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polaroidhugs · 4 months ago

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Dancing with Myself

'When there's no one else in sight/In the crowded lonely night/Well I wait so long for my love vibration/and I'm dancing with myself' Chapter 1 - Dancing with myself Chapter 2 - Poker face Chapter 3 - Rhiannon Chapter 4 - Hotel California

(SERIES MASTERLIST)

Summary: While late for work the 3rd time this month, in Hano's kindness, she takes some extra time to give a man crossing Shibuya his wallet, and when he barely even reacts to her gesture, it makes her mood even worse. Not as bad as when the entire city disappears, and it's just her and wallet guy left, though.

A/N: First post!! I finished AIB like 2 days ago, and I just got the biggest urge to write a fic after watching it, so... here it is! (Excuse my typos I’m still trying to get better at writing.)

Warnings: swearing, mentions of criminalistic past-juvie, in the last little bit of the chapter, a noose and gambling are mentioned.

BTW: the character has a given last name (Hano) but her first name is up to you.

Happy reading! WC: 4618

Shit. Late for work again. And for the third time this month, too. It's really not my fault: My alarm didn't go off, and when I tried beating on makeup, my apartment's fire alarm went off and everybody had to evacuate. This is most definitely a sign I need to wake up earlier. But will I? No. Whatever, there’s no use dwelling on it; I’ll just do my makeup at the office.

Man, the city really is a beautiful place. I always find myself studying the passers-by as I wait for the light to turn. There's a dishevelled man seemingly in the same situation as me: his glasses perched awkwardly, not even having enough time to fix them, and he’s begging somebody on the phone to listen. Or, a more wicked idea, He might be a cheater, kicked out on the street, begging for his wife to let him explain.Then there’s three school girls clustered together, their voices bubbling with laughter about, from snippets of the conversation I can catch, boys.

That's the beauty of life for me. Everybody is so different. Everybody in this city has completely different lives from each other. Unless, all you do is stay in bed all day. But even those people have differing ideals. So, maybe that guy was a cheater. Most likely, he was just late for work. But I’ll never know.

My thoughts are interrupted by a soft thud, the sound of something hitting the pavement. My eyes flick to the ground to see a thin, black leather wallet, scuffed from use. The ID in the clear slot catches my eye, and it invites me to take a closer look. I can feel my purse slip from my shoulder to my elbow as I squat down to pick up the wallet.

I glance down at the wallet, the owner’s name "Shuntaro Chishiya" catching my attention as I stand back up. "pediatric cardiovascular surgeon" Damn, this guy is young for someone with such a fancy title. To be honest: his photo on the ID doesn’t do him too good: The angle of the light causes his face to be partially obscured by shadows, making eyes looking like two black holes. Whoever decided it’s basically a requirement for people to look bad on their ID needs to be locked up forever.

I slide over to a nearby pole to get out of the way. When I open the wallet a stack of crisp 10,000 yen bills greet me. Stacked neatly against eachother. Why’d I even do this to myself? Why’d I open it? The temptation to take them hit me like a punch. Three years ago, I wouldn't have hesitated to grab these bills up, maybe even bought some new designer for me and my friends with the card. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, snapping the wallet shut. My fingers linger on the leather, the temptation gnawing at me.

No matter how much I think I’ve changed, that pull always comes back. But then guilt creeps in, and the fact that I’m even struggling with this disgusts me. I should be better than this by now. I remember those years. I was a disappointment. Stealing, smoking, getting in fights, in Juvie- almost, if i wasn’t bailed out. I think of my family, their faces twisted with disgust in the car mirror as they drove me home. I don’t like to remember it. I can’t remember it.

As the light signals to cross, I spot him: It’s impossible to miss this guy, really, his bleached blonde hair makes him stand out like the sun in a surrounding sea of black hair. He’s wearing a white cardigan and some shorts, hands in his pockets. How’d he not notice his wallet? His shorts don’t have a back pocket as far as I can see. I don’t even think about it as I make a beeline for him even though he’s walking away from my office building, I just have to return this to him.

“Excuse me, sir!” I yell, pushing my way through the crowd. About a dozen tiny apologies come from my mouth before I finally reach him, tapping him admittedly rough on the shoulder.

The man turns around and, thank God, it’s him alright. “Sorry for bothering you, but I believe this is yours.” I hold out his wallet, flipping it so he can see his ID. He stares at me for a moment before glancing down at his wallet. Much to my surprise, his hands aren’t cemented to his pockets: He reaches out one to take his wallet back to his pocket. “Thanks.”

And he turns head and begins to walk away. Surely he heard me yelling for him in the street? I wasn’t expecting him to grovel for me, but just that nonchalant thanks? Not even a “Thank you, maam.” Man, why do I ever bother being nice to guys?

I grit my teeth, my irritation somehow building even higher. Whatever, I begin booking it for my office building. Finally, I made it. The glass doors slide open agonizingly slow, like they know I’m in a time crunch. I wave a quick, distracted hand at Ageda, who’s cheerfully greeting me with her usual good morning as I rush to the stairs. I can’t even think about the elevator right now. My heels clack loudly against the metal steps, and as I get up to the fourth floor, I’m breathless with my legs burning from all that running.

I weave through the sea of cubicles, a bit of me dying inside when I see the stack of papers on mine: If any other jobs would give me the delight of an interview, I would go there instead in a heartbeat. Not that I’m not grateful for Hageda, he’s the only person that would give me a job looking at my past: I’m forever indebted to him.

Once I get to my bosses office, I practically crash through the door. I stumble in, hands choking the coat rack by the door as the only possible way to keep me from collapsing. “I am so sorry!” The words barely even make it out of my mouth, and I shoot the most pleading look I can to my boss. “I-I swear it wasn’t my fault this time, my alarm didn’t go off and-and-”

“It’s fine, Hano-san.” He laughs softly. Him and this office always had a way of calming me down. I’ve known Hayashi for years; he’s a family friend, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him get angry. He’s just as cool as this office, with all the brown rustic furniture.

“Do this again, however, I’ll have to tell your father to wake you up himself.” Oh, God. I can never be late again. I can already hear my father’s voice: ‘My friend gives you this job after your life of gangster-ness and this is how you repay him? Why did, God give me this disappointment as my daughter?’ The image of his face churned in disgust is seared into my brain.

I fix my bag back onto my shoulder as I bow. “Thank you, Buchou.” I should definitely be going now, getting to my job. My hand reaches to push the rustic wooden door open, but the power going off stops me in my tracks.

I guess I can’t get to work. What should I do, then? Go home? That thought places a grimace so big it hurts my mouth. Well, I guess it’s up to Hayashi. I turn around, my face brighter than the sun.

What the fuck? My boss isn’t there, and it’s not like there’s anywhere for him to hide in this office- I’d know. As a kid, me and his daughter would be so bored waiting for him to return from a meeting we’d play hide and seek to pass the time. There wasn’t any spots for us to hide well, so there sure isn’t any for him.

Everything else in the room is just as it was a second ago; except for one thing. His glasses. They’re resting on the desk, abandoned. On top of that, one of the lenses looks like it’s been shot through.

“Hello?” What am I doing? There’s no way he would respond to me even if this was somehow a joke, and if it was, why? For being late? I’ve known this guy since I was little, he wouldn’t go through all of this just to scare me from being late again, he doesn’t care enough to do that! The whole room seems to be pressing in on me, the walls narrowing, the air growing colder.

I burst out my office, looking frantically from one cubicle to the next for anybody to explain what just happened, but there’s no one. No one is here.. My office is empty. Everyone that was here a minute ago, is gone. Even Tokuda, who hasn’t missed a single day of work in 12 years, is nowhere to be found. “Hello? Anyone? Is anyone there?” I quit my running, standing in the middle of the room, spinning in circles to spot someone that might not be a great hider. Nope.

I speed walk to the stairs, noting how the elevator is down, and every single computer is turned off. I blaze down the winding steps, the straps of my bag slipping once again. When I reach the main floor, there’s something I’d thought I’d see: Emptiness. there’s nobody crying in their seats about how they got scammed by a prince overseas, or somebody yelling at the lady upfront about how its her fault their card declined. It’s so… refreshing.

I have always been fascinated by how different people are, how different their lives are, but don’t get that confused with some sort of admiration for the differences. If I’m being honest, most people annoy the living hell out of me, I’d say about 8 in 10, being generous. They all just get under my skin.

The streets are the same as my office building: Desolate. And, if I’m not mistaken, I think the starbucks has moss creeping up on it? The hell? That would take a shit ton of time to happen normally, right?

The silence of Shibuya Crossing is almost too loud. Normally, the streets are filled with the incessant humming of just about a million different sounds. But now? It’s silent. It’s almost relaxing. I’m sure there are other people here- there must be at least one or two. But right now, I feel like someone just took their hands off my throat.

No more condescending coworkers giving me those pitying looks and snacks, no more parents lecturing me how I should be like my brother, no more fake smiles for the customers that have more complaints than sense; I’m free as a bird. I don’t even have to be wearing this sad office attire- Dress suit, skirt, and heels. The convenience store in the distance is humming my name.

I don’t give a damn how bad my heels are digging into the sides of my feet I sprint there, it doesn’t matter to me. I’ll be free of these horrible creations soon. Hopefully for good: I don’t know what it is, but ever since I was little, heels have been my worst enemy. I know some girls can stand them or build a resistance to them, but that’s not me. They feel like nails for me, and no amount of being in them has ever lessened that fact for me. Maybe my feet are just shaped strangely.

I practically teleport to the home section of the store, and there I see them. A simple pair of light blue slippers. Sitting on the shelf. The soft texture of the slippers feel heavenly in my hand as I pick them up. It’s like I’m a kid again, and the slippers are those huge rainbow swirl lollipops. Relief washes over me just imagining it.

Maybe I’m a bit dramatic, but I feel like I’m in utopia. With nobody I can do whatever and take whatever I want. Who’s going to stop me? I swing my feet into the air, my heel going along with it, and making a big thud as it touches the ground. But when I do the same thing with the opposite feet it hit’s something soft, Like flesh. I didn’t check if there was anyone in here, did I? I was too caught up with putting these slippers on. That’s mighty embarrassing.

What a coincidence: Wallet guy. Chinchilla, I think his name was? It already slipped my mind. Chinchilla has his hand in his pocket, posed like he’s waiting for the bus. His lips are curled into a small smirk- the kind that’s not really a smile, but kinda is. My heels are between his feet, but he doesn’t care about that. He’s just staring at me with that slight curve in his mouth.

What do I even say? “Sorry I just kicked you with my heel, man. My bad?” I don’t know this guy, I just returned his wallet to him earlier and all he gave me was a pathetic thanks. Do I say sorry? Do I ask him what’s going on? Why would he know?

“Oh, you.” That came out of my mouth much more sharply than I intended. I’m not that salty about the wallet thing, I think. Nothing about Chinchilla changes at all, it’s like he’s a greek statue. Quite frightening, if you ask me. “Sorry, I didn’t it like that.” I sigh, bending over and slipping on my new stolen slippers: I’m not trying to be barefoot infront of this guy.

After a moment, his lips twitch and his smirk deepens. Just a fraction, but it’s noticeable. “It’s just you and me, then?” His voice is casual, like he’s commenting on the weather. His eyes make their way back to me, and the smile fades out of his face. I feel like I shouldn’t be talking with him. Why is he and I the only two people here right now? Then again, what could I lose from responding?

“As far as I can see.” I vaguely gesture to store’s window, though in my view it’s covered by cleaning supplies and chargers. There’s this long silence that stretches between us as he stares out the window. I hate silence.

“Hey,” I say, slightly shifting my body. He raises his eyebrows for a split second before looking back to me.

“Why are you and I the only people in Shibuya right now?” That’s what’s been in the back of my mind this whole time. Why am I the only one who hasn’t disappeared? I’ve never been particularly special. Mid grades and a delinquent for 90% of my life. It’s not like I’m special. Maybe he is: He’s a young long-title doctor. Definitely sharper than a sword. But I’m not.

“I don’t know.” He answers back to me, quite matter-of-factly. There’s not hint of confusion is his voice, or maybe a bit of nerve as to why him and this random girl are the only two people left in Shibuya. He just doesn’t know. Point blank period.

I’m unsure how to respond to thst. He simply just doesn’t know. Do I get mad and start barking at him for answers? I shouldn’t: He is most likely just in the dark as I am. And if he is, then I’ve missed out of a valuable warm body. Maybe I should ask him to pair up with me, investigate together.

“We should stick together.” He states blankly, like he was reading my mind. I meet his eyes for the briefest moment before nodding. “We should.” I move to the front of the store, where a stack of shopping baskets wait for me. I can hear Chinchilla’s footsteps loosely following mine. I grab a basket and head straight for the food aisles. I don’t waste time, shoving anything with good shelf life into my basket.

I can feel my new partner’s eyes on me as I shove everything useful on the shelves into the basket, and it grinds my nerves: I just can’t stand when people watch me but don’t do anything. “Don’t just stand there, put those pockets to good use.” I snap, giving him the bitchiest look I can muster. Damn, I feel like my boss from when I was a delinquent. Demanding and impatient.Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Chinchilla flash that signature smirk as he walks somewhere out of my sight. Damn, this guy has absolutely zero urgency

It takes me a minute, but I fill my basket up the the brim, along with my purse. When I step out of the aisle, I can see Chinchilla casually leaning against the cashier counter, his pockets weighed down with snacks. Without a word, I push the door open, hearing the little ding of the bell as I exit, . That would mean, that everything powered by electricity is useless right now, and I can tell Chinchilla feels it too, I can hear him let out the quietest ‘hm.’

I stop at Shibuya crossing, it feels free not having to worry about a car hitting me. An apartment would probably be the safest bet for a place to put all this shit in, but for some reason, my body feels a strong gravitational pull to Starbucks. That convenience store was rather low on water for some odd reason, and the Starbucks would definitely have a shit ton, plus caffiene, which could be nice, too. Wouldn’t be the first time that happened to me. But, since we’re partner’s now, I guess I have to ask for Mr. Mysterious’s thoughts.

“Starbucks or an apartment?” I ask, my voice flat. “We’re low on water, and I’m guessing taps don’t work anymore,” He’s behind me, but I can imagine his face not changing.

“Astute observation.”

I feel quite bullied by what he said just now. Is he making fun of my intelligence? Not cool, man. Or, this could be an answer with his own personal touch of mockery. If he acknowledges my observation as astute, then he probably thought of that too, meaning he’s thought of the apartments being a subpar place to go aswell. I don’t ask another question, I just begin walking and hope he follows.

We make it to the Starbucks and just like every other place, it’s empty, with no indication this place ever opened in the first place. There’s just one singular round chair fallen over, but that’s it. For a second, I’m stunned. I can’t believe it’s the first time I’ve been here: It’s right next to my work. I put the basket off supplies and my purse down onto a booth, and Chinchilla follows suit, slowly as ever taking the snacks he shoved in his pockets out and placing them next to the basket.

I look to the counter. Why not? Nothing’s stopping me. “One large espresso coming right up!” I announce as I grab a large cup, some water still in it, and pretend to make the most extravagant coffee in the world. I shake the cup like I’m some sort of bartender. My laughter rings out, care free.

