#as a result it is very rushed and there are at least three glaring issues but who cares. stare in awe at my son.

[biblicallyaccuratepigeons]

OK WHICH OF YOU FUCKS GAVE BILL CIPHER A PISSTOL

[robininthelabyrinth]

Light on the Door (ao3) (aka WWX in the Nie sect); tumblr: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4

Wei Wuxian woke all at once when someone dropped something onto the floor, but he kept his body relaxed and his eyes closed. It was only when the smashing sound was followed by a very familiar muttering – “Shit, shit, shit, da-ge’s going to kill me!” – that he relaxed.

“How expensive is it that you think he would care?” he asked, opening his eyes and frowning when he found himself somewhere unfamiliar.

Nie Huaisang, who had been standing in the middle of the room and looking at the shards of a (admittedly very expensive looking) broken teapot with some dismay, promptly forgot all about the teapot and dashed over to him. “Shixiong! You’re awake!”

“You say that like it’s a surprise,” Wei Wuxian said, reaching up to rub his head. “Am I – wait, is this Jiang sect grounds? How’d we get to the Lotus Pier, of all places?”

The last he remembered, he and Lan Wangji had remained behind in the cave with the Xuanwu of Slaughter, distracting it while the others went out through the underwater exit, which had closed up when the Xuanwu had thrashed around. After a few days, when inedia would no longer help them and they knew their strength would begin to decrease, they had decided to fight it, and then…

“Is Lan Zhan all right?” he asked, abruptly concerned. “What happened to him? Did he –”

“He’s fine, you big baby,” Nie Huaisang said, throwing himself down on the bed next to him and promptly snuggling in for a hug. He had zero grounds to call anyone else a big baby. “He woke up two days ago and already left for the Cloud Recesses. He didn’t want to worry them any longer, and they need him, what with his brother still being missing.”

Wei Wuxian spared a moment’s thought for Lan Xichen, who was very nice and also a good friend of Nie Mingjue’s in addition to being Lan Wangji’s precious older brother, but reminded himself that there was no point in worrying when it wouldn’t do any good. That settled, he complained, “Oh, that’s rude! He left before making sure I woke up?”

“Oh, you woke up yesterday before he headed out,” Nie Huaisang said breezily. “You were sleep-drunk as anything, but you were awake and saying something about musical masterpieces. Possibly you might have started to say something about kissing, but tragically I was forced to gag you for your own health before Lan Wangji disintegrated from embarrassment.”

Wei Wuxian put his head in his hands. “…and so he left.”

“And so he left,” Nie Huaisang agreed. “Don’t worry, he left you a nice long letter to read when you feel up to it – and when I decide to give it to you.”

“Cruel.”

“Caring! You must think of your health, shixiong.”

“Shixiong this, shixiong that,” Wei Wuxian teased. “Were you worried about me?”

Nie Huaisang glared death at him. “Of course I was! Do you know what you put me and Jiang Cheng through?! We left you in a cave with that thing, we got ambushed by the Wen sect the second we emerged –”

“You did? Are you all right?!”

“Shut up, I’m fine, Jiang Cheng handled it,” Nie Huaisang said, which – fair. Wei Wuxian would have to give Jiang Cheng many relieved thank-you-for-saving-my-little-brother hugs. “We then ran for days to get someone to rescue you –”

It make sense. The Lotus Pier was closer than the Unclean Realm, and Jiang Fengmian had always been a little unreasonable about Wei Wuxian; it was a good bet to make.

Still, even if they’d travelled down from the Nightless City, they hadn’t gone that far, and the Lotus Pier was a long way away.

“Are your feet all right?” he asked.

“No! They are not! They are awful! There was blood! But not as much blood as we found all over you when we broke into the cave to find you lying there unconscious!”

Wei Wuxian resigned himself to spending the next shichen calming down Nie Huaisang from (admittedly somewhat reasonable) hysterics.

-

“So I’m worried about the Jiang sect,” Nie Huaisang said the second they crossed out of the Lotus Pier – by horse, since that required less from his torn-up feet.

Wei Wuxian looked at him sidelong. “And this wasn’t something you could mention while we were there? To them?”

“I’m not so stupid as to start a fight with our allies by implying that they can’t handle themselves,” Nie Huaisang said. “Even if…”

“Even if you don’t think they can?”

Nie Huaisang sighed. “It’s not that!” he protested. “They’re very capable. Extraordinarily capable, even. But Sect Leader Jiang doesn’t take things seriously enough – the way he tried to scold Jiang Cheng for lecturing you..!”

Wei Wuxian winced. He’d managed to head that off at the pass, luckily, but Jiang Cheng’s face had gotten that mulish expression of mixed envy and hurt that he hated to see, and it hadn’t cleared up until Nie Huaisang fainted in order to escape the awkward conversation. It was a trick he pulled often, one that worked on adults virtually all the time and also amused Jiang Cheng every single time.

“And he doesn’t take da-ge seriously, either,” Nie Huaisang said, sounding as if that were the worst possible crime imaginable. Wei Wuxian understood his feelings. “Not even after the indoctrination camp…I just don’t know if he’ll take the steps he needs to in time.”

“You’re right,” Wei Wuxian said regretfully. “Uncle Jiang won’t want to think about it, so he won’t, but that won’t stop the war from coming…Wait, hold up. You think the Wen sect would come here? Why?”

“I mean, it’s the logical next step to quash another one of the Great Sects,” Nie Huaisang said. “Also, remember that time I fainted from the heat and they took me inside the guardroom? I looked at some of their papers; they were definitely planning on a siege.”

“But why here?” Wei Wuxian asked, deciding to reserve comments on Nie Huaisang’s unexpected foray into espionage to a time when he could appropriately lose his mind over it, preferably with Nie Mingjue in the vicinity to add to the effect. “Why the Lotus Pier? Jiang Cheng wasn’t involved with sticking it to Wen Chao; that was Lan Zhan and Jin Zixuan, and then after that it was mostly me. No Jiang sect at all!”

“He helped later,” Nie Huaisang pointed out. “Anyway, where else would they go? They attacked the Cloud Recesses once already, Lanling Jin is so slimy and double-dealing that they might as well count as a Wen ally, and if you had to pick between attacking the Lotus Pier or the Unclean Realm, between wishy-washy old Sect Leader Jiang or da-ge, who’s been preparing for war since before you joined us, which would you pick?”

“Well, shit,” Wei Wuxian said, because Nie Huaisang wasn’t wrong at all. Nor was he wrong to keep this from Jiang Fengmian, who would probably just pat them on the head indulgently before dismissing them. “What’s the plan, then?”

“Shopping,” Nie Huaisang declared.

Wei Wuxian knew his little brother too well. He started grinning. “Just a couple of young masters going on a shopping trip? With a nice, small retinue?”

“We could hardly be expected to travel with anything less,” Nie Huaisang agreed, grinning back. “Especially with there being both of us, heir and spare! It would be disgraceful to send us out with anything less than at least a squad of Nie culivators. We could stay in Yunping, maybe? That’s not far.”

“Yunping? There’s nothing in Yunping.”

“Not recently, no,” Nie Huaisang said, and shrugged when Wei Wuxian shot him an inquisitive glance. “Personnel issue, someone da-ge met recently…not a big deal. I’m just curious about him, that’s all. I’ll tell you about it on the way.”

“I love how you just decide these things and then pretend that I have some input into how things are going to go before doing what you want anyway,” Wei Wuxian remarked. “I take it that you’ve contacted da-ge already, then?”

“Of course! Sent him a letter first thing once we arrived at the Lotus Pier. Are we going?”

“Yes, fine,” Wei Wuxian said, rolling his eyes. “We’re going, we’re going.”

-

“So, I think we can all agree that that went badly,” Nie Huaisang said. “Can we all agree on that?”

“Shut up,” Jiang Cheng said. His impression of being above it all was somewhat ruined by the tears still streaming down his face and the way he wouldn’t stop hugging them both intermittently.

“Listen, it could have gone worse,” Wei Wuxian said placatingly. “Right? Could have gone much, much worse. At least Uncle Jiang and Madame Yu made it out, and they’ll go crazy trying to find us.”

“Yeah,” Jiang Cheng said, and sniffed, rubbing his nose. “Yeah. That’s true. Thanks.”

Even with the best river-watching intentions in the world, the attack had come so quickly that they’d only shown up midway through the assault on the Lotus Pier, just in time to find Jiang Cheng tied up in Zidian and floating downriver, a sure sign that Madame Yu had given up all hope of maintaining a defense, and naturally they’d grabbed him and rushed in to help her.

A single moment of surprise had been all she’d needed to finish Wen Zhuliu.

Unfortunately, even two full squadrons of Nie sect cultivators – Nie Mingjue hadn’t stinted – couldn’t change the end result, not against the massed forces the Wen sect had brought with them, not even if they sold their lives into the bargain. It was only enough to hold them off for a little while. 

At Wei Wuxian’s order, they had gone back in again and again, getting as many Jiang sect disciples out as they could. It’d been a good plan.

Getting captured hadn’t been part of the plan.

Getting thrown into the Burial Mounds was definitely not part of the plan.

Fucking Wen Chao. Just because his smarmy stupid core-melting servant got killed and he didn’t want to risk them returning as ghosts…

“Somehow, the possibility of it being worse doesn’t actually make me feel better,” Nie Huaisang said, scowling. He had the weakest core out of all three of them, so they’d given him the one blanket they’d managed to smuggle along with them – though technically, that had been Wen Ning who’d done the smuggling, actually, a Wen disciple that Wei Wuxian had befriended in the archery contest. 

He’d apparently remained very sympathetic despite the war.

It would’ve been pretty funny, if anyone had been in the mood to laugh: Wen Ning had arrived to the Lotus Pier late in a panic, nominally to provide medical services, although Wen Chao had implied in a snarl that it was actually to claim credit for helping. He had stuttered his way through excuses and apologies, offered to go start work right away, and then promptly beelined straight for the room where they’d been trapped, sneaking them a qiankun pouch with a few supplies in hopes that they could use it when they escaped.

He hadn’t known that they were bound for the Burial Mounds at that time, of course.

Maybe he’d have included some weapons they could use to fly out of here if he had.

Wei Wuxian had whispered to him “Find a way to tell Sect Leader Nie,” as they’d been dragged away after hearing Wen Chao declare that he was going to dispose of them where they’d never escape, and he could only hope that between that avenue and the Jiang that they would be found soon.

Ideally very soon.

They were running out of protective talismans, and night was approaching.

“Still could be worse,” Wei Wuxian said, thinking to himself that if Wen Zhuliu hadn’t been garroted by Zidian they might have found their way here without even their golden cores. Definitely worse. “Okay. So. I have – an idea.”

“Oh no,” Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang chorused.

“…you two are so supportive.”

“It’s going to be a dumb idea,” Nie Huaisang said. “We can tell. Your tone of voice tells us.”

“He’s not wrong,” Jiang Cheng said. “It’s going to be dumb and self-sacrificing.”

“Dumb, self-sacrificing and with a less than fifty percent chance of –”

“Must you throw all my past failures in my face?” Wei Wuxian said mournfully.

“Yes,” they both said.

“…fine. I’m still going to do it.”

“We never doubted that for a moment,” Nie Huaisang said. “Now tell us what heart failure we’re going to be dying of today.”

“Well…” Wei Wuxian said.

-

“I think I’m hallucinating,” Wei Wuxian announced. “It may be the resentful energy going to my head.”

“Nooooo,” Jiang Cheng said. “You think?”

“Could be the reduced rations and extended inedia,” Nie Huaisang said, looking very tragic. “Or maybe these sad excuses for potatoes we’ve been picking.”

“I am never eating wild-grown potatoes ever again in my life,” Wei Wuxian agreed fervently. “But also, no, seriously, I think I’m hallucinating, which we should write down as a possible side-effect of demonic cultivation.”

Jiang Cheng groaned from where he was lying on his back and staring up into the ever-clouded sky above the Burial Mounds. He’d gotten tired of the writing-things-down portion of the experimentation process early on, especially when they’d had to carefully unbind the one book Wen Ning had (rather inexplicably, but helpfully) shoved into the bag for them in order to get enough paper to do it after they’d run out of space on Nie Huaisang’s fans.

“We have to keep notes!” Wei Wuxian insisted.

“Fine, fine,” Nie Huaisang said. “What are you hallucinating?”

“Suibian,” Wei Wuxian said. “Flying right at me. From the northwest, if that’s relevant.”

“It is extremely relevant, actually,” Jiang Cheng said, sitting up. “Because it’s not a hallucination if I see it, too.”

Jiang Cheng was their control group, insofar as they could have a control when they were all stuck here being slowly consumed by the Burial Mounds. He and Wei Wuxian were about evenly matched in cultivation strength, so it only made sense for one of them to try demonic cultivation and the other not, and then Nie Huaisang had also started doing it, over Wei Wuxian’s protests, when they’d realized that they needed two people for some of the arrays Wei Wuxian invented.

So if he was seeing things as well, that either meant that the Burial Mounds were affecting them faster than expected, or else –

“Wait, you can see Suibian too?” Wei Wuxian jumped up to his feet. “Suibian! Suibian! Over here!”

“Wait,” Nie Huaisang said. “We don’t know how Suibian will react to demonic cultivation –”

Oblong meat boy! Suibian shouted in Wei Wuxian’s brain across their bond, familiar and perfect as always, descending like a whistling arrow. You left me alone! With evil people!

Wei Wuxian leapt up as high as he could and wrapped his arms around his saber. “I’m so glad to see you, you jackass of a saber!”

Apology accepted.

“Is he talking to his saber?” Jiang Cheng murmured to Nie Huaisang, who nodded. “I know he told us about the whole Nie sect cultivation thing - which I understand I shouldn’t know about, but whatever - but I’ve got to say, it’s kind of weird to see it happening out loud.”

“You think that’s weird? You should see my brother and Baxia.”

“How did you get out?” Wei Wuxian asked, ignoring them both.

Baxia tore open the wall where we were being kept, Suibian said, which probably meant that the war was going well and also that Nie Mingjue was on the warpath and very likely that Wen Ning had not managed to deliver the intended message, which would explain the delay in anyone finding them. Baxia’s master gave me energy and told me to go find you, while he followed behind.

“Da-ge’s coming!” Wei Wuxian shouted, and Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang dropped their supercilious commentator façade in order to cheer.

Hey, jerkface master. Why do you feel funny?

“…uh, about that…”

[mostlycompetentwriter]

My Side

F/M Pairing: Y/N x Bang Chan (SKZ)

Warnings: language, lots of smut, prostate massage, fluff, some mentions of angst (but it’s very minimal)

Genre: Marriage AU

Word Count: 4K

Summary: Y/N has had her entire future planned out ever since she could remember: step one- graduate college (done), step two- find a good-paying job (done), step three- marry someone she adores (done), and step four- have kids (???). She understands that life is full of obstacles, but is it too much to ask for your husband to finally knock you up?

A/N: Big apology to this anon user who requested this and had to wait like 8 billion years for me to finish it.

The fertility clinic was unusually cold, and I found myself shivering in direct contradiction with the sweltering summer heat collecting outside of the office building. Maybe that was the point: the doctors wanted to keep you totally alert while you waited for what seemed like hours for a standard routine visit. Because I could’ve already fallen asleep at this point - taking advantage of my day off from work to do something other than fret over the working condition of my reproductive system.

Of course, there was also the issue of my grumpy husband who had been thoroughly displeased when he found out exactly what a pap smear test implied. “He was totally checking you out when we came in,” Chan said. “Then, he insisted on sticking that thing up your vagina?”

“Oh, give it a rest, Chan,” I said. “I knew they would do that before I even came here.”

“I think he just wanted to look at your pussy,” Chan insisted. “And he did it right in front of me like I didn’t even exist!”

“You weren’t forced to stay in the room,” I pointed out, which I would’ve preferred but Chan insisted on standing over me like some kind of jealous observer who actually wanted to watch such an intimate procedure. 

“Yeah, he would’ve preferred that,” Chan said, leaning further back in his chair. “How the hell is this even supposed to help us? We’ve only been trying for a few months.”

“Well, I want to make sure everything is working properly,” I said, and (just to spite him) I glanced down at his crotch. “What if you’re having performance issues, honey?”

“My dick works just fine,” Chan insisted. “But you know what? I think it’s partially your fault that we can’t pregnant. You’re putting too much pressure on him and it’s hard for me to focus.”

“Him?” I questioned with a grin. "Do you really want to personify your penis?”

“That’s not the point!” Chan exclaimed. “Did you even hear me, Y/N?”

“But what is the point, Chan? What exactly are you having trouble focusing on?” I asked. “We’re talking about fucking, not a tax audit. Keep the office out of our bedroom.”

“You don’t think I know the difference?”

“Apparently not since it requires more effort than necessary for you to orgasm,” I screeched, barely getting the words out before the doctor’s return.

Immediately, Chan and I were both forced smiles, pretending like we weren’t just having a pointless argument. “Well,” the doctor said. “Everything is fine on your end, Mrs. Bang. I guess that means we can perform some tests on your husband.”

“Oh, that would be great,” I said, even as Chan shifted restlessly from next to me. “Is there anything you need?”

“We’d like to ask you for a sperm sample,” the doctor replied while handing Chan a clear, transparent plastic cup that he accepted with obvious hesitation. “I’ll give you some time.”

“Thank you,” I said, looking over at Chan who was glaring at the cup as if personally offended by its presence.

But at least he waited until the doctor was gone before looking at me with wide eyes. “What do I do?” Chan asked, holding up the plastic cup while appearing thoroughly taken aback.

“It’s just masturbating,” I hissed at him.

“They want me to jerk off into this cup?” Chan gasped like the idea was so totally perplexing to him.

“How else will they get a sperm sample?” I asked him, rolling my eyes because I was growing impatient.

But Chan still hesitated, using one hand to hold the cup while his other traveled down to the front of his jeans. “Do I just...”

“Yes!” I shouted while standing up from my chair. “It’s nothing hard, Chan, you’ve been masturbating since 9th grade!” 

“Yeah, but it’s embarrassing to do it here,” Chan argued, and I sighed for what had to be the thousandth time that day.

“There’s a curtain for privacy,” I said, reaching for my bag from the floor. “I’ll be waiting outside until you’re done.”

“Y/N!” Chan whined, but I left without another word, hoping that Chan could get his shit together because I was exhausted and the prospect of the bed waiting for me at home was suddenly everything that I wanted.

It turned out that Chan and I were both perfectly healthy, and there should be nothing impeding my ability to finally get pregnant. Chan even managed to smile after our doctor complimented his sperm because they were powerful swimmers or whatever the hell that meant. But that had also been hours ago, and after a well-deserved nap, I was feeling exceptionally horny. Thankfully, Chan was never the type to turn down sex, and a few innocent kisses had turned into a full-blown pornography session within moments of me circling my hips against the front of his jeans.

“Fuck me, Chan,” I said, and he nodded eagerly as we both helped each other escape the obstacle of our clothes.

“You should apologize to my dick first,” Chan said teasingly when he had me spread open in front of him, fisting his cock as he started jerking himself off.

“What? Why?”

“You questioned my performance earlier,” Chan said with a shit-eating grin. “Maybe my cock isn’t good enough for you.”

“It’s fine,” I said, whining when I tried to wrap my hand around the base of his erection, only to have Chan knock it away with a sharp growl. "Alright!” I groaned. “I’m sorry I questioned your all-powerful shaft, okay? So, can you please just fuck me already?”

Chan chuckled at my easy compliance, and he ran his thumb across the slit of his cock before positioning himself at my wet entrance. “Remember that next time, Y/N,” he said, exhaling shakily when he started to push inside.

“Shit!” I cried, reaching out for his broad shoulders as I held on as tight as possible for the ride waiting ahead of me.

“Such a tight cunt,” Chan remarked, pausing a moment to grind himself against my insides just to feel the pressure around his cock.

“Go faster,” I requested, throwing my head back when he complied, smacking his hips into mine as he searched for the perfect angle to leave me seeing stars.

“Yeah?” Chan purred, and he started thrusting faster than before, dragging his cock against the pulsating walls of my cunt, forcing more arousal to leak out around him. “Look at how good you always take my cock, baby.”

I reveled in the praise, craning my neck to the side just so that I could watch him disappear inside of me over and over again to match the sensation of his thick cock filling me up so well that it was almost mind-numbingly good. The best part was the pleasing sound of Chan’s moans, and I admired the way that he held himself up over me so that his muscles were practically bulging as he rolled his hips with seductive grinds. Meanwhile, I was drooling over the visual of his bulging biceps, whining underneath him because Chan was being unusually rough. Not that I would ever complain since every thrust managed to brush the tip of his cock perfectly against my cervix.

But it was only after Chan reached down to add a finger to the already tight fit of his cock inside my pussy that I remembered something that I had read on the internet as part of my endless pregnancy research. My eyes flew open at the reminder, and the lustful haze surrounding my sex-addled brain quickly vanished. “Hold on, Chan,” I said, pushing against his chest and disrupting the steady rhythm he had been maintaining.

“W-what?” Chan stuttered, pulling out while watching me roll over onto my stomach. 

“This is a better position,” I said, raising my ass high into the air before giving him a teasing wiggle. 

“Whatever,” Chan grunted, still too gone in his pleasure to care that much about my shenanigans. He immediately caged me in with his thighs, fumbling with his erect cock before aligning the tip with my aching cunt. I was relieved when he started jostling his cock back where it belonged, meandering in elegant strokes that resulted in the best friction.

“Make sure you come,” I told him while decorating the pale skin of his shoulders with nail marks as I reached behind me. 

“You first,” Chan insisted, and my heart warmed at his selflessness even while it felt like all the blood inside of me was rushing south, moving through my veins and spilling over with a rapid descent that left me seeing white while Chan moved even quicker, thrusting like a man deprived. 

I felt him come only moments later with the familiar heat that I had grown to appreciate more and more over the last few months. Thereafter, I immediately reached for a pillow from behind me, wincing at the sensitivity that lingered between my legs. “What are you doing?” Chan asked when he collapsed on the bed next to me.

“It’s supposed to help,” I said, raising my hips to place the pillow directly underneath me. “This article said that raising your legs after sex can improve your chances.”

“That seems ridiculous, Y/N,” Chan said. 

“Hey! Blame your sperm,” I countered. “It’s not my fault they need an extra boost.”

“My sperm are just fine,” Chan grunted. “You heard the doctor. They’re excellent swimmers.”

“This is just a precaution,” I told him, sighing in relief when I reached down to cup my heat, ensuring that all of Chan’s cum stayed inside where it belonged.

For the past several weeks, work had become something of a chore that I was forced to endure on a regular basis. It was often a struggle to force my way through piles of paperwork or tedious emails that always said much of the same thing. After a while, I would find myself glaring at the clock because I was quite certain that time was moving slow for the sole purpose of annoying me.

There was also the issue of dealing with my colleagues, especially the ones who liked to gossip and had effectively made a whole thing out of my failed attempts at pregnancy. “Oh, Y/N,” they would tell me. “It’s been three months, hasn’t it?”

Like they didn’t have anything better to do with their lives besides meddle in mine. But the worst of them all were the ones who decided that they were some kind of authority figures and tried to give me helpful “advice.” Everything from the shit that I had already heard from my doctor and the articles online, to bizarre practices that left me wondering where they found their information.

My manager’s personal assistant was a frequent advocate. She was far more insistent than the rest of them because she already had two kids at home who she described as future Mozarts in the making. And because she had already been successful (twice, I might add), she always sat next to me at lunch with a new suggestion that supposedly guaranteed fertilization.

“It could be that he’s under too much pressure,” she told me before biting into her salad.

“I’m asking him to have sex with me, not invent a new computer,” I grumbled.

“Yeah, but I’m sure you’ve both been having a lot of sex, which might seem like a good idea,” she continued. “But it might actually turn out to be far worse.”

“What do you suggest then? Should I kick him out of the bedroom for a week or two?” I snarked, but she was hardly bothered by my sarcastic attitude.

“My husband and I tried stimulating him more directly,” she explained. “Maybe you could try it out.”

“How so?”

“It’s something like a prostate massage,” she revealed in a hushed tone as if it was top-secret information. “There’s all kinds of information about it on the internet.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” I said, wanting nothing more than to brush aside her words, but maybe I was too desperate because I found myself skimming through countless articles after lunch, soaking in the vast amounts of information that I uncovered.

And I left the office that day with a new strategy in mind to surprise my husband.

The moment I first walked through the door, I was yanking off my jacket and calling for Chan who ducked his head out of our bedroom. “Why the hell are you yelling?”

“Because I have a wonderful idea,” I said, practically skipping over to him and offering him a deep kiss.

“Y/N,” Chan murmured against my touch, grabbing my shoulders to pull me back. “What are you going on about?”

“Just take your stupid clothes off,” I said, skirting past him into the bedroom. “I want you naked on the bed.”

“You’re already horny?” Chan chuckled, but he made no protest of yanking his shirt over his head.

“I want to try something,” I told him, opening the door to our closet to search for something that we hadn’t used together in a long time.

“Should I be afraid?” Chan asked, taking a seat on the edge of the bed as he fisted his half-hard erection.

“Not if you have an open mind,” I said, turning around to hold up the bottle of lube, and Chan’s smile instantly vanished.

“What’s that for?”

“Well, tonight I’m using it on you,” I said, laughing at the way his forehead creased in confusion. “My co-worker actually made a pretty useful recommendation today.”

“Okay?...” Chan trailed off with an expression of perfect concentration - like he was doing his absolute best to understand.

“The internet called it prostate milking,” I explained, biting my lower lip to keep myself from laughing at the horrified expression on Chan’s face. “I want to stimulate your prostate.”

“Why the hell would you do that?” Chan asked.

“Look, it has a lot of medical benefits,” I said. “Plus, I read that it can feel really good.”

Chan squired anxiously on the bed when I sat down next to him, and I could see that his cock was perfectly flaccid between his legs. “I don’t know, Y/N-”

“Don’t worry,” I interrupted him. “This is perfectly normal. Now, be a good boy for me and get on your hands and knees.”

