#because they're realizing they want some control over their food supply

[sassyhazelowl]

Facebook group post P1: what did people feed quail before purina was a thing? P2: they didn't! quail are wild animals and they didn't keep them Me: did anyone inform 11th Century China they weren't supposed to keep and breed quail? Or 12th Century Japan, who bred and competed them as song birds with benefits. What about the ancient Egyptians... and not sure what bird they were eating the Bible - better double check that quail are kosher. Also those pesky Victorians, can't keep their paws off keeping and breeding every single animal known to man.

[theamityelf]

(Kamukuras AU Masterlist)

(Makokura Hinaegi AU - Makoto Kamukura, normal Hajime)

previous post

"Hi. You don't remember me, but my name is Hajime Hinata." They're alone now, in the guest bedroom of Hajime's house. They stand facing each other, with Hajime's hands on Makoto's shoulders. "I'm your boyfriend. We met at Hope's Peak. I was going to sign up for the Kamukura Project, but...I think you found my signup sheet, and they took you instead. You disappeared, but we...we found you. And you're going to be okay now. Even if they come looking for you, I'm not giving you up."

Makoto's gaze hasn't wandered from his face since he's started speaking. No, his eyes explore Hajime's face like a map. Still unemotional, unaffectionate. But he's interested, at least. He's not looking past him.

"Your name is Makoto Naegi," Hajime continues. "You were in the 78th class of Hope's Peak Academy's main course. I'm in Hope's Peak Academy's reserve course, in the year coinciding with the main course's 77th class. You...had plenty of main course classmates who wanted to date you, but you chose me. And..." His voice wobbles for the first time, so he stops. Swallows.

Makoto's gaze drops to his throat, where the gulp was visible.

"You need a bath," Hajime digresses. "I know my pajamas are a little big for you, but I'm going to get you ready for bed, okay? Bath, then dinner..."

He has to manually turn Makoto around and walk him into the bathroom. While he's drawing a bath, he realizes that Makoto still hasn't moved to take his clothes off. He might have to take a more active role in this process than he'd planned.

Oh jeez.

He sticks his hand in the water to check the temperature, then he stands back up.

And he flicks the water from his wet hand in Makoto's face. "Come on, wake up. I'll do this for you if I have to, but I'd really rather you wake up right now."

Makoto reflexively blinks as drops of water get in or near his eyes, but other than that he doesn't react.

Big sigh from Hajime. "Okay. Fine."

About forty-five minutes later, Makoto is dressed in Hajime's slightly-too-big pajamas, his hair is tangled and wet, and he's watching the steam coming out of the pot Hajime is stirring.

"Okay, here. Dinner." He sits Makoto down at the table, sits a plate of food and a set of utensils in front of him, and gets to work combing the tangles out of Makoto's hair as if Makoto might eat for himself. But of course, he doesn't.

Hajime is going to have to do both.

He makes sure Makoto eats everything on the plate, thinking about his current thinness, how soft his body used to be...

For at least the first day at Hajime's place, the most Makoto will do for himself is chew and swallow food when it's already in his mouth. Hajime has to lay him down in bed and get him out of bed.

The first night, he puts Makoto in the guest bedroom and goes to sleep in his own bed. When he goes to wake Makoto up the next morning, his eyes are already open, watching Hajime approach. A part of him wonders if he even slept.

(For the record, the fact that Hajime fed him so much more than his body has grown used to, and the fact that Makoto doesn't protest or resist anything, is going to have some logical consequences that we're going to skip over for the sake of this post. If and when I write an actual fic, then we'll deal with the nitty gritty.)

Hajime spends the next day alternating between reading through Makoto's file and trying to get a response out of him. He leads him by hand from place to place. Makoto just sits wherever Hajime takes him. When he's not staring at Hajime, he likes to stare at fans. Hajime avoids turning on the TV around him, because he stares at that, too, and he doesn't like to have so little control over what Makoto's mind is absorbing.

Kirigiri stops by with some supplies Makoto will need, and they go over his file together. She's brought pictures of Makoto with his family and friends. They show them to him. He looks, then goes back to staring at a fan.

"He's absorbing the information, even if he isn't reacting," Kirigiri says. "His file makes that clear."

"But we want to get him to react again," Hajime says. He's gotten in the habit of doing small things to trigger Makoto's basic reflexes. Flicking water in his face, tickling the back of his knee. Anything to get a response, even a momentary one.

"Don't give up," is all Kirigiri says. She leaves shortly after.

That night, Hajime lays Makoto in the guest bed, and after a minute, he climbs in behind him. Watching Makoto breathe, scanning all the flaws in the haircut he gave him. Wondering if Makoto's eyes are open or closed.

Of course he won't give up. That was never an option.

[wingedcat13]

Synovus: Villains Never Retire

[As requested, an addition to the first story about Synovus and Menace - this is a followup that should be readable on it's own, but you can check out the first installment (and next) here! If you'd prefer to read on Ao3, you can also check out this story there. This installment was inspired by the prompt: "You’re a retired villain. You’ve been enjoying your peaceful life, but now a bunch of new villains are terrorizing your land, and the heroes seem powerless against them. So you take up the mantle once again. After all, if you want someone properly killed, do it yourself." Due to length, this one has been cut into two three parts. This portion alone is about even with the first installation, so it's still chunky.]

There are sirens wailing, somewhere. The few who have not been cut off already, cut silent as the screams of the living have been, one by one and in waves. The hush that should follow is denied by the high pitched whining of machinery and the sound of burning things. There are sparks, and pops. Something like words worn smooth in the background, run over so many times that they're part of these floorboards that are now cracking and failing, released again at the moment of unmaking.

You focus on the sounds, because you cannot see the devastation. You focus on the sounds, because you cannot smell the burning. You focus on the sounds, because if something does not force you to confront it, you do not know how fast or far away you would be running.

You are 90% sure this is not what was advertised, when you first said you were planning on retiring.

---

You honestly hadn't been sure whether your quasi-apprentice would be disappointed or thrilled that you were stepping back from the Villain scene.

On the one hand, Menace had only just made her debut as your shadow. Some of the jokes suggested that was literal, given your abilities and the equally dark all-covering clothing you both wore. (Hers was probably more fashionable, but yours had a cape.)

Anyway, the point was, you'd only taken her to a few meetings and negotiations with other villains so far.

But on the other hand, when not under her (custom designed and hand made, thank you) helmet, Alexandria was still a hero's daughter. Just the one, these days, since Legionnaire had disappeared from the super-map, and admittedly you and Athena had a weird ceasefire agreement ever since you'd more or less adopted her daughter, but you'd gone 'round the carousel of morality too many times to expect either of them to suddenly become accepting of things like mass casualty events.

So you hadn't done any for a while. And you'd realized that it was... kind of nice?

"It's up to you, boss." Oflok (Our Fair Lady Of the Kitchen) had told you, shrugging as she cooked a single serving's worth of rice for you at three in the morning.

"I had been thinking about asking for a vacation." Doll had admitted, even as the two of you scraped barnacles off the underwater docking bay doors.

"So long as you don't kick me out!" Rosie had laughed, as though you could afford to lose your head gardener and only source of self-sustained food supply in the event of an apocalypse.

You wound up telling Alexandria while she was in the middle of some exercises you'd designed for her - which is why you weren't surprised when a heavy weight clattered to the floor from an unreasonable height.

"Wait, what?" She demanded, floating approximately three times her height off the floor.

You looked up from your Rubik's cube, half-solved. "Retirement." You said casually, letting your helmet handle keeping the thread of unease private. Flight and super strength were recent arrivals, but super hearing hadn't made an appearance in Alexandria's arsenal. Yet.

"Can you even do that?" Alexandria asked, floating down a little to hover closer to eye level with you. Given you were propped at the top of a climbing wall, that still left her airborne.

You nodded your approval at her increasing level of control, and held up a hand, flat with the palm down, to wiggle as answer to the question. "Sort of. We do communicate, even if we don't have an overarching governance. Retiring is just... putting up a 'do not disturb' sign. Setting your status to offline forever."

The past few months had been a constant education in villain politics and etiquette - namely, the lack of organization in either - so your student caught on pretty quick.

"So.. you get a free pass to attack anyone who shows up, and they know they can come talk to you or ask you for things at their own risk?"

"Correct." You spun the cube, promptly undoing all of your progress. "So long as no one asks me for another fucking submarine, I'll probably let them visit."

A grin showed that Alexandria remembered her field debut very well. After the debacle with a fire-villain named Igneous (he ordered a submarine from you, then tried to kill you, and wound up dead instead) there'd been a mini-bidding war over who would actually buy the damn thing. Igneous's official rival, another villain named Heathen, had tried to demand it for free as 'retribution' for your unsanctioned murder of Igneous.

So, once Alexandria's super strength had manifested, you'd had an idea.

Heathen had his submarine. It was just lodged on top of his mountain fortress, where it would be just as useful to him as it had been to Igneous.

Idiot.

"It could be cool." Alexandria shrugged, "You do you. Whatever you want."

You had nodded solemnly, as though those words were sacred. And then you'd left, to deliver your retirement notices by hand to the villains that mattered.

The rest could read it on your Twitter feed like any other civilian.

---

"You retired?" The skeptical question, half a demand, came from Athena when she landed on your balcony, having launched herself out of the ocean. "Via Twitter?"

You thought that the arc of water she made when she did that was very pretty, and so you made sure to be there every time she came to visit. You pretended it was because you are protective of your island. Anyone who pointed out those things are not mutually exclusive would've just gotten ignored.

"Shockingly, there was no pension plan." You shook your head in mock disappointment. "I might have to go rummaging through my old friends' accounts."

Athena gave a pointed glance at the rest of your private island, then sighed. "If you find a spare retirement package while you're... rummaging." She said dryly, "Toss it over to our side of the fence, would you?"

At first, you had cackled. Then you'd noticed the tightness around her mouth, and checked to see how far off Alexandria was. Still missing - you were fairly sure she was still talking to Rosie about some flower she wanted to try and grow.

And yes, you and Athena had tried to kill each other before this weird co-parenting schtick. But she'd come to you, since Alexandria had started living here. Quietly, to ask what signs she had missed, and how to do better.

You still didn't like each other, but you did respect that.

So you'd sighed, and leaned against the railing. "I did send off that last work crew." You'd said idly. "So I suppose we are currently below capacity."

Athena raised a brow at you - at least, you were pretty sure, hard to tell with her mask covering everything from her cheekbones up - and gave you a wary look. "Is something wrong with Alexandria?"

Once, there'd been a hitch between the syllables of that name. Now, it was fluid. Habitual. You felt a funny warm feeling at that and promptly ignored it.

"She's a transgender teenager with superpowers." You said instead, flicking your hands for emphasis. "What the hell does that have to do with anything."

Athena exhaled, and lifted a hand in a silent half-apology. "I just assumed - if you were inviting me to live here, perhaps it was because..."

She fell silent, staring longingly through the glass doors into what is alternatively called 'the brunch room' and 'the dungeon' depending on who you ask. You've never actually kept captives there, but your minions like to play different board games. The name is supposed to be related.

One of the board games must have been left out, because Athena's gaze found it, and softened. "Really?" She asked you, amused. "Monopoly?"

You realized, belatedly, that Athena had probably wanted to know if Alexandria missed her.

"Obviously." You snarked in return, lifting your chin. "It instills anti-capitalist values, destroys friendships, and encourages subterfuge and cheating. Clearly the best game for a villain to play."

"Retired." Athena corrected you.

"Yeah." You sighed again. "Retired villain."

---

You'd insisted that Alexandria still spend some time on the mainland. She didn't have many friends, but you knew what life was like when you were cooped up somewhere, regardless of how high speed the internet connection was or how good the private Oflok.

