#but we will at least get some real fun talkie talks
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Rosie and Sirius used to talk every night through Walkie talkies. It didn't matter that they had seen each other all day. They felt less lonely that way. Sirius from his big room in the mansion. And Rosie squeezed in the tiny room her parents had adapted for her at the pool house.
It had been that way every night. Ever since they became friends and Sirius got the idea. Except this night.
"Starman calling Moony... Are you there?"
Starman was the adventurous hero Sirius played to be in their games. Rosie was Captain Moon, a famous pirate that had conquered the seas. Sirius thought Moony sounded more cute.
Rosie didn't answer at first.
"Please Moony. Answer me"
Still no answer.
"You cannot be asleep already"
Sirius found that he couldn't go to sleep without talking with Rosie. He didn't want to have nightmares. Rosie's voice made Sirius drift to sleep easily. With his thoughts in a million things but his family.
Sirius got tired of waiting after a while. And he was falling asleep when...
"Here Moony to Starman..." Sirius was probably hearing that voice in his sleep "Sirius!... Sirius... Don't fall asleep yet.... Sirius!"
It was Rosie. It was truly Rosie speaking through the walkie talkie. Sirius jumped out of bed and grabbed it desperately.
"Rosie!" he spoke through it "I was calling you and you didn't answer"
Sirius sounded more angry than he intended.
"Sorry... I was helping my mum" Rosie said with a chuckle "You know I don't go to sleep without hearing your voice"
Sirius smiled and his ears turned red. He needed to sound cool though. Real men didn't get bushy around girls.
"I cannot fall asleep..." Sirius sniffed "The house is too quiet... And creepy"
"Maybe one of your family ghosts is keeping you company..."
"Shut up!" Sirius jumped and turned around just in case. He hated how dark his room looked.
Rosie giggled "Are you scared, Sirius?"
"No! Of course not" Sirius snapped "Ghosts should be scared of me for that matter... I am not scared of anything"
Sirius could imagine Rosie's smiling. And that made him smile in consequence.
"At least you are not trying to sleep while your parents are dancing to some romantic tune in the other room"
"And snogging probably"
"Arrrg!" Rosie protested and Sirius laughed.
Mr. and Mrs. Lupin where fun people. For what Sirius had seen, they were good to each other and their daughter. That house was so much different than Sirius'. And not only because it was ten times smaller.
Sirius and Rosie spoke every night about random things. Sometimes about the adventures they could have the next day. Rosie told Sirius how going to school actually was, because Sirius homeschooled. Rosie told Sirius stories, usually about the books she read. Sometimes they laughed and laughed. And sometimes they spoke about serious matters. Like their families, their dreams and what they wanted to be as adults.
Sirius and Rosie were the bestest of friends. So close to each other, it was weird for a pair of ten year olds. And of course everyone teased them about them fancying each other.
Only after those talks, Sirius could sleep well. His eyes closed easily and he drifted to sleep hearing Rosie's voice.
"Starman... Are you asleep?"
Rosie would say when Sirius didn't answer anymore.
"Hey Sirius.... Sirius..."
Rosie giggled because she was sure Sirius had fallen fast asleep.
"I fancy you.." she would whisper later. But Sirius didn't listen anymore. That's what gave Rosie confidence "I fancy you properly. As in I would like you to be my boyfriend one day... I wish you would marry me and we could be happily ever after. But not in a princess story kind of way. In a pirate kind of way. A life full of adventures together..." More giggles "One day when we are older, I'll let you know this... Good night, Sirius"
Rosie smiled because she was silly. But that's what Sirius provoked on her. And she also fell asleep easily.
*****************
7 years later:
Seemed like Remus wasn't the only one that couldn't sleep tonight. Remus was loving staying at The Potters for the rest of the summer. But he also felt so out of place. The bed James had given him was too big. The room felt so lonely. And Remus was hungry and hot.
Remus had also Sirius on his mind. As always. Remus couldn't stop thinking about him and the kiss he had given him before summer. The shock in Sirius' expression and the fear in his eyes after the kiss. And how Sirius had been beaten up by his father and kicked out of his house. How everything might've been ruined between them. They had ignored each other all summer and now Remus didn't know how to be normal again. He didn't know what Sirius wanted or if he was willing to want something with all his family issues he had.
So now, Remus cursed the fact that Sirius was in the living room. And Remus had caught him crying without wanting. And how Sirius tried to cover his tears away immediately.
Sirius didn't say anything. He just look away.
Remus considered going back to bed for a second. But he kind of wanted to stay. Sirius was not only his crush. His ultimate unreachable love. But he was also Remus' friend. And Remus had to make sure he was okay.
Remus took a seat in the corner of the couch. As far away of Sirius as possible. Sirius was trying to avoid his gaze.
Remus swallowed.
"Hey... Moony to Starman...." Remus said carefully. Then he made Walkie talkie noises.
Sirius finally chuckled and turned to look at Remus with a smile. Remus' heart warmed up.
"Moony is trying to reach Starman...." Remus smiled "Do you remember?"
"Of course I remember" Sirius sniffed with smile "But I am right here"
Remus shrugged.
"At least I made you smile"
Sirius giggled, putting some lock of hair behind his ear. Remus could see his bruises. And yet Sirius was beautiful. God, he was gorgeous.
"I guess we both can't sleep. Maybe talking will help..." Remus said "Like we did when we were ten"
Sirius looked down.
"I don't want to talk about my... My family... So don't ask"
"Okay" Remus nodded, though his heart ached for Sirius "We can talk about something else. Whatever you want"
Sirius looked at Remus carefully and he shrugged. He looked so vulnerable and wanting of love and affection. Not his usual confident self. The one he still showed during the day to The Potters and Peter.
Remus moved on his seat.
"Perhaps I can tell you a story..."
"A fairytale?"
"Something that happened this summer actually..." Remus smiled "So I saw this man on the street and...."
So Remus started telling certain stories about his summer. Wicked people he had met or seen on the street while he sold fags. Most of the stories with Grant and the rest of the gang. But he tried exclude them from them.
Sirius laughed or smiled listening to Remus. And Remus felt a warm feeling on his chest.
After Remus finished telling his tales, they moved on to talk about easy things they knew. Like Hogwarts and the teachers and their friends. They talked about James and how he had spoken with Lily over the phone most of the summer. And how the girls went to the beach apparently. They talked about teachers and they imagined them in summer scenarios like the beach which was oddly funny, so they laughed. They ended up talking about everything and anything at the same time. It felt like before. Like when they were ten and it was easy.
It was until they got sleepy and they started yawning, leaning back and accommodating on the couch.
And then suddenly, Remus asked Sirius something but he didn't answer. And Remus realized Sirius had fallen asleep.
Sirius looked so calm. Like a beautiful angel. So Remus smiled.
"I fancy you" Remus whispered, remembering what he used to do as a kid "So so much..."
The thing was that Remus wasn't as naive as before. He knew it was very unlikely that Sirius liked him back, and worse give him a chance. Remus had kissed him. And Sirius didn't snogged him back passionately like Grant said he would. Sirius panicked. It was obvious he didn't feel the same. Sirius would never feel the same. So Remus had to accept that and continue being his friend. Because that was enough.
Remus dared to give Sirius a little kiss on the forehead. Luckily he didn't move.
"I love you, Sirius" Remus added "Good night"
#marauders#maraudersera#muggleau#wolfstar microfic#sirius black#remus lupin#wolfstar#trans remus lupin#childhood friends to lovers
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Hi! If you're still doing the ask pairing thingy, here's my submission! This is kind of a lot of stuff, so a quick apology for the Sheer Volume of Said Stuff, and let's get into it!
Do you love gargantuan Youtube video essays, and if so, which is your favorite and why?
Channeling the Idiotic Nerd Energy here, but hear me out:
Mathy video essays are my lifeblood. What can I say, rat brain craves sustenance. These are two of my favorites.
This is an hour-long essay on the continuity of splines, and Holy Shit. It tickles the few braincells I have left in the most wonderful ways... (Cool stuff!!)
https://youtu.be/jvPPXbo87ds
This one's a little shorter, but it explores the basis and applications of a different number system than the reals, known as "p-adic numbers." (Also cool stuff!!) Scratches the brain cell SO GOOD.
https://youtu.be/3gyHKCDq1YA
What song are you fixated on at the moment? What lyric or verse, and why?
Đ ŃŃ ĐżŃŃĐ°Đ”ŃŃŃŃ ŃĐœĐŸĐČĐ° ĐŽĐ°ŃŃ ĐŸŃĐ”ĐœŃ ĐŽĐ”Đ»ŃĐœŃĐč ŃĐŸĐČĐ”Ń ĐŒĐœĐ”/ĐĐŸ Ń Đ±Ń ŃĐČĐŸĐ”ĐŒŃ ŃŃŃ ĐżŃĐ”ĐŽĐ»ĐŸĐ¶ĐžĐ» Đ»ŃŃŃĐ” ŃĐșĐŸŃŃ.
(Trans. You're trying again to give me such wise advice, but I'd offer that your mouth is better suited for scotch.)
The above lyrics are from 19 by ssshhhiiittt! (Fantastic song, though a little depressing). My russian is limited, but I Love this Song. This lyric, along with the rest of the verse, stands out to me because it captures the feeling of needing to change in some way, but nobody is giving that advice that you need; the advice that is pertinent.
Re: the Bois
As for the Boisâą, I was never able to vibe with Asher or David (at least, not in a romantic sense.) Nothing against them, just not that into them. Platonically, I would forcibly befriend Lasko for nothing but "nefarious" reasons (DnD and hyperfixation talk).
Re: Eepy Talky Subjects
I get eepy and talk about either fountain pens or pretty dice. They bring so much joy to the rat brain. I could talk about fountain pen inks and bodies and makes and models until the universe dies, probably don't quote me on that though.
Tell me about that one book/movie/tv show you know all the words to.
I could probably recite most of Fantasy High or The Unsleeping City (both season 1) off memory. They're both part of Dimension 20, a live-play DnD show hosted on Dropout, and just, *chef's kiss*. Brennan Lee Mulligan (the GM) is a goddamned national treasure.
Other stuffs
Other than this, I'm just. A Guy. I'm studying to be a math teacher and I'm a type 5 on the Enneagram. I can tend to be a nervous wreck, and I also have Extreme Cool Guy Syndrome (my doctor says it's called ADHD.) So, ye! Have fun deciphering this trainwreck of an ask!!
Oh, we abso-fucking-lutely stan a couple in STEM. The nervous math teacher and the soft-spoken technician- you and Anton would be a great pair.
Type Fiveâs are characterized as inquisitive, innovative, and intellectual; it can be so fun to pair Fives with together because youâll learn so much from each other and itâll be flirting! Maybe even do the flirting in Russian, because that definitely was a factor in my complex, matchmaking algorithm.
Anton seems like the type who would love to listen and absorb, to pass the minutes hearing about the hyperfixation of the moment. Your students, math, dice sets- I donât believe this manâs ever played a single session of a TTRPG in his life, but heâd try just because of the way your face lights up when you talk about it.
Song:
So, please, you must have faith in me/ There's no place, I'd rather be than home with you/ Where all is safe and warm/ But now I need to fight this storm
Iâve obviously got to plug my favorite Russian-singing boy. What can I say? Rybak is a dreamboat, and 5 to 7 can work really well for Anton missing you while heâs sequestered away at ETS. (Ignore the sad bit. Donât listen to the third verse, or do! Maybe youâre an angst with a happy ending kind of babe.)
Runner-Ups:
Gavin, I like for you because I think he would be immensely charmed by the ADHD, nerd energy. Like with Lasko, thereâd be so many teaching double entendres. Guy, I also like because he strikes me as a TTRPG kind of guy. Heâd love actual play podcasts and series, and his chaotic energy would be great for improv if he actually played.
Note: oh my love you donât need to tell me who Brennan Lee Mulligan is I worship and serve at the altar of Adventuring Academy đ
Want a match-up of your own? Read this post, and tell me about yourself! đ
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I just finished the Ruin DLC, or at least one of the endings(?). While I want to do all endings, I can't say I know how to get them. (That is if there are multiple endings, I've heard there are, but at the same time idk. But I'm definitely in the clear to watch playthroughs of it now.)
My thoughts and spoilers beneath the cut
This was fun and scary at the same time. A fun scary, to be sure, but at the same time I don't think I got that scared. I died a few times, sure, but half(or more) of them was because I fell off a ledge to my death lol. Eclipse was fun, but it felt too short a section. But hey, he's cool, no longer attempting to kill you in the dark. At the same time, he didn't really feel like a threat, in my opinion. The Moon section in the base game definitely seems scarier than what happened in Ruin. But that's not to say it was bad, I enjoyed it a lot. The atmosphere was really spooky, and overall a good time.
Next thing, finding out that Roxy is Cassie's favorite animatronic was cool. Sure, you can argue that it was obvious, but Cassie picks up the Roxy Talkie(the name of the thing she uses to communicate with Gregory) inside the Pizzaplex, so it wasn't with her prior. Also there's one scene where Roxy actually remembers Cassie, mentioning the last time she had a birthday there, and that was so sweet. Kinda heartbreaking cause I had to deactivate her. And that one scene that was shown in the trailer when Roxy grabs you, she lets go and says sorry after Cassie yells 'Let go!', possibly when she recognized Cassie's voice?
Poor Monty, didn't really do much beyond showing up a couple times, one time pretty much submerged in water, that was cool. Guy doesn't even talk anymore, just growls and stuff.
Chica, though. She's had better days, man. Missing half her head(or at least the exosuit(?) covering her endo head) and partly melted.she barely seems to move, but in the sections where she's active, she has killed me a couple of times.
They definitely threw me off a bit with Freddy, missing his head and his chest cavity now has teeth(it definitely looks like that). So that possibly means that it's going off the Saving Vanny Ending in the base game, where you beat all three Princess Quest games and Gregory repairs Freddy's head and Vanessa is no longer Vanny(unless you headcanon Vanessa and Vanny as separate people). He's barely there though, only a short chase scene then he's gone. Kinda feels like they just went 'Oh, you know how he was always there in the base game? Well now he's there for like, 5 minutes and disappears forever.'
The mini Music Men were a bit creepy, and have a different jumpscare, they pretty much swarm you. Granted, there wasn't a whole lot of them, but definitely more than I would think there would be. No DJMM though, bummer. Big guy is one of the cooler ones.
The whole AR stuff they did in the game was really cool, too. And trying to avoid Glitchtrap was interesting in itself, which kept me from just having the Vanni mask on the whole time. It also let me turn off the Wet Floor Bots for some reason, maybe that's tied to something? Or it's just a weird thing that they added, who knows.
That ending though, what a ride, but also kinda confusing in a way. So in finding "Gregory", we actually find a robot mimicking Gregory's voice, revealing that Cassie was tricked into freeing it. Now, I have heard some predicting that this was a possibility, so not too much of a surprise, but it was still interesting. We then hear from "the real Gregory"(probably, the reveal that it wasn't Gregory that was telling us to come save him already happened, so it might be him) that he was trying to reach Cassie from the beginning to tell her not to go down there or something. But as she escapes, Gregory(or maybe the fake Gregory) shuts down the elevator and she dies. Oh, but before that, Roxie comes back and saves Cassie from the robot pretending to be Gregory(though how she found her way down there when she's blind is a mystery to me).
Overall I had a good time. Also from the few actual collectibles I found, it seems like Gregory doodled some of the endings from the main game. One comic doodle was of the fire ending, and one was the Burntrap ending. There was another one but I forgot what it was. There were likely others as well, but I didn't find those.
Oh, also Candy Cadet was there, and some gifts that had Faz Tokens that you gave to Candy Cadet to let it tell you a story. Which was basically a metaphor for you being lured down there to let the monster out.
The DLC felt like it was a bit short, but then again, it's free and honestly that's fine with me. As for any glitches, there weren't really any, except for maybe the one mini Music Man in the one vent that somehow killed me when I had escaped the vent, but whatever. There was quite the long load each time I had to respawn after dying. And a bit of a load to new areas, but honestly not that bad. None of it negatively impacted my experience with this DLC. Definitely going to play it again, it was definitely fun. Good job, Steel Wool Studios, you did good with this one. Especially since it's not a buggy mess Security Breach was when it came out(still kinda a buggy mess, but not as bad. And I still enjoyed playing it when it came out and recently).
Now to watch others play it and see what they think about it.
Also now debating on whether or not to have some of these points explored in my fnaf au with the animatronic ocs. I guess it depends on 1. If I can make it blend together with what I already had planned, and 2. If I like the result of seeing if they can be somewhat combined.
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My top movies of 2023
Of 103 new releases I saw this year, these were the best (and, below, the worst and the most befuddling):
10. PERFECT DAYS: Snatching beauty from the mundane is easier said than done, and easier rendered with shlock than sophistication. Wim Wenders pulls it off in this gorgeous story of a Tokyo toilet cleaner whoâs attuned to the world with poetry and hard-won wisdom.
9. JOYLAND: One of many luminous shots tracks a backup erotic dancer driving home a giant cardboard cutout of his transgender frontwoman â as close as heâll come to holding her hand in public. In this vivid Pakistani family drama, social strictures squeeze men, women, and everyone in between.
8. YOU HURT MY FEELINGS: Ordinary human relationships get so complex they make your head spin in Nicole Holofcenerâs talky, thorny, funny study of the hard truths and sweet lies that populate every day. âCan you shut up and keep talking?â
7. BEYOND UTOPIA: This pained and profound documentary about North Korean defectors contains some of the most remarkable footage Iâve seen, inside one familyâs treacherous attempt at escape. We see so scarcely into the journeys of millions of people fleeing disaster all around the world each year. Here is a beam of light.
6. FOUR DAUGHTERS: In this extraordinary, line-blurring documentary, a lively and haunted formal innovation unspools the story of a Tunisian family, and the moments when playing a role â mother, daughter, wife, citizen, goth, rebel, Satanist, zealot â becomes all too real.
5. BARBIE: I went in skeptical: all this just to sell toys? One of 2023âs lessons is to trust Greta Gerwig no matter what. Too many Barbie partisans damn it with faint praise as simply a fun movie (and it deliriously is). But Gerwig layers in the emotion of innocence lost and the moral rectitude of interrogating our consumerist inheritance: ballast for the fantasia.
4. ALL OF US STRANGERS: Andrew Haighâs London ghost story has some twists up its sleeve, which makes the forthrightness of its emotion all the more bracing. Death, of course, makes strangers of us all. Love collapses the distance.
3. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON: A whole movie told through Robert De Niroâs eyewear: the chessboard reflected in the glasses of the King; the riding goggles that make him look like an owl, portent of death. One of a million details that add up to a masterpiece in Martin Scorseseâs dramatization of the clash between two worlds and two ways of being.
2. OPPENHEIMER: Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds. This is the bomb.
1. PAST LIVES: The brilliance of Celine Songâs play on inyeon is not just the wisdom of its story of love, immigration, and divided selves, but their aching visual illustration in a climactic tracking shot that moves through emotional time. Greta Lee is marvelous. Sometimes I cry just thinking about it.
Honorable mentions: MAY DECEMBER ⊠POOR THINGS
More superlatives:
Least favorite movies: DICKS: THE MUSICAL ⊠WONKA ⊠MEMORY ⊠CAT PERSON ⊠WHAT HAPPENS LATER
Best leading actor performances:
Bradley Cooper, MAESTRO
Paul Giamatti, THE HOLDOVERS
Cillian Murphy, OPPENHEIMER
Petri Poikolainen, THE BLIND MAN WHO DID NOT WANT TO SEE TITANIC
Andrew Scott, ALL OF US STRANGERS
Best leading actress performances:
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, ORIGIN
Lily Gladstone, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
Greta Lee, PAST LIVES
Julianne Moore, MAY DECEMBER
Emma Stone, POOR THINGS
Best supporting actress performances:
Emily Blunt, OPPENHEIMER
Nimra Bucha, POLITE SOCIETY
Claire Foy, ALL OF US STRANGERS
Taraji P. Henson, THE COLOR PURPLE
Rosamund Pike, SALTBURN
Best supporting actor performances:
Robert De Niro, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
Robert Downey Jr., OPPENHEIMER
Ryan Gosling, BARBIE
Glenn Howerton, BLACKBERRY
Milo Machado Graner, ANATOMY OF A FALL
Best cameos
Kaitlyn Dever in GOOD GRIEF
Colin Firth in RYE LANE
Audra McDonald in ORIGIN
Margot Robbie in ASTEROID CITY
Gene Simmons in THE DISAPPEARANCE OF SHERE HITE
Miscasting couch
Jerrod Carmichael in POOR THINGS
Joaquin Phoenix in NAPOLEON
Margaret Qualley in SANCTUARY
Chris Tucker in AIR
Shailene Woodley in FERRARI
Best musical moments
Unwritten above the Sydney Harbor in ANYONE BUT YOU
Iâm Just Ken in BARBIE
Piano rendition of Maneater in NO HARD FEELINGS
Japanese karaoke rendition of House of the Rising Sun in PERFECT DAYS
Murder on the Dancefloor naked ending to SALTBURN
Most unhinged moments
THE BURIAL: Jamie Foxx adds up 13 + 11 to equal 26
M3GAN: Children cheer enthusiastically for roasted chestnuts
PASSAGES: The homework assignment for a class of roughly 10-year-olds is writing like two sentences about what they did that weekend
RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE: The presidentâs son and the prince have a romantic dance-floor stare into each otherâs eyes when everybody else drops to the floor during Low
SANCTUARY: Christopher Abbott orders a Belgian waffle with passion fruit jam from room service in Denver
Best character name: Amos Klobuchar in THEATER CAMP
Best dog performance: Messi in ANATOMY OF A FALL
Best mention of Brown (tie): Using a Doritos bag as a condom in FAIR PLAY and roofie-ing the chancellor to get admitted in DICKS: THE MUSICAL
Most distressing depiction of a villainous queer Politico reporter who hangs out at coffee shops in Shaw: RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE
Best hard-charging student newspaper with a pretentious Latin motto: THE TEACHERSâ LOUNGE
Where the movies took me this year:
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Desert & Reward, Chapter 14
[Read on AO3]
Written for @paintercat, who also guessed the correct winner for Trope Madness this year! With two correct guessers, we had to determine the kitty winner via points, but I thought there should be SOME award for getting so close. Took a few extra months to get the time to work on this one, but here it is!
Obi has never made a secret of his experience. I know how to ignite a flame, heâd told Miss once, and Master too. An easy joke to make, a safe one, the kind that said he was a harmless sort of rake, encouraging good girls to keep their distance. And what was Miss but the best?
Except she never did. No, instead she trusted him too much, putting herself so close to him that heâd catch himself wondering if he could light a fire where it didnât belong. The sort of conflagration that would burn down the whole life heâd built for himself from the ashes of the last one.
Careful, heâd tell her sometimes, when she ventured too close, putting bare skin mere inches from his, hate to find out youâre an easy tinder.
Standing here, the candles above turning her gown into gold so solid she might as well have been cast, it seems as different sort of joke entirely. How heâd flattered himself thinking that she might even smolder near him. Heâd spent years at Lilias keeping the cold from seeping into her bones, and not once had there been the trace of smoke, not a single ember.
Makes sense; just because the candles burned on an altar didnât mean the idol catch too. And now he has three years with which to disappoint himself daily.
âI should have known,â he says, giving the door a rueful grin. âYou canât count on dads for anything.â
Her mouth twists, somewhere between amused and annoyed. âWell, I could have told you that.â
The breath heâs holding rushes from him like sand coursing through a glass. âYouâd be the expert. Youâve got more dads than anyone I know! Your old man, Lata, Marquis Haruka. Legally I think you can even claim that His Maj--â
âPlease.â Her mouth pulls into a grimace. âDonât even joke about that one.â
âFine,â he relents, sinking down into one of the hardest stuffed chairs heâs ever subjected himself too. It seems that this is not an antechamber for guests His Majesty wants to linger. âConsider it my wedding gift. Donât say I never give you anything, Miss.â
His smile meets silence, his mistress stock still save for her hands. They lace and unravel endlessly, a patchwork of his mistakes. âI didnât say...â Her mouth works around sounds that refuse to come. She shakes her head, finally knocking a few loose âI just wish I knew why you never told me.â
Obiâs joints lock on reflex, his heart racing in his chest, wondering if she could possibly mean--?
Ah, no. Obi has more secrets than there are stars in the Lilias sky, more bodies buried than even the Wistal catacombs could hold. When she glances at him, mouth wrinkled with misery, he knows it could only be the one most recently exhumed.
âIt wasnât personal,â he tells her, though the words lost in the cavernous expanse of the room. âIt just happened, and...â
It wasnât supposed to matter. Thatâs what sits at the tip of his tongue. His favorite sort of excuse. Iâm not anyone worth knowing about, donât you agree?
Itâs the sort of answer that would work on Master, making him throw up his hands or earn Obi a long, quiet look before a labored change of topic. On Miss, though, he knows better than to try.
