#but just seeing the Sister Location elevator is enough

[maskednerd]

[skipper1331]

Mini Swiftie // Jessie Fleming

a/n: based off this request. Hope you like it.

JFlem✔️

i miss you :(

see you tonight? x

you smiled at your phone, pressing the icon to call your girl. Leaving the room where your team mates were sat, watching a movie while you went down to the hotel lobby. "Hey" you said as she accepted your call, "hello, my girl" the freckled girl whispered, slipping out of her hotel room. "How was your day?"

Canada and the Uswnt would face each other at the weekend in a friendly but staying away from your lover was awful. In London you lived together, slept next to each other every day and now not doing so was something neither of you liked. But at least due to the friendly, your teams were in the same town.

One evening, the two of you found a little bench that was located halfway to each of your hotels. It became your spot. "Can i see you tonight?" she repeated her text question "yeah, same time, same place?"

"Yeah"

As you were about to say someting when you saw a glimpse of a small brunette. Kelley. "Gotta go!" Immediately, you ended the call.

You

sorry, Kelley is on her way

see you later x

"Mini Swiftie! We‘re watching your favorite movie and you‘re not there" the veteran ruffled through your hair. Your hands went back in your hair to straighten it. "Who did you talk to lover?" the lover was in the same sing-song voice as your sister performed it, "kelley, you need to stop with these references", you stood up as she dramatically clutched her heart, "don’t blame, love made me crazy" you rolled your eyes, walking to the elevators.

Ever since you made your debut for the senior team, the team loved to tease you with Taylor Swift song lyrics. You get it, you‘re a Swift but it‘s not your fault that she was your older sister, you loved her and she was your biggest supporter (Jess would fight her because according to her, she‘s your number one fan) but sometimes it was heavingly annoying.

"Come on, Mini Swiftie, you didn‘t answer my question!" she ran after you, jumping in the elevator just in time. "My mom" you replied nonchalantly, hoping she wouldn‘t realize that you‘re lying.

Nobody knew about you and the canadian girl and it should stay that way. Compared to your sister, you didn't like the stage. Yes, you played football on a world stage, you became a world champion in 2019, but the comparison to a sold-out stadium and a sold-out Taylor concert was something different. You only got to know peace through the Canadian woman who showed you how it was possible to live in peace despite the fact that you were in the public eye. You loved her for that, you loved her for so many reasons.

-

Midnight couldn‘t come fast enough. Mal was in a deep slumber already as you were wide awake. Mal and you roomed together all the time, you were one of the og-youngsters, gave your debut together and were great friends so it became a common thing. The forward was always in a deep sleep, you could scream next to her and she wouldn't notice, it made things a lot easier to sneak out of the room and sneak in later in the night without getting caught.

20 minutes before midnight, you got up, dressed yourself in a hoodie and some shorts. Thankfully, the weather wasn‘t cold or rainy. You sneaked out of the room and hotel, walking down the streets to your spot.

"Hi, baby" you greeted your girl as you took a seat beside her, your lips pressing against her cheek. "Gimme a real kiss" the canadian whined, chuckling at her antics, "so needy" nonetheless you gave her the sweet kiss she deserved.

-

The following days, you met up with Jess at the same time and same place. During the day you hadn’t had much free time so midnight was perfect to update on how your day was and the missing kisses, something important for the both of you.

"Do you think Mini Swiftie is acting weird?" Sonnett asked her friends, looking at you as you smiled at your phone (texting with Jessie) "how come?" Alex asked. Trying to explain what Sonnett meant, Christen cut her attempt short, "give her a rest, she‘s young" you didn‘t hear Christen protect you but if you had, you would‘ve been very thankful. The defender took the matters in her own hands as she looked at Kelley and Alex. They shared a look before they nodded.

-

"Today was awful" you grumbled as you flopped down next to your girlfriend, ready to rest your head on her chest. "What happened, love?" lovingly, she scartched through your hair, a method to calm you down. "Sonny and Kelley didn‘t leave my side all day long and when I said something they replied with lyrics"

"Oh my girl, you have to tell them If you don‘t like it" her voice was quiet, understanding. "Jess, you know how they are" the midfielder sighed, she knew exactly how they were, "can you just hold me?"

You loved your team mates to death but sometimes they‘re just too much. You had no problem with their teasing, you‘re proud to call yourself a Swift and you didn‘t care If they called you Mini Swiftie but if they don’t give real answer after every spoken sentence of you, only a lyric, it made you angry. That way you couldn't have a real conversation with them and you didn‘t want to either. How do they even come up with (you hate to admit that) a perfect song line in such a short time slot?

"Anything, baby" your girlfriend pulled you closer as she continued to massage your scalp.

-

"Hey, was Y/n with you guys last night?" Mal asked the group. "No, why?" came the reply from the Room Morgan-O‘Hara, Press-Heath, Lavelle-Mewis and Sonnett-Horan. "Weird" your room mate mumbled. Last night, she drank a cup of coffee before going to bed which was why she had to get up 3 times during the night to go to the bathroom.

The first time was shortly after midnight - your bed empty. She thought you were in the bathroom so she waited, no light was on, you weren‘t there.

The second time was around 2am tending towards 3am - your bed still empty.

The last time she went to the bathroom was around 5am, you were soundfully asleep in your bed.

The big question: where had you been?

"Interesting. She's hiding something from us." Kelley had a mischief smile on her face while clapping her hands together. "Detectives, let‘s go!"

Hard to believe but everyone agreed to Kelley's plan.

-

"Good night" Mal whispered in to the dark room, ready to fake her sleep. Her back was facing you while you laid on your bed, staring at the ceiling. Mal‘s phone was hidden under her pillow as your team mates waited for a signal. Sonny had even created a groupchat 'Mission: Swift' with Tobin, Chris, Alex, Kelley, Mal, Rose, Sam and Lindsey.

20 minutes before midnight you checked If Mallory was asleep, "Mal, are you up?" she didn‘t answer you - in your eyes she was in her deep slumber. You got out of your pyjama and dressed into the same outfit as usual. The forward could only assume what you did, her eyes closed.

When she heard the door open and shut, she grabbed her phone and texted.

Mal

suspect left the room.

Team Kellex and Preath were down in the lobby, Chris and Tobin sitting at the bar while Kelley and Alex sat in the armchairs which were not in your sight. The other group members were still in their rooms, waiting for the next sign.

Kelley

down.

As soon as they saw Kelley‘s text, everyone sprinted out of their rooms, down the stairs to join the rest of the group. "She went this way" Alex whispered as they arrived, Chris and Tobin already by their sides.

They kept enough distance from you as they followed you yet always had an eye on you. Every once in a while you turned around but didn't see anyone so you just kept walking like nothing happened, maybe your mind was messing with you.

The team felt like fbi agents, working on an undercover case or like they‘re in a movie, either way it was exciting.

"My love, hello" you sat down next to her, giving her a kiss.

"Did she- did she just-" Sonnett started, completely shocked.

"..kiss someone?" Rose ended the question, eyes wide.

Everyone‘s mouth was agape, mini swiftie with a girlfriend? What? "I didn‘t expect that" the tall blonde said, looking at her friends.

"Yeah, yeah, but who is she?" Lindsey chipped in, her curiosity on high-levels.

Tobin was the first to approach you and the mysterious girl by your side, Chris, Kelley and Alex close behind, Mal, Rose, Sam, Sonny and Lindsey following. Tobin scoffed, clearing her throat. It made you turn around, your eyes wide as you stood up, pulling Jessie behind you. The first who opened her mouth was Kelley though, who would‘ve thought. "What‘s this?" Kelley asked, her tone strict, kind of like a mom. The others gathered around you, glaring a the girl behind you "Baby Canada!" Tobin said, walking around the bench. "H- Hi" the canadian gave a little wave, shaking slightly as all the women stared at her. "So?" the small but scary brunette asked, she wanted an answer, everybody wanted. You looked at your girlfriend, you didn't want to tell them anything she wasn‘t comfortable with. "We saw you kiss so don‘t lie to us" Alex added. As Jess nodded with a reassuring smile, you turned back to your team mates "Jessie is my girlfriend. We‘re a couple" you squeezed her hand for your own sake. "Well, well, well, baby Canada" Kelley joined Tobin, intimidating the freckled girl "do we have to give you the shovel talk?" It was Alex who was talking, taking some steps to stand next to Kelley "Stop it guys" you didn‘t like how that turned out at all, you had a feeling that your girlfriend was scared, not that she wouldn‘t face them but it was dark and late and 9 women were just to much. "Go back to the hotel, we‘ll talk in the morning" you said about to walk away with Jess. "What‘re you gonna do?" Rose asked.

"I will walk her to her hotel"

"She‘s old enough to walk alone!" you glared at Kelley. "I don‘t care, I’ll walk her back to the hotel and then go back to ours."

"Well then we‘re all gonna bring her, we won‘t let you walk on your own" Christen added, not liking the feeling to let you walk home alone. She liked that you felt the same way with Jess walking alone.

"Fine"

Jessie and you walked ahead of them as they trailed behind you, gushing over the new information they had about their Mini Swiftie. "I‘m so sorry" you murmured while you pulled her into you, your arm around her shoulders as hers went around your mid section. "It‘s fine, they love you"

"They‘re annoying" you grumbled.

The rest of the walk was spent in silence, you ignored your friends, your only focus: the midfielder in your arms. As you arrived at the hotel, Kelley instantly opened her mouth again "Now say bye, we all want to sleep" rolling your eyes, you looked at your girl, smiling fondly. You were so in love with her. "Good night, my love. Sweet dreams" you pushed your lips against her forehead, not giving her a real kiss as your team mates stared at you. "Good night, baby" she gave your cheek a peck, understanding why you didn‘t give her the proper good night kiss like usual.

You watched her as she entered the hotel, waiting till she wasn‘t in sight anymore before you turned around.

"Tell us everything, Mini Swiftie"

————————

[luxuriq]

A Flower Frozen, His » Ch. 1 | Sub-Zero (Bi-Han)

[ 18+, minors DNI ; dom/sub, degradation, rough, third pov ]

Summary: An elite brothel, The Red Orchid, has sent six girls to their newest client: the Lin Kuei, an old warrior clan. But the brothel is just a front for a highly secretive group of spies, and their objective might be more than simply offering entertainment for the warriors: their target none other than the Grandmaster himself. How will the girls - especially their leader, codenamed Iris - navigate their dangerous mission, and what will happen if they get caught?

→ Reader character is named for clarity reasons, but it's still a reader character, not an OC.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | ...

Ch. 1 words: 1090

A/N: I've recently been introduced to MK1 and Bi-Han stole my heart in an instant. I mean I should be thanking him, he got me to write again after like 3 years. ( 〃▽〃)

Chapter 1

The Red Orchid was famous for being the best establishment of its kind. Even though their name was known only to people in very specific circles, they’ve earned a nation-wide reputation for their excellent services and discretion. While most brothels offered their entertainment at the location, The Red Orchid specialized in providing long-term and at-home services for their clients. That is why their primary clientele were wealthy individuals and groups, politicians, the emperors of old and even the Earthrealm’s protectors, a warrior clan of Lin Kuei.

She carefully applied some red lipstick as the final touch to the girl’s beautiful, painted face. Just enough to elevate her already natural beauty, and enough to make the girl’s lips visible through the veil, which was coming last and would complete her look.

“And you are ready!” she nodded at the girl in front of her with a smile.

They both stood up. Their preparations were complete.

The Red Orchid offered one more service, one not known to anyone outside their walls. It was only accessible through their sister establishment that served as a false front. They offered information. For the right price of course.

All five girls were perfectly dolled-up, each one in a differently coloured outfit that complemented their body, showing a bit more than appropriate, but still just enough to tease and not reveal. She gave all of them a final once-over and then nodded in satisfaction. They were ready.

She picked up her red fan, which matched her outfit, and opened it with a flick of her wrist. She looked at the girls again.

“Let’s do Madam A proud.”

Madam Azalea was the current headmistress of The Red Orchid. She was a stern but fair woman that took great pride in her work. So even when the nearly impossible request for information came in, she accepted it. Her girls were trained extremely well, and she had her complete faith in them. However, Operation Ice Blue required her best.

“You want us to gather information on who?” the girl with the fan stared at Madam Azalea in bewilderment.

The older woman let out a long puff of smoke, “You’ve heard me, Iris. The Lin Kuei have already requested a group of our girls. Reward for their warriors or something. The opportunity is too great to pass up.”

Iris tightened the grip on her fan. “It is going to be dangerous.”

Madam Azalea brought a slender pipe to her mouth and inhaled deeply, “That is why I’m sending in our very best. And you are going to lead them.”

When Iris walked out onto the makeshift stage, she was momentarily blinded by the lights. She could hear the voices though: men cheering loudly and excitedly. She stopped in the middle of the stage, the lower half of her face hidden behind her red fan. She could see them now, dozens of the famous Lin Kuei warriors, assembled in front of the stage to witness the reveal of the entertainers that The Red Orchid provided specifically for them. All of them tall and muscular, born warriors. She even spotted some women among the crowd.

“Thank you for your warm welcome, warriors of Lin Kuei!” she called. “I am Iris, the handler of The Red Orchid’s entertainers, here on behalf of Madam Azalea. Please enjoy the performance.”

She folded her fan with a loud snapping sound and pulled a silver flute out of the long sleeve of her traditional-looking outfit. As she began to play, the remaining five girls walked on stage and began their dance performance.

Handlers were The Red Orchid’s staple. They refused to just send their girls off without any kind of support. The handlers were there to take care of the girls’ well-being, emotional and physical, and to settle any kind of disagreements between the clients and The Red Orchid entertainers. Moreover, they relayed the information gathered by the spies back to The Red Orchid. As Madam Azalea’s heir, Iris was the headmistress’ most trusted handler and spy, so naturally she was her first choice for Operation Ice Blue. The young woman also had experience in martial arts, but both knew that Iris would be no match for the Lin Kuei.

“Not much is known about the Grandmaster, except for his exceptional fighting abilities. Any kind of information we can get is going to be valuable.”

Iris stared at the hastily taken photo of the Lin Kuei’s Grandmaster as she listened to Madam Azalea’s instructions. He was scowling at something outside of the frame and his height and stature made him downright terrifying, but she couldn’t help to notice how handsome he was. Wooing him to bed will be quite a treat.

“His routine, his favourite food, the people important to him, any kind of weakness, anything could be important and sold for a good price, hell, tell us even how he is in bed.”

The performance ended with a thunderous applause and cheering coming from the gathered Lin Kuei.

“Dahlia!” Iris called the first girl’s name, and the latter took a step forward and bowed. “Astra!” She called all the girls on by one, presenting them to the audience. “Camellia! Peony! Jasmine!”

So far, everything was going according to the plan, and the girls performed wonderfully, singing and dancing in the most graceful and alluring way. Iris hoped the rest of the mission was going to go just as smoothly.

The girls started leaving the stage one by one, Iris being the last. Just before she walked off the podium and behind a makeshift stage curtain, she glanced at the crowd. She had spotted him immediately back when she first walked on stage. Just the amount of power and confidence he was exuding made him stand apart from the rest of the warriors. He was wearing his signature blue uniform, his hair tied in a bun with some lose strands falling onto his forehead. His stare was cold, unimpressed, even after their performance. And it was directed at her.

A shiver ran down her spine and Iris quicky averted her gaze, rushing down the two stairs into the backstage area. Her heart was beating fast. She had hoped the rest of the mission was going to go just as smoothly, but that suddenly felt like a distant dream. It is going to be dangerous, Madam Azalea’s words replayed in her mind. It was going to be so damn dangerous when the target of your spying mission is none other than the Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei himself.

Bi-Han.

❀

Next chapter »

[jordanstark007]

Calex Kids 2/6

OC Character ~ Alec Cabot Novak

(The Detective)

(I’m gonna mess with the timeline here, so The Cabot-Novak Kids are present when Casey’s attacked in her office, Alex is still in Witsec.)

Detective Alec Cabot-Novak made her gold badge after collaring a rapist her putting herself in the line of fire to protect the victim.

She was given her gold badge and transferred over to Special Victims where the brass assumed she’d become less of a cowboy cop.

They were wrong of course, if anything her presence at SVU only worsened her bad habits, it only provoked her aggression.

Of course, when her mothers are involved the violence only worsened, she became erratic and outlandish.

She knew with money came affluence of course she did her mother was the sole heir to the Cabot fortune, an incredibly large sum of money that led to a lavish lifestyle and all the best schools for Alec and her siblings, as well as a comfortable cushion for her to fall back on should she need to.

What she couldn’t understand was the need to rape and murder when all you possessed all the money in the world.

Regardless, Alec was with her mother every step of the way, (per Casey’s request due to her mother large amount of knowledge that her daughter had inclination to fly off of the deep end.)

“Flowers.”

“You holding out on me?”

“No I’m not seeing anyone, not after Alex, maybe one of my kids was feeling generous, but if there from Jason Whittiker they’re going straight in the trash.”

Alec had been at home when Liv called, she’d woken in a haze answering the phone, but she flew out of her apartment in record speeds when she’d heard Liv telling her what had happened.

And God was she pissed. Of course her first stop would have been the hospital but she knew her siblings would have been there, her mother had a support system.

Her job was locating the bastard who hurt her mother. When Elliot saw who’d done it he’d immediately messaged Alec, and Alec was furious.

She’d kicked the door into his home and the look on Milan’s face, only fuelled her rage.

He stood as if he’d been expecting her, hands behind his back prepared for the arrest but Alec simply chuckled, dragging him from the building.

They made it to the outskirt of the city, Alec stalling the car at an abandoned warehouse, before dragging him out of the car, “Where are we?”

Alec smirked, a manic wolffish grin stretched across her face. “Somewhere no one will hear your screams.”

When they did finally arrive at SVU it had been at least a few hours since Elliot had let her know the identity of her mothers attackers and the beaten and bloodied face of their perp, was enough indication as to what had happened.

“What happened?” Alec shrugged eyes still blazing furiously,

“He resisted arrest, he’s lucky I didn’t shoot him.” Truthfully he had fought back and Alec had the defence wounds to prove it, but she wasn’t about to let everyone know shed been the original aggressor.

