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luxaofhesperides · 4 months ago

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the beginning - danny

The Lazarus Pit brings Danny back.

The child who went into them, however, is gone forever.

Danyal al Ghul is the soul who should reside in this body. Danyal has a life still to live and Danny died ages ago, old and surrounded by loved ones, ready to spend the rest of his forever in the Infinite Realms.

Something's gone terrible wrong, he thinks rather wryly, squinting through the cold green water that surrounds him. An ache echoes through his body and he brings a hand—small, a child's hand that shouldn't belong to him— to his stomach, where he can feel a large wound slowly pull itself together.

Did I get stabbed?

He means to continue the thought, but a sharp pain hits his head, making him curl up. He gasps and air bursts from his lungs, water rushing to fill in the empty space. Danny chokes, panicking, as memories slide into place, the lives of Danyal al Ghul and Danny Fenton fighting for dominance in his head. His lungs burn, throat working futilely to push water out, but there's nothing to be done.

Danny is a child again, and just like last time, he dies young.

1. So.

Assassins.

Danny honestly can't tell if this is a step up or a step down from mad scientist parents. On the one hand: he knows they loved him, as clumsy as it was, even though they loved their work more. On the other hand: assassin cult sounds like something out of a fairy tale, and while cool, is definitely not safe for kids.

And Danny, somehow, is a child again.

This really wasn't what he expected when he woke up on the sandy bottom of the pit. He's in ghost form, which is an unpleasant shock, but at least its familiar.

He is also, if his memory as Danyal serves him correctly, nine years old.

Kinda sucks that he died so young this time round. Didn't even make it to the double digits before he was taken out of the running.

He can't remember what it was like being so small in his last life. He can't imagine how anyone would look at a child and run them through with a sword. It's a cruel world he's woken up in. It's made worse by the fact that he's alone.

At least being down here without needing to breathe is giving him valuable time to think.

Danny has lived a full life already. He didn't really need or want another one, content to be a full ghost in the Infinite Realms. But going back isn't really an option, now that he's in a new body. The kid he could have been deserves to live fully, and the least Danny can do is live that life for them.

It'll be hard, but Danny's sure he can manage a decent life for himself.

Being presumed dead will make his escape from the assassins easier, though he'll miss getting the chance to meet his new mother; assassin as she is, Danyal knows her not by her blades but by her soft lullabies and jasmine-scented hair. The loss of her child must be hurting her deeply, but it's necessary. If Danny wants any semblance of a normal life, he has to leave her behind.

Besides, he's seen enough death. He doesn't want to ever be the cause of it.

So, he needs a plan for this new life.

Step one: get out of dodge.

The rest he'll figure out on the way.

Turns out assassins weren't the most shocking thing in this new life.

No, that honor goes to superheroes.

Genuine, honest to God superheroes! With powers and everything!

To think that Danny once called himself a superhero. Ha! As if! He's nothing compared to the likes of Superman or the Flash or even Green Lantern. They're in another league. Literally. They're part of the Justice League, which has a whole slew of other heroes, and Danny is possibly their biggest fan.

Not like that's weird; most people in this world are huge fans of superheroes. Makes sense, since they're the ones who rely on their protection the most.

It does suck to know that his background belongs to that of a villain. Assassins aren't known for saving people, after all.

Part of him contemplates becoming a hero again, taking up the role of Phantom and joining the ranks of Superman. But he's had many years to come to terms with the loss of his teenage years and the bitterness that came with it. That experience, that life once lived, helps him decide each time that being a civilian is the gift this life owes him.

At thirteen, Danny lives in a foster home with six other kids. He's the oldest and has his hands full taking care of everyone else while their foster parents work three jobs between them to keep them all afloat.

When his younger siblings play superheroes, he gladly takes the role of the villain, swooping in with a blanket to kidnap away an innocent bystander that has to be rescued. He falls over dramatically at the end of each fight and praises his siblings' strength and teamwork, making them puff up with pride.

It's all fun and games so long as it only stays fun and games.

Superpowers are cool and all, but his came at the cost of his life, his health, his future. He knows, better than anyone, the price of being a hero. He knows that even Superman carries heavy losses on his shoulders, struggles under burdens no one can see.

He's lucky that the small town he ended up in—Luray, Virginia—has no heroes or villains. Too small a place to be on anyone's radar, apparently.

His classmates often complain about how they wish they could live in a big city where there's more to do, more to see, superheroes flying through the streets to protect them.

Danny is happy where he is. It's quiet, and small, and nothing like what he's used to, but it's safe.

That's all he really wants.

Here's something that stays the same no matter what world he's in: Danny is a magnet for trouble.

If the trouble stopped at bullies, everything would have been fine. Danny could handle Dash, and he could handle Justin just as easily.

But the universe loves to escalate with Danny, specifically, which is why Danny had to reveal his powers when some villain-wannabe school shooter attacked his high school.

And to think he felt bad for Jackson when he didn't make it onto the track team.

Luray does not have a meta population. They're too small to have much of a population at all, and much of it is white which made him, half-Iranian, stand out even before he threw out a barrier of ice to protect his classmates a second before the gunfire began.

"Danny?!" his seatmate, Clarrissa, cries out in alarm.

"Everyone get out the window and run for it!" he orders, "I hold him back as much as I can!"

"You can't stay here!"

"Don't worry," Danny says, offering her a tight smile. "He couldn't kill me even if he tried. Now go!"

His classmates hadn't wasted any more time, sending him shocked looks as they escaped the classroom. A glimpse of his reflection in the window revealed glowing green eyes and blue mist wafting out of his mouth.

Looks like his time in Luray is up. He hopes his foster siblings won't be too mad at him for running away.

The gunfire stops, and Danny takes his chance to leap through his ice, intangible, and tackle Jackson, easily knocking the gun away from him.

"Monster!" Jackson spits at him, and Danny laughs.

"Bold of you to say that. I'm not to one trying to kill people."

He doesn't want to hear anything else that comes out of Jackson's mouth, so he knocks the guy out with a solid hit to a pressure point on his neck. Hopefully that'll keep him down long enough for the cops to get him.

Danny stands and means to leave, but something hits the back of his head hard and he's out before he realizes what's happened.

When he wakes up, he's strapped down to a table in what is undeniably a lab, and sighs.

At least he made it to sixteen before he went into another lab. Maybe in his next life he might even get all the way up to twenty before he's pulled back down here.

4. Though he has all his powers and a ghost form, that doesn't mean he is a ghost in this life.

No, he's fully a meta, which means meta-suppressing cuffs work on him.

It's not exactly a discovery he was hoping to have while locked up in a lab, but it's what he's got, so he has to roll with it. The cuffs are heavy on his wrists and around his throat, keeping him from escaping as a group of people in masks and lab coats bustle around, ignoring him.

His head is still foggy, though likely more from the drugs than the hit he took to his head.

He doesn't bothering talking to any of them; they don't see him as human, and Danny's dealt with enough of that in his past life.

Mad scientists love to talk though, so he still hears the gist of their plans: recreating the meta gene for normal people, making a profit from selling powers, getting rich and famous from their accomplishments. They had been using Jackson to get corpses for human testing, but they got Danny instead — someone they can harvest bio material for, a much better find than a couple dead kids.

If he had the energy to rage, Danny would have killed everyone in the room already. They planned to kill his classmates just for test subjects.

He doesn't want to be an assassin, but he'd gladly lean into those old lessons to make sure they never hurt anyone again.

But the cuffs and drugs do a good job of keeping him docile, barely able to think, as they transport him around to different locations and cut him open.

He's not sure how long it's been when they ease up on the drugs a bit. It still takes time for his body to work through everything, and he comes too with a throat that's dry and a stomach that hasn't had anything in it for quite some time.

The first thing Danny does when they start asking him questions is throw up on them.

If they wanted cooperation, they should have treated him better. This is fully on them.

It makes for a convincing argument for food and water and a bathroom break, at least, so he gets what he demands and takes care of his human body under the cold gazes of three scientists.

"You guys suck," he says conversationally. "Keeping test subjects alive is like basic knowledge. No wonder y'all suck at your jobs."

"Your comments aren't needed," one of the scientists says primly. "Get up. We need to study how using your powers affects your body."

They hook a bunch of different things onto him, then lock him in a glass cage and use the cuff around his throat to send jolts of electricity through him when he doesn't do anything. He throws a chunk of ice at them, watching as it breaks apart into small pieces when it hits the glass. The scientists scribble in their notepads, and when they look at him again, he flips them off.

He gets shocked again, but it's worth it.

The process repeats for another few hours, then he's pulled out of the cage, gets an IV stuck in his arm, and drops off into drugged oblivion before he has time to start throwing hands.

It must have been months. Danny's not sure; it's hard to keep track of time when locked in isolation.

He knows he's fed at least once a day. He's been getting a tray of bland food at random times, but he's counted over 50 trays sliding through the little slot on the bottom of his cell door.

Turns out insulting scientists and their procedures is a bad idea, especially when he has the language to really bruise their egos.

So.

Isolation sucks.

But at least they don't drug him anymore!

The cuffs do their job of keeping him in place, and if he didn't have memories of another life to keep him company, he definitely would have lost his mind long ago.

There's other people in here, other metas. He's heard them screaming and begging for mercy. He's heard them go chillingly quiet. He wonders why there are so many superheroes in this world when not a single one has come to save them.

Surely at least one would notice metas disappearing and would investigate?

But no.

No one ever comes to save them.

So Danny needs to figure out a way past the cuffs, and then he can be Phantom again long enough to free the other metas and make every scientist involve pay for their crimes.

He just needs to wait.

He just needs—

When Danny wakes up, the alarms are ringing. It makes his head pound, throbbing with each piercing sound.

He stumbles up, using the wall to keep his balance, and freezes when he sees that the door to his cell is open.

…Huh.

The hallway is bathed in red light when he steps out. No one's around. He wanders around the facility, searching for answers and only finds more questions.

There are other cells, also empty. Certain rooms have blood splattered across the walls and the floor, but no bodies. Labs are destroyed, broken glass on the floor. But every room is empty.

He wanders until he finds what must be a security room. There's a strange device dangling off a keychain on a rack, and Danny eyes it curiously. He runs his fingers around the cuff on his throat, feels the little depression where the collar comes together, and takes the rounded device. If it doesn't work, then it doesn't work.

But if it does work…

The cuff pops open easily, as if it hasn't been his greatest foe these past few months.

All at once, his strength returns to him. He has forgotten what it was like to breathe easily, to feel his powers come to his call so easily, to be reassured that he can take care of himself.

It's almost like coming back to life.

He transforms, settling back into his ghost form with relief, and flies through the facility in search of any other metas that may need help. He finds no one, but he does catch a glimpse of the outside.

