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alohajix · 1 month ago

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𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐚𝐩𝐞

Description: she said she wasn’t nervous. She said she'd never done this before. But then he walked in—and made her forget every lie she told herself. The Casting Tape — you only need to watch it once to come back for more.

Warnings: this one-shot includes explicit sexual content, including fingering, oral sex (M/F), face-fucking, rough grinding, dirty talk, praise kink, light choking, spanking, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it), and graphic language. Readers +18.

Words count: ~ 7K.

I understand you guys really enjoyed “First Time for Everything”. So here’s a new one-shot I've been working on for a while, featuring pornstar!harry once again.

please enjoyyy💕

*****

I almost didn’t walk through the door. It looked too normal from the outside—just a nondescript black building sandwiched between a vape shop and a custom auto wrap place. No sign. No logo. Just a metal door and a tiny keypad. I stood there for a full minute, staring at my reflection in the door’s narrow glass panel, wondering what the hell I was doing. My fingers fidgeted with the zipper on my hoodie as I debated bailing. But then I remembered rent. And how many hours I’d spent reading that post.

“Paid casting opportunity. Professional, safe, filmed. No pressure to continue. Just be yourself.”

So I buzzed in. A soft click, and I stepped inside. The air was cool, sterile, quiet. A short hallway led to a room that looked more like a YouTube set than anything porn-related—white walls, gray backdrop, soft box lights aimed at a plain black leather couch. A camera was already set up on a tripod, its little red light blinking lazily like it was waiting. There was no one else in the room, just a low table with a water bottle and a clipboard. I approached it like it might bite.

“Hey there,” a voice called from behind me—low, male, casual. “You can grab a seat. We’ll start in a second.”

I turned to find a guy with a headset leaning against the doorframe, sipping coffee. He looked more like someone who worked in tech support than adult film, and he barely glanced at me. That helped a little. I gave him a tight smile and sat down on the couch, tucking one leg under the other. The camera stared back at me. I wiped my sweaty palms on my denim skirt.

“You go by your real name or a stage name?” the voice asked.

I hesitated. “Stage name.”

He chuckled. “Smart. What should we call you?”

“…Lola.” I don’t know where it came from. I didn’t even know anyone named Lola.

“Cute,” he said. “Alright, Lola. We’re just gonna ask you a few questions. Keep your eyes on the camera, speak clearly, be yourself.”

I nodded once. The camera light turned solid red.

“Tell us how old you are and why you’re here.”

My voice came out a little too fast. “Twenty-two. I—uh—I heard about this through a friend of a friend. Thought it might be… interesting.”

“And have you done anything like this before?”

I forced a smile. “Not professionally.”

He chuckled again, friendly but disinterested. “Good answer. So—this is a soft casting. No pressure to do anything you’re not comfortable with. We just want to see how you come across on camera. If it feels natural, maybe we’ll try a short chemistry test.”

My stomach flipped. “Chemistry test?”

“With a partner,” he clarified. “Clothed or not. Touching or not. Totally up to you.”

I swallowed hard. “And who’s the partner?”

“Hey, man,” the guy said suddenly, glancing over my shoulder. “You mind stepping in for a quick test?”

I didn’t hear footsteps. I felt them. Slow. Heavy. Purposeful. And then I heard his voice.

“Yeah. I’ve got time.” I turned. And immediately forgot how to breathe.

He walked in wearing a black T-shirt and sweatpants, his hair tucked under a gray beanie, tattooed arms on full display. Calm. Comfortable. Like he belonged here. And when his eyes met mine—green, curious, knowing—I had to look away before I gave something away.

I knew who he was. Everyone who’s ever dipped into amateur porn knew who he was. He wasn’t just a pornstar—he was the pornstar. The one known for making people cry in the best way possible. The one who ruined girls for normal guys. The one I may or may not have watched the night I sent my application in.

“Hi,” he said softly, voice like silk. “I’m Harry.” Of course he was.

I tried to remember how to smile. “Hi.”

He looked me over—slowly, respectfully, but definitely. His gaze dragged from my hoodie to my bare thighs, then up to my lips before meeting my eyes again.

“You okay to keep going?” he asked. “Or just here to talk?” His tone was soft. Patient.

I bit my lip. I should’ve said no. I should’ve kept it simple. But the way he was looking at me… “Let’s try,” I said quietly.

His mouth curled into a half-smile. “We’ll go slow.”

He sat beside me on the couch, leaving just enough space between us that it felt intentional. His thigh brushed mine every time I shifted, and I wasn’t sure if it was on purpose—but I hoped it was.

The camera was still rolling. “You nervous?” he asked, his voice low and almost amused.

“A little,” I admitted. “You’re not exactly a nobody.”

He smiled at that—soft, slow, like he was letting the compliment soak into his skin.

“Well, I’ve done a few of these,” he said, tilting his body slightly toward me. “So if you want to stop at any point, you say the word. We good on that?”

I nodded. “Yeah. Safe word or something?”

“We can use red. If you want to pause, say yellow. But honestly? Just talk to me. I listen.”

God, that shouldn’t have made my stomach twist—but it did. His hand landed gently on my knee. Just a touch. Nothing dirty. But the weight of it made my heart skip.

“Can I touch you a little more?” he asked.

I swallowed and nodded. “Yes.”

He slid his hand up my thigh, slow and deliberate, until his fingers curled around the bare skin just beneath the hem of my skirt. His pinky brushed the side of my underwear. He didn’t move further. He just… held me.

“See? You’re already shaking a little,” he said, voice soft like a secret.

“I’m not,” I lied.

His thumb moved lazily across my thigh. “You are. That’s okay, though. Nervous is normal. But you look good nervous.”

I smirked despite myself. “Is that your line?”

“No,” he said, leaning in just a little. “That’s the truth.”

His other hand reached up, fingers playing with the zipper of my hoodie. He didn’t pull it down right away—he just watched my face.

“Can I?”

I nodded again. “Yeah.”

He tugged the zipper down, slow as hell. I didn’t wear a bra on purpose—I’d told myself it was about being comfortable, but I’d also known what kind of job this was. I’d wanted to feel like I was ready for it, even if I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. He pushed the hoodie off my shoulders, revealing my thin tank top underneath—white, ribbed, tight. My nipples were already hard beneath the fabric.

His eyes dropped for half a second. “Fuck.”

“What?” I teased.

“You’re hot.” His voice dipped lower, rougher. “Didn’t expect that.”

I grinned. “You didn’t look me up before this?”

He leaned closer, lips near my ear. “Didn’t want to ruin the surprise.”

Fuck. That got to me. I shifted in my seat, squeezing my thighs together, and his hand didn’t miss it.

“You get turned on easily, don’t you?” he murmured.

“Only when someone says shit like that.”

He chuckled, and it vibrated straight through me. “Alright then. Let’s see how much you can take before we even get your clothes off.”

He turned to face me fully, his hand now resting between my thighs, thumb pressing lightly at the crease where leg met hip. I was still covered, but it felt dangerously intimate.

“Look at me,” he said. I did.

His hand moved to my waist, sliding under the hem of my shirt. His palm was warm on my bare skin, fingertips grazing my ribcage, tracing just under the curve of my breast. His thumb brushed upward, catching the edge of my nipple through the fabric—and I gasped, barely holding still.

“Sensitive?” he asked, eyes still locked on mine. I nodded, biting my lip.

He pinched lightly—just enough to make me jerk—and then soothed the spot with his palm.

“You’re already breathing like you’ve been at this for an hour.”

“Maybe I just like the way you touch,” I whispered.

He grinned again. “Yeah?”

His other hand cupped the back of my neck, fingers sliding into my hair as he leaned in. “I’m gonna kiss you now. Okay?”

I nodded. “Please.” And then he kissed me. Slow. Firm. One hand holding my jaw just right while the other teased under my shirt. His lips moved against mine like he had all the time in the world. He tasted like mint and something just a little bit sweet—god, it was unfair how good he was at this.

My mouth opened for him on instinct, tongue brushing his as he deepened the kiss. I whimpered before I meant to, and he smiled against my lips.

“There it is,” he murmured. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”

He pulled me onto his lap. I didn’t even realize I’d moved until I felt his thighs beneath mine, the stretch of my skirt riding up, the thick press of him already hard beneath me.

“You wanna keep going?” he asked, hand splayed on my lower back.

“Yes.”

“You wanna keep your clothes on for now?”

I nodded again. “Let me stay like this.”

He gave a slow, approving nod. “Smart girl.”

I started to grind—tentatively, testing—and he held me tighter.

“Yeah,” he breathed. “That’s it. Just like that.”

His hands stayed on my waist, guiding me. My panties were soaked through already, and he hadn’t even touched me properly. His cock pressed up against my center through both layers, and the friction was delicious.

“Feel what you’re doing to me?” he whispered. I nodded. “Good. Don’t stop.” I didn’t.

I rocked against him slowly, rhythmically, trying to match the pace of his hands, trying not to let my moans get too loud. But the fabric was slick, and I was clenching around nothing, desperate for more. He leaned up to kiss me again, slower this time, while grinding back into me with little thrusts of his hips.

“You look so fucking pretty like this,” he whispered. “Using me to get yourself off. All clothed. So dirty, baby.”

God, baby—the way it rolled off his tongue nearly made me come.

“I wanna see you fall apart,” he said against my lips. “But not yet. Gotta take my time with you.”

I whimpered, hands clutching his shoulders. “Why?”

“‘Cause I want it to be unforgettable.”

I didn’t mean to drop to my knees. It just happened. One second, I was straddling him, moaning into his mouth, and the next, I was slipping down between his legs, hands trailing over his thighs like they belonged there. He didn’t stop me. Didn’t say a word—just leaned back on the couch and watched me with that slow-burning smirk, his chest rising and falling like he already knew what I was going to do next.

“You sure about this?” he asked, voice husky.

I nodded as I settled between his thighs, reaching for the waistband of his sweats. “You’ve been hard since I got here.”

His brow ticked up. “And you think that means you get to do something about it?”

I looked up at him, tilted my head innocently. “I know I do.”

He grinned. “Cocky.”

“I learned from the best,” I said, tugging his sweats down just enough to free him. And fuck.

I’d seen it before—on screens, in videos—but nothing prepared me for the way it looked up close. Thick, long, already leaking at the tip. Veins along the shaft. His entire body was unfair, but this? This was just cruel.

I wrapped my hand around him slowly.

“You gonna stare at it all day, or you gonna do something?” he teased.

I licked a long stripe from the base to the tip, just to shut him up. His breath caught.

“Mouth open,” he murmured. I obeyed, letting my tongue hang out as I stroked him slowly. He was heavy in my hand, warm and twitching, and when I finally took him into my mouth, I moaned like it was for me, not him.

“Fucking hell,” he groaned, his head tipping back. “You’re better than half the girls I’ve filmed with.”

I pulled back just enough to say, “That supposed to make me feel special?”

He looked down at me with a grin. “It should.” Then he shifted his hips forward a little, his hand slipping into my hair. “Hold still,” he said. “Let me fuck your mouth a little.”

I whimpered, nodding as he gathered my hair in his fist and guided me back down. His thrusts were slow at first, controlled, testing. He pushed past my lips and onto my tongue, letting me feel every inch. I hollowed my cheeks around him, drool already sliding down my chin. The angle made my throat ache—but I didn’t care. He watched every second.

“That’s it,” he praised. “Look at me. Eyes up. Fuck—just like that.” I moaned around him, and he groaned in return, gripping my hair tighter. “You like this?” he asked. “Being used a little?”

I blinked up at him, spit trailing from my lip to the base of his cock. “Yes.”

“How filthy are you, baby?”

I swallowed him deeper before answering. “Wanna choke on it.”

He smirked, that filthy edge sharpening in his eyes. “Greedy girl.”

He held my jaw and started to fuck into my mouth harder, sloppier. My mascara was running—I could feel it—and my knees were going numb, but I didn’t care. Not when he was groaning and panting above me, thumb wiping spit from the corner of my mouth.

“Open wider,” he growled. “Let me all the way in.”

I did. He pushed in until the tip hit the back of my throat, and I gagged—but he didn’t stop. He stayed there for a second, watching the tears spill down my cheeks before pulling back with a wet, obscene pop.

“Good girl,” he breathed. “Fuck, you’re perfect.” I blinked up at him, dazed and wrecked, lips puffy and slick. “You want me to come in your mouth?” he asked.

“No.” He raised a brow. “I want more than that.” He stared at me for a beat. Then he reached down, grabbed my arm, and pulled me gently to my feet.

“Take your clothes off.”

I hesitated, chest heaving. “All of them?”

“All of them,” he said softly. “Want to see what kind of mess I’ve made.”

I peeled off my hoodie first, even though it had already been unzipped. My tank top followed, sticky with sweat. Then my skirt. Then my panties—soaked, clinging to my thighs. His eyes drank me in.

“You’re soaked.”

“You made me like this.”

He stood up—slow, deliberate—and pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth, then my neck, then lower, until he was kneeling in front of me.

“You ever squirt before?” he asked, voice low.

I swallowed hard. “No.”

He smirked. “Might today.” Then he leaned in and dragged his tongue across my inner thigh.

He didn’t go for my pussy right away. Instead, he kissed every inch around it—my thighs, the crease of my hip, the patch of skin just above my mound. His hands wrapped around my legs, holding me steady as he took his time. The anticipation had my stomach fluttering, my cunt clenching around nothing, desperate to be touched.

“Please,” I whispered, shifting.

He looked up at me from between my legs, his lips shiny with spit. “Yeah?”

I nodded, breath shaky. “I—I need—”

He slid one finger up my slit, slow as hell. “You need this?” he asked, teasing my clit with the lightest touch. “Or my mouth?”

“Both.”

He grinned. “Good answer.” Then he dove in.

His mouth latched around my clit like he’d missed it, like he owned it. His tongue flicked and sucked, alternating between slow pressure and fast strokes that made my legs tremble. I cried out, one hand gripping the back of the couch, the other tangled in his hair. He moaned against me when I tugged, and I felt it vibrate through my whole body.

“F-fuck,” I gasped. “Harry—”

“You taste so sweet,” he muttered between licks. “Could stay here all day.”

He pushed two fingers into me while his tongue kept working, curling them just right. My back arched off the couch, a moan ripping from my throat so loud I was sure the mic picked it up.

“That’s it,” he said. “Let them hear how good I’m making you feel.”

I was already on the edge, too fast, too intense—and he knew it.

“You close?” he asked, sliding his fingers faster, deeper, hitting every nerve ending I had.

I nodded, gasping. “Yes—yes—fuck, don’t stop—” He stopped. Pulled back. Fingers still inside me, but barely moving. I whimpered. “Why—”

“Cause I want you to come on my cock, not my tongue.”

“Fucking mean,” I whispered.

He smirked. “You like it.” I hated how right he was.

He stood and kicked off his sweats fully this time, leaving him completely naked—tall, lean, toned. Tattoos stretched across his chest, down his arms. His cock was heavy and thick, standing up proudly, still slick from my mouth. He grabbed a condom from the table behind him—but I stopped him with a hand on his wrist.

“Don’t,” I said softly. His eyes locked on mine.

“Are you sure?”

I nodded. “I’m clean. On the pill. I want to feel all of you.”

His jaw clenched. “Fuck, you’re gonna ruin me.”

He climbed back onto the couch, pulling me into his lap again. This time, we were both naked. Skin against skin. He lined himself up with one hand, the other gripping my waist.

“Take it slow,” he murmured. I did. I sank down on him inch by inch, gasping at the stretch, the burn, the way he filled me up so deep I thought I might break.

He kept eye contact the whole time. “Look at you,” he said. “Taking it so well.”

I whimpered when I bottomed out, thighs shaking.

“So fucking tight,” he growled. “You weren’t made for this, were you?”

I moaned. “Maybe I was made for you.” That broke something in him.

His hands gripped my hips, and he started to move—slow thrusts upward that hit just right. I rocked against him, chasing friction, rolling my hips as he fucked up into me.

“Say my name,” he ordered.

“Harry.”

“Louder.”

“Harry.”

“Tell me how it feels.”

“So fucking good,” I gasped. “You’re so deep—fuck—it’s so good.” His hand came up to my throat, not squeezing, just holding.

“You’re gonna come like this?” he asked. “Like a needy little slut in my lap?”

I nodded frantically. “Yes—please, I need it—I need to come—”

“Then come.”

I shattered. The orgasm hit like a wave, crashing through me in pulses that left me crying out his name, clinging to him, hips still rocking even as I trembled. He held me through it, whispered praise into my ear.

“Good girl,” he breathed. “So fucking good for me.” But he wasn’t done. He flipped me over onto the couch, face-down, ass up. “Not finished with you yet,” he growled.

He slid back into me easily, grabbing my hips and fucking into me hard now—rough, deep, animalistic. My cheek pressed against the cushion, mouth open as he pounded into me.

“You want it rough?” he panted. “You want to feel how hard you made me?”

“Y-yes—fuck—yes—”

He slapped my ass, hard. “Say you love it.”

“I fucking love it.”

“Say who’s fucking you.”

“Harry—Harry’s fucking me—please don’t stop—”

He leaned over me, one hand tangled in my hair, the other holding my throat as he fucked me from behind. Skin slapping, breath ragged, everything filthy and perfect.

“Gonna come on you,” he groaned. “Wanna see you dripping.”

“Yes,” I begged. “Do it—please—come on me—”

He pulled out just in time, stroking himself fast before spilling hot all over my lower back and ass, groaning through gritted teeth. I lay there, trembling, dripping, wrecked. Breathing like I’d run a marathon.

He exhaled a long breath, letting it hang in the quiet between us. The only sound now was the soft hum of the camera still rolling. The red light blinked steadily, like it had witnessed every filthy, raw second of what just happened. Harry sat back, eyes scanning over me like he wasn’t sure if he was done yet—or just trying to memorize how I looked. Wrecked. Flushed. My hair a mess. My thighs still trembling.

“Stay there a sec,” he said, voice a little rougher than before.

I blinked up at him, cheek still pressed to the couch cushion, and nodded. He disappeared for a moment and came back with a warm towel. He didn’t rush—just knelt beside me, gently wiping me clean, taking his time like he actually cared. And maybe he didn’t. Maybe he was just good at playing the part. But something about the way his fingers grazed my skin, soft and unhurried, made my chest ache.

“You okay?” he asked quietly, gaze flicking up to mine.

I nodded. “Yeah. Just… that was a lot.”

A slow grin pulled at his mouth. “Good lot or bad lot?”

“Really good.”

He handed me the towel and stood up to grab water bottles. When he tossed one to me, I caught it with shaky hands.

“You looked like you’ve done that before,” he said, sitting down beside me again—close, but not touching.

“I haven’t,” I replied, twisting the cap off. “Not like that.”

He raised a brow. “You sure?”

I smiled. “Trust me. I’d remember if someone ever made me feel like that before.” He went quiet, watching me sip.

“You ever actually plan on watching the footage?” I looked at him. At the blinking red light still recording.

“I kind of want to,” I admitted.

He nodded slowly. “I’ll show you mine… if you come back and film another one.” I stared at him, half smiling, half stunned.

“You saying that to everyone who comes through here?”

“Nope.” He leaned in just slightly, voice lower. “Just the ones who moan my name like they mean it.”

I laughed, flushed, and shook my head. “You’re dangerous.”

He smirked. “Only on camera.” I didn’t believe that for a second. But I wanted to find out.

#harry styles #harry styles fanfic #harry styles one shot #harry styles smut #harry #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fic #harry x reader #harry styles writing #harry styles x reader #pornstar!harry #masterlist

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toasttt11 · 5 months ago

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wrapping paper fiascos

summary: finding out your boyfriend can’t wrap presents as well as he has been pretending he can.

luke hughes x reader

hhh masterlist

She put the keys into the lock of their front door and walked into their apartment, she slipped her shoes off by the door and hung up her coat and scarf on the hooks and tossed her keys on the entrance way table.

She smiled softly seeing Luke sitting on the couch and he had his headphones on so she knew he didn’t hear her come home, she decided to head to their bedroom first and get changed out of her clothes.

She slipped on a pair of Luke’s huge pair of grey Devils sweatpants and one of his USA hoodies and a pair of his socks because they are the warmest and most comfortable.

She walked out do their room and down the hallway leaning on the wall looking at the living room and realizing what Luke was doing, he was wrapping presents for the holidays.