âI didnât think it would change anything,â he admits instead, drawing each word out like a horse at a quartering. âItâs not like I thought His Majesty would actually expect me to..to...â
Her mouth may stay serious, but her eyes spark, and oh, if anyone is a quick tinder around here, itâs him. âActually be a lord?â
âSee, you get it.â He slumps, the brocade of his chair rumpling his jacket. âWho would have thought theyâd actually box me up and ship me out to some country seat, making me look a numbers and letters. Can you imagine, Miss? Me, looking at ledgers?â
Her dress shimmers when she sits, perching on the footstool too close to his knees. âI remember you reading one or two when the occasion called for it. Didnât you spend a whole day going through the logbooks when Touka Bergatt tried to--?â
âThat was for Mister, Miss,â he grimaces, hunching down. âI donât just do it for anyone.â
âNot even Iza--?â
âEspecially not for him.â Heâs the one that frogmarched him into this whole disaster in the first place. Political expediency his ass. âYou know that he was the one to float the idea that Lata could dump all his responsibilities on me if he went through this adoption thing. And then this whole marriage--â
The small hand hovering by his knee flinches back, burying itself in Missâs lap.
âAh, Miss.â He doesnât think when he reaches out; itâs all instinct when his hand closes around hers. A poor one, he realizes, her cool fingers curling over his palm with no leather to mute the feeling. Itâs a good thing this damned jacket covers his arms, otherwise she might see the goosebumps tracking up them. âI didnât mean it like that. Youâve been the best thing to happen since His Majesty shipped me south.â
The tension sighs out of her, fingers pressing flat to thread through his own. âI hardly think Lata needs Izana to tell him how to shirk his duties as a lord.â
âFair enough,â Obi snorts. âHe was doing a good job of it all on his own.â
Thereâs a curl at the corner of her mouth, the barest hint of humor, but itâs gone the longer she sits, gaze fixed on where their fingers knit together. âObi...â
When Miss looks at him, itâs always head-on, resolute, confident in whatever request sheâll make of him. But now she shifts on her cushion, her gaze filtered through the dark lace of her eyelashes. âI know you didnât mean for it to feel personal when you didnât tell me. But itâs just that...â
She glances up, her fingers gripping the barest bit tighter. âWeâre still close, arenât we? You arenât...?â
Obiâs been stabbed before-- multiple times, in a host of inconvenient places, including one where the only comfortable position was ass-up on his belly-- but still, this is worse. An knife is an inconvenience, but Missâs disappointment...
âOf course, Miss!â He doesnât think when he squeezes her hand, their palms pressing close as a kiss, but oh, he wishes he had. It would save him the trouble of his mouth dying up the moment he needs it. âReally, I thought it would never matter. Something we could both laugh over once His Majesty sent me back off to Lilias, maybe even get a free dinner off of dear old dad. But...â
A corner of her mouth lifts, wry. âThen we got engaged.â
âAh, well...â He scrubs at the back of his head, if only to keep from tugging at his shoulder. âYeah. Pretty much.â
âBut I still donât understand why you didnât tell me after.â Her mouth pulls thin, cheeks puffed enough to threaten a good pout. âIt seemed a little more than trivia then.â
âMm, right.â His grin bears teeth as he adds, so sweetly, âKind of like what happened between you and m-- Zen.â
She has the grace to blush, even if she wonât look at him. âAh, that...there was never a right time.â
âHis Majesty said that all happened half a year ago.â Itâs his turn to pin her down now, watching her squirm beneath the directness of his gaze. âThatâs before I even left Lilias.â
âAh, well...â Itâs hard to keep up this glare when her finger absently traces down the bones of his hand. âThe letters came with the same messenger. And when you said Izana was recalling you to the castle...â
His jaw nearly drops. âYou already knew what it was for.â
âYou would never have left if I told you.â She finally looks at him now, jaw in it stubbornest clench. âYou donât care about titles, but I think we both know, if you climbed any higher in the guard, other people would. I thought I could wait until you came back, when everything would be more settled, but...â
âBut His Majesty collared me into going to Cacciatore straight from the castle,â Obi sighs, itching at his brow. Knowing the king, he probably planned it that way too.
âI meant to write it in my first letter, but it just...didnât fit.â She grimaces. âOr in any of the ones after. It just seemed better if I told you myself, in person. And when you invited me, I thought that would be the perfect time to-- to--â she takes a steeling breath, meeting his eyes-- âto tell you everything.â
Itâs too much to look at her, to let his world narrow to just the two of them, so he shakes his head, settling back in the chair. âMaybe itâs a good thing I never told you about Lata.â
He feels her glare rather than sees it. âWhat do you mean?â
âYou never would have married me if I did.â
âT-thatâs not true at all.â
âOh really?â He cracks open his eyes, leaning forward as he says, âThat so, Shirayuki Forzeno?â
Heâs too close; her breath catches and itâs as loud as a moan in a bedroom to his ears, enough to make even his skin heat beneath his collar, but when he pulls away--
She grips tighter, enough that her knuckles pale where they hold him. âSay it again.â
He has to be hearing things. Making his own wants out of her needs. âM-miss?â
âSay it again,â she says slower, too clear to mistake. âPlease.â
âUm...â Itâs an effort to keep his voice from cracking. âF-Forzeno...?â
Her nose scrunches, cute enough to kiss. Oh, heâs slipping if heâs letting thoughts like this out of their vault. âNot that. My name. Iâd...â She glances up at him, and itâs not anger in her eyes, but something heâs never seen on her. At least, not pointed at him. âIâd like you to say it. Just one more time. If you donât mind.â
âI...â He licks his lips. A terrible idea, since now theyâre sensitive, tingling when her breath fans across them. âMiss, I donât think...â
âObi.â Itâs a word he feels rather than hears, vibrating the air between them. âPlease...â
âShira--â
The door swings open, rattling when it hits the wall. âAre you two still in here?â
Zen fills the doorway-- well, as much as he can-- folded arms creasing his coat as much as his frown does his face. âWhat are you up to?â
Obi springs from the chair, palm cold where Missâs no longer hits into it. âOh, nothing that would interest you, Highness,â he assures him with a grin that keeps trying to slip from his mouth. âYou know how it is, being newlyweds. Basking in each otherâs company. Whispering sweet nothings. Maybe even getting in a few--â
One gloved hand stalls him. âSave it.â
âBut, Master, as my best man, shouldnât you--?â
Zen grimaces. âIâm here in an official capacity. My brother has informed me that the documents you...reviewed yesterday are ready to be signed.â
Itâs only then that he sees the other figure in the door; a man middling in height between both of Clarinesâ Highnesses, his mouth pinched like heâs bitten into something sour.
âYuuha,â Obi says with relish. âNow doesnât that kill the mood.â
âCould you go any slower?â If it was possible for Zen to pace up a wall and over the ceiling, the past few minutes would have been crucial to the discovery. As it is heâs wearing a trench in a carpet that costs more than most men would see in their whole lifetime. âThis was meant to take a few minutes at most, not a quarter of an hour.â
âYouâll have to excuse me,â Obi drawls, squinting at the words scrawled in front of him. Heâll give the clerk this much; he may be a prick, but his writingâs neat as a pin. Even if he might be more comfortable reading with a magnifying glass. âItâs come to my attention only idiots sign contracts they havenât read first.â
Zen huffs, throwing himself into the nearest armchair. âYou didnât bother when you started working for me.â
âYeah, and I got an earful for it.â He hands the page to Miss, who merely skims it before she sets it to the side, waiting for him to finish the next. âI figure now that I got stuff to lose, I should probably be more careful with it. Unless I want to go the way the last Marquis Conti went.â
Thereâs some more sighing at that, but he must make his point, since Zen only grumbles, âWell, just hurry it up. Otherwise everyoneâs going to be wondering what youâre up to in here.â
Obi canât help the grin that stretches his lips. âDoesnât that only help our story? You know, lovers who canât keep their hands off each other?â
With a waggle of his eyebrows, Zenâs skin flushes. âThatâs--â
âI know that Izana says passion was supposed to rush us to the altar,â Miss interjects, taking the last page from his hands and signing her name with what looks more like chicken scratch than a name. âBut I thought it was more...our friendship was sufficient courtship, not that we were eager to jump into bed. Or, I suppose, that we were eager to cover up just how quickly we took that leap.â
âW-why not both?â Itâs with iron resolve that he clamps down on mentioning just how heâd like to fall into bed with Miss. âThough maybe itâs better the first way. More yearning. Makes sense why weâre turning the wedding night into a wedding afternoon--â
âJust sign it already,â Zen sighs. âOr else weâll never make it to the party, and I spent forever planning it.â
âYouâll understand if you get married,â Obi tells him, signing his name primly, right next to Missâs. He doesnât think about how nicely they look next to each other. âOr when, if His Majesty gets his way.â
âDonât remind me.â Zen jumps up from his chair, snatching the contract from his hands. Despite the theatrics, thereâs a spring to his step, and the smallest hint of a smile on his lips. âNow get going already. Iâm going to have to field enough questions about what you two were up to as it is.â
âOh!â Miss leaps to her feet, cheeks flushed as she takes his arm. âPeople wonât really...?â
Zenâs grimace is his only answer.
âBest not to ask, Miss,â Obi assures her, brushing past the clerk at the door. âI hope thereâs free booze.â
âWhat are you talking about?â Zen grumbles. âYou canât make guests pay at a wedding.â
Miss gives him an amused look. âYou know,â Obi murmurs into her ear, âI think I could get used to this lord business.â
#obiyuki#akagami no shirayukihime#snow white with the red hair#desert and reward#my fic#ans#we draw ever closer to the scene i am DYING to do#or rather scenes#but i think we are going to have another 2 chapters AT LEAST before that happens#but we will at least get some real fun talkie talks#and perhaps HINTS of things to come#there are some scenes next chapter that i am super interested in people getting to >:3c
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Musical December I: Singinâ in the Rain (1952) - Recap: Part Two
Since this is a movie about ghost singers...
Ghost singers dub the singing voices of the stars of musical films. Essentially, if the actor or actress has a poor voice, or a voice that isnât quite up-to-par, the ghost singer is hired to dub over their voice with their own rendition of the song. Now, there have been a lot of famous ghost singers, but you may not actually know their names. Historically, they tend to be uncredited in film. Which, yeah, is REAL SHITTY. Thankfully, however, we do know a few of them today.
Arguably one of the most famous is Marni Nixon, the ghost singer for Natalie Wood in West Side Story. Yeah, Woodâs performance wasnât stellar, apparently, and the film producers didnât even TELL her that she was going to be dubbed by Nixon. And as a result she recieved...no direct royalties! Instead, she got (and I am not kidding) 0.25% of Leonard Bernsteinâs royalties! Fuck off! She literally had to go to court for this, and got royalties from the soundtrack.
And hereâs the crazy thing: youâve also heard her in these roles:
Yeah, uh...holy shit.
And while weâre at it, letâs talk about Betty Noyes. We at least know the roles that Marni Nixon took, but Betty Noyes was so prolific, we actually donât have a confirmed list off all of her credits! Just fuckinâ suspicions! Now, granted, there are a few roles we know she did dub for. One was in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, which I might watch this month. Another is...well, weâll get to that one later. And the other major role?
Yeah, she was Dumboâs mom!
Noyes was actually nominated for an Oscar for that song, indirectly! Because none of the voice actors in the film were actually credited, Noyes went unknown as the voice actor for this film for far too long. And again, thatâs not including the films she dubbed in that we just donât know about! Man, Hollywood.
These two, of course, are some of many ghost singers in cinema. Betty Wand, Bill Shirley, Bill Lee, Thurl Ravenscroft, and Drew Seeley come to mind. And that last one? Oh, youâre gonna love this.
In the first High School Musical, most of Zac Efronâs lines were ghosted by Drew Seeley. This shit is still happening! Although, to be fair, Efron sung a few lines, and then sang all of his songs for the second and third films. But still, this practice is still in existence!Â
And so, with that said, a movie about ghost singers in genuinely an interesting choice for a musical. And that is especially because...well, weâll get there. Weâll get there. For now, back to the show!Â
Check out Part One here!
Recap: Part Two
In order to prepare for being talkie stars, both Lina and Don go to diction coaches. Linaâs lessons go horribly, but Donâs literally ends in another musical number (âMoses Supposesâ) with Cosmo. Itâs a fun number, but they also ruin this manâs entire office. Jesus, guys, a little respect for the manâs working space.
Filming begins once again, and the director, Roscoe Dexter (Douglas Fowler)Â has an actual mental breakdown with the difficult sound setup, and Linaâs complete idiotic inability to adapt. The film comes out, to the great nervousness of all the filmmakers. And unfortunately, Linaâs horrible voice, and the equally terrible sound recording quality makes the audience (and me) crack up with laughter. Thereâs a lot that happens, but itâs pretty clearly going to be a horrible movie.
As the audience leaves, laughing and mocking the film, the stars (save Lina) realize that theyâre completely fucked. In a dinner with Cosmo and Cathy, Lockwood laments his position. He also realizes that heâs not a good talkie actor, as heâs used to acting without sound. But the two friends pick him up and joke about going back into vaudeville.
But that gives Cathy an idea: why not turn the film (called The Dueling Cavalier) into a musical film! They have six weeks, making it a possibility. Excited, they talk into the morning, then sing a song about it (âGood Morningâ, from Babes in Arms). And I love this song, but the entire timeâŠall I could think about was the fact that Debbie Reynoldsâ dress is the same as Quicksilverâs Silver Age costume. Seriously.
New head canon: Quicksilver is a BIG musical guy.
Anyway, after the song is concluded, the group realize that the issue with their plan is Linaâs voice. Cosmo has the brilliant idea to have Cathy dub over Linaâs voice in the final cut. Which is ironic becauseâŠwell, more on that later. Anyway, itâs late. The party disbands, and Don brings Cathy home under the pouring rain. And wellâŠyou know.
Yeah, this number (âSinginâ in the Rainâ, from The Hollywood Revue of 1929), is arguably...what, did I just type âfrom The Hollywood Revue of 1929âł? ITâS NOT AN ORIGINAL NUMBER?!? Wait, the namesake of this movie, the headliner song, the MOST FAMOUS NUMBER IN FILM HISTORY...is from a different musical? I...actually, you know what? Who cares?
Because this number is still arguably the most famous in musical cinema, as well as being beautifully done. Gene Kelly is the master of his craft, and heâs showing off in this number for sure. Itâs just a happy and joyous number. And, again, if youâve seen this movie and never done any of this dance in the rain, I feel sorry for you. You need to inject more joy into your life! Dance in a puddle, swing on a lamppost, trail and umbrella, confuse a policeman patrolling the street in the middle of the night! SOMETHING! Itâs pure unadulterated joy in the form of song-and-dance, and I love it.
The next morning, the boys present the idea to Simpson, and he loves it. They rename the film The Dancing Cavalier, and Cosmoâs genuinely great film instincts allow the flawless reworking of the entire picture. Songs are written, Cathy gets to dubbing it, and Lena sings the original song. Horribly. And this is where the ironic part comes in.
See, the song being sung, âWould Youâ, features Cathy singing over Linaâs track. Thing is, though (and many of you reading probably knew this), Debbie Reynolds is NOT singing this song. Yeah, itâs actually Betty Noyes, a very famous dubbing voice actor for musicals from this time period. Meaning, yes, Betty Noyes is dubbing Debbie Reynolds, whose character is dubbing another character. Ironic.
The plan goes off without a hitch, and Simpson is pleased. One more sequence is plotted out for the film. Itâs a song called âBroadway Melodyâ (from various films), and takes place in the beginning of the hypothetical film. And itâs a ridiculously bombastic number. I love it. Holy shit, I love this movie. Seriously, there is nothing about this movie I dislike so far. This is absolutely lovely.
Those feelings are exemplified by this number, which serves as an interlude of sorts. It is LONG, and it concludes with a beautiful dance. The dress worn by the female dancer contains a flowing train, and off-screen fans make it seem ethereal. Itâs genuinely a spectacular piece of art, and it's all about our musicalâs main character falling in love with a woman (Cyd Charisse) at a casino, only to find that sheâs taken. Instead, a coat and hat girl brings him his things, and he leaves the casino distraught. And this, remember, is meant to be the opening to the musical-in-a-musical. Itâs a bit long and confusingâŠbut itâs also spectacular. Like a little splash of Jean Cocteauâs Orpheus. Stellar.
But the whole thing is quickly ruined by, who else, Lina. After finding out that Cathyâs acting as her voice, she flies into a rage, and plots to get Cathyâs name besmirched. She goes around the studio entirely, and sends out an exclusive story to every paper in town. The stories claim that sheâs a big musical star, making it a massive problem for the studio to give the credit to Cathy, as planned. Due to her contract, she is in control of her publicity, not the studio. She also makes it so that Cathyâs only future job is as a dubbing artist for Lina.
Fuck Lina, by the way; sheâs a piece of shit.
The premiere happens, and the plan goes off without a hitch. The sound is fixed, the songs are great, and Cathyâs voice is beautiful. However, her credits are taken off of the film entirely, leaving her completely screwed. Because, again, fuck Lina. Said asshole gloats backstage as the crowd cheers. As the rest of them battle with the prima donna, she decides to go out and give a speech. Knowing that the situation will backfire on her, they let her do it.
And IMMEDIATELY, upon hearing her real voice, the audience assumes that sheâs doing a voice and asks her to sing for them. Seeing an opportunity, Don, Cosmo and Simpson plot as Lina panics. They tell her to go and sing, while Cathy dubs for her backstage. Don insists on it, enraging Cathy. She agrees to do it, though, and has Lina sing âSinginâ in the Rainâ while she sings behind the curtains. And thenâŠ
Sweet, hilarious karma.
The gambitâs up, especially when Cosmo steps in for Cathy. Lina runs off stage as the crowd laughs uproariously, while a shocked Cathy runs off stage. Don shouts into the audience, telling them to stop her! He gives her due credit as the voice they heard singing in the film, and she looks back at him with tears in her eyes. He serenades her, and they join in a duet on stage (âYou Are My Lucky Starâ, from The Broadway Melody).
...100%. Not kidding. See you in the Review.
#singin' in the rain#singing in the rain#singin' in the rain 1952#film:singin' in the rain#singin in the rain#gene kelly#stanley donen#arthur freed#donald o'connor#debbie reynolds#jean hagen#Millard Mitchell#cyd charisse#movie musical#musical film#musical genre#musical december#musicember#user365#365days365movies#365 movie challenge#musicalsgifs#filmgifs#usergina#classicfilmsource
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An Iron Box -Â The Answer
@cheshiya @tenseoyong @szallejhscorner @something-more-original-please @ofsunsetsandpoetries @nek0dzuken @allozaur @hiqhkey @serenzippity
That rooftop scene is growing closer, and so is my excitement :D
Iâve noticed a few new readers, and I just wanted to add a heads up that you can find the Tumblr post links and the AO3 links to each of the three fics at the top of my Tumblr, if that helps at all!Â
Hereâs the AO3 link to this chapter too. Â
I hope you like it! <3
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âChishiya, Iâd hate to be your enemy.âÂ
When Arisu had spoken those words right as he punched in the code, heâd already made his fatal mistake.
You are all my enemies, in a way. Â
I stood back, watching as Arisuâs bloodied and unconscious body was slung over a militantâs shoulder and carried out of the royal suite. Usagi went next, kicking and screaming her boyfriendâs name. Just as she was dragged out the door, her eyes locked on me, and I could see the sheer betrayal there, the hatred burning and seething under her skin.Â
I simply smiled.Â
It wasnât personal. Itâs just how this world works.
Sometimes you have to sacrifice a pawn to reach the king.Â
The rest of us meandered out into the hall where the two traitors were being hauled towards their fate. I felt a hand clamp firmly on my shoulder, and fought the urge to move away when I saw Aguni standing beside me.
âYou did good, Chishiya. I never did trust those two.âÂ
You should rethink where you put your trust.Â
âDonât mention it,â I said. âItâs the least I could do.âÂ
There was a furious cry down the hall as Usagi bit someoneâs hand, followed by a slap, and then silence. I already had an inkling about what would happen to the two of them. Knowing Niragi, he would have some fun with Usagi before disposing of her. Perhaps I shouldâve felt guilty. Some people certainly would. But there was a small, satisfied part of me that was glad it was her instead of...Â
âThat reminds me,â Aguni said. âHow did you know about them?âÂ
âAh⊠that.â I took the walkie talkie out of my pocket and flashed it to him. âThey tried to get me to join them. I went along with it to find out the details, and you know the rest.âÂ
Aguniâs brows furrowed at the sight of the device, but he didnât ask to inspect or keep it. Thatâs when I knew I had him wrapped around my finger.Â
âI understand. If you see any other suspicious behaviour, let me know.âÂ
âOf course.âÂ
I nodded politely as he disappeared down the hall and submerged himself in his room.
Now that those two were taken care of, the militants would be distracted for a little while. That left us a generous amount of time until dark, although the real plan wouldnât take long to execute, especially now I knew where the actual safe was. Â
Aguni may have been observant, but not nearly as observant as I was. Knowing that he had come so close to having the cards snatched from right under his nose, it wouldâve unsettled anyone. And in such an unstable situation, it was only human nature to seek stability by making sure that your precious items are untouched.Â
I guess I was wrong about the blank sheet.Â
There was a room on the top floor that I knew wasnât currently being used. In such close proximity to the royal suite, it was the perfect hideout where I could talk into the walkie talkie without worrying about eavesdroppers.Â
Slipping inside, I pulled it from my pocket once again to tune it to a radio frequency I had told Kuina about earlier. Knowing her, she would have tuned (nameâs) to the same one right after Arisuâs capture.Â
I lifted the walkie talkie to my mouth. âKuina?âÂ
There was a drawn out moment of static, then Kuinaâs voice crackled through. âIâm here. (Name) still needs a minute though.âÂ
I figured as much. Once she realised what was happening, it was inevitable that she would react badly. Having Kuina there to keep her away from Arisu and Usagi had been for the best. And now she knew that I had unwillingly involved her in a plan like this, her opinion of me had probably sunk lower than before.Â
Is this also for the best?Â
I sat down on the unused bed, deciding that yes, it was. She would only be a distraction. If it came down to it, I needed to survive. And once we left the Beach, if she despised me so much that she chose to go down a separate path, it couldnât be better.Â
But stillâŠÂ
âChishiya.â Kuinaâs voice interrupted the quiet. âI hope you feel guilty for this. I seriously hope a small part of you realises how screwed up this was.âÂ
I smiled at her lack of understanding. I realised perfectly well, but for the sake of surviving in a world like this, you couldnât allow yourself to slip to the bottom of the food chain.
âYouâve changed your tune,â I replied. âAre you backing out all of a sudden?âÂ
âOf course not. I canât afford to, and neither can (name).â She paused, then tentatively asked, âDid you know? About her⊠and you, you know.âÂ
âI have no idea what youâre talking about.âÂ
âDid you know she had feelââ Kuinaâs voice stopped, then she hushed, âSheâs coming out now. Weâll be upstairs soon.âÂ
The communication cut off, and all I could do was wait until they were in position. Wait, and mull over Kuinaâs unfinished question. Obviously, they had been talking about me, but I almost didnât want to know what they had said.Â
I waited fifteen minutes, and there was still no sign from either of them. If they carried on at this speed, we would run out of time. Growing restless, I held up the walkie talkie.Â
âYou two, how are things on your side?â
There was no response, but they would have to reply eventually. What I didnât expect was her voice to come through.Â
âYouâre all good to go from where Iâm standing.â Her voice was still dripping with unspoken anger and betrayal, and it was surprising she was even willing to talk to me.Â
So youâre not as childish as you act. Who wouldâve thought.Â
âAguniâs still in his room,â Kuina followed up with a sigh. âWeâre getting bored now.âÂ
âThen should we get going with the plan?â I suggested. The reply I got was scathing.Â
âWeâve already gotten going. Itâs you who needs to hurry up.âÂ
That attitude, it was almost laughable. How commanding (name) had become in an instant, as if she werenât tagging along on someone elseâs plan.
