#but would VLAD even realize that if he were to reflect on that situation? i don't think so)

[reindeerswillsavethisworld]

i think phandom suspiciously easily forgets that dan phantom is not only danny's future, but vlad's, too. i also think that we all should torture vlad about it, at least a little (a lot)

[dragonshoardofworks]

One Reflection, Two Souls 

(Ficlet so smol that I decided to release it in the Tumblr Wilds instead of Ao3. Enjoy!)

Evenings like this were becoming common: Jazz was sitting cross-legged on Danny's bed with papers scattered before her while her brother was positioned at his desk, at least attempting to do his homework while there was no attack on Amity.

Usually, Danny preferred working alone without the overbearing presence of his sister, but after the reveal of her knowledge about his secret identity, she had so many questions still unanswered that they did mini-sessions where they helped each other with their own expertise. 

“I was thinking…” Jazz started, while staring contemplating at one particular sheet.

“When aren't you?” Danny didn't even look up from his notebook as he sassed her.

“Haha, smartass.” She halfheartedly threw him a socks ball (which had been among a pile on the nightstand) that he let phase through his head without effort. Then he just threw it in their open drawer, like the routine they had already done plenty of times. “We pretty much established that Ghost Cores are souls, didn't we? And that souls are unique and impossible to replicate at 100%?”

At this, Danny paused, then he turned towards her, leaning an arm on the top of the backrest, and eyed weirdly.

“Yeah?” He prompted when she didn't elaborate, now frowning.

“Then, how was Vlad even supposed to be able to clone you, or anyone for the matter?” Jazz asked.

The halfa froze, taken aback by the question, his expression akin to that one meme where the stick-man raises their index but stays speechless.

Jazz nodded sagely in understanding at his reaction.

 “...He couldn't have been able to. Even with my mid-morph DNA, the Prime clone would have been a whole ass different person, even with all my memories!” Danny breathed in shock and bewilderment. “After all Dani, even if in Vlad's eyes her "defects" are her age and gender, still has all my preferences, my tics and some of my past memories, but often she wouldn't make the same choices I would in the same circumstances! How the heck could the fruitloop have messed up so badly and missed something like that? He flaunts all his grandiose knowledge and experience, but the thing about Ghost Cores is the first info that Skulker told me after describing how he would take my pelt!” He rambled, scandalized.

“You never told me that!” Jazz protested, making Danny wince.

“Well, it wasn't the first time he had caught me and I had to stall while Tuck was hacking his jetpack, so I made him monologue, but… when he realized that I didn't know a single thing about Ghost Cores, he sat me down and lectured me like a misbehaving toddler.” He admitted, resting his chin on the still propped up arm, looking sullen.

“Well, didn't Frostbite tell you that by ghost standards you still are a youngling?” Jazz pointed out with mirth in her voice. Danny just groaned in response.

“Yeah, but when an enemy that before has tried to dismember you looks at you, concerned, and asks why you haven't already known about Ghost biology, it gets awkward. Above all, if he opens his faceplate, climbs down his heavily armed armor as a pint-sized ghost and explains to you the finer details of what a ghost is and is made of, while you're still tied like a mummy!”

Jazz knew that the situation hadn't been funny back then, but she couldn't help the snort that came out of her that developed into peals of belly laughter.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up!” In the background, the halfa grumbled mutinously. “Next time, I'll aim the Box Ghost at you to give you the ghost version of the Talk. We'll see how you'll cope with all those box metaphors and similes, like I had to listen!”

“Danny, I can't breathe, s-s-staph!” Jazz rolled off the bed and her fall on the soft carpet did nothing to stop her laughter.

Danny let her go on, totally done with the discussion and turned back to his homework, shuddering. Better them than the (double) Talk trauma.

ฅ⁠^⁠•⁠ﻌ⁠•⁠^⁠ฅ〜⁠(⁠꒪⁠꒳⁠꒪⁠)⁠〜ฅ⁠^⁠•⁠ﻌ⁠•⁠^⁠ฅ

A/N. This minuscole one shot had been born from a spur of the moment inspiration as a mere dialogue and got away from me when I added the description of the actions around said dialogue.

I regret nothing, though. 

<⁠(⁠￣⁠︶⁠￣⁠)⁠> (Trivia under the cut.) <⁠(⁠￣⁠︶⁠￣⁠)⁠>

By the way, the reason Vlad doesn't know about this is because he didn't get to meet any (responsible) ghost until he had reached ghost-adulthood, so no one could ever imagine that he lacked the basic knowledge.

I choose Skulker to give the Core Talk because given that he's a hunter, he has to know the intricacies of the bodies of his preys to preserve their pelts and flesh. But now that he knows that Danny is practically an infant, (apart from the paid assignments that Vlad gives him) all the fights he gets Danny into are more akin to a lion/tiger playing with his cub to help him strengthen up and get his reflexes top notch. Same with the rest of his Rogue Gallery (Spectra, Aragorn and Vlad excluded, of course). Yes, even Walker becomes more lenient once he becomes aware that Danny knew nothing before Skulker's lecture (the discovery still comes after the debate of the possessed Major, though).

Danny, being the Clueless One, never notices the shift of perspective and his "enemies" not going full power against him anymore, so this is still funny.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk, hope to type ya soon! 

(⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧

[thatoneitaliangirl]

Oh my gosh could you write a childe x reader thing 🥺🥺 I wanna just have some sweet angst with a happy outcome somehow 😔

I may have gone a bit overboard- At this point, I feel I'm literally incapable of writing anything under 1,000 words. So sorry this took so long, I had to take a break from writing to work out some things with school. A bunch of nonsense and stuff lol. You didn't specify gender, so I wrote the reader as female, only cause that's what I'm used to working with. I apologize if that's not what you wanted. I can always whip up something for ya with your preferred pronouns! But I'm not sure if I'll make it this long . . . I honestly don't know how I even did this, like this is a feat I feel. Anyways, I hope Childe isn't too OOC in this. I'm not the best when it comes to writing angst, so I hope you like it! And just as a little explanation beforehand, I read up that Childe joined the Fatui when he was about 14, became a Harbinger at 18, and is considered a young adult. So in this fic, it's assumed that he and you are at least 20 years old just so the timeline adds up and stuff. Also, despite how long this is, Childe isn't in it as much as you probably wanted- I have a tendency to write more about the reader than the characters. It's something I'm trying to break, but I was just so proud of this. I hope you like it! Anyways, happy reading!!! ^^

Childe x Reader Angst

Plot- Reader and Childe have been together for years when Reader finds out that Childe killed her sister when she was young.

Word count- 8,864 (I'm so sorry)

Warnings- Mentions of death, sadness, bad writing, possible suicide at the end(But just mentioned as a fear), swearing, and cringe 'funny' moments cause why not.

The wind blows through your hair as you sit atop a ledge overlooking Liyue Harbor. Today is your younger sister's birthday, and for the past six years, it's been nothing but a reminder of your failure. You were supposed to take care of her. After your parents passed away, you were all she had left, and she, you. But you were just a kid yourself, hardly capable of raising a child.

You bite your lip and look over at all the families walking about, having fun. It brings a smile to your face knowing at least some people can be happy on this day. She wouldn't have wanted doom and gloom to be her only remembrance. The sun in the sky is warm, beaming down on your skin. You've fought many battles for the Adventurers Guild during your time living in town, and are proud to say you've survived. Even escaped a few sparring matches with Childe relatively unscathed.

You win every time, but it's no surprise given he lets you win. That's one of the many things you love about him. He tries to put you first in most situations as much as he can with his job. And it's the little things like letting you win a fake fight that makes you feel like you're floating.

Your relationship is practically plastered on every notice board in town with how affectionate you are to each other. Not a soul in Liyue can look at you and not know you are the Harbinger's lover. But you're okay with that.

Taking in a calm breath, you hop down and glide your way to the docks below.

"Good morning, _____! Nice weather, isn't it?" You smile at the young girl as she approaches you. You've known her for a while now, and have come to consider yourself friends. She seems a bit nervous though.

"It certainly is. Are you okay, Chen?" Her smile drops and she grips onto her arms.

"Can I ask a favor of you? It's rude of me, but I'm desperate!"

"It's fine, what's the matter?" The young girl sighs.

"My brother borrowed a loan from Northland Bank last month and the payments were due two days ago. He told me he was going to pay it back . . . He hasn't been home since. I just thought that . . ."

"You want me to ask Tar?" Her eyes snap up to yours.

"Will you? Please? I'm just so worried about him! I told him not to take that loan, but he never listens to me." You put your hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"It's okay. It's no problem at all! I was just headed there anyway. I'll see about your brother for you." Young Chen sighs in relief and reaches in her pocket.

"Here, I want you to take this as payment." You shake your head and push her hand away.

"No, I could never!"

"I insist! My mother gave this to me when I was a kid," She opens your hand and places a small coin in before closing your hand around it.

"She told me travelers would give these coins to people who did favors for them and that they grant wishes! Though I'm sure that's just a children's story; I was never able to get it to work." You give the coin a look, hesitant, before slipping it into your pocket.

"Alright, I'll accept. Thank you!" You wave goodbye to Chen and head towards the bank. Childe spends most of his days there, what he does, you have no idea. It's a mystery. The most you get out of him is 'business' which, yeah, obviously you do business. But it's understandable. The Fatui are a questionable lot, and not many people in Liyue trust them.

The Qixing keep a close eye on them as well, though you're sure even they hardly know what goes down under the 'bank' façade. Sometimes Childe comes home with cuts and bruises, claiming they're from training with his comrades, and while you don't buy that one bit, you play along. No need to add to his stress. If he thought you needed to know, he would tell you. No doubt about it.

Walking up the many flights of stairs, you nod to Vlad who lets you in.

Lucky for you, the first face your eyes land on is the exact one you came looking for.

"Tar!" He immediately looks over in your direction, smiles, and dismisses the Fatui agent he was talking to.

"Well, if it isn't the most beautiful woman in all Teyvat. Come to steal my heart?" He pulls you into a hug and kisses your cheek.

"No need, I already have it," You pull away, giving him a smile.

"I actually came here to see you."

"I'd hope so! Who else would you want to see?" Rolling your eyes, you grab him by his hand and lead him to his office.

"I have a favor to ask of you," The joking atmosphere surrounding you turns heavy as you hold his hands in yours.

"As you know, today is . . . Very important to me. I was wondering if you could get off early tonight? If not, it's okay though. I don't want to trouble you or anything." Childe chuckles and pats your head.

"I know what today is. I already requested an early leave this morning, but they haven't gotten back to me yet. If we're that backed up, I'm not sure I'll be able to," Your face falls a bit, but you smile. He made the effort to try and get off early without you even asking.

He places his hand onto your face and rubs his thumb over your cheek.

"But I promise to make it up to you. If I don't get back too late, we can go up to Mt. Tianheng and watch the lights at night. I know you like to do that when you're upset." The kind smile on his face is only magnified by the gentle look in his eyes. He's always been soft with you, even before you got together.

It was always an odd sight for people to see the two of you interact before you were a couple. He always regards people with the same jokester attitude, especially those he has to keep an eye on. But when he's with you, he may joke around, but is always much more concerned for your wellbeing.

"Thank you, Tar. I really appreciate it." He smirks and laughs.

"You appreciate it, huh? How much?" You roll your eyes again and give him a kiss on the lips. Childe smiles into it and tries to make it deeper, but you pull away with his lips chasing after you.

"Easy there, tiger. Save it for later, huh?"

"So, there's a later?" You lightly smack his chest and pull away from him as he laughs.

"Get back to work, Tar." You turn to leave but stop in the doorway.

"Oh, before I forget, I ran into Chen earlier," The look in Childe's eyes shifts slightly, but you barely notice.

"She mentioned that her brother stopped by here about two days ago, and was wondering if you knew where he went after? He hasn't been home since and she's very worried."

He ponders for a moment before his eyes light up in realization.

"Now that you mention it, he did say he was headed towards Lingju Pass. Don't know what for though." He shrugs.

"Okay, thank you! I'll be sure to pass it on." You exchange words of love before you leave.

After speaking with Chen, you decided to head towards the countryside. Your conversation with her went about as well as you expected. She seemed distressed and unsure of the information you gave her, but any criticisms were held as she thanked you and left. You hope that she'll be okay and that her brother comes back. Archons know, you understand what it's like to lose a sibling.

You take in a deep breath.

The air in Liyue is unlike any other. Once you leave the city and all the warm bodies, it's nothing but gentle breezes and the smell of earth. And the occasional Hilichurl, but you can easily take out a few to preserve the peace.

Walking along a random path in the sand, you reflect.

When you and your sister were young, you would often take walks like these while your parents were arguing. Despite only being a few years older than her, you actively chose to take on a more nurturing role. But after your parents died, you realized just how hard it was to provide for the two of you.

You knew how to use a bow to hunt, but not well, and even though you had your mother's catalyst, you didn't have a vision. Sometimes just showing it off and pretending you had a vision was enough to scare off petty thieves and weak Hilichurls, but it was only a matter of time before that wouldn't be enough.

Unfortunately, that time came all too soon.

The two of you had found an abandoned campsite and you decided to rest for the night. Your sister and you were headed to Mondstadt in search of a distant relative who you believed could help you. But during the night, your sister got thirsty and you were all out of water in your canteen. So you heading out to find a lake close by to fetch some, only to return to see a dark figure escaping into the night and your sister, laying in the tent, unmoving.

You were only a few hours walk to the city.

Sometimes you wonder if you had kept going that night, maybe whoever it was would have never even crossed your path. Your cries for help were heard by knights close by and they gathered your sister. Everyone in the city was welcoming and understanding, and the church gave her a wonderful service.

But nothing could mend the hole in your heart. Thankfully, the family member was able to take you in and trained you to become a knight. But that's not what you wanted. You wanted to find the person who killed your sister. And after completing your training, you left for Liyue and gained your Cryo vision along the way.

You summon your catalyst and flip through the pages. It's strange how magic works and how everything interacts with your vision. Before you, this weapon served your pyro vision-wielding mother. After you gained your vision, all the spells changed to fit the cold rather than the heat. You sigh and close the book. Sifting through it is just going to make you more sentimental. The sky above begins to turn shades of orange and pink as the sun goes down, so you decide to head home.

"I know you did something!" A loud voice yells, not too far from you.

"Chen?" You whisper to yourself and make your way around to see her at the edge of town, yelling at a Fatui agent.

"Calm down, miss Chen. We don't know what you are referring to." She balls her hands into fists, her face twisted in anger.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about! Lingju Pass? He hasn't set foot there since our father died. How dare you make up such lies!" You decide to make your way over to try and calm her down. She's obviously upset, and you know that Fatui agents aren't well versed in the ways of 'feelings.' In fact, most of the ones you've met have all been quite stoic and unconcerned.

"Are you calling the Fatui liars, miss Chen?" You stop, Childe stepping out in front of the other agent.

What is Childe doing out here?

"You Fatui lie about everything! Everyone in Liyue despises your presence here, and this just proves to me how low you people actually are. What did you do to my brother?!" She reaches up to hit Childe, and you run up to her and grab her by her arms. You know she can't hurt him, but if she tries she could get into some serious trouble.

"Chen, listen to me, you have to calm down." She looks up at you with tears streaming down her face but shakes off your grip.

"No! I refuse! He knows something about my brother, I know he does!" She looks at you with pleading eyes.

"Please, _____, tell him. Tell him to tell me where my brother is!" Chen sobs. Tears start to form in your eyes.

"Chen, I'm sorry, but Tartaglia doesn't know," You look up at Childe and are taken aback by the look in his eyes. His eyes are dead, angry, violent as he stares at Chen. He waves his hand, and two Fatui agents come from behind and drag Chen away.

"Let go of me!" She struggles as they hold her arms and pull her through the dirt path. Chen glairs at Childe, digging her feet into the ground to slow them down.

"You're a monster, Harbinger! A monster!" You continue to stare after her as she's dragged away. What just happened? You've known Chen and her brother since you moved here. What could have happened to make this poor girl act like this? You jump when Childe places his hand on your shoulder.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." He wipes the tears from your cheeks and smiles his normal, dashing smile. Nothing like the look he was giving Chen just a moment ago.

"Sometimes those awful rumors spreading about the Fatui make people act irrationally." You look him in the eyes as he holds your face. His eyes are soft and caring now, just how he always looks at you.

"Do you know what happened to her brother?" You ask softly. His eyes darken a bit, but his smile never faults.

"_____, my love, are you questioning me now too? Come on, you know none of that stuff is true, right? I work at a bank, not much else to it." He answers, his voice joking, but there's this undertone you can't quite place and have never heard before. You force a smile and hug him close.

"Your right, I'm sorry for asking. I'm just so concerned for Chen and her brother. Do you know where they're taking her?" He hugs you back, tight, and kisses your forehead.

"I think you should just leave it be for now. Go home and get some rest. I should be getting off work soon, and we can do what I promised. How's that sound?"

"Good." You lean up and give him a kiss. His voice drops low as he whispers in your ear.

"I love you, _____. Don't ever forget that."

And he leaves before you can reply. A chill goes down your spine as you watch him leave, and it's not from your vision. You've never seen Childe like that before, even when he interacts with the Traveler. It made you freeze in place, made your blood run cold, and had your heart beating faster with fear all at the same time. That was Harbinger Childe, not your Tartaglia. You rub your hands along your upper arms to calm yourself. You never want to experience that again.

Taking a deep breath, you reach into your pocket to grab your handkerchief, but pull out the coin Chen had given you instead. All it does is remind you that once again you failed to protect someone you cared about. Poor Chen is scared and afraid, and you're positive that Childe's reaction did not help her any.

But as you hold up the coin, you notice a faint glow emanating from around the outer edge which turns the intricate patterns into Liyuian Characters.

'Let the truth be revealed.'

What does this mean? You remember Chen telling you the story of the coin, but it was just that. You've never heard of any coins gifted by travelers before, and it definitely wasn't a common folk tale.

You shove it back into your pocket and rush home.

The sun is almost fully down, and the stars begin to light your way as you walk hastily down the path. Once your house is in sight, you pick up the pace and run inside.

The glow from the coin is brighter now, illuminating your darkening house. How does one even make a wish on a coin?

"I want to see the truth, but I don't know how," The glow of the coin shifts and changes colors in your hands, giving off an almost mystical wave of magic you've never felt before. Whoever made this coin had to have been powerful. You take a deep breath and look at the coin with determination.

"Show me the truth!" The glow envelopes you and when you open your eyes, you're shocked at what lays before you. The dark figure that haunts your dreams at night looms over your dead sister, red-stained blade in hand and a mask over his face.

You step closer, the classic mask of the fatui on the hooded mans' face making his eyes glow white in the darkness. His stature is much smaller than yours, and his outline seems to be that of a boy. At the time it would have been easy for you to confuse him with a man, being he would have been taller than you. But now that you're an adult, you can clearly see his youth. He smirks and laughs down at your little sister's body while whipping the knife on his sleeve.

"You should never have crossed the Fatui." Your heart drops as the young boy removes his mask revealing ocean blue eyes. The eyes of your lover that you adore on the face of the person that you've despised for years. A woman appears next to him, the same woman you've seen him speak to on many occasions but have never spoken to yourself.

"Good work, Tartaglia. You've proven yourself useful to the Tsaritsa after all. But your job here is not done," Childe looks up at the taller woman, his face determined.

"The other daughter has left to fetch water. Unfortunately, there are too many knights around on patrol to take her. Dispose of the body, and return at once." Childe bows to the woman and she smiles wickedly.

"Yes, Signora. Anything for the Tsaritsa." She leaves, and Childe begins to wrap up the young girl's body in a blanket. He stops suddenly, lifting his head up as young _____ approaches from over the hill. Childe smirks, fixing his mask and hood back on properly.

"Until next time, _____." He says and begins to run.

You gasp as the light invades your sight again and you're returned to the present. Your heart is beating a mile a minute and your breathing begins to pick up. The realization is overwhelming, and the shock is preventing you from crying.

Tartaglia was the one this whole time? It can't be, it just can't! You love him, and he loves you, he says so all the time. Has he lied to you this whole time? Has he just been keeping you close to screw with you before breaking your heart and killing you? That coin has to be lying. There's no way your Tar would ever do something like that, especially to you! He tells you everything. There are no secrets between the two of you.

Right?

The clock on the wall says that it's seven-o-clock, usually when Childe gets off of work. You don't want to be here; you can't be here. How can you face him after seeing that, even if it was a lie? You quickly run up to your shared bedroom and grab your adventuring bag, filling it with few essentials.

Where will you even go? There's nowhere in Liyue where Childe can't find you. Even across Teyvat, the Fatui have eyes and ears. You just need some time to reflect, get your barrings, and confront him. If you'll confront him. This has to be some kind of joke, or lie placed by some unknown power to question your love for him. There's no way he could have-

"What are you doing, _____?" You gasp, started by Childe suddenly behind you, blocking the exit to your room.

"Tar, you scared me!" You say shakily, holding your bag close to your chest. He smiles his usual caring smile at you, but all you can see is the smirk he held while staring down at your little sister.

"Sorry, my love. I got off of work early like I said I would. Is that why you have your bag?" His ocean blue eyes dart down to your bag and back up to you again. You subconsciously grip the bag tighter, Childe noticing.

"N-No. I accepted a commission last minute." The lie slips out like acid on your tongue.

You've never lied to him before, and it feels wrong. But you have to get out of here. Every alarm bell in your body is screaming at you to run as fast as you can away from the man you love.

His brow furrows a bit with concern and he takes a step closer to you, but you take one back.

"This isn't about what happened today, is it?" He sighs and shakes his head.

"I'm sorry if I scared you, it's just I don't like it when people falsely accuse me of things. I kinda slipped into Harbinger mode for a sec there." He laughs, again trying to come closer to you, you step back.

"Are they false though?" The question falls from your lips before you realize it, and Childe's eyes widen in surprise.

"_____, you can't be serious? You know I would never lie to you-"

"How do I know that, Childe?" You've never called him Childe, and it shows from the shock on his face when you do.

"What are you going on about? I could never-"

"Get away from me!" You yell at the Harbinger, tears finally falling from your eyes. There's no way you could be near him like this, knowing that he could have . . .

"Why? I love you, I won't hurt you." You try to steady your breathing as he slowly inches closer, treating you as of your a wild animal he wants to tame.

"You don't love me." You shake your head, gripping your backpack with white knuckles.

"What?" The question comes out as a whisper from the man's mouth in disbelief, hoping he didn't hear you properly.

"You don't love me!" You say one again, louder, confirming what he has hoped wasn't true.

"_____," Childe tries to come closer, but you shove past him and run to the front door. Before you can grab the handle, Childe grabs you by the shoulders and spins you around.

"Please, _____," His eyes are glassy with unshed tears as he gazes into your own.

"Tell me what I did to make you think this way?" You sob, hands pushing on his chest to break free but failing. You can barely breathe as the sobs rack through your body.

"You-" Trying to get the words out only makes you cry harder as the realization hits you. All the rumors are true. The Fatui are evil, conniving, and uncaring. They kill, pillage, experiment, torture, and don't care about who they have to step on to get their way. And your boyfriend, the love of your life, the man you wanted to marry and start a family of your own with, is one of them.

"You killed my little sister!" Your hands ball into fists and punch his chest as hard as you can, but in your state, you have barely any power.

"My baby sister is dead because of you! How could you?" You managed to get out through your tears, finally breaking down in the arms of the man you've despised for years.

Childe stares at you, unbelieving. He pulls you into a tight hug, crying on your shoulder, continuously apologizing. Never in your life have you seen Childe cry. Even when talking about how much he misses his family or his country, the farthest he gets is a sentimental smile and longing. Never have you thought you'd see him cry either. It's almost enough to make you forget that he's practically admitted to the murder.

He killed your only sister. How do you know he's sincere with his tears as he holds you close and begs you not to go? You've seen him lie before, never to you, but if he kept this secret for so long, what else has he been hiding? But none of that matters right now. The man you've been searching for years for, who you wanted to kill with your own bare hands, is the same person holding you so tenderly now.

How could you forget the countless nights you've woken up from nightmares of that boy coming to kill you and finish what he stared, only for Tartaglia to wake you up and hold you close, promising that he'd protect you? Every year when you mourn your sister and confide in him about how you were going to find that monster no matter what it took, did he fear you'd ever find out and kill him?

Is that why he kept you close for so long, to make sure you'd be too weak for him with love to ever even try? How can you love someone who killed your sister? It's easy to just assume you'd hate him, but for some odd reason, a little voice in the back of your mind is telling you to trust him and love him like you always had.

Another voice is telling you to end his life with no mercy and finally bring your sister to the peace she deserves.

Gathering up your strength, you manage to push him off of you.

"_____, no," He's in a state you've never seen before, face wet with tears, nose running, eyes puffy. But, he doesn't try to pull you back in.

You swiftly grab your bag and leave the house and Childe behind.

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

"_____," Your cousin John calls your name, pinching the bridge of his nose. He watches as you continuously use your vision to destroy training dummies.

"You continue this and the knights aren't going to have anything left to train with." You stop temporarily to glare at him.

"I'm training."

"So it seems." He watches as you continue your 'training.'

"You know, this doesn't seem healthy. I'm no doctor or anything, but, maybe you should, like, not?" You sigh irritated and cross your arms.

"Not what, John?" He gestures to the broken wood pieces scattered around the courtyard. You roll your eyes.

"I'm doing no worse than the average rookie knight!" John nods, leaning up against the wall.