My mood should be much darker right now. The city’s empty. Everyone’s disappeared. Any sort of technology is useless. But I’m loving this. Sure, it’s unsettling, but also so fun.

“I don’t drink caffeine.” Chinchilla’s voice cuts through my thoughts. Very late reply, indeed. He’s staring at me, and I’m staring right back at him. “You’re a doctor,” I shoot back as I set the cup down. I lean on the counter, elbows digging into the surface. “Of course you drink caffeine.”

“Med student.” He corrects, like that’s going to change anything in my point. If anything, it makes my point richer.

“Oh, a med student?” I laugh, bobbing my head as I click open the register; nothing. Aw, man. “And you already’ve got such a fancy title? You’re smart.”

He doesn’t reply to that, but I can tell it boosts his ego as he looks through the basket of snacks, settling on a yellow packet of cookies.

It’s about an hour later. I’m just sitting on a stool, looking out at the beauty of the silent city while God knows what Chishiya is doing in the back. Oh, yeah. Me and him exchanged names before he went off to somewhere in this cafe. His name is Chishiya. Where’d I get Chinchilla from?

I’ve thought a lot over this past hour, about who I am. I’m an idiot. Through and through, all my life. What my family has said hurts, but it’s true. My friends and I, damn, we were all so fucking stupid. But I guess there’s nothing I can do about it now: What’s done is done.

A faint glow of pinkish-white spills to the corner of the window. It’s nearly blinding to my eyes, which have gotten quite accustomed to the darkness. Where is that coming from? I climb onto the table, cranning my neck to get a better angle. The light illuminates a pub me and my friends used to sneak into: It was a good experience, but I still have a year until I can legally re-visit. Not sure if that matters much now, though.

“Yo!” I yell out to Chishiya, hoping he hasn’t escaped to some intricate labyrinth where he can’t hear me. “Check this out!”

There’s a few seconds of silence shared between us before I begin to hear him shuffling out of the back. I watch as Chishiya walks out from the back, through the counter and over to me. As he begins to inspect the light, my attention too wanders back to it. “Should we check it out? Could be more people.”

It also could be a risk: I know that, and obviously someone as intelligent as him knows that. But if it entails more people, maybe they know what’s going on. That seems like a good risk to take. “Sure.” He answers, immediately moving towards the exit. I scramble off the table, my slippers minimizing the sound I make when I hit the floor. I also don’t miss out on slyly snatching a few snacks as I follow him out the door.

An impossibly bright and obnoxious arrow points down to the door of the pub. As if we’d miss it in the absence. Without a word between us, Chishiya and I step forward into the pub. The pub is exactly how I remember it from three years ago: A huge bar stretches in the back, looking tiny in comparison to the massive array of gambling tables scattered across the room. At the spot where the bouncer would usually be standing, there’s only a round table. On it sits one singular phone, the screen white. We get free iphones now? Whoopee.

Chishiya’s doesn’t hesitate to pick up the last phone. A corporate ding sounds from the phone as words show up on screen.

It read’s “Error has occurred: too many players. Partner up. If you are eliminated, chosen partner is eliminated with you.”

Game? Eliminated? What the hell? For the first time since I’ve met him, which hasn’t been long, Chishiya’s face is slightly confused. Of course, still with that signature smirk as always. It’s starting to grow on me, I have to admit. I peek around the corner to see the infamous Black Jack table with four other people people sitting around it. That’s where my old boss won the money to treat us all to dinner at the fanciest diner in Tokyo. Well, I couldn’t call it ‘won,’ I would say he scammed the poor dude, but when it comes to gambling, same thing, right?

Chishiya ambled to the circular table, and I follow him. At first, his uncaring nature really creeped me out, but now it’s kinda calming. He’s not scared, and I’m sure in his mind he has a rational reason for not being. So why should I be?

I know why now; I rebuke that. As we get closer, I notice every person there has something around their neck that isn’t a beautiful family heirloom, at least, I hope it’s not: They all have nooses tied around their neck. Not tight enough to choke them, but if those things got even a few centimetres higher it sure would. Just the thought of that makes my throat tighten in discomfort. I look to Chishiya, expecting him to back away, or show some sign of being scared, but nah. He pulls the chair out, and carefully puts his head in the noose. Great job, man. Great job.

It takes everything in me to stay quiet, to put on the best poker face imaginable. Everybody else are blank slates that give nothing away. Except for the fact that they think we’re weak: They’re looking at us in a disgustingly predatory way, like we’re the mice and they’re the cats.

Two people there are smoking, one a middle aged man and another an older lady. The guy has a laughable goatee and a fat cigar dangling from his mouth, the end of it chewed as if it’s life support: He’s a total show-off. The lady, however, isn’t. Smoke pours out from her nostrils, cigarette dangling from her middle and pointer finger as she steadies her eyes on me. She’s what I strive to be when I grow up: Her clothes are colorful and she has these gorgeous gold earrings I know she had to take money from a will to afford. Man, something about the way she tilts her head like she’s just figured something out about me is terrifying, but also breathtaking.

Then there’s two other men. To the left of Chishiya is a guy about our age- 18 to 25 I would guess, and he has very tall black hair. Not too-bad looking. There’s nothing special about the other guy, he looks to be an average office worker, glasses and a buzzcut.

After a while of everyone handing out sharp stares, a ding comes from all of their pockets. I walk closer to Chishiya, looming over his shoulder to see what popped up on his phone.

“Regristration closed. There are a total of 5 - 6 participants.” Is me being here a glitch? This thing doesnt know how many people are supposed to be in this game. Holy shit, this is trippy. “The game will now commence.” Poker face is usually something I’m great at- but now? I feel like I’m transparent. ‘The game will commence’ with nooses around peoples’ necks? I would be lying to say this didn’t frighten the shit out of me.

The show-off has a grimace on his face while he looks around to study everyone elses’ face. But he can’t find anything out, their eyes are all blocked by their phones. Then, his eyes lock into mine. I don’t hold it, my eyes flickering down to Chishiya’s screen. But he clearly found something out about me: I can hear him elicit a laugh straight from his gut.

Another pinging sound comes from the phone. “Difficulty: Six of diamonds”

I’m scared shitless right now, but I have to admit, ranking a game based on cards is pretty badass.

“Game: Blackjack. Rule: One winner remains before time limit is reached.” Seems easy enough, my guy can do this. Even if he doesn’t know how to play, I’m sure he can learn. “Game over conditions: Time limited reached. The loss of all of your chips mid game. Illegal transfer of chips. Illegal restraint.”

“Game start.”

Next chapter!!

#chishiya shuntaro #chishiya x reader #aib chishiya #fanfic #manga #chishiya alice in borderland #x reader #slow burn #chishiya x fem!reader #Spotify

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flutterbyoz · 8 months ago

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It's 2024 and still the Rick/Jessie discourse is still making an appearance 🙄

It's something that seems to pop up every now and again and just becomes another excuse for people to voice their dislike for Michonne and Richonne. I get everyone has their own opinion, though many of these opinions have little to no evidence to back them up, but let's just make one thing clear, Rick loves Michonne. He loved her when he met Jessie, he loved her when Jessie cut his hair, he loved her when he and Jessie shared that awkward garage kiss and when he chopped off Jessie's hand. He loved Michonne then and he loves her now, more than life itself. Had Jessie lived he still would have fallen in love and married Michonne.

Some people like to invalidate Richonne anyway they can, even grasping onto crumbs like Jessie, but in the end none of it matters because Jessie was never supposed to be anything more than a plot device, all she did was delay the inevitable. The believability of Rick having feelings for her was dashed pretty quickly given the heart eyes he gave Michonne every time he saw her and I'm sorry but no one can compete against Andy and Danai in the chemistry department.

If you can't see the electric chemistry between Rick and Michonne/Andy and Danai then I do feel a little for you because you're missing out on experiencing what I believe is the best love story to have ever graced the screen.

I do sometimes wonder if I'm watching the same show because the way some people interpret storylines and character interactions can be so polar opposite that it makes me think that they must just be purposefully ignoring the facts just to make it fit their opinion. I'm all for differing opinions but when the facts go completely against those opinions and clearly prove them wrong then it's not so much someone giving an opinion as them just saying whatever just to arouse a response. And yes I know I'm feeding into that with this post but I just needed to say it and sadly I think we all know the reason for most of this dislike and hate towards Michonne and Richonne.

Michonne is not Rick's second choice, she's not his third choice, she's not someone he got with just for the physical side of a relationship or because Jessie and Lori died. Michonne is his first, last and forever choice, the love of his life, the mother of his children, the woman he'd kill and die for, she is his entire world. This has been confirmed multiple times throughout TWD and TOWL, there are no ifs or buts about it, all of this is canon and fact and ignoring it doesn't make it any less true. I always have this thought that if you mentioned Jessie to Rick now it would take him a moment to remember who she was.

This ended up being longer than I thought but when I began writing I just kept going! People will always find a way to disrespect and invalidate Rick and Michonne's relationship, no matter what canon tells them but their negativity changes nothing. They can have as many opinions as they wish but Rick and Michonne will still be married, living happily with their children and being more in love than ever and if we are lucky enough to see them again then that will be shown over and over again.

Forever and always it will be Rick and Michonne

#the walking dead #richonne #michonne grimes #rick grimes #rick x michonne grimes #rick x michonne #the ones who live #twd towl #towl #epic love story

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onepiecereactions · 4 months ago

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A normal sunday in the life of Monkey D Garp

Note: a funny little OS without romance. Only to try to make you smile a little ! Because we all love Garp !

A normal Sunday in the life of Monkey D Garp.

-Eat the file, good girl... Keep it up! Come on, one more for Uncle Garp!

11:50 am

Some will probably wonder, "Why is Monkey D Garp, the hero, in the chief admiral's office feeding the chief's goat the mission papers he had to fill out?"

This didn't surprise admirals Aokiji and Kizaru any more than that, who had just entered in the same office a few seconds earlier, preparing something strange... A blank followed.

A vice admiral, as old as their father, was feeding a goat while they were preparing a prank for the third admiral . Okay…

The three marines, embarrassed to be caught red-handed, looked at each other and, while the admirals closed the door gently to head to another office and continue their "post-mission reunion", Vice Admiral Garp turned to the goat to make her swallow the last papers.

-You're a good goat, Oh yes you're a good goat, go ahead and continue eating Uncle Garp's files!

12:13 pm

Sunday was synonymous with leave for every Marine. Indeed, almost no one worked on the Lord's day. Most of these soldiers left on Friday evening to join their families in the family village located not far from the main base and others, those who were not lucky enough to have a family to join or those for whom said family lived too far away, had the right to stay on the base.

This was the case for Monkey D Garp.

He had once tried to leave but the excuses "I'm going to join my son, you know the leader of the Revolutionaries for a little weekend between father and son" or "I'm going to join my grandson, you know the one who enjoys beating up each of our soldiers and who wants to become pirate's king" had not really been appreciated by the Admiral in Chief. In any case, he tried...

So it was with a light step and a huge smile on his face that Monkey D Garp walked towards his favorite place on the entire base: The kitchens!

At this time of day, all the marines present were walking one after the other towards the refectory in order to eat with colleagues.

Garp, after having raided the fridges sat down, still smiling on the table of the high-ranking officers which gathered each of the vice-admirals and admirals.

Garp sat down next to Akainu and in front of his dear friend Sengoku, at the end of the table. He felt a few glances on him but glared at Aokiji and Kizaru with his killer look like "I know you know, but I also know that I know, and you know that I could tell everything, so we'll pretend that no one knows".

The Vice Admiral bit into his bread, which was a mixture of light sauce, small pieces of tomato, and a little parsley. He began a casual conversation with Vice Admiral Tsuru, politely asking if she could take care of his laundry after the meal:

-With your devil fruit, it will go faster. While the whole table had become silent, the vice-admiral Tsuru stood up and punished, in her own way, the poor Garp. Thegrandpa, after having the feeling of going through a washing machine, wisely finished his meal in silence. The peas and the soft fish fillet did not inspire him much, that's when he decided to annoy his dear and tender friend Sengoku. As always.

So he used his spoon to throw peas in his friend's face, mumbling noises of explosions, catapults and orders of a certain vulgarity.

His neighbor at the table, the future admiral in chief Akainu did not seem to appreciate his neighbor's behaviour very much, receiving from time to time "attacks" of peas that had lost their way. His body quickly became lava, burning the bench where they were sitting, thus making Garp the Hero fall gracefully on his buttocks.

From 1:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

The rest of the vice admiral's day is not considered very interesting by the author, since the marine spent his day napping in order to "recover from this eventful morning".

The only notable moment: between two naps, Garp got up to go to the bathroom, he spent about half an hour there, the time for him to read the newspaper on the toilets, laughing at the last unforgivable action of Luffy.

6:31 PM

After yet another nap, Garp decided to get up. He grabbed a towel and got himself the necessary equipment to go take his bath.

However, he made a small detour to the women's baths, which earned him yet another trip to the washing machine by Vice admiral Tsuru.

6:35 PM

Garp has just tripped his foot on a stone. He is now sprawled out in the hallways on the floor and doesn't dare get up. He is dead of shame and therefore decides to stay like this, playing dead.

6:39 PM

Garp sighed. His entire body shivered with pleasure when he came into contact with the perfectly warm water of the baths.

A few of the soldiers were present, including Sengoku, Smoker and Kizaru who seemed to be keeping a low profile in the eyes of the old man.

Money D Garp sighed once again in happiness and let himself slide down to his chin, swimming slowly.

He realized that he was the only one moving like that. He noticed that the men present had all eaten a devil fruit... Quite a handicap, all that!

His smile widened, worthy of a D and he turned towards his friend Sengoku, once again. The buddha, his eyes closed and his head resting on the edge of the pool, had not noticed that his friend was heading towards him, his head half in the water, a sadistic smile on his face.

Unlike Smoker who had a movement of retreat, understanding that something stupid had entered the grandfather's mind and was going to happen. Kizaru just smiled like a fool, as usual.

The silence of the bath was disturbed by the sound of droplets hitting the ground. The vice-admiral had suddenly stood up and pressed as hard as he could on the head of the admiral in chief who found himself completely in the water, drowning. Proud of his joke, Garp burst out laughing before getting up and going to change, leaving the strongest man in the navy to drown.

Sengoku regained consciousness thanks to the generous help of a dismayed Smoker.

10:46 PM

Garp has just acquired a goldfish during his night fishing session. He places it in a bowl on his desk and decides to call it Bakainu.

11:58 PM

Garp had been, once again, forbidden to eat. A way for Sengoku to punish his ungrateful old friend.

So there he was, at almost midnight attacking the navy's fridges, his stomach screaming with hunger.

-Oh my darlings, I missed you so much! Said the vice-admiral, a tear running down his cheek.

Completely hypnotized by all this food, he did not hear the angry footsteps of the admiral in chief heading towards him. As he went to bite into some pickles, the scream of the Buddha froze him in place.

-GARP, IF YOU DON'T GET OUT OF THIS KITCHEN IMMEDIATELY I WILL DOWNGRADE YOU TO LATRINE CLEANER!

The end.