âPatience,â I reminded her, and turning down the volume on the walkie talkie, I cracked open the door.Â
In the hall, there wasnât a soul in sight. It couldnât have been more perfect. The royal suite was unguarded, and I easily slipped by unnoticed. Inside, the room was bathed in darkness, and it became apparent Aguni hadnât yet bothered to move his belongings in. There were still traces of the incident earlier. The carpet by the open wardrobe was spotted with blood. Arisuâs blood.Â
I turned the volume on the walkie talkie back up. âI donât know if Arisu is stupid or intelligent. Hatter was paranoid. He wouldnât have hidden the cards in a normal safe.â
âWhereâs the real one then?â Kuina asked.Â
I turned to the deer painting on the wall. It didnât particularly stand out as anything special, just a deerâs face and antlers against a blue toned background. And yet earlier that day, despite all the commotion and Arisuâs screams of pain, it had captured Aguniâs focus.Â
âWhen Arisu was caught,â I said, slowly approaching the painting, âAguni wasnât paying attention. He was looking towards a certain picture on the wall. It turns out the paper wasnât empty after all. It contained a drawing instead.âÂ
Briefly placing the walkie talkie on a side table, I lifted the painting from the wall, uncovering the hidden treasure that I had been hoping for. The plaster had been carved up, forming a hole large enough to jam a small safe inside. And sure enough, there it was. A hotel safe, much like the one Arisu had tried, was embedded deep into the wall.Â
Her voice, sounded through the static. âSo, you had no idea where it was until then?âÂ
I picked up the walkie talkie again. âExactly. What happened to Arisu was necessary if we were going to find the real safe. Speaking of which, Iâve found it.âÂ
Now it was the moment of truth. The final test to see if my code was correct. I punched the numbers in one by one. 8022. Each one held its own magnitude, and I half-expected an alarm to ring out.Â
Except it didnât. The safe display read âOPENâ.Â
âYou used him just for that?â was Kuinaâs tired response.Â
Really, after all this time, did she not realise that this was the price one had to pay? This world had a certain dynamic. In order to survive, you couldnât allow yourself to get caught up in guilt or shame.Â
âIn order to gain something, you have to lose something,â I said. âHeâs just a sacrifice. Things like this happen a lot, donât they?â
'No, they donât. Not at all. I really donât want to be your enemy.â
I smiled, remembering the betrayal in Arisuâs expression. âI get that a lot.âÂ
----------------------------------------------------------------
The deck was like a weight, swinging in my pocket. A surefire sense of power and danger, all hidden within a stack of cards. There was no way of knowing whether collecting them granted any passage back to the old world. But there was also nothing to prove that they didnât.Â
Either way, Iâm certain something will happen once the deck is completed.Â
These cards couldnât be for nothing.Â
After replacing the painting, I told Kuina and (name) to meet me near the patio exit at the east of the hotel. I couldâve caught up with them on my way down from the top floor, but I wanted to make a small diversion.Â
Iâd never felt any attachment to my room, and even now as I took one last look, there was nothing in particular keeping me here.Â
Well, maybe just one thing.Â
Pulling open the second drawer down on the desk, I felt around at the back for the tiny box. It was only small, and the ring inside even smaller. It sat open in the palm of my hand, the silver fashioned into a small sun with a glistening green centre.Â
Somehow, its weight was even heavier than the cards.Â
Is there any point?
I couldâve easily slipped it into my pocket, but it was practically useless. Even if I gave it to her, she would instantly reject it.Â
I placed the box back in the draw. It would stay a secret for the next person moving into this room. As I shut the drawer, I suddenly remembered another, darker secret hidden inside the one below. I opened it up, seeing the little souvenir Iâd taken from my first game.Â
The pistol glistened inside, metallic and dangerous. Now that would certainly keep Niragi at bay. But again, was it worth it? It didnât hold many bullets, and it wouldnât stand a chance against a rifle. Once we were out of here, I could probably find something a little bigger, perhaps in Tokyoâs empty Yakuza hotspots.Â
I left it there along with the ring. Even walking away felt like tugging at a string that kept pulling me back towards that tiny box. I would have to rip that string apart.Â
Making my way down through the hotel, I strolled outside, dipping into the smaller paths where the patio was peaceful. The only sounds were the faded music drowned out by wind, and the soft trill of crickets. Two silhouettes came into view, one basking in the glow beneath a lamppost, the other hidden against the wall in its shadow.Â
âI guess we wonât be needing these anymore.â I pulled off the wristband I had gotten so used to wearing. Just as I reached the brick archway at the edge of the grounds, Kuina spoke.
âDonât you feel sorry?âÂ
I paused. âSorry?âÂ
âAbout what happened to Arisu,â (name) said. âI feel really sorry for him. We both do.â
Kuina hummed in agreement. âDonât you?â
I turned, glancing from Kuinaâs frown to the figure behind her. No matter how hard she tried to hide in her friendâs shadow, I could always find her, especially when her eyes looked so full of anger and hurt. Standing there, both bracing themselves against the cold, the two of them echoed off one another in perfect harmony.Â
âI have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.âÂ
I knew what line came next. She didnât have to sing, so long as she was still breathing. Perhaps I could make her understand.Â
âIs there anything we wouldnât do in order to survive?âÂ
Clearly, there was. Their eyes widened, as if the truth of this world hadnât fully hit them yet. As if all my efforts had been for nothing in their eyes.Â
Fine. Very well.Â
I smiled, no longer caring to hide the bitterness. âIf you both feel so worried, then maybe you should go and help him.âÂ
And of course, neither of them budged. They knew they couldnât. They were both so happy to come with me if it meant escaping the Beach, yet they still felt the right to criticise my methods. I turned back towards the arch and took the first step forward into freedom, only to hear that tiny, oh-so-familiar sound.Â
A buzzing.Â
âIt canât be,â I muttered.Â
This was always a possibility. But why here? Why now? Why, when I was so close to winning? Any other time, and I wouldnât have minded. This, however, was simply annoying.Â
I was so deep in thought, I barely registered the footsteps behind me⊠the familiar form sliding past me⊠walking closer towards the arch.Â
âStop.â
My hand moved on its own, grabbing her wrist and tugging her back just in time. For one small second I felt the heat of her skin, right before it was yanked out of my grip.Â
âWhat do you think youâre doing?â She touched her wrist as if it had been burned, unaware that it had been the other way around.Â
I couldnât answer. The cold had settled back in, the emptiness. It only confirmed that nagging suspicion I already knew. The reason I couldnât rip the string apart. She was the answer.
Kuina appeared at my side, waiting for an explanation. Her presence reminded me that there was something far, far more pressing at stake. Suddenly remembering the wristband I was holding, I tossed it into the arch.Â
A glowing red laser shot through the centre and it clattered to the ground.Â
The timing was almost ironic, too perfect to be true. Almost like the gamemasters had been watching us all along, just as they had with that little stunt they pulled in the Eight of Hearts. As frustrating as this was, I had to admire their creativity.Â
I sighed, turning around to see a wall of lasers appear along the parameters of the hotel.
Touche.Â
#alice in borderland#aib#chishiya#chishiya shuntaro#Chishiya x reader#chishiya x oc#Imawa no Kuni no Arisu#chishiya alice in Borderland
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"did you get in a fight with a bear? just say yes" with magnus and merle..? (it fills me w joy every time i see u on my dash)
um you're so sweet, tysm !!
also, zookeeper Magnus is almost entirely inspired by this comic (thank you lazylittledragon for my life, i think about this whole au at least once a day)
Working in a zoo was never quite what Magnus imagined heâd be doing with his life. Donât get him wrong, out of the dozens of jobs heâs ever had, itâs the best. Sure as shit beats the old bouncer job he had. But he really canât believe that he gets paid to just hang out with cool animals. And his friends like it because they like getting free tickets to come see some neat animals.
Technically speaking, he canât get his friends in for free. However, he can get his family in for free so sometimes he does lie to his coworkers who neither care enough to fact check just how many uncles, siblings, cousins, nieces, or nephews he has nor do they care enough about upholding the rules of the job. Not the ones about making the zoo any money, that is. So about once a month he gets manages to procure free tickets for whoever wants to come roam around the zoo.
âIf it isnât my favorite uncle!â Magnus exclaims when he sees Merle trudge through the front door of the visitor center. He walks over to give a quick hug, ignoring the snort from Johann.
âMan, you know I donât give a shit if youâre sneaking friend in, right? Like, Iâm not a manager,â Johann says, grabbing a bright orange paper wristband from a large stack on the desk. He sits up a bit and holds his hand out for Merleâs wrist. Merle obliges easily.
âJohann, I have no idea what youâre talking about. Merle is my most treasured uncle.â
âUh-huh,â Johann says flatly, a barely subdued smirk bubbling on his face.
Suddenly, the door opens again and Magnus is all but tackled by a messy mop of red hair.
âHi Uncle Magnus!â Mookie shouts as Magnus scoops the kid up in a tight hug. He sets Mookie down as Mavis walks in, a bemused smile on her face. Mavis rolls her eyes as Magnus holds a fist out to her but she bumps it with her own nonetheless.
âSo your uncleâs kids call you their uncle?â Johann asks as he gives wristbands to Mavis and Mookie.
âEh, weâre from Hogsbottom, the family tree roots get real gnarled out there,â Merle says with a grin.
Johann wrinkles his nose. âThereâs not a- you know what, I still donât give a shit, have fun.â
Magnus gives the small group a wave as they go to enter the zoo.
--
âHey, Magnus, can we get you in the visitor center for a minute?â Johannâs voice crackles over the walkie-talkie as Magnus is in the process of filling up enrichment materials for some of the big cats.
âYeah, man, whatâs up?â he answers after taking some time to wash the raw meat residue from his hands.
âOh, Iâm certain Killian would prefer I let her tell you herself,â Johann says with a laugh.
That canât be good, Magnus thinks to himself. Itâs not often that the head security officer summons a keeper. He has a sinking suspicion that this has something to do with Merle.
--
âSo, mister Highchurch ââ
âPlease, call me Merle,â he says, sitting in a small plastic chair in the visitor center, looking remarkably like a child waiting outside the principalâs office.
Killian .rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. âOkay, then Merle, would you care to explain to Magnus why youâre in here?â
âYâknow, Iâm still trying to figure that out myself! A guy decides to get some shit off his chest at the bear exhibit and suddenly thatâs a crime!â Merle says defensively.
Magnus furrows his brow. âMerle? D-Did you fight a bear?â
âI think fighting is probably not the right term ââ
âJust say yes,â Killian says, voice thick with exasperation.
Merle rolls his eyes and sighs. âI guess if a guy being fed up with a bear just laying around is fighting a bear, then yeah, I fought a damn bear.â
âHey, uh, Killian, we donât have to make this a whole thing, do we?â Magnus asks, darting a glance over to Mavis and Mookie who are excitedly talking Johannâs ear off about the really cool jellyfish they saw in the deep-sea exhibit.
Killian follows his gaze and frowns. âI guess just this once we donât. But listen, Merle? Fight another animal here and Iâm slapping you with a personal lifetime ban from the zoo.â
âScoutâs honor!â Merle says earnestly. âBesides, I really donât wanna get banned from another attraction in this town?â
âAnother?â Killian asks incredulously.
Magnus looks grimly at her. âThe botanical gardens have posters with his face on them in their office.â
Killian opens her mouth to ask more questions but decides that sometimes ignorance is bliss. Instead, she just wordlessly leaves the visitor center.
â-is actually bioluminescent, too. Kinda hard to tell when weâve got the lights on, but sometimes we do fun night events and thatâs when you can see that big dude really shine.â Johann explains to Mavis and Mookie who are listening in slack-jawed awe.
âWow, Johann, I thought you hated kids?â Magnus says as he and Merle walk over.
Johann shrugs easily. âEh, these two are cool.â
âHigh praise coming from you!â Magnus turns to look at Mavis and Mookie. âSo, next time you come here, you can just use Johann as your fake uncle.â
âI will not go that far. Besides, I donât want my name attached to bear brawler over here,â Johann nods towards Merle, who just laughs it off.
#see i really hope this is cute i just have zoos on the brain#reese writes#taz#taz balance#tazb#the adventure zone balance#the adventure zone#magnus burnsides#merle highchurch#taz johann#taz au#i am most certainly nerfing myself by posting this at almost 1 am but i want validation nowwwwww
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COSMIC - S1:E1; Chapter One, The Vanishing of Will Byers - [Pt. 3 - FINAL]
A Will Byers x Male!Reader Series
đđŻ đ©đȘđŽ đžđąđș đ©đ°đźđŠ đ§đłđ°đź đą đ§đłđȘđŠđŻđ„'đŽ đ©đ°đ¶đŽđŠ, đșđ°đ¶đŻđš đđȘđđ đŽđŠđŠđŽ đŽđ°đźđŠđ”đ©đȘđŻđš đ”đŠđłđłđȘđ§đșđȘđŻđš. đđąđ·đȘđŻđš đšđłđ°đžđŻ đžđ°đłđłđȘđŠđ„ đȘđŻ đ©đȘđŽ đŽđ¶đ„đ„đŠđŻ đŽđ¶đ„đ„đŠđŻ đąđŁđŽđŠđŻđ€đŠ, đą đšđłđ°đ¶đ± đ°đ§ đ§đłđȘđŠđŻđ„đŽ đ§đȘđŻđ„ đŽđ°đźđŠđ”đ©đȘđŻđš đŽđ”đąđłđ”đđȘđŻđš đžđ©đȘđđŠ đ°đ¶đ” đđ°đ°đŹđȘđŻđš đ§đ°đł đ”đ©đŠđȘđł đźđȘđŽđŽđȘđŻđš đ§đłđȘđŠđŻđ„.
|| đđđđđđ«'đŹ đđđ ||
The bell rang, signaling the end of class. The guys and I were quick to pack up our belongings before making a beeline for Mr. Clarke's desk, eager to see if the Heathkit came. All the while Mr. Clarke was reminding the already fleeting class of our homework assignment.
"Remember, finish chapter 12 and answer 12.3 on the difference between an experiment and other forms of science investigation. This will be on the test, which will cover chapters 10 through 12. It will be multiple choice with an essay section." His voice faltered towards the end of his sentence as he realized no one had been paying attention.
His head turned to us and he didn't seem too surprised to see us so eager. Mike couldn't take the wait any longer and spoke up on the behalf of all of us.
"So, did it come?"
Mr. Clarke looked solemn. "Sorry, guys," Our heads began to hang in disappointment at his words. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but... It came!"
My face lit up with relief. We followed Mr. Clarke down the halls in anticipation. Mike got to the door first and eagerly threw it open, the rest of us close on his tail.
"Yes!"
Since Mike was the first through the door, naturally he dove for the desk chair as the rest of us scuttled over each other, each of trying to get a close look at it. Lucas and I seemed to have the same idea as we fiddled with the knobs on the Heathkit as Mr. Clarke addressed the new device we were all so eager to see.
"The Heathkit ham shack," The boys and I were in awe.
"Ain't she a beaut?" Mr. Clarke sighed. Dustin then spoke up. "I bet you could talk to New York on this thing."
"Think bigger." Said Mr. Clarke. I rose my eyebrow and looked to my teacher as I questioned, "California?"
"Bigger." 'No way.'
"Australia?" Mike pressed. We all turned out heads hopefully to Mr. Clarke as he responded with a smile and the shake of his head. We all exclaimed.
"Oh man," Lucas chuckled in excitement. "When Will sees this, he's totally gonna blow his shit." My smile faltered at the mention of Will, as Mr. Clarke scolds Lucas for his foul language. Lucas apologized turning back to the Heathkit, and I shake my head slightly trying to get my mind off of Will.
Lucas seems to have found the right settings on the dials based on the high pitch frequencies coming out of the Heathkit. Mike has the headphones on and begins to speak into the mic in an Australian accent.
"'Ello, this is Mike Wheela', president of Hawkins Middle AV Club."
Dustin then practically ripped the headphones off of Mike's head, a big goofy grin on his face as he placed them on his head. Mike was in a fit of giggles as he spoke. "What are you doing?" Dustin proceeded to do the exact same thing as Mike just moments ago.
"'Ello, this is Dustin, and this is the secretary and treasurer of Hawkins Middle AV Club. Do you eat kangaroos for breakfast?" I giggle, shaking my head thinking about the poor confused soul who is stuck listening to the boys ramble on. As Lucas grabs for the headphones, I turn around so I'm facing Mr. Clarke, and I give a polite, yet warm smile. "Thank you."
"You're very welcome Mr. Henderson," He returned the smile, seeming appreciative of the fact that at least one of us said 'Thank you'. He has always been a great teacher, and I don't think anybody ever really appreciates or even thanks him very much. I can't imagine how frustrating it can be as a teacher. I laugh to myself at the sight of my friends playfully fighting over who gets to use it next, when our fun gets cut short at the sound of a knock on the door. We all turn our heads to see the Principle walk in, a couple of men behind him.
"Sorry to interrupt, but, uh, may I borrow Y/N, Michael, Lucas, and Dustin?" To say my stomach dropped would be an understatement as I got a better look at the men out in the hallway and realized it was the Chief and one of his officers.
My mouth ran dry.
'Will.'
The four of were seated on the couch in the Principal's office, Chief Hopper, and officer Callahan - I believe his name was - seated in chairs opposite us. I was seated between Mike and Dustin, I kept my mouth shut unless told otherwise, and my hands have woven together in my lap, much too afraid to do otherwise. The boys, on the other hand, were freaking out and all trying to speak at once. I tried nudging them warningly with my elbows but they just ignored me. It seemed I had made the right choice in being quiet, as Hopper seemed to have gotten impatient almost immediately.
"Okay, okay, okay. One at a time all right? You." He points Mike. Mike shakes his head. "You said he takes what?"
"Mirkwood."
"Mirkwood." His face scrunched up in confusion.
"Yes," I croaked involuntarily, wanting to explain to him that it is just our name for road.
"Have you ever heard of Mirkwood?" He turned to the officer.
"I have not. That sounds made up to me." The officer replied. This timid, awkward man gave me the impression he was more of a 'Yes-man' and knew nothing about what he was doing.
"No, it's from Lord of the Rings."
'Oh, here we go.' I think to myself, sighing.
"Well, The Hobbit."
Mike and I look at each other, knowing what's happening.
"It doesn't matter." Lucas retorted.
"Knock it off!" I warn, trying my best to throw my whisper across the couch without drawing attention to myself.
"He asked!" Dustin nearly shouted.
"Guys!" I hissed.
"'He asked'" Lucas mimicking Dustin, not even listening to me.
I looked over at Mike for help but he is already checked out.
They continue talking over each other in a childish manner and the chief leans forward trying to silence them.
"Hey, hey, hey!" They quieted down finally. "What'd I just say? One at a damn time. You." He nodded to me. He seemed to tolerate just Mike and me.
"Mirkwood, as Mike was saying. It is a real road. It's just the name that's made up, it's what we call it. It's where Cornwallis and Kerley meet." I finish.
He seems satisfied, finally having a straightforward answer. He leans back in his chair, talking now to Callahan.
"Yeah, all right, I think I know thatâ"
"We can show you, if you want." Mike offered hopefully, cutting the chief off mid-sentence.
"I said that I know it!"
"We can help look."
"Yeah" Dustin added hopefully.
"No."
And just like that, the boys begin to talk over each other once again. Knowing better than to waste my breath trying to shut them up, I sit back once again, hands in my lap waiting for the Chief to continue.
"No," He says loud enough to quiet the boys. "After school, you are to all go home. Immediately. That means no biking around looking for your friend, no investigating, no nonsense. This isn't some Lord of the Rings book."
"The Hobbit."
"Shut up!" Lucas gave Dustin a swat on the arm.
Dustin reached over and hit Lucas back, knocking me and Mike back in the process. I roll my eyes in annoyance, and fight every urge I have not to shout at them.
"Hey!"
Mike finally snaps. "Stop it!"
They continue hitting each other and Hopper finally leans over and says quietly, in an irritated tone. "Do I make myself clear?"
I was the only one paying attention so based on his tired, lowered voice and his eyes on me, I could tell he was just talking to me at this point.
I shook my head. "Yes," I mutter.
He nodded his head at me in thanks. All the while, the boys were still bickering. Hopper's gaze landed on the boys, and he stood up and walked forward towards us. The way his tall frame towered over us was overwhelming, and enough to shut the boys up. In a deep, intimidating voice, he repeated his words, slowly.
"Do I make myself... clear?" The boys nod their heads in fear, their necks craning up to meet his eyes.
"Yes, sir."
"Yeah."
"Yes."
âč âč âč
I've been laying in my bed, staring at the ceiling for about thirty minutes, give or take a few. I had managed to do all of my school work, including my project that wasn't due for another week and a half, read three books â granted, they were fairly short â and I was still left with nothing to do but worry about Will. The fact that I'm not allowed to help is driving me crazy, even though I keep trying to tell myself the adults are better equipped to deal with this stuff. My thoughts are interrupted by the crackling of the walkie-talkie that was sitting on my dresser. Since our mom couldn't afford two walkie-talkies, Dustin and I share one. I usually have it though so I can talk to Will.
The voice coming through sounded like Mike. Rather than getting my hopes up I just decided to stay put, staring at my ceiling, listening in.
"Lucas, do you copy? It's Mike. Lucas? Over."
"Hey, it's Lucas."
"I know it's you. And say 'over' when you're done talking so I know when you're done. Over." I roll my eyes and smile.
"I'm done. Over." I chuckle at this.
"I'm worried about Will. Over." My smile quickly falls.
I can hear Lucas sigh. "Yeah. This is crazy. Over."
"I was thinking..." Now I was really paying attention. "Will could've cast Protection last night, but he didn't. He cast fireball. Over." I sat up slowly, my eyebrows furrowed at the walkie.
"What's your point? Over."
"My point is... he could've played it safe, but he didn't. He put himself in danger to help the party. Over." A bittersweet smile flutters across my face briefly at this.
"Meet me in ten. Over and out."
'To hell with adults.' I tell myself. I leap off my bed and grab the walkie, knowing they'll still be able to hear me.
"Forgetting someone? Over."
"Y/n? Over." It was Mike.
"Don't worry, I'll let Dustin know. Over and out."
I retract the walkie before shoving it into my bag and heading for Dustin's room.
âč âč âč
Once I had caught Dustin up on everything, the four of us had met up and we are now currently riding down Mirkwood. The thought of my best friend disappearing right here, exactly 24 hours ago was enough to give me chills.
"Ah, man. This is it." Lucas broke the silence as we approached the barrier closing off the path where his bike was supposedly found. We all came to a stop.
For a brief moment, the woods were lit up by lighting in the distance as thunder bellowed across the sky. Dustin looked up at the blanket of clouds above the trees, his voice shaking.
"Hey, guys. You feel that?" He was obviously referring to the rain that fell on his face. I roll my eyes. "I think maybe we should go back."
"No!" Mike and I said simultaneously.
"We're not going back. Just stay close." Mike and Lucas continued on into woods. I was eager to follow them but not without trying to reassure my brother.
"Dustin, he's right. Look, I know you're scared right now, okay? I'm scared too, but can you even imagine how scared Will must be? We have to do this. For Will." I didn't wait for a reply and ran to catch up with Mike and Lucas.
Knowing my brother, he would rather stay in a group than split up. Sure enough, he gave in.
"Hey, guys, wait up!" He said, dropping his bike. "Wait up!"
We started walking again, and as we did it I could feel the rain start to soak my neck and shoulders. I pulled my hood up over my head, turning on my flashlight and set off into the night, eager to find my friend.
âč âč âč
The thunder rumbled, and as we ventured deeper into the forest I could feel the light drizzle of rain evolving into a steady downpour.
"WILL!"
"WILL!" I cried.
"Byers!" Lucas yelled.
Dustin tried a different approach. "I've got your X-Men 134!"
Our flashlights were hardly making a difference at this point. Dustin spoke up again. "Guys, I really think we should turn back."
"Seriously, Dustin?" Lucas exclaimed. "You wanna be a baby, then go home already!"
"I'm just being realistic Lucas!"
"No, you're just being a big sissy."
"Did you ever think Will went missing because he ran into something bad? And we're going to the exact same spot where he was last seen? And we have no weapons or anything?"
I start to slow down once I heard something in the bushes.
"Dustin, shut up." Mike spoke up.
'Okay, thankfully, Mike must have heard it too.'
"I'm just saying, does that seem smart to you?"
"Dustin!" I snap. "Zip it!"
Now the rustling was loud and clear.
"Did you guys hear that?" Mike asks.
I just shake my head, looking around for the source of the noise. The rustling is louder than ever and we all turn in the direction it came from. All our flashlights pointed in that direction. Then we heard it again. It was right behind us. We whipped around to find a girl, with a buzz cut, wearing nothing but 'Benny's Burgers' tee t-shirt. We all stood there, mouths agape at this girl, shivering and cowering in fear.
· · âââââââ ·đ„žÂ· âââââââ · ·
â„ Let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from the taglist! â„
#you'll float queue#stranger things#will byers x reader#reader insert#cosmic#m!cosmic#y/n henderson#will byers#dustin henderson#lucas sinclair#mike wheeler#eleven#el hopper#stranger things x reader#stranger things x male!reader#x male!reader#the vanishing of will byers
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I really enjoyed episode 1 and all that. But I had a little bit more fun about with episode 2 and need to talk about a handful of thing.
So yâkno... spoilers, if that matters, probably not.
Really good to see lumityâs relationship is not developing at a pace that would force me to make a âthey be pinningâ amv to the sound of every breath you take.
The magic of semantics is actually real. Structural linguistic is the most powerful discipline in the Boiling Isles. One copy of that Saussure book there is tantamount to a nuclear warhead.
I was writing a fic that involved Luz and the twins breaking into Hexside, and Emira has an AK-47 she named V. After prying, Luz finds out the Blights do some obscure arms dealings and have the two had brought enough arsenal to start a war. It wasnât supposed to adhere to cannon. Iâm scared.
The Blights are this mix of Corleone, Lannister and Oppenheimer and I love it.
Bump: Best boi. Period.