Sometimes, you'd even gone with her. In your civilian guise, of course. At least, one of them.

"That's - wow." She'd said, when you came out of the changing area of the 'lair' you kept on the mainland.

(You refused to call it a closet. There were too many closet jokes in your past, present, or future for you to willing walk into any of them. Or out of them. Damn it.)

You'd shrugged, looking down, and twirled as though that would have much of an effect in what was effectively nondescript clothing. Pants. A shirt. Blazer. Scarf. Hair actually brushed instead of in whatever shape it had gotten half-stuck in while in your helmet.

"No, really, you - I don't know how you go from... from that to just. A normal person." Alexandria had studied you as though she were taking notes. It made you vaguely uncomfortable.

"I'm always a person." You'd corrected her. "And never 'normal,' so your analysis is flawed. Also, today I am Henry."

"Alright Henry." Alexandria had laughed, recognizing the name as one of the main characters in the last movie you'd been to see together - and this, too, had easily become a ritual, since you have only ever been Synovus. "Let's go see another shitty movie."

Later, she'd suggested that, for her birthday, you should go out to eat on the mainland. Maybe she could invite a guest?

Intrigued, you had agreed.

---

The guest turned out to be Athena.

Of course, neither of you were aware of that until you met up outside the restaurant. You'd pestered Alexandria about her 'friend' in all the ways you knew to be good-naturedly teasing, and she'd continued to play coy in a way that made you hope she was growing more confident. For all you knew, Athena had done the same.

But, staring at each other between some freshly-misted hedges, you had found you weren't sure why you were balking.

Neither of you were in costume. She was in a nice, simple sheath dress with light adornment. Her hair was loose - and even, which meant it had finally grown back out after you'd given her an unasked-for haircut a while back. You were pretty sure those sandals were the same as the ones she wore while fighting though.

"Even here." Athena had muttered, staring at you, "You have to have a cape."

You'd put your nose up on reflex, half curtseying, half bowing to her in your own dress for the evening. It had a capelet you'd liked the feel of, and if its dark material reminded her of your costume, well. So be it.

"All the better to sweep your daughter away in." You'd said with a smile that showed your teeth, lifting the loose cloth as though to hide your face, Dracula-style.

"Oh look." Alexandria said, holding up the reservation box. "It's vibrating. I think that means our table is ready."

-

You had picked your way through an appetizer that was awkwardly shared. If there was a possibility you and Athena would reach for the same portion, you both refused to even attempt it. Alexandria, at least, had no such compunctions, and devoured anything you two didn't lay claim to fast enough.

"So...." Athena had eventually offered, as a lead-in that immediately died. She frowned at you. "I don't know what to call you."

A number of responses had come to mind. Most were not appropriate for the setting, including your actual name. "Sy-bil." You picked at random. "Or just Sy, or Syn."

"I am not calling you Sin." Athena had said flatly, as Alexandria choked and coughed. "Sybil will work. And..." She hesitated, twirling her fork idly in her salad, "Shall I take that to mean I should use the... feminine forms of address for the evening?"

You wanted to respond flippantly, you really did. But Alexandria was beaming. "That would be appropriate." You said diplomatically. "And in return?"

Athena's eyes narrowed, just a fraction, before they widened again. "Ah. Feminine forms of address for me as well, which you may assume for the foreseeable future."

You weren't wearing your helmet, so the whole damn restaurant could probably see your blush and terrible attempt at hiding a smile. Stupid helmet. Always covering your facial expressions so you never learned how to actually hide them.

Alexandria sniffed. You passed her a packet of tissues from your bag.

"I actually meant your name," You responded casually, "Though I am grateful for the clarification, and will endeavor to remember it."

At this, Athena had actually stiffened. "Athena will be fine." She'd said, punctuating the sentence with a bite of salad so she couldn't be expected to continue.

Next to you, after clearing her nose, Alexandria had groaned, "Aw, mom, and we were doing so well."

"Athena it is." You had agreed, inclining your head, because it was Alexandria's birthday, and you understood wanting to keep a part of yourself away from the world. Or even just your unexpected dinner partner.

You were fairly certain neither of them could tell that it had actually hurt.

-

To both of your credit, you made it all the way to the dessert course before the violence broke out.

The violence wasn't even at your table. It was further down the long row of booths, a mild commotion. Still, Athena's eyes narrowed at you, and she placed one hand on her bag.

"What did you do?" She demanded, and for once, her gaze traded off between you and Alexandria.

"Nothing!" Alexandria had protested immediately.

"Ordered a brownie." You had replied, leaning over to see what was going on. "Perhaps it was too 'sinfully succulent' for the wait staff-"

(Yes. You had ordered it because of the pun. Alexandria had snickered.)

"- or, ah, no. Wrong direction. Something out of the windows?" You'd straightened in your seat, indicating the window side of your table where you'd all left the blinds down to keep out the setting sun.

Athena had moved towards the cover on the blinds.

She never quite reached them.

--

When you woke up, you hadn't been sure how much time had passed. The ringing in your ears had suggested a few minutes. The fatigue pressing down on you had suggested much longer.

Or maybe that wasn't fatigue. Something solid, and heavy. Blocks of some kind...? Ah, concrete, your old nemesis, must be. Except it was on your skin, and something about that wasn't right. Above you was cracked, exposed scaffolding, a roof about to fold inwards -

Below you, something had squirmed.

"Menace," You gasped, suddenly aware again of your surroundings. Dinner. Alexandria. Athena. You twisted around, and were relieved to see that Alexandria's eyes were open and alert.

"Synovus? What - Mom!"

You had experience being thrown by people with super strength, which was probably all that had saved you from worse injuries when Alexandria had panicked and shoved you. Nothing broke, but you were pretty sure that shoulder was going to be purple for a while.

And honestly, you didn't blame her. All you could see of Athena, at the moment, was an arm coated in gray dust.

As soon as your breathing had returned, you had moved back to help your panicked protégé move rubble. But this wasn't the first destroyed room you'd ever been in, and Athena wasn't your mother, so you had noticed a few things Alexandria had missed.

For one - no one else was moving yet. All three of you had super-something, and you'd reflexively shoved Alexandria behind you. Potential outcomes: that blast had been enough to kill everyone else, or you three had just recovered first.

Two - no sirens yet. You'd heard Alexandria, so your hearing wasn't shot entirely. That meant either the response force wasn't on its way, or it wasn't coming. Or it was already here.

Three - the wall was now open to the street, and the street was occupied. Three individuals, standing upright. One of them was pointing at you.

You had been a villain much too long not to know what that meant.

At this distance, with the lighting being what it was, you couldn't tell if they were costumed. Admittedly, that didn't mean as much as it once had, the costume was more of a thing than a requirement. But you were without yours, and so was Athena, and so was Alexandria. If you were lucky, they hadn't seen your faces.

"Get her to Oflok." You told Alexandria quietly, ducking so that you were blocking her from view.

Alexandria had looked up, too shocked to cry, and between you and her parents she also knew what this scenario meant. "You don't have a costume." She whispered.

You smiled, but it wasn't the reassuring warmth of a hero's smile. It was your coldest, when the shadows were already beginning to fill your eyes. "I do not need one."

When you stood, and turned, the shadows fled the rubble to coalesce around you. They coated your limbs, formed the familiar shape of your helmet over your head. You were still exposed - this took a lot of energy, and you didn't have any of the padding or armoring you usually did - but not visible in the sense of identifiable as a civilian.

You were both very visible and very identifiable to the three individuals you were stalking towards.

"Lord Synovus." One of the three called, and it was a little jarring, to be identified by that moniker when you were in the other, but it didn't matter much right this moment. "Having a lovely evening?"

You briefly considered tearing them to pieces where they stood. "I'm about to." You called cheerily, letting the implication of an unhinged threat carry.

These three were either too stupid or disrespectful to heed that warning.

"You are welcome to join us, of course." A different one spoke. This one had white hair. You immediately ignored everything else about them, and mentally designated them White. "We are happy to indulge our elders."

"Is that your family?" The first speaker asked, sounding vaguely delighted. They were in a costume, one that was mostly blue. Okay, Blue it was. "Oh my, is that why you retired? Going domestic?"

This was going to be all over the fucking villain gossip vine. But that was a problem for future Synovus. Current Synovus needed to make sure those individuals weren't identified as Athena and Mercury/Menace.

You weren't above using silences to prove your points for you, but you could tell these three would just build off of each other if you didn't intervene.

"If you believe retirement has softened me." You said softly, ominous as the shadows stirred at your feet. "I invite you to test that assumption."

Something finally broke through to them about that. The third one spoke, the one who had been pointing. There was something about their eyes that you didn't like. "By your own admission, Synovus, this is not your territory anymore. We are within our rights."

You immediately pegged that one as the ringleader. "Oh, I've no intention of stopping a pack of puppies from romping." You said, the false cheer filling your voice again. "You can and will do as you like - but as you have so assiduously pointed out, I am retired. And you, aware or not, have attacked my person."

You are still deciding how to begin when the Ringleader steps back. "Time to go."

"There are three of us and one of him." Blue protested. "We can-"

"Time. To go." Ringleader says pointedly, moving rapidly away. "Synovus is stalling. I can't see the reason. We're leaving."

On a hunch, you throw a spike of shadow at them. You are unsurprised when Ringleader dodges neatly. "A clairvoyant." You identify with disdain. "And you two? Ice or Lightning?"

"Come and find out." Blue hissed, though White was the one who tried to swing at you - only to find Ringleader clutching their wrist.

"Now." You hear Ringleader say, before they raise their voice. “Is there anything I can say to make you leave?”

Blue hadn’t taken their eyes off of you. Now, they cracked their knuckles, and spread their hands as fire sparked to life and curled around them. "I'm no coward." They growled.

“So be it.” Ringleader said.

In the next heartbeat, Ringleader and White were gone. Teleportation? Ugh. But you’d deal with that later.

You smiled again, spreading your footing. "I would hate to disappoint."

---

When you finally get back to your island, you are exhausted. The dress you had liked so much before is smoke-soaked and starting to feel wrong, you'd lost one of your shoes, and despite all of the evening's violence there's still a feeling itching in your veins that wants more.

Still, the days when you could've just gone straight to your bedroom and forbidden anyone from disturbing you for a few hours are gone.

"Menace?" You call in a smoke-raspy voice, as you enter the small medical facility buried deep in the island's bunker. There are several beds here, in case more than one minion or work crew member gets injured on the job. Rosie and Oflok trade shifts when you don't have other medical staff on call.

Both of them are here now, and it's Oflok who holds up a hand to stop you while she inspects you. "Asleep for now." She answers, all business, prodding experimentally at your bruises.

Rosie is preparing a selection of pills for you, "She's in bed three. Athena is awake though. She only agreed to sit still until you got here, so -"

"I'll talk to her." You say tiredly, taking the small handful of pills and offered bottle of water. You down all of it before moving to the back corner, where they'd stashed Athena.

You find her sitting up, with her leg in a cast, and mad as hell.

"This is your fault." She hisses, turning the tablet one of your staff must've given her to show news reports. There's a nice, slow pan across the crater you'd left Blue in. They won't show Blue themselves - they were too injured for this particular news site, which you knew had some strict guidelines against gore - but they do give their name: Cobalt. "Because of you, those people are dead. And you killed that girl-"

You have a hand raised and your mouth open before you can catch yourself. The thunder of the fight still roars, and the pulse of it feels like something begging to be let out. It would be easy to hit her. A transfer of energy at its most basic. It would be easy to yell at her. Expulsion of these emotions as air into the space between you, to drown her out, to invite her to escalate or capitulate.