Chan frowned. “Good boy?” he grumbled before obeyed my command, crawling his way up the bed to position himself in the way I had suggested.

“There we go,” I said, softly running a hand down his spine. 

“So far, I’m not impressed,” Chan muttered.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” I said, situating myself behind him before palming his ass. “This looks better than I remember, Channie.”

“Yeah, I guess the squats helped,” Chan said, and he flinched when I snapped a glove in place over my right hand. “What’s that for?”

“You think I’m gonna mess around your ass without a glove?” I snorted. “That’s not very hygienic.”

“Hygienic, yeah, okay,” Chan huffed, and he let out a noise somewhere between a whine and a grunt when I opened the bottle of lube and drizzled some on my fingertips. 

“Hold still,” I said, trying to get him to relax when my finger started circling his asshole, pushing against the tight muscle which wasn’t so easy to penetrate. However, with enough perseverance, I forced one finger inside and heard Chan release a rather unattractive sound.

“How does it feel?” I asked him, trying to move my finger around like I had read online.

“It just feels like you’ve shoved your finger up my ass,” Chan snapped, and I knew not to take it personally since he wasn’t so willing to go along with my crazy scheme in the first place.

“Don’t be so tense,” I said, rubbing my hand along his lower back. “Should I use more lube?”

“Fuck, I don’t know, Y/N,” Chan groaned, and I could tell that he was growing frustrated.

I was also losing confidence - wondering if this had been a bad idea because it definitely wasn’t as easy as my co-worker promised. Plus, I could tell that Chan was uncomfortable, squirming around under me while his cock hung limply between his legs. Clearly, he wasn’t finding any pleasure from this, and maybe it was entirely my fault for jumping into this without more preparation. 

“Shit, Chan,” I said, removing my finger while releasing a sigh. “I’m sorry, we shouldn’t have done this.”

I cleared my throat, feeling increasingly anxious when Chan refused to respond to my apology. He was still supporting himself on his hands in front of me, chest heaving up and down with each breath. I could see that the bright red tint to his ears betrayed his embarrassment and that only made me feel worse because the last thing I wanted to do was make this bad for him.

Eventually, Chan rolled off to the side of the bed, collecting his sweatpants from the floor before walking into the bathroom. I closed my eyes when the door slammed behind him, and I quietly left the bedroom to give Chan some privacy because it was obvious that he wasn’t pleased with the situation. 

So much for my co-worker’s stupid suggestion.

However, in the grand scheme of things, I was always the first to recognize when my actions warranted reprimand. 

After sleeping on the couch in the living room, I woke-up with a sore lower back and a guilty conscious. Chan had already left for work that morning, and he probably hadn’t paid me a single glance. But I probably deserved his wrath, which meant I would do everything that I could to make it up to him.

Consequently, I found myself flashing a bright smile at Chan’s office secretary who greeted me politely before calling Chan’s phone to see if he had some time to see me. There was a small part of me which worried that Chan might send me away because of last night’s events. Thankfully, his secretary waved me inside and I took a deep breath before opening the door while carrying the packed lunch I prepared for him.

Once inside, Chan offered me a cursory glance that only lasted a brief moment until his attention was once again focused on the file in front of him. “Channie,” I said, wincing at my shrill tone. “I brought you some lunch.”

I hesitated when Chan didn’t respond - walking over to his desk to carefully deposit the bag on his desk. I waited for a brief moment, but Chan refused to acknowledge me, which meant I needed to approach him more directly.  “I’m sorry about last night, Channie,” I said, coming around his desk to perch myself on the edge. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I’m also sorry about the past few months because I’ve been so desperate to finally have my positive pregnancy test that I started to really neglect you.”

The pen Chan had been writing with stopped in the middle of whatever sentence he had been writing, and my husband finally allowed me the privilege of looking into his dark brown eyes. “It’s hard for me to stay mad at you, Y/N,” Chan said, and I nearly burst into tears at the simple declaration.

“You deserve to be mad at me,” I said. “I can’t believe you let me get away with acting like this. You should get the husband of the year award or whatever.”

Chan chuckled, tossing his pencil aside. “Sweetheart, I know how much this means to you, and I want it just as much, but maybe it would be nice if we could be intimate sometimes without worrying about whether or not we’re following all those advice columns you read.”

“You’re right,” I agreed, and I pushed myself away from the edge of the desk and fell onto my knees in front of him - reaching out to grab his thighs between my hands. “What if I blew you right here in the office?”

Chan’s answering moan was enough to solidify my resolve, and I easily worked apart the belt fastening around his suit pants. My fingers worked with an experienced touch because this wasn’t the first time we had done something like this in his big executive office and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. “Fuck, Y/N,” Chan said, grabbing large handfuls of my hair while directing my lips closer to his exposed cock-head. 

“Let me take care of you, darling,” I said, offering a tentative lick to his pulsating tip. Chan was already hard, and I gave him a few strokes with my hand before allowing my mouth to take care of the rest - opening wide to take him as deep as I could without gagging. 

“Look at you,” Chan snarled, and his fingers traced the seam of my lips stretched obscenely around his cock. 

I moaned around his erection, and Chan closed his eyes as he fingers tightened their hold - hips moving every so often to force his cock even further down my throat. But I’m sure it made for one hell of a visual, and I hollowed my cheeks as I ran my tongue across the distinct vein trailing along the underside. 

“Keep going,” Chan said, and I could tell that he was close. And I started bobbing my head up and down, mimicking the same effect of his cock fucking my pussy, relaxing my throat and encouraging Chan to do whatever he needed to push himself over the edge.

He eventually came with an exaggerated groan, and I wrinkled my nose at the taste of him. Yet, I knew better than to let anything go to waste, and I struggled around the rawness of my throat as I swallowed - swiping my tongue around the head of his spent cock to clean up the excess.

“Was it good?” I asked him with a hoarse voice.

“Of course it was,” Chan replied, encouraging me off the floor and into his lap. His arms wrapped around me, holding me close as I listened to his heart slow back down to normal. “Thank you, Y/N,” he said, teasing his lips across mine. “You’re not gonna freak out over the fact that we just wasted my perfectly good semen?”

I rolled my eyes before playfully hitting his shoulder. “It’s never a waste if it makes you come like that.”

He smiled, bringing out the fullness of his dimples, and we sat together while Chan ate his lunch and I mindlessly talked about the latest office gossip. It was moments like these that I loved more than anything about my marriage to Chan - pregnancy be damned. Ironically, it was only a few weeks later that I found myself looking down at a thin white strip with a blue cross displayed across the surface: positive.

[sup-hoes-its-me]

A Hero (Shinsou x Reader)

A/N: okay so shinsou is such a cool character, kinda relatable tbh, so here we go. Friends to lovers, lots of fluff, cuteness. It took a lot of strength to take a break from writing my fav bakugo lol.

tw: you almost get assaulted

word count: 4400

Part One/ Part Two/ Part Three

So technically, Y/N wasn’t related to the Bakugos at all. She was the orphaned child of a family friend, who died a horrific hero’s death when she was only a couple years old. Without any other relatives in the area to adopt her, Y/N’s mother’s best friend took in the two year old, despite the trouble of raising two toddlers being quite daunting. Yet, her quirk wasn’t very dangerous nor special like Katsuki, so she wasn’t hard to manage in that area. Just a shy little girl, confused at the transition after the loss of her parents.

Y/N was never very strong willed like her new family. She was passive, the perfect representation of type B personality. Dependent, reliant, and fearful of adversity. The only reason she was never mercilessly bullied in her primary days was a result of her “brother’s” unrelenting defensiveness. He was an asshole, very much so, but he never let anyone pick fun at the girl. Not only did he kinda, sorta love her unconditionally as a silbing should, but his mother would murder him for not standing up for her.

But when they both got into U.A, suddenly the two weren’t equals anymore, nor would he always be by her side to watch out for her. Y/N was left behind in class C, while he soared into the top hero course. Y/N was support for the soon-to-be pros, not that she minded. The girl knew how weak she was, and unless she had a change of heart and decided to work harder on her quirk, she would never be able to succeed. She wasn’t motivated like those in Class A. Y/N never wanted the responsibility of being so good people relied on her, civilians putting all their faith into her. It was nerve wracking.

On the first day of class, Y/n said goodbye to her parents and walked to class with her brother. He carried both their bags, one on each shoulder, eyes staring straight ahead, brows furrowed with irritation as per usual. She kept her hands clasped behind her back, wandering slowly next to him, head hung. 

She was scared, admittedly. This school was huge and so prestigious. How could she ever compare to the others there? It was impossible.

“Stop being such a baby.”

“Katsuki-”

“You’re gonna be fine, and you know it. You’re more powerful than those losers anyway, if only you tried,” he grunted, turning the corner to see dozens of other students in their uniforms walking around and entering the school. She bit her lip and sighed, wringing her fingers out of nervousness. “Seriously, don’t make yourself out to be a weakling. People will target you if you do.”

She paused, not taking another step as she confessed, “I know what I should do, it’s just putting that ideal into practice that gets me everytime.” 

Time was running close to class starting, and he rolled his eyes down to her slightly quivering form. Handing her her bag, he told her calmly, “Listen, if anyone bothers you, I’m two doors down anyway. Just call me right after class if something happens, got it?” With a nod, he patted her on the head and walked away to the main entrance. 

Her eyes drew up the high building, taking in all the shiny windows and the huge shape of an H made out of the numerous floors. This place was bigger than she had ever imagined, and that only scared her more. Yeah, it was bigger because it housed a lot of students who needed room to exercise their quirks, plus they were a very wealthy institution. 

She had to tell herself that just because the building was scary certainly did not mean that the people inside were just as bad.

So she held her head a bit higher and walked through the crowds of students. She tried to remember where the counselor told her her classroom was, so she didn’t embarrass herself by getting lost on her first day. 

Yet, that was exactly what she did. The school was just too big, and she was too anxious about her first day to think properly. So, with tears gathering in her eyes, she watched at the time ticked by on the clock. Her nightmares were filled with this scenario. Showing up late on her first day and everyone in the class laughing at her. 

“Are you lost?” a voice deep and smooth spoke up behind her, and she jumped a couple inches in the air, placing a hand over her heart after it started to rapidly beat with shock.

She turned her head, brushing her loose hairs from her eyes. He stared down at her with an almost bored expression, just as his voice had sounded. He was tall, and very purple. Dark undereyes, wild violet hair in every direction. She didn’t really know what to think of him other than he was unique, dare she even say attractive in a strange way. He looked older than her, probably 16 or 17 even, based off his height and old soul aura he radiated. One thing she did notice about him though, was he felt gentle, passive and even a bit dismissive. It wasn’t the least bit intimidating, and she relaxed. 

“Yeah…” she mumbled, a bit embarrassed.

He nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “Seems we’re in the same boat.”

“Where are you headed?”

“Class 1-C,” he hummed, beginning to walk forward again. She told him meekly that she was going to the same class, and he raised a brow. “Really? What’s your quirk?”

“My quirk is kinda lame.”

A small smile crept at the edge of his lip, her embarrassment and shy attitude amusing him. “And what would that be?”

“Well, it’s kinda weird so don’t make fun of it. I can um- well, my blood is highly basic and burns any skin issue it touches,” the girl mumbled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. Her cheeks burned so much she felt like she had a fever. This is why she never liked to talk about her quirk. It was just plain absurd and kinda disgusting. Every time she used her quirk she had to slice her skin and sprinkle blood everywhere. “But, like, it does so much damage to me to lose blood that often I can rarely use my quirk.”

He nodded. “That’s definitely strange, you’re right,” he stated bluntly, and her heart stopped beating for a moment. “But useful. Really don’t know why you’d be embarrassed about it. Just because you don’t have endurance doesn’t mean strategy and technique can’t make up for that.”

Y/N caught up to him, walking at his side now although his strides were longer and harder to keep up with. She looked up to him, feeling a bit at ease seeing as he wasn’t rude about her quirk. “What’s your quirk?”

He didn’t miss a beat, his gruff voice sounding bitter and angry with his next words, “Something I’d rather not talk about. Don’t want you to spread rumors and lies about me.” 

She had never heard someone so visceral about their own quirk. It couldn’t be that terrible, not to mention she wasn’t rude like the people he must have encountered before. She felt a pang in her chest, knowing that this reaction was no doubt from prior experience being hurt. 

With a short shake of her head, she replied, “It’s okay, if you don’t tell me, but I wouldn’t judge you for your quirk, and definitely not gossip about it. I don’t have the social skills to do that kind of thing.” She laughed awkwardly. The bell rang overhead, signalling the beginning of the first period. They were officially late. “Oh, crap. We better hurry.”

“For what? We’re already late, doesn’t matter if it’s by a minute or ten.”

“I-I don’t know about that one.”

As they entered the stairwell to head up the stairs, he turned to her and paused, staring into her eyes deeply. She blinked, seeing so much purple looking in her direction. Quickly, she averted her gaze, and tucked her hands behind her back out of nervous habit. 

“I’ll tell you about my quirk if you promise me one thing.”

She opened her mouth to agree but then shook her head. Don’t just make promises to strangers, Y/N, so stupid. “Um, depends on the promise.”

He took a deep breath, never taking his eyes off of her own averted ones. Waves of pain radiated from his form, hitting her square in the chest. “Just don’t call me a monster or shit like that.” And that was the moment she felt her entire heart crumble in her chest for this boy she had just met. He expected her to think of him like a monster for something as silly as his quirk? She wanted to cry for him, being as sensitive as she was. 

“I promise.”

He started walking up the stairs again, done with his intense observation of her face, except it felt to her like he was examining a portion of her soul, her compassion. It seems he saw something he liked in her. 

“My quirk is brainwashing, or mind control, if you want to call it that.”

Her eyes widened at the words, not believing that someone so powerful was right beside her, in the same class as her even. “Like, what do you do?’

“If a person verbally responds to me, I then have complete control over anything they do.”

“That is so sick,” she whispered under her breath, but he still heard her. His brows quirked up, and he gazed down at her.”Sorry, I just think that’s a really amazing quirk.” She smiled sheepishly, her eyes reaching his. He almost had to look away once he saw the sparkle of excitement and admiration in her gaze. Those emotions were directed towards him…

As they walked past a classroom, a loud voice called from inside the room. “Bakugo Y/N and Shinsou Hitoshi. I believe you’re late to my class.”

She rushed into the classroom in front of him and he followed. They conveniently were directed to the back of the classroom, two seats directly next to each other. She took a seat in hers and he slumped down in his, rolling his eyes at the glare the teacher had given him. 

He looked over at the girl beside him, who he now knew as Bakugo Y/N. She peeked over at him, and a small smile grew on her soft lips, the bit of sparkle still present in her gaze towards him. He smothered down the urge to smile back, just lifted the corner of his lip in return. 

Shinsou wasn’t exactly interested in making friends. He didn’t need them. This girl, though, he wouldn’t mind if she stuck around.

______________________________________

“So, uh, Y/N, do you need someone to walk you home?” Shinsou asked as they shuffled out of the nearly empty classroom save for a few stragglers. “Not that you aren’t capable of walking yourself home, it’s just that-”

“It’s fine. And actually someone already walks home with me, so no.”

He cringed, feeling awkward now. He shouldn’t have been so forward with this impending friendship. They had just met, she probably didn’t want some weirdo knowing where she lived either. “Oh, gotcha.”

“In fact, there he is,” she smiled, waving to a particularly angry blond walking down the hall with his hands shoved deep in the pockets of his sagging pants. Shinsou cringed even harder at this point, not expecting her to already have a guy walking her home. She probably didn’t have much room for another good guy friend in her life, he thought, obviously overthinking things. “Katsuki! How was class?”

He frowned, shaking his head. “Deku made a fool of himself as usual, but it wasn’t awful,” the boy replied as his eyes slid from his sister to the daunting guy beside her. “Who’s this?”

“This is my new friend, Shinsou. He helped me find the classroom this morning since we’re in the same class.” Katsuki blinked in surprise, definitely not expecting his shy little sister to already have made a friend. It took her years of middle school just to have a few close acquaintances. 

“I gotta get going. My mom is expecting me home soon,” Shinsou told the girl, even if he was lying. He could go home at any time he wanted, he just didn’t want to feel awkward anymore. This guy was obviously close to her, and was giving him the evil eye for a minute now. Possessive much?

“Wait, before you go, let me introduce you to my brother.”

“Brother?’ he asked aloud. They didn’t look alike, like, at all. Nor did their personalities seem to resemble each other in any way.

“This is my brother Katsuki. He’s a class 1-A hot shot.” A pang of relief turned his stomach.

“Yeah, uh, nice to meet you.”

The blond rolled his eyes, gruffly brushing off the purple haired boy’s greeting.“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Y/N, are you ready to go?”

Y/N sighed, waving softly to Shinsou, a smile ever present on her lips when she looked at him. She mouthed as she walked away, ‘sorry’, and he just waved. 

Maybe he was a creep for watching her as she left, waiting for her to turn a corner before he let out a breath of air. All he knew was that he felt as if he was sucked in a trance. His heart felt heavy in his chest, as if it were about to explode. The feelings were so foreign but pleasant, some of the best he had ever experienced.

It just felt so good to see someone’s warm smile directed at him, not an ounce of malice behind a guise.

Yeah…He really, really liked her. 

_____________________________

The pair were friends. Honestly, Y/N was the only person you could get him to admit, albeit begrudgingly, that she was his friend. They trained together, and he assisted her a lot with her quirk. There were times when they were training alone and she lost too much blood that she would pass out and he would carry her to the infirmary. Time and time again though, teachers told him in private to monitor her. It was unhealthy to constantly lose pints of blood, and she wouldn’t be able to do it on the daily even if she wanted to. Since he and her brother were the only people she truly listened to and appreciated advice from, Shinsou recognized it as a sort of duty to take care of her.

Yet, with a bit more encouragement at the new school from dozens of teachers and other students, she actually improved on her quirk quite a lot. It wasn’t as if she had a useless quirk; it was very powerful in fact. She could burn directly through someone’s skin and the bone if enough blood was spilled. Therefore, the quirk could only be exercised in moderation.

For the first time in his life, someone actually trusted him. Not once did he consider using his quirk on her. Not only was she perfect on her own, but if he betrayed her trust like that, he might lose his closest friend. She was kind, but he wasn’t sure where her limits lied.

“Are you sure you’re okay walking home alone?” he asked his friend, who sat beside him packing up her books. Katsuki was out for the day with the flu, so she would be walking back home alone. He was kinda worried about her. She never walked by herself, always having the protection of her brother. 

But she was a strong girl. There was nothing to worry about. He had seen her fight and she was definitely capable. It was just overthinking that sent his anxiety through the roof.

“Yes, I’m totally fine,” she laughed, finding his concern humorous. “You live in the opposite direction. I’m not gonna make you walk me 20 blocks out of your way.”

Although he nodded in understanding, he definitely did not agree. He would walk all over the city for her if she needed him to. Still, when it came time to part ways on the sidewalk, they waved and went in opposite directions. It was only after five excruciatingly long minutes that the lanky boy turned and started walking in the direction of her home. Even though he shouldn’t have, and easily could have texted her, he wanted to make sure she made it home. He knew the general direction of her house, and if he walked moderately fast, he could catch up to her. 

So what if she didn’t want him walking an extra 30 minutes? If that made her annoyed, so be it.

Y/N walked slowly down the street as she usually did, her feet tapping lightly against the sidewalk. If she were being honest, she was a bit disappointed in herself for refusing Shinsou’s offer to walk her home. They would have a lot more time to talk in person before the weekend, and she never wanted to miss a beat with him. 

Maybe it was stupid of her to be so attached but she thought of him as her best friend, practically the only true one she ever had. Dozens of people came and went from her life, but this friendship felt so special. It would last a long time she thought, and hopefully she was right.

Unfortunately, she was too lost in her own dreamy thoughts to notice someone standing right at the edge of the alley she walked by in a particularly deserted area of town. A hand reached and snatched up her arm swiftly, yanking her into the darkness of the alley and covering her mouth with his other grimey hand before she could make a sound.

Her back hit the cold wall behind her, feeling the rough bricks scratch her shoulder blades through her uniform. Her wrist felt like it was on fire, burning from the harsh grip of the snatcher. Using his knee, he pinned her other hand to the wall at her side,  completely immobilizing her. She could have used her quirk, if she was able to produce some sort of blood-pouring injury, only she was trapped.

“Don’t fucking scream, you hear me?”

He removed his hand from her mouth for a moment to reach for his pocket, and as he did so, she let out the loudest scream she possibly could. Just as the sound came from her mouth, a cold object pressed against her throat and her heart stopped beating in her chest from sheer terror. 

To think she was a hero in training at U.A., and she couldn’t even defend herself from a quirkless criminal on the street. She felt like crying, feeling a knife against her throat, wrists held down. If only she was just a little smarter or a little stronger; anything to get her out his mess. The air was tense and heavy, and she could barely get a breath in without feeling the bitterness of the blade against her skin. 

She prayed, closing her eyes and letting the hot tears drip down her cheeks. If only someone would come and help. All Might was always there to help people, wasn’t he? Where was he? She couldn’t hope for her brother to back her up as he was sick at home, and she definitely couldn’t text Shinsou to come get her. Her phone was tucked safely in her backpack where she couldn’t dream of reaching.

God, she was hopeless. 

The thug opened his mouth to say something else no doubt cruel or vulgar, but just as the first syllable fell from his chapped lips, a shocked voice echoed down the alleyway.

“Y/N?”

Her eyes widened at the voice, relief running throughout her entire body. 

“Dumb punk, kid, just run off now.”

“No.”

“You don’t want to mess with-”

That reply was all it took for Shinsou to take control. The thug felt all control of his body lost in the air and a sort of tenseness to take over. “Drop the knife,” the student commanded, and the man indeed dropped the rusty knife to the ground, a metallic clang rang out in the darkness. “Now back away.” And so he did. 

Tha man sputtered, not knowing what was happening to his body or why he was doing these things. His face turned a bright shade of red and he threw a dirty glare at Shinsou Hitoshi, hating him with every sense of the word for making him look this pathetic. 

“Now stand still right there like the piece of shit you are. Move, and I will kill you,” he said calmly. Before turning to Y/N. “I’ll be right back with someone to help. I saw an officer go into the coffee shop across the street.” 

When he left, she inched away from the man, watching as he couldn’t do more than just stand there and look completely bewildered. A mind control quirk definitely wasn’t something you see everyday. Plus, he probably was facing the realization that he would be arrested and sent to jail to get his ass kicked by quirk users there.

He came back with a couple officers and pointed out the situation, explaining what he saw when he came to the alley. They asked Y/N for a quick statement and she just reaffirmed what Shinsou had told them and added how she was walking home alone and he grabbed her when no one was looking. And so they took him away, thanking the kids for helping catch the guy, who apparently had tried to assault and rob other women in the area recently.

That was a close call, the closest one she’d ever encountered actually. 

As they exited the alleyway, she felt sick to her stomach from what had happened, stress filling up her chest and threatening to burst out in the form of tears, only she composed herself the best she could to be strong. There really was no need to be strong. Shinsou was her friend. He was kind and brave and very intelligent, but most importantly he was kind to her. If she cried, he wouldn’t shame her. But she still felt the pressure to keep them from falling. “Shinsou-”

“I’m so glad I turned around to follow you. I swear, it’s almost like I knew something bad was going to happen, I just knew it,” he mumbled more to himself than her, really. He looked down at her finally, his eyes searching hers for any sign of distress. She looked terribly shaken up, but no tears were falling. “Are you okay? Did that guy hurt you or anything?”

“No, nothing else happened,” she told him. “I-I can’t believe you came to save me. I’m so grateful, I don’t even know what to say. I felt so helpless back there without my quirk at disposal.”

“It’s okay. It’s over now, and you’re alright. That’s all I could really hope for.” He looked down the street and then back to her, flashing a weak grin. “You wouldn’t mind if I walked you home from here, would you?” he asked, to which she silently shook her head. So, he began walking and she followed very closely behind, so close that he could feel her arm brushing against his. He figured she was scared enough, a little bit of  friendly comfort was going to help her out. She obviously didn’t want to speak, too shocked to say anything much.

After a minute or two of walking, he felt her hand slip its way sneakily into his own, tightly grabbing on as if he was going to yank it away from her. Although he could feel how shaky her hand was, it was so warm and soft against his cold and rough hands. Her fingers fit perfectly between his own. It was sappy of him to think, but jeez, it felt like those hands were meant to interlock. It just felt so fucking good. 

He shoved down those selfish feelings. Y/N was just attacked, and he was thinking about how he felt. He shook his head subconsciously, knowing that he was being rude. She was holding his hand because she desperately needed to feel safe and comfortable, not because it necessarily felt nice. She would probably hold the hand of any random dude that saved her like that. Jesus, Shinsou, so dumb. Get a damn grip, you sap.

He squeezed her hand back reassuringly. He wasn’t sure what she was feeling, but he hoped he was helping.

Her house was relatively close to the spot she was grabbed, so it was a short walk. Part of him wished it had been longer so he could have spent more time with her hand held in his. As they stopped at her doorstep, she dropped his hand and went to grab the strap of her bookbag anxiously, eyes hidden from his view. 

“Shinsou, thank you for stepping in back there. I really can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate that.”

With a wave of his hand absentmindedly, he brushed off her praise and thanks. “Don’t thank me. Anyone would have done the same, you know.” he didn’t feel like he deserves any thanks. He barely did shit back there except say a few words, and she was thanking him. Anyone would have done the same. He wasn’t special. He wouldn’t be special with the quirk he possessed. 

But god, the way she looked at him in that way, adoration and admiration staring into his eyes, completely entranced with him; it made him feel invincible, like he was on top of the world for a lifetime. He would never forget the shine in her beautiful e/c eyes in that moment, he swore it. That was a memory he’d hate to lose.

“I-I know- It’s just that…well…” Her words trailed off into silence before he felt her reach up abruptly to wrap her arms around his shoulders, falling to rest against him. He caught his balance last second, not expecting that of all things. Her head rested snuggly in the meet of his shoulder and neck, hot breath tickling his skin there. He tensed at the sudden embrace, but nevertheless wrapped his arms around her shoulders, bringing her closer. He could feel her shaking once again, and her rapid heartbeat pounded against his quickening one.