“Now I’m going to go see my mother-” Cregan had attempted to call after her, directing her to his office instead but it was futile and Alec was in the elevator before her name had left his lips.

“Hey mama, how you feeling?” Casey groaned lightly her hand grasping Alec’s as the detective sat gingerly at her bedside,

“What happened to your face.” Alec waved off her concern with a light smile,

“Its nothing Mama don’t worry about it. I’m more concerned about you, William says you’ll be alright to go home tomorrow, why don’t you come and stay with me for a while, just till your back on your feet?”

Casey wasn’t given the opportunity to answer when the police commissioner knocked on the hospital room door,

“Detective Novak, can I have a word.”

Alec near snarled at the sound of his voice, “You have some nerve, coming here. Get out.”

“Detective-“

“Get out, I won’t say it again.”

The man relented eventually nodding curtly, “I’ll wait outside.”

Her sisters hand graced her shoulder, Atlas’ expression soft, understanding, “Go talk to him Alec, we’ll be here, I’ve got her.”

She nodded slowly, standing, pressing a soft kiss to his mothers hairline, “I love you mama.”

When she stepped out of the room she was met with a number of the brass all staring at her with an expectant expression, “Are you suspending me?”

Lyle Morris, the Police Commissioner stepped forward, “We are putting you on temporary leave pending investigation.”

Alec nodded although she seemed to hold no guilt or regret in her expression, she simply handed over her badge and gun, “And for the record commissioner,”

The man nodded looking at her as she removed her gun, “I lost one mother, to a case where you all failed to do your jobs and protect her, if I’d have lost another, we’d be having a very different conversation right now. So if you’re going to take my badge and pension make sure you remember that this is the second time I’ve nearly lost a parent to a case, and it’s the second time I have stopped myself from pulling the trigger on the man who did it.”

Two weeks of unpaid leave later she was called in front of the Morris Commission, “Detective Novak, you’ve been called before the Commission to discuss your conduct, during the case involving ADA Novak’s assault, is there anything you’d like to say for yourself?”

Alec nodded walking over to the line of Brass, handing them the photos of his mothers injuries, “4 broken ribs, a torn ACL, a dislocated shoulder and over a dozen cuts and abrasions. Those where the injuries my mother sustained during the attack. My other mother ADA Alexandra Cabot was shot and placed into witness protection while prosecuting a case for SVU. I have no regret about the force I used while arresting the bastard who hurt my mother, and incase you missed it he resisted arrest and I have the documented injuries to prove it. I do this job to put away the bastards who prey upon those who cannot protect themselves, and if any of you here today can look me in the eye and say what I did was wrong then I know its my time to find another profession.”

I took no longer than a few minutes for them to reinstate her position, her rank and her badge.

And Alec walked away smiling, she had her badge back, and she could resume doing exactly what she had been doing for the past two years. Putting away the most sadistic of the population.

[razorblade180]

Group Gift

Countless of Aether’s friends gather in the Teapot as the man himself stands in front of the house. Nobody had to wonder why as it was painfully clear to notice three columns of steam that came from three separate hot spring locations across the realm.

Aether:Can anyone guess what I’ve done?

Everyone:….

Klee and Yoi:You made a hot spring!

Aether:Thanks you two. You get first dibs.

Everyone:Aether you’re so cool!

Aether:I don’t need an ego boost! I just wanted participation! Anyways, everyone has be doing a good and I personally wanted to do this for awhile. Finally found the time!

Keqing:*silent judgement*

Aether:Don’t do that.

Keqing:I’m just wondering how this got into your head.

Miko:Yes, do tell.

Aether:I found a blueprint and thought, “this could be nice.” That’s all.

Rosaria:Doubt.

Aether:You doubt everything. Now then, let me explain why I have three. One at the bottom near the beach is for the boys. Middle elevation near the main house is for our ladies, and the one up on the hill is special circumstances.

Kaeya:*inhales*

Aether:Let me explain. Shush! It is indeed a coed bath, but primarily for when people are incredibly filthy. Let’s say Razor and Lisa get done exploring and Razor fell in mud or was reckless. He’s gonna need Lisa’s help to make sure he’s cleared properly.

Razor:I clean myself fine.

Lisa:Did you wash behind your ears today?

Razor:Sigh…. *looks down*

Albedo:I see. So in situations where perhaps a certain someone accidentally sets off my lab experiment with an explosion and we get covered in ash…

Klee:I didn’t mean to!

Aether:Exactly! A perfect use of that! You get dibs as well.

Itto:Okay, but feel a little unfair that us guys gotta hike to the bottom and back up? How’d that happen!?

Kaeya:You didn’t really think he’d make a system where our elevations would be above our distinguished ladies, did you?

Itto:Umm, what’s wrong with that? I’m sure they’d like the beach.

Kaeya:….You’re a good and earnest man, Itto.

Tighnari:I assume you have a reason for the third one to be the highest?

Aether:*claps hands together* Klee, Qiqi, Yaoyao, and Diona. I need you to cover your ears tightly and humm your favorite songs until I say stop.

Kids:Understood! *covers ears* hmmm hmm hmmm~

Aether:Listen up you heathen.

Everyone:(So it did cross his mind…)

Aether:I do not care what kind of romantic label you want to put on your individual relationship with whoever you’re with. If you want to “relax” together, use the coed. I already have to clean it more often than the other two. And to answer Tighnari, it’s because it’s very easy to tell when it’s in use and spot ahead of time who’s making their way there. For example, let’s say after a particular messy day you want to go up there but notice a certain Sister and Knight….

Rosaria and Kaeya: Wha-

Aether:At this point you should have in your mind the potential reasons for their journey. Granted, I’ve put dividers in that spring, but use your common sense, like waiting for an appropriate time. Are we clear?

Everyone:Crystal.

Aether:Now I need to hear that again from who this really applies to. Yae…

Yae:And what exactly are you implying? *crosses arms*

Aether:…

Gorou:Say it.

Yae:…I will follow the rules.

Aether:Venti?

Venti:I wouldn’t dream ruining your hospitality.

Kazuha:Same goes for me.

Lisa:I’ll play nice~

Aether:Not very convincing with that specific tone but I’ll hold you to it. *looks at kids and gives a thumbs up* Alright everyone, I’ve stolen enough of your time. Now if you excuse me…I’m tired and making this took a while.

Aether casually leaves towards the coed bath to use it. Before anyone could have further discussion about this wonderful new addition, Amber also casually started walking up the trail. She looked at them, waved with a smile, then continued on about her business and catching up with Aether.

Grown up:(SHE ISN’T EVEN TRYING TO HIDE IT!)

Aether:*red* Ma’am, what are you doing. I’m actually filthy.

Amber:I know. I’ll help with your back.

Aether:…I can’t tell if that’s your excuse or for intent so bravo I guess. But…people are staring.

Amber:*holds hand*☺️

Aether:*flustered* (Maybe I should’ve announced this to everyone separately.)

[connectionterminated13]

This story takes place in my AU death swap, Basically a lot of the deaths are swapped Charlie is alive Sammy is dead, Michael gets his self grabbed by circus baby and Elizabeth does Michael's role in sister location and gets herself scooped. Now Evan who survived the bite and became a murder guy just like his dear old dad. This is right after the events of Elizabeth waking up and being found by Charlie Evans coming in to give the more information on what happened. Or so they think Evans about to lie through his teeth for like 3 minutes straight

Sorry if there's a couple mistakes I really pushed this out to make the day! but it was really fun having to write things quicker :3

TW: Mentions of blood, death, mental illness, Murder.

Anyway my submission for the last day of the bash @and-stir-the-stars I hope you like it!

Evan stood outside of the building. It was in a bit of a dirty part of  town but was still nice enough.. honestly it was better than he was expecting. His boots didn't even get that dirty as he walked over to the collection of buzzers on the outside of the apartment looking for Elizabeth's apartment number. 

Evan pressed the correct button and cleared his voice.

“Hello” 

Susie's voice hasn't changed a bit in the almost 7 years since he spoke to her. Evan expected being in a band would make her voice louder, bigger but no it was still that delicate pageant girl voice that had been trained into her. 

“Hey it's me Evan! Here to see Charlie and my sister!” Evan couldn't help but smile to himself despite the bite ruining his face and head, he still had inherited his father's buttery British accent.

“I thought I told you to go shove a stick up your ass…” and The nice Christian slightly overweight, pageant girl was gone and the Punk girl who thought she was interesting was back. 

Evan was hoping the charisma that he had been practicing almost his whole life would get her to be a little bit less obnoxious..

Evan replied with a good natured laugh hiding his annoyance. “Funny but Susie this is serious if you could just open the door for me I love that!”

He heard a bit of chatter too far for the small speaker to pick up. Charlie had intervened, thank God he liked Charlie.

“Sorry about her Evan! She's just a little bit on edge. I'll let you in!” Evan smiled. Charlie was nice. Charlie always came to the hospital to read him books when he could not read himself. She had always been kinder to him than anyone else other than maybe Elizabeth. The only problem with Charlie had been how she liked Michael. He hated how they were friends and then he hated when they were together. One of the many things that had gotten better once Michael had died.

He heard the door open. There was Charlie, a tired smile on her face, Her dark brown hair Wild.. She was wearing some band t-shirt he didn't recognize And comfortable loose sweatpants. She looked like she hadn't slept in days.

“Charlie!” Evan smiled hugging her tight as he felt her arms wrap around him. Always forgot how tall she was.

“Evan I'm so sorry we didn't talk sooner just with school.. and the band… and work. It's been a lot.. I'm so glad you're okay man..” Charlie let out a sigh letting go of him. Evan understood.. 

His less important job at Freddy's and his more important job of gathering remnant took up most of his time.

“Same here Charlie…” And Evan was telling the truth it wasn't part of the plan to have Charlie go down to Circus baby's entertainment and rentals. He had any say in it his sister wouldn't have either. But it was all part of his father's plan so Evan had no choice 

Evan and Charlie talked a little bit as they walked through the door and got into the elevator in the apartment. Apparently school was going well and she had gotten a job working for a computer company doing programming. The band was also going to perform at a big venue next month or it was..

But Evan wasn't really listening to the chatter though. He was thinking about Elizabeth. From what he had heard over the phone she was dead. 

Charlie had told him the whole story through heavy gasps and obvious tears. How they had gotten the call from William telling them that Michael was down in Circus baby's entertainment and rentals and they needed to put him back together. How Elizabeth got a job as a night technician and Charlie got a job as a day technician. How Elizabeth had fought through the first four nights with the help of a mysterious voice revealed to be the main star herself, Circus baby.

How on the 5th night circus baby and all the other animatronics had tore themselves apart and melted together into a new monster that called itself Ennard. How they head killed the other technicians and nearly killed Charlie but stopped. Evan had heard Charlie's voice break when she mentioned the monster had Michael's voice.

And then the monster, the horrible wire thing lured Elizabeth into the scooping room and ripped her to shreds. It had stolen his sister's skin.

He felt a bit vindicated, he was right all those years of Michael playing like he was some kind of saint. Refusing to kill, refusing to get blood on his hands even though he wasn't Michael with free will, she was Baby the killing machine.. 

He was getting spiteful, Charlie noticed. 

“Gosh Evan, I didn't know you hated Computer programming so much.” Charlie looked over nervous as the elevator door opened. Evan had let his mask slip that was bad.. 

“No I was just thinking of everything that happened, I'm So Sorry Charlie..” It was a good enough excuse and he was sorry. Evan knew he and Elizabeth were estranged and she hated him, but he hated the idea of something that horrible happening to her.

But he also had to admit he loved the vision of it. Blood and visceral everywhere organs spilling on the ground and Michael once again covered in blood. Evan thought of the years that he had spent checking the camera footage of Baby's room, to see the cowardly thing crying to herself or pleading for someone to acknowledge she was Michael. How she had refused to do the one thing she was built for.. and she still ended up covered in blood! since that was all Michael was good for getting his siblings blood everywhere 

The two of them stopped at number 5. Even if Charlie hadn't guided him Evan would know this was Elizabeth's home. A pride flag sticker was on the door. 

“Yeah.. Liz and Susie aren't exactly secretive about….” Charlie let out a small chuckle as she opened the door. Evan couldn't help it. He did too, her laughter even so small, sad and tired was infectious.

“What are you laughing at…” And there was Susie. Jesus Christ. Time had sculpted the Pink dress, wearing golden curls, Bible reciting, Susie he had known into a black clad, imposing woman. Evan could still see the traces of the shy, homeschooled, girl he remembered. But None of the kindness she had held for him as a child still lurked in her eyes.

“Nice to meet you again!” Evan put on his most charming smile, Reaching out his Hand to be shook. 

Susie just stared down at his hand, Her bright blue eyes looking at him with such hatred he almost feared that she knew how many lives his hands had taken. They stood there for a minute before Charlie broke the silence.

“Um.. Let's just go inside.. I can make everybody some coffee!” Charlie said nervously. Susie nodded sharply, moving out of the way so both Charlie and Evan could get into the apartment.

Evan stepped inside and he had to admit, the apartment was nice. There was a cozy old couch and armchair with a nice, if slightly rickety table to sit and have meals at. There were a couple shelves filled with records, a drum kit and two electric guitars. 

“Not fancy enough for you?” He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Susie's voice. 

“No, it's a nice place..” It wasn't the sort of place Evan wanted to live, but it seemed to fit Elizabeth, Susie and Charlie well enough. 

It was definitely nicer than his room back at his father's house. He hadn't changed it since he was carted off to the hospital on that fateful birthday in 1983. His father didn't let him change it.

“Yeah sure…” Susie sat down on the couch. Evan sat down on the chair beginning to hear the noises of Charlie making coffee in what seemed to be a small kitchen.

“Did you know your dad was sending my girlfriend, your sister, his f****** daughter down to Hell?” Her voice was accusatory and angry. Evan did know. Evan knew that place was a death trap, That there was a chance his sister wouldn't come out of there. But what was he going to do about it? it's not like he could change anything, like he could stop it?

“No! And I swear to God my dad didn't either! He's already having a discussion with the owners of rentals” Evan tries to believe the lie himself, tries to believe that his father didn't mean for his only daughter to die.

He did not know his father's plan but he had a feeling that Elizabeth was supposed to die down there.

“Susie, can we please not get accusatory! I know you're scared, I am too but Evan's here to help us fix this” Charlie stumbled in with three coffee mugs. Evan gratefully took a big long sip.

“I get it! you think he can help but Elizabeth doesn't want to see him and Elizabeth is the one who's..” Susie stops herself from saying that part. Evan can only imagine what it must be like.. He doesn't know much about their relationship other than it's romantic. To have your partner become a monster before your eyes must be horrifying. 

Susie and Charlie began to whisper. 

It was almost sweet.. To love someone that much, to be loved that much. Avenue nothing of love. He was almost certain he couldn't feel it, just another sign that he was broken.. He wondered if his father didn't feel love. He wondered if it was the bite that made another part of his brain broken.. 

The whispering stopped and Susie, her face still a mask of anger yelled out. "Liz! Evans here!”

Evan put on his best Charming, biggest, I've missed you sister, smile. As he ran through the possibilities of what his sister actually would look like. He wasn't good at the supernatural science of it all, but he had a basic understanding of how these things worked and Elizabeth's condition was nothing he had ever heard of.

There was a possibility that dad had just never told him about anything like this but he didn't think so. 

And then trudging out from the hallway which presumably led to Susie and Elizabeth's room came Elizabeth. 

Elizabeth trudged out with an angry look on her face. The first thing ever noticed was that his sister was missing half of her face. The entire skin on the right side of her face was gone revealing the bone. Her skin was also pinkish purple… And she was covered in.. 

“Sticky notes?” Evan said in confusion. Now that was a big slip up his first words were supposed to be something inviting, not sticky notes… He couldn't help it! He was surprised! Evan didn't know exactly what he had been expecting but not this…. 

“Sorry I was busy writing you know all of this being sent to my death by my father, seeing the kind of ghost of My Dead Brother and becoming a zombie business gave me some killer ideas for music..” Elizabeth ruled her eye and Susie let out a small chuckle 

Evan, cleared his throat 

“It's been so long, Elizabeth! I know it's under bad circumstances but still it's wonderful to be back together!” 

Evan hopes that his words were convincing enough. Despite not wanting anything to do with them, Elizabeth was still an Afton, so she was able to recognize manipulation but all those years away from father probably lessened the skill.

“Stop trying to be my brother.. Just get this over with so I can get back to songwriting and cuddling my girlfriend” Elizabeth looked away; she only had one eye now. And that one eye was filled with such hatred.

“Yeah and you better not tell any faz-themed lies you little company rat” Susie looked like at any minute if Evan said Susie deemed a lie, her fist would be planted in his shattered skull.

Charlie gave them both a stop fighting look before speaking 

“You work with William, you know something about the rentals and what happened to Michael right?” 

“Yes I do..” Now it was time for the lie.. Evan had been practicing this. His father had gone through the basic idea of what he was supposed to say but Evan had added on details..

“As you all probably remember, on the Opening day of Circus Baby's Pizza World there was a gas leak..” This he had gone through with his father there was never a gas leak. 

Most of the “gas” was just circus baby overheating and letting out excess smoke because her body wasn't built to fit someone of Michael's size 

All three of the women's faces fell dark. Evan could remember that day just like they did.. Smoke choking the air, children running in fear and Elizabeth stepping out of the party room covered in pizza sauce. It was really Michael's blood, but William had convinced everyone that the gas had tampered with Elizabeth's mind and she had just wandered into the kitchen and spilled tomato sauce. How poor little Elizabeth hadn't been able to understand what she had just seen and had begun to cry that circus baby ate Michael..

“But what you don't know is that the gas leak was caused by Michael…” Evan tried to look somber but he could barely hold in his grin. He had added this part. And the next one 

Charlie began to fidget uncomfortably. She had been closer with Michael than anyone at that time; this was going to hurt her a lot..