You bite your own hand instead and turn away. Surprised, Athena falls silent.

You close your eyes, and very gently press your forehead against the coolness of the wall. You think of the waves against the shores of your island. You think of Rosie when she's telling everyone about how well the garden is doing. You think of the way the shadows can feel like silk in your hands and the time you tried to braid them into your hair.

When you no longer want to punch something and scream, you do not turn around, but you do speak.

"I didn't kill them." You say it quietly enough it shouldn't wake anyone, but loud enough that Athena will hear you. "I hurt them. Badly. But they are not dead. Neither are the other two who were there."

The silence hums with anger.

"If you want to blame me for the deaths at the restaurant," You straighten, and do finally turn around to meet Athena's eyes, "Then I cannot stop you. I imagine it feels better than blaming yourself."

Athena's jaw works for a moment. It can't feel comfortable, with the bruising and swelling up one side. Between you, the newsreel keeps going. It's a quiet buzz that keeps this silence from deepening.

Finally, Athena looks down. She squeezes her eyes closed. "Thank you." She says, voice reluctant and raw with unshed tears. "For saving my daughter's life. And for mine."

You are prepared to leave it at that - but she looks up at you again, and there is still determination in her eyes, but it's no longer blind anger. "My name-" She clears her throat, starts again, "-my name is Minerva."

You don't really know what to say to that. So you just nod, "You're welcome to stay here until you're recovered, Minerva."

Neither of you says anything else as you stumble off to find your own place to sleep.

---

Cobalt was known for running with two other villains - Dymania and the Jester. Dymania would've been the one you dubbed Ringleader, while Jester was the one you've been calling White. Their combined gimmicks of fire, teleportation, and clairvoyance have made them difficult opponents for the lower level heroes who usually wind up dealing with them.

They're the first group to show up to try and claim what used to be your turf, but they won't be the last.

Cobalt, at least, is out of the equation for a while. It's theorized that Jester has some degree of emotional influence mixed in with her powers, but you're not convinced - people thought that about you too for a while, and you're just annoying.

Dymania is the undoubtedly the real threat. You don't know what type of clairvoyant they are, and no one else seems to either.

You spend the next morning reading all you can find on them, while soaking your shoulder and fielding messages from other villains who’ve also seen the news. Some of them just want to laugh at you. Some of them have genuine questions. Some express disgust that someone was stupid enough to attack you, a supervillain of significant renown, less than a year after you’d retired.

You respond to the first group with clips you’ve saved of their own public disgraces, the second with answers that have so many meanings as to be functionally useless unless you like them personally, and the third are invited to do something about it.

You send your replies the same way you receive the messages - scrawling them onto the papers that appear in bursts of flames, tying them to a pigeon’s or owl’s leg, or mostly, over email. You don’t even check your Twitter, just open it long enough to send, “stay off my fucking property, I’m retired, not dead.”

Around noon, Alexandria comes in to see you. She knocks on the doorframe. You open the door with your shadows so that you don’t have to get out of bed.

“Menace,” you call in greeting, voice stronger than it had been. “Welcome, to the innermost layer of my defenses, the pinnacle of my most secure bunker, impenetrable defenses of-“

“The window is open.” Alexandria says wearily, coming over to flop onto the extra space of your bed. While you gasp and feign sputtering disgust at such a lapse in security, she stares blankly at some of the news screens.

“I heard you and Mom talking last night.” She says abruptly, and you stop your act. Desperately, you rewind what you remember of that conversation. Mostly you just recall biting your own hand and something about a name.

Alexandria shifts, looking up at you. “Do you think… is that why they were so mad, sometimes?” She asks in a small voice. “Was it.. did they blame me, because it hurt too much to blame themselves?”

You fiddle with the tablet in your hands for a moment. “I’m not trained for this, Alexandria.” You warn her, “but… it is easier, to make other people responsible for our mistakes. It doesn’t solve the guilt, but it does let us avoid it, for a while. Sometimes that means we yell at things that aren’t the reason we’re upset, or pick fights with people we love.”

She isn’t meeting your eyes, and you don’t force the issue. When she glances at your shoulder, you nod and make a ‘come here’ gesture.

With that encouragement, she shuffles up the bed to sit beside you, and leans her head on your shoulder. Too late, you recall your bruises.

“Are you hurt?” Alexandria asks. She sits up again, worriedly turning to look at you, and in the process catches the loose fabric of your robe sleeve. It’s pulled down, revealing the nebula of bruises across your shoulder.

Any hope you have of passing it off as a wound from the fight ends at the expression in her eyes.

“Alexandria.”

“I did this.” She whispers, horrified.

“Alexandria.”

“When I saw mom, I - I panicked, and-“

“Alex.”

“- you - you threw yourself in front of me, you protected me, and I -“

You finally reach over, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look you in the face. “No.” You tell her firmly.

Her face is ashen. There are no tears yet, only horror. “I’m just like them.”

You sigh, and try to find a way to stop the spiral. “Oh? If you’re my parent, I think we have a few other problems on our hands.”

Alexandria finally does look at you at that, but you’re not sure this is much of an improvement. She yanks out of your grip, “Don’t.” She warns you in a warbling voice, “don’t pretend it’s any different.”

“Menace, it is different.” You sound annoyed, and try to curb that. “You are a child. They were adults. You are not responsible for me and my well-being. You didn’t hurt me because you were angry or frustrated, you were scared.”

You can’t tell if she wants to believe you or not.

“And,” You point out, though it’s ashes in your mouth, “this has happened once. If the difference in our power is not enough to convince you this is not the same, if the difference in scenario is not enough I convince you this is not the same, let it be a single event, and let that be the end of it.”

“And if it happens again?” Alexandria asks quietly.

You shrug with your good shoulder, “We deal with it then. I knew the risks, little menace. I’ve been fighting your parents for a long time.”

After a moment, she moves to your other side, tucking against you while she stares unseeing into the middle distance. “I never asked you how that started.” She murmurs, leaning her head on your shoulder. “Will you tell me?”

“It’s not much of a story.” You remark, “And your mother probably remembers it differently. But, if you insist -“

—-

You had all been fairly early in your careers - this was, what, twenty years ago? Sheesh - but it wasn’t your debuts. Actually, the territories you normally covered didn’t overlap just yet, with you only starting to stake your claim on a county in California and their stakes generally being further north, more over in Washington state.

You had still been trying to make a single gender stick in those days, and you’d decided that “Lord Synovus” sounded more imposing, so that was what you were known by. You’d heard of Legionnaire, but never met him. Athena, though she’d made a few appearances by then, was new to you.

But you were getting ahead of yourself - it started at the bank.

This was back when you still did most of the legwork for your own crimes. You had chosen this particular bank because it was near a cliff, which you planned to leap off of with your stolen loot once you escaped.

The first part of your plan had gone brilliantly. You’d changed into your costume in the bank’s employee’s only bathroom, cut the lights, and thrown shadows over all of the windows and the doors.

When you’d seen someone reaching for a panic button, you’d laughed. “Go ahead!” You’d invited them. “Really. Do it.”

You meant it, but something about your demeanor scared them. They didn’t press the button. So you had walked over, taken their trembling hand, and pressed it together.

“Always better to commit, my friend.” You’d told them.

“Pretty sure that’s not your friend, pal.” Had come the bravado-infused rebuttal from somewhere behind you.

(You learned later that he had given the building a new skylight, free of charge.)

“I’m not your pal, bro.” You’d responded fluidly, drawling as you released the citizen. “Pals know each other’s names, and I have no idea who you are.”

Sometimes you could get the heroes with that one, when they were puffed up on fame. Legionnaire - because yeah, you did know who he was, actually - didn’t take that bait.

“That’s a shame.” He’d said coolly, “How about I give you something to remember me by?”

And that had been the end of your lead-in banter. He’d thrown his shield at your head, you’d ducked and gone for a sucker punch. You focused on dodging and slipping around the furniture, while he used it as projectiles and occasionally cover.

When you’d worked your way back to where you had stashed a bag full of stolen credit, you’d said something about shadows and light - no, really, you didn’t remember, it wasn’t because it was cringey in hindsight, that would be ridiculous Alexandria - and dropped the window coverings to make good on your escape.

—

“Wait.” Alexandria says, back in the now, eyebrows furrowing, “I think I have heard this story, or at least part of it - didn’t you drop the bank on him?”

“Am I telling the story or not?” You asked, tugging a lock of her hair.

—

Okay, yes, you had dropped the bank on him. Part of it. You had weakened some of the structural integrity of the outer walls, and once you were through, you collapsed the way behind you.

You knew it wouldn’t stop Legionnaire, what with his super strength, but it would force him to choose between you or the civilians still inside, and nine times out of ten heroes chose the civilians. This time, Legionnaire didn’t prove to be an exception.

As for the civilians if he had chased you, well. They’d had the whole fight to crawl away while you were distracted, and if they hadn’t taken that opportunity, that was on them.

You had thought you were home free, as you made it to the cliff just like you planned. Then, a geyser of water, with water droplets that scattered and spun to a halt around a woman in a white chiton (luckily dry).

—-

“And then your mom punched me in the face.” You sigh.

Alexandria was losing the battle against her own grin. “Knocked you flat in one blow, as I’ve heard it.”

“Knocked me flat? Try broke my jaw. I couldn’t even banter as I scuttled away. It was humiliating.”

Alexandria giggles, “The way Dad told it, you were struck dumb by Mom’s beauty.”

“Since when has being dumb ever kept me from opening my mouth?” You ask her, quirking a brow. “Anyway, I thought you said you didn’t know how we’d all met.”

“They never said it was you.” She explained, shrugging. “Just a villain they encountered.”

You scoff, genuinely offended, but Alexandria pats your arm and says, “They were kinda distracted - they had come down that far south for their honeymoon.”

“Really?” You ask skeptically. “Weird place for a honeymoon.”

“I think they were still traveling.”

“Well, that would make more sense.” You concede.

“Mom says now that should’ve been an omen.” Alexandria remarks, watching an advertisement that’s come on while you’re talking. “You showing up like that. She’s said before that you have a habit of showing up around important events in her life - I wonder if she blames you for the divorce instead of me?”

You shift to stare down at her, “They got divorced?”

Self conscious, Alexandria gives you a tiny shrug. “A few months ago, from the sound of things. Dad’s not doing too well. Did you really give that villain a spiral fracture?”

The topic change comes as the news reel returns, this time with more updates on Cobalt’s condition, leaked by one of the surgeons, probably.

“Yeah.” You admit, frowning. “But some of those are bogus, or at least not from me. I only broke the left arm because they kept trying to choke me and shove fire in my face. If their right wrist is broken too, that’s on them.”

“How did you manage that?” She asks, sitting up and turning to look at you.

You shake a finger at her, scolding, “Don’t you deflect conversations about emotionally fraught topics into requests for physical violence demonstrations. I’ll have you know I’m immune to those.”

“Is that why it’s worked the past few times?” Your menace asks, wrinkling her nose.

“I may not have meant immune, I may have meant the other thing, but it doesn’t matter.” You declare, turning off the news. “Because we… have birthday celebrations unfinished. To the dungeon!”

—-

Your minions are just as fond of Alexandria at this point as they are of you. Ergo, of course they would’ve wanted to celebrate her birthday at home.

Jumping out from behind corners or blowing kazoos in the dark is generally a bad idea when dealing with super powered individuals though, so it wasn’t quite a surprise party in the most traditional sense. You were pretty sure Alexandria was okay with that.

Instead, most of the furniture in the dungeon/brunch room was cleared out of the way, so that everyone could fit inside without shuffling awkwardly along the walls or getting pushed out onto the balcony against their will (or over the balcony, but that had only happened the one time).

