#gonna flop over like my cat who is making good arguments right now

[strangefable]

i suspect i come off as cringe, try-hard, over-the-top, or even fake, but i assure you i am absolutely this effusive and excitable and it's entirely genuine. i've accepted that i'm just a weird old lady who overthinks and rambles too much, oversharing my thoughts, and heaping praises on people. some might think it's excessive, but it's just who i am, and i always mean it with a good, pure, and honest heart

[kitabread]

pin:0002 - Osamu Miya [Chapter 1]

Genre: Fluff, Eventual Angst

Character: Miya Osamu of Haikyuu

Warnings: Story is set in the early 00s, OC is a black female, thievery

Word Count: 2.5k

*2.3.01 - 2:30 pm*

Imani swung the mall doors open, her Juicy Couture flip-flops making a soft shuffle sound against the tiled flooring as she made a beeline for the food court.

“Look who finally decided to show up.” Asia laughed as Imani rushed over to their table.

“Damn, Mani, can you be on time for once?” Nellie asked as Imani slumped into her chair.

“Girl, it is not my fault this time. My brother was hogging the bathroom all morning. Then, Ma was trippin’ the minute I walked past her room fully dressed. Somethin’ about how I already went out last night, I don’t know. And don’t even get me started on the bus. Arguing with Ma made me miss the one I had to catch to get here on time!”

Asia laughed, shaking her head. “Here, I got your usual,” She pushed a Subway Veggie Delight toward the exasperated girl. “But seriously, Mani, you have got to get it together.”

“You don’t think I know that? I’m trying.” Imani took a bite, humming in contentment. Asia even remembered the honey mustard. Imani could always count on her best friend.

“Well maybe we need to try harder than your little 20 hours a week at T-Mobile” Nellie shrugged, wincing when Asia elbowed her under the table. “Ow! Don’t hit me like you weren’t thinking it too. Mani, you need a car. You wouldn’t have to worry about your family getting in your way if your transportation was more stable.”

Imani sighed. “I know that, but T-Mobile was the only job willing to hire me while in college full-time. I know a car would make life way easier, but I just don’t got it like that right now.” She crumpled up the sandwich wrapper in front of her. She didn’t realize how hungry she was until Asia handed her that sandwich.

“Alright, well we came to have fun, buy cute clothes and look at cute guys. We can talk about life later. Right now, I’m more worried about that Baby Phat tee I saw in the window with my name on it. Let’s go.” Asia bounced out of her seat, her cat-shaped belly piercing peeking out from her tube top. Imani shook her head. She knew how much her girl loved her Baby Phat. She stood up, adjusting her headscarf and brushing any crumbs off her baby tee and jeans before catching up to her friends.

She was completely oblivious to the silver-haired guy watching her from across the food court.

The three girls walked out of what was probably the millionth store they entered. Imani slumped against the display window, ignoring the security guard attempting to discourage her from doing so. “We leaving now, right?”

She asked.

“Already? I think there’s another sale in a store downstairs…” Asia complained.

“Bitch, that’s enough. You are ADDICTED.” Nellie spat, starting an argument between the two.

Imani laughed, backing away from the pair. “While y'all hash that out, I’m gonna go get a drink from the food court.” She said, barely catching either girl's attention.

She made her way back down to the smoothie stand, setting her bags down as she inspected the menu. Strawberry Banana was her go-to, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted that one today.

“The Peach and Mango is really good.”

Imani turned around, coming face to face with a silver-haired man in a crisp, white button-up, dark-colored jeans, and white low-top sneakers.

“I don’t remember asking, but thank you. I’ll try that.” Imani smiled, turning away. She placed her order, stepping aside to wait for her drink.

“I’m Osamu, by the way.”

She laughed softly. “Imani. Nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine, Imani. Tell me, where are you headed after your smoothie run?”

She shrugged. “Probably home.”

“Home? It’s barely 5 pm on a Saturday. Surely you have other plans?”

“Not when I have an hour-long bus ride to take.”

Osamu tsked. “You’re far too beautiful to be taking the bus.”

“Well, life doesn’t seem to agree with you.” Imani reached out for her drink, thanking the cashier.

“You know, my BMW is parked outside. I can give you a ride.”

Imani turned to the man, looking for any indication he was joking. When she couldn’t find any, she laughed.

“You don’t even know me.”

“Yeah I do, you’re Imani??” He tilted his head, smiling when Imani laughed again. “All I’m asking is to do you a favor so you can avoid the long commute. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Well, my girls are still upstairs, and I’m not going to ditch them no matter how cute you are.”

“I’ll let the cute comment slide…for now,” He said. “So, we take them with us. Drop them off then you can roll with me for a bit.”

“Roll with you? What happened to just doing me a favor?”

Osamu smirked, pulling Imani in by the belt loops, closing any space between them. She reveled in the smell of his cologne. “I know what I said, but I want to see more of you by the minute. Can you blame me? Look at you.” He marveled at her golden brown skin, the curve of her breasts, and the way her stomach poked out of her jeans just slightly.

“Hmm, I don’t know. I’m not sure I like you enough for all that.”

“You haven’t pulled away from me yet, have you?” He said, inching closer if that was even possible. “See, I knew you liked me.” He said when Imani didn’t budge.

Imani smiled, rolling her eyes. “Whatever. I will see what my girls think, and if I make up my mind, I will let you know.”

Osamu handed her his Nokia, never once taking his eyes off of her when doing so. Imani saved her number before heading back upstairs.

“Damn girl, did they make you harvest the fruit yourself?” Nellie said when Imani was finally in earshot.

“Seriously Mani, was there a line or something? We been gave up on our argument.” Asia said.

“My bad y’all, I got caught up talking to this dude.” Imani shook her head.

“A dude?” Asia and Nellie said in unison.

“Don’t keep all this info to yourself now,” Nellie said, snapping her fingers.

Imani shrugged. “He just some guy, who recommended my drink and offered to drive us home.”

“A fine man with a car? Girl, you better have him come get us!” Nellie said.

“And maybe you can hang with him after.” Asia wiggled her eyebrows.

“Y’all are annoying.” Imani rolled her eyes. Just then, her phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Have you decided?”

Imani smiled. “Yeah, okay. We’ll ride with you.”

“I’ll bring the car around to the front. See you soon.” He said, the smile on his face evident in his voice.

“Bye Asia!” Imani called out from the passenger seat.

“Later, girl. It was nice meeting you, Osamu.” Asia said, shuffling from the back seat onto the pavement in front of her building.

“Nice meeting you, Asia. Take care.” Osamu said, ducking his head to look for something in the center console. Over his shoulder, Imani watched as Asia mouthed ‘Bag him, sis! He cute!’ while poking her cheek with her tongue. Imani narrowed her eyes before mouthing back ‘Girl, shut up.’ Asia laughed before finally stepping into her building.

“Well, we’re finally alone. What do you want to do?” Osamu asked.

“So you really not taking me home? For real?” Imani asked, smirking.

Osamu laughed. “I know a real good dinner spot around here. My treat.” Osamu stole a glance at Imani as he pulled off the curb, smiling as she cozied up in the seat once again.

*2 years later*

If someone had told Imani that one fateful mall trip would change her life to this extreme, she’d never have believed them.

From struggling to make ends meet to having every little thing she could ask for at her fingertips without moving a single muscle. She had everything from graduating college debt-free to obtaining the trendiest outfits of the year.

And it was thanks to Osamu Miya. 

She wasn’t sure when Osamu went from stranger to boyfriend, but the pair had grown inseparable. He was there for her when she needed to get away from her family, and when she walked across the stage for her degree in Interpersonal Communications, he was filming the entire thing. 

Most of Imani’s family questioned how Osamu had enough money to fund Imani’s schooling at such a young age. The couple was only 2 years apart, after all, which is nowhere near enough time to garner that much wealth. Imani brushed off their concerns. “He just comes from money.” She’d tell them.

That couldn’t be further from the truth.

See, Osamu was a man of simplicity. He saw what he wanted, and he took it. His methods just weren’t always..legal, per se. Maybe it was the classic pickpocket situation, where he swiped a shiny little credit card off an old woman on the street. Perhaps it was something larger, like stolen data from a seemingly innocent free wifi hotspot. No matter the method, if it exists, ‘Samu’s tried it.

His method of choice this time was scamming at the local Pizza Hut. The classic ‘I’m sorry ma’am, the payment didn’t go through, may I swipe again?’ while shining his pearly whites to all the middle-aged women that saw him as a breath of fresh air from their loud children. Poor things, they didn’t suspect a thing.

“Good work today, Miya. Hiring you was the right thing to do; anytime you’re in here, the families just flood in.” The manager called out as Osamu pushed the doors open, not responding as he made a beeline to his car.

“Did you get it?”

Osamu smiled, sliding his hand into his pocket and fishing out a tiny device. “Right here, baby.” He placed the mechanism in her waiting palm, planting a kiss on her cheek as he did so.

Imani plugged the device in, the computer screen illuminating as information ran across the screen. Names, numbers, addresses, card info. It was all visible and available in the blink of an eye. “And just like that, it’s all here.” She smirked, closing the laptop and sliding it under the backseat. “Where did you even find this thing anyway?”

“Does it matter? It’s gonna make us a whole lot of money.” Osamu sped down the highway. “Too bad we’re on the move again.”

“Again?”

Osamu nodded. “Got the text from Kiyoomi this morning. He’s onto us.”

Imani chuckled. “He really thinks he’s going to catch us, huh? Doesn’t he know we’ll always be one step ahead?”

He intertwined his fingers with hers. “Always.”

Imani learned early on that being with Osamu would be no easy feat. Not only did he never want to settle down anywhere, he couldn’t. His little schemes had put him on the Bureau’s radar long ago (a case of stolen identity gone wrong at the age of 18), which meant that Osamu had to watch his back. It also meant he needed to bring in backup. Luckily, his old friend Kiyoomi had become really tech-savvy over the years and agreed to let him know when the feds were onto him. No phone calls or in person meets. That would be too obvious. A single letter was all that was needed for both of them to understand: A.

These texts were few and far between: Osamu was learning the Bureau’s habits which meant he didn’t need Kiyoomi’s help as often. Especially now with Imani by his side, they dealt with most issues together. They still sent Kiyoomi his full share, though. It’s only fair.

“Where are we going next? “ Imani yawned and stretched in the passenger seat.

“Vegas. Lay low for a while in a place where it’ll be hard to find us. You still have the storage unit, right?”

She nodded. “I took a good portion of our stuff there, and the essentials are in the trunk. The unit is still in my mother’s name too.”

He nodded. “Well, Vegas here we come. Maybe we’ll get hitched?”

“In your dreams.” Imani said, closing her eyes and dozing off.

-Omniscient POV-

*Back at the Pizza Hut, the next day*

“Sir, I just want my refund, that’s all!”

“Ma’am, I’m very sorry. Our systems show you were only paid once. It’s right here on the computer.”

“That’s so strange! There are two transactions from yesterday, and this is the only place I stopped at before heading home. Are you sure?” The older woman sighed.

The conversation was cut short by the chime on the door. Three men with formidable builds in plain t-shirts and jeans were now standing in the waiting area.

“I’m very sorry gentlemen, we’re actually closed for another hour.” The manager called out.

“Actually, if you don’t mind, we are here on business.” The tallest of the men stepped forward, a manila folder in hand. “We want to know if you’ve seen this man.”

The manager furrowed his eyebrows. “Well, his hair is different, but yes. That’s Osamu, our cashier. Why are you looking for him?”

The unknown man shared a glance with his companions, who both nodded. 

“Have you heard from him today?” He turned his attention back to the employee.

“No, but he is on the schedule for later today. He’s never missed a day of work, and he’s an amazing worker. I’m sure he’ll show up and clear any problems you may have.”

The man chuckled. This wasn’t different from anything else he’s heard before. “Could you maybe call him and have him come in?”

“I just told you he’s already on the schedule-” The manager trailed off when the man fetched a 3x2 inch card from his wallet. ‘FBI’ was written in big black letters. “Please?”

The manager nodded, dialing the number as quickly as he could.

“The number you have dialed has been disconnected or is no longer in service.” was heard through the receiver.

The FBI agent sighed. “Just as I suspected. We’re too late. I’d suggest you go back into your records to make sure no other money is unaccounted for. I’ll bet he is responsible for this lady’s missing money as well, with which we can provide assistance for the charges.”

“Charges? No, I won’t be pressing charges.” The lady shook her head. 

“What? Ma’am, he stole from you. You are entitled to that money back.” 

“I’m not pressing charges. Osamu has helped me many times, carrying the pizza out to the car, playing with the kids here on his breaks, and even running back into the kitchen to make me a pizza after closing because I was in a pinch. If he stole from me, he has a good reason. He can keep it.”

Pinching the bridge of his nose, The agent exhaled and said, “Well, I can’t force you. I would encourage you both to give me a call if you need or hear anything.” He handed them both a business card each.

“What do we do now, boss?” 

“Let’s head back to the office. He was just here last night, so he can’t be far. As long as he’s out there, I can find him.”

The manager and customer watched the leader of the group storm out, his minions following close behind. It was then that they took a look at the cards in their hands.

Special Agent Atsumu Miya.

It's about time I get back into updating this blog :3.

I'm looking forward to showing you all Osamu and Imani's story !

(Imani's bffs will also make a comeback !!)

-pluto

[missingn000]

Such a great chapter!✨️

Kenjaku is such a sore loser, like he acts so high and mighty but his plans got foiled by the wettest saddest guy in history. So embarassing for him. I can't imagine living for however long he lived and just staying in the same flop era with same flop goals. So cringe of him...😔

I am placing bets on Yuki vs Choso because I want those two to interact and because I think it would be funny if he betrays Kenjaku the second that fight ends. That man deserved more L's than the world is willing to give him (and the world is already willing to give him a lot of L's).

I love Mahito's dynamic with Hajime!✨️Like two stray cats that should only be adopted together. That car chase was iconic! It's honestly great to see Hajime slowly start to realize that there are things beyond strength. I can't believe Mahito hit a pedestrian...😔 Like, imagine the last thing you see being a green lambo with no driver and a person with cyan hair screaming in the other seat. I would never recover (neither will the random pedestrian).

“Haven’t you ever gone the opposite way on an escalator? Isn't it a fun challenge?”

This fool. “Fuck you! You know I’m scared of escalators!”

“That sounds like a you problem!”

“Of course it is, it’s my fear! That’s a me problem by definition!”

This made me laugh so hard, poor Hajime... being afraid of escalators...

I can't believe they gossiped about Nanami in a treehouse. Like, it's definetly something both of them would do, but I can't imagine Nanami's reaction if he ever finds out about this.

“Well, look what just happened with Sukuna and Suguru-kun,” Mahito says calmly, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the Nanami residence. “Kenjaku’s been scheming for over a thousand years, yet his meticulous goals were thrown off-course by the most depressed man in the universe! Isn’t that so totally hilarious?” 