“He went mad I think quite a while ago.. Was convinced he needed to combine himself with the machines. Made an excuse of getting ice cream for you Elizabeth, then rigged circus baby so she would instead of handing out ice cream pull ice cream in and in this case he was ice cream..” Oh this was fun to see, the look on Elizabeth and Charlie's faces. He cared for them both but the way they liked Michael after everything he did made Evan's blood boil..

“No no you're lying! he wouldn't- I knew him! he-we had a plan! he wouldn't-” Charlie got up beginning to pace.

Evan just sat there trying to look sad. “I'm afraid it's true.. My father didn't tell anyone, fearing that him and Henry would be under more scrutiny and I know it's wrong! He regrets it a lot! but he was scared and sad and thought that was the best decision..” 

Evan spoke in a quiet voice trying to sound sad harder, since even though he was a good liar, seeing Charlie dislike Michael seeing her finally understand that he was a monster and a murderer made him feel good…

“So Michael went crazy and let out the gas leak and shoved himself in the robot? How does that explain him being a part of circus baby and appearing to Liz? Is he like haunting it or something?” Susie was the only one not having an emotional reaction to this; she hadn't known Michael. The only steak she had in this was her girlfriend's well-being.

“He was mentally unstable and scared and thought that was the only way he could be whole.. And yes I believe that in some form his consciousness lingers on and it influences Circus baby and the rest of the animatronics to be violent.. to do that..” Evan gestured to Elizabeth making Susie give him a death glare. 

This was sort of true. Michael was Circus baby and was fully conscious. But he wasn't responsible for the others' murderous programming, dad just made the funtimes like that.

“That's why they were locked up down there. That's why they're punishment was so severe, Michaels sou-if you want to call it that made them go insane…” Elizabeth nodded along quietly.

“It makes sense, He didn't seem that sound of mind when I saw him..” Elizabeth ran an unconscious hand over the entry scar on her back where the scooper had hit and that monstrosity had torn into her. 

“No, I know Michael! I knew him so well then!! We were close! If he was feeling like that he would have told me!? he would have said something, he would have like painted it or some s*** Michael doesn't-” Charlie looked around hoping for that hostility Susie and Elizabeth had to Evan earlier but his lie was good they knew he was right. 

“Look Charlie I'm not saying we trust the corporate asshat over there..But it seems to line up with what Elizabeth said…” Even though Evan hated being called a corporate asshat, She was on the right track or the track he wanted her to be on.

“May I continue?” The word sounded Melancholy as if he couldn't bear to continue telling the tale.

Charlie nodded, looking like she was about to explode. Evan went ahead quickly before Charlie could say anything else 

“But trapping a bloodthirsty animal in a cage makes it more vicious so All of the animatronics influenced by Michael's anger and Madness at time of death combined and used Elizabeth to escape..”

“Then I got moldy and they injected” Elizabeth added on 

“Exactly and here's where it all comes in.. You brought me here to find out more information and now you've got it! but we still have a murderous pile of wires on the loose, who's willing to do worse than what happened to Elizabeth in a heartbeat…And it still thinks like Michael in some weird twisted way so.. ” Charlie stopped pacing and stared in object horror at what next was going to come out of Evan's mouth. Evan couldn't help but smile here he had been waiting for this part, he'd been waiting to even do this since he woke up in that stupid hospital bed in 1983

“We need to kill it, And Charlie I need your help to get it done…”

[miiilowo]

I just like the simplicity of the original games, i don't like the hard left turn towards science fiction(?) and whatever the hell you were saying about the books because what the fuck bruh. At some point I just feel it got too 'mysterious and weird for mysteriousness sake' instead of the vagueness actually serving the story well.

Like. Chuck E Cheese. There are ghosts in the Chuck E Cheese. There is creepy phone calls and signs on the walls that hint at toddlercide. Evil shitty restaurant chain. There's a serial killer. The serial killer also becomes one of the ghostbots except more zombielike? Cool. Also Springtrap is genuinely Slasher-worthy like wtf look at him. his design. he's so beautiful he's so fucked up he is a killer robot rabbit man what.

Never got into security breach but I don't really care about the sentient, actually-talks-to-you robots.

i think the bleakness and desolate hope (ahoaheoheuahaigeihghigh) you get from the first three games is rather unique and got lost post-fnaf 4. there was some remnants (ahanwhegheneghebeh) of it in fnaf 4, but it just didn't feel the same. the uncanny look of the animatronics, the actual sadness and feeling of loss with the dead kids, the fact you couldn't sympathize with william afton because he didn't even have a name at that point. The lore was confusing back then, yeah, but it still felt solvable. It felt intentional. There was a concrete story being told that you could piece together if you paid close enough attention, and it was elevated by the fact it was told through those grimy minigames. There's a certain emotion I get from the initial FNAF trilogy that hasn't once been replicated by anything else, which I find is best communicated through this son of a bitch:

Maybe it's just because I was there when it happened, and maybe its just nostalgia, but this song fucks with me. It was a perfect choice and I could go on for AGES discussing why, but it's genuinely this song and this Feeling i got from it & the minigames that make FNAF 3 my personal favorite fnaf game. the gameplays not great, and sure, springtrap is there which is cool, but it nailed exactly what made fnaf intriguing, and that was the story. The feeling you got from it. Or that I got from it, anyway. To me, it encapsulates the horror of the situation, which largely lies in how unbelievably sad it is!!!!!!! They were just kids! It feels old, it feels both unsettling and gentle and bittersweet all at once and AAAOAUEGRGRGRGHR

anywho. this is what fnaf was to me. once scott introduced scifi elements, it got lost on me, which i think is a shame. i referenced it earlier, but the desolate hope, one of his earlier game endeavors, is sci-fi but still executes that nasty grimy and, well, desolate feeling really really well. you can see TDH leaking into sister location at times, but i wish that the game felt more like this instead of what it ended up being:

is it incredibly crowded? yes. does it fuck anyway? also yes

i know why he took the route he did. he's a storyteller at heart, he's said it himself, and he doesnt actually like horror that much; he just sort of...stumbled into fnaf. Regardless, seeing it slowly slip away sucked. The focus pivoting away from the kids and their silent suffering to the afton family & their endeavors detracted from the overall energy of the games, and it crushed the one thing about FNAF that i feel really made it special.

Even now, sister location sticks out like a sore thumb in the main line of games. Nothing about it fits in with the others, even FFPS, but it also sort of served as a tone reset for the series. I don't think Scott intentionally decided to fuck it up, not at all, it was just an unfortunate series of missteps that led to things progressing past FNAF 3 in the first place. (if you werent aware, the main reason FNAF 4 was made was because scott was upset that people thought springtraps jumpscare wasn't scary, and he didn't want the series to end on a sour note.)

Then, after FNAF 4, he made FNAF world. Not because people thought fnaf 4 was bad, but because he needed to step away from horror. thats fine; its a spinoff! he did it for fun! i like fnaf world, even if its objectively not very good, but everybody else hated it. so he fixed it. and then, people found out about the intended story for the games (the dream theory) which fnaf 4 confirmed, and everyone hated it, which led to him making sister location, but SL was too vague and weird, so he made pizzeria sim. Then steel wool got involved, and instead of making a new chapter in fnaf, they completely fucked any coherency in the lore (both scott and steel wool) and started strangling the life out of it.

sometimes, you have to let a thing die! not everything needs to be 100% ideal 100% of the time, but his pursuit of perfection was what ultimately led to the series' downfall. and it sucks. but i suppose its a good lesson to impart upon people. the other lesson being to never let your political donations get leaked of course

[caramelcoatednightmares]

Okay so my Help Wanted 2 theory. When we first got the trailer I thought we might be playing as Cassie.

Reasons

- She falls down the elevator and Sister Location is built under something, she falls under the fnaf 6 location with the elevator. Plus the scooper was an ending in Ruin DLC.

- Later in another trailer we see fnaf 6, sister location, and security breach. We saw references to all of this in Ruin DLC.

- She fell with the mask, because the mask is AR she could be using it to travel through the locations

Now that Help Wanted 2 is out, this could still be an option. Especially considering where you take off the mask and see a ruined location and all the mini games are set in broken or burned locations with broken or burned characters. Plus you use the camera machine like in Ruin DLC to access everything.

But you know what makes more sense? We're playing as Cassie's dad. Every mini game we do is repair based. You repair the carousel, you repair the room with Funtime Freddy, etc. Plus the story Candy Cadet tells is one of a young girl led along with tricks (Cassie) but says how she's still alive, just scarred. He's dangling in Cassie's dad's face that his daughter is alive. Which explains why he's there, he's looking for his daughter.

Proof

- all mini games repair based (except 2 or 3)

- use of mask and fazwrench

- poster in the back room is similar to one a worker might see on the job

- prizes you collect are old ones from commercials (Cassie said her dad collected classic stuff in Ruin DLC)

- candy cadet story about the young girl

- mystic hippo says "she needs you"

Possible proof

- big enough to just throw minirinas aside

- the little twirl of a tool when putting it back feels like a dad move <3

- clues left behind by some "she"

[allfandoms-writings]

      ― 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐔𝐕𝐀 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌

summary:  Takemichi is trying to reform the second generation of Toman to call a battle against the Kanto Manji Gang. though he knows a measly 50-member gang won’t get them far, so he goes to some old allies to ask for their help in the final battle with Mikey.

warnings:  manga spoilers, slight angst (if you squint), Akito says a slur, 

A/N: this goes along with Matters of The Heart! please give that a read to gain some context!

word count: 7.2K 

parts: two | epilogue 

“We need more members. We won’t get anywhere with just us four,”

“Who’d be crazy enough to fight against Mikey?”

“We need a new look. These shirts are tacky.”

“Hey!”

The four boys sit around a table in the Shiba household’s living room. All sporting the same t-shirt with a design of a black cat and the letters of ‘TW’ on either side of the cat. Takemichi can’t help but nervously laugh at Inui’s take on the poorly styled shirts for their new gang, but he had a point. They needed someone with taste and a sense of fashion.

There’s only one person who he thinks of that has a sense of fashion and will probably fight against Mikey. This then leads him to think of one more person who is as crazy, if not more to take on Mikey all by herself. The last time he knew, they were together, the complete opposites!

“Anyways, I’ve got a good idea who we’re looking for!” Takemichi stands up with determination sparkling in his blue eyes. “A person with great style, and is level-headed!”

“Oh?” Hakkai perks up at the mention, smiling and looking up at Takemichi. “Are you talking about someone who I hold a lot of respect for?”

The faux blond looks down at the blue-haired male with a determined smile. “Exactly! I want him in our team no matter what!”

With affirmed cheers from Chifuyu and Inui, they leave the house to set to the male’s home to ask him the big question. The four boys hold their heads up high in the hopes he’ll join them and go against Mikey, and maybe he could ask her if she’d like to join them. There’s no doubt about it he’d refuse, even if he’s already busy in his own life.

Hakkai leads them to the tall business building where Mitsuya’s brand is located. They’re met by the receptionist who warns the boys that Mitsuya is currently busy but notifies her boss to let him know. Even with her urgency that it may not be the best time to see him, Mitsuya grants her permission to send the guys up to his atelier.

Chifuyu and Takemichi can’t help but be in awe as they walk through the shiny building with large windows and various large pictures of multiple outfits. Hakkai leads their small group to the elevator, memorizing where exactly Mitsuya’s office is from and how often he’s come to visit and work with him. Inui couldn’t help but gape at the see-through elevator, watching how they were getting higher and higher off the ground.

Takemichi is sure that if Hakkai wasn’t there with them, they’d sure get lost quickly. All the winding halls and many doors they needed to get to go into another elevator. But finally, they come to large, dark wood double doors that are taller than they should be. Hakkai is quick to loudly shout to Mitsuya, his booming voice echoing in the empty hall.

Soon the doors opened to revealed Mitsuya’s younger sister, Luna. Takemichi gasps at how much older she is now; her long lilac hair is now pulled back into a chignon with a bow and dressed in black slacks and a sleeveless white blouse with a black bow at the collar. She’s quick to hush the tall boy she grew up with, but her eyes then fall on the other three boys with him.

“What are you guys doing here?” Luna quickly asks in a hushed voice, stepping out of the room and shutting the door behind her quietly. “Big brother is very busy and isn’t expecting visitors.”

“Where’s Taka-Chan, Luna?” Hakkai asks in a cheerful voice with a matching smile, “We’ll be quick! I swear!”

Luna sighs and slumps her shoulders. “He’s in a pinch right now.”

“What do you mean by that?” Takemichi asks with a confused expression on his features.

“Um…” Her eyes avert from theirs and her hands move to her front, fingers fiddling with each other and shifting in her spot. “He has a show coming up in a week and is behind on designing his main looks.”

“I thought Taka-Chan hated awards?” Hakkai asks softly.

She nods and doesn’t argue. “He did but ever since the split, he’s been doing everything he can to distract himself.” Her voice falls quiet and she looks down at the floor with a frown.

“Wait— Split?!” Takemichi exclaims in pure shock, causing the other two males with them to look up in shock.

Luna nods again. “Ever since then, my brother started to shut himself in. He keeps on designing and doesn’t even comes out to eat. Mana is heartbroken that he doesn’t even come home anymore.” She says dismally.

“Can we see him, Luna?” Takemichi asks gently. The young woman looks up at him to see a gentle yet reassuring smile on his lips.

She hesitates for a moment before nodding her head. Turning, she opens the large door carefully and holds it open for the guys to walk in. To their shock, the room was dark with the only lights coming from the few floor lamps that crowd over a large desk. The large windows in the study had the blackout curtains drawn and the floor had fabric and crumpled paper thrown everywhere. A few stacks of instant noodles sit next to the trash bin next to the desk. On the other side of the study are a pair of couches and a coffee table, though one of the couches is covered in a pile of clothing, and the other has a pillow and thrown a blanket over it.

Hunched over at his desk is Mitsuya, scribbling on paper with his sewing machine drowning in the pile of scraps of paper, material, and even water bottles. Luna carefully walks in with the boys, she winces at her brother’s frustrated growl and tosses another crumpled ball of paper that hits her head. She yelps, causing him to look up from his desk at the sound to see his younger sister.

It takes a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness of his study before making out his sister in the dim lighting. “Oh. It’s you, Luna.” He mutters out.

Takemichi is right behind Luna, but his eyes widen at the disheveled appearance of Mitsuya. For someone who is usually pretty, clean, fashionable, and level-headed, Mitsuya looks like he just came out of an alley in Ikebukuro. His hair looks like it hasn’t been washed in days, stubble formed on both his chin and upper lip, looking skinnier, and dark circles around his eyes. The black shirt he wears is wrinkled and worn, with some stains from probably when he does remind himself to eat something, but rushes it.

“Mitsuya, can we talk?” Takemichi asks in an even voice, holding his unwavering determination in hopes it’ll get Mitsuya out of his study.

Mitsuya blinks his eyes a few times and his lips part in slight disbelief. “Takemitchy?”

Just like that, Mitsuya finally gets away from his desk. Luna is quick to move the pile of clothing, blanket, and pillow before opening the curtains, reminding her brother it’s good to have some sunshine. She then ushers the other boys out of the room. Hakkai tries to stay back with Takemichi but is dragged away by Chifuyu and Inui, knowing that Hakkai would just be crying the whole damn time.  

The moment they sit down, Luna is quick to move the other boys out of the room to give them some privacy to talk. Though she leaves the doors cracked so they can kind of hear what was being spoken,

Sitting at the seats outside of his office, Chifuyu and Inui watch Hakkai peeking into the office with knitted brows and tears brimming his eyes. Luna sits with the boys with her head hung and shoulders slumped.

“I guess the split is hitting Mitsuya really hard.” Chifuyu sighs out, crossing his arms over his chest and frowning.

“What do you mean by ‘split’?” Inui asks innocently with furrowed brows.

“Taka-Chan and Akito split up three months ago. She got a new assistant that started to spark problems between them and even scandals.” Hakkai briefly yet his tone is bitter. His scarred lips turn into a frown as he then turns to face the two boys. “They got into a huge fight and she demanded him to leave.”

Chifuyu gasped in shock and Inui’s eyes widened at the sudden news. “Who’s the assistant?”

“Hanma is her personal assistant.”

Takemichi’s eyes widen at Mitsuya’s response. The designer’s hand reaches up to his eyes, thumb and pointer finger rubbing his eyes with furrowed brows and an irritated frown. By his tone alone, he wasn’t at all happy about it and sounded even pained by that. Mitsuya leans forward on his knees with a long and heavy sigh leaving him.

He didn’t know how long this had been going on, but how Mitsuya looks when talking about it irritates him. There’s a sense of defeat in his eyes and he’s exhausted enough by his work too. He can only imagine the inner battle he’s having with himself knowing that his wife’s ex is back and possibly obsessing over him like always.

“How did that happen? I thought Hanma disappeared after Kisaki’s death.” Takemichi asks gently, in hopes of not irritating Mitsuya further.

“Her father found Hanma somewhere, fixed him up, and offered him the job to become her personal assistant. She also needed a new assistant for Twin Dragons, she just hired him on the spot.” Mitsuya briefly answers with a deep breath, then turns slowly to look back at Takemichi with tired eyes. “For the first couple of months, I tried to adjust to it but I couldn’t help but get jealous anytime she’d stay out late with him. Or when we’d be trying to have dinner together, all she’d talk about is him and how good he is of an assistant.”

“We got into an argument about Hanma, and well, she told me to leave.” Mitsuya finishes after a long pause. He leans back on the couch and takes a deep breath, “I love Akito, I do. But I can’t fucking stand the thought of her leaving me for Hanma when he was the one that left her.”

“Did you tell her that?” Takemichi asks quietly with knitted brows. Now he’s thinking back to if Hina knows that he’ll drop whoever if she told him to.

Mitsuya shrugs, “I don’t remember anymore.” He then gets up from the couch and walks back to his desk. “I know you didn’t come all the way here to ask about my rocky marriage,” He turns to look back at Takemichi with a smile. “What made you come here, Takemitchy?”

“I will fight Mikey and I need a team.”

