#but at the same time i didn't like how she is an exception for it

[toast-on-dandelioms]

Ehat if reader got captured and turned into a Talon by the court of owls? Lets say they heard a scream for help and went to investigate but it was a trap and the got captured . Lets assume readers spider powers are still used as extra help . Maybe the batfam finds out when the court sends reader to a place that batfam was in. What would be the reactions and what would they do?

Songbird's Eulogy

I'm gonna be honest, I loved this ask and this will become a serie if you guys want to read it!

Dividers made by @thecutestgrotto

W.C: 8k

Tw: blood, description of dead bodies and their wounds, probably bad description of Alzheimer in a character

The air in the Batcave was so thick with tension that it could be cut with a knife, most of the family present except for Alfred, who was upstairs cooking dinner and Cassandra, who was in Hong Kong at the moment.

Tim was at the computer next to Bruce, who was observing Tim working while the younger vigilante was typing away and looking at several screens that played what looked like the same videos all at the same time, trying to find anything different in it even if the video kept showing the same things over and over again while mumbling stuff with Bruce, exchanging theories as to what was happening or if one of the two found anything that the other missed.

Dick and Damian were sparring but both were distracted, as they were both doing the same moves over and over again, their eyes unfocused as their minds were thinking of the case while Jason and Duke were both working on their bikes, exchanging tools and also sharing information of the case as Jason had some information thanks to the Crime Alley kids, even though it did cost him a lot since many of those kids had contradicting stories so knowing which ones were true or not was difficult and time consuming.

Stephanie was the only one who was sipping on some tea Alfred made her a few minutes ago while reading the same file of the case to see if the police missed anything or to see if her reading it for the 20th time would result in her finding something she didn't notice before, her eye twitching as she kept hearing the same ominous whistle from the speakers on the batcomputer, making it even more annoying and creepy.

The yet another ominous whistle is her breaking point. She suddenly slams the cup on the hard wood of the table, as if she wants it to tremble. Luckily the cup didn't break. As everybody realises where the sound is coming from their head snap towards that direction, as if snapping out a trance. This unexpected event pulled Dick out his alert mode, and as Damian's punch hit his side he falls down in pain, loudly complaining about the hit being "too strong" while Damian ignores him to walk up to Tim and Bruce. Jason and Duke also both looked up from their bikes with a concerned look, they were both tuning out the audio from the batcomputer for the twelfth time, and almost jumped at the sharp sound.

Bruce looked at Stephanie without saying anything as the girl glared at him and Tim, who just looked like he was on the bring of a nervous breakdown as he was replaying the videos at the same time to find anything that could be useful for the case, even though he was doing that for at least two days and nothing showed up, even though he sent all those videos through all kinds of analysis software the batcomputer had and even the Justice League had in the Watchtower.

"Can you please stop replaying that damn whistle?! I've been hearing that shit for the past week and I swear to god, if I hear that one more time I will kill you Timothy Jackson Drake and no Lazarus pit will be able to resuscitate you after I am done with you."

And Stephanie did look ready to kill, her eye twitching as she glared at Tim, who just sipped on a cup full of an overly caffeinated drink with eye bags so prominent that the girl wondered for a few seconds how long he'd been awake to study the security feeds from Babs, autopsy records, police reports and any leads the detectives had at the moment and whatever the vigilantes could find.

The girl kept glaring at Tim, ignoring Dick's groans and Damian's voice as he told him to stop being a baby, while Duke and Jason went back to take care of their own bikes while still talking.

In her frustration, she threw all the files that she was reading on the table, ignoring how all the papers and the photos in the files scattered on the table and made a mess.

"How the hell are we supposed to find this supposed killer?! The only thing we have is this fucking whistle" she started, her frustration clear in her face as she hadn't slept in days thanks to the extra hours of patrol and her refusing to go to sleep to help with the case, "and this!".

She stopped her rant to quickly search through all the files and photos for a specific one, stopping once she found two that she deemed good enough and grabbed them before walking up to Tim and Bruce since they were the ones who were the closest, ignoring Dick and Damian who were walking up to them to see what was happening.

The moment she showed them the pictures, everything fell silent. Faint breaths were felt in the air, like oxygen was slowly running out as tension and discomfort slowly grew as everyone stared at the pictures. The photos were horrid, whoever did that was full of rage as both bodies on the photos were scratched, especially on their sides, arms and chest, like the killer was scratching them while the victims were trying to cover themselves with their bodies as other areas of their body, like their chest and stomach was ok with no scratches present. But the most horrible thing that caught everyone's eyes just like the first time they all saw the bodies was that both victims sported the same killing method, with both of them having their necks cut open in the most gruesome way possible as the killer scratched the necks of the victims.

Everyone shuddered, except Stephanie, as they stared at the photos since the girl was showing them to everyone around her to make a point and to show how crazy it was to find any clues just from those wounds.

The older man stared at his kids without saying anything as Damian and Stephanie started arguing once again about who did it, with Stephanie accusing the League for all the murders happening in Gotham while Damian was defending the League as he explained that no good assassin trained under the League, and especially under his grandfather, would kill their targets in such a stupid and sadistic way since they were trained to kill efficiently and quickly while this killer acted like they were playing with their victims and wanted their deaths to be slow.

Bruce just sighed as he recognised how exhausted his kids were from the stress of the case while they kept fighting, with Dick joining Steph's side and Tim joining Damian's, knowing that they wouldn't listen to him if he told them to take a break or to stop fighting, especially since he was always the first one to ignore that suggestion when offered.

He quickly grabbed his phone once he heard it ringing, thinking and hoping it was Gordon or Barbara with any news about the case before looking confused and worried when he saw that it was Alfred calling him. He picked up and could hear a woman's voice in the background talking to someone as Alfred just said "Master Bruce, Miss Amelie has arrived with Boris and she wants to see you, it seems that she's having an episode" before hanging up, most likely to make some tea for the unexpected but not unwelcome guests that arrived.

He sighed before noticing Tim looking at him alongside the others who stopped fighting once they heard what Alfred said on the call, making him sigh once again since he knew he couldn't ignore Amelie to keep working on the case so he just started walking to the elevator to get upstairs faster instead of using the stairs.

He looked a bit surprised when both Jason and Damian also got in the elevator but didn't say anything to the duo, knowing how close the two have gotten to the woman after years of her coming to the Manor looking for him. He thanked Tim patience for managing to convince Alfred on getting a smartphone so he could call and text the rest of the bats without having to get down to the cave every time due to his old age, which proved itself useful as now the older man had now a folder full of recipes he and Jason share to each other, plus all the passive aggressive messages towards everyone or someone specific when he found them not taking care of themselves.

As the trio walked to the room designated for her when she decided to come they could already hear the woman talk to a man who was trying to calm he down, before stopping to look at the door once she heard Bruce knocking and then entering. The woman immediately ran to Bruce in tears, her beautiful hair in the messiest bun that made Bruce wonder what happened as he knew how attentive she was with her hair as a model, something that she now didn't do as much after the accident, and her eyes almost fully red from her tears.

"Bruce! Bruce you have to listen, my baby is out there, I know that [Y/N] is not dead! The hospital keeps telling me that my little star is dead but I know that they're lying! Bruce please, find our little star". She started crying once again, her face on his chest with her hands holding his shirt as she cried about [Y/N] not being dead, that her little star was out there and to not listen to the hospital and the police, begging the man to help her.

Bruce looked at Boris, who just sighed when he locked eyes with him and shook his head, looking exhausted with bags under his eyes that were challenging Tim's, before looking down at Amelie once again. He only now noticed that she was in her pajama, one of her slippers missing, and holding one of [Y/N]'s old plushie to her chest with one hand as she kept her tight hold on his shirt with the other hand, her hand trembling like she believed that he wouldn't believe her if she let go of him. "Amelie, it's ok, we're searching for [Y/N] along with the police, we'll find them soon" he murmured softly as he managed to untie her hair and brush it a bit with his fingers to help her relax, smiling softly as she visibly started to relax when she felt his hands in her hair and massaging her scalp.

"Find our baby, please" she mumbled, her hold on his shirt starting to loosen as he kept massaging her scalp, making Bruce hum and reassured her for a few minutes, knowing that it was helping as she slowly let go of him and just hugged the plushie close to her chest.

Once he knew she was calm enough after all the reassurance, he gently put his hands on her shoulders to lead her to the couch, where Damian and Jason were already sitting and waiting for her and Bruce. On the table in front of the couch were a few albums and after helping her sit down on it he handed one to her, opening it to a random page and pointing to a random photo of [Y/N], who was giving their biggest smile while on the car, their mouth and cheeks covered in ice cream. "Why don't you tell them who [Y/N] is, I'm sure Damian is curious to know about his older sibling," He suggested softly, smiling to her as she immediately started to talk about [Y/N] while leaning on Jason, the plushie now in Damian's arms as the two boys listened intently to the woman even though they probably heard the same story almost every month, but they didn't seem to care especially when the woman would remember new stories every time she came.

Bruce got up when he knew Amelie was fully engrossed in talking about [Y/N] and walked up to Boris, knowing the man was her caretaker and most importantly, he was the only person who knew her best. "Boris what happened? Are you ok?" he asked, mostly wanting to know if she was getting too hard to handle for him alone as he saw a bruise on his cheek and if he needed help, knowing how much he was already doing for the poor woman since the accident.

"I was making her lunch when she went in [Y/N]'s old room and started to call for them but I was too busy to hear her and distract her. She started crying and started to remember that night, I'm sorry Bruce but I can't do this alone anymore." was what the man said out of exhaustion, his eyes filling with tears as he tried to keep it together while in the same room of Amelie, probably not wanting to cause her distress if she saw him crying.

Bruce just nodded and patted the man on the shoulder before walking him to the kitchen, smiling at Alfred when he already had some tea ready for them and few sandwiches on a plate. He sat down on a stool next to Boris and offered him some of the little sandwiches, knowing the man probably skipped dinner to come to the Manor with Amelie at such late hour.

"Boris, we've been friends ever since Amelie came here for the first time after what happened, and you know I wouldn't say this if I didn't believe you could do this alone, but you need to hire another caretaker or at least a house keeper so she can help you with normal activities." He started, knowing the man was stubborn and also felt responsible of taking care of Amelie after the accident. "I mean look at you! Did she hit you or?" He asked, noticing that the bruise was already fading, which meant that it happened some time ago but still made it concerning since Amelie was never violent before.

Boris sighed once again, making Bruce wonder if that was the only thing the man did all day, before explaining "It was my fault, I entered the house late at night after having to run to the store to grab a few things that I needed badly for Amelie and for lunch but she thought I was an intruder, she didn't recognise me," he stopped for a second to take a deep breath, tears slowly running down his eyes as he remembered the look of fear in Amelie's face as she didn't recognise him, "I managed to take off my hat but she did manage to throw a small statue we had in the living room at my face" he finished.

Bruce patted the man's back when he heard Boris's sigh and offered him a few tissues, knowing the man was tired and would finally accept his help in the form of a caretaker or house keeper that he would pay for, even though he's already paying for his mortgage and every single bill without the Belarusian man knowing, not wanting him to feel indebted to the richer man than he already felt.

"Maybe a house keeper can help me, the house is honestly a mess and I can't keep up with it, plus I can't keep looking out for her when cooking, it's just impossible for me only" Boris said before starting devouring all the sandwiches on the plate, stopping once or twice to drink some tea so he wouldn't choke. He blushed when he noticed Bruce watching him "I haven't eaten in two days, Amelie has been incredibly difficult and I never found the time to eat" he explained and thanked Alfred when the older man presented him with a plate full of pasta that he made for the starving man once he heard his stomach grumble loudly when he entered the kitchen.

Bruce smiled at him and patted him on the back once again "it's ok Boris, I'll hire someone and pay for it, you just relax here for a bit and eat, you look spent" he said before suddenly hearing Barbara's voice in his ears, telling him that another body was found in an alley thanks to a few cameras around and she already notified the police but he should send someone there before the police ruins the crime scene.