She let out a small fond quiet laugh seeing the presents not looking the absolute best but they looked adorable which was a little confusing because Luke always has really nice wrapping since she has known him for the last few years.

When she first saw his presents she was genuinely very surprised at how well he wrapped all of the presents, it wasn’t something she expected him to be good at.

She walked over leaning over the couch and leaning her chin on Luke’s shoulder making him flinch and turn around shocked and let out a sigh of relief seeing his girlfriend.

Luke took the headphones off tossing them on the table as she walked around the couch to him, Luke smiled at her fondly patting his thigh making her sit down on his thigh and one of his arms wrapping around her waist and the other tucking hair behind her, “Hi Baby.” Luke lovingly mumbled with a soft smile.

“Hi pretty boy.” She softly smiled tracing the bridge of his nose softly with her finger making him scrunch his nose at her and she leaned closer pressing a kiss to his nose.

“What are you doing?” She asked softly as she pulled away smiling at Luke’s pout.

She looked back at the table seeing a pair of Nike air force ones that are customized with a few Devils and Umich logos and a few other painted things that is all things that Jack loves, “Oo are these the shoes for J?” She asked curiously knowing Luke had been working with a small business to make a pair of shoes for Jack.

She furrowed her brows not getting an answer from Luke and turned her head seeing Luke having a shy look on his face, “What is it?” She softly asked him.

Luke pursed his lips shaking his head slightly making his curls move, “You weren’t supposed to see me doing this.” Luke sheepishly told her.

“What? Wrap presents?” She titled her head not understanding why Luke is being a little shy.

“Yeah.” Luke fiddled with her waist band, “I can’t wrap presents. You can probably tell.” Luke scoffed gesturing to the one present he finally wrapped and it doesn’t look good.

“But what about the last few years?” She softly questioned brushing back some of Luke’s curls.

Luke made a sheepish smile, “I took them to a store and got them wrapped.”

She made a realization face and nodded, “Okay so why couldn’t you use this year?” She honestly was not that surprised hearing he paid someone to wrap presents.

Luke blinked as she didn’t even mind he didn’t wrap the presents, “I couldn’t get time the last few weeks to go and now it’s really busy and a few of the stores near are closed and it was too much.” Luke sheepishly rambled, He tried to go to the store today but the line was out the door and was hours long.

She softly nodded listening to all of Luke’s words, “Okay do you now how to wrap at all?” She asked gently not being mean or teasing him but genuinely wanting to know what he knew what to do.

“Mom tried to teach me but i didn’t get it.” Luke explained with his cheeks burning.

“Well come on my love i’ll teach you.” She softly told him as she got up and sat on the floor patting the spot next to him.

Luke lips quirked up in a fond smile and slide off the couch sitting down next to her, she draped a fluffy blanket over both of their laps and grabbed a box from Luke’s pile of presents knowing it will be the easiest for him to learn.

She grabbed the wrapping paper and opening it across the coffee table and set it they box down, “Okay first of all you want to make sure you have enough paper for the gift before you cut, you can always have to much but you don’t want to little.” She softly explained to Luke.

Luke slowly nodded watching as she made sure there was enough paper before cutting it.

“Okay so i tape it here first on the bottom so it makes it easier to do the sides.” She slowly taped the wrapping paper letting Luke see everything.

“Okay?” She checked making sure not to go too fast and confuse Luke.

Luke nodded still understanding what she is saying.

“Next you want to do the sides, so fold it here and you can tape it now so it’s easy and then fold this side the same way and tape it and than flip the last piece over and tape it.” She explained as simple as possible as she slowly wrapped the one side.

“Okay you want to try this side?” She softly encouraged pushing the present closer to her making Luke let out a breath and softly nod.

Luke slowly started folding one side just like she said and took the piece of tape she had for him and started doing the other corner.

She watched with a fond smile as Luke focused intently on the present and his tongue was sticking out slightly as she focused.

Luke taped the last piece and made a surprised noise when he realized he did and it did not look half bad.

“It looks great Luke!” She proudly smiled at how well Luke did, “See you can wrap great.” She ran a gentle hand across his curls making him eagerly lean into her touch.

“All because of you.” Luke softly responded back catching her hand and pressing a kiss to her wrist.

“We’re a team.” She playfully reminded him, “We better get started on the rest.”

Luke smiled lovingly shaking his and leaned to he rucking her face and pressing his lips to her lips softly making her hum and press her self to him closer.

“I love you.” Luke mumbled against her lips, He shouldn’t even be surprised with how easily she took what he told her and how easily she taught him something he has been trying to learn for years.

“I love you.” She mumbled back pressing one more kiss to his kiss before they pulled back from each other and faced back to the coffee table starting to wrap the next present together.

“I’m just impressed you managed to hideit for so long.” She teasingly told him as she watched him finish wrapping another present.

Luke whipped his head to her playfully glaring as she giggled at him, Luke let out a small chuckle pressing a kiss to her cheek.

It was the perfect way to spend the night together, wrapping presents together by the warm fire with the christmas tree lights shining through out the living room.

Wrapping presents together felt like their future was starting for when in a few years they are wrapping their kids presents.

#ho ho hockey master list 🎄#ho ho hockey 2024 🎄#luke hughes #luke hughes blurb #luke hughes x reader #luke hughes x you #luke hughes x y/n #lh43 #nhl #nj devils #new jersey devils #nhl blurbs #nhl blurb #nhl x reader #nhl fic #nhl imagine #nhl fanfiction #nhl x y/n #nhl x you

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darsynia · 10 months ago

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Forgiven (CEO Steve/f!Reader)

MCU MASTERLIST | STEVE MASTERLIST | Ro Roll | Part II

Summary: Since dropping out of school to care for your sister, your daydream has been that a rich, handsome man will save you from drowning in debt. Until then (read: never), you’ll work hard at your new receptionist job and try not to ogle the impossibly hot construction guy working in the foyer…

Words/Warnings: 2,855 | none

As 5/7 of my Ro Roll birthday fics for @ronearoundblindly, forGIVEn is a fluffy meet cute between CEO Steve and f!Freader. Gif is by @ashilesun.

Excerpt:

“Something wrong, miss?”

You look up to see Foreman Eye Candy standing beside the desk looking gently concerned. One sandy blonde curl is plastered to his forehead with sweat, and you can see that his eyes are a gorgeous shade of blue.

From behind you, a hand lands on your shoulder with just enough pressure to guide you to your seat.

“Nothing of note, Sir, I’m sure!” your coworker says hurriedly.

“All right,” the man says, setting his left hand down on the counter. There’s no ring on his finger. ‘Sir’ Eye Candy (you’re going to hell for all of this) offers a kindly, “Have a good afternoon,” and right at that moment, both of the reception phones ring. There’s no time to process the oddness of what’s just happened, not until you’re back at home and making dinner for your sister.

“How was your hump day?” Jennie asks from the living room.

You nearly splash boiling hot water all over yourself.

FORGIVEN

“Thank God for the internship last summer!” your sister says (again).

“I do, I do,” you promise, looking at yourself critically in the grubby bathroom mirror. She doesn’t have to know you pick a new deity to mentally ‘thank’ every time. Today it’s Thor, because you need to bring electricity to your first day on the job.

You’re hoping to look professional but approachable for this customer-facing position, and it looks like the months of clothes thrifting before your internship last year are really paying off. Do you wish you could work in your field of choice? Sure, but working in the same company as a receptionist means you have both in-field and company knowledge. Once Jennie is back on her feet, you hope to be back on yours, too.

You step into the kitchen to check that everything is set up for your sister. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come back at lunch?”

“No mother hen-ing, you promised! I’ll be fine, and you’ll need your own lunch!”

Your watch beeps that it’s time to start walking to work, so you slip into your sturdy dress shoes and give the room a final once-over. Jennie’s cooler of food is near the couch, she’s got all of the remotes, and her walker is within reach. You’ve even put a pair of crutches in the umbrella stand and lashed the damned thing to the couch so she can’t knock it over. Her charger is at hand, the blinds are down, and the end table has her morning coffee on a coaster.

“Get out or I’ll start throwing things at you and you’ll be late from having to clean them up!” your sister teases.

“I love when you nag,” you tell her, shutting the door before she can retort.

Star Industries is honestly your dream workplace, even after pausing your mechanical engineering degree to take care of Jennie. After Tony Stark and his company spun it off as a subsidiary, Star really came into its own. The company has an inspiring mission: to ensure safe, affordable prosthetics for the people who really need them. Many customers are war veterans, just like the two men in charge. The COO even has one himself.

You’d filled out your paperwork after hours, so when you walk into the building, it’s a nice surprise to see how the morning light floods the lobby. The atrium of the building is made up of a multi-storey open space lit by tall windows, with the company’s logo laid out in the tile floor right as you come in the doors. The A in the word ‘STAR’ is, of course, a star, but it’s the missing ‘K’ from its parent company that catches the eye. Instead of upright, the K is laid on its ‘back.’ One stick figure’s front leg and another stick figure’s back leg make up the angled lines from the K--and they’re both wearing prosthetics.

The name badge you’re given has a smaller version of the same logo, and you can’t help but hope this isn’t the only time you’ll be representing the company. You fix it to your lapel and sit nervously at the desk beside the woman who will train you. It’s an hour before you come up for air long enough to notice there’s some renovation work going on nearby.

Honestly, ‘notice’ is embarrassingly underselling it.

The windows in the lobby are clearly designed to encourage shafts of sunlight that flood a particular area with a cheerful glow. You’ve managed to look over right when one such beam illuminates a man wearing rough work clothes, his head tipped back to drink out of a water bottle. He’s handsome as hell, with a face like Adonis and powerful muscles straining his sweat-damp t-shirt. The sunlight turns him into a golden statue, and you sure as hell would visit museums more often if the art looked like that!

Your phone rings and you answer promptly, tearing your eyes away from the construction worker just as he smiles at someone. The stammered greeting you offer to the caller could be chalked up to it being your first day, but that isn’t the reason at all.

Your first week on the job is equal parts satisfying and stressful. Satisfying because it turns out you’re a natural at taking zero shit with maximum politeness. Your stress comes from the renovations.

The work isn’t loud, and it’s not like you’re worried about safety or anything. Technically, your job isn’t affected at all… well, not because of your assigned work, that is. No, you’re the one affected, and it’s thanks to the man who seems to be in charge.

After that first day, the tarp that separated their construction from the rest of the lobby had been removed, meaning you could just look over and see him at any point throughout your day.

You’ve been rationing those glimpses for your own sanity.

Despite this, there are still details you’ve noted. One, he’s definitely the foreman. Everyone defers to the guy, but his leadership style seems to rely on trust and respect. Two, he has the most genuine smile you’ve ever seen. Paired with his looks, it’s a disastrous combination, especially given Reason Number Three: he’s an utter beast. More than once you’ve seen him moving things with ease that would take multiple other men to lift.

Today is Monday and the men were all at work before you arrive. Their project is taking shape; it appears to be a café with low counters, maybe a wheelchair-friendly gathering space? It would be on brand for the company, and certainly explains why you’ve been brought on as a second receptionist. The usual population in the lobby will certainly go up once it’s completed.

Before you sit down, you take stock of the wide welcome desk. Would anyone notice if you nudged one of the large flower pots to the left to mostly block your view of the café area? You decide to risk it. Foreman Eye Candy is a Distraction with a capital D, and you already love this job.

The morning goes smoothly--but by lunch you’re fairly certain you’ve memorized the pattern on the side of that damned pot, for as often as you’ve looked over at it.

When you come back from your break, the pot is back where it was before.

Your hands shake a little bit as you log back into your computer. Did a cleaning crew come through and adjust it? You’re not brave enough to ask the senior receptionist for fear she’ll question why it was moved in the first place. It’s probably a fluke, you decide.

Without your makeshift barrier, you find yourself looking over at the Foreman way too many times before you’re done for the day, but he’s smiled at least twice in your direction, so that’s something.

On Tuesday morning, you choose discretion as the better part of valor and scoot the pot over to obscure your view again, even taking the time to nudge its closest neighbor a little, to even up the spacing.

After lunch on Tuesday, both pots are moved back, and Eye Candy is smiling. You doubt the two are related.

On Wednesday you bring in one of those Newton’s Cradle desk toys with permission from your coworker at the desk. It’s altruistic, distracting the children when their parents show up to ask questions. Because your area is recessed a bit, you risk setting the item on a little paper sorter to make it level with the visitors’ side. Completely incidentally, that placement blocks some of your view of the café under construction.

You come back from lunch to find the shelf moved to the other side of your computer monitor.

It’s so disconcerting that you stand there staring at it in shock for a long moment, long enough to attract attention.

“Something wrong, miss?”

From behind you, a hand lands on your shoulder with just enough pressure to guide you to your seat.

“Nothing of note, Sir, I’m sure!” your coworker says hurriedly.

“How was your hump day?” Jennie asks from the living room.

You nearly splash boiling hot water all over yourself.

Chanting ‘it’s Wednesday, that’s called ‘hump day,’ there’s nothing that implies you’ve been thinking impure thoughts, pull it together!’ in your head, you answer something non-committal and continue with dinner.

That night you have a dream that Sir Eye Candy walks over and smiles at you, illuminated by one of those rays of light straight from heaven.

On Thursday you arrive at work to find the pots have all been moved farther back along the decorative part of the receptionist’s desk, much too far to move any of them without notice.

As if he’d been waiting for you to see the change, you make brief eye contact with Sir Eye Candy. He does a little nod of acknowledgment before turning to move the large sign for the café. By himself.

“Am I awake?” you whisper to yourself, unable to look away from how effortlessly he moves under heavy strain.

“Keep staring at the boss like that and the rest of his crew will never let you hear the end of it!” your front desk coworker Marcia jokes.

Your cognitive function flatlines as you try to process the word ‘boss’ while at the same time watching the man in question wipe sweat off of his brow. “It’s obvious he’s the foreman,” you mumble, dropping your phone so you have to look away to pick it up. If the screen cracks, you deserve it.

“Oh, honey, this is his side gig. Pet project. Maybe even a vacation, knowing Rogers,” Marcia chuckles.

The name ‘Rogers’ finally gets through to you, in context to ‘the boss.’ Steve Rogers.

Sir Eye Candy is CEO Eye Candy.

“Wait…”

“There it is!” Your coworker gives you the kind of look only busybody aunts and elder coworkers can pull off. “Word is his gym is closed for a few weeks, so he pulled some strings to move this project up. Nice way to start a new job, yeah?”

You’ve been ogling the CEO. “Should I put in my two weeks’ notice?” you whisper. Dismay doesn’t even cover it. You’re practically mortifie--

“I’d advise your manager not to accept,” a nearby voice says. “If anything, I probably ought to call myself into an HR meeting. I’ve been quite distracted this past week.”

It’s CEO Eye Can-- Rogers. All you can do is mutely look up at him, watching the amused look on his face turn into a stern one.

“Have you been messing with my plant display?”

It’s not at all what you were expecting him to say, and you’re still befuddled by the idea he was distracted by you, so you stammer out an admission that yes, you did move his pots.

The phone rings, and after a subtle gesture from Rogers, Marcia takes the call.

“Sir,” you begin, noting the way his posture straightens on hearing the title. You lick your lips in nervousness, and god, his eyes go straight there. HR would be having kittens.

“Go on?” Rogers’ voice is resonant. Everything about this feels like a rom-com, and you are totally worried you’ll screw it up.

“Forgive me for staring?” you offer. You’d meant to say something less obvious, but it’s too late now.

“Yes, well. I’d like to go over your conduct at a lunch meeting, if, that is, you--” he breaks off, lifts his chin, and clears his throat. “In a half hour.”

“I-- Of course--” You’ve answered too late, he’s already walking away and calling out to the crew. Stunned, you look over at Marcia. She’s grinning, but doesn’t look up, and you decide to take your cues from her.

Fifteen minutes later, the work crew wraps up. You see them file out in your peripheral vision, but if Rogers is going to play the Principal’s Office card, you’re going to play at being an obedient student.

This sends your mind on a complete irresponsible rampage, and you’re still tamping down the mental images when a gentleman in a suit walks up to the front of the desk.

Your welcoming smile is already in place when you lift your head to greet him, but it widens into surprised happiness to see that it’s Rogers. At the very last minute you stop yourself from acting like he’s picking you up for a date, even though you very much hope that’s what this is, HR be damned. Every fairytale has a villain, after all, and villains are made to be thwarted.

“Can I help you, sir?”

The word choice is deliberate.

“You can. Marcia, do you usually cover for lunch?”

“I do.”

“Good. We’ll be prompt,” he says firmly, tapping the flat of his palm on the desk with finality. You take the cue, getting up and slinging your purse over your shoulder, but inwardly your stomach is a riot of sawdust.

Are you reading this wrong? All of your teenage aspirations to be swept off of your feet by a rich, handsome man feel like lead weights at the bottom of your shoes. Steve Rogers’ reputation is sterling, and despite your less-than-angelic daydreams, you don’t want to come across like a gold-digger. Even if you are strapped for cash.

Rogers opens the door for you. The front door. The front door of his business. It’s heady and confusing, even more confusing when a slick silver car pulls up and a valet hands him the keys.

“You look like you either need sunglasses or smelling salts,” he says gently.

“A neck brace,” you quip. “For the whiplash.”

His smile is sheepish as he opens the car door for you. “That’s fair.”

The car is cinematically nice inside, and you suppress the desperate desire to pinch yourself until you wake up as he gets in and adjusts the seat for his height. He doesn’t look over at you, which your adrenaline-drunk mind can’t decide is good or bad.

Then he does, and all you can do is smile back at him.

“A confession: I cribbed some of those lines.” Rogers eases the car out into traffic and lets out a long breath. “From Bu-- a friend of mine. Advice on how to be in charge and ask out a subordinate at the same time.” He stops at a red light and shoots a look over at you. “How’d I do?”

You kind of want that neck brace, but despite the trappings, you’re really enjoying who this man is turning out to be. “That depends. Do you want me to be turned upside down and sideways?”

That earns you a look akin to the one he sent you when you’d called him ‘sir.’ You shiver, and he notices. “I don’t think you want to know what his advice might be on the answer to that question! How about ‘maybe?’”

“Maybe is good,” you manage.

“Glad to hear it. What would you like? Italian? Deli?” Rogers looks over and catches his breath like he’d forgotten his wallet. “An invite to lunch without your employment on the line? I’m sorry about that. I got--” He looks back at the road, hands tight on the steering wheel. “--carried away.”

His candid mix of charm and command are sweeping you completely off your feet, tarnished halo and all. “I don’t think I have time to phone a friend for a better answer, but is ‘maybe’ still good?”

Your sister would walk her ass to the car to smack you if she knew you’d just told the CEO of your new company you’re a ‘maybe’ for a one-on-one ‘maybe’ date with him. You suspect his friend would be facepalming, too.

“Your job isn’t on the line, I promise. I’d never misuse power like that--” He breaks off from his serious tone, looks down at his suit and the fancy car you’re both sitting in, and chuckles. “All evidence to the contrary.”

The whole situation is absurd, unrealistic, completely romantic, and everything you’ve always wanted.

You’re going to wake up any minute now.

Rogers looks over and raises his eyebrows. You realize with embarrassment that he wants you to either tell him where he can stuff his lunch invitation, or where the two of you can go eat.

“I got carried away too,” you rush to say. “Yes to lunch. No maybes in sight.”

“You’re forgiven,” he smiles.

Part 2

#steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x f!reader #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers fic #fluff #CEO AU #meet cute #captain america x reader #captain america #steve rogers #mcu #mcu fanfiction #marvel #steve rogers imagine #steve rogers x you #captain america x you #captain america x f!reader #humor

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afyrian · 10 months ago

Text

ch. 1 - grievances and clay m.list

the sun's rays permeate the shop's front window. it lingers in the room as the dust particles float throughout. you stare at the clay bowl in front of you. something about it seems off; the rim looks a little wavy, maybe there's not enough space at the bottom of the bowl. although grabbing out your measuring tape and your template don't seem to reveal either of those issues.

even when you stare intently at it, your elbows resting on your knees, hands clasped in front of you, you can't see it. it looks so different and yet so similar to that of the other bowls. biting your lip, you stuff your earbuds in and let the nearly deafening song block out everything that's distracting you.

the light construction on the front of the store, the people lining up for onigiri miya, your lousy morning when trying to park. everything culminates into a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions as you push the wheel's pedal. it spins rapidly and you can finally see what the issue is, the base of the bowl is slightly too large.

to most, it wouldn't be noticeable, especially if they only saw this one. however, you can't help but immediately wet your hands and run them up the inside and outside of the bowl. pushing in slightly, you bob your head to the music, letting your free foot tap aimlessly against the vinyl flooring.

this moment, this morning routine is the only thing keeping you together right now. even with the slip on your forehead, drops on the floor that need cleaning, and the mess on your clothes, it's the greatest thing you've ever learned to do. it's relaxing (sometimes) and gives you a chance to think things over, it's your alone time-

just as you find yourself happy with the bowl, someone's knocking at the back door. your eyebrows furrow slightly, gaze flickering to the clock. it's ten o'clock, your shipment of a new wheel was supposed to be coming. you groan slightly, shaking your head. you don't even have time to remove the bowl from the wheel as you rush for the door.

you pull out your earbuds, setting them on a nearby table. pretty much everything within the shop has dried clay on it, another deep cleaning day coming. even the door handle has spots of clay on it, more caking on as you open the door, "hello?"