Oflok and Doll had made the cake, Rosie had filled the room with flowers and wove a crown of them into Alexandria's hair. Heather, your quartermaster, was hawking over a table full of presents in what you honestly thought might've been a draconic instinct. Theo, your usual tech guy, was already asleep on a lounger on the balcony, but you knew from personal experience he'd be awake whenever the cake was served.

And you'd made sure to have someone fetch Athena - Minerva - in her reluctantly-accepted wheelchair, to bring her down to the festivities too. You'd be lying if you said you weren't looking forward to showing her you were better at throwing a birthday party than she was.

After people had had time to do their rounds, and claim their favored chairs, you moved to the empty space at the center of the room, and pressed your hands together. The room grew quiet. Expectant.

"Menace." You address your protégé with a small flourish, indicating the space in front of you. "Alexandria. Stand before me."

Alexandria took the few steps without too much hesitancy, though she did seem a little nervous. You hoped that meant no one had told her about this particular tradition.

Drawing on all of your sense of gravitas, you spread your hands before you. "You have spent several months residing in my domain, and been welcome all throughout that time. While it makes my heart glad to extend such an invitation indefinitely, you have served me loyally, and such service deserves recognition. Therefore -"

You raised your voice a fraction, enough to draw in your crowd a little more. "- I offer you the chance to claim this house as your own. To make this no longer my sole realm, but one shared, as our time and goals have been."

Alexandria hitched in a breath, searching your face. "And the price?"

You were so proud of her it was ridiculous.

"There is but one cost." You said solemnly. "You must prove your skill. You must defeat me, here and now, and in so doing, make your claim unwavering."

Doubt flickers across her face, consternation, but you aren't finished. "I am inviting you, Alexandria, Menace, my student and my friend - to engage in a revolution."

You point past her, to where your minions have parted to reveal the screen and dance boards you'd sent Theo to set up earlier. As she turns, you declare, "A dance-dance revolution."

---

As per tradition, you do wind up winning.

While you are good at the game, you think this time you had a truly unfair advantage - Alexandria could hardly breathe to put up a fight because she was laughing so hard. Your minions heckled you mercilessly, you ignored all of your normal sense of grace or dignity, and after you had won, while you were crowing about an undefeated crown, someone pressed a pie tin filled with whipped cream into Alexandria's hands.

She got you square in the face.

"Ah," You'd remarked, doing your best to wipe the confection out of your eyes and only managing to smear it into your hair, "Like mother like daughter, I see. She's inherited your aim!" You call to Minerva, who looks aghast at the entire scene.

Rosie took it upon herself to console Alexandria after her 'loss' by explaining that this was a tradition, and that no one had beaten you yet - and then turned around to place a bet on who would win between Doll and Oflok, as they stepped up to the plates.

Once you were satisfied that the tournament was in full swing, you stepped back to find an actual paper towel. You wound up standing next to Minerva.

"I cannot believe," She said slowly, watching the current bout while you scraped your eyelids raw, "That after all of these years fighting you, all I had to do to defeat you. Was win at an arcade game."

You look up long enough to flash her a grin, and drop into the chair next to her. "What a shame you can't compete now." You lament, indicating her leg. "Perhaps one day, Lady Athena, we will end our dance."

Minerva snorts. You're both quiet for a moment, watching the rest of the party. It brings you the closest thing you've ever managed to peace, watching this family of yours - not that you'd ever say that out loud - engaging in the age-old tradition of attempting to out-ridiculous each other.

"I actually started playing the game as a form of physical therapy." You admit. You're not sure why. "After that time I got crushed by that mound of a hero - what was his name?"

Minerva gives you a look, raising a brow. "Thunderhawk?"

You groan, "Yes, that was it - not sure how I managed to forget, with how often he liked to shout it."

"He did favor... self-advertisement."

You roll your eyes, "He didn't know the root of his name either. I tried to educate him. It went right over his head."

As you sigh, Minerva considers something. "You do - or did - that a lot." She remarked. "Tried to lecture while mid-fight. I never did learn why you were spouting all those vocabulary words at us that time in Reno, though."

"Ah, that - I'd been hiding in the library down the street waiting for a hero to show. I got bored, so I decided to ransack the shelves for forbidden knowledge."

"And wound up with a dictionary?"

"Thesaurus, actually. I was saving the dictionary."

"Well, I'm glad we could save you from such a dreary fate as education."

You're almost sure that's a smile, and that she's more amused than disdainful.

Then something changes. She blinks, rapidly, and her hands tighten on the arms of the chair she's in.

"Minerva?" You prompt her quietly, offering a hand. You don't feel anything out of order, but perhaps her senses reach further than yours, particularly tied to water - when was the last time you'd had someone check the alarm sensors?

"Don't." She says in warning, and you immediately withdraw your hand. "I can't - I can't be in this room right now."

You nod. "Balcony or hall?" You keep your voice soft, angled so that you're talking only to Minerva, your body forming a barrier between her and the rest of the room.

"Balcony." She whispers.

You gesture to the wheelchair's handles, "May I?"

Once she nods, you swiftly rise, sweeping your chair out of the way with one leg while you take up your self-appointed duty as chauffeur.

"Really, you're quite wrong." You say cheerfully, at a loud enough volume that you could be overheard as you begin to forge a path towards the balcony doors. "I promise you, we're at exactly the right point for the Orion constellation to pass overhead, and I can prove it-"

You continue your spiel as you reach the doors, for all appearances intent on proving yourself right in a nonexistent debate on constellation patterns. Once you've made sure no one else is out here to overhear you, you fall silent.

The air out here is balmy rather than cool, but the sea breeze is still pleasant. You lean on the railing, head tilted back, and watch the stars.

You pass a few moments in silence before Minerva breaks.

"I don't understand." She says, and it's more like a cry, though for what you don't know. "How can you do this?"

You shift, resting your weight on one arm to look at her more directly, "I'm afraid you're going to have to be more specific."

Minerva gestures at the party behind you, "All of it! Yesterday we were caught up in a terrorist attack, last year we were trying to kill each other, and now we're - we're what, sharing cake?!?"

Her voice breaks, and you lower yourself to sit on the balcony, legs poking out through the breaks in its railing to swing in the open air. You give her a chance to continue, and she does.

"I thought - I thought that all of these people, you were manipulating them. That you had hunted them, found them at their lowest, so that you could - could make them love you, be loyal to you, so that you could use them. I thought that was what you wanted with Alexandria, what you wanted with me. I thought that - that anyone who knew what you were and supported you must be-" She cuts herself off, making desperate motions as though the words can be drawn from the air.

You lean back until you're laying flat on the balcony, staring up at the stars. "Must be evil."

There's a silence.

"You know I'm a liar, Minerva." You say, "You know I have kept things from you. I am a killer, on scales small and large. I have kidnapped, extorted, tortured. There are holes in my moral foundation that would put the Grand Canyon to shame."

Absently, you pick out the patterns of constellations. "But that does not mean I cannot love. Nor does it mean I must forgo the lesser kindnesses. We, you and I, and all of our cohorts and enemies, live with a casual violence humans were never meant to. You couldn't have done anything to save those people yesterday. And you would still kill me, kill most of the people in that room if you had to."

You roll your head to look at her, "If you're asking me if that makes you evil, I can't help you find that answer."

While you watch the sky, she is watching the waves. "We're all someone's monster." She murmured.

You lift your hands briefly, then let them fall back to your chest. "And we're all someone's idea of happiness."

"I thought you would mock me." Minerva says suddenly.

"What?" You blink at her, "For having questions about morality? That's-"

"At the restaurant. If I told you my name then." You realize she's picking at the cloth of her borrowed shirt, and decidedly not looking at you.

You frown, "Well, I mean, it did answer a question I'd had for a while." When she glances at you warily, you explain, "I had always gotten the impression that you had modeled your persona after Legionnaire's. Given his preference for all things Roman, I assumed you would've taken the Roman aspect. But if 'Minerva' was your real name..." You shrug.

Minerva stares at you for a moment, pressing her lips into a line. "You're going to mock me." She says grimly.

"Is it that bad?"

She sighs, "Albion thought 'Athena' sounded sexier."

Earlier, you had told Alexandria that you'd never been struck dumb-silent. Now, you'd have to revise that answer. Because there are many layers to this that you have to mentally unpack, while your facial expression does heavens-knows-what, until you stuff your hand into your mouth to keep from spouting out something terrible.

"Albion?" You squeak, when you're sure you won't burst out laughing instead.

"Legionnaire."

You take a very deep breath. Then you let it out. "Oh. Oh that man never had a snowball's chance in hell, did he. And he-" You snort, and bite your lip to contain the fit of laughter, condemning it to silent shaking.

"I told you." Minerva muttered, resting her head in one hand.

You might be crying. It is Alexandria's birthday, but you have been given a gift.

"My dear Minerva." You say, once reason has returned to your vague area code, "Your ex-husband. Is one of the stupidest men I've ever met. And I have met a lot of stupid people."

You're fairly certain Minerva is blushing.

"Well," She says, after a pause, "I suppose I can't refute that."

"In particular," You comment as you get to your feet, brushing off any grime from laying on the ground, "He is incredibly wrong about your name."

Definitely blushing.

"I -" Whatever Minerva was going to say is lost, as Alexandria throws open one of the balcony doors.

"Synovus!" She calls, face flushed, "I want a rematch!"

---

[Part two of this installation in the Synoverse coming soon!]

[necros-writing-stuff]

yandere pc who adores eden and is only too happy to be his perfect little house spouse. lets him do anything he wants to them, even if it doesn't particularly interest them. sometimes follows him into town for his supply runs, 'just to make sure no perverts try anything'. god, their entire relationship is just them obsessively trying to wrap the other around their finger to make sure they'll never want to leave, not even realizing or caring they're being manipulated in turn.

So long as you know to back off and give him his space when he needs it, Eden is all good with you being an obedient love-struck little pet.

Your presumption that you could do anything to people he can’t fight off amuses him greatly, but allows you to trail along on trips anyways. Well, he holds your leash the entire time, just to make it clear you’re owned. It settles his mood a little when he makes the trips.

He won’t allow you to manipulate him once he notices. No, It’s his job to make you his toy, not the other way around. Even if your end goal is to never leave, he won’t let you dominate, even if the domination is done through false submission to ease him into a sense of security.

This stuff is much heavier, so I’m putting it under the cut. Abuse and noncon warning.

I had a talk with whitneys-pet in milky’s server about Eden causing a yandere PC by trapping them in his basement that he uses to keep food cool. No light. No sound apart from the one leaky tap that drips water to keep you hydrated. No food. Eden checks on you every so often to give you a cup of water, and that’s it. When he lets you out you’re clingy and broken - and Eden knew that it would work because it was done to him when he misbehaved at the orphanage. He would turn into a shell for a while before regaining his rebelliousness. 

You end up equating your worth with how often Eden beds you. You cry and beg him to take you when he denies your attention, you even start riding him in his sleep so that he can’t find the will to stop you when he wakes up. And if he keeps denying your affection, he may find himself in the basement, too.

To quote what I said in the discord: “You can't see in Eden's head. Can't see how he panics down there because it already has been done to him. When he was young. In the orphanage. It's how he knows how well it breaks people. It's why he chose to do it to you - even got some sick satisfaction from enacting what was done to him on someone else. But now he's stuck with his imagination to keep him sane, and that damn leaking pipe.” 

Eventually, you’ll come back for him. He’ll be so desperate for touch that he’ll push you to the floor and roughly take you over and over. His hand on your throat controlling how you breathe is a great comfort to him. It helps him gain just a little bit of control.

