#blue flame nia

[teshadraws]

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

[Chapter 59]

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Tobias and Nia head to Kaleido Bay to find Dismas.

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Toby dips his fingers into cold yellow paint, taking a moment to wiggle them around and savor the sensation. He smiles. It’s not often that they get paint from the market instead of their homemade stuff, but there was a sale when Mama dropped in at the market yesterday to drop off the mail. This yellow is brighter than the kind they make at home, and thicker too.

Carefully, Toby lifts his fingers and smears paint on the rough rock wall of the cave, right where the sunlight shining from the entrance stops in a hard line of light. He’s working small right now, trying to put the finishing touches on the picture he’s been working on for forever.

Or an hour. Same difference, really.

Chipper humming accompanies him as he works, from his left. Vivi’s piece is a lot more…what was the word Papa used? Abstract. A lot more abstract than his. She seems to be working totally on instinct, barely pausing to wipe off her hands before jamming them into a different color to slap onto the wall. He can hear her tiny claws catch against the gritty rock every once in a while.

Toby uses careful fingers to paint the next part of his picture, one of the most important parts: the fire. He starts at the base and winds his fingers up to make trails of flames. Then he does it again, to thicken the yellow and help it stand out.

He leans back, hands tacky with drying paint, and tilts his head to consider his work so far.

Four charizard fly across the cave wall, close together in a diamond formation, their wings spread wide. Some of them look a little…lumpy. But the orange paint Papa made by mixing red and yellow stands out bright and warm against the tan of the rock, and he still thinks it looks nice. He even got the right eye colors. Blue for him and Mama, and green for Vivi and Papa.

“That looks good,” their papa says from behind them, where he’s been chipping away at a new instrument for someone, alternating between using his tools and his own sharp claws.

Toby turns his head. “Really? We don’t look too…lumpy?”

Papa rumbles a quiet laugh. “I am kind of lumpy, so I think it looks great. Why are my eyes blue?”

Toby frowns, looking back at the picture. “That’s me!”

“You’re going to be even bigger than me and Mom?”

“Well yeah,” Toby says. He crouches to dip a claw into the red paint, then adds it to the center of the flames at the charizards’ tail tips. Perfect. “Mama says we have to eat all our berries and veggies to get big and strong and you don’t eat all of yours.”

Toby can feel his father’s dry look on his back. He refuses to turn around, biting back a smile.

“Yeah,” Vivi chimes in, eyes still locked onto her colorful, blobby mess. “Why do we have to eat our greens if you don’t?”

“Because I’m already big and strong,” Papa says, laughter in his voice.

“But did you eat your veggies when you were a charmander?”

“…Yes.”

“Are you lying?” Vivi asks, turning with a suspicious expression. Her hands and arms are caked in different colors of paint, some dry and some fresh. She’s not wearing her oversized red scarf, for once. Papa convinced her to take it off earlier so she wouldn’t get paint on it.

“…No.”

“You are!” She says with an accusatory point, delighted.

Toby laughs, then sing-songs, “Mama says it’s bad to lie, Papa!”

Nobody answers Toby. The cave is suddenly silent. Somehow, the space feels emptier than it should.

Confused, Tobias turns. Papa is…gone. And so is Vivi.

Panicked, Tobias turns around, but no one else is here. Instead, the cave is dark, heavy clouds and distant rain dimming the light of the sky.

He’s alone.

Tobias backs up and trips over one of the paint bowls, catching himself on the wall. He freezes when he sees the hand that caught him, covered in red. He…he didn’t get that much red on his hand, he knows he didn’t. He was careful. But it has to be paint. It can’t be anything else.

Where is his family? Vivi? Papa? Mama?

Why is he the only one left?

Tobias jerks awake, nearly falling right out of the shelf he’s sleeping in. He stops himself just in time, and stares at the hand that he caught himself with. Dry and its usual orange color.

It takes him a few moments to recognize where he is once he looks up, panting.

It’s a quiet, dim room. Fairly spacious. Gray dawn light is just starting to leak in through the closed curtains. A fire pit sits in the middle of the space, only a few embers still glowing from the fire last night. Most of the alcoves set into the opposite wall are dark and empty.

Right, he’s…at the inn. At the human settlement. In one of the sleeping alcoves.

Tobias glances to his side, used to Nia sleeping right next to him. But they’d taken separate, smaller shelves when they first arrived here. Junie is probably snuggled up next to her still fast asleep. The room is silent, so it doesn’t seem like he woke anyone else up, either.

Tobias takes a deep breath, heart still fluttering in his chest, and rubs at his eyes, damp with tears. Ugh.

Tobias slips out of the alcove, glancing over his shoulder as he makes his way to the door. Nia is indeed curled up beneath a blanket in her own shelf, pointed ears just barely visible as they poke out of her cocoon. Junie is likely close by. Clara the innkeeper and a togedemaru who came in late last night are also sound asleep in their own little recesses.

Relieved, Tobias goes outside and closes the door softly behind him. Then he moves to the wall surrounding the town, standing atop the step at its foot so he can see over the barrier and into the valley below. The town is quiet at such an early hour.

Tobias closes his eyes and takes another shuddering breath, bending to press his forehead against the stone. He hasn’t had a nightmare like that in…a while. They do tend to surface more when he’s thinking a lot about the outlaw trio, though, so it makes sense.

Doesn’t mean he doesn’t hate it. He can still smell blood and rain.

Tobias hears the quiet flutter of the inn’s curtains behind him, then an equally quiet flutter of wings. He turns his head just enough to give Junie a tired glare.

The rookidee settles on the wall by his arm.

“Is Nia awake?” Tobias asks.

“Ha. No. She sleeps like a rock. I, uh…heard you.”

Tobias stays silent.

“Did you have a nightmare?”

Tobias grunts an affirmative, too tired to feel embarrassed. He looks out over the trees in the canyon instead. The sky is slowly lightening from black to gray, bringing definition back into the world.

“Do you want to, uh. Talk about it?”

Tobias snorts. “No. Do you?”

“Not really, but I thought I’d check.”

They both fall quiet again. The breeze carries voices their way from farther into the settlement. Tobias can faintly hear someone calling to the baker to put the next batch of rolls in the oven.

“Hey,” Junie finally says, hesitant. “Are you gonna be okay, today? Talking to that jerk in the jail cell?”

“Probably not,” Tobias admits. “But I don’t really have another option. I need answers, and he has them.”

“Fair. Just…good luck, then.”

“Aren’t you coming with us?”

“Nah. I think I’m gonna stay here until you guys get back.”

Tobias frowns, finally looking at the rookidee head-on. “Why?”

Junie shifts on her tiny feet. “Well…this seems like an important thing. To you. A, uh. Private thing. I didn’t think you’d actually want me there.”

Tobias is surprised she’s being so thoughtful. And for a moment he wants to agree. He remembers—vaguely—what he did at the crobat’s grave in the desert. He can’t imagine this will be much better.

But then he remembers what Junie said yesterday while talking about her parents, voice light with forced levity:

“They think I’m too annoying.”

“You can come,” Tobias grumbles, pillowing his chin on his arms again. “Just can’t promise it’ll be a fun trip.”

Junie doesn’t answer for a long moment. “Actually, I was thinking I’d stick around here anyways. You still don’t trust Will, right?”

Tobias frowns, looking at her from the corner of his eye. “…Right.”

“I could be your little spy on the inside. Hang around to make sure him and Rosalind don’t do anything suspicious while you’re gone.”

“You think Will’s suspicious?”

“Well…not as much as you do. But if Rosalind is so cautious, that’s kind of a red flag, isn’t it? And no one would suspect me of all people to be doing a little espionage. Might be good to see if I can notice anything weird going on.”

That’s…a surprisingly good idea. “Wish Nia thought the same.”

“Yeah. She’s not dumb, but she can be pretty dumb about this kind of stuff, huh?”

“Desperate is more like it,” Tobias mumbles. “She wants to go back to the human world so badly that it’s like she’s blind to anything that’ll get in the way of that.”

“We’ll just have to be her eyes, then.”

Tobias makes a vague sound of agreement. He admittedly likes the idea of having someone here to keep an eye on things while they’re gone, but…

“Just be careful. I don’t think Will would do anything obvious, but…”

“Aww, is the big bad lizard worried about me?”

Tobias fights the urge to shove her off the wall again, rolling his eyes. “Nia would be upset if you mysteriously disappeared.”

“Suuurrre,” Junie laughs. She nudges his arm with her whole body, and he barely feels it, light as she is. “I’ll be careful. I’m pretty good at acting oblivious and talking my way out of problems.”

“More like you are oblivious and don’t know when to shut up.”

“Eh, same difference.”

Tobias’ mouth twitches as he fights off a smile. “Well. Thanks, I guess. Don’t die.”

“Same to you, Toby.”

Junie stays strangely quiet after that. Slowly, the sun rises and light starts to paint the valley, color creeping over the land. After a while, more doors open and close. More voices greet each other as the settlement wakes and begins the day.

Tobias peeks again at Junie. The rookidee is a puddle of blue and black and yellow on the warming stone, eyes closed and feathers blowing softly in the breeze. For just the briefest of moments, he thinks of his dream, of little hands covered in paint and a grinning orange face, so much like his own, next to him instead. His heart clenches.

Tobias takes a deep breath and looks back out at the canyon. He needs to wake Nia soon. She got to sleep in yesterday, but he wants to make it to Kaleido Bay by a decent time today.

They’d geared up already the evening before, packing enough food, hydration berries, and water for the short trip south. Nia had clearly been reluctant to leave the little settlement behind before getting to explore it fully, staring longingly at the tailor’s shop in particular. Maybe they could stop by there on their way back through, before heading back to the Haven.

They’d also bumped into Fidel in the evening, and had let him know about their plans. The zoroark had seemed concerned, probably guessing that their journey south had something to do with Rosalind’s private chat, but he’d simply wished them safe travels, letting them know that there would be a place for them to rest when they returned.

Tobias turns, looking back at the inn. “We should get going. You sure you want to stay?”

“Yup! I’ll wake Nia if you wanna grab breakfast. It’s funny seeing her flail around in her blankets.”

Tobias huffs a laugh, agreeing and heading towards the little bakery a few buildings down. Their front door is propped open, the smell of fresh bread wafting out, so Tobias hesitates for only a moment before going inside.

Luckily, the simisear and chansey running the place don’t seem irritated to see someone so early. They’re actually apologetic for not having more to offer, only honeyed rolls and toasted nuts finished and ready for the day. Tobias quietly assures them that the food smells delicious before accepting three servings, each wrapped in cloth.

Tobias skirts past a scizor as he leaves, then heads back to the wall in front of the inn. He’s about to lean against it to eat when a flash of color he hadn’t noticed the day before catches his eye. It’s…a mural, painted onto the side of one of the buildings.

Tobias hesitates, glancing around at the mostly empty walkway before grabbing the food and moving to get a better look. He doesn’t leave the wall, but stops when he gets a better vantage point, food momentarily forgotten.

The mural is…interesting. It’s a happy scene, with a group of what Tobias presumes are humans gathered in front of a strange-looking building. A house, maybe, though it seems rather large. The humans look like the drawings he saw at the convention in Ghatha: tall, lanky creatures wearing lots of clothing, with fur atop their heads. The fur color is different depending on the human, as are their eyes and even their skin tone. Some are larger than others, and some are clearly older or younger. Tobias looks at them with fascination, scanning their smiling, laughing faces and body language.

What did Nia look like, as a human? None of these humans have blue fur, but it’s hard to think about her in any other color. Were her eyes still red? What did she like to wear?

“Finally got her up!” Junie’s voice says from behind him.

Tobias jumps, holding the food closer to himself as he turns.

Junie is flying circles around Nia. The riolu is rubbing her eyes as she walks, clearly still half-asleep. Their satchel is looped over her shoulder, though, prepped and ready to go for the day.

“‘Morning,” Nia mumbles. Wordlessly, she holds her red scarf out to Tobias.

Tobias sets their food down to follow the unspoken request, and ties the scarf around his partner’s upper arm. Nia waits patiently, sniffing the air, as Junie watches with a smug grin that Tobias doesn’t feel like investigating.

“Here,” Tobias says when he’s done, shoving one bundle of food into Nia’s arms. The other he sets on the wall, untying it with a tug of his claw so the sides fall open. Junie trills a happy noise and digs in immediately.

“Oh,” Nia says, perking up as she unravels her own meal, plopping down right on the stone to eat. “This smells delicious! Thank you, Tobias.”

Tobias grunts, joining her on the ground and taking a bite of his own food. The rolls are delicious, warm and soft with a thin layer of honey coating the top. The nuts are smoky, satisfyingly crunchy between his teeth. He makes short work of the meal, hungrier than he realized.

When he looks up again Nia is finishing up her own roll, but her head is tilted to the side, gaze focused on the mural.

“Which kind did you look like?” Tobias finds himself asking.

Nia blinks, focusing on him. “Hm?”

He gestures vaguely in the direction of the painting. “Those are humans, right? Which one did you look like?”

Junie titters above them, which means he said something stupid. Whatever. He ignores her.

Nia giggles, much gentler. “Well…all of them, I guess? But also none of them.”

Tobias scowls at that vague, cryptic answer.

Nia laughs again. “Really! We all look kind of similar, at least in general shape. There aren’t any differences as big as, say…a riolu and a rookidee. But we all look a little different from each other, too. In the human world, I have glasses, and long hair. Otherwise, I’m just kind of average, I guess?”

Tobias frowns, glancing between Nia and the mural. “What color fur did you have?”

Junie chokes on her food.

Nia smiles. “My hair? It’s brown. My eyes are too.”

Tobias has a tough time imagining that. He’s so used to looking at Nia and seeing blue and black fur and bright ruby red eyes. It’s hard to think about her as anything other than a riolu. He tries for a moment to imagine what she’d look like as a human, but can’t quite pull it together, even as he glances again at the mural for help.

Before Tobias can say anything else, a high voice interrupts. “You’re up early today!”

Tobias blinks, looking past Nia. A lillipup is bounding over to them. It takes a moment for Tobias to place the young voice.

“Asher!” Junie cries, peering over the wall, clearly delighted. “Hey, little dude!”

Asher morphs back into his zorua self, sticking his tongue out at Junie. “I’m not little! I’m bigger than you!”

“Everyone is bigger than me, kid. It’s not a high bar.”

Asher growls up at her, playful, before getting distracted and sniffing the air, much like Nia had minutes before. “Ooh, they made honey rolls?! Those are my favorite!”

“They’re really good,” Nia agrees.

“If they have honey, they’ll probably use it for dessert tonight too,” Asher muses, tail wagging. Then he blinks, looking over the three of them with new eyes. “Wait, are you leaving already?”

“Nia and I are heading south to Kaleido for a day,” Tobias says.

Nia opens her mouth, then pauses, blinking first at him and then at Junie in question.

“I’m gonna stay here until you guys get back,” Junie says, much more confident than when she’d suggested the idea to Tobias earlier. “Someone’s gotta keep an eye on things around here while you’re gone.”

Nia frowns, clearly catching on to what Junie is implying. She looks at Tobias. He holds up his hands in return. “Don’t look at me. It wasn’t my idea.”

“As funny as it is to see you glare daggers at him, he’s right. I brought it up.”

Nia seems confused by that, but she doesn’t push, glancing at Asher’s curious gaze. “W-Well…all right. If you’re sure?”

“Yup! Just stay out of trouble since I won’t be there to bail you out, okay?”

“That’s our line,” Tobias snorts.

Junie kicks a nut at his head.

“If you’re gonna stay here, can we play?” Asher asks, bouncing in place.

“Sure, little man,” Junie says, grabbing her food’s empty cloth in a foot and fluttering over to drop it on Tobias’ head. He brushes it off with a glare. “I’ll even help you set up some sweet pranks if you want.”

Asher’s golden eyes shine. “Yes! I’m gonna go get breakfast, but then we’ve gotta plan, okay?”

The zorua takes off towards the bakery without waiting for an answer. They watch him go, amused.

Nia sits up, looking at Tobias. “Well, should we get going?”

The contentment in Tobias’ gut curdles as he remembers exactly where they’re going today. He takes a breath, then nods and stands. “Yeah.”

Nia gives him an encouraging smile, then turns to Junie, expression turning stern. “We’ll be back in a day or two. Do not give Will any trouble, okay?”

“Only if he gives me trouble first,” Junie says with a wink. She hops into the air, flapping to grab their food cloths like tiny flags. “You two be safe! Make sure you send a letter if you’re gonna be late.”

And with that, Junie is gone, following Asher towards the smell of delicious food.

Tobias leads the way out of the settlement right after. Slate the nidoking is on guard duty again at the front gate, and Tobias gives the scarred sentry a wide berth as they leave, picking their way down the rocky trail. He can feel the poison type’s eyes on the back of his neck until they’re out of sight.

The path is less treacherous when they can actually see where they’re setting their feet, but it still isn’t exactly smooth. Wiry roots snake in and out of the dirt, and rocks act like staggered steps, ready to trip them up. Scratchy, prickly plants edge into the path and grab at their ankles. The trail leads up and down and around, winding down the mesa like a great serpent. Overhead, the rising sun warms the world. There’s little shade to speak of, with the bulk of the trees sprouting away from the path.

It takes an hour for them to reach the bottom of the mesa, already breathing hard. They stop for a moment to eat some hydration berries and drink some water, then move on.

The journey is relatively quiet, both of them wanting to conserve their energy and likely thinking about the destination ahead. Tobias is, at least.

They take the same trail back through long grasses that they’d taken on the way into Will’s settlement, until they hit the wider, smoother dirt path of the main road.

It’s here that Nia speaks up.

“So…what’s the plan, when we get to Kaleido? Are we going straight to the prison?”

Tobias’ mouth twists. “I think so. We want to make sure we don’t miss visitation hours, and we can always check anything else out afterwards.”

Nia doesn’t answer for a long moment. The silence feels heavy.

“And do you…want me there? When you talk to him?”

Tobias stops and looks at Nia in surprise. “Yeah? Do you…not want to be there?”

Nia did have to physically hold him back last time they found out anything substantial about Team Zenith. And he can’t promise he’ll be any more composed during this meeting. He wouldn’t blame her for not wanting to witness that again.

Nia shakes her head, eyes wide. “N-No, I do! If you want me there. I just…didn’t know if you’d want to keep it private? I wanted to make sure.”

Tobias shakes his head. His face feels hot. The Tobias from a few months ago would be absolutely baffled by him willingly—gladly—sharing anything about his past. But this is Nia. The Tobias from a few months ago barely had a friend, let alone a best friend. “No, I’d…I’d like for you to be there.”

It’s easier to face something this terrifying with his partner at his side.

Nia smiles, something in her shoulders relaxing. Like she feels the same. He hopes she feels the same. He hopes he can calm her storms like she calms his.

Filled with renewed determination, the two of them continue down the path south, to Kaleido Bay.

To Dismas, and the answers he holds.

_____________________________________________________________

It’s mid-afternoon when they spot Kaleido Bay in the distance. They see the tops of the buildings first, white with rounded points like seashells, and it’s not long before they can see the city in its entirety. It’s a shimmering thing, sparkling white and silver with pops of bright color against the blue of the ocean.

“Whoa,” Nia says, stopping to take in the sight. “I thought Rosalind was joking. Is it really floating?”

Tobias squints, holding a hand over his eyes against the sun overhead. “Maybe?”

He hopes not—a city built on an island is bad enough as a fire type, but a floating one seems even worse.

Tobias grimaces, but moves forward again.

As they get closer to the city, they also approach the white sands of the beach itself. It’s a nice area even this late in the year. There are a few Pokemon walking along the shore or camped out for a picnic. A large group of younger ‘mon are chasing a ball down the beach, shouting to each other and making a game of it.

Despite the weight that has followed them since waking up this morning, Nia perks up, tail wagging slowly as she watches the scene. When they finally step off craggy rock and tough grass and onto soft, warm sand, the riolu takes a moment to wiggle her toes in it. Tobias waits for her to get her fill, silently following her lead. It’s a…strange sensation. But not awful.

The waves crash loudly this close to the sea, a constant and rhythmic shhSHHHshh…shhSHHHshh…shhSHHHshh. If they weren’t here for the reasons they are, it’d be soothing, Tobias thinks. He closes his eyes for a moment to let the cool, salty breeze wash over his skin and tries to let it soothe some of the tension in his gut.

