#boy howdy did that ground no stay level

[monti-moth]

Me: I love hiking!

Also me when there is a slight incline in the path on which I am walking: by Talos this can’t be happening

[athofear]

can you elaborate more on your rw ocs i dont think i've seen them before

boy howdy, can i! i’ve got a whole lot on them. and, you probably haven’t seem them because.. i don’t exactly post them anywhere? the only places i have shown them are toyhouse and.. amino, of all platforms.

i assume you mean my two slugcats in my recent post (that got quite popular, which i didn’t really expect from oc/canon shipping), who are the fragmented (circuit) and the bygone (gluppy). i happen to have two other slugcats and four other iterators to match, but since they haven’t really been posted, i won’t get into them.

and, i’ll try to be concise. i don’t want to talk your ear off with detail, but i happen to be a detail oriented person :)

lore up first!

the fragmented started off in a small (and actively dwindling) colony of slugcats living in the pipeyard region, which refused to leave for reasons unknown. it tended to wander from its colony a lot, and its level of curiosity was dangerous more than it wasn’t, especially when it came to scavengers. in juvenile years, it has a particularly nasty run-in with them, which ended with it being pierced through its left eye with an electric spear. this resulted its brain and nervous system being pretty badly damaged. it survives purely via luck.

it lives for a little longer, able to make it to darker areas (since bright ones are hard to navigate) which happens to be.. the inside of five pebbles. this is before rivulet in the timeline, in such a place where it’s cloudier than past times but five pebbles is still standing (when he collapses is al different story, covered by a different slugcat of mine…), meaning very many slugcats have come to him before, and he’s starting to appreciate the once in a blue moon company.

thus, he lets it stay. it survives solely on electricity from the recursive transform array coils, and tends to sleep there for the remainder of its life (as well as in five pebbles’s chamber, which he stopped minding the second time it happens. circuit is a quiet guest and generally only comes there to sleep. lights are dimmed and antigravity is lowered whenever it comes in. the den it took up sleeping in at the RTA is very small, and the passive glow it emits tends to bounce back at it, disrupting its sleep). said life ends, abruptly, when five pebbles sees that the solution of a bigger room isn’t helping it sleep at all. he kills it and throws it out his access shaft.

as for (theorized) gameplay (for a mod i will never create), it can craft flashbangs from rocks and charge (maybe create) electric spears based on a static electricity meter. the mechanics are complicated, but when the meter is full spears get a little extra damage/velocity boost, and it’s charged via movement. also, whenever it’s facing a flashbang’s area of effect, the flash of an electric spear hitting, or after a spear boost has happened, it falls to the ground immobilized for a few seconds. just as a nerf. it has no stealth bonus, a slightly slower walking speed than base, and faster movement speed when on poles. it’s forced to go through metropolis to reach endgame, as due to being close to collapse, karma gates have happened to lock shut erroneously.

i’ve planned out a lot of specifics, but literally nobody wants to hear about exact stat data and room differences. thats a me thing.

the bygone (gluppy) was engineered as both a theoretical and educational model for what non-GMO slugcats would have looked like before ancients came into the picture (ironic, considering it’s a GMO). there were no records of such creatures before they became what they were today, so that’s why it’s theoretical. like dinosaurs.

the bygone has been around for a VERY long time, and happens to be effectively immortal when it comes to aging. such is the magic. it had 3 or so sister models, but most parted ways after the ancients ascended. the bygone did some exploring, and managed to end up in the chamber of the iterator it took residence upon, spiels of lucidity (or SOL). sol fucking loves his slimy, weird cat. adores it completely. he would make food a hide it within his superstructure to simulate “foraging” for mental stimulation without it being in any danger (usually supervised by his inspectors).

but, being likely one of the oldest gen of iterators to exist, he was bound to collapse someday. and he did! but because that guy loves his cat more than anything in the world, he warned the bygone way ahead of time to evacuate and move as far away as possible to avoid getting hurt. and because sol is apparently the worlds most effective planner, he wrote the exact map of his surrounding area (and some other stuff) into a pearl so the bygone could take it along. not like the bygone could read that on its own, but it’s the thought that counts?

the bygone ends up very VERY lost. that’s what it’s campaign would be like, trying to find its way back when it’s never left the structure, and coming back at last to see SOL much like moon was in hunter’s campaign. it’s fine though. trust me. not much i planned for it gameplay-wise, but it’s probably real heavy and bad at picking stuff up. can’t carry spears, and real good at dropping things. i have, however, written down a bunch of biology related things about it instead! i’ve got two lorecats and two gamecats (both of which i planned to be in the same mod, the mod i will never create). it’s a perfect balance.

“i will try to be concise”, he says, before doing the opposite of that. thank you for asking, and i hope this isn’t too much in response. have a LOVELY day. :)

[vivispec]

so. absolution. i watched it last night and boy howdy am i a fan. i’ll give my non-spoiler thoughts above the read more, and then some more spoilery thoughts under the cut, keeping in mind i’m pretty easy to please. like golden retriever levels of easy-going.

first of all, can i just say what a wonderful surprise? when I first heard netflix was in charge of this, I was not exactly hopeful. the team did great, though. the whole thing was very respectful to the world bioware built, while still being unique and interesting. they used the lore to build a great story, and didn’t seem smothered by it. 

honestly my high point? the action scenes. they were incredibly well-animated, and had an amazing flow. easy to follow, but still packed with movement and stunning. i usually don’t give two fucks about fighting scenes but these were mesmerizing. the dialogue was quirky, but i didn’t find it annoying. honestly, felt pretty da to me, like banter. characters were well-written (though it felt a bit rushed. like everybody else I wish there had been more time to set them up, but they did a lot with the 6 eps they were given) and there were lots of twists and turns, but they weren’t surprises for the sake of surprises. i feel like everything was foreshadowed pretty well, kinda in the vein of solas’ whole deal: hard to see it until you know, but once you do its so fucking obvious. still, might bother some with how much whiplash you get.

as said by many before, the pace is a little wonky in the first episode, but the rest of the series really smooths it out. they had to estabilish already built relationships and characters in a way that made you care for them from the start, and they did it pretty well, if awkwardly. but i can’t see it working any other way. 

my stepdad, who only ever played origins all the way back when it came out, seemed to enjoy it with very little context. most of the episodes seem to be enjoyable for people who don’t know a thing about dragon age, but the final reveal of the series will not be very impactful if you haven’t played/watched da2. it’s such a small portion of the series, however, and i would still recommend it for anybody who wants to watch it before playing da:d, but who doesn’t want to play da2.

okay here’s my real actual spoilery thoughts yippeee

i am so sorry fairbanks you and your wife deserved so much more

can i just say how chilling the conversation between rez and hira is after we know the truth? like got damn. that was....something holy shit.

i actually really like rezaren as antagonist. i was kinda rolling my eyes at his whole deal when they set him up like he was going to be sympathetic but...then he just. turned, when miriam didn’t do what he wanted. and it was chilling. he is an evil, evil antagonist in a series that loves moral middle ground and i love it. 

and that one line he says, oh my god. something like ‘how many lives taken to control one beast’. and you can’t tell if he’s talking about miriam or the dragon. chilling. maybe one of my favorite moments for that reason alone.

and i loved that neb turned away from rez like that! and towards miriam! he knew!

which btw....spirit neb was so pretty. god i wish he wasn’t a corpse.

speaking of middle ground antagonists, i won’t claim i saw her betrayal coming from the getgo but i was getting strange vibes from hira from the start. i think they handled her really well, all things considered? you can tell she legitimately cares for miriam, but that her desire for revenge is just. too strong. not unlike a couple other mages i know and love.

like, does being a mage just make you the most passionate motherfucker on thedas by default or? 

i was going to ask if it was the oppression but she’s still a tevinter noble so. not quite the same as somebody like, say, anders. who really went through it huh.

on that note, because everybody has opinions about miriam wanting to stay with hira....i really do think its in character. they seem to legitimately love each other, and miriam hasn’t known love like that before. she’s desperate, and so very hurt. she just lost her brother a second time. i think it’s very in character

that doesn’t mean i want to see them together again. hira trying to sell her back into slavery is something you don’t get over. even if sapphira gets some kind of ‘redemption’ (next season? in da:d?) and they’re friends again...i think that trust should be gone. but that’s just my two cents.

i maybe possibly am on the qwydion/miriam train though so i am possibly maybe biased. legitimately don’t know yet if i ship them romantically or platonically though, either way i just. want them to be together and supporting each other. i love them i love their hugs. 

i love love love seeing their interpretation of the demons and shades. memory was super cool, too. and the fact that you could tell what spells the mages were using? they could’ve opted for just ‘ah yes fireballs and lightning’ but they chose to use abilities that are pretty specific, like crushing prison. 

going back to what i said before, where you can’t tell if rez is talking about miriam or the dragon, i really like them releasing the dragon like that at the end. you can tell just how painfully euphoric it is for her, to see something that had been shackled and chained and used as a weapon be recognized as simply a living thing that wants to be free. to be treated with kindness, and understanding, and love when all to often it is instead feared and hated. i wanted to cry, such a beautiful scene.

and the fact that its qwydion doing the healing, and releasing. the fact that she was the one who freed it in the first place? foreshadowing maybe? not my lil wlw heart jumping on this ship and setting sail. romantically platonically i just.....want them to be together holy shit

and finally, that fucking ending. holy SHIT. i was watching it with my stepdad (who only ever played origins, back when it came out) and i could not stop yelling. i think i scared him. when i heard her voice i lost my shit. like it makes sense: lyrium has a connection to the fade, red lyrium has some restorative abilities, and if i remember correctly there have been reports of regular lyrium holding onto memories, so...i could see it being that the red lyrium trapped her spirit before it could make it into the fade and restored her over the years, or a number of alternatives. but damn i did not think that i’d see her ass. poor hawke and varric. can the tyrants they kill just. stay dead, pls.

bioware seems to be acknowledging da2 a lot more and can i just say i am living for it. 

i do think it was very evil of the writing team to make me think that we were going to see varric when hira said she had a contact in the hanged man and i do not forgive them.

and lackland? holy shit. i didn’t say anything about them here because what more can i say. their dynamic is so good, i love how roland teases and flirts but is seemingly just as invested as lacklon is. despite how little time they get the team did such a great job of building up their chemistry with the training and fighting scenes, which isn’t easy when there’s so. much. action going on. really, truly, they used what little time they were given so efficiently. they heard that we wanted a dwarf romance and boy did they deliver.

[airshipsinking]

Late night rambles about Empires SMP geography below cut because it's not an 100% accurate analysis, but I've also spent too long on this for it to stay in the drafts so <3

Listen, listen, listen— I know Minecraft biomes and worldgen are bullshit when held up to irl geography, but my brain decided to mcFreaking Lose It over the Grimmlands' geography according to Pix's map because, because it's surrounded on 3 sides by mountains and has an opening to a tropical jungle, which is an infamously hot and humid environment! The Grimmlands have hot summers and cold winters, sure, that's not hard to figure out, but the Grimmlands also have flood seasons due to heavy rain and snow melting down in spring, and can reach temperatures alike those recorded irl in Alaska if there is a bad winter storm going on. The land outside the main settlements of The Crystal Cliffs is likely to have a month and a half or longer drought season during summer!

Back to the mountains, thought. There is a belt that spans between Rivendell and the Grimmlands and there's a separete belt that acts as a natural border between The Crystal Cliffs and the Grimmlands. The end of the former is about where the cliffs on which fWhip built the Forge and Mansion, and assuming the Grimmlands get quite heavy precipitations + the proximity of the cliffs to at least 2 rivers I can remember seeing, that means that said belt is older than the latter although it's highly unlikely they had different formation phases (still probably thousands of years apart tho).

Also, Pixandria, Mezalea were all part of the Ocean Empire once, but the Cod Empire likely wasn't* and that also makes me loose my marbles a little. Like, Pixandria was the first to have the sea level retreat from and it did so rather quickly leaving behind gravel that along centuries got ground down into sand and the anthill, as it was lovingly dubbed, was likely what caused the water levels to sink in the first place. Mezalea was far slower to drain, leaving many water pockets behind which eventually created the deep valleys of the mesa and a high concentration of iron near the surface gave the sand its red color.

The Cod Empire, however, was created through the accumulation of sediments at the mouth of rivers coming from Mythland and Gilded Helianthia that got built up over time enough to form little like. Not quite islands, but shallower spots in the water that started catching all sort of organic materials which then turned into peat, altering the course of the original rivers enough to create a baygall which further developed into a swamp which tends to get flooded several times per year creating little fish ponds all over the empire.

*- Technically speaking all of the Empires were once the Ocean Empire, but this is discussing about like. Geography that can distinctly be recognized as resembling the current one present in the world, because boy howdy if we go way back then the entitety of Mezalea was probably a cluster of mountains once that got corroded by the ocean and then further corroded by rivers, wind, rain, broken down by plants, etc.

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Hot Mess

Prompt: Hi, so I really flippin love your writing style and I was wondering if you could write a fic of the sides just flirting(mainly Janus because we all know he's the best flirter) with each other, like in (Un)wanted chapter 1 where Janus was flustering Virgil really badly, that sort of thing. Could be DLAMP or DLAMPR I don't mind. You don't have too I was just wondering... Thanks either way!

First off, thank you so much for the prompt! Second...

Listen. Everything is awful and I don’t understand how flirting works. Ever. Actually, you know what, no. No one understands what flirting is. There have been so many fucking tests run and no one can ever tell who is flirting ever. It’s bullshit. Everything is bullshit and I’ve never understood a damn thing in my entire life and I’m sure as hell not about to start now. So.

That being said, here. 

Read on Ao3

Pairings: yes. LAMP, DLAMP, DLAMPR. 

Warnings: sympathetic janus & remus

Word Count: 5884

If you ask anyone whose fault is it that everyone, for some reason, starting flirting with each other, they’ll blame Janus. Even Janus. He knows what he did. It’s his fault.

Anyway, there are a few things that are a given. Everyone flirts with everyone, with the one exception of Roman and Remus. They’re brothers. It doesn’t work. Anything else is fair game. Are they being serious? Who knows. Probably. Maybe. Keeping anything straight around the Mindscape is complicated enough, for obvious reasons.

 Doesn’t mean there can’t be some level of trying to keep track of what’s bound to happen at some point.

 Patton’s flirting is both the least obvious and the most obvious. It’s super cheesy pick up lines delivered completely genuinely and the sweetest pet-names ever. But the problem is that’s not too different from how he normally is. For some reason, the Dad Coaxing Tone™ is the worst and he knows it. He doesn’t flirt nearly as often as some of the others do and he’s surprisingly sweet about it. It normally just makes them kind of giggly and slightly redder than normal. Always comes with hugs, which is never something to complain about. Cheeky comments and cheeky smiles that leave them second-guessing everything that just happened. And, of course, by the time they’re just about finished wrapping their heads around what just happened, he’s back with another line and here they go again.

 Roman.

 Jesus. Fucking. Christ.

 They should have expected this because his job is romance but fucking hell.

 His way of showing love is through poking fun at things so…all the teasing. All of it. Not just verbal teasing, even though that in itself is enough to make everyone melt into puddles, but he gets close. Like, sneak-up-and-hug-you-from-behind kind of close. Or he’ll just stand really close with a smirk as he teases them, waiting for them to give in and run into his arms. Or he’ll crowd them against the wall. Or the counter. Someone probably dared him to do this—or not, because, again, it’s Roman—but he definitely pinned Logan to the wall and didn’t let up until his grip on Logan’s wrists were the only thing keeping him standing. Also, super gushy pet-names. Like, super gushy. Like Patton, very fond of telling them how cute they are, including asking them why they’re hiding such a cute face, come on, he wants to see how adorable they are. With Janus and Logan, he makes his voice lower, taking advantage of how close that lets him get. Dramatic monologues or sneaking up and dipping them are a must. He goes full Disney Prince and doesn’t let up until they can’t even ramble anymore, smiling down at their bright red cheeks. With the others, he makes his voice very sweet, soft, and gentle. He gets right in their faces so they can’t go anywhere and riles them up until they’re a melted squirmy mess. It’s not uncommon to find someone—normally Patton or Virgil— an absolute puddle with Roman beaming, just twisting them round and round his finger. Merciless and shameless flirt. Roman is the actual worst and they all love him.

  Virgil is affectionately known as The Meme Flirter. No prizes for guessing who came up with that. He picks one nickname for each of them and just peppers it into conversation with a wink and a smirk. The master of timing. He doesn’t need to spend ages winding them up, he just picks the right moment and they’re covering their faces and squirming. Also uses the technique of being close but not close enough to touch. Sometimes he’ll team up with Roman or Logan and just be there all ‘you know he’s right’ when they look to him for help, or engage in conversation with whoever else is flirting about how red they’re getting, or how much they’re squirming. Or he’ll engage in flirt competitions. He’s way more confident about it than they ever anticipate and it always catches them off guard. He keeps an eye on them though, because he knows the others (especially Roman) can get carried away. “You don’t wanna break ‘em, do you?”

 (They do sometimes but shh.)

 For Logan, infodumping is the actual best way of expressing affection and you will not convince him otherwise. He’ll research topics so they can talk about them together if they want but if you think that is it then boy howdy you are wrong. This guy keeps notebooks on the best way to fluster each and every one of the Sides, okay. He knows his shit. He infodumps about them too, phrasing compliments as provable facts. Will pretend to be confused about why they’re getting so flustered, he’s just telling them the truth, why are you so red? It would be convincing if he weren’t purposefully making his voice as low as it can go and smirking. Also a teasy bastard. He will just ask them to do things he knows they can’t help doing when they get flustered, especially with Patton or Janus. He’s asked Janus to squee for him more often than he would like. (Liar.) Or they’ll be protesting and telling them to knock it off and he’ll just point out that ‘no one is holding you. Nor are we blocking any exits. By all means, if you wish to leave, then you may.’ Knowing perfectly well they’re puddles and puddles can’t move. But then ‘oh, you must not want to leave.’ ‘Accidental’ touches make it worse, as well as nonchalantly adding in pet-names. He’s the one who figured out that pet-names make them melt, by the way. Also figured out that firmer touches help ground them, so he offers them a deal sometimes. If they like, they can come and cuddle with him while he flirts. It gives them an excuse to cuddle and a place to hide, but that does mean he’s murmuring right into their ears. It’s a double-edged sword. When he teams up with Roman they are the worst, especially when they agree that it’s necessary to reestablish emotional stability. Or they’re bored, snickering when poor Virgil bolts out of the room from too much blush. Virgil will run away if it gets to be too much, he’s got that built into his whole deal as anxiety, but Janus…forget about it. That team-up definitely has overwhelmed the poor thing multiple times. You can’t freeze with these predators, they’ll eat you alive. They definitely teased and flirted with him until he burst into tears one time, it was…an experience.

 “Enough!”

 Roman pauses, midway through some dramatic gesture, faltering at the crack in Janus’s voice. Logan glances at him before looking back at Janus, his hands still pressed hard to his face, his shoulders tense. He takes a small step forward and tilts his head.

 “Janus?”

 He calls his name softly until he lowers his hands, unable to stop the comforting noise when he sees the tears on his cheeks. Beside him, Roman inhales sharply, only to make a noise of protest when he immediately covers his face again.

 “Janus,” he says, dropping the flirty persona immediately, “may I touch you?”

  Please say yes, please.

 He nods. Logan reaches out, gently covering his hands to coax them away, clutching them tightly.

 “Too much?” Janus nods. “My apologies, it was not my intention to overwhelm you.”

