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thr-333 · 4 years ago

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Just Another Class Trip :)

Part 1

No, no ignore the smily face i assure you it means nothing foreboding, nothing foreboding at all.

Next >

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“It’s suspicious,” Marinette glares as they leave customs.

“What would that be, Mari?” Chloe yawns, not bothering to dedicate her limited remaining brain power apparently.

“Lila,” She whispers back, “She’s been so quiet all the way here,”

“What about how she weaseled her way into first class?” Chloe yawns again, sleep mask resting on her head.

“Or tried to steal your bag,” Kagami says with venom, her having saved Marinette from that disaster.

“Accused you of giving her the wrong flight time,” Adrien adds, somehow being full awake even after their long flight.

“Slipped metal into your pocket so security would go off,” Chloe downright glares at Adrien, but would never admit to the bags under her eyes.

“Came by and woke you up every time you fell asleep,” Kagami looks at her pointedly, shadows under her eyes being her only give away.

“Too quite,” Marinette whispers, the list going largely ignored as they approach the security scan.

“Just relax Mari,” Adrien pats her shoulder, not enough to break her concentration, “Lila will be so distracted by being in Gotham she won't have time for you,”

Adrien was wrong.

Of course he was wrong.

This is Lila they're talking about.

“Oh Marinette!” Lila all but yells as Marinette is placing her bag in a tray, “I’m so glad you didn’t go through with it,”

Marinette cringes, the security guards all looking her way as Lila dances off. She just sighs as she is escorted away by the airport security, to the protest of her friends and not much else.

“No sir I am not holding any firearms or weapons,” Marinette answers as monotone as possible, the security guard didn’t deserve her ire not matter how tiresome this was getting.

“We interview the source,” Oh no “Apparently you were discussing terrorist activities,”

“I was not sir, Lila must be mistaken,” Yep big mistake, I’m sure that's all it is , “I’m simply here for a class trip,”

“You’re wearing a bulletproof vest,”

Yeah probably should have left that one at home

“My parents are protective, they know how dangerous Gotham can be,” They were not fans of the horror stories Aunt Selina used to tell her from this city, “They insisted I have it as protection,”

While they most certainly wanted her to be safe the vest was more her idea. It was also more for enabling trouble than avoiding it. At least she was trying to be safe about secret crime fighting.

“Makes sense,” He sighs from across the table, checking through some paperwork, “You’re seventeen, here on a class trip right?”

“Yes sir,”

“Well if you’re here on a Wayne funded trip they probably did and extensive background check,” He pauses for a minute looking deep in thought, “Alright then, you can go,”

That seems kind of lax

“Are you sure?”

“We literally have super villains walking through here every other day,” True that, “You’re holding no weapons and have been endorsed by the Wayne's that's better than most people that have been in here,”

“Well if you’re sure,” Marinette stands awkwardly walking to the door as he waves her off, “Is there anything I need to sign, or…”

“Unless I want to fill out extra paperwork, no,” He seems so tired, Marinette wished she could get back at Lila for making his job harder.

“Have a good day then!” She smiles brightly, getting a small one in return.

She leaves, the security guards handing back her bag, fortunately not mentioning the miracle box or her Kwamis. She smiles brightly, even with Lila trying to ruin her trip she could still enjoy her time here in Gotham- and her phone buzzes with an Akuma alert.

With a sigh, Marinette ducks into the nearest bathroom, locking a stall behind her.

“Kaalki,” The Kwami zips out of her bag, “Tikki, Combine,”

With a flash of light followed by another she appears in Paris dropping Kaalki’s transformation.

She looks over the city, some Akuma attacking the Eiffel tower. At least they didn't seem to be the brainwashing type, she didn’t have Chat Noir there to help with crowd control.

With a flip she jumps, planning to kick the Akuma on the way down. They dodge and she lands in front of them instead.

“Well, well if it isn’t the bug,” The Akuma, in a horrible patch work costume mocks, a purple mask appearing over their face, “Hand over your miraculous!”

How about you come and make me Hawkmoth? I promise to stick that cane up your ass

Oh how she wishes she could say just that, but it wouldn't be very Ladybug of her. Why did the younger her have to have a stick up her butt?

“Not today Hawkmoth,” She says instead, making sure to put the practiced amount of enthusiasm into it, “Or any other day for that matter,”

“How are you going to save Paris without your little kitty cat?”

How are you going to beat me with that terrible fashion sense

Besides Chat Noir deserved a break. At least she hoped he was taking a break, he couldn’t tell because of secret identity reasons. It wasn't like she had any right to stop him, she was having a vacation in Gotham right now, and she was out all the time for work. She could manage without Chat for a while, he deserved that much.

“I will do whatever it takes to protect the people of Paris,” Ladybug remembers to answer the question.

“Hand over your miraculous now!” The Akuma lunges at her

I should have chosen a different persona

She dodges the beam of light that can’t mean anything good. Jumping back to get some distance.

Chat Noir had the right idea

She bites back the cutting remark on the tip of her tongue. Instead throw out her yo to wrap around their arm. The Akuma pulls it forward, sending her through the air. She leans into it swinging around to get a better vantage point, studying the monologuing Akuma below.

Maybe I can for Starling

She has created Starling as a vigilante identity to use in Gotham, if the class was ever in trouble. No not if, when . With a sigh she summons her lucky charm getting a table tennis paddle.

Although I’m only meant to use that identity as a disguise to protect the class

The only thing that stood out was the Akuma's hand, she'd have to gather more information before striking.

Maybe Starling can have a word or two with Lila, that could be fun

She drops down in front of the Akuma. They seemed to like monologuing, maybe all she had to do was probe a little bit.

“Why would you want to side with Hawkmoth?”

“This is my family's greatest heirloom it has been passed from generation to generation for centuries, some fool broke it and I was crushed having disappointed all my ancestors!” The Akuma holds up a broach type jewel, “But Hawkmoth- Hawkmoth brought it back and now my greatest and dearest treasure will forever be-”

Ladybug smacks it to the ground, crushing it underfoot.

The Akuma looks at her shocked, letting out a long drawn out gasp. Marinette does not meet their eye as she catches the Akuma. She throws the paddle she used to smack it out of their hand into the air to cast the cure.

I must be really jet lagged, I’m usually at least a little more creative than that, but it worked

She pretends not to see the reporters coming in for interviews, seeing the victim and their broach in one piece. She makes a speedy exit, needing to transport back to Gotham before the class get too ancy.

“I’m sorry the rented bus left a long time ago,” The attendant informed her, looking sorry for the dishevelled teen.

Marinette groaned, so much for running around the airport for thirty minutes with a dead phone. Thanking the attendant she sulks off to collect her bag instead, she’d have to figure another way to the hotel.

She spends another hour hunting down her bag. Chasing after leads of people who might have mistook it. Checking again with Airport security, who again pulled her aside for having a suspicious missing bag. Luckily the security guard before defended her, she brought him a coffee and two for herself.

“Maybe someone will return it?” Tikki whispers, her and Kaalki hidden in the folds of her scarf.

“It’s fine Tikki,” Marinette sighs, halfway through her first cup in under a minute, “I have replicas of all of them anyway, I’ll just grab some samples from the MDC fashion show,”

She’d have to stop by later, the outfits should have been transported last week along with most of her recent catalogue. The only problem was all the other necessities she lost. But that wasn’t a problem, she carried the miracle box in her backpack and that's all that really matters.

“And some of my… special outfits when we go back home,”

She had altered her current outfit to transform into her vigilante disguise. Her scarf pulled up and could be turned inside out into a mask. Her skirt could be transformed into a cape and hood combo. A zip down the middle of the skirt to split it for the cape and a zip up hood that lay flat along her skirt. She simply turned it inside out and wore it around her shoulders. Combined with a bullet proof vest it wasn't half bad, her belt full of weapons could always be hid under her skirt which was a big plus.

She sighs waiting for a taxi in the cold Gotham air, hating it more than most. Although she supposed superhuman strength was a fair exchange for extra cold fingers. Marinette fought to stay awake, she had also been holding Kaalki for so long she was starting to develop the ability to sleep standing up and would doze off randomly. Certainly helpful at times, but not right now.

“Hello,” Marinette is startled out of her drowsiness.

She looks at the hesitant young man before her, looking just as tired as she is.

“Hello?”

“Is something the matter?” Something sparks at the back of her mind, a feeling she often gets from Chloe whenever she is helpful.

Do I look that bad?

“Just a mix up with transportation,” She smiles, he clearly knows it’s fake.

“Do you need a ride?”

“No I’m-” She sighs, what could go wrong getting in the car of a random person in Gotham, “Yes, I do thank you,”

“Over here, I’m Tim by the way” He stifles a yawn, leading her towards a limousine, the door being opened by a driver.

“Marinette, here,” She hands over the extra coffee, “You look like you need it just as much as me,”

Tim looks at her like a god sent, taking the coffee as they reach the limo.

“Good call Alfred,” Tim whispers to the driver, slipping into the car.

“Hello miss, I am Alfred Pennyworth,” She shakes his hand, something stronger fires at the back of her mind, a true holder perhaps? But Chloe was a true holder right?

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng,” She smiles, trying to assess what miraculous would suit him.

“Best get inside Miss Dupain-Cheng,” She climbs inside at Alfred's behest, “Gotham is awfully cold for a Lady,”

She gets the feeling that is not chivalry.

“Where to Miss Dupain-Cheng?” Alfred asks, already in the driver's seat.

“Wayne hotel please,” She pulls her backpack onto her lap, still regarding Alfred suspiciously.

“Traveling alone?” Tim asks absentmindedly, still nursing his coffee cup.

“I’m here with my class, they left without-” No that's no good , “I got held up they went ahead,”

“Class… staying at the Wayne hotel…” Tim mumbles to himself.

“I believe what Master Tim is trying to ask is if you are part of the Martha Wayne foundation trip,” Alfred informs from the front seat.

“Yeah that,” Tim takes another scalding gulp of coffee.

“Yes I sent in the submission, I’m still surprised we got it,” Marinette had been thrilled at a trip to Gotham, it is where her Aunt Selina lives after all.

“You seem very responsibility Miss Dupain-Cheng,” Alfred complements, “Almost as if you could shoulder the weight of Paris,”

“I didn’t say where I was from,” Marinette tenses getting more than a little unsettled, he seemed to know something more.

“Not to worry, I have close connections with the Wayne's and was aware this years class was from Paris is all,”

“I see,” Marinette nods along, the possible meaning behind the comment still being concerning.

“We forgot your bags!!!” Tim suddenly yells, jumping up and making Marinette jump, they both curse in sync as they spill coffee on themselves.

“It’s alright!” luckily the coffee landed on her black tights, so no noticeable stains, “My bags were stolen,”

“Oh…” Tim relaxes back, “Wait… that's not alright at all!”

“It’s fine, I already have a plan to get some spare clothes and I just need to run to the store,”

“Right… to the Wayne hotel was it?” Marinette nods and Tim starts tapping away at his phone.

She fishes out some wet wipes from her bag, passing them to Tim, who looks confused until she points out the growing coffee stain. With a smile and a few more taps at the phone he takes them off her.

“Left behind and bags stolen, doesn't sound like your Lucky day,” Alfred presses, and he needs to stop, it could be chance, surely its just chance.

“I guess not,”

You don’t know the half of it.

“Well I hope the rest of your day is much better,” Tim bids as they pull up to the hotel.

“Thank you, and thank you so much for the ride,” Alfred opens the door for her to get out.

“Not a problem,” She waves them off, watching them disappear down the street.

They’re nice, probably wont ever get to see them again, thats a shame

“Dick! Holy fuck!” Tim kicks down the door of his brothers room, “I just met the nicest girl who's had the shittest day on earth,”

“First of all welcome back, how was your trip?” Dick greets hanging from the ceiling as Tim takes his desk chair, “Second, what are you talking about?”

“Met a girl at the Airport who didn’t have a ride, she gave me coffee,”

“That's enough to buy your loyalty,” Dick grins, Tim flips him off.

“Listen, she's part of that Martha Wayne Foundation trip and her class left her at the Airport!”

“What?!” Dick drops from the ceiling onto his bed, “Thats so dangerous, especially in Gotham,”

“Right?! She even had her luggage stolen!” Tim pushes the chair over to Dick, “And she was still so nice, even after an eight hour flight!”

“You said she was part of the Wayne foundation trip?” Dick asks, getting a nod from Tim, “Yeah, we are definitely seeing her again,”

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sysmedsaresexist · 3 years ago

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(Thank you)

1. Can you be a system with absolutely no idea what caused you to split? Or to not be aware of your trama at all?

I’ve only very recently come to terms with the fact that I have trauma and haven’t done any work on it yet. I don’t have an event I can point to and go “this traumatized me.”

2. What does it feel like to have an alter front?

3. Are systems usually aware they’re a system before they’re diagnosed?

4. Do alters always know what they look like beforehand? Previously I thought alters knew everything about themselves but one of the answers I got mentioned hosts sometimes helping to figure out names.

I'm curious what kind of answers you've gotten to these so far that made you seek us out, of all people, lol

1. Can you be a system with absolutely no idea what caused you to split? Or to not be aware of your trama at all?

Absolutely, both of these scenarios are not only possible, but completely normal. We're going to switch these around and talk about them in the opposite order, starting with, "not aware of trauma at all". The purpose of a system is to hide trauma. When you're young and going through traumatic situations, and you dissociate, what usually happens is one of two things. Either the child mentally goes away (dissociates, imagining being in a different situation, ignoring what's happening to them in the moment), or they imagine actually being someone else ("this isn't happening to me, it's happening to someone else, I'm (fuck it, uh) Zoro, and I, Zoro, can handle this"). Both of these scenarios lay the groundwork for the creation of a system, and both cases lead to the loss of memory of traumatic events when a child experiences that extreme level of dissociation over prolonged periods.

What this means is, there is no one event that creates a system. It's event, after event, after event, until the child can no longer form a cohesive sense of self. They've become too reliant on dissociation as a coping mechanism, these dissociated parts have taken on a life of their own, and a child's identity has become so fractured and they're so confused that they can't tell who or what they are, and the memories of why are scattered between these parts.

It's not as easy as pointing to an event and saying, "That was it. That was what happened, that's what did this to me-- to us."

This sort of plays in to the next point of, "why did a specific alter split." And this can apply to childhood, later, hell, today, ten years ago, fifteen years from now. It's not always as easy as pointing to a specific event for each alter, either. Some alters take months and years after an event to come forward and make themselves known. This can make pinning down their "origin" almost impossible. What made them could have happened a long time ago. Sometimes it's not a specific event, but a combination of several events, just like in childhood. Are your parents always fighting? Maybe, by the tenth time they're blowing up at each other and you're curled up in your room trying to ignore it, a part finally splits to help you handle that stress. It wasn't specifically the tenth fight-- it was the combination of ALL of the fights.

2. What does it feel like to have an alter front?

This depends. I'm old. I've experienced a lot of different feelings when someone else fronts. When I was kid, it sometimes felt like I was asleep. No memories of it, just blissful darkness, no real time loss, things would go dark for what felt like ten minutes, and then I'd be back, several hours later, barely even realizing I had missed an entire day. I also had pretty bad maladaptive daydreaming, and sometimes I would go into my daydreams while another alter took over. I just thought this was normal. I was just REALLY good at multi-tasking, you know?

When I got older, and I learned more about what was happening, sometimes it would feel like a battle to the death-- two of us fighting desperately for front. Sometimes it honestly felt like a punch to the head-- a knock out when I lost, unpleasant darkness, fear, anxiety, what was I going to come back to? Other times, when I won, I was left with a massive headache and exhausted. Sometimes I welcomed the break, and over time, it became easier. It became like watching things happen through a foggy window. Sometimes I wanted to do something, and I couldn't, and sometimes I felt helpless and lost. As communication got better, I could see more clearly, I could ask for things to happen, I could occasionally... steal a moment, use a hand, set something straight on the counter that was bothering me.

When an alter fronts, it can feel like a lot of things, depending on the situation, depending on communication levels. There's no "one way" or "right way".

3. Are systems usually aware they’re a system before they’re diagnosed?

I would say, in the age of the internet, it's more likely than not that someone is aware they're potentially a system, than it is for them to be completely unaware at the time of diagnosis. Before the internet, before you could just google symptoms, a lot of people weren't aware prior to diagnosis. Even these days, it's not unheard of for someone to only find out around the time of diagnosis, because you don't always realize you're losing time, or have amnesia. Your alters aren't always so completely different that the people around you notice and point it out. The entire point of this disorder is for it to be unnoticeable. It really just depends on the person, their exposure to information about the disorders, and how bad their dissociation is. Some know, some don't. Some go seeking therapy for help with other issues and eventually it just comes out over time that you have something else going on. Sometimes you suspect, and you go to therapy specifically for it. It's different for everyone.

Not at all. It's actually really common for alters to be... essentially blank slates in the beginning. Let's look at the example above, of the child dissociating out of a bad situation. If they're going away into their daydreams, the body is essentially left unattended. Any alter that forms in that moment could considered to be "blank" at the start. In the other scenario, you know who Zoro is, what they look like, what they like and dislike, what their history is. It doesn't even need to be a character you know of, maybe you, like me, had MaDD, and you'd become one of your characters, your OCs. I had one.

She was strong and had superpowers and was beautiful and confident-- and that was one of my first alters. I imagined being her often enough that I could eventually take the other route, disappear into my mind while she handled it herself (this was totally normal multi-tasking, apparently). She knew who and what she was right off the bat. What she looked like, her history, her personality. In the first scenario, that alter may or may not come up with that information on their own. They may remain blank until communication is good, and then they might start to grow, maybe you do help them find a name, maybe they find it years later on their own. Again, there's no "one way". It depends on the circumstances.

You sent a second ask with some more questions, and I think this leads into the next one.

Is it normal for an alter to feel more comfortable in the body than the original host?

Like, you look in a mirror and you think “yeah this is [alter name]” Not really as a negative or positive feeling, just a neutral and true one. Being trans (or mistaking the presence of a different gender alter [the alter in question] for it?) might also effect this.

This can happen, yes! In the case of my OC/alter, of course she looked like me. She was everything I wanted to be when I was a child. She can look in the mirror and say, yup, definitely me. This is what I've always looked like, and I'm perfection.

I have another alter that just... isn't bothered by appearance. He looks in the mirror and it's like, "yup, I guess so, cool -finger guns-"

There's a lot of reasons some alters might be more comfortable in the body than others, and they're all totally normal.

And finally. The last question:

What is a tupla?

This is, surprisingly, a very loaded question.

First, right off the bat, the use of the term tulpa is cultural appropriation. I don't claim to be an expert, but to put it simply. The actual practice of tulpamancy is nothing, NOTHING, like what it's being used for in system circles. Here's a really, REALLY good post on how it's been twisted from the original practice and westernized.

The more accepted terms in system circles are willogenic, parogenic, and thoughtforms. These are "headmates" that are intentionally created. They're imaginary friends brought to life through meditation and practice. Some systems claim to be DID/OSDD and say they've intentionally created some alters, making them "mixed origin" (it's more likely that someone has convinced themselves that it was intentional and their choice in an attempt to feel a sense of control over their situation). Some endogenic systems claim to have intentionally created their entire system (which, because on the levels of dissociation needed to create alters, I don't believe is possible without a traumatic origin).

I hope this all helps, I hope it all made sense, if you have more questions, let me know!

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aliasimagines · 4 years ago

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Insecurity // Dick Grayson

requested by a lovely anon!

1/2 Hi! Can I please have a dick Grayson x reader who is insecure and anxious and hasn’t told dick about it because apparently boys don’t like insecure girls. She feels she’s not good enough for him. She gets recognised in public as ‘dick Graysons girlfriend’ and the person says ‘he’s SO FAR out of you league. Haha you’re ugly and your relationship won’t last for long.’ 2/2 the she goes home crying and goes to sleep. Dicks comes to sleep and she in eventually she starts crying lying down and she tries not to disturb dick but he wakes up and says ‘what’s wrong oh noo?!!! And the reader tells him everything and how he could have anyone so why would he want her? And he comforts!!! And says cheesy lovey things and says how much the reader means to him and kisses!!! Thank you!!

word count: 1685

a/n: i'm sorry you had to wait for this, I ak having a hard time rn. But thank you so much for the request! I love getting requests! Also I kinda altered it and it's more angsty but I hope you like it dear! ❤️

You were already having a bad day. You had to wake up early for work. Had to leave without saying bye to Dick, as he was sleeping in after last night’s patrol. But you made a little time to admire your boyfriend. Peacefully sleeping with pieces of black hair covering his beautiful face. You glanced at your reflection in the mirror at the corner of the room. Despite wearing one of your favorite outfits you didn’t like what you see. It was just... One of those days.

Normally you’re okay with yourself but every once in a while you get extremely insecure and that’s when all those mean thought get to you. You tried to brush it off as you walked to work. To think about something else. And.. It kinda worked? You weren’t feeling extremely well but you put on some good music while walking and focused on the lyrics rather than you thoughts.

You stoped at the bus stop waiting for it to arrive. Watching a puddle in front of you heard some chatting from behind you.

„.. No. It’s not her. I mean look at her! The fuck! A top shot guy would date that. No, that is not Grayson’s girl.”

„She is I’m telling you! I saw her on a pic he posted. But you know what? Imma go and ask.”

You froze, hearing the conversation and hoped they weren’t talking about you. Sure you did know they were talking about you but still.

You felt someone gently touching your shoulder causing you to curse mentally.

„Hello, sorry to bother but me and my friend were wondering.. Are you y/n y/l?”

You swallowed the spit you had in your mouth and turned to see a woman. She had long fair hair and a pair of shiny green eyes, she is around your age.

„Uhm yes. That would be me. Can I help you with anything?”

The other woman you heard stepped closer.

„Are you really dating Dick Grayson?” you heard her voice. Like she didn’t believe it.

You took all your strength and nodded.

„Yes, yes I am.”you said, surprising yourself by not having a shaky voice. You were so close to a breaking down...

The both giggled.

„Aham, all right thank you!... Oh wait one more question... How do you do it? Are you using some sort of magic? It’s Gotham I wouldn’t be surprised..”

Your lips trembled.

„I.. I don’t know what you mean.”

„Come on girl. There us no way in hell a guy like Dick Grayson would date you. He is sooo out if your league. He is so damn hot and a son of a billioner! I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that you, a gray little nobody is dating him. No offense, dear, you’re just nit a good fit for him.”

You thanked every living creature because in that moment you heard the bus pull up. You manged to excuse yourself quickly and quietly from those bullies and ran to the bus.

The remaining part of the day is kind of a blur. You honestly have no idea how you managed without breaking down. You felt like someone was clenching your stomach and had the urge to cry the whole time. But until the moment you stepped in your apartment you did not.

You knew Dick wasn’t home yet. He works late. Gets up late. And latley... Your interaction with your own boyfriend was so damn little... That it was just another excuse for you to feel insecure.

Let’s be honest. He is such a beautiful man, amazing body, breathtaking eyes, always so kind and sweet to everyone. What if he is only with you because he feels sorry for you.

You never talk to him about your insecurities because in your mind that would only make his choice of leaving you easier. In your mind, guys don’t like insecure girls. Dick is an amazing human but.. Would he be different? Would he still love you if he knew how anxious you were? You keep telling yourself, no, he wouldn’t.

You only bothered to get off your shoes and coat and throw your bag somewhere. You made your way to your shared bed, lied down and hugged a pillow.

The bitter sound of your crying was the only noise in your home for... Hours? It easily could have been hours. You kept wishing Dick was here to comfort you but that you kept reminding yourself that if he saw you like this he would straight up leave you.

You don’t know when but you fell asleep.

Dick opens the door to your apartment so delicately, so quietly. He does not want to wake you. Ah, you. All day he waited for this moment so he could finally get home and cuddle up next to you.

With him working and being on patrol a lot he.. He doesn’t see you as much anymore as he would like. He feels bad for it. He tries to leave patrol earlier or skip it, when he can but still... When was the last time you woke up together? Or when did you fall asleep together? It’s been too long and he... He misses you.

After cleaning himself up and changing clothes he walks in the bedroom and climbs next to you. It is too dark in there for Dick to see your tear stained cheeks. But what he notices is that you are still in your normal clothes and not your sleepwear.

Maybe you were just too tired to change. He excepts his own little answer and goes to sleep.

You woke up with one of his arms around you. You have a moment of joy. A moment of forgetful happiness before everything hits you. You can make out his silhouette and that alone is enough for you to break down. You try to be quiet as much as possible.

You cry, thinking if he saw you... He could leave you. You wouldn’t blame him. You feel like there’s just problems with you.

You heart practically stopped beating for a second as you heard Dick shift in his sleep.

„Babe..” he mumbled.

You collected all your strength and answered, hopefully without a shaky voice.

„Go back to sleep, baby.”

But.. He didn’t. He turned fully towards you and still half asleep caressed your cheek.

„I missed you all day Y/N.. Are you crying?” he asked suddenly sitting up, forgetting about sleeping.

Damn it.

„Yeah... But it’s fine, Dick. Go back to sleep.. I’m fine” you couldn’t actually say the lats words because you started crying so loudly. You felt him hugging you close.

„Shh, y/n. You can tell me. That’s why I here.”

„I.. Can’t... You’ll hate me.” you whispered between sniffing and crying.

„What? No! I love you, silly! I won’t hate you!” Dick responds. He starts to think though. What could make him hate you...? Maybe you cheated...? No, he knows you didn’t. You love him.... you love him, right?

„Promise?”

Dick tries to be funny and offers you his pinky.

„Pinky promise.”

„I... Lately... I just feel so awful! All the time! I’m so anxious Dick. It’s so so bad. Every morning I avoid looking in the mirror because I hate what I see. I can’t even believe why would you even consider dating someone like me. The women I met at the bus station were right. You’re so far out of my league.”

In a way this was worse than cheating. Dick felt heartbroken. He failed at being your boyfriend. He was supposed to make you feel safe! Loved! To be a safe place for you, to make you feel trusted. He failed at that. What else hasn’t he notice?

Dick felt hot tears streaming down his own face. He pulled you closer to himself.

„Y/N... I feel so ashamed. I can’t imagine how badly I must have treated you to feel like this. After all I’ve done, or rather not done I extremely worried that you want to get up and leave me. I mean I would understand but...I love you! You have to know that. I am sorry for not telling it to you enough. I need to show my love for you more. And if that is what it takes for you to realize how an amazing woman you are than I will. Because you are, amazing, I can’t imagine coming home and not finding you here. You are the single most important thing in my life. I just... Me being out of your league? Hell! You are out of my league! I don’t deserve you. I know these oast few weeks we... We barley talked. Like really talked. I was so busy with everything but that’s not an excuse to leave you alone. I can’t even ask for your forgiveness... „

„ Dick... „

„ No, really I don’t. I am supposed to make you feel loved yet you think I would leave you because you are insecure? Because you are anxious? Those are more reasons for me to stay and help you. But you feel like I can’t help you with these and that is purely my fault. But... I promise if you give me a chance, I will make up for it. I’ll be the man you deserve. Shower you with love, listen to you, help you in every way you want. Because I love you,so, so much. I can’t stand to lose you. „

You bury your face in his chest and don’t even try to hold back the tears. He doesn’t either. You cry but you are happier that you got it off you chest. Dick cries, afraid of losing you. He won’t. You won’t leave him. It will take some time for you to fully open up and talk about every insecurity you have but Dick is willing to wait for you. He will wait for you till the end of the times. Because he loves you. And you live him. And for now, on this quiet September night, love is enough.

#dick grayson x reader #dick grayson x y/n #dick grayson x you #nightwing imagine #nightwing x reader #dick grayson one shot #dick grayson oneshot #dick grayson imagine #dc imagine #dc x reader #dick grayson angst #dick grayson fluff #batboys fluff

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jawritter · 5 years ago

Text

You and Me...

Chapter 15

***SERIES WARNINGS**** Rape, non-con, male!rape, injury, violence, description of injury caused by rape, nightmares, self-harm, panic attacks, implied female non-con, language, ass hole Jensen, hurt!Jensen, dark fic, smut. If there is anything else I will add it as I go.

***Chapter Warnings*** Language probably somewhere in there, because it’s me y’all. Hints of anxiety, brief mentions of nightmares, and panic attacks. Like very brief, self-confidence issues. (If that’s a proper way to describe it...) Slight angst, a very little fluff, I think that’s about it.

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x Reader

Word Count: 3278

A/N: This chapter is a combo of the original chapters 15 & 16, It might look at first glance like a filler chapter, but pay close attention to details in behaviors. **SPOILER** If you do it will save you some shock in upcoming chapters lol. As always all mistakes are mine! Please do not copy my work!! Feedback is gold! I hope you enjoy this one!

Summary: It’s funny how one choice you made can change your whole life. One mistake can alter your course, and set you on a path that forever will haunt you. Two people find themselves getting through one of the hardest trials of Jensen’s life, on just one small promise. You and Me. We’ll get through it together…

Want more? Check out my masterlist!!

***MASTERLIST***

***YOU AND ME MASTERLIST***

The sun broke pink just over the horizon of Jensen's property. You found yourself sitting on the back porch with a cup of coffee in your hands, listening to the early morning sounds of birds overhead.

Even though it was fall, it was still slightly warm from the rain that had passed yesterday. Jensen and yourself had fallen asleep on the floor pallet that he'd made somewhere in the middle of the first season of Game of Thrones. You both would have stayed there too, that is if the nightmares hadn’t started.

You moved the both of you to the bedroom, but you never really went sound to sleep after that. Jensen seemed to fall asleep again pretty soundly thankfully, and when you made your way out here he was still sleeping soundly.

You'd already been up, showered, picked up all the pillows and blankets, and gotten yourself ready for the day. You were planning on finishing your cup of coffee and waking up Jensen if he'd not woken up by then, and get started on breakfast.

It had rained so much yesterday that the roads headed into the studio were flooded. That being said, it looked like the two of you got another day off.

Standing and stretching, you see Jensen sitting at the bar on the phone. A cup of coffee in hand, and his hair a mess. He looked so cute when he was still sleepy in the morning, and you couldn’t help the content smile that spread over your face at the almost normal scene playing out before you, it was nice after everything that had happened to feel somewhat normal.

Opening the door you were starting to hear bits and pieces of the conversation he was having over whoever he was on the phone with.

"Yes Danneel I'm aware of that, but if I want to see someone I'm entitled to do so... No... No... I don't know if that's a good idea... Well, I'm still... Yes, I'm aware of that... But I...WOULD YOU SHUT UP AND LET ME TALK PLEASE!... I'm still having some problems. I don't know if that's a smart thing to do right now... I do want to help... Okay fine...FINE!... I'll be there to get her in a few hours... If you just have to have her picked up now I can call Jared... Because I just got out of bed that's why... Whatever damn, you're being a bitch this morning... Yes, I did call you a bitch. Keep it up and your descriptions are going to get more colorful than that... Fuck you... I'll call Jared and have him pick her up. I'm not in the mood to see you right now."

With that, he hung up the phone and rubbed his face with his hands, not even noticing you were standing there.

You walk up behind him and start rubbing his shoulders, not exactly sure what to do here, not wanting to overstep your place. His head rolled against you, and let out a deep sigh as you worked the knots out of his tense body.

"Everything okay?" you finally got up the nerve to ask. You normally tried to stay out of his business when it came to Danneel. You didn’t want him to feel like you were trying to step yourself in where you had no business being, and this was the first time you had ever blatantly asked about something that was going on between them.

"Yeah, it's fine. One of the twins has the stomach flu. Danneel doesn't want JJ to catch it so that she doesn't miss school. So she called and asked if she could spend the week with me. Which is fine, but she wants me to go get her from her house right now," he shrugged and turned around to wrap his arms around your middle, pulling you closer to him.

“She also has somehow found out about us, and she wasn’t exactly happy about it, even though it’s none of her damn business.”

You kept your mouth shut because you understood a little bit of Danneel’s side there. Her children still had to see their dad, and that might mean you’re around them too… You would probably have had a similar response.

"I hope she doesn't see me having some of the problems that I'm having right now. It's not that I don't want to see her, I just don't want her to see me this fucked up," he said, his voice muffled because of his head pressed against your chest.

"It will be fine. She's not gonna notice. She's just gonna be happy to see her daddy," you tell him, running your fingers through his tousled morning hair. Honestly, it was becoming your favorite thing to do.

Just as you were about to pull away from him and fix breakfast so that he could get ready to have Jared pick up his daughter. The phone rang again.

"What Danneel?... Damn... Well, she was already exposed... Okay... No, it's fine... Tell her when she gets better I'll come pick her up, and we'll go to the zoo again and get Ice cream or something... No, I know... I'm sorry too, I'm just not myself still... Tell the kids I love them... Okay... Fine... Okay... Bye."

He let out a deep breath and dropped his head down on the bar.

"What's up?" you asked, feeling like you were seriously intruding, but you were concerned about any sort of stress being on him right now.

"Looks like she's already caught it. She started getting sick when Danneel got off the phone with me a while ago. So she's just gonna keep her there." Jensen said, being torn between his family, and where he was now was still something he was learning how to do; on top of the stress that his attack had put on him. What made it worse was that you didn’t know how to help him through this part.

The physical you could handle, the nightmares, the panic attacks, you could handle, but when it came to his kids, that’s a whole different ball game.

"I'm gonna go grab a shower," he says, standing from the stool and placing a kiss on your forehead before making his way to the bathroom. You wished there was something to make him feel better. You didn't know what you could do though. Deciding to give him his space would probably be the best idea you turn and start on breakfast.