Again, to quote myself: “It's hard to see where he is in his mind when he grabs you and forces you down. Usually you love Eden's touch, but right now it's scary. Eden doesn't know where he is himself. Things are blurred, all he knows is that raping the body beneath his own will make everything okay. It'll give him control again, and he can forget about all of this. He likes that you sob from the pain, even if you pull him close and insist that he go harder, if he likes. If this is what you have to do to get his attention, you'll suffer.”

And when he finishes, you both return upstairs. Neither of you address how fucked up the relationship has become. You just settle into a routine that evolves around your need for his affection and Eden’s obsession with control. You’re the perfect object to exert his strength on. And yes. He means object.

[bakugouscentedcaramel]

🍺It's Corona Time🚑

Of y'all thought I had self control you'd be sorely mistaken, and yes humor is my coping mechanism 😤👌🏻💖

Warning: The following Crackcanon may be distasteful to some readers. It is important to know that the crackcanons below are not meant to be taken seriously and were made to be funny while Val was under the influence of one too many Melatonin gummies. Please take the necessary precautions when it comes to exposure to any virus/infection. This message was not funded by Corona beer.

Bakugou

Can't stand to watch the news anymore, do people really not know how to combat a virus?!

Aggressively asks people how they're feeling and "insists" on them staying home if they feel unwell, just ignore the padlocks on the dorm doors

The dorm always sends him out to buy food and toilet paper, who would want to fight him over a roll of butt paper?

Chances of catching the virus: 8%

Midoriya

If you ever have any questions about the virus, Izuku is your info broker

Not only is he keeping an eye on what the media says but he's also focusing on what medical professionals are saying about the outbreak

He's definitely a beacon of hope when it comes to the hysteria, always reassuring people of the ways they can protect themselves and the people they care about

Chances of catching the virus: 5%

Todoroki

He's unfazed by all of it

Can't understand the hysteria with it all but he definitely understands the concern

Tries to make efforts to make sure everyone is taking the right precautions

Overall nothing really changes with him

Chances of catching the virus: 2%

Denki

"Hold my phone, I'm going to start coughing violently so our asses can get some ultra soft"

Yep he's using this as a way to joke around, and does he regret it? Not one bit

Catch him making tik toks about the virus and calling it the "Boomer Remover"

Despite this however he's definitely stepped up his hygiene, meaning no more axe in the halls

Chances of catching the virus: 25%

Iida

"That wasn't a 30 second hand washing, Kaminari! Again!"

Yep he's the hygiene police, he even went as far as to give people physicals until Bakugou put a stop to that, nearly setting the West wing on fire

Buys toiletries straight from the factories and even passes out the excess to the locals

Tries to discredit the myths about it but eventually sounds like a paranoid broken record

Chances of catching the virus: 1%

Toshinori

He's genuinely worried, after all he is at high-risk

That is until the faculty collectively decided to place him, and only him, under quarantine, or as Toshi puts it: House Arrest

He can't exactly complain, spending days inside gave him no choice but to relax, and he can still talk to Izuku via skype

Chances of catching the virus: .001%

Aizawa

"I better catch it, I could use the sick leave"

He's the true millennial

He's secretly hoping for a quarantine inside of a nice hospital room

Uses the excuse of feeling under the weather so he can have undisturbed naps

Chances of catching the virus: 10%

Shigaraki

He's pouting in the corner like a child because this virus is getting more attention than the League, despite all news feeds collectively ceasing coverage of any criminal activity to cover the pandemic

He eventually gets over it once he realizes he has an excuse to stay inside and play video games all day

Eventually milks this virus for all it's worth

"I can't go outside Kurogiri, what if I catch it"

Chances of catching the virus: 10%

Dabi

"Hah, I hope Endeavor catches it."

He legit cannot give less fucks about this virus

Claims it gives him a reason to roast more people

Goes to the store just to buy Corona to claim he "Caught a case of the Corona"

Overall little shit who enjoys the memes a bit too much

Chances of catching the virus: 15%

Chisaki

His worst nightmare is coming true and he honestly can't cope

He joins the countless people flooding stores to buy out shelves of antiseptics, even going as far as to use them as mace against anyone who dare fought him for his cart full of medical supplies

Carries a yardstick for anyone who comes too close to him, yes you have to talk to him a yard away, no exceptions

Chances of catching the virus: 25%, poetic justice and all

[ridiasfangirlings]

1) Prince Fushimi lives in an underground world where the sun never shines. Yata is a knight-traveler who accidentally meets him and learns that Fushimi has two main desires in life: secret (Niki's death) and to see the sun. But Saru does not inform about the first one. Yata accidentally kills Niki and drags Fushimi to the ground world. At this moment, the sunrise begins and Yata asks how it is? Fushimi says that he has seen the heavenly sun before, it is not impressive.

Is it really a secret that Fushimi desires Niki's death :P So imagine Fushimi lives in like this secret underground world lit by a bunch of lights that create something of an artificial sun. The people who live in the underground city are like outcasts who purposefully cut themselves off from the world above, believing that their artificial light will sustain them long after the sun has died and that underground they can live a simple life with no wars and no hardship. Really though maybe it's like a twisted place where the elite control the artificial sun, because the lights require so much electricity to power the ruling class will turn the light off for even days at a time over the main part of the city and only let the light reach their homes in the higher levels. Fushimi lives in one of these homes, his mom is the owner of like a generator farm that supplies a lot of the power and so people are always bribing her for access to light and power. Niki has a bunch of generational wealth that he doesn't use for anything worthwhile, he prefers to tease his son instead and occasionally likes to spend his time locking Fushimi in places where he can't see even the artificial sun.

One day Fushimi's down in one of the lower towns hiding from his awful parents when he hears the sound of like the law enforcers chasing someone down. All the rest of the people just watch with disinterest as the guards come running after this kid wearing a long cloak and unfamiliar armor. The kid runs into what looks like a dead end, Fushimi's watching from the shadows and knows a good escape route but he doesn't see why he should tell this stranger. Something compels him though and he ends up calling 'over here,' grabbing the kid by the hand and leading him down this secret tunnel where no one can follow. Once they're safe the kid pulls off his hood to thank Fushimi, Fushimi finds himself staring a little at the kid's bright red hair and slightly tanned skin. The kid is also wearing armor with a sun emblem and Fushimi doesn't recognize it at all, he suddenly realizes that he's staring and clicks his tongue as he mutters that only an idiot would get chased by the guards this way, did he steal some food or what.

The knight shakes his head, telling Fushimi that his name's Yata and he came from the kingdom above ground, he fell into a tunnel during battle and stumbled on this place unexpectedly, he didn't even know it was here. Yata says the guards called him suspicious and chased him, Fushimi rolls his eyes like of course you’re suspicious idiot, a little kid running around in a weird suit of armor. Yata's immediately like hey I'm not a kid I'm 16 and anyway my armor is awesome, this is the armor of the Homra kingdom. Fushimi's never heard of that kingdom and doesn't see why he should get tangled up with a stranger, Yata's problems are none of his business. Yata's like hey wait I don't even know where I am you could at least help and Fushimi scoffs that he already saved Yata once, Yata better not be stupid and put himself in need of saving again.

Fushimi expects that will be the last time he talks to the weird knight but then they meet again in the city later, Yata removed his armor after thinking about what Fushimi said and has like been posing as a regular citizen. He thinks this underground place is really weird but he's intrigued by Fushimi, who seems like he knows everything but never tells Yata anything about himself. Fushimi doesn't want to get attached to Yata but Yata like gives him a place to stay where he doesn't have to be near his parents and Yata's the first person to call Fushimi amazing and before he knows it Fushimi finds himself getting a crush. At the same time he knows eventually Yata will go back to his world and leave Fushimi behind, Yata says that won't happen though he wants to bring Fushimi with him into the sun.

Fushimi thinks it's too good to be true but he wants to leave more than anything, to see the sun and be with Misaki forever. They start making a plan to escape the city but then say a few days before they plan to leave Niki finds the map to the surface that Fushimi plotted and didn't hide well enough. No one's supposed to ever be allowed to leave and Niki starts taunting Fushimi, he knows all about Yata and can turn Yata in to the authorities so Niki will have his little monkey all to himself. Niki like grabs Fushimi by the arm and shakes him around, causing Fushimi to cry out in pain. Yata suddenly comes barreling in wearing full armor, slamming Niki into a wall all panicked because he heard Saruhiko scream and thought Fushimi was in danger. Yata realizes that Niki isn't moving and starts to freak out but Fushimi's just like 'good, he can rot for all I care' and grabs Yata by the arm, saying they need to leave now.

They manage to evade the guards and make the long trek up to the surface, Yata stepping out first and then helping Fushimi to step out into the sun. The sun is just rising and the sky is all bright and red and Fushimi just stares at it wide-eyed. Yata grins at him and is like 'it's the best, right?' and then Fushimi turns and looks at him, just bathing in the glow of that smile. Yata asks if he's okay and Fushimi clicks his tongue before murmuring that 'well, the sun isn't that impressive after all.' Yata's like what how isn't it impressive the sun is super pretty and Fushimi takes Yata's hand, kissing it as he says that he already saw a brighter sun, every time Misaki smiles at him it's more dazzling than any sunrise.

[shyrose57]

Brothers anon and I actually was skipping through the official City of Mizu episode and realized I missed Skeppy as a idol. So if you follow Skeppy you get to learn about different kinds of gems and what they can be used for, get trained on proper safety when mining, what to look for and avoid when mining, and they also get to go on supply runs that specifically require mining, though not many people follow Skeppy because mining is dangerous. Also I missed Charles personality a good bit so ima change it to where he's still quite, reserved and anxious, but is adventurous, curious, dedicated to his interests, and when given the chance or talking about his interests he gets very excited and talks a lot. Like a excited puppy. 

1: People can get kicked out of a idol following for many reasons, like disrespecting the idol and their peers, claiming some of the history their learning is fake, attacking anyone in the city (like stabbing, they just get chastised for fist fights), and breaking multiple rules of the city. And some people don't choose a idol, though its highly unlikely as those who don't know what idol to pick tend to pick Tommy or Tubbo. Those who choose not to choose a idol, tend to only work in farming, as its a easy job to learn. Its for these people that the idol-less council member was added, the council member also represent other cities and kingdoms that do still acknowledge and trade with Mizu. Most houses are actually built out of the side, like how we saw the idol rooms in the official episode, and their kind of scattered about, theres some halls filled with homes, but some halls have no homes. The halls with the homes tend to be the biggest/widest halls of the city, as to allow for room for the families living there, and also because theres sometimes stores in this area. Some halls also have multiple levels to allow for more room, these specific halls are referred to as Residential Complex, and only house homes in their multiple levels. While halls that hold only a few homes arent called anything special. Because outside affairs are very complex, most kingdoms and cities ignore Mizu, treating them with disgust and some times, people who have done supply runs that go into cities have reported having higher prices on what they want to buy, and disrespect from all citizens and police. But some kingdoms and cities respect them and trade with them without any tricks. The councils main agurement in this situation is that, the nice city is very far away, a weeks travel, but the mean city is close, only a 2 day walk away. They agure about what to do and what city to travel too for all supply runs. And another agurement that the council often has is what to do with visitors, they had visitors in the past that had destroyed and stole items in Mizu while causing disruptions, but some also brought their own culture and items and happily exchanged said culture and items. So their conflicted on if visitors should be welcomed or turned away. 

