack a small plant you picked up yesterday after you dragged your hungover self out of bed and to the grocery store for food. There was no window in your office which you figured; a little greenery would liven the place up, literally.

 An hour later, one of the producers, David, came by to introduce himself and walk you around the grounds and through the soundstage you’d be shooting on. Filming would take place on the soundstage for a little more than a month. Then everyone would move the whole operation to Vancouver. The movie was called Winter’s Sin after all and there wasn’t a whole lot of winter in Los Angeles.

Before stopping back in your office, David popped into the office across from yours. He knocked while walking in, apparently already comfortable with the occupant.

“Hey Monica. I want you to meet Y/N. She’s the assistant script supervisor I was telling you about.”

Assistant? What?

Monica got up from her chair to greet you. You plastered on a smile and stuck out your hand. She was around your age and seriously gorgeous. Beautiful thick brown hair with a touch of caramel highlights that hung just above her chest.  

“Hi, Y/N. I’m looking forward to working with you. Would love to hear some of your ideas.”

“Same.”

What could you say? You weren’t told that you were an assistant script supervisor, you thought you had the position. Apparently, it was a shared position.

“Y/N will be working primarily with Chris and Keanu.”

Whoa. Well, at least there’s that.

Monica scoffs. “Really?”

Your eyes automatically go to her left hand. No ring. Of course.

“Yes, really. You’ve got Maggie. I think she can really flourish under your direction. Not to mention you have Hector, Tim, Daisy and Joe.

After the awkward exchange, you traded cellphone numbers with her and made plans to meet after the first read through with the cast.

Walking across the way into the safety of your office, you figured you might as well ask.

“I wasn’t aware that I was being hired on as an assistant script supervisor.”

David ran a hand down his face. “Y/N, listen. This is your first big film; you need to walk before you can run. Alright? If this goes well, you’ll probably get hired on as the lead.”

“Okay.” You sighed out

“Alright, I’ll see you later. Meeting at three on the soundstage.”

“Got it.” You replied, plopping yourself down in the desk chair.

David peeks his head back into your office. “You’ve got some visitors.”

“Thanks.” You call out, standing back up and pulling your door open wider.

Your heart stopped. At least you were pretty sure it did. Keanu and Chris were both in front of you. Yes, you were there to film a movie, but this felt like a freaking movie. The two of them, side by side, grins on their faces. Keanu’s hand outstretched while Chris’ hands were snugly in the front pockets of his jeans.

“Y/N, pleasure to meet you. I’m Keanu.”

You accept his hand but your pretty much speechless. You may have muttered “hi” but you can’t be sure. Sensing your nervousness, he gives you a smile and releases your hand. He looks to Chris and they exchange a silent conversation. Chris steps forward offering you his hand and once again you can’t breathe.

Has he always been this attractive? Apparently, I haven’t watched enough Avengers movies.

His hair’s a bit longer than what you remember from the one or two movies you’ve seen. He’s also sporting a full beard. Definitely something he can pull off.

You mentally slap yourself and pull your hand from his after you realize you hadn’t said anything.

“Um. Sorry. Haven’t had enough caffeine today. It’s nice to meet you both. I look forward to working with you on this shoot.”

“Nice plant.” Keanu says, pointing at the fern taking up the front corner of your desk.

You giggle. Like actually let out a giggle and you’re pretty sure your cheeks are flushed.

You’re a professional. Get your shit together.

“Well, you know?” Shrugging your shoulders. “Need to green the space up a bit.’

Chris nods his head and offers a closed mouth smile.

“Well, we won’t take up all your time. Just wanted to say hello.”

“Hello.” You reply with a wave.

Why am I so awkward?!

They both chuckle and Chris waves back at you.

Tomorrow you wouldn’t be so starstruck. These are just two men that you work with. Who cares that they both seem nice and are dangerously attractive? You’re an “engaged” woman who is also a professional. You can do this.

Yeah. I can do this.

If you are crossed out, I can’t tag you.

Tag list: @southerngracela  @chrisevansforever  @chrisevansfanfic @zsuzstyina @peach-acid @tanelle83 @pinknerdpanda @allaboutthebooz @estillion14 @panicfob@patzammit @heartislubbingdubbing @collinsstanharbour @twittytelly @thefandomzoneisdangerous @linki-locks11 @jennmurawski13

[hope-for-olicity]

Fabulous Olicity Fanfic Friday - October 18th, 2019

Happy Friday! So this is my attempt to both thank awesome fanfic writers for their amazing work and offer my recommendations to anyone who is interested. Here are the fantastic fanfic stories I read this week! They are posted in the order I read them. This and all previous Fabulous Olicity Fanfic posts can be found on my blog.

Another shortlist, I’m very busy working on the Canadian election so post Election Day, October 21st, I hope to catch up, fingers crossed.

Maybe This Will Be Fun multi-chapter WIP by @cruzrogue​ - fictober19 - A 31 days of prompts for the Month of October. Oliver and Felicity... having adventures. This will be a wild ride as I try to figure where my crazy mind can conceive and draw up quickly on a hopefully daily writing tour. As always thank you for joining me in a olicity world that I try to at least make somewhat entertaining. https://archiveofourown.org/works/20849105/chapters/49560353

I Might Just Kiss You by @stephswims​ - fictober19 - Set in Season 2 https://archiveofourown.org/works/20911853

Won't End Well multi-chapter Complete by fellicityqueen - The engagement is, admittedly, a poorly thought out last ditch effort to save both of their companies from completely flatlining. But, in her defense, it was Oliver’s poorly thought out last ditch effort and Felicity just ended up along for the ride. His mother insisting he bring his new, mysterious fiancée home for the holidays was an unforeseen event she had not prepared for. Now, she’s stuck in the mountains with the Queen family and their friends and little to no cell phone reception. Needless to say, this won’t end well. https://archiveofourown.org/works/12877644/chapters/29416194

Helplessly Wrecked multi-chapter WIP by @cruzrogue​ - A very smart, passionate, woman. Worked to get her dual masters from MIT, it may have taken longer being a mother of triplets but at least she has her mother’s support. Oliver Queen still has a yacht incident and was marooned for shorter time frame on a real deserted island. He never flunked out of his Ivy League schooling and is a very sought-after bachelor. His relationships never last more than half a year and is known to throw himself into his work. His motto ‘work hard play harder’. https://archiveofourown.org/works/19194103/chapters/45628978

There is Just Something About Him by @icannotbelieveiamhere​ - This fic is part of a larger fic about The Undertaking, which I’m in the process of writing. This scene takes place directly before my story from fictober18, “I’ve been waiting so long for this” https://icannotbelieveiamhere.tumblr.com/post/188318923441/there-is-just-something-about-him

To Sacrifice the Sun multi-chapter WIP by @emmilynestill​ - Oliver and Felicity are ARGUS agents working on a mission in Mexico, the two share some very important history. http://archiveofourown.org/works/7510744/chapters/22505918

// @emmaamelia95 // @mel-loves-all // @oliverfel4 // @green-arrows-of-karamel // @coal000 // @miriam1779 // @memcjo// @captainolicitysbedroom // @tdgal1 // @spaztronautwriter // @lalawo1// @quiveringbunny // @wrongshipper // @thebookjumper// @vaelisamaza // @myhauntedblacksoul // @lovelycssefan // @laurabelle2930 // @laxit21 // - let me know if you want to be tagged or untagged! 

[redpumpscadillacblues]

Coming of witch

Hi friends!

I’m reasonably sure that I don’t have too many followers, and that’s totally ok. This is more for myself and for posterity reasons. I’ve had a lot of things happen in my life. I’m going to get some detail in here, but I won’t worry about my ENTIRE life story. It's still going to be long, hold on for the ride!

I mean, I guess I should start at the beginning since this is where all stories start. So here goes.

It really all started when I was little. I grew up catholic. As a child, I didn’t really have an opinion of religion, but overall, I felt far more connected to the native american religions than anything else and tended to embrace the wild side of life as most children do. I stayed in the faith at a distance (making my first holy communion there) until the end of high school and converted to protestantism at the behest of my boyfriend at the time. 

I made confirmation in the protestant church I was in. I went on a mission trip to Mexico over a Thanksgiving break and got out of working black Friday in retail. I felt great, I was on top of the world. I was active in the youth group and with the church. My boyfriend and I broke up. I still stayed with my new family in the church (I still keep in touch with some of them). I spent several years in the church. I had some people of faith who were rather awful and had some traumatizing experiences. I started distancing myself from the church in my pain. Bless the good folks, as they all tried to keep in touch and keep me involved. I became an agnostic.

I moved to California and back for a relationship and to get away from the abuse I suffered. My dad has always been a great support and lovingly took me back in at home. I started going back to the church again, looking for a semblance of normalcy all the while not following a lot of the tenets of being Christian. I was in my wild mid-20s.

Another trauma later, I was a few more relationships down the road, partying, and had met another guy. Things moved quickly, we moved in together, I quickly learned his drug abuse was not a thing of the past, but the darkness my life was thrown into. I worked with him to help him through, offered support and tried to help. My payment? He tried to steal, sell my stuff, and emptied out one of my bank accounts. One of his former best friends helped me move out. 

We were thick as thieves, me and this girl. We became fast friends, doing almost anything together. I was in nursing school, she was in EMS. I met her two roommates, one who was her boyfriend, and the other another single male. All three of them were in EMS. She was into Wicca, and sort of practiced, though I don’t remember seeing much while in the house. After several months, I started dating the single roommate. More months later, I moved in. the four of us were inseparable and always going on adventures. My new boyfriend worked an hour + from home and took the train, many nights, it was my best friend, her boyfriend and me. I was always dragged along for various antics. It was a great time. It was around this time I started to look into Wicca and identified with it (going so far as to change my facebook profile religion to this), but not actively practicing. I had nursing on my plate (if anyone has been through nursing school, you understand me), and was working 3 part-time jobs.

I met so many people through my roommates. Eventually, I felt a strong connection with a friend of theirs. The relationship I was in was headed south quickly. I had previously dealt with some awful drug abuse, slander, and other awful things, and was now dealing with an alcoholic who was financially using me. I now had an ex-boyfriend and a new boyfriend quickly. In the transition, I was clearly not totally innocent, and looking back, I would change the way this happened and be more upfront and honest, but the past is the past.

New boyfriend and I also moved quicker. Within 6 months, I had now graduated from college and become an RN and moved 6 hours from home to a new job, a new life, and my other half. He supported me through many changes, including my bachelor’s degree in nursing and most recently my master’s degree and board certification to become a nurse practitioner. We got married (now almost 4 years ago) and bought a house. We are blissful (still, after 7 years together and just about 4 years of wedded bliss). I married a catholic man.

Due to the nature of our initial connection, you can assume he works in EMS. It’s almost easier that we’re both in the medical field. We can both relate to the kinds of bad days we have and share a very similar dark and twisted sense of humor. We get along stellar, with only minimal tiffs. No major fights or arguments here yet. No secrets. Communication flows freely and honestly.

I am still essentially agnostic at this point but leaning towards a more pagan path.

 I started making new friends and becoming friends with his coworkers. One day, he came home and told me that he wanted to bring me by someone’s house one night for a bonfire. He assured me that he hadn’t told this person anything about me other than that I was the most incredible person he had ever met. We go over, I meet this coworker and his wife. His coworker greets me to his home with a hug and a firm handshake. He looks my husband dead in the eye and says to him “Shit, you married a natural witch man, good for you”. This caught me by surprise. We sat around the fire and talked. The conversation turned towards religion. Dear husband loves a debate and good intelligent conversations. My views of religion and spirituality were questioned and I answered some really uncomfortable questions for me. I finally realized my beliefs were pagan.

I tossed this idea around for a while, bought a couple books and read only a few chapters of each. I wasn’t too serious about it but liked the idea of pretending to be. I’d get curious and join some Facebook groups, post some questions, read through. I started a year and a day class through one of the groups. I made it for 8 weeks. School was in the way (at this point, I’m in my master’s program working nights and life sucks). I still hadn’t made any great strides with my spiritual life at this point.