#one piece #monkey d garp #akainu #sakazuki #kizaru #aokiji #aokiji kuzan #vice admiral tsuru #one piece sengoku #sengoku goat #smoker the white hunter #vice admiral smoker

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neuroticbookworm · 3 months ago

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Theory of Love Romcom Rewatch Episode 2: Love Actually

I know I am gonna empathize with Third somewhere down the line in this post, so I am gonna take a moment now to go off on him for making me watch this horrible movie, on my own volition! I am judging him hard for his terrible fucking taste, and I am judging him even harder for choosing the worst fucking confession in the entire movie to model his own in this episode (@lurkingshan).

I know art is a product of its time, but even for a movie made in the 00s, Love Actually was competitively hitting every offensive note like it was gunning for gold at the Bigotry Olympics; @solitaryandwandering dissected this more in their post. The writing is all over the place with its million storylines (it was actually nine, but it sure felt like a lot more than that), with the flimsiest excuse of connections between the characters. The overall tone of the movie feels very patronizing, and yet the story is morally bankrupt. I was left feeling so unfulfilled and bereft by the watch experience, and I think it’s because this movie does not understand its characters, and it does not understand romance. The characters who ended up having happy endings were shallow, with their relationships underdeveloped. And the characters who felt like they had some depth to them were left as is, or worse off than they were when the movie started. Which is why the thought of Third turning to this movie to help him confess his feelings to Khai is so horrifying and heartbreaking.

When Two finds Third in the middle of his breakdown, we learn that Third was prepared to live out his final year in college secretly pining, in the hopes that graduating and moving on to the next phase of his life would also help him move on from his unrequited feelings. And I understand that rationalization, I really do. Third would still have to endure the horrors of introspection and character growth, but he doesn’t necessarily have to do it with his feelings for Khai. We see how affected Third was when he couldn’t bring himself to confess to Khai during their late-night must-record-ambient-sounds-for-our-film-project side quest. Third, crying in frustration and explaining to Two that he doesn’t wanna lose Khai as a friend is heartbreaking to watch.

But then, we see Third reconsider when Khai says this about the pining female lead of a movie they watched together:

Third, immediately wondering if this conversation means Khai indirectly nudging him to confess his feelings, instead of reading the straightforwardness as a key personality trait of Khai, says a lot to me about Third's understanding of Khai. He’s been crushing on Khai for so long, and yet he doesn’t seem to accurately read the things Khai values in a relationship. Two brings up a good point that Khai isn’t really looking to date the girls he’s been dating for long, and that he is currently only interested in short-term flings. Which could be why it is harder for Third to figure out how to tailor his confession and giving it a shot at success, by taking Khai's personality into account.

I am fascinated by the confessions Third imagined in his head, and the one he chose to execute, because I really couldn’t imagine Khai responding positively to any of them. @bengiyo pointed out how Third chose a confession that is grounded in failure, and I want to say that in addition to that, Third also chose to do it without any context to why he was doing it. As much as I loathe the original confession in Love Awful, Actually (@solitaryandwandering), it at least came after Juliet finding that the footage Mark shot at her wedding only has her face in it (creepy!), and realizing his true feelings for her. Third confessing to Khai came out of nowhere, without even a semi-ambiguous realization that something is different in their relationship, so it is understandable that Khai misread it as Third helping him out to make up with his girlfriend.

Two convincing Third to fake a housing crisis so he can live with Khai and hoping that it will spark things up between them is the kind of braindead idea that I would expect 20 year olds to come up with, and I am excited to see how it actually affects their relationship in the next episodes. Next up on the romcom list is.. *sigh*.. Friends With Benefits. Watching a Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis project in the year 2025? Dammit, Third.

#love actually #theory of love #tol romcom rewatch #thai bl

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leonhardt-simp · 1 year ago

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The Girl Who Wrote Me Letters VI.

[post-canon/canonverse] | series masterlist

— Annie x Mute! Fem! Reader.

summary: The ungrounded mystery grows restless and tensions grow higher with every passing moment.

Author’s note: After 9 different drafts, I have this one lmao. Thank you for everyone sticking close to the story and those who have been anticipating chapter 6. Here it is! and I hope you enjoy. 🍧💕

“This one.” The Commander said pointing down at the files on his old desk, the decision creating quite a stir between Hange and Levi.

Hange looked at Levi before they approached Erwin’s desk, picking up the document to see what was beneath. They felt their breath catch in their throat, eyes widening before taking a look over to their commander.

“You— You can’t be serious…” Hange was almost speechless. After everything that’s transpired, this man was still marching on his feet.

Levi walked over, questioning the judgement… Until he saw the name on the planner documents…

“Field Medics…?” He took the paper, looking through them to see Erwin’s plans of incorporating medics beside the scouts. These plans seemed vague, but the idea was there in the form of messily drawn pictures and arrows. He wasn’t expecting this and neither was Hange.

“With all due respect, we can’t afford to pull medics out on the field… Do you really think we’ll even get our hands on even ONE?” Hange expressed, motioning with their hands while they spoke. The idea was completely ridiculous! They were practically the clean up crew. Just waiting for the dead to pile up.

Erwin knew their concerns… But, it wasn’t like he hadn’t thought about it before. He turned his back to look out the window, holding the spot where his arm used to be…. The painful reminder of time loss because of injury. Time that could’ve been spent focusing on many other things… Those days, hours and seconds.

“No…But, I know one person that they’ll likely let go.” He turned his head over his shoulder to look at Levi, who slowly went through the next page.

It was a list of names. Names of many of the more proud names within the Medical Regiment. So many good choices, but one was circled amongst these names.

ELINOR VIVIANNE. ← SECONDARY PICK.

LUTHER WAGNER. ← THIRD PICK.

Y/N L/N. ← PRIORITY PICK.

DENIS PENCE. ← KEEP AN EYE ON THIS ONE.

JOHNATHAN ADLER. ← FOURTH PICK.

Hange’s expression grew confused, “But, this one–”

“I know. However, I want this one as a mere test run.” Erwin clarified, showing that nothing was concrete yet. This was just the foundation.

Levi couldn’t seem to get behind it. The factors of this made for a dangerous situation, especially with the rumors. “…I don’t think this is a good idea.” He expressed, his eyes looking up from the papers.

Erwin found himself playing with a fountain pen he had on his desk. “We had them for the expedition. This will be no different.” He reassured, giving a head nod. He seemed to be convincing himself as he spoke along.

“We also lost Levi’s entire squad and then some. Do I need to remind you that this medic in particular is also suspected of being in contact with the titan girl that tried to run away and destroyed half of Stohess?” Hange’s voice slightly raised, a hand extended towards the door as if pointing at Stohess itself. The risks were way too high, but that never stopped Erwin.

Erwin stood up a little straighter, “Then it’s the perfect excuse to use to keep that one close… Isn’t it?” He looked between his two most trusted allies. His hand reached to the paper, pointing down to the name. Hange didn’t know what to say… and Levi? He just followed along. The idea of a on field medic fulltime was an idealistic idea… One that made any one more comfortable… That security.

But, he was not prepared of the other regiment names that would soon come in to deny the idea. They took to a vote; Pixis denied the possibility of wasting medics and soon after, Nile had also denied. His denial was more out of lack of interest than genuine concern…

Not even Zachary approved of the new idea, stating that it would be “Unwise to take away from the sub-regiment when it already lacked.”

In defeat, Erwin would place those plans in a drawer his desk. Letting that ideas seem to sink away with many of the others he had. He had to keep moving forward though, no time to waste. That was until death stopped him like a brick wall. So close, yet so far from the truth…

Y/N followed behind Levi, her eyes scanning around to hallways of the commander’s building. The wood creaked beneath their weight, making the building feel so… Hollow. That was expected though, wasn’t it? An important life was lost… One that used to fill this building.

“Y/N L/N…?” Hange questioned, seeing the young girl enter the room.

Y/N saw papers scattered around the old commander’s desk, a lot of red seemed to point to various things and occasionally the big letters. Her nervousness seemed to only grow from that. I mean, it’s not everyday you get pulled from your job.

With a cautious nod, Y/N stood across the desk, keeping her weight shifted off of her still recovering leg. The pain was dull, but she knew she couldn’t overwork it.

Levi reached over for a particular paper, sliding it in front of the nurse. She leaned down, looking over the paper with a watchful eye. The words were confusing, but when she noticed her name in bold letters… She shockingly backed up and looked at Hange and Levi with a look that asked them what they were planning.

“…A test run. And not one you can refuse either.” Hange explained, picking up another paper to slide over to the new field medic.

Y/N took a sneaking glance back, seeing Levi standing by the door. His eyes bore into her, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

There was that feeling again. That helplessness… Her eyes shifted back up to Hange who seemed to have the same look on their face. She really didn’t have much of a choice here… So, she just nodded. Hange nodded, looking over at Levi to see if he was satisfied. He just nodded his head, being the first to leave.

The weight was on her shoulders now after seeing this idea that was left behind by the old commander…

She couldn’t help but look down at her leg, shifting a bit to see if weight could be applied, but when she felt the buckle of her knee, she shook her head.

‘…I can do this…’ She thought to herself. It’s not like she had a choice here. It was either this or end up in a some fucked up situation… She had enough on her plate already. E/C eyes skimmed through the basics, finally landing on the name of the idea.

“Operation Support.” Her eyes seemed to read over and over again…

——

There was that helplessness again… That weak feeling that bubbled beneath her gut and overwhelmed her straight to the core. She even felt that pain in her leg again… Like every feeling and memory came flooding through from the back of her head…

Her eyes widened upon hearing that familiar voice call out her name… But, she didn’t see Annie… Just the monster that had ruined her…. That beast that haunted her night in her dreams from time to time. Some nights, it would stare down at her. Other nights it tried to grab her, pick her up in its muscly hand.

“Y/N…” Annie called out, her tone hushed and desperate. Hands stayed up in surrender, taking a cautious step forward but immediately stopped when Y/N’s hand adjusted around the grip of the gun. E/C eyes looked through those apathetic blue eyes, The ones that softened at the idea of this being it.

This was her chance… To settle their score. To make up for everything. This was her chance. This was her chance.

Her hand firmly grasped the gun, pointing it up higher towards Annie’s head. Her heart pounded in her ears accompanied with ringing and buzzing… Her breathing became shallow and uneven… Then she felt it.

Her vision grew blurry, her hand reaching up to touch the wetness that started to form there. She was starting to cry… Her throat had that familiar lump in it, making it hard to keep composure.

‘No… Stop…’ Her heart started to yell, but she tried to push the feelings down. Her hand wiped them away, not wanting to show this…This weakness. She wasn’t that pathetic girl writing in a book anymore. Those days were gone.

Annie felt her heart break at the sight. Her hand reaching out, but that made Y/N point her gun more firmly at the ambassador. This made her hands shoot back up to keep them visible. Annie knew that she had to work for Y/N’s trust again. It wouldn’t come easy. Not after what she did.

Annie closed her eyes tightly and braced for whatever was to come. She deserved it, didn’t she? She was the cause of all the troubles in Y/N’s life… The reason she ran away… Hell, she was waiting for her luck to burn out. And now? It seemed to be it.

This was her chance to get back for all the hurt and suffering. her breathing became uneven and her heart pounded in her ears. The white noise. It felt like she was drowning. Y/N couldn’t deny she was panicking…

But then Dakota’s voice pulled Y/N out, the writhing body on the floor let the tunnel vision clear up a bit. Her eyes looked down to the body on the ground.

“We’re… We’re here to help…” Dakota strained, holding her head in her hands from the throbbing pain that lingered. Kota couldn’t let Y/N kill Annie, not when they needed her for this whole thing… The main problem. “She’s…She’s with me… Marley’s Ambassador…” Kota stressed, seeing double when they tried to push themselves up. Hell, it felt like a brick just slammed into their head. What the hell were they feeding these doctors??

Her grip around the gun shook further, her heart telling her to stop while her brain told her it was for the best. Reluctantly, she forced her hand down and took in the sight of the newly made ambassador.

“Y/N—” Annie spoke with a calming reach out, but then they heard the sound of more people coming into the building and speaking.

BAM!

The noise made both Annie and Kota look over towards the door. Dakota was quick on the draw of her own firearm, eyebrows furrowing down.

Whoever wanted Y/N dead was very adamant on it. Especially, since it didn’t sound like just one persom this time. That alone pissed Y/N off.

The doctor had to fight with herself to keep from giving that ambassador a feel of her pent of frustration and anger… But, now wasn’t the time. All she did was give Annie a glare while she helped the bandit up from the floor, Kota taking it without much of a second thought and standing to her feet with a bit of wobble.

The glare was met with Annie’s softened expression, taking a moment to watch as the woman she once had so close to her, farther than ever before. The limp-walk past her made the weight of her actions heavier than ever. The sound of leather and metals kept Y/N’s right leg stable, helping her move properly with some minimal strain.

“She might develop a little limp… If you can convince her to stay in bed for her full recovery then maybe she might recover better... She’s always so eager to help out.”

Her hands clenched at her sides, as the memory of a bedridden Y/N laid in the infirmary bed. The way her face glistened in sweat and her head threw back in pain…. She couldn’t convince her… Not when she was trapped in that crystal…

She didn’t even notice the other two already rushing the window, Kota pulling up the window and checking below into the alleyway for any signs of a threat. It was empty. Nothing but a few stacked up crates and barrels below.

“Good enough.” The gang leader debated, shaking her head at the thought of Y/N potential falling a few feet down. Hell, they were sure she would land well… She guessed.

Annie’s mind was still dazed out. It felt like they stood on completely opposite sides of a canyon. The bridge being deliberately burned away, Y/N holding the matches that burnt the ropes thinner and thinner.

“Annie! Help her down.” Kota called, holding open the window. That snapped Annie back into the moment, her eyebrows furrowing down. She can pity herself later… Hopefully.

Without any time to waste, Annie rushed over to Y/N’s side. “Pardon my hands…” Annie softly spoke, keeping her hand on Y/N’s waist while she focused on ensuring she didn’t fall or trip. Y/N wasn’t used to the closeness, but she knew she couldn’t be annoyed about it.

“We know you’re here, Doc Let’s not make this harder than it has to be, hm?” One of the intruders spoke, a few laughing along. The sound of wood creaking beneath every step that drew closer and closer to the office.

The rugged man looked back at his men, placing a finger to his lips. He gave three fingers, signaling that on the count of three they would rush the office and take whoever was in it.

Slowly, the fingers counted down, the tensions growing higher before finally they rushed inside. Guns pointed up, sweeping before noticing that the room was empty. Nothing but a few disarrayed item and one of their own on the floor.

“Sir?” One of the goons spoke, rushing to the side of the corpse on the floor. Another goon joined beside the other, placing a hand to the fallen member’s pulse, shaking their head when all they felt was a cold vessel.

The man grimaced, putting his gun back in his belt. “I want this entire building checked. Nothing remains unturned or touched. You hear!?” He commanded, unaware of the shadows outside the windows that were already pushing through the alleyways to blend in.

“Whoever you pissed off, did not let it go.” Dakota muttered as they pushed through a wooden gate, leading them out into some cobbled street that had a few drunks walking up and down it.