3: He went through what Ranbob did, being held to high standards that he just couldn't meet. But unlike Ranbob, he spoke up about his problems and managed to get held to lesser standards and allowed time to recover. When he moved out he originally lived on his own in a forest, and because he was vulnerable to monsters he didn't know how to handle, he had to make many fast paced despite when cornered by monsters or when trying to save crops or his house. And since he was also the oldest child of a 6 child family, he had to constantly look after his siblings, giving him his father-like attitude and knowing how to help people in basically almost any situation. His siblings are (current ages) Nick-17, calm, information nerd, introverted and Benjamins favorite brother. Rock-10, a tiny gremlin that loved to mess with people, he often broke bones or broke items when playing due to his rough play style and broke rules, Benjamin was the only one who could calm him. Ion-16, a teen that is very adventurous and always wandering off, she always talked about traveling the world, the hardest one for Benjamin to keep track of. Stellar-13, in love with space, but other than that is a normal child, but she also has a fascination with monsters like enderman, often wondering where they come from, Benjamin doesnt have any strong opinions on her.  And finally, Juka-15, they are very invested in redstone, often experimenting on it and trying to make different things with it, often the stuff they make blows up, Benjamin admires Juka's persistence and love for redstone but also wishes they'd stop blowing up the damn kitchen. 

8: Totems do exist, their just so rare its not believed Techno managed to have and use one. So that part of the story got lost and left out over time. Pandoras vault has fallen, mostly because of a break out by Dream that destroyed most of it, and because it had fallen into disrepair. And they do have such advanced technology to make such a prison now, but they doubted the SMP had such technology and availability to do it in their time. And there is also a great lack of evidence (expect for the actual building, but even then people agure it was used for something else) supporting the existence of Pandoras Vault. 

Ran and Ranbob used to feel confused and hurt, not understanding why the world hated their home and why the world was so mean to them. Over time they learned why they where shunned, but still didn't completely understand. Eventually they grew used to it, and learned to avoid saying where they lived, unless they wanted to partake in a fight. They very very rarely say that they came from Mizu, as they had learned long ago from both classes and personal experience. But a few times it was revealed they lived in Mizu, they had to just endure it and move along, even though Ran really wanted to punch a fucker. They became friends when Charles went to him during the trip to the flower field, asking to join in on a game he was playing. Its a miracle the two didn't get a heart attack tbh.

10: He was not! Ranbob was too weak for Dream to access all of his powers. And Dreams constant hold of control and withholding food and all the essentials from him, made him even weaker. No one is aware of it, not even Ranbob. A mix of pissed, a weird sort of pride, and determination. The pride and determination is there because knowing Dream thinks that way of them, confirms that they're enough of a threat that Dream actually acknowledges them. And helps them believe that they could truly beat Dream if they tried. Though it also means Dream will try his damned best to kill them. 

13: Yeah he comes out on top, he still has some advantages over the others even without tatics, like his speed and he knows how to sneak around and use the area to his advantage pretty well. 

14: He seemed more finicky, more nervous and anxious. Constantly trying to seperate himself from the group when he tends to stay very close by. And more on edge/quick to snap at others.

 Ayy! Starting off with Skeppy and Charles, what a wonderful way to begin. How did Skeppy’s few followers mine? Were there mines under the sea floor? Did they travel out of Mizu to go find mines in the earth? 

1: Hm, interesting. The idol-less leader seems to have quite a bit on their shoulders, if they deal with all outside affairs. Were they specifically selected to learn their position? Since you said most of them farm, but all those politics and stuff seem kind of different from it. Does Ranbob remember any of the nice cities? Did either boy ever meet a former visitor that recognized them from back then?

3: Benjamin’s family sounds really cool. Does the gang ever get to meet them? If so, how do they get along with them?

8: Huh. Well, how about Woodland Mansions? What happened to those, to make totems so rare? So Pandora still stands today? Cool. Does the gang ever come across it? Where would it be located-or well, what areas would be around it? Is it used for anything else nowadays?

And that sucks. If this happens while the brothers are at odds with each other, do they still help each other out with it, since they’re being mocked about their home, or do they just ignore it, and such. How do their respective groups feel both about them being from Mizu, and how they’re treated for it, both before and after the two hauntings started to merge? Did it effect how they thought of them in anyway?

And that sounds cute. What game was it, and who won? 

10: Hmm. Was Dream aware he was causing Ranbob to become weaker, or was he that out of touch with human needs? Also, I think I remember way back then, you mentioned this part of Dream was the evil bits that survived his death.

What do you think would happen if they somehow managed to end up seeing the good parts, maybe with a similar artifact that Ranbob found in your supposed fluff?

13: Nice.

14: Oh, no. That’s not good.

[n3rdlif343va]

With all these science-related puns, (bless you, chemistry anon) just imagine a College! Victuuri AU where they're just experimenting in the laboratory and all of a sudden, when the two of them completed a formula, Victor just straight up says, "I believe we might have some chemistry." To which Yuuri replies, "Sorry. How do you want me to react to that?" XD

ANON!! My brain is exploding with this wonderfulness!! (also, this could be a “The Prince and Me” AU… right???) And because I have no self control…

After two years of college, Yuuri had lab down to a science. He would choose the lab table furthest from the professor, dropping his bag onto the second stool to create a false impression that it was saved for someone else. By the time lab partners were assigned there would be a small sigh from the teacher and a whispered question as to whether Yuuri was comfortable working alone. The answer was always yes, even if it meant shouldering the entire cost of the supply list.

Smiling as he watched the professor close the classroom door, Yuuri sighed with relief at another successful class without a partner. The hurried “I’m so sorry, Professor!” made Yuuri’s head shoot up, taking in the flustered form of a human too beautiful to be real.

“Ah, Mr. Nikiforov, happy you could join us,” the professor glanced around the room waving a hand in Yuuri’s direction, “Mr. Katsuki needs a partner. Please have a seat so we can begin.”

Burying his face closer to his notebook, Yuuri tried to hide his rippling panic. There was a tiny flutter of excitement fighting for attention in Yuuri’s mind and he felt his cheeks flush as his otherworldly lab partner slid into the seat next to him. Pretending that the professor’s instructions on their first lab were the most interesting words to have ever been spoken, Yuuri stared forward, forcing himself to ignore his partner’s glances.

“Alright, you have your instructions,” the plump professor clapped his hands as he rocked onto his heels, “let’s see what you’ve got!”

“Hi, I’m Victor!” Trying to keep his voice light, Victor reached his hand out to his new partner. It was impossible to ignore the jealous stares of the other students, and Victor couldn’t stop smiling as he scooted a bit closer to his partner’s side. He was gorgeous in a way that Victor couldn’t put into words, but he would definitely sneak a picture later so that maybe Chris could.

A hand thrust in front of Yuuri’s face and he swallowed hard trying to remember his own name. Sighing, he accepted the hand shake, muttering “I’m Yuuri” as he dared to look up. Blue eyes and perfectly styled silver hair made his cheeks blush redder. Victor was definitely older than him, but his smile was bright and open in a way that Yuuri could never be. Without thinking, he continued to shake Victor’s hand, smile creeping over his lips as they let the handshake continue to bob past any reasonable point.

“Boys?” Their professor stood next to their table, a knowing smirk on his face as his students dropped their joined hands and turn sheepish looks in his direction. Laying down a lamented sheet, their professor raised an eyebrow, “periodic table for two?”

While most of the class groaned at their professor’s bad joke, both Yuuri and Victor laughed watching their professor walk away with a jovial bounce. Shaking his head, smile still quirked in amusement, Yuuri set about measuring out their chemicals.

Watching Yuuri from the corner of his eye, Victor set their burners to light, almost catching his fingers in the flame when Yuuri’s tongue poked out between his lips in concentration. His partner had said exactly two words to him and Victor was already imagining candlelit dinners and slow kisses in the park. Forcing himself to concentrate on the task in front of him, Victor placed the last glass tube in it’s place, nodding at Yuuri.

They moved together seamlessly. Words became easier as they worked through their experiment, each step being an anticipation of what the other one was going to do. Unlike the other partners who seemed to be struggling with awkwardness and wrong calculations, Victor and Yuuri were a flawless team, completing their experiment to perfection a full thirty minutes before any other team. Grinning as their professor praised them, they sank back on their stools to wait for the end of class.

Yuuri was sticking his tongue out again as he furiously jotted notes on his pad and Victor couldn’t stop himself from poking his partner on the cheek. When Yuuri turned to look at him with a confused smile, Victor blurted, “you know… I think we have some real chemistry.” He tried to recover from the cheesy come on by wiggling his eyebrows.

Deadpanned, Yuuri responded, “were you looking for a reaction?” It wasn’t the best chemistry joke he had ever made, but the laughter escaped him as Victor’s own laughter echoed through the classroom.

“I love you,” Victor wheezed, holding his stomach. Panicking when he realized what he said, Victor spat out, “I love food. Do you like food? Wanna food with me?”

Pushing Victor’s bizarre declaration from his brain, Yuuri nodded, reaching for his backpack. “Sure I’ll food with you,” he chuckled, waiting for Victor to stand up with an excited bounce. Yuuri blushed as Victor’s arm came around his shoulders. Walking out of the door, Yuuri cocked his head to look at Victor. “Hey Victor? Do you know the chemical formula for banana?”

The rest of the class never heard the punchline, but as Victor’s laughter floated back to them, the class halted all progress to start their dating pool for the two lab partners.

Send the Salty Nerd Reasons to Laugh

[prepare4trouble]

a member/ a few members of the Ghost crew crash on a distant planet and don't get rescued for years. They worry about how the war with the Empire has gone, and if the rest of their family think they're dead... No pressure!

A huge thank you to @pomrania for braving the feels to beta this for me :-)

Day 1

“Karabast!”

Ezra’s frustrated curse broke the silence that had filled the Phantom, and Kanan felt a burst of anger through the Force at the exact same moment that he sensed Ezra drew back a fist and thrust it forward toward the wall.

“Ezra,” Kanan said, warningly.

Whether it was Kanan’s warning or his own self-preservation instinct, Ezra stopped himself inches before he impacted the side of the storage unit.  That was good, they had medical supplies and a limited amount of bacta, but a broken hand would be difficult to deal with under the circumstances.

“Sorry,” Ezra said.  He still sounded angry, but suitably embarrassed about the outburst.  “It’s just, the circuits are fried, and I could fix it, but…”

Kanan braced himself.  He knew exactly what Ezra was going to say.

“All the spare parts are gone; someone’s moved them.  And all the tools, anything that’d be even halfway useful for spaceship maintenance anyway.  Unless they’ve put them someplace else on the ship, we’re stuck here.”

He had known that was coming.  He had already known the finer details of their predicament; he had helped to orchestrate it.  Still, hearing that was harder than he had expected, hearing Ezra’s reaction to it was harder still.

“Well, stuck for a few days at least.  Until Hera organizes a rescue party.”  Ezra added.  “I’ll check in back.  Maybe they moved things around or something.  How’s the comms unit looking?”

Kanan briefly turned his attention to the comms unit on the control panel in front of the copilot’s seat.  Knowing exactly what was going to happen, he activated it and heard nothing, not even static.

“Right,” Ezra said, sounding even more dejected. “Figures.  Okay, We’ll have to check the rest of the ship for something that’ll help, then look through the cargo.  I know it’s mostly food and medical supplies, but I didn’t see the whole manifest. Maybe there’s something useful in there.”

There wasn’t. Not useful for ship repairs anyway.  Kanan knew that Ezra was going to look regardless, but he needed him to do that later.  The longer he left it before telling him the truth, the worse it was going to be.  He sighed.  “Ezra,” he began.

Ezra was already working on opening storage units and checking the inside of every access panel for spares that might have been left there by accident on a previous repair.

“We were expected to be gone a couple of days,” Ezra said.  “Hera won’t even be looking for us yet.  And what about the mission to Jedha?  The people there will be relying on these supplies.”

“Ezra,” Kanan said again.  “There was no mission to Jedha.”