“Hitoshi,” she whispered, “You are my hero.”

Shivers ran down his spine at those simple five words, laced together by the most angelic voice he’d heard before.

That took his breath right from his lungs. He was her hero. A real hero. That was all he wanted in his life, to show people that he could be someone’s savior. The feeling of the one person he cared for more than anything saying those words to him. The feeling was unbelievable.

She pulled away after a silent moment, and waved to him gently, taking a step up to the entrance of her house. “I’ll see you on Monday, okay?” she said sheepishly, feeling something weird herself after that hug. Her skin felt all warm and gooey, like she was going to fall apart at any moment or her knees would collapse beneath her.

“Y/N, if you need anything, you know you can call me night or day, I don’t care,” he called after her. “I swear, anything for you, Y/N.”

“Thank you, Shinsou-kun.” 

“Bye, Y/N.”

“Bye.”

“You’ll call me sometime, right? So I can make sure you’re feeling better?”

“If you want.”

“Of course.”

“Okay. I promise I’ll call.”

“Yeah, well, bye then.”

“Yeah, bye-bye.”

She shut the door finally, catching the eye of her brother immediately.

Katsuki stood in the living room of their home, sipping some soup with a spoon, blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He raised a brow when she peered over at him, obviously having seen what happened outside through the front window. “What was that about, Y/N? Care to explain why that boy was all over you?”

“Shut up, Katsuki.”

He grunted, rolling his eyes at her reply. “Hey, I’m just worried for you. You can’t trust teenage boys. Take it from me since I am one. ”His voice was quite hoarse from the sore throat he had that morning, and he sounded like a frog whenever he spoke. How could she possibly take him seriously? 

“He’s just my friend. You really don’t have to lecture me on anything,” she replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Sure, sure.”

She waved off how annoying he was, and walked down the hall to her room. When she shut the door behind her, she finally felt herself heat up with embarrassment. Shinsou Hitoshi held her hand the whole way home. He saved her like the glorious hero he always wanted to be. The feeling of relief she felt when she heard him enter the alleyway and call for her, it made her heart melt. She would definitely take up his offer and call him over the weekend, just to hear his soothing voice in her ear. Just hearing him, or even thinking about him made a smile grow on her cheeks. 

She wasn’t sure what she felt for him. If it was simply a friendship or if her attachments were growing into something more.

Y/N just really, really liked him.

_____________ 

 Part two coming later this week. Should it be angst or fluff? I’m torn

[justthehiddleswrites]

Destiny Has Other Plans | Loki x OFC | Chapter 7

Pairing: Loki x OFC

MASTERLIST IS HERE

Summary: When Loki goes to ask his father for permission to marry, he is shocked to discover his destiny has already been made for him.  He is already betrothed to Sjofn, the daughter of the King of Vanaheim.  An arranged marriage to bring the two kingdoms closer together and strengthen the bond.  Never mind that Sjofn and Loki can’t stand each other.  

After The Battle of New York, Loki is sent to live at Avengers Tower as punishment for his misdeeds.  But it doesn’t mean he has to like it.   A year later, he has adjusted to life on Midgard but has avoided any romantic or emotional entanglements, still bitter over his lost love.  Dr. Alexis Randall is skilled at helping others fix their relationships as a couple therapist, but can’t help her own love life.  A chance encounter with Loki in a dive bar has life altering consequences for both of them.  Now, Alexis and Loki must figure out a way to co-habit without killing each other in the process, plus navigating impending parenthood and other roadblocks along the way.

This Chapter: Loki will do whatever it takes to find out what is wrong with Alexis. 

Warnings: Arranged Marriage, Forced Marriage, Pregnancy, Unplanned Pregnancy, Smut, Angst,  Semi-Public Sex, Mentions of law enforcement, Oral Sex, Cursing, Vaginal Sex

Taglists are Open, please let me know if you wish to be added.

-

Alexis groaned as the medics lifted her onto the gurney, but she didn’t wake.

“Take care with her!” Loki snapped at them, rushing to Alexis’s side, grabbing her limp hand. “She is pregnant.”

The medics shared a glare fully prepared to inform him they knew how to do their job when Tony caught their eye and waved them off. Best not to make Loki any more angry than he was. At least not until they sorted Alexis.

“Of course, sir.” The taller of the two nodded at Loki. “We are heading down Dr. Cho. I assume you are riding down with us?”

Loki nodded and followed them to the elevator. The eyes of every Avengers followed the three of them along with the gurney and willed the elevator doors to ding close. The moment the doors closed, Tony spun around to face the room.

“Okay, everyone has exactly three seconds to explain WHAT THE HELL is going on?”

The room exploded into conversation as people pointed fingers and yelled accusations and theories. Steve, Tony and Bruce cornered Thor to pump him for the “full story.” Nat sat quietly off to the side, worried about Alexis. A loud whistle cut through the din. Everyone turned to face Clint.

“They’re in a relationship.” He stated with no facial expression.

Tony blinked at him. “Well, yeah, a weird baby daddy, cohabitating thing. We all—”

“No, I mean they are in a romantic relationship. They are sleeping together. If you ask me, they’re in love with each other.” Clint huffed. He stepped forward to come toe to toe with Tony. “They know about you and Banner’s bet.”

Bruce blushed and flailed. “There’s no bet. I don’t know what you are talki—”

“When are you going to learn? I hear everything that goes on around here?!” Clint slammed his hand against the sofa. “I was in the vent when you made the bet. We decided to teach the two of you a lesson.”

Tony cocked an eyebrow. “Who’s ‘we’?”

“Me, Loki, and Alexis. They pretended like they were on the outs, breaking up to get even with you two meddling.” Clint crossed his arms.

“So is this fainting spell just part of an elaborate prank to get back at Tony and Bruce?” Steve piped up. “I should have done Loki would pull some sort of shit like that.”

“It’s no joke.” Thor finally joined the conversation. “I know my brother better than any of you. That was genuine fear in Loki’s eyes. Whatever is ailing Lady Alexis is no prank.”

Everyone stared at Thor in shock, confusion, and anxiety. Nat snapped out of her daze.

“I’m going down there.” She stomped off towards the elevator. Clint caught her elbow.

“Nat. Give them space. Give him space.”

Her mouth fell open. “But I can…” she protested.

“No, you can’t. There is nothing you can do down there but be in the way.” Clint continued.

“JARVIS!” Tony yelled into the air. “Send hourly updates on Dr. Randall to all the Avengers.”

“Yes, sir.” The clipped British accent responded.

“Thanks, Tony.” Nat gave the group a small smile.

Tony’s own brain was running fast, but he kept his worries to himself. He clapped his hands together.

“Alright with that sorted, they get on with the day. The world isn’t going to save itself.”

With hesitant motions, the rest of the team moved along. Clint disappeared to wherever he disappeared to. Bruce headed with Tony to the labs while Nat and Steve headed to the training facilities to work off some excess energy. Thor headed off to his quarters, too concerned over his brother and Alexis to get much else done.

-

Dr. Cho relegated Loki to a hard plastic chair off to the side as she examined Alexis. Loki paced instead. He could see everything that was happening through the clear glass panels separating the examination room. Things did not appear to be going well by the expression on Dr. Cho’s face. Three hours later, Dr. Cho came out to update Loki.

“There is nothing physically wrong I can find with her, Loki.” Cho sighed.

“And the baby?” Loki wrung his hands.

“Strong heartbeat, moving around. Do you want to know the sex? I did an ultrasound.”

Loki’s brows rose. He hadn’t thought about knowing the sex of the baby. His eyes darted to Alexis’s lying on the hospital bed. Hooked up to tubes and machines, eyes closed. It was a punch to his gut.

“We haven’t discussed it. I will wait until she wakes up to decide, if that is alright with you.”

Helen nodded. “Of course, Loki. I am still waiting on a few lab results to come back, and then I am sending them off to a few specialists. I would suggest going back to your apartment where you can be more comfortable. I will make sure JARVIS alerts you of any changes in her condition.”

“If it is all the same, I will just stay here.” Loki widened his stance as if Dr. Cho would attempt to forcibly remove him from the medbay. If it were any other circumstances, she would point out the 180 turn of events since the last time Loki was here with Alexis.

“I can only offer you a hard plastic chair.” She gestured at the standard issue chairs throughout the rooms. “And strong coffee.”

Loki gave her a sad smile. “I have been in worse situations. With far less pleasant company.”

Dr. Cho smiled back and then nodded before walking away to analyze all of Alexis’s results. Loki pulled a chair close enough to Alexis’s bed to hold her hand and sat down as his fingers weaved in with hers.

“Please wake up, darling.” Loki pleaded. The only answer he got was the steady beep of the machines monitoring all of Alexis’s vitals.

-

“Brother…” Thor rocked Loki by the shoulder. Loki’s long frame crunched up on two hard plastic chairs. His arm tucked under his head to act as a pillow. Nothing about his posture looked comfortable. After several hours of no changes in Alexis’s condition, Loki dozed off.

“Brother… wake up.” Thor shook him more forcefully this time. Which rewarded him with Loki snatching his wrist with his quick reflexes.

“Must you continue to wake me, Brother? Leave me in peace.” Loki groaned as he unfolded himself, joints cracking and popping. “Why are you even here?”

“It’s almost midnight, Loki. You never came back. I came to check on you.”

Loki glanced out to the window to confirm that it was indeed the middle of the night. He gave Thor a wry smile. “Well, as you can see,” Loki gestured up and down his body. “I am alive and well, so leave me be.” He waved Thor away.

Thor sighed and spun a chair backwards to sit near Loki. “While you may be alive, you are clearly not well, Loki.” He spied his brother’s hand intertwined with Alexis’s. “Barton told us.”

Loki’s shoulders slumped. “I can’t lose her, Brother. I love her.” His voice hoarse and cracking. “And our child…” Loki’s head dropped to the bed.

Thor reached over to comfort Loki, not knowing exactly what to say. “Lady Alexis is strong. How else could she have endured all these weeks living with you?”

The two gods chuckled at Thor’s joke. “Very true. I have not been on my best behavior.” Loki added.

“And now?” Thor raised an eyebrow.

“I have definitely not been on my best behavior.” Loki smirked.

“You were always one for mischief when it came to your lovers.”

Loki’s mood darkened, thinking back to Sigrun and his father. And the events leading him here. Alexis and his unborn child. He wondered where he would have ended up if he had agreed to the arranged marriage and Odin’s meddling. Loki imagined miserable in a completely different way than he was now.

“You were right, Brother.”

Thor’s brow furrowed. “About what?”

Loki gave another thin smile. “About love being worth the trouble.”

Thor chuckled and smiled. “I have not always been the best at telling you, but I have only wanted the best for you. For you to be happy.”

“I am. I was. I am?” Loki questioned. “I don’t even know anymore.”

Thor stood and offered his hand. “Go upstairs, Loki. Eat and sleep in your bed. I will stay with Lady Alexis for the rest of the night.”

Loki’s eyes glistened with tears. “Thank you, Thor.”

The two embraced and Loki wearily rose and left the medbay to sleep and eat before the next day. Once he left, Thor settled his oversized body into one of the undersized chairs. He stared at Alexis’s still body, her breathing shallow and even. The only sound was the constant beeping of the machines.

“I imagine you to be some kind of witch.” Thor spoke to Alexis. “Because it would take powerful magic to tame the beast that is Loki’s heart.”

-

Three Weeks Later

Alexis was still in a coma, and Loki was no closer to any answers why.

“What do you mean there is nothing physically wrong with her?!” He bellowed at Dr. Cho. “She is in a coma!” Loki jabbed a finger at Alexis’s room.

Tony arranged to move her to a more private area of the medbay and set up a second small bed in the corner since Loki refused to leave. Meals appeared from thin air. Although he suspected Nat was to blame. Even Steve came down to offer what little comfort he could. Loki now stalked the floor. Tony moved all non-essential personnel to another part of the Tower after getting several HR complaints.

“I don’t know what else to tell you. Her vital signs are stable, as are the baby’s. She is just asleep. By all accounts, she should be awake.” Dr. Cho explained.

Loki flipped a table, sending his dinner flying around the room. Helen took several steps back.

“UNACCEPTABLE!” Loki screamed.

Alexis’s machines rang an alarm, and the screens flashed. Helen rushed to the machines while Loki grabbed Alexis’s hand.

“I’m sorry, love. I shouldn’t have yelled.”

“Shouldn’t you be apologizing to me?” Cho piped up while she checked some printouts.

“Apologies.” He said with an eye roll. “What happened?”

“Her vitals spiked and then dropped. Triggering the alarms.” Helen glanced over at him with a grim expression. “They are stabilizing.”

Loki’s eyes narrowed. “What else?”

Dr. Cho sighed. “They are stabilizing at lower levels. Whatever is keeping her unconscious seems to be for lack of a better word… draining her.”

Loki stormed out the medbay without another word.

-

Thor was just getting ready to relax for a meal in his apartment when Loki burst through the door without bothering to knock.

“Do you mind, Loki?” Thor rose to face his brother. “I am about to eat.”

“I need to go to Asgard.”

Thor stared at Loki. “I don’t think that is a…” Thor then realized what happened. “What is going on with Lady Alexis?”

Loki collapsed onto the back of the couch. “In simple terms, she is dying. And no one can help her here. She needs our healers. I need to go to Asgard.”

“You realize Father is in Asgard.”

Loki gazed up at him, his eyes rimmed with red and sunken in surrounded by dark circles.

“I am well aware of the implications of my return. But if you were in my place, if your love was slowly dying from the inside out, wouldn’t you do everything in your power to save her?”

Thor sighed. “We can leave within the hour. I will inform the rest of the team of our departure while you make arrangements for Alexis to travel.”

Loki nodded and Thor headed for the door. Loki grabbed his arm. “Thank you, Thor.”

Thor covered Loki’s hand with this own and squeezed. “I am sure the healers will be able to help.”

“I hope so.” Loki replied glumly. “Because I am out of options.”

-

They were greeted by not only Heimdall but Frigga as well when they stepped back onto Asgard.

“Loki!” Frigga rushed to his side. Alexis’s body slumped against his chest while Loki cradled her in his arms. She noticed the roundness of Alexis’s belly. “I see what the fuss is about now. Let us get her to the healers. We can catch up later. Thor, the Allfather requested your audience.”

Thor nodded and took off towards the palace as Loki and Frigga whisked Alexis to the healers.

-

Loki paced outside the doors of the healing chambers while Frigga sat with him, reading a book.

“You will wear the floor out.” she commented with a smirk.

“Just another thing for Odin to blame me for. The replacement of the palace floors.” Loki sneered.

Frigga ignored Loki and pressed on with other things. “She’s pretty. How did you meet?”

Loki spun around to face her. “Do you care? Does it matter?”

Frigga set her book down on the chair as she stood to face Loki. “It matters when she is carrying my grandchild.” Frigga reached up to cup Loki’s cheek. “It matters when she has also is carrying my son’s heart.”

Loki gazed at his mother with wet eyes. “I—”

The doors opened and Loki’s mask fell back into place.

“You can come in now.” The attendant announced. Loki pushed past her.

Alexis laid out on the stone slab. Three attendants hovered over her. One operated the Soul Forge while another took notes. A third injected something into Alexis’s arm.

“What are you giving her!? She is—”

“We are well aware of her condition.” The head healer spoke. “I must admit it stumped us at first. But once we calibrated the Soul Forge for Vanir physiology, it was clear what was going on.”

“Which is exactly what?” Loki blinked as his brain processed the rest of what was said. “Wait, Vanir?!”

Frigga’s eyes darted between her son and the healer, ready to step in if necessary. The healer, oblivious to what was going on, continued explaining.

“In the second trimester, Vanir babies’ magical abilities manifest, feeding off the mother’s energy. The injection masks the magic until birth. She will need to continue taking it once a week until she delivers.”

Loki stumbled backwards. “Will she—”

“Recover? There should be no lasting effects to her or the baby. Except maybe a wicked headache and increased appetite.”

Loki allowed a few tears to fall onto his cheeks. Frigga grabbed his hand and squeezed.

“Thank you.”

Frigga cleared her throat. “Perhaps we could have the room for a few moments?”

The attendants nodded. “Of course, my Queen.” Everyone shuffled out of the room with a rustle of fabric. Loki made no move until the heavy doors closed behind him with a thud. Loki collapsed against Frigga.

“I take from your response, you were unaware of Alexis’s lineage.”

Loki gulped. “She never mentioned it.” He kneeled besides Alexis, the color returned to her cheeks. “You are going to be fine, my love. We have much to discuss when you wake.” Alexis groaned. Loki kissed her cheek. “It’s time to wake up.”

Frigga smiled at the sight of her son so fully devoted to someone. And the prospect of a grandchild. Her first grandchild. She would be lying if she said Loki was her first guess of the son to give her a grandchild first.

Alexis’s eyes fluttered open. “Loki… where am I?”

Loki’s tears wetted her skin as he sobbed. “Home. My home.” He smiled at her. “I thought I had lost you.”

She blinked a few times to adjust to the light. “Home? The Tower?” She noticed they were in a massive room with stone walls. “Where are we?”

Loki helped her sit up. “On—”

The doors slammed open and Odin strolled in, followed closely by Thor. “—Asgard and you will be leaving presently.”

Loki stepped in front of Alexis. “She will do no such thing. She is sick.”

“She does not belong here, Loki. And neither do you.” Odin responded cooly.

Loki nodded. “Still as inflexible as always, Father.”

“Loki, this is your Father?” Alexis peeked from around him.

Odin’s eyes caught Alexis, and he froze, the blood draining from his face for a moment before the mask of indifference fell back into place. But Loki and Frigga caught it.

Loki narrowed his eyes. “Father, what have you done?”

[blueunoia]

❤ ──── ·․ under watchful eyes (pt. 2)

━━━   SYNOPSIS: the reader and arvin find themselves back together and share a moment of joy with the intent of keeping what happened between their families and reverend teagardin but it’s hard to keep secrets in a small town where secrets don’t stay buried for long. 

━━━  WARNINGS: teenage proposal, harassments/bullying, and (minimal) description of violence. 

━━━  NOTES: Movie spoilers towards end of story. As mentioned in the warning Arvin proposes to the reader despite them only being 18, I decided to do this because it was very common for teens to get married in the 60s, especially in a situation like this (very religious family or town and interest in sex) so I thought it would add some fluff and drama while being time accurate. Like I said in the last part, I don’t condone any of Arvin's action he clearly has severe anger issues at least and mentally ill as a result of his traumatic childhood at worst. Hope you enjoy!

━━━  WORD COUNT: 2,379

━━━  PART(S): part three

✦·․  ──── ❤ ──── ·․·✦·․·✦·․ ──── ❤ ──── ·․·✦·․·✦·․  ❤ ․·✦·․·✦·․· ──── ❤ ──── ·․·✦·․·✦·․ ──── ❤ ────  ․·✦

       The car ride home was the same as the ride to church: wordless. Arvin's hands clutched the steering wheel, and he stared with a stern gaze at the road ahead. Lenora wanted to say something, but she knew better not to. When Arvin was in a mood like this, it was almost always useless to calm him down. Unless it was you, somehow you always knew what to say. That or Arvin was so whipped that he just listened to you (and he didn't listen to anyone).

         When they finally arrived home, Arvin rushed inside, avoiding his Grams. Getting out of his church clothes, he thought about how likely it would be to get to the phone in the kitchen without his Grandma seeing. Then he thought about how likely it was that you'd even pick up or that your momma would let you talk to him. 

         Not likely, he surmised. So with a glance downstairs, he tried to bolt to his car so he could wait for Lenora in peace. She never took too long to get ready. Just pick out her dress and then brush her hair. Lenora didn't wear makeup; she never believed women should paint their faces like that. Arvin hadn't seen his grandmother, so he thought he'd be okay, but after almost reaching the door, he heard her call out. 

      "Now, Arvin, I know you aren't trying to sneak out with talking to me," she said. She was sat at the kitchen table with a disapproving look on her face. Pointing towards Arvin, she curved her fingers to herself, telling him to come to her. With a sigh, he followed, sitting down at the table. 

     "Yes?" he asked, annoyed. 

      "I know you're upset, but your gonna have to apologize to that priest-"

       "I ain't apologizing to that creep!" 

      Grams shook her head at his stubbornness, so much like his father, "You will. He is a man of God, and you tried to fight him! Do you know how many looks I'm gonna get when I go out into town? You can't be behaving like that. I won't allow it. I'm not gonna let you run wild like those city kids," she finished before standing up. Pointing the finger at Arvin, she held a stern look, "Don't you fight with me, boy."

       Arvin sighed, defeated; he didn't want his grandmother to be looked at poorly. He gave her a short nod before standing up himself, "I gotta go to school," he mumbled. Grandma nods but grabs him before he leaves, gripping the sides of his shirt and tucking them in for him. Arvin let out a little laugh at it. He swore she got more persnickety every year she grew older. 

         After that, she finally let Lenora and him leave for school. As they drove, Lenora smiled as she noticed Arvin's mood seemed to be better now. However, her smile faltered as Lenora saw Mrs. L/N car pass theirs. Arvin immediately took his eyes off the road to try and see Y/N. But she wasn't there. Lenora could see the change in Arvin's deposition as soon as he realized it; eyes back on the road, he gritted out, "Did you see her?"

       Lenora shook her head softly. "Maybe she was laying down?" she offered.

       Arvin's jaw tightened. "Her momma probably left her with that preacher," he growled. "I don't trust him."

        Lenora looks toward Arvin. "Why not? Pastor Teagardin seems nice."

        "Nice? He's a creep! I've seen how he's been looking at the girls. It ain't normal, Lenora," Arvin rants. "I don't want her left alone with him." 

         As they pulled into the school parking lot, Lenora grabbed her bag and opened the door, waiting to hear Arvin's door shut too. When the click never hit her ears, she turned around, seeing Arvin still in the car. Lenora frowns, "Aren't you coming in, Arvin?"

      He shook his head, "I got something to do."

      "You aren't going back to fight that preacher, are you?" Lenora huffs, "You can't-"

     "I'm not gonna fight 'im, Lenora. I just got something to do, okay?" Arvin asks, starting the car. His eyes had a pleading look. "Just don't tell Grams, alright? I'll be back to pick you up when schools out."

         Lenora sighs with defeat, "Alright. I won't tell Grams."

          He wasn't lying. Arvin did have something to do, and it didn't have to do with his bad feeling about that preacher. Arvin drove back to the lake that Reverend Teagardin had caught the two at for a specific reason. He lost an important thing there, an important box that held an essential ring for him. Arvin didn't intend to propose so soon. He wanted to wait 'til the summer came, and the two of you might've left town. With everything that happened, though, he could only imagine one way, your mother and father would let the two of you keep seeing each other. They were also stricter than his grandma, not too severe, but they followed his words when it came to God. 

         So Arvin was going to make an honest woman out of you. The only problem being he had the box in his car from when he bought it, and now Arvin couldn't find it, he remembered how he hastily hid it when you two went on your date, and all he could imagine is it fell out. So he drove back to the dreaded lake pulling in and checking for the Reverend. 

         Once he made sure the coast was clear, he got out of the car. Looking around the ground, Arvin didn't notice you when you stepped out from behind the tree you had hidden behind. You let out a breath when you realized it was Arvin, a smile etching itself on your face. Watching him closely, you saw him looking at the ground and bending down. What was he looking for?

       "Arvin?" you called out. 

Arvin stood up immediately, and his head spun around until he saw you. He couldn't stop himself from smiling and coming towards you, and then he realized what he was holding and hastily threw it in the dashboard. You ran to him and threw your arms around him. Arvin reciprocating faster than he ever had, squeezing you gently. "Are you alright?" he breathed out. 

"Yes," you said immediately, "I am now, at least." You pulled away from Arvin, putting a hand on his cheek. "I missed you," you said quietly. Arvin was never too good with words, so he nods before bringing his lips to yours. The kiss was soft, both of you deepening it quickly and your tongues caressing each other. When Arvin pulled away, he couldn't help but chuckle at the dreamy look on your face. 

         You bit your lip, "What if someone sees us again?"

         Arvin hadn't thought about that, but now you said that all he could think about is what would happen if Teagardin saw you two again. Undoubtedly, your parents would never let you see him. Grabbing your hand, he dragged you back into his car, and the two of you set off on a drive until you found somewhere else to stay. It was just a simple park, out of town where no one would see. You and Arvin held hands when you walked in, the two of you talking about your nights. You turn to him, "Do you like my new skirt?" it was off-topic, but you were smiling now genuinely smiling, so he didn't mind. 

        Arvin smiles back at you. "You look prettier than Kelly and Hepburn," he compliments. You smile shyly, and your cheeks flush with color. Arvin retakes your hand, bringing you to the nearby park bench. 

         "I wanted to ask you something," Arvin says, fidgeting with his hands. "With everything that happened... I know that your 'momma isn't going to let you see me anymore. Probably not for a while at least, and I don't want that. I know I don't say it often, but I love you. I love you a lot, Y/N, and I want to be with you for the rest of my life," he felt the bubble of nervous go from his stomach and rise into his chest. He couldn't help but second guess. You were both so young, but then again, most people got married around your age, maybe a little older right? He let out a breath and calmed himself, grabbing the ring from his jacket pocket. "I want you to marry me. I know it's soon, but it'd make your parents happy, and I want to be with you." 

          You looked at the ring he had in his hand in shock, but Arvin could tell from the smile on your face that you were happy, and soon enough, you threw your arms around him with a "Yes!" 

         For a moment, everything was perfect. The two of you sharing each other's warmth, Arvin is sliding the simple ring onto your finger, and nothing lousy stirring in your thoughts. It didn't seem like anything wrong could touch you two, but still, it did, and it started that night. 

         You had the head home soon after that. You never told Arvin what happened with the preacher. After Arvin proposed, it didn't cross your mind. You spent the car ride laughing, listening to music, and talking about how you thought everyone would react to your news. The two of you drove to the school first to pick up Lenora, and you thought about if you should take your ring off or not. You were so distracted that you didn't realize Lenora was running out of the school for the third time this week. Frowning, you open the door for her, and she jumped into the car. 

