#but when there's only like a few days before the sec phase. just cause.

[caluupin]

wow they really be drip marketing a bit more than usual lol, 4.7 got clorinde, sigewinne, and sethos.

I did hear that clorinde AND sigewinne are going to show up but I didn't really expect sethos along with them.

[chipped-chimera]

I’m putting this on here just for a sec, even tho this blog is new as heck - this is what had me log out of my art main @kerynean​ after only logged in for like, a minute. I’ll be real, this tech is what’s killed so much of my personal motivation to draw when I was already struggling with it (twitter’s obsession with ‘content’ meaning artists were pushing themselves to burn-out levels to draw and audience curation and you’re not an artist anymore you’re a content creator - did I mention rampant theft without credit - just to name a few sticking points), so I’ll probably not be logging in for a while cause I just can’t stomach it.

I am finding solace in other creative outlets (finally learning modding after like, 10 years of saying I would) that align with my existing skillset so I still feel challenged and stuff but art feels out of the question at the moment.

When will I get back to it? No idea. I have listened to speculative talks about AI tech especially in the art sector and I do agree with the slightly more positive outlook that it is eventually going to fill it’s own niche similar to photography - the current problem is this tech is moving faster than we can keep up and have conversations about what we should be doing with it and how and this is how shit like this happens. It’s novel, new, and less cost - of course people are gonna jump on that.

But end of the day we read novels and value art more because of the people behind them, knowing an AI produced the product has an element of devaluing (provided the person doesn’t lie about the origin of the work - that’s it’s own issue). So hopefully this phase is closer to the same flash in the pan that NFT shit was - right now it looks bleak but if we’re given time to let it settle it’s more likely to find it’s own space (though I’ll be real I’d appreciate it if those AI dudebros made their own goddamn website to post their shit to instead of plaguing actual, professional portfolio websites like Artstation - and the website controllers didn’t have mashed potato for brains but I digress).

That said, damage has been done and damage will continue to be done until we figure out where this is gonna land. This tech is dropped on the public without even considering the implications - it’s been talked about before, but we’re basically the guinea-pigs here for AI tech. There’s no lab with university rules and regulations, this is commercial, big money and whoever gets to the top first stands to make the most. It’s not small money other, I think something like an eyewatering 6 trillion dollars has been recently added to these AI companies. This is like the space race. Except it’s not countries, it’s tech we probably only half understand how it works and it’s being dropped on everyone else to ‘deal with’.

This seems so wild to be talking about, especially on this Cyberpunk 2077 account I’ve started but I’ve been thinking constantly about this one bit from the Cyberpunk RED manual I started reading a few days ago:

We’re not there.

Hopefully we won’t go there. But as an artist, I’m definitely starting to feel some of these things.

As a long time science fiction fan: we’ve imagined these stories for years. We’ve been thinking about the consequences for years. We’ve been warning each other for years. So idk maybe slow down and think about ‘should we’ instead of just ‘could we’.

fuuuuuuuuck

[knivesareout]

like it or not

Pairing: Santiago ‘Pope’ Garcia x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings: FLUFF, seriously so much fluff it’s disgusting. Food mention. Possible typos?

Summary: Kids aren’t afraid to speak their mind and your daughter is no exception. 

A/N: Based off this TikTok. The fic wrote itself, basically. Was gonna write it for a Pedro character but someone (@michaelperry​ @marvelousmermaid​) mentioned Santi so here we are. AO3 link here. Enjoy!

---

It was a quiet Sunday morning and you were basking in the silence.

You’d left bed only a few minutes ago with a sleeping Santi and your daughter curled up soundly against his side, snoring softly. It was rare that the two of them slept later than you did on any given day and you planned to take advantage for as long as you could manage.

It started out with a quick shower in the guest bathroom. Less chances of them waking up, you figured, not willing to chance it. After that it was a face mask that you’d managed to grab from your own bathroom while you fully moisturized your body with the lotion tucked under the cabinet.

As much as you loved your little family, and you did, it was nice to have time to yourself. Things were almost always chaos around your house; with Lucy running and getting into everything her hands could reach and Santi working later hours, you were feeling run down and it seemed like someone was smiling down on you this morning to allow you the peace and quiet you’d desperately needed. 

You figure it was probably best to start on breakfast now before Lucy woke up and decided she wanted to help. Usually you didn’t mind her asking to help but it almost always ended up in a mess and this morning it wasn’t something you really wanted to deal with if you could avoid it. 

Music plays quietly in the background of the kitchen. It was a soft rock playlist Santi had made for you when you first started dating. It reminds you of stolen kisses and long distance phone calls in the middle of the night when he was stationed in another country-  harder but simpler times. A time before mortgages, shared finances, and your daughter.

By the time the pancakes are done and you start working on the eggs, you hear heavy footsteps climbing down the stairs and smile. As sad as you were to have your quiet morning coming to an end, you knew the smell of breakfast was bound to wake them up sooner rather than later. 

“Good morning mi reina,” Santi greets you, walking into the kitchen with Lucy hiked up high on his hip, still dressed in his boxers and a black shirt. Her head was buried sleepily in his neck, her pj’s askew from a heavy night’s sleep, curls wild, and the image has your heart squeezing. 

“Morning handsome,” you call back, pushing the eggs around in the pan.

Santi sidles up to you to press a kiss to your cheek and you lean over, pressing one to Lucy’s forehead. “Morning baby, did you sleep okay?”

She nods tiredly, looking around. “Pancakes for breakfast?”

Of course she skips right over the eggs you were clearly cooking and you roll your eyes, reaching over to tickle her tummy. “Yes and eggs too,” you told her and she giggles, shying away from your hands. 

You start to plate everything up once the eggs are done, bringing them over to the table while Santi buckles Lucy up in her booster seat. 

“How long have you been up babe?” 

“A couple hours, maybe?” You tell him, cutting up Lucy’s pancakes and drizzling them lightly with syrup before sliding it closer to her. “You two were passed out and I couldn’t sleep anymore so I figured I’d get a head start on everything.”

You all dig in, hands moving faster than your mouths can chew. 

Lucy’s covered in syrup by the time you’re all done with breakfast, face and hands sticky and you’re just thankful she didn’t get any in her hair. 

“I’ll take care of the dishes if you wanna go clean her up?”

You take your boyfriend up on the offer quickly. He knows doing dishes is your least favorite chore and you pull your sticky handed daughter out of her booster seat, careful to avoid her grip. “How do you always get so sticky, my little gremlin?”

“No mommy,” she tells you, going to grab for your face but you dodge her hands, laughing on your way to the bathroom. 

She doesn’t fight you as you wipe carefully at her chubby cheeks, lips blowing raspberries while you clean her up. “You’re so silly, my little monkey. Come on, let’s see if daddy’s finished the dishes.”

Once she’s on her own two feet, she takes off towards the kitchen and you’re slow to follow her. It seemed like only yesterday she was barely learning how to walk and now she’s running through the house at full speed, letting nothing get in her way. 

“So, what’s the plan for today? Or is there no plan and we’re just winging it?”

Santi’s finished loading the dishwasher when you find him, Lucy messing with the magnets towards the bottom of the refrigerator and trying to see how high she can get them as she jumps. 

There’s so much that needs to be done. Laundry was piling up in the mud room, the front and backyard both needed to be mowed, and the house was in desperate need of a full sweep and yet, there was no desire to do any of it. 

“Can we just sit on the couch and watch movies all day?” 

Lucy squeals below you, clapping. “Nemo!” She starts chanting, abandoning the magnets to hop into the living room, curls bouncing, and you sigh. It wasn’t exactly what you had in mind but you don’t have the heart to tell her no. 

Santi just shoots you an apologetic smile, pulling you into his chest and kissing the top of your forehead. “Maybe she’ll nap soon?”

“You two just woke up,” you remind him, poking him gently in the stomach. 

He just laughs, guiding you two into the living room where Lucy’s waiting patiently on the couch. 

“Come here munchkin,” Santi dives for her, easily picking her up and settling her in his lap once he’s comfortable on the couch. 

You settle on the loveseat by yourself, spreading yourself out on the cushions and pull up Finding Nemo on Disney+. 

It was the 3rd time in the last week you all had watched this particular movie. Lucy was going through a “fish phase” as Santi liked to call it, and it was easy for you to drift off, the noise familiar. 

An hour later, loud giggles fill your ears and you turn on the loveseat to see Lucy crawling over her father like a jungle gym, using his arms as a monkey bar and it puts a sleepy smile on your face as you watch the two of them. 

“Mommy’s awake,” Santi whispers loudly to Lucy once he spots your eyes cracking open and she squeals when she sees you.

“Hi baby. Sorry I fell asleep,” you tell her, turning around to sit up, rubbing at your tired eyes with a yawn.

“It’s okay mommy. Daddy says you woke up early and was tired,” she explains, sitting half on Santi’s shoulder and half on his back as he lays down across the couch. 

You hum quietly as the movie continues to play, checking the time to see it was only half past 12. Your eyes drift back towards your daughter and boyfriend, watching as Lucy starts to stroke the side of Santi’s head and looks at him curiously. 

“Daddy, you have paint on your hair,” she tells him, pointing at a thicker patch of gray that had become more prominent in the last couple of months.

Santi looks at you for help, clearly confused as to what she was talking about but you shrug, trying to hold back your grin.

“Paint on my hair?” He asks her. 

“Yeah, right there,” she points to the grays and a quiet giggle escapes your lips. Santi seems to understand then and huffs.

“No princesa, that’s gray hair.” 

“Gray hair?” She strokes the patch, tugging on it a little and Santi winces.

“Yeah, cause your daddy’s old.” 

Santi shoots you a death glare and Lucy just giggles above him, moving herself off his back and jumping on the empty cushion at the end of the couch by Santi’s feet.

“Daddy’s old, daddy’s old!”

“Luciana Rose Garcia, don’t be mean to your father,” you try to scold her but your tone is light and honestly the whole thing is just hilarious. Santi’s pouting as he watches his daughter chant about how old he is and you sit up, moving to place yourself in his lap and pull him into your chest.

“I think the gray is sexy,” you tell him quietly in his ear, tugging the hair at the back of his head.

“Mommy!” Lucy jumps towards you and places herself in your lap and it’s one big pile of limbs now on top of Santi once she’s settled in.

The movie’s over 20 minutes later and you’re thankful. Lucy’s eyes have started to droop as the movie ends and you heave a sigh of relief. 

“I’m gonna put her to bed but I’ll see you in the bedroom in 10?”

You slide off Santi’s lap, careful not to jostle your 4 year old too much until she’s situated against your chest and snoring softly against your shoulder.

He nods, looking up at you with clear admiration written across his face and you nudge his foot with yours. “See you in a sec, old man.”

[hops-hunny]

Felix Felicis

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Hufflepuff! Reader

Word Count: 2.3k

Request: “Can you do Draco x Hufflepuff reader fluff where they’re cuddling together and all he wants to do is make her laugh because she failed an exam earlier that day so he’s trying to do everything he can to cheer her up and overall it’s just super fluffy? Thank you have a great day❤️❤️”

Summary: After (Y/N) has a rather unfortunate week, Draco does everything in his power to change that. In a way, he was (Y/n)’s own little Felix Felicis.

A/N: This was my first request so I was a bit nervous writing it! I enjoyed every bit though, this was a very cute request. I hope it was everything you wanted and more anon <3

If (Y/n) didn't know any better, she would've claimed that the world had it out for her. And after the week she had, who would have blamed her? On Monday in potions, she had stirred the wrong way causing a reaction that made her eyebrows disappear(thank god for makeup). On Tuesday, she had slipped and fallen in the great hall which caused a chorus of laughter from every house, including her fellow Hufflepuffs. Wednesday, well, nothing happened. She felt relieved. She had answered a question correctly in DADA, had a free period that overlapped with her friends, and had taken an exam in potions which in her opinion was very easy! Her stroke of bad luck was no more! She was ecstatic...until Thursday came around. If she had thought the rest of the week was bad, then Thursday was absolutely fucking dreadful. Her day started off fine, she woke up, got dressed, and put on her favorite perfume. She didn’t use it often, only when she expected the day to be amazing 

That hopeful feeling of luck was short lived and ended by the time she got to the great hall. The Weasley twins had rigged a prank on the wrong person which resulted in her face being stained blue, when she got to her first class her seat was taken by someone else which she didn’t have a problem with. That was until she noticed the only seat left was near Fletcher Digby, who was known for his noticeable...odor that was...to put it nicely, absolutely putrid. By the end of her day, she had gathered up a broken shoe, a run in her stockings, a rip in her blouse, and the blue tint to her face had somehow gotten worse - which she later found out was sweat activated. (Y/n) was usually very optimistic. Even during the cloudiest of days or saddest of times she was always there to offer encouraging words and a smile. If a fellow Hufflepuff was sick, she’d often bake them something with the house elves or give them the last of her sweets from Honeydukes. She even did this for people in other houses as well, a ‘Get Well Soon!’ card attached along with it. That’s what her boyfriend, Draco, loved about her.

She was his light in all the darkness, the candle to his flame. When she came into his life, she taught him many things. His love for her was deep and pure and anyone would be a fool not to notice. That’s why Draco was concerned when he started to see her throughout the week less and less. During the school day, they didn’t have any classes together but even then he’d always wave or smile to her during hallpassing. He’d leave a kiss on her forehead in the great hall before heading to his own table and waited for her after her last class of the day on Friday. So when Draco found himself waiting a lot longer than usual outside of the potion’s room he grew concerned. He pushed past a few students entering the room. His smile dropped when there was no one left in the room but Fletcher Digby. Come to think of it, had he seen her at all today? He assumed she came to the great hall late but now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen her leave with her friends. There were no quick pecks during hallpassing, winks when they saw each other. He quickly strode the halls, looking for her. He was worried, it wasn’t like (y/n) to just miss a day of class with no warning or explanation prior. 

“Hannah, have you seen (Y/n)? I haven’t seen her all day and I'm growing quite worried.” He said pulling the Hufflepuff off to the side. If anyone were to know where she was, surely her roommate would. The girl took a moment to think. 

“Hm, no. I haven’t seen her since this morning. Before I left the dorm, she was still sleeping. She was really distraught last night so I’m not surprised she decided to stay in. However, I do admit that is completely unlike her.” She offered him a sympathetic smile as he thanked her before heading in the direction of the girls dormitory.

He knocked on the door, finding it to not be locked as it popped open. He walked in only to find that her bed was empty. The only person to be found was Luna, who was holding (Y/n)’s favorite stuffed giraffe (one he had given to her as a present once). She hadn’t noticed him yet but wasn’t phased when he let out a sharp, “What are you doing with that?” she simply turned around and offered him a soft grin.

“Hello Draco, (Y/n) asked me to bring this to her. She was having a terribly bad case of wrackspurts today. One of the worst cases I’ve seen really. So she went where she usually does when she has a bad day although, I think you should bring it to her now that you’re here. Also give her this, it’s a good luck charm I made for her. It should get rid of the wrackspurts and bring luck along with it.” She spoke, handing him the stuffed giraffe and a necklace with a peculiar charm made of tiger’s eye. He looked at it for a sec before taking it, offering her a nod before heading off where he knew you’d be.

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

You sat cross legged on the old, comfy couch, drinking the cup of chamomile and lavender tea Hagrid had brought to you. You had grown quite close to the gentle giant throughout your years at Hogwarts. During your first year, you were having an awful day, not as bad as the week you were currently going through but still quite a bad one. You were homesick and missed your family dearly. Your housemates tried to cheer you up with treats and kind words and although you appreciated them dearly, nothing could stop the tears from flowing. That’s when Luna came in, she brought you straight to Hagrid’s hut and explained your dilemma. He welcomed you both in, brewing you tea and offering whatever treats he had. Soon enough, your tears stopped. Hagrid’s hut slowly started to become your home away from home as he offered it to you whenever you liked without asking any questions if you weren’t willing to talk.

Usually, you’d slowly start to tell him what was wrong but today was one of those silent days. Many would expect Hagrid to be absolutely horrid with emotions but, he had like a 6th sense when it came to them. He decided to leave you alone for a few hours, tending to his duties. When he came back, he had gotten you your favorite dessert from the house elves. They were always more than willing to send and make you things because of how kind and helpful you were to them. You sipped at your tea as you softly pet Fang’s head which was resting in your lap. You and Fang’s heads both perked up as you heard a knock at the door. Hagrid walked to the door to see who it was.

“Ah, I figured I would see ya sometime soon.” he said, stepping to the side to let whoever it was in. Draco stepped into the small hut, closing the door as he came to sit near you on the couch. You instantly threw yourself into his arms which in turn, caused him to wrap his arms around you tightly, placing a kiss on the top of your head as he stroked your back. Hagrid took that as his sign to leave, taking the large dog with him. Draco let you cry a bit, his heart breaking at the noises.

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere, love. Are you alright? Luna told me to give you these.” He said as he handed the girl her giraffe. She hugged it tightly as he put the charm around her neck. She sat between her lover’s legs sighing. He held her close as she described her day, his heart aching from all that she had to deal with and his mind cursing him for not realizing sooner.

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

“And on top of all of that, I failed my potions exam! That wouldn’t have been bad if I hadn’t gone on blabbing to all my friends how well I thought I did on the bloody thing. I just feel like the world has it out for me.” She said looking up at him. He nodded in understanding. He had stayed quiet as she had vent to him, just providing the listening ear she needed. That’s when he got a few ideas. He smiled before standing up, stretching his hand out for the girl to grab.

“Come with me. I’ve got an idea! Quickly, we mustn’t be caught.” He said eagerly as he stared at her. She hesitantly grabbed his hand, setting Georgie, her giraffe, on the couch before she was swiftly dragged out of the hut. Draco pulled his girlfriend along, running as she tried to keep up due to the fact her legs were much shorter.

“Where are we going, Dray?” She asked which prompted a quick “shhh!!” from Draco. They both ran across the grounds of the school, hand in hand as to not be caught. (Y/n) had no idea where he was taking her but she thought anything would be better than moping around the rest of the day. They both tried to contain the wild giggles coming from their mouths as they headed in the direction of Hogsmeade.

------------------------------- 

As they finally made it, they both still had smiles on their faces at the rush they had gotten from sneaking off. Draco had tied his tie around the girl’s eyes leading her in the way of whatever wild idea it was that he had. “What if we get caught? Someone is bound to see us.” she said, her face forming a frown at the thought of being caught.

“Oh hush darling, we’ll be fine. Besides if we do happen to get caught in some trouble, I’m sure my father won’t mind bailing us out.” He said, finally removing her blindfold. She opened her eyes to see...Madam Puddifoots? She gave him a strange look. “We’re here to get a laugh out of the things that happen in here, sweets. Trust me, you’ll see. Act natural.” He took her hand, leading her to a small booth. 

Soon enough, she saw and heard what he meant. The sight of all the couples with their peculiar behaviors was quite a laugh. They saw one couple come in with matching crochet sweaters with each others faces on it, another referred to each other as each others “snuggle-boop-kitty-fuzy-wuzzykins”and only that each time they spoke to each other. But along with the odd, mushy, and gushy couples came a few odd breakups too. One man tried to propose by reciting an “original poem” which turned out to be stolen, causing his boyfriend to dump scalding hot tea on his head. Another guy forgot he scheduled dates with 4 different girls at the same spot, on the same day..didn’t end well for him. A few employees had to carry him out on a stretcher as the girls all exchanged numbers.

By the time they were back on their way to the castle, (Y/n) was already in a better mood. She held an ice cream cone in one hand, and Draco’s hand in her other. They both paused coming to the same realization. Although it was easy to sneak out, how would they sneak back in? The couple locked eyes at the same time before Draco picked her up, tossing her over his shoulder. (Y/n) made sure her ice cream didn’t fall as her boyfriend sprinted in the shadows, using a passageway she had never seen before to get back into the castle. Once inside, they both held in their giggles, quieting their breathing from the run back to the castle as they made their way to his dorm. By then she had long finished her ice cream as he tossed her on his bed, throwing himself down next to her shortly after. (Y/n) rolled over towards Draco to find him already facing her. The pair sat in silence for a moment before both losing composure. They began to laugh hysterically, to the point where a tear or two was shed. After their little laughing fit, Draco sat up, pulling his girlfriend on top of him. She turned, straddling him as she placed a soft kiss on his lips before resting her head on his shoulder.

“I just wanted to say thank you Draco. Not even just for today but for being there whenever I need you. This was honestly one of the worst weeks of my life but if I’m honest, I’d go through it all again to have another evening like the one we just had.” She said as she nuzzled in deeper, taking in the scent of expensive cologne and cinnamon. Her lover was taken back by her words. She was the only one who made him feel like that. Her words meant more to him than anything in the world. He tightened his grip on her, holding her close to him.