"yeah, i'm here with your shipment, i've been told we need to bring it inside. this is the correct address for the pottery wheel, yes?"

"yeah it is, thank you. i almost forgot it was coming in this morning!" you try to laugh off your poor time management, your smile falling as the delivery man keeps his stubborn frown in the same space.

"okay, haru, let's get that wheel out.." he grumbles to his younger coworker, slowly walking to the back of the moving truck.

you bite your lip, taking in the fresh air. some mornings you get in at five and stay there until the end of the day. stepping outside and smelling food cooking, hearing the birds chirp, it is rather comforting. the only thing ruining it is the sound of a drill running. of customers out front raving about the reviews of onigiri miya.

blocking it out some, you look around the back area of the shops, noticing another delivery truck nearby. it's emptying out fresh veggies and stored boxes of what you assume to be meat. you narrow your eyes, not even noticing the man standing beside you. he follows your eye sight and wonders why you're staring at it, his head slightly tilted.

"everything okay?"

"oh yeah- oh.. uh yeah, just wondering what they're delivering for the new restaurant," you barely look at him, not noticing his cap and apron, his arms crossed over his chest.

“you could just ask you know,” he leans towards you slightly, giving you a smile.

only now do you give him a once over. he’s rather tall, his hair hidden from a baseball cap. some grey streaks escape from the bottom of the hat… onigiri miya’s logo embroidered into the front. your eyes open a little wider as you finally look him in his eyes. they’re grey, matching his hair and the monochrome look of his outfit. the only thing sitting out is an old rag on his shoulder.

“oh you work there?”

“i mean, you could say it, it’s my restaurant,” he shrugs his shoulders, looking back at the truck, gaze moving back towards you some, “hi, i’m miya osamu.”

your lips part slightly, a few things running through your mind. firstly, he looks quite young to be owning his own restaurant. secondly, he watched you stare down his ingredients like you’re hardcore judging him. and thirdly, he keeps looking at you like some enigma. a mystery for him to solve and understand.

part of you wants to immediately tell him off for the loud noises and long lines and the odd look. however, a frog gets caught in your throat and attacking him makes your hands sweat, “uh you are? that’s- good for you. i’m l/n y/n, i own the earthen kiln, the pottery shop. i’m surprised you’ve opened your shop before the front is finished.”

“yeah, thank you. due to the costs of improvements, i wanted to get opened quickly,” osamu looks over at you, noticing you looking at your own moving guys, them slowly bringing a large box down from the truck.

“yeah that’s.. understandable. honestly, it can be rather loud at times, the construction and all of the customers. my customers preferred the quiet pace of the last restaurant…” you take in a deep breath, not wanting to make eye contact with your new neighbor.

he nods slowly, unable to tell if you can see or not. osamu understands they’re loud, his customers can definitely hear that, but there isn’t much he can do. not until everything is finished and secure, “right, well they shouldn’t be too much longer. but i should be heading back inside to help finish cooking for the lunch rush.”

“i have a class soon as a well.. just make sure you get your customers to calm down some,” you finally get a good look at his eyes, hoping it comes across as more than just a joke, your tone trying to stay lighthearted.

“you do? well, this may help you look a little more professional,” osamu grabs the rag from his shoulder and bring it up to your forehead, wiping off the clay you had somehow gotten on there, “but of course it’s a pottery class, so that probably doesn’t matter much to them.”

you can feel your heartbeat quicken as he reaches over, his finger touching your hair and upper forehead. however, you can’t help but feel like you could’ve been more assertive. to tell him just how much you dislike the constant noise, how it worries your typical customers for the future. but for now, the joking and unusual interactions will be enough.

a/n: so much happier with this :D hopefully you guys like it taglist: @causenessus @osakis-gf @eggyrocks @brkfclub @marisabel14

@bbybibi @etoiile @miyamoratsumuu @girlokarina @gsyche

@cherrypieyourface @zephestia

#☼༄ my bisque beau #haikyuu #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu fic #haikyuu fanfic #hq #hq x reader #hq fanfic #osamu miya fluff #hq osamu #osamu miya x reader #osamu miya #miya osamu #osamu miya x y/n

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upat4amwiththemoon · 2 years ago

Text

The stars

Summary: I see my lover when I look at the stars.

Pairing: Carol Danvers x female!reader

Warnings: sexism, men, it’s the 80s, some angst

Word count: 3902

a/n: second chance romance trope, I’m so happy with this you guys!!

Tags: @thought-of-you-and-me @rafecameronswhore @natashamaximoff69

masterlists | guidelines

1985

Pancho’s bar wasn’t the fanciest place to work at as a young woman, especially because most of the customers are men from the air force. Their favorite past time besides drinking is trying to seduce Y/N, and get her number. But she isn’t interested in them, and never will be, though that’s something she’ll keep to herself. At least the constant flirting leads to good tips, which will eventually help her get out of the bar.

Y/N dries a glass with a rag now that she has some downtime. The rush time will start soon, so she wants to prepare for it to the best of her abilities. There are few regulars sitting either at a table or by the bar, but she knows they’ll let her know if they need anything, otherwise they like to quietly drink to their sorrows.

When the bell by the door rings, Y/N quickly glances at the new customers way, she only sees the air force logo on their clothes, making her roll her eyes. They’re out early today. She sets the cleans classes to their places and washes her hands, taking a deep breath, she gets ready for the onslaught of vulgar words.

“Hey, could we get two beers?”

Her head snaps up when she hears the feminine voice. Two women are standing in front of her with the air force clothes on and friendly smiles on their faces. Y/N stares at them with wide eyes for a moment. Sure every now and then women wonder into the bar, but she has never seen air force women come in.

Y/N regains her composure and grabs two beer glasses. “Sure thing! Which beers would you like?” Her customer service voice is cheery and slightly more high pitched than her normal one.

“Sierra Nevada, please.”

“Coming right up.” As Y/N moves to the taps to pour the beers, the two women start whispering and throwing looks between each other. Without Y/N noticing, the blonde woman’s gaze moves to places her eyes shouldn’t go. “Here you go.” She sets the beers in front of them.

“Thanks,” the woman glances at Y/N’s name tag, “Y/N. I’m Carol.” She hands some bills to pay for both of the drinks. “And this is Maria.” Carol states when she gets nudged to her side by the other woman.

“Nice to meet you.” Y/N says, her voice slower as she tries to figure out her intentions. Carol’s tone is similar to the multiple men who like flirt with her, though more genuine sounding, but surely that’s not what she is doing with her. “Here’s your change.”

“Keep it.” Carol winks before she and Maria go over to a table and sit down, leaving flustered Y/N at the bar.

She pockets the tip and start rearranging the dishes, trying to occupy her mind from wandering to incredibly good looking Carol.

When the clock strikes midnight, the bar is already at full swing. People are dancing to the loud music coming from the jukebox, and occasional bursts of laughter can be heard from the tables full of men, drunk men.

Y/N has been moved from behind the bar to the floor, bringing back empty classes and taking people’s drink orders. Because the other workers are men, they believe having a woman on the floor is better for business.

“Hey, sweetheart!” A drunken air force soldier shouts from a table full of them. He is waving his hand around in a come here motion. With a sigh, Y/N puts on her best smile and makes her way over to their table. “How much for a pretty girl like you to sit with us?” He waves a wad of cash in the air, his mouth formed in a grin that show his teeth. The others are staring at the two like it’s the best entertainment they’ve ever seen.

“Unfortunately I don’t have time to sit with customers. Is there anything else I could get you?” She smiles, holding a tray under her arm. She wants out of the situation, not liking the feeling of all the men’s eyes on her.

“Oh, come on, sweetheart.” The way the man says sweetheart makes Y/N want to gag. “Aren’t you supposed to do anything the customer want, eh? Besides, girls love money, don’t they?”

“I have to go help other customers, let me know if you want more drinks or something to eat.”

As Y/N goes to walk away from the table, the man grabs her arm. “Well hold on a second,” he slurs his words, “I ain’t done with you yet.”

Huffing, she glares at the man. She’s starting to get annoyed. “Listen, mister, I’m working right now, and have to attend to other customers as well.” Her voice has lost its cheery tone. “So, let me go.”

“Ooh, feisty!” One of the other man at the table comments. It makes the other laugh loudly, and enrages Y/N. She is aware this is a man’s world, but she is not going to be their entertainer.

Before Y/N can retaliate, someone else steps in to her rescue. “Hey. She said to let her go.” Carol stands next to her with her back straightened and shoulders pulled back. “So let her go.” Her voice is low, and her eyes are cold. She looks like someone you don’t want to mess around with.

“Well look at you,” the man scoffs, “it’s the wannabe soldier.” He sneers.

“Let the lady go, I’m warning you.”

“Oh, you’re warning me?” He stands up, still holding onto Y/N’s arm. All the humor has left him. “And what are you going to do about it?” He stands slightly taller than Carol, but it doesn’t seem to deter her.

The tension between the two start to grow. Y/N stands there, frozen, keeping her eyes on Carol. She doesn’t want to deal with this right now, her shift is supposed to end soon.

Suddenly, Carol raises her fist, and punches the man square in the jaw. He stumbles backwards into the chair he was sitting in, finally letting go of Y/N. “You bitch!” He shouts, wiping blood away from his lip. He goes to stand up, but before the situation escalates any further, one of the other bar workers come to escort him out.

“You okay?” Carol turns to look at Y/N once the men are out of the bar.

“Yeah,” she rubs the spot the man was holding onto, “thanks for helping.” Her mouth grows into a small smile. “That was kinda amazing.”

Grinning, Carol shrugs. “I have a things for saving pretty ladies who happen to work at this bar.”

Y/N lets out a small laugh as she shakes her head. “Okay, superhero.” Her voice is playful, but she can feel her cheeks flushing. “I have to get back to work now.”

“When do you get off?” Carol follows Y/N around while she picks up empty glasses.

“In twenty minutes.”

“I’ll walk you home,” she states, “me and Maria, I mean. You shouldn’t walk alone this late at night.”

Y/N bites the inside of her cheek. She glances at Carol, feeling warmth rush over her body when she sees the hopeful look on her face. “Alright. I’ll see you in twenty.” Giving her a smile, she returns back behind the bar.

Carol has a huge grin on her face as she stares at Y/N work. “What did I miss?” Maria walks over to her, having been occupied by beating a man’s ass in pool.

“We’re walking her home.”

Maria glances at Y/N, and nudges Carol’s side with a smirk. “You like her.”

“Maybe.”

1987

The front door of Y/N’s small, crappy apartment slams shut as she comes home from her shift at Pancho’s bar. It’s late at night, Y/N is exhausted, and she is sweaty, and she just wants to fall asleep without worrying about anything.

She throws her keys somewhere on top of the dresser she has next to her front door, and kicks her work shoes out of her feet. “Jesus!” A shout leaves out of her mouth when she turns around. Carol is standing there with a sheepish smile and a bouquet of flowers. “You scared the crap out of me.” She mumbles, holding a hand on her racing heart. “What are you doing here?”

“Sorry.” Carol sets the flowers next to Y/N’s key. “You gave me a key, so I wanted to surprise you. I didn’t remember you were working so late.” Her voice isn’t radiating the confidence it usually is. It’s softer and nervous.

The bouquet is big, it has more flowers Y/N has ever gotten before, and it’s wrapped with pink paper. “Thank you.” She smiles, picking up the bouquet and going to her so-called kitchen to put the flowers in a vase.

Carol follows her, staying close by, but still giving her space, she can see how tense Y/N’s body is. “Tough day at work?”

“Something like that.”

It turns quiet while Y/N fills a vase with water from the tap. The apartment doesn’t have any separate rooms besides the bathroom. All the kitchen appliances, a bed, small couch and a television are within reach of each other. It’s definitely not something Y/N wants to spend her whole life in, but she can survive in it, and that’s enough for now.

“How long were you waiting?” The vase gets set down to the single counter she has in the kitchen area.

Glancing at the clock, Carol hums. “Like, a couple of hours, maybe.”

“Carol,” Y/N sighs and rubs the space between her eyes, “you should’ve gone to sleep, don’t you need to be at the base tomorrow?”

“I took a day off.”

“Why would you do that?”

“To spend time with you.” The way Carol’s voice is so gentle makes Y/N want to cry after the day she has had.

Today’s shift felt ten times worse than any other shift in the past, it was full of drunk men and angry customers who genuinely believed in the fact that customer is always right, even when they aren’t. On top of that, her manager thinks the customers are more important than his employees, so he always found a way to satisfy the angry customers, which made them see Y/N as the bad guy.

“Hey,” Carol’s hands go to her cheeks, rubbing them softly, “why are you crying?”

“Sometimes I can’t handle it all.” She gets pulled into a warm embrace. “I was supposed to get out of here ages ago and see the world, but I just can’t get out of here.” Y/N sobs quietly, trying to hold herself back so she wouldn’t ruin Carol’s clothes with her tears and snot.

But Carol doesn’t care. One of her hands is rubbing Y/N’s back, while the other rests at the back of her head. She stays quiet, letting Y/N sob it all out in peace.

The two have been officially seeing each other for a while now. For the first year and a half they mostly danced around each other, both too anxious to make the first move in case they got the wrong impression, and the other person wasn’t interested in women after all. However, during that time, they became very close friends, so when Carol finally did do the first move—thanks to Maria—they moved forward pretty quickly.

Once Y/N tears start to subside, Carol whispers, “take a shower, I’ll make you a snack and ready your bed for us, okay?” Y/N nods, gives her a small peck to the cheek, and makes her way towards the bathroom.

Carol and Y/N are laying on top of each other on the bed as they watch a random movie that’s on one of the night channels. They should be asleep, but they really wanted to spend time with each other, as they don’t have a lot of opportunities to do so.

“Can i ask you something?” Y/N’s quiet voice almost goes past Carol.

“Yeah.”

“Why air force?”

“I’ve always wanted to fly.”

“Isn’t it scary?”

“No.” Carol smiles. She loves the feeling of being free in the air, having the possibility to go anywhere in the world she desires. Y/N hums quietly, not saying anything. “Why do you ask?” Carol tries to move her head in a way she’d be able to see Y/N’s face in the light coming from the television, while not disturbing her position on top of her.

“I just think it’s dangerous is all.”

“Are you worried about me?” She grins.

Y/N’s hand is resting under Carol’s shirt, tracing different shapes on her side. “Kind of hard not to be when i’m in love with you.” She whispers. The grin on Carol’s face falls at the words. She isn’t sure if she even heard her correctly, but she really hopes she did. Y/N moves her head up to see her. “I don’t want to lose you.”

The sentence assures Carol she heard correctly. “You won’t lose me, because I’ll always come back home to you. I love you.”

“Do you promise?”

“I promise.”

They kiss, both feeling the smiles on each other’s faces. Carol tightens her arms around Y/N as they pull away. She closes her eyes and listens to the soft sounds of Y/N’s breathing melting in with the sounds of the television, as they fall asleep.

1989

Y/N paces around her house, ruining her nails by biting them. Her eyes are locked on her phone. She is waiting for a call, from anyone, as long as someone calls her and tells her she is overthinking things, that Carol is okay. She has called Maria three times by now, and the air force base once, but none of the calls have been successful.

Carol was supposed to come over four hours ago, straight from work, but she hasn’t arrived yet, nor has she called Y/N to let her know she’ll be late, that’s what she usually does.

Groaning, Y/N picks up the phone and punches in Maria’s number, calling her again. “Come on, come on.” She mumbles, tapping her foot to the ground in a rapid pace. “Damn it!” The phone drops to the table with a crash, few plastic pieces flying off of it from the impact.

No one is answering.

She sits down to the couch, it creaks slightly every time someone moves on it, which had led to some uncomfortable make out sessions with Carol.

Most of her nails are already too short to bite, so she moves to the skin around her them, biting them until she bleeds. Her eyes are locked onto the muted television, desperately trying to distract herself from her thoughts. She is aware of her tendency to overthink and catastrophize things, she always thinks Carol is dead if she hasn’t called by the time she promised to, but that was never the actual situation. This is the same case. Carol isn’t dead, she just got caught up at the base. Nothing horrible has happened.

A knock on the door makes her body relax. Carol is finally here. She lets out a relieved laugh and goes to open the door, however, her face turns to a frown once she notices Maria standing behind it.

“Hey, where’s Carol?”

Maria looks tired. “Can I come inside?” As Y/N nods, she steps in and looks at the floor. “I think you should sit down.”

“Maria-“

“Please,” she looks up at her, “sit down.”

Y/N sits back down on the couch, while Maria stays standing up. She is gathering her thoughts while trying to take deep breaths. “Carol volunteered to pilot with Doctor Wendy Lawson on something important, and the plane, uhm..it-“

“Don’t you dare say it, Maria.” There are tears gathering in the corners of Y/N’s eyes. She knows where this is going, but she wishes she didn’t.

“The plane crashed.” Maria sits down next to Y/N when she starts properly crying. “They couldn’t find anyone, Carol is classified dead. I’m so sorry, Y/N. I wanted to come tell you because no one else would’ve.” No one else knows about their relationship.

Not being able to say anything, Y/N just leans against Maria, who has started crying as well. The person they both consider closest to them, is dead.

1995

It has been a week since Carol helped the Skrulls to get out of the Kree’s line of fire, which means it’s been a week since she got her memories back. Ever since then, only one thing has been in her mind, her lover.

It’s early morning as Carol and Maria drink coffee in the latter’s kitchen, Monica still sound asleep upstairs. “What happened with Y/N when I disappeared?” Carol asks, her voice quite hesitant.

Maria sets her cup down. “I’m not sure. She was obviously pretty devastated when I told her what had happened.”

“She doesn’t still work at Pancho’s, does she?”

“I don’t think so,” Maria frowns, “but Carol, I haven’t talked to her in a long time. She stopped answering my calls three years ago. I don’t know where she is, or how she’s doing.”

Sighing, Carol stands up. “I have to find her.”

Naturally, the first place Carol goes to is Y/N’s apartment, though she really hopes she won’t find her there, that she moved on and started travelling the world like she planned to.

She knocks on the door and waits. Nothing happens, so she knocks again, just in case. She’s almost ready to let out a sigh of relief, but soft sound of footsteps coming from inside the apartment stop her. As the steps grow closer, a small, selfish part of her wishes it’s Y/N who opens the door.

Somehow she feels more pain than relief when the door opens, and Y/N stands before her.

They stare at each other, both stunned by the sight in front of them. Y/N has bags under her eyes, and her hair is messy. She is wearing an old t-shirt that once belonged to Carol, her legs are bare.

She goes to slam the door closed, thinking she has finally gone mad, but Carol’s hand stops it from moving. “You aren’t real.” Y/N’s voice is shaky. Her eyes are closed, she doesn’t want to see the person standing in front of her, because it can’t possibly be Carol.

“I’m real.” Carol whispers, but Y/N only shakes her head as an answer. “I didn’t die, I was captured by Krees after we crashed.”

“You aren’t making any sense, you aren’t real.”

“Can you let me in, please?” Gently, Carol sets her hand on top of Y/N’s hand, that is still holding onto the door. The touch makes Y/N open her eyes, and turn them towards Carol. She stares at her for a long while before opening the door wider.

As Carol walks inside the familiar apartment, she looks around for any changes, but it looks exactly the same as it did six years ago. She hates it. While Carol walks deeper into the tiny apartment, Y/N stays by the front door. Her arms are crossed over her chest in a protective kind of way.

