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acourtofwhatthefuck · 1 year ago

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Practice On Me — Part Fourteen — Azriel x Reader

Summary: Reader is readying herself for the ball. Hot Daddy Fin™️ opens up to her a little and shares some worrying truths (and then some). Azriel and Reader reunite, body and soul.

Word Count: 8.2k

Warnings: Adult content, 18+, NSFW, minors dni.

Tried my best with this part but sorry if it's a bit iffy! This girlie is ill as FUCK. Still hope you enjoy, tho, loves!

“You know, I have to admit, I was dubious at first.”

Mor is knelt at your feet, and you think this might be the closest you ever come to having a goddess on her knees before you. A strange part of you wants her to snap out and sink her teeth into your thigh, leave a bright red mark on the skin — but alas, her attention is fully on the hem of your gown.

“My uncle, love him though I do, is a calculated bastard.” She pushes to her feet, straightening out the fabric. “But I think he actually enjoys your company.”

“He does.” Roza pitches in from her place on the couch. “I know Fin. Y/N has him eating out of the palm of her hand.”

Though she smiles, her tone is laced with clear concern. Not because she cares about Fin, but because she cares about you. Doesn’t want you to forget that this is the High Lord of the Night Court you’re meddling with.

“Males are vapid and predictable, every last one of them.” You shrug your tense shoulders. “Throw them a few pretty smiles and they’ll do anything for you.”

Mor steps back, a low whistle leaving her. “Forget the males. I’ll do anything for you.”

Her eyes rake over your gown. So do Roza’s. And you…you want to crawl out of your skin and hide.

You’ve never owned a beautiful gown like this, never been able to afford one. The couple of dresses you do keep amongst your clothes are plain ones that just about do for special occasions. What hangs off your body now is…a work of art.

Almost feels like sacrilege for the beautiful fabric to touch your marred skin.

It’s sheer, showing off more than you’ve ever before dared to, and yet there’s a modesty, an elegance, to the many whorls and swirls made up entirely of little blue jewels and pearls and beads. It gives the gown a weight that makes it cling to you, and it outlines a body that…that quite frankly, you’d never considered beautiful until this very moment.

A body that commands the garment, and not the other way round. That makes you feel like far more than just another mistreated, unfavoured Illyrian female that will one day be lost to history.

This gown makes you think: I do not need the wings I have spent my life longing for.

It makes you think: There is nothing more beautiful than a good spirit and soul, and I have both.

It makes you think: Never again will anyone — friend or family or foe — make you feel less than worthy. Less than deserving. Less than strong.

You have always had strength. And this dress somehow amplifies it. Will amplify it to a room full of people who will see, through that sheer fabric, your scars, your lack of wings, and they may pity you, or not pity you at all, or may even laugh.

But you will still be beautiful.

Movement has you realising that tears have blurred your eyes. You swipe them away, and Mor is smiling at you, and Roza looks like she’s a little choked up, too.

“You are so godsdamned gorgeous.” Mor says earnestly. “Every last inch of you.”

Indeed, you glance over your shoulder at the mirror behind you, your gaze immediately finding your scars sitting brutal and undeniable beneath the sheer fabric. You don’t hurriedly force your gaze away like you have done your whole life, don’t try to avoid them.

You just…look. Look at what has been a part of you for so long, now.

“…Mor?” Roza says quietly. “Can you…give Y/N and I a moment?”

“Of course.” Mor agrees. “Time for me to find a snack.”

The stunning blonde squeezes your hand as she strolls past, and as she leaves the room, the door is pulled shut behind her.

Roza rises from her seat, making her way over to you. And as she stops before you, her hands move up to cup your face.

“Did you know,” she murmurs, “that I’ve always thought you were one of the prettiest females in all of Windhaven?” A soft scoff leaves you, but before you can glance down, she’s holding your face firmly. “I mean that — even when Azriel brought you to the cottage that very first time, and you were covered in dirt and mud, your hair all knotted, a leaf or two in there — you thanked me for feeding you, and you gave me a smile that was just like…sunshine. Such a rare thing in Windhaven. I remember thinking, this girl deserves to smile like that, always.”

A single tear spills down your cheek, and Roza wipes it away. She definitely looks like she might start bawling, too — a rare thing for her.

“I know you were never given much of a chance to feel worthy.” She whispers. “Your mother abandoning you…your father taking your wings…they were the two people who were supposed to love you more than anyone, and they broke you and left you broken.”

“You put me back together.” A lump in your throat fractures your words. “You and Rhys and Azriel and Cassian. Your love—”

“My little dove, you put yourself back together. We just loved you through it. I just want you to know that…I just want you to remember, the next time you feel worthless, that you are beautiful, and you have always been beautiful. You’re strong, and spirited, and determined. You have a resolve like no other I have ever seen, and you can do anything — which is why I know you will achieve whatever it is you’re planning with Fin.”

Only then does your gaze drop. “I only wish to appeal myself to him enough that he’ll value my opinion — that this Fenlaros business cannot go ahead. But I still feel awful…he’s your mate.”

“Gods, in the loosest definition, Y/N.” Her hands move to yours, then, liking them together. “Believe me when I say that if it weren’t for my children, I’d never see that male again. I think you know that I do not hold him in high regard.”

“I do know. But I respect you and care about you more than anyone in the world. And if you feel even a shred of discomfort about what I’m doing, I’ll stop. I’ll find another way—”

“The only discomfort I feel,” she squeezes your hands gently, “is at the thought of any harm coming to you. But I’ll feel that way through everything you do in life, because I love you. I also feel awe, because you’re brave and brilliant, and you’re doing what’s right. What I will teach this little girl,” she places your hands on her swollen belly, “to do — to stand up against what is wrong, and do so without a lick of shame.”

“I’ll protect her with my life, you know — the babe. I’ll love her unconditionally.”

“And she will love you, my dove, just as I do. So,” she steps back, eyes your dress again. A smile curves her lips. “Do whatever it is you have to do, Y/N, to change Fin’s mind — you have my full support. I only ask three things of you.”

Your expression softens. Anything — you’d do anything for her. “Of course, Roz.”

“First, don’t get caught with your scheming.” She says. “And second — you may feel like murdering Fin. Gods, believe me, I get it. But please do refrain. He’s my children’s father, after all, and Rhys isn’t ready to be High Lord just yet.”

You breathe a laugh, dipping your chin. “No murder. Got it. And the third thing?”

Roza steps up to you, her fingers finding the beautiful, jewelled material that clings to you like a second skin. She smiles.

“Go to that ball,” her fierce eyes meet yours, “and show everybody there that your father didn’t take one bit of beauty away from you.”

✧: *✧･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ

You pace the length of your room. Back and forth, back and forth. You’re restless tonight.

Day after day is swept behind you like the snow that blankets the mountains. Time is a racing thing. Starfall is fast approaching, and thus, so is the ball. But you still feel as though you can’t get a good read on Fin’s thoughts.

No matter how many dinners you share with him, how many walks through the city streets you take together, the shows you watch in the Rainbow…he does not offer you the candidness with which he spoke through that very first conversation in his study. Any attempts to talk about Tathaln, about Fenlaros, are promptly diverted. He wants to talk about you — wants to know you.

It feels like the opportunity to stop this shit show in its tracks is slipping through your fingers, and you can’t grab hold of it, pull it back.

So instead of sleeping, you think, and you pace, and you—

Gods, you just want to see Azriel.

How much space, you wonder, is enough space? You have respected his needs, have kept to Velaris, given him time to confront his innermost thoughts and feelings. But you don’t know how long he needs, and right now…right now, all you want is to see him. Look into his eyes. Hear that soft, quiet voice telling you that everything will be okay.

You need to know if he’s made a decision about Fenlaros. You’ve tried not to think about it, not to dwell on the possibility that he could choose to run from his feelings over embracing them. But the longer the silence stretches on…the more you find that hole in your heart gaping, threatening to swallow you whole.

You pace more and more, up and down in time to the ticking of the clock. It’s a wonder you haven’t worn a track through the carpet. You don’t know why you’re suddenly so antsy, but perhaps if you could just talk to Az, some of your worries could be allayed—

Before your thoughts can catch up with your body, you’re tearing through the drawers in the desk, scrambling for paper, a pen. Practically throw yourself into the chair. A letter — a letter will do the trick—

But you don’t know what to write.

You stare at the blank parchment like the words will simply appear by your willing. They don’t.

A love letter? No, no, not a love letter. Just a letter to…to remind him that you are still here. That you are reason to stay in Windhaven, and you think you could be reason enough.

Azriel… you picture him as you crawl his name. His honey-golden eyes and his silken hair. The sharp bone structure that could slice through paper, the full lips. The memory of how those lips feel is fading, and you want — need — it back. Your pen pauses, hovers at the parchment, and those lips are all you can think of, the urgency with which you crave them.

Azriel, you write again, I want to see you. I need you, too—

A soft knock lands on the door, and the pen clatters against the desk where you drop it.

The clock has just timed three in the morning — the knock is an unexpected obtrusion in the dead of night. One that makes you anxious.

But a second knock comes, and you shove the parchment and pen back into the drawer, scrambling to your feet. Perhaps it’s Roza — the more the pregnancy progresses, it’s not unusual for her to wake up in the night with need for something. You hurry over and tug it open.

Fin stands on the other side, looking…unkempt. His hair is mussed, like he’s been dragging his fingers through it. The first few buttons on his shirt have been undone, and a glimpse of a fine, chiselled chest peeks out. The sleeves are rolled up to his elbows. He looks as though he hasn’t been to bed.

He drinks in the sight of you in your nightgown, bathed in the room’s glow. He swallows. “Forgive me, I…I saw your light on. Thought you might be having trouble sleeping again.”

You incline your head. “I was.” You admit. “…And you?”

“Too much in my head to even attempt it.”

You’re not sure what to reply with, how to help. Fin watches you closely like…like he needs to. Like gazing at you brings him comfort.

You are treading a very, very dangerous path. But you shift on your feet and ask him, “Would you like to come in?”

A tiny nudge of a smile pulls one side of his mouth up. “I was actually wondering if you’d allow me to take you somewhere.”

Your eyes widen a little. The surprise isn’t for show, and it seems to please him. “Right now?”

“The City of Starlight doesn’t sleep. Ever.”

A fact you’ve learned all too well during your stay here. There’s always some sort of activity, something going on that sends a constant pulsing through the city streets. For some reason, you hadn’t imagined Fin to be a participant in the night life.

“It’s somewhere I go when I can’t sleep.” He explains, as though you’ve spoken your thoughts loud and clear. “I think you’d like it. And from one insomniac to another, I…I would be honoured to share it with you.”

How can you possibly say no to that? For all Fin is mysterious, for all he keeps his cards tightly pressed against his chest, you truly believe that he finds a strange sort of solidarity in this one affliction that burdens you both. You may have wildly different reasons for pacing your room at night — and you’re not sure he’ll ever tell you his — but when the world is too quiet and thoughts are too loud…there’s comfort in knowing that somebody else is staring down those early hours, also.

It almost makes him seem…normal.

And perhaps that’s why you offer him a dazzling smile that isn’t entirely disingenuous. “From one insomniac to another,” you say, “I’d love to come with you.

The way his eyes light up makes you wonder if you’ve played your role, appealed yourself to him, a little too well. “Then I’ll wait here while you get dressed.”

You incline your head. “I’ll just be a moment.”

He waits patiently as you change from your nightgown into warm clothes that will shield you from the freezing night air. With no indication of where you might be going, a sweater and breeches and boots seems like the safest bet. You sweep your hair out of your face and shrug the weariness from your bones. When you emerge from the room, Fin’s gaze traces you like you’ve donned an evening gown and not the thickest layers you could fine.

“I find you so very intriguing.” He comments unexpectedly, and you��re not sure what he means.

You plaster a smile on your face, all the same. “Where are we going, Lord of the Night?”

Heat stokes his hickory eyes, and he looks as though he’s actually trying to tamp down on a broad smile. “It’s a surprise.”

You hold a hand out. He takes it. “Then surprise me.”

✧: *✧･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ

“Tilt your head up.” The instruction comes from close behind you. Near enough that a warm breath tickles the back of your neck. You dutifully obey. “Now, open your eyes.”

Your eyelids flutter open slowly, cautiously. What you’re met with has your next breath catching in your throat.

A dome of starlight arcs high above you. The twinkling jewels in the sky feel almost close enough to reach out and touch, and they shine brilliantly through the glass roof, an occasional transient one cartwheeling its way past in pursuit of another place.

You can only stare. Gape. Your feet move forward a couple of steps, but your face remains tilted upwards.

You were in this building only a couple of evenings before, but it had been so packed, then, so filled with music and chatter and laughter and activity, that you hadn’t noticed what sat above your head. You’d been far too enamoured with the performers, their poetic verses and fluid dances, the tragic climax that had brought you to tears.

Now, the largest theatre in Velaris’s rainbow is empty and bathed in darkness, broken only by silvery moonlight. You and Fin are the only two here. And standing on the gargantuan stage, a mass of empty, folded seats staring back at you, you have the perfect view of the night sky that gives a performance all of its own above you.

There are soft footsteps, and Fin is also stepping forward, stopping at your side. “In over nine centuries, I’ve never tired of that sight,”

You shake your head, a little dazed. You’re lost for words. “I can see why.”

“There is so much unexpected, so much chaos and burden, in being High Lord. But no matter what I may face, what choices I make, and what reactions they receive…there will always be the night sky and its stars.”

Only then do you remove your gaze from the domed glass ceiling — to drink him in and wonder how many layers deep his true heart lies. This male who is as cunning and cruel as he is handsome and charming. How many dimensions does he have that you’ve never stopped to consider?

“I know it doesn’t exactly support the imagine of a calculated High Lord who shouldn’t be crossed.” Fin says, staring had at the surface of the stage whilst a wry smile graces his lips. “Sneaking off to an empty theatre in the dead of night when sleep evades me. But I find…peace here.”

You eye the ginormous building around you, dipped in shimmering moonlight and the shadows of twinkling stars. All those empty seats, the vacant orchestra pit, the stage that has trapped so many beautiful voices and words, guided so many dances and echoed so much beautiful music. There’s a haunting loneliness to the desolation. And you can’t help wondering if…if Fin relates to that, somehow.

When you snap out of your thoughts, you find he’s moved again. Now, he sits on the very edge of the stage, legs hanging down and palms bracing him. He stares out at the rows and rows of red velvet seats, not one of them disturbed by a spectator.

You’re moving before you tell yourself to. Sitting at his side and tucking your legs beneath you. You spend a short time in still silence, but the heaviness of the High Lord’s thoughts seems to spread to every corner of the building.

“When you brought me here the other night,” you angle yourself towards him, “it was my first time in a theatre — ever. I never saw a show before.”

A very slight frown pinches Fin’s features. He seems to consider that. “One of my flaws, Y/N, I have to admit, is that I often forget that there’s a world outside of my privilege. That people lack where I never will.” He tugs his bottom lip between his teeth. “Roza was right to take Rhysand to Windhaven. He’s grown with a humility that I very much do not have.”

You snort softly. “I spend a lot of time with your son, My Lord. I assure you he’s just as capable of arrogance. I’ve kicked his ass a good few times because of it.”

A quiet laugh rasps from him. “Somehow, I don’t doubt that.” He pauses, and then his elbow is gently nudging you. “I told you, anyway — it’s Fin. I consider us to be friends. Don’t you?”

In some ways, you really do. Ans what a lying, using, devious little friend you are.

Especially as you scoot closer to him. And you’re softening your features and staring openly at him.

You don’t miss the way his gaze falls to your lips.

“I do.” You say, and he lifts his eyes to yours again. “And as your friend, I’d like to know what weighs so heavily on your mind tonight.”

His mile falters. And you don’t want to lose him, to let the moment slip away from you. You quickly grab his hand before he can tense up.

“I want you to talk to me…” You make your voice soft as butter, sweet as honey. “I like talking to you, Fin.”

There’s a beat. A tense one. And then his body is loosening, relaxing, his eyes becoming infinitely warmer.

His hand wraps around yours, the pad of his thumb tracing your nail. “I like talking to you, too.” He admits, and pauses again. “…War is…a great likelihood, Y/N.”

It’s your turn to go still, then, to tense up. Icy cold surprise bolts through you. That…isn’t what you were expecting.

“War?” You breathe, your mind already conjuring images of your friends on a battlefield. “With whom? When?”

“I do not know when. It could be in a year’s time; it could be in a decade. That all depends on how long it takes for humans to rise up and rally against our kind.”

“Humans?”

“There has been more and more pushback, in recent years, from humans. Humans who are enslaved by our kind and are sick of it. More and more of them are beginning to stand up against it, to protest how they’re forced to live. They’re willing to go to war over it. I don’t know when or where, but they will. In years to come, they will.”

“As they should.” You sit up straight. Perhaps it’s the wrong thing to say, but you don’t care. “They should revolt. I think it’s barbarous, the way our kind treat them. Their purpose is not to serve us. They have just as much right to live freely as we do.”

You mean it, mean it with your whole heart. You know what it’s like to be used for somebody’s personal gain, what it’s like to have freedom always lurking just out of reach. And you’ve heard about the treatment of enslaved humans. Most would rather die that live under the cruelty of their fae masters. That the practice hasn’t been outlawed utterly sickens you.

Fin says nothing for a while. His hand continues to hold yours. His eyes drink you down with a muted intensity. Like this is the first time he’s ever really taken you in.

“I agree.” He murmurs, much to your surprise. “And when war comes — and it will, and I’m preparing for it — when war comes, I will fight alongside the humans. To liberate them.”

You look at him, then — a male who has lived for almost a millennia, but doesn’t look a day over forty. Who is so universally feared, who carries a reputation for things you can’t even bear to consider. You will not fool yourself into believing that the darkness hides an inner light, or that the cruelty is a front. He is not soft and he is not kind.

But perhaps he’s not totally bad, either. That he would put himself in the firing line for the liberation of innocent humans…it has to speak somewhat to his character.

It almost makes you regret your scheming, your manipulating.

Before you can muster a response, the High Lord is leaning closer. Your body tenses as his face stops inches away from yours.

“You need not be afraid of me, Y/N.” He whispers. “I find you…magnificent. I like that you don’t filter yourself in front of me, that you’re not afraid to speak your true thoughts and feelings. You…you are an asset. Worth so much more than you’ve ever been given credit for.”

Your gaze dips, cheeks burning at the compliment. “I don’t know about that—”

“I mean it.” His finger hooks under your chin, soothing the skin there. “Magnificent.” He repeats, and he’s leaning in closer, closer, until his lips are coasting your flushed cheek. The kiss he presses there is cold in contrast, but you have no chance to react as his mouth brushes its way to the shell of your ear and lingers there. “Absolutely brilliant. And do you know what?”