The sky is so blue it almost hurts to look at. Part of the facility has been blown apart; rubble surrounds the place and the surrounding forest has been flattened. It looks as though a fight has moved through the area.

Maybe a superhero did come to save them? Rude of them to leave only Danny, though.

He continues his search, poking his head into different rooms and hallways. He finds a staircase going down and follows it into the basement. More labs greet him, and the glow of computers and strange vials of liquid leave him unsettled.

There's a green glow coming around the corner than reminds him of the Lazarus Pit he flew out of, once upon a time many years ago, and that's what draws him forward.

Tucked away in that familiar glow is a small body, floating in a tube of liquid. There's an oxygen mask attached to her face, but that doesn't stop Danny from recognizing her.

"Ellie?"

Just like in one life, Danny is cloned. The difference is that this time, there's no reason for it, no insane godfather trying to recreate a version of him that will choose him.

No, this time it's from a group of scientists who should have known better, who decided to mess around with his genes, and brought his once little sister now daughter into such a cruel, dangerous world.

Danny barely remembers breaking the glass to get her out of there. He doesn't know where he found the coat to bundle her up in, flying out of the facility as fast as he could. He feels sick, knowing it's his fault that she's here now, forced into a painful, terrifying existence because he wasn't strong enough to save himself.

He's a runaway meta victim of mad science. He can't take care of her.

"I'm sorry, Ellie," he whispers to her, pressing a kiss against her head. "I'm so sorry."

She small in his arms. She barely weighs anything.

Danny blinks back tears and tries to find some place he can stop and rest, somewhere safe he can gather his thoughts and figure out his next steps.

This isn't like when he first woke up in this world, with both sets of memories.

This is Ellie.

She deserves more than just a wish and a half-baked plan for a better life.

She deserves a family that wants her, that can care for her, that can protect her. She deserves to grow up normally and not worry about destabalizing or being a replacement for him or being hunted down.

She deserves one life to be a kid and grow up safe and be whoever she wants to be.

Danny will never be able to give her that.

But maybe he can give her to someone who can.

Danyal grew up with an assassin mother and a cruel grandfather who expected far too much from a child. He was taught to kill and be more weapon than child. He was taught the world was something for him to take, to protect, to water with blood.

Danyal was meant to be the next Demon Head, and the next Bat.

Danny knows he can't go to his mother. If they're both lucky, he will never have to see her again. Knowing his luck, he's already planning explanations for why he never went back to her.

Danny's father, on the other hand…

It didn't take much to put the pieces together. The notorious Bat is Batman, Gotham's vigilante and one of the founders of the Justice League. While a child would have been left confused by the many comments his mother made about his father, it was simple enough for Danny to line them up with what he learned about the heroes of this world and realize, oh, that's my dad.

It takes a few weeks of research, using public libraries with Ellie tucked securely in a wrap to his chest, but he's able to learn more about Batman.

The most important thing being that he has kids.

Of course, none of this is officially acknowledged, but everyone knows that the Robins are his kids. Current Robin, especially, likes to remind people that he's 'the son of Batman'.

Okay. Cool.

Danny has siblings.

Awesome.

He's… not looking forward to those conversations.

At least it means more people to look after Ellie. Assuming they take her in, which Danny's really hoping for.

But it's the best he can do, so Danny sets course for Gotham and hopes that just this once, everything will work out.

Meeting the Bats of Gotham is a lot harder than he expected.

A week in the city and he's barely caught more than a glimpse of them. He can't dedicate a lot of time to tracking them down either, needing to break into grocery stores to get food for him and Ellie.

She's so quiet as a baby, and it terrifies him. She's only cried twice the entire time he's had her, and Danny spends every day begging her to hold on.

Time during the day is spent catching naps and researching common vigilante spotting areas in Gotham. He's got a map of Gotham taken from a library and has been steadily marking it up, putting stars in the best places to find a Bat. There are places all over the city, and Danny has no idea how to know which ones are the best.

The only thing he can do is wait at a different rooftop each night, clinging to Ellie, wondering if this is the last night he has with her.

On the ninth night, someone finally arrives.

"Step away from the edge," a voice demands.

Danny turns to see Robin approaching, hands held out as if to catch him. He's bigger than Danny was expecting. Which makes sense; most of the stories Danny got online are from when Robin was a kid, and it's been a few years since then. He must be a teenager now. Older, but still young.

"Robin," he manages to say, his throat tightening. It feels almost like there's a noose around it. It feels like that meta-suppressing cuff has clicked back into place, leaving him helpless.

"Step away from the edge," Robin repeats. "There is no need for this to be your last resort."

"But it is," Danny whispers.

Robin darts forward and wraps a hand around Danny's wrist, yanking him towards the center of the roof. "Why on Earth would you come up here? Surely you must have known that someone would stop you."

"Batman," he gets out. "I need to speak to Batman."

"What for?"

"I'm… I was told, once, that I'm his son."

10. Robin stares at him for a long moment.

Then he takes off his mask.

Danny knows those eyes: he sees them every time he looks in a mirror.

"Danyal," Robin breathes. "You died before I was born."

"I did. Are you…?"

"Mother told me about you."

So he has a little brother. If only he hadn't left first chance he got, he could have known his little brother, gotten away from that place before it hurt him too. Danny has made many mistakes since he arrived in this world. Missing a little brother is perhaps the worst of them.

"Mother…" Danny repeats. "She put me in the Lazarus Pit. I remember that. She didn't want me to die."

"I was born to replace you."

Just like Ellie.

So many mistakes repeating. He's never felt like more of a failure.

"Batman. Our father. He treats you well? You are safe with him?"

Robins brows furrow, but he nods, which is enough for Danny. "Yes. Of course. Isn't that why you're here now?"

"I'm not asking for me." Danny carefully, gently, unwraps Ellie. "I'm asking for her. Please, take care of her. She deserves more than I can give her. Ellie… she'd be your niece."

Robin's eyes are wide. He's frozen until Danny pushes Ellie against his chest, forcing him to lift his arms to hold her.

"Wait, what about—?"

When Robin looks up, Danny's already gone.

It's for the best.

(masterpost for all parts)

#dc x dp #dp x dc #dcxdp #dpxdc #demon brothers #dcxdp fic #the harmless series #gonna make that a full series. all posts will be part of that. heres the beginning of it all!!#reincarnation + demon brothers + baby ellie #tw human experimentation #dw there will be more #i'll have a full masterpost to add to the end of each post once i write and post the next part #which will be damian's pov and the aftermath of danny revealing himself and leaving ellie #my writing

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forgettable-au · 1 month ago

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FORGETTABLE AU: CHAPTER ONE

[MASTERPOST][PROLOGUE][NEXT CHAPTER]

PAGES:

21-23 , 24-27 28-31 , 32-35 36-39 , 40-43 44-47 , 48-52 53-56 , 57-60 61-64 , 65-72

#Okay so ignore this if you see it in your timeline lol #I ran out of space in the masterpost and will need to make one of these for each chapter because if I don't I won't have space for links #that's okay tho #because I can add the cover of the chapter hehe #Gonna do one for the prologue later #BTW YEAH I CHANGED THIS COVER A LITTLE CAUSE WINGDINGS LOOKED WEIRD #He looks better now #i think #maybe my eyes are tricking me #made some small changes to the cover

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werewolfsmile · 6 months ago

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The Eliot Spencer Details Masterpost

I have been recording details about our beloved Eliot Spencer on my latest watch through. And now, it's finally time to reveal the details!! If I have gotten any details INCORRECT, I beg of you to correct me, at which time, this post will be updated and credit given. (Note: S1 was aired out of chronological order. I am going by chronological episode numbers - aka the correct order - and providing the episode titles as well to minimise confusion.) !! This post contains details from Leverage: Redemption! Read the episode references carefully if you are wanting to avoid certain spoilers !!

Shirtless Moments

S1 E7 The Two-Horse Job: The flashback scene when Aimee asks Eliot what his excuse was for not coming back to her, we see him being dragged/tortured, shirtless. "Tell us what you did with the monkey!"

S2 E2 The Tap-Out Job: Eliot is shirtless for the fight match.

S4 E9 The Cross My Heart Job: Ehh he's not completely shirtless here but whatever. At about 16 mins in, Eliot and Parker are getting changed together, Eliot strips to a singlet then throws his shirt at me the camera. (I didn't include other scenes of Eliot in a singlet here because in this scene he's actively undressing, whereas in others he's not.)

Necklaces

The earliest sighting of his guitar pick necklace is S1 E2 The Homecoming Job. It continues to pop up frequently in episodes, though noticeably less in S1. I thought about recording every occurrence of it here but ... lmao it's in legit waaayyyy too many episodes for me to bother.

S2 E10 The Runway Job: Honourable mention of the necklaces Eliot wears with his fashion week outfit. The longer one is kinda dogtag-esque, the shorter one is ... I think it's a fleur de lis? He also wears a range of chain necklaces later in this episode.

S4 E18 The Last Dam Job: Bird pendant (possibly kingfisher) visible at 34 mins 39 seconds. Full credits to @wolves-in-the-world for this one including the time stamp! You can check out their reblog of this post with more details here!

Dammit Hardison

S1 E13 The Second David Job: The FIRST INSTANCE of dammit Hardison in the entire show! Said upon discovering each other in the gallery, around 4 mins 15 seconds.

S2 E1 The Beantown Bailout Job: Said around 22 mins 30 seconds, immediately following, "What are the odds that Eliot's crotch will actually explode?" Iconic.

S2 E6 The Top Hat Job: When setting up for the magic show and discovering the rabbit missing, roughly 19 mins 45 seconds.

S3 E3 The Inside Job: Running from security, around 31 mins 30 seconds.

S3 E4 The Scheherazade Job: Trying to enter McRory's at the same time, around 1 min 30 seconds.

S3 E5 The Double Blind Job: This is an honourable mention because this time NATE is the one to say dammit Hardison! 9 mins 15 seconds.

S3 E6 The Studio Job: Upon discovering the master tape isn't in the case, roughly 32 mins.

S3 E7 The Gone Fishin' Job: Eliot and Hardison running in the woods for their lives, arguing as always. This one is a bonus 'dammit' because Hardison says it straight back to Eliot after Eliot yells it at him! Around 21 mins.

S3 E12 The King George Job: Discussing Hardison's forgery work, followed by Eliot regretting touching anything. Around 23 mins 55 seconds.

S3 E13 The Morning After Job: Pretending to be cops and accidentally ending up with a prisoner to take back to jail, around 16 mins 20 seconds.

S3 E14 The Ho Ho Ho Job: Honourable mention of Chaos mocking Eliot by saying dammit Hardison. Roughly 21 mins 15 seconds.

(phew, S3 was rough on Hardison! given what Eliot was going through with the whole Moreau thing.... ooh that's delicious angst)

S4 E5 The Hot Potato Job: Honourable mention for Sophie saying it this time! While playing the role that was meant for Eliot, around 24 mins.