      "Y/N?" she asks, shutting it, but the noise of Gene and his gang coming out hollering stopped you from talking. Arvin drove off in a hurry glaring at the boys. They'd did their time, soon, he thought. Lenora noticed your ring, but you and Arvin had decided it'd be best not to tell her yet. Lenora wasn't known for her secret-keeping skills, but a part of you thought she knew. 

         You went to the cemetery with Lenora, all three of you traveling up to her mother's grave. Arvin couldn't help but notice your troubled looks the longer you stayed. He didn't ask why, though. It must've been about your momma, he told himself; it was getting a little dark out already. 

          So he drove you home after that. None of you expected to see the sheriff outside your home, though. Did she report you missing? You thought. That'd be a little extreme. As you stepped out of the car hastily, Arvin promised to stay behind in case something terrible broke out. Your breath hitched when you realized why the Sherriff was here. Arvin stepped out of the car at the terror on your face and felt the anger boil inside of him.

"W-H-O-R-E" was spelled out in red paint on your daddy's car. There were egg yolk and shells scattered across your yard and a broken window. Running up the hill, your mother saw you and pulled you into a hug. "Who did this?" you asked, tears pricking at your eyes. 

Your mother didn't acknowledge Arvin, who had ditched his cigarette and was now behind you, fists balled up. Your mother shook her head. "It was just some criminal boys," she pulls away from you, but her hands still tightly grasp your arms. "Where have you been?"

Arvin stomped off. He knew what 'rascal boys' your mother was talking about, and he wasn't going to sit here and let them torture you too. He ignored the bicker as he got into his car, hurling the door shut. 

"Is she okay?" Lenora asks softly.

         "She'll be fine. Let's get home."

When Arvin dropped off Lenora at the church the next day, he didn't stay with her. Your momma had kept you home, so when he returned to the school, he was just by his lonesome. Waiting patiently outside in his car, the rain poured down while he kept watching for Tommy Matson. Arvin kept himself busy by going through his pack of cigarettes, anxious about what he would do. It had to be done, though; he kept telling himself. Eventually, Tommy Matson came out with a girl, the two headings off to the bus to mess around. It made him angrier. How could he judge you when he was doing the same thing? Arvin made a noise outside of the bus, and Tommy came to check on it, not seeing Arvin before he pulled him out of the bus and brought down the tire iron on his back. 

After that, he set after Orville and Gene. Both of them were in the garage working on the car. Gene didn't see him coming when he slammed the car hood over him. He grabbed Orville and punched him a few times, rubbing the twinkie in his face before turning back to grab Gene, who tried to run off. Kicking Gene, he made sure to keep him down while he wrestled the brown paper bag over his head. If it weren't for the bag, Gene would be able to feel Arvin's breath. "You touch my sister or my girl again, and I'll kill you." 

Arvin left Gene there, and he saw Orville run off after he left the garage. He figured Orville helped Gene; he was wrong though, it'd take several hours until someone found him. The paper bag still on his head. Arvin wouldn't lie: he didn't feel bad about it. 

Arvin went and got Lenora from the cemetery, apologizing about how he missed it, but she didn't seem to mind. She didn't notice the blood on his knuckles either. Lenora seemed happier. "I know you probably got other things you'd like to do, so; I can come to the church on my own now."

Arvin didn't ask any questions about the sudden revelation from Lenora. He didn't realize how bad a mistake that was in the moment because in only a few more months, things would get worse than they ever had been, and he wouldn't have Lenora to confide in. 

✦·․  ──── ❤ ──── ·․·✦·․·✦·․ ──── ❤ ──── ·․·✦·․·✦·․  ❤ ․·✦·․·✦·․· ──── ❤ ──── ·․·✦·․·✦·․ ──── ❤ ────  ․·✦

I hope you enjoyed part two! I posted this on my AO3 (under the same name) first and kind of forget to post it on my tumblr so it’s a little late. I was kind of shocked at how many views it got on here but I’m happy people enjoyed it. 

Don’t forget to reblog and leave a comment!

━━━  MASTERLIST

[imaginaryelle]

I just re-watched THAT scene and a thought hit me: Lan Wangji just stands there watching Wei Wuxian fall from the cliff... Why doesn't he jump onto his sword and swoops down to at least try to save him? Or is he all out of spiritual power? Or does it simply take to long to start and rev the sword? Not saying it's a plothole, I was just wondering...

I mean, I think this is a fair question and I know I’ve seen it discussed elsewhere. I just can’t seem to find the post or remember if any conclusions were reached, so I’m excited to dive into this. As always if anyone has insights or headcanons they want to add on to this, please do.

Because I like pictures, here’s ep 33 Lan Wangji holding his sword and staring in horror as Wei Wuxian falls (what is Jiang Cheng thinking? Who knows.) 

Why isn’t Lan Wangji doing anything? He just stands there for long enough that Jiang Cheng backs away and leaves him on the outcropping, all alone.

Poor guy.

Okay, moving on. I think there are at least two ways to approach this, and one is from the production perspective (since this cliff encounter is a thing that only happens in the drama) and the other is from the in-universe perspective (aka, Doyalist vs Watsonian), so I’m going to look at both.

For the production pov, there’s really only one scene (I think) where we see anyone actually riding a sword in the drama, and it’s when they’re confronting the water demon/abyss in Caiyi (ep 5). At that point there’s no prep time, everyone just jumps up and then steps onto their swords (which is actually even more ridiculous to me than the image had already been in the novel because I thought they were at least riding on the scabbard but no! Riding the bare blade like a skateboard. I love it.)

How majestic.

Lan Xichen is the only graceful and cool person here. The only other sword-riding shot in this scene that shows more of a person’s body than their head and shoulders is when Lan Wangji drags three people into the air at once and we get a brief glimpse of Su She’s feet kicking wildly.

So, based on this scene’s execution and the general scarcity of other sword-flying scenes (even with the Nightless City confrontation, Lan Wangji just flies in with his quqin, no sword under his feet), my out-of-universe theory would be a combination of budget and aesthetic at play. If the production can get by on wire work with super extra long jumps that don’t seem to require actually riding the sword, they will. It’s logistically simpler, and it frankly looks better on screen. It’s also a staple of the entire film genre, whereas this sword thing is not, so the crew and effects people would have more experience with it as well. (In-universe I have a lot of questions about Wei Wuxian’s retained ability to do those jumps. Do they not use spiritual energy? Does he still have spiritual energy, just not a golden core? Is he using resentful energy instead? How does this work?)

From a more story-side view on the production, they’re working against the fact that they changed the plot to add Lan Wangji’s presence at Wei Wuxian’s death and they want to capitalize on that relationship, so having Wei Wuxian knock himself over the edge as he destroys the seal (or something where he steps back as Jiang Cheng rushes him or any other number of possibilities) no longer fits with the emotional beats they’re trying to hit. Also they really need Wei Wuxian to die here for the plot to function. Having Lan Wangji mount a sword and swoop down to try and save him again just adds extra complications and delays the desired outcome of WWX = dead and LWJ = distraught. In that sense, it really does start to look like a plot hole, because it feels like they’re ignoring the capabilities of a character in order to get the result they need. I do think they try to address this, but since multiple people have this question and I personally had to watch the scene more than once while actively thinking about it to notice all the relevant details… the efficacy of those efforts is maybe questionable. (Also like.. why does Jiang Cheng wait three days to go look for Wei Wuxian’s remains? Why is anyone waiting at all? Why is anyone surprised they can’t find a corpse when the visual we get implies Wei Wuxian is falling into lava? There are many, many questions that can be asked here and for a lot of them the out-of-universe answer is probably going to resemble “because the plot/original source material demands it” without much helpful in-universe support.)

In-universe (and probably more pertinent to your question), yeah, Lan Wangji could be low on spiritual power (and upon rewatch, I think he genuinely is). He could be physically exhausted as well as injured, too. For someone who carried three people in two hands 2-3 years ago and canonically has only gotten stronger since, he sure is having trouble pulling one person up over the side of a cliff. And that exhaustion really isn’t outside the realm of possibility, no matter how strong and powerful he is. He just traveled pretty far! If the theories that he found A-Yuan before coming to Nightless City are true (since he’s not injured in those flashbacks), he likely spent a ton of spiritual power even before getting into this battle where he first confronted Wei Wuxian and then started fighting pretty much everyone on the field by himself. Then, in a moment of fear-induced distraction, he gets injured! He’s actively bleeding! So yeah. He could definitely just be physically exhausted.

All that blood loss is not a good sign, and it actually speeds up (visually) as he expends this effort. We can see his arm trembling all throughout this scene, and then his grip slips (thus the face). Even after that he slips again, not losing his grip, but losing the strength to hold himself up at all. In the end he’s literally just lying on the rock depending on gravity to keep him in place and putting everything else he has into holding on to Wei Wuxian. He can’t do more than glare in Jiang Cheng’s general direction and tell him to stop.

Bichen is right there. If he had spiritual power left, I think he’d probably be sending his sword out to block Jiang Cheng’s angle of attack. That, or he needs two hands to accomplish such an action (It doesn’t require hand motions later/in the future, but maybe he develops that skill precisely because of these events). So yes. He’s physically exhausted. He’s spiritually exhausted. But I think there’s more going on here, too: He’s also at the end of his rope emotionally, and that’s how he ends up standing there, horrified and unmoving.

He’s had a rough time recently: Everyone hates his best and only friend/love of his life, and he has to listen to them call for his death/judgement at fancy dinner party meetings on and off for over a year. No one will listen to him when he tries to present a different view. Even his own brother is (not unreasonably) much more concerned about Lan Wangji’s personal safety than what his silence on this issue is costing him emotionally, and his uncle is distinctly unsupportive of the friendship from the beginning.

I think Lan Wangji spends a lot of time questioning his upbringing in those months (we see him actually verbally do so when he’s punished after Wei Wuxian’s death, but I think it starts well before that). What is right and wrong? Who decides it, and how? When does justice and holding people responsible for their actions turn over into unjust persecution? What is true, and what is a lie, and how much does that matter when weighed against social/political/spiritual harmony? These are concepts that are buried pretty deeply in the Lan Sect’s teachings but the world is twisting all of them before his eyes, and I have to think that takes a toll on him. Additionally, just as things start looking up (they let him write the letter to invite Wei Wuxian to Jin Ling’s celebration! They listen to him, other people support his idea!), he has to deal with the facts that:

1) His best friend who he’s in love with just killed a bunch of people, including Jin ZiXuan and some of Lan Wangji’s own Sect brothers.

2) Wei Wuxian is clearly losing control of his resentment-based cultivation path, and is thus personally in danger on a spiritual level, and

3) Everyone now wants to kill Wei Wuxian again, possibly even more than they did before, and anyone who supports Wei Wuxian is an enemy of the entire cultivation world.

Later in the series, Lan Wangji says he regrets that he wasn’t at Wei Wuxian’s side at Nightless City. That he didn’t support him, despite what we see of him trying to help Wei Wuxian find Jiang Yanli and then, after she dies, stop him from killing himself. To me, this could very easily imply that Lan Wangji is still trying to walk a tightrope in those scenes, or perhaps trying to be a bridge. He’s deliberately not choosing a distinct side, because he refuses to hate and reject Wei Wuxian, but he’s also refusing to declare open support. He’s acting entirely on his own, in a balancing act between friendship and love vs his family, his entire life’s teachings, and all of his society. Certainly I find that sort of situation exhausting, and I’ve never had to do it for something so high-stakes or large-scale.

Then there’s the actual cliff scene itself, where he’s visibly desperate. How intense does an emotion have to be for Lan Wangji to so clearly show it?

Wei Ying, he says, come back. He knows Wei Wuxian is breaking down. He at the very least guesses that he’s going to do something wild like step off that outcropping, which is why he follows him in the first place. But he has no idea what to do, so he tries the same thing he’s been trying for years: Come with me. Let me help you. This is a bridge, and he’s offering to help Wei Wuxian cross it. But just like every other time he’s tried it since the Sunshot Campaign ended, it doesn’t work.

Note that Lan Wangji actually is flying here, without the sword, so if he doesn’t have any spiritual power when Jiang Cheng shows up, this is probably a last, desperate burst to go with this last, desperate act.

I don’t think he really has a plan here. Not a new one, anyway. This is a still a plea of Let me help you. And, notably, Wei Wuxian doesn’t accept his help.

Not once during this whole scene does Wei Wuxian reach up with his free hand or try to help Lan Wangji help him in any way. He smiles, and he says: Lan Zhan, let me go. Because he doesn’t want a bridge. He doesn’t want to go back. Honestly it’s a pretty explicit and heartbreaking message: Lan Wangji’s offer of help is not enough to make Wei Wuxian want to stay alive. Not right now. He needs more than that. He’s lost too much to believe, right now, that anyone is going to choose him and his side, or that he’s worth that effort. And to be clear, Lan Wangji isn’t even offering that in this situation. Wei Wuxian is one slippery handgrip away from death, and Lan Wangji is still not saying “You, I choose you.” From anything Wei Wuxian can be expected to infer, his offer here is no different than it’s ever been: let me show you the way back to the right path. Let me help you fit back into the world the way you used to. And Wei Wuxian can’t do that; he has no golden core, it’s literally impossible even if the rest of the world would let him try. But at this point he doesn’t want to go back either. He doesn’t even want to try. That world hates him, and willfully misunderstands him, and has taken too many people from him now for it to be worth staying in. He wants to die.

And then Jiang Cheng arrives.

Wei Wuxian’s reaction to his brother’s presence is to smile, say his name, and just–accept his hatred. He closes his eyes and waits for the sword to fall even as Lan Wangji calls for Jiang Cheng to stop. The only time he shows distress between stepping back off the cliff and his actual death is when Jiang Cheng twists his sword and compromises the stability of the outcropping so that Lan Wangji is also in danger.

I think it’s possible that if Jiang Cheng had also reached for him and tried to pull him back up, things might have gone differently. Maybe that would have been enough to alter Wei Wuxian’s thinking. But as it is, when Wei Wuxian falls, he falls with his limbs relaxed and a smile on his face. There’s no flailing and screaming like when he was thrown into the Burial Mounds (in ep 33. There’s some arm-waving in ep 1). And I think that moment of him pushing Lan Wangji back and then letting go, more than anything, is what stops Lan Wangji in his tracks, because Wei Wuxian could have saved himself. He had strength and energy left. Enough to push Lan Wangji up and back and nearly to a standing position. He could have accepted Lan Wangji’s help, easily. But he didn’t, because he wanted to die, despite all the effort and inner turmoil Lan Wangji has gone through on his behalf (most of which Wei Wuxian doesn’t know about but, still).

That’s a pretty serious emotional kick in the head. Lan Wangji cannot ignore, at this point, that even if he did have any physical or spiritual energy left, Wei Wuxian doesn’t want to be saved. And that’s when we get this face (actually from ep 1):

He has nothing left. He has at this point spent over a year, maybe two, trying to save someone who, when it came down to the final moment, didn’t want to be saved. There’s nothing more he can do, in this state of exhaustion and despair, and it wouldn’t matter if he tried.

Personally, I think he looks like he’s about to be sick, and I don’t think it’s just the image of Wei Wuxian falling and dying that’s working on him here. It’s also the knowledge that he fucked up. He didn’t do enough, or more accurately, didn’t do the right things, in order to encourage Wei Wuxian to keep fighting for himself or anyone else (I’m not saying this is a healthy or reasonable thought, I just think it’s a thought he’s having). And I think this realization plays directly into how he treats Wei Wuxian when he comes back sixteen years later. He knows that questioning Wei Wuxian on his path of cultivation doesn’t go where he wants it to, so he doesn’t do it. This time is going to be different. He’ll break rules. He’ll drink alcohol. He doesn’t scold Wei Wuxian for making dumb, selfless decisions like transferring the curse mark from Jin Ling’s leg to his own, he just accepts it and expresses concern over Wei Wuxian’s well being. He stops asking if he can help and starts just doing it: Wei Wuxian can’t walk so he’ll carry him. Wei Wuxian needs someone to speak for him, so Lan Wangji will do that, with his brother and with the whole cultivation world. And then we come to this:

This is exactly the same move. Wei Wuxian will protect Lan Wangji, but not himself.

But.

Lan Wangji is no longer trying to be a bridge. He’s not going to hold out his hand for Wei Wuxian to accept or disregard. He’s crossed over to be on Wei Wuxian’s side. And that’s what makes the difference.

[musings-from-mars]

I absolutely need part 3 of this

Freelance Love Triangle AU - part 3

A lot could be said about Robyn Hill, managing publisher of Urban Valean. A lot of good could be said, that is. Blake had done work for a few other publications in the past, and the managers there were not as...receptive? Robyn wasn’t an asshole to her subordinates, which was a positive mark that she did not share with those in similar positions elsewhere.

Which is why when Blake went to her office with Cinder and Ruby to pitch their idea for a big feature in the next edition, she was confident Robyn would be onboard. And she wasn’t disappointed.

“This is the kinda shit I want, and you two always seem to step up,” Robyn praised Blake and Cinder after they finished their pitch. She then closed Ruby’s folder and handed it back to her. “And I think this is the perfect project for you, Ruby. We’re throwing you into the deep end, but I’m sure you can swim just fine.”

Ruby nodded. “Yes I can! I...” She blushed. “That was figurative and I answered like it wasn’t, I’ll shush now.”

I want. To kiss her? Blake thought. So bad???

Robyn chuckled, then stood to her feet and clapped her hands. “However! If I’m going to give you three a feature in the next issue, I’m going to keep close tabs on your progress. I want drafts upon drafts, I want a written outline on how you three plan to allocate, and I want finals on all the writings and photos well in advance of the deadline.” She grinned and shrugged. “High risk, high reward, right?”

“It’s hardly a risk, ma’am,” Cinder insisted with a confident nod. “We’re more than capable.”

Blake noticed that Cinder really wanted to say she was more than capable but wanted to sound more like a team player for Robyn. Blake was going to keep an eye on her...

“I like the confidence, Cinder, but I care about results, okay? Neither of you have done a collab like this before, and Ruby literally just got here. Prove me right before you tell me I’m right,” Robyn said, making eye contact with the three women each in quick succession. “Also, don’t call me ma’am.”

“Yes, Robyn,” Ruby said with a smile.