 “Nor mine, little snake,” Roman says quietly.

 “I know.”

 “Would you like us to stay,” Logan asks gently, giving his hands a squeeze, “or leave you alone?”

 Janus shuffles, his mouth drawing tight and his hands tensing. Logan is content to wait patiently for him to make up his mind, but Roman seems to have other ideas.

 “Oh dear,” he murmurs, stepping a little closer, “we really overdid it this time, didn’t we, darling?”

 “I said enough,” Janus mumbles.

 “I know, I know, I’m done,” he assures, reaching out to tenderly wipe his cheek, “I promise. Oh, oh you poor thing…”

 “Roman,” Logan chides gently, “I don’t think…”

 He trails off when Janus frees one of his hands, tentatively reaching out for Roman. Roman swoops in, gathering him into a hug so tight his fingers whiten from his grip on him. As Logan watches, Roman tilts his head slightly, beginning to pepper kisses along the side of his face.

 “I don’t understand,” he says quietly, “how…how is this not more overwhelming?”

 “I think you’re going to have to wait to ask him that, Specs,” Roman murmurs, “because I don’t know that either.”

 “Then how did you know it would work?”

 Roman looks up at him, sadness coloring his gaze. “Because a different face told me it would.”

  Ah.

 “I’m right here,” Roman says softly, rocking Janus in his arms, “I’m right here, little snake. I won’t let anything hurt you.”

 Janus all but slumps into Roman’s embrace, his head tucking neatly against his shoulder as he presses more kisses to his face.

 “I have you, alright? I’m not going to hurt you, you know I’m not.” Roman adjusts his grip. “It’s just like we always do, hmm? I rile you up and then you come here and I cuddle you right back down.”

 He pulls back to gently catch another tear with his thumb. “Just pushed a bit too far this time, hmm?”

  I rile you up and cuddle you back down.

  Like we always do.

  I’m not going to hurt you, you know I’m not.

 “I understand,” Logan breathes, “I understand now.”

 “Understand what?”

 “What’s happening.” Logan steps forward, gently resting his hands on the part of Janus’s back not covered by Roman’s arms. “And how I can help.”

 “By all means then,” Roman says, “tell us.”

 “Janus is…not accustomed to receiving compliments,” Logan begins, lightly hushing Janus’s noise of protest.

“It’s true, little snake,” Roman says.

 “Yes, and we will work on that,” Logan promises, “but that does make it easy to blindside or disarm him with comments of that nature. Hence…”

 He motions between the three of them.

 “You’re not used to experiencing affection like this,” he continues softly, “and especially not through flirting or playful teasing, which is why it doesn’t take much effort on our parts to fluster you.”

 Janus makes another noise of protest and he shushes him gently.

 “I’m not trying to tease, Janus, I promise,” he murmurs, “but it doesn’t, does it? It makes you uncomfortable because you don’t understand it, not really, so you don’t know what to expect next. We have not exactly been…forthcoming with affection in the past, have we?”

 Janus nods hesitantly.

 “This, however,” Logan continues, leaning a little more of his weight onto his hands, “is a form of affection you understand very well.”

 He steps a little closer, rubbing firm circles into Janus’s back.

 “You are a very heat-sensitive person,” he says, “and you understand how to give and receive affection in this language, so to speak. When one of us touches you while we are teasing or flirting with you, it heightens the loss of control you feel because it’s something that should be familiar, but it’s being used in an unfamiliar way.”

 “But when it’s like this,” Logan continues, leaning closer, “it’s calming. Grounding. Especially after you’ve just been in a state of higher stress. You know what we mean by it.”

 “When I put my hand on your shoulder or your back,” he murmurs, shifting his weight further onto his hands, “you know it means I’m here, right here, and I’m not going anywhere. When Roman kisses you—“ Logan smiles when Roman uses that as an excuse to press another kiss to Janus’s forehead— “you know it means he cares about you, that he won’t let anything hurt you.”

 “Look at our resident genius over here,” Roman says, leaning over to peck Logan’s cheek too, smirking when it brings a flush to his face, “aww, Logan, feeling left out?”

 “No,” Logan replies stiffly, ignoring the growing smirk on Roman’s face, “and even if I were, we have more pressing matters to deal with.”

 “No, no,” Janus mumbles, “I’m good now, I can leave, it can be Logan’s turn.”

 Roman raises his eyebrows. ‘Are you gonna let that go?’

 Logan will most certainly not.

 “I can assure you,” he rumbles into Janus’s ear, “I am perfectly satisfied with our roles as they currently stand.”

 Roman chuckles when Janus squirms in his grip.

 “After all,” Logan continues, “we have just established that this can be quite the cathartic experience for you, it wouldn’t do at all to interrupt it before it is complete.”

 “Did you just…create a scientific excuse to do this in the name of maintaining emotional stability?”

 Logan smirks. “Perhaps.”

 “You know better than to try and argue with Logan about science,” Roman adds.

 Janus swats at them half-heartedly but doesn’t protest when Roman lets him go a few moments later, pressing one last kiss to his forehead and leaving. Logan taps him gently on the shoulder.

 “Am I correct, Janus?”

 “Yeah,” he mumbles, a little red still on his cheeks, “you’re right.”

 “Good.” Logan reaches out and slides the tissue box closer. “And…thank you.”

 He looks up, confused. “For what?”

 Logan smiles. “For telling us it was too much, and for letting us help.”

 That’s the first time Logan’s able to determine exactly how best to help one of them calm down, especially after one of them is incredibly flustered. The first time he implements it is under…slightly different circumstances.

 He’s not quite sure how Virgil and Roman talked him into playing Truth Or Dare, but here he is, on the couch, Roman sprawled across the floor, Virgil perched on the back. So far he’s had to cover his ears from Roman belting the third Disney medley in an hour and he has several questions for Remus about where his good clipboard is. Then it’s Virgil’s turn again and he picks dare.

 “Are you sure, My Chemically Imbalanced Romance?” Roman asks.

 “Just hit me with it, Princey.”

 Roman taps his fingers against his chin, glancing around. His eyes land on a spot over Logan’s shoulder and he grins. Logan follows his gaze and sees Janus in the kitchen.

 “I dare you,” Roman announced, “to flirt with Patton for two minutes.”

 Virgil snorts. “That’s it?”

 Roman just sweeps his arm dramatically. “Your dare awaits.”

 Virgil shrugs, getting up off the couch and making his way to the kitchen. The instant he’s almost there, Roman scrambles up, jumping onto the couch next to Logan, almost landing on top of him, hooking his chin over the back.

 Logan raises an eyebrow. “Comfortable?”

 “Shush, Pocket Protector,” Roman says, flapping a hand, “and get your timer out.”

 Logan rolls his eyes, checking his watch and watching Virgil lean on the counter, propping his chin on his hand.

 “Hey there, cutie.”

 Patton startles, whirling around to see Virgil. “Hey! Wow, you scared me, uh, yeah, hi there!”

 “Sorry,” Virgil smiles, not sounding the least bit sorry, “can’t help it. You look like a cute little bunny when you’re startled.”

 “Oh, god, not this,” Patton mutters, turning around, his face already starting to flush.

Virgil grins, his tongue between his teeth as Patton tries to go back to what he was doing. “You just make it too easy, cutie.”

 “I do not!”

 The grin turns feral. “Then why don’t you turn around and show me that pretty face?”

 “Nope. No thank you. I’m going to stay over here.”

 “Why, afraid of proving me right?”

 “No.”

 “Then come on, cutie,” Virgil says, tilting his head, “turn around.”

 Patton leans his head back, sighing before turning around and spreading his arms. “Happy?”

 “Mm.” Virgil grins. “You’ve got such pretty eyes, Patton.”

 He stutters, his face already turning red. “Oh my god. Stop!”

 “Can’t help it cutie,” Virgil says, waggling his eyebrows and chuckling when Patton covers his face, “I’ve been dared to do this for two minutes!”

 “Good to know,” Patton squeaks, “that this is only happening because it’s mandatory.”

 “Aw, don’t be like that, cutie, you know I’ll flirt with you anyway.”

 “That is not what I meant!”

 Virgil only laughs harder. “You might wanna pace yourself, cutie, you’ve still got…”

 He trails off, looking at Logan. Logan checks his watch.

 “One minute and twelve seconds.”

 “One minute and twelve seconds left,” Virgil finishes, propping himself back up on the counter, “so…”

 The sight is entertaining, Logan has to admit. Patton goes bright and flushed, his eyes squeezing shut, mumbling little things to himself and trying not to whine every time Virgil opens his mouth.

 “Aw,” Virgil teases when he breaks and tries to bite down on his knuckle, “don’t muffle yourself, cutie.”

 “Goodness, you need to stop.”

 “I want your voice on my playlist, it’s so pretty.”

 “Why?”

 “I just said.” Virgil props his chin on his hand again. “It’s so pretty.”

 “No, why are you doing this?”

 Virgil smirks. “Because you’re so pretty.”

 And with that, Patton’s reduced to another blushy panic with plenty of muttered comments and Virgil’s standing there, grinning. It’s refreshing, seeing Virgil so confident, so sure of himself. It looks good on him.

 And, of course, Patton is objectively adorable.

 The scene is so captivating, in fact, that Logan glances down at his watch only to realize the two minutes have expired.

 “Time,” he calls, much to Patton’s relief.

 “Thank goodness.”

 “Aw,” Virgil pouts, “you’ll hurt my feelings, cutie.”

 “Nope. No more.” Patton points a stern finger at him, the effect slightly undone by his pink cheeks and the fact that he’s obviously fighting a smile. “You get out.”

 Virgil just winks and saunters back to the couch.

 “Stellar performance, Dark and Stormy,” Roman declares, giving Virgil a round of applause, “truly excellent.”

 “Well done,” Logan says, “that was quite the display of self-confidence.”

 Virgil just lifts a shoulder and lets it drop. “Eh. Easy dare. My turn now, right?”

 “Indeed.”

 Virgil narrows his eyes, glancing between the two of them. “Princey. Truth or dare?”

 “Dare,” Roman answers immediately, “what kind of prince would I be if I turned down a challenge?”

 Virgil smirks. “Alright, then. You have two minutes to make Patton redder than I did.”

 “Done.”

“Virgil,” Logan chides lightly as Roman prances off toward the kitchen.

 “Relax,” Virgil says, settling in to watch, “it’s not like he’s gonna hurt him.”

 “No, he’s just going to fluster him with the end goal of rendering him inarticulate.”

 Virgil smirks. “Exactly. Now shut up and watch.”

 “Oh, Addie,” Roman calls, smirking at the way Patton startles.

 “Oh, um, hey, Roman, um, what do you want?”

 “I just want to talk to you, Patton.”

 “Oh goodness,” Patton mumbles, already covering his face as Roman crowds him against the counter, “don’t say my name like that, that’s really mean!”

 Roman’s eyes gleam. “Dearest, if you wanted me to call you pet names instead, you only had to ask, my sweet, I’m more than happy to oblige.”

 “No!”

 Roman just smirks, bracing his hands on either side of him. “No? Then what should I call you, gorgeous?”

 Any reply is too muffled for Logan to hear. Virgil snickers as Roman sighs dramatically.

 “Fine, I’ll just have to call you by your lovely, lovely name.” He leans forward to try and peer through the gaps in his fingers. “Almost as lovely as you.”

 He chuckles when Patton whines again, spluttering like a fish out of water. “You’re so cute when you’re at a loss for words.”

 “What do you want?”

 “Oh, I was dared to make you redder than Virgil did.”

 “Why?”

 “Because you’re absolutely stunning, darling,” Roman answers easily, “and it’s stunningly easy to flirt with you.”

 “It is not!”

 Virgil snorts and Logan raises an eyebrow. Roman’s smirk widens.

 “Of course is it, cutie pie,” he coos, “all I have to do is this.”

 “N-no, don’t do that,” Patton stammers, trying to cover his face with a dish towel, only for Roman to catch his hands and effortlessly pull them out of the way, lacing their fingers together and holding them against the counter.

 “What’s the problem, sweetie?” He gently blows a strand of hair out of Patton’s face. “Is it just that I’m…right here? Talking like this to you? Is that it, honey?”

 “Mmm!”

 “Hmm?” Roman tilts his head. “What’s that, cutie?”

 “It’s not even flirting,” Patton manages, still looking as if he’s trying to sink into the counter.

 “I’m not even saying anything, cutie,” Roman coos, “and there’s nothing I enjoy better than being able to render you speechless like this.”

 Logan has to admit, Roman’s teasing is enough to make him shift on the couch, a slight flush rising unbidden to his face. Judging by the way Virgil starts fiddling with the strings on his hoodie, he’s not immune to it either.

 It really should not be that much of a surprise that Roman is one of the most proficient flirters in the Mindscape. Romance, passion, and desire all fall under his purview. And yet, here they all are, slowly growing more and more flustered.

 “Okay,” Virgil mutters just loud enough for Logan to hear, “Princey’s getting me and he’s not even trying.”

 “I concur.” Logan adjusts his tie and glances at his watch. “Thirty seconds.”

 “Come on.” Roman tugs gently at the towel in Patton’s hands. “You have to show me your cute little face, otherwise I won’t know if the dare’s over yet!”

 He finally manages to get the towel away from him and gasps, quickly reaching out to cup his cheeks before he can cover his face again. “Oh, just look at you, you’re even cuter up close!”

  “R-Roman!”

 “Yes, cutie pie?”

 “Let me go!”

 “Go where,” Roman murmurs, pushing Patton gently against the counter, “can you think of anywhere better to be than right here, in my arms, while I tease you silly? Hmm? You’re not even trying to get away, sunshine.”

 “Time.”

 Roman chuckles, stepping back, perching his hands on his hips. “What do you think, redder than Virgil’s go?”

 “Hmm,” Virgil hums, leaning over the back of the couch, “dunno. Can’t see his face from here.”

 “I’m mad at you,” Patton mutters, already covering his face.

 “Aw, no,” Roman purrs, “no you aren’t. Come on, gorgeous, if you don’t show us your face, I’ll just have to do it again!”

 “No.” Patton forces his hands down, making Roman chuckle again. Sure enough, his face is beet red, covering his skin with such intensity that for a moment, Logan worries. Then Virgil snorts.

 “Aww, he’s so cute!”

 “I know, isn’t he?”

 “Oh my goodness.”

 “Virgil,” Logan chides lightly.

 “You’re no fun, teach,” Virgil says, waving a hand, but he concedes. “Yeah, alright, Princey. You win.”

 Roman bows, sweeping his hand in a wide arc, before taking one of Patton’s hands and pressing a kiss to the back of it.

 “Thank you, sunshine.” With a wink, he strides back to the couch and sits down triumphantly. “That was fun!”

 His eyes widen when he sees Logan adjust his glasses nervously and Virgil quickly flips up his hood.

 “Don’t tell me that you got flustered too,” he teases, reaching up to poke Logan’s arm.

 “Enough,” Logan says quickly, “your turn to ask.”

 For a moment, he braces himself for Roman to not, indeed, agree, but then Roman simply pouts and tilts his head up.

 “Logan, dare or dare?”

 Logan blinks. “That is not the game, Roman.”

 “Yeah, but you’re the only one who hasn’t done a dare yet, so…” Roman shrugs. “Dare or dare?”

 “It seems pointless for me to choose between two of the same options,” Logan sighs, “but I will select ‘dare.’”

 Roman tilts his head this way and that, considering Logan. Then he grins.

 “I don’t think it’s fair if we leave Logan out,” he says to Virgil, “do you?”

 “Oh, goodness, hasn’t Patton had enough?”

 Virgil narrows his eyes at him. “So you don’t wanna have a turn?”

 Logan fiddles with his watch. “…I didn’t say that.”

 “Marvelous!” Roman claps his hands. “Oh, don’t be so shy, Logan!”

 “We know you’ve got notebooks full of ways to fluster us, L,” Virgil adds, “you’re good at it, okay?”

 Logan is quite proud of his ability to flirt, although how the others know about his research is a worrying question.

 “So,” Roman says cheerfully, “you have two minutes, but you have a harder job than we did.”

 Logan frowns and Roman’s grin widens.

 “You have two minutes to make Patton melt.”

 “Oh, Logan’s screwed,” Virgil chortles, tugging at his hoodie strings, “he’s so wound up right now.”

 Well.

 Logan gets up, adjusts his tie, and heads for the kitchen, ignoring the way Roman and Virgil scramble up onto the couch to watch.

 Patton’s leaning over the counter, pressing his hand to his forehead. He glances up when Logan enters the kitchen and pauses. Contrary to his previous statement, he doesn’t look upset or angry, simply exhausted.

 “You too, hmm?”

 “I’m afraid so.”

 Patton groans, letting his head drop onto the counter. “Did I do something? Or are you all just bored?”

 “We’re bored,” Virgil shouts, “and you’re cute!”

 “Shh, it’s not your turn anymore!”

 “Shut up, Princey.”

 Logan rolls his eyes fondly, stepping closer. Patton straightens up, waving a hand.

 “Go on. Just get it over with.”

 “And I thought Roman was dramatic,” Logan remarks dryly, “but I am not keeping you here. If you truly wish to leave…”

 He gestures toward the stairs. Patton glances between him and the stairs.

 “…really?”

 “By all means,” Logan says, lowering his voice and leaning against the wall to demonstrate he had no intentions of moving, “be my guest.”

 He watches, carefully keeping his face blank, as Patton starts to edge around the counter. He eyes the little bit of space he’s left and he can see the moment he realizes it’s not enough.

 “Okay,” he says, “I’m gonna go now.”

 “I know.” Logan tilts his head and smiles. “I’m not stopping you.”

 He stops out of his reach and stares at the gap again. One more little push, then.

 “You know…” Logan adjusts his glasses and looks Patton up and down. “You do not seem to be particularly…eager to leave, Patton.” He lets the corner of his mouth turn up into a smirk. “Could it be that…you do not wish to leave?”

 Patton takes the bait.

 As soon as Patton gets close enough, Logan hooks his foot around his ankle and blocks his exit, not bothering to hide his smirk this time. “However,” he says quietly, “I do have a task to perform.”

 “You,” Patton mumbles, closing his eyes, “are mean.”

 “Then allow me to make it up to you.” Logan moves, using his weight to push him back into the kitchen. “I have a proposition.”

 “Logan…”

 Logan smiles, leaning against the counter. “Come here.”

 “That sounds awful.” Logan raises his eyebrows. “…okay, okay, I’m coming.”

 Patton stops in front of him, his arms wrapped protectively around his waist. He does indeed look very cute.

 “Touch can be very grounding for you,” Logan says quietly, careful to keep his voice too low for Roman and Virgil to hear, “so if you like, you may cuddle with me for the duration of the two minutes.”

 “…really?”

 “Yes, really.” He holds out one hand, palm up. “Or, you may leave. I won’t stop you this time.”

 He hugs himself tighter, glancing between the stairs and Logan’s hand. He tilts his head.

 “Come here, Patton,” he murmurs.

 He takes his hand.

 He pulls Patton closer, opening his arms and letting him hug him nervously. He hugs him back, creating a little pocket of intimacy apart from the rest of the room.

 “There…” Logan leans down to whisper in his ear. “Isn’t that better? Now you have something to hold onto, something to hide your face, hmm?”

 Patton nods, his face buried in his shoulder.

 The other thing about having Patton in his arms is that he can murmur directly into his ear, which both prevents Roman and Virgil from hearing anything he’s saying and makes flustering him much, much easier. He says as much, smiling when Patton whines and tightens his grip.

