#for whatever reason the image i had in mind for the graffiti wall better fit some sort of chapel rather than a house despite me telling

[vinyls-and-valentines]

CAN YOU TALK MORE ABOUT THE HYPERTHRUST GRAFFITI WALL??!

[Image Description: An ask by @partyrockpoison reading: "Can you go into more detail about the Hyperthrust graffiti wall? It sounds really interesting!" /End Description.]

Okay, so— forgotten lore time:

before deciding Hypethrust was an old skate rink, i used to envision it as a large 2-story house (much like my current version of the Nest) that was abandoned in the process of being remodeled when the Helium War took place.

the "graffiti wall" referred to what was now an exterior wall that spanned vertically across 2 of the houses bedrooms with only a thin ledge separating them. They were on the corner of the house, so you'd just see this slightly roughed up painted-wood-front suburban house with a giant pop of color on the left end full of hundreds of scribbles and symbols and shit— it kicked ass.

everybody would add a tag to the graffiti wall when they first went to Hyperthrust, be it encouraged by their crew or by some of the more regular patrons of the bar— this included Show Pony who was friends with the owners, so they'd sometimes volunteer to help when they were short-staffed.

this was very much away of keeping track who was still around and who'd been ghosted, as most 'joys find their way back by Hyperthrust at least every few months to at least give their tag a new coat of paint or even remake it entirely— after all, a lot of things can happen in that time and paint isn't the only thing that fades under the scorching desert sun.

the owners actually started the wall and then it just steadily grew as did the clientele of the club and the Zones' overall population, to the point where the graffiti wall and the wall with the access points are on either floor got fully covered in paint. At that point, they had no other option than tag the building on the opposite exterior wall (mostly out of killjoy property rules than anything) and mounted a neon sign out front confirming that the building was, in fact, Hyperthrust if you couldn't tell from the way the bass all but threatened to knock it down and the massive guest list plastered over the walls.

there were only 2.5 rules to adding to the wall: don't be as far up your ass as Korse is up his and do a giant tag, don't ever cover someone else's tag if you know they haven't been ghosted (bad luck; slightly overlapping designs are fine as long as they're still legible from a distance), and don't do incredibly generic shit like a cartoony dick or a handprint or anything of the like (this is not kindergarden, we need to know at least vaguely who you are).

also, honorable mention to the crazy fucks who put their tags above the 2nd floor access door because when i say "thin ledge" i mean one person can barely stand on that thing without risking to fall off if they took even a step back.

oh! Also also, since this technically was originally meant for an alternate universe fic where the killjoys just lived in our world, i was also toying with the idea of the wall being like. A large scale version of the graffiti on the mailbox at the time because of the lyrics "This ain't about the friends you've made, but the graffiti they write on your grave". Far more grim! I then proceeded to completely forget about this concept until now

[artificialqueens]

Laws of Motion / Chapter 4 (Trixya) - DenDenMonMon

A/N: 

A lot is going to happen in this chapter, and I mean A LOT.

I would like to formally apologize in advance.

For your attention, thank you.

-Monkey

 AO3 Link

Chapter 4 - White.

Katya liked to keep herself busy. A mind as hyperactive as hers needed a specific task to focus on, otherwise, she would be a burning ball of unrestrainable energy. So, she liked to concentrate her efforts into a series of small chores that, as a whole, would contribute into something bigger. It wasn’t always easy to keep her head in the game. More often than not she had to be railed back on track. Ginger was an expert on doing that, but Ginger wasn’t around anymore. Now, she needed to get herself in check, and it wasn’t easy.

That day, as any other, she went to her yoga class first thing in the morning. That was the beauty of Los Angeles, Angelinos were so concerned about their fitness that it wasn’t hard to find work out classes at, pretty much, any hour of the day.

With her energy channeled for the day, or at least for the next few hours, she drove to her favorite coffee shop. She liked Priscilla’s because it looked like a bookstore more than an actual café. The decorations were earthy and warm, and there were always a lot of dogs. The best part was that it wasn’t right in the middle of the city, with too many people coming and going to allow her to concentrate. The twenty minute drive over the hill was worth the calmness of Toluca Lake.

And she needed calmness today, of all days.

She sat down on a table outside, bringing a coffee cup and a cigarette to her lips, alternately. If she had to die of something, it better be of this insanely satisfying combination.

Files were not supposed to leave the station, everybody knew that, but Katya had taken a few pictures out. The first one was the blown out image of the card they had found at the first crime scene. She knew she had seen that before, just couldn’t remember where. It was right there, in a compartment of her imaginary, but she couldn’t find the right vault. And she pictured herself, running in the hallways of her head, guided by smoke and fueled by caffeine, pulling all the imagery she had saved throughout the years, yet never picking the correct one. It was right there, and she couldn’t get a hold of it.

It was like seeing someone, that Katya knew she had met before, but couldn’t remember their name. Then spending the entire day wondering where she knew them from, coming up with nothing.

The anxiety of the situation kept making her skin crawl. She closed her eyes and tried a few meditation techniques to ease her nerves. It didn’t work very well. That was when the second cigarette came.

She picked up her phone, the white stick still secured between her fingers, and started texting. It was risky, she shouldn’t be doing it, but she didn’t know what else to do.

Another picture Katya had with her was of one of the crime scenes. The girl had her eyes lost in the middle of nowhere, and her mouth was slightly opened. Her skin was pale, since all the blood had been drained from her body. It looked like an image taken out of a scary movie, which intrigued Katya even more. There was something about this particular criminal that she simply couldn’t wrap her mind around.

One of the reasons why she was so good at her job was because she was able to canalize the killer’s instincts. Her coworkers would joke about Katya having the mind of a killer, but not the guts to actually do it. They were probably right. She could usually feel it in her bones. She could feel the motive behind the actions, the rush of the preparation, the satisfaction of actually doing it; in a weird way she was familiar with all of those. Nonetheless, her mind was empty when dealing with The Puppeteer. It was an unnerving feeling that she had never experienced before, and she didn’t like it at all.

Her phone was silent until the butt of the third cigarette found the ashtray. The affirmation had come. It was time to get things moving.