Y/N just rolled eyes, taking a moment to ditch her uniform coat in a nearby bucket that seemed to be filled with a questionable liquid. Her face grimaced in disgust, turning back to catch up. She won’t be seeing that particular coat again. Unfortunate…

Annie stayed behind, keeping a look out to ensure no one followed them. “That didn’t seem like a matter of anger… More like a…” She seemed to trail off, turning her attention back to see Y/N looking back at her with a frustrated expression. “…Like a job.” She silently spoke, watching the doctor turn her head back forward.

The tension between the two even made Dakota uncomfortable. That was between them though, this bandit knew better than to try and step into a fight between a couple. Were they a couple…? Was that how it worked? She wasn’t sure.

“I wouldn’t be surprised.” Dakota rubbed the side of their head. They could still feel that sting, more dull but it was still there. “Doesn’t make sense for them to target a random doctor, though.” They added, taking a stop by some old building pub.

Dakota leaned against the brick, enjoying a moment of rest. Annie needed it too as she felt her wound from a few hours ago to feel achy and fatigue was surely pushing her.

She took a look upwards, only seeing the dark sight of the ground that lingered above… The underground didn’t have a sky… What time was it? Even she wasn’t sure… But, it felt like the days seemed to prolong. If she had to trust her gut, then she was sure that Pieck and Reiner were likely resting.

With that thought in mind, she took a moment to take a seat down on a bench placed against the brick like building, her hand rubbing at her shoulder. She even took a sneaking glance over at her old lover, watching as the young woman took slight offense to the comment. Y/N’s stance seemed to straighten up, her expression one that Annie knew all too well.

That look when she wanted to prove herself. She had it back in Trost… She had it here too.

‘I’m not a random doctor.’ Y/N signed, the look of surprise hitting the bandit and the ambassador. The blonde looked at Y/N with her eyebrows slightly raised in surprise, not expecting the change of communication. Though, that would make the most sense why she didn’t carry an old book around and a pen, wouldn’t it?…

Dakota knew there was something about how Y/N stood, her demeanor… It wasn’t like the other doctors she had been speaking to. Not Vivianne. Not even Adler..

Pushing themselves off the wall, Dakota approached Y/N, stopping just in front of her and looking down at her with an overbearing demeanor. “…Then who are you?” Dakota finally asked. There it was, the golden question. Everyone knew her as Y/N L/N above ground… But, who was this persona? This mask? Dakota was careful in approaching the mute doctors. One couldn’t be too hasty to learn the truth.

The bandit seemed to want the same answers as Annie, but even then the ambassador seemed to want to respect the boundaries her old lover clearly had. She still kept a close eye.

The doctor stood there, clenching her jaw a bit from the sudden interrogation. It even had her thinking to herself, wondering who exactly she was… But, she knew… She was a lot of things… Became a lot from nothing too.

So, seeing a smug bandit try to slightly intimidate her into spilling her life out on a map irked her a bit. It showed on her face too. Her tongue licking the inside of her cheek, she looked away briefly before she looking back up at the tall woman with more than just a little amusement. A woman who knew her position, she was. Perhaps, she picked up a few things from Dr. Vivianne.

‘The same person who slipped you a crate. Same person you want to stay on good terms with.’ She signed, her eyes challenging.

The action made Annie raise her brows, looking over to Dakota. The crate.. Then those names flashed into her mind for a few seconds. Denis and Luther…. They were all connected. The bandit seemed to suddenly have a moment of realization as well, her face contorted with a bit of confusion from that end statement though.

“…Is that a threat?” Fabel flabbergasted at the mere thought of some medic threatening to fuck off in the middle of something so important. They took a threatening step forward, feeling almost offended.

Hands started to make the argument more clear, her body turning to the two. ‘Take it how you wish. Just know you need me since I’m the only one willing to break the rules to help you.’ She reaches into her vest pocket, pulling out a letter. Her eyes stared at it before flicking her wrist to toss the letter over.

Annie watched as the letter descended gracefully down to the ground, her curiosity getting the better of her. “…What?” Annie questioned, standing up from the bench and walking over to pick up the paper from the ground. Her eyes looked up to meet her old lover’s E/C gaze, her hands gently unfolding the letter.

‘With much consideration, Main Medical has decided to postpone the distribution and cooperation with other outside parties. All medics and medical researchers are advised to stay in their offices or main buildings until further notice.

— Signed, Elinor Vivianne. Head of MM.’

Y/N shook her head, her eyes averting away at the mere thought of even getting her position revoked. ‘Everyone is completely at a standstill… Dr. Vivianne is more concerned with how much we’ve been losing because of these crates being either stolen or damaged. Every doctor, besides a few, are completely in agreement with Dr. Vivianne. They want out. This attack on my building will only solidify their stance on the matter.’ Her gestures seemed to be punctuated, her mouth moving along to mouth certain words and phrases. The doctor even started to pace a bit, needing to get some pent up feels at bay. She wasn’t happy about the decision either.

Dakota couldn’t believe that bullshit. Face contorted into frustration, feeling a bit betrayed. Hazel eyes took a look over the letter again, shaking her head in slight denial.

What ever happened to being the ones to show up for people? The heros that kept morale up? What the hell were doctors if they weren’t doing their job?

“Vivianne… That son of a bitch.” Dakota cursed under their breath, hands clenched at her side while she looked away.

Annie wasn’t sure what to make of this… “…She’s right about one thing,” Annie spoke, folding the notice back up before holding it out back at Y/N. “Those men don’t seem to be very fazed with the idea of taking lives. That crate you sent us was attacked… I… Uh.. We barely made it out. It was as if they already knew.” She watched as Y/N hesitated to reach out and take the letter back from her.

Fabel nodded, pacing a bit with a hand to their mouth as they tried to make sense of all this. “Annie here got shot… Those men aren’t afraid of any kind of consequence. Seems like everywhere we go, they’re always one step ahead.” The gang leader found themselves running a frustrated hand through their hair, stopping to look back over at the Medic.

Y/N felt her throat close up at the idea of Annie getting shot, her eyes shifting back up to meet with Annie’s gaze. Annie wasn’t sure what she saw in those familiar E/C colored eyes. It was softer than anything she’s seen all day though...

“I’ll be fine… Just a scratch…” She tried to play it off, getting a more concerned and less angry look from the other girl.

Y/N didn’t find it funny. If anything, that would make everything so much more complicated. Hell, she didn’t even know where to start… She carefully took her letter back from Annie’s fingers, pushing the paper into her vest pocket once more with a heavy exhale.

‘If they’re not afraid of consequences, then that means they’re either safe in what those consequences are… or, these people are more ruthless than I thought…’ Y/N explains with punctuated gestures. Hazel and blue eyes watched carefully as the doctor seemed a bit… Hesitant.

Dakota crossed their arms over their chest, “You have any idea what gang this is?” The gang leader asked.

Y/N shook her head, ‘Only lead I have so far is that they’re uniformed in black and red.’ Her head turned back in the direction of her medical building. She felt a little run from her own home… That was the building she used whenever she wanted to have control. She knew it would probably be burned to the ground when she came back.

“I don’t think standing around is be the best idea. More of them could be patrolling around.” Annie spoke up, standing up from the bench with a bit of a tired exhale. She cracked her neck, rolling her shoulders back as if it would relieve her.

Dakota nodded, “You’re right. Hopefully, this all starts to make sense when we’re actually in the safety of a room and not the street.” The bandit sighed, reaching for her gun and handing it over to Annie. “Try not to get this one shot out of your hand, yeah?” The gang leader teased, watching Annie flush a bit with embarrassment as she accepted it.

‘Let’s take a carriage or a wagon… I need a place to lay low… I can’t just go back to the MM if my trail is still hot.” The mute doctor gestured, fixing her leg brace a bit. The damn thing always needed to be adjusted, working and walking so much always didn’t help.

Annie waited while Dakota whistled up for a wagon, watching some old man ride up to side of the street.

“Do you need help?” Annie finally asked, getting waved off by the mute doctor. There was no direct rejection, just a wave of the hand while she approached the wagon.

“Take us Northwest. I’ll stop you when we get there.” Dakota asked as she jumped into the back, holding her hand out for Y/N to grab. Y/N took it without much of a complaint, allowing herself to be helped into their ride.

The coachman nodded, “Will do.”

Dakota got seated besides some sacks of imported goods, knee bent with an arm on it. “We’ll stop by my Uncle’s… I’m sure he’ll be glad to take up some company…” She explained, running a hand through her hair.

Y/N nodded, finding a comfortable spot near a barrel of what she believed was probably wine. At least she hoped so, a drink right about now sounded nice.

“Northwest is near the entrance to the city, isn’t it?” Annie asked, holding onto the strap of her satchel before finally getting settled up into the back of the wagon with the others. So much has changed since then… But, she couldn’t complain. She didn’t really have the right to.

‘And Main Medical. It’s some ways from it… Smack in the middle of this city… We actually cleared out one of the old brothel buildings for it… A big one. When we’re rested and ready, we can head there… Get us all on the same page with Dr. Vivianne and Dr. Adler.’ Y/N signed, her head leaned against the barrel beside her.

Dakota motioned with their hand, agreeing along with what the doctor said. “A meeting was long overdue…. She’s always avoided speaking with me directly. Dr. Adler and I are practically best buddies with how often I’ve seen him.” There was a spoken sarcasm that made Y/N shake her head, understanding what Dakota meant perfectly. Vivianne was practically a book of tasks. Always sending others to do the things she didn’t want to… Perfect example was this… Though it was deliberate, Y/N didn’t mind getting her hands dirty if it meant doing the right thing. Vivianne’s word wouldn’t stop her.

Annie hummed, taking a sneaking glance over to Y/N, who seemed to want to rest a bit on the ride to Dakota’s Uncle’s house. She didn’t want to stare, but it was strange…Seeing her again after such a long time… She looked good. Annie still liked how she styled her hair… How her E/C closed to just… Rest and breathe for a moment. Of course, she was pulled out of her moment when she saw Dakota smirking at her. That knowing glance the bandit made her way ruined it.

It made her embarrassed, making her turn her head away with her cheeks growing red flush..

With a snap of the reigns, they were on their way. Thankfully the cover of the wagon would provide them some relief from anyone who could see them pass by.

——

Adler bursted through the door, panting and pointing behind him. He was so out of breath from running everywhere, still empty handed though.

Dr. Vivianne placed her clipboard down and just waited for the theatric display to end, leaning a hand against her desk while the other rested on her hip.

“Eastern Building…. It… Phew…” He started his sentence, leant forward with his hands on his knees. He couldn’t even hold enough air in to make a cohesive sentence.

Of course, this just annoyed Vivianne. “Spit it out.” She urged, tone stern and punctual with it.

“Eastern building got raided.” Adler finally spit it out, holding a hand to his chest. The news made Vivianne’s eyes widen a bit, her expression growing a little confused.

“Raided? What do you mean "raided?” The ash haired doctor questioned, her head tilted forward as if demanding some kind of explanation.

The blonde doctor just shook his head, standing up a bit straighter. “I was doing what you said… Trying to find Y/N… So, I went to her building…But then, I noticed a whole bunch of men rush the building… I booked it out of there….” Adler explained, pacing a bit while he spoke. His conscience felt guilty. He ran off like a coward and probably let these… Rats kill one of their own.

Vivianne seemed lost for words. Her eyes looked away as she processed the news, feeling a sinking feeling in her gut at the thought of one of the original three being gone to something so…. so preventable. Her brain wanted to think logically about this, but her heart didn’t seem to agree.

“…Do you know for sure that Dr. Quil was in that building?” Vivianne questioned in a monotone voice, her head tilting slightly.

Adler couldn’t say for sure. “…I… I would like to hope not… But, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re starting to hurt the supply at the source.” He said his thoughts, his shoulders slumping slightly as he stood. His eyes grew worrisome. The idea of anyone becoming a target… He avoided the war for that reason… He didn’t want to be a target.

Vivianne felt bitter, her eyes closing for a moment. “…Start telling the staff to start closing everything up.” She says, standing up straighter. “Tell them that it’s urgent as well. I don’t want a single doctor left behind.” Her hand pulled a document from her desk, pushing it into one of the drawers with a slight of hand.

Adler looked at Vivianne with a confused expression, his eyebrows knitting together. “…What about the crates?… Surely, we can’t just… Leave them?” He asked, curious if they were going to just leave them there.

Vivianne nodded, “Don’t worry about that. Until we get definite confirmation that Dr. Quil is dead. We will proceed with clean-up here. Priority documents come first. Crates can collect dust for all I care. They’re not worth the sacrifice of the other good doctors here.” Her way of explaining the situation made Adler feel a little more at ease. He nodded his head in agreement. The earlier they got out, the better.

“Now leave me be… I need… Uh…” Vivianne looked around a bit lost, her eyes looking down at her desk. “I need to be alone for a little while…” She took a seat in her chair, her elbows resting on the surface of her cluttered desk and her hands clasping together as if in prayer. Her heart felt heavy. It felt like everything was going downhill from here.

Dr. Adler nodded his head, immediately leaving to go start the prep up for evac. There was a lot of equipment to be packed away. Transportation was also going to be a little tight, but as long as people were able to leave then it didn’t matter.

Vivianne stared at the door of her office, her eyes closing tightly as flashbacks to when she first met Y/N had suddenly triggered.

——

“Luther, Denis, Vivianne, and Adler. You’re being requested over to The Scouts Main Quarters. Please go ASAP.” The head medic spoke, flipping through a wooden clipboard as he stood at the doorway.

Vivianne pulled her mask down and looked over, her expression growing confused. “Wh-What do they need us for…?” She questioned, taking off her blood soaked gloves.

The man looked up at Vivianne, shaking his head in disapproval. “Does it matter? If I say to go, you go.” He spoke firmly, making the girl slightly purse her lips together as if to hold back on being disrespectful.

She only nodded, looking back down at the soldier that was missing an arm from an expedition… Survived, but now retired… It was unfortunate. “Rest easy…” She softly spoke, patting his shoulder before she turned and left the room.

In the hallway, Luther and Denis seemed to be messing around a bit, pushing and shoving each other. Adler stood with his hand adjusting his glasses, keeping a cocky explanation on his face as they waited for Vivianne.

“You coming, slowpoke? We’re waiting on you.” Denis said, wrapping an arm around Luther’s shoulder.

Adler scoffed, “At least try to act professional, Denis…” The blonde man spoke, his expression showing his disdain for how casual the two were being.

Luther rolled his eyes, “You act like we’re seeing the Queen. Get your breeches untangled and let loose, will ya? I swear, all I ever hear you do is complain.” The taller man spoke, Denis laughing a bit from his friend’s observation.

Adler just gritted his teeth, shaking his head. He adjusted his glasses once more, “You ready?” Adler asked Vivianne, wanting this done and over with as soon as possible.

Vivianne gave a quick nod, catching up with the three.

She remembered the debriefings they were subjected to with Commander Hange. The eccentric way the commander handled themselves made Luther and Denis more excited for this sudden call.

But, Vivianne was very… suspicious. Becoming a field medic sounded crazy… All this confidentiality also rubbed her wrong. What the hell were they hiding?