 “Do you know what my dare was, Patton?” When he shakes his head, Logan reaches up to gently run his hand through his hair. “It was not, in fact, to fluster you, but to make you melt.”

 “M-melt?”

 “Yes, dear,” Logan smirks when Patton shudders involuntarily. “Do you like the pet names, little one?”

 “Logan…”

 “Shh,” he murmurs, running his hand through his hair again, “it’s quite alright, dear. Physical affection helps you relax, pet names make you feel cared for. It makes sense.

 “You are a sweetheart. No, no, don’t disagree with me,” he hushes, “you are. You care very much about how you can help other people and you do, sweetheart. It follows that having such affections be returned make you feel good.”

 He tightens his grip, cradling his head against his shoulder. “You feel good right now, don’t you, dear?”

 “…yes.”

 “Then, truly, how can you blame us for wanting to call you so many?” Logan tilts his head a little more. “You always get so flustered by it.”

 “No, I don’t…”

 “You clearly do,” he purrs, “you’re not hiding it well, dear. I can feel how warm your face is, pressed into me like that.”

 As he speaks, he feels it grow warmer still. He chuckles.

 “Oh, there’s really no need to be so embarrassed, dear,” he murmurs, “it makes complete sense. Hugs have been proven to decrease stress, reduce blood pressure, and increase the production of oxytocin.“ He smirks. “Quite the addictive drug, no?”

 Patton whines and he runs his hand slowly down his spine, pulling his hips against his.

 “You are smaller than me—“

 “Hey!”

 “—you are, which increases the feeling of protection,” he murmurs, “and safety, and thus you will relax.”

 He draws the word out with deliberate slowness, the end of it turning into a chuckle as he trembles in his hold.

 “That’s it, dear,” he says softly, “relax. Because there’s one more reason you’re going to melt for me.”

 Logan pauses, glancing up to see Roman and Virgil staring at them over the edge of the kitchen counter. He smirks and puts his mouth deliberately close to Patton’s ear.

 “You care for me, don’t you, Patton,” Logan whispers, his breath ghosting over his neck, “you do, don’t you? You care for me.”

 Patton whimpers.

 “Say it, dear,” Logan coaxes, “say you care for me?”

 “…of course I do,” comes the strangled whisper.

 “Of course you do,” he purrs, “of course you do, and here you are…wrapped up in my arms…letting me call you pet names…letting you hide your blush in the crook of  my neck…”

 He shifts one last time, making sure Roman and Virgil can see. Raising his voice slightly, he cups the back of Patton’s head protectively. He glances at his watch.

 “Ready?” He threads his fingers through the baby hairs on the back of Patton’s neck.

 “One…two…three, melt for me, dear.”

 The two minutes run out just as Patton whines and melts into a blushing little puddle in Logan’s arms.

 “Holy shit,” Logan hears Virgil mutter, “he fucking did it.”

 “I’m never underestimating him again.” Roman throws his hands up. “He did it in two minutes.”

 He tightens his grip, his nails scratching the back of his neck. “Good job, dear.”

 And if it makes him shudder and lean into him a little more, well, that’s just something else to add to the notebook.

 It’s cathartic; he can wind them up, make them all flustered, and then open his arms and cuddle them right back down, give them the reassurance of getting all worked up in a safe environment where nothing’s really gonna hurt them. Plus, if they’re too tired to protest when he peppers kisses all over them, that’s just a bonus.

 Janus—the one whose fault this is—is classic spy movie seduction. Textbook. His silver-tongue makes compliments as smooth as his scales and subtle touches that make their heads spin. Pet names, snarky comments, teasing, the lot of it. He knows they have a thing for his voice. All he has to do most of the time is get close and purr and they’re putty in his hands. Sometimes he’ll stay further away where they have nowhere to hide and just watch them squirm. Sometimes he just has to look at them a certain way and they’re gone. He is the embodiment of using the business end of your weapon to homo-erotically tilt up your opponent’s chin. Rivals Roman for how easy it is for him to make them flustered, but unlike Roman, with him, it’s a toss-up. He knows he’s a lot, and odds are, if he’s going to flirt with them, it’s more likely to be for the catharsis reason and less because they’re fun to play with. (Even though they are.) So, if he’s not having a competition with another Side or in a playful mood, he’s much gentler about it than Roman is, he’ll stop a lot sooner or pull them into his lap for cuddles. Or, like Remus, he’ll just touch them, let them hide their face in the crook of his neck, and just run his hands over them. It’s a perfect combination of grounding and flustering. Plus, warmth is good for snakes and there’s nothing warmer than a bright, flushed, flustered face. Totally doesn’t fluster people on purpose to steal their body heat.

 Remus is by far the only side where his approaches are completely different depending on who it is. Virgil is flustered very easily by his innuendos and everything, the more audacious, the better. Sometimes it resorts to the two of them having a flirt-off, the loser hiding their face while the victor cackles. Or Remus will make something that totally isn’t an innuendo into one and Virgil’s gone. For Logan, often he’ll just find him and tackle him onto the nearest surface, flopping down on top of him like a cat and listening as Patton starts verbally vomiting as he gets redder and redder. But overt sexual references make Patton and Janus really really uncomfortable, so it’s the bad kind of flustered. Instead, he’ll just find them and cuddle them and loudly explain how they are in fact the best cuddler. He finds how embarrassed they get very amusing. And if it has the side effect of summoning everyone else to a cuddle pile both because of the outrageous idea that anyone is better at cuddling than them and also free cuddles, well. Oops.

 So yeah. It’s a fucking mess.

 At least it’s a hot mess, right?

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[grumpyhedgehogs]

(you taught me) the courage of stars

Summary: “I know what it is like, Ahsoka.” Obi-Wan tells her. “I know what it is to leave the Jedi with nothing more than the clothes on your back and the knowledge that you are doing the right thing.”

Or: Ahsoka Tano flees after a warrant for her arrest is issued, but not before receiving aid from an unexpected ally. (Ahsoka proceeds to go on a road trip filled with a bunch of strangers who all say the same thing: Obi-Wan Kenobi is much more than he has ever appeared to be.)

Warnings: Canon typical violence, abuse (childhood, emotional, physical, mental), mind control.

Pt. 1.

Pt. 2, Pt. 3, AO3 

Notes: 

This idea has been bopping around in my head for a WHILE, y'all. It's basically an amalgamation of my dreadful desire to put Obi-Wan through pain while also giving him some Therapy Because Boy-Howdy Does He Need It and my absolute adoration for Ahsoka Tano. The basic premise of this fic is: What would happen if when Ahsoka left the Order, she went on a road trip through all of the worst hits of Obi-Wan's childhood?

Bonding. Bonding is what would happen.

Title from 'Saturn' by Sleeping At Last.

Nautical Dawn

Ahsoka runs.

Rain sheets down around the togruta, digging into her skin like a million icy knives. Her soaked clothes weigh her down as she sprints blindly, plastered to her, dragging against her limbs. She is chilled to the bone, but not from the storm.

There is no one here to look closely, to separate her tears from the rest of the water obscuring her vision. She takes a turn, breath hitching beneath her ribs as she passes into a tunnel free of rainwater. There is a light at the end, beckoning, promising freedom. She’s almost out. She’s almost free.

She shouldn’t have to worry about being free.

Footsteps sound behind her as she runs, hurrying after her. Panic closes her throat and Ahsoka tilts, stumbling off balance. She throws out a hand, gasping as the Force rises to meet her command, buffeting her back to her feet. If she can just get to the end of the tunnel--

“Ahsoka, wait!”

Ahsoka had been prepared for Skyguy’s voice to ring out behind her. She’d seen the look on his face, knew he’d look for her when she ran. She’d been prepared for law enforcement, or even Master Windu or Koon to come looking for her--someone with experience hunting for Force Signatures on crowded planets. She’d thought she could do this. After all, if she could turn her back on Anakin, what couldn't she do?

Ahsoka hadn’t thought Master Kenobi would come for her.

“Stay back!” The words tear from her throat, scraping it raw. Her lips burn, her eyes burn. She whirls on him, knowing she must look crazed, deranged, animalistic. Good. Let him see what the Order has done to her. “Stay away!”

Further back down the tunnel, Obi-Wan Kenobi raises his hands to shoulder height and plants his feet. His fringe is plastered to his skin too, and his robes and armor drip rainwater steadily to the filthy concrete below, as if he’d simply bolted after her instead of manning a speeder or taking a transport. His chest heaves in time with Ahsoka’s. Her muscles clench and release, her spine a hot iron rod in her back. The Force whispers in her ears, loud, wanting attention. But Ahsoka pushes it away. It’s hard to hear the Force on Coruscant, sometimes almost painful; there are too many Force Signatures here, and too much turmoil clouding her perception. She can’t let it distract her now.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Ahsoka.” Obi-Wan says. His face twists with the words. Ahsoka wonders if he’s noticed her tears.

“Don’t come near me. I won’t go back to the Temple.” You can’t make me, she almost continues, but the words can’t be forced from her mouth. She bites her tongue instead, shuffling back, and ignores the tang of blood. The whole thing is almost laughable; in any other situation she’d sound like a petulant teenager. Master Kenobi wants her to go to her room. You can’t ground me because I’m not part of this family anymore!  

Ahsoka feels sick. She takes another step back. She sees Obi-Wan’s eyes widen. He does not move.

“I’m not trying to take you back to the Temple.”

The words make no sense; they sound like static in her ears. Nerves make Ahsoka snarl at him. It’s a trick, it has to be; the great Negotiator, giving up his prey without a fight, without argument? The Council no doubt sent him after her, and Ahsoka isn’t going to fall for it just because he has a friendly face. They’d have better luck sending Anakin.

“I’m not going to take the fall for something I didn’t do!”

“I am not asking you to,” Obi-Wan replies, and raises his voice over Ahsoka’s incredulous protests as she opens her mouth again, venom on her tongue. “I am asking you to listen to me now because we don't have much time before law enforcement realizes I’ve slipped them and begins searching for both of us. I think one of them might have put a tracker on me, so you’ll need to get as far away from here as possible after we’re done, am I making myself clear?”

No, Ahsoka thinks, mind swirling with questions and accusations, panicked. You aren’t being clear at all. “Why did you follow me if--if you’re not going to arrest me?”

“I need to give you this.”

Master Kenobi lowers one hand, his movements stiffly telegraphed, and holds out his open palm. From his damp glove float three items, bright enough to catch the low light but too small to make out in the shadows they stand in; Ahsoka catches them with the Force thoughtlessly, the movement second nature. It’s almost like the old games they used to play in the creche, rolling a ball back and forth with only the Force. She does not look down at what he’s given her, only closes her fists around them and stares. The Force pulses around the objects in her hand, curling around Ahsoka as she inspects Master Kenobi, looking for some reaction, anything to analyze how he's feeling or what he's thinking. But Obi-Wan's not moving, not making any motions towards her. His voice is clear and hard and not unkind. He stands as parade rest and makes sure Ahsoka can see his hands.

Ahsoka blinks, startled as she realizes that Obi-Wan does not have his lightsaber on him. Not that he isn’t a threat unarmed, but--has he underestimated her? Perhaps he hoped he could manipulate Ahsoka into coming back with him?

Or does he not intend to do anything of the sort?

“The datachip is encrypted,” Obi-Wan tells her like Ahsoka isn’t reeling. He speaks quickly, businesslike, as if he's about to lead Ahsoka into battle rather than--rather than help her run from the law. “But it’s nothing you won’t be able to slice into. I couldn’t get ahold of your sabers, I’m sorry. I wish I could’ve--but there was no time. Do you have a way off planet yet?”

Numb, Ahsoka shakes her head.

Obi-Wan nods and his hair flops with the movement, flicking water down his nose and cheeks. The urge to laugh hysterically bubbles in Ahsoka's chest, but she swallows it. He points over her shoulder, out of the tunnel. “Head to Dex’s diner, in the lower levels. He’ll be able to get you on a ship wherever you want to go. Check the chip if you can't think of somewhere safe. There will be papers waiting for you.”

“You--you’re letting me go?”

His lips twitch into a simulacra of his usual smile. It looks wooden. “Yes.”

“Why?”

Anakin wouldn’t do this. Anakin would ask her to stay, implore her not to leave. Does Obi-Wan want her to go? Does he think she really did it--that she hurt their family?

He wants nothing more to do with Ahsoka. He’s throwing her away like day old trash, just like the rest of the Jedi.

There’s a soothing wash of calm in the Force; it emanates from her grandmaster, rolling in waves towards her own nexus of grief and pain and fear. For a moment, Ahsoka lets it wrap around her, a comforting blanket against the cold that has enveloped her for days. Then she comes to her senses and, horrified at her own childishness, shakes it off. Obi-Wan is still smiling that awful, empty smile. “I know what it is like, Ahsoka.” Obi-Wan tells her. “I know what it is to leave the Jedi with nothing more than the clothes on your back and the knowledge that you are doing the right thing.”

Unable to help herself, Ahsoka lashes out, cruelty squirming sickly in her stomach. She wants--she wants Obi-Wan to stop talking, she wants him to feel her devastation, she wants him to see how she is crumbling beneath the weight of what his Council has done to her. “You don’t know anything about what I feel!”

Obi-Wan loses his smile; his face looks strange; it is as if Ahsoka has never quite seen him before. He is old and worn. There is a deep sorrow carved into his skin. His gaze unfocusses for a split second, eyes far away while he looks at her. She shivers; it isn't Ahsoka Obi-Wan sees standing before him. There’s something else there too, down underneath the rest of it, something that makes the lump in her throat triple in size, something she can’t name. The gifts Obi-Wan gave her bite into the skin of her palms, the datachip and whatever its companions are drawing Ahsoka’s blood in the darkness of this tunnel. Escape looms at her back.

“Yes, Ahsoka. I do. Now you must go--flee!”

Ahsoka runs.

As she does, one question burns into Ashoka's mind: if she asked Master Obi-Wan to come with her, would he?

[official-alan-dabiri]

First and foremost, we have some exciting new changes that everyone can get behind. Absolutely nobody has a problem with the new experience globe mechanics. New experience globes are only at full value for six seconds, and after that are worth 25% exp. And then they last for thirty-nine seconds. Nobody finds this objectionable in any way. This change was not on the PTR due to public outcry from Reddit when it was leaked early, but it’s here live with all of its zero problems fixed.

Another change about which we have received zero complaints is a new tag system behind the scenes. People looking for just the right hero for the situation can easily find it by searching for such keywords as “CC” “Silence” “Sustain” and “Double soak” and find extremely useful and not absolute garbage results. Don’t worry about checking it ahead of time, just get right into draft mode and use it to find the perfect pick!

In addition to those minor and unobjectionable changes, we have removed Volskaya Foundry from the ranked queue, and added everyone’s favorite quickmatch map, Warhead Junction. We have also done this simultaneously with an Overwatch-themed event.

Hero changes below the cut, because this patch is another doozy, with fiiiiiive herooooo rewoooooorks, Four buffed assassins, three nerfed offlaners, two nerfed tanks and we also nerfed the looost viiiikiiiings!

Anduin is the first of our reworks and with him taking a more prominent role in Shadowlands we want to be able to welcome WoW players with open arms. He, uh, doesn’t have a new skin or anything, we just want people to play this game. The central goal of the buff is to improve his healing output in line with other heroes without removing the largest strength in Leap of Faith. As such, we’re just touching literally every part of his kit and talent try and praying that it goes the way we want.

People keep mistaking Johanna for the best tank in the game. This is factually untrue, since Muradin exists. As such, we are just gutting the absolute pants off of Johanna’s talent tree and making it weird and clunky.

For too long has Raynor been the scourge of draft play. Too good to skip, but not scary enough to ban. Perfect macro contributions, with respectable hero damage. Enough self-sustain to take weight off your healer, and self-peel for when tanks are bad. The perfect killing machine. As such, we’ve nerfed his damage into the ground. Start playing Greymane, bitches.

Stitches has proven to be a mediocre bruiser in the eyes of the community. After all these years, I think I know why. We accidentally categorized him as a tank. As such, he needs some serious changes to make him fit that label. This whole time we’ve been balancing him as a bruiser and nobody said anything? This is as much your fault as it is mine.

The average damage output of a ranged assassin has been steadily climbing for a while now. As a result, for a hero to actually be a glass cannon, they need some serious firepower. Valla now has the gunpowder to match her glass. And she’s the glassiest cannon there is. Don’t get me wrong, she still evaporates like a drop of water in California when an enemy hero looks at her. But when she has a solid tank and three healers behind her, the world is your oyster.

Oh my god they didn’t break down the heroes by category. Jesus Christ what the fuck Blizzard? You just decided that this is the line? This is the day you stop caring? Well, congratulations, you’ve made reading your patch notes mildly more inconvenient. I’m still doing this. Ya bunch of jack-offs.

Mei has been grossly overperforming, and we have no idea how that happened. We certainly didn’t buff her over and over again for an entire year. Anyway, we’re just going to roll some stuff back. Definitely probably fine.

It turns out - and bear with me here because this might be hard to follow - Hogger, D.va, and Sonya were all overtuned? For six months? So we’re just gonna tippy tappy them down the smallest little bit. And then slap them around a little for good measure. D.va’s mech form is no longer indomitable, Hogger can no longer solo any merc camp in the game in 12 seconds, and Sonya is now... Basically fine still, honestly. We kinda gave her just a slap on the wrist in comparison. But honestly after gutting Hogger like that, I just didn’t have the heart. One of the benefits from being a little later, alphabetically.

After riding the TLV train up through the ranks, I think it’s about time to recognize that I’m not actually good at them. They’re just overtuned. So it’s time to come back to earth, Icarus. Don’t be fooled by the seemingly-small HP nerf, though. The real nerf is buffing Longboat Raid. People are going to have to pick it to test it and it’s gonna murder their winrate.

Someone told me that Lucio is a problem and needed to be addressed this patch, but my cat came into the home office being adorable so I didn’t hear exactly what they said. So we had to kinda wing it. Hopefully these minor adjustments to his talent tree will solve whatever they were talking about!

Even we know Uther is a problem. Being first pickable and filling three different unique roles was what we wanted to do with Varian not Uther. So we’re going to try and make him incrementally worse at tanking until he just goes away. First up: Shaving off some of that personal armor.

AFK splitpush trash Azmodan is dead. Long live teamfight artillery mage Azmodan. Really glad I made the last HotS Content post about Nova instead of Azmodan because boy howdy do these changes invalidate the entire playstyle that post would have discussed.

W build Falstad has obviously become a problem. Not only was he riddled with bugs after the rework - don’t worry, we learned from our mistakes and made sure there were no bugs with our new reworks - but also he had the ability to point and click on an enemy hero and force them to run all the way to the next lane over in order to stop taking buckets of free damage. It turns out that ability was more powerful than anticipated, and required adjustment.

Q build Falstad has obviously become a problem. Not only was it completely overshadowed by a build that did more damage in every situation with less skill requirement, but we overestimated the value of macro power on a build that demands PvP for stacking. As such, we’ve doubled the amount of power each stack gives him! That’ll do.

AA build Falstad... Stay the course, buddy. Doin’ fine.

Junkrat has been underperforming, which is surprising for a hero with his level of power. As such, we’re going to make a few small buffs to hopefully draw attention, and then we can roll things back once the pickrate reflects his actual power. Hopefully then WE CAN FINALLY MAKE THE MANDATORY CHANGE I PUT IN EVERY MEMO. TYRE. WITH A Y. THAT’S HOW THEY SPELL IT IN AUSTRALIA. KAEO I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU- wait, did Kaeo leave? Who the fuck is still here? Kinnabrew? Adam? Jason? JASON! JASON!?