A few hours later Jensen was sitting with a guitar strung over his lap in the chair next to the window, and you were sitting with the laptop in yours, working through some transcripts that the publishing company had sent you. For the first time in a long time, everything felt... Well... Normal... It was easy... There was a comfortable silence that had fallen between the two of you. Only the sound of Jensen's guitar and your fingers sliding across the keys of your computer filled the room.

Out of nowhere a loud knocking at the front door made the both of you jump, pulling you both out of your comfortable state.

"I got it," Jensen said, sitting his guitar on the stand, and standing to his feet. You were halfway wondering if it was Danneel So you closed your computer and looked toward the front door, listening to try and see who it was.

You weren't left in the dark long though. Jared's voice came booming through the house. You rolled your eyes and picked your computer back up. 'Jensen must have called him over,' you think to yourself, not paying much attention as the two men walked into the room and sat down.

"Okay guys, listen, I got some really big news just now," Jared said excitedly, almost jumping up and down in his seat like a kid on Christmas morning.

You look across the room at him and see a dark-haired woman you knew as Jared's wife sitting next to him. She smiles and nods in your direction and you do the same. You hadn’t even heard her come in with Jared.

"Okay,” Jensen said, almost a little afraid judging by his tone of voice. "Spill."

"Well, I got a phone call early this morning from Robert and Andrew. There is a network that has been running our reruns on cable TV for years, they’re not happy that the show is over. Apparently, the president of TNT Kevin Reilly is a fan, and wants to pick up Supernatural on their network for season 16!" Jared was practically floating above his seat he was so happy. Gen looked over at her husband and laughed at him a little nervously, but you could see she was just as excited as he was, obviously feeding off her husband's good mood.

You looked at Jensen, he didn’t look as excited. His brow was furrowed, and he was biting his bottom lip. Looking down at his hands in this lap, he was obviously thinking hard about what Jared just said.

"Come on Jay," Jared said, picking up on his best friend's mood. "I've already talked to Misha. He's onboard. Let's give the Winchester another run." Jared said, sitting on the edge of his seat. He knew this could never fly if Jensen refused to participate, there was no acceptable recast, and there was no way the fandom would watch if Dean wasn’t a part.

"You know I want to," Jensen said in a rushed breath. "I'm just worried that I can't do some of the things now that they may want me to do," Jensen said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat, still not looking at anyone in the room.

"Robert and I already thought about that. If this goes through we will work around any handicap, setbacks, or problem you may have that comes up. It won't be an issue," Jared assured him, giving his best Sam Winchester puppy dog eyes.

Jensen licked his lips and nodded his head. "Okay, let's try. What do we need to do?" he asked, looking up at Jared finally. Just a little hint of excitement in his own eyes you hadn't seen in a long time.

Maybe he needed this more than he knew he did...

"Well, we fly to Georgia to meet Robert, Andrew, Misha, and Kevin in the morning if we decide to do this. I know it's short notice man, but this may be our only opportunity to bring our show back.”

Jensen chewed a little more on his lips, thinking hard.

"Okay, but Y/N comes with me," he said, reaching over and taking your hand in his.

"That's cool. Gen's coming with me. We'll rent a ridiculously expensive hotel with a spa in the bottom of it or some shit and the girls can hang out there while we're in the meeting," Jared said, looking between you and Gen. “Y/N will only be a phone call away if you need her.”

"Sounds great to me," Gen said.

"Yeah, I think that I can do that," you tell Jared, giving Jensen's hand a squeeze, letting him know you were okay with his decision, and that you were there.

"If this goes as planned, if we get the contract for a 16th season. Our lives are gonna change again dramatically." Jared said, looking at everyone in the room.

"Tell me when they where ever settled?" Jensen said, you could see his mood starting to lighten at the prospect of getting back to work.

Getting up you retrieve a beer for everyone in the room. You were a little scared, and a lot nervous, but the look on Jensen's face as he talked about getting back to work again made it all worth it. Whatever sacrifices were in the future, if you were with him, that's all that mattered.

The smile on his face right now as he talked to Jared about getting everyone back together again was worth everything that could possibly come again.

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

Jensen's POV:

"Yes sir. Mr. Reilly, we are more than excited to work with you all as well," Jensen said, standing and shaking hands with the man sitting across a conference table form Jared, Misha, Robert, Andrew, and Himself.

The meeting had been a success, everyone agreed to everyone’s terms and needs, they were going to go for the 16th season of supernatural.

Honestly, it was something Jensen thought he had buried, he’d grieved it even, thinking he’d left Dean behind forever, but like he had told the fans of the show when does anything in supernatural ever stay dead?

Jared was convinced that they could easily knock out two more seasons, but Jensen was worried like he was when they had decided it was time to end supernatural in its 15th season. He wanted SPN to end on a high note, and it had in season 15, not though he was worried it wouldn’t be accepted as well as it went out, or when the hype faded it would fade before they could bring it to as close again.

Either way here they were, paperwork signed, plans with agencies, and crews were already in place, writers were being hired.

It was going to happen.

They will start filming next summer, Jensen's idea. Give everyone time to readjust their lives back into Vancouver. Also, it gave the writers a little more time to get their storyline together. It wasn't going to be easy to bring the brothers back. To be honest they were probably going to spend close to a year in Vancouver just preparing to kick off filming and getting the storyline straight.

As they exited the building Jared and Misha were arm and arm, skipping like a bunch of idiots. Robert and Andrew were walking ahead of him, talking excitedly on their phones. Every person that was involved in this show’s lives just changed dramatically.

They seemed excited about it. In a way, so was Jensen, but still, there was that uncertainty...

Supernatural was their life for years, over a decade and a half.

What if this didn't go well?

What if season 16 was a flop?

What if he couldn't do what they asked him to do?

What if he couldn't perform like he used to?

All these uncertainties rolled around in his head as his friends celebrated the whole way back to the hotel, but honestly, Jensen just felt tired.

"Jensen, you and Y/N gonna come to help us celebrate tonight?" Misha asked him. Jensen just rubbed his face tiredly.

"Actually guys, I think I'm gonna sit this one out. I'm pretty tired today," he said, Jared looked at him concerned from the front seat. Everyone else just gave him a look of pity. Man he hated when people looked at him that way now.

"Jay, are you sure you're okay, man?" he asked, trying to read his almost unreadable best friend.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine, just a little tired. I'll be fine once I get some sleep. Y/N and I are probably gonna fly home first thing tomorrow morning," he said, trying to change the subject to anything but where his head was right now.

"Yeah, Gen and I will too. Got a lot to prepare for!" Jared said, turning back around, giving up on trying to figure out what was wrong with Jensen and thinking to himself that he would just ask Y/N later how Jensen was really doing. He usually lets more show around her than he did anyone else and Jared knew that. If something was wrong Y/N hopefully would be able to get it out of him.

Jensen was tired, he wasn't lying, but more than anything he wanted to get back to the hotel room with Y/N. He wanted to get wrapped up with her again, and go into a stress induced coma for the next foreseeable future. The rest he could work out once he made it back home.

One step at a time.

That's just how he had to live his life right now.

Your POV:

Yourself and Gen had spent the day together while the boys were meeting with the network. You had let her talk you into going with her to get your nails done, and now the two of you were sitting in the small coffee shop across from the hotel when your phone rang, and Jensen told you both the good news.

Once you ended the call with Jensen you hurried to get back to the hotel room, waiting on Jensen to get back too.

He didn't seem himself on the phone.

He seemed distant, his voice seemed strained and tired.

Today was just not a good day for him mentally, and you knew it from the moment you both woke up this morning.

He needed to rest.

Even though his physical injuries had basically healed a while ago, his metal wounds hadn't even started to scab over yet. They were still sore and fresh. Too much in one day could cause another episode of panic attacks. He'd been making good progress, and you didn't want him to start to slip.

When Jensen came through the door he gave you a half-hearted smile, slipping his blazer off and throwing it in the chair next to you before kicking his shoes off, and flopping down on the bed next to you. You lay down next to him, start tracing little circles on his back. "You okay handsome?" you ask, he looked at you with a tired expression.

"Yeah, guess I'm not as mentally well as I thought I was. I'm exhausted for some reason," he tells you, scooting over closer to you, wrapping his arms around your waist.

"Stress babe. You can't let it get to you. You know that," you tell him, playing with the buttons on his shirt. He laughs a little at that.

"I'll be fine once we get started. It’s just… I worked so hard on this, gave up a good bit of my life into this show, I'm afraid it won't go very well. If it’s brought back."

You nuzzle your way up to him, giving him as much warmth as you could.

"I know, but don't worry about it. It will all pan out, just enjoy the fact that you guys get to bring it back. Don't worry about things you can't control." A comfortable silence fell between the two of you again. You thought for a moment that he'd fallen asleep until he spoke.

"They're all going to one of the local bars to celebrate, but I didn't really want to go," he says, shifting his weight a little.

"Well, then we don't have to go. There will be plenty of other celebrations and parties I'm sure as you guys start the season's filming."

Secretly you thought he should have gone out with his friends, but you didn’t say anything, you didn’t want to push him.

More silence fell over the room , and Jensen got up off the bed. "Come on, I can't keep doing this. I can't keep hiding where I think I'm safe. The only way I'm going to get past this feeling is to just break off and do it right? Well let's go grab a bite to eat, just you and me, then we'll go down to the bar with everyone else," he says, pulling you into a sitting position.

"You sure that's what you wanna do?" you asked him, eyeing him closely.

He'd never brought you to a restaurant before. You figured because he just didn't want to talk to anyone else right now, but now you could see it.

Anxiety.

He was afraid to be out in public. He was scared.

You didn't even recognize it until right now, and you were already kicking yourself for being so damn blind to it.

"Yeah, I'm sure," he says, pulling you to him, kissing you softly.

You made a mental note to start paying more attention to the little things, and stop passing it off as just Jensen being Jensen, because you were starting to worry just how bad his anxiety was, and if he was trying to cover it up and keep it from you.

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#jensen ackles #jensen ackles x reader #jensen ackles x you #jensen ackles fanfiction #jensen ackles fanfic #jensen ackles dark fick #dark!fic #jensen x you #jensen x reader #hurt!jensen #x reader inserts #spn fanfics #spn fanfiction #spn #spn dark fic #dean winchester #jawritter #you and me

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catbowserauthor · 4 years ago

Text

A preview of the next TMNT Empathy story “Aftershocks”

So it’s been forever and day since I worked on my TMNT Empathy series but I got inspired tonight and am finally making progress with the next story, which takes place directly after “Damage.” Or, right after Kala has severed ties with Michelangelo. Here’s a short little preview.

@brightlotusmoon

***

Mess with me and I will let karma do its job. Mess with my family and I will BECOME karma.-Unknown

“This way.”

Michelangelo gave a slight yelp as Raphael pulled him along. He barely had time to straighten his hat to hide his appearance before his older brother was dragging him into the nearby doors. “Dude, why the rush? You have been acting mondo-bizarro.” That was the understatement of the year. First and foremost, when he had dragged himself out of bed, he had been utterly dumbfounded that there was no one shouting at him to get to the dojo. Early morning practice came even before breakfast but no one was rushing him along. When he had rushed into the dojo, certain that he was late, it was empty. Thinking he was beyond late and certainly due for a lecture that would make his ears bleed, he ended up running through the Lair only find that Master Splinter had merely left a note that he had taken Leonardo with him for some meditation practice away from the noise of the Lair.

But what noise? It was silent! Not even workaholic Donatello in his lab!

At least until Raphael practically ambushed him outside the main entrance (“Thanks for the heart attack, compadre!”) and threw the trench coat on him before pulling him through the sewers, proclaiming about them going to be late for the “best morning ever!” He had begun babbling about how there was a special going on with breakfast pizza and how the House of HaHa had their “best acts” performing all day and then how Donatello had some type of special surprise for them before lunch and then they were going to have to raid the comic shops when they opened.

Michelangelo was officially freaked out.

The red banded turtle gave his brother a cheeky grin, rolling his eyes, “Since when does the party-turtle turn down a good time?”

Cocking a suspicious brow ridge, the teenager responded “And since when does my super-cranky amigo become Mister Rogers?”

Raphael pouted, though it never seemed to look right on his face. That was more of a Michelangelo move and even then, not very often. So, he instead pasted another smile on his face, “What, I can’t want to spend some time with my bud every so often?”

Michelangelo tensed “Aw, man, amigo, did you get hit with Donatello’s Personality Alterator again?” That HAD to be the only reason for this maximum-weirdiozo behavior! Raphael, while not cruel, was also not the spoiley, let’s-have-a-guys-day type of turtle. He would go along with it if you pestered or offered but actually instigating it? This was Outer Limits-level odd! Outer Limits crossover with Twilight Zone-kind of odd! If it wasn’t so unnerving, he’d really be enjoying it but given it was such a random shift….he had so many things on his mind after…after Friday night…and he really didn’t need dissecting a brother’s totally nutsoid behavior added to the list.

“Will you stop giving me the tenth degree and just come on?!” Raphael snapped. He stood, pushing his sibling into one of the chairs near the front of the club. There weren’t a lot of people; never really were for a morning show as the House of HaHa was definitely more of a ‘night club’ type of scene but that didn’t mean they didn’t have any acts in the morning. The owner had been proclaiming about it being “a day of laughter” all last week, promising “our best acts every hour!” so Raphael thought it was the perfect spot! After all, he always got a kick of it. His brother could be a LITTLE more appreciative.

“Okay,” Michelangelo admitted with a half laugh, “THERE is Raphael.”

Rolling his eyes, Raphael flagged down one of the servers and asked for “your largest breakfast pizza, all the fixings, and a pitcher of Coke,” before sitting down across from his brother, “Look, sorry that I’m trying to give you a good time. Should I mark it down that Michelangelo wants to foot the bill then?”

Shaking his head, Michelangelo clarified, “It’s not that I don’t appreciate it, compadre.” He stressed that. “It’s a bodacious idea…breakfast pizza and a free morning…but why?” No lying there. A breakfast pizza, soda and a morning to not worry about training or exercises was totally righteous! That didn’t mean that he didn’t wonder what brought it on though!

Raphael shrugged “Eh, seemed like a good idea and I wasn’t about to turn down Sensei stealing Leonardo.”

Michelangelo nodded, though he didn’t believe him (he knew his brother too well) but their attention was divided when the first comedian made his way up to the stage, obviously not happy at the small group (there were only about three other tables with customers) but when you were a starting comic, you didn’t exactly get top billing. The House of HaHa rarely got what you would call “top notch” comics (given its small size) so it wasn’t usual for small, beginner comics to try their routine on the group. Sometimes with good results, sometimes with bad.

The red banded turtle HOPED the owner hadn’t been lying about the “best acts” part. He needed good comics. He needed to get a laugh out of his younger brother! No more of this mopey, sad and depressed Michelangelo. He couldn’t take it!

Raphael grinned and nudged his brother, “Hey, it’s Joey! Remember him?”

Michelangelo couldn’t say so much he remembered him so much as he recognized him. When they’d saved Raphael from Barney Stockman and Pinky McFingers and their ‘Gag-a-magnifier’ (seriously, who came up with these names?) there had been two comedians with Raphael and this older man was one of them. Apparently, he was still semi-popular as a few of the patrons seemed to recognize him. Michelangelo wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing but he took a sip of water that was offered and focused his attention.

Raphael wanted him to laugh, to feel better. If he was any more blatant about it, it would have been announced with a gong. Raphael had never been good about covering up his emotions, at least as far as Michelangelo was concerned. After the…disaster of a date Friday night, he’d finally gone to bed and had moped around the Lair most of Saturday. When he woke up today, he really didn’t feel much better and would have liked nothing more than to just lay around the Lair doing nothing but what could he do when Raphael had been so insistent? His brother was trying to cheer him up and judging by his statement that Donatello would be joining them later, his other siblings were in on it too. Pretty sweet of them. For all their teasing towards one another, they did love each other, just had different ways of showing it.

So, while Michelangelo inwardly cringed at what might pass for ‘funny’, he had to give a half smile as he went along with it. “Sort of…” he offered his brother but opted not to finish because Joey was starting his routine.

“’Morning Folks,” Joey greeted them. “Glad to see you all. Got a whole new load of questions for you today!” He paused, seemingly for dramatic effect, “So, the other day, I’m chatting with the baker down at the store, just the usual catching up kind of thing and he tells me that he and his wife weren’t able to get the new car they were planning on. Know why?”

Michelangelo groaned inwardly as Raphael and for that matter, most of the audience, finished with “he didn’t make enough dough.”

Joey smiled and offered a wink. “You got it folks. Felt bad for the guy, I really did. He’s got two kids, see, and his daughter’s been feeling really down in the dumps. Heck, she went to the river yesterday to…”

“Fish for compliments,” Raphael chimed in.

A few of the audience members clapped but Michelangelo winced, burying his face into his arms to suppress a groan. Man, this guy was bad. Nothing against the guy but the jokes…they were painful!

“And you know the other day, I found out that it’s not just humans that can be rude. I met the rudest bird in my garden. He was a …”

“Mocking bird!”

Michelangelo did groan that time.

This kind of back and forth continued for about ten minutes before Joey finally left the stage when he stopped getting laughs and even the other people in the club were starting to look disinterested. Raphael could see the owner gesturing to him from the side and finally he got the hint. Well, Joey had never been the best of that group of three, at least in the red banded turtle’s opinion. Raphael looked up to his younger brother and made a face. Michelangelo had buried his head into his folded arms but he wasn’t asleep. Looks like he wasn’t the only one with that opinion. “Eh, okay, Michelangelo so Joey’s talent isn’t exactly his jokes.”

“Mondo understatement, Dude.” He remarked. Lifting his head, he remarked “I mean, I give the Dude points for gettin’ up there and trying but those were really mondo-bad.”

The server finally brought out their pizza at that point and it was excellent timing. Raphael had a feeling that this wasn’t going like he had hoped. Best acts his shell! He had a few words to exchange with the owner over that. Aside from a small smile at the beginning, his brother still had that depressed look and darn it, Michelangelo was not meant to be depressed! He was the turtle that was supposed to be full of life and happy and smiling but…because of a girl’s selfish actions, here he was, trying to cheer up the cheerleader! It was completely backwards!

“Alright! Bodacious!” Michelangelo took hold of the nearest slice, grinning widely. Loaded down with all the fixings, yes, this looked wonderful. He took a giant bite of a slice, relishing in the egg, sausage, bacon, tomato and even the thin coating of grits that was underneath the cheese. Breakfast pizza was usually more complicated and they didn’t routinely make it so getting a large one was a real treat. It gave him something to focus on besides what was rushing through his head. Despite his brother’s attempts, Michelangelo found his thoughts still drifted to Kala.

Why wouldn’t she let him help her? He’d do anything to help her! Hadn’t he shown her that? Didn’t she know that—

“Hey! Daydreamer!”

His brother’s sharp tone snapped him out of his somber thinking and he blinked, taking in Raphael’s concerned-but-covered-up-with-annoyance look. He knew that look anywhere. You didn’t grow up with someone and not learn their looks, despite how they might try and hide them. “Oh, major league sorry, Raphael. What did you say?” He took another bite of the pizza slice in his hand, realizing he must have been thinking a bit because some of it had tumbled onto his plate. Not like him to waste pizza toppings.

Rolling his eyes, Raphael responded “I said not to let Joey throw you off. They DO have good comedians here! Hey, they liked my routine!”

Michelangelo didn’t say anything for a moment. Okay, so his brother wasn’t HORRIBLE per say but he wouldn’t exactly say that he was ‘great’ either. At least not when he was trying to be funny. “Oh.” He finally said but then promptly wanted to slap himself in the forehead. Michelangelo didn’t say ‘oh,’ he didn’t just sit there and stare blankly ahead either. He was totally failing in his brother role right now! He was supposed to be supportive of family goals and his brother was totally going out of his way to make him feel better and he was being a major wet rag about it! Maybe he should pick up the tab…

“Hey!” Raphael chimed in, oddly enough, not hurt. “I’m pretty good!”

Refocused again, Michelangelo clarified “When you’re not trying, you are, Dude.”

Under normal circumstances, Raphael would have taken that as an insult. However, Michelangelo had been showing since Friday night that his humor radar was deeply off kilter. Plus, he hadn’t said he _wasn’t_ funny, just that he was funny when he wasn’t trying. Well, what did that mean?! Raphael took the bait and inquired as much with another bite of pizza himself, “Whatta you mean, when I’m not trying? I put a ton of work into my jokes, I’ll have you know!” He gave his sibling a half pout but once again, that look just didn’t work for him.

“Oh, believe me, we know” Michelangelo replied to his brother “But your jokes aren’t when you’re funny, Raphael,” he responded simply “Sorry to bust your bubble, amigo. It’s when you’re just talkin’ about our family or our mondo-crazy lives or the latest near-death avoidance fiasco that you’re funny.” He added “See, real life is funny enough and you’re bodacious at pointing that out.” He took another bite of pizza, swallowed and said “You try, like, way too hard, compadre, to be funny. Don’t try so hard.”

Raphael had to admit that this took him by surprise. He had always thought that being funny meant pouring more skill into his writing of jokes and routines. But faced with this information, he frowned, considered.

“Well, that settles it.” Pushing his plate aside, Raphael stood and made his way to the front of the room. Michelangelo reached after him, calling for him to come back, no doubt thinking that he’d hurt his feelings but the red banded turtle was on a mission now. His little brother needed to smile, damn it! And if the comedians provided by this club weren’t going to cut it, then shell it all, he’d do it himself!

#tmnt #1987 tmnt #1987 teenage mutant ninja turtles #BIG BROTHER RAPH #heartbroken mikey #depressed mikey #family support #family love #empathy series #Mikey is a sweetheart

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3laxx · 4 years ago

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Babysitting a Human: 101 - Chapter 2

A welcome break, some training, a meal, and a big jump scare later, Amity and Luz settle in for a comfortable night, which is interrupted early by a sudden growth spurt~

Part 2! I hope you guys like this part as well! Let's just get right into it and not waste any time on notes xD

Ao3 / FF.net

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They remained silent like this, and it was about ten minutes until Hooty announced some visitors. Sighing, Amity unzipped the sleeping bag and sat up, careful not to jostle the baby in her arms too much, but Luz didn’t even care. Apparently, as soon as she was being held, nothing could wake her up anymore. Shrugging, Amity cradled her safely before getting up and opening the door for her siblings, reassuring Hooty that they were okay to let in.

Edric waved while they approached and Emira interlaced her fingers to tilt her head against them, whining at the sight. Amity glared at her.

“Don’t. Say. Anything.”, she growled, but of course, her siblings wouldn’t be stopped by that. Just barely after stepping aside to let them in and closing the door again, she – or rather, baby Luz – was already under the attack of whisper shouting teens.

“She is absolutely adorable!”, Edric started.

“How did that happen?”, Emira had always been a bit more factual than her twin.

“How is she so tiny and adorable?!”, Edric would not shut up about this.

“Why are you alone with her?”

“Her little hands are so tiny!”

Stopping them with a gesture, Amity walked back to the couch in front of which the unzipped sleeping bag was still spread and sat down to keep Luz safe, then she began.

“Well, I just wanted to drop by to give Luz her book back and the Owl Lady basically just, threw me into the situation and dashed. When I came in, I didn’t find Luz, but instead this baby here. It’s-… It must be Luz. She reacts to her name and I wouldn’t know of siblings. But I don’t know more.”, she sighed, softly brushing over the baby’s head, and her sleeping face made her smile, “No, I do know it’s Luz. She acts so much like her.”

Emira softly sat down next to her and reached out with a softness she wouldn’t have thought possible for her sister.

“And-… You’re just alone with her now? The Owl Lady just up and left?”, she asked while softly cupping Luz’s head, brushing her thumb over her temple. The baby shuffled closer to Amity’s neck and she couldn’t help but feel a little pride swelling in her chest, and a smile beginning to form on her lips.

“Yeah. Just ran, basically. I think she would’ve left the baby in the care of this bird tube thing. So, I’m kinda glad I came here to watch her.”, she sighed as Edric sat down as well, then she hummed.

“Feels super weird, though, that I’m the babysitter out of the three of us.”

Her brother chuckled at that and shrugged.

“I mean, I’d absolutely take her, but she’d actually clinging to you. So I wouldn’t dare.”, he explained and Emira nodded, before asking.

“What do you think happened to her?”, she asked and Amity shrugged.

“I noticed she doesn’t seem to have kept her age but rather aged down with her body. So I suspect a potion, that’s the only thing strong enough to alter age like that.”

She tried prying Luz’s arms off of her neck but the baby complained and whined in her sleep, so she let go again, going back to cradling her while leaning back a little more, so she wouldn’t have to exhaust her arms.

“Looks like you got this, though.”, Edric remarked and Amity grumbled at him.

“Well, I already fed and bathed her, I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do until the morning. She’s easily entertained but also easily distracted. And I have no idea how to handle human babies.”

Rolling her eyes, Emira shook her head.

“I remember when you were a little baby like that. Our nanny didn’t do much more than that with you, honestly.”

Amity deadpanned but decided not to comment on that. She knew babies didn’t do that much more, but she didn’t exactly know where to with all that responsibility. And she certainly didn’t want to be alone here, with Luz and nothing but her instincts.

She was just a teen, she wasn’t supposed to improvise like this with a baby that was also her crush when grown up. But she couldn’t deny the warm feeling. Somehow, it felt good, caring for a tiny life like that. Call her crazy, but she actually liked the baby snuggling up to her. It was almost like a puppy. Only that Luz was a lot more fragile.

They remained seated like this for a little while, Edric and Emira cooing about Luz being so small and adorable until the baby stirred.

“Great, you woke her up.”, Amity almost wanted to sigh, but she found herself getting excited to spend more time with tiny Luz. She’d had a lot of fun with the tiny human already, and she honestly wanted to see what the evening would still bring.

“That’s not a bad thing!”, Emira protested when the baby yawned and buried her face on Amity’s collar, then she lifted her up and put her feet on the couch to lean Luz back against her thighs, softly brushing her cheeks while she gave the baby a little time to wake up.

“Heya, sleepyhead.”, she chuckled and Luz clumsily rubbed her eyes, “We have visitors!”

When Luz spotted the two grinning faces to either side of Amity, she immediately began squealing as if she had never slept. Fondly, the witchling rolled her eyes, then she bopped her nose.

“You’re a sweet one. Who wants her?”

Immediately, Edric dived for the baby and scooped her off on Amity’s lap, and cradled her in his arms, smiling widely.

“Hello, little cutie! I’m the coolest brother of the Blights!”

“You’re our only brother.”, Amity deadpanned but he paid her no mind. Giggling and already playing with the still a little groggy baby, he ignored her protest. Sighing, Amity got up, then she stretched and rubbed her back.

“I’ll see what I can find for dinner. You two don’t, uhm-… Don’t kill her.”

Emira slipped on her seat now that she was gone and both twins began entertaining the baby, with a lot of giggles and grins, so Amity supposed it’d be fine. She had never seen them as gentle with anything before that, and for a brief moment, she wondered if she had been treated the same when they had still been little.

With a huff and another sigh, she rubbed the warm spot where Luz had slept and trudged to the kitchen, where she began searching for food. Well, she could make herself a sandwich, she wouldn’t have much more time for anything else, anyway. And for Luz, she still had enough of the fruit stuff she had made earlier. She supposed that’d have to keep her alive until the next morning because she did not want to try mashing up more things than necessary.

The twins were getting louder from the living room, but she supposed it was okay. As long as she could hear the baby laughing, they couldn’t be doing much wrong.

“Oh man, what have I gotten myself into…?”, she summoned up her scroll phone and went through her penstagram for a little while, then she replied to Willow’s question if everything was alright with a short update, before opening her gallery. A few new pictures that she had taken with baby Luz. One where the baby was sitting in her lap, another where she was splashing around in the sink, a hairstyle of bubbles sitting on her head, another one where she tried shuffling away, and the last ones, of Luz sleeping on Amity’s chest while she pressed a kiss to her head.

Honestly, if she squinted her eyes and imagined herself being about ten years older, and baby Luz to have slightly pointier ears, she could totally imagine that being her with hers and Luz’s daughter in the future.

She decided to keep this picture saved in a special place in her heart. Maybe she could recreate it someday if she had children at some point in her life. Smiling, Amity put all the baby pictures into a folder and returned to the living room, leaning against the door frame and watching the twins – who had migrated to the sleeping bag by now – cheering on Luz to shuffle around and get her plushie.

Amity giggled when Luz caught it like she was some sort of predator, curling around the little plush and laughing hard when Edric joined her on the ground and Emira reached out to tickle the toy out of her hold again. Thus, the game began again. Emira placed the toy a little distance away and cheered on her to crawl, but Luz would just shuffle and pull her way to the plush where she would catch it again and kick her little legs in excitement.

She supposed she could have a little time to herself before her siblings would leave again.

Sneaking into the room, she settled down on the couch and took a few pictures of the twins goofing off with Luz, before she realized how fast the time had passed. They only had ten minutes left to make her curfew.

“Uhm, guys, it’s getting late. You should go now.”, she announced and Edric looked up with a pout that almost made her think he was about to cry.

“Already?”, Emira whined and she stood up, putting her hands on her hips. If she had to pretend that she was the older sibling she would absolutely do that.

“Yeah, or our parents will be super mad and figure out that you have an illusion with you.”, she glared at the twins and the baby on the sleeping bag, all three had grown quiet, but while the twins pouted, Luz was happily chewing on her plush.

“Okay, she’s right.”, Emira finally said and got up, brushing some dust off her clothes. Shortly after her, Edric moved to blow a raspberry on Luz’s tummy – Hey, that was her thing! – and got up as well.

“How do we do this illusion?”, Edric asked and Amity chimed up while getting down on her knees next to the baby.

“Maybe make me sleep? That way mother and father won’t ask for my homework or a demonstration.”, she proposed and in the flick of a wrist, Edric was carrying an illusion of a fast asleep Amity on his back, snoring and drooling on his shoulder. Deadpanning, the real Amity sighed, then she furrowed her eyebrows at Emira.

“I don’t look like that when I sleep.”, she grumbled and her sister shrugged with a grin.

“That’s what you think, mittens!”, she cheerfully replied and went to open the door for Edric, who looked back at the baby on the sleeping bag longingly.

“… How are the chances that she’ll stay that way for a little while at least?”, he gingerly asked and promptly received a slap on the back of his head from his twin.

“Edric, just get lost.”, Amity replied laughing and watched as Emira shot her the last wave before opening the door and leaving after Edric, “Thank you for covering me!”

The twins called back something but Hooty had already closed the door and Amity was alone again with Luz. Smiling, she turned back to her and brushed over the bridge of her nose, leaning to the side so she was propped up above the baby.

“And what will us two do now, that we’re alone again, hm? What do you wanna do?”

The tiny baby squealed and once again tried to reach for Amity’s gem, making her laugh and lean down so Luz could grab the necklace, inspecting it like she hadn’t explored this about five times already.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. You have fun with that. I mean it, though, we could play a game! Or I could teach you crawling, how’s that sound?”

At that, Luz listened up and looked back up to her. She hadn’t understood a word, but Amity’s voice going up at the end of her question had intrigued her. Giggling, Amity bopped her nose again.

“C’mon, let’s be productive!”, she cheered and decided to use the same trick as her siblings. She tickled the little plush out of Luz’s hands and put it about a step away from her, before nudging her to turn over and get it.

Luz was puzzled at first, after all that wasn’t Amity’s game but Emira’s, but after a second she spotted the toy and excitedly tried making her way to it. Amity laughed.

“Noo, get up! Get your bum up, come on!”, she got on all fours and exaggeratedly began crawling so the baby would see how it worked.

“It’s easy, Luz, promise! Look!”, she chuckled and the baby squealed before shuffling her way over to Amity, completely ignoring the toy, to pap her little hand at her arm and laugh. Amity had to laugh as well when tiny Luz shuffled again to sit down, laughing and stretching out her little hands to be scooped up. Instead, Amity nuzzled her nose against the baby’s and began crawling again, showing her how it was done.

“C’mon! See? It’s easy, you just gotta try!”, she crawled a little ways ahead and the small baby laughed before getting down on her tummy again and shuffling over to her, her face pulled into laughter the entire time she chased after Amity. The teen had to laugh at that and shake her head, letting Luz reach her to flick her super soft human ear. She then reached down to the baby’s hips and pulled them up, so Luz would get the feeling of being on her knees. Instantly, the baby stopped laughing and stared at her in enlightenment and Amity cheered.

“Yeah, like that! Now follow me!”

Once again, she crawled ahead and the human giggled and laughed loudly, dropping back on her tummy and pulling herself to Amity to softly jab at her hand. Laughing, Amity dropped to her back and put the back of her hand to her forehead.

“Oh no! I’ve been slain!”, she exclaimed and the baby laughed louder, starting to pull herself up and crawl on top of Amity’s chest, at least with her arms, to drum on her chest, making Amity laugh even more.

“Okay, let’s try crawling again, though! Come on, I’ll show you.”

The girl got back up on all fours and set the baby up the same, crawling ahead and sitting down to spread her arms for Luz to crawl towards her, gesturing.

“Come on! You can do it, I believe in you!”

The tiny baby seemed to consider dropping back down to her tummy to shuffle again, but after letting the gears turn in her head in concentration, she just dropped back to her bum, now half-kneeling. Amity giggled, then she spread her arms again and gestured for Luz to move towards her.

“Come here, Luz! You can crawl, I know you can!”