I love Mahito!✨️ He is so real for this one. Truer words have never been spoken.

“Whatever his plans are, nothing’s gonna go according to them. I wanna be there to watch that” Me too bestie, me too.

I did not expect the emotional conversation but I am so here for it. Sukuna's whole backstory is so in our face, but also not? It feels like watching one of those 1000 pieces puzzles. I know that they all form a cohesive picture, one that he loves to hint at all the time (he really needs some friends to talk to), but I also find it quite difficult to form that picture. Maybe I will make a list of all of the dramatic prejecting his issues on others he does to find it easier.

Mahito cried about Kashimo! I an way too emotionally invested in that interaction, but it was so cute!✨️

Sukuna's high emotional intelligence combined with 0 social skills is so fun to witness. Like, unlike Kenjaku's mysterious ass he is here infodumping about his trauma for free all the tine. King of never shutting up and never keeping things private.

"Water is best as ice" I see you, Sukuna, I see you—

Gojo really did not sign up for getting emotionally damaged by some theatre kid with 1000+ years worth of trauma.

Surprisingly, Sukuna seems genuinely offended. “I am not,” he shoots back. “Anyone who thinks gender correlates to strength deserves to be eaten alive by the gender they think is the weakest.” Progressive king!✨️

Gojo and Suguru are so cute this chapter.💖 Suguru really got a lot of character development (even if he had to lose an arm for it) and I am so happy for him!✨️

Tsumiki is getting a character arc! 🎉

Her argument with Megumi was sad, but also somewhat necessary for her? Like, it's good that she finally expressed her feelings, she needs to do that from time to time, even if yelling at Megumi wasn't realky the best way (even if Megumi was acting a bit like a jerk). At the same time, poor Megumi. He is really going through it right now. Also poor Gojo, it's clear that Sukuna's words affected him.

I'll write more, but I really need to go to sleep. Happy 2 years of writing TPG! 🎊 This fic is honestly one of the best I have ever read!💖

ooh i'm so happy you liked the chapter!! both scenes were really fun to write.

omg you're so right, kenjaku really is a sore loser. deserved. i fucking snorted at "his plans got foiled by the wettest saddest guy in history." so true, getou really fucked everything up for him through depression and character development. GOOD FOR HIM. "same flop era with the same flop goals" i dfghjkl. as for your theory on yuki vs choso...hm...interesting...

you described pfpk SO well, "two stray cats that should only be adopted together." real and accurate. they're so attached, they're like cats who constantly fight but meow like crazy if they're separated (my sister's cat is visiting for the summer, and that's how he is with my cat....) rip the pedestrian, and anyone who saw a car driving itself

i love mahito too! i wanted to give him interesting motives for going along with kjk's plans, since we never really found out in canon. i don't think he bought into the whole curses replacing humans thing, so why did he stay? i think him wanting to watch and study humanity as kenjaku tries to dismantle it fits with his personality.

their emotional convo was fun to write, especially their allusions to sukuna. that's exactly what i'm going for: all the puzzle pieces for sukuna's backstory are there, but missing a few key pieces for it all to make sense. slowly, we'll put things together, but not before making things way more confusing first

SUKUNAAAA MY OVERSHARING BELOVED we stan one zero social skills king. he's so vague but so expressive, and it's so funny and paradoxical of him. he never shuts up, but what he says never has substance.

"Gojo really did not sign up for getting emotionally damaged by some theatre kid with 1000+ years worth of trauma" PLEASE YOU'RE REALLY POPPING OFF WITH THIS MESSAGE gojo did get hit hard by sukuna's scarily accurate depictions of what it's like to be The Strongest. gojo is unsettled by sukuna, but the opposite is also true, which will only worsen as sukuna and gojo learn more about each other.

yeahhh tsumiki!! she deserves a character arc of her own, dammit. i'm so excited to write it! her argument with megumi was so gutting, but she needed to get her feelings out in the open so they can both begin to process and heal. but uh, not before some trauma first.

thank you so much for your kind words and for all your support!!! <333

[rookie-ramsey]

First Pet Shenanigans (Zaid x Ines)

Description: Gabriella gets a pet rabbit. Zaid is slightly terrified of it.

Word Count: 1,593

Rating: PG

Preview: When he turned around, the rabbit stood in the doorway. It held perfectly still aside from the twitching of its nose. Then, without warning, Oscar took a single, almost intimidating hop towards him. At least mildly horrified, Zaid subconsciously took a step back.

Not long after her fifth birthday, Gabriella started asking her parents for a pet.

They had Ines’s cat, but the lazy cat would much rather sleep than play with the toys Gabriella tried to entertain her with.

At first, they hesitated. They both worked full time, and Gabriella was still young. But eventually Gabriella and Ines’s shared enthusiasm for all things warm and fuzzy won, and Zaid gave in.

They ruled out a puppy for now, since a puppy would require more training. Of all the other animals on the planet, surely Gabriella could think of something fluffy that didn’t require someone to be home every day for the first few months.

“You can have a pet if it’s something that won’t be as hard to take care of,” Zaid granted, expecting her to suggest something simple, like a cat of her own.

Gabriella’s response was immediate. “A duck.”

“Well… a duck might not be happy living inside all the time. And they like to live with other ducks, so it might get lonely,” Ines explained.

“Oh.” Gabriella furrowed her brow in thought. “A mini horse. Daddy can build it a barn.”

Zaid rolled his eyes. “Yes. I’ll do that with my extensive knowledge of barn construction. I’ll get right on that.”

Gabriella rolled her eyes in a perfect imitation of him. “I was joking. Can I have a rabbit?’

At that suggestion, Ines looked thoughtful. “Hmm.. I think a rabbit would be okay.”

“Okay!” Delighted, Gabriella flung her arms around them and squeezed tight before she shoved a  somewhat concerningly sticky iPad into Zaid’s hands. “Let’s find a rabbit store. We’ll go get my rabbit tomorrow.”

Zaid made a face and set aside the sticky device. “We still need to talk about it. We’ll let you know later. We both have to work tomorrow.”

Gabriella shrugged, unfazed. “Call Dr. Naveen and tell him it’s a really, really big emergency. Say it’s the biggest emergency ever and you can’t go to work!”

“Somehow I don’t think that would be the best choice.”

Huffing, Gabriella took her iPad and climbed onto the couch. “Can I still look at pictures of rabbits?”

“You can do that.” Ines helped her get started and watched as the five-year-old scrolled through Google images of rabbits. “They’re so fluffy…”

It was in that moment Zaid knew they’d have a rabbit by the end of the week.

XXXXX

The day Ines took Gabriella to pick out her rabbit, Zaid fully expected them to come home with a cage containing a perfectly normal, small rabbit.

His first mistake was daring to make such a bold assumption.

Instead, Gabriella walked into the house with a leash clutched tightly in her hand. At the end of the leash was a harness, and in the harness was the biggest fucking rabbit Zaid had ever laid eyes on.

“What the… how… why is that rabbit the size of a shopping mall Easter bunny?”

“He’s a Flemish giant,” Ines explained. “We started out looking at the smaller ones, but then Gabriella saw him and fell in love with him.”

Recovering from his shock, Zaid stared at the oversized rabbit. “I thought we said her pet can’t be bigger than her.”

“I’m bigger than him!” Gabriella helped her rabbit stand on his hind legs. His head came to her chest, but his big ears just barely passed the top of her head. She peered between his ears and grinned. “I named him Oscar!”

“Like Oscar the Grouch?”

“Yeah!”

“Why do I feel alarmed?”

“He’s not actually grouchy at all. He was the most affectionate rabbit they had. The employees at the rescue center even said that these rabbits usually have a milder temperament than smaller breeds,” Ines informed him, reaching down to rub the rabbit’s big head.

“He’s just… massive. Terrifyingly so.”

“He weighs nineteen pounds.”

“He wants to explore.” Gabriella unhooked his leash. Oscar paused for a moment before he took off, bounding down the hallway. Gabriella chased after him.

“Does he really have to be walked like a dog?”

Ines shook her head. “No. He’s already litter box trained. We stopped at PetSmart and bought everything he needs.”

“What does a rabbit that size eat?”

“Regular rabbit food. Pellets, cabbage, carrots. Stuff like that. Just a lot more of it.”

Oscar hopped back into the living room. He stopped when he almost ran into the cat and froze in his tracks. Mittens hissed at him. Offended, Oscar cowered back from the cat that was half his size.

“We got him a habitat to stay in while we’re not home. You and Baz can put it together.”

Gabriella knelt next to Oscar and patted his furry head. He pressed his nose into her palm and sniffed. “I think he wants food.”

“We’ll bring his stuff inside so you can feed him. Make sure he doesn’t get into anything,” Ines instructed. She and Zaid brought in their purchases from the pet store.

Oscar watched in what looked like fascination as they opened the giant bag of rabbit pellets. Gabriella filled his bowl with it and sat back to watch as he nibbled hungrily on the food.

After a few minutes, Oscar left the food bowl to finish investigating the house. Gabriella followed him to keep him out of trouble.

They were getting dinner started when Zaid heard light footsteps entering the kitchen.

When he turned around, the rabbit stood in the doorway. It held perfectly still aside from the twitching of its nose. Then, without warning, Oscar took a single, almost intimidating hop towards him. At least mildly horrified, Zaid subconsciously took a step back.

“He’s not gonna hurt you!” To prove her point, Gabriella flopped onto the floor. Oscar climbed on top of her, practically burying her beneath his fluff. “See? You can’t be scared of your own grand bunny!”

“My what now?”

“He’s my rabbit, so that means he’s like my kid and you and Mommy are his grandparents,” Gabriella explained, her expression serious. “Rabbits are just like fuzzy babies.”

“Those two things aren’t exactly comparable.”

Gabriella shook her head. “Well, I said they are, so… there. I’m not gonna argue about it.”

Ines tried to stifle a laugh. “Zaid, I think you just lost the argument. Oscar’s officially our grandchild.”

Oscar sniffed Gabriella, twitching his nose several times before laying his big head on her shoulder. He didn’t budge until a minute later when the door opened and Baz walked in.

“Oh no! My niece turned into a rabbit!”

Gabriella rolled out from under Oscar. “Nuh uh!”

Baz let out a sigh and pretended to wipe sweat from his forehead. “Whew. I was worried. Who’s this big guy?”

“Oscar! Daddy’s scared of him!”

Baz grinned. “Oh, he is? Tell me all about it.”

“Excuse me?” Zaid frowned.

“He gets scared every time Oscar looks at him,” Gabriella explained, grinning mischievously. “But I tried telling him Oscar’s his grand bunny and he’s not supposed to be afraid of him.”

“Of course not. Well, that and the fact that he’s just a harmless ball of fluff that no grown adult should be afraid of.” Amused, Baz knelt down and patted Oscar. “If he’s your mom and dad’s grandchild, does that make him my grand-nephew?’

“Yep!” Gabriella laughed and found Oscar’s leash. “Can we take Oscar outside to play?”

Ined nodded. “Just make sure you keep him on his leash.”

“Okay.” Grabbing Baz’s hand, Gabriella steered him toward the door so they could take Oscar outside. “Tell me more stuff Daddy’s scared of.”

By night time, Oscar seemed to have made himself at home. He occupied the end of the couch, content and comfortable while Zaid and Ines watched a movie and Gabriella colored at the coffee table.

Without warning, Oscar crawled across the cushions and sprawled across Zaid’s lap. He sharply rammed his head into Zaid’s hand.

Gabriella giggled. “He wants you to pet him.”

Tentatively, Zaid patted the rabbit’s head. Oscar sat upright, looking him directly in the eye. “I can’t tell if he’s thanking me or plotting my death.”

Gabriella sighed and rolled her eyes. “He doesn’t kill people. He’s not that smart.”

Ines snapped a picture, much to Zaid’s chagrin. “He looks so comfortable.”

“Well, good for him, I guess.”

“You look adorable.” Grinning, Ines leaned over and kissed him. “Okay, Gab, time for bed. Go pick out a book and we’ll be in there soon to read to you.”

Gabriella groaned and tried not to yawn. She held her eyes open and sat up straighter. “I’m not sleepy. See?”

“I see. I also saw you falling asleep a minute ago. C’mon.”

Sighing in defeat, Gabriella patted Oscar. “Come on, Oscar. You’re gonna sleep in my bed.”

At her beckoning, Oscar hopped off of Zaid’s lap and trailed after her. Zaid and Ines soon followed to read to Gabriella. Oscar was stretched comfortably across the foot of her bed and watched as Gabriella handed her parents a book.

“Oscar wants to hear about Peter Rabbit,” she insisted, only to fall asleep by the third page of the story. Wide awake, Oscar hopped off the bed and followed Zaid and Ines to the living room.

The second Zaid sat down, Oscar plopped into his lap.

“I think he likes you.”

Zaid sighed when Oscar looked up at him, staring at him with wide eyes and refusing to budge. “I’m still getting mixed signals.”

“He probably just knows you’re a softie.”

“How did I give him that impression?”

Ines shrugged, grinning. “Animals notice stuff like that.”

Tags. part 1

@princess-geek / @lapisreviewsstuff  / @silverlitskies / @paulfwesley / @dr-brianna-casey-valentine / @junehiratas / @choicesstanblog / @trappedinfandoms / @justanotherrookie / @bellcat2010 / @desmaranj / @lion-ess24 / @nooruleman / @caseyvalentineramsey / @xee-na / @edith-eggs1 / @oofchoices / @schnitzelbutterfingers / @tefigranger / @jlynn12273 / @laceandlula / @crazy-loca-blog / @somegdchoices / @sanchita012 / @forthebrokenheartedthings / @lilyvalentine / @parkerattano / @drramseysownsme / @misswhit12 / @drethanfreakingramsey / @juneiswriting / @macy-ray85 / @swimmingauthordreamerbonk / @myusualnerdyself / @siaramsey / @takemyopenheart / @queencarb 

[snowe-zolynn-rogers]

Pairings: None

Word Count: 1,702 Words

Summary: Training and Todoroki siblings.

Warnings: Abuse Mention, Death Mention, let me know if I should tag anything else.

Notes: Touya’s clothes include links to what they look like.

Hair Dye Buddies: Chapter 5

"Where are we headed? The teacher dorms?" Touya asked.

"They're right over there." Shoto told him, showing him the building inside the gates. "But we're not going there. Mr. Yamada is over in the 1-C dorms right now, talking to Shinsou, another friend of mine through Midoriya, I guess. We're gonna go bother him and ask if you can train."

Shoto led Touya along after him into the 1-C dorms and was instantly greeted with exclamations of a new student from about half the populous. Touya was happy he still had a mask on his wrist because he heard someone coughing. He quickly put it on his face as he hid behind Shoto.

"No, this is my brother. Where's Present Mic? Still in Shinsou's room or down here?" Shoto asked the tall one with the big chin.

"Mr. Yamada is up in that weirdo's room. Is your brother even allowed on campus?"