Tassadar has also fallen off a lot without us having done anything at all whatsoever to nerf him. Entirely undeserved treatment. I’m disappointed in all of you. As such, we’re going to tweak his numbers up just a little tippy tap so that you all remember who killed the Overmind. It wasn’t James Raynor or Sarah Kerrigan. It was Tassadar... Tassadar Bassadar. That’s his last name. Don’t look it up, just trust me.

In the bug fix department, we’ve had a nice sit-down with the Mountain Giants on Alterac and told them that if they have time to lean, they have time to clean. Reaching the end of their lane and expecting the core to come to them is putting undue stress on an already overtaxed position. The core is a very stressful job, and if the mountain giants could just do their part to walk into the core pit when they arrive, that’s a huge load off their shoulders. Drek��thar and Vanndar really needed this expectation taken off them right now, and I’m hopeful it will lead to a better work environment.

[queen-of-deans-booty]

Swan Song: Part Three

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Word Count: 2,256

Warnings: typical supernatural violence, language, angst, blood, you know the usual

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Supernatural. All credit goes to their respective owners. Any and all comments on these are appreciated. I really want to hear what you guys think about this one!

Feedback is the glue that holds my writing together.

Tags at the bottom

Dean’s not Dean if he doesn’t make an entrance. You know Michael and Lucifer are already at the cemetery, and to make sure they know you’re coming, he revs his engine and turns up his music. Both archangels are standing a few feet apart as Dean drives up to them. He stops about ten feet away from them and turns off the car.

“Are you ready?” you ask and look at him.

“No,” he sighs but gets out of the car anyways. You get out on your end, and Lucifer grows angry. However, neither angel attacks just yet. “Howdy, boys. Sorry. Are we interrupting something?”

“We need to talk,” you say as you look at Lucifer.

“Y/N, Dean, even for you two, this is a whole new mountain of stupid,” Lucifer smirks.

“We’re not talking to you,” Dean says and advances a few steps. You do the same. “We’re talking to Sam.”

“You're no longer the vessel, Dean. Amara has no business with this fight. You two got no right to be here,” Michael announces.

“Adam, if you're in there somewhere, I am so sorry,” Dean sighs.

“Adam isn’t home right now.”

“Well, then you're next on our list, buttercup,” you give him a bittersweet smile. “But right now, we need five minutes with him.”

“You little maggot. You two are no longer a part of this story!” Michael shouts and starts to advance towards you two.

Your eyes start to glow blue in case you need to use your magic to defend yourself, but Castiel’s voice comes out of nowhere.

“Hey, ass-butt!”

Castiel is standing with your dad, and he has a Molotov in his hands. You assume that it’s doused with holy fire if he’s going to use it on Michael. Without giving his older brother a chance to speak, he throws the concoction at him. Michael bursts into flames, and he screams loudly to match his pain level. He burns up until he’s completely gone. You’re glad he did that, but Lucifer just looks pissed.

“Ass-butt?” Dean asks, and Castiel just shrugs.

“He'll be back—and upset—but you got your five minutes.”

“Castiel. Did you just Molotov my brother with holy fire?” Lucifer glares.

“Uh,” Castiel looks very nervous since Lucifer can do some real damage to him, “no.”

“No one dicks with Michael but me,” Lucifer growls.

Lucifer has no need for his much younger brother, and he raises his right hand and snaps. Castiel explodes in a rain of blood and chunks of meat. You scream, and your first instinct is to go to him, but Dean stops you. He’s already dead, and there isn’t anything you can do. Your dad just looks terrified, and there is no way he can go up against Lucifer alone.

“Sammy, can you hear me?” Dean asks hopefully.

“You know, I tried to be nice for Sammy's sake. But you two,” he walks closer to you and Dean, “are such pains,” he grips yours and Dean’s collars in his hands, “in my ass.”

He throws you two into the windshield of Dean’s car, and it cracks under your weight. Even though you’re not that far from it, the force Lucifer gave is enough to almost break it. He advances towards you two, but your dad does something incredibly stupid. He shoots Lucifer in the back. The archangel turns to look at him, and he shoots him again in the chest.

“No,” you whisper and sit up.

You look between Lucifer and your dad. If what he did to Castiel might happen to your dad, you don’t know what you’ll do. Your dad looks at you and just shrugs since he didn’t know what else to do. He wasn’t going to just stand there and watch Lucifer beat you two up. The archangel doesn’t move except to raise his right hand.

“No!” you yell this time. He flicks his wrist, and your dad’s neck snaps. “NO!”

“Yes,” Lucifer grins, and turns back towards you.

Your dad drops to the ground, and seeing his dead weight gives you all the motivation you need. Your eyes shine brighter than they have before and loads of blue energy starts racing from your hands to the middle of your body. You’re shaking at this point, and Dean just watches to see what you will do.

When you got enough energy to blast Lucifer away, you expel the magic to knock Lucifer off his feet. He flies twenty feet away from you, and you slide off the hood of the Impala. Dean can’t get to you even if he tries. The only thing on your mind is the fact that Lucifer killed your dad. He groans and gets up, but there is a smile on his face.

“Is that the best you can do?” he asks, clearly taunting you.

Your magic come out of your hands like whips—long, thin, and very strong. You use both of your hands at the same time and raise them, only to slam them back to your body. The magic whips through the air and catches on his wrists. They circle his limbs tightly, and you yank on the magical whips, and he faceplants into the ground.

“You’re hurting Sam!” Dean yells as he slides off the car.

“No, keep going, Y/N!” Lucifer grins as he gets up.

The only thing on your mind is Lucifer, so you don’t hear Dean when he screams at you to stop. Lucifer gets up and rushes at you with the intent to take you down. Your magic shoots out of your body and creates a forcefield around your entire body to keep Lucifer away from you. He pounds on the forcefield, but it’s holding steady.

You’re using a lot of magic at this point, and Lucifer can see how much it’s affecting you. You’re trying so hard to kill Lucifer that you don’t feel blood dripping out of your nose. Your body can’t handle the amount of magic you're using, and Lucifer knows this. If he can get you to max out your magic, then he can hit two birds with one stone and kill both you and Dean.

He pushes against the forcefield, and his eyes shine bright red. His power, along with the demon blood that Sam drank, it’s enough to overpower you. He gives you one final shove, and you go flying into the side of the Impala. Your head smashes against the window causing it to shatter. Dean runs to help you, but Lucifer grabs at him.

“You know that Sam’s in here,” Lucifer taunts.

He punches Dean in the face as hard as he can, and the older Winchester goes flying next to you. Your vision is blurry, your head is pounding, and your body is just so weak and tired from using all that magic.

“And he’s going to feel the snap of your bones,” the devil continues. He grabs Dean’s collar since he knows you’re no threat to him and punches him with his right hand. “Every single one, and we’re going to take our time.”

Lucifer gives Dean one punch after another, giving Dean no time to react or fight back. You look up to see this happening, and you push away your own problems to help. You drag yourself to your feet and shoot one final blast of magic out of your hand and into Lucifer’s face. It doesn’t do much, but it catches his attention.

He drops Dean to the ground and grabs you, punching you in the face as hard as he can. Your jaw breaks, and blood squirts out of our mouth. You don’t see this ending well for either of you, but you’re not leaving Sam. You can muster up enough energy to cloak you and Dean to get away, but then Sam would be all alone. You know he can see what Lucifer is doing, so you have to stay for him.

Even if it means your death.

Lucifer grabs you and shoves you against the car, then uses his angelic powers to hold you steady. He then grabs Dean and shoves him right next to you. He wants to get you at the same time.

“Sam, it's okay. It's okay. I'm here. I'm here. I'm not gonna leave you,” Dean mumbles.

His face is swollen and bloody, but he still won’t leave. His right eye is swollen shut, there are cuts all over his face, and his teeth must be broken. You, on the other hand, look better, but you feel like a train wreck due to your magic. Lucifer punches you and Dean at the same time so that your head is forced to the side where Dean is. You stare into his one good eye, but you don’t say anything.

“We’re here for you Sam. We’re not going anywhere,” you pant, and move your head to face Lucifer.

He raises his fist to finish you off, but there is something in his eyes that makes him stop. Something inside the car reflects in his eyes, and you can see his eyes dilating to their normal size. Something inside you tells you that Sam has finally taken over. He stares at the same sport for a long time, and when he’s apparently done, he unclenches his fist. He lets go of you and Dean, and both of you fall to the ground against the Impala.

“It's okay, Dean. It's gonna be okay. I've got him,” Sam pants.

He takes out the Horsemen’s rings from his pocket and throws it to the ground. He chants the same words you did that opens the cage. Much like what happened earlier, a big hole starts to form on the ground that leads straight into the pit. There is nothing left inside of you to stop him because he needs to do this if he wants Lucifer gone.

“Sam!” Michael yells from the sidelines. You and the brothers look at the archangel possessing their half-brother. “It's not gonna end this way! Step back!”

“You're gonna have to make me!” Sam shouts.

“I have to fight my brother, Sam! Here and now! It's my destiny!”

Sam doesn’t care what he’s saying, and he looks at you and Dean who look like hell. He has a choice to make, and it either to give Michael what he wants or to jump into the pit. The look in his eyes says it all, and he closes his eyes to accept his fate. He spreads his arms out wide since he’ll be diving backwards into the cage.

Michael knows what he is going to do, and he lunches forward to stop him. He grabs at Sam’s jacket, but that only throws him off balance. Both men fall into the pit so that there are four people trapped in the cage—Michael, Lucifer, Sam, and Adam. After a few moments, the hole closes in a blinding flash of light. The Horsemen’s rings burn bright in the grass where the hole was previously.

You groan and get up even if your body is telling you to rest. You don’t have enough energy to stand and walk, so you crawl over to where the rings are. Dean follows behind slowly since he can’t believe his brother actually did it. You pick up the rings and hold them in your hand, not sure what to do now. Sam is gone, and you failed.

A shadow falls over you, which means there is someone standing behind you. Who could be out here? Your dad and Castiel are dead, so who could it be? You crane your neck to see Castiel standing there good as new—as if Lucifer never laid a hand on him.

“Castiel, you’re alive?” you say weakly.

Dean can only muster up enough energy to sigh.

“I’m better than that,” he says and touches both yours and Dean’s foreheads.

Just like that, you’re good as new. No more aches and pains, no cuts and bruises, and all of your energy is restored. Dean seems to have the same outcome. You and Dean stand up slowly to make sure you’re okay before you book it to your dad who still lays in the grass.

“Cas, are you God?” Dean asks.

“Daddy?” you say with tears in your eyes.

Your fingers touch his cheek delicately as if you’ll hurt him if you press too hard. He’s ice cold, and you see no signs of life in him. You haven’t had enough time with him, and you curse at yourself for being so harsh with him when you found out he was your dad and not your uncle.

“Please come back to me,” you cry and lean down to sob into his chest.

“Y/N,” Castiel says, and places a hand on your shoulder.

You look up at the angel, and sniffle. He crouches down next to you, and places two fingers on your dad’s forehead. You hold your breath as you wait to see what will happen. Just like that, your dad takes in a large breath and opens his eyes.

“Dad!” you exclaim and trap him in a tight hug.

He winces in pain, and you allow him to sit up before resuming your hug. Castiel walks away to give you some time alone. You want to thank the angel, but he already knows how appreciative you are.

“I’m here,” your dad whispers, and hugs you right back.

Everything is okay now, except for the fact that Sam is gone… and you failed.

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[ober-affen-geil]

So I mentioned in my reaction to the Roswell finale that Michael and Alex went through a lot of development this season, and how they both started and ended in different places in respect to the other. I’m going to dig into that here (CW for discussion of abuse and homophobia) but I want to be clear, this is not a post where I will be talking about my feelings on Maria. That will be a future topic. As always if you have questions, ask!

The thing is, neither one of them starts the season in a healthy place. They have both isolated themselves for different reasons and in different ways.

Alex has spent the last 10 years isolating a part of himself. I don’t think he ever denied to himself that he was gay, and I don’t think he hated himself for it either. But his father had made it clear that if he couldn’t beat it out of Alex, he would take it out on anyone Alex went near as well. Alex tucked his queerness out of sight because it was a liability to others, not himself. But silencing yourself has consequences, and a decade is a long time. Alex has never allowed himself the opportunity to reach out and be vulnerable with someone because the last time that he did was one of the worst things that ever happened in his life. He doesn’t know how to.

Michael, on the other hand. Michael spent the last decade just isolating himself. He never had a real home having spent his child hood being bounced from terrible foster care to terrible foster care, and his one family link was shattered when he and Max covered up what they thought was Isobel’s triple homicide. It’s made clear that his and Max’s relationship never really recovered, and while he is still close with Isobel he is having to keep a secret from her. The only connection Michael still feels he has, the one person who still makes him feel at home and loved is Alex Manes. The boy who was kind to him for kindness’ sake.

Then they are thrown together again.

When they have their moment at the reunion (god I will never get over that symbolism) it’s hugely indicative of where they’re both at. Once Michael sees a single spark of the boy he knew he seeks Alex out “somewhere more private”. And he gets closer and closer, magnetically drawn to the one person who he thinks has even a possibility of loving him back. Alex lets him come but makes no real outward move to encourage him. This is his vulnerability, he will not allow access to it easily

But this is Michael Guerin. The boy who saw a part of him he had shown few willingly, and who loved him for it. The man who is looking at him like he still does. If Alex will crack the door for anyone, it is Michael.

Finally Michael can take it no more and throws himself at Alex, desperate in his need to have a connection. @chasingshhadows described it like this: “Michael [leaps] at Alex and [kisses] him like he’s been drowning and Alex is the only air left in the universe“ and damn if that isn’t the best summation I’ve ever heard.

Humans are herd animals, we need social interaction to survive. But Michael isn’t human, he’s part of an alien race that seems to have an innate low-level psychic connection to each other. He can feel the other aliens before he even enters the prison in 1x12, and once inside he can identify specific emotions. Max and Isobel have their own connection, and I’d bet my bottom dollar that had Michael had the chance to grow up with them he would share one just as strong. Michael is not designed to be isolated. And doing so has left him broken.

Alex is the one person who Michael thinks will even consider allowing him in and he clings to him like a shipwreck survivor adrift in a storm. In their moment of peace after their kiss, Michael is emitting relief like a beacon. x

Meanwhile Alex is looking like he is desperately trying to savor every second of this moment with Michael because he knows his walls will come down again when they separate. And they do. The following day, Alex shuts Michael out again. He is compartmentalizing, this is damage control. “What happened at the reunion cannot happen again.”

These are the points where their characters begin. What happens over the course of the season is very real and incredibly nuanced development for both of them.

Alex is methodical and steadfast. He does not act until he is sure of his options, and once he chooses a course of action he follows through. His process with Michael is slow, but it’s there. In the beginning we see him trying. And it’s almost painful to watch because you can tell this is like forcing open a rusted door. (I talk about the early days more here.) First he goes to talk with Michael about if he’s leaving, and that leads to sex. This evidently continues, and eventually he stays the night. It culminates at the drive-in, which in every way is Alex asking Michael on a date. The progress is slow but he is making it. 

The turning point, for Alex, is in 1x09. I have talked about this before, but this is the first time we really see Alex take a stand. He’s been avoiding Michael since he walked away at the drive-in and earlier in the episode he effectively breaks it off with him. Then, after he makes the decision to actually talk to Michael, he nearly backs off again after he realizes that Michael has had rebound sex with Maria. But, and this is crucial, he turns around and says “no”.

This is the moment that Alex decides that he will pursue a relationship with Michael. He knows he loves him, and Michael has made it clear he loves Alex too (I never look away), but until this moment their connection was for Alex a physical one. A cosmic one, but one that makes him feel like he’s being tumbled inside of a breaking wave. He barely knows what to do with that, Alex needs structure. What he is proposing in this scene is to start again from the ground up; to build a foundation. This is healthy. This is how relationships should work. 

The horrific irony is that Michael took Alex at his word in the bar; he has written Alex off as a lost cause. He doesn’t recognize the moment in the junkyard for what it is; all he sees is an olive branch, not the seeds hidden within. In 1x12 when Alex asks if he’s sure he wants to go through with going into the prison, his face closes off. x

Because Alex doesn’t get to ask questions like that, not if he wants to be friends. That’s a question from a lover, not an acquaintance. And it’s what makes the scene at the end so monumental: Michael didn’t see it coming. Alex was forced to show his hand (you don’t tell someone you love them, not on the first date) and Michael is taken completely by surprise. He never considered the fact that Alex might feel for him what he feels for Alex.

But what is more important in terms of Michael’s arc is the (entirely too brief) connection with his mother. It is the second of two crucial turning points for Michael, the first is in the bunker with Max when he insists that Michael is his family and he is not alone. This post does a truly excellent job of spelling out why that is important, so I will move on to the impact of both of these moments.

Michael has spent most of his time on Earth feeling unwanted and unloved. I’ve said before the only person he seemed to think had any amount of genuine affection for him was Alex. And Alex left. Michael has dedicated his life to the goal of leaving this planet in search of someplace where he might be wanted. The conversation in the bunker with Max opened his eyes to the fact that there was more than one person on Earth who loved him. And in finding his mother, as absolutely heartbreaking as it was to see, Michael found his biological family.

He was wanted, he was loved, and she was here. 

Finding his mother on Earth shattered the dream of a homecoming by making it a reality. It grounded Michael, in every sense of the word. 

And this is where we see Michael at the finale. He has finally realized that there is more than just one person he can turn to, he is not alone. And it allows him to process his feelings for Alex in a more healthy way; he was leaning on Alex before because he thought that Alex was all he had. And it’s not that he realizes he doesn’t love Alex, the exact opposite in fact. It’s that he allows himself to look at all of the places where their relationship is tied up in excruciatingly painful memories. 

When he’s telling Max the truth about his hand, he says “Alex Manes’ father.” When he’s telling Max about the other aliens being killed he says “on the order of Alex Manes’ father.” Michael loves Alex. It doesn’t mean that Alex isn’t associated with some of the worst moments in Michael’s life; that’s how trauma works. 

The Alex we meet in the pilot is closed off, shutting Michael out because he’s not used to letting anyone in. By the finale, Alex is choosing to reach out, to talk and actively work towards a relationship. This is healthy.

The Michael we meet in the pilot clings to Alex, mindless of the pain caused by the barbs of these memories because he thinks this is best he can hope for. By the finale, Michael is taking the time to step back temporarily and give himself some space to breath, to heal. This is also healthy. 

These two characters started in two different places and ended in two completely different different places, and it was all done in a way that was not only faithful to the characters but also realistic.

I know people are angry at Carina right now, and I have more than one opinion about some of the things she’s said. But on one point I will defend her until I’m blue in the face; when she said she would bring the queer characters “out of the darkness and into the light” she damn well did.

Maybe I’m delusional, but I still strongly believe Michael and Alex are endgame. Judging by how their characters were handled this season when they get together it will be real, it will be solid, and it will be earned. And boy howdy I can’t wait to see it happen.

[crystalinn]

I haven’t posted about this here yet, but boy howdy has my life been A Mess™️ of late.

TW: medical talk, high stress situations, mentions of blood under the cut

This is a very long post, so a mild TL;DR: ma’s sick and this is me for eternity now (loud noises in video): 

Picture it. November 10th (ish. Time is hard.). The motherbeast came down with a case of viral bronchitis. She got a few days off work to recover. 