Robyn snapped her fingers and pointed at her. “I adore you. Now, get out there! Follow up with me next week, okay?”

~~~

First stop was the gallery downtown. It was a thirty minute walk from the office, but the three took it as a chance to talk and propose ideas. Cinder was already rambling about the gallery, the stuff she’d written about individual pieces and the overall layout. Again, it all sounded like fluff to Blake without info about the art itself, or the organizer, or the artists, but Cinder could probably sell shampoo to a bald person, just as she was selling her and Blake on the gallery.

“It sounds really cool!” Ruby admitted. She walked with a pep in her step down the sidewalk with them, always keeping a couple steps ahead of them as if she could only control her pace to a certain degree. She skipped and walked backwards and sideways whenever she wanted to talk to them, like a haphazard game of hop scotch. It was adorable, especially with how her skirt would twirl and flare with each turn and twist.

“It does,” Blake admitted, solely because she wanted to agree with Ruby. Ruby’s smile was a very agreeable one. Blake then blushed and glanced at Cinder, who gave her some smug side eye. “The gallery, I mean. The gallery sounds cool.”

Cinder rolled her eye and turned her gaze back to Ruby. “I already have ideas for some shots you could take, like the main entrance, this one bronze statue in the center of the gallery...”

Ruby grinned and nodded. “I can’t wait to see it. Gosh, I hope there’s enough room on my camera, I feel like I’ll get a little shutter happy.”

“Shutter happy?” Cinder asked with a chuckle.

“I take more pics than a need to, a lot,” Ruby admitted. “And then I forget to upload them, and then my camera fills up, and it’s always on the day I forget my laptop, or my USB cord...” She groaned and awkwardly took her backpack off while still walking backward-sideways. “Lemme double check that I have everything. My flat is near here so if I don’t, I can...” She then let her shoulder’s slouch. “My laptop is still in the microwave.”

“Your laptop is in your what?” Blake asked incredulously.

“I put it there so I don’t forget it!” Ruby explained defensively. “I always have these instant egg bowl things every morning, so every time I open my microwave to cook one, it’s there, that way I’m guaranteed not to forget it.”

“But you did forget it,” Cinder said, her voice almost taking a teasing tone.

“Because I was in a hurry this morning,” Ruby said. “I wanted to get to the office early, so I skipped breakfast and left my laptop in the microwave.”

“Well, at least you said your flat was nearby, right?” Blake asked, looking around at the nearby buildings. “Wanna stop by and grab it?”

Ruby nodded, turning away from them and looking around. “Yeah. I’ll be quick, okay?”

“There’s really no rush,” Cinder told her. “We have all evening—”

Before Cinder could finish her statement, Ruby was already running across the street. The traffic wasn’t super busy, but still, that was ill-advised. “H-Hey!” Blake called after Ruby. “Be careful!” Ruby didn’t seem to hear, though. At least she made it to the other side of the road, then entered a staircase that led up to a few apartments above a pizza shop/microbrewery.

Cinder scoffed. “Chaotic one, isn’t she?”

Blake turned and glared at her for a moment. “Cinder, tone it down, will you?”

“Tone what down?” She asked.

“Your thing for her is obvious,” Blake accused.

“Hm. Jealous much?”

Blake opened her mouth to deny it, then closed her mouth when she realized how obvious of a lie that would’ve been. She shook her head and huffed a scoff. “This is going to be a strictly professional collab, okay? If you make this too personal between you and Ruby, Robyn will pop a blood vessel.”

“You want her all to yourself, don’t you~?”

Blake made an awkward grunt, surprised at the insinuation. She could feel her face light up with heat. “That! That’s what I’m talking about. None of that.”

“You’re not denying it.”

“It makes no difference,” Blake told her, taking a deep breath to steady herself. “Listen, I’ll admit it. She’s cute, and funny, and...has a pretty smile, but none of that matters right now!” She shook her head and looked down at the sidewalk, crossing her arms. “We’re project partners, and that’s the extent of our relationship. For now.”

“‘For now,’” Cinder mocked with delight.

“I’m about to pop a blood vessel, too,” Blake grumbled.

[punkiepunzyl]

BLADE TO THE PULSE-

RZ!Michael Myers x Reader

Chapter 1:

Volunteer Hours Be Damned

—————————————————

1.de·lu·sion·al

/dəˈlo͞oZH(ə)nəl/

adjective

* characterized by or holding idiosyncratic beliefs or impressions that are contradicted by reality or rational argument, typically as a symptom of mental disorder.

2.psy·chot·ic

/sīˈkädik/

adjective

* psychotic

relating to, denoting, or suffering from a psychosis.

———————————————————

The first is even worst than the second

Because the second has the gall to be cruel when venting

The first is idiotic at best and naive at worst-

At least with the second you know it's only a matter of time

Before they burst...

———————————————————

"Yeah Mom, I know...I won't-ok...l-love you too. B-." Dial tone followed the abrupt ending to a call that had barely begun. Sighing I glanced up at the neon clock that dimly illuminated my half of the dorm room that I shared with my roommate Kat.

3:49 A.M.

'Why do I want to be a veterinarian again?' Groaning I let my head flop against the clammy light oak wood desk that was provided by the college- and immediately regretted the decision to be so reckless with my body as the tender tissue of my forehead throbbed violently.

"Fucking midterms," I whimpered'"I should've planned better for this." It wasn't that I didn't know the material- I knew it very well- it was my fragile 3.65 GPA, that was hanging in the balance, along with all of my scholarships.

Now here I was at- I glanced back up at the clock-

3:56 A.M.

On a Sunday night.

Suddenly tears of frustration pricked at the corners of my eyes, and I quickly pressed the heels of palms against my lids, because if I started crying now- I wouldn't be able to stop.

I glared at three textbooks spread out on the desk, that were equally judging me in their own way.

"Fuck it."

Dejectedly I closed my books and put them away in my backpack and decided to get ready for bed.

Shuffling sleepily across the 625 sq foot room I trudged past the shared area in the room and noticed the tv was still on, and began rummaging around attempting to locate the remote to turn off the waste of electricity; when then news report for earlier that night began to replay:

"Tonight, the small town of Haddonfield holds vigil for Judith Myers birthday. Judith Myers was 17 years old when she was killed by her 10 year old brother Michael Myers. Some 15 years later the community is still on shock. Judy would've been 32 this year. Michael is now 25 years old and is being held at the Smith's Grove Sanitarium-where he will live out the rest of his lif-"

Losing interest I turned of the tv (I heard about Michael every damn day from my mother), I resumed my nightly ritual of showering- dealing with my hair and picking out my outfit for next the next morning. When I did finally make it to my bed- the fatigue I'd been so keenly keeping at bay, washed over me and gently suffocated be down into the world of sleep.

———————————————————

1 WEEK LATER

———————————————————

Midterms went by smoother than anticipated and I felt a weight lift of my chest, as I made my way around campus. My biology professor Mrs. Whelhers had asked to speak with me regarding a matter for my thesis. And lack of volunteer hours. I looked up at the cloudless sky and sun filled my already impaired vision as I sped walked to the labs, certain that someone was going to jump me for walking alone. My rather feverish anxiousness seemed to roll over me in waves and I clung tighter to my leather crossbody messenger bag that was already digging painfully into my shoulder- the strap taut with the weight of my textbooks.

Luckily I finished my journey completely unscathed- and made my way over to my professors office.

"Mrs.Whelers?" I quietly knocked on the door before calling out again. "It's (Y/N)! You said you needed to speak to me regarding my thesis! I can come back if n-"

Mid sentence the door swung open to reveal a very VERY hungover Mrs.Whelers. I simply stared at her, dumbfounded as I attempted to make sense of her disheveled appearance.

She had heavy purple bags under her eyes- which were rimmed a violent red around her amber irises. Her usually neat strawberry blonde hair looked it was attacked by birds on her way to work, and as for her clothes the were wrinkled. I'd spotted more than on fraying hem and food stain along her skirt and sleeves of her chiffon blouse.

"M-Mrs.Wheler? Are you all right?" I murmured then proceeded to reiterate

What I'd stupidly said a few moments before. "If now isn't a good time for you I would gladly come back another day."

But deep down I also knew that my thesis would be due within the next 5 months and therefore I really couldn't dodge around whatever necessary information she had for me. Especially if it had to do with my volunteering.

Instead the 60 year old woman shook her head and gestured for me to enter the office and waved with a shaky left hand- her wedding ring gleaming in the sunlight that lazily drifted through the tall windows in her office.

Mrs.Whelers began speaking as she sat down, but her words fell on distracted,deaf ears. I'd begun drinking the appearance of the office, all rich maple built in that showed hints of a reddish glow under their glossy finish. 

My professor sighed heavily and immediately I was snapped out of my little trance. My eyes blurred, suddenly watery and after blinking hard to avoid a wave of exhaustion- they refocused with the  precision of a camera lens behind my harsh prescription glasses. 

"I-I'm sorry, could you repeat that...I was a bit caught up in a thought." I mumbled embarrassed that I'd allowed myself to be distracted so easily. Mrs.Whelers looked me up and down cautiously, her eyes narrowing slightly as though she was trying to read the fine print on a document. I stared back at her sheepishly, eyes meeting hers then flitting away nervously. 

I've always been this way when it came to eye contact- skittish and desperate to get away from it. If someone stares at me for too long- I begin to sweat profusely, nausea washing over me like a tsunami...then suddenly my skin feels like its on fire and I'll attempt to find anything on my body to pick at; my face, my arms, my nails, and by the end of it all I'm covered in nicks and scars from my own impulsiveness.

"I was saying Ms.(Y/L/N), that the volunteer hours needed along side your associates thesis are incomplete. Failure to complete said volunteer hours will result in the inability to graduate this upcoming June with the rest of class. More importantly- you will have to redo this past semester, out of your own pocket, your scholarship won't cover you."

"But that'a completely unfair!" I began to protest jumping up almost instantaneously. "I couldn't find the proper volunteer work, every clinic in a 50 mile radius was full for the next THREE MONTHS! I tried every which way possible to squeeze in somewhere; no exceptions could be made!" 

"Unfortunately Ms.(Y/L/N) that isn't my problem- you either find a way to make up the time- in a way that would be approved by the school, or you don't graduate this June. That's final." 

I felt tears swell in my eyes and rushed to grab my bag; I had every intention to run out the door before Mrs.Whelers put a hand on my shoulder to stop me. 

"I didn't call you here to be the bearer of bad news, I wanted to talk about what options you may have; that have been pre-approved by the board..."

I sniffled sitting back down in the white leather arm chair that was seated in front of Mrs.Whelers’ desk. "You already spoke to the board?"

"Yes, they were quite curious as to why a student that has managed to be in the top of her class the past two years, hasn't completed something as simple as her volunteer hours. They realized rather quickly it must've had something to do with the availably of hours, and came up with another idea."

I glanced up at her curiously, "Which is?"

She began to pace around behind her desk as she spoke,"Well considering spring break begins at the end of this Friday- and you will be home for the next week-"

I opened my mouth to tell her there where no clinics back at home that did volunteer work for college students-but she waved a hand dismissively before I could.

"We at the board decided that we would like for you start a branch of animal therapy at Smith's Grove, we know your mother works- so she could be a guide to helping you with patients at first, but this could look really good for your transcripts. What do you think?"

I considered the offer momentarily- I knew getting Mother to agree wouldn't be an issue in the slightest- she’d been trying to get me to work with her at Smith’s for years...

“I could speak to her about it.” I said definitively then added “I’ll email you if she approves of the arrangement.” With a soft smile I moved once more to grab my messenger crossbody and sling it over my shoulder.

“Should your mother accept the boards offer for your volunteer hours I will message to board directly on your behalf, alright?” Mrs. Whelers said leading me to the door. As she opened it I nodded as I passed by- relieved that this problem would most likely have a solution and as long as I completed my 100 hours of volunteer work in the next week, my scholarship and graduation that lie a few months ahead will be safe...

“Have a good spring break (Y/N)!”

“You too Mrs.Whelers...”

Volunteer hours be damned...

***********************************************

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of Blade to the Pulse ☺️. I already have the next few chapters planned so expect an update within the next week or two...

[doc-pickles]

i won’t hesitate (for you) chapter eight

Jo is happy, at least she feels like she is. When someone from her past shows up, will her and her daughter’s world ever go back to normal? Or will things change for good?

Hey friends... So it's been over a month.... I bet you guys thought this story was done... Honestly for a moment I did too and I was super bummed because I love this story so much. But stepping away from my writing and focusing on myself did the trick and I am now happy to report that I have the WHOLE ENTIRE rest of Hesitate planned out and I'm slowly (very slowly) chipping away at writing to make those plans a reality. Thanks to all of you for being so patient and for wanting me to continue this project!! You're the beeeeeest!! xoxo Nina

-

“Jo… Jo come back to bed, baby. Alarm doesn’t go off for ten minutes.”

Izzie stared down Alex’s still sleeping figure, watching him for a moment before continuing to walk around the room and get ready for the day. Every morning for the past week, Alex would always call out for Jo when Izzie got out of bed for work. She didn’t think he knew, but the words annoyed her more and more everyday.

“Babe, come back,” Alex groaned, rolling on to his stomach and reaching out for the side of the bed that Izzie had just left. “Jo… Jo…”

“I’m not Jo, Alex,” Izzie exclaimed in frustration, prompting Alex to fly up in bed and look from the empty side of the bed to Izzie. “I am not Jo! And I never will be and if that’s a problem for you, then you can run back to Seattle!”

“Izzie no… I’m sorry I,” Alex ran a hand through his hair and let out a groan. “I wanna stay here for the kids but I… I don’t think you and I are going to work out this time.”

“Why would it ever? You’re just the same pathetic man I left ten years ago,” Izzie threw a pillow towards Alex as she walked out of the bedroom. “I can’t believe you, Alex. Actually I can! You’re still not good enough for me.”

-

Deep breaths. In, out, in, out. Good, you can do this. Today will be a breeze.

Jo had found out about her pregnancy a month ago and every day since then had consisted of her trying to keep her breakfast down. Some days were better than others, but today might be the worst. She’d had to break out her elastic banded scrubs this morning because her regular scrubs wouldn’t pull up over her hips. The elastic was much more comfortable, but the thought of her body changing again had sent Jo into a fit of tears on the bathroom floor which resulted in her throwing up for almost 20 minutes.

“Karev! I’ve got an abdominal obstruction and I think we’re gonna need an emergency colostomy surgery,” Owen sidled up to Jo as the two walked into the ER, the older man sending Jo a grin. “But that’s up to you of course. Good luck!”

Jo grabbed the chart outside Trauma Room 2, entering the room with a forced smile. Her stomach had been flipping back and forth since she woke up this morning and she’d thrown up twice before she came into work. Apparently her baby was not happy to be residing in her uterus.

“Hi Mr. Little, I'm Doctor Karev and I’m gonna check you out real quick and we’ll see where to go from there,” Jo tried to put on a happy face as her stomach churned unpleasantly. She grabbed her stethoscope and began her routine check. “You said you’ve been having stomach pain, how long has that been going on for?”

“About three days,” the older man let out a groan as Jo began to palpate his abdomen. “Oh that’s not a pleasant feeling. A little softer dear or…”

Jo looked up as her patient fell silent, watching in abject horror as the man leaned forward and vomited across his lap. Moving as quickly as she could, Jo leapt back but was greeted with blowback across her chest and arms.

“Oh god,” Jo’s stomach flipped a final time before she turned to her left and emptied her stomach onto the floor of the ER. Jo felt as if the whole room was staring her down as she stood next to a pile of her own vomit. It was as if those dreams of going to school naked had come alive, a feeling of horror washing over Jo as she processed what had just happened.

“What the hell is happening,” Owen rushed over, looking from Jo to her patient, who was staring at her in shock. “Mr. Little, I’ll get you another doctor right away. And someone to help you clean up. Karev, follow me.”

Turning to follow Owen, Jo paused as the scent of vomit overwhelmed her senses once again. Stepping around Owen, Jo leaned over the closest trash bin and emptied her stomach again, a strangled cry leaving her as the acid burned her throat.

“You can go home,” Owen was standing behind Jo now, a gentle hand resting on her back as she stayed bent over. “We’ll survive without you. Go home, Jo.”

A heavy sigh left Jo as she nodded to Owen, standing up and heading upstairs for the attendings lounge. She hadn’t even been out of the house for an hour and she felt like the whole day was going down the drain.

Pressing a hand against the growing swell of her stomach, Jo silently begged the little life resting there to just calm down for the rest of the day. Her almost 12 week bump was harder to camouflage, but Jo knew that the closer she came to her second trimester the less her morning sickness would be an issue. She let out a heavy sigh, head popping up as the empty elevator chimed, signaling that it had arrived at its destination and was kicking Jo off into reality.

“I’m looking for Doctor Karev, it’s not a hard question to answer!”

Jo groaned as she turned a corner, not wanting to deal with anyone else today. Her job came first though, so she walked to the nurses station and put on a brave face.

“I’m Doctor Karev, what’s the issue,” Jo looked from the nurse to the woman standing in front of her, feeling as if she’d just been punched in the gut. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Jo had never met Izzie Stevens, but the woman was unmistakable.  Her painted lips turned down at the sight of Jo standing in front of her, obviously disappointed that she wasn’t Alex. The perfectly curled blonde hair and full face of makeup didn’t sit well with Jo, realizing with a flash of anger exactly why the woman was there.

“I’m not here for you, I’m here for Alex,” Izzie came around to stand a few feet in front of Jo, arms crossed as she stared her down. “Why don’t you tell me where your ex husband is and we can all get along.”

“Oh I am not starting with you today, you need to take your pathetic ass back to Kansas,” Jo took a step forward, arms crossing to mirror Izzie’s stance. She knew she was attracting attention, she could see Levi frantically grasping for his pager out of the corner of her eye, but she couldn’t stop herself. “You know as well as I do that Alex doesn’t want to see you. You fucked him over and he’s moved on. And I know damn well he’s not going to want to talk to you.”

Izzie stared at Jo for a moment, her lips finally turning into a smile as she began to laugh at her. Jo could feel her blood boiling, her heart rate pounding loudly in her ears as she clenched her fists in an attempt to keep herself planted in her spot.

“Oh please, I’m sure that bratty kid of yours isn’t even his either, stop putting on this picture perfect princess show,” Izzie chuckled, narrowing her eyes as she saw Jo’s face redden. “Oh did I hit a nerve? Serves you right you-”

“You’re a sorry excuse for a mom if you think putting your kids through what you did was the right thing,” Jo’s voice rose and she took a final step towards Izzie, her face inches from the older woman’s. She shouldn’t retaliate, but Izzie had gotten under Jo’s skin and she wasn’t going to let her get the last word.

“And you’re a shitty person on top of that for what you dragged Alex through. So you can talk about your stupid children of the corn and you can even talk about how much you fucked over Alex, but you do not get to talk about MY daughter. If I hear her name in your mouth again, so help me I will drag you back to Kansas by your hair myself you self absorbed home wrecking psycho.”

That set Izzie off, her hands coming up for Jo just as Alex ran up and pulled her away from the blonde. Jo, for what it was worth, was thankful that he’d come when he did because she wasn’t entirely sure that she could have kept her hands to herself.

“Jesus Christ! Don't you dare lay a hand on her Izzie,” Alex’s voice bellowed through the halls as he stared down his ex. “What the hell are you even doing here?”

“Well I came to check on you, but it seems that your washed up ex here has you fooled once again. Are you even sure this one is yours? Or maybe she trapped you on purpose this time,” Izzie sneered, eyes roaming down to Jo’s stomach. The dark blue scrubs were pulled tight against her abdomen as Alex held her, making it clear as day that she was pregnant. “You’re lucky you’re pregnant, I would ha-”

“You’re lucky I’m pregnant,” Jo yelled back, Alex tightening his grip on her as she tried to break away from him. “You’d be out cold right now if I wasn’t you stupid bitch!”

“I don’t want you here Iz, and I really don’t appreciate you yelling at Jo like that,” Jo could feel the anger radiating off of Alex as he set Izzie straight. She could tell that Alex’s firm grip on her arms wasn’t just to her benefit, but his too as he held back his barely restrained rage. “Might I remind you that you’re the one that spent three years lying to my face about the paternity of your kids.”

“Now what the hell is happening in my hospital,” all three doctors turned as Miranda Bailey walked up to the scene, Meredith trailing behind her with a sour look on her face. “Izzie Stevens, I know damn well you’re not standing here right now screaming and threatening to physically attack a doctor of this hospital, and a pregnant one at that.”

“Doctor Bailey, I-”

“That’s enough from you,” Bailey fixed Izzie with a glare, eyes narrowing threateningly as she looked upon the doctor she’d once known so well. “You’re going to turn around and walk out of here and you are not to set foot in Grey Sloan again unless they bring you in a damn ambulance or so help me I will have the police here faster than you can say ‘LVAD wire’. Are we clear?” Watching the situation in front of her play out, Jo could feel the familiar pull of anxiety coursing through her. She’d been able to keep it at bay since Alex had come back home, but the ocean of worry and fear began to crest in her stomach again. Her heart began to beat unsteadily as she brought her hand to cover Alex’s on her arm, her feet feeling more unsteady the longer she dwelled on what just happened.

“Jo? You okay?”

Jo’s eyes snapped up to Meredith, who was looking at her quizzically. She could feel Alex tensing behind her, his grip on her tightening as he looked her over. She could feel herself begin to sweat and her forehead heating up as she leaned her weight against Alex.

“Babe? What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine, I’m just a little anxious,” Jo knew as soon as the words came out that Alex would understand what she meant. The nerves in her body were shot and she was pretty sure she’d pass out if she attempted to move out of Alex’s arms. She lowered her voice as she squeezed Alex’s hand, “I just really need to get out of here. Please.”

Alex nodded to Meredith before he began to lead Jo away from the tense hallway, his arms never leaving their place around her shoulders as they headed for the attendings lounge. Her breathing was ragged by the time she sat on the couch in the lounge, Alex’s hand running over her back as sobs began to well up from within her.

“You don’t believe her right? You don’t think I lied to you about Harper or this baby do you,” Jo tried to keep herself composed as she looked up at Alex, but the sad expression on his face made her begin to cry even more. “I swear I wouldn’t do that to you Alex, please don’t believe her.”

“Jo don’t listen to a word that comes out of her mouth. I know you’d never lie to me like that,” Alex wrapped his arm around Jo, bringing her into his side as she continued to cry. “I know you’re not trying to trap me, I know you. You’re a brilliant surgeon, an excellent mother and a fantastic wife, so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

Jo felt the wave of anxiety crash inside of her finally, Alex’s words doing little to ease her thoughts as she continued to sob loudly. She held a hand to her chest as her mind began to reel from the words that had been thrown at her.

“I can’t… I can’t breathe,” Jo choked out between sobs, gasping loudly as she tried in vain to calm herself down. “I’m so sorry… Alex I’m sorry.”

“Babe, look at me, come on Jo,” Alex held his fingers under Jo’s chin and waited for her to look up and meet his eyes. “Breathe with me, in and out. You’re not doing yourself or the baby any good by freaking out. Deep breaths, there you go.”

Jo’s breathing evened out as she followed Alex’s instructions, moving a hand down to cradle her stomach as she closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing. When she was satisfied, she leaned her head against Alex’s forehead and took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry it’s just… I wasn’t expecting that today. Or ever,” Jo let a low chuckle out, eyes fluttering open to meet Alex’s. “And I might’ve thrown up on the ER floor earlier but that’s not important.”

“Yeah you smell like fish guts,” Alex joked as he pressed a kiss to Jo’s hair. “Let’s go get Harper and go home. We can put on a movie and relax, okay?”

“That sounds like the best thing I’ve heard all day.”

+

“She picked the movie, I had no say in it,” Jo walked out of the bathroom and looked from Alex to Harper with a smirk. “Come on Jo, you know I can’t say no to her.”

“I know you can’t, you’re a big softie.”

Jo settled into Alex's left side, his hand coming around her to settle his hand against the curve of her stomach as Harper cuddled deeper into his right side. She’d showered and changed while Alex and Harper had set up in the living room to watch Moana upon Harper’s insistence. After their unsettling morning, neither of them wanted to be anywhere else.

“I’m sorry about what happened, if I had even the slightest idea that she would come here I would have told you Jo, believe me,” Alex’s tone was hushed as he kept his eyes on Harper. “That part of my life is over, I’m going to file a protective order for all three of us tomorrow.”

“Alex, I-”

“No, I can’t keep going to work worrying about you two every second of the day,” Alex finally turned his gaze back to Jo, eyes scanning her worriedly. “I… when I went back to Kansas to settle everything Izzie pulled some crazy stuff. Things I didn’t think she was capable of and things I don’t want you or Harper or this little one to be subjected to. So please, let me do this so I can feel like I’m doing something to help.”

Burrowing her head into Alex’s chest, Jo nodded and used one hand to run through Harper’s curls. The little girl meant more to her than anything, along with her sibling still growing in Jo’s womb. Her and Alex could agree on that much, so she would let him do what he felt was needed to protect them.

“Daddy quiet,” Harper poked at Alex and then pointed back to the television. “Watch movie.”

Jo felt Alex’s chest rumble as he laughed at Harper, her heart feeling lighter than it had in years as she enjoyed the quiet evening with her daughter and her… well Alex was definitely something. She wasn’t eager to label things, afraid it would disrupt the sense of peace they’d fallen into, but she had a good feeling about their relationship this time around.

“Mm I found another house for us to look at this weekend, it’s close to the hospital and it has a big backyard,” Jo looked up to Alex, who’s eyes were already on her. “I think we should put an offer in on this one. Trust me.” “I do, I’d trust you with my life,” a knock sounded at the door, Alex prying himself away from both girls who had no problems voicing their displeasure with him. “Sorry girls, I gotta get the pizza and I know neither of you were going to stand up and get it.”

“Just gives me an excuse to cuddle with Harps here,” Jo pulled Harper into her lap, the little girl giggling as her mom wrapped her up in her arms.

Jo and Harper sat in silence for a minute, intently watching the movie playing out. When Alex didn’t return, Jo turned around to see what he was up to, only to find him still standing by the door.

“Alex?”

“She’s taking me to court,” Alex muttered, holding up a small stack of papers. “Izzie served me and she’s taking me to court for child support.”

[someguynamedstevewrites]

Unwanted House Guest: Valentine’s Run - Part 5

Believe it or not, this story is based on characters created by  @tamarinfrog , @searching-for-bananaflies , @cafe-cardamari , @bottledupcomic , etc.

And based on the video games Splatoon, Splatoon 2, and Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion by Nintendo.

Without a minute to spare, Arnick began by running through the Salmon Run basics with his team:

Their objective was to defeat the boss Salmonids, grab the golden eggs that they drop, and bring them to the cylindrical container known as the “basket”, usually located at the bow of the ship.  To make sure the team knew what Kind of Salmonids to expect, Arnick went through the employee manual quickly to show pictures of each one.  When asked by Lajni about why they were taking the Salmonid’s golden eggs, Arnick stated that he was not the right person to answer that question and moved on.

If a team member was splatted, each one of them had an emergency life preserver that could sustain them until another team member revitalized them with a splash or shot of ink.   If the entire team is splatted and wiped out, Mr. Grizz initiates an emergency recall signal that pulls everyone back to the company ship so they could reconstitute themselves.  However, that was to be avoided at all costs due to how it would affect their performance score and pay rate.

Arnick explained how the Salmonids attacked in waves, and the Grizzco employee’s job was to meet the egg quota set by Mr. Grizz for each one of the three waves.   Lajni asked why they attacked like that, and Arnick theorized that while Salmonids were quite vicious, they couldn’t stay above water for too long before needing to return to it in order to catch their breath both figuratively and literally.  Arnick wasn’t entirely sure if that was true or not, but it wasn’t like he could just go up to a Salmonid and ask them.  Most attempts by Inklings to talk to them resulted in a large frying pan (the Salmonid weapon of choice) to the face.

It was agreed Arnick was going to lead the team, using the argument that he was the oldest and most experienced (and not because he was an Inkling despite Aadi claiming otherwise).   With some help from Nalini, Arnick memorized the words for “bow”, “stern”, “starboard”, and “port” in Octarian so he could issue directions, and he also brushed up on simple phrases such as “Follow Me”, “Retreat”, “Hold The Line”, “Return to Base”, and others.   Nalini explained to her siblings what to do whenever Arnick called out a specific word or phrase.  Aadi and Lajni seemed to understand, but Arnick wasn’t too sure if they would be able to remember every detail.