The man quickly got up and escused himself out of the room to use the comms in his ear to tell Damian and Duke to go, telling both boys that this was top priority and to go immediately, ignoring Damian's complaints since he was with Amelie and she was finally telling him and Jason a new story about [Y/N]. He once again ignored the boy's complains and ordered him to go with Duke as he needed him to protect Duke while he was using his meta abilities as all the previous crime scenes didn't reveal anything so they needed Duke's abilities to know something.

As he finished speaking to Damian and receiving confirmation that he was going with Duke he went back into the kitchen to smile at Boris, who was at his second plate of pasta and absolutely devouring the dish, and gave him a quick excuse "sorry, some problems at the WE, make yourself comfortable and Alfred will take care of everything" before leaving to the batcave, sending a quick text to everyone currently in the Manor to not leave anything bat related upstairs as there were guests staying in the Manor. He sent the text as he entered the elevator, the doors closing in front of him as his thumb pressed sent on the text.

When the doors of the elevator opened again to show the familiar cave he quickly ran to the batcomputer to check the video that Babs sent, a bit surprised when he saw that Tim wasn't on the chair right in front of the computer like he expected but he quickly found him once he scanned the room, sleeping on the floor with Stephanie on top of him as she sipped on her tea and using her phone like she didn't do anything when she noticed Bruce looking at her with his usual dissapointed stare.

"Hey I warned him, he's the one who played that whistle again so I just executed on my threat" was the only thing she said before going back to using her phone like nothing happened, making Bruce sigh but he didn't do anything about it since Tim was sleeping instead of focusing on the case and drinking ungodly amounts of coffee and energy drinks. "Just move him to his room afterwards, don't want him to sleep in the cave" was the only thing he said as he sat on the chair and focused on the multitude of screens of the batcomputer.

He opened the new video once he finally received the notification from Babs, keeping his line with Duke and Damian open to be ready if anything happened to the two while at the crime scene, before sitting back to watch the video, hoping that it wouldn't be as useless as the others they had.

Duke was in his bike with Damian behind him with his own helmet, talking with Babs on the comms as she guided him to the crime scene, breaking so many laws as he drove since he knew that if he got there after the GCPD then the crime scene would be ruined and it would be difficult for him to use his ability with police officers walking around the crime scene.

As he took a very sharp turn he quickly switched his comms line to talk with Damian and asked "you ok there little man?", knowing that he was driving very dangerously but he couldn't afford to waste a single second by following the law at the moment. He laughed when he just heard Damian click his tongue and then just lightly hit the side of his helmet to say that he was ok.

The duo quickly got off the bike when they finally reached the alley and Damian quickly went around it to close off the alley both ways so the GCPD wouldn't enter it without his permission and mess up the crime scene while Duke set his bike in the other side of the road in another alley before finally walking inside the right alley, stepping over the yellow tape Damian quickly put before going to the other side of the alley, taking many pictures of all the blood he saw on the floor in small puddles, alongside a phone that he quickly put in an evidence bag so Babs could see if there was anything that could be useful.

He found a gun with only one bullet inside while the bullets rounds were lying around before the body, and as he grabbed it to put in an evidence plastic bag, alongside the used bullets rounds in another bag. He quickly found the bullets that were fired in a small pile next to the victim's body, all covered in blood and obviously having been taken out of whoever got shot, making him shudder when he saw them as he wondered who was crazy enough to actually pull the bullets out of their body and leave them on a pile like they were returning them.

When he finally reached the body he had to give himself a minute at the sight of the man's slaughtered throat, feeling bile coming up his throat as he couldn't manage to look away at the man's body, the terrified expression on the poor man's face as he died still impressed on his face, his clothes tattered and in some parts torn that Duke's first thought was that he got attacked by a wild animal but the clean cuts on his arms and cheeks showed that it wasn't an animal.

As he stared at the corpse his hand slowly travelled to his throat as he felt pain from it, like he was experiencing the same pain the man felt when it happened and he didn't even use his powers to see the past, making him even more horrified at what he was seeing.

With trembling hands he raised his phone to take some photos of the body and the black veins that showed on the side of his neck, making Duke think that the man probably got poisoned but he couldn't pinpoint the exact poison used just from the black in his veins and skin.

As he kept taking photos he noticed that the black travelled down to his right arm, probably where the man got poisoned with a needle or knife but he couldn't see it from where he was standing so he slowly encouraged himself to move, trying his hardest not to puke as he put on some gloves so he wouldn't leave any prints that could incriminate him or ruin the crime scene.

He slowly raised the torn sleeve of the man's shirt to hopefully find the knife or needle wound but instead he saw something that made him connect his mask camera's to the batcomputer so Bruce could see what the boy was seeing, as he was sure the photo wouldn't be able to capture everything he was seeing.

The right arm of the man had a bite mark that was obviously made by a human mouth, making Duke feel sick and almost puke as he could see how deep the bite was just by the skin around it broke, showing signs of struggle from the man but that didn't do anything to stop it or making it let go of him.

Duke got up and made a signal to Damian to stay alert as he was gonna use his powers and needed the boy to be ready since he would be vulnerable while watching what happened, afraid of what he was gonna see after seeing the man's wounds and bite. He also turned off his mask's camera to not worry Bruce once it all turned black from his powers.

He sighed and started using the shadows of the alley to use his Ghost vision, his eyes turning white completely as his body froze in place to watch and finally know who the killer was.

(this is what happened, it will be written with italics)

Duke opened his eyes and saw that he was now in the same alley and was standing right in front of the guy, now alive and animatedly talking on the phone with someone as he paced back and fort in the alley while smoking a cigarette.

Duke ignored the man's conversation with whoever he was at the other end of the phone call to slowly walk around the alley, mostly to see if there was anything suspicious that wasn't there when he first came to check the body but unfortunately everything was the same as when he arrived for the first time.

He kept looking around for a bit before stopping when he heard an ominous whistle, the same one he heard from all the videos Babs sent them, making him grab his eskrima sticks to defend himself and the man out of habit before remembering that this already happened and he couldn't do anything to stop whatever happened next.

Duke looked back at the man when he heard him stop talking after he heard the whistle, his face turning into a terrified expression, his phone dropping on the floor as he tried to grab his gun with shaking hands, making it more difficult for the man as Duke could see how nervous he was. Both men froze as they heard the same whistle from the same being but with more insistence to it, like they were asking permission or calling for someone with how insistent the whistle sounded to the African-American teen.

Both men quickly looked to the other side of the alley, showing a badly illuminated street thanks to a broken streetlamp that kept going on and off, showing an empty street but once it went off and on again a kid, maybe 14 years old or less was standing in the alley under the streetlight.

As they both stared at the kid, Duke tried to study the kid since the alley wasn't that big but could only see up to the kid's face, even though most of it was hidden by a white mask that was familiar but he couldn't really see it perfectly from that distance while the man was cursing under his breath in Italian, making Duke wonder who the kid was and how the man knew them and especially wanted to know why he was so scared of them.

Then, all of the sudden, a low whistle came from the rooftop of one of the buildings around them, making the kid jump up in joy before getting in position, making Duke curse under his breath as he managed to understand that the kid was he killer from how scared the man was after he heard the other whistle.

Everything else happened in such a blur that Duke thought Flash was in Gotham by how fast the kid was that even he had difficulty see them, before seeing that they were biting the man's arm, their teeth so deep in the skin that blood was already trickling out the kid's mouth and into the floor to form a few small puddles.

In panic and from the pain of the bite, Duke witnessed the man shoot the kid in the leg for two times and three times on the sides when he saw that the kid didn't even flinch from being shot in the leg but the kid remained attached to his arm, black slowly spreading around their mouth to the man's skin, making him drop the gun.

Once the kid finally pulled away from the man, Duke could see that the venom was already spreading from the black spreading through the man's arm and was slowly going to his head.

Duke kept watching in horror and in guilt as he could've been there to save the man but instead of patrolling the street he was back at the cave to help the others solve the case of these killings while the actual murderer was watching one of their many victims cry and beg for their life while smiling with their mouth full of blood of the victim.

He thought that would be the end of it, that the kid would kill the man by tearing his throat open but instead the kid skipped over the man, making the man stumble back before falling on the floor, claws coming out of their fingers like cats, and just started scratching the poor man body with no objective, their smile the worst thing Duke was seeing as he could see how the kid wasn't being forced or controlled by someone.

No, they were doing this because they liked it. They thought it was fun.

As the vigilante watched, he heard another whistle from the same person but it was shorter, like the person was calling the kid like it was time to go home and to stop playing since the kid looked annoyed when they heard that whistle since their smile got replaced by a pout.

Duke watched as the kid huffed and looked down at the man before smiling once again and leaned down as the man kept begging to be let go, that he wouldn't work for The Penguin anymore and that he was sorry for everything he did but the kid just kept smiling as they put their hand on the man's neck, their claws slowly retracting but not going fully back.

The kid kept smiling as the mask stared right into the man's eyes as he calmed down, thinking the kid was gonna let go of him, like he was spared and got lucky before his eyes got wide in fear and pain as the kid's claws came out and the kid tore open his throat, his hands trembling as he tried to cover the bleeding wound, his fingers and hands already covered in blood by how fast he was losing blood.

Duke just watched as the man's eyes filled with tears as he watched the mask of the kid and their smile, knowing that his death wasn't an act of revenge or because he was a bad person. His death was just the sick ending of a game the kid was playing and he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He kept watching as the kid then used a wall as support as they used their claws to pull out the bullets like nothing happened, leaving all of them on a small pile near the man, making Duke wonder once again what even the kid was when they weren't reacting to pain normal people would be screaming and crying from.

The last thing he saw before the vision stopped was the face of the kid staring directly at him, like they knew he was there since they gave him the biggest smile possible and even waved at him before his vision went black, their mask the only thing he could see as he was still trying to remember where he saw a mask like the one they were wearing.

(end of flashback)

Duke gasped as he finally woke up to the real time and not watching the murder happen before starting to hyperventilate and move around in the alley like he couldn't see as he couldn't figure out what was happening around him and he couldn't stop seeing the kid's smile and the man's face filled with terror as he couldn't do anything to help the victim and was made to watch a slaughter.

In his panic he didn't see Damian running up to him and calling his vigilante name but could feel someone pushing him and moving him before feeling himself getting carried somewhere, surely by Damian as he knew he was the only one there that could help him.

Everything else happened in a blur, he could feel himself being carried somewhere via grappling hook as he could feel the wind on his face and then the cold bricks of the rooftops under his fingers, making him calm down as he could feel that he wasn't in the alley.

He did relax a bit once he knew he wasn't in that alley but just couldn't calm down, his mind too focused on what he saw and wouldn't let him remember any of his calming techniques that Bruce and Jason taught him, his eyes slowly filling up with tears as he felt like he was gonna pass out as he kept gasping but felt like no air was entering his lungs.

Duke was still gasping for air when he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Bruce's face without his cowl, making the poor boy surprised as he knew the man's strict rules on the masks when out on patrol before seeing the man breathing and gesturing the boy to copy him and after a few tries where Duke couldn't focus enough and started crying he managed to copy Bruce's breathing, his mind slowling down as oxygen finally started entering his lungs.

He smiled at the man when he finally calmed down enough to not need to copy's Bruce's breathing and just hugged the man, too grateful to care that they were on patrol and that he had important information about the murder that happened in the alley. No, he just needed a moment in his father's arms, even though his real father was still at the hospital but Bruce was there and he needed to feel protected and safe and he knew that Bruce's arms where he felt the safest.

As the two hugged, he looked at Damian and just smiled when he saw that the boy was standing next to them, hand on his katana to be ready if anyone suddenly came to attack them, making a mental note to hug the younger boy when they would go back to the Cave.