A couple days pass. She went back to work. Her manager sent her in the cooler for two hours. 

An immediate downturn ft. a fall out of bed that took 45 minutes to fix, heavy panting, confusion, the whole lot. She went to the Express ER. They said “oh hey, your viral bronchitis has become full blown pneumonia. You’re goin’ to the Real Hospital™️ for two days. See if you respond well.” Turns out, she did, at first. 

About a week or two of what seemed like solid improvement all came crashing back down when her return to work arrived. She went back to work... or tried to. She went to step onto the curb and gravity said no. She faceplanted the pavement, and the ambulance was called. A thorough concussion check later, and her manager drove her and her truck home. The next day, she went back to the Express ER, and they said “oh shit, your lung xray is worse than last time. Back to the Hospital for you.” 

That stay was nine days long. She was tested for tuberculosis (which came back negative, thankfully), and had a PICC line installed. During said stay, she did get rather confused and agitated, as it was near the end of the month and the rent needed paid. She called me in the middle of the night, asking me to move her IV... despite me being at home. So that was a thing.

After she came home on the 4th of this month (December), I had to start administering her PICC line antibiotics, every 8 hours. Did y’all know that cefepime (a bigboi antibiotic) smells like someone doing unholy things to eggs? Sulfuric smelling bullshit, that. Had some hiccups there, what with massive air bubbles in the line and getting the infusion orb stuck on the line. We were supposed to be done the 25th. Then she went to her new primary care doctor, and it was extended to the 6th of January, which h.

Anyway, fast forward to the 23rd. Mum was out with a pal, getting some groceries, and some Miralax ‘cause... y’know, and she fell on her ass. At this point, falling down is like a glowing neon red flag. She came home, was a bit wobbly, but was generally okay. Her primary care doctor called after the home health nurses stole some blood to tell her that her potassium levels are critical. A friend/my ‘adopted’ brotherbeast, Frank, brought her a fuckton of bananas that night. 

Now this is where it gets real fuckin’ spicy. The morning of the 24th, after we get done with the 7am orb, I gave her a dose of Miralax. She was fine, until the 3pm orb, when severe gut cramps showed up. Those lasted until about midnight when things... moved along. After that, shit went downhill fast. I put her to bed after orb times at 11 pm, and she kept waking up. As time went on, she got more and more confused. Like, she knew general things, in a kinda slow way, but she could not follow directions. On the morning of the 25th (fucking Christmas.), things had reached its boiling point. She was very confused, unable to focus, slurring words. I rang up a friend, Sandy (who has been a massive help this whole time of Fuckery), to get her to the ER. This triggered a complete meltdown. It took both of us to get her out of her chair, not to mention the sudden burst of confused crying and begging not to go. 

We finally managed to get her there, and the ER’s like “yo this looks like a stroke, so we’re gonna keep her, do an MRI or three, and get back to you.” Turns out she was very dehydrated, currently has a UTI, and is still a bit... shall we say, fucked up. But, the MRI came out clean, but there was some issue with the PICC with like, a blood clot, but they cleaned it out, so they let her go on the 26th. 

But just wait for it... I put her to bed pretty much as soon as she got home, ‘cause she doesn’t sleep in the hospital. Makes sense, right? I went to check on her at about 8, and she was unable to really comply with requests/commands/questions. I’d ask “what’s your name?”, I’d get her name (most of the time), but when I’d ask “when’s your birthday?”, I’d get her name again. Or the fact she lost her PICC line cap, and I’d ask her to hold the newly sterilized port so it wouldn’t touch anything, she’d say okay, take it, and immediately drop it. Repeatedly. 

I broke down whilst on the phone with my dad because everything has been too much of late, and eventually put her back to bed to wait for the 11pm orb. 

11pm rolled around... and well. I couldn’t get her to wake up. She’d react to me poking and prodding her by making noise and moving away, but she would not wake up. Not properly. So, I called the on call home health nurse to see if she could help, and she pretty much told me to just call an ambulance. Not wanting the expense because I live in Hell the US, I called my dad. He helped me try to wake her up over the phone, but she flat refused. I was left with no choice. So, I called the ambulance, and just before they knocked on the door, she sat up like “huh?” but extra confused. She almost didn’t go to the hospital because she said “nah, I don’t want to go” but one of the EMTs was like “nah, you gotta go.”

So, she spent about 8 hours in the ER, and they told me that they can’t keep her since she was mostly lucid, but they did float an Idea (a skilled nursing facility, at least until she got her ducks in a row) to her that was immediately denied, but with some prodding from me, she finally agreed. So they moved her upstairs from the ER to keep her until they can find a facility in the Blue Cross/Blue Shield network that’s reasonably local. The one that came to visit yesterday turned out to not be, and I’m pretty sure the dude kicked it back to the Case Supervisor to see if they can find another. But, after they moved her into her room, she’s cleared up quite a bit. 

She’s still a bit slow on the uptake sometimes, a bit unfocused, and can get caught out in the grapes mentally, but she has improved a lot. 

Oh, and another thing she’s been doing is fighting me re: eating since the first go around. Bread’s a texture issue, rice is hard to eat without teeth, and everything else “smells bad” (which, since she’s quit smoking as of that second hospital stay... I understand, but you gotta sometimes push past that.) I did manage bananas though. Thank fuck for those. 

But, back to the plot: today (the 28th) was a decent day. Much clearer, less starts and stops in her speech. A bit more focused. She didn’t manage to sleep last night, so she was kinda tired. Had another MRI, but we won’t know about that until probably tomorrow (the 29th). Maybe. Had some PICC issues, though. The nurse got the cefepime running just fine, then mum had to use the bathroom, and when she came out, the machine started screaming bloody murder. After that, the nurse came back and tried to flush the line, since the cefepime was unable to run, and when she took the syringe off, the saline shot right back out... which ain’t supposed to happen. Hit me, the nurse, mum, the bed... probably got the windows too. So they’re working on that, and hopefully they figure it out.

Had my own woes at the hospital today, too. The sole of my boot fell off, so my ride/friend/adopted sister?, Sandy, went to walmart and got me some Heavy Duty Superglue, which I got it about half way stuck before we had to leave... then when we were pulling into the parking lot at home, the nurse in charge called to ask some questions about the PICC, the antibiotic, how long it’d been there, how long she was supposed to be on it, the pharmacy’s number, all that. So I went to get out of the car, my coke bottle fell out of my pocket, started rolling under the car, and I overextended. Fell right on my knees. They are not happy. Took a hot minute to get my dumb ass off the ground, without hurting Sandy, who is like 5′2″ and v smol. I am 5′6″ and... decidedly not. Plus the bonus rain.

UPDATE 12/29/2019: the diverticulitis has made a reappearance. It’s like everything is just It’s free real estate.

UPDATE 12/31/2019: Around 2 am this morning, she managed to roll out of bed and whack her head pretty good on something. They did a CT scan, and it came out clean. No concussion. However, now she has a sitter/keeper/minder to make sure she doesn’t do it again. It’s a good thing the nurses heard her fall, ‘cause despite being armed, the bed alarm didn’t go off. I know of all of this, ‘cause the hospital called me at 3 this morning, and boy howdy that’s a gut drop, let me tell you. But, better a CT ride and a bump on her noggin vs. the alternative. Sure is one thing after a-fucking-nother, ain’t it though.

UPDATE 1/1/2020: 2019 keep your problems challenge: she's had a major mental shift again, and now she's really groggy, really confused... So the hospital moved her to the ICU and called me for consent on a spinal tap, just to make sure they're not missing anything. Other than that, they've done x-rays and another CT, I think to check her spine, hips, the one leg she's been having issues with. The doctors also think that it may be the cefepime causing this altered mental state, and after doing some digging, boy howdy I sure believe it. Cephalosporins are some nasty fuckers.

So! That’s been my month and a half! I’d like to take a break now, please!

EDIT: Further updates found here.

[asktheroyalcourt]

For The Crown - Chapter 2

"So, what do you think the next obstacle is?" Said the slime creature. "I don't know. It could be anything, really." I said. "First was a giant lion, that was felled pretty easily. Second, was Floor Is Lava, a human game, so that was easy enough. Third, the scafolding with the water and the giant killer sharks, that was easy enough if you knew what you were doing, and fourth was this." I counted off the obstacles on my right hand. It was like a giant obstacle course. No shite, Sherlock, I told myself. "Do you have a name?" I asked the slime creature. It looked suprised. "No, I don't think so. The king pulled me out of nowhere. I probably didn't exist before this whole game thing started." "Then how did you know mine?" "I dunno. Just kinda knew." ~ I walked up to the doorway. I noticed it led to a small room, with only one other creature in it. It looked to be an Anima-Beast. It had the body of a lion, but the head a beautiful young woman. Her eyes sparkled, and she smiled at us from her place sprawled out on the ground. She licked her lips hungrily, and rolled upright, her tail flicking menacingly. "Finally... At least you look smart." She said. She murmered to herself for a few seconds. I stood uneasily, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. What was the task here? I gripped the handle of my sword and motioned for the slime creature to stay back. "Fine..." She whispered to herself. "Here's the deal, lovely. I tell you my riddle. Get it right, you go free. Get it wrong, however, and you're lunch." I didn't like this challenge much. She looked me in the eye, her gaze hungry. I wondered how many people she'd devoured because of ignorance, or stupidity. I thought it over. The challenge was a test of intelligence. "I agree to the terms. What's the riddle?" I asked. I heard the slime monster behind me growl quietly. The creature smiled. "What occurs once in a minute," "Twice in a moment," "But never in a thousand years?" The creature licked her lips, and her tail swirled in the air. She rose to her feet and began pacing around us. I thought for a while. After a few minutes, the slime monster behind me growled loudly. "That makes no sense! Give us one that's not nonsense!" It snarled. The lioness creature leapt at it, growling. I flung my sword in between her and the slime monster. Claws scrapped against steel with a satisfying clash. I struggled to keep the sword level. The lioness pushed down on the blade with seemingly all her might, and she was incredibly strong. "M! It's the letter M!" I said, forcing my arms to keep the sword against her. The lioness frowned. She pushed back off the blade and onto the ground. She paced back to where she previously stood. "Very well. You guessed correctly. I'll let you through." She said begrudgingly. I nodded, walking past her towards the door that had just opened behind her. The slime monster followed me. It glared at the lioness on the way past her, and she growled at him. Before I went through the doorway, I turned back to her. "Thank you for the excellent riddle." I said. She turned her head towards me and smiled. "You're welcome, lovely. If you do win this fickle trial, I'd be quite welcome to the idea of sharing some more with you." I returned her smile, and walked through the doorway. "Though those chubby cheeks of yours would be rather tasty, I suppose." The slime monster and I walked through the doorway laughing, while the deep chuckles of the lioness faded behind us. But the next room quickly silenced our chortles. The room was dimly lit by torches on the walls, the dancing flames illuminating blood spattered on the walls and the tiled ground. Bodies littered the gigantic room, and a great hulking form stood in the centre of it. It slowly turned to face us, it's eyes glowed scarlet and it's hulking body was that of shiny, bloodstained iron. A golem. I supressed a scream as it raised a fist to hurl down at us, and instead threw myself to the side as it came crashing down. I didn't see what the slime creature did, but I hoped it had avoided the blow. I got to my feet, my hip sore from the hard tile where I landed. I hoped it wasn't going to bruise too badly. I looked around as the golem raised it's giant iron fist for another blow. There was another doorway at the other end of the room. It seemed unblocked, why didn't these people just run for the exit? As I was thinking this, something slimey, warm and white hurled into me, knocking me back into the wall as a giant iron fist came slamming to the ground. Oh yeah. Golem. Forgot about that. "What are you thinking, just standing around like that!?" Bellowed the slime creature. He slid off of the wall and we ran around behind the golem. He turned around slowly. I was stunned by the amount of bodies that littered the hall. So many people... Not now, Sakaki. Head in the game. I readied my sword, looking for a possible weakspot in the golem's hulking iron form. It seemed to have no weaknesses, no imperfections, no cracks in it's armour. It was just stupidly powerful. It turned it's face to look at us. That's when I realised. The eyes. "It's eyes! We need to blind it somehow!" "Stab them!?" Bellowed the slime monster. "Poke 'em with your sword!?" I frowned and dodged another blow. We were like ants to it. Helpless and defenseless. But poking it's eyes might not be such a bad idea. "How do we get up there?" I said aloud. "I've got an idea." Said the slime creature. He melted into two small puddles on the ground in front of me. "When I say go, step on me and get onto it!" It yelled. I restrained myself from rolling my eyes. I didn't have a plan. The golem shuffled foward and raised it's fist. I backed up a few steps, bracing myself for a leap of faith. "Go!" I ran. I stepped on the slime creature, disgusted by the squelching noise coming from the soles of my shoes. I then leapt onto the golem's foot, and was about to try and sramble for a foothold when I realised my feet weren't even slipping. The slime creature was sticking me to the golem. "Get a move on! It's cramped down here!" Came it's muffled shout. I scampered up the golem's leg and up it's back towards it's head. I skittered on the top of it's head, struggling for balance. I drew my sword, and prepared to plunge the blade deep into it's eyesocket. Something thwacked me from behind. A loud suckering noise a yell of pain came from my shoes, and a giant iron hand swung me off it's head, it's hand holding me upside down by my chest, my sword flashing in the torchlight. I struggled to get a grip with my feet, my shoes slipping on the smooth iron surface. The slime monster had come clean off. I struggled for a hand hold before the golem let go. I somehow bent in half and grabbed the side of it's palm before it's fingers released it's grip on my lower body. My legs slumped, pins and needles gathering in my feet. I was just barely able to keep a good hold of the sword and the golem. The golem started to wave it's hand, trying to shake me lose and suceeding. It was no use. It was either the sword or my grip. Something had to give. Then an idea struck me. I turned my head to see the slime creature slowly regaining it's form ontop of the golem's head. It looked dazed and disoriented. "Hey! Catch!" I yelled. I raised the sword above my head, latching on to the golem's forefinger so I woudln't fall. The slime creature faced me, and I threw the sword with all my might. The sword flew through the air, and I prayed my aim was true. The metal reflected the torch light as it flew through the air tainted with blood and iron. The slime creature morphed to catch it. Two arms sprang from it's melted white body, and latched onto the sword. I breathed a sigh of relief. It twisted the sword and brough it down again in the golem's right eye. The golem roared. Both hands went to it's head, shaking me loose and sending me falling to the ground. The slime creature leapt from the golem's head, avoiding the giant iron hands. We both fell to the ground. I was certain that was to leave bruises, and when the adrenalin ceased, I would know if any bones were broken. I slowly got to my feet, my left side incredibly sore, and my leg numb. I limped a few steps to the slime creature, who rose from a puddle unfazed, and it quickly slid towards the doorway, me hurridly limping in it's wake. We walked through the doorway. I was relieved to escape that trial. I wondered what that one had tested. I'm not sure I wanted to know. We stopped for a second at the small area before the next room. Then, I had another idea. "Gaskin." I said. "Now what are you babbling on about?" Said the slime creature. "You don't have a name." I said. "So? You think Gaskin is a good one?" "Sort've, yeah. It suits you, in a weird way. It's your choice though. You can claim it, or you can let it slide." I said, rubbing the left side of my hip. It still hurt, and I was only slightly limping. "Well, I won't deny it's a good one." It said, smiling slightly and thinking fir a moment. Though while smiling it's jagged teeth made it slightly terrifying. "Yeah. I like it." It puffed up proudly. "So you're Gaskin now?" I asked, smiling too. "Yeah. I'm Gaskin now!" It said. "Pleased to meet ya, Gaskin. I'm Queen." "Yeah, yeah. I know your name!" Said Gaskin, nudging me gently with his head. "Sorry I didn't grab your sword back though." He said. "It's fine, jt wasn't exactly a good one anyway. I'm sure I can get another when I get back home." I said, looking at the ground. It seemed more like an 'if I get back home' now. We continued into the next room in silence. The , Gaskin stopped abrubtly at what lay before us. I stopped too, looking where he was. Oh boy. Oh howdy. Oh, sweet mama. I counted five foreign faces looking back at us in the next room. Two if them were Citerons, decked out in Sci-Fi like technology, plus ray guns, cool looking gadgets and gizmos adorned belts strapped across their waists and chests. One Adolean was there, dressed in robes, staff in one hand and a magical looking glass orb in another. A short Treajan was there was well. A few daggers were strapped onto her boots, and a pair of pan pipes hung from a string around her neck. Then the last of them appeared to be an Anima-Beast. Cat ears stuck out from benath her hair, a tail poked out from under her skirt and her hands were paws. The five faces stared back at Gaskin and I in dismay, and probably disappointment.  "Aw, it's just a human and her ball of slime... Talk about anti-climatic..." Said the cat-girl. "This human and her so-called ball of slime have been through a lot more today than you could imagine, sweetheart!" Said Gaskin, sounding annoyed. I frowned and nudged him with my elbow. "What!? I'm defending you-!" I glared at him. Gaskin shut his mouth and growled quietly. I turned back to the five and put on a fresh face. "Sorry about him. I'm Queen, and this is Gaskin. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." "Big words for shrimp like you." Said the Adolean. "Quite the condecending manner for an Adolean like you." I said. "Oh, damn!" Said Gaskin,  breaking his short-lived silence. "Thank you, Gaskin." I said. "Charmed. Where ya from? You guys a team or something?" Said one if the Citerons. "I'm Secine." "Pleasure." I said. "I guess you could call us a team. I'm from the Earth district." "I'm from the room with all the doors. I was part of the test." Said Gaskin. "The fear room?" Said the Adolean. I raised an eyebrow. Fear room? "That challange was to test your bravery by facing your worst fear." "Mine was a giant dog!" Said the cat-girl. Of course it was. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Gaskin look at me, puzzled. "You're scared of slime?" He said. I shrugged. "I used to be. Not now, obviously." Gaskin frowned and turned away. "Are we all that's left?" I asked. "I think so. The numbers have been narrowed down quite a bit." Said the other Citeron. The Treajan raised her head. "Look!" She said. We looked. Someone else was coming out of the doorway. It was a Make-Believer by the looks of it. He looked terrified, but unharmed. I recongized him as Invisible, from the Floor Is Lava round. "Invisible?" I said. He nodded, his eyes wide. "A-and you're Queen, right?" I nodded. I heard the Adolean behind me scoff. I turned to him. "That throat of yours sounds like it hurts, would you like a glass of water?" I said sweetly, my glare daggers. The Adolean silenced himself and looked away from me. Then the Citeron, Secine, gasped quietly. We looked where she was, and to my amazment, the king stood before us. How did he get there? The others dropped to their knees, and I hurridly did the same, but Gaskin did not. He merely inclined his head slightly. "It's all right, you can stand." Said King Johnathon. The group stood. Kung Johnathon looked human enough, with dark olive skin and dark brown hair. He wore a dark purple cloak with gold fastenings, and a gold crown was set on his head. But the strange things about him were in-human. He had cream-coloured horns spiralling from his head like rams horns,and big fluffy white feet poked out from under his cloak. "Now, before we get started, I'm sure you all know me, but I don't know most of you. Is it possible for you all to introduce yourselves?" Secine stepped foward, brimming with confidance. "I am known as Secine, your majesty. I am of the Citerons. This is my husband, Archimedes." The Citeron next to Secine, Archimedes, bowed slightly. "I am Excectreka." Said the Adolean, bowing as well. "I'm Charlie, your majesty!" Said the cat-girl, curtseying. "My-my name is Invisible, sire." Said the Make-Believer. "My name is Queen, your highness." I said. "I'm Gaskin." He said. The Treajan stayed silent. "Excellent." Said the king. "We have some good competitors here. But now," He suddenly held his right arm directly parallel to his shoulder. "Down to buisness." Seven different coloured rods appeared in the air, and I fully took in the challange before us. The floor was lava, and objects floated in it, but thin brightly coloured poll formations floated in the air with smaller platforms attached. The doorway was at the other end of the room. The rods floating in the air on the beggining platform looked almost like  batons mixed with cat toys. The rod itself was about an arms length, with dark coloured plastic and a single shiny line spiralling up it. The ends had glittery string that looked like fireworks. There were seven in total, and all of different colours. The one on the end was dark blue with shiny yellow and white glittery string. The second was bright green with acid blue and yellow shiny string. The third was black with white and yellow string. The fourth was dark red, and had purple snaking up it with gold and white shiney string. The fith was yellow with acid green and light blue string. The sixth was dark red with gold shiney string. And the seventh, the one nearest the king, was bright pink with white and yellow shiney string.   "Each one represents a challenge you all have faced. Picking one gives you somewhat the abilites related to the challenge. I'll let you figure it out as you go along. Pick the one that calls out to you." Said the king. I nodded, and the rest of the group made noises of agreement. "Good. I wish you all the best of luck." Said the king. Then he seemingly disappeared. There was instantly a mad rush for the batons. The cat-girl, Charlie, leapt for the pink one. The Adolean called Excentreka grabbed the red and gold one, and the two Citerons grabbed the green and yellow ones. Invisible went for the black and white baton, and the Trojean took the dark blue on the end, leaving me to take the purple and red. I looked to Gaskin. He was looking at the course before us. How was he going to do all the jumping and climbing? "Queen, can I talk to ya for a second?" "Sure." I followed Gaskin to the doorway, out of earshot of the rest of the competitors. "I don't know if I'll be able to do this." He said. "What nonsense. We've come this far, haven't we?" I said in disbelief. He couldn't stop now. Not when we're so close! "Gaskin-" "No, Atana. I can't do this." "Yes, you can." I said, staring him down. "Can't you shape shift into something smaller, so you can just latch onto me?" Gaskin looked at me like I'd gone mad. "You've gone completely of the rails, but that might not be such a bad idea." Having come to a seemingly good conclusion, Gaskin slowly melted into a smaller version of himself, only a few inches high. "You're sure this will work?" Said little Gaskin. "Positive. All you have to do is hold in tight." I put my hand next to him, and Gaskin slithered onto it. I slowly lifted him up and put him on my shoulder. I felt Gaskin latch on, and we were good to go. The others were starting to jump for the thin scafolding in front of the elevated starting platform. I stepped back a bit, glittery baton in hand, and started running up to the edge. I leapt for the scaffolding. I heard Gaskin yell as we flew over the lava. I latched onto the thin rods just in time. Any sooner or later and we would've bounced off into the lava. Certain I had a good grip, I stuck the baton in my mouth to free up my right hand, and continued climbing up. I felt like a pirate on rigging. As I was thinking this, I heard Gaskin yell, "Look out!" I looked up and saw Charlie the cat-girl. She hissed and swiped at me with the baton. I ducked my head and she missed. "There can only be one queen in this kingdom!" She said, swiping again. I lunged for her ankle, both of which were balancing on a single poll. I grabbed it and pulled it loose. Charlie meowed in suprise and tumbled backwards, falling through the web of polls and into the lava. I winced. "Ha! Take that, cheater!" Said Gaskin in triumph. "She's not a cheeta, she's a housecat." I said, and Gaskin cackled. I looked over, and on the next 'cloud' of scafolding, the Adolean was on top of Invisible. He was holding onto the last bar, the Adolean flicking his fingers one by one, so that soon he was only holding on by three fingers. His baton fell into the lava, and the lava sizzled as it burnt. Invisible was whimpering with terror. I climbed to the top of the scaffolding, and braced to leap to their cloud. Just after I leapt and managed to grab ahold, Invisible fell from the cloud into the lava. Gaskin and I fell silent. Invisible screamed as he fell into the lava, and when we could no longer see him, his screams fell silent. 