“You weren’t supposed to stay here.”

“I couldn’t leave y-“ she stops herself, “Carol.” She isn’t entirely sure if the woman in her house truly is her Carol. “What happened? Who are the Kree?”

“It’s a long story.” She has a gentle grin on her face, one that reminds Y/N so much of the way Carol used to look at her. “You might want to sit down for it.” Y/N shakes her head, staying right where she is. Carol frowns, but nods, sitting down to the couch. It still creaks anytime weight gets put on it. “Shorter version of it is: when we crashed, Dr. Lawson told me the truth about her mission before he was shot by a Kree. Before he could kill me too, I destroyed an engine, which made me absorb energy of a Tesseract, so the Kree took me with him to their planet Hala. I was integrated to their society, I had no memories of my human life. A bunch of years later, I crashed back to Earth, a lot of fighting happened, I discovered my true power and my memories, and helped the Skrulls.”

“I don’t know what any of that means.” Y/N whispers. Any time Carol used to talk about air force things with her, she felt dumb, but all of this is making her think they aren’t even speaking the same language anymore.

“I was in space, and I have powers now.”

“Like a superhero?”

Carol smiles, nodding. “Yeah, I’m a real life superhero now.”

“You already were a superhero in my eyes.”

Standing up, she takes a few tentative steps towards her. All she wants to do is hold her, kiss her, tell her she’ll never leave her again. But Carol can still see the hesitation in Y/N’s eyes, she can see the years of pain and exhaustion in her expression.

“But then you died.”

Carol stops. She’s close to Y/N, but too far away to touch her. Oh, how desperately she just wants to feel her soft skin under her palm again, even if the years without her have hardened it. “I’m here now.” She pleads with her eyes—please believe me.

“You won’t stay,” Y/N states quietly, “if you’re a hero now.”

“I can take you with me, wherever I go. I won’t leave you again. I’ll help you get out of this place.” Carol takes another few steps forward, reaching her hand towards Y/N. “Please give me another chance.”

Y/N stares at her hand. It’s more calloused than before, rougher. She grips the skin on top of her ribs tightly, trying to ground herself, she feels like ripping herself apart.

“Please.” Her voice cracks. Her eyes are wet with unshed tears. “I can’t live without you.”

Y/N grabs her hand with her own shaking one. Carol squeezes with a smile, pulling her close slow enough that Y/N can stop her if she wishes to. Once they are chest against chest, she pulls her into a full embrace. The waterworks start from the both of them the second they’re in each other’s arms. Carol letting out all of the pent up grief she wasn’t even aware she had, and Y/N still trying to grasp the reality of the situation.

“I missed you.” Y/N chokes out between her sobs. “I missed you so much.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” Carol holds onto her girl so tightly, pressing her against her body like she’d disappear if she let go. “I’m going to show you the world now, because you deserve so much better than this place. I’ll never let you go.”

Although, Y/N doesn’t trust in promises anymore, some small part inside of her sparks hope, that she’ll truly never be separated from Carol again. She’ll even go all the to the stars for her if she has to.

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sleepyisa18 · 1 year ago

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Bro, another Au, I can not take it anymore-

So, recently I saw a channel in the shorts ( in youtube of course ) of a restaurant, the idea itself is simply incredible. Why? Well..

Y/n as a masked kitsune waitress

Let me explain, kitsunes are foxes ( the obvious ) and in that restaurant ( the kitsune's are considered, in folklore, mischievous and play tricks on the humans ) the masked kitsunes ( that white with red mask of a fox you know? ) tends to go to someone ( the kitsune wears roller skates ) and steal the food the person is eating with their mouth, in the restaurant rules, while the masked kitsune is putting something in your drink ( here you can see that I don't know anything about Japanese culture, it's like a kettle with a huge funnel that comes out water, I think, the kitsunes even make cool movements when they will serve the kettle with water, in the customer's cup ) you can try to take off her mask to get a discount ( need to take off the mask completely ) but the kitsunes can move away and stop serving the kettle lol. There are also, the same kitsunes using objects to open people's drinks, I saw them using a type of card, probably sharp, objects on the table and even the roller skates they are using.

So, going back to Y/n, they work in that restaurant, I named it, Fox's Home ( simple yeah ) having worked years there, because is so fun, becoming a professional in doing their work.

So one normal day, the boys, Sun, Moon and Eclipse goes to that restaurant because of the good reviews and funny comments, they end up meeting Y/n in the most natural way in the restaurant, stealing the boys' food with their mouth, till they have stole the three boys food in different hours.

I imagine, like, Sun = stunned with love

Moon = overwhelmed with happiness and love

Eclipse = stunned too but then smirks right away.

They know it's the same kitsune because of the color of the mask ( your favorite color ) and your outfit ( your favorite color of clothing ), of course in the code of dressing of the restaurant.

Even thought, the boys can't see our face, they are already in love about how bold we are to be in the same table, 3 times.

And in the end, after talking, getting to know each other after work, the boys date Y/n.

The dressing code is, hair tied in a bun with accessories ( your preference ), a blouse underneath your kimono ( your preference of color ), a skirt (color of your choice), with a apron skirt ( the apron will have a logo of a fox mask in the side ), both will match but they have to be different colors ( soo, second favorite color ), knee-high socks (color of your choice) and ballet shoes (color of your choice), can also use sneakers.

#moondrop #fnaf #securitybreach #sundrop #eclipse #Fazbear.Co does not exist here #Too much of the same word #Kitsune

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starwanderer18 · 4 months ago

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I got bored and drew Arawn as he would be disguised in working at Las Coronas casino because he likes working there and is really good at being a blackjack dealer and player.

The earrings he wears are made by Monarch (they/them), and Arawn and Monarch worked together to style the outfit and design the mask to fit the persona of Ace. Which means that every time he goes to Las Coronas to do some info-gathering and run his usual blackjack table, he has to fully change outfits and put on makeup and a wig and different voice changer to go with the mask so his identity stays hidden.

For Ace, it's a much more androgynous- masculine look that they were looking for, and he opts out of wearing the usual vest or jacket that's part of the uniforms in favor of just wearing the shirt, pants, and suspenders. The mask and earrings, as well as the comms watch he wears all have the ace of spades on them, and the back of the earrings and the cards he uses have the aroace flag colors on them, with the Las Coronas logo.

Ace has been working at Las Coronas off and on for the last two years, and is popular for teaching first-timers how to play the game, using candy in place of money for the first couple of rounds until he's sure they understand the game. He goes easy on them unless he actually buckles down (usually when someone tries to hit on him). He also spends some time at the bar, learning how to bartend and make drinks on the side, and when Roulette needs him (mostly because an informant the Syndicate needs or wants information from has arrived), he can be the bartender in the private suite as needed and listen in.

At the end of the night, he exchanges what he's learned with Roulette and changes back into his usual costume as Arawn before heading back to the Syndicate's safe house or wherever he and Protesilaus determined they were going to meet up that night for pickup.

If another member of the Syndicate goes to Las Coronas, they pretend they have no clue who Ace is unless they've actively interacted before as Ace and whoever is visiting.

Roulette, who owns and runs Las Coronas, is genderfluid (primarily uses he/him) and a shapeshifter, and he's played as Ace a couple times when Arawn needed to take a longer break than normal, either because of customers getting on his nerves or needing to chill because he was getting overstimulated.

Hero trainees on patrol with their trainers who are visiting Las Coronas get saddled with sitting in at Ace's table, as the most responsible crew member and key information gatherer when he's working. And he can get them to divulge more information than anyone else, within five minutes of building a rapport, without the influence of alcohol or anything else other than mutual interests and piquing the other's curiosity.

Of course, because he's underage (technically speaking), he can't actually get paid, but Roulette pays him with food (usually homemade sweets like cookies or fudge) and gifts (like stuffed animals, new gold jewelry, and sometimes a piece of clothing that Arawn has been eyeing for some time, or things that relate to something Arawn is interested in). Overall, it's a mutually beneficial exchange between them, and something they agreed on early on and continually renegotiate.

Next (sibling patrol night)

#character art #drawing #drawing for fun #art #fiction writing #writing for fun #ace #my skrunkly blorbos #worldbuilding #trans masc character #bottled lightning

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customlogotents · 5 months ago

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customtentco · 9 months ago

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Showcase Your Brand with a Custom Tablecloth with Logo

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#custom tablecloth #custom tablecloth with logo #custom tablecloths #custom table covers #branded tablecloth #branded table cloths #personalized tablecloth #tablecloth with logo #custom printed tablecloth

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ahordeofwasps · 2 years ago

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Find the Word Tag

I've been tagged by the awesome @deanwax! Thanks for the tag! My words are dress, red, book, even, and odd. I'll be sharing excerpts from To Not Falling Off Cliffs!

But first, the no pressure tags! I'll be tagging @sarandipitywrites, @winterandwords, @mary-is-writing, @emelkae, and open tag! Your words are fire, flail, free, and follow!

Now, onto To Not Falling Off Cliffs!

Dress & Odd

On the other side there were two humanoids. One was a woman, and the other was a man. They had clean flawless skin. Their hair was neatly combed without a single strand out of place. The woman wore a white dress while the man wore a black turtleneck and black slacks. They both smiled as they each held a small stack of pamphlets. They both looked almost human. Almost. Their teeth, although perfectly white and straight, looked a little too sharp. Their eyes weren’t vacant, but there was an emptiness behind their stares, the kind that demanded to be filled. They were [unintelligible]. [unintelligible] usually didn’t go door to door. [unintelligible] usually found their prey in crowds, in those that walked a little too slowly as if they were lost. Some [unintelligible] hunted on the internet, using social media to find those set adrift in their life, looking for someone or something to grab a hold of. [unintelligible] were impersonal, though they did strive to make their prey feel special. [unintelligible] preferred odds set in their favour, usually working one to one only when their hooks were in their prey.

Red & Even

There were small occasions where Erika lingered truthfully, however. She stopped in the aisle with the shampoo, taking the time she normally spent pretending to read the ingredients in each bottle. Recently, Erika had noticed that her hair was turning red and was starting to become dry and chitinous. Although she liked the unexpected colour change, she disliked how she looked with a head full of chitin instead of hair. When Erika had examined her shampoo and conditioner, she discovered her shampoo was enchanted to give her the “dazzling hair of the future.” Erika did not want the hair of the future. She wanted the hair of the present. Obtaining the hair of the present proved to be difficult. Half the shampoo brands had the “hair of the future” enchantment, making Erika wonder why she hadn’t seen anyone else with chitinous hair. Of those without the enchantment, one brand had caused the death of one of Steve’s clients, two brands were currently in the midst of lawsuits due to giving their customers alchemical burns, one shampoo’s only ingredient was one whole coconut, and the rest weren’t sulphate free. Erika sighed, rubbing her temples, feeling her headache returning. What should have been simple hygiene was quickly turning into a losing battle. Erika could at least choose how badly she lost that battle. She picked up one of the shampoos with sulphates; it would make her already dry hair even drier, but at least she would be free of the chitin.

Book

At first glance, the apartment looked the same as it was when Erika last visited. There was still a bucket of crystals on the end table next to a stack of unopened cardboard boxes with facial cleansers targeted towards teens. The blue macrofibre dusting cloth was still left forgotten on the bookshelf next to a series of volumes on pigeon breeding. Beer cozies with various energy drink logos printed on them nestled mason jars filled with origami flowers were scattered about every available flat surface. Next to where Erika sat was a potted plant sitting on a cardboard box that once contained meal replacement shakes. But, as Erika examined the room further, she spotted new items among the clutter. A small box of make-up was in the bucket of crystals. A bar of soap that looked like a cupcake sat on the bookshelf, still in its original packaging. The paper petals of the origami flowers look like they were wet, and the room reeked of peppermint, with the stench being strongest next to the origami flowers. There was a plastic depiction of a zombified cat having a tea party with a ceramic frog in the soil of the potted plant.

#writing #writeblr #urban fantasy #fantasy #tag game #find the word #To Not Falling Off Cliffs #TNFOC

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eiseryn · 1 year ago

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Those Who Leave, Those Who Remain

Description: After Lei's many near death experiences in the past three days, she gets a chance to gather her thoughts a little. She reflects upon the people she thinks she's lost or might lose, and also the people she has with her now. This takes place after the epilogue of the cyberpunk CoC campaign my friends and I have been playing from Jan 2023-Oct 2023.

Word count: Approx 19k words

Warnings: Some implied suspicious /spicy things but nothing is explicit. Some swearing.

In the cheesy and trashy movies she and Gigi used to watch in the cinemas Uptown when they were bored, the couple would ride off into the sunset toward their happy ending. But there is no sunset in the Mertalline slums, let alone a sun. And in this relentlessly cruel and seemingly hopeless world, a happy ending is simply something that does not exist.

Vail drives fast and the neon-polluted city blurs to the point where Lei gets dizzy and needs to close her eyes. She presses her face to his back and holds on tightly to him as they zoom past everything. Under the many layers of his clothing, his waist is surprisingly solid with what she thinks is hard muscle.

This realization only distracts her for a few seconds. No matter how she tries to think about other things, her mind continues to drift toward Ceres. Where is she now? Is she conscious in those test tubes? Is she in any pain? But even if she asks these questions and thinks these thoughts, there is nothing that she can do.

“Where do you wanna go?” Vail’s voice pulls her out of her thoughts.

She sighs heavily. “Good question.”

She hadn’t even wanted to drink today. After resolving the war machine situation, she had wanted to see the smiles of her friends again and enjoy her evening somewhat sober. But fate, as always, has other plans.

“Silver Tongue.” She finally decides. Maybe it’s the mere exposure effect again, but she has begun to like the place, as a sort of “safe” home base. Also, she needs to return the card Maria gave her for the backroom.

After Vail parks his red bike on the street, they enter Silver Tongue together. The main colours of the bar seem to be the red of the chairs and bar seats and brown from the wooden bar and tables. Instead of harsh neon lightning, the bar is warmly lit with a more soft orange glow, although their logo is in neon red. It is still early in the evening and there are no customers except for the two of them, maybe because of how the slums were attacked not long ago. Lei enjoys this subdued and quiet atmosphere, like the calm before the storm.

The android bartender, Sebastian, is cleaning glasses at the bar. She places the card for the backroom in front of him.

Sebastian looks at her with probably programmed surprise. “Thank you. I thought we might have to get a new one.”

“I’m sorry,” she says, “I needed to leave and forgot to drop it off on my way out.”

Sebastian comments no further, but Lei can tell he doesn't quite believe her. “Is there anything you or the gentleman would like to drink today?” He asks instead.

Lei glances at Vail, who is standing beside her diligently. “One Rocky Road, no ice, and a Long Island Iced Tea, please.” She holds her credit chip out to pay.

“On it.” The bartender puts down the glass he was cleaning, and then begins to mix their drinks with practiced ease. He slides the two drinks one by one: A short square-shaped glass with dark amber liquid in it and no ice and then, her cocktail in a tall glass with a cute red straw and lemon slice.

After they have these drinks in their hand, she pulls Vail over to one of the comfy red velvet seats in the corner of the bar.

“Have you been here before?” She asks as she sinks into the plush seat. Maria and Laura, she remembers, had a conversation here just yesterday morning. So many events happened all in the span of three days it feels like a long time ago.

Vail settles into the seat beside her and nods. “Yeah, this is Rose’s favourite place for drinks.”

“Right, he was drinking here… just yesterday morning. And also in the afternoon. And also in the evening… what does he even do?”

“He’s a sniper.”

Lei scoffs a little. “A sniper? Who misses half his shots? I am no expert, but I thought that snipers were supposed to be extra skilled in shooting.”

“Really? He’s usually pretty good at his job.” Vail sounds surprised. At least Rose has one friend who believes in him.

“Unfortunately, I was unable to witness that on the mission.” Lei shakes her head. “He even had the audacity to say he had a little to drink before… ‘only a couple sips’ he said.”

“Oh yeah, he does that sometimes.”

Concerning, but alright. Lei suspects Rose might have a slight alcohol problem. Actually, she suspects Rose has a large alcohol problem and she is concerned for his liver. She’ll be pretty pissed if he keels over from alcohol poisoning before she has convinced him to speak with Ceres.

She continues on with her rant. “And he even told me that it’s “hard to fire a sniper in the darkness”. I am no expert, but if that’s a problem he should get night vision goggles.”

Vail takes a sip from his drink. “Sounds like he’s coping to me.”

Lei can only laugh. “Right? I thought so as well.” When her laugh dies off, she sighs heavily. “I should stop talking badly about him. We all survived, and that’s what matters. Maybe he really was having a bad day as he said.”

Vail nods. “Rose has been through some shit…”

She doesn’t doubt this. All of the people in their group have been test subjects to an experiment that has a high lethality rate. And as slummers, their lives must not have been easy. Rose in particular, leaving his family in the Middle district at such a young age must not have been by choice. She cannot imagine what has happened to him, but it must have been something terrible.

“But… you too, right?” She looks at him with concern.

His eyes seem to shift away a little. “Eh… it’s not so bad. I’m here right now, aren’t I?”

You’re here for now, she thinks, but how much time do you really have? Even if you agree to stay with me, how high are the chances you’ll be taken from me too?

Although caring for someone can be a beautiful thing, when you lose them, those feelings become a poison that has no antidote.

And she only has so much to lose.

She leans in closer so she can talk more quietly. “What were you busy with last night and this morning? Keeper said you were helping Lexi.”

He glances around, but no one is here to listen to their conversation. He also leans in closer so now they’re having a very private conversation — practically whispering in each other��s ears. “The Jackals told Lexi to save the innocent people who weren’t involved in the E.S. experiment at Prism HQ.”

“Prism HeadQuarters?” The words come out of her like a breathless sort of gasp.

He nods.

Her initial reaction is surprise that Tiger would provide this sort of mercy for the innocents who are simply doing as Prism tells them and have no knowledge of Prism’s true cruelty and corruption. People like Lei herself, without the kill count, of course. Tiger’s claim to have saved Lei that night in Laura’s apartment might actually have been the truth, and Tiger herself outside the Jackals might have been a kind girl whose kindness was ripped out and shredded to pieces by the corps. Lei wonders, just for a brief moment, that if things had been different, she might have been able to help Tiger and her brother.

What would it have been like? She wonders. If only she were more knowledgeable about their situation and had a voice that could reach their ears, hands that could heal their invisible wounds. If only the circumstances were a little different, maybe she could save them all. But in this life, this is only something she can speculate and something she will never be able to achieve. This happy ending they all deserve — is it something that can exist in this world? She so desperately wants to believe. But this world has crushed so many of her dreams. And yet, she will keep dreaming.

As she is thinking quietly, she remembers the person she used to know that works for Prism. Or did, to her most recent knowledge.

“Do you think you'd be able to recognize someone if I showed you a picture?” She asks, a little hesitatingly.

“Maybe.” He says with a bit of a shrug. “My memory’s not that good, though.”

She sets her gallery to “oldest-to-newest”, glad she hasn’t replaced her phone for three years. Now that she thinks about it, she hasn’t really looked at her old photos in a long time. Perhaps, she did so to forget her past that she desperately wanted to abandon, but she realizes that she abandoned Gigi with it.

The last picture she took with Gigi was a selfie in a park, where they are holding up bubble tea they picked up along the way — sesame for Gigi and matcha for Lei. They had watched a movie and did some shopping that day, and as they passed the park, they spontaneously decided to stop by. It was the spring right before she moved to the slums, and the last time she got to hang out with Gigi. Gigi had gotten busy with her promotion to an Uptown lab right after, and then Lei was demoted to the slums as well.

This picture contains the memory of the last time she saw Gigi in person, the last time she saw Gigi smile. She stares at this picture for longer than she intends to, and then remembers she needs to show it to Vail. She peeks up at him, and he seems to have been looking at her patiently all this time. She turns the screen toward him.

He looks at it for some time before shaking his head. “No, sorry. Anyone else you’re looking for?”

Her heart falls, but it is something she already suspected. After all, if Gigi was last in those salt mines where the Jackals and war machine was… It is hard to imagine Gigi having escaped, even if Lei never saw the body.

She pauses for a long time, debating if she should ask about her eldest brother. The last time she had seen him, it was for his wedding around three years ago. “My eldest brother works at Prism as well — or did the last time I saw him. I don’t have any pictures of him though.”

“What does he look like?”