"Yeah, yeah, except no. Why? Thank you for asking, cause your not a rookie and you're upset, at what? I don't know because you refuse to tell me. All I know is that my cousin is back after being gone for three years and the-," John looks around before stepping closer and lowering his voice.

"The Fatui in town have been eying us up everywhere we go. What the hell happened while you were in Liyue?" You bite your lip and message your wrists. The tips of your fingers have begun to turn purple from the cold, but you hardly seem affected. John pats you on the back and leads you inside the knight's headquarters.

"Look, I know we were never very close, and when you lived with us, we barely spoke, but I'm here now. We're not kids anymore, _____." The two of you sit down in the library. The three years you lived with your uncle and cousin were your worst. They treated you nice, but you were grieving and took it out on them and many training dummies. It seems you've done the same again.

"I'm sorry, it's just . . ." What happened with Childe months ago is still fresh on your mind. You haven't seen him since you left that night, and you aren't sure if you want to. You're conflicted. You thought coming back to Mondstadt would help you clear your mind and help you decide what to do, but you can't, and it's frustrating.

Despite how hard you've tried . . . You still love Tartaglia with all of your heart. But you can't forget what he did. You could never forgive him either. You've held hatred for this man for six years now, and every waking moment has been used to devise a plan to find him and kill him. But you can't kill him; not when you still hold these feelings.

If this was his goal, then he succeeded. You know he knows you're in Mondstadt. As John said, the Fatui have had their eyes on you since you showed up. You wouldn't be surprised if they all have you listed as a threat. After all, being one of their high-ranking officer's vengeful lover with intent and reason to kill would put anyone on a list.

But, with that said, he hasn't tried to contact you. No letters, no passing of words, hell, no carrier pigeons. He's extra enough to do that. And this has caused you to feel even more upset. Cause you still love the man, and there's some hope still there that he meant what he said and he does love you and the fact he hasn't done anything is killing you.

"_____, you good?" You snap out of your daze and nod.

"Yeah, I was just thinking."

"You seem to be doing a lot of that lately. Please, what's going on with you?" You decide it's best to tell your cousin the truth.

You explain to him the situation. How you fell in love, what life was like for you the three years you were gone, the coin, and finding out the killer's identity. John looks at you in shock.

"Wow, that's a lot. And this is why you came back?"

"Yeah, I know. I should have come back sooner to at least visit, but," John cuts you off and waves his hands.

"No, you're fine. I mean, it would have been nice to see you, but that's irrelevant right now. You found out your boyfriend, a Fatui Harbinger, was the one that killed your sister, and you're here? Doing what? Destroying Favonius property?" You agree hesitantly.

"I mean, when you put it like that, it sounds odd."

"No, _____, odd is an understatement. Why are you here? You should be getting answers, slapping people, storming Snezhnaya! Actually, don't do that last one, that could get us in a lot of trouble."

"True," You agree.

"Honestly, I don't know what to do. Do I confront him? I mean, if he did kill her, which I'm about 90% sure at this point that he did, do I get revenge? I've wanted to for years, but I know that I could never kill him." John takes your hand in his and speaks with sincerity.

"You love him, I get that, but you can't let that get in the way of things."

"No, I mean, I literally couldn't kill him. He's a beast in battle, and could probably end me without even blinking. I've seen him take on multiple ruin guards in seconds, like, he's on a whole nother level." You sigh and put your head in your hands.

"But even despite that, I do still love him. At this point, I feel the best thing to do is to just move on. Go my own way and let him go his."

"And what about your sister, huh? Just gonna forget about her?" You look at him questioningly.

"Look, you need to at least get closure. Obviously, he doesn't want you dead, because you would have been so by now. I can't even tell you how many times the Fatui could have nabbed you, gagged you, and sacked you since you've been back."

"Gee, thanks John, that really makes me feel better about the situation." He rolls his eyes.

"Talk to the man, _____. There will always be a home here waiting for you to come back to." Maybe your cousin is right? If Childe did want you dead, you know damn well he has the power to have made it happen. But how would you even react when you see him? The only way to find out is to get it over with.

With newfound enthusiasm, you jump up from your position and slam your hands on the table.

"Alright, I'm gonna go! I'm gonna talk with Tartaglia and I'm gonna punch him at least once!"

"That's the spirit!" A series of loud shooshes sound around the library and you slowly sit back down.

"Sorry!"

You and your cousin John devise a plan over the next few days. You're still unsure about this whole thing, but with encouragement from John, you gain the confidence you need to push through.

In the end, you decide the best thing to do is to sneak out of Mondstadt without any Fatui seeing you. It's still dangerous to speak with him, and the two of you decide the safest thing is to get him unprepared and off guard. If he's not expecting you, he has no time to plan. Not that he needs a plan to kill you, he could just do it. But still-

As the sun seeps down past the hills and flatlands of Mondstadt, John and you make your way out of headquarters and down to the main part of town.

"You know what sounds so amazing right now? A tall mug of cider from Angel's Share!" John exclaims and grabs your arm. The two of you practically run towards the tavern, gaining looks from the other citizens.

"Cool it, John," You whisper yell to him as you head inside.

"You wanna actually look suspicious?" He laughs, sitting down at a table in the back.

"Sorry if I'm not good at being convincing. Dad always said acting would be my downfall."

"When would you ever have to act to be a knight?" He shrugs his shoulders.

"Right now?" Okay, he has a point. Merely minutes after you sit down, two Fatui agents walk in after, taking a table far enough away, but close enough to keep you in their sights.

"Don't worry, _____," Your cousin says, noticing your worried expression.

We'll get you out of here."

John waves his hand and gains the attention of Master Diluc as he's walking around the tavern.

"We'd like two Valberry Whiskey's please!" Your cousin asks loudly and winks. Diluc rolls his eyes and heads towards the back of the tavern, getting the 'drinks.'

It was a miracle and a half that John was able to convince Master Diluc to help you. But John said he owed him a favor. For what, you have no idea. Not even a second later, a young bard runs over to your table and slams his hands down.

"What did you just order?"

"Uh," You look to your cousin for guidance. The drink was simply a code, not an actual order.

"Valberry Whiskey?" The young bard looks at you in amazement. He's clearly drunk, but the sheer excitement in his eyes seems to sober him up enough to eagerly rush to the bar counter.

"A new drink! And Diluc didn't tell me?!" His shouts of joy gain the attention of the entire bar.

"A new drink?!"

"One not on the menu?"

"Master Diluc!"

Your cousin and you share a look as the crowd goes wild, rushing towards the front bar and to the back looking for Diluc to inquire about this new drink. The few Fatui agents that had followed you in stand up from their seat to get a better view of you and John. John grabs your arm and pulls you into the crowd, the Fatui agents desperately searching for your whereabouts.

"This way, _____." He pulls you farther and farther away from the Fatui till you feel another hand grab you and pull you out of the back entrance to the tavern.

"Hey, watch your hands, buddy!"

"Would you rather still be in there then, _____?" You smile nervously up at Diluc, who's handing you a bag and cloak.

"Things didn't exactly go as planned, huh?" The redhead smirks and crosses his arms.

"I knew that bard would be in here tonight. Drunk off his ass, he wouldn't be able to resist the call of a new drink item." You laugh, pulling the hood over your head.

"Thank you, Diluc." He gives you a rare smile and nods. You begin to walk off but stop, looking back at the tavern owner.

"Hey Diluc, what was the favor for?" Diluc sighs and pinches between his eyes.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

__________________

The journey back to Liyue is a tiring one. It seems a lot closer than it actually is on the map, but heading to the main harbor is always a task. Thankfully, you're able to make your rations last the whole trip, and as you enter the harbor in the wee hours of the night, you smile at the familiar buildings. You may have only been gone for a few months, but this was your home for the last three years.

Your home with Tartaglia . . . You pull your hood farther down your head and try to remain in the shadows. Despite the time of night, the area is still bustling with people. Merchants making deals, ships delivering goods, the whole nine yards.

You flatten yourself against a wall as a few Fatui agents walk past. The place is absolutely crawling with Fatui, even more so than usual. Could it have something to do with you? You doubt it. Harbinger or not, Tartaglia could get in serious trouble for using Fatui resources in such a way.

You carefully slide through cracks and crevises, branches and bushes, trying to stay out of any Fatui sights. Eventually, you find yourself on the outskirts of the city, not far from your shared home. It surprisingly takes a lot from you to not run straight for it. You miss your house. You miss your bed. You miss Tartaglia.

But now is not the time to get sentimental!

You still need to confront him about what he did. And depending on his answer, one of you may not make it through the night. You keep yourself stealthy as you enter the house from the back. He's not home, which is good. But the place is in disarray. Furniture turned upside down, plates smashed against walls, everything caked in dust. It's hard to believe he's been living here if he even has been.

If that's the case, you may have to go looking for him. You look around the house at the disaster. He may have been trying to look for something; maybe a clue to what you had planned or something to use against you.

With that in mind, you run up the stairs to the master bedroom and open the closet. You fear the worst but are surprised to find your sister's belongings still in place.

Surely he would have found them in here.

The bedroom isn't as bad as the bottom floor, though still a mess. The bed is unmade, with a small pile of your clothes on your side of the bed, and his clothes on the floor. All of your things, besides the clothes, are still neatly in their places. Pictures of you and him together that were once on the walls are now on his nightstand, face up and smudged with fingerprints.

"What the hell happened here?" The sound of the front door opening startles you. Could that be Childe? There's no way he's living like this!

Footsteps move across the floor, into the kitchen, into the living room, and slowly up the stairs. Whoever it is, your about to face them.

The door opens slowly, almost torturously so. Soon, the sunken and sullen face of your lover is in your view, and even faster, your on the floor with a knife made of hydro to your throat. Your hood continues to obscure your identity as Childe pins you down.

"Bold of you to break into the home of a Fatui Harbinger! What did you expect?" With the pressure from the knife digging deeper and deeper into your skin, you freeze the hand wrapped around his holding the knife, and kick your leg out. Childe falls over, dropping his weapon which shatters on impact. Before you can get your bearings, he's lunging at you again. He grabs you from behind and holds you in a chokehold.

"Your fast, but you'll never be fast enough!" You gasp for air, holding onto his arm as it's wrapped around your neck. He's trying to kill you, you know he is. All the times you've sparred with him, you knew he was holding back, but he's definitely not this time. Even so, his hold on you is weak. Weak for him, at least.

You rear your elbow into his stomach as hard as you can knocking him back and you summon your catalyst. As he said, he's faster than you, but before he can get back, you place a wall of ice between him and yourself. It's not enough to hold him back for long, but enough to catch your breath. He laughs as he can hear you choking, attempting to regain your oxygen.

"You think this little wall will stop me?" He attacks the wall with his fist, making a section crumble. Your breathing is fast, but you can't seem to gain enough breath to speak. As he crumbles your wall piece by piece, you pull back your hood and lean on the bedroom wall behind you. Finally, he lands the finishing blow and the ice dissipates in a gust of cryo magic. The crazed look of bloodlust vanishes from his face the instant he sees you, hand on your throat, and your breath heavy.

"___-," He can hardly finish his whisper as he lets out a shaky breath. With the tense atmosphere suddenly calm, you're able to regain your breath and look up at the man. His skin a pale and his eyes are dull. He has large dark circles under his eyes and he looks a bit thinner than normal.

"_____," He manages to get out, still shocked you're actually here.

"Are you okay?" You shake your head.

"You haven't seen me in months and that's the first thing you say to me?" He rubs the back of his neck and looks down, ashamed.

"I didn't know it was you. I'm sorry if I hurt you." You can hardly believe what you're seeing. He seems broken, utterly defeated. If he hadn't fought you just now, you'd assume he'd fall over with the breeze.

Looking at him now, it's hard to believe he's the same man that killed your sister.

"We need to talk." He nods, refusing to meet your eyes.

"You need to tell me the truth, Tar," He takes in a shuddering breath at your words.

"All these years, I've been beside you. I've stood up for you, I've loved you. I told you all my darkest secrets and nightmares. Not once did I ever lie to you."

Tears come to his eyes just as they do yours. He bites his lip to prevent the tears from falling. You step closer to him, dropping your cloak, and put your hands up to his face. He flinches away from you but relaxes when your palms cup his cheeks and he finally looks you in the eyes.

"Over the past few months, I've thought long and hard about what I wanted to say to you. And no matter what scenario I came up with, I could never tell if I was doing the right thing. But, even though I carry some semblance of anger, I know that what I feel for you is real. And with that, I still hold hope that you feel the same and it wasn't all just a lie."

He grabs your hands, the tears now falling one by one down his pale cheeks.

"I swear to all the Archons that I love you! I never lied about that!" You hesitate for a moment, blinking away your own tears.

"And though I don't want to, I believe you," You rub your thumbs across his face, clearing some of the tears.

"But I need you to tell me everything." Tartaglia closes his eyes. He never dreamed in a million years he'd have to tell you this story. He'd hoped that you'd live in blissful ignorance for the rest of your life with him. But the gods had another plan for him and you, and he prays that at least one of them will let him keep you. Even if that's a selfish request.

"I joined the Fatui when I was young. I was constantly trying to prove myself to Signora and the Tsaritsa that I was willing to do anything they asked me. I still am," He looks at you with regretful and sorrowful eyes as he recalls the past.

"Your parents had fled Snezhnaya when you were born, because of a debt they racked up with the Fatui. When they were found in Fontaine, it was revealed that they were working for a group of rebels intent on infiltrating Snezhnaya. It was my job to take you and your sister to use as leverage on your parents. But, your sister fought back," You release his face and look away, finding it harder to keep eye contact with him.

"I wasn't as skilled as I am now, and I panicked. But La Signora said I did a good job. I didn't know that your parents had already been killed by the rebels, and neither did the Fatui. Not until after we had left you. At that point, there was no reason to continue after you. But you were never forgotten about. And when you came to Liyue, I was instructed to keep an eye on you," Childe lifts his arms up and places his hands on your shoulders.

"But I never expected to fall in love with you." You look into his ocean blue eyes and are overcome by the warmth they hold for you.

"The day I met you, I could feel it, and I tried so hard to forget about it, but you were just so . . . Amazing, and beautiful, and kind. I never expected that from you. You never once judged me or ridiculed me, even though you knew who I was. I thanked the Archons every day that you came into my life, and I prayed that you'd never find out what I'd done."

A sob breaks through as he wipes the tears running down his face. All the years you harbored hatred for this man, you never once thought about what he could have been going through. It's true that this doesn't excuse his actions, but to know that he truly regrets what he did brings you some kind of closure. In the end, revenge would have never made you feel better. Your sister wouldn't have wanted that.

You love Tartaglia with all your heart, and in this world, it's better to forgive than to let it eat away at you any longer.

"Tartaglia," His name comes out as a whisper with your breath, but he hears you loud and clear. The fear of rejection in his eyes tells you everything you need to know as you carefully speak to him.

"I forgive you." He cries, pulling you to his chest and you hug him back. Unfortunately for him, you weren't finished.

"But, I need some time to think about this. I love you; I never stopped loving you, and I always will," You pull back and smile at him before gently kissing his chapped lips.

"I'm going back to Mondstadt, but I'll be back. You just need to give me some time." He smiles as best he can and nods enthusiastically.

"I'd give you all the time in the world if I could." He moves to kiss you again, but you put a finger up to his lips to stop him.

"Save it for later, Tar." He laughs, looking back up at you with bright eyes.

"So, there's a later?"

(A little something extra. It doesn't quite fit to be an ending, but more like an epilogue just tying things together I guess lol.)

___________________

You sigh as you sling your bag over your shoulder. It's been a good few months back in Mondstadt after your reconciliation with Childe, and you've decided it's time to go home. You've kept in regular contact with him since you've been here, writing letters to each other like new lovers. You found the whole thing quite cute, despite the circumstances. He's been regarding you with caution, taking things one step at a time, and never pushing you past any limits you set. You're grateful for that.

"You sure you wanna go back? You can always stay a bit longer, just to give yourself a bit more time to think it over." John says, arms crossed and head down. You two have grown closer over your time spent here. It's a shame to think you were so caught up in your misery to be blind to the best friend you could have had. And it's tough to say goodbye, now that you've grown attached.

"I'm sure. You don't have to miss me too much, ya know? I'll be back to visit, and I'll write every week!" John huffs.

"You better, or I'm coming over there and kicking that Fatui's ass for keeping you away! I don't care how many ruin guards he can take on!" You laugh and pull him into a hug.

"I'm gonna miss you." He hugs you back, holding you tight.

"Yeah, I know." You roll your eyes and wave goodbye to the family you didn't realize you had.

Once back in Liyue, you get settled into your home with Childe. Thankfully, he cleaned up the mess he made while you were gone. He had said he was so distraught at the thought of you leaving him, he trashed the place in anger. Not anger from you, but anger at himself. He was afraid you'd think he was a monster, that he was heartless, and that you'd never want to see him again.

He was relieved when he heard you were in Mondstadt. There, he could keep an eye on you. One of the things he was afraid of was you doing something to yourself due to the pain of it all . . . If you did that, he wouldn't know how to cope. And when he received word that you had disappeared from Mond, well, he thought that fear had come true. But in the end, things worked out. You could never forget what he did, nor do you want to. It's something you have to live with, just like he does, and it's up to you to put it aside.

You know there are many things he's done that he's not proud of. Many things of which he promises to tell you when he's ready. And you'll be there to listen as he spills his heart out to you.

You take in a breath of air as you enter the harbor, smelling the salty water of the ocean and the wonderful herbs being brought in from traveling merchants. You'll never get over these smells.

"_____!" You look over your shoulder, surprised as Chen runs over to you. You haven't seen her since the incident outside of town.

"Chen! Are you okay?" She smiles and hugs you.

"I'm doing great! My brother and I have been selling a lot more of our goods since he's been back, and business has been booming!"

"Your brother?" You tilt your head.

"Yes!" She nods enthusiastically.

"He did go to Lingju Pass as Childe had said. It turns out, he had a buyer out there but didn't want to tell me in case the deal went south. I overreacted. . ." She puts her head down in shame.

"All the rumors about the Fatui got to my head, and I assumed the worst. But Childe went out and found my brother for me. Can you please tell him I said thank you? Also that I'm sorry. I really owe him one."

You pat her on the head, relieved.

"Of course, Chen." She reaches into her pocket and pulls something out.

"For payment-"

"No!" You shove her hand away.

"Gotta go! I'm late to see Tar!" You sprint off, leaving a confused Chen in your wake.

[snackleggg]

City of splintering hopes: Chapter 1 "Frosty conversations"

~~~

Ao3

~~~

Frostbite quickly seemed to realise what he had said and stopped talking, immediately dropping his usually happy attitude. Danny was still processing what he had said.

"Hey Frosty?" Danny asked during one of his semi-regular visits to the Far Frozen.

"Yes Great One?" Frostbite replied as he finished up checking that Danny had fully recovered from a terrible case of the ghost flu he had caught a few days ago.

"You and the other Yetis seem to know alot about my hybrid physiology when I don't even know that. How come?" Danny asked. It was an innocent enough question. Jazz had pointed it out just before he left for his visit and he hadn't been able to shake it from his mind since.

"Well, of course!" Frostbite said with a boisterous laugh "You think you are the only Halfa to have ever allied with our tribe? We have always been friends to your kind Great One!" Frostbite said back with a carefree kind of happiness before he realized what he had just accidentally spilled.

Now they stood there in heavy silence as Danny processed the meaning behind Frostbite's words.

"Other Halfas!?" Danny all but screeched as he nearly fell from where he was sitting with the realisation of what Frostbite said.

Frostbite looked uncomfortable to say the least. He seemed to look around at anything but Danny as he replied "Y-Yes of course! You didn't think you and those two others were the only ones of your kind." Suddenly Frostbite looked Danny in the eye with concern "Did you Great One?"

Danny couldn't reply.

By the heavy look Frostbite was giving him it seemed like there was something deeper to this subject than he was realising. Danny just shook his head.

"Mmm no, the only other Halfas I've ever met were Dani and Vlad" Danny said matter-of-factly. By the look Frostbite was giving him it was obvious he was missing something, some unspoken fact that hung in the air just out of his reach.

Frostbite suddenly broke from his gaze as he huffed while looking to the side "That Plasmius should be ashamed of himself to even dare call himself a Halfa. He may be there biologically but none of his actions reflect on your people" Frostbite said with a tone of bitterness, a tone that was slightly sharper than the bitterness he usually talked with when talking about Vlad.

"Yeah, totally agree, 100% but back to the topic at hand I have a people!?" Danny's brain was trying to understand this new revelation. In a way it answered alot of questions that he had never really thought about. How were the ghosts able to tell he wasn't a full ghost. Why had Pointdexter known to call him a Halfa as if it was a common term. Why ghosts just didn't seem all that surprised about the existence of some weird hybrid. Of course Vlad could've had a part in that but Vlad was always too busy in his cheese castle plotting revenge to really interact with many ghosts outside of hiring them to do his dirty work.

But it also brought up a while slew of new questions. Where had these other Halfas come from? Definitely couldn't be another lab accident caused by his parents. Why wasn't there any information about the existence of ghost human hybrids on earth if there were enough Halfas around to be considered a people, a kind, not just an anomaly that repeated a few times but by the sounds of it some sort of society? And most importantly, where were they!? Danny had never ran into anyone like himself apart from Vlad and Dani.

He looked at Frostbite, trying to pick which question was the most important to ask first. It seemed Frostbite was blissfully unaware of his internal struggle as he just went on.

"Well yes Great One. The Halfas were a strong and prosperous people.... I suppose there isn't really a way for you to know that but I am surprised this is the first you are hearing about this" Frostbite said awkwardly.

Danny probably looked like a fish with how much he was opening and closing his mouth without a word coming out. Finally he managed to say something past his shock.

" 'were'?" Danny asked, his hopes at meeting someone like him suddenly beginning to die.

Frostbite just nodded, avoiding looking at him again as a sorrowful look came upon his face "Yes, Pariah Dark" Frostbite said the name like it was something foul and Danny was inclined to agree "wiped them all out when he sensed they would be a threat to his throne"

Danny almost snorted at that.

Pariah Dark sounded like a character in a tragedy or a myth in that context. In trying to stop Halfas from dethroning him he was indirectly responsible for a Halfa dethroning him. Okay maybe not responsible, Danny would've done it whether the race of people had still been around or not but still the irony was there. So was the karma.

Then he focused on the more depressing part of what Frostbite had said.

"Oh" so there really wasn't anyone else. He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up.

"But!" Frostbite said, a little bit of a cheer coming back to him "the ruins of their old city still stands! Maybe, if you are interested in knowing more, you could visit them? Of course everyone here in the Far Frozen would be more than happy to recount stories of other Halfas to you Great One but our knowledge is limited. Even with our friendship with them, they were always a secretive bunch" Frostbite explained.

Danny didn't really know what to think of the offer. It wouldn't be the same as actually talking to another Halfa but it would still be something, right?

"I'll... think about it" Danny said.

He had gone through too many revelations in too short a time span and he really just wanted to crawl into bed and take a nice long nap, which he could do since it was the weekend.

"Of course Great One. It is entirely up to you what you do" Frostbite said with a smile.

The rest of the visit seemed to fly by but the conversation he had with Frostbite was stuck at the back of his head. He kept on wondering about the other Halfas.

Were they nice? What kind of society did they have? Had they ever been to Earth or did they live exclusively in the Ghost Zone? Why were they as secretive as Frostbite said? Even to their own allies? Why had Pariah felt so threatened by them? Were they really that powerful? What will I find if I go to these ruins?

Even after he left to go back home the thoughts of a people just like him, a people long gone, lingered in his mind.

He was distracted.

He knew Frostbite and the other Yetis had noticed it even if they didn't comment on it but Jazz was alot more proactive about these sort of things. She noticed the far away look Danny had as they were eating dinner and afterwards pulled him off to the side as their parents went back down to work in the lab.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Nothing" Danny mumbled. He didn't know if Jazz would understand his dilemma. Sure he was born human but thinking about the possibility of other Halfas, even if he hadn't been born one, it made his core clench with a need to learn more, to find them

"It's obviously not nothing, you've been distracted ever since you came back from visiting the Far Frozen. What happened?" Jazz asked.

Danny couldn't meet her gaze. He didn't know how to fraze it, to tell her about all the spiraling thoughts in his head, the confusing feelings in his core.

"Danny" Jazz said seriously.

Finally Danny caved and told her about the conversation he had with Frostbite about other Halfas. He told her about his feelings and thoughts on the matter. It was like the dam that had been filling for the last few hours had broken and suddenly Danny was exasperated as he finished recounting everything.

"Other Halfas...." Jazz said thoughtfully.

Danny nodded. For some reason he felt guilty, he felt like he was betraying his family by trying to explore this part of himself.

Jazz, thank the ancients for the observation skills she definitely didn't get from their parents, noticed Danny's dip in mood and quickly went to comfort him.

"Hey, you shouldn't feel bad about this. It makes sense you'd want to find and learn about people who might've gone through similar struggles" Jazz said as she put her hand on Danny's shoulder, a grounding gesture which he was silently thankful for.

"But I feel bad about how if I do learn about this then I'll be keeping more secrets from mom and dad. I already feel terrible lying to them about The accident" Danny shrunk into himself. It's not that he wanted to keep lying to his parents but the perpetual fear of them not accepting him hung over his head heavily and he feared now that if he tried to explore and learn about these people who were like him it would only give his parents more reason to distance him from the family if they found out.

"Danny, look at me" Jazz urged and Danny barely managed to meet her gaze. It was determined and honest, an immovable rock he needed in the swirling river that was his thoughts.

