#fucked up posture!!1 he looks like a shrimp!!

[buwheal]

he is so so so fun to draw :heart:

I used to not be a big fan of giving him pupils but now I cant go back, theyre so expressive!! he's so silly and so uncle

[undeadboyfriendsupportgroup]

Throwing in some headcanons for the season 1 Archive gang

(As always, these are just silly goofy fun, not meant to invalidate anyone's characterization of the archive folks, we're in season 3 so if any of these contradict with canon, it's probably bc of that or memory failing us/personal preference sooooo, lesgo)

cw: alcohol (very lightly mentioned) and spiders

Jon:

-Jon tends to wander when drunk, it's a good idea to keep an eye on him. He's gotten lost in campus during his college days but always comes back unharmed (somehow).

-He thought his grandmother made up grass allergies to keep him from getting into dangerous places as a kid but his family has a genetic grass allergy, nothing fatal but recently cut grass does make him v itchy when it touches bare skin.

-He uses pen grips, i think he's developing arthritis so he owns some comfortable rubber ones. There are a few bite marks on em, but if you confront him he will gaslight you

-Jon's bones also crack very easily, when he gets up you can hear it. It gets worse throughout the seasons

-Jon uses transparent nail polish. He started doing it to avoid nail biting but started the habit of chipping it off. In college he wore colored nail polish but he ditched bc he doesn't consider it v professional on himself.

-He's a responsible sunscreen user, he applies it whenever he needs to be outside but he uses a regular drugstore one since i don't think he believes in skincare being a thing. IN THE SAME VEIN: he doesn't think that body wash works, he only believes in soap.

-He had a bowlcut as a kid.

-He gets shorter by 1 inch per season.

-Jon, even though very good with tech, prefers to do things on paper because he likes the feeling. He prefers pencils over pens, but uses pens because they are more professional

-Jon would love smash burgers, i'm not giving more context.

Sasha:

-Sash started training a couple years ago to improve her posture (she tended to go shrimp while doing deskwork) and now she could crush a lemon with a single hand. She and Tim go to the gym sometimes and she can lift way more than him

-To counteract the smash burger hc above, she would love Shake Shack.

-She's scored pretty high on IQ tests every time she has to take them but she doesn't believe in their validity.

-She used to go spelunking on internet forums a lot.

-I think she would have enjoyed well planned ARGs and things that involved solving mysteries before it became her full-time job to deal with horrors.

-Sasha owns comfy shoes she wears in the office. Wearing heels during a whole workday isn't worth it and she knows this.

-Shes a bit of a stationary fan, she would have all of the really nice highlighters and notebooks

-She chews her lips pretty often, especially when she wears nice chap sticks

-She likes furbies.

Tim:

-He hates furbies and dolls, truth be told it is more fear than hatred.

-He's been on commercials as a kid at least once. Somewhere on youtube there's a bubblegum commercial with a preteen Tim on it and Jon found it while looking for background info about nearly everyone in the archives in season 2.

-Tim has a small collection of fucked up Rubik cubes. He has a knack for solving them, the more alien-looking, the better. He finds solving puzzles stimulating but also gets fed up with them easily. Having something to do with his hands helps him think.

-He's an excellent draftsman, took an art course pre college and he indulges in it every now and then. He has no issues with people looking through his sketchbooks and all of the building facade sketches he has there. He's the kinda guy to sketch random people he sees in public and all of the archives gang has been drawn by him before

-He would love cockatiels, but he doesn't own any animals. He birdwatches quite a bit and has books/a special sketchbook just for birds/landscapes. He also purple columbine flowers, even though he is really bad with plants. He's foraged before but he ended up in emergency care bc he fucked with something he shouldn't have XD

-Tim got his tongue pierced some time ago, it suits him well.

-Will absolutely WRECK you in karaoke and then act like he isn't that good after (he was a theater kid)

-He's the most seasoned traveler among everyone in the archives. Tim's ideal vacay would be going around the world

-He would have enjoyed streaming games as a hobby (am i bringing up Mike LeBeau? probably. In a different world we would have Tim playing The Sims 2 with all of the mods on Twitch). He's also had pink hair before!!

Martin:

-He's a bit of a polyglot to me (so far The Eye makes you understand other languages but it doesn't give you proficency over them! That's all his own talent)

-Mart's worked at a blu-ray rental before the Institute. He came out of that job decently well-versed in 80's-90's movies. He's the opposite of a film snob and probably loves The Princess Bride and other bangers

-Martin's the kind of person that would cut an apple for you but he'd eat a tangerine with the rind on without hesitating. After you have a fight with him he brings you cut fruits and crackers

-He also writes prose and has finished nanowrimo during company time.

-Martin wears graphic tees under shirts under sweaters at work, but for very nerdy and obscure things

-Martin does the little dinosaur hand things often when he is walking, heh

-He's kept house spiders in glass jars with little holes and fed them bugs. Many of those spiders gave birth inside those jars. He's moved places a couple times as a kid so he's probably responsible of scaring a landlord or two by greeting them with a roomful of spider jars (and it was deserved).

-Martin owns tea pets!! He shares a cuppa with them every now n then

[vermwerm]

very normal queenkaard headcanons (1/2)

sorry this has to be a 2 parter cuz. i legitimately could not fit the entire thing in here

I totally dont have problems /s Yippee rou headcanons that make no amount of sense and that i wont explain!! For rou ive probably repeated some of these as, the list is very. long. He takes good care of his hair He likes pirates a very normal amount He hast adhd Rou very frequently forgets his accent around Queen He disregards his health in all aspects, a lot He uh. Eats raw meat- i dont know why i added this tbh, maybe its cuz i gave him sharp teeth He constantly wears Queens sweaters n stuff Ok ive seen this hc like. 3 times, but he can play piano He doesnt really, find himself worthy of much at all. Unless his worth is “given” to him by other people he doesnt believe he can give himself any sort of hint of being more than a laughing stock He has heterochromia He is. Always sleepy I have an entire list of things he would try and eat, theres like 30 things on there He smells like rainwater or coffee He does that thing ferrets do, where they like dont wake up when you try n wake them but they arent dead He either doesnt know how to cook at all and will set the kitchen on fire or he knows how to cook very well cuz malewife He is either a fucking god or just this silly little guy everyone laughs at He make bug noises Yeah he can blep, the entire family (lancer, queen, rou) can!! He hates King (hes just like me fr) He hates being alone, ironic cuz he lives alone but lancer visited him, and then ofc que appeared and ghhhsjhrenerggjfr Why did i add this wth, he has hydroreceptors or smth He doesnt have bones, why would he?? He can melt into a little Rou puddle He likes to snuggle up to que all the time, and for the most part immedietly reciprocates any affection he gets from her Im torn between if he can down an entire bottle of that psycho serum hot sauce shit and not feel a thing or eat one taki and die He calls Que “schönes” a lot (basically means beautiful in german) He cant stand sweet things/overly sugary things, but he does like black licorice and cinnamon candies He has memorized how to play a lot of card games, and in Card Castle would often play said games with Lancer

He prolly has to ask every like. 3 seconds what the fuck Que is saying cuz her frequent use of internet slang Rouxls gets swooned when Queen, yknow? He very rarely gets positive attention, so he normalized (kinda glorified) negative attention in his head, but ofc que andnshujrfhrhrghkrgh and basically he kind of always wants her attention cuz he knows she wont be.. A dickhead- If he got positive. Affection. He would cry He probably likes Will WoodHas the possibility of being emo when teenager Very rarely gets sleep, either temp insomnia or just forcing himself to stay up Im not too sure abt this one, but what if, jelly organs His posture is terrible, he looks like a blue shrimp when he sits Awwww the scrunkly 🥰🥺🥺🥺 double tap if youd scrunkly the when 😆 (imsorry) He can kinda mold his skin- cuz yknow… slime…. But he can only do it for a short period of time I have a list of blue moths, aka Rouxls moths I maybe partially imagine his mother is a crunchy mom and thats one of the sources for his problems He often misjudges how loud he is, so he could be talking like. To what seems to him as yelling but it seems very neutral to everyone else. And what he imagines neutral in his head is very quiet- that makes no sense Rou prolly has agoraphobia, like a lot of phobias tbh Ok time for huge block of text: he has a lot of mental illnesses tbh (oemgee hes just liek me-) but he tries to push them into obscurity, which isnt healthy at all!! What a surprise. But im unsure of whether or not mental help would exist in Castle Town, so he doesnt really know what hes doing is really fucking bad, he doesnt really tell anyone, and he also cant get help for his mental problems. He constantly tries to ignore his problems, using either an unhealthy or very rarely healthy . ignoring?? Mechanism????? Thats not the right term but whatever. Like any, bottled up mental problem, he sometimes lashes out. But he feels really horrible afterwards, he doesnt do anything detrimental but like yeah.. anywaye I dont think mental health problems would be stigmatized in castle town, but considering Rouxls is well. Rouxls. its more likely for people to immediately form a bias against him for something that if he was anyone else, they wouldnt hold said bias. hypocritical but common, some people who stay by their beliefs wont but like i said, its common for people to hold something over someone they dont likes head that they otherwise have said they hold no negative opinions on. I drew him in, Lady Demistrescus dress once. I now expect more people to draw him in that /j Whenever he tries to get back into the hobbies he originally gave up on, hes always quite scared of messing up his hair (at least with hobbies that can. Do that- like painting) so yippee bun rouxls He has a list of his favorite moths, almost every moth you can find is on there He has probably gotten a nose bleed so bad hes passed out. This has also probably happened multiple times He is transmasc, transfemm, and enby at the same time He loves doing his makeup <33 He sometimes, gets dressed all nice somedays even when he has nothing to do. He just “wants to feel pretty” yknow