Lei smiles a little bitterly, her gaze cast down to the floor, which she now sees is carefully overlaid with classy tiles that look like wood, but are clearly not wood itself. “He looks like me. He has the same hair, eye, and skin tone as me. We both look like our father.”

Vail is silent for some time. Then, he says, “I think I did see someone with eyes like yours who got out.”

Lei can’t tell if he’s lying or not. She’s not good at reading people. But since he promised to tell her truth, she will trust him.

“He’s working at HQ now? He’s been elevated from his position as a surgeon.” Lei murmurs, like she’s thinking aloud. “My…my mother must be proud…” Her voice drifts off, much quieter at the end than it had started. She continues to look at the floor, refusing to look up. She is afraid to see his expression.

As soon as the words have escaped her, she regrets bringing it up. There’s nowhere for this conversation to go and she’s left swimming in a pool of her own vulnerability. Drowning in her own pool of shame.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” There is no judgement in his voice, only curiousity.

“Maybe.” She says, and can’t help the bitter tone in her voice. “Sorry,” she sighs heavily, “I don’t have a good relationship with my family. My mother in particular, has probably disowned me. I don’t contact them anymore, but this is besides the point.”

“Don’t be sorry. You can talk about whatever you want with me.” Vail tells her.

She desperately wants to change the subject, but this topic has made her curious about his circumstances. So hesitantly, she looks up and asks, “Do you… have any family?”

He shakes his head. “Long gone. Caught in a gang turf war.”

“I’m… sorry to hear that.” Lei says quietly. That is not uncommon in the slums. She wonders if he had a good relationship with his family, and she hopes he did. This is not the place to ask, though.

“Don’t be. It happened a long time ago.” His expression seems unphased so perhaps it has been a wound that has already long been sealed — whether forcefully or not.

Even so, she places her hand over his, in attempts to be comforting. Because sometimes you don’t need words to convey your thoughts and feelings. Hers are: I am here with you.

While she’s finishing her third (and intended last) drink, the door to Silver Tongue opens and four very familiar people pour in: Zoey, Keeper, Rose, and Liam.

Since she has raised her head to look, she manages to make eye contact with all of them. Zoey’s eyes seem to kind of recognize her and Vail, but she quickly beelines for Sebastian at the bar. Liam seems to give her some sort of nod of acknowledgement before following Zoey to the bar. Keeper looks a little curiously at the two of them, tilting her head in a very cat-like manner before also going to join the others. Rose, however, seems to give them a very knowing smirk which makes Lei feel a little icky.

“Wanna go?” Vail seems to make some sort of look at Rose she can’t read, before turning to her to ask this question.

“When I finish my drink.” She’s already paid for it, after all.

Their conversation dies off a little as they watch the four of them drink. Lei is a little concerned about the rate at which Zoey is chugging bottles of vodka in a way that is definitely going to get her blackout drunk. Rose seems to be pouring Liam some sake. Keeper seems to be sipping some sort of pink fruity drink and watching the others. Lei wants very badly to pat her head, and Keeper seems to look toward her direction when she thinks this.

No, no, go back to enjoying your evening, Lei thinks toward Keeper, don’t mind me~

Keeper turns back and Lei watches Liam clink glasses with everyone and also Keeper, who seems to be a little shy about it.

I was supposed to have a drink with them and Laura, Lei thinks. But since Laura’s gone now and Liam and Rose are leaving tomorrow, those plans will have to remain forever unfulfilled. She supposes, in a way, they’re kind of getting drinks together since they’re at the same place at the same time, although on separate sides of the room. It’s a little bit of a stretch, but it is better than nothing.

“Is it a runner thing to get drinks after missions?” She asks Vail, turning back to her companion.

“Yeah of course,” Vail says, “Since every job’s dangerous, gotta celebrate when we stay alive.”

“That makes sense,” Lei sighs, “But it makes me worry for all of your livers.”

“Eh, don’t worry about us.” He says in the frustrating way he always does.

Instead of explaining that saying that makes her worry more, the alcohol in her veins makes her press her finger to his mouth. “Shush, you. Stop saying that or I’ll make you shut up another way.”

“That sounds oddly encouraging.” He smiles a little at her.

She shakes her head at him, but she’s also smiling.

Around twenty minutes later when she’s comfortably finished sipping her drink, Zoey is already very clearly plastered and now seems to be trying to get on the tables to dance. Lei hopes that someone will take her home.

“Let’s go say goodbye to them before we go and get dinner.” Lei tells Vail, who nods.

They walk over to the four of them, who seem to be enjoying their night. Or perhaps the alcohol is helping them enjoy the night.

Rose raises an eyebrow at her and Vail as they approach. “So these were your plans?” He asks, his tone a little bit teasing.

She raises an eyebrow back at him. “And you’re drinking before going on a dangerous mission? Do you always drink before going on a dangerous mission?”

“Can’t back down from a promise.” Rose gestures to the others, “the mission is future me’s problem.”

“Right…” Lei feels a little guilty about not joining them. She usually keeps her promises with people, but she didn’t expect this one to take place at the same time as when she already made plans with Vail. Technically, she thinks, they did not tell me they would be getting drinks today here, so technically I was not invited, right?

“Did you come to join us in partaking with the devil’s drink, followers?” Keeper is wondering. Keeper doesn’t appear to exhibit any drunkenness, so Lei suspects she might have been drinking mocktails. This makes her seem extra adorable to Lei. Keeper just seems so innocent and lovable, which reminds her of a certain someone…

“Sorry, Keeper…” Lei begins to say, glancing at Vail.

“We have plans, Keeper.” Vail finishes for her. “So, no, not today.”

Keeper crosses her arms. “Hmph. To think that Shadow and Envoy of Death would abandon us and sneak off elsewhere to the unknown…”

While Vail is speaking with Keeper, she turns to Liam, who is still drinking his sake.

“Doc.” Liam gives her a small and firm nod in his usual gruff voice. He seems a little calmer and more composed than she last saw him. Perhaps she should say he looks more resolute.

She nods her head back at him. “Hello Liam, hope you’re enjoying your drinks?”

He makes some sort of noncommittal, gruff sort of noise that seems very typical of him to do.

“Good thing I ran into you, Liam, I need a picture of you.” Lei says.

Liam’s mouth is set in a flat line. “Why.” His mouth is set in a line as flat as his tone of words.

Lei sighs. “To remember you in a photo where my brain might fail.”

“I don’t need people to remember me.” Liam deadpans once again.

Lei has realized Liam can be very difficult to work with, especially when it concerns his own wellbeing, health, or just any positive impacts on his life, really.

She has to be smart about manipulating his feelings, in a positive way, of course. “Well, what if it’s as payment for all those times I gave you medical attention, then?”

At least a minute seems to pass where Liam doesn’t speak and she’s forced to simply look at him. But finally, he opens his mouth again: “Only one.”

So before Liam can take those words back, Lei whips out her phone and snaps an image. Luckily, she has steady hands, so the image is clear enough. The lighting of Silver Tongue is nice too, it is not as harsh as the darkness and neon lights outside.

“Perfect, thank you~” Lei smiles, satisfied. She puts her phone back into her jacket pocket. “I guess we won’t be getting those drinks after all…”

“You look busy.” Liam says, and since Lei is looking closely, his mouth might just be quirked up with the slightest bit of amusement. Maybe he’s picked up on the fact she’s on a date, which surprises Lei, as Liam doesn’t seem to be the most perceptive of people.

“That I am.” Lei says simply, “But we can get drinks when you’re back.”

He doesn’t correct her that he might not be coming back at all this time. “Sure,” he says, “take care of my things for me.”

“I will.” Lei says, meaning it. “You take care of yourself as well.”

Liam nods, and thus their last conversation ends.

For now, she thinks. It’s their last conversation, for now.

When Lei turns her attention back to Vail, he seems to be speaking with Rose. Since she also wants to say one more (and hopefully the last) goodbye to Rose as well, she makes her way over to the two men

Rose and Vail are staring at each other in a way that makes it seem like they’re squaring off. Lei realizes that despite them calling each other buddies, she hasn't seen them interact before.

"Good luck, buddy." Rose says, giving a hearty pat on Vail’s back. It’s easy for him when Vail is shorter than him.

"I should be saying that to you." Vail answers, giving Rose a slap on the back as well.

Then they do some sort of handshake that leads into a chest-to-chest hug. They don’t say any goodbyes or “see you again”s. As runners, perhaps those things are better left unsaid.

“I feel like this is the third time I’ve said it, but take care, Rose.” Lei sighs. “We’ll see you when you’re back. With Ceres.” Because she is not a runner, she will say all the pleasantries she wants as manifestations for the future.

“Yeah, yeah, you too.” Rose says, and then his smirk returns and he pats Vail on the shoulder again, “make sure to take care of Vail.”

“Oh, I will certainly take care of Vail~ You don’t have to worry about that at all.” Lei pulls on Vail’s arm so that he’s standing beside her now. She loves that with just a gentle little tug, he already knows what she wants and does so willingly. “Now if you’ll excuse us, we have plans.”

“Yeah, yeah, enjoy your night.” Rose smiles.

“You too. Take Zoey home too, she looks like she had too much.”

On the way out the door, she catches the finger guns and wink Rose throws at Vail from the corner of her eye. She ignores this.

“You know why I like you, Vail?” Lei asks him when they’re having dinner.

He tilts his head at her. “If you put it that way, I am a little curious. Why?”

“It’s because you’re cute~” She gently boops his nose with her finger and smiles at his bewildered expression.

“Really?” His widened brown eyes are even more cute, she thinks.

“Well yes, I think you’re cute, but there’s more than that.” Lei rests her chin in her hands and gives him a little smile. “I like that even in this seemingly hopeless and cruel world where most people’s hopes are crushed time and time again, you still allow yourself to dream. That isn’t easy. It’s easier to give up and keep your head down when you’re just trying to survive day-by-day, and this is me speaking from experience”

“Ah.” He says. “To be honest, most times I don’t believe in them. I just like to imagine something better. It helps when you don’t expect anything.”

“Even so, I admire that and I love that you are a dreamer. I too, want to hope for something better for all of us, and you showed me that I am allowed to think that way.”

Especially since… you must have undergone so much pain being experimented on, and yet you allow yourself to dream. She wants to ask about this, but she doesn’t want to bring the trauma up, so she will wait until he brings it up one day. If he does at all. She is patient, she can wait.

He rubs the back of his neck a little. Is it bashfulness or something else? She hasn’t really seen this sort of reaction from him before. She hopes that she will continue to learn more about him.

She changes the topic. “What kind of dreams are you having these days? Are you still thinking of what it’s like outside the city and or slums?”

“Nah,” he says with a bit of a smile, “I promised someone I would stay here.”

Although her initial reaction is to blush, it soon fades as the words settle in and sink into the murky and dark place in her heart. “I’m sorry.”

His smile drops. “What for?”

“That we didn’t end up going to Adamawa. The Adamawa you described as a runner paradise sounded too good to be true. There’s clearly something sinister brewing there and that’s why Rose and Liam are going there. Even though you spoke well of Athena… in the end, a corp is a corp. Maybe they’ll start out as something beneficial for the runners, but corruption breeds true. In this world… I don’t believe there is such a thing as a good corp.”

Vail nods, serious. “You make some good points. I didn’t really think about that. I just thought, you know, if it were really better there, it would be nice for us.”

She nods. “I understand, after all I wanted to believe in it too when I first heard about it from you. But to be honest… after hearing about how dangerous it would be in Adamawa… I just didn’t want to lose anyone else important to me. Afterall Ceres…”

Has already been taken and is gone, Lei thinks. She tries to blink away the tears that threaten to fall out of her eyes all of the sudden.

“You know, it’s not too late,” says Vail, “I could probably still go and help Rose look for her.”

Suddenly it becomes difficult to breathe. Lei looks up at him, teary-eyed. She opens her mouth to plead for him not to go but no words come out.

“Is what I would say if I didn’t already promise you I’d stay.” Vail finishes, as if he has suddenly realized something important.

She wipes away some of the tears that have started to spill out. “Vail, I’m not sure if you understand the severity of the situation. Keeper said that even corpos have been taken, and the memory wipe has even affected CEOs. They managed to take Ceres from Paradise, which should be theoretically the safest place in this city and absolutely erase her existence from citizen records. It’s not something that can be easily solved. I want to believe in Rose and the other runners of Adamawa but…”

“We’re runners, we do all the jobs no one else wants to do or can’t do. They’ll get it done. Probably.” Vail’s tone of voice is adamant and firm, but perhaps it is because he wants to remain close to the truth he never believes in any absolutes.

Lei looks down, biting down the bitter words on the tip of her tongue, tears of frustration gathering once more. To her surprise, Vail reaches out a finger to her eyes and gently wipes them away.

“Lei,” he says gently in a tone she’s never really heard from him before, “don’t worry, we’ll figure something out.” He gently places his hand on hers.

She frowns at him and looks away, but she doesn’t pull her hand away. “You don’t have to lie to me to make me feel better.”

“I haven’t ever lied to you.” When she looks back at him, his gaze does not waver.

She raises an eyebrow at him, trying to analyze his expression, but it is truly outside her expertise and she can’t tell. “Are you sure? Slummers are great liars.”

He does not look away, his face is serious. “I already promised I wouldn’t. Just sometimes I can’t tell you the full truth. But I haven’t lied.”

She thinks about it for a bit of time, and then nods her head. “I believe you. I want to trust you, so I will.” She turns her hand over and spreads out his fingers so that she can intertwine her fingers with his.

They stay like this for some time, just enjoying each other’s presence in comforting silence.

“You’re smart, I’m sure you’ll think of something.” Vail finally continues. “Plus, Lexi and her contacts are working on something, not to mention Keeper. We’re not fighting alone in whatever this is.”

Lei sighs. “You’re right. I don’t have the time to worry when there are more important things to do. I need to start working on a better medicine for you and the others. We don’t know the long-term effects of taking Whisper and Shiver, and I’d rather not have us find out through one of you.”

“Eh, it’s fine, we’re used to it.”

“No,” Lei shakes her head. “It’s not. It may be medicine to you… but in the end, they are drugs with side effects when overused. I don’t trust the work that Prism has done… so I will be the one to create an effective treatment.”

People might say she is being unrealistic with these expectations. But if she has nothing else, she is confident in her ability to make drugs. Before she was sent into the clinic in the slums, her job focussed on research. So she simply has to return to those roots again, and she has a few ideas where she can start.

“Alright.” Vail says. “Let me know if I can help you with anything.”

Lei makes a sound of disbelief. “You’re so busy, though. I won’t bother you if it’s not necessary.”

“You’re not a bother. I can always make time for you.” His brown eyes are soft, like pools of melted chocolate. Equally sweet is his smile.

Now she definitely feels the heat creep up to her cheeks. She has to look away from his eyes. “If you answer your phone.”

He laughs a little. “When I answer my phone.”

While they’re walking to his bike after dinner, the streets are still concerningly empty. Perhaps most people are still hiding away in their homes after the attack. There do seem to be a few more people who are on the streets than before, though. As they say, the city never sleeps.

“You said I could ask you anything, right?” She asks him.

“Yeah, I did. What do you wanna know?”

“The Whisper you bought,” She whispers to him, “Is it just medicine for your condition? Or do you really have trouble sleeping?”

She already knows that both Rose and Keeper need to take Prism’s Shiver for their conditions. The Shiver Vail bought before was probably for them. He could be taking the Shiver himself, but she suspects that the Whisper is for him.

“Ah, that?” He says, “Yeah, I need to take them when I use my power a lot. I usually don’t need them.”

That explains why he hasn’t visited the Prism clinic for three months. At least, she thinks, he wasn’t getting them from someone else.

“Well,” She sighs heavily and looks down at the dirty asphalt, “I’m just glad you’re not using them to sleep. Or drugging other people with them.”

“About that…”

She immediately whips her head to look at him. “So you do have trouble sleeping?” She hopes he doesn’t mean that he is drugging people with them. Although it is ironic of her to think this way when she has done so twice herself.

“Eh…” Vail sounds unusually hesitant. “I wouldn’t say it’s that I have trouble sleeping. It’s more that I can’t fall asleep at all.”

“...” She has no words. Yet again, she has been given another piece of information that feels like cold water to her face. “Then,” she finally says after some time has passed, “How have you been getting your rest?”

“Sedatives, getting other runners to knock me out. Things like that.”

“...” Once again she has no words.

“That’s…That’s not healthy. That’s not even really sleeping but just going unconscious. Especially being physically knocked out!” She’s started to realize that Vail makes her worry about him a lot. Actually, all the people closest to her make her worry about them.

He shrugs, seemingly uncaring, or seemingly without options. “What can I do? I can’t not sleep.”

They’ve reached his red bike by now and Lei sighs heavily once again. That is another problem she’ll have to worry about as she develops a better treatment for the E.S. test subjects. There has to be something that will work on him… maybe melatonin injections or another similar hormone. Sleep after all, is one of the most important things a human body needs.

“I don’t know if those sleeping techniques are going to work anymore…” She mumbles to herself. She was thinking that he had trouble sleeping, not that he couldn't sleep at all. The teas, essential oils, massages, and lullabies don’t seem so applicable anymore.

“What was that?” Vail asks. He’s on his bike by now and is waiting for her to get on behind him.

She doesn’t reply immediately and leans forward to hug him just as she had done the day before. It only takes him another second for him to reciprocate and wrap his arms around her.

“Just talking to myself.” She tells him. After all, she still has a few more “techniques” that might help induce sleep. If nothing else, it will release some nice hormones like vasopressin, oxytocin, and serotonin or dopamine — assuming they affect his body the same way they do for others. That’s just an experiment they’ll have to conduct.

The drive to his apartment in the Middle slums doesn’t take too long. It should be an honour, Lei thinks, to be able to go to his place. It shows her that he trusts her quite a lot. But she is still a little nervous.

She holds onto his arm as they walk toward the residential building that looks identical to all the others in the area. The three drinks she’s had have all worn off by now, but she'll take any excuse to cling onto him. Whether or not he is aware of this fact, he certainly doesn't seem to mind.

“Thank you for the ride. I'll give you one later~” She is not nervous enough to not say things like these. The liquid courage in her stomach certainly helps.

"I thought you said you weren't good at driving." Vail says, clearly confused.

Am I being too subtle, or is he really bad at picking up innuendos? Lei wonders. She ends up justifying that it has been a long tiring day. She also has trouble processing information when she works overtime.

She gives him a little wink. "I'm not talking about a bike or car here."

“Ohhhh, of course.” Despite saying these words, his face tells her that he might not quite understand what she means. She’s starting to suspect that he has no experience in this regard at all.

But it’s alright, she will show him what she means. That’s a promise.

As Vail opens the door to his apartment, Lei first hears soft jingling and then very loud and adamant meowing. They quickly enter the apartment and shut the door as a small cat comes barreling toward them, screaming its lungs out. The jingling sound is coming from an ice blue collar with a silver bell on it.

The cat seems to not be fully grown, but is already quite fluffy and judging by its bushy tail, will likely be quite longhaired. Its base coat is off-white and has the darker markings around its face, paws, and tail that makes it look like a toasted marshmallow and makes it distinctly a colourpoint. Additionally, its eyes are ice blue. All in all, it looks quite like Cillin, the robotic cat she herself owns.

Vail goes to a cupboard and takes out a plastic tube of what Lei thinks is cat food. He squeezes it out into a bowl and places it in front of the cat, who has been following Vail around and meowing all the while. The cat excitedly and immediately shoves its face into the bowl, and begins to eat messily.

After slipping her boots off by the door, Lei walks over to the cat and crouches down to pet its head while it’s still eating. “When’s the last time you fed it?”

Vail seems to pause for a bit before answering. “This morning… I think?”

Well, that’s concerning. “We should get it an automatic feeder so that when we’re both busy, it’ll still get fed.”

He tilts his head at her in a confused and somewhat cat-like manner. “A what?”

Right, he seems to be bad with technology. “It’s a piece of technology that will drop food into a placed bowl at programmed times during the day. Since you're busy being a runner hero and my shifts as a doctor are at least ten hours long each, it would make sense. I like Keeper, but I don’t want her to have all the monopoly on our cat.”

The gears in Vail’s head seem to be turning, which is very slightly endearing. She wants to pat his head, maybe she would be able to hear the braincells clunking around in his skull.

She shakes her head, smiling. “Don’t worry about it, it was my idea so I will get it.”

From his position standing up, he smiles down at her. “Alright, I’ll count on you for that.”