“…What?”

“After the ball is over,” his breath tickles your ear, “I’m going to bring you back here, to this stage. And those stars above our heads will watch as I strip you bare and fuck you hard enough to shake the building.”

It takes every morsel of your resolve not to start at the words. You release a shaky breath — one that makes you seem eager, responsive. It’s convincing enough that you don’t think you’d be out of place up here on this stage.

Thankfully, you don’t have to drag words from your spinning thoughts. Fin lets go, and he pulls back, rising to his feet.

“But until then,” he holds a hand out for you, “there is much to be done. Starting with you and I getting a good night’s sleep.”

You wear a mild smile as you allow him to pull you up. “A girl can dream.”

“And so can a High Lord.”

You don’t say much else to each other as he tugs you close and spirits you back to his palace. You are both pensive, and you are both tired.

But when he bids you goodnight outside your bedroom and strolls off to his own, sleep seems further away than ever. You’re thinking too much at once. Humans. War. Fin. Azriel.

You still desperately want to see Az, talk to him.

You dig back into the drawer, meaning to retrieve the letter you’d started to write.

But your hand merely knocks against wood, and the letter is gone.

✧: *✧･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ

You’re tempted — to write another letter, or note, or…whatever. You don’t even know what became of the first, unfinished one, whether it made its way to Azriel or not.

But days pass, and you…you begin to lose your nerve a little. Perhaps it’s better to live in ignorance for as long as possible than know, either way, what Azriel is thinking. Choosing. Can’t help feeling that the more time pedals on without a word…the worse the outcome will be.

Distractions help. But tonight, it would seem, there are none. And it’s strange, because everything around you is bathed in luxury, in excellence, but you find yourself missing the stripped back simplicity of Windhaven. The crumbling cottages, the mead hall, the rough-and-tumble way of life. There’s always something happening in that harrowing place, something to keep you occupied. As you stare down an evening in a huge, mostly empty palace, you’re actually struck by your longing for it. Both Roza and Fin are busy. Mor is away. Only the mountains and the distant sounds of the city are your companions tonight.

And once again, your thoughts take you to Azriel.

You think maybe this need for him is getting out of hand. And maybe it’s just the sugar-sweet things that Fin has been speaking into your ear, the knowledge that deep down, there’s only one person you want to make such promises to you—

No. It’s not just that. Not just a pathetic influence of suggestive words. It’s a need.

You need Azriel.

Your closest friend. Your safety blanket. The male who saved you and brought you into the fold of a loving, supportive unit. You stared down awkward adolescence together, faced such trying times by each other’s sides.

And you need him.

Your heart, your body, your skin, is hot and heavy with it. Restless. Like the craving is pulling you apart from the inside.

You need to do something, anything, to occupy yourself; take a late-night stroll, read a book. Anything to stop you from staring at the ceiling and being eaten alive by the fire that scorches your veins.

You’re so desperate to get moving that you don’t bother to grab a jacket — just shove your feet into your shoes. A spring mildness has blanketed the city, anyway. You’ll be fine. You just need to move—

But you yank your bedroom door open, and Azriel is on the other side.

His beauty punches you straight in the gut.

He’s a vision, stood there in casual clothing, a note — your note — clutched in his hand. He takes in the sight of you just as hurriedly.

“What are you doing here,” you breathe.

He opens his mouth. Closes it. His eyes rove you again, and he swallows. “I got your note.” He answers. “I wanted to see you, too, and…the High Lord summoned Rhys, Cass and I here…to warn us to be on our best behaviour at the ball.”

You can’t say anything. Can’t speak. You just gawk like a godsdamned fool.

A strange concoction of a frown and a laugh comes from Az. “I…snuck away after…to come here—”

Before you even know what you’re doing, your hand is bunching in the front of Azriel’s shirt, and you’re dragging him into the room with all your strength. He looks bewildered as you shove the door shut behind him.

“Az, have you lost your mind?” You round on him. “If Fin knew you’d come to my room—”

“He isn’t here.” He cuts you off. “Cass went straight back to Windhaven, and Rhys knew I wanted to see you, so…he’s currently having quality family time with Roza and his father in the city.”

There’s a lot to unpack. But all your mind wants to zero in on is that one little sentence — Rhys knew I wanted to see you.

Pathetic, how your entire stomach flips.

“…You call him Fin?”

It takes a moment for your mind to catch up enough to understand Azriel’s question.

“We’ve been living under the same roof.” You shrug slowly. “I…guess he got tired of me using his title.”

Az stares at you, assessing. You’re not sure what he’s looking for, but you fidget under the intensity of his gaze.

“What is it?” You ask him.

“I’m worried about you. I know he’s taking you to the ball. I don’t want you playing his games.”

You purse your lips. “…That why you snuck here to my room, Az? To give me a warning—”

“I came here because you said you wanted to see me, and I want to see you, too.”

So open — for him. So straightforward that for a beat, you’re not sure how to react.

But then you’re moving, and so is he, and your bodies slam together in a tight, long-awaited embrace. Feeling his arms wrap around you is…everything. Everything you’ve missed and longed for. Everything you will ever long for. Whatever happens…Azriel is the only thing you’ll need, when all is said and done.

And that’s why you’re suddenly crying, clinging to him.

On instinct, Azriel’s arms tighten around you. He moves a hand up to cradle the back of your head, and he whispers, “Y/N…”

“Please don’t leave Windhaven.” The words choke out of you. “Please, Az, just…don’t go to Fenlaros. Please—”

“Y/N. Look at me.”

Tears and all, you do. You remain as close to him as you possibly can as you lift your head to meet his eyes.

You don’t know how you know, but you do — from that one, heavy stare, you can tell that things have changed. That he has changed. He looks like the same, stunning male that you’ve always admired, but something else sits on his face.

Emotion.

Determination.

Fire.

He opens his mouth. Takes a slow, shuddering breath that you feel through every inch of your body. And then he says, with utter clarity, “I’m not going anywhere.”

You almost break all over again. But he keeps talking, keeps sharing.

“I love you. No — I’m in love with you. I love you more than I can put into words. I want you and only you, and I’m not leaving you. The only reason I would ever walk out of that camp is if you were by my side, and we were leaving together.”

You are…weightless. Boneless. Held up only by Azriel’s arms. A tear rolls down your cheek, and you allow it to fall to the carpet.

“My handling of my feelings,” Az stares down at you, “has been one huge fuck up. I loved you long before you offer to let me practice intimacy on you. Experiencing those things with you…the things you made me feel…only brought those feelings to the surface. And instead of facing them as I should have done, I hid behind Kaeda to avoid them. But it was never about Kaeda. It was always you. It will always be you. And I’m scared, Y/N, I’m fucking terrified. But I’m done running. Done hiding.”

Silence sweeps into the room on swift wings, and you are suddenly incapable of thought, and of somehow turning it into words. Without Azriel’s voice to distract you, you’re aware of the tremors that wrack through his body. As though this is the scariest thing in the world to him, and he’s trying to hold strong against it.

It probably is.

He studies you closely. Croaks out, “Please say something.”

And perhaps it’s giving him the wrong impression entirely, but you’re stepping out of his arms and putting space between you. You just…need to gather your thoughts. To remember how to speak.

“I…” You blink. “I handled it badly, too.”

“It doesn’t matter—”

“I made selfish choices. I…I acted out of jealousy because I wanted you, but you and Kaeda were…”

He shakes his head resolutely. “What I told you before was true. I never touched Kaeda like that. Even before I found out about all that Fenlaros shit, I think I knew that I wouldn’t. That I couldn’t.”

A fact that breaks your heart. Your eyes fill with tears again. “But I still did. Cass and I—”

“Cassian was there for you when I should have been, and I had no right — none — to react the way that I did. If anyone did anything wrong that night, it was me. But what you and Cass did…it does not matter. Not one bit.”

You’re pivoting on the spot, turning your back to him, before you can crumble entirely. He really means it. Really does not hate you for the choice you made, even though it hurt him.

“Y/N,” Az’s voice shakes behind you. “Please…look at me.”

Now you’re confronted with the situation, part of you wants to run — to hide.

But Az is being open. Honest. No matter how hard, how terrifying it is for him…he’s here. He’s trying.

And so you’ll try, too. And you think you might be shaking just as much as he is as you turn back to him.

The two of you stare at each other. Feel the situation out with your gazes alone.

Azriel is the one to break the extended silence.

“You said you need me.” He eyes you. He’s visibly trembling all over, and it has nothing to do with the chill in the room. Trembling like he’s trying to hold himself together against the weight of the situation.

“…Yes.” You swallow. “I do, Az…I think I’ve always needed you.”

“So show me.”

You pause. Blink, your eyes blown wide. “What?”

“Show me how you need me.” He steps closer, and though he’s shaking, he outreaches a hand and find yours. “Show me how to give you what you need.”

Your fingers brush his, and you’re forcing a lump down your throat. Drinking him in. He…he’s exquisite. “You mean…”

“I mean,” the gap is closed between your bodies, and his heat is reaching you, “I don’t want to practice. I want it all…everything…with you. I want you to take me. Only you—”

You’re surging forward with so much pent-up need that when your lips collide with Azriel’s, it almost knocks you both to the floor.

But Azriel’s arms are banding around you, and he’s a pillar against you, kissing you back with just as much heat.

You don’t know which of you makes what move. Your hands are all over him, and his are all over you, and he’s walking you backwards and groaning as the kiss deepens.

You find the hem of his tunic, dip your hands under, fingertips skating warm skin that shudders beneath your touch. “Can I take this off?” You murmur, and he swallows your words greedily.

“All of it — take it all.”

And so you do. There is no method to it. You’re a woman starved and crazed as you tear at his clothing, not caring about where it ends up, so long as it’s no longer on him. More and more tan skin is exposed, more muscles, more scars. And when he kicks out of his boots and breeches and his underwear is the only remaining barrier, you’re reaching for him, for the hardness that’s pushing through the dark grey fabric and taunting you.

But Azriel reaches out an arm to gently stop you. His hand brushes your cheek, and his eyes are pure hunger as he says, “Your turn.”

And it hits you just then that up in until this point, Azriel has never seen you naked — in this capacity, anyway. There have been plenty of non-sexual circumstances over the years in which you’ve gotten a glimpse of each other, but not like this. Even when he began practicing on you, you never took your clothes off.

And you’re fucking nervous. Even more so under the press of his gaze. He looks like he may combust as you slowly move your hands to your shirt and tug the front laces loose. You pull the hem out from where it was tucked into your breeches.

The fabric parts enough that it more or less slides off you and pools on the floor. You do not meet the heavy stare that watches you so closely. You may lose your nerve if you do.

But when the last few items of clothing are off and kicked away from you, and you’re left entirely bare, you hear a sharp intake of breath. Curiosity gets the better of you. You lift your gaze and resist the urge to fold your arms over your chest.

Azriel is staring at you like…like nobody ever has before.

Like you are the rare rays of sunlight that break through the grey landscape of Windhaven. Like the world around you was forged from your own two hands.

Like you’re beautiful, and worthy, and unruined.

“…What is it?” You clear your throat, shifting on the spot.

Azriel shakes out of a daze and takes a single step closer to you. “You are…” His throat bobs, “You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.”

You almost laugh. Almost. But something stops you.

The sincerity in his tone, his eyes. The realisation that he truly means that.

Your eyes travel from his face, down his sculpted chest and stomach. The firm, toned legs and what sits beneath him. You’ve seen plenty of his body naked. But…not all at once.

You think the air might be punched from your lungs.

He’s hard as a rock — from looking at you. The tip of his cock is already leaking moisture. His wings flare proudly at his back.

“So beautiful.” He cups your jaw, guiding your eyes back up to his.

There’s nothing else you can say, in that moment, than the words that tumble from your lips.

“I love you,” you whisper.

Emotion crosses his face, and both hands are gripping your cheeks. He kisses you deeply; so deeply that it steals your breath.

And then he pulls away, and he’s repeating his earlier words, his forehead pressed to yours. “Show me — show me what you need. No games, just…you and me.”

No games, indeed. You cannot wait any longer.

You rise on the tips of your toes and claim his mouth with yours, and you’re guiding him back, back, until his legs are hitting the bed and he’s gladly falling onto it. He sprawls out, watching as you climb over him. As your hand caresses his stomach and moves down.

And when your fingertips brush the head of his cock, a deep, delicious noises rumbles in his throat.

You mop the moisture up with your palm, using it to slick the length of him and slide your hand up and down. He hisses between his teeth, hips jerking, hands bunching within the covers on your bed.

“No games,” he repeats through gritted teeth. “This is about both of us.”

And you know that, and you’re not patient enough, anyway, for foreplay right now.

It dawns on you that there will plenty of time for that.

He is not leaving Windhaven — not leaving you.

You will have experiences together beyond this one night.

And with that very fact warming your heart and making it set to burst, you place your legs either side of his body and stare down at him. His cock brushes against your centre, and he can feel how wet you already are for him. His eyes travel down.

You watch, and you ask him, quietly, “You’re sure about this?”

His gaze flicks up immediately. “I’ve never been surer about anything in my life.” He reaches out a trembling hand and brushes a strand of hair out of your face. “That doesn’t mean I’m not nervous — gods, I really fucking am. So scared. I just…want to do it right. To be good for you.”

The sentiment almost brings tears to your eyes. “You couldn’t do it wrong if you tried, Az. Do you trust me?”

“With my whole heart.” He sits up a little — angles himself closer to you. “And I love you with my whole heart, too.”

And that’s all either of you need, isn’t it? Love and trust. The need that exits between you. Everything that is just…yours and Azriel’s relationship in its entirety.

Your eyes remain locked with his as you gently reach down and position his cock at your entrance. He breathes shakily. Doesn’t look away from you once.

Not as you slide down onto him just a little. You pause at the first feel of your walls stretching to accommodate him. A pleasured frown furrows his brow. A moment passes, two, and then you slide down further.

More and more. Sinking onto him. Pausing. Adjusting. With every inch of his huge length that disappears inside you, you feel like every one of your nerve endings is struck by lightning. Azriel’s head lolls back, and he makes a soft noise.

“You’re okay?” You check, hovering over him.

“You feel—” He chokes on his words. “Fuck.”

It’s the encouragement you need to sink the rest of the way onto him. The last few inches slide into you quick, thanks to the slickness that soaks your folds, and then he’s pushed into the hilt and hitting a spot so deep inside you that you can’t stifle the noise that breaks from your throat.

“Did I hurt you?” Azriel gasps, and you can only shake your head. He seems to study your face for confirmation, before he’s pushing up to kiss you.

And you kiss him back. For a moment, that’s all either of you do.

But when he’s losing himself in your mouth, his tongue dancing around yours, seemingly distracted by your kiss…only then do you lift your hips and sink down onto him again. And then you’re falling into a slow, steady rhythm.

Azriel is gasping again, his mouth moving from yours to press kisses to your jaw, your neck, your collarbones — your breasts. As you rock slowly against him, the walls of your pussy squeezing him, coaxing him, he buries his face into your chest and explores you, lips and tongue paying attention to your nipples, teeth grazing with a gentleness that’s almost heartbreaking.

“So beautiful.” He whispers, and the hands that are sitting on your hips travel up your back — up to the scars that live in the place of your stolen wings. “Gods, Y/N, you’re everything.”

You moan, rocking harder on him and wrapping your arms around his neck. You just…want to hold him to you, to feel him against you. It’s like it all comes crashing down on you that he very easily could have left.

But he didn’t. He won’t. He is here and so are you. He is yours and you are his.

“Talk to me,” you breathe, raking your nails down his arms. “Tell me how you feel.”

“So good — feels so good with you wrapped around me.”

“Yeah?” You lean down, brush a kiss to his lips. “You like being inside me?”

“There is — fuck — there is no one, Y/N, that I want to do this with, besides you.” His mouth slants over yours, and he whispers two words — take me — before he’s giving himself to your kiss.

He’s so big, so deep. And the blood in your veins feels like molten lava as the pace picks up, as his trembling begins to subside, and he grows more confident. His groans are loud, and his hands roam over your body before finally landing on your hips. Fingertips dig into your flesh with a dizzying bite, and he’s rocking you, encouraging you to take him. To fuck him.

This is not practice. This is two bolts of lighting striking in the same place. The friction between your bodies is perfect, like nothing else you’ve ever felt. The pleasure may just finish you yet. It’s electric. Addictive. You want to feel like this forever, with him.

And more pleasure floods you as in one swift move, he flips you over — takes you entirely by surprise. You’re landing on your back, and he’s hovering over you. He stills as he stares down at you.

“This is perfect.” He says, dipping down to kiss you again. It makes him move inside you suddenly, and the different angle has you both gasping into each other’s mouths. “Gods.”

“Fuck me, Az.” You moan. “Just like that.”

What starts out slow quickly builds in pace. The roll of Azriel’s hips become thrusts — and the moans, the cries, the words that leave you, all guide them to be deeper, harder. You think you could stay like this forever, with him buried inside of you, wringing pleasure from every corner of your body. It snakes through your veins and zips up your spine, and when his hand travels down and his fingers find your clit, you fucking explode.

You cry out, bucking up from the bed as your orgasm hits you full force. Azriel fucks you through it, and his groans are growing louder, more desperate, as the walls of your cunt clench around him. He breathes out a fractured, desperate noise, leaning down to brush his lips over yours as he fucks into you harder.

“I can’t last much longer.” He chokes around his pleasure, pressing quick, nipping kisses to your mouth. “I can’t—”

“Come for me.” You gasp, locking your legs around his waist. “Come inside me.”

The noise that your words coax from him is downright sinful. He grabs your hips in his hands, slants his mouth over yours. He slams into you again, again, again, and then he’s roaring his pleasure with enough force to shake the bed, and you feel every rope of come that he spills into you.

You’re trembling. Or maybe that’s him. Or both of you. Both slick with sweat, and both shaking, and both unable to hold yourselves up any longer.

Azriel collapses beside you, his body still tangled with yours. He buries his face into the crook of your neck, his heavy breaths heating your skin. You sink a trembling hand into the strands of his hair.

��That was—” His voice hitches, “I can’t…can’t put it into words.”

Neither can you. It’s all you can do to nod as you catch your breath.

“Thank you.” A kiss is pressed against your neck. Another. Az’s arm drapes over your chest, and he moves his mouth to yours. “Thank you.”

Still void of words, you settle on kissing him. Deep. Slow. Unhurried. Your hand cups his cheek, and your tongue strokes into his mouth. Lays out a litany of sentiments that you’re currently incapable of verbalising.

It feels like you kiss each other forever. But then you’re pulling back, pressing your foreheads together. And you stare into Azriel’s eyes as you tell him once again, “I love you.”