S4 E6 The Carnival Job: Mixing chemicals for a distraction, roughly 25 mins 30 seconds.

S4 E17 The Radio Job: Hardison running away from being thrown off a high floor, around 5 mins.

S4 E18 The Last Dam Job: Sneaking around at the Bellington Dam, roughly 13 mins 35 seconds.

S5 E1 The (Very) Big Bird Job: 'Accidentally' putting a brew pub menu in front of Eliot, around 10 mins 20 seconds.

S5 E15 The Long Goodbye Job: Emotional scene that we do not speak about, around 12 mins 40 seconds.

RS1 E1 The Too Many Rembrandts Job: After knocking Harry out and asking Hardison to help carry Harry, and Hardison refuses. 11 mins 40 seconds.

RS1 E2 The Panamanian Monkey Job: Upon discovering that security is headed to the vault where Parker is, and the only way down there is through the vents. Around 34 mins 10 seconds.

RS2 E1 The Debutante Job: We get 3! In this whole episode! Probably to make up for Hardison being gone for most of Redemption. Anyway! First one when Eliot and Hardison are in Ralphie Roy's place and Hardison has no idea who Ralphie is, around 23 mins 15 seconds. Second is when they're breaking into the elevator and Hardison won't help fight or move the unconscious guards, roughly 37 mins 40 seconds. And third, after the job when Parker says that Hardison was the one who took out all the guards. Around 45 mins 10 seconds.

RS2 E3 The Tournament Job: Right at the start after Eliot says gaming isn't a sport and Parker texts Hardison, so Hardison starts blowing up Eliot's phone. Lmao. Around 4 mins 20 seconds.

RS2 E4 The Date Night Job: After realising Breanna stole his truck, Eliot says dammit, then aims it at a grinning Hardison, since Breanna is already running away. Around 46 mins 50 seconds.

Dammit Parker

S1 E4 The Snow Job: Parker jumps out of a second floor window, Eliot catches her. 15 mins. (Parker gets a dammit from Eliot before Hardison does!!)

S3 E8 The Boost Job: Parker driving erratically, Eliot thrown around in back seat. (Technically there's a pause between dammit and Parker but I'm still including it) 35 min 35 seconds.

S5 E12 The White Rabbit Job: Searching the mark's house, Parker wants to steal a shirt. Again, this isn't technically a proper dammit Parker, as Eliot instead says, "Put it back! Dammit." But I'm still including it because it was aimed at her. 21 mins 20 seconds.

RS1 E9 The Bucket Job: Parker is pretending to be a hacker heavily modelled off Hardison. Not a proper dammit Parker as, again, Eliot only mutters "dammit" under his breath, but still counts to me. Just after 18 mins.

RS1 E10 The Unwellness Job: At end of episode, after Parker admits that she didn't even learn Eliot's name till after the team broke up the first time. 44 mins 30 seconds.

RS1 E13 The Hurricane Job: After washing up on shore and entering the Beacon Inn, Parker and Eliot are bickering about Maria. He doesn't strictly say dammit Parker but there's absolutely no doubt who he's directing the dammits towards. 3 mins 30 seconds.

RS2 E6 The Fractured Job: When farewelling Billy and Parker says next time she'll finish telling him about the robot bodies. Again, it's just dammit not dammit Parker but it's close enough. 41 mins.

RS2 E8 The Turkish Prisoner Job: Another standalone dammit that is most definitely aimed at Parker! When breaking Romero out, Parker says she's a firefighter (with far too much glee), around 14 mins 30 seconds.

RS2 E10 The Work Study Job: A full dammit Parker this time! When Parker reveals that it's super easy to steal from a university and produces a whole bunch of stuff, roughly 22 mins 40 seconds.

Very Distinctive Moments

S1 E2 The Homecoming Job: Eliot ID's the weapon from the gunshots, around 8 mins. Later, he ID's a guy off his knife fighting style, around 18 mins 50 seconds.

S2 E6 The Top Hat Job: ID's a CIA guy from his stance, roughly 7 mins 45 seconds.

S3 E11 The Rashomon Job: ID's the smell of peppermint on Hardison's breath, around 21 mins.

S3 E12 The King George Job: ID's former British paratroopers by their haircuts, 30 mins 10 seconds.

S4 E1 The Long Way Down Job: ID's a former spetsnaz guy by his footprint, 13 mins 45 seconds.

S4 E5 The Hot Potato Job: Honourable mention of Eliot ID'ing ex-military personnel by their stances, he just doesn't say very distinctive. 18 mins 50 seconds.

S4 E11 The Experimental Job: Honourable mention of Eliot ID'ing a helicopter by the whumpa-whumpa (there's 7 of them did you know). Around 7 mins.

S5 E3 The First Contact Job: ID's military satellite transmission by the static, 7 mins 20 seconds.

S5 E9 The Rundown Job: ID's a Navy Seal who enlisted between '90-'95 by his watch, around 16 mins.

RS1 E2 The Panamanian Monkey Job: ID's a drone (Breanna's) from the sound. 11 mins 50 seconds.

RS1 E3 The Rollin' On The River Job: ID's Russian mob by the tattoos, 36 mins 30 seconds.

RS1 E7 The Double-Edged Sword Job: Honourable mention for Maria ID'ing the way Eliot disarmed her gun, 7 mins 50 seconds.

RS2 E4 The Date Night Job: Eliot ID's a guy as not having a distinctive anything - which is what is so distinctive. 20 mins 40 seconds.

RS2 E13 The Crowning Achievement Job: ID's MI6 off their search pattern, 6 mins 50 seconds.

Known Family

S1 E6 The Miracle Job: When discussing Bibletopia, Eliot says his nephew would like it. This is the ONLY mention of a nephew in the entire show, Redemption included; nor is there any direct mention of a sibling beyond this (which leads me to believe that this nephew is actually the son of a close friend/cousin/military buddy, rather than a direct family relation, but that's just my headcanon).

S2 E3 The Order 23 Job: When talking to the abused boy, Randy, Eliot says he has an uncle named Randy.

S5 E11 The Low Low Price Job: Eliot's dad owned a hardware store and he wanted Eliot to take over one day. But Eliot wanted to get out of that small town, so he joined the service. Fought with his dad the night before he left and hasn't been back since. He goes back at the end of this episode and knocks - but his dad never answers the door 😭

RS1 E9 The Bucket Job: While interrogating/torturing Eliot with Red Haze, Bligh says that Eliot's dad's friend from Vietnam has invited Eliot to join them for Christmas. At the end of the episode, Eliot goes to join them for dinner, only to get a message from 'J' that his dad was a no show. This 'J' is widely accepted as Eliot's unknown sibling but that is incorrect! 'J' is Eliot's dad's buddy from Vietnam!

RS2 E6 The Fractured Job: The ultimate Eliot family backstory episode!! (if you haven't seen it yet and don't want spoilers, skip this one!) Eliot was adopted by a black couple, Billy and an unnamed woman, after being abandoned/surrendered at a hospital as a baby. His father was a war hero who got none of the glory and sustained a wound, ruining his civilian career path, so Billy never wanted Eliot to follow in his footsteps. Eliot loved the stories of his dad in the military so joined up to be like him. His mother died while Eliot was on an op and he couldn't get leave to come back for the funeral, deepening the rift between him and Billy. Ultimately, they reconcile, (Eliot says his dad was always a hero to him, Billy say's he's proud of Eliot, they hug), and I cry every time 😭❤️ [Edit: Eliot being a baby at the time of being found at the hospital and consequently brought home by his adopted mother is unconfirmed and my presumption. We have no clear info on his age at adoption. Thanks to @nival-kenival for picking that up!]

Phrases: Ain't

S1 E4 The Snow Job: Said to Nate, right before Nate tells him to go skip some rope.

S1 E9 The Stork Job: Says it twice while conning Irina.

S1 E10 The Juror #6 Job: Upon being told to go help Parker instead of watching a sports game, Eliot takes his beer back.

S2 E2 The Tap-Out Job: Discussing the fights the mark runs, says they ain't the UFC.

S2 E3 The Order 23 Job: Said right before threatening to throw Randy's abusive father over the railing of a stairwell.

S2 E4 The Fairy Godparents Job: Upon spotting a hitman sent to kill McSweeten and Taggart.

S2 E8 The Ice Man Job: After hearing Hardison call himself the Ice Man, says he won't bail him out when things go wrong.

S2 E9 The Lost Heir Job: While trying to get Parker to the court room and end up cut off by the police.

S2 E11 The Bottle Job: When Hardison wants help to clean up Nate's apartment and Eliot refuses.

S2 E14 The Three Strikes Job: When Nate says to meet outside the ballpark but Eliot refuses because now he's sucked into the sport.

S3 E3 The Inside Job: Twice while arguing with Hardison about how to rescue Parker, once when Parker offers him a lift down the stairwell with her on her harness rig and he refuses. This is the most he says ain't in a single episode!

S3 E7 The Gone Fishin' Job: Once when the militia try to make him kneel, later when the militia kid catches him and Hardison near the train tracks.

S3 E11 The Rashomon Job: When Sophie changes her story to mock Eliot's accent and mannerisms.

S3 E15 The Big Bang Job: When confronting Moreau with Hardison.

S4 E1 The Long Way Down Job: Upon arriving at the base camp and complaining to Nate.

S4 E7 The Grave Danger Job: When looking for a buried Hardison and hearing the sprinklers.

S4 E10 The Queen's Gambit Job: At the end, swearing revenge on Sterling.

S4 E12 The Office Job: Arguing with Hardison about Eliot's sandwich while searching the warehouse.

S4 E13 The Girls' Night Out Job: When trying to convince Nate to socialise at the very start.

S4 E14 The Boys' Night Out Job: Exactly the same as the previous episode, so this one barely counts.

S4 E17 The Radio Job: In the patent office, when trying to figure out who lured Nate into this situation. The same scene is used later as a flashback.

S4 E18 The Last Dam Job: Warning Nate of the consequences of taking a life with your own hands.

S5 E2 The Blue Line Job: When ambushed by Marko when leaving the ice rink.

S5 E9 The Rundown Job: Once when going to wring information on the hit out of Riley, once when Hardison steps on the trigger plate of the claymore.

S5 E13 The Corkscrew Job: First time talking to Betty about how Leonard's a jerk.

RS1 E1 The Too Many Rembrandts Job: Twice when ambushed by RIZ thugs in the warehouse.

RS1 E2 The Panamanian Monkey Job: Once when discussing Ryan Corbett at the start, once when refusing to let Hardison have a turn with the diamond-tipped drill.

RS1 E3 The Rollin' On The River Job: When warning Breanna to be certain of her calculations for how to get him and Parker out of the casino's vault.