The baby huffed as she watched her with wide eyes, before pushing her hips back up again and wobbly balancing herself on all fours. Then she crawled.

She only managed a few paces before losing the rhythm and dropping her bum back down on her feet, but she had crawled!

Unable to contain her excitement, Amity squealed and got up, scooping up the baby and swirling around with her, giggling and laughing loudly while she cradled the baby close and swirled through the room.

“You did it! You did it, I knew you could! I’m so proud of you!”, she exclaimed and stopped spinning, placing a big kiss on the baby’s cheek, “You did really well, Luz!”

The baby had squealed and flailed all the way, and patted Amity’s cheeks when she had kissed her, then she seemed distracted by something else, though, and tried leaning down so Amity put her back down on the sleeping bag and chuckled, sitting down next to her. At the thought of what she had done mere seconds ago, she had to giggle while watching the baby shuffle again to investigate some seam on the sleeping bag. Her, the composed, rule-following Blight offspring, elite student of Hexside and Emperor’s Coven protégé, was crawling around on the floor to teach a baby to crawl. Chuckling to herself, Amity shook her head, then she softly brushed over Luz’s head while the baby was just barely propped up on her elbows, inspecting a loose thread.

She wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

Luz shuffled a little further, just out of reach for Amity, before pushing herself up into a sitting position. Amity watched her, back turned towards the teen, before the baby suddenly lost her balance and fell backward. Surging, Amity dived to catch her in time and cradled her back and neck, while propping herself up on her elbows. The adrenaline was rushing through her head but the baby hadn’t noticed how much that could’ve gone wrong. Instead, she caught her gaze and grinned and giggled at her upside down. Amity sighed exasperatedly, before pushing Luz over to the side, rolling her to her tummy.

“I swear, you scare me like that again and you’ll be the death of me.”, to that, the baby just laughed and shuffled back towards her, to prop herself up on her shin and pull herself up to sit while leaning on her knee, smiling sweetly.

“Oh, I can’t stay mad at you.”

Amity tried crawling with her a few more times until she had to change Luz’s diaper – which went less awkward than she would’ve thought – and then she moved on to dinner. Luckily, Eda had some food she didn’t have to cook, and some fruits were also left. So she decided to eat something first.

Which was a bad idea.

Luz immediately noticed Amity had a plate of sandwiches when she returned from the kitchen. She had tried not to leave the baby alone for more than five minutes, and when she came back, Luz immediately looked up and rolled to her tummy to make her way towards her as fast as she could. Amused, Amity watched the baby shuffling across the floor, then she giggled.

“You’re in a hurry, huh?”

Finally, the baby reached her and sat down by her leg, reaching up with her little hands to be lifted up. Amity put the plate she held on the next available surface, a windowsill, and scooped Luz up, then she grabbed her sandwich again and took a bite, to which the baby gave her a quizzical look.

After chewing her bite down, because she was raised not to talk with a full mouth, Amity raised her eyebrow at her.

“… What?”

Luz reached out to grab the sandwich but Amity put it back on the plate which was out of Luz’s reach. The reaction of disappointment was immediate. Her chin began quivering and suddenly, tears shone in her eyes. Rolling her eyes, Amity bopped her a little.

“Luz, that’s grown-up food. You can’t eat that yet. Besides, that’s my dinner. You’ll get dinner in a bit.”, still, the small human wouldn’t let the teen console her. Humming, Amity finally broke off a part in the middle of the bread where she had cut the halves apart and let Luz lean back a little, so she could feed it to her.

“Okay, I know you like peanut butter and jam sandwiches, so open up.”, as soon as the baby had realized that she would get a bite, she opened her mouth as wide as she could and Amity almost laughed, “Here we go.”

She put the crumb in Luz’s mouth and the baby closed her mouth before trying to chew on the new sustenance. The bread was very soft, so Amity didn’t worry about her that much, but she was very eager to see the reaction of the baby.

After swallowing the bite, Luz opened her mouth again and Amity had to laugh.

“I don’t have anything else for dinner, Luz!”

She stayed relentless, with her mouth wide open. The witchling sighed, then she gave her another crumb, before taking a big bite for herself. While the baby was concentrating on swallowing, she stuffed more of the sandwich in her mouth, so she would have a chance of finishing as much of it as possible. Yet, Luz wanted more.

“Oh, come on. That’s my food, you can’t possibly want more of that.”, the baby ignored her. So, since she didn’t exactly have another solution, Amity fed her another little crumb before trying to stuff the rest of the sandwich in her mouth, coughing and choking but finally managing while the baby was still distracted by the new taste. By the time Amity had finished chewing and swallowing her part, Luz had already opened her mouth again. So she held up the plate with her other hand and held it between them, shrugging.

“Empty. No more sandwich.”, she smugly smirked at the baby closing her mouth again and papping her hand on the empty porcelain, then she looked back up to her. Her brown eyes filled with tears.

Great, whatever she did, she got tears back.

“Time for your dinner, then!”, Amity cheered, in the hopes of distracting the baby from the sandwich, and sure enough, Luz’s ADHD didn’t disappoint her. At her cheering, the baby reacted like a puppy and squealed with her, the sandwich already in the past.

Relief flooded the teen and she smiled at that, putting the plate away before fetching the fruit goo again and sitting down with Luz to feed her.

Yet, as expected, dinner went just as messy as lunch. Luz had a whole lot of fun with smearing the goo everywhere she could, and Amity was just glad she had learned from the last time and taken off Luz’s hoodie and instead draped a towel across her chest, since she had to place the baby in her lap again, as a substitute for a baby chair. Unfortunately, the baby had also figured out how to throw the goo now, if she moved her tiny hands fast enough. In the end, the teen found herself sprayed with much more sticky baby food than she would’ve felt comfortable with, and had trouble keeping her temper in control.

At least she had managed to feed Luz most of it.

Deciding against a bath, Amity just changed Luz’s onesie again – she was glad she had found another clean one in the crib – and put her back on the sleeping bag to play some more while she would clean up. Some smudges around her collar were still dried in from lunch. But she didn’t mind them for now. Instead, she wanted to rinse her face and hair, before getting back to Luz. She didn’t really mind being sticky and dirty, because she knew she had to care for the baby. It wasn’t like she enjoyed being covered in food, but there was humor to it, a sort of necessity not to care in favor of all the sweet moments she’s had with Luz until now.

After cleaning her arms, she took off her ponytail and let her hair down, then she began with her collar, neck, and face. Luz had managed to get the food absolutely everywhere. She would not be surprised at all if she found some in her top beneath the shirt she wore.

While scrubbing her cheeks, Amity made a plan for the next few hours. She should probably keep Luz occupied for a little longer, still, before letting her sleep. Maybe that’d allow her some rest this night. She didn’t expect to sleep through the night, not with Luz being so small, but maybe she could hope to get as much sleep as possible.

She never thought looking after a baby could be so straining. At that moment, she had the most respect for her nanny. That witch had made it her job to look after babies and little witchlings, not only if they were from rich families but also if they were a handful and their parents couldn’t master raising them alone anymore.

And at just fourteen years old, Amity was sure she did not have to necessary endurance yet to look after a child, still being a child herself. But it was fun for an evening, that much she could say. And even if Luz was a lot smaller than Boscha’s little sister, she enjoyed spending time with the baby.

Just as she was finished with her face, she looked up again to see her shadow dancing in front of her. Furrowing her eyebrows, Amity watched the strange phenomenon.

The outlines of her shadow seemed to blur and move erratically as if there was a different light source-…

Turning around, with the towel in her hands with which she had just rubbed over her face, she spotted a small ball of light floating in the air in front of her. It was dancing around, just about the size of a palm, and innocently floated towards the far end of the room. Amity furrowed her eyebrows further, squinting her eyes.

She hadn’t cast a light spell. She wasn’t using magic at all, right now. Was Eda back? But why would she cast a light spell?

Huffing, Amity approached the ball of light, feeling it shying away from her touch when she reached out, then she heard the baby giggling from the living room.

In an instant, the switch inside her head clicked.

Breaking into a sprint, Amity made it out of the kitchen and skidded around the corner, to see Luz sitting on the floor next to her school bag that she must’ve thrown next to the front door when she had come home from classes yesterday. She innocently giggled and sucked on her hand, while the other flailed before going pap on another glyph.

She had found her notepad. On which she had already scribbled out a few glyphs. A few balls of light already floated around the room and Amity felt her breath hitching in her throat. She had never, ever, heard of a baby that young casting magic. Usually, their magical abilities started developing once their bile sac was fully functional at the age of three, and when they learned to cast their spell circles most witchlings were around the age of four to six. Luz was just about four to five months old, with her aged down body. Amity hadn’t even thought this to be possible, but then again, Luz was using glyphs to summon magic.

Her gaze wandered down to the baby again. Only now, after the first shock had faded, she saw that baby Luz had already cast a few spells. Besides the balls of light floating around, she also spotted a few flowers and small ice pillars around her. Only now she also recognized the thing Luz was sucking on not to be her hand but a small ice rod that was slowly melting but thankfully big enough for the baby not to swallow it.

Again, Amity looked around. This was a lot of magic for a child, and even more so for a baby. Did Luz not use her concentration to alter the glyphs and shape them into what she wished? Apparently, the glyphs already gave her a baseline to work with and Luz only needed to activate them. The rest came with her own imagination. Since a baby couldn’t think abstract yet, she supposed all she created was the glyphs magic, which was a lot less than Amity had imagined, after seeing Luz do quite a few impressive things with her glyphs.

Lightly chuckling, the witchling turned back to the small human, and an unbelieving smile spread on her lips. She was about to say something when she saw the next glyph her friend had prepared on her notepad.

She wasn’t entirely sure how the glyphs looked in absolute detail, but after hanging out with Luz and playing grudgby with her, she sure could recognize the general shape of the four glyphs had discovered so far. And if she wasn’t wrong, the next glyph was a fire glyph.

The smile slipped from her face as Luz lifted her hand, still looking at the teen. Then the baby squealed and let her hand rush towards the glyph on the floor next to her.

“Luz, no!”

Amity leaped.

She felt her legs catapulting her forward while her hands already stretched out to grab the baby. But it was already too late. Luz had touched the fire glyph and it began glowing, as Amity felt time slowing down. Her hands managed to grab the baby’s middle and pull her away from the glyph and towards Amity when she turned and kicked the notepad with the glyph away. As soon as she had the baby in a firm cradle, she cast a spell circle and an abomination’s hand surged from the ground, trying to cover the activated fire glyph, but it was already too late.

A flame erupted from the glyph, a good foot tall, and singed Amity’s sock that was still too close to the glyph. The abomination’s hand slapped down on the paper and the flame was quickly distinguished while the teen pulled her leg back, rubbing at her foot to put out the gleaming fabric on her sole.

And then it was over. As quickly as it had happened, the situation was diffused already, and Amity found herself shivering, sitting on the floor and cradling a very quiet baby to her chest, while her sock was still somewhat smoking, and the abomination goo on the ground slowly sunk back into the circle where she had summoned it from.

But as quickly as the scare had happened, and as quickly as it had gone quiet after that, just then the baby in her arms began screaming.

Right. Scary, fast movements and she could imagine she had not exactly grabbed her gently. The baby headbutted her collarbone and began wailing into her shirt, desperately clinging to the fabric while the shock still had both of them shivering.

After another little moment of hesitation, Amity hugged Luz close, grateful that they both weren’t injured, and moved from side to side, softly swinging around so Luz would calm down again.

“Shhh, shh, it’s okay. That was scary, but I’m here. I’m here, Luz, nothing bad happened. It’s okay…”, she turned her face to the baby’s head and snuggled her in, sighing while calming her racing heart and pressing a little kiss to Luz’s small, round ear, “It’s okay, Luz, it’s okay… I was there in time, it’s okay.”

The baby was still shivering, as was the teen, and she slowly got back up to her feet, testing the burned sock. It had just turned a little brown but the heat hadn’t even reached the inside of the cotton. Suddenly she was super glad that her mother had insisted she wore these socks to accommodate the colder temperatures in the evening outside.

When she was sure her foot was okay and no fire was left from the glyph, she began pacing and talking to the still wailing baby who was inconsolably clinging to her and soaking her shirt in tears. If Luz kept that up she’d have to see how to keep her hydrated, because she wasn’t too sure if the human already knew how to drink from a glass.

Slowly, very slowly, Luz’s screams died down and she settled against Amity who had entered the kitchen again, still cradling her close and talking to her in the most reassuring voice she could muster, while trying to calm herself down.

If the flame had already singed her sock like that, she didn’t want to imagine what it could’ve done to Luz if she hadn’t been in time. She sighed and shook her head, then she searched for a substitute for a bottle. She had to get some water into Luz at some point, she knew that. And she didn’t care if she was doing something wrong here, she was left to care for the baby and she would care for the baby whatever that meant.

Finally, she found a sort of rubber glove in Luz’s things. She didn’t know why exactly Luz was carrying this around with her, or really what it was for, but it was there and just what she needed.

Cutting off one of the rubber fingers, she thoroughly rinsed it and put it on a small glass that she had filled with water, and poked a small hole into the tip of the rubber. Then, Amity used her hairband to keep the rubber firmly in place and tentatively turned the glass upside down above the sink. Sure enough, the rubber held in the water, and a little stream of water exited the tip of the rubber finger on top.

She was a genius.

As soon as Luz had calmed down enough from the shock to stop hiding her face in Amity’s chest – which took a whole lot of convincing and snuggling to get her to peek at least – the teen managed to lie her down in her arms and give her the makeshift bottle. Luz’s lips closed around the rubber and Amity held her breath, but it kept the water from spilling.

Well, it worked less than she would’ve wished, but the baby seemed to get enough liquid to be happy with it.

Feeding her with a bottle was an entirely different feeling, Amity realized. She held the baby close and smiled when Luz reached up to hold the glass herself, her tiny fingers wrapping around Amity’s. She hummed when Luz fixated her and continued breathing heavily while drinking, making the witchling chuckle.

“You don’t have to drink as fast, it’s okay. I have more water where that came from, though I doubt your tiny body needs more than this.”

Luz got half the glass down before her thirst was quenched, so Amity put the glass away and hugged Luz close to her chest to burp her. That’s what she had heard about caring for babies at least. She wasn’t entirely sure what it was about burping them, she just knew they had to be helped.

It wasn’t long until she grew tired, then. Her eyelids seemed to grow heavier and heavier with each deep breath she drew, and Amity had to smile fondly. Sleepy Luz was just so adorable.

The baby cuddled close to her again, as she had before after the scare with the fire glyph, and seemed to settle down. Finding herself tired as well, Amity just got a blanket from the backrest of the couch and stuffed some pillows around them.

She knew Luz would fuss if she tried putting her in the crib Eda must’ve summoned just before leaving, and she didn’t want to fall asleep on the floor in the sleeping bag.

But she did want to put on her hoodie again after this ordeal, so she risked putting Luz down just for the moment and pull over the hoodie, for both their comfort.

After that, she just put Luz in her arm with her shoulder safely nestled into the crook of her elbow and her head leaned against her biceps, propping her against a pillow Amity secured next to her, then she draped the big blanket around them and cuddled them both in, smiling once she was comfortably lying against one of the armrests.

Luz barely kept her eyes open and huffed from time to time, so Amity softly let her finger wander over her tiny face and brush from her cheek up to her forehead and down the bridge of her nose between her eyes, before passing her tiny lips and turning on her chin to wander up the other cheek and pass over her nose to get back to where she started. She continued to Luz’s ear and softly brushed the super soft skin of her round ear shell, then she brushed back to Luz’s forehead and wandered down to her cheek, smiling all the while.

The baby quickly fell asleep to her ministrations and Amity breathed through deeply.

The fire glyph had been scarier than she had thought. Not only was the adrenaline only now dying down, but also her fear of something happening to Luz. Well, at least nothing did happen.

But the anxiety of something that could’ve happened still made her shiver from time to time. She had been awfully close to that glyph. If Amity hadn’t reacted, maybe hadn’t even known, her entire side would’ve been burned, badly. Breathing through, Amity shook her head, then she leaned back on the pillow she had pushed behind her and sighed.

Nothing had happened. A sock at the expense of no injuries, she could absolutely live with that.

Baby Luz breathed deeply and cuddled a little closer to her. Amity felt another smile growing on her lips, then her hand found back to Luz’s head and softly brushed over her cheek. The baby suckled sleepily but didn’t react otherwise.

What a day, today…

Amity breathed through once again, then she felt all the exhaustion, responsibility, and anxiety melt from her shoulders as she relaxed and felt sleep slowly taking her.

One last time, she opened her eyes.

Luz was safely cradled in her arms. She couldn’t fall, no matter how much she may flail or move in her sleep, and Amity couldn’t hurt her either. Humming, she closed her eyes again and gave into a sleep that embraced her warmly and softly.

---

A whimper woke Amity up rather fast. Normally she was a heavy sleeper, but with a baby in her arms, she’d found she was awake instantly once she heard Luz fussing.

Their position on the couch hadn’t changed, which she was thankful for because relief immediately flooded her veins, and even if Luz had tried to kick a little, she hadn’t managed to move out of Amity’s safe arms.

Humming, she let herself wake up properly but still remained a good bit sleepy, before sitting up a little and yawning while softly beginning to rock Luz in her arms.

The baby had most likely woken up from a nightmare because she seemed distressed and not quite there yet. Amity merely waited until she had fully woken up and smiled at her, summoning a little ball of light like Luz always did with glyphs, creating a soft pink light to shine on them. The baby just needed to orientate, but she still whined and protested against being woken up by her dream.

Chuckling, Amity held her closer and softly kissed her forehead, too sleepy to register that she had started kissing Luz casually now, then she smiled.

“It’s okay, I’m here… It’s okay. You’re safe, Luz.”

She hummed a little tune while the baby slowly settled down again and lied back down in the former position after shaking out her arm, to settle back down for the night. She was lucky she had found out Luz could sleep rather deeply in her arms, otherwise, she wouldn’t have had as much a calm night as she was having now.

The small baby whimpered some more before huffing and letting herself be snuggled in again, letting a grateful smile grow on Amity’s lips.

“I’m here, Luz, I won’t go…”, she mumbled, her eyes already closing when she hummed and let herself relax again.

This was actually very nice. Holding Luz like that, warmth surrounding them and a faint owl hooting in the forest outside. In the manor, Amity didn’t hear many sounds from outside, due to the windows being magically enhanced to create silence, but here, she actually enjoyed the noises from the woods just outside the door. The faint owl was momentarily interrupted by a gust of wind blowing past the house, but then she heard it again.

Her eyes fluttering close, Amity breathed deeper, then she settled back down to sleep, the baby had fallen asleep before her already. She liked to think that Luz was sleeping through the night because she was actually already fourteen years old, but thinking about it exhausted her too much. Instead, she just settled for gratefulness that she wasn’t screaming.

---

It was in the early morning hours when the sun already peeked through the treetops.

Eda was dead on her feet. She had used the whole night to search high and low for all the ingredients that she needed for a reverse spell after Luz had drunk the last little gulp of her aging down potion.

Her apprentice hadn’t known how potent this potion was, Eda just used it in the direst situations – like when a wrinkle appeared – and had gulped down the entire thing.

Presumably, she had thought a small rest like this would only age her down by minutes, maybe days, but little had she known that the smallest drop already drew drastic changes with its power. It was no surprise that this potion had been outlawed long ago.

One reason had probably been that children pushed their snoopy noses into adult business and that too many had been aged down too much.

With an annoyed huff, Eda touched down in front of the Owl House and stretched her back, before pushing away Hooty and entering her house.

For a second, the sight of the sleeping Blight on her couch startled her, but then she remembered she had put that Titan-sent child on babysitting duty when she had rushed for the ingredients. And to get away from that baby, honestly. Having Luz around was fun because she was a teenager, but Eda had never really clicked with small children or even worse, babies.

Besides, Luz would’ve been fine for a night. Probably. Most likely.

Maybe Hooty would’ve fed her some chewed-up bugs or something. A light grimace of disgust washed over her face, then she groaned again.

Eda was too tired to care. She trudged over to the sleeping pair and admittedly, it did look kind of cute how they were passed out like this. Without further ado, Eda took off the straps of the baby carrier around her middle and took King out of the straps, before placing him on Minty Green’s feet. He just kept on sleeping as if nothing had ever happened.

The teen and the baby were still sleeping. Honestly, the Blight kid did look a little exhausted. Maybe she had put her up for too much when she had left a baby in her care. On the other hand, at least she didn’t have to look after that baby. So she didn’t exactly care.

Humming, Eda closed the kitchen door to let them sleep a little more while she would make the potion. Titan, she was tired. Here was to hoping she’d get the potion right.

But she had the utmost faith in her brewing abilities. After all, she hadn’t been on the potions track for nothing. Yet still, she would much rather sleep now. But on the other hand, Luz would be thankful to have her normal age and body back.

Rolling her eyes, Eda got to work to prepare the potion. How much she wished for her nest right now. Oh man, she would just curl up in her trash and sleep like a baby…

Shaking her head, she began preparing the various ingredients needed for a reverse potion. Luz needed her body back.

Checking in with the recipe again, Eda furrowed her eyebrows.

Weird, why did she remember to bring the teeth of a four-legged clover? She definitely did, they were right here on the table. Oh well. If she didn’t need them, she could always use them for something else later. Though, she did make a note to bring them. She had checked the recipe before leaving and everything.

Shrugging, Eda pushed them aside. If she didn’t need them it was all the better.

Within an hour, the reverse potion was done. On the counter, she found the makeshift bottle the Blight kid had crafted, with a little water left inside. Smirking, Eda inspected the bottle and nodded. She was smart, that much was given.

Exchanging the water for just a bit of the potion inside, Eda opened the door to the living room and saw that the baby had already woken up and was squealing softly while Little Miss Perfect was still fast asleep. She looked pretty knocked out. Apparently, Luz had done quite a number on her.

Not minding her, Eda just unceremoniously gave the bottle to the baby and held the glass while she was drinking eagerly. It didn’t even take a minute and the whole gulp was gone. Satisfied, Eda leaned back and crossed her arms. In just a second, her fully grown Luz should be back to her normal, cheerful, optimistic, fourteen-year-old self.

---

A sudden weight on her chest pressed all air out of Amity’s lungs. She had just been dreaming about Hexside when suddenly, she was ripped out of her sleep to a much larger person sitting on her, rather than the tiny adorable baby she had fallen asleep holding.

Wheezing, Amity tried catching her breath and waking up properly when the one on top of her already screamed.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!”, she heard and furrowing her eyebrows, she looked up to the woman on her chest. Luz didn’t talk… Like… That…

On top of her, in her arms, where she had cuddled in and held the tiny baby Luz for the entire night, sat a grown woman, roughly twenty-four, and screamed insults. She looked a lot like Luz, actually.

Except that she was, well, way older.

Amity wheezed again, then she felt the woman getting up and taking the blanket with her, the sweet, sweet warmth she had just felt a second ago. Wait.

Where was her baby?!

Now that oxygen reached her brain again, Amity looked around, before her gaze finally fell on the woman standing in front of Eda.

She had the blanket wrapped around her, covering everything but her very bare shoulders, toned arms, and calves from what Amity could see, but a tiny piece of cloth on her back attracted Amity’s attention. It was the same fabric Luz’s onesie had-…

Panicking, she sat up.

If it was ripped, then where was-…

Suddenly, the stranger turned to her, with her eyes blown wide.

“… Amity?!”, she asked and her heart sank when she looked at those eyes. Those were Luz’s eyes. That was Luz. Just. Way older.

Choking, Amity coughed a few times and doubled over, clasping her hand over her mouth. This wasn’t teenager Luz, no, this was young woman Luz.

In an instant, the woman screamed again and Eda finally stopped being completely apathetic to the situation.

“Listen, Luz, if you hadn’t drunk the age potion-”

“HOW THE FUCK SHOULD I HAVE KNOWN, EDA?!”, she yelled and Eda shrugged.

“Though it does seem weird you’re so much older. Let me check something.”, without even batting an eye, Eda left the room and went back into the kitchen, leaving the older Luz with a still wheezing Amity who had discovered that her nose was bleeding by now. It did not help that Luz went back to her and kneeled down by her, the blanket still wrapped around her body.

“Oh my gosh, I am so fucking sorry, Amity. I didn’t mean for this to happen, I thought that potion was just-… Nevermind. Are you okay?”

Huffing, Amity nodded, then she reached for a tissue on the table before leaning back.

“… Wh-Why are you old now?”

“Older.”, Luz corrected with a huff, grumbling, “Not that old. But that’s a good question. I don’t remember anything after drinking the potion from Eda. Why are you suddenly here?”

Amity stopped the blood coming from her nose, then she looked at Luz quizzically.

“It’s been half a day since that happened, I think. Yesterday in school everything was normal, and when I wanted to come by in the afternoon to give you back your Good Witch Azura book, I was suddenly thrown in here to babysit you by Eda.”, she explained, which only left more questions on Luz’s super handsome mid-twenties face.

“Babysit me?”, she asked and Amity nodded, trying not to look at her too much. Her hair was still short but she had grown out two long strands in front of her ears. And oh Mama, she was still super naked, even if she kept the blanket pulled around her.

“Yeah, you were-… You were a small baby. Just. Moments ago.”, Amity explained, fixating her left foot. She could not look at Luz or else she may explode.

Unfortunately for her, despite taking on the appearance and habits of a woman in her mid-twenties, Luz was still the touchy fourteen-year-old. A hand appeared on her knee and Amity couldn’t help but let her gaze follow these toned arms up to her shoulders and back to her unfairly handsome face, resulting in a small ‘eep’ from the teen.

“I’m sorry you had to babysit me. I suppose that was hard. Mami always told me I was quite the active baby.”, she grimaced and Amity thought she had to die. Her crush was back with full force and boy did she have it bad.

“Hah, haha, yeah! Kinda, uh, kinda active, yes! You figured out how to use glyphs so I had quite a handful with you, I-I mean-”, her face blazing, Amity shut herself up, then she looked down again, “… It was okay.”

Luz slanted her lips, then she sat down next to Amity. She couldn’t help to notice how much taller she was than her and tried her best not to look at the very adult version of her friend, gulping.

“So-…”, Luz began while Eda was clattering around in the kitchen, “Sorry for causing you all this trouble. I didn’t know what the potion would do.”

Huffing, Amity nodded, then she turned to look at Luz which she realized was a mistake. From next to her, she could see Luz’s profile, which flustered her even more. She hadn’t realized she was staring until Luz turned to look at her.

“Ah! Right! Don’t worry, that potion is long outlawed and we don’t learn about this anymore. You couldn’t have known.”, she quickly rambled, then she rubbed over her face and sighed, “S-Sorry, I’m just-… Tired?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. Sorry for the rude awakening, by the way. Eda just had to give me the potion right on top of you, huh?”, she chuckled and Amity nodded mutely. In fact, sleep was the farthest thing from her mind right now and she felt very awake after this disaster. She was just glad they didn’t have school today.

“D-Don’t worry about that, you took my breath away before.”, she dazedly replied, and only at the questioning expression of the older human, she realized what she had said, “I-I mean! Yesterday I was left out of breath! Be-Because watching babies is hard! Haha!”

Luz merely grinned at that, then she softly bumped Amity’s shoulder.

“Are you nervous around me because I’m older than you now?”, she smugly grinned, and just when Amity had thought older Luz couldn’t get any hotter, she proved her wrong.

“N-No! This is just-… Very confusing!”, she quickly defended herself and the young woman laughed.

“Yeah, right! You’re nervous about something! Did it have to do with baby me?”, she inquired and Amity only felt her face burning more, her ears starting to flutter. Not because Luz was right, but more because her being smug broke the poor witchling’s mind.

“N-No!”

Gasping, Luz laughed, then she poked her cheek. Amity.exe stopped working.

“It does! You cuddled with me! That’s why I woke up on top of you! We cuddled aaaaall night long, isn’t that right?”, the human cackled, then she fixated the blanket on her chest and leaned over to take Amity in a playful chokehold, ruffling her hair, “Bet you even kissed my chubby cheeks!”

At Luz’s cheers, Amity just felt herself blacking out. Especially when she guessed everything because Amity had in fact kissed Luz a lot and cuddled with her.

“N-Not true! I-… I had to keep you quiet somehow and-”

“So true!”, Luz sang and finally let her go, while Amity was trying so badly to keep her composure, “So, how’s it feel to be younger than the baby you watched last night?”

At that, Amity rolled her eyes and hid her face in her hands, huffing, before Luz squealed again.

“Hey wait, did you take any pictures?”, she asked and at that, Amity felt her face blazing even more.

“Y-Yes?”, the teen stuttered and Luz slid closer to her, grinning eagerly.

“While we wait you can show them! Pretty please?” she pouted so adorably, it almost matched the baby’s face when she had done that last night. Amity felt her heart speeding up so fast she thought it might break out of her ribcage and throw a dance party.

“Y-Yeah, sure.”, she summoned her scroll phone and tapped the folder with the baby pictures she had taken. It wasn’t that much more than a dozen, but Luz was enamored immediately. Squealing, she laughed at the silly pictures Amity had taken and cooed at herself sleeping in the sleeping bag. Wait, that meant-

“I was right!”, Luz suddenly exploded, and Amity nearly fell off the couch with how hard she flinched, “You did kiss me!”

At that moment, Amity wished desperately the ground would open up and swallow her whole, but it was about to come worse. Luz swiped again and a selfie appeared. Amity with a grumpy face, holding a very cheerful Luz in her arms, while the food was smeared all over both of them. The tiny baby was holding out her arms to grab Amity’s food-encrusted hair but was unable to, due to the teen leaning away. Oh, right. She didn’t remember taking this one.

“Oh my gosh, did I do that to you?!”, Luz cackled and nearly threw herself off the couch, then she bumped Amity’s shoulder again, “I’m literally so fucking sorry, but this picture is gold, Amity.”

The teen just hid her face in Luz’s hoodie by pulling up the hood, not realizing that the older Luz only now noticed that she was wearing her hoodie. She had grown so used to wearing it yesterday, she hadn’t realized Luz would find that adorable.

“Hey, wait!”, she exclaimed, a shit-eating grin on her face that could have matched Edric’s and Emira’s yesterday, “That’s my hoodie you’re wearing!”

There went her composure, all the way out the window and into the woods, never to be seen again.

“I-I-… It was the only way to get you dressed!”, she tried reasoning as she had tried to with Willow as well, but Luz only smirked more.

“You undressed me?!”, she asked and Amity found this point in time right here absolutely suitable for her disappearance, never to be seen again.

“I-I had to bathe you! You saw how much you enjoyed playing with your food!”, she tried again and Luz just nodded, with the silliest smug grin she had ever seen anyone do. It looked kinda dorky.

“So your first solution to get me back into clothes was to put on my clothes.”, she factually stated and Amity just wanted to faint now. She was absolutely ready to begin a new life under a new name in Glandus High.

“I-It was what I could think of, back off.”

Still cackling, Luz checked out the rest of the pictures, stopping at the last one which showed her sleeping in Amity’s arms, only illuminated by a soft, pink light, then she gave her back her scroll phone and still grinned. Amity was very sure she would not live this down, ever.

“Aww, Amity, don’t be cranky! I think it’s very sweet you cared for me yesterday and you look good in my stuff.”, grinning more, Luz leaned closer, “Though, you do look like it’s very warm in here. Want me to open a window?”

The human was obviously referring to her very obvious blush and for Amity, that was the last straw. Stiffly, she stood up and bowed (?) at Luz, before giving her a strained grin and talking way too loudly.

“No, thank you! I will go to the bathroom now! Bye!”, she exclaimed, then she walked to the upstairs bathroom mechanically before shutting the door with a forced calmness before collapsing on the floor and hiding her face in the hoodie. She needed a moment.

---

Laughing to herself, Luz got up and pulled the blanket tighter around her again, before making her way to the kitchen. She was almost as tall as Eda when she stood next to her, she noticed.

“So, what was wrong with the potion?”, she inquired and Eda looked at her with a grumble.

“I stayed up all night searching for the ingredients to reverse the potion you had no business drinking.”, then she turned sheepish, “But in my sleepiness, I accidentally just made a potion to age you up. It should be fine after I add the teeth of the four-legged clover, though, that should reverse all effects by aging potions.”

With that being said, she added the ground teeth to the potion that was still bubbling on her counter, before casting a spell and taking a very, very old-looking wooden spoon – that Luz recognized as the brand new one they had just bought last week – to stir it.

Just a moment later, when Eda removed the spoon, it looked brand new again, making the older witch smirk.

“There we go. Now it just has to cook a little bit more before you can drink it and you’ll be back to your mischievous fourteen-year-old form.”

Luz crossed her arms.

“I’m not mischievous!”, she exclaimed and Eda grinned.

“After drinking that potion and calling your action ‘shenanigans’ just before turning into a little baby right in front of me, you definitely are.”, she clarified and Luz huffed at that accusation.

“Okay, fine, so maybe I was a little short-sighted and rash, but, that’s no reason to call me mischievous.”

“Imma call you what you want. And now scram, search some clothes, you’re naked in front of your guest.”, Eda chuckled, making Luz smirk before playing along.

Indignantly, the young woman grabbed a corner of the blanket and threw it over her shoulder like a toga, huffing.

“Excuse you, I’m wearing the latest.”, she playfully snobbishly answered and sauntered towards the living room.

“Ripped onesie and blanket?” Eda questioned with a snort, getting back finger guns from her apprentice. It seems Luz would not lose a single bit of dorkiness with age. Somehow, that made her feel happy.