[Damian Pov]

He was annoyed. He was angry.

Those were the only two emotions he felt as he waited in the alley while Duke used his meta abilities for the case. He should've been home with Amelie, listening to another story of his older sibling and how they would climb stuff just to grab something because they refused to admit that they needed the small ladder they had in the kitchen that was there specifically for them.

But instead he was on a smelly alleyway in Gotham and waiting for the police while playing on his phone, acting distracted but he was still high alert and ready to strike anyone with a small batarang if they were going to attack Duke while he was watching.

While waiting he did feel watched but even after doing a quick check around the alley and the rooftops near the alley showed that there was no one the younger vigilante considered a threat to him and the yellow vigilante, making him even more frustrated as he was craving for a fight just to relieve some stress.

After a bit he noticed that the GCPD had finally came with Jim Gordon in one of the two cars so he quickly walked up to the detective so he could start the investigations right after Signal was done using his abilities, discussing with the older man about the murder and how the police should take care of the evidence as he saw in the other case files the detectives didn't take everything around the victim and there was some missing information because of the missing evidence, which didn't sit right with Damian and made him even more annoyed that the police wasn't doing its job right.

While talking he suddenly heard some noises from the alley and as he turned around he could already see Duke in distress by the way he moved and breather that he immediately ran up to him and after assessing the situation and how Duke was too much in distress to answer him he managed to pick him up and grapple away, using the comms to call Babs and how he needed someone to come help him as he didn't know how to calm Duke.

Once he reached a rooftop that Babs said was safe since it didn't have any cameras around, he quickly put Duke down and tried to calm him down using Dick's lessons but couldn't manage to get Duke focus on him as he kept moving and pushing him away whenever he touched the older boy and didn't listen to him.

As he kept trying to calm down Duke he started to grow frustrated, not towards Duke as he knew he probably saw something that shocked him deeply which caused the panic attack, but he was frustrated with himself as he couldn't remember Dick's advice and seeing how he couldn't help Duke made him feel helpless.

He was an assassin, he knew how to kill a man with just a pen and leave no traces. He knew every poison known and unknown to man and was incredibly smart for his age but couldn't manage to help one of his family out of an panic attack.

He felt useless but when he saw his father land on the rooftop he couldn't help but breathe out a sigh of relief as he knew Duke was in good hands now that he was here to help and moved out the way to stand guard and protect them as he wanted to do something and feel useful in his own way, walking around the roof to check if anyone could get there to attack them.

As he stood guard, a hand on his katana ready to grab it if needed and the other on a pouch that contained some batarangs in case, he suddenly felt a presence from behind him, making him quickly unsheath his katana and attack whoever managed to get behind him before standing there in shock as a Talon, more precisely a kid was standing in front of him and blocking the blade of his katana with their hands. As he stared he noticed that they weren't using their hands but some sorts of talon that were coming out of their fingers.

He glared at the kid and let go of his katana when he knew that it wouldn't be useful to fight and decided to use it as a distraction by letting go of it, smirking when he saw the kid look at the katana falling and used the few seconds to turn his body around to kick them on the chest with all his strength to push them away, watching as they tumbled a bit before falling in another Talon's arms in a dramatic way that Damian didn't notice, too occupied to stare at the other Talon who just arrived to think that the kid was being dramatic.

He quickly grabbed his katana and put it back in its sheath, keeping one hand on his birdrangs while he watched the masked kid and Talon look at each other via their mask before the kid started signing stuff that Damian couldn't understand as he recognise the sign language they were using.

As he watched them sign he turned to look at Bruce and Duke and was shocked to see Duke looking like he'd seen a ghost as the vigilante stared at the kid who was furiously signing to the Talon and looked frustrated when said Talon signed something that they didn't agree with.

He looked at Duke and Bruce and made a hand signal to Bruce to keep an eye on the duo as he checked on Duke, wanting to see if he was ok and could keep his posture if the two Talons decided to fight the three vigilantes, confused as to why they were there as they managed to take down the Court just two months ago and sent many Talons to a secret building out of Gotham, where they could be fee from the Court's influence.

Damian quickly walked up to the African-American male and grabbed his arm, forcing him to get up "Signal, report on what you saw in the alley, make it quick. We don't have time to useless details" he demanded, needing to know if Duke had some useful information to use in the upcoming fight and especially if the two Talons thee were involved in the streak of murders happening around Gotham.

Duke looked down at Damian as he was still looking at the kid and the Talon who were still fighting in their own sign language, his face looking like he swallowed a very sour candy before starting to talk "a Talon obviously but they're different from the other Talons we fought Robs." He took a deep breath to think about what he was supposed to say to be useful for him and Damian in the imminent fight.

"You have to be on your guard when fighting against that kid Robs, they're the ones who have been killing people in Gotham" he started, taking a deep breath as he tried to remember what he saw and staying calm, knowing he could seriously put Damian and Bruce at a disadvantage if he had another panic attack. "They're fast and have talons on their fingers that can be retractable. Their bite is venomous and it seems like the venom is very quick to spread if you get bitten." he explained, shuddering as he remembered the kid biting that man's arm.

The trio froze when they heard the kid whistle happily and jump around like they won something big while the Talon looked defeated, a hand on his shaking head but the three vigilantes could see by his body language that he was amused by the kid celebrating even though his whole face was covered by a mask.

Damian immediately got in fighting position with his katana and signalled for Duke and Bruce to do the same as he knew that the kid wanted to fight before watching, confusion clearly written in his eyes, as the kid started taking off parts of their armour like their chest plate and throwing it on the ground until their only piece of armour were two metal pieces on both arms and legs while everything else was left open and was just covered by some black clothing that looked too big on the kid.

By the way they were taking off most of their armour, it seemed like they wanted to feel every hit on their body like a sick maniac who is eager to feel anything that brings them joy or even just a thrill of excitement and the adrenaline that comes with it.

Duke was ready with his eskrima sticks in hand and stood next to Bruce, unsure on who the assassin wanted to fight first but he was ready to help if they suddenly attacked either Bruce or Damian. The older man grabbed his batarangs and glared at the two Talons, unsure on what they wanted but ready to fight if they tried anything to hurt his family.

Damian watched in silence as the kid finished taking off most of their armour before staring back at Duke and Damian with the same smile on their face, a bit confused when he saw them frowning as he watched them. He was too late to realise what was happening when the kid whistled two tunes at the same time and stood next to the Talon.

The youngest vigilante barely had time to warn his father before the Talon suddenly attacked the man, pushing the man to a part away from the kids on the rooftop while the kid applauded as he watched the two fight. He turned to glare at the other Talon and barely had time to raise his katana to protect himself as the kid was suddenly in front of him and used his talons to scratch his face.

He struggled a bit to hold his katana, his arms shaking as the kid was pushing their talons to reach his face. Fortunately for Damian, Duke was there to rescue him by kicking the kid on the stomach, making them stumble away while holding their stomach.

But they didn't back down as the Talon quickly recovered in not even a minute and this time attacked Duke with their talons, who was ready with his eskrima sticks and defended himself before pushing their talons down and managing to punch them right in the face.

As the three fought, Bruce was fighting with the older Talon before noticing that he wasn't trying to kill him like every other fight he had with his association but instead he was trying to keep him away from his kids and the shorter Talon that was with him, making the bat vigilante confused as to what their relationship was as he never knew that Talons could form familiar relationships in the Court.

Damian frowned as he and Duke weren't strong enough to capture the kid or not even manage to make them falter slightly. He glared at the kid who was looking at their nails while waiting for the two to regain their breath, making Damian even more angry as he knew the kid was obviously making fun of him and Duke by the way they were acting.

He made a hand motion towards Duke to tell him to get ready as he ran towards the kid, starting to fight them and keep them occupied as Duke made his eskrima sticks connect to turn them into nunchaku, starting to whirled around to gain speed until Damian managed to push them away and distract them for enough time so he could hit them in the face, and in the process made their mask fall off alongside their hoodie from the way they fell.

Damian stared as the kid laid down on the rooftop floor, completely frozen as their eyes were closed before suddenly opening them and getting up with a sick smile on their face, not caring that the two vigilantes could see their face, pushing some of their hair away from their face as the hoodie let their hair free.

Damian watched in shock as he was standing right in front of [Y/N], their older sibling who was believed to be dead or missing after they disappeared 8 years ago from a car accident while on their way home after attending the kid's dance recital. The same kid who was now standing in front of him, looking no older than 12 and wearing the Talon's uniform.

He couldn't do anything as they whistled and looked at the other Talon, who pushed Bruce away and walked up to them, grabbing their stuff in the process before picking them up and walking over the rooftop edge.

He finally managed to move once he realised that he was about to let his older sibling go without doing anything and started running towards the Talon, ignoring Bruce and Duke's voices before yelling out a "[Y/N]", reaching his hand out to grab them but was too late as the Talon jumped off the roof and as he looked down they already disappeared into the night.

The only thing that he could think as he thought of everything that happened was 'I need them back', especially now that he knew that his older sibling, the one he heard so many stories about and dreamed of hanging out with them. He refused to let them leave now that he knew he would have the possibility to have them in his life.

And he would do anything to have them back.

[cemetegee]

Could Ianthe see Cytherea's Corpse?

The question if Ianthe could really see the corpse under Harrows bed, is an important approach to her character. Gaslighting Harrow would be one of the most cruel things she's done (besides of the murder of Naberius Tern) In my opinion, there are several hints that the corpse was NOT visible to anyone, and I'd like to present them to you.

But before we start, what is even the "proof" that she could see it?

I love Gideon very much, but she is an unreliable narrator. How does she want to know that? The fact that she narrates the whole book implies, that she can see The Body as well... And The Body is surely not visible to anyone else. Sure, dor The Body, it's kinda clear that it's not visible to anyone else (SINCE NOBODY EXCEPT HARROW NOTICES IT), and for Cytherea's body we have less evidence. Still, Gideon lives in Harrow's mind and can obviously see things other's don't see. Her information is not trustworthy.

Ianthe is also not trustworthy, but that doesn't mean that she didn't say the truth that time. So let's look at the facts:

Something's odd with the body. And by "odd" I mean "really odd". It starts with the fact that it just casually walks through the Mithraeum, when we see it for the first time:

Ahem, Wake, not gonna criticize you, but... Don't you think it's a little dangerous for your identity as a dead corpse, if you walk through a space ship WHERE LITERALLY ANYONE COULD SEE on your way? Except if you... Weren't visible to anybody... And only Harrow could see your for some reason...

The next thing! It's explicitly stated to the Lyctors looked for it one the whole ship! Since the corpse is an old friend of them, you'd expect they'd have a certain interest to find it...

They shall have looked everywhere, but NOT under Harrow's bed? (To be honest, since they don't really trust Harrow, you'd expect it would be one of the very first places to look for it.)

+ Jod couldn't detect it anywhere? (Well, it's Jod, it could be a lie, but why should he lie about that?) That's actually the BIGGEST hint, that something's necromantically odd with the body. It apparently can camouflage itself from being necromantically detected BY GOD HIMSELF. (Why shouldn't it also could make itself "invisible"?)

One another thing! (Or actually: several another things, that fit in the same category.) Physically things don't seem to affect her sometimes.

Like for example the wards. Why don't they affect her? Gideon seems to think they should. (Again: she's an unreliable narrator, but still, it's a hint)

Or the bone cuffs? You would expect as a physical being she should need to break them to escape. But they appear to be untouched. As if she'd just slipped out...like a ghost.

And let's look on the "Gaslighting" scene once again. Before, Wake-in-Cytherea is described as walking very clumsily:

How can she silently disappear, suddenly, in the three minutes Harrow needs to calm down in the bathroom? (Like THIS!) Something's off with the disappearing, that's for sure.