Lei notices there’s no tag on the cat’s collar. “By the way, what’s its name?”

Vail shakes his head. “Didn’t name it yet. Since it’s your gift, I thought you’d want to name it.”

Aw, well that’s sweet. Lei scoops the cat up in her arms, who seems rather quiet and placated now that its belly is full. The cat, Lei discovers, is female, and she purrs in Lei’s arms. She seems to flop over as Lei holds her.

So cute~ Lei thinks as she uses two fingers to scratch under the cat’s furry chin. The cat closes her blue eyes and purrs even more loudly.

“Why did you pick this particular cat?” Lei asks him as they settle on the couch together. The cat is still complacent, resting peacefully in Lei’s lap, and she can feel the vibrations of the cat’s deep purrs. They both take turns patting her.

“You have a robot that looks like this. Thought you’d like the real thing.” He replies simply.

Lei is a little touched that he remembers, or cares to remember. “That I do~ But I don’t think I want to name them the same thing.”

Lei has to use all of her brain energy to think about it seriously. It sort of feels like she’s naming their child, and perhaps, it sort of is. Names cycle through her head: Whisper or Shiver? For the drug he always buys from her and sort of the reason why they met? Now that she knows what those drugs are for, it leaves a bad taste in her mouth. She could name it after insulin to match Cillin, but it doesn’t seem suitable. And she certainly doesn’t want to give the cat a human name.

“What about Meng?” She finally says. “The Chinese word for “dream”. Afterall, owning her is a dream come true for the both of us.”

He nods. “Sounds good to me.”

“Really? Are you sure? She’s our cat, so I want to make sure you like the name, too.”

He smiles at her. “Really. I’m sure.”

“Alright,” She says, resting her head on his shoulder. “If you are sure, then our cat’s name will be Meng.”

Lei then suddenly remembers that Keeper will also be a co-owner and that she should ask for Keeper’s opinion. It only takes her tired brain a few more seconds to remember that Keeper will probably give the cat a nickname no matter what. So perhaps it’s fine to not ask for Keeper’s opinion.

“She’s getting sleepy.” Vail points at the cat, whose blue eyes are starting to droop and close.

“It must be since she’s just eaten.” Lei gently slides the cat off her lap and onto the other side of the couch. She wants to make sure Meng sleeps as undisturbed as possible. Meng’s darker paws are tucked underneath her chin and her nose twitches cutely as her tail tip brushes over it.

Lei makes sure to drop her voice to just a whisper as she looks to Vail. “Can I really stay with you tonight?”

He smiles at her again. “Of course, already said you could.”

She smiles back, and then in one smooth motion, she pushes herself up from the couch and swings her knee over his thigh so that she’s straddling his lap. From her partially standing up position, she’s able to look down on him. She holds her face gently in her hands, and now her hands are glove-free, the skin-on-skin contact feels a little bit electric. “You did say that, but are you sure you won’t regret it?”

“Regret this? Never.” He’s still smiling widely, and she wants to reach out to touch his prominent, slightly-elongated canines. Maybe later, she thinks.

“I’m glad to hear that.” And then she leans down to capture his lips in a deep kiss. To her delight, he kisses back with the same passionate energy, although a little more clumsily. His hands even migrate to the small of her back, where they rest comfortably and support her position.

She only pulls away when she needs to take a breath. When she looks at his face in the dim light, she notices that she’s made him into a bit of a mess. Her red lipstick has smudged all over his lips and he’s breathing a little heavily. His cheeks are flushed a pretty pink and his pupils are dilated. She might be imagining it, but she is pretty certain she is actually sitting on a noticeable bulge now.

“Why don’t we continue this in your room and I’ll show you those techniques I talked about~” Shifting slightly, she takes one of his hands on her back and guides it toward her thigh. She presses his hand against her thigh and helps him slip a finger into her sheer thigh high socks, showing him what she wants him to do.

“Of course~ I’m looking forward to it~” He plays with the lace band. In the dim light, his brown eyes seem to sparkle.

— INSERT VERY SUSPICIOUS LINE BREAK —

When she finally wakes to consciousness again, she is afraid to open her eyes and find Vail gone from her side. She is first reassured that it wouldn’t make sense since they’re in his apartment, but then she remembers that he tends to disappear a lot. Additionally, people have been disappearing from the city in general.

But when she finally gathers up the courage to open her eyes, he is blissfully still there. His eyes are still closed and he’s breathing softly. She lets out a breath she wasn’t even aware she was holding, and then worms over to him, nestling herself close to his well-defined chest so that she can listen to his heartbeat. The steady, constant rhythm is her favourite sound in the world. It is the proof of living.

This seems to wake him up though, as he begins to stir and slowly opens his eyes. He blinks at her slowly, only opening his eyes about halfway each time.

“Did you sleep well?” She asks, and her voice comes out much more croaky and hoarse than she expects.

He nods, seemingly still sleepy, as his eyes flit between half-closed and completely closed. His arm slides over the blanket that’s covering the both of them and pulls her a little closer to him. “The best I’ve slept in a long time.”

O-oh?

“Did you?” He asks her back. His morning voice is also a little hoarse.

“I did…” Her voice drifts off and now that it’s morning, she feels a little more shy in his embrace. “Maybe because I was in your arms~”

His grip seems to tighten a little, sliding down to rest on her waist. “Then we will have to make sure that it happens more often.”

“I could say the same to you. Resting is very important for a runner hero looking out for the slums.” She places her hands on his abs and gently traces their outline.

“It sounds like we have mutual interests.” He presses a gentle kiss to her bare shoulder, which she greatly enjoys.

Both of them doze off for a little bit longer, as Lei is lulled by the comforting and consistent rise and fall of his chest, but now she’s been awake for a while, the soreness is starting to get to her.

“I need a shower.” Lei slides off the bed, picks up her underwear from the floor, and turns her head around to look back. “Care to join me? To save water and all~”

He sits up almost immediately. “Of course, you don’t need to ask me twice.”

— INSERT ANOTHER VERY SUSPICIOUS LINE BREAK —

When they are both actually clean and dressed, him in his usual black techwear, and her in his hoodie she’s borrowing, they venture in the kitchen for some much-needed food. Meng meows at them insistently as they both come out of the bathroom, clearly eagerly awaiting her morning meal.

While Vail feeds Meng, Lei peeks into his fridge, which is concerningly empty. “You don’t cook much hmm?”

“Slummers don’t cook much in general.” Vail replies. “I typically eat out.”

“It does take a lot of effort, and you do seem very busy.” She nods. “But it’s healthier. I’ll cook for you sometime. What’s your favourite meal?”

“Food in the slums generally sucks, so I can’t say I have one.”

“Well, you’re not wrong about that.” She sighs. “But maybe if you eat my cooking, you’ll change your mind~” She winks at him.

This may be just an excuse to get him to come over so that she will see him more often. But that’s her little secret.

He tilts his chin up a little and smiles. “Yeah? I’m looking forward to that then.”

“Do you prefer rice or noodles?”

“Both are fine. I’m not too picky.”

“Hopefully I can impress you with both then~”

“Oh, I’m sure you will~” He continues to smile at her, making her feel for just a moment, that things will be alright.

Between bites of an energy bar, she tells Vail of her plans today. “Elise and I are going to be setting up our clinic today. Are you free to be our muscle?”

“I’ll check if Lexi has anything she needs me to do. If not, then yes.”

Vail pulls out his phone to text and Lei notices that he types very slowly, seemingly pausing to find letters on the keyboard. Lei herself remembers she needs to ask Elise for the address, so she also sends a text to Elise.

LEI (9:34AM, Sept 21, 2332): Good morning, Elise! Where is the exact location of our clinic?

ELISE (9:36AM, Sept 21, 2332): I’m still checking on the patients in the outer slums. I’ll send you the location, but it might take me an hour and a half to get there.

Outer slums? Now that she is reminded of it, Laura’s friend Bayleaf was in one of the camps there. Even if Laura’s last words to Lei were like shards of glass that hurt something deep within her, Lei keeps her promises.

LEI (9:38AM, Sept 21, 2332): No problem. I have some business there anyways so I’ll meet you at the clinic in an hour and a half.

ELISE (9:42AM, Sept 21, 2332): See you then.

She turns her attention back to Vail, who is still looking at his phone. “What did Lexi say?”

He looks up from his phone to reply. “She said it’s fine for me to help you and Elise today.”

“Well, I need to visit one of the camps in the outer slums, so you can go help her for a bit.”

“Are we going right now?”

Lei almost nods, but then remembers Elise requested a resume from her. Elise probably was joking, but it might be funny if she actually brings something with her. However, she hasn’t been able to go back to her apartment, and she’s actually a little afraid to. So she might have to make one by hand.

“In fifteen minutes or so.” She decides.

As she pulls out her lab notebook to write a short little resume for Elise, the pages it opens on are the ones with Liam’s photos. She stares at them for some time, looking at the notes she wrote yesterday in her neat and bubbly handwriting based on the descriptions on the back of the photo.

Remembering, she thinks, is a responsibility that Liam gave me.

But she realizes, there are many more people that she wants to remember.

Lei pulls out her phone. “Vail, smile for me.”

He immediately does so. She really likes how he follows her instructions without question, as if he trusts her. As if he believes in her.

She quickly snaps an image of his smiling face. She likes his softer smiles better, the genuine ones that catch her off guard and make her feel all mushy on the inside. Fortunately, she saw some of them yesterday.

“Can we have a picture together?” Lei asks, feeling a little shy.

“You want one?”

Lei nods and with a smile as charming as she can muster, she says, “Because you’re mine now, right~?”

“Of course~” When he says things like that in that tone it makes her feel just a little weaker than she should.

“You can’t be like this with other girls, alright?” She puts her hands on her hips. “Because I do get jealous.”

“Eh, I don’t think you have to worry about that.” He smiles at her softly.

“Really?” She can’t help but smile back when he’s looking at her like that.

“Yeah,” Vail says, “I’m only like this with you. I promise.”

Looking at his face, she nods. “I trust you.”

So she goes over to his side, pulling him close to her so they’re almost cheek-to-cheek and snaps a selfie. In this image, they’re both smiling in the way she likes.

After Vail drops her off at the building, she has to walk around and ask people with the picture Laura sent her. Most people eye her with suspicion and claim they do not know, but after much effort, she eventually is sent to a room where Bayleaf is supposed to be.

She discovers the room is locked, so she knocks on the door. There is no reply, although when she presses her ear to the door, she can clearly hear the sounds of breathing and slight shuffling noises.

“Mr. Bayleaf? Laura sent me here.” Lei calls out to the closed door.

It takes a few minutes, and Lei waits patiently, but the door finally opens a little crack. The hazel-eyed man in the picture is sitting in some sort of wheelchair and he peers up at her curiously. “Who are you?” He asks.

“A doctor. Most people, including Laura, call me ‘Doc’.” Lei says simply. She doesn’t need to give her name to a stranger. “I understand I might seem suspicious, so let me play you the voice message she has for you.” After all, she doesn’t have a doctor’s coat on — as long as she can help it, she will never wear a Prism coat ever again. She’ll have to wait until she checks the clinic for any of Elise’s extras. They are approximately the same height, after all, although Elise’s clothes might be a little baggy for Lei’s very slight frame.

She swipes through her phone until the bright, almost ear-piercing voice of Laura plays out. “Hey Bay Bay~ Since your leg is all busted ‘cause of me, I sent you a doctor to look at it. You could say it’s a last gift from your girl~”

Maybe he’s trying to hide it, but Lei does notice that Bayleaf’s mouth twitches a little into what must be a smile. One he might be trying to subdue since Lei is here.

“So, may I take a look at your leg?” Lei puts her phone back into her pocket.

“I guess if she went through all the effort of sending you.” Bayleaf says, crossing his arms. “Not sure what you can do though.”

Since he’s not shooing her out, Lei opens the door and steps in so that she can properly inspect her patient. The cast proves he has already received some sort of medical attention. The only question is, how proper and how good the care was. Judging by the cast, possibly not very good.

“Did the doctor leave any notes about your leg when they treated you?” Lei has to ask.

“Doctor?” Bayleaf scoffs. “Lady, I got my buddy Jim to fix me up.”

She stares at his leg again. “Your buddy Jim is not very good at making casts. Mind if I redo his work?”

Bayleaf sighs. “Fine, since Laura sent you.”

“Mmmhmm, your girl, right?” Lei means in it a way to just try to make conversation, but she notices the slight flush of his cheeks when she says these words. She takes out her portable medical bay and lets the nanotechnology do its thing.

“Damn, nanotech?” His tone of voice suggests he’s slightly impressed, so hopefully Lei’s credibility has increased.

Lei nods. “It cost me a minor fortune, but I’d say it’s worth it. Would you mind getting on it?”

Bayleaf struggles a little, but when Lei tries to step forward to help him, he brushes her off. So she waits patiently until he’s fully settled on the table.

She takes her tools, and snips away at the shoddily-made cast. Now that she’s inspecting it, it looks like it was done in a hurry. Underneath, the flesh is horribly swollen and horribly bruised purple. She sees some stitches in, which implies “Jim” has done some surgery for Bayleaf to hopefully set the bone in place, but she is not about to open him up and check.

“You need a splint for this.” Lei sighs, and fetches the appropriate material. She makes sure the wound is clean, before applying the splint, and then starts to apply wrap his leg in preparation for the cast.

“So how did you meet Laura?” Lei asks, trying to distract him as she begins the work.

“I should be asking you that.” Bayleaf says.

“Oh, you know, how meetings go,” says Lei, “By chance.”

“You could say it’s the same for me.” Says Bayleaf.

“You’re handling this pain surprisingly well.” Lei comments.

“I’m a slummer, this is nothing.”

But Lei did see a bottle of strong painkillers on the table, so she suspects Jim hooked him up with something. She is glad, since she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to prescribe things now she’s not working for Prism.

“There,” she says, when she’s finished her work a while later. “All done.”

He stands up and hobbles back to his wheelchair. “It feels a little less painful.” He admits.

Lei nods. “Glad to hear it. Try not to take those painkillers too much, they’re opioids, very addictive. Go with an NSAID like ibuprofen or acetaminophen as soon as you can.”

Bayleaf stares at her blankly.

Lei smiles sheepishly, realizing she is used to talking to other doctors. “You know what? Just talk to Jim when you can, alright? Ask him for weaker pain meds in about five days or so.”

“Whatever you say, Doc.”

She’s about to leave, but she turns back right when she’s at the door. “Do you want the voice clip?”

Bayleaf seems to first freeze in place, and then he glares at her. “What?”

She sighs. “The voice clip of Laura. Do you want that? You can say no.”

He seems to hesitate for a bit of time. But he finally nods. “Sure.” He says simply.

So she sends it over to him: One of the last things that proved Laura was once in this city.

She shakes her head as she leaves Bayleaf’s room. See, Laura? No one told you to leave this place. You are the one who decided that yourself. And in doing so, you left some of the only people whom you formed connections with and cared for you.

Next, she goes to the camp they were at the day before, close to the Middle slums. It feels like Lexi hasn’t moved since Lei saw her yesterday afternoon. The aforementioned red-haired woman is still standing in the centre of camp, directing slummers and runners around.

“Did Liam and Rose leave already?” Then she adds an additional question, because Lexi is not the type to give extra information, if she answers the question at all. “And if they did, when did they leave?”

Lexi nods. “Early this morning.”

“I see.” Lei says.

So, that’s it, she thinks. They’re gone now. Off on a dangerous mission to Adamawa where something apparently horrible is happening. And here, we can do nothing about it except wait, and search for more information about how and why these people are disappearing, and how and why some people still remember.

She must believe that they will return. Otherwise… There is no hope at all.

“Lexi,” Lei asks, “Can I have a photo of you?”

Lexi stares at Lei. Really looks at her, and then turns back to doing her work. “Sure,” she says, simply.

It seems the slums are truly being carried upon Lexi’s back. Lei is so very glad that Lexi was not abducted, since the collapse of the slums would likely be inevitable after.

Since Lexi is very clearly busy, Lei has to take the photo from a slight angle, where Lexi is not facing the camera. The 3/4 angle she takes it in accentuates Lexi’s beauty and strength, and her red hair is like a flame that ripples behind her. She looks like the main character of those VR games people like to play in Uptown/Downtown.

Why is everyone hot? Lei sighs. It is as if everyone is blessed except for herself, which just feels a little unfair, y’know?

“Elise and I are opening a clinic, hopefully soon. So please let me know if you ever need a doctor for your work, Lexi. ” Lei says. “Especially one you need who can take shots herself.”

Lexi’s pretty lilac-coloured eyes shift to her for a second. “You and Elise should focus on saving lives. Leave that to us runners.”

That might be the longest sentence she’s said to Lei. Lei is honoured to have said something worth so many words from the Lexi who usually speaks as minimally as possible, or with actions instead.

“Sure, sure.” Lei smiles at Lexi, even if she’s not looking this way anymore. “If you have any needs for drugs, let Vail know and I’ll synthesize them for you. Or, If I can do anything else for you, please let me know.”

After Lexi nods, Lei leaves to let Lexi do her work.

She finds Keeper on the roof of the residential building, looking over the rest of the camp with her arms crossed. It wasn’t that Lei was looking for the cute little cat girl or anything, but since she was in the area anyway, she thought it wouldn’t hurt to look at someone adorable. It is to increase morale, Lei justifies.

“Envoy of death, we meet again.” Again, Keeper does not need to turn around to know who is approaching. Lei wonders if it’s because Keeper can somehow sense the brainwaves from those nearby. She can’t think of any other plausible explanation at the moment.

Lei walks up to right beside the cat-eared girl, looking down at the view as well. “Good morning, Keeper. It was nice seeing you last night~ Are you feeling better from yesterday?”

“This arbiter is as well as she could be. There is no need to worry, as this Keeper of Secrets has overcome a very minor setback.” Keeper lifts her chin up, as if she is proud of herself.

Well, she certainly sounds like how she was when Lei first met her. Although sometimes it may be a little difficult to understand the chuunibyou version of Keeper, Lei is glad because Keeper seems less in pain in this state.

“Do you want to see a picture of our cat, Keeper?”

Keeper’s bright blue eyes light up, but she turns her head away. “There is no need, when fate has allowed it, I shall meet with the beast of darkness.”

Lei shakes her head, smiling. “Let me rephrase my words: I am going to show you a picture of our cat, because I want to show her off. This is non-negotiable.”

She pulls out her phone and pulls up the gallery and holds it toward Keeper.

Keeper’s ears twitch under her hood, and finally Keeper turns her head a little toward the phone. “If my follower is insisting, then I suppose I can indulge her just this once.”

“Yes, yes, how benevolent you are~” Lei says to Keeper. In her head, she swears that she will break down Keeper’s walls in the future. She just has a strong feeling she will.

After they’ve gone through all the pictures of Meng, Lei asks, “Are people still being abducted?”

Keeper nods solemnly. “Mortals are still being consumed by the boundary as we speak. As it approached the early hour, I sensed the consuming energy coming from the skies above. The boundary of consumption still lingers. We must act soon, follower.”

Lei sighs. “We really have our work cut out for us, don’t we? I’ll have to start my work at my clinic as soon as possible and start looking into this.”

Keeper nods her head. “You will have my aid when it comes to it.”

Lei wonders if Lexi would let her borrow Keeper as an assistant for the clinic. Keeper is able to borrow both Elise and Lei’s skills, which they might need as they don’t have any other employees at the moment. Also, Lei thinks that Keeper would be excellent morale support. This is something she’ll have to ask Lexi when Elise and her have the clinic fully set up.

“Can I ask for one last thing?” Lei cannot leave until she’s obtained one more important thing.

Keeper puts her hands on her hips. “What is it that you seek from the Keeper of Secrets?”

“May I take a picture of you?” Lei holds up her phone.

Keeper shifts her arms back to being crossed. “And what is it that you would do with a mirror image of myself?”

“Didn’t you know? Seeing a cute face every day is good for your health~” Lei can’t help but tease. She isn’t really lying about this, it certainly does lift her mood when she sees cute things. Or cute people, whom she is certainly surrounded by.

“Y-your flattery does not work on a Keeper of my caliber!”

She’s even more adorable when she’s flustered, Lei thinks. She wants to tease her even more to see more of this reaction. Lei wonders if she’s blushing under the mask she wears.

“It’s not flattery~ It’s the truth~” Lei continues, giving Keeper a little wink.