The message she sent Trixie was very vague. Trixie read it many times, even showed it to Jasmine, to see if they could figure it out together. From what they gathered, Katya was picking Trixie up that night, she needed to be wearing civilian clothes because they were going to some sort of party. All of that also meant they wouldn’t see her at the precinct all day. Trixie wanted to be mad, she knew Katya was extremely talented. Trixie had never met anyone as smart as Katya before, never. Yet, Trixie felt she was the only one really working the case while Katya was out and about, taking a day off to herself.

Jasmine, in her very understanding nature, told her to give Katya a chance. She always knew what she was doing. Trixie was advised to trust whatever Katya had in mind, that it could be a little out there, but it would surely get the job done.

Violet chimed in, and with a dry tone she told Trixie not to judge Katya’s process. It hadn’t been a request.

So, that was what Trixie did. In the early evening, she waited for Katya at the back of the building, as she had asked, wearing a short dress, white denim jacket and white go-go boots. Her makeup was exaggeratedly done, making her look more beautiful than ever.

“Hello, Barbie doll,” Katya greeted her as she pulled up next to her.

Trixie rolled her eyes and got in the passenger seat. “This better be good.”

They drove for a few minutes. The sun was still shining, even when the clock was about to hit seven in the evening. The sun rays hit their faces as they moved down Laurel Canyon. Trixie was still sulking in her seat, after having to work alone all day. Katya was unbothered, singing to every single song that came up on the radio. Her voice was loud, and incredibly off key. She changed the words constantly. Trixie could never get behind such crude bathroom humor, but Katya seemed to love singing about taking dumps in inappropriate places.

It was hard to keep up with the made up lyrics, especially when Trixie needed to pay attention to the road for both of them. The path was narrow and the turns were too close together. Katya behind the wheel was already dangerous by itself, having her distracted by the radio in such delicate road, felt more than Trixie could take.

They were about to reach Hollywood Boulevard, the residential side, not the one with the big neon lights and tourists filling the streets, when Katya took a turn and stopped the car in an alley. The walls around them were covered in beautiful graffiti. Trixie got lost in the eyes of a gorgeous fairy before she realized they had parked.

“Did I ever tell you…” Katya stopped, flickering her lighter a couple of times before she could light up her cigarette. “Did I ever tell you why I became a cop?”

Trixie shook her head. They both knew she hadn’t.

Katya blew the smoke out the window before returning her attention to her. “I had an amazing childhood. My parents were the most supportive. They never censored anything, not the music we listened to, nor the TV shows or movies that we watched. Picture the most perfect environment for a kid to grow, and I still managed to screw things up.”

It was like a vision. The sun was setting behind them, the smoke leaving Katya’s mouth was enchanting, and the serious tone of her voice was freaking Trixie out. She didn’t say anything, though, she allowed her to continue.

“I love drugs,” Katya said with a groan. “I fucking love drugs, Trixie. Every drug under the sun, you name it, I’ve done it. They are the best thing that has ever happened to me. They also almost got me killed,” she ended her sentence very matter-of-factly, which was a complete contrast to Trixie’s shocked expression.

“Oh, wow,” was all Trixie could let out.

Katya shrugged her shoulders. “Almost, that’s the keyword here. That was a really long time ago. I’m all good now. All clean.” She took what looked like a coin from the cupholder, toyed with it for a bit and put it back.

Trixie had enough knowledge to recognize it was an anniversary chip from AA.

“I went to rehab,” Katya confirmed Trixie’s silent assumptions. “Got my shit together… well, as together as I could.” She laughed dryly at her own words. “And then decided to fix my wrong doing by helping others, so I became a detective. Call it a Step Nine taken too far.”

All that information was taking a moment for Trixie to absorb, but she nodded her head. Maybe the full depth of the situation wasn’t really something she could understand, but she wanted to let Katya know that she was there for her.

“Now, about tonight. I had to make some phone calls,” Katya continued. “Reconnect with people from my past. We are about to meet them now, and they may say things about me.”

Trixie felt her eyes widening with each word that left Katya’s mouth. “Are you going to use again? Because, Katya, no case is worth your–”

As cute as this protective version of Trixie was, Katya had to interrupt her. “No, don’t worry, I won’t. There may be people using, though, and we can’t arrest them. They can’t know we are cops. My contact is already waiting for me, it should be a clean in and out situation. I just…” There was a pause, Katya tried to find the right words to describe what she was thinking. “I don’t know, I guess I just didn’t want you to hear it from someone else. I don’t know.”

“I get it. You are fine.”

They shared a smile, an air of comprehension filled the space between them. The engine was brought back to life, and Trixie pressed a reassuring hand on Katya’s thigh as they drove away.

It was only a few blocks before Katya stopped the car again. Apparently, there was nobody on the street. They stayed there in silence for a moment. The car was idling and it was getting dark around them. Trixie knew better than to ask any questions, even when she was growing nervous by the minute.

Suddenly, a figure emerged from the shadows. Trixie didn’t know if the girl had been there the whole time, hiding on the left side of the building, but she was now making her way to them. The girl was short and her hair was long. She stomped her feet hard against the pavement as she walked around the car and leaned into Katya’s window.

“Hola, Mami,” the girl addressed Katya with a side smile. “I ain’t see you around here for a while.”

Katya, playing the role, moved a hand to run up and down the girl’s arm. “Hi, mija.” Katya returned the smile. Her fingers getting covered in glitter, transferred from the girl’s skin. “Soon, baby,” she promised. “Right now I’m looking for la güera. Is she around?”

The girl’s face fell immediately. With a tiny role of her eyes, she pushed herself back, yelling a name that Trixie wasn’t able to catch. “You and I used to have so much fun. What happened, baby? Now you only go for flaquitas y güeritas, eh?” The girl pushed her chin towards Trixie.

She didn’t know any Spanish, but Trixie was pretty sure she had just been insulted.

“Nada de eso, mamá. You know you will always be my favorite.”

Just then, the car door opened, and a girl got, not so gracefully, into the backseat.

“Beat it, Vanjie. These are my bitches now.”

The girl stepped aside, her mocha-colored skin shining under the streetlamp. And Katya drove away. Silence once again reigned during the ride. The only occasional noise came from the girl in the backseat, who loudly chewed gum with her mouth opened.