Emotion floods his eyes, and he holds you as close to him as he possible can, murmuring onto your mouth, “I love you, too. I think I always have.”

You know you always have. You tuck yourself into his side, content to feel his skin against yours. The rest of the world floats away. There is nothing and no one but you and him. Your Azriel.

Your eyes are growing heavy when he brushes his lips against your forehead, and he whispers the words you’ve needed to hear for so, so long.

“Whatever happens, Y/N,” another kiss joins the first, “you and I will face it together.”

pom tags: @dream-alittlebiggerdarling @sirenpearldust @queercodedcharacter @azriels-shadowsinger @ruler-of-hades @demi03 @magicaldragonlady @abrielletargaryen @ralsieq @v3lv3tf0x @achase2002 @feyretopia @hayrunnwr @don’t-feed-the-hipsters @brekkershadowsinger @piceous21 @bloodicka @acourtofinkandpapyrus @riri-is-agirlie @siriusement @4valyries @socmono @azriels-mate123 @acourtofbatboydreams @katherinearcheron @nesemi @lupinswolfsbanes @dreaming-unafraid @dxnniiix @cyrygher @liddyr03 @lmllsl @nightless @teenageeggscissorslawyer @brighterthanlonelythoughts @blitz-fall @maybefoxysouls @mschanand1erbong @juiceboxreads @bangtanbecks @florencemtrash @hyemishii @obixix @thenovarose @meshellexplosionmurder @angzlxna @lissy31xoxo-blog @supernatural99 @positivewitch @art3-m1ss @milfhunter-pdx @bbuckysbeardd @coralseacourt @towhateverend87 @sspookz @bird-on-the-wire33 @morrie-rose @megwan @catscanteleport @sevikas-whore @thickthighs-sadeyes @hihelloitsbooktimeppl

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wow-its-me · 5 months ago

Text

My TikTok has been taken over by different versions of a “drifting stars” AU, so here’s my version of that, that I think could actually work within the show

“Gruncle Stan, I trust you”

A man steps trough the portal as Mable is pulled in, knocking them both back into the other dimension before the portal closes

After a moment of quiet, Dipper starts to yell at Stan, asking him questions, implying that Stan somehow knew this would happen and didn’t care about the end of the world

Stan remarks that this is why he needed the kids to stay out of the way, he’s already back by the portal trying to work on getting it open again

Dipper goes to look at it, accuse is Gruncle some more, but he feels a hand on his shoulder. Soos asks him to go upstairs, worried that it isn’t safe down here.

Dipper goes to his room, Soos sleeps on the couch that night

1st drifting stars episode

Mable is immediately attacked by some sort of monster, Ford steps in to save her, Mable is able to help with some quick creative thinking

Early the next morning, Stan checks in on Dipper, who’s flipped from angry to worried. Stan apologizes and reassures him that it isn’t his fault, he’ll answer any question he has.

Soos, Stan, and Dipper sit around the table while Ford and Mable sit around a firepit

And this is where we get a tale of two Stan’s! Bouncing back between Ford and Stan’s perspective

A few days have gone by.

Ford is getting increasingly annoyed with Mable, which makes sense because he hasn’t been around anyone in 30 years, now he’s responsible for a 12 year old.

Mable thinks Ford thinks she’s not capable, the two go on a mission to get a part for something Fords building, Mable uses this opportunity to try to prove herself. It ends with them saving the day, learning to trust each other

Meanwhile in Gravity Falls, Dipper is becoming depressed and obsessed with getting his sister back. He’s wearing a sweater she made for him. Stan, very worried about him, sends him on a nonsense task with Soos, and Wendy (who had stopped by the shack to ask why it’s been closed)

Through this task Dipper thinks Stan is going to send him back to California, it ends with them having a conversation about it, and deciding what to tell his parents

Ford finally tells Mabel his plans for getting the two back to Gravity Falls, and what they need to do to make it happen.

Uh-oh a monster/bill?? steps in and tries to mess it up. They’re able to get away. Mable is injured (not badly) and finally has to face that she isn’t safe anymore, and she has no idea when she’ll get home. She has a bit of a breakdown, and Ford tries to comfort her

One/both of Dipper and Mabel’s parents show up in gravity falls, worried that one of their children has gone missing. Dipper tries to convince them that he needs to stay, which only worries them more.

It ends with them deciding it would be worse to try to take him away from the support system he has in this town

They don’t stay, but they’ll be closer by if needed

Oceans 11 style heist. Stan and Dipper get the help from the people of gravity falls to help them steal more radioactive materials (Wendy, Soos, Robbie, Candy and Grenda, Mcgucket, Lazy Susan, Pacifica, Shmebulock)

Meanwhile Mable and Ford deal with a more lighthearted interdimensional monster

Some more plot but by the end of the episode they get the portal open, with efforts by all four of them

Mabel steps through holding fords hand

The argument between Stan and Ford is put on hold as they reunite with Mable

She hugs Dipper first, and she’s quite, really quiet.

They all sleep in the living room that night

Except for Ford, who stays in the basement

A plot - Dipper and Mable both want everything to go back to how it was, so they take the journal into the woods and try to have a classic adventure. In the end they learn that they can’t just ignore everything they went through, and it’s clear that neither of them are the same as before. They find the importance of talking about their feelings

B plot- Stan and Ford have the fight they did in the original show… they do not come to the conclusions that their younger counterparts did

C plot- Wendy and Soos set up a welcome home party for Mable (and Ford)

(Then it goes into the d&d&d episode)

#gravity falls #drifting stars au #dipper pines #mabel pines #stanford pines #stanley pines

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sinsinsininning · 1 year ago

Note

First time sending a request😭 could I get a post time skip strawhat crews reaction to a reader who’s late to reunite with them, and turns out they were in Impel down but escaped?

Like they’re wondering where they are and Nami busts in showing an article in the newspaper about reader escaping?

Srry if this is confusing💀

Ay yo! My first request, Tumblr deleted my first draft of this so it’s a little rushed now sorry. I wrote this as more platonic but tbh it could be viewed as romantic with some characters if you really want to. I also wrote this with a gender neutral reader in mind and they/them pronouns. I made the reader kind of an explosion person just to justify some parts of the story.

This is very different from what I normally write so it was a great exercise! I hope you enjoy! ✨✨✨

~~~~

You were late.

It wasn’t out of the ordinary, just like Zoro was guaranteed to get lost and Luffy to eat all the food in sight, you were the perpetually late straw hat. It was basically your title at this point.

This was different though, the crew was gathering after being separated for 2 years and with the marines and enemy pirates closing in, it wasn’t the day for you to be behind schedule. Still the crew awaited you until the last moment, as they set off the allies they’d made while training came through to clear a path.

And you still weren’t here.

“Where are they?” Nami glared at the horizen, willing you to appear, the anger in her tone barely hid her worry.

“I’m not surprised, they’re always showing up last minute.” Ussop groused, folding his arms haughtily. “This time it’s gonna bite them in the ass and they’ll be left behind!”

“Don’t say that!” Chopper cried, trying to pull on Ussop’s arms to uncross them. As if that’d make you magically appear. “They’ll be here! They’re always here when it counts!” His tears fluster the sniper who turned away from him to hide it.

Nami and Chopper started arguing, slowly dividing the crew into two teams. Team ‘They’ll be here, have Faith’ and Team ‘They’ll get left out, get over it’. Sanji sided with Ussop and Nami because of course he’d side with her. While Brook and Franky sided with the optimistic Chopper, certain you’d arrive.

It was loud and a little annoying, but it kept the crew occupied for a while. At least enough to stop them from over hearing their Captain and First Mate.

“Captain.” Zoro said lowly, watching the others argue about your absence. “We have to keep going. We can’t wait much longer.” Luffy had a serious face for once, odd for Zoro to see.

“I’m not waiting, they’ll get here. I have no doubts they’ll be back.” He said with finality, his voice had gotten much deeper over the 2 year break. Zoro frowned, his faith in you not as solid as his Captain’s.

Robin approached her leaders, holding some papers out for Zoro to read.

“I only just had a moment to read these,” She said. “Shaky and Rayleigh gave them to me as we departed. I’m afraid our friend may be out of luck.”

Zoro gasped as he read, Luffy snatched the papers away to scan them quickly. The startled cry he let out was stifled by one of Robin’s many hands, appearing at the right time. The top page was your mugshot, grinning wildly at the camera while holding your inmate card. Other pages contain your latest bounty, some newspaper clippings of your crimes and capture, as well as some convoluted court documents. Zoro snatched the papers back, trying to make sense of everything.

“They’re in Impel Down? When?” He hissed.

“I’m not sure, it looks like they’ve been there nearly the entire 2 years we’ve been gone.”

“I was there though!” Luffy stretches his mouth from behind Robin’s hand. “I could’ve helped them!”

“It’s a large prison, Luffy. Plus who knows they may have been arrested after your jail break.” Robin tried to comfort him. “I’m sorry, but we can’t turn back now. The way back is blocked by the marines, we should go forward and figure out a plan when we arrive in the New World.” Luffy shook his head with a glare.

“No way, we can’t leave them for a second longer!” His shouting catches the crew’s attention, Robin and Zoro sigh before the green haired man tosses them the papers. “I’ve escaped the Impel Down once and I’ll do it again.”

As the crew root through the papers, crying out in worry at the contents. Luffy turns back towards Saboady, tips his hat back slightly to evaluate the scene behind him. The shouting of his crew and Zoro’s begs for practicality become background noise as he focuses on the carnage they’ll be returning to.

A glimmer on the horizen catches his eye, it’s an explosion. But unlike the others raging on, it seems to glow. He watches it for a moment, distracted by the unusual colors, it reminds him of what you usually wear, the same hue and intensity. He points to the spot, just as it fades another one just like it replaces it, only closer.

“Hey look.” He laughs, Zoro growls and whaps him on the head.

“Hey were you even listening?”

“Nah.” Luffy is at least honest, but his pointing has caught Robin’s attention as well.

“That’s strange, who could be causing that?” She asks and the rest of the crew gather as the dazzling explosions grow closer and closer. Like condensed fireworks.

“I bet it’s them!” Chopper cries out, gripping Robin’s skirt to dry his tears.

“No way, they’re in the worst prison ever! Even Luffy needed help escaping it and he has devil fruit powers!” Ussop argued, but his grip on the railing tightened.

“Whatever it is, it’s coming straight for us!” Sanji warns, shoving himself in front of Nami and Robin.

“He’s right!” Robin shouts as the explosions get closer, becoming larger and more deafening. “Everyone brace for a hit!”

As the crew tense for a strike, Zoro drawing 2 of his swords, Sanji preparing to jump, Chopper growing in size. The spectacular colors sail over them in a chaotic arc.

“Did…did it miss?” Zoro asked, stunned at the blooming display of colors and glitter fallout.

Just as he spoke, the crackling ball of hues lands on the lion head of the Sunny. Several crew members leap forward to strike the intruder, but as the illuminations die away, you stand up.

“You’re here!” Chopper cries again, rushing forward to hug you tightly. Franky and Nami rush to join him.

“Aw don’t tell me y’all were worried!” You grin.

You get passed around from crewmate to crewmate as everyone gets their greeting in. Nami holds your face to her chest as she exclaims her relief. Franky tries to show off his new hair before you’re yanked away. Sanji holds you to his chest as he tells you not to creep on his Nami-Swan. Brook cries out tears -somehow?- and begins strumming his guitar for you. Robin gently cradles your red face as she expresses her gratitude for your arrival. Ussop shakes you vigorously for scaring him both by your lateness and your latest -loudest- entrance. Chopper holds tightly to your back the entire time.

Finally you get deposited in front of Zoro and Luffy, who both grin down at you. Chopper is pulled off your back by Robin, finally. You leap up and hold onto both men’s necks as you cheer.

“Did you miss me?”

Luffy hugs you back even tighter and Zoro doesn’t struggle out of your affection for once.

“What the hell happened for you to end up at Impel Down?” Zoro asked as you let go of him to hold a sniffling Chopper once more.

“The warlord guy sent me to a small jail somewhere off the coast of Thriller Bark. I escaped and attempted to return to Saboady, but along the way I got captured by some human traffickers.” You began, rocking Chopper gently now as the crew gathered around you to listen. “On the boat in my cell I managed to make some bombs and break free.”

“Of course you did, you could make bombs outta toothpaste and sunflower seeds.” Ussop interrupted, a little jealous at your longstanding demolition prowess.

“Anyways, me and the other prisons staged a mutiny of the ship, but the captain intentionally crashed it so that we’d be trapped. The idiot didn’t realize it was on the shores of the worlds securest prison. So I got arrested with them since they recognized me and knew I had a bounty.” You laughed despite how horrified your crew seemed.

“When were you there?” Luffy asked, eyes intense as he watched you.

“Sorry Cap’.” You grin. “I was there a few weeks after you’d already escaped. Wish we could’ve busted out together, it would’ve been cool as hell.” He relaxed a bit, feeling less guilty about your imprisonment.

“Why didn’t you escape then?” Nami asked.

“It’s not so simple, honestly it takes a lot of luck and teamwork to manage that. After Luffy broke out, security increased a lot, at least from what I was told. I tried to stage an escape, but I’m not as charming as our captain so I didn’t get a lot of traction.” You continued.

“Heh sorry bout that.” Luffy grinned sheepishly.

“Not your fault, I guess I’m not a people person.”

“I could’ve told you that.” Ussop threw a loose screw at you, until Nami smacked his head with a scowl.

“Leave them alone!”

“So how did you manage to escape?” Robin asked. “And how were you able to fly in those explosions?”

“After my failed escape attempts, I got sent lower and lower in the jail until I was in level 5. Then I met up with Bentham!” You shouted.

“What?”

“Really?”

“That guy was in Impel Down?”

You basked in their reactions for moment until you glanced at your captain.

“He’s alive?” Luffy asked.

“Yup, told me to tell you hi.” You smirked, Luffy looked so relieved. “I’d gotten your message by then and was desperate to get stronger. He took me in as my mentor and trained with me. As for my escape, it’s a long story, but let’s just say I managed to make friends with the Jailer Beasts.”

“Woah! Really?!” Luffy was shocked, he’d never thought to try.

“Yup they and Bentham helped me escape. He stayed behind since he’s the new Queen after Ivan left, but he certainly helped me learn how to make a grand entrance.” You posed goofily, while your crew laughed.

“And the flying in sparkles?” Sanji asked.

“Technically not flying,” You said as you unbuckled your belt and thigh harness. There were several pouches there that were filled with sparkling little orbs, the same color as your explosions. “These are something I made by accident, I call them Star Tracers! If you crack the outer coating it creates a large explosion, but in the center it becomes very dense almost like a small stepping stone before it disintegrates completely. So I crack one, then throw it and jump into the cloud of sparkles and land on the step before repeating the process.”

“Wooooooah,” Ussop’s eyes sparkled at your invention. “How’d you manage that?”

“Not sure honestly, I think it’s a chemical reaction to the materials I use, but they’re all pretty common so it was easy to make a bunch. The steps are only tangible for a few moments, so I had to improve my speed, that’s why it looks like I’m flying.” You shrug and let Ussop look over the marbles as the crew starts excitedly speaking.

As the day starts to end and you’re sitting on the head of the Sunny, watching the water around you. Luffy slowly walks up to join you, sitting practically on top of you. The two of you sit for a while in silence, comforting silence after such a crazy day.

“Thanks for waiting for me.” You say sincerely, smiling as he starts to protest, then quiets himself.

“How’d you know I did?” Luffy asked, he’d tried to be subtle, but his worry for you had made him slow their escape.

“Come on, like you’d leave me behind.” You give him a side hug, letting him rest his head on your shoulder. “Plus I remember when you literally launched us out to sea once, you were waaaaaay to slow making your escape today. It was obvious.”

You both laugh as the water grows dark around you, ready for the next day.

#one piece #one piece x reader #monkey d. luffy #cat burglar nami #ussop one piece #tony tony chopper #roronoa zoro #vinsmoke sanji #nico robin #franky #soul king brook

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smilesrobotlover · 4 months ago

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Whumptober 2024 masterpost

The strangers across eras are searching for their respective Links, but they keep being faced with challenges that nearly cost them their lives. But as long as they work together, they’ll be fine. Right?

~~~~

Day 1- race against the clock// the strangers are traveling up a snowy mountain, and Talon unfortunately finds himself upon a frozen lake that threatens to give way

Day 2- Trust Issues // finding help from a couple, the strangers stay at their cabin to recover from the storm, but they don’t seem to like Rusl all that much…

Day 3- Set up for Failure // Leon is ready to leave, but he feels like he must leave Talon behind. Splitting up, Leon and his group make it to the top, but they realize that it was a trap all along…

Day 4- Hallucinations// Rusl sees a horrifying image of hundreds of dead wolves before him

Day 5- Secrets Revealed // Leon and Linebeck discover that the puppeteer can do more than create puppets…

Day 6- not realizing they’re injured //Leon sends Kass and Rusl down the mountain, while he and Linebeck stay. Except he discovers that the battle left him with more than bruises.

Day 7- unconventional weapon // Linebeck is keeping an eye on Leon, but is suddenly attacked by strange ice monsters…

Day 8- Sleep Deprivation// Talon is worried about Rusl, so much so he neglects to take care of himself

Day 9- broken Window// Leon and Linebeck go to reunite with the others, but they’re not where they left them.

Day 10- slurred words// Rusl wakes up yayy

Day 11- seeing double// Leon and Linebeck are desperately searching for the others, while Leon is feeling worse and worse

Day 12- underground caverns// the strangers are running out of money, so Ammon and the others who are feeling find go out to make money, and they find their way at a strange well…

Day 13- left for dead// with Benji and Kass injured, Ammon sends them up with Linebeck, leaving himself alone with the unknown threat at the bottom of the well

Day 14 multiple whumpees// everyone who went rupee hunting are hurt and acting unlike themselves, so Talon tries to help them

Day 15- regret// the strangers still don’t have enough money, so Leon volunteers to do something that he hates doing: customer service

Day 16- wound cleaning// the puppeteer is in town, beaten from the strangers. But he finds out that they’re where he is, and devises a plan to get rid of them once and for all…

Day 17- nowhere to go// in order to escape the puppeteer, the strangers flee from the town, lost in the woods with injured men

Day 18- friendly fire // Linebeck is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and he finds himself a little reactive with the small knife he was given.

Day 19- abandoned cabin // the dads finally find a place to rest, except it’s in a mysterious abandoned cabin in the middle of the woods.

Day 20- emotional angst // Ammon confides in Talon about some things in the past

Day 21- body horror // the dads are scared by a little bump in the night, and they go investigate

Day 22- bleeding through bandages // Rusl is feeling much better, but Talon finds him a little reckless. The two butt heads until they fall down a hole. Idiots

Day 23- motion sickness // the strangers are stuck are stuck at a giant lake. Fortunately, a guy is willing to take them across it on a boat. Unfortunately some of the guys are a little… prone to motion sickness.