Seriously, Luzâs dynamics with everyone there is just delightful. Mittens: we all know about it, no need to extrapolate here. The twins: absolutely delightful, lots of shenanigans to be had, would commit plenty of crimes against humanity for an episode of those two hanging out with either Luz or Eda. The parents: weâll get to that.
I know what the fandom took to be Amityâs best line from this episode and all, I agree it is indeed great. BUUUUT. her best line for me is hands down âThe ingredients are... very freshâ. Thatâs the kind of comedic gold I keep coming back to this show for.
Odalia and Alador. Horrible, horrible people. I mean, theyâre capitalists so that should go without saying. That being said I absolutely adore them and am so happy we, as fandom, had our expectations regarding them as these uber machiavelian things shattered. Theyâre just capitalists, and probably not the most competent ones at that. And sure, they are terrible parents too, but not so much so that a little chat with a very angry Edalyn Clawthorne wouldnât solve it enough. Like, seriously, to my utter shock Iâm considering genuinely retiring my disturbing the noise pic in favor of Odaliaâs cunning business woman/con artist grin.
They are fun, Iâm having fun with those characters. And their dynamic is pretty cool too. For the most we as an audience are kinda led to believe she takes a more dominant role, but then Al speaks and she actually listens. They seem to be pretty in sync and thatâs cool. Also that gem walkie talkie thingy as our first introduction to oracle magic was quite neat as well.
Their dynamic with Luz is also pretty interesting. Saw a bunch of people saying their problem with Luz would be something more a priori, something more beyond her control like her beyond human, her not having a bile sack (though I still headcannon the apendix being the human anatomical equivalent: meaning Luz will fart magic, but I digress). But nope. It was just: âYo, your friendship with our daughter is not profitable for us. So shooâ.
That means that should prove herself an asset (which she kinda already did at least to Alador), it would all be smooth sailing for our little ship from then on. Therefore, one rubiks cube (specifically for Alador) and one Camryâs ownerâs manual, both things that are probably in a pile of left over human garbage somewhere in The Owl House, and Lumity is golden.
I am seriously obsessed with the idea of Luz giving Allie boi a Rubiks cube. Without any ulterior motives or anything just like âyo, dude, thought youâd like thisâ, he looks at it for a few moments and just responds with a âwelcome to the famiglia, lassâ.
Moreover, hereâs the thing about us, humans. We ainât got no magic, so we need to resort to our ingenuity. Luz experienced our ingenuity and has enough of a passing understanding of our technology for them to be able to reverse engineer it. And I donât mean just weaponry, pretty much anything that can be sold. She sells her human experience to them for a share of the profits and a generous percentage of stocks and blam: sheâs set for life, thus solving the Clawthorne family money situation.
To clarify: Blights = famiglia; Clawthornes = family; Nocedas = familia. Luz will start saving for christmas presents in january.
Also, the golden boi appearance at the end there. Top notch, gotta say. Funding private research on weaponry is precisely the sort of shit a tyrant would do.
So, in conclusion. Hereâs Luzâs currently relationship status with all Blights.
Oldest Blight children: potentially a blossoming friendship.
Youngest Blight child: Blossoming romance.
In-laws: Blossoming business partnership.
#THE OWL HOUSE#alador blight#odalia blight#edric and emira#amity blight#luz noceda#edalyn clawthorne
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Ronance prompt: Nancy saves Robin from the Demogorgon
This isn't great, but if anyone else has any prompts I'll try them out! This was fun to write!
If you told Robin a year ago that she would be best friends with Steve Harrington, fighting horrific monsters, and crushing on Nancy Wheeler. Well, she wouldâve punched you in the face. Ever since the incident at Starcourt Mall a lot had changed for all of them, though. She and Steve did their best to keep their job at Family Video. After everything had calmed down a bit it wasnât easy getting back to regular life. Robin had nightmares almost every night, whether it be Russians or otherworldly creatures. The kids, annoying as they were, helped make her feel better. If they could be brave then so could she.
Despite everything, the most surprising revelation for Robin was that she had a crush on Nancy. The older girl had been coming into the store most days they were scheduled. She would sometimes stay quiet, browsing the aisles, not really looking for anything. Occasionally the kids would be with her as she drove them to and from each otherâs houses. Robinâs favorite days were the ones where Nancy was upbeat and talkative. Willingly joking around with her and Steve between customers. Somewhere in those two months of calm Robin had fallen, and fallen hard. When she had finally come clean about it to Steve he had been surprisingly thrilled. He was insistent that the two of them would be amazing together. It only made Robin roll her eyes every time he brought it up. A girl like Nancy, straight and beautiful, would never go for someone like her.
All good things came to an end, though. On a rainy Tuesday morning at Family Video the crackling of Steveâs walkie talkie came to life. The signal was awful but it was enough to hear Dustinâs shrill voice yelling about a gate being opened. Steve only had to look to Robin for a split second before they took off towards Steveâs barely functioning car. While he started the engine and began driving Robin tried to get Dustin to respond again.
______________________________________
Three hours later and Robin somehow found herself face to face with a Demogorgon. She was in Willâs room, having gotten separated from the rest of the group once the lights had gone out. Up until this point there had been yelling and plenty of other commotion happening. Now, standing with her back against the wall, it was deadly silent. The creature was slowly making its way towards her, showing no signs of urgency. She wondered briefly if it would kill her outright or try to drag her to the Upside Down. At least if it took her, maybe the others would be safe. She could live with that. Nancy would be safe, wherever she was in the house.
Just as a claw was about to wrap around her throat a gunshot rang out. The bullet hit itâs mark as the creature stumbled away from her and let out a deafening screech. Robin looked to the door, making eye contact with Nancy, Steve standing close behind. Even in this situation Robin could feel warmth blooming in her chest at the sight of the other girl. Nancy stared back at her with relieved eyes.
Steve looked at both of them before rolling his eyes. âRun!â He yelled out aggressively, causing her to snap out of it. The creature was hurt but by no means dead. Robin jumped into action as the three of them sprinted down the stairs and into the living room where everyone else was gathered. They all seemed frazzled, like they had just found each other.
âWe need a plan,â Steve said, clenching his bat tightly in his hands. El stepped forward, looking the most calm out of all of them.
âI can close the gate, but Iâm gonna need some time,â she explained hesitantly. Robin knew they were about to be in for a shit-show.
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El had eventually managed to close the portal to the Upside Down. But she explained that it wouldnât hold forever and things were about to get way worse. Despite that, Robin found herself sitting next to Nancy on the Byerâs couch while they figured out their next move. During their time distracting the Demogorgon, it had managed to scratch up Robinâs arm pretty badly. Nancy hadnât stopped worrying over it since she took notice. Currently, she was wiping it with disinfectant while Robin tried to control her breathing.
âNance, itâs not as bad as it looks,â Robin said for the third time. She would say anything at this point to get that look of sadness off Nancyâs face. âBesides, girls dig scars.â
Nancy laughed lightly before applying more bandages to the still irritated marks. âSure, until you have to lie about how you got them.â It had slipped out, the fact that Robin liked girls, one day at the video store. She had just become so comfortable around Nancy that she didnât realize she outed herself until later. Although, Nancy had never even batted an eye about it.
âI could make up a really cool story,â Robin shrugged. Nancy looked up at her and Robin did her best to contain her blush. Their faces were only inches apart. âBesides, youâre the real badass here. You saved my life back there.â Even though Nancy was done with her first aid she kept a hold of Robinâs arm. The background noise from the others became almost white noise. Both girlâs in their own little bubble.
âWhen I saw that thing about to grab you IâŠâ Nancy trailed off as she blinked back tears. Robin could feel her heart start to race in her chest. âYouâre just...really important to me,â she finished after a second of struggling for words. There was more emotion behind her statement than Robin was expecting to hear.
âI um, â Robin looked away gently. âThereâs no girls that I want to make up stories to impress.â It was lame, but Robin hoped that Nancy could read between the lines. If El was right, and there were more of those things coming, then Robin felt like she could be honest. At least to Nancy, who was staring up at her with a soft expression.
âWhat about a girl that knew the truth?â Nancy asked with the hint of a smile forming on her face. The question made Robin let out a quiet laugh of disbelief, finally meeting Nancyâs eyes.
âYeah, there is one. Sheâs also seen her fair share of shit, though. I doubt anything will impress her at this point.â At Robinâs rebuttal Nancy moved her face so their noses were practically brushing.
I find that hard to believe,â she whispered before leaning in and placing a kiss on Robinâs cheek. Before anything else between them could transpire Dustin let out a scoff of annoyance from across the room.
âCan you two lovebirds focus, please!â With his statement finished everyone began arguing again soon after. Robin and Nancy just shared a gentle smile with each other before tuning back in. Both reaching out to clasp their hands together.
The apocalypse may or may not be starting. But whatever happened Robin was happy with how her life had turned out.
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Duck Soup (1933); AFI #60
The next film on the AFI top 100 is a throwback to before the Golden Age of Hollywood when "talkies" were new, Duck Soup (1933). This film was the last attached to a 5 feature contract that the Marx Brothers had with Paramount pictures. It was moderately well received at the time but has since become the most critically acclaimed of the Marx Brothers films. The movie is only 68 minutes and is absolutely packed with gags. It is not, however, packed with a storyline or plot. I want to very briefly go over the summary because that is not what this movie is known for. Let's unnecessarily start with...
SPOILER ALERT? THIS MOVIE HAS NO PLOT. IT IS ALL ABOUT SITE GAGS AND SET PIECES. READ AWAY!!! IT WILL NOT DO ANYTHING TO HURT THE EXPERIENCE!!!
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The film starts off with the wealthy Mrs. Teasdale (Margaret Dumont) insisting that a man that she is sweet on, Rufus T. Firefly (Groucho), be appointed leader of the small, bankrupt country of Freedonia before she will continue to provide much-needed financial aid. Meanwhile, neighboring Sylvania is attempting to annex the country. Sylvanian ambassador Trentino (Louis Calhem) tries to foment a revolution and to woo Mrs. Teasdale, and he tries to dig up dirt on Firefly by sending in spies Chicolini (Chico) and Pinky (Harpo).
After failing to collect useful information against Firefly, Chicolini and Pinky are able to infiltrate the government when Chicolini is appointed Secretary of War after Firefly sees him selling peanuts outside his window. Meanwhile, Firefly's secretary, Bob Roland (Zeppo), suspects Trentino's motives, and he advises Firefly to get rid of Trentino by insulting him. Firefly agrees to the plan, but after a series of personal insults exchanged between Firefly and Trentino, the plan backfires when Firefly slaps Trentino instead of being slapped by him. As a result, the two countries come to the brink of war. Adding to the international friction is the fact that Firefly is also courting Mrs. Teasdale, and, like Trentino, hoping to get his hands on her late husband's wealth.
Trentino learns from his femme fatale spy, Vera Marcal (Raquel Torres), that Freedonia's plans of war are in Mrs. Teasdale's safe and tells her to assist Chicolini and Pinky in stealing them. Chicolini is caught by Firefly and put on trial, during which war is officially declared, and everyone is overcome by war frenzy, breaking into song and dance. Chicolini and Pinky join Firefly and Bob Roland in anarchic battle, resulting in general mayhem.
After a fierce battle, the end of the film finds Trentino caught in a makeshift pillory, with the Brothers pelting him with fruit. Trentino surrenders, but Firefly tells him to wait until they run out of fruit. Mrs. Teasdale begins singing the Freedonia national anthem in her operatic voice and the Brothers begin hurling fruit at her instead.
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There are many exceptionally good and bad aspects of this film. On the good side, there are a couple of amazing set pieces that the Marx Brothers did like no other. The mirror scene in which Groucho and Harpo stand in front of each other and Harpo perfectly mimics his brother's movements was outstanding. Specifically, there is a point where Groucho stands outside the reflection and moves in a ridiculous way past what he thinks is a reflection. The mirroring between the brothers is exceptional. Add in the same dressing gown and cap to the actual resemblance (they are full actual brothers) makes for quite an effect. This mirror gag was first done on film by Charlie Chaplin almost 15 years earlier, but this is likely the most well known and best done example of the bit by real people. It was repeated by Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, The Pink Panther, Tom and Jerry, Scooby-Doo, and the Smurfs. That kind of mirror quality action was only repeatable through animation, apparently.
The constant wardrobe changes during the frenzied war scene have caused full speculative articles to be written. Groucho starts out in a Union officer suit, then appears in a Confederate officer suite, then a British palace guard uniform, and then in what looks to be a boy scout officer suit, and finally a Davy Crockett hat? The deep cynicism and anti-war sentiment of the brothers was blatant. It is summed up by the line "while you're out out there risking life and limb through shot and shell, we'll be in here thinking what a sucker you are." The United States had just gotten out of a war and many militaristic leads felt the need to show off. This lack of care after feeling so dominant following WW1 was the mindset that in part led to the Stock Market crash and the Great Depression. There was turmoil brewing in Europe and many Americans wanted nothing to do with it after seeing so many young boys getting ripped apart by trench warfare and machine gun fire. The brothers were satirizing all of those figures that we use to teach boys to want to fight for their country. They also went after what they believed were the causes of many wars: money and moral indignation between powerful men.
Although the film gives the audience insight into the mindset of much of the population during those extremely turbulent times between wars, it also boasts some of the most unsophisticated humor of a new visual medium. The silly songs do not translate well and sound like something created by a child. With truly clever artists like Frank Zappa, the Dead Kennedys, and national treasure Weird Al Yankovic, the Marx Brother's songs just sound lame to me. I think the same of Groucho's one liners. With comedians like Mitch Hedberg, Paula Poundstone, Steven Wright, and Jimmy Carr, the work of Groucho Marx feels seriously dated and quite cringy.
The real let down for me in this particular film was the fighting between Harpo and the Lemonade salesman. In fact, the character of Pinkie was "The Joker" levels of psychotic. I know he represented the constant undermining of communism. That is fine and makes a good point. Practically speaking, though, he reveled in causing problems for no reason and he was a constant nuisance. I have been around a lot of teachers and they sat that students who act like that are the bane of everyone's existence. It may be witty, but it is not funny. I have seen movies like Borat and Jackass, who are at least very creative in the way they cause problems and mostly harm themselves. I legitimately hate the character of Pinky and find him devoid of any real humor beyond the mirror scene. I also realize that Chicolini is a play on Mussolini, but I didn't really find him funny either. I want to emphasize that these are my opinions and I welcome comments on why Pinkie and Chicolini are hilarious.
There are some things that I do forgive and almost find charming. Directors from the silent film era had to emphasize that their actors over dramatize their lines so that the audience could get even a modicum of tone. This over-the-top dramatic speaking continued with many actors into the era of talking pictures. You can tell that this film was made near the change over because a lot of the actors talk like they are making one continual speech. Just about everyone is projecting for the cheap seats, and I totally appreciate it and smile. I also appreciate that the Marx Brothers absolutely jam pack the film with gags. I don't think many of the gags are funny, but I acknowledge that the movie is 68 minutes of constant jokes and the Marx Brothers made a concerted effort to give their audience the most bang for their buck. Good for them.
So does this movie belong on the AFI top 100? I am actually going to say no. I think that Horse Feathers is a funnier film and has the iconic football scene that got a screen cap on the cover of Time magazine. If the AFI was going to choose a Paramount produced Marx Brothers film, this one seems to me to only be second or third choice of the five. Would I recommend it? Sure. It is definitely dated and the jokes will not make a lot of sense any more, but some of the scenes have become iconic and it is fun to see what has been so heavily referenced in current media. It is a pretty fun movie to sit back and just experience for an hour, so I would give it a shot.
#marx brothers#duck soup#afi films#comedy#black and white#1930s#groucho#harpo#zeppo#chico#mirror scene#introvert#iontroverts#one liners
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Ghost of a Chance || Bex & Eddie
TIMING: Current
LOCATION: One of White Crestâs many abandoned buildings.
PARTIES: @inbextweenâ & @specterchasingâÂ
SUMMARY: Bex and Eddie accidentally bite off more than they can chew when filming.Â
CONTENT: Internalized homophobia, head trauma mention.
Nervous wasnât the exact right word for how Bex felt at the moment, but it was close enough while she thought of the right one. Sheâd never been ghost hunting before. She wished she couldâve gotten the special goggles from Nell that would let her see them, but she would settle for trusting Eddie instead. He could see them, and that was really enough. She could be the second hand witness that got to watch him in action in real time. Sheâd browsed through quite a few of his videos at this point, and he didnât seem to do many other videos with other people. Actually, there had been none. That meant she was his first. So, maybe, the feeling was excited, or thrilled, or perhaps even exhilarated. This was what she wanted to do with her knowledge. Chase it, understand it, share it. And Eddie felt the same way and wasnât that really just the best? Heâd picked her up from Morganâs and theyâd drove down to the location, and Bex recalled the last time sheâd been in his car, and how she hadnât even been there enough to remember what kind of car it was or how it had that funny smell old cars did. She glanced back at all the equipment in the backseat, then over to Eddie. âHow expensive was all of that?â she asked, curious, as she turned enough in her seat to begin prodding through his bags, examining his cameras. âDo we really need all of this?â she asked, pulling out what looked like a walkie talkie with no matching device.
Throughout the entirety of his YouTube career, Eddie worked alone. He had no other choice. Friends were few and far between, and most of them were incorporeal, which meant holding a camera was out of the question. But now, Bex was here; eager to help. He liked herâquite a bit, actually. And, by some miracle, she seemed to like him too. He didnât want to get his hopes up, but he felt like heâd finally found the kind of friend heâd been missing. And, yeah, it helped that she had a pulse.
âToo expensive,â Eddie replied to her question with an exaggerated grimace. âAnd, I mean, âneedâ is a strong word, but theyâre fun to have around and the viewers appreciate the pageantry, so why not?â Eddie pointed at the gadget in her hand. âThat is a tri-axis EMF meter, which is technically useless to me since Iâm a living ghost magnet.âÂ
Eddie reached into the backseat and pulled the center most bag into his lap and removed two cameras. One of them, he promptly turned on and looked through the lens at Bexley. âWell, look at that, the camera already loves you,â he said before handing it over to her. âDo you have any experience with one of these? Not a huge deal if you donât. Itâs pretty easy to get the hang of.â
Bex set the meter down and looked at Eddie. âA tri-what?â she asked, raising a brow. She didnât know what any of this stuff was aside from the camera, leaning back in her seat as he pulled the bag up onto his own lap to rifle around in it. She tilted her head as she watched, curious eyes glued to his every action. Finally, the camera popped open and he pointed it at her and she ducked her face to the side, unable to help the blush that came onto her face. âOh, shut up,â she said, reaching out to cover the lens with her palm carefully-- she didnât actually want to damage the thing, it was expensive and Eddie had spent all his own money on it. She wished she could help somehow.Â
She took the camera when he handed it to her and peered down the lens. âI think the camera like you much more,â she teased back, smiling at him from behind it. âI know how to use a camcorder, yes.. Iâm not that sheltered.â She felt the excitement buzzing in her stomach. âSo, where do we start, mister ghost magnet? Iâm here to support you.â
When Bexâs hand raised to cover the cameraâs lens, Eddie couldnât help but laugh. âIf youâre gonna be my co-host, youâll have to do something about that camera shyness,â he said with playfully raised brows. The thought of her accompanying him on future filming adventures was tempting, to say the least. Sharing his passion projects with someone else who understood and appreciated them had always seemed like a pipe dream, but that was slowly beginning to change.
Eddie didnât so much as flinch when Bex directed the camera at him. âI sure hope it likes me after all these years,â he said, mirroring her smile. âSo, for starters, we gotta introduce you, obviouslyâlet the viewers know who theyâre dealing with. I figure we can do that right outside the entrance.â As Eddie spoke, he opened the car door, tugging the bagâs strap onto his shoulder. âYou ready for your close-up, Ms. Ochsenstein?âÂ
âDonât get too ahead of yourself,â Bex teased, âyou have to see if you can stand being around me for more than ten minutes. If I recall, last time, I couldnât.â She stuck her tongue out but held the camera back up, examining him through it. âI think the camera is in love with you, actually. It canât look away!â Gosh, when was the last time sheâd felt so free and excited? She was just brimming with anticipation, and it was jittering in her stomach. The last time sheâd been this excited was when sheâd gone out with Mina to the casino. That, turns out, had been a different sort of excited. âAnd Iâm not camera shy, thank you very much. I just think youâre much better suited for it than me.âÂ
Eddie hopped out of the car and she followed his lead, sliding the camera strap over her shoulder so it didnât fall from her grip. She was well aware she was clumsy enough to accidentally drop it and if she broke one of his cameras, sheâd feel so guilty. Extra safety precautions were worth it. âReady as Iâll ever be, I suppose,â she chirped, following after him.
âYeah, I really donât see that being an issue on my end,â Eddie said, and he meant it wholeheartedly. âBut, so long as we donât run into any unforeseen Bex-repellent, hereâs hoping your tolerance for me will have gone up.â As she continued filming him, he felt a sudden surge of fondness. After their last outing, it felt positively wonderful to see her enjoying herself. âTechnically, that camera pays my bills, so it can ogle me all it wants.â The excitement Bex felt mustâve been contagious. Enthusiasm bubbled in Eddieâs stomach, reminding him of how he felt when he first started making videos. âI beg to differâIâve got a feeling youâre gonna be a natural.â
As they approached the buildingâs entrance, Eddie raised his camera and aimed it at Bex. He took a few steps to the left, making sure he lined the shot up perfectly. âViewers, Iâd like to take a moment and introduce you to my new and very good weird friend, Bex. Sheâll be helping to make sure I donât die today, which I think is very cool of her. Bex, why donât you tell us a little bit about yourself and how youâre feeling about what weâre about to do?â
âUh huh, weâll see,â Bex said with a smirk. There was a strange natural ease with which she fell in stride with Eddie, both in their conversation and in their steps. She followed him up towards the building, looking at all the buttons on the camera as she did, wondering if he knew what they all did. âOh, youâll be surprised how much I can tolerate. I think weâll be okay.â The building didnât look much different than most places around town, but it was abandoned and Bex really hoped it wasnât going to cave in on her, like the last place had. âWell, if it pays the bills, it must be worth it,â she grinned.Â
Eddie ushered her towards the entrance and she set the camera down, closing the viewer so it didnât look awkward and clunky while it dangled there. Bex cleared her throat and fixed her hair in an attempt to try and make the rosiness in her cheeks less apparent as he pointed the camera at her. Sheâd been on camera and video plenty of times-- the way her life had run it was unavoidable-- but never in a manner that left her feeling so...exposed. He asked her to talk about herself, her real self, and sheâd never done that to a camera before. Swallowing, she nodded. âUh, well-- My nameâs Bexley. But you already know that. That was-- anyway!â she shifted in her spot. âWell, Iâm a student at UMWC for pre--â she paused, thought on it, â--for Anthropology. Iâm actually really good at making sure people donât die, so you guys donât have to worry. Iâll make sure Eddie doesnât get got by a ghost.âÂ
Eddie couldnât remember the last time heâd gotten along this well with someone. As pathetic as it made him feel, he knew it mustâve been a few years ago, at least. Ostensibly, he could have reached this level of friendliness with a few of the ghosts from his past, but they always moved on quickly. He couldnât resent them for that, not when he made it a point to help them. âUh-huh, weâll see,â he parrotted her words back to her when she claimed to have a high tolerance.Â
Eddie kept still while Bex stumbled through her introduction, grinning at the mistakes. He didnât mean to poke fun at her necessarily, it was just an incredibly endearing display. âPerfect,â he said when she was done, lowering the camera. âAnthropology, huh? I shouldâve been able to guess that.â Eddie closed the distance between himself and Bex. âNow, we go in and hope the ghostâs arenât feeling shy tonight.â He slipped past her and approached the door. One tug at the handle told him that entering wouldnât be that easy.Â
He looked over his shoulder at Bex. âHey, wanna see a trick?â Eddieâs attention turned back to the door. He took a moment to study the structure, checking for any important details. Once satisfied, he focused on what he wanted the door to do. In his mind, he saw it opening. A few moments later, it actually did. âThatâs gonna make tomorrow a migraine day, but I wanted to impress you,â he admitted with a shrug.