Katya then pulled into a motel. In some kind of drive-through arrangement, she requested a room. The window to the cashier was covered in tinted glass, preventing them from seeing their face. It actually made things a lot easier. They were given a room number and they found their gate right away. It had some sort of garage, the metallic door closed automatically behind them when the car went in.

They got out of the car and nobody said a word still. Trixie only followed them up the small staircase that led to their room. Going behind them also gave her the chance to look at the girl, to really look at her. Her makeup was applied perfectly, Trixie could recognize that right away. She was extremely beautiful, with long blonde hair and legs that seem interminable underneath her tiny skirt. She had a white tank top with chinese lettering on the front.

As soon as Katya heard the front door getting closed, she couldn’t take it anymore. She jumped in excitement and hugged her friend tight to her body. They hadn’t seen each other in so long, which was a good thing, because it only meant that none of them had gotten into trouble.

“I missed you so much,” Katya whispered into the blonde curls.

“I couldn’t believe you had called me. How are you? Are you okay? Can we trust her?”

Something suddenly clicked in Katya’s head. “Oh, God. Shit. Sorry. This is Trixie, my new partner. Trixie, this is Willam, he… well, she– wait, which one is it?”

“You are a man?!” Trixie looked surprised, to say the least.

Katya couldn’t help but laugh at her. She knew Trixie meant no disrespect, and Willam did too, who simply continued to chew on the same piece of gum.

“What? Didn’t you know? Some women have dicks these days,” Willam said so chilled, so casually, that it only elicited another round of laughter from Katya. “And I don’t mind. Either is fine.”

“Oh, bitch, you are a woman.” Right then, Trixie seemed to realize what she had done, she physically shook her head, trying to land back into the conversion. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude,” she said walking to Willam, extending her hand to greet her. “It’s just that… oh, my God. You are really pretty.”

Willam shook her hand, and played with her own hair with the other. “I know. I have a mirror at home.”

Katya let out a wheezing laugh from behind them. “Glad to know the undercover work hasn’t changed your nasty ass.” Katya chuckled before taking a somber tone. “How is that going, by the way?”

Willam got on the bed, bouncing a couple of times before crossing her legs. “It’s hard. You know, nobody wants to trust you when you are this beautiful and give better head.” She kept playing with her hair while Katya laughed at her words yet again. “Yeah, no, I’m getting places,” she finally spoke seriously. “This goes way deeper than we thought, Kats.”

“Oh, shit,” Katya said genuinely concerned.

She took a seat next to her friend. She could only imagine all the things that Willam had gone through these last few months. The undercover mission was only supposed to last a few weeks. Willam was meant to collect intel among a group of trans-girls being forced to do sex work, and then come back to do her regular job. Nobody had planned for the small case to turn into such a big deal. Katya wasn’t nervous about Willam, she could take care of herself, she just hoped she could do more to help her.

“I was following one lead, one, but it’s a full net,” Willam offered. “There are so many more branches, though. I’m gonna need more time.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure. That’s not what we are here for,” Katya assured her. “You are still on the case. I just need your help to identify something. The Puppeteer is back.”

Willam’s jaw fell open. “What?”

Katya turned to Trixie, who had been extremely quiet the whole time. In a way, Katya was grateful for the private moment she had just gotten with her friend, but they needed to get to work. She didn’t want to risk Willam’s status by keeping her for too long.

Trixie got the hint. She took the card out of her purse, still wrapped in the evidence bag. “We found this in four of the seven murders. We don’t know what it is. It has no name or address or phone number, just these stupid white lines forming a rose.”

Willam took the plastic bag in her hand, moved it around to get a better view of the piece of paper, recognition filled her features right away. “Oh, this is Luzon’s brothel.”

“You know what this is?” Katya asked, her voice filled with hope.

“Yeah, you see these lines here.” She pointed to the middle of the flower. “That’s the letter M, for Manila, Manila Luzon. Everybody knows who she is, and if you don’t then you probably can’t afford her. That’s why there’s no info on the card. She’s an eccentric bitch.”

Trixie looked at her with confusion. “What do you mean eccentric?”

“She has a dungeon, a classroom for role play, and things like that. Her girls are super talented, she hires only the best ones.”

“Do you know where we can find her?”

They got all the information about the place from Willam and, a few minutes later, they were dropping her off at her corner. Katya made sure to yell obscenities as Willam got out of the car, promising to come back and do more indecencies next week while they drove away.

It didn’t take them long to reach the brothel.

Trixie double checked the address once Katya was finally able to parallel park. She kept mumbling something about women’s brains, saying they didn’t develop the parts that calculated distance and space as much as men.

“If you think about it,” she continued, even when Trixie wasn’t paying attention. “It’s not at all misogynistic when people say women can’t drive, it’s a scientific fact. We can’t. We can do a lot of other things better than men, but driving, oh, Momma…” The tone of her voice changed when she looked up at Trixie. “And you are not paying attention.”

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Trixie asked, not even pretending she was listening to Katya.

They stood in front of an old building, but yet again, every building downtown was old. All the lights seemed to be off, and no sound came from the inside. Both looked up, spotting the large windows that didn’t indicate any movement happening on the other side of the glass. It had all the telltale signs of an abandoned building, and there they were, pulling the stained glass door to walk in.

A light bulb blinked above their heads, providing soft, intermittent lighting to the entry hallway. At the end of the corridor, an elevator waited for them.

Katya was the first one to walk inside the small cubicle. “If Willam sent us here to get killed, I swear to God…”

“Look!” Trixie pointed at the buttons of the elevator, successfully stopping Katya on her planning of bloody revenge. “It’s the same rose.”

The intricate design they had found on the cards replaced the number of the last button of the row. Trixie pressed it and they allowed the metallic box to take them to the top floor.

It would’ve been a good idea to come up with a strategy on their way up. Yet, they didn’t. Even if they had, though, they couldn’t possibly be prepared for what encountered them once the door slid open. Everything looked immaculate, upscale, expensive. A complete opposite to the first floor that had received them. The flashy furniture somehow made sense, as if it was meant to be put together. Even the blonde behind the tall desk belonged there just fine.