Day 24- collapsed building, equipment failure // something attacks the boat and takes Benji away. Pushing through his fears, Linebeck takes charge while the others fight the beast to save their friend.

Day 25- being monitored // Talon is keeping an eye on Benji, who has a nightmare about his son.

Day 26- nightmares // Leon finds Linebeck in the engine room, clearly disturbed over everything that happened.

Day 27- used as bait // a giant bird monster attacks the town the strangers are in, and Leon goes to fight it, not knowing it’s a trap.

Day 28- denial, CCTV, forced to choose // Leon is forced to choose: kill the strangers across eras, or allow his only son to die.

Day 29- fatigue, burnout // Leon is upset over the decision he has to make, and he’s acting unlike himself, worrying the others. He knows what he must do, but he doesn’t know if he has the strength to do it.

Day 30- No-Holds-Barred beatdown // Leon does what he needed to do, and he is allowed to go home with his son. But it was all a trick, and he finally goes blind with rage.

Day 31- asking for help // Leon is distressed, but with the support of the strangers, he knows he’ll be ok.

#should make this so it’s easier to deal with lol #smiles writes #whumptober 2024

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crystalninjaphoenix · 1 month ago

Text

Remember Me?

Switch AU

A JSE Fanfic

I almost forgot to queue this for today XD But luckily I remembered just in time! Did you guys think that everything would be alright for the Switch guys once they escaped IRIS? Well someone is here to remind them that he exists! The group is hiding out somewhere new, and have brought Will and Michelle to stay with them, just in case. They decide to test some spells Marvin can do with his cards, and everything seems to go well until a certain gray man interrupts them... Been a while since I've written Distorter, I've forgotten how fun he is fjdkaslh Anyway, have fun reading :3c

More of This AU | | First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Read on AO3 under CrystalNinjaPhoenix

———————

Anti paced back and forth in front of the sofa. Jackie, sitting there, watched him walk back and forth, moving his head but nothing else. “You look as nervous as the day you adopted Will.” He laughed. “I-it’s funny that you’re once again anxious to see him.”

“Of course I am.” Anti shook his head. “IRIS had me convinced for a bit that he didn’t even exist. A-and I... well, it’s not... We’re on the run! I want to see Will as much as you want to see Michelle, but do you think it’s safe? What would IRIS do if they found them?”

“I don’t know if IRIS cares about children,” Jackie said slowly. “I-I hope they don’t. But honestly, I think they’ll be less safe on their own. Besides IRIS and Distorter, there are all the normal things that are a threat to eleven- and nine-year-olds. Like kitchen appliances. That’s an exaggeration. I know they’re smart enough to not mess around with that. But you know what I mean.”

Anti nodded. He continued to pace across the living room. The group had found an apartment to rent in this new city. It was small for them, and more expensive than the hotel room they’d stayed in for the first two days, but they needed more space with how many people they had in the group. Even with Aoife insisting on returning to and staying in Mirygale, they still had eight people—and now ten, with Rama picking up Will and Michelle.

The apartment had two bedrooms, one with a queen-size bed and one with a bunk bed and a single twin-size bed. Jackie and Rama claimed the former, while Marvin, JJ, and Schneep shared the second. Anti and Jack were stuck on the sleeper sofa in the living room. Stacy was the wild card, not sure where she wanted to stay, but eventually decided on buying an air mattress and sleeping in the room with Jackie and Rama. Right now, all the others were crowded into the two bedrooms, wanting to give Jackie and Anti space to reunite with the kids.

Jackie fiddled with his hoodie strings. “Do you think we should get some new phones soon? I-I’m really nervous about Rama going off on their own... I know we have the flat’s landline, but... it’s different.”

“We only have so much cash,” Anti said. “I wouldn’t put it past IRIS to track card purchases or withdrawals, so I don’t think we should get more until we absolutely have to.”

“Yeah... and do you think we’re getting to the point of ‘absolutely have to’ yet?”

“No. We can put off the phone purchase. And when we eventually have to buy stuff, we should take out small totals a little at a time, adding up to the big withdrawal.”

Jackie tilted his head. “You, uh... Do you have practice with that? When you... were on your own?”

Anti paused. “I never got to the point of people wanting to track my cash. But... well, uh... When I was desperate, I used... cards. And I learned that... big purchases wouldn’t go through.”

“Oh, Anti,” Jackie breathed.

“I-I regret it now,” Anti said quietly. “Like I do most things from my past.” He looked at Jackie nervously.

Jackie sighed. “Well... that’s bad, but I guess people could get new cards. It’s not the worst thing, huh?” He smiled. “Don’t worry, Aodhán, I know it’s different now. I just... I hope none of us have to resort to that.”

“We won’t,” Anti said firmly. “I promise. If I promise anything, it’s that we’ll never be desperate enough for that.” He looked away. “I... promised myself that. For Will. W-when I adopted him.”

Jackie nodded. “I-I think I understand that now,” he said quietly.

“...and I’m glad you do,” Anti said, even softer.

They fell silent for a few minutes, until there was a knock at the door. Anti immediately hurried over to open it, hand instinctively going to his pocket—even though his pocket was empty, no knife inside to comfort him with its defense. He pulled the door open a crack, and saw Rama on the other side. And with them, two little faces. “Hi, Uncle Anti,” Michelle whispered. She glanced around conspiratorially, like she was pretending to be a spy. “Can we come into the secret place?”

“Of course you can,” Anti said, and opened the door wider so they could all come inside. Jackie stood up, Michelle rushed at him, and he hugged her tight. They started to talk, Rama joining in, but Anti’s focus wasn’t on them. He closed the door, and looked at Will. Had he always been this tall? He was just about the height of Anti’s shoulder. Anti stared at him, and cleared his throat. “I-I don’t think we’ve really, uh... H-hey—”

Suddenly, Will rushed forward and wrapped his arms around Anti, squeezing him tight. Anti gasped, unsure how to respond to this. Will wasn’t normally a hugger... he would, the same as any other kid, but... Anti didn’t expect it right now. But here he was, and he could feel some wetness getting on his shirt from where Will’s face was buried in it, and a similar wetness was coming to his own eyes. “I... I missed you,” Will breathed.

“...I missed you too, bud,” Anti said, wrapping his arms around Will and hugging him tight in turn.

The two of them stood there for a while, just holding each other. Until, finally, Will wriggled out of his grip. “Um... so.” He fidgeted awkwardly. “R-Rama didn’t explain much. Just that we were like... on the run. A-are the police going to get us? Or... the gray man?”

Anti winced. “Maybe the second one. But we’re actually more worried about... D-did they tell you about IRIS? About... where I disappeared to?” He hesitated to share this. But he wanted to be honest with Will. If the height was any indication, he’d grown up quite a lot. He wouldn’t share everything. There were some details a child didn’t need to know. It probably wouldn’t help Will to hear about some of the ‘tests.’ But he deserved to know the big picture.

The two of them sat down on the sofa and talked. Jackie and Rama got up, showing Michelle around the apartment, small as it was. After that brief tour, they went into the bedroom with the queen-sized bed and started blowing up a second, smaller air mattress for Michelle to use when she wanted.

“Do you get all this?” Anti asked, finishing off his explanation.

“It’s like a science fiction show,” Will said. “So... this IRIS company wants to get the gray man. Distorter?”

“Well... I think so, at least?” Anti said. “But it’s more complicated than that.”

“They want to test what he does and that means testing you guys, too. I get that part.” Will nodded. “And JJ has magic, which they’re curious about too.” He paused. “Do you... do you think that means they’ll come for me and Michelle, too?”

“I don’t think they care about kids,” Anti said, repeating what Jackie said earlier. “But there’s a chance that something will happen while you’re on your own. You know?”

“Like... Distorter,” Will said quietly. He pulled his feet onto the sofa and folded his legs.

“Yeah.” Anti nodded. “Has he... been bothering you at all? Have you had any bad dreams?”

Will narrowed his eyes. “What’s the password?”

Anti smiled slightly and leaned over. “Minecraft,” he whispered.

Will nodded. “No... I-I don’t think so. But I do think that... I’ve been remembering stuff while I’m asleep. Stuff about when Michelle and I were in his house.”

Anti sat up straight. “Oh? Do you... want to talk about it?”

“I-I don’t... think so...” Will trailed off. “Um... things were weird in there. The rooms kept changing. Michelle was freaked out. I-I tried to keep her... keep her safe.”

“I see.” Anti nodded. “That’s... very brave of you. I-I’m proud you did that. Now... i-it’s time for the rest of us to keep you and her safe.”

Will smiled slightly. “Th-thanks, Dad.” He looked around. “So, uh... a-am I sleeping with you on the sofa? Like when I was little with nightmares?”

“Probably,” Anti said. “But Jack’s also been sleeping on the sofa. We don’t have much room, so it might be the three of us sharing it. But if you’re not comfortable with that, we could buy another air mattress today for either you or Jack.”

“Um...” Will thought about it. “I-I’ll try it for tonight. But only if I get to be on the edge and you’re in the middle.”

Anti smiled. “Hey, I don’t blame you for not wanting to sleep next to Jack. He’s a kicker.”

“What did you say about me?” Jack walked down the hall and poked his head into the living room.

“I said you kick in your sleep, dumbass,” Anti said.

“Hey, well, you toss and turn and hog the blankets.” Jack looked at Will. “Hey, Will.” Sam hopped out of Jack’s hoodie pocket and flew over to Will. “Ha. Sam’s happy to see you, too.”

“Wicked.” Will grinned. “Where’s Sam sleep?”

“Well, they don’t really sleep at all, but I make a little nest for them out of my hoodie and they rest in there when they want,” Jack explained.

“Aww.” Will’s grin softened into a smile, and Sam landed on his shoulder.

Anti felt his eyes start to water again, but he took a deep breath and pushed that back. “Are you hungry? We have some groceries. Not much, but we could make mac and cheese.”

“Ooo yeah!” Will’s eyes lit up.

“Ha. I’ll get started on that, then.”

———————

Marvin sat cross-legged on his bed, staring at the cards before him. The joker cards were face-up. He’d made sure to carefully scratch away the fake X over the runes over the past couple days, and now the angled spirals were in full view.

Schneep rolled over on his own bed nearby, peering down at Marvin; he’d taken the top bunk on the bunk bed, while Marvin had the single twin bed. Jameson was left with the bottom bunk. He’d tried to sleep on the top bunk the first night they were here, but he’d had a terrible nightmare, tossing and turning, and the other two insisted that he take one of the beds on the ground for the rest of the stay here. Marvin couldn’t climb up the ladder to the top bunk, so Schneep was left to sleep there for as long as they stayed in this apartment, and Jameson decided to claim the bottom bunk, as he feared Marvin might also have trouble with the lower bed. “Marvin?”

“Oh? Did I wake you up?” Marvin asked, looking up at him. “Sorry ‘bout turnin’ on the light. I wanted t’look at the cards, an’ the light from the window jus’ wouldn’ cut it.” They had the curtains drawn all the time, afraid that someone would be able to look in and somehow let IRIS know where they were.

“No, I was waking up anyway,” Schneep muttered. “Mein Gott... my sleep schedule is fucked.”

Marvin laughed. “I think all of ours are.” He looked down at the cards again. “Did you talk to Michelle and Will at all when they showed up yesterday? Or were you sleepin’ the whole time?”

“I think... I was sleeping the whole time,” Schneep said slowly.

“T’at probably isn’ a good sign,” Marvin said. “You’ve been sleepin’ so much lately.”

“My body needs to recover, I suppose.” Schneep sat up. “Perhaps I need to get out of the house. But...” He trailed off.

“Afraid?” Marvin asked. “Me too. Stacy and Jack are real lifesavers, bein’ brave enough to go out.” He paused. “Maybe... maybe I coul’ be brave enough to try, too. If I... can figure something out wit’ t’ese cards.”

“Hm.” Schneep leaned on the guard rail around the edge of the top bunk. “I would go with you, if there was some magic to protect us. What are you thinking?”

“The problem wit’ the cards is t’at it’s easy to mess them up,” Marvin said. “Knock one out of place, and the spell will end. So I was t’inkin’ if I taped them down to a board of some sort... we have packing tape an’ a cutting board t’at coul’ work.”

“You checked?” Schneep asked, the corner of his mouth twitching.

“Yes. But it’ll be awkward walkin’ around wit’ a cutting board. So I want t’be sure the combination works.” Marvin hesitated, then pushed aside the jokers. He wouldn’t need those for this, he was pretty sure. Maybe if he used the eye-like runes on the red fours? Somehow?

Schneep climbed down from the top bunk. “Should I ask the others if they want to go out for fresh air?”

Marvin nodded. “Go on. T’ough I don’ t’ink I can handle too many people at once.”

“I’ll talk around.” With that, Schneep headed out into the hallway.

Marvin frowned, biting his lip. The name of the game is hiding... Maybe these ones on the black eights, then? The rune on them means ‘darkness’ or ‘secret.’ Maybe if he used them to cover the eye runes... and then used the ace of clubs or ace of spades...

In the living room, Stacy was busy making a sandwich for lunch, while Anti, Jack, and Will played a card game on the counter. Anti was pretending to sneak a peek at Will’s cards, which made Will grin as he made sure to hide it. “Hello, you all,” Schneep said. “Marvin is thinking about doing some magic to protect us while we are out. If he succeeds, would any of you want to come with the two of us?”

“Huh?” Anti looked over. “Like, where would you be going?”

“...we did not talk about that,” Schneep said slowly. “We only vaguely mentioned going out... Well, it is circumstantial based on if he can figure something out, anyway.”

“Uh... well...” Anti looked at Will. “It has been a while since I went on a walk or something. But...”

“Y-you can go out if you want, Dad,” Will said.

“Are you sure?”

“Mm-hm. I can hang out with Uncle Jack and Stacy.”

Anti still looked uncertain.

“How about I go ask the others first?” Schneep offered. “They are all in the bedroom.”

“What, you don’t think me or Jack will want to go out?” Stacy asked jokingly.

“...Do you?”

“Nah, I go out often enough.” Stacy shook her head. “But it’d be nice to be asked, you know?”

“Yeah, I feel the same,” Jack said. “I’m good with staying. If Anti goes on whatever walk you guys are going on, I’ll stay here to watch the kids.”

“Got it.�� Schneep nodded, and went back down the hall towards the second bedroom.

Inside, JJ was entertaining Michelle with some magic tricks. The two of them were sitting across from each other on the floor. JJ was causing small flurries of crystalline magic to appear on the floor between them, growing like a flower and then shrinking, only to grow again in another formation. Michelle was laughing, asking him to do one that looked like a star. Meanwhile, Rama and Jackie were sitting on the bed together, snuggling. Jackie lifted his head. “Yeah, Volt?”

“Marvin thinks he may be able to come up with some sort of protective spell so that we can walk about at our leisure,” Schneep said. “If he came up with something, would you all want to come on a walk or some such?”

Rama shook their head. “No, I drove a while all yesterday, I’m tuckered out. Jackieboy?”

“Maybe...” Jackie said slowly. “Maybe, uh, Michelle can come?”

“Huh what?” Michelle looked up. “Where are we going?”

“Probably just around outside,” Schneep said.

“Oh, there is a park nearby you can visit, maybe?” Rama said. “A small one, but it does have swings for the kids. Maybe you can take Michelle and Will with you, Jackie. If Anti wants to go with and bring Will, I mean.”

“I think he wants to get out of the apartment, but is worried about Will,” Schneep said. “Bringing him along might be a good solution.” He looked at JJ. “Jamie? What about you?”

Jameson shook his head. I don’t think... I’m ready for that. As he signed, his hands shook slightly. But if you and Marvin are, I’m proud of you guys. He smiled a little.

Schneep smiled back. “I am too.”

“Aw, t’ank you, Jems.”

“Gah!” Schneep jumped into the air—literally, grabbing onto the side of the doorway and bracing his feet against it to keep him suspended two feet off the ground.

“Oh, very impressive!” Marvin was suddenly behind Schneep, holding a handful of cards.

“What the—Marvin?!” Schneep gasped, and dropped down to the ground. “What are you—h-how did I not hear you?!”

“I t’ink I found a combination t’at works.” Marvin held up the cards. “But it’s six cards. T’at’s quite a powerful spell, an’ it seems the tiniest movement will upset it. But hopefully once we tape them down, it’ll all work out.”

“Are you going to cover the cards in something?” Jackie asked. “Because it seems like a bad idea to just apply packing tape directly to their surfaces.”

“...I woul’ve t’ought of t’at eventually, I’m sure,” Marvin said slowly. “In any case, anyone who wants to try t’is out wit’ me shoul’ gather together, I need to see if t’is’ll effect multiple people at once.”

The people interested in going outside gathered in the living room, where Jack and Stacy watched and reported on if the cards were working to truly make them disappear. They found that the cards provided a circle of invisibility—an “AOE effect,” as Anti called it—and if you got too far from the cards you would no longer be invisible. They also found that using half the cards would still provide invisibility, but in a smaller radius—and sound would still be heard, whereas sound in the six-card’s circle would not be heard by people outside.

Having determined all this, they went about trying to find a way to keep the cards secure in one position. They settled on putting the cards on a cutting board, wrapping it and the cards in saran wrap, and then covering that in packing tape. Luckily, all these supplies were on hand in the apartment, thanks to Stacy and Rama going shopping. “I think the tape was one of your guys’ suggestions, though,” Stacy said once all was said and done.

And with that settled, it was time to actually test it by going outside. Anti and Jackie were coming, along with their kids. Obviously Marvin was too, and Schneep—though he was a bit paranoid about it. And with it starting to get late, he insisted that they postpone this until tomorrow. The others agreed. Marvin was starting to feel fatigued, anyway. And going tomorrow would allow them all time to mentally prepare. Going outside while IRIS was looking for them was nerve-wracking to Jackie and Marvin—and Anti too, though he tried not to show it, for Will’s sake. But all of them were determined to try. Not just for fun. But because if they were going to eventually drive IRIS away, they’d need to sneak around them or confront them or something.

The group had dinner, then all went to their separate sleeping areas for the night. The cutting board with the cards was left at the end of the hall near the bathroom. Meaning anyone who wanted to go to the bathroom would be temporarily invisible as they passed into its circle of effect, but there wasn’t really anywhere more convenient to put it. So it was left there until the morning.

———————

A morning which dawned bright, but quiet. It seemed not many people were taking advantage of the sunshiny day. Then again, this apartment wasn’t in the best part of this city. It was clear that the neighborhood wasn’t maintained that much, judging by the chipped paint and faded signs and general grime of everything. But it was better than being in IRIS.