"You don't have to go there if you don't want to but you shouldn't jump to the conclusion that it will only make everything worse. Think about it but don't forget that just as many good things could come from this as bad things" Jazz said and Danny nodded along. That made sense.

"Yeah. I guess the concept just kinda overwhelmed me" Danny said and suddenly he felt emotionally drained all over again.

"Go on, get some rest. Sleep on it but there really isn't a time limit" Jazz encouraged and she was right but Danny felt like if he did want to go then it might be better to do it sooner rather than later.

He crashed onto his bed not really knowing what to think. A few hours ago he was excited by the prospect but now he dreaded what he might find at those ruins, what secrets the Halfas kept hidden away even from those closest to them.

Danny almost laughed at the parallels as he thought about his own secretive situation with his parents. He was in no place to preemptively judge.

Finally he went to sleep.

Dreaming of a lullaby he never heard and a city of people he would never meet.

~~~

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I'll be tagging all content do to with this story with the tag City of splintering hopes so if guys want to you can follow the story easier. You can also use that tag for any questions or content you guys make of the story!

Hope you all like this first chapter!

[princess-of-the-corner]

Ok, so I remember Dragon coming up with a Chloe DP au, and for some reason that combined in my head with your post about Vlad and the rich kids and the S4 spoilers so... imagine Chloe at Vlad’s party during a ghost attack, feeling depressed and useless and generally just thinking about being replaced. somehow she ends up in Vlad’s lair, self reflecting in front of the portal when it gets hit by a power surge. Most of the class just sees her being carried out to the ambulance, but 2 know better

Me: “I need to work on all my other fics.”

Also me: “Time to work on several pages of Chloé half dying!!! And another bootleg version of one of Dragon’s AUs!”

Vlad and Danny are on kinda friendly terms in this mostly because I wanted to write them snarking at each other. 

Chloé was glad to get out of Paris for a while. A decision her father had made after, well. Certain incidents. Making her feel unsafe in Paris. So she was sent away to a place without Hawkmoth or Akumas.

Smoothing out the skirt of her pale yellow, nearly white, dress, she contemplated the place she ended up.

She would have been prepared for New York. But of course Audrey said she was too "Unexceptional" yet. But as Audrey had to go on a business trip to meet other rich business people at some fancy party, Chloé's dad convinced her to take her to this place. 

Not that business parties full of other rich people were something she really wanted to deal with. They were usually too condescending at best. A few of them could be creepy. Giving her looks that made her want to take a shower for a year. 

It was almost enough to make her want to stay in Paris. But the one thing that made her decide it wouldn't be too bad was who was hosting the party. 

Don't get her wrong. Vlad Masters definitely gave off some strange and downright intimidating vibes. But the few times Chloé had met him at events like this, he was one of the few adults who seemed to respect her, despite her age. And he only used his threatening vibes on any of the other men looking at her. 

That said, Chloé wasn't expecting much conversation with Vlad. They didn't usually talk much anyway, just polite conversation common at these things. And as Audrey was currently attempting to engage with him, almost as if she were blocking Chloé from getting near, it was unlikely she would.

"If you're going to commit a murder could you wait another twenty minutes? I have a bet going."

Chloé jumped, realizing someone was speaking to her. When she found who, her initial instinct was to glare. Blue eyes and black hair making her think of someone else. 

However, as she took in the rest of the context, she found someone new. And male. A boy about her age. 

"Who are you?" Chloé asked. 

"Head of security," the boy said. 

It was obviously a joke, from his tone and lopsided grin. And Chloé almost laughed at the idea of a teenager being any kind of security. 

But she noticed the way he stood, the way he analyzed her. It reminded her of Adrien, in a way. Seemingly all smiles and laid back, but far more capable than he looks. 

There was something else about him too. It actually reminded her of Vlad. The general vibes he gave off. But Vlad felt more… firey. Heat under his skin, waiting for the temper to snap. This boy felt more cold. Not emotionally, but like a snowfall that could quickly engulf you in a blizzard. 

"I think a name would be better," Chloé said. 

"Call me Danny then," the boy said, offering a hand. 

"Chloé Bourgeois," she replied, politely taking it. "So, judging by the fact that you didn't give me your last name, you don't want me guessing who you're connected to."

"You probably wouldn't know them," he said. "My family's known for their studies on the paranormal. They're scientists. And not really the kind for this kind of party."

"But you are?" She raised an eyebrow. 

"Absolutely not," he said. "But hey. Vlad's trying to buy his way to an apology by giving me money if I hang out and make sure nothing spooks the guests. Other than him, of course. Might as well put it in my college fund. So, you actually planning a murder or not?"

That almost made her laugh. A small smile on her face, Chloé's gaze drifted across the room to her mother. 

"No murder yet," Chloé said. "If I do kill someone, it'll be the local supervillain back in Paris."

"Heard something about that," Danny said. "My parents keep debating on checking it out. It's obviously paranormal and magical, but they specialize in Ghosts."

"Are they the Ghostbusters?" She did actually laugh at that one. 

"Something like that," he chuckled. 

All of a sudden, Danny stiffened up. It had to be a trick of the light, but she could've sworn a mist came out of his mouth. He frowned, looking around carefully. 

"Sorry, I have to go," Danny said. "A disturbance in the garden. See you around."

"Yeah, see you," Chloé sighed. 

As he ran off through the crowd, Chloé wondered how he knew about the "disturbance". Maybe he was actually part of the security team and had an earpiece in? 

Brushing the thought off, Chloé grabbed a drink from a passing waiter. Then she headed the opposite direction.

She wanted some time alone. It had been nice, talking to Danny. But the party was still overwhelming. She might be out of Paris, which meant less stares and whispers. But still too much interaction for her liking lately. 

Chloé headed out of the main ballroom. Few paid attention to her. Those that did were quickly dragged back to their conversations. 

As she wandered the halls, Chloé wondered if she could get lost in here. If her mother would notice. Maybe she could just. Not go home and just secretly live in Vlad's mansion. 

A tempting idea, if she could figure out how to do it. But for now, she settled for exploring. 

There was a library. Very nice. Bookshelves along every wall, except for a spot for a fireplace. Comfortable chairs and a couch to read on. 

She looked through the bookshelves. It seemed well stocked, despite the impossibility of ever reading them all. Most were nonfiction, texts on various subjects. A few seemed to be typical fiction, though Chloé didn't inspect those too close lest she judge Vlad's collection of trashy romance novels. 

What intrigued her was one large shelf, right across from the fireplace. These books actually looked well-used. Texts on the paranormal. Hadn't Danny said something about that? Between this and the familiarity with Vlad, perhaps it was a family-friend situation.

Dragging a finger along the spines of the books, she picked one at random. Pure curiosity more than actual interest. 

The book was soon dropped and forgotten when the shelf slid open to reveal a doorway. 

Now that had her curious and interested. 

A look over her shoulder at the door, and Chloé was in the new room. No, a new hall of stairs. Descending down stone steps. 

She was suddenly worried she would find some sort of kinky dungeon type place. Perhaps she should quit while she was ahead. 

It was the buzzing in her fingertips that made the decision for her. Something… familiar. 

It wasn't like the buzzing she felt near an Akuma, or near someone using a Miraculous. No, this felt more like Vlad. Like Danny. Whatever she was feeling from them, there was more of it down here. 

Eventually the stairway opened to a room. It looked like a laboratory of some kind. Weapons and tools of shiny metal and magenta accents lined the walls. There were a few that traded magenta for green, but not as if two people consistently shared a space. More like one occasionally left objects behind. 

The one thing in the room that was overwhelmingly green and not magenta was against one wall. 

It almost looked like a doorway of sorts. Or a Magic Portal, really. Swirls of green that she couldn't see into. And if she hadn't spent the last year and a half being attacked by Magical Supervillains and becoming a Hero herself, she would've assumed it was just a large tv screen embedded in the wall for aesthetics. 

The reminder of her time as a Hero brought back some bitter memories. 

She might not have been the best person, but she was a good Hero. Chloé would have gladly continued being Queen Bee, despite the risks, because she had felt like she finally found a purpose. But Ladybug told her no, she couldn't have the Miraculous anymore. For her safety of course. 

What a joke. Not only had Chloé been in more danger without it, as there was no way she could defend herself against Hawkmoth. But the other Heroes were still active, even with their identities known. 

With a sigh, Chloé attempted to distract herself. Walking around the room and investigating the weapons around the lab. They were strange. She wasn't a gun expert, but these didn't look normal. Not regular guns that shoot bullets. 

Were they alien weaponry? That didn't seem right. Chloé wasn't an expert, having never met an alien(as far as she was aware). But the weapons seemed very based on Earth designs, their sizes intended for average Human use. Maybe weapons for Humans to use on nonhumam creatures. 

Whatever it was, Chloé was now a bit curious. What did Vlad get up to when he wasn't hosting business parties like this? Did he perhaps moonlight as a superhero? With that Danny kid as the Robin to his Batman? Perhaps she should stay. Be the Jason Todd of the family. Though with less dying.

She almost laughed at the idea. But as a crack of thunder rang through the mansion, loud enough to be heard from this basement laboratory, she jumped, instinctively spinning around to look for an attack.

A second crack of thunder, and all the lights went dark.

Chloé was not afraid of the dark. She never had been, even as a child. 

But she was afraid now. Because this wasn't a normal blackout. In a mansion like this, there would be emergency generators. They didn't kick in, which meant this was likely something else. 

Amity Park was different from Paris. No Hawkmoth. No Akumas. But that didn't mean there was no danger. 

And the thing Chloé had become afraid of, after so many Akuma attacks and even Hawkmoth himself coming to her home, her room, and confronting her. The thing she was afraid of was being unable to fight back. 

Her breath began to quicken, the only noise she could hear in the dark room. Heart hammering in her chest, Chloé tried to calm herself down. This wasn't Paris. Whoever or whatever it was wasn't after her. 

But what if it was? What if this person had decided she would make a good target? What if Hawkmoth had followed her, hoping to get revenge for failing him as Miracle Queen? What if it was someone else, furious about what she had involuntarily done, knowing that if something happened here, Ladybug's Miraculous Cure would be too late?

Hands trembling, Chloé remembered the weapons on the wall. It wasn't her Miraculous, but it was something. She refused to go down without a fight. 

The only problem was that, in her panic, she had gotten turned around she couldn't remember which was she was facing. 

Blindly choosing a direction, Chloé kept a hand out in front of her, slowly moving it back and forth hoping she'd hit a wall. Her ragged breathing and the click of her heels on the floor being the only sounds. A good sign, she hoped. 

Her hand hit something. A wall, she thought. Somewhere to her left. Keeping her hand flat against it, she hoped to follow it until she found the weapon rack again. 

She kept walking, barely noting how the sound of her footsteps changed from heels-on-tile to heels-on-metal. Had the floor been metal? She couldn't remember. The stairs up had been stone so obviously she was still in the lab. 

The lights suddenly came back on, the blackout over. Yet Chloé wasn't nearly as blinded as she should have been by the sudden brightness. It was coming from behind her. Had she somehow found a different hallway out of the lab?

As she turned to head back to something familiar, a different brightness flickered on. But she was completely unaware, as all she could focus on was pain. 

Burning, crackling under her skin. Through every inch of her. Worse than anything she had ever felt, as Civilian, Hero, or Akuma. 

The pain began to subside. Not going away, but no longer the intense agony. Just an ache, but as if she had run a marathon around Paris without being transformed. Her throat still burned the worst though. Had she been screaming? She couldn't remember doing so, but it seemed likely given the pain.

Stumbling forward, she managed to find herself back in the lab. Yet her vision was blurry. So blurry, in fact, that when she looked down her white dress appeared black. 

The pain and exhaustion was too much for her. Pitching forward, everything went dark again.

--------

The next thing Chloé knew, she was somewhere soft. Everything still hurt, which made her not want to move. But she could hear two male voices arguing. 

"You should let me explain it to her."

"You will confuse and scare her with your morbid humor."

"And you'll just freak her out!"

"I have more experience in this."

"Not in explaining it!"

"I explained it to Danielle."

"And I explained it to everyone else because you had to be a fruitloop!"

"Are you still using that insult?"

"It still fits."

Registering that she should probably see what's goin on, Chloé went to get up. 

Her right arm must've slipped off whatever she was laying on, as she almost immediately slammed back down. The feeling that had her jolting upright instead of trying again to be slow, was that it felt like something hit the inside of her arm?!

Inspecting the limb, she didn't find anything wrong with it. It was there. No burns or bruises. The worst thing was a chipped manicure. 

As her gaze went further up her arm to her shoulder, she noticed something. A discoloration in her skin. It was hard to see, having to look nearly straight down and only being able to see what skin was showing. But there were thin lines across her shoulders and chest. She couldn't tell how far they went up her neck, or how much further they extended under her dress. 

The lines looked almost like lightning. It was then that she remembered the lab. The pain. But she swallowed down her fear.

"Well say goodbye to swimsuit season," Chloé muttered, her voice still a little shaky and her throat still raw. 

"Perhaps your humor will be helpful after all," one of the voices from earlier mused. 

Chloé jumped, having completely forgot that there were people in the room. One was Vlad, the other was the "head of security" kid. Danny, wasn't it? 

"What happened?" Chloé asked.

"You received quite a shock," Vlad replied. 

"Oh, and my humor is too much for her," Danny glared.

"Kind of used to puns in horrifying situations," Chloé said. "One of my best friends loves making puns to deflect dealing with things."

And okay yes she also did that. But she was not going to tell them that. Even if the looks they gave each other probably meant they guessed as much. 

"Where am I?" Chloé asked, looking around. 

"One of the guest rooms," Vlad explained. 

"Not a hospital?" She asked. 

"A hospital isn't quite equipped to handle… this," he said. 

"One of the guests was a doctor who did a general checkup," Danny said. "She was sure you probably just fainted from low blood sugar or something."

"And… and my mother?" Chloé asked. 

"She is back at her hotel," Vlad said, visibly bristling. "I may not be father of the year, but her lack of concern is appalling."

The exasperated look Danny gave him said there was a long story there. Chloé wasn't sure she wanted to hear it right now.

"So why would a hospital be bad?" Chloé asked instead. 

"That is quite a story," Vlad said. "Do you know what you were messing with in the laboratory?"

"I know it had weapons," she said. "Then the lights went out and I tried to find my way around."

"I think that makes her smarter than both of us," Danny said.

"I didn't enter an unstable device on a dare," Vlad glared. “I knew what I was doing.”

"You stuck your face right up to a prototype device not knowing if it was stable or not," he retorted. "You're lucky you only half died.".

Vlad glared at him again. Chloé could have sworn he man's eyes flashed red. It was more than just a trick of the light. 

He said a hospital wasn't a good situation for her now. He implied that he'd had something similar happen to him. And those books on the paranormal, leading to a lab… 

Vlad wasn't Human. At least not anymore. Danny wasn't either, most likely. And Chloé realized, with mounting horror, that she probably wasn't either.

Once more she focused on her hands. What… was she now? Chloé flipped through her knowledge of the paranormal. It couldn't be a Vampire or Werewolf. She didn't get bit or infected with anything. Most other creatures she could remember Humans becoming had very specific circumstances or longer processes. 

Then, she recalled something Danny had said. His family deals with Ghosts. 

As if to confirm her suspicions, her hands flickered out of existence. An involuntary whimper escaping her throat. 

"I… I'm dead, aren't I?" Chloé asked. 

"Only half way," Danny said. 

"That is nowhere as reassuring as you think it is," Vlad said. 

This time it was Danny's turn to glare. But his eyes flashed a green color instead of red. 

Meanwhile, Chloé was having a crisis. She died. She fucking died. But she was still here. 

She was vaguely aware of their voices. Both males had come closer, sitting beside her on the bed. She knew one, or maybe both of them, was telling her to breathe. To focus. 

She tried to focus on how strange it was, sitting between them. One burning, one freezing. Was that related to… This? 

It helped ground her. Remind her that she wasn't alone. 

"That's right," Danny said. "You're not alone in this. Which is already better than what we got."

"You could have had a mentor," Vlad said. 

"But you were still evil back then," he smirked.

Oh boy oh boy. This was going to get oh so complicated. 

[miminorenai]

Surprised by the sudden question, I reach back into my memory, but I don’t recognize him... He hands over me something like that — “—··· I hope to see you again.”

CHAPTER 02

The man with crimson eyes “...Have we ever met somewhere?”

Surprised by the sudden question, I reach back into my memory, but...

MC “...I don’t think we ever met, probably...”

MC “Because I just came to this place a month ago...”

(...At any rate, it just doesn’t seem that I’ve forgotten. I think I’ll never forget such a beautiful person if I ever meet one.)

The man with crimson eyes “Really...?”

MC “...? Yes...Ah!”

When I *get a hold of myself, I notice that there’s a wagon with flowers is placed beside the person.

(*領き返し - 領 means territory, reign, possession, something you acquired, get hold and owned, while 返し means return, put back and restore. It’s still in hesitation, but I put my own mixture and analyzation that the sentence means ‘something that you possessed being returned and restored’, hence getting hold of herself. But if other readers have better explanation, or perhaps better translation, drop in the comments or DM, alright?

The flowers are unprotected and exposed to the snow, dyeing the petals white.

(That’s not good...!)

MC “If we let them get hit by snow as it is, the flowers might be ruined, you know? Let’s carry it over there!”

I put my hands on the wagon and run towards the eaves of the confectionery in the snow.

(...They won’t get hit by the snow here, right?)

MC “...I’m glad they are all right. It would be sad if such beautiful flowers wither.”

The man with crimson eyes “...”

The moment I feel relieved, I realized the person is staring intently at me, as if to probe into my heart.

MC “...I’m sorry. Did I do something unnecessary...”

Then, the person in front of me gently shakes his head.

The man with crimson eyes “No...thank you.”

After saying that, he suddenly turns his crimson eyes towards the flowers in the wagon, and touches the flowers with beautiful gesture.

And then, the person makes a bouquet of colorful flowers in a blink of time, as if he’s using magic.

The man with crimson eyes “Hmm, this is fine. If it’s this big, it should fit in your arms.”

The man with crimson eyes “Here, as thanks for your help.”

A big bouquet gently jumps into my chest.

MC “...I can’t afford to receive such a big bouquet. I didn’t do much...”

The man with crimson eyes “Just accept it.”

The person untied his pursed lips and smiles sweet enough to captivate me instantly.

The man with crimson eyes “Since I was so happy.”

The man with crimson eyes “Well then, I’ll go with this.”

With a delightful smile, the person puts his hand on an empty wagon and starts walking through the snow.

MC “Excuse me...”

When the person stops walking, he looks up at the sky again...and draws an arc on his thin lips.

The man with crimson eyes “Oh...the snow will stop soon.”

(Huh...?)

Staring at the similar scenery as reflected by the crimson eyes, the snow gradually becomes sparse...

Then, the snow stops.

(...It was a sudden snowfall.)

As I look up at the sky, leaving behind only the signs of snow, a clear voice flows into my ears.

The man with crimson eyes “—··· I hope to see you again.”

When I look back in a sudden, there is no one there anymore, 

I feel like I’m dreaming while it was snowing...

(He was a beautiful person...)

(Somehow it seems that he’s a human, but sort of like not human too...he was such a person. Even so —)

I wonder why did he look at me as if we had met before?

(...Have we ever met somewhere after all?)

While I’m thinking about it, I heard footsteps right next to me.

Leonardo “I’m sorry to have kept you keep waiting, Mimi. Huh...? What’s with that big bouquet?”

Leonardo “Leonardo-san! To tell you the truth, just now —”

***

Leonardo-san grunts and stifles his laughter as I tell him the whole story of what happened while it was snowing.

Leonardo “I think he was happy with your kindness. ...Hmm?”

Leonardo's fingertips touch the light blue petals that bloom quietly among various kinds of flowers.

Leonardo “Forget-me-not flowers shouldn't bloom in such a cold winter. Is he growing them in a greenhouse? Or.”

Leonardo “—*Off-season flowering, huh.”

(*狂い咲き - 狂い means insanity, madness and crazy while 咲き means to bloom. Literally it means a crazy flower that’s blooming out of order

Shakespeare sets foot into an old castle and finds the lord of the castle in a beautiful garden.

Vlad “···— 𝅘𝅥𝅮 ···”

Wearing a coat that’s darker than the night, the figure that’s gazing on the flowers illuminated by the moon is so beautiful that you leave it as it is. 

Slowly approaching, Shakespeare stands next to Vlad and opens his lips.

Shakespeare “My lord, is there anything good happened to you?”

Vlad “Yeah, something really nice.”

Nevertheless...as he mutters, the pair of eyes with different colors directed his gaze towards the flowers that are blooming in the flower bed.

Shakespeare “Forget-me-nots shouldn’t bloom in this season, and this flower too. ...Ah, this flower too.”

Shakespeare “How on earth are you growing them...?”

Vlad “Rather than that sort of thing, it’s rare for you to come here, Will. Don’t you have something to talk about?”

Shakespeare “...”

Shakespeare’s expression becomes stiff when a straight gaze is directed towards him.

After a seemingly eternal silence, a faint shaking voice echoes through the night.

Shakespeare “In search for tragic real experiences for my creation, on that day I left the mansion...I joined hands with you.”

Shakespeare “I’m in pursuit of tragedy, while you’re trying to revive the great men for your ambition. Our interests were aligned.”

Shakespeare “My heart was certainly moved by the person you revived for your experiment.”

Vlad “...”

Shakespeare “But things like disregarding lives and treating them with disdain, I just can’t accept it no matter what.”

Shakespeare “...I understand that it’s a selfish excuse, but I don’t want to get my hands dirty anymore —“

Vlad “Hey, Will.”

Shakespeare “...?”

Vlad “Do you know why forget-me-nots came to be called by this name?”

Although confused by the sudden question, Shakespeare easily/leisurely repeats the words.

Shakespeare “Knight Rudolph tried to pick flowers that bloom on the river quay for his lover, but...he accidentally fell into the river.”

Shakespeare “I know it got its name from the anecdote that was left behind saying [Don't forget me] at that time.”

Vlad “Yes, that’s correct. As one would expect, a rare playwright has an extensive knowledge.”

Vlad “I think, the great men in the Count’s mansion look a lot like this flower.”

Vlad “Although their lives have ended once, they were afraid that their existences would disappear from this world.”

Vlad “That straightforward obsession so far as cruel and abnormal has brought them back to life again. Hey, Will.”

Shakespeare “...Yes.”

Vlad “They will surely be the cornerstone to grant this heartful ambition. That’s why I have to choose.”

Vlad “—··· A strong person to help me, right? I thought you understand what I wanted to do.”

His voice is calm like a calm sea, but the air Vlad’s cladded in is too sharp and ferocious...,

But Shakespeare raises his voice to encourage himself.

Shakespeare “I can’t dance in your palm anymore, but I’m the first one who took your hand.”

Shakespeare “If you want to kill me, do it then. Since for you...I’m an unnecessary flower.”

Vlad’s hands extend towards Shakespeare’s neck.

Shakespeare “— !”

But, the beautiful hands on his small neck move away on a whim.

Shakespeare “...Why...”

Vlad “’Cause it seems like a severe punishment for Will is to continue living and suffering. See you then, Will.”

When Shakespeare’s figure disappears, the footsteps of Charles and Faust echo in replace.

Faust “Is it fine to overlook the playwright easily, Your Excellency? It seems to me that the treatment is very sweet...”

Charles “Lord Vlad has Lord Vlad’s own *consideration. Isn’t that right, Ōsama?”

(*考え - thought, idea, intention, expectation

Responds with only a smile, Vlad turns his beautiful crimson eyes towards the night sky.

Vlad “The world is still beautiful today. That’s why I can’t give up this ambition in my heart.”

Vlad “We still have a long way to go, but...I’m sure it will be done.”

Charles & Faust “...”

Without minding both of them who are becoming speechless at the profile with appalling madness in his beauty, 

Vlad straightly crouches down on the spot and watches forget-me-not flowers intently.

Vlad “Don’t forget me, huh. Did that girl forget about me?”

Vlad “We met on a distant snowy day...”

Charles & Faust “...?”

Vlad “I hope we can meet again. Fuaa~...”

Charles “Eh, Ōsama?”

Charles “...He falls asleep.”

Faust “Sleeping in a place this, after muttering an incomprehensible monologue.”

Faust “Truly a selfish old man. Shall, I’m going back.”

Charles “Eh, let’s carry him, Doc.”

Faust “If you leave him alone, it seems that he’ll wake up soon.”

Charles “Eh? People would usually die if we leave them behind in this cold winter.”

Faust “Your Excellency is unusual, so there’s no problem.”

Charles “But, he’ll catch a cold, right?”

Faust “Haa~ He’s really such a troublesome old man.”

The profile of Shakespeare who’s leaving the castle is as lifeless as a doll.

As he looks up at the night sky with dark eyes, the moon, which is about to transform into a full moon, comes into view and brings back a certain memory.

A month ago, a woman who appeared in front of him in what sort of fate, was an ordinary human without any talents. 

Vlad doesn’t need that kind of person...he thought so, and didn’t give any information about Mimi.

— That’s to say, he put up a façade.

Somehow she felt like a factor that could change this chaotic situation, for better or worse.

He felt that even God didn't know if Mimi’s fate and that beautiful person would cross.

Shakespeare “What can I do right now is keeping an eye on what’s about to occur after this, and if anything happens, I’ll *firsthand —”

(*身を以て - with one's own body/action/experience

Every time I went to the city from that snowy day, my eyes came to search for that person who looked like a snow spirit.

However —

(...Isn’t it hard to find him in this big city?)

(If only I asked for his name at least, I could get a clue to search for him.)

I want to convey a proper gratitude for giving me an armful of flowers.