He could sense Ezra’s understandable confusion.  “What are you talking about?  The supplies…”

“Are for us,” Kanan finished for him.

That got his attention.  Ezra stopped what he was doing and turned to face Kanan.  Kanan imagined him staring, searching his expression for a sign of what he meant.

“Sit down,” Kanan told him.  He indicated the other seat with a wave of his hand.  “There’s something I need to tell you.”

Day 2

Ezra was angry.  He could feel the dark side of the Force nipping at him, whispering tempting ideas into his mind.  He ignored it, suppressed it, pushed it down as deep as he could manage.  Instead, he took a deep breath, adjusted his position on the ground, and tried to concentrate on his meditation.  Losing himself wasn’t going to help anything, not when he was already lost in another way.

Still, the fury remained.  Kanan had betrayed him.  Hera had betrayed him.  And maybe they had done it for the best of reasons, but the least they could have done was discussed it with him beforehand.

“You would never have agreed,” Kanan had told him, when he had said just that.

He had shaken his head angrily at that.  “Of course I wouldn’t have agreed.  Why did you?!”

They still should have told him.  Even if it meant they would have had to drag him kicking and screaming onto the ship, they shouldn’t have lied to him.  They shouldn’t have sent him off on a mission in a ship that they knew kriffing well was going to stop working when they reached a certain point, drop out of hyperspace and crash them who-knew-where.  A ship that Hera had rigged to do just that.

He had a right to be angry.  Even Kanan had said so.  Although he had cautioned him to be careful.

He had known something was strange when the Phantom had lost power.  The way it had veered toward the planet before the engines had cut out entirely, the way the electronics hadn’t gone until they were well inside the orbit, none of it had felt right.

He wondered whether Hera had received his distress call as they went down.  He wondered what she would have thought if she had.

Kanan told him they had received intel that the Empire was coming for them.  Not for the Rebellion, not for Yavin 4, not even specifically for the Ghost, although all of those things were a real and ever-present threat.  The Empire was coming for the Jedi.  For him and Kanan.  One last push to remove the last of the Force users that they didn’t control from the galaxy.

It didn’t make any sense to hide them away.  The Empire would be coming regardless.  True, they might plan to take out the biggest threat first, and then come for the others, but surely without the two of them there, it would only mean that the Empire would come for the rest of the Rebellion sooner.  And there would be no Jedi there to help with the fight.

“We’re a weapon,” Kanan had told him.  “If they think we’re dead, they won’t be expecting us, and Hera can return for us either when we’re most needed, or when the Empire is defeated and we’re free to live our lives.”

In other words, they had been placed into storage, like a valuable tool that the Rebellion didn’t want to lose in case they needed it later.  Well, he wasn’t a weapon, he was a person, and he was angry.

What made matters worse — but at the same time a little better — was that Sabine, Zeb and Chopper had no idea.  On the one hand, it meant that they hadn’t been in on it; they hadn’t lied to him.  On the other, it meant that when Ezra and Kanan didn’t return from their mission, they were going to be told the official line.

The Phantom went down, the Jedi are dead.

Everybody was going to be told that.  Not only Sabine and Zeb, but his friends in the Rebellion: Hobbie, Wedge and the other pilots.  The Resistance movement on Lothal: Ryder Azadi and the rest of his cell.  The only people who knew the truth were Hera, and Senator Organa.

And what if something happened to them?  Then where would that leave Ezra and Kanan?

Stupid question.  It would leave them exactly where they were right now, stranded on some unknown planet, alone, for the rest of their lives.

Day 4

“They’re going to have heard by now, aren’t they?” Ezra said.

Kanan almost flinched at the unexpected words.  It was the first thing that Ezra had said to him in days.  He knew exactly what he meant; Sabine and Zeb, Hera would have had to have told them something by now.  He nodded.  “They might.  It depends how Hera decides to handle things.”

He hoped they knew — or thought they knew — what had happened, but it was going to be difficult for Hera to handle that part, and although they had discussed it, it hadn’t been possible to come up with a coherent plan before they needed to leave.  There would be no bodies, no evidence of the crash, nothing that they would be able to show to anybody to support the idea that the two Jedi had died.  After just a few days, Sabine and Zeb wouldn’t just give up and accept it.

If their positions were reversed, Kanan would never stop searching; he would never stop believing that there was a chance.  Neither would Hera, not if this had been real.  If after a few days she were to simply shrug and tell people that Kanan and Ezra were probably dead, it would seem wrong. It would seem exactly like the lie that it was, and nobody would believe it.  Rumors would start to circulate, and there was a good chance that somebody would guess the truth.

On the other hand, he couldn’t expect her to keep pretending, to continue to search, knowing all the time that she wasn’t going to find them, knowing exactly where they were.  He couldn’t expect her to keep up that act, to lie to Sabine and Zeb, and even to Chopper, over and over again.  Because every time she acted as though she believed that the next planet would reveal something, she would be lying to them, and every time it would become more difficult.

“Do you think maybe she decided to tell them the truth?” Ezra said.

It wasn’t impossible, it would certainly make things easier in one way.  “I don’t know,” he admitted.  “The more people that know, the more dangerous it is.”  That was how the Rebellion was run, nobody knew everything, and the more valuable the information the fewer people were privy to it.

“I just hate to think of them thinking…” Ezra broke off without finishing.

Kanan nodded.  “Yeah,” he said.  “I know.  Me too.”

“Yeah, well,” Ezra said, and Kanan could hear the snarl in his voice, “Maybe you should have thought about that before you agreed to this stupid plan.”

Day 7

If Ezra had been involved in the planning of this stupid idea, he would have — well, for a start he would have told them how stupid it was, and refused to have anything to do with it — but if it really had been unavoidable, he would have made sure they had a functional comms unit.  Even if they didn’t use it, it would have been good to know that they could.  It would have helped with the feeling of complete isolation.

It might also help if he could bring himself to speak to Kanan again.  But that was going to take a while longer.

Day 10

Kanan had known this was going to be difficult, he just hadn’t realized how difficult it was going to be.  He had anticipated Ezra’s reaction; he felt angry and betrayed, and Kanan didn’t blame him at all.  Of course, Ezra didn’t understand the level of the threat.  He didn’t understand how afraid Hera had been when she had made the suggestion.  He didn’t realize that although they had lost part of their family temporarily, the alternative would have been so much worse.

And Kanan, he hadn’t understood how hard it would be to be away for so long.  Once, he had believed that it would be impossible to survive without seeing Hera again, and he had been forced to learn that wasn’t true.  In time, he would learn the same about this.  But he ached to talk to her again; to hold her, to have her tell him everything was going to be okay, and to promise her the same.

He was very glad they had sabotaged the comms unit too, or it would have been very difficult not to give in to the urge to break radio silence.

Day 16

“Did you actually choose this planet?” Ezra asked over a dinner of ration bars one evening.

Kanan shook his head.  “Not me.”

Hera then.  “Do you even know where we are?”

Another shake of his head.  “It’s not important.  I know it’s uninhabited and there’s nothing here that should attract the attention of the Empire.  The place is heavily forested, and wood isn’t a resource the Empire has much need for, but the trees would delay any construction making it unattractive for them.”

“It’s definitely unattractive,” Ezra agreed.

Kanan frowned, obviously not understanding.  “There’s nothing here worth mining, and it’s been left alone so far.  There are plenty of sources of fresh water, and the plants are mostly edible.”

Ezra eyed the crates of food he had believed were destined to feed the people of Jedha.  They weren’t going to need the plants to be edible.  Not unless… “Kanan?” he asked.  “How long is Hera planning on leaving us here for?”

Day 23

“You probably don’t know this,” Ezra said one morning.

They were gathering the edible berries that grew on the vines that wrapped several of the trees not far from the crash site.

“I mean, you almost definitely don’t know this, but these berries do not look appetizing.”

Kanan hadn’t even thought about it.  The vines were mercifully free of thorns, and he ran his hand over the surface until he located one of the fruits, squeezed it lightly to test its readiness, then plucked it and dropped it into the bag.

“They’re yellow,” Ezra added.  “Not that there’s anything wrong with yellow, but it’s this kinda, sickly, off-white yellow, and when they have any damage on them, the inside oozes out, and that makes me think of…” he hesitated, “unpleasant things,” he finished.

Kanan nodded, and opposed one of the berries in his mouth.  Whatever they looked like, they tasted delicious.  “Sounds horrible,” he said with a smile intended to show that he didn’t care.

“Yeah, but not as bad as the things hanging on that tree,” Ezra said, giving no indication as to which tree he meant.  “And hey, did you know the leaves of the trees are kinda purple here?”

Again, unsurprisingly, he hadn’t known.  He had seen different colored trees and plants on different worlds around the outer rim.  He had seen trees that changed color for certain seasons, and trees covered with sharp needles instead of leaves.  He had never really paid attention to any of it, it had all simply existed in the background of his awareness, but he knew it was there.

He could get a good idea of what this world might look like simply from calling on past experience and what he could hear and sense around him, but until Ezra had mentioned it, he realized that he hadn’t done that.  He hadn’t even considered it.  He had shaped his opinion of the world based entirely on what he could hear and feel and taste and smell, and what he could sense through the Force.

“Is that a good thing?” he asked.  “Purple trees?”

“I don’t know,” Ezra said.  “It’s just a thing.”

Kanan nodded.  “It’s not so bad here, is it?” he said.  “It could have been a lot worse.”

Ezra scoffed and Kanan heard the sound of several berries being dropped into his bag before he replied.  “Oh, yeah, it’s great,” he said sarcastically.  “Know what’d make it even better? If we had the option of leaving.”

It would have been tough to argue with that.  There were probably worse places in the galaxy to be stranded — well, of course there were worse places in the galaxy to be stranded, Kanan had been stranded in some of them — but even though he had agreed to coming here, it was difficult not to feel like a prisoner.  It had to be worse for Ezra, who had been given no choice;  no foreknowledge.

“I’m sorry,” Kanan told him.  “If there’s been any other way…”

“Yeah, you said,” Ezra told him, curtly but without that sense that he was cutting him off completely.  He just didn’t want to hear it right now.

Things really could have been worse though.  The ship had landed in woodland, a short walk from a river that was a good source of clean, fresh water.  The air was likewise clean and unpolluted, and smelled of fresh greenery— purplery? — or of damp leaves underfoot, depending on the direction the wind blew.

The ground had taken some getting used to.  It was soft underfoot, years of falling leaves had built up to a surface that his feet sunk into easily.  It made walking difficult, and at first it had confused his ability to sense his surroundings, until he learned to compensate.  It was very comfortable to sit on though, like meditating on a soft bed.

Above their heads, the canopy rustled constantly as the breeze worked its way through the leaves, adjusting its tune to match the weather and the time of day.  It meant that it was never completely silent there.

Whatever color the trees were, or the berries, or the ground or the sky, it felt beautiful.  One day, he was going to show it to Hera.

He hoped.

Day 32

“Again.”

“Seriously?”  Ezra sighed before getting back into a defensive stance.

Kanan didn’t wait to reply before he lunged at him without warning.  Ezra dodged out of the way.  He ducked into a roll then leapt to his feet, lightsaber in a defensive position.

He took a breath, then began to advance on Kanan.  He ducked another blow, then switched his weapon to his non-dominant hand and attacked.  The change of hand threw Kanan for a moment; not long, but long enough for Ezra to gain the advantage.  He caught his Master off-balance, and ended the match with a few lucky swings.

He grinned as he offered a hand to help Kanan to his feet.  Kanan accepted it graciously.  It was their fifth sparring match so far today, and only the first that Ezra had even come close to winning.  He was almost certain that Kanan had let him win, but he couldn’t stop himself grinning anyway.

“You’re improving,” Kanan told him.