“Given the circumstances, I will give you the opportunity to back out… However, you 4 were hand picked because of your overall evaluations back when you were in training as well as your medical expertise. This is for progress… A trial we conducted a few time before. It will be the first on field medical team.” Hange explained with a more serious tone, pushing a paper towards the four medics.

Luther was the first to raise his hand, “Is it just us…? Or will there be more?” He asked, making Vivianne give him a side-eye.

Hange paced a bit, nodding their head. “I will only say that you have a captain.” They stopped, motioning towards the door. “Unlike you all, she didn’t necessarily have a choice in the matter whether she joined or not.”

Adler shook his head, standing up. “I rather value my life. I would find it a waste to leave it in the hands of some… Scout. Thank you for the offer though. Hopefully, you can find some other fool to take my place.” His reluctance made Vivianne want to leave as well, finding the idea of fighting alongside The Scouts to be so foolish. A death sentence handed down on a gruesome platter, that’s basically what it was.

As Adler left, Vivianne debated with herself. She too could live a comfortable life.. A life with no worries besides the worries that came in through doors in the arms of fellow comrades…

“Damn… I really thought I sold the idea. Anyone else?” Hange sighed, pushing up their goggles to rub their eyes. Handa landed on their hips, looking amongst the younger men and at Vivianne.

The room stayed quiet, Luther soon reaching to the table to grab the paper of the plans. Vivianne watched him debate it, soon just nodding. “Fuck it… I’m in.” He stood up, tossing the paper back onto the table. Vivianne just watched as Denis followed through too.

“Me too. I’ll join too!” Denis said with a confident fist to his chest. His lips held a self-assured smile too, pushing Luther with his arm, who then pushed him back.

‘What the…’ She thought they were crazy. Why the hell would they want to go beyond the walls? The safety was all here. They had the easy part of just sitting and waiting, cleaning and tending…. But, she hadn’t denied the offer yet… So, was she crazy too? Was it some weird curiosity?

Her eyes then met up with the commander’s, “What about you?” Hange asked, holding out a hand to her. Vivianne wasn’t sure what she was doing, but she grabbed that hand, sealing the deal of her participation.

She remembered how the team was escorted throughout the barrack building. Faces that were familiar passed by, making Vivianne stare more with interest. She didn’t expect them to be so close to such big names… Hell, she even thinks she saw Mikasa there.

“Holy hell, that’s literally Levi.” Denis grabbed Luther’s arm, shaking him slightly. As they approached the closed door that Levi seemed to guard, his back leaned against the wall.

“Is this them?” Levi asked, Hange nodding their head. “One didn’t take the offer, but we’ll still have 4.” Hange answered, adjusting their uniform coat. “Baby steps as they say.” Adding to the conversation, they looked back at the squad behind.

Vivianne saw how Hange placed a stack of papers in Levi’s hand. “Perfect.” He said, looking through them briefly before he finally opened the door.

Vivianne looked around, taking in the sight of the lab that seemed to have been built there. A lot of beakers… A lot of scrap metal too… It felt like they just walked into a madman’s science experiment.

But, it was a lot crazier than that.

The figure at the desk lifted their head up and turned to look over their shoulder, soon meeting eyes with her. And suddenly, she felt breathless.

Hange ensured the door was closed behind them, taking the initiative to walk over to the desk.

“Your captain for this operation is Y/N L/N.” Levi spoke, his hands at his sides. He kept it short and blunt, there wasn’t a need for everyone to be getting comfortable. Not yet, anyways.

Vivianne watched how the quiet persona in the room pushed back a pair of goggles from her face before turning to look at the group before her. Judgemental eyes stared, nodding as if she was satisfied.

“You’re the—” Vivianne spoke up, recognizing that face from the bulletin board. The mute doctor placed a finger to her lips and just hushed.

Y/N stood up, the sound of a heavy boot came with every step. Vivianne wasn’t sure what she felt… Was it envy? There was something in how Y/N carried herself despite being the one with the greatest disadvantage in the room.

She wanted to capture it. She wanted it to herself.

——

Annie stayed seated on a small bed that Uncle Miles provided, a hand covering her chest while Y/N took a look at the wound on her shoulder. She felt a few stings whenever the mute doctor touched the surely scarred skin.

‘Whoever did this was surely an amateur.’ Y/N gestured, looking over at the bandit that was enjoying a little meal that her uncle had provided. It felt good to be back at home eating all this good food.

“…Sorry, not everyone has experience.” Dakota said, licking their thumb from the sauce that the stew had. Nothing like a good meal to end the day. They stood by the window, looking out at the street. It was always entertaining to see people interact while they ate.

Y/N was thankful she had the proper supplies to start cleaning the wound. So, she started with that first. Having to remove stitches was a bit of a pain, but she knew it was better than letting Annie walk around with busted up looking stitches.

Annie had trouble keeping her eyes averted, always finding herself unconsciously getting distracted by how Y/N would occasionally bite her lip or how her face concentrated on cleaning the inflamed area with a washcloth. The touch enough to make Annie slightly wince and squint her eyes away.

“I just wished it didn’t hurt so bad.” Annie softly muttered, staying still while Y/N worked.

From a professional standpoint, Y/N was a bit concerned about a potential problem. The wound was definitely not correctly treated, and the old sutures were practically loose and tied too big. But, personally, she couldn’t say that Annie didn’t deserve it. A little mean, but she was allowed to be angry.

“So when are we addressing the problem with Vivianne?” Dakota asked, tossing her plate down on her desk with the others once she was finished with her meal. Her hands wiped themselves on her pants, walking over to stand over the doctor and ambassador.

Y/N finished up the cleaning, putting her washcloth down in a bucket beside them. Her attention moved over to Dakota, not sure what they were expecting.

‘Whenever I can get back. I should be able to talk to her about this… She cannot know about the attack on my building though. If she does, I’ll be stuck in the offices and I won’t be able to help you.’ Y/N explained, standing up from the bed and using a small cloth to wipe her hands. ‘She won’t be easy to persuade, but she’s never been easy.’ Y/N signed once more, sighing at the fact she needed to go head to head with her of all people. Adler, she didn’t care much for. She could debate with him whenever and wherever… Vivianne was more hardheaded. A woman bound by a weird sense of leadership. She held every nurse with an iron grip. Not her though. She could never hold her down.

Dakota hummed, “Tell me about it.” her eyes looking back over at Annie who seemed to be checking out her new sutures. However, her eyes were focused a bit more on Y/N.

Annie was stuck in a little world of her own at the moment, trying to process everything that’s happened. Everything that will happen. “Who is Dr. Vivianne?” Annie questioned, her head tilting a bit. She hadn’t heard of the name. Nor did she read about it… This was someone completely new.

Y/N could’ve answered that question in a multitude of ways, but she didn’t. She just stood there and shook her head, ‘Head of the Medical Division. She took after Henry Belis when he died after the war.’ She gestured, not very fond of the history. Especially, not when her and Vivianne had so much of it.

“…So she’s your mentor?” Annie stood up from the bed, adjusting her clothes to cover up with just the fix of some buttons on her shirt.

Y/N shook her head once more, almost finding that idea a bit funny. ‘No. If anything she’s just a person in the big chair.’ Her hand gestures showed a little more of the sadder truth of this story.

A constant shift in power always made its way between Adler, Vivianne and Y/N. Either it was a battle of different approaches to certain things, or just Vivianne putting her foot down…. Y/N always had no choice but to listen.

Dakota took a step forward, a hand gesturing towards Annie. “What she means is, she’s a hothead with too much power. Haven’t thought of one instance where she’s not sending Adler to me. A control freak. Always up my ass about quite literally everything that happens as if I don’t have it all under a watchful eye.” The bandit scoffed.

Y/N knew that Dakota and Vivianne were also on opposite sides of the fence. It wasn’t anything new though.

“…She doesn’t sound… nice.” Annie commented in a weird blunt way that made Y/N give a small exhale of amusement. The blonde’s interest suddenly hyperfixed on that little action, her mind blanking a bit.

Y/N then shook her head, ‘She’s the product of someone who lets expectations cloud judgment… Someone who let their promotion go straight to her head.’ She signed with her eyes averted, crossed her arms after while making her way over to the window. Her mind always drifted back to the past… How, she constantly felt the weight on her shoulders as she did back then. Why was it always her making tough decisions? She never had a moment to just… Be.

“Y/N, I want you to lead the Medical Research Council.”

That offer was the downfall of the bonds they used to hold. When it became more about competition than about actually helping. Who was better and who could fill the shoes that were left. Y/N remember denying the position… Wanting to live a quieter life. The occasional job here and there… But, now here she was. Fighting against her own moral compass and risking her job because she’s never been one to leave others behind. Not now, not ever. She was thankful that Luther and Denis shared that principle.

She was tired.

Dakota could see that look in Y/N’s face. How her eyebrows furrowed down, a look of lost confidence. “…You two have history then?” She finally asked, making Y/N’s head turn away.

Annie stayed quiet, just wanting to know anything that Y/N would give her… Anything that book never told. Those continued chapters. She just… She needed to know.

And Y/N told them.

‘We worked together for a while. I was under the watchful eye of Commander Hange, placed to be a field medic and soon captain for a squad … She was… my partner. Someone I could trust at the time… A voice almost.’ Her gestures were careful, her face showing a mixture of emotions. But, she didn’t miss those moments. ‘At least, that’s what I thought at the time… But, when you’re running for someone else, you forget to walk. She forgot to walk and instead took the opportunity to fly… Hasn’t come down since.’ Her way of telling the story made Annie feel like she got a good punch to the gut. Like she was too late.

Dakota was surprised, head almost jolting back a bit from the information shared. That made a whole lot more sense now…. Why couldn't they find anything based on the missing parts of this “case.”

“You were been quietly stationed…? Why the hell would they do that?” Dakota was so fucking confused. In what universe, does making someone go missing create a benefit?

Annie was struggling to understand as well, her expression contorting with its own confusion. “That doesn’t make sense…” Annie started her thought, pointing towards Y/N, who in turn turned to look directly at the ambassador.

“I was working with the scouts during the rumbling… They said they never saw you...” Annie could remember it easily. Jean didn’t know. Connie didn’t know. Mikasa was the one who told her that Y/N’s been… Armin even said the same thing….

Y/N took a step forward, ‘What did you expect the friends of a former enemy to do?… I was working and had you come after me, you would’ve been killed.’ She knew her words were coming off a bit hostile, maybe even a bit bitter… But, she was… She was allowed to be. That was the truth. She had bigger responsibilities than

Dakota stayed quiet though, taking a place against the wall with her arms folded over her chest. She wanted to see how this entire thing unfolded, but kept a watchful eye on if it got… Too heated between the two.

Annie shook her head, “You weren’t my…” She then stopped herself, because at the time… They were enemies. They fought on different sides of the walls. Y/N stood a little taller, her eyes looking into Annie. The same way they used to when she couldn’t promise anything. It made Annie speechless.

There was a pregnant pause before Y/N tilted her head, hands signing her thoughts. ‘I liked to keep my whereabouts private… That was until recently… With the war over and a lot of the members no longer here… Now, I am just a doctor and rep for medical research.’ The mute doctor’s footsteps grew closer to Annie, the two eventually standing face to face. As much as it pained her to mention the death of her mentor and practically her guardian Hange, it was true. After the war on Marley… Y/N’s squad was disbanded to focus full time on other things.

Annie’s eyes softened up, her eyes unconsciously moving downwards towards the lips of the other woman. “And what was so important?… I could think of many instances where people needed a medic and you just weren’t there.” Annie questioned with a more sharpness in her tone. Her eyes looked back up into Y/N’s eyed again, their gazes strong enough to probably light a flame.

‘Who do you think delivered the queen’s heir?’ Y/N’s response made Dakota have a little outburst, her head shaking in disbelief. She pushed herself off from the wall and approached the doctor with an accusatory tone. “Bullshit! Everyone knows that Dr—” Her voice stopped immediately, eyes showing a shocking realization. That’s when Dakota’s hand soon pointed directly at the mute doctor, the doctor holding a prideful smile.

Annie’s eyes shifted to Dakota, trying to understand what revelation they had just came upon… Then she heard it. A name she’s heard of before.

“Dr. Quil…” Dakota’s realization rang in her voice, expression showing the new information boggled her mind. The documents were shredded because Y/N didn’t exist in the corp…. Y/N and Dr. Quil didn’t exist at the same time. They couldn’t.

“Dr. Quil helped me out with my bent out leg. I’d recommend seeing her if you need a check-up.”

The memory made Annie’s body feel suddenly cold. Her eyes finding themselves downcast and her hands at her sides in the shape of fists. Hiding in plain sight… Then she remembered what Dakota said to her when she was tied up in that chair.

“Name has been dead for a long time….” Annie spoke under her breath, trying to take in everything… But, It was too… Too much.

‘Marley was lovely, by the way. I find it crazy I made it there before you did.’ Y/N was just fucking with Annie now, the tension starting to grow the more that Y/N revealed. Annie immediately grabbed Y/N by her shirt collar, staring at her old lover with a more cold gaze. Was she mocking her?

The threatening look didn’t make Y/N flinch, she wasn’t the same person she was before… Annie had to accept that… There was no journal writing, no walks through the snow, no late night visits that ended up in a tangle of limbs… They were strangers. A clean slate. They didn’t recognize each other. That’s what years did to something that wasn’t fully established.

“Amby…” Dakota placed a hand on Annie’s chest, keeping her voice steady to calm Annie’s overwhelming emotions. But, It was all just too much to take in. Her fists clenched harder, her eyes wide and she was spiraling a bit.

But, it wasn’t. They were just battle-hardened creatures now… Both had their secrets. ‘Be mad that I lied, Sure. But, you can’t be mad at me for doing the same shit you did to me.’ Y/N was right. She wasn’t any better… They were the same coin, different sides. Annie couldn’t be mad that Y/N took a more respectable route of things.

“Annie.” Dakota’s voice raised, stern and hushed as to not disturb her uncle who was probably in his own sorrows with his mourning.

“You act like I didn’t care.” Annie’s voice wavered in their justifications. “I didn’t fucking leave you because I wanted to!”

‘You left because you knew you couldn’t stand to tell me the truth. You couldn’t even be honest with me when I got hurt because of you.’ Y/N’s words struck into her like daggers. And they were right… Annie was the biggest coward. The one that ran away because it got too complicated and the fact Y/N saw that and looked down on her… She didn’t know what to say.

Dakota’s hand pushed against Annie’s chest again, “That’s enough.” The bandit wasn’t going to let this continue, making Annie finally let go of her old lover’s shirt. Y/N even swatted Annie’s hands away, the sounds of breaths heavy coming from the two lovers. Dakota pushed them away from each other, pointing a finger at the blonde then at the H/C as if they were dogs. Both just back off, staring at each other from past Dakota.

The doctor fixed her collar, dusting herself off while she took that moment to breathe. She knew Annie could easily overpower her, did she care? No. She knew she had the upper hand. They both were in a position that couldn’t be replaced. Both were important people… With powerful names…

“Let me remind you both that we don’t need this. I get it! You’re pissed off at her. She’s hung up on you… But, right now??? We have shit we got to do.” The gang leader motioned between the two, hazel eyes meeting up with the doctor’s. “Doctor?” Dakota spoke to move the attention from Annie to herself, cautiously holding out their hand to the disheveled woman. Y/N just looked down at it with a stubborn glare. A little parley on their personal matters… How fun.