Eventually, they get moving again. While there are ferry ‘mon carrying visitors to the city over the water, there’s also a single bridge leading there from the shore, for those poor enough to have to walk. Tobias heads for that.

As they get closer, Tobias sees that it’s a more complex design than he realized at first, white stone—concrete?—intertwined with some kind of shiny metal. Steel, maybe. Both substances are uncommon as building materials, at least in Tobias’ limited experience, but maybe it’s important for the infrastructure of this kind of place. As they take the steps up and start the walk across the long bridge, frothy white foam crashes into the bridge’s tall supports. Tobias is just glad that it feels stable underfoot.

The way to the city is long, farther out than Tobias would prefer, the blue-green hue of the ocean getting deeper beneath them as they go. The wind picks up, too.

They pass a surprising amount of Pokemon on the way, mostly locals and workers from the looks of them. Tobias spots a few raised brows and hushed conversations once they see him. Since the majority of Pokemon they pass are water types, Tobias guesses that they probably don’t see many fire types out here. He tries to ignore them, forcing himself to look straight ahead.

Posh tourists ride by in the water below, providing some distraction. They’re either sitting in boats or atop other Pokemon instead of walking on their own feet, with lapras, blastoise, wailmer, and dondozo ferrying them to and from the city. Nia quietly counts how many parasols she sees under her breath.

As they get closer to the island, it becomes clearer that the city is indeed floating. It’s not a natural island, a protrusion from the earth below, so much as…giant chunks of artificial land, linked close together somehow beneath the waves. The gaps between almost look like canals, with water types and canoes traversing them like little roads.

While the city is much too large for Tobias and Nia’s weight to make it bob, he does notice the slightest sway underfoot when they finally reach the end of the bridge. It unbalances him almost immediately, making him stumble like he just stepped onto the Aqua Jet again.

Nia offers him her arm, but he shakes his head, flushing. He’s already getting enough looks from curious passersby. He doesn’t need to be leaning on Nia like a crutch, too.

Tobias takes a minute to regain his bearings, then leads them into the city proper. Considering it’s apparently a hotspot for tourists, it’s unsurprisingly busy, with crowds of Pokemon chatting and laughing as they pass by. Most are holding wrapped cloth packages or paper bags, surely full of treasures from a bountiful shopping trip.

Nia is predictably looking this way and that as she tries to take everything in, nearly bumping into a few of the ‘mon they pass.

Tobias supposes he can understand why. The city is interesting, if nothing else, with its tall, rounded buildings of gleaming white and silver and seams of ocean water separating out different neighborhoods. The pieces shift in subtle ripples along the waves, the unusually large gaps between buildings—nothing like Ghatha and the human settlement’s close-crowded architecture—making them overlap in his vision in dizzying ways. It doesn’t help that most of the buildings also have their first floors hollowed out, open on three sides rather than enclosed with four walls. Those spaces seem to be dedicated to sitting areas, with water-resistant tables and chairs, or just as a place to store larger statues or toys.

The city is also surprisingly colorful. Shops and stalls have tented areas overhead for shade, and they tend to use bright colors and patterns in the fabric. Tropical, well-tended flowers grow everywhere in little plots of dirt, on building corners and under windows and bordering the canals. Some of the concrete buildings are inlaid with chunks of coral or painted with accents of color. Occasional mosaics pop up underfoot too, sprawling art pieces larger than a wailmer that depict flowers and water type Pokemon. And of course, the crowds of Pokemon wandering the streets only add to the vivid mix of colors.

Rosalind did mention that this place is known for its shops, but Tobias is still astonished by the sheer variety of merchants they pass. They’re all selling different things, from food to exploration items to non-necessities that call to the rich tourists around them. One stall is selling dried berry strips, while the one next to it is selling some kind of kelp, according to the sign below it. Apparently it’s grown right here in the city, underneath the ocean. A shop selling orbs and seeds “for protection in dungeons and natural disasters” is a tempting find, but Tobias knows better than to spend his cash when they don’t need to.

Useful shops like those are far outnumbered, though, by stalls that sell nothing but knickknacks and decorations, souvenirs from the city decorated with colorful shells and coral and gems. There are even one or two shops dedicated solely to fabric and clothing, some of which reminds Tobias of what he saw Pokemon wearing at the human settlement. Lots of jewelry shops, too, which is usually a rarity in Metreja.

There are cafés and bakeries and spas. A few ferry businesses. Artists selling their wares, ceramics and paintings and drawings.

It’s something else that captures Nia’s attention, though.

“Oh, Tobias! Look!”

It’s a little glass shop. Colorful wares cover the countertop: vases and dishware, platters and trinkets, statues and jewelry. Every piece is beautiful and well-crafted, delicate but sturdy. Patterns and gradients paint them in a rainbow of hues, some shiny and some frosted. Nia’s eyes skim over them, a wondrous expression on her face.

Just visible inside the open door of the build building, a monferno glassblower is sitting at a bench, hard at work. Across his lap, he turns a long, metal rod with a confident hand. At the end of it, a green bulb of glass is being spun. The fire type uses his free hand to pinch and pull at the probably-scalding glass, creating delicate curls and wisps. It takes a moment for Tobias to notice a smaller Pokemon, a blue panpour who’s the spitting image of the simipour running the counter out front, working too. She’s blowing at the other end of the metal pole—a pipe?—with her cheeks puffed. The two Pokemon look completely absorbed in their work, focused and totally at ease with the process, as if they’ve done it millions of times before.

Tobias wonders if this glass shop is the only one here in town. Glass is rare in his experience, but here it seems to be used more commonly. A few of the shops actually have large pieces of glass covering long windows to show off the wares inside, which Tobias hasn’t ever seen done before. There’s glass elsewhere, too, smaller panes on house windows and used in decorations like windchimes.

It’s interesting. If they weren’t here for a specific reason, if they didn’t have a world to save and outlaws to interrogate, Tobias wouldn’t mind learning more about the practice.

But the reminder of what they are here for pulls Tobias back to reality, and his chest tightens. He steps off to the side to watch as Nia picks up one of the glass statues, tracing a finger over its thin, pointed horns.

Right. They aren’t here to shop. They’re here for the pangoro held somewhere below the city. Dismas.

Tobias expected to feel ready for this, after so long. Instead, he isn’t really sure how to feel. He’s wanted answers for nearly a decade now. He’s been actively chasing Team Zenith for months. And yet now that some of his goals are within reach, everything doesn’t feel quite…real.

The anger Tobias holds for the outlaws is still there, of course. As always. It’s a quiet, seething sort of hatred, a low ember that only flares on occasion nowadays but that’s always, always lit.

But aside from that?

The vindictive part of him is actually a little disappointed. Upset that some other Seeker brought the pangoro in instead of him. But he doesn’t know how well he’d fare in a fight with one of his literal nightmares, so maybe that was for the best. He’d be useless if he panicked in the middle of a deadly brawl.

Even now, he’s anxious. Even if he doesn’t want to admit it. Both to just see one of the outlaws again, and to ask Dismas the question that’s been haunting him for eight years now.

Why did Team Zenith do what they did? Why kill his family? Why kill innocent children?

Why?

That single word makes him feel a tangle of emotions so thick he could never hope to unravel it. It feels a bit like nerves in his stomach. A bit like desperation choking his throat. He hates it. But he needs to know.

Every time Tobias tries to think back to that night, tries to think of anything that could explain why the arcanine and his crew suddenly turned on them, it’s like his mind can’t handle it and cuts the memory short. He’s gotten vague glimpses of the incident over the years, but most of them come at the cost of a panic attack that sends him spiraling before he can recall the night in its entirety. So since his own brain refuses to give him the answers he needs, he just has to ask someone else who was there. As much as he doesn’t want to.

“Would you happen to know how to get to the prison from here?”

Nia’s voice, directed at the simipour shopkeeper, yanks Tobias back to the present. He looks up.

The water type seems startled by the question, but then her eyes flick over their bag and the scarf tied around Nia’s arm. Hesitantly, she nods and points right, further into the city.

“If you follow this canal to the heart of the city and straight through to the other side, the entrance to the prison is near the edge of the island. Look for red coral out front.”

Nia thanks the shopkeeper, but the riolu’s smile fades as she turns to him. He can only imagine what expression he’s wearing.

“Are you ready? We can always wait until later tonight, or tomorrow, or…”

Tobias shakes his head and straightens up, ready to move. Nia seems to get the message. It’s now or never. Waiting will only delay the inevitable.

Tobias leads the way across the city, following the large canal the shopkeeper had pointed out. They have to cross a few of the city’s segmented islands to do so, and Tobias quickly decides that he hates the floating bridges that are used to cross the smaller canals. They wobble and sink underfoot and feel much more unstable than the city itself.

Kaleido Bay is beautiful, but it’s just too ingrained with the sea for Tobias to really feel comfortable. Nia clearly loves the place—as she does most places—pointing out something new and exciting to look at every few minutes. Whether that be a particularly elaborate tourist boat pulled through the canals, or a saltwater fountain in a little plaza where children scream and play, or a building that Nia says looks like a “church,” built with stunning glass windows that depict images of Pokemon in the ocean. Tobias doesn’t recognize them all, but he knows he spots Kyrogre, Lugia, and Manaphy.

As they near the edge of the city, where homes and less flashy businesses reside, they see more areas under repair, likely from the natural disasters that Rosalind had mentioned. Either this area got hit harder, being without a buffer against the open ocean, or it’s just the last to be fixed since it isn’t where the tourists go to spend their money.

The Pokemon on the streets here are more casual, too, and there are almost no ferry ‘mon swimming in the canals. No fancy accessories or shopping bags in sight. Likely locals rather than tourists. One or two give them curious looks, probably wondering if they’re lost, before spotting their scarves and looking away again to go about their business.

At one point, Nia nudges Tobias to catch his attention, nodding her head across the canal. He follows her gaze, finding a large group of Pokemon gathered around the wooden remains of a building that was nearly ripped off its foundations. The Pokemon in the group are talking quietly to one another, sharing sad smiles and hugs. A small seel is crying with his flippers covering his eyes, his sobs loud enough to echo across the water as a poliwhirl tries in vain to comfort him.

Tobias spots a pile of items—bright shells and coral, food and flowers and letters—stacked together neatly at the foot of the building. A lump rises in his throat.

“Is that..?” Nia murmurs.

“Funeral,” Tobias confirms, looking away.

“D-Do you think it was a natural disaster?”

“Probably,” Tobias answers. “I’d guess the newer buildings are made with the natural disasters in mind, but that one looked older.”

Nia glances back one more time at the decimated home, grief obvious in her slanted ears and limp tail. Tobias can imagine what she’s thinking about. That she’s feeling that desperation, that weight of the world, on her shoulders once more.

“We’ll fix it,” She murmurs. “Everything.”

Tobias nods but doesn’t offer his own reassurance. As cold as it sounds, he can’t focus on the rest of the world right now. Not when the pangoro they’re about to talk to is dominating every thought and every cell in his body.

They finally find the prison, a small building close to the edge of the city. The bulk of the exterior is white concrete and gleaming metal, but two pieces of tall red coral stand on either side of the door, framing it.

Tobias doesn’t realize he’s stopped in the doorway until Nia steps closer to his side, arms brushing. She’s watching him, and when he looks at her, she tilts her head. As if to ask if he’s sure about this.

He nods, ignoring the way his heart is pounding against his ribs. He takes a deep breath, then leads the way inside.

The interior is surprisingly small, with little more than a front desk and some shelves full of books and files. A large metal door dominates the back wall, so Tobias guesses that probably leads to the prison itself.

A smoochum is at the desk in front of them, sitting on what must be an unreasonably tall stool. She’s writing something on a document. When she finishes, she adds the sheet to a stack of paper to her right, which is already taller than she is. Then she grabs a paper from the stack to her left and starts writing again, only glancing up when the door clicks shut behind them.

“Can I help you?”

Tobias steps up to the desk, ignoring her impatient tone.

“We’re here to see prisoner D22.”

The smoochum lifts a brow, giving them an unimpressed once-over. “…Rank?”

Tobias considers lying, for a moment, before deciding that she’ll probably request to see their badges anyways if he aims too high. “D-Rank.”

“You must be at least B-rank for clearance to visit high-security prisoners,” the smoochum drones, going back to her papers.

“We have to see him,” Tobias says, slapping his hand onto the edge of the desk. He desperately wishes he was taller so he didn’t have to look up for this. “Let us talk to Jude. He works here, right?”

“Please,” Nia adds, pulling Tobias back with a hand on his arm. “It’s really important.”

The smoochum still seems unconvinced, but sighs. “Badges?”

Nia digs their badges out of their bag, handing them over the counter. The smoochum flips them over, giving them an idle examination before sliding them back.

“If Jude says you leave, then you leave. Got it?”

“Y-Yes,” Nia says.

“Tell him Rosie sent us,” Tobias adds.

The smoochum waves them off. She leans back to tug on a chain leading into the wall. The faint sound of a bell follows, then the click of a slat opening.

“Send Jude up. He has Seekers here looking to talk to a prisoner. They say ‘Rosie’ sent them.”

The slat clicks closed again. The smoochum doesn’t wait for an affirmative, wordlessly going back to her paperwork.

Tobias glances at Nia. The riolu shrugs, looking as uncertain as he feels.

After a few minutes of quiet, interrupted only by the scratch and flutter of the smoochum’s papers and Tobias’ restless pacing, the metal door on the back wall finally opens with a heavy grating sound. A large Pokemon, not much taller than them but long and wide, enters the room with slow steps. His blue-green plates look more like rock than skin, as do the craggy yellow points of his spiked shell. Beady eyes perch just above a jagged mouth, glancing at Tobias and Nia before turning to the smoochum.

He must be Jude.

“A turtle?” Nia whispers to Tobias.

“A drednaw,” Tobias whispers back, studying the water type’s surly expression.

Jude is saying something to the smoochum that makes her frown. She shakes her head. The drednaw makes another comment, too quiet to hear, and the smoochum hisses a response. The conversation gets more heated, until the smoochum finally just flaps a dismissive arm at him and returns to her work. Jude huffs, but finally walks over to them.

He leans in a little closer than is comfortable, voice hushed. “You said Rosie sent you?”

Tobias nods. “We’re Seekers. She said you can get us in to talk to a prisoner.”

The drednaw grinds his jaws with obvious irritation. “…Who do you want to see?”

“D22,” Tobias answers. “A pangoro named Dismas.”

“That’s just about the highest security prisoner we’ve got here. Why d’you want to see him?”

“Does it matter?”

“I can’t let just anyone in to see him.”

“B-But—!” Nia stutters.

“Rosalind said to remind you of Sahara City,” Tobias cuts in, silently praying this will work. “If that changes your mind.”

Tobias didn’t think it was possible for a Pokemon with such thick scales to visibly pale, but Jude does. He glances over his shoulder at the smoochum, as if afraid she’d heard. When she doesn’t pause in her writing, Jude breathes again, turning a glare onto Tobias. Tobias glares back.

After a tense moment, without looking away, Jude calls, “They’re clear. Get Miro and Toko to escort ‘em. They’re on duty right now.”

The smoochum actually looks up at that, visibly surprised. But after a moment she turns back to the bell and rings it again, passing along Jude’s request.

“Make sure you tell Rosie that I held up my end of the deal,” Jude rumbles, low. Then he lumbers past them, shouldering the door open to go outside.

Tobias is once again reminded that they should never, ever cross Rosalind. He exchanges an uncomfortable look with Nia.

Within a few short minutes, the metal door behind the front desk opens again, and a malamar and quagsire walk through. The malamar’s sharp yellow eyes skim over Nia and Tobias, move past them to empty air, then focus back on the smoochum at the front desk with a questioning look.

“That’s them,” the smoochum says, annoyed. “Got Jude’s approval and everything. Go on.”

While the quagsire seems unphased by this information, the malamar is clearly taken aback. Still, he doesn’t argue, instead stepping forwards to speak to them.

“We’re taking you to see D22, right?” The malamar checks. He’s expressive despite the rigid beak on his face. His tentacles make up for it, the ones on his head waving as if caught in an undercurrent and occasionally lifting like perked ears.

The quagsire stays silent, studying them with unblinking eyes. Despite her casual posture, Tobias gets the distinct feeling that she’s on-guard, and stronger than she looks.

“Y-Yes please,” Nia answers. “We, um. Need to talk to him.”

“We won’t be able to leave you alone with him,” the malamar warns. “Safety protocol. But we can give you half an hour of supervised visitation.”

Tobias isn’t thrilled about that—having two strangers in the room for such an emotionally vulnerable conversation. And only half an hour?

Still, he knows better than to argue. This could very well be Tobias’ only chance to get some answers about Team Zenith. About his family.

Tobias nods.

The malamar nods in return and gestures for them to follow him back through the doorway, stepping into the lead. The quagsire moves to trail behind Nia and Tobias, boxing them in.

Wordlessly, they’re lead past the front desk and out of the lobby.

Tobias is kind of surprised that they didn’t ask to check their bag. Maybe they trust Seekers not to bring in anything dangerous? Or maybe Jude or the overworked smoochum was supposed to check it. Whatever. Tobias isn’t going to bring it up. He feels better having their meager supply of items close by, anyways.

Instead, Tobias focuses on where they’re heading. The floor here is set at an angle, sloping downward, and the long hallway they’re in is dim as the door shuts behind them, the metal walls windowless. The only reason they can see at all is the light from Tobias’ tail flame, the yellow glow of the malamar’s spotted markings, and the soft green glow of…moss? Algae, maybe. It grows in impressive mounds out of little planters protruding from the walls every few feet. Like little balconies of light.

Below the algae, the hallways are also lined with well-maintained plants growing from water-filled basins in the floor. Tobias can’t tell what kind of plants they are in the darkness, the silhouette of them foreign, but the smell of saltwater is thick in the air under the lush greenery, so they’re probably ocean-based.

The hallway they’re traveling down goes on and on, curving slightly. A strange sensation builds in Tobias’ ears, and it takes him a moment to realize what it must be.

Pressure. They’re going under the waves. It’s getting colder, too.

A jolt of fear lances through Tobias’ gut, completely separate from his nerves regarding Dismas. He reaches over and fumbles Nia’s paw into his own, squeezing it. She glances at him, then tightens her own grip in return. He’s grateful she doesn’t say anything about it.

They walk for a few minutes longer, the quiet echo of their steps a soothing rhythm. The pressure gets stronger, Nia slowly cringing under its weight in her sensitive ears.

“Try equalizing,” the malamar says, breaking the silence. He glances back at Nia, then gestures with a tentacle at his face. “It helps with the pressure. Pinch your nose shut and swallow a few times. Or wiggle your jaw.”

Nia hesitantly follows the psychic type’s directions, trying first one technique and then the other. After alternating between the two once or twice, she perks up, tense shoulders dropping. “That helped a lot! Thank you.”

“No problem. It’s tough when you aren’t used to the pressure change.”

Tobias tries to subtly follow Nia’s lead, wiggling his own jaw and blowing air out of his nose. It does relieve some of the pressure that had built up in his ears and head.

“So are you two here on official Seeker business?” The malamar asks. Tobias can’t tell if he’s genuinely curious, if he’s just being friendly, or if he’s suspicious about why they want to talk to Dismas. Maybe all three.

Nia looks to Tobias for an answer, which is fair. Once again, he considers lying, but if they really won’t be allowed to talk to the pangoro alone, then they’re bound to find out why they’re here anyways.

“Personal matter,” Tobias settles on.

Thankfully, the malamar accepts that with nothing more than a nod. “In that case, I hope you get what you’re looking for from this conversation. Dismas is usually pretty straightforward.”

“That’s one word to describe him,” the quagsire says from behind them, voice soft. Both Tobias and Nia jump. “I would use the word cruel.”

“What was he arrested for?” Nia asks, hesitant.

The malamar glances back at them, lingering on whatever expression Tobias is wearing. He looks forward again. “Take your pick. Theft, destruction of property, murder. It’s the last one that shot him and his teammates to the top of every guild’s priority list.”

Murder. Tobias isn’t sure if the charge is even related to his own family. He’d managed to tell Maggie about the Pokemon who attacked his family, eventually, and he’s sure they put out some kind of warning around the mountains where he used to live, but he doubts that the years-late testimony of a traumatized child would be enough on its own for a solid murder charge. At least not without calling Tobias in to talk to an official guild member first.