After a rushed fifteen minutes of planning, it was time to get to work and Arnick and the Octo-siblings were launched to Marooner’s Bay.  Arnick steeled himself for he knew there was a lot of work to do.

———————————

As Nalini flew through the air, she had a nagging thought at the back of her head.  During their planning session, It was clear to her that Arnick had a very hard time with saying certain things in Octarian.  But at the same time, if Arnick’s grasp on the Octarian language was so flimsy, then what was with that sudden outburst he had when they first met him?  His Octarian, while foul and explicit, was grammatically correct, so why was he having such difficulty with it after that?  When they all landed, these thoughts were quickly pushed to the back of her head. It was time to get to work.

<COVER GROUND!> Arnick shouted, indicating that now was the time to ink the terrain as much as they could before the first wave appeared.  Nalini found herself armed with the Grizzco Blaster which quickly covered large swaths of ground with its rapid fire rate.  The rapid popping noise it made with each burst of ink reminded Nalini of the sound made from bubble wrap and found it helped calm her nerves.

Looking around, Nalini could see Lajni splashing around with the Grizzco Slosher.  This was her first time going out and using a weapon of any kind.  She had a large smile on her face, and appeared to be having a ball as she sloshed ink around with a carefree attitude.  Nalini found herself smiling at the sight, but stopped and turned away once she saw Arnick nearby.

*PSSHHOOO*

Arnick fired a shot off in a seemingly random direction and appeared to be keeping an eye on everyone; like he was studying them.  His cold, steely eyes reminded Nalini of the Elite Octoling drill instructors she had back when she was in training. They were ruthless, strict, and did not accept failure.  Trainees that couldn’t keep up with them were left behind and dropped like a sack of potatoes.  Nalini felt a knot form in her stomach just from the thought that Arnick could be anything like them.

Meanwhile, Arnick was equipped with the Grizzco Charger: a Bamboozlr Mk 1 that had been modified by Grizzco.   Unknown to Nalini, Arnick’s sour face wasn’t directed at her and the others, but because he had a strong disdain for his Charger.  He thought Grizzco had gone too far in their modifications of the traditional and historical weapon.  While he did have to admit that the charge speed and power output of the Grizzco Charger were impressive and useful, he would always ask to himself, “...at what cost?”

Nalini turned and saw Aadi who had gotten the Grizzco ‘Brella.  He was rapidly shooting across the beached ship to cover plenty of ground and seemed to be enjoying himself.  Upon seeing his sister looking his way, Aadi smiled and waved before giving her a big thumbs up.

Nalini couldn’t help but think how grateful she was that the work schedule for today included all of the customized Grizzco weapons.  With Lajni or Aadi equipped with these, it would help them get used to the Salmon Runs as well as provide extra protection from the Salmonids.  Despite Arnick’s quick thinking and planning, there was the still the possibility of disaster.  If anything happened to her siblings, Nalini would never forgive herself.  She was going to look after them and leave absolutely nothing to chance.

Unknown to her, she wasn’t the only one feeling that way.

———————————

On a small rock outcrop a ways away from the decrepit freighter that was quickly being covered in ink, three Salmonids wriggled their way to a small punch clock.  One by one, they took their time cards and punched in for work.  Each one then slipped their way to their respective musical instruments: a cello, timpani drums, and a DJ Turntable.  They were the band known as “ω-3″ (pronounced “Omega-3″) and it was time for them to give their fellow co-workers their marching orders.

The leader of the band made his way over to his cello and took a moment to sit down.  He was well in his fifty’s and couldn’t play his best unless he was perfectly comfortable.  He grabbed his instrument and plucked the strings once or twice before picking up his bow and running it across.  He grimaced and immediately began to tighten the strings to make sure everything was tuned properly.

*SCRRRRAAAAAAATTCCCHHH*

The band leader whipped his head around and glared at the band’s DJ.  He was snickering but shrugged his flippers like he had no idea where that sudden and very LOUD record scratch came from.  The obstinate little guppy loved messing with his superiors, much to the leader’s dismay.

After turning to the right page of sheet music, the cellist picked up his bow and signaled for them to begin.   At the timpani drums, the percussionist Salmonid picked up two grilling forks with fresh corn on the cob attached to the ends of them and began to pound away at the drums.

*BRUM BUM BRUM BUM BRUM BUM BRUM BUM*

———————————

<GET READY!> Arnick shouted as the rhythmic drumming began to echo across the water.

Moments after he said that, a pair of bulbous eyes popped out of the water as one of the Salmonids known as a “Chum” wriggled out of the water and started to head towards the Grizzco employees.  It had a crazed look in its eyes, a pair of overalls on its fish-like body, and a frying pan held in its flipper.  Shortly after it came out of the water, another one popped up.

Then another...

Then another...

...and another still.

<STERN!> Arnick hollered to indicate where the Salmonids were coming in from.

<I’M ON IT!> Aadi hollered back enthusiastically.  It was finally time for him to show what he was made of.  Since Nalini had spent so much time caring for him and Lajni, he figured it was time he returned the favor and showed that he could help out too.

*BLAM BLAM BLAM*

Aadi rapidly fired away and took out Chum after Chum.  When each one was splatted, they dropped power eggs that Aadi greedily snagged and stuffed in a pack on his back.   These would provide an extra bonus for him once work was finished.  <HA!  This is a piece of cake!  We’ve got this in the bag!>

Arnick heard what he said and looked at him with a bug-eyed expression. He was about to say something before cutting himself off and then face-palming himself.  The last thing the group needed was a jinx, and Aadi just had to open his big mouth.

Sure enough, a shadow loomed over behind Aadi, and he turned around just in time to jump out of the way of a much larger frying pan being held by a “Cohock”.  He looked very much like a Chum, but was much, much larger and fatter.  He was quite slow to move too, which only emboldened Aadi.

<MISSED ME!> Aadi teased as he blasted away at the Cohock to take him down.  With still a good amount of ink left in the Grizzco ‘Brella, Aadi was feeling very confident...

...at least he was until an even bigger shadow loomed over him.

Aadi turned around and saw a massive Salmonid standing right behind him.  Aadi didn’t even hear the beastly thing creep up on him, but now he was looking up at its angry and intimidating yellow eyes.  It was covered in armor plated scales from top to bottom, and was biting down on something that looked like an oxygen mask for deep sea divers. It snarled at the Octoling boy and continued to march towards him.

Aadi fired away at it, but the ink from the ‘Brella just bounced right off the non-stick coating of the thing’s scales.  Once it was close enough, the monster began to inflate something on top of its head.  It looked like a large green trash bag with some strange markings on it.  Seeing it, Aadi gulped and suddenly found his confidence starting to wane.

<STEELHEAD!> Nalini yelled as she raced towards her brother. She could see the Boss Salmonid filling the massive ink bomb on top of its head, and Aadi needed to get out of there and fast.  A small school of Chum and “Smallfry” (who were too cute for their own good what with their little spoons for weapons) blocked her path, but she blasted her way through and made a mad dash to try and stop the Steelhead before her brother got to know the business end of their massive ink bombs.  Even with their emergency life preservers, it still hurt a lot when splatted on the job.

But before she could get there...

*PSSHHOOO*

A long stream of ink flew above Nalini and Aadi’s heads and struck the ink bomb dead-center.  The bomb became unstable as the large Steelhead looked up in terror as he knew exactly what was about to happen.

*BOOM*

With an explosion of ink, the Steelhead vanished and in its place were three, sparkling golden eggs.  

<GET THE EGGS!> Arnick shouted from afar as he ran towards the two older Octolings.  Aadi wasted no time in grabbing an egg and had already began heading back to the basket before Arnick could yell, <RETURN TO BASE!>

Nalini arrived, and grabbed an egg at the same time Arnick did.  Each egg was large enough that the Grizzco employees could only carry one at a time.  She began heading towards the egg container at the bow of the ship, eager to deposit the golden treasure.  Much to her surprise, somehow Arnick had gotten there first.  He dropped his egg off and then ran off without a word.

Nalini deposited her egg and thought to herself, <How did he get here so fast? I took the most direct route back!> She could see that they now had three out of the fifteen eggs needed to make quota, and then realized that Lajni was nowhere to be seen. This worried her immensely since she promised herself not to let her or Aadi out of her sight.  But just as she finished that thought, a platform on the starboard side of the ship rose up with Lajni and Arnick on top of it.  Arnick was sniping off pursuing Salmonids, while Lajni used her slosher to power the propeller that provided the platform propulsion. Both of them had golden eggs in their possession.  The team was now a third of the way to meeting their quota.

<Lajni!?  How did you...?>

<Saw a “Stinger” pop up and Arnick helped me take it down,> Nalini’s little sister said nonchalantly.  Looking over the starboard edge, Nalini could see one remaining golden egg from where the Stinger once stood.  A “Snatcher”, a Salmonid that looked very similar to a Chum save for different fin color, picked it up and hauled it back to the water before anyone could stop it.   She blinked a couple of times as she tried to process how Arnick was able to get to Lajni so fast.  And for that matter, how did he know where she was?

<NALINI!> yelled Arnick, <PORT!>

This snapped Nalini out of her momentary daze as she followed Arnick to the Port side of the ship.  Arnick immediately leaped off the edge and Nalini followed suit.  Before she could hit the ground, she heard the sound of tires screeching and then an engine exploding.  Arnick had just stopped a “Scrapper” in its tracks.  The makeshift vehicle was stalled as the Chum inside of it began to frantically try and get it moving again.  Nalini knew just what to do: she dashed behind it and took it out with a few shots from her blaster.  Three more golden eggs appeared and Arnick and Nalini both grabbed one.

<RETURN TO BASE!> Arnick ordered while pointing to the propeller powered platform behind them that went straight to the egg container.  Nalini began to run over to it, but saw Arnick march down along the side of the ship towards the stern.  Nalini wasn’t sure what he was doing, but following his order, she quickly rose to the top of the bow and put her egg in the basket.  

To her surprise, the counter on the basket now showed eight eggs total.  She didn’t have time to think about where they came from.  She looked down towards the stern of the ship and saw a massive “Steel Eel” chasing after Aadi.   Nalini wasted no time and shifted into her octopus form to swim down the ink path they set up earlier with hopes to get to the large metallic monstrosity to stop it in time.  She knew if she could get to the rear of the Steel Eel where the Chum was controlling the snake-like contraption, then she’d be able to take it out with her blaster.

But once again, before she could get there, the Steel Eel suddenly collapsed and exploded, revealing three more golden eggs.

<THANKS ARNICK!> Aadi hollered back before grabbing an egg and running back to the basket.  Nalini reflexively grabbed one of the eggs, but her mind was somewhere else altogether.

<What’s going on?> Nalini thought to herself as she carried another egg back to the basket, <Can Inklings split into two or something!?  It’s like he’s in two places at once!>  She quickly deposited the twelfth egg, but felt a strange mix of emotions inside of her.  Wasn’t she supposed to be the hero to save Lajni and Aadi from danger?  Was she actually getting envious of Arnick because he kept getting to the Boss Salmonids first?

Nalini didn’t have time to think beyond that as she shook herself out of her funk and immediately ran back down to the stern where she could see a “Flyfish” floating around.  Piloted by a tiny Smallfry, the Ink-Seeking Missiles it could launch would make things extremely complicated if left alone.

Her brother had caught up and was now running beside her.  Nalini called out to him, <Aadi!  Throw a Splat Bomb into the missile container once it opens up!>

<YOU GOT IT!> he said confidently, apparently having gotten a second wind after looking petrified by the Steelhead from earlier.  Once they were close enough, they could see the Flyfish open its missile launchers and prepare to fire.  Nalini and Aadi both grabbed a splat bomb from their belts and tossed them at the Flyfish.

They both landed in the right missile launcher.

<Aadi!> Nalini said worriedly.

<Oops,> Aadi said with a blush, <Sorry, sis.>

Suddenly, another splat bomb flew through the air and landed in the left missile launcher.

*BOOM*

Nalini looked to her side, half expecting to see Arnick saving the day once again, but saw Lajni instead.  The Flyfish crashed to the ground, releasing still more golden eggs to pick up.  Lajni smiled at her siblings, <Looks like all that time spent playing Basketball paid off!> she said proudly.

Nalini felt so proud of her little sister and smiled, but then turned deathly pale as she saw a small antennae with a flashing sphere at the end of it move right underneath Lajni.  Nalini instantly recognized the “Maws” that had just made its way right underneath her sister.  This Salmonid was capable of eating an Inkling or Octoling whole, and the only way to stop it was to feed it a Splat Bomb. None of the Octo-Siblings had any left after taking care of the Flyfish.

Nalini had been splatted before in previous Salmon Runs, and the best way she could describe them would be “painful”.  The hurt that came with being splatted can be quite excruciating depending on how someone is splatted.  Nalini’s first time being eaten by a Maws left her somewhat traumatized.  The feeling of the sharp teeth piercing the skin, as her whole body popped like a balloon, was something she would never forget.

Now it was her sister’s turn to know how it felt, and there was nothing Nalini could do about it.  She worried that being eaten like that could scare her away from Salmon Runs, or worse.  Lajni had never even been a turf war before!

As the adrenaline pumped through her veins, time seemed to slow down for Nalini. She caught every moment as, just before the Maws leaped out of the ground, Lajni suddenly seemed to trip and fall forward onto her face.  Right behind her was Arnick who had shoved Lajni out of the way.  With the sensation of time being slowed down, Nalini saw the look on Arnick’s face and gave a small gasp.

There was absolutely no fear on Arnick’s face.   Nalini couldn’t even detect a single hint of anger or frustration.  His eyes were still the same stern, strict eyes he had always had, but they were eyes of determination.  His mouth was closed, showing no gritted teeth, making what he was doing seem almost effortless.

Then the Maws breached the ink-covered surface and threw Arnick into the air.  Arnick was now gritting his teeth, but still showed no sign of fear.  Despite wincing in pain, he still had a fierce look of determination on his face as he began to swing his body around so he was facing the toothy Titan.   With a snap of its jaws, the Maws splatted Arnick whole.

<ARNICK!> Nalini screamed as the adrenaline rush wore off.  Time seemed to move normally again when she rushed over to grab her sister.  She needed to get Lajni away from the Maws as quickly as possible.  Suddenly the Maws’ eyes bugged out as its cheeks and face began to swell.  Before shoving Lajni out of harms way, Arnick had also dropped a Splat Bomb right where the Maws was about to appear.  Right as Nalini got to Lajni, the Maws exploded in a shower of ink.  

The three Octo-Siblings looked at the large splotch of ink where Arnick had once stood.  Nalini couldn’t believe what she had just seen.  An Inkling sacrificed himself to save an Octoling.

Back in the training camps, Nalini was often taught about how ruthless, selfish, and cruel Inklings could be.  During test exercises, the Elite Octolings in charge wouldn’t hesitate to abandon or sacrifice the Octarians under their command if it meant succeeding in their mission.  Nalini was told that there was no place for weaklings who could be taken down so easily, and that if she wanted to survive, she had to rely on herself and herself only.  It was the only way she could become strong like an Elite Octoling.

But Nalini always hated that.

She and her fellow trainees were all taught that there were No heroes.  There was the enemy, your comrades, and yourself.  They explained to the trainees how they should never expect help or aide from any of their comrades.   Above all, the mission was the top priority, and the second priority was to protect their superiors.  A superior could count on a subordinate to follow their orders, but a subordinate was to have no such expectations that their superiors would ever help them.  Like they were told, they were their superiors, and they were not heroes.

Nalini decided that if there were no heroes, then she would become one. Even if she was only a hero to her younger brother and sister, that was enough for her.

When Nalini first met Arnick, she feared that he would act the same as the trainers she had before.  He had the same serious and stern look on his face.  He had the same posture of superiority and dominance that the elites did.  He also could swear, curse, and berate just as well as the Elites.

Bur he wasn’t like them at all.

He somehow was always there to help her, Aadi, and Lajni during this first outing.  Compared to the Elite Octolings that were in charge of training and instructing her back at camp, Arnick was practically a beacon of selflessness and courage.  He may have been crass and strict, but no one without compassion would have done what he just did.  There was no doubt in Nalini’s mind now that Arnick was a hero.

And now he was gone.

<GO!>

Nalini could almost hear him barking away like usual.

<I SAID GO ALREADY!>

Even though she had only known met him about an hour ago, she could hear his voice loud and-

<WILL YOU THREE IMBECILES STOP GAWKING, GET THE EGGS, AND MOVE ALREADY!  WE’VE ALMOST MADE QUOTA YOU IDIOTS!>

Nalini looked down and saw a small life preserver floating on the ink with a Grizzco company flag attached to it.  The spirit of a rather angry looking Inkling was staring at the three siblings.  And he just spoke perfect Octarian.

Lajni and Aadi both looked relieved to see Arnick okay.  Nalini fired her blaster at the preserver, and in the ink that splashed on it, a rather annoyed looking Arnick emerged, brushed himself off, and grabbed one of the golden eggs left by the Maws.

<If you have enough time to stand around and gawk, then move your arses and GET THE EGGS!>  he said loudly with annoyance.

Lajni and Aadi grabbed the other two eggs while Nalini had grabbed one from the FlyFish.  It was then that Nalini finally understood why Arnick was having trouble speaking Octarian earlier.

The trouble wasn’t that Arnick couldn’t speak Octarian...

...it was that he couldn’t speak Octarian POLITELY!

All four of them made it to the bow of the ship and deposited the eggs in time to make quota.  The music that had been playing in the distance died down and the Salmonids that were still out of the water turned around and began to meander back to it.  The first wave was over.

———————————

After two more waves of the Salmonids coming after them, it was finally time for a break.  Mr. Grizz was VERY pleased with their performance and congratulated them all for an excellent job.  Back on the company ship away from Marooner’s Bay, Arnick leaned up against the wall of the cabin for the bridge, took off his hat, and wiped the sweat from his brow.  He had ran more than usual compared to past Salmon Runs of his.

Lajni and Aadi soon walked up to him with big smiles on their faces.

<YOU WERE AMAZING!> Aadi cheered.

<THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HELPING US!> Lajni beamed.

Arnick smiled at the two of them and then made the mistake of trying to talk back,  <This dumbass enjoyed helping you little brats!>

Lajni and Aadi looked very confused as Nalini walked up behind them, laughing.  <I thought so!> she said as soon as she could stop giggling, <You can’t say anything politely, can you?!  Not even about yourself!>

“Errr...” Arnick said with a small blush, “...no.”

“It is alright,” Nalini responded in Inklish.  “Sometimes, rude talk necessary to do job well!”

Arnick looked to the side and gave a half-frown as if to indicate, “Hmmm... I don’t know about that.”

<Politely?> Lajni asked.

<I was wondering why he had so much trouble talking earlier when we were introducing ourselves,> explained Nalini, <It’s because Arnick doesn’t know the right way to speak politely in Octarian.  He didn’t want to offend us before.>

<Really?> Aadi said as he turned to Arnick.  Arnick gave a small nod back in response.  <Ooohhhhh!  Well, that’s okay!  You helped us out so much on the Salmon Runs, I don’t mind if you say mean things!>

<Me neither!> chimed in Lajni, <We know you’re not trying to be rude.>

Arnick glanced sideways with a look that clearly said, “Ehhhhhhh...”

“You are good man, Mr. Stilton,” Nalini said with a smile, “Please still be taking care of us.”

Before Arnick could reply, the bear statue radio piped in and the voice of Mr. Grizz announced, “Okay folks, break’s over! Time to get some more of those eggs!”

Arnick put his hat back on and once again looked stern and serious. However this time, he was smiling too. <Okay you dummies,> he said cheerfully, <Let’s take this job and work it!>

Lajni and Aadi were still snickering when they stepped on the spawn point to go back to Marooner’s Bay.

To Be Continued...

[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 24

My goal is to finish this by November so I can participate in NaNoWriMo with a new story. Or at least that’s the current plan. That means in order to make that happen, I’ve got a lot of writing to do in not a lot of time. I think it’s doable though. The next chapter is already well underway, as I was going to make it part of this one, but it was going long (in writing and time) and the chapter I have planned afterward (what will be 25) would fit better if I split it up.

As always, any comments, critiques, suggestions, anything- are very welcome and appreciated. Not only do they help me improve my writing, but they also help with motivation and ideas. You all are the best, stay lovely!

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***

The wristband wasn’t too tight or too loose. In fact, she could almost forget it was there if it wasn't still on her wrist every time she looked down.

She followed her guards down the corridor back to the holding cell. Carson whined and leaned against her hand as they went. He really didn’t like that muzzle. It had been decided that even though they could keep the dog with them, he had to be muzzled when outside the holding cell or Drin’s lab. It made sense, she supposed. From their perspective, Carson was a massive canine predator that could potentially attack at any given moment. He wouldn’t though. Not without good reason. He was actually a pretty well-trained dog. He didn’t mind being leashed, but he hated the muzzle.

“Soon, Carson, it’s okay boy,” Wenona scratched his ear gently.

They rounded the final corner to their holding cell and her guards paused. She nearly walked into them. Confused, she looked up and around. There wasn’t anyone else in the hall. Did they somehow make a wrong turn? No, this was the right place. She could basically walk here from Drin’s lab in her sleep by now, and that was definitely their room beyond the glass. So what’s the big…

Where were the guards? Not her guards of course, but where were the guards that were supposed to be with Mike?

Her lead guard, Chook or something like that, activated her comm device with a flick of a thin wrist.

“Team 4, this is Team 2 Leader, state your position.”

There were two soft beeps to signal the end of the message. Everyone listened intently for the response.

It took a few moments to get one, but finally, a voice came back through the small speakers. “Team 2, this is Team Leader 4, we are returning to the position now.”

Chook’s thin yellow face scrunched and she clacked her beak irritably, “And why, please tell, were you away from your position to begin with?”

“We were called away to help deal with the issues in sector 18.”

“You were called away,” Chook’s voice got so shrill that Carson began whining again. Wenona scratched at his ears again to soothe him while she shot a glare at Chook for bugging her dog. Or, not her dog, the dog. The. Carson.

Not that Chook noticed anyway. “What grug-head called you away from your post watching the human?” The response again took a few moments, but by the time it came, they could already hear the actual voices of Team Leader 2 coming down the hall. “Our orders were from Lieutenant Commander Grayk. Human Mike was asleep and we were needed with rounding up and recapture in Sector 18. If you have a problem with that, I suppose you can take it up with Commander Rozar.”

Before they had finished their last sentence, Team 2 Leader had rounded the opposite corner, flanked by three other aliens on his team. Two more yellow, featherless bird-looking aliens and two more gray tree bark-textured aliens. They weren’t often on guard duty, but Wenona had noticed that a few would regularly rotate in now and again.

Chook huffed loudly and led Wenona to the door of the holding cell. She brushed off the help and went in by herself. Carson followed, still keeping his head close to her hip.

Immediately, she knew something was off. Carson usually went right to where Mike was in the room. He liked Wenona alright, but it was clear that Mike was his favorite human. It was a fact that Wenona did her best to not get jealous. But Carson walked up to the mound of blankets she had assumed Mike was asleep under, sniffed it, whined, and looked back to Wenona with the most forlorn look she’d ever seen on a dog.

Mike wasn’t here.

She glanced back at the door behind her. The guards didn’t know. They hadn’t even looked in the room after she and Carson walked in. They still hadn’t even shut the door, they were too busy talking, Chook was still there with one long-fingered hand resting just to the side of the door’s control panel.

Her first impulse was to break out, rush the door. But then the words of the guards’ conversation started to register.

“...was a breakout. The whole section of cells completely set loose. They’ve had to down a few specimens, most of the prisoners at least had enough sense to surrender immediately.”

“Most?”

“There were still a few out, but they had enough to finish rounding them up, so we were sent back.”

Wenona completely turned around to the door. A breakout? Who? Is that where Mike was? He probably caused it. It sounded like something he’d do.

Ugh. Couldn’t he have at least run this plan by her first? She probably would have tried to stop him, yeah, but maybe she could have at least helped him think things through. Seriously, what had he been thinking? What was he going to do now? Get caught? What was that going to do to the plans they’d been making so far? She felt for the small blade she had tucked into her sash. Her mind swirled with plans, ideas, trying to think ahead, trying to deal with this new curveball.

“...try coming for the humans?”

What now? Who was this? Who’s coming? She started listening in again, but the guards were finally starting to close the door. It wasn’t sound-proof, but it still would be the end of hearing what the heck was going on around here.

She should make a run for it. Take a page out of Mike’s book and just go. She turned around to face the door. Her muscles tensed, preparing to spring forward, rush the guards, go! But she didn’t. She stood there frozen, hesitant. What would she do when she got out? Where would she go? Who was out and might try “coming for the humans”? There were too many variables! Too much unknown!

The door shut with a click. It wasn’t a loud click, but it might as well have been an echoing boom to Wenona. She let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. Now what? What could she-?

She should have gone! No! That wouldn’t have been the smart move. But would it have been the right move? She didn’t know. She didn’t know and the options and results of what could have been kept bouncing around in her head. She chose wrong. She chose wrong- she should have gone! No. No- she chose right, now she can lay low and see how things play out. But what if that took too long? Mike. Is. Gone. He is gone and she should have escaped when she had a chance, but she blew it because she’s too dang cautious.

The guards were still outside, but it appeared that Chook and his team were on their way out. She walked slowly around the room, trying to act natural.Her hands were shaking now. Her whole arms were trembling a little bit. She folded them across herself to keep them still. She felt the cuff Drin had put on her wrist. That was gonna have to go. If she got out- or when, when she got out, she’d need to get that dumb thing off. Drin had said it was a health monitor, but honestly, if there wasn’t some sort of tracking device in with it, that would just be plain stupid on his part.

Carson barked and nearly made her jump. He had settled on the edge of the blankets, sniffing around the spot where Mike had stuffed some pillows to look like he was there. The guards looked at them curiously. Carson barked again.

“Shh! No, stop! It’s okay, it’s okay, be quiet!” The last thing she needed was to have the guards come in and find out Mike was gone. She sat down next to Carson and started petting his head comfortingly. He rested his head in Wenona’s lap while his tail thumped rhythmically against the “bed”. That seemed to do the trick.

“So now what?” It was a question partly to Carson, but mostly to herself.

Now what indeed. Before, she had just wanted to come back to the room, get some sleep, and figure out what to do about Drin’s tracker band with Mike and how it would affect their plans of getting out of here. Those plans were shot and now she needed to figure out what to do. Her nose prickled and it felt like her heart was being squeezed tight. She should do something, anything. But she didn’t know what. She tried thinking of an escape route, but her mind just wouldn’t stay still long enough on one idea to plan anything reasonable.

What had Mike been thinking? He probably hadn’t thought. Where was he now? What was he doing? Was he coming back?

She stood up at that. Would Mike come back? Of course he would, she had no doubt. If he didn’t get himself killed before then, that is. That last part was quite a real concern. He could be a real idiot, but circumstances had made him her idiot. She couldn’t sit around and wait to be rescued. She was no damsel in distress, she was Wenona Peters, and she was getting out of here! 

Somehow.

A loud alarm made bother her and Carson jump. She covered her ears and Carson ran around barking, looking for the source of the noise that seemed to be coming from everywhere. She had to take a few deep breaths to calm down her heart rate. As she did, she glanced to the guards outside the room. Even though she could only make out just a little more than their silhouettes, she could tell they were just as tense and confused as she was.

This was it.

This was just what she needed.

She was going to act this time. She had to. It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was something. Was it a smart plan? Maybe not, but maybe she could pull a ‘Mike’ and get out of here anyway.

She screamed loud enough to rival the blaring alarms. As convincingly as she could, she collapsed. She managed to let her head and shoulders hit the soft blankets, but her hip wasn’t quite as lucky. She’d probably get a bruise there, but honestly, if that’s the worst she has to deal with by the time she got out of here, then that would be amazing.