He eats kitkats the immoral way He may have a heart chamber, but as much as i love adding bug aspects to characters i like im unsure if i want to keep this headcanon

[ajxrn-archive]

Ok I hit post limit like super early today so I have to send this in an ask instead of rb'ing but:

1) do you think Tighnari just engages in normal conversation with his plants or does he like. Does he gossip with them. Does he just come into his garden or whatever pick up his watering can and start going "you will not BELIEVE what--". He does not very much give me the vibes of someone who gossips but I feel like he would do it with his plants

2) Scaramouche with ball joints my beloved..... also YEAH that does make sense. I keep thinking of something with a texture like that but I CANNOT remember what it is called :(

3) Collei is absolutely baking in the sun meanwhile everyone is like. Wdym. It's a pleasant summer's day (it's 95°). No one else gets it except for Kaveh (who passes out alone in deserts with an alarming frequency)

4) He's got like that. Cat's eyeshine shit. Except you don't need to shine a flashlight in his eyes. So not like that I guess.

5) I can't get the image of Kaveh in shrimp posture surrounded by torn up wrapping paper looking at dozens of gifted wrist braces like. Wtf am I supposed to do with these. Do you want me to grow more arms or something.

6/7) (alhaitham voice) im not pressing flowers for fun. im doing this for science kaveh. im sure you wouldn't understand (kaveh voice) that's the flower lesser lord kusanali put in your hair isn't it (alhaitham voice, lying) no its not

8) do u think Collei ever went to any of Nilou's classes. She's not really a kid anymore but that seems like something she'd be excited about after she's not sick anymore and is less tired

Absolutely 😭 this sassy bitch talks shit to the plants all the time I actually fucking love that. “You’re not going to believe the stupid joke cyno made-”

2. Forreal;, by Barbie I kind of meant like. Their heads specifically ????? They have this Texture it’s odd.

3. I pictured collei and Kaveh (and probably Layla) fucking suffering on a hike with everyone else it’s so funny to me..

4. YEAH THAT‼️he is so catcoded to me (I mean it’s canon but.)

5. Same it’s so goddamn funnyyy he’s like what do I do now. he starts giving extras to like . Layla and others

6/7. ABSOLUTELY HELP.. he’s embarrassed (he won’t admit it)

8. I didn’t even think about that ohmy god…she absolutely would I think nilou would adore collei like a little sister. Collei running around and collecting family members like Pokémon istg she got her dads, her gay uncles, her gay aunts, her abundance of sisters, etc 😭

[enkisstories]

Just like them (part 13)

Still the kitchen in Gavin’s apartment, still November 18th

“He’s…” Gavin started and already Tina blinked due to the unexpected use of a pronoun other than “it” for an android out of her friend’s mouth.

“I’m…” Daniel said only a split-second afterwards and then both men stopped, because why should they take it upon themselves to explain anything, if that other guy could take the blow just as well? Come on, asshole, make yourself useful!

Tina looked from one to the other. At his point Jin forced himself between the adults, dragging Lucky behind him as if he was a teddy bear. The adolescent cat didn’t seem to mind. Being the center of the attention and getting all the treats definitely beat playing surrogate dad for three kittens!

“Can we have fish sticks today, mommy?” the boy crowed. “With ketchup!”

Gavin jumped up and picked his phone up from the kitchen table. “On it, junior!”

“Order salad with the finger food! Do you hear me, Gavin? Salad! Three!”

Covering the phone’s microphone with his hand, Gavin replied: “Geeze, Tina, are you sure you can manage three salad on your own?”

“One for you, me and Jin each!” the officer growled back, but Gavin only laughed.

Now Daniel rose, too, and in the same fluent movement took the phone off the human.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Shhh! I’m making a call here!”

Let’s see… Subject 1: “Reed, Gavin”… Territorial, competitive, also a bit of a human cat. Will want cuddles while chewing on a still living spider. Current mood: surprisingly outstanding.

<<<Error… error… no path found for “surprise”>>>

Shut up, Cyberlife. I AM surprised, deal with it.

Add_to_simulation: Subject 2: “Chen, Tina”… Introvert, female version of subject 1, also asian, so highly likely not to be able to digest milk products, will enjoy them anyway just BECAUSE. Current mood: Existing (=default)

Add_to_simulation: Subject 3 Reed-Chen, Jin… A little Gavin, bright mind, easily excited, still believes the best of everyone. Current mood: Happy, but exhaustion slowly setting in.

Aaaaand… Start_simulation

>>>Results in, save to database Y/N

>>>Y and open file

Ew, really, Gavin? Tuna & pineapple? Nah, that’s close, but not quite correct. Tina gets the pineapple crime, Gavin is even worse. And not that literally a cat either.

>>>Save changes & close file

“Yes, Reed here, customer ID 393804. We’d like one large shrimps & tangerine pizza, one large pizza Hawaii with extra chicken, one Captain’s Galley kiddie meal with the octopus rings, a lava cake, a small german cheesecake and an apple turnover with raisins. What salads do you have? I’m getting nagged to order one, is there a low on leaves alternative, maybe? Tomato salad, you say? Yeah, that might be a good compromise, we’d like three of those, please. For drinks a large rootbeer extra frothy, a large rootbeer licorice, a medium apple juice with a straw, plastic… What? No, I wasn’t insulting you. I didn’t even KNOW you were an android. I just want a plastic straw for our kiddo. It’s bad for the environment? You only have metal ones? Okay, one of those then, but it better fucking glows! Oh, and throw in a small thirium smoothie, whatever that is supposed to be. Not all of us are fortunate enough to snag a job in the snack industry… or any job at all. Yes, that was all. Thank you!”

Daniel turned around to where Gavin stood gape-jawed.

“How… how did you do that?!” the man gasped. “I mean, I have a pretty good idea how, but… HOW?”

So it wasn’t just the Connors with their fancy crime scene analyzing software. Even the simplest Cyberlife devices seemed to be able to see right through a human. And with their safety locks off, what would hold the deviants back, prevent them from turning the tables and enslaving humanity?

Years of policework of course could have supplied the answer easily: Socialization. Every human was perfectly able to kill every other, but only a rare few actually did so. For their own good the humans had to integrate the androids into their society and better sooner than later, so that one day any given android and human in the USA had more in common with each other than with a foreign human or android.

But none of that was on the forefront of Gavin’s mind in this moment. He only felt the cold chill of standing right across from the creepy machine that had seen right through him. What else might it have picked up? On the other hand, there were that damn smile and Daniel’s playful reply to Gavin’s outburst:

“What shitty person would I be if I didn’t know my best friend’s tastes? Cyberlife suggested tuna, but… ah, you cringe. Haha, knew it!”

“What was that just now about “best friend”?” Tina inquired. “You do not mean to tell me that you are friends with an android?”

The men exchanged quick glances. The game was on and Tina their first test person…

“Yeah, totally”, Gavin confirmed, to which Daniel added: “We go, uh, waaaaayy back!”

“Best friends, huh…” Tina crossed her arms, trying to come to a decision whether she should believe that or not. Her face brightened up when she got an idea: “What’s the android’s name, Gavin?”

“Daniel. Daniel Phillips. I could even tell you his registration number, but won’t, because that would be rude.”