“Hello, welcome to Madam Luzon’s House of Pleasure. How can we take care of you tonight?”

Katya read the tag on the receptionist’s chest. Detox. Katya hardly doubted that was her real name, but it fitted her perfectly. Her lips were big, and there wasn’t a single wrinkle on her face. The tight dress showed off her perfectly sculpted body, if not by the gods themselves, by a group of doctors throughout many years. The face and body could be fake, but there was something very real about her smile. The contrast was verging on funny. The name Detox definitely suited her.

“Hello, sweetheart.” Katya flashed her a smile as she folded her arms on top of the desk. “We are here to gather some information.” She put as much effort as she could to make her voice somewhat alluring.

Detox giggled. Maybe it worked, maybe it was her job to respond like that to clients; but Katya felt proud of herself.

“Of course! Are you two pretty ladies looking to be a part of our team, or simply join the club?”

“What’s the difference?” Trixie asked.

Katya made yet another mental note, she had to talk Trixie into being more approachable. Half of the job was making people feel comfortable when talking to them. That entailed a lot of flexing the tone of their voices, and the ability to sound open and friendly, attributes that Trixie seemed to live without.

In an attempt to save the moment, Katya laughed exaggeratedly. “This beautiful lady is assuming we are hot enough to work here,” she spoke directly to Trixie before returning her attention to the receptionist. “Actually, we were hoping you could help us with something.” She fumbled with her phone for a moment before pulling up the picture that she needed, it was of the latest victim before being attacked. “Have you seen her? Has this girl worked here?”

Detox shook her head right away. “Nope. Why? Is she missing or are you trying to arrest her?”

She was very relaxed. Detox had by then understood that they were cops, that they were there to do an actual investigation, and she seemed unfazed. Katya was having a hard time reading her. Any person working at a place that literally had the words ‘House of Pleasure’ in the name, would be shaking in their boots in the presence of the police. She must have gotten good training on how to dissuade any law enforcer from what they actually did, or the paperwork was made up in such a way that they wouldn’t be able to prove what really went down there. Katya didn’t care, not really, not right now. She wasn’t there to shut down a sex house, she had a murderer to catch.

“Neither, actually.” It looked like Trixie had gotten the hint, her voice sounded just a little bit softer. “Is she a member of the club?” A head shake answered her question. “Is there anybody else we can ask about her?”

Detox’s perfect customer service smile shone brightly. “Sure. Please, excuse me for a minute.”

Trixie and Katya looked at each other as the girl went through a door on the side. Katya wanted to tell Trixie to relax, to keep her chill, and act normal. She wanted to let Trixie know that they were there to support each other; that they were going to get in there, get as much information as they could and go from there. She didn’t have to. After a few seconds of holding her stare, Trixie nodded. She understood.

“Madam Luzon will see you now,” Detox spoke a few feet from them, holding the door open so they could walk in.

Frantic music received them as soon as they entered the big office. In the corner, who they could only guess was Madam Luzon, rapidly moved a brush against a large canvas. She wore what seemed to be plastic cover in the form of a puffy dress. A white streak of hair bounced at the top of her head when she looked down to her paint palette. The strokes were long and thin as she moved to the rhythm of the quick tempo. She changed colors a couple of times, but didn’t stop until the music came to a dramatic end. That was when she finally turned around to face them, a wide smile on her face.

“Hello! Welcome. How can I take care of you tonight?”

She put the brush down and took a towel. She wiped her hands but all the stains remained on her skin, leaving her with big freckles of different colors.

“Hi. Thank you. We were hoping you could help us.” Katya took a step forward, her extended hand holding the phone in front of her. “Have you seen this girl before?”

Madam Luzon squinted her eyes, clearly pretending to take a better look of the image. “I don’t think I have, no. Is she in any trouble?”

“Not really.” Trixie shrugged nonchalantly. “Dead sure could be considered kinda troublesome, I guess. Very inconvenient, for sure.”

“Oh, geez.” Madam Luzon pressed a hand to her chest. “Poor girl, and so young. She had her whole life ahead of her.”

Katya wasn’t buying the performance, not for one second, but she decided to go along with it. She wanted to see how far this could go.

“We found your card at her place. Any idea how it got there?”

A hand was waved to dismiss Katya’s question. “If the kid was talented, I may have offered her a spot here at some point. I only hire the very best. She probably didn’t make the cut because, sadly, I don’t think I remember her.” The phone rang besides her, giving her enough excuse to end the meeting. “Why don’t you give Detox your phone number, I’ll let you know if we remember anything else. Or, I don’t know, maybe we could talk business.”

The conversation ended with a wink as she placed the phone to her ear.

Walking out of the office felt like a defeat. They had gone in there with such hopes and came out with nothing. Katya still didn’t trust the crazy painter, whose eyes got crossed when looking at the phone. There was something off about her, but Katya couldn’t identify what it was. The last thing she needed was something else to nag at the back of the head. Her anxiety was already through the roof as it was.

Just like they were told, Katya provided her phone number to Detox, who wrote everything down in the computer.

“She offered you a job, didn’t she?” The receptionist asked, leaning forward on the tall desk in conspiracy. “You know, you and I could easily do some sister act. I wouldn’t mind getting freaky with you.”

Katya laughed. “Oh, believe me, I wouldn’t either. Maybe some other time?”

The smile thrown her way seemed to be enough for Detox, who then lifted her eyebrows in Trixie’s direction. “What about you? We have a beautiful doll house that would be perfect for you.”

Lacking Katya’s everflowing seductive skills, Trixie simply shook her head. “Right now, I’m just a little busy with the whole catching killers and all, maybe next time.”

“Ah, maybe next time,” Detox repeated. “You will come around for sure. Nobody says no to Manila Luzon.”

They thanked the girl for her time and left the building, Katya offered to dropped Trixie at her place, claiming she was pretty sure she remembered the way. Almost. If anything, Trixie could guide her around, but she didn’t. As soon as they got in the car, Trixie focused her sole attention on her phone, leaving Katya to figure out the directions by herself.