Mitsuya’s tired eyes widen in slight shock at the bold resolution. He leans against his desk with his arms crossed over his chest, blinking his eyes at the faux blond a couple of times. A part of him hopes he is just saying that to cheer him up, but that unwavering determined Takemichi look lets him know he was being serious.

Takemichi hesitantly looks up at Mitsuya, his hardened gaze softening. “And so… I was thinking you could…” He hesitates to finish his sentence as Mitsuya rubs the back of his neck.

There are a few moments of silence between them that creates heavy tension for Takemichi. He should’ve known better than to spring that huge question when Mitsuya already has enough on his plate. The split with Akito and the huge fashion event coming up are all that Mitsuya could probably take right now.

“I can’t, man. I have a whole fashion line I gotta keep up with.” Mitsuya responds casually yet awkwardly, trying to keep things light between them. “But if you need help with going up against Mikey, your best option is to ask Akito for aid. Between you and I, she’s still the same insane and ruthless girl we knew as teenagers.”

After a quick parting to leave Mitsuya to his work, Luna stops the boys before they leave to hand them passes to the show to help support her brother. They thank the young woman before they part and Takemichi breaks the news to the guys. But now, Takemichi has the task of somehow getting a meeting with Akito. He just doesn’t know where to find Akito if she wasn’t at the headquarters for Twins Dragons after being told by the receptionist who looked awfully familiar.

None of them could place it due to the woman wearing a mask. But her piercing cobalt eyes and straight black hair had them questioning it a bit.

Albeit she did hand them an address to go to and that was where they’d find Akito. Going to that location, they found themselves outside of the estate that no one had ever dared to go into since the walls were so tall. Inui mentions how he and Kokonoi used to meet up with their own gang members there as a rendezvous point when they escaped the cops. Chifuyu even mentions that Baji had once said that Kazutora tried breaking in once.

Before they could attempt to try to figure out how to get into the estate, the large metal and wood gates slid open with a few suited men approaching them. They guide the boys in and walk with them, telling them that Akito is waiting for their arrival. The boys almost circle around Takemichi due to the looks they were gaining from other well-dressed men and women dressed in yukatas, hearing murmurs from them as they passed by.

They were led into a large building and the first thing they are met with is a large dojo. Various men are in the room either lifting weights, using the boxing ring, and another at a punching bag. A few women were in there too, practicing throwing a person over their shoulder. The clinging of metal chains and groans and grunts fill the room. Making the boys wonder if this is what it was like to be in an organization.

“Hanagaki Takemichi! Matsuno Chifuyu! Shiba Hakkai! Inui Seishu!”

A loud woman’s voice came from one side of the large room, making the boys turn in that direction to see a woman with asymmetrical short hair standing in the large doorway to another part of the building. She holds a mocking smile towards the group of boys. She’s dressed in a tight white training shirt, and black biker shorts and her feet are wrapped up.

The more the boys stare at the woman, one by one, they start to realize who is the woman calling out to them. That woman is indeed Kira Akito, head captain of the All-Girl Gang, Kenjaku. They just didn’t know this girl was stacked— both her chest and wealth.

She smiles as she stalks closer to the speechless group of boys from her childhood. Her sharp amber eyes quickly glance over each of the boys, taking mental notes for herself. Takemichi freezes as she approaches closer, Hakkai remains quiet and still, and Chifuyu and Inui tried to keep on strong faces for their newly formed team. Though in complete honesty, the boys were either very afraid or too stunned to speak.

“Long time no see, boys.” Akito greets them with friendliness although it doesn’t match the mischievous gaze in her eyes. “Gogo mentioned she saw you boys come into TD’s Headquarters so I had her send you boys to me.”

Chifuyu’s lips parted in shock, “That was Gogo at the front desk?!”

She smiles and nods, “Mhm… She wanted to stay close after we graduated and the gang disbanded.” She confirms, “Come with me. It’s a bit loud in here to talk.” When she turns to lead them into the other room, she calls out to her right. “Yun-Yun! Shuji! Meeting now!”

Chifuyu and Hakkai turn to see a familiar brunette stop her spar with a man. She turns and runs a hand through her hair as she stands straight. She breathes heavily as she walks toward them with a dead glare in her eyes and hands balled into fists still. She didn’t sport any boxing gloves but there are hand bandages around her hands. But even as a teenager, that girl didn’t have enough time to get her hands on some protective boxing gloves.

Their attention then moves to a man getting thrown their way. Hakkai and Takemichi scramble out of the way as the man gets slammed against the wall. Their eyes follow where the man came from to see a smiling tall man in a tight-fitting black tank top and training pants. Something is unsettling about him and something so familiar at the same time.

Was it his piercing amber eyes? The uncanny black hair with gold streaks? Or even the eerie grin that stretches his lips?

He takes off the boxing gloves as another man in a suit takes down the busted punching bag. A high-pitch titter comes from him as he approaches the group and tosses the boxing gloves behind him. He then starts to unwrap the training wrappings from around his hands.

“Yankee, I don’t know why you can’t use the training gloves,” The tall man speaks as he approaches the brunette woman that stops by them. “Or why I have to and you don’t. I beat ass better bare.”

“Akito fucked up your hand once,” The woman says with slight annoyance in her voice as they both start to walk toward the doorway ahead of the group of guys. They ignore them completely. “She’d freak the fuck out if you fuck your own hand up.”

The boys couldn’t help but stare at the two confused. The way they talked to each other and even seem pretty close. Or even how Akito called them and they immediately stopped what they were doing for her without anyone else batting an eye.

As they followed them into the other room, Takemichi’s eyes widened noticing the uncanny ‘ Punishment ’ tattoo on his hand. He sharply inhales at the realization that Mitsuya wasn’t kidding that Hanma was back. Leading Akito to be even more deadly when she has Hanma around to indulge her in her sadism streaks.

In the room, a pair of men shut the door behind the group, exiting the room and possibly standing outside on the other side of the door. The room itself is large with a tatami area on the far side of it along with an upper level where Akito lounges back on the long lounge chair as Hanma and the woman take their seats on either side of her on a couple of floor cushions. The background behind Akito is a traditional Japanese art piece of a large and colorful dragon winding and baring its teeth.

“Have a seat boys,” Akito says though it sounds more like an order and they do as she says. She smiles watching them approach the tatami flooring and sit down in front of her. “Drinks, snacks, questions before we begin our little meeting?”

Chifuyu looks down at his lap, Hakkai shuffles in his spot, and Takemichi lets out an awkward squeak with a nervous smile. Inui shrugs and makes himself comfortable on the tatami mat, having a basic understanding of the Yakuza’s code to be chivalrous. Akito seems rather harmless at the moment, seeing how relaxed her two companions are by her sides.

“Tea, please,” Inui responds casually and leans back in his seat.

She smiles and then looks down at the renowned leader of his new little team. “Takebitchy, you’re awfully quiet for wanting this meeting to happen.” She says coyly, moving in her lounge chair to plant her feet on the floor and lean on her knees. “Are you sure none of you want anything?”

“I-I don’t want to impose…” Takemichi quietly responds, looking away from her stare and feeling small under her smile.

“Water…” Chifuyu softly says, his green eyes glancing up at her and then back to his hands.

Hakkai just shakes his head, keeping his eyes away from her. He hates that even still after years, he’s still scared of that woman. He wants to yell at her and demand why she chose Hanma over Mitsuya, but he knows he’ll shrivel and clam up. Without his sister to talk for him, he might as well be deemed as a mute there.

Akito leans back in her seat and turns to look at Hanma. “Tea, water, and a coke for Yun-Yun, pretty please!” She almost sings as she leans over the large armrest of her lounger and bats her eyes at him.

“Angel Dust for the Yankee, water for C4U, and Tea for Scarface and the Princess. Got it~” Hanma recounts the mini order he’s given as if he’s a waiter at some diner. He groans as he stands up, “A tip would be great, Princess, if you’re gonna be treatin’ me like a servant.”

“She said Coke like the soda!” Yeong-Ja exclaims in her spot with irritation and a scowl.

“Now, Shuji.” Akito smiles though there’s a darker vibe coming from her that makes Hanma wave his left hand dismissively.

As he walks out of the room, Takemichi can’t help but catch sight of a scar on the back of Hanma’s hand. Right between the two strokes for ‘Sin’ sits a small but visible scar. His eyes widen at the thought that someone was able to stab Hanma who has better kinetic eyesight and was able to block Mikey’s attacks. Who was able to surpass Hanma’s eyes to stab his hand?

Akito sighs and relaxes a bit in her chair and turns to Yeong-Ja. “Yun-Yun, how do you think Hanma is adjusting?” She asks as if she wasn’t about to start a meeting with former members of Toman.

The half-Korean sighs, “Given that you stabbed him to swear his loyalty, I don’t doubt he’s planning to stab you in the back anytime soon.” Yeong-Ja replies before shifting in her spot to sit in a criss-cross position. “He’s used to Kisaki telling him what to do. You’re probably no different and you were his girlfriend at one point, Aki-Chan.”

Takemichi flinches in his spot upon hearing the women’s banter. Akito was the one to stab Hanma’s hand? When did Hanma even resurface after he disappeared and how did Akito’s father find him? The main question that’s been swirling around in Takemichi’s mind is: Was Akito always connected to the Yakuza?

When Hanma came back with the drinks and handed them to their guests and the girls, they thanked him. He didn’t respond to their gratitude and took his spot back next to Akito. There are a few minutes of silence between the boys and Akito before she sits up straight from drinking her cup of tea. That same stoic gaze returned from when she’d had her meetings with Toman, it sent chills through the former members of Toman's spines.

“To whom do I owe the pleasure of getting Toman’s Crybaby presence?” Akito asks with a smile and slight professionalism. “It’s not every day I get told Toman members are entering TD’s HQ.”

Takemichi stares up at Akito, taking in a deep breath and reminding himself why he is there. Kenjaku almost always aided Toman’s affairs upon their request. Akito always was in cahoots with Mikey too, so there’s no way she’d decline.

“I am going to fight Mikey! I need a team and would like you to come to join me to fight Mikey!” Takemichi announces loudly and proudly, his eyes looking everywhere but at the woman he should be saying it to.

Akito, Yeong-Ja, and Hanma couldn’t help but stare at the male before them incredulously. Lips parted, eyes squinted, and blinking their eyes a few times. They let his proposition run through their minds a few times, just to make sure they heard him correctly. A few moments of silence and thick tension fill the air.

They start to laugh hysterically.

Chifuyu clenches his jaw and knits his eyebrows a bit. He’s had a feeling this was going to happen knowing Akito isn’t the type of person to join something if there is no benefit for her. Let alone, most of the members of Kenjaku always laughed at Takemichi and his determination to do the impossible. Just by how Hakkai is shaking in his spot and Takemichi’s dumbfounded look, looks like he’ll be the one saying the next thing.

“What drugs are you on to decide that?” Yeong-Ja cackles, slapping her hand onto her forehead and shaking in her spot.

“You’re declaring a rumble between Mikey and you with no army?” Hanma wheezes in his spot before falling back and laughing hard on the floor. “What a bunch of losers~!”

Akito is the loudest laugher, kicking her legs in the air and holding her stomach. She wheezes in a breath, forcing her body to stop for a moment and question her guests. Her eyes are squinted smugly and a grin forms on her lips, giggles leaving her.

“After all these years, you finally decide to gain the balls to challenge Mikey? At what cost when you can barely fight yourself?” Akito titters in amusement, her grin forming into a smile seeing the boy’s expression change and trying so hard to stay strong. “Y’know even when we were teens, I never just aided to a fight for no reason. I need a plan and reason to join in on a fight, I’ll never aid something with no resolve.”

Takemichi goes to open his mouth to respond, but Chifuyu beats him to the punch.

“You helped out in any fight Toman was involved in when Mikey asked. Why is it different when we ask for your help to fight Mikey and his new gang?” Chifuyu questions in a challenging tone, his eyebrows furrow a bit and he lowers his head.

Hanma and Yeong-Ja’s laughter dies down as the serious tension starts to replace their disbelief. Akito hums in acknowledgment and slight amusement from the ex-first division vice commander of Toman. She leans back in her lounger and leans on the armrest, making the boys tense as if she was getting ready to order Hanma to do something.

“He had to be truly desperate to ask for Kenjaku’s help. Exhibit A is when Shuji was running Vahalla and it was 300 to 150 members; I lend the aid of another 150 to make it even.” She briefly explains with her voice dropping into a more serious tone, her eyes boring down at the four boys before her. “And the fights always benefitted me too in the long run. Both Mikey and Draken knew that more than anyone.”

“We still crushed Vahalla! What was in it for you anyways to join in on that battle?” Chifuyu demands and raises his voice to a near yell, before getting a pen thrown at him and striking him between the eyes. His eyes move to see Hanma flicking around a pen in between his fingers, his piercing eyes fixed on the boy and looking down at him.

“No one is yelling, C4U. This isn’t a fucking rock concert where you need to scream.” Hanma warns in a low voice, his smile no longer there, and flips the pen around between his fingers. “We can hear you fine.”

There’s a moment before Akito responds and gets up. “I wanted Shuji in exchange for the battle and a guaranteed win. That is what happened and even Toman got bigger in numbers taking in Valhalla.” She answers truthfully, walking down the step of where she was and down to where the boys are. “Toman got stronger and I gained the boyfriend I wanted. Now as an adult, I am married and have everything I ever wanted.”

“You cheated on Taka-Chan for Hanma.”

Takemichi turns to shut up Hakkai before Akito could do anything, but his movements are stopped when she holds out a hand to him. She looks down at the blue-haired male who stares up at her in disgust, though behind that is fear that he holds for her. Stepping off of her stage and stalking up to her gusts with a predatory gaze.

Both Yeong-Ja and Hanma adjust themselves in their spots. Hanma grinned with a titter leaving past his lips, praying that she’ll give him the word. Yeong-Ja’s fingers tapped on her leg, watching the other boys just in case they’ll be bold enough to attack Akito. Though the only ones that look genuinely upset with Akito are just Chifuyu and Hakkai, both having their very own reasons. Leaving Inui and Takemichi forced to stay silent and not move from their spots.

“Repeat that one more time for me, Hakkai,” Akito’s voice remains eerily calm as she takes another step to stand in the middle of the four men. Her eyes fixed on the youngest Shiba sibling, “I didn’t quite understand what you said. By all means, express your doubts and concerns. I’ll allow it.”

“You slept with Hanma at that hotel. I know it happened because that was when he came back into your life and became your assistant!” Hakkai states what’s been swirling in his mind ever since the day Hanma came back to the surface. He stares up at Akito with anger and his fists clench in his lap. “You allowed him to ruin everything you have with Taka-Chan! You kicked Taka-Chan to the curb for some guy that left you all those years ago, you don’t even look upset by the split! You’re standing there smiling and laughing because we’re asking for help with fighting Mikey! You never cared about anything in the world that isn’t fucking Hanma Shuji! You’re a sorry excuse for a wife!”

Before Hanma or Yeong-Ja could intervene, Akito’s foot is already slamming against the side of Hakkai’s head. He goes flying into the wooden walls, shouting in pain when his spine collides with the pillar in the wall. The three other boys gasp with complete shock at how quickly Akito moved to attack Hakkai. Hanma grins at the show and Yeong-Ja lets out a breath that she didn’t do worse.

She watches how he falls to the floor as she stalks over to him. She stands before him, hearing him gasping for air and trying to get up. Crouching down, she tilts her head to the side before grabbing him by his outgrown undercut, forcing him to look her in the eye. He doesn’t know what scares him more; the feeling that he’s at the Devil’s mercy or the slits in Akito’s eyes.

“How would you know if I slept with Shuji or not? You weren’t there unless you were some perv getting your rocks off in the same fucking hotel. But I doubt that you’re terrified of women except for your own sister.” Her voice remains calm and collected, but there’s something scary about how much lower her voice drops.

“And don’t you dare claim I am not in the slightest affected about my fucking split with Takashi. My fucking husband left because he didn’t want to fucking adjust that I have a fucking assistant that is the opposite sex and competent in his job! I am under a fuck ton of stress managing Twin Dragons and fucking Kira, having Shuji fucking relieves some of that stress helps me fucking greatly! I do not fucking need a fucking closeted faggot to tell me I don’t care about my fucking marriage!”

Hakkai winces at the loud volume in Akito’s voice, squeezing his eyes shut at how close her face is to his. He shakes in his spot, too terrified to look her in the eye or even argue back. He wants to punch her but he knows his place when it comes to being around someone like Akito. In times like this, he feels like a kid again when Taiju lived with them.

Throwing him down to the ground, Akito turns to look back at the other three with the same deadly gaze. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes before turning to face them fully again. When she opens them, they fall back to the calm and composed gaze she held before.

“I’m sorry you were exposed to such an ugly sight,” She bows as she says this calmly and professionally. She stands up straight and walks back to her lounge chair, “As you heard, I am under a lot of stress. But I do encourage you from time to time to question my logic but in a respectful manner. If you disagree with the way I do things, tell me so, no subjects are taboo with me. Exceptions being if it involves my family, Hakkai being a prime example.”

There’s something unsettling to see Akito go from a cold-hearted empress to a compassionate leader who talks sincerely. Even how calm Hanma and Yeong-Ja are at her sides, no reaction whatsoever to her actions besides a smirk and a sigh.

She rubs her temples and takes a deep breath, closing her eyes again. “State your case again and I’ll give you my final answer.”

Chifuyu is too stunned to speak for Takemichi and Inui is aiding Hakkai to make sure she didn’t cause too bad of damage. Takemichi takes a deep breath despite the fear she’s instilled within them all as if remind them who exactly she is and that she’s worse than she was back when they were kids on the street.

“Help us fight Mikey, please,” Takemichi says softly, looking up at Akito with begging yet stern eyes. He takes another deep breath, hoping that the card he pulls is the correct one to use. “Mitsuya told me to ask for your help because he knows you’ve been unamused lately. I know the split is still taking a toll on you both, and I understand that. But he has his hands tied with his brand and maybe, this fight will help relieve some of that stress.”

She stares down at the faux blond male, blankly and still. Tense silence falls over the room again, letting Akito think of her final answer. The former members of Toman pray to every god that she’ll accept their plea, if not, they’re doomed. She’s a powerhouse on her own, but with her connections, it’s an easy win.