Shoto brushed past him, taking Touya's wrist in hand and pulling him along to stay closeby so he wouldn't get bothered by the Gen Ed students who had bombarded them at the door. Touya got led up to the fifth floor and the fourth room on the boy's side before Shoto knocked on the door.

"S'up, little listeners?" Present Mic asked as he opened the door to reveal who Touya was assuming was Shinsou sitting on the bed looking rather tired.

"Is this a bad time?" Shoto asked.

"Not at all, me and Shinsou here were just talking about something but we were just finishing up since Shinsou needs to get his sleep in." Mr. Yamada told them. He was loud and energetic and bubbly, Touya was reminded of Fuyumi.

"Mr. Aizawa said we'd need someone to watch over Touya if he were to train his quirk. and Mr. Aizawa feel asleep in the 1-A commons. I'm sure that Sero's put whipped cream in his hand by now. But Touya needs a teacher to watch him and you're the only one who I knew where you were." Shoto told him.

"Alright, I'll be there just gimme a few minutes, little listeners!" Present Mic beamed and closed the door over. The pseudo-twins stood down the hall by the stairs and waited about ten minutes for Shinsou and him to finish up and hopefully Shinsou was falling or already asleep. He'd looked like he'd need it.

Shoto led Touya back through the students downstairs but this time, Mr. Yamada was leading them through. They began the twenty minute trek to Gym Gamma and they began there.

"Alright, kid, show us what you've got." The teacher told him and he unleashed a blizzard in the building they were in, icing the walls and floor with its intensity before he stopped it of his own will, something he'd never have achieved with his old fire. "That's a mighty strong blizzard you got there, kiddo." Yamada told him.

"Thanks." Touya mumbled.

"Do you have any special moves yet? Yamada asked.

"No, but I guess I could work on it?" And thus began trying for hours until he came up with a concentrated stream of snow flurries being like a firework, his snow acting as a smokescreen, and he learned how to create instant-made snowballs.

"You did great, little listener! I'm proud of you!" Yamada exclaimed.

"Thank you." He mumbled as Shoto and him went back to the dorms and Mr. Yamada

"Do you wanna take a shower, Touya?" Shoto asked.

"Sure."

"If you didn't pick up anything for yourself, I have some soaps in there. Most are for dry skin, but that's probably a plus with how much your fire used to give you burns. The whole towel closet is communal so you don't need to worry about grabbing the wrong one." Shoto told him as they got into the dorms.

"Yeah, thanks, Sho." Touya smiled.

"The twins are bonding!" Yaoyorozu looked pleased.

"Hi, Momo." Shoto greeted them.

"Hi, Momo." Touya parroted.

"Did you have fun training, Touya?" She asked.

"Yeah, I came up with a few things I can do besides just making a blizzard. It feels like this quirk was actually made for me." He proudly announced.

"That's great, Touya. I'm happy you're advancing quickly!" Momo bubbled with energy and smiles. Touya smiled back a bit, her energy was unmatchable, though.

"Hey there, Touya." Came Aizawa from the living room.

"Hi, Mr. Aizawa." He muttered.

"Us teachers had a meeting about the permanence of your deaging and Nezu has your adoption papers going through tonight on a UA direct order. All you need to do is sign them since you're technically a legal age and you'll legally be my son come tomorrow morning." Aizawa handed him a paper on a board.

"Okay." Touya read it over briefly before he signed on the line for his name to be.

"Congratulations, you're my son as of dawn tomorrow. Welcome to the family, we have more cats than humans." Aizawa told him, patting his head and Touya thought he'd get hit for a split second and jolted a the touch.

"Sorry." He muttered. "Didn't mean to react like that."

"You can't help engrained habits and I don't get offended by old habits. They die hard, I get it." Aizawa told him. "Alright, get a shower, you trained with Hizashi, I heard."

Flopping on his bed after his shower felt like heaven. Touya wasn't sure that wasn't what this was, actually. No Endeavor, no abuse, he had his brother, friends, a new parent even. He felt like he was home as he fell asleep in the cloud of a bed, cuddling a pillow close.

He heard but didn't react when Midoriya and Bakugou had their inevitable argument or Aizawa screaming at them to both shut up. He was actually kind of happy to have been deaged. Whatever life he had, he didn't care what it was, couldn't have been better than this new second chance at life.

The next morning was a weekend. Naturally, Aizawa invited Fuyumi and Natsuo over to speak on the matter of Touya's deaging. As soon as Natsuo walked into the meeting room and saw Touya, he was bawling and Fuyumi gasped and stood still. Shoto had to lead her in all the way to close the door.

"Touya, you're alive." Fuyumi whispered.

"Hi, guys." He awkwardly greeted them.

"As you can see we have some serious business to discuss. Please, sit." Aizawa told them. Both older siblings sat down in the chairs around the table.

"How is he alive!?" Natsuo asked loudly, causing the other three siblings to jump.

"Touya was found by Kirishima here the night before last." Aizawa gestured to Kirishima sitting next to him. "Touya has been permanently deaged five years for the last month. And his quirk was changed by the man Kirishima found harassing him outside a convenience store." Aizawa told them.

"He was on the streets two weeks and that man, Matsuda Ryuu, housed him for two weeks after." Aizawa told them. "Touya was temporarily enrolled into UA's hero course so I could keep an eye on him, however his enrollment will be come permanent if that's what he wants. I've legally adopted him since he's stated, at this age, your father threw him out onto the streets to begin with."

"Touya is staying in the 1-A dorms and I trust neither of you will have trouble not telling your father of this development until we figure out how to handle the situation of your father possibly trying to take custody back." Aizawa looked at Natsuo and Fuyumi expectantly.

"Of course not!" Fuyumi exclaimed.

"I don't speak to that piece of shit." Natsuo told him.

"I'll likely tell him once I establish full custody and fully move him into both my house and the dorms. Get him set up, establish communication lines to me and my partner, Hizashi." Aizawa told them.

"You'll keep him safe?" Was all Fuyumi asked.

"Of course. I'm his new parent and guardian, of course I'll keep him safe."

"Alright. Then, I don't see a problem." Natsuo told Aizawa and he looked over Shoto and Touya. "You know, I always thought you two looked like twins." Natsuo told them abruptly.

"Alright, if everyone's good with this, you two have full admission to the campus for the day so you can spend time with Touya and Shoto. Touya has yet to set up anything in his room, so hopefully you two can help him with that." Aizawa told them.

And, with that, the four siblings were off to the dorms and ended up in Touya's room, Natsuo laughing when he saw the clothing Touya had.

"You're still our emo brother, Touya, good to know." Natsuo smiled brightly.

"Yeah. Kirishima's friends took me out for that." Kirishima slung his arm around Touya's shoulders.

"Yeah, his style's a lot like Bakugou so a lot of that stuff is things we picked out for him." Kirishima told them. "This shirt is actually one Kaminari, our local pikachu, picked out for him. Speaking of, I should probably stop him from trying to get his toast out with a fork for the fifth time this week." Touya let them look at the black shirt with chains he was wearing as Kirishima saw himself out.

"I'm glad to see you never changed." Fuyumi beamed.

"I never aged, guys, of course I didn't change. I'm an angsty teenager in the prime of my quarter-life crisis." Touya reminded them.

"You know what I mean." Fuyumi smiled brightly as she hugged him close, she was sniffling? Was she crying? Touya tried to look up but his head was buried in her neck in a way he could barely move it. "I missed you so much." She whispered.

"I mean, I missed you guys too, for the month I remember at least." Touya admitted.

"We thought you died, Touya." Natsuo joined Fuyumi. Shoto awkwardly hugged him as well.

"You three will make me cry and then Mina will be mad about my makeup getting messed up again." Touya let his siblings tackle him into a cuddle pile on the bed. He felt safe having people, his siblings no less, holding him so close.

Taglist: @lgbtforeverything @rin-tanaka @everythingisstardust

[falcor-thee-luck-dragon]

Jaskier x firebender reader - We need a horse

Summary: Jaskier is tired of constantly walking, so he convinces you to find a way to get a horse.

Warnings- shenanigans, fighting, death of bad guys, Jaskier fluff 

Masterlist

You and Jaskier are standing outside of a tavern as Geralt does whatever on the inside, you’re guessing it’s finding a new monster to hunt. Or perhaps he could be swooning over a fair maiden, yeah that doesn’t seem very plausible. You shake the thought out of your head as you lean against the side of the stony tavern, your boots in the dirt. Jaskier stands to your left fiddling with a piece of his tunic, as he watches random village goers walk by.

“I’ve just had a thought.” He says from out of nowhere. You push yourself off of the wall, nonchalantly resting your hand on the hilt of your sword that’s positioned at your hip.

“Oh here we go.” You quietly mutter.

“Maybe we could all take turns on Roach.”

You chuckle, “Yeah that’s unlikely.”

“No seriously, we have to walk all the time from village to town to castle to wherever the fuck the money and monsters are....so we should take turns riding Roach.” He argues, trying to get you on board with his new idea.

“I mean...I guess you do make a compelling argument.” You tell him with a shrug.

“See! I’m telling you Y/N, when that grumpy old snowbear comes back outta the tavern from whatever indulgences he’s getting into....I’m gonna tell him.” Jaskier exclaims, ever so sure of himself.

You give him a half-convinced nod, “You do that. I’ll watch from over there, by the carpet seller.” You tell him as you head towards the table across the road. His eyes widen at the realization that your a no-go for his plan to get Geralt of all people to share Roach. “What? You’re not going to help at all. This is Geralt. He won’t give a flying fuck about what I’m saying...but if I have you...we have a winning argument.” He tries his best to persuade you, but you appear unflinching as you turn around to look at him.

“Jask, I’ve know Geralt awhile...he’s not gonna go for it.”

“But Y/N.” Whines Jaskier with a pout. You step in closer to put your hand on his shoulder in an attempt at trying to comfort him, while you give him your most sincere smile.

“Listen there’s a vender over there who sells really nice travel bearing boots....some of them look very....er up to your tastes.” His face falls at that, so you abruptly remove your hand from his tense shoulder.

“Well you’re certainly no help, thanks for nothing. Sorry I’m not...well...whatever you are that makes it so easy to just walk everywhere and not apparently get tired.” He sasses, folding his arms and turning around with a dramatic huff. You roll your eyes at Jaskier’s pettiness, no matter how small the act.

You shake your head with a annoyed frown, “It’s not my fault I’m just not a little bitch.” You jest, whisper yelling the last part, gods Jaskier can be such a little princess.

You casually mosey on over by the shoe vender taking a good look at their diverse array of footwear, you look up again to glance over at a pouty Jaskier that’s looking over his shoulder to find you. When your eyes meet you stick your tongue out at him and he quickly looks away, staring intently back at the tavern door.

“Hello miss are you looking for something specific?” Asks an older man from behind the counter. You turn towards him with a small smile, “Oh um, I’m just looking for a friend.....just seeing what you got.” You reply giving him a nod as you look down at all the boots. He does have a nice gathering of travel wear as well as for parties and...

“Oh come on Geralt. Some of us don’t have a horse. It’s only fair.”

Your head snaps up at the sound of Jaskier, you watch as Geralt ignores him while he starts walking over towards you. His face is a blank slate of annoyance a he makes his way to where you’re standing as he tries to get Jaskier off his ass, with your help of course. “Y/N, did you have anything to with this.” He grumbles, stopping in front of you.

You look around his large frame at a pleading Jaskier, and then back up to him, “Nope.” You deadpan, Jaskier purses his lips together in frustration, as he walks around Geralt with his hands on his hips. He goes to open his mouth but you stop him, “I’ll just buy a horse Jask.” He stands back in surprise, before his brows furrow in confusion, “Okay as great as that sounds Y/N, how exactly are you going to afford a horse?” He wonders honestly, unsure of how you’d come up with the money. Considering the three of you low-key struggle as is to find an abundance of coin.

 You cross your arms over your chest while giving them both a confident smirk, “I’ll find a way believe me.” You assure them, Geralt nods as he turns to walk away and Jaskier still looks troubled.

You roll your eyes at him while you link your arm in his, the both of you begin to walk in Geralt’s direction. “I’d really like to know how you’re going to get us a horse...but then again, maybe I don’t.” He muses, you pull him in closer to you, whispering in his ear. “There’s a pack of bandits on the outskirts of the village woods. I plan on robbing them for coin and whatever other valuables they may have.”

His eyebrows raise as he tilts his head to you, “That’s smart. Hmm you’re gonna need a lookout or...ah right! A distraction.” He says excitedly, always ready to get into trouble with you whenever the opportunity arises. 

“Shhh...you want everyone to hear us. And besides I’m going alone.” He stops walking and holds onto both of your forearms. “Y/N. I need new material for a ballet, please let me go with you.....I mean the action, the danger, the gore, and uh...theft. So much potential.” He whisper yells while looking deeply into your shining eyes.

“If you keep giving me that look with those big blue eyes of yours I’ll crack. And last I checked you can’t exactly defend yourself as well as either myself or Geralt. You can get hurt Jaskier...” He holds up a finger to silence you.

“Y/N my love, my rose in a dead garden, my feisty foxy woman, my lamppost guiding me through a dark forest on a cold winters eve...my..”

“Jaskier.”

“What? I’m on a roll... you inspire me my dear.” He tells you grinning cheekily.

You shake your head smiling at him adoringly, “Gods alright, you can come along...but you’ll have to hide and....Stay. Out. Of. The. Way.” You warn him firmly, Jaskier just grins happily, bringing up his hands to cup your cheeks. “Ah, I love you.” He exclaims joyously, smashing his lips into yours. He pulls away abruptly leaving you dazed and wanting more, as he pulls you down the trail leading to Geralt and Roach.

“Eh..uh...okay then.” You mumble, smiling brightly like a huge lovestruck idiot. Dammit Jaskier with his stupid smile, and voice, and his even stupider charm. He’s the only person who’s able to break you enough to give in and let him get what he wants. If you could slap that infuriating grin right off of his smug face, but in all honesty you’d rather kiss it off him instead.

----

Later that evening you get up from your spot near the campfire. Geralt watches you suspiciously as he sits in broody silence trying to figure out what you’re up to. Jaskier finishes his rabbit leg, flicking the bone into the fire as he stands up to follow your lead. Geralt’s eyebrow raises, “And where are you two going?” He mutters. You snap your armored gauntlets onto your forearms while you look up at Geralt. “I’m finding coin.” You answer, reaching out to pick up your infamous metal chained whip, perfect for slaying monsters and taking out bandits and whoever else is in your way. “I’ll be back later, don’t follow me.”

“Oh and I’m coming too! I’ll have a fresh new ballot by this time tomorrow...it’ll be fantastic.” Gushes Jaskier, throwing his hands in the air for emphasis.

“Yeah...uh... he won’t be near me.” You assure Geralt with an honest nod. He shrugs, not wanting to bother in your guys’ business. “Alright then. Let’s get a go on things. A horse won’t buy itself after all.” Says Jaskier enthusiastically, putting his hands on his hips. You pull up your hood, turning to quickly grab your camouflaged scarf to then adjust the dark green material to help better conceal your face.