The fall came around. School required me to make a trip to Boston to sign off on some skills prior to starting the next part, which was clinical rotations. We made a long weekend of it and checked out Gloucester and Salem. Dear husband has lived in and worked in Gloucester and Salem respectively. I had my tarot read in a well-known shop. I’m on the right path, awesome.

Flash forward to the end of the year, I start the year and a day class again. I’m doing well, I make it 12 weeks. I can’t hang with the work. I’m embarrassed to practice in front of dear husband (not for lack of support, but I keep a lot of me private). I’m still casually practicing.

 It’s now May 2019, I’m graduating from school (I went online, I already had my degree at this point, but wanted to walk due to the huge achievement). We trek back to Boston. My parents meet us separately (they’re divorced) and we go to the ceremony. It’s nice. Madonna ThunderHawk speaks and received an honorary doctorate for her work advocating for native americans in her life. Her tribe presents her with the Lakota Star Quilt. I’m crying. We go to Salem again the next day (because I love it there and missed the town).

I get another tarot reading at the same place. I meet the reader, who is incredibly intense, but comforting. /He shakes my hand firmly and looks me in the eye. “I’m so happy to read for a witch, I love reading for witches, you guys are my favorite. I wish I didn’t have another reading after you, I would spend more time with you”. I’m shocked. We sit down. He asks who my deities are. I tell him that I’ve not really identified who it is. He asks what pantheon I’m particularly interested in. I’m really enjoying learning about Norse culture. He smiles and tells me he figured and has some interesting news to share.

My reading delves more into my spiritual side. Essentially, Odin wants to work with me, he’s hanging around. the first card he turns over is the hanged man - one of Odin’s names. He tells me that I need to manifest and manifest large. He recommends picking up tarot (tells me to get a more basic deck for beginners), and suggests to also work with runes. I’m told I’ve been working magic in my sleep and likely don’t realize it. He recommends books. Now the reading is done. My head is spinning. I grab a Rider-Waithe deck. I’m pleased and we leave.

I’m so forgetful, and I forget the name of the book. I contact some Wiccan/pagan friends for help on finding information about Odin. This leads to another conversation and I’m called out AGAIN as a witch. She tells me she knew the first time she met me that I was a witch, and was surprised I didn’t know it.

That brings us to here and now. I’m reading up a storm, I’m working through the Poetic Eddas right now. I received my runes in today (they look awesome by the way). I’ve been pulling a tarot card daily and letting my intuition guide me. I’ve been journaling. I’m trying to work on remembering my dreams. I’m logging everything that I can at this point and I’m diving in whole-heartedly. I’m partially out of the broom closet at this point. I live at the top of the bible belt, and my “kind” aren’t welcome around here. I don’t always shy away from saying yes, I’m a witch when asked; however, I do try to keep it personal. I’m in the public eye and have to worry about how patients will perceive me if this information got out. However, I’m going to make the best of it that I can at this point!

Thanks for reading. It was long, somewhat drawn out on occasion, but this is me and where I’m at currently.

Blessed Be brothers and sisters. <3 

[shortcakemonster]

Go-Away Green pt. 4

Summary: You and Peter catch each other in the act.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 5

Peter Parker could hardly contain himself within the day that he had to wait to get back to school. He wouldn’t have been able to sleep had he not had an extracurricular activity that did wonders for helping him get some energy out.

Come Monday morning, Peter was nearly bursting with anticipation to see you at school again. May barely managed to get a pair of toast slices into his hand as he rushed out the door to catch his bus. It took her a few seconds after the door slammed to realize that her nephew had left fifteen minutes early.

Peter found himself in the hallway at Midtown High School (now on time instead of early, thanks to a cat that he’d had to get down from a tree as his alter-ego), searching frantically for his best friend.

“Ned, you will not believe what happened, on Saturday,” Peter whispered as he caught up to his friend. “Did you hear about Delmar’s getting robbed?”

Ned exchanged a handshake with Peter as he spoke. “Yeah, I heard. You were there to save the day, though, right?”

“Kind of. I was there at the very end. But listen, man, when I got there, I busted in through the back door and the first thing I saw was the robber pointing a gun at (Y/N).”

Ned cocked his head to the side. “Who?”

Peter blinked at him. “The girl who wouldn’t join the decathlon team.” Still receiving no affirmation from Ned, he pressed on. “We had a whole ordeal, last week. Flash and MJ looked like they’d been under some sort of spell. You thought she was an alien from Doctor Who.”

Ned’s face lit up in recognition. “I didn’t say she was an alien, I said she was like one,” he clarified with a wag of his finger.

“Whatever, man. She was standing there- the thief had his gun on her, and you know what she did? She grabbed his hand, pointed the gun at the ceiling, and hit him over the side of the head with a ladle!”

Now Peter had Ned’s attention. “No way!” he exclaimed, his eyes widening. “You have to be making this up.”

“I swear on my life, dude. It was awesome!” He bounced on his feet with enthusiasm, a giant grin taking over his face.

Ned smirked. “You are getting way too excited about this.” 

“No, I’m not!” Peter denied, crossing his arms. “And dude, listen, I was looking at pretty much every news outlet ever this morning, and nobody’s mentioned her. Hardly anyone even remembers the thief getting hit before I showed up!”

“I’m sure ladle-girl is slightly less notable than Spider-Man,” Ned reasoned.

“(Y/N), Ned,” Peter chided. “Her name is (Y/N). Try not to forget it, I’m still suspicious about her.”

“Why would you be suspicious if she saved everyone at Delmar’s?”

“Because, dude, right before she grabbed the gun, I could’ve sworn that the robber looked away for a split second. What kind of a criminal takes their eyes off a hostage for even a moment?” He ran a hand through his hair, the stress from the weekend returning as he tried to figure it out.

“Didn’t the news say that he was high, at the time?” Ned asked.

“Well, yeah-”

Peter was interrupted both by the school bell and his best friend’s following question:

“Do you have a crush on her, or something?”

Peter felt heat spread over the back of his neck and the tips of his ears. “What? Of course not!” he spluttered.

The blushing did not go unnoticed by Ned, who squinted slightly. “You seem a little obsessed, is all.”

“I don’t know anything about her, Ned, besides the fact that she doesn’t want to join the decathlon team.”

Ned shrugged. “She’s probably too busy beating thugs with kitchenware to join a silly decathlon team.”

Peter broke into laughter, giving Ned a light punch on the arm. “You know, I hadn’t thought about it that way. You’re probably right.”

“I’m always right.”

All the talking forced the two friends rush to their first class, which only made Peter even antsier. He spent every class before chemistry- where he knew he could see you again- waiting for the bell to ring. He also did some subtle (or not-so-subtle, if you saw it from Ned’s eyes) searching for you in all of his other classes, wondering if he’d managed to miss you for all these months. Every search left him disappointed.

At long last, the time came for chemistry, and Peter bolted into his seat as Ned moseyed in behind him. He had no idea why he was so excited. Peter obviously couldn’t question you about last night, as only Spider-Man was supposed to know about it.

That thought brought him back to Saturday night, when he’d talked to you as his alter-ego. You’d avoided eye contact, crossed your arms over your body, used as few words as possible and only when completely necessary. At the time, he’d blamed it on the aftershock of the robbery, but could he have made you that afraid all on his own? Could Spider-Man strike fear into the people who he was meant to be protecting?

His legs bounced as his eyes darted between the clock and your empty seat. You were never late, were you? If you ever were, you probably entered through the back door so not to draw attention to yourself. He took a careful look around the room, but you were nowhere to be found. His lips flattened into a line and his eyes softened with disappointment.

Ned smirked. He’d seen that look on his best friend’s face before. Whether he knew it or not, Peter Benjamin Parker was in for a wild ride.

You were beside yourself. You hadn’t gotten any sleep for the whole weekend, anxiously awaiting the possible consequences of what had happened at Delmar’s.

Fortunately, your obsessive checking of every local news outlet brought you to the conclusion that nobody remembered you from Saturday night. Hardly anyone even remembered the robber being struck before Spider-Man showed up.

Except for Spider-Man, that is, but you were the only one who knew that. Hopefully.

But for once in your life, you had bigger priorities than schoolwork or making sure nobody noticed you, and that was getting a handle on your newfound invisibility powers.

On the one hand, you could easily see this working to your advantage. Maintaining constant invisibility was your dream. If you could keep it up, then you would no longer have to waste any time on mind control, if you could call it that. You’d never tried to use it for anything other than making people forget you, so you had no idea of your own capabilities. Still, the thought of being able to weave through crowds or walk home at night with no risk of anyone noticing you made your heart race with anticipation.

On the other hand, you hadn’t stopped flickering since Saturday night.

You assumed that you’d maintained full opacity as you slept, but you had no way of knowing this for sure and you you didn’t really care to. It didn’t matter what you looked like as you slept- unless one of your parents were to check in on you while you were sleeping, which was highly unlikely.

But every waking moment was spent trying to distract yourself from your plight and suddenly looking down to see your form shifting between visibility and invisibility.

At the very least, your clothes disappeared with you, so if and when you got full control over your abilities, you wouldn’t just be an outfit walking around with no head. This made you question if anything you touched could be turned invisible, and sure enough, anything you held in your hands wavered in opacity along with you.

Unfortunately, this was little comfort, as you had no real control over your powers. No matter what you tried, you couldn’t make yourself fully visible or invisible by your own free will. Visualizing yourself as either one caused you to become slightly more opaque or slightly more transparent, but you never landed fully on either end of the spectrum.

On Monday, you decided not to show up for school for the first time in a long time. You weren’t sure how you’d clear it up with the attendance office since you couldn’t ask your parents to call you in sick. 

Oh, well. One unexcused absence won’t kill me. Except my parents might get a call from the school and I might be forced to talk to them or someone from administration and either way it’ll mess up my perfect attendance record dear God how long have I had that going for well it’s all messed up now I wonder what the universities will think I’ve got no extracurriculars so I need all the help I can get-

You took a deep breath. You had much bigger things to worry about.

On the plus side, you woke up completely opaque and seemed to stay that way. But you couldn’t risk it, especially not at school, were hundreds of other students attended. If the robbery was any indication, you turned invisible during times of extreme stress when you really, really didn’t want to be seen by anyone. School, while hopefully not the grounds for a drug-addicted freak with a gun to show up, was still ripe for the kind of situations to make you want to be invisible.

So, there was no way you were going out in public. But, your bedroom had become stuffy with all the time over the weekend you’d spent inside with no doors or windows open. Feeling the need for some fresh air, you opened the window to the fire escape. 

You stuck your head out and took a whiff. The air in Queens wasn’t the clearest, but it was better than sitting in a room filled with your own body odor. Your gaze wandered over the neighboring buildings, the cars that zoomed past on the street, the jaywalking pedestrians- and a man lurking in an alley, poking his head out and glancing around the street every few seconds.

You felt your stomach turn. There was something wrong with this guy, you could feel it. This wasn’t your general cautiousness or trust issues, this was intuition.

But what could he be planning?

You got your answer moments later, when a young woman on her cell phone came walking down the side of the road, clearly in a hurry. The man swung out from the alleyway and came to stand directly in front of her, blocking her path. The woman collided with him and took several steps back upon seeing who it was.

You couldn’t quite make out what they were saying over the distant sounds of traffic a few blocks over, but his wild hand gestures and her raised, defensive hands suggested that they knew each other. He wouldn’t be wasting his time talking if he didn’t have something specific in mind. Hell, he wouldn’t be doing this in broad daylight if it wasn’t personal.

Your upper body slowly inched out the window bit by bit, trying to see more of the situation. The man’s voice became louder- you could vaguely hear him scream, “Thought you could just walk out on me?!” The woman grimaced and wiped at her face- he’d probably spit at her.

The woman began to subtly reach into her purse, but the man snatched it and grabbed her by the arm to drag her down the alley. Your heartbeat sped up at the sight, and you frantically looked around the street for somebody who could help her.

But there was no one.

No one except you.