Then again, Tobias supposes the crime would be pretty obvious when an entire family all but disappeared from their home. He doubts they ever found their bodies. He vaguely remembers Maggie murmuring questions to the medical ‘mon in the village, after some townspeople went to make sure there weren’t any other survivors. He remembers the way the doctor shook their head, how Maggie’s expression fell even further. Tobias doesn’t know if Team Zenith simply sealed off the cave to create a tomb, or burned everything until it was unrecognizable, or what. He doesn’t really want to know.

If there were bodies to bury, Maggie would’ve asked if he wanted to visit their graves before they left for Bethoc’s Haven. But she didn’t.

Tobias’ legs suddenly feel pathetically weak. Like they’ve been replaced with jelly. Some part of him, something small and young and scared, desperately wants to turn and run. Leave now before the truth is revealed. Before he has to face Dismas again.

He shoves that part of himself away, holding tighter to Nia’s paw.

“Well. Multiple charges of murder,” the malamar adds, quieter. “Merchants. A few Seekers. Suspected one-offs. He and his crew have built quite the reputation for themselves.”

Tobias feels nauseous. Somehow this has always felt so personal, Team Zenith’s crime against his family. But Tobias isn’t the only one they’ve hurt. Somewhere out there, there are others they’ve done the same to. Other families and friends and partners who are missing loved ones. Who are weighed down by a similar grief.

That familiar old rage surges through Tobias’ chest like magma. It makes it hard to breathe, makes it hard for him to think about anything aside from hurting Dismas like Dismas hurt him.

But Tobias can feel Nia’s fingers squeeze his, briefly. Can feel her gaze burning into the side of his head. So he closes his eyes, trusting her to lead them, and takes a deep breath. Another. Another. He won’t be allowed to fight a prisoner. He has to be civil, to a degree. He has to keep his head enough to speak, or this whole thing amounts to nothing.

He can’t waste this opportunity.

Tobias only opens his eyes when the darkness behind his eyelids shifts. Their footsteps sound different suddenly, less contained.

They’ve finally reached the end of the long ramp leading down. Ahead of them lies a metal hallway with multiple other hallways branching off of it. To different cells, maybe.

The floor is lit by the same green moss as the hallway they just left, but there’s an even fainter light coming from the walls as well, from tall, thin…windows? It takes Tobias a moment to register what he’s seeing through them.

The ocean is dark this far down, the water inky black, but more moss lights the environment surrounding the prison, growing atop silhouettes of rocky outcroppings. It creates a surreal effect, a gradient of soft green light and harsh black shapes.

Before he looks away, Tobias also catches a glimpse of brighter light streaking by outside. It comes from a lanturn, the lures dangling from the water type’s head glowing a warm yellow. A few seconds later, a vague shape carrying what looks like a moss-fueled lamp swims by as well, too quick to identify. Guards, maybe. Making sure the prisoners stay in or that any curious water types stay out?

Either way, Tobias can’t help wondering why the windows are here at all. He’s not very familiar with glass, but he didn’t think it would be strong enough to withstand the pressure of the ocean.

Just as he’s thinking that, the light catches oddly on one of the windows they pass. Ah, there it is—the unique shimmer of a move. Light screen, maybe, or reflect, reinforcing the glass panes. If he squints, he thinks he can even see the pale green hue of light clay acting as caulk, simultaneously sealing the windows in place and strengthening the effects of the protective moves.

He’s still not a fan.

“How do they get air down here?” Nia asks, distracting Tobias from his staredown with the windows. She’s quiet enough that Tobias isn’t sure if she’s asking him or just talking to herself.

“Vents,” the malamar answers. He motions up with a lift of his head tentacles. Tobias follows the gesture to see a slatted vent laid into the ceiling as they pass by. “Pipes lead up to the surface, and the greenery down here helps with oxygen generation.”

“And the windows?” Tobias can’t help asking. “Seems like a dangerous design choice for an underwater prison.”

“That’s by design,” the malamar says. “Don’t worry, they’re maintained daily. But they can be helpful, if we have an escape attempt. There’s a reason we don’t take water type prisoners here.”

Oh. So the windows are an emergency stop measure. If a prisoner tries to escape, they flood the room they’re in to slow them down?

Or maybe they just drown them.

Tobias shivers at the idea. Nia seems equally perturbed, falling silent again.

Tobias glances down the hallways they pass, expecting to hear jeering voices and see hulking shadows through jail bars. Instead, the cells seem to be individual rooms, each sealed shut by a heavy steel door with a crank in place to open it. A placard rests above each door with a letter-number combo etched into it.

Tobias watches with trepidation as the numbers rise as they walk, from D01 up to D05, then D10 to D15. Do they really need this many prison cells? Maybe they house more prisoners here than he realized.

Finally, they stop in front of a room. D22 is etched into the placard above the door.

Tobias feels lightheaded. He knows he’s holding onto Nia a little tighter than he should, but he can’t seem to relax his grip. The malamar says something, but it’s not until the quagsire steps in front of them that Tobias realizes they’ve been trying to give him a command.

“We’ve gotta step back for a sec,” Nia murmurs, tugging Tobias away from the door.

Tobias nods, barely hearing her as the quagsire puts their whole body into rolling the crank beside the door. With a low groan, the metal slowly lifts. The inside is a weakly lit green like the halls, but Tobias can’t see past the malamar’s twitching tentacles.

The malamar waits until the door is high enough, then slips inside with a quiet, authoritative, “Wait here.”

Tobias does so, heart roaring in his ears. When the door finishes opening and clicks into place, the quagsire steps into the malamar’s spot, guarding the doorway so they can’t enter.

Tobias can hear the rattle of chains and the muted tones of conversation from inside. Nothing discernible, but the deep rumble of a new voice stands out against the malamar’s higher tones.

Tobias’ stomach turns.

“You’re sure you want to do this?” Nia whispers, just loud enough for him to hear.

Even then, even knowing there’s no possible way the pangoro could’ve heard, Tobias nods his head instead of answering, desperately wanting her to stop talking. He can’t be weak here. He can’t let the pangoro know that just the hint of his voice has Tobias on the edge of panic.

All too soon, the malamar calls out, “All right. We’re ready.”

The quagsire steps aside to usher them in.

Tobias steps inside. The interior looks just like the rest of the floor, lit faintly green by moss. Two windows, tall but slim, are all that offer a respite from the steely metallic walls and floor. There’s a flattened nest of dry, dark green moss in the corner of the room, large enough to easily fit Nia, Tobias, and all of Team Shellshock inside of it.

Tobias only has a moment to take all of that in before he focuses on the Pokemon sitting in the center of the room.

Tobias has always thought he must’ve exaggerated the pangoro’s size in his nightmares, but Dismas is just as big as he remembers. Even sitting cross-legged on the floor, the pangoro is easily three times their height, and just as wide. Coarse black and white fur does little to hide the muscles in his arms and legs, his limbs as thick as tree trunks. He looks like he could punch through the metal walls of his cell with no trouble if he really wanted to.

Which is probably what the heavy shackles on the pangoro’s wrists, ankles, and neck are there to prevent. Their chains, thicker than Tobias’ arm, lead down through gaps in the floor. They’ve been pulled taut, keeping the pangoro forcibly low to the ground.

Finally, Tobias looks at the pangoro’s face. Dismas looks…bored, almost. Tobias imagines he’d be sitting with his elbow resting on crossed knees and his chin planted in the palm of his paw if he had the range of motion to do so. His shadowed eyes are hardly visible.

Tobias swallows. He wishes Mom was here. Or Dad. Or Maggie. Even with Dismas tied down, Tobias still feels so small. He hates how vulnerable he feels as he steps forward, stopping a few feet away from the outlaw. Nia hovers at his side.

He feels like he’s nine years old again.

“You’re free to talk,” the malamar says. He moves past Tobias to stand guard at the door, Releasing the crank and closing the door with a flash of yellow psychic energy and a loud clang.

The quagsire waddles over to stand at the pangoro’s side, keeping a close eye on the criminal.

And then it’s quiet, and all that’s left to do is to find the truth.

[sleepershell]

Azgeda Charm

synopsis The sister of Ontari from Azgeda decides it could be fun to free the sky boy pretending to be her sister’s fleimkepa.

word count 2668

note originally posted on Ao3

warnings 18+ minors please DNI, smut, swearing, penetrative sex, oral sex female receiving, dubious consent but not really, dom! reader, sub! murphy

pairing John Murphy x f!reader

“Chains? Really, she’s chained her pet up now?” She’s always been a bit overzealous, but my sister really has gotten herself into it this time. How does she expect no one to find out that she isn’t a true commander? Without the flame she’s just my idiot sister. “Give me the key. Now.”

I shove her man aside and stalk toward her quarters. He grunts, but won’t do anything about my treatment of him. If there’s anything good to say about my sister it’s that she protects me. In fact, I’m probably the only person other than Roan, Nia, and their goons who could ever talk back to her without getting skewered.

I’m quiet as I near the door, creeping extra slowly in my heavy boots. With my ear to the wood I hear the muffled sounds of her speaking to him–the scrawny Skaikru boy.

“There’s somebody else, okay? I’m sorry.” Doesn’t sound sorry to me. My breath tightens in my chest, my sister doesn’t like to be told no. And, if he fights her on it, she will certainly win, one way or another…

“Is she a commander too?” Well, you’re not really a commander are you, Ontari?

“No.” Chains rattle within. So she did have him chained up. What a charmer my sister is. I feel my heartbeat quicken but I can’t tell why. As though I’m in battle when I am not.

“Would she kill you if you ever lied to her,” The chains make a cracking sound, and I hear him grunt. “Did anything to break her trust, or upset her in any-”

I’m moving before I can think better of it. I don’t know why I would do such a horribly foolish thing but I do. When the door slams open Ontari is there, pulling him toward her by a chain that is cuffed around his neck. The look on his face is a perplexing one, hesitant but willing, typical man. I scoff. Loyalty is a myth. Ontari is bare, of course flaunting the body that has always been so much better than mine.

“Sister!” She is displeased. “You are interrupting.”

I shake my head at her. “Chit yu dula op?”

“Just having a little fun.” She grits out. I raise my brows at her, and she crosses her arms over her perky, bare breasts like an insolent child.

“Well. Glad to see you’ve learned some things about enslaving people.” I glance pointedly at the chain still in one of her hands. I can tell that upset her, but it’s true. How can she abuse her power like this when we’ve lived under the fist of others for so long? “Anyway, you wanted to know when King Roan arrived. He has.”

My sister sucks in a breath, composing herself. “Of course. Thank you, sister.” I lean in the doorway as she dresses and shift my glance over to see that her ‘fleimkepa’ is eyeing me cautiously. I narrow my eyes in return. He must be a snake to have fallen in with Ontari. Of course, I’m not much better. I’ve killed for her.

She slips past me. “And what should I do with your prisoner?” I mock.

“Don’t touch,” she hisses.

“Don’t worry.” I slam the door behind her before turning to take in the scene before me. It’s a pitiful display. The sky boy’s face is decorated in lines of dried blood, and he looks ridiculous in the robes he’s clad in. “Hello, liar.” He frowns. I can tell he doesn’t want to say anything, doesn’t want to reveal his hand without knowing how much I already know. “What is your name?”

“People call me Murphy.”

“I didn’t ask what people call you. I asked for your name.”

He smirks but it doesn’t reach his eyes. It seems he’s used to playing pretend. “John Murphy.”

I approach him, our eyes not breaking contact. His are dark blue and difficult to read. I reach up and unlock the collar around his neck, dropping it to the floor in a loud metal thud. He isn’t bad looking. I noticed it when Ontari first began toting him around. I’m unsure if it’s the strong nose or the way his lips curl into a sarcastic smile at the slightest hint of play. He’s like a child that way.

“Well you’re welcome, John Murphy.” I turn away from him, walking toward the window. Everything is so big in Polis, and it’s startling to look down from so high up. “You should go before my sister returns.”

“Go? So you’ll disobey her?”

I can’t help but giggle at that. When I turn around he looks deadly serious. “I’m not afraid of her. Not like you, sky boy.”

“Sky boy.” He chuckles. “Alright, so if I walk out that door right now you won’t be killing me?”

“Nope.” I extend a hand toward the door. He shrugs and approaches it.

“Thanks. Your name?” He asks.

“(Y/n).” He nods. He does not go anywhere. I feel my stomach knotting. Ontari would very much not like this.

“Why do you stay with your sister?”

“She’s my sister.”

“Look, I’m not going to pry the answer out of you. You clearly don’t like her.” So casually he speaks to me, though I could easily murder him right here and anyone else surely would have already. There’s a knife at my hip, another in my boot. It would be too easy. “You could leave.”

At that, I scoff. “With you?”

“Well, I could manage getting out of here myself but it’d be a lot easier if you walked me out in chains.”

Ontari was right about him. He is smart, foxlike. I’ve always admired foxes, you know, before my sister would go in for the kill. I suddenly feel bare, but there’s no way he could know how much I’ve wanted to leave. I’ve spent my entire life in Ontari’s shadow. My perfect Natblida sister. And she has no idea the way Nia’s men would treat me behind closed doors, no idea the things I’ve done to protect her. My feet are moving now–what is it about this boy that makes me so thoughtless?

He holds out his wrists and I begin to tie them up. He flinches in pain as I pull the knot tight, and I tut at him. “Is it the sky that makes you all so weak, or just the coddling from your mothers?”

“I don’t have a mother anymore. Or a father.”

I meet his eyes, and again have no idea what I see in them.

“Then we are the same. Come on.” I yank him along with me, taking a huge breath before leaving the room. This could be very easy or end in Ontari slaying him on sight and finding some way to punish me. Why did I care if this pet of her’s died? “Hurry.” I hissed.

We’ve made it down the first hallway when I hear sounds from around the next corner. Luckily, there’s a shallow alcove in the dark to our left. I slam him into it, clasping my hand over his mouth and pressing my body tight against him. Hopefully this will be enough. He winks at me and I glare back.

Whoever it was passes us without incident, and we make the rest of our journey out undetected. Outside, he holds his hands out to me.

“I don’t think so.” I grin.

“Oh boy, what have I gotten myself into now.”

I lead him out of Polis, toward the surrounding forest where we won’t be so easily found. Pleased with our progress, I stop to rest.

“Are you letting me out of this anytime soon or should I be trying to escape?”

With my back to him, I ask the question that’s been on my mind. “You said to my sister there’s someone else. Is there?”

“There was. But, no, not anymore.” It’s a loaded answer, but one that causes my stomach to flutter regardless.

“So, you rejected your commander even without another woman on your mind?”

“We both know she isn’t a commander. And I don’t have a commander. Kind of a loner, when I’m not chained up.”

I turn. “And you find yourself chained up often, I assume?”

He shrugs. “More often than I’d like.”

I take a step toward him. If I could just read him this wouldn’t be so difficult. But if there’s one language I’m familiar with, it’s force. So, as I walk past him, I kick his knees out from under and he falls forward onto them. “So I’m to believe you don’t like being tied up?”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” I circle him, his eyes trained on me.

“How far would you go?” I am so out of my depth, but the way he looks up at me from below is like a drug. I could be this girl, the one who makes men fall on their knees. Maybe that’s who I am when men aren’t asking me to talk to my sister for them.

He blinks, and the first real smile I’ve seen breaks out on his face. “I’m yours.”

Those words alone send me into a frenzy. A sound escapes my throat and I grab him by the back of his head smashing my lips into his. He knows more of this than I do, I can tell, but when I back away there’s nothing mocking in the way he looks at me.

I take off my jacket first, then hesitate. This is the part I’ve always feared. “I don’t look like Ontari.” As if he couldn’t see already that she was built athletic and delicate like a doe and I was certainly not.

“And?” What an ass. But it works. I swallow and began to undress. As I do so, I don’t expect him to say anything. I know I’m bigger than her. But I can still have this. I don’t look at him until he clears his throat. “You’re beautiful.”

“What?” I croak.

“Do you need me to say it again? I want you.”

That’s it. I close the space between us. He eyes my tits from below. “Touch me.” I command.

He lifts his bound hands and raises a brow. I Shake my head ‘no.’ He'll have to figure it out. And he does. He brushes them up one leg and I shiver. He traces figure eights at the apex of my thighs. I part my legs in response, then grab his hand and bring it to my mouth. I take his first two fingers as far as they go, getting them wet, before returning them to him.

“Fuck.” He mutters under his breath. He brushes his fingers over my folds and then parts them. The fingers find their way to my entrance and I let out a moan. In response, he dives into me, pulling his fingers almost out before sliding them back in, over and over. His index finger curls inside me and my legs threaten to give out.

“John.” His eyes shoot up to me, as though I’ve said something more jarring than his own name. “I want your tongue.”

I lean back on the rough bark of a nearby tree and tilt my pelvis forward to give him access. He wastes no time in finding my clit, swirling his tongue around it. It’s almost too much all at once and I pull back.

“Can’t handle it?” I give him a halfhearted smack across the cheek, and it gives him all the answer he needs. His mouth finds me again, this time determined and rhythmic. Fuck. Who taught him how to do that?

My fingers find their way into his hair, and I tug at it as his mouth brings me closer and closer to oblivion. As it nears, I can’t hold back my whimpering moans, and he groans in response, the vibration of it sending me over the edge entirely. Braced against the tree, my body tremors in pleasure. When I glance back down he looks too smug.

“What are you smiling about?”

“Oh, nothing. Although you might want to work on your knot tying.” He raises the rope I’d tied around his wrists, his face smug.

I trace a finger down the side of his face, down along his neck. When I reach his chest, I give a hard shove, knocking him back onto the ground. While he’s still in shock, I grasp his hands and pin them down. Now he looks hungry.

“Would you like to be let go?” I ask in the sweetest voice I can muster, fluttering my eyelashes.

He shakes his head once. His eyes do not meet me, but are focused on my breasts which dangle right above him. I know what he wants, so I lean closer and he takes one of my nipples in his mouth. His tongue swirls, and I feel the hardness in his pants against my swollen cunt. I can’t help but rub myself on it and soon can’t take it anymore.

I let go of my grasp on him so I can undo the buttons on his pants. Apparently I take too long, because he slips his hands under mine and whips his cock out for me. My eyes widen and my pussy clenches at the sight. He is much more endowed than I would’ve expected from one of the weak sky people.

“You like what you see?” He is amused, and so I give his cock a light smack. He winces.

“I could kill you.” We smile at one another. This could be a very good arrangement.

I ease myself onto his hard cock. I’m so wet from before that it slips inside me with no resistance. We both let out involuntary moans as I’m filled with him.

“Fuck, your pussy is so tight.” He gasps.

His cock is long enough that I whimper when it is fully sheathed. He looks to pleased at that, so I lean forward and let his cock fall out. He growls in frustration as I thrust my clit on him.

“If you want me to put it back in, you’re going to have to beg.”

“You’re sadistic.”

“You seem to like it quite a bit.” I look down at his cock to drive my point.

“Fine. Please ride my cock?”

“Oh, come on, you can do better than that.”

“(Y/n), please ride my fucking cock, I feel like im going to burst.”

“Yes, John.” I slide him back inside and roll my hips. His hands find their way to my waist and I start to bounce on him. He feels incredible inside me, and I start to ride harder. I want his fucking come inside me.

My hands find their way around his neck, beginning to cut off blood flow. His eyes roll back, and suddenly he’s lifting me up with his hands so that his hips can do all the work. He pounds so hard that he is hitting what feels like the very end of me. I clench around him, wanting it to never fucking end.

“Harder.” He groans, and I oblige, clenching down around his throat.

His face begins to turn color and I start to wonder if I’ve gone too far when he lets out a long, animalistic groan and I feel him twitching inside me. His pleasure goes on longer than I thought possible, and the load inside me must be huge. When he’s finished, I lay forward, letting him remain inside me. We are both spent, our panting breaths nearly in tandem as I lay bare on top of him in the forest.

I place a kiss on his jaw, close to his ear and whisper. “Well, that was fun.”

He cranes his neck to look down on me, his brows furrowed slightly. “Where are you going now?”

I realize I have no idea. I’ve never been without my sister before. So I shrug.