And there's also the last thing, which is actually what brought me on the Cytherea-wasn't visible train. Let's assume for a moment that Ianthe does lie about the corpse to Harrow, okay? That she CAN see it, and that she intends to invalidate Harrow's experience to make Harrow believe her perceiving wasn't trustworty. What's exactly was gaslighting is btw! (Although it's really questionable why she should do that, since Harrow obviously already doesn't believe that, one, and second... You would think that such a mysterious walking corpse is a HEAVY security risk - not only for Harrow, but also for Ianthe! - so that she better should accept it's existence if she'd see it. But okay.) If she wants to do that, why does she try to validate Harrow's perceiving in a scene before? Hm?

What she says means very much. "I believe you that the corpse HAS been moving. (I believe YOU!) But it doesn't have to be such a sinister thing as you think. Maybe there's a completely harmless explanatation for it (Like necrophilia.)" It's a try to calm her down and reassure her. How does that fit together with the destabilising of gaslighting? It doesn't fit at all...

To conclude: I believe the corpse WAS there. I mean, it must have gone somewhere after the strike on ""Ortus"", and why shouldn't the location be under Harrow's bed? But I'm not so sure, to not say that I doubt that the corpse was visible to anybody. There are just...to many strange things. I couldn't really explain what she did (someone else suspected different layers of the River as an explanatation, what I find very interesting - if you have an other theory: go ahead! I'm very interested to see it) but I really think she did something. Some things only make sense if she was either very careless or invisible and some things absolutely don't make sense without anything being strange about her.

But how to interprete Ianthe's expression during what she says (which could btw another point for the theory that the corpse wasn't visible)? I've often heard people say that Ianthe would lie about the corpse, because she thinks it would be funny to gaslight Harrow. But I ask you: does she look as if she had fun here?

My personal theory is... That she is concerned. And probably specifically concerned about her participation on the lobotomy. I mean, imagine you had played around in someone's brain with some sharp tools... Wouldn't you be concerned you've BROKEN something, if that someone would suddenly start to come up corpses which ""don't exist""? It's even a concernment she tells Harrow before. An outcome, she WOULD NOT LIKE:

I am very sure she thinks - what's not true, but I think she thinks it! - that she has damaged something permanently in Harrow's brain. (During the lobotomy.) But she can't say that, because of her vow and the Sewn Tongue. (And maybe a little bit of shame, if life is fair.)

PS: if you have any other theory, feel free to share it!

The majority said I should make this post, and I bow to the majority! I remember there was a post which included some of these points, but it seems to be gone. I feared mine could become too similar (although these *are* my points), but now that I've done it I see, that it's not so similar at all. (If someone gives me the link, I can paste it in [place where I'd paste it in]).

[birchtreecat]

Shattered hearts, Fragmented Worlds

A Live/Dreams AU that will probably never be finished after this. yall asked!!! Archive of Our Own version can be found here. Shoutout to my beta readers Ghost and Ruby :3!!!! _______________________________

Chapter 1- Aki.

She was walking home after school,  no one with her today. Kojika and Nozomi both had after-school classes, and Kichi was too far to visit. So, Aki had opted to treck the streets of eShibuya alone.  Kichi was the one who texted, offering to pop into the SEKAI as opposed to one of them walking to the other's house. Kojika and Nozomi had texted shortly after, saying they'd be there after their relative clubs and classes. Aki sent excited stickers back and texted she'd be home and able to come into the SEKAI soon. The sun was warm, the last of the summer breeze blowing gently through Aki's hair.  The streets were busy per usual, and Aki loved the routine. Seeing different- yet similar people- all live their own lives, separate yet together as the evening began filled her with an inexplicable comfort.  Upon entering her room, the air warm from her blinds being open all day, she closed her door, left a note for her parents that she'd be with friends, and pressed un

                                ti

                                                     tled…….

Cold surrounded her, a sharp contrast from the sunny, cozy air of the venue SEKAI. The triangles cleared from her view, and Aki immediately realized this wasn't the SEKAI she knew. It was the park she used to adore as a kid, familiar. The red slide, the multicolored swings on yellow framing, the chains coated with slightly soft, white plastic, her favourite spot under the fake rock that acted like a ladder to the upper part of the playground. Yet it was eerily empty. The playground was pale, looking like it had been sitting untouched for years, its paint weathered from years of rains and winds. There was none of the familiar scratches and vandalism- not even under the slide. There was no sign that anyone had ever even played on it. The paint wasn't even chipped. It was perfect, yet old all the same. The sky was grey, seeming like a storm was looming, gloomy and heavy.  There was no one there, no movement.  Not even a gentle breeze, the air almost stiff with silence. Part of Aki didn't want to shatter the silence that seemed to coat her once familiar SEKAI. To curl up, or explore the park on her own, timidly and gently. But fear- combined with her uncertainty- overpowered her quiet nostalgia. Now wasn't the time to be hidden. She had to find the others.   

She called out, ignoring the unsettling nerves that drove her heart to her throat and a pit to her stomach.

"Rin?", Her voice hitched a bit, echoing into the near-endless grey sky. But the spunky blonde didn't respond. Usually Rin would be right there, bursting with things to talk about, dragging Aki to whatever new corner she'd found.  According to the group chat and the time on her phone, the others wouldn't be here for a while. Except.. one.

"Kichi? I swear to god, I will choke you if you're playing a prank on me!" She called again, the joking threat an attempt to lighten her nerves. Her voice had a slight shake to it. She could feel the panic rising despite her familiar surroundings. She had to stay calm. Stay rational, that was what matters.  There was no answer, her voice echoing for a few seconds afterwards in the silence.  Aki shifted nervously. "Oliver…?" she cried. She climbed onto the top of the old playstructure, the footholds of the plastic rock familiar as she boosted herself to the roof on top of the slide. "Luka?" Her call became a bit worried now, pitching at the end. Her voice echoed back, and she looked around anxiously. 

"Miku?" she yelled, projecting her voice now. Her throat was getting a little pitchy and sore from her yelling. She was trying to keep her tone under control, knowing Rin would tease her if she saw how scared Aki was. She hated how quiet the world seemed, it only made her panic rise faster, threatening to overwhelm her at any moment. Flower would've been here already if she was in this strange world, so Aki opted to save her voice. Realizing she had no response from any of them, Aki sighed as she climbed down, maneuvering a bit more carefully.  It was harder to get down than it was to get up on the structure, and when she bent down to her next hold, her phone slipped out of her pocket, causing her to impulsively reach- and fall, hitting the woodchips, curling into herself in hopes of not breaking her legs. The woodchips dug into her palms, a familiar feeling, but painful all the same. Aki lifted her palms, examining them- they were slightly bloody, scuffed from the rough landing. She had to pull a few splinters, but she'd be okay. Aki reached for her phone carefully, making sure it wasn't cracked. Dusting off the dirt her phone got coated in, she sighed. She could've gotten out of this a lot sooner if she remembered to just hit pause on Untitled. Flipping her phone over, she tapped, not even unlocking her phone. But nothing happened. No triangles, no light- not even a flicker of movement or shift around her. She played and paused it, tried to skip Untitled altogether, even attempting to play her other songs. Nothing worked, and she cursed. She tried to text the group chat, but there was no signal- odd, for a world inside her phone. She put her phone in her front pocket and began to wander around the park's perimeters before seeing movement from the corner of her eye. It came from the woods, the area covered in darkness as the trees covered what little light was visible through the heavy grey clouds above her. 

"Who's there?" Her voice was strong and defensive. She moved closer, cautiously crossing the field and keeping a distance between herself and the woods.  She wasn't ready for a fight, praying whatever moved wasn't aggressive. There was a figure in the woods that surrounded the park, and she froze. Realizing they weren't moving, she tensed a bit. "I won't hurt you if you don't hurt me." The figure emerged, none other than her sister. "Aki?" Ema seemed confused, both at the world and the fact that Aki was there. Her posture was tense,yet Aki didn’t notice, simply happy she wasn’t alone, glad someone familiar was with her now. The silence was getting to her. "Ema!" Relief filled Aki's gaze, immediately relaxing from her tense position. She ran for her, expecting Ema to run back. but Ema stood still. She tackled her in a hug, but Ema seemed to tense and wiggle away from the grasp. The air seemed to become colder, the winds of the storm above them beginning to stir. 

Aki stopped, her voice hesitant now. "Ema? Is something wrong?" "Why do you never change, Aki?" Ema tilted her head, her voice unusually cool. 

Her heart dropped. Aki could feel the panic rising in her, making her body colder, making her mind race. "Wh- what do you mean, Ema? You've seen the music we make- " 

Her voice stammered, fumbling the words as they caught in her throat. 

Ema's stature stayed cold, uninviting. Aki stepped back and she stepped forward. "You know what I mean, Aki. You never changed. You're childish. Impulsive. Selfish."

The words stabbed her like a knife, twisting as her feelings suddenly shattered into pieces. She could hear things coming from the woods, getting closer. From the edge of her vision, it felt as if they were circling her- but when she turned to look, nothing was there. 

The figures finally closed around her, solid and unwavering. Aki was too panicked to see where they came from. Slowly, they took the forms of her friends- Rin, gazing at Aki with a pained look in her eyes. Kojika, her gaze hard and full of disgust. Kichi, looking away in disappointment and hurt. Nozomi, hiding herself in her cardigan whilst she stared, sadness and betrayal in her eyes. Aki backed off, trying to get away as horror filled her thoughts. Logically, they wouldn't say this. Aki knew that. She should know that. Yet, she still shrunk into herself. She wanted to believe that they wouldn't do this to her. That her panic was being irrational, that this wasn't real. But it felt too real. This was what everyone wanted to truly say, wasn't it? That she was annoying, and they only stayed because of pity for her. She spiraled, believing what they said as her loved ones clamoured around her. 

"You only talk when you want to, never when I need you to" Kichi's voice was sharp and charged with anger, biting into Aki. His glare made her look straight to Kojika, the first to have befriended Aki. 

Kojika's gaze only hardened. "I was wrong about you. Why did you do that, Aki?" Kojika's voice was full of disgust like Aki had committed something horrible. Aki didn't know what she meant. 

"What- do what, Koji- I can fix it, I'm sorry-" Aki sobbed, reaching for Kojika just as she turned away. She looked around and locked eyes with Nozomi, usually kind and quiet to her. Hope lit Aki's eyes for a moment. "N..Nozomi..?"

"... They're right, Aki. You're happy, and that's all that matters. We never did." Nozomi accused, her eyes searching Aki's gaze with pity and sadness. Nozomi's thin hair blew in the wind. If not for the situation, Aki would've thought it was pretty. Nozomi was clearly hurt by something. Did Aki do this? Did she hurt them all? What did she do? "Guys- please, I'll fix it- please, I'm sorry, what did I do?" Aki's voice was getting shrill and desperate, tears flowing down her cheeks as she watched all of her friends walk away. She debated chasing them but waited. Hesitated. She turned around, her tears stopping momentarily to see her sister behind her. Ema's gaze was cold and unbothered. Aki was vulnerable. Hopeful. Her sister would make everything better, right?

 "Your friends all agree, Aki. If you care about them, let them go."

There wasn't the usual warmth to Ema's voice. 

Aki's last hope died then and there, the words hitting like a knife to her chest. Her eyes glimmered with tears once more. "So it was my fault…" she murmured, her tears falling gently. It finally began to rain, cold and harsh on Aki's skin. The others walked away, and Aki stood in the field of the park, rain showering down on her. Minutes passed, and it felt like time had stopped.  When she was sure everyone had at least gotten far enough, she let out a scream. Loud and harrowing, almost feral. Triangles stabbed into her heart, shredding and shattering it beyond recognition. Self-blame swirled like the rain in the wind. She screamed and sobbed, shaking. The wind whirled and howled around her, as if joining in her grief. They were right. She only ever hurt people, even with her best intentions. No matter how hard she tried, she always wound up hurting everyone, didn't she? 