Loud music came from the device. Katya tried to see what was playing on the phone but, every time she looked at Trixie, she encountered a long curtain of hair blocking her view. Trixie would make disapproving noises before closing a video and opening a new one. The scene was repeated a couple of times before Katya finally decided to ask.

“You really do hate when people have fun, huh?” She directed her attention to the passenger seat for a second, enough to see Trixie’s Instagram getting closed.

“It’s just my roommate, Kim,” she answered, putting the phone back in her purse. “She has people over and I don’t feel like dealing with them.”

“Why? Don’t you like them?” Katya asked without looking at her, her eyes set on the road in front of her.

Trixie scuffed softly. “I do, sorta. I mean, who doesn’t like to hang with beautiful fashion models that make you feel insecure as shit?”

Katya fully looked at her. “Oh, you are not being serious. Trixie, you are, like, one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen in my life.”

With the corner of her eye she saw how Trixie shrugged, disregarding the topic. It wasn’t a typical sight. She hadn’t known Trixie for long, but she did know how much she liked her body. She was proud of her curves and knew exactly what to wear to highlight them. Her makeup abilities were something beyond Katya’s comprehension. She simply couldn’t understand how someone could literally transform the topography of her face just with brushes and beauty products. The most important part was, Trixie knew she was beautiful. More than once Katya had heard her replying with an ‘I know’ when someone complimented how good she looked.

“You know?” Katya suddenly found herself asking. “It’s still kinda early, and my apartment is not far from here. It’s a bit of a mess, but at least it’s not filled with your friend’s friends. Wanna crash for a bit? At least until you know the coast is clear.”

Surprisingly, Trixie agreed and allowed Katya to drive them to her place.

Her apartment was small, and disorganized. Katya made sure to let Trixie know that as they walked up the stairs. She had been living there for a long time and was constantly moving the furniture from its place. Just to see how things would look, but usually gave up halfway through. That was the reason why, when they walked in, Trixe spotted a recliner in the kitchen, and the dining table sat right between the TV and the couch.

One thing that Trixie did find fascinating, was the type of art that adorned the walls. It was weird, bizarre even, but all the uncommon pieces somehow managed to perfectly represent Katya. There was even a series of pictures hanging on a thread from wall to wall, they were all famous paintings that had Katya’s face photoshopped into them. They were odd, and strange, and completely Katya.

“Sorry for the mess,” Katya apologized as she ran around the living room, picking up clothes that were spread around. “I don’t usually have visitors.” She carelessly threw everything in what seemed to be a closet and came back, her hands clapping nervously. “Do you want some coffee?”

Trixie had to chuckle. “If I drink coffee now I won’t be able to sleep at all.”

Katya brought her hand to rub at the back of her neck. “Right. Right. Well, I have tea as well. I think.”

“Really, I’m fine, thank you.”

They walked to the living room and sat on each end of the couch. There was silence for a moment, it wasn’t uncomfortable, it wasn’t tense, but Trixie felt like suffocating. There was something pressing on her chest, preventing her lungs from expanding properly, and she knew the only way to breathe again would be to talk. Since earlier that night, when Katya had opened up about her life, Trixie felt the need to do the same, but it was very unlike her. She could joke about her rough life all day long, but really talking about it wasn’t easy for her.

With a deep sigh, she prepared herself to let it out. She could only hope Katya would understand and appreciate what a huge step this was.

“Wanna–” A small cough cut her off, but she was determined to continue. “Wanna know why I entered the force?”

Katya nodded enthusiastically. “Always.”

“I’m from the deep country. I’m talking cows, and outhouses, and an hour drive just to reach the nearest McDonald’s. I never met my dad, he bailed before I was even born. For a while, it was okay, but Mamma couldn’t really put bread on the table. So she married this guy who - he was okay, I guess, at first. He was a good provider. Then my sister was born and things turned ugly. Suddenly, I wasn’t his kid anymore, so he refused to treat me as such. He was drunk all the time, but, like, all the fucking time.”

Her eyes closed as she pronounced those last words, memories of how things used to be filled her head.

“He started hitting me, because I would misbehave; then my mom, ‘cause she couldn’t keep me in check. I couldn’t stand it. And there was nothing I could do. Standing up to him only meant making things worse. I got out as soon as I could, but I couldn’t help my mom. She had to wait until the bastard died of alcohol poisoning to be free. I don’t wish that on anybody. If I couldn’t help her, at least I can help others.”

All the words poured out of her at once, fearing that if she even took a second too long to pull air in, she would lose the courage to keep going. Katya didn’t say a thing, her mouth opened and her eyes had stopped blinking.

“Trixie, I–” she started.

“Don’t,” Trixie interrupted her. “You don’t have to say anything.”

“No, no, I want to.”

In a fast move, Katya was right in front of her. A soft hand landed on Trixie’s cheek and that was when she realized she was crying. Katya’s touch was delicate, Trixie couldn’t help but close her eyes and leaned into the warmth of Katya’s palm.

“You are so brave,” Katya said, forcing Trixie to open her eyes. “Not a lot of people have it in them to get out of shitty situations. Hell, even I love to go even deeper into my shit. But you… you are such an amazing woman. You are strong and smart and-and funny and I am so fucking proud of you. Knowing that you went through all of that only makes you even more of a badass, if you ask me.”

Trixie laughed tearily. “I wasn’t asking, really.”

A light chuckle left Katya’s lips but she didn’t say anything back. She simply kept rubbing soft circles on Trixie’s cheek with her thumb. The makeup was probably going to be ruined, if not by the touch, from all the crying, but Trixie didn’t really care at this point.

“That’s why this case became such a big deal, I guess.” Trixie hadn’t even considered it until the thought left her lips. “That could’ve been me, you know? One wrong decision and I could’ve ended up like those girls.” An abrupt sob cut through her throat and, before she knew it, she was crying uncontrollably in Katya’s arms.

It could have been a few minutes, it could have been hours, days even. Trixie felt like she had cried every emotion she held inside her. It was a freeing feeling. Soon, she was able to pull air back in without choking.

When she noticed Trixie was breathing normally, Katya pulled away a little to look into her eyes. “You feeling better?” A small nod answered her question. “You are not those girls, okay? And he’s not going to be on the loose for long. We are going to catch this guy.”