“I’m taking you with me.”

xx

[xenoblade-chronicles-brackets]

The entry list is complete

I said that I might have a hard time finding 40 entries with which to pad myself. Well, as it turns out, once I started, I had a hard time stopping, and had to restrain myself to not overshoot the 256.

So on top of the 216 user submitted tracks, I also have 40 of my own submissions. The bracket will be seeded on YouTube views, but I will however default to seeding my 40 submissions lower than your 216 user submissions.

Actual bracket (hopefully) soon to come.

User submitted tracks

46:ri-9

A Faint Hope

A Formidable Enemy

A Friend on My Mind

A Life Become Distant

A Life Overflowing

A Life Sent On

A Life Sent On (Flutes)

A Life Woven Together

A Moment of Eternity

A nopon’s life

A Step Away

A Tragic Decision

aBOreSSs

After Despair and Hope(Final Boss Theme)

Agniratha (Day)

Agniratha (Night) (XC1)

Agnus Battle

Agnus Castle Day

agnus colony (night)

Alcamoth, Imperial Capital (Night)

An Obstacle in Our Path (XC1)

At Our Life's End

Battle In The Skies Above

Battle on the Seas

Battle!! - Torna

Battle!! (xenoblade 2)

Battlefield ~ The Scramble of Life

Beyond the Sky

Beyond the Sky (acoustic arrangement) XC1 FC

Bionis Shoulder

Bionis’ Awakening

Black Tar

Blade~Those Who Know Fear

Brilliant Wings

Bringer of Chaos! Ultimate (XC2)

By My Side

Carrying the Weight of Life

cent-omnia region (day)

Central Factory - Xenoblade Chronicles DE

Chain Attack!

City Day

Colony 6 - Future

Colony 9 (Day)

Colony 9 (Night)

Contrition

Converging Emotions

Counterattack

Crisis

Death Match With Torna

Desolation

Don't Worry

Drifting Soul

Drifting Soul(Instrumental)

Driver VS

Elysium In The Dream

Elysium, In the Blue Sky

Engage the Enemy

Eryth Sea (Day)

Eryth Sea (Night)

Erythia Sea Day

Ever Come to an End

Everyday Life (XC1)

Face

Feelings Risen to the Sky

Feelings Upon This Melody

Field Kaijou

Fogbeasts (Future Connected)

Forest of the Nopon (Day)

Forest of the Nopon (Night)

Four-limbed Titan - Gormott

Friendship

Frontier Village (Day)

frontier village (Night)

Future Awaits

Gaur Plain (Day)

Gaur Plain (Night)

Gramps (Fonsett Village) Night/Day XC2

Great Cotte Falls (Day)

Great Cotte Falls (Night)

Homecoming

Hometown (Day)

Hometown (night)

hope for the future

How the Future Endures

Impending Crisis

In the forest (XZ ver,)

In the Refugee Camp

Incoming! (XC2)

Iris Network

Irregular Bound

Jump Towards the Morning Sun

Kaleidoscopic Core

Keves Battle

Kingdom of Uraya

Land of Morytha

Lasaria Woodland-Day

Life's Fading Flame ~ Holding These Thoughts

Loneliness

Lost Days of Warmth

Majesty

Malevolent Hollow

Manon

Mechanical Rhythm

Mechonis Field

melancholia

Melia ~ Ancient Memories

Memories

Millick Meadows (Day)

MNN + @0 (both halfs)

Mobius Battle M

Moebius Battle

Mor Ardain - Roaming the Wastes

New Battle!!!

Nia ~ Towards the Heavens

NLA Shigai

no3=NO.EX01

no4=D91M

no6=LP

no9=MONOX

Noah and N (Phase 1)

Noah and N (Phase 2)

Oblivia

off seer crys

off seer mio

off seer miyabi

off seer noah

Off-Seer - Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Once We Part Ways

One Last You

Origin Ascending

Origin Battle

Our Eternal Land

Our Paths May Never Cross

Over Despair and Animus

Over the Sinful Entreaty

Parting

Past From Far Distance

Praetor Amalthus- The Acting God

Prologue A

Prologue B

Rage, Darkness of the Heart

raTEoREkiSImeAra

Redeem The Future

Regret

Reminiscence

ribbi flats (day)

Riki the Legendary Heropon

Riki’s Kindness

Roar from Beyond

Satorl Marsh (Night)

Shadow of the Lowlands

Shining Aspiration ~ Inherited Melody

Ship In A Stormy Sea

Shulk and Fiora

So nah, so fern

Soldier's Paean

Something's Beginning to Move

Sorrow

Still, Move Forward

Suffocating Reverberation

Syra Hovering Reefs Day

Tactical Action

Tantal (Day)

Tantal (Night)

Tephra Cave

The Awakening (XC2)

The Battle is Upon Us

The Beginning of Our Memory

The Bereaved and Those Left Behind

the bereaved and those left behind (ver. 2)

The Decision

The End Lies Ahead

The Fallen Land

The False Queens

The God Slaying Sword

The Great Sea Stirs

The key we've lost

The Monado Awakens

The Power of Jin

The Tomorrow With You

the way (xenoblade x)

Theme X

Thoughts Enshrined

Time to Fight (Bionis' Shoulder)

Time to Fight!

Torigoth/Night

Uncontrollable

Unfinsihed Business

Urgency

Valak Mountain (Day)

valak mountain (Night)

Walking With You

Wanted Nia

Where it All Began - Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Where We Belong

Where We Used To Be

White All Around Us

Wir Fleigen

Words That Never Reached You

Xenoblade Chronicles Main Theme

yesterdale (night)

You Will Know Our Names

You Will Know Our Names (Finale)

You Will Recall Our Names

Young Warriors

Your Voice

Z10 Briefing

z15f20i12e09l14d (first half, aka Celica's theme)

z15f20i12e09l14d (Second half, aka Divine Roost)

z15f20i12e09l14d (Vocal Stem)

z29ba2t0t1l301e17 (z29 battle)

Z30 Free Battle

z37b20a13t01t08le

Z39 B Comical

Zanza the Divine

My own additions

Argentum (Day)

Argentum (Night)

Auresco, Royal Capital

Bionis' Interior (Pulse)

Bionis' Shoulder (Night)

Black Mountains

Cent-Omnia Region (Night)

Cliffs of Morytha

Colony 6 - Ether Mine

Crossing Swords

Enemies Closing In

Eye of Shining Justice

Fonsa Myma (Night)

Galahad Fortress

Gormott (Night)

Gormotti Forest

Gran Dell (Night)

Hidden Machina Village

Hope

Immediate Threat

Kingdom of Torna (Night)

Kingdom of Uraya (Night)

Leftheria Archipelago (Day)

Leftheria Archipelago (Night)

Omens of Life

Prison Island

Song of Giga Rosa

Spirit Crucible Elpys

Sword Valley (Night)

Tension

The Abandoned City

The Fallen Land (Night)

The Towering Yggdrasil

Towering Shadow

Ultimate Enemy

Urayan Tunnels

Visions of the Future

Yesterdale (Day)

Yggdrasil

You Will Know Our Names Finale (Climax)

[mintgal]

nia timeline i put together for fun hehe... i felt like her look was converging with my durge darcy lately with the blue in her outfits but turned out i had a smidge of blue going on earlier too... but the switch from rosy tinted blonde to green/yellow tinted blonde lately is soooo darcy coded

like they are twinning SO hard rn... nia would think darcy is hot and fun but darcy would be like "when an ugly bitch calls you twin 🙄". the next level lore would be that nia is an astarion kinnie wannabe (plays origin astarion and ascends) and darcy is an astarion (spawn) kisser and they are like 2 ppl in fandom who have wildly different interpretations of a character and get into flame wars and doxxing

[thatonebirdwrites]

Finally! :) Took me a bit to edit this. EXCERPT:

She walks a steep path toward standing stones. A hand tightly grips her own, her mother so much taller, but all so warm and comforting. A small bag is over her shoulder since she’d asked to carry something, so she had the blanket. Her mother speaks, but the words tumble out in a waterfall of Irish.

The stones has candles at their base. Her mother lights them starting with the rising sun - east - and goes counterclockwise. The words she whispers is an old Irish prayer, one she’s whispered so many times while tucking Lena into bed. 

The sky burns an eggshell blue, the clouds wispy trails, and the breeze cool against her face. A scent of mountain aven burns as her mother waves the plant over the flames of each candle. The bundle smokes in her hands and she spins in a circle to take in the entirety of their picnic. 

“An cuimhneach leat, Lena?” her mother looks at her with piercing blue and green eyes. “Seo í uair na cinniúna.”

The air sparks with energy. Lena is suddenly the same height as her mother. “I don’t understand,” she says, desperately. “What are you saying?” 

Her mother reaches for her, but the dream shatters into a million fragments.

Lena wakes abruptly and winces at the bright light that shines through the windows. The sun is just rising, while the sky changes from black to violet to blue. Her mind bleeds with the imagery and words from her dream, and she needs to write it down.

Except, she finds herself trapped under the arm of a Super. It’s not like this isn’t something she’s secretly wanted since she first met Kara all those years ago, but she has not anticipated how impossible it is to move Kara’s arm. It’s like pushing against a mountain. She flounders and tries to wiggle free, only to give up with a huff. Kara’s still asleep, her arm still tight around Lena, and her breath soft against Lena’s neck. 

It’s absolutely endearing but also highly distracting. She needs to get up and record her dream, and maybe sort out why she keeps seeing standing stones. Maybe scour the landscape for said standing stones, but she can’t as the arm around her chest — as loose as it sort of is — is like the planet earth itself has bound her to the bed. 

There’s a giggle from the other bed, and Lena looks over to see Nia propped up against a wall of pillows with a book, a journal, and Lena’s map in her lap. 

“Stuck?” Nia asks with a grin. 

Lena grumbles and gives up trying to free herself. This is her life now apparently. Trapped in the arms of a Super. What a way for a Luthor to go. At least it's warm and cozy. “Oh shut up,” she says, but there’s no bite in her voice. “What are you doing?” She narrows her eyes at Nia holding her mother’s map. 

[wonderofeco]

pictures of noelle before i hop off for the time being i made the eyes and snake ring blue because of azure flame, and the reason for traveler's cloak transmog is honestly just to have the benefits of prophet's cloak while keeping in line with the canon of noelle being an idiot and forgetting to wear the cloak after making it (i would go for dripwoken but honestly. im more invested in character creation more than making my avatars look good, like yeah ill make them look good if it's good to me, but i prefer seeing these characters as ocs to design rather than like. a sona or just a plain ingame character, i wanna give them their own personality and choice of clothes! like how nia wears pathfinder arch sorcerer all the time, or rutile wearing grand pathfinder)

im happy with how she turned out, i didn't expect deepwoken to be the reason for me to have an otter oc now (i picked otter variant for celtor!)

[myarmadaisgrowing]

Ooooh boy Blades 2 Chapter 2 was a chapter, that's for sure

First impressions:

I love Kade

I love Threep

I love Loola

I love everyone except Aerin

We agreed to the quest WAY too quickly, there's DEFINITELY more info that the Watcher isn't telling us

Not sure if he's going to be a bad guy or not, but he's definitely over-simplifying it all

TYRIL REUNION?????? I WAS EXPECTING MAL AND NIA SINCE THEY PROBABLY STAYED IN WHITETOWER (I'm DEFINITELY not complaining even if I'm only romancing Imtura, I love the overdramatic ride-or-die blue boy)

Reunion dialogue and chapter plotline was excellent BUT I think I would have felt more satisfied if Kade and Tyril (and maybe the nespers) had worn their sad or smiling faces the whole time, the flat expressions just made the dialogue feel a bit ungenuine for me

It would have been really sweet if Tyril had struggled to focus on fighting the monster and kept on staring at MC just to make sure he wasn't imagining it or something

Someone tell me — was the bedsheet the right choice??? I'm out of keys so I can't replay the chapter yet, and I chose the candelabra since my immediate thought was 'what the hell would a bedsheet do against a murderous flying monster??????' but then I set the rug on fire soooo 🤷‍♀️ They did NOT say it was actually IN FLAME

IMTURA MY LOVE DON'T DRINK YOURSELF TO DEATH, COME BACK TO ME

As for the Choices Book Club questions for this week...

Nay, I did not, my first playthrough tactic is 'fill out survival then whatever's in the middle then combat' and it did me pretty well in the first book before I knew the optimum choices, so I'm going to stick with it this book as well

Eh, not really? I saw a post which I have since lost about all of the LIs cutting their hair in an orcish ritual for grief or something like that which I LOVE the idea of (if anyone knows what it is, hit me up, the app crashed before I could reblog it)

I rated it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, purely down to the flat expressions, but it definitely would have been ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ if Kade and Tyril had looked more emotionally impacted the whole time

I did capture Aerin in B1! I've never really cared much about Aerin, his capture was more of a 'I don't want him fighting against me if I don't have to have him fight against me' kind of thing, but I did choose the 'maybe I'll visit you' option just in case the seduction is needed to unlock a choice again

Already covered!

Hmmmm. I'm not entirely sure. On one hand, I trust Nia and she seems to be running the Temple well, or at least far better than it was being run before, buuut I'm getting major 'Aziraphale and Heaven' vibes tbh. The Good Omens 2 trauma is real.

I didn't quite unlock a skill, but I think I'm only five or so points away? Whenever I unlock it, it's going to be the third Survival choice—I have Realmwalking and Shadowsight already, but I have no clue what the last one is

Good questions! I'm looking forwards to doing next week's set!

[otterintheflightdeck]

Gerveth snippet

A snippet from The Plague of The Elves 2: Electric Boogaloo (working title).

I don’t have any real intention of writing this anytime soon (still in Geralt/Morvran hell and work is way too stressful), but! I like this bit from one of the first scenes.

***

"Come lie with me," Iorveth said, stepping back.

Geralt's hands fell from his sides, but he hesitated, shifting his weight. "Brought food." He gestured behind himself, indicating some spot beyond the edge of the camp where he'd likely left his horse. Iorveth nodded and waved him off.

He was expecting a handful of potatoes, or a loaf of Marlene's bread, perhaps, but Geralt came back with what had to be a small deer's worth of meat wrapped in wax paper, gathered into a precarious pile in his arm, and a large burlap sack dangling from his other hand. He put it all down by the fire, next to Eluned and Nia, with a polite "may our meeting bring prosperity to both our houses" -- a greeting so antiquated it might as well have come out of an elven book of fairy tales. Iorveth smiled at the rare misstep, warmth filling his chest even as both women snickered at him. "He means he's glad to meet you."

"Uh. Yeah."

"Likewise, Gwynbleidd," Eluned replied before turning to him, mirth dancing in her eyes alongside the flickering flames. "Take the tent."

Iorveth shook his head at the offer -- there was too little time, had he even had the energy to do anything other than sleep -- and went to his bedroll, a short distance away from the fire. Geralt followed.

"Thank you for the food," Nia called out. Then she added, nearly choking on repressed laughter, "May Dana Méadbh return these offerings to you tenfold."

Geralt frowned, apparently realizing he was being teased, but did not bother to reply. Iorveth toed off his worn boots and crawled his way under his wool blanket and the gambeson he'd spread over it for additional warmth, settling on his side at one edge of the thin bedding. Geralt understood his silent request and soon he was at his back, one arm around him. He'd taken off his jerkin, and if Iorveth was very still, he thought he could feel his heartbeat through the few layers of cloth that remained between them, strong and steady, slower than a normal man's. He sighed into the wolf pelt he'd rolled into a makeshift pillow and let his eye slip closed.

Geralt nuzzled his way to the back of his neck, the hard ridge of his nose nudging at his headscarf. Finally he reached up and eased it off his head, and Iorveth let him. From any other lover, it would've felt like an empty gesture, a forced show of insouciance toward his scars, but Geralt was simply after the simple, animalistic pleasure of smelling him; he rubbed his face against the back of Iorveth's head, sighing, then curled even closer, wedging his nose behind Iorveth's ear.

"Dog," Iorveth said, fond.

"Mm. Missed you."

Geralt's warmth was leeching into him, easing the soreness that lingered in his limbs from too many days in the saddle, and Geralt's chest and thighs felt pleasantly solid against him -- a reminder that he could allow himself to let his guard down. There were few threats here that a witcher wouldn't be able to neutralize without even his archers' help, and so for the first time in months, Iorveth let himself think of the future rather than his and his group's immediate survival.

He'd stayed at Corvo Bianco but for a short time, yet the brilliant blue of Toussaint's sky, the sweet smell of vines heavy with plump grapes, and the stark, broken silhouettes of the ruins that dotted the landscape had sunk under his skin like so many tattoos, and the trek down the mountains and into Sansretour Valley, this time, had felt much like a homecoming. He wondered what the vineyard would look like when he finally reached it again, how beautiful the olive trees would be in full bloom, and whether Yennefer had been able to talk Geralt into renovating the house after all. He thought of the rich taste of Marlene's stews and of what she would be adding to them at this time of the year -- spring leeks, perhaps, or asparagus.

Geralt gently tugged at the hem of his shirt, untucking it from his trousers, and slid his hand under it. The slow strokes of calloused fingertips over his ribs drew Iorveth from his thoughts, and soon he realized what Geralt was looking for. "There's no scar. Surely you weren't doubting Yennefer's abilities."

He felt the curl of Geralt's smile against his skin, his stubble tickling his ear. "'Course not." His hand stilled, splayed comfortably on Iorveth's stomach, and Iorveth covered it with one of his own.

"How is she?"

"Good. Bored, though. Back to reading romance novels. She'll be happy to see you. Marlene, too." He spoke on in a murmured monotone, about Marlene and Barnabas-Basil and something about wine, and sleep pulled at the edges of Iorveth's consciousness, blurring the words into a comforting, meaningless buzz. Geralt must have felt it, or smelled it, or heard his breathing change; he caught Iorveth's fingers between his and squeezed them lightly. "Go to sleep. I'll wake you up at midnight."

[thanksforthedinosaur]

december 2023

brye - recover

addison grace - pessimistic

ixaras - sprouts

rosie tucker - unending bliss

hana eid - between your teeth

marika hackman - slime

katy kirby - table

michelle - agnostic

klee - mutual symbiotic relationship

tinyumbrellas - zombies

madds buckley - paper and ink

rainbow frog biscuits - clean

julia cooper - sweet n sour

bel - read the room

holly humberstone - lauren

elio - sorority

devon again - still can't dress myself

savana santos - idk the title of this cause i’m not calling it ‘vibin’

exxy - afternoon depression

king mala - bug

emei - 711

towa bird - drain me!

lia lia - angst

madge - tall grass

zoe ko - baby teeth

ko aka koala - sorry in advance

griff - vertigo

chloe george - outward

dounia - space (528hz)

quinn xcii - georgia peach

emily vaughn - invented it

misha - keep on

julia wolf - burning house (i wanna kiss you)

raffaella - rowan

searows - collector

laura veirs - swan dive

madilyn mei - cryptid

isabel pless - practice erotic

gregory and the hawk - for now

sun june - get enough

alice phoebe lou - shine

eliza mclamb - anything you want

the beatles - now and then

penelope scott - over the moon

meljii - frog and toad

savoir adore - when it rains

mini trees - push and pull

blond in car - short hello and a long goodbye

hazel english - heartbreaker

ellis - forever

middle kids - dramamine

ian sweet - emergency contact

drizzly. - bitter to see you

pearly drops - get well

los campesinos! - avocado, baby

hovvdy - jean

chloë doucet - stormy blue

momma - sunday

pony - peach

time spent driving - milligrams

hot mulligan - shouldn’t have a leg hole but i do

teenage halloween - lights out

weakened friends - awkward

blink-182 - anthem part 3

nai harvest - missing summer

awakebutstillinbed - adapt

alkaline trio - blood, hair, and eyeballs

tigers jaw - constant headache

eyedress - separate ways (feat. the marías)

sunmi - 덕질 (call my name)

oohyo - i give you love

yaeji - easy breezy

sumin - human theater (feat.sunwoojunga)

baek a yeon - lime (i'm so) (english ver.)

seventeen - god of music

talitha. - apple pie

slayyyter - makeup (feat. lolo zouaï)

tkay maidza - out of luck

satica - show up

loony - counting thunder

kennie - cool with your girlfriend

trella - taxi driver

aurora - your blood

perc%nt - roller coaster

caroline polachek - dang

vtss - steady pace

vacationer - resemblance

tusks - artifical flame

alaina castillo - running water

venbee - messy in heaven

ivri - inversion

nia archives - that's tha way life goes

juliet ivy - bestfriend

piri - bluetooth

pinkpantheress - another life (feat. rema)

elley duhé - reborn

baby tate - lollipop

l.ucas - l(in)ve

love-sadkid - out of body

r u off - jordan

enny - charge it remix (feat. smino)

sampha - suspended

mxmtoon - cliché - revisited

emhahee - time travel

august greenwood - taroko

laufey - from the start

sushisingz - dissociated

tiffi - lucky (bonus track)

justin nozuka - twyn https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3iyQUu7rpOvkTdnW8pOuaF?si=c887c6eeb415481a

[emperorbubblegum]

Bubblegum's Backlog, Vol. 15: Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Alrighty, 2 down, 1 to go on "the best jrpg triology". I didn't really see why people called it that when I played the first one, even though I like it more, but the way this game connects to its predecessor gives me a hint as to why people like these games so much. I think this is the first time I've done one of these on a sequel to a game also on my list, so go me.

