#anyways I mainly wrote this bcs I wasn't feeling well. it made me feel better yay I heart Skizzpulse

[hauntingseashells]

Late Night Bar Talk

An Imp and Skizz Neon White AU Oneshot, 1.9k words.

It was a quiet hour at the Neon Bar, and Skizz was bored out of his mind. He had cleaned all his glasses three times already, there was no dusty spot left in the entire bar, and there was nobody to talk to yet. The Neons were all still out on their assignments — of course they were, it had only been two hours since the first Neons left for their assignments — and while, yes, Skizz knew assignments were important, he’d wish Neons could spend more time here.

Alright. Maybe he was just missing one Neon in specific. Can you blame him though? The Neon had been participating in almost every competition he could remember. How he hadn’t won yet, Skizz wasn’t sure. Was he losing on purpose? Was he very unlucky? Who knows, really. He didn’t talk much about himself. Not about the more serious, hidden stuff at least. 

With all his experience, he would’ve been back already by now, right? Did Skizz overestimate him? Did something happen? Did he d-... Skizz needed a distraction, this wasn’t helping. Surely his Neon buddy would be fine. 

—

One demon, two demons, three demons, one by one the amount of demons he had left to kill decreased. He had done this hundreds, maybe even thousands of times before, he knew the drill.

Or so he thought. He’d gotten distracted, and now there was a sharp pain in his leg. Not a sharp pain from accidentally jumping into a ledge, like he had done many times back when he was still a new Neon. No, a sharp pain that felt like he was about to lose his entire leg. And that wasn’t far off.

As he’d gotten distracted, he accidentally jumped into a tripwire. Of course he did. Of course it was a tripwire of all things he hadn’t noticed. He was lucky to make it out alive from that at all, he had seen Neons get killed by those demons, which look so innocent, yet do so much harm. That, however, did not lessen the pain, nor did it make the Neon feel better.

He let out a sharp hiss as he sat down in a safe spot to inspect his leg better. At the very least, there was no physical wound, though he knew it’d leave a bruise. At the very least he didn’t have to explain to Skizz why his leg was half open, or why his pants were bloody, or any of that. He’d let that happen once, after a close encounter with a guardian. The Angel was so worried, the Neon thought he was going to pass out. After that, he swore to be more careful. And to not visit the Neon Bar if he failed to be more careful.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat in his safe spot, but once the pain had lessened a bit, he went back to getting rid of the last few remaining demons, which was proving to be quite hard. The pain had lessened, sure. While he was sitting down. Once he got up and at it again, the pain returned, a harsh reminder that he should really get distracted less. Right, as if that was ever going to happen.

—

Assignment done. By the time he returned to Central Heaven, most of the more experienced Neons had made it back already too. He was late, and he was going to get a massive scolding from Skizz. Probably. With a sigh he resigned himself to his fate and made his way over to the Neon Bar, mentally preparing himself for the Angel. On the other hand, after such a rough assignment, he could use the change of scenery — while Heaven wasn’t ugly or unpleasant by any means, the Neon Bar felt more comfortable. Was that because of the Angel running it? Maybe, maybe not.

—

As time went by, the Neon Bar started getting its first customers of the day, all were Neons Skizz had seen several times before. They’d make some small talk with him, maybe ask for advice on something, and then be on their merry way again to who knows where. But he hadn’t seen the Neon he was looking for yet, and if he wasn’t worried before, he definitely was now. He should be back by now. He always is. What if something really did happen? What if he really was eliminated? What if Skizz was never going to see him again and he never got to say goodbye and-.

Skizz’s train of thought was stopped at the sound of footsteps. Most footsteps sounded the same, yet these somehow felt more familiar.

“Dippledop! There you are!” he happily exclaimed, his past worries gone. He waved the Neon over, scanning him from head to toe as the Neon approached. He had to make sure he was okay, he hadn’t forgotten that one time so many competitions ago where half his leg was exposed. Skizz did not want to see Neon bones again.

Of course, the Neon noticed, and waved him off. “I’m fine, Skizz, I still have all my body parts.” he said, faking annoyance, which the Angel was more than used to. “Just wanna make sure my buddy’s okay!” the Angel smiled, before remembering that he ran the bar they were in. “What can I getcha? The usual?” With a simple nod from the Neon he went to work. Not like ‘the usual’ was any special, the most he could serve was water with lemon due to the restrictions in Heaven. Once he finished the drink he handed it to Impulse. “Here you go Dippledop.”

Impulse muttered a thanks before downing most of his drink in one go. While the drink was simple and nothing special really, it was refreshing. Especially after such a stressful assignment. Before he could say or do anything else, Skizz spoke up.

“Alright, I can tell something went wrong today, and while I won’t force you to say anything, you can tell me about it. If you want.”