“As much as I would love to partake,” Akito breathes out and places her hands on her knees, she bows. Hanma and Yeong-Ja follow her movement and hang their heads low in respect. “I am afraid I have to decline this offer.”

Takemichi’s mouth falls open and shakes his head, “Wait! Why?”

Sitting up straight, Akito’s eyes meet Takemichi’s, and for once reveals the true emotions that lie inside her. “I have an organization and business to run, Takemitchy. We are no longer kids who could drop whatever they’re doing to settle a score. I have a reputation to uphold for my father’s organization and I’m afraid hopping into a battle with the Kanto Manji Gang will tarnish our credibility.” She tells in a sincere voice. She then stands up and Hanma follows her like a shadow. “Try to understand, Takemitchy. When you’re born into the Yakuza, there’s a code of honor we all must follow.”

“I see,” Takemichi sighs in defeat and nods his head in understanding. He gets up himself followed by Chifuyu, signaling Inui and Hakkai to also get up. “I hope everything works out between you and Takashi, Akito.”

She smiles, “Thank you. Shuji will see you boys out, I have to take care of things around here.”

Just like that, the newly forming gang of Takemichi is still stuck at square one. They didn’t even get to ask if Hanma could take her place, but by how he is with Akito, he won’t do it. Yeong-Ja wouldn’t dare to go against her either, but it seemed like Yeong-Ja’s sole reason for being there is to be Akito’s new impulse control. With Mitsuya gone, who knows what chaos Akito could cause?

****

On the night of the fashion show, Takemichi, Hakkai, and Chifuyu sat in the front row seats of the guest area. They watch in awe as each model walks by in stunning outfits, though they didn’t care about the other fashion designers, they were excited to see what Mitsuya had come up with.

Very back of the room stood Akito with Hanma watching the show as well. Choosing not to sit in any of the chairs or even in the space that was reserved just for her months back that was in front of the show. It wasn’t that Akito didn’t want to support her husband— she does; She just doesn’t want him to know she’s there. Albeit, she is curious about what designs he came up with.

“Wonder if he just didn’t attend and we came here for no reason?” Hanma leaned down, uttering softly but just loud enough for her to hear.

“He isn’t the type of man to skip out on an event,” Akito responded with a soft sigh, then takes a sip of her martini. “Once Takashi sets his mind on something, he won’t turn back on it. Besides, his reputation as a fashion designer is on the line.”

Hanma hummed a response, but then his eyes catch sight of a crying blue-haired idiot. “Seems like even Toman came.” He noted before realizing it was still just Takemichi and Chifuyu with Hakkai. He nods his head to the side, “Or the remaining three. They’re missing one.”

“Luna might’ve invited them,” She commented with no surprise. “She probably thought I wasn’t going to show up. I know the office has been placing bets if I was going to arrive or not.”

“Next we have Mitsuya Takashi, founder of Twin Dragons! And his theme, Butterfly. ”

She smirked at the announcer’s excited tone, she crossed her arms while gently swirling the liquid in her glass. The part that shocked her the most is the monologue that is spoken while revealing the extravagant outfits her husband had created and put together. She knew she should be focusing on the looks but her attention is glued to the meaning of the outfits.

“ She’s free and yet beautiful like a butterfly, but even butterflies can devour the living. Disguising as something so pure yet so morbid at the same time. ”

She wanted to frown and look down at the designs but she couldn’t help but feel her chest swell. Handing off her glass to Hanma, she clasped her hands and tilts her head to the side, and swooned at the beautifully put-together kimonos. Even with the add-on of the butterfly wings and the intricate embroidery. Mitsuya’s fashion designs never cease to amuse her and leave her in awe.

Later on in the fashion show, they announce the best looks in the show to praise the designers for their efforts and offer them gifts. Mitsuya is announced as one of them. Akito’s sharp eyes watched the runway intently, she hasn’t seen her husband in almost four months, and she wonders how he was doing. The last she heard from him was the morning after their big fight when he was leaving for work.

Footsteps approach the catwalk, revealing a male dressed in an uncanny bosozoku uniform with gold embroidered lettering down the sleeves and over the chest pockets, and a white sash. Though now, the left side of his head is shaven to reveal the dragon tattoo that he shares with Draken. He walked with his head held high despite the whispers around the venue. Something about the minimal yet grand entrance makes Akito melt inside and her heart grew warm.

He walked up to the microphone, taking a deep breath before speaking.

“First and foremost, thank you very much for the award,” Mitsuya began to talk, despite the whispers of judgment in the crowd. It makes him let out a curt scoff before continuing with the best professionalism he can give. “A few days ago, a helpless junior of mine came to me and told me, ‘ I’m going to fight a former friend .”

Akito’s eyes widened in surprise with her swooning smile fading. Her expression changed to her natural stoic and judging gaze towards the stage, and her eyes shifted to the faux blond in the front row staring up at Mitsuya in shock.

“Takemitchy, you don’t mind me tagging along?”

A loud gasp swept the entire venue at the announcement from the fashion designer. Both Hanma and Akito are even taken aback by the question. Even the new members of Takemichi’s gang are staring up at him in pure shock.

“I am rejecting this award!” Mitsuya announced loudly and caused more of an uproar around the venue. He then politely bowed, “I’m sorry for those who helped me and the judges who selected me.”

“How dare you treat a prestigious award like this?!” One angry judge called out.

Another then shouted, “Have you lost your mind?!”

“Are you going to ruin the future of your brand like this?” The third one screamed.

Mitsuya stood up straight to face the angry crowd of fashion critics. The bored look he holds almost showed his true feelings about rewards. He let the rude remarks and threats to take the award, but with each angry holler, it makes him start to look down on these men and women screaming at him. He doesn’t flinch when balled-up papers got thrown at him or even phased by half-empty water bottles hitting him.

“No matter how great the award is,” Mitsuya began to speak again, his voice calm and it made Akito smirk at the spite in his eyes. “If you abandon the friends who made you happiest for it,”

“There goes the brand,” Hanma rolled his eyes with an annoyed huff. “And half my paycheck.” Then earned an elbow into his ribcage from Akito.

“Then that award is downright shitty!” Mitsuya spitefully yet pridefully finished with a smirk on his lips.

More clamor and uproar filled the venue, more trash gets thrown at him for still standing up there. Though through the crowd, the tabloids pushed their way past the angry crowds. All of them had cameras and held their mics up to Mitsuya, bombarding him with numerous questions about his brand and the company.

In the commotion, Akito curtly huffed and tilted her head down with her arms crossed under her chest. As much as she hated the idea of the company losing revenue, they could always put the brand on an indefinite hiatus. Or make up some bullshit story that Mitsuya needed time away for more “ inspiration ” for his designs and that he had a creative burnout.

At Mitsuya’s resolution, Akito knew where their future will be heading. Like a never-ending cycle, gangs and fights would always bring them back to the beginning.

“Shuji,” Akito said while turning on her heel to start walking out of the venue to stay out of sight and away from the tabloids. “Give Gogo a call. Tell her to wrangle up the girls.”

“O-ho~?” Hanma grinned with sadistic interest glimmering in his amber eyes. “Are we going to have a bit of fun~? With Mikey?”

Akito hummed with a devilish glimmer in her eyes. “Of course.” She nonchalantly respond before she looked up at him. “Toman always needs Kenjaku to lend them a hand. Given it’s Mikey and it’s been years, they’re gonna need it.”

To Be Continued

[meredith-harper81]

Arranged to Love🪽

My Life

Chapter 1:

Paring: Chris Evans x Apsyn Anderson

Word Count: 2k

Warning: Angst, Smut

Apsyn Pov

My fingers are shaking as I'm putting my heels on. I smooth out my cream-colored dress, apply some lipstick, check myself in the mirror, and walk out.

"Took you long enough," Theo says as he is sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for me to come out of the bathroom. He walks towards me as I grab my coat from the rack. He grabs the coat from my hands and throws it back somewhere in the hotel room.

"You don't need that, and you chose to wear that?" he says, eyeing me up and down.

"Yeah? I can change," I say, looking at the floor and avoiding his gaze.

"NO! Just let's go; we're already late, and you've already decided to dress like a widow," he says as I flinch when he grabs me by my wrist and pulls me out with him down the hall towards the elevator.

We take the elevator down to the lobby area, and Theo doesn't even wait for me and walks out as I carefully walk in these high heels.

I walk out, thanks to the help of the bellman, and see Theo already in the car on his phone, typing away as he smirks.

I walk around the other side as the driver holds the door and gets in. I roll the window down a little as Theo's cologne is starting to give me a headache, and the driver takes off.

Theodore and I are attending one of his office parties tonight. Theodore works for a big firm. We used to live in Seattle, where he managed one of the firms, and he recently got promoted to a bigger firm. One of the companies Theo works for partners with Evans Enterprises. From what Theo told me, it is a multi-millionaire company, and tonight they are hosting a party.

Theo's new job required him to stay in Massachusetts, so his company is moving us to Massachusetts, in a little suburb city. As of a few days ago, we have been living out of a hotel until our things from across the country arrive.

...

I stare out the window as we pass tall buildings, and it reminds me of when I used to live in New York when I attended NYU to become a writer.

I once used to be really happy in my early twenties. I lived with my aunt and uncle. Anne and Michael... My aunt was my mom's sister; when my parents passed away, she took me in, and everything was great until she married my uncle.

Michael always had a problem with gambling, and when I was away in college, he took money out of my trust fund. My parents left me and used it all towards betting, putting him in debt, and I was kicked out of college. Michael didn't want to go to jail and owed a lot of money, so he ended up selling me to Theo in exchange for marriage.

Theodore is very handsome, has green eyes and a charming smile, curly short brown hair, and is 5'9. I was in my third year of college when we got married, and Theo never supported me to pursue my writing anymore. I didn't think it was going to be hard to get married to a complete stranger, and it would work out. Little did I know.

So here I am now, three years later, married to Theodore Akens. At first, Theo was really nice and loved me, but then slowly he would start hitting me and verbally abusing me after six months of being married to him. Part of it had to do with his parents; they never liked me, and his mother started filling Theo's brain with awful assumptions about me. He would often bring other women into our room and fuck them next to me while I would pretend to be asleep, and in the morning I would find their belongings around the room. If we were to go out somewhere, he would often put on a show around people and show how much in love we are. or do the complete opposite and flirt with women right in front of me.

...

The driver arrives at the location in the city. It is really cold out, and so many people are in attendance. Theo gets out, and the driver helps me out. I thank him and walk around, and Theo links our arms together, and we walk in as if we were a couple madly in love with each other.

"Mr. and Mrs. Akens, Welcome! All the guests are on the forty-ninth floor. I hope you have a pleasant time," the bellman says as he opens the door.

...

I am standing in a corner of the room with water in my hand and watching Theo from afar. After we entered the party, Theo just left me and wandered off, leaving me all alone.

Theo is standing next to a woman in a revealing red dress, just staring away at her chest, and he is probably now laughing at something she said as he puts his hands on her hips.

I scoff and roll my eyes. I can't do this... I really wished he would have just left me back in the hotel room instead of bringing me alone.

After mingling around with a couple of people, my feet are killing me, and this dress is really uncomfortable. I am walking down a tiny hallway, trying to find my way toward the bathroom.

I turn my head around the other way, and when I turn it back, I run into something hard, and before I can react, I'm on the floor.

"I'm so sorry. Are you okay? Here, let me help you up," I hear him say, and I look up into his bright blue eyes. He helps me up, and before I can thank him, he helps me up.

"Sir, they need you over here," I hear another voice say, and before I can thank him, someone drags him out of my view.

I stand on my feet and notice how much dirt is on my dress. I need to clean this up before Theo can see it. I walk further down the hallway and see the women's restroom.

...

After using the bathroom, I walk back to the other room, and I can't see Theo anywhere. I walk over to the bar and order another glass of water with some lemon, and while I wait for my water, someone pushes me, and I bump into another person, and they spill red wine all over my dress.

"Fuck, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to." This man says this to me as he is grabbing napkins.

I look down and see that my dress is all ruined. How am I going to explain this to Theo?

"It's okay, it's not your fault," I say to the man as I grab the napkins, trying to blow out the stain.

"I'm Scott," he says.

"Oh, um... nice to meet you, Scott," I say, looking over at him and trying to see if Theo is nearby.

If he even catches a glimpse of me talking to another man, Theo will lose his calm, and tonight will not go well.

"So, do you have a name? Or..."

"Uh, yeah, Aspyn," I say, and he reaches to shake my hand.

"Nice to meet you, Aspyn... This is my husband, Steve," he says as he introduces me to Steve, the man standing next to him who has an apologetic smile on his face.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Theo walking back into the room. "It was nice to meet you folks, but I need to find my husband," I say, leaving them before they have the opportunity to talk.

I walk up to Theo, and he doesn't look so happy. I walk up to him, and he looks me up and down and pulls me out to the side.

"Aspyn! What the hell?" He said this, looking at me.

Before I can say that Theo presses the button for the elevator and we get in, he presses the first floor, and it hits the stop button, and the elevator stops. He is just holding my hand and squeezing it super hard, to the point where it is starting to hurt. He pushes me in and cages me against the wall.

"You had one job tonight, and you had to fuck that up, didn't you? You just have to look like a slob in front of everyone, don't you?" Theo says, and I can smell the liquor on me as he gets closer.

Theo punches the wall next to my head, making me flinch. "I'm going back upstairs, and you are going back to the hotel. Don't do anything stupid while I'm out; you hear me," he says as he lets me go, grabs the card key, throws it in my face, and pushes me out of the elevator.

I compose myself as tears threaten to spill out of my eyes and walk out towards some of the car services. As I get in the car, I tell the driver the location, and he takes off. As soon as I get back to my hotel room, I take off my heels, place them next to my suitcase, pull out my night slip, and head towards the bathroom.

I lock the bathroom door and turn the shower on. I walk over to the counter and start to remove my makeup while I wait for the water to turn hot. As I take off my earrings, I notice my bracelet is not there. I stop what I am doing, run out of the bathroom, and trace my steps to the front door, trying to find it. After looking around, I can't find it, and my eyes are threatening to spill out the tears that are building up. I can't believe I lost my mother's bracelet.

This night just hit rock bottom.

After my shower, I get into bed and pull the sheets to my chin, wanting to forget this night. I stare at the ceiling, wondering where Theo went and when he is coming back. I can't even text him or do anything since he took my phone away last month.

...

I'm startled awake when I hear a loud knocking. I turn the side lamp on, and I hear someone knocking at the front door, followed by some giggling. I don't even remember falling asleep. I get out of bed and walk towards the door. I look through the peephole and see Theo leaning on the door.

I open the door, and I see Theo leaning on the same woman from earlier. His shirt is open, and he has some hickeys on his chest. I look down and see his pants undone, about ready to fall down, as he is holding them up with one hand.

"About damn time," he slurs out as he lets go of the blonde and leans into me. "Call me next time you are in town, baby," she chirps at Theo, and I close the door on the blonde and help Theo walk towards the bed. He is drunk, as he is trying to walk in a straight line.

He sits on the bed and is trying to take off his shoes and pants at the same time.

"Here, let me help you," I say as I grab for him, and he pushes me back. I back up as he falls onto the bed.

He shuts his eyes, and I walk over to him and take his shoes and socks off, placing them on the side. I slowly pull down his pants, but his boxer also comes off along with his pants, and I spot cum stains on them. I look at his erection, and he is still leaking cum.

I back up, shaking the disgust out of my body. I walk back to his laundry bag and throw them in there. I head into the bathroom and grab a washcloth, walking back towards Theo. After cleaning him up, I pull the sheets over him and walk back to my side.

I turn off the lamp, get close to the edge of the bed, away from him, and close my eyes in the hope of a better day tomorrow…

[richardsphere]

Leverage Redemption Log: The Panamanian Monkey Job

Look i know we're going to Panama because of last episodes ending tease/it being a 2 parter. But can we just agree that sometimes the writers just pull words out of a hat and call it a title? --- Seriously that Location Establishment Font is horrible. The point of an establishing shot is to show the place we're at and that is the opposite of what your font is doing. --- Harry named-for-a-volleyball is returning to his old place of work to be a suitable distraction to let Leverage Inc slip by to steal his old client-list or something. (i think that the team is still "inc"and the big alliance of other teams working with/beneath them is International? feel free to correct me)

obligatory "evil lawyer joke" and we're scarcely a minute in. Parker making Neigh-noises as she removes the horse painting. 10/10. (Lola also gets a 10/10, it would be cool)

Oh the tax-evasion supervault has a brochure, how quaint. ominous mini-spydrone. (It's either introducing Hardisons understudy cause actor is busy, or actually spying? Im betting on its a fake-out) --- Ok the Panama City Courthouse is a phrase with words long enough that it forces the letters to get vertically smaller and make space between the words so we can actually us see between the letters. Which is a mercy, but unless we're about to spend half a season in LLanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch I do expect this font-styling to be a persistent nuisance. (apologies to the Welsh if there's a typo in there.) --- "blackouts, memory loss, deja vu" saw that punchline coming but its a classic.

just walk into the money laundering operation and start burning things. Simple and effective. Sophie seems to think she's getting too old for this, (think she might switch from frontline grifter to a more Nate-like organiser, carry on her husbands legacy sort of thing)

Elliot hears the drone.

Hardisons sister (read replacement) has a really dead stare...

"I teach every kid i meet how to do crime" That you do,

"one of us gets cover blown, they just kill us. But Harry, he reads like a fed. They'd torture him first. Gives us time to save him." You're not wrong Elliot, but you shouldnt say it. --- "I did not go through the trouble of making the only place in the world where its legal to store illegal property for you to cut corners". Time for a security exposition dump Basement has only 1 way in (elevator, or so he claims Parker is a Vent Enthuisiast) On site and off-site camera monitoring facilities (other in the Philipines) (could be a simple footage loop?) No drilling (seismic sensors, easy to trip=Boy Who Cried Wolf protocol. IE: Sheherezade Job.)