The rain continued pouring, and Aki solemnly began to walk back to the playground. She was too tired to be soaking wet. She had to fight the wind that seemed to push her three steps back every time she tried to take one. Finally ducking under the playground and huddling under the plastic rock, she sat and listened to the rain patter against it. watching as the woodchips around her dampened in the rain. She shivered, the cold wind making her dripping clothes feel icy on her skin. The smell of wood and rain mixed in her nose, and the thought of staying forever rooted itself in her mind. She almost gave it the time to form, to convince her. Why face reality and grow up when her childhood was here?

Why bother, when nobody would get hurt if she just let their world go?

Aki began to hiccup, trying her best to calm down and slow her breaths. It was cold, she was wet, and her anxieties were right. Yet, part of her enjoyed the sound of the rain against her ear, and she smiled at the empty, yet comforting feeling blooming inside of her. The feeling of drifting away. Solitude was unfamiliar, but it felt nice. Maybe she could stay like this, even if only for a bit. 

A voice called. Aki flinched, not expecting it. She came back to her senses, finding herself a little warmer but still dripping from the rain. She didn't move, hearing the voice call again as she shifted. Accidentally moving the woodchips in the process, she remained hidden. The voice was tense but familiar. 

Kojika. But that wasn't right. She hated Aki, didn't she? Everyone did. 

Chapter 2- Kichi

He ducked into his room with a half-eaten package of chocolate cookies, crumbs scattering on his rug and hardwood floor. Flopping into the gaming chair under his loft bed and leaning back into it, his phone buzzed with a text that Aki was heading into the SEKAI. He woke his computer up. 

Navigating to the music folder and hitting Untitled, he expected to be met with Oliver's playful grin from the branch of the Venue SEKAI's tree, or Flower's gravely voice as she chased Oliver around. Yet, when the triangles cleared, he gazed around in slight shock, almost immediately hitting pause on Untitled before hesitating as the gears clicked in his head. This was his old room, the space-themed bedsheets and wall decor hitting him with a burst of longing. He hadn't seen this room since he was five, and it took him back to simpler times. Before his mom left and before his dad was overworked beyond belief. Before Aki transferred to a different middle school, then to Miyamasuzaka Girls' Academy. Before it felt like things had fallen apart.

A voice he hadn't heard in almost 8 years called his father down for breakfast. He poked his head out of his room into the hallway. His mother stood at the end of the hall, and a wave of emotion flooded him. His mother was just as Kichi remembered- her thick, dark hair cut into a bob cut, her favorite white apron turned pink when Kichi had thrown his red blankets into the wash with it, the smell of lavender and honey gently floating from her, and her bear-themed slippers, matching the brown in her eyes. 

"Kichi! Get up, little sleepyhead, or I'll have to drag you out!! You still want to go to the zoo, right?" His mother called, not looking into the hallway. Her voice was warm and teasing, something Kichi hadn't heard since he was 7. By god did he miss how comforting it was to him.

He looked at the chalkboard calendar on his door. July 18th, 2015.  His mom had circled the day with a playful drawing of a pudgy, round giraffe. He remembered this- it was the day he got lost at the zoo. The day his mom left. The realization sent a jab of sadness through him.

Kichi sucked in his breath. He had been avoiding this memory for god knows how long, shoving it deep into the back of his mind. There were too many questions that came with her leave, and he had given up on trying to find answers to them long ago. Seeing his mother before him felt so surreal, as if it were a dream. Wait- is this a dream?

He slipped back into his room, shutting his door gently. He was definitely still himself as far as he was aware. He was still tall and felt like he could accidentally stomp down the entire room if he wasn't careful. He still had his school uniform on, and it was definitely the Kamiyama High uniform. Still.. he gave it a shot. Wake up, Kichi. Cmon, Dad's probably made salmon..

No shock awake. He pinched himself, and felt it. He pulled his phone out, and his lockscreen told him it was still 2023- he still had his photos with Oliver and the other Vocaloid in the Venue SEKAI, photos of when Live/Dreams formed earlier in their fall semester. So I haven't traveled back in time. Otherwise, my photos wouldn't be here..

  So what exactly is going on?

He slipped back into his room for a moment, letting himself breathe in the scent of his old room. The little white bedframe still had his old moon lamp balanced on top of the post above his pillow, bathing the room in a cozy, gentle white light. It couldn't be memory, and Kichi figured it couldn't be a dream from the way he could still feel and notice every little detail. He didn't know how his mother or father would react to his grown-self if he was only 6 or 7 in this.. universe? World? He couldn't tell. He tried to text his friends, but he was met with no signal. If he could find Oliver or even Miku, maybe he'd be able to find the others. He knew he could always just pause untitled. Yet, part of him hesitated to do that. This was the last time he had seen his mom. Aki will be okay to wait for me a while longer.. right? 

He finally left his room. Walking down the hall into the kitchen with the tiny dining table and a seat much too small for him now, Kichi faced his mother. 

He gazed into a near identical copy of his own eyes, his mother's crows feet evident around her eyes. 

She didn't miss a beat, kissing him on the cheek before telling him to sit. 

"Kichi, it looks like you've seen a ghost!" His mother teased, light and affectionate. "Did you have a bad dream?"

He sat in shock before hesitantly stammering. 

"M-mom?" Kichi's mind whirled. Why wasn't she surprised? Shouldn't she be scared, or worried? Why hadn't she reacted to him? He was so much older than he was when this day took place. 

"Kichi? Are you okay?" His mother put her hand on his shoulder, looking into his eyes with geneuine concern. 

"I.. you.. you left.. Why aren't you shocked, or worried or something-" Kichi let his feelings out, trying to keep his voice from yelling, his fists from shaking something. His voice hitched. 

"Kichi, what are you talking about?" His mother's voice was warm. So warm. Can I just stay like this? he wondered. Aki.. Rin would be with you… You'll be okay if I stay here for a bit..

And with that, Kichi let himself lay on his mother for the first time since he was 7. His dad was here, too. The monsters of his current life melted away, like they were on the run from the warmth his parents being together brought him. Was it real? He didn't know. If it was, he wouldn't mind living like this. The others would be okay on their own. And with that, Kichi let himself feel the warmth and care he had been yearning for. The real world could wait, if he could stay like this for just a bit longer.

Chapter 3- Kojika

The girl blinked away the warm yellow lights that changed her surroundings. Instead of her middle school language hall, she was now in a seemingly abandoned park. The paint of the playground was faded and worn down. Rain poured down, thunder booming in the distance. She shuddered a bit, the air cold and damp. She was under the pavilion, the steel tables miraculously shiny despite the careless state of the playground. This was arguably much worse than where she came from weather-wise, considering it was sundown and clear skies when she had been teleported to the park. Yet Kojika found herself smiling a bit in relief despite the storm swirling around her. She was okay. It wasn't real. She'd be okay. She tried untitled again, still getting nothing. Her phone still had no service either. She couldn't shake the feeling something- or someone- was also here. She walked around the pavilion, not wanting to get soaked unless she had to. She heard a hiccup, quiet yet pitchy, coming from the worn-down playground, followed by a few woodchips getting kicked out from under the plastic rock. 

"Hello~? Is anyone there?" she called, her voice tense but loud and clear. She didn't want to scare anyone, but she was freaked out herself.

Who- or whats- here with me?

She tried again, unsure if she was loud enough to be heard over the rain. There was no response. The rain still poured down, the ground an entire puddle at this point. Kojika sighed, ensuring her phone would be safe in her schoolbag, before making a straight bolt for it and ducking under the play structure. She almost immediately got drenched.  She stood under the flooring of the play structure, watching the rain for a moment, dripping like a wet cat.  A gentler hiccup sounded, and she jumped, hitting her head on the flooring above her. "..Aki?" Kojika asked, relief and a smile crossing her face as she rubbed her head, a small bump growing already. "Good god, I thought I'd never find you guys. Are 'Chi or Nozo with you?" Kojika asked eagerly, reaching out.  Aki curled away. 

"D.. don't you hate me..?" Her voice was quiet. Barely audible against the rain. Kojika almost thought Aki didn’t say anything, still weary of what just happened to her before finding the park. She didn't know what had happened, but it had evidently left the younger girl shaken. She gently shuffled over to Aki, kneeling as close as she could with Aki under the plastic rock. Kojika put her hand on Aki’s lowered head between her half-up buns, in an attempt to comfort her whilst keeping her distance. 

Kojika and Aki stayed like that for a moment, listening to the rain as it kept pouring, both of them now having the only dry spot in the park.  “… I don’t know what you went through, or what you saw, Aki. I don’t even know what’s going on now.. but if it’s anything like what I just went through.." Kojika's voice was gentle, going quiet as the memories of what she'd seen before finding Aki flooded her. 

The way her old friends ignored her so suddenly. The way she had fought for them, time and time again, only to be met with a cold shoulder. The warmth leaving the group, leaving her to watch when her favourite people pretended she didn't exist anymore. 

But now wasn't the time to think about that. She couldn't think about them, now, otherwise she'd be a wreck once again. 

".. I'm here for you, okay..?" she finished. Almost a murmur, as she felt her heart drop. Part of Kojika wanted to run. To get far away, and never contact the others again. She knew she had an issue with leaving people in the dust. The guilt would consume her for a few weeks, and she'd move on, burning any memory of those she had gotten close with in the process. 

But Live/Dreams was different. They always had been. She can't do that to them.

Aki lifted her head, her eyes uncertain and fearful.  Kojika smiled softly, before getting out from under the plastic rock and reaching out her hand to help Aki up. The rain slowed down, and Aki gently took Kojika's hand, wiping the last of her tears off on her pantlegs before getting up. Kojika didn't run into the rain this time, opting to gently lead them to the pavilion she had first found herself in whilst the storm slowed to a gentle drizzle. Using her backpack to cover them once again, Kojika simply gently took Aki's hand, ensuring she wouldn't lose her on the way to the pavilion. With how weird things have been, she wouldn't be surprised if they got separated in some way if they didn't hold hands. Kojika sat down on one of the steel tables, watching Aki take a seat next to her on one of the attached benches. She noticed the rain had nearly entirely stopped. Aki sniffled. Kojika could tell by the way she was tensed and avoidant that Aki wanted to leave as soon as possible. 

She's going to leave me, isn't she? The thought hit like a bullet. It was never easy to forget them even when Kojika tried to. She had to constantly remind herself as she comforted Aki. She won't leave. She doesn't know. She cares about you even if it might all be an act. She's not going to leave you. The band won't leave you. At least not until they graduate.They won't leaveThey won't leave.

they have to move on one day.

"Hey, Aki? You haven't seen a way out of here, have you?" Kojika asked, her voice gentle and with her usual, light and casual tone. She actively tried to ignore what she- and Aki- had been through. Seems like they'd both had some tough shit tonight. 

Aki snapped out of her distant gaze, jumping a bit before shaking her head. "Ah- uhm. I haven't found a way out, yet. It feels like I just got here.. how about you? I didn't see you earlier." Her voice was tired. A hint of hesitation crossed her when she asked about Kojika, causing her mind to be flooded again with what happened before.

Nobody actually liked you

You're just forgettable.

You're stupid, thinking we were your friends.

We never wanted you here.

"Actually- there was a glow, different from the rest of what was around me. It looked like one of the triangles we see when we pop in usually?" Kojika thought for a moment after snapping herself out of the quickly moving thought train, brushing it off and praying Aki didn't notice.  "I didn't see any of the vocaloids, but when I went to touch it, I wound up here." Her voice was casual, hoping to whatever Vocaloid god made this sekai that Aki wouldn't press for more. She didn't want to go in-depth, the trauma still relatively fresh on her mind. Best as she tried to hide it, Kojika was still very emotionally shaky from the whole ordeal. Coherent thoughts and a clear mind one moment, the next fighting the urge to ask if Aki truly wanted to be her friend, or if it was all just some game to her. Aki's Aki for fucks sake. She'd never hurt me on purpose. Kojika got lost as she mulled over what else she might've done to get her out of the area. Aki got up and began to wander the pavilion, before pausing at a little triangle floating on the edge of the pavilion. It was green and had an ominous feel to it.