Trixie looked at her with big, pleading eyes. Her face had softened to a point that Katya couldn’t stop herself.

“Can I… just… I need to…”

She didn’t have to ask for permission, not really, because as she started to lean forward, Trixie closed her eyes. Katya kissed her right eye, tasting salt and glitter.

“We are gonna catch him,” she promised before moving to the left eye. “I’m gonna do it…” There was a kiss on the nose. “For you.” And then their lips found each other.

The kiss was slow and cautious. Lips smoothly wrapped around each other. They right away initiated a rhythm that allowed their movements and breathing to balance out perfectly. As their mouths explored one another, hands started to roam across their bodies. Trixie placed her hand on Katya’s nape, pulling her closer. Katya had a hand lost between the curls of Trixie’s hair, and the other one rested on Trixie’s thigh.

It was intimate, it was soft, and it was getting hotter by the minute.

It took one quick move for Katya to be sitting on Trixie’s lap. Each of her legs straddled Trixie’s as the kissing became deeper and deeper. Trixie’s hands found their way to Katya’s ass, and she pushed her slightly, starting a rocking motion. Katya didn’t complain, the complete opposite, she liked how Trixie was taking the lead. The feeling of Trixie’s hands kneading her flesh, mixed with the slow movement of her hips, had her already turned on beyond herself.

Katya quickened the pace. She lifted her hips and her hands went down to pull up her own skirt. She needed as much contact as possible. Their lips parted, giving room for moans and whimpers to fly freely. Among the noises of building pleasure filling the apartment, a cell phone brought everything to a halt.

Trying to catch her breath, Katya pressed her forehead against Trixie’s. Their stares met. Katya gave her a moment, trying to figure out if the interruption was enough to break the charm, and make Trixie regret what they were doing.

“Yours or mine?” Katya asked with a side smile.

“Mine is right here,” Trixie said, tapping her pocket before stealing a quick kiss.

With a grunt, Katya stood up and followed the sound to the front door, where she had dropped her purse when they walked in. The screen was still lit when she pulled it out, but the device wasn’t ringing anymore. Ginger’s nickname appeared under the label of missed calls. She stared at it for a moment, pondering what to do. If it had been an emergency, the phone would have rang again by now, or at least that was the excuse Katya gave herself to not return the call. Ginger probably just wanted to catch up. Katya missed her friend, but she had a turned on goddess on her couch. The dilemma answered itself.

Katya sent a quick message indicating she couldn’t talk at the moment, with the promise to ring Ginger in the morning. She stuffed the phone back into her purse and practically ran back to the living room. The short period was enough for her to find it empty. She looked around frantically, but Trixie was nowhere to be found. She couldn’t have left, she was right there just a moment ago, and Katya had been standing by the front door.

A muffled sound came from the bedroom, Katya made her way there and found Trixie. She had thrown to the floor all the crap that Katya had left on the bed, and was already pulling her dress above her head.

No more time was lost. They helped each other out of their clothes and stumbled on the bed. They continued to kiss as fingers rolled nipples and nails scratched backs. It was primitive, it was urgent, it was extremely hot. Katya could feel every inch of her skin burning in desire, and the flames would quench only by the touch of Trixie’s hands.

Katya’s back landed on the mattress, Trixie lied on top of her, settled between her opened legs. She took a nipple between her teeth and Katya’s back arched to the touch. It was worlds apart from the first time they had done it. Trixie was running her tongue on Katya’s breasts, giving both equal amount of attention.

“Thank you,” Trixie spoke against her skin. “Thank you for understanding.” Her head then moved up, facing Katya completely. “Thank you for being such an amazing partner.”

“It’s my absolute pleasure, Barbie doll.”

She held Trixie’s face in her hands, making sure she didn’t lose eye contact as their hips started to move again. They started pressing against each other, rubbing their more intimate areas with fervor. Katya knew it was physically impossible, but the position made her feel as if Trixie were actually thrusting hard inside of her. With every push of Trixie’s hips against hers, Katya’s walls clenched around nothing.

They moved faster and faster, the rhythm becoming erratic as each of them got closer to their own orgasm.

It took one of Trixie’s high pitched moans to send Katya over the edge. She saw white flashes in front of her eyes as waves of earth-shattering pleasure hit her relentlessly. In the high of her ecstasy was that everything suddenly became clear.

“Oh, my God. I know who did it!”

[composereggwrites]

Games of Life (and Death): Mural

Fandom: Twewy

Rating: G

Characters: Joshua, Neku, Hanekoma

Additional: Fluff, birthdays.

AO3 or below!

(Come hang out in my TWEWY discord!)

Hiding your activities from the god of Shibuya is hard.

It’s worse when what you’re doing influences the city itself.

Neku lets out a deep sigh as he puts the finishing touches on the project not a moment too soon, sending a silent thank you to Hanekoma once again, for doing… whatever it is he did that blocked this from Joshua’s view.

He pulls out his phone and sends Josh a text. ^You’d better not be busy today, Josh, because we’re hanging out.^

^I’m at WildKat right now, but I don’t have any plans. What do you have in mind?^

^I’ll be there soon. It’s a surprise.^

^Oh, mysterious :D. Celebrating Xmas a day early?^

^Something like that.^

Neku snaps his phone shut and heads over. The paint stains on his clothes are questionable, but also not out of the ordinary. It’s a short walk, he makes it in 5 minutes, feet tracing a well-worn familiar path. The bell chimes when he enters.

Joshua is seated at the counter, and he’s throwing toothpicks at Hanekoma when Neku walks in. There’s several littering the room, and Hanekoma bats the one coming at him away with his power, where it flies and hits a wall.

“Why are you like this?” he sighs.

Josh spins around in his chair, and lights up with a grin. “Because, dear, who would I be if not for my annoying antics?”

A glance to the side tells him all he needs to know, and Neku ducks. Toothpicks go flying over his head a second later. “Keep doing that and I won’t show you the surprise I have in store.”

He gets a pout in return. “Aw, so rude,” he says, sliding off the stool to stand. “What is it?”

“It’s a surprise for a reason, dude. I’ve got it kept somewhere special, so I’ll have to take you there and show you!”

“Fine, lead the way.”