[purplexflamingo]

  Tears continued to swell no matter how she tried to restrain them. She brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them tight. Resting the side of her face upon them. Sniffling softly, refraining from making sound or showing her breakdown. It was hard to wrap her head around and yet, he, he didn't try to comfort. Drayton stood a few feet away, back towards her. Scowling and rubbing his temple after the current events.

----- 60 days earlier. June 1959 ----

" You ain't from 'round these parts are ya?"

" What makes ya think that?"

A female's soft voice followed, reluctant to answer the individual who inquired. Taking a moment she looked him over. He looked like your average farmer. Dirty, with his hair slicked back. Beads of sweat visible on his forehead. It was rather humid. Not uncommon for Texas at all.

" I don't recognize ya, that's what."

" Well I ain't, I am from Arlington. My family and I are stayin' at our vacation home over that way."

She pointed off into the distance. Being out in the country territory there was much land between each property. Giving them privacy, something you wouldn't find in the city. Following her finger, he squinted. After processing the information given, his attitude shifted and he seemed much more friendlier.

" I'll be damned and here I thought that place were vacant. It's a pleasure to meet you."

At this moment, she was very desperate for human interactions. Wanting to meet someone new, it was still a shock how she was able to do so. Back at the home, it was just her two parents and younger brothers. She was free to come and go as she pleased. Which was a relief as she didn't want to be stuck on that bit of land the whole time.

" We only stay durin' the summer time or certain holidays. It's a family thing. Nice to get away from home. I love it out here."  

He paused, thumbs digging into his belt. Notably his posture wasn't the best. Instantly he replied with an inquiry.

" So you are here with the family, huh?"

" Yes, sir. I am here with my ma, pops, and two brothers. If they come runnin' 'round here I apologize. They're awfully young boys. I'll warn them. I just don't want them givin' ya any sort of trouble. D-do you live here?"

It took her a moment, but finally she actually made eye contact. Nothing she was ever used to. They were a grey-ish blue--- beautiful, yet piercing, she felt herself drawn to them. Blinking a few times she realized he was speaking and missed part of it.

" ---- You can't miss it. If you would warn your boys, It'll be appreciated. Granpaw ain't too fond of new people. City folk are the worst of it, they nosy 'round these parts like they own everythin'. Granpaw requires his privacy."

Nodding multiple times, she made a mental note. Selma would learn to respect that, for the sake of peace. In mid conversation she realized they entirely skipped introductions.

" I am Selma, Selma Ross. Lovely farm you got here!"

" A pleasure, miss Ross. Say--- You ain't married at ya? Drayton, Drayton Sawyer is the name."

A chuckle ensued. Digits pressed against her lips as she grinned.

" No, I ain't married, sir. I just turned twenty-four last month. I think I still have time.."

The chatter began to die down and they both parted ways. Waving, Selma hollered after that she'd hope to see him again. Over the past few weeks they enjoyed each others company. While he never invited her to his home, she had invited him to her temporary one. In the process he was able to meet her family. They all seemed to get along well and were glad to have him. Drayton especially seemed to take a liking to Mr. Ross. The two would carry on loudly at just about everything. Watching them was the best part to Selma.

Finding herself completely staring at Drayton, not really focusing on his words, but focusing on him. Which he did catch the weight of her stare for a moment  shifting his gaze. That caused her to avert her own. When the night came to its end, she walked her guest out. Pushing the porch screen door open, he let her walk out first and he followed behind. Reaching the bottom step she glanced back at Drayton.

" Everythin' alright?"

His voice grew raspy, causing him to attempt to clear it. Inching closer, reaching the same step, he stood beside her. Raising a thick brow, it was obvious he grew suspicious.

" You hardly spoke....Was it somethin' I said?"

Eyes searched for hers as his mind recalled the whole dinner. Unable to recall anything that could've upset the mood. Silence stirred till she clasped her hands together behind her back and gave him her honest answer.

" No, no! I was just....I was just enjoyin' the moment. Seein' my pops smile like that and you-- It just made me feel happy. My pops has been havin' a hard time with my grandparents being ill and all. I-It was nice to see him have some fun. And the boys, I’ve never seen them so happy to meet someone. Thank you. It means a lot to me that you came. I apologize for their rough housin’."

While expressing herself she found her habits of looking away then back at him, worsen. More or less she felt embarrassed to confess. Her confession did ease his tensions.

“ And this is why I wasn’t talkin’--- I don’t mean to bring ya into personal problems. We’ve known each other for a couple of weeks and by golly I wanna tell you everythin’ and I want to tell you ‘bout my day-- I want to tell you ‘bout how I feel at this exact moment. That is another reason why I was so quiet. I don’t wanna make you uncomfortable. I don’t want to be too forward, I---”

Swiftly he pulled her into an embrace. This hushed her, leaving her baffled, but she didn’t resist his firm hold. Looking down momentarily, then up at him where their lips instantly met. Her hands gripping onto his button up shirt. The feeling of butterflies in her stomach fester, the feeling was so powerful her head was spinning. Breath caught in her throat. The intensity of the feeling left her eyes watery.

“ W-wow, t-that.....that  was...”

It was her first kiss. She never found herself ever fond of anyone where she’d ever get the chance to experience the act. Speechless she struggled for words.

“ You’re something else Mister Drayton Sawyer.”

A smile tugged at his lips, baring his crooked teeth. Admiring her flushed face, the sparkle in her eyes. Followed by her compliment he gave her one in return before releasing her from his hold.

“ You are quite the beaut, Miss Ross. I am grateful you invited me over. It was lovely. Goodnight, darlin’.”

Stepping forward he pressed a kiss on her forehead, she leaned into it. The excitement inside her grew and it was overwhelming. It was hard to part for the night, but her Ma bellowed for her to come inside and clean up.

What a guy....she thought.

-------

July 1959

The following weekend Drayton paid an unexpected visit. Selma was leaning up against the old barn. Expelling a sigh, taking a break from cleaning the barn out.

“ Howdy. I’ve been wantin’ to check out this old barn if ya don’t mind.”

That familiar voice caused her to perk right up. Washing away all the stress she was feeling in that current moment. Spotting the man walk up the trail toward her. Automatically she waved and shouted.

“Drayton!”

Pressing herself off the wall, she made her way towards him. Once within his space arms wrapped around his neck and his around her lower back. Expressing her joy by blessing him with a peck.

“ It’s been too quiet ‘round here without ya! Been busy? Gosh--- I am just so happy to see you!  I w-wanted to stop over with some baked goods, but I didn’t wanna stir up trouble with your folks and all. I-I don’t want them to dislike me. Really, I want them to know I’ll respect their privacy and don’t judge them--”

“Whoa, whoa slow down there, darlin’. You’re lookin’ quite faint. One day you’ll meet ‘em and you’ll love ‘em. J-just now is not the time. I’ll let you know. Sound good?”

Drayton soothed her thoughts momentarily. Placing two kisses on her forehead, flattening her bangs. She behaved and fluttered her eye lashes. In his embrace she felt everything drift away, she felt the growing need to be near, and want him around every second of the day. Parting he approached the big run down barn.

“ Mind if I peak ‘round?”

“ Not at all-- go a head!”

With permission he pried open the door, she helped. Both squeezed inside and the dark large room, it was filled with hay and clutter. Junk most of it. But she spent most of the morning tidying up for repairs. Her pops wanted to repair it before the end of summer. Though Selma was alerted when it looked like Drayton was looking for something. As if he’d been inside before.

“ Uh, what are ya lookin’ for?”

“ Oh ahah, well I was curious ‘bout some of the things in here. Do they belong to y’all?”

There was a hint of rush in his tone, nervous almost. Shrugging she let it go, it probably was nothing besides none of this was her stuff.

“ It came with the property. We’re just gettin’ ‘round to fixin her up. If ya see somethin’ ya like you can go and take it, sugar. I won’t be needin’ any of it.”

This ensued him shuffling around looking at the junk, she was curious as to why he was extremely interested. But then again he probably knew the previous owners at one point. Which was enough reasoning for her to not worry too much. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a board shift from an upper level. Wood rot was making some parts very dangerous. The more he moved and shifted larger, heavier objects the more it began to inch off the ledge.

“ W-watch out!”

Yanking his wrist, she used what force she had to pull him out of the way of the large falling board. Clunk! It met with the hard ground. She over estimated how much strength she was expecting to use that both of them lost their balance and fell into the pile of hay behind her.

“Oof!”

Hay flew up into the air then settled back down on them and around them. He landed on top of her as he too was unable to maintain balance. Once the realization of the incident she directed her focus on him.

“ Are you alright?! you could’ve really hurt your head if that old board clunked ya!”

Heart skipping a beat feeling his weight on her. Unable to really move, but she was okay with that. As long as he was unharmed.

“ Yea, yea, just fine--- A-a little startled, but just fine. Oh eheh sorry I landed on ya, it just happened so quick.”

He propped himself up over her, palms planted firmly on the ground. Peering back at the board and the mess in general. Then he turned back to face her to reassure her all was well. When met eye to eye Selma bit her bottom lip. Hands cupping the sides of his face. Thumbs circling his semi rough skin. Allowing her to guide him she led him into a kiss. He leaned into it, adding more force this time. 

Removing one hand, her fingers reached for the bottom of her dress which she pulled upwards. Interrupting the heat of the moment he panted, licking his lips. Stammering on his words, he refused to commence no matter the strong desire to continue. Her legs welcoming him.

“ A-a-are ya sure you want this?”

By now her hand traveled to the back of his head, stroking through his thick black hair. Examining her face he looked for an answer. Selma was red faced.

“ Yes, yes, I do.”

With her word he quickly began to unbuckle his belt.

................

“ I just want to take care of you....”

She confessed.

He stroked her hair as they remained close, huddled together after their affair. Her head under his chin. She could be there for hours. A humble laugh came from him. Soon the moment ended with him getting up.

“ I’d love to stay longer, but I have to head back home, darlin’. I’ve got much work to do. Granpaw will be hollerin’ for me if I don’t git back. A-and my brothers they can’t be left there too long by their lonesome.”

Still lying in the pile of hay, she used her clothing to cover her body, as she watched the man put on his. It was as if everything else around her stood still, but him. Walking back over he crouched down, his mouth was moving, but no words were heard. Again he repeated himself.

“ I’ll be back tomorrow. I’ll bring my truck so I can haul some of this junk and take it off your hands.”

Palming the back of her head, he pulled her to bestow a head kiss, per usual. It was painful to let him go, but she had this foolish look upon her face. As he began leaving the barn, she frantically exclaimed, wait!

“ Drayton, I love you. I just want you to know that.”

He halted, turned his head to the side. His back was facing her. Eyes widened, a look of shock was visible. Opening he mouth he wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

“....D-do take care of yourself, Darlin.”

He was gone. It took her awhile to fully understand what just happened. Her heart sank and her hands began to sweat. Panic stirred within, worrying about being too forward. Worrying that she ruined everything. Her body trembled. The door shut and right then and there she broke down. Droplets of tears soaked into her dress.

-----

Sitting on the front porch she remained silent. Hunched over lost in her thoughts. It had been a week since the day she gave herself to him. She felt like she lost a part of herself. Fighting to think of excuses for him. Maybe his truck broke down? Well then he usually walks. Maybe he got what he wanted and left. No, he never seemed like that.

She was dumb and naive, that was it. Why would he be interested in dealing with someone so inexperienced? Desiring to hate him so much for this long absent, but her heart wouldn’t allow it. Leaving her entirely frustrated. She wanted to scream so bad. Thinking about it caused her breathing to hitch up followed by tears that she thought she had no more of.

“ I want to go to him, mama, but he don’t want me and god it hurts. It hurts so bad. I can’t stand it much longer. W-why does it hurt? I want to forget about him, mama, but every time I close my eyes I see his face. I-I hear his voice.”

A hand descended to rub her daughter’s back. Shushing her and using a spare rag to help wipe away the tears. Her daughter’s distress was even upsetting her. 

“ Sweetheart, sweetheart it’ll be alright. You’ll get through this.  Sh, shhh. It’s alright. One more week and we’ll go back to Arlington. You can be as far away from that man. You deserve far better than that fool.”

“ Thanks mama...”

 Selma was forever grateful for her mother, she had always been close with her. Trusts her word and follows it. Even at the age of twenty-four she’ll seek her for any for of advice. Being her first heartbreak, Selma wasn’t sure what she was capable of doing-- if it weren’t for her mama. Her ma went to say something, but gasped loudly spotting a man walking up the dirt trail. Shrieking for her husband.

“ HENRY GET YOUR GUN! THAT GOOD FOR NOTHING SORRY EXCUSE OF A MAN IS COMIN’!”

 It was difficult for Selma to see at this point, her eyes were puffy and red-- everything was blurry. Seeing Drayton dare come near, her heart fell. There was a pit in her stomach growing. Dread mixed with confusion. Heart racing, it felt as if she couldn’t breath at this point. Pops busted out of the front door armed. Cocking the gun and pointing it directly at the Sawyer. Who instantly rose his hands nervously.

“ Whoa whoa whoa! Sir, please lower your weapon. I-I am not lookin’ for trouble.” 

 Drayton tried to coax the heated father. Ma pulled Selma near, tightly. Selma frantically kept her gaze on him. Noticing pops finger over the trigger, he was utterly angry. Fighting ma’s grip Selma broke lose. Standing up she hollered. The conflict was destroying her. 

“ DADDY! DADDY DON’T SHOOT HIM!” 

 Quickly she ran over to Drayton’s side. Drayton was befuddled when she came near. Noticing how stained her face was, how much of a mess she looked. Selma could barely look at him. Ma furrowed her brows and shook her head.

“ How dare you come ‘round here now!” 

 Overwhelmed Drayton glanced at the gun to Henry to ma and back to Selma. So much was happening at once.

“ I-I can explain. Ehehe Please allow me to.”

 As the Sawyer insisted, Henry lowered his weapon and ma stayed planted where she was. Selma held her hands over her heart, dying for him to explain. Unable to scream at him herself.

“ Y-Y-you see family....a family situation came up and I uh had to get my brothers out of a sticky situation. I would have given Selma a ring, but we don’t own telephones.”

“ Oh your eye--- Drayton!  Are you alright?“

 A big black bruise surrounded his left eye. It took her moments to notice it and she couldn’t help, but comment.

“ Y-yeah, yeah I’m alright, Selma.”

“ Mr. Sawyer do you realize how much pain you’ve put my daughter through?! She spent hours on end cryin’ over you and wonderin’ why you ain’t shown your face! My husband has every right to shoot you!” 

 Ma blurted out, balling her fists at her side and Henry nodded in agreement. Selma studied the bruising as Drayton spoke.

“ T-that he does ma’am. I apologize and I hope ya’ll can forgive me one day---”

  Henry shot at the ground almost near his feet. Drayton hopped away startled and Selma extended her arms.

“ DADDY PLEASE DON’T HURT HIM-- PLEASE I COULDN’T EVER FORGIVE YOU IF YOU DO!” 

 Selma begged and pleaded. Henry looked at Ma who had concern written all over her face. Their daughter kept defending the fool and they couldn’t understand it. It was puzzling. Shaking his head Henry gave his last warning.

“ You hurt my daughter again, I’ll hunt you down.”

 With that both of her parents retreated to the house. Nothing more to be said. She found herself apologizing for the events that took place.

“ I am so so so sorry for all that. I didn’t know they’d do that--- I didn’t know pops was gonna shoot.”