RS1 E8 The Mastermind Job: Once when discussing hiring people to overthrow a government, once when discussing how they're going to do like 6 things at once, including saving Harry.

RS1 E9 The Bucket Job: Said twice while talking with Blanche, after Blanche helped rescue Eliot from RIZ.

RS1 E14 The Great Train Job: While digging through the tainted soil with Harry.

RS2 E1 The Debutante Job: When trying to get to Volkov's plane with Parker and seeing that two guards are in the way.

RS2 E5 The Walk In The Woods Job: Talking to Paul after rescuing Harry, who was pretending to be Eliot.

Fun fact: for every ain't that Eliot says, Hardison says at least two more. And that's too many for me to bother recording!

Phrases: Y'all

Never. Not even once.

Hardison, on the other hand, says y'all all the damn time - every season, multiple times, sometimes even multiple times in the same episode.

Honourable mention for Chaos saying y'all as an incorrect mockery of Eliot's accent in S3 E14 The Ho Ho Ho Job.

... Okay, okay! So Eliot says it a few times in Redemption! But only in ONE episode!

RS1 E1 The Too Many Rembrandts Job: Said 4 times when playing a character and convincing people to clear out of the auction house.

That's it.

Aliases

These are all the names that Eliot's gone by or used on cons that I could find, not just full blown aliases.

S1 E1 The Nigerian Job: Detective Lieutenant Carden (the scene with this alias was cut from a lot of versions of this episode)

S1 E4 The Snow Job: Vince Fetkey, Hans Von Schwesterkrank

S1 E7 The Two-Horse Job: Brad Mackie

S1 E9 The Stork Job: Dale

S1 E12 The First David Job: Professor Sinclair

S1 E13 The Second David Job: Professor/Dr Adam Sinclair

S2 E2 The Tap-Out Job: Kid Jones (on the fight match poster)

S2 E4 The Fairy Godparents Job: Coach Brewer

S2 E5 The Three Days Of The Hunter Job: Earl

S2 E9 The Lost Heir Job: Officer Hilts

S2 E10 The Runway Job: Julian

S2 E14 The Three Strikes Job: Roy Chappell

S3 E1 The Jailhouse Job: Dr Abernathy

S3 E2 The Reunion Job: Lloyd Hickey

S3 E4 The Scheherazade Job: Guy Hamilton

S3 E5 The Double Blind Job: Phil

S3 E6 The Studio Job: Kenneth Crane

S3 E7 The Gone Fishin' Job: Agent Quint

S3 E8 The Boost Job: Skeeter

S3 E9 The Three-Card Monte Job: Detective Moffat

S3 E10 The Underground Job: Eric

S3 E11 The Rashomon Job: Dr Wes Abernathy

S3 E16 The San Lorenzo Job: Ray Laroque

S4 E2 The Ten Li'l Grifters Job: Charlie Siringo

S4 E4 The Van Gogh Job: Lieutenant (only granting him this one because CK played him in the flashback)

S4 E5 The Hot Potato Job: Tom Boonen

S4 E12 The Office Job: Mr Dennis

S4 E14 The Boys' Night Out Job: Luigi

S4 E15 The Lonely Hearts Job: Jackson Cooper

S4 E16 The Gold Job: Tobias Bowden

S4 E17 The Radio Job: Cowboy (*cough* John McClane *cough*)

S5 E2 The Blue Line Job: Jacques "Jack" Labert

S5 E3 The First Contact Job: Willie Riker

S5 E5 The Gimme A K Street Job: Steven Turner

S5 E6 The DB Cooper Job: DB Cooper/Young Steve Reynolds (again, technically not an alias but whatever it's here anyway)

S5 E7 The Real Fake Car Job: Barry McElroy

S5 E11 The Low Low Price Job: Archer

S5 E14 The Toy Job: Carl

Honourable mentions of Eliot being called: "Rambo" by Hardison in S1 E2 The Homecoming Job [thanks @independent-fics for this!]; "Emeril" by Parker in S1 E3 The Wedding Job [thanks @aardvaark for this one!]; "Sparky" by Parker in S1 E10 The Juror #6 Job and by Tara in S2 E15 The Maltese Falcon Job; and "Skippy" by Hardison in S3 E7 The Gone Fishin' Job.

RS1 E1 The Too Many Rembrandts Job: Will Gallagher

RS1 E6 The Card Game Job: Glenn the Savage

RS1 E7 The Double-Edged Sword: Emmett Milbarge

RS1 E8 The Mastermind Job: Frank Farmer

RS1 E10 The Unwellness Job: Hank

RS1 E12 The Golf Job: Reed Wilkins

RS1 E13 The Hurricane Job: Calvin

RS1 E15 The Muddy Waters Job: Armus Vagra

RS2 E7 The Big Rig Job: Kris

RS2 E8 The Turkish Prisoner Job: Nick O'Brien

RS2 E10 The Work Study Job: New Blood, Caterpillar

Honourable mention of Eliot being called "Skipper" by Hardison in RS1 E16 The Harry Wilson Job.

Known Associates

This is in direct reference to hitters/people from the criminal world that Eliot knew or was aware of prior to the Leverage Team. Quinn is not included in this list due to that distinction (sorry Quinn).

S1 E3 The Wedding Job: The Butcher of Kiev

S2 E7 The Two Live Crew Job: Mikel Dayan

S3 E11 The Rashomon Job: Gutman

S3 E15 The Big Bang Job: Chapman, Damien Moreau

S3 E16 The San Lorenzo Job: Damien Moreau

S4 E4 The Van Gogh Job: Frank, Randall

S4 E6 The Carnival Job: Roper

S5 E4 The French Connection: Rampone

S5 E9 The Rundown Job: Riley

Trivia

S2 E6 The Top Hat Job: Eliot claims he only sleeps 90 minutes a day, and that he cured his claustrophobia as a kid by locking himself in the woodshed behind his house for a couple nights.

S3 E6 The Studio Job: Eliot is nervous to perform in front of an audience, to the point that Parker startles him and she's surprised that she did. Interesting to note that he seems to have no issue playing sport in front of crowds.

S3 E7 The Gone Fishin' Job: Eliot says he hates beets.

S4 E5 The Hot Potato Job: Eliot chews gum. He does this throughout a LOT of episodes across the seasons but I've only noted down this one episode for it.... thanks, past me 🙄 [Edit: thanks @nival-kenival for more info! Another confirmed episode is S1 E2 The Homecoming Job, and S3 E13 The Morning After Job!]

S4 E9 The Cross My Heart Job: Eliot says he fought a guy with a Nerf sword in Damascus, 2002.

S5 E11 The Low Low Price Job: Eliot drives an F-150 to his dad's house in Oklahoma. This is a THIRD vehicle that apparently belongs to Eliot, in addition to the Chevrolet Silverado and Dodge Challenger we see in other episodes. The F-150 is not seen again.

S5 E12 The White Rabbit Job: Eliot has 'special sedatives' aka a little psychotropic he picked up outside of Bogota.

Eliot mostly walks at the back of the group, presumably to be the rear guard and make sure no one falls behind. See ... just about every damn episode for evidence.

RS1 E3 The Rollin' On The River Job: Parker says that Eliot has cut his way out of an ice cave, escaped a gorilla enclosure, and catered a wedding for the mob.

Eliot is seen wearing glasses throughout various episodes. A flashback in S1 E1 The Nigerian Job shows him wearing presumably his own glasses. All other instances of him wearing glasses (that I can think of) are when he takes someone's glasses for a con. It is unconfirmed if Eliot actually needs glasses to correct his eyesight or not, but is a fandom headcanon. In S3 E1 The Jailhouse Job there is an interaction where Nate ribs Eliot for taking so long in a fight, and Eliot says it's because of new glasses. An argument could be made that this means Eliot does require glasses. [Thanks @independent-fics for picking this up - for pretty much all the details pertaining to Eliot's glasses!]

And there you have it! All the details that I've spent the last 3 months collecting!! Now it's time for me to take a good, long break because my brain is fried! 😂

Once again, let me know if you find any errors so I can update the post. Data from Redemption S2 is where I've most likely missed things, since I don't have it on DVD and it's sooo much harder to scrub through streaming footage to find things. When will they release RS2 on DVD I need itttt.

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! I hope this post can be a helpful reference for you!

#eliot spencer #leverage #leverage redemption #the eliot spencer details masterpost #meta #does this count as meta??? ah who cares.#christian kane #parker leverage #alec hardison #nate ford #sophie devereaux #my posts #reference #not everything has time stamps because i could. not. be. bothered.#just the stuff i figured i'd use the most #and ngl i started researching when he says 'y'all' because i often see it included in fics and i was like... eliot would not say that #not trying to have a go at anyone i just had to prove it for myself #this has been a labour of love #emphasis on the LABOUR #no more laptop time for a while #i'll be sticking to my phone thanks #oh and if anyone has details that they want to add on go for it!#this is an official leverage fandom resource #i was originally gonna add photos and/or gifs to this but lmao no #it's enough of a monster as is #time to post

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fumifooms · 9 months ago

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I am so sick of Kui. We see Hien’s younger sister in ONE panel in an extra on her blog that didn’t even get published and she’s in Toshizane’s retainer group.

And from other details we know it makes sense too, because both of Hien’s parents work for the Nakamotos and Hien herself grew up alongside Toshiro. Hien and Toshiro were childhood friends, so maybe this unnamed sister and Toshizane (Toshiro’s youngest brother) would parallel them. I’m hopeful that maybe they can stay friends as they grow up, instead of becoming distant and professional like Hien with Toshiro…

Kui really tought through every cm3 of her world I’m crying

#Dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #hien #The nakamoto household #Toshizane nakamoto #Prob gonna add this to my nakamoto masterpost. Gonna need to make it a reblog addition though i can’t live like this #Gonna make a speculation and analysis post soon on a similar topic too. So sorry if i start making super niche content soon #Like who tf will come be a Toshiyuki stan with me…#Also don’t come @ me about this girl and hien’s sister not necessarily being the same this is 1000% a Kui move to pull. THE BANG #We have no reason to assume she isn’t #BESTIESSSS it feels nice to know Zane has at least 1 kid his age around. A lil less lonely #Meta

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lonewolflink · 8 months ago

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Wheel, Snipe, Celly

Ryujin was surprised, but delighted, to discover that Yeji played in the bedroom the way she played on the ice: with tenacity, accuracy, and a touch of flair. --the ryeji college hockey au

Chapter 5 Preview: They continued the drill, round after round after round. Yeji, it turned out, was excellent at faceoffs—except against Ryujin, whom she had yet to beat. Perhaps a better person wouldn’t have taken a sick joy in the telltale signs of Yeji’s rising frustration—the clench of her jaw, the flare of her nostrils, the way she slammed her blade down onto the ice aggressively after a lost draw—but Ryujin had always had a bit of a petty, competitive streak in her.