“You and your mortal, silver tongue will not cause me to waver! Your insolence knows no bounds!” Keeper says, but she seems to be sputtering a bit as she hesitates to find the right words.

“I am telling the truth in that I like to see cute things everyday~” Lei says, but her smile drops a little so that she can show Keeper she’s being serious. “But the other part of the truth is that I’d like to take photos of people I’d like to remember and print them out so that they’re affected by any digital wipes… I don’t know if I’ll be affected by the memory wipe but it’s my responsibility to remember.”

Keeper seems to calm down a little and her tense folded arms relax. “So you have finally admitted the truth, follower. It is a noble responsibility you have set on your shoulders but you need not burden yourself with such trivialities.”

“It isn’t a burden at all. This is something I want to do for the people I care about or want to care about.” Lei says. “If it helps, I can offer a form of payment.”

“This keeper is beyond mortal currency and temptations.” She lifts her chin haughtily, which Lei still finds adorable. Lei finds almost everything about Keeper adorable.

“Even if it’s a shiny holographic business card?” Lei should still have some from Gigi and Elise, back in her apartment, if it hasn’t been affected. Keeper probably doesn’t have one of Gigi.

Keeper’s cat ears seem to twitch under her hood again. “Follower, you know of my mortal weakness and are causing me to toe a dangerous line.”

“I’ll even offer unlimited headpats as a bonus~” Lei adds.

“T-that is something I do not need.” She turns her head away a little.

“It’s a bonus thrown in~” Lei smiles, “No refunds. Now turn your head this way, please.”

She ends up getting the picture, although she can’t tell if Keeper is smiling under the mask or not. Maybe she’s pouting. Or maybe she’s even blushing. Only the Keeper of Secrets herself knows this little secret.

On the way to visit the black market for drug materials, Lei runs into Zoey, who seems to be holding her head in one hand, and a little bottle in the other.

Lei smiles at the blonde girl. “Oh, hello, Zoey, how are you doing? I’m glad you got home safe… you were pretty drunk last night.”

“Hey Doc,” Zoey’s voice has an underlying weak groan to it. Her high ponytail seems a little wilted, as if it is a plant that has not received enough water. “That’s why I went to get a wake up shot. I fucking hate hangovers.”

She chugs it down right after she says this, and less than a minute later, her usual energy seems to return.

“I’m okay. The slums are a mess, though.” Zoey says, now calm as ever. Lei wonders if she ever gets frazzled. “I did check my masks storage though, I have some in the Nekomata line if you still want one.”

“Anything black or white with green accents?”

Zoey shrugs. “Yeah, probably. I didn't realize before, but I have a fuck tonne of masks.”

"Uhm… that's… nice. Shall we go take a look at your mask storage?”

"Yeah, sure.”

When they go to where Zoey stores her masks, Lei realizes Zoey is not joking. The closet is almost completely filled with masks and they’re stacked up to the ceiling.

“Now where were they?” And Zoey starts to go through the stacks, one by one, in a very inefficient manner.

Lei can’t help but let out a little giggle. “Maybe next time you could set aside the ones you found.”

“Ah, good idea.” Zoey says, as she continues to rummage through the piles. “I’ll do that next time.”

While she waits, Lei inspects the room of masks closer, seeing all the assortment of shapes and colours that Zoey owns. She sees Zoey’s signature demon masks, dragon masks, bird masks, dog masks — name the animal or mythical creature and it’s probably here. She might even spot a Jackal mask, although not the exact same one the Jackals wore. “You could open a store with this many masks.”

“Funny you say that, ‘cause that’s what the store owner thought when I bought his whole stock.”

Lei is not surprised at this statement, but she does not comment.

“Found it!” Zoey pulls out a white cat mask with black and green markings. Some of the markings are even flowers. It really fits Lei’s whole aesthetic, which she greatly appreciates.

“It looks perfect~ I will take it.” Lei smiles at it, holding it up to the light to admire it better.

Since it is immune to gasses and flashes, it would be good for her when she’s working in the lab, right? Much more fashionable than a gas mask, so you could say this is a business expense.

After they make the transaction, Lei remembers that she should probably ask Zoey for a picture as well. “Can I take a photo of you?” She asks.

“Yeah, sure.” Zoey doesn’t even hesitate.

After her difficulty with Keeper, Lei is surprised how easily Zoey agrees. “You’re not even going to ask what I’m going to use it for?”

Zoey blinks at her. "Am I supposed to?"

“No… you don’t have to. I’m not going to use it for anything bad… just to… remember.”

Zoey shrugs. “You seem decent enough and Liam seems to trust you, so that’s good enough for me.”

Lei quickly snaps the photo before Zoey changes her mind — although she doesn’t seem like the type who would do that. “Thank you, Zoey.

“No need to thank me.” Zoey says. Lei’s not sure, but maybe, just maybe, Zoey’s mouth quirks up a little.

After she picks up some raw drug materials, she meets up with Vail again so that they can go to the location of the clinic together. The materials are to synthesize Whisper and Shiver for Lexi’s group. She’s decided that because her main skill is organic synthesis, she’ll make sure they don’t have to pay for the medicine they need again. Like Elise’s code of honour where she does not take money from fellow doctors, Lei’s code of honour will be that she won’t take money from Lexi’s group for these drugs they need. Well, being realistic, maybe she’ll need to ask for funds for the raw materials, as they seem to have more money than she does, but she’ll definitely do the work for free as long as she’s able.

When she sees him this time, his fingerless gloves and jacket sleeves have a few blood splatters on them. She raises an eyebrow at him, but doesn’t question it. The less I know, the better, she thinks, but she already can guess.

It doesn’t bother her as much as she thinks it would. Maybe it’s because she trusts him and she still thinks he’s a good person. After all, this world does not allow for pure and innocent people with hands that are not stained. Those who are pure and innocent, if not protected, are extinguished like a light in this world of darkness.

Elise is already there when they arrive. Clearly, she is more efficient than Lei with actual doctor work. Lei can justify that it is because Elise has six more years of experience and also does more patient care than Lei. In truth though, Lei knows she did not do that much doctoring around this morning.

Elise raises an eyebrow when the two of them walk in together. “Brought a friend, Lei?”

“Hello Elise,” Lei waves weakly, “I brought someone to help do some heavy lifting! Not... not just a friend though.”

Vail waves from beside her. “Hey, Elise.” He does not correct her.

Elise’s eyebrows rise even more. It looks like she’s caught on to the situation. “I see.” She says.

For some reason, Lei feels more nervous not seeing much of a reaction from Elise. She isn’t sure what she was expecting, but this was not it.

“Perfect,” continues Elise, “I started bringing over the equipment from the hotel, but there is plenty more that we need to fetch.”

Lei looks hopefully at Elise and can’t help but smile a little. “Did you fetch the lab cart?”

Elise nods. “It’s in the other room.”

“Why don’t you show us around first?” Lei requests. Despite everything, Lei is excited at the prospects of being able to work in a clinic/lab again. It gives her the sensation of normality after all the adrenaline-inducing things she did outside her expertise the past three days.

The clinic isn’t very big, which is expected in the Mertalline slums, but it’s a nice space. Lei has to be thankful to Tiger again. Whether or not an afterlife exists — if there is Heaven/Hell, reincarnation, or nothingness — Lei can only hope that wherever Tiger is now, she is in a better place than she was. She knows she’ll have to tell Elise about Tiger’s fate at some point, if Elise hasn’t already found out.

The main reception room has a space for their receptionist desk and chair, where they will put their computer and all the paper patient files. There’s a little room for a few chairs in case patients need to wait until they receive treatment, as well as a counter if someone really needs to lie down or if they need to administer emergency care at the door.

The reception room is attached to a hallway, which has multiple rooms. The largest room is hidden in a little alcove and Lei imagines that it will be her lab where she will be slaving away developing and synthesizing drugs. There are also two smaller rooms that are perfect for seeing patients, and two medium sized rooms where Elise already has some surgical equipment set-up. Aside from the two available washrooms, at the very end of the hallway and beside the storage room, much to Lei’s delight, is a little room where she assumes is the staff room with its own washroom. This is where she’ll force Elise to take breaks, assuming they take the same shifts. If Lei doesn’t do the scheduling herself, she feels like Elise will be stretching herself too thin.

“This is like a dream come true.” Lei says, her voice coming out a little breathless with wonder.

“It seems like a nice place.” Vail agrees.

Elise nods. “We’re very lucky to have obtained this place. It’s in a good location, too.”

When they’re back in the reception room, Lei turns to her two friends. “Vail, can you take a picture of Elise and I?”

“Of course.” Vail holds out his hand for her phone, and she makes sure the camera app is already active before handing it to him.

She walks over to Elise and places a hand on her shoulder. “Smile, Elise! We need a commemorative photo for our new clinic.”

After Vail takes the photo, Elise and Lei crowd around him to see the results.

“Vail, it’s blurry!” Lei exclaims, but she can’t help laughing.

Elise seems to be trying to hold back by covering her mouth with her hand, but it doesn’t help as giggles still escape her.

They make him take another one, laughing all the while.

When they’ve sent Vail with the car to pick up more of the equipment from Meowmare Hotel, Elise and Lei work together on moving the equipment Elise has already obtained — mostly stuff she fetched for the surgery room. Surgery might be Lei’s second-least favourite type of care, so she hopes they hire more specialists.

“So, Vail, hmm?” Elise asks with a raised eyebrow.

Lei hesitates for a little before answering. “... Yes.”

“I guess you do not need me to set you up anymore?” Elise’s slight teasing tone is back, which Lei didn’t realize she missed until she heard it again.

Lei has to look away in embarrassment. “... Please forget about that. I was very drunk. Clearly, I don’t have any cognitive functions when I have too much alcohol.”

“Apparently so.” Elise murmurs in agreement.

“You’re not going to question my choices?” Lei asks, a little surprised that Elise isn’t being more critical.

“He is not a bad person, so I have no reason to be against it,” Elise says. “As long as he is good to you and treats you well, I will support it.”

Lei smiles a little bashfully and her cheeks warm up a little. “Well then, that’s not something you have to worry about. I think he’s rather sweet.”

Elise seems to mutter under her breath something along the lines of, “we will see”. She says it so quietly that Lei is not sure. For all she knows it could have been “must make tea” or something.

“The plans I had yesterday were with him~” Lei also adds. She doesn’t need to tell Elise this, but maybe she just wants to share the joy a little. She has no other close friends to tell, after all.

Elise’s raised eyebrow returns. “Did you have a good time?”

“I had a lovely time~ Thank you for encouraging me to follow through with those plans.” Lei will spare Elise of the dirty details. She imagines Elise would not want to know. “How about you, Elise? Did you get to rest up and sleep more?”

Elise nods. “Ever since you gave me the E.S. drug, my fatigue has faded away. It’s like my body has been renewed.”

Well, that’s a little concerning, Lei thinks. Now with such a superpower, Elise may be more tempted to not take care of herself, but even a superpower has its limitations, as evidenced by the Shiver and Whisper the other test subjects need to take. But she will not regret it, never. Not when this choice saved Elise’s life. Lei will simply have to learn to deal with the consequences of these actions.

“But… you did rest and sleep, right?” Lei tries to confirm.

Elise looks away.

“Right, Elise?” Lei’s voice grows harsh in tone.

“I’m just kidding, I did.” Elise turns back and smiles cheekily. “Last night at least.”

I have my work cut out for me, Lei thinks. But she doesn’t mind that much.

When they’re cleaning up the reception room, Lei decides to ask about other employees for their clinic. After all, with just Elise and her — two people — this clinic will not be able to run. Elise had tried to shoulder everything by herself, and according to Ceres’ anecdotal evidence, was not successful.

“Elise, do you have any candidates for other employees you want to hire for our clinic?”

Elise shakes her head. “Not particularly. I could call those from my old clinic. Why do you ask?”

“I had some coworkers I liked back in Prism… if they’re still alive. I was thinking we could reach out to them… I don’t trust them as much as you and Ceres, but talking to them was bearable.” Lei says.

Elise puts down the paperwork she’s sorting behind the desk. “Who were you thinking?”

“Leon Lopez and Melissa Balm.”

“Leon…” Elise has to think for a bit. “I think I have met him before. He came to the slums only a little before you did. Based on my perception, he seems decent enough. I don’t know Melissa though.”

Lei nods, expecting something like this. “Leon is a general doctor and surgeon like you are, so I thought it would be helpful for you to have someone backing you up. To be honest, I didn’t like him when I first met him… but under his prickly surface, I think he genuinely cares about people’s health.”

“As for Melissa? She’s a synthesist like I am, and it would be nice to have an assistant, especially one who knows Prism’s recipes. She does her work competently, although we can’t have her working reception. She’s a bit like an anxious little puppy. She kind of reminds me of Ceres…”

And then suddenly she starts crying again. Even if she’s been trying not to think about it, pushing down her feelings continuously means that at some point, the pressure will build and they will suddenly explode outwards.

Elise walks toward her briskly and envelopes her into a warm hug. “It’s alright,” she murmurs, “it will be alright.”

Lei can only shake in Elise’s arms. “I miss her… I want to see her again… Ceres…”

She hears the door opening and footsteps, which she thinks is Vail, but with her face buried in Elise’s shoulder, she can’t check.

“What’s wrong?” It is Vail.

She raises her tear-streaked face up and watches him put down the Prism computer he’s carrying by the door before walking closer to the two of them. She reaches out her hand to him and he comes over. Elise shifts over to make room for him.

“You two are all I have left.” She cries as she holds on to the both of them, “Please don’t leave me too, please… please…”

But even if she is saying this to the two of them, perhaps she is begging the world not to take them away from her. She is praying, to a god she does not believe in, that no one else she loves will be taken from her.

The two of them do not say any words, but they hold her, and here in this moment, she is safe; she is loved.

When she’s calmed down a little and has wiped away her tears, she feels a little very embarrassed to have shown so much vulnerability. After all, with how the city is going to be embroiled in further chaos, she needs to remain strong. “Sorry…” She murmurs to the two of them.

Elise gently strokes her back. “Do not apologize. We will take care of each other, remember?”

Lei smiles weakly at Elise. “Thank you, Elise. I should be saying thank you instead.”

Then she dares to look at Vail’s expression. It doesn’t look angry at her at all, instead of his usual neutral and unphased expression, she might even describe his expression as worried.

“Don’t worry about me, I’m fine now.” She smiles weakly at him as well and reaches out to pat his head. Despite the layered look of his hair, it is quite soft, although it does feel a little synthetic probably from the blue dye.

“Now I kinda get what you mean about telling people not to worry.” He says, but he does lower his head a little for her to access it easier. Not that he needs to, he’s not much taller than she is.

She smiles more genuinely after. “Right? It’s frustrating.” She shakes her head. “But I feel better now, so back to business. Do you know any deckers? There’s a computer I want to get into.” Lei points at the Prism computer that he put down by the door.

Vail nods. “A few.”

“Are any of them trustworthy? Or at least, somewhat?”

Vail hesitates for a bit, as if he’s thinking that there is no such thing as a trustworthy decker in Mertalline. “Of the ones I know, Timberwolf seems to be okay. Her prices are a bit on the higher end and occasionally asks for favours instead, but she seems to keep her mouth shut.”

Lei nods slowly. “I’ll trust you, since I don’t know any other deckers. Can you try to contact her once we have the clinic fully set up?”

He nods. “Yeah, sure, no problem at all.”

“Sorry, I have to go.” Vail tells her a little while later. “Lexi needs me for something.”

“Don’t be, I understand.” Lei says. “I’ll walk out with you.”

When they’re walking out of the clinic and onto the street, she tells him, “Thank you for your help today. Not just helping us with the physical setup, but for comforting me as well.”

“Of course, it’s the least I could do.”

They’re right in front of his motorbike now so she impulsively reaches out to hug him. “Come back safely, please.”

“Of course,” he says, “I’ll bring the cat to you later.”

Despite everything, Lei still gets excited at the prospects of seeing Meng again. “Oh, sure, I’ll text you my address.”

“Don’t worry, I know where it is.”

Lei’s eyes widen. “You do? How?”

“You told me?”

She did not remember this event having ever happened. “I did? When?”

His eyes flit away. “You were drunk, around three weeks ago.”

Three weeks ago was when they last went out for drinks, and it is true she doesn’t remember the majority of the night, including how she got home. If he knows her address, it’s likely he was the one who took her home. Lei is worried about what else she might have said three weeks ago when she was apparently so drunk she’s forgotten things. But perhaps she doesn’t have to worry about it too much if he is still talking to her.

She quickly presses a kiss on his cheek before he puts on a helmet. “That’s for good luck.” She tells him.

He smiles at her. “Take care.”

She smiles back. “You too.”

She’s walking back toward the direction of the clinic, about to call the number of her favourite taxi driver, when she notices that a familiar yellow cab is parked on the street. She approaches it and peers into the window of the driver’s seat. Indeed, it is Flash who is sitting there.

What a coincidence he always shows up when I need him, Lei thinks.

“How’s my favourite taxi driver doing?” She asks him, smiling, but notices he’s looking in the direction where Vail left.

“Oh!” Flash seems a little surprised to see her. “I’m doing good.”

Something about his reaction doesn’t seem quite right for Lei. She tilts her head at him, thinking for a few seconds before something clicks.

“Did you… see that?” She asks him, a little hesitantly.

Flash seems to avert his gaze a little. “See what?”

So he did see. How embarrassing. That's definitely not something she wanted him to see, although she supposes it's her own fault for doing so in a public space. People usually don't pay attention, but perhaps Flash is not your usual person. He is certainly someone a little extra special.

“Can you pretend you didn’t see anything?” She has to look down a little, since she can’t meet his eyes right now.

“Don’t worry, I am good at doing that.” He makes an O.K. hand sign, which Lei sees from the corner of her eyes.

Good at surviving, not perceiving, and driving? Flash is a man of many talents.

“Good,” She says, looking back up again, “I actually have some errands to run and I might need a ride. Would you mind waiting around 5 minutes?

“Since it’s you, I don’t mind.” He smiles a little bit, but at this point she’s not sure if this is a genuine smile or simply one for customer service. She is assuming it’s the latter.

He’s probably just saying that because I give him a lot of business, but even Lei has to pause a little to properly process these unexpected words.

“Thank you, I appreciate it!” She jogs back into the clinic.

The reception room is empty, so Lei walks down the hall and finds Elise in one of the patient rooms, putting equipment into cupboards. She turns around as Lei shows up at the open doorway.

“Elise, could I take about an hour off to run some errands?”

“You could take the rest of the day off, we’ve already finished setting up the basics.” Elise smiles, the sort of fake lying doctor smile Lei can easily recognize.

Lei places her hands on her hips and gives Elise her best angry glare. “I know you’re still going to keep working even when I leave. So I’m coming back for you right before dinner time to make sure you eat and rest and then we can continue working together.”

After all, she wants to synthesize some more Whisper and Shiver for the group, and Sunshine to sell. Since she’s always making large batches of drugs it often takes her three hours. The day is too short for all the work she wants to accomplish in one day.

Lei continues speaking, since Elise hasn’t interrupted yet. “I promised, didn’t I? That I’d take care of you. So… I will.”

“I suppose this is the type of compromise you were talking about.” A smile seems to creep on Elise’s face. “We’re going to take care of each other.”

“Hold that face.”

Elise looks a little surprised, until she sees Lei pull out her phone.

“Become a photographer, have you?” Elise teases, her cheeky smile is back.

“Only to capture my favourite sights~” Lei teases back. “Now hold your lovely smile for me~”

Lei isn’t that familiar with the Middle slums, but luckily Flash is someone who seems very knowledgeable about the city and he is able to recommend an electronics store where they print photos.

She usually doesn’t mind sitting in silence when being driven by other taxi drivers, but it’s different with Flash. Maybe it’s because he’s saved her before, but she has really developed a fondness for him. Whether that is a good or bad thing, that is something that will only be uncovered in the future.

She decides to be direct about it. “Those cyber saints you talked about, could you possibly know Lexi’s group?”

His turquoise eyes meet hers through the rearview mirror just for a brief second before he turns his eyes back on the road. “Small world, eh?”

“Apparently so.” Lei smiles a little. “You are right about them being good people, though. You’re surprisingly well connected.”

“It’s a taxi driver thing.”

“I think it’s a Flash thing~” Lei says.

“You give me too much credit.” Flash replies.

“It’s important to give credit when credit is due~” She replies back.