First thing I have to say about this game is that the gameay felt so much more fleshed out compared to the first, or at least, the learning curve wasn't as steep. Granted that's probably because I played XC1 first, but still. I'm glad they had a normal leveling system as opposed to the tomfuckery that was in 1. Instead of grinding for hours because a three level difference would double a boss's damage, I was consistently underlevel for every major story fight, and was able to do so just because I was able to get a good hold on the combat mechanics, rather than any items or buffs.

The artstyle change was interesting. I can't tell if I prefer it, but I'm not against it either. The character designs are cool enough to make up for any hesitation. In pacticular I'd like to call out Brighid for having one of the coolest designs I've seen in a game. I believe I've mentioned before how I think chain-whip swords are some of the coolest weaponry in fiction, so combining that with the blue flame aesthetic and the whole closed eyes while fighting thing just makes me gush. It's super simple but nevertheless I love it.

I liked how the character dynamics actually felt like a group of people who knew each other. They didn't all act like best friends or anything, but most characters in RPGs tend to only have connections between one or two others. Here it felt like everyone had defined bonds between everyone else. Obviously you've got Nia and Rex, who are super tropey but still enjoyable, but also others like Zeke and Mórag felt like they actually liked talking to one another, and even though her driver was just kind of there, Poppi's bond with Mythra was super sweet to me.

Honestly I don't think I really disliked any of the main cast. Rex wasn't as relatable to me as Shulk, but he still struck a chord. Watching this kid just break down when faced with the chance he might be making a mistake was really pathetic - not in the insulting way, though, I just mean I felt super bad for him. Zeke was always fun to have around. Mórag was just as cool as her blade, except her's came more from personality than design.

The villains were also much more memorable than the ones in XC1. I don't really see the fallen hero trope too much, but I still think it might be one of my favorites. Even though I haven't played Torna (yet) they still showed enough light on Jin's backstory for me to sympathize with him, but I plan to talk more about that when I cover Torna. Akhos was also real fun to watch, and he even had one of the more heartfelt moments to me. Sibling-like relationships are something that hit close to home for me, so seeing how he treated Patroks was very emotional for me, even if it was only really shown in one scene.

I really enjoyed this game. So far this series hasn't missed exactly. It's gonna be a while before I play 3, especially since I don't have it, but I can already tell I'm gonna have fun.

[teshadraws]

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

[Chapter 61]

<< First | < Previous | Next >

AO3 Link

-

Tobias and Nia fight to stay alive.

CW: Discussion of death, survivor’s guilt, and vaguely suicidal thoughts in the last scene. Stay safe!

-

Without another word, Dismas launches himself at them. Nia yelps and dives out of the way. Tobias rolls the other direction. The pangoro’s fist swings past them, hard enough for a gust of wind to follow.

Tobias has enough time to lock wide, terrified eyes with Nia before they’re forced into battle in earnest.

The pangoro kicks out with a low sweep of his leg, probably hoping to get both of them. Tobias stumbles back to avoid it while Nia hops over the attack. She wastes no time summoning her aura, pulling it into the form of a staff to deflect another swing of the pangoro’s fist. It’s glittering with ice in the blue glow of her energy.

Tobias can’t get between the two in such close quarters without causing problems for Nia, so he skirts around Dismas to attack his back with bursts of flame. The pangoro is distracted enough to send a move Tobias’ way, but he quickly focuses on Nia again. His onslaught is relentless, slowly pushing their battle closer to the wall.

Tobias continues his assault and tries to keep a handle on his frantic thoughts, but the loud rush of water spilling through the window behind him isn’t helping. Think, Toby. They can’t win a battle of pure strength, not against Dismas. They’re outclassed and Tobias knows it. So they need a plan.

Tobias’ eyes flick around the cell between attacks, trying to find something to help. They can’t escape the room—the door crank is too heavy, too far off the ground. The guards are both unconscious on the floor. The rest of the room is bereft of exits, unless they manage to float to the top of the room and crawl up the air vent before the water catches up to them.

No, that won’t work. The water would swallow him and Nia, short as they are, way before it impeded Dismas. And Tobias can’t swim.

Tobias’ eyes catch again on the cracked window, gushing water at a steady rate. He’d thought at first that the water was just to slow them—him, specifically—down. But Dismas can’t be thinking they’re that much of a threat. He’s clearly confident in his abilities, and for good reason.

Is it some kind of sick power play to mess with Tobias? Is Dismas so confident that he put a self-imposed timer on himself just for fun? Or is he hoping to take the entire prison down with him? Punch the door down and let the whole place flood? Tobias wouldn’t be surprised if the pangoro’s escape plan was to just keep swinging until he was free and cause as much damage as possible on the way out.

Either way, it adds a whole new layer of terror to a situation that was already bad enough. The seawater spilling into the room is already reaching them, lapping at their feet in a thin layer. It burns underfoot, and Tobias grits his teeth against the sensation.

Nia gasps as the water reaches her. She ducks under another fist. “Tobias! The guards!”

It takes a moment for Tobias to understand what she’s talking about. Then he curses, glancing at the quagsire and malamar lying unconscious on the floor. Which is now flooding. They don’t have anywhere safe they can put them, even if they had the time and safety to, but they can’t just let them drown, either.

Maybe that’s what Dismas was aiming for.

Tobias growls, dodging a retaliatory kick from Dismas and going for the malamar first. He avoids looking at where the Pokemon was stabbed through the gut, and instead puts his whole body into rolling the malamar onto their back.

Tobias looks frantically for any sign of gills. The malamar’s body seems like it could be conducive for swimming, but Tobias can’t be sure considering he was breathing air earlier.

Then his eyes catch on the suction cups on the malamar’s tentacle-like arms.

…Oh, this is such a stupid idea.

Tobias glances back at Nia. The riolu is just barely managing to ward off Dismas, aura staff helping her sidestep and deflect heavy punches, but she’s clearly struggling to keep up. Tobias has to hurry.

Tobias puts his whole body into shoving the malamar the few feet over to the wall, then props the psychic type up against the metal. Then he grabs the malamar’s tentacle-like arm and jumps as high as he can to slap it sucker-side-down against the wall.

When Tobias lands with a splash, the malamar’s arm hangs securely to the wall. It’s holding the guard upright, so that his face is now a few feet above the rising tide.

Good enough.

Tobias looks at the quagsire. She’s already lying face-up and doesn’t have anything obvious that could help her stay upright like the malamar’s suction cups. He could try to prop her against the wall so she’s at least sitting up, but he’s honestly not sure he could move her. She looks even heavier than her colleague.

A loud BANG comes from Nia and Dismas’ fight. Tobias glances over his shoulder, terrified of what he’ll see, only to find that Nia has just barely evaded a punch that put a giant dent into the metal wall.

He doesn’t have time to sit here and figure something out. Nia needs him. The quagsire is a water-type—he’ll just have to hope that she’s either naturally buoyant enough to float, or that she can breathe underwater somehow.

Tobias runs back to the fight, noting how strange it was that Dismas hadn’t gone after him at all in his absence. The pangoro has been pursuing Nia almost single-mindedly for most of the fight, only attacking Tobias when he needs to get him off his back. At first, Tobias had just figured he’d picked a target at random between the two of them, or maybe he wanted to be extra sadistic and take out Tobias’ partner first.

But even now, as Tobias sends a dragon rage at the pangoro’s back that actually makes him grunt, Dismas only retaliates enough to send Tobias on the retreat before bearing down on Nia again. It’s not until Nia uses the opportunity to take a swing of her own with her aura club that Tobias realizes why she’s the target.

Because Dismas dodges, jerking away from the hit.

Nia’s strong, but no more than Tobias is. So why would Dismas be wary of her hits and practically ignore Tobias? It’s not like her moves are—

Oh, of course. Dismas doesn’t know that Nia can’t use fighting type energy. He’s expecting super-effective hits, and trying to avoid any of them landing, even if that means he has to wall Tobias’ attacks in the meantime.

He’s trying to take out the bigger threat first.

Okay, that’s not great, but maybe they can use that to their advantage somehow. They certainly need every advantage they can get, Tobias thinks, distracted by the water now covering the entirety of the floor in a thin sheen, lapping and rippling like a spring. It splashes underfoot with every step.

Tobias sends another glance at the door. He really doesn’t think they can open it, but they need out of this deathtrap just as much as they need to get away from Dismas. They can’t dodge forever, and he doubts anyone on the outside even knows what’s happening down here.

…Wait.

Tobias glances again at the window, at the glow of green visible past the break.

This much water should disrupt the currents around the prison, and there are guards outside. Surely water types meant to be patrolling the area will notice that something is drawing water in towards the prison, right? He has to believe they will. If a guard notices the break, then they’re sure to investigate and send someone to help, which means…

They don’t have to win this fight. They just have to outlast Dismas until reinforcements arrive.

Nia is already panting hard, though, having had no chance to catch her breath despite Dismas’ slower speed. They can’t risk either of them getting hit by a single move head-on, so evasion is top priority. She needs a break.

Tobias will just have to give her one.

He leaps up onto Dismas’ back, grabbing fistfuls of thick fur and pulling himself up to the pangoro’s shoulder. Dismas growls, irritated, and tries to shake him off.

Tobias holds tighter, calling his fire to his mouth and puffing his cheeks. He hasn’t tried this move before—he doesn’t like the brutality of biting if he doesn’t have to—but if anyone deserves it, Dismas does.

Fangs molten with heat, Tobias clamps down as hard as he can on the segment between Dismas’ neck and shoulder, past fur and straight into flesh. Dismas snarls, trying to grab Tobias to wrench him free.

Nia hesitates for a second, but then uses a quick attack to dart to the other side of the room in a flash, stumbling over her paws and leaning against the wall to recover with heavy  breaths.

Dismas finally manages to snag Tobias’ side with a sharp claw, yanking him off. Tobias is thrown heavily into the thin layer of water, but he rolls to his feet relatively unharmed. Blood drips down his side, but the gash doesn’t seem deep. He licks his fangs, grimacing at the taste of iron there.

Dismas doesn’t give him time to think, immediately coming at him with a bullet punch. Tobias jerks away, and the ineffective move doesn’t do more than graze him, but he’s still sent staggering by the sheer force of it.

Before Dismas can attack again, Nia shoots past Tobias, quick attack making her a blur of blue. She swings her aura staff and slams it into Dismas’ hip. He grunts, but simply catches the staff before it can retract, snapping the aura in half as easily as a twig between his fingers.

Nia watches her aura flicker out, ears pinning flat.

Dismas’ gaze narrows. “…No fighting type moves, Riolu? You’re either real soft or real stupid, and they’re the same in my book.”

He doesn’t wait for a response, lunging into an attack that has Nia and Tobias scrambling away again.

Dismas must suspect that something’s off about Nia’s attacks after that, but if anything it only seems to make him more suspicious, bearing down on Nia even harder than before. She uses small patches of protect to avoid getting hit, rather than dodging around every attack and wearing herself out so quickly. Their satchel swings and bounces with each blow, and Tobias’ eyes lock onto it.

Do they have anything useful in their bag? They passed by that item shop earlier, but Tobias didn’t buy anything despite the fact that he should know better by now, with their record of running into trouble.

But wait—Xander and Avery, they gave them—

Tobias sucks in a deep breath, then releases a thick gray cloud of smokescreen.

Just in time, too, as Dismas gets sick of Nia’s protection strategy and uses a brick break to shatter her next shield. She cries out, stumbling back.

Luckily, the smokescreen spreads quickly enough to give the pangoro pause. The already dim green light of the room grows even hazier, Dismas and Nia melting away into vague silhouettes before vanishing almost entirely.

Tobias squints, grateful that his eyes are sharp enough to pick out Dismas in the smoke, stance wary, and Nia, who has backed away from the fight to look around frantically.

Tobias moves to her side, grateful that the dull roar of water pouring into the room hides the sound of his splashing steps. He grabs her arm, slapping a hand over her mouth to stop her from yelping.

“Gimme the bag,” Tobias whispers.

Nia quickly complies. She swings the satchel around for Tobias to dig through, and he finds the smooth surface of the orb within. He pulls it out, then grabs Nia’s paw to place it onto the item as well.

“Tobias, what—"

“Close your eyes.”

Tobias has heard about orbs before from passing Seeker teams, so he hopes he’s remembering how to activate one correctly. He squeezes his eyes shut and twists the top half of the orb. A blinding blue-white light flashes through his eyelids.

And then he feels it. The energy contained within the all power-up orb rushes through his body, making him feel stronger. His fire burns hotter in his belly.

Nia blinks at the hollow shell of the orb, then at him. “What..?”

Tobias flings the orb aside. “We’ll be stronger for a while. C’mon, we can’t waste this chance. We have to stall him.”

Nia bites her lip, but nods. “I’ll have to wait for the smoke to clear a bit so I can see.”

“I’ll start, then,” Tobias says, darting in to attack.

Dismas’ ears twitch as he tries to track the sound of Tobias’ approach, luckily distorted by the water and the metallic enclosure. Tobias doesn’t give him the chance to figure it out. He unleashes a dragon rage on the pangoro’s side. The purple flames light up the haze of smoke, and Dismas slashes blindly in his direction.

Tobias dodges and switches to flame bursts, trying to use the lingering smokescreen to his advantage to circle the pangoro and disorient him.

After a few blows, Dismas snarls.

The sound is weighty, carrying with it some kind of move energy. It hits Tobias in a dark wave, strong enough to hurt but weak enough for him to keep his footing. His fire suddenly feels less powerful, though.

Before Dismas can continue his attack, a sphere of blue aura launches from the smoke into Dismas’ back. He growls and spins, seeing Nia’s silhouette in the fading smoke just as she can see him. Still, she takes the opportunity to throw another ball of aura as he lunges for her. Nia rolls out of the way in a loud splash, but then is back on the defensive, using a staff of aura to deflect and dodge his heavy hits.

Tobias growls and launches himself back into the fight, the two of them once again dancing around the lumbering Pokemon’s devastating moves. But they’re getting knicked more and more as the fight drags on and they slow down, their movements growing sloppy. It doesn’t help that the water underfoot continues to rise, now up to Tobias’ ankles. It adds an extra weight to each of his steps, making him slower and clumsier.

They can’t afford to keep this fight going much longer.

Nia must think the same, because after she narrowly avoids a terrifying shadow claw to the chest she calls out, “Tobias! Use smokescreen again!”

Tobias can’t spare Nia a glance, but his voice is bewildered as he shouts, “What?!”

Sure, Tobias would have an advantage with his sharper eyes, but Nia would be just as blind as Dismas.

“Trust me!” Nia says, slipping into Dismas’ space to…tap him with her paw?

Tobias has no idea what she’s planning, but he listens. Dismas doesn’t seem to like the idea, because he turns and takes a swing at Tobias. Tobias hops back from it, then spews a dark cloud of smoke, even thicker than earlier. It hazes the room in seconds

Dismas makes a frustrated sound, punching in Tobias’ direction. Tobias takes his chance to back up and take a breather. He glances at Nia.

The riolu has also backed up. She’s panting hard, but a rest doesn’t seem to be her plan. Instead, her aura staff vanishes, and she closes her eyes. A moment later, the faint blue of her aura outlines her, the appendages on either side of her face lifting.

Then Tobias feels it. It’s faint, almost unnoticeable, like Nia has brushed up against him. Not forceful, but definitely present.

Her aura. She tagged him. That explains what she was doing earlier, too, when she made such light contact with Dismas. She’s tracking the two of them by their energy.

Nia moves. Her steps gain confidence as she runs to Tobias’ side, giving Dismas a wide berth. The pangoro’s head snaps side to side, trying to find them in the impenetrable smoke.

“Aura,” Nia explains breathlessly, eyes still closed. “I’ve gotta thank Val later for making me brush up on my training. Now what’s the plan?”

Tobias looks back at Dismas. “We’ve mostly been dodging, but we need to get some hard hits in before the orb wears off if we want to have a chance at outlasting him. I’ll keep the smokescreen up if you can keep using your aura.”

Nia nods. “I-I think I can. Flank him?”

“Circle him. Keep moving. He’s still dangerous even if he can’t see exactly where we are.”

“Right.”

As one, Tobias and Nia run at Dismas, splitting around him like water. Dismas must notice their presence, because he bares his teeth, crouching lower in preparation to strike.

Tobias begins the attack, trying to keep his distance as much as possible by using his flames. He starts at Dismas’ back, then his side, then his chest, focused on staying moving. Each hit lights up the smoke in a bright, dizzying haze.

Nia joins in with her own attacks, sometimes throwing messy aura spheres and sometimes darting in to take a swing with her aura staff before vanishing back into the smoke just as quickly.

Dismas is clearly irritated by the tactic, swinging for them blindly with heavy paws. At one point he tries to use another snarl attack, and Tobias only avoids the shockwave of sound because Nia is crossing by him and blocks it with a flicker of protect.

Dismas sees the bright blue of her energy in the fading smokescreen, and lunges. They separate again.

“Tobias—more smoke!”

“No,” Dismas snaps. “Your little game ends here.”

The words are thick with frustration, but that’s not what makes Tobias’ skin tingle and a hot fog fall over his thoughts. Distantly, he recognizes the energy projected through the words themselves.

Taunt. No more smokescreen, then. Tobias has to fight. He feels the heat of it in his bones.

Tobias growls and launches himself at Dismas, strategy thrown to the wayside in exchange for claws and teeth.

Dismas grins, welcoming the full-frontal attack. While Tobias gets a slash or two off on the pangoro in his frenzy, slicing through pelt and skin, both blows land on Dismas’ arms, relatively harmless.

In such close quarters, Dismas is able to grab Tobias easily. He swings him around before slamming him down into the water covering the ground. Tobias’ spine hits the metal underneath painfully hard, sending a spike of jarring pain through his body. Even worse, the cold ocean water laps over his body, burning against his skin and leaving him gasping.

At least his head feels a bit clearer.

“Let him go!”

Nia flickers between them and wheels her staff back to smack the pangoro’s arm away. To Tobias’ surprise, there’s enough power there to make it happen.

As soon as he’s released, Tobias scrambles back.

Nia is on the offensive, now, slamming her staff into the pangoro’s legs and sides and leaping around his retaliatory blows using little bursts of quick attack. Her hits seem to be landing harder, not just making Dismas brace against them but actively chasing him backwards.

Is she just that angry, or did she sneak in a work up, boosting her attack even more? Tobias knows they can’t afford to hold back, but he’s getting a bit worried about her energy reserves.

As if to spite him for the thought, Nia stumbles as she tries to dodge Dismas’ next punch. Her quick attack falters, and she can’t move fast enough with the water lapping at her ankles, slowing her down.

Dismas’ fist doesn’t hit her head-on, but even a blow to the side is enough to send her flying back, skimming across the shallow water like a stone before slamming into the metal wall and slumping to the ground.

“Nia!” Tobia screams.

He stares, seeing Vivi and desperately thinking Get up get up get up you have to get up—

He only dodges Dismas’ incoming attack on instinct, feeling the pangoro’s fur brush his side. With Nia down, Dismas has officially switched targets.