You shook your head at your own thoughts. You weren’t a hero. The situation at Delmar’s was a one-time thing. Just because you could now turn invisible didn’t mean you’d be any good in an actual fight. Not to mention the fact that you had little to no control over your powers and there was a serious risk of flickering in front of the assailant and the victim.

And even if you managed to stop the man from harming that woman, there was a chance that he would turn his efforts towards you. The idea nauseated you.

And yet somehow, during all of these thoughts, your body moved of its own accord. Before you knew it, you were fully out the window, down the fire escape, on the ground, and running across the street. Your feet hit the pavement with thud after thud, but you looked down and realized that you couldn’t see your feet even slightly. You didn’t even have a shadow.

Without even realizing it, your mind had fallen into a steady stream of look through me look through me don’t see me not here not here look through me look away.

You slowed down at the mouth of the alley, quieting your steps so not to alert the assailant, who had the woman pinned to the wall with a knife to her throat. Your mouth went dry at the sight.

“Think you can just up and leave?” he growled, pressing the knife closer against her skin. “I thought you were different!”

“Honey, please, I didn’t mean it. Please don’t hurt me!” the woman sobbed.

What do I do now?

In your hurry, you’d neglected to grab a weapon. Immediately, your mind raced for another solution as you searched the alley for something to use. There was nothing but a large metal dumpster concealing the man and the woman, as well as some trash bags scattered here and there and some dirty needles lying in a puddle by a drainage pipe. But you weren’t looking to give the man an autoimmune disease.

You looked down and raised your hands. You still couldn’t see them. You were shrouded both by your own powers and the darkness of the alley.

Keeping your eyes on the assailant, you reached over and knocked your knuckles against the lid of the dumpster. It ratted loudly at the impact. 

The man’s back hunched over at the sound. His hand closed around the woman’s neck as he pointed the knife in the direction of the rattle.

“Who’s there!” he barked.

You held your breath as his eyes passed over you.

Look through me look through me look through me.

You leaned over and tapped your fingernails against the drain pipe, generating a tink tink tink. 

The man’s eyes flew to the pipe as his grip tightened on the woman’s neck, causing her to cough and sputter.

You were too far away to help, just yet. You kicked out your leg to the side and struck the dumpster, making a huge clatter. The man whipped around and waved his knife wildly through the air.

“Who’s there! Show yourself!”

Over his own shouting, he couldn’t hear your footsteps, and he certainly didn’t expect you to reach up and grab his hair and yank down. He howled in pain, collapsing to his knees and releasing the woman and the knife, the latter of which skidded away with a kick from you. 

The woman’s eyes widened with shock and confusion as she bent over and coughed, trying to regain her breath. The man’s hands flew to his head and you immediately released him for fear that he would touch you. 

The woman hopped over him in an attempt to run away, but he grabbed her around the ankle, tripping her. She plummeted to the ground with a yelp, but before he could make a move on her, you’d kicked him in the stomach, sending him into a fetal position with a cry of pain. 

You stopped for a second, considering the situation. What were you supposed to do now? Keep kicking him until he was incapacitated? What if you flickered? What if you-

“Okay, folks, party’s over.”

Before you could even turn your head in the direction of the voice, a web came slinging towards you. You had to jump out of the way to avoid it, letting it hit the man in the shoulder, pinning his side to the ground. Several more webs flung out and strapped his arms and legs down.

The man craned his neck up to see Spider-Man strolling up to him. “What the hell?!”

Spider-Man scratched the back of his head. “I dunno what it is, lately, I just encounter the rudest guys.”

The man growled angrily. “She attacked me!”

“I’m sure she did, sir.”

He even calls people sir and ma’am when they’ve done something wrong? Who raised this guy?

Spider-Man directed his attention toward the woman, who still sat on the ground, breathing heavily. “You alright, ma’am?”

The woman nodded, tears filling her eyes, clearly unable to speak. Spider-Man walked over slowly and gently grasped her elbow, easing her off the ground.

“Ma’am, how about you wait here a sec while I deal with lover-boy? You should relax while I get an ambulance for you.”

“This is none of your business, spider,” the man spat. “Just a domestic dispute.”

Keeping contact with the woman, Spider-Man glanced at the assailant. “You know, most domestic disputes don’t involve knives and dark alleyways.”

That shut the man right up. You slowly retreated against the wall as Spider-Man continued talking to the woman to calm her down as much as he could. You remained in your position, unwilling to leave, just in case he needed your help.

Spider-Man? Needing your help? Right.

A police cruiser and an ambulance showed up minutes later, although how they knew to come here, you weren’t sure. The woman was herded away by a paramedic as Spider-Man shot some sort of fluid over the man’s body, dissolving all of the webs that encased him so the police could get him into a squad car.

Soon after that, Spider-Man leapt up and flew through the air, swinging between the walls of the alley with his webs and disappearing from sight. Everything after that was a bit of a blur.

You’d been frozen in your spot, so focused on the situation and making sure nobody saw you that you had no idea how much time had passed since the last emergency vehicle had driven out of your sight. You couldn’t remember when you hadn’t heard the sirens, anymore.

You ran a hand through your hair, letting out a breath as you felt a weight off of your shoulders. Your relief didn’t last long, however, as you could see the state of your arm in your periphery.

You were flickering again.

It must have been the exhaustion from the fight, from seeing Spider-Man again. But it meant that you couldn’t go back out, not even right across the street to get back to your apartment. Someone might see you.

After a few minutes of trying to will your powers into obeying you for a change, you finally gave up and settled onto a dry spot on the ground, away from any trash or needles. Only time would tell if you could go back out into the daylight, again.

You looked around the alley for something to focus on besides your predicament with your invisibility. Your gaze landed on the drain pipe and followed it upward until it landed on something bulky stuck to the wall, covered in webbing. You stood up, squinting your eyes to further examine it.

Was that a backpack?

Right at that moment, an all-too familiar voice came echoing down the alley walls as a red and blue figure made its way towards you.

“Yeah, yeah, sorry, Aunt May. I got caught up with the- yeah, I’m headed to the grocery store right now. Okay. Love you, too.���

Was he on the phone with someone? Whatever the case, he hadn’t noticed you. You silently ducked behind the dumpster for good measure and watched him as he effortlessly darted up the wall and sprayed the backpack with web solvent. It leaned forward as it became unstuck, and Spider-Man caught it in one hand before gracefully descending back to the ground.

Huh. Spider-Man has a backpack. And an aunt named May.

More importantly, Spider-Man was in the same alleyway as you and you were flickering!

You ducked your head back behind the dumpster. You heard the zipper of the backpack opening, as well as the shuffling of some materials. You peeked out again and nearly collapsed at the sight of a half-naked body. Spider-Man was only in his boxers, revealing his toned torso and muscular arms and legs. Your face flushed with heat.

You couldn’t help but stand and let your eyes follow the body upward until you saw-

You almost keeled over right then and there. Curly brown hair. Soft brown eyes. A very, very young face.

Peter Parker? From school? From the decathlon team? With the Legos and the secret handshakes?

It couldn’t be. It absolutely couldn’t. Could it?

Your mind raced with a million questions and a million possible answers, but it all came to a halt as his head rose from its focus on his backpack and his eyes scoured the alley, looking for something.

You could have sworn that your heart stopped. You hadn’t made a sound, had you? You hadn’t-

Look away look away look away eyes forward eyes away I’m not here don’t see me for the love of God please don’t see me.

His head turned, and you locked eyes with Peter Parker.

A/N: Sorry it’s been so damn long. It was my birthday over the weekend. I don’t have an excuse for all the weekdays before or after that lol.

Tag list:

@3003st @aubreylovesthegames @catnolannn @dat-one-goat  @embrace-themagic @greenarrowhead @hawaiiantozier @honestlysasha @justapotatonow @literallyjustshipping @lucille-lovely @soullesstrashcan @spider-stud @stone2576 @timelordy-fangirl2 @wicked-wiccan-witch

[studiobeebo]

Hello! May I request a scenario where Bakugos crush begs him to go on a big ferris with her at night? The ferris wheel gets stuck so theyre up at the top for 2 hours? I need some fluff 😭.

yet another example of my inability to write short scenarios khdksd, i hope you like it friend p.s. i went very extra on the fluff im so s o r r y

“What do you mean, ‘no’!?”

“You’re not that stupid, you know what ‘no’ means.”

“What do you mean by ‘i’m not ‘that’ stupid’?”

Katsuki just smirked and looked off to the side, knowing he’d be in trouble if you saw that mocking look on his face. Unfortunately for him, however, you definitely caught it and you were quick to smack him up the back of the head because of it. You weren’t an idiot, you did know what ‘no’ meant, but you just didn’t understand why he’d be saying no to your request.

After a lot of subtle hint dropping to literally every member in your little group of friends, you convinced Mina, Kirishima, and Kaminari to go to the amusement park with you over the weekend. Oddly enough, after finding out that the others were going, it didn’t really take all that much persuasion to get Bakugou to join you. You thought that having a whole group of ‘morons’ as he called them would deter him from coming, but it seemed that something else was able to beat out his desire to be anti social. Since you really wanted him to join, you didn’t push it and you took his confirmation as a simple lucky happening. Bakugou on the other hand was pretty happy that you decided not to pester him on his reason for agreeing to go because honestly, even he didn’t know the reason.

He’d been having some strange feelings about you recently that he really couldn’t seem to understand, but for reasons unknown, the idea of going out with you to an amusement park was appealing to him, despite the other three also tagging along. When he first started to notice that his eyes would linger on you more than usual or he’d find himself thinking about you late at night when he was left alone with his thoughts, it pissed him off because someone like you shouldn’t have been that big of a distraction. Over the course of a few weeks, however, he noticed that the more time he spent being aggravated over these new habits, the more he got distracted and off track, so he decided to always just push it to the back of his mind and go with the flow of things.

Going with the flow of things was what had led him here, with you, along with a few other idiots idly walking around the park while everyone tried to figure out what they wanted to fit into their day before the park closed. When you suggested the ferris wheel, however, he heavily declined because of one simple fact: each pod on the ferris wheel only seated two people. The idea of you sitting so close to one of the others in a little space like that, especially if you ended up with Kaminari who would, in the least, try to flirt with you, made him sick. Again, he couldn’t explain why, but just the thought of it made his imagination run wild with ridiculous scenarios that bred that oh so familiar yet easily deniable feeling of jealousy bubbling up in his chest. This jealousy, just like those pesky feelings he had been having about you, just frustrated him because he didn’t understand the reasoning behind it, but at the same time, he couldn’t control it. On the other hand, the idea of being the one to go with you freaked him out even more because with how his heart had been racing every time your hand brushed up against his own while you walked next to him, he didn’t think he could handle sitting just a foot or so away from that fucking face of yours that drove him nuts with urges he’d rather not share. Unfortunately for him, however, in a group like this one, his lone “No” stood little chance up against four “Yes’s”.

“I think the ferris wheel sounds awesome!!! We’ll be able to see all the lights and everything!” Mina cheered in response towards your idea, already beginning to lead the way towards said ride while Kirishima and Kaminari were already following suit.

“Looks like you’re gonna get left in the dust, Kacchan.” You teased, knowing he hated being called that name, though you only assumed this because his cheeks always turned a bit pink in what you guessed was anger every time you called him that.

“He’s probably just scared.~ Want us to find something that moves a bit slower for you, Kacch-”

Kaminari wasn’t even able to finish his sentence before receiving a very forceful fist to his head followed by Bakugou storming ahead of everyone else as if to prove he was definitely not scared without saying a word. He could let you get away with calling him names, but if that electric idiot or anyone else thought they could get away with the same shit, they had another thing coming.

Bakugou’s last saving grace was the idea that maybe the line would be painfully long and he could get everyone to see how stupid the whole idea was and move along, but unfortunately it was quite the opposite considering the park was getting close to it’s closing time and this wasn’t really the most popular ride. When he saw Kirishima and Kaminari pile into the first set of seats, and then Mina get in by herself in the second one, Bakugou was quick to grab the door to the pod she was in before giving you a pointed look.

“Ride with her.”