Good save, Daniel thought, but then an unwelcome thought crossed his mind: Am I supposed to know your badge number?

It didn’t seem to matter, since first and foremost it was Gavin getting tested here, not his android (pretend) friend. Or was it? Because Tina now turned her attention to the PL600!

“I think I know you”, she mused aloud. “You’re the PL600 from the evidence archive, aren’t you?”

“Yes. We talked a few times at the DPD, remember? When I reported the burglary.”

“Yes, yes I do!” Tina smiled sympathetically at both men now. “So… wow, Gavin! So that’s why you got all enraged when Connor entered the archive! You were on your way to Daniel and it was interrupting!” * see footnote

Gavin shook his head frantically. He waved his hands in front of his body and would almost have taken a step back, had he not realized it and forced himself to not do that.

“Tina, no, it’s not what you think!”

“Yes, that’s how it happened”, Daniel said at the same time, completely at ease.

“No!” Gavin yelled, almost in desperation. What had gotten under his skin, Daniel wondered?

“Oh, I’m so happy for you!” Tina exclaimed. “So you’re done pretending to be hetero? But we’re still friends with benefits, right? Don’t you dare cancel the arrangement or I’ll sue you out of your retirement funds and then some!”

Gavin didn’t even wait for his friend to finish her little speech. When Tina had reached the “happy”, he grabbed Daniel by the shoulder, turned the android around and pushed him towards the door.

“Out! At once!”

Not comprehending what exactly was happening here, Daniel found himself in the floor, but that was as far as he’d let himself get herded without an explanation. Daniel broke free from the detective’s hold the moment the human got ready to push him against the wall, something Gavin needed to adjust his posture for a little. But that little was enough.

When the android asked “What’s the matter, Gavin?” next, it sounded as neutral as he was able to make it, with even a hint of concern strewn in. The human needed to realize that Daniel wasn’t his enemy, although by all rights they should be enemies. For some reason that hadn’t happened. But the way Gavin was glaring at Daniel, that seemed to have changed.

“Why did you say that?” Gavin growled. “We had a pact, but here you go, betraying me at first opportunity? Caught some of Connor’s code or what?”

The accusation stung, so Daniel smacked Gavin, a single time only. From Daniel’s brief experience with those particular humans that seemed to equal the normal code of conduct among the DPD officers, where senior officers occasionally held each other at gunpoint. And indeed, the friendly gesture got registered as such.

Gavin still had a hard time processing all the change. One moment the android stabbed him in the back, the next it was so fucking polite again?

“Look, I have no idea what you are talking about!” Daniel stated.

“Ha! As if you didn’t know what folks meet in the archive for!”

“Registering evidence…”

“Sh’ya right!” Gavin spat. “The basement is the DPD’s make-out spot! How couldn’t you know, after having been there for three months?”

“Let me think, how about I was… deactivated?”

“Oh. Oh, right.”

Gavin exhaled sharply. No betrayal. Good, good. But even so…

“Tina now thinks we’re dating!”

“Ever since August? Wow. We must be truly in love. But also a bit insecure about it, if nothing came of it so far…”

Again Gavin’s left arm shot forward to grab the android, the right hand balled up into a fist that he held threateningly towards Daniel.

“Don’t mock me, tin can!”

“Stop!” Daniel yelled. “We are each other’s best shot at what we want! And afterwards will discard each other…”

The android had intended to state this as a matter of fact, but couldn’t keep the disappointment out of his voice. It wasn’t even directed towards Gavin, but himself. It was as Geeta had said the day Daniel had gotten released from the archive: Deviance meant becoming human and he, Daniel, had achieved that feat now. Using and discarding, emotionless, only looking out for yourself, just like the humans did. He had become like John Phillips.

“Fuck, Daniel…”

Gavin was still holding the deviant by his sweater, but now place the other hand, that had been a fist until now, on Daniel’s shoulder. But then he didn’t know what to do or say next or why he had done it in the first place. Comforting a household appliance, that just wasn’t done! Or, if the deviants were more than robots, after all, comforting an enemy… Okay, that was a little less crazy, but still ill-advised.

Since neither of the two moved, this was how Tina found the men.

“Discard?” she repeated what little of their exchange she had picked up. “You aren’t breaking up now, are you?”

“No, of course not!” Gavin sputtered.

What he had meant to convey was that he couldn’t break up with Daniel, because they were not together. But Tina of course had to misunderstand him.

“Right”, she said. “That would be stupid, now that you two can be open about it.”

Gavin didn’t correct Tina. His purposeful misleading of the friend left a bad aftertaste, though, because he couldn’t recall a time when they had kept secrets from each other. Gavin knew he needed to let Tina in on the scam, just not right now. Everything was confusing enough as it was.

Meanwhile Tina’s thoughts had reached a point that generated a whole new level of threat for the pretend friends: “I guess we have to thank Markus for giving you that chance. I have to give him that, even though the sucker played a dirty trick on me at Capitol Park. I think he’s set up a twitter account? I need to text him, tell him about the two of you…”

“What have we done…” Gavin moaned. “I think I could stomach a salad now, after all!”

And the android arm that Daniel slung around his shoulders at these words didn’t help at all…

Footnote: I’m referencing another story idea I’ve toyed with here. Indigo turned it into a full-fledged fic that you can read here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22499176?view_full_work=true

[ceegeenyan]

Soft [3] // Tsukishima Kei x Reader

Part 1: http://ceegeenyan.tumblr.com/post/184038042466/soft-1-tsukishima-kei-x-reader

Part 2: https://ceegeenyan.tumblr.com/post/184104284751/soft-2-tsukishima-kei-x-reader

3

             It’s been a week since (y/n) joined as the volleyball team’s manager, and the videos she’s been taking were helping Tsukishima and the others a lot.

           She’d sent them the videos via email over the weekend and said that she’ll be sending them every weekend from now on, along with her own notes on what she thought about the posture, form, what could be done better, what was good, what to be careful of, and all of those things. At the end of her attached notes, she added a “great job!” According to Yamaguchi, all of the other members got that message too.

           Tsukishima takes a sip of his strawberry milk juice while analyzing the videos and notes that (y/n) had sent on his phone. He’d been buying the same one ever since she got it for him.

           He found what happened last week weird to him. Sure, she was pretty, he recognizes and even admits that, but was that enough to get him all flustered? Was the blushing and all that really necessary? And above all, he absolutely, with all of his heart and soul, refused to act like Tanaka and Nishinoya. Because that was probably how they felt, right? They get all flustered because Shimizu or (y/n) are too pretty.

           He didn’t want to be like them. But that was probably the case.

           There was no point in denying it to himself anyway. So what if he finds her attractive? Everyone else does too.

           Tsukishima looked at the clock above the blackboard and was met with the time; they still had thirty minutes before the next class, so he figured he’d sleep. He didn’t exactly feel like eating.

           “Hey, hey, hey, Tsukishima-kun!” A voice that came from the entrance of his classroom rang in his ears. He’d pretend he didn’t hear it, but (y/n) would have just pestered him. She walks towards the blond male, a notebook in hand. Without warning, she grabs an empty seat and places herself in front of him, setting her notebook on his table. She wasn’t aware, but all of class 1-4 was staring at her, and now at the two of them. It was just Tsukishima’s luck that Yamaguchi went out to get food.

           “Help me with history!” She says with that big smile of hers that he’d grown accustomed to.

           He wanted to refuse so he could carry on and sleep, but he knew that this girl would just bother him for the rest of the break until he agrees, so what was the point?

           It was hard to decline with that smile looking at him anyway.

           “Aren’t you from class 1-5, milk stand?”

           Her smile quickly turns into a frown, a soft punch landing on the top of his head. “Shut up, stupid giraffe! I’m just bad with history.”

           “Giraffes have long necks, I don’t think I fit in that description.”

           “They’re big as heck, just like you, I think that’s reason enough for me to call you that. Now teach me!”

           “Do I get anything in return?”

           “What about an autograph?”

           “I’ll kick you out.”

           She laughs. “I was kidding, dummy! I’ll get you something later, just help me for now!”

---

           “Tsukishima-kun,” (y/n) called for him while the volleyball team took a break, “your receives suck.”

           His eyebrows twitched in annoyance at her words and (y/n) saw Hinata and Tanaka laughing from a distance. “You should have worked harder, Tsukishima!” says the bald senior.

           “Is it bad that my body just doesn’t understand how it works?”

           She snickers, giving him a water bottle and a towel. “No. Rather, I’m happy that you even have something you’re not good at. Makes you feel more human, you know?”