Of course Skizz noticed. It was Skizz, he noticed everything, at least when it came to Impulse. Whether it was because Impulse had been in the competition for a long time, because Skizz was insanely good at reading people or because the two were pretty close, Impulse wasn’t sure, but it was both a blessing and a curse. He didn’t want to dump it on Skizz. Or, well, maybe he did need to talk about it. Not just the fact he hurt his leg today, no. He needed to unleash some of his frustration about the competition in general. 

But he wasn’t going to talk about any of that while other Neons were here. Nope, he wouldn’t hear the end of it if the wrong Neons heard any of it. Some Neons were cruel. So he just told Skizz everything was fine, for now. Maybe later he’d tell him.

Skizz, of course, didn’t believe Impulse when he said he was fine. The Neon was very strict on his schedule, always wanting to be back as soon as possible. But he wasn’t going to pressure Impulse into telling him anything, that wouldn’t do any good. So, he just went back to serving Neons their drinks, occasionally shooting a glance at Impulse to see if he was holding up alright.

—

Eventually, most of the Neons had left to get rest, or do whatever Neons did in Heaven outside of their assignments. Skizz was extremely aware of the fact Impulse was still in the Bar, however, and walked over to the Neon. Skizz wasn’t sure just how aware of his surroundings he still was, so he whispered a quiet “Impulse?” to get his attention without scaring him. He had to repeat that a few times, but eventually, Impulse looked up from his now fully empty glass, responding with a small “hm?”

“You okay bud?”

“..Just tired.”

Skizz gave him a look of doubt, before sitting down next to him. He didn’t want to invade the Neons personal space, he knew Impulse valued that a lot. But he still wanted to be close to the Neon, and standing around wasn’t very comfortable.

One of Skizz’s wings reached out to behind Impulse’s back, simply resting there. Skizz’s wings weren’t big by any means, but Impulse appreciated the gesture nonetheless. He instinctively rested his head on Skizz’s shoulder and they simply sat like that in silence for a few minutes, before Impulse let out a sigh, letting words leave his mouth without much thought.

“..it’s tiring, Skizz. This whole competition. I know you probably hear it a lot and you’re sick of Neons complaining about their one job here, but it’s tiring. I’ve seen so many Neons die, and I was almost one of them.”

Impulse paused for a bit, and Skizz remained silent. The Angel had assumed Impulse was talking about that one time his leg was almost severed from his body, but he was proven wrong when Impulse started talking again.

“I wasn’t paying attention during my mission today and a tripwire got me. It only got my leg, thankfully, but I’ve watched Neons die to these things before. I don’t want to die a meaningless death here, especially after being here so long! It’s frustrating! Every time I end up back here again, I can’t win but I’m not dying either! I don’t even get why I’m still here, I’m over my death! I’m not desperate for a second chance anymore and yet..!” the Neon ranted, his voice breaking near the end. He wasn’t crying exactly, though if he spoke any more he would be. 

“Oh Dippledop..” Skizz sighed, before pulling the Neon into a hug. After a few seconds he could feel the Neon tremble, and if it wasn’t for the mask Impulse was forced to wear, Skizz was sure his clothes would be wet. It was fine though, he knew the Neon had to let this out. He almost always kept to himself, so the fact he was vulnerable right now meant the world to Skizz. Impulse trusted him enough to be so vulnerable. He had waited for hours until the Bar was empty just so he could let his emotions out for once.

They simply sat there like that for a while, Skizz loosely hugging Impulse so as to not cross his boundaries, while Impulse clung onto Skizz for dear life. His trembling slowly but surely calmed down again, his grip slowly became less desperate and more relaxed, leaning against Skizz a bit more as to position himself more comfortably into the hug.

“..thanks Skizz.” the Neon muttered into the Angels shoulder, which got a simple “anytime, Impulse.” in return. The two remained like that the whole evening, occasionally shifting slightly. Not shifting away from each other though, if anything the two shifted more together, and by the time it was around midnight the two were full on cuddling. It wasn’t comfortable, cuddling on some bar seats, but they didn’t care. For they had each other and that’s all that mattered at that moment. And if any more experienced Neon were to walk in now they wouldn’t even be surprised to find the two like that, for it was known amongst longer-time Neons that Impulse and Skizz were almost inseparable. And if it wasn’t for one being an Angel and the other being a Neon that was here as ‘visitor’, they’d be basically one. Because they’re Impulse and Skizz and they’ve been together for longer than anyone can remember.

[jeonqkooks]

Hmm yeah, same here! I really love most of the songs he has worked on until now, maybe that's why I have mixed feeling about this upon seeing it. But if that's what he wants, I trust him.

Although, there's one thing I've always loved about these guys and their music and that's the sincerity they put in it, mainly in the lyrics, and we can see they've been expressing it the best in korean. There's definitely a big difference when it comes to that. So yeah, whatever topic they wrote about before had that important touch, as we've seen in their solo albums as well. Their honest thoughts about anything and everything. Now we know most american producers and songwriters are a bit shallow when it comes to that, especially when they're trying to make a hit (saying this since people think he worked on more songs with them).