 "Uhm. Kojika? Was this there before?" she asked hesitantly. Her voice was still quiet, and she had to clear her throat to snap Kojika out of her thoughts. Jumping a bit before looking in Aki's direction, Kojika hopped off the table and stood beside Aki. The triangle gently floated, unmoving. She felt her heart tug, a deep longing striking her as if she was chasing something she'd never had in the first place. 

"Was it like this with me, Koji..?" Aki's voice was quiet, her hand on her chest. Aki had been quiet this entire time- a stark contrast from their usual combined chaos and yelling. 

Kojika thought. "Kind of. Yours was sharper and stronger. More.. more desperate. This one feels.. dark, though. Consuming almost." Her tone was thoughtful, and she glanced at Aki reassuringly despite her own nerves. "We'll be okay. If anything, we'll probably find Nozomi or Kichi after.."

Aki nodded, noticeably still shaken. 

Kojika wondered briefly if they should leave without the others.

They'd leave you behind if you didn't find them first

You're only there because you forced them to let you in the band.

You're just clingy and dense.

She shook herself out of her head. They deserve to get out of here, too. They wouldn't leave me behind… They're not like them…. right?

Chapter 4- Nozomi

Nozomi was the last to enter the sekai, archery club taking longer than usual.  She was already slightly worried with nobody answering her texts after they entered it. Aki and Kichi went in around the same time, so she was sure they'd be okay. Kojika, on the other hand, went in alone. Sure, the Venue SEKAI was relatively small and hard to get lost in as long as they stayed behind the courtyard walls, but Nozomi still worried. She knew Kojika liked to explore. Surely she wasn't lost, right? Even then, she would've hit untitled to get back to the real world..  She rubbed the edge of her cardigan sleeve as she opened the door to her aunt's house. She had homework and wasn't even sure if the rest of Live/Dreams were still in the SEKAI, but hit play to Untitled anyway. Just in case. She'd be quick, right?

The familiar triangles faded. She found herself in the presumed green room of the Venue SEKAI- but things were different. Aki's computer and the discs for her voicebank collection weren't there. Nozomi's spare Omnichord carrying case wasn't in the room, either- and neither was Kichi's collection of instruments, or Kojika's favourite microphone stand. It seemed more set up for a dance show, with old pointe shoes and worn toe-guards scattered around the room. A fresh pair of frilled shoes sat before her, as well as a brand-new leotard and tutu set. The shoes were a light sage green and white, the ribbons somehow perfectly cut to her liking. She hadn't danced in years, and yet… could she remember her old routines? The way she leaped and twirled without losing her balance on the very tips of her feet, how she felt like a bird when she practiced alone on a stage. No one to criticize every minuscule thing she did wrong, every misstep or stumble she had. Could she feel like that again?

She looked at herself in the mirror, taking in her appearance. Her hair wasn't in a fancy bun or braid as she'd often done as a child, but she still smiled as she took the costume in. The green complimented her brown hair and sage-green eyes that shined the way they used to under the spotlight. A familiar feeling spread through her- the rush of anticipation before stepping out on stage. She reached for the green room's handle and peeked beyond the door. Instead of finding the familiar cozy, worn-down stage of the Venue SEKAI, Nozomi faced a giant stage and amphitheater. Her last venue. It was something she'd buried deep down, the memory hitting her like a truck now as tears jumped to her eyes. She scanned the empty rows of seats before her eyes, tickets to each on every other armrest. Nobody was there. Not even her parents. And so, with no one to see her, she took a breath and began the memory of her final dance. Her tutu bounced, she leaped and stretched and twirled to an imaginary music track that ran in her mind. It was perfect- like she had never stopped dancing all those years ago. She let her tears flow freely. Nostalgia and yearning mixed with the salty water that dripped onto the stage, splattering as the dance flicked the tears from her cheeks. She felt like she was floating across the stage, leaping higher as the violin and piano built midway through, her gait and posture perfect. Standing on pointe as if she'd never stopped, as if her feet had never spread out to a somewhat-normal position after years of wearing normal shoes. 

As if she were in a dream, she suddenly found herself in the wings of the stage. Her dance teacher announced the ending performance- "Final Duet." An irony, considering it was a solo dance. Her final dance. She peeked from the curtain, scanning the audience one last time. She wiped her tears, and made sure she could breathe. As she was about to close the curtan and step out, she saw one thing. There, in the very front center of the seats were her parents. She sucked her breath in. Her cue sounded.  As she lept into a pirouette, she felt the warmth of the spotlight shine on her.

And she stumbled. She fell flat on her face, her form failing her. The audience gasped, her track continuing. She picked herself up, attempting to catch up with her track before stumbling again. And again. Each time catching more murmurs from the crowd, each time feeling both parents' glares harden. The curtains closed, the song ceasing at the climax, feeling sudden and cut off. She had failed, horribly, despite practicing that routine every night.

She was perfect.

Why did she mess up so badly?

Sure, it had been three years since she danced.

But she did it so flawlessly just before. Not even ten minutes ago, she did it perfectly. She could still see where her tears had fallen onto the stage.

It felt like hours had passed by in minutes. Nozomi was the last to perform, and thus the last to enter and leave the green room. Listening to the gentle bustle of the crowd leaving, she sat until things had almost entirely quieted down. She felt numb. Useless. All the energy and happiness she had felt had dissipated, leaving her empty and cold. What good was she, if she spent all this time and still failed?

 She finally slipped into her grey cardigan, white shirt, black jeans, and ebony-green shoes once again, tears clouding her vision. It had been about 10 minutes, and she knew her parents would be angry if she waited any longer. Tying up her vans, she stepped into the back hall of the concert venue, meeting her parents halfway down. Her mother took her by the hand, her grip firm. Nozomi panicked internally, forgetting how angry her mother was. She simply followed her mother's lead into the car, too on edge to say anything. Silence crackled in the air. Nozomi almost wished her mother would do something, say something. But she didn't.

Her father was asleep already, tired from a long day of work.

Her mother kept her strict gaze on the road, her knuckles white on the wheel. The radio was shut off abruptly at a stoplight as the station took an ad break, leaving Nozomi to stew in the silence. 

Nozomi began to disassociate, getting stuck in her head as her thoughts spiraled. 

You must've not tried hard enough. If you only watched your posture. If you hadn't looked for your parents in the crowd. If you hadn't been focused on your feelings. If only.. If only.. If only…

The drive home seemed to never end. They passed her favourite restaurant, something she was anticipating. It was usually a tradition for them to celebrate her dances after every performance her parents actually attended. They passed the tree nursery, saplings leaning gently to and fro as the gardener gave them water in the early moonlight. Passed her school, the cheers for the football team audible even from the streets, chalk cannons blasting the blue and black colours of school pride. There was still at least an hour of traffic to go through. Her mother began to scold her, her voice harsh and cutting. If Nozomi cried now, her mother would get her father to join in. She couldn't go anywhere. She was trapped by what she wanted most, reminded of why she was taken to her aunt's house for good. Why her parents left her, why she wasn't allowed to visit.

She was a good-for-nothing kid.

And that's all she'll ever be.

[lured-into-wonderland]

“Preferences for a mug for today or for a mug that we are going to get for me soon?” – she asked cheerfully; it would be too much to say that Nunnally got used to this kind of conversation with Ravein, when she had to fill in gaps or missing information. She had never considered herself to be too good at it, but it wasn't that she minded it too much either.

She had always lived in an environment clouded with secrecy, although Nunnally might not have been always aware of it. Though she perceived Ravein secretive, she didn't see his silent nature in the same way as she was thinking about her own father. Mr. Ambly des Ayvalles. Her father.

Even during the times she believed he was merely a successful businessman, her father had spoken little, often leaving her to guess or figure things out on her own. Perhaps he thought he had been clear enough? Nunnally could never truly decide. The ambiguity of his words and actions created a veil of mystery around him; one she rarely dared to penetrate. Even back then. When he was j u s t her father. It was now much clearer for her as she reflected on her childhood and early teen years trying to identify what had gone so wrong. After she had learnt the truth...

With her father, she preferred not to ask questions, fearing the disappointment of trying and failing to understand (or rather to please) him. His silence was a wall she had learned to navigate around rather than to confront. This unspoken distance between them left her feeling isolated (unhappy even), always yearning for a connection that seemed just out of reach.

In contrast, Roberto’s kitchen, with its warm, inviting atmosphere, offered a different environment. Here, she felt (more) comfortable and relaxed, even though she was surrounded by unfamiliar things and sights. The presence of Ravein added a layer of comfort, a stark difference from the guarded interactions she had grown accustomed to at home. Or rather in her life in general.

Probably that was the reason Nunnally continued speaking not really giving Ravein any time to proceed with a reply in his notebook.

“Any mug will do for now…I like the thin edges though…”

A pause.

“I like all various shades of blues…Oranges or reds…” – true, she liked intense colours, but it was also a sort of a new situation for her, when she was to decide what she wanted. She had learnt not to care about details like that. But her very own mug here… Well, that was a much more difficult decision in Nunnally's eyes.

What would she like?

Initially she had thought 'birds' or 'ladybugs' or 'polka dots'. While she would surely like all of them, Nunnally suddenly thought they might be too a v e r a g e for a special occasion like this one: getting her mug here. But what would be special?

“Anything that you choose Ravein…” – she said realizing that it was not about the mug but about getting it together with him – “You know…” – she continued slightly surprising herself with that – “It’s not really about the mug but about getting it with you…”

“But I like birds… and intense colors…” – Nunnally added, feeling unusually relaxed. In her ease, she reached out to fix his hair, a gesture so natural for her that she forgot to be cautious. Though he showed no visible reaction, the moment she withdrew her hand, she realized her mistake. She should have asked for p e r m i s s i o n before touching him. She suddenly remembered how uncomfortable Ravein was with anyone, except perhaps Roberto, invading his personal space. Though was he comfortable with Roberto? She had never witnessed these two interacting without her being involved (mainly in a bad way), so she could not be sure either.

The realization brought a faint flush of embarrassment onto her cheeks. She had overstepped a boundary. Again. What was a causal form of intimacy for her, was probably something else for Ravein. Nunnally had only hoped that he would understand that her gesture had come from a place of affection and not disregard for his feelings.: --

“I…I am sorry.” – she hoped he would understand what she was apologizing for as she didn’t find it in herself to provide more explanation.

And she simply focused on preparing the drinks. Though his return to his chair poured some hope that her overstepping was not as much unwelcomed as she initially had thought.

He was confused. What was so funny? A small head tilt to the side as he stared at Nunnally laughing. He could tell that somehow she was laughing at something involving him, but it didn’t bother him any. He didn’t sense any mal-intent behind her laughter, but perhaps she found something silly or endearing that caused her laughter. Whatever the case, it was better than seeing her upset earlier, so this was a nice change of pace.

For the most part, he kept out of her way as much as he could by sitting down on the stool, watching as she’d move about in the kitchen, trying to figure her way around to prepare to beverages: one for himself and the other for Roberto. The latter had gone to attend to the customers out at front, and he remained in the kitchen with Nunnally, watching her every move with curiosity and interest.

It was interesting how Nunnally had started to hum a song, one that was unfamiliar to him, but he had to admit that it was a pleasant tune. It felt like it was one that brought her joy, or was reminiscent of happier times in her life- and if that were the case, he’d be happy. The mindless humming or singing often were signs of being in a pleasant mood, so it was nice to see that she must have felt comfortable enough to start humming.

Yes, for anyone who knew Roberto and Ravein for any amount of time, they probably would have a good guess which mug belonged to whom, but they may have still ben surprised that Ravein would choose such a cute mug for himself.