chapter 1

chapter 2

chapter 3

chapter 4

✨chapter 5✨

prequel chapter 1 (2yeon)

#ryeji #ryeji au #itzy #itzy fanfic #yeji #ryujin #wsc #wheel snipe celly #hockey au #smoke signals #masterpost #!#ok i decided to make a master post and i'm just gonna do this every time i add a chapter #stealing my format from ddeongies #who is the source of all good ideas

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daz4i · 1 year ago

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uquiz masterpost

bc i have a lot of these and i thought it'd be cool to have them all organized in one place

most of these are from a few years ago so don't be too harsh on me

tag with probably all of them, if you wanna reblog with your results

general stuff:

which of my favorite ship tropes are you?

which of my favorite romantic tropes are you?

which character trope that i like are you?

which of my problems do you also have?

which of my other problems do you also have?

my writing:

which of my dnd characters are you?

which of my dnd characters are you... 2!

which one of my ocs are you but it's only lyrics and quotes questions

pick some stuff and i'll give you a song i wrote

fandoms:

general stuff (but it's fandom related this time):

pick some stuff and i'll kin assign you one of my favorite characters

pick some stuff and i'll kin assign you one of my favorite characters but it's different ones this time

pick some stuff and i'll kin assign you even more of my favorite characters

pick some stuff and i'll give you one of my fav characters (i really like making those.)

pick some stuff and i'll give you one of my fave ships

pick some stuff and i'll give you one of my favorite ships but it's different ones this time

pick some stuff and i'll give you one of my fav ships but it's a big quiz this time

haikyuu:

which of my haikyuu faves are you?

which of my haikyuu faves are you… 2!

which haikyuu captain are you? (+ canon next gens)

which haikyuu team do you belong on?

let me give you a haikyuu character i find relatable and gently call both of us out in the process

persona:

which persona protagonist are you?

which of my fav persona characters are you

pick some stuff and I'll give you a persona ship that lives in my head rent free

others:

which student from the blue lions are you?

guess what happened and didn't happen in bungou stray dogs (scored quiz, not a personality test)

i'm kinnie?:

which one of my kins are you?

pick some song lyrics and i'll give you one of my kins

i'll give you one of my kins and call both of us out then give you advice

#uquiz #masterpost #<- this tag's more for me tbh #gonna add this to my pinned post. hopefully. if i remember

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cherrio-krispz · 5 months ago

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made a strawpage!!

#gonna add it to my masterpost whatever thing #strawpage

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giantroboticplatypusbutt218 · 2 years ago

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Static

This is Part 4 of the Magnetic Attraction series.

Rating: General Audiences

Content Warnings: Fantastic Racism, Internalized Homophobia.

Summary: Tech finally seems to be on the right path to discovering his hidden powers and Rev decides to start setting up that party he promised for when he succeeds. Unbeknownst to each other, their progress is hindered by troubling memories and uncomfortable conversations.

Word Count: 8168

Here's the link to this work on Ao3, otherwise:

The sound of Ace’s footsteps contrasted sharply with the otherwise complete silence as he stepped into the lounge. Were it not for the bright red crest sticking up from the center cushion of the lounge sofa, Ace might have assumed nobody was there. But, somebody was there, and he happened to be the person he was looking for.

“Morning Rev,” he said, walking around the center couch and peering down at him.

“Hey,” Rev replied absently.

He was just… sitting there… staring at a plain ceramic mug on the coffee table. The TV wasn’t on, and he wasn’t talking or reading or… doing anything. Anything other than… staring.

“Are you… doing some weird sciency thing I’ve never heard of?”

Rev made a noncommittal noise.

“Uh… okay. Well,” Ace huffed and crossed his arms, “Tech wanted me to let you know that you shouldn’t bring anything electronic or filled with flammable gas out back today. He’s testing his new powers or something.”

“Tech?” Finally, Rev blinked, looking up at him. “Oh, he is?”

“Yeah.” Ace rolled his eyes. “Hey, any idea why Mr. Million Powers couldn’t use the power of talking to you himself instead of sending me to do his errands?” After a brief pause, he pursed his lips. “You guys didn’t get in a fight or something, did ya?”

“No. Um.” Rev stood up, looking around. “Look, I promised to throw him a party if he figured out how to create an EMP himself, so, I’ve gotta get started on that.”

“Ugh. Like that guy needs more of an ego boost.”

But Rev didn’t hear any of that, because he was already gone.

Sighing, Ace turned and walked away.

“Something’s funky with him. What does Rev even need coffee for anyway? Unlike Duck, Rev’s always seemed like more of an early bird.” His chuckle echoed awkwardly across the lounge. “Eh, I’m sure it’s nothing important. Everyone has their off days.”

“That should do it.”

Tech released his magnetic grasp from a rod that was now firmly planted into the ground. It was sticking straight up and topped with a smooth metallic ball.

Cool morning dew dampened the fur below his ankles, and soft grass cushioned the ground below his paws. When Tech first began to set up his equipment, the fields were thick with mist, and though a deep breath confirmed the damp air, the mist was no longer present.

“Alright. I’m thoroughly grounded and the air is conductive enough to pull away any stray charge. If there’s any time to train my ability to create and control electricity, especially something as strong as an EMP, this is it.”

He stared down the metallic rod as he stepped a few meters away, making sure to side-step the folding table he set up nearby.

“Creating an arc from this distance would definitively prove my understanding and mastery over electromagnetism. I just have to do it.”

Closing his eyes, he took another deep breath.

“Rev knows I can do it.”

The field blinked into view again, but Tech lost focus of the rod and looked at the folding table, specifically a plain ceramic mug sitting on top of it.

Huffing, he yanked his focus back to the target.

“I know I can do it. I just have to try.”

He raised his hands. They came to life with green energy.

“Here I go,” he said assuredly.

But his eyes flicked again to the coffee mug.

“Alright. Party supplies. Party supplies.”

Rev turned a corner.

“I’ll need tables. Supply closet. There should be some there.”

He turned another corner. Down the hall, gymnastic supplies as well as a bunch of other things were flooding out of the open closet door.

Rev sighed, running over and beginning to pick things up and properly put them away. Ironically, he was often in charge of cleaning up anyway.

Now that everything wasn’t teetering like how Slam and Lexi left it and Duck later released it, Rev dug a little deeper to find some fold-out tables.

“Alright. Tables. Where to put them? Sparring room. Nobody should mind.”

He briefly set down the tables to stack them in a big pile, then picked them up from the bottom to move them.

Given the weight and precariousness of the tables, he decided to take the short trip to the sparring room slowly. Though, as he stepped forward, his eyes landed on a few colorful sticky notes littering the ground.

Not paying attention, the tables started to slide.

“Wh-!”

And apparently, he really wasn’t paying attention, because Slam was there to easily catch the tables with one arm.

“Oh. Thanks for the save, Slam.”

When the tables evened out in Rev’s grasp, Slam looked the stack up and down, then tilted his head.

“Want some help?” he offered.

“No thanks,” Rev replied, a little coldly. “I can handle this alone.”

Before he could see Slam’s pout, Rev was already making his way to the sparring hall, being sure to not lose his balance this time.

Finally, after what felt like forever, he came to a stop at the sparring hall door.

“Ugh. Great.”

Rev set the stack of tables down and then opened the door, pulling it as wide as it could go before kicking down the door holder.

Now. The smart thing to do, Rev thought, would be to bring in a few tables at a time so they could fit through the door more easily. It would take more time, but would also be safer.

He grabbed the entire stack again and started to grapple the tables through the doorway.

Surprising no one, including himself, the tables slipped out of his grasp and crashed down around him.

Looking up from the wreck with a pained hiss, Rev saw Slam standing just outside the doorway, looking concerned.

“I’m fine,” Rev huffed, awkwardly pulling himself out of the pile of tables. “Just go do whatever you were going to do before you saw me. I don’t need any help.”

Slam rubbed his arm, muttering a barely audible “okay” before sulking over to the weight room.

Sighing, Rev wiped a hand across his face. “Great. Are there any more friends I can make feel bad today? Maybe I can pull off a new record…”

With nobody there to comment, Rev simply got back to the annoying process of moving tables.

“Here I go.”

Tech could feel the energy as he pointed his hands at the metallic rod, but it didn’t feel that much different from his usual magnetic manipulation.

“Here. I go.”

He knew how to do it. He knew he did. He did it last night while barely thinking about it.

Barely thinking.

He glanced at the ceramic mug again.

Yanking his head back toward his target, he groaned.

“Here. I. Go.”

The method was simple. The power was within reach. Rev believed in him, so-

He shook his head. Focus. He needed to focus.

The tables were now set up but there was nothing on them so now it was time to fix that.

Rev shot out of the sparring hall… and stopped immediately.

There were still sticky notes on the floor from yesterday evening.

Sighing, he decided he had to clean those up before any kind of party could be held. The last thing he or Tech needed was a bunch of mistakes littering the ground.

One by one Rev went to every sticky note he saw and snatched them off the ground. By the time he was done, he had made his way through the hall and into the lounge and was holding onto a stack of notes that was a centimeter thick.

Against his better judgment, he inspected the pile of notes, learning nothing new and leaving him with shame clawing his throat.

He was supposed to relax. That’s the thing Tech wanted most from him. To relax. Even a week ago, Tech told him he’d make mistakes and that it shouldn’t upset him so much. But he didn’t listen. Instead, he covered his room and himself with historical trivia and ignored the myriad of tips he read to just listen to what actual coyotes had to say. Why would he need to listen, right? If he just knew every possible way he could screw up, then he wouldn’t, right? Except, it didn’t work like that. And somewhere in his head, he knew it didn’t work like that. But doing obsessive research was easier than acknowledging that he was going to make mistakes eventually.

And in the end, he chose the easier option. To run. And he hurt his friend anyway.

Rev growled and tried to tear up the notes, but the stack was too thick. Frustrated, he ran toward the nearest recycling bin to hurl them inside… and stopped when he reached the back exit.

Through the glass window of the door, he could see Tech out in the field, dressed in shorts and a tank top, standing next to a table with some supplies on it. His hands were stretched out toward a pole in the ground, making motions that implied something was happening when nothing apparent was.

Maybe he was doing warm-ups. There was probably no reason to be worried about him.

After lingering at the door for what was probably too long, Rev decided he’d run to the recycling bin in the kitchen rather than use the one just outside. Plus, he’d changed into his hero suit complete with all the attached electronics this morning, so it wasn’t safe to go out back anyway.

He reached the kitchen in an instant, tossing the notes less aggressively than he had planned a minute ago. Seeing Tech just sapped the anger out of him. For a moment, he lingered on why, but simply decided he needed to put his focus back on setting up the party. With a sigh, he turned around.

And yelped.