Neku holds out a hand, and Josh takes it. He gives a wave to Hanekoma as they leave, and Hanekoma winks in reply when Josh isn’t looking.

“Have fun you two!”

“You don’t get to tell me what to do, dad!” Josh calls back.

He laughs, pulling Josh out of the store before these two can get into a full-blown argument.

“So, how far do we have to go until we’re at your hiding place?” Josh asks.

“Not far, it’s just at the Miyashita underpass.”

“Neku, are you sure this is right? I’m just looking at a wall here,” Josh says.

A blank wall, in fact. Not a trace of graffiti, which is odd. Shibuya is home to wall art, sprawling designs everywhere they can fit in, claiming space and bringing color and Imagination to the city. Bright bursts anywhere they can cling to life.

He encourages it too, wants his city to hold the mark of brilliant artists, creators sharing their own internal world by painting it for everyone to see. Of course, he gets to be picky about what stays, what he allows, but the artists he like have claimed their space, made their marks, once they’ve learned that their art sticks.

So a wall like this? A blank canvas, so drained of life? It’s untapped potential, one he yearns to be filled.

“Just wait a moment will ya?” Neku says with a laugh. ”Do you know how hard it is to hide stuff from you? I had to enlist Mr. Hanekoma’s help, otherwise you would’ve caught on the second I started doing anything.”

“Why would you need to hide something from--” his voice stops in his throat as an image appears before him.

A figure stands above Hachiko in the center, white and wispy, tall, with piercing violet eyes judging the people who pass by. Intricate, detailed wings span the wall, reaching out, tips brushing against the ground. Feathers curl through the air, and spirals of musical staves wind around the outside of the image, notes dancing to the tune of Shibuya. He recognizes that tune, knows it in his Soul.

Figures gather around the statue, smudges compared to the being standing above. A spot of purple, of yellow hair, green and pink, orange.

There’s a cityscape under the wings, the skyline of Shibuya. Stars dance above the skyscrapers in the shadow cast by his wings, like shed feathers, bright and brilliant, but not outshining him. They curl around the city, the scene, protecting what is his.

It strikes him to his core, a hand rising up to cover his mouth as all thoughts flee him.

There's a soft smile, almost hidden, on the Composer’s lips in the image. Proud of his city, his people.

He can only stare, filled with storming emotions crashing against his too-small body. He can't contain it, and tears leak out of his eyes, droplets of the hurricane within.

“Sooo… do you like it?” Neku asks, staring at him with hesitant worry etched into his face.

“I… I love it. It's beautiful, stunning. How long have you been working on this?” he whispers, voice brimming with awe.

“I've had this planned for a while now. Happy birthday, Joshua.”

[spotlightsaga]