“Why don’t you ride with her.” You huffed back in response, not liking his demanding attitude, and not liking the creeping idea that maybe he just really didn’t want to sit with you. It wasn’t that you had anything against Mina or anything, you just..wanted to spend time with Bakugou alone for a little bit. Well, honestly, you wanted to spend way more than just ‘a little bit’ of alone time with him, but that was your little secret. Originally, your plan for this whole thing was to finally stop being a chicken and ask Bakugou out, after all. Unfortunately, it seemed your chicken days weren’t done with you, so you made it a group event and then ‘convinced’ yourself that this was what you wanted all along, just a night out with friends with your crush thrown in for good measure. As much as you liked him, though, you liked teasing him even more and seeing that shocked look on his face that screamed that he still wasn’t used to people saying no to him never failed to make you happy.

“Wha- Because, I fuckin’ said you shou-”

“Who said I wanted either of you to ride with me?! I want this thing to myself!!”

And with that, Mina slammed the door shut out of Bakugou’s grip and the ride moved, bringing up the next set of seats. Without a second thought you opened the door and made yourself comfortable in one of the seats before turning to give Bakugou, who looked like he still wasn’t all to sure about getting on this thing, a very deadpanned look. You couldn’t be that bad of an option to sit across from, right?

“C’mon Bakugou, I’m not a disease or something. If you seriously don’t want to go then just go hang out somewhere else or something.”

Your words that were laced with disappointment seemed to bring him back to his senses though and he followed your lead soon after, seating himself across from you, but not daring to look you in the eyes.

“I didn’t say you were a disease and I didn’t say I didn’t want to fucking go, idiot.”

“…Well actually, you di-”

“Shut up.”

You let out a small laugh before scooting over as close as you could to the window to your left and letting your eyes wander as the world below you slowly became smaller and smaller. Every once in a while you’d make a comment about how small one of the other rides looked from way up in the sky or some joke about the people looking like ants, but Bakugou was too preoccupied with keeping his thoughts and his emotions in check to muster up anything but quiet grunts in response. Fuck, was it hard to keep himself from staring now, especially when you had that childlike look of wonder that just lit up your entire face like the stars lit up the sky above you. His heart kept aching with a stupid want to have that look directed at him rather than at the world below you, but for now, he was okay with settling on just being able to be with you at a time like this.

“Bakugou you aren’t even looking! It’s not fun if you don’t look around, you know!! You’re missing out on the view!!” You whined like a child begging their mother to be as invested in their cartoons as they were. While you didn’t know where he was looking, you could tell by the few quick glances you took that he wasn’t looking at the tiny rides and tents below or the beautiful sky above. While admittedly your heart was beating a bit faster than usual just from being so close to the man of your affections, you didn’t want to risk even looking in his direction because you knew the look on your face would give away the fact that something was going on with you, so you focused your attention elsewhere. It was kind of sad, really, you’d been yearning to do all these things alone with Bakugou and now that you were alone with him, you could hardly start up a conversation.

“My view’s just fine..” He mumbled out gruffly before finally tearing his eyes away from you and directing them out the window towards whatever it was it seemed like you had been looking at, but before he could make a comment, a strong jolt rocked the entire ride and he had to grab onto one of the railings to steady himself. After that jarring moment, when he instinctively looked up to make sure you were okay, there wasn’t any movement from the ride at all.

“What the hell is this shit.”

“..Maybe they’re stopping to load more people on?”

While your words seemed confident, your eyes were still scanning the area below with concern, but fortunately, or unfortunately, a voice came over the little speaker that was connected to the ceiling of your shared pod.

“We apologize for that folks, but it looks like we’re having a few problems with getting the ride going. However, it should only be a few minutes here before we’re all set so please stay seated and remain calm and patient. Thank you.”

You could practically hear the collective series of groans that rang out from the two of you and just about everyone else on the ride. It was nice that the two of you ended up pretty close to the top, so you had a pretty decent view of just about everything, but ten minutes passed, then half an hour, and after a straight hour of awkward small talk and staring at the same scenes below as you had seen before, that view got old and pretty boring.

“Gah, this is fucking ridiculous!!” Bakugou exclaimed while tugging at his hair in frustration after losing the sixth round of rock-paper-scissors in a row. After a while, the awkwardness of being in such a tight space with you had worn off somewhat, but now that it had been at least an hour and a half, that feeling was starting to creep up on him again and it was starting to make him antsy.

“At least you didn’t get stuck with Kaminari.” You joked, leaning an elbow against the armrest and then resting your chin in the palm of your hand. “You probably would’ve cremated him by now, and then taken down the whole ride with him.”

“Yeah, yeah..” he retorted with an annoyed ‘tch’, not really needing to be reminded about his explosive temper and, without thinking, he actually spoke the first thing that came to mind that was meant to stay there with the rest of his intrusive thoughts about you. “You don’t have to tell me twice that I got lucky ending up with you.”

“….Lucky, huh?”

The sound of your intrigued response finally made him realize what the hell he had just said, his cheeks turning a darker shade of pink after every time he replayed those words over to himself and the sly smile on your face didn’t help all that much either.

“Shut the fuck up, that’s not what I fucking meant!! I just meant that you’re the least fucking annoying out of those three morons! Don’t let that shit go to your head!”

You could tell by how frazzled he appeared and his long winded string of curses and explanations that he was flustered, but you were stuck in your own head repeating what he had said much like he was doing. Despite the tone he had used saying it, that was probably one of the sweetest things he could have said to you in this moment and you were more than willing to take it rather than leave it. Bakugou’s mind, on the other hand, wasn’t as calm and content as yours was. It was as if saying that one little thing opened a floodgate in his mind and he was struggling to not spill everything that was on his mind, and it was even harder to keep himself from doing any of the things he wanted to do. Even though he was clearly embarrassed, seeing that smile linger on your face gave him a bit of hope though, hope that you didn’t just think he was being a total idiot.

“I guess I’m pretty lucky too, I didn’t really think you’d show up to be honest..” You hummed, figuring you’d spill something of your own too.

Bakugou was actually surprised by your little comment and he didn’t even know how to respond. He couldn’t exactly say ‘Well yeah, I’ve got a thing for you so I figured I should tag along’…Bakugou stopped, his eyes wide and his breath caught in his throat for a moment because suddenly, he felt like even more of an idiot than before just for thinking those words. Was that what all of this was?? Did he..like you? There was definitely no way, right? He had bigger things to worry about and he didn’t have time to mess around with things as dumb as crushes..yet here he was, heart racing, cheeks red, and mind filled with every thought or feeling he had ever had about you, confirming that there was no way he could honestly call this anything but a crush.

“I didn’t mean that in an asshole-y way, you just never seem to like the idea of going out with any of us.”

That’s right, he had gotten so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t even remember to form a response to you. Maybe it was the altitude, or maybe his heart was just fed up with having to deal with him shoving all his feelings down, but for now, after his sudden realization, he didn’t even bother holding back his words as he took a very ‘it’s now or never’ approach to his next words.

“They aren’t the same as you.”

“..What’s that supposed to mean?”

At this point, you actually turned to face him out of curiosity towards his statement. Technically he could just be reiterating the fact that he preferred you over the others for some reason, but something in the way he said it felt different from what he had said before. Weirdly enough, judging by the conflicted look on his face, he seemed just as confused by his own words as you were.

After a moment of awkward silence, he let out a small huff before turning his attention back out the window, so you were guessing that meant he didn’t feel like talking anymore, but to your surprise, he continued.

“Doesn’t matter. I’m just saying next time we should just go out without those other idiots so they’re not in the fucking way.”

You blinked, and then you felt that familiar warmth rise to your cheeks as butterflies erupted in you stomach as if they decided to take on the role of excitement because you were too shocked to do so on your own.

“…L-Like by ourselves?”

When you saw his face turn to one of frustration and you noticed him start to fidget around anxiously, you quickly straightened up and rephrase your question.

“I’m not trying to pull your leg, that was a serious question!”

“Yes by ourselves, do I have to spell it out for you? If I knew you were gonna be this difficult about it, I wouldn’t have fuckin’ bothered…Are we going to go on a fucking date or what?”

It was almost comedic seeing him try to act so upset and grumpy while his face was very generously covered in red, but it was that final question that had really hit home with you and you couldn’t even waste time thinking about teasing him. You had to bite your cheek in an attempt to keep your smile from growing as you looked down to your feet, asking yourself repeatedly in your head if this was just a dream, or if this was actually happening.

“I’m not being difficult, I was just making sure…But sure, I guess I could spare some time for you, Katsuki.”

He opened his mouth to start throwing around more insults in response to your teasing tone, but when he did so, another jolt rocked the ferris wheel and before you knew it, you were moving again as a little ‘thank you for your patience’ message played over the intercom system.

“Ah hey look at that!! It’s about time, don’t you think!?” You exclaimed, pressing your face up against the window just to make sure that you were actually on your way back down.

Despite the long ride and the embarrassment clearly showing on his face, Bakugou couldn’t help but smirk as his eyes landed on you yet again and his heart finally began to settle, satisfied that it’s intentions had finally been released, and though he was happy to finally get out of the cramped space soon, his next words had hardly anything to do with the ride.

“..Yeah, about damn time, huh..”

[sapphireswimming]

Aces: Chapter 7 (a Gundam 00 fic)

[read parts 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 of this still-unnamed, slight-AU]

For Day 7 of @g00week​ (Tomorrow), because that’s when Chris will finally... well... you’ll see

2.5k of humor/bonding, no warnings, no spoilers

The shuttle docked on the Ptolemy and Chris pushed out of her seat, grateful for the chance to stretch her legs again. Trips to Earth were great and all, but she could do without the overnight train ride and being stuck in the shuttle after.

But Lichty and Feldt were waiting for them at the bay door.

“Welcome back!” Feldt said, smiling as Chris joined them in the hallway.

“Yeah, welcome back!” Lichty said, bounding forward to help her with her luggage.

She let him take the duffel bag from her right hand, and Feldt grabbed the book in her left. That just left her with an overstuffed backpack that she hefted further up onto her shoulders.

“Looks like you really hit the jackpot,” Lichty groaned as he realized just how heavy the bag was.

“Oh yeah!” she said, excitedly. “There were all sorts of good sales and I just couldn’t help myself. I got all sorts of things…”

Chris started moving down the hallway and Feldt followed, while Lichty awkwardly scooted along sideways with the duffel bag bouncing against his knees.

“I got some clothes, and some food,” she started counting off on her fingers.

“You didn’t forget to get some fruit, did you?” Lichty asked.

Chris turned around and laughed. “You think I’d forget?” she asked, waving her hands in front of her. “I got some apples and clementines.”

“Yes!” Lichty said, stretching out the word and looking like he would have fist pumped if he hadn’t had both hands full.

“And I got another surprise for everyone,” Chris lilted as she continued walking backwards in front of them.

“Oh man, what is it?” Lichty asked.

She grinned. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Oh, come on,” Lichty groaned. “Come on, please?” Chris just laughed. “Please? Just a hint maybe? Give us a hint,” he begged as she shook her head.

“Have you had anything to eat?” Feldt asked.

“Not for a while,” Chris said, turning around again. “The last meal they gave us on the train was a while ago and I didn’t feel like digging into my bag for chips on the shuttle. Thought that if I opened it, I’d never get it all back in!”

“Well, the mess hall should be pretty empty right now,” Feldt said.

“And that means plenty of room for an unpacking party!” Lichty added.

Doctor Moreno rounded the corner and stopped just in time to avoid a duffel bag to the knees. “What’s this I hear about an unpacking party?” he asked.

“Hey, Doctor Moreno!” Chris said. “I just got back, and brought some stuff with me,” she said and Lichty lifted up the bag a bit as proof.

“We were just going to go to the mess hall to start unpacking some of it,” he added.

“Want to join us?” Chris asked. “I brought clementines.”

Doctor Moreno adjusted his glasses as he surveyed the scene. “I would absolutely love to,” he said, falling into step with them as they crossed the Ptolemy.