“We get this done, you both can sit… Maybe, have a nice coffee above ground about it. Hell! Kill each other afterwards if you really want to! I don’t give a damn. Now, we know what we need. We need to rest, wake up and have that meeting with Vivianne with no delay.” The way Fabel spoke really showed that they knew how to keep the game fair. That’s how they liked it. Fair, sweet and short. None of this back and forth.

Annie licked the inside of her cheek, still feeling that bubbling annoyance in her gut. She was also smacked with guilt and doubt. She just nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. It’s not like she wanted to fight her. and Y/N didn’t want to fight her either… She was exhausted.

“Deal?” Dakota asked, eyebrows raising to show a more neutral face to the doctor. She didn’t want to seem like she picked a side, there was no sides.

With much contemplation, Y/N reached over to shake the bandit’s hand. She can play nice for a bit. E/C eyes met up with blue soon after, ‘I know a nice cafe we can go to when this is all over. I’m guessing you like it with extra sugar?’ The doctor signed to Annie, making the ambassador suddenly look taken aback.

“How did you—?” Annie was caught off guard, head turning to follow as Y/N walked past her to start getting their stuff together for bed. She might not have realized, but Y/N still remembered her sweet tooth. Not that she would admit it.

Dakota shook their head, rolling their eyes as they left the two to get their shit together. The bandit was expecting a cute reunion, maybe some fighting with a little bit of declarations of love… No, just got a headache. A massive one.

“Hey, Uncle. Do you have rope?” Dakota asked, coming down the stairs to see the older man at his workstation. His eye looked over to the younger Fabel, placing down an axe head he was sharpening.

“What do you need rope for?…” He asked, watching as Dakota made her way over. She stopped across the work bench, hands in her pockets with her eyes looking at all the new things her uncle had been busying himself with.

“I got two dogs that need to get along. Figured I would just tie them up until they did…” Her hands picked up a shiny blue steel knife with a beautiful redwood handle. She gave it a few practice swings, testing how the blade hid away before flicking it out again.

Miles softly hummed, “Is that what I heard upstairs…?” He turned back to his work, sanding down a handle for an axe he was making.

Dakota nodded with a dramatic head nod, folding the knife back into itself. That’s when Miles held out his hand, “Makes the place a lot more lively… Can’t say I hated it.” He said with a short laugh, making Fabel feel a little guilty. They knew what he meant, it wasn’t just him that felt that way.

She gave him the knife, watching him pull away from the desk to place it into a little sheath he had made for it. A pretty thing, lovely dark leather always looked good. “I’m sorry for not being around much, M…” She apologized, pulling a chair out from his desk that was cluttered with ideas and projects. She sat across, leaning back in it.

He took a deep breath, looking at her with tired eye. “You're all good, D… I know you’re busy with managing the gang. I gave you that responsibility after all… I know how much it takes away.” He looked back down at the wooden handle in his hand, placing down the sandpaper to test how it felt in his hands.

Dakota sighed, “…I’m working hard to stop it… I mean.. I’m not going to say much, but I’ve been establishing quite the connections.” She saw how he shook his head.

It didn’t matter how many connections a person had. For some reason, this place always took and took. It took his left eye… It took his wife… He was stagnant… Just a guy who made tools for a gang he used to run.

“Hmm… Just don’t get swept up in it, D.” He simply said, his voice quiet. It pained Dakota to see him this way… Watching him adjust that eyepatch on his face, sometimes she could see his hands shake.

“It’ll have to catch up to me to sweep me up, Uncle.” Her voice softened up, watching as he sighed and shook his head. “I’m serious.” He replied, looking up at the young bandit. Despite her being older now, he still saw that little girl that enjoyed watching him make new things.

“I know.” She exhaled, standing up from the chair. “I promise. Once this is all over, we can take a trip above ground… get some fresh air. Maybe, we can see the water too. I know you’ve always wanted to do that.” She promised, holding a soft smile. It was one of those smiles that made Miles feel at ease.

“…Sure… We’ll go see the water.” He agreed with the pretty thought. Maybe he needed to get away from all of this… But, nothing could ever fill his missing piece… Not even water. Dakota gave a wink, motioning towards the kitchen as she started to head for head. “Make sure you eat, Uncle. Don’t need you passed out on your workbench again.” She advised, footsteps echoing as Dakota went up.

The older man’s eye looks over at the urn on the shelf, “What are we going to do with this kid, Kate?…” He asked before he shook his head and got back to work on making his axe.

——

“LUTHER! RUN!” Denis yelled, sprinting down the alleyway behind his best friend. Luther was running just like he was told, looking back behind them as men started to rush them.

“I want them alive!” The man ordered, stopping his chase and pointing at his men to go after them. His lips lifted into a proud smirk, hearing the bullets fire and the feet of men running at his demand… Was this what it was like to have power Instead of being kicked to the ground?

Denis followed close behind, pulling down barrels and crates to obstruct any path. Luther knew something was fucked when they saw those bastards were starting to block off streets. They had to ditch the wagon because of it and It fucked with him, he knew what they were looking for. Their faces were well known from the papers.

BANG!

Luther found himself ducking his head, scrambling into another set of alleyways behind some brothel. Bugs and rats scurried past his feet. His heart racing in his ears made it feel as if his head was underwater. He couldn’t hear anything. Just kept running and running.

“Through here!” Luther said, finding an old building they could run through. He looked at the old doors on it, taking a step back before using as much momentum and adrenaline to kick the damn thing open. Once the door broke open, Luther pushed himself through the splintering wood. The place was dark and dusty, but he could care less…

“Denis, I think we should—” He turned behind him and saw no one. Her heart dropping instantly, all he could hear now was the sound of his own heavy breathing.

“Denis?…Brother?” He helplessly called out.

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thisuserislilsilly · 5 months ago

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Summary: The beginnings of my memoirs about my life start, oddly enough, in my mid 30's when I was still just an inexperienced and "young" Rogue Trader. Little did I knew back then one fortuitous mission would change my life forever

Pairing: Crae Vullscat (Rogue Trader) x Isolde (beloved character of @meervalv0 :> )

Genre: Fluff, a bit of smut (at least in someone's mind...)

TW: Smutty imagination, foul language, blood

Goblin tag squad: @finchly-tintinnabulation @artemisareia @echo-of-damnation

@meervalv0 @jaghatai-khock @cardinalcanis @druidwolf21

Author's Note: I write these words in no way to repent myself for the things I have done in my life, nor because I feel any of the crazy stuff I have lived through needs to be documented, I just do this because I can and since the Schola Progenium days of my youth I have gotten used to write things down to not fall into madness and accidentally shoot someone after a bad day on the Ship's Throne. If any other person is seeing this, like you Osmi fuck off, please return it to my drawer or wherever you have found it, it ain't yours and it certainly does not hold any sacred texts...more like if you leak any of this stuff I'll shoot you down and then myself for heresy.

Life had been pretty simple and boring for me at that period of my life, the Vullscat were finally out of the poverty that had stricken on our Sector, trading was coming out pretty nicely and nobody in my ship crew had deserted yet or yelled at me for some stupid incompetence I could had committed. So, to shake things up a little bit, I decided to play Good Samaritan and have a go at listening to nearby calls for help, recruitment or bounty missions with some well amount of credits to spend in luxury planets or buying that nice cloak I had gotten to almost steal at Kuridian Prox.

From all the communications I could had received, one coming from a flagship of the Adeptus Astartes was certainly not in my wildest of plans for the day, so naturally as soon as it came through and I heard a deep male voice in an even lower tone than the commissar I had the displeasure of having in my ship I did the most natural, rational thing I or anyone could had done in that situation: Panic and cut the link off.

I giggled nervously for a moment at the absurdity of what I had just went through, but that cheer wouldn't last long as the communication Vox again lighted up with an incoming call; it had to be them, I knew their kind wasn't used to receive a no for an answer from frankly anyone that weren't one of their "brothers", so I just let it rang and rang and rang expecting whoever was at the there end of the line to get tired of trying and just hang up.

When the situation approached the five minute mark I knew my hopes were in vain.

"My Lord Vullscat, are you going to let that blasted alarm keep going until the end of times!?!?" My Seneschal yelled over the cacophony of sounds surrounding us

"I am sure they will give up soon, Gertie! We just need to hold on a little longer...!" I tried to excuse myself, shrugging

"Yes....Captain" Gertie went back to his post, this time touching his ear augmentations to mute the sound around him, leaving to me the horrible task of having to keep listening to the Vox alarms

Still, my name is Crae Vullscat after all, the most stubborn one of my entire family, the one that as soon as he got the Trader parchment of the House made way to a Paradise World and spent a third of the riches of the family in amasec, wine, cigarettes and other hallucinogens I rather not talk or even write about. Honoring that persistence I braced myself to endure the annoying beeping sounds for another five minutes before my ears begged me to answer the call already. As soon as I connected the line a commanding Marine voice almost left me deaf, if the alarms hadn't done that yet, rambling on about how insulting my behavior had been for not answering the call of "The Emperor's Angels" and that I would had a stern talk to their Chaplain as soon as I would poke my head out to the same planet as they were in.

After a few minutes enduring those speeches, the Marine finally calmed down, inhaled deeply and relayed the information he was actually supposed to deliver; I was to be formally contracted (or hired or threatened to be shot if I didn't accept) under the protection and custody of the Dark Angels Legion to engage in a secret mission. Success in said activity would guarantee riches, a parchment of honor that would basically let my ship go wherever I wanted to go without any explanations to give and the pardon of the High Lords of Terra for the increasingly worrying amounts of debt my House had been collecting since the dawn of our business; one that was far too large for me to not get excited at the prospect of being rid of it. I thought about the offer and it's risks for about...ten seconds before I accepted in a rush of words not even an Ogryn would had been able to understand; I was relayed the information of where to meet the representatives of the Legion in case I needed more details of what it would be asked of me to do and then, only then, did the Space Marine cut transmission, not before insulting me in a language I did not understand but I was pretty sure it was their version of the saying "go fuck yourself".

The time it took the "Tears of the Fallen" to arrive at the meeting system gave me enough time to actually reflect in what I was doing. If they had contacted a Trader meant they needed to do something off the record so either an illegal activity that could pull me into a heretic plot or, if my paranoia was unfounded, it was a secret operation so the enemy wouldn't suspect a thing if they had spies watching the Imperium. So either some shady stuff or a job only suited for a wild card like me; to be fair it wasn't the worst scenarios possible for Crae Vullscat (if we remember that time the Tear's was framed for the murder of an Imperial officer) to be in.

Still, it was dangerous, something to take very seriously, which is why I assigned Gertie to write my will in case I died there, leaving most stuff to my uncle while leaving absolutely nothing to my sister Vanya, that hateful bi-.

The shaking of the entire ship announcing we had gotten out of the Warp and entered real space stopped my trail of thoughts just when the fantasies were about to get really graphic on the depictions of the consequences I would face if I failed the mission tasked of me...or if I accomplished it but for some dammable reason it wasn't according to to what they would think it was "righteous". I shook those morbid thoughts aside, however, when the bridge between the two ships completed it's docking, leaving my crew on one side nervously waiting for the guests to arrive and on the other end of the bridge the Astartes were taking all the time of the world to make their wonky walk to us; it honestly was pretty funny when you're used to people moving with agility and fitness and not like a walking talking tank.

In all my previous encounters with Space Marines I had to admit they scared the absolute hell out of me, the size difference alone would had been a good giveaway of how far off my own league I was by interacting with what could had easily been almost Gods of the Imperium in my new pants that had been just ruined by me emptying all of one could call shit in them. Thank to the Emperor the only one that had noticed this involuntary, and totally shameful, act was Gertie who proceeded to spray me with a bit of perfume before the guests got too close.

"Rogue Trader Vullscat, I take it?" Holy shit, one of them was talking directly at me "Yes...my Lord?" I tried to remain as calm as possible one could be in that sort of situation "My name is Isolde, I will be the one to task you with this most secretive task" Holy Emperor's balls, it was a WOMAN Astartes

I froze in place for a moment by the force of the shock it had just hit me. I had read stories that Marines could be female, or as close as female those giant freaks of nature could be, but I had never imagined I would be standing in front of one, even less so that they would be addressing me directly and assigning me a task to do. I really hoped only the good parts of the Vullscat fame had landed on their ears and not all the problems we were facing...or how I wasn't particularly a monument to courage and uphold of the Imperial Truth; to be completely fair now I was just getting scared some of our mutant and abhuman crew was discovered by some of them.

"Lord Vullscat?" She arched one of her...white...perfect...beautiful...rather sexy I might add, eyebrows while looking down at me, directly at me. What was that phrase about love at first sight again? "Yes...! Yes uh, ma'am, it would be an honor to receive such a task from the First Legion, I will be most than honored in receiving my duty at your hands“ "Seriously Crae? For the Emperor's sake the only thing you took out of that is if you could kiss the ground in which she walks on! Stop acting like that!" Gertie bumped into me and whispered those words in my ear, but I was too entranced by Isolde looks to talk back at him "Very well, now come forward, this next information is for your ears alone" The white haired beautiful woman waved a hand at me and pointed to a table nearby

All of what I could think at that moment was how dirty that table was, it was a shame I hand't told my people to clean anything up to greet our guests although in hindsight for how crazy some of my crew were it was best they hadn't even tried to do something of the sort or the walls would had been adorned by heretics skulls. I caught only a few things Isolde told to me in that briefing, I was hunting one of the Legion "old associate" or brother or whatever, they were hiding in Hulmar, the main city of the planet that shared names with and that the Dark Angels couldn't give me too much help down there because something along the lines of honor and duty and by that part I was praying to the Emperor that she would stop talking so righteously and talk like a normal person for once.

Once again I have to stop whatever I was writing about to remark how beautiful she looked. Having to constantly look up to face her came with a few advantages, for example when I looked straight ahead I didn't had to look like a weirdo for having my eyes be directly in the view of her legs and hands whenever she was adopting a resting position without her arms crossed. I can say now, a long time after these events had transpired, that it was a tantalizing view. One that would make me question quite often if those long and clawed nails would hurt my back if I ever could convince her to spend a night, and probably the last night of my life, with me in my own quarters; those filthy thought did pop up a lot whenever she was talking or just staring at me as it was my turn to say something, part of why accepted to make such a crazy mission of hunting a "super human" that could absolutely wreck me in a fight in the first place wasn't "for the glory of the Emperor" or to restore anyone's honor, but because I knew that would put me in a good light with the lady and...push me into the right direction to make my move. A move to flirt with her, something to bask in as I would attempt to win her heart and probably get rejected and my head caved in for even suggesting the possibility of us having a go at sex; still it would be a helluva way to die though.