“I’d do it all again and more just to see you happy. Why don’t we make this a regular thing of ours, hm? Every friday, we’ll sneak outside the castle and do whatever we want, indulging to our hearts can’t handle it anymore? Even if not, everyday with you is an adventure, sneaky trips or not.” He said. Draco meant what he said full heartedly, everyday she managed to make his life an adventure, learning new things about himself that he didn’t know were there. It was like he was a canvas and she was the painter, each day, each moment, a different stroke of color on his heart.

Perhaps it was Luna’s good luck charm or perhaps it was them, but from then on out each day seemed luckier than the last when he had his girl on his arm.

[gwenbrightly]

The Great Flower Chain Making Competition

Written for the @ninjago-calendar project. The Ninja take Lloyd on a picnic and Cole teaches everyone how to make flower chains.

“He needs normalcy,” Lloyd heard Nya tell his uncle in a hushed voice. He paused outside of his uncle’s room to hear what would come next.  

“But his training-” Wu started in, but Kai interrupted him. 

“But nothing, Master Wu. You can’t expect him to adjust to being the Green Ninja right away without problems. He’s just a kid, so let him be one.” 

There was silence for a moment and Lloyd could easily imagine Nya giving Wu her signature you’d better do as I say or else look to prove her brother’s point. He waited to hear the response, not quite sure what they were talking about, but knowing it involved him. 

“I… suppose you have a point,” Wu admitted eventually, “you can do what you asked on one condition: Everyone stays nearby and return to the Bounty immediately if I contact you.” 

“That’s technically two conditions,” said Nya, pointedly. Wu sighed.  

“Don’t make me regret this.” 

“We won’t,” Kai assured him and then the door opened before Lloyd could disappear around the corner. Nya raised an eyebrow when she saw him.  

“Lloyd, were you… eavesdropping?” 

“N-no,” he insisted at first, but both siblings immediately saw through his lie. 

“How much did you hear, Lloyd?” Kai asked quietly. Lloyd shrugged.  

“I dunno. Not much. But you guys really didn’t have to get on Wu’s case for me over training. I’m fine.” Another lie.  

“Considering we literally just got you back from a group of traitorous snakes, I’d say it’d be completely understandable if you weren’t fine. And besides, it’s our duty to protect you. Even from your uncle,” Kai stated fiercely, ruffling Lloyd’s hair. Nya nodded in agreement.  

“Which is why we convinced him to give everyone the day off so we can take you to do something fun!” she announced. Lloyd blinked.  

“Fun?” he repeated blankly. He had to admit that doing something to get his mind off of, well, everything, sounded appealing. But there was so much to be done now that he knew he was the Green Ninja. Could he even afford a day off? Lloyd wasn’t sure how all this destined savior business worked.  

“That’s right! We’re going on a picnic!”  

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Lloyd questioned, not sharing Nya’s enthusiasm, “I mean, the Serpentine probably want revenge for what happened at the fire temple.” 

“Sure it is. We’ll just have to be careful,” Nya assured him at the same time as Kai insisted, “We only have good ideas!” 

They rolled their eyes at each other, but neither backed down.  

“We’re not taking no for an answer, Lloyd. Fresh air is good for shrimps like you,” Kai continued, giving Lloyd a smile. Lloyd knew he was probably right, though he didn’t know much about fresh air. Darkley’s had always been kind of stuffy.  

Nya looked at him expectantly. He bit his lip.  

“Fine. But if anything goes wrong, I’m telling Pythor to eat you first,” Lloyd relented. A few hours away  couldn’t do any harm.  

_________________________

“I think we’re almost there,” Cole announced. Lloyd could just make out the clearing up ahead. After gathering the rest of the ninja and packing lunch, which had been a hectic affair, the group had set out to find the perfect picnic spot. Cole claimed to “know a place” and the others had eagerly followed his lead.  Lloyd had never been on a picnic before, so he wasn’t really sure what they were looking for, but hopefully it would all make sense sooner or later.  

“Awesome,” Nya said, running her hands together enthusiastically.  

“Yeah,” Kai agreed, sounding less excited, “what did you put in this thing, Zane? My arms are starting to get tired.” 

“Oh, just the picnic essentials.” Zane called over his shoulder. Kai held the picnic basket in front of him, giving it a distaste glare.  

“You sure you didn’t pack the kitchen sink?” 

The nindroid deigned not to reply and Kai continued to mutter complaints as they continued down the trail. Deciding to have mercy on Kai after a few minutes (he was a little tired of the complaining), Lloyd asked,  

“Want me to take it for a sec?” 

“I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” Cole cut in, “we’re here.” 

“Thank goodness,” Kai declared, staggering forward to set the basket down on a tree stump. Lloyd rolled his eyes at his dramatics before wandering off to explore while Nya and Jay spread out the ginormous picnic blanket they had stolen from Wu. 

 He found a stream not far from where Kai had left the picnic basket. Sitting down amongst the reeds, Lloyd watched the water ripple and swirl. He could see tiny minnows swimming in and out of the shadows. What other creatures might be lurking nearby?  

Maybe after they ate, Kai would be interested in helping him find out. There could be water snakes, turtles, or maybe even frogs! Frogs liked marshy areas – didn’t they?  

Lloyd could just imagine the look on Jay’s face when he and Kai brought back the biggest, slimiest frog they could find. He giggled maniacally as he skipped a stone across the stream. It bounced a few times before sinking with a soft plunk. The minnows scattered. Lloyd sighed happily, watching them.  

There was something so peaceful about this place. About the way the gentle breeze tickled the flowers that covered the meadow. Maybe he should pick some for Nya. Girls liked flowers, didn’t they? There hadn’t been many girls at Darkleys.  

Of course, there was always the possibility that she was allergic to flowers. After all, Nya had once told him that she had a perfume allergy. He should probably ask Kai about that before he went and picked too many flowers for her…  

“Lloyd! It’s time for lunch.”  

Someone called, interrupting his thoughts. Plans for pestering his honorary siblings would have to wait. Lloyd sidled over to the picnic blanket and plopped down next to Kai, who handed him a plate.  

“So, Cole. How did you know about this place?” Jay inquired as he set out the sandwich supplies. Cole smiled wistfully and explained,  

“My parents brought me here a few times when I was a kid. We would play in the stream for hours and then Mom would teach me how to make flower chains and force Pop and I to wear them. It was really fun.” 

“Aww. That sounds nice,” Nya commented. She held out a jar of peanut butter to Lloyd, who happily accepted it. He slathered some onto his bread, listening to Cole share more stories about his childhood. Lloyd wished his own parents had been around to take him on picnics and have water fights with him. But that wasn’t the way the world worked.  

With a sigh, Lloyd took a bite of his sandwich. Just the right ratio of jelly to peanut butter. Perfect.  

“You mentioned flower chains, right?” Jay asked through a mouthful of food. It sounded more like he was saying, “Ooh entond oor Jane’s ight?” 

“Yeah?” Cole replied, raising an eyebrow. Jay swallowed before continuing.  

“This might sound kinda silly, but… I’ve always wondered how people make those.” 

“Oh, it’s easy!” Cole announced with a grin, “want me to teach you after we finish eating?” 

“I, for one, would love to learn,” Nya stated. She took a bite of jello salad and glanced around at the others, who nodded.  

“As would I,” Zane agreed serenely. Kai smirked and said,  

“Sure. Why not. But I say we make it a competition.” 

“A competition?” Lloyd asked curiously, his eyes widening. That sounded promising.

“Yeah! I’m thinking we each make a flower chain, and whoever has the best one wins. We can, like, have Master Wu judge them when we get back to the Bounty, or something,” Kai explained.

“That sounds kinda fun,” Nya decided, before turning to Lloyd, “whaddya think? You in?”

Lloyd shrugged noncommittally, but ultimately agreed to join in. He had nothing better to do and was awfully curious about these… flower chains, anyway. What was the point of making chains from flowers? It wasn’t like you could use such a chain to trap enemies or anything exciting. Oh, well. He knew this entire trip was just to distract him from Green Ninja stuff. So it was probably okay if there were no practical applications for flower chains that he could use to cause chaos later on.  

The small boy shoved what was left of his sandwich into his mouth and chewed messily as he gazed around the meadow. There sure were a lot of flowers to choose from. He wondered how they would know which were best to use. And how long it was going to take the others to finish their food. Lloyd was starting to get bored of sitting there with nothing to do. 

“All right, listen up, people. What you’re looking for is flowers with nice long stems, like this,” Cole finally announced. He held up a daffodil. “That makes it easier to weave them together. Once everyone has their supplies, meet back here, and I’ll explain the rest. Everybody ready?” 

“Aye, aye, captain!” Jay said. He gave a teasing salute and trotted off across the meadow. Cole rolled his eyes as he watched him go.  

“Apparently, we have started,” Zane observed with a wry smile. The others laughed. 

“Yeah, I think it’s safe to say the competition has begun.” Cole agreed. 

“Well? What are we waiting for?” Nya asked before nudging Lloyd, “We can’t let Jay beat us!”

She grabbed his arm and drug him off toward the opposite end of the meadow from where Jay had gone.

“Are teams even legal?” Lloyd heard Kai ask in the distance. 

“I never said they weren’t.” came the response. Nya giggled and came to a stop. 

“This looks like a good place to start picking flowers,” she said, bending over to examine a patch of irises. Lloyd nodded and plucked one, careful to make sure the stem was long enough to meet Cole’s standards. 

“Perfect.” Nya smiled approvingly. She began gathering an armful of flowers of her own. Red, then pink, then white, then purple. The two soon had sizable clumps of irises and various other flowers they had found growing nearby. Ready for the next phase of the competition, they returned to the picnic blanket just as the others began heading back. 

“Congratulations, competitors. You have completed the first challenge,” Cole stated in his best announcer voice. The rest of the group cheered with much more vigor than was truly necessary. They were all quite invested in the competition by this point. 

“Now you must learn how to make flower chains from the pro himself. Watch as I demonstrate,” Cole continued. He showed them how to weave the flowers together by taking clumps of 3 and braiding them in an intricate pattern. Next, he showed them how to connect new flowers to the braid by counting several stems as a single strand while braiding. 

The project had mixed results. Cole kept having to jump in to assist Kai before he could tear his flowers apart in frustration (they wouldn’t stay in place), while Jay’s weaving was so complex that even Zane couldn’t make sense of his strategy. 

Nya and Lloyd were hard at work designing a pattern of colors that was extra appealing to the eye when they realized that they had neglected to collect any blue flowers. Nya nodded her head meaningfully towards Jay’s pile of flowers, which contained a variety of blue wildflowers. Lloyd grinned and swapped spots with her, giving her easy access to Jay’s stash.

“Hey, Jay- I seem to be having trouble with this part… mind helping me out?” she asked ever so innocently. Jay flashed her a smile and scooted closer to her before launching into a tirade about the art of braiding. 

“Mhm. Oh, that makes sense,” Nya commented, pretending to be interested as she slipped a few of the flowers from Jay’s pile into Lloyd’s waiting hands. She continued to do this for several minutes before Jay finally caught on. 

“Hey. Hey wait! You can’t do that!” he protested in frustration. Nya simply smiled. 

“All is fair in love and war, Jay.”

“Yeah!” Lloyd agreed, nodding vigorously. Jay glared at him. 

“Do you even know what that means?” he asked. 

“Nope!” Lloyd said, happily adding a blue flower to his chain. All in all, the picnic had been way more exciting than he’d expected. 

[tobiosmilktea]

Hiiii!! can i request fluff hc’s with kuroo, akaashi and iwa where their girlfriend has really bad anxiety and they ran out of meds but a refill for the meds doesn’t arrive for a couple of days, so they’re going through withdrawal of their meds and having really bad symptoms? like throwing up and having panic attacks? i’m sorry, this is really specific but i’m having a really hard time rn without my meds, i really appreciate it and i hope you have a good day! you also don’t have to take this🥺💗

anxiety attacks w/ kuroo, akaashi, and iwaizumi

— k. tetsurou

kuroo hasn’t seen you in this bad of a state in ages and he kinda doesn’t know what to do

he’s incredibly worried and wants to help you get better so badly but all he could do is be by your side

two more days is all. two more days before you can be back on track and you will be ok again. that’s what kuroo hoped for anyway

he would hold your hair back when you run to the toilet to through up, maybe even tell you to “wait a sec” just so he could run into your bedroom to grab a scrunchie to tie your hair back

mans would literally sprint in between each wave of bile before you were throwing up again

when your stomach had subsided you and kuroo would stay in the bathroom for a while with you still sitting near the toilet just in case another round of throw up made its way up your esophagus as kuroo sat on the edge of the bathtub

he doesn’t want to make you move to a more practical spot as you looked fragile. he just didn’t want to put any more stress on you

since he isn’t used to this type of thing, he’s definitely learning along the way, reading up on articles or even saving those instagram posts with tips on how to deal with these things

it is a bit bumpy the first time around, but as long as kuroo doesn’t feel like he’s making it worse for you is enough to make him feel like he’s doing okay

— a. keiji

unlike kuroo who doesn’t really know what to do, akaashi is already prepared for your sudden panic attack

he’s already by your side, rubbing comforting circling on your back as he held your hair back

akaashi’s already a pretty calm guy even in the most stressful situations, so it was a definite advantage at a time like this as acting stressed trying to help you would only make your panic attack worse

homeboy has so much patience, i don’t know how this guy does it but he’s so patience and understanding with you, the throw up on his shirt when you missed the bowl by a few inching didn’t even phase him by the slightest

become as of right now, you were his only priority

akaashi would help slow your breathing down with his presence so warm

honestly just his comforting touch is enough to calm you down even by a little bit

he’d probably stay by your side 24/7 until you’re okay or until your meds come in

will probably cook for you, let you pick a movie or tv show to watch, etc

akaashi’s literally the best i love him

— i. hajime

ceo of soft reassurances and comforting pats on the back

he knows not to override your already erratic mind by constantly talking

you always see him being loud and yelling at oikawa, but this is one of those rare times where he is slowed down and calm around you

iwa would clip your hair back before hand and rub the tiniest, yet comforting circles on your back as he waited for you to spill of your contents into the toilet

you would always apologize to him, but iwa would always shut your apology down and say that it wasn’t your fault. it wasn’t anyway

“you can get through this, (y/n), you can do it. i’m proud of you.”

he would even ask you to picture your happy place and the moment you mentioned that your happy place is him had ignited so many fireworks in his gut

he loves you so much, he just wants you to feel better

will in fact lend you a shoulder to cry on 24/7 if you need it

iwa might even shower you with kissing cause he will use this opportunity to be vulnerable with you since you’re being incredibly vulnerable around him as well

[ramblinganthropologist]

MER Week Day 4: Mass Effect + Mass Effect Andromeda

Summary: 2179. What should have been a normal shore leave on the Citadel leaves Alistair and Bo Peep Shepard in a place they’ve never been before: teachers. What can these battle hardened biotics teach young Kitty and Dick... and why do they look so damn familiar?

---

“Well… we’re here. What do you want to do?”

“How about anything other than getting shot at?”

Now that was something Alistair could agree on as he stretched out as far as he could. His body was still sore from the last mission, the lack of sleep, and the ride to the Citadel. Honestly, he was amazed his bones weren’t cracking to bits as he walked along, taking in the artificial sunshine of the space station. Given what he had just been through, it was a true surprise he was still one piece.

Well, maybe that was to be expecting. After all, he and Bo were N7. They were supposed to be tough.

“Could always head to the Tea Cozy, unless you wanted to save that until tomorrow.” He threaded his arms behind his head as he walked, definitely not the picture of a military officer by any means. “Or we could check out the hamsters at Citadel Critters.”

Above his head, Bo rolled her eyes. “Last time I was there, you forgot I existed when you got too deep into discussions on how fucked up the breeding lines at the gift shop are.”

“Well, they are. I don’t know what they think they’re trying to pull…” His voice trailed off. Bo was giving him that look. “Right… specialist knowledge, general application. I’ll stop now.”

She gave him a nod. “That a boy. Honestly, I could go for chicken nuggets that come from a fryer instead of a microwave. It’s been too long since we’ve had real food.”

Real food sounded great right then, especially if it involved a milkshake. Just thinking about them made Alistair’s stomach growl. Judging from the noises coming from his sister, he wasn’t alone in the assessment. Easy enough – lunch it was. Lucky for them, they weren’t too far from one of their other favorite spots.

A few moments later, and the pair were seated by one of the many fountains that dotted the Citadel, their food spread out in front of them. For most people, it would have been a lot. For them, not so much. When it came down to it, they both just needed to eat way more food to keep their biotic systems operating at peak capacity. There was a term for it, and Alistair knew it, but he wasn’t thinking like a medic then. Instead, he was cradling a large paper cup happily, the sleeves of his jacket insulating his hands as he poked in the straw into the bright green concoction.

Nothing like Citadel Burger’s Shamrock Shake. Was he being a bad Irishman that he loved them? Probably, but it wasn’t like he was born in Ireland – that was his parent’s problem, and they were dead, so they really didn’t have anything to say on the matter. Until they managed it, he was content to put a hurting on the milkshake as he started to nibble on the straw.

“You’re supposed to use that to drink, you know.” Bo snickered as she started on her first order of nuggets. The first dip of the day was barbeque sauce, or at least it smelled that way. “You look like Fluffytail like that.”

He would’ve stuck out his tongue, but that would’ve been messy. Instead, he just kept drinking his milkshake and swinging his foot that didn’t quite touch the ground. What could he say, the benches were designed for aliens, and he wasn’t exactly designed for playing basketball. It was something he had… mostly… come to accept.

Mostly.

“I won’t bite through this one.” He leaned back to watch the crowd in front of them. Then downside of Alliance life was being absolutely surrounded by humans. Even back on Mindoir, there had been aliens around, even if they had been far less numerous than the space station. It was why he liked coming to the Citadel – it helped remind him they were part of a community. Of course, that community wasn’t all that fond of humans yet, but they were getting there.

Speaking of community… off the distance, Alistair watched a C-SEC agent picked up the pace. He looked rather upset about something, but it wasn’t clear what. Or, rather, it wasn’t until the blast of light knocked them into a bush.

“What the fuck.” Bo shot him a glance as she got up, bringing her nuggets with her. “Was that?”

She didn’t need to finish the sentence – Alistair had felt it too. It was the telltale tingle of human powered biotics, as if their amps were ringing out in response to the activity. More than that, it was uncontrolled as hell. That left only a few options – someone who was clearly about to melt down, or they were a kid who had no idea what they were doing. Neither were circumstances he trusted a C-SEC agent to handle, and from the looks of things he wasn’t alone. So, he picked up his milkshake and followed behind his sister as they headed over.

The officer, a young turian with blue face paint, was groaning in the bush. His armor was a bit scuffed, but he hadn’t sustained any permanent damage. He wasn’t alone either – in front of the bush, a teenager was laying spread eagle, dazed and confused.

“Human cannonball’s a classic… so who launched them?” Alistair glanced from human to turian. Neither looked badly hurt, but they probably had some scrapes that medigel could fix. “Bo, want to go?”

But she was already gone before he could finish the statement, heading off in the direction of a nearby park. That left him alone, shaking his head as he activated his medigel dispenser. Lucky for him, he had just refilled it before getting off the ship.

Medigel – never leave home without it.

“Alright, so who wants medigel?” He glanced towards the turian, who was already starting to come to. “How about you, Officer- “

The turian stood up, wincing a little. “Vakarian. I’m fine, just a little rattled. Some human kids…”

His voice trailed off. One of the human kids was still groaning at his feet, clearly the loser in the fight between the species. Honestly, they were kind of pathetic, laying there in a lump, half hidden by an oversized sweatshirt that was clearly a few sizes too large.

Boy, was that a reminder of his teenage years…

“I think they need this more than you.” Alistair knelt down to assess the patient. “Hey, are you able to focus?”

Green eyes slowly focused on him – good, no concussion. While he was shit at gauging ages, they couldn’t have been older than 17. More than that, the metal jutting out of the back of their neck was new. Most kids that weren’t him got that at puberty and spent time after that practicing so they didn’t blow shit up. Clearly, someone was still in the blowing shit up phase.

So… he’d put them 16 at best.

“Y-yeah…” they groaned, holding their head. “Where…”

Officer Vakarian filled that in for him. “In the Presidium. You know you’re not supposed to use biotics here, Dick.”

He looked around, towards where Bo had run off. “Did Kitty cause it this time?”