“Here you might want this.” You tell Jaskier as you hand him a dark cloak, he gladly accepts it, throwing it on with ease. “And this...just incase.” You add while handing him a small dagger that’s lying secured in its sheath. He cautiously takes it, giving you a nod as he tucks it into his vest. You stand back to give Jaskier a look up and down, as he fumbles around with his cloak, completely oblivious to your amused gaze.

“Jask!”

He suddenly stops, snapping his head up to look at you, his hair flopping into his eyes. “Yes, my love?”

“Let’s go.” You tell him while walking away into the woods and out of sight, Jaskier gives Geralt an ecstatic smile before abruptly turning on his heels to trail after you.

The forest is dark and heavy, a small breeze rocking the branches in a strange type of dance. You look up through the cracks in the forest canopy above you, a crescent moon shows a Cheshire Cat-like smile beaming down on you from the sky. The stars seem to twinkle from high into the heavens, while back on earth the night is cool and mysterious. Your eyes adjust to the darkness now that you’re away from the comfort of the campfire light as you bring your hand up to make a tiny flame so you don’t trip on the forest floor.

Your peaceful moment is intrusively interrupted by the rushed steps of your humble bard, who’s fumbling in the dark to try and keep up with you. You turn around just in time to catch him as he has amazingly tripped on a tree root. His arms flail out as you snatch him by his torso, you little flame going out as this clash has evidently lead the both of you into a aggressive hug of sorts that sends you crashing onto the forest floor. Your back hits the grass with a hard thud as a greater pressure holds you in place from above. You suck in a sharp breath as your eyes shoot open to the weight that’s pinning you to the ground, the smiling face of Jaskier is staring right into your eyes.

“Well aren’t we in quit the compromising of positions my dear.” Smirks your bard with a cheeky grin.

“One, Two, Thre..”

“Alright alright!” Whispers Jaskier as he quickly lifts himself off of you. He holds his hand out for you to take, ever the gentleman.

“You’re as blind as a bat, why did I let you come?”

“If not I would have annoyed you relentlessly for the next week, I’d even make a song about it. Let me think....my Y/N, she hissed at me like a cat and said I was as blind as a bat, she killed for coin and touches my loins ohhh I loveee..”

“I’ll shove a leave down your throat.”

“Jeesh alright touchy. I’ll behave, I promise. You will not hear another word from me.” He announces while pretending to zip his mouth shut.

“Yeah I’ve heard that before.” You retort while turning around and heading in the direction of the thieves camp, Jaskier holding onto your cloak and trying his hardest to stay silent.

The both of you walk for another ten minutes before you begin to hear laughter and the familiar scent of cooked deer roasting over a spit. Then your eyes spot a flicker of light through the dull color of the woods, a solid indicator of where these idiots are camped. You signal your discovery to Jaskier who nods and urges you onward. You take cautious steps as you get closer, you can see the men gathered around a blazing fire, small tents behind them, and their weapons by their feet. No horses unfortunately.

“Stay here and don’t draw any attention to yourself I’m gonna kill them and then take their valuables.”

“Isn’t that stealing?”

“Not if their dead Jask.”

“Huh. Yeah that sounds about right.”

You turn back around, slowly sliding out your dagger from within its sheath as you cautiously stalk closer to the oblivious men. Without warning you lunge at the closest one, slitting his throat from ear to ear as you stab your weapon into the next one who didn’t even have time to stand. You turn around, quickly jumping over the burning fire as you plunge your dagger straight into the eye of the next unlucky fellow to cross your path. Suddenly an arrow lodged itself into your right shoulder with a sickening thwack sound. You turn towards the terrified bowmen, a flash of anger shining through your eyes as they catch sight of the local wanted rapist. You flick your hand with ease, your instrument of death slicing deep into his vulnerable chest. He drops his bow and arrow as a trail of blood begins dripping out of his parted lips. His eyes are as big as saucers when he abruptly lets out a pained gasp, falling to the forest floor in a slump of limbs.

You swivel your head around the entire camp once again, not wanting to miss anything or anyone who might have escaped. Not a sound is heard but the rapid thudding of Jaskier’s heartbeat from behind a bush. Your ears prick at the gargled mumble of the scruffy looking rapist who just shot you. Oh right, you still have an arrow stuck into your side, must be the adrenaline. 

Taking care of that problem you pull it out, accidentally snapping it off before the pointy end has a chance to properly come out. Shit. Ignoring the dull throbbing in your shoulder, you focus your attention on the slowly dying man in front of you. Leaning down, you pull out your silver dagger, wiping the blood off on his clean sleeve before putting it back in your sheath.

“B..bi..bitch.” He mumbles through ragged breaths. You give him a sneer before crushing his jugular with your boot, another cockroach squashed.

“Y/N! That was bloody brilliant. They never even saw you coming.” Gushes Jaskier as he parts the bushes so he can jog over to you.

“Well that was the intention. Uh, look for any coin...I’ll look in their bags.” He currently nods, turning to do just that, he stops dead in his tracks at a large angry balding man across from the dying campfire.

“Uh, Y/N you may have missed one.”

Snapping your head of to Jaskier you turn to the angry huff of a monster of a man who’s glaring dagger at you and your bard. Suddenly the man lets out a loud battle cry as he charges with his axe towards Jaskier and you. 

“Oh fuck.” Gasps Jaskier as you swiftly race to his side while throwing your outstretched arm in front of him. A furious blast of orange and yellow flames emitting from your palms and straight into the bulking thief, he lets out a blood curdling scream as the flames lick up his sides. Burning him alive within seconds, he falls to the ground as he thrashes and groans. Not even fifteen seconds later has he finally stopped moving, all that's left of him is a blackened charred body staining the once green grass of the clearing. 

 “Well...uh...that’ll do it.” Breaths out Jaskier as you turn to him, dissipating away the flames from your hand as you do so.

“I hope he didn’t have any coin on him, shit.”

----

The two of you walk back into camp, the fires gone to embers and Geralt is promptly snoozing in the grass while Roach nibbles at some leaves on the nearby tree. You walk over to your satchel, picking it up to stuff the concealed bundles of coin you were able to find earlier. Jaskier goes to sit down by the dimly glowing campfire as he watches you intently. You drop the old bag onto the ground with a clinky thud, deciding it best to take off your cloak and leather armored chest piece. Leaving your top half in a grey sleeveless shirt, you let out a tired sigh of relief.

“Oh..uh Y/N...you’re kinda bleeding.”

“Huh?”

“Your shoulder. Oh come here let me have a look.” States Jaskier firmly, already scooting himself in the grass so you can sit down in front of him. Not wanting to argue, and now fully well aware of the fresh arrow head still stuck in your shoulder, you oblige and sit down right next to him. He carefully touches your bare shoulder, a concentrated look on his handsome face as he studies the bloody slice in your skin.

“You’ve got an arrow stuck in there...it’s almost out but...uh...it may hurt when I force it out.” He says, his eyebrows furrowing to together in concern.

“Do your worst.”

He nods, giving you a crooked smile as he takes out a small dagger from under his bedroll. You look up to the stars as you brace yourself for the coming pain. Suddenly cool metal is placed delicately onto your skin, then it’s quickly pressed deeper into your flesh. You bite your lip as Jaskier slices open your wound even more so he can get a better grasp onto the arrow head. Finally he finds it, pulling on the broken piece of wood attached to the silver arrow and out it goes. 

“That’s gonna be a nasty one. The bloke must’v stuck you with a silver arrow...those things are sharp.” Chimes the bard as you stop his hand from covering your cut with some cloth. 

“Let me cauterize it first, heals quicker that way.” He sets his hands down and watches intently as you conjure a tiny flame from your two fingers, carefully dragging it across your wound as you hold the pain in, it melts and fuses the parted skin together as you can smell the nasty scent of burning skin and bubbling blood.

“Well at least this little midnight raid seemed like a success...those fuckers were loaded with coin. By gods Y/N we’re gonna have the best horse and...hmm I’m just imagining all the wine we could snag while we’re still near town.” He says while raising an eyebrow to you.

You roll your eyes as he then carefully wraps your shoulder in spare cloth, you turn yourself around to face him fully now. The both of you sitting together in the grass as the remainder of the fire glows lowly in the warm summer air. Jaskier gives you a smile as he adjusts the sleeves of his shirt. “You wouldn’t mind sharing a spot in the grass with your loyal bard now would you?”

“Not at all.” You reply with a yawn, Jaskier flashes you an excited grin as he pats at the soft ground, making the two of you a makeshift bed. 

Once satisfied with his work he lays himself down, looking up to you with those big blue eyes of his, pleading for you to join him. Tired and in need of a good cuddle you curl up into his side as he throws an arm around your waist. Careful as not to touch your injured shoulder in the process, your eyes lock with his as a bright smile plants itself onto both of your faces.

“Well if you aren’t the most radiant creature I’ve ever met. Oh and best part...you’re all mine.” Whispers Jaskier as he lightly kisses your nose, you let out a tiny giggle in reply, ever grateful for this tuneful idiot and the fact that Geralt is in a deep sleep.

“I took an arrow for you, when we get to the next tavern you better show me how radiant I really am.” Jaskier let’s out an amused snort before kissing you in an attempt at making you feel better for the arrow wound. You kiss him back, not being able to resist his charms for much longer, even if your shoulder still feels sore as it slowly heals underneath the cloth.

[sexycraisinthanos]

I’m gonna infodump about my favorite movie

Rise of the Guardians

It’ll be under the readmore, but TL;DR: Watch Rise of the Guardians and read the books

Rise of the Guardians is a 2012 animated film released by Dreamworks. The story is childhood figures (Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Sandman, and Jack Frost) trying to defend the children of earth against Pitch Black, (The Boogeyman) 

It’s based on a book series called Guardians of Childhood, written by William Joyce. Who, if you don’t know, writes children’s book. Guardians of Childhood is more of a “Young Adult” series compared to his other Guardians books (The Man in the Moon, Sandman: The Story of Sanderson Mansnoozie, and Jack Frost are all part of the series, but they are picture books.)

He’s also written other books you may be familiar with.

The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs and A Day with Wilbur Robinson 

Sound familiar?

Maybe you’d recognize them as their movie counterparts, Epic (animated by Blue Sky Studios) and Meet the Robinsons (animated of course by Disney)

Also Rolie Polie Olie, which was a favorite Disney Jr cartoon growing up for me, and was also a book series. 

I could honestly go on and on about William Joyce, his work was a part of my childhood a LOT (even credited for working on some of my favorite films like Buddy, Robots, Toy Story, and A Bug’s Life) and that’s probably why I love ROTG so much.

I read all of the Guardians books and own all of them save for Jack Frost and The Art of Rise of the Guardians and the books are not cheap, but what books are? I have HARD COVER BITCHES. Half of them were gifts and I also own the ROTG DVD.

The art in the books (all drawn by William Joyce himself) is really good (this is my favorite art from the books)

And the animation in the movie, as expected from Dreamworks, is beautiful. 

You get to see all their unique homes and they’re such varying types of environments. Of course, you have the North Pole, where it’s chaotic and wonderful. Just look at this concept art 

And then you have the Tooth Palace, where the Tooth Fairy does her work

It’s very obvious that there are some Indian inspirations in the design because Tooth herself is actually Middle-Eastern (in the books it’s explained in depth more and one of my complaints about the movie is that they whitewashed her even though her concept art in the ending credits shows her with brown skin)

The Warren, where the Easter Bunny paints his eggs

Which is something you never really think about because people only focus on the North pole so seeing so much thought put into it is really nice

We never see where Sandy works/lives (in the MOVIE. But the GAME on the other hand lets you explore EVERYONE’S homes and that’s a whole nother story)

We DO however see Pitch’s lair and

it’s rightfully spooky. When you actually see the scene play out in the lair, you get all confused and don’t know which way is which and it always unsettles me which is GOOD because that’s what it’s SUPPOSED to do

What’s really unique about ROTG is that there’s a source material (and as of now there are eight books (five novels, three picture books) and the series isn’t DONE yet) and instead of turning the books into a movie even though the plot is literally RIGHT THERE, they took the source material and turned it into a prologue. The movie takes place about 300 years after the books do and since the books are supposedly still ongoing, and William Joyce was CONTINUING to write the series while the movie was in production. (Three books have come out since the movie came out.)

I love how challenging that must have been for William to try to include stuff from his previous books in the movie AND to try and link the movie to his newer books despite some continuity errors (also worth noting that he has written a book about Santa and his wife, but Mrs. Claus is YET to be seen or even mentioned in the movie) but I appreciate the effort he put into it and I can’t wait to see what else he’ll come up with.

The characters look a BIT different from their book counterparts

Jack is voiced by Chris Pine and his voice is WAY TOO DEEP and the creators can’t agree on an age for him (book age is 14, but he can age himself up and down to a certain point and some producers said they imagined him 17 or 18) and (imo) I think Jack’s design was pretty lazy (a blue jacket with brown pants) compared to everyone else’s. I mean you have North, who is 

BIG

His design is based more on the worldly Father Christmas than the Saint Nick/Santa that we know. 

When he’s not in the Pole he’s wearing his big red fur coat and a cossack hat

Because he’s Russian

I’m pretty sure he canonically was raised by bears but that may have just been me imagining it. His book appearance is way different because when we meet him, he’s not Santa yet. So he’s still young

Of course, as the books go on, he looks like Santa

Bunny has the most drastic character change from his book design, as depicted by this fanart (which i couldn’t find a credit for that wasn’t pinterest so if anyone knows please tell me)

And there’s a CANONICAL reason why he looks so different (two actually)

Once they put Hugh Jackman in the role, they wanted a more dry Australian ranger-type design for him, and then the robes got in the way because of how he was moving, even when they changed him to just a lab coat, so they decided to forgo clothes altogether

Fun fact about Bunny. He’s a Pooka, a shapeshifting folklore creature that can turn into either a rabbit, goat, cat, dog, or horse. (or even a human with animal like features) Which actually gives a lot of people the headcanon that Pitch uses the souls of all Bunny’s dead people (yep he’s a sole survivor) as Nightmares

But he’s a different kind of Pooka. He’s an alien technically. And this breed of Pooka CANNOT eat chocolate because it does things to their body. Like giving him six arms. Or making his ears into helicopter propellers. 

This is relevant because he uses chocolate in battle multiple times. So the canonical explanation for why Bunny looks so different is that he ate too much chocolate and it permanently changed his body.