Also...I can’t put it well into words, but I wish to meet that person again, truly from my heart.

MC “I don't know when, but...I want to see you again."

As I mutter alone, I could smell something like floating spring mixed in the winter air.

When I follow the scent that gives color to the cold winter —

The man with crimson eyes “...”

The person is beside the wagon with plenty of flowers, as if he’s bringing along the spring.

(...At last, I met him.)

As I approach him, his crimson eyes slowly catch me —

The man with crimson eyes “I found you ‘again’, after all.”

[echoghost1]

Fool's Errand

Word Count: 2033 For: @five-rivers 

Summary:  It had been hours since Danny flew off to fight Pariah Dark and Vlad took it upon himself to see what was taking the boy so long.

You can read it on AO3 or down below the cut

Edit: I added a summary

Vlad had been flying for hours but he finally found what he had been searching for. There, sitting on the edge of one of the many floating isles, was his prize.

The boy below him perked up just as he had started his descent. Vlad did his best to quell the surge of jealousy of the boy’s near precognisant perception of other ghosts.

He landed with a grimace all the same.

“There you are, boy. Is there any reason you’ve made me search for you?”

“I didn’t make you do anything.” came his snarky reply.

Vlad crossed his arms and waited for the boy to get up.

He made no attempt to move.

“Do I seriously have to ask you to come with me?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to.” Daniel bit his lip and averted his gaze, “I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t?”

“I mean I can’t! Just what that means, Can not. Unable. It isn’t happening!”

Vlad rolled his eyes, “There’s no need to get hysterical, Daniel.”

The boy huffed in annoyance, “You wouldn’t be saying that if you knew what happened.”

“Then enlighten me.”

Daniel was quiet for a moment as he pondered his options. “You act like I’m just loitering or something. As if I wouldn’t leave on my own. Somehow the idea of me being stuck here hadn’t crossed your mind.” He chuckled to himself but his small grin was quickly replaced by solemn defeat.

"You know, the funny thing is, for so long I thought you knew everything there was to know about being a ghost. But all you know is how to use your powers in the human world. You don't know anything about the ghost world."

Vlad tried to refute that, but Daniel continued.

"You spent so much time trying to win me over, trying to get me to join you when there was a ghostly solution all along."

Vlad was confused, but also intrigued.

"The need for family doesn't go away when you become a ghost. The only problem is that ghosts can't have kids like humans, like the living can. They can adopt though."

"Adopt?"

"Yeah. I've been adopted."

Vlad was not at all thrilled to be given an explanation that only further confused him. He made sure to make it clear that he did not like what little he was told.

“Fine! You want the story? I’ll give you a story!” Daniel shouted in frustration as he got to his feet, “Once upon a time, there was a greedy blue vampire who thought taking things that weren’t his was a good idea.”

Vlad was irritated that he was now forced to listen to this fairy tale version of events, but he kept quiet. If this was the only way to get to the truth then he could handle these childish antics.

“Of course, it wasn’t, and he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Since he was a coward he ran away before anything could happen to him.”

“Hey!” Vlad was a lot of things, but he was not a coward. He just knew the wisdom of a strategic retreat. He made sure to say as much.

Daniel took a breath to regain what little composure he had before continuing, “Anyway, his problems followed him and the weight of the whole world fell to one boy. That boy took it upon himself to don a suit of armor that granted great power, but it was cursed. The wearer would have their life force slowly taken away the longer they wore it. The boy knew the risks but did it anyway. He donned the poisonous armor and went headfirst into the fray. He faced the enraged king alone. He wasn’t sure if he would be strong enough to win,” the boy’s voice hitched as he finished, “even with the armor.” He gently floated back down to the crag below them in silence. “His only hope was that even if he didn’t win, the king would lose first.”

The weight of his words finally settled and Vlad took the opportunity to land on the ground beside him. He hadn’t realized the boy came here thinking this was a suicide mission.

Which, on further reflection, was a logical conclusion to come to.

“I didn’t realize,” Vlad hesitated unsure how to articulate what he was feeling. “I didn’t think that this would happen.” he finished knowing it wasn’t enough.

“Because heaven forbid you have to deal with the consequence of your actions,” Daniel replied sarcastically.

Vlad couldn’t think of a retort and just let the words settle into his skin like a barb.

The pair was quiet for some time before Daniel spoke again, “It isn’t all bad I guess.”

“Oh?” He was curious about the boy’s view on the situation. Especially after how he recounted recent events.

“Well, he says that he won’t be running around trying to take over everything. Said he just wants to stabilize his area first and,” Daniel hesitated and looked away while rubbing the back of his neck, “and he says he wants to focus on me.” Daniel chuckled nervously, “Which is super weird right? Who would have guessed the best way to calm down a tyrannical ruler was to make him a dad.”

Vlad wasn’t sure anyone would have guessed that. Ever.

Now that he wasn’t stressed from his long flight, or agitated by Daniel’s behavior, he finally noticed that there were some subtle changes to the boy’s appearance.

He was still in his ghost form, which made sense given their current location, but it wasn’t exactly the same.

Daniel caught him staring and followed his gaze. “Oh yeah. I almost forgot about that.”

“You forgot?”

“I had a lot on my mind, alright? I was recently in a high-stakes battle for my life and then I wake up to find I’ve been ghost adopted! Sorry, my aesthetics weren’t higher on my list of things to be freaking out about!”

“I was merely asking,” Vlad commented with an insuppressible eye-roll.

“Whatever.” the teen waved him off, “I think it’s because I’m still wearing the armor.”

“You think you might be wearing the Ecto-Skeleton?”

“Well it’s not as bulky or obvious, but I still kind of feel that buzz like when I was wearing it. And you know,” He turned his hand around both to examine it and show it off, “my gloves are gauntlets now, so there’s that.”

The gloves did appear to be gauntlets. The fingers were covered in jointed plates instead of the previous fabric. His gloves weren’t the only thing that changed. His boots and belt, which before were just as white as his hair, were now more silver, they seemed to cast a slight metallic gleam from the light of their ghost forms. His boots were also sporting metallic shin guards with a neon green skull detailed onto the knee. The skull looked exactly like the one that adorned the ring of rage. It even had those menacing red eyes.

“I think I got the suit to match him.” he turned to look up at Vlad, “you know how he has the ring and the crown? I think I got the suit.”

“The suit became a ghostly artifact?” Vlad asked but maybe the boy was on to something. It could be possible for someone as powerful enough to call themselves ‘the king of all ghosts’ could make artifacts. Or perhaps it had to do with this adoption thing?

He still wasn’t entirely convinced if that was a thing. Because if it was, he surely would have found out about it before now.

“Should I give it a name?”

“What?”

“The suit? Should I give it a name? I mean, it only seems fair.”

“How about ‘the Armor of Light’?” a deep voice suggested from behind them.

The two turned in surprise but Daniel was the first to speak. “Oh! Hi dad!” 

Then he muttered more to himself, “I didn’t know you could sneak up on me like that.”

Pariah towered over them and laughed. Thankfully it wasn’t a cruel laugh. It was actually amused. “Don’t worry my child, I believe that is only because we are so close. It would be like detecting yourself, would it not?”

Daniel thought about it for a moment, “I suppose so.” he looked back up to his towering counterpart, “Still weird though.”

Vlad found it odd how relaxed the boy was with the king he had just recently tried to beat into submission. Maybe the adoption thing was real?

He did just call him ‘dad’, didn’t he.

“Come, let us go back to the Keep. It’s getting late and young ones such as yourself shouldn’t be so far unguarded.”

Daniel floated upward and sat on the right-hand shoulder of the king as if that was the most natural place for him to be, “How can you even tell time here? There’s no sun or moon. Just green swirly void.”

Pariah shook his head clearly very amused with the boy’s antics, “I can teach you later.”

“Wait there is a way? Do watches work here?”

“Some do, but not always in the way you would think.”

Daniel did not hide his confusion at that statement and Vlad didn’t blame him. It was weirdly cryptic. Perhaps he was referring to some time-keeping ghost or something?

As much as Vlad found watching the two interact interesting he wasn’t exactly pleased about being completely ignored. So he cleared his throat hoping to get some actual information out of the king.

The king turned to face him, “You’re still here?”

Vlad tried very hard to not be offended by that, “I was just about to go, your majesty, but I had a quick question.”

Pariah crossed his arms as he waited for Vlad to continue.

“The boy claims you have adopted him? Is that true?”

“Are you implying he’s a liar?”

“I-uh, no!” Vlad stammered as he tried to think of what to say next, “It’s just he likes to play pranks. To jest. I meant no disrespect.”

Daniel laughed at that. “He’s not wrong. I do enjoy a good joke.” his expression turned serious again, “But I wouldn’t lie about something like this.”

Pariah placed a hand up to comfort the boy. If the king wasn’t so large or if Daniel wasn’t so small, the gesture would have looked like a hand on the knee, as it was, Pariah’s hand covered all of the boy’s lower half.

“This gives me an idea.” the king spoke before picking Daniel up from his perch and whispering something into his ear.

The boy’s face went from curious, to interested, to downright devilish.

Whatever was being discussed probably wasn’t going to spell good news for Vlad. He started to slowly float backward away from the conspiring royals.

The thought stopped him in his tracks. Daniel was royalty now. Vlad gently landed on the edge of the island again.

If he played his cards right, maybe he could get what he was after. It would probably take much longer than he had originally anticipated, but Vlad knew how to be patient. He knew how to play the long game.

Pariah turned back to face Vlad, “Ah good you didn’t slip away after all. I have a proposition for you.”

“That’s very generous of you, sire,” Vlad said making sure to show that he could play nice.

“It is. Considering the damage you have caused, you’re getting off fairly easily.”

Vlad audibly gulped at the thinly veiled threat. “Thank you. I am honored to receive this offering.”

“So, do you accept?” he said and the look in his eye implied that rejection of the offer was not something Vlad would enjoy.

“Of course!”

The second he uttered those two words Vlad regretted every single choice in his miserable life that led to this moment.

Daniel was ecstatic with his response as he floated playfully while he clapped with glee.

That most certainly meant he had made an egregious error.

“For the man foolish enough to try and overthrow me, what better role than to entertain me and my son as the royal court jester.”

[ayamari-no-goshi]

Eidolon 11 | (T)

ff.net | AO3

Fandom: Danny Phantom (DP)

Summary:  AU: What started off as the result of a simple act of rebellion ends up causing his life to spin out of control. How will young Danny cope with the results as well as a past that has a strange habit of coming back to haunt him.

Warnings: rated T for violence, mentions of death, kidnapping, and various other things

Parings: hints of Danny/Sam much later on

Notes: originally uploaded to Ff.net. Cross-posted to AO3 and tumblr

11: Alternative Paths

The police officers told him they needed to ask him a few questions. What they forgot to mention was he would be locked in a small, remarkably bare room for five hours with a police officer who was dead set in viewing him as a suspect. Danny had never been more relieved to get out of a room before in his life. Yeah, he understood family members needed to be questioned due to the statistics surrounding such crimes, but seriously! Did someone as scrawny as him really look like he could have hurt Winston that badly without getting any sort of injury in the process?

However, he couldn't really blame them for being suspicious, especially when it came to his whereabouts the previous night. How do you rationally explain you were chased by a murderous robot-ghost-thing? The obvious answer was to avoid the topic all together. He hoped he was convincing enough when he said he and his friends had taken a walk in the evening and returned to Sam's house to watch some movies. He specifically avoided mentioning the park. There was no telling what the officers would think if they learned he might have been around when it got torn up. He was actually kind of surprised no one in the precinct had mentioned it.

A few times during his interview, he had nervously flattened his bangs a few times, hoping to hide the cut he had suddenly remembered getting at the beginning of his terrifying adventure. The officer interviewing him had noticed the motion, which caused him to leave it alone the rest of the time he was in the room. Surprisingly, Danny wasn't asked about it. A little wary after he was finished and allowed to exit the room, he touched the spot only to find smooth skin. It took a lot of self-control to not dash to a reflective surface and examine his forehead. There was no use in making the officers more suspicious. As weird as a missing cut was he could wait until he got home to check.

Scratch that… he could check after he found a place to stay for a while. As he was about to exit the station, an older officer kindly reminded him of the fact his house was currently considered a crime scene. After apologizing for a lack of effort from the staff for trying to contact his family and promising to personally look into it in the morning, he directed Danny to a nearby phone situated at the front desk.

Danny was a little surprised at the kind attitude of the officer as he had been dealing with a special type of dick for the past several hours, but it was a nice change. Shaking his head a little, he moved to the phone to call Sam, praying she was still awake as it was approaching midnight. Both of his friends told him they wanted an update, but with it being late and he being emotionally, physically, and mentally drained, the only topic he wanted to discuss involved where he would be staying for the night.

As he was dialing her number, the door to the station opened and a tall man strolled in. The newcomer was tall and rather thin. He wore a clean black business suit which appeared to be expertly cared for and rather expensive. Gray hair had been slicked back into a neat ponytail, and calculating cold blue eyes surveyed his surroundings. Danny dropped the phone in surprise as he realized the man in front of him was the one and only Vlad Masters.

The sound from the phone brought him to Masters' attention, causing the man to adopt an unsettling grin. "Why here you are! I've been looking all over for you!" The tone of his voice and his expression adopted a semblance of concern, but it did not reach his eyes. "I was so worried after I found out what happened to Winston. My condolences, but I'm glad you're safe and sound."

"Don't talk about Winston like he's dead!" Danny snapped. "Look, can you just go away? If you haven't realized, it's been a pretty bad day for me, and I don't feel like talking to you right now."

"Of course. How inconsiderate of me. After everything you've been through today, you must be exhausted. Come, I'll make sure you're well taken care of."

It took Danny a moment to grasp the implications of Vlad's statement. "Wait… what? There's no way I'm going with you!"

"Poor boy, you must be more tired than you realize." The businessman pinched the bridge of his nose as he let out a dramatic sigh. "Don't you remember? It was determined that you would be placed into my care if anything were to happen to Winston."

"That's news to me!"

"Excuse me, but what exactly is going on here?" The sound of the officer's voice made him jump. He had forgotten there was another soul in the room. However, he couldn't be more relieved. Being in the room alone with the businessman was an unnerving thought. It was even more relieving when he realized the officer seemed to be equally suspicious.

In a truly professional manner, Vlad introduced himself and explained his relationship to Danny as well as his involvement in the custody battle. Again, he mentioned how he was now to act as a guardian in Winston's stead.

"I already told you, I'm not going anywhere with you!" Danny growled as he glared at the man. Something was very wrong with the picture. Winston didn't trust Vlad, and there was no way he would let him fall into the billionaire's hands.

"You have to forgive the boy. We had a little spat the last time we saw each other, and I'm afraid he hasn't forgiven me," Vlad apologetically explained to the officer.

"Spat? You broke into my house?"

Before Vlad could respond, the officer held up his hand to halt the brewing argument. "Mr. Masters, do you have some sort of proof you can take the boy?" Vlad's expression quickly changed from shocked to insulted as the officer spoke. "Surely a man of your standing can understand our position. With the way Mr. Wolfe was attacked, we cannot rule anyone out as a potential suspect. With you being involved in a custody battle and Danny's status as a minor, we are rather uncomfortable sending him on his way like this. I'm also fairly certain you weren't notified of the situation…" The officer's eyes narrowed as he appraised the man. "Which leads me to wonder how you found out."

"One of my staff members was going to drop off some papers at the house when she saw the police cars and asked what happened" Vlad explained with an impatient air. "But that's not important right now…"

As he watched Vlad begin to argue with the officer, Danny couldn't help but feel a rush of gratitude. For whatever reason, the officer did not seem to believe Vlad's story and generally seemed concerned for his wellbeing.

Everything seemed to be going in his favor when Danny was nearly bowled over by a sudden blast of cold air rushed by him. Startled, he started looking around to find some possible source… and open window, a vent, something to explain it. While he tried to wrack his brains for some other answer when the normal explanations were ruled out, he noticed the officer stumble slightly. He didn't think anything of it until the man rubbed his forehead and excused himself for a moment.

Rather unsettled by the officer's display and being left alone with Vlad, Danny moved back to the phone to attempt to resume his call. Though he was able to reach Sam's house this time, a presumed butler answered and informed him that "Miss Samantha is asleep and no longer taking calls for the night." While Danny was pretty sure it was a lie, he went with it and asked the man to give a message to her when he could.

Displeased by the turn of events, he was about to try calling Tucker when the officer returned to the room. Something did not seem right as he looked at him. The man's posture seemed stiff, and his eyes were unfocused and reddish. Wait… Danny blinked and rubbed his eyes before checking again. The man's eyes were actually red! Weren't they brown before?

"Sorry for the inconvenience." The officer's voice had an unusual mechanical quality to it… almost as if the words he was saying weren't actually his. He held up a document of some sorts as he spoke again. "It seems like someone did verify this earlier, but just forgot to place it somewhere it could be found."

"Does this mean everything's in order?" Vlad asked with a voice filled with hardly concealed delight.

"Yes. You can take the boy. We'll be in touch within the next few days to let you know how Wolfe is doing."

"Splendid! Come on my boy, it's time to go!"

Danny backed away as Vlad beckoned to him, nearly tripping over the desk in the process. His mind was screaming all sorts of warnings at him. The entire situation felt wrong, but he had no idea how to escape it. Vlad was blocking his way to the front door, and he doubted the few officers left in the building would appreciate a desperate search for the rear exit.

"What did you do to him?" he demanded as his eyes darted between both men before he pointed at Vlad. He knew he probably wasn't going to get an answer, but he hoped he could stall the man long enough to come up with some sort of plan.

"Pardon me? Whatever do you mean?"

"Y-you know what I mean!" While he tried to keep the anger in his voice, it was quickly giving way to panic. Vlad kept moving towards him wearing an increasingly predatory expression which was really creeping him out. Strangely, the thought of accidently falling through the wall crossed his mind. Unsettling as it was, it was a far better situation than the one he was currently in. "The officer's not acting right!"

Vlad replied, but his words were drowned out as a strange coldness started to seep into his body, quickly filling every aspect. He tried to escape, thinking it was somehow tied to where he was standing, but his legs wouldn't respond. They felt heavy and strangely detached; his arms were beginning to feel the same way. He tried to yell out without any success. He soon realized his mind was being pushed further away from the sensations of his body and into something like a dark crevasse to be stored and forgotten.

But the coldness was not finished. It briefly brushed against his mind and seemed to whisper in an almost familiar voice, "Relax… It'll be safer for you and me if you do…"

Danny's last conscious thought before the darkness completely took him was to wonder if he was ever going to wake up.

….

When he came to, Danny found himself lying on his back and staring at an unfamiliar white ceiling. His mind felt groggy and his body heavy. Though he wasn't sure, he felt as if he had been asleep for quite some time. Sitting up, he tried to remember how he got where he was… only, he didn't know where that might be.

Looking around, he realized something wasn't right. The room he was in was rather large. It was a bedroom, not much different from Sam's, only it didn't have any posters or the same dark decorations. In fact, the room was mostly white save for some wooden furniture. Even the four-poster bed he was sitting on had a white comforter and curtains. The only real decoration in the room was a painting on the wall directly across from him which seemed to show military conquest with… a paranormal influence. It was rather grotesques.

The blank room gave him an uneasy feeling. Although it definitely wasn't, it gave him the feeling he was in a jail of sorts. Unnerved, he slowly got up and moved to the room's single window. After moving the curtains aside, he cursed as he realized the glass was heavily frosted, preventing him from seeing any scenery. His next move was to try the door, but it was locked.

After a panicked few minutes trying everything he could think of to attempt to open the door, he placed his back against the door and slid down it. What was he going to do? The better question was what was going to happen to him? With the room being blank, it gave him no indication of what he should expect. He should, he supposed, be thankful for it, but the wait might be too much for him to handle. What was the old adage? The suspense is worse than the actual event? He really hoped that wouldn't be the case.

xxxxxx

The sound of one of her parents calling for her to come into the downstairs wafted through the room, however, Sam was dead set on ignoring the summons. There were far more important things on her mind than dealing with whatever new 'daughter improvement project' they had come up with.

She was incredibly worried about her friend who neither she nor Tucker had heard from in a little over two days. At first she thought it might be due to being overwhelmed by suddenly finding out the man who raised him had been severely attacked and/or the police being jerks, but a call earlier in the day really concerned her.

She had been thinking about calling the police in the morning (while skipping class due to a feigned illness), however they beat her to the punch. Around eleven, she had received a call from one of the detectives asking her if she had heard from Danny. She told him no right before demanding to know what was wrong. Though it took a little bit of coaxing (and a reminder of her parents' influences), the officer admitted they had no idea where the boy was. He disappeared after his interview with another officer, and though they hated to admit it, after failing to contact him or anyone else who might have the boy, he was being labeled as a missing person. Her immediate response was to insult the competence of him and the rest of the force as the boy had gone missing from underneath their noses, but after she calmed down a bit, she promised to help in whatever way she could.

Sam sat down on her large purple clad bed and stared up at one of the posters on the ceiling as she tried to understand the situation. Her friend, who seemed to attract terrible and odd events, was now missing. Danny had tried to contact her the night he disappeared, but her family had forbidden her from further calls when she had returned home that night after they learned about the attack on Winston. Somehow, they had gotten the notion whatever had harmed Winston could attack her if she continued to talk to Danny. Though it was kind of nice to know they cared, they had taken it way overbroad.

But what was strange about the situation was there was no security image of Danny leaving the precinct. The officer had explained to her they had installed cameras a while back after someone had tried to break in to the office in an attempt to steal their guns. Due to safely concerns, they regularly had them checked, but the night Danny disappeared, they had a major malfunction. There was an image of him entering the entrance area, but after a few minutes, the image distorted so badly they could not make heads or tails of it. It also seemed to return to normal rather suddenly after a while, but Danny was long gone by then.

A look at the clock told her she was going to have to wait a while before she could contact Tucker. Unlike her, he had been forced to go to school. She had no idea if he already knew Danny was missing, but no matter what, he was going to help her try to find him. Tucker was the probably the only person in town who could possibly get an image off of the damaged security tape, and the only other person (besides her) who Danny had trusted with his issues. They had to try and do what they could to help him.

…

"So, any luck?" Sam asked the boy currently sitting on her rug surrounded by any number of other electronic equipment. He had been staring at the screen of his PDA with an intense look for quite some time.

She had managed to contact Tucker mere moments after he was finished with his classes for the day and explained the situation. After freaking out a bit, he told her he would be over soon after he made a quick stop. He arrived about forty minutes later looking more determined than he had ever seen him while carrying a bookbag filled to the brim with tech supplies she had never seen before. After asking if he needed anything, Tucker quickly went to work with his task.

"…Whoever did this to this footage is really good…" he eventually replied after a few more minutes of silence.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked hesitantly. It was rare to hear such a tone in Tucker's voice when it came to technology. He could usually work his way around a system in a few seconds, minutes if it was more complicated, but this was really causing him problems.

"It's hard to explain… Usually, people just modify existing images when they don't something seen, but this guy actually managed to replace some of the footage with an error screen…"

"So… it's gone… Like completely, gone? You can't trace it or anything?" There was no way for her to hide the hint of panic in her voice. If Tucker couldn't bring up anything, no one could… which meant they weren't going to have anything to use to find Danny.

A small laugh escaped Tucker, which caused her to stare at the boy. "Jeez, Sam, you shouldn't think so little of me. Who do you think I am? This guy, though good, made a small mistake. I guess he got interrupted or something because he started just covering up the image after a while instead of changing it. To most people, it's nearly impossible to catch, but it's there. Just give me a little bit of time…."

"A little bit of time?" Sam repeated as she watched him frantically work with his PDA. "How long are we talking about?"

He hit a few more buttons on the screen before he looked up and smiled. "Does 'now' work for you?"

"Tucker, you're amazing!"

"I know, I know. But it's nice to have my fans remind me."