           His eyes widen a little at her response. “Then what did you think of me before this?”

           “A tree.”

           That earned her a flick to the forehead.

           “You still owe me, hobbit.” (y/n) grumbles under her breath, but she was sure Tsukishima could hear her nonetheless.

           “I know, I know! Just be patient, Stupidshima! Stupid Treeshima!”

           The rest of Karasuno, especially Sawamura and Sugawara, have noticed for quite some time now how (y/n) and Tsukishima interacted. At first, they were simply surprised that Tsukishima would hold conversations with her, but their playful banters were more than Tsukishima’s usual dialogue, more than he did with the rest of the team—or anyone, really. Maybe it was because of them walking to (y/n)’s studio together, or maybe because she was able to tolerate his snarky remarks and asshole attitude. They didn’t really mind, though. The past week, ever since (y/n) joined the club, Tsukishima has been doing relatively better than before. Was he doing it to impress her? Was he doing it unconsciously? No one knew, but they were grateful nonetheless.

           “Daichi,” Sugawara whispers, “do you think he likes her?”

           The taller male simply smiles. “I don’t think Tsukishima would get into those kings of feelings this fast. At the very most, maybe he thinks she’s pretty, and the fact that they can talk to each other easily makes him feel attracted to her, but no. He doesn’t like her.” He smirks a little, glancing over the middle blocker that was bickering with their new manager. “Not yet, anyway.”

            The stares didn’t go unnoticed to Tsukishima, but he ignores them in spite of the urge to glare back, thinking it would be more fun to tease the smaller female in front of him.

          Well, he’d always tease how much of a shrimp she was, but being a model and all, she was taller than the average female her age. She was definitely taller than Hinata, almost nearing Sugawara’s height. She was probably around 170cm, with her long legs and all. He’s probably been indirectly offending Hinata and Nishinoya whenever he’d diss her height. Well, with a twenty-centimeter difference between them, no one could blame him for wanting to tease her. The way she looks up at him whenever they talk and the way she raises her arm to show him something on her phone was too cute amusing for his own good. Tsukishima looked down at her features again while she looked for something on her phone, the male already forgetting what she was talking about.

          From where he stood, he could see her long lashes and button-like nose. She made a lot of facial expressions while she told her stories and he’d see how her features would move along with her emotions; eyebrows raising, eyes squinting and widening, jaw extending, nose crinkling, all that. He noticed the way her hair framed her face, too—(h/l), (h/style) (h/c) locks cupping her forehead and then all the way down her jawline and neck.

          If he focused a little more, as best as he could with that God-awful eyesight of his, he could see some black, mole-like marks peeking through what is apparently makeup. Whenever he’d look at her from a distance, it never looked as though she was wearing any. Not that it was of any concern to him, but it was definitely a fact worthy of surprise. At least to him.

          He was definitely caught by surprise, though, when she looked up at him with their faces unnecessarily close to each other.

          “Hey, blockhead, are you listening?”

          Shit.

          He feigns a yawn, hoping to get out of the little predicament that he was in. “Your stories make me too sleepy, shorty.”

          Without warning, she punched him in the gut. Not strong enough to cause a bruise, of course, but he’ll definitely feel that for a while.

          “What the fuck—”

          “Listen to me, dumbass! Stupidshima!”

          He couldn’t help but find her angry expression adorable.

          He cursed at himself for thinking so, and he could feel his face warm up. He hopes, if she could see it, that she thinks of it as that of anger.

With a suppressed groan, he manages to cough out his words. “So, what is it?”

          Her face lights up again this time, (e/c) eyes sparkling as she raised her phone again to show him pictures of what seems to be a café. She tells her story like she wasn’t just repeating it.

          “Look, Tsukishima-kun! I found this café near the school and it’s so pretty!” She grins, waiting for Tsukishima’s response expectantly.

          Goddamn it.

          He wanted to tease her, to answer sarcastically, to give her any fucking kind of negative response, but it was hard to do it with a face that happy. He was an asshole, but this—this was too much for him.

          “Yeah,” was all he could say. He was surprised that his bland response didn’t dishearten the girl.

          “It’s not that expensive too, and the food and drinks were all good! I ended up studying there yesterday until it was late.” She says with a rather embarrassed chuckle. She looks back up at him again. “So I was asking if you wanted to go there later.”

          Pardon?

          “Uh,” his mind was too blank to think of a snappy retort, and he felt ridiculous when that was the only thing that came out of his mouth. “Don’t you have other friends, (l/n)?”

          He says it in his usual mocking tone, but a huge part of it was genuine concern.

          “Well yes, but I owe you, dumbass.” She replies, a smirk not going unnoticed. “Stupid forgetful Tsukishima, tsk tsk tsk. You’re getting old, aren’t you?”

          He places his big hand on top of her head and squeezed her as hard as he could, earning a loud yelp of pain from her.

          “What the FUCK—”

          “Payback from earlier.” He lets go. “Now we’re even again.”

          He stared as she rubbed the top of her head, grumbling her usual stupid names, and some other insults, for him. “Stupidshima, stupid Treeshima, I hope you die a baldy, Stingyshima, Idiotshima.” He could hear her say.

          “One of those things is just a plain, distasteful insult, hobbit.” He looks away. “Do they have strawberry shortcake?”

          “Well, I sincerely hope you—” she blinks. “Do they have what now?”

          “I’m not repeating myself again, are you deaf?”

          The stupid grin on her face made Tsukishima regret every single decision he has made thus far in his life. The pink showing on his cheeks were definitely going to be a thing of teasing later.

          “I’m taking you there later, Tsukishima-kun!”

          Tsukishima Kei thought that he was going to have a heart attack, and that maybe he was getting old like she said.

---

          (y/n) was just about to call for Tsukishima’s attention when her phone rang, all eyes now on her. She’d forgotten to put it on vibrate.

          She looks at the team, scratching the back of her neck and smiling apologetically. “Sorry.”

          Sawamura and the others smile at her for reassurance. “It’s fine, (y/n). We’re all just about to go home, anyway.”

          She nods and answers the call. “Hello?”

          It was her manager and he was informing her about a shoot that was moved today. Her heart sank at the sound of his words, but she knew she couldn’t do anything about it. Her expression must have visibly dropped, because now the members were all looking at her worriedly. Still in call, she smiled at them, saying her ‘yes’es to the manager against her will. She was looking forward to going to the café with Tsukishima tonight.

          She kept a smile while facing the team, not wanting to further worry them. “My manager said I have work tonight.”

          “O-oh. But you said you only had work tomorrow and on Friday.” Sawamura was the one to talk for the rest of the team. It was only for a second, but they definitely saw her feeling down. It was the first time they’ve seen her like that.

          “Yeah,” she laces her fingers together, twirling her index fingers, her anxiety getting the best of her. “But they moved the one that I was supposed to do on Saturday to tonight, it seems. Apparently, the director and his team have something important to do over the weekend and rescheduled my shoot.”

          Tanaka frowns. “That doesn’t seem fair, right Daichi-san?”

          “Don’t worry!” (y/n) waves her hands in front of her defensively. “This actually happens a lot.”

          The second-year still has a sour expression on his face. “Well, if you say so, (y/n).”

          She goes over to Tsukishima, scratching the back of her head and avoiding his gaze. “Sorry, Tsukishima. I guess me treating you will be postponed.”

          Of course, Tsukishima was silent. He was probably indifferent about this, and (y/n) felt stupid to have even bothered apologizing. She was most likely, most definitely, the only one who was looking forward to it, and her heart sank a little more. She wasn’t liking this pain, and she wasn’t liking Tsukishima’s silence. She was about to say something else, some stupid, sarcastic phrase, or something, anything, just to avoid the tension she was feeling in the air, the anxiety, and the feeling of emptiness that was now in her chest.

          “I’ll walk you there.”

          She wasn’t the only one surprised.

          “Pardon?”

          “I knew it, you are deaf.” He puts his hand over his mouth, mocking a laugh. But instead of a stupid reply, (y/n) could only stutter. Which she now realizes is more stupid.

          “N-no, well…” her eyes looked everywhere, anywhere that wasn’t him. “Isn’t this… a bother for you?”

          “Of course it is.” He softly punches the top of her head. “And now you owe me double.”

          She was now able to look at him, eyes wide from shock and cheeks a little flushed. She lets out a small laugh, her anxiety now gone. “You’re quite the opportunist, aren’t you, Tsukishima-san?”