“Nah, I just got lucky,” Ezra insisted.

Kanan shook his head and placed a hand on Ezra’s shoulder.  “You’re improving,” he said.  “Ready to go again?”

Ezra sighed, but prepared himself.  “Nothing else to do, I guess.”

Day 50

Kanan arranged the firewood ready to light the campfire for the night.  One good thing about the planet, or possibly about their location on the planet, was that so far it hadn’t been cold.  A little chilly sometimes, but nothing that shutting themselves inside the Phantom overnight couldn’t fix.  They didn’t need the fire for heat, not to heat themselves anyway.  But there were certain vegetables that needed to be cooked to make them palatable.  The fire also provided Ezra with a light-source, and as such had become a fixture every night, whether they were cooking or not.

Oddly, there didn’t appear to have been much change in the length of the day and the night, which made it difficult to tell which season they currently found themselves in.  At the same time, the weather hadn’t changed much, leading Kanan to suspect that they had been lucky enough to land in a temperate area.  Or maybe the whole planet was like that.  Hera had selected it, she would have chosen somewhere where life would be easier.

But if it did grow cold, it was good to know that they could build a fire, as well as that they had an ample supply of blankets and warm clothing.

He sensed Ezra’s eyes on him as he finished building the fire.  “You know,” Ezra said.  “That’s one practical application for a lightsaber that I never thought of before.”

“Lighting a fire?” Kanan asked.

“And cutting the wood.”

Kanan nodded.  It was more than a weapon, it was a useful tool in so many ways.  But that particular application wasn’t one that he had considered either, until they had found themselves here.

“So, what’s on the menu tonight?” Ezra asked.  “Boiled unnamed vegetables?  Or the other unnamed vegetables that don’t need to be cooked?”

Kanan gave him half a smile, then ignited his lightsaber and touched it carefully to the wood shavings at the centre of the pile.  They had more than enough of both to last them through any winter that might come, and so far they had proved to be easy to store without having to worry too much about them perishing.  The longer they spent on the planet, the more they relied on what they found there, keeping the long-lasting supplies they had brought with them for times when they either really needed it, or wanted a break from the monotony.

“I was thinking,” Ezra said.  “Maybe we should give these vegetables and stuff names.  It’d make it easier to know what we’re talking about.”

It would, especially given Ezra’s tendency to describe things as ‘the green one’.  Kanan shook his head.  “I don’t think we need to.  It keeps things interesting.”

Besides, starting to name things felt a little too much like giving up and calling the place home.

Day 83

Ezra shifted uncomfortably on the bedroll laid out on the floor of the Phantom.  At the other side of the ship, he could hear Kanan breathing quietly.  Ezra rolled onto his back, supported his head in the palms of his hands with fingers intertwined and stared up at the darkness above him.

Nights on the planet were dark.  It had no moon, and the thick canopy of leaves meant that it was difficult even to see the stars from their location.  It was probably different down by the edge of the river where the trees thinned out, but he had never been there at night; he knew that if he was, he would have to stay until dawn or stumble back through the forest in almost complete darkness.

Of course, that wouldn’t have been an issue for Kanan, and neither was the fact that inside the Phantom at night there was no light at all, a darkness so absolute that his eyes could not adjust even enough to show him shapes, or the outline of the viewscreen.  Even after so many weeks on the planet, he had still not grown accustomed to it.

He hadn’t mentioned it to Kanan.  He probably wouldn’t mention it; what would be the point?

“Kanan?” he asked.

There was the slightest pause before an answer came from the other side of the room.  “Can’t sleep again?”

Ezra shrugged, a gesture that felt even more pointless when he couldn’t see either.  “Did Hera tell you how long they thought we’d be here for?  I mean, is this what you expected, or did you think we’d be out of here by now?”

“I don’t know,” Kanan told him.  “It’ll take as long as it takes.”

“But you must have had some kind of an idea.”

“I didn’t,” Kanan told him.  “I don’t.”

Ezra sank into silence.  He got the impression that Kanan had been almost as in the dark — figuratively speaking — as he was over this.  He might have agreed to it, but he had no idea what he was actually agreeing to.  And just like Ezra, he had no idea what was happening out there in the rest of the galaxy.

“Do you think they’re okay?” Ezra asked, breaking the silence again.  “I mean, you don’t think anything happened to them, do you?”

Kanan’s only response was an impression of tension transmitted through the Force, and for a moment, Ezra was almost glad that he couldn’t see him.

Ezra sighed.  “No.  They’re fine,” he said, not sure not whether he was reassuring himself or Kanan.  “I guess it’s just taking a little longer than Hera thought, right?”

Only, surely if she had really believed it would be that long, she would have come up with another plan.  She wouldn’t have sent them away to hide for so long, not when there was so much good they could be doing.  Either things had gone badly wrong with the war effort and it simply hadn’t been possible to come back for them, or something had happened to Hera.  The fewer people that knew the secret, the more possible it was that none of them were left alive.

He didn’t want to think about that.  He didn’t ever want to think about that.

“Maybe they’ll come for us tomorrow,” he said.

Kanan answered him with silence.  Ezra looked up at the darkness above his head and didn’t sleep until the first rays of light began to penetrate the viewscreen of the Phantom.

Day 102

Fall was beginning.  Ezra had mentioned the leaves overhead beginning to turn from their deep purple to a lighter, less healthy shade, now Kanan felt them beginning to fall to the ground, joining those from previous years in piles on the ground.  There was a chill in the air, not so bad that they needed to change their habits, but enough that it felt different.  So, the planet had seasons after all.

They shouldn’t have been here anymore.  Ezra had been right, that night in the Phantom weeks earlier; Kanan did had an idea how long they should have been waiting, and they should have been home by now.

He flexed the fingers of his right hand, still feeling the ghost of Hera’s touch, and the words that she whispered in his ear, “I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.”

They had packed more supplies than needed, and deliberately picked a planet that they knew was livable in the long term, because they had known there was a chance that it might be longer, but it was such a slim chance that they hadn’t even mentioned it.  They were supposed to be home by now, and the fact that they weren’t worried him.

He thought he would know if anything had happened to Hera.  It was something he felt as though he would know, no matter where she was in the galaxy, no matter how many lightyears there were between them.  But of course, that wasn’t necessarily true.  The truth was, he had no idea what was happening outside of their little corner of this tiny world, and he hated it.

If something had happened, if he had been there, might he have been able to prevent it?

Agreeing to this was the worst decision he had ever made.

Day 162

Ezra grinned widely as he deactivated his lightsaber.  It might not be the ideal way to learn, but the opportunity to practice every day for so long had definitely improved his technique.  He had thought he was good before, but now he felt ready for anything.  

It was too bad he was probably never going to get the chance to try out his new skills in the real world.

Day 214

Kanan carefully poured the river water over the tiny marrow plants growing in the vegetable patch by the side of the river.  He could feel the sun warming his skin, and the water behind him bubbled as it hit rocks and bumps in the riverbed.  He knelt down and carefully dug a small hole to begin the next row of plants, spacing them so that each one had enough room to grow, placing the roots into the soil and covering them over with his hands, pressing down to ensure they were held firm.

Winter had been mercifully short, and spring had arrived.  It felt like a good time to plant the infant plants that had grown from the seeds he had harvested at the end of the last year.  After weeks of careful cultivation back at the Phantom, while he had worked over the patch of soil by the river, it was time for them to move into the ground and try to thrive.

When he was finished here, he would move on to the three kinds of root vegetables that they had found.  Each had their own patch of soil, and if things went well, within a few months they would have all the food they needed to get them through the rest of the year.

When he had finished and watered the second row, he turned his face skyward.  They were still out there somewhere, he was sure of it.  As much as he tried not to think about it, it was impossible.

He wondered whether Hera was thinking about him too.

Day 287

The floor of the treehouse was smooth to the touch, seared by the lightsaber that had cut the wood.  Ezra’s bedroll lay pushed up against one wall.  The treehouse was empty otherwise, and would probably stay that way.  It wasn’t like there was anything on this planet worth stealing.  Still, it was nice to have his own space again.  He hadn’t had that since Lothal.

The treehouse reminded him of his tower, in a way.  The higher vantage point allowed him some kind of a view, not much, but more than he could get in the Phantom.  And as an added bonus, some starlight penetrated the area, and he could see at night.  Not much, but enough.

Since moving up there, he had slept better than he had in years.

Day 349

The fire crackled as the wood burned, the smell of fire filled the air, and Kanan breathed in deeply.

Next to him, he heard Ezra do the same.  They hadn’t cooked tonight, instead, they had finished off the very last of the rations they had brought with them, two ration bars that Ezra had been saving.  It had felt like an occasion, although Ezra had insisted that it wasn’t.

Nothing special, just a day.

They were now completely reliant on the planet to provide for them, and it would.

“Do you still wonder what’s going on out there?” Ezra asked.  “How they’re doing?”

Kanan turned to face him.  It didn’t make any difference to him, but it seemed to put Ezra more at ease.  “Every day,” he said.

“Me too,” Ezra told him.  “But I think we’re going to have to learn to live with not knowing.”

Day 431

The irrigation system that Kanan had set up to feed water to the vegetable patch was working well, but Ezra’s absolute favorite of the new innovations they had come up with was the one that moved water from the river directly into the camp.  Not only did they have water on tap, but he had been able to have a shower again.  He couldn’t remember the last time he had been able to treat himself to something more than a quick wash in freezing river water.

In the summer, if you showered in the evening, the water would be warmed a little by the sunlight, before being slowly released onto whoever was lucky enough to time it correctly.  The trick was to beat Kanan to the shower, but still to be late enough that the water was warm.  But to be early enough that it hadn’t already begin to cool.

Ezra won more times than he lost.  He suspected that Kanan let him.

Life was good.

He still ached to know what had happened; to see his family again, to talk to them, to know that they were okay.  But then maybe it was better not to know.  As long as he didn’t know, they were still up there, fighting the Empire.

They always would be.

Day 569

Something was wrong.

Kanan felt something disturbing his meditation, but couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was.  A feeling, something coming from deep inside him, but something that he couldn’t quite identify.  Something familiar, but long-forgotten.

There was a sound.

Kanan opened his eyes.  It wasn’t an intentional thing, he barely even realized what he was doing until he turned his face skyward and was disappointed not to see the sight that he had anticipated.

It made no sense.  On this planet, he had never seen.  There was no reason to expect to see anything in the sky.  There was no reason to expect to see the sky at all.  That had been lost to him a long time ago.

As had the sound.  He concentrated on it; a distant humming in the background, still so quiet that it was difficult to tell whether it was real or imagined.  He knew it well, and it had been a long time since he had imagined that sound.  In the early days, he had heard it all the time.  It had roused him from his sleep and interrupted his meditation and his training sessions with Ezra.  It had never been real, and as time had passed it had faded away completely.

He had long since accepted that he would never hear it again.

It was growing louder.  The sound of engines, of metal cutting through an atmosphere.  Beside him, he sensed it claim Ezra’s attention too.  That meant it was real.  That meant…

“It might not be them,” Ezra said.  “It could be the Empire.”  Kanan could hear anticipation in his voice, excitement, but also doubt, as though he didn’t dare let himself hope.  To believe something to be true and then have it proven wrong would be too painful.  Especially now.

But it wasn’t the Empire.  Kanan knew the sound of those engines.  He recognized the exact pitch, the hum, the way that the air around him seemed to vibrate.  He closed his eyes again, and reached out into the Force, searching for familiarity, and almost instantly, he found it.

At that exact moment, he heard Ezra’s sharp intake of breath as the ship came into view, sensed his disbelief and excitement.

“It’s them,” he said.  “Kanan, it’s really them!”