Once they got to the mess hall, Lichty hefted the bag on top of the table and Chris pulled it toward her to start unzipping it. The contents of the bag threatened to overflow as soon as it started to open. Feldt rescued the bag of apples that began cascading down the side and the clementines that wanted to follow soon after.

She crossed to the cabinets and retrieved the fruit bowl they owned for just such an occasion, taking them out of the bags and neatly stacking each fruit into a pyramid.

Lichty claimed two of the apples before they could disappear, stuffing them into his jacket pockets for later. Moreno asked him for a Clementine which he doubled back to get, tossing it across the table. He started to peel it and popped a slice in his mouth as Chris began unpacking the rest of the bag.

There were bags of candy and cookies already spread across the table. She added multiple bags of popcorn, “For our movie nights,” she said with a wink. Then came a series of differently flavored teas, their tins clinking against the table as she lined them up.

Next was a layer of clothing—shirts, scarves, and a dress—that she bundled into Feldt’s arms. “It has such a billowy skirt, you’re going to love it,” she promised.

Behind them was a brightly colored bag that Lichty grabbed. “Huh, these are new,” he said, reading the label to discover they were a kind of Filipino shortbread.

“Oh, yeah, those are really, really good,” Chris said. “I cracked open the other bag while I was waiting for the elevator. I think I put the rest of them,” she rummaged around until she found a tin of Italian wafers, “in here!” She pulled off the top and tipped out a bunch of individually wrapped polvoron. “Lasse owes me big for tracking that down,” she said as she set the tin aside.

“Oh, and this worked out perfectly,” she said, pulling out two pairs of aviator sunglasses and handing them over to Moreno and Lichty. “Here you go.”

“For me?” Lichty asked, immediately trying them on.

“There was a buy one, get one half off sale,” she said, shrugging a little and grinning. “How was I supposed to pass that up?”

Moreno turned over the pair in his hands, considering them for a moment before taking his glasses off and tucking them carefully into his shirt pocket. He blinked a little at the bright light overhead, but quickly replaced them with the new lenses and stared at different points around the room to see how they compared.

“Thank you, Chris,” he said.

“Of course!” she replied, brightly. “Thought you could use an update. Or a backup pair, in case you don’t really like them,” she added.

“No, these are wonderful,” he said with a smile.

“How do I look?” Lichty asked, swiveling his head so everyone could get a good look at them.

“Perfect,” Doctor Moreno said.

Feldt leaned over the table to get a better look. “They look really good,” she told him.

Lichty beamed. “Really?”

“Really,” Chris laughed. “They look perfect on both of you. Just like I knew they would.”

“Awesome,” Lichty said as he went to take them off. “Too bad there’s not much use for sunglasses up here,” he lamented.

As both of Moreno’s eyebrows rose, Lichty tried to back peddle. “Uh, I mean these are perfect! And I’ll wear them all the time,” he said, quickly putting them back on as Chris uncovered a few clinking bottles of booze for Miss Sumeragi.

“And Feldt, I got that other stuff we were talking about,” she said, pulling out a large shopping bag and hiding it beneath the table as soon as Lichty tried to peek inside. “Uh no,” she said, “You don’t get to see it yet! It’s a surprise,” she said, handing it off to Feldt who carefully put it under her chair.

Lichty pulled a face but was soon distracted by the long box Chris hefted onto the table. “But this,” she said, with a wild glint in her eyes, “is for everyone.”

“What is it?” Lichty asked, pulling up his sunglasses to get a better look at the printing on the side of the box.

“Trading cards,” she announced with glee.

Feldt and Lichty both looked confused. “Trading cards…?” they asked.

“Yes,” Chris said, pulling off the perforated top of the cardboard box. “They’ve started making trading cards of the pilots from each Bloc. Because of the show,” she said.

“No way!” Lichty said, moving to stand right next to her as she opened them.

“Yeah, I had no clue until I saw these near the checkout of this one place and I was like I need to get these. So they sell them in these mystery packs. Each Bloc is a different color foil, see?” she said, holding them up. “The Union’s silver, AEU’s gold, and the HRL is this bronze-ish color. It would have taken too long to do the math for how many I needed to get for everyone to end up with 3 packs,” she admitted. “So I just…”

“…Bought a box,” Feldt supplied.

“Yep! So hopefully there’s enough in here for everyone to get a pack of each,” she said, starting to count through them. Midway through, she stopped and just upended the box, shaking out the packs and spreading them around the table, sorting them by color.

Lichty extended an arm and swept the rest of her finds off to the edge of the table so they would have more room to distribute them.

“If we don’t have enough for everyone, we don’t have to give any to Tiera,” she laughed. “You want some, though, right?” she asked, turning to Moreno.

“Of course,” he grinned, laying his half eaten Clementine aside long enough to grab a pile and start counting how many packs there were. “If there are enough of these,” he added. “Which… it looks like there will be,” he said before starting to deal them out in piles as if they were playing cards. “Looks like there are thirty six packs, so that’s enough for everyone and then an extra set of each.”

“Mine!” Chris claimed before anyone else had a chance to open their mouths. “They’re mine – I bought them. They’re mine. I get the extras.”

Moreno and Feldt finished divvying up the packs into equal piles. Lichty immediately grabbed one, then paused. “Can I?” he asked Chris.

“Go for it,” she said, and he started unwrapping. Feldt also picked up a pile and Moreno slid one over toward himself as he ate another slice.

Feldt started reading off the backs of the foil wrapped packs. “… Based on the TV spot and featuring pilots and mech units from across the world, this AEU mystery booster pack contains 6 regular cards, 2 uncommon cards, 1 rare card, and 1 sticker.”

“Stickers, huh?” Moreno asked as he carefully tore the corner off of a silver pack.

“I’ll take them if you don’t want them,” Chris offered, a twinkle in her eye.

He looked affronted, pulling his hards closer. “Steal my stickers?” he asked with a crooked grin. “Never,” he said, crumpling up the wrapper and dropping it onto the table where it quickly unfolded from its crinkled ball.

“Oh, well would you look at that,” he said, peering down at his cards. “A Graham Aker. Good beginning. And… another Graham Aker,” he said, flipping to the next one. “Lucky me.”

“What?” Chris pulled his hands down to see two different shots of the Union’s Ace staring up at her. “Oh my god.” She released his hand to grab her six packs and start in on a Union one. Within moments, it was unwrapped, and she flipped through it wildly, face falling as she realized that hers didn’t contain a Graham card. “Noooooo,” she said, “no, no, no.”

“You still have another pack,” Feldt consoled her, picking up the other silver pack and holding it out to her.

Quickly, Chris opened it and rifled through the cards. “What?” she asked in distress as she did it again. “I don’t have one. How do I not have one? It should be impossible not to get a Graham Aker card in a Union pack,” she wailed.

“Feldt, Lichty, do you have one?” she asked, slamming both hands on the table as she leaned over toward them.

Feldt rotated her hand of cards to show that she did indeed have a Graham. Lichty snatched his cards closer to his chest. “So what if I do?” he asked, voice wavering.

“Lichty, give me your Graham,” Chris demanded, holding out a hand.

“No,” he said, moving them over past his shoulder.

“Then trade me your Graham. I’ve got…” she fanned out her cards, “I’ve got a Darryl and Howard, and the guy from Iowa, and two Joshuas, and the ponytail scientist guy, and like five Flags. Here,” he held out a card, “take a Joshua.”

Lichty checked his cards. “No, I have a Joshua too.”

“Fine, then what about Darryl and Howard? Then you can have both of them. Or some Flags,” she offered instead. “Do you want some Flags? I’ll trade you three Flags for Graham.”

“No,” Lichty protested, lifting his cards high up in the air to keep them out of reach as Chris came around the table.

“Fine,” she grumbled, then turned her attention to Moreno. “You’ve got two,” she said. “Will you trade me a Graham? I’ll give you anything I’ve got,” she said.

She didn’t see the slicing motions Lichty made across his neck from behind her. Feldt chuckled.

Moreno raised an eyebrow. “Hmmm,” he said, pulling up his hand to study it. “Hmmm, no, I don’t think so?” he said slowly.

Chris slumped over the table for a moment. “Come on, what do you want? Do you want to trade cards from another Bloc?” She began ripping open another pack. “Here, look, okay, I have two Somas. I’ll trade you a Soma for a Graham,” she said, waving it in front of her.

Moreno pursed his lips and shook his head. “I don’t know what I’ve got in my HRL pack yet,” he said. “But I’m pretty sure I don’t need a card of the Ace who puts Allelujah in the med bay every time they fight.”

Chris threw his hands up in the air. “Uh, fine! Although technically,” she said, waving a pointed finer around the room. “Technically, these should all be mine. Come on,” she pleaded. “Won’t anyone trade me their Graham?”

Moreno adjusted his glasses and shook his head. Lichty put down his shades again and kept his cards flat against his jacket. Feldt shook her head.

“I hate all of you,” she declared, although there was no real heat behind it. With a long arm, she swept several piles of unopened packs off the table into her arms and moved toward the door.

“Wait, where are you going with those?” Lichty asked.

Feldt stood from her chair. “Weren’t you going to get something to eat?” she asked.

Chris turned toward them again. “No. No, I think I’m going to find someone who will trade me a Graham,” she said, pushing out of the mess hall.

As the door hissed shut behind her, Lichty pulled his sunglasses back up onto the top of his head and leaned over the table, inspecting his cards again. “Okay,” he said, rocking forward on his elbows, “who wants to trade a…”

 Bonus:

Lasse also doesn’t have a Graham, otherwise he would trade with Chris

Sumeragi does have a Graham and while she takes a look at the Billy card while considering a trade, she ultimately refuses to be complicit in fueling this ridiculous crush Chris has

After unwrapping the AEU pack to see Kati looking up at her, she has to excuse herself from the bridge

Chris ends up slipping her double Soma to Allelujah

Tieria doesn’t want to accept the packs at first, but Lockon laughs and takes them for him. It turns out he has a Graham, but he suddenly becomes extremely attached to his cards and refuses point blank to trade anything

Later, he thoroughly examines every card in the quiet of his cabin, looking for any statistics that were unaired or may come in useful and finding nothing

Chris has a blast with the stickers

[illusioneddrawer64]

First Meeting AU

UF Chapter Three: First Meeting

PDJLF DQG PBVMHUB PHHW DJDLQ

A/N: Almost similar, but different headcannons-by using two readers' self-insert (available for anyone who wants to insert themselves to this amazing fandom; both male or female) as being Dipper and Mabel's cousins. Y/N means 'your name'. Additionally, the story is cut in conversations and statements. I do not own Gravity Falls or Steven Universe. UF belongs to MiniJen. Enjoy!

"Come on you guys!" Mabel called back to her brother, and their two cousins.

"Hurry up! I wanna meet those magical ladies that Soos was talking about!"

"H-Hold on!" Dipper exclaimed.

"I'm on my way!"

"Yeah, I am also out of breath too!" replied (male: y/n).

"Seriously? You guys are tired already?" asked Mabel teasingly.

"(Female: y/n) and I are a way ahead of you two"

"Heh-this is what happens if you two boys spend too much time with your noses in a dumb book instead of having fun like Mabel and I do!" exclaimed (female: y/n).

"We're not!" Dipper puffed.

"Exactly-this is wwaayy different from our P.E class; this hill is a lot steeper than it looks to be!" protested (male: y/n).

"Yeah, whatever you slowpokes say" Mabel deadpans with a good-natured laugh.

"I am guessing that cuz should give out her 'Mabel Approves Work-out Plan'!" (Female: y/n) cheerfully said.

"Yeah-only with ten packets of sugar each morning, it is guaranteed in pump you up with endless energy, or your money back!" added Mabel with a smile.

"You girls are spending too much time with Grunkle Stan" Dipper said as he laughed at their humor.

"Well-anyways we made it-whew! Do you think that there is a group of magical ladies up here?" (Male: y/n) questioned.

"I do sure hope so! That would be so cool! Way cooler than my boyfriend turning out to be a bunch of gnomes, at least." Mabel stated.