Dick and Kitty… well, Alistair was in no position to judge anyone’s names Still, at least the officer knew his would-be patient. That would make getting them back on their feet easier, especially if he had access to their emergency contacts.

He wasn’t really used to using those while people were still alive… so this was going to be a new one for him.

Dick shook his head, and then instantly seemed to regret it as he started to groan. “Maybe? It’s kind of a blur, Officer Vakarian…”

He looked up at Alistair, frowning. “Was it that bad you brought the EMTs in?”

Alistair chuckled as he waved his hand. “Don’t worry, I’m just a passerby. I can fix up your scrapes, though. It doesn’t look like you’ve got a concussion. Still getting used to your biotics, I see.”

He offered his hand, and the boy took it. Much to his quiet relief, Dick was still shorter than him. It was a little petty, but the marine took his small victories when he got them. Besides, the boy would outgrow him in a year or so. They always did.

Maybe he had been kidding about being mostly ok with his height… he was only human.

“Yeah… I got my amp six months ago.” Dick touched the back of his neck, frowning. “How’d you know?”

Before Alistair could answer, his attention was drawn by a flash of pink. Bo had returned, and at her side was another teenager. This one shared Dick’s face and green eyes, but the hair was blue and there was a bandage over their nose. At least they didn’t seem too put off by his sister, though the sight of Officer Vakarian caused them to blanche.

Ah. He knew an instigator when he saw one. Somebody was busted.

“We were totally not in the common area, Officer Vakarian, I swear.” Who he assumed was Kitty held up her scraped hands – yep, those were going to need medigel. “Dick and I were just…”

The turian shook his head. “Just using your biotics outside of a registered practice zone. That’s the third time this week. I left you off the last time, but now I’m going to have to call your parents on this one.”

The two teenagers winced at the thought, and Alistair felt a pang of sympathy. While he hadn’t been as young as them when he’d first gotten his amp, he remembered the early jitters of new biotics and the need to get them working. Of course, he had never launched a C-SEC agent into a bush, but… well, hormones and biotics were tricky.

“What if my sister and I talked to them about it?”

All eyes were suddenly on him – the hopeful gaze of the two would-be criminals, the mildly confused glance of the turian agent, and his sister, looking amused by this. Talk about a tough room to work. At least sweat didn’t bead on his forehead. Maybe he was getting used to public speaking.

And maybe the hanar would get into rodeo. No way he was ever talking in front of people…

“And… what would that do?” Officer Vakarian cocked his head to the side. Most people would take that as instigating, but there wasn’t the tone to his voice. Instead, he sounded curious. Maybe he wanted to see how this would play out.

Smart man – maybe he’d be the lucky one to make it to retirement.

Bo was the one who answered for him. She motioned to her neck, allowing the metal to catch the light. Unlike the two teenagers’, her amp had seen some action. It was scuffed and starting to look a little dull. His probably wasn’t much better, but it wasn’t like he could see it. After all, it was on the back of his fucking head.

“We’re biotics who got past the unintentional blow shit up phase.”

Emphasis in her case on unintentional.

Alistair nodded though, keeping his eye on the turian all the while. “Plus, I think two N7 level marines could give these two a worthy lecture. No need to get their parents in on this, Officer. You’ve probably got a hundred more important things to do, right?”

Nothing like giving someone an out and reminding them of the work piling up to get them off your case. He could practically see the gears churning underneath the face plates and face paint. Just a few more seconds of contemplation…

Officer Vakarian sighed and shook his head. “Try to keep an eye on your sister, Dick. I’ll let you both off with a warning this time since these two are going to vouch for you.”

The twins visibly relaxed at this. Not long after, the turian departed – probably to go write a parking ticket or mess up someone else’s day. This left Alistair and Bo in a weird quasi state of loco parentis that definitely made him sweat a little as he eyed the two teenagers in front of him.

Maybe he should’ve thought this one out better.

“Well, I’m getting back to our food before the Keepers clean it up.” Bo glanced over her shoulders at their new friends. “Follow me if you don’t want to get arrested, squirts.”

Back to the food it was then. Much to Alistair’s relief, the Keepers had left it alone. Of course, that didn’t matter much – there were mild injuries to be treated. More importantly, he realized he was getting a rather dirty look from Kitty as she glanced over at him.

Was it something he said?

At least Dick didn’t seem to mind as he settled into the bench. “Thanks for saving us… I don’t think you said your name.”

“Alistair, and that’s my sister Bo.” She nodded her head at his introduction. “Not a problem. Who wants the medigel first?”

Kitty shot him another dirty look as she tugged at her brother’s sleeve. “Thanks for the save, but not int- “

Contact with her scraped palms was enough to make her hiss. Alistair shook his head as he motioned for her to come over. She fought it briefly, but soon she was seated across from him, holding out her hands as he applied the medigel. Maybe in a few years she would be a proper badass like Bo, but she still had a ways to go. Still, not bad for a 16-year-old, especially one so new to biotics. There was hope for her yet.

“Best to clean these up before they get infected. Biotics mess with heal rates and germs can get trapped underneath the skin.” He motioned to Bo. “Ask her if you don’t believe me.”

Next to him, his sister bristled. “That was ONE time…”

And once was enough for him.

“Yeah, whatever, thanks.” Kitty pulled her healed hands away, almost as if she was burned. “Can we go now? I get enough N7 bullshit at home, I don’t need it from two randos on shore leave.”

She sent him a withering glance. “Especially not from the boy scout over here.”

Well, wasn’t someone a fucking delight…

“Kitty, they’re just being nice…” Dick frowned as he turned towards the pair. “Sorry… we uh… don’t really get along with our dad. He’s N7 too.”

Huh. Now that Alistair was getting a good look at them, something did strike him as vaguely familiar. It wasn’t exact, but he’d sworn he’d seen those eyes somewhere before, it just was hard to put his finger on it. Maybe it had been someone he had been in training with? It was going to drive him nuts… damn name was on the tip of his tongue.

“Most of them are bastards except for me and the boy scout.” Bo, always the fountain of truth. “What’s his name? Maybe we kicked his ass for you once or twice during training.”

At the mention of her father’s ass being kicked, Kitty brightened. “God, I hope so. He’s such an ass… but his name’s Alec Ryder.”

…

Oh, fuck.

Alistair felt his eye twitch as he looked from one teen to the next. He could see it now, in the defiant set of Kitty’s jaw and the pointed accuracy of Dick’s gaze. Normally, he saw those features combined and set into the face of an old man he wanted to blast into a fucking wall. Maybe the outright lack of assholeism was enough to make him temporarily forget the face of the man he hated more than anyone else.

Who the hell had taste bad enough to marry Alec Ryder, and where could he send his condolences?

“That asshole is your dad?” Bo snorted. “Al, I think you just found someone to beat you in the shittiest father competition.”

Oh, how he wanted to agree… but was it wrong to badmouth a father in front of his children like this?

Dick must’ve been a mind reader, because he smiled awkwardly. “It’s ok if you don’t like him, we think he’s an asshole too.”

“Oh, thank God…” Alistair sighed in relief. “I didn’t want to talk badly about him in front of you if you liked him.”

So sue him, he didn’t exactly put much stock in father-child relationships. After all, his fucking sucked. Judging from the looks on the twins’ faces, they knew exactly how he felt. And how could they not – they had Alec fucking Ryder for a father. The man was a blowhard douchebag on a good day; Alistair didn’t even want to think of what he might be like at home. His poor wife…

Nah, he was definitely divorced. No way anyone stayed married to that man for long.

“Well, at least we know other Alliance people hate him. Guess that means we’re not crazy.” Kitty seemed visibly cheered by this as she grabbed for one of Alistair’s fries – he let her; she was a growing biotic. “So, what about that little lecture you were planning? Can we skip it if we promise never to do it again and don’t cross our fingers this time?”

At that, Alistair shook his head. “No, we do need to talk about that. You got lucky this time because your strike was off. Full force could’ve really hurt Officer Vakarian or your brother.”

Dick’s head picked up very slightly at that – and as the pieces fell into place, his heart went out to him. Kitty on the other hand just looked mildly annoyed at the assessment of her aim as she stole some more fries. Lucky for him, he’d gotten extra.

“I didn’t even dent his armor…”

Bo snorted. “Not with a strike that weak. If you really want to put some force into it, you need to generate a little spin before you strike. It makes it hit harder.”

“It does?”

Oh, no. He could see where this one was going… best to nip it in the bud before Officer Vakarian got launched out the airlock with their next practice attempt.

“You need better control before you attempt something like that.” He sipped absent-mindedly at his milkshake. “And better separation of your attack styles. That felt like a half warp, half singularity to me. I would focus on getting each move down first.”

It was an argument that often fell on deaf ears, especially if they belonged to teenagers. He could just tell from the look on Kitty’s face that the kind of practice he was suggesting would bore her to tears. On the bright side, at least her brother looked interested. Dick actually had his omni-tool out and was honest-to-God taking notes.

Kid like that was an ego boost and a half… talk about having a favorite.

“That works fine for defense, but if you’re interested in front line assault, you need power. Sometimes it come down to who can hit harder.” Bo cracked her knuckles for emphasis. “I’d start lifting weights honestly.”

He shot her a look over his milkshake. “You’re going to turn them into berserkers, Bo.”

“What, it’s a valid strategy. You teach yours your way, I’ll handle mine.” Bo motioned for Kitty to get closer. “Now… the key to a good smack…”

Alistair was left groaning as he gave up – he knew a lost cause when he saw one. At least there would always be a future for them in destruction. On the bright side, he still had an attentive pupil, eager for more information. He could work with that.

“Well, since they’ve decided to go blunt force, we could discuss defensive maneuvers…”

“Sure, sounds good!”

Music to his ears… now, where to start?

---

“Thanks, Bo! I’ll let you know how the weightlifting goes!”

Kitty’s voice carried over the Presidium as she and her brother waved goodbye. Apparently, it was time for them to go home for dinner. This left their two impromptu instructors standing by the fountain, watching them go.

They were good kids, if a little green.

“Kid’s going to be killer when she gets older.” Bo chuckled, clearly pleased. “How about yours? We got another brick wall in the making?”

Alistair nodded as he worked to clean up their trash. “Dick has promise if he works on controlling his barriers. The new amps are great for fine motor skills. I can’t wait to see what they come up with as their hormone levels even out.”

With any luck, he wouldn’t see either of them in the Alliance anytime soon. As much as he appreciated them helping to keep his brain for overheating, the last thing he wanted was for a young biotic to think their only option was the military. Things were getting better now, or at least better than they had been when he was their age. Maybe with luck, they’d avoid it altogether.

That was at least his hope for them.

“Kitty said she’s going to send me some vids when she makes progress. She’ll probably slide the string bean in there too.” The sight of the clock in the nearby square caused Bo to wince. “Shit, it’s really that late? We were talking to those kids for two hours…”

No wonder his throat hurt so much…

“Guess we just got excited.” The pair started walking back to where they were staying, plans still on their mind for tomorrow. “Though, hard to believe they’re Alec Ryder’s kids.”

Bo snorted at that. “Yeah, they’re actually hu- “

She stopped, and then started to snicker. “Damn… can’t believe I didn’t pick that up until now.”

Alistair cocked his eyebrow as he watched his sister chuckle. If there was a joke, he wasn’t getting it. Of course, maybe he was just tired from the explanations. Either way, it be nice if she let him in sometime.

“What?”

“Their names are Dick and Kitty Ryder.” Another snicker. “Dick Ryder, come on…”

…

“Come on, Al, you know you’d have gone there too if you were in his shoes. Don’t hate cause the kid picked a better name than you did.”

He wasn’t hating… he was appreciating the balls it took to run with the joke all the way to legal documents. There was a difference.

“I would’ve gone with Knight or Ghost personally, but we all know my opinions on riding dick.” It was a miracle he kept a straight face at that.

“He had to, you already got Kitty Ryder. Gotta complete the set after all.”

Bo was grinning like the cat that ate the canary, and honestly, he wasn’t doing much better if the shake of his shoulders was anything to go by. At least he managed to keep walking, though a thousand jokes were still bubbling up with every step he took. He pushed them down – didn’t want to overdo it after all.

“Come on, let’s get back before we find some more biotic children to mentor. I want to watch Forensic Files VI tonight.”

“Ugh, you always want to watch Forensic Files…”

What, it was like the only thing available in like every system. So sue him.

Still, Alistair got a good feeling about the future as he walked with Bo by his side. If the new generation of biotics were like the pair in the park, maybe things would turn out better. Hell, maybe one day he’d hear about the Ryder twins making their own history.

Of course, that was for another day.  At the moment, he had more pressing matters in mind – like beating Bo back so he could wrestle away control of the remote for a few hours. That was a fight he was willing to go to the death on.

Ah, nothing like shore leave. Why wasn’t it always this enlightening?

[shadedrose01]

random prompt: harley in a tornado???? bro i need the angst

This is very very late, I'm so so sorry about that. But its finally here! I actually had to do research for this, because where I live I don't get any natural disasters (thankfully), so hopefully its accurate? Ish? But if it still isn't 100%, I'm sorry about that. Hope you can enjoy, anon!! 💗

Tw: an almost panic/anxiety attack. Stay safe yall

--

"-and it was crazy, cause he came out of nowhere, right?" He hears a hum across the line, soft and affirmative. "But then, all of a sudden, he just... turned into a frog."

The hum turns into a faint laugh, and Peter's heart sings. God he loves it when Harley laughs, soft and right from his chest. He loves him. "He turned into a frog?"

"Yeah!" Peter exclaims, leaning back in his swivel chair and glancing up at his ceiling, the popcorn texture staring back. The itch to pick it all off comes back, and he grumbles internally at being reminded of Aunt May refusing. "The magic man just- turned into a frog! I think he messed up his own spell or something, and it ended up going to him instead of me. And he looked at me, all sad afterwards, but I wasn't about to go kiss him back to normal."

Harley laughs again, brighter and closer to the mic this time, and Peter grins. "Only you, Pete. Only you."

It was a random day in the middle of fall when Harley had called him, sporadically, moaning about having so much homework and needing some background noise/entertainment to keep him going as he works through it. And Peter, having the Biggest crush known to human kind on the boy, couldn't refuse (like he ever would), choosing to tell the funniest, craziest Spider-Man stories he could remember to try and make Harley laugh. So far, he was 4 for 4, and beaming (and, if he silently hoped that Harley didn't call him just for entertainment, but to also hear his voice and be closer to him, too, well. That was just for him to know.)

Time to try 5 for 5.

Peter leans back forward again, glancing down at the phone thrown haphazardly on his desk with soft eyes, as if he were staring at Harley himself instead of a clear case surrounding a black electronic. "And then, maaybe a few months ago? There was this other villain, right? His name was The Prowler, gave me creepy "being stalked by a cheetah/owl hybrid" type of vibes, not a very cool dude. Anyways, so he was following me one day on patrol, as he tended to do, and I was just about to help some older lady-"

Suddenly, the faint scratching of a pencil on paper stops, and the other end of the line goes dead. Peter scooches towards the phone again, planting both feet onto the floor as he calls out, "Hello? Harley, you still there?"

There's a moment of silence, and he's about to check whether the call dropped (because that's happened, before, where the line had cut out mid conversation and Peter had taken way, way too long to notice), when Harley speaks back up again, sounding frazzled. "Yeah, yeah im- hold on a sec, Peter." And then there's loud shuffling, the sounds of someone picking up the phone and moving with it in their pocket, or their hand, and Peter tilts his head, listening closer as the sounds of more voices gets closer and closer, slightly staticed as if from a TV, until Harley asks, "Ma? Whats happening?" There's a moment, a sharp inhale. "Tornado warning? But we weren't under a watch-"

And Peter's stomach drops. "Harley?" He asks quietly, nervous, staring down at the phone with wide eyes, his stomach twisting into knots.

"Go to the basement, now." A feminine voice, soft and wispy, his mom, utters, and then there's more shuffling, more movement, the sound of footsteps heavy and paced, panting breaths.

Another shift. "Peter, I gotta go."

Harley sounds urgent, nervous, afraid, and Peter can't help but to pick up the phone, hold it up to his face as he asks, begs, "Harley, whats going on? Whats-"

"Theres a tornado, gonna hit soon, the service is gonna cut out." Harley shoots up rapidly, as a door slams shut in the background. "We're in the basement, we should be safe. I'll call you back after."

"Harley-"

"I love you."

The call clicks off, and Peter's left in silence.

Silence, and his racing thoughts, swirling in his head around and around, just enough to start a faint throbbing in the front of his mind. Silence, and his thumping heart, a racing horse rushing back the competitors as he tries to figure out what just happened.

Because so many things just happened.

He retraces his steps, starts from the beginning. Okay. Okay.

They were talking on the phone. Harley interrupted him, and went into the living room? Seemingly. Where he found out that there was a tornado on the way, oh god, and then they went into their basement to hide, oh no, and then-

And then he said that he loved him. Harley said that he loved him.

He hates how his mind wants to focus on that, out of everything, how selfish it is, before he pushes it away. He'll- He'll figure that out later, he's got- got to figure out a way to help, somehow.

But how? How can he help when he's across the country? How could he stop a natural disaster?

Before Peter realizes it, he's up and pacing around, rushing to one side of the room before pivoting and doing the same to the other, back and forth, back and forth, his thoughts running in circles.

He feels so helpless, right now. Helpless, knowing Harley and his mom, his sister, his family are huddled into a corner, holding each other, waiting, waiting for the tornado to strike, knowing he's there, without him, knowing- knowing there's nothing he can do, but to wait. Nothing but pace the floors, and wonder, ponder, think.

Harley, he said he loved him. Love, not past tense, he loves him. Did he- did he mean it in a friend way? He had to right? There's no way he means it in the other way, right? But- but why would he say it then, right before a tornado hits, right before he could get hurt, really hurt, right before he could-

No, he forces himself to think, grabbing onto his hair and tugging as his ribcage grabs at his lungs with its claw like talons and squeezes, roughly. No, he's not going to get hurt, he's not going to- to die.

But he could, a little voice in the back of his mind chips in, he could, and you'd never get to say it back. You'd never get to see him again.

Is the air getting thicker, or is it just him?

He claws at the front of his t-shirt and pulls it from his chest, gasping in breath after breath, just trying to keep breathing as his thoughts start to spiral, falling falling, down down down, swirling just like the spins of a tornado, coming to crash into his house and crush him, too, kill him, too, oh god-

And then his phone rings, vibrating in his hand, making him jump.

Before he can even blink, the phones up to his ear. "Harley?!?"

"We're okay!" Just hearing his voice, slightly out of breath and full of nerves, just like his, makes his shoulders sag back down, and makes his burning eyes squeeze shut as a rush of relief washes over him. "It was a small one, thankfully. A few people lost a few shingles, or their siding, maybe their fence, but nothing- nothing bad, nobody- everything is okay."

He doesn't know who Harley's trying to convince, himself or Peter, but either way, it works, the grip around his lungs easing quickly as his heart rate slowly lowers back to normal, as he silently gulps down air like its candy. "Okay," He croaks out, throat and voice raw from his almost attack. "Okay."

"I'm sorry," Harley murmurs, whispers after a moment of silence, of static across the line. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Peter unexpectedly bursts into chuckles, hysterical, rubbing at his cheeks and wiping away the liquid he didn't even know was there. "Please don't tell me you're apologizing for a tornado."

A pause, and a shift of fabric, as if Harley is shrugging. "It scared you."

"Scared you too." Peter rebuttals, leaning back against the wall next to him and slowly slipping onto the floor, pushing his legs close to him until he's curled into a ball, wrapping an arm around his knees. "You were the- the one actually experiencing it. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah 'm good." Harley sighs, his voice trembling slightly. "This has happened before. Though I dont-" He chuckles, too, but its less hysterical, and much more dull, tired. "I don't remember much of it. I was pretty young, but I do know it was a lot worse than this."

Peter just hums, and then they're sitting in silence again. An awkward type of silence that they haven't experienced in months, having grown out of that phase of their friendship a long time ago. But suddenly, it feels like they're back at the beginning, and Peter couldn't understand why, until Harley spoke back up.

"You don't- uh," He sounds upset, low, and it makes Peter's heart ache, makes his body scream at him to make it better. "I'm- I'm sorry about what I said, uhm, before, too. It just kind of slipped, I-I know you dont- feel that way, I just-"

"Wait," Peter blinks down at the floor, and Harley goes quiet. Waits, like he asked. "You meant it? In a- a like, more than friends way?"

There's a moment, the air full of an electric charge, full of tension that Peter can't tell is good or bad, before Harley speaks back up, voice hush, shaky, scared, but honest, "Y-yeah? But I know you don't feel the same way, it's okay-"

"I do," Peter interrupts, and Harley goes silent, again. "I do, feel the same way."