The six of them—Marvin, Schneep, Jackie, Anti, and the two kids—set off around midday. Schneep had the cards and cutting board shoved into a backpack on his back, so the others tried to stick close to him. Luckily, today was a good day for Marvin, so he was able to keep up... though he grumbled about how IRIS still had his cane and the wooden one they picked up from a petrol station felt less good in his hand. Jackie patted his shoulder and assured him that the park Rama had spotted wasn’t too far.

The park wasn’t as good as the ones they were used to back in Mirygale, but after so long being stuck in IRIS’s clinical rooms, and then being cramped into a small apartment, any amount of greenery was amazing. The small square of grass was walled in by a waist-high brick fence, and had a couple trees growing in lines down the middle and sides. There was an iron swing set and sandbox for the kids, along with several benches. And though the swing set had rusted chains and the benches had rotted wood, Michelle and Will were excited anyway. “Dad! Dad Dad Dad, can you push me when I swing?!” Michelle asked, tugging on Jackie’s hand.

Jackie smiled. “Of course, pumpkin.” He looked at the others. “Uh... sounds like you guys will have to hang out close by.”

“I can... go on the swings too,” Will said. “And Dad can... push me.” Clearly, he didn’t want to admit how eager he was to swing.

“Yeah, I’ll do that, bud,” Anti chuckled. “No problem. Just know you won’t get too high. You’re getting pretty big.”

“That sounds like quitter’s talk.”

“Ha! It sure does.”

Schneep glanced at Marvin. “I suppose that means we will take turns sitting on the last swing in the set?”

“No, I’m takin’ it th’ whole time,” Marvin said, hurrying to catch up with the others. Schneep burst into laughter.

The kids took their places on the swings, and Anti and Jackie pushed them. Michelle yelled and whooped in delight every time she reached the height of the swing arc. Will was a bit more subdued but he still couldn’t keep a big grin off his face. Marvin sat in the last empty swing while Schneep leaned against the pole supporting the swing set and watched the kids go. The ground was plain dirt under the swings, and their feet occasionally kicked up dust, but that was all part of the fun.

It was nice.

So why did Schneep have a creeping feeling that there was danger around the corner?

He shook his head. No, he was just being paranoid. There were no problems. They had nothing to worry about.

After a while, Jackie took a step back. “Alright, pumpkin, my arms are getting tired. I’m going to take a break for a bit. You can push yourself, right?”

“Yeah, Dad!” Michelle said cheerfully. She kicked her legs back and forth, keeping up the momentum. “I’m gonna go to the mooooon!”

Jackie laughed fondly. “Anti? Wanna sit down for a break too?”

“Nah, I’m not a pu—coward,” Anti said, and Will giggled.

“Jackie, you have to be careful not to leave the range of the spell,” Schneep said. “The benches are too far away for you to sit on.”

“Oh... yeah, you’re right.” Jackie paused.

This rule about staying so close to the spell seemed stupid, didn’t it? It wouldn’t hurt if he was visible for a few minutes.

Jackie shook his head. Even if the rule was a little too strict, he wouldn’t want to upset his friends by breaking it. “I’ll just sit down over here,” he said, walking a few feet away from the swing set and sitting down on the grass. “I’m still in range here, right?”

Marvin glanced back at him. “I t’ink so. You sure you want to sit behind the swings?”

“Well I’m not sitting in front where shoes can go flying off,” Jackie said. “I learned that lesson when Michelle was little.”

“Mm. Good point.” Marvin shrugs and turns back around. But Schneep looked uneasy. He didn’t say anything, but Jackie could tell.

It’s fine, though. Nothing was going to happen. This was the better place to sit anyway.

Jackie watched Michelle swinging from behind. Her long hair was pulled back in a ponytail that swayed in the wind, and she continued to laugh and shout. It was so good to see her again. What was he thinking, staying with IRIS? Did he really think it would be better if she didn’t see him? Or... did IRIS just convince him it would be? Was he just that scared? Looking back on it, being trapped with Distorter had really messed him up. Once IRIS was taken care of, maybe he should ask JJ or JJ’s magician friends if the magic community had therapists as part of it. Because though he’d tried normal therapy, it was difficult to really explain everything when he was trying to hold back on the supernatural elements...

Do you remember the house well, Jackie?

Of course he did. There was no way he’d ever forget it. The oppressive air in there, the way he felt dazed and confused all the time, and though it was a small house, he never really seemed to know where he was within it. And all the things Distorter had done...

Keep thinking about that.

He didn’t want to. But he couldn’t stop. His thoughts were dredging up old memories and images against his will, and he was falling downwards into a deep expanse of them, feeling almost physical pain as they invaded his mind. The freezing, the burning, the drowning, the blades, the chemicals—No! Stop! Stop this!

I can make it stop. Just... smile for me.

A gray fog started to seep into his mind. Jackie started, scrambling to his feet, a warning shout forming in his voice—

Or I can make it worse.

And instantly, he wasn’t outside anymore. He was in a kitchen in a plain, ordinary house, lying on the cold tile floor, his vision growing fuzzy as he stared at all the bottles of household cleaning chemical lying on the floor next to him, the taste of them still choking his throat.

Your choice.

The fog returned, and instinctively, instantly, Jackie ran into it.

“Jackie?” Schneep turned to look at him. He’d stood up. “What is it? Did you want to... leave or something?”

But Jackie didn’t answer. He only stared, his eyes glazing over... and dripping blood.

“Shit!” Schneep cursed. He rushed over to stand in front of Michelle. “Marvin! Anti! He’s here and he’s got Jackie!”

Anti’s head snapped over, and he immediately rushed into action, grabbing Will and pulling him off the swing. “Schneep you protect the kids!” he hissed.

“I’m not going to hurt the children.” That was Jackie’s voice saying that, but... the words clearly weren’t his. “I like the kids. We had fun together. And I’m a better father than you were, anyway, Aodhán.”

“Don’t you dare make Jackie say that!” Anti snapped. Michelle had also scrambled off the swing, and now she and Will were staying behind him, staring with wide eyes.

Marvin got off the swing and reached into his jacket pocket. “Volt, where is he?!” He asked, pulling out his cards.

“I—” Schneep’s head darted around wildly. “I-I do not see him!”

“Of course you don’t.” The corners of Jackie’s mouth were pulled upwards, forming a smile that was not his. “You think I have to be nearby to affect you all? I’ve been in all of your heads for so long now, I know the way in no matter how far apart we are.”

“You’re lying!” Anti shouted. “We know there’s a limit to your range!”

“But it’s one that can be widened with time.” Jackie’s body took a staggering step forward. Schneep and Anti spread their arms out, trying to block his way to the kids in unison, while Marvin scrambled through his cards, fanning them out and staring at the runes. “And like I’ve said, I’ve been with all of you for so, so long now. I don’t have to see or hear you to know where you are. So good job on the little spell of yours. It will work on IRIS, but not on me.”

Marvin’s face went pale. “You—I-I won’ let you—”

“Yes you will.”

And suddenly, Marvin was not out in the park. He was back in the house on Aspen Street, back in the basement... back in that box. Held up by strings, listening to applause as his body shook with pain, his leg in agony.

Anti yelled out in shock as he saw Marvin collapse to the ground, cards spilling everywhere as blood started to pour from his eyes.

“You too.”

And then Anti was not in the park, either. He was young, stuck in his childhood home, freezing up in his attic room while the sound of loud shows on the TV blared through the floorboards. He was young, but getting older, the room shifting to a bar that reeked of a sharp scent—

He stumbled, breathing heavily. No! No, he wouldn’t fall. He wasn’t there anymore. He was here, in the park, with his friends and his son.

Schneep had gone to help Marvin up, but he spared a glance to Anti, watching as blood trickled from one of his eyes as he fought to stay standing. “Dad?” Will said, clinging to his side. “C-come on, Dad! Don’t—d-don’t—” The boy couldn’t finish his sentence, trailing off in fear. Michelle was frozen in place, staring at Jackie.

“You... bastard,” Schneep growled, looking around for any sign of Distorter. “In front of the children?!”

“It’s upsetting for me too,” Distorter whispered through Jackie’s voice. “To know that they’re upset. But don’t worry. I can make sure they’re happy afterwards. They’ll forget all their struggles and they’ll just be happy.”

“That isn’t fucking healthy for them, you—Show your face, coward!”

Jackie’s forced grin grew wider. “No, I don’t think I will. It’s not cowardice to try and avoid a fight, you know. It’s just common sense. Besides... it’s not fair that you’ll be the only one fighting. It’s not fair that IRIS fucked your head to make you into their special weapon.”

Schneep winced. He looked down at Marvin, limp in his arms, and tried to shake him awake.

“How does it feel, not being able to know what’s inside of your body? How does it feel, knowing that when IRIS finds you again, they’ll do all they can to beat your personality and will out of you?”

“Shut up!” Schneep shouted, his voice cracking as tears came to his eyes. “Get out of my friend’s head!”

“Why? He wanted me here. So I listened, like any good friend would.”

“He would not want you to control his every action!”

“Ohhh, but Volt.” The nickname sounded wrong as Jackie said it, used in a different inflection than Jackie would usually use it. “That’s so much easier than not doing it yourself. And I’m so much nicer about it than IRIS is. So you should really let me try it out on you—oh no wait, that’s not even an option anymore.” Jackie—Distorter giggled. And then suddenly lunged forward.

Michelle shrieked. Schneep managed to scramble backwards, pulling Marvin with him, and Will pulled Anti back as well, causing him to gasp in shock. Distorter laughed again, and lurched at Schneep and Marvin, practically falling onto them. Schneep’s reactions kicked in. He pushed him away, grabbed him, and shoved him to the ground, pinning him down. And there he froze, conflict in his eyes.

Distorter grinned, the expression unnatural on Jackie’s face. “Are you going to shock your friend?” he whispered. “This is fully him, you know. It’s not like there’s a ghost in his body. It’s him. Are you going to attack him anyway, like a good little weapon?”

Schneep flinched, drawing back a bit—but then Jackie’s hand shot out and grabbed Schneep’s wrist, pulling him back. Distorter made Jackie press Schneep’s hand to his own chest, continuing to grin the whole while.

“Fucking do it, then. It’s what you’ve been made for, after all.”

For a moment, everything was frozen. Schneep was in shock, finding himself unable to move.

“Y-you...”

Schneep looked towards the sound of the voice. And so did Jackie, Distorter turning his head curiously.

“Y-you...” Anti said again, struggling. “You... fuck... right off.” He shook his head. “You... do not control me. You... cannot control Schneep. You... fuck off. Jackie. Jackie!” He shouted. “Tell him to fuck off!”

Distorter laughed through Jackie’s voice. “Are you serious? Oh, what are you trying to do, Aodhán?”

“Don’t you fucking call me that,” Anti hissed. “He’s not me anymore. And you are not me anymore, either. Do you understand that?”

Distorter blinked. “I was never ‘you,’ what the hell are you talking about?”

“Oh no, but you wanted me to be. You wanted me to be whatever you are—whatever you had been before. The man who did something unspeakable and then ended it for himself. That’s what you wanted me to be. You want me to hurt my friends, and then myself. You told me as much.” Anti’s unbleeding eye flashed with rage. “Well guess the fuck what, bitch? I’m not going to let you. Because you do not control me. I’m done letting you control me. I know I’m more than that now.” He staggered forward towards Schneep and Jackie, collapsing to his knees next to them. “And if I can fight you off, then Jackie definitely can. Because he’s so much stronger than I am. You hear that, Jackie?! If I can do it, you can do it too! A-and if you can’t do it right now, that’s o-okay! Because m-me and Schneep are here to help you!”

The glazed look in Jackie’s eyes flickered. “A-An...ti?”

Anti looked past the two of them. “You too, Marvin! You’ve been through so much with this fucker, you can pull through this, too! W-we’re here o-on the other side, w-waiting to help you.”

Marvin blinked slowly. The blood trickle coming from his eyes seemed to pause for a second.

Jackie made a choked sound. His back arched, eyes rolling back. Schneep scrambled away to give him space. “Y-you think that this... this...” Distorter hissed. “This power of love bullshit will overcome me?”

“No... I know it will,” Anti growled. “Because I know what you really are, Distorter. Not who you are—or should I say, who you used to be. I know what you are. I know what overcame him. I know because I’m very familiar with it myself. And that’s why I know you can’t stand up against this.”

Michelle took a few steps forward. “D-Dad...?” She whispered. “I... um...” She hesitated, unsure what to say. “I... love you.”

Jackie’s eyes welled with tears. Tears that spilled over the edge, washing away the blood. He suddenly gasped as the glazed look in his eyes disappeared. “M-Michelle? G-guys?”

Michelle ran forward, toppling over on top of Jackie and hugging him tight. Jackie let out an “oof!” as his breath was knocked out of him, then sat up, hugging Michelle to his chest.

And a second later, Anti saw the images taking up half his vision—images of his past—fade away, along with the pressure and fog trying to fill his mind. Marvin suddenly sat upright, gasping for breath. Schneep looked back and forth between them all. “Is... i-is it over?” he asked hesitantly.

Jackie wiped the blood from his face. “I... don’t really know what just happened, but... I guess?”

Marvin groaned. “Fuckin’ hell... why now? Bastard.”

“He wanted to remind us he was still watching,” Anti muttered. “If he wanted to put up more of a fight... he could have. But this was just him testing the waters.” He looked around uneasily.

Schneep cleared his throat. “Should we... reconsider taking care of IRIS first?”

“I think we need to ask Jackson and the others about that,” Anti said. “And for that... we need to get back to the apartment.”

“I woul’ be ready for t’at,” Marvin said, gathering up his cards. “But... we can’ jus’ stay in the apartment all the time. Even if... Distorter is out here.”

Jackie looked at Michelle. “You ready to go back yet, pumpkin?”

“I, uh...” Michelle bit her lip, considering that. “I-I liked swinging. And I like being out here. And he’s gone now, right? So... maybe we can just... be out here for a bit longer?”

“Y-yeah.” Will nodded shakily, holding onto Anti’s hand. “Let’s just... hang out for a bit.”

Anti chuckled. “Well, who are we to deny kids what they want? When it’s something like this.”

“...I suppose that Distorter is not likely to be back,” Schneep said slowly. “But he still may be nearby. A-and that...” He trailed off.

“We can’t let him control us, Henrik,” Anti whispered.

Schneep took a deep breath, and nodded. “You are right. I suppose we can stay out for... a bit longer. But not too long.”

“We need t’see if t’ere’s a laundromat nearby,” Marvin said, putting his cards back in his pocket. “Look at us. Me an’ Jackie covered in dirt.”

Anti laughed. “We’ll look around on the way back, I guess. Might be hard to use one if we’re still invisible to others, but hey, for the future. Now... what are we doing while out here?”

“I have an idea!” Michelle raised her hand. “Let’s draw stuff on the ground. We can do tic-tac-toe or something!”

Jackie smiled. “That’s a great idea, Michelle. Or what about hangman?”

“Yeah!”

Anti sat down on the ground. “Games it is, then.”

And so, the next hour or so passed by playing small games, drawn in the dirt, and also by swinging and going on walks around the park, looking at the trees and picking up interesting rocks. Distorter had slowly faded from their minds... but the memory of the encounter lingered in the back of their thoughts.

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jacksepticegos #septic egos #septic egos au #jacksepticeye au #antisepticeye #programmer anti #jackieboy man #dr jackie parker #dr schneeplestein #von voltage #marvin the magnificent #1920s marvin #chase brody #distorter #brigid writes fanfiction #septicswitchau

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asordinaryppl · 3 months ago

Text

A3! Main Story: Part 4 - Act 16: Crossing Paths - Episode 36: Blooming Beautifully

Izumi: Good work on your final performance~!

Tsumugi: Thank you for your hard work.

Azuma: Good work.

Izumi: We’ll be having an actual party with everyone later, but as for today’s small party… Cheers!

Hisoka: Cheers.

Tasuku: Good work.

Guy: I’m glad we finished everything safely.

Homare: Yes, that’s what is most important.

Tasuku: Four days till the ranking updates, huh? Well, no point in worrying about that now.

Guy: Yes, we did all we could. All that is left is to wait for the results.

Tsumugi: I am quite curious, but thinking about it won’t do anything.

Izumi: This performance went well, for the most part!

Tasuku: With a few exceptions, that is.

Tsumugi: And I’m sorry for that. But thanks to that, I was able to make up my mind about working as an actor.

Guy: I feel we all had our own issues to resolve before the performance. I created a lot of trouble for you all as well.

Homare: The most important thing is that you were ultimately able to develop the beginnings of a flourishing sibling relationship!

Azuma: That reminds me… Tsumugi said he met someone he used to know, didn’t he? I met someone like that too during my travels.

Azuma: I’m glad they proved my past impression of them wrong in a good way.

Hisoka: … In that case, so did I. I’m glad I got to talk to them.

Homare: Oho, if that is the case, I also felt like I could reunite with my father through his picture book.

Tsumugi: What a coincidence, did we all have some kind of encounter like that?

Guy: A reunion, hm… I reunited with my father, and I also met Kureha.

Azuma: What about you, Tasuku?

Tasuku: I’m not sure it counts as a reunion, but I had the opportunity to work with Haruto on one of our old roles.

Izumi: Seems like you could also connect the word “reunion” to your performance.

Azuma: Now that you mention it.

Tasuku: I mean, I’d say mine is a little far-fetched.

Tsumugi: I don’t think that’s true.

Tsumugi: In this life where we cycle through meetings and farewells, I’m sure even this had meaning.

Tsumugi: Wasn’t it meaningful to you, Tasuku?

Tasuku: Well, yeah. I’m glad I accepted that offer.

Izumi: … It’s almost time.

Citron: I’m so cautious~!

Guy: I believe you mean conscious.

Tasuku: Nervous, right?

Banri: It’s up.

Azuma: Our rank is…

Hisoka: 10th…

Sakuya: 10th!?

Tsumugi: Which means…

Tasuku: Alright! Our nomination’s secured.

Izumi: You did it!!

Hisoka: Thank god…

Guy: We’ve successfully fulfilled our role.

Azuma: Yes, I feel like a weight’s been lifted off my shoulders.

Homare: We can relax, at long last!

Citron: Congratulation on the nomination~!

Sakyo: We were hanging on by the skin of our teeth.

Muku: We can celebrate now!

Tenma: That’s our Winter Troupe. You did as you said you would.

Banri: You pulled it off like it was no big deal.

Itaru: You’re OP.

Tsumugi: It wasn’t that easy.

Guy: A lot happened this time as well.

Homare: We simply acted as we usually would and got the results you see before you.

Tsuzuru: The way you can talk about it so casually is pretty in character for you guys.