(Female: y/n) chuckled at the wild ride memory.

"And of-course hopefully less dangerous" Dipper puts in.

"Right on, Dip-but even if these ladies aren't real, we can try to find something else interesting up here" (Male: y/n) said.

"It only makes sense considering how this weird this town turning out to be" agreed Dipper.

"Heh-you boys are the weird ones out here, ya dorks" Mabel jokes.

"Not any weirder than you two are" Dipper retorted, gesturing Mabel's and (female: y/n)'s combined creative craft project, which (male: y/n) notes that it is very 'colorful' shish kabob.

"We all are weird!" Mabel proclaimed enthusiastically, swinging the supposed shish kabob.

"Yep, indeed we are-hold on, have you heard that?" (Male: y/n) said who suddenly brought his voice very low.

"What-you mean the wind?"

"No-wait…shhhhh. Can you hear that?"

"Maybe it's that squirrel again! I bet he wants another hug!"

"Well, not after you nearly suffocated him last time-I highly doubt that"

"It is neither that-besides the rusting is pretty loud to be the wind…"

(Male: y/n) approaches where the sound coming from. "Curious…very, very curious"

So…what? Do you think it is a scary monster or something, waiting in the woods to gobble up four random kids for dinner? Well to be honest, Dip and (male: y/n) would be dinner-I'd be desert 'cause like I said earlier I am full of ten packets of sugar per day!"

"Come on Mabel this is serious. What if there is something out there?"

"If it is-I would say: Take Me to Your Leader!" replied (female: y/n) humorlessly.

"I'm sure it is nothing, it's probably just-". Mabel was cut off by a loud shout.

"Lion Wait! Where are You going?"

Before all four can react, a giant pink blur came out of nowhere from the woods, frightening all four.

"Well, there is something-you know what I'll say: RUN!" exclaimed (male: y/n).

The supposed pink creature chased all four-until it pinned down both Dipper and (female: y/n) with both paws.

Both children grimaced at their certain situation and braced of what-yet-to-come. But only saved by last minute timely rescue.

"Lion, Stop that! What have I told you about attacking people it is rude!"

Dipper and (female: y/n) breathed out a sign of relief and both are pulled up by (male: y/n).

Mabel's eyes sparkled at the lion's pink fur.

"Hey you guys okay?"

All four kids see their new founded-friends: sitting at the front was a short stout boy with a red shirt with a star on it along with jeans, behind him was a girl who looked bit taller than the boy with framed glasses at her nose.

"Um…yeah, thanks?" Dipper said, disbelieving that a wild animal is under the young boy's care.

"You're welcome! Sorry about that though; 'Lion' can be kinda…overprotective sometimes…"

"This is your lion?" Mabel asked with an excitement. "You are so lucky! And he's so cute!"

"You do remember that how he nearly killed me and (female: y/n) just few seconds ago, right?" Dipper asked sharply.

"Aw…" Mabel gushed. "And he's soft too! Like a walking cotton candy, but with teeth!"

"I know, right? He makes a good pillow too! I'm Steven by the way. You already meet Lion, of course. And this is my friend Connie."

"Nice to meet you! Even though it was an accident."

"I'm Dipper and the girl who is losing herself inside your, uh…lion's mane is my sister, Mabel" Dipper grinned with sudden amusement. "And those are my peculiar cousins-(female: y/n) and (male: y/n)."

"Interesting-very, very interesting" (Male: y/n) states who had pulled out a pair of glasses to examine Lion.

"Likewise, it is nice to meet you too!" (Female: y/n) notes while petting Lion who gained an interest in her.

"So SOFT!" Mabel exclaims, which (male: y/n) chuckles at the amusement.

"So what you guys doing up here all by yourselves anyways?"

"Yeah, the only thing up around here is the temple, and if you wanted to go there, then there is much easier way than climbing up the hill, you know."

"Temple?" Dipper interest perked, along with (male: y/n) taking notice.

"Yeah, the temple! It's where me and the Crystal Gems live."

"The Crystal-what?" Dipper questioned, only to be interrupted by Mabel. "Too…Much…Softness…"

"Whoa! I love your sweater! It's kinda like my shirt! Well…kinda…"

"I guess it is!" Mabel agreed. "I'm glad you like it. All my sweaters are handmade by me and (female: y/n) truly!"

"You know, if you really wanted one, we can make one for you-with no extra charge!" (Female: y/n) joined in.

"Oh yeah! Maybe you two could even make matching pairs for three of us at the same time! Or me and Connie! Or all six of us!

"Oh my gosh!" Mabel squealed.

"That is a great idea!" (Female: y/n) exclaimed.

"This sounds awesome! We all can be sweater buddies!"

"Wait, wait, wait" Dipper proclaims. "A minute ago…you said something about…the Crystal Gems…who are they?"

"Oh, right! The Crystal Gems are Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and me! We use magic from our Gems to fight monsters and protect humanity and stuff."

"So… the rumors about magical guardians living up here are actually true?" Dipper asked a bit skeptically, unsure if Steven was actually being serious or not. (Male: y/n) took off his glasses and puts his hands behind his back.

"Believe it or not, they are. Steven is proof of that."

"Wow-Really?" stated (Female: y/n) who is equally amazed as Mabel.

"Aw, yeah, well…I'm only half magic. My dad's a human, but my mom was a Gem. See?"

To show the twins what he meant, Steven lifted his shirt up a bit to reveal the rose quartz gem upon his navel.

"Whoa…" both Dipper and Mabel with their astonished cousins said in equal awe upon examining the pink gem.

"Unbelievable…" Dipper muttered in amazement upon realizing that the gem was actually real and not just a decoration.

"Sparkly…" Mabel whispered with a stunned expression, her eyes reflecting the shine of Steven's gem as it glistened in the afternoon sun. "What does it do?"

"The Gems tell me that my mom used to use it to do lots of stuff. But… I'm still learning how to use it. So far I've used it to make a shield and a bubble. In fact, the bubble was how me and Connie met!"

"Uh… yeah…We got trapped in it for several hours and we nearly drowned at the bottom of the lake. Other than that, it was a pretty good day."

"No worries-every person has every good days, and even bad days" (Male: y/n) said.

"Plus, we beat a giant worm monster and saved the town!"

"Heh, yeah, this town has some weird stuff going on in it"

"Finally! Someone else notices how strange this place is!" Dipper exclaimed, excited that he was not alone in thinking that Gravity Falls was a noticeably odd little town.

"I've been saying that since we got here. We've been here less than a week and already we've faced off against a bunch of gnomes stacked together into a giant monster."

"Who knows, what other days bring ahead" (Male: y/n) gestures across the woods and the lake. "Indeed, who 'Nose'?" tapping a side of his nose humorlessly.

"I learned a valuable lesson there," Mabel said with a joking frown. "Never go out with gnomes in disguise."

"I second that notion" (Female: y/n) added.

"Oh, you guys met the gnomes? Yeah, they can get a little crazy when they don't get what they want… One time they stole my donut and I spent all day chasing them down to get it back! The weird thing was they didn't even want to eat it; they wanted to use it as a wheel for the little gnome car they were building. It was actually kinda cute, even if I never did get that donut back…*sign*…d'oh"

"So you two have only been in Gravity Falls for a few days? Did you just move here?"

"No, we're only here for the summer," Dipper clarified.

"We're staying with our Great Uncle Stan down at the Mystery Shack." Said (Male: y/n).

"Wait, Mr. Pines is your uncle? That's so cool! The Mystery Shack is one of my favorite places in Gravity Falls, along with the temple… and the lake… and the Big Donut… and Funland Arcade… and Greasy's Diner… and-"

"I think they get it, Steven," Connie interrupted with a giggle. "What a coincidence, though. We were just on our way down to the Mystery Shack before we ran into you guys."

"And we were on our way up here to check out the giant eight armed woman!" Mabel said, referring to what her and Dipper now to knew to be some sort of temple thanks to Steven.

"I have to agree, isn't that crazy? It's almost like… fate, or something!" stated (female: y/n).

"Or it was Lion just going through his rebellious stage-Aw, Lion!"

"Gross!" Steven stated. Lion had licked him in perfect, equal measure.

All six laughed together because of the funny moment. Little did they know-summer had started, and their meeting was only a beginning of their adventures.

A/N: All credits to you, MiniJen for this favorable chapter. By paying homage to Universe Falls Three Year Anniversary Extravaganza-thank you for this wonderful crossover. ;)

On the side-note: the self-insert characters of course have a place upon the Zodiac Wheel. Feel free to review to share (through tumblr or on this fanfiction story review) creative ideas and thoughts of what symbols they (you/readers as self-inserts) can represent.

[sylvesterbarzey]

5 Zombie Books For Walking Dead Fans

Okay, I know I've been behind on my Headshot blog and I swear it will be back and will be more weekly than before but until then I thought I would give you Walking Dead nuts a few books to feed your undead needs until the show comes back for Season 9 (Which may or may not be its last season, I'm just saying it's not looking good) So lets just jump into it shall we?

RISE OF THE DEAD (ROTD BOOK1) BY JEREMY DYSON

“Best New Zombie Books of 2016

Blake was never one for taking chances. He lived in a world of formulas and equations. A statistician in a controlled society where everything had become predictably mundane. That world disappeared the day the dead got up and began attacking the living. Now, the end is here. Blake finds himself fighting for his life in a world that is rapidly spiraling out of control. He struggles to keep himself alive and must risk everything to find his family. Along the way, Blake finds himself thrust among other unlikely survivors. Together they must adapt to the realities of the undead world, or join the legion of zombies. The characters must overcome their conditioned human apathy and come together if they have any chance of survival. Rise of the Dead chronicles the first moments of the zombie apocalypse. While the story is a fast-paced thrill ride through an ever-growing zombie horde, the novel aims to draw upon familiar themes as those found in the Romero classic films.

My Thoughts: When I first heard about this book I pictured David Krumholtz's character Charlie from that show "Numbers" Maybe that's just me, but I think Charlie would be awesome in the zombie apocalypse. Much like Rick Grimms and any real zompoc story, we have Blake fighting to survive in this new world and find his family. In fact, Blake is already better than Rick because he has a dog, who unlike that poor horse isn't future zombie food. I plan on checking out this full series when I get some time from writing, but since you're not writing a zombie novel, you have all the time to sit down and dive into Dyson's world.

ON AMAZON

THE DARKEST DAYS (DEATH & DECAY BOOK 1) 

BY R.L BLALOCK

To protect and serve. The motto that every officer is taught from their first day in the academy. On a humid June day in St. Louis, it is a motto that could get Officer Wyatt Ward killed. Desperate citizens flock to the station as the officers of the Cottleville Police Department struggle to handle the chaos that is enveloping a city already shaken by rioting. But as darkness descends something much worse is rising. The deranged. Brutal, unforgiving, single-minded monsters that were once the citizens Wyatt was sworn to protect. Now, they attack. They bite. They infect. As fear takes hold… As the city begins to eat itself… As the world crumbles… What is a man who is sworn to protect to do as the world dies? The Darkest Days is the first book in R. L. Blalock's Death & Decay series. For readers who love a gory, action-packed, zombie-infested stories. Start the series for free today!  

My Thoughts: One let me just say R.L. Blalock is an amazing person and author. I just got done with her interview on The Reanimated Writers Podcast the amount of work she puts into her books and her self-publishing business is amazing. Family, Full Time Job, Group Leader and Writer. Don't ever think you can't do it all, you just have to be willing to work for it. Now you have nothing to lose with this book because:

A) It's an awesome series to start

B) It's free!

Trust me, people, you can't beat this kind of deal. So go get you some undead horror today!