"Oh."

"Oh."

Another pause, but one full of promise, this time, of thoughts racing, of faces flushing, of smiles growing on faces and hearts beginning to race. Of new beginnings in general.

And later, they're talk all of it through, the anxiety and fear still thrumming through Harleys veins, the feelings swirling around them, exactly what they are, now, now that the secret is out, now that they know.

But for now, they just breathe, together, and wonder where this new whirlwind will take them.

[fuckit-hero-of-trains]

Sit by the fire until... Ch 1

ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25870150/chapters/62859553

Summary:

They inherited a lot of things from Sky.

From him, they inherited a sword, honed in flames painted with holy might and sharpened to a deadly, resplendent point. From him, they inherited a forest green tunic with such a storied and epic past that few would believe that it had started out as nothing more than happenstance; a school uniform of all things.

From him, the inherited a destiny and an eternal enemy to go right along with it.

They knew that. Understood that. Didn't blame him for it.

Funny, then, that they didn't connect the dots.

Because there was one more trait they all seemingly inherited from Sky, whether they realized it or not.

(or: 8 times a hero fell asleep somewhere weird +1 time a hero fell asleep exactly where he was supposed to)

Legend has seen a lot of dangerous things in his lifetime. He’s been on five adventures for Hylia’s sake. There are not a lot of things that can phase him anymore.

Another dank dungeon in need of exploration? Easy. Another monster whose weak point is inexplicably a giant eye that glows? Piece of cake. A realm of unfathomable darkness? Been there, done that, didn't even get any cool items from it.

But this… now this scares him.

“Nose goes,” Legend says flatly, flashing a finger up to touch the tip of his nose despite the fact that he is one of only two people standing in front of said insurmountable task.

“I’m not going in there,” Warriors hisses, not even trying to honor Legend’s ‘Nose Goes,’ his hands resting firmly on his hips, face incredulous as he stares down their target. “What do I look like? An idiot?”

“Oh, you don’t just look like one,” Legend assures him dryly, brows raised, smile bright and full and smarmy.

Warriors shoves him.

“If you think it’s so easy, why don't you just go in then?” the Captain spits.

But before Legend can get out another snarky response, the sound of movement , of creaking wood, sends both heroes stumbling away from the structure they had been standing next to, their hands flying up to shield their faces from harm as they wince away from what will no doubt be their end.

A beat passes between them, neither moving in fear of incurring a terrible wrath…

...

But after a second with no horrifying retribution, the two breathe a sigh of relief, eyeing up their foe.

The cucco coop.

They both shudder.

“Are you sure he’s in there?” Warriors whispers after another cautious moment of silence. “We could check the barn again.”

And as much as it would make Legend’s day to just check the barn again, he shakes his head.

“This is the only place we haven’t looked,” he reminds the scarf wearing hero with a scowl, “Besides, for some goddess forsaken reason, he happens to like these little menaces. If there was anywhere on this farm Sky would be, it's here.”

Warrior’s face screws up.

“Ugh, why can’t we just have dinner without him?”

“Because Time’s a stubborn old bastard with a parental streak the size of the moon,” Legend bites out. And then, with a bit less bitterness. “And because Malon wants to have family dinner or whatever.”

“She made cornbread,” Warriors laments with a small shake of his head, “I at least wanted to try a little before I kicked it.”

Legend smacks him on the arm.

“Don’t be so dramatic.”

“I’m not being dramatic and you know it!” Warriors replies, voice jumping an octave. “Those things are vicious killers! Goddess only knows what we would have done in my era without Linkle taming them. Feathery bastards can change the tide of war in an instant!”

Legend rolls his eyes.  

“Okay, yeah,” the Veteran admits, “those things could pick a moblin clean faster than you could blink, but I’m not saying we have to fight them to the death. We just have to take a peek in the coop and see if Sky’s in there. If he is, great, we tell him dinner’s ready and get the hell out of dodge. If he isn’t, sweet, we get the hell out of dodge even faster and tell Time we couldn't find him.”

“Oh, well then, if it's so simple” Warriors replies, bowing deeply and gesturing to the coop with a flourishing arm, “After you.”

“No, no, no. You lost ‘Nose Goes’,” Legend reminds. “You have to do it.”

“You can’t call ‘Nose Goes’ with just two people!”

“I think you’ll find that I did. And you lost.”  Legend grins and mirrors Warrior’s bow and flourish. “So, after you.”

The Captain narrows his eyes.

“How about this?" the Pretty Boy bargains. "I open the door, and for fifty rupees, you look inside?”

Legend purses his lips, eyes flicking from Warriors to the coop. On the one hand, War did lose Nose Goes. There really should be no bargaining going on here. Legend has the moral high ground in this particular situation. Not to mention that it would absolutely make his day to see the pompous  captain get knocked down several pegs by a couple of birds.

And Legend really isn't looking to get his eyes pecked out today.

But on the other hand, depriving the Captain of even more of his hard earned cash is a pretty good incentive. Plus, he’ll need to squirrel some more rupees away back home if this whole ‘Ravio staying with him’ thing is gonna be a bit more permanent.

He’s got no idea how in the name of the Wind Fish Ravio even made it to his Hyrule let alone if the idiot can even get himself back to Lorule.

And Legend can’t have that rabbit hooded bastard selling his equipment just to put food on the table for however long he’s staying.

“Seventy-five and it's a deal,” Legend replies, holding a hand out for the Captain to shake on it.

A roll of eyes from Warriors but he takes Legend’s hand all the same, giving it a firm shake.

Sucker.

Legend only said he would look inside. Not get Sky if he saw him in there.

They take up their positions in front of the coop; War’s hand on the door handle, ready to pull it open while Legend situates himself around the corner, primed to take a quick peek inside and then retreat just as quickly.

“On three,” Warriors breathes.

“One.”

Warrior’s grip on the doorknob tightens, the leather of his gloves creaking slightly with the force of his grasp.

“Two.”

Legend feels his muscle tense, the cords of his neck straining as he readies himself for his dive, his newest in a line of near death experiences.

A breath in.

A breath out.

“Three!”

With a flick of the wrist and jolt of the arm, Warriors whips the door to the cucco coop wide open. In the same instant, Legend darts his top half around the corner of the coop, peeking into the dim depths of the pen and–!

And…

Huh.

Legend is not met with a flurry of feathers spelling his demise. Isn’t met with the death rattle of squakes nor clawed with an inch of his life in seconds nor immediately assaulted with an avalanche of pecks that could drill straight to the bone.

No.

Legend is met with none of the things he expects and is instead faced with one of the most miraculous sights he has ever beheld.

Because inside the coop, in the dim warmth of their little home, all of the hens sit politely on their nests, heads perked and turned toward the intruding light, but otherwise, unbothered by the hero standing in their doorway. Not a ruffled feather in sight nor any eyes gleaming with deadly, avian hatred.

Nope.

They are perfectly relaxed. Perfectly within their element and domain, not a care in the world. In fact, after a moment of staring at Legend with what the Veteran could only describe as royal indifference, the cuccos settle back down, heads tucking into downy white feathers or disappearing under wings.

“Well?” Warriors whispers from behind the door where he is taking shelter, “Is he in there?”

“Not sure,” Legend replies.

He takes a tentative step forward, eyes locked on the birds as he carefully places one boot within the threshold of the coop. No reaction. He leans weight onto that foot, flinching as the wood groans beneath his mass.

…

Still no reaction.

Welp, Legend thinks with no small amount of dryness. No excuse not to make sure Sky isn't in here.

“Give me a sec,” he breathes back to War, taking another, more confident step into the coop. “I'm going to check.”

“No, wait, Legend, they’re lulling you into a false sense of security! You can’t just–!”

The Veteran ignores Warrior’s hissed warnings, confidently going from the frying pan and into the fire.

Or from the barnyard to the cucco coop. Whatever.

Besides the sight of the oddly tame cuccos, Legend is immediately hit with a slight wave of heat as he enters the coop proper, the temperature inside that of a warm blanket against his face and body. He is also hit with the smell of hay, grassy and dry and warm.

A quick scan of the coop gives Legend no leads on Sky. No light green tunic, no dirty blond hair, no Master Sword, no white sailcloth. It does, however, tell him that Time may be missing a few hens, as four nests seem to be vacant.

He takes another quick sweep and is just about to label Sky a lost cause when something in the corner of the coop shifts and makes a soft huff, sending Legend’s heart into his throat and his arms up around his face, fearing that this, this will be the end of him. Five adventures down, Ganon killed three times by his hands, multiple kingdoms and  deities  saved due to his actions, and he's going to die to some fucking poultry.

But after a beat, a moment, a full minute of not moving and with Legend not being absolutely smote where he stands, the pink haired hero slowly but surely peaks out from behind his arms to see the cuccos still just sitting in their nests, now gazing at him with what he thinks is exasperation.

Which really shouldn't be possible, because, you know, they’re fucking birds. Their eyes really shouldn't be that expressive. And yet, as Legend uncurls from his wince completely, as his heart rate calms from the stutter step it had been running through, he can’t help feel the condescension in their beady little golden eyes.

Little pricks, he thinks a little viciously as he subtly flips one of them the bird– ironic, he knows– turning to investigate the noise that had nearly given him a heart attack a few seconds earlier. I hope Malon cooked one of you for dinner.

Sure that he's not about to be absolutely eviscerated, Legend follows the noise, a soft, rhythmic huffing, to one of the hay filled corners of the coop that had been obscured by the line of nests and...

And, really, he should have known.

Trust Hylia’s Chosen Hero to fall asleep in literally the most dangerous place known to Hylians.

Because there, in a soft pile of hay in the corner of Time’s cucco coop, is Sky, eyes closed and mouth slightly ajar as he takes in breaths, slow and deep and even and warm. His sailcloth is layed out beneath him, no doubt protecting him from the prickly hay as he naps peacefully, none the wiser that four cuccos have found him a suitable enough pseudo nest to be napping right along with him: one tucked under each arm, another resting on his slowly rising and falling chest, and the last finding a home in his soft, dirty blond hair.

Legend takes it all in. Takes in the way the birds churr in time with Sky’s soft snores, the way bits of hay have found their way into the Skyloftian's hair, the way the small sliver of light entering the coop from the open doorway illuminates the floating dust particles in shades of sunset gold, the way they swirl in little eddies with each of the Chosen Hero’s breaths.

It truly is a tableau of peace.

Too bad it’s dinner time.

“Alright, Lover Boy,” Legend huffs, reaching out to shake the Chosen Hero awake. “Up and at ‘em. Malon made dinner and–”

Before Legend’s hand can even make contact with Sky’s shoulder, a rising grumble shatters the relative peace of the coop.

All around him, the heads of all the cuccos snap up in tandem, pinning Legend in place with at least 20 pairs of molten gold eyes as the grumble– which he now realizes is the sound of the four hens sitting with Sky hissing at him– rises in volume and anger.

With slow and controlled movements, Legend pulls his hand back from where it had been moving toward the somehow still sleeping Sky and raises both palms up in surrender.

The eyes follow the motions of his hands with deadly precision but the cuccos make no move to strike.

So Legend does the most logical thing anyone would do in his situation:

He gives up without a fight, keeping his hands raised where the birds can see them while slowly backpedaling out of the coop.

Then, when he finally crosses the threshold back out of the coop, Legend takes the edge of the door into both his hands, and carefully, gently, closes the coop back up.

“So?” Warriors asks, hands on hips, staring at Legend's odd display “Was he in there?”

“Yep,” Legend replies flatly, popping the ‘p’ as tension bleeds out of his muscles.

A brief pause.

“And?” Warriors intones expectantly.

Legend turns to the other hero, clasps a firm hand on the Captain’s shoulder, and smiles.

“And good luck getting him out of there. You’re sure as hell gonna need it.”

And with that, the Veteran turns and strides back toward the farm house, ignoring the indignant sputterings of the scarf wearing hero all the way there.

Wind Fish, he hopes Time has something stronger than Lon Lon Milk.

��Cuz after the number those demon birds just did on him? He's gonna need it.

And based on the screaming coming from behind him, he assumes Warriors is gonna need it too.

[randbwrite]

La Comtesse Chronicles Chapter 4 Part 1

Words: 1649

TW: None CW: Vampires

R:

A bow went to Comtesse for her compliment made. There was certainly more to him than would meet the eye, as Cal had found out firsthand. Several times over, now, the two of them locked eyes and all of the questions burning bright in emerald eyes settled at last. Heh, for the moment. He could see a build up of new ones coming, something Cal almost never seemed to run out of. That and jokes.

Eyes widened as he tumbled off the rafter, only to have one of his hands stuck to a wooden support beam. Cringing as she heard him scream, she looked him over as he spoke.

<<Afraid killin' ya was a one-time deal, ma'am. You'll find me as harmless as a lamb. Oy, Derrick! Tell me you’re seeing this too? Even if you’re not, humor me. Please?>> 

"Well then, suppose that means I can take you out of here alive. Now, let go." Her eyes flashed as she floated up to him, gently catching him in her arms. The power of persuasion was something all pure bloods had, though she rarely needed to use it. It was called for here, as he likely had no idea of how to use his powers. A laugh left her as she held onto him and began to slowly float down towards Derrick.

“Ah, so that’s his name. Glad to meet you, Derrick. Cal, my name is Rosaline Arcanum, though I suppose you know that already. I’m a pure blood vampire. It would appear that I accidentally sired you on the battlefield. Seems you are already exhibiting powers. Never seen anyone with the ability to hold onto things like that before. Suppose there’s a first for everything. Reminds me a bit of Spiderman. Suppose you might be at this point, minus the whole web shooting thing.”

Shoes clicked on the marble floor, yet she left him suspended in the air just about a foot above the floor. “Let’s take a look at you, shall we?” Eyes roved over his form before she tenderly touched his hand. Eyes glowed for a second and it flashed in her mind: more recent memories of what had been taking place. 

Glancing at Derrick, she spoke quietly, “Thank you for keeping him alive. Rare to see someone know what to do with a newly turned vampire. Though, I imagine you know a fair bit more than first impressions give rise to.” 

Turning her gaze back to Rapscallion, she sighed, “I’m going to lay this out for you. Apologies if it upsets you or makes you question your sanity any more than you already have. You were exposed to my blood on the battlefield. This is why you are still alive, as no normal mortal could have survived the injuries I gave you. The reason that I’m still alive is because of what I am. It’s almost impossible to kill one of my kind, though I have done it, and will again if it’s called for. 

Vampires, both pure bloods, and lesser vampires, such as yourself, develop specific abilities. Yours seems to be grabbing onto things with just your skin, and…. The other is a bit difficult to discern. It’s hard to tell from your memories if it’s super speed or if you are teleporting, but either way, you are ending up places you shouldn’t be. Suppose you will figure it out eventually. One of the powers I possess is telekinesis, hence why I can float or fly, and is why you are still swimming in the air presently. I’m also a telepath, so I can basically get into your head and see what I want to… for the most part. I only saw the most recent things out of respect and to deal with things as quickly as possible. 

Now, you, as a lesser vampire have a choice. You can start drinking blood to live, or you can wither away and die. You haven’t healed yet because you haven’t fed. The other choice you have here is whether you will leave this place with me. No harm will come to you if you decide to come live in my castle with me, though the residents probably aren’t too thrilled with this prospect. Or, you are welcome to stay here. You have till we get to what remains of the front doors to decide. And by the way, your friend can see this perfectly fine, just seems to not be phased by it from what I can tell.” Her laughter rang out and echoed through the space, the vaulted ceilings serving as the best acoustics. 

B: Derrick:

Derrick watched, impassive through the fall, the nudge of mind and manipulation of matter, her explanation fitting with what he knew so far. What was of more interest was noting how Cal took it all. Had he not been supported via telekinesis, the red head would’ve needed to sit down. Or fallen, a second time. He’d flinched, a momentary tick of a muscle in his jaw the only tell, but Derrick knew. Involuntary touch had never been a kindness. It was this time, and he wished so badly to tell him that...however some things could only be learned through personal experience. 

“So...I’m a superhero! Yahoooo that’s sweet!!” 

Out of all the reactions one might’ve expected...that wasn’t on the list. Superhero? What was that? Cal had better not be pulling phrases from his hometown for 400 again. Yes, Derrick’s picked up a few. This must mean Cal’s survival mechanisms were back up and running again. That was good. They’d have to discuss the humane sourcing of human blood so he wouldn’t be internally freaking out all the while with that same silly smile on his face. Derrick had gotten good at seeing the small tells, but that didn’t mean he’d catch everything.

Rapscallion:

Spiderman?! How does she know about Spiderman!?? Too cool!!! There was definitely some internal happy dancing going on, external movement forgone for some deep thinking. The reference was kind of like a reboot, reviving the part of him that was the kid who always caused trouble, trying to bring about a laugh. And my but she had some beautiful laughter! He couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard such lovely peals resounding in these blood-soaked halls.

Yeah, he’d focus on that and let the other stuff percolate for a sec. Testing out the extent of this hold seemed like a lotta fun too! He sat, finding it comfortable to hover in a kicked back position with one leg crossed over the other, fingers folded in his lap. Totally not trying to hide how they were trembling or anything. Fight or flight response; a difficult thing when it’s not actionable and can’t be switched off. 

“Does that mean I’m an X-Men now? Ohhhh hey! You’re totally Professor X! Except way hotter. Hey, Derrick ol’ boy, don’t give me that look! You’ve gotta be thinking it too. Oh right, I forgot. You’d use words like, ‘Her elegance and pulchritude are unrivaled by anything my eyes have beheld before, or will hence.’ Am I right?” 

Cal was lost to a laughing fit, great way to let off nervous energy, while Derrick raised an amused eyebrow...trying unsuccessfully to remain impassive. 

“Just because some of us have class...”

“Who’re you calling uncivilized?” 

“If the boot fits?” 

“I’ll show you just where this boot fits, you overgrown Boy Scout!” 

The banter between the two was that of old friends, though before now that would not have been a title they’d have flaunted. Which reminded him—before Derrick could get in another repartee, Cal was off with a question. 

“Hold up hold up. You have got a lotta names, sweets. Is there one you prefer to go by? Also, do ya really mean it? I—,“ he swallowed thickly, a vulnerable expression no one had seen on Cal’s face since he was a lad...or sleeping, though Derrick would never speak of it...not quite being shuttered quickly enough to be missed. “I can go with you? You-you’re not going to leave me here?” 

And he was back to the boy, remembering the day he’d first walked into the Citadel and discovering there was no way out. Not permanently. Would transforming into a kickass superhero by the supreme X-...er, Woman do the trick? Was she bluffing? Another overly confident royal who had it in their head they could defy the assassins? Derrick seemed to believe her, and that usually took some doing. Course he was also making gaga eyes at her, so his judgement might be suspect, but seeing as how Derrick had never looked at a woman that way...least far as Cal knew...maybe there was something real there. Not just another cruel joke.

It was a gamble, or seemed to be. But after the last week? Er...make that over a decade...it was one he was willing to take. Besides! “Shouldn’t let the big guy out of my sight anyway, always getting himself into trouble, he is.” 

Technically that was true of both of them. Derrick sticking his neck out for people he shouldn’t, even those around the Citadel who refused to see him as a human being, and Cal, constantly stirring things up...for good or bad. 

“How do you propose we get out of here? Nearest window? Need a bodyguard? I know I don’t look like much right now, and you can float an’ all, but there’s gonna be a whole passel of people ticked off you’ve invaded their home.” 

The glance at Derrick revealed the man still didn’t look perturbed. Amused, yes. Pensive or concerned, not even the slightest. Okay, so...vampires, floaty people, an entire Citadel full of assassins, and nothing was bothering him? Sheesh, he’d like to know where the man found his chill. Again, vampires?!? Course, this one was really hot...

[obsessedwiththearcana]

What would Main Six do or say when apprentice say “ I Love You” for the first time (I’m bad at English I hope you understand it☺️)

your English is perfectly understandable hun, don’t worry! sorry it took me a while, I had a short holiday and school is taking up all my time. I hope you like it!

Reaction to ‘I love you’ ~ Main six

Asra

His little heart BURSTS with joy 

Finally, after loving you for so long you return the feeling once again. 

Laughs so happily, scoops you up and kisses you all over your face as he spins you in circles

After saying it to you for so long without expecting a reply,  every time you say it back his heart goes ‘KSjhkjhajkraaaaaaaahhhhHDFKAGOAIOSHDAJ” for a sec before calming down. 

His proud grin whenever you say it is heartwarming. 

Nadia

You probably say it in a completely random moment and she just completely stills in shock. 