What would be a fitting mug for Nunnally? Ravein wasn’t very sure, but he somehow had an image of flowers suiting her, maybe something with brighter colors. There was also something that told him that maybe she’d like a cute animal theme as well… maybe a cat or a bear? Those were cute, and people liked those (this is what he gathered from the times that Roberto would do art on drinks for kids, they usually asked for things like cats or cute bears).

She didn't have a dedicated mug for herself now, but he and Roberto could probably find one for her soon. Her mug from before was left at the table, so for now... they should choose another one for her.

[Okay] [Preferences?]

The ex-assassin has always been acutely aware of his surroundings and is sensitive to the movement of others, so he noticed when Nunnaly turned to him and moved closer to him. Trained in keeping his emotions steady, he didn’t reveal a change of expression, nor could anyone notice if his body went stiff at her approach. Perhaps the only thing one could notice was that for a few seconds, he held his breath.

When she moved some locks of hair out of his face, he blinked in surprise. He was unnerved by the approach, but it was a testament that he was willing to trust her in the way that he allowed her to even touch him. He really was doing his best to learn to trust her and to feel safe around her- despite the ‘family business’.

Getting up from his seat, he walked over to where Roberto kept his coffee beans and opened the cabinet to reveal an assortment of containers full of coffee beans, all neatly labelled with their origin, the roast, and the date of when they were procured. He returned to his seat afterwards, returning to being a quiet observer once again. Not that he ever really made much sound to begin with.

[sakumz]

____________________________________________

[ a. harumasa x fem reader ]

____________________________________________

" come on the situation isn't that bad, " harumasa says as yanagi shakes her head.

" you're right, it isn't that bad. " you mocked, " it's terrible! " you slam open the door of section six office, as all heads turn to you. what was the section one slave doing here? sure you were in charge of checking their files here and there, same with them to yours. harumasa drop the file yanagi handed him earlier upon your arrival. sweat dripping down his forehead. was it really that terrible?

" ms l/n, you reek of alcohol. " miyabi starts as she gets down from her stool, hand on the hilt of her sword as you shake your head.

" wasn't section one having a party to celebrate your newly promoted chief? " soukaku questions.

" I only drank one can, I'm not drunk! " you scold.

" anyways you're all allowed to go home, except you, mr asaba harumasa! " they didn't press further but obliged, yanagi can only pray you go easy on him.

" come on was it that terrible? " you can't help but glare dangers. his work these days are incomprehensible. he was supposed to write a report about the recent hollow case. was it that hard to recall everything from start to finish without missing any details? he didn't even describe what ethereals was in it.

" yes it was, " you jab a finger to his chest, making him fall back on his chair. he swiddle around before pushing himself to his table.

" please rewrite the report or I'll make you write more. " he sighs, playfully putting his head down. you lean down to meet his face as he close his eyes. was he going to sleep?

" hey, don't sleep, " you poke his forehead as he shot up straight.

" if you're gonna stay with me, why don't you write it? I'll tell you the details, " you can't help but let out a frustrated sigh. was he really not going to do his work? it's just one report!

" you'll be free to go if you complete this earlier, you know. "

" I don't feel like doing it... " he sighs as he place his head down again.

few minutes past as awkward silence engulfs the room, you pull the chair next to his. he's eating up your time. how can he fall asleep after a scolding? or a bickering... either way how can he sleep during a situation like this!

" hey, if you do this report I'll do whatever you want. " you ruffle his hair, as he sat straight, stretching as he look at you, eyes beaming at your words.

" anything you say? " he teased as you regret your words.

" yes anything, but you better write the report correctly and properly within one hour! " you watch as he quickly turns on the computer smashing keys after keys as he ponders in between. it's pretty comical how he suddenly wants to vanquish his report.

you glance at the clock from time to time, he's focused on the task at hand. with one final key smash, his paper was printed as he went to grab it for you. handing it over as he stood in front of you. you flip and skim through the pages, pleased that whatever he wrote at least made sense and is connected.

" well, goodjob and thanks for the report. I'll submit it for you, " you stood up as his hands quickly fly over to your shoulder, pressing you back down on the chair. he's got you trap between him.

" are you forgetting something, miss? " he leans forwards, staring into your soul as a blush finds its way over to your face. this is the first he's ever been close to you. you push the paper over to your face, trying to cover your face and calm your raging heart.

" what did I-I forget? " how you wish you didn't tell him, you'll do whatever he wants, so he'll finish his report and let you go home at least before midnight.

he pulls the paper down, smirking at your shyness or fake ignorance. you didn't forget the promise.

" I was gonna ask for a date for my hardwork but maybe a date isn't enough. " you stare at him as your blush just keeps growing. your hands starts to feel sweaty, is this guy serious?

" be my girlfriend. " he smiles as you push him off but he doesn't budge.

" I say I'll do whatever you want- "

" do be my girlfriend, " he beams even brighter if that was even possible.

" and as my girlfriend, you should give your very hardworking boyfriend a kiss for doing a goodjob on his report, " he purse his lips, making a ' muah ' sound.

maybe it's time to face the music, you do like him and you hope this isn't a prank or anything. you did say you'll do whatever and if what he says it's true he did save a lot of time from beating around the bush and confessing.

" are you being serious right now? " he stop as he looks at you offended.

" I'm always serious when it's you, girlfriend. " he winks as you cringe.

" come on, give me that kiss and we can go home! "

you close your eyes and lean in, aiming to give a kiss to his cheek but he was quick to lean in and steal your lips with his. your eyes shot open, his place a hand behind your head. when he pulls away to catch his breath, you were starstruck. he leans again as you slap your hands over his.

" you said a kiss. " you can't help the silly smile threatening to crawl when he pouts, shoulder dropping at the rejection. he pulls away as he stood up, taking your hand in his lips.

" fine fine, more kisses will come anyways. let's take you home, " he drags you away and walks you to your apartment.

when he bids you farewell at your doorstep, he did kiss you once again. wishing you a very goodnight as you said the same.

to say the least this bro won't do shit when he's feeling extra tired or lazy so you'll have to step in and reward him with kisses or hugs and mostly both. it has been an occurrence in section six almost everyday, that yanagi has to physically pry you away when harumasa can't let go of you when he hugs you. you pat his head as you say goodbye as he weeps on his desk jokingly...

[enbyfvcker]

["Merry Christmas, Honey Badger!"]

𝙒𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙭 𝙇𝙤𝙜𝙖𝙣 (𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙩!𝙬𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙚)

𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩: 0.6k

𝙎𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙮/𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙩: Wade sets a Christmas Party.

𝙏𝙖𝙜𝙨: Fluff, comfort, just them being all cute and domestic and Logan not being used to affection.

.

.

.

Wade always made a point to decorate the apartment on holidays and celebrate them properly. He didn't had that on his fucked up childhood, so it's important to him. Althea told Logan that, so he was playing along even though he didn't really care about those things. He cares about Wade.

Wade gave him really cheesy matching Christmas sweaters with their faces on them, and he hated them. But he wore it anyway. Logan wearing the one with a little Deadpool and Wade wearing one with a little Wolverine.

It was stupid, but it made Wade happy. Logan liked him smiling, even if he wouldn't admit it.

"We look so cute, peanut! Don't you think, Al? Oh, right, you can't see."

"Fuck off, jerk." The old lady spat.

"Well, I wish you could smell how adorable we look right now."

Logan grinned and shook his head. He was doing this more often, he realized. Smiling.

Mary Puppins walks in with her tongue out and Wade quickly scoops her up, the dog licking his face excitedly.

"Come to daddy, baby!"

"Oh, god. You got one for the dog, too?" Logan scowl when he sees dogpool wearing a little Christmas sweater just like them.

"Of course I did! She's our daughter!" The merc replies, holding Mary Puppins up as she wiggles. "Aren't you the cuttest little thing? Yes, you are!"

...

Wade invited the whole gang over: Laura, Yukio, Ellie, Peter... other side characters who didn't have any lines... And he may have cooked a feast - wearing his little "Kiss the cook" apron - and got gifts for everyone. He's cheesy like that. He's got a family now, and he doesn't take them for granted.

It was opening gifts time, and everyone was exchanging presents and there were a lot of "thank you's" and hugs.

It was still all foreign to Logan. He lived the past years all alone, and holidays like this used to be all the same to regular days where he would just drown himself in bottles of whiskey and be miserable.

But this family was nice. He felt like if Wade did, then he could belong, too.

Maybe he wasn't the Wolverine he should be, but Laura still seemed to like him and wanted to bond with him despite how fucked up he is. Wade adored him, and his friends were all kind to him.

Maybe he didn't have to be miserable forever. Maybe he could put his past behind and make a future in this new universe.

"For you." Wade announced, holding out a small wrapped box in front of Logan who was sitting on the couch. "Open."

Logan took the box and Wade sits beside him, tapping his fingers excitedly on his knees.

He unwraps it and when he opens it he sees dog tags that looked very alike the ones he had. He lost them in his universe while he was black out drunk.

But as he grabbed to examine them, he noticed this one's different.

On one side, it read: 𝙇𝙤𝙜𝙖𝙣, and when he turned it around, it read:

"𝘽𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙒𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙚"

He could feel his heart aching as he grabbed the tags tight.

"Did you make this?"

"Yeah! I didn't really know what to get you, so I- Oh my god- Are you crying?!"

"No." Logan lied, fighting back an insistent tear.

"Oh god, I can't believe I made Wolverine cry!"

"Shut up."

"Come here, honey badger." Wade coos, hugging Logan in a soft embrace.

Logan doesn't hug back, but he also doesn't pull away. He wouldn't admit, but he needed it a bit. So he just sniffed as he let Wade hold him.

And he may hide it under his shirts, but after that, he never took the tags off. Rubbing them affectionately like he used to do with his old ones. Except these were so more meaningful.

[End.]

Hope you liked it! I wanted to make a cute poolverine holiday fic, so he ya go! Them being all cute and domestic it's so important to me.

[rei-ismyname]

Logan shouldn't be allowed near children

I know that's a loaded title but I stand by it. There's obviously an element of Flanderisation going on but considering his stated reason for opening the Jean Grey school he is far too eager to murder children.

Why TF is he leaping at children, snarling with his claws out? Check out the frothing drool.

For example, in All-New X-Men, the O5 have just been bought to the future by Hank McCoy. He stops teaching his violence through yelling class and heads out the front, leaping at the 16 year olds with his claws out. Not Hank, who brought them there but clearly traumatised children - while screaming like a lunatic of course. Even if he's not trying to kill them, what purpose does terrifying them serve? He clearly IS trying to kill them, though. I'm sure his students would love to see their headmaster butcher confused children in front of them.

Unsurprisingly, he scares the fuck out of them. In part influenced by constant threats of his violence, the O5 steal the X-Jet and flee, explicitly doubting this guy is an X-Man. His thoughts about the 16 year old Jean Grey... No dude, this isn't the Jean you know. She's a child you've tried to kill. Fucking creep.

This one is great. Young Scott has enough going on without this frothing beast advocating for his immediate execution as punishment for his future self's actions. Out front of the school with literally everyone watching. He's using his authority to advocate for slaughtering a child. Thankfully nobody agrees with him, but this is traumatic, terrifying, and affects Scott especially so badly he runs away.

No wonder he freaks out and leaves. Obviously the headmaster of a school should drop what he's doing, not for his wellbeing but to get his bike back. How is he in charge of anyone's wellbeing or moral instruction? He demands absolute obedience while doing nothing to deserve it. It's all about how Logan feels.

Here he is trying to gut a 15 year old Wiccan for having Scarlet Witch vibes, not for the or last time. I'm a little surprised he remained an Avenger after this. When you have knives for hands everyone looks like a pincushion. Except that's not it, because everyone else is a living weapon too and they mostly manage to be somewhat rational.

Why are his claws out here? Is he trying to kill him? What did he expect after threatening and traumatizing him? Snarling and shouting like an animal - isn't he trying to emulate Chuck here?