“Good morning Rev,” Lexi said, smirking. “Sleep well?”

“Uh…” That… was an interesting question; Interesting in that she should already know the answer, given she also knows how he usually sleeps as well as… some recent circumstances… Still, he had to reply with something. Hopefully something that results in less teasing.

“Yeah,” he said simply, trying to ignore how that answer made him feel.

“That’s great,” she replied, seemingly dropping the subject to Rev’s relief. “But, before you run off, follow me. We need to talk about something.”

And the relief was gone. Rev could only think of two things they could possibly need to talk about, and he didn’t like either one. But what was he going to do? Refuse?

Run?

He sighed.

“Alright. Where’re we going?”

Tech groaned.

Something wasn’t working. He was trying his best and nothing was happening.

Sighing, he took a few steps toward the fold-out table. Maybe he needed to stop and think this through.

Despite his mind drifting to how he should ignore the mug he had set down earlier, he managed to notice a strange feeling as he placed a hand on the hard plastic surface of the table he was about to lean on. A familiar tugging of his fur and soft crinkling below his fingers.

“Huh.”

He wiped his hand across the table’s surface, continuing to feel and hear that soft crinkle.

Well, it turned out something was happening. There was nothing in the environment that would have caused that sort of static buildup, so it must have been him. Though unintentional, that was progress, right?

Still, it wasn’t great that he was altering the charge of objects in his vicinity unintentionally. At least he warned everyone to keep their electronics and combustible fuels away from him, because the exact scenario that warranted caution appeared to be happening.

It wasn’t enough that he could manipulate the charge of the objects around him; He had to be able to control the charges as well. He had to be aware of where the charge imbalances were occurring… otherwise he wouldn’t be able to manipulate a discharge from that imbalance.

This was getting dangerous… but also more promising. Maybe. Hopefully it meant that he’d have some progress worthy of telling Rev about later.

Rev…

Before his eyes could wander, he caught himself and sighed.

Focus. The later it gets, the less conductive the air will become, the more likely he is to cause an unintentional discharge.

Back to work.

As it turned out, Lexi was taking Rev to the quiet room; One of the safe havens in headquarters where you could escape all the noise, or make some noise without bothering anyone else. More specifically, it was one of the select rooms in the base completely soundproofed to protect Lexi’s sanity, and everyone’s privacy. Since she was going into the room with him, that obviously wasn’t its purpose at the moment.

When not being used to escape the laughter of sitcom marathons or the beeping of arcade machines, it made an excellent space to just sit down and think without distractions. Inside were a couple of sofas, bookshelves, a writing desk, and Ace’s meditation pad. Rev found the room absolutely unbearable, and figured it was only going to feel even worse considering he was about to have some sort of tough conversation there.

Lexi opened the door and he could immediately see Ace leaning against the arm of the sofa directly ahead, looking somewhat displeased to be there. Ah. So this was about his comments yesterday. It was still not something he wanted to talk about, but at least the conversation probably wouldn’t involve Tech in any way.

Though, as he and Lexi stepped inside, Rev noticed Duck sitting on top of one of the bookshelves, looking down at them from his higher vantage point.

Rev tilted his head.

“Uh, what’s Duck doing here?”

Atop his perch, Duck huffed.

“You make it sound like you don’t want me around.”

He kind of didn’t, but he also didn’t want an argument at the moment.

“It’s not that, I just thought only Lexi and Ace were going to talk to me.”

“Well, when I heard about how they were gonna teach you how gender stuff works, I just knew I had to stick around for that trainwreck!”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence…”

“You’re welcome!”

Lexi whispered, “sorry, we couldn’t get him to leave,” and patted him on the shoulder, before gesturing to take a seat on the same sofa as Ace.

As he took those few agonizing steps to sit down, the thought flashed in his mind that he should have done some research at some point so he didn’t have to do this. Just as fast he mentally slapped himself on the back of the head with a metaphorical rolled-up newspaper. He was inevitably going to have blind spots in his research, and he had more knowledgeable friends who wanted to help him.

This was going to suck… but he just had to deal with it. There was no reason to feel so averse to having his biases called out. And maybe… getting through this conversation would make it easier to have any similar ones with Tech in the future.

Sitting down, anxiety curled in his gut as usual, but he wasn’t going to let it get past his resolve to be better. To stop running.

Tech was beginning to feel like an idiot, which was not a feeling that he often had.

“Alright, new plan,” he said, walking over to the conductive rod. “Despite having proven that I have some capability to manipulate electricity as demonstrated last night-”

He paused, swallowing thickly before continuing his train of thought.

“Despite having concrete proof of my abilities, I may find more success in mimicking the distance at which I first performed the feat and increasing said distance until I can replicate the effect at the desired magnitude.”

It was a good thing that nobody was around to hear him ramble, as he really wouldn’t appreciate someone like Ace chiming in to say, “English please,” while he was already struggling. Obviously Rev would understand what he was saying perfectly, but he-

“I didn’t- I’m not going to screw this up,” Tech huffed, reaching toward the conductive surface. “I just need to- OUCH!”

His finger barely grazed metal before he received a hearty shock, making him hiss and flail the pain away.

“Focus…” he muttered, finishing his interrupted sentence once again. “If I had my wits about me, I would’ve noticed the charge that had accumulated across my fur…”

He raised his hand again, knowing this time he didn’t have a charge to worry about this time.

“Start small, work my way up. Surely I’ll get somewhere if I just come at it from a different angle.”

His hands lit up with energy.

“‘A different angle…’ Why does that sound familiar…”

The energy around his hands wavered. Tech growled.

“It’s fine! I can do this! I just need to focus!”

A small spark crossed the gap, stinging a finger. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen. He needed to control the energy so he wouldn’t hurt himself.

“Focus!”

Rev’s skull was aching with what felt like a combination of the brain jumble he gets after a research binge and the sharp sting of being shown that he’s wrong about something. This, he thought, made sense, since he was both learning a lot and being shown that a lot of things he thought were wrong.

“Okay so,” he said, vision almost swimming as he tried to wrap his head around everything, “biological sex is separate from gender, which is also separate from gender presentation, which is also also separate from preferred pronouns, and people can have seemingly random combinations of the aforementioned things, and all of them are separate from sexual orientation?”

“Yeah,” Lexi said. “See, you’re getting it!”

“But like, why would a guy choose to dress like a woman but keep a guy’s pronouns while being into women? That sounds really confusing…”

Duck scoffed. “Because you can appreciate the beauty of feminine attire while also finding women hot, duh.”

“Duck…” Lexi sighed. “If you’re going to be here could you please be a little more understanding? Rev’s new to all this.”

“Are you telling me he’s never seen a dude in a pretty dress before?”

Ace chimed in, “he’s only gone to private schools with uniforms for most of his life.”

Duck rolled his eyes. “Ugh. Rich people…”

Rev crossed his arms. “That’s a funny insult coming from the guy who’s had enough ‘get rich quick’ schemes to compete with an MLM convention.”

“There’s a convention for men loving men?”

“What the heck are you talking about?!”

“Guys!” Lexi called out. “Could we please stay on topic?”

After a brief pause, Rev uttered a soft apology while Duck gave a silent shrug.

The noon sun shone fiercely as Tech was met with failure after failure.

His eyes drifted to the mirages over the asphalt track, then shot back to his target.

His eyes drifted to the back entrance to HQ, then shot back to his target.

His eyes drifted to the plastic table he had brought out. To the coffee mug sitting on top of it.

…

“Focus!”

His eyes shot back to his target.

He could feel the sweat building under his fur. And the silence. The horrible, horrible, silence.

Out in the field, it was just him and his reflection on the metallic sphere atop the conductive pole. No voice to keep him company. To remind him he should probably eat something. To offer suggestions that might not be what he needs, but would help him figure out what he does.

“Focus!”

Each breath stung his nose and mouth with hot, dry air. The grass poked and prodded his paws as he shifted in place. Every strand of fur on his body stuck straight out and repelled each other.

Tech didn’t notice any of this.

His thoughts swarmed. He wasn’t thinking. He was the smart one. The careful one. Yet, he didn’t think. He should have thought harder.

“It’s fine! We’re fine! We’ll- We can-”

With a stomp of his foot, he looked again at his target.

“FOCUS!”

And now, he was alone. It was going so well, and then he screwed up, and now he’s alone.

Tech screamed, throwing a punch at his own reflection.

The regret was instant and painful.

With a thundering shock, he was blown back several meters, landing in a smoldering pile beside his supply table.

Once his regeneration kicked in, he sat up.

The grass was singed, but thankfully, not on fire. Still, that was a massive failure of reasoning on his part. All the signs pointing to that outcome were there, but he didn’t pay attention to any of them. Instead, he let his mind keep wandering to…

To…

Eyes squeezing closed, Tech yanked his ears and let out a wail that echoed across the empty field.

Rev wiped a hand across his face, feeling like he’s been in the quiet room for years… when in reality it probably hadn’t been even a few hours.

“Okay, so I still don’t get how a guy who dresses as a woman wouldn’t just be trans. I know that ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ and ‘presentation’ and whatever aren’t the same, but if someone can just choose to be another gender, why wouldn’t they just choose to be the gender that they dress up as?”

“People don’t really ‘choose’ to be a specific gender,” Lexi explained. “They just sort of feel like a certain gender, and then choose to express their gender in different ways.”

“You can also feel like a bunch of different genders, or none at all!” Ace piped up excitedly. “Sometimes it’s a ‘woman’ day so you dress feminine. Sometimes it’s a ‘man’ day so you dress masculine. Sometimes it's an ‘agender’ day so you wear whatever. Or sometimes it’s even a ‘man’ day but you just wanna dress femininely.” Then, he pouted and looked off at the opposite wall. “Or… you just dress in the same super suit as everyone else all the time because it’s got a bunch of dohickeys in it that help you do hero stuff…”

Rev tilted his head. “But if you sometimes don’t feel like a guy, wouldn’t that mean you’re trans?”

“Me? Kinda. There’s not really any one gender I feel attached to for long, so I’d sort of consider myself nonbinary, even if I don’t care if most people see me as a guy most of the time.”

“But wouldn’t you want to be seen as whatever gender you’re feeling?”

“I mean, we’d probably need a calendar in the lounge to let everyone know what I’m feeling each day, which is just a lot of work for something that doesn’t matter much to me, personally.”

Rev let out an anxious sigh, burying his head in his hands. “This is really confusing…”

“Well…” Lexi said, “it can be kind of confusing, but even if you’re confused, you can still respect people’s identities regardless. It’s pretty rude to decide how people should express themselves just because of how you think they should be.”

“I, for example,” Duck firmly spoke up, “would prefer to be seen as a man no matter what I’m wearing. So don’t go thinking I’m a lady just because I sometimes prefer to be gorgeous.”