          “Shut up, (l/n)-san.” He grabs her bag from her, carrying it along with his own, both with his right hand, before he starts walking. “Let’s go.”

          “Ah, hey—! I can carry that on my own!” She follows after him frantically, before looking back at the team behind her and bowing her head. “Oh, w-we’ll be going now!”

          “A-ah, yeah. Thanks for your hard work.” Sawamura was the first to regain his composure.

          “Take care, (y/n)-chan!” Sugawara waves at her, and the others follow suit. She smiles and waves back before following Tsukishima.

---

           Tsukishima thought he was being ridiculous.

           Here he was again, accompanying (y/n) like it’s the usual thing to do, and he’s even fucking carrying her bag for her, like a madman.

           He doesn’t need to do it. They both know that. But when she was talking to her manager, when, for a split second, she looked down and her face lost her usual glow from being happy, when she, for a second, stopped being her usual cheerful self, when she could barely look at him and yet tried her best to smile—Tsukishima knew he had to do anything to get her that smile back.

           Her owing him was just an excuse.

           And when her face brightened, God.

           He quietly swore to himself that he would punch the ever-loving fuck out of anything and anyone that would bring back that sad expression on her face.

           “Tsukishima-kun, we’re here.”

           Before he realized it, the walk to the studio passed quietly, again. He cursed at himself for not being able to say anything, but saying something would’ve been more unlike him, wouldn’t it?

           He simply nods at her, fighting the urge to yawn.

           She smiles at him.

           Softly now, not like her usually cheerful and even joking grins, not like her mocking smiles and scheming smirks, and not like the ones she puts on during shoots. This was a new smile, at least to him. She looked like something straight out of a painting, and she was, for lack of a better word, beautiful.

          Tsukishima had to pinch his thighs from inside his pockets to suppress any sort of reaction.

          “Thank you, Tsukishima-kun.”

          She made it sound like she was thanking him for more than just being accompanied to her studio, like she knew about his inner intentions, and that was not good.

           He tries to ignore it though. “Yeah.”

           She grins this time. “By the way, what’s your number?”

           What?

           “What, are you flirting with me?”

           “Don’t flatter yourself, ugly.” He couldn’t return the insult. “It’s so you can text me when you get home.”

           He pinched his thigh again, before smirking like he normally does, mockingly. “You’re treating me like a princess, (l/n)-sama. I might just fall for you.”

           “Shut up, what’s wrong with me worrying every now and then? Just give me your damn number, Stupidshima!”

He sighs and pulls out his phone, going through his contacts to find his own number before showing it to her. “Shouldn’t it be the other way around, Ms. Prince?”

           She copies the number in her own phone. “I’ll text you too, then.” Soon, she was done. Phone in hand, she looks up at the taller male again, grinning. “Thanks again.”

           “Yeah.” He hands her her bag, carefully avoiding even the slightest touch from her fingertips, which he had no trouble doing. He muttered a “good luck” with the softest of words that he really doubted she heard.

           “What?”

           “I’m not repeating myself, deaf girl. Now, go inside. You’ll be late.”

           She grins again, surprisingly not making a snarky retort. “Bye, Tsukishima! Take care!” She says, before she finally turns to enter the building. Tsukishima watched as she did, turning to leave only after she got inside. He put on his headphones and unlocked his phone to play music when an unknown number texted him. He knew who it was, though.

             From: [Unknown Number]

          Wednesday, November 3           8:47PM

          I heard you, stupid.           Text me when you’re home or I’ll kill you tomorrow.

          Thanks again.

                                                                                                                                                                                     --(y/n)

             Tsukishima was close to death with all the blood rushing to his face.                          

[neen-writes]

Lady in the Garden -- Chapter 4

Series: Fairy Tail/Doctor Who

Characters: Gajeel/Levy

Genre: Adventure/Angst

Summary: She was a falling star; an angel speaking in stardust dialects.  She was madness and wonder, and she asked him to come with her.

Note: This chapter was fun for me, if a little challenging.  I am hoping, really, that everyone enjoys this one!  I had mentioned once before that every Doctor Who companion goes through 2 distinct adventures in the beginning.  The one that solidifies their relationship with the Time Lord, and one that shows them what time really is.  This is one of those two.  Just one, as I have a plan already for the other.  Enjoy!

Ch. 1  Ch. 2 Ch. 3

Gajeel balked when the door opened in front of him and he was able to see the room on the other side.  The very small room, and the large, single bed.  He opened his mouth to speak, but Levy has already chimed in ahead of him, “Cozy!”

“Are ya kiddin’?  Where the hell am I supposed to sleep?” Gajeel protested, his gaze pointedly moving from one corner of the room to the other.  Two oil-burning sconces cast their yellow light from mounted positions on the back wall, framing the corners of the bed.  The smells of the food and mead still wafted in from the main hall, but the smell of wood and must still prevailed.

Infuriatingly, Levy shrugged, “Wherever you want.  There’s room for us both, or you can sleep on the floor.”

The nonchalance of her statement set his cheeks ablaze.  It was clear she had already determined she would sleep nowhere but the bed as she pranced across the room and plopped onto the straw mattress.  “The floor then, hell,” he grumbled.

“Whatever suits you, it’s your back.  We need to be up early; the innkeep agreed to take us to see the last victim.  Apparently she’s still alive.” Levy explained.

“Exciting,” Gajeel mumbled, mirthless. “This is turning out to be real peachy, y’know.”  The displeasure on his tone was tangible.

Levy shrugged again, “I said it would be dangerous, not glamorous.”

He glared at her for the noncommittal answer, but sat heavily on the floor at the foot of the bed.   “I’m still waiting for some aliens or somethin’.  I’m sure you draw them like a damn magnet.”

Levy laughed dryly, leaning her back against the headboard.  “Little bit of both really.  They either seek me or leave the galaxy, there’s little in between.”

Gajeel turned his head, regarding her from the corner of his eye with palpable skepticism, “You’re kiddin’, you want me to believe you can send anything runnin’, let alone some alien?”

The woman huffed, puffing her cheeks pridefully.  Still, for the insult, she deigned him an answer, “Not all alien races are created equal.  Oods love me, for example.  Mutual, really.  Love an Ood,” the perplexed, arched brow from him drew a genuine laugh from her, “Atraxi and Sycorax, on the other hand, not my biggest fans.  Scatter like roaches when I enter the system.  We’ve had bad run-ins way back, so I’ve got a reputation.”

Gajeel leveled a prying look at her, as though waiting for her to start laughing and dismiss it as a joke.  But she merely looked back, waiting for a response for him, face completely serious.  He was halfway inclined to believe her, given what he had seen already.  Still, he felt that doubt was not a wise instinct to abandon just yet.  “That sounds completely made up.  But sure,” he turned away from her, leaning his head back on the mattress.

“Eh, you’ll see soon enough.  Give it time.  I’ll do my best to keep you alive until then,” she teased, rewarded by a visible tensing of his shoulders.  “My my, how easy to provoke you are, beastie.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Don’t call me shrimp.”  The responding huff told her that wasn’t going to happen, and she let out a deep sigh.  “Get some sleep, then.  You can torment me more tomorrow.”

After a few quiet moments, Gajeel glanced back again to see her with her eyes closed.  She hadn’t laid down, but rather sat like she was before with her eyes shut and arms crossed over her stomach.  She looked peaceful, but still alert.  He took in that image; he’d seen it before.  Gajeel didn’t always keep the best company, his father had drawn the same ilk when he was younger.  None of them were terrible, by the world’s standards, but in the time he had spent around all of them, more than one slept the way she did when they weren’t in their own homes.  

It was a light sleep, a position that could put them to their feet in moments if they needed to be.  A sleep that only people who let danger, real danger, into their lives.   What the hell am I doing here? He finally thought.  Truly, he couldn’t quite figure out why he had decided to come with her and only settled on curiosity over and over.  Here he was, out of his time, with a woman he didn’t know, trying to figure out what mystery force was killing people.  By all accounts agreeing to come here was a stupid choice.  And yet, he found himself trusting her.  

Levy tried to let Gajeel sleep as long as he had wanted, which as it turns out, was halfway through the morning.  He had fallen over onto his side and sounded like a slumbering bear, with no signs of waking anytime soon.  And there were only so many strolls she could take through her thoughts and so many trinkets in her too-big pockets.  Finally restlessness caught up to her and she bounced to her feet, walking around the foot of the bed and casually dropped her psychic paper on his face with a heavy slap.  