FREE ON AMAZON

BROKEN WORLD: A POST-APOCALYPTIC ZOMBIE NOVEL BY KATE L. MARY

Follow a group of survivors on a journey that spans eleven books and twenty years as they search for safety in a world overrun by the dead... When a deadly virus sweeps the country, Vivian sets out for California in hopes of seeing the daughter she gave up for adoption. Then her car breaks down and she’s faced with a choice: give up or accept a ride from redneck brothers, Angus and Axl. Vivian knows getting in the car with strangers is a risk, but with time running out, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to reach her daughter. The virus is spreading, and by the time the group makes it to California, most of the population has already been wiped out. When the dead start coming back, Vivian and the others realize that no electricity or running water is the least of their concerns. Now Vivian must learn how to be a mom under the most frightening circumstances, cope with Angus's aggressive mood swings, and sort out her growing attraction to his brooding younger brother, Axl. While searching for a safe place to go, the group meets a pompous billionaire who may be the answer to all their problems. Trusting him means going into the middle of the Mojave Desert and possibly risking their lives, but with the streets overrun and nowhere else to turn, he might be their only chance for survival...

ON AMAZON

My Thoughts: Anyone that knows me, knows I love a good Final Girl story! Women in horror are epic and this character-driven story of a mother stepping up to save her kid from a Broken World is such a good take on the Zombie Genre. Rick finding his family with the group of survivors he saved was awesome, now add a cross-country road trip to that and you have a massive formula for some apocalyptic awesomeness. Book one is free and it's also in audio for you book listeners (like me!)

A PLACE OUTSIDE THE WILD (Z-DAY BOOK 1) 

BY DANIEL HUMPHREYS

2017 DRAGON AWARD FINALIST - BEST APOCALYPTIC NOVEL

Eight years after Z-Day, the surviving remnants of mankind face the unknown. The fences and walls kept the ravenous undead at bay until they wasted away. A once overwhelming foe has turned feeble and weak, and a world gone wild seems ripe for reclamation. The scars of the long war run deep. And hope is a dangerous thing when the real enemy might just be the survivors themselves.

My Thoughts: I haven't read this series yet but I know two things, One I've been in love with this cover since I saw it last year and two It was in the running for a Dragon Con award! Being from GA and gearing up for Dragon Con this year, you know I'm hyped to read this one. While the concept feels more like Z-Nation because of the time Gap, the vibe of the story is real and dirty, much like the world of the walking dead. If anyone has read this one then please let me know what you think in the comments below.

ON AMAZON

UNDEAD ON ARRIVAL BY JUSTIN ROBINSON

Today is the last day of Glen Novak’s life. Five years after the end of the world, the few remaining humans are barricaded in a small vacation town on the California coast, beset by hordes of the undead. A single bite turns a man into a walking corpse. There’s no cure and no hope. Someone made sure Novak was bitten and now he has one day to put things in order, protect his people and, most importantly, exact revenge.

My Thoughts: So I'm currently reading this one and I love the opening. I really just get your heart going and puts the tension in the story right from the start. I'm not surprised that I would enjoy this book because it's written by Justin Robinson the winner of The Reanimated Writers Rumble. While I was knocked out in the first round (I think people don't like my R-rated dialogue or I just suck) Justin went all the way and he took on some tricky topics. If you haven't checked out his work, then head over to Amazon and pick this book up now!

ON AMAZON

WELL, THAT'S IT! FIVE AWESOME INDEPENDENT NOVELS FOR YOU WALKING DEAD FANS! I'M A Z-NATION BOY MYSELF BUT TO EACH THEIR OWN. I HOPE YOU TAKE THE TIME TO CHECK OUT THESE GREAT WRITERS AND IF YOU'RE LIKE ME AND WANT SOME LAUGHS WITH YOUR GORE THEN CHECK OUT MY CURRENT SERIES PLANET DEAD!

[jackskirby]

Avid fans of the blog may recall me mentioning in tags on somebody else’s post that I am the proud owner of the Jack Kirby Fourth World omnibus, which is an amazing book and also an amazing doorstop, bludgeon, and weight-training device (more than 1000 pages!). Today I bring to you the first of many stories contained within. You may wonder where the New Gods are, and why this is a Fourth World story, but rest assured, all will become clear in time. And until then we’re in for an absolutely wacky ride aboard the Whiz Wagon. Venture under the cut for the exciting adventures of Superman, Jimmy Olsen, and the Newsboy Legion in The Wild Area in “Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #133: The Newsboy Legion”!

The comic opens with dear old Jimmy rendezvousing with the Newsboy Legion. The Newsboy Legion are not New Gods, nor had I ever seen them in anything else before that I can remember. Prepare to see a lot of them until we push through to issues actually about the Fourth World. The Newsboys show off the fantastic new vehicle they’ve acquired thanks to Morgan Edge, new owner of the Daily Planet and Very Obvious Bad Guy. 

This vehicle is the Whiz Wagon, and I love it for the name and its status as a fantastic Kirby vehicle. Look at those pistons(?)! Look at those swoops(?)! What do they do? Who cares!

The Newsboy Legion, running clockwise in the picture above, consists of Big-Words (he’s smart), Flipper-Dipper (he scuba-dives), Scrapper (he’s short and scrappy), Tommy (he’s just Tommy), and Gabby (he’s short but not scrappy). They’re going to be Jimmy’s sidekicks and assistants in this exciting expedition to The Wild Area, and, let’s face it, they’re going to steal our hearts with their wacky antics.

Meanwhile at the Daily Planet, responsible adult Clark Kent points out that The Wild Area is a dangerous place to send a bunch of kids, even if we know nothing about it except the name. Morgan Edge (you see what I mean about him being an untrustworthy type. A purple suit? At the office?) assures Clark that Jimmy will be fiiiiiiiine, and that Jimmy has to be the one to go, as the denizens of the The Wild Area, the Hairies, don’t trust anyone over 25. They’re those hippy types, ya see.

Clark leaves, and Morgan Edge immediately calls Intergang to assassinate Clark, confirming all my suspicions. Clark, as it turns out, is immune to hit-and-runs, and realizes this is a job for Superman.

Across town, Jimmy and the Newsboy Legion set out on the adventure of a lifetime, as it turns out the Whiz Wagon can fly. Phenomenal.

They arrive in The Wild Area, only to be attacked by one of those aforementioned weird motorcycle groups, and there’s some intense fisticuffs. Jimmy knocks out the final troublemaker, but our heroes find themselves surrounded.

And so Jimmy becomes the new leader of this weird motorcycle group, and sets off to revel in his newfound power and glory.

Clark, worried now that Morgan Edge has it out for him and Jimmy, goes into Superman mode, and heads to The Wild Area, where he proceeds to act like a supersquare.

Superman runs into Jimmy’s hardcore new motorcycle gang, and they zap him with a Kryptonite laser gun, after he tries and fails to convince Jimmy to leave The Wild Area. I don’t know if I’d really call you Superman’s best pal at this point, Jimmy, you’re not being very nice.

Also, I relate intensely to Superman’s expression in this panel. It’s just one of those days, huh, Clark?

Superman wakes up to the friendly faces of the Newsboy Legion, who inform him that this town is Jimmy’s now. And what a town it is! Turns out these weird motorcycle groups live in a fantastical tree city. This does not prove particularly narratively significant, but it is awesome.

Jimmy reveals to Superman that his real assignment is to find out what the Mountain of Judgment is. It’s some kind of vehicle, and travels along an incredible psychedelic drag strip called The Zoomway, but beyond that we know nothing. Yango, Jimmy’s second-in-command and a guy who has clearly seen some shit, offers cautionary words.

Jimmy is not deterred by this, despite Superman’s protestations, and the issue ends with what seems to be an earthquake, but must of course be The Mountain of Judgment approaching, much to the excitement of Jimmy and the Newsboy Legion.

New Gods in this issue: 0

“--”: 18 in these photographs alone

Amazing vehicles: Praise be to the Whiz Wagon

Fantastic turns of phrase: “The Whiz Wagon grabs sky like a crazy eagle”

Classic Kirby: You know it.

While I was somewhat disappointed upon originally reading this story, since it’s the first one in the Omnibus, and has exactly zero (0) New Gods in it, I’ve since come around on it somewhat. Not a lot actually happens, since it’s the first episode of a longish arc, but Kirby just packs so many weird ideas onto every page. It’s hard to resist the charm of such sheer nuttiness. The unifying quality of every story in this book (and there are A. LOT.) is that Jack Kirby drops stuff into stories for an issue or two that other writers could spend a whole series developing, and then he just barrels onto the next idea without hesitation. Reading this, you start to realize why Kirby’s such an influential figure in comics mythology. Every page has something fantastical and mind-boggling on it.

And that’s awesome.

Join us next time as we travel The Zoomway to face The Mountain of Judgment and perhaps even some actual Fourth World content (don’t get too excited, though, there’s a lot of Newsboy Legion left to go). And feel free to drop me a line if you want to see more pics of this issue (hopefully less shitty, I’m literally taking pictures of the pages of my book with my phone right now), or more pics or recap in the next post.

[bangtan-spells]

Hoseok Scenario: One Good Night.

Request: JHope and reader go to a night drive to the beach and when they get there they play in the water, try to build sandcastle but fail, and watch the night sky with the stars bright, and ending the night with saying their first I Love You + scenario where you and Hoseok are having a movie night as best friends and you end up falling asleep on his chest and he tries so many ways to get up but can't so he kisses you to wake you up

Genre: Fluff / Romance

You could already feel the salty air in your face, you laughed excited sticking your head out of the car window.

-We’re almost there! - you said excitedly, closing your eyes to enjoy the night wind blowing through your hair.

Hoseok laughed by the driver’s seat and speeded up. A few hours ago, you wouldn’t even imagine you were going to sneak out for a night ride with Hoseok, but there you were at almost midnight and not regretting it even a bit, usually you were the one proposing crazy things and escapades with your best friend but that night he surprised you. When you received his call you thought it was a prank of him, you were already in your pajamas and munching on some chips while lying around in your bed, but he wasn’t joking and said he wasn’t taking a no as an answer.

-At least let me pull over before you jump out of the car!-

-Hurry up! You didn’t bring me here for nothing didn’t you?-

-God… I think I might as well return you to your room- he joked half heartedly and you hit his arm.

-How dare you?- you laughed. -You love my company Hobi, you know you do-

He draped his arms around the steering wheel and smiled tranquil, his eyes fixed on you making your heart feel funny for a few seconds. He seemed thoughtful that night and you didn’t know why.

-I do - he said softly and you had to look away.

Hoseok was your best friend, has been for a lot of time already and you knew that deep down, there was something else in there, a feeling beyond that of mere friendship that lingered on you for him, that went wild when he smiled at you like that and that you were definitely afraid to explore because you didn’t want to mess it all up, you’d never had this kind of relationship with anyone before Hoseok.

You started to take off your shoes and cleared your throat.

-Well of course you do, I’m just so awesome you can’t resist- you laughed and before you thought better about it, you kissed his cheek and ran out of the car daring him to a run to the water and he of course, followed through.

-You lied to me - you said softly, a half built sand castle behind your back that you had already given up on completing because of how many ways it had tumbled down.

-Me?- Hoseok asked surprised, letting go of the stick he’d been using for the past minutes to drabble along the wet sand.

-Yes, you- you laughed and took the stick to write your names on the sand. -You told me you wanted to go for a quick ride and pick up some movies, but here we are, in a beach, no movies in sight-

-I kind of did, not completely though-

-That’s no excuse you cheater!- you laughed and he stole the stick from your hand.

-I still want to see a movie with you, doesn’t mean we had to do it at home or some boring place like that, we can do it in the car-

-Yeah right…- you turned around to hide your fluster, wasn’t that kind of like boyfriends would do? You were alright with doing all sorts of things with Hoseok, but somehow that night felt a little more intimate, a little more like something you craved for.

-So, aren’t you down for it? I thought it might be nice, have a little change for one night- Hoseok sounded a little unsure there, he even avoided your eyes and you wondered what was going on with him that night, he seemed a little odd before but you thought it had been all in your head, but now you found yourself double thinking that. Hoseok had so much confidence since day one, he was bubbly and warm, but right then he was not so much as himself.

-It’s alright Hobi, I like it here…- you held his hand for a squeeze but didn’t let go of it after and he didn’t seem to mind, he never did, you didn’t remember a day Hoseok had avoided contact with you or the other way around. It was as if somehow,you were always drawn to each other.