  Drayton found himself scowling at the door, glaring when Henry was out of view. He balled his fists, he wanted to express his anger. But he was quick to conceal it. Snapping out of that rage he looked towards her. Brows curving upwards. Reaching his hands out to the ones she held up as if she was defending herself- taking them both into his own. 

“ I should be apologizing. I-I didn’t mean to upset ya. I’ve been tryin’ to get to ya, but with the incident--- my family needed me. You...you look...I am sorry.”

 Trying to summon all of her strength she wanted to pull herself away, not let him touch her, but she couldn’t. Unable to shun him. Lowering her head she heard him out, she was too exhausted to say more. Pulling her near he held her. Stroking the back of her head without saying a word. Catching a glimpse of her father between the curtains of the farm house. Picking her up, he carried her to the porch setting her down on the porch swing insisting she relax. Though he was nervous being so close to the house.

“ I have one week left.....”

“ One week left?”

 He sat beside her on the swing. Feeling lost when she announced the news. 

“ I go back to Arlington. My home....”

 Blinking he looked towards the floor boards then clicked his tongue.

“ I thought you were staying till the end of summer.”

“ We have to leave early, granpaw and granma ain’t doin’ to well..t-they need us. I gotta go. F-family is important like you always said.”

 Drayton rested his chin on the palm of his hand. Scratching the back of his head with the other. 

“ I’ll have to make it up to ya then. Before you go--- I-If you’d be so kind to give a poor fool another chance?”

 She gave him that chance. Even when her mind was telling her to get rid of him, but her heart won. He gently comforted her and was there for her through most of the night. He felt ashamed for all of the chaos. She fell asleep, head in his lap. Most of the week made up for the last. During the middle of it he introduced her to his own cooking and she was amazed. Absolutely loved it. Still Drayton wouldn’t say he loved her....

--------

2 days before she leaves-- present time.

“ I talked it over with ma and pa about staying here longer. It’ll just be me out here. I’ll get a job, earn money to send back home to help with the medical bills.”

 Hand and hand they took a stroll far from her current residence. She rambled on about this idea she wanted to do. Drayton didn’t respond for quite a while. 

“ Darlin’, you should go back, be with your grandparents. Be there for them.”

“ B-but what about us?”

 She halted in her tracks, causing him to stop as well. Glancing toward her.

“ You’ll be back, I’m sure.”

“ I-i don’t know if I can be away from you Drayton, It was hard. I-i just....i just love you so much. I-I can’t explain it.”

 He closed his eyes and shook his head. Still not returning those words. This dumbfounded her. Painfully staring at him for any sort of response.

“ Selma....Selma. I want you to know---”

“ W-why?”

 She interrupted him, her bottom lip trembling. A look of horror on her face. Finally feeling brave enough to confront him.

“ Why what?”

 Perplexed he asked. Struggling to maintain himself. 

“ Drayton--- d-do you not feel the same? I thought you did. We’ve kissed--I gave myself to you in the barn. Am I missin’ somethin’?” 

 Cupping her face he tries to explain. She fought him a little bit. 

“ H-hey hey hey calm down, darlin. I do love ya. Shh shh, you bet I do. I just ain’t lookin’ for that sort of commitment right now. If your expectin’ me to marry ya-- I don’t think I’m right for ya. I know you said you wanted kids--- a big family, but I can’t see myself doin’ any of that.”

 Instantly she felt herself shatter. Everything sounded muffled. She blinked several times before he tried to gain her focus again.

“ S-so go back to your family and take care of them. They need ya the most and you’ll regret passin’ this up-- I ca-can’t keep you from them. You never know how long you’ll have with your relatives especially grandparents. Trust me, trust me.”

 Right when she felt things were going smoothly, he yanks her down once more. Unable to speak, she was in quite the shock. He meant well, but she was confused on the whole situation. Spending her entire vacation with him, the man she thought she’d be with-- the man she saw her future with. 

“ You’ll end up hatin’ me if I keep ya here.”

 Drayton wouldn’t stop talking, she wanted him to stop. She wanted it all to stop. Her entirely body just felt so ill. The past few days she thought she was going to be ill. Staring into his eyes-- her eyes pleaded, but he wouldn’t change his mind. He was set in stone and she couldn’t force him. She knew this, but being her first love this proved  to be so difficult. 

“ S-so this is goodbye?”

“ ‘Fraid so, darlin’. I ain’t ever loved a woman like yourself and I’ll never forget you...... S-so this is goodbye.”

Rubbing her eyes--- he tried to then walk away. The situation would only worsen if he stayed. Pain was visible on his face, but it had to be done. He glanced back on last time. She stood there weak in the knees watching him leave. Dropping to the ground, hands covered the lower part of her face. 

This was the end............ 

[crazyfreckledginger]

I Brought Back Up

Owner of this beautiful fanart

Continuation of Meeting At A Gala

The reader has a tamed tiger called Shiva, she is also the Autobots protégé.

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

3rd Person PoV

"They're so many of them!" Nightwing called out, whilst knocking down one of Bane's men.

"What do we do?" Red Robin asked, coming back to back with the other vigilantes.

"We fight!" Batman says, punching another one.

"It's only a matter of time before we get our asses handed to us!!" Red Hood yelled.

"Time is the only thing we need!" the Dark Knight himself retorted.

"Wha-"

"Just follow my orders!" He barked.

After half an hour, the five men became exhausted and very injured from the fight and were quickly pinned to the ground.

"Fuck!" Red Hood, muttered under his breath.

One of Bane's men, tired of Red Hood's agitation, shot him in the leg, freeing a loud groan from the masked man.

"Kill them!" Bane gestured to the vigilantes in front of them. A few of his men prepared themselves to shot each of them in the head when a bright red light projected the men forwards.  A loud roaring sound could also be heard. These two figures fought off men in a very short space of time.

Your PoV

Knocking out all of the men before they could shot any one of them, I heard a loud roar. Turning around, I saw Shiva, who was attempting to jump onto another rooftop. Looking in the area she was trying to get to, I saw a goon escaping. Without any second thought, I ran after him.

Dick's PoV

"What was that?" He asked catching his breath.

"That was back up!" Batman stated.

"You brought back up?" Jason partially yelled.

"I brought back up!" He answered. Facing the rooftop the figure ran onto, I distinguished little aura's of red light and a loud thump, the scenery then became completely inert. After a few seconds, I heard another loud thump coming from behind me. Turning around quickly I saw the figure holding a fistful of a goon's shirt.

"Took you long enough" Batman huffed.

"A thank you will be enough B!" She said, letting go of the man.

"Who is she?" Robin asked.

Your PoV

"Well, you know the girl you met at a gala a little while back..." I hinted.

"Ooooh! I never knew your favorite color was red!" Red Hood tried to flirt. A sudden roar pierced the air. Turning around, I saw Shiva showing her fangs while pacing at the level of my legs.

"It's ok honey!" I scratched her head, earning a satisfied purr from her throat. Turning back to Red Hood I said

"Your flirting skills work better when you are not half dead!" I stated bluntly.

"How did you tame that tiger?" Robin asked curiously.

"Long story." I simply answered.

"We should probably get going!" Red Robin intervened.

"Scarlet, you're coming with us," Batman said.

"Scarlet heh?" Red Hood said.

"Witch, Scarlet Witch!" I said sighing.

"I'll send you the coordinates to the base, do you need a ride?" Batman asked, turning to me.

"No don't worry about it, I've got it handled," I stated. "Shiva, let's go!" I said, before jumping off the building into an alleyway, Shiva on my tail (ha get it... Ok i'll stop).

"Coordinates received!" My phone said.

Looking up I saw 5 figures jump to another building. After waiting a few minutesa pick up truck drove up to us. Letting Shiva in the back seat, I went into the driver's seat and took my phone out of my pocket, while the doors closed and the engine started.

----------------Time Skip----------------

At the Batcave...

Bruce PoV

Getting Jason out of the Batmobile, I heard familiar motorcycle engines come into the Batcave. Carrying Jason to the medical room, Alfred quickly followed me with a tray of all the necessary equipment for healing Jason. Dick, Tim, and Damian went to change into casual clothes, while I was in front of the Batcomputer. Minutes later, the sound of an unfamiliar, more aggressive engine resonated in the cave. Turning around, I saw a grey pick up truck. It stopped abruptly, out came (Y/N) and her tiger.

"Howdy!" she joked. Her tiger right behind her. "Good evening Miss (Y/N)!" Alfred exclaimed behind me.

Your PoV

"Hi, Alfred" I smiled at him. Soon after followed Dick, Tim, and Damian in casual clothing. I waved at them, Dick winked back at me, Tim awkwardly waved back at me with blushed cheeks and Damian smiled at me. Jason came out a few minutes later, limping slightly.

"Hey, babe!" He waved. Shiva growled. I scratched her scalp to calm her down.

"So do you want to get some food and get to know each other better?" He flirted. I blushed slightly at his statement. Then a louder growl and metallic noises echoed through the cave. "Oh no!" I exclaimed wide eyed. Looking towards the boys in front of me, them too with wide eyes and a scared if not terrified expression on their faces. I turned around quickly towards my pick up truck that turned into it's humanoid shape.

"You feelin' lucky punk?" He said pointing his canons to Jason.

Dick let out the girliest scream I have ever heard, Tim became pale and Damian froze.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH IRONHIDE PUT THE GUNS DOWN NOW!!!!" I yelled at him. He hesitated for a second then reluctantly put them down.

Bruce seemed both amused and curious by the situation he was witnessing whilst Alfred had shock written all over his face.

"Ironhide.calm.down" I articulated. He simply huffed in response then turned his attention back to Jason and warned.

"Don't even flirt with her or you'll regret ever crossing her path!"

"IRONHIDE!!" I stopped. "Stop it!"

"Wo-a-t-is-th-at?" Tim stuttered

"He's my friend" I tried to find the right word. Deliberately coughing behind me, I corrected: "Family, more like family than anything else".

"He's a Transformer!" Bruce informed.

"A what?" Dick squeaked out.

"He won't hurt you, Dick, will you?" I looked back at Ironhide.

Sighing, he answered, "I won't unless she tells me otherwise!"

"So you're ok with them killing people but not me killing people!?" Jason pointed out to Bruce.

"Well, they've been here for millions of years, protecting Earth from threats, twice since I know (Y/N)!" He stated. "Anyway, it's not as if I can do anything about it!" He eyed Ironhide.

"So you're how old?" Damian asked.

"Well I'm billion human years old you might say, we are very difficult to kill, but we have no equivalent of a notion of time since our existence in the universe. We are evaluated according to our ranking: what we have fought against and our level of skill and expertise," he explained.

"Eeeh what?" Damian asked scrunching his nose.

"Basically they don't have an age and they are ranked according to how skilled they are." I abbreviated.

"And what wars they have fought!" Bruce added.

"Yes!" I smiled at him.

"Sohewontkillus?" Dick blurts out.

"No!" I giggled.

"These are the humans that you work with sometimes?" Ironhide asked in disbelief.

"Yes! People get scared sometimes Ironhide, I think it's kinda cute!" I mumbled the next part. The boys obviously heard what I said, Dick blushed and the three glared at him.

"(Y/N) I thought you were supposed to help me understand humans, now I am confused again" He described.

I simply laughed as he started walking around cautiously around the cave, inspecting every detail.

"Yeah, he doesn't' understand why people get scared!" I informed.

"Why?" Jason asked as I walked towards the batcomputer, Shiva still at the level of my leg, the four boys still staying at a distance from the feline.

"They are aliens from Cybertron, the planet they live on. They lived at peace a long time ago, feeding their power off uncivilized planets. Until one ancestor did just the opposite, turning against his brothers and creating a rebellion. Wanting all of the power for himself, he attempted to kill them unsuccessfully but manage to destroy their planet. He disappeared until he was spotted here on Earth." I explained to the boys, looking at me curious by the fascinating story I was telling. "They don't have a home, so I took them in, we protect each other and always have  each others' back!" I finished.

"How comes they are still some if the planet was destroyed?" Dick asked.

"They've been on Earth since human civilization was created, but they were kept a secret and only known about if the need arisen. They've fought by our side since the start. Some since Merlin's age, some of my other 'family members' have fought in the First and Second World War, against the Nazis, preventing the atomic bomb from destroying entire countries and so many other wars that would have badly affected us if they weren't here for us!" I ended.

"Woah!" Dick, Jason, and Tim said at the same time.

"What was that about no killing Jason?" Bruce smirked.

"Whatever!" He mumbled.

"(Y/N), Bumblebee and Jazz are looking for us!" Ironhide said, looking up from a screen that was on his arm.

"They can come in if they want!" Bruce proposed.

"Are they hostile?" Dick asked narrowing his eyes in a suspicious manner.

"Not unless I tell them otherwise!" I laughed.

Soon enough the rumbling of two sports cars, one yellow and black, the other a grey silverish color came in then transformed rapidly.

"You ok (Y/N)?" Jazz asked crouching down next to me to inspect me, while Bee bro fisted Ironhide.

"Ok that's actually really cool" Jason gestured while the other 3 agreed.

"Nice guns!" Jazz signaled to Jason.

"Thanks, man!" Jason piped up.

"Watch it Jazz, Bruce doesn't like guns or killing!" I informed him.

"Oh, that's sad!" Jazz ad Ironhide said simultaneously.

Jason and I laughed while Bee snickered and Damian slightly smiled.

"So if you didn't grasp it yet, no one knows about them so could you keep it to yourselves?" I asked persuasively.

"Sure!" All of them said.

"(Y/N) we should probably get going!" Bee said.

"Ok!" I simply agreed as they changed back into their car forms.

"Bye guys!" I waved at them "Shiva, come let's go!" We started walking back.

"WAIT!!!" Jason yelled from behind me. I turned around.

"Do you think we could, you know hang out? Get something to eat?" He asked desperately, his brothers head popping out from behind me.

"Not over my dead body!!" Ironhide answered behind us.

"Yes, that would be nice!" I smiled shyly, ignoring Ironhide.

"Cool!" All the boys said.

Getting in Bee, while making sure Shiva was in Ironhide, I waved to them when we started driving away from the cave. The brothers, Bruce and Alfred waved back to me.

When we got into the forest outside Bruce's cave, we made our way back to our base.          

Tagging: @lumifuer​

[mangled-dreams]

Gabriel and Winchester reader hanging out and eating sweets, because reader needed to spend some time away from their brothers. Maybe some extra cute shit please.

Here ya go. Took me a while, but I hope this statisfies your need for fluff with Gabriel and reader.

Sweetness.

Groaning loudly you run your hands through your hair. It's greasy and too long for you taste and you need a shower but that would mean going by Sam's room and for one reason or another he's been a big ol' grouchy bear. Dean hasn't been much better.

Ever since your last run in with some moderately worrisome vampires they'd been acting like big pouting babies. It's not like the hunt went badly, but there had been a cock up. You'd slipped in some blood and nearly lost your life.

It wasn't like you'd done it on purpose, but you're pretty sure having your older brothers seeing you in such a life or death situation really struck a nerve. In all honestly you understand it but it's the way of the game. You already know what happened to Adam and don't have a desire to follow in his footsteps.

Unlike your older brothers you didn't have the distinct pleasure of knowing John Winchester. He knocked your mom up one year in the eighties and then skipped town. To be fair your mother knew what he did for a living... well, if you call it living. She too had been a hunter, just not to the same extreme. She taught you how to hunt the monsters that hide in the shadows.

It was when your path crossed with Dean and Sam that you got to know them. It'd been a bit much, especially with how intense they are and how skeptical they were of your parentage, but after a few conversations, some photos and a screaming match later they accepted you as one of them.

Running your hands over your face you groan and gather up your supplies to take a shower. There's still bits of meat and blood in your hair now that you let yourself play with it  Scrunching your nose you piled everything in your arms and head to the shower. Glancing in Sam's room you see him with a headset on and a book in his hand.

He pauses as you pass by calling out to you sitting up on his cot.

"Yeah?" You ask pausing and backtracking a few steps. "What's up?"

Sam looks you over, looks at the toiletries in your hand then to your face again. "How are you doing?" He asks in his baritone voice. It's no match for Deans but it's pretty intimidating to just about 90 percent of the spooking community.

"Fine. I'm heading to take a shower. There's blood and other shit in my hair." You respond fighting the need to touch your hair again. As much as it is gross to have dead creature bits and blood coating your hair it's worse touching it.

"Gross. Yeah, you should shower." Sam says as if giving you his blessing.

With a quick rise and fall of your brows you nod  giving a tight lipped smile and move down the hallway. You hear AC/DC playing in the large family room of the bunker

Dean doesn’t remark when you pass by. Entering the bathroom you start the shower and strip down. You don’t wait for the water to heat up completely and step in head first. You want this gunk out of your hair quickly.

It’s about ten minutes when you turn off the water and grab your towel, trying your hair and face first before lazily drying the rest of you. You’re in no hurry to get out of the bathroom. The tension in the bunker is nearly at choking levels.

“Well, howdy there partner.” Gabriel partially sings with a bad southern accent followed by a quick whistle. “Getting’ all clean for me?”

Rolling your eyes at his remarks you straighten your spine and look at Gabriel. “Funny, now get out before I roast you like the little pig you are."

Gabriel disappears almost instantly and you dress in silence, well relative silence. You can hear Gabriel chuckling from whatever place he disappeared off too. Brushing out your hair you open the door and find Sam and Dean trying to intimidate Gabriel on the opposite side of the hallway.

It's quite hilarious to see your bothers trying to loom--well not try, they are much taller than Gabriel and can loom over him, but to see his smirking chubby face smiling and hazel eyes roll unfazed by Dean or Sam is too comical. Frowning you cross your arms over your chest and sigh to hide your amusement.

"Down boys, he's here for me." You say watching Sam and Dad snap around to look at you with the firm scowls in place. "Let's go Gabe." You add ignoring your brothers and jerk your head down the hallway. Gabriel chuckles, his smugness level at maximum. "Get your ego in check, Gabriel. I just need chill time." You says walking ahead of Gabriel.

"Well, you heard 'em. I must be going. Keep practicing in the mirror. You almost unnerved me." Gabriel says lightly jogging to catch up to you.

"Don't tease my brothers Gabriel; That's my job." You tell him thankful your bothers didn't call after you. For the most part things have been quiet and allowed you to leave in relative peace. You doubt you'll get that peace for too much longer.

"Come on! It's my specialty! The big moose and that pipsqueak squirrel, you can't expect me not to take a few jabs at them." Gabriel whines still follow you to your own room of seclusion. It's the only room in the place with a special hidden hallway leading out of the bunker for emergency evacuations.

You don't know for sure, but you doubt Dean or Sam know about it.

"They're still my brother's Gabe," You tell him flopping onto the lounge chair.

Gabriel rolls his eyes, his mouth remaining shut, instead he tosses a baggie of your favorite chocolates hitting you right in the stomach and sits down across from you. You both lounge lazily, your feet hanging over the arm rest.

"How's heaven doing?" You ask absently, you don't really care but the silence has stretched on far too long. Gabriel shrugs at the question.

"It's like it's always been, full of angels with sticks up their asses." Gabriel responds in the same tone as you.

"Man, I wouldn't have any idea what that's like."

"Yeah, what's up with them? I mean I'm not their favorite angel in the world, Castiel has that title taken." He isn't able to hide the bitterness in his tone. Despite his sour words about your brothers he actually likes them a lot.  He doesn't quite fit in with heaven and he's not really suited for the average human, that's why he likes the Winchesters.