With a choke he sputtered awake, wiping at his face as he shot upright.  Wild eyes flew around the room, before settling on her angelically innocent face.  “You’re awake!” she quipped, smiling brightly enough to match the morning light flooding the room.  

“Fucking…” Gajeel growled deeply, slowly angling his head towards her.  He leveled cold, unwavering eyes at her, before tightly gripping her wallet and tossing it up at her.  She caught it with ease, keeping that smile on him before she sought breakfast out in the main hall.

It was was mid afternoon by the time Trea had found the time to bring them, personally, to the healer’s residence.  She had mentioned the woman, already on edge, wouldn’t see them without her introducing them.

That was as far as Trea was willing to go for them however, leaving promptly after the introduction, and not daring to spare a glance at the motionless woman on the cot.  

Levy broke the silence first.  “How long?”

“She has three days, maybe four,” the nurse replied, taking her attention away from dabbing at the woman’s forehead to regard Levy and her companion.  “It’s the thirst that takes them first.”

“Where did you find her?  How?” Levy pressed, taking her too-serious eyes away from the girl, who could not have been more than seventeen.

“Same as the others,” the tone was tired, with an even apathy cultivated by doing her kind of work for too long.  “Outside, at night.  She had gone out to river for water, judging by the bucket, but she had gone no farther than a few houses, where someone found her, clawing at her neck as if it was aflame before she became, this.” The nurse gestured to girl, turning away from them to dip her rag in the bucket of warm water and wring it out.  “We cannot give them water for fear they’ll drown, and cannot give food for fear they’ll choke.  Medicine is thus equally impossible.  I can clean her, warm her, and moisten her eyes.  And bid her to the other side when it comes.”

Levy was gravely quiet for several seconds, glancing at Gajeel.  His eyes were steeled on the motionless girl, her own blankly staring at the thatched roof, all color gone from them.  She waited until he caught her own gaze, and she angled her head pointedly.  

His brows twitched, but he understood her deliberate quiet.  For whatever reason, she wanted him to speak.  The realization of being tested sat sourly with him, but regardless, Gajeel weighed his words.  “How quickly do people find ‘em?”  

The Time Lady’s face twitched with restrained approval before the nurse answered them, brows knit as though she had never thought of it, “Immediately.  They are still in the fits when they come to me, and the fits always last the same amount of time.”

“Someone different brings them to you each time, I imagine?” Levy probed, and the quick shift in Gajeel’s posture told her that he followed her train of thought.

“Yes.”

Levy didn’t even need her to affirm it, and already had her next question out before the woman had finished, “Who brought this one?”

The nurse turned now, regarding them both with green eyes narrowed, not in ill will, but having been caught off guard by such an inquiry.  It took her a moment to remember, “The herbalist.  Lana.  She lives...in the house with the garden, on the eastern side.  She grows rosemary, along her fence.”

Golden eyes fell on Gajeel quickly, before she inclined her head to the woman in thanks, “We appreciate your time.”  The finality in her tone was clear, and Gajeel followed suit as she turned on her heel to leave. Once the wooden door thudded shut behind her, she glanced sidelong at him.  “Lives are saved by asking the right questions.  Lesson one.”  Gajeel huffed at her haughty tone, but she ignored the indignance.  “What’s your conclusion?”

The man stopped, looking down his slightly crinkled nose at her.  He wanted to fire something back at her, but the question wasn’t a taunt.  It was an opportunity.  It was an indication that he wasn’t a guest, or a tag-along.  If he didn’t know better, he’s think she was offering him the chance to be an asset.  “The key is in whoever finds ‘em.  It’s too convenient that someone gets to ‘em right away each time.  Other’n that, I don’t know.”

Levy’s answering smile was far more satisfying than he had expected it to be and it warmed something that surprised him.  “So what do we do?”

Gajeel curled his lip, “Sounds like we need to find Lana.”  The Time Lady clapped a hand against his bicep with a bright smile, heading down the road due east.  It took him a second before he followed after her.  “If it’s a different person each time, what is doing this to them?”

“Aah, that’s the question isn’t it?  I have a feeling when we find this herbalist we will get a clue,” she replied.  

True enough, thick bushes of rosemary marked the residence, but no one was within.  They tried walking the perimeter, peering into the windows, but the inside was quiet; dark.  Slow, deliberate circling around the house yielded nothing, including anyone returning to the house while they were there.  “Interesting.  That our key player isn’t here.”  Levy mused, glancing back at Gajeel.  His furrowed brow mirrored her sentiment.  What he did not expect, however, was her to stop in front of the door and pull out that screeching silver object she had used several times before.  She pointed it to the handle of her door, followed by a soft screech, and then a click.  Quickly, she pocketed the item, and pushed open the door to stride inside with the baffled man hanging back.

“...How.”  Not a question.  But demanding an answer.

“Sonic pen,” Levy replied, scanning her eyes over the cold room.  The fireplace was cold, dead.  The table wasn’t clean, withering herbs left scattered.  Like someone left in a hurry and hadn’t returned to clean up.  “I have never,” Levy started from the center of the room, “encountered an herbalist, alchemist, or any -ist that would leave their wares out like this to waste.  They are disheveled, chaotically intelligent folk but all their ingredients and goods, while a mess to us, are safely stored as they need to be.  This is the space of someone who left without planning to.  Someone--”

“Who left to go after someone.  Looks like someone hasn’t taken care of place for more than a few days.” Gajeel offered, glancing to her for approval.  And he got it.

“We need to find out who’s seen her last.”  Levy declared, heading outside and closing the door behind them both.  The two returned to the inn, hoping to ask Trea, their center of information,  where the herbalist might be, and who had seen her last.

When they returned there, however, they found another woman behind the counter.  “She’s out  for the afternoon,” was the curt answer.  The glance exchanged between Levy and Gajeel spoke everything that needed to be said, and they were completely on the same page.  

The man started to say something, but Levy cut in first, “We’ll have whatever is fresh for the day, Trea is aware of our bill.”  The pleasantness in her voice was clipped, hiding something that she wasn’t ready to address at that moment. Gajeel held his tongue until they were seated at a table, away from the others. “It knows we’re here,” Levy said, all the light having left her tone.  It was a declaration, and a warning.  One more for awareness than to frighten him away.

Gajeel clasped his hands in front of him on the table, leaning forward onto his forearms.  “So what do we do now?  If we don’t even know what it is?”

Levy ran her hands through her hair, the mirth of discovery having left her features.  “Like I said, we wait until the screaming starts.”

It wasn’t a flair for the dramatic, and it wasn’t something she’d said just to rile him.  Because after the sun had set and patrons started to flock the inn, screaming did start.  It was dull at first, almost quiet enough to be mistaken for something else.  But then it grew louder, and Levy, who had been staring absentmindedly at her food, shot to her feet.  Ready,  

“Everyone stay inside.  By order of the Baron, stay put, and do not come outside,” Levy declared with an authority, a steadiness in her voice that took Gajeel off guard.  And astonishingly, as though word of their arrival had spread to everyone, the hall obeyed.  She shot a glance to Gajeel, looking him over as though sizing him up, making a final choice before she said, “Let’s go.”

He needed nothing else, no other encouragement to follow her outside.  If not for intrigue alone, he was fully committed to following her into the dark outside. 

At first they saw nothing.  The street was empty, and the screaming had stopped.  Are we too late? She thought, eyes scanning the street.  In the doorways lining the dirt road cutting through the settlement, people began to peer their heads out.  However, when they saw the two of them standing outside, they retreated.  Good, saves me having to announce us, she thought with some relief.  

Levy glanced to Gajeel after looking up and down the roadway.  She paused, several thoughts flying across her face before she looked away from him up the road, eastward. “You head that way,” she gestured with her hand opposite where she was looking, “see if you can find a body; anyone wandering.”  The steely tone left little room for him to question her, and he nodded quickly before turning away.  Gajeel took several steps away from her, searching, before something prickled on the back of his neck.

“I didn’t think it would be quite so difficult to catch her more than a few feet from you.” A woman’s voice cut through the night and Gajeel whirled, seeing Trea, the innkeeper, standing behind Levy.  Lantern light glimmered off a metal object at her throat, and it took a moment for him to realize it was a dagger, poised dangerously close to her skin.

A moment, before his eyes narrowed and he took a heavy step back towards them.  “O-oi!  The hell you think you’re doing; let her go!” Gajeel shouted.