But yeah, that's one thing I really wish is not gonna change. Anyway, maybe I'm just overthinking it :/

You're right, we'll see when the album drops!

i don't think you're overthinking it. i've been talking about it ever since D-Day dropped and especially since there were rumors that jk would be releasing smth mid july.

i love that about the tannies too, how much of themselves that they put into their music - their thoughts and feelings, their experiences, etc. and it's been especially wonderful to see all of that emphasized 10x with all of the solo albums we've got so far. i don't really listen to their english tracks (dynamite, butter, ptd) bc their korean songs are 1000x better, everyone can agree on this right? their english tracks lack so much depth compared to the korean tracks. ofc it's their mother tongue so obviously they're going to be able to express themselves better. so when it comes to fully english tracks, they're just so so so watered down. i think this is probably bc of the people involved in the production of english songs too bc you're right, american producers do tend to be shallower when all they want is palatable pop (especially since we're talking about sc**ter braun and his peeps here 😑). jk was so absolutely brilliant with Still With You and he's obviously capable of much more. that was a song that wasn't made with the intention of marketing it anywhere. it was made specifically for the fans and that kind of sound just felt so authentic to me. i really really really had my fingers crossed that we'd get more music like that from him

and since the tannies themselves said at the festa dinner last year and they felt they were losing their sound, i expected this to be a period for all of them (together and individually) to explore whatever it is that they want to do and not just make music that's marketable/easy hits. that's why i'm kinda disappointed with this news (tho i can't say i didn't see it coming. was just really hoping that it wouldn't). ofc we don't know anything about the album but looking at Seven, jk wasn't really involved in the production, was he? they just gave him the song and he agreed to do it. dunno if that's any indicator for what's to come but yeah, we'll see. if this is what he wants to do then okay, good for him <3

i don't really talk about this on main unprompted, tho if anyone asks me about it then i'll still be honest and answer. after Seven dropped everyone was so hyped up about it and jumping up and down with joy and everything and i didn't necessarily wanna rain on their parade lol. i have a lot of unpopular/controversial opinions (probably not even that controversial. they're just opinions that don't really align with what people are screaming about all the time) and especially about jk out of all the members too (am i the most critical of him bc he's my ult? 😂). i think we can agree that within this fandom, a lot of people (mostly twitter folks) tend to be like "oh u don't like and agree with every single thing the boys do? u're not a fan fuck u" lmao so 😂

when the album drops and i don't like it, i won't skraight up say it but you'll probably know lol. if i'm obsessed then i'll scream about it day and night (you saw this with D-Day lmao) so if i'm just quietly vibing in the corner then.. lol

[ziracona]

I am also a little hurt that you found my ask annoying because I just wanted to help inform you about something you seemed to misunderstand because of a misleading reply to your ask post. I'm sorry if it sounded mean or anything, I wasn't trying to be. I just didn't want to say nothing when I saw someone giving you false information. Pro shipping is about healthier fandom with better safeguards, which is something I think we all want and can agree on :( idk. thanks for your time.

I wasn’t annoyed that you sent asks, I was annoyed by the tone as I read it, and the fact I woke up to six very long anonymous messages about a single line I wrote in an ask last night. It didn’t seem mean, it just seemed a little...Judgy, and rude, and in poor faith towards me? A little talked down towards. I think in the same way my irritation as you read it in my answers has made you a little hurt, when your desire was to inform, the...superior tone? As I read it in the way a message to me about something I didn’t actually really...do? Came off to me as being patronized or condescended to. The reason mainly being that instead of just being like ‘hey, I think the information you got was inaccurate—it is more like X,’ you also included a lot of personal opinions & stances in the form of a teaching moment? Which felt like a very unnecessary way to approach that.

Esp since I wasn’t even really specifically disagreeing with you on or even actually...talking about the subject at all, really. And things always come off, ime anyway, as 2x more heavy-handed & the like on anon? And I know you offered more, but it would still be links to I don’t know if that means blog posts, or tumblr threads or what, but either way being sent in a compass direction by someone I don’t even know the url of? And while I super appreciate the offer to help pass info on, usually taking info from an anonymous source isn’t the most conscientious or smart approach, so I try to avoid it? Anyway, I hope that makes more sense, and I appreciate you didn’t mean it that way, and that you were just trying to inform/help. Sorry that my response to that seems to have made you feel down—that wasn’t my intent. I don’t think you suck or anything bc of how your response came off to me, it was just a little bit exasperating. I’ve also had a really shit week and a lot going on, so nothing is predisposed to come of just hella well rn. Anyway, I hope that explains why to you and doesn’t make you feel worse. Communication is hard and full of errors through text especially, and prone to miscommunication or lack of clarity. You’re welcome for my time!