Kevin Cage of @spotlightsaga reviews... Legion (S01E03) Chapter 3 Airdate: February 22, 2017 @fxnetworks Ratings: 1.043 Million :: 0.49 18-49 Demo Share Score: 8.75/10 **********SPOILERS BELOW********** 'Legion' requires a certain state of mind to take in what the show is putting out... 'Chapter 3' in particular is just pure chaos, but in this case, contained chaos, for the most part anyways. I've watched the episode twice now because I feel to properly review, I must also breakdown and deconstruct the story piece by piece to truly understand just what the hell is happening. Melanie gets advice and listens to old proverbs from a cappuccino machine that her husbands voice is inhabiting... It sounds as if he's trying to warn her that everything is not what it seems or what you need it to be. Whatever they mean she just enjoys his company, which is shown through her pouring out the cup of coffee she had barely sipped from and asking for another cup... This is what I took from it anyway. I had to watch several of the scenes repeatedly to get a good grasp of what was really happening. In and out of the dream work, this world is bizarre and abstract, which can make watching 'Legion' both an absolute blast, as well as incredibly frustrating. If 'Legion' itself was a polygraph the needle would break from scribbling from one end to the other with such ferocity. I imagine that's exactly what it's like for David to just exist, awake or asleep, just one piece of a puzzle after another, some of the pieces belonging to separate puzzles, but all the of the puzzles form a picture that he can't make out... But promise a bigger picture. Yeah, even explaining it is strange... But to interpret something so far out of the box, you have to think out of the box. I like that 'Legion' challenges my mind, I just have to put of my seatbelt and helmet before I press play. In 'Chapter 3' Melanie and Ptonomy continue their 'Dream Work' with David. They attempt to go slow, and immediately discover that David's powers reach beyond what they had originally thought when they see him in a pure state of emotional distress bursting the entire contents of a kitchen wide open through kinetic energy after a fight with Philly when she discovers both him & Lenny out of their heads from the 'blue dragon/mist'. There's a bit of a disturbance, evil laughter, and the evil face that many speculate is Mojo and David is spooked (and apparently only he can see and hear this), they decide to go back and start over but Ptonomy is stuck... He can't bring them back. Suddenly they are transported out of the memory cube, through several thick walls, 600 yards away, which freaks out Ptonomy. He asks David, "What are you?" Little does he know, David isn't the issue. Its almost comforting that the show goes from a frazzled state to a calm, serene scene that David shares with Syd. We as audience members need a bit of time to decompress, the show can get so intense so quickly that we need proper time to process it. Here we have David talking about how ever since Syd inhabited his body and switched with him, he still feels as if he has long hair and goes to brush it away, his balance is effected, and even admits to touching himself while he was her. It all sounds creepy, but she listens the mood with a joke that she jerked off... Then admits she's just joking. She clearly has no hang ups about the body switching and even admits to switching bodies with others; A Chinese man, a 300-lb woman, a 5-year old girl... "But wherever I go, I'm me." She delivers the line with such a calm assurance. She's at peace with her powers, it's advantages and disadvantages, and somehow that makes the scene even more calming, surreal, almost dreamlike. The tests continue with Loudermilk... This time monitoring his brain waves and hormone levels. Telling David to think about the most stressful moment in his life is probably not the best direction to give the man. We're transported to Halloween, when David was a young boy, which turns into a narration of the faceless man telling him the terrifying bedtime story. Can I pls get a hit that 'Blue Dragon' stuff? I need it just rehashing this insanity. The voice gets deeper and more menacing and Young David stumbles onto a graffitied being on a wall that looks like an angry version of Moral Orel. What in the fuck? David snaps back into reality as Angry Moral Orel makes a b-line towards him. Loudermilk asks if everything is ok, Lenny appears on a rolling chair. Clearly things are NOT ok as Lenny taunts David and turns into his sister insinuating that they could be raping her. Syd runs in and they literally just kind of disappear into nothingness. Go ahead and take another dose now, under the tongue guys, it's always better to keep it under there as long as possible and breathe through your nose. Syd & David are vaguely transported to where his sister is being held and grilled by Brubaker... The Eye senses their presence but they are like particles and atoms that are loosely put together, making them appear like faint mirages. As The Eye reaches for them they transport back into a pond by the compound where they reassemble through brightly colored matter in water. Fuck it, go ahead and dose again, it's not gonna hurt at this point. Melanie gives us a little backstory on The Eye, who was a recruit brought in by her husband who she explains now transfers consciousness through the electronics in the buildings from the elevator to the coffee maker. Yeah. David could give two shits who he is (or her electronic hopping husband), he just wants his sister. Chill David, sometimes in order to beat your opponent, you must know your opponent. Melanie believes that David's brain is defending itself, hence the trouble with the memory work... But she's wrong, she's dead wrong... As she's not aware of the Yellow-Eyed Devil, that may or may not be Mojo. She's frustrated, even considering the notion that she may be making things worse. Now David is worried that she's giving up, but she can't, he's literally the most powerful mutant alive. Melanie has one last idea.... They'll sedate David to gain unfiltered access to his mind. Syd demands to be there. This is about to get crazy... Full access to David's mind is the stuff nightmares are made of, literally. A quick moment between David and Syd the night before the next intense, full access session of dream work with Ptonomy to further establish trust between the two... And you can go ahead and dose yet again, at this point it's required. We start with how David ended up at Clockworks... Lenny and David are high as a kite and Lenny is pushing David in a shopping cart... You know, normal blue mist activities. Melanie explains that David is with them but he's in child form, because that's the only part of him that's awake and that Syd can touch him because her powers don't work in this realm, not without her physical body. Oh yeah, shit is about to slam you right in the feels. Two people who can never touch, and most likely have never really been touched (for separate reasons) are about to touch for the first time. The hug of the century, y'all. It's serious. Ptonomy wants to 'move this along', but I'd prefer the hug to last forever. Potato, PoTATo. They follow the David they've come to explore... He's experiencing a strange phenomenon; memories within memories... Inception, if you will. At this point, you've dosed too much, but it's too late now... I should've never encouraged all of that excessive hallucinogen use, but it's too late... The rabbit hole is wide open. David is rummaging through tapes... He appears in a flash, cramming the film from the video tapes into his mouth and the walls start to rumble. Young David takes off... Syd is rightfully worried why Melanie & Ptonomy aren't reacting. Don't they hear that? Don't they see that? Told you that you shouldn't have taken that last dose! Or did I? The walls are literally being ripped apart and there are definitely hands pulling them apart from the other side... And Melanie & Ptonomy are oblivious. Holy FUCK, someone listen to Syd and get the hell out of there! Ptonomy attempts to transport them out, but his powers fail. Unfiltered access, this is what they wanted!!! The tension is building like a brick mason working in fast forward, brick by brick... Little David dashes out of the room and hops over the older version of himself and Lenny who are high on the Blue Mist on the ground... What an image! What did we take again?! 5-MeO-DMT?! Syd walks into the kitchen where David is fighting with Philly. The intensity continues to build as Little David enters a bedroom and hides behind a bed where David appears to be fucking someone... I can't tell if it's Philly, Im not sure it matters... It's the energy that counts. Syd has to coax him out of the room where they then attempt to hide. Little David grabs a screwdriver and pops open an air duct that looks like the size of an old laundry shoot. Moral Orel from earlier in the episode is spotted, staring into the corner of a hallway. Yup, time to get the fuck out. Little David Climbs in and Syd is hurried in afterwards after Moral Orel suddenly turns and heads her way. I'm pretty sure I've had this exact same nightmare before. Luckily Moral Orel has. Big old head and most likely wouldn't be able to fit in that vent... But 'The Devil with The Yellow Eyes' makes a surprise pop-out when Sue looks back... Gotta admit, not what I was expected, may have peed myself just a smidge. Syd pleads David to wake up and the shots are cutting back to the room where the dream work takes place, with a fish eye lens (just in case things weren't already weird enough). Suddenly Syd comes to, gasping for air like she's popping her head out of a very deep dive into a pool. She literally beats Ptonomy with a pillow and wakes him up... Unfortunately Melanie and David are still under. OMFG, I literally can't take it. This has turned into a straight up horror show. Cut back to Melanie who's making her way through the corridors of David's memories. She finds his old room and the book the man without a face has been reading to David in past Memory Work sessions... One the cover... Is Moral Orel!!!! Ok it's not really Adult Swim's Moral Orel, the book is actually titled 'The Angriest Boy In The World'. She begins to read the book... It's violent and doleful and straight up terrifying. Not the type of book you read your little boy to put him to bed, know what I mean? The book slams down on her hand hard and basically eats it, she pulls away and looks down at her hand and it's bloated and disfigured, behind her is that obese 'Devil with The Yellow Eyes', that looks an awful lot like Mojo. She immediately snaps out of the trance and wakes up grabbing her hand as you would if you had just experienced a nightmare where you lose a limb and you're certain it's happened in real life. It's official, Melanie is now unsure if those memories they are exploring even belong to David at all. The episode fades out as they attempt to wake up David who is now stuck in the other realm, and it is the opposite of peaceful and serene... As the camera pans backwards holing David into a small space where he's surrounded by multiple people with aggressive energy. What a fn' episode, huh? At least now Melanie has a better understanding of what their working with... And isn't blaming David from holding back memories and advancement in treatment. The whole thing just makes me shiver a bit. Until next time, guys... I'm trying to make this a weekly thing... And I'm really enjoying Legion, but it is not an easy watch... It's like a 1000 ego deaths and being trapped inside a bad trip on a seriously heavy tryptamine.