“You’re always very flattering with your words, aren’t you?”

“Do you not like it?” Lei freezes in place. “I’m sorry, I can stop if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I don’t mind.” Flash says. “Just worried if other people might mind.”

“Other people such as?”

“That’s a taxi driver’s secret.”

Suspicious… Lei thinks, but she doesn’t have any words she thinks will convince him to tell her what he might mean. Besides, he has been nothing but kind and courteous to her, so unless that changes, she has no reason to doubt him.

Lei pays Flash when he pulls up to the curb beside the electronics store, but before she leaves, she makes a small little request. “I still need a ride home… so if you don’t mind waiting for another fifteen minutes or so…”

“Anything for my favourite customer~”

“You know, I’m going to be really sad if it turns out you’ve been lying and saying that to all your recurring customers.”

“Nah, only you, I promise.” Flash smiles.

Lei shouldn’t really trust the words of a man she met only four days ago, but Flash’s demeanor makes her want to believe him. So she does. She’ll deal with any consequences if they arise. All men are equal under the bullet of a gun, after all.

“I’ll be right back.” She tells him with a little wave, and then walks into the store.

The person manning the shop appears to be an android, which is good, because she doesn’t really want to talk to anyone right now. She cautiously walks over to the self-serve photo printer, avoiding the android as much as possible. The printer machine is clearly very old and rarely used, but it seems to be working, at least to her knowledge. She might have seen this type of device in her elementary school, years and years back.

While she’s waiting for the printer to process and print her photos, she goes up to the vending machine near the door, and quickly buys a can of Spirit.

“Here,” she passes Flash the ice-cold can of Spirit when she comes back outside with the photos. “Your tip for waiting.”

He smiles. “Why thank you.”

“My favourite taxi driver deserves only the best~”

“You’ve arrived.” Flash says when he’s pulled up to the curb right outside her apartment building.

“Thank you as always, Flash.” She pays him for the ride with her credit chip, and then gets out of the car and walks to the driver’s seat window.

He looks at her questioningly.

“Could you please do me a favour?” She asks him, trying to tilt her head in the innocent way Gigi had taught her before.

His blonde eyebrows furrow a little, likely in concern. “What kind of favour?”

“Hmm… alright, maybe I won’t call it a favour. What about a paid request?” She tries her best to be reassuring. She doesn't know if it’s working.

“What kind of paid request?” Flash asks again, more slowly, and his turquoise eyes still look concerned.

Lei gives up. “A picture. I’d like a picture of you.”

“... Why?” He looks even more concerned now and his eyes begin to widen a little.

“Is it wrong to want a picture of my saviour?” Lei says. “I can hang it up on my wall as my reminder to try my hardest to survive each day.”

Now he’s frowning. “I don’t think Vail would like that.”

Now it’s Lei’s turn to furrow her eyebrows. “To be honest, I don’t think he would mind. He doesn’t seem like the jealous type.”

Flash looks at her for a bit longer. “Yeah, you’re probably right. But if he kills me, my blood is on your hands."

“Didn’t you say you were a survivor?” Lei tries to be teasing, but then her smile drops a little so that she can show she’s being serious. “I really doubt he will for the purposes I’m using the picture for, but if he does, I will be the one to save your life instead~”

Flash smiles at her, or maybe smiles at her ridiculousness. “Alright, I trust you.”

So while he’s still smiling, she takes out her phone and snaps a photo. Looking at it, Flash appears rather photogenic, and not only does he have nice eyes, he has a nice smile. “Thank you, Flash, I promise I’m not going to do anything nefarious with it. I swear on the status of being your favourite customer.”

“I’m trusting you~”

“And since your taxi rides are my favourite, I will not betray that trust~” She puts her phone away and holds out her credit chip toward him. “Name your price.”

“For you? It’s free of charge.” He throws a peace sign and a wink and then immediately after, drives away.

Lei can only watch his cab disappear down the street: He is gone in a flash.

It feels a little strange to go back to her apartment after these four days. After she presses in the electronic lock, she braces herself before she steps in, expecting explosions or an intruder waiting with a gun, but she finds the place empty and untouched. This place, which used to feel like a home, no longer feels safe.

Cillin, her robotic cat, seems to be vacuuming around the living room. The battery life on it is pretty good and it is programmed to auto charge when under a certain percentage. She leaves it be. After all, now she has the real thing.

After dropping her bag and newly printed photos on the table, she goes to her bedroom to find the pictures she has of Ceres. They are thankfully still there. At least physical photos haven’t been erased. She’s put them mostly on her vanity’s mirror, so that she can see them every day when she’s doing her makeup. There aren’t that many, only a few of her select favourites, because she always thought that she’d be able to see them on her phone.

She carefully peels the tape off two of them and brings them back to the table with her.

From a special compartment of her bag, she takes out her dark green hardcover lab notebook. It is not good lab practice, but there have been a few pages ripped out these past few days for her so that she could leave notes for people. She flips to the last page she wrote in, which isn’t hard, because it is bookmarked by other objects: photos.

The photos that Liam gave her are creased and slightly faded with age. She picks them up to peer at the writing underneath, which is slightly messy but clearly written with care.

She slides the newly-taken picture of Liam beside the rest of his family. He has his visor on, and is not smiling, but that is just like how Liam has been in those three days Lei has known him. She writes a few notes down on the thick pages:

Liam: A runner of the street samurai type who has many cybernetics embedded within him. You didn’t get along with him at first, and he was probably quite tempted to kill you in the beginning, but it turns out he is quite kind at heart — to the right people. He has saved you countless times, and you have saved him some times as well. He is a man of very few words and generally very tough and stubborn and someone you would call a survivor. He has very cutely said that you were the best doctor he’s ever had. He also apparently has a darker past that he has not told you about, but you can assume that it is very bad, since he is a true slummer through and through. The person he desperately wants to protect is his brother whose name is Alba (see previous pictures). He left with Rose to Adamawa in attempts to bring his brother back, and seems to be willing to sacrifice everything for his brother. He asked you to remember his family and to take care of the only home he’s known, which is why you began writing notes about all the other people you care about or want to care about. You should thank him for that. You have also promised to get drinks with him when he gets back.

She flips the page and slides the freshly printed photo of Rose. His smile is slightly awkward and clearly forced, as if she had held him at gunpoint or something. She struggles, she really does, to think of what she should write on Rose’s page. She has too many conflicting thoughts about him: Both negative and positive, and it is difficult to decide what she should truly say. She eventually writes:

Rose: A runner who specializes in sniping, although in the mission you took with him, he missed many of his shots (apparently he was having a bad day, which may be true). He is a part of Lexi’s group. You didn’t like him at first because he was being very sketchy and mysterious and doesn’t often tell the truth. You might still not like him that much, as he can be a little frustrating. But people say that he’s a “good guy”, and sometimes you can see those qualities from him. He’s the older brother of Ceres, which everyone seems to know about except for Ceres herself. He clearly cares for Ceres, but he is unwilling to tell Ceres that he’s her brother because “it’s best that she doesn’t know”. You think this is stupid. You think Rose is just being stupid. But that is besides the point. He left with Liam to Adamawa in an attempt to bring Ceres back to Mertalline. He has some sort of precognitive ability which means he can see the future (which is subject to change) and he is also quite good at reading people, which is also something you find quite frustrating. When he comes back, you’re going to keep trying to convince him to tell Ceres. Or maybe, you could just tell Ceres yourself, that might save you a lot of energy. It might be because something horrible happened to him in childhood that took him away from Ceres and his family, so don’t push this too much. You’re still a little thankful of how much he cares about Ceres and appreciates that he did go to Adamawa in an attempt to save her… So despite all the negative things you think about him, maybe you can come to understand him better when he comes back, if he lets you.

With the next page, she starts on the people who still remain in Mertalline.

Lexi: A runner who seems to be carrying the slums on her back. She leads a group who are runner heroes of the slums, and she is quite protective of her group. Lexi in particular, is very powerful and wealthy, and you truly admire her strength and tenacity. She is a woman of very few words and often does not answer your questions directly, but this just adds to her mysterious and untouchable air of being. In the slums, there are likely very few people who do not respect her, but this is something she definitely deserves. Without her, the slums would likely be even worse than it already is, so you are glad the slums have her. You hope that you will be able to help her make the slums better in the future.

Zoey: a runner who specializes in using shotguns who seems to be a part of Lexi’s group. She is very good at her job of destroying things, but unfortunately, is not the brightest of people. This actually makes her endearing in your eyes. She has quite a negative outlook on the world and seems to have no one she truly trusts, but it doesn’t stop her from enjoying her nights out getting drinks with her runner comrades. Apparently she likes to dance, or at least, her drunken self seems to like dancing. She is close with Liam and it seems like they’ve worked together for a long time. Her personality appears to be very calm and unphased by things. On runs, she often wears a demon mask which has many practical functions, and she even sold you one of a different design from her very large assortment of masks she’s purchased. You hope that you’ll be able to get her to open up to you more, or at least, that you’ll be able to look out for her as a doctor.

Keeper: Her full name is actually “Keeper of Secrets” and her real name is actually Yunyi. She is the youngest in Lexi’s group. There are two forms to herself: A chuunibyou version who speaks in confusing ways (it’s still cute though, sometimes) as well as her original self which appears rarely and seems to cause her a lot of pain to be in. In either form, she can be a bit of a tsundere, which you find endearing. Since she has cat ear implants and is shorter than you, she has a head you enjoy patting very much, although it is a little difficult to convince her to let you sometimes. Her ability is similar to a neurolink where she can telepathically communicate with those who are connected (within 1km) as well as borrow abilities with those people. For some reason, she seems to know a lot of information but you’re not completely sure where she gets it from. But her information is quite useful, if you understand and dissect what she’s saying, which you might get used to over time. She also likes cats and co-owns a cat with you and Vail, because apparently, she has a lot of free time to spare! Since you find her very adorable, she feels like someone you would like to protect or help. You hope that she will lower her guard around you and let you pat her head and care for her more in the future.

She hasn’t technically printed out the next picture, but she’ll definitely get to it within the next few days, so she makes sure to leave a page for this person.

Flash: A kind (and very fast) taxi driver whom you met not long ago. Not only is he surprisingly charming, he is a man of many talents: driving, surviving, not sticking his head where it doesn’t belong, and seems quite knowledgeable of the city and its people. He seems to have a talent for appearing during times when you need him or times when you’re at your worst, and has even saved your life during one of those times. For that, you are forever grateful to him. Although he has said there are “cyber saints” who are even better than him, he is still a hero and good person in your eyes for saving your life. It is an honour that he calls you his favourite customer, because he is definitely your favourite taxi driver. Since you’ve grown a little fond of him, try to give him as much business as possible.

When she was printing the photos, she hesitated to print out the next person’s picture, but she decided that despite all the years they have spent apart, she cannot deny that this person was very important to her in the past. She places this picture on the next page now, and the smiling bronze-skinned, red-haired Gigi from 2 years ago looks up at her.

Gigi Legris: A pharmaceutical synthesist who worked for Prism, specifically in research. You met her in university where she was the one who approached you and you remained close friends with when you both went to the same med school, and later, when you both got hired by Prism. Specifically, you bonded with her over your mutual love of fashion, and you went shopping with her a lot both Uptown and Downtown. She loved to work out and was always telling you of her workout routines, which she worked very hard on during her days off. Although she always called you “honey” and “darling” and was generally a very sweet person, she would not take bullshit from others and had quite a fierce temper when provoked. But you admired her strength and tenacity so much. You loved her loud, booming voice, and the way she laughed without restraint. During those years in your twenties, she was truly your best friend, and someone who helped you weather the storm. She was someone you could wake up and call at night and someone who would beat people up for you. You didn’t realize it at the time, but you loved her like a sister.

In the next two pages, she slips in the picture she took of Elise smiling, as well as the image of the two of them Vail took for them in the reception room.

Elise Amaya: A general doctor and surgeon who once worked for Second Chance before opening up her clinic in the slums. You questioned why she would give up the prestige, but then when you got to know her, you realized she is very self-sacrificial. You used to put her on a pedestal where she was your ideal image of what a doctor should be, before you found out that her hands are stained just like everyone else’s. Perhaps she is so self-sacrificial because she feels immense guilt for the pain she has had a hand in during her past. You and her have now opened a clinic together, where you hope to develop regenerative stimulants (which Second Chance has the monopoly on) as well as a better treatment for the E.S. test subjects (see Lexi’s group). And of course, to hopefully save the lives of the slummers who need it. Although she is wonderful at taking care of other people, she is absolutely terrible at taking care of herself. This is why you need to try your hardest in taking care of her by forcing her to take breaks and making sure she eats and sleeps, of which she does little. She is kind and caring and a lovely person to be around, one who inspires you to be a better doctor. You would do almost anything to save her, and you have already done what you must to save her. To you, she feels like an older sister that you wished you had.

The next two pages are dedicated to Vail. Similarly to Elise, she slips in both the selfie she has with him, as well as a solo shot of Vail smiling.

Vail: A runner and formerly a patient of yours who you were concerned about for buying a large amount of drugs, he became your friend, and later, your boyfriend. You have to acknowledge that this goes against ethics, but unfortunately it’s a little too late to go back. The reason he was buying so many sedatives and brain stimulants is because he was also a Prism test subject, so you did worry for good reason. His ability involves sending people to the shadow realm, whatever that truly means. He does seem to be rather competent at his job and he is strong with nice muscles, which are all quite attractive. He seems to have trouble keeping up with technology, although he is younger than you. He is generally quite calm and seems to have very little to no worries, which you find comforting. But be warned: He tends not to answer his phone, especially when he’s on a job. He likes cats and his birthday present for you was a colourpoint cat you named Meng, although you have to share with him and Keeper as you are all busy people. You love how he can be soft, sweet, and caring, and how well he follows your requests/demands. Most importantly, you love how he’s a dreamer who can ramble about his dreams in this world where most people have stopped dreaming. You hope that he will stay by your side for a long time.

And then her final set of pictures are two of Ceres — some of the last pictures she has of her, now that all the digital photos on her phone have been wiped. One is a selfie she roped Ceres into taking one time they hung out together. Ceres looks very shy in this image, and is trying to hide behind her hair. The other is a candid of Ceres that Lei took when they went to get drinks a few months ago. She’s smiling, looking at a painting that was on the wall of the bar. Lei would pay almost any price to see this smile in person again.

Ceres Solace: Allegedly a neurosurgeon, but you have only seen her as an ambulance driver, which is something she does very well. She is shy, sweet, gentle, and absolutely adorable. She seems to stutter when she’s nervous. She likes to draw in her free time, and has a beautiful singing voice. Her height and shape of her head makes her head one of your favourites to pat, and she tends to lean in, which makes the whole experience much more heartwarming. She has almost no confidence in herself and is very fragile and seems to have no way to fight and protect herself, which makes you want to become stronger so that you can protect her from the cruelty and ruthlessness of the world you live in. She is someone you view as the younger sister you’ve never had but always wanted. She might be your favourite person in the world, and you love her unconditionally.

Right now, she has been taken from you, but you strongly believe that her brother will bring her back. And when she comes back, you will teach her how to protect herself and help her grow stronger. You will tell her of all the stories that she’s missed in the time she’s been gone, and of all the words you could not say before she was taken from you. Those words that she deserves to hear: I love you.

Remember, she writes on the margins of each page. Remember, remember. You have to remember.

She gently caresses the last three pages with her gloved finger. She’s wanted to have a family for so long, but now she realizes that perhaps these three have been her family all along — or they will be. Only, one of her sisters is not here right now.

Her lab notebook is closed shut and then carefully placed back into its appropriate storage. She’ll have to get a new lab notebook for the new research she plans on doing in her and Elise’s clinic anyways, so this one can now be a personal notebook for the memories she wants to store. It will become her personal treasured book of memories.

She strolls to the balcony window of her apartment, where she often likes to smoke. With Ceres gone, she might be tempted to start again — or perhaps, she should try harder, so that Ceres will be proud of her when she returns.

She leans onto the railing, her hands hanging over, and watches the scenery of the Mertalline slums: dark, dirty, neon-polluted, and filled with junk: The same as always.

But the person she wants to see isn’t here.

I miss you, Ceres. Lei thinks, playing with the green emerald necklace hanging from her neck — her birthday gift from Ceres. I want to see you again. I want you to be safe and by my side again.

Ceres, who used to always follow her around, has now gone to a place where Lei cannot follow.

Maybe as time passes, this sharp pain will become a dull ache, and then later a wound with a scar on it that has healed, but not really. Or maybe the pain will be healed by the panacea of Ceres returning once more.

She doesn’t know if she’ll be hit by the green gas that has been erasing the memories of those who are abducted from people’s minds, or if she’ll be able to withstand it. But it is the responsibility of those who remain to remember. To remember, and to wait, until those who have left have come home.

[AUTHOR'S NOTES]

The title “Those Who Leave, Those Who Remain” refer to two groups of people: Those who left, and those who remain.

Those who left are Rose and Liam, of course, who leave to Adamawa because something bad will happen there and they must rescue their younger siblings.

Although she does not appear in this story, technically, Laura is someone who also left, but she is a different case because she always planned to leave.

Those who remain refers mostly to Lei, but you could arguably put others in this category. The reason I didn’t say “those who stay” is because staying is a more active/conscious choice, but “remaining” implies being left over, implies more passivity and lack of choice.

Those who stay would be more of the people who chose to remain here: Zoey, Lexi, Elise, Vail.

Keeper is kind of in the “remain” category because uh she would die if she goes and we’re not putting our fave catgirl in danger.

I’m also extra proud of the fact she started to make a little photo album with things that she wants to remember ;w; Her treasured book of memories as she calls it (which again, is a callback to the set of drabbles I wrote for her called “treasure box” of memories). She realizes that their time in this world may be short, so she wants to treasure every moment she has with her loved ones and those she has grown to care about. This also relates to the central theme in this story about “remembering” which is a responsibility she now has. Perhaps, a responsibility she placed upon herself.

Thank you for reading if you've gotten this far <3

[OTHER NOTES]

Yeah... so Lei's birthday is on Sept 17 and this post-epilogue story takes place on Sept 20 and 21, three and four days after. Imagine having a relatively decently good night and then being arrested the day after XD That was Lei's life. I also made the year 2332 to make Lei's birth year 2300 since the campaign's supposed to take place sometime in the 2300s or something. She has just turned 32!

Lei really likes younger sister vibe characters. She loves doting on them so Ceres is a great example, and then Keeper now. She might get another one, Artemis, which is my next Mertalline campaign character XD unless things change I don't plan on playing Lei again cuz she has 1/2 death rolls failed. So that's dangerous. I love her so much I don't want her to die 😭

I learned as a side effect of the E.S. experiment, Vail cannot fall asleep or dream which is why he talks about dreams so much. They don't exist for him the way they do for other people 😭😭😭 Best boi frfr

He calls her by her name now which was a request from the drunk! Lei story (Vulnerability) 🥺🥺🥺 Soft hours only in this household

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, Vail was NOT getting drugs from other doctors (not cheating on her???) in those 3 months he didn't visit the Prism Clinic. That's a 11/10 right there. We love a loyal man XD

Rizz 😎

Meng is a ragdoll cat!!! Some sort of colourpoint with ice blue eyes.

Yeah so the implied suspicious activities... welp let's just pretend it's an effective sleeping strat/ way to induce sleep. He's gotta fall asleep somehow right XD

I guess her dreams kind of come true? :') She now can run a clinic with one of her friends and a doctor she looks up to. She got her mans. But her bestie and younger sister Ceres.... she is gone. So you win some and you lose some in life. (still in pain about Ceres though)

There's lots of references to the text in the campaign which you won't see unless I copy/paste (some of which will be copy/pasted) into the vis novel. So look out for it then cuz I got high attention to detail.

The first time she admitted to loving someone (remember she struggles with the idea of unconditional love) was Ceres :') I'm so pain about this

I think her dream of family did come true in form of the people she cares about like the way she imagines she'd care about for a family. Her friends she views as sisters: Elise (older) and Ceres (younger). And her significant other Vail 🥺😭😭🥺🥺. If she and Vail lives they get their children too so Y'KNOW maybe her dream is still possible BUT WHERE'S AUNTIE CERES Y'KNOW

Really proud of the last line :) I think it envokes a sensation of hope which is what I'm trying to carry forward, and what I'd like to imagine Lei would want.

Thank you again for reading this far <3

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