She looks at you, eyebrows raised in surprise before contorting her face back to her neutral expression. 

Only for a slight smile to break it again as she looks at you. 

“Thank you so much, I love you too” she replies as she takes your face between her hands and kisses you passionately. 

She loves hearing you say it, as much as she pretends it doesn’t phase her

Julian

Cue the blushing along with the disbelief.

After that get ready for: Julian trying to convince you that loving him is a bad idea.

When he realizes its no good he hugs you oh so tight, you really love him enough to stay.

He buries his face in your hair as he continuously whispers that he loves you too. 

His whole mood switches when you show him affection and you whispering that you love him when sleepy, makes him melt through the mattress.

Portia

You two say it at the same time out of nowhere. 

A wholehearted laugh and giggle follow soon after. 

You two share the sweetest kiss and spend the rest of the day not being able to keep your hands off of you. 

She tells you she loves you excessively cause now she can.

And she wants to hear you say it back. 

Muriel

He will just be doing chores and you hit him with that “I love you” blast. 

Stills for just a second before blushing furiously. 

Probably answers with something between a grunt and a mumble as he keeps his broad back to you. 

You have to take his face in your hands and tell him again to see the small smile forming. 

If he feels like it, he might say it back. 

Lucio

It happens during an argument when all of a sudden it just tumbles out.

Both of you are silent as you worry for his reaction. 

He gives the widest, most genuine smile as he takes a few big strides and engulfs you in his arms. 

He kisses you all over as he waggles the both of you to the bed, never letting go of you. 

He apologizes profusely as he cuddles the life out of you, falling asleep with his absolutely dazzling smile still plastered on his face. 

[boarix]

Wraith in the Ruins: A Fallout 4 Story Part XX

Call My Name

Trigger Warnings: canon violence/gore/language/gun, drug and alcohol use.

 ......

Deacon and Wraith had finished placing the MILA at the construction site in Cambridge and were taking stock of ammo and equipment before heading back to Railroad HQ. Deacon was especially eager to move along as the building was tall and they were still at the top. Wraith was nonchalantly lounging in a chair with its deposed super mutant owner lying at her feet. She had no idea he was acrophobic, and he wanted to keep it that way.

“You almost ready, boss?” He kept his tone light, “You’ve been staring at you’re Pip-Boy for a few days now.”

She made a circular motion with her right hand, “I’m trying to see if there isn’t a quicker way back then there was to…” She interrupted herself by laughing, “a few days?” She smiled up at him, “You in a particular rush?”

“My rush isn’t so particular, just feels too open here. If I were a sniper I’d be there,” He pointed helpfully, “or there, or there. Isn’t this fun?”

“Okay, okay…” She continued to stare at her screen.

“Whisper, it’ll be dangerous to climb down in the dark. Which is soon…” He shuffled closer to her while purposefully dragging the soles of his sneakers, “I’m also starving. Can we stop at the Fast Food?”

She chuckled, “We have food at home.” She stood and stretched, “I think there’s a way to get over to the freeway from here. I want to go check it out real quick.”

He frowned dramatically at her, “But I’m hungry.”

She reached into her pack, grabbed a small package wrapped in cheese cloth and tossed it to him as she walked, “Here. It’s fruit leather.” She pulled one out for herself but rather than eat it she sniffed and frowned at it, “This batch is too heavy on the carrots. I miss bananas. These would have better with bananas. Or I could make chips! Mmm, banana chips.”

Distracted by her melancholy, for a brief moment he forgot his fear. Balling up the entire strip, he clowned for her by shoving it into his mouth, “Mmfp. Sfo… thereshf im brogdgg nofp wha?”

She snorted and laughed, “If you’re asking me about a bridge… kinda?”

His fear was back.

The gap between the building and the freeway was only about 6 or 7 feet. It was bridged by road sign that looked fairly secure, but to Deacon it might as well have been miles. His arms twitched up reflexively as Wraith skipped across.

“I’ve been meaning to see if there was anything good up here. Since it’s so out of the way I thought there might be an armored truck… Are ya comin’?” She leaned back in to view, eyebrows tented and lip sticking out, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothin’ just… how long do you suppose this has been here?”

“It’s pretty solid, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“You didn’t hardly step on it.”

“You’re just as light on your feet as me. Don’t try to jump it.” When he didn’t immediately move, she offered him an out, “Or, you can just hang tight for a sec, I shouldn’t be long.”

“No, no. We’re partners; I go where you go.”

He tried to take it in two large strides, but with his vision marred by vertigo, his second step landed heavily on a rusted edge and the whole piece gave way. Wraith lunged to grab his hand, yelling his name. Swinging forward, he yelped in pain as his right hip was punctured by exposed rebar. Hearing his cry, Wraith didn’t immediately pull him up for fear of causing further damage.

“Are you hung-up? Can you free yourself?!”

“I’m… going… grragh… to try…” Though he knew it would cause a flash of intense pain, he reached up to hold her hand with both of his. He took a few deep breaths to recover. When he tried to pivot to push off with his left foot, the pain was too intense and he felt a surge of panic. “I can’t!”

“Are you cut?! I can’t … I can’t see.”

Screwing his eyes shut he tried to calm himself, “I got stabbed. It’s not super deep but this… I don’t think I’ll be able to talk my way out of this one. Ha hahaha!”

“Deacon, look up at me. You are going to be okay. I won’t let you fall. Let go with one hand and see if you… don’t shake your head!” She smiled and lowered her voice, “I’m very strong, Deacon. I promise I won’t let you fall. Trust me.”  

“I…” He swallowed hard, “believe you.” Bolstered by her smile he let go and set his free hand against the girder. Screaming through the pain he brought his foot up and pushed off with both limbs. “GGGAAAARRRKKKK FREE!”

Wraith yanked him up next to her as if he were a prized catch at the end of a fishing line. He immediately dropped to the asphalt and was very noisily sick off the side of the bridge. Wraith ignored his retching but made assorted unhappy noises at the hole in his hip that was in fact very deep and bleeding a lot.  

“You liar, you’re a goddamn shish kebab!” Quickly she gave him a one-two punch of Med-X and a Stimpak. When he made a small noise of protest against the painkiller she growled at him, “You hush! Being in pain slows healing.”

“And being on chemsh makes me shlow everything!” The lightning-fast med already had him stumbling over his words.

In the midst of her tying a temporary bandage, yellow-green lightning split the sky which set the Geiger counter on Wraith’s Pip-Boy to ticking madly. A rad storm was approaching fast. “Oh, for crying out loud!” Glancing around fearfully, she spotted a semi-trailer. Popping Deacon up and over her shoulder she made for the truck and set to work picking the lock.

“No, noooo NO! Danger! DANGER AGENT WHISNMPERS!”

“Yeah, yeah; ‘never open a new can of worms while cleaning up the first’. Look, I need to get you inside someplace!”

Tipped on its side, the trailer’s interior was narrow but devoid of monsters. Wraith gently lay Deacon down atop the scattered shipping tubs and glanced around for an additional light source to supplement her Pip-Boy, “Keep pressure on it, I’m going to hop back and grab some of those lanterns…” Once she returned she pulled shut the truck’s cargo door and got out her knife. However, when she turned back to Deacon he was nowhere to be seen. “Did you just… are you using a Stealth Boy?!”

“I don’t want you t’ cut my jeans!”

Blinking rapidly, she looked down at her combat knife and then back up to where his voice came from, “Deacon… you might bleed out! I’ll make you new pants!”

“Imma try to get out… OW! Huuurrgn… of them…” Failing, he phased back into view with a miserable expression on his face.

“There’s nothing wrong with showing a little leg. Or… a lot… damn, Deacon.” She made an attempt to school the worry from her face as she worked, “Looks like you’ll need to wear skirts for a while.”

“I have the calves for it.”

She couldn’t disagree, “Actually, you have better legs then me. Turn a little more on your side…”

“Why don’t you like the way you look? I think you’re pretty.”

“Well, I think you’re pretty too, Deacon. So I’ll throw that right back at you; why do you want to change your face again? Seems a more… dramatic solution than sticking on a false mustache. What’s th’ matter? Can’t grow facial hair?”

“I grow the best bneards you’d ever shee!”

“I’ll take your word for it. Anyway, I like the face you’re currently wearing.”

He was touched and even with his chem addled brain he knew the conversation was getting dangerously close to things he wasn’t sure he wanted her to know. It was time to change the subject, “What’s that? Brobzzs… Brave… Bavarian… Bob’s Best Moonshine?”

Wraith had pulled what looked like a liquor bottle out of her pack, “Oh, no. Curie gave me a lecture on how terrible alcohol is for wounds. So, I’ve been trying to carry soapy water instead. Buuuut,” She soaked a clean rag and gently wiped at his injury, “I don’t think she realizes that soap is way more rare out here then booze.”

Satisfied that the bleeding had stopped, she helped the now shivering spy into a sleeping bag and made for the door. “I’m going to go see if there is a quicker way down from here. I want to get you back to HQ and Carrington ASAP.”

“Jump down would be fastnerest.”

“You tried that already…” Her spirits sagged as she jogged along the short span of crumbling road. Then, they suddenly skyrocketed when she noticed there was a scaffolding lift on the very edge of the partially destroyed highway, “Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!”

The storm had passed so when Wraith returned she put Deacon’s pack in the sleeping bag with him and cinched the opening until only his face showed. She shouldered her own pack and then bent to pick him up as well. She had thought he was asleep until he started giggling.  

“He heee; imma worm.”

“Oh, Deacon, you’re my favorite.”

……

……

……

“HANCOCK!” MacCready watched in horror the ghoul dropped to the pavement and writhed about while clutching his head. Fearing he’d been shot, the sniper pushed away from the feral citizen he’d been trying to subdue and rushed to the mayor’s side. “What?! Tell me…”

Hancock gaped; opening and closing his mouth like a fish trying to breathe air. His eyes bulged and were completely unfocused.

“She’s attacking him! Radiance!” Fahrenheit wanted nothing more than to throw herself off the balcony and rush to her father, “Pick him up or drag him if you have to but move him away from the bar!”

MacCready stooped and hooked the ghoul under the armpits while Magnolia grabbed his legs; both calling for the Watch. They only made it a few steps before multiple ferals burst from the Third Rail and charged them. The sniper dropped to a knee and set Hancock down as softly as time would allow. Telling the singer to pull Hancock toward the Memory Den he unholstered his sidearm and started an attack of his own. Aiming for their legs as he dodged their swinging arms, he lured them away. Twisting and turning, he danced just out of their reach and quickly cut them down.

“HELP ME!    

Surprised by Magnolia’s desperate cry, MacCready whipped around and then stood frozen by what he saw. Hancock had lifted the singer off the ground to chest height and was viscously shaking her back and forth in the air. Like a terrier with a rat.

Thinking quickly, the young man took aim with the syringer and hit the ghoul in the neck with a dose of Pistol Whipped. The effect was almost instantaneous; Magnolia was released and the two dropped to the pavement. As he jogged toward them past the entryway to the bar, MacCready was hit by a powerful shockwave of radiation that swept him off his feet and hurled him through the window of the offices across the street.

Radiance seemed to almost float above the ground as she moved to where Hancock lay. Determined to claim him as a prize, her blazing eyes were fixed on his face. She was confused why she lost her hold on his mind and curiosity drove her to edit her own plan, act directly and leave the relative safety of the Rail. As she crouched and reached out to touch his brow, a shot rang out and she felt burning pain as a .44 bullet tore through the palm of her clawed hand.  

When MacCready stepped back through the shattered glass, he was terrifying to behold: blood steamed down his face from a multitude of lacerations, and his cerulean eyes were a promise of death, “You can’t have him.”

The glowing one rose to her feet, turned up the heat and sent out another blast of energy. MacCready suddenly found himself in the midst of revived, legless ferals. They pulled themselves after him, snarling. Dodging, he continued his assault on their mistress but found that her radiation was both acting as a shield as well as healing any damage he managed to inflict. He was getting dangerously close to cursing loudly.

“MACCREADY, GET OUT OF THE WAY!” Fahrenheit had returned to the balcony, this time armed with a minigun.

Even as the gun began its spin up, Radiance decided to make a tactical retreat. Sending out a psionic call, she dashed back into the Third Rail with her few remaining minions trailing behind.

……

……

……

“Hey, Glory; think fast!”

The Railroad heavy easily caught the beer that Wraith tossed to her. “It’s cold! Where’d you get this?”

Wraith set a cooler on the floor and pulled a chair up next to where the synth was sitting, “I’ve a buddy in Goodneighbor.”

“Oh, ha ha.”

Wraith held up another and gently rocked it back and forth in Tinker Tom’s direction, “TT, come have a brewski with us!”

The Railroad engineer’s eyes lit up and he quickly walked over to them, holding both his hands up toward the booze the entire way, “Oooh, presents!” He took a swig and made several, almost inappropriate, noises of appreciation. “Well, don’t that beat all?” He smiled down at her, “Where’ve you been, Whisper? We missed you.”

She did a quick survey of the room, “Doc told me that Deacon needed some time and Hancock had mentioned a friend of his needed work so I’ve been dragging this kid around with me while I do Minutemen stuff.  I see my partner isn’t here resting, like he’s supposed to be.”

Glory made an indelicate noise, “Nope. Though if Carrington catches him out, working with that injury…”

“Doc’s just itchin’ for an excuse to holler at our boy D.”

“You called?” With an almost imperceptible limp, Deacon, dressed in Gunner camo, crossed the room from the backdoor tunnel and leaned rather heavily on the center map table. He set down the sniper rifle he’d been carrying and frowned at the three of them, “Doing some day drinking, are we?”

Wraith flashed him a bright smile, “It’s gotta be five o’clock somewhere.”

“Yeah, D! Don’t be such an old lady, man.”

“You know, I briefly was an old-lady man. It worked out pretty well too.”

Glory laughed, “I admit that was a good one. No one ever suspects a little old woman. I’m surprised you didn’t keep her going longer.”

“It was hard on th’ back.”

Wraith popped her chin at his gun, “What have you been up to?”

“Now that I know that lift is stable, it’s a great spot for… observation.”

“I think someone had told me that area was a good spot for a sniper.”

“Well, whoever that mysterious stranger was they sure were brilliant as well as handsome.” He felt a flutter in his chest when Wraith smirked while giving him a toe to crown look of appraisal. She smiled into her beer and blushed slightly when she saw that he caught her and this in turn caused all matter of mental alarm bells to start shrieking at him.

NOT GOOD! VERY BAD! STOP FLIRTING!

“So what brings you in today? You want me back on deck, huh?”

“Are you sure you’re up for it?”

“Yup! Fit as a fiddle.”

Glory rocked her beer back and forth at him, “That’s not what Carrington said.”

“Pfft, Carrington… I’ll have you know that I went to Amari for a second opinion and she said ‘Deacon, please leave. You are underfoot and I am too busy.’”

Wraith laughed, “You were probably in Goodneighbor the same time I was.” She paused for a second when she saw Deacon’s brow twitch. “Actually I came to let you know that I need more time. Desdemona says there’s nothing for us right now and this kid, MacCready, I think he might really need my help.”

“Yeah. Help. Right.” Deacon shouldered his rifle and turned brusquely away, “I’m going to report to Dez. See you ‘round, Whisper.”

Tom patted Wraith on the back, “Don’t take it to heart; he’s just sore he has to share you.”

……

……

……

The Minutemen had made it to Goodneighbor in record time. A temporary field hospital had been erected and several of the Dragoons, wielding Gatling guns, were stationed in and around the Third Rail. Hancock was still unconscious and MacCready was holding one of the ghoul’s hands while a medic worked on the lacerations on his face.

“You shouldn’t have to worry about scarring. The derma-fuse works really well on glass cuts like these.”

MacCready mumbled his thanks, his eyes on Hancock.

The medic tried to reassure him, “Dr. Amari says his brain looks no worse than usual… erm… I’ll make sure you have a dose of Radaway…”

“No need,” Magnolia interrupted, “he’s the Mayor’s boyfriend. I’m sure he’s on a suppressive dose of Rad-X.”

MacCready chuckled, “That’s really funny, actually.” Then, when he realized the medic hadn’t gotten the joke he rolled his eyes, “She’s kidding. Yes, I need a bag of Radaway.”

Magnolia was wearing a neck brace and had dark circles under her eyes. She sat on the ghoul’s opposite side and took his other hand in hers.

“You’re not scared of him?”

She frowned at him, “Of course not.” She smiled tenderly down at the sleeping mayor, “I owe Hancock my life. He’s protected me here for years, and I know he would never hurt me willingly.” Her face hardened, “Am I crazy or did that wretched hag go for him specifically?”

“That’s what it looked like to me. I think this whole attack was meant to secure him.”

“Why?” Fahrenheit had ducked under the tent flap and stood at the foot of Hancock’s gurney. She looked tired and worried, and it carried in her voice, “Also, no Wraith? Why would Radiance come here herself without her strongest piece? It’s a move that makes no sense.”

“Not everything is chess.” MacCready had a warning in his voice, “Wraith isn’t a queen and we aren’t all pawns!”

“I never said you were all pawns; Hancock is at the very least a knight.”

“THIS ISN’T A GAME!”

“Uuhhg, MacCready, are you yellin’ some more?” Hancock made a halfhearted attempt to sit up before collapsing back onto his pillow, “Someone catch the brand on the brahmin that stamped my head last night?”

MacCready, all but sobbing in relief, embraced the ghoul and kissed him soundly, “I had to shoot you with the syringer. It scared the sh… crap out of me!”

“You shot me? Why?” He brought a scarred hand to his forehead, massaging it as he tried to remember, “What happened? How long was I out? I remember I was holding Curtis… damn. Everything’s all backwards.”

“You’ve been unconscious for about four hours. Radiance came up through the Blue Line into the Rail. We all seem to agree that she intended to leave with you.”

“I saw Wraith!” Hancock sat up quickly, his headache momentarily forgotten, “It was just a flash but…”

“What do you mean? She was here?!” MacCready stood up and made as if to leave the tent.

Hancock waved him back down, “No. No, I saw her in… she was someplace dark… her eyes… I think I saw her when the glowing one had me.” He shook his head, wincing, “That sounds crazy, even for me.” He gave MacCready a wan smile, “I’m sorry I’m no help…”

“What does she want with you? What does she want with Wraith?” Frustration gave an edge to Fahrenheit’s voice, “If we could figure out what the hell her endgame is, we could make a more efficient counterstrategy. Wraith is in the dark? Well, so are we!”

Hancock nodded, “We need to be proactive and not reactive. Right. Call Curie. She might want adjust the dosage on Pistol Whipped and I want to brainstorm with Nicky so better call him too. Oh, and give me the names of all my people who didn’t make it or are still feral.”

……

……

……

“Are you trying to sneak up on me, Whisper?”

“Well, kinda.” Wraith sat cross-legged next to Deacon. She had gone to Railroad HQ in search of him only to find that her partner was once again AWOL. The broken freeway was the next place she checked.

“Trying to impress me?”

She stuck out her lower lip and dipped her chin, “Yeah.”

Her admission surprised him as well as stoked his ego, “Well, I’m sure with a little more practice you’ll be half again as good as me.”

She laughed, “Thanks, teach. I love what you’ve done with the place, by the way.”

Deacon had set up a small lean-to on the upper level, tagged with the railsign for “cash”, “Yeah, I’m glad I found it.” He had brought up a beach lounger and now, in an attempt to appear casual, leaned back with his arms folded behind his head, “So, what’s up?”

“I’ve gotten a really good lead on Shaun…” She paused when Deacon abruptly sat up and leaned toward her, “Hancock and I are going to look for an Institute scientist… in the Glowing Sea…”

“The Glowing…” He didn’t even bother to hide the concern on his face, “You’re taking Hancock?”

“Yeah, well, he’s…” She floundered, looking for the right words, “a ghoul.” she finished, lamely.

“He’s also not exactly Mr. Dependable.”

I should not be this jealous!

“I don’t know, Deacon; he’s been really supportive and helpful. He’s a good friend. Besides, I know how much you hate power armor. I promise I’ll share any information I get with you and Dez.”

“My hip is all healed, Whisper. I want you to know that you can depend on me too.”

Shut up! Shut up, shut up shutyourstupidmouthyoumoron!

Wraith’s forehead creased and she leaned away from him, “Oh, no! It’s not that! Hancock was with Valentine and me… he asked to go. I know I can count on you. Really!”

“Regardless of power armor, I would have gone with you to the end, into the very fires of Mordor.”

Wraith sputtered for a moment before tilting her head back and laughing, “That was just perfect! You know, I think you and Hancock would get along really well if you tried. You both like the same books, apparently.”