“Ah-ah,” the woman cautioned, pushing the blade a little closer to the Time Lady’s neck, stopping Gajeel immediately.  His eyes met Levy’s and to his surprise they were remarkably calm, while he struggled to not rush them both.  He might have almost thought she was trying to comfort him with her gentle stare, not an ounce of worry or fear there.  Gajeel looked back to Trea, gritting his teeth in frustration.  “I have to say, I didn’t expect this.  This town doesn’t have it’s share of surprises.  Well, except for me,” she smiled unnervingly, a cunning lacing her features that hadn’t been there when they first met her, huffing out a small laugh.  “These people might think you’re some envoy from their Baron but they are simple, unimaginative folk.”

“You spotted us as soon as we arrived,” Levy commented, her tone even.  “When we walked past the cemetery.  You were someone else then.”

Gajeel furrowed his brow, shifting his weight from one foot to another uneasily.  He felt completely helpless, and the sight of her with death at her neck was nigh unbearable.  But still, he was distracted briefly by what she had said.  Someone else?

“Aah, perceptive little thing, aren’t you?  So perceptive the mere figure of an angel statue stopped you cold; tell me, how many times have you met them and lived?”

Now a flinch rippled Levy’s features, but only for a moment.  Enough to catch your attention.  

“I thought as much; what a cliche pair you are.  The brains,” Trea slowly moved her sharp, serpentine stare to Gajeel, “and the muscle.  But, it seems I’ve been found out as well.  How exciting!”  Amusement hung heavy on her tone, and she slowly moved the dagger up alone the skin of Levy’s neck.  “Which means I’m sure you know what’s next, but I’d love to hear your take, m’lady.”

Levy laughed bitterly, tilting her chin upwards a little to ease the pressure on her flesh.  “I fear you overestimate me.  I merely noticed what didn’t belong: a pendant of crafting that doesn’t quite fit here.  The woman I saw in as we arrived wore it and,” she turned her head slightly, careful of the blade, and looked at her captor from the corners of her cold, golden eyes, “now you do.  Clearly it’s killing people.”

Trea frowned slightly, but it quickly faded, “Shame.  You’re close but...I expected more.  I’d hoped for a few more moments of entertainment but, it’s time for what I really want.”  She looked back to Gajeel again, whose knuckles had turned white.  “You.” Levy tensed suddenly, looking to him as well with a noticeable loss of her previous calm.  Surprise flickered in her eyes.  “All of these vessels are so, frail, and they expire so quickly.  But you, I can see it in your eyes, there is more to you than the others.  Something far more delectable.” Again Levy’s eyes swept over Gajeel, but this time she searched for something new.

Her companion, however, was quick to cut in.  “The hell you on about?  I ain’t letting you do a damn thing to me,” Gajeel barked back to her.  Frustratingly, Trea answered with a laugh.  

“Oh my dear brute, you don’t have a choice,” with her free hand, the innkeeper gripped Levy’s shoulder in a claw-like hold, pulling her closer.  “You’re going to waltz on over here and take my pendant, or I bleed her like a lamb.  And judging by your proximity over this last day, I don’t think you’re keen on that happening.”

Gajeel flinched, looking from her to Levy, the woman he had known for two days, give or take.  It was hard to keep up.  Was he really considering letting… whatever this was, take him to save her?  It would have been the right thing to do, regardless who she was.

Before he realized, he had taken a step forward, every muscle tensed.  The hell are you doin’?  You don’t even know what you’re getting into and you’re gonna what, take a chance to help her?  She’s the one that got us into this mess!  And for what?  His sense shouted defiantly in his thoughts, but all he could see was the enthralling blue-haired woman with a knife poised at her throat.  

All of his sense left him, drowned out by one thing.  I can’t let this happen.  If he ever had another independent thought again after this, he might chalk it up to a bleeding heart and an overactive conscience he worked hard to conceal.  But he might never have the chance to defend himself, knowing how the others ended up.  

“Fine,” Gajeel finally responded, prompting a look of shock from the Time Lady.  He entire body locked up.  Gajeel intentionally kept his gaze away from her, which he knew held nothing but protest and disapproval.

“Approach, then.  Slowly.  And remember, try anything, and she pays for it,” Trea, not Trea, warned.

He didn’t need to be told, more than aware of what was at stake.  Gajeel took another step forward, slowly closing the distance.  The Time Lady narrowed her eyes thoughtfully, having not anticipated this outcome.  Interesting.

“A Vimm,” Levy said suddenly, stopping Gajeel for a moment.  She felt the knife ease away from her neck suddenly, and the grip on her shoulder faltered.  “You are a Vimm.  There’s the truth; I know exactly what you are because I have seen you before.  You want a consciousness that will feed you for more than a few days?  You want me.  Not him.”  The grip on her shoulder disappeared, but the knife remained.  Trea was quiet for a few moments, and feeling the hesitation Levy took her chance, “I’m sure you know we’re not from this time.  It’s why you targeted us.  How we know what you are doesn’t matter much, does it?”  Levy made eye contact with the woman, her gaze piercing, “You just know we’re better than the swill you’ve been drinking and must have had a means of getting here.  And now you know I have more to offer than the brute.  So take me.”

Those final three words jolted through Gajeel, shattering the resolve he had dedicated to getting her out of that mess. “O-oi, Shrimp!”  He burst in a mixture of offense and protest, but when she flicked her eyes to him, his throat dried up.  The gold, more brilliant than ever, was fierce.  What he had seen, for that brief moment in the Tardis, was there again.  The centuries, the age, and this time she did not conceal it.

“I see we are past the point of playing coy,” Trea commented, her free hand moving to clasp the ornate pendant.

“Damnit, Shrimp!  You said yourself it kills people!  What the hell am I supposed to do here?  How are ya gonna throw yourself away like that?”  Gajeel took another hard step forward, but the woman merely brandished the dagger in front of Levy, at him.

The sound of a door swinging open now caught their attention, and they looked to a very alarmed Warner, holding his sword unsheathed.  He had burst from a building, ready to face the disturbance, but the sight of Trea had stopped him.  The distraction was all the possessed innkeep needed, and with one quick motion pulled the necklace over her head with her free hand.  Trea dropped the knife, took the necklace in both hands, and dropped it over Levy’s neck.  

“No!”

The second the item left Trea’s grip, she dropped to the ground in a heap, clawing at her throat where the pendant had been.  Levy stumbled and hunched forward, taking in a sharp breath.  Her arms hung forward and she kept her head low, hair concealing her face.  

“Trea!”  Warner shouted, racing to the shaking woman.  He dropped his sword beside her and took her in his arms, but needed to only see her glassy eyes to know what had become of her.  Though he didn’t understand how, he knew it had to have something to do with the strange woman that had entered their town.  The one that was still standing.  Moved by anguish, he reached out for his sword again, eyes fixed on Levy.

Gajeel didn’t miss it, and it broke him out of his stupor.  “Don’t!”  Gajeel barked suddenly and forcefully enough to give Warner pause.  “Don’t.  Touch her.”  The look of distrust on the other man’s face was clear, and Gajeel lifted a hand, “Just wait a damn second.  It’s not her, it’s…” well, he didn’t know what the hell it was.  “Just wait.”

Levy swayed a little, and finally, started to straighten up.  “Oh…”  she exhaled deeply, lifting her head quickly with a big smile on her face, hair flowing around her features.  Eyes wild.  “Oh this is exquisite.  It’s so, different.  There’s so much.  More than I can even reach.  I can’t even see the bottom!”  The frenzied woman let out a quick laugh, gripping both sides of her head and spinning in a single circle on one foot before finally focusing back onto Gajeel.  “You!”  She snapped her fingers at him, trying to break him from the daze he was in.  “Who is she?  What is she?  This is not the mind of a human.”

It took her. Just like that, she looked entirely different.  The sparkle was gone, she looked duller somehow, even if overall she became much more manic. The gold of her irises, if hadn’t known better, had turned to ash.  This wasn’t the same woman he had come here with.  Whatever that necklace was, had stolen her.  Stolen her from him, he realized.  But he wasn’t as disturbed by that as he was by the muffling of her.  He could think of no other way to put it.  “You, took her,”

“That’s not what I asked you,” she snapped.  “But I’ll get to it eventually.  Recent memories to sift through.  A lot of you, really.  Oh, she likes you.”  Levy winked, then continued to speak as though she was flipping through a book, eyes focusing on nothing in particular, “You, you, and oh-ho,” her eyes widened, happening upon a memory that caught her attention, “What a ship.  A ship!  Bigger on the inside?  But no, wait, it’s a time machine?  That explains you two.  Now, there are some possibilities.  I only know of one race that makes one like--”  The possessed woman stopped suddenly, eyes growing wide.  She jolted like a shock ran through her.  “That, no.  She’s not, there aren’t any…!”  Suddenly she was looking straight through him, unfocused, and her mouth moving to try and form words she couldn’t finish. She staggered backwards a step, the air leaving her lungs in horror.