The sight wouldn't last forever however, just when she had given me all the details I was totally paying attention to, like I have already pointed out, she stood up, put her hood on and pointed to me while saying "Make the First proud, and you'll be rewarded"; I had to bit my lower lip to not suggest the reward was some wine and a private room. The other Marines stood up and left their chattering just when Isolde had said those last few words to me, they all made the sign of the Aquila and proceeded to go back through the same bridge they had arrived at our ship in. Everyone stood there staring like fools watching the guests leave, there was an awkward moment of silence as none of us wanted to break the tension and the sight every single human at my cohort had witnessed; the first one to speak up was Lars, who could not hold back any longer the thought that crossed through my mind too "Holy mother's luck we have just signed off our deaths".

Editor's note: The next part of this memoir has been heavily edited and toned down from the original copy, not only because Crae Vullscat spent two entire pages having a mental breakdown and going through multiple possible plans to catch said Fallen Angel but too because it contains heavy usage of insults, drug mentions and an illegal ring of contraband in the Homeworld of the Vullscat that for the security of their integrity has been erased and disbanded already. This editor sincerely thanks the readers patience.

Despite what the propaganda and the official re-telling of this story would say, I did not head to the largest bar of Hulmar to search for information or to slip into the worshippers of the Fallen to plan his demise, I was just thirsty, tired from all the planning and honestly lacking the faith that the task was even accomplishable by me or my subjects. I drowned my sorrows in bottles and more bottles of amasec thinking how would I explain the failure to the beautiful lady and not die in the attempt when, in my total drunkenness, I tripped and fell on a fellow that was drinking at that bar as well.

The man hadn't taken my clumsily drunk behavior in the best of manners, mainly because I didn't apologize for it and instead laugh that the wet mark I had spilled on him looked like he pissed himself, raising his fists in the air and shouting at me how much he was going to enjoy killing me and then selling my livers to the black market. My dumb brain made just enough neural connections to block the first punch headed my way and then mumble something about me being a Rogue Trader and that he should had shown some respect to the badge; that shocking revelation came accompanied by me flailing around the pin I had on my jacket that signaled me as one of those important folk. Now, this must be repeated again, I did not knew that man was a cultist, I did not know how did that misunderstanding led me to have a chat with him in one of the tables and then talking of business and how I could help him with something he needed help transporting. I just remember my luck again kicked in on that moment and that my silver tongue managed to convince the idiotic fool I was the right man for the job, that I was the best smuggler in the entire galaxy and that no cargo was too big or too small for me to get past the official requisitions made by the planetary defense forces.

No matter what I had said there, I came out of that bar with a new contact and a place to meet some group that would help deliver the "cargo" from their base to my ship, I just needed to tell my people about it and stay with the smugglers at all times to reassure them I would pull through with the deal. Which is why, after an entire night sobering up, throwing up and convincing Gertie I knew what I was doing, five of my finest and (only) volunteers came down with me to one of the backstreets of Humal to seal the deal. The gang that awaited us with a large box, the size of a Space Marine oddly enough, had their entire bodies covered in red tattoos, some with a star-like figure in them and other's with a inscription in a foreign language I had no intentions of knowing it; still despite the appearance they seemed to be nice fellows. They received me and my cohort with smiles, we exchanged money for the box and they left it up to us to take the cargo down to the docks....with no protection...laughing...and saying goodbye with the words "I hope you don't wake him up!" on their lips; not the weirdest behavior ever if I had ever seen those, I thought to myself, like an idiot.

Editor's Note: Yes, they were worshippers of the Chao god Tzeench.

According to my calculations and the map I had shown my crew, the docks were just half a mile down the road, passing through a wide open space empty of building that had the faded Inscryption of "Hooting passage"; no, neither my allies nor I did get the reason or the meaning behind the word "hooting", thinking it was a local internal joke or some kind of sound an animal typical of the zone emitted. We set off then, talking amongst us of what the cargo would be, still thinking of how we could get the Fallen out of hiding and what each of us would do with the money the Dark Angels would pay us with after all of this was over; Phawl even suggested the possibility of conning them out of more money, but that idea was quickly shut down when you think about their Librarians and how they could make your head explode with a thought if they so happen to read your mind so we best decided to not go through that idea. The evening passed relatively fast that way, having our own fun to distract us how heavy the cargo was and how cumbersome carrying the whole thing without accidentally dropping it was. Thinking back on that, the weight alone should've given me a hint that if it looked like an Astartes in a box and sounded like a snoring Astartes in a box, then most likely what was inside of the cargo was a fucking Astartes,

I would like to point out I wasn't the one that their grip slipped on one of the sides and made the box fall hard on the floor, it was Bilkis, if there is someone to blame for having the cargo fall to the floor, make the box crack and awake the Fallen tucked inside of that box was Bilkis, let the register say that every single time this situation is brought up on the upcoming years; the guy that made the Fallen wake up was B-I-L-K-I-S. Yes, the people that had given us the cargo were, we later found out, worshippers of one of the Chaos Gods, with said deity guiding them to dispose of the Fallen on our hands thinking the Marine was dead and the ones to be blamed for having killed an Adeptus Astartes would be us; it was lucky then that the Fallen wasn't dead or that the fall BILKIS caused didn't snap his neck, what was less lucky for us was the fact the Fallen immediately started to attack us, killing Andarah, Barb and Dolpham in less than the second it took me and Bilkis to scream out of panic.

Before the Marine could remove his fist from the chest of Barb, the only other crew member alive and I started to run as fast as our legs could allow us, to hell with the bounty, with the money, with the Fallen and the Dark Angels, we were now only worried in saving our skin; which is why we ran past the Hooting passage warning signs without thinking twice, if the animal that "hooted" was there and ate us then that fate was better than whatever a Fallen would do to us.

Now...there is something important I forgot to write when I retold the moment I looked at the old, dusty map; see, there was this stain of amasec in the holopad after I had accidentally sneezed on it, which may had covered an "S" in the name of that passage, right in the word "Hooting", in the left side just before the "H"....it was the "Shooting passage", a part of the city that had been given to the Imperial defense forces a long time ago to train their soldiers in a more realistic setting than the training fields of their bases. And it just so happens Bilkis and I walked right into it, triggering the first alarms of the base that there were some unauthorized personal running like madmen trying to cross said passage; the commander of their unit told me a day after these events had transpired that we were running so fast they confused us with some giant rats or, worse, Tyranids trying to breach their defenses.

We screamed....we screamed a lot once we heard bullets pass us by and impacting the walls around us, I may had confessed to Bilkis the fact I just got that mission because I wanted to bang some giant pretty lady, Bilks just hit me in the back of the head in the right moment to dodge a bullet headed to my brains, my luck hadn't ran out yet.

"Crae is the Fallen still chasing us!?!?!" Bilkis said once his legs were starting to give up on him, just a few meters away from the end of the passage "I DON'T KNOW I DON'T KNOW OHSHITOHFUCKOHSHITOHFUCK I DON'T WANNA DIE YET I AM TOO YOUNG TO DIE YET I CAN'T LET MY FUCKING SISTER HAVE THE TITLE YET-" I valiantly screamed back at Bilkis

A second later we heard the answer to our questions; for those uninitiated in the subject, it is possible to break the hard ceramite present in the armor of the Adeptus Astartes, it is rather easy in fact for a small army of guardsmen to do it, all you need is good aim and a sustained fire upon a specific zone of the armor and it will break or dent; yes it is hard, but it can be done. I know this now because at that moment all of the bullets that had fly past us were actually landing on the Fallen chasing after Bilkis and I, that was the reason why the giant hadn't caught up to us yet and why we heard some kind of metal being constantly punished behind us although neither Bilkis or me wanted to look back to see what it was.

Yes, the records suggest I baited the Space Marine to that kill zone for then later blast him away with the rest of my crew once we reached the docks. What it is not said, however, was my constant screaming once we got past the passage and entered the space ports; neither it is told how I shoved people out of the way or straight up threw some of them behind us as a human obstacle for the Fallen to surpass by caving their skulls in with punches and shoves out of the way. Still, for as much as anyone wants to criticize me for that I will gladly inform that bought Bilkis (who I may remind you was the responsible for the Fallen to break free in the first place) and me enough time to shout at the rest of the crew to open fire on the Marine. We threw ourselves to the ground for a moment later hear how Gertie led the firing line by targeting the helmet of the Marine and nothing more, which coupled with the sustained damage it had received from the Shooting passage before allowed the armor to crack and make the plasma shots and bolter rounds pass the thick armor and put an end to the Fallen life.

"Crae...what in the sweet spots of the Warp just happened!?!? Where is the rest of the crew??? Was that the Fallen? Did anyone check it is dead like for real dead? Can we loot the armor or is that illegal?" Questions and more questions started to pour down the Tear's crew as the moment passed and Bilkis and I reincorporated back on our feet "I...I...I need to...we have to....Oh by the Emperor I need to inform about this to the Isolde lady..." That was all what I managed to articulate with my chest wheezing

A couple of hours later, back in my chambers and with a stress ball on my hands to soothe me, the Vox told me about the arrival of Isolde on the Tear's; inhaling deeply I allowed her to come in and braced myself for seeing such a woman once more. She was dressed simply but finely, with some large robe covering her big musculature, a bow tying up her hair on the back of her head and some high heels that made her giant form even more massive. She was...gorgeous, she looked like a goddess and in a weird sense she kinda was, all things considered. She was smiling, or I thought that was what I should had interpreted from the weird expression on her face; two of the Dark Angels were escorting her, I could barely see them at the doorframe, not entering most likely out of respect for Isolde but letting her intentions of guarding her well known to me.

"The Fallen is dead, ma'am" I put on the best seductive voice I could pull "The will of the Emperor has been done, one less shameful sin has been lifted from your ears, my lady" "The Legion is grateful to you, Rogue Trader" Her tone was so formal, so devoid of any feelings "It is my pleasure to serve, it gives me time to explore the galaxy around us after all" I chose the words carefully, smirking "You are an explorer?" She bluntly asked, right to the point "Oh yes, most certainly!" I stood up from my chair and began doing some theatrics "I have explored from the cold lands of Edavrost to the jungles of Tarsilus, I even managed once to visit an Aeldari world before it was wiped out by Imperial forces and the Inquisitor in turn bombed the place"

Editor's Note: There are no proof of those names ever be used for Imperial Worlds, this part must not be taken literally, perhaps just some fantasies and made up names the Rogue Trader came up with to mask the true names of the visited worlds. He never visited an Aeldari world too.

I played the mysterious card up my sleeve, purposely turning my back on her and looking to the vastness of the space beyond the crystal windows of my study; glancing from time to time back at Isolde if what I had said had caught her interest. The Emperor smiled at me that day, for I will never forget the little drop on her serious facade to a fascinated look in her eyes.

"I did not knew I was talking with such experienced traveler, your stories must be certainly curious" Isolde looked around the room to some of the trophies I had collected throughout the years "I got many, in case you ever wish to hear some of them" I left the question hanging in the air, crossing my fingers "I could certainly think about it" Isolde nodded, preparing to leave already

Perhaps what came over me at that moment was desperation to not lose completely the opportunity to sway that big woman, or maybe I didn't wanted to admit I had been completely shut down by someone after using all the charisma and strategies to flirt I could had pulled out at that moment, Or even the possibility I was being selfish with how many times I could've died out there doing those stunts that I was absolutely sure I wouldn't and couldn't been able to repeat for anything or anyone ever. It doesn't really matter now, what matters is that I had enough guts in me to get ahead of Isolde and close the door on her right as she was heading out, just like that, so bold in my approach I didn't even count in what I was about to say or what I would do once I had closed the door on her.

I must've taken her by surprise too by the look on her face as I stood there, tiny in comparison but still holding the eye contact I could had with someone that big, I was even on my tip-toes trying to appear as large as I could. There was awkward silence that followed that stupid act of mine, for the life of me I don't know and probably never will know what Isolde was thinking at that moment; she just simply picked me up, like you would hold up a baby, right to her eye level; I gasped and held my breath, oh my fucking Emperor that was happening, there was going to be a kiss, oh boy was I ready for that, even thinking if it was going to be with tongue or not or if I would be able to steal a kiss in the cheek once it was over and then be able to feel how her face felt against my own oh fUCK SHE WAS GOING FOR IT.

Except she wasn't, she just held me like that for a couple of seconds, investigating my face proportions (I won't lie I made a smirk and tried to get to my good side), then dropping me off on the ground, attempted to make half a smile and then said "You're a dummy. I like that". Then without waiting for an answer, she forced the door open making me fall backwards and left the room. I sat there for a good couple of minutes, giggling to myself, to my luck, to the chance of having at least getting to be at her eye level; in a moment worthy of a 10 year-old kid I picked my personal Vox and called Gertie, doing little bounces in place.

I didn't even let him answer, as soon as I heard the click of the connection I screamed at the top of my lungs "GERTIE SHE CALLED ME A DUMMY!"

#fanfiction #warhammer fanfic #warhammer 40000 #warhammer 40k #fanfic writing #wh40k oc #warhammer rogue trader #rogue trader #my writing

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holewithinahole · 2 years ago

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The Spirit’s in It | Egon Spengler x nb!reader [2/3]

Summary: “I didn’t know psychology doctors also specialized in particle physics, is all.”

What you meant as a light joke to relax him did quite the opposite. He straightens, righting up his glasses one more pointless time. “I have a degree in nuclear engineering,” he states before walking out, leaving you confused and feeling like you’ve spent the entire time offending him unintentionally.

Warnings: dubious science, non-native writer, non-beta’d

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

And here's part 2! I'll probably post part 3 tomorrow so I can upload everything on Ao3. I realised this work is super underwelming compared to what I've been releasing lately haha But well, if one person like it that's all I'm asking!

I also love write all the different dialogues I have in mind for the Ghostbusters. It's like I can hear the voices of the actors in my head! It's all very amusing.

EDIT: I hate the third part so I'm rewriting it lmao

Fall, 1984

“What are they doing?” You mutter under your breath as you step into the psychology aisle of Columbia University. It’s the most animated you’ve ever witnessed Weaver Hall be.

Clutching your latest research papers, you stride to the paranormal studies labs, almost running into a green-shirted man in the process. You mutter a quick apology without looking back. Inside the lab, a few men are busy getting boxes on trolleys and carrying them out of the room. You clear your throat as you stand close to one of them.

“Excuse me, do you know where Dr. Spengler is?”

The man arches an eyebrow and shrugs. “No idea who that is.”

Putting down a box labeled ‘Electronics’ on his trolley with a loud crashing noise – which makes you wince, he starts making his way out of the room, smacking your flank in the process.

“You do know those items partially belong to the researchers working here,” you argue, clutching your side and standing in front of him. “You can’t just take them without permission.”

“Listen, I’ve been asked to remove this stuff, ok? So move out of the way.”

You swallow back your irritation, ready to conjure up every ounce of antagonism, but you’re halted in your need for confrontation by a giddy tone.

“Ah, Professor.”

You turn back to face an uncharacteristically smirking Dean Yaeger: a self-satisfied smug that would deserve to be wiped right out of his face. It makes you fear the worst.

“I’m sorry to announce to you that Dr. Stanz, Dr. Venkman, and Dr. Spengler have departed our university,” he declares, voice devoid of any empathy.

“Departed?” you ask. “Did they quit?”