Carson was at her side instantly, sniffing her face and nudging her, barking nervously as if to rouse her. She stayed still. She had one chance to make this look as convincing as possible. It took only a few moments before she heard the holding cell door open.

“Get that beast under control!” Wenona could see three guards enter through nearly-closed eyes. One held a long pole, like the kind dogcatchers use. Carson growled as they approached hesitantly.

“Did you see what happened?” “No, I just looked in and she was down!” “Oh, Klern beyond, she’s not bleeding, is she? Tell me there’s no blood.” “Call the medics. And get Drin down here now!” “Do we have a readout on her vitals?” “Chekk, get that monster out of the way. I don’t see any blood. Just do your flargin’ job!”

Carson was pulled away and Wenona felt her guard’s clawed hands fumble under her nose. She held her breath. They moved their hands to her neck, likely to check for a pulse, but they put it on the wrong part, over a muscle. They wouldn’t find a pulse there. 

“Frewan,” the guard muttered.

They started pushing her to roll her onto her back, but as soon as the arm Wenona had fallen on was free, she grabbed the nearest guard by the leg and in a move that surprised even her, she threw them halfway across the room. She rolled with the throw, sweeping a leg to knock down the next closest guard. She jumped at them, grabbing their blaster from their holster. The guard who now had Carson at the end of the pole stared blankly at her, eyes wide open, too shocked to move. Wenona wrenched the pole out of their hands, released the loop that held Carson, and before the guard could draw their blaster, swung the end of the pole up at their head. They went down with a thud. She grabbed their blaster too. Best be as armed as possible right now.

A beam of light shot right in front of her face. She flinched back. The guard she had thrown across the room was back up, blaster pointed directly at her. She dove towards the still-open door. The fourth guard, who had been calling in medics, had only just realized what was going on inside the holding cell and couldn’t react quick enough as Wenona barreled into them and threw them hard into the ground.

A sharp jolt hit her in the side. It felt like electricity shooting across her skin. She felt herself be thrown back against the wall, or maybe it was the spasmodic reaction of her legs that sent her back. In any case, she hit hard. Hard enough to see stars. The first guard limped forward, blaster fixed on her.

Only a few steps away from the door of the holding cell, there was a deep and low growl. The guard screamed as Carson attacked, biting and shaking their blaster arm. They dropped the weapon and fell backward, trying to get away from the massive “Earth Beast” still on them.

Wenona winced as she pushed herself back up to her feet. She leaned against the wall, shaking her legs until she felt they could support her completely. Everything felt like a weird mixture of tingling and numbness. Except for her head and right side of her body where she’d hit the wall. Those hurt. She could feel her heartbeat throbbing at the impact spots, and where she must have been shot.

She reached out for the door frame and stumbled to it, rebalancing herself for a moment. The fourth guard’s blaster was on the floor. She didn’t quite trust herself to bend down to pick it up, so she carefully shuffled forward and dragged it closer to her with her foot, then kicked it back out the door behind her.

“Carson, come here boy.” Her voice felt too high and soft, but Carson heard it and came. He kept himself between her and the guard who was now clutching their arm and trying to get back up. Wenona reached for the control panel she had seen the guards use before. She didn’t need to understand whatever language it was in to recognize symbols for ‘shut door.’

She sighed with relief as she rested her head against the wall. She did it. She knew this was just the start of getting out of here, but it was a successful start.

“Guard Team 4, this is Drin. What is so important that you had to summon for me at this time of the cycle? End.”

Shoot. The communicator. She could barely hear it over the alarms that were still going off. Wenona hobbled to the fallen fourth guard. She probably should have shoved him in the holding cell too. Although, she really didn’t feel like she had the strength to right now, and it turned out to work in her favor anyway. She struggled for a bit with the controls of the comm device.

“Guard Team 4. I am losing patience. Respond or I will be writing your entire team up for insubordination and incompetence. End.”

Wenona must have hit something right because a soft click sounded on and off. She hit it again. “Uh, this is Guard Team 4,” She thought she did a pretty good impersonation of the guards if she did say so herself. “We apologize for the miscommunication. Everything is fine here. Nothing to report.”

The line was quiet for a moment. Maybe she didn’t do as good of an impersonation as she thought.

“You are on duty with the humans, yes? My readings show Wenona with an elevated heart rate. End.”

Shoot. Oh shoot. She took a few breaths, trying to calm down her heart. Could he read it right now? How fast did the readouts show up? Oh, shoot.

“There was… a fight… between her and the… her and Mike. Nothing serious, they’ve calmed down now. Think the alarm scared them a bit too. We’re all fine here. You can… go back to whatever you were doing... End.”

“Mmmhhhhmmmmmm…” Wenona scowled. Drin’s condescending attitude wasn’t even being directed at her, and it still managed to tick her off. “I believe I sent another band to be fitted for Mike. Why hasn’t it been activated yet? End.”

Wenona wasn’t sure she’d seen Drin give the guards another tracker with the guards when she left his lab. Though the fact that she didn’t see it didn’t mean much. She’d been a bit preoccupied being angry and trying to smuggle out her blade. 

Her blade! She could rid herself of the dumb tracker band! But then Drin wouldn’t be getting her readings. But, she countered to herself, then she wouldn’t be able to be tracked.

“We’ll get right on it, sir, we apologize for the delay. End.”

“And get someone on those alarms, would you? Some of us are trying to rest. End and over.”

Wenona sighed. He’d bought it. She slipped the communicator into the folds of her sash. She felt for her blade. She was lucky it hadn’t cut her in all the…

Where was it? She couldn’t feel it. It must have fallen out, but she couldn’t see it on the floor out here. She even tried shifting the fallen fourth guard. Nothing. She barely managed to not fall over when her head started swimming.

It was quiet. She looked up. The alarms had stopped. Good. Not only was it loud and annoying, but it would have kept security on high alert if they’d kept going. She just needed to wait for things to die down.

“How are you still up?” Wenona jumped. The guard Carson had attacked was at the door leaning against it, looking out at her. No. Not at her. They couldn’t see through the terrible one-way window. “I know you’re still up. I can hear you out there. How in gadring are you still up after that shot?”

Wenona tenderly rubbed the spot where she’d been hit. 

“Eh.” She shrugged, even though they couldn’t see her, and carefully slid down the wall to sit, resting her back against the wall by the door. If she’d dropped her blade in the holding cell, she had no way to cut the dumb tracker off. Her best bet now was to wait until Drin was back asleep and couldn’t monitor her while she made a break for it. In the meantime, she could rest, gather her strength. 

She smiled. Considering the outcome of the last time she’d broken out of an alien cell, she’d done remarkably well just now.

She picked up the two stolen blasters she had dropped. They were the same. All the guards she had seen had one exactly like these.

“‘Set blasters to stun,’ am I right?” She looked up at the guard who followed her voice down, though still not able to actually see her. “Guess your ‘stun’ settings aren’t strong enough to keep me down.”

The guard had a number of new swears and phrases Wenona hadn’t heard before, but they stopped suddenly when Carson began growling again.

“Good boy.” She pet his head. She figured she’d give herself five minutes. Five minutes, and then it was time for step two of getting off this ship. Whatever step two happened to be.

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[disappearinginq]

New Bad Things Happen Chapter

This, no lie, took me since February. God knows why in the hell I decided surfing was the topic to write on when I’ve done it a whopping total of once, in very shallow and cold water in the North east, but it came about with a prompt from @blazeofobscurity about wanting to see Magnum get to be the one to save Rick, so....ta da! (ending still feels rushed, but YOU KNOW WHAT? IT’S DONE.

Also here: Bad Things Happen on AO3

and here: Bad Things Happen on FFN

Juliet didn’t regret a lot of things in life. Not her service in MI6, not taking up Masters on his job offer as a majordomo, or meeting Richard. And lately, she didn’t even mind Magnum and the shenanigans he dragged her into. Not that she’d ever say it out loud, but it was…nice, getting out of the compound and doing something that was more meaningful than running facial recognition on the UPS delivery driver.

She was, however, having serious doubts about taking up Magnum’s invite to come surfing at Sandy Beach Park.

“Come on, Higgy!” Magnum had protested, putting on his best smile as he grabbed his board from the boat house. “It’ll be fun!”

She’d tried to gracefully bow out of it. “I’m paid to watch the estate, and it’s a little hard to do when not actually here.”

Magnum glanced down at the two Dobermans. “What the hell are they for if they can’t watch the house without you?”

As if sensing Magnum was complaining about them, Apollo growled, pinning his ears. Magnum responded by sticking his tongue out.

“Stop antagonizing them, and they’ll stop growling at you,” she reprimanded, continuing on before he could protest about it not being his fault. “And besides, the lads are fine on their own, but it’s still working hours, and I’m not paid to go to the beach.”

Thomas raised an eyebrow at that. “By that logic, you shouldn’t leave the property, ever, and you do it plenty when you’re helping me with a client.”

“Oh, is that what you call it?” she asked archly.

He frowned, like he wasn’t entirely sure what else it could be. “Well…yeah. I mean, if you really don’t want to come chase down bad guys or investigate cases, then fine. I’ll stop asking. But you seem to have fun when you do, so I keep inviting you.”

She felt herself blush. She really didn’t mean to be so standoffish with him, it was just…self-defense on her part. She was a spy – ex, or not, it meant she had trust issues. There were no such thing as genuinely good people in her line of work, and after Richard, she just…couldn’t stand the idea of losing someone she cared about again. Even as a friend. So it just seemed easier to not have any.

Robin accused her of being a recluse, and she hadn’t argued, because she couldn’t. And in her less than charitable moods, she wondered if part of the reason Robin invited Magnum to stay in the guest house was because he full well knew that Magnum would suck her into his orbit and force her to get out of the house.

“Look, if you really don’t want to come, then that’s fine,” Thomas said. He pulled his board down from the top shelf. “You don’t have to. But just remember – you’re an employee, not a prisoner. You’re entitled to have some fun every once in a while.”

He’d left then, heading to the front gate where Rick and TC were supposed to be coming to pick him up – the Ferrari wasn’t exactly built for strapping down surf boards before heading out to the beach. The estate had a decent swimming beach, but given the sheltered cove, the waves were minimum at best. Not even good for body surfing, unless there was a storm moving in.

She’d eyed the other boards on the rack. There was at least a half dozen more. They hadn’t been taken out or used the entire time she’d been majordomo at the Nest.

Something in the way that Thomas said ‘not a prisoner’ made her finally give in. She didn’t delve into the psychology of it at the moment – she was too busy grabbing a board of her own and catching up to Magnum to see if he would wait for her to change to dwell on it.

There was just something…off…about it.

It hardly mattered. By the time they’d arrived at the beach, she’d completely forgotten about it.

Because somehow, she hadn’t really thought this through.

She’d never been surfing. Never had the desire. She liked snorkeling and diving and shell collecting. She watched a surf competition once since she moved here, and after seeing three competitors eliminated for near drowning, breaking boards and bones, she decided Americans (and Australians) were crazy, and she wanted no part of it.

But at the same time, it was nice to be included in something that didn’t involve bullets, breaking and entering, high speed chases, and, inevitably, the police.

She’d made her peace with the fact that she was just going to enjoy the beach. She didn’t have to surf, right? She could just sit and watch from the board and not try to bludgeon her own skull in trying to catch an adrenaline rush.

She made it midway out – just past the close-to-shore breakers, but not nearly far enough out she would bother the more experienced surfers, and from here, she could see where the waves were breaking and easily avoid them. Observation was a part of learning, right? She could just treat this like another mission. Yeah. That’s what she would do. Observe.

It was fun to watch though.

Magnum was never the type to take anything too seriously, and while other surfers at least tried to ride the waves, he was all over the place – half the time he didn’t bother to stand, or…surf, really. At least, not what she called surfing. While everyone else made a concentrated effort to stay on their boards, Magnum seemed to be having way more fun falling off. His grin was wide enough she could see it even from where she was floating, and while she couldn’t hear him over the waves, she could tell he was having a fantastic time.

Rick had a balance and ease with his board, she felt a pang of jealousy. While not reckless like Magnum, he could shoot through the waves with envious precision. She had a vague memory of him mentioning having spent time in Hawaii before he’d ever joined the military, and she could easily picture the man as a teen on the beach with a girl on each arm.

She was so preoccupied watching those two, and the dozen or so other surfers out enjoying the gorgeous weather and waves, that she didn’t notice someone come up beside her until he spoke.

“So…” TC said conversationally, “you come out all this way to hang out by yourself in No Man’s Land?”

She would deny the startled scream until her dying day.

It was made slightly better by the fact that TC was not expecting her reaction and jumped enough that he wound up flipping his board and himself.

After apologizing profusely, turning ninety shades of red after he came back up sputtering and looking indignant, she couldn’t help but laugh.

It was something just so normal. She’d forgotten what that was really like.

“I’m sorry, TC, I didn’t mean…” she smothered a snicker behind a hand when he shot her a teasing glare as he made a show of uselessly ringing out his rash guard.

“Yeah, yeah. Sure you are. You always wound this tight?”

She shrugged helplessly. “I like to think not, but…”

TC smirked. “Uh huh. So lemme ask you a question, Juliet Higgins. Why’d you let Thomas drag you out here if you’ve never been on a board before?”

She ducked her head, wincing as she looked back up at him. “Is it that obvious?”

TC chuckled. “Only ‘cause it’s you. If you had any idea what you were doing, you’d be out there snaking and shredding waves. So. What’s the deal?”

It was moderately aggravating how often these three men could knock her off balance. She was so used to dealing with subversive facts and lies of omission that their candidness made her trip over her prepared responses. But familiar as she was with trading lies for lies, she couldn’t do it face to face with honesty.

As she floundered for a response, TC took pity on her.

“Lemme guess. You got bored with being cooped up at that fortress of Robin’s that you agreed to the first non-case related thing Thomas invited you to without really thinking things through?” he guessed.

“Something like that,” she admitted. “I’ve never surfed. Never had the desire. And then, whenever I considered it…”

TC hummed in agreement. “Yeah. When Orville brought it up the first time, the first thing I did was look it up on YouTube. And then I decided that man was crazy, and clearly trying to kill me. Took him about…oh, I dunno…three hours before he turned to blackmail to get me in the water. But here I am today.”

She smiled at that.

“You know, you could ask Rick to teach you.”

Juliet snorted. “No, thank you. I’ll…just watch for now. I don’t quite feel like making myself look the fool today.”

A loud shout from the waves turned both their heads as Magnum rocketed through barrel of one of the larger waves, form perfect as he crouched low over the board, balancing with his hand trailing through face as the wave curled behind him, only to purposely zag sideways, spinning wildly in a hard right turn, throwing himself off the board in a dive.

TC just shook his head. “Don’t seem to bother him any,” he said, nodding towards where Magnum disappeared beneath the waves, his board tumbling through the white water as it crashed. “He knows damn well how to surf.  He’s just having fun now. I am in fact 99% positive he’s a fish.”

“Only 99?”

“Waiting on DNA results.”

Juliet laughed out loud at that one.

She was enjoying herself enough she actually almost missed Rick paddling by until he swerved mid stroke to swing in beside TC.

“So…” he drawled. “How’s it going?”

“Higgy doesn’t know how to surf,” TC explained before she could stop him. When he caught the death glare she was giving him, he shrugged unapologetically. “You act like we don’t know you, Higgy-baby. Like I said – if you had any idea what you were doing, you’d be showing it off by now.”

Higgins tried not to flush bright red at the insinuation that she was a show off. She liked being good at things. She was so used to people dismissing her off the bat that she felt like she had to show them what she could do. Did it really come off as showboating?

“You wanna learn?” Rick asked. “You do yoga every morning, so balancing isn’t going to be that much of an issue.” He paused, frowning. “Unless you have zero sense of rhythm, then you’re gonna spend most of the day trying not to drown. But we can start on the smaller waves if you want, just to get you standing.”

“I’m not sure it’s worth your time, Rick,” she tried. “Aside from snorkeling, aquatics aren’t really my area of expertise.”

Rick and TC exchanged looks before looking back to her in unison. It was actually a little unnerving watching them have a silent conversation like that.

“So what you’re saying is, if you’re not automatically good at something, it’s not worth doing?” asked TC.

“No…”

“Or do you seriously have that much of a hang up about learning in front of others? You think anyone cares?” Rick gestured to the small crowd out on the waves.

Sure, there were the ones out by the much larger waves, who clearly knew what they were doing, but they seemed to wipe out just as often as the ones on the smaller breaks nearer to shore. They were smiling, laughing…

Enjoying themselves.

“Having fun isn’t fatal,” Rick pointed out.

“Fun, no. Riding a bit of foam and plastic with nothing between you and a concussion except God’s grace is another matter entirely,” she pointed out.

Rick pushed himself up into a sitting position, straddling his board and easily balancing in the current. “Eh,” he shrugged. “Took me six months to learn to surf well enough I was confident enough to try the pipeline, and I was a teenager who lived on the beach with nothing else to do except practice.”  

“I can’t believe I’m letting you talk me into this,” Higgins groused.

“And I can’t believe you’ve lived in Hawaii for three and a half years and never been surfing,” Rick countered. “Today is full of surprises. Now, are you going to make an effort, or are you going to chicken out and go tanning with Kumu instead?”

Damn the man if he didn’t know exactly what button to push to convince her to at least try.

“Fine,” she agreed.

Rick smirked. “Wow. The wild enthusiasm there was a little stunning. Might want to tone it down a bit. Come on. We’ll practice in the smaller waves.”

An hour later, and sorer than she would’ve thought possible from trying to balance on a piece of plastic covered foam on waves preteens on boogie boards were having considerably better luck on, Juliet admitted temporary defeat and decided Kumu had the right idea: carbs, sunscreen, a good book and a beach towel on the warm sand.

She’d waved the guys off, emphasizing the temporary part of her acquiescence. They’d come to surf, not babysit, and she’d managed to at least finish on a high note, and that was good enough for her. No broken bones, no sand burn from wiping out in the shallows, and she even managed to ride one wave all the way into the beach.

Juliet found herself strangely – and pleasantly – surprised that the raucous cheering from both TC, Rick and the other practice surfers felt genuine.

And best of all, no one noticed just how poor a swimmer she actually was. She made a mental note to try swimming somewhere besides the protected cove at the Nest to improve herself before settling down on the sand beside Kumu’s chair.

“Oh look,” Kumu said, peering over her sunglasses with a smirk. “You aren’t allergic to fun.”

Juliet allowed herself a small smile before taking Kumu’s offered paperback – which was, of course, the second in the White Knight series, looking well worn and loved.

“Today is full of surprises,” she agreed.

&*&

“She seemed to improve,” Thomas commented as Rick and TC made their way back out to the lineup. The waves were getting bigger, but not dangerously so. Not as long as they avoided straying too far to the left of the beach where the volcanic rocks jutted up out of the sea, creating white wash and swirling eddies as the tide came in.

At least a dozen or so other surfers were out with them, waiting their turn for the next break.

“Well, when you start at rock bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up,” Rick said. “But she was at least more agreeable that TC here when I started teaching him.” He clapped his friend enthusiastically on the back with a wet smack. “Buddy.”

“You were decidedly less nice about teaching me, pal,” TC retorted with his own overly-‘affectionate’ clap that made Rick wince.

“You’re right,” Rick agreed. “Very unprofessional of me to resort to blackmail. E kala mai iaʻu. Forgive me?” He held up his hand for their familial high-five, innocently batting his eyes.

As soon as TC reached for him, Thomas could tell the exact moment TC realized his mistake. Too late. Rick grabbed him by wrist at the same time as he kicked the near side of TC’s board, flipping the larger man ass over teakettle into the water.

“And on that note, I see my wave – catch me if you can, old man!” Rick crowed, paddling off as soon as TC’s head cleared the surface, sputtering indignantly and glaring daggers at his retreating back.

“Yeah, you better run, Orville!”  

Magnum couldn’t help but laugh, even as he held TC’s board for him to easily slide back on. “Oh yeah. That was menacing. I’m sure he’s just quaking in his board shorts.”

“Shut it, TM.” TC jabbed a pointed finger at him. “Ya’ll yahoos are gonna turn me gray faster than you made Nuzo bald.”

Thomas sniggered. “You’d be distinguished…” he trailed off, watching Rick shoot for the upcoming swell. It would be a beauty – big enough he would be able to ride it into the shallows if he managed to catch it, and Magnum had yet to see him miss.

Except Rick wasn’t the only one aiming for it.

A man, probably in his upper forties who should’ve known better than to jump the line and snake a wave like that, was paddling just as hard for the wave, ignoring or oblivious to Rick several yards behind him.

It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion, and Thomas was moving before he even had time to process what he knew – that Rick wasn’t going to see the other surfer until it was too late, that the man was going to crumble the wave and Rick was going to wipeout much too close to the edge and go down in the soup and into the rocks and reef.

(*(

Rick didn’t even see the other surfer until the man stood on his board, appearing out of nowhere as far as Rick was concerned, too far out on the crest to be able to ride it well but close enough to ruin it for him.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Rick shouted, “I got it, I’m on it!”

The guy either didn’t hear, didn’t care, or didn’t know how to kick out, because he kept going.

“Move!” Rick shouted, cutting sharply to avoid ramming into the man. He managed to keep his balance, throwing his left hand high and his right down low to balance, as his legs bent and pushing the board forwards.

He might’ve made it, if the guy had any idea what he was doing and got out of the way, but he didn’t. Instead of swerving or kicking out over the back of the crest, he lurched sideways, crumbling the wave in front of Rick and snaking the wave out from underneath him.

Rick toppled backwards into the surf, his board flipping up over his head as he went down, hard, into the swell of the wave.

*&*

White wash was always disorienting. Up from down was impossible in the best of circumstances, and the waves were relentless, toppling anyone and anything ass over teakettle in whatever direction it could.

There was a reason why one avoided the rocks.

Rick opened his eyes against the stinging salt, looking for the bright of the sun to aim for but also immediately trying to aim away from where he knew he’d gone down. Current went in every direction, eddying around the shallows of ocean floor, the rocks and the incoming tide, spinning him about without time to even figure out up from down.

Time seemed to move really fast and yet really slow – he could feel the churn of the water, the pull of his tether on his ankle yanking him along with the board caught on the top of the wave as he went up and over in the barrel of the crashing wave – the white obscuring everything as he crashed into the rocks.

His chest slammed into one of the sharp volcanic rocks with enough force to knock the air from his lungs and reflexively suck in another breath.

Except he was still underwater.

And now he was actively drowning.

Reflex and instinct made him cough and choke to spit up the water except there was no air to replace it and the salt water burned like acid down his throat and into his lungs, panic kicking survival instinct into high gear and rationale to the curb. He lost track of the surface versus the floor, flailing in the churning surf until something caught his ankle, catching him in the barrel of another wave as the crest came down on him, slamming his head into the rocks.

*&*

Thomas abandoned his board, ripping the tether from his ankle as dove in – the last thing he needed was a buoy preventing him from diving attached to him.

The white water made it almost impossible to see.

Almost.

The water was clearer here in Hawaii than anything off the coast of Coronado or anywhere else he’d been diving. Even with the sting of salt in his eyes and the dark rashguard Rick had blending with the rocks, it was easy enough for him to pick his friend out of the soup.

The blood in the water helped.

So did the fact that he wasn’t being taken with the current – Magnum saw the tether line caught on a jagged outcropping still tied to Rick’s ankle. The board was gone or broken but the rope held fast, keeping Rick from reaching the surface, but at the same time, kept him in place for the incoming surf to basically body slam him into the rocks.

Swimming in the swirling eddies was probably suicidal by most standards. If Thomas stopped to think, he might’ve agreed.

It still wouldn’t have stopped him.

He grabbed onto Rick’s lifeless – don’t think that- body, wrapping himself around his friend’s torso and taking the brunt of the next wave, reaching for the diving knife he kept strapped to his leg any time he was in the water.

Thank god for old habits.

The knife sliced easily through rope, and suddenly they were tumbling free, the crest of the wave lifting them over the sharp volcanic rocks, even as they tumbled through the surf and across the rocks, the sharp edges and angles slicing through his rashguard and skin. It was like being caught in a never ending motorcycle crash and for a moment, the only thing Magnum could think of was the chopper crash in Afghanistan.

Now was not the time.

Small nicks and cuts were the least of his concerns, and he braced with his bare feet against the reef, bending his knees and craning his head back and over until he was curved almost in a perfect ‘c’, Rick still clutched in his arms as he moved with the wave instead of against it, angling sideways to bring them away from the reef edge.

His foot slipped, slicing open on the edge of the reef, careening them sideways instead of the angle he was hoping for, but they were cleared enough to make it out of the maelstrom and into the open water.  

Thomas’s head finally broke the surface and he sucked in a much needed breath. He hadn’t been down for long – less than a minute – but it seemed like ages, and it was even longer for Rick, who still wasn’t conscious. Thomas clutched him to his chest as he turned his back to the shore, keeping Rick’s head above water, tilted back against his shoulder as he swam sideways towards the beach.

There was yelling. It may have been directed towards him, but he wasn’t listening. At least not to them.

He was listening for any sign of life from his friend.

His feet hit the sand and he managed to half stand, half stumble onto the sand, coughing and choking even as he pressed two fingers to the side of Rick’s neck with almost bruising force.

Thready and thin, but still there. The gash across side of his head bled freely down the side of his face, the salt water mixing with the blood like a deranged water color painting, and the numerous tiny cuts started to bleed, too, and the skin around his head wound was already turning an angry red and purple bruise.

But Rick wasn’t breathing.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Magnum snarled, immediately straddling Rick’s chest – he could hear Rick’s voice in his head mocking ‘people will talk’ – and starting chest compressions.

Fuck. What were the rules for CPR now? Was he still supposed to breathe for him? Or was that taking away from the circulation of blood and oxygen to the brain? Was it different for drowning?

Facts blurred along with his vision.

Sensory perception in shock was a bizarre thing. He could hear people. People he was sure he recognized but couldn’t name, the rush of the surf that still pulled at his feet and dragged the sand out from underneath them as it washed back out to sea, the pounding of blood in his own ears and his own ragged breathing.

All that noise and he couldn’t hear the one thing he wanted.

Rick.

“Goddammit, Rick, LIVE!” In a moment of pure spite and rage against the cosmos, he slammed his fist into Rick’s chest hard enough he heard a crack and suddenly Rick was jackknifing upwards, hacking and sputtering and choking, salt water and blood mixing together as Thomas grabbed him by his shirt sleeve and pulled him sideways to vomit up any water still in his lungs.

After a minute, Rick collapsed back onto the beach, groaning as he touched a shaky hand to the sizeable gash across his head. “Ow. Why does everything hurt? And why does my mouth taste like margarita Monday and the Sahara?”

He was alive. He was alive, alive, alive.

And yet…

And yet…

His fingers dug into material of Rick’s rash guard, trying to force himself to focus, to anchor himself here and now on the sand, trying not to stare at the swirl of red and sea water in the eddy of the encroaching tide washing out around them and the sun no longer felt warm on his back as the chill of the cave pressed in around them.  

Thomas shook his head.

Hawaii. Not Afghanistan. The ocean and a freak accident, not the purposeful slow drowning of water boarding. Rash guard, not BDU undershirt.

It was 2019. Not 2017.

They were fine. They were fine. Fine.

He didn’t even realize he wasn’t breathing right until someone grabbed his wrist, and he tried to yank it free but the hand followed easily.

“Hey, whoa there buddy…”

He bit his lower lip with enough force he tasted copper and iron mixed with the salt of the seawater still dripping down his face.

The grip on his wrist tightened to bruising force and he blinked, trying to focus on the fingers.

“Five things.”