……

……

……

Infamy watched Radiance leave with an escort of ferals. Having firmly established where the other glowing one’s limit of irresistible influence was, Atom’s Assassin hid in the caves the host was occupying; waiting for just such an opportunity. With most of the ferals left to wander freely throughout the expansive catacombs, Wraith’s guard consisted of only one bloated glowing one and a few reavers.

“If I can pull you away…” At war with themselves, the ghoul couldn’t decide if they were there to try and rescue Wraith, or destroy her. “Hmm, what would Atom do?”

Pushing their will onto the reavers, they caused them to swarm the bloated one until the assassin could put their knife through its eye. As they turned back to Wraith they jumped involuntarily because she had stood up and begun to growl.

“You’ve smelled better, Sister Wraith.” Another choice popped into their head, “Or… you could be mine. Perhaps the Mother has chosen you to be a harbinger for Infamy!” They cackled wildly in excitement, “Ha! Ha haha! Hmm, mustn’t get carried away, now. First things first…” Filled with narcissistic confidence, they sent a blast of psionic energy at Wraith’s mind. Fully expecting her to be knocked off her feet, they were shocked and irritated when they hit a solid mental wall. “What is this? We should be well outside of mommy’s range!”

Wraith flexed her hands menacingly as her growl deepened and grew louder. Then with shocking speed she sprinted for Infamy. When the ghoul tried to sidestep away, she anticipated the movement and hit them with backhand that nearly sent them across the room. Recovering quickly, the glowing one sent their captive reavers to trip her up, giving them time to put more distance between them. Strangely, Wraith didn’t kill the attacking ferals but only pushed them down and away.

“Hmm. Mommy doesn’t want you to kill your siblings, ey? Well, that works for me. Let’s see if we can’t tear down that wall, hmm?”

For several long moments the group danced back and forth across the rocky floor. Wraith seemed tireless and occasionally she would knock the ferals down long enough to attack Infamy. Regretting having destroyed the bloated glowing one, the assassin found that their utter lack of progress was filling them with fear. It dawned on them that without the reavers, they may have already been killed.

“Damn you!” They hissed, “Damn you, you beast!”

Suddenly the ferals and Wraith looked up at the cavern ceiling and froze. They stood motionless for a few moments before they all started snarling. Then, Wraith put her hands up to either side of her helmet and cried out. Still clutching her head, she stepped away from the reavers and began groaning what sounded like a name. Infamy edged closer to try and hear.

“Hann… Hn… Han.. Hancock…”

……

“Remember, Wraith’s appearance will most likely have changed and she will undoubtedly attack us. Do your best to evade and aid MacCready in lining up his shot. If injured, fall back immediately! We cannot afford a bottleneck or blockage that may prevent access to the cages.” Danse took a deep breath, “Do not exit your power armor for any reason! Assume the radiation levels to be at lethal levels throughout the vault. You few have been chosen for your exceptional levelheadedness and steady aim. If spotted, you are to shoot the glowing one known as Radiance on sight. Do not hesitate, and shoot to terminate. There isn’t a soul here who hasn’t been saved or comforted by Wraith. Now, ARE YOU READY TO RETURN THE FAVOR? ARE YOU READY TO SAVE THE COMMONWEALTH’S SAVIOUR?!”

“WE ARE READY!”

“COMMONWEALTH HEAVY DRAGOONS, ADVANCE!”

After much deliberation and investigation it had been decided that Vault 88 was the most likely location of Radiance’s stronghold. A large Minutemen battalion, arrow headed by a small taskforce of the Dragoons, MacCready and Strong, led by Danse, stood just beyond the rim of Quincy Quarries finalizing the plan of attack. However, the operation was as much recon as it was rescue, due to the simple fact that there wasn’t a way to enter the vault without one’s presence known to the possible hostel force within.

Hancock had been furious when MacCready had told him to remain in Goodneighbor, “Like hell I’m going to sit at my bar while all of you are out here…”

“If I have to shoot you again, I will!”

A compromise was reached when Hancock agreed to hang back with the main force. Though, he watched the preparations like a hawk and made several of the Minutemen nervous. And he wasn’t the only one. Strong had taken to pacing back and forth through the encampment, swinging his super sledge, Smashy, while muttering murderous things to himself.

Hancock stood next to Preston with his arms crossed, tapping his foot irritably as Danse’s group disappeared into the cave that led to the vault’s entryway, “Not a bad speech. We sure nine of ‘em are going to be enough?”

Preston frowned at him, “Nine? There were only eight assigned including Strong.”

“Well, I know I have fewer brain cells than when I was a smoothskin, but I can still fucking count! There were eight suits!”

……

She could feel something. Something that wasn’t Radiance. Her mistress’s light shown so bright in her mind that normally that’s all that there was. But now, there was a smaller light. It annoyed her. Like the incessant whine of a mosquito just outside your window. You know that it can’t get in, but your skin crawls nonetheless.

She growled at it. It persisted.

She pushed it down and threw it away from her. It persisted.

She could feel something. And there was now a crack in her shield.

……

Infamy was furious.

They had fallen back when it became apparent that Wraith couldn’t be obtained by head-on force and when Radiance returned, they had found themselves a protected nook just outside of the danger zone. There they meditated: focusing all of their will onto one spot in Wraith’s protective barrier. And just when it seemed that they had a breakthrough, Danse’s team came stomping by.

“Never a moment’s peace!” They pulled their hood close and dimmed their light as much as possible to avoid being spotted. “So close. Well, I can’t follow them… we will see how this plays out. Dammit.”

……

The ferals seemed endless as Radiance sent wave after wave at the Dragoons. Because she had sentry ferals posted at the entrance, her response had been almost instantaneous. The group was equipped with rifles rather than Gatling guns to avoid accidentally mistaking Wraith for an enemy and mowing her down. MacCready hung back, spotting for them as much as possible in the near darkness, grinding his teeth in anxious frustration. Strong repeatedly called for Wraith, the desperate cries for his alpha echoed throughout the vault. Though it adding to the bedlam, no one shushed him.

The suits of Danse’s team were modded for melee and with Strong clearing multiple enemies with each great sweep of his hammer, conserving ammunition wasn’t their highest priority. As such they initially pushed forward with relative ease.

Well past the area that had been developed for settlers, the floor’s slope angle pitched sharply and as the taskforce descended their Geiger-counters began to tick with increasing rhythm.

Danse checked the map on his integrated Pip-Boy, “There’s a large, open area coming up. Don’t let them flank you.”  

The tunnel banked ahead of them and the group could see an ominous glow from the chamber beyond. Rounding the corner they fanned out across the entrance in the face of a sea of powerful feral ghouls.

“STRONG SMELLS ALPHA!”

As if on cue, a group of charred and bloated glowing ones separated from the main host and rushed the taskforce. All but unseen, Wraith was in the center and using the brutal attack as a screen, she slipped behind the group and started ejecting cores. She got through half of them before they even realized she was there. Once she pulled MacCready’s core she threw it into the middle of the chamber, and as if it was a signal, the rest of the feral mob began its swift advance.

They hit the group hard. Not anticipating the loss of fusion cores was a crippling oversight. Literally. There was some attempt to close ranks as they fought to put a wall at their back. Danse, having more experience maneuvering in depleted cores than most, called out encouragement and direction as he reduced feral after feral into green goo with his plasma rifle.

Strong left the group; foraging ahead in an attempt to locate Radiance. Less concerned about securing Wraith, his goal was to kill the glowing one who had taken her away.

Wraith’s appearance was shocking: her fast-growing hair was already long enough to protrude from her helmet in a filth-ridden fringe and her once silver-grey armor was blackened by blood, offal and fire. Snarling viscously, she turned back to MacCready after throwing his core and hit him in the back of the knee before leaping into the air and double kicking him in the chest. As he crashed to the ground she straddled his breastplate and punched him repeatedly in the helmet.

Bringing his arms up to shield his head was all MacCready could manage, stunned and low-powered as he was. He had no way of engaging the tesla field now that his fusion core had been ejected and no hope of throwing her off let alone righting himself. As she swatted his defense away, his vision blurred and the metallic taste of his own blood blossomed on his tongue, an image of Duncan flashed in his mind.

Suddenly, Wraith was whisked away as a taskforce member grabbed her from behind and lifted her off of him, “MACCREADY, GET UP!” They struggled mightily with her as she braced her feet on their breastplate and tried to kick off. When it became apparent she couldn’t free herself that way she tried slamming the back of her head into their helmet. Shock caused them to loosen their grip enough for her to free her arms and she began pounding on theirs. Realizing that they could potentially kill her if they held on any tighter, they took her to the nearest corner and dropped her in it.

Her retaliation was savage. However, the team member still had their core and so was able to block her lower leg and knee attacks. Even as she rolled between their legs, they turned quickly enough to prevent her from ejecting their core. Adapting quickly, she leaped, grabbed their gorget and used the leverage to pull herself up and onto their shoulders. Hooking her fingers underneath the edge of their helm, she tried to remove it; pulling and twisting as if trying to unscrew the lid on a particularly stubborn jar of pickles. They reached up to grab her but she grabbed their arm instead. Then, throwing herself toward the ground, she was able to pull them off balance enough to cartwheel them over her and send them crashing to the cavern floor in an unceremonious heap.

I’M LOSING! I’M IN POWER ARMOR AND SHE’S GONNA KILL ME! FIGHTING WAS A POOR CHOICE!

“PIPPA,” her name ripped from him in anguished desperation, “PLEASE!”

She stopped mid-charge. She tilted her head slightly then brought her bloodied hands up and briefly rested her fingertips against her temples before slowly lifting her helmet.

“Oh… oh, no.”

Her face was greatly emaciated and she had large, deep scabs where her helm had rubbed her skin away. Her sunken eyes, made all the more pronounced by her now jutting cheekbones, were missing their normal inner light and flickered back in forth as she searched for something recognizable in the armored figure before her.

“Pippa, it’s me. I…” he choked on a sob, “I came back.”

“De… Deac…” Wraith stopped and crumpled to the ground; a syringe of tranquilizer protruding from the back of her neck.

……

Radiance’s self-preservation had won out. Retreating further into the connecting maze of sewer and metro tunnels, she was escorted by a dwindling pack of her ferals. Strong had got her in his sights and was on her like a bloodhound. Taskforce team members had made attempts to call him back but to no avail.

“Leave him be.” Danse waved their concerns away, “Let us hope, for Wraith’s sake, that he is more than up to the task.”

MacCready carried Wraith out of the vault but hesitated when it came to putting her in a cage, “I know I said this was a good idea…”

“If she wakes up and you’re still holding her she’ll tear your head off.” Deacon’s eyes were red rimed and there wasn’t a trace of his normal humor in his voice, “Put her in the cage or give her to me and I’ll do it.”

“You don’t get to touch her.” MacCready stared him down, “You. Left. Her.”

Hancock, unchecked tears streaming down his scarred cheeks, held his arms out, “Let me. I want to hold her first anyway.” He kissed her forehead and gripped her tightly to his chest, “It’s alright now, sunshine. She… she don’t hardly weigh nothin’.”  His legs gave out and he collapsed to the earth; rocking her back and forth, sobbing.

Once secured in a cage, they used brahmin and moved Wraith to the basement of the former Peabody home. Now a fully equipped Minutemen safe house, it was far enough from settlements they were somewhat less concerned if Radiance was able to evade Strong and launch a counter assault.

Curie, with Piper acting as nurse, carefully cut Wraith out of her armor and bathed her. All the while making sad little gasps and sighs at her sores and how terribly bony she was.

“Oh, Blue…”

Curie hooked her up to IV fluids and was able to get a few bags into her before she woke up. Naturally, the first thing Wraith did was to pull the catheter from her arm and throw it away from her.

“Oh, Madame! Why must you always pull out my lines?!”

Wraith, her eyes wild and unfocused, snarled at her and rushed the bars. She pulled on them experimentally to the point where the metal groaned in protest, but when they proved immovable she stepped back and stood in the center of her cage. Her eyes dulled and she was motionless except for the occasional owlish blink.

Over the next several days her friends came to see her and each time a new person came into the room she would hiss, snarl and try the bars. The exception seemed to be Hancock. Instead of her usual violence, she tilted her head back and forth as if she was trying to see him better. She wouldn’t move closer to him nor let him touch her and MacCready yelled at him for putting his hand in her cage to try.      

The only one who hadn’t been in to see her was Deacon. He had disappeared soon after Wraith was secured. Hancock was surprised and a little disappointed and MacCready felt guilty. The sharpshooter wondered aloud if his outburst had “run him off”.

“I doubt it. He’s gotta be skulking around here someplace. Heh, now he’s back we’re never gonna be fully rid of him, you feel me?”

Deacon hadn’t been by because he was hunting. Harkness’s report had contained a description of Infamy and unfortunately for the ghoul, Deacon placed 90% of Wraith’s condition squarely on their narrow shoulders. He had spotted them in the caverns of Vault 88 and again when they followed the rescue team to the safe house. He lost track of them soon after but now he stalked the haunted ruins of Quincy like a vengeful ghost.

Infamy was torn. They had very much wanted to follow Radiance but knew that, lacking the strength to resist her, they’d end up much the same as Wraith. They had followed the rescue caravan with no clear intention and retreated to the Quincy ruins to meditate. They settled themselves in the church there for some serious introspection. It dawned on them that they may have slipped from Atom’s path and been following the light of their own hubris instead, “Mustn’t stray like Marie did. Oh, no! Who is Wraith to you, hmm? Should I save her? Should I kill her? Hahahahaha!”

“Laugh while you can.” Deacon’s disembodied voice reached the ghoul a half second before his knife did. Although buried to the hilt, the strike pierced their bicep and wasn’t intended to be a killing blow. He wanted them to hurt.

Infamy instantly cranked up the heat and sent out a blast of radiation. This in turn caused Deacon’s Stealth Boy to malfunction and he phased back into view on his next attack which allowed Infamy to dodge. Dressed in a hazmat suit, he pursued them out the doors and into the street, taking several shots at them as they ducked into Guns Guns Guns, and cursing softly when he missed. Fully expecting an ambush, he ran in after them anyway. He blocked their knife attack with his own blade and shot them point blank in the shoulder. They sent out another blast that staggered him backward and pushed him off his feet. Rolling sideways, he tried to shoot them from the ground but his pistol misfired.

“Oh, what’s wrong? A little radiation got you down? Toy doesn’t work? Too bad.”  They threw a knife and exalted when it stuck in Deacon’s blocking arm, “Should know better than to bring a gun to a knife fight!”  

Their victory was short lived. Deacon pulled their weapon from his forearm as he vaulted to his feet and threw it right back at them. Using it as a distraction, he closed the distance between them. Easily ducking under their knife swing he slammed his fist into their ribs. They flinched backward, bringing a knee up before stomping down toward their opponent’s foot causing him to involuntarily back away.

Deacon knew he only had a few seconds before the glowing one could hit him with another pulse and he wanted to capitalize on the delay by staying close and inflicting as much damage, without killing them, as possible.  As such he appeared to step into the ghoul’s roundhouse, but in a blur of fluid motion, blocked their hand down and brought the back of his hand back up and into their chin. Hard. This resulted in two things: one, their teeth to sliced into their tongue and two, they decided they didn’t want to fight him anymore.

“I gggan haave her!” Their irradiated blood flowed freely from their mouth and they could hardly speak around the ruin of their tongue, “I gan ring her ack.”

……

“ABSOLUTLY NOT!”

“NOT ON YOUR LIFE!”

“SHUT THE HELL UP!”

Danse, Preston and MacCready’s protests overlapped as they shouted at Deacon. The Railroad agent sighed and turned to Hancock, his pale blue eyes pleading.

“I think I want to stab them in the neck more than I want to…” he turned to face the glowing one directly, “How many goddamn people have you fucked over to mess with Wraith?!” He pointed at Danse, “You see him? He’s a friend of mine and you shot him in the fuckin’ face!”

Infamy’s mouth had already healed and they pouted like a child being scolded, “Oh, poo. It’s no fun to have your failures thrown back at you. Besides, I didn’t actually pull that trigger…”

Danse leveled his plasma rifle at them, “Yes, well, you damn well better believe I’ll pull this one.”

Deacon held up his hands and boldly stepped between them, “Whoa there, big dragon. We all know how tough you are.” He brought his palms together as if praying, “This could be the only way to undo what Radiance did to her. I want my friend back.” He swept his hands out to either side, including all of them, “Don’t you fellas want her back?”

Danse looked at the bandage on his arm and lowered his gun. “For the last time; it’s ‘Dragoons’. And of course we want her back. The entire commonwealth wants her back, but we have no guarantee that this villain will actually help her. There is no promise they can make that I will trust.”

“I am but a humble servant of Atom. If it is His divine will that Wraith be spared…”

“Stop. I don’t want to hear it.” MacCready put his hand on Hancock’s chest, “I can’t listen to this crap anymore. I’m gonna go and feed her and relieve the girls. Whatever you decide, I’ll follow.” He glared at Infamy as he left the room.

The ensuing argument gained volume when Piper and Curie joined in and lasted for the better part of an hour. Curie’s sticking point centered on whether or not they would be able to get an accurate reading from a memory lounger if Wraith was doped out of her mind on chems.

“We simply must learn the extent of any and all damage to her brain!”

Piper had her face in her hands, “Yeah, doc, but how are we going to do that if she’s trying to kill us the whole time?”

“I don’t want to see her strapped down, but…”

“Hell no, Garvey,” Hancock folded his arms, “the cage is bad enough.”

In the end no real decision was made beyond incarcerating Infamy and shelving the argument until Dr. Amari arrived. They radioed Fahrenheit to ask that the doctor join them and locked Atom’s Assassin in the spare cage in an outbuilding. Afterward each went to their separate corners to stew.      

“Shaved th’ beard but you haven’t changed your mug yet.” Determined to not let him sneak away again, Hancock had followed Deacon outside.

“My guy’s in Boston. Hadn’t worked out a new one yet.”

“Sunglasses are off, yet yer still lying.” The ghoul took a long drag on his cigarette and blew an exceptionally large smoke ring at him, “I’m thinking you can’t bring yourself to do it.”

Deacon folded his arms and forced a smile that would have been convincing if it had reached his eyes, “Oh? Is that right? So tell me, oh enlightened one, why that is.”

He brought his hand up, index finger extended, to eye level and then slowly tilted his finger down and out to point at him, “That face belongs to someone that Wraith loves.”

Hancock might as well have shot him in the heart. He stood shocked into speechlessness.

“Now, I see that got ya.” Hancock’s eyes softened, “Things been different… well, they ain’t. You screwed yourself, son. But if she loves ya, there must be something good about ya. I gave Danse a chance and I gotta say I kinda love that kid.” He flicked his cigarette away, buffed his fingernails on his waistcoat and examined them as he continued, “You’re an asshole, but I’ll put up with ya for her sake.” He slowly brought out his knife and started juggling it; rotating and spinning around and through his fingers expertly, “You need to go and see her. Don’t try to run away again. I’ll find ya.”

Deacon stood outside on the small lawn while the sun went down. He remained until the lights in the house had been extinguished and he could hear the various snores and sighs of Wraith’s sleeping friends. He turned to leave but on his third step he stopped.

There was a lantern in the corner of the basement. Its low light cast a warm glow on the cold steel of Wraith’s cage. She had been lying in the nest of blankets she had made on the mattress they gave her, but stood up when she heard Deacon come down the stairs. She didn’t rush the now slightly bent bars, but stood and tilted her head back and forth much the same way that she did for Hancock. The bath and a few days of heartier food and clean water had done her some small amount of good and she no longer looked undead. He stared at her hair; now just long enough to curl, it appeared bronze when a ringlet caught the light.

“It’s almost like it was when you came up…” He stopped and swallowed hard before trying again, “I hate that you love me. I hate that I allowed myself to fall in love with you. I hate that I left the lean-to up on purpose, knowing that you’d find it. Knowing that you were smart enough to know what it meant. So that even though we loved each other, we would never be together. Because, how could you forgive me? But..” His breath caught as he sobbed and tears ran freely down his cheeks, “but… you did. You did. But now things were different. You thought that the tension between us was a lie. You thought that any minor flirting comment I made was just… another kind of lie. That I never imagined kissing you freely or holding you in my arms because, we were ‘just friends’. That I winced when we touched because I had Haphephobia, and not just because that I cannot allow myself to enjoy it.” He sat on the floor next to the cage and reached out to her, “Pippa, please hold my hand.”

She flinched when he said her name. And after blinking rapidly for a few minutes she open and closed her fists and then sat down facing him. She came no closer but her eyes we fixed on the bandage poking out from his sleeve.  