7/10 on the Tickle Yourself gag. Reduced to 4/10by the "dribble a football" (you can dribble a football, Handeggs are a bit tougher though) EDM festival next-door is a go-go. The monkey is the name and logo of a fake animal protection group that is faking outrage about a non-existent DJ playing a non-existent birthday party so they can be shamed by Sophie into playing at a non-existent benefit concert for an existent monkey. --- Creepy goons want to interogate Partyplanner Hackergirl whose name i have already forgotten (im bad at names allright,)

We're not busted, he's just asking why there is a sudden EDM rave nextdoor to his legal "illegal-things" storage. (understandable, bad form of the rest of the team to leave the newbie alone)

Turns out that Warcrimes George is a fan of "legally-not-Deadmouse". (why were we in Tokyo? Oh right *mimes headshot* great show) I have never liked an antagonist who was not meant to be sympathetic to this degree before. Ok so Deadmouse better show up or he's gonna face-shoot her.

--- Opioidrefugee is meeting in the park, guard negotiates him up to 8 million

Huh, the vault operator actually has an apparently semi-decent arguement for his own morality. (giving the tyrants a way to exit the stage into retirement means they have the option of peacefull retirement, and if even 1% of tyrants takes it, thats thousands of civilians not dying in civil wars as they cling to power.) like he's not a good person certainly, but you can argue a moral grey-ness in his business-operations there.

--- Harry sees Maxwell as he leaves... Hardison drills the roof, Breanna mans the phone. Elliot is in the vents (cause the elevator is broken)

Invisible lasers (thank god they're invisible for once) cause a throuple-fight with Hardison and Elliot.

turn of the lock turns the lasers off, and now Maxwell is pointing a gun at Parker.

--- neck-slap unconcious, Maxwell is in the vault... which is laced with explosives we're about to blow up. (making it seem like he blew up a vault full of every dictator and crooks secret stashes. Might be the evilest frame-up this show's ever done) "three of them have armies, one of them has Nukes" Well he's certainly right, that does sound like a "run for the rest of your lives" situation.

Hardison bought the theatre. Tearfull goodbye is imminent. Hardison claims that at least a dozen crews consider Parker a mom.

Sophie is officially out of retirement.

[gioven2201]

Shepard of Fire: Chapter ♠️ IV

Amaryllis looks over the blue skies along the horizon as Vanessa flies them to the Common Realm. With lifeless eyes gazing at the land, the blonde-haired woman finds peace and comfort in the rolling green lush grounds and mountains. The comforting energy nearly lulls her to sleep, but she knows she must stay awake for the trip.

"Finral told me you have a hard time speaking," Vanessa tells Amaryllis, looking over her shoulder and starting small talk between them. "But is it true you escaped?"

Amaryllis nods.

"I've been in your shoes before," the pink-haired woman confesses, looking straight ahead. "I doubt for the same reasons why you did."

Silence engulfs their atmosphere once more until Amaryllis points straight at the church Vanessa referred to before their trip.

"Yeah, that's Narin," Vanessa answers. "My squad mate's little sister lives there. Long story."

Nairn is a populated village in the Common Realm, where a plaza with a fountain is in the middle. The elevations on the outskirts of the town house a web of caves, whereas the town's church sits on the edge. The church is a significant construction with two soaring steeples and serves as an orphanage and training establishment for apostles.

"SOMEONE," the two women overhear, "STOP THAT MAN!"

Amaryllis and Vanessa look to see a man running through the streets with a burlap sack full of items. Amaryllis gently shakes the pink-haired woman's shoulders, urging her to help the citizens. Reluctantly, she agrees and swoops to check out what is happening, curious about the commotion. Unsure what she needs to do, she halts her actions; however, she sees the blonde woman jump down and run toward the thief with her grimoire out, prepared to use her magic.

Amaryllis runs as much as her body would let her. The thief could be better at running for more extended periods, but it is an advantage the golden-haired woman can use to cast a spell close enough.

"Flame Magic: Sleep Pyroalasis!" Amaryllis casts.

The criminal collapses to the ground with a thud and releases his grip on the sack of items. Amaryllis picks it off the ground and slings the bag over her shoulder to the citizens chasing that thief for their belongings. Eventually, they all catch up to the two women and thank them for securing their items. No one understands why someone would do that, but they all are grateful someone could stop him.

"Well done, you two," an older woman says to Vanessa and Amaryllis. "Thank you for doing that."

She is an older woman with short, light-colored hair, a large, jagged scar running over her left eye, extending from her forehead to her left cheek, and wearing a nun's habit. A bunch of children surrounds the woman, like she is protecting them. The aura surrounding the woman tells everyone that if anyone does anything to hurt the children, she will stop it.

"Usually," she clarifies, "this town isn't so bad with thieves. I'm just glad a couple of magic knights were here."

"Oh, she's not one," Vanessa speaks, pointing at Amaryllis. "She's not from around here."

Amaryllis nods her head and shows her grimoire to the nun. She hums in amusement, following the multiple children voicing their curiosity on why there is no clover on the book's cover.

"I see," she replies. "How about we go inside while the others get more members of a magic knight squad to imprison the thief?"

Amaryllis bows as a 'thank you' to the older woman. The golden-haired woman then turned to Vanessa and hugged her as a 'thank you' before the pink-haired woman returned to her base. Amaryills hopes to see her again soon and hopes to see what she means by her squadmates being crazy.

The older nun asks a few citizens to locate magic knights to imprison the criminal, while others agree to watch over the careless thief and wait patiently for help. She also asks the children to resume playtime and explains she will be helping the young woman who arrived here. All the children agree and call the older woman 'Mother Theresa' and return to what they were doing as if nothing happened.

Theresa escorts Amaryllis through the large wooden doors to the church. Once the nun lets the golden-haired woman in, she cannot help but admire the interior design of the building. The church's interior features high ceilings adorned with detailed arches and stained glass windows that allow colorful light to filter through—arranged in rows are the pews facing the altar at the front, where religious ceremonies occur. The altar is elevated and decorated with sacred symbols and sculptures. Various religious artworks, paintings, or icons adorn the walls, and the atmosphere is peaceful and respectful, encouraging contemplation and prayer.

The two women stroll down the aisle to the benches up toward the front to sit and talk while they both wait for the magic knights' arrival. However, in Mother Theresa's mind, that is not the sole thing she wants to do. She has inquiries to ask the youthful female beside her, interested in why she made an impulsive expedition from Spade to Clover.

"I have no idea why you are over here, Spade," Theresa begins sternly. "An irrational decision to journey from Spade to Clover could have been catastrophic if you weren't as strong."

Amaryllis pauses her footsteps at the word "strong," a phrase she despised for years because, to her, being powerful meant everyone expected so much from you. That is what happened to her. She sacrificed her life to save her family because she was the strong one, and where it got her was years of going through so much.

Theresa looks back at the golden-haired woman, noticing her posture and her halted steps. She ponders if she is not used to such recognition or has heard it too much, causing self-doubt. The older woman sees it from young, shy mages from strong families, having so much to compensate for and carrying the expectations of their elders and younger siblings. She does not question the young woman why but waits for her to regain her composure to proceed with their walk. 

Once snapping back to reality, Amaryllis walks to Mother Theresa to proceed, something she gladly obliges. With each step they take, the sound of the children disappears, but eventually, they sit at a nearby bench towards the front.

"I noticed the bandages on your body," Theresa points out to the young lady. "I wonder what happened."

The golden-haired woman points at her throat and makes a hand motion, signaling she cannot speak. "Let me help you with that," the older woman says, pulling out her grimoire and casting, "Fire Healing Magic: Soothing Holy Light.”

Soothing Holy Light is a close-ranged, fire-based healing spell. In an open grimoire, the user personifies several lit candles that softly illuminate and float around the target. Steam emanates from the injuries as they heal, especially to a large group. In this case, the spell heals the golden-haired woman's wounds covered in bandages. Steam comes out of bandages wrapped around her neck, on her thighs, on her right forearm, and another wrapped around her midriff. The smoke dies down eventually, and Amaryllis gradually removes the bandage around her right forearm to see the results.

"It's not there," Amaryllis admires in shock. "No scar... nothing."

With wide eyes, Amaryllis looks at the older woman, who wears a soft smile, and the golden blonde-haired woman proceeds to yank the next bandage around her neck. The golden-haired woman wished she could see how it looked, but once she grazed her neck, the texture of a new scar was right where her trachea was; however, the mark was thin. It does not feel realistic to her. She did not think this kind of magic existed someplace across the four kingdoms.

"It'll work well for on-surface wounds, but I'm unsure about internal. But tell me," Theresa asks Amaryllis, "do you have any plans when you're here, young one?"

The golden-haired woman wondered if she could talk now with her throat wound healed. She clears her throat several times and mutters, "The goal initially... was to hide... in the woods."

Mother Theresa hums, wondering how long that would have lasted.

"Soon," Amaryllis continues, "maybe... find work... once I healed."

"You were okay with living off the grid? Open to all the elements?"

Amaryllis shrugs, too skeptical herself. The golden-haired woman did not consider she would make it out alive. She knew she would plan it out ultimately once healed, but she was still determining when that would be. However, thanks to that healing spell, she is predominantly healed.

"Well," Theresa sighs, "you could stay here, but I do not know if you would be okay with that."

Amaryllis shrugs again. She is not against the idea but knows the older woman would be aiding a fugitive if word gets out.

"However," Theresa mentions, "if you manage to make it to the capital without getting caught, there is a man within the Kingdom whom I trained. His name is Fuegoleon Vermillion. He became a powerful fire mage, like yourself."

She nods, unsure if "powerful" is a great way to describe herself.

"He's the captain of the Crimson Lion. They're one of the magic knight squads in this Kingdom. I used to be a magic knight for that squad, but I resigned and became a nun to protect children."

"I understand," Amaryllis mutters. "Witnessing death isn't easy."

Mother Theresa looks at the younger woman. Hearing those words come out of her should not be typical. She brushes it off, not wanting to pry on the woman she just met. "I doubt you know of any of the squads I'm telling you, but," she explains, "there are nine squads in total. Like the other eight squads, the Crimson Lion follows the orders of the Wizard King, who rules the Clover Kingdom, and they work according to his requests. They are also one of the most well-known and prosperous squads amongst them all."

Amaryllis nods, understanding what the older woman tells her.

"There is one thing I must ask, though," Theresa says. "What are you looking for while you're here?"

"Firstly," Amaryllis answers timidly, "there are some people I met already who I owe, and I'd like to thank them somehow."

Mother Theresa nods.

"But, most importantly, find a place where I belong."

"You'll find it here," the older woman says. "If you run into Little Fuego, tell him the Crimson She-Leopard says, 'hello.'"

"Mother Theresa," one of the men watching the criminal calls out. "Members of the Purple Orcas are here!"

"Oh, wow," Mother Theresa says, "that was quick."

The two women get up from the benches and walk down the aisle. "If you stay a while," Mother Theresa mentions, "I suggest learning about the country as much as possible. Whether reading books or exploring by foot, it'll help."

They go through the tall wooden doors of the church and immediately see the magic knights in their purple robes with an orca on them while interrogating the criminal. The knights turn around and salute them with their arms at a forty-five-degree angle and three fingers at the center of their chest.

"We heard from some villagers that this criminal took some people's belongings?" One of them questioned.

"Yes, they did," Mother Theresa answers. "If it weren't for this young woman and her friend," the older woman motions at Amaryllis, "who knows what would have happened."

Amaryllis puts the hood of her cloak over her head to hide her embarrassment. The magic knights giggle at her shyness, but one of them glances at her grimoire, and he stops laughing immediately.

"I've never seen this kind of grimoire before," he mentions. He closes in on Amaryllis and tries confiscating it out of curiosity, but she moves away before he can. "Woah, okay," he exasperates. "Never seen that kind of reaction before.”

"They must have heard about my entry," Amaryllis thinks. "I'm done for."

"Pardon me, but we recently heard a young woman entered the Clover Kingdom undetected," another man explains. "Out of everyone we interviewed, they let us see their grimoire. You did not, however. So, it makes us wonder..."

"If," the man who tried confiscating her grimoire concludes, "you're that fugitive from Spade."

Amaryllis takes a few steps back before running away toward the outskirts of the town, avoiding the chaos that will soon unfold.

"Amaryllis," Theresa calls out, "wait!”

"You go inside," Amaryllis cries out. "Do NOT come close! I refuse to have someone else involved in my messes!"

The chase ends up short-lived thanks to one of the mages using chain magic, having Amaryllis bound and her mouth shut, making her unable to cast a spell correctly. The chains on her body remind her too much of her life in Spade, and her mana surges so much everyone close by shudders. Her breathing quickens, and she feels the fear and paranoia sweep into her body as she lies there feeling vulnerable.

"That's a lot of power," one mage expresses, "in a tiny body."

Amaryllis lays there and accepts her fate---despite how much she wants to free herself---causing a scene now would not be in her favor.

"Unhand her right this instant," Mother Theresa calls out. "If it weren't for her, so many people would have been missing some of their belongings!"

"Ma'am, please stay out of this," one of the magic knights orders. "If you let her stay here, you would have been arrested for aiding a fugitive."

"Please, Mother Theresa," Amaryllis begs, her voice quivering, "leave me be. I will be fine."

The older woman wavers for a little bit until she finally halts her actions. She nods, and the magic knights pick her up to take her further into town, where her jail cell awaits her.

~♣️♠️~

Escorted through the streets to humiliate, Amaryllis hangs her head low to shield her eyes from everyone. Whirrs from citizens wonder the same question about why she is out here. The crowd induces attention from other magic knights nearby or on their day off, overseeing it all develop but unable to help because this is not their squad.

Rumors circulated about how the young woman got to where she is, some of them saying they witnessed the attack the Purple Orcas made towards the woman and how she helped some citizens. However, what others recognize would be her tattered clothing and how she "must be a commoner" from snide nobles and royals if she ran away in the state she is in. None detected a grimoire on her, compelling everyone to presume the magic knights seized it.

Witnessing much of this, a boy of average height with long, messy vermilion hair maintains a third of his hair in a braid while leaving the rest in a chaotic, spiky hairdo. One of his prominent features is the red markings around his turquoise eyes, making them stand out. He wears a white tunic under a dark blue shirt with a high collar and gold trimming, a red sash holding the sweater together, and at the bottom, he wears white pants extending slightly below his knees and dark blue shoes.

He backs away from the large crowd and runs towards his home to find someone he knows can help her. He had never seen anyone so lifeless-looking before, and if the rumors were true about her helping those citizens, he could use it as leverage. He does not know what to do and wants to help her, but would anyone listen?

Making his way through the hallways, the sound of his shoes hitting the cobblestone floors echoes. He stops himself once he finds the room the young man was looking for and opens the door as he tries to catch his breath.

"Big Brother," the young man exclaims, "you must come quick!"

The older man sitting behind his desk has purple eyes with red markings around them, lengthy, straight vermillion hair nicely combed back while leaving his long fringe combed to the left in a wavy hairstyle. He has a diamond-shaped fleck of reddish pigment on the middle of his forehead and sports red earrings. His apparel is a white tunic covered by a dark blue shirt with long sleeves and a high collar, the sweater embellished with gold-colored fabric with perpendicular stripes designed on its edges, collars, and sleeves. He wears a purple sash around his waist to keep the shirt together. Moreover, he sports white trousers and tall ebony boots with a design comparable to his shirt.

Currently, he has a candle burning, causing the room to be dimly lit, at his desk as he works on some paperwork. The young man is surprised to find the older man up this late but understands, given his authority rank.

"Leopold," the older man inquiries, nose deep in paperwork, "what is it?"

"There's this woman," Leopold explains, "and I think she's in trouble! The Purple Orcas arrested her and are having her walk out in the streets to humiliate her, but there is speculation they hurt her just to cuff her!"

"Did she hurt them?”

"N-No, she did not, but she–"

"–Please explain to me," the older man instigates, glimpsing up from his work, "why should I interfere with another squad? They must have reasons beyond our knowledge on why they did that."

Leopold silences himself, knowing well his older brother is correct. The young man, however, will not back down from this because he can discern there is more to the story than anyone knows.

"You said the reason you became a magic knight is not only because you dream of becoming the next Wizard King," Leopold briefs, "but you want to help others in need."

"What is your case, Leo?"

"Fuegoleon, please," the young male implores. "This woman may need our help. There's word she helped some citizens in Nairn capture a criminal, but now she's being treated as one!"

Fuegoleon sighs while he massages his eyes with his left hand, endeavoring to think of what to say to him next. In his mind, he understands his young brother has good intentions, which is nice to have as a prospective magic knight like himself. Regardless, jumping into another squad's affairs never ends well for both sides. Fuegoleon can choose not to intrude if he wants, but his intuitions roar out, telling him he should check it out.

Regardless, he is grateful the woman helped some citizens in that town because the woman who shaped him into the magic knight he is now resides there.

"Leo," Fuegoleon states, "I will not help this woman. You may convince me down the line, but this woman probably did more things than we know of, so let us not be hasty and do anything irrational."

"If you insist, big brother," Leopold says, disappointed, "but please understand this woman looks... damaged. There's something off about her, and I do not know what it is."

Leopold exits his brother's quarters to head back to his chamber or check out the commotion again to see if anyone he knows has seen it. Fuegoleon continues his paperwork, but his little brother's comments reverberate through his mind as he continues—usually, the things Leopold informs him of have never bothered him until now. Fuegoleon cannot feel at least moderately proud of his brother for utilizing his intuition to determine something that bothers him and convey his concerns.

For the sake of it, he might inspect the woman's state in a day or two, depending on his agenda, and determine if what his little brother said was the truth or an overstatement.