Sam pulled down his hat in response as she sat next to him on the floor. "Anyways, do you have the entire footage?"

"I couldn't get part of it due to the replacement… but it looks like a little less than half was just modified…. So, let's see what no one wanted us to find…." He pressed a button on the screen and a fuzzy image began to appear. On the footage, they could see Danny backing away from someone standing near the door. It was difficult to make out, but judging from Danny's posture, he did not seem to be happy to see the person. After a little bit, Danny stopped retreating and followed the unknown man out the door.

Without any prodding, Tucker tried to see if he could clear the image a little or at least clear up the image of the suspect. After frantically trying several different techniques, he sighed and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. According to him, even though the person had changed methods, they were still able to damage the rest of the footage.

"I'll continue to work with it when I get home," he promised. "This is going to require some big guns for me to get something useful out of this. But don't worry; I'm not going to give up. After he saved our lives, I think this is the least I can do for him."

…..

Tucker had been booted from the house as soon as Sam's parents caught him being there. Thinking back, she was a little surprised he had managed to sneak past them in the first place since they were particularly good at catching people going up to her room. They had punished her in response by having her stay in her room for the rest of the night, which didn't bother her in the least bit.

Around seven in the evening she received a call on her cell. Noticing the number, she picked it up as quickly as possible, hoping her parents didn't hear it ringing. "Did you find anything?" she asked the caller as a form of greeting. The caller's reply was spoken too quickly and frantically for her to understand. "Whoa, slow down Tucker! I can't understand you!"

"Sam… it's worse than we thought!" came his panicked reply. "I managed to identify who was in the police station with Danny."

"Yeah? Well, who was it?"

"It was… Vlad Masters…."

Sam barely registered the phone slipping from her fingers and landing on the floor. How could she be so stupid? She knew that man had an interest in getting hold of Danny and should be the first logical suspect, but she didn't realize he would have stooped so low.

Angry with herself, she reached down to grab her phone so she could calm a frantic Tucker but stopped midway as a thought crossed her mind. How were they going to be able to get Danny back from a man who had mastered in lies with an unimaginable fortune to back him up?

=============================================================

I just wanted to point out that the way these officers are depicted is due to experience. The ones in the borough where I grew up were usually nice, but if they had it in their minds you did something wrong, you could be treated like trash. But at the same time, they're the reason why my childhood bully wasn't excepted into the NFL - they slapped him with assault charges when he decided to get into a fight while he was in college. I have mixed feelings. The officers from the neighboring borough were wonderful.

[theclownandtheflame]

AIGHT FELLAS it's me ya slut writing a Gaius x MC fic so if you don't like Gaius or feel grossed out by the idea of a ship then DON'T READ IT haaaa no seriously don't read it. Also don't shame those who like it. PEACE! 🧚🏻‍♀️

Btw I didn't quite finish it bc idk my imagination gets dry sometimes and stuff. BUT if any of you want me to keep writing, then ask so and I'll do it! I'll do it either way but oh well ksksksks here we go!

Victim, Victim, Monster

A Gaius Augustine x MC drabble/fic

Written by @theclownandtheflame

DISCLAIMER: Some NSFW, slight mentions of PTSD (not romanticized tho!! ew!!)

Characters used &/or mentioned belong to Pixelberry!!! All rights to them even if they take ours on a daily basis

My mother language is Portuguese so please excuse my grammar should it be necessary!

MC's name is Athena because,, :)

Final warning for Gaius' haters: don't. read. below. the line !!!!!!!!

_________________________________________

"Athena, I did terrible things to you. I abducted you. I raided your mind. I tortured your friends. I killed you."

Funny how stating the obvious got him stuck in her mind the whole night. Fragile, the bloodkeeper clutched her pillow and busied herself with happier thoughts. As if there were any at times like these.

They had just escaped the island when its effects fully wore out. She couldn't blame "grandpa" for her restlessness, as much as she wanted to. So much to consider after trekking across the ugly truth and all she could think about was Gaius. Gaius Augustine.

She heaved a dramatic sigh before changing positions. Now, laying on her back, Athena realized this was probably the best night of sleep she's had in a while. Even if there was, like, absolutely no sleeping involved.

What kept her up wasn't the nightmares this time. Something about their talk, as eerie as it went, helped her conceal the fact his face would haunt her forever. Because, oh, it would.

"You can't sleep, can you?"

The agony, crawling under her skin, hit so deep she could hear his voice at any given time. Chewing on the inside of her cheek, she stared at the ceiling, counting sheeps for a change. No nightmares, no daydreams, but absolutely not a hint of tranquility.

"... Athena."

She huffed. If she knew coming to good terms with the enemy would bring him inside her head, she wouldn't have taken the high road. Her lips still tingled from the kiss she pressed to his cheek. The electric warmth shared upon breaking a boundary she would've never have crossed days prior.

If only her friends could see her now. Touching her lips with her fingertips. Thinking fondly of a monster they swore to kill.

"Are you asleep? Do you actually sleep with your eyes open? You are one strange woman."

"Leave, demon!" She hissed, forcing herself up to sit by the edge of the bed. Both hands rubbed at her temples as she whispered words of discouragement, praying to have her brain raided by better thoughts. A psych vampire who can't watch after her own mind was most likely a joke.

Until she glanced towards the door, slowly, blushing deeply at the owner of her inner voices who simply stared back in awe. So it wasn't her imagination playing tricks, huh?

He blinked. Fast.

"... Did you think I—"

"Shut up." She lisped. Her hands continued to cradle her head even as he walked in, eyebrows arched.

"I was hoping you'd be less fussy after our conversation."

Without expecting an invitation, he crossed the distance between them and leaned into the wall across from her.

Surprisingly she didn't budge. Not until her body flinched at the cold breeze that entered freely from the gap he left by keeping the door open.

"Yeah, so was I." The woman closed her eyes and took a deep breath to keep herself from shaking.

Once aware of the situation, Gaius snatched her pillow and tossed it on the door. It slammed closed from the impact, but it wasn't loud enough to startle the others.

"Hey!" She gasped, watching the scene with eyes wide. "Couldn't you just go and close it manually? Like, running for it? You're a powerful vampire, dude."

Entertained by her fright, he smirked.

"I'm also way too comfortable standing right here... dude."

Gaius Augustine was a monster. Is a monster. She couldn't really tell. Decades of cruelty couldn't be wiped out so easily, as Kamilah strongly suggested whenever she mentioned his name. Yet, the way he looked at her with a mixture of sorrow and regret proved it true: Rheya broke him whole.

He stood still, stiffening once their eyes met, and suddenly all she could see was a wounded hound looking for shelter.

"Why are you here?" She asked at last. A simple question that sent him looking for scrappers of answers he couldn't quite provide.

Why was he there, really? Because she's the only one who didn't give him a hard time? Because she knew how his mind worked, and therefore they had a reliable bond?

Because she's the only good thing left of the Rheya he once loved?

He needn't consider any further. That last possibility drained all colors from his face. Staring blankly ahead, his mouth slightly ajar, Gaius ignored her altogether and hurried towards the door.

"Wait!" She called out. Without further ado, Athena leaped to her feet and approached the man to lay a hand on his as it reached for the knob.

The look he gave her was a haunting one. Desperate. He couldn't bear looking at her face without feeling himself break further.

Oh, how the tables have turned.

He was terrified of her.

"I must leave." He blurted out, but his body remained unmoving. The gentle touch he felt on his hand moved on to his cheek, and suddenly he found himself leaning into it.

What the hell, Athena? What are you doing?, She thought. He abducted you, raided your mind, tortured your friends, killed you!

Their eyes met once more, and this time they didn't go astray. They glared at each other's hues while their heads swirmed with questions of where they stood and what they meant.

Victim, victim, monster.

Both experiencing a strong attraction that most likely came to life due to their shared fear:

To lose a purpose without making it right.

Pulling away out of a sudden, Athena turned on her heels and walked in front of a mirror. He followed short after, magnetized, his hands yearning to grasp her hips but resting on his belt instead. His towering figure could be easily seen behind her as a smile crept on her rosy lips.

"What?" He frowned. "What's so amusing to you that clearly isn't to me?"

Biting on her bottom lip, she gestured towards their reflections, believing it would be enough. By the way his lips puckered, it wasn't.

"We're vampires. Yet we can see ourselves on the mirror. Hollywood's fishy, isn't it?"

Sighing sharply not to roll his eyes at her foolishness, he leaned into her to touch the mirror's surface. The way his chest pressed into her back so that his palm could reach the glass made her heartbeats quicken.

The funny look he gave her through a squint was enough to say he heard them loud and clear. And enjoyed being the cause of it.

"You don't believe Vlad's tales, do you? It's outrageous. The man is a buffoon." He quirked an eyebrow. Looking at the mirror at the same time, the two shot each other challenging glares until she burst into laughter.

"Nah. He's not that great, by the way. I don't see the appeal... and I've certainly had better."

Wiggling her eyebrows, Athena fist-bumped the air upon spotting a crimson shade spread on his cheeks. He'd have pulled away to adjust his posture if she hadn't laid her hand upon his.

Her fingers grazed his until curling around them, her touch so gentle he could barely feel it. He closed his eyes when she laid her head back on his shoulder, and his arm slowly slithered around her waist in return.

Humming to herself, Athena shrunk into his arms and cherished the warmth of his hold. Then, the touch of his lips on her ear, of his breath tickling her skin.

"I do see the appeal in this." He growled, softly, making her body shiver from goosebumps. "Of holding you close to me instead of hunting you down. Of saving you instead of dragging you to harm's way."

The hand he had holding on her waist moved up to her breasts, hovering over her cleavage as he reached for a necklace as an excuse to his gestures. Her heart was entirely out of control at this point, beating faster by the minute – but she didn't care. She wanted him to be aware of his effects. Tilting her head, she brushed her lips across his jawline and smirked at the hiss she got in response.

"Well, there is a saying for that, y'know? Make love, not war."

Having distracted him with an array of kisses on his jaw, she reached back around her neck to unclip the necklace and toss it away. He needn't an excuse. Not anymore.

"So which one's gonna be? I'm warning you though, I'm great at waging war."

"You are infuriating." Without further notice, his hands clutched her hips to flip her around.

Once she could face him properly, Athena inched forth to try his lips for the first time, but he made sure to keep her at arm's length. His eyes, dark with lust, studied her frame before locking on her features. It's like he was seeing her for the first time, savoring the sight of something he craved despite unaware.

He took it in without a wish to kill but to touch, appraise, caress. Taste.

"Kiss me." She ordered, her voice but a whisper as his thumbs drew circles around her hips.

"No, Bloodkeeper..." He hummed, his nose brushing hers as he fought the urge to give it in. "I'm not so sure I am worthy of your lips."

Dodging temptation, he pressed a kiss to her cheek instead. A warm reminder that there's still good in this world as much as there could be in him.

"Goodnight, Athena."

She shook her head. He couldn't leave now, not when she found a way around the sharp edges of his heart. However, he was too determined to cut it short before it was too late. Even if something told him they were way past that.

Averting his gaze not to meet her hungry eyes, he planted one last kiss on her forehead and left with haste.

"Great..." She mumbled, more restless than ever. "Now I definitely can't sleep."

-//-

[ppatpranss]

GAYA SA PELIKULA EP 01 Review.

Is it even possible to already love a show so much before it even aired? It’s like craving for a food or yearning for a product you’ve never tried before. But you strangely feel so strongly for it, which is exactly what Gaya Sa Pelikula did to me.

As a fan of Juan Miguel Severo since his On the Wings of Love stint and having watched and loved his film Hintayan ng Langit, I have such high respect for him as a writer and artist. So when he started pitching the idea of a boy’s love (BL) series in the Philippines, I was already drawn to it even if I have a specific reservation for the genre and its economics (a conversation for another day). I pretty much lowkey followed the show’s development from its first pitch, the screenplays released on Wattpad, Direk JP Habac being announced as the director, Ian and Paolo being introduced as the leads, the processes in between, and everything all the way to its trailer.

The thing is, it’s so weird feeling involved in a project that’s not really yours or was not a part of. But Gaya and all the love surrounding it took me by storm. I was really nervous last Friday while waiting for its pilot, already bracing myself for a possible disappointment (you see, I’m quite the pessimist) just in case. But you know what? You shouldn’t doubt anything that is made with so much love. Gaya Sa Pelikula is exactly that and its pilot episode is brimming with it.

[WATCH EPISODE 01 HERE]

SCENE BY SCENE – EPISODE 01.

1 – The dance.

The show opens with a narration, “do you ever feel like you’re not the protagonist of your own story?” We see a gazebo lit up and two men slow-dancing, but we only see Karl’s (Paolo Pangilinan) face as he continues to talk about how it often feels like he’s a Janus character – that even if Joross or Ketchup plays the part, it doesn’t really make a difference. The script is written so there’s nothing you can do about it. As they continue to dance, Karl asks him if he feels the same way. To which, he said yes. In agreement, Karl said that he’d like to someday write or have a story he can call his own. The man then replied that he, too, would like to have his own story, specifically adding, “but I want to be in charge of the ending, too.”

Even if we don’t see Vlad’s (Ian Pangilinan) face, we all know it’s him that Karl is dancing with in this sequence. I found this opening scene very intriguing partly because it looked like a dream, and mostly because the conversation voiceover feels like it did not exactly happen on this specific scene. Having read the available screenplay on Wattpad, my instant assumption is to think of it as having a connection with Vlad’s old flame, Aldous, but it feels like a stretch for now because the trailer at least did not show him as having this much influence in their story. Besides, the Wattpad screenplays are a fictionalization of the accounts of what happened to Karl and Vlad over the sem break as told by an unreliable narrator in Karl. Hence, the Aldous factor isn’t exactly feasible for now.

So for now, I’m only going to take it as it is. I loved watching all of the emotions playing on Karl’s face especially in his eyes. His eyes were totally focused on Vlad, and in that moment you can see him slowly realizing that the person he’s been looking for is right in front of him. It is a gaze of someone who loves and a gaze given only to a beloved. The feeling consumes you so much that all you’re really left with is courage. Now that it fills up your chest, what are you going to do with it to take charge of your own story?

2 – tyl and attractions.

Karl and Vlad’s first interaction is through a loud music that prevents him from concentrating on a job that he’s been working on. It’s such a nuisance that he can’t help but go out of his unit to ask Vlad to turn down the music. Unexpectedly so, the door was open, and he saw him drunkenly dancing to tyl (by kakie). Instead of ‘seen,’ I feel like the right word to describe it was Karl being transfixed by this person so enveloped by his own world. He’s not really sure what is up with him, but he cannot help but look because he was intrigued by him. Of course, Vlad is not very welcoming and even slammed the door on his face. He didn’t turn the music down anyway and Karl ended up dancing to it in his own unit.

For a show that pays homage to a lot of Filipino rom-com, I was actually surprised that this initial attraction feels lowkey and understated, and I loved it that way. I guess we’re all in agreement when I say that a lot of our romance films have these grand moment that instantly stirs a park between a would-be pair. With Karl and Vlad, it was about the gazes. Even the eye contact on the scene the following day for their second encounter involved eye-to-eye. Makes you think a lot about how love is really about seeing.

As for the song choice, I have always liked kakie’s tyl before this series, but this specific scene amplified my affection for it. It was mentioned by Gege though, in their interview with the reactors, that Vlad was specifically listening to the song as it relates to Aldous. It makes sense now. At this point, I’m starting to feel the impending doom of whatever the character will bring, but here’s to hoping he doesn’t take too much space in Karl and Vlad’s story.

3 – Karl and his parents

On a morning call with this parents, it’s evident that Karl comes from a loving family. Both of his parents are affectionate, openly telling him that they miss him. They also express that they’re proud of him for immediately earning money from his online writing gig. It’s obvious that they mean well for him and that they are doing this family tradition to help him be more independent and get to know himself. I suppose it’s worth noting that his dad had a bit of a swipe about his Tito Santi. He starts hinting that he spent more time meeting with men than looking for a job, but his mother cut him off. That is a good way to establish what can be a problem later on when Karl slowly starts to come to terms with his sexuality.

On one hand, I find hope in the fact that they seem to be loving and accepting people. Maybe there is hope that they will wholeheartedly accept Karl as he is, or at least, his mother will. Although I can’t help but feel how conflicted things will be once this comes together with his desire to shift to Film from Architecture.

4 – Cosmic connections

Above shot is my favourite from the pilot. I find that it tells us a lot about what is yet to come for Karl’s story. In the frame, Karl and Vlad are separated by a line (this was also discussed during the Direk Takes last Saturday). Karl is perched at a sofa reflected by a mirror and we see him stressed out and preoccupied by a problem he encountered because of his online job. On Vlad’s side of the frame, he is standing next to the three standout materials that best represents Karl: his film slate keychain, his architecture materials, and a poster of CINEMA PARADISO. Upon noticing, Vlad asks, “you like movies?”

That gets me. I love that the first thing that Vlad noticed about Karl is his interest in film, and this is something that connects them, albeit not yet known to Karl. Vlad is a film major (an info that is yet to be disclosed in the show, which I only know because of the screenplays). So going back to the frame, there is just so much weight on the film side now that Vlad is also in the picture, and obviously the scale is about to get tipped onto it.

5 – Ate Judit (no H) and the economics of a fake relationship

As Karl tries to check Vlad’s pants for the possibility that he might have taken something from his apartment, Vlad’s sister walked in on them in a compromising situation that obviously leads to a misinterpretation.

First off, Ate Judit’s moments were really hilarious. We seriously have a lot to thank for Adrienne Vergara for making sure that her character is a mouthpiece for progressive allyship and perspective, while making sure to bring in comic relief so as not to make the show too heavy or preach-y.

A lot of things happened in the last gap of this episode.

Judit at the very least knows about Vlad. She seems to be a cool sister, but an overbearing one too. While there’s good intention on her part to express her support for this brother’s sexuality and the fact that she ‘caught’ him the act with Karl, she couldn’t leave him alone for privacy matters. Although from an elder sister standpoint, I also understand the situation especially considering that there seems to be a conflict within the family. If it’s safe to assume that Vlad’s mom cannot accept him, Judit as the elder sister tries to compensate for it. I like this dynamic and I am really interested on how this can be developed.

On the other hand, Karl is stuck to witness all of these. Suddenly, he is being completely pulled into the world of his neighbor. Last night, it was just the music and the instant attraction. But today, he was there beside him, already being oriented into his family and life issues and all the mystery surrounding Vlad. All of the build-up to the last scene was extremely amusing. Suddenly there is chaos when Vlad and Ate Judit were fighting over a phone and Karl runs to the side clinging onto his laptop for dear life. Then Vlad was walking towards him and grabbing his waste, telling his sister he’s in love with him, and calling him pancake. Vlad whispered the magic words, ‘I’ll pay for your rent this month’ and it’s enough for Karl to turn things around and tells Ate Judit, “yes, ate, we’re in love with each other.”

In true rom-com fashion, things are set. A fake relationship has been established, but I love that it is not for a petty reason as making someone else jealous or anything (though that would be fun, too). In this instance, economics is involved because the motivation for Karl’s choice is money. He needed the money not only to pay for rent, but also to prove to his parents that he is indeed capable. I think it speaks so much about the things we do not really want but had to swallow to compromise. In real life, you sometimes trade so much of your beliefs and dignity to secure a job or to earn money for your family. For the LGBTQIA+ community, as a minority group, this means needing to accept what is set aside for them—of being grateful for something small even when they deserved more, because the next job might not come if one resists.

So, it feels like such a proud moment seeing the closing remark at the end, we will take back our story. As you should.

6 – Epilogue

As Unti-Unti by UDD plays, we see Karl and Vlad in the living room. Karl is seated on the couch, while Vlad is standing a few feat away while drinking (what I assume to be) coffee. Both of them are laughing at whatever they’re watching, but then you also see them fidgeting, especially Karl. It’s obvious that they are aware of each other’s presence. At one point, Karl straightens up and glances down a little at his hands. Vlad does the same. Mirroring :)

Comments; What do I look forward to?

This specific gif is not from episode 1. It is lifted from the trailer.

This is really one of the best pilots I’ve seen in Philippine TV. It is fast paced, but also knows when to take a breath and let the elements settle in. It lays the groundwork in 20 minutes so smoothly – something that would take some shows halfway the series, or several weeks of episodes for teleseryes. All of the elements just comes together. The editing is on-point, with really good transitions and just the right amount of filler ease the viewer into the more emotionally stirring scenes. The music is not intrusive at all, finding just the right spots to highlight certain scenes. The scoring during Vlad and Karl’s kapkapan scene was made extra enjoyable because of that sort-of funky tune. Even the opening theme is so good, I sometimes find myself humming it in my head. Plus, that apartment and the overall set design is gorgeous. They’re mostly earthly tones, dominated by yellow and brown (at least in this episode) that just makes everything feel warm.

I know that this will sound biased, but I did like both of Paolo and Ian’s performances. I came into the show, of course, with a knowledge of their past acting experiences so the scale to which I measure their performances are relevant to that. I appreciate Ian’s overall veracity to make Vlad come alive. Even with a limited screentime on the first episode, he’s already coming on strong and Ian made sure that his presence is felt. Paolo did a good job as a newbie actor. I think it helps that his character is quite awkward and kind of innocent, so everything just works. I especially liked the shine in his eyes that just shows the innocence of Karl. And while I find that there’s still a lot he can improve on, especially in terms of line delivery and nuances, I think that he can eventually learn this through workshops for the next season. What’s important is he can hold his own ground.

The pilot episode really reminds me a lot of how fast rom-coms establish their stories at the first part of a movie. Several characters pop up to help the two leads build tension. Certain circumstances come up to somehow push them towards each other, often a sticky situation that they can’t easily escape from so then they would need each other. While most viewers will find these cliché and typical, that is exactly the intention. It just so happened that this time, two guys are at the center of it instead of the hetero-normative conventions of a male and female lead.

All things considered, as a rom-com, I am excited to discover if I would really end up shipping Karl and Vlad. I know for a fact that Ian and Paolo have intense chemistry. This is evident in the trailer, and even in real life, they just have such a good connection together. After watching a lot of their interviews since the pilot, one thing that really struck me is when they started talking about whether they ship the characters in the show. Thankfully, both of them said that they do so I remain optimistic for that.

The reason that I find this interesting is because I am reminded again that as much as this show is a passion project and an advocacy, it is also a story about two people falling in love. I would very much love to swoon over an on-screen couple any time, but it matters to me more to see how they arrived at the realization. I want to see what made Karl and Vlad interested in each other romantically over the course of the sem break. I expect the show to really explore this organically and lead us to see what makes them work as a couple – a couple that we can all root for. There is an obvious hint of coming-of-age for both of them, so I am interested in how they affect each other’s personal growth and how they also work on themselves individually. I expect nothing less from Severo in this regard and given that both Paolo and Ian ships Karl and Vlad, I guess it’s safe to say that I can, too, for now.

--

Gaya Sa Pelikula airs new episodes every Friday 8PM (Manila time) on Globe Studio’s Youtube channel.

[ethereal-mists]

Of Fame and Misery Chapter 6

Chapter preview of my Castlevania bodyguard AU

Trevor is a fighter in an underground ring. Adrian is an actor and model for his father's esteemed agency. It seems unlikely that their paths would ever cross, until Adrian starts receiving death threats with no idea who's sending them, or why. 

With his son's life at risk, Vlad Tepes hires him a bodyguard. Though they don't quite get along, Trevor and Adrian are stuck with each other now, and with the help of Adrian's co-star Sypha, they will find a way to keep him safe.

(If you haven't read it and want to check it out, here’s a link to the first chapter https://archiveofourown.org/works/22836679/chapters/54579301 )

Its been a while since I posted a new chapter, so I figured I might as well post the first half of chapter 6. The other half is still being edited, but it should be good to go soon

“Is this your first time on a bus?” Trevor asks. 

The Eighteen isn’t as crowded as he suspected it might be. There’s an elderly couple struggling to keep their grandkids seated, and everyone else for the most part is too busy looking at their phones or reading the newspaper to even notice their existence. It’s a huge relief. The whole time they waited for the bus, Trevor had been struggling to come up with a plan in case the bus was full of rabid fans ready to dig into Adrian. If that happened, then what? Carmilla’s guide had plenty of tips for getting Adrian out of buildings, but it didn’t say anything about public transport. 