Thomas’s attention snapped back to Rick, who was now looking at him with a mix of concern and knowing.

“You’re turning blue, Thomas. Take a breath. Five things.”

The inhale was sharp and stuttered, hardly enough to really count but he managed to blurt out: “The beach. The water. Black. Red. Hands.”

Rick nodded, wincing slightly. “Good. Four.”

Thomas dug his fingers into the sand beneath them. “The sand. The sun. The wind.” He felt something slowly start to uncoil from around his throat and for the first time in what felt like hours, he took a real breath. “You.”

“Three,” Rick prodded, his grip still bruisingly tight on Magnum’s wrist.

Thomas took another shuddering breath, closed his eyes, and concentrated. Auditory was always the sense he tripped over the most. “Gulls. The surf. People yelling.”

Rick smirked, and let his head drop bag against the beach, closing his eyes against the sun, humming in agreement. “I think that’s TC’s brand of worry. Two.”

“Someone’s grill. Salt. Though that might just be water up my nose.”

“Still counts. One.”

Thomas ran his tongue along the inside of his lip. “Blood.”

Rick cracked an eye open. “Not what I was hoping for, but you look about as bad as I feel so I’ll let it slide. You okay?”

Thomas touched a finger to the spreading bruise on Rick’s forehead, gently prodding at the deepening purple and blue, but he didn’t feel the give of broken bone. And Rick was awake, and lucid – which was more than he could say for himself -  which was a good sign.

“We should take you to the hospital,” he said, purposely ignoring the question. “Make sure your brain isn’t any more scrambled than it was.”

Rick grumbled under his breath. “I don’t need an MRI to tell you that it is. But if it’s all the same to you, any time you want to get off me would be great ‘cause I think you broke something with your oh-so-tender loving care.”

Most of Thomas’s weight was on his knees on either side of Rick, but he pushed himself to his feet anyway, offering a hand to his friend. “You need a hand?”

Rick sighed. “I’m collecting my thoughts. Debating if here is as good a place as any to die. The world is already spinning, and I don’t want to puke on a public beach. Just give me a Viking funeral.” Despite his protests, he held out both hands to Thomas.

As soon as he was upright though, he promptly turned his head to the side and dry heaved into the sand, one hand going to his ribs as the muscle contractions pulled painfully on the cracked ribs. “So glad we waited on lunch,” he gasped in between spasms. “Or this would really suck.”

Thomas couldn’t help the snicker. Gallows humor was Rick’s ‘process’.

They’d wound up on the wrong side of the rocks. Thomas hadn’t paid any attention to where he was going when he pulled Rick free of the board tether, just aiming for shore by any route necessary, which as far as he was concerned, worked in his favor. TC and Higgins were just now clambering over the sharp volcanic rocks that separated the swimming beach from the deadly reef and outcroppings.

Which meant no one saw how close a call it was.

After years of therapy, Thomas wasn’t exactly ashamed of panic attacks – not when in hindsight he could tell himself it was understandable for anyone to have issues in the same situation, but that didn’t mean he liked it advertised.

Especially not to Higgins.

The majordomo was starting to loosen up, but she still tended to nitpick and rail on anything she considered a fault of his, and sometimes…he really just didn’t want to give her another reason for thinking he was worthless.

“Can we down play this one?” Rick asked quietly. “Maybe just tell them about the concussion, and not the almost dying part?”

The look on TC’s face was all Thomas needed to agree. TC took ‘mother hen’ to a whole new level, but he was also the first to yell about foolish and reckless behavior – whether it was an accident or not – which was just how he dealt with stress. But sometimes it just came off like he was berating one of his kids for a stupid and avoidable incident.

“Sure,” Thomas agreed.

What was one more secret between them?

[thewritewolf]

Rekindle Chapter 27: Protecting You

The miraculous duo seek out Master Fu's wisdom in handling this new threat.

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@marichatmay

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

The two of them were leaping across rooftops in silence as they made their way towards Master Fu’s shop. Marinette ran and jumped with only half a mind, her focus dedicated towards the feeling that had settled on her. It was hard to pin down and name, but the best she could do was call it unease.

“Something on your mind, lovebug?”

Her eyes met those of her faithful partner, Chat Noir. “I just…” She frowned in concentration as she struggled to put it into words. “I don’t feel surprised about all this happening. It’s almost like I was expecting it to happen. Do you know what I mean?”

Chat froze and after a moment slowly nodded. “Actually? Yeah, I do. Have you been having… dreams lately? Not normal dreams but… miraculous ones?”

She thought back to her first dream, months ago about ancient Greece. They had only gotten more frequent since then, to the point where she either dreamed of the past or she didn’t dream at all. “...I thought it was just me?”

“No, I’ve been getting them for a while now. I just figured I was getting more attuned to the miraculous or something.” He clenched his fist and glanced at his ring. “Do you think they mean anything?”

“Maybe. But…” Marinette thought back to her dreams of werewolves in Victorian London and demigod heroes in Greece. “...I don’t know if there was anything tying them together. Except magic, I guess.”

Chat Noir shrugged. “We can compare notes later. Right now, there are baddies to beat, and other mysteries to solve.”

“Come on, then. We’re almost there.” She twirled her yoyo. “Hopefully Master Fu can give us at least a few answers.”

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

“You were wise to come here,” the old master told them as he refilled everyone’s cup of tea, even the tiny kwami-sized cups. They had explained what they had seen, and Adrien couldn’t decide if it was relief or dread he felt when Master Fu wasn’t shocked at any of it. “It has to do with this.”

Adrien's grip on his cup tightened when he saw what had been placed on the table. A very familiar, clearly magical teal shard glinted back up at him, and he was suddenly grateful for his current lack of super strength. His claws might have broken the fine china in his hand, much like how the Peacock Miraculous had been shattered beyond repair by the sheer arrogance of his family.

Marinette looked confused. “But I don’t understand. How can it be doing anything if it is broken?”

“That is the problem,” Master Fu said whilst stroking his beard. “A miraculous is not like a modern electronic. Just because it breaks, does not mean it ceases to function. All the power that the miraculous possesses is still out there. But while the miraculous is broken, that power pours into the world wildly.”

Adrien exchanged a look with Marinette. It sounded even worse than they thought. Looking back to Master Fu, Adrien asked, “So there’s no way to stop it until the Peacock miraculous is whole again?”

“Only once it has been repaired will the flow cease,” Master Fu confirmed. “But that is another issue entirely. You said that the Mayor Andre has been captured by knights?” They nodded. “Then that must mean there is a shard of the peacock nearby.”

“How can you be so sure?” Marinette took a sip of her tea.

“The Peacock miraculous was meant to use human emotion and will to turn raw magic into creatures. In better times, they would be fearsome protectors, summoned from emotions like love, joy, and commitment.” He sighed. “But these knights… they seem to be a result of the mayor’s paranoia and fear. I suspect they take this form because he sees himself as lord and master of Paris.”

“Adrien told me that he saw more knights starting to appear. What does that mean?” Marinette spared a glance toward him as her hand reached for his.

“Unsurprising. With so much wild magic to work with, they will continue to multiply.”

“That hardly seems fair…” Adrien grumbled. “Aren’t our miraculous supposed to be the most powerful ones?”

“They are. The peacock is not meant to conjure more than one at a time. Each is taxing on the mind that summons it. They will continue to multiply until Mayor Andre cannot make any more, and then they will multiply further.”

“Do you mean…?”

“Yes. If this goes on long enough, the mayor will likely perish from his summoned guards.”

Adrien got to his feet and noticed that Marinette was already in motion. “Then we don’t have time to lose.” He bowed to the last guardian. “Thank you, Master. We will do our best to make things right.”

Master Fu frowned, causing Adrien to hesitate as Marinette left the room. He rose to stand before Adrien and put a comforting hand on his arm. “I do not hold you responsible for the sins of your father, Chat Noir. I chose you for a reason, and I have not come to regret this decision.”

Adrien nodded and left the room in a hurry, fighting down his relieved tears. There would be time for that later. For now, they had a mayor to save.

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

They landed on a building opposite the mayor’s. Adrien was aware of Ladybug watching him patiently - the night wasn’t an obstacle for his keen senses, but Ladybug’s vision and hearing were only a notch above human. He scanned the building, expecting there to be eight or nine knights. Instead, he counted over twenty.

All that in a matter of an hour? How much time did the mayor have left?

“That bad, huh?” Ladybug commented from beside him. Some of his disbelief had to be showing on his face.

“Yeah… I think there are twenty three, maybe twenty four? They look and sound the same, so it’s hard to be certain.”

“Any idea where he’s at?”

“I saw them take him deeper into the building earlier, but I haven’t heard or seen him since we got back, if that’s what you mean.”

Now it was his turn to be patient as she narrowed her eyes at the roaming patrols of knights. Eventually, she turned back to him. “I’ve got a couple ideas, but we should try to find the mayor first. If we can get him away from the knights, maybe we can find something like an akumatized object that we can purify?”

“Sounds spot on as usual, m’lady.” He drew his baton, but she put a hand on it.

“Let’s try to avoid a fight for now, okay? I know you’re still my tough puss in boots, but I don’t like our odds against this many.”

He put his baton back with a wink to her. “As you wish. I can be purrfectly quiet.”

Dodging the patrols, they snuck into the building via a second story window. Upon landing, Ladybug’s eyes widened as she stared at an empty patch of corridor. She shook her head and blinked, which seemed to help. He was by her side in an instant, putting his arm around her.

“Are you alright?” He whispered into her ear, still listening for the march of the knights.

“Y...yes? I just… I could have sworn I saw… something.” Her eyes widened again and she glanced at his cat ears. “Did you hear anything just now? Like, voices?”

“...No?” If he wasn’t worried before, he was now. “Are you going to be okay, Mari? Maybe we need to talk to Master Fu again.”

She shook her head, stubborn determination sliding into place. “The mayor is in danger and we don’t know how long he has. I can handle whatever this is for now.” He opened his mouth to speak, but she glared him down. “No buts, kitty. We’ve been in worse messes before.”

He knew he had no choice but to trust her. As was usual for night time superheroics, Adrien took the lead. It was easy enough to avoid the patrols with how loud they were in their clanking suits of armor. Before long they stood before the entrance to the cellar. The closest wandering knights were far away. If they were quick, they might just be able to pull this off.

They burst down the door and Adrien had only a few seconds to take everything in. Four knights flanked the mayor, who was slumped in a chair and breathing heavily. His skin was pale and slick from sweat. He glanced up at them and reached out feebly.

“Help… me! They won’t let me leave!”

The knights marched in front of Adrien and just as he was about to charge them, Ladybug’s eyes widened again as she whirled around in place, staring into empty space. A split second of indecision gripped him - should he try to fight the knights who he had a fifty fifty shot of beating without help? Or should he retreat with Ladybug and regroup?

The thought had barely been expressed as words in his head before he had scooped up Ladybug and rushed her out of the room. He noticed with growing concern that her eyes were unfocused and clouded.

He bit his lower lip as he heard the clanging of metal armor sound all around him. He hoped that he could find somewhere safe to hide while Ladybug shook whatever was affecting her off, deliberately ignoring the possibility that she might not be able to.

[sociallyawkward--fics]

55 and 20 for ultimate angst combo, feat Virgil and your pick

I decided to go with Logan cuz we all know I love my left brain bois

I wrote half of this when I was very tired and the other half with this newly developed fever, so I’m sorry if it doesn’t make sense lol. I think there may accidentally be some tense switches in there that I may not have caught but oh well too late now I’m very tired

Warnings: miscommunication, arguemnts, panic attacks, general anxiety, let me know if I missed something/you’d like me to add something

Word Count: 2067 (remember when these prompts were supposed to be drabbles lol)

[ao3 link]

Logan couldn’t quite pinpoint when he’d started. At first, it had just been offhand observations that he’d dismissed, Anxiety was, after all, their enemy.

But then he wasn’t. And Logan stopped dismissing his observations. In fact, he began writing them down, practically studying Virgil.

Virgil was not only the personification of Thomas’s anxiety, but he also seemed to experience it himself. He slept and ate poorly, and it was difficult to convince him to join in on group activities. His hands were frequently shaking, and he grew irritable if he didn’t get enough time to himself to recharge.

So Logan observed. He took note of specific stressors to Virgil, and tried to come up with possible solutions on how to minimize them. Things like lessening his caffeine intake, improving his diet, and perhaps having a calming tea before bed.

And the more Logan observed, the more trivial his observations were.

Like how husky his voice was after just waking up. Or the beautifully musical sound of the small chuckles he hid behind his hand whenever Patton made a pun. Or the (objectively adorable) teasing smirk on his face when he playfully provoked Roman.

Eventually, he Logan starts to realize he has a problem when each of these observations sparks a strange feeling in his chest and stomach. A feeling that he unfortunately knows the diagnosis to, despite how clueless the others believe him to be when it comes to emotions.

He never meant to start falling for Virgil.

And he never meant for it all to fall apart.

Logan had been writing plans in his notebook as usual, trying to come up with ways for Virgil to better manage his anxiety, when Patton frantically called him into the kitchen. Logan had left his notebook open on the coffee table while he went to assist (Patton had, once again, gotten multiple spoons stuck in the drain).

After fixing the issue, Patton rushed upstairs, saying something about being late for a date in the Imagination with Roman. Logan returned to the living room only to find Virgil flipping through the notebook, expression growing increasingly angrier.

“Virgil–” Logan started.

“The fuck is this,” Virgil asked, cutting him off and barely looking up from the book to glare at Logan.

“Virgil, please, let me explain, I–” Logan started again, but was cut off once more.

“Are you observing me?” Virgil’s voice rose in volume. “Am I just another experiment to you?”

“Virgil, no, you don’t understand–” Logan tried to explain

“I don’t understand?” Virgil scoffed, looking back down at the notebook.

Logan resisted the urge to growl in frustration. That would get them nowhere. If only Virgil would stop cutting him off–

“I think I understand perfectly,” Virgil said and began reading from the notebook, “‘The subject’s diet and sleeping patterns must be monitored further before an accurate routine can be created.’ What the hell, Logan?”

“I was only trying to help!”

Virgil’s scowl deepened. “Maybe I don’t need your help, ever think of that?” He shoved the notebook into Logan’s chest. “Don’t try to fix me. I’m not broken. And I’m not some experiment you can just toy with as you please.”

Logan let the notebook fall to the ground as Virgil stormed off to his room.

He’d really messed up this time.

Virgil stays in his room for days. No one even caught him coming out for food or water, which especially concerned them.

Patton had taken to sitting in front of his door for some amount of time during the day. Sometimes it was thirty minutes. Sometimes it was three hours. He rambled aimlessly at the door, tried to convince Virgil to come out, or at least eat. No one even knew if Virgil was actually listening.

Logan couldn’t sleep. He would barely eat, which only served to fuel Patton’s worry further.

It was his fault Virgil was locked in there, ignoring them all. He had betrayed Virgil’s trust (even if he still wasn’t 100% sure what had happened), and he had to fix it.

So Logan used his newly terrible sleeping schedule to his advantage. He burrowed under a blanket on the couch – making sure to adjust it’s positioning so that it’s placement looked natural and haphazardly thrown on the cushions – and waited.

After all those days, there was no way Virgil wasn’t hungry. Even if he had been sneaking food somehow, he’d need more. And Logan would keep doing this until he caught him.

As things were, it did take a few days before Logan caught Virgil.

He had almost fallen asleep, when a presence going by woke him up and put him on edge. Logan carefully listened to the footsteps of the presence and the resulting sounds in the kitchen.

Everything sounded too quiet, too sneaky. There was no way that wasn’t Virgil (he should know, he’d caught both Patton and Roman rustling around in the kitchen late at night enough times to know what they sounded like).

Logan listened while Virgil quietly ate some of the leftovers Patton had left in the fridge. Listened while he stuffed what was probably his coat pockets with what was probably granola bars (if the crinkling wrappers were anything to go by). Listened as he quietly made his way back through the common room to the stairs.

Then, Logan moved. Virgil wasn’t the only one who could be sneaky.

He climbed up the stairs quickly (as quickly as he could, being as exhausted as he was, which wasn’t very quickly), remembering exactly which steps not to step on because they would squeak.

Virgil was almost at the end of the hall by the time Logan made it up the stairs, so he dashed down the hallway, slipping into Virgil’s room just before Virgil finished shutting the door.

Virgil startled so badly that he stumbled backwards and the food fell from his pockets (Logan was right, granola bars).

“We need to talk,” Logan said, hands already shaking. Apparently the affects of Virgil’s room came on faster when you were tired and vulnerable.

“I don’t think I have much to say to you right now,” Virgil said, steadying himself and eyeing Logan’s hands carefully. “I think it would be better if you left.”

“No,” Logan said. “Not until you listen to me.”

“Logan, seriously–”

“No, last time you did all the talking, now it’s my turn.” Logan could feel the panic building, but he did his best to swallow it down. He had to do this. “I never meant to hurt you, Virgil.”

“Yeah, well, you did,” Virgil said, crossing his arms and looking away.

Logan ran his trembling fingers through his hair and tried to take a deep breath. It stuttered and he lost it, but he kept speaking.

“I simply wanted to help you, Virgil. I’ve noticed for a long time that you show many symptoms of anxiety yourself, and deduced that you are not just the presence of anxiety, but also the experience of it–”

“So I get nervous,” Virgil butt in, still refusing to look at Logan. “So what?”

“Stop interrupting!” All of Logan’s breath whooshed out of his lungs, and he gasped a few times trying to fill them again. “I wanted to help you, you idiot! I wanted to help you be less nervous so that you could be happy! I wanted to help you because I care and I fucked up, but please, Virgil, please stop hurting yourself because I was an idiot. You’re not broken and I don’t want to fix you, I just wanted to help.”

“Logan,” Virgil breathed out, finally looking at him. His eyes were glassy, his face vulnerable.

But Logan could hardly pay attention to that now. He was practically hyperventilating at this point, buzzing with anxiety and worry. He was worried about Virgil, worried for Virgil’s health, worried for Patton if he couldn’t get Virgil to come out again, worried for the relationship he shared with Virgil and if he’d doomed it from the start–

Logan’s eyes snapped open (when had he closed them??) when a cool hand pressed against his face, wiping away tears that Logan hadn’t even realized were there.

“Logan, it’s okay,” Virgil said gently. “We gotta get you out of here.”

Logan didn’t respond, he simply allowed Virgil to pull him closer and sink them both out, popping back up in the common room.

“I’m sorry,” Logan stuttered out over and over, still in the midst of his panic. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry–”

Virgil guided Logan to sit on the couch, wrapping the blanket that Logan had been hiding under earlier in the night around his shoulders.

“It’s okay, Logan,” Virgil said, trying to gently pry Logan’s hands away from his hair. “I’m not mad anymore. I’m not mad at you.”

“I messed up, I’m sorry–”

“It’s all okay now,” Virgil spoke soothingly. “I need you to breathe with me, can you do that?”

Logan nodded shakily, squeezing Virgil’s hands tightly as opposed to clutching at his hair.

“Four, seven, eight, remember that?”

Logan nodded again.

“Okay, do it with me now.”

The two breathed in unison for a few minutes. They breathed until Logan’s breaths no longer stuttered and neither of their hands shook. They breathed until Logan’s tears dried and Virgil’s heart slowed. They breathed until Logan finally allowed their hands to drop away from each other, embarrassed by the contact.

“I’m sorry,” Logan started to say again, looking down in shame, but Virgil held up a hand to stop the apology from going further.

“It’s okay. I’m not mad, Logan.”

Logan looked up at him again. “I find that hard to believe.”

Virgil shook his head. “I was mad for a little bit. And scared. I thought I was just another experiment to you–”

“You’re not,” Logan blurted, grabbing Virgil’s hand again.

“I know that now,” Virgil gave a small, almost imperceptible smile, “so stop apologizing.” He frowned again. “Just smile,” Virgil said, clutching Logan’s hand back. “I really need to see you smile right now.”

Logan scoffed. “You say that as if I smile normally in my day to day life.”

Virgil smirked. “Maybe you should.”

“I am a very serious man.”

“A very serious man with a very nice smile.”

“Falsehood.”

Virgil’s smirk grew into a rare grin. “Careful, Logan. You know what Patton likes to do to liars.” He took one of his hands back to squeeze Logan’s side, smiling wider when Logan tried to wiggle away.

“Stop it,” Logan said, but there was no heat behind the words and he was smiling wide.

Virgil clasped their hands together again. “See? It’s like the sun, I can’t even look at it straight on it’s so bright. Good thing we’re both gay as fuck, huh?”

Logan broke down in giggles slouching forward to lean his forehead again Virgil’s shoulder. “I think the sleep deprivation is catching up with me,” he said in-between bouts of quiet laughter.

Virgil ran a hand through Logan’s hair. “More fun for me, then,” he joked, but started to recline them against the couch anyway, adjusting Logan to lay on top of him. “Means I get to see that smile. I won.”

“Stop talking about my smile, already,” Logan whined, then mumbled into Virgil’s chest, “Just wait until I’m coherent, then I won’t be the one who’s blushing.”

Virgil sighed, fixing the blanket around Logan’s shoulder’s to cover them both entirely. “If only the room wasn’t so dim, I would’ve liked to see that.”

Logan only hummed in response, beginning to drift off.

“Hey, Lo?” Virgil murmured after a few minutes, almost asleep.

“Hmm?”

“We’re not gonna just… go back to normal in the morning and pretend this never happened, right?”

Logan, barely awake, snuggled deeper into Virgil’s chest. “Fuck that. I gotta prove that I’m the better flirt.”

Virgil giggled sleepily. “I don’t think either of us were very good flirts tonight.”

“I’ll show you,” Logan muttered, words starting to slur.

Virgil smiled down at the unruly mass of brown hair resting on his chest. “You do that,” he whispered, finally letting sleep drag him under.

And if Patton woke up to make breakfast and found those two curled together on the couch and snapped dozens of pictures? No one needed to know.

And if one of those pictures ended up as Logan’s lockscreen? No one needed to know that, either.

[alex-the-nonsensologist]

3 Major Things that could have improved RBTI

Look, I’ll be the first to admit the sequel did not have me squeeing or fanboying as much as the first movie. There are so many missed opportunities with this movie and it’s kinda sad we did not get the groundbreaking sequel we were hoping for. That said, I still found it to be highly entertaining. The Internet references may date it, but I feel the movie crafted itself in such a way that it will stand out as the most BIZARRE movie in the Disney Animated Canon, and will forever be remembered as such. A ‘wholesome acid trip”, as someone put it.

That said, with the version of the story the writers settled with, I feel there are 3 major things that could have done to fix (heh) the glaring issues with the plot. They are as such:

1.) Ralph and Vanellope should not have been responsible for getting Sugar Rush unplugged.

2.) Vanellope deciding to live in Slaughter Race would have went much smoother if this happened after she and Ralph fail to get the steering wheel despite trying their dang hardest. (She also suggests this to the other Sugar Rush racers and they happily get on board.)

3.) Ralph should not have intentionally unleashed the virus.

Clarifications below (beware of lots of rambling and spit-balling ideas, feel free to dispute or write a fanfic based on them):

1.) Ralph and Vanellope should not have been responsible for getting Sugar Rush unplugged. After all this time, Ralph should know better than to not to be present in his game when the arcade is open AND he should know better than to alter gameplay during a game. And after 6 years as a playable character, Vanellope ought to know never to diverge from the player’s control no matter what. The writers could have easily had two bratty arcade kids fighting for a turn on the steering wheel and it breaks off as a result. BOOM, reasonable circumstances for a game breaking, and our heroes are not to blame one bit!

This could have also contributed better to Vanellope’s motivation for wanting to stay in Slaughter Race. Rather than simply “being bored” with Sugar Rush, the writers could have also made Vanny feel disillusioned with being a playable character. After 15 years as an outcast of having (relative) freedom, it would be interesting if she found that being a player character isn’t all she dreamed it would be. For every fun gamer there’s a party pooper, a kid who can’t play very well, or plays too aggressively, kids that make you feel very uncomfortable when they are in control of your actions, and in this case, kids who break your game and get it unplugged. At the very least, a more plausible reason for Vanellope to come to the conclusion that being a supporting NPC online might be a better gig than being a lead playable character in the arcade.

2.) Vanellope deciding to live in Slaughter Race would have went much smoother if this happened after she and Ralph fail to get the steering wheel despite trying their dang hardest. (And she also suggests this to the other Sugar Rush racers and they happily get on board.) It would have been an interesting lesson showing that sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you can still fail at something (also, no way in heck does someone earn $30,000 from YouTube BuzzzTube videos in less than 8 hours, just sayin’). The movie could have shown Vanellope trying her hardest alongside Ralph to save her game, but when they fail, she figures there’s no use crying about it, and simply comes up with an alternate solution.

I’ve seen people point out that Vanellope pretty much went Turbo in the sequel. While I don’t disagree, the consequences of her actions are nowhere near as severe. Sugar Rush can still function without her (her leadership role seems to have no effect on actual gameplay, which does make the whole deal of her being a Princess/President/Princessident kinda pointless, except as “backstory”) and she takes on a supporting NPC role in Slaughter Race and is welcomed by that game’s residents. Practically a downgrade when you think about, but one that’s she’s happy with. The circumstances of her leaving are almost opposite to Turbo’s when you think about it.

I am a little saddened that Vanellope’s relationship with the Sugar Rush racers never improved. True, in real life, you can forgive someone for bullying you for 15 years, and you spend the next 6 years simply tolerating each other in peace (pretty much your average co-worker relationship). Still, it would have been nice if Vanellope had took her leadership role seriously and took the initiative to get along better with her fellow racers like in the storybooks. And I would have liked if Vanellope suggests living in Slaughter Racer to the other racers, and thrill-seeking troublemakers that they all are, they all agree to it.

I feel this definitely would have been a harder blow to Ralph; not only does he fail to save Sugar Rush, but now Vanellope decides to go live somewhere else. Also, this would have been a nice way to involve Felix and Calhoun. I thought in the sequel they decided to adopt the racers much too quickly. I would have liked if they had gradually developed their relationship with the racers over the course of the movie. Say Ralph offers to let the kids stay at his brick pile and Felix and Calhoun are like no Ralph that is not child proof and they let the kids stay in their apartment and gradually grow really fond of them, and when the racers all decide to live in Slaughter Race they realize Holy Crap these are my babies now I can’t let them leave. It would have been an interesting contrast to Ralph learning to let go of Vanellope.

Yes, there is also the whole deal of how in the heck does Shank know how to program other characters into Slaughter Race, but I feel that’s more of a possibility to explore the world more in fanfics and future installments rather than a plot hole.

3.) Ralph should not have intentionally unleashed the virus. Ralph, honey, you’ve dealt with Cy-Bugs. You know viruses cannot be trusted. I can appreciate you didn’t want anyone to get hurt, but when viruses are involved, someone is guaranteed to get hurt.

Also, you know being dishonest with Vanellope would not have gone over well. Remember when you first met and she thought you were betraying her and how upset she got? True, you were misinformed, but you legitimately thought you were doing the right. Considering how angry she was at you when you thought you were telling the truth, there is no good reason to believe that lying to her would not have yielded the same, if not worse results.

I did however, enjoy the idea of Ralph’s insecurities taking physical form, and them joining together to create “Ralph Kong”. I would have preferred it if Ralph had stumbled across the virus accidentally. My friend @wreckingduty / @mewtwowarrior had this interesting idea back when the trailer was released. She speculated that Ralph went to the DarkNet as a result of unwittingly doing a shady delivery job to earn money. Maybe Spamley delivers viruses as a side job and is paid by actual people to do so, and offers Ralph a high-profile delivery of viruses, but Ralph is completely oblivious and doesn’t suspect a thing, and unfortunately messes up the delivery and doesn’t get paid, and also doesn’t notice a virus that slipped out and got stuck on him. The virus is not activated until Ralph and Vanellope have an argument and them BOOM.

Not exactly perfect ideas, and it certainly is way more cluttered than the actual movie is, but I feel like if the writers had a least done some variation of these three points, it would have preserved character integrity much better.