[first-impressions-gaming]

Dying Light 2: Stay Human

Developed & Published by Techland

Release Date 2022

Tested on Xbox Series X

MSRP 59,99 USD

Zombies and zombie as a ‘genre’ or elevator pitch have run its course for the best part recently in gaming. Many games tried different takes on zombies, most successful one has been The Last of Us franchise with a gritty, dark, serious tone (even though ‘zombie’ word is never used, the audience pretty much know that clickers are zombies), and when you look at storytelling-focused side you have Telltale’s The Walking Dead series, which is a fantastic franchise, and you have Resident Evil franchise of course which sees remasters and remakes lately. There is a sense that a game which deals with zombies to some extent needs to take a solid approach, maybe more of dramatic or grounded approach like The Last of Us and Resident Evil or more combat and action-heavy approach like Left 4 Dead or Back 4 Blood, because there is a clear distinction between a zombie game which sends waves after waves of zombies against the player and a game which focuses of storytelling around a post-apocalyptic zombie-run environment. With all these pre-judgments of what a zombie game might look like, I dived into Dying Light 2.

Dying Light 2 walks on a thread leaning towards a combat-action zombie game, I understand this since melee fighthing with zombie and NPCs are smooth and fun, furthermore, the atmosphere is superb when it is nighttime. When you need to travel to a location during nights, you will come across streets crawling with different types of zombies, if you make noise or be detected by them, more and more zombies will come and they will force you to flee by using parkour mechanics. Parkour system and verticality of the game really shine and stand out from rest of zombie games and games in general. If the flow of parkouring wasn’t flawless, the player wouldn’t give it a chance or bother to ‘try’ to like the game at all, parkour system is one of the selling points of Dying Light 2 and it is in awesome harmony with the combat, you fight your way in streets, you got on a car, jump to balcony on a building, climb to roof, put some distance between you and zombies, hide in some bushes so zombies won’t be able to track you down further. 

As a disclaimer: I don’t consider this is full ‘review’, this’s more like first impressions review. Even though I put in 10 hours into the game, I am still at initial stages of it, with only a few skills unlocked with yet-to-discover locations.

What is Dying Light 2 about? I skipped Dying Light 1 therefore I cannot confirm whether this games takes where the first game left, the main character, Aiden, is in pursuit of his long-lost sister and he is determined enough in his mission to travel at least 2000 kilometres across the country. The game introduces us to the world in a prologue, where you explore an abandoned villa in a forest with your close friend who says he has gotten a tip concerning your sister, she might be alive in Villedor and you should take your chances and go there at once. The next moment we find ourselves in Villedor, and I am like ‘wait a second, so Aiden traveller two thousand kilometres where the world is riddled with zombies and a plague that spreads across the world and we, somehow, manage to get to this town just because our friend heard some rumours from 2000 kilometres in distance’, honestly this is not most believable opening, I get that, what I mean is this: Aiden does not talk about his journey at all, he must have encountered strange situations and hardships, it sounds impossible to travel on foot all this distance, yet he acts like it is not a big deal. Building a strong main character is crucial and it is vital for your audience to establish a close relationship with him/her if you really want to draw a 3D character with deep down personality and psychology. Aiden, most of the time, sounds like a B-movie main character with wanna-be heroic traits. Why does not he put his heart out considering that he must have gone to hell just to arrive in this town for a glimpse of hope for his sister? Personally, I expected Aiden to be more adult-like and tough to convince me that he is this determined main character who will stop at nothing. 

Let’s get to gameplay, and then I’ll circle back to story of the game. Firstly, this game is almost 2-years old but there is still technical issues here and there that affect the gameplay and experience overall. There is this recurring issue, there’re many moments where the game switches from in-game to pre-rendered cinematics and this causes inconsistent lighting, environmental detail and character models, this is a core factor that breaks immersion, I would prefer in-game scenes rather than transition to cinematic cutscenes. Take a look here, when you interact with the character you immediately notice cinematic has a heavier blue UV-ligh and it is much darker than in-game just a second ago. When you experience this over and over again, it really bothers you especially in dark locations where my flashlight is lit, but it turns off instantly when the cinematic starts. 

Check this clip in early-game:

When an open-world game lets me be a jerk in a certain moment I just love it and I go for it. There is this campfire with people around it, and there is a newly-joined group member who will be introducing herself to the group, and I let my guard down and said ‘okay, I’ll go for it for real’. Killing an NPC or wrecking havoc on them aren’t the main thing here, it is more like ‘what could happen or what would their reaction be?’ As soon as I attacked them and killed a couple of them, other NPCs started attacking me, their shouting and yelling drew the attention of zombies around, and they climbed to where we were and attacked NPCs and I got out of there quickly. This is what I expect from an open-world mainly, an alive environment that responds to you and other beings. These instances are unique to the player because not another player might experience what I did at this exact moment, you have to be there and you have to choose to attack them, another player would stop by, listen to what she was going to say, and maybe interact with her or other NPCs around campfire, and they would be alive. 

The scene I am talking about:

You will ask “so what does Aiden do now that he is in the town?”. Let me wrap the tape to the beginning, it is unfortunate missions we are tasked to complete are not connected to each other that much, it feels you are simply fulfilling other dwellers’ requests without any relation to your ultimate goal here, which is to find your sister. Even when we come across people who knows or might have heard of our sister, they don’t talk openly and we are tasked with yet another mission, and spend our time that day to carry out requests of commoners instead of putting out effort into finding her. I’d like to draw a contrast at this point, imagine you are Joel in The Last of Us, would you be okay to complete cheesy fetch quests for some people that you met a couple of moments ago that you don’t know anything about them instead of rescuing Ellie? What I am getting at is that, Aiden isn’t that human-like (even though the sub-title of the game is Stay Human, pun intended, sorry), why is he okay being sent to basements full of zombies to grab some spare parts for some tech device when his sister is could be in his reach or even dying somewhere, his goal was to reach this town to find his sister but the moment he steps into Villader it is as if he forgets why he is there at first place. It feels like the game got developed and created, then the story was written around already-developed town. If Aiden lived in this town initially, heard about his sister later in the game and goes after her to find her no matter what, it would make a sense at least. Sadly, Aiden is such a 2D main character, you cannot connect with him, I played ‘as’ him for 10 hours and I still don’t know his story, and I haven’t had chance to get to know him all this time, I haven’t grown to like him. On one hand I felt as if I had this connection with the main character in Disco Elysium in the first minute, on the other hand I spent 10 hours playing as Aiden and am still neutral to him.

Now talk about game mechanics and menus the game offers.

In Map menu, the world map welcomes you which looks like a typical Ubisoft-like open-world map with icons all around the map for different areas, quest types, interest points, safe zones, and more hardcore loot zones for high rish-high reward missions. At first glance, the map may seem gigantic, as I explored the town, it felt more enclosed and tight-knit,  for example an area (districts) is made of four to five streets and there is no fast-travel until mid-game therefore you are on foot travelling to everywhere, but it does not bore you, it is not a massive world like AC:Valhalla. 

In Inventory, you see your main weapons, accessories, consumables, gear, all the usual stuff. You can equip 4 melee weapons simultaneously and can switch them during combat easily, you can mod your weapons for different situations and enemy types, eliminating the need to go into the menu just to switch to another weapon.

In Crafting, you will option to craft medicine, throwing knives, lockpicks etc. When you hover over these times, the game shows what parts you need, also when you hover over craft parts, it shows what they are used for and where they are commonly found. This is a nice touch that may seem a small detail to you but most of open-world games employing crafting skip explaining crafting material or resources and when you need certain parts you just wander around or explore locations to find them randomly, or you google it and find a game guide that explains and teaches everything about craft resources and where they can be found. If a player need to google such a basic info, that means you’ve failed to implement and convey essential info to the player. That is where Dying Light 2 succeeds, it is always welcome when a game explains and shows where they are commonplace regarding resources, straight to the point. 

In Skills, you have two skill trees, Combat and Parkour. Each tree has its own level and XP progression, you earn combat points by fighting and killing enemies, and earn parkour points performing parkour actions. At the end of my 10-hr playtime, I’m ashamed to say I have only unlocked two combat skills and one parkour skill, and there are at least thirty skills to be unlocked combined. It is not that I haven’t played it enough, 10-hour in an open-world seems enough time to earn solid skills to get rolling, at this rate I would need to put 30 hour more hours to unlock half of them at best. As a player, I don’t feel I am progressing skill-wise enough to keep me hooked into the game to be interested in newly-unlocked skills and as such. The game fails at introducing new skills at a regular intervals, for example some games throw at five or ten skills or abilities at one time to player, and the player does not know what to do with them, s/he needs to learn and master them at a balanced rate. Dying Light 2 does the opposite, 10-hour playtime deserves more than three beginner skills. In addition to Health and Stamina, you have Immunity, which is the total amount of time you can remain in dark unless you consume UV mushrooms or replenish Immunity in locations with UV Light beacons (at night) or stay under the sun (during days). Immunity is even more crucial than Health when you are going in a mission in closed spaces, you have to make sure you are carrying enough mushrooms to keep you going otherwise your Immunity will deplete totally and die. Frankly, I find Immunity is a bit punishing even though I set the difficulty for Easy. To put into perspective, my character’s Immunity duration is around 5 minutes, in order to stay alive more than this period, I need to consume UV mushrooms, and when you are in mission you spend at least ten minutes or so, you are not only exploring locations, you are also spending time fighting and killing zombies, there are moments where I was in a narrow parking lot I was overwhelmed by a wave of zombies, I had to fight my way through them and find locked crates and open them with lockpicks, when you add all these on top of one another, you are going to spend at least 10 minutes and you just make sure you have enough mushrooms, otherwise the mission will be a failure. 

A player being introduced to the world s/he is getting to know should be handled delicately, the first thing to convey to the player is why s/he is here, how s/he is related to this world, and you can build this via NPCs, companions, the environment itself, on-going experience and story. If the player does not connect with the world sentimentally, then collectibles and codex entries won’t matter one bit. So far I have collected 8 written mementoes, including personal letters and logs of group controlling the part of the town we reside in, and 4 tape recordings of ordinary citizens. You come across these items spontaneously and generally there is no actual reaction of Aiden to these findings. If the main character does not digest these material, then they don’t hold any value or weight to the player.

Dying Light 2 seems to have gathered mechanics of an open-world RPG, blend them together and baked it with ‘zombie’ flavour. If you ignore or set aside what it lacks, then the game offers somewhat pleasant experience. I can see myself putting another 5 hours and call it a day, just to see and give the story a second chance whether it will take me somewhere captivating along the way. 

[myfandomprompts]

Dubious Headlines | Aemond Short Story (Part 1/3)

Aemond x Reader Modern!AU Masterlist

Synopsis: In a world where Dragon Incorporation is the most powerful firm in town, Rhaenyra Targaryen's last announcement sends you, a journalist, to interview the younger sons of the family. However, you did not ask for any of this.

Viserys Targaryen was sick, and had for many years bequeathed all of his shares in the care of his children. But everybody knew that the Targaryen was a drama family, and that strife was ever present between the different siblings. Lately, the eldest, Rhaenyra, had made an announcement in which she said to intend her branch of the company to take a whole other direction, putting the other branches managed by her brothers and sister in a difficult position.

“Y/N, where are Mathilda and Sam?”

You raised your head from your computer to look at your boss, M. Vander.

“Uh… I don’t know, I have not seen them all morning. Covering the charity event maybe?”

The man looked around desperately, thinking. “Ok then," he decided, eyes darting at you. “In my office please.”

You looked bewildered. You swore that if you he gave more work because Sam and Mathilda had run off again…

“I need you to go to Dragon Incorporation and interview Aegon Tagaryen,” he announced as he sat behind his desk.

You internally cursed. As if you did not have enough work already. “What? Why me? I cover cultural events, I am not…”

“You did hear about Rhaenyra’s announcement right?” he interrupted you.

“Yes, but since when are we interested in gossip, sir?”

“It’s not gossip. It’s gathering impressions on the changes that might have an influence on the citizens of the city. I’m sorry but you are the only one available that is competent enough Y/N.”

Please, anything but this.

“I- I don’t think this is a good idea sir, Mathilda is the one who usually interviews them I-”

“Y/N, I know you will manage perfectly. Take care of this please.”

You deeply inhaled as he dismissed you, nodding and got out of the office.

The reason why you dreaded the interview, except for the fact that it was absolutely not your area of expertise, is that Aegon Targaryen, second son and head of the communication department at Dragon Company, had such a reputation that you wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. As a journalist, you were usually one of the firsts to learn what was new in town, and Aegon was definitely in the top 5 of the most scandalous things you had seen. Besides the accusations, the trials, the complaints and the police reports that most of the other agencies tried to hide from the public, he was also clearly a man that just did not care about his actions. He liked doing interviews, though, you had seen a draft of Mathilda’s interview with him once. You could not emphasise enough how much she had to remove in order for it to be decent to be published.

You had called your friend on your way to one of the many locations of Dragon Inc., taking your sweet time.

“I am so gonna kill them. They owe me big on this one, being absent today of all days. I hate them.”

“So you managed to get an appointment with him? With Aegon?”

“Uh…. No, I didn’t, not really. I kinda hope that I would just show up and that he would be absent. This way I won’t have to do it at all!” you sighed as you climbed the stairs that led to the offices floor.

“Y/N…Vander will be mad if he realises that you delayed this on purpose.”

“Trust me, if I am not the one who does the interview, he will have no trouble sending someone else, and be a hundred percent more satisfied with them, a clear win for both of us the way I see it.”

You were on the third floor, near the CEO’s office. As you walked through the corridor, you did not see the man who had just exited the elevator, almost bumping into you. He watched you warily as you continued talking loudly over the phone, not bothered at all if you were heard. Who was that woman?

“You are not that bad at interviews… Just go in there, ask the questions and get out, easy.”

“No it’s not! I’m used to report on cultural events, not… whatever this is! Gods I really don’t want to do this, Mathilda told me awful things about him...”

The man was walking behind you at a safe distance, now amused at your ranting. From what he gathered, you were a reporter. Were you here for his brother?

“Yeah, I read the papers too… Are you there yet?”

You were now before the door on which the shining plate of “Aegon Targaryen, Communication Director” was displayed.

You sighed. “Yeah… I’m standing at the door,” you breathed out, looking at your feet, defeated. “Maybe I could just… invent an interview.” Behind you, the man silently laughed at your unprofessionalism, comfortably leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest as he watched you talk to the door. He was enjoying this far too much.

“You are stalling again… It will be alright. Hang up, and call me when you’re finished.”

“I guess you’re right, I should just, rip the band aid off. Ok… Talk to you soon.”

You hanged up, nervously fidgeting with your phone and puffed. You were staring at the door, gathering the courage to knock. As seconds passed without you moving a muscle, your silent observer then decided to have a little fun. “Can I help you?”

You jumped, startled at the sudden voice so close to you. Arms crossed over his chest, a man was staring at you, the ghost of what you thought to be a smile on his lips. How long has he been there?!

“Oh god you scared me!” you gasped, clutching your hand over your chest. Then you realised how odd your behaviour must have been. “I’m so sorry I was just… umh.”

He arched a brow, waiting for your response. You cleared your throat nervously.

“I came to see Aegon, Aegon Targaryen. I’m Y/N L/N, journalist at The Westerosi.” you smiled awkwardly before extending your hand to him. He looked at you for a moment before taking your hand.

“Aemond Targaryen,” he said as you shook hands.

Of course. You had recognised him at once, a beautiful lilac eye on one side and another piercing prosthetic blue eye on the other, a chiselled jaw line, silver-haired, and so very tall. There stood Aemond Targaryen, the most mysterious of the Targaryen’s siblings. You knew him to be quite intimidating from the pictures you have seen of him, but you did not expect the effect of seeing him in the flesh would have on your body as you let go of his hand. His whole demeanour screamed power and poise. You tried to control the feeling that crept up from your neck to your stomach. You cleared your throat, his intense gaze on you. You nervously fidgeted with your phone again.

“So is he…” you pointed to the door, “Is he in there?” you asked, your voice unsure.

“Yes.”

Aemond simply crossed his arms again, watching you look at the door like if it was an insurmountable obstacle. You were clearly not a fan of his brother.

“Would you like me to knock for you perhaps?” he asked.

“No no! Thank you, I perfectly know how to knock!” you tried to joke as he raised his brow higher. “I just, uhm…”

But then an idea came to your mind. Aemond was the most secretive of his family, never giving interviews, never appearing at social events as much as the others, and he was just there. You didn’t really know if he was as vile as his brother seemed to be, but you knew that if you brought back an exclusive interview of Aemond Targaryen, your boss would be delighted, and might even overlook the fact that you had been… unable to talk to Aegon. You had to take your chance. You turned around to face him.

“Actually, do you have a moment? I am gathering information on the recent changes that occurred in your company. Would you mind answering a few questions…?”

That is an interesting turn of events.

He seemed to pounder the proposition for a moment, and you were certain that he would throw you off, that you had overstepped.

“Very well,” he stated, his face letting nothing appear as you widened your eyes in disbelief. “What do you drink?”

You were so taken aback that you forgot to speak properly.

“Dr-d-” you stammered, “What do I drink?” you repeated.

“Yes. Coffee? Tea? I can have you brought anything you want.”

This man was unsettling. You had to put yourself together. “Uh... no, thank you. I’m fine.”

“Mh.”

His eye was scanning you, and you couldn’t help but fidget on the spot, clearing your throat as you felt naked under his gaze.

“We will be more comfortable in my office. This way.”

Without a glance back at the door you had almost walked in, you followed him to another corridor, and inside a luxurious office. He sat behind his desk, tapped something on his phone and invited you to sit. You did as ordered, thanking him and taking out your pad containing the questions meant for Aegon.

You tried not to be disturbed by the unfaltering stare the second Targaryen son was giving you as you asked question after question. You had quickly rephrased some of them to be more suited for him instead of Aegon, and you thought that it was playing out quite nicely for an unintended interview.

He listened to you attentively, answering each of your questions as concisely as possible, and you could not be anything but impressed by how eloquent he was. You considered it a shame that his family did not use him more in public.

At one point, a beautiful woman that you gathered to be his assistant, entered the room, carrying a hot cup of coffee in hand. Her presence made you stop as she lowered herself to put the cup down next to Aemond, her low cleavage making you regret the fact that you had not taken off your blazer. He thanked her and as she left, her eyes looked at you from head to toe with a sufficient smile before walking her heels to the door and closing it, but not before giving the brightest smile you have ever seen to Aemond. You guessed that being this handsome and rich might have that effect.