But thankfully that wasn’t an issue. Still, Trevor insisted they sit at the back and made Adrian take the window seat. At least this way if some crazy fan did try to get at him, he could be a physical barrier between them.

It’s hot. Even with the windows partially open the entire bus reeks of sweat, and Trevor is painfully aware of how Adrian leans away from him. 

He tries to subtly smell himself and curses himself for not taking a shower earlier.

Despite the smell, and the heat, and the fact that this was a public bus instead of a luxurious private car, Adrian hadn’t complained once. It surprised him. He had expected Adrian to make a fuss about it, but the starlet looks surprisingly comfortable squished between Trevor and the window. Hell, he even looks happy.

Adrian seems almost amused by Trevor’s question. “No. Believe it or not, I used to take the bus all the time with my mother.”

“Huh. Big Hollywood superstar likes taking public transport. Never would have guessed.”

That earned him a scowl.

“I’m a human being like anyone else, you know,” Adrian says, “If you keep expecting me to act like some jaded snob you’re going to be disappointed.”

Trevor tries -and fails - to hide his disbelief in that statement.

Adrian sighs and folds his arms over his chest. “You’re no different from the rest of the public. Judging me without ever really knowing me.”

“Now who’s judging who?” Trevor raises a brow, “You do realize the first time we met you threw a tantrum because your daddy hired me to protect you. If you don’t like how I see you, you only have yourself to blame.”

“Yes,” Adrian says after a long pause, taking Trevor by surprise, “I suppose you’re right.”

They fall into an awkward silence, neither of them knowing what to say now. 

The bus rumbles on and even though Adrian is looking out the window, Trevor can’t help but think that he’s not actually seeing what’s there. His brow is creased as if lost in thought, and just as Trevor pulls his gaze away he speaks up.

“She used to take me all over the city when she wasn’t busy working,” he says, a fond smile brightening his features. “We used to go see museums and play on the beach on Sundays. She wanted me to have a normal life,” he pauses and turns to meet Trevor’s gaze, “It’s been a while since I’ve been on a bus. It’s nice, in a way. Especially when it's not too busy.”

Trevor can’t help but ask, despite his inner voice telling him he shouldn’t give a shit and should just leave well enough alone, “Why don’t you take it anymore? Worried you’ll attract too much attention?”

“Well, yes. That’s one reason,” he responds, smile gone.

There's silence, and Trevor supposes he’s meant to say something, and scratches idly at his jaw, “You have other reasons?”

Adrian turns his face to the window, but Trevor can see the pain in his eyes through his reflection. “She died,” he says simply.

The sun catches Adrian’s honey-brown eyes, and for a moment they reflect gold. It would have struck Trevor as beautiful if not for the awkwardness of the situation. Instead, his mind is reeling for something to say. He’s never been good at talking about feelings, and this seemed to spring out of nowhere. 

“Was she an actor, too?” he finally responds, for lack of anything better to say.

 “She was a doctor,” Adrian says, pride in his voice despite his sorrowful expression.

“I’m… sorry?” he responds, stupidly. Fucking hell, he’s way out of his depth here.

To his surprise, Adrian laughs. 

“What? What's wrong with you?” He couldn’t keep up with Adrian’s sudden and unexpected whirlwind of emotions.

“I’m sorry, it’s just- When it happened, it was all over the news. I’m so used to people just… knowing,” Adrian wipes at his face and Trevor realizes there were tears behind his laughter, “I just assume everyone I meet knows everything about me,” he pauses, “You know, sometimes I feel like my mother’s death just makes me more interesting to the public’s eye. Like I’m a character in a book or movie with a tragic backstory that they can moon over.”

“Yeah it’s like some people get off on celebrity gossip or something,” Trevor leans back in his seat and crosses his arms behind his head. “I never understood why. Having money and fame doesn’t make people better than the rest of us.” 

“I agree.”

They exchange a thoughtful look and eventually Trevor says, “You’re not like I thought you’d be.”

“And you’re not what I expected from a bodyguard.”

“Is that a good thing?” Trevor asks.

“I haven’t decided yet,” Adrian responds.

They chuckle a little before a warm silence settles in. For a while Adrian watches the cars go by through the window, and Trevor stares at his hands as if they carry some unseen weight.

After a while he speaks up, compelled by something he can’t quite name, “I… know how it feels.”

“Hm?” Adrian turns around to face him again.

“To lose a mother,” Trevor reveals, hesitantly. 

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” He looks away.

“What happened to her?” Adrian gently asks.

”It’s complicated,” Trevor says quietly.

Adrian looks like he wants to say something, but whatever it was gets interrupted by a robotic voice announcing their stop. 

[astreetcarnamedwynn]

bnha rewatch: episodes 3 and 4

In which I analyze the first tentative steps Midoriya takes toward self-confidence, Iida’s and Uraraka’s initial contrasting characterizations, why Present Mic is the next big hero introduced after All Might, and the recklessly clever and somewhat shady UA exam. I’ve posted this on AO3 as well if that’s easier to read; the link to the account is at the top of my Tumblr. 

The first two episodes of My Hero Academia explore, in part, the negative consequences of doubt. No one believes in Midoriya’s ability to become a hero, not even his own mother, and in the first two episodes, he’s clinging to his dream by a small thread. He hasn’t given up on it, but he’s not actively fighting for it either.

Enter Toshinori.

All Might dismisses Midoriya like everyone else, stating bluntly that a person needs power, and thus a quirk, to become a hero. When Midoriya tries to save Bakugou against the sludge villain, he knocks Toshinori out of his All Might persona and reminds him of himself. Midoriya reminds Toshinori of who he used to be, and thus of what heroism used to be and should be. Toshinori tells Midoriya this and tells him that he believes that Midoriya can be a hero, that he already is a hero in the most important way.

We see the positive consequences of this belief in episodes three and four. Just one person believing in Midoriya (or perhaps the right person believing in Midoriya) motivates him to accomplish great things. In 10 months, he completely cleans the beach and transforms his body, which, despite the upbeat montage to the contrary, would not be easy. Every minute of his life for 10 months is planned out: what to do, what to eat, when to sleep. It’s hard. Midoriya struggles. He falls asleep in class and spaces out in a quintessential mumble fest. Yet he pushes himself beyond this. Now going above and beyond in his initial training is not good, and Toshinori calls Midoriya out on this when he realizes what is going on, but it’s serves as a dynamite example of the importance of belief. Again, just one person believing in and helping Midoriya motivates him above and beyond.

This, of course, contrasts Bakugou at the end of episode two, who furiously declares to Midoriya that he was fine by himself against the sludge villain and that he didn’t need any help. He did, and Midoriya did, too. It’s interesting that it’s Toshinori who is the first one to help Midoriya to become a hero when he’s partly responsible for the notion of heroes going it alone. He is THE symbol of peace. Singular. One. And yet the All in One for All seems more important in BNHA. Midoriya even comments at the end of episode four that his life changed completely because of the help that he received.

Yet he hasn’t changed completely. Midoriya still doubts himself in these episodes. He doesn’t think that he can clean the beach at first (in a nice allusion to The Empire Strikes Back and Luke Skywalker doubting that he can lift his X-Wing with the Force). And even after 10 months, even after all he’s accomplished, he still questions whether he’s worthy of receiving All Might’s help, much less his power. Additionally, when he runs into Bakugou at the UA entrance, he still cowers before Bakugou, “out of habit” despite the fact that he’s not “defenseless Izuku” anymore. And in the mock battle, Midoriya is too afraid to fight the first robot he encounters; he can’t even move he’s so afraid. He’s taken big first steps in believing in himself and his ability, but progress and healing are slow, especially for Midoriya who wants so desperately to be a hero, yet who lives in a society where the very notion of heroism has been twisted.

I don’t think it’s an accident that Present Mic is the second hero we’re introduced to in the show. No offense to Mt. Lady, Kamui Woods, and Death Arms in the first two episodes, but they’re on a different level than Mic and All Might and the other heroes associated with UA, if only narratively. So why is Mic the second hero introduced, why is he overseeing the hero exam and not Eraserhead or Vlad King, who become some of the first year homeroom teachers? It’s because Mic is ALL FLASH. It goes back to the sham and show aspect of heroism, how a hero’s career “depends on their ability to stay in the spotlight.” Or as All Might says in these episodes, heroes just focus on “capturing flashy villains and showing off these days.” Mic has the showing off aspect down to a T. He puts on the old RAZZLE-DAZZLE in front of the prospective students, so much so that some of them come to view the test as a video game. Being a hero is a game. It’s a show. It’s all fame and fortune.

And yet it isn’t. All Might tells this to Midoriya in his training. Midoriya has to clean the beach not just to improve himself physically, but to serve the community, without any gratitude or acknowledgement from the town. Service is what matters, helping others is what matters, and the UA exam assesses this.

I’ve always been struck by how UA kept the full parameters of the test hidden from the students. They know about combat points, but not about rescue points. Why keep this hidden? It seems like it’s to assess their character, to see if they really have a heroic spirit. Tell students that rescue points are a parameter, and most will act selflessly yet for a selfish reason: to succeed in the test, not to genuinely help others. So UA keeps this parameter hidden, and they place students in situations that assess how willing they are to aid others. Most aren’t, which we hear in the exam when the students start sniping at each other in their efforts to get more points. We see it too when the Zero Pointer is unleashed. Midoriya is on the ground, clearly afraid and in need of help, yet all the students, including Iida, run right past him. Additionally, Uraraka is in even more distress than he is, pinned beneath some rubble as the Zero Pointer approaches. And yet no one helps her. No one except Midoriya.

I love this moment, maybe even more than when Midoriya tries to save Bakugou from the sludge villain, because, before Midoriya hears Uraraka, he’s in full selfish mode. He’s only thinking of himself and getting points to pass the test. Then he hears Uraraka, and everything goes quiet. He stops thinking about what he needs, he stops thinking altogether, and he just acts. He runs, and in a mimic and expansion on what he did against the sludge villain, Midoriya slugs the Zero Pointer right in the eye.

Midoriya is not the only one with this heroic spirit. Uraraka has it, too. It’s her first defining characteristic. Before we know anything else about her, her name, her gender even, we know this character is someone who saves others. She saves Midoriya from falling on his face as they enter UA. It’s a small moment, but it’s in stark contrast to how everyone else treats Midoriya here. Bakugou is Bakugou. Iida chastises Midoriya twice, first for his mumbling during Mic’s explanation and then for wanting to speak to Uraraka before the exam, suspecting him of trying to sabotage her. All the other students, including Aoyama, smile at the thought of Midoriya being a weakling because it means one less person to fight against in the test. But not Uraraka. She saves Midoriya from falling on his face not once, but twice, saving his life the second time though she must sacrifice herself physically to do so (paralleling how Midoriya sacrificed himself to save her), and she demonstrates her selfless, heroic spirit a third time when she tries to get UA to donate her exam points to Midoriya. Ignorant of the true parameters of the exam, she calls UA out for failing to award Midoriya for saving her. That’s more important than destroying some random robots.

This attitude is in stark contrast to Iida. Iida’s introduction does not highlight his helpful, saving side. Rather, we see him chastise and call out people three times: Mic when he thinks UA has made an error in their robot explanation, Midoriya for mumbling during the explanation, and Midoriya again when he’s trying to thank Uraraka for helping him. Then we see Iida run right by Midoriya when the Zero Pointer comes. It’s only afterward, after Midoriya’s shocking display of heroism, that Iida reflects and reassesses both Midoriya and the exam. Iida directly contrasts his own selfish action of running by Midoriya to Midoriya’s selfless action of saving Uraraka, and he wonders if rescuing others is a hidden parameter of the test. In a move reminiscent of Bakugou at the end of episode two (when he tracks down Midoriya and doubles down on being fine on his own and not needing anyone’s help, when he denies the truth basically), Iida tries to deny that his actions here say anything meaningful about him. Rather, they were a reflection of the situation, not him. Iida thinks that, if this were real, he would have acted as Midoriya had. That’s not true, as seen in the Stain arc. Iida is an inversion of Midoriya in these episodes. He looks more like a hero than Midoriya does, he’s taller and stronger, and he has a serious, competent air, which contrasts Midoriya, who mumbles and trips and flails and generally fails to impress. At least until the moment of truth comes, and then the truth comes to light, and like Bakugou (though he denied it) and like Toshinori (who maturely admitted it), Iida is affected by Midoriya’s heroism and has started his path of growth.

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 217: The Same as Him

Previously on BnHA: Deku’s team beat Team MonoShin and secured the overall victory for class 1-A. Aizawa was all “hey Deku wtf was that shitshow out there” and Deku answered truthfully but vaguely and said he wasn’t sure. He credited Ochako and Shinsou with saving him, but then Shinsou got all down on himself and said that he only did it because Ochako asked him and because he knew his team would lose if he didn’t act. Aizawa was all “you bonehead, you’re being too hard on yourself” and said that no hero is born truly selfless and that that’s one of the qualities they train to learn. He and Vlad both agreed that Shinsou had more than earned a passing grade, and would most likely be joining the hero course in year 2. The chapter wrapped up with Monoma declaring that he would have won if he’d known ahead of time that Deku’s quirk would turn out to be a “dud.” This led Deku to ponder what exactly occurred when Monoma failed to use his quirk, and it also prompted Aizawa to ask Monoma to come see Eri, most likely to see if he can help her figure out how to control her quirk.

Today on BnHA: All Might, Deku, and Bakugou discuss Deku’s new OFA shenanigans in private. Bakugou points out that there must be some reason why this is happening now, and speculates on the possible connection to All for One. Later that evening, after unsuccessfully trying to draw the quirk out again, Deku heads back to the dorms ominously pondering the relationship between his power and AFO’s. Todoroki walks up to Deku and is all “dude does this make us two-quirks buddies now” and Deku awkwardly makes up some bullshit about it being an offshoot of his original quirk, which Todo buys into hook, line and sinker. The next day the faculty agrees to move Shinsou to the hero course, and Present Mic says the kid reminds him a lot of a young Aizawa. He also namedrops someone called “Shirakumo”, which immediately makes Aizawa go all stiff and hastily exit the conversation. Over at the teacher’s dorms, Monoma copies Eri’s quirk but proclaims it another “dud.” He explains that his power only copies the bare-bones of a quirk, and not any accumulated power stored within said quirk. Eri apologizes for having a “bad quirk” that’s so hard to deal with. Deku reassures her that powers aren’t good or bad and it all depends on how you use them. He realizes this applies to his own power as well, and resolves to master it no matter what.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my mostly-unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’m caught up with the manga now at chapter 225, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

oh my fucking lord

holy shit. it’s Todoroki not using his flames during the sports festival all over again. DAMN IT DEKU YOU’D BETTER FUCKING TAKE ME SERIOUSLY I’LL KILL YOU

that, or they’re both actually trying to see if they can draw the quirk out again. DEKU IS THIS A CONSENSUAL SPAR. OR DO YOU NEED ME TO COME OVER THERE AND GIVE THIS BOY A STERN TALKING-TO

they do seem to be in one of the gyms, so at the very least they were presumably smart enough to get permission this time and probably All Might is there watching them

lol

on the other hand, All Might’s supervision doesn’t always mean much for keeping them in line. he has to learn to assert his authority more

oh good, my concerns were unwarranted

it is indeed consensual! Katsuki’s actually out here trying to help Izuku learn to control his new ability! let’s just stop for a second to repeat that. Katsuki is helping Izuku to get a better handle on his quirk. yes, that Katsuki. and that Izuku

though it seems like he misinterpreted the goal of the exercise a little bit possibly lol. to be fair, in his mind he probably doesn’t understand the need to try and put training wheels on this thing and probably feels like Deku should fucking own that shit

(ETA: and having given it more thought, I’m gonna go ahead and say he’s fucking right, actually. I won’t get super in-depth about this since I’ve already posted about it before, but this shows how much faith Katsuki actually has in Izuku, though. in his mind he doesn’t view the new quirk as a danger, and he seems to be of the opinion that all Izuku needs is more practice using it. what’s more, once Deku starts muttering about how he tried to lock the power away, Katsuki immediately gets frustrated and leaves, declaring the whole thing pointless for the time being. pretty sure this is because he’s already come to the conclusion that Deku will also reach by the end of this chapter -- that it doesn’t matter what the nature of the quirk is; what matters is how you use it. in other words, Deku needs to stop being afraid of it and start embracing it.)

anyways, but the point is that yet again we’re only making forward progress with these two. no regression; no jealousy over Deku powering up yet again. and god but it’s just so, so gratifying to me to not have to go through the whole one-step-forward-two-steps-back thing with these characters. once they learn their lesson, it’s learned. this might be my single favorite thing about BnHA tbh

anyways so let’s continue with this chapter which I’m only one and a half pages into and am already in love with!

so Deku’s looking at his right arm appraisingly and confirming that the quirk isn’t activating

he says its “presence” has complete vanished

and now we’re getting a flashback to what I assume is earlier that afternoon, after the training exercise but before this little get together

and OH MY GOD BUT YOU GUYS

KEEP KACCHAN IN THE LOOP 2K19

DEKU LOOKS SO HAPPY TO HAVE HIM THERE THOUGH. AND LOL DID HE JUST INVITE HIMSELF IN OR WHAT. YOU JUST TRY AND HAVE A MEETING WITHOUT HIM AFTER THAT SHIT YOU JUST PULLED DEKU

All Might says that Katsuki is sharing this secret with them now, after all

AND WHERE WAS THAT ATTITUDE DURING LUNCH EARLIER TODAY, THOUGH. WELL WHATEVER, I FORGIVE YOU NOW ON ACCOUNT OF BEING SO HAPPY I COULD CRY

so Kacchan is asking if All Might knew about the whole black quirk thing

fffffff so would that be the Shouto-looking one in the trenchcoat, then? godfuckingdammit, they really did only give us one female wielder of OFA and then fucking went and killed her ass

Bakugou please share some more bonding moments with All Might and Deku so I can take my mind off of this please

also sure would hope Shimura was unaware of it, otherwise lord only knows what she was thinking not telling you. though you were likely only a year older than these two when she passed away, so maybe she just hadn’t gotten around to it yet. that is, if she takes after you and waits ten million years before telling her successor anything

again, not even a hint of ill will toward Deku for being so amazing. and after all, why would there be? he already sorted out his feelings on that on the night of the provisional exam. he knows what he has to do and he knows what Deku has been tasked with doing. so if anything, Deku getting stronger is only a good thing, because he’s All Might’s chosen successor and so he should fucking get stronger already

and I love that All Might also caught that as soon as the question was answered he didn’t waste time pondering it and immediately went to the next logical step in the deduction process. he is an official member of the Scooby Squad now

and also lmao at “don’t call people trash,” but I wonder if he’ll actually listen though. listen, at this point there is no Bakugou character development that would surprise me. he is crushing it; I wouldn’t put anything past him

Deku says that all Hellboy said was that “the time has come,” but I’m inclined to agree with Katsuki though that there was some sort of external trigger. what was it that triggered his dream last night? and I’m still not convinced it’s a coincidence that Shinsou has had some involvement with Deku both times that this Vestiges shit happened

oh SHIT

FUCKING YESSSSS OH MY GOD

this. this is the kind of shit I’ve been waiting for THIS WHOLE TIME

how many meetings like this have All Might and Deku had together, though? they’ve discussed all kinds of things about One for All, and yet this is the one topic that they’ve never once addressed, aside from all the way back in chapter 59 when All Might first told Deku about OFA’s origins. they’ve just kind of skirted around this shit. and I mean, I understand why; obviously AFO is a huge trigger for All Might in general, and it’s just easier for both of them to pretend like he’s no longer a threat now that he’s safely tucked away in prison

except that both of them know that is some bullshit, though. because unlike Katsuki, these two clods know about Nighteye’s prophecy, for one. and there is a reason why there’s been a fire burning underneath Deku’s feet ever since the end of summer, and it’s not just because of the conversation the three of them had at Ground Beta. he knows. deep down some part of him knows he can’t afford to sit on his hands. there’s been an urgency in the back of his mind for quite some time now

and as for All Might, he’s been to visit AFO in Tartarus and he’s seen for himself what that situation is like. AFO’s total lack of concern over his current predicament, and his gleeful talk about the “machinations” he’d put into place and about how everything was going just like he’d planned. and we saw for ourselves not too long ago that even the guards over at Tartarus are fearful of AFO and he puts them on edge and they don’t appear to be at all confident in their ability to hold him if shit hits the fan

basically what I’m saying is that both All Might and Izuku have been walking on eggshells when it comes to this topic even though the situation is unavoidable. so I’m really fucking glad to see Kacchan bring it up almost immediately because yes!! thank you!

OH MY GOD

KATSUKI IS A DAD FOR ONE THEORIST CONFIRMED. oh you really are my son aren’t you

smdh fucking look at this shit

and there we have it. he was thinking it as well but wasn’t going to say anything about it

two conversations in and I’m already fucking over the moon at Kacchan’s dynamic with the two of them and the refreshing change he brings to their plot pow-wows with his blunt and straightforward approach. I swear to god Katsuki if I could make you my favorite character all over again I would

so now we’re back in the gym, and Katsuki’s arguing with Izuku. “I’m tellin’ ya, you need to feel more like you’re in danger!”

I like how confident he is that he’d still be able to kick Deku’s ass even with the new quirk activated sob

(ETA: and in fairness to Bakugou, @addermoray made a really good point a few days ago about his ability to keep up:

this is an excellent take and I completely agree, actually. doesn’t really matter how many quirks Deku gets if Bakugou’s one single quirk gives him near-unparalleled firepower, speed, and agility. he can already pretty much do it all, and the one thing he is still lacking (experience) he’s gaining more and more of with each passing day. so good on him; the rivalry remains alive and well.)

and truthfully, his theory isn’t wrong. we all know that the next time Deku’s back is really against the wall OFA is gonna do some crazy shit again

meanwhile Deku is looking thoughtful and says that if the quirk really does respond to his feelings, “then, at the time...”

DFLKHSLDKJ YOU DON’T HAVE TO REMIND ME WHAT YOUR FEELINGS WERE AT THE TIME DEKU HOLY SHIT IS THIS CHAPTER REALLY GONNA GO THERE TOO!?

aww damn we’re going in a different direction lol

you need to make up your damn mind son. do you want it or not. how about you imagine yourself unlocking it and having total control of it?

meanwhile Katsuki is fed up and walking away since they’re done with the plot talk and the fighting part and now it’s just Deku standing there pondering

(ETA: and as I said in the earlier edit, it’s clear that right now Deku isn’t on the same page as him as far as mastering this. I’m hoping to see more rival training sessions in the near future now that Deku seems to have come around as of the end of the chapter, though.)

so All Might’s saying they’ll call it a night then, and he’s asking Deku if he’s all right, and then dropping him off at the 1-A dorms

and there is yet another shot of Deku staring at his hand. he’s been doing that a lot lately

but! this time the panel is actually extremely intriguing though!

okay two quick Dad for One things here

Deku staring at his own hand and thinking “All for One’s power” is the most blatant fucking foreshadowing I’ve ever seen though

look at the way his face is lit, half in shadow and half in light. that shit is intentional, make no mistake. Horikoshi knows exactly what he’s doing here. good and evil. light and darkness. the son of AFO and the heir to OFA. I am officially bumping up the likelihood of this theory from 30% all the way to 40%. closing in on fifty-fifty odds now guys

anyway, so believe it or not we’re only five pages into this chapter and already it’s a fave. god I love BnHA’s in-between chapters so fucking much

oh damn

Tetsutetsu what are you doing here in the 1-A dorms

and they’re having a conversation that is just impossible to translate to English free from any innuendos

I feel for poor Turk over there at Mangastream, I really do. he’s just trying his best

out of curiosity I went to go check the Viz translation to see how Caleb handled it, and I gotta give him props

that must have taken some doing

lol so anyway then we get this panel

KiriTetsu is the purest ship in this entire canon and I will fight anyone on that

also, “everyone”, huh

oh wow

lmao Ochako’s seemingly-disembodied head in the bottom right corner weirded me out for a sec, especially with her being right next to Hagakure

and jesus christ Toadette, mere hours ago you nearly killed this dude and now you’re hounding him for photos of Hawks that would more than likely get him in trouble to share even if he did have them. please be more considerate

I ship MomoKendou, and seeing Momo with her hair down is so nice. she so rarely does it. she usually has like an Ariana Grande thing going on

I don’t know what the hell Mina is doing to Mineta there but I support it

(ETA: apparently this is a reference to A Clockwork Orange. as previously stated, I support it.)

is Kacchan eating by himself. by my reckoning there are still 17 other people unaccounted for so probably not. but I don’t see Monoma and I’m wondering if he’s gonna go bother him. I actually wouldn’t mind. it wouldn’t feel right if Monoma didn’t go bother someone

oh shit

A WILD TODODEKU MOMENT APPEARS

(ETA: I was so excited about him coming to interrogate Deku that I completely glossed over the fact that this line confirms that Shouto also officially has two quirks. Viz’s translation confirms this (“I didn’t realize you had two quirks, too.”) so Deku and AFO aren’t the only multi-quirk users running about.)