âWell, I used to be in pre-law, actually,â Bex pointed out as she let him come over to her, smiling. He seemed satisfied with her introduction, even if she found it relatively subpar. That was just kind of who she was, as a person-- subpar. She wasnât going to share that thought out loud, though. She didnât want to ruin a good thing. And, really, this was a good thing. Eddie seemed really nice and like he knew how to have fun and he was being super supportive of her, already. Plus, Nell knew him, and she trusted Nellâs judgement probably more than her own. âDo they often feel shy? Do you think theyâll actually come out if Iâm here? What if I make them feel uncomfortable, since I canât see them?â she asked with sudden realization. She hope she wasnât just ruining his entire day of filming. She imagined it took a lot of effort, and then there was the editing and the uploading and everything in between.Â
They found the door locked, and Bex was prepared to offer her rarely now used lock picking skills when he offered to show her a trick, instead. Curious, she nodded and stepped back, watching him closely. Suddenly, the door clicked open and swung on its hinges to invite them in. Bexâs face lit up. âWoah! That was so cool! Like, legitimately! Iâm not just saying that. Besides N-- my magic mentor, I donât know anyone else who can use magic. Not really. And I know itâs, like, different, but itâs still a type of magic.â She grinned. âWell, color me impressed. And remind me when we get back that I have some really good uh-- things to help with pain.â She didnât know what sheâd call Nellâs medicine, but it helped with pain. A lot more than ibuprofen or tylenol ever did.Â
She gestured towards the inside, picking her camera back up. âYou first. You are the star of this show, after all.â And she couldnât help the pick-up in her heartbeat as she felt anticipation run through her veins.Â
âYikes, that sounds like⊠so much school, too much even,â Eddie replied with a mild grimace. School never suited him, there were too many subjects he couldnât care less about. If it wasnât for the ghosts who frequently guided him in cheating, he wouldâve flunked out years before graduating. Bex, on the other hand, seemed like a decently bookish person. He wondered what it would be like to have that kind of brain between his ears. As it was, he could only retain information about topics that inspired him. Hyperfixations, the professionals called them.
Eddie grinned at her barrage of ghost-related questions, more than happy to be around someone who actually took an interest in what he did. âNo worries, youâre gonna be just fine. Most ghosts are pretty used to not being seen. Theyâre more shy when they know theyâre being watched, so Iâm more likely to gum up the works than you are,â he assured her. âLuckily, Iâve kind of learned their language over the years, so Iâm not too pressed about it. Iâll coax them out of hiding one way or another.â
âYou have a magic mentor? Neat,â he said, beaming from ear-to-ear. Bex referring to telekinesis as magic only prolonged his smile. âLook at us having so much in common, no wonder weâre such fast friends.â Eddie loved the idea of partaking in some sort of magical remedy for his pain instead of relying solely on the mundane effects of tylenol. âYouâre a pharmacist tooâis there anything you canât do, Bex Ochsenstein?âÂ
Eddieâs head bowed in response before he took a few steps deeper into the building. He raised his camera again and filmed a sweeping shot of the area. It looked as if no one had been inside for years, which obviously wasnât much of a surprise considering they likely hadnât. âAlright, my dearly departed friends, if youâre hereâIâve got someone whoâd like to meet you.â When his statement wrapped up, a translucent individual wafted into view. For all intents and purposes, she looked perfectly fine for a ghost; no signs of a traumatic death.
âBex,â Eddie said. âI really wish you could see her.âÂ
His attention turned back to the ghost. âFirst of all, itâs an honor to meet youâdo you mind being part of a video? I know you wonât show up or anything, but yâknow.â
âRun,â said the ghost.
âBeg your pardon?â Eddie questioned.
âWeâre not alone.â
After she gave her warning, the floor began to quake beneath them, and the door instantly slammed shut.
âPre-law was a lot,â Bex agreed, nodding. And made even worse so by the fact that sheâd never wanted to do it in the first place. She ducked inside the house after Eddie and held up her camera, pointing it at Eddie. She flipped on the dark vision switch and watched it flicker to life. She turned in a circle as she walked around, making sure to film their surroundings. âDo ghosts not like you, then?â she asked, turning to zoom the camera in on Eddieâs face. âTell us the truth, Mister Ghost Man.â She grinned from behind the lens, pausing in one of the doorways.
âI do, sheâs pretty great,â she answered, unsure if she should tell Eddie about Nell, considering he knew her. Did he know know, though? It probably wasnât her secret to tell, and if he didnât know, there was a reason by now. She could only wonder what it was, though. âOh, donât you worry, thereâs quite a bit I canât do. Like ride a bike, or drive a car, or see ghosts.â She stopped when Eddie did, gazing at something she could not see. A ghost, she assumed. The air around them chilled and Bex noticed her breath coming out in puffs in front of her lips. âI wish I could, tooâŠâ she murmured.Â
But something in the air changed, she could feel it.
âUm, Eddie?â she started, turning to him-- but she didnât get much of a chance to say anything else, as the floor shook and the door swung shut behind her. She jumped and scrambled over to Eddie, wrapping her arms around his free one. âWhatâs happening? What did she say?â She wasnât sure what to do, but she didnât want to do anything to offend the ghost or-- whatever else was there with them. She wasnât sure her magic could protect either of them from ghosts. They werenât inside of wooden dolls this time.
âSometimes,â Eddie admitted with an embarrassed grin. âLike I told you before, plenty of people have let me know that Iâm too much, and not all of those people were alive when they said it.â Just because he loved ghosts didnât mean they always loved him back. As much as he tried to put their needs first, his best didnât always cut it. âBut, more often than not, they like me okay. Thatâs the best I can ask for, really.â
âAside from seeing ghosts, everything else you listed is overrated, anyway,â Eddie said with a small nod. The focus quickly shifted to what they came to the abandoned building for, and he felt blissfully in his element until the sudden shift in atmosphere. If heâd come here alone, the appearance of danger wouldnât have bothered him, but Bex was here. He couldnât allow her to get swept up in his death-wish.
Eddie pulled his arm away from her, but only so he could wrap it around her. âShe told us to run,â he replied. âNo way weâre gonna get through the way we came if it doesnât want us to.â His eyes scanned the room, looking for a way out. Items, forgotten or discarded by their original owners, were strewn across the floor of the building. The spirit causing the recent commotion decided to begin hurling them in whatever direction it fancied. Eddie ducked, pulling Bex down with him, as a wrench flew overhead. âShit,â he hissed.
His gaze landed on a broken window at the opposite end of the room. âThere!â he called out, guiding Bex towards it.
âWell, youâre not too much,â Bex said back with a huff, âif Iâm not, youâre not.â It was only fair, right? She would have tried to find another snappy retort if she could, but as it were, the trembling of the floor and the sudden array of items being thrown about really put a pause on her mind trying to come up with one. Eddie wrapped his arm around her and she pressed into him, looking around for an exit as well. But she kept the camera up as much as she could-- heâd want this footage, right? He pulled her down just as a wrench went flying through the space her head had been in previously and she looked behind her to find it wedged in the wall. Her heart was pounding, but she wasnât afraid. She wasnât. It was like with the hunter, in the alley. She wasnât afraid.
Eddieâs voice brought her back to herself and she looked at the window across the room. âCâmon!â she took off for it, pulling him with her, her other hand still gripping the camera. It was an expensive piece of equipment, she couldnât let it break on her first venture out. When they reached the window, she went to bust it open, but the wooden panes from the outside swung angrily shut in her face and she jumped back. âI donât think it wants us to leave this way, either!â she said, casting a worried glance back at him. âDuck!â She grabbed him and tugged him out of the way as what looked like an old rotary phone came flying at them. It shattered on the wall where Eddieâs head had been. âAre they always this upset? Whatâs wrong with her?âÂ
Bex took off towards the window and Eddie realized something; heâd underestimated her. Not on purpose, of course, but stillâshe didnât need to be treated with kid gloves. The panic attack he witnessed in the alley did not define her. Amidst the chaos and dread, he witnessed a new side of her. Bex Ochsenstein was brave, and she didnât need him to play the part of a hero.
âThatâs pretty inconsiderate of it,â Eddie snarked when their way-out turned into a dead-end. Bex yanked him down, same way heâd done for her. He grinned at the role reversal, he couldnât help it. âItâs not her,â he said. âItâs something elseâmy moneyâs on it being a poltergeist. And, yeah, theyâre a little touchy.â More than ever, Eddie resented not being raised by fellow mediums. If he had, he mightâve known a thing or two about impromptu exorcisms.
âYou said you know some latin, right?â Eddie began digging in the bag that held his camera equipment. âMy pronunciation is shit, but maybe youâll have better luck than me.â He retrieved a worn-out, leather bound book and shoved it into Bexâs free hand. âDonât ask me which page has the answers, Iâm fully playing this by ear.â As he went back to digging in his bag, one of the other windows shattered, covering the floor in jagged glass. He flinched, but kept digging until he pulled out a bag of salt. âStart reading,â he instructed her as he began pouring the contents of the bag out in the shape of a circle with them safely in the middle.
âA poltergeist?â Bex asked. Oh, she was definitely writing this down when they got done. Poltergeists were different from regular ghosts. She wondered what made a ghost into a poltergeist. Or if they even could become one. Were they a special type of ghost? Were there different types of ghosts? She didnât have too much time to consider all the questions popping into her head because Eddie was pushing her away from the window and handing her a book. âLatin? Oh, no, Iâm much better with Hebre--â The window shattering cut her sentence short and she squeaked, nodding, âLatin! Got it!â
Eddie was pulling something else out of his bag and Bex had to remind herself to not watch him and just read whatever was written in front of her. She didnât understand a lot of the words on the page, but there were a few that stood out. Mostly, the word protect. Okay, she could work with that. She didnât know if she was supposed to do anything else while she read, so she just started saying the words out loud, backing up into Eddieâs salt circle. âOh! Neat! A salt circle, is that--â A lamp shattered near their heads. âRight! Sorry! Excuse me, mister ghost slash possible poltergeist! We donât mean any harm!â She felt the floorboards shudder beneath her and she stumbled, nearly dropping the book and the camera. âI-- I donât think this is working, Eddie. Should I try a different page? Ne-- my mentor did tell me something about how um, exorcist magic is different from spellcaster magic, but--â she ducked as a shoe came flying at her, â--maybe I can use magic!â Or maybe she shouldnât. She was still recovering from messing with that hunter. And she wasnât sure using magic on camera was the best idea. âWhere is it? Maybe we can just talk to it. She seems like a reasonable gal, donât you think?â
As the building continued to rattle and the lamp shattered, Eddie reached the same conclusion as Bex. Much to his dismay, they seemed utterly out of luck, but he wasnât keen on giving up yet. He carefully set his camera down within their salt circleâif it didnât survive this excursion, he wouldnât be too heartbroken, but heâd do what he could to protect his bank account.
âI would love to settle this with a heart-to-heart, but poltergeists arenât known for being reasonable.â Eddie carelessly discarded the used-up bag of salt as the few in-tact windows began opening and slamming shut. It felt an awful lot like their poltergeist was taunting them. His thoughts back-peddled to the comment Bex made about exorcist magic. As a medium, he wondered if that particular brand of spellcraft was in his blood already.
âMagic,â he mused, carefully taking the book from Bexâs hands. âYou know any spells thatâll keep our angry little buddy from giving me brain damage?â Eddie opened the tome to a random page. From what he could parse, it seemed like a pretty simple means of temporary banishment. He could only hope it was simple enough for someone without any skill. âTime to find out if mediumship has any extra perks.â
âOkay,â Bex said, âfair enough!â She scooted behind Eddie as he set his camera down and took the book from her. He flipped through the book to a different page and she tried to wrack her mind for any sort of spell that could stop someone from throwing things at them. She knew about the spell to make things move on their own, maybe if she just redirected that energy into making an object stop, it would work? âYeah, yep! I-- Iâll give it a try! Hopefully no head damage from this, but, uh-- no guarantees!âÂ
She looked towards where she thought the poltergeist was-- it was the direction all the things were flying from-- and concentrated. It was relatively soon after the incident with the hunter, but she could try! She could totally try. She could do this. She could protect her friend. Something whizzed towards them and Bex held up her hands, concentrating, and managed to at least misdirect it, watching it shatter on the wall behind them. âOh! Oh! I did it! Eddie, I--â she started, but something else started heading for them and she put her hands back up. âJust, uh-- hurry with whatever youâre doing! Iâm not sure I can, uh, do this for too long!â
With the comfort of knowing Bex had a few tricks up her sleeve, Eddie began chanting in Latin. His brow furrowed as he steadied his focusâone mispronunciation and theyâd be left vulnerable. He tried not to flinch as something shattered loudly against the wall behind them. Bex, clearly proud of her success, began bubbling with excitement. If Eddie hadnât been so engrossed in the words before him, he wouldâve joined her.
Just as Bex finished her warning, a loud shriek permeated the air, and the object in mid-flight dropped to the ground. Everything around them went quiet. Eddie looked up from the book, clearly startled by the sudden change in atmosphere. âHoly shit, Bex, I think we did it.â
Everything seemed to go a little faster for a moment, before suddenly, it stopped. Completely. The objects that had been whirling around in the space in front of them clattered loudly to the ground and Bex flinched from surprise, moving in closer to Eddie. After a moment, she realized it was quiet, but she didnât make a move until Eddie declared his own, similar thoughts. âWe-- we did it!â she said, her face lighting up. She patted his shoulders excitedly. âWe did it! Oh my god, that was amazing! Youâre amazing! This was amazing!â she exclaimed, before a swell of exhaustion overtook her and she felt her eyes roll up into the back of her head for a second. The next moment, her body began to drop.
Bex hit the floor without warning and Eddie quickly dropped to his knees beside her. âBex?â he asked, his eyes wide with fright. âBex, wake up.â He pulled her head into his lap and gingerly swept a few errant strands of hair out of her face. âWeâre gonna be fine, but I need you to wake up, okay?âÂ
Looking down at her, Eddie realized how attached to her heâd become in the short amount of time theyâd known each other. Bex represented everything he admired in a person: brave, enthusiastic, kind, open-minded. As she laid there unconscious, he wondered if the reason heâd never found the ârightâ girl was because heâd never met her. She didnât exactly set his heart on fire, but the idea of spending more time with her excited him. Maybe, that was all that mattered.
âPlease,â he begged.
Bex didnât know how long sheâd been out-- realistically, itâd only been a few moments. Not even a full minute. She wasnât even aware sheâd fallen unconscious until her eyes were blinking open and she was staring up at Eddie, and he looked so worried. Confusion crossed her face for a moment as she looked up at him. âWhat-- whatâs wrong?â she asked. Had something else happened? Was the ghost still here? Did they upset the other one? âWhy are you looking at me like that?â It wasnât until she tried to sit up that she realized she was horizontal. She blinked, her face contorted a moment, before she focused back on Eddie. âAre we on the floor? Whereâs the ghost? Is she okay? The-- not poltergeist one.â
A sudden rush of relief mingled with the adrenaline coursing through Eddieâs entire system. Bexâs words fell on deaf ears. Amidst the chaos, Eddie completely forgot about the amiable ghost and her warningsâshe could wait. âYou passed out,â he said, his words drastically contrasting with the grin spreading across his face. âBex, you were incredible. YouâŠâ He trailed off with a laugh. Eddie raised a hand to smooth his hair back from his forehead. Without allowing himself enough time to think through his next words, he plunged head-first into a proposal. âWould you ever wanna, like, go out? As more than friends, I mean. No pressure, I just think youâre really amazing.â And, if things between them went well, maybe heâd be able to shake the confusing attraction to Alfie. As far as he could tell, it would be an ideal scenario.
âI did?â Bex said, still in his lap, looking up at him. She didnât exactly realize her head was in his lap. Maybe she wouldâve moved, but maybe not. Suddenly, her cheeks burned. He was calling her incredible, when, really, she hadnât done much. âOh, no! You were the incredible one!â she lifted her hands and waved them in front of them. âYou knew exactly what to do under all that pressure, and--â but he was laughing and talking again and Bex stared up at him with a slightly ajar mouth. âOh.â She didnât know what to say to that. âI-- Iâm--â involved with someone? Seeing someone? Dating someone? Hanging out with someone? She didnât know what her and Mina were doing, actually. Her cheeks burned again. âYouâre very sweet, Eddie, really! And normally I would probably say yes, but Iâm sort of--â she couldnât say it. Why couldnât she say it? She should just say it â--taking time for myself right now.â She looked up at him. âI-- Iâm sorry. But I really like spending time with you! I do! I hope thatâs okay.â Please be okay.
Eddieâs brow raised slightly as Bex stumbled over her words. Eventually, a gentle rejection formed. It didnât hurt as much as he thought it would. Strangely enough, a small part of him actually breathed a sigh of relief. âOf course, thatâs okay,â Eddie said with a small nod. His cheeks were burning and he felt like more of an idiot than usual, but he could cope with that. âI, uh, think that was just a side-effect of the excitement getting to me, anyway. Taking time for yourself is really important! We can still play ghostbusters even if weâre just friends.â Deciding that heâd said more than enough, Eddie offered her his hand. âLetâs get you on your feet.â
She felt bad. Kinda. She shouldâve probably said yes, right? That was what everyone had wanted from her. To be normal, to like boys. Bex took his hand and sat up, looking over at him. Her cheeks were burning again, too. âI really do like spending time with you, Eddie,â she said, âthis was probably the most fun Iâve had in...a long time. But it was so fun! And I totally wanna do it again. You know, if youâll have me?â Her head still felt a bit light, but she was smiling. She didnât know what was wrong with her heart, or why it was stammering in her chest. Or why she felt somehow nervous, or like sheâd done something wrong. She thought of Mina and felt her heart begin to calm, as she stood on wobbly legs, stumbling into him. âSorry, sorry,â she muttered, âlooks like I might need your support after all.â A tease, to help wipe away any lingering awkwardness.Â
âRight, of course,â Eddie agreed, nodding perhaps a bit too vigorously. âTrust me, spending time with you is way too much of a blast to give it up over something like that. It would be an honor to almost die with you again in the future.â As Bex stumbled into him, Eddie wasted no time in bracing her by planting his hands on her either side of her waist. If the heat burning in his cheeks got any worse, he theorized he might burst into flames. âNo worries,â he insisted with a laugh. âIâm a fan of you being conscious and upright, so Iâve got you.â With one hand still holding her in place, he dipped down to grab his camera and the book, carelessly shoving them into his bag before rising again. âShould I get you home, then? We can always make plans when youâre a little more steady.â
âLetâs-- maybe call it something else,â Bex said with an exasperated smile. âItâs-- an adventure! A-- could end badly but doesn't because we make such a good team, adventure! Howâs that sound? Think thatâll fit on a channel title?â She let him balance her, wondering why it didnât feel frightening or strange to have his hands on her hips. Usually, she shirked away from other peopleâs touch, but sheâd been so-- okay with Eddieâs. She cleared her throat and tried not to think about it. âAh, yes, I think home sounds like a good idea. Do you think we got enough footage? Do you edit all your own videos? Maybe I could come help with that?â she asked, looking at him with wide, curious eyes. She didnât want the adventure to be over with yet, but her legs werenât cooperating and she didnât want to accidentally pass out on him again. Mina would be upset if she let that happen, or if she came home unconscious carried by another boy again.
âI like the sound of that, actually. A little lengthy, but hey, brevity isnât everything,â Eddie said with a teasing grin. As always, her enthusiasm was catching. Besides his little blunder, tonight went amazingly. A little action, a little danger, a brief black-out; it checked all the boxes. His grin took a turn towards genuine fondness as Bex went into another of her patented question-barrages. âIf we didnât, we can come back during the daytimeâsee if our resident friendly ghost has any commentary sheâd like to add.â Eddie began carefully walking them towards the exit as he spoke. âI do my own editing, yeah, and I would be more than happy to have you lend a hand. At the very least, the company would be nice,â he admitted earnestly. âIf youâre back on your feet tomorrow, we can tackle movie magic tomorrow.â Eddie reached for the door and, thankfully, it opened without complaint this time around. âIf, uh, that sounds good to you, of course.â
âExactly! Sometimes you need a long title, just so that people know exactly what theyâre getting themselves into, you know?â Bex beamed, she couldnât help it. There was an energy about being around Eddie that made her feel seen. And excited and heard. And he felt the same way about all this supernatural stuff as her, and it was so nice to finally know someone who felt the same. Who didnât tell her it was too dangerous or that it was too risky or that they just shouldnât do it, because there might be trouble later. That wasnât how things worked. If no one ever pushed for change, there never would be. But Eddie wanted that. And so did Bex. Maybe that was why sheâd gravitated toward him so readily. âOh, no, is she gone? Did we scare her off? Can you tell her Iâm sorry? I totally didnât mean her! I hope sheâs okay,â she gasped, turning to look back towards the room where Eddie had pointed her out first as he led Bex towards the exit. âI can do tomorrow!â she said, maybe a bit too enthusiastically. Technically, she wanted to do it now, but he was right. She should get back home and rest. âIâll be totally fine by tomorrow,â she said, paused, then added, âpromise.â
âIf you ask me, YouTube might be your calling instead of anthropology,â Eddie said, unable to hide the immense grin that always seemed to be plastered on his face when Bex was around. Having her remain as energetic as ever helped diminish the anxiety he felt after boldly asking her if sheâd like to take their relationship to the next level. So long as he kept her in his life, he supposed it didnât matter which labels they used.Â
As she expressed concern over their ghost, Eddie laughed and resisted the urge to pull her closer in an attempt to comfort her. âYouâre fine, I promise. Sheâs probably just a little rattled, I bet sheâll be back in time for our next visit.â Bex cared so muchâabout everything. Eddie admired that about her, how could he not? âYouâll have a chance to tell her yourself when that time rolls around.â
Her resounding confirmation caught Eddie off-guard. He glanced at her, wondering if the time she was taking for herself might end in a change of tune, after all. âIâll hold you to that,â he said as they approached the passenger-side of the car. With his free-hand, he pulled the door open for her and gestured for her to enter. âIf you havenât guessed yet, I can be a tad clingy,â he confessed with a small shrug.Â
âOh, no, Iâll leave the internet sensationalism to you. Iâd much rather be behind the camera, or better yet, down in the dirt,â Bex dismissed, feeling that warmth that often filled her when she talked about history or being on a dig, rising into her stomach again. Still, she did like doing this with Eddie. And she thought sheâd done a pretty decent job! Hopefully sheâd even actually shot some good footage. Only time would tell, she supposed, as she held onto him while they made their way to the car. It was right where theyâd left it, and she wasnât sure why she thought the outside world was going to be any different after her first ghost encounter. It was all strangely exactly the same.
âWell, I hope sheâs okay. Iâll definitely be asking her to make sure when we come back. Do ghosts like gifts? Or-- offerings? Is it an offering if you give a ghost something? Maybe we can bring her flowers. I know a good florist in town,â she rambled, watching Eddie come around and open the door for her. She looked at his face then-- really looked at him-- and wondered what might be wrong with her, if sheâd rejected him so readily. Was something wrong with her? With the way Mina made her feel? She blinked the thoughts away and let a warm smile carve onto her lips. âDonât worry,â she said, stepping towards the car, âIâm clingy, too.â She leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek before lowering herself into the car, and, wondering, why sheâd done that at all.Â
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Season 8, Episode 8: A Parade and a Charade
A lot happened in this last episode so thereâs plenty to discuss! Iâll try to keep my thoughts...a manageable length. :)
Plotlines:
The Christopher Report
Triangle Tribulations
Billâs Wounded Pride
Miscellaneous Stuff (FloYo, The Canfields, Dress Shop, Jesse, Infirmary)
This episode has been a little different from the others this season in that we had two pretty big plotlines going on, one medium-sized one, and a bunch of small flickers of plots. Things still managed to flow together pretty well over all, though, I think, but it was a shift I felt was noticeable.
For what itâs worth I mostly enjoyed this episode. There were a few little nitpicks (as usual) but Iâve really been feeling this season that we have a good batch of actors that work really well together and thatâs been nice to see.
--
The Christopher Report
Mr. Christopher Hughes, resident Bad Boyâą and the object of Rachelâs immense and expansive Thirstâą...Â
Iâm sure his character arc is going to match that of the average Adopted Child. That is to say, I feel that his arc will follow the same patterns that characters of his archetype usually do. He hates his biological parent who abandons him but becomes curious against his better judgment. He meets his biological father and feels anger/resentment at first, but thereâs something there that feels Human and he canât ignore it. Over time he starts to care, again against his better judgment. In Christopherâs case, it seems likely that the original reason for striking up a relationship will present itself later in the story (perhaps not this season, but next); it wonât be a wholesome attempt to connect, but rather an intent to bamboozle.
Remember Rosemaryâs words from earlier: she knows a performance when she sees one. But weâll get to that.
Itâs a good idea for a storyline, and I have some faith in the payoff being worth it if we keep the same head writer for next season. This is the kind of thing best explored over a period of time and theyâre doing well with the pacing.Â
This episode, we first see Christopher when he surprises Rachel at the dress shop.
He mentions they havenât taken in the sights in town yet, and Rosemary overhears from the back room. She asks him what sights and he switches his story to saying that he was thinking that Rosemary and Lee could take both he and Rachel around town and show them everything. Rosemary says itâs a great idea and of cOURSE they can do that! As soon as Christopher is gone, Rosemary starts lecturing Rachel on the type of freedom sheâs trying to experience in Hope Valley. She pretty much says she and Lee donât approve of Christopher while Rachel ignores her and sneaks out the back door.
The very next scene Christopher surprises Rachel again, but this time with a, uh...hands on approach.
He tells her heâs not afraid of her aunt or uncle, and she says she knows heâs not afraid of Lee because she saw him steal his pocketwatch when he arrived in town. Heâs surprised that she didnât say anything and he calls her âa little sneak.â She starts throwing things at him playfully and he asks, âYouâre not afraid of me?â She says she isnât and he tells her heâs as gentle as a lamb.