Which I love. I could go on about him but all the characters are interesting

Tooth has probably the second most confusing design

She’s based off a hummingbird with dragonfly wings, which aesthetically makes so much sense, but in the books she has regular feather wings. I also don’t like how weird her proportions are. Her feet are tiny nubs, her head is too big for her body (her body is actually pretty nicely designed it’s just every other part of it that bothers me) and I already mentioned the whitewashing

PITCH on the other hand had the biggest glow down compared to the books

He’s just wearing a black robe and, apparently, he doesn’t even have sleeves, which you can’t even really tell because it’s just all smudgy and shit

I mean I guess that’s the point, that he looks like he’s clothed in shadow, but it’s frustrating to look at especially compared to his book design where he’s wearing a FABULOUS coat

Meanwhile Sandy has the PERFECT character design

He’s just ROUND and wears a bathrobe made of sand. Like it’s not even that different from his book design (his hair has more frills than the book version) because it’s such a perfect design and I love how he’s animated. You can’t see it that well because the gif quality, but the sand also sparkles and it just makes it so fun to watch on screen 

The movie itself has its share of flaws. (the movie likes to pick and choose the rules it wants to follow about its universe, a huge plothole, and some cheaply constructed arguments between characters that really just make me annoyed because I don’t want to see the easter bunny making a child cry I want to see him get into a fist fight with Santa it’s like you don’t even KNOW your demographic) But I love it and there’s SO MUCH I could talk about. There are characters in the books that weren’t in the movie and there were characters in the movie that weren’t in the books (because they weren’t born yet but IRRELEVANT) 

It was a HUGE flop despite critics praising it. Like 8,000 people lost their jobs over it that’s how big a flop it was. But it’s such a dear movie to me and it’s clear that William Joyce holds this series close to his heart (dedicating it and the movie to his late daughter) which makes sense because it’s based on stories he told her when she was young and I’m so honored that he chose to share these stories with us. I just love the series and I should do a re-read at some point

[freewheelshippin]

Major insomnia and heartache in this chili’s tonight (this morning), so here we are with a quick little fic about two dum dums learning how to share heartache.(SFW, no major content warnings I can think of.) 

next day edits: well, now that it’s not ass o’clock, i went back in and tidied this up and added a fair amount more!!  (much more satisfying ending instead of something so abrupt, haha.) doesn’t add any further content warnings, tho! 

Maybe he shouldn’t have pushed her, he thought as she tensed and her demeanor changed entirely. 

“I want to know,” he continued, resolutely. 

“Everyone says that,” she spat. “And nobody actually does.” 

“Why wouldn’t I?” Ranmaru barked. “You heard me out when I told you about everything. Were you lying all those times you listened? Pretending to care just long enough I get over myself and shut up and move on?!” He knew, in his heart of hearts, of course she wasn’t, but the way she said it insulted him so badly he could practically taste the bitterness. 

She paused, looking to the side ruefully, shamefully. He had a feeling she’d struggle with eye contact this conversation, and he slouched his arms together, dropping back onto the couch with an irritated sigh, out of her line of sight. 

“....No. Absolutely not. Look, this … is different.” 

“How,” he growled. “You want to fucking talk about it. I tell you I’ll listen, it’s the least I owe you, and you say ‘no.’ You think I’m not gonna say ‘why’ after you shit all over my answer like that?” 

She took a longer time than usual to find words, so just a few empty seconds where he waited, frustrated and somewhat furious at the disconnect. 

“...You’re right that I shouldn’t have put it like that. That was shitty, and I’m sorry. But there’s...just...some kinds of life experiences that I’ve found nobody has any reason to learn to understand if it doesn’t happen to them. And...nobody’s prepared to deal with it -- meaningfully, anyways -- even secondhand.” 

“Are you just looking for excuses to run away from--” He nearly hesitated over the words, realizing what they were almost a second too late, but marching forward with them anyway. “--trusting me?” 

Another pause. “....I don’t know. I...can’t think of a time I’ve talked about it and….it hasn’t been taken from me.” 

“What the hell does that mean?” 

“It means....” She lingered long enough that Ranmaru worried, rousing himself a bit from staring blankly at the ceiling as he sprawled on the couch. She hadn’t moved from where she had been standing, but she looked at a far-off bare wall with nothing on it. “...that...the way people aren’t,” Another pause, as she searched for the word, “magically equipped with how to deal with it. It...turns me from a person into….anything else.” 

“Like what.”

“An after-school lesson. Entertainment. A new toy. A pet. A messiah to burn later, if I’m being really dramatic and cynical. I don’t know, it depends on what flavor of asshole feels like coming out, and it’s never anything good.” 

“Then tell them they’re being an asshole -- tell me I’m being an asshole -- and don’t quit until you get what you want out of them!” 

“Look!” She finally lost that last twinge of polite restraint, of saying things more nicely than Ranmaru thought was worth bothering with. “What if I didn’t know how to do that, ‘cause how could I?! And what if I don’t want to have to fight every fucking time? What if I just want to be important enough to get it right on to begin with?! And-- don’t give me that shit about being so strong, you’ll survive the mistakes, blah blah -- fuck that! I’m tired of it! I’m not a crash-test dummy! So fucking crucify me for not buckling in to crash myself into who fuckin’ knows what just ‘cuz you got it in your head this is how you’ll repay this stupid friend debt you think you’re in -- you’re not! Just---” she grunted exasperatedly, her uncharacteristic stillness disappearing as she felt less cornered. 

“I don’t care if you think I don’t owe you!” Ranmaru shot back. “I do! I want to even the score! If you did right by me, then I gotta do right by you! It’s how I do things, and I’m not about to just forget and let you keep diggin’ yourself into this hole--”  (this hole I know very well, Ranmaru thought) “-- where you get so hellbent on doin’ it on your own you cut down all your vision, ‘n your potential, ‘n all the ways you reach it, ‘cuz you keep having to re-invent the wheel just to take a step forward with all the shit you’re carrying!” 

“Will you stop trying to quantify this!?” 

“I’m not! I’m just tellin’ you what I think, and I’m right!” (I know I’m right because of y--) 

“Okay! Maybe you are! About the hole thing -- not the whole thing, the -- the fuckin pit, not the whole-- ah, fuck it, you know what I mean! But I still think this debt system you keep putting basic acts of friendship into is dumb as shit!” 

Ranmaru could already feel the point of this argument slipping away from them. “Are you gonna tell me what’s eating at you so bad or not?!” 

She froze again. “---I’m. ….No. I’m not. I...my heart’s not ready, if things....go badly again.” 

“Fine,” Ranmaru said, resolutely. He was hurt, in a small way, but he felt better that she was at least being truthful, and least acting out of her best interest, not some idiotic idea of useless martyrdom. H couldn’t fault her for protecting her heart. He, of all people, couldn’t possibly do that. 

“...then I’ll work to be someone worthy of the trust you deserve,” he murmured, somewhat less resolutely. 

The words just came out of him before he could think better of it, so Ranmaru hadn’t considered any reaction to expect. But stunned silence, then sniffling tears, that was probably the reaction he’d been least prepared to deal with. 

“Oi-- don’t---” Ranmaru leapt to his feet, like he were a startled prey animal. “Don’t cry!” 

“Don’t tell me what to do!” she huffed through a miserable, contorted, crying face. “Come here, you stupid bastard!” She came towards him with arms outstretched, only just enough warning for Ranmaru to open his own and receive the gesture, an awkward stalwartness to him as he stiffly supported her while the tears ran their course. 

“I think it’s amazing how when you say shit like that,” she murmured, her arms tight around his chest. “I really do believe you mean it.” 

“....’cause I do,” Ranmaru grumbled, realizing his face burned just a little as she squeezed tighter, and he felt just a little colder when she let go. 

“...It’s not about you changing yourself, you know,” she continued, busying herself with cleaning up her tears and snot. “It’s not about you not being enough. You know that, right?” 

“...I don’t care if it is. I’d want to do it. I know you don’t expect people to be anyone but who they are. Whatever change I’d have to make was one I should be working on, anyway.” 

“Oh, god,” she sighed, stepping away to the nearest sink to wash her face, but there was a smile on her voice. “I really can’t underestimate how seriously you take everything.” 

“I told you. I’m always serious about what I do,” he muttered, a little sourly, as the faucet ran. 

“Charm point~!” she called from the bathroom in such a silly, mocking voice Ranmaru could hardly believe she’d been crying like she had just a bit ago. 

“Shut up! Stop saying weird shit like Reiji!” 

“Oh.” She came back with an ominous smile, a little at odds with her puffy eyes and smudged eyeliner. “Well, that’s how I know I really hit the nail on the head.” 

“What’s so charming about taking things seriously,” he bristled. “It’s just what people should do!” 

She laughed, so genuinely, so warmly, Ranmaru felt a twinge in his stomach. Maybe it was pride, maybe something else he didn’t want to unpack just yet. 

“C’mere,” she said again, despite going right to him, wrapping her arms around his waist tightly before leaning back, hoisting him higher until his toes dragged against the floor. Ranmaru let it happen, feeling his weight shift onto hers as she growled into the effort of getting him into the air, even with his extra height on her. He complained about these kinds of hugs, once, but had since grown so used to them, there was something about them he could admit to liking. 

“...Alright, alright. Put me down. Oi. Don’t swing me around, put me down!” The cats had gathered around, looking ready to pounce at his toes and pant legs as they waved through the air. 

“Is big baby scared of heights,” she said with that facetious tone that always got him. 

“Who said anything about that!? Put me down before the cats get on me -- like -- damn it, exactly like that!” One took a flying leap, batting at his legs until her claws her tangled into his pant leg. He could feel her grin into his shoulder as she obliged, slowly enough that the cats could get out of the way.

“It absolutely is what people should do,” she murmured, flopping back around him after he freed the the paw from its fabric prison (and his pants from any more catscratches). “You’ve just got the big stupid, stubborn heart to follow through with it. With literally everything you do.” 

“...Tch.” Ranmaru wrapped his arms around her then while he felt his cheeks, the tips of his ears prick with heat. “Of course you’d make it about heart. It’s not, it’s about the ways souls burn when you give ‘em the right passion and drive....” 

“Mmhmm,” she said, squeezing one last time before she released again. “Heart. It’s very rock of you.” She patted him on the back as she slipped out from his arms. “I’m gonna get myself a glass of water, you want one?”  

“...Oi. It’s not --” He sighed. “Whatever. Yeah, I’ll take one,” he replied, stretching back over the couch.

She disappeared, and ice and water clinked into glasses. Ranmaru, for a stolen moment, rested his right hand over his chest, quietly lingering at how open and warm it felt beneath all the skin, muscle, and bone. 

Even if she didn’t like the idea of it being a debt, Ranmaru swore to himself that he would’t let this sort of favor go unreturned. It was how he did things, after all. 

[jadekitty777]

Puppy Love

Bit of a weird entry and a challenge to write - but it only seemed right with a prompt like this, to write from the perspective of one of Tai and Qrow's "children".

Day 4: As Parents @taiqrowweek

Rating: T

Words: 5,300

Summary: Every dog in the shelter dreams of the day they'll be set free of their metal prisons to join a pack all their own. Despite being so  inadequate he wasn't even honored a name, he dreams just as hard; though, with each adoption, that place he wishes to be seems to be getting further and further away.

And then, one word changes everything.

"Puppy?"

Ao3 Link: Puppy Love

~

The best day of his life happened exactly eight weeks and four days after he was born.

It had started out as usual. He woke up to the sound of the rest of the kennel-bound dogs starting up a ruckus as the keepers of their metal prisons walked down the line, cleaning cages and checking water and food bowls. After that, the big dogs were let out in small packs so they could play in the field. He never got to go; he was too small. Instead, he stuck his tiny head between the bars and said hello as they passed.

Most of them paid him little mind. Hades and Zeus, the Doberman twins, jeered his way. Roxie stuck up her nose, sassy as ever. She told him once her poodle pedigree made it impossible for her to converse with peasants. Whatever that meant. He made sure to duck his head back in if Captain was with them – the coonhound liked to snap at him.

Still, there were a select few that always took the time to say hello. Like old Benji, always limping over to give him a sniff. Or the energetic husky, Skystorm, hunkering down on his forepaws as if they might actually get a chance to play. Or the motherly Lady Lucy, who would fuss over him like he was one of her long-gone pups. She never tired of telling him how much he reminded her of her ‘clever little Dodger’.  

“Why he could even get cats to work for him!” She told him today as she passed. “Cats, can you imagine?”

Polite as always, he said, “No ma’am. It sounds incredible though.”

“You’re gonna fill his head full of air with stories like that Lucy.” Benji laughed.

“Nonsense! Stories build character. Who will he ever know who to aspire to be like otherwise?”

The dog in the lead of their pack growled out, “You wasting your breath on that orphan.”

“Hunter, don’t be so rude. He’s just a pup!” Lady Lucy cried.

“Oh sorry, am I not coddling him enough?” Hunter swung his head around. He only had one eye, the other lost in a fight, but the single red orb seemed to freeze him in place. “You’ll have to get used to it, brat. No human’s gonna take a stubby runt like you.”

“You’re just nasty because no one’ll ever adopt you.” Skystorm barely dodged fast enough to avoid the rather vicious bite the alpha tried to deliver.

He heard the argument continue well down the hall until he could no longer make out the words. Not that he wanted to anymore. He pulled his head back in, walking to the back of his cage and laying on his bed of rags, intending on settling in for his after-breakfast nap. But he couldn’t get Hunter’s words out of his head.

As young as he was, even he had heard the talk about how great a home was. Some of the dogs here even came from one themselves – and those who hadn’t had tales from something they’d heard. A motley mesh of things like ‘leftovers’ given underneath the dinner table that left everyone slobbering just thinking about it. Of playtime chasing all sorts of fun toys. Of walks to the beach where he could dig to his heart’s content. Of endless belly scratches and ear rubs.

He’d dreamed of it all at least a dozen times. Imagined how soft his own bed would be or how large a yard he’d have to run in. But most of all, dreamed of the family that would take him in and never let go. He wanted it more than anything!

But, was Hunter right? He had never been treated like the other dogs here. They all had names and skills. He wasn’t a working dog. He couldn’t retrieve and he couldn’t herd. He wasn’t a fancy one either, like Roxy, who was convinced she’d have a life again as a show dog. He didn’t have a Doberman’s ferocity or a husky’s vigor or a pit bull’s strength. If he couldn’t provide for his pack in any way… then why would they want him at all?

He buried his nose into his paws, but it was a long time before he fell asleep.

~

When humans came, it was time to perform.

A lot of dogs barked and yowled and produced up a racket for attention, but his voice wasn’t powerful enough. So, instead, he stuck his head between the bars and let his tongue loll out, entire body shaking as he wagged as hard and excited as he could whenever the people passed on by. It often earned him a pet.

Today it was a big family of seven, and the nice, stout woman who had long nails gave him such a good scratch behind his ears, it left his hind leg shaking.

“Oh aren’t you precious?” She cooed. “You would look just great in my purse.”

“Gale, we’re not here for a lap dog.” One of the men of her pack chastised.

“It doesn’t hurt to look!”

His ears fell flat as she breezed on by.

They were there for some time, looking from cage to cage. They even had the caretakers take a few out, to do a “walk test”. Roxy was prim as ever, trotting like she was putting on a show. Skystorm raced them. Zeus kept trying to bump Hades aside. No one came back to his cage.