“Ugh. You may prefer to be gorgeous, but your outfits say otherwise.”

“Hey!”

“Come on, Lex,” Ace said. “Duck’s got plenty of style!”

“Of course you’d say that,” she retorted with a roll of her eyes. “Only the queen of gaudy outfits would think the stuff Duck wears is stylish.”

Rev frowned. “Wait…” All eyes went to him, making his throat feel tighter. But… he had to ask… “Lexi, didn’t you just say it’s wrong to decide how people express themselves?”

Her eyes went wide. “Wh-! That’s not the same thing!” she yelped. “It’s not like I’m saying they can’t dress in feminine clothes, they just have terrible taste! The outfit you picked out yesterday was perfectly fine!”

“But why does it matter if their outfits look nice to you? It’s how they choose to express themselves. I don’t get how it’s okay to tell Ace and Duck they’re not dressing the right way, but it’s not okay to do the same to someone you don’t understand. Why would it even matter?”

“I…” Her gaze drifted, seeing Duck crossed-armed and refusing to look at her, and Ace rubbing his arm and looking hurt. “I’m… sorry…” She sighed, looking away. “It really shouldn’t matter to me how you guys choose to look. Even if I don’t like it, I shouldn’t judge…”

“Oh.” Ace smiled lightly, brushing his ears back. “Well, thanks for… actually apologizing. I… honestly thought you were gonna be grilling me for my wardrobe for the rest of my life.”

Duck glanced at her briefly, before looking away again. “Well, it’s not like I ever cared about what you thought… but it would be nice to have you stop being so judgy all the time.”

“I won’t say anything about it again,” Lexi said. “I promise.”

The room went quiet. On the one hand, Ace and Duck seemed to be radiating relief. On the other, Lexi seemed a bit ashamed.

Though, if he were the one who just got called out like that, Rev thinks he’d be on the verge of tears. Maybe he was being a little harsh on her? He really was just trying to understand everything better.

Before he could ponder it further, Ace clapped him on the shoulder.

“Well, I believe the student has become the master. Well done; lesson time is over.”

“I don’t feel like a master…” Rev muttered.

“We brought you here to teach you, and you ended up teaching Lexi. I think that qualifies.”

“I really don’t think it does.”

“Sure it does,” Ace said standing up. “Especially since I’m sick of sitting here, and I have a feeling you are too.”

“I guess you’ve got me there.” Rev pushed himself off the sofa.

Ace turned his attention to the top of the bookshelf. “Hey Duck, how do you feel about a fashion show without worrying someone’s gonna come in sneering from the sidelines?”

“Sounds great!” Duck warped down to the floor beside Ace. “See ya later!”

And with that, Duck and Ace warped away.

As silence filled the room once again, Rev looked down at Lexi, who still had a look of shame across her face.

“Um, sorry about calling you out in front of everybody. I didn’t think about the kind of position it’d put you in.”

“No, it’s fine,” she said, getting up from her seat. “This whole meeting was about educating biases and stuff, and I… needed to be given the perspective…” Looking at him, she gave him a playful nudge. “Besides, I did a fraction of the learning you just did. You managed to stick around despite how awkward it all was, so I can get over being called out for being judgy.”

“You sure you’re okay?”

“Of course. You did the right thing, Rev. Real friends call out their friends when they’re doing something wrong, and real friends listen to what they have to say.”

“I… guess so.” She… was doing pretty well about the whole thing. Is this how normal people react to making mistakes? If so, he was definitely making things a lot more awkward for Tech then, huh?

Lexi walked past him, opening the door. “I’m gonna go play something to take my mind off of the embarrassment. You joining?”

Rev followed her out the door, but stopped just outside. “Actually, I was in the middle of something when you found me. So I think I’m gonna get back to that.”

She shrugged. “Well, you know where to find me. And, even if you didn’t, it wouldn’t take you long to find me anyway.”

Rev snickered. “That’s true.”

“Later, Rev.”

“Bye, Lexi.”

As Lexi turned the corner into the living room, Rev looked the other way toward the patio door, remembering that Tech was out there earlier. In an instant, he was at the door.

Rev almost thought Tech had gone inside, but, just beside the table out in the field, Tech was laying in the fetal position on the ground, back turned toward the building.

“Tech…”

Earlier, Rev ignored his concerns to assume Tech was just ‘warming up.’ But… after what happened this morning… it was understandable why he was having problems.

The party would have to wait. First, he had to apologize, but how? He… really screwed up. The last thing he wanted to do was get stuck on what to say. Not again…

Heavy footsteps caught Rev’s attention, pulling his gaze toward Slam, who was trudging his way through the lounge after a presumably long workout.

Speaking of apologies… he kinda owed one to Slam as well.

Before he could second guess himself, Rev dashed over.

“Uh, hey Slam!” he greeted.

Slam tilted his head. “Hey?”

“Uh…” Rev scratched his neck. “Sorry for… being kinda cold earlier. I was going through my own thing and didn’t really think about how rude it was to push you away like that. I probably could’ve declined a little more nicely.”

Smiling bashfully, Slam waved away Rev’s concerns. “It’s okay.”

“You sure?”

Nodding, Slam started walking down the hall, giving a farewell wave a little distance away.

“Yeah uh, later Slam!”

That… wasn’t too bad. But now, he had to go apologize to Tech.

Letting out a sigh, Rev ran his fingers through his crest and looked around. That’s when his gaze landed on the ceramic mug on the coffee table.

Slowly, he walked toward it, coming to a stop right where he had been sitting that morning.

And where he had been sleeping a little earlier.

Rev sat down again, eyes transfixed on the simple object.

Closing his eyes, he sighed.

“I’m sorry, Tech. I let my fear get the best of me again… and you suffered for it… again…”

His eyes opened… then drifted a bit further.

The back of the remote… it was still sitting on the table. It wasn’t clicked back into its proper place.

Sure enough, with a quick flick of his head Rev saw the remote sitting on the arm of the same sofa, right where Tech had been sitting last night.

And the TV… it was off. It was off when he woke up. So, unless he managed to sleep through multiple hours of TV noise without waking… Tech managed to turn the TV off… without disturbing him in his sleep.

But… Tech was still struggling to control his new power…

Rev definitely faulted himself for that… but he was going to make it right.

And he had an idea how.

First came off his bracers and cowl, which both were set on the coffee table. Then, off came his boots, which he slid underneath.

Tech was going to succeed one way or the other, and the electronics on those parts of Rev’s suit could get damaged in the process.

Lastly, he took the mug gently into his hands, and began the long walk to his struggling friend.

Earlier that morning…

Before he opened his eyes, Rev took a slow, deep breath, and the scent of comfort washed through him. For some reason, Rev felt absolutely refreshed for the first time in years. Ironically, it made him love being in bed more. He nuzzled his beak into the warmth of his pillow, which…

…was furrier than he remembered.

Now that he thought about it, his mattress was also firmer. His blanket too.

Eyes shooting open, his heart pounded as he tried to get a grip of his situation.

He choked on a gasp, seeing Tech peacefully sleeping below him.

This was… bad? Good? A lot. Rev decided on a lot. That was the only thing he could be sure of as his heart was pounding and his thoughts were racing and…

And he couldn’t pull himself away because Tech had his arms wrapped firmly around him.

Multiple things shot through his mind. Trapped! Snug. Danger! Safe. Wrong! Home. Floating around was the realization that he was only so refreshed because Tech prevented him from rolling onto the floor, but he couldn’t process that alongside all the other things he couldn’t process.

Then, Tech’s eyes blinked open.

Somewhere, Rev knew he should calm down. Wherever that was, it wasn’t here.

“Mmf… Rev?” Tech blinked again, and then his eyes widened. “Oh! I didn’t-!” Instantly he released him.

Before thinking, Rev threw himself back. Almost instantly, something strong urged him to throw himself right back. He didn’t.

“Hey! I- I’m really sorry!”

Inside Rev’s head was a barrage of conflicting screams and commands. Outside, he was frozen, staring and panting as his heart continued to pound.

Inside Tech, multiple things were shattering. But it didn’t matter right now. Rev had fear in his eyes and he had to do something.

“I didn’t mean for us to fall asleep like that, I promise! You were asleep and I didn’t want to move and- Oh god that doesn’t help…”

Tech looked away, only for his eyes to land on two somethings on the coffee table.

Two coffee mugs.

Lexi had seen them and set aside some coffee.

Panic shot through him as he looked back to Rev, whose gaze was returning from the same direction. He had seen the same thing and likely came to the same conclusion.

“Rev, she’s not gonna say anything,” he pleaded, trying desperately to level out his voice. “She already keeps so many secrets, this is just another one.”

But Rev was still breathing hard, eyes unfocused and anxious.

To make it worse, the sound of Ace and Duck’s voices began filtering in from down the hall.

Rev shot up from the couch.

Against his better judgment, Tech stood up as well.

“There’s nothing for them to be suspicious of, Rev. You don’t need to freak out.”

Rev’s head swished away to Tech to away to Tech again.

“Please. I promise I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

More panting. More looking away.

The voices down the hall continued getting louder.

“Just calm down. We can talk about this.”

The voices got louder.

And Rev ran.

“Rev-!”

But he was gone…

And the rest of the team didn’t even notice Tech was there as they walked past. They just made their way into the kitchen without even a glance in his direction.

Sighing, Tech looked down at the coffee mugs.

It was clear which was his, as Lexi knew he preferred quite a bit more sugar and cream than he was willing to admit to anyone else.

And it looked like Rev took his coffee black.

Tech wanted to think about how interesting that was, but as he picked up his coffee, he decided that thinking about Rev was just going to hurt his soul too much at the moment.

The edge of the mug touched his lips for a brief moment, before he pulled it away.

All things considered, Tech felt pretty refreshed. And… it was because having Rev sleeping against him made him reconsider getting up, which would have possibly led to him working later than he should.

Well, he’d keep the coffee anyway. Maybe he’ll want some later. Besides, he had work to do. For the past week, he had been trying to produce an EMP, and he had just figured out one key component in achieving just that. Rev was going to be ecstatic when he-

Tech sighed, walking toward his room.

He didn’t need to think about Rev right now. He’ll get dressed in proper attire, warn the rest of the team not to bring sensitive materials out back, and ask one of them to inform Rev on his behalf. After that, he needed to keep Rev out of his head. He had work to do.

He had to focus.

…

Before Tech opened his bedroom door… his eyes drifted to the mug in his hands.

The current afternoon…

If he thought the dry grass was uncomfortable against his paws, it was definitely uncomfortable against his head and ears. But, that didn’t matter. The only thing he had energy for was laying next to the foldout table and failing to stop thinking about that morning. It was especially hard not to think about, because the lack of energy was coming from his will to keep working, and not from a lack of physical energy. As was true that morning, he was actually well rested, and that only made his thoughts more clear and painful.