She says she doubts that, and he walks through the fire of her throwing hats (or whatever they are) at him and grabs her wrists. She takes the opportunity to kiss him and he laughs. Theyâre broken up by the sound of people coming closer so he tells her heâll come to her house tonight and to listen for a sound at her window.
In the next scene, Henry walks into Nathanâs office where Bill seems to be...assisting Nathan? Thatâs my best guess as to whatâs going on. Bill strikes up a conversation with Henry and Henry says they could have gotten drinks to chat if thatâs what Bill wanted (it seems very Small Talky but Bill ainât that kind of man). In fact, Bill destroys the peaceful atmosphere instantly and makes it clear that this is a business discussion, and his questions were business-related.
If I was a bettinâ man Iâd wager that Bill will piece together some problems in Hamilton with Christopher, but eh, letâs not overextend my brain just yet.
Billâs first and only real question is to ask when Christopher arrived in town but Henry gets upset and says Bill just wants to blame someone. Iâm surprised Henry didnât mention the bad blood between him and Bill leading to this, but Iâm pretty sure thatâll be coming in the future. Nathan comes in and says nobodyâs accusing anyone, they just turned up at the same time so they have to check everything.Â
Later, Christopher runs out of Henryâs office and to the infirmary yelling for help. Henry was having trouble breathing and he got dizzy. Thereâs a big commotion about it and Faith tells Christopher that his father has very high blood pressure and theyâve been struggling to get it under control.
Christopher hones in on Lucas and goes after him for hiring Henry back even though he knew he shouldnât be working. Bill intervenes and stops Christopher from getting too close to Lucas.
(Aside: I havenât lost hope that theyâll do something with Bill and Christopher, at least from the angle of Bill having raised Christopherâs (dead) half-brother (which means Henry abandoned two women and two children straight-up), but I am starting to think it wonât happen this season.)
Around dinnertime, Henry talks with Carson and is in a good mood. When Carson asks why heâs had a sudden change of heart with wanting to get better (health-wise), he says Christopher called him âDadâ when he was worried about him, and it makes him want to do better because it means Christopher cares about him.
Yâall...that scene was so good. But. BUT. I feel like Henry has a big storm cominâ as it relates to Christopher. I just hope Henryâs self-improvements donât backslide when he inevitably ends up disappointed in Christopher for one reason or another.
Outside, Christopher is sitting on the steps of Dottieâs Apparel across the way from the cafĂ© and Rachel approaches him. She asks why he didnât come to see her and he gets sassy about it, but she actually seems to understand exactly what heâs going through and calls him out excessively gently about it. I donât like her instant attachment to Christopher but theyâre young and dumb and at least she seems to Get Him.
She tells him that heâs not having dinner with his dad because heâs scaredâscared of getting close to him, scared of feeling an attachment to him. The only way to protect himself from that attachment, and from the inevitable loss that you will one day experience in regards to them, is to not let it form in the first place.
He asks her what the solution is and she says he needs to take a chance. And then she ruins it by saying âLike when you stole Uncle Leeâs watch.â ?????? This is definitely some Into Bad Boys Teenage Girl Logic right there. There is literally no connection.
She gives him his handkerchief back and when he mentions it still has her lipstick on it, she says, âI know.â THIS GIRL IS TRYING TO GET HER A MAN AND SHE IS TRYING VERY HARD. I wouldnât be surprised if these were things she read about in her tame bodice ripper novels though LMAO.
They then share a kiss and he promises to come and see her the next day at the store.
Rosemary and Lee mention to Elizabeth that Rachelâs mom wants her to come back home right away, and the next morning Rachel confides in Rosemary that sheâs afraid that once sheâs back in Bellingham she wonât ever be allowed to return to Hope Valley. Rosemary explains to her that she shouldnât worry about that; leave it all up to her instead.
Christopher is busy working, digging a trench. Heâs getting out some of his frustration and anger by doing this and Lucas seems a bit annoyed by him but otherwise accepting of his, uh, issues. At least...for now. Lucas seems to have come up to the worksite to suggest Christopher spend more time with Henry, as he feels bad that he didnât realize Henryâs health was actually as bad as it was.Â
But Christopher wonât go and just keeps angrily digging his ditch, and in fact heâs so consumed by this he doesnât notice when Rachel leaves town. When heâs on break, he comes back into town only to find that the store is locked up for the day.
Seeing as how Rachel just found out the night before that she was leaving town, I think itâs plausible to imagine that...he doesnât know sheâs actually Gone. I almost feel bad for him.
Honestly, this young man is a whiz of an actor. Heâs likable in that Fun Character kind of way where you never know if you should root for him or not. Iâm not the type of person who generally likes characters like this, but color me intrigued. This show rarely has interesting characters in it that get to remain interesting. I hope Christopher gets to develop for the next couple of seasons if indeed they choose to keep him around. The guy can act! He plays funny, slimy, rude, arrogant, emotional, and even twitterpated really well, and he ainât afraid to get dirty to sell the part. I respect that.
Can I just say how sorry for Henry I feel though, knowingâor at least feelingâthat he will be blindsided in the near future with Christopherâs uh...faults? Woof.
--
Triangle Tribulations
Thereâs a huge part of me that doesnât even want to discuss this. I just want to say, âThatâs a yikes from me, Chiefâ and move on to the next point. It seems easier. And less awkward. And also...letâs be honest: I have no horse in this race.
I donât care that much about Elizabeth as a character, and I care even less about what gentleman she might choose to set her sights on in the long run.Â
But itâs become the central talking point of the show, so letâs discuss it!
Three years is a perfectly acceptable mourning period, but I think the showâs inability to hold its horses these last couple of years is just now catching up to it in the worst way. It puts Elizabeth in this awkward position where she has men interested in her and the show has framed her as being ready ish to move on, but then a new writer stepped in and was told to make sure the triangle lasted through most of the 8th season. How can he make it last when things have been set up for her to move on? Uhh, quick! Come up with something!
Oh, realism! Sheâs not actually ready to move on!
I mean, I donât blame John Tinker for this. I blame the writer for S6 and S7 that rushed through the storytelling and gave us...whatever that was, where two men showed up out of nowhere and both set eyes on Elizabeth. I blame the marketing that made sure to sell S6 and S7 for the love triangle instead of the family-friendly or heartwarming elements of the story. Itâs really sad that the triangle has come to...this. It didnât have to. If they hadnât tried making it a central point in S6 (literally months after Jack died when nobody was ready to really move on and nobody felt that Elizabeth would be ready, either) I donât think things would be so awful, but itâs too late to go back, now.
Donât get me wrong, the triangle feels pretty good this season. Itâs tense. Itâs interesting. Lucas really has shone in this season thus far (instead of coming across as creepy as he sometimes did for the first two seasons he was in), and Nathan is learning to be a little more...forthcoming with his feelings. I guess.
But it should have been S7. S7 should have had this level of care put into it for the triangle so that S8 was a chance for the choice to get some air.
Anyway, Iâm not happy with it. Iâm glad itâs almost over. I just want it to end. I do not care who the choice is, I just want her to choose.
In this episode, she confronted Nathan right out of the gate, and he wasnât exactly pleased about it. She acts like he went into the adoption ceremony knowing damn well what Allie had done, but he insists he didnât know and seems a bit hurt that Elizabeth would accuse him of being mean to her when he tells her that Allieâs list didnât even have her on it.
Elizabeth later mentions this as a truth (the list, her name not being on it), so I donât know what weâre supposed to think here. Iâm gonna go with: her feelings were hurt and she lashed out.
Nathanâs temper is apparently done with Lucas, as he tells him to Save It at the end of the scene. I want to say Iâm living for it but Lucas hasnât really...done anything wrong, so...it feels misplaced.
(I want to say something about the fans being divided and this feeling more like fanservice/an attempt to stir the pot than anything that makes any sense.)
Elizabeth goes on to spend a little time with Lucas and it was very cool to see his office for the first time ever! Also, âpardon my Frenchâ was actually pretty funny here.
Nathan wants to talk to Allie about the adoption ceremony catastrophe but is called away before they can sit down and talk, which Allie is...sad about...for some reason? I guess even if itâs negative attention itâs better than no attention? That seems in line with her age. Elizabeth comments to Lucas about feeling sorry for Allie and wanting to comfort her, but in my opinion this is kind of misplaced and Lucas points out that he doesnât mind her sharing a friendship with Nathan, but that...he doesnât think Nathan will settle for it.
Iâd probably be against Lucas on this matter but I already know that Lucas is right. Elizabeth seems to not to want to believe that but...I dunno. Part of the problem is that in a town this size, itâs really hard to have space. She wants to forget Nathan and focus on Lucas, but sheâs constantly seeing both Allie and Nathan, and that makes it hard.
Around dinnertime she goes to Lucasâs office and he begs off dinner because heâs just not in a good state of mind after the whole thing with Henry, and he also seems like heâs had a few drinks. She offers to let him sit with her and itâs...uh...very cozy (probably the closest two bodies have ever been to one another on this show, hahaha).
He says he doesnât want to be impatient and that she should leave. Which she does.
Fanning herself.
The next morning, Nathan approaches Lucas at the oil derricks to tell him that he hasnât given up on Elizabeth just yet, to which...Lucas says he can do whatever he wants, but he needs to make sure he has the best interests of Allie and Elizabeth in mind, not his own. Nathan tries to say something else to him and Lucas says, âSave it.â
Which is fair and valid. Iâd respect it more if Nathanâs âsave itâ had felt more believable earlier, though.
Either way, Iâm at a point in this series where Iâm starting to think Nathanâs just being selfish. His writing took an absolute beating in this episode and this isnât even the worst part!
Allie invites Elizabeth to dinner. I hated this scene mostly because I think it will only make the hatred for Allie worse. Team Lucas fans tend to hate her because she acts so unreasonably and this scene was the worst example of it so far. Sheâs a young teenage girl (13/14 years old Iâd guess) but this childish illustration card? Is something a 9 year old might pull (circumstances considered).
Iâd find it more plausible if we just had more time with Allie, but we get so little and everything weâve been getting hasnât felt...quite right to me lately. I could understand the whole âinviting only Elizabeth and Nathanâ because thatâs actually quite clever of her, and even funny. Sheâs young and doesnât understand the...bigger picture, or the Adult Feelings involved. Iâm fine with it. But this? Oh please. Theyâre not doing Allie any favors.
I think she could have done something else that was more in line with her age. It could still be cringey, but not...like this. Iâm certain it was meant to be a sassy response to being scolded because neither of them were aware they were the only ones invited (and Allieâs hand-drawn invitation makes it clear theyâre the only two invited lol), but...eh.
The very next scene is Elizabeth confronting Nathan, though, which I do appreciate. This thing with Allie is so far out of hand by this point that he needs to absolutely sit her down and have a VERY serious heart-to-heart. Sheâs hurting and it feels like nobody is telling her the right thing.
Just before the adoption ceremony Nathan told her that Elizabeth was seeing Mr. Bouchard and Allie complained but Nathan did a great job of telling her that they should be happy that Elizabeth is happy and I LOVED THAT. So why does it feel like he didnât mean any of it? Why didnât he confront any of the other things Allie is probably feeling?Â
Like, you know...that Elizabeth can still be her friend even if sheâs seeing Mr. Bouchard?
Elizabeth asks Nathan for a word, and when she tells him that she wants to speak with Allie he tells her that Allie is home and is afraid to talk to Elizabeth without him being there.Â
She asks why Allie is afraid but the fanfare starts for Bill, and Nathan doesnât want to be rude but Elizabeth insists on continuing their conversation.Â
Elizabeth tells him she was afraid it would happen if things didnât work out between them.
Nathan says he doesnât know what to tell her. Heâs tried talking to Allie but nothing he says has convinced her that Elizabeth isnât to blame. Elizabeth tells him that she thinks Allie should blame her because itâs Nathan sheâs attached to/loves.
Their conversation is paused for a moment by Billâs appearance but they pick right back up after Bill rides away on his horse. She says she tried to tell him at the parent/teacher conference that he is everything to Allie and he says he knows that, and thatâs why heâs trying really hard not to show Elizabeth how he feels about her, and itâs why he turned down the promotion to inspector.
He wanted to leave but he couldnât do it because Allie was so happy in Hope Valley. Elizabeth says thatâs why they have to figure out how to make things okay again, because he said it himself, he stayed because Allie was happy!
He said, no, I said that was part of the reason.
And he looks away like he didnât mean to say that, like in saying that, heâs said Too Much. And this isnât about his feelings. This is...something else.
Elizabeth has suspected all along that he was hiding something and not telling her the whole truth about Fort Clay, but this behavior isnât like him and she calls him out on it. She says she knows heâs hiding something and she wants to know what it is.
He tells her that at Fort Clay he was in charge of the training mission, not Jack. But he was disciplined for an earlier incident and they sent Jack instead. He says heâs sorry but there was never the right time to tell her.
The episode ends there.
I am...disappointed. I was hoping it would be something small that might have still weighed on his mind, like finding Jackâs bodyâhaving never met the man, having never known him, it would be so odd to know his wife and the home he loved but to have never known him. And to never really have a right to...ask about it either because itâs not your place.
But no, they really had to go there. They really had to make it like that. Weâve been guessing this since Nathan arrived in town as a possibility and I wish it had never happened.
I agree with all the people who think that there would be no point in the love triangle without Nathan being end-game, but ugh.
Iâm fine with forgiveness and moving on, but back in S5 and S6 I made it very clear how I felt about the direction they were taking Abigail and Henry. For the purpose of clarification, Henry was actively awful (he was cruel to Abigail many times over and was part of the VERY DIRECT reason her husband and son died) and that was the biggest reason I opposed it. I think comparatively Nathan is harmless. But... I dunno.
It feels to me like they really want to tell that Type of story and...Iâm not a fan. You can forgive someone without hooking up with them. In fact, thatâs a way better moral to be dropping on this specific audience anyway.
Iâm mostly disgusted at Nathan and have to now worry how they will write Lucas next to make sure heâs on equal ground. :(
Maybe Nathanâs posting in Hope Valley wasnât out of guilt but the way he reacted to Elizabeth sure makes it seem like it was. Like he chose to come to Hope Valley to keep an eye on Jackâs family. And if it stayed at a friendship level I could respect it. I might even like it.
But... ugh. I mean, Nathan feels guilty. He knows his actions indirectly killed Jack. No, he is not to blame for it and I donât think he blames himselfâat least not in a traditional way. But the knowledge is there. He should have kept his feelings to himself. He should have NEVER decided he wasnât going to give up on Elizabeth after she walked away from him. She didnât say no but she shouldnât have to.Â
So he knew he was indirectly responsible for Jackâs death and he still let himself tell Lucas he wasnât giving up on her. What the hell?Â
I guess you can consider me #teamstaysingle now.
--
Billâs Wounded Pride
This wasnât a long or deep storyline but I wanted to dig into it a little bit since Billâs my favorite character and all.
I really appreciate that they are giving Lee a chance to be a good listener. He got kind of overshadowed by Rosemaryâs personality a bit in the past so itâs good to see a consistent show of it now. Heâs so nice to Bill. I donât feel like theyâre great buds, but thereâs a kind of...mutual respect there that has definitely been earned on both sides. Leeâs offer to listen to Bill vent was really nice.
After Bill goes off on Henry (sorta? barely?) Nathan calls Bill out for placing blame on Christopher by association of Henry, since he knows he and Henry have some bad blood between them.
But then Nathan kind of gets this self-righteous ramble about how maybe heâll feel differently when heâs asked to hand in his serge, but itâs not helping Bill to prolong the process/put it off.
Which...while Nathan has a point, heâs just written throughout this entire episode like a selfish jerk. I get that heâs not that attached to his uniform (heâs younger, heâs willing to quit to settle down and marry), but youâd think heâd have a little sympathy for someone whose entire career was the Mounties and who is struggling to give up the last connection he has to that part of his life.
If Nathan was 18 or 19 Iâd feel his reaction would be fully believable, but heâs probably in his 30s and should have a little more emotional maturity than this.Â
Again, yes, Bill should just get rid of the uniform and be done with it. But itâs not as if Bill doesnât know that. Heâs struggling! A word of encouragement might help more than telling him to rip the bandaid off. If he talked this way to Allie itâs no wonder sheâs so messed up.
Later that morning, Molly greets Lee about the lumber shipment Carson ordered for the infirmary and Jesse is grumpy. She jokes that sheâs dealing with that, too, but with Carson and Faith. Lee adds that Bill is also in a bad mood, because he has to turn in his uniform. They briefly discuss that nobody has ever seen him in uniform.
Lee tells Molly that sheâs in charge of fixing everyone elseâs problems and leaves.
The next day, Bill walks into Nathanâs office to see Molly spying on his stuff...
She claims sheâs there to wish him a good trip and he says heâs not looking forward to riding all the way to Hamiliton. She mentions his uniform and heâs surprised she knows about it, but says only that âword gets around.â
Bill says yeah, well, he should have told them that if they want it so bad they should come and get it. Molly tells him that ârules and regulations can strip a man of his pride.â Which is. A weird line of dialogue but okay.Â
Bill tells her that it was a proud day when he put the uniform onâeven though back then it didnât have any of the decorations on it, of course. She says he must have felt ten feet tall he and replies with, âTen years and three months.â
You know it meant a lot to him if he remembers the exact amount of years he wore the damn thing. Molly encourages him to try it on and he tries to excuse it by saying it doesnât fit. She tells him heâs hard to read (probably because she thought he wanted the excuse to try it) but heâs âworth it, cover to cover.â
She goes on to say that âWEâ know that turning it in means a great deal to him, so it means a great deal to his friends, too, and as he should know, the uniform doesnât make the man.
She goes to leave and tells him it will definitely fit (HAHA maybe she was checking that while he was gone) and to do everyone a favor and put on a good show.
A short time later, Mike and a couple of others from town start playing some fanfare music outside the Mountie HQ and Bill emerges.
Heâs touched by it, but also maybe a little confused lol, and asks them if they know that heâll be right back.
And then...itâs off and away with Bill.
Iâd have liked this storyline so much more if it felt...deeper? A little extra fanfare for him is nice, but it doesnât really...deal with any of the emotions he feels. That said, Iâm almost certain this is to get him to Hamilton where he might run into Christopherâs parents and/or hear more information about potential misdeeds of Christopher to move that plot along.Â
--
Miscellaneous Short Plots
FloYo: Florence and Ned were cute but I wish they hadnât tried to do anything with it in this episode. We didnât really need to see Ned being grumpy about things as a like...Moment. It just didnât feel very meaningful even though they had that cutesy ânobody can replace youâ resolution. This episode was a bit of a miss for them for me because of that. And hey, donât get me wrong; I generally like them, but trying to make everything wholesome all the time gets draining and there was so much other stuff that felt more rewarding to me comparatively.
The Canfields: Very cute, good. I need to know what Josephâs plans are. And Angela learning braille and being so sweet... AHHHHHH I LOVED HER.
Dress Shop: Iâm disappointed they had this plotline drag out for episode after episode and then die out. I guess it could be interesting if they blew it wide open by Dottie selling it at the end of the season to someone unexpected, but what bored me about this was that nobody was that stressed out about the situation and nobody seemed relieved that Dottie wasnât selling. Iâll hold out hope that something comes of it anyway.
Jesse: FINALLY. I appreciated that he and Mike got to talk. It explains where Jesse was all that time...and Mike is a good friend. I love him. I hope he gets more screentime next season because he honestly deserves it. Also, Iâm glad Jesse went to talk to Clara and asked if they could sit and talk. SIT AND TALK. YES PLEASE. Thank you. It was a simple step forward but I really appreciate it. Also, the Canfields and Bill hightailing it out of there as soon as Jesse shows up...haha.
Infirmary: GOODBYE HAM SANDWICH CARSON. I mean... Iâm of two minds. Expanding the infirmary would be a good idea. It wouldnât hurt to have a little more room for patients that might need to recover for longer, and to have a little bit more privacy for them. On the other hand, Carsonâs sudden lashing out against the Hope Valley infirmary is...odd. I loved how he and Faith both got so excited but for different reasons that culminated in a completely different mindset. You can tell Carson really wants to go to Boston but feels weird about it. I love Faithâs dedication to the town.
--
My brain feels dry and crusty after typing all this up, and I didnât proofread it at all, so sorry in advance if there are any errors in it. As always, Iâm looking forward to the drama next episode, particularly with Carson and Faith (BREAK UP BREAK UP BREAK UP).
Iâm still kind of stunned they went the route they did. I find it hard to imagine that Elizabeth is capable of a choice within the next four episodes, but I guess weâll have to see whatâs in store for us.
Also, for a little laugh, my husband watched the full episode with me for the first time in a few seasons. He was pleasantly surprised by Angela Canfield and said that he liked âthe property brother.â I think heâs #TeamLucas but he told me later last night that actually theyâre both fine and heâd take either one for himself if the opportunity arose LMAO.
What are your thoughts on this episode? Opinions?
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There is No Glorious Purpose Chap. 2
Hello, you beautiful Tesseract-loving bastards!
I've been meaning for a long time to update but I've been having a really bad time with the whole motivation thing, and what I had first thought of doing with this fic got thrown in a wood-chipper and sunk with the Titanic... so, I'm trying to pick up the pieces and decide where I want to go with this. I also wanted to do it episodically: Chapter One aligned with Episode One and so on. That has not worked partly due to the issues of the above so, well, I guess we'll find out together!
So sorry for any grammar issues, I did my best to look it over but got too sick of staring at it over and over again in my drafts.
Small Thor cameo!
Chapter Two: You Oafs
âYeah, well, youâre a mischievous scamp--or at least, the other you is. Been killing our minutemen and stealing our reset charges. Been happening for quite a long timeâŠ.â Mobius whistled lowly. Loki nodded slowly.
âIf you know me or us as well as you say, what need have you of my help?â
âLike I said, mischievous scamp. And I know what makes a Loki tick, sure, but even Sherlock needed Watson sometimes--you do know about them, right? Really fun stories with a super smart detective and his below average side-kick--.â
Loki ignored the rambling, âI agree.â Perhaps then⊠after⊠peace? âJust tell me, please⊠is it true that I directly led to my motherâs death?â
âHm? Oh, yeah, definitely. Thor was pissed and then he dragged you along to Svart--Svartle⊠anyway, the planet of the Dark Elves with Jane because she absorbed the Aether. Then you faked your death, again . Thereâs that âdoing a horrible thing then getting away,â again. But Thor totally gets you back on Sakaar with those Obedience Disks. Yeah, yeah⊠oh, right, you donât know--and wonât. He slaps one of âem on you when you betray him again, then dials it up all the way while he returns to Asguard. For a god, you get put down a lot .â Mobius chuckled.
Loki sucked in a shuddering breath, reverently laid the Tesseract down and stood, âlet us catch this scoundrel then.â He faked a smile for the agent.
âOk,â Mobius clapped and rubbed his hands together, âwhat a therapy session!â
Loki had a fleeting thought of, âhe must be some Midguardian fool, possibly in some relation to Thor,â before he remembered that the all powerful Time Keepers had created the oaf in front of him.
âYa know, for the record, maybe âundying fidelity,â wasnât the right thing to say to Thanos. Just saying. But this is good! Weâre gonna be a great team.â
~~~@%*^*%@~~~
âLoki,â the orange clock whined on his âgiftedâ desk. Though still somewhat transparent, Miss Minutes was a fairly good illusion.
âYes?â He replied pleasantly, blue hand turning the page of a magazine. His slack-clad legs were propped on the desk, fine business shoes not too far from where she stood on a rather large book. The suit replacement of the prison wear wasnât bad, he, of course, would have done better had he access to his seidr. But it was fine for the time being.
âAre you paying attention?â The angry little clock motioned to the old Midguardian computer screen which read in that same horrible orange color:
LETâS SEE WHAT YA KNOW!
Q2. Thanos has two apples. He eats both but realizes he wants more. He goes back in time 20 minutes and eats the apples again. Does this mean the apples will not have existed in the timeline he left?
No, because time is constantly happening
The question doesnât matter because a branch cannot change another time branch
Thanos wouldâve been hungry prior because the Grandfather paradox already accounted for the change in matter before itâs move.
TVA FILE EDIT VIEW MODE HELP
Of course he was paying attention, and of course he chose not to amuse them! One order after another; feeding off of each other even. He may have bowed to Thanos but he had never kneeled. Not truly. And he clung to that remaining dignity.
âNaturally,â he returned pleasantly. She sighed.
âWhat happens when a nexus event branches past red line?â
âRagnarok.â
âCome on, Loki. What is it?... Loki!â
âIt is when the TVA can no longer reset a nexus event. Are you satisfied?â
âRight. And that would lead to the destruction of the timeline and the collapse of reality as we know it.â He lowered the magazine lower into his lap and took his feet off the desk.
âYes, indeed. Are you alive or a recording? Clearly, you can hear me.â
Her big cartoonish eyes moved around, âuh⊠sorta both?â
âSo not an illusion or projection?â He swiped at her with the rolled up magazine.
âAh!â A small smirk ghosted his face and he went after her again.
âWatch it! Where are your manners? Oh! Hey! Quit it! That is not nice, ya jerk!â She floated and then fazed back into the computer. He gave that ugly thing a few whacks as well. She pouted on the other side of the screen.