And, worse yet, they chose the best of them all.

He couldn’t help but whine as Lady Lucy was led out with her papers all signed. The setter’s long ears raised up, looking to him. “Now none of that. You keep that tail up little one! I’m certain you’ll find your way soon.”

He tried to find strength in that encouragement, but all he discovered was the breaking of his heart as the door down the way slammed closed. He turned away, padding back to his rags and flopping over.

This day couldn’t possibly get any worse.

“Puppy!”

…What?

He lifted his head, looking back.

Standing there, in a bright, pleated dress, was one of the smallest humans he’d ever seen. Even when he stood up and walked towards her, she didn’t tower over him like most humans did. She was his size.

Her eyes went wide, a huge grin spreading on her face. “Hi puppy!” She giggled and, when he came close enough, she didn’t even wait for his trick, instead sticking her hand through the bars. She gave him a few uncoordinated, slightly rough, pats to his head. “Good boy!”

“Ruby!” A shout echoed down the hall as a man sprinted into view. He was overly tall, with legs that were spindly like a bird’s. He snatched the girl up into his arms, lifting her well out of reach. “What did I say about running off like that, pipsqueak?”

The newcomer was almost immediately joined by two more.

“You found her? Oh thank gods!” The other male of the pack said. He was almost as tall as the first, but wider built all around. It was like looking at a Labrador standing next to a greyhound. Alongside him, being held by her hand, was another young girl with wild hair. It reminded him of Benji – the briard’s fur was always in his eyes too.

“Daddy, lookie!” It was hard to tell who Ruby was speaking to, as both the men looked down at him at the same time.

It was the bigger one’s whose eyes lit up. “Oh, what a precious little guy!” He knelt down, clicking his tongue, holding his fingers out. “Come here Yang, just like this.”

The other little girl, bold as can be, pressed her fist against the bars.

Right. Tail up. Time to act.

He bounded forward, wiggled low and stuck his head right through, lifting it upwards until he could feel their fingers against his snout.

Yang giggled immediately, rubbing her knuckles along his skull. “He’s funny!”

“He sure is. Be gentle now.”

“No. No way.”  The bird man groaned. “We agreed on a dog. And we don’t even know how big this one is gonna get.”

The other man got that spot behind his ear. Oh yeah, that was the stuff. “He’s a corgi. They’re about the same size as a beagle, only chubbier.”

“Yeah well, he’s still a puppy. You really want to deal with pee puddles all over the house?” He asked as he set Ruby down.

The littlest one stomped her foot. “But I like this one!”

“But Rubes, they’re a lot of work and I’m sure there’s a lot of – now don’t give me those doe eyes kiddo. Tai, help me out here!”

Tai, in all his wisdom, turned to his pup and said, “Want to pet him Ruby?”

“Yeah!” She toddled on over, where he showed her how to do the really good scratches.

This was the life.

Leaving the girls to it, Tai rose to his full height, winding an arm around the bird man’s shoulders and tucking him against his side. “It’ll be fine Qrow.”

“You’re such a traitor.” Qrow grumbled.

“I know, I’m the worst.” He conceded, pressing his lips against his temple.  

There was a long, slow sigh. “I guess then we’re getting-” He squinted at the paperwork that hung from his cage. “Puppy Two? What kind of name is that?”

“Maybe he goes number 2 a lot!” The older of the girls said.

Ruby’s nose wrinkled up. “Eeeew Yang!”

“You know,” Tai started thoughtfully, “If there’s a puppy one we could get him a friend and- mghpfa!”

Qrow cut him off by shoving his hand in his face. “Just go sign the paperwork already!”

~

Even when the door came open, and he was lifted up out of the cage, he wasn’t quite sure it was real until he was being taken out of the facility altogether and the big, wide world was in his eyes. Then it was speeding past his eyes, as the large machine he had been placed in moved at speeds he couldn’t comprehend.

“Oh wow! What was that? Oh, and that! Did you see that?” He asks the girls as he hopped between their laps, trying to look out the window.

“Yang, try to keep hold of him!” Tai called from the front seat of the contraption. “He’ll get hurt if he falls.”

“’Kaaay.”

Suddenly, a grip stronger than a choke chain was around his middle and he found himself firmly pinned down. He wiggled about, but there was no give.

Ruby pat his backside. “He’s got a funny butt.”

Well now, that was just rude.

There was a guffaw from Qrow. “Speaking of Mr. Funny Butt, s’pose we better name him.”

His ears perked. A name? Just like the other dogs had? He wouldn’t have to be known as mutt or pup or orphan anymore? He wagged his clipped tail excitedly.

“Oh, oh! I was thinking Cerberus.” Tai offered. “Doesn’t that sound intimidating?”

“Dad, that sounds dumb.” Yang was wiggling her fingers along his side, prompting him to roll over and – oh, tummy rubs really were everything the other dogs said they were.

“Ouch. Well little missy, you got a suggestion?”

“Uppercut!”

From his upside-down position, he saw the way the man looked back, then to the bird man sitting beside him.

Qrow glanced up from the lit-up square he was holding. “Don’t look at me! I’m not the one teaching her.”

“I wanna name him Strawberry!” Ruby cut in. She had grabbed hold of one of his paws and was squishing down the pads. It felt kind of weird.

Tai turned back to the window. “That’s a good one. We’ll think about that one sweetheart.”

Yang started to flap his ears around, which made it a little hard to hear Qrow when he spoke up again. “How about Dos?”

“Dos?” Tai echoed. “Like dose of medicine?”

He stuck out his tongue. Most of the choices had gone right over his head. But he did know what medicine was. The sickly dogs told him to beware if a human ever used that term, because that meant they were going to force feed him something gross.

“No. D-O-S. It’s an old Valian language. It means two.”

“Alright well, uncle Qrow has decided to be unhelpful, so keep ‘em coming girls.”

Similar to the way the anticipation would overwhelm the shelter whenever a human walked in, his new pack seemed to have the same habit of yapping over one another.

“Blackie!” Ruby called.

Then, Qrow. “Don’t like that one? How about Ni?”

Tai, snipping back, “We are not naming him knee!”

“At least call him roundhouse.” Yang’s voice was getting a little shrill.

“No! No martial arts moves!”

Ruby, again: “Palm strike!”

“Yeah sis!” The slap of the girls’ hands made him jump a little.

“Okay you two are banned too. We’re naming him Cerberus.”

“Noooo!”

Oh, he knew this cry! He pulled his head back, howling with them.

In the wake of the noise, silence followed, all eyes on him. He looked around, confused. Why had they stopped?

Then, all at once, the four of them started to laugh. He knew it was the human’s way of wagging their tails, since they lacked them and all. So, he wiggled and yipped, feeling more like he belonged then he ever thought possible.

Eventually, Qrow’s game won out. The name, his name, was chosen just as the contraption rolled to a stop.

“Hey, how about this one? Zwei.”

Tai drummed his fingers along the circle he was holding onto, looking up with a frown. “I hate how much I like that.”

“Hah! See, and you were making fun of me.” He twisted around, looking back at them. “What do you think rugrats? Is Zwei a keeper?”

“Yes!” Ruby chimed in.

Yang gave it more thought. “Zwei as in…” She smooshed his face, tapping their noses together, “Zwei’re you so cute?”

“…I regret everything.” Qrow looked like someone just stole his nest. Beside him, Tai doubled over, barking with more laughter.

From that day on, he was part of the pack.

~

Four months and eight days after his adoption, any lingering doubts he had left about his place among his newfound pack were completely abolished.

“Come on Zwei,” Ruby whispered to him as she opened up the back door, giggling behind her hand. He’d come to learn that was a sign that they were going out to play.

So he rushed around her feet and into the backyard, paws immediately sinking into the muddy trail that had been caused by a passing storm. It was still rather dreary overhead and he could scent the petrichor coming from the surrounding flora. His packmate ran past him, heading around the shed with the same sense of purpose she got when she was stealing treats out of the cupboard for the two of them. Were there some back there too?

“Wait for me!” He called, bounding after her in excitement. As he came around the back, he found what had captured Ruby’s attention so. Behind the shed was a lake-sized puddle, caused by the way the land dipped ever so slightly. She was already ankle deep in the water, gathering up globs of mud and setting it on the grass in a pile.

When he approached, she told him, “I’m making mud pies!”

Oh, that was a type of food! Tai had made it before. It had been something really sweet smelling that he wasn’t allowed to have.

He hears Ruby’s giggles when he practically sticks his nose right in, taking a deep breath. Just as quickly, he pulls away with a huff of displeasure. Definitely not for eating.

“Mud Pie Zwei!”

He perked up at his name, only to hunker down as the next handful of mud is deposited on his back. When Ruby dips her hands back in, he hurries away before she can load on more. He could feel the thick of it weighing down his fur and the wet of it sliding down his haunches. It wasn’t pleasant at all, so he shook himself to fling most of it off.

“That was gross!” He barks, which only seemed to increase her laughter.

Well. Two can play it that game.

He leaps with as much distance his little legs can provide, landing in the puddle with a big splash.

“Zwei!” Ruby shrieks, her dress now covered in wet spots and mud.

He wades towards her, taunting back, “What are you gonna do now?”

If he didn’t know better, he would have thought she truly understood him what with the way she responded by scooping her hands in the water and throwing it at him. In retaliation, he races around her, little waves kicking up in his wake. At the edge he pauses, lowering down on his forepaws until his chin brushes the water, waiting to see what his packmate would do next.

“Oh, it is ON!” She hollers, charging for him.

“Bring it!” He challenged right back, darting to the side and ducking around her when she tries to make a grab for him.

It begins a game of chase; one he’d already grown quite familiar with and one he was certain to lose. Ruby was bigger and faster than him, spirited like Skystorm had been. The rest of their pack didn’t appreciate that level of liveliness like he could. He was always happy to engage her, finding new, creative ways to escape her clutches before she ultimately snatched him up. Today he was trying to zig-zag the same way he saw that little black snake move in the garden; until his pack alpha crushed it into black smoke under his boot, that is.

It seemed his new trick was his best yet, because Ruby was having to scramble after him. “Hah, can’t catch me!” He called back at her, dashing for the tree line.

“Zwei don’t go in the – ah!”

He heard a yelp and the feet coming after him abruptly stopped.

Then, a more terrifying noise boomed over his senses, “Zwei! Come!”

He slid to a stop so fast, he somersaulted over his paws, landing on his back hard enough to make the air in his lungs whoosh out. He tilted his head back, looking at the upside-down view of his secondary alpha, his near permanent frown more pronounced than usual. He hadn’t even heard him approach! What kind of hunting skill was that?

“What were you thinking?” Qrow demanded of the young pup he had under his arm. “I’ve told you a thousand times not to go into the forest!”

Ruby wiggled valiantly in his grasp to no avail. “We weren’t gonna!”

“Ain’t gonna believe that when you already broke the ‘no going outside today’ rule.” He looked up, then pointed down aggressively. “Zwei, I said come!”

Obediently, he rolled over, slinking forward with a pitiful whine that sometimes got him out of trouble. “We were just having fun, honest.”

Qrow had never been quite as movable as his other alpha though, only scooping him up under his other arm and storming back for the house. “Gods you’re both a mess. I’m throwing you in the tub.”

“Nooooo!” He howled with Ruby.

Beyond a gripe about ‘thinking more before they go running into mud’, the alpha largely ignored them, hauling them upstairs. He paused only long enough to peek into one of the bedrooms. A little lump of blankets on one of the beds trembled every now and again and a loud hacking started up.

Some of the tension on his scary face finally melted, his voice a gentle timbre when he speaks, “How you doing firecracker?”

“M’okay.” She snuffled back from her hiding place.

“Okay. I got to get these escape artists into the bath – but holler if you need anything alright?”

“I will.”

Zwei’s ears dropped when her hacking started up anew. It had been just a small thing this morning, but now she sounded worse than some of the dogs back at the shelter when they got plagued by kennel cough.

He didn’t have long to dwell on it, as Qrow continued on his way, kicking the bathroom door shut with his foot before setting them on the bathroom rug. “Alright, clothes off.”

Rather than listen, Ruby crossed her arms and sat down stubbornly. He walked the few steps it took to join her, plopping down as well.

Their alpha sighed, stepping over them to get the water started. “Kiddo, work with me here.”

“No!”

An agitated hand ruffled through his hair until it seemed more like a puffed-up cat tail. “How about for a scoop of strawberry ice cream?” Rather than answer, she held up two fingers. “…Who taught you this level of swindling? Fine! Two it is. But no telling your dad.”

“Deal!” She hopped up, throwing off one of her layers and dropping it with a wet plop on the ground.

“Hey wait!” Zwei stomped over to Qrow. “What do I get?”

Apparently it was to be picked up and dropped into the tub. The water was just enough to cover his paws. He scrambled for the edge of the basin, too small to actually make it over. He wasn’t left alone for long, Ruby eventually climbing in beside him, all her normal, colorful furs gone. The water eventually rose up until it touched his chin, and he had to paddle a bit to get around – not that there was anywhere to go.

Zwei didn’t really like baths. The water was warm, but the ground underneath his feet was hard to stand on, causing him to slip and sometimes water would go up his nose when that happened. Then there was the shampoo. It was some really awful smelling, awful tasting stuff that would get lathered into his fur. The stink of it would overwhelm him, his own, better scent being cancelled out by the gunk. Even when he rolled it out into the grass, it persistently clung to him for days.

So no, he didn’t like baths. He especially didn’t like Qrow’s version. He was too rough. His fingers would score through his fur like he was trying to rip it away and he’d push the undercoat in all the wrong ways until it left everything kind of hurting. Today was no different.

“Ow, ow, ow!” He wailed. “That’s too hard!”

The scrubbing, if possible, got worse. “Quit bellyaching, we’re almost done.”

“He’s kind of a baby, isn’t he?”  Ruby asked from her side of the tub, trying to turn her bubbly head fur into sticks just like a porcupine.

“I am not a baby!”

“Oi, don’t jump Zwei!”

“You know, this is a lot of racket for a bath.” The final voice was new, but familiar.

His tail started to wag immediately, slipping out of Qrow’s grip so he could hop and get a look at his other alpha. “Welcome home! I missed you!”

“Hi daddy!” Ruby greeted.

“Hey there.” Tai said, stepping into the bathroom. He peered down at his mate inquisitively. “Need help?”

“Please.”

The response was a jovial laugh as the man rolled up his sleeves and settled down beside him. Zwei felt a little jealous when he attended to Ruby. “Were you causing trouble for your uncle?”

“Nuh-huh. I behaved!”

Qrow snorted, resuming his torture. Ignoring Zwei’s calls of displeasure, he instead spoke to his mate. “You find the medicine?”