Tobias is more worried about his partner, though. He tries to get to her, but Dismas blocks his path, using Tobias’ obvious distraction to his advantage. He’d had a hold on his fear before, but it has returned in an all-consuming wave of terror.

Tobias dodges attack after attack, trying to create an opening to check on Nia. Finally, after a particularly large burst of fire that makes even Dismas step back, Tobias manages a glimpse in the riolu’s direction.

His heart skips a beat.

Nia is leaning heavily on the wall, one paw braced against it. The other is pressed tight against her side. Her face is twisted with pain.

But she’s alive. She’s standing.

Dismas follows Tobias’ gaze, clearly weighing whether or not to go finish the job. Something protective and feral and furious rises in Tobias’ gut in response. He’s done playing fair.

“Hey!” He snaps.

Dismas glances down at him, and Tobias spits fire directly into his eyes.

The pangoro roars, stumbling back. Tobias takes his chance and sprints to Nia’s side.

“Tobias,” she wheezes.

“You’re hurt,” he says, like an idiot. He peels her paw away from her side, doing his best to ignore her pained whine.

No blood, thank Arceus, but that just means the damage is internal. Which is almost more worrying.

“Think it’s my ribs,” she murmurs, looking like she’s fighting to stay conscious. “I-I don’t…”

“Shh, don’t move. I got it. Just…"

Tobias looks around, hoping that help has somehow magically appeared in the last ten seconds. But no, it’s still just the two of them and Dismas, who is scrubbing at his eyes. The guards lie unconscious nearby.

The water is rising higher. The green glow from the window reflects onto the rippling waves, the whole room a surreal fractured mirror. It’s already up to Tobias’ knees.

Wait.

“A mirror,” Tobias breathes.

Between the dim lighting and the constant ripple running through the water, the reflection isn’t super clear, though, the image fractured and faint. Will it be enough?

Dismas finally lifts his head, locking eyes with Tobias. He snarls, fists clenching.

Tobias can’t afford not to try.

“Giratina!” He shouts, desperate.

Nia blinks, mind clearly clouded with pain as she struggles to understand what he’s doing.

And then, a moment later, Tobias sees him. In the rippling reflection below, a familiar pair of glowing red eyes and a golden mask-like face. Giratina glances at the pangoro across the room, then glares at Nia and Tobias.

“Get us out of here or we’re dead,” Tobias says, less of a command and more of a plea.

Dismas roars, charging them. Tobias steps in front of Nia. He presses them both back against the wall, praying under his breath and fighting to keep his eyes open against the charging outlaw.

And then, as Dismas nears with his fist raised, Tobias and Nia

are

yanked

down.

Tobias stomach flips. Gravity itself seems to turn, the air suddenly much drier, and nearly silent. He lands hard on rocky ground. Nia cries out as she lands beside him.

Tobias looks around wildly, only to find himself in one of the strangest places he’s ever seen. It’s an endless indigo abyss, like a starless night. Chunks of land float throughout the space like islands that escaped gravity’s grasp. Patches of light hang like colorful windows throughout the void, glimpses into brighter worlds.

And above them floats a banished god, easily the largest Pokémon Tobias has ever seen.

Giratina leans closer to them, looming with all the ire of a furious parent. “What in the gods’ name is happening here?”

“Long story,” Tobias says, kneeling to help Nia into a sitting position. “But we need help.”

“That much is obvious.”

“Before that,” Nia rasps, coughing then wincing. “C-Can you bring the quagsire and malamar here too? They were in the same room as us.”

Giratina’s eyes narrow, but he wordlessly moves up to one of the patches of light, a larger one with a familiar green glow to it. Tobias realizes all at once that it’s a portal. Likely the one they were yanked through—the reflection created by the water on the prison floor. Giratina uses a wing-like tendril to touch it, and a moment later, the malamar is pulled through, limp, and laid onto the rocky ground beside Nia and Tobias. A few seconds later, the quagsire joins him.

“Good,” Tobias says. Then he cranes his head back to meet Giratina’s eyes. He would probably feel intimidated if he were here in any other circumstance, but all of his adrenaline is still locked onto the battle with Dismas. “Keep them safe. Nia too.”

“What?” Nia asks, head snapping up. She tries to push away from him to stand, and nearly falls on her face. Tobias settles her back onto the ground

“Keep her here,” Tobias says to Giratina, voice hard. “She can’t fight in this condition.”

Nia whines a protest, trying and failing to get to her feet again. He ignores the way his body itches to help her. She can’t possibly think he’d let her back in there with Dismas, not with that kind of injury.

“You want to return?” Giratina rumbles to Tobias.

“I don’t want to,” Tobias admits, watching Dismas through the reflection they arrived in. It’s a surreal view from below, as if they were seeing him through a glass floor. His paws are sharp against the glass, but everything else is blurred and distorted. The water ripples green and black, warping the view of the ceiling. Even still, Tobias can tell the pangoro is looking around the room in a battle stance, suspicious about their sudden disappearance. “But if no one’s there to keep him occupied, then he’s going to rip his way through the prison and destroy the whole place in the process. He might kill someone.”

“He’ll kill you!” Nia says.

“He will if he gets the chance, but unless you or Giratina have any other brilliant ideas, then…”

Nia looks up at Giratina, tears in her eyes. “C-Can’t you grab Dismas? You’re a god!”

“He is powerful, and a dark type as well,” Giratina says with a rueful shake of his head. “I cannot drag him here against his will. Not at my current strength. I can slow him down, but that is all.”

That would help, but it wouldn’t be enough on its own. The water in the room is still rising, and soon it’ll be too high for Tobias to move through at all without wading, which would render him practically useless.

No, he needs another form of attack. Something that’ll keep him moving quickly enough. But there isn’t any higher ground to stand on in the little prison cell, or even floating debris to hop between. It’s practically empty, the pangoro and the pool of water the only things of note.

Tobias stares up at the portal, imagining what he’d do after Giratina flung him back through.

And then he gets his actual stupidest idea of the fight. His breath catches.

“Tobias?”

“Giratina,” Tobias says, slowly. “What happens if you throw someone through a portal?”

Nia and Giratina stare at him with equally dumbfounded looks.

“Well?”

“If you were to go through the portal at such a speed, you would continue your momentum into the mortal realm,” Giratina says.

“So I’d just shoot up out of the water, right?”

“In theory, yes.”

“And you could catch me again when I landed. Bring me back here.”

“You’re going to play whack-a-mole with a murderer,” Nia says, in disbelief. “Tobias, no, that’s so risky!”

Tobias doesn’t admit that she’s right. He flattens his mouth, looking up to meet Giratina’s eyes. “You willing to help? The water’s too deep for me to fight otherwise.”

Giratina doesn’t answer.

Tobias swallows. “Please. He can’t be set free.”

Giratina rumbles a mildly irritated sort of noise. “Do not expect this to become a habit.”

Nia makes a sound of protest, but Tobias just gives her what he hopes is a reassuring smile before hopping onto Giratina’s offered wing-tendril-thing.

Tobias is lifted up to the portal. “All right. Let’s try this. Ready?”

“Mm.”

Tobias braces himself. Giratina lowers his wing, then launches him up with surprising force. Tobias resists the urge to close his eyes, rocketing through the portal and—

And flying up into humid air, the sound of rushing water in the enclosed space like a slap to the face. Green light and metal surrounds him once again. Dismas whips his head around, staring at Tobias as he slows mid-air against gravity.

Tobias, with a vicious grin, spins to thwack the pangoro with his tail before gravity takes him and he drops again. Dismas, completely unprepared, stumbles back with a grunt.

Instead of landing in the water, Tobias phases through the reflection and into Giratina’s dimension, caught by the tendrils of the legendary in question.

Tobias can’t believe that worked. He laughs, probably a little hysterically. “Can you keep doing that? Just…keep me coming in at different angles so it’s less predictable.”

Giratina doesn’t look thrilled by the prospect, but he wordlessly braces himself for another throw. Tobias tenses.

Giratina chucks him again, and this time Tobias re-enters the battlefield from behind Dismas. The pangoro spins to meet him, but not before Tobias spits another flame burst at his face, dropping again just as quickly.

Just as before, he phases through the portal and back into the dry, quiet air of the distortion world. Giratina’s tendrils catch him, cold against his back.

He’s launched back up for another attack. And another. And another.

Each time, Tobias gets more confident. He hits the pangoro with a burst of fire or dragon rage, or swipes at him with his claws or a swing of his tail before falling back to safety. Dismas starts trying to grab him, but Giratina keeps Tobias’ entry point random each time and drags Dismas’ feet as much as possible to make him stumble and slow.

Tobias would almost say Dismas is starting to lag, the slightest bit.

Tobias’ own muscles burn with overuse, screaming for a break, but he needs to stall for as long as physically possibly, until help arrives.

He grunts as Giratina launches him through the portal once more. Tobias summons his fire for another flame burst—

Dismas snatches Tobias out of midair. Before Tobias can even register what’s happening, he’s being swung around and slammed down into the water again. His back presses against the metal floor, and burning cold water closes over his head. He chokes on it, struggling against the massive paw holding him down.

It’s loud under the water, an endless roar in his ears, and Tobias realizes that the pangoro has pinned him closer to the crack in the window. The water is likely too agitated here for a reflection to work as a portal.

Panic sets in immediately.

Dismas doesn’t move, as unyielding as a statue as he holds Tobias down. He’s not even going to crush Tobias—he’s going to make him suffer. Drown him slowly.

Tobias is going to die here.

He’s going to die to the same monster that killed his family. He doesn’t want to die.

He doesn’t want to die.

Tobias hears something, a vague yell that sounds suspiciously like Nia. He cracks his eyes open against stinging saltwater just in time to see the water above light up with the blue of her aura.

Of course.

The weight of Dismas’ paw is suddenly gone.

Tobias sits up, coughing and spluttering. He gasps in air, lungs burning, skin numb with pain. He feels too heavy to stand up.

A quiet splash and a whimper, nearly lost to the torrent of water gushing in, is the only thing that manages to lift Tobias’ head. Nia, hand still pressed to her side and visibly trembling, limps to his side.

“T-Tobias! Are you okay?”

“You were supposed to stay with Giratina,” he says, glaring at her.

“Change of plans?” Nia says with a shaky smile.

As one, he and Nia see movement and look over. Dismas is pushing himself to his feet against the far wall. He’s soaking wet, and he looks livid.

Nia presses silently against Tobias’ side, the two of them facing the pangoro head-on.

A piercing crack comes from behind them. Tobias stiffens, glancing back.

The pressure of the water against the window has finally gotten to be too much. The cracks around the break lengthen, branching out in loud, jarring jolts.

…Wait. Is that the shadow of a Pokemon on the other side of the glass?

The rest of the window suddenly shatters. Water comes at them in a wave.

Nia grabs Tobias’ arm, and the blue of her aura flickers to life around them, encasing them in a bubble of protection. Against the semi-translucent barrier, seawater crashes in, swirling against the surface in whorls and waves. Tobias can feel the pressure of the ocean settling around them, like being jammed into a too-small space.

Through the frothy water, Tobias sees Dismas get slammed by the current. The water rises immediately to his waist, then incrementally higher. For the first time, the pangoro actually looks afraid, trying to back away with nowhere to go.

Then, Tobias sees them: Pokemon. Bright streaks of light as guards swarm the room through the broken window. Tobias recognizes the yellow glow of the lanturn he’d noticed earlier, as well as the crawdaunt with his mossy green lantern. A dewgong and an octillery swim by as well, their tones bright against the dark green water. A kingdra and vaporeon slip past the window’s jagged edges with ease. Finally, a sharpedo barrels through and attacks Dismas immediately, latching onto the pangoro’s arm with razor-sharp teeth to hold the outlaw in place.

It’s chaos, but it’s clearly controlled chaos as they all follow some unspoken protocol, three or four of the water types corralling and containing the pangoro in seconds. Moments later, they tug him out of the cell and through the window, presumably up to the surface.

Tobias is relieved when he sees the octillery and dewgong speed out of the room as well, the two injured, unconscious guards held tight between them. Giratina must’ve slipped them back into the room amidst the flurry of activity.

At this point the room has flooded almost entirely, making the water seem almost calm outside of their bubble. Only one or two ‘mon are left after the rush, and the sudden stillness is almost unnerving.

Tobias jumps when he turns his head and notices a giant blue face peering in at them, barely small enough to fit through the broken window. His fanged mouth is large enough to swallow them whole, but he nods reassuringly when he meets Tobias’ eyes. He has a crest at his forehead, fins framing his face, and long blue whiskers.

A gyarados.

The gyarados swims through the window, carefully avoiding broken glass, and wraps his long tail around their protect bubble. Tobias holds Nia to his side, stumbling when their bubble is easily picked up in the gyarados’ grasp and maneuvered through the window into the open ocean beyond.

The gyarados doesn’t move nearly as quickly as Tobias would like, seeming almost leisurely as he swims up to the surface. As the pressure in Tobias’ ears shifts uncomfortably, he figures the gyarados probably has his reasons for the slow ascent, but he still can’t help wishing the water type would hurry up.

Nia is breathing hard, shaking like a leaf in a storm, likely on her very last restores of energy after such a tough fight. Tobias has no idea how she’s still holding on to the protect at all, honestly. He pulls her into a hug, letting her lean most of her weight on him, and she squeezes him hard, fingers digging into his skin. He uses his thumbs to rub circles into her back in return, murmuring encouragements.

Slowly, the surface comes closer. The ocean around them fades from heavy black and bright green to a gentle, sunlit blue. And finally, finally, they break the surface. The gyarados lifts their bubble onto his broad back, finally safe in the open air.

“You can relax, Riolu,” the gyarados says, just loud enough to be heard through the barrier.

Nia doesn’t, arms still locked tight around Tobias.

Tobias taps her back. “Nia, you can let go.”

She whimpers quietly. A questioning, uncertain noise.

“They’ve got us. We’re safe.”

Another beat of hesitation, and then Nia releases the protect. Bright sunlight and fresh, cool air hit Tobias’ chilled skin. Nia slumps against him, complete deadweight.

“Nia?”

Tobias feels a sudden rush of fear, remembering Vivi’s small body doing the same. He hurriedly sits and eases her into his lap, face-up. To his relief, her brow creases with the movement. Her chest rises and falls, shallower than he would like but otherwise steady.

She’s fine. Out like a light, but alive.

Tobias exhales, leaning forward to wrap his arms loosely around Nia’s shoulders. He presses his face into the ruff of fur around her neck.

Alive. She’s alive. He’s alive. They fell into a deathtrap with Dismas and survived.

Tobias barks a laugh, eyes stinging with tears. Then he can’t seem to stop laughing, until he’s gasping for air and crying too, shaking. Nia’s going to have to wash her fur.

The tension and terror that has been sitting like bile in his gut since they first saw Dismas finally starts to ease. It feels like breaching the surface all over again. It feels like relief.

The gyarados brings them to a dock at the edge of the city, where officials are trying to keep a gawking crowd of bystanders at bay with shouts and only half-succeeding. Word must’ve spread that something exciting was happening.

Tobias barely registers it, only focused on sticking by Nia as they’re handed off to another ‘mon and carted off somewhere.

He doesn’t come back to himself until two healer ‘mon try to separate Nia from his death grip. It’s likely for treatment, considering that when he lifts his head they’re in what is clearly a small clinic, but he’s still reluctant to part from her.

“I’m her partner,” Tobias rasps, though it comes out as more of a whine.

The Pokemon trying to see to their injuries, an audino and a clefable, exchange looks.

“We aren’t separating you,” the audino assures, voice low and soothing. “But you have to let go so we can look you both over.”

Tobias reluctantly releases Nia, relieved when they’re only parted by a few feet so the medics have enough room to work.

“She got hit on her right side,” Tobias says to the clefable looking him over, letting the fairy type move his limbs around as she checks for mobility issues. “Check her ribs.”

“Lerin knows what he’s doing,” the clefable says, though she sounds more amused than anything. “Don’t worry. Your partner is in good hands.”

Tobias nods, forcing himself to relax and follow the clefable’s directions as she gives him a thorough checkup. After cleaning and bandaging the gash on his side and running him through a heal pulse session, Tobias is feeling fuzzy-headed and ready to sleep for a week, but otherwise significantly better.

The clefable eases Tobias into a large, mossy nest, soft against his raw and water-chafed skin. Sleep tugs at him, but…

“Nia?” Tobias mumbles.

“She has a fracture on one rib,” the audino answers, carefully laying Nia into the nest next to Tobias. “Otherwise, only some nasty bruising. It’ll hurt and she’ll need to take it easy for a week or so—no combat—but the heal pulse kickstarted the healing process. She’ll be fine. Probably up and about in a day or two.”

Good. Tobias hums his thanks, wiggling closer until he can lie right next to Nia, tucking his face into the fluff around her neck to feel her breathe.

And then he’s out.

—————————————————————————

It feels like Tobias has only just closed his eyes when he’s woken by a quiet, cut-off sound of pain. His eyes snap open in an instant.

Nia stares back at him like a child caught doing something they shouldn't be. She’s still lying down, but her paw is pressed against her injured side and her body is curled tight with tension.

“Careful," Tobias mumbles, reaching up to rub at his eyes. "You cracked a rib.”

“You don’t say,” Nia huffs, somewhere between pained and amused. She visibly forces herself to relax, gingerly laying her arm down and trying to uncurl.

It’s early morning, warm sunshine just starting to filter into the room through sheer curtains and painting everything in a golden light.

“So we didn’t die?” Nia asks, only half-joking.

Tobias breathes a laugh. “We survived. Somehow. You got the worst of it.”

“I’d say. Feels like I got hit by a truck.”

Tobias’ smile falters. “They said you’ll have to take it easy for a couple weeks, but you should be able to walk around in a day or two.”

Nia tries to take a deeper breath, and winces when she can't. She exhales with a forced steadiness. “Junie’s gonna kill me.”

“You? I’m definitely getting the blame for this.”

Nia laughs, but quickly chokes off into a pained sound.

Tobias’ heart sinks. He looks away. “…I’m sorry. That you got hurt. And for, uh…getting us into that situation in the first place. Every time we try to learn more about Team Zenith, I feel like we end up fighting for our lives.”

Nia is quiet for a moment. Then she reaches over and takes his hand, uncurling his fingers to intertwine their hands and give a squeeze. “This time wasn’t your fault.”

“I’m the reason we were there at all.”

“It was important to you. You couldn’t have known he’d break free like that.”

“Still. You got hurt.”

“That’s just part of the Seeker lifestyle, Tobias.”

“Wish it wasn’t.” Tobias finally works up the courage to meet Nia’s eyes again, feeling unworthy of the soft affection he sees there.

But then her expression falls, brow furrowing. Hesitantly, as if afraid to hear the answer, Nia asks, “Have you heard anything about the guards? Did they..?”

Survive? Tobias feels more guilt pile onto his shoulders.

Tobias shakes his head. “I don’t know. I know they got ‘em out, but I haven’t heard anything else.”

Nia hums, but doesn’t push. Then she runs her thumb over the back of his hand. “How about you? How are you feeling about…everything?”

Tobias knows what she’s asking. How is he handling what he learned from Dismas? What he remembered about that night?

The fact that his family died just to cover Team Zenith’s tracks.

The reminder makes hot tears prick at Tobias’ eyes. He takes a shaky breath. “Honestly? Not great.”

Nia makes a wordless sound of encouragement.

“It’s just...I always figured there had to be a reason, you know? Something I could point to and say, ‘This is why that happened.’ Some big, important motive. And knowing it was all just bad timing? Just Sulien covering his tracks? It feels…wrong.”

Tobias sniffs. He feels a few tears spill over, streaking sideways down his face. He lowers his chin, but doesn’t bother wiping the tears away. He knows there are more coming. His throat is tight.

“They never deserved to die, but at least if there was a better reason, there would be some kind of logic to it, y’know? But no, it was all just…chance.”

The knowledge leaves Tobias feeling strangely unmoored. He would’ve guessed that this revelation would stoke his rage more than ever. Instead, the burning hate that has kept him going the past eight years, that has driven him to hunt down the outlaws and make them pay, has…dampened.

He still hates Team Zenith, of course, and Sulien still needs to be stopped, but for the first time ever Tobias is realizing how…insignificant all of this is, in the grand scheme of things. This whole city has no idea who Dismas is, or what he did to Tobias’ family. They’re just tourists and locals going on with their lives, happily unaware.