âTraininâ going wel--is that my jet ski magazine? Put it down, Blue-Raz.â Mobius ripped the magazine from him, swivelled to his desk then swiveled again to flop a jacket in front of Loki.
âGear up, thereâs been an attack. Letâs go.â The agent commanded. Loki picked up the jacket. It unfolded from the collar, back facing him. âVARIANTâ was emblazoned across it.
âAh,â was all he commented as he moved to slip it on before his handler got any ideas while he was led down hallways. Norns knew the agent would have plenty of examples in his own life up to that point, much less his future or other variants.
âGood. Yeah. Smart.â Mobius commented with his fists in a move reminiscent of excited warriors as said human stopped to look back at his charge and the newly bestowed article of clothing. B-15 gave her usual droll stare. Her minutemen stood around her in a group.
â C-20 and her team went dark shortly after they jumped into the 1985 branch. All signs point to another ambush. We've grabbed enough temporal aura to know it's our Loki Variant.â
The âactually dangerousâ sort, Loki groused silently. Then Mobius opened his mouth.
âHere's the deal. When we get out on the branch, we're not just looking for a Time Criminal. We're looking for a Loki. A variation of this guy. A type we should all be very familiar with, because the TVA has pruned a lotta these guys, almost more than any other Variant. And no two are alike. Slight differences in appearances, or not so slight. Different powers, although, powers generally include shape-shifting, illusion-projection, and my favorite... Duplication-casting. Illusion-Projection.â
Mobius gestured to him when applicable in his little speech, also projecting other variations of Loki with his TemPad--all assumedly pruned likewise. Variation 8: L6792 looked exactly like he would now had heâd been afforded the luxury of keeping his clothes, but also with slight differences that led Loki to think that that variant must have been favored royally in some way he was rejected.
Variation 8: L1247 looked like a Midguardian sportsman happily holding a trophy of some kind. Variation 8: L6792 was an atrocity of him and the Hulk combined. Variation 8: L8914 was more strongly built with more prominent hair curls in their longer hair. They stood like dignitary with their hands behind them. Variation 8: L7803 looked like an oaf. A full, half-face helmet emblazoned with the horns in the wrong direction and even a piece of turf over the shoulder like a cape. Oh, dearâŠ.
âNo.â
â...Huh?â
âThose two powers are completely different, although, I am unsurprised you cannot comprehend it.â
âLoki, what are you talking about--look, Iâve dealt with more of you than youâve dealt with yourself.â
âThe truth remains that those powers are not the same.â
âThen, please, Loki, tell me.â
Loki smiled easily and supplicatingly at the contempt and patronization, just like talking to anyone in Asguard.
â Illusion-projection involves depicting a detailed image from outside oneself, which is perceptible in the external world, whereas duplication-casting entails recreating an exact facsimile of one's own body in its present circumstance, which acts as a true holographic mirror of its molecular structure.â
âOk, take a breath. Noted. Weâre gonna break into two teams, including myself and Professor Loki hereâ
B-15 still looked unamused and dubious.
âWhoever the Variant is, we havenât been able to find them so Iâm the Sherlock and heâs my Watson. Look, thisâll work.â Mobius said to her. She side-eyed Loki, Loki who had nothing but a branded jacket to protect himself with.
âAnd so my agency in this is to⊠tell you how brilliant you are.â
âGo outside, maybe touch some grass.â Mobius returned with a tilted smile under his twisted nose.
âAh. I shall protect myself with your wit, then, should this superior being choose me as a next target.â
Mobius chuckled and mimed âtalky-talkyâ again.
He passed through the portal B-15 had summoned, closed in on both ends by TVA agents. Immediately, he could feel his seidr swell within him again and redonned his Aesir glamor. The choker chafed as he glanced around, and he found himself much preferring the biting metal of the chains he was usually imprisoned in. The place they passed into was a celebration of old Midguardian times, further back than what the TVA modeled itself after, in direct juxtaposition of the modern technology with the humans held in their hands, and had used to both get to the location and create their sometimes elaborate costumes.
âApex of nexus signature located, ma'am,â a minuteman said as they walked.
âAllow me to ask you this, why do we not travel to the moments prior to the Variantâs attack, to when they arrive.â Loki asked as the tent grew ever nearer.
âNexus events destabilize the time flow. This branch is still changing and growing, so you gotta show up in real time. Did you watch any of the training videos you were supposed to?â
The minutemen twisted their batons, the ends glowing a shade that seemed to haunt the TVA as they neared.
Loki chuckled a laugh that was never and would never be heartfelt, âmy dear Sherlock, you should know I am quite the scholar. But these âreset charges,â they âpruneâ a branched timeline which âallows time to heal all wounds.ââ
Mobius made an odd gesture towards him, âheâs on it.â
Within the dark, torch-lit tent, limp minutemen laid about the displays which held real weapons and a large, stepped seating construct. Their bodies were splayed out in obvious struggle. Unactivated batons laid around as well, a few clenched in hands. A helmet bearing âC-20â laid, discarded within the scene. Loki hovered a hand over one display as he passed and they grouped around the scene.
âSo he's taking hostages now?â B-15 spat.
âThe Variant's never taken a hostage before,â Mobus returned.
âMaybe he's upping his game.â
âOr he pruned her,â a minuteman remarked.
âA Loki couldn't have gotten the jump on C-20.â B-15 returned.
âFan out and search for her. And hurry up, we're at three units until red line.â B-15 ordered, her minutemen immediately moving to obey.
âLet's go. She's right.â A peon echoed.
Mobius concurred, âCome on.â
âWaitâŠ.â Loki said, brow knit as he studied the scene.
âWhat do you see?â Mobius asked as he stepped away from the entrance.
âI see wolfâs teeth.â
âYeah, ok,â Mobius motioned for him to hurry and Loki got brief satisfaction that the human had no idea what he was talking about.
ââWhere there are wolfâs ears, there are wolfâs teeth,ââ Loki echoed one of many sayings he heard during his childhood, especially before bed. He swallowed down the thought of a certain story about blue, darkly lined and vicious monsters.
âRidiculous, really,â he laughed hallowly, âmy people are gullible fools by nature. You remind me of them; the Time Variance Authority and the great gods of Asgard. One and the same. Drunk with power, blinded to the truth. Those you underestimate will devour you, and weâve just walked into a wolfâs mouth.â He raked his eyes across his audience as he spoke, kneeling down in front of the helmet and stroking his hand in the grassy turf. The minutemen seemed to falter ever so slightly, B-15 rolled her eyes, and Mobius stared.
A TemPad beeped, âtwo units, heâs wasting our time.â
âNo, step outside this tent and my other Variant will devour you,â Loki stated plainly. It was easy, nearly in a terrifying way, how he fell into the usual routine he had had with his oaf of a brother and his lackeys, who, similarly, never headed his words.
âWe need to look for C-20.â B-15 repeated.
âCome on, Loki, we donât have time for your lies.â
âOh, I am not lying, and out of curiosity, when you find them, will you prune us both seeing as you will not have any need of me?â
Mobius sighed and gesticulated like a frustrated middle-aged Midguardian, âheâs lying.â
Lokiâs head turned to the side minutely, in a ghost of a head shake. His stomach turned the way it usually did when he knew things were about to--.
âAghr!â A minuteman had exited and had been consequently slaughtered. A brawl broke out just outside the small entrance. Innocent event-goers made exclamations outside as well. Batons revved, and B-15 and Mobius stalked to the opening. Loki walked behind them.
âThe charge!â Someone yelled. The fight continued. A cloaked figure with amazing skill in combat fought them all while a crowd of civilians formed around them. There were a few smiles and jeers, no doubt thinking it was all a show.
âOn behalf of t-... the Time Va-...Variance Authority, I hereby-... arrest you for-... for crimes against the⊠Sacred Timeline, V-⊠Variant!â B-15 huffed between blows.
âErgh!â A minuteman got pruned. Lokiâs cloaked variant said nothing, only continued fighting. He backed back into the tent, took aloft a jousting lance, broke it half and reemerged. For all their combined ability, the TVA was losing. The glow of pruning swung around arbitrarily. He dipped into the fight and caught his counterpartâs cutlass in the cross the two ends of the lance made.
âPardon me, I mean no intrusion,â he said calmly to his other self, noticing a similar collar of metal that had adorned his own garments. He could feel the otherâs tension as they reclaimed their sword and focused solely on him. It proved more of a poor decision than anticipated and he found himself holding his breath in pain more than heâd wanted. The wood was also useless and even though both it and he put up a valiant fight, his other self had taken hold of a baton along the line. His weapons were useless as they continued to share blows. He lowered the stubs of wood and opened his arms. The glowing end came close.
Then it wasnât.
The grunting that followed was B-15 and Mobius disarming the variant of the baton and nearly restraining them.
âAbout to redline!â A remaining minuteman nearly yelled. B-15 and Mobius shared a look. A door was opened and Loki found the cloaked figure disappearing into a flurry of gold.
âWhat in the Rolling Stones was that, Blue-Raz?!â Mobius had him hard by the shoulder of both his jacket and dress shirt.
Loki blinked once then made eye contact with Mobius, âwhat ever do you mean?â
âHe was about to kill you!â
âPrune,â Loki politely corrected. Mobius gawked.
âI kno--what were you thinking?!â
âYour only use of me is to capture me, I was assisting in that.â
âBy letting you be killed by yourself?!â
âA mere distraction to the larger goal, Mobius.â
âAnd it almost worked,â B-15 piped from somewhere beside them. Her voice had dropped a tone or two.
âYeah⊠almost had âim too.â Mobius admitted, letting Loki go. âBut seriously, man, what was that?â
âNearly fulfilling my role, as you yourself stated.â Loki replied pleasantly.
âWe also barely pruned it in time and got outta there with our lives.â B-15 stated.
âYeahâŠâ Mobius rubbed the back of his head with his other hand on his hip as he stared at the floor. I was not lying, Loki wanted to say. To push. To scream. But he instead focused on the ache in his back. It should be fine in a matter of a few more hours given the time he had for recovery before the Tesseract opened the portal in New York and he was knocked from the Mind Stoneâs, and thus Thanosâ, direct influence.
~~~@%*^*%@~~~
Loki subconsciously touched his hideously blue palm as he waited outside of the judgeâs office for his handler. The doors were decorated with sandglasses. How quaint .
Mobius finally emerged, stalking right past him. Loki fell in step behind him. He realized such only after heâd done it.
An angry finger wagged in front of him as they walked, âone thing, Loki, thatâs all I asked.â
âThe âtalkâ from earlier.â
âNo! Catching the superior version of yourself. We lost guys out there today-- good guys!â Good, yes, âgood guysâ who also happened to have erased who knows how many people from existence.
âThere would have been a lot more had I not been there and, likewise, a lot less had I been heeded.â
âAnd there you go again. That narcissism! Do you ever stop? Get tired of yourself?â
Loki didnât respond as Mobius stopped and whirled on him, only gave him his schooled expression.
âIâm on thin ice âcause of you. I saved you, remember that? Didnât that mean anything to your Asguardian standards or personal morals or anything?â
âIf you recall, I was about to meet that fate regardless as I helped you bring in my Variant. I also have little doubt you will delete me if I survive assisting you in their arrest either way.â
âOh, so Iâm the bad guy? Ok. Well that other you is worse, remember that. Heâs killed a lot of people--more than you. Youâre just a little blue ice runt, crying in the cold.â
Loki chuckled and didnât even need to bite back the urge to correct this âLoki expert.â
âEver get tired of playing this same old part?â Mobius continued bitterly, âIâm getting sick of your constant need for sympathy, Loki!â
âMobius?â He asked after allowing a few minutes to pass.
âWhat?â Mobius mumbled.
âThis other Variant is after reset charges, why not supervise another âpruningâ in case we find the correct branch they target. How many happen in a day, usually?â
~~~@%*^*%@~~~
Loki almost choked when they entered into an Aguardian hall. The was beautiful and towering and held stones and architecture he could rewrite the books about. For one blissful second, he closed his eyes and inhaled the scent of his homeland--or the place he was raised. His glamor fell over him unconsciously.
Then he had to play follow-the-leader with the TVA peons. He rounded a large corner and immediately knew how many steps it would take to get to his room, his motherâs and Thorâs.
âLoki?â A familiar voice boomed. Loki tensed. Mobius cast him a âgood luckâ glance and mumbled, âIâll be back for ya, Blue-Razâ
Loki had the urge to run him through followed by his brother who should notâit didnât matter, the timeline would be reset. The Thor bounding up behind him would be pruned with everything else⊠why did that hurt? He turned to face his adopted sibling.
âLoki, it is you? Isnât it? I mean you look horrendous in that getup, but itâs you!â Thor held his hands out in what could only be described as reverence. But the esteemed Asguardian Prince was wearing dirty Midguardian clothes and had a beer gut to match. How? Barely any time had elapsed between that moment and when they were facing down in New York.
âIt is me but what happened to you, brother?â
A shadow came over Thorâs face. His hands lowered and he reached out to Loki.
âTell me the truth,â he whispered, âdid you just escape the dungeons?â
Loki held his gaze for a few long moments. The timeline will be reset. There is no harm in it.
âNo, Thor, I neverâthis me never went to the dungeons. Never came back to Asguard.â
Thor hissed an inhalation of breath as his eyes widened.
âThor what happened to you? Why do you have mismatched eyes? Where is your armor? Or Mjolnir?â
âOh, Loki! Loki. Loki. Loki.â Thorâs voice trembled with false laughter and an emotion Loki didnât know, âwhat--you look horrendous. What in the Nine Realms are you wearing?â
âThor, it is good to see you, but Iâm afraid I donât have the time for a chat.â Loki returned, clipped. Redline grew ever nearer.
Thorâs face fell again, âLoki⊠just tell me youâre alive. That I didnât fail you on the Statesmen--Thanos is dead now, I-I killed him! I-... I killed him⊠I avenged you.â
âOh, Thor,â Loki found himself saying as Thorâs eyes shined and tears spilled onto his cheeks. He allowed himself to be squeezed in the otherâs arms⊠and found it to be the best hug heâd ever received⊠or the only hugâŠ.
âThor⊠Thor, are you listening?â Thor only sobbed into his shoulder, holding Loki up against his beer gut and off of the actual floor.
âY-yes?â
âVery soon, this timeline will be reset which means you will have never seen me here. So tell me, what happened to you?â
Thor whined in the back of his throat and plopped Loki back down, it was just hard enough to make pain spike up his nearly healed spine.
âI--You--Thanos--.â
Loki laid his arms on Thorâs biceps, squeezing gently, Thor shuttered then took a breath and smiled fondly at him. Fondly. Thor never did that. What sort of--how is he not the Variation?
âSo after Ragnarok, Thanos⊠had all the Stones and killed half of what was left of Asguard including you. I wasnât able to--Iâm sorry.â
âJust tell me, Thor, I am right here.â
âThen I was found by the space morons and went to Nidevelir to forge Storm Breaker because Hela broke Mjolnir before Sakaar--Ragnarok happened because of her. Then we battled with the Avengers in Wakanda and⊠I didnât go for the head! How could I have not gone for the head?! Thanos snapped andâŠ. It was horrible, brother. Absolutely horrible. The whole universe. And so many extinctions followed and more tragedies. I-....â He hung his head. âI tried to drown my worries like the âoafâ I amâŠ.â
âI thought your annoying little group was the âAvengersâ not the âAlcoholics.ââ
â... Ha!â Thor slapped him on the back. The statement seemed to have brought about the intended reaction.
âYes! Of course! So five years later, we found him and I slayed him! But Tony and Scott found a way to move through time to get the stones to undo it all, and so we did, and we succeeded! But still, Thanos haunted us and we had a final battle--which we won!â Thor seemed to have noticed himself that he was about to go into one of his long winded stories of victory, and cut it short.
Then his smile abated and his beard fell, âLoki, Steve and Tony lost the Tesseract in 2012 to youâŠ?â
âYes, yes, that would be me, brother.â
A gasp of breath as Thor readied himself for the most bone crushing hug in the universe was all that was afforded to Loki.
âThor,â he wheezed slightly, âI know I was not kindest to you but must you kill me prematurely?â
âOh, Loki! I never threw you off the Bifrost, and I-!â
âCharge is set, we gotta boogie!â Mobius interrupted, jogging over.
Thor allowed the interruption if only to interrogate him, âand who are you? How and why do you command my brother? If you are with Tha-!â
To Lokiâs astonishment, a few electrical charges emanate off of his brother.
âNo, time to talk. Put Loki down We gotta get outta Dodge.â
Thorâs grip tightened, âThor, just do it!â Loki groused. Thor did. Mobius opened the portal.
âSorry, big guy, big fan but I need your Buddy. You ever think of trying Old Spice?â
âAh--I just--Loki just returned to me as he always does and you expect me to just give up?!â
âThor, do not follow us, I would rather not see you get deleted.â
Heavy feet crossed through the yellow threshold and left 2023 Thor in 2014 with a gaping mouth and tear stained cheeks.
âSo no Loki!â Mobius announced as he clapped his hands together, âthat means we gotta get to work!â He went on to walk at a brisk pace. Loki trailed after, blinking back the stinging in his now red eyes.
âI was of the understanding that is what we were doing,â he put a hand over his throat while he cleared it.
âI need you to go over each and every one of this Variant's case files, and then, give me your... How do I put it?... Your unique Loki perspective. And who knows? Maybe there's something that we missed.â
Seeing as how you are so hypocritical, I would be surprised if you had not missed anything. Honestly, âall you Lokis are the sameâ yet in the same breath, âno Loki variant is exactly alike.â I think as I do.
âYou are the expert, I trust your judgementâ Loki said instead.
âThat's why I'm lucky I got ya for a little bit longer. Let me park ya at this desk. And don't be afraid to really lean into this work. Here's a good trick for you: pretend your life depends on it. I'm gonna get a snack.â
For all his countless hours spent in not only the Grand Library, but others around Asguard and the other Realms, he found himself having little interest in sifting through all the instances in which that other version of him overcame the great TVA and triggered more animosity against themselves--and all other Lokis.
âAny motive, Sherlock?â He asked dryly.
âThatâs what youâre for!â The agent chuckled, poked at his chest and walked away.
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the agent walk away then turned his attention to the paperwork. The pattern was known to begin with but became⊠inane the more pages he flipped through: nexus event, dispensed TVA agents, the team goes silent, theyâre found dead and without the reset charge, Mobius, the expert, is called in for investigation and then the branch is reset before redline.
One Loki⊠only one to best their happy little teams. I was bested, but I also have extenuating circumstances of the past year. Without Thanosâ interruption, could I have?... Yes, I fought alongside Thor and his foolish troup of warriors, I would have been able to exact my own damage. For a âtimeline protection force,â how are they schooled in combat?
âPardon me,â he tapped the librarianâs bell. She turned to him with a nonplussed expression.
âCould you show me to the combat regimens of our dear agents?â
âNo.â
âInfographics?â
âNo.â
âBattle end-games?â
âNo.â
âWell, you have been very helpful, thank you.â It was still a library after all and he more than knew his way around one seidr or not; his mind was still intact--somewhat intact and that had always been his greatest weapon.
So he sat back down at the table to form a plan of action, so to speak, of how he could find the files he wanted in the fastest and most assured way. But, he still had all the paperwork of this other Loki, dripping in red. Oozing. Gushing. Like Thorâs cape as yet more enemies were put to ruin under his brotherâs sheer might. He never envied that red; never thought he could own it or have it become him⊠yet this other version had jumped--leapt into that pool of blood and ended all who stood in their way. Incapacitation would have sufficed. Has sufficed in innumerable cases. Heâd both saved lives of his comrades and stupid brother, and saw the end goal in such a way.
He gasped and leapt up, running along the railing of the library.
âMobius--.â
âNo, I said, âdonât bother me until youâve read all the files,â and I know you donât read that fast.â Mobius set his Js\osta down with a hard thonk .
âI have, but unimportant--.â Loki slid into the seat across from the agent in the cafeteria.
âNo, read every file pertaining to the Variant.â
âThe answer does not lie in the files, it lies on the timeline!â Mobius gave him a dangerous look at the slight raising of his voice. Loki took a breath.
âLook,â Loki began again with his arms fanning over the table, âtheyâre hiding in apocalypses.â
âWhich one? Thereâs, like, a million?â
âTake Ragnarok, I assume you are familiar?â
âYeah, total destruction of your weird coin planet and most of its people because of your sister Hela. Iâm sorry.â
Sister? Hela? Thor mentioned her--unimportant now.
âYes, well, that recent visit with Thor got me thinkingâŠ?â
Mobius regarded him but eventually sighed and sat back, making a small gesture, âyeah, sure, ok.â
âNexus events happen when someone does something that is not meant to happen--.â
âA bit more complicated but yeah.â
âThese can culminate into entire other timelines--.â
âChaotic alterations of a predetermined outcome.â Loki did his best to ignore the interruptions. He forced animation into his movements as if trying to explain it to Thor. That was best, pretend he was explaining something that now seemed so basic to the warrior.
âAlright! So this is Asgard,â he plundered the agentâs salad bowl. Said agent gave sad push back. Loki continued.
âI could travel back to Asgard preceding Ragnarok and do whatever I wished; switch crowns, resoil linens, topple some columns. I could destroy the Rainbow Bridge.â He grabbed the small salt shaker and started pouring some in. Mobius mourned his food. Loki was not fed.
âNone of this would matter. Not if I set fire to the courtyard. Or even killed the Allfather!â
âWhy--Lo--God, Loki!â
âExcuse me,â Loki greeted Casey kindly at an adjacent table, âare you finished with this?â
Casey, who had his bunched napkin thrown on his plate in clear sign of being finished looked from his crumpled juice box to Loki, âyou!â
âYes, very nice to see you again,â Loki took the drink container and poured it into the salad, secretly relishing how the agent utterly deflated.
âDue to Surtur!â Loki finished.
Mobius rubbed his hand down his face, âwhat am I lookinâ at?â
âApocalypses, Holmes.â
âLoki, you just apocalypse my lunch, I wanted to eat that!â
âYou want my other Variant.â
Mobius leaned onto the table, âcut to the chase.â
âThat is how they have escaped you for so long; no matter what happens, an apocalypse negates anything that would otherwise summon the TVA.â
âOh, not bad. Not Bad. Hey, so, how do you weigh over five hundred pounds?â
That was a âjackknifeâ--as Midgaurdians may say--that he did not expect.
Mobius raised his hands, âhey, Iâm not judging, just curious.â
âFocus, Mobius, please.â
âOk, ok. My salad. Destroyed.â Another despondent hand waved at the bowl.
âI can show you my theory is true.â
Mobius laughed, âIâm not letting you go.â
âYou come with me, naturally,â Loki pushed.
âWell, Iâve had enough of your troublemaking for one day.â
âNo one has to know unless I am correct--which I am.â
âTVA agents canât just go running around anyway. Waltzing into the White House would be a Nexus event.â
You are not listening!
âPompeii, for instance, you Midguardians like talking about that catastrophe, we could go there!â
âPompeii?â
âPompeii. Everyone died and that town was not even the worst hit of the eruption of Vesuvius.â
âYeah, yeah, yeah. Talk, talk, talk. Oh, youâre so smart!â Mobius sneered and wiped his mouth with his napkin despite not having spilled anything much less eaten enough to make a mess of his face. No food for either of them it seemed.
âIf I go along with this and you stab me in the back, youâre getting erased. Capische?â
âUnderstood,â I am fully expecting that regardless.
#loki#loki series#loki show#Loki Show Rewrite#loki series rewrite project#loki series rewrite fanfic#loki fanfic#loki fanfiction#cannon non-compliant#gentle reminder that just because a character says something doesn't make it true
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I'll Walk With You
hello everyone shocked to see me posting yet again???????
i said after i posted that oneshot rehashing 3x06 that i was going to one day write something where mike and max have an actual conversation.... and here it is!! for your reading pleasure :)
i think i did them and their dynamic justice with this and i'm super proud of how it turned out. we're unlikely to ever get something like this in the show but i'm hoping s4 at least gives us them being actual friends so that i can infer that something like this happened between seasons lol
Maxâs house is silent as the grave. She isnât surprised, itâs been like this nearly all the time since the summer. Her stepfather will drink himself back to sleep on the couch, and her mother will say nothing. Max wonât say anything either. The day has barely begun and itâs already shit.
Most of the time she escapes the horrible atmosphere inside her house by going to school, but itâs Spring Break now and she has nowhere to be. Sheâll be stuck with her thoughts all day if she doesnât find something else to do, so after nearly two hours of trying in vain to entertain herself, she decides to head out and see if Lucas is free. She knows Dustin already left town with his mom the night before, and sheâs not willing to have Mike third wheel her and Lucas, so she hopes heâs down to go do something with her. Heâs good at distracting her from the inescapable cycle of guilt and anger she feels constantly nowadays.
Except when she gets to his house, his parents are in the garage putting things into the trunk of the family car. She stops at the sight. Erica is nowhere to be seen but Lucas is standing in the front doorway and sees Max coming right away. He meets her in the street.