Behind her, Waner held the innkeep closer, inching away from the, and the spectacle that was unfolding before him.  

Finally Gajeel found his composure, closing the distance and taking hold of her upper arms.  “Levy!  You in there?!  Hey, come on!”  He called, shaking her gently, but her expression didn’t change.

“There’s so, I-I can’t.  So much, so many… I see all of it, at once!  I can’t take--all this at once!” Her eyes were searching now, and finally in an instant they focused back onto him like he was an answer to the crisis, a vicious glare on her features.  “I need out--out!  It burns!” she cried out, shaking considerably.  “I can see them.  They’re dying, all of them are...!”  Levy’s hands flew up to take the necklace, which now glowed a faint blue he hadn’t noticed before.  “You.  I need, you, before she--”  She started to lift it, and Gajeel’s grip loosened slightly when he realized what she meant to do.  But he didn’t outright recoil from her.

Then, just as quickly as it had started, she stopped, her face becoming far more calm.  A quiet, punctuated only by both of their hurried breaths, settled back upon them.  The glow of the necklace brightened suddenly, and the woman let out a deep sigh, closing her eyes slowly.  More breaths, settling herself, heaving her shoulders.

“Too much at once?” Her voice was quiet, gentle, but vaguely threatening.  Different from the Vimm’s; far more refined, and primally frightening.  “Vimms are leechers, not gorgers.  And you are not made for a conscience like mine,” she paused, “You are finished here.”  Like a dying flame, the pendant’s glow fizzled, sputtered, and just like that it was gone.  Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked back up to her companion.  The resplendent gold staggered his heart’s rhythm for a split second, and the warm smile almost stopped it. “Hello.”

“You, you’re, are you…?” he stammered, all coherency leaving him.

“Yes me,” she smiled, glancing at his hands.  “You can let me go now.”  Shocked, he dropped his hands and took a quick step back.  Levy took off the necklace nonchalantly, earning a strongly suspicious stare from the man.  “It’s safe now.  Short circuited as it were.  Or, something of the like.  Not quite because it wasn’t electronic but… oh you get it.”

“What… the hell… did you do?” he finally got out, “What was that?”

“Yes,” Warner’s voice cut between them, bringing their attention back to the startled, and still armed man.  One arm held up his sword defensively, the other clutched a motionless Trea to his knelt frame. “What have you done?  And what magic is this?” His voice was sharp, and dangerously accusatory.  Levy already knew how this would go, but she could still hope that an explanation would be the tiniest bit beneficial.  Still, in what she had tried to make look like thoughtful pacing, she separated herself from the two of them before speaking.

“This?”  She gestured with the necklace, before pulling open her coat pocket and dropping it inside.  “Harmless trinket now.”  Levy could see on both their faces that this wasn’t a sufficient answer.  “Vimms--what that was--feed on consciousness, minds, until there is nothing left.  A human can feed a Vimm for a few weeks if they want to make it last, or drain them in hours.”  Levy glanced to Trea, “Leaving nothing left.  She could have done the same to you,” she looked back to Gajeel, “Easily.  And obviously we couldn’t have that, though I appreciate the sentiment.  But if she knew I was Time Lord, she would have never chosen me.  Time Lord consciousness is more than anyone but a Time Lord can take.”  She looked to him now, “You did well, Metal Man.  Even called me by my name.  I’d say that’s progress.”  She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“And where the hell does that leave us?  You’ve done this!  How are you going to undo it?”  Warner demanded, gesturing to the woman in his arms.

Unable to say anything, Gajeel looked to Levy, who had something he couldn’t quite pin on her expression.  She was calm, but there wasn’t the worry of someone who was facing a mistake, or crisis.  It was almost the face of someone who wasn’t surprised; someone who had expected this.  She was the doctor holding bad news that had been expected from the start, ready to break it to the family.  

“There’s nothing that can be done.”  Flat-toned, blunt.  Levy looked directly at Warner, “It can’t be reversed, there is nothing you can do for her but keep her comfortable.  And Lana, the herbalist...she is out here somewhere in the same state.  She is the one that was held before her.”

His knuckles turned white, gripping his weapon.  He trembled, but stayed put.  “You,” his voice was strained, and it cracked slightly, “You said that thing was gone?  Entirely?”

Levy nodded.

“Then leave.  Never return here, or I will meet you with violence.  If not for your darkness, then for impersonating the Baron’s scout,” The guard shifted his blade in his grip to punctuate his threat, but it wasn’t necessary.  

“I am sorry for your loss,” Levy replied gently, turning so quickly to walk away that it stunned Gajeel.  His mouth hung open, feeling as though he should say something, but the piercing glare from Warner urged him after her.  

The walk back to the Tardis was painfully quiet, and it wasn’t until she was standing in front of the doors that she heard him come to a heavy stop.  She turned to face him, knowing he had been stewing on the words he wanted to say to her.  She didn’t need to prompt him, she just waited.  

“That girl’s gonna die,” he said simply.

“Yes,” she replied.  “She’s already dead,” Levy added.  “This is the past.  In your life, she’s centuries past.  She’s dust.”  She clasped her hands behind her back, standing very still.

Each statement seemed loaded, but Gajeel was too frustrated to notice.  “No, nuh-uh.  You can’t say that.  This ain’t the past.  We are here now, and she is alive--dying--now,” he shot back, gradually raising his voice.  “And we were part of it.”

The Time Lady’s eyes looked him over for a moment, taking in the aggravation etched on his features and the heated outrage that radiated off of him.  She deliberately said nothing, waiting for the train of his thoughts to direct itself.

“Aren’t you bothered by that?” he finally demanded.

“Are you?”

Gajeel faltered, stunned that she would ask such a thing.  He sputtered for a moment, tilting his head in disbelief.  “I’m an asshole but I’m not a damn monster.  Of course I care that she’s gonna die.  And for what?  Because you had to show off?  And to so eagerly let it nearly happen to you,” he could see her start to try and disagree, but he cut her off, “I don’t care if you think you got some damn top tier invincible brain that only you can handle or what-the-fuck-ever, I didn’t know that.  You didn’t tell me and so you got me thinking it’s gonna happen to you.  I don’t care how you wanna slice it, it ain’t alright for you to mess with me like that.  You got a damn plan?  Tell me!”

She watched his shoulders heave from the effort, her brow furrowed thoughtfully.  After a quiet moment, she nodded, “Okay.”

His shoulders dropped and he staggered a little.  “What?”

“I said okay.  I’ll tell you next time,” she replied.  “I just needed to know if there would be a next time.”

“The hell is that supposed to mean?”

Levy sighed, “Not everyone I meet is of stellar character.  And I only take the best with me.  I needed to know who you were.  And you’ve showed me.  Both just now and when you offered yourself to the Vimm.  I will keep you in the loop for now on.”  Before he could think of a reply, she reached into her coat pocket and produced a small metal object that left Gajeel wondering just how much she could possibly stash away in one garment.  “And yes, I do care.  Deeply.  More than I can express, really.  But I have spent a great deal of time alone; which makes the maintenance of humanity difficult for someone who isn’t human.  I need someone to remind me.”  She held out the object to him, which he could now see was a key on a silver chain, “If you still want to.”

Gajeel released his tension as understanding replaced his anger, and he released a shaky breath. A key to the Tardis.  A solidification of his invitation.

Holding the key in front, her eyes probed him for any answer.  “I told you, at the start, that it would be dangerous.  But it is also...this.  People die, Gajeel.  I try, but I cannot save them all.  Sometimes we get days, those rare days, where everyone lives.  I cling to those.  You will have to as well.  If you choose to come, but say the word and I will take you home, not 5 minutes from your departure, and you can return to your life.”  There was a control, a practiced tone in her words that told him she had done this many times before.  Like everything else he had already seen, and bit by bit he was comprehending her years.

  This woman is a damn trip.  But still…  Slowly, he reached out and took her hand in his, studying her face for a moment, and finally flashed her a toothy smile.  “Sure thing, short stuff.”  Releasing his hold on her after a moment, he took the key and paused before dropping the chain over his head, “This isn’t gonna steal my brain, is it?”

Levy chuckled, opening the doors behind her with a wink, “In a manner of speaking.”