Izumi: We all believed that you could definitely pull this off.

Izumi: Thank you for always pulling through for us in such difficult parts.

Tsumugi: Next up is the finals.

Kazunari: GOD-za and Hyakka Troupe were both nominated too~

Banri: Figured they’d be.

Tasuku: Haruto seemed pretty fired up.

Guy: They haven’t announced the details for the finals, have they?

Chikage: Seems like they’ll be holding a press conference soon.

Itaru: The ranking format might be different this time.

Izumi: This is my father we’re talking about, he’s probably thought of something…

Tsumugi: In any case, what we have to do won’t change.

Tenma: Right. Our goal is already decided.

Banri: We’re aiming for the Fleur Award as a group...

Sakuya: Right, Director!

previous episode | masterpost

INSTE POST

Tsum-Tsuki

We successfully finished our final performance a few days ago. Thank you all who attended. Also, MANKAI Company has been nominated for the Fleur Award. This is all thanks to everyone who has supported us thus far. We will continue performing for you as we have done thus far.

#a3!#translation #a3! translation #sakuya sakuma #tenma sumeragi #banri settsu #tsumugi tsukioka #tasuku takato #hisoka mikage #homare arisugawa #azuma yukishiro #guy nishiki #izumi tachibana #+ more #ACT 16 ENDS HERE...!!!#epilogue will be coming up some time innnn december... i want to tackle a few backstages first...#man i'm so attached to this act specifically i feel like i'm letting my child go

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jalluzas-ferney · 9 days ago

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I know u said u haven’t thought much about Kai + Nya reunion in your au but ITS PLAGUING MY THOUGHTS NOW I CANT stop thinking about the ninja like. Going around Stixx and chatting and they pass by Nya who mostly has her face covered and she recognizes his voice or something. Idk what from there but eventually I just imagine Kai just unable to stop shaking he’s so happy to see her again and Nya holding onto his hand like a lifeline because she never wants him out of her sight again . I’m so sick about them

AAHHHHSJDJWOKWIEKW OKOKOK IM SO SORRY I TOOK SO LONG TO RESPOND ITS THAT WHEN I SAW THIS I I HAD TI PUT MY PHONE DOWN AND PACE AROUNF MY ROOM TO SRS ORGANIZE MY THOUGHTS ON NYA AND KAIS REUNION AND HOW IT WOULD HAPPEN TO THE POINT I HAD TO SIT FOWN AND WRITE (AND I ALSO HAD TO LESVE TO DO MY NAILS LMAO)

BUT ANYWAYS!!!! I have constructed it. Planned it.

Ok so, here’s how it goes. I was considering ronins whole involvement in season 5 and I wanted to ofc change it to fit my au better. Do at first I thought ab ronin getting taken by soul archer but then I remembered….Pachi (ronins daughter) and AGH it would be perfect because Nya and kai would both be reuniting but also fighting morro to save their younger “adoptive” siblings ZAIDNOWIDE

So Soul Archer and Morro come to Ronins shop at Stixx, and instead of demanding the scroll of forbidden spinjitzu, soul archer simply lies to ronin by telling him that his debt would be payed off if he just gives them the scroll (btw, Nya and pachi like to help out and hang around the shop a lot, so they are sitting on the side, watching this go down, confused by whatever soul archer means by “debt” and scared because they’re fucking ghosts)

But of course once he gives them the scroll soul archers like “lmao fuck you I lied your debt isn’t payed off by far.” And of course Ronin is furious and demands the scroll back because it wast a fair trade, but then soul archer tied to make another “deal” by telling him that if he gets the Sword or Sanctuary THEN his debt will be payed off. But Nya steps in, refusing the “deal” and telling then they don’t trust that they’ll keep it, just like they didn’t keep it when Ronin gave them the scroll.

This pisses soul archer off and he’s just like “oh ok then fuck you and you I’m taking your youngest daughter and if you don’t bring me that dumbass sword in two days then HER soul is going to the cursed realm” and takes Pachi away.

I feel like the ronin in this universe is a lot more caring for his family, and would of even been willing to sacrifice himself just to not burden his family with the debt and leaving more poor than before. And soul archer KNOWS that. And hi early he couldn’t give a fuck ab ronins soul he just wants to get payed in some way or get his revenge on him for NOT paying him, which is why he decides to hit him there it hurts the most, by taking his daughter.

AND DONT WORRY WE ARE GETTING TO THE KAI AND NYA PART.

Because just as Nya and ronin are freaking out and grieving because where even IS the sword of sanctuary, they get a knock on the door. Ofc tho, they’re closed so Nya just tells whoever is at the door to leave and come back another day. But the knocking keeps going and some dudes outside are trying to beg and tell them it’s urgent, Nya just keeps speaking over them snd telling them to scram and to leave (she’s mad and sad and confused, very stressed out so yeah she’s being pretty agressive and not letting them explain themselves)

But the moment she goes quite she hears a much too familiar voice in the other side of the voice going “Nya…?”

So Nya just swings open the door only to find heels we with THE ninja team- especially the RED ninja standing right in form rod her with eyes that look far too much like her lost brothers- and before she can even react Kai’s already tackling her into a hug.

AND YES- just like you said, he just can’t stop shaking from the happiness of finally seeing his baby sister again and Nya is also holding on to dear life refusing to let go all while both of them cry rivers of happiness and AIDNEKDKWOEKEIODKEEKKEWLEODBSKS

Of course one thing leads to another, and Nya finds herself teaming up with her brothers ninja team in order to rescue Lloyd, Pachi, and the world. :DDD

I would love to continue ranting ab how the plot would keep going for this but the post is too long and I need to rlly sort it out more BUT ALSO because this was supposed to be mainly ab kai and Nyas reunion lol

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sharp-silver4795 · 2 months ago

Note

heyy! Liu's family knew about Jessie?

idk if your asks are still open i'm sorry if they're not😭

I hope this was ok!!!

CW!! ⚠️ Abuse, Drugs, Addiction, Alcohol

Yes and no. For at least a decade, Peter was the only one who barely knew that Jessie existed. Later on, Liu would come clean with Jeff about everything they had kept from him…

Peter knew about Jessie but not exactly. He was there when Samantha gave him Jessie’s scarf, yes, but Peter doesn’t give a shit about who the hell Liu has interactions with.

When Samantha explained that Liu would know Jessie, most parents would ask questions, right? Not Peter.

Peter literally looks for reasons to get mad a Liu. After that, Liu is told to put it in his room and “come help [Peter] with the laundry” which basically translates to “get your ass in the basement so I can beat the shit out of you.”

********

Later in life, when Liu is back from the dead and reunited with Jeff and all that stuff, things are gonna come to the surface.

Quick fill in: Liu had a hard life, as did a lot of other Creepypastas. Some of them handled it in a healthy ways, others did not. Liu did not. Dr*gs, Alcohol, and anything that could make him forget everything that ever happened to him. However, he was never proud of it. He never told anyone about what he did in that broke-down truck behind an old storage shed. He never told anyone when he closed all the doors and windows and smoked, snorted, shot, took, or drunk anything and everything to take the edge off…

He got found out though. Jeff lost him once, he wasn’t going to willingly lose him again. He found Liu in the truck, the windows fogged up and empty beer or whiskey bottles in the grass.

Once he got Liu to speak, they spilled everything. They told him all the fucked up things his dad did to her, all the shit Keith made him go through, what they had to do every single day to keep Jeff safe.

In his word dump, he does talk about Jessie, the man who cared more about them than the man who promised he would. By marrying his mom, Peter agreed to take care of Martha and Liu. Jessie care about Liu more than their stepfather did and her mother ever could. Martha was too busy with work, and spent as much time with both her kids as she could, but it didn’t make up for the pain he was going through. They kept a picture of their dad in his dresser after Peter shattered every other one she and her mother had. Jessie was his dad in a way that they couldn’t explain.

Afterwards, Jeff no longer had any guilt in killing his parents and immediately went to get Liu some help. She had taken way too much…

********

….

…

Name: Liu Woods

Age: 32

Sex: M

TOD: 15:25 CST

COD: Overdose

———

——

—

Don’t worry, though. they’ll wake up in 20 minutes. - EJ

Divider Creds: Sister-Lucifer

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shrinkthisviolet · 14 days ago

Text

Belated Six Sentence Sunday, coming at you!

I’ve made some headway on the 1x15/1x16 fic:

“Have you told anyone else yet?” “Just Tina. Caitlin and Cisco later, but…” she sighed. “I don’t want Dad finding out yet, that’s the thing. And if I ask them to keep it a secret…” “They might get worried about you and mention to him that something’s up.” “Yeah.” She rubbed a hand over her face. “Plus, I have a feeling you’d come up in conversation. And I do not wanna deal with that.” “Hey,” he said softly, “don’t go excusing me like that, Mo. I might not hate you now, but I deserve their anger for being so stupid about things before.” “Agree to disagree.” Maybe Hartley was right, maybe Barry was her blindspot, but she didn’t much care. Just because she didn’t like how he talked about Dad didn’t mean she hated him or blamed him for what he’d done. He was her brother, she loved him, and she knew he loved her.

(ofc I’ve written a little more than this, but this is my favorite 6 sentences of what I've written :D)

some good news: the prelude of this fic is officially over, and we’re moving into the actual plot of 1x15 now! So things are about to get very exciting (and hopefully they’ll start moving a little faster 😅)

also ofc, frantically working on the Westallen wedding fic:

After the devastating 6 months following, after the past 2 months of DeVoe putting them through the wringer… “I’ve always been yours.” It was finally here. She was about to finally become Iris West-Allen. “Knock knock.” Caitlin, her amazing maid of honor, peeked her head in. “May we come in?” We. Because, miracle of miracles, Felicity had been able to make it…and so had Linda. Wally had been adorably happy about Linda being back in Central, and Iris didn’t miss the way her friend’s eyes had lit up upon reuniting with him. (If she’d intentionally arranged things so that he would be the groomsman walking next to bridesmaid Linda Park…well, that was no one’s business but hers, Barry’s, and the wedding planner’s. Wally hadn’t been the same since Jesse had inexplicably broken up with him, and Iris was determined to keep her baby brother smiling today.)

Peep the Wallinda tease and expanding Iris’s bridal party! Most especially, including Linda, which the show didn't but should’ve 💀 also, reminder that this is a fic where everything goes smoothly for them. So Oliver didn’t attempt to propose to Felicity during Westallen’s rehearsal dinner, and Westallen’s wedding will not be crashed (the Earth-X stuff doesn’t happen)

I’m determined to finish this in the next few days so I can post it in Jan...since ofc this is the January YOTP fic 😅 one way or another, it will be finished in 4 days or less

Taglist (send an ask or DM to be added or removed):

@arrthurpendragon @ocappreciationtag @raith-way @vexic929 @ironverseocs

@thechaoticfanartist @tempests-of-hope @negative-speedforce @starstruckpurpledragon @angst-is-love-angst-is-life

#tagging is ofc for the top fic since it's a morgan au fic!#six sentence sunday #brotp: i know my hero #oc: morgan wells #barry allen #morgan wells au #westallen #iris west #iris west allen #caitlin snow #the flash

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kenjakusbraincum · 1 year ago

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Ok lets leave sukuna and his pet this time and focus at the servants for once, Its that situation of “ it was all good until that ONE MF spoke and we ate…“

they do have situations too and especially in vows, I bet at night in their bedroom they gather and do bets this time about sukuna’s new pet and how long they’ll survive.

And there is that “ ONE MF “ who bet all whatever they bet on ( turns in chores?/food?/accessories? ) and one peculiar looking individual said “ according to my prediction This one is a keeper for master sukuna and they’ll gradually do some changes to the master as time passes, and they’ll fall for each other.“

As much the servants wanting to roll out laughing loud and mock but too afraid they just snickered and hold as best they can and said “ ya sure whatever you said.” And whole squad bet against that individual with whatever convenient to both sides.

To there surprise the individual was right as time pass the “ Pet “ didn’t got rid off, instead they start to get better treatment and more privileges especially when they got access to the garden because no one talks about the garden the garden is only accessible to the ones who got selected by Uraume themselves.

They only admit defeat after event of the “ untitled drabble “, but long time passes and one day while all the servants in their beds trying to sleep the individual add “ if only it can last forever..” “ what you mean? “ asked one of the servants. They looked at the window and said “ a black nights coming to this wretched place and we’ll lose a gold soul.“.

Events of vows occurred and the servants are too afraid of whatever comes out of that individual’s mouth next more than sukuna’s state now, because they start to believe they are cursed speech user but they won’t risk and snitch about them afraid to be wrong because they have no proof.

One night while all servants are in deep sleep they suddenly heard a voice “ don’t worry my colleagues they’ll reunite again but not in the way we expec-“ , “ SHUT THE FUCK UP! “ yelled at them refusing to let them finish there sentence.

Damn I slipped Whoopies

Ahhh I love the idea of this going on behind the scenes in the story!! It's actually fun to think about the servants. Sukuna tries to hide this thing that's happening between him and his pet, but servants are always around and they catch little glimpses, share them amongst each other and gather the full picture quite quickly.

And obvs they'd love it, bc as time progresses, Sukuna starts to hesitate to commit crimes in front of pet. Which means often times even if the servants fuck something up around Sukuna, if pet is nearby he'll simply pretend he didn't see it and move on.

Also, thinking about the servants betting on what's going to happen next is hilarious, especially betting on turns in chores 😭😭🙏

#asks

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rafor · 1 year ago

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Chapter 61 - In the air - The Glitch

I had been looking forward to our usual flight outside the walls, but Freya never showed up. I waited with Solara in vain, and then, as the night fell, a wave of sadness washed over me. I tried to cry, but no tears came out of my eyes. Solara noticed my distress and asked me gently, “Are you ok?” I answered with a quivering voice, “Freya didn’t join us today. I miss her so much.” She said soothingly, “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll see her tomorrow. Maybe she’s too exhausted after your trip.” I said, “I want to see my little dragons, but I can’t like this.” She said, “They’ll understand. Just tell them you’re a shapeshifter.” I said, “I’m not sure if I should. What if they want to learn that too? I don’t want them to change forms, even if they probably couldn’t.” She said, “I think it’s better to tell them sooner than later. And one day they'll find out on their own for sure.” I said, “Juno and Luna already know. They probably told the others already. I hope Freya explained that to them for me.” She said, “I’m sure she’s doing what she can. She only wants the best for you.” I said, “Yeah, I know. She’s amazing.” Then we fell silent for a while, and then I remarked, “Cool, I can see in the dark.” She said, “It’s normal. Usually I also keep watch during the night on the area, thanks to that.” Then I remembered something and asked her, “Right, I never saw you sleeping. Do you ever sleep?” She said, “I don’t need to. Even if sometimes I doze off with my eyes still open, it’s not real sleep.” I realized that I didn’t feel the need either and said, “Yeah, I think I have the same condition. I can’t get any sleep.” She said, “It’s normal then. How about we have a night flight too?” I said eagerly, “Yeah, I’d love that. I need to clear my head a bit,” and we took off again. We flew all night long and covered a great distance. We reached the ocean and went back to the mountains several times. Nothing interesting happened during that night except for a few dragons traveling at night who were surprised to encounter and be escorted by a pair of giant eagles. I didn’t reveal myself to them, but they noticed my mark and asked about it. I just lied and said that it was because I was a close friend of Nox. It worked well.

The news of a second giant eagle soon spread like wildfire across the neighboring kingdoms. This was a mixed blessing for me. On one hand, it cleared up any doubts about my sudden appearance and assured them that I was not a threat. On the other hand, it sparked rumors that I was Solara’s soulmate, which was far from the truth.

The following night, Freya joined us in the sky, bringing along Vesper and the rest of our children: Zephyrion, Luna, and Juno. I felt a surge of joy as I watched them soar beside us, but they soon grew weary. Solara showed me how to use my second pair of wings to carry them on my back, and I gladly did so. It felt good to help my kids stay with us while they rested on my shoulders. Zephyrion and Vesper were the only ones who flew the whole time, but they were also the oldest. Luna was very curious and even tried to balance on my head while we flew. She loved the view and begged me to go higher, so we ascended above the clouds under a starry sky.

As we glided through the air, admiring the celestial beauty, I noticed something strange: a light moving at an incredible speed in the sky. They mistook it for a shooting star, but I knew better. It looked like some kind of vehicle, but it was too high for me to hear any sound, or maybe it was silent. I wondered what it was and where it came from, and I filed it under the UFO category in my mind.

Reuniting with my children filled me with joy. Freya embraced me warmly for what she could, and soon Akira and Fyrenthos arrived with Flynn. We were all together, a complete family. Except for one. Leo was missing. I called out to him, inviting him to join us for a flight. He did not recognize me at first, so I revealed myself to him. He gasped in astonishment, but before he could ask any questions, I urged him to come along and said I had something important to tell him. He agreed, and we soared into the sky.

As we flew, we shared our stories of what we had experienced and also about the portal. We also asked Leo why he was still being hunted by King Zain. He told us the same tale I had heard before, of his lost kingdom and his cursed fate. My children listened with fascination, and Freya added some details that she knew from her own stories. Leo seemed glad to have someone who understood his history.

When we were returning from our flight, I noticed something unusual about Leo’s wings. They had multiple bright spots that glowed in the dark. I asked him what they were. He said they were a new feature that he acquired after we performed the ritual spell with the dark crystal. He said he liked them, but I wondered if they made him more vulnerable. He could not hide in the night if someone saw him and wanted to harm him. He shrugged it off and said he could defend himself, but I was not convinced.

I also decided to reveal my true identity to him. I told him I was Raphael, the one he had been looking for all this time. He smiled and said he already knew. I was surprised and asked him how. He said there were not many people with my powers, except for my children. He said I was unique, and he recognized me from the start. I apologized for not telling him sooner and for lying to him. He said it was no problem. He said he knew what it was like to hide oneself. After all, he was a target of many too. He laughed bitterly.

We landed back at the palace walls and parted ways with my little dragons and Freya. They went back to their rooms, while I left again with Solara and resumed flying for the night. It was a beautiful night.

#chapter #dragon #dragons #elements #fantasy #literature #mystery #story #poetry #adventure #the_glitch #the rise and fall of raphael

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entink · 1 year ago

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Not the Same

Jake and (Name) were the closest of friends. Lives across the street from each other and grew up together. They knew they’d be in each other’s lives for ever. At least…They thought they would. That changed when Jake had to move away for university. The kept in contact but it was just not the same. Now, they’re change to reunite is here. (Name) is ecstatic to see her best friend again. Jake…It’s hard to tell how he feels about it. But (Name) soon realizes that their friendship is not the same. He…is not the same.

——————————————————————————

(Name): Hey Jake☺️

Jake: Heyyyy (Name)

(Name): Guess what?