âMax, hey,â he says. âWhatâs up?â
Max gestures to his house. âI came to see if you wanted to hang out, but it looks like you guys are going somewhere.â
Lucas frowns. âI thought I told you, weâre going to visit my cousins in Chicago for a few days.â
Lord, a few days? Lucas must see it on her face because he scrambles to assure her itâs not for the whole week.
âIâll be back Wednesday,â he promises.
âTodayâs Sunday,â she protests. She knows thereâs literally nothing to be done about it, but it still sucks. Whatâs she going to do all week?
âI swear I told you,â Lucas repeats.
âYeah. Yeah,â Max answers. âYou probably did. Iâm sorry, just⊠forgot.â
He frowns again. Max has been forgetting a lot of things lately. Sheâs not sure why, it just feels like everything in her life is too much and her brain canât handle it the way it should. Freshman year has not been the greatest so far.
âYou okay?â He asks her, reaching for her hands, and his concern makes her heart squeeze painfully in her chest. Heâs probably the only person who actually cares about her well-being, seeing as her mom clearly doesnât.
Max nods. âYeah. I just didnât want to be at home, but I guess Iâll find something else to do. Bye, Lucas,â she says, squeezing his fingers gratefully before turning away to bike off back down the street.
âHey!â He calls. She turns back. He motions to the big house next door, equally familiar to her. âMikeâs still home, maybe you can ask him?â
Max crosses her arms. âLike he would want to hang out with me,â she scoffs.
Lucas sighs. âLook, I know he can be a bit of an ass sometimes-â
âThatâs putting it lightly.â
â-But heâs not a bad person, Max, you know that. Heâs dealing with a lot right now,â Lucas finishes.
Max rolls her eyes. âYeah, well, heâs not the only one,â she says bitingly. She has never gotten along with the third boy in their group and at this point she isnât sure she ever will. Sheâs also not really in the mood to look at his stupid face today, considering itâll more than likely start an argument and she doesnât have the energy for that.
âI know,â Lucas says. âI know. But youâre both my best friends and I think you guys are more alike than you think. If you just gave each other another chance, youâd get along.â
Max doesnât reply. She doesnât really know what to say because she knows Lucas is only trying to help her with what he thinks is the current best solution, but she doesnât want to agree with him either.
âJust think about it,â he continues. âHeâs the only one not going anywhere so if you really need to see someoneâŠâ
She gets what Lucas is implying, but really? âHeâd probably laugh in my face if I showed up at the door. Iâd rather stay home.â
At that, Lucas raises his arms in surrender. âIâm just saying he wouldnât turn you away. We donât lie to each other, alright?â
Max shrugs in response. âWhatever. Iâll figure something out.â
Lucas steps forward quickly to hug her. Pulling back, he keeps his hands on her arms. âI wrote my cousinsâ phone number on the back of your math worksheet yesterday if you need it.â
She gives him a tiny nod and he returns it with a small smile, dropping his arms back to his sides.
âIâll see you first thing Thursday morning,â he adds.
âThursday,â she repeats, putting one foot back on her bike pedal. âGot it.â Whatâs she supposed to do until Thursday?
The answer, as it happens, is absolutely nothing. For the rest of Sunday afternoon, Max rides around town with no destination. She stops in a park for a while, sitting down and pulling up blades of grass and sprinkling them around her. A man walking his dog gives her a weird look and she flips the bird at his back. That action feels oddly satisfying, even if he didnât see it. In the evening she makes her way back to her house, and everyone pretends like she didnât just spend the entire day gone.
Monday dawns looking and feeling exactly the same, except Max decides to get a start on some homework. This way when Lucas comes back sheâll be free to hang out with him without the thought of her assignments hanging over her head. Her mom leaves to go to work and all it does is make Max hyper aware of Neilâs movements across the house. Heâs supposed to go to work too, but Max isnât sure he will. In fact, she sort of suspects heâs either quit or been fired. Heâs missed too many days.
When sheâs tired of writing and the lines of her character analysis of Mercutio are starting to blur into the equations on her algebra worksheet, she goes into the kitchen to find something to eat. Neilâs gone, so she makes herself a ham and cheese sandwich and stands by the sink to eat it. She feels exhausted, and itâs barely afternoon.
Hours later, she wakes up from a nap to the sun near setting and the noises of her mom puttering around the kitchen making dinner. The first thing her gaze lands on is the clunky walkie-talkie sitting on her desk, and her thoughts spring to the boys. Specifically, what Lucas said to her the day before.
Maybe it has more merit than she first gave it. Itâs true that she doesnât get along with Mike at all, but she might be willing to try again at some point, if only to appease Lucas. She had wanted to when they all first met. She liked the other boys just fine, but she could tell from the get-go that Mike was their ringleader and his opinion could sway the others. If she wanted to truly feel like a part of the group, they all had to be on board. Even after that, things werenât so terrible between them; at least until summer and all the drama with El and then everything else that happened. Now, Maxâs headspace is too occupied by other problems to care much about trying to repair her somewhat-friendship with him, and Mike has become more and more reclusive by the day. She even thinks she saw him smoking once, down at the far end of the field, which, although she isnât an expert, she feels is extremely uncharacteristic.
Everythingâs just weird now. Thereâs too many empty holes in all their lives.
Dinner is mostly quiet; nobody in this house ever says anything that has any true meaning anyway. Maybe itâs better this way. Neil ends up on the couch joined by his bottle of whiskey and Maxâs mom shoos her away after sheâs cleared the table, so Max retreats back to her room. The silence is almost deafening, and she wishes that dumb walkie-talkie on her desk would crackle. What she wouldnât give for someone to say real words to her.
She considers calling Lucas, but she doesnât want to bother him with her problems when heâs supposed to be having fun with his cousins. She also doesnât want Neil to ask who sheâs calling. In the end, she ends up tidying her room, gathering up all her comic books and folding the clothes she has on the floor before placing them on her chair. The walkie seems like itâs calling out to her as she glances at it every five seconds, and then finally lets her frustration out on it by snatching it up and launching it at her bed. She doesnât want to break it, but she did want to throw it. Why does she keep looking at it? Itâs not like anyoneâs going to call her on it. The only people who might are both out of town.
Her emotions war inside of her. On the one hand, she knows what she wants, what she needs. She needs to talk to someone freely so it has to be someone who relates to what sheâs seen, because being stuck virtually alone inside her house for the next few days until Lucas gets back is going to drive her insane. Unfortunately the only person she can think of is someone she isnât on good terms with, which makes her angry for even having the thought. Is she really desperate enough to potentially embarrass herself?
Damn Lucas for putting the idea in her head. Sheâs sure she never wouldâve considered it on her own. Damn Lucas and his stupid advice, damn Dustin for ever speaking to her that day and getting her involved in all their mess, and damn Mike for hating her from day one.
Damn her for going to talk to him anyway. She sneaks out her window, just as she has done to meet Lucas so many times, except itâs after nine and itâs dark out. She brings the walkie with her.
On the way, she wonders why sheâs even doing this. She supposes it would make it easier for Lucas and Dustin when they all hang out together (which is getting rarer every week) if she and Mike arenât constantly at each otherâs throats about something or other. She also remembers something El said to her on the phone a while ago that she had forgotten about until this very moment. El had heard enough complaints from both of them about each other and was just wishing they would stop fighting. Max had scoffed at it and been about to launch into another rant about just how much of a jerk Mike was when El had said she didnât care if they werenât friends, she just wanted them to stop being so mad all the time.
Max kind of agrees with her. Being angry all the time is exhausting, and there are way worse things in her life to be angry about than Mike Wheeler and his dumb attitude. If she can make peace with him, maybe she wonât feel so out of place around her own friends. And maybe, if they can get over everything thatâs happened between them, itâll give her hope that the rest of her life might look up one day, too.
Itâs only when she gets to his house that she realizes she doesnât know what she wants to say. Maybe it doesnât have to be a whole conversation, maybe just seeing each other for five minutes will give her enough stability to stay in her house until Lucas returns and she can talk to him instead. She just needs to be around someone who knows the things sheâs been through since she moved here, someone who looks at her and knows why she is the way she is. Her mom can never know and will never understand, and Neil is too scary to ever think about approaching him with anything at all.
She drops her bike in the grass by the back of the house, making her way to the basement door where she knows the boys like to be. Heâs probably in there still. Her stomach is roiling with nerves, scared that heâll open the door and glare at her like he usually does, but she remembers thereâs another way he looks at her sometimes. There are moments at school, when she passes the gym or sees the basketball team, where Max gets overwhelmed at the memories of her dead stepbrother. Itâs almost like she can smell him, the way he used to get up in her face when he yelled at her and the way he looked when he died apologizing to her. Itâs moments like that when Dustin and Lucas will be distracted with some petty disagreement that she looks to Mike and his gaze contains solidarity instead of hostility; reassurement that he knows what it feels like to be reminded at every turn of someone you cared about who is gone. He was there, too, and saw Billy sacrifice himself at the last moment just as she did. Itâs not an image either of them can forget.
Itâs this that gives her the courage to rap her knuckles on the glass pane of the basement door and wait for an answer. When she waits ten seconds and nothing happens, she frowns and knocks again. He wouldnât know itâs her, why would he ignore it?
She pushes her face up to the door again and tries to see inside, her breath fogging against the glass, and then realizes all the lights in the basement are off.
âShit,â she says quietly. She doesnât want to show up at the front door at this time of night. His mom will probably answer and Max doesnât want to explain herself. She wanders around to the front of the house anyway, looking at which lights are on. Thereâs one on the ground floor that flickers and seems like it might be a TV, and thereâs one on in a room on the second floor. That room has pink wallpaper, though, so Max decides to assume itâs not the one sheâs looking for. The middle upstairs window is dark, and the one on the left has the blinds pulled halfway down, but she spots a familiar figure walking past it in the half second her eyes jump to it. Bingo.
She takes a breath to steel herself before bringing the walkie-talkie out of her jacket pocket and pressing down on the button. âMike, do you copy? Itâs Max. Over.â
The walkie crackles with static for a few seconds, and then clears up as an answer comes through. âYeah, I copy. What do you want? Over.â
âCan you come outside?â
It crackles again in the silence, and Max thinks that maybe this was insane and she should just go home. Then, âYouâre outside?â
The blinds lift all the way up and Max sees Mikeâs expression change from confused to surprised, like he didnât actually believe she was there. In a second, he has the window pulled up too and his head sticking out of it.
âWhat are you doing here?â He asks, his tone of voice anxious, and Max realizes he probably thinks something horrible has happened. In his head, thereâs likely no other reason she of all people would show up at his house at close to ten at night.
âNothing happened, if thatâs what youâre thinking,â she says, glancing away from him above her and noticing sheâs standing in front of the front door. This is not a good place to be. âI just- didnât want to be alone.â
She looks back up to find him staring at her like sheâs grown another head. âSo you came to me?â
Max huffs and crosses her arms. âWell, thereâs no one else to go to!â
âKeep your voice down!â He hisses. âDo you want my mom to hear you?â
She glares. Sheâs starting to think that this was a bad idea after all.
After a few seconds of mutinous eye contact, Mike puts a hand to his forehead exasperatedly. âGive me a minute, Iâll meet you at the basement door.â He shuts the window and pulls the blinds down without another word, so Max heeds the order and circles back around to where she left her bike. A few moments later, he comes out the door shrugging on a jacket over what looks like-
âAre those Star Wars pyjamas?â She asks, her mouth twisting into a teasing little smile. What does El see in this guy? As far as she knows, Lucas isnât this completely nerdy.
He gives her a flat look. âWhy do you have to have a problem with everything that I do?â
She frowns. âIt was just a question. Relax, jeez.â
In response, Mike puts his hands in his pockets and looks at her. âSo what do you want to do?â
Max balks for a second, awkwardness taking over her. This is so weird. Sheâs never willingly chosen to spend any of her time alone with Mike, and now she doesnât know what to do.
âUm⊠just- walk around, maybe?â
He shrugs at her answer and starts walking toward the line of trees behind the house, where thereâs a little path that leads off to the next street. Max follows quietly, a little moonlight shining down on them, and she thinks that the silence between them doesnât feel as explosive as it usually does.
Somewhere along the way, after theyâve crossed another street and gone down a path between two houses, Mike takes something shiny out of his pocket and starts playing with it, and Max sees that itâs a lighter.
âWhatâs that for?â She asks.
âLighting things up,â he says.
âYou smoke?â
âOnly sometimes.â
âSo whatâs it for the other times?â
He looks at her and his eyebrows furrow for a quick second, seemingly surprised that she inferred something about him correctly.
Mike shrugs again. âSometimes I go out to the woods and set dead leaves on fire one at a time just to watch them burn. Itâs weird how something that was alive once can just disintegrate right in front of you.â
Max isnât sure what to say to that, but she offers something anyway. âSometimes I steal my stepdadâs Bowie knife. Use it to stab trees,â she says casually. âSometimes I even carve that I hate him into them.â
Sheâs never told Lucas that. Something in her knows that he wouldnât relate, that his way of dealing with his anger is much calmer and reserved, but Mikeâs admission of low-level violence makes her feel less crazy for her own. Maybe Lucas was right in saying theyâre more alike than they think they are.
They come out of the trees behind the houses, and the path continues down a hill to a small playground area. There's a swing set that Max sits down on, the cold rubber biting through the fabric of her jeans and making her shiver. The chains creak when Mike sits in the one next to her. Heâs digging through his pockets for something.
Max is almost surprised when he pulls out a box of cigarettes and plucks one from the pack, lighting it, but given what heâd just told her two minutes ago itâs not that shocking. He takes a pull from it and then blows the smoke out into the air slowly.
âYou want some?â He asks, turning to her.
She remembers the choking sensation sheâd felt that time Billy had offered her a drag from his cigarette, and then her momâs reaction to it.
âYeah, why not.â Maybe if she still smells like smoke tomorrow, her mom will care enough to ask where sheâs been.
Mike hands it to her and the tips of his fingers are warm. âYouâve smoked before?â
âOnce,â Max says.
He nods and watches her, and she tries not to let the hot, ashy air she breathes in make her choke. She holds it for a few seconds and then blows it out, and it makes her feel less nervous than she was before about this whole situation.
The pair of them sit there in the darkness for a few minutes, sharing the cigarette in silence, before Max thinks to ask a question she never got a real answer for.
âWhy do you hate me so much?â
Mike doesnât look at her, sucking in another breath of smoke. âI donât hate you.â
âYou sure act like you do.â
âOh, and you donât?â He says sarcastically, still not looking at her. âIf I hated you why would I be here right now?â
âWell, if I hated you, why would I have come talk to you?â She retorts, trying to restrain the irritation she knows is probably written all over her. If she doesnât rein herself in, she knows this is going to go south quicker than she wants it to.
He laughs dryly. âYou said it yourself. You only came because thereâs no one else.â
Max bites back the anger thatâs trying to rise. He does have a point there, but sheâs not going to tell him that. Heâs also not answering her question.
âFine. Maybe you donât hate me.â
âI donât.â
âWhatâs your problem with me then?â
He hands her the end of the cigarette to finish and grabs onto the chains of the swing, dragging the toes of his Converse through the grass.
âYouâre always starting shit with me for no reason and it makes me so tired,â he says. âLike, weâd be friends just fine if we didnât argue every other day.â
âAnd whose fault is thatâŠâ Max murmurs under her breath, dropping the cigarette stub to the ground and putting it out with her foot.
Mike turns to her sharply. âUh, yours? You made El break up with me! How am I supposed to forget that?â
âI already told you I didnât make her!â Max says loudly. Why is he still on this? As far as Max is aware, theyâre basically back together anyway so itâs not like it made a difference. âAnd how am I supposed to forget how shit you made me feel the first week I was here?â
He looks away again. âI was pretty rude, Iâll give you that.â
She scoffs. âThatâs underrating it. You were a total asshole.â
He pushes himself forward a little bit and then lets himself swing back. âI guess I never really apologized for that. I do regret it.â
Max stays silent and waits for him to continue. Heâs slumped over in the swing, looking smaller and sadder than sheâs ever seen him look, and her heart twinges. She recognizes the defeat present in the way his shoulders are hunched, the complete and utter exhaustion at the state of their lives painted on his face. Itâs what she sees every day when she looks in the mirror.
âIt wasnât that I didnât like you, or something,â he tells her. âI was jealous that Lucas and Dustin seemed like they were moving on when I was soâŠâ
âMessed up?â She offers.
Mike shrugs. âYeah. And part of it was out of concern for you, too.â
Max furrows her brows in confusion. Thatâs new. âConcern?â She asks, shaking her head slowly. Her hair swings around her face like a curtain, blocking her vision, but she wants to look at Mike and see how he explains this. She tucks it away behind her ear.
âYeah,â he says again. âI could see how fucked up Will was, and I knew how fucked up I was. And Dustin and Lucas are good at pretending stuff doesnât affect them but I know it did. It does.â
âAnd?â
âAnd I didnât want someone new getting mixed up in our shit, okay?â He bursts out, meeting her curious gaze once again. âI didnât want someone else to have to experience the stuff we did. I thought if I made it obvious that I didnât want you there, you would leave. You know now, but when Lucas told you we couldnât tell you stuff for your own safety it was the truth.â
Max thinks about that. She supposes it makes sense. She has noticed that Mike tends to be the guy that worries about everyone elseâs safety, and always wants to get to the bottom of the problem before anyone gets hurt. Lucas is the same and itâs something she admires about him, but itâs overtly obvious in Mike when heâs always the one stressing about coming up with plans. Lucas is a little more go-with-what-the-adults-say.
âIâm sorry that I hurt you,â Mike finally says, and his expression is earnest. Heâs a bad liar anyway, so Max knows that he means it. Speaking of his lies⊠she has something to apologize for too.
âIâm sorry too,â she says. âFor judging your relationship too fast.â
He makes a weird noise when he registers what she said, almost like a laugh but kind of mad, too. âYeah, and for making my girlfriend dump me.â
Max reaches out towards him and smacks his arm, a spike of irritation fuelling her. âMike, how many goddamn times do I have to tell you I didnât make her?â
âWell, what the hell did you say to her to make her do that?!â He exclaims.
The peace of the previous moment is gone and Max crosses her arms over her chest defensively. âFrom what she told me, it sounded like you were just lying straight to her face so you didnât have to see her. All I did was tell her that if you did it again, she should dump your ass. You did it to yourself.â
Mike throws his arms up. âHopper made me lie! He told me if I didnât, he wouldnât let me see her anymore. You seriously think I wouldnât want to spend time with her? After everything we went through?â
She thinks for a second about the way heâd looked when El had walked back into their lives; the way he had seemed to drop all the negativity heâd been carrying around the second she came through that door. Max remembers thinking sheâd never been so sure about someoneâs presence in her life.
Heâs still on a roll. âWhat, is that why youâve dumped Lucas, like, seven times? You just break up with him the second he does something you donât like without even letting him explain himself?â
Bringing that up is a sore point. Max feels incredibly guilty for the way sheâs treated Lucas in the past, and sheâs trying to be better. Sheâd told him once that she knew she could be a jerk like her stepbrother sometimes, that she was angry just like he was, but that she didnât want to be like him. And then she turned around and behaved exactly like him, manipulating Lucasâ reactions and dumping him over and over because she knew he would come back. It made her feel like she was in control, the dominant one, the complete opposite of what she saw in her mother and what she felt in her house every day.
But she had come to a point where she realized that one day, Lucas would get fed up with her. There would come a day when he wouldnât stand for it anymore and heâd leave her permanently, and Max didnât think she could live with that. From then on, she had decided to try harder with him and make things better, to talk about her feelings more. Itâs always going to be difficult for her, but Lucas is worth it.
âDonât say that like you know anything about why I did that,â she says sharply, gripping so tightly onto the chain of the swing that the cold metal feels like ice in her hand.
Mike glares back at her, indignant. âOh, thatâs rich! Like you knew anything about me when you said that shit to El!â
Max stands up suddenly. âIâm tired of the lies, Mike! Do you know what itâs like to live in a house where your mom will watch your brother get beat up and leave the room so she can pretend it didnât happen? Where she doesnât care where you go or how you feel or whatâs going on with you because if she doesnât ask, she doesnât have to lie to herself that itâs okay? Where we all just donât talk about anything and pretend itâs all fine when it isnât?â
Sheâs breathing hard and heâs staring up at her with wide eyes, accustomed to her outbursts by now but not like this. Max sits back down on the swing, hard.
âI broke up with Lucas a lot because it made me feel like I had control,â she admits. âI needed to feel like I was in charge of the situation. I get enough of being treated second-class at home, and I donât want to be like my mom, ever.â
She looks back at Mike on the other swing and he doesnât look mad at her anymore, only like heâs processing what heâs just heard. It lets her own anger drain out of her.
âWhen El told me what you said, it reminded me of my mom,â Max continues. âShe seemed so confused on why you would do that and to me it looked like you were just using her when you wanted her and dropping her when you didnât. My mom kind of⊠disappears into whoever sheâs dating and just goes along with whatever they do, and it looked like that for me,â she finishes.
âI get it,â he says, and Max raises her eyebrows. âI mean, I donât get it personally, my parents arenât like that. I just meant I get where youâre coming from. It makes sense why you would think that way.â
âI didnât want the same thing that happens to my mom to happen to El,â Max adds. âShe is her own person, and she of all people deserves the chance to be that.â
At last, they find common ground. âI agree,â Mike replies. âSheâs been through enough in her life. And Iâm happy you and her are friends now,â he adds. âSeriously. It was kind of weird to imagine her having girl problems or something and talking to my sister about it. Iâm glad she has you.â
âIâm glad she has you,â Max says, and Mike looks shocked to hear her say it. âI might not get why, but I know you make her happy somehow. Even if you do wear Star Wars pyjamas.â
âHey!â He says, offended. âYou recognizing it means youâve seen it too. And I know for a fact you read comics, so youâre just as much of a nerd as me.â
Max shrugs, giving him the point. âAt least I can beat you at arcade games.â
âIs that a challenge?â He asks, swinging closer as if to intimidate her.
Max laughs, and itâs a real laugh for the first time in what feels like forever. âYouâre on.â
âTomorrow,â Mike suggests. âTwelve oâclock. Iâll meet you there.â
âBring painkillers,â she warns him. âYouâre gonna need them after Iâm done kicking your ass at every. Single. Game.â
âYou wonât beat me at Galaga,â he says proudly.
âWanna bet?â
They stand up and shake hands, and his feels pleasantly warm. Itâs a nice change from the frozen chain she was holding onto.
âLoser gets us fries,â Mike adds, and Max agrees to it. As if of one mind, they both turn back up the path they came from.
Theyâre back across the two streets they crossed and almost all the way back to Mikeâs house when Max speaks again.
âSo are we good?â She asks. She feels good about having aired out all the conflict she had with him, and heâs had this dumb smile on his face the whole time theyâve been walking back, which sheâs choosing to take as a good sign.
âYeah,â he says, looking at his feet. âWeâre good.â He smiles wider.
It brings a small smile to Maxâs own face. Having friends feels nice. âWhy are you smiling like that?â
He coughs a little, scratching his head. âJust thinking about how happy El will be when she finds out weâre not enemies anymore.â
Max rolls her eyes good-naturedly. âYou are so whipped.â
He shrugs as if to say, what can you do?
âI think Lucas and Dustin will benefit from having us not trying to kill each other every five seconds, too,â she says.
âDefinitely.â
âAlthough Iâll probably still be annoyed by half the things you say.â
Mike makes a face like heâs not surprised to hear that. âDonât worry about it. Youâre still annoying, I just like you now. No more actual fighting.â
âGood,â she replies, feeling happier than she has in days as they arrive back in his backyard. She can faintly see her bike lying in the grass.
Mike has the door to the basement halfway open by the time sheâs sitting on her bike ready to ride away, and at the last second lays a hand on her arm.
âHey, anytime you need somewhere to go⊠Iâm usually home,â he says, looking at her directly. Itâs a simple thing to say, but she knows what he means by it. Heâs telling her that he understands that sometimes her house is not a home, and that sheâs always welcome in his if she needs it.
âThanks,â she responds, and for once she is truly thankful for Mike Wheelerâs existence.
âWell, good night,â he answers, and awkwardly salutes her out of nowhere.
Max squints at him confusedly for a second. âIâll... see you tomorrow,â she says haltingly.
He looks kind of embarrassed and shuts the door quickly, and Max rides off back to her house. That was random.
However, she is looking forward to tomorrow. She has a feeling Mikeâs going to be the type of friend sheâs constantly competing with, ribbing back and forth to see who can be worse just like they usually do, but this time knowing theyâre both forgiven for their mistakes. Itâs different from her other friendships for sure, but she thinks itâll be good. Lucas is going to be pleased.
Maybe the wait until Thursday wonât be so bad after all.
#YALL please let me know what you think of this#i have so many thoughts on this pairing#SO MANY#also if you liked it please rb to share so more people can read it!! <3#stranger things#stranger things 2#stranger things 3#stranger things fanfiction#urdearestmom
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