That night destroyed Tobias’ world, but for everyone else? For Sulien? It meant absolutely nothing.

Does it even matter that Tobias survived? He wasn’t the one who stopped Asra, or who brought Dismas to this prison. Sulien will likely be caught by some random high-ranking team without Tobias even knowing it.

So what’s the point? Why is he still here when his family isn’t? He’s justified his survival with vengeance for so long, but when that isn’t a real factor, all that’s left to ask is why he got to live when they didn't. Once Sulien is taken care of, what is he even supposed to do with his life?

To Tobias’ surprise, a sob rips from his throat. This time, the shame is too much, and he curls up tighter in the nest, covering his face with his hands so he can cry without Nia seeing him.

Of course she won’t let that stand. Nia’s soft, cool paws tug at his shoulders, coaxing him closer until he can bury himself in her neck, crying into her soft fur. One paw comes up to cup the back of his head, the other stroking at his shoulder blades while she murmurs words too quiet to understand.

For a moment, Tobias is torn between mortification and relief, before grief hits him like a wave and buries it all. It drowns him more thoroughly than the ocean had, leaving him gasping for air and trembling with pain.

“I miss them so much,” he whimpers.

Nia’s hold tightens. He can feel her swallow. “I know.”

“I-I don’t—they should’ve lived. Vivi should’ve lived."

“I know. But you did the best you could, Tobias. It’s a miracle you even survived.”

“I shouldn’t have!” Tobias cries. “I should’ve died with her.”

Nia’s breath hitches. She holds him even tighter, voice shaking. “Well...I’m glad you survived, for what it's worth. And your family would be happy you did, too.”

Tobias shakes his head. “But I couldn’t even avenge them! I-I didn’t catch Asra, or Dismas. I-I…What good am I if I can’t even do that? That’s all I’m here for!”

At that, Nia wrenches them apart. Through Tobias’ tears, she looks on the verge of tears herself. “You’re here to live, Tobias. You don’t have to do anything to deserve that. I…I didn’t know your family, but I’m positive that’s what they would have wanted, too.”

The words strike Tobias in the chest. They feel blasphemous. They feel like a gasp of air after drowning for nearly a decade.

“I don’t deserve it,” Tobias whispers.

“You do. You deserve to be happy, Tobias. It wasn’t your fault.”

It feels shameful, admitting that some part of him wants Nia to be right. Wants that burden lifted off his back.

“It’s not fair,” he rasps, “That I got to live and they didn’t.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

Nia’s words are sympathetic. Forgiving. Tobias can’t ingest them, not with guilt still choking him like a physical thing. Like Dismas himself is here with his fingers around Tobias’ throat.

Tobias doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to forgive himself for not doing enough. For not saving them, somehow. For surviving when they didn’t.

But...Nia’s also right. His family wouldn’t have wanted him to be miserable his entire life. They definitely wouldn’t have wanted him to die with them. They loved him as much as he loved them.

When Dismas was trying to drown him earlier, Tobias remembers thinking that he didn’t want to die. He was scared, sure, but here with Nia he realizes that it wasn’t just fear talking, or a desire to take down Team Zenith.

He’d wanted to live, too.

Tobias had thought he didn’t care whether he lived or died, after the mines in Fort Asra. But…he does care. Surprisingly, he doesn’t actually want to die.

The thought feels selfish and too large to comprehend, almost heavier than the shame and hate he has carried around all these years. He wouldn’t know what to do with that kind of freedom, with his life not constantly weighed down by thoughts of the outlaws and his family’s tragic deaths.

...Could he really do that? Choke down the guilt and live a life for someone other than his ghosts? Live purely for himself? It sounds so wrong.

But…Nia says he deserves it. And he trusts her.

Maybe he could just try it. Try…living for the sake of living, rather than as a means to an end. For Nia’s sake, and for Maggie’s, and for the Pokemon at the guild he’s starting to think of as friends.

Maybe Nia’s right. Maybe he wasn’t just left alive as some sick memorial to the worst night of his life. Even when guilt threatens to consume him whole, maybe it’s okay for him to try to be happy.

Maybe one day he’ll even believe he deserves it.

[thearistocratsblog]

*anime eyes bely ancient & distant cosmic impressions*

AKB0048: The idols all have hearts in their eyes and matching highlights in their hair. Graduated members have stars in the same places.

Bakugan Battle Brawlers: The Vestals from the New Vestroia season don't have black pupils. Instead, their pupils are simply a darker shade of their iris color. They also lack the shiny glint that human eyes have. Not Mind-Control Eyes in that it's a racial feature that even the good guys have and everyone is acting autonomously. They also fall under the Technicolor Eyes category.

Black Butler: One of Ciel Phantomhive's eyes glows purple with an intricate pentagram inside it. This is the mark of his covenant with Sebastian, as a result of asking for 'as much power as he could give'; because a more obvious mark allows him more power, his eyes were the most obvious place Sebastian could put it.

Black★Rock Shooter: The Otherselves have gear-like pupils, and when their real selves are influenced by then, their irises become gear-shaped. Probably something to do with their Blue-and-Orange Morality.

Bleach:

Ulquiorra Cifer has slitted pupils, used to further emphasize his moments of Dull Surprise.

Ichigo and the Visoreds' scleras turn black while using their Hollow masks, while their irises turn yellow.

Quilge's eyes consist entirely of vertical lines when he transforms.

The Soul King's eyes are black holes with saltire crosses where his pupils should be.

When Yhwach "opens his eyes," he gains additional irises, none of which look straight ahead.

Bungo Stray Dogs: Yumeno Kyuusaku has one pupil as an open circle and the other as a star.

Code Geass: Users of the eponymous power have bird-like sigils that become visible whenever their Geass is activated. Those that fall into the command of a Geass have their scleras highlighted with the color of the Geass itself.

The Dangers in My Heart: Kyōtarō Ichikawa, along with his mom and sister, have concentric blue-green eyes that resemble targets compared to everyone else.

Death Parade: All of the arbiters have cross shapes surrounding their pupils, a couple shades lighter than the iris. Their eyes allow them to see the memories of the dead through data transference.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Demons have eyes that come with a wide variety of colors, designs, and placements. All of Twelve Kizuki have their rank on their eyeballs in the place of an iris and pupil. On top of this, they also tend to have additional unique eye features, like odd colors or strange eyelashes. In fact, most of the characters have unusual eye designs, but 9 times out of 10, it doesn't actually mean anything and only serves to make the characters look more distinct.

Nono from DieBuster has star shaped pupils. In the still illustrations that play over the end credits, they almost appear similar to Nia's.

In Dream Eater Merry most Dream Demons have unique pupil designs, sans Chaser John Doe, who wears a mask. The eponymous Merry Nightmare has horizontal pupils, while Chukai has cross-shaped pupils, Engi has triangular pupils, Rainsborough has his pupils resembling the Tick-Tack-Toe symbol, and Chris Evergreen has tilting H-shaped pupils.

Ayame from Dr. Ramune: Mysterious Disease Specialist has purple eyes with prominent spiral patterns reflected on it, which immediately gives away that she's not a normal little girl. Indeed, she's actually a (mentally) 112-year-old proprietor of a magical supply store. It's unknown if she's reincarnated into her current body, or if she's somehow regressed her age.

Fabricant 100: No 33 has rice-shaped lines coming from his pupils.

In Fire Force, a majority of pyrokinetics have these. They are white when their fire powers are activated and glow when in a heightened emotional state. Most are related to their abilities, such as Tamaki having vertical slits to go with her flames resembling cat ears and cat tails on her body, and Nataku having radioactive signs due to his nuclear radiation abilities. Company 7's captain, Shinmon Benimaru, takes the cake with a different design for both eyes. This signifies his status as the only character with both Second (ability to control fire) and Third (ability to generate fire) Generation Ignition abilities.

[archxngxl]

"Sounds like a plan." Stella nodded her head. Stella slowly got up as to now startle the groggy boy. The director moved to the counter, where a pad of sticky notes laid. She quickly scribbled down her phone number, and other socials just in case. "Here." Stella handed her the yellow paper. "We can keep in touch." Stella said with a smile. The director saw the two out, giving them a hearty goodbye. Stella spent the rest of the night planning her outfit, and simply gushing about her old flame.

---

Daisy's Cafe, Thursday, 12pm

Stella waited eagerly for the arrival of Nia. The woman was early, as always. it was a habit she picked up in middle school, she was always at least 20 minutes early to any meet up. Stella simply could not stand being late. The time she had gave time to nitpick everything about her outfit. She wore a simple navy blue pant suit, and she kept fixing the buttons or her collar. The director did not have much time to dwell on her appearance though, since her friend stepped into the café just that second. "Hi."

nia grinned. "a trick or treater that i should really get to bed." nia said and started to gently rub her son's back so he'd wake up a bit. it was always easier when he walked home himself. she was never very good at carrying him past the age of four. weak arms.

"i'd love to see you more as well. maybe lunch in a couple of days... thursday, 12PM, daisy's cafe?" she suggested as she watched cedric rub his tired eyes.

[narraboths]

[on Ao3]

Magic does spice things up a little.

Lena has a handle on it, really. For someone who’s only learned she has magical powers like, two months ago, she’s admirably good at keeping it in check, as Kara makes sure to tell her. There are no hiccups in their everyday life, not since that one accident turning Nia’s hair blue (it totally goes with the suit, Lena!), and not even in action, where Lena works with ever-increasing, icy focus and ruthless accuracy.

But sometimes, magic still lashes out, wild, unruly, unpredictable. Sometimes, when Lena’s focus lags a little, when her guard is down, sometimes, like when her hand is tangled in Kara’s hair, tugging encouragingly as Kara’s nestled between her lags and the covers catch fire and Kara almost dies laughing, eyebrows waggling with a that good, huh on her lips once her ice breath handles the flames–

Well, accidents happen.

They take it in stride. Sometimes they can move on with a giggle, so carefree and so infatuated with each other that the mishaps barely even register (that bedframe was due for a change, anyway). Sometimes, Kara holds Lena gently afterwards, murmuring it’s okay, I know how hard it is to handle, you didn’t hurt me and timid and quiet, Lena lets herself be tucked into Kara’s arms, the pair of them staying like that, entangled in each other’s warmth, until Lena believes all those words.  They trust each other, love each other. They can deal with the hiccups.

But some things prove to be more – permanent.

–

“Hey, baby?”

Kara tries to make sure her voice doesn’t sound too upset or anything and she isn’t upset, truly, not so much as bewildered. She keeps staring and staring at herself in the mirror as Lena’s sleepy voice wafts through the bedroom walls:

“Yes?”

“Did you use any… spells last night or anything?”

There’s a significant pause, then the hasty rustling of covers.

“No?!”

Kara’s still staring at her reflection as the patter of footsteps gets louder and louder and Lena finally bursts into the bathroom.

“What–,” she starts, frenzied, but then her eyes grow wide and the words freeze on her lips. “Oh.”

Kara gives a hesitant chuckle and a little grimace.

“Yeah.” Fires and levitating beds and spontaneously appearing bondages are one thing, but the perfectly formed, seemingly very permanent imprint of Lena’s lips on her neck in the same carmine red color like the lipstick she wore last night is unquestionably a new and striking one. Not a bad one, mind, but, well, a surprise, to put it mildly. “It won’t come off.”

“Oh,” Lena echoes again. She’s eyeing the mark intently, the tip of her tongue peeking out for a second as she wets those dear offending lips. “May I–?”

Kara’s drawing closer already before she could finish, tipping her head back to allow Lena a good look and Lena smiles in turn, one hand gently grasping Kara’s jaw, pressing for a better angle.

“Wow.” Her eyebrows furrow in concentration as she inspects the mark and the confusion gnawing in Kara’s chest gives way to immense fondness. Lena’s other hand creeps up along the line of her throat, fingertips skimming tentatively over the edge of the mark, and Kara has to bite back a whimper as a hint of warm, pleasant buzz blooms under her touch. Lena catches it, of course, eyes narrowing. “Does it hurt?”

“No,” Kara replies, a little hoarse. “Quite the opposite.”

That gets a giggle. With a curious glint, Lena’s gaze turns from the mark to Kara’s face and slowly, deliberately, her thumb swipes over Kara’s throat again, then again, and Kara lets her eyes flutter shut, head falling back with a sigh.

“Curious.” Lena’s voice is hushed, awed. “I never thought...”

She draws her hand back, and Kara grunts, displeased, feeling an acute pang in her chest at the loss of warmth. There’s a gentle tap at her cheek instead and begrudgingly, Kara opens her eyes again to stare down at her girlfriend.

“So?” Lena draws back a little, bashful, eyes downcast, and Kara snakes her arms around her waist before she could get any further, thumbs gently stroking Lena’s side. “What is it?”

“Well...” One of Lena’s hands finds its way to Kara’s chest, fingers fiddling nervously with the buttons of her shirt. She takes a deep breath. “I’ve been reading about something called a lover’s mark before, something that would only manifest for those whose love is true, but there wasn’t even really a spell, just...”

The words come all at once, rushed out in a single, tense breath, and Kara’s head is spinning madly with them, like she just downed something particularly strong at Al’s. She feels like she’s dreaming, floating, and has to look down and check that her feet are still firmly planted on the ground.

“Wait, wait.” Lena’s hold tightens on her shirt, clinging closer. She’s still avoiding Kara’s gaze, and Kara wishes her tongue didn’t feel like it was tied in knots, wishes she could just tell Lena that she’s not mad or shocked or afraid, that this does feel weird, to think there’s some force out in the universe measuring their love, but also so very wonderful that her heart might just burst. “True love, really?”

“I know,” Lena presses her face against Kara’s shoulder with a huff. “It sounds so unbelievably silly and I know you didn’t even ask for any of this, I’m so–”

Her words are cut off with an undignified yelp when Kara lifts her up in her arms and spins them around very, very carefully, head thrown back in exuberant laughter. She would float too, but she’s already feeling a little drunk on emotions, just enough that she might get carried away and end up bursting through the ceiling. She settles for kissing Lena instead, along her hairline, her temples, her cheeks, until Lena’s giggling and melting against her and Kara feels so warm like she’s holding her very own sun in her arms.

“So you’re not mad about it?” Lena finally asks when Kara sets her down. Her arms are wrapped around Kara’s neck now, fingers tickling her nape, and she’s all bright-eyed again, head tilted and eyebrow raised in that cocky little way that makes Kara’s heart beat just a touch faster.

“I love it.” She punctuates it with a hasty kiss that makes Lena giggle against her lips, and Kara only pulls back long enough to whisper: “I love you.”

The next kiss is slow, soft, and so sweetly, exquisitely tender that Kara wants to be lost in its feeling forever, her world narrowing to nothing but the soft press of Lena’s mouth, the warmth of her cheek under Kara’s palm, the little huffs of breath between their lips.

Time stands still, for a little while. It feels stilled even when they finally part with a sigh and Lena rest her head on Kara’s shoulder, one hand absent-mindedly playing with the collar of her shirt.

“You know,” she murmurs, lips almost brushing over their last mark. “It does look very fetching on you.”

[thornedrose44]

Prompt: “I can’t do this. Just leave me alone.”

Read on AO3

"Goodnight, Kara." Lena said from across the room when she finally managed to catch Kara's eye.

It was the first time they had made eye contact since Kara had welcomed her inside at the start of the night. Kara startled at the sudden sight of Lena, waving farewell as she stepped quietly towards the door, but made no move to follow after her and when the door swung quietly shut behind her Lena knew things would never be the same.

It was Kara's birthday party (her Earth birthday party to those that happened to be in the know, which to Lena's un-surprise was a rather considerable group all things considered). Kara had invited her, further proof of the strength of their newly reaffirmed friendship. Lena had been grateful for the invite, appreciating it as the sign that they were back on the right track, and accepted it without hesitation.

She had then proceeded to spend hours upon hours thinking of the perfect gift for Kara, excitement and anticipation building in her stomach.

It would be her first proper night out in months after being thrown back into her role as CEO and dealing with all the negative press following Lex’s downfall and upcoming conviction. Her working hours had reached an excess that she had never achieved before. The blowback onto her in the form of hatred for the Luthors was even greater than last time as well, despite her crucial role in taking Lex down. She was still deemed guilty by association especially since she had been working closely with Lex for a long time before revelations about his villainy became apparent.

The news were critiquing her every move, slandering her every chance they got and rallying the masses to a fervour - she was now facing at least one assassination attempt every week.

Regardless of all that, Lena had one salvation, one light of hope that she clung onto. Her friendship with Kara. It was growing again. They were spending time together. Relearning one another or learning about each for the first time in Lena's case. The conversation was finally less stilted and the trust was back.

But there was still something missing, something stopping them from returning to exactly where they were before.

Lena, as the months ticked by, realised that they were no longer as physically close as they once were. Hugs were rare. Gentle touches of the hands were swiftly snatched back to prevent lingering. Even extended eye contact was fleeting.

Lena at first thought the problem was that she had hurt Kara so badly that the woman who sometimes communicated solely through physical affection no longer wanted to be touched by Lena. That broke something in Lena. That Kara, even though she was trying to be kind, friendly and forgiving to Lena, was not comfortable with any sort of physical contact between them, drove Lena into a drunken stupor of college-level proportions.

Once the alcohol was out of her system and she had suitably recovered from her hangover, Lena had allowed the scientist within her to take over.

No more assumptions.

She would gather evidence, make an hypothesis and work towards a solution.

If she wanted Kara back in her life properly - cuddles on the sofa and lengthy hugs a necessity of that - Lena would put the effort in.

So she observed… and what she observed was this…

Pink cheeks and bashful expressions whenever their gazes met.

A thick swallow and faltering breath whenever their hands brushed.

Deep sighs and fingers digging fleetingly into her back as if on the edge of pulling her closer whenever they embraced.

Dark eyes and teeth biting into a bottom lip whenever Lena stretched or moved her hair away from her neck.

Attraction, affection and interest .

Lena didn’t believe the results of her evidence; she re-ran the tests over and over again trying to work out if she had just interacted with Kara on an odd day, if she just happened to be thinking about something (someone) else at the same time but… it kept happening over and over again.

If it had been anyone else, Lena wouldn’t have doubted what she was seeing but… but.. This was Kara.

Kara, who she had been in love with since she had walked into her office with her cousin.

Kara, who had never picked up on or reacted to her flirts.

Kara, who had broken her heart with lies.

Kara, who meant so much to her.

Kara, who she had only just gotten back.

Was it worth the risk?

Fear had blinded her, of that she had no doubt, but was it keeping her safe from the hurtful truth of Kara not wanting to touch her anymore or from the potential happiness that Kara returned her feelings but was too sweet or shy to put herself in a position that would make Lena uncomfortable.

Lena decided to take a chance - just this once because even if she was wrong about Kara not feeling the same, she had to believe that Kara was incapable of being cruel to her if she misread it. They promised each other honesty and Lena intended to show it.

It was why she needed to buy the perfect present, something that hinted that Kara’s feelings (if Lena was right) were returned. And just a week before the party, she knew exactly what the perfect present would be.

She wrapped it personally (normally Jess would wrap any gifts she had to send out), wanting to go the extra mile. It wasn’t perfectly done, a bit messy in places and the sellotape was excessive but she had done it herself which she knew Kara would appreciate more than professional gift wrapping.

Lena, however, realised that she had made a mistake the second she arrived at Kara's.

Knew she had misread… everything …

Because Kara… Kara couldn't stand to be near her for longer than it took to say hello, accept the present and then disappear off.

Lena hadn’t expected to be with Kara for all of the party; it was Kara's party and loads of her friends were in attendance, all of whom wanted to spend it with Kara. Who wouldn't?

It's just… Lena…

Lena didn't have anyone else.

It was made abundantly clear to Lena within the first thirty seconds that she was not welcome. Alex gave her a gruff nod from across the room before turning her back to her - she still didn't trust her and Lena had prioritised winning Kara back over the last few months above everything else. Brainy and Nia smiled at her but they were deep in conversation with CatCo employees all of whom were practically snarling at Lena (clearly not Luthor fans). James was here as well and dear God did he give her such a blazing look of hatred Lena was surprised she didn't burst into flames under its ferocity. (They hadn’t dated in this rewritten universe, much to Lena’s pleasure, though his original dislike for her was clearly a mainstay of every universe).