“Yeah. Gave it to Yang before coming in here. Tip your head back honey.” Tai poured a small pitcher full of water down Ruby’s head, using his hand as a shield to keep any from falling into her eyes. As he scooped up more of the bathwater to douse her again, he continued, “We’ll have to keep an eye on her fever. We might want to let her sleep with us tonight.”

“No fair! I wanna sleep with you guys!”

As his chin was lifted up, Zwei huffed out, “Me too.”

“Tell you what Rubes,” Qrow said as he took the pitcher that was handed over to him, going through the motions with him now. “Why don’t you and I have a little sleepover of our own? We can set up a fort in the guest room and everything.”

Her face lit up. “Really?”

Zwei’s ears fell. Of course the alpha would do that – Ruby was so obviously his favorite pup. Looks like he was stuck downstairs. Alone. Again.

“Yeah. We can even bring the little scamp here.”

He blinked back as Qrow looked down at him. Wait… did he mean…?

“Just don’t have an accident and make me regret it, you got that mutt?”

He did. He did! His whole body practically vibrated with the force of his excitement, jumping out of his grasp so he could lick his hand. “I’ll be good, I promise!”

Qrow drew his hand back immediately. “Ack gross!”

Tai’s boisterous laughter echoed, before he reached out for his pup. “Come on Ruby. You’re done.” He lifted her up and out of the tub, wrapping her up in a towel and walking out of the room. “You want me to help you pick out an outfit?”

“I want my combat skirt!”

“Alright, alright…”

It wasn’t long before Zwei followed her out, draped in a towel of his own and brought downstairs. A fire was made in the hearth to combat the chill settling in as the day waned on. Eventually, that’s where he found himself stretched out in front of for his midday-play nap, stirring only when his pack moved about.

Nothing managed to rouse him completely until a commotion started up in the next room and he awoke to a day much darker than before. Ruby and Yang were on the couch, the latter curled up in a miserable ball as they watched their colorful moving pictures on the television.

He got to his feet, stretching out with a long yawn, before he trotted over to the kitchen. His alpha pair were both there. Qrow was sitting on the counter by the sink, sipping an amber liquid in a short glass and watching his mate as he fussed about the stove. Whatever Tai was making smelt absolutely delicious, like chicken and rice kibble but more refined and fresher. Mouth watering, Zwei slunk underneath the dining table chairs and emerged just into their sight. He sat himself down at the edge of the rug, making sure not even a claw touched into the ‘Never Ever Cross While Alpha is Cooking’ section of the kitchen.

“Can I have some?” He beseeched lowly.

Tai looked over his shoulder, smiling brightly. “There’s my good boy! Up!”

He sat up on his hind legs, snatching the morsel that was tossed to him in his jaws. He savored the scrap of chicken slowly, licking his chops once he’d swallowed it.

“Good catch!” His alpha praised him, before turning back to his work. When Qrow started to shift off the counter, he pointed a knife towards him. “And where are you going? We weren’t done.”

It seemed his mate thought they were, with the way he scoffed. “Look, if you want to ground her so bad, you do it.”

Zwei had come to realize that breeding pairs were very strange. Or perhaps maybe just his were; he certainly couldn’t make heads or tails of their lack of pheromonal compatibility. More critically was in how little they ran the pack like a unit. It made for a rather confusing predicament when Tai would let him nestle on the armchair – but Qrow would absolutely not tolerate it. He had to wonder if his other packmates ever felt the same.

Tai’s sigh was tinged with a rarely heard frustration. “It’s not about the punishment, it’s about who’s giving it. I can’t keep punishing the girls for rules you lay down.”

“Why not? You’re the dad here.”

“You really think Ruby hasn’t figured out that when you’re the only one home, she can get away with whatever she wants?”

Qrow snorted, downing his drink and setting it on the counter he’d vacated. “She’s six Tai. Not exactly in her prime to be a master manipulator.”

“No.” He set down the knife, turning to him fully. “But that doesn’t mean she’s dumb.”

Coming to the conclusion no other treats were coming his way, Zwei laid down on the rug, head between his paws, mostly tuning them out as they carried on. Maybe he should just take his post-nap nap. He was just starting to drift, when one particularly loud shout had him jolting out of his daze.

“Oh so I just don’t care, is that it?”

“I didn’t say that! And keep your voice down.” Tai shushed. “I know you love them, Qrow. I just… don’t understand why you want to turn them against me.”

His mate jerked back a bit, as if struck. “What in Gods’ name are you talking about?”

“Can you really not see where this will eventually go?”

With a long exhale, Zwei settled again, listening to them with only half an ear. This wasn’t the first growling match they’d partaken in, but he wasn’t worried by it. For the outcome was as certain as the sun would be rising tomorrow.

“I don’t see what the big deal is.” Right on time, Qrow’s tone shifted as did his body. Away. Vulnerable. If he had a tail, he was positive it would be tucked between his legs. “It’s not like you have anything to lose.”

Tai tilted his head, as if trying to figure if the words truly came from him. “Okay, what are you talking about?”

“Nothing. It doesn’t matter.” He tried to retreat, only to be stalled by a hand suddenly on his shoulder.

“No. Come on don’t-” A sigh. “Do you really think the girls will just cast you aside just ‘cause you have to be tough on them sometimes?”

The answer was so soft, even Zwei had to strain to hear. “Been thrown out for less.”

“Oh Qrow.” Before the thinner man knew it, Tai was pulling him into what Zwei could only describe as a ‘standing snuggle’. It looked warm and inviting. “There is nothing in this world you could do to make us stop loving you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do know that.” And then Tai said something Zwei would never forget: “Family isn’t a competition where the prize is love. Love just is. You don’t earn it by performing your best, you’re just given it from being here and caring about us just as much as we care about you.”

There were a few more things that were spoken, but the fight was over for sure when the mating pair started licking each other’s mouths. Overzealously, as usual.

But the call for peace, joyful as it was, did not impact Zwei as much as his pack leader’s words. For they washed over him with a great ferocity, reaching in and cleansing him from the inside where Hunter’s dark words still resided in his heart. The fear that had footed there that he would not be wanted finally came loose, strand by strand, until it was hanging by nothing but a thread.

It wasn’t until that night, with Ruby’s head nestled into his back and his nose tucked against the welcome warmth of Qrow’s side, that the final root broke as the words finally hit home.

There may be a lot he lacked, but no amount of skills compared to the simple act of just being there. The one thing he knew with absolute certainty was that love was something he could give this family without end.

So no, he wasn’t fierce like a Doberman. Or noble like a shepherd. Or even charming like a poodle.

He was just Zwei. And that’s all he needed to be.

[octopodian]

Unpleasantness and Precedent

Percy looks up, still stiff. “My name is Percy. I am a bio-facsimile, here to-”

“Oh, a clone?”

Percy blinks. “Yeah.” In a more formal voice, “I mean, yes.”

Trexel rolls his eyes. “You don’t have to sound all fancy.”

summary: speculation on who exactly percy was, and trexels exact relationship with him. takes place pre-canon, duh. content warnings: canon-typical parental abuse/neglect and implied character death

Trexel is working on a drawing (of him, and mum, and dad). He’s been drawing it for a few hours now: he makes sure to add all the little details on the uniforms and everything. He hears the door woosh open, roughly when he expected it to, and he quickly puts his crayons aside and rushes to the door, drawing in hand.

“Mom! Dad! I made-”

“Ugh, Trexel, shush.” She winces, pressing a hand to her head.

“Not now, Trexel,” his dad says, frowning.

“But I drew-”

“Trexel,” his dad warns. Trexel bites his lip, finally looking over and noticing a third person who came into the room. They look Trexel’s age, though a bit taller than he is: tawny brown skin and curly hair just barely avoiding falling in their eyes. They glance over at Trexel quickly, and then quickly look back at the floor like they’ve been caught doing something wrong.

Mrs. Giestman waves her hand boredly, pouring herself another drink. "Trexel, this is Percy. He's going to be spending time with you now. Go let him tell you things, and leave your mum alone, okay?"

“But-”

“Trexel,” his dad groans again.

“Fine. C’mon,” Trexel says, waving towards his room.

Percy doesn't move, just stands stiffly in the doorway. Trexel huffs, grabs his hand, pulls him away. Trexel shuts the door and flops down on his bed, and Percy still just stands still looking at the floor.

“Well? Who’re you? Why’re you here?”

Percy looks up, still stiff. “My name is Percy. I am a bio-facsimile, here to-”

“Oh, a clone?”

Percy blinks. “Yeah.” In a more formal voice, “I mean, yes.”

Trexel rolls his eyes. “You don’t have to sound all fancy.”

“Of course I do. I’m programmed to…” Presumably, Percy keeps talking, but Trexel gets distracted. He tears up the drawing he had in his hands, especially making sure his mom and dad get disfigured, dropping the pieces to the floor. Then he points to his crayons.

“D’you like drawing?”

Percy blinks, again, like a cat. “Um. I dunno- don’t know. I was born today. I’m not really… supposed to?”

“It’s fun! C’mon.”

After 10 minutes Trexel doesn’t really finish anything he likes, and he scribbles his page out in thick black, and he looks over at Percy, who appears to be- drawing Trexel.

“...is that me?”

Percy once again starts like he’s been caught doing something wrong. “Um…”

“Lemme see.” Percy sheepishly hands it over. Trexel doesn’t want to admit it, but it looks good. It’s clearly him while he’s drawing: tongue stuck out at an angle, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

“I didn’t know what else to draw. Sorry.”

“No, I love it!” Percy looks at him with those huge brown eyes, slightly startled, and Trexel blushes slightly. “I mean, it’s alright. Good. It’s… fine. Good.”

“I’m not very good at drawing, sorry.” Percy bites his lip.

Trexel disagrees, but lets it go for now, saying “maybe we can play a game instead?”

That night he falls asleep clutching the paper close to his chest.

☆

Percy always acts so stiff around Trexel’s parents, and Trexel realizes he often acts the same way: quiet, holding still, trying not to attract any attention in case the attention turns into anger. Percy is better at it, though: Trexel keeps blurting things out without thinking or tries to show off impulsively, and it always makes people mad even though he’s just trying to make them happy.

His parents love Percy. He never speaks up, and always quietly sits until excused. They keep muttering things about hoping he rubs off on Trexel, manages to teach him how to behave.

Trexel finds himself wishing he was a little more like Percy. Maybe then they would like him.

☆

“I mean, don’t you get annoyed? I know I do.”

“Well, they do own me, Trexel. I’m not exactly trying to pick a fight with your parents.”

“Yeah, but they’re so…” Trexel does his best impersonation of his dad, puffing out his chest and puckering his lips. “Ah, yes, I am very important and smarter than you. Shut up! Don’t talk to me! Don’t you know who I am?!”

Percy laughs, light like a windchime, but then he freezes, coughs, scooches away from Trexel as fast as possible.

"What? What's wrong? I know I’m not that good at doing his voice, but-”

Percy looks at the door nervously. "Clones aren't supposed to- we aren't supposed to be friends .”

Trexel feels a stab of anger in his gut. "So what, you don't like me?"

"No, I do! It's just, I’m not supposed to laugh with you, or anything. I’m just supposed to be making sure you don’t die! If standards found out- Board, if your parents found out-'

"Well, they don't have to!"

Percy doesn’t look convinced, but nods. “I guess. Sorry, I just… I don’t wanna be recycled. I like spending time with you.”

Trexel shakes his head. “That’ll never happen.”

He sounds more confident than he really is, but Percy’s shy smile makes it worth it.

☆

“I’m going to be the greatest employee Stellar Firma has ever seen! I dunno what I'll do, but I'm gonna be great at it!” Trexel declares. He pauses, staring at his ceiling. “What do you wanna be when you grow up?”

Percy looks over from his spot, cross-legged on the floor. “I’m a clone. I’m already doing the job I was made for.”

“Okay, but, you were made to help me. What if I don’t need help later? I mean, I’m almost 12, I’m gonna be a teenager any day now!” Percy shrugs, not looking up, focused on his drawing. Trexel flops over onto his stomach, looking at him. “You should be an artist! Your drawings are good!”

Percy flushes. “They’re okay . I mean, I just draw them for you.”

Trexel pretends not to be flattered. He hasn't told his parents who drew all the pictures plastered over his walls. They never go into his room anyway: it can be his little secret.

“Well, you should do it for other people!”

Percy smiles, half sad, half patient. “I’m a clone, Trexel. I can’t be an artist.”

“Well, that’s dumb!”

A quiet security claxon beeps. They’re intentionally muffled in senior living quarters: it’s a perk of quality genetic lineage.

Percy shrugs. "That's how it is."

“But, if you just had more than my dumb pencils and crayons, you could really-”

“It’s okay, Trexel. I’m just a clone.”

Trexel bites back an argument, and flops back on his bed, crossing his arms. He stays sulking, even when he feels his bed sink as Percy sits down next to him.

“Sorry, Trexel. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I’m not upset,” Trexel sulks.

“It’s just the rules. I was born to do this, just like you were born to be a citizen employee. We’re both stuck.”

“I guess,” Trexel mutters.

“...Y’know what always cheers me up?”

Trexel sits up. “...Singing a song?”

Percy grins. “Nooot exactly…”

Before Trexel can protest, Percy tackles him against the bed, viciously tickling his ribs and sides.

“Ah! No!” Trexel giggles. He manages to gasp enough breath to wheeze out a “Stop!” through his laughter, and Percy leans back with a wicked grin, finally letting Trexel breath.

“See! Always cheers me up.”

“Oh, let’s see how you like it!”

They both collapse in a pile of giggles.

Trexel decides it doesn't matter what he grows up to be, as long as Percy is there too.

☆

“Percy?”

“Mhm?” Percy is drawing another picture of Trexel - he’s been drawing a lot of them lately.

“You… you said we couldn’t be friends, right?”

Percy frowns. “Trexel, I didn’t mean that. It’s just… my programming. You know I still-”

“Well, what if I don’t want to be friends?” Trexel blurts out, resisting the urge to slap himself after he does so.

Percy’s face falls. “O-oh. I mean… of course. I’m just a clone, I- yeah, that’s-”

“Wait, no!” Trexel yelps. “I mean, uh… what if I wanna, maybe… be… something else?”

Percy’s eyes go wide, deep and brown and-

Trexel hesitates. He'd never really seen this happen, didn't really know what to say or do- and then Percy's crossed the room and his lips are gently pressed to his cheek.

Percy smiles softly, and Trexel beams back.

"I think I'd like that, Trexel."

"Me too!"

They hold hands until his parents come home, and then they pretend to be just a human and a clone, pretending to be the people they were supposed to be.

☆

Of course Trexel would ruin it all. He always ruined everything good in his life. Stupid, pathetic Trexel.

☆

Trexel hadn’t known. He hadn’t known they’d be home so soon, that they’d see them, that they’d-

“No, Dad, it wasn’t what it looks like, please-”

“Talking? With a clone?!”

“Laughing with it? Touching it? Like you’re friends?” His mum looks disgusted. Trexel feels tears stinging at his eyes, but he tries not to cry, tries not to make it any worse.