oh shit, again

gotta say, he’s been getting a lot better at passive-aggressively throwing shade lately. got some good practice in with the recent chats he’s had with his pop

ffffffff Deku is Struggling

quirk deprivation! that’s right! look it up! it’s totally a thing and he definitely didn’t just make it up right here on the spot!

asdflskj

oh like you’re one to talk, Mister “It Took Me Ninety-Four Chapters to Put Two and Two Together Even Though Deku All But Told Me Outright Back in Chapter Eleven”

but yes he is super trusting though sob

Deku says that Shouto was amazing too and he’s gotten a lot better at using his flames

but Shouto says he still has a long way to go

ooooooh

hahaha I’m sure people are going to love this

“please excuse me for a moment, this is a very important text from my estranged son”

and what the fuck is with that laughter though. does. does he just not know how to laugh. because it honestly wouldn’t surprise me. “oh look, the corners of my mouth are turning upward and there are these strange rapid breaths of air bursting erratically from my chest.” should probably go get that checked out, Endeav

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

ngl I kinda wish this projector screen was more high tech. you sent fucking hologram acceptance letters to every kid in the school for fuck’s sake

also this better mean he’s gonna be in class A! let Aizawa teach him!

oh shit. well we had BakuDeku, KiriTetsu, and TodoDeku so WHY NOT SOME ERASERMIC AS WELL

-- OKAY HOLD THE FUCK UP

what was that?? we have never seen Aizawa react to a topic like that before. Mic barely gets the name out and Aizawa is suddenly all “please shut up fast now”

also, so Mic calls him by his surname, at least in public. what’s up with that?? BUT MY FANFICS lol

well this Shirakumo had better be revealed in the upcoming arc then, and not dragged out for a hundred chapters as these mysteries so often are. well actually, they’re either dragged out for ages or explained not three chapters later lol. rarely a middle ground with this series

MY BABY GIRLLLLLL

lol that’s right, she had a previous encounter with him and Mirio was not too pleased

cotton-headed ninny muggins

so does Mirio fucking live at the teacher’s dorms for the time being or does he just commute here every day in order to have Mary Poppins adventures with his baby sis

now Aizawa’s walking up and apologizing for calling Deku and Mirio over

(ETA: which in hindsight confirms that Mirio’s not just there 24/7. aww.)

he says he has a request for Monoma, but he didn’t want to traumatize Eri by having the two of them interact unmediated

oh shit

he’s got the horn though lol

so is this a fairly common thing with his quirk, then? strange that some of these quirks he’s able to control with ease mere seconds after acquiring them for the first time, but then with others he can’t do anything at all

ah, he’s explaining it now

so pretty much what I thought. except I wasn’t aware that Eri’s quirk accumulated power too

although wait, that’s probably what the horn is. oh shit, so that means that even though she’s super powerful when she’s all charged up, it takes her months to recharge afterwards. so if she’s not able to decrease the recharge time as she gets older, that’s going to be a really effective limiter for her power then

LMAO

I legit burst out fucking laughing. you almost exploded. sure dodged a bullet there

if he seriously thought that was a possibility, maybe he could have, idk, fucking warned the guy before their match started that his quirk was off-limits for Monoma’s own safety though

(ETA: I guess it just didn’t occur to him that Monoma might try it, what with them thinking he had a 3-quirk limit and him most likely copying his teammates’ quirks instead.)

and now Mirio’s asking why Aizawa wanted Monoma to try and copy it

Aizawa says that he thought if Monoma copied it, they could get a better idea of how it works so it might be easier to control it if it gets out of hand again. “but I guess it won’t be that easy”

Eriiiii

(ETA: holy shit is Monoma elbowing Aizawa for making her tear up?)

IT’S NOT A BAD POWER IT IS A VERY GOOD POWER THAT SOME VERY BAD PEOPLE TRIED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF

and speaking of, the fact that we’re bringing this up again now makes me hope we’re going to segue to the League sometime soon! because as we all recall, Shigaraki Tomura was last seen some 57 chapters ago taking the Quirk-Be-Gone serum from Overhaul’s very overrated and now nonexistent hands. it’s been quite a while since we’ve seen our antagonist, Horikoshi, and the people are getting restless

(ETA: well, then. lol.)

anyway, so Deku is crouching down and telling Eri her power doesn’t just hurt people, and that she saved him

and he’s comparing it to a knife -- it’s dangerous, but you can also use it to make delicious food lol

and he says he thinks her power is wonderful

awwwwwww

DO YOUR BEST ERIIIII

and you too, Deku. I believe in you. the journey’s not gonna be easy, but you can do it kiddo

so that’s it for this chapter. but damn, that was a hell of a lot of content packed within just 13 pages, though. this is definitely an insta-fave for me

(ETA: it’s in my top ten for sure. so much good stuff, oh man.)

[vgckwb]

ML: Are They Worthy? Chapter 17: Putting the Pieces in Place!

Marinette and Vlad were in Mr. Chastain’s office. “So, I was thinking, I could maybe create some designs for the art exhibition” Marinette said.

“Of course Marinette” Mr. Chastain said. “I’m surprised you didn’t come to me day one.”

“Well, I thought I might be too busy” Marinette said. “Vlad kind of talked me into it.”

“Don’t drag me down like that. You wanted to do this, right?” Vlad said.

“Of course” Marinette replied.

“Then just do it” Vlad said.

“So, who are you going to use to model your clothes?” Mr. Chastain asked.

“Well, I was just thinking of using models” Marinette said.

“Nonsense. I’m available” Vlad said. “And I think Adrien wouldn’t mind doing this either.”

“You...think so?” Marinette said.

“Sure, let’s go ask him” Vlad said.

“Of course I will” Adrien said.

“Really?! You mean it?!” Marinette said.

“Yeah. I model professionally all the time. It would be nice to do something just for fun” Adrien said. “In fact, why don’t you come over after school today? We can ask my father if you could borrow some of his things. He’s actually been pretty cool lately.”

“Your father? As in Gabriel Agreste? As in THE Gabriel Agreste?” Marinette said, panicking. “There’s no way he’ll let me-”

“Of course I’ll help out” Gabriel said, later at the mansion.

Marinette’s mouth hung agape. “Told ya he’s been cool lately” Adrien said.

“Of course, I’m not going to buy anything new for this, nor will I allow you to use anything new” Gabriel said, “but I have plenty of unused material if you need it. Also, you have access to my machines.”

“Are you sure, Mr. Agreste?” Marinette said. “I’m just some high school girl.”

“Nonsense Marinette. From what I’ve seen, you’re an excellent designer” Gabriel said. “You're better than everyone else.”

“What he means to say is ‘don’t sell yourself short’” Adrien said, covering for his dad. “Marinette, you designed a derby hat that Audrey Bourgeois loved. You’ve designed an album cover for Jagged Stone. You are amazing Marinette, and you deserve the best.”

Marinette couldn’t stop blushing. “Thank you” she said.

“You can get started right away, if you want,” Gabriel said.

Marinette checked her phone. “AH! I forgot. I’ve got to babysit this afternoon. I’m going to be late! At my own house nonetheless!”

“In that case, our driver can take you home” Gabriel said.

“We should come along too” Vlad said. “If we’re going to be your models, you’d need our measurements, right? Besides, I’m great with kids.”

“Vlad, you’re not great with people” Adrien retorted.

“Yeah, but kids are different” Vlad said.

“We can have this conversation later!” Marinette said, angrily.

“Marinette’s right, let’s go” Adrien said. The three of them left.

Gabriel walked back into his office. He approached a metal case, opened it, took out his miraculous, and put it back on. “I’m sorry I have to do this Nooroo, but since you’ve told me that this Beyyo can sniff out other kwamis, I have to be more careful than ever.”

“Yes master” Nooroo said. “But just a reminder, it is possible for you to pass his standards.”

Gabriel quickly responded “I can’t take that chance Nooroo. Remember when I Akumatized myself to keep people off of my trail?” Nooroo nodded. “If there’s any chance that I could get caught or lose my powers, I have to eliminate it. If I were powerless, if I couldn’t get the ladybug and cat miraculous, I wouldn’t be able to bring back Emilie. I don’t know what I would do if I actually had to let go of her.”

Meanwhile, a little after the three of them arrived back at Marinette’s, Nadja was telling Marinette “Thanks again for babysitting Manon.”

“No problem Mrs. Chamack” Marinette said. “And thanks for understanding why I got here just as you arrive.”

“I get it Marinette” Nadja said. “Everyone has a lot of things to do at times. I’m just glad you could make it work.”

Marinette lowered herself to Manon. “Ready to go upstairs Manon? I have some quick work I need to do, but after that, we can do what you want.”

“Who is that guy? I feel like I’ve seen him before, but I don’t know where” Manon said.

“Who, Vlad?” Marinette said. “He’s a model, like Adrien. He just moved to Paris recently from Toulouse.”

“I remember now!” Manon said. “You were in a magazine! Mommy was looking you up to prepare for an interview. She says you can be rude sometimes.”

“Manon!” Nadja said.

“It’s OK Mrs. Chamack, I can be rude sometimes” Vlad said.

Nadja replied “Yes, but-”

“Don’t worry about it Mrs. Chamack” Adrien said. “Vlad prefers that level of bluntness. He’s not one to take to common courtesy.”

“It’s part of my charm,” Vlad said. Adrien rolled his eyes. “So, we’re still on for that interview then?”

“Yes” Nadja said.

“Good” Vlad said. “I’m heading upstairs.”

“Come on Manon, we should get upstairs too” Marinette said.

“OK” Manon said. The two of them headed upstairs.

“Nadja” Adrien said. “I know Vlad can seem rude at times, but he has his reasons. He’s a nice guy once you get to know him. And once he gets to know you. Just relax and be yourself.”

Nadja nodded. “Thank you Adrien” she said.

“Don’t mention it” Adrien said.

“Well, I’m off. Take good care of Manon for me” Nadja said, leaving.

“Will do Mrs. Chamack” Adrien replied. He headed upstairs.

Marinette was getting Vlad’s measurements, while Manon was playing with the Ladybug-related dolls. “Did you make those dolls yourself?” Vlad asked.

“Yeah” Marinette said.

“Is there anything you can’t do?” Vlad asked.

“Play croquet” Marinette answered. Vlad was surprised, but then laughed. “Don’t laugh! Now I have to do the legs again” Marinette said, frustrated.

“I’m sorry” Vlad apologized. “I just wasn’t expecting that answer.”

“Well, it’s true” Marinette said. “I’m too scared of it to do it well.”

“Scared?” Vlad said.

Marinette sighed. “When I was about Manon’s age, my parents bought a movie from when they were younger. I wanted to watch it with them, but they wouldn’t let me. So I snuck down and watched it while they weren’t looking. Turns out, my parents were right. It was a gruesome movie. I had nightmares for weeks. It starts out with croquet, and I’ve been too afraid since. And done.” Vlad started to relax.

Adrien got up. “Hey guys. What’s up?”

“What took you so long?” Vlad asked.

“I had to cover for your behavior” Adrien said.

“Adrien” Vlad said. “When will you stop doing that? People need to see me unvarnished.”

“I don’t think most people are ready for you unvarnished” Adrien said.

“You were” Vlad retorted.

“Yeah, but I’m not most people” Adrien said.

“I know” Marinette said, joyously.

“What was that?” Adrien said.

“Ah! Nothing!” Marinette said. “Let’s just get your measurements.”

Adrien got ready to be measured. He was used to people doing this to him a thousand times over. But this time, it felt different. Maybe because this was his friend doing it this time. Maybe it was because he knew that this would result is something just for him, and not a product to be sold. Whatever it was he felt happy. “Oh, I just remembered. Nathalie found my parents’ old croquet set. Wanna come play sometime? I can invite everyone else.”

“Croquet? Uhhhhh, sure” Marinette said.

“But I thought you just told Vlad that you were afraid of croquet Marinette” Manon said.

“WHAT?! No I didn’t” Marinette said.

“You most certainly did” Vlad said. Marinette groaned.

“Don’t worry Marinette. We can do something else if you want” Adrien said.

“Thanks” Marinette said. She finished getting Adrien’s measurements. “And that’s done. Well Manon, what should we do now?”

Manon thought about it. “Why don’t we go to the zoo?” she asked.

“Sounds like a plan” Marinette said. “Do you guys wanna come with?”

“Sure” Adrien said.

“I got nothing better to do today” Vlad said.

“Thanks” Marinette said. “We should go then.” Marinette and Adrien left.

Manon was just about to leave as well, when Vlad stopped her. “Manon” he said. “Can you keep a secret?”

“What kind of secret?” Manon said.

“Well, it’s just, Marinette and Adrien like each other a whole lot” Vlad said.

“I know” Manon said.

“You know?” Vlad said.

“Yup. I just know that they were meant to be together forever and ever” Manon said.

Vlad smiled. “Right. But they don’t know that. And they’re afraid of asking each other out because they don’t want to be rejected.”

Manon looked sad. “That’s terrible.”

“I know” Vlad said. “I’m working on a way to get them together, and I was wondering if you had any ideas?”

Manon thought about it for a little bit. “I would invite them somewhere, but not tell them the other one was showing up. Then you can set it up to be super romantic, and when they get there, they’ll realize they’re on a date.”

Vlad chuckled. “What a great idea Manon. I’ll keep that in mind. But first, there are a few other complications I need to work out first. Is that alright?”

Vlad reflected on a meeting he had with Master Fu. “So, when do you think Marinette and Adrien will be ready to know each other’s identities?” Vlad asked.

“Well, there are two big problems” Master Fu said. “They aren’t ready to be honest with each other. But in different ways.”

“How so?” Vlad asked.

“Well, think of it like this: Marinette is a pot of water” Master Fu said.”Normally, she’s boiling at the right level to interact with  noodles, or people. However, when it comes to Adrien, she’s boiling over before the noodles are even in the pot.”

“I understand,” Vlad said. “I’ve definitely seen that in Marinette.”

“Adrien’s situation is a bit more complicated” Master Fu said. “As Cat Noir, he is a lot more free-spirited. A lot more loose. As Adrien, however, he is stiff. He creates this aura of perfection around him.”

“I get that as well,” Vlad said. “It’s the same when he and I are goofing around backstage. He needs to loosen up a little more when he’s among friends.”

“So until they’re ready to be honest about themselves in front of each other, I would advise not telling them” Master Fu said.

“Sure. But, it wouldn’t hurt to maybe help move them in that particular direction, would it?” Vlad asked.

“If that is how you want to proceed” Master Fu said.

“Great. Thanks Master Fu” Vlad said.

In the present, Manon said “Of course! If it means they won’t be afraid.”

Vlad rubbed her head. “Thanks for understanding” he said.

Marinette popped back up. “Manon! There you are. What were you doing?” she asked.

“Do you want to tell her Manon?” Vlad asked.

Manon looked at Marinette, said “It’s our secret”, and giggled.

Marinette panicked. She pulled Vlad aside and asked “You didn’t tell her, did you?”

“Tell her what?” Vlad asked confused.

“That you’re Judgement Wolf!” Marinette whispered.

Vlad burst out laughing. “Oh man! No. Just no.”

“What are you talking about?” Manon asked.

“Well, it’s our secret” Vlad said.

Manon was stunned. “OK” she said kind of sad.

“Come on Manon. We’re about to go to the zoo” Marinette said. The three of them went downstairs, met Adrien, and the four of them left for the zoo.

Thy had an exhilarating day at the zoo. Manon loved every second of it, and the three teens loved seeing Manon so happy. When Marinette had to take Manon to the restroom, Vlad and Adrien found themselves alone.

Vlad took this opportunity to try and move Adrien closer to honesty. “So, when do you break out backstage Adrien?”

“Vlad, what are you talking about?” Adrien said.

“Come on man, you know what I mean” Vlad said. “Yes, you’re always the gentleman, but where are the jokes? Where’s your ability to relieve tension?”

“That’s Cat Noir, not Adrien” Adrien said. “I don’t know what father would think if I started doing that all the time.”

“Even among friends?” Vlad said. “I mean, you do it with me.”

“Yeah, but you know me better. We’re in the same boat” Adrien said.

“Yeah, but I always act the way I do backstage” Vlad said.

“I guess” Adrien said.

“I know you’re worried about your dad, but you’ve gotta open up more” Vlad said. “Maybe Ladybug will like you more if you spread yourself out more, instead of overpowering her and only her with your true self.”

“I thought you told me to give up on Ladybug” Adrien said.

“Yeah, well, I know you well enough to know when you’re actually listening to me” Vlad said.

Adrien giggled. “Maybe. I might be listening to you. A little bit.”

“Ooooo. Do tell” Vlad said.

“Well, lately I’ve been thinking that if it doesn’t work out with Ladybug, I might just ask Marinette out” Adrien said. “She kind, considerate, funny, diligent. There’s a lot to like about her.”

“You know that’s right” Vlad said.

“Still, I’m slightly holding out hope for Ladybug” Adrien said.

“Well, it would help to loosen up either way” Vlad said. “Everyone in class thinks you’re this perfect being, including Marinette. If you asked Marinette out now, she would explode.”

“I’ll keep that in mind” Adrien said.

Marinette and Manon returned. They spent the rest of the afternoon at the zoo. They went back to Marinette’s place. Nadja came and picked up Manon. Adrien decided to leave as well. He had an early morning fencing lesson and wanted to get some sleep.

“So Marinette,” Vlad said, “why do you get so intense around Adrien?”

“Intense? What me. Pshhhh. I don’t get intense” Marinette said.

“Marinette, you said you would play croquet with him after you just got done telling me how it gave you nightmares” Vlad said.

“Yeah” Marinette relented.

“Why can’t you treat him like you would me?” Vlad asked.

“Because Adrien’s perfect” Marinette said. “The way he walks, talks, eats, down to how he smiles. I, uh, I’m not saying you’re bad.”

“Relax, I get it,” Vlad said. “You’re in love. But remember, no one's perfect. Not even Adrien.”

“Well, there’s also the fact that there isn’t a chance the two of us will go out anytime soon” Marinette said.

“True” Vlad said. “So, what about someone who you might date? Like Cat Noir, for instance.”

“Cat Noir?” Marinette said.

“Well, you did kiss him” Tikki said.

“TIKKI!” Marinette said.

“When did this happen?” Beyyo asked.

“Well, a supervillain named Oblivio wiped our memories” Tikki explained. “They kissed after figuring out how to use their powers again and defeating Oblivio, but before the magic ladybugs could fix everything, including their previous memories.”

“I see” said Vlad.

“Look, Cat Noir is great and all, but…” Marinette said.

“He’s just a friend to you” Vlad said. “I know. What I’m asking is how do you maintain a cool head like that when talking to Cat Noir? Or anyone else?”

“Well, with Cat Noir, I’m usually focused on stopping a supervillain” Marinette said. “I don’t have time to think about all the things. But when I’m near Adrien, it feels like time slows down, and everything piles up.”

Vlad nodded. “I get it. But maybe I can help you work on that. So you won’t be as much of a nervous wreck if and when you and Adrien are alone.”

Marinette got an inquisitive look on her face. “Is this what you and Manon were talking about?”

“Maybe” Vlad said. “Like she said, it’s our secret.”

Marinette smiled smugly. “Well, whatever you’re planning, I wouldn't mind some help.”

“Anytime” Vlad said. “I should get going too. Seeya.” Vlad left.

Marinette sat down. “Tikki, do you think he’s right?” Marinette asked.

“Well, you do go overboard when it comes to Adrien” Tikki said. “Maybe it would be helpful to learn how to calm down around him. Treating him like Vlad or Cat Noir might be a good idea.”

“You’re right Tikki” Marinette said. She started to sketch possible designs.

Vlad was on his way home when Beyyo popped up. “I just don’t understand. How can any two people be like this? It’s almost infuriating” Beyyo said.

“Yeah, but that’s where we come in,” Vlad said. “We’re there to help. If they’re going to continue being Ladybug and Cat Noir, they need to be at their best. Otherwise, we’d have to take away their miraculous. And we don’t want that, do we?”

“I guess you’re right” Beyyo said. “They are great superheroes.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask you something” Vlad said. “If I’m not affected by miraculous powers, how was I able to travel through time with Bunnyx?”

“Yeahhhhhh, soooooooo” Beyyo began explaining. “You’re able to interact with the powers, but you always have to maintain a balance.”

“Meaning?” Vlad said.

“Well, in this case, since you went through time, you will disappear from that moment and appear in the same place you were right before you appeared in Alix’s room during the time you missed” Beyyo said. “You can’t exist simultaneously on the timeline.”

“Well that’s something you could have told me sooner” Vlad said.

“Yeah, well, I wasn’t expecting she’d take you that far out” Beyyo said. “It’s been a bit since Fluff and I interacted.”

“Well then, I guess that’s another thing we need to prepare for” Vlad said, walking through the night to his place.

[darks-ink]

Disinterred CH.13

Chapter 13: For The Ones Who Need A Hand

“Oh no, sorry my dear. Not the Phantom.” He turned the monitor on his desk around. On the screen was a photo of a ghost which clearly resembled Danny in his ghost form, but that wasn’t him. “I want you to hunt this Phantom.”

(Tumblr hates links and I want this to appear in the tags so… for author notes/full fic summary/links to the other chapters/mirror links to AO3 and FFnet, click here)

In her short life, Dani had seen a lot of crummy alleys. All things considered, the one she was currently in certainly wasn’t one of the worst. The boxes she was hiding behind covered her well, and her glow was dim enough that no bystanders would spot her.

Once she was sure that the coast was clear, she pushed herself out of her hiding place with a groan. She was feeling more and more tired lately, and had noticed herself getting weaker as well.

It was for this reason that she had cut off her explorations of the world. She was trying to get back to Amity Park, to Danny, but she hadn’t quite gotten there yet. The dirty alley she was in only confirmed this.

Elmerton wasn’t Amity Park, but it was close. She only had to get a little further. And then Danny would help her, she was sure of it. He wasn’t like Vlad, he refused to drop her just because she wasn’t useful to him.

She shifted, getting ready to launch herself into the air. A movement caught her eye, and she stilled immediately. She started turning around, trying figure out what she had seen, and if it was a threat.

A pair of glowing green eyes blinked back, wide open.

Dani huffed out a laugh, realizing that she had been spooked by her own reflection. “Whoa, that is one scary ghost.” She shook her head, amused at her own foolishness. But she was quick to focus again.

She pushed herself off of the ground. “I got to get to Danny fast!” Angled herself in the direction of Amity, pushing her speed to its absolute limit.

Her flight was slow and faltering, however, and she was soon drooping in exhaustion. “Or slow. Slow is good.”

Another wave of fatigue hit her, and she dropped back onto the floor. Rather than the sound of her boots softly hitting the concrete, Dani was greeted by a hissing sound.

A sound which was all too familiar to her. One she dreaded, that she had nightmares about.

One she heard more and more often, these days.

She grimaced, looking down to see her feet dissolving into ectoplasm. “I just hope that Danny can help me…”

Dani tried to keep her hopes up, really, she did! But her ‘cousin’ was just a 16 year old half-ghost. She wasn’t sure what, exactly, she was hoping he could do for her that Vlad hadn’t been able to do. Because, sure, her ‘creator’ hadn’t tried to save her. But if he had been able to stabilize clones, he would’ve done so already. She would never have met Danny if Vlad had been able to stabilize her, or any of her brothers.

Scrunching her nose in concentration, she managed to re-stabilize her body. But she knew it wouldn’t last. And as much as she wanted to make haste, it would be better to take it slow.

Walking to Amity Park might take a lot longer, but it would be safer. Especially since she could shift back into her human form, which was a lot less inclined to melt into ectoplasm.

She allowed her transformation to wash over her, turning her back into a perfectly normal human being. A pretty scruffy human being, but not very noteworthy otherwise.

Sticking her hands into the pockets of her hoodie, Dani sunk deeper into the loose fabric. As she left the alley, she softly muttered to herself. “At least Vlad is all the way in Colorado. There’s no way he knows I’m here.”

A vaguely familiar buzzing noise sounded in the back of Valerie’s head. She shoved her schoolwork away by reflex before stopping to consider the situation. She recognized the jingle, even if she hadn’t heard it in a long time.

Last time must’ve been before her suit got upgraded. Because she definitely didn’t remember hearing it like this, whirring in the back of her mind.

Vlad Masters, her employer, was calling for her. He rarely did so, but when he asked her, he usually offered further compensation. Hunt down some random ghost, get better weapons, or sometimes even straight-up money. There was no doubt in her mind about going to his mansion to hear him out.

She swept into the mansion soon enough. Hovered in front of the desk behind which Vlad Masters sat. He quirked an eyebrow at her sudden appearance.

“Well, that certainly was fast.” His eyes trailed over her body, and she felt herself stiffen slightly under his scrutiny. “My, don’t you look fancy.”

“Got a few upgrades,” she acknowledged, allowing herself to relax again. It was okay, he wasn’t being weird. He was just curious about her new suit. Which, she had to admit, no one had ever seen up-close before.

Well, except for Danny. But that didn’t count.

“Well, perhaps you’d be willing to upgrade your life as well.” Vlad leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk and weaving his fingers together. “Wouldn’t you like to finally move out of that rundown apartment?”

Well, that was certainly an offer she wouldn’t refuse. She allowed her hoverboard to retract back into the soles of her boots. “Absolutely. What do you need, Mr. Masters?”

“A little bounty hunting,” he purred, obliging.

Of course. He always asked her to hunt down ghosts. She resisted the urge to sigh at his obvious answer, instead imploring for more information. “Of course. What, or who, is the target?”

And now he smiled at her. She stamped down her instinctual shivers, her body telling her not to trust the man in front of her. Her alarm bells were ringing, but… Surely whatever he was going to ask for would be worth the reward?

“Phantom,” Masters finally answered. And, oh. Of course he didn’t know that she had made up with Phantom, with Danny. She couldn’t hunt him, but… maybe she should play along a little further. Find out more about why Masters suddenly wanted her to hunt down Danny, even though he had resided in the town for so long already.

“The Phantom?” she queried, cocking an eyebrow. Then she decided to play it up a little, falling back into her former behavior. “That guy has been an intangible pain in my ass for a long time.”

Masters untangled his hands again, raising them up in a motion clearly meant to pacify her. “Oh no, sorry my dear. Not the Phantom.” He turned the monitor on his desk around.

On the screen was a photo of a ghost which clearly resembled Danny in his ghost form, but that wasn’t him. The ghost depicted was female, and appeared slightly younger than him too. Her jumpsuit was also somewhat different, but it carried the same colors and even the logo.

Her employer had waited for her to finish studying the picture before he continued speaking. “I want you to capture this Phantom.”

Valerie was sure that there was a story behind this picture, and one that Danny could tell her. But she didn’t know it, not yet, and thus didn’t know if this ghost was of any importance to Danny. It was better to accept Vlad’s mission, anyway. If she didn’t, he would likely send different ghost hunters after the ghost girl. This way she could stall him until she knew more about the situation.

She scoffed, incredulously. “You’re kidding, there’s a girl ghost named Phantom as well? These ghosts need to come up with more original names.”

“Yes, well, this Phantom is an incredibly dangerous ghost out to destroy me.” Vlad must think himself a great actor, but Valerie knew better now. She could tell that his fear was faked. She didn’t know why he would send her after this ghost, this doppelganger, but she was sure that it wasn’t good.