“If you have a problem with that, you can take it up with my designer.”, Luz replied, “Or you can simply go fuck yourself.”

“Just get lost already!”, she shouted after the young woman with a chuckle and earned laughter from Luz. Boy, she was glad she had adopted a kid with some humor at least. And she could not wait for Luz to turn old enough to swear.

---

When Amity dared to leave the bathroom again, she was as composed as she could ever be in this kind of situation. Walking down the stairs, the still aged up Luz greeted her from her blanket and Amity nodded at her.

“How’s the potion coming along?”, she asked and sat down next to her on the couch, gratefully grabbing some snacks Eda had brought in while waiting for the potion to boil a little longer.

“Eda says it’ll be done in a moment.”, Luz said with a smile, then she looked up and down on Amity. She was still wearing her hoodie and Luz found that very adorable. She wouldn’t comment on that, she decided, not to fluster Amity again. They fell into a comfortable silence before Luz leaned back and smiled.

“Hey, seriously though. Thank you. You could’ve just turned away yesterday but you didn’t. Instead, you sacrificed your day to watch me as a baby. Not everybody would’ve done that.”, she sincerely said and Amity blushed a little, but recognized the honest tone of her voice.

“… Not a problem. I couldn’t just leave you alone with Hooty. I wouldn’t have felt right with that.”

Luz nodded, then she smiled.

“Thanks for not giving me that trauma, even if I wouldn’t have remembered.”, she chuckled and Amity couldn’t help but laugh a little as well.

“You’re welcome.”, she mumbled, even feeling comfortable around Luz, before Eda entered the room and brought a small cup of the potion with her.

“Time to turn back to normal, kid. Even if I’m gonna miss the swearing.”, she grinned and Luz furrowed her eyebrows.

“I’ve been swearing?”, she asked and Eda chuckled.

“Just drink the potion.”, she lifted a hand, “It’s for real this time. No more aging up or down. It’s a simple reverse potion to lift spells. You’ll be an awkward teenie again.”

Luz nodded at that and smiled, before looking back at Amity. Then she gripped the blanket around her tighter and took the cup from Eda, downing it in one gulp.

It took a second, before a glow emitted from her and the normal, fourteen-year-old Luz sat in her place. Amity slowly breathed out in relief. Finally, she had her Luz back. Even if she was still naked. But Luz had already put on some underwear before Amity had even had the time to remark that, and before she knew better, a cheery Luz in her normal leggings and shorts and a sports bra sat beside her while Eda had gone to wash up, grinning as she gestured for her hoodie.

“I’d like that back now if you don’t mind?”, she grinned and Amity chuckled with a faint blush on her cheeks. At least she could properly talk to this version of Luz.

“Yes, right. Sorry.”, she pulled off the hoodie and handed the still warm fabric back to Luz who put it on, then they grinned at each other.

“So…”, Luz began, stretching as she enjoyed having her normal body back, “I still don’t remember baby me. But older me seems kinda nice! Even if it bothers me that she swears. Maybe I’ll keep an ear out for that, and instead not start swearing.”

At that, Amity had to laugh.

“Yeah, maybe that’d make you nicer. You were kinda pushing my buttons as older you.”, she admitted and Luz blushed. Amity almost rubbed her eyes when the pink shade dusted across Luz’s cheeks.

“Sorry. I remember I enjoyed that, though it seems like last week, not a few minutes ago.”, she giggled awkwardly, then she hummed, “What’re you still planning today? It’s a free day, so, we could maybe hang out?”

Was that a date?

Amity felt giddy at the thought.

“I’d like to spend a day with normal you now.”

---

Let me know if you liked it!

#toh #the owl house #amity blight #luz noceda #edric blight #emira blight #eda clawthorne #baby luz #fanfic #some more tooth rotting fluff

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raisedbyfandomwolves · 4 years ago

Note

Undercover maid

This... got away from me like the rest but in my defence, it’s not exactly an easy prompt to work with...

It was supposed to have been a relatively simple operation.

At their core, the Gands were no different from all the other filthy rich families that had gained their obscene amounts of wealth through shady deals and other questionable means. The FBI had taken their kind down before a hundred times and there would be a hundred more others just like them long after they had been shipped off to jail where they belonged.

When Kara had been chosen to go undercover as a maid in their household, she had treated it like any other assignment of this type she had undertaken before. Routines, business schedules, even favourite restaurants... She had memorised every bit of information the FBI had on each Gand on the off chance that it would come in handy in the unlikeliest of situations.

Naturally, that had also meant learning everything she could about Michael Gand, the only son of Lars and Rhea Gand.

If 'Frat Boy of the Universe' was an award that actually existed, she was sure that he would win it hands down... and keep winning it year after year without fail at least until he died of alcohol poisoning, a drug overdose or some other health issue brought on by his degenerate lifestyle. In fact, his only redeeming qualities seemed to be that he was sensible enough not to drive while drunk and his apparent lack of involvement in his parents' illegal activities.

“He's also hot as hell,” her colleague Eve had added with an impish smirk while waving one of his surveillance photos in Kara's face. “Don't forget the most important part.”

How that was in any way relevant had escaped Kara but she was used to Eve making such inappropriate remarks and had just rolled her eyes at that. Whether Michael looked like a modern day Adonis or the Hunchback of Notre Dame had no bearing on her assignment and once she had made her way into the Gand household, she was just going to avoid him whenever possible. Considering his reputation as an unapologetic womaniser, he would probably try to seduce her – not that she would ever fall for his sleazy charm, of course – and quite possibly cause her nothing but trouble until the very end.

Less than a week after she had started her undercover assignment, that prejudiced view of him had not just been challenged but rather nearly obliterated in its entirety.

She had no idea how the FBI had missed the domestic abuse during their initial surveillance but it was impossible for her not to notice when it was happening right in front of her on an almost daily basis.

When Lars and Rhea had been nothing more than profiles and pictures to her, Kara had already despised them on principle. Now that she had seen how they treated their own son, however, she wanted to be the one to personally shove them into their jail cells.

Rhea was undeniably the crueller of the two with her nearly constant barrage of disparaging remarks that cut deeper than any blade could achieve. If anything, the occasional slaps that reverberated throughout the Gand mansion were nothing compared to the verbal abuse she heaped on Michael at every opportunity. Sometimes, it seemed as if she treated him worse than she did any of her servants... or even all of them combined.

Suddenly, all the alcohol, drugs and one night stands made an unsettling amount of sense.

It wasn't long before Kara had gone from wanting nothing to do with Michael Gand to wishing for his sake that he had been born into any other family – born to parents who actually loved him and didn't seem to treat hurting him as their favourite hobby.

But the tipping point – the change of heart she had never seen coming – had been one night when he had stumbled in dead drunk and she had been the only one still awake at that late hour.

He had mumbled about everything from whether he had left his jacket at the bar – he was wearing it – to how insanely blue her eyes were – like comets, he had slurred – as she had all but dragged him up to his room to sleep it off. His clumsy compliment had shocked her not because she hadn't expected it – he was a notorious flirt, after all – but rather because... because... she hadn't minded it.

Of course, that potentially world-altering realisation had taken a back seat when he had proceeded to follow up that compliment with a very shocking and rather lucid confession: He knew about his parents' illegal dealings – not everything but enough to actually put them away for a substantially long time – and he wished he had the courage to stand up to them about it instead of constantly running away and trying to pretend everything was fine.

Then he had finally fallen asleep, leaving her with a dilemma that kept growing until it had presented her with a very ill-advised solution.

When he had sought her out the next morning while she was cleaning one of the mansion's many rooms to apologise for his behaviour, she had taken the biggest gamble of her life and revealed her true identity. She had confessed that her name was not Linda Lee but rather Kara Danvers and she was an FBI agent trying to uncover evidence that would bring his parents to justice. While he had been stunned silent, she had taken the opportunity to go through with her highly unorthodox and risky proposal: try and convince him to testify against his parents.

“I know what I'm asking of you is something unthinkable,” she had said, “but you told me yourself last night: You know what they're doing is wrong and you want to stop them. I can help you do that. I know you don't believe it, Michael, but there's a good man somewhere deep down inside you – a good man who deserves a second chance instead of suffering the same fate as his parents when the law finally catches up to them. All you have to do is trust me and work with me.”

He had stared blankly at her for an inordinate amount of time before simply turning on his heels without saying another word. Panic had set in quickly after that – Had she miscalculated? Was he going to warn his parents? What were the chances that the operation had just been sabotaged beyond salvation by her own hand and she was going to end up a rotting corpse in the river? – but it was too late; all she had been able to do was pray that she had been right about him even as she had begun wondering if she needed to tender her resignation when she could finally go back to the office.

Several nerve-wracking days where he had avoided her like the plague had passed before he sought her out again in the laundry room while his parents were out of town. “Hey,” he greeted her softly, startling her so much she let out a short shriek as she spun around to face him. “Sorry, I... I didn't mean to scare you.”

“N-No, it's fine. I was just... a little tense.” She took in the way he looked – tired, worn out and a far cry from the playboy persona he usually put on to mask his pain – and her still racing heart ached for him. There was a small voice at the back of her head telling her that she was crossing a line she shouldn't – had possibly already crossed it a long time ago, even – but she found she was past caring about that. “You didn't tell your parents about me.”

His haggard expression twisted into one of bewildered hurt. “They would've killed you. I couldn't...” He squeezed his eyes shut and turned away. “I'd never be able to live with myself.”

“I know,” she rushed to reassure him with an outstretched hand, her feet already taking her a few steps closer to him before she was even aware of it. “I'm sorry I implied you would. You... I meant what I said about you being a good man, Michael, and a good man wouldn't do something like that.”

He let out a noise that vaguely resembled a laugh. “You believing that makes one of us.” Then his distorted mirth disappeared as quickly as it had manifested and his expression became pained again. “They're my parents.”

It was a loaded statement filled with more emotions than those three words had any right to possess. “I understand,” she said gently, aware that her response was worth so little it was almost a mockery even though there really was nothing else she could offer.

The flicker of gratitude in his blue-grey eyes when he met her gaze again showed he appreciated the gesture anyway, much to her quiet relief. “So... What happens now?”

“I'll have to contact my superiors and then... we'll see.” Taking another ill-advised gamble albeit of a different kind, she closed the distance between them and grasped his hand. “But no matter what, I promise I'll be with you every step of the way, okay? We're going to get through this. Together.”

“...Okay.” He looked so much like a lost puppy as he slowly turned the hand she was holding around so that they were palm to palm that she was seized with the urge to hug him as tightly as she could and tell him that she would never let him be hurt again. “Then... I'm in your hands, Kara.”

#karamel #prompt fic #anon

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k7l4d4 · 4 years ago

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Owl House AU Ideas, ZA FIFTH!!

Hello all, once again, I am BACK with an AU! It is a crossover with the popular superhero franchise, DC COMICS BABY!! WOOT! Specifically, this is a crossover between Earth 16, setting for the Young Justice Comics and Show, and The Owl House setting in the form of the newly formed Earth 53! Give ‘em some love folks, round of applause! Sorry if I’m hamming it up too much, just feeling really amped.

The premise is partially inspired by a crossfic over on ao3, can't really recall the name right now, that involves the Anti-Monitor's Anti-Matter wave occurring; The Owl House-Verse gets wiped out and subsequently resurrected as part of the DC Multiverse, with Amity somewhere in the mix due to being taken off the board just before her world is destroyed. In this idea, something occurs that results in the Boiling Isles and its connected Earth to be merged into the DC Multiverse; the shockwaves result in mass alterations to the two world's shared history as the Boiling Isles and Human Realm become the new Earth 53 (I know that the DC-Verse isn't restricted to just 52 worlds anymore, the name is mostly for dramatic effect). The biggest difference between this and similar premises is the idea of Earth 53 coming from OUTSIDE the Source Wall, an extreme anomaly in the DC-Verse Space-Time Continuum, if not an outright impossibility, that has resulted in "Errors" forming across the worlds. Amity is the one of the only ones who clearly remembers life before the merger, and the changes, both to the world and to herself, have been jarring. She who was once the heiress-apparent to a magical household of considerable influence was now the marginalized third child to two of the meanest lawyers in Bonesburough, friendless and adrift. In a world where humans, witches, and demons live alongside one another, and magic is a rare commodity hoarded by major cities and governments, where is her place in it all? And, more importantly, where is Luz?!?

Boscha: Unlike her canon self, DC Boscha is a tough girl who grew up on the streets, fending for herself at nearly every turn; she was eventually taken in by the Park family, one of Bonesborough's most well-known, if not necessarily influential, families, growing close to the daughter of the family, Willow Park. Boscha often acts as Willow's bodyguard and confidant, providing both protection from anyone trying to harass her, and a shoulder to lean on when she needs it. She has a small crush on Willow, but hasn't realized it for what it is yet. Boscha is a conduit for the Strength Force, granting her immense physical strength, durability, and geokinesis. Despite her immense power, Boscha is largely unskilled with her abilities, often being limited to the most basic interpretations of her powers. Willow: This version of Willow grew up as part of the lower Upper-Class, straddling the border between the Middle-Class and High-Society circles, gaining renown for her skill with plants and vegetation in general. While just as kind as her Canon self, DC Willow is somewhat jaded, often having difficulty opening up to others for fear that they are trying to get something from her or manipulate her. Willow suffers from a mild form of Narcolepsy, falling asleep when sufficiently stressed. Willow has a strong connection to the Green, gifting her with a powerful bond with all plant life; unlike other Conduits and Avatars for the Green, Willow refuses to fully connect with it, channeling her nature as animal, and as such of the Red, to retain her self. This unique state of being both apart of yet separate from the Green offers Willow a few abilities that other, similar, existences lack, with her greatest ability being the power to forcibly merge an enemy with the Green, essentially turning the Nature Dimension into a prison for them, though the technique is only fully effective against enemies who wield the Green themselves; non-Green Empowered individuals can only be held for around a month to up to a year before the Green rejects them and spits them out back in the Physical Plane, often sickly and in need of food and water, though not desperately so. An unusual quirk of Willow's is that she often adopts a demeanor similar to a religious figure, using formal speech and an extremely serene and calm demeanor; no one is sure, not even Willow herself, if it is an act or if she is genuinely being altered in some way by using her powers. Gus: Half-human, Half-witch, this interpretation of Gus often feels uncomfortable in his own skin. The only time Gus truly feels at ease is when he is immersed in water. At the age of Eight, Gus when swimming and nearly drowned, only surviving due to a sudden surge of the Life Force resonating through the world. As a result of his exposure to the Life Force, Gus possesses similar abilities to, yet still distinct from, those of Atlanteans. Gus cannot communicate with sea-life, but they are unusually docile in his presence, with even the most vicious of sea life being harmless to him. Gus can distort and manipulate the water in his body, and the water vapor in the nearby air, to create illusions and mirages. Gus tries to disguise his discomfort by hamming up his more excitable and comedic traits. Replacing his obsession with humans, this version of Gus is near obsessed with Magic, instantly going into Fanboy mode at the site of Amity's spells (note: Gus is capable of distinguishing magic from similar phenomena on his own, a holdover from his past self having magic, though his current self is unaware why he can do so). Skara: A popular girl, Skara sits at the front of the pack, yet also has a reputation of being kind and accepting; as she attends one of the most divisive schools in regards to Human-Witch-Demon relations in the world, this often results in her being forced to play mediator, much to her own distress. Skara can't stand seeing anyone upset or feeling left out, going out of her way to include others, even if it means she herself ends up left out. Skara is incredibly skilled at both Music and the Bow, serving as an expy of both Black Canary and Green Arrow, in that she wields a harp/bow combo capable of launching sound arrows. Skara is a nascent magic user, though her skills are highly unrefined and geared near-exclusively towards those based on sound. Edric and Emira: The twins are a study in contrasts as opposed to their canon similarities. While they still possess their sense of mischief, Edric has been groomed to be a respectable gentleman, at least in terms of appearance, while Emira is essentially an out and about rebel, bucking authority and rules at every opportunity. Edric thinks of himself as suave and charming, but to most everyone it just comes across as adorable and childish; a little kid thinking he's an adult. Emira is confrontational, aggressive, and possesses a reputation for being a punk, though she often takes a stand against bullies and thugs. The two often argue, but both fondly remember the days when they were more similar and got along more. The two share Speed Force powers, Negative for Edric, Positive for Emira, yet neither is compatible with their respective bodies, as Emira is more attuned with the Negative and Edrice with the Positive. To counteract the damage their abilities do to their bodies, they channel each others' Speed Force for their sibling; a side-effect of this sharing is that they cannot utilize the super-speed common to all Speed Force Conduits unless they work in perfect sync, but otherwise possess all the standard abilities of their respective forces. Jerbo: The quirky child of the local funeral director, Jerbo is highly skittish, often jumping at random and having a meek personality, he is slow to trust others. Jerbo has always possessed a fascination with the intricacies of life, death, and the cycle between them. This fascination ultimately culminated in him developing a connection to the Green! However, an accident disrupted the process, causing his connection to degrade and allowing a connection to the Grey and the Rot to enter in its place. None of his connections are particularly strong, but using them in concert allows him to leverage powers and abilities far above his technical weight class. He often uses his powers to necromantically command plants and bacteria, building intricate "Rot Golems" to fight with, in a manner similar to his Canon Plant Golems. In addition, Jerbo often uses his Rot powers to accelerate and regulate the decay of already dead plants and animals to create fertilizer and revitalize the environment. Viney: An adventurous free spirit, Viney has a genuinely compassionate soul, going out of her way to help out however she can. Viney has a deep sense of empathy, particularly for animals, serving as a first look for local pets before their owners decide to take them to the vet or not. Viney cannot stand animal abuse in any form, often protesting groups that have shown histories of shady animal practices whenever she can. Viney wields a connection to the Red, which she leverages in a manner similar to the powers of B'wanna Beast, as well as healing. Viney often serves as the team's emergency medic, as she lacks her canon-self's medical training. Barkus: An actual dog as opposed to his Dog-Witch Canon self, Barkus never the less can communicate with others. Barkus wields a connection to the Sage Force, granting him far higher levels of intellect compared to other animals and the ability to speak. Barkus possesses numerous mental abilities, including fortune telling, telepathy, and a mild-level of mind-reading. Barkus has a cool head, often serving as the voice of reason for the others, as well as an extra set of eyes and ears, as his nature means few people expect him to be a spy. Eda Clawthorne: Suffering from a weakened immune system and chronic pain, most people are often surprised by how spry and active Eda is. Eda possesses a genius-level intellect, often providing intelligence and resources for the team as well as a mentorship role. Eda enters the field as the "Knight Owl" (Not to be confused with Nite Owl), operating a highly sophisticated battle suit outfitted with a mix of advanced technology and magic to possess an answer to virtually any scenario. While adopted a cold, highly-serious persona when in the field, Eda's real personality isn't all that different from her Canon self, albeit more responsible and less criminally inclined. Eda often spends her time either monitoring the companies she owns portions of or searching for Lilith, who has been missing for several years in the new timeline generated by the shift into the DC Verse. Eda isn't a straight-lace though, she does have numerous connections and contacts in the underworld, she just isn't a flat-out criminal-hermit anymore. King: Not much different from his Canon self, merely lacking his delusions of grandeur and megalomania, he is often grumpy and sullen, prone to the occasional fit of rage over being treated childishly or being babied. He possesses incredibly potent magic, often being in charge of upgrading and repairing the team's gear that requires it, yet lacks the stamina and technique needed to use it in combat. Lilith Clawthorne: Fully remembering the prior timeline, awakening years before Amity, the shame and guilt over her past mistakes drew to her an Ultraviolet Ring, transforming her into the Ultraviolet Lantern of Sector 2814. Lilith's stalwart will allows her to dominate the ring, often bringing her into fellow members of her Corps who have been subsumed by Umbrax, Lilith has dedicated herself to using her shame over her past as fuel for her desire to aid others and protect them from the self-destructive darkness inside of everyone, often acting both as a fighter against evil, but also as a councilor to those she encounters on her journey who are suffering from their self-destructive impulses. When on duty, Lilith manipulates her uniform to disguise her appearance and voice, preventing others from identifying her true identity. Lilith constantly strives to better the lives of others, both as way to make up her past deeds, but also to ensure none feel the suffering she felt in her selfish foolishness.

This is to explain how Luz fits into the story beyond being a Maguffin to drive the plot. Also, because I don't want to drag it out any further and to cut off as many questions and clarifications on world-building ahead of time as I can... I have decided that, while still connected to the wider DC Multi-Verse, this particular idea is set on Earth-16, the earth of the Young Justice show and comic, and the newly formed Earth-53 of the merged Human and Demon Realms. At the time of the shift into the DC-Verse, Luz had been attempting an experimental spell that combined all of her, Eda, and Lilith's knowledge of Magic in order to see if they could fashion a new portal, or, if that proved impossible at the time, use the data to help further develop a cure for the Clawthorne sisters. Whether the spell worked, or did anything really, is unknown, but the reaction of the world shifting caused Luz to be flung across the Verses and Earths of the 52, before she ended up in the care of none other than Klarion the Witch Boy, specifically his fully villainous incarnation from Young Justice. Needless to say, due to Luz's connection, however faint, to the Titan, as well as her unusual magic, Klarion decided to see what fun he could have with her (not in a sexual way, just to clarify to anyone even accidentally thinking about it). This version of Klarion is a full-on Lord of Chaos, and a particularly malevolent one at that, with a wide variety of mystical relics at his disposal for his games and experiments, and just before finding Luz, he came across the most interesting toy of all, a staff that fuses magic and technology, something rarely attempted and often backfired, but he had found one that worked! Luz was not in good shape when Klarion found her, her body and mind damaged by the journey, her very soul mangled. Deciding to pretend to be a nice guy, Klarion used his resources to heal her, but what fun would it be to just up and fix the girl, hmm? Taking inspiration from the staff he had so recently found, Klarion set out to find relics and devices of magic and science both to repair Luz, just to see what mixing them all together would do, and it wasn't like he cared if she died if something went wrong! Low and behold, he managed to find a fragment of the Black Lantern-Corrupted Firestorm Matrix that composed Deathstorm, and a tiny piece of the divine lightning that granted Black Adam, and it WAS the lightning of Adam as opposed to Captain Marvel, and using these pieces, along with some chaos assisted spells for flavor, he worked his magic, pardon the pun. Now, before anyone says anything about these powers making Luz OP... they really won't. She only has a fragment of the Firestorm Matrix, a corrupted one at that, so she has none of the proper abilities of a Firestorm, nor does she possess the abilities of Black Adam, as awesome as that would be. Rather, the mixing of these forces, along with her magic, resulted in the formation of Catalyst, a psionic spirit born of her own mind. Catalyst is largely elemental in nature, lacking the mentality of a human, or any mortal being for that matter, content to sit in the back of Luz's mind, only emerging when something truly dire acts against Luz, as well as passively blocking any and all mental attacks against her. The part about only emerging against dire acts is rather literal, Catalyst will only intervene if Luz is close to death or about to suffer a fatal blow, and she lacks any ability to distinguish friend from foe, preferring to wipe out anything and everything in range to ensure Luz and her's safety. A benefit to the changes induced by Klarion's manipulations is that some of Luz's innate biological potential has been unlocked, but only a little. Luz absorbs information insanely fast, capable of memorizing a 1000 page document in its entirety on a single read through, and her muscle memory develops abnormally fast, making combat training very effective for her, though training is far from mastery, as she doesn't automatically gain the experience needed to make full use of any skills she may acquire. Luz is now naturally drawn to imitation, subconsciously copying Batman and Robin's walking style to minimize noise on instinct alone. Luz does gain some benefit to the Matrix merged with her body, along with the lightning, as her body now naturally acts as a conduit for divine and mystical forces; spells and divinity naturally flow in and out of her without effect, though the magic of Chaos and Order can easily disable her, particularly that of Klarion and Doctor Fate. For offense, Luz can cannibalize her internal energy stores to manipulate as light, electricity, and flames, though not all at once, and she currently doesn't remember how to eat, as the Matrix breaks down anything she can recognize as food and converts it directly into the nutrients, vitamins, and biological materials she needs to live, though she still needs to drink like normal. Luz possesses genuinely inhuman reflexes and mental processing, as she can easily track and process Kid Flash's movements, though anything faster than him gives her a massive migraine to watch. Luz has a limited ability to adjust her body, capable of making herself very fast at the expense of being more fragile, or very strong and durable yet incredibly heavy and slow. Luz suffers severe amnesia, though her personality is basically identical to how she was previously, merely missing the experience and social knowledge to reign in her most dangerous impulses, which she couldn't do very well to begin with, let's be honest, and cannot recall anything other than the fact that she is fluent in both English and Spanish, loves a series of books called the Good Witch Azura, and the names of her friends, though not how she knows them or that they are her friends (I think it is telling that she remembers the people she cares about more than she remembers herself). After Klarion healed her, he promptly dumped her back on earth to fend for herself; after regaining consciousness, Luz basically ambled around acting on whatever impulse struck her, no matter how insane, random, or dangerous, with her antics, combined with her inability to stop herself from using her powers, catching the eye of Cadmus, who promptly took her captive and stuck her in the sub-levels with Superboy. Something of importance to note, the Matrix that is currently helping hold her body together is tainted by the power of Necrom and his perversion of death; as it stands, every time Luz uses her powers and abilities in anyway other than to "eat" she shortens her lifespan, with the rate gradually, almost minutely, but inevitably speeding up. If the problem, and by extension a solution, isn't discovered soon, Luz will die, and her corpse will become an out-of-control vessel of extinction. In part due to the alterations made to her being, Luz views Superboy in a manner similar to a brother, and often tries to run interference between him and Superman to ease the tension and help them get along. Luz's attire upon awaking is composed of a skin-tight, black, sleeveless bodysuit with three silver lines running across it in a manner similarly to an atom model, centering on an orb affixed just above her right breast, emblazoned with a silvery-blue version of her light glyph, not that she currently recognizes it. Luz can disengage her Matrix, which disappears in a crackle of mystic lightning, and return to her civilian state by concentrating hard enough, doing it by accident after being released from Cadmus along with Superboy by the Team and the Justice League; the bad part was that she didn't have any clothes on after dismissing the Matrix, as Klarion didn't particularly care if she was clothed or not after he was done repairing her. Her codename, until she can recall her real name, is Thunderstorm!

Luz originally doesn’t quite remember how to use magic, but after waking up groggy and needing a light one morning, she, by pure accident, draws and casts one of her light glyphs off of pure muscle memory. Her reaction?

Luz: I can do magic? (Looks at the spell floating above her head) I CAN DO MAGIC!! (Cheers)

To explain, due to lacking the presence and power of the Titan, Luz’s spells are now cannibalizing her lifeforce for fuel, which vastly accelerates her life-drain. Of course, this is Luz, if she can use something to help her friends, even if it endangers her, she will, much to the concern of her friends and teammates. As Luz’s lifespan shrinks, she gradually experiences increasing symptoms of hunger, followed by occasional aches and pains that grow in frequency and intensity, before evolving to full-on fits of debilitating agony at its most advanced stages. Luz isn’t concerned about her condition, once she finds out about it that is. Why? Because she has faith that a solution can be found before she is ever in any real danger, and if not? She would gladly giver her life for her friends and the safety of the people... that’s just the kind of gal she is.

As always, feel free to ask questions, comment, or use the idea as you wish.

#the owl house #dcu #young justice #owl house au #luz noceda #amity blight #king the owl house #willow park #boscha #gus porter #eda clawthorne #lilith clawthorne #toh skara #firestorm matrix #shazam

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0vorenation0 · 4 years ago

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The Island (series #3)

(This might look like a peaceful island, but step on within and the shadows with creep out. This part in the series is made with the help by @thecorruptisland and his magical island. The island is his original idea from a while ago. He posts about the island and I wanted to feature it in my series. Thanks for allowing me too and enjoy the posts, I will be making a two part for the island. Enjoy.)

Friday 1:00 pm (Streets of VoreNation)

“As the parade continues down past the famous saloon that Cal designed for preds. We should be able to see the king any moment” an announcer says as the parade passes. I walk out on the balcony and an eruption of cheers fills the air, I wave to all the amazing citizens and travels of VoreNation. The celebration comes to a halt in front of the building and I walk up to a microphone. “Hello great citizens and travelers of VoreNation, we are here to celebrate the Minister of War. MOW Nightly has served his nation proud and deserves a great celebration and promotion. I could think of no man greater, who I trust more to earn such a title of MOW. With that enjoy the day, and let’s get the parade rolling!!!!” I say with vigor and excitement and sit back done in my chair. The parade goes on with MOW Nightly on the first float, he saluted me as he went by. At the end was a float commemorating Private Scotty, for his bravery and abrupt end. His family would be well taken care of by the city.

As the festivities continue, I turn to Corey, I was happy to hear he could make the event. It’s always nice to see an old friend like him, apparently, he made a lot of changes to his own nation and requested I come see them sometime. I obligated and said it would be an honor, once the festival was over. At that moment my top researcher came in and told me it was urgent. Dr. Miller sounded excited so I assumed it was good news. Miller had been the head of the researching team for under a year now with one mission. Find an ancient land and civilization my grandfather used to tell me about as a kid. The citizens of VoreNation knew this place only as a legend but I had reason to believe it was real. I recently uncovered some ancient ruins before the construction of VoreNation. Hidden beneath the dirt and rock, was a clay pot. It contained ancient scrolls and texts, which were dated back before the rule of my family.

One of the scrolls contained details about this ancient land that was once legend. Even some coordinates but sadly hale of the text was damaged and couldn’t be salvaged. That’s when I tasked a research team to find the mysterious lost land. So I was excited and left immediately with him. “Corey I’m sorry, I’m going to have to reschedule. Important stuff has come up, thanks for coming” I said to Corey as I shook his hand and left. We entered the elevator and went to the research lab, once on the floor we went to a massive futuristic map lay out that was 3D. It was an island to the west of the city, it was mountainous that led in a valley and then a forest. It was a huge island, that looked uninhabited. I turned to Dr. Miller and spoke, “ congratulations Dr, you have found it. I couldn’t have done it without you. Task a team of you and two on your brightest researchers. We leave in the morning. I’ll have my ship out at the harbor and we will depart at sunrise!!”

The following morning.... 6:00 AM

“Hello Dr. Miller, did you bring your researchers? I hope the island hasn’t been a waste of time. You know my grandfather used to talk about it all the time. He even said that the royal family originated from there. When I asked however about why they left the place, he had fear in his eyes. This expedition must be classified” I told the Doctor as I waved my hand to the captain to get a move on. As we set the course, we went over the island layout. The island was massive and surprisingly not on any modern world maps. This was strange to me because I had many people map out the world years ago. Made the island was dangerous, I thought as I ponder what could have made my family leave there home. We were preds after all, nothing really was above us in the food chain.

“CAPTAIN SHIP DEAD AHEAD” a shipmate yelled through the intercom. I ran up the stairs and saw a massive ship, not bigger then mine though. It was head right for us and I told the Captain to halt and keep guns pointed at the ship. “Stay the props, keep all weaponry aimed at the ship. No one fires with out my orders.” I spoke through the intercom to the ship’s defense team. That’s when I saw a flag being raised, colored bright blue. The international sign of peace, I was relieved. Must be a cargo ship, but where was it going. We were very close to the island as it looked like it can out of nowhere but in the direction of the island.

We dropped anchor, watched as the ship did the same. After a few minutes, a small passenger ship came out and headed towards us. It docked by our ship and a man walked on the boat up to me. He was escorted by my men and stoped right in front of me and said “ Hello I’m Saladin, nice ship you have here. You look like a very important person. Might I ask who you are?” He greeted me and asked. I put out my hand and shook his before saying” Hello my name is Cal, I’m the ruler of VoreNation and it’s a pleasure to meet you. Might I ask why you are out here and where you can from?” I asked curious about this man before me. He began to tell me he was out here with his research team, studying and researching rare sea creatures. “Ohhh Wow it’s an honor to meet your acquaintance, your majesty. I live on a massive island about 30 minutes In that direction.” He said casually. I was shocked he was an inhabitant of the island. Come to find out he is a researcher of not just creatures but history as well. He asked if I would like to come visit the island and I obliged. He stayed on my ship and I told him about the scroll I found and about my grandfather's stories. “Wait it can’t be, your apart of a tribe that left the island hundreds maybe thousands of years ago. I must take you to the ruins where our ancestors used to live.”

“Wait are you serious? This can’t be real, I knew nothing about my family’s past. They lived here on the island, my grandfather was right? This is amazing I can’t wait to see the ruins.” I said seemingly as happy as when Dr. Miller told me he found the island. The ships docked at a harbor, the island was massive and looked like a continent. Turns out the island was full of life, there were even cities. They weren’t as advanced as VoreNation but it was still impressive. We got in vehicles and drove to the site. We passed so many strand animals and plants. One plant even looked more then alive but carnivores. “ Haha yeah be careful some of these plants are actually carnivores. They will eat any livening thing even you. So the island is supposedly older than all other lands but has never been altered by evolution. What I mean is the island is so what prehistoric. I’ve been studying it for years and you wouldn’t believe the stuff I’ve found. We’re actually going to a research facility set up right outside of the ruins of your ancestors old tribe.” Saladin spoke as he drove through the vegetation. I was completely shocked but also thought that maybe one of my land surveyor teams came across the island and never got out. That’s why the island was never mapped. We pulled up to this facility creepy looking but me and my guards went in and we headed down.