I can't remember why he's doing this but it's not the first time he's tried to kill Hope. Didn't work then either.

A 16 year old Jean uses a telepathic projection of the Phoenix to aid Wolverine in a fight. He stupidly thinks it's real and straight up tries to kill her. The bad guys get away. Not sure how many times he has to attempt to kill the Phoenix before he understands it's not an appropriate thing to do, nor is it about him. He's more like Sabertooth than he thinks, except he thinks he's in the right and somehow never gets called out. Logan has advanced senses - how is his instinct to straight up kill her instead of investigating further?

We can do better

I think that once Logan reached a certain point of saturation he became static. The lone wolf that's the best there is at what he does, and what he does is behave so unpleasantly it's hard to believe anyone would want to be near him, let alone allow him to run a school. He says 'bub' a lot and he snikts at the drop of a hat while repeating the same interpersonal drama over and over. I see him as a frequent self insert for the worst kind of toxic masculinity yet he's more popular than ever. No judgement if you like him at all, but I think the character deserves better. Somehow he's still a misunderstood loner despite a lot of people knowing him very well - with the amount of teams and books he's in he has the most active social life in 616. It'll never happen but I'd like to see him retire, as there are several Wolverines better than he..

[alexihollis]

Jealousy the Funny Disease (pt. 1)

*someone said something about a polycule and it grew in my brain*

There was a time where Rembrandt truly did believe that Ajax would figure it out. It being the obvious attraction Ajax had to Swan. Swan's attraction to Ajax. Rembrandt's attraction to Swan and Swan's attraction to Rembrandt that often involved Swan panicking if she so much as accidentally brushed the back of her hand against Rembrandt's. She thought that, once Ajax figured it out, maybe had a minor freak out about it, preferably chose to not fight Swan about said panic, maybe they could bring Swan into their relationship. Maybe it wouldn't be forever, but...Rembrandt thought it could be nice. At least for a little while.

They got close, in a way. There were many nights spent, just the three of them in the night, Swan and Ajax watching Rembrandt's back as she tagged. Swan might have flinched away from physical affection, but she always listened when Rembrandt went on her tangents and offered her quiet insights. She even went to the art museums with Rembrandt, which even Ajax found difficult, as much as she tried for Rembrandt. They went out to the queer bars and Swan hung around the walls, watching until it was time to go home. And despite the fact that Ajax was willing to wingman pretty much anyone, she never tried to find Swan a girl, not once. So. Rembrandt hoped. She hoped the little thing that existed between the three of them might grow.

Except Ajax never did figure it out. Swan became Cleon's number two and the closest her and Ajax came to talking about their mutual feelings was when they were pummeling each other. And Rembrandt never said anything, because she was painfully aware how badly this could go. How quickly Ajax would sacrifice herself if she thought it would make Rembrandt happy and that was simply not allowed.

Then came the night from Hell and, suddenly, Swan had a girlfriend for the first time. It hurt, a bit. To see Swan and Mercy so happy while Rembrandt stressed over Ajax getting out.

Ajax got out, though, sooner than anyone imagined and also too long - two months.

"Did she even go through initiation?" Ajax grumbled, brow lowered as she all but glared across Cleon's living room at where Mercy and Swan were curled up on the couch. Swan read a book and Mercy pretended to read the same book, but spent much more time slowly finger-combing Swan's hair.

"She did more than enough, be nice," Rembrandt chided, nudging Ajax's shoulder with her own where they leant against the wall.

Ajax's jaw flexed, but she didn't say anything. Well. She didn't say anything, then, and she didn't say anything specific.

"Her jokes aren't that funny," Ajax muttered under her breath later that night when Swan was laughing at something Mercy said.

It caught Rembrandt completely off-guard and all she could do was side-eye Ajax.

"Why the fuck doesn't she just wear her own colors?" Ajax grouched a couple of days later when Swan and Mercy were play fighting over Swan's colors, currently on Mercy's back.

Rembrandt looked down at her vest. Then at Ajax, "I stole your original vest."

Ajax gritted her teeth. "That's different."

"We were initiated at the same time."

"It's. Different." Rembrandt did not push it farther.

She thought it was cute, how Mercy stole Swan's colors. A traitorous thought occurred that it would be really cute if she stole Swan's and then Swan stole Ajax's. Then, Mercy and Rembrandt could watch Swan and Ajax fight over- Nope. Not going there, no, bad brain, baaaad brain, there is a snowball's chance in hell at this point.

"I can't believe Cleon sent them out alone," Ajax griped and, at this point, it had been two weeks of this nonsense and Rembrandt was losing her mind a little bit.

"Uh-huh," was Rembrandt's only response from her and Ajax's bed, sketching in her sketchbook while Ajax got ready for bed.

"She always sends Swan and me," Ajax continued. "Swan and I have each other's backs for gigs like that."

"They're still in Brooklyn."

"Swan's a good fighter, she can take me, but she isn't intimidating," Ajax said. "And neither is Mercy! Cleon's asking for them to get jumped!"

"Oh, my God, will you just admit you're jealous?!" Rembrandt exclaimed, looking up at Ajax exasperated.

"I'm not jealous!" Ajax retorted. Then, after a moment, more forcefully, "I'm not jealous! Why would I be jealous?"

Rembrandt groaned, rolled her eyes. "Never mind."

But Ajax was not finished. "Why would I be jealous? Just because Swan barely talks to me anymore. And now Cleon's sending Mercy out instead of me. I'm not jealous. I don't care that Swan thinks Mercy's funny. Or that Mercy's pretty in that soft, girly way. I don't want to be like that. You're pretty like that, though, so I do think it's kind of bullshit, because Swan should have noticed. And Swan needs other things, too. Swan's always taking care of everyone else and she never puts herself first, ever. Ever. She just met Mercy, there's no way that Mercy knows that Swan does that, so what if she lets Swan do that all the time. Not to mention, Swan never hangs out with us anymore! It's always, 'I'm going out with Mercy' or 'Mercy and I are doing-Oh."

Ajax turned to Rembrandt with wide-eyes. "Am I jealous of Mercy?!"

"Yes. Yes, you are, thank you for finally catching up, you have been driving me crazy for weeks," Rembrandt grumbled as she tried to return to her sketchbook.

"But- I-"

Rembrandt finally took pity on Ajax. "We both liked Swan. Swan liked us. Neither of you figured it out enough to talk about it and now we're here." Then, because Rembrandt knew where Ajax was going to go with this, "Ajax, she really likes Mercy."

"But," Ajax's nose crinkled, the way it did when she was faced with a difficult problem. "Were we dating?"

"No," Rembrandt sighed. "No. Dating implies actual understanding. We were...doing something. I don't know, but...No. It is what it is."

"I don't like that."

"I know. But do you really want to mess this up for her? She's the happiest I've seen her in a long time."

It should have been easy, to watch someone you cared deeply for be happy. Even if it was with someone else.

It would have been easy, if Mercy wasn't Mercy.

Mercy tried so hard and there was something about that effort that made Rembrandt's heart ache as she watched it. She wanted to wrap Mercy up and promise that they had her, it was okay, no one was going to send her away, she was a Warrior now. Instead, Rembrandt had to trust that Swan was doing that.

"Why is Mercy funny?" Ajax grouched at their ceiling one night.

"Because she's fucking perfect," Rembrandt grouched back.

"Why are they both- That isn't fair."

"It really isn't."

"We're funny!"

"I'm funny."

"Okay, well, I'm buffer than Swan."

"I'm at least as pretty as Mercy."

"...this isn't making me feel better."

"Yeah, no, I don't think trash-talking women we like is going to help us."

To be Cont'd

Also if y'all have any prompts, they would be greatly appreciated! writer's block is trying to catch me, but i am outrunning it swiftly!

[triglycercule]

horror is so BLESSED he's the only one out of the murder time trio that has actual good people trying to influence his story 💔💔 dust and killer were both driven to INSANITY because of the choices of their respective humans but horror??? every time without FAIL the polls for horrortale's plotline have always ended in a good place for aliza (either by bettering her relationships/reputation or for her to just. not DIE)

horrortale's potential alternate timelines my beLOVEd🙏🙏 they're SO lucky that we're being kind and benevolent hehe (≧ω≦) now where are the aus based off the possible different outcomes that could've happened in horrortale HUH???? (like how aliza couldve killed toriel or chosen horror's puzzle or gone with undyne to the core........)

[bayetea]

also I'm a percy jackson stan until I die of course but it would be nice if we could not exclusively talk about other members of the main cast (the non-white ones especially) only in furtherance of percy and his character/personal acclaim/strength as a demigod

like every time I see a high-note text post about the percy/frank/hazel dynamic it's about "WOW frank and hazel think percy is so cool hazel literally thought he was a god he is so powerful." like yeah. did you guys know that they're also friends and they love each other!!!! did you know that percy admires frank and frequently praises him and encourages him to build up his self-worth and confidence! did you know that hazel comforted percy when he was emotional and scared at the neptune altar in camp jupiter and he gets angry when phineas insults and degrades hazel for being undead! did you know that frank and hazel saved him when he was so frightened and disturbed by evil centaurs and cyclopes that he was paralyzed and couldn't move!

did you know that frank and hazel also just have their own things going on divorced from percy because they're heroes of olympus too! did you know that they aren't just decorations for percy's character they are their own people! idk something to keep in mind (I'm a SON stan if u can't tell)

[x-for-a-y]

"Hey, Jake! Would ya help a curious guy out and answer a question for me?" Guptill hits him with a smile- one landing more on the side of appraising than friendly, but hell if he's one to judge people's social skills. "What landed you in this diary anyway?"

Now there's something Jake hasn't given thought to in a hot minute. "Oh, it was... weird. Like, uh, not explained very well." But here he is trying to do it anyway. "I just was on... the night shift at my job, and a client's, uh, wife, said some weird stuff to me. I wasn't even trying to be funny, but... then I guess word got out about that-"

He's heard enough. "That's it? He got mad at you over just a workplace incident?"

"I don't know if 'mad' is really the word for it." He's a teenager or something, right? He probably knows nothing about insurance.

Guptill's indignation is so righteous it somehow slips right around into being charismatic. "Still, that's nothing! Boy, it really drives me up the wall the way people make mountains out of molehills."

Jake extends a lazy glance from side to side, calling attention to their surroundings too subtly to do much good. "I'll say," whenever he has anything worth saying.

[nexus-nebulae]

another childhood bucket list item obtained: i finally have a snuggie

[regicidal-defenestration]

He ran a finger quickly around the rim of his glass. The note rang out sharp and clear. "A toast," Jonny proposed. "To bad decisions and worse people."

Chapter the last. Death to the Mechanisms?

[nerdyfangirlingbooks]

Every now and then I remember the times I would mention to my flatmate that I was thinking of buying myself something reasonably expensive (that I had been eyeing up for months and had budgeted for) and she'd tell me that I shouldn't spend that much money on something I didn't need and it would be stupid etc etc while she regularly impulse bought things that cost at least as much and she would use once (while complaining that she was under a lot of financial stress and couldn't afford <$3/week for 2 months for a rental washing machine when ours broke). She is... perhaps not my first call for financial advice

[rainedroptalks]

It sucks that teen titans vol 3 annoys me so much cuz there are some cool concepts and all but I physically cannot read too much of it in one sitting lest the demons get me

[torgawl]

never thought i'd see people try to argue or analyse wriothesley's murder in regards to his personality. i think people are missing the point. the situation has nothing to do with him and has everything to do with an extremely traumatic environment that made a small boy think the only solution so save himself and the people he cared about was to take the life of his abusers. it's not supposed to be rational, it wasn't premeditated, it wasn't about getting away with it. if you read his description of the murder you can see how out of it he was. his goal was to protect himself and his siblings and that's what he did. that's why he admitted to the crime so easily and why he is keen to associate the fortress as a rebirth place. he was just young, lost and traumatised and that's about it when it comes to the extension of it all.