“Oh no,” he laughs. “We’ve terminated their contracts. The psychology pole deserves better than three frauds ridiculing our university.”

It is, indeed, the worst that could happen. Baffled, you watch as the dean gives directions to the workers with a large smile. You’ve never wanted to hit someone more.

“Frauds?” you scoff, trailing behind him. “Dr. Stantz has a doctorate in parapsychology, so does Dr. Venkman. Dr. Spengler graduated from this very university and possesses several diplomas notably in nuclear engineering and psychology. What makes you possibly think they don’t deserve their places here?”

Another worker almost bumps into you. You glare at them.

“While I admire your lovely attempt at defending the undefendable, the decision is taken. This room will be emptied and used by actual scientists.”

The dean has started making his way out of the room, radiating self-satisfaction and throwing prideful looks at everything his eyes come across. You run after him, pushed forward by this revolting sight.

“Those files are their own research! You can’t take them away without consulting with them first! Yes, they were working for this university, but it’s still years of their work that you’re just confiscating.”

The smirk he gives you makes you regret your words instantly. “Since you’re so willing to maintain your questionable relationship with the three of them, you won’t see any problem with being entrusted with those files? I’m sure you can return them in person.”

“Questiona–” you stutter, but Dean Yaeger claps his hands obnoxiously.

“It’s settled then.”

Shit.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Accepting to take care of Dr. Venkman, Dr. Stantz, and Dr. Spengler’s stuff had been both your good deed of the month and a middle finger at the face of Dean Yaeger. Stuffing piles of boxes in your tiny car hadn’t been easy. Especially since the dean had decided to dump everything in front of the university, grinning all along, savoring his cruel little prank. It says a lot about the actual interest Columbia University has in the work of its researchers.

There were at least over thirty different boxes, filled to the brim with research papers, littered all around your apartment. Obviously, Yaeger had made sure to take back all equipment – broken or not, leaving you with pounds of paper stored in their cardboard containers.

That is to say, after a month, you're starting to regret it.

The cluster of your home is slowly but surely disrupting your peace of mind. It’s almost as if the air has been saturated by dust and cardboard specks, the lack of luminosity not helping. Browsing through research papers and ordering everything has been fun at first, your curiosity satisfied, but you couldn’t decently keep digging through personal stuff. Therefore, you stopped, and now you loathe the view of these boxes.

The problem is that you have absolutely no idea where the three men went, and even on your deathbed, no one would witness you ask the dean for information. You simply can’t believe they would just switch universities, despite it being the ‘logical’ course of action. Mainly because Yaeger would behave like a goddamn leech and talk shit about them ‘till all universities in the country know about their turbulent history. You hoped for one of them to drop by your department but no one ever showed up.

Opening the door to your apartment and immediately feeling dejected at the view of the stacked boxes, you let out a sigh, getting rid of your work clothes and falling head first on your couch. You grab the TV remote, zapping mindlessly before deciding to let the device run in the background as you stand up to prepare something to eat.

During the small amount of time you’ve spent with the doctors this month, you’ve learned more about spooky theories and proton cages than about their actual life stories. Well, sort of. Dr. Stantz was certainly the most open of them all.

“Have you ever experienced a paranormal experience before?” he had asked, one morning, as he leaned conspiratorially towards you.

“I don’t think so?” you replied.

He had then talked extensively about a plethora of incidents, most notably a sponge migration which he’d assured was clear proof of paranormal activity. You had simply nodded, not wanting to question nor deter his enthusiasm. You quickly noticed – despite Dr. Spengler’s eclectic choices of study which could testify about his interest in science in general, Dr. Stantz remained the most passionate of the two; his obsessions towards specific subjects going further than a simple craving for knowledge on a Sunday afternoon. He kept lending you books on the supernatural which you had to decline after a fifth one joined the pile on your bedside table. It made wonder if the man didn’t own a secret bookshop somewhere. It left you with a sour aftertaste, knowing you had some of his prized possessions in your bedroom but couldn’t return them.

Dr. Venkman was– well… he was something else entirely. If Dr. Stantz was eager to share clever insights, Venkman was eager to share made-up stories. The diplomas on the wall did attest to his title of ‘Doctor’ but he couldn’t be more detached from it. Oh, he was researching psychological phenomena alright, but never knowledge for knowledge’s sake or even out of pure professionalism as you could expect from a researcher. If psychology books were leafed through, it was for manipulation tactics and to weaponize the uses of sugary words. In that, he was talented.

“Is it my time to interview the case subject?”

It was your third time in Weaver Hall. Both Dr. Stantz and Dr. Spengler had looked up from their ‘ghost trap’ schematics as Venkman took place in the chair in front of you.

“You never do interviews,” Dr. Stantz had said, deadpan.

“I feel magnanimous today.”

Venkman was a case study on its own, a study you weren’t willing to commit to. You had trouble understanding his true intentions most of the time. In the end, he remained the most enigmatic of the three, despite a boastful, overly dramatic persona (All the world’s a stage!). In the end, you couldn’t genuinely despise the man when he was driving away nosy students and even nosier teachers with phlegm, or when, during his rare excursions in the lab, he would bring sweet treats and coffee.

As for Dr. Spengler, well… he was brilliant and devoted to his work. Alike Dr. Stantz, although sporadically, he would sometimes get caught in a tirade of explanations and postulates. Every day, you resented the apprehension that staved off your second meeting for he could make your neurons flare and burst into ideas that’d spin in your head fast enough to weave entirely new conceptions. You were somewhat drunk on the feeling, making you distracted which even your colleagues noticed, embarrassingly enough. It all ended up in a self-deprecating mantra that led you away from Weaver Hall and back to the arms of your students and lab partners.

Now, they are gone, and you have no idea how to reach out.

“Are you troubled by strange noises in the middle of the night?”

You know Dr. Spengler has spent his entire life either studying for new degrees or researching. Universities are probably all he has ever known, and that makes you wonder how he’s managing the whole thing. Maybe he was hired by another university; with his degrees, it shouldn’t be too hard, despite what happened. Damn it, you should have given either of them your number. What if he’s already halfway across the country by now?

“Do you experience feelings of dread in your basement or attic?”

What the–

You glide out of your kitchen, spatula in hand, almost falling as your sock-clad feet slide on the wooden floor.

“If you or any of your family ever seen a spook, specter–”

“You’re fucking with me.”

As the three of them stand inside your TV offering ghost-hunting services, it makes you wonder if they didn’t take things a tad too far – or too seriously, this time.

“Call the Ghostbusters! We’re ready to believe you!”

Well, you certainly don’t believe it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Phoning the place has been like stepping into another dimension. You’ve been bombarded with words you’ve never heard in any discussion, except in Dr Stantz and Dr Spengler’s endless chatter about compendia and other mystical publications.

“Is your haunting an apparition, poltergeist, phantasm, wraith, banshee, demon, specter, tortured soul, or–”

“Excuse me but–”

“For your information, we do not summon dead family members.”

“I’m not calling for that–”

“Wait, hold, please. No Dr. Venkman I haven’t–”

And that was the end of the conversation. It left you with a strong puzzling sensation and a definitive confirmation of your aversion to discussions happening over the phone. The secretary never called back and you were secretly glad, leaving you time to summon all of your courage and go there directly. Which you did… eventually.

Funny how when you’re not searching for something, it comes to you from every angle. After discovering the strange choice of reconversion the doctors took, you were bombarded by advertisements, radio talks and covers of magazines. The men have managed to put all of New York in their pocket, and half if not as many ghosts in their traps. You’ve never been a firm believer in specters but Dr. Spengler and Dr. Stantz had talked extensively about them and their prototype to finally be able to catch one. You’ve been more interested in the physics aspect of it all; Dr. Spengler has been more than willing to explain and you’ve been more than willing to add your own theories.

You now stand in front of their headquarters, preparing to face them. And once again–

“Hey, it’s you!”

–it’s Dr. Stantz who nudges you in the right direction. The man smiles widely, face darkened by car oil and dirt, a crooked cigarette hanging from his lip. His uniform is equally as dirty, and he looks more like a mechanic than a ghost hunter… but no one has ever been a ghost hunter before so, what do you know?

“Hi, Dr. Stantz.” You smile. “It’s been a while.”

You can see he’s struggling to not pat your shoulder in a welcoming gesture. “Man, we thought we’d never get to see you again! Spengs’ gonna be so happy to see you!”

Somehow, you have trouble imagining Dr. Spengler overjoyed or overexcited. It’s not in his character.

“Come on!” He gestures for you to follow him. You’re barely inside that he has already strode through half the hall. “Sorry for the mess! It’s so hectic these days.”

“I saw the articles,” you say, taking in your surroundings.

At the front desk sits a fashionable lady whom you guess to be the secretary. She’s busy answering the phone, munching at her pencil and looking exhausted. She barely acknowledges your presence as you follow Dr. Stantz up the stairs.

The man never stopped talking. “Venkman is out right now; he wanted to check on one of our clients. The woman had blood dripping from her chimney, can you believe that?”

You clearly have trouble to. The blood part, not the seducing clients part.

Upstairs is as messy as the hall if not worse. It rivals the state of Weaver Hall. Dr. Stantz throws his extinguished cigarette in a nearby bin before grabbing a paper napkin to wipe his oily hands.

“Egon!”

Dr. Spengler appears from behind a desk, light on his forehead, and invested in organizing a large number of electric cables. “Ray, I found the problem with the Aura-Analyzer–”

He pauses when he sees you, which you can’t say that you did, blinded by the light of his lamp. “Hi,” you say, smiling while protecting your eyes.

“Oh,” he answers, turning it off. “Hello.”

The uneasy silence that follows throws you all the way back to your first meeting as if a month of socializing had suddenly vanished in the span of four tiny weeks.

“Do you have issues with a ghost?” he ends up asking, putting down his torch.

Your eyes widen in surprise, unsure of how to react. Dr. Stantz, however, lets out a strong laugh so you chuckle awkwardly to echo him. “No, no ghost.”

“It’s crazy that you came in today,” Dr. Stantz says, throwing away the dirtied napkins. “We have to improve the storage facility and we need to be able to boost the grid while saving as much power–”

As he speaks, he disappears behind a wall, the sound of running water overlapping his words. You stay silent, watching Dr. Spengler rearrange electric cables until his friend emerges from the bathroom, clean-faced.

“But anyway, Spengs can give you the big tour,” he declares, grinning. “I have a check-up to do at Tai Hong Lau! If we’re lucky, I’ll come back with dinner as well.”

This time, he gives you a clap on the shoulder before running to the stairs but turning back at the last minute. “You’re staying to eat with us right? The owner has the best Peking duck in town, I’m sure you’ll love it! See you later!”

And then he’s gone, leaving you alone with Dr. Spengler. The distance separating you makes the room feels even bigger. You clear your throat. “I see you were able to create your ghost trap after all.”

He nods. “The day we were… dismissed, we managed to have enough readings on our first supernatural encounter to finalize the prototype.”

“Incredible,” you praise before realizing how uncaring you might sound. “I mean, I’m sorry about the whole Dean Yaeger situation.”

Dr. Spengler shrugs, stepping out of the corner of the room he crammed himself in. “There’s nothing you could have done to change the outcome.”

You decide not to comment. There’s a certain tension behind his words that makes you think he might truly have been upset about the situation.

“So, what’s up with the… grid?” you ask, looking at the different types of equipment stacked in the room.

He does sound relieved by the change of subject. “The Containment System is the storage facility we use for paranormal entities. Lately, the growing number of stored entities has put a strain on the main chamber.” As he explains, he searches in a pile of paper, extracting a large sheet. “The simplest course of action would be to enlarge the room but in case of an exponential increase in psychokinetic energy, it wouldn’t be possible to expand indefinitely and I’m not even addressing the energy consumption problem.”

You saunter closer to him. Half of your brain is focused on how easily he slipped back into his rambling habits. Perhaps not all socialization has been lost, you muse delightfully.

“What’s the worst that could happen? An explosion?” you joke, hands on your hips.

There’s a moment of hesitation. You stare at him in disbelief. “Don’t tell me–”

“The system has a high-voltage laser grid.”

You gape at him for a second before clearing your throat. “Uh, you’ll have to tell me more I’m afraid.”

On the table, he puts down what seems to be the blueprint of the storage chamber. You study it from the side.

“PKE bounds together the negatively charged particles composing a ghost. Our two laser grids…“ He ignores your bewildered expression. “…prevent the entities from escaping.”

He continues, “But we’re completely dependent on the city’s power grid.”

“No redundancies?” you ask, starting to see the problem.

He shakes his head. “We had no way to generate our own power supply when we moved in – we still don’t, and we weren’t planning on a strong surge in PKE.” There’s a tremor at the corner of his eye, perhaps from tiredness. “It makes us vulnerable in case of a power outage.”

It all sounds very hazardous. “I’m surprised you still haven’t had Public Services knocking at your door, with you powering high-voltage grids and…” You throw another look at the blueprint. “…a penning trap of this size.”

Dr. Spengler looks up solemnly. “We have been drawing attention.”

That’s one way to put it, you think. “Won’t you also have problems with your… residents in there?”

“It’s complicated to assess the level of ionization inside the chamber,” he explains, lost in his musings. “I do daily samplings to monitor psychokinetic energy but it’s a time-consuming process and as minimum as it is, there’s still a risk of slippage. Stronger entities could attack the grid from the inside, despite the threat of–”

He comes to a sudden stop. “...perhaps I can just show you. If you’re willing to.”

Blinking away the feeling that is suspiciously looking like infatuation, you smile, trying to convey what you hope is a convincing agreement. “Of course.”

Dr. Spengler nods, putting away the scheme of the Containment System as you stare, unable to stop yourself. Funny how history repeats itself, you think, already picturing how you’re going to neglect your work just to hear him talk more. You can’t bring yourself to care the right amount. The concretization of it all – this whole Ghostbusters thing – is exhilarating. It was fascinating when it was mere speculations but now it’s all real. Right here, in an old firehouse in the middle of New York, are new forms of life; new not in age but in terms of discovery. Your work has always been focused on the future, so this is just another step toward it. It’s – funnily enough, all thanks to the past: the dead, the undead and the spiritual.

“Say, Dr. Spengler.” He turns back. “Have you been able to learn more about that psychokinetic energy?”

“Ghost energy can take various forms. I don’t have a clear idea of what it could be yet.” He frowns. “Which makes the improvement of the unit even more complex.”

“If you and Dr. Stantz are ok with the idea,” you say, heart beating faster. “I’d like to study this matter further. Apart from the effect on the valences, there could be laser-nuclei reactions that are worth looking into, as well as interactions between the entities themselves. Perhaps, it’s too soon to theorize about potential ‘ghost particles’ though...”

Dr. Spengler looks pensive for a minute, and you’re afraid he’ll chastity you – gently, but he just walks closer, extending an arm. “I’ll show you the unit, and we can talk about a new schematic.”

The ‘we’ is a heartwarming promise. “Lead the way, Dr. Spengler.”

As you approach the stairs, he has a small smile on his face. “Egon, please.”

You’ll have to tell him about his stuff at your place someday.

#egon spengler x reader #egon spengler #ghostbusters #ghostbusters imagine #ghostbusters reader insert #non binary reader

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