“So what do you know about monsters?” Saladin asked me as we went down the elevator. “ hahaha monsters, and here I thought you were a scientist. Monster is legend, not real.” I said joking around. The door open and we stepped inside. That’s when I saw it, a massive box. Inside was a massive wolf like man. It was asleep but realized it was sedated. “You think monsters are legend now, Cal? This massive werewolf was captured by me 2 years and I’ve spent the last two years conducting vore tests on him. Apparently he is extremely powerful and can swallow anything. That’s not the amazing thing though, what’s fascinating is that I’ve developed a serum from him. It allows the victim to be swallowed but once digest water by stomach or cock can regenerate into there original form once out of the werewolf or a man.” He told me as he handed me a shot of the serum. “ this is amazing I never knew this was possible, and werewolves and pred plants. I mean what is this place, it’s so fascinating. Wait where did you capture the werewolf again?” I asked curious. “He was right out of the edge of our family’s ruins. I assume that’s why your family left, the pack of werewolf’s ravaged this twin and vored most everyone in the town. The few survivors left for new land, never to come back again.” He said

A little time later....

“Cal I suggest you drink that serum just in case this island is very dangerous. I should know, I’m a descendant of the original founders of the island. Werewolf’s still run around, and other creatures. This werewolf is actually the last one of the alpha originals pack. There are no more like him on the island. I’ve been researching these ruins for ages and studying the ancient family who lived here. I’ve found texts about what happened by a survivor. I assume they left it so one day someone would find it and know what happened here. If you want to explorer feel free to, I know there’s an old grave yard up the hill passed the well.” He told me and he showed me a map layout of the ruins. I was nearly bursting with knowledge, it was so much to process. I need to be by myself for a minute, plus I wanted to explore the ruins.

#vorenation #cock vore #orginal #series

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skylander5000 · 4 years ago

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Home Is Where the Guilt-Tripping Is

read on Ao3

Summary: Laura returns home, tired after a mission with the Avengers, to an insecure Gabby Kinney. How is she going to make her feel better? Probably not in the way your thinking.

Gabby is feeling insecure because Laura had been spending so much time with the Avengers. Laura is quick to fix that.

A/n: So a couple of things before you read. This is sort of my own headcanon. Doesn't really take place at a specific time in the X-23 comics. For context, just imagine post- Age of Ultron, except Laura was there.

Laura had just got home, fresh from a week-long mission with the Avengers, suit covered in a mixture of dirt and blood. She was desperate to get out of the dirtied blue and yellow spandex and into a hot shower. The cheap, dingy hotel Steve had them set up at didn't have hot water, so a scolding shower sounded like bliss to her aching joints. It felt like the metal of her claws was grinding at her bones, creating unwanted and painful friction.

She set down her go-bag on the kitchen counter and stripped off the jacket she used for cover. In the dead of night, the bottom portion of her costume just looked like graphic leggings. If a pedestrian were to stop her, the possibility of anyone recognizing the pattern on them to be Wolverine's was unlikely. But just in case, Laura was regularly altering the suit's design to avoid that scenario. Besides, there was only a baseline for what the Wolverine looked like; muscular, dark hair, fitted in something resembling a yellow and blue suit.

A warm cone of yellow light from a floor lamp illuminated the small apartment. The only sound was the rain beating against the custom Plexiglas windows. She'd had them installed shortly after moving in, finding the hustle and bustle of the city unbearable with her advanced hearing. The intense tumult was now a nearly undetectable thrum that Laura only picked up on occasion. Nothing seemed out of place. Save for her desk, now cluttered with papers and an open laptop.

Gabby had been doing her homework here, she deduced. That wasn't an exceptional occurrence. The Xavier School was only a 30-minute bus away, and her sister often came to visit if things were a bit hectic. It turns out a building housing 50 or so teenagers wasn't the best place to study. Every now and then, the young girl would sleepover. She even slept over the day before Laura left for her most recent mission. A part of it was odd for Laura, though. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy her little sister's company. Laura loved it, welcomed it even. Gabby was a calm and comforting presence. But, it had been a long time since Laura has had anything resembling a roommate, and she wasn't the most accommodating when it came to space. Privacy was an important thing for her, and while she trusted her sister, she was by nature, a cautious being. To avoid intrusion and unnecessary conversations, Laura made sure to establish some ground rules.

The first being that Gabby was welcome to come over anytime she just had to call in advance and tell someone where she was going. Last time the 13-year-old left without telling anyone, the X-men were out until 3 a.m. scouring the city of New York. Meanwhile, she was asleep on Laura's sofa, fast asleep with a frozen waffle in hand.

The second rule was probably the most predictable. Gabby was not allowed in Laura's bedroom without permission. She was also to stay out of personal storage spaces and the medicine cabinet in the bathroom unless it was an actual emergency.

The third rule was one the Xmen decided upon collectively. Gabby, if she was going to stay the night at Laura's, had to have her all of her homework done. Furthermore, she must be in bed by a decent hour, especially on school nights. Gabby, while she was sweet and innocent and pure, disliked anything to do with school. She went to a traditional middle school, after all. Laura and the other Xmen had all determined that she needed a regular, base education, along with her studies on mutants and power control. Gabby had shunned the idea from day one.

"Why do I need to learn what they do. I'm not human," The 13-year-old had argued. Jean had only sighed, adjusting to give the lecture she gave to all the students about how all knowledge was beneficial, no matter your species. Laura was quick to cut Jean off though, stealing Gabby's attention as soon as she spoke, "If you go you can have free roam of the ice cream shelf in the freezer," Gabby had agreed to go then, still with some reluctance.

The fourth and final rule was more for Laura's comfort than anything, cautious by nature, remember. Gabby needed to keep an extra suit at the apartment. So in case of an emergency, she could quickly act without compromising her identity.

Laura pulled her phone out the front pocket of her bag, shooting off a quick text to Jean and Natasha, informing them that she got home. Although, she was sure Jean was already aware. The telepath was always checking in on her, making sure she was okay. The brunette was quick to shut off the phone completely before returning it to the go-bag. She didn't like using phones, but they were a necessity for missions. The ringers were loud and annoying. Phone calls were even more of a strain on her ears, the static, and piercing rings very apparent. In her case, they did more harm than good.

She began the process of peeling off her costume as best she could while walking, managing to wiggle one arm out of the form-fitting material before halting. Suppressing a laugh, she distantly examined the person-shaped lump currently lying across the sofa. Its breathing was calm and rhythmic, the rise and fall, the only indication of life from how still it was lying under the many quilts.

Laura worked the suit down to her hips, leaving her in a black tank top. Cautiously, as not frighten the lump, she kneeled and placed a hand on what she thought to be the creature's shoulder. The fabric began to contort as it moved. Laura pulled back the blankets, evoking a small squeak at the sudden intrusion of light. She smiled at the sight before her. Gabby, long hair disheveled, squinting up at her with a line of drool across her cheek. Her school clothes were wrinkled so heavily that Laura knew Gabby was going to receive a lecture from whoever was in charge of laundry this week.

The young girl's sleepy expression did not last long, once she realized who'd woken her. She tumbled off the couch and into Laura, tightly hugging her chest, face buried in her neck. "Hey Gabby," The older laughed, reciprocating her embrace with the little remaining strength she had. Gabby said, "I missed you so much," "It was only a week," Laura chuckled. Gabby looked at her, her brown eyes impeccable replicas of Laura's, "It felt like more than a week," There was a pout on her face that tugged at Laura's heartstrings more than she liked to admit. She affectionately rubbed the younger's shoulders, "Come on Gabs, don't do that to me," Gabby relinquished her grip but stayed in the cage of Laura's bent legs. They were just a small reach away from each other. She knew Gabby liked it when they were close. Some called it clingy. Laura preferred to think of it has endearing. "You know I didn't want to go," That was a lie. Laura was thrilled to work with the Avengers again. But Laura was determined to wipe that pout off her sister's face. "But the Avengers needed my help,"

Gabby fiddled with her fingers, eyes avoiding Laura's at all costs. She had some apprehension. The girl had something to say, but either couldn't or was too embarrassed to admit it.

Laura lifted Gabby's chin so that they were looking into each other's eyes once again, "What's wrong, Gabby?" The 13-year-old gave the most sorrowful look Laura had ever seen on her innocent face, "Do you like them more than me?" "The Avengers?" Gabby gave a small nod in response. "Gabrielle," Her sister's full name was reserved for only the most genuine of moments when Laura wanted her to understand the sincerity of what she was saying. "Of course I don't, why would you ever think that? I love you more than anything,"

She hated seeing Gabby like this, all sad and doubtful. Her sister was the happiest, most optimistic kid she'd ever known. But now her innocent features were dejected, and her eyes were shiny with tears that threatened to brim. Laura's heart was aching and heavy, guilt pinging through her like a pinball machine.

"Natasha," Gabby spoke so quickly and quietly, if it weren't for her enhanced hearing, Laura would have never caught it. She sighed, an awe of realization passing through her in waves. She rubbed a calloused thumb across her sister's tan cheek, making sure to speak as softly and calmly as possible, "Just because Natasha and I are dating doesn't mean I love you any less," "Do you love her more than me?" The girl asked, finally looking up at her. Laura gave a reassuring smile, "I love you both, equally. But, the way I care for Natasha is different," Gabby gave a confused expression, brow furrowing adorably. Laura was quick to resolve her confusion, "I love you, platonically, and I love Natasha, romantically," She paused briefly to read Gabby's expression before continuing, "Now that doesn't mean I love either one of you more than the other. It just means that the way I love each of you is different,"

All seemed resolved, the discouraged mug replaced with the usually cheery one. But, there was a mysterious glint in those brown eyes that had Laura worried.

Gabby opened her mouth to speak again, except now there was a pout on her face. The pout that she knew bent Laura to her will, "Why're you away so much?" Her voice was that soft, innocent tone that could break Laura apart immediately. It was a cheap shot using both the pout and that voice, and Gabby knew it was. She was fishing for something.

Laura chose her next words carefully. If she knew her sister, and she bet she did, she was going to guilt Laura into doing something, Laura simply didn't know what that something was yet. She went in subtly at first, making sure that Gabby was off guard, mind clouded with the allusion of victory, "When I'm away it is to help my friends with problems they have trouble solving," She rubbed her thumb across the young girl's face once again, "Also, Natasha is a new addition to my life, and I want to make sure that she knows I care about her," Laura paused one more time, allowing what she said to sink in before she went in for the kill, "But if you dislike me dating her so much, I guess I can call things off," Laura knew it was a low, but so was what Gabby did. You know what they say, fight fire with fire, or in this case, guilt-trip with guilt-tripping.

Gabby turned her head away from Laura's stroking gesture, suddenly entranced with sofa. She knew she'd been found out, caught in the midst of deception. "No, I don't want you to do that," She kicked a socked foot tenderly against Laura's booted one. The older chuckled, rubbing the younger's arm in an attempt to show she wasn't mad.

There was a beat of silence before Gabby spoke, and when she did her tone had shifted into a hopeful, devious one, that both perplexed and terrified Laura, "Maybe if I met the Avengers I wouldn't feel so bad about you leaving,"

Laura cursed herself silently. Gabby had won, and she knew it, the coy, but still adorable smile on the 13-year-old's face said so. Laura stood, knees cracking as she did. She looked down at her sister and couldn't help but laugh at the puppy eyes staring right back at her. She sighed out, "Gabrielle, do you want to meet the Avengers?"

A piercing squeal erupted from the child, causing Laura to cringe slightly. She giddily wrapped her arms around Laura's waist, hugging her as tightly as she could. "Thank you, Laura!" She said, face buried in the older's stomach. Laura reciprocated the embrace with a gentle pat to the young girl's back.

Laura couldn't help but smile as she watched her sister run laps around the apartment, joyously chanting, "I'm gonna meet the Avengers!"

She sighed, eyes following Gabby around the room, "What have I done?"

#laura kinney #wolverine #snikt family #gabby kinney #Gabrielle Kinney #sibling dynamics #laura howlett #fan fiction #avengers #are mentioned #this should not have taken this long #procrastination is a bitch #Skylander2000 writes

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rxdonmyledger · 5 years ago

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The Haunted Manor-An Avengers story.

A/N: Hi everyone! It’s been a while since I wrote something but there you go! Since we are in October and that means spooky time, I wrote this piece! I used some prompts in this list but if you want me to read something, please, feel free to send me more requests!

And if you like my writing and want to support it, you can buy me a Ko-fi!

Prompts: I keep hearing noises coming from the attic…” “I had a dream that I killed you.” “P-please… put the knife down.” “Maybe an exorcism is in order…?” “Wasn’t someone murdered in this house? Why are we here?”

Words: 3,077

Pairing: Loki x Reader

Warnings: None, I think. Some spooky descriptions. Loki being a cutie.

This was Tony’s fault. Of course, it was him. Tony freaking Stark, the only one capable to suggest the idea of spending a whole week in a haunted house to celebrate Halloween. This couldn’t be real. It had to be a dream.

“Oh, c’mon, grumpy faces. Cheer up! We’ll have fun!”

“Wasn’t someone murdered in this house? Why are we here?” you asked, hand on your hip and staring at him with an eyebrow raised. Bucky, Sam, and Steve were still taking the different bags out of the cars.

“To do something different for a while. Did you have a better idea?”

“You could have created your own ghost” Clint said.

“Holidays in Bora Bora” retorted Natasha.

“Drinking ale while fighting in Muspelheim” everybody stared at Thor, who had his usual big grin. “What? It’s fun. That’s where Loki and I did ‘Get help’ for the first time’

“By the Norns’ sake, I tell you it’s humiliating” The God of Mischief groaned while taking his own bag and walking to the front porch, where you all were standing. You smiled sympathetically at him and shrugged.

It had been difficult for the team to accept Loki in the team as one of the Avengers. His mischievous nature was something to consider and they were not sure if he could be trusted. Thor had insisted and all of them decided to give the trickster an opportunity.

That didn’t mean it was easy, though. They usually shut up when he entered in a room or they refused to let him know about the upcoming missions. You hated that attitude and one night you scolded all of them.

“You all keep saying you’re the Earth mightiest heroes. You are an example to children around the globe!”

“He tried to subjugate a whole human race, Y/N” Steve said, raising his voice, which was completely out of his character.

“He was Thanos’s prisoner! For God’s sake, even Thor explained his behaviour and accepted to take responsibilities for his brother’s actions!”

They didn’t say anything, so you just growled and picked up your food, heading to the living room while listening to their voices coming from the dining room, where you all were having lunch.

Well, not everybody.

Loki was staring out the window, with his hands behind his back, staring at the vast landscape around the compound. His food remained untouched, still in his plate. You sat down. There was no need on making some unnecessary noise, so he knew you were there. It took him a moment. But he knew. His silky and smooth voice made you shiver.

“There’s not many people who can sneak up on me, little one” he said, not even turning to you.

“Natasha was one of them” you replied with a smile, taking the fork and starting to eat. Loki smiled and turned to you.

“Well, you were her apprentice. I suppose you learnt some things from her. Shall I call you little spider?”

“I don’t think she’ll like it” you said with a chuckle, shaking your head. It was then when Loki realised you had your own plate.

“What’s that?”

“This?” You pointed at the food, staring at his blue orbs with a wide smile. “It’s called food. Its purpose is to give you energy, so you don’t die. Something I think you failed” you added, pointing at his own plate with your chin.

“Smart-ass” Loki sat down in front of you, frowning and crossing his arms. “Why would you like to eat with me, Y/N? Aren’t you afraid I will conquer your world?”

“Listen…” you sighed, not knowing what to say or how. “Their behaviour is…”

“Justified”

“Shut up” He made a movement as if he was zipping his mouth and you were surprised someone as cocky and smug as Loki Odinson was obeying you. “I want to apologise. For everything. I understand your situation and I don’t want you to be alone. Although, I’ll leave if that’s what you want”

Loki started at your face for a moment, taking his time. You started to feel nervous under his intense gaze. Probably he was trying to figure if you were lying or not. Why would you? Still, you understood Loki’s distrust. How many people had been kind to him? Excluding his mother and now his brother, you suspected that just a few.

Instead of kicking you out, Loki said nothing and started to eat, under the astonishes gazes of the team, who observed the scene from the door. They had come to apologise to Loki, but then decided that they’d come later.

You had become friends after that. Well, if you could call friendship to the weird relationship you had.

Loki would come and go whenever he pleased. He would talk to you about books, Asgard and even the other worlds. You even remember falling asleep listening to his deep voice talking about Ymir and the creation of Midgard. Next morning, Loki would be gone, but a tray with warm pancakes would be waiting for you on the table.

“Okay, guys. We’re the Avengers. I’m sure it’ll be fun”

“Pepper has been regretting those words since she met you”

The team roared in laughter at your joke and you smiled sweetly at Tony, who tried to hide his smile and put on an indignant face, crossing his arms and shaking his head. Loki was smirking while staring at you.

“Okay, this house is not big enough for all of us. Just a few lucky ones have a single room”

You were one of them. The distribution was: Scott and Sam, Bucky and Steve, Natasha and Clint, Loki and Thor, and finally Tony, who denied having altered the results.

You all entered the old Victorian manor Tony had rented for a whole week. On the outside it was all black and the red roses in the garden caught someone’s eye. Inside the floors were wooden and the walls were covered with an old purple tapestry and black designs. Even the furniture seemed antique.

“Tony, so this house…they say is haunted?” Natasha asked while staring around her. Tony nodded. “Is it a business, then? Like, people come here expecting a supernatural experience?”

“Exactly. They promise adventure and a terrific night”

“What’s the name of the house again?”

“Allerdale Hall”

You snorted and shook your head, rolling your eyes. Of course, the owners had decided to name the manor after the Crimson Peak movie. Original. Except it was not. The team observed you as they all knew it was one of your favourite movies.

“I wouldn’t mind having my own Thomas Sharpe, I must admit”

Natasha and you stared at each other and laughed, shaking your heads and walking behind the rest of your friends, exploring the house.

“You don’t need him. Loki looks a little bit like him”

“I don’t” the God replied bluntly, staring at Clint, who shrugged and let his body fall on the couch. Loki looked at you and you mouthed ‘Just a little’, which made him shake his head.

The manor had the typical Victorian distribution, a large chimney in the main living room, a dining room with wonderful furniture. Hell, it had even a library. Something that caught you and Loki’s attention. You exchanged a look and you both knew that was your favourite room.

“Remember that book from Agatha Christie? And there were none? Imagine that we all start dying in this house” Your friends turned to look at you dead in the eye, serious faces all around you. Except Loki, who, apparently, found it amusing.

“Just to be clear, if any of us dies tonight I’m accusing you of murder” Tony said before heading to his room.

You smiled and sighed. It’ll be a long week.

“No…I can’t”

“I know you can. You have to”

“Loki…”

The screams were more audible now. It felt like the demons rising from Hell and chasing you. Something was hitting the windows and you thought they’d break. You could hear Natasha’s voice calling for Clint. Tony trying to reach Steve’s hand. Bucky trying to protect Sam.

They were losing. You were losing.

Unless…

“My dear…do it. I can only feel you”

It was then when you raised the gun and pulled the trigger.

Bang.

That awful sound.

You tossed and woke up with your limbs tangled in the sheets. Your forehead was covered in sweat and you had a lump in your throat. You swallowed repeatedly and tried to breathe properly.

It was a terribly vivid dream.

Someone was chasing you. The house… The haunted house. And the only way to save all of you was to kill Loki. You could see his blue eyes on you, observing your features with a trembling smile.

No. Nonsense.

It was the bloody mood Tony had set on you all. It was that, and nothing more. You shivered when a cool breeze came through the windows, rocking the curtains.

Huh. Weird.

You were sure you had closed them before going to sleep. You decided not to overthink and stood up, closing the windows and putting on your slippers. You walked out the room, trying to keep quiet so you didn’t disturb anyone. Yet, the house didn’t want to cooperate as the wooden floor seemed to crack everywhere you stepped on.

After spending the day wandering around the house and the impressive garden, you all had dinner in the dining room, enjoying some time for yourselves. Being the Avengers was not a synonym for having holidays, truth be told. Tony had insisted on telling ghost stories to set the mood for Halloween and the team had agreed. Thor and Loki had told some creepy Asgardian stories that were not creepy enough.

“C’mon, guys. Children won’t be frightened with that”

Loki decided to accept the challenge and, since he had spent most of his life in the palace’s library, he decided to tell some terrifying stories about Jötunheim and the Frost Giants. He also told you about Helheim and the fate of those who ended there.

It was a pretty scary story and you and Thor knew the Trickster enough to see he was proud of his job. Yet, Natasha won the round. You still remembered her soft and vibrant voice telling you Russian fairy-tales, with exotic names pronounced in her mother-tongue and dark plots. By the time she finished, all of you were too scared to say anything.

“Okay, guys. Time to sleep. And remember not to die or bother the ghosts in here!” Tony had said before heading to his own room.

And here you were, wandering around a Victorian manor, with a fluffy pyjama and fluffy slippers, walking to the kitchen to have some water. That would settle your nerves. Yes, that’s what you needed.

You were about to close the fridge when a voice startled you, making you to grab the first thing that was by your side, which happened to be a knife. You looked around you and found Loki leant against the door frame, with his hands up and a terrified look in his features.

“I swear to the Norns, Loki! I almost had a heartattack!” you said, almost screaming but yet, keeping your voice low so you wouldn’t wake up the rest of the team.

“My apologies, my little one” He replied, still starting at you. “P-please… put the knife down.”

You followed his gaze and you noticed he was looking at your hand, which grabbed a knife tightly. Hell, even your knuckles were white. You sighed and put it on the counter, leaning against it and rubbing your forehead.

“Sorry. I just had a terrible nightmare and wanted some water…” You realised Loki was observing you with a worried gaze and he walked towards you.

“What kind of dream? Y/N?” he repeated after a moment. You were silent and hesitated about telling him the nature of your dream. Should you?

“It’s nonsense”

“It’s not if it left you in such a disturbed state”

You sighed and hugged your body, feeling his hands on your arms, rubbing them to make your body warmer.

“I had a dream that I killed you.”

Loki stayed silent for a moment and you thought that he’d be worried or pissed off about it. To your surprise, he just shrugged and smirked, staring at you smugly.

“My little spy, I am quite a few thousands of years old. You’re not the first one. You’re not that special” he retorted with a sarcastic tone and you elbowed him on the ribs, hearing his soft chuckles. “Why don’t we go back to bed? I could read something from the vast library we both fell in love with”

You smiled and opened your mouth to reply when a noise startled you, making you to look around. It was like the noise of heavy steps on the wooden floor. The walls seemed to be alive too and you could hear a faint cry in the middle of the night.

“Those noises…can you hear them?”

“Y/N… A house as old as this one becomes, in time, a living thing. It starts holding onto things... keeping them alive when they shouldn't be. Some of them are good; some of them bad... Some should never be spoken about again”

You turned your head and raised your eyebrow, crossing your arms and staring at him. Loki had pressed his lips and was trying to keep his laughs from escaping his mouth. He might be the God of Lies, you thought, but he was a terrible actor.

“Okay, now you’re quoting Tom Hiddleston in Crimson Peak”

He was about to reply when other noises became louder. Steps. Agile. Faster. You and Loki exchanged a gaze and you took the knife again while the God had a green ball of magic fire in his left hand, prepared to attack.

Suddenly, Clint’s bow was on sight, followed by the archer’s body and Natasha behind him. She was wearing her pyjamas too but had her blasters around her wrists. When they noticed who you were, they sighed in relief.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“I could ask the same” replied Natasha while turning off her devices. You all relaxed and left the weapons. But you were not calm for a long time. You soon saw Steve’s shield covering Sam and Bucky. Tony was following them with his blasters around his hand. Thor had come running with Stormbreaker in one hand and Mjolnir in the other one. You all stared at his night clothes. He was wearing an open robe and some shorts with flamingos on it.

“Is this a night party and nobody invited me?”

“Really funny, Tony. What are you all doing here?”

“I keep hearing noises coming from the attic…” said Bucky.

“Me too”

“We did too” replied Clint before sitting on the counter.

“C’mon. The house is old. Probably that…”

A horrific sound made you feel goosebumps and you all resumed your defensive positions, prepared to attack whatever it was. Maybe it was a burglar, thinking there was something valuable inside the manor. The screeching sound became louder and you swallowed hard.

“What the hell…?” you heard Natasha mutter, her back against Clint’s.

“Maybe an exorcism is in order…?” Tony whispered before a high-pitched scream was heard all over the house.

“This is like Siberia all over again” you muttered to Loki.

“You and I have a different concept of Siberia”

“If we can live after this, I swear to God, you’ll tell us what happened there” Sam shouted before Steve started to move towards one of the doors.

Suddenly, the light went off.

“Everybody, stay calm!” Tony shouted and Loki lighted the room with one of his green fires. “Thank you, Reindeer. Now it’s even creepier”

“Come in the light, ghost. Face the rage of thunder!”

“Thor, that does not help”

“It was your freaking idea to come here. If we don’t die, I promise I’ll make Pepper a widow!” you screamed when something hit the roof, making the whole house to tremble. You hugged Loki without noticing while the rest of the team tried to protect themselves.

“I think we should all go back to our rooms”

“Yeah. That’s how every horror movie goes” said Clint with a snort. “Get on different groups. And then we’ll be dead”

“I think Nat’s right” Steve replied, trying to keep his composure. Tony agreed with him and crossed his arms.

“We should try and get some sleep. Maybe the owners have this prepared”

The team sighed, tired and sleepy and decided it was a good idea. They stayed in the kitchen for a moment before leaving the place. You were still clinging to Loki like a koala and looked at him.

“Can I sleep with you?” you whispered with a soft voice and Loki felt his heart melting. His soft chuckles rumbled in his chest and he pressed a kiss on your forehead, nodding.

“Go with the Agent. I’ll be back with a giant cup of chocolate milkshake and cookies”

You smiled happily and kissed his cheek before running behind Natasha, asking her to not leave you alone. The kitchen was empty except for the God and Tony, who was smiling.

“I owe you one, Tin Can” Loki said, resting against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest, smiling. Tony raised his hands, shaking his head.

“I owe you too. Damn it, how did you do the trembling thing? It was fantastic!” Loki smirked and Tony shook his head. “Yeah, okay. Magic and stuff. Really good. Thank you for helping me”

“Pranks are my specialty. Call me when you need me again. Especially if the target is my brother. I’ve never seen him that frightened” he added with a surprised tone before laughing. Tony joined him before raising his finger.

“I assure you, trickster. Hurt Y/N and you’ll desire to be back to Thanos’s”

“There’s no need to threaten, Stark. I like her. And no power in the nine realms will take her away from me” He answered solemnly before placing the food on a tray.

“Goodnight, Loki”

“Goodnight, Stark”

The God of Mischief walked to the stairs with a smile on his features. His hands held the tray while he imagined you laying by his side. Your soft aroma in his sheets. His head buried in your hair. Your soft hands against his.

No. Definitely, he was not letting you go.

#Loki #Loki x Reader #Halloween #Halloween Marvel #Halloween fanfic #Loki Laufeyson #Reader #Reader Insert #Tom Hiddleston #Crimson Peak gif #Avengers #Steve Rogers #natasha romanoff

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rukakikuchi · 5 years ago

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LOONA # era teasers analysis and theories

Alright, so quick disclaimer. I am actually working on some analysis and theories regarding the music video for “So What” and how is affects the story of the LOONAverse, but first, I wanted to share the analysis I made for the teasers.

The reason why is because I had already written most of these points before the release of the “So What” MV; some were added on after the MV released, but for the most part, it was all speculation before the comeback.

I also wanted to correct a few details made from my original timeline analysis that I had got wrong. They don’t change my analysis too drastically, but I would still like to bring them up before talking about “So What”.

So, let’s start with addressing those corrections before analyzing the teasers.

…

Firstly, there is the scene at the end of “Love & Live”, where we see ViVi stop in the middle of the road, apparently out of breath, just after the timer on her battery runs out.

It was confirmed in an interview by ViVi herself, as well as the director of the video, that in that scene, she became human.

So, we can now say that the ending to “Love & Live” was the moment where ViVi became human again. She regained the ability to feel emotion, feel tired, to dream, and to eat food again, but her memories were still a little messed up. It’s through her interactions with Heejin, Hyunjin, and Haseul, that she eventually remembers what happened that led to her becoming an android.

Next, is regarding Chuu and Gowon’s representative emotions.

Originally, it was shown through the “one” short movie that Chuu represents love and Gowon represents hope. However, this was switched in the description for the “Butterfly” music video; Chuu is now hope and Gowon is now love.

At first, I was baffled by this change. Chuu representing love and Gowon as hope just made more sense to me. However, I decided to keep an open mind. So let’s see how these two fit into their newly designated emotions.

The description for “Butterfly” reads: “Chuu keeps her ‘hopes’ up with her yearning towards Yves. Gowon ‘loves’ her unique self.” These are both proven to be true, as we see in their respective solo MVs.

Chuu is relentlessly stubborn in her efforts to gain Yves’ attention and affection in “Heart Attack”.

And Gowon sings about how she learns to love herself, her “One & Only”.

(There’s even a double meaning to that, as Gowon is referring to her “one and only” self as her “one and only” love.)

Lyrics in other LOONA songs also reaffirm this. In yyxy’s “one way”, Gowon ends the song with the spoken line, “But I still love you.” And in “Butterfly”, Chuu sings the line “Dreams, dreams may come true.”

So yeah, now that that’s cleared up, it’s time to talk about the # era teasers!

Keep in mind that most of the observations were made before the release of “So What”. I will use my analysis of what we see in “So What” to correct or alter some of these previous observations.

…

The end of the beginning

So, from watching and re-watching the teasers for “#”, I’ve begun forming a new theory of where the story of the LOONAverse could be heading.

Starting with the first teaser released last year, simply titled “#”, we see several shots that appear to parallel or reference scenes we saw in the “X X” teasers (namely XIIX, XIIIX, and XIVX) and the “Butterfly” music video.

We see Gowon in Iceland, removing her black coat just like she did in “XIIX” when she went back in time to save Haseul and initiate the butterfly effect. In my timeline analysis, I said that this was Gowon’s shadow, since the real Gowon was asleep.

We see her awake later on, with her coat still on. She looks up at the sky, but what does she see?

Then we see Olivia, when she woke up after the world had changed due to Gowon’s butterfly effect. We see a shot of her going up the stairs, possibly hearing Gowon calling to her.

We also see her pass by the girl with the afro we saw dancing in “Butterfly”. Olivia looks back at her as she continues looking for presumably the other yyxy girls.

We later see Chuu, looking for Yves to reunite with her after the butterfly effect. She turns around, as if something caught her attention.

There are also a couple of scenes showing some of the other girls who appeared in “Butterfly”; the other LOONAs.

We see the girl who was standing on the rooftop look back confused, as if she doesn’t remember how she got there.

We even briefly see the “X X” and “+ +” in the black box over her eyes.

Then we see the eye of a girl looking up at the sky, the eye belonging to the girl with the crutches. Did she see something?

Then we see the short haired “Odd Eye” girl (this one was meant to represent Choerry) standing in front of goldfish tanks while holding a plastic bag with a fish. But what is she doing here?

Knowing that the fish tanks are meant to represent alternate timelines, I’m going to propose two possibilities:

1.) Choerry was trying to travel to the past like Gowon did, either to contact herself from the past, or another member, to tell them what was going to happen.

Or…

2.) She was trying to save one of the other members from the time loop resetting by placing them in another timeline. But the question is who?

Probably the most noteworthy are the girls in the red tracksuits, who we see running up the stairs, trying to reach something, but are then seen collapsed on the ground, as if they all fell asleep.

We see imagery of things being burned, such as tags with “+ +” and “X X” on them, and a butterfly's wings, as well as a swarm of butterflies flying up from what appear to be flames.

And throughout the video, many of these clips and images were shown with a VHS static overlay. (See images above.)

And which member do we frequently connect this effect with? ViVi. So why are we seeing this static overlay here?

Well, something I have gone back and forth about including in the LOONA timeline is 1/3’s “Rain 51db”. But it might actually have more significance than I originally thought.

Alongside the VHS tape recording aesthetic, similar to ViVi’s “Everyday I Love You”, this video feels like it came straight from the 90’s. There’s also something quite peculiar about the beginning of the video, but that’s something we’ll discuss later.

The main reason I didn’t include “Rain 51db” in my timeline was because I had no idea where to place it. I didn’t know if this was some alternate timeline, or another dream or warped memory from ViVi. I even thought it could’ve been a sort of message 1/3 was trying to send to someone. (Odd Eye Circle maybe?)

But the more I think about it, it makes sense for this to be a memory or dream from ViVi.

Or rather… It’s both. It’s a memory of a dream.

If we consider the cassette tapes in ViVi’s possession as a way to access memories through dreaming, then that means we can link the VHS static effect with someone dreaming, whether that be ViVi herself, or another member.

So, this means what we see in the # teaser are memories, and maybe even memories of dreams.

And the dreamlike vision of the butterflies flying is abruptly cut by static, before immediately taking us back to a bird’s eye view of the black sand beach in Iceland.

(And just a quick aside, I won’t be trying to decode what the blurred message we see in the static could be. Because, I don’t think that’s a detail we should be focused on; rather, the fact that the cut to static is present at all to begin with.)

This exact same shot is where we open “#1″ with, before another flash of static, some quick black and white images of the 1/3 girls, cutting to Heejin waking up floating above the clouds.

I think what we are seeing in the “#” teaser is another instance similar to the first “X X” teaser, when we saw everything in “Hi High” being rewound; the time loop is being reset again.