"Hey, if you want, you can be my favorite angel. I like Castiel just fine, but I prefer more mischievous angels." You offer with a slight shrug. You don't want to let on how nervous you really are at making such a bold offer. It may seen nonchalant and as if you're pitying his hurt feelings. You don't really let on your true feelings, call it the Winchester Curse.

Gabriel stares at you munching quietly on a Nestle Crunch Bar. It's actually really touching that you'd say that. He doubts your brothers would be very happy to hear you say that. Looking at the Sugar Daddy half chewed in his hand he twirls it then looks at you.

Curiously you lift your gaze and glance over at Gabriel, eyes locking instantly. "I'll gladly be your angel."

Your whole face bursts into heat and your eyes glance away shyly. The intensity in his eyes makes you feel as if he's accenting a proposal from you. Despite the shyness you can't help your smile.

"No! No! Gabriel you stay away from 'em!" Dean shouts barreling into the room. You jump to your feet ready to right out of reflex before relaxing.

"Really Dean? You have to spoil this?" You groan like a moody teenager.

"What? Spoil?" Dean stutters flabbergasted by your response.

Shrugging your shoulder you motion to Gabriel still relaxing on the couch, "What? You have Castiel, I want Gabriel. He's a scrappy fighter, not to mention he's not bad company. You got Cas, Sam--whether he or anyone else likes it has Lucifer, I think I can handle Gabriel." You add fairly certain Gabriel can't be too hard to handle since you both are a mischievous.

Gabriel jumps up from the couch, no longer able to sit behind you.  "Yeah, give me a change to make them the happiest hunter in all the land." Gabriel laughs changing your jeans and tee shirt to the fairly tale princess dress. Dean's clothing changes to a generic king costume. In the distance Sam shouts and you assume Gabriel changed his clothing as well.

Chuckling as Sam stomps down the hallway you tell Gabriel, "Pink's not really my color. I like dark blue." He nods, his eyes closing for a moment before your dress color changes to a deep ocean blue.

"Change my clothes back now, Gabriel!" Sam shouts dressing a regal dress in similar design to Deans. You have to cover your mouth to keep from just busting out in laughter. Dean has to hide his similar reaction.

Gabriel gives his trademark smirk and takes you hand before the king and queen and kneels before you. "Your highness, will you take this angel to be your guardian?"

Dean and Sam begin to raise their voices in objections and that Gabriel needs to knock this crap off. You just laugh and hand your other hand over his. "I do." You answer silencing your shocked brother. Their shock is nothing in compared to the shock you get when Gabriel's smile changes from his normal trickster smug smile to a genuine smile and he jumps to his feet, his hands holding your face in place an he kisses you.

"Gabriel!!" Dean bellows, red faced and angry.

Smiling against your lips and winks at Dead. "I'll be back for my bride late. See you then, honey." Gabriel promises stepping away from you before Dean can tackle him to the ground. Stepping back Dean grabs at air, falling into the chair Gabriel had been sitting in.

"Gabriel get your feathery ass back here!!" Dean shouts looking at the ceiling as if it would show where Gabriel went of too.

Sam simply covers his face with his hand, shaking his head groaning. "Really, Y/n? He didn't even change our clothes back." Sam keeps shaking his head, turns on his heel, and walks away less than regally in his regal dress.

It'd be more funny if Dean wasn't shouting he'd cut the arch angel's wings off if he comes anywhere near you again. Sitting down you grab another piece of candy and munch on it feeling much happier than you had earlier.

Oh yes. Having Gabriel as your angel is going to be amazing and hilarious. "Hey Dean," You say watching Dean swing around to look at you. You smile at him. "You look good in a crown." You watch as your words catch him off guard. He's so adorable when he's not sure what to say or do in response.

[neruran]

Jumping Through Hoops

Series: My Hero Academia

Rating: T

Genre: Gen, Humour

Characters: Bakugou Katsuki, Kaminari Denki, brief appearances/mentions of Kirishima Eijirou, Ashido Mina, Sero Hanta, Jirou Kyouka, Bakugou Mitsuki

Other tags: Bakugou Katsuki Swears a Lot, rated for Bakugou’s potty mouth, Future Fic, mildly OOC

Summary: Bakugou walked into work with a sprained wrist one day.

Read on  AO3|FF.net

Inspired by Brooklyn Nine-Nine because I love that show, and that cold open is definitely one of the best. Wrote most of this two days ago at 4am and figured it was funny enough to post.

As the above tags state, this takes place in the future when the Bakusquad have their own hero office together. This is irrelevant to the story, but my headcanon is that the agency is named after Bakugou at his insistence, but they’re all his partners rather than his sidekicks. He throws a fit every time someone calls them his sidekicks because he doesn’t need underlings, they’re all people who stand on equal ground with him. They all point out that maybe if they changed the name to something more general people would stop assuming but nope, Bakugou’s too stubborn. Anyway, on with the fic.

It was an ordinary day in the Bakusquad Hero Office (that wasn’t the actual name, but all the heroes in said office except for Bakugou called it that anyway when the public wasn’t listening). At least, it had been until Bakugou walked in looking his usual Morning Disgruntled (as opposed to his Afternoon Annoyed or his Neutral Frowny Disinterest) and a brace around his left wrist. Immediately everyone became curious, because Bakugou hardly ever got any injuries that would require more than a bandaid and the few times he did usually meant extended hospital stays.

“Whoa, Bakugou, you okay?” Kirishima asked, standing from his desk. “What happened?”

“Fucking nothing, I’m fine,” Bakugou grunted as he passed them all, headed for his office. He was the only one of their group to have his own office room, having won the honour in an arm wrestling tournament when they first moved into the space, just barely beating out Kirishima. The rest of them had their desks gathered in the centre of the main room, something they found to be a blessing for socialization and a curse against focus.

“Yeah Kiri, leave him be,” Kaminari said, leaning in his desk as he watched Bakugou step into the office. “If he says he’s fine then he’s fine…”

The others exchanged looks with each other, not at all convinced by Kaminari’s attempt to not arouse Bakugou’s suspicion, but shrugged it off when Bakugou paid them no mind, kicking the door halfway shut. Once satisfied that Bakugou was going to be distracted, Kaminari turned back around, gesturing for everyone to move in closer.

“So I know our man Bakugou isn’t normally very forthcoming with this kind of stuff, but the fact he doesn’t look any more annoyed than usual and isn’t bragging or complaining about his latest arrest could only mean one thing,” he whispered once his friends and colleagues were huddled in.

“He’s...secretly doing some vigilante work?” Kirishima suggested, unsure.

“No, of course not, it means he probably hurt himself doing something stupid or embarrassing, but he’s trying to act like normal so we don’t get suspicious! Like, I dunno, maybe he hurt himself smiling like a normal person or something.”

“How the heck would he hurt his wrist of all things by smiling?” Ashido asked incredulously.

“I don’t know, Bakugou would find a way!”

“Maybe he just took up a new sport or something?” Jirou - who wasn’t part of their crew ordinarily, having her own hero office, but she was collaborating with Sero on a case that week - piped in.

“Like what? Last I heard, there hasn’t been anything called Murderball invented yet, and you really think he wouldn’t brag about a hard-won injury in something like that?” Sero countered.

Jirou shrugged. “Just a suggestion.”

“Oi, dipshits.” They all turned to see Bakugou standing just outside his office, glaring at them. Evidently they hadn’t heard the door creak open in their distraction. “I’m not fucking deaf, I can hear you just fine in my office.”

Kirishima was the only one who at all looked sheepish at being called out for gossipping; Sero, Jirou, Kaminari, and Ashido meanwhile all mimed varying degrees of innocence.

Rolling his eyes, Bakugou stepped closer, holding up his wrist. “Before you start getting some other dumbass ideas, an asshole plowed into me while I was walking home yesterday and I sprained my wrist when I fell over. Wasn’t an emergency and it’s been a stupidly slow week with work so I couldn’t get an appointment to have it healed until the day after tomorrow. Fucking simple as that,” he explained, storming over to the coffee maker and pouring himself a cup. “Didn’t think it was relevant to anything you idiots were supposed to be doing, so I wasn’t assed to explain.” Coffee poured, he turned back to the group, glaring. “Get your asses in gear. Since I can’t use my quirk with my left hand for the next 48 hours unless I want to make the sprain worse, you fuckers gotta pick up the slack, and anyone who’s sticking around to do paperwork will have me getting on their case to get it done.”

Disappointed with the lack of juicy details and properly cowed, the crowd dispersed, Kirishima and Ashido heading out on patrol while Jirou and Sero took to the break room to discuss their case in private. Kaminari pouted, turning in his chair to start work on some paperwork he was behind on.

“Hey Drooly.”

He looked up to see Bakugou standing beside his desk, expression carefully schooled to be unreadable. Idly Kaminari thought Bakugou’s “blank face” looked a lot like Todoroki’s default expression and had to wonder if that was on purpose. “Uh, yeah man?”

Bakugou did a quick glance from side to side, making sure the others were either gone or not listening before he leaned in closer. “Wanna how how I actually sprained my wrist?”

“Yes,” Kaminari answered immediately, eyes going wide in curious glee. Bakugou was confiding in him? Really? He knew they were good friends, but Bakugou generally chose Kirishima over him to tell secrets. This one must have been something big if he didn’t want to tell his best friend.

Bakugou paused a moment, then spoke quietly and seriously. “I was hula hooping.”

Well, of all the things Kaminari was expecting, that hadn’t been one of them, but boy howdy was it so much better than whatever his imagination could come up with. It couldn’t be real, Bakugou had to be pulling his leg. The disbelief must have showed on his face, because Bakugou pulled out his phone and tapped a couple times before showing it to Kaminari, revealing a picture slideshow of Bakugou indeed hula hooping. Kaminari couldn’t believe his eyes.

“My old hag convinced me to try a class out with her since Dad was busy, and it was actually surprisingly fun and relaxing,” Bakugou continued, swiping through the various pictures, likely taken by his mother. “I mastered all the tricks, because I don’t halfass anything. The pizza toss, the scorpion, you name it.”

This was too good to be true. Kaminari could feel himself practically vibrating in his seat at the sheer amazingness of this information. Oh, wait until the others heard this...Awestruck and so excited, he turned to Bakugou with wide eyes. “Why are you telling me this?” he whispered. Had he finally reached the same friendship level Kirishima was at? Was he beyond it?

Bakugou looked him dead in the eye. “Because no one will ever believe you.” And with those ominous words, he clicked delete on the photo album, destroying the evidence.

Kaminari’s face melted into absolute horror, a strangled sound coming out of his throat; Bakugou grinned deviously. “Nonono!” Kaminari wailed, reaching for the phone to try and reverse the deletion, but Bakugou cackled and moved out of the way. “Ugh! No matter, I can recover it, I’m sure it’s in a cloud somewhere!” Being the resident IT had to be good for something besides giving the shitty printer they’d gotten third-hand a little jolt to make it behave or performing percussive maintenance on the stubborn router.

“Nice try, but I already accounted for that. Those were the only copies that will ever see human eyes ever again,” Bakugou jeered. “Have fun!”

“You sadistic asshole!” Kaminari cried after him, dropping his head to his desk when Bakugou merely cackled harder and disappeared into his office, door properly closing this time. He wanted to sob.

Jirou and Sero poked their heads out of the break room curiously. “What just happened?” Jirou asked, voice confused and suspicious. Few good things happened when Bakugou cackled, she had a right to be wary.

Kaminari did sob, because Bakugou was right; he could explain all he wanted, but without evidence to back up his story, their friends would all think he was just making it up. Bakugou hula hooping, and enjoying it at that? You’d have be on some wacky substance to come up with that one. He regretted explaining to Bakugou how hackers and criminals cover their digital footprints and expunge incriminating information. His only other option was begging Mitsuki, and, well, Bakugou got his twisted sense of humour from somewhere. More than likely if he asked, she’d either withhold the evidence or deny it all together just to see him squirm more, especially if her son discussed his plans beforehand.

The next two days involved Bakugou casually dropping the word “hoop” in random conversations whenever Kaminari was in earshot (and twice managing to sneak “hula” in without raising any eyebrows) and relishing in his friend’s slow descent into madness. When Bakugou finally sauntered into work brace-less, Kaminari knew that he looked far too happy and excited than what was deemed normal, but he found he didn't care.

I'm pretty sure Bakugou is a sadistic troll when he's bored or properly motivated. Poor Kaminari. If you're wondering why he picked Kaminari, it was entirely because he was behind on his paperwork and was the least likely person to be able to convince his mother to send copies. Please leave a comment, kudos, or reblog this post if you enjoyed this!

[takadasaiko]

95 / (young) rowdy 3?

FFN II AO3

Prompt #95: “Come cuddle.”

Howl Until it Hurts Chapter Thirty-Eight: Safe As They Could Be

It was difficult to choose the worst type of session at Blackwing. They all sucked at a level that Martin was relatively sure no human being should be put through, but one that had a special place of loathing in his heart were the chats. Sometimes formal - a briefing or a psych evaluation - and sometimes informal, in which Riggins sought him out alone and tried to act like he was still a friend. Not that he ever had been at all.

Martin wasn’t sure who he was waiting on, just that he didn’t like it. He’d been given a chair to sit in and was left with the overwhelming urge to pace. He was being watched, though, and he didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of seeing the nervous energy.

So he sat and he waited, and when the doors opened he expected Riggins to walk in. With a heightened sense of danger it was difficult to sneak up on a Rowdy, most of all Martin, but he’d been lax. Not now. As soon as the doors opened to reveal a sauntering Osmund Priest every muscle in Martin’s body tensed, coiled and ready to spring into a fight. Priest looked entirely unphased, bodyguards or lackies or whatever they were surrounding him. He offered a lazy smile. “Howdy, Martin.”

“Priest,” the Rowdy growled out.

The tension hung heavy in the air, Priest smirking, Martin halfway out of the chair, and every gun in the room swiveling on him. A low chuckle escaped the psychopath and he waved the men down. “Now we don’t need none of that, do we, Martin?”

The snarl started low in his throat and only seemed to amuse Priest as his men finally lowered their weapons.

“What do you want?”

“Oh, just a chat. Like you ‘n Riggins have from time to time. He’s been receivin’ some complaints from the staff-”

“And he sent you?”

“His superiors sent me,” Priest corrected. “See, Riggins seems to think you’re the one to reason with. That you’re the focused one in the group. I’m inclined to agree, but you’re also the most stubborn.”

“You don’t know my brothers very well,” Martin answered, flashing a dangerous smile.

“Better 'n you’d like,” Priest answered, The look in his eyes making Martin uncomfortable. It was excitement. Vicious, twisted excitement. At least his brothers weren’t there for the maniac to use against him.

“See,” Priest drawled, “I know you boys have a protective streak. Your greatest weakness is them and you’re theirs. Then there’s Jacob.”

Martin sprang forward without warning, covering the distance between them faster than anyone else could react, and he stopped an inch or two away from the Blackwing agent’s face. His glasses slipping down his nose just a little, and he locked his glare on him over the rims. “You stay away from him, you got that?”

“You tryin’ to get yourself killed, boy?” Priest chuckled and motioned to where every gun was aimed at the blond Rowdy again. He hadn’t even noticed. He still didn’t care, and a dangerous growl escaped and he didn’t budge, never quite touching Priest.

“Bringin’ a kid here’s low even for you people. You ain’t gonna touch him. You think we’re bad now? You look at Vogel wrong and we’ll burn your whole damn fortress to the ground.”

“That a fact?”

“And I’ll start with you.”

“Oh well then,” the older man chuckled. “I look forward to another round with you, Martin. No rules, no restrains. Just you and me finishin’ what we started. Sounds like a party I don’t wanna miss.”

Martin clenched his teeth, refusing to budge from the close and threatening proximity, but with at least five high powered weapons trained on him he knew better than to take it further than that. Getting himself killed that afternoon wouldn’t help his brothers.

Priest huffed a bored sort of sound. Martin thought he was going to give and pull back, but instead the other man reached back, balled his fist, and slammed it hard into the Rowdy’s middle, effectively driving the air out of him and he caught Martin as he hunched over, gasping in surprise. “No need to rush the fun just yet though. Still plenty more to be had, ain’t that right?”

The older man chuckled as Martin struggled to pull enough air in to respond, the only sound managing to escape a pained gasp as he struggled to refill his lungs. Priest loosed his hold and Martin sank to one knee. “See, and that’s how it’s done. Not all that lip you give Riggins. That is why they send me. Now you be a good little Dracula and I don’t have to do the same thing to that new brother of yours.”

Martin managed a snarl, but the sound was pitiful even to his own ears. Priest continued to chuckle as he turned on his heel and walked out of the room, leaving Martin on his knees, Blackwing guards ready to shoot at the first wrong move.

The other Rowdies nearly dragged one of the guards that was “escorting” Martin back into the room before he had a chance to get away, which probably wouldn’t be the best tactic directly after the set of threats delivered by someone that Martin knew would carry them out. He didn’t stop them though as they laughed and jeered, grabbing at the guy even as he threatened to turn the gas on and his buddies warned about reinforcements. The laughter finally died down after the door slammed closed - nearly catching Cross’ waving hand - and Vogel launched himself at Martin, wrapping his arms around his neck and hanging off of him. “Miiiiiiiiissssssssed you!”

“Yeah, you been gone a long time, man,” Cross chimed in.

“Thought they’d taken you again,” Gripps added quietly.

“Nah. Not so bad,” he muttered in response as Vogel finally released him. Martin took the opportunity to go for his last cigarette stored away, and he could feel Gripps and Cross watching him carefully. They felt it. As much as he tried to bury it so he didn’t burden them with it, they could sense the worry and the stress.

“What’re we gonna do tonight, guys?” Vogel asked, bouncing around the room. “Wanna play baseball? Or, or we could grab what’s left of the bed and you guys can toss me up. I bet I can jam the stuff in the top wall and we can make monkey bars!”

“Yeah yeah!” Cross agreed, looking to Gripps.

“They took the bed away.”

“Oh yeah. They suck!”

“They suck!” Vogel echoed, giggling as he did. “Whatcha wanna do, Martin?”

The blond puffed on his cigarette and gave a noncommittal wave. He needed time to think, to weigh options. The noise and energy would help him focus in on that. He needed to find a way to keep them safe in the hellhole they were in.

It took a moment for him to key in on the fact that all three of his brothers were now watching him, even Vogel. The kid started forward, reaching out and taking hold of the older Rowdy’s hand and tugging. “Don’t be sad, Martin. Come cuddle.”

Martin swallowed the explanation that he wasn’t sad, per se. He was angry and frustrated that he couldn’t do more to protect them, and he was terrified that the worst would finally happen and Blackwing would take things too far. But Vogel didn’t need to know that. He didn’t need to understand anger and fear. Not yet. Not as long as they were capable of protecting him.

So instead of an explanation, Martin let himself be pulled towards the pallet they all slept in in the middle of the room and took a hard seat there. Almost instantly Gripps flopped an arm around him from one side, Cross from the other, and Vogel piled in on top of all three of his brothers with Martin secured in the middle. Nobody said anything, but he could feel at least some of the tension drain. It wouldn’t last forever, not as long as they were trapped there, for the moment they were as safe as they could be, and he let himself sink into that feeling for as long as he could.

Notes: @setmeatopthepyre sent this prompt in ages ago, and I knew I needed to fit it into this story somewhere. I’m so glad I found this spot for it. Precious little Vogel, just trying as hard as he can.

Sorry for the wait on it, friend! I hope it hit all the right feels ;)