So… Lena grabbed a drink and stood in the corner as Kara moved seamlessly between her various groups of friends and colleagues, never once sparing Lena even a glance. The majority of her movements were accompanied by William Dey, who repeatedly tried to sling an arm around Kara's shoulder - the only joy Lena got from the evening was watching Kara repeatedly squirm out from under his touch.

She held out for two hours, sipping three beers and glancing intermittently at her phone as she stayed in her corner, hoping that Kara would come over for just five minutes.

Five minutes with Kara wasn't too much to ask for, was it?

Five mere minutes with Kara would have made the whole night worth it, made the glares and malevolent whispers sent her way worth it.

It was at the two hour mark that Lena accepted the truth.

Kara wasn't going to come over to talk to her.

Kara hadn't been pulling away from her due to a sudden realisation of feelings and attraction.

Kara hadn't expected her to accept the invite. Hadn't wanted her to accept.

Kara was ashamed of her, that was why she pulled away, why she didn't acknowledge her.

Lena couldn't really blame her but that didn't mean she had to stay and take it. So gathering what was left of her dignity, she shuffled towards the door, caught Kara's eye, waved and slipped outside… though, not before retrieving the present she had brought for Kara… it would have revealed far too much and Lena didn't need to deal with that on top of everything else.

Lena returned to her office for no other reason that she still had some good liquor stored there - Kara had encouraged her a couple of months ago to cut back on her drinking and she couldn’t deny the baby blue puppy dog eyes. She staggered into her office, chucking the present she had spent hours creating onto the sofa - she would buy Kara some random meaningless gift like a nice scarf or jumper tomorrow instead - and poured herself a full tumbler before flipping open her laptop and getting to work. She lost herself in designs and business plans as she made her way through the bottle.

She used to sit and brood when she drank but Sam had made her promise she wouldn’t do that anymore, hazel eyes filled with concern at where Lena’s mind wandered when unoccupied and fuelled by alcohol. Whilst Lena was in a pretty bleak space, she refused to hurt her last (and only) friend by breaking the one promise she had made to her.

It must have been two am when Lena heard a familiar thud from the balcony followed by a gentle knock that could only belong to one person.

“Kara, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Lena called out, not bothering to lift her gaze away from her laptop screen - she wasn't sure whether the sight of Kara would evoke tears or fury and she wished to give Kara neither.

“Hey… I just wanted… I was…" Kara stammered out; Lena didn't need to see her to know that she was fidgeting with the edge of her cape as she tiptoed nervously closer. "You know… flying around and saw the light on and figured I would check in on you, see how you were doing…”

“I’m fine. Just working.” Lena replied brusquely taking a sip of her whiskey.

“And drinking…” Kara muttered, her tone more worried than disapproving but Lena took offense regardless.

“Yes. It’s a Saturday night, cut me some slack.” Lena snapped back, defiantly swallowing what was left in her glass before slamming it down onto her desk.

The loud clack as it connected with the surface was followed by a heavy, almost suffocating silence.

“You left early.” Kara whispered into the unnatural stillness, shattering the fraudulent focus Lena had on her computer screen with those three words. Kara didn't sound confused or upset, just painfully neutral as if to emotionally step back from the situation so that she could garner some emotional truth from the CEO instead.

Well, Lena was done with that, done with giving more of herself than Kara wanted so she took a deep, calming breath and allowed her painstakingly crafted mask to slip into place.

“I wasn’t the first to leave.” Lena pointed out calmly, finally turning to look at Kara, certain she could keep her voice and face blank. It was then that she saw how… small Kara looked, which was never a word Lena would have used to describe Kara in full Supergirl regalia in the entire time she had known her. Kara looked defeated and lost, a tremble to her lip and very being that she tried to hide behind a shy smile.

“Well… I didn’t get a chance to talk to you…” Kara replied, ducking her head meekly as she admitted. “I wanted to talk to you.”

Lena pursed her lips at that, “I was there for over two hours, Kara. You could have come over whenever you wanted. It wasn’t like I was occupied.”

“Yeah… what was that about?” Kara laughed, rubbing the back of her neck, trying far too hard to make her tone light as if even the idea of Lena being without company was an entirely absurd concept.

The high-pitch to Kara's laugh and the unfamiliar tension around her eyes revealed to Lena that Kara knew exactly why Lena had been standing all alone that evening.

“I’m a Luthor, Kara." Lena replied sharply, not interested in trying to smooth over the harsh truths like Kara was always so keen to do when it suited her. "No one wanted me there and they all made that very clear.”

“I wanted you there.” Kara replied so soft and earnest that Lena nearly believed her.

“I highly doubt that.” Lena scoffed derisively.

“I did.” Kara insisted, eyes desperate and pleading.

Lena merely shook her head, turning back to face her computer, “If you say so…”

“Lena, I-”

“Kara… I can’t…” Lena muttered, her voice cracking in the exact way she didn’t want it to. “I can’t do this. Just leave me alone.” Lena requested, hating how it verged on begging.

“What?” Kara murmured in shock.

“I can’t just… pretend that I’m not hurt or upset.” Lena confessed, fingers curling into fists on her desk, eyes slamming shut to lock in the tears. “I just need… time to get over it and accept what we are. So until then… please just leave me alone.”

“I hurt you.” Kara repeated, her voice broken and raw .

“Kara, I didn’t…” Lena shook her head angrily, she didn’t want to do this, didn’t want to inflict herself on Kara who had tried so hard to be her friend. “It's your birthday, Kara.” Lena sighed sadly, “You get to spend it anyway you like with whomever you like.”

“I wanted to spend it with you.” Kara breathed, and Lena could hear the sharp inhales between each word that revealed that Kara was crying.

“Kara, you don’t need to…” Lena assured, with a wave of her hand, eyes focused on her lap, “let’s just leave it, okay?”

“No…” Kara gasped, and suddenly Lena felt a trembling hand connect with her own tightly curled fists, “wait… what did you mean ‘get over it’ and ‘accept what we are’?”

Lena sucked in a sharp breath at the question, biting down harshly on her bottom lip.

“Lena?” Kara pressed.

“Fuck it, fine.” Lena snapped, yanking her hands away from Kara’s infinitely soft touch and shoving herself out of her chair before storming away from Kara, desperate for space. “I thought you liked me.”

“I do-” Kara began, taking a tentative step after her.

“No, Kara.” Lena yelled, spinning back to face Kara, with a twisted snarl of total self-loathing. “Liked me.” Lena stressed, before throwing her hands up into the air as it all just boiled out of her, “God, I sound like a teenager. I thought you liked me. I thought you were touching me less because you were attracted to me. But then… I go to your party and you don’t… it was like you were ashamed of me, I sat in that fucking corner for two hours as everyone wished - out loud, I should say - that I would go. I sat in that fucking corner in the hope that you would speak to me for five minutes. For just five minutes. Because that… that would have made it all worth it. But you could barely look at me. And I realised you didn’t - don’t - like me… you’re ashamed of me, but you’re too kind to abandon me. Too noble and generous but even you have your limits. Of course, you didn’t want to spend your birthday talking to me. Of course you didn’t.”

Lena wanted to punch a wall, wanted to down the rest of her whiskey, wanted to do literally anything than be here in this moment watching the horror-struck expression on Kara’s face grow and grow with every word, watch Kara’s body tremble and shake with each harsh sweeping gesture.

“Lena, no… you��” Kara sobbed, striding towards her with fingers twitching at her sides, “you have got the complete wrong end of the stick. Actually, you’re right but also really wrong. And…” Kara swiped aggressively at the tears rolling down her cheeks as she approached Lena, stopping when the raven-haired woman flinched at their sudden closeness. “I screwed up but-”

“No. You don’t need to do this.” Lena cut in, holding a hand up to stop Kara, wanting Kara to know that her guilt was unnecessary and that she could finally be free of Lena.

“Lena, I’m so-”

“You don’t need to apologise.” Lena insisted, taking a deep breath to rein back in her swirl of her emotions. She could do this. She could let Kara go. “You were trying to be kind but you shouldn’t… god, if I make you that miserable, that uncomfortable, you shouldn’t have to force yourself to interact with me.”

“LENA!” Kara bellowed, stamping her foot to the ground and lifting her chin to reveal a determined expression.

Lena blinked in shock at the sudden volume and intensity; falling obediently quiet.

Kara placed her hands on her hips, took a deep breath, looked Lena straight in the eye with earnest, beseeching blue and declared, “I want to kiss you right now because that would be the big sweeping action that would prove to you that I mean what I’m about to say next but… you’ve been drinking… heavily from the looks of things.” Kara shot a displeased pout at the nearly empty bottle of whiskey as if it was all the bottle’s fault for Lena’s current state of inebriation and not the youngest Luthor’s unhealthy coping mechanisms. Kara turned back to face a stunned Lena, with a fond smile, “And I really want our first kiss to be one you remember and one you can fully consent to. So, you’re just going to have to believe me… please, please believe me when I say… I’m in love with you and I fucked up massively tonight. Really, really fucked up.”

“You never swear.” Lena murmured quietly, and it probably wasn’t what she should have been focusing on but her brain was currently stuck like a record scratch unable to fully comprehend what Kara had just told her; and the swear was just the cherry on top of an entire sundae of confusing and out-of-the-blue revelations.

“Which shows how much I believe that I fucked up.” Kara replied with a helpless shrug.

“But-”

“You were the only person I wanted to spend my birthday with.” Kara confessed, “Well, Alex at some point as well. But you mostly. Alex planned the party and I couldn’t…” Kara huffed out a frustrated breath and rolled her eyes, “she did this whole thing and I didn’t want to turn around and say I didn’t want it. That all I really wanted was a quiet night watching films with you because…” Kara sighed, “because then she’d know… To make it more bearable I invited you but there were so many other people, and I will be honest… I don’t even like half of them. Alex, just invited everyone I was friends on facebook with which is not a good barometer of friendship.”

Lena cleared her throat, none of it making sense, “Then why-”

“Did I ignore you?” Kara guessed with a painful wince.

“Yeah…” Lena muttered, wrapping her arms protectively around herself.

“Because… because I knew, or at least I thought I knew, that you hadn’t noticed how I felt about you.” Kara explained inching just that little bit closer towards Lena, attempting to bring them within touching distance of one another. “And I knew it was only a miracle that you hadn’t until now because…” Kara smiled a lopsided, rueful and self-deprecating smile, “Lena, I am not subtle. Not at all. And I knew… I knew if I interacted with you at the party… everyone else would be able to tell in an instant how I felt.”

Lena exhaled slow and deep, arms tightening their hold around herself, “And you didn’t want them knowing you liked me?”

“Love. Not like.” Kara corrected, patient yet firm, “Love. And no, I didn’t.”

Lena nodded once in understanding, letting out a hollow laugh, “I get it. I wouldn’t want anyone to know I loved me either.”

“Lena… no… no… you…” Kara rushed to explain, finally stepping close enough to reach out and place her hands gently on Lena’s curled biceps. Lena couldn’t help how she instinctively shifted closer, wanting to increase contact with Kara after being denied it for so long. “I didn’t want anyone knowing before you.” Kara admitted.

And that… that snapped something back into place for Lena.

Made the doubts screaming inside her head quieten down just enough to think… maybe…

Because… it was being last that had broken them the first time. Being the only one not to know and now…

“I didn’t want Stacy, who used to cheat off me in exams in college to know how I felt about you before you did.” Kara said, thumbs moving back and forth against the bare skin of Lena’s arms causing a swathe of goosebumps to rise like a wave in the wake of Kara’s every touch. “They didn’t deserve that. They didn’t deserve…” Kara’s jaw clenched, eyes darkening as she studied Lena’s face, “I was trying to protect you from them. They said horrible things about you and you should know, the minute after you left, I kicked everyone who so much as looked at you funny out. It was just me, Nia, Brainy and Kelly left… Alex, as well, but we had a rather heated argument before she was allowed to stay.” Kara bowed her head in shame, “I should have kicked them all out immediately but-”

“Then they would have known.” Lena finished for her.

“I had this whole thing planned.” Kara breathed out, her hands gradually shifting away from Lena’s arms around to her back, surrounding Lena in a loose hold, Kara’s eyes flickering over Lena’s face and body rapidly searching for even the slightest sign that Lena was uncomfortable with their contact. “Once everyone left, I had set-up the roof with lights and cushions and… I was going to tell you how I felt. I just had to make it through the birthday party from hell and I was trying so hard to keep to the plan. To not spoil it. To keep it a secret so that it could just be ours but... I…” Kara’s eyes slid shut and she inhaled a shuddering breath filled with pain. “I hurt you. And there is nothing I can say to make you forgive me, but I do… I do love you so much. And I will never, ever be ashamed of you.” Kara blinked her eyes back open and leaned forward to place a kiss on Lena’s forehead. “I just wanted it to be ours and not theirs. I didn’t want to share. You’re the only thing in my life that… I didn’t want to share.”

“Open your present.” Lena demanded, stepping out of Kara’s loving embrace.

“Lena-” Kara whimpered, pained at the sudden loss of closeness.

“Open your present, Kara.” Lena repeated, jerking her chin towards the sofa where the roughly wrapped present lay.

“I… okay…” Kara replied, watching Lena closely as she tried to make sense of Lena’s clear request. Kara walked cautiously over to the couch, picking up the gift with gentle hands. “Did you wrap it yourself?” Kara asked, her entire expression brightening as she stared down at the crooked, over sellotaped wrapping.

Lena harrumphed at the question, pursing her lips.

“You did, didn’t you?” Kara teased.

“The present isn’t the piss poor wrapping.” Lena replied with an exaggerated roll of her eyes that had the corners of Kara’s lips quirking even further upwards.

“Lena Luthor wrapped my present herself…", Kara whistled in awe, blue eyes twinkling with true delight for the first time that day, "what better gift is there?”

“Open it and you might find one.” Lena said, heart leaping into her throat as Kara’s deft fingers found a line of wrapping paper she could tuck them under.

The sound of paper ripping was deafening in the stillness; all Lena could do was watch and wait.

The paper fell away leaving behind a small black box, Kara shot Lena a hesitant look and it wasn’t until Lena nodded for her to continue that Kara clicked it open.

There was a pause.

A heavy, endless pause in which Lena couldn’t bring herself to even breathe.

“What is-” Kara began before cutting off immediately as she lifted up the beautiful bracelet made of nth metal and inscribed with ‘stronger together’ in Lena’s own cursive handwriting in both english and kryptonian.

The bracelet shined under the lights in Lena’s office, but in Lena’s opinion, Kara’s eyes shined impossibly brighter.  

“You’re in love with me.” Kara whispered, seeing the present for everything Lena had hoped it would convey.

“Yes.” Lena confirmed because there was no hiding it now.

With trembling fingers Kara clasped the bracelet onto her wrist, long fingers tracing the words delicately inscribed with no small amount of wonder. Finally, she turned around and stared at Lena with so much sheer love that the youngest Luthor felt overwhelmed and like her heart might burst right out of her chest in its desire to be in Kara’s possession

Clearing her throat and clasping her hands behind her back, Lena gathered her courage and asked, “If I promise you I’ll remember it and that I am fully consenting… will you kiss me now?”

Kara was in front of her in the literal blink of the eye, hands reaching out to cup Lena’s cheeks as Lena’s hands moved to rest on Kara’s hips gently encouraging their bodies closer with a light tug.

“There is nothing I want more.” Kara assured with the widest grin that Lena had ever seen and couldn’t help but return.

Their first kiss could barely count as a kiss.

Their smiles were too wide to allow for it, but Lena wouldn’t change it even slightly. They pressed their smiles against one another, teeth knocking together and noses brushing.

It may not have been a successful kiss but it was tender and filled with so much joy that Lena wouldn’t describe it as anything less than perfect.  

Their second kiss was an actual kiss, lips slotting together, tongues seeking each other out and teeth tugging whimpers and moans from one another in an endless cycle.

Their second kiss turned into a third, a fourth, a fifth.

They kissed until the sun rose.

Kissed until their lips ached and any remaining doubts Lena may have had were pushed back into the shadows by the light of Kara’s smile and blue eyes.

[princessgemma12]

TMNT Genderbend Names

I need help again but it’s actually, like... important??? For fic, anyway.

So I’m tagging my tmnt pals. @crow-dog-blogs @leonsi @this-world-of-beautiful-monsters @brightlotusmoon @neromia

This’ll be... not long-long but lots of lines so I’ll put under a cut. I need help with names. Please. O~O

So I’m doing a genderbend oneshot, but I wanna use the same names for the characters throughout my genderbend stuff--which will include my Comparisons AU whenever I get around to revamping that thing. I have some ideas, but I want second opinions, especially ‘cause like, half of you guys read my stuff now and... I just would really like your input, please.

So, I’ll start with the main cast in this post, or at least the ones I’m worried about Right Now, and then tomorrow I’ll reblog with minor characters/villains that won’t be of much importance (at least for a while). I’ll color-coding and role-related nicknames, or actually titles for canon characters.

So for our Fearless Blue One, I think I’ll definitely hope on the Lavinia bandwagon. I mean, the woman was a fucking overachiever in the best way--she was the first female artist to rely solely on her commission money and she was known throughout western Europe, not just in Italy. Also, she was the first woman artist to paint/draw female nudes??? And she had a househusband with children? Renaissance Icon much? Plus, there’s the added benefit of Simple Nicknames and keeping the initials; Fearless Leader Lavinia, Nia, Vin, Vinny--lots of choices!

Next the Feisty Ball of Flames, our darling Red Turtle. I was thinking Sofonisba, who is also an icon and not-coincidentally my favorite artist of all time. She was taught by Bernardino Campi, which was kind of a big deal at the time, and was internationally recognized as a fucking fantastic artist. She worked in the Spanish Royal Court--she was an Italian woman and worked for the Spanish royals. Her paintings are stunning and remarkably realistic for the time period--she was so good that Michelangelo gave her props. That kind of badassery is befitting our sewer-dwelling brawler. However, nicknames were a bit tricky for me. I decided that Sof (pronounced like the beginning of Sophie) would probably be her regular nickname and Sofie would be her Special Cute Nickname.

For the turtley genius, I’m thinking Giovanna. Giovanna Garzoni was a still-life painter and portraitist. Her work is very good and her paintings are remarkably realistic. She was considered so good at what she did, that she could, reportedly, ask any price for her paintings. For some time, her primary clients were the Medici Family. She also attended the Accademia di San Luca, where she followed events and discussion aimed at educating, socializing, and professionalizing painters, architects and sculptors of Rome. Nicknames are pretty easy, too: Vanna, Van, Gio (pronounced Vawn-ah, Vawn, and Jo(e), respectively). Vanna and Van sound a bit like Donnie and Don, too, so that’s cute.

Last turtle-sib: Artemisia. Artemisia Lomi, or Artemisia Gentileschi, among the most accomplished seventeenth-century artists, initially working in the style of Caravaggio. She was producing professional work by the age of fifteen, and was the first woman to become a member of the Accademia di Arte del Disegno in Florence. She had an international clientele. She did a lot of darker works with bright lighting and vivid colors, which reminds a lot of the Prankster--bright and cheery at first glance but a little darker in reality. Also, the nicknames Art and Arty follow a similar vein of Mike and Mikey.

For Splinter’s eldest child, I was thinking Mitsuaki, which is a Japanese name meaning “light, luminence.” It keeps the M initial of Miwa and keeps the fluffy meaning (Miwa means something like “beautiful” or “peaceful”--it might’ve been “beautiful peace,” I don’t remember off the top of my head). Of course, the Shredder will rename this child, which I don’t think Shred-head is very good at naming babies (he named Karai “spicy,” after all), so I think he’d probably go with something like Kohaku, which translates roughly to “amber”--the color of the kid’s eyes. Pretty obvious, but I thought it would be funny, and I like shitting on Shredder. Have a little gag about Shredder being so uncreative that they would immediately name their only kid after their eye color...

Speaking of, I’m keeping the name Saki, since it’s unisex; so is Yoshi, so I’m keeping that, too. Titles are still Shredder and Splinter.

August is the redhead, of course, and Casey is unisex so it stays.

I’m not worried about anybody else’s names right now, since they’re not relevent to what I’m working on. But, yeah, please give me the feedback. I’m having a bit of a dilemma and I usually spend, like, weeks on names, so...