The previous timelines of “+ +” and “X X” are being erased, and so are the girls’ memories. They become like memories of dreams. Memories that start to fade after you wake up, and eventually disappear.

And the tracksuit wearing girls we see collapsed on the ground could represent the other members of LOONA. Only one of them managed to break out of the Moebius time loop, and the others tried to catch up to her, but failed as the time loop began to catch up to them.

And who was the one girl who made it out? Heejin.

In “#1”, Heejin awakens alone in the sky above the Moebius. She was the only one who managed to fly high enough to break out of the Moebius loop. Only she managed to reach the moon, where the Goddess was waiting for her. We see she reached the moon in “#2”.

[[**Flash warning for gif**]]

But her friends are still stuck in the time loop, and now that she’s out of the Moebius loop, the world is rewriting itself completely. The eclipse we see in “#2” signifies this; it is the sign of the end and beginning of the world.

“+ +” was about three worlds (Earth, middle Earth/the Cosmos, Eden) becoming one; “X X” was about the girls uniting with their shadow selves on the mirror side of the LOONAverse. And as we’ll talk about later, “#” in my opinion is about the destruction and rebirth of the LOONAverse.

So what does Heejin do seeing that her friends are still trapped by the Moebius loop? She willingly falls back to Earth to save her friends.

Similar to the “fall of Icarus”, whose wings burned due to hubris, Heejin made the conscious choice to go back so she and her friends could break out of the loop together; because they were meant to be together, as twelve.

So how has the world and the other girls changed?

The back of the moon

The “#3” teaser shows us the “back of the moon”, meaning we are in an alternate, darker timeline than what we’ve previously been following. Certain things about the girls, their relationships, and other aspects from LOONA’s story have been reversed, or slightly altered.

Firstly, we see ViVi, now a graffiti artist, most likely using graffiti as an act of self expression and maybe even rebellion against something.

In the teaser for “So What”, she tosses a can of spray paint while looking down towards the camera.

I think in this new timeline, ViVi is a human. But perhaps she is having a different sort of identity crisis, using graffiti as a way to express herself.

Then we see Kim Lip in what appears to be a museum or palace. Kim Lip is one of the few members who does not turn around in the whole video.

We see a similar looking setting later in “To all LOONAs around the world”, but Gowon is there, in a different place in possibly the same location.

We then see Hyunjin and Choerry are together, facing a line of tuk tuks. Some of them have different colored headlights, but the most notable are the orange and green headlights seen side by side, most likely meant to represent Haseul and Yeojin.

Next, we see Jinsoul walking on a train with a group of unknown girls (Update: it’s been revealed these are members of LOONA, but we’ll talk about that later on).

She looks behind her, but turns her head back to facing forward as she continues on. Perhaps in this new timeline, Jinsoul is indulging more in her inner darkness, acting more aloof and rebellious.

Then, we see three of the yyxy girls, Chuu, Gowon, and Yves.

Chuu and Gowon are together, holding their hands behind each other’s backs as they turn their heads backwards, while Yves is by herself, in a dance practice room, looking at the sky from a window. Do Chuu and Gowon know something that Yves doesn’t? Are the three of them even in the same place?

Also, an interesting thing we can point out here are the colors of the dresses Chuu and Gowon are wearing. Chuu is in a red dress, and Gowon is in a yellow dress.

What’s so noteworthy about this? Because of the meanings both colors have. Red is a color that often represents love, and yellow, alongside cheerfulness and joy, can also represent hope.

But we just said that Chuu is now representing hope and Gowon is love, so why has it switched back? Could it be that in “+ +”, the two of them didn’t realize what their true representative emotions were until “X X”?

Either way, it’s an interesting point to note. So moving on...

What’s notable is that Yves is wearing all black, a direct contrast from when we first saw her in “new” wearing all white.

We see this dance room again in “To all LOONAs around the world”, and the latest teaser for “So What”, with several other ballerina girls.

At one point, we see them circling someone. Maybe Yves? Perhaps in this timeline, Yves is an outcast because she’s different from everyone; a “black swan”.

Next, from a distance, we see Yeojin standing in the middle of a schoolground as a group of students run in her direction. Why this could be the case, there are several possibilities. Are these students meant to represent the members of LOONA finding Yeojin, or is Yeojin about to start a school uprising?

(My money is on the latter. lol)

However, here is where I would like to propose another theory; Yeojin and Haseul have switched places. In the previous timelines, Yeojin was lost in the forest before being found by Haseul and the other girls.

But now, I think the roles have reversed in this timeline, and now Haseul is the one who is missing. (This could serve as a good in-universe reason as to explain how she won’t be present in this comeback. The 11 members of LOONA need to unite to find her.)

Lastly, we see Heejin and Olivia Hye, on two different sides of the same billboard. Heejin is there in the day, likely her arrival after she fell back into the loop, and Olivia is there at night, the screen turning red as she turns her head back.

Heejin and Olivia have always been mirror opposites of one another; they are literally shown to be “day and night” here. So what will happen when they confront each other in this new timeline?

...

Thus concludes the observations I made for the teasers! Again, since I am still working on my analysis for the “So What” MV, some of these previous observations may be revised when I actually do the analysis proper.

Nonetheless, I hope you look forward to my theories! Until then, keep streaming “So What” and support LOONA however you can! 🙌🏻🙌🏻

#LOONA #LOONA 1/3 #LOONA Odd Eye Circle #LOONA yyxy #Heejin #Hyunjin #Haseul #Yeojin #ViVi #Kim Lip #JinSoul #Choerry #Yves #Chuu #Gowon #Olivia Hye #LOONAverse

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robot-unicorn-attack · 5 years ago

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☽ FLOWER, 25

“ I said that I am a fairy and they prefer to dance and fly as a butterfly but they made me talk and walk, and I hate walking and talking. ” —Sasha Pivovarova ( like something out of the RISE script for “Flower” )

Real Name: AURA PHILYRA Agency: 𝑅 𝐼 𝒮 𝐸 (Sky World) FC: Ming Xi Unicorn Name: PAGEANT PRINCESS Place of Birth: Moon City

Appearance: While Aura has not permanently altered her looks in any way, “Flower”’s image can fluctuate because of the “holo-veil” the RISE team insists she wear over her face in public, and of course, while racing. It’s essentially an undetectable face-mask that plays off of and digitally alters Aura’s features to give her an exaggerated doll face- ranging from the intentionally synthetic-looking (ex. large doll-ish eyes), complete glitter/tattooed face or even a face-scramble that confuses camera lenses to keep people from taking images of Aura without the agency’s authorisation while she’s out and about. Her naked face is hardly ever seen.

Wardrobe: Whatever fits within what the RISE image consultants call “Pixie-bot” which verges on creepy, fake-y “living doll” territory but with a fantasy element given her pretty steed is a Pegasus model. They were considering “Loli-bot” for Aura early on- because of her age they were sure she could pull it off. Aura would have stomached the aesthetic, too, just to get paid. Thankfully, however, the “Pixie-bot” idea was floated due to Pageant Princess’ particular winged model.

[She’s definitely not against the pretty clothes and costumes- it’s the personality they want to go along with it that she dislikes.]

Places most likely to be found: Aura is either at the RISE training track with Pageant (practising or watching someone practise), asleep (snoring) in her teeny RISE apartment (the more important, the bigger the apartment- if that tells you anything), or since she’s promoting herself as Flower, RISE has her going out to club events on Unicorn City most nights.. and management says she isn’t allowed to drink anymore given her last indelicate drinking debacle.

People mostly likely to be with: On the training track, she’s most likely to be with RISE’s training team (mostly techies who might as well be speaking a whole other language to her when they go on about Pageant’s internal mechanics), but she doesn’t really care for them. She also sees her teammates- Supernova and Sunbeam- there a lot, but.. they don’t really care for her. Otherwise, Aura’s out in the City’s nightlife with strangers and the occasional RISE babysitter dragging her around by the arm to make sure she sees and talks to everyone she should be (and avoids everyone she should be). She really can’t even make a friend that way, much less a love connection, so.. Aura’s pretty much a loner, but not by choice.

Strongest character trait: of Flower: Sweet / of Aura: Obstinate

Public Image: Aura plays The Long-Legged Bimbo to Supernova’s polished Heroine and Sunbeam’s beloved Sky-Daughter personas. [And- those really creepy “robot” ig models that are really just like cgi ? That’s the vibe- that level of weird perfection, and just as superficial and ditz-y. If you’re going to “Twilight” a racer- might as well go all the way with it.] Her “role” among her RISE companions makes her feel like a complete joke, but she’s determined to be taken seriously by making herself into a winner.

Racing Strengths: Truthfully, there aren’t many by way of skill- just determination (and many years of tears of frustration). Dressage is a forte, with a big lean on Pageant who’s perfectly suited to the required elegance.

Racing Weaknesses: All of it. Everything. Slow, but.. still coming for you.

Personality: In reality, Aura is much more strong-willed and uses biting sarcasm with abandon. “Flower”, however, is the giggly, disarming costume that Aura dons publicly. Flower is confused easily, but fun-loving and excited to be where she is at any given time. She says “Oh !” in dreamy realisation a lot and smiles prettily even when she loses. But Aura, in private, feels a bit deflated, tired- maybe a little ashamed at what she has to do in order to stay relevant in the racing industry. Lately, she’s felt awfully lonely- because no one around her really knows her- but she tries to let it be enough that darling (though dumb) “Flower” is never alone and always surrounded by fans and icons.

Biography:

The eldest of five children, Aura grew up in the overcrowded rookeries of a little-known moon- whenever she talks about where she’s from, no one ever seems to know what or where "Moon City” is. So, to avoid long-winded (and perhaps embarrassing) explanations, she generally tells anyone who asks that she’s originally from Ice World.

Aura was “scouted” by a RISE recruiter at the age of sixteen while on a trip to Unicorn City with friends to catch a race- the first she had ever seen ! Apparently, the recruiter liked her looks, but that was just about all the “talent” she had to give at the time as she had never even touched a mechanical horse, let alone ridden one- forget raced ! But, desperate to leave the slums of Moon City behind her for good, Aura quickly signed with RISE and was almost immediately thrown into the deep-end with her horse- Pageant Princess- only to embarrass herself in her first televised race by dropping in dead-last. Aura hadn’t expected to win or anything, yet it was still disappointing, and her management decided to set her aside for a few seasons- to train her, fix her image, cultivate a fan-base for her through a commercial campaign for uv beauty products, and within the last year, little promos that depict her as living in a little virtual fairy cottage on Sky World that she only leaves to dominate the track with the winged Pageant Princess and to attend various high-society Unicorn City bacchanals brimming with beautiful, glowing people. So far, it’s been a successful campaign and her fan-base is rapidly growing. RISE fully expects Aura to be ready to race in this new season- and more than just compete, but actually win. And, really, that’s all Aura wants- to win and cement herself as a serious racer among her fellows...and make the big money to share with her family back home on Moon City.

Though the inability to live as her normal self has taken a toll on Aura over the past years, she has at least been able to comfort herself with the knowledge that she is helping her family- that she is making them proud by working herself to exhaustion to become better- the best ! She means to win this season, no matter what it takes.

Relationships:

Snow - Racer crush, actual crush. A much-needed ally on the horizon. Aura knows of Snow (who doesn’t ?), and has bumped into her at glamour events from time to time. They’ve only raced together once- years ago in Aura’s very first race (when she was a baby ((16)) !)- and naturally, Snow beat Aura...thoroughly. But that was to be expected. Aura’s followed Snow closely since Snow’s return to racing and looks forward to their next head-to-head.

Sky -

Ice -

Supernova - RISE “Teammate”. Aura idolises Supernova and has for years, but she worries (and would be so mortified to know) that her hero really thinks of her as a fool who’s only good for getting sad drunk (once !) at company promotional events...where Aura may have vomited in front of her... Aura hopes that winning more races will convince Supernova that she is the real deal ! (Her ultimate dream would be to have Supernova mentor her !)

Sunbeam - RISE “Teammate”. Okay, so Aura’s a little jealous of her because she’s the pride and joy of RISE and she seems to have the respect of Supernova ! And she’s pretty and talented ( unmatched technique~ ) and allowed to have her own personality- it’s too much for Aura to stomach sometimes. She really likes to avoid Sunbeam socially if possible.

Flame -

Nyx - **danger by taemin plays** Sol and “Flower” have met before, while Flower was relevant for a second as a teenager ( - they danced at a club the night before she finished dead-last in her first race ), but it’s been a while since their paths have crossed- though Aura is well-aware of Nyx’ success. Now that Flower’s back in the game, they’re sure to see each other more and more.

Widowmaker - Aura is sensitive to ~vibes~, and she knows there’s something with Eleni. “Just look at the way she looks at me...” And, you know what, consider Aura intimidated. But even though there is some miscommunication between the two of them (most of which Aura is not aware of), Aura isn’t confused about the sort of racer Widow is- and she knows Eleni’s not to be approached lightly...but also, like- “What did I do~ to catch that death stare ?” It does bother her.

Playlist:

sit still, look pretty by daya

favriel by grimes

alone by halsey

medieval warfare by grimes

i am the best by 2ne1

heavy metal and reflective by azealia banks

nightmare by halsey

**sweet dreams (are made of this) by emily browning

nightmusic by grimes, ft. majical cloudz

**from the ‘sucker punch’ soundtrack

Headcanons:

Owns Snow/S.C. merch- if Snow ever discovers the holo keychain, Aura will literally die of embarrassment. #aurivana

Her salary is meager- but that’s because she earns almost solely for RISE at the moment with promos and brand deals. Everything she owns- the high-end couture and jewellry and even the holo-veil- aren’t really hers- they’re on loan from RISE. And whatever coin she does manage to earn goes straight to her family on Moon City, so.. she’s almost always skint.

Aura’s RISE apartment is.. like a mouse’s hole, spatially. The bed is lofted above the kitchen area, and the bathroom is the only room with a door. A glass door- but it’s still a door. But the lighting is always an ambient, calming violet-to-indigo that reminds her of home.

If she were a vine she would be the one with the child staring down the barrel of a squirt gun and he just says “shoot me”.

Aura’s RISE handlers- it’s usually a big guy named J.J. who is really just a strong-arm type (which confuses Aura- like, do they think she needs a bodyguard or are they afraid that she might run away if left unsupervised ? It’s unclear to her.)- do not let her drink at parties anymore. Not only has she nearly vomited on an industry icon (and personal idol), but she’s also broken character (a big no-no) to tell off the son of some CEO that apparently wanted to work with RISE on a future endeavour (oops).

Yeah. She’s almost been fired a couple of times, but at this point, RISE has sunk so much money into Aura that, actually, the only fiscally smart thing to do is keep her around and train her up.

*Daydreams about Marivana* #secretsecrets

#flower #racers #pageant princess #racer info #aura #written by fanfan !

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quiveringbunny · 6 years ago

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You Can’t Afford Him (Olicity fanfic, rated M) - Chapter 2

Here is Chapter 2 of my fic.

If you missed Chapter 1, you can read it here on Tumblr.

If you prefer reading on Ao3, here are links to:

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

“Archer, meet Celeste Chen, who has impeccable taste in shoes and her fellow, Myles Crofton.”

Without missing a beat, Myles piped up. “I’m told she also has impeccable taste in boyfriends.”

At the utterance of their target’s name, Oliver had tightened his grip around Felicity, just enough for her to notice. Then he offered his hand to the arm’s dealer with a perfect playboy grin.

“Good to meet you, Myles.”

Myles offered the universal head nod that could have meant yes or the feeling is mutual. As with so many wealthy people, much was left to be interpreted.

“Panda told us you’ve had some bother with your luggage.”

“That’s right,” Oliver sighed. “Can you believe it?” He tried to seem put upon without coming off a complete dick so early in their interaction. If these two didn’t like him, they might shut down the obvious opening that Felicity had created for them.

“And since our room isn’t ready,” Felicity added, leaning into Oliver’s sizable shoulder, “it seemed like the good idea to spread a little cryptocurrency around the shops, although I guess since it’s all virtual it doesn’t actually spread.”

Oliver held his breath. He loved Felicity’s rambles, but he didn’t know if they translated well in other cultures. His worries dissipated when Celeste chuckled and Myles cracked a smile. He watched the woman tug on her man’s sleeve and then give him a questioning look. Myles took note, shook his head, then wordlessly wandered away, raising his phone to his ear. Oliver was curious, but forced himself to remain partially attentive to the half of the couple that remained. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Myles. On his first call, everything seemed fine. Then, it was as though he was talking to someone else because he looked agitated. He didn’t raise his voice so they could hear, but he was seething for a moment.

“Archer, I know this is Panda’s first visit to Macau. What about you?”

“I have a recollection of passing through once with my family, but it was decades ago. So much has changed since then. It’s incredible now. The architecture. The energy. The beautiful women,” he added pointedly. Felicity raised an eyebrow at him, at which he became very serious. “And by that I mean that Panda wasn’t here, so it was much less attractive then.”

The two of them studied each other for a moment, then Felicity playfully prodded Oliver’s ribs.

“Good recovery there,” Celeste volunteered.

“Yes,” Felicity smirked. “My hero.”

“Do you two have any dinner plans tonight? We would love for you to join us.”

Felicity looked up at Oliver, her eyes twinkling. They needed to play it cool, but she really wanted to pump her fist in the air at this moment.

“We don’t have plans tonight, do we Baby?” Felicity looked up at Oliver with a warm smile.

“I think we do now, PandaBear. That is very kind of you, Celeste,” Oliver offered the woman a genuine smile. “I hope I won’t be overdressed,” he added, looking down at his tuxedo.

“Nonsense,” Celeste replied. “It’s perfect.” She then directed her gaze to Felicity. "You have excellent taste, Panda."

Oliver felt Felicity’s hand slip between his shirt and his jacket and rest near his heart. He hoped she couldn’t feel it beating more violently than usual. What had gotten into her? The touching? Apparently Pandora Fleece was a lot more handsy than Felicity Smoak. He hadn’t even begun to process their earlier kiss. And what was that about Felicity having good taste? Before Oliver could question or protest, he was interrupted.

“That would be lovely,” Felicity responded to the other woman while softly running her fingers against Oliver’s expensive shirt-covered abs.

Just then, Myles returned and took the hand of his beautiful Celeste. He wasn’t the only one who could be affectionate. Of course, the Americans were always a little too obvious about it in public. Celeste studied his face for information.

“I have had a word with the desk. Just go see the concierge. He will be looking after you personally.”

Felicity and Oliver expressed enthusiasm for their host’s kindness.

“No problem,” Myles replied. “One of the benefits of owning the place.”

“Oh, wow.” Felicity feigned surprise. She could not let on how much they already knew about the man. They were, after all, just tourists.

“Thank you,” Oliver added, “that’s very kind.” He offered his hand again with a sincere smile. Myles took it.

“Don’t mention it.” Myles turned to Celeste. “Darling, I am now running late for a meeting and I’m told the art consultant is upstairs. I’m afraid we are going to have to try this shirt thing another day.”

“Of course,” Celeste sighed. “Panda, I’ll have dinner details sent to your room.”

“That’s wonderful, Celeste. We are looking forward to it.”

xoxoxo

Once they had settled the details with Javier regarding the final purchase, arrangements were made to have Archer’s clothing sent up to their room via the hotel concierge. Throughout the transaction, the two generally avoided eye contact. There was much to be said, much to explain, but it had to wait until they were in private.

The two proceeded to the concierge station near the front desk and were greeted enthusiastically by a middle-aged woman named Kim who had jet black hair with a shock of white on one side. She smiled warmly and apologized far too much for inconveniencing them. When she signaled for them to follow her away from the desk, they realized she was going to escort them to their room herself. The two exchanged curious looks as they proceeded up an elevator to the 25th floor. The woman finally led them down a gold and red-hued hallway to a very opulent door. She swiped a metal card and it unlocked with a decisive click.

It was a suite. Not a junior suite like at the Marriott with a fold out couch, a sad desk in the corner and a couple of bottles of water. It was a full-fledged apartment, suitable for hosting visiting dignitaries. If they were sultans. The space had a dark Arabian Nights kind of vibe. Felicity found herself gawping, legit gawping, as the woman provided the grand tour of the rooms and amenities. Huge sitting area with tall windows. Massive bedroom with gigantic bed. Check. Large sitting room with fainting couch off the bedroom. Crazy fancy bathroom with a huge soaking tub and a rain shower. Check. Second fancy bathroom. Check. Pillows. Pillows. Pillows. Everywhere. Flowers. A chilled bottle of wine placed in a cooler on a wet bar. It just became more ridiculous with every moment.

“Excuse me, Kim. This is truly amazing, but it definitely isn’t what I reserved.”

“Yes, Miss Fleece. Mr. Crofton would like you to stay in this suite. It is one he sets aside for his and Miss Celeste’s friends.”

“I am speechless,” spoke the young woman, who had eyeballed some of the finest accommodations in Las Vegas when she was young.

“Thank you,” Oliver volunteered, seeing the woman to the door. “This was a very generous gesture. We are so very grateful.”

The woman explained that she would have their purchases brought up when they were available and would call with details of their dinner plans. Oliver thanked the woman again and was grateful that tipping was not standard practice in Macau for this particular service, as he didn’t have any cash in his pocket.

Once the woman was gone, Oliver kept staring at the closed door, collecting his thoughts before he turned to see Felicity sitting tentatively on an opulent couch, her chin resting on her hands. He considered his next move carefully and then acted swiftly, as he always did.

Oliver moved across the carpet and sat right down next to Felicity, invading her personal space. His warm body and even hotter breath tickled her ear and she gasped. The look in his eye was curious, even to her, and she had seen all of his expressions - or so she thought. It was like he wanted her. But that couldn’t be right. Just as she became uncomfortable with his gaze and attempted to shift away, Oliver grabbed her arm and whispered into her ear.

“Can you sweep the rooms without anyone knowing?”

Felicity let out a relieved and in no small way disappointed sign and nodded. Soon, she was grabbing her phone from her bag and touring their digs again, chatting mindlessly about the decor and the amenities, all the while checking for listening devices and cameras. It was unlikely their space would be monitored, but Oliver was right. It was good to check. After her circuit, she ended up in front of her partner, who was standing at a bank of windows, looking out on the Macau harbor in the afternoon sun.

“It’s clean,” she announced, brightly.

“Good.” His voice was flat. Tired, perhaps. But there was more to it. “I’m going to rest.”

With that, Oliver walked into the bedroom, past the bed and into the sitting room. He disappeared behind a closed door, leaving Felicity alone and unsure of what had just happened.

xoxoxo

Felicity knew something was off with Oliver. He hadn’t said more than a few words to her after they left Dolce & Gabbana and then he seemed to want to ditch her the moment they got into their insanely beautiful suite after looking at her with expressions she couldn’t decipher. Now he was asleep. An afternoon nap also seemed uncharacteristic of Oliver, but they had been traveling for 24 hours and it wasn’t unreasonable to imagine he could be wiped out.

Not knowing what to do next, Felicity first jumped on her tablet and made the necessary changes to their backstory support on the web to accommodate a quick alteration in cover stories, just in case. She also did some snooping on Celeste and soon discovered she was a very sought-after debutante in Hong Kong before coupling up with Myles Crofton.

A knock at the door signaled the delivery of numerous bags from the dress shop and D&G. Felicity had the stewards litter the living area with them.

Eventually, the lure of the amazing soaking tub in the master bath became a distraction. Felicity gathered up her purchases and took up residence in what amounted to a marble temple. She helped herself to some of the high-end bath products that were provided on the counter, slipped into the tub, and finally felt herself decompressing from the many sharp turns of the day. But every time her mind started to clear, her thoughts drifted to that kiss.

What had possessed her to do it? Was an epic lip-lock really necessary to sell their cover at that point? Or had she done it to mark her territory — as if Oliver Queen was hers? Felicity debated with herself about it for quite some time and then decided that, yes, the smooch had quickly and definitively established the credibility of their cover to the target of their mission and created greater potential for mission success since it led to an invitation to socially engage with said target.

Yep. That’s exactly what it did. The fact that Oliver’s lips felt so hot and strong against hers, while remaining curiously soft was irrelevant, as was the way he smelled — woodsy and masculine — even though he had been cooped up on a plane for a day. She could almost still feel it reverberating on her mouth. Imagine what an actual kiss with Oliver Queen might feel like, if a fake one had her knees buckling in a designer clothing store! She couldn’t bring herself to entertain that thought. Oliver wouldn’t kiss someone he could care about. She had to remember that.

Felicity also needed to remind herself that allowing her feelings to take over could be dangerous for her heart. And they were already surrounded by physical danger just being there in Hong Kong, thousands of miles away from home, trying to wheedle their way into the private business of a man who made an impressive fortune buying and selling devastating weapons. That man might have even procured Mirakuru and the potential to raise and army of nearly invincible killers.

This was simply no time to moon over her infuriating and attractive partner. There it was - the crux of her situation, clear as day. Lives could be at stake, Smoak. Pandora Fleece and Archer Middleton were just the masks they needed to wear to be heroes now.

After a solid soak, Felicity emerged from the water with a clearer head. She was back on mission now. Hyper-focused. Once she had finished fretting, she spent twenty solid minutes considering various scenarios that could transpire with Myles Crofton and devising ways to use them to gain access to his sensitive data. Ew. That sounded a little sexual. Her mind always found the worst ways to say something.

Her first task was to fix her hair. She couldn’t decide how she would wear it for the evening. Up? Down? Straight? Curly. Being a lady uncover was not easy. She stared at herself in the mirror and grimaced.

Felicity distracted herself from the dilemma by rooting through the luxuriously-packed boutique bags and pulling out items she had sourced hours before. This included a flat box. Inside, there were three pairs of red satin panties nestled inside cream-colored tissue paper. Three. Huh. She had asked for just two pairs, but maybe Margot was feeling generous.

At first she snorted at them. Silly scraps of fabric. But then she reconsidered. Maybe they would be good luck. She could definitely use some if they were going to be successful on their mission. Who was she to turn down potential good fortune?

Relenting, she soon discovered she had underestimated them. Those ridiculous panties. How they would make her feel when she slipped them on. But the satin was perfect and rubbed deliciously against her skin. Looking at herself in the mirror…admiring herself…Felicity felt sexy and powerful. She didn’t know she needed this. God bless Margot.

Still not sure what to do with her hair, she decided to do her makeup next. But she would need to retrieve her purse from the living area sofa first. She enveloped herself in a plush white terry robe emblazoned with the logo of the hotel and emerged into the master bedroom.

Her breath was stolen when she found Oliver sitting on the edge of the bed, facing the bathroom door. He was wearing his tuxedo, but was currently foregoing the jacket. His tie was missing and his top shirt buttons open. His posture was deflated until he saw her and sat up straight. He didn’t speak. He just looked at her, carefully, studying her while Felicity tightened the belt on her robe and attempted to settle her breathing.

Neither of them spoke for the longest time. Felicity was waiting for Oliver to say something, perhaps to reveal what seemed to have him out of sorts earlier. Meanwhile, the Arrow’s face reflected a heavy storm, one that he couldn’t find the words to express.

“I…I just needed my purse,” she finally stammered, gesturing toward the main room. Suddenly, she was moving, scooting out to collect her bag.

Oliver’s eyes followed her as she rushed out of the room and snagged her purse from the coffee table. She returned wordlessly, steering herself back toward the bathroom. This felt beyond awkward.

“I was going to ask your opinion about how to wear my hair but since you don’t seem to be speaking to me…” she muttered, her back to him as she headed to the door. Then she heard his voice rumble, quiet and deep.

“Down.” He cleared his throat. “Your hair looks nice just like that.”

Felicity stopped and turned around.

“Okay,” she whispered.

Their staring contest reconvened. Oliver was winning like Secretariat.

xoxoxo

Oliver had woken up from a short, but deep nap in the late afternoon and then brooded in a sitting room for at least an hour. Maybe two. Every that had happened earlier in the day with Felicity in the boutique played over and over in his head. He still hadn’t talked to her about the events that led to an apparent role reversal in their cover stories.

How had she connected with Myles Crofton so quickly and made such an impression that they were already invited to dine with him and his girlfriend? The obvious answer was…it was Felicity. She was remarkable, after all. He should have known better by now to even wonder. But he was still curious.

And then there was the damn kiss. She completely surprised him with that move. He knew it was probably necessary to establish some kind of relationship with Crofton and Celeste, but it was unexpected and unsettling. He really needed to talk to her.

He opened the door to the bedroom and realized she was using the bathroom. Rather than interrupt her, he wandered out into the living area and found the bags containing the purchases from Dolce & Gabbana. He took them to the extra bathroom before indulging in a relaxing shower.

After getting cleaned up, Oliver began digging through the bags. The shop had been aware of his luggage predicament and added a number of items he might need. There was a sample of aftershave and even a simple pair of pajamas. He didn’t wear pajamas, but maybe he should start. It appeared that the hotel had also chipped in some extra toiletries so he could trim his beard.

Oliver finished dressing, except for his jacket and tie, and wandered around the main room of the suite. Okay, he was pacing, considering what he wanted to say to Felicity and whether or not he could actually express himself, even if he got his shit together, as well as worrying that any kind of conversation now might be counterproductive to the mission. A dangerous mission. Eventually, he ended up sitting in the bedroom directly across from the bathroom door, slumping a little in his designer clothes. It occurred to him that if Thea could see him, she’d give him all kinds of shit for wrinkling the Dolce.

It’s funny when you are waiting for something to happen and then when it does, you are still surprised. That’s how Oliver felt when the bathroom door swung open and Felicity emerged, barefoot and enveloped in a hotel robe. Suddenly, the situation, the job, felt so intimate. This was Felicity like she might be at home in the morning getting ready for work or dressing for a date with someone who wasn’t him.

And he had no words. Everything he had been going over in his head earlier seemed pointless and petty. All she had to do was stand there and look at him. Like that. He could tell when she blanched that he was probably making her uncomfortable with his silence. He knew that Felicity hated pregnant pauses. It was like her brain wanted to switch on and begin ruminating on a problem or a piece of code, but it couldn’t because there might be some pending exchange.

Felicity appeared to wait a moment, then she rushed into the other room. Something about her purse. Oliver took a steadying breath, no longer under scrutiny. Get it together Queen.

When Felicity came back into the room, she didn’t engage with him at all, but rather headed for the bathroom.

“I was going to ask your opinion about how to wear my hair but since you don’t seem to be speaking to me…” she said quietly.

Something in him cracked at that comment. It wasn’t that he wasn’t speaking to her. He simply didn’t know what…how to say anything when she was right there, shimmering like a terrycloth mirage.

She sounded offended. Say something, Queen. She never asked him how he liked her hair before and in all honesty, he liked it however she wore it. Wait? Did she say something about him not speaking to her?

“Down.” He choked out. “Your hair looks nice just like that.”

Felicity stopped moving forward. She pivoted and looked right into his eyes, surprised.

“Okay,” she whispered, tilting her head.

A force — Oliver really had no idea what it was, or he didn’t want to name it — pulled him up off the bed and drew him toward her at the doorway like a magnet. And now she was looking up at him, her blue eyes blazing with curiosity.

“Why did you think…I wasn’t…I didn’t know. I didn’t know what to say,” he exhaled, towering over her, but still seeming soft and sincere.

“Usually I’m the babbler, Oliver. That’s my thing. You wear the leather and put the fear of God in people.”

Felicity followed up her statement with a sweet smile, trying to defuse what had quickly become a tense moment. Oliver let out a breathy chuckle and looked at the ceiling to gather himself.

“I do that, don’t I?”

“You do, although if I’m being honest, I prefer you doing the former to the latter because leather is, you know,” she grinned, “hot and fear of God gets kind of arrowy and there’s blood. Not that it’s your blood. I mean, actually, usually it’s somebody else’s but it’s still gross and gets all over the leather, which is good.”

Oliver was shaking his head now. God, she was adorable.

“And I’m babbling again. Oliver you have to stop me when…”

“Felicity,” he spoke sharply. Then he grasped her arms at her elbows, holding her still. He had her attention now. “Earlier, you kissed me.”

Felicity’s eyes slammed shut for a moment. She couldn’t run, but she was definitely thinking about it. “I know. I’m sorry I couldn’t explain what was happening, but when I met Celeste we talked about cryptocurrency and it was a crazy coincidence that her boyfriend was involved in it and she wanted me to meet him and then there he was…freaking Myles Crofton himself and it felt like an unexpected opportunity and I should run with it.”

When her eyes opened, he was studying her face, looking at her with unexpected warmth.

“Felicity, look at me.” Oliver left hand disengaged from her arm and he gently placed his palm against her cheek. Felicity’s eye’s fluttered open.

“When we were at the house and I needed to get Slade,” Oliver said with a quiet, deliberate tone, “I said something to you…”

“It was just for the mission,” she volunteered, trying to button down her expression, which likely still reflected disappointment. “You gave me the syringe.”

Oliver shook his head and he sighed.

“It’s alright, Oliver. We have to say things sometimes that we don’t mean.”

“The natural thing for me to do to really sell the plan to Slade would have been to kiss you.”

Felicity avoided his glance as heat rose on her face. He was still cupping her jaw against his hand and she was enjoying that feeling. It was tender. Sweet.

“But I didn’t want to do that,” he continued. Felicity turned her eyes up to meet his. If he was going to deliver bad news, they should just get it over with so she could go back in the bathroom and fall apart alone.

“Felicity, I’ve kissed a lot of girls. You could wallpaper a room with pictures from the tabloids of me doing thoughtless things and making an exhibitionist ass out of myself back before the island. But I’m different now. I didn’t want the first time I kissed you to be a ruse. I wanted it to be perfect and, just…I thought if it was ever going to happen, I wanted it to be real and I didn’t want to share that moment with anyone but you.”