“I thought that if I left I would stop thinking about you. But, it turns out I lie to myself more than I lie to anyone else. Harkness told me to retire, but if I can’t have you and I don’t have work then I have nothing.” He sighed deeply, climbed slowly to his feet and headed for the stairs, “Hancock was right; I screwed everything up.”

“De…”

At first he wasn’t sure he had heard her and when he turned back she was still sitting on the floor and staring at where he had been sitting, “Wishful thinking…”

“Don’t… leave...” She lifted her chin and met his eye, “Deacon… don’t… leave… me.”

......

Thank you so much for reading! Like what you read? Looking for more? Please see my master link post: pinned or under the tag Wraith in the Ruins. My ask is open for any questions/concerns/comments and I would love to hear from you. =^..^=  

[mx-o]

「NEO CITY」

》 nct ot21 mafia! au

》 warnings ; swearing, mentions of guns, slightly suggestive? (ft. more got7)

》 a/n: i’m not sure what i wrote there for a sec, and this is my first ever fic so please don’t hate me. 

word count: 2.3k

masterlist | previous

two

[bangkok, thailand; jan 14, 19:34]

“mr. lim, i’m so glad you could make it,” ten said politely, taking another sip of his scotch and setting another glass down for his guest.

“please, i’ve already told you, you can speak casually to me, or i’m gonna have to start treating you the same, mr. lee,” he chucked lightly and took his seat at the table across from ten.

“well then, jaebeom, i just wanted to have a drink to thank you for your favour. how was your vacation in bali treating you?” he asked while pouring him a drink.

he laughed, “i don’t believe in vacations, there’s always work to be done. especially when half the people you work with don’t seem to understand basic principles—” he took the drink ten offered, nodding a ‘thank you’ as he took a sip.

ten smiled at the comment, knowing exactly what he meant as he had once tried to work with jaebeom’s crew, got7, he recalled. he had gone to see through a shipment on taeyong’s behalf way back when they had just started out. both the companies had only just started, and he vaguely remembered one of the got7 boys, yugyeom—if he remembers correctly, completely losing his mind and panicking like a headless chicken. that caused taeyong to lose faith in jaebeom and his crew, which in itself had caused problems on both ends. gosh, the amount of apologies that came from yugyeom the day after, at their meeting together—you’d never believe the way they’ve come from that.

“yeah i get that. recently, johnny and haechan, too, have been up to their antics again. but what can you do? it’s not like that’s any basis to fire them,” ten laughed. he didn’t mention his little memory about yugyeom considering he hadn’t seen the younger in years, since he’d come back to thailand.

“i can imagine. bambam and jackson are always at it whenever they see each other—which is why i sent them to two different countries. but yet, here i am doing their work.”

neither jaebeom or ten said anything further and just enjoyed their comfortable silence. ten glanced at the clock on the wall behind jaebeom, noticing the time. it had been getting closer to dinner, and boy had it been a long day for them both.

“ah, it’s getting a little late for dinner. have you eaten yet? i’ll ask lalisa to order us something,” ten offered.

“oh, i’m afraid i’ll have to decline. i have to head back to the office to do some paperwork,” he replied hesitantly. he was hungry, yes, but work always came first for jaebeom.

“jaebeom, c’mon. it’s the least i could do to repay you for your favour from the other day. plus, that stupid work first policy is gonna cost you one of these days,” he shot him one of those ‘i know i’m right’ looks that he learnt from his mom.

jaebeom laughed at him, nodding in agreement. they’d known each other for so long it was easy to read each other like that.

“i’ll go get lalisa. is there anything in particular you’d like?” ten asked on his way to the glass door of his office. jaebeom shook his head, saying that anything would be fine.

he went outside quickly making his way over to his secretary’s desk, except she wasn’t there. probably on a bathroom break, he assumed. he went back into the office, figuring he’d call for delivery himself.

“looks like she’s busy so i’ll just call them instead,” he explained when jaebeom shot him a questioning look for returning so quickly. a silent ‘oh’ escaped from jaebeom’s parted lips.

ten started dialling the number for the nearest delivery place when it occurred to him that johnny, sicheng and donghyuck hadn’t left the office yet. maybe he should go check if they had eaten and ask them to join him and jaebeom?

“i don’t think the others have left yet, do you mind if they joined us?” he asked looking up from his phone, tilting his head like a puppy. jaebeom took a second before agreeing—something about ‘the more the merrier.’

ten decided to head to the floor below his to johnny’s office, where they all usually are this time. down the hall, in the stainless-steel elevator and a five second wait before he stumbled upon one of the worst scenarios to have happened at neo culture tech—well in his eyes, at least.

***

ten had originally invited bambam to have drinks with him but when he was informed that jaebeom had just flown in, he didn’t let the opportunity pass to thank the man who was really behind the operation. this, however, meant that bambam wouldn’t let his opportunity pass.

it was a simple plan, really. get in after jaebeom, do what he had to, and get out before jaebeom. what he didn’t expect was getting caught in what he called ‘phase 2’ of his own little operation. but it’s bambam we’re talking about here—what else would’ve happened?

getting into the building was no problem, considering he had been there so many times and had direct access anyway. if anyone had asked, he was late for a meeting with jaebeom and ten, which arguably, was a valid excuse if he had used it. he’d figured since it was getting late, that most of the staff would’ve already gone home, if not on their way. but what he’d forgotten was how dedicated all the workers of neo tech were. so, when word got out that got7’s shipping advisor and manager had entered the building, it was johnny’s sole duty, as one of the directors of the board and dear friend of bam, to invite him to his office for a drink.

nothing really ever went as planned for bam, anyway.

it was just his luck that sicheng and donghyuck had decided to join in. they had all sat in johnny’s office, catching up on things since all they really ever talk about was work. meanwhile, all bambam could think of was how he could make it out of here without making it seem obvious. he pulled his phone out from his pocket, typing quickly and sending a text that hopefully might save him from all this.

[19:41] stuck in johnny’s office. get me out.

all he could do now was wait and hope no one noticed how antsy he was getting.

“so bam, how’s the girlfriend? we still haven’t met her, man. what are you waiting for?” sicheng asked. he wasn’t one to pry but the few drinks he had could change that.

“you aren’t afraid we’ll snatch her up from under you?” johnny added with a laugh. bam laughed nervously at the snide comment, desperately trying to hide his anxiety for the umpteenth time within the last few minutes.

they continued their conversation for a while after, bambam starting to worry that he may not ever be saved from this torture. that’s when this saviour arrived—lalisa knocking on johnny’s office door with a few files in her hand.

“mr. suh, if i may, mr. lee is expecting your guest in his office for the meeting with mr. lim,” she said sweetly with a smile, as she peeked into the room. he couldn’t mistake something more mischievous in her voice, though.

“oh yes, of course. that’s why you’ve been so nervous! bam, you could’ve just said you had a meeting. come back after and we’ll continue the drinks,” johnny said, after dismissing the girl.

bambam took his leave, bowing and thanking them for the drinks before actually leaving. he opened the door, seeing lalisa on the other end of the hallway. she motioned her head to the door to her right, a smirk on the corner of her lips. bam smiled right back at her and practically ran into the room, pulling her with him. she had to hold back her laughter a little, so they didn’t cause a scene. she was already risking her job by doing this for him—well it wasn’t just for him.

he pulled her into the empty conference room, lips attaching to hers the very second they’d entered. she hummed and pulled away mumbling something about locking the door. to think, that was the fastest bambam had ever reacted to anything at all in his entire life.

he rushed to go close the double doors of the spacious conference room. too caught up in not wanting to miss the moment, he didn’t quite turn that lock fully. he turned around, taking lalisa by surprise, pushing her up onto the table and letting her hands grip on his shoulders for support. his hands made its way to her waist, pulling her closer since he couldn’t get enough.

she pulled away again saying, “i only have fifteen minutes before he realizes i’m gone,” before getting lost in the moment again. bambam pushed her further back so that she sat on the desk, him standing between her legs.

lalisa pulled at his suit jacket, desperately trying to get it off of him since it was getting so heated between them. she continued down to his belt buckle before he stopped her. “don’t start something we don’t have time to finish,” he warned.

she let the belt go and went up to his dress shirt while also trying to get her own blouse off. she had waited all week for this, with bam being busy with work and not being out of the country for half of it, she didn’t want to hold back.

meanwhile, donghyuck had been playing around with johnny’s computer. obviously, he was supervised. johnny needed him occupied since he didn’t want him drinking and end up doing something stupid while drunk.

he did some clicking here and there, stumbling upon the live feed of the security cams on both this floor and the floor above them. ten’s office didn’t have security cameras, but the hallway did. he’d noticed that lalisa hadn’t been sitting at her desk, where she usually is at this time, but he just brushed it off thinking she’d gone to the bathroom or something.

he played around a little more, checking all the rooms before stumbling upon the conference room down the hall. that’s when he froze up. neither johnny nor sicheng had noticed but the boy sat in his chair staring at the screen, rigid.

the poor boy couldn’t wrap his head around what he was seeing. had bambam really subscribed to the whole ‘sleeping with the secretary’ thing? it wasn’t even his secretary!

donghyuk stared at the screen for too long and frankly, had grown uncomfortable seeing one of his co-workers with one of his friends, yet the boy still couldn’t look away. it wasn’t until he heard a loud crashing sound from down the hall, that he snapped out of his trance.

johnny got behind him to pull up the security cams on his computer, not knowing they were already up, while sicheng pulled out his glock 19 that he had hidden in his waistband. he stood behind the closed door, listening for any other signs of an intruder before opening the door and heading to the hallway.

johnny already had his hands on his gun, ready to pull it out—that was until he saw what had caused the crash in the first place. and there it was, live on the security feed—his co-workers in the middle of a heated make-out session. they still hadn’t even realized they had thrown down one of ten’s most prized possessions, an antique chinese vase that costed millions.

he tried to supress his laughter, realizing why donghyuk had logged off from reality while he sat in the chair. the boy probably didn’t even know what to do with himself seeing all that unfold. johnny was too late to stop sicheng from bolting into the conference room and seeing it first-hand.

saying sicheng was not surprised was an understatement. having known bambam for this long, honestly, he’d expected something like this, except he didn’t expect that it would be with lalisa, and most certainly, not at work.

okay, so maybe sicheng was a little surprised.

the two lovebirds still weren’t aware of his presence in the room, even after johnny had joined them. he had put away his gun and cleared his throat to get their attention, but it was to no avail. he did it again, this time a little louder. they finally caught on, lalisa gasping and pushing bambam off of her. she quickly got up off the desk and turned around to button up her blouse while bam followed suit.

“what a coincidence, cockblocked again. and by the same people.”

johnny and sicheng laughed awkwardly, still no knowing what to do in this situation.

“fuck,” lalisa whispered, seeing the vase on the carpet, shattered to pieces. bambam followed her gaze whispering the same. they were all fucked actually.

just when it couldn’t get any worse—

“what’re you guys—” ten cut himself off after seeing the mess that was his first-floor conference room.

johnny and sicheng had moved to the side, bowing their heads in ‘shame’ despite holding back some of their laughter. the real shame was from lalisa and bambam, who caused this mess in the first place. neither of the two could look at ten and face him right now.

all that could register in ten’s head was that the vase wasn’t the only thing that was shattered tonight.

next

[bellafarella]

Begin Again

Summary: Patrick Brewer knew from a young age that he liked boys. Well, he liked one boy. His name is David Rose.

Notes: Saw a post on twitter and decided to write it. Hope you enjoy! 💖

Read here 

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Patrick Brewer knew from a young age that he liked boys. Well, he liked one boy. His name is David Rose. They first met in the first grade and became fast friends. They would always ask to have playdates where they would spend their time playing outside if it was nice but David didn’t really like the outdoors much so they would play inside with some video games – Patrick would let David win because he got so happy when he won. Patrick didn’t like to lose, but he liked how happy David got more than his own loss in the game. They would play with action figures and dolls. They would watch Disney movies together and sometimes they’d want movies that were too mature for their age but that only happened when Mrs. Rose fell asleep watching them and David would switch the channel to something else. 

David liked to have playdates at Patrick’s house because his parents were really nice and Mrs. Brewer always made the best snacks. She would give them healthy snacks too but she made cookies herself that always put a smile on David’s face. David didn’t usually smile all that much when they spent time at his house. He didn’t like that his parents were never home. He had Adelina, his nanny, she was really nice. David told Patrick that he loved her because she took care of him and made him feel better that he was always alone. David had a little sister but she was a baby when Patrick became friends with David. David loved his baby sister, he loved to touch her soft head and kiss her big cheeks. Sometimes when they would have playdates at David’s house they would just sit in her room and watch her sleep. Patrick didn’t mind. He liked to see David so happy and sitting there watching Alexis sleep made him happy. 

Five years later, in their last year of elementary school, Patrick started to realize how much he likes David, more than just his best friend. He knew when he was younger that he liked David, but he just never knew what any of it meant. Some of their other friends were getting girlfriends or boyfriends, and they started to learn about that stuff in school so it really made Patrick think. His mind immediately went to David when thinking about who he likes. His mind immediately went to David for anything. 

Christmas was coming up and Patrick knew that David didn’t always have the best time on the holiday. Patrick was never able to accept the invitation to come to his family’s parties because he spent the holiday with his own family – with aunts and uncles, and all his cousins. David didn’t like the parties because there were so many people around and they all were friends with his parents and he and Alexis just stayed together off in the corner not enjoying the night and when everybody finally left, his parents still didn’t pay attention to them. Christmas wasn’t a fun holiday for David like it was for Patrick so he wanted to get him a nice gift to hopefully make him feel better and special. Patrick went to the store after school with his mom and found a set of four silver rings while she was looking at the jewelry counter. The rings caught his eye right away. The woman told him that they were adjustable and can be kept for a lifetime. Patrick thought that they would look really good on David so he begged his mom to get them for him and take it out of his allowance. 

At the end of the school day, the last day before winter break, Patrick gave David the gift bag and told him, “Merry Christmas, David.”

David smiled so wide when he was handed the gift but then he pouted and said, “I didn’t get you anything though.”

“That’s okay, I don’t need anything,” Patrick told David. “Open it.”

David grinned and opened the gift. He found the four silver rings inside and when he looked back at Patrick it lasted a few seconds before he ran off. He was ultra-embarrassed. He saw the small pinkness to his cheeks before he ran off. Plus, he literally ran away from him. Patrick smiled and laughed to himself before heading out to meet his dad. 

Patrick’s parents teased – well, not so much teased but they talked about that moment a lot, of Patrick giving David the rings and him running off. They thought it was “very sweet” but all it did was make Patrick blush. He didn’t like to blush, he became all red when that happened.

Patrick didn’t see David until after the winter break. After Christmas, David and his family went on vacation so Patrick had to wait two weeks before seeing his best friend. When they got to school, David came to his locker and gave him a hug. Patrick asked him how his vacation was and that’s when he noticed David wearing the rings. Patrick couldn’t stop smiling, so much that David asked him, “What?” Patrick shrugged it off and said, “Nothing.” David had a small smile on his face, like he knew what Patrick was smiling about. 

Patrick found out that David wasn’t coming back to school next year. They had planned to be in high school together and protect each other. David’s parents had opportunities elsewhere so they moved away. They had one last summer together before David moved and Patrick never saw him again. They would write each other letters at first but then that stopped with life getting in the way, but there hasn’t been a day that Patrick hasn’t thought about David Rose, the first boy he ever liked. 

 Patrick’s been through a lot in the past fourteen years. He survived high school by dating a sweet girl named Rachel, she was his best friend. He told her that when he was younger he liked a boy. They thought that maybe it was just a phase. They dated throughout high school but Patrick didn’t feel right being with her. He told her the truth and they just remained friends. Patrick moved out of the small Canadian hometown to a bigger city for university. He finally finished and got a job working in a company in his hometown, where he can put his degree to work. 

It’s the night of his welcome home party. His friends that stuck around and some of his cousins decided to have a small get together at the local bar to celebrate Patrick being home again. 

Patrick’s so happy to see everyone. He hadn’t seen his friends since high school and only saw cousins for family events he came back home for. Even Rachel is here for him. He feels so overcome with emotion to see everybody he cares about here for him, celebrating his return. They’re ordering another few pitchers of beer for the tables when Patrick hears his name. He turns to the source and is shocked. “David?” He asks even though he knows it to be him. They haven’t seen each other in fourteen years but he’s kept up with him – well, as much as he could by way of the internet, and his family, they were very wealthy and then lost it all. They covered the tabloids for weeks. 

“Hi,” David says softly, just like he used to greet him every morning at school. 

Patrick grins and stands, pulling him into a hug. David hugs him back tightly, his big hands rubbing his upper back. “What are you doing here?” Patrick asks him when they pull apart from their long hug.

“I moved back a few weeks ago, well, we did - my family. Not like we really had a choice…” David trails off and looks away, embarrassed.

Patrick puts his hand on David’s bicep and squeezes. When David looks back at him Patrick says, “I heard what happened, I’m really sorry, but the upside…” David waves his hand in between them telling him to hurry up making Patrick chuckle. “The upside is, I just moved back also.”

David twists his mouth to the side, his cute little smile Patrick can’t help but grin at. “Is that so?” He asks.

Patrick nods and turns to see that his friends and family are watching them. He looks back at David and says, “Join us, please.”

“A friend is supposed to be here soon, is it cool if she joins too?” David asks. 

“Of course,” Patrick says. 

“Oh she’s here, just one sec,” David says before going to the door and informing his friend of their change in plans before heading back over. Patrick’s cousins move to let David sit next to Patrick and his friend next to David. David introduces Patrick to her, her name is Stevie and she runs the motel that David and his family are living in temporarily. Patrick likes her immediately, she’s funny and sarcastic - she’s a female David.

Patrick spends a lot of the next hour just watching David talk, the way he moves his hands as he speaks - he catches the sight of the rings he got him all those years ago still on his right hand. It makes Patrick grin and David asks him, “What?” so Patrick just says, “Nothing,” causing David to smile that sweet little smile just like that day all those years ago. David looks down at the rings on his hand and then back to Patrick who is still looking at his face. How could one man be so beautiful? David says to him, “I’ve really missed you, you know?”

“Really?” Patrick asks, a little shocked but very pleased.

“Are you surprised by that?” David asks him.

“You stopped reaching out and it’s been fourteen years since we last saw each other, David,” Patrick tells him, turning a bit more in his seat to face David.

David notices the change in his body language and does the same. He says, “You also stopped reaching out, but life… it got complicated. I wish we never moved. It - it’s been a rough fourteen years, Patrick.”

“You’re back now though,” Patrick says with a small smile, hopeful that this life can be better for David than the last fourteen years have been.

“So are you,” David says pushing at Patrick’s shoulder with his ring clad hand. 

One of Patrick’s cousins steals his attention, but only momentarily. His full attention can’t be on anyone else, not when David Rose is sitting right next to him laughing at his jokes, talking about the music he loves - Mariah Carey (he’ll get a pass for that), Tina Turner’s The Best is his favorite song and Patrick can’t stop smiling at him. “The lyrics! You have to listen to the lyrics!” David exclaims when saying why he loves the song so much. Patrick smiles and agrees with him, “It’s a beautiful song,” causing David to smile that sweet little smile directly at him.

Patrick Brewer is smitten.

It’s been a bit over a year and Patrick can’t believe his life. He’s spent the last year loving the man of his dreams, David Rose, opening their own store, Rose Apothecary, and moving into a great little apartment together.

Patrick takes David on a hike, one he used to do a lot during high school. He would think about his life and where he wants to go, who he wants to be. It’s only fitting he take the love of his life there to propose.

It wasn’t the easiest journey up to the top, David is still the same old David not liking the outdoors, there was a lot of complaining but they finally made it up.

“It’s beautiful,” David says overlooking the view. 

“Wouldn’t have brought you up here if the view wasn’t worth it,” Patrick tells him as he sits on a rock watching his beautiful view admire nature's beautiful view. David turns back to look at him just to stick his tongue out at him. 

Patrick laughs and goes about setting up. David helps him by laying out the blanket and finding the champagne. “Oooh la la,” He says before putting it down. Everything is out of the bags and on the picnic blanket so they have a seat. 

As David turns to look at the view again, Patrick gets the box out of the front pocket of his bag and gets on one knee. David turns his head back to look at him and gasps, “What’s going on?” he asks, filled with emotion.