You had watched movies together uncounted times before but never bundled up on the backseat of his car. Hoseok had planned this since the beginning because he’d brought blankets, snacks and his iPad to watch the movie comfortably and even if you had complained about him lying he knew you were enjoying it and you agreed with him that this was fine for a change, after all, who went all the way to the beach to stay inside the car to watch movies? only you and Hoseok, and he loved it because this was you, nothing was too crazy or out of place when he was with you.

Hoseok never thought he could be so close to anyone the way he was with you, he loved you in ways he had not dared yet to tell you, he was content with having you as his best friend because at the end of the day you were just that and he didn’t see how could it be bad to love you more than just like that, so he was decided to tell you that night. He wanted more than holding your hand platonically, he’d thought so many times about kissing you that he’d had to stop himself from doing it out of the blue, he wanted to make it right, to tell you about how he felt first but each day you made it harder and harder for him to not just act on his feelings, like that night for example.

You had nagged for full five minutes about his movie choices and made him ditch them all just so you could watch Titanic for the umpteenth time, only to fall asleep halfway through the movie.

Hoseok sighed, caressing lazily your arm, he’d brought this on himself, you were curled all against him with your head on his chest and sleeping like a rock because he had already tried to wake you up thrice without success.

-Y/N if you don’ t wake up I’ll eat all these Doritos by myself did you hear me?- he tried, his fingertips still running up and down your arm gingerly. -Y/N?-

He lowered his head a bit to observe you and smiled, you were such a sleepy head, he loved the peaceful expression on your face, maybe he could even count your eyelashes from how close he was but his focus was solely on your lips, in how they were slightly parted and before he chickened out, he leaned in and pressed his own lips against yours.

He’d never felt braver, his heart was rushing inside his chest and he thought you weren’t going to notice that but then he noticed your eyes opened and fixed on him.

He backed off, clearing his throat and looking elsewhere.

-Well look who decided to wake up- he laughed and fuzzed around with his iPad, trying to fix anything just to do something with his hands

You were staring wide eyed at him until you laughed nervously and fixed your position, resting this time against the actual seat.

-I… I didn’t think I was going to fall asleep-

-Old story, you are always sleepy, you have no remedy Y/N-

-Hey! Don’t be mean- you hit his arm and laughed and Hoseok felt the light uncomfortable seconds from his kiss fading.

-I’m just being real-

-Well this is what you get when you get me out of bed in the middle of the night so…- you shrugged and tightened the fluffy blanket around you, wearing it as cape. You looked so adorable like that with your glassy eyes and Hoseok wasn’t still over the thrill your lips against his caused.

You finished what rested of the movie in calm silence and when it was over, you told him to take a last stroll around the beach for another look at the night sky because it was going to be dawn in just a couple hours. You found a nice spot at the sand and stood there observing all the pretty stars above your heads,seeing their reflection on the salty water and hearing the quiet coming and going of the waves

-So, are we not talking about it?- you asked under your breath, bringing your knees to your chest and surrounding them with your arms, you still had the fluffy blanket around yourself and Hoseok turned to look at you.

-You want to?- he asked just as soft, he didn't even need to ask what you meant, he knew it, he was your bestfriend, he knew the workings of your mind.

You nodded quietly and held his eyes.

-I had to wake you up somehow- he laughed half joking, half wanting to kiss you again.

-Hoseok- you weren’t laughing along with him and you took a hand out of your blanket cocoon and reached for his.

-Was it only because of that?- he swallowed down, of course it wasn’t and maybe this was the right moment to tell you about everything he felt. You pulled at his hand making him get closer, your head at mere centimeters of his. -You have always been a terrible liar you know?-

He nodded, his eyes darted down to your lips and you smiled.

-Was it only because you had to wake me up Hoseok?-

-No- there was no use in denying it, he figured. -No…- he repeated, closing the centimeters separating your lips.

You draped your arms around his neck, pulling him just a bit closer while kissing him back and you felt in heaven himself, was this a dream? You only knew you wanted to keep on kissing Hoseok, that all those times you dreamed of how kissing him was didn’t feel nearly as good as finally kissing him for real. You ended tumbling down to the sand clumsily and both of you laughed with your backs against the sand, chests heaving and looking up at the sky.

-I love you, you know that Y/N?-

You smiled,reaching for his hand and nodding.

-I know- You leaned over to kiss him again, not quite believing it yet. -I love you too Ho-

He smiled right then in that way you knew by heart and before you knew, your lips were joined again and he was turning you around. You laughed against his mouth and decided that of all the good times you’d spent with Hoseok, that one was the greatest.

[metalandmagi]

Hogwarts House Anime Recommendations: Gryffindor

Okay, it’s that time again, time for the last round of Hogwarts house anime recommendations! And this time it’s Gryffindor!

other house recommendations:

ravenclaw

hufflepuff

slytherin

As we all know, Gryffindors are always in the spotlight and are basically the most represented house, and that sort of reflects in my recommendations. It was very difficult to try and think of lesser known shows to go with, so I mainly kept to what I thought are some of the most defining Gryffindor anime despite their popularity.

Some of the key Gryffindor traits running through these anime are bravery (bordering on recklessness), selflessness, and characters that are highly fueled by their emotions.

1. Haikyuu!!

For anyone who hasn’t heard of it, Haikyuu is an awesome sports anime. Lovingly referred to as “the volleyball anime” this story focuses on the once powerful Karasuno high school volleyball team, with Hinata Shoyo as one of the new first year members of the club who wants to work to take the team to nationals. However, also on the team is his middle school “rival” (a term I use loosely considering they only played one match against each other), and the two have to learn to work together to actually make the team successful.

I actually mentioned this anime in my Hufflepuff recommendations because I believe many sports anime do fall into that house. However, I actually think Haikyuu is a good Gryffindor anime because of its inclination towards showing the characters branch out and define what it means to be brave in their own separate ways. Each character has their own way of being bold and unique in their talents and work hard to make themselves better at the sport, even if it is scary for them. I mostly see this in Kagayama, Yamaguchi’s, and Asahi’s characters, but everyone has their own demons to fight. Hinata may be the main character but this is the only sports anime where I actually remember every member of the team’s names and care just as much about the other high school teams as well. This is going to go down as a classic sports anime because it keeps you gripped on the game as well as the growth of the characters without dragging out the play time or giving the characters super human abilities that is so rampant in the genre.

2. Hunter x Hunter (2011)

Again, for those who don’t know about it, Hunter x Hunter (at least the 2011 version) is basically a standard shounen anime setup about a spunky 12 year old kid named Gon, who starts a quest to find his “missing” father. Gon’s father is a Hunter, meaning in this world, he is part of an elite group of people who basically travel around the world just doing whatever the hell they want, from being hired as bounty hunters, to catching rare animals, or pretty much anything you can think of. So in order to find his father, Gon sets out to become a Hunter too, along with his lovable, rag-tag group of misfits. But be careful, this show starts out as a typical happy-go-lucky adventure anime and turns into an extremely dark and fucked up show involving everything from organized crime and genocide to the mass extinction of the human race to weird animal hybrids.

Okay stay with me, because this is gonna be a wild ride. I can only go off of the 2011 version, but this show is straight up amazing. I promised myself several years ago that I would get around to watching it someday, and that didn’t end up happening until the English dub started airing on Toonami in 2016. After watching the first 5 episodes dubbed on television I sprinted to my computer to watch the rest of the series as fast as possible...while also catching the dubbed episodes every week. Around episode 115 or so, I realized I was going to burn through this anime...and I didn’t want it to end. So now I’m back to watching one dubbed episode a week as it comes out just so I could prolong the experience. That’s how good this anime is. So technically I haven’t finished it yet, but it’s only because I don’t want to end it….and also I had some serious issues with the pacing of the last arc.

In terms of why it fits Gryffindor so well, all you have to do is watch Gon for about 5 minutes. All of the main characters...apart from Killua...have very noble goals and want to help others in their own ways. Hisoka is also one of the best...villains?…..anti heroes?...antagonists?…. that I’ve ever seen, and he is a great mixture of discomfort and intrigue to watch every time he’s on screen. If you love the old school shounen shows, if you want to feel nostalgic for when you were a kid watching Naruto or Bleach, if you want a show with clearly defined arcs, interesting characters, and not one, but two of the best tournament arcs I’ve ever seen, then for the love of all that is good, GO WATCH THIS SHOW if you haven’t already...I know I’m pretty late to the game with this one.

3. Akatsuki no Yona (aka Yona of the Dawn)...And Arslan Senki (aka The Heroic Legend of Arslan)

It’s official, I can’t do one of these things without doing a double recommendation. But seeing as these anime fit so well together and the protagonists seem very similar, I figured I had to do both. Both of these shows focus on the sweet cinnamon rolls royalty of a kingdom trying to regain their thrones after their respective countries have been overthrown or taken down from the inside. Akatsuki no Yona deals with a young princess who is trying to bring together a group of magical dragon people in order to regain the throne and fix the problems with her country. Arslan Senki (the 2015 anime version, not the ova), is more military oriented, focusing on a young prince trying to free his country as well as his father and mother from an invading country, led by a villain wearing a silver mask...who may have more of a claim to the throne than Arslan does.

Both of these shows are very fantasy oriented and desperately need to be continued. They also both have tried and true Gryffindors as the main protagonists who only want what’s best for their people. Arslan and Yona both look at the world through very innocent eyes but have to learn the harsh realities of their kingdoms and be brave enough to overcome all obstacles with the help of their friends.

4. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle

This anime follows four main characters (Kurogane, Fai, Syaoran, and Sakura) as they travel through different worlds trying to find pieces of the shattered soul of Princess Sakura. This takes place in the same universe as literally every other CLAMP created work, meaning that yes, it is the same Sakura as the one in Cardcaptor Sakura….just in a different world. If you’re a fan of anything CLAMP related, you need to watch it if you haven’t already.

This show will probably mean a lot more to people who have seen/read literally every CLAMP anime/manga in existence, but I actually hadn’t seen any other CLAMP material before watching this show. I basically just knew that Cardcaptor Sakura was a thing that existed and Tsubasa involved those main characters. But this anime is what sparked my love for the universe, so you don’t really have to know anything about the CLAMP universe to enjoy the anime (the manga on the other hand is a completely different story). I have always thought that Sakura, Syaoran, and Kurogane are all good examples of Gryffindors in different ways. Kurogane is more of a protective father figure, first showing nothing but recklessness and learning to become more thought out in his plans. Sakura is a Gryffindor in the sense that she also wants to protect people and learns to be brave over time, while Syaoran’s sole purpose is protecting Sakura and can be extremely chivalrous. Anyway it’s a fun adventure show that leads into a very dark and mysterious set of OVAs that will make you go “damn I should read the manga....and also every other CLAMP manga I can get my hands on.”

5. Attack on Titan

Yes, I had to. There was no way I could leave out Attack on Titan from a Gryffindor recommendation. I’m not even going to bother with a summary, since everyone and their dog has at least heard of it. This truly is the most Gryffindor anime to ever Gryffindor. It completely embodies the idea of the house both in the actual anime and in the real world. It even has it’s own golden trio, with a bookish character, a “chosen one” character, and a character who relies mostly on instinct.

Like I said, Eren, Mikasa, and Armin are all great Gryffindors in the same way that the original golden trio are. The plot of the show constantly evokes the idea of doing what’s right, even if it means putting your life on the line. Everyone who joins the military in this universe knows they need a mixture of bravery, daring, and just the right amount of recklessness to be successful. Even in the real world the anime has been in the spotlight the same way Gryffindor house is all the time, with great characters, an interesting plot, and intriguing world building that keeps people invested even with four year waits for the next season. Every episode has you rooting for the main characters in the same way that you root for Harry Potter and the rest of the gang. Not to mention it looks and sounds fucking amazing. So if you decided to skip the second season because you’ve read the manga...don’t. The anime just makes everything a million times better.

So that’s the end of my Hogwarts house anime recommendations! Sorry I couldn’t really branch out very much with Gryffindor house, but I tried my best. I hope these are helpful!