He seemed unfazed though as he took a sip of his coffee nonchalantly. You could not help but stare at his throat as he drank the hot liquid, his Adam’s apple slightly pulsating at the movement. You were forced to clear your throat again, snapping out of your trance as he put down the cup.

“So, how would you describe your sister, Rhaenyra, in simple words? How do you see her as a member of your family and as an eminent member of your firm?”

He let your question hang in the air for quite some time, before biting the inside of his cheek and sitting back on his chair. He clearly did not like this one.

“Next question,” he deadpanned.

“I’m sorry?”

“I don’t like that question, so next please.”

You dropped down the pen that was ready to write to look at him with surprise. “You do realise that this interview is about the subdivision of the company, started by your sister.”

“Half-sister. And I understand perfectly. Please continue.”

You hold his gaze for a moment, unsure.

Very well then. “Have you ever considered, as head of the financial branch, to invest in other areas than the one you are currently involved with? Have you ever thought of sponsoring events or… celebrities for instance?”

As he answered your question, relieved that he did not seem crossed by the previous one in any way, you could not help but notice the way he licked his lips as he took another sip of coffee, his tongue slightly peaking out. At this moment, you had completely lost track of what he was saying, and by the time he had finished talking, you internally congratulated yourself for recording the interview on your phone. How very professional of you.

It seemed that your temporary distraction had you more disturbed than you thought as you saw the next question originally written for Aegon on your pad: How does the fact that you work in the same company as your wife influence you r decisions?

This was obviously not a question suited for the man sitting across from you, so you took a moment to try and adapt it to him, but it seemed that you were incapable of coherent thoughts right now.

“Are you involved with anyone?”

The question had left your lips faster than your brain could think. Not that you apparently owned a brain right now by the look of it. You cursed yourself. Big mistake.

You could see how the question had caught him off guard as you blushed and fiddled with your pad, apologising profusely at once.

“I’m so sorry, don’t mind the last one, it was meant for your brother…!” you stammered before realising that it sounded worse. You quickly found the next question, your body heating up.“Where do you see the company in ten years time?”

He had taken a bit more time to answer this one, watching how flustered you were and how your cheeks had reddened, making your skin so appealing to him that he could have sworn that he felt its warmth from this distance. Your nerves were all over the place, but it calmed down as the interview came to an end, taking control of your body again. You thanked him and stood up to shake his hand, promising him to keep him updated.

“Thank you very much for your time, M. Targaryen. I will take your secretary number and notify you when the article will be published.”

He left his place from behind his desk in order to accompany you to the door as you retrieved your coat, bringing with him the sweet scent of sandalwood and coffee. You had to get out of here.

“I look forward to reading it. When you see my brother, please tell him I said to behave.”

Oh. Aegon. It had completely escaped your mind. You undoubtedly felt like you had no obligation at all to go see him now, having obtained the interview of his quite private brother… But you could not tell him that. Instead you just nodded, hoping that he would not accompany you to his brother’s office.

“I will. Although I don’t think I will need anything more from him. I feel like I have everything I need,” you said, tapping on your pad.

“That is a relief. This way you won’t have to… invent an interview. I’m sure your skill lies elsewhere.”

You blushed at this, realising that Aemond had heard a good part of your conversation on the phone. You did not move as he stared at you quite pleased at your reaction.

“I would never… I mean, it was only a joke,” you tried. “I take my job very seriously. It’s just that I am more used to deal with people from other backgrounds.”

“Mh,” he nodded, reaching for the doorknob behind you. You exhaled in relief, the prospect of freedom one move away, but he paused again and did not open the door right away.

“By the way, the answer is no.”

You turned your head to him, almost bumping into his chest. “I’m sorry?”

“No, I am not involved with anyone at the moment.”

You tried to recall when in your life you had been as short of breath as you were now, stuck between the door and the man whose gaze made you feel like the weakest thing on earth. You tried to reply but nothing came, and as you bit your lips in anxiousness you tried not to notice how his eye had quickly lowered to the movement.

He only smirked and opened the door, stepping aside to allow you space. You swallowed as you quickly passed him, hands clutching at your coat in tension.

“Have a good day Miss L/N.”

And then he closed the door, leaving you to face the pretty assistant studying you from behind her desk, clearly annoyed at you, for whatever reason. You rapidly took the contact you needed from her and exited the building, welcoming the fresh air and grabbing your phone, calling your boss right away. Your lungs were on fire.

“Is it done?”

“Well, not exactly. I managed to have much better.” You were overselling it, but it was a miss or hit situation.

“What did you do Y/N?”

“I had obtained a meeting with the one and only Aemond Targaryen! He answered all of the questions on the subdivision, and even managed to get the intel you could not have if it had been with Aegon. This is good for us! You know he rarely gives any interviews.”

You were met with silence.

“Y/N…”

“Listen, I promise you to do the best article I have ever written on Dragon Inc. You will not be disappointed, I swear. Give me a chance Vander.”

“Y/N, how do you think Aegon Targaryen will react if he learns that he had not been consulted first?”

“Do we… really care about that, sir?” you asked, slightly appalled as you considered it.

“He is the main correspondent with our newspaper. Mathilda has always gone to him when we needed insight on Dragon Inc!”

You swallowed. This would not stop you, you had to make it work.

“All due respect sir, if you wanted that kind of interview, you should have sent her, not me. I managed to have an exclusive one and I believe in what I have gathered. You should too.”

Your boss went silent again, and as you saw this as a good sign, that we would be considering it at least, you continued.

“I will send you a draft tonight, and I’ll prove to you that this paper is worth publishing. I can assure you that Aemond’s Targaryen’s insight will raise the reader's interest much more than Aegon’s.”

Some more seconds of silence.

“Very well. I don’t like this, but I trust you Y/N, you have rarely disappointed me. I expect it before tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Then you quickly texted your friend, summarising your encounter with the one-eyed Targaryen before you jumped in a taxi and went home, reading over your notes.

Yep. Aemond Targaryen would not leave your mind any time soon.

Your boss had been happy with the draft, and now you were at your desk, writing the actual article. You had taken your time in scolding Mathilda and Sam, blaming them for forcing you to take on a task you knew would not have you so riled up, but your friends had only sympathised with you, and you had not been able to stay mad at them for long.

By noon the article was finished, and you had to wait for tomorrow’s paper for it to be published. You had managed to progress on your other projects in the meantime, but now it was dark outside and you were the only one left in the office. Again.

The piece of paper next to your keyboard with Aemond Targaryen’s contact information, was now becoming more and more difficult to ignore as you were soon to go home. All day you had glanced at it, hesitating between sending your completed interview to him now or waiting for him to discover it with everyone else in the morning.

Taking a deep breath, you finally took the piece of paper, typed the e-mail address and attached your article to it before thinking of something personal to write.

Nothing came as you simply wrote the most formal of e-mails, giving him the time of publication and thanking him again. As you pressed send, you sat back into your chair and stared at the screen as your mind began to imagine him receiving your e-mail, how his brows would knit together while his eye would dart over the lines you had written.

Shaking your head, you cursed yourself for losing yourself in such thoughts before shutting your computer down. You needed sleep.

Aemond Targaryen had looked your name up as soon as you had departed from his office, curious to know more about the woman who had forsaken his brother and dared ask an interview of him, Aemond Targaryen, of all people.

He stared at the screen with interest as he browsed The Westerosi ’s archives online, seeing the several articles you had written over the years, mostly about city events or local cultural activities, smiling each time he read your comments about this or that particular representation. Now he was having dinner with his family, listening to his mother’s complaints about his eldest sister again, when he felt his phone vibrate. He could not ignore the satisfaction he felt when your name appeared on the screen next to an e-mail, and wasted no time reading what you had sent him. You had done a good job, he liked that you remained factual in your writing, and he could not help the disappointment he felt when he saw the few lines you had written to thank him in your message. As he put down his phone again, he remembered how you never seemed to miss anything that happened in the city. He counted on that.

-0- Part 2

A/N: Any resemblance to a particular book/movie was unintended, I realised it afterwards. (Oops)

[accovers]

The Perfect Candidate Pt. 2

Yandere android human fnaf sister location with fem reader 

Gets a tad bit spicy towards the end, you have been warned 

Tag list: @crystal-freak24

Thoughts of the prior night circled through Y/N’s head as she crawled towards the circus gallery. Finally getting out of the dusty vent Y/N looked towards the giant window. “Let's see if baby is on her stage” The voice on the intercom spoke. The girl pressed the blue button. “What the-” the light did not seem to turn on. Y/N pressed the button again. Still nothing. “Looks like the lights are working. We will have to reboot the power please wait.” The voice called out as everything shut off. ‘I really hope I don't have to visit Funtime Freddy again. I really can’t afford the medical bills’ Y/N thought to herself. The more time passed by, the more Y/N felt like something bad was going to happen. “No wonder why the others seem to grow crazy.” a sweet voice cooed. “Who was that!” “Have you honestly not caught on yet. You disappoint me.” the voice playfully replied. Finally putting two and two together Y/N pulled at her hair “Baby?” Clapping was heard “Ding, ding, ding”. This caused more confusion to swim around the young adults head. “It is very important you listen to me. The others are searching for you so you must hide. There is a crawl space underneath the desk. You will be safe there, but you must hurry, the others are coming” As if on cue Noises came from the vent. 'Screw it’ Y/N thought as she crawled into the small space. 

A frustrated huff sounded from the room “Poppet is nowhere.” Y/N did not recognize the voice “Say have you seen her, Freddy is going crazy and he wont shut up about what he's going to do when he gets his hands on her.” The voice had the same British accent as Freddy but had more of a sly tone. “I Haven't but have you checked the elevator yet, she might be there. Not like it matters though they're about to start the power soon.” Baby answered slowly. A loud bang could be heard from the main control room “Are you kidding me!” It was Freddy. The sly voice laughed “It's honestly hilarious the way he’s going mad over one silly human. I heard that she'll have to pass through my room to make some “repairs”. I wonder if she is as intoxicating as Freddy makes her out to be.” the voice paused. “I must be going.” with that the voice left. 

It was silent for a minute or so before Baby spoke. “You will need to pass thru Funtime Foxy’s to get to the repair room. This should help,” A small hatch opened at Y/N’s feet where an old camera slid out. “It may not look like much but its flash is enough to stun Funtime Foxy and it will help you see your way through the room, giving you enough time to get away from him.” Y/N was speechless “Wow- thank you.” Baby didn't respond, all of a sudden the machines started up again and the lights, if you could even call them, flicked on. “Thank you for being patient with us. Please proceed with your nightly tasks.” The voice started over the intercom. Baby watched as Y/N crawled away “I’ll see you soon sweetie.”

As Y/N crawled she listened to the instructions of Handunit “You will be making repairs on Ballora due to some accidents that occurred today.” Y/N shuddered praying that she wouldn't end up like that towards the end of the night. It was a hundred times harder to crawl with a bulky camera. 

  Finally she could see the end of the tunnel and crawled out. Shakily standing up Y/N tried to look at her surroundings but it was pitch black. As Y/N’s eyes adjusted she fiddled with the camera Finally a bright light shined from a click of a button lighting the way towards parts in service. Just as quick as the light came it was gone. Fast footsteps were heard in front of Y/N so she flashed the camera again revealing the same figure she saw the night before. The same bright pink and white suit. The same ears and tail. The same sly grin. “Oh god” Y/N mumbled to herself as she picked up the pace. The room was much larger than she thought and the more and more Y/N flashed the camera the more agitated the android fox seemed to become. Almost reaching the door Funtime Foxy came running at her again, but this time her camera. “Click, Click” The dreaded sounds made Y/N’s heart drop to the floor. She could hear the chuckling of the android as she heard fast footsteps approaching her. Finally she could feel strong hands grip her shoulders and push her to the floor. The impact made her head swim with nausea and pain. “My, my, you're even more beautiful than I could ever imagine.” Y/N honestly didn't know how to respond. Did she need to say thank you or get the hell off of me. Nevertheless Foxy continued “You know Freddy is going crazy over you. Which is truly a shame since I want you all to myself.” Foxy paused for a second as his crazed smile grew. Foxy put an ear to Y/N’s chest “I mean your heart is beating so fast. It's so exciting I haven't felt anyone this warm in a long time!” Foxy stated with crazed excitement in his eyes. Foxy put his face deep into Y/N’s neck as he took a deep breath in. “You smell so sweet I just can’t help myself.” with that foxy started kissing her neck. Y/N tried to contain herself but that was proving to be difficult. Foxy caressed Y/N’s cheek and made his way towards her shirt. But he was interrupted by Y/N’s watch going off, it was her alarm for 6:00 am. Noticing this Foxy got off of Y/N but not before Giving Y/N a peck on the forehead as he went back to his stage. For a long moment Y/N sat there in silence too stunned to move, but finally Y/N got to her feet. Stumbling of course. Back towards the vent system ready to go home.

[royalrogue]

I’ve been doing a few drawings on my art blog for my Mike Lives AU, but I have yet to actually get what it’s about on paper, so here another one of my bulletpoint rambles for this AU!

The short version of this AU is that is takes place after and builds on the Fake Ending of Sister Location, where Mike manages to convince Ennard, while hiding from Ennard in the private room, to escape the facility with him, thus sparing him and giving them the freedom they crave.

This AU will also eventually go through the various FNAF story points with Mike alive instead of a walking corpse.

Disclaimer: I’ve not read any of the books or comics for FNAF, I’ve only played the games and know the lore from that. I’m not trying to be accurate, I’m just rolling with things and having fun. If anything goes against confirmed lore, whoops but who cares, I want Mike and Ennard to hang out damn it.

The premise of this AU begins at and expands on the fake ending of Sister Location

Mike doesn’t trust Baby at all anymore. After her stunt last night, he just wants to get out of here alive. On top of that, he’s seen 2 hanging bodies, and he’s fairly sure his sister is dead and gone at this point.

Ignoring Baby’s instructions, he crawls in the other direction, hoping he can find somewhere to hide or get away until the staff come back in tomorrow. He’s relieved when he manages to find an unlocked door, leading into an office.

He almost jumps out of his skin when the HandUnit starts talking, telling him he’s in a restricted area, he will be rescued by the cleaning team in the morning and then fired. Great, he doesn’t want to keep working for this deathtrap anyway. He has some choice words for his dad when he sees him.

Then he hears her voice. And then he sees the monstrosity they’ve all become on the cameras. G r e a t.

The first few hours felt both like a rush and an eternity. Mike had to learn how to protect himself on the fly, and things were getting more and more stressful as he watched his power deplete. Baby(?)’s taunting didn’t help things either.

Things took a turn for the worse halfway through the night when he heard her voice. Elizabeth’s voice.

What. The fuck.

Well now he was confused, stressed and pissed off. How were they using Elizabeth’s voice? Was Elizabeth the child Baby was talking about under the desk? Oh god.

Now Mike needed answers, and he knew he wouldn’t get them if he just got fired and left, so he did the only thing he could think of to do. He bargained. He knew they wanted to leave, so if he could convince them there’s another way than whatever it was they had planned, then they could both get an outcome they wanted.

He started calling out to them, questioning them, poking for information. Not enough to distract him, but he had a few hours to get this done. They didn’t respond at first, but eventually started answering him, their voice going from one hallway to the other. He poked holes in their plan, pointing out that his body would rot within a couple days and they’d be discovered and where would they go then? They have no idea how the outside world works. He reasoned that, sure, they would be an oddity, but as long as they were with him, people would be more receptible to them, and he could show them what things out there are like.

This took a lot of back and forth, of reiterating points and countering arguments, until eventually things go quiet for awhile.

Too quiet. It puts Mike on edge.

Until, he hears them move up to the left door. (He closes it, as he isn’t stupid).

He wait for a few moments, until Baby’s voice rings out.

“How’re you going to get us out of here?”

Mike thinks for a moment. He didn’t think he’d get this far.

“I’ve seen you crawl through the vents. The elevator shaft leads straight to the surface. If you can get in there, you should be able to climb up it, or ride the elevator when it gets used. I can meet you outside when I get let out, and I can take you home in my car.”

It goes quiet again. When he listens, he thinks he can hear multiple voices whispering to each other. Then, Baby’s voice comes through the door. “Fine. You had better be there.” And then he heard them walk away.

Wow. He was not expecting that to work.

What has he gotten himself into.

Mike waits out the rest of the night. The animatronics don’t come back, but he listens and waits just in case. As the HandUnit promised, he is met by the cleaning crew at 6am, who promptly fire him, hand him a basket of the exotic butters that he was promised (he was genuinely surprised that they actually gave them to him, he thought it was a joke) and escort him to the elevator.

Stepping out into the morning sun, Mike takes a deep breath and tries not to start crying as the weight of the stress finally bares down on his shoulders. He’s not done yet, though. This is only the beginning.

He looks around, but he doesn’t immediately see them (they’re not exactly hard to miss), so he approaches his car, leans up against it and waits.

It doesn’t take long. Their footfalls are loud, scraping against the concrete of the parking lot. Mike turns to look at them approach and oh my god they’re very tall up close

So here Mike is, having a stare off with the animatronic version of Frankenstein's monster at 6am in the morning.

The silence is eventually broken by the voice of Baby, speaking up as a blue eye turns towards his car. “I don’t know if we’re going to fit in here.”

Mike hopes they didn’t notice his flinch of surprise (they did) and he straightens up. “Guess all we can do is try.”

It’s awkward and takes a bit of manoeuvring, but he manages to get them into his car. He’s thankful their form allows them a lot of flexibility, otherwise there would be no chance they were getting in there.

Queue the second most awkward car ride of his life.

Thankfully, they seemed to be entirely preoccupied with staring out of the car window the whole ride home.

Getting them back out of his car was just as much of a pain in the ass.

Eventually he manages to get them into his apartment. He drops the basket of butters on top of his TV, falls into his favourite chair and rubs his tired eyes. He knows he won’t sleep though, and he can’t yet anyway. He turns to look at the metal behemoth, it’s multiple eyes looking around his dinky apartment.

They’re going to need to figure out how they’re going to make this work