“So I used to come on this hike a lot after you moved away. I’d come up here and think about my life - where I want to be, where I want to go, who I want to be, and most importantly, I thought about you, on every single one of my hikes. I thought about you for the past fourteen years, David, and when I saw you a little over a year ago standing there in front of me, after I had just moved back to town that day,” He stops overcome with his own emotion. “It was fate, David. We were meant to be together and we finally got put back into each other’s lives so we could be together. So… this felt like the only place for me to ask the love of my life if he will marry me?” He opens the box to reveal four gold rings, just like the four silver rings he gave him fourteen years ago.

David chokes back a sob, grinning from ear to ear. He asks, “Are you sure?”

Without hesitation Patrick says, “Easiest decision of my life.”

David nods his head and Patrick stands before helping David up who then pulls him into a hug, holding him tight. He pulls back to kiss Patrick on the lips before their crying stops them both. “Are these 14-karat?” David asks and Patrick looks at him blankly before David adds with a wave of his hand, “It’s a yes, I love you so much,” before kissing him again and hugging him tight.

They laugh and hold each other close before pulling away from the embrace. David looks at the four silver rings on his right hand and says to him, “You know, I’ve never taken these off. Well, only to shower and sleep, but I’ve worn them every single day since you gave them to me.” 

Patrick smiles at him. “You ran from me when I gave them to you,” He reminds him.

David laughs. “I did… I - I liked you so much and I didn’t know how to handle the emotions I felt when you gave them to me so I just ran,” David finally explains. 

“You’re not running now,” Patrick tells him.

David steps closer, wrapping his arms around Patrick’s shoulders as Patrick wraps his arms around David’s waist - a position they’ve come to love in the past year. He says softly, “I’m never running from you again, Patrick Brewer,” before kissing him just as softly on the lips.

Patrick holds him close and vows to never let him go again. 

[silentwhispofhope]

Paroxyism (Leon Kennedy X Reader) Part 5

Last Chapter <> Next Chapter

"Let's keep going," Leon told you.

Nodding in agreement, you followed after him towards a taped up electric box. You watched as he pulled out the knife you had used earlier. He placed it through a small gap and slid it through the duct tape like butter. Leon swung the door open and pulled down on the latch. The red light turned green with a small beep. Nothing happened at first, but soon the room was filled with a loud clanking noise. You took a step back as the gate began to move upwards.

Your hand instinctively went to your gun.

As the gate reached halfway, you heard Leon mutter to himself. "This is not how I imagined my first day..."

You had to silently agree with him. Yours consisted of filing paperwork for the older forensic scientists. It was only a week ago that you were given permission to go on you first crime scene. At least this more interesting than reports, but you kept that thought to yourself.

Leon ducked his head under the gate as it continued to move upwards. You followed after him, holding you gun out. You watched as the blonde suddenly stop. Furrowing your eyebrows, you walked towards him. In his hands he carried a box full of ammo. The strange part was that you immediately recognized it to be sniper bullets. Picking up one from the box, you analyzed it quickly to reaffirm yourself.

"That's sniper ammunition," you remarked, handing the one bullet to Leon for him to look at.

"Maybe there's one in the safety deposit room?" He replied and mentioned something about seeing a map earlier.

"Maybe."

"If it's alright with you, I'll hold onto this."

"Sure," You shrugged.

You were starting to run out of room on your utility belt. As Leon went to tuck them away, a plant out of the corner of your eye caught your attention. Approaching it, you crouched onto the ground. You pressed you fingers across the thin, green leafs. It was herb local to the area.

"(F/N)? Did you find something?" Leon called out.

"Yeah, just hold on for a sec," you quickly replied. Picking some leaves from their narrow branches, you piled them into your hands. You turned back towards the blond. "They're herbs. We can use them for healing injuries. They help speed the process up."

"How do you know this?" He asked as he picked several  leafs up, analyzing them.

"It's something I learned in college. Say a body was moved from the original site, you could look at plants or bugs that may have been tracked onto the body. It helps you determine where the body was moved from," you pointed out. "If I remember correctly, there's two other herbs like this one around this area. I believe the blue one is used to cure poisons, and the red one is used to amplify the effects of others."

"So the red herb can't be used by itself?"

"Right."

Leon glanced between your hands and his before grabbing several more leafs. You let out a small chuckle. He was right in doing so though. Who knew what the two of you were up against.

"You're really smart, you know that?"

"Thanks, but it's really just a matter of memorization," you belittled yourself.

"Less talking, more exploring," Branagh yelled in the distance. Leon and you shared a look. Man was he persistent.

"You heard the Lieutenant," Leon replied.

Placing the herbs in your last pocket, you navigated towards the closed, wooden door nearby . You glanced back at Leon who gave you a nod in approval. Slowly opening the door, you let him advance in front of you. Grabbing your flashlight, you flicked it on and placed it under your dominant hand. As you began to walk, the door squeaked close behind you. It faintly smelled of rotting corpses, but you knew it would grow stronger the deeper the two of you went into the station. The both of continued down the hall when suddenly a noise erupted at corner.

"This is 73-Bird — for rescue. — heading east — River," the radio reported.

Large parts of it audio kept on being cut off. You followed behind Leon, aiming your flashlight at the man slumped in the corner. Leon crouched down and pressed his hand against the corpse's forehead. You kept your flashlight on him as he began to slowly lift the cop's head. Soon, glazed-over eyes peered at you. You felt sick to your stomach looking at the large tear in the man's face. This felt different from different from all the other dead bodies you have seen before. His lower jaw hung from its dislocated place, hanging only by several loose strands of tissue. The sound of wet flesh echoed in the air.

"Oh... Oh what the fuck!" Leon exclaimed.

Before the both of you could process the sight anymore, the sound of a rolling can came from another hallway. It was almost unheard due to radio.

"Huh? What?" You muttered as you turned towards it. Your flashlight moved with you and peered down the hallway. Following the light with your eyes, you saw another police officer dead. The only difference this time was that the man was hanging from the ceiling from a piping jutting though his mouth. Blood was scattered on the officer's hands as he dangled. Questions raced through your mind. How did he get up there? What put him up there?  "Oh my god."

Leon gazed at the sight and simply knit his eyebrows in response. He tugged on your hoodie as he pulled his gun. You realized the sound from earlier had to be caused by something. You both stood up from your crouched positions and steadily made you way down the hall. Carefully, you went around the hanging body, avoiding being touched by it. Leon followed suit on the other side. As the two of you stepped passed it, the officer fell from the ceiling. Jumping slightly from the scare, you felt your heart race out of your chest. The pipe must not have been able to hold that weight. Leon appeared barely phased by the sight, or if he was, he was really good at hiding it. He ushered you to keep moving, and you began to lengthen your stride.

A small, cold breeze filled the hall.  The two of you soon approached a broken window at the turn of the hall. You carefully listened for any abnormal sounds before poking you head through. Few zombies littered the outside. Turning your head right, you noticed a zombie sticking awfully close to another window further down. It was like it was waiting for something. You watched as it went to move around the corner. Leaning away, you quietly whispered what you saw to Leon. He nodded his head in response, and you heard the click of safety switch come from him.

You both slowed your pace as you continued to move. Flashing your light at the next window, you lightly pressed your index finger on the trigger. As the two of you neared it, the zombie from earlier slammed into the glass. It let out a shriek as it began to hit the glass. Quickly pressing the switch, two shot rang in the area. The window shattered as two bullets struck the dead woman in the head. It stood still for a moment before falling backwards. You took a step back as several monstrous groans broke the momentary silence. Leon glanced around the corner.

"The hallway's blocked," he quietly told you, turning to look at you. "There's a room we can cut through."

"Lead the way," you replied softly.

Double checking the hall, Leon signaled for you to go. The two of you rushed down the corridor. The blond pulled the door open with enough room for you to slip in. As he shut the door, you took the chance to look around. The floor was decorated with alternating blank and white tiles, and several papers laid scattered across it. Spotting the other door, you went to pull it open, but you saw a large metal chain holding it shut.

"We need a bolt cutter," you muttered. As you turned around, you noticed Leon pick up something.

"September 25th. We're turning the station into a temporary shelter due to the massive, sudden outbreak. All police personnel have been instructed to make the safety of the citizens their top priority as we try to accommodate as many as possible. September 25th addendum. One of the refugees attacked us in the middle of the night, resulting in the death in one officer and three citizens. The person in question was quickly restrained. We believe this was simply a case of someone snapping under intense stress. September 26th. A min attacked the station today, resulting in a number of casualties. A few survivors were able to make it safely behind the emergency shutters, but surrounded as we are, it'll be hard for any of us to escape this place. We're not sure we can fix any of the comm equipment so we remain cut off from the rest of the world. September 27. There was another clash on the west side of the station around one pm. Twelve people died, and there is only a handful of survivors left. Everything is falling into disarray here. David Ford." Leon read out loud. You could feel the guilt roll off him. You had to admit, you felt some too. However, the two of you needed to keep moving.

"Hey, we're here now. If we meet any survivors, we'll lead them out of here." Leon looked at you softly. "Okay?"

A large surge of banging on the doors tore your attention away from the rookie cop. Glancing to your right, you spotted a broken window above a stack of crates.

"There," You pointed out.

Leon noticed where you were looking as the banging began to get louder. Following him, you lifted yourself onto the crates. You watched him pull himself through the opening. Leon briefly flashed his light down the hall to see a zombie repeatedly banging his head on a vending machine. He swore under his breath. As you began to pull yourself up, the doors bursted open. The zombie from before quickly staggered towards you. Guess two shots wasn't enough to kill it.

"Shit. Shit. Shit," you repeated to yourself.

Tumbling through the window, Leon caught you with a grunt. Before you could say anything, he held a finger to his lips and pointed towards the zombie. He softly set you down on your feet and pulled out the knife. Leon held his hand out and signaled for you not to move. Staying still, you watched as he flipped the knife around with his fingers. He quietly snuck around the creature and struck the knife through its head. Leon pulled the knife out and carefully set the corpse onto the ground. He jogged back towards you.

"The safety deposit room should be around here," Leon spoke. You moved your flashlight to the two doors on your sides.

"I'm gonna guess it's the one with the metal door," you quipped as you began to walk towards it.

You found your instinct to be correct when you entered the room full of locked lockers. Your eyes squinted at the light. Leon followed behind. Walking to the keypad in front of you, you noticed the numbers two and three were missing. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Leon walk down the rows of lockers.

"Anything interesting?" You asked as you continued to analyze the keypad. Maybe you could pry off one of the other buttons and use that?

"There's a shot gun, but the case is locked. We need a key card to open it," he paused for a moment. "Can you check the desk near you?"

"Sure," You replied and move your attention towards. Only a sheet of paper laid on top, so you decided to search through the drawer. "Nothing. It must be somewhere else in the building. Is there anything from the lockers we should grab? Anything that doesn't have a two or three in it?"

"109 and 106."

You let out a hum in acknowledgement, and quickly typed the two numbers in. Two beeps sounded and you heard the lockers unlocked. Walking towards Leon, you asked what he had found.

"More bullets, but I there was a film roll in one of them," he told you, handing it to you.

"It's undeveloped. Is there a red room here?" You inquired.

"Yeah, around the corner."

You thought to yourself. "We'll split up."

"What? (F/N)? No! It'll be safer if we stick together!"

"While that may be true, we need to find the rest of the medallions faster. The longer we stay in this city, the more likely we could turn into one of those things wondering the place. The photo in this could lead us to something!"

Leon let out a huff in annoyance. "Look, if you're that worried about me, I'll develop the film and head straight back to the main hall. I'll wait for you, okay?"

You rested your hand on his shoulder and tilted your head, giving him a small smile. A faint blush dusted his cheeks.

"Fine," he replied. As you were about to walk out the door, he stopped you. "Stay safe, please."

You saw the concern in his eyes. "Of course, Leon. I'll see you later."

You gave him a cheeky smile before leaving the room. Tucking the film into a jean pocket, you pulled out your flashlight and handgun. The light flickered on as you turned the corner. Moonlight streamed in from a window at the end. You saw one of those creatures banging on the glass. Realizing what would happen, you sprinted down the hall and searched for something that could block the window. Quickly, you spotted several blanks of wood near a staircase. You grabbed them and rushed back towards it. Nailing the planks to the trimming, you let out a sigh of relief as the zombie failed at trying to get in.

Walking back to where you saw the planks, you noticed a familiar green plant. After picking some of the leaves, you turned towards the door behind you.  You peered inside and were met with silence. Closing the door, you checked the room to find it empty. No zombies in here. You flicked your flashlight to the wall ahead of you, a faint red-glowing button in the center. Pressing it down, the button turned green and a the humming electricity met your ears. Several second later, lights flickered on. The sign on the wall read DARKROOM. You entered the joining room and placed everything in your hands away. Grabbing the film roll, you gingerly took it out of its container and set it into the liquid. It would at least take an hour to develop. As you waited, you took a chance to catch your breath. You glanced at the pinkish plant on the counter. It took you a second to figure out that it was actually the red herb you told Leon about. Your mind began to trail off to Leon. You had to admit, he was pretty cute. His faint freckles were adorable. When he held you in his arms, you felt safe. You shook your head. This isn't the time for romance. Picking the leaves of the herbs, you began to pull them apart. You did the same with the green ones. After mixing them into a pile, you began searching for a small bag. It didn't take long before you found one in a drawer. Sliding the herbs into it, you took the chance to look at the photo. Surprisingly, it was already done developing. Strange, you thought to yourself. You decided to ignore yourself and see what the photo was. In it stood a stone statue holding a scepter and a book in its hands. Thinking back to the notebook, it didn't match the drawings. Maybe it held something like the other statues?

After realizing that you had spent enough time in the dark room, you exited. You quickly retraced your steps back to the main hall, dodging zombies along the way. When you reentered the reception area, you flicked off you flashlight.

"Leon? (L/N)?" You heard Branagh called out.

"Hold on!" You yelled as you rushed towards him. "Are you alright? Is everything okay?"

You ran towards the statue to find him in the place you left him.

"Same as before. Come here," he told you, holding out a laptop. He let out a groan of pain. He sounded worse. On the computer, a camera feed showed a girl in a red jacket waiting outside a fence. "Do you know her?"

"No. I've never seen her before," you replied. "Maybe Leon knows who she is?"

"Good idea." He turned towards the radio on his chest. "Leon. It's Marvin. I need you back here ASAP."

"Are you okay, Marvin?" Leon's voice answer. You felt an unknown weight lift from your shoulders. It was good hearing his voice again.

"I've got something to show you. It's important."

"Copy that. I'll be right there."

~~~

A/N: Almost 3,000 words you guys! You all will get to meet a very important character next chapter. Also, there's this really cool song I found called Higher by Prymo. One of my best friends wrote the lyrics. I don't know if you guys will listen to it, but I thought I should let you know.

Tag List: @katnisspeetaprim @winksasleeplesseye @kaelyn-lobrutto24

[pokeshippingflashfic]

Hahah! “I'm determined to appreciate you, you can't stop me” I do appreciate you though! And you can’t stop me! ❤️

The question had been at the back of her mind for the better part of a week.

Misty Waterflower had waited literally years for Ash Ketchum to come around. Truthfully, she had wondered at times if it was better to be more proactive, and thought at others perhaps she should concede because the continuous wedges driven and distance placed between them made an ongoing relationship (platonic, romantic, specifications honestly didn’t matter) rather difficult to bear.

And yet, mysteriously, the day had come to pass when Ash finally grew up enough to recognize the uniqueness of his bond with her and… dared to ask her out.

Things had been completely and utterly perfect since that time almost a week ago; a.k.a., absolutely flawless; a.k.a., boring as heck.

So she couldn’t help wondering to herself about the transition in their relationship… but she didn’t yet dare to broach the subject with him. Don’t fix what isn’t broken, right? Wasn’t that how the saying went…?

But things… were broken, from her perspective at least.

Misty didn’t quite know how to explain the disillusionment she felt after entering into a romantic relationship with her friend, Ash Ketchum. Things were… different? The hefty weight that had been dormant at the back of her mind and bottom of her heart was finally lifted after all that time but… relationship!Ash was weird.

Misty’d always thought she’d like a dedicated, suave man to sweep her off her feet but with Ash, it was entirely unnatural and it freaked her out.

Between the gifts, the showers of praise, the overabundant assistance in managing the gym, the constant attempts at remaining in touch, the conscientious nature…

He was broken and she was discouraged from one of the few things she’d wanted for most of her adolescence… Part of her wondered if it had anything to do with that ‘honeymoon phase’ her sisters had mentioned to her a couple of times. She hoped that, if she gave Ash a couple of weeks or so he’d figure out that she didn’t want whatever this mess was that he was offering her…

However, true to his dense, bullheaded disposition, he remained completely unaware and, admittedly, it wasn’t until he offered to postpone his trip back home (where he’d be learning about the next region and league he’d be participating in) that she knew she was going to have to enforce a change in their current dynamic.

“Mwah! Agh!” Ash yelped as the redhead shoved him into the living room of her family’s loft, then leaped up and brought down all her weight to make him take a seat. “Yikes, Mist, what’s goin’ on?! Somethin’ wrong?” he groaned afterwards, tenderly rubbing his shoulders and upper back after her assault.

“Is somethi–,” Misty sputtered blasphemously in reply to this ignorant question, “Is something wrong?! Are you kidding, Mr. Pokemon Master?! I’m here to ask you that!”

“Wha’d’ya mean?”

“I mean I don’t understand what’s going on with you! You’re acting -- you’ve been acting crazy this whole week and I don’t get it!”

After her initial (not entirely helpful) confession, she was somewhat intimidated by the glint of hurt reflecting in Ash’s eyes before he averted his gaze, falling into the back cushion of her couch and sighing up at the ceiling.

“Ash, c’mon, look at me. Talk to me. I’m sorry, I’m just… trying to understand. Remember… this is new to me too,” she tried again, afraid to inflict more intimate contact on him

Arms spread wide across the back of the couch, still finding more confidence in a conversation with her first floor roof, he clamped his lips tightly shut and blew air forcefully from between them.

“I dunno how to explain it, Mist. I don’t even know why we’re here.”

“You told me you’d put your trip back home on hold! You’ve never held back when it was time to run off to a new league before! This isn’t like you, Ash, you gotta admit that at least!”

Finally he chanced a glance at her, one brow creasing while the other raised suspiciously.

“But don’t you want that? I mean… isn’t that the kinda effort someone has to give? I don’t…”

Misty stared blankly at him as he struggled, finally nodding her head softly as if to urge him further on into his explanation.

“I just thought… Look, I’m not good at this stuff. And I only… I only realized what my feelings for you were or what they meant less than a month ago. I told myself as soon as I got home and saw my mom and stuff that I’d rush to Cerulean and let you know too. And I thought that girls… that you… would expect these kinds of things from me… or from any guy, right? You’d want the whole, y’know, the whole romantic package.”

The question she’d been holding back burned and burdened, finally overpowering her fear with the will of need to know.

“Yeah, that does sound nice…” she lamented softly, then chuckled at Ash’s scandalized retaliatory expression, “… but not coming from you. Not when we’ve known each other long enough for me to see you’re faking it.

“And you know what, Ash? I’ve spent most of this past week asking myself… What do you want from this relationship? O - or do you even… want it at all?” the redheaded trainer finally had the courage to ask, though her voice cracked a couple of times. “Because you’ve changed a lot of yourself to fit some build that you think I want. And that’s not to say that I expect no change at all from you! O - of course I’d like to spend time together, just us… and of course I’d like you to call a little more often and care about what I think, what I have to say…

“And… even the compliments…” she faltered with a mildly embarrassed blush. “It’s nice to think you think highly of me… But, again, if you don’t want... if you’re just faking saying this stuff ‘cause you wanna fit some romantic archetype then…”

“Hey! Wait a sec!” the teenage boy countered emphatically, leaping upright at her latest accusation. “I spent five or so years playing blind! Five years completely dumb to what I felt about you or what you really meant! How much you actually helped when I needed it most! I’m not the kinda sap you want from a guy - a boyfriend… but my feelings are real for sure and I definitely, absolutely wanna be with you! As for our relationship, I just... wanna know that I’m yours and you’re mine!

“And for the record, Mist,” he paused, waiting for her to look him in the face before continuing, “after all that time not knowin’ how much i feel for ya… I’m determined to appreciate you now and you can’t stop me!”

Misty, feeling her face burn so hot she was sure her skin would melt off, quickly covered her flushed cheeks with her hands, sniffling to hold back what felt like a stray tear or two.

“Wai - hey, what’s up with you?” her boyfriend asked her, completely baffled after his own proud declaration of adoration.

“I… that’s just…” And the redhead lightly kicked him in the leg with one of her feet to offset some of the unbridled joy she was feeling, apologizing internally at his hiss of pain, “… that was just the most romantic thing you could ever say to me, you dummy.”