His beautiful partner’s eyes grew wider as she processed what he was saying.

“Oh. Oh, you wanted to…” her expression morphed from surprise to devastation. “Oh God. Did I ruin it? I did, didn’t I? I shouldn’t have…”

Her voice trailed and room became silent except for the hum of the air conditioning system.

Oliver watched Felicity’s eyes started to fill with moisture. His pulse rose with concern. The last thing he wanted to do was upset her. He leaned down and his eyes shined at her in a way he had never allowed in the past.

“No,” he rasped. “It was just practice. For this.”

Then he wrapped one arm around her shoulder and the other circled her waist, rubbing against the soft terrycloth belt of her robe. He tugged her closer and lowered his mouth to hers, seeking her lips with the lightest of touches.

When he felt her her body press against his, the anxiety in him relaxed a little. Then she tilted her head to find the perfect angle to answer his kiss and his heart surged beneath his crisp, linen shirt. Time slowed and Felicity’s purse met the ground with a dull, quiet, thud.

Oliver was barely aware that he was moving them, stepping back to the bed, lifting her and draping her across his lap as he sat down. He memorized everything from the exotic perfume of the soap she wore to the whimper she made when he reluctantly pulled away and rested his nose against the soft pink shell of her ear.

“Wow,” she gasped, followed by a “meep” noise signaling she had meant to keep that comment internal. Soon, Oliver’s body was shaking with a laugh he tried to stifle by pulling her closer.

“Yes, wow,” he added, honestly, and also to assure she didn’t feel alone in expressing appreciation because it was the best first kiss he’d ever had. It was the last first kiss he ever wanted. But he kept that to himself for now.

Now, they had a serious mission. As much as he wanted to set that aside and focus on the woman in his arms, he knew that. Oliver took a step back but continued to hold her.

“Oliver.”

“We should probably try to focus on tonight now. This dinner with Crofton. The sooner we get it done, the sooner we can talk about this and lots of other things.”

Felicity studied his face and the way the corners of his mouth were turning up. He was right. She gave him a definitive nod.

“Why don’t you go in there and finish getting ready?” he added.

“Okay,” she sighed and ambled to stand.

“Then you can tell me about our new covers, although I gather you are the lead on this now and I’m the boyfriend.”

Felicity headed toward the bathroom, picking up her handbag along the way. She stopped when she got to the doorway and bit her lip. If she wasn’t still flushed from the kiss, he might have noticed her sheepish look.

“Oliver…”

“You did the right thing. I’m not thrilled that you are more involved than we planned, but you made the right call. And we’re partners. Sometimes that means that you’ll be the one out in front and I have to make peace with that. I’ll still worry, but you are remarkable. No matter what happens, I never forget that.”

“Partners.” Felicity smiled at him, warmth and pride filling her. “Thank you.”

Oliver beamed back at her and leaned back on the bed, supported by his elbows.

Just as she was about to close the door, she peeked out. “I’ll wear my hair like this.”

Good, he mouthed to her.

“And it’s possible Celeste is under the impression that you are my boy toy.” She quickly shut the door, leaving Oliver to process her words and their ramifications.

“Felicity,” he groaned, then flopped against the bed.

#Olicity #fanfiction #romance #latersexytimes

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sceptilemasterr · 6 years ago

Text

Catalysts Play Open Heart: Chapter 5

Summary: The other Catalysts finally find Raj and Furball, Craig knows some acronyms that Michelle doesn’t, and an impromptu tipsy dance-off happens, among other things!

Previous Chapter: Link

Note: The things in bold are scenes from the actual Choices chapter. Ian (x Estela) and Alyssa (x Jake) are my twin Endless Summer MCs.

Note 2 The Squeakquel: Sorry for the ludicrously long delay on this one! Blame a combination of exams and writer’s block. I’ll try to keep the delays shorter next time, promise!

Warnings: Marijuana references, alcohol use, swearing.

“The roof door’s stuck!” shouted Craig.

Zahra shot him an annoyed glare before removing her earmuffs. “Can you, like, talk normally?” she asked him. “Alright, say it again. Quieter this time.”

“THE ROOF DOOR’S STUCK!” shouted Craig. Louder this time.

“Goddamn motherf… Alright, never mind. What do you mean, ‘it’s stuck?’”

“I mean ‘it’s stuck!’” said Craig. “It won’t open!”

“I know what ‘stuck’ means, dumbass! Ugh…” Zahra pushed past him and tried the door to the roof.

It didn’t budge, even when she used both hands. “...Told ya,” said Craig with a smirk. “Think it might open if I tackled it really, really hard?”

“...The door opens this way.”

“So?” Craig took a few steps back, preparing for a running charge into the offending door. “Watch this!”

“No, Craig! Wait!” shouted Zahra, stepping in front of him. Craig’s face fell. “Why don’t we get the others?”

“Great idea! So they can watch my epic charge, right?”

“Uh… sure. Something like that.”

Several minutes later, Zahra and Craig had managed to round up most of the rest of the group and get them to the top of the stairwell. “Alright, guys, are you all watching? This is gonna be EPIC!” bellowed Craig. “CHYEAAAAAAAAAAAAAH-”

“That is not going to work,” huffed Aleister.

Craig skidded to a stop. “Aww, man, first Z and now you?! Nobody wants me to have any fun.”

“It isn’t a question of fun! Simply a logical application of physics-”

“Alright, alright, everybody calm down!” shouted Michelle. “So, we think Raj is on the roof, and the door won’t open. Right?”

“...Sounds about right, yeah. What do we do about it?” asked Jake.

“We’re gonna need something long and sturdy to use as leverage.” Michelle looked over at Estela pointedly. “We’ll pry the door open that way!”

“What do you want me to do?” Estela asked, confused.

“You brought a spear, right?”

“What? You assume I just randomly brought a spear with me. Really.” Michelle started to stammer an apology until Estela broke into a grin, unable to keep a straight face any longer. “It’s in our room,” she admitted. “Be right back.”

Much later, Estela had returned, spear in hand. “Alright, everyone, stand back.” She approached the door and jammed the point of her spear into the crack between the door and the frame, right near the lock, then pulled with all her might. The door jiggled a bit, but nothing else happened. Frowning, she doubled her efforts, straining against the door.

“Uh… Ripley, y’need some help there?” asked Jake.

Estela glared at him, and he flinched back. “I… can… do… this…” she grunted.

“Okay, okay, just askin’!”

But as Estela turned her attention back to the door, there was a sudden shattering sound from the other side, and a second later, the door swung open! Estela barely dodged out of the way in time. “What the--Varyyn?!” she exclaimed when she spotted the elyyshar, knife in hand, standing on the other side.

“That was awesome! Wait, how’d you get up there?” asked Diego. “And why are you covered in… is that ice?”

Varyyn looked down at his arms and chest, which were indeed covered in rapidly-melting flecks of ice. “Ah. Yes. It appears the door could not be opened because the lock was covered in ice… as is everything else here,” he explained, stepping back from the doorway to give everyone a look.

“...The HELL?!” exclaimed Jake.

“Ditto,” agreed Sean. Everyone else simply stared, stunned and utterly at a loss for words, at the sight. The entire roof was exactly as Varyyn had described: entirely covered in ice, save for a tiny patch surrounding the lawn chair on which Raj was snoozing peacefully, Furball curled up on his belly.

At the sound of everyone’s voices, the ice fox perked up. “Mrrrrrm?” he asked.

“Uh… either I’m way drunker than I thought, or Foxface over there looks… purple,” said Jake.

As one, the entire group turned to glare at the twins. “What?” asked Alyssa innocently.

“I told you all! But did anyone listen to me? Oh no, not at all,” said Aleister, crossing his arms. “You just HAD to alter time and space irresponsibly, didn’t you?”

Ian shrugged. “Hey! Don’t look at me, Aleister, I was on your side!”

“To be fair, if the only thing that changed was Furball turning purple, that’s not such a problem,” said Grace.

“Hey… hey, I just realized something!” said Craig. “All this ice… you think maybe Furball did this?”

“...You don’t say,” deadpanned Zahra.

“First the projector, now this? Bad Furball!” pouted Quinn, crossing over to Furball. She stepped carefully, trying not to slip on the ice, which made a strange contrast with the still-warm La Huerta air. Michelle followed her a short ways before noticing something on the ground, beneath an ice sheet.

“What’s this?” Michelle asked nobody in particular. She knelt down to look closer, but overbalanced and slipped! Quinn instinctively reached back and caught her, only to end up getting pulled to the ground alongside Michelle. The two girls looked at each other before both bursting into giggles. “Oh my god, sorry, Quinn!”

“I just meant to help you up! I’m sorry!” replied Quinn, red as a beet.

“Still… points for effort.”

“Epic fail,” snarked Alyssa, stepping past both of them and scooping up Furball from his makeshift ‘bed’ on Raj’s belly. Raj, incredibly, remained asleep. “Holy shit. He sleeps deeper than you, Ian!”

“Shut up, ‘Lyss...”

As Quinn slowly got to her feet, Michelle brushed some frost off of the ice, peering closer at the object inside. “Hey, Estela, pass me that spear?”

Estela shrugged before tossing her spear to Michelle. “Don’t you dare break it.”

Michelle caught the spear and started using it to chip some of the ice away. “How the hell does this stuff not melt?” she wondered aloud while she worked. “I know Furball’s magic, but still…”

“Indeed, ‘magic’ still should not entirely defy all scientific principles altogether,” agreed Aleister, “and yet here we are.”

“That’s literally what magic is,” Jake pointed out. “Though, gotta say, Blue Fox Group’s not usually this… random. Wonder what’s gotten into him?”

“Catnip, apparently,” answered Michelle, setting Estela’s spear aside and pulling the empty catnip bottle out of the ice. “Looks like the whole thing’s empty.”

“Well, that explains a lot,” said Sean.

Raj suddenly groaned in his sleep and rolled over… right off of the lawn chair, falling to the icy floor with a crash! “What the… huh?” he asked groggily, as he opened his eyes and looked around. “Aw, man, is this another dream? Can I go back to the one with the rainbow Mudkips and the flying bikes?”

“Raj! Finally!” exclaimed Michelle, standing up slowly while using the spear as leverage. “Mind explaining where you’ve been, and what the hell happened up here? Varyyn had to… hang on, how did you get up here anyway, Varyyn?”

“I scaled the outside wall,” said Varyyn, as though this were obvious.

“Have I mentioned my husband is freaking awesome? Because he is!” said Diego, a huge grin on his face.

Raj rubbed his forehead as he pulled himself back up onto the lawn chair. “Sorry, guys, guess I just... whoa, why’s everything covered in ice?”

“You tell me, Pineapple Express,” Jake said. “Somethin’ tells me you gave Furball some catnip and things went south from there.”

“Catnip…” said Raj, frowning. “Oh yeah! Little guy wanted some of that stuff I lured him down with earlier, and I didn’t think it was fair to tease the little guy, ya know? Then… guess I fell asleep.”

“You were high again, weren’t you?” asked Michelle. “The door was literally frozen shut.”

Raj shrugged. “Maybe. Dunno…” He frowned again. “It’s kind of a blur.”

“That would be a ‘yes,’” Zahra said. “Next time, let us in on the action!”

“Aw, sorry dudes! For sure!”

“Not to break up this… whatever this is, but I’m gonna get Furball downstairs so we can let this ice start melting,” said Alyssa, heading back down the stairwell, purple fox in her arms. “Raj, want to continue the Choices story with us? You missed two whole chapters!”

“I did?! Whoa, I must’ve been out for a while,” Raj said.

“No worries! I’ll catch you up on what you missed,” said Diego, falling into step beside his friend as they all headed back down the stairs. “So, in a nutshell: Zahra knows an impressive amount of swear words, Craig actually got an acronym right, I’m pretty sure Batman is in the story now, we bought a nice apartment by bribing the landlord with cookies, Craig’s now obsessed with tacos, there was a whole conversation about asses, and we’re gonna be starting an intense reality show hospital competition, I think. ...Oh, and the twins sent Quinn’s phone into the future. That happened.”

Raj stared at him, open-mouthed, as he processed all of this. “Either this is a really weird trip, or… actually, y’know what? It’s La Huerta. I’ll just roll with it.”

Diego laughed. “‘Just roll with it’ is pretty much my catchphrase these days.”

“Hey, it’s a good one. I might have to borrow that!”

At long last, with no more ice-related shenanigans to be found, the entire group (including Raj) had once again taken their usual spots around the projector in the lobby, ready to finally start the next chapter of Open Heart. Jake passed out drinks to everyone who was drinking, then settled into his usual chair. Alyssa also settled into her usual chair (also known as Jake’s lap), and Michelle and Quinn stood near the projector, waiting for Choices to load. “Brrrm,” said Furball.

“Y’know, I kinda dig this new look,” Raj said, watching the purple fox wander around the room, sniffing at everyone.

“It’s certainly… different,” said Estela. “Huh.”

“Hey, Ian!” Alyssa shouted. “Think Furball would change different colors if we did that again?”

“I don’t know, and we are not trying it.”

“Aww, come on-”

“Got it!” announced Quinn excitedly as she brought up the intro screen for Open Heart. “Everyone ready? Drinks set?” The group nodded as she passed the phone to Michelle. “Alright, Michelle, let’s go!”

Michelle smiled at Quinn, then began the chapter.

Open Heart: Chapter 5

Relief

“Well, that’s a relief,” said Ian. Then everyone laughed, and his eyes went wide when he realized what he’d said. “Ah! No! Er… pun not intended?”

“Even the music is relieving!” Quinn commented, swaying in time to the smooth beat of the intro music. “A nice change from last chapter.”

“Guess we’ve got a ‘breather episode’ then! Uh, ‘breather chapter?’” suggested Diego. “Is that a thing?”

Raj shrugged. “It is now!”

Landry: I keep waiting for myself to wake up and realize this was a dream.

“Me too, Landry, me too,” said Raj, nodding sagely. “I’m still half-convinced I’m just in a really deep sleep on that plane to La Huerta.”

“Honestly? That would explain a lot,” Sean agreed.

“Wait, so, like, are we all having the same exact dream? That’s awesome!” said Craig.

Jackie: I don’t get it. Why are you buying us a round?

MC!Michelle: Because…

Michelle laughed out loud at the choices, especially the ‘Can you even afford this?’ option. “Oh my god, that last one… that sounds about right, actually,” she said. “It’s got my vote for sure.”

“Yeah, okay, that’s pretty good,” Jake agreed. “Same here. I vote that one.”

“How much do residents get paid, anyway?” asked Alyssa. “I thought doctors were rich!” Michelle just stared at her incredulously, shaking her head. Alyssa shrugged. “...That answers my question, I guess.”

“Shall we vote, then?” asked Aleister, standing up to take the vote. Michelle’s suggestion of ‘Can you even afford this?’ won, almost unanimously (Zahra voted for ‘He’s sucking up’ instead).

MC!Michelle: We’re up to our eyes in debt.

Bryce: Exactly. So a little more debt can’t hurt.

Elijah: Dude, that’s not how finance works!

“The lack of logic there is utterly astounding,” said Aleister.

“I mean, it’s like the money version of living in the moment, I guess?” suggested Quinn.

“Still, I like Elijah’s answer the best,” Michelle said. “My debt’s bad enough as it is, and I still have two more years to go!”

“Hey, question: what if you had your student loans, and you took out more loans to pay for the first ones?” asked Craig. “Could you have infinite money?”

Michelle and Aleister stared at him, utterly flabbergasted. “I… I… just…” said Aleister, opening and closing his mouth a few more times before finally shaking his head in defeat.

There was an awkward silence. “...Okay, moving on,” said Michelle eventually, clicking forward in the chapter.

MC!Michelle: I think…

“As if I didn’t already hate Aurora enough after that crap she pulled last chapter,” muttered Jake.

“Seriously,” agreed Estela. “That was awful.”

“Wait, what?” asked Raj, confused. “What happened? Come on, Diego, you didn’t mention Aurora doing anything!”

Diego blushed. “Whoops! Sorry! Though, technically, she didn’t do anything. The thing she did was not doing anything. Does that make sense?”

“Dude, I’m really tryin’, but you lost me there,” admitted Raj.

“The patient who died? Dolores? Aurora turned down a chance to help her because the case ‘wasn’t interesting,’” Zahra explained. “Even I’m not that heartless.”

“Holy shit, you’re serious? That’s messed up.”

“No kidding. And, uh, thanks, Zahra,” said Diego. “That made a lot more sense than my version.”

“Okay, can I take the vote this time?” asked Grace. Aleister nodded at her, and she stood up. “I really think we should be careful around Aurora, who agrees with me?” Ian, Aleister, Varyyn, Raj, Sean, and Michelle all raised their hands to agree with Grace. “Okay, who votes for ‘You’ll kick her ass?’” Estela, Jake, Alyssa, Zahra, and Craig all raised their hands. “Last choice: ‘She’s not as bad as people say?’” Only Quinn and Diego raised their hands. “Yay, my choice won!” said Grace excitedly, as Michelle picked the option in question.

Landry: Dr. Ramsey would never cave in to nepotism!

“I can believe that,” said Michelle. “As harsh as he can be sometimes, I think he genuinely does care about training the best doctors to do the best job for their patients.”

“Uh, sorry,” said Craig, raising his hand for some reason, “but what’s ‘knee-pot-ism?’ Is that like a kind of pot you can smoke with your knee?”

“How the hell would that even work?” asked Zahra. “Also, no.”

“Dude, I like the way you think,” said Raj, “but it’s like picking people based on their family, instead of how good they are at stuff.”

“Oh. Damn, that’s bullshit,” said Craig. “But thanks, dude!”

“Anytime!” The two of them did a complicated multi-part handshake involving elbows, spinning in circles, and cow noises.

Elijah: ‘You?’ Hang on, Michelle, are you not going to compete for the fellowship?

“What? Why not? I’m definitely going to!” Michelle yelled at the screen.

“I’m sure you… uh, your character you… are gonna compete eventually,” Diego pointed out. “It wouldn’t make much sense to put it in the story if your character won’t get involved.”

“I guess that’s true… but still, character me, come on!”

“How are we supposed to start a hospital reality show if we won’t be in the competition?!” complained Alyssa.

“Come on, ‘Lyss, did you hear anything I just said?” asked Diego, sighing.

“...I heard you, Diego,” Varyyn reassured him.

“Thanks, Varyyn.”

Jackie: Michelle, you told us working with Ramsey was the whole reason you came to Edenbrook.

MC!Michelle: Yeah, well…

“Exactly! See? We definitely need to go for it!” exclaimed Quinn. Then she frowned as she read the choices. “Wait, why isn’t that an option?”

“I suppose ‘I didn’t mean right away’ would be the closest choice?” suggested Grace.

“Alright,” said Raj, “let’s just vote then?”

To nobody’s surprise, Grace’s suggestion won easily, and the story continued.

MC!Michelle: Why do you care, Jackie? If I don’t compete that’s one less person for you to have to beat!

“Hey, that rhymed!” Diego pointed out excitedly.

“Aw, yeah, you’re right!” said Craig. “We should make a rap song out of this!”

“Hell yeah!” agreed Raj, who started beatboxing as Craig stood up and rapped over the beat. “If I don’t, if I don’t compete! That’s one less person for you to hafta beat! Aw! Yeah!”

Zahra groaned and massaged her forehead with her hands in exasperation. “I think my ears are gonna start bleeding,” she complained.

Michelle nodded, then clapped her hands loudly. “As, uh… interesting as that was, we need to keep going,” she announced.

Craig and Raj sat back down. “Okay, but if there’s any more rhymes, we’re doin’ a Round 2!” Craig said.

“Please don’t,” said Zahra.

Dr. Ines: Interns! Hello!

“Hey, it’s the ‘girl from the thing!”’ said Jake when Dr. Ines appeared. “Also known as Dr. Cheery.”

“Honestly, are you ever going to call anyone by their actual names?” asked Aleister.

“Come on, Malfoy, where’s the fun in that?” asked Jake, smirking

“It’s weird seeing her outside the hospital,” Quinn observed, “but she’s still as happy as ever! I like her!”

Dr. Zaid: And I just want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, whichever one of you wins… you won’t deserve it.

“And he’s still as grumpy as ever,” said Sean. “Even at the bar! Wonder what his problem is.”

“Or, as Jake would say, ‘wonder what’s up his butt?’” added Alyssa. At this, everyone laughed, including Jake.

You stretch and roll over in your bed, then glance at the clock on your nightstand.

“PLOT TWIST: IT REALLY WAS ALL A DREAM!” Diego blurted out.

“I wouldn’t be surprised, actually,” said Ian.

“...For real, though, that was a weird transition,” said Raj. “I almost thought the chapter ended for a sec there.”

“Talk about the shortest chapter ever, if that happened,” said Jake. “Alright, let’s keep going. We haven’t even gotten to drink yet!”

“...That’s right,” said Zahra suddenly, “did anybody tell Raj about the rule we added?”

“You dudes added a new rule? Nice!” Raj said. “Tell me!”

“Whenever the story copies Meech’s actual reaction!” added Craig. “Which happens way more than you’d expect.”

Raj laughed. “Ha! Yeah, I can see that. Love it! Alright, Michelle, let’s keep going!”

You throw off the blankets and pull on your clothes frantically, hopping on one foot! You teeter over and fall hard on the floor!

Everyone laughed out loud at this. “That sounds amazing, wow,” said Zahra through her laughter. “And pretty sure Craig’s actually done that before.”

“What? Naw, I never… okay, it was one time,” he admitted. Everyone laughed again.

“My brother really has done that before, way too many times,” Alyssa informed the group. “Right, Ian?”

“Oh?” asked Estela curiously.

“What? He never told you about those times he fell flat on his face getting ready for school?” Alyssa asked her. “Or all the times he almost fell down the stairs because he had his head in a book instead of watching where he was going? Or the time when he-”

“ALRIGHT, MICHELLE, LET’S KEEP GOING!” shouted Ian frantically before his sister could reveal any more embarrassing stories.

Michelle picked up the phone again and continued. “You’re welcome,” she said in response to Ian’s grateful smile.

Sienna: Why are you in such a rush, silly? It’s our day off, remember?

“Doctors get days off?” asked Craig.

“Yes, believe it or not,” said Michelle. “We aren’t robots.”

He frowned, thinking. “Wait, but… what happens if someone gets sick, and it’s a weekend?”

“Obviously every doctor in the world doesn’t take the same day off,” Aleister said.

“He’s right,” Michelle told Craig. “Sometimes we might have a weekday off, and work the weekend, or something. We don’t get every weekend off.”

“Wait, so… your day off might be a Monday or something? That sucks! I hate Mondays.”

“Craig, you hate Mondays because you have work,” Zahra reminded him. “If you were off, it wouldn’t matter.”

“Oh yeah…”

MC!Michelle: I’ve always wanted to be on the jumbotron!

Sienna: Then you’d better look the part!

“Another outfit?” asked Jake. “Hang on, does this mean if we don’t buy it, you’ll be in your underwear?”

Michelle laughed and shook her head. “I sure hope not,” she said. “Though after the first chapter with the scrubs, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“This one counts as a drink, right?” asked Zahra. “Since we’re in our apartment still, so this must’ve come from our own closet?”

Everyone stopped to ponder this. Eventually, they all looked to Raj, who simply shrugged. “Sure, makes enough sense for me!” he said. “Jake, you gonna do the honors?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Jake said, before raising his glass of whiskey in the air and shouting, “Drink, y’all!”

As everyone sipped their drink of choice, Michelle crossed her arms and stared out at the group for several minutes. Finally, Sean noticed. “Michelle? What’s up?” he asked.

“If we’re all done figuring out this drinking game thing… is anyone going to actually talk about the choice?!”

Everyone looked at each other sheepishly as they realized they had, indeed, all forgotten to actually vote on a choice. This time, it was Quinn who stood up to take the vote. “Michelle, are we still doing one paid choice per chapter?” Michelle nodded. “Okay, I’m gonna turn it down then. I’m hoping for a flirty scene later! Who else?” Michelle agreed with Quinn to turn down the outfit, as did the twins, Estela, Diego, Varyyn, and Zahra.

“Moment of truth: will she stay in her underwear?” asked Raj as Michelle declined the outfit.

MC!Michelle: I’ll stick with my usual, I think.

“Aww,” said Raj. “That would’ve been funny. And probably worth another drink.”

Sienna: Let’s hit the concessions stand before the first pitch! Michelle, what do you want to eat?

MC!Michelle: Hmm…

What to eat?

“NACHOS!” yelled Craig when the choices appeared. “I mean, it’s not tacos, but close enough!”

“But a salad would be healthier,” Grace said hesitantly.

“C’mon Velma, It’s a phone game, not real life,” Jake reminded her.

“Well… I know that, but…”

“Excuse me, but what is that choice there?” asked Varyyn, pointing to the corn dog. “I am unfamiliar with it.”

“Wha… Varyyn, you’ve never had a corn dog?” asked Sean.

Varyyn frowned. “‘Corn dog?’ A dog wrapped in corn? Is that correct?”

Diego laughed and shook his head. “Okay, remember when we ate hot dogs? And we had that whole conversation about why they call them that?”

“Ohhhhhhhhh,” said Varyyn, understanding dawning on him.

“So, should we vote?” asked Aleister.

“NA-CHOS! NA-CHOS! NA-CHOS!” chanted Craig.

“Can we just pick the nachos and move on, for the sake of my eardrums?” asked Zahra. “Can’t believe I left my damn earmuffs upstairs.”

“You know what? Since Craig feels so passionately about this choice… sure,” said Michelle, picking the nachos as Craig cheered.

Sienna: Do you want anything to drink?

What to drink?

“Anyone who picks the lemonade is officially boring,” announced Zahra. “And my vote goes to the margarita, by the way.”

“But Zahra, there’s a beer helmet! A beer helmet!” Raj pointed out. “How could you not want that one?”

“Can’t go wrong with a good margarita,” said Jake, “even if it’s in a weird cup thing.”

“BEER. HELMET.” said Craig.

“But I like margaritas!” protested Quinn.

“Shall we vote on this one, at least?!” Aleister demanded through his megaphone, catching everyone by surprise. “Oh, don’t look so shocked, naturally I still have the megaphone! At any rate, who votes to behave sensibly and select lemonade?”

Only Aleister and Grace raised their hands. “Oh, sure, says the guy with the bourbon in his hand,” snarked Zahra.

“This is a high-class drink, vastly different from the sort of low-brow…”

“Alright, who wants the margarita?” asked Zahra loudly, cutting Aleister off. Quinn, Jake, Alyssa, Diego, and Michelle all voiced their agreement.

“BEER HELMET?” asked Craig, even louder than Zahra. Raj, Estela, Ian, Varyyn, and Sean all voted along with him.

“...You’re kidding. A tie?” said Sean upon counting everyone’s votes.

“Guess Al and Grace need to change their votes,” said Raj, “‘cuz we need a tiebreaker!”

Aleister and Grace exchanged a glance, then sighed. “Okay,” said Grace. “I guess… I pick the margarita, then?” while at the same time, Aleister said, “If I must choose… in that case, the beer helmet.”

“Seriously? This is the choice that we can’t break the tie?” asked Alyssa. “What the hell do we do now?”

Zahra smirked. “The obvious answer is to let Michelle decide, since it’s her character. Right?”

“Makes sense,” admitted Craig. “Alright, Meech!” Then he frowned as he remembered which one Michelle had voted for. “Wait, Z, no fair-”

“Too late!” crowed Zahra triumphantly as Michelle selected the margarita.

“No worries, Craig,” said Raj, “at least you won the nacho choice!”

“Oh yeah!” Craig instantly brightened up. “That’s right, we’re tied!”

Elijah: Just don’t go running onto the field.

Jackie: Or, you know… do. Just let me know first so I can get my camera ready.

“Yep. She’s definitely me,” said Zahra, laughing.

“Why do I get the feeling you’ve actually said that to Craig before?” asked Sean.

“Oh, she definitely has,” Craig told him. “Pretty much every time we go to a party.”

“He’s not wrong,” agreed Zahra.

Elijah: We gotta be loud for Cuaron’s at-bat. He’s batting .316 this year.

MC!Michelle: …

“Alright, I’m lost. I know pretty much nothing about baseball,” admitted Michelle, reading the choices.

“AWW YES!” shouted Craig, pumping a fist in the air. “Time for the Craig Train to shine!”

“...Trains can shine?” asked Grace. “I think you might be mixing up your metaphors…”

“Whatever, I’ve got this. The dude’s awesome, if you’re better than .3 then you’re a great hitter. ‘WAR’ stands for…”

Sean held up a hand. “Hang on a sec, Craig, I just got an idea,” he said. “Michelle? Wanna take your best guess?”

“What?” asked Michelle. “I already told you, I know nothing about baseball!”

“Well, yeah, but Craig didn’t know anything about medicine either, and he still kept guessing. I figure it’s only fair, right?”

Michelle sighed. “When you put it that way… alright, here I go. ‘WAR’ stands for… uh… ‘Warm… Active… Runner?’”

“Nah, Meech, but nice try!” said Craig, grinning from ear to ear. “Wins Above Replacement! It’s like, how good is he compared to a random benched player? So a high number is really good!”

“Okay, and ‘OBP’ means… ‘Obstructive… Batter… Pitching?’”

“Wait, how could a batter be pitching at the same time?” asked Craig.

“I already told you! I don’t know anything about baseball!”

“Oh yeah. Anyway, it means ‘On-Base Percentage,’ and it’s how often he makes it to base. So basically, the guy’s REALLY good.”

“Huh,” said Michelle, smiling at Craig. “Guess you taught me something new.”

“Since when were you so good at math?” asked Zahra, genuinely curious.

“Hey, it’s sports! It doesn’t count as math,” Craig explained.

Zahra shook her head in amazement. “The more you know,” she said.

“Oh yeah, and thanks, bro!” Craig said to Sean.

“See? I told you you’d rock at the sports stuff,” Sean said, fist-bumping Craig.

Michelle nodded. “We’ve all got things we’re good at, and things we’re… not good at. I’m gonna go ahead and pick the most accurate option for me,” she said, picking the ‘He’s what?’ option. Everyone, including Michelle, laughed.

Elijah: That’s where you’re wrong, Lando.

“Yes! Elijah’s officially my favorite, now. Star Wars references for the win!” said Diego.

“It’s a better nickname than ‘Laundry,’ that’s for sure,” agreed Quinn.

On screen, kids and adults break out their silliest moves.

“The Craig Train flies again!” exclaimed Craig, getting up to do his silly dance from the earlier chapter.

“Now it flies? This ‘train’ makes zero sense whatsoever,” muttered Aleister.

“Craig, how the hell are you not embarrassed right now?” asked Zahra.

“It’s fun! Join me!”

Jackie: God. How are they not embarrassed to be seen up there?

“Alright, that’s pretty funny,” Zahra admitted.

“Should we add a rule that Jackie acting like Zahra counts as a drink?” suggested Raj. “Y’know, like the one about Michelle acting like her character?”

“I’m down with that!” said Craig.

“Hell yes,” agreed Jake. “Drink, y’all!”

MC!Michelle: (What move should I do?)

“Dab?! That’s hilarious, do it!” exclaimed Craig, upon seeing the options.

“These all sound great,” said Quinn, giggling. “I vote the sprinkler!”

“Me too!” agreed Diego.

“A pity that none of the available options are ‘Sit up straight in an orderly manner,’” complained Aleister.

“Aw, loosen up, Slytherin.”

“I’ve got an idea!” said Raj excitedly, standing up. “Instead of voting normally… let’s actually do whatever dance we’re voting for!”

Craig immediately started dabbing, until Zahra grabbed him by the arm and yanked him down into his chair. “No. Just… no.”

“I’m down,” agreed Alyssa, standing up and doing the sprinkler, only to accidentally whack Jake in the face as she did so! “Oh my god, I’m so sorry!”

“Princess, you gotta watch where you’re dancin’,” Jake admonished, before he stood up to demonstrate a moonwalk, only to stumble and fall awkwardly back into his chair. “Whoa… I must’ve had more to drink than I thought.”

“Pfft. Lightweight,” said Estela, but as she stood up to do her own dance of choice, she too stumbled a bit. Despite her sobriety. “On second thought… maybe this wasn’t the best idea.” She flopped down onto the couch, right over Ian’s lap.

“Whoa, I missed a lot of drinks, didn’t I?” asked Raj. “New rule: whoever does their dance the best, without falling over, wins the vote.”

Quinn stepped into the center of the group and started doing the Sprinkler. A few moments later, she had to stop due to giggling uncontrollably, and she stumbled back over to Michelle, draping an arm over her shoulder. Next, Sean attempted a moonwalk, but despite being as sober as Estela, he wasn’t very good at it. “Points for not falling over,” Raj told him. “Also, this background music is kinda hard to dance to.”

“Thanks, Raj,” said Sean. “Who’s next?”

“Ian, you gonna try it?” asked Alyssa.

“Thanks, but nah,” he said. “Besides, I’m… uh… trapped.” He indicated Estela, sprawled out on the couch, right over his legs.

“What the heck, I’ll do it!” said Diego, leaping to his feet. “Varyyn, check this out!” He demonstrated the Sprinkler as best he could, though after a few seconds it started to somehow turn into a strange spinning-twist kind of move, until he got dizzy and fell on his butt onto the carpet.

“...Was that part of the dance?” asked Varyyn, genuinely wondering.