Interrupting Tech’s thoughts, footsteps slowly crunched in the grass toward him. They were too light to be Slam’s, and Duck wouldn’t have bothered with walking outside in this heat. That just left Lexi or Ace, neither of whom he was in the mood to talk to.

“If you’re here to question if I’m fine, I am. I just decided to lie down to get some more blood flowing to the brain. It’s a thing only geniuses like myself understand. So, you can leave me alone now.”

The footsteps stopped briefly, then continued closer.

Tech sighed.

But then, they stopped, and…

“Tech.”

It was like he was slapped into reality as Tech shot up onto his feet.

“Rev-! Uh, I thought someone else was… uh… there.”

Finally, he looked him over, seeing a somber expression on his face and his hand cupping the top and bottom of a coffee mug.

Presumably, the coffee mug Lexi had given him that morning.

Clearing his throat, Tech looked away. “Sorry… about this morning. And last night too. Just… all of it. I… should have considered my actions more thoroughly.”

It went quiet. Tech felt the urge to look back at Rev, but worried he might not be there.

Then, the words coming out much slower than usual…

“Can I… tell you a secret? Something… I’ve only told Lexi?”

Unease crawled up Tech’s spine as his words reached him. He looked at him for an explanation, but Rev’s gaze was settled on the mug in his hands.

“Of course. Say whatever you want.”

Rev took a deep breath in, closed his eyes, and slowly let it out.

“Ever since I got my powers… I started tossing and turning in bed worse than I ever had before. Instead of just waking up from a rough night of sleep… I’d roll out of bed in my sleep and wake up after hitting the floor. It happens… at least a few times every night.”

Eyes slowly opening, a sad smile crept across Rev’s beak.

“The rest of the team thinks I’m an early bird, but really… you can only handle being abruptly smacked awake so many times before you get sick of crawling back into bed. And, despite my powers giving me way too much energy… I’m pretty much a zombie every morning until I’ve had a cup of coffee…”

With that, Rev brought his mug over to the table, setting it down with a deep thunk.

Tech blinked, tilting his head and seeing that it was just as full as it was when they woke up.

His eyes flicked back to Rev, and his sad smile was replaced with a more hopeful one. And sure enough, his tone was more lively as well.

“But this morning… I didn’t wake up on the floor. I was… comfortable. Refreshed. For a moment, I just wanted to stay right where I was and savor it.” Slowly a frown overtook his face as he looked away. “Of course… I eventually realized what had happened, and I felt… scared. But… I also felt safe, at the same time. I felt… a lot of things, honestly. Good and bad. But I couldn’t really make sense of any of them at the time. And when you woke up… and let go of me… and I backed away… I was feeling… even more.”

Rev ran his fingers through his crest, sighing. “And then we saw the coffee Lexi left us, and I was embarrassed, and then the rest of the team was walking closer, and…” With a groan, he wiped his face. “And I ran away…”

Tech rubbed his arm awkwardly, standing around for agonizing seconds not knowing where he and Rev stood at the moment. All he knew, was that Rev was still scared that morning. “I understand,” he said. “Really, I’m… very sorry for putting you in that position.”

Rev returned his gaze to Tech.

“I came back to the lounge… after you left…”

The coffee mugs stood at the corner of Tech’s vision.

“I assume not for a drink,” he said cautiously.

“No,” Rev said. “I… needed to think about what happened. Everything that happened.”

Tech listened, throat tight and jaw clenched almost painfully.

“When I first woke up… I felt better than I had waking up in years. It was only when I started overthinking that all the bad stuff crept in. Then I just spiraled and spiraled until I…” Rev paused, then took another deep breath. “Tech, I’m sorry for running away again. Not just literally but, also avoiding having a conversation about what was going on. I left you alone and… clearly feeling terrible about everything…”

Well, he couldn’t deny that…

“What happened was too much…” Rev continued, “and I wasn’t ready to wake up like that… but I don’t want you to feel too bad about it. It means a lot that you want to apologize, but honestly, your mistake feels like nothing in comparison to my problem with ditching you when I get scared.”

Tech crossed his arms, pursing his lips. “Even so, I still think it deserves an apology. Despite knowing I needed to be careful with our relationship, I didn’t take the steps necessary to prevent myself from hurting you.”

“I… guess that’s true…” Rev admitted. “You can know you’re forgiven, then. And… I also want you to know I really want to be better. I promise that I’m trying. It’s still really hard to talk about my feelings… and about why I’m bad with making mistakes… But even if it’s hard… I’m working at it.” He sighed, looking away. “I’m not ready to fall asleep with you again… or finish our talk from yesterday, but I really want to.” A shy chuckle escaped his beak. “Especially the first one.” His earnest gaze fell back on Tech. “So, if you’re still willing to deal with… me… I promise that I will do everything I can to not run away again.”

Tech let out the faintest laugh of relief. “Don’t worry. It’ll take a lot more than that to stop me from wanting you around.” His face softened. “And, I promise to be a little more careful from now on and… and not push you to talk like I did yesterday.”

Rev chuckled lightly. “You can push a little. Sometimes it’s nice to have a nudge to do something more difficult.”

“Well, I guess I’ll push a little then.”

They both smiled, the tension from that morning melting away.

Then, Rev cleared his throat. “So… I couldn’t help but notice the TV was off when I woke up. If I’m not being presumptuous… that means you finally figured out how to create electricity?”

“I did, though… As you could probably guess, I’ve been having trouble replicating the circumstances to do it again. I… was missing something important during all my attempts today.”

“Missing something? I could go grab it for you.”

Tech chuckled, a faint blush dusting his cheeks. “It’s not something that you can pick up and bring here.”

“Well, what is it?”

This was too cheesy, but…

“A reason to succeed.”

Rev tilted his head, giving a confused smile. “What?”

“Stand back a bit. I’ll show you.”

“Uh, okay!” Rev ran back a good 20 meters. “Is this far enough?!” He called out.

“Perfect!” Tech called back, a nervous smile creeping across his face as he turned his attention to the same metallic rod that had been giving him trouble all morning.

Rev knew he could do this. He believed in him. And Tech knew he could too.

Tech looked behind him, seeing a pair of nearly full coffee mugs, and a bit further, the cheerful expression of the most important person in his life.

His gaze returned to his target, and so did his mind. It was so similar to his magnetic manipulation. He had the ability to control it.

His hands lit up with green energy.

And then.

BOOM!

A thrill ran up Tech’s spine as the air flashed with energy. Even better, he didn’t incinerate himself or any of the surrounding grass.

“That was awesome!” came Rev’s voice rushing closer.

Tech barely turned his head to see him before he was wrapped in a hug.

There was barely a second for his heart to do somersaults in his chest before Rev let go.

“Ah um-! Haha, sorry.”

There was nothing that could help the grin on Tech’s face. Without his cowl, the blush on Rev’s beak showed up so nicely and made him look even more adorable.

“Don’t be. Wherever you’re willing to go, I’m ready to meet you there.”

Rev chuckled shyly.

“So… what was that reason you mentioned earlier?”

Rolling his eyes playfully, Tech pointed right at Rev’s beak and gave it a small nudge for good measure. “You.”

“Me?”

“Of course. Nothing gets me more fired up to try something difficult than knowing it’ll make the person I care about most happy. Why else would my powers have only worked while you were promising to spend time with me?”

Rev’s expression was unreadable for a long moment, and Tech was starting to wonder if he went too far already.

But then Rev’s arms were around him, and everything was perfect in the universe.

“Well then,” Rev said softly, nudging his beak into Tech’s fur, “you shouldn’t have any problems to worry about from now on, because you make me happy all the time.”

Okay, and now his face was definitely red. “I’ll… keep that in mind…” he managed to wheeze out.

At this point, Tech expected Rev to let go. What he was not expecting, was for him to hold on tighter.

And now, it felt kind of awkward that his arms were just hanging like limp noodles at his sides. Carefully, and slowly, Tech inched them around Rev’s back.

“Are you, okay? With this?”

“Yeah.” Rev let out a quiet laugh. “Honestly, a part of me’s been screaming to do this since I ran off this morning. Maybe it was a bit much to wake up on top of you… but this is… nice.”

“Well… Good. That’s good. I… feel the same.” With just a little more confidence, he held Rev just a bit closer.

And then… Rev let out a long sigh, melting fully into his embrace.

Tech felt lighter than air, practically floating in bliss. He was helpless to stop himself from melting as well.

How long they stayed locked in their embrace, Tech didn’t know. But it couldn’t last forever. Eventually, something was going to interrupt them.

But he was not expecting it to be an absolutely ravenous stomach growl.

An embarrassed laugh from Rev further interrupted the moment. “Uh, sorry,” he said, pulling away slightly. Just enough to look him in the eye. “I just realized… I sort of didn’t drink coffee or eat anything this morning.”

Tech laughed as well. “I didn’t either. I was so busy trying to focus on controlling my powers I guess I lost focus on… literally everything else.” He smiled hopefully. “You wanna grab lunch with me?”

“Uh, yeah! Of course!”

Despite the plan, Rev didn’t move.

“Rev?”

“Sorry. Just.” He gave him another hug, complete with a firm squeeze, then finally let go. “Alright. And, we should probably bring the mugs in.”

Tech was still so busy processing the flurry of warm feelings from Rev’s embrace, that he didn’t even notice Rev had grabbed the mugs and started walking until he was a few steps behind.

“Wait! Hold up.”

Rev stopped. “Oh, sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. My mind just lagged behind a bit.”

“Your mind? Lag?” Rev said, smirking as the two of them continued walking together. “What could possibly make the mind of super genius Tech E. Coyote lag behind?”

“The arms of a charming roadrunner, apparently.”

Tech continued walking, smirk on his face as Rev froze for quite a few steps.

“Charming?” Rev breathed, a flush overtaking his beak. Then. “Hey! Wait a minute! That’s not fair!”

He couldn’t help but laugh as Rev was forced to catch up as he had.

Tech knew there was going to be a bit of struggle in their relationship, but this was what he was talking about when he said it would be worth it.

(Coming eventually) Link to Magnetic Attraction Part 5 ->

#Loonatics Unleashed #Rev x Tech #Tech x Rev #Rev Runner #Tech E. Coyote #Ace Bunny #Slam Tasmanian #Lexi Bunny #Danger Duck #Shipping #My Fanfiction #LU Fanfics #LU Fanfic Series Magnetic Attraction #LU Fanfic Static #I'm gonna come back to edit this post very soon.#Not for a link to part 5 dear god no. I'm gonna make a Magnetic Attraction Masterpost because this is getting ridiculous.#I'm also gonna clean up the formatting and add links to the end of each chapter/part to go to the next.#Hopefully this will distract me from the fact that I do NOT feel confident about the quality of this one shot but OH WELL.

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