On the other hand, she was aided by his clear underestimation of her. He was clearly falling for her act.

“There’s no way I’m letting that ghost girl get you, Mr. Masters.” She shot him a reassuring smile. “She is as good as caught.”

“I knew I could count on you, Valerie,” the man purred, and Valerie barely stifled her grimace. How had she never noticed how slimy he was?

Regardless, she summoned her board and flew off. First and foremost, she had to talk to Danny.

Tracking down Danny was a lot easier these days. She just had to search for Phantom’s ecto-signature and raise the sensitivity of her tracker way up. That way it could pick him up even in human form.

Not that it was necessary, because he was in ghost form. Apparently in the middle of a fight as well, since the tracker picked up a second ghost near him. Valerie turned to his direction and zipped off, hoping to catch him before he left.

She saw him suck up the ghost (an animalistic ghost of some sort) and called to him before he got a chance to leave. “Phantom!”

He stopped, whirling around to greet her. “Hey Val, what’s up?”

She came to a halt right in front of him, glancing down to make sure they were high enough that no one could overhear their conversation. Danny didn’t greet her by name if they weren’t, but better safe than sorry. She was sure that this wouldn’t be a light conversation.

“Hey Danny, I have to talk to you. Do you… know who my benefactor is?”

He frowned at her, but nodded. “Yeah, it’s Vlad, right? Well, not for your current suit, Technus made that. Why?”

She wasn’t sure how he knew, but, well. It wasn’t as surprising as it should’ve been.

“Well, he called me in today. Sometimes he asks me to hunt down specific ghosts in return for a reward, you know? But something was weird about this one. He was lying about why he wanted me to catch her, I know it.”

Danny nodded again. “Yeah, Vlad does that a lot. Can you describe the ghost to me? Maybe I know why he’s after her.”

“Yeah, that’s why I was suspicious of him in the first place.”  She kept her tone dry as she spoke. “He asked me to hunt down Phantom, but not you Phantom. He showed me a picture, some female ghost who looks just like you?”

“Dani,” Danny muttered, frown deepening. “Shit. That’s not good.”

Valerie quirked a brow at the unexpected swear. Danny didn’t make a habit out of swearing, and usually only did it in serious situations. “Who is she, then?”

He wavered for a moment, hesitating. Then he sighed. “She’s… my clone.” He clearly sensed her incredulous expression even without seeing it, because he continued his explanation. “Vlad is kind of obsessed with me, with having me as his half-ghost son. I turned him down time after time and eventually he snapped and decided to try and clone me instead.” Danny shrugged. “They were all unstable though. Danielle was the only one who survived, and she left to explore the world.”

“That’s...” Valerie didn’t finish her sentence. She couldn’t think of a word that was strong enough to describe how she felt. She settled on, “messed up. That’s really fucking messed up, Danny.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” he huffed, before combing his fingers through his hair. “Shit. Who knows what Vlad is gonna do to her if he catches her.”

“He’s not gonna catch her,” she reassured, making sure to sound as soothing as she could. “Because he send me to get her. I’ll track her down and bring her to you, no problem.”

Danny blinked at her, stunned. “You’ll do that for me?” And then he snapped back into focus. “Right, okay. I’ll… go talk to my parents about this. If she came to Amity, she’s probably destabilizing.” His voice gradually quietened as he spoke, and Valerie was pretty sure he wasn’t talking to her anymore.

She turned around to fly off, before Danny suddenly spoke again.

“And Valerie?”

When she looked over her shoulder, he shot her a wide grin. “Thanks,” he said, before disappearing. She huffed out a fond laugh in return.

“Yeah, no problem. Dork.”

Danny phased through the door of FentonWorks. He glanced around the living room, but didn’t see his parents. They were probably in the lab, then. Should’ve known, really.

“Mom, dad?” he called out, just to be sure. “I kind of have something I need to talk about!”

He didn’t have to wait long for the thunderous footsteps of his parents as they came out of the lab. His dad was, of course, storming ahead, but his mom wasn’t far behind.

“What’s wrong sweetie? What did you want to talk about?”

Danny grimaced, considering his words. He transformed back to his human form to stall, but it didn’t give him nearly as much time as he needed.

“It’s… Vlad.” More explanation, Fenton, he chided himself. “He’s… kind of my arch enemy? And for a good reason.”

His dad frowned and looked like he was going to defend his old friend, but he faltered when he saw Danny’s expression.

“Danny, I know that the two of you don’t get along, but… there’s something more, isn’t there?” Ah, his mom was so perceptive. Well, sometimes.

He nodded. “Yeah, he’s… like me. He became half-ghost during the accident with the Proto-Portal. It’s a long story and it’s… not really important right now.”

“Oh,” his dad said, looking rather downtrodden. “Then… why did you bring it up?”

“Well...” Danny hissed between his teeth, increasingly uncomfortable with describing Vlad’s misdeeds. “Vlad kind of… has been obsessed with me since he found out that I’m half-ghost. Wants me as his son slash evil apprentice and everything. But I turned him down every time, because… Well, because of a lot of reasons, really.”

He flapped his hands. “Eventually he kind of… snapped, I guess? And decided that if he couldn’t get me to join him, he would just make his own half-ghost son.” Danny licked his lips, uncertain. “So he… Well, he cloned me. Or tried to, at least.”

“Oh, Vladdie,” Jack whispered, hurt clearly audible in his voice. “I can’t- Why would he-”

“Sorry.” And he was, truly. He couldn’t imagine discovering that someone who you considered to be your best friend was… Well, was Vlad, pretty much.

“Don’t be,” his mom comforted him, also laying a hand on Jack’s shoulder. “I’m glad you told us, Danny. But…” she trailed off, not finishing her sentence. Danny could guess what she was going to say, though.

“The clones were unstable.” He grimaced at the memory of seeing them melt. “They… Whenever they used too much energy, they would melt into ectoplasm. Vlad kept forcing them to overextend themselves. Only one… Only one survived, she realized that Vlad was using them.”

“’She’?” Maddie asked, before waving her own question off. “Never mind, not relevant right now. What happened to her?”

“Well, she came along with me back to Amity Park. But with Vlad, she had never gotten a chance to explore. To be… free.” He shrugged, a sheepish expression on his face. “She wanted to explore the world. So she left. Dramatically flew off into the sunset, and stuff.”

His mom sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers. “I guess I can’t blame either of you for it. But if you’re telling us now… I’m guessing that she’s back?”

“Uh, yeah,” Danny admitted. “The, uh, Red Huntress is looking for her now. Apparently Vlad tried to hire her to hunt down Danielle, but he didn’t know that we have a truce now.”

“Well,” Jack tried, his voice wavering a little but regaining some of its usual bluster. “I wouldn’t mind another kid, especially one as wonderful as you, Danny-boy.”

Danny blushed, shoulders creeping up a little in embarrassment. “I… I don’t know if that’s what she’s looking for, dad. I think she might be… I think she might be destabilizing again.”

“And she’s hoping that you know how to help her?” his mom queried, but she was already nodding to herself. “Do you know a way to help her?”

“No.” Danny combed his fingers through his hair with a sigh. “I’ve never had such a thing happen. And if Vlad couldn’t figure it out… I’m not sure what else I could try.”

His dad snapped his fingers, a grin forming on his face. “Maddie, do you remember what me newest project was?”

“Yes...” His mom frowned as she turned to look at Jack. “You were working on a chemical which weakens ghosts, right?”

“Exactly!” Jack nodded, his smile growing wider. “But I just couldn’t get it to work. Every time I tried it on a weak ghost, it would get stronger.”

Hope bloomed in Danny’s chest, and he looked at his dad. “Do you think…?”

The man nodded again in response. “Probably! I’ll go get some Ecto-Dejecto right now, of the strongest batch I have.”

“Thanks Dad!” Danny grinned as his dad ruffled his hair. His mom remained seated, a thoughtful but warm smile on her face. Things were looking up for once.

Danny heard the hum of Valerie’s hoverboard approaching the house and made his way to the backyard. He had hoped that she would’ve taken the less noticeable route and just walked with Dani, but apparently not.

The hoverboard swept into the backyard, Valerie in full armor. Standing behind her, with her arms wrapped around Valerie’s waist, was Danielle. Her clothes were dirty and ragged, and she looked dead tired. The bags under her eyes were worse than his usually were, and that was saying something.

He extended a hand to help her off of the hoverboard, shooting her an encouraging smile. “Hey Dani, long time no see.”

“Yeah,” Dani agreed, voice tinged with exhaustion. She accepted his help and slumped off of the board, almost falling into his arms.

Danny wrapped an arm around her, supporting her weight against his own body. He nodded at Valerie. “Thanks for bringing her Val. I’ll tell you the full story behind Vlad later, okay?”

“You better,” she declared with a nod of her head. And then she was gone again.

Danny quirked a brow at the dramatic display, but then shook his head to clear the thoughts. Valerie might think him overdramatic, but she had quite a penchant for it as well.

“Come on Dani, let’s get you inside. Are you… destabilizing again?”

“Yeah,” she murmured, voice soft and almost impossible to hear. She was sagging against him, barely capable of carrying her own weight.

Danny was glad that she had had the forethought to shift back to human form. He was sure that she would’ve been melting into ectoplasm already if she had been a ghost.

He wrestled himself through the backdoor with Danielle still hanging off of him, and his mom spotted the two of them. She nodded towards the dinner table, a silent command to settle Dani there. Then she raced off down the stairs, going to retrieve his dad from the lab.

Danny had barely gotten Dani situated when his dad came up. She stiffened slightly at the sight of the burly man. Or maybe at the sight of the glowing green vial in his hand.

Really, he couldn’t blame her for either of those reasons. He felt the same way about his dad and potentially dangerous inventions, even if the man had gotten a lot better about it.

He moved to step in, but his mom had appeared from the lab as well and laid a hand on Jack’s arm. Then she shot Dani a warm smile, full of motherly warmth.

“Hey sweetie, you’re Danielle, right?”

Dani nodded a little sluggishly. She was still eyeing Jack with clearly visible wariness.

“Good.” Maddie took the vial from Jack’s hand, holding it out in her open palm to show it to Danielle. “Danny told us you were destabilizing. This should help, but we will have to inject it. Is that okay?”

Dani blinked for a moment before turning to look at Danny. He nodded at her, encouraging. “It’s okay, they know. About me, about you, and… about Vlad.”

“Oh,” she said, a little stunned. Then she shrugged at Maddie. “I guess… that it’s okay.” Then, more quietly, she mumbled, “Don’t have anything to lose anyway.”

His mom made a pained expression but covered it up quickly. Then she produced a syringe from one of the pockets of her belt, making sure to show it to Dani. Maddie uncorked the vial and sucked its contents into the needle. Then she eyed Dani speculatively.

“It might be better if you’re in your… ghost… form.” She held up the filled needle, the Ecto-Dejecto in it still glowing a vibrant green. “We don’t know how it might react to your human physiology.”

The clone scrunched her eyes closed. Familiar rings formed and passed over her, but they were faint. It clearly took great effort on Dani’s part to make it happen.

“Danny, can you hold her arm for me?” his mom asked, and he nodded.

He reached out to Dani, and she offered him an arm. He quickly removed one of the gloves, watching with dread as it melted into ectoplasm the moment it lost contact with her body. Then he carefully rolled up the sleeve of her jumpsuit.

Maddie came closer, crouching next to the chair Dani was seated on. Danny stabilized Dani’s arm. Jack hovered nearby, clearly wanting to help but knowing that there was nothing he could do.

The needle slipped into Dani’s arm with no resistance. Maddie pressed down on the plunger, and the Ecto-Dejecto flowed into the system of Danny’s clone. Its spread could easily be tracked, veins shortly lighting up green as the chemical made its way through Dani’s system.

And then the needle was removed again, and Danny rolled down the sleeve again.

Dani blinked, then blinked again. Then she rubbed her eyes, blinking rapidly.

It was like she was re-energizing before their eyes. The bags under her eyes seemed lighter, her skin seemed healthier. Her aura brightened significantly, although it still fluctuated a little.

“It… worked?” she whispered, looking at her hands as she clenched and unclenched them.

“Of course it did!” Jack boomed, grinning widely. “Only the best for my kids!”

Dani whipped her head around to look at the man, eyes blown wide. “Your kids?” Her voice was quiet still, but Danny couldn’t tell with what emotion.

His mom laid a hand on the shoulder of the girl ghost. “Of course, honey. It might be a little unconventional, but you’re our flesh and blood.” Then she hesitated a little, adding, “If you want, of course.”

“Really?” Dani gasped, looking between all three of them. “Even though I’m… just a clone?”

“You’re not ‘just a clone’ Dani,” Danny chided, frowning. “You’re family. To all of us. And you’re your own person, no matter what Vlad has told you before.”

Both of his parents nodded. Then Maddie spoke up again. “That man is sick, Danielle. He has done bad things. But… none of that is your fault.”

“And I’ve always wanted another daughter,” Jack added with an over-the-top wink.

Dani giggled at him, then nodded. “I would… really like that. Thanks.”

“Of course kiddo! Now, who wants some fudge?” Jack turned to walk to the fridge.

Danny grimaced, then leaned in a little closer to Dani. “Fair warning, there is about a 50% chance that food in this house spontaneously comes to life.”

Dani quirked a brow at him. “For re-”

She never got to finish her sentence, as loud growls suddenly came from the open fridge. Green hot dogs with teeth burst out of the appliance.

“Oh,” she ended up saying, stunned. “I guess I see your point.”

[headoverhiddles]

Make It Double

So @mywhataguy and I liked the idea of Vlad being Gaston’s twin brother. This happened. 

Lefou came in from the market, whistling to himself as he set a basket of blueberries and a couple baguettes down on the wooden dinner table Gaston had built them. Picking out a few nice ones to eat, he popped a few berries into his mouth and wiped his lips before heading over to the sink, and-

His attention was diverted as he noticed his companion sitting on the couch, reading.

"Oh! You're up early," Lefou smiled. He was the morning person around here, not Gaston-- but anyway, it was nice to see him up, and even nicer to see the dishes in the sink had been polished and put away. "Well, this is a treat." He smirked to himself. Gaston probably wanted to get laid, that was honestly the only time he...

Wait, wait, hold on. Lefou's smile faltered, and his nose scrunched up. Was he reading?!

"You've... got a book?" Lefou went over, rubbing Gaston's shoulders and peering down over them, "That looks..." He squinted at the tiny words on what looked like very ancient paper, "Um... elaborate." His companion just hummed.

"It's a religious scroll I nabbed from home before coming over. Still got the blood of the Turkish prince on the last few pages." Lefou hesitated, and frowned.

"Yeah, alright. Anyway, I got some fresh eggs, so I'll get those cooking for y-"

"Eggs?" The man on the couch scowled, "Vile. I hate eggs. I'd much prefer sheep sausage with some lemon pudding, if you'd be so kind as to prepare it."

"Are you out of your mind?" Lefou blurted, crossing his arms, "I get up at the crack of dawn every morning to gather all the stupid eggs in our yard to make you your favourite stupid breakfast, and now it's suddenly "oh, I hate eggs, eggs are vile!" as you sit there on your ass asking me to prepare a three course meal?" He whipped back to finish washing the berries, but turned again to glower some more. "And where am I supposed to get lemons around here, Gaston?! Should I go ask that Enchantress out in the woods for some, and get turned into a fucking wheelbarrow while I'm at it?!"  The tall man cocked his head, and turned, getting up to face the chubby man in the kitchen. Lefou frowned. "Did you cut your hair?"

A slow smirk developed on the taller's face, and he shook his head, sighing.

"The idiot didn't tell you, did he?"

Lefou inclined his head expectantly.

"GASTON!"

The sleeping hunter roused at the shrill scream, and scowled. The sun was up, but it wasn't up enough, and this was way too early for him. Was that Lefou screeching? It had sounded like a rooster.

"GASTON, YOU BETTER GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Gaston heaved a sigh, forcing himself up. He probably left his socks on the rug again or something.

As he rose, he realized he wasn't wearing any pants- oh right, he and Lefou had had a late one at the tavern last night and ended up shagging until the small hours- so he tugged on some breeches and shambled his way out to the living room of their little cottage.

"Lefou, what's got you-"

He turned to the other man standing there, and blinked. "Oh. Vlad. You came early." Lefou raised his eyebrows so high they looked like they were about to jump off his forehead, and Vlad crossed his arms. Gaston laughed. "Lefou did that too, last night."

"THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR YOUR SEX JOKES!" Lefou shouted, and Gaston flinched. Yes, it was true he neglected to tell his love that he... well...

"I have a twin brother," Gaston told Lefou, refusing to look him in the eye in fear of the fire he would find there. "This is Vlad Tepes. He's... from very far from here. I haven't seen him in years!"

"Tepes... is that a ma-ri-tal name?" Lefou sounded it out shortly, tapping his foot.

"Nope," Gaston grimaced.

Lefou glared. "So you're telling me, that your last name isn't Deveneaux-- it's Tepes?! Gaston Tepes?! Therefore, if we ever got married, I'd be LEFOU TEPES?!"

"What's wrong with Tepes? It means appetizer in your culture," Vlad muttered.

"No, that's tapas," Gaston informed him under his breath.

"Would you two shut up?!" Lefou growled. "When were you going to tell me this, Gaston?" he demanded.

"Well, I thought it would be best not to," Gaston tried, "In case there ever came a situation where I didn't want to be there, and I could use him-"

"Gaston."

"Look, I just didn't feel the need to, alright?!" Gaston muttered, flopping down on the couch and sticking his arms behind his head, "My brother's..."

"He didn't tell you, because he's worried you'll think I'm hotter," Vlad flashed a grin.

"Excuse me?!" Gaston bellowed, getting up again and clenching his jaw, "I know for certain my beloved Lefou would never be unfaithful to me!"

"Unless he couldn't tell us apart, dear brother," Vlad chuckled, and Gaston grabbed him by the shirt.

"You touch him-"

"I don't want to touch him," Vlad shoved Gaston off him with such ridiculously superhuman strength the hunter went flying into the wall with a crash, "Although... you did always have impeccable taste in men."

Gaston smirked, forgetting his rage. "And you always had wonderful taste in women. How's Mina, by the way?"

"Dead," Vlad murmured, "Pity I couldn't save her-- but that's another long story."

Lefou squeaked. So this was happening. "Well, if you're staying for a while, I'll get breakfast on. You don't like egg, do you? Got it. Blueberries then, Vlad?"

"Actually, have you got any red meat? Preferably uncooked."

"What the f-"

"Lefou!" Gaston swallowed, and tugged his lover's sleeve as he began to notice his brother stirring at the idea of red meat, "I believe we actually have some unfinished business from l-last night, don't we, darling?!"

Lefou blushed. "Gaston..." The hunter grimaced as Vlad took out some carved up deer meat they had kept on some ice, opened his mouth, and-

"To the bedroom!" Gaston shouted, whirling him around, and Lefou frowned.

"But-"

"I just can't wait any longer, I must have you," Gaston gulped, and shut the door. He began to kiss Lefou, but the shorter man just pushed him off.

"Why is he here?" Lefou hissed once they were alone.

"I don't know," Gaston confessed, running a hand through his hair. "I invited him in the spring, so you could finally meet him... properly."

"Uh huh," Lefou shook his head. After a minute, he sat down on their bed, and sighed. "Gaston... I'm sorry for making a big deal out of it." He sighed, "I just would've liked a little notice."

"I..." Gaston seemed as if he was about to apologize, but got distracted as he caught his reflection in their mirror, smirking and making a kissy face.

"For the love of god," Lefou muttered, and suddenly, there was a crash outside. Lefou got up instantly, but Gaston grabbed his wrist.

"Wait."

"Wait? Why?" Lefou snatched his hand back, and opened the door. "....Oh my god."

There was blood all over the table, Vlad feeding on whatever was left of that deer they had. He looked up, sharp incisors in plain sight, and Lefou fainted.

Gaston looked down at his companion, and let out a growl. "You get to explain this."

"Fine," Vlad shrugged, "Are there any more deer in your area, brother? That one was sweet."

When Lefou woke up, it took about an hour for him to accept the story.

"So... you became a vampire because you wanted to save your people from the... Turks?" Lefou asked slowly, raising the bottle of brandy his mother had given them when they had visited Provence.

"Essentially, yes," Vlad nodded. Lefou turned to Gaston incredulously.

"So... so you led an entire raid on a castle to kill a Beast because that was 'dark magic', yet you sit here, across from a vampire, as if he's the most normal thing on this planet?!"

"Well, I grew up with him," Gaston shrugged.

"Is it true you led a raid driven by hatred?" Vlad asked, frowning, and Gaston rolled his eyes.

"One has to keep up appearances! I can't just announce to everyone in the village, 'oh, you can all relax. My brother is a vampire, so there's no need to worry over a hideous monster living in the woods!'" Lefou huffed at that, and Vlad crossed his arms.

"I'm telling mum."

"You told me your mother was dead!" Lefou shrieked at Gaston.

"She is," Vlad and Gaston both answered in sync. Lefou's eyes widened, and he would've fainted again if Gaston didn't toss cold water at his face. The dripping Lefou blinked.

"So, Vlad," he croaked, "How long are you staying?"

It was a poor decision on Lefou's part to let his companion's twin stay.  Gaston being Gaston, he couldn't keep a secret for longer than two days, and soon the entire village was acquainted with Vlad.

One day, Lefou took them both out to get some more jam. Stanley walked by, tipping his hat.

"Morning, Monsieur Lefou. Morning, Monsieur Vlad."

"That's Gaston," Lefou sighed.

"Morning Gaston!" Tom shouted with a large smile from the cheese monger at the man standing by the tapestries, and Lefou whipped around.

"That's Vlad."

"Oh," Dick muttered, and tipped his hat. "Bonjour, Gaston," he smiled at Vlad, and Lefou smacked his forehead. Vlad just laughed, and Lefou dragged him over to where Gaston was buying flowers.

"You were never the romantic type, what's changed?" Vlad frowned at his brother.

"I've learned how to please my love," Gaston retorted defensively, "Lefou likes flowers, so I buy him new ones for the table every morning." Lefou snuggled up to his arm in appreciation, and they shared a kiss.

Vlad looked from Lefou, to Gaston, to the bouquets of cardamoms... and picked out a bunch, paying for it.

And so the rivalry began.

Lefou would come home every day, and Vlad and Gaston would both be at the door, waiting to take his coat. Vlad would have a glass of fine wine waiting for him, and Gaston would have his latest kill roasting on the fire.

When they went on hunting trips, Vlad insisted he was a better hunter than Gaston, which Gaston laughed into oblivion at, so they spent the entire time bitterly fighting to show off in front of Lefou.

Gaston was so close to claiming the winning kill with his crossbow as Lefou looked on in reverie, but Vlad transformed into a colony of bats, practically eating the prey alive where they waited. Gaston clenched his fists.

"You cheated."

Eventually, it reached a point where they would argue in public.

"I'm more impressive than you in every way," Vlad told Gaston with that smug look (Lefou guessed where Gaston got it from), "Mina used to rave for days about how the muscles in my back rippled so."

"Please, I could lift two people on my shoulders!" Gaston spat back, "I'm this town's hero. I don't remember you being a war hero!"

"Oh, that's incredibly low," Vlad growled, "I fought off 25,000 Turks on my own, but you saving your quaint little town from a couple dozen Portuguese Marauders ultimately conquers my battle glory." He took a breath. "And on top of being a hero, Gaston, I am a Prince! I don't believe you have such a title to your name, do you?"

"Oh, you're a prince," Gaston scoffed, "The very thing I tried to kill."

"Tried being the key word," Vlad muttered. "But I'm glad you didn't That's all you knew how to do, was kill," he argued, "I know how to deal with things diplomatically. I wouldn't have gone to war if I could have avoided it- you thirsted for it!"

"This war left me with mental scars," Gaston seethed.

"I can't show you all my scars," Vlad bit back, "It would take days."

"Oh, you got hurt a lot," Gaston pouted, "My poor, royal brother. Would you like me to fetch your palace hands to help you treat them?"

"You know... I'm twenty seconds older than you," Vlad hissed.

"Well, I've probably got a bigger dick than you!" Gaston said a little too loudly, "Right Lefou?!" In the seats in front of them, Stanley choked.

"Is everything alright?" Père Robert asked apprehensively, pausing his sermon.

"Oh yes, everything is fine, sir," Vlad smiled cordially.

"HE'S A VAMPIRE!" Gaston shouted petulantly, and stood Lefou up, storming out with him as everyone turned to glance at a very pale Vlad.

That night, Lefou made some roast ham and served it with fresh veggies from their garden and mulled blackberry wine in an effort to make things better with everyone.

"Mmm," Gaston smiled, rubbing Lefou's back and taking his hand, "This wine is sweet, darling."

"I bet Lefou tastes sweeter," Vlad winked.

"I can't tell if that's an advance or an offer to suck my blood," Lefou quirked his head.

Gaston got up from the table, chair flying back as he rolled up his sleeves and regarded his brother. "Fight me for him. Right now." Vlad got up too, baring his fangs, and under normal circumstances, Lefou would either a), hide under the table as his precious vases and ham got destroyed in TepesBowl 1743, or b), finish his green beans in blissful ignorance, pretending to ignore the egg Gaston just hurled across his house.

But no. These were no normal circumstances.

"That. Is. It!" Lefou shouted, and got up as well. "For god's sake, you're brothers! I get that I'm hot, okay, and I know I'm cute as a goddamn button, but frankly, neither of you deserve me right now!"

"But, Lefou-" Gaston began to protest weakly.

"You can share! Please. Just share! Gaston, I love you more than anything, dear. But Vlad- you're really sexy too, okay?!"

"You wound me, Lefou," Gaston breathed, and Lefou pranced over to press five kisses to his face, finally to his lips.

"You'll always be my love. But... don't you think you two can simply take turns?"

"Never," Vlad sneered, fangs already glinting.

"Then I'm going to march my little ass right down the street and put a ring on Stanley's finger," Lefou snapped at both men.

"Wait!"

"No, wait, we can share."

Lefou rolled his eyes, and plunked back down as Gaston and Vlad looked across the table at each other.

"Well... we are brothers," Vlad mumbled, looking down.

"Yes," Gaston sighed, "We are."

"You... you may not have been the romantic type, but you helped me get my first girlfriend by failing to woo her," Vlad attempted, managing a smile.

"You... may not have been the fighting type, but you helped me kill my first soldier by missing his heart," Gaston offered.

"Now..." Vlad smiled.

"Now, we're both masters of fucking and fighting!" Gaston finished, a smile blossoming. Vlad nodded cheerfully, and they both raised a glass, gulping the wine down. Then Gaston shrugged. "Of course, Lefou... my infamous biting skills run in the family." Both brothers turned to stare at Lefou, ravenous expressions upon their faces. Lefou swallowed, dropping his fork.

What had he gotten himself into?  

Needless to say, the townspeople were more than a little worried when Lefou not only had a stomach bite to show off at the tavern the next night, but alongside his two proud boyfriends, ten more all over his properly worshipped body.

Read on ao3.