Raj shook his head, laughing. “Uh… I don’t think so, unless he just invented a new dance,” he said as Diego pushed himself to his feet and sat back on the couch next to Varyyn. “So far, just Quinn and Sean managed to stay upright, so…”

“Aw, yes! Dance-off?” asked Craig excitedly.

“Dance-off!” agreed Raj. “Quinn, Sean, let’s do this!”

Sean shook his head. “Nah, it’s fine,” he said. “I forfeit.”

“What? Bro, you can’t do that!” complained Craig.

Sean smiled apologetically. “Sorry, man. Quinn, looks like you win this round!”

Quinn’s face lit up at this statement. “Yay! I won!” she exclaimed, hugging Michelle before reaching over to select the ‘Sprinkler’ option on the screen.

“You sure did,” said Michelle, laughing as the story continued.

Elijah: Come on, Jackie! Even Landry’s dancing!

Jackie: Literally never.

“Seein’ as Zahra didn’t join the dance-off…” Craig began.

“Love the way you think, Craigslist. Drink, y’all!”

“Aww, I was hoping we’d get to see, uh, I mean read Landry’s dance,” Alyssa complained. “That would’ve been funny.”

Elijah: Here we go! A good old-fashioned brawl!

MC!Michelle: (What do I do?)

“Wow,” said Michelle. “I thought hockey was the one with the fighting?”

“I mean, technically?” agreed Sean. “But depending on what the players are like, this kind of thing can happen in any sport, I’m pretty sure.”

“Fight! Fight! Fight!” chanted Zahra and Craig together.

“That’s not in the rules, though, is it?” asked Grace.

“It does seem highly unprofessional,” Aleister agreed.

“Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Jake laughed. “Looks like we know what those two are votin’ for,” he observed. “Speakin’ of which, mind if I call the vote this time?”

“Go ahead,” Diego said. “I vote ‘stay quiet,’ by the way.”

“Gotcha. Who else?” Varyyn, Ian, Michelle, Grace, Aleister, Quinn, and Sean all agreed. “Looks like ‘stay quiet’ wins, but just to be sure…?” Jake himself raised his hand, along with Alyssa, Estela, Craig, Zahra, and Raj.

“Thanks, Jake,” said Michelle as she selected ‘Stay quiet.’

Later, you’re getting in line for more concessions when you see a familiar figure standing at the bar…

Dr. Ramsey: …

“What the… Dr. Ramsey?!” exclaimed Michelle when Dr. Ramsey appeared.

“Yeah, talk about coincidence,” said Sean.

“The laws of plot DEMAND it!” Diego declared.

“Ha! You’re not wrong…”

MC!Michelle: Dr. Ramsey?

“Drink, y’all,” Jake said instantly the second the line appeared on screen.

“This game predicts me way too much,” Michelle laughed.

Dr. Ramsey: I was invited here by the executives of Banner Health.

“Wonder if they specialize in gamma radiation,” said Diego.

Most of the group laughed. Michelle frowned in confusion. “Why would a health insurance company use gamma radiation?” she asked. “That doesn’t make any…” Then her voice trailed off. “Ohhhh, right, Hulk reference!”

“Yep! That’s the spirit!” Diego told her.

“A ‘hulk’ of what?” asked Varyyn.

“It’s another Marvel reference. You’ll understand after our next movie marathon.”

“I see,” said Varyyn, clearly still confused.

Dr. Ramsey: As much as it humiliates me to ask a favor of an intern… would you… join me upstairs? I won’t keep you long. I just don’t think I’ll survive with them on my own.

“Wow, talk about an offer!” said Craig. “Nice!”

“He invited us, and we have to pay?” asked Zahra when the diamond choice appeared. “Figures. On the bright side…” She raised her glass, looking at Jake.

“Oh! Right, drink, y’all!” Everyone took a sip of their drinks.

Quinn frowned at the screen. “This sounds so exciting… but at the same time, I don’t want to ditch our friends! That doesn’t seem very nice.”

“I guess you’ve got a point,” said Alyssa, “but come on! Box seats and expensive food!”

“But what if there’s a better choice later?” asked Michelle. “I mean, who knows? We can’t be more than halfway through the chapter.”

“Well? Shall we put it to a vote?” suggested Aleister. “I suppose I shall resume my usual duties at long last.”

“That’s the Keeper of Democracy for you,” laughed Diego. “Alright, let’s vote!”

“Very well. Who votes to accept the offer?” Aleister himself raised a hand, along with only Alyssa and Craig. “Hmph. It appears we have been outvoted.”

“Hope the next diamond choice later is a good one…” muttered Alyssa as Michelle declined the option.

Sandburg wobbles, vomits… and collapses on the mound!

“Whoa, what the hell?” asked Jake. “Did he just get heatstroke?”

“So much for ‘breather episode,’” said Diego. “Bet we’ll have to treat him?”

Quinn giggled. “Oh my god, you’re probably right!”

Team Manager: Damn! Our team physician quit on us before the game! Is anyone here a doctor?

“Yep! Called it!” exclaimed Diego triumphantly. “Our turn to shine! Or, uh, I mean, Michelle’s turn to shine!”

“Yeah, I get the feeling we’ve got a few medical choices coming up,” Michelle said. “I’m ready!”

“Either way, dude’s gonna be pretty surprised that there’s a whole group of doctors there to help, huh?” said Raj. “I mean, damn, talk about lucky.”

“Speakin’ of which, I’ve been wondering,” Jake asked Michelle. “Have you ever been in this kinda situation? Like, did anyone ever suddenly need a doctor and you were the closest they had?” Then he paused. “Uh, not countin’ La Huerta, obviously.”

Michelle laughed. “That was going to be my answer, actually,” she told him. “But other than that, no. We did have a whole lecture about what to do in that situation though, so… maybe it’ll happen sometime?”

“That sounds like a lot of pressure,” said Grace, frowning. “I don’t think I could do it.”

“No need to be concerned, Grace,” Aleister assured her, “you have numerous other talents. If I were to list them all right now, we would be here all day.”

Grace blushed, pulling Aleister into a tight hug. The rest of the group smiled at the sight, but Michelle let them have their moment before finally continuing the story.

The manager is flabbergasted, staring at the five doctors in a row.

Team Manager: Seriously?

“Okay, that was the best reaction,” said Raj, laughing along with the rest of the group at the line. “I’d probably say the same thing actually!”

“If I were him, I’d be thinking, ‘What am I, a side character in a medical drama?’” commented Diego.

Alyssa snorted through her laughter. “That’s Diego Soto: fourth-wall breaker extraordinaire!”

“Oh, you know I’d be that one guy who’s commenting on every single movie trope and reference to be found, if I were a character in anything,” he said. “Oh, how awesome would that be! I’d totally be the funny comic relief and best friend who just lampshades literally everything that happens… or compare it to movies… or…” Then, out of nowhere, the image of the King Crab popped into his head. “...On second thought, never mind. Topic’s over. Let’s end this conversation.”

“That was… abrupt,” Sean commented.

Landry: Sounds like fluid buildup… He could be in trouble if we don’t solve this fast.

“Alright!” said Craig excitedly. “You know what this means: ‘s all you, Meech!”

“Wow, you’re excited about this one,” Zahra said.

“Chyeah! This is the best chapter yet! ‘Sides, I’ve actually really wondered about sports medicine,” he explained. “Aw, Meech, that’s what you should do! Imagine working for a pro sports team! How awesome would that be?!”

Michelle couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, Craig. I’m pretty dead-set on neurosurgery, though, but there are a lot of head injuries in sports, so… who knows? I might actually end up operating on a professional athlete someday!”

“Whoa, that would be AWESOME!”

MC!Michelle: You can give us some background on Sandburg.

“Yep, this one’s all you,” said Jake, attempting to put his feet up on the table as best he could with Alyssa sitting on his lap. After a few moments of trying, he sighed and gave up.

“No worries, I’ve got this,” said Michelle confidently. “Out of the options, the best thing would be to check past history for previous occurrences, so…”

“...Uhh…” said Zahra, as Michelle selected ‘Has this ever happened before?’

Team Manager: He was kind of freaking out about it. Kid kept hyperventilating. Sweating.

“Sounds pretty normal,” Diego commented. “I mean, I can definitely relate.”

“Oh, for sure,” agreed Sean. “Hell, even I’ve had a panic attack before.”

Estela crossed her arms. “Not me. I never panic.”

“Uh-huh,” said Alyssa, a knowing gleam in her eye. “Never. Right. The morning of Niala’rei, that never happened. I must’ve totally hallucinated that ENTIRE thing and-”

“Alyssa.”

Alyssa flinched back at Estela’s glare, instantly shutting her mouth. Jake couldn’t help but laugh. “Oi, Dragon Rage, you’d better teach me how to do that sometime!”

The hint of a smile appeared on Estela’s face. “Trade secret.”

“Aw, c’mon!”

Michelle shook her head, frowning. “I doubt this is just a panic attack, though; that’s too easy. And what about the fluid in the lungs? Maybe there’s something else behind it?”

“That’s a good point,” agreed Diego. “If it was just a panic attack, why put it in the chapter?”

“Exactly. Let’s see what else we can find out…”

Nighthawks Player: He always seemed tired too. Yawning in meetings, like he wasn’t getting any sleep.

MC!Michelle: Hmm…

“Okay, so add fatigue…” muttered Michelle. “Probably more than usual for a baseball player…”

“Uh, Michelle?” asked Quinn. “There’s a choice.”

Michelle looked up at the screen. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “Right! Hmm, doubt it’s an injury, this feels more systemic, so… maybe changes in behavior?”

Aleister nodded in agreement. “That is a logical selection,” he said, as Michelle selected the ‘Have you noticed any changes in behavior?’ option.

“Yep, I’m lost,” said Raj. “But I trust Michelle!”

Nighthawks Player: I guess he’d been hitting the ice bath a lot lately. Probably feeling sore. But, he’d do it even when he hadn’t played that day.

“Sean, Craig, is that normal?” asked Michelle.

Craig shook his head. “Naw, as long as you’re stretchin’ properly, you shouldn’t be sore if you didn’t play!” Then he thought for a minute. “Oh! Maybe that’s part of the medical thing!”

“Thanks, Craig! You’re probably on to something, actually.”

“YES!” yelled Craig, pumping a fist into the air. “See that? I helped!”

“Yes, I see that,” said Zahra. “Honestly? I’m proud of you.”

Craig beamed excitedly. “Yes! This is the best day ever!”

“...Including our wedding?” asked Zahra, glaring at him.

Craig’s eyes went wide. “Uh… second best day ever,” he quickly corrected.

Zahra smirked. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

MC!Michelle: Was he taking anything?

Team Manager: Sandburg wasn’t prescribed anything…

“Just because he was prescribed something doesn’t mean he couldn’t be taking something on his own,” said Michelle. “Maybe something for his panic attacks? If that’s what it was?”

“Yeah, this does seem like a weird way of putting it,” agreed Ian.

Landry: Could it be heat stroke?

Jackie: It wasn’t even that hot out today.

“Fail,” said Alyssa.

Jake scowled. “Oh yeah? Got any better ideas, Princess?”

Alyssa looked to Ian, but her brother just shook his head. She sighed. “Guess not.”

“This has quite clearly been occurring for quite some time, judging by the comments made by the other players,” Aleister observed.

“Well, excuse me if not all of us can be geniuses,” said Jake.

“Simply making an observation.”

Elijah: Panic attacks, exhaustion, soreness, fluid in the lungs… That’s a lot to attribute to just one cause.

As you deliberate, you spot a member of the Stingrays sneaking into the locker room.

“Dun-dun-dun…” said Diego.

“Honestly, I’m with you, Elijah,” Michelle said to the screen. “Talk about a constellation of symptoms. This one isn’t so easy.”

“Who cares about that? There’s a dude from the other team sneakin’ in!” shouted Craig, pointing at the screen.

Raj shook his head. “I doubt he’s gonna do anything bad, Craig. The whole Nighthawks team is in there.”

“Oh yeah,” said Craig. “Good point.”

He approaches the Nighthawk he’d been arguing with and… hugs him tightly.

Stingrays Player: So sorry, man. How are you feeling? Anything I can do?

“Whoa. Didn’t see that coming,” said Estela.

“But weren’t they violently opposed to one another a moment ago?” asked Aleister, utterly confused.

“That’s seriously awesome,” said Sean. “Wonder if he’s just being a good sport, or if there’s something more between them?”

“Either way, that’s super nice of him!” said Quinn. “Ooh, can we flirt with the baseball players too?”

“I honestly doubt it,” said Michelle, shaking her head as she continued.

Nighthawks Player: Me and Ray? We grew up playing ball in the streets of Miami. We’re basically family.

“Heh. Sounds familiar,” said Craig. “Except it was football, not baseball, and it wasn’t Miami.”

“You got that right!” agreed Sean, walking over to high-five him. “‘Basically family’ sounds about right.”

“Hell yeah, bro!”

Zahra rolled her eyes. “Just kiss already.”

Craig did kiss… Zahra, who pretended to be annoyed by it before finally giving in. “Hey, you asked!”

Zahra pretended to resist for a moment before sighing and kissing Craig back. She pulled away and said, “Alright, you win this round.”

“Get a room, you two,” laughed Jake.

“Says the guy with his wife literally on his lap!” Zahra shot back.

“I… um…”

“What exactly were you gonna say to that?” asked Alyssa, as Michelle huffed and continued the story.

MC!Michelle: (Wait… competing… makes them stronger. That’s it!)

“Ah-HAH!” exclaimed Michelle triumphantly upon reading the line. “Drug amplification!”

“What was that about drugs?” asked Raj.

Michelle smiled and shook her head. “Not, like, drug drugs,” she told him, “like medications. Specifically, I think I… uh, I mean, my character…” she amended, “is suspecting drug synergism.”

“Drug what now?” asked Craig.

“When one medication amplifies the effects of another,” she explained. “Making it stronger.”

“Oh.”

MC!Michelle: I think it’s a drug interaction! His medications are…

“Hey, that’s like what you just said, Meech!” said Craig, pointing to the ‘Amplifying each other!’ option. “Does that mean it’s right?”

“You know, you’re actually right for once!” said Michelle as she selected the option in question.

“Yes! ...Wait, ‘for once?’”

Landry: What do you think he was taking?

MC!Michelle: First, something for…

“Uh, since when was he paranoid?” asked Jake. “Even I know this one.”

“”Yeah, ‘paranoid’ sounds more like you,” said Alyssa.

“Hey! To be fair, Jake was right in that case,” Michelle pointed out. “Plus, he’s right in this case, too. It’s definitely something for his panic attacks. Maybe an SSRI of some kind?

“Wait, ‘SSRI?’” asked Craig. “Hang on… okay: ‘Super Saiyan… Running… Icicles!’”

Michelle shook her head. “‘Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors,’ actually,” she explained. “They’re usually given for panic attacks or depression, anxiety, things like that.

“Oh. That was totally gonna be my second guess.”

Zahra rolled her eyes as Michelle went ahead and chose the ‘His panic attacks!’ option.

Jackie: What’s interacting with the fluoxetine? What else was he taking?

MC!Michelle: Something for…

Michelle frowned at the screen. “I mean, he was experiencing fatigue and soreness…” she muttered. So what could be causing the interaction…?”

“For tiredness? I just take coffee,” said Jake. “What else could you really need for that?”

“Actually, that’s a good point,” said Michelle.

“Wait, what? For real?” asked Jake, genuinely surprised.

Michelle nodded. “Well, yeah. That’s exactly what most people would try first if they were feeling more tired than normal.”

“Amen to that,” agreed Zahra.

“So, I’m guessing here it’s something for the soreness.” She rubbed her forehead, trying to think. “Interactions with SSRIs…”

“I mean, you don’t have to guess the exact medication right now,” Quinn pointed out. “The choices are more general than that.”

Michelle looked back at the screen, blushing when she realized Quinn was right. “Of course. Right. Duh!” she said, selecting the ‘His soreness’ option.

MC!Michelle: He was sore all the time, even when he wasn’t playing.

Sienna: It could’ve been arthritic inflammation.

“Oh! We just learned about this!” exclaimed Michelle. “He’s a guy in his twenties… so… reactive, psoriatic, or ankylosing. Probably ankylosing?”

“...Ankle-what-now?” asked Zahra.

“Oh, sorry,” said Michelle, realizing she had been talking out loud. “Ankylosing spondylitis. It’s a type of arthritis. So, I’m trying to think about what he might be taking for it that would react with fluoxetine…”

“Well, Michelle, while that was quite an impressive deduction, there is no choice that needs to be made at the moment,” observed Aleister. “Perhaps the story will provide more information later?”

“That’s true, I guess,” Michelle admitted. “Guess I just like seeing if I can figure it out for myself first.”

MC!Michelle: Right, he’s male, in his twenties…

“Real Michelle said pretty much exactly that earlier,” Raj pointed out. “You know what that means…”

“Drink, y’all!”

MC!Michelle: He could’ve been taking an N.S.A.I.D. for it, like celecoxib.

“Heh, you said ‘cocks,’” Craig pointed out.

Zahra rolled her eyes. “Oh, grow up.”

“Oh yeah, and there’s another acronym! ‘Now Stopping Ankle…’ uh, whatever thing you said before… ‘Inside…’ um, ‘Donuts!’”

Everyone laughed. “Great, now I’m hungry for donuts,” said Raj.

“‘Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug,’ actually,” Michelle clarified.

Team Manager: Ankyl… what?

Jackie: It’s a form of arthritis that affects the spine.

Team Manager: What does all of that mumbo-jumbo mean?

“Seconded,” said Diego. “And I’m pretty sure Zahra had that exact reaction earlier.

Zahra shrugged. “Yeah, basically,” she admitted.

“Seriously, Michelle, I don’t know how you do it,” said Sean.

“Lots and lots of studying and memorization,” Michelle explained.

Diego shook his head. “Better you than me, then,” he said. “I’ll stick to teaching.”

What do you find?: Fluoxetine and celecoxib!

“Hey, about time!” said Jake. “There haven’t been nearly enough of those one-option choices in here.

“True,” said Raj. “Remember that first chapter when it was just full of them?”

“Yep. Kinda miss those days…”

Alyssa shoved Jake playfully. “‘Those days?’ Jake, we played that chapter literally yesterday!”

“Huh. Feels a lot longer than that… ah, to hell with it. Drink, y’all!” Rolling her eyes, Alyssa nevertheless took a sip of her own drink as everyone else did the same.

Elijah: The paramedics are here!

“Ooh, I hope the hot one is there!” said Quinn excitedly.

“You mean Rafael? Paramedic by day, Ninja Turtle by night?” asked Diego. “I bet you anything he shows up.”

“Wait, for real?” asked Craig. “How much? Ten bucks says he doesn’t show up!”

Diego laughed and shook his head. “Sorry, Craig, it’s just a figure of speech. I didn’t mean that literally!”

Craig frowned. “I’ll take that bet,” said Raj, holding out a hand for a handshake.

“You’re on!” said Craig, shaking his hand.

A pair of paramedics climb out. You smile as you recognize the pilot.

Rafael: Michelle? What are you doing here?

“Aw, man…” groaned Craig, when he was instantly proven wrong. Reluctantly, he pulled a $10 bill out of his pocket and handed it to Raj.

“Damn, Underdog, you shoulda taken him up on that,” Jake said to Diego.

Diego smiled. “It’s just ten bucks, Raj can have it,” he said.

“Seriously, though… I think Rafael is my new favorite character,” said Quinn, staring at his picture on the screen. “Just look at him! Oh, I hope he gets a scene this chapter!”

“I hope so too,” said Sean. “We only really saw him once so far.”

Rafael: Hey, you just moved to Boston, right? Wanna come with us?

“Well, looks like your wish is gonna come true,” said Michelle with a smile. “I’m guessing it’s going to be another premium scene…”

Fly with Rafael?

“Wow, how did she know?” Craig asked nobody in particular when the diamond option appeared.

“Aren’t you glad I kept our options open?” asked Michelle. “Since this is probably the last diamond option…”

Alyssa sighed. “Fine, you were right,” she admitted. “I’m pretty happy with getting to see more Rafael. Let’s do it.”

“Seconded,” said Sean.

“Same here,” agreed Quinn.

“Look, are we going to perform an actual vote, or no?” asked Aleister. “All in favor?”

Literally everyone raised their hands. Including Aleister.

Rafael: Everything gets put into perspective up here. It’s one of the reasons I love it so much.

MC!Michelle: …

“Wow. Whoever wrote this line deserves kudos. I feel the same way, bein’ honest,” said Jake. “When I’m flying, it’s… I dunno… I just get this feeling. Like I can do anything. Ya know?”

“When you’re flying, I get a ‘feeling,’ and it’s called ‘needing to puke,’” snarked Zahra.

Jake scowled. “You know what, Skrillex? I’d like to see you try even half the kinda stunts I’ve done.”

“You may be a great pilot, but she’s right, you’re a terrible passenger pilot,” said Alyssa.

Jake took on a pained expression. “C’mon, Princess, you’re takin’ her side?! I feel so betrayed.”

“Only because she knows it’s the truth,” said Estela.

“Alright, alright, enough,” said Michelle before the conversation could get any more heated. We still need to choose. Jake?”

“You’re askin’ me?”

“...Yes, that’s why I said ‘Jake,’” snarked Michelle. “I’ll leave this one up to you, as our resident pilot.”

“Sweet. Thanks, Maybelline. I do wanna know how he learned to fly, let’s go with that.”

Rafael: My uncle was a pilot in the Marines. He started teaching me to fly when I was still in high school.

“Wow. That’s young,” said Michelle.

“Not really,” said Jake. “I was 18 when I learned to fly.”

“...And still learning to this day,” added Alyssa.

“Alright, this topic’s over,” Jake said. Michelle took that as her cue to continue, and on the very next line...

MC!Michelle: That’s young!

Everyone erupted into laughter. “Talk about a relatable main character,” Diego commented.

“I’m starting to wonder about the whole ‘psychic phone’ theory,” admitted Michelle.

Jake smirked and raised his glass of whiskey. “That’s why we’ve got this rule,” he said. “Now drink, y’all!”

Rafael: He’s gonna make it, thanks to you.

MC!Michelle: Couldn’t have done it without you either, flyboy.

“Okay, but your character needs to work on her nicknames,” said Alyssa. “Speaking of which, Jake, did I ever tell you I almost thought of calling you ‘Aragorn’ or ‘Hotness’ that first day we met?”

“Really? Gotta say, your nicknamin’ skills will never come close to mine,” Jake laughed. “Though out of those three, at least ‘Top Gun’ was the least awful.”

“And to think, it all started because you were getting so impatient you barged in on the pilot,” Ian reminded his sister.

“Hey, good thing I did! If it hadn’t been for me, he would’ve still been asleep when that storm hit-”

“I wasn’t asleep!” interjected Jake.

“Yes, you totally were. One of these days, you’ll admit it!”

“Why, you want me to lie to ya?”

“You’re lying right now! You were definitely asleep in that cockpit!”

“Look, I know when I’m sleepin’, and I wasn’t that day, trust me! How the hell was I supposed to know La Huerta made time go all screwy, anyway?”

“Hmm, I dunno, maybe by not falling asleep!”

As everyone else watched the ensuing argument, Ian sighed and rolled his eyes. “Michelle, you might want to continue… this will go on all day if you let it,” he warned her.

Michelle nodded, struggling to contain her laughter. “Thanks for the heads up,” she said as she continued with the next line of the story, reading much louder than usual until Jake and Alyssa noticed and finally stopped arguing.

Rafael: That’s where I grew up. My grandparents bought an apartment there when they immigrated.

MC!Michelle: …

“What kind of options are these?” asked Michelle, laughing at the choices that appeared. “Talk about awkward questions…”

“Well, let’s vote then, I guess,” suggested Sean. “But yeah, these are both kinda awkward things to ask somebody we just met.”

“Very well!” began Aleister. “All in favor of-”

Quinn raised a hand hesitantly. “Uh, Aleister?” she asked. “Do you mind if I… uh, did the vote this time? I haven’t gotten to do one yet.”

Aleister frowned, opening his mouth to say something, but evidently thought better of it and stopped. “Certainly, Quinn,” he said finally.

“Great! Thanks! Alright, who votes for…”

After a quick tally of the votes, ‘Do you still live there?’ won by a small margin, though Diego didn’t vote at all due to having no idea what he wanted to choose.

MC!Michelle: Sounds like you’re a family man.

Rafael: Big time. Are you close with yours?

MC!Michelle: …

Michelle hesitated at the question. No one said anything; everyone knew that Michelle’s own relationship with her family had been a touchy subject back on La Huerta, and no one wanted to risk bringing it up. After an awkward silence, she finally looked up at the group. “So, uh… are we voting on this?” she asked.

“If you’d rather,” said Quinn. “We’ll leave it up to you.”

Michelle paused for another moment. “Mind if I take this one, then?” she asked. “I’d like to pick ‘Kind of.’ I’m actually curious to see what he says.”

“Wait, really? But I thought-” said Craig.

Zahra stomped on his foot, and he went quiet. “Ignore him. Go ahead, Michelle.”

“Thanks. I know I don’t like talking about it much, but you all deserve to know… and honestly, this elephant in the room is getting ridiculous.”

“...Elephant?” asked Varyyn. “I see no elephant.”

“Actually, things have been better these last few years. Not great, but I mean… at least better.”

Everyone smiled at the news. “That’s awesome, Michelle!” said Diego. “Glad to hear that!”

“To be completely honest, meeting all of you guys… not to mention almost dying who knows how many times… really put a lot into perspective. Things are still plenty awkward with my family, but it’s better than before.”

Quinn pulled Michelle into a tight hug. “Aw, Michelle! That’s great news! I just wish you’d told me sooner…”

“Yeah, I know,” Michelle said sheepishly. “Guess somehow I felt like I didn’t want to pile all of this on you all-”

“Aw, c’mon, after everythin’ we went through?” asked Jake. “You should know we’d be here for you.”

“Yeah, you know you can tell us anything! ‘Sides, at this point, we’re pretty much a little family of our own,” agreed Raj.

“I call being the weird cousin!” shouted Craig excitedly.

“That, you can have,” snarked Zahra.

Michelle couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re all a bunch of dorks, but god, I love you all. Even you, Aleister.”

There was another ripple of laughter as Aleister said nothing, completely unsure how to respond to that.

Rafael: But it seems you’ve found a new family for yourself.

“Okay, so Raj got predicted this time, whoa,” said Diego.

“Not sure if I should count that as a rule, or if we should just toast to Michelle after that heart-to-heart,” said Raj, “but either way…”

Everyone looked to Jake. “Hell if I’m gonna turn it down,” he said. “Drink, y’all! To Michelle!”

“To Michelle!” everyone echoed.

“And to the best bunch of misfits I’ve ever been lucky enough to meet,” said Michelle, raising her own glass and toasting once more.

“To the Catalysts!” said Varyyn.

“Y’know, you might as well be an ‘honorary Catalyst’ at this point, Varyyn,” said Raj, as Varyyn blushed a deep blue.

Rafael: Want to see a really nice view?

“If by ‘nice view’ he means ‘taking his shirt off,’ then yes please!” said Quinn.

“Hell yes,” agreed Zahra.

“Doubt it, but that would be nice,” said Sean. “Plus, we’ve seen Jackie and Bryce in their underwear already, about time Rafael got a turn!”

“I like the way you think,” said Michelle. Unfortunately, Rafael did not remove his shirt in the scene, to the disappointment of most of the group.

MC!Michelle: Thanks for showing me this. (I should say something…)

“Flirty, duh,” said Michelle, picking the option immediately.

“Ahem! Are we even going to vote-”

“Oh, c’mon Malfoy, we all know it woulda won anyway,” Jake said.

Aleister crossed his arms. “Yes, but that is not the point. It’s the principle of the thing, after all, and…”

You hold his gaze for a long, warm moment.

“Kiss him!” Michelle yelled at her MC.

“Meech, she’s you,” Craig pointed out.

“Craig, she’s not literally me.”

“Wait, what? But you named her ‘Michelle’ and everything! Plus aren’t you saying what she says?”

“That doesn’t mean the character is ACTUALLY Michelle, dumbass!” shouted Zahra.

“Huh? Great, now my brain hurts….”

Rafael: But unfortunately, I need to get this chopper back.

“Aww… talk about a missed opportunity,” complained Quinn.

“Hopefully we’ll see more of him!” said Diego. “Ooh, maybe even a date in the secret Ninja Turtle lair?”

“...Isn’t that a sewer?” asked Ian. “Seems less than romantic.”

“You don’t think they would’ve upgraded in the last ten or so years? Come on, think bigger!”

“Where d’you think they’d get the money for that from? April O’Neil isn’t exactly Tony Stark.”

“Uh… well, maybe she won the lottery somehow, and she split it with the Turtles?” suggested Diego. “And now they’ve got an epic high-tech lair?”

As Ian and Diego continued to debate whether or not the Ninja Turtles would be able to afford an upgrade from the sewers, Estela sighed and shook her head, amused. “This will also go on all day if we let it,” she warned the group.

“Believe me, I know,” agreed Alyssa. “Michelle?”

“Alright, Ninja Turtle conversation over,” Michelle announced. Ian and Diego frowned and stopped talking, letting Michelle continue the story.

MC!Michelle: (What do I do?)

“Is this even a question?” asked Quinn. “Hold his hand!”

“Uh, of course!” agreed Michelle, selecting the option. In the background, Aleister made awkward noises of protest at Michelle’s overriding of the vote once again, but everyone ignored him.

With a contented sigh, you try the door into the building… and find it locked.

“Wow. Talk about fail,” said Alyssa.

“To be fair, would anyone really be expecting her to come in through the roof?” asked Grace.

“Well, no,” admitted Alyssa, “but wouldn’t Michelle have a phone? She could’ve called ahead! ...Uh, character Michelle. Not the real one.”

“How many Michelles are there?” asked Craig, scrunching up his face in confusion. “I’m lost.”

Your own words come back to you… Competing makes them stronger. You suddenly sit up and head for the door.

“Oh, yes!” exclaimed Diego excitedly. “I get it! She’s gonna enter the competition!”

“I sure hope you’re right,” Michelle said. “It makes sense!”

“That was actually kind of a cool way to set it up,” Sean said. “‘Competing makes them stronger’ is valuable for a lot of things, not just sports, after all. It works for life too.”

“Alright, that I understand!” said Craig. “We did that all the time, like for studying or whatever. It worked, too!”

MC!Michelle: I want in.

“FINALLY!” exclaimed Michelle. “About time!”

“Yep, totally called it!” said Diego.

“Sure took long enough,” said Zahra sarcastically. “Chapter’s gotta be nearly over!”

His eyes move from you, to the clock mounted on the wall… 12:01 AM.

Dr. Ramsey: I’m sure I made it clear that the cutoff was midnight.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” said Raj.

“Why am I not surprised?” groaned Zahra. “Ugh. What a dick.”

Quinn shook her head. “That’s so unfair! We’ve got to find a way to get in anyway, right?”

“I hope so!” agreed Diego.

Dr. Ramsey: So go ahead. Tell me why I should make an exception for you.

MC!Michelle: I…

“Wow, that second choice sounds like something Dr. Ramsey himself would say,” Michelle commented upon seeing the ‘I’m the best you’ve got’ option.

“Ha. You’re not wrong,” agreed Raj. “I like the first choice: ‘I want to help people like you do.’”

Michelle nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking,” she agreed. “That’s more like what I would actually say.” She started to select the choice in question.

“Can we PLEASE vote on this one?!” demanded Aleister through his megaphone.

Everyone laughed. “Wow, someone’s passionate about this,” said Estela.

“When he brings out the megaphone, you know it’s serious,” added Jake.

“Alright, Aleister, go ahead,” said Quinn.

“Thank you, Quinn. At least someone understands the importance of democracy,” said Aleister before calling for the vote.

To no one’s surprise, ‘I want to help people the way you do’ won by a large margin; only Aleister, Craig, and Alyssa picked the other one. “See? Voting made absolutely no difference,” Zahra pointed out.

“As I made quite clear earlier, it is the principle of the thing!”

Michelle ignored him and chose the relevant option.

Dr. Ramsey: You had me worried there.

“Secret test of character! Love it!” said Diego excitedly. “He totally knew she was gonna do it.”

“Alright, Diego, you called that whole thing,” said Sean. “Nice!”

“What can I say? I’ve got a talent for this,” said Diego, blushing.

You’re officially in the running for the fellowship! What does Ethan have in store for you? Keep playing to find out!

“So, does this mean next chapter we can finally start the competition?” asked Quinn.

Michelle nodded. “We’d better! And we are so gonna win.”

“Hell yeah!” shouted Craig.

“Gotta say, it’s good to be playing this with you guys again,” said Raj, standing up from his chair. “And after that donut conversation earlier, I’m gonna go grab a box for everyone. Sound good?”

“Awesome!” said Craig. “Thanks, dude!”

Raj wandered off into the kitchen. “Alright, somebody’d better go keep an eye on him, or he might go missin’ for another two chapters,” snarked Jake.

“Yeah, this time, let’s not start until everyone’s back,” Sean suggested. “Who knows what distractions might come up.”

“Fair enough,” agreed Quinn. “By the way, speaking of distractions… where is Furball?”

Everyone looked around the lobby, realizing that, indeed, the little purple fox had wandered off somewhere once again. “Oh no,” muttered Ian.

Michelle sighed. “Here we go again…”

Next Chapter: Link

Tag List: @brightpinkpeppercorn @endlesshero1122 @marmolady @endlesssummerfan

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