Jake: OMG! Are you pregnant?😱 I didn’t think it would happen so soon…😔

(Name): ???? Why is that your first thought? And I’m not pregnant!

Jake: Is your mom pregnant?😢

(Name): No! No one’s pregnant!

Jake: So no new siblings? Then what’s going on?🙄

(Name): Me and mom are moving

Jake: Don’t tell me you’re going to be even farther away from me…

(Name): Don’t worry about it🤭

Jake: I’m scared???

Jake: Hello???????

Jake: Currently calling the police !

——

(Name) laughed as she turned off her phone. She leaned her head against the window as her mom drove to the airport. “Are you happy to finally be able to see Jake again?” Her mom asked. Jake. Her childhood best friend. Her only friend actually. They practically spent their whole lives together.

Until…Jake had to move away for college. They still kept in touch, but certainly not as much as they used to. They went from FaceTiming everyday, to phone calls every few days, to barely even texting. But now, (Name) was finally going to meet him again after all this time since she’s transferring to his school. “I can’t wait!” She said, the excitement clear in her voice.

——

Before they knew it, they were already on the plane. After their flight, they had already arrived in their new town. And of course, the first place (Name) went was Jake’s house.

She was able to get the address from her mom who got it from Jake’s mom. (Name) knocked on the door as soon as she arrived. The door opened a minute later.

A girl with short, dark red hair opened the door. (Name) was startled at the girl, “Um…excuse me…?” (Name) started unsurely. “I’m here to see my friend, Jake. Does he live here?” The girl nodded before turning her head towards the inside of the house. “Jake! Someone’s here to see you!” She shouted. “Tell Jay for the last time that I’m not going to the gym with him!” A man yelled from somewhere inside. The girl let out a deep sigh then yelled, “It’s some girl!” The boy came to the door immediately.

Once Jake came, the girl went back into the house. “(Name)?!” He exclaimed, shock evident in his face. “Wh..what are you doing here?!” He looked like a deer caught in headlights. “Well…I did tell you I was moving,” (Name) said with a grin. “You didn’t tell me you were moving here…” Jake muttered more to himself than anyone else. “So…um…It’s good to see you again?” (Name) said, trying to keep the conversation going. Jake just shook his head and moved closer to (Name). He was about to hug her when he stopped himself. Instead, he gave her an awkward smile. “Was that your girlfriend…?” (Name) suddenly asked. “What?! No way! That’s just…ew…No. She’s just my roomate. We go the same university.”

“Um, Anyway, I should get going now. Me and mom have to unpack,” (Name) said, taking a step back. “Okay…see you later,” Jake replied awkwardly. (Name) smiled at him and turned around. But right before she left the door, he called out to her. “Wait! (Name)! I can help you with moving in tomorrow. My friends can come to and they go the gym a lot so they’ll be a lot of help.” (Name) grinned. “Thanks! I’ll text you the address!” She waved at him and jogged down the street.

——

The next day, Jake and his friends arrived at (Name)’s house. (Name)’s mom greeted them by the front door and let them in. “It’s so nice to see you again, Jake. Look how big you’ve gotten!” Jake chuckled and gave her a hug, “It’s nice to see you too.”

When he pulled back, he started to introduce his friends. He pointed to the boy with platinum hair, “That’s Sunghoon.” “And that’s Jay,” he said as he pointed to boy with dark blue hair. “They’re my other roommates,” Jake said. “It’s nice to meet you,” Jay said as he gave (Name) and her mom a handshake. Sunghoon just gave them a nod.

“Let’s get started!” (Name)’s mom clapped her hands excitedly. “Jake, could you please help get the boxes from the moving truck? Jay and Sunghoon can help with putting (Name)’s things in her room.” “Sure thing!” Jake followed (Name)’s mother, leaving (Name), Jay, and Sunghoon alone. “Come on,” Sunghoon said as he grabbed some boxes labeled ‘(Name).’ Jay and (Name) followed him, each picking up a box as well.

The three made their way to (Name)’s bedroom. Sunghoon set the boxes down on the floor with Jay and (Name) following suit. “How’d you get Jake to help you with this?” Sunghoon asked her. “What do you mean?” (Name) replied, confused. “Jake wouldn’t help someone move in if he doesn’t know them. Well-actually…” Sunghoon shrugged. “What? Me and Jake are childhood friends. We’ve known each other our whole lives.” (Name) furrowed her brows in confusion. “You’re childhood friends? He’s never mentioned you before,” Jay said. (Name) nodded, “He never mentioned me? At all?” “Nope,” Sunghoon answered.

(Name) remained quiet, unsure how to feel. Sunghoon shrugged his shoulders and went back downstairs to get more boxes. Jay pat (Name) on the back, “Don’t think too much of it. He probably had his reasons. But…if I had a friend as pretty as you…I don’t think I’d ever stop talking about you.” (Name) blushed at Jay’s compliments. Jay smiled and patted her shoulder again, then went back downstairs. (Name) shook her head and made her way downstairs as well.

——

“Ahh…” Jay stretched. “Man, moving day sucks so hard.” Jake chuckled at his friend. They had just put the last few boxes in one of the rooms and were heading back to the living room where (Name) and her mom were. “Thank you, boys! How much do I owe you?” “Oh, no worries,” Jake assured her, “We’re just happy we could help.” (Name)’s mom smiled, grateful. She thanked them again and told them that they could go home now. “See you at school tomorrow?” Jay asked (Name). “Yeah! See you tomorrow!” (Name) replied. “See you later,” Jake said as hugged (Name)’s mom. “Bye guys!” She waved at them as they went outside. Once they were gone, (Name) closed the door behind them. “Welp. Let’s get the blowup mattresses,” (Name) sighed.

——

And just like that, the day of (Name)’s first day of school had come. She got dressed and put on her shoes as she sat on the bed. Suddenly, she heard a buzz beside her. She grabbed her phone and unlocked it. It was a message from Jake.

Jake: Do you need a ride to school? Jay’s offering

(Name): If you have enough room, sure. Thanks :)

Jake: We’ll pick you up in five.

(Name): K see you then

—–

Five minutes later, (Name) heard a knock on the front door. She opened the door to see Jake standing there. “Hey. Ready to go?” He asked her. “Yup.” She nodded her head. She and Jake made their way to Jay’s car. As soon as they got in, Jay drove off. “Thanks for the ride,” (Name) told him. “No problem,” Jay said. The rest of the drive was in silence. (Name) felt uncomfortable; she wanted to say something but couldn’t find the courage.

“So…how do you guys all know each other?” She finally spoke after what felt like forever. “Well…me and Sunghoon have know each other since middle school. Thrn we met Jake freshman year of university when the three of us were assigned to work on a project together. We just kinda hit it off after that,” Jay answered. “I see…” (Name) nodded her head in understanding. After a few more minutes of driving and talking, they finally arrived at school.

#jake sim #enhypen jake x reader #Enhypen Jake #childhood friends #falling out #help

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jmagnabo92 · 2 years ago

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A Dream Come True - Ch 9

Ch 9 - Return to the Mansion

On Wednesday, after getting the funds and going to the doctor, the three former ghosts prepare to go back to the mansion for the long weekend. Of course, Trevor’s parents didn’t really want to let him go back because they’re worried, he won’t be returning, so as a compromise, Jeremy had bought these bracelets that when tapped would light up and vibrate when one side touches for the other to let them know they’re thinking of them. He had two of them – one that connected to his mother and one his brother.

Initially, he thought they were silly, but he then he figured that after wondering about him for twenty-two and a half years, it was worth the peace of mind they would get to wear some silly bracelets. Besides, he’d be home after the weekend was over.

Right where he should be.

“You ready?” Sass asks, as they put the bags in the car. It’s still a bit weird to consider that they needed bags and things that they’d never had to use before, well, since they died. As weird as it is to see Sass in jeans and a t-shirt or even himself in more laid-back attire.

Trevor glances back at his parents and brother – he would be coming back, he was sure, but then, he’d thought the same thing when he visited the weekend before he died.

“Why don’t we give them a minute?” Flower suggests, and Sass nods.

“It was lovely meeting you.”

“Thanks for having us.”

The two then go to the car. No one says that it’ll be just fine or that it won’t be like they’ll never see him, again, after all, it would feel like jinxing it. So, instead, they hug and tell each other that they love each other, before saying goodbye.

He can’t help feeling a little bit sad to be leaving so soon, but he did need a proper goodbye to his ghost family, too.

Thus, he has to leave – at least for the weekend.

As he gets in the car with a little wave, Sass says, “You know, if it’s really this hard –”

“We left so fast, I do need to go back,” Trevor states. “I just – I didn’t realize leaving for a few days would be this hard.”

“Well, hopefully, it’ll be great to be reunited with our no longer fellow ghosts?”

“Here’s hoping.”

***

The drive back to Woodstone went smoothly even with the slight irritation of his bracelets going off. He understood the worry, especially given the last time he went to Woodstone, but he won’t do anything stupid this time and he did get a clean bill of health.

Still, he does miss them a bit and wishes that they’d had a proper goodbye before he left, and then, he wouldn’t have to leave his family so soon. Still, it didn’t hurt to feel a different sense of coming home when he pulled up through the drive at Woodstone.

The others come out all excited when they realize it’s them.

It takes very little time for them to get inside and to their rooms – everyone’s allowed their own rooms before Jay’s calling them down for dinner.

As he leaves his room, he’s only mildly surprised to find Hetty nearby, she looks surprised to be caught looking at his door. She also looks quite different in a simple dress with no corset or bustle. He glances around and notes that everyone is already downstairs.

“Uh, hi Hetty.”

“Hello, Trevor. I – I did not mean to –”

“Stare at my door?” Trevor suggests. “It’s actually a good thing. Do you think we could talk?”

“Jay just called us down for dinner…”

“It won’t take, but a minute.”

“Alright.”

He gestures for her to go into his room and closes the door behind them. “I’m sorry that I left so abruptly and refused to talk to you.”

“I understand, Trevor. After all, you did end things and you seem much happier after seeing your family,” she says as she sits on the bed.

He smiles. “I’m glad that you understand, but I’m still sorry. It wasn’t as much about you or your embarrassment of being with me as it was about my issues.”

“What ever do you mean?”

He sits beside her but turned toward her so that one leg is bent on the bed. “I – I never told you this – I never told anyone except Jeremy and I learned Flower was somewhat aware and Sass was with me when –”

“Trevor, you’re rambling.”

“Right.” He clears his throat. “I had a largely semi-committed relationship with my best friend, but despite the intense amount of time we spent together, and the fact that I was deeply in love with him, I never believed that he loved me back – well, not exactly. There were moments when I believed it and moments when I didn’t. After I found out about the lake, I just – couldn’t – deal with the fact that I was in love with someone - slept with him on a near-daily basis for almost my entire adult life – that would do that to me. That I meant so little to him.”

He sighs. “And when you told me that I was too embarrassing to tell our friends that we were together – those horrible, horrible thoughts of being used, unwanted, unloved – like I was never enough that were attached to him became attached to you tainting everything we did together. I had pushed those thoughts away being with you, but they came rushing through me, again, and even though I wouldn’t say that I had fallen in love with you, I do have that – knack – for falling in love too quickly. And I just couldn’t deal with that, again. So, I – I was dreading having to be around you all the time – feeling that way, being reminded every time I saw you. So, when I woke up alive, I had two things on my mind – getting away and going home because I didn’t think I could deal with those feelings with you, too.”

“Trevor, I –”

“No, wait. I’m not done.” He takes a breath. “After I confronted Ari, I realized that I was wrong about him – at least what was going on with that part of our relationship – and I may be wrong about you, too. I hope I am because I hope that I meant something to you, but–”

“You do mean something to me, Trevor. You have done for me what I have never thought possible,” Hetty states, cutting him off. “You gave me a gift that I thought I could never have, and while, yes, I was incorrectly lost in the social statuses of my time, I actually realized that it is not fair to you. You deserved better, and I realize now that I should have told Nigel to ‘stuff it’ as you would say and tell everyone. I actually had intended to when I went to bed that night – after I saw you in the library and I realized that you are far better than I gave you credit for, unfortunately…”

“We woke up alive and things changed,” Trevor says, although he’s feeling better that Hetty does seem to truly feel sorry about things. “I am sorry I was in such a hurry out of here…”

“I understand, if I had been in your shoes… I would have done the same.”

“Still, I uh, I am happy that we had what we had, it definitely made the last few months better,” Trevor offers.

“That is true.”

“But um, I am going home on Monday, and frankly, I don’t think I’m ready for a relationship right now, so … maybe we can be friends?”

“I would like that.”

“Good, then let’s go to dinner.”

***

Dinner that night was a lively affair. There’s something about having so many ghosts suddenly alive and having an actual dinner party certainly made things much more fun, especially since this dinner was just the ghosts, Sam and Jay. No guests, no additional family members – just a weird housemate dinner. Of course, it wouldn’t be their last dinner together – that would be Sunday night, but it was their first dinner together since all of them became alive and felt different like a welcome home dinner for the few that ventured away from the mansion for the last week.

Trevor sat on one end with Hetty on the other – ironically much like the time they were fighting over the dinner part with the Farnsbys. This time though, he and Sass could catch up with Jay and Pete. As it turned out, maybe Trevor and Jay did have some things in common, and Jay couldn’t wait to spend a little bit of time with them – Trevor could admit that he like that idea, too.

The conversation had turned to Laura’s wedding that they were doing at the mansion, when one of Trevor’s bracelets lights up and he presses it.

“What’s that?” Jay questions.

“It’s a long-distance bracelet,” Trevor states. “My brother bought two pairs – one for him and me and one for my mom and me. Basically, you press the button on top and the person with the pair feels it go off and light up, and they press it so you know that they know.”

“Aren’t those usually for couples in long-distance relationships?”

“Uh, yes, but my family spent twenty-two years not knowing where I was or what happened to me. This was a way to give them the peace of mind that I’m okay without relying on texting or calls all the time or insisting that I don’t leave the house,” Trevor states. “It’s a little silly, but I’m the only ghost here whose family had no idea what happened and now that I’m alive again, they don’t exactly want to go through that, again, and I can’t really blame them. So, I have new accessories.”

“That does make sense,” Jay states. “I never really thought about that before – I imagine that made the Ari confrontation difficult.”

“Oddly, that wasn’t completely on my mind – I mean, we talked about it and apparently, Jeremy went by his office every year to tell at him – but I had other issues to resolve.”

“What other issues?” Pete questions.

“Private issues,” Trevor states.

Before either of them could probe more Sass jumps in with, “So, how long do you think it’ll be before you go on your trip?”

“Oh, awhile. I’m not in a hurry to go off and explore. I just want to spend some time with my parents and brother,” Trevor states. “Ironically, I’d been considering a leave of absence when I died to do the same depending on…”

He didn’t really want to get into his intended confrontation with Ari and if things had happened terribly that he was intending to run, but he didn’t have to with Sass, who’d been present during the conversation.

“Do you think you’ll get sucked – you’ll ascend now that you’ve dealt with that? If you were to die again?” Sass questions.

“Golly gee, Sass, that’s a lovely question to ask,” Pete says before Trevor can respond.

“Yeah, seriously, Sass, you really think that’s an appropriate question to ask of someone who was a ghost less than a week ago?” Jay questions.

Trevor, on the other hand, laughs. “Yes.”

“Yes?” Pete questions. “You think you figured out what it was?”

“Oh, well, after helping David ascend, I put some real thought into what was keeping me here and to be honest, there was a large part of me that was already fairly certain. So, yeah, I think I’ve put things in the past and as long as I don’t develop new issues or regrets, I should be good when that time comes.”

“That’s great,” Pete states. “I always wondered what mine was, but yours, given everything makes sense.”

Trevor nods. “Why do you ask, Sass?”

“Well, I – I was thinking that mine has something to do with Shiki since I never heard from her, and we were both ghosts –”

“So, why don’t you go see her?”

“I’m afraid,” Sass admits. “I mean, I don’t know how you did it, but you waltzed into that office and dealt with your issue head on – albeit a bit loudly –”

“A bit? I pretty sure everyone in that office heard everything,” Trevor states. He glances at Pete and Jay. “It was unintentional, I am not usually the loud one. That’s Jeremy. When he gets angry, he gets loud, when I get angry, I’ve got this silent anger – not sure how to explain.”

“We’ve lived with you for twenty years, we know,” Pete states.

“Anyway, you made it look like a piece of cake,” Sass admits. “And to be honest, I worry about what I might hear…”

“Which makes sense because not all of us heard good things when reunited with loved ones,” Pete says, thinking of the affair.

“Right, and worse? I think I would feel guilty if she got sucked – if she ascended after our conversation like David did,” Sass states.

Trevor frowns, “Why?”

“Because then I was the reason she was stuck.”

Trevor hadn’t considered that. Should he feel bad about David?

“I wouldn’t think that,” Jay states. “It’s more on them to deal with their issues than on anyone it involves. I mean – I wouldn’t expect Sam to blame herself for her mom not ascending. Does it help that she could work things out with Sam, probably, but ultimately, her mother could’ve accepted the situation and worked it out on her own. If David’s issue was that he was a bad friend that threw his friend in the lake, it’s not on Trevor to forgive him – he probably just needed to realize he sucked and there wasn’t anything he could do to change it.”

“That’s fair, besides, most ghosts wouldn’t have the opportunity to talk to or see their loved ones left behind to have that conversation,” Pete offers. “And we know that it’s really on the ghost to work it out anyway because it’s possible to ascend without any guidance.”

“Exactly,” Jay states.

“Alright, I guess that’s one reason to go see her, then,” Sass states. “I just – I still…”

“It doesn’t have to be today, Sass,” Trevor says. “I just another reason to go see him – and to be honest, I had a lot of questions. Things I spent the last twenty years thinking about. So, I was ready to go and face him, nerves aside. If you’re not ready – you have time to think on it, if you want.”

Sass nods. “Yeah, I do. Definitely, have plenty of time now.”

“After our last hurrah party,” Pete states.

“Yes, let’s plan that instead of worrying about ghost stuff,” Trevor offers.

Jay grins. “I’ve got quite the menu planned.”

Sass grins. “Let’s hear it.”

#CBS Ghosts #Ghosts CBS #trevor lefkowitz #A dream come true

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jonathanvik · 2 months ago

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Krisis - Chapter 8

“Ugh,” Rocke groaned, stretching his back. He’d fallen asleep at an odd angle.

“Sorry, Rocke. I didn’t mean to wake you so early, but uncle insisted,” Kallane said, her mood sour. “It’s not even sunset yet, and he’s already kicking us out.”

In response, Rocke mumbled a garbled reply that vaguely sounded like a request for coffee. He disliked mornings, his scant hours of sleep not helping.

But his friend intuited his words with a nod and left. Rocke dragged himself to the dining room, delicious smells greeted him as he entered. After two weeks of bland gruel, they were heavenly!. Everyone was already there. They must have woken him last.

“Matthias!” Rocke blubbered as he spotted his friend sipping a glass of orange juice. While still in rough shape, the prophet’s condition seemed much improved.

“Morning, Rocke,” Matthias laughed as Rocke dove into him for a hug. It was unseemly, something his father would have scolded him for, but he didn’t care.

“It’s okay, lad. I’m alright,” the prophet said, returning his hug. There was no judgment in his tone, only loving acceptance.

When Rocke regained his composure, he pulled away from his friend, slightly embarrassed. “I thought I lost you. Are you okay?”

“My chest still hurts, but I’ll manage,” Matthias replied.

“Thank the Sovereign,” Rocke said, sighing in relief. He thanked Kallane as she passed him a cup of coffee. While bitter and without either cream or sugar, it helped wake his dull mind.

“Eat up, everyone,” Maple placed a plate of sausages and toast on the table. It smelled wonderful. “The eggs are almost done.”

“Thanks, Maple. You’ve always been a fantastic cook,” Hooven said, taking his share before anyone else.

“An impatient boy, as usual,” Maple replied, with some amusement. Of everyone, only she seemed unbothered by her brother’s rotten behavior. “I recall how you snuck food before prayer at the dinner table. Mom used to give you such a scolding for it.”

“I remember,” Hooven said, wearing a nostalgic smile. “I was an unruly child.”

Maple beamed, and the pair of siblings shared a moment between them. Despite their differences, Rocke realized Hooven truly loved his sister.

“While I don’t think they’d completely agree with your decisions, they’d still be proud of you,” Maple whispered, pulling her brother into a hug. “You’ve made a life for yourself.”

“Yeah, yeah. Stop bothering me. I’m trying to eat.” But Hooven’s protest was half-hearted. “When you leave, just be careful, okay? Your world isn’t mine. I can’t join you. You know that, Maple.”

“He could if he tried,” Kallane said, crossing her arms.

But Maple only gave her brother a sad smile. “As always, you never change. Just be careful, okay? Vladus isn’t as safe as it appears. The Sovereign has proclaimed that the city will soon face His judgement.”

“Don’t worry about me. I can handle myself,” Hooven seemed unconcerned about his sister’s dire pronouncement.

After sharing a look with Hooven, Maple shook her head. “Now, enough about that. Eat up. We’ll need your strength for the day ahead. We should leave as soon as possible. It isn’t safe sitting in one place for too long.”

Rocke nodded, filling his plate with more sausages. This might be his last decent meal for days. He forgot the troubles ahead and only enjoyed the food before him. When eggs were done, Rocke took a generous portion of that too.

“Where are we going from here?” Rocke asked once he depleted his plate. A welcome fullness filled his chest, rejuvenating him.

“Leaving Vladus would be preferable,” Maple replied. “But they’ll expect that. They’ll have a tight grip on who passes the city gates. I have a safe house ready where we can stay until the situation cools down.”

“Okay.” Rocke didn’t allow his disappointment to show on his face. He’d been looking forward to reuniting with his grandmother.

“But what about you, Nitao? What are your plans?” Rocke asked, curious.

“Stay with you,” Nitao replied in his usual terse way. “Best chance.”

“And after that?” Kallane asked. “It won’t be easy, but we might be able to smuggle you out of the country. Though, returning you to Konquell will be a tougher prospect.” The country had strict travel restrictions. That race enjoyed its privacy.

“Still stay. Nowhere else to go,” Nitao refused to elaborate any further. Rocke sensed a deep sadness within the man, something painful from his past, perhaps even shameful. They didn’t press the issue, allowing the man to open up when he was ready.

“We’re glad to have you, Nitao,” Matthias said. “We’ll do our best to keep you safe. You’re under the umbrella of the Sovereign’s protection.”

Nitao stayed deathly quiet after that, refusing to look at anyone. “Thanks.”

After breakfast, they quickly gathered everything they needed. Hooven offered them some packs of bottled water and canned goods. While the safe house had supplies, the extras wouldn’t hurt. They didn’t know how long they’d stay there.

“Keep it easy and no strenuous activity,” Hooven told Matthias as they approached the door. The prophet nodded and promised to follow the doctor’s advice.

“Thanks for all your help,” Maple said. She gave her daughter a nudge with her elbow.

“Yeah, thanks,” Kallane reluctantly added. Rocke wondered if she’d ever get along with her uncle. The proud girl didn’t easily forgive.

Rocke shared a handshake with their host, wondering if he’d ever see the doctor again.

“Just be careful out there, okay?” Hooven said from the doorway. “I never saw you, okay? You were never here.”

Maple gave her thanks, and they crammed into the van. Rocke watched as they left the suburbs for the rougher parts of Vladus. A palpable unease gathered in his chest the further they got away from Hooven’s house. They’d left their last bastion of safety. Danger would hunt them from now on. Chief Rolf still wanted revenge for his fallen nephew. He won’t stop until he got his justice.

---

“The UOP has forsaken the Sovereign’s protection. It has become sinful and vain; ergo, it must be judged. But fear not. The Sovereign is merciful and won’t destroy the UOP utterly. No, He will humble you and show that He is the Lord,” Matthias said. “Repent, and you will avoid much unneeded pain.”

“Still at it, huh?” Rocke said, amazed.

“I may be a fugitive, but the message must continue.” The prophet stood over a microphone connected to a miniature computer, beaming at his young friend. “It is what the Sovereign commanded me to do. I dare not be derelict in it. Twenty-one days remain until His judgment day.”

“Right.” While Rocke had developed a greater affinity for the Great Lord, he remained doubtful about the incoming judgment. Would He really bring the UOP to its knees? While well-deserved, could such a powerful nation fall so easily? The UOP had developed many powerful enemies over the centuries, but none had withstood its overwhelming might.

“It’s a pain that I can’t appear publicly anymore, but this podcast business should work as a nifty alternative. Okay, Kallane, I’m done. Get this spread across the internet.” Matthias said.

“You’re such an old man, Matthias,” Kallane said, amused.

“I’ve never been that technologically literate,” the Soothsayer admitted, abashed. To Rocke, this seemed like rather simple technology, but whatever.

Behind him, Nitao watched with interest. “So, Matthias, prophet?”

“Oh, I suppose you don’t know about that yet,” Rocke said. While Kallane had called Matthias a holy man several times, they hadn’t exactly given their new allies the details. “It’s part of the reason they arrested me.” Rocke’s tone became more melancholy, laced with pain. “A man died when I fought to protect Matthias here. Many people don’t like his message.”

“The UOP is prideful. It is said in my old country that it will be their downfall.” Nitao nodded in understanding. Was that respect in Konquelian’s eyes? “You are an honorable man, Rocke. The UOP did you a disservice. I envy you.” There was genuine pain in his voice. They waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t. Nitao left them for the small kitchenette to get a light snack.

Rocke changed the subject. “Still, won’t they delete it right away? And it might lead them to this safe house.” It was a spare building, hiding among many other simple apartments.

While not a slum, exactly, the neighborhood had seen better days. It was Vladus’s policy to build over buildings that had become obsolete. Rocke guessed the neighborhood would face demolition within two years for new development. Seeing the writing on the walls, many of its inhabitants had already moved out. Anyone who couldn’t afford to move the city would forcibly evict them. The city would force those poor souls to live in the slum district. In the UOP, the poor fend for themselves.

“We’ll spread it around. I’ve already made sure it won’t get tracked back to us,” Kallane replied, putting the portable computer away. “And I know some circles who’ll ensure it doesn’t get lost.” The main problem was getting the people of the UOP to believe the message.

“Good luck, then,” Rocke said solemnly. His mood dampened, flopping onto a nearby armchair. His friends were so amazing and brave. Rocke felt useless and hopeless, like a boat without a rudder or engine.

“Is everything alright, Rocke?” Matthias asked.

“I envy you, Matthias,” Rocke replied. “You always seem to know where you’re going. Your life has a purpose. Me? I have nothing anymore.”

“I understand,” the prophet replied. “Meeting me has thrown your life into turmoil. For that, I’m sorry. You don’t deserve what happened to you.”

This admission surprised Rocke, but he didn’t begrudge his friend. “No, it’s not your fault. I chose to stop Joven, and I’m paying for it.”

“But remember this, Rocke. You aren’t alone. I’m here for you.” Matthias gave him a slight smile. “And the rest of us are, too. I don’t think your life’s over with, either, Rocke. The Sovereign has a special purpose for you. There’s a reason we met on that fateful day.”

“And what would that be? I’m a killer, Matthias. Why would the Sovereign want to use someone whose hands are stained with blood?” Frankly, the more he prayed to the Great Lord, the less deserving of His blessings Rocke felt. It made him painfully aware of how sinful, selfish, and unworthy he was. Compared to the Sovereign’s majesty, he was less than a dust mote.

Matthias grabbed his hands and squeezed. “We all fall short of the Sovereign’s majesty, but He still loves us, even the worst sinners. He offers forgiveness to anyone, no matter their crime, if they only ask sincerely. Not because we deserve it, but because He wants to give it. His grace knows no bounds. The Sovereign isn’t finished with you. You have a special purpose. Just wait and see.” He gave Rocke a wink.

“If you say so.” But Rocke’s heart lightened. That the Sovereign forgave him with no conditions made his head spin. Rocke’s own father had expected him to earn his forgiveness. That man gave nothing freely. It almost made Rocke doubt his friend’s words, but some insight insisted they were true.

“Given freely, huh?” Could he help Matthias spread this message? While not a preacher, Rocke figured he could help in his own way. “Is there anything I can do to help here?”

Kallane lifted her attention away from her portable computer. “Sure! What are you good at?”

”I have some rudimentary computer skills, but I’m no hacker. I was taking business classes if that helps. My father wished for me to pursue law, but I lacked the talent for it.”

“What kind of business?” Kallane asked, curious.

“I’m not too sure yet. I was thinking about starting a printing company. Everyone has needs for flyers, banners, leaflets, that sort of thing, even in our computerized age.”

“Can you design one—a flyer, I mean?” Kallane’s eyes were shining.

“I suppose. I took some design classes. Why?”

Kallane slapped Rocke’s back, making him jerk forward. “I think we might have a use for you.” She beamed at him, and Rocke grinned back.

---

“No, not there!” Marsh said in frustration.

“Okay, Master Marshion,” Kana said, dropping the vase like a stone. Marsh winced as it smashed against the hardwood floor.

“You idiot! That was my grandmother’s!” Marsh cursed Rocke’s uncle’s insistence that the apartment’s floors be hardwood. Carpet might have saved it from being smashed.

Whatever. Once the lease expired, Marsh would move somewhere else. While he hadn’t said anything, Rocke’s uncle had implied he wanted Marsh to leave as soon as possible. Until then, he’d enjoy the apartment and the lavish shopping complex beneath it. Three floors down was the best noodle restaurant he’d ever seen.

“My apologies, Master Marshion. Do you want it placed somewhere else? What about the coffee table near the sofa?”

“How? It’s broken beyond repair!” Marsh fought back his annoyance. Kana was only an AI bot; she didn’t have normal thinking processes like a human. The mechinoid was remarkably human-like. If it weren’t for the flashing red triangle on her forehead, she might pass for a human. “Just stand over in the corner, please.”

Marsh winced as Kana knocked over some books sitting too far off a side table and smashed a glass he’d carelessly placed on top of them. He grunted in frustration when the front door buzzed.

“Coming.” He hoped it wasn’t another leech asking for donations. Instead, he found Rocke’s ex-girlfriend, Jafia, behind the peephole.

“Jafia, hello,” Marsh said as he opened the door. “Nice to see you?”

“I hope I’m not intruding.” The woman’s eyebrows raised as she saw the mess behind him.

“No, come in. Sorry about the mess. It’s been a trying day,” Marsh said, allowing Jafia inside.

As usual, Jafia absorbed her surroundings with a glance. Her hawk-like gaze missed little, noticing the blonde-haired woman standing in the corner, still as a statue. “Is it one of the new AI bots?”

“Yeah, bought her last week. I wasn’t happy with her initial programming, so I’ve been tampering with it. She talked way too much. I prefer my women to be pretty, but preferably furniture when they’re not needed. My efforts haven’t been very successful, though, so there’ve been some complications.” He gestured to the mess. “Even getting her to clean has been a hassle.”

“Women should be seen but not heard?” The icy woman didn’t even hide her disdain.

“What do you want, anyway?” Marsh asked, clearly aware Jafia hadn’t come for a chat.

“I was wondering if Rocke dropped by.”

“Rocke? Why would he? He’s still in jail. From what I understand, they refused to release him on parole.”

“You haven’t heard?” Jafia raised an eyebrow. “Rocke escaped jail yesterday.”

“Huh?” Marsh blinked, befuddled.

“Don’t you read the news?” Jafia asked, somewhat exasperated.

“No. First I’ve heard about it. But no, he hasn’t been around,” A twinge of guilt stabbed Marsh’s heart.

Since his arrest, Marsh hadn’t visited his friend once. But he tossed the guilt aside. Like his father always said, guilt and shame were a prison. The past didn’t matter. Besides, Rocke only had himself to blame for his predicament.

“Thought as much,” Jafia replied. “It was a long shot. Like Rocke could expect you to help him in his hour of greatest need. I heard you ratted him out to the police. You didn’t even try to help him, did you?”

How did she learn about that? “Is there anything else you want?” Marsh didn’t appreciate being talked down to. And how could anyone blame him for giving up Rocke to the police? It was his civic duty to help the law!

“Are Rocke’s things still here?” Jafia asked.

“Yeah, why? Don’t tell me you want them?” How lame. After breaking up, she was pining for Rocke again? Someone who was a criminal, too? Whatever. “They’re still in Rocke’s room. His family told me to throw his stuff, but I haven’t gotten around to doing that yet. Take whatever you want.” In fact, he hadn’t even entered the room since Rocke got arrested. For whatever reason, he couldn’t muster the courage to do so.

“Good.” Jafia stepped out the front door and returned with some empty boxes.

Rocke’s room reflected its once-owner. While there was a thin layer of dust, it was clean and organized, a trait he shared with Jafia. On a shelf were rows of books on various topics, mostly business. Rocke was serious about his studies, though there were also some books on philosophy and history.

It wasn’t all dry academic stuff, though. Rocke also enjoyed sports and had various merchandise for the local baseball team, the Vipers. His prized possession was a baseball signed by Rue Ravel, a star player who died years before they were even born. Marsh couldn’t recall what made him so famous, caring little about the dull sport.

With surprising care, Jafia stored each piece neatly, wasting no space within the boxes. She stored Rocke’s personal computer in a backpack, careful not to damage it. In quick order, she had everything packed.

“Why bother taking his stuff?” Marsh asked when she finished. “I doubt you’ll ever see him again.”

But Jafia didn’t respond, instead taking an interest in Kana. She inserted a wire from Rocke’s personal computer into a slot on the AI bot’s neck. “You said you had some trouble with her AI? Let me see if I can help.”

“Okay,” Marsh said in surprise. It was remarkably generous, considering Jafia’s usually cold opinion of him. He watched as she typed away at the keyboard with deft fingers.

“There, done,” Jafia said, hitting enter. She returned the personal computer to the backpack.

“Okay, nice.” Marsh waited for her to elaborate on what she’d fixed, but Jafia said nothing. Instead, she balanced the boxes with Rocke’s stuff and moved to leave. Marsh didn’t offer to help open the door for her.

“Hello, Master Marshion. Is there anything you require?” Kana asked.

“No, stop bothering me.” He watched as Jafia returned for the last set of boxes.

“Hello, Master Marshion. Is there anything you require?”

“No! Did you really fix her, Jafia? She’s acting annoying again.”

“Hello, Master Marshion. Is there anything you require?” Kana moved uncomfortably close, and Marsh edged away.

“AI bots are notorious for serious bugs.” Jafia left without a backward glance.

“Hello, Master Marshion. Is there anything you require?” Without realizing it, he’d accidentally cornered himself.

“Stop! Leave me alone, Kana!”

“Leave you? How could you say that after everything I’ve done for you? You are a real brute, Marshion. I hate you.” A blow came so fast that he hadn’t the chance to dodge. It left Marsh dazed on the ground. He glanced up in terror at the blonde beauty standing above him.

“Brute. I hate you. Don’t leave me. I don’t want to be alone.” Another blow to the ribs left Marsh feeling it crack bone.

“Jafia! Anyone! Please help!” But no one came as the AI girlfriend pounced on him, each blow landing with crushing force. She wailed at him until he was a red streak across the hardwood floor.

---

With a grunt, Jafia loaded the last of Rocke’s things into her car. His collection of heavy books had made taking them down a challenge. She hoped it wouldn’t be too long until she reunited with Rocke, but she wouldn’t mind keeping his things in her car until then. Above her, birds chirped in a nearby tree, their birdsong almost drowned out by the traffic. Despite her many years in Vladus, the hustle and bustle of the city still overwhelmed her. It was a far cry from the village she’d grown up in.

A notification flashed on her phone, pulling her to the news page. “Yesterday, household staff found Defense Minister Polk Loffie in critical condition. He’d apparently fallen down a flight of stairs at his home. The minister was rushed to intensive care at Hope Hospital, where he remained until he passed away last night. He was 68.” With a slight smile, Jafia snapped her phone shut and whistled to herself as she closed the rear door of her car.

Traffic was bustling as she headed deeper into Vladus. Jafia tapped her finger as her radio blared hard music, almost deafening in its intensity. She nearly missed her phone’s notification chime. She gave a quick glance at the brief message she’d gotten. With a tap of her fingers, she changed course from her apartment to a park on the city’s outskirts.

The return to nature was nice as she walked through the park. The landscape sprawled in the distance, almost making one forget it sat on a building’s roof. Vladus didn’t have any natural parks anymore. Jafia watched some children play around an artificial lake, chasing ducks that had been minding their business. She gasped as someone bumped into her hard and glared at them.

“Watch where you’re going,” Jafia said, her tone frigid.

“Apologies. My mistake,” the older man said, tipping his hat at her before walking away.

“Hmph.” Jafia walked off, palming the metal box in her pocket. When she returned to her car after a lengthy walk, Jafia opened the gift. It contained a slip of paper written in a complicated cipher, but Jafia’s technical mind translated it in a glance. She shoved the paper into her mouth and swallowed.

“Honestly, that’s my next assignment?” Jafia shook her head as she started her car. “They realized that I’m not a miracle worker?” Still, she’d fulfill her duty. For Vanderfall’s sake, Mayor Cal Sunbearer would die.

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