“You’re a Giestman, Trexel! You can’t be acting like this, it’s not right!”

His mom waves at security, face in her hand like she can’t even bear to look at Trexel. “Take the clone away!”

“You’re going into school tomorrow, Trexel. You need to earn to act normal.” 

“This behavior is below the station of a Geistman!”

Percy doesn't say a word, just stands quietly, stiffly, like he always does, like it'll keep him safe even now.

“Percy!” Trexel wails. His dad’s hand is so tight around his arm it's bruising it, and even as Trexel fights he can only watch as Percy gets dragged away. He catches one last glimpse of those big sparkling eyes, and then Percy is gone.

Trexel is locked in a box.

Trexel is sent to school.

Trexel is taught to behave.

And Trexel promises he’ll never love a clone again.

[mountainleafuniversity]

Linneaus: Undertow Pt 1

Artwork by: @warrior-kitty

Special thanks to: @gemellath

This story is rated PG-13 for content. You have been warned.

It was a beautiful day for the citizens of Charluftton as the Wild Waves Festival was in full swing. The plaza was full of vendors selling t-shirts and frozen ice, the bar was full of all kinds of live music, including bands like Boil, The Lost Tapes and Art House, and even the beach was full of fun events such as volley ball, sailing, and even a beach 5k obstacle course. Boaters were out fishing and tubing and just all around having a good time. However, for the shapeshifting vixen, she was lying home in bed wearing her work cap, a buttoned jacket and khaki work pants. On her nametag was the name “Kit Rouge”. She was a shy fox who was diagnosed with a disorder that caused her to have trouble controlling her shapeshifting powers, and today, due to the events that occurred at work, was no exception.

“All I did was get grossed out…” she muttered. “Yet of course I turned into a fox bug like I always do when I’m disgusted. And of course, everyone thinks I’m too old for this to happen. I can’t control it…”

Kit had a busy day at work with lots of fishermen and families out buying things from pool toys to bait and couldn’t even stop the lines from the shoppers just itching to get their stuff and hit the water. She swore if she saw another sailor she would transform into her angry form and chuck them off their boat.

Her cellphone rang, and Kit answered.

“Hey Vixie!” Coin started, wearing sunglasses. “Work was rough today wasn’t it?!”

“Oh! Hello Coin! It was rough! Like the time that giraffe all jacked up on cocaine went up to you and-“

“Didn’t you remember our plans for today?!” he interrupted.

“What plans?” the khaki-clad kitsune asked.

“To go tubing with us!” Rio said.

“But I thought we were going to go to the beach!” Kit cried. “I want to lie down, get a sun tan and eat all the cannolis I can think off!”

“The beach is tomorrow and the next day!” Coin replied.

“Just get changed, pack some sandwiches and don’t forget the tube! See you in a half an hour.”

With that they hung up.

Kit thought about it for a second and decided to just go embark with her friends on the boat.

The young vixen put on a yellow one-piece swimsuit and covered it with a Zelda t-shirt and her khaki shorts from her work uniform. She then put on her special waterproof contacts, so she doesn’t turn her friends into her clones again. Finally, she made her friends sandwiches to eat on the boat while they hung out. Kit opened the garage to find Coin’s boat tube and sighed, knowing that none of their days out ever go well.

When she arrived, she saw her jackelope friend in his salmon trunks, purple t-shirt and sunglasses, with Rio harvest mouse perched on top of his antlers. She was in a little sailor’s outfit with a cap.

“First mate Rio! Ready to embark!” she said with glee.

“Hey Kitty!” Coin blurted. “Just put the tube in the back, were going to go fishing for a little while.”

“I thought you had a fear of fish.” Kit replied.

“My dad wants us to get fish for the Braun’s fish recipe!”

“You hate the taste of fish as well!”

“I’m getting paid if I do this.”

“Fair.”

And with that, they entered the boat.

Kit untied the ropes from the hooks, while Rio and Coin brought the buoys into the boat.

“Hey um Kit…” Rio said. “I think you might want to put your sunhat in the cabinet, so you don’t lose it.

“Oh, I’m fine.” Kit said without concern. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

As Coin and First Mate Rio pushed it to thirty miles an hour, Kit began to scream as her body grew more multicolored fur, whiskers grew, and her body became feline. The scared cat held onto her hat as hard as she could while the boat tore through the river.

“I retract my previous statement!” screamed Kit. “This is way too fast! My hat’s gonna fly away if you’re not careful!”

“Too fast?” replied Coin, seemingly unaffected by the rip-roaring speeds they were currently travelling at.

“No way! Calm down, will you? If you didn’t want your hat to get blown off, you should’ve at least stored it in the compartment.”

Begrudgingly, he and Rio slowed to boat down so that Kit could hand the hat over to Rio.

“Honestly,” she said, “We should’ve insisted on it in the first place.”

As they continued to sail, the trio began to develop an appreciation for the architecture of the waterside houses. Rio would wonder aloud who lives there, or there, or there? Enough time had passed for Kit to have calmed down; one tug of her tail later, and she was back in her fox form.

“Right then,” she said, retrieving her hat at last, “What are we up to first?”

“Sandbar, of course!” replied Rio as the boat sailed towards the spot where the ocean embraced the shore.

The little stretch of sand was surprisingly full of people sunbathing, dipping their toes in the water; anything to make the most of the fresh heat.

“Oh, nice! We can all have a game of keepie-uppie!”

Kit casted her line out towards the water and waited. Soon enough she had something on her line, reeling it in as hard as she could to discover she had caught a gar.

“Nice!” she said, pleased with herself.

“Hey, look guys I caught this cool long-billed thing!”

The crowd looked over, but only saw the fish worth jack squat and laughed.

Kit became slimier and turned grey, with white hair growing until she was now her sad form, the fox slug Granny.

“Dang nabbit!” she muttered to herself before casting the line once again…only to this time catch a sea bass…

“Did you bring the football?” Rio asked.

“Sure did!” Coin said, holding the old pigskin.

“I said the football!” Rio growled.

“This is a football!” Coin responded, perplexed.

Soon an argument erupted between the two of them, until they decided to just toss the ball around. The jackelope through a spiral throw towards Rio, who then responded by nailing her personal perch in the chest. Coin got up, picked the football off of the bar and tossed it again. After a while, he was getting nailed in the face, chest, and even in the groin by the sailor mouse’s throws. He called for a time out to see Granny still trying to catch fish.

“Hey bud.” She said. “Could you give my tail a pull?”

Coin turned her back into Kit.

“Thanks”

“So what’s going on here?” Coin asked.

“I”ve been catching nothing but sea bass and gar…”

Coin looked at her in disbelief.

“Kit there aren’t any sea bass in here…you mean sea trout.”

Kit blushed a little.

“It’s alright, you caught like five of them already!”

So, they waited and caught a decent amount of fish to put in the cooler.

After sunbathing for a bit, the Trio decided it was time to go tubing. They packed up their chairs, their belongings and the fish, which were placed in a water tank on the back of the boat.

“Alright guys!” Rio shouted with excitement. “Time for tubing!”

Coin took off his shirt and glasses, leaving him with only his trunks, while Kit dressed down to her swimsuit. Both of them then put on life jackets and hopped onto the tube.

“Um…” Kit said, somewhat nervous. “I’m not sure I want to do this…”

“Oh we’ll be fine. I’ve gone tubing dozens of times.”

“Get ready you guys!” First Mate Rio shouted as she pushed on the gas. She pulled it forward and the two cryptid creatures were yanked screaming. They narrowly missed other boats and shores, but soon the wild mouse got carried away. At a wedding reception between two mice on a dock, the two burst through and destroyed the dock the mice were on, leaving Coin with a face full of tiny wedding cake, and Kit with the groom in her mouth. Next, the two of them flew over another boat’s wake, which was sunk as soon as the tube landed on it. Finally, they neared an exclusive gated community residence, and ended up going through the yards of the tenants. Statues, trees, and rocks pelted them with pure bruises and scratches. At one point, they broke in through a beaver business man’s house and destroyed his kitchen, his teenage daughter’s bedroom, and his priceless wine cellar.

After breaking out of the last wall, a ramp was seen straight ahead for the duo, and with the ramp, Kit flew off of the tube and belly flopped into the water. Coin, luckily, stayed on, but ended up getting dragged through marsh grasses and oyster beds. He was all chopped up, so when Rio stopped, Coin fell into a million pieces. He healed himself, as always when he got this injured, and pulled into the boat.

“Hang on, where’s Kit?” the crazy driver asked.

From a groan they heard, the two saw her bobbing in the water. Coin spun it back around to collect Kit, who wasn’t very amused about the whole situation once she climbed back on board.

She was trying her best not to snap at Rio, as the jackelope got her a towel to wipe off the water.

Rio than then tried to fire up the engine but called Coin over. After a brief and worried discussion, the rabbit sheepishly confronted his fox friend.

“Umm…Kit….”

“What is it?” she snapped with her eyes already glowing.

“The boat…it’s out of gas…”

Suddenly Kit screamed as she transformed into DemKit, with his voice deepening into a roar. He picked up the cowering and flailing jackelope and chucked him off the boat. Then moved on towards Rio and held her up, shaking her around.

“WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO NOW FIRST MATE RIO?!?!” he roared.

“Calm Down!” Rio said. “Coin can just call the boat tow.”

DemKit dropped Rio and blushed a little embarrassed.

“Sorry Coin!” he yelled out.

“Try to grab the tube.”

Coin swam towards the tube, failing to notice the fin behind him. He climbed onto it, but as he was being pulled in by the fox monster, a shark leapt from behind him and bit down on his swim trunks, ripping them and pulling them into the water. His two friends screamed with DemKit frantically pulling on the rope harder, but it was fruitless as he pulled it in to find the shark had cut it in half. Coin, meanwhile, had a censor bar over his special area and watched as whale watchers and fishermen boated by laughing. The shark returned and pulled the censor off of him, causing DemKit and Rio to blush and look away.

“How can this get any worse?” the mouse said to herself.

“There they are!” an angry woman said, with a crowd of people on a police boat. The officer looked to see a sailor mouse next to a steering wheel, some fox monster, and a naked jackelope behind them.

“Oh crap.” DemKit said to himself, embarrassed.

Later on, Kit, now back as her normal self, and Coin were eating the fish they’d caught in the estuary with their families at Coin’s house.

“I’m glad they found out I was just transformed.” She said. “And they found the shark with Coin’s compressions lodged in its throat at the hospital. He said he needed clothes to deliver to someone.”

“Who?” Gunda asked

“We don’t know yet, but because he pulled my censored bar away he now has to register as a sex offender.”

“As for Rio?” Kit’s father asked.

“Well because she was recklessly driving to the point of bodily harm and property damage, and we didn’t do anything wrong, she has to spend the Festival in jail.” Kit replied.

“It’s a good thing you guys called to get the trout out.” Jonas said. “Proud of you son!”

“Thanks dad! How was the nautical golf tournament?”

“Well, we placed second.” He declared to Margaret. “We have to go to the plaza tomorrow. You are performing tomorrow night correct?”

“Yea, I’m meeting Harry and Roxie at work tomorrow, and D’Arcy is setting up her clothing tent at the beach market.”

“Apparently someone sent a threat to her earlier this afternoon.” Kit’s brother told them. “They’re investigating who sent it.”

“Well, it’s probably nothing we should worry about, but we should tell D’Arcy once we get to the beach.”

Meanwhile the salmon trunks sank into a cave where a sea serpent sat waiting and grabbed it.

“Nice…” she said. “A sample of clothing from one of that jersey devil’s friends.” She smiled with glee. “He could be useful to me… in finally bringing her down…” she laughed as her factory workers continued to work…

[nonsensical-shitposting]

Petrichor (Seeker fanfic): Chapter 1

Here’s the first chapter of a @seekerquest reader-insert fanfic, the general premise of which is that the reader appears at the beginning of the story and proceeds to try to make things better, only to end up… not doing that. Huge thanks to @the-sans-the-sans-the-sans for cowriting parts of this- they were a massive help with dialogue, planning, and generally everything. The next chapter should be coming soon!

.

You open your eyes, and your first thought is that grass isn’t supposed to be purple.

Your second thought is that somebody’s hesitantly poking your shoulder.

Your third thought is that this feels way too real to be a dream.

You sit up abruptly, ignoring the sudden dizziness filling your head as you look around you. Purple grass, fog lingering over everything, gray cloudy sky…

“Uh. Who are you?”

Your fourth thought is whoever that voice belongs to, they sound kinda like John Mulaney, but female, and then you spin around and where you are suddenly becomes much clearer.

The “person” speaking to you is a small, white bunny with big yellow eyes, who is currently staring at you in confusion- not total, abject confusion, but it’s clear that she doesn’t know what’s going on.

It’s also clear, at least to you, that she is Seeker, the titular protagonist of the webcomic by the same name.

Under any other circumstances, you’d expect yourself to start thinking things like how did this happen and then quickly move on to freaking out over the implications of this, but somehow you’re able to keep your cool as you get to your feet and brush yourself off. Okay, looks like we’re in Pax’s world right now. When is this in the timeline? Seeker isn’t gray yet, so it’s still early- actually, hang on… You tilt your head to look behind Seeker, and sure enough, there’s the pillar/column thing she appeared on. So, probably really early on, then.

“Did you meet Darth Noodlecat yet?” you ask her.

Seeker furrows her brow. “What… does any of that mean? You’re the first person I’ve seen here, if that’s what you’re asking. I turned around and you were just…” She gestures aimlessly. “…lying there on the ground.”

Okay, so probably the very beginning of the comic, then. Great, you think, pressing your palms against your temples as you do your best to stave off the probably-inevitable panic attack looming at the back of your mind. Okay, think. What do you… actually, no, first things first, you need to find somewhere to hide before Impaxter shows up. How…

“Hey!” Seeker snaps her fingers directly in front of your face, causing you to flinch. “Can you hear me?”

“I need to hide.” you say, less to her and more just in general. You have a feeling Impaxter won’t react well if he sees you. Feeling distinctly idiotic, you crouch behind the column, glad it’s large enough to conceal you. “Pretend I’m not here,” you tell her. “I’ll explain as soon as the Impostor finishes his spiel, but I don’t want to find out what’ll happen if he sees me.”

You can tell Seeker’s still confused, but to her credit, she nods and gets back up onto the column. Honestly, you thought she’d be more argumentative. “Who’s-”

You shush her immediately, hunkering down even more behind the column in a desperate attempt to conceal yourself. Dread roils within you as you realize you don’t remember which direction the Impostor came from in the original comic- what if you’re crouching directly in his line of sight?

Fortunately, luck is on your side, and the footsteps you can hear approaching come from the other side of the pillar. You hold your breath and keep as still as you possibly can.

“You are back here.” the Impostor says. His voice “sounds” more like one of your own thoughts than anything else, but… clinging, somehow, as if it’s gradually filling your skull with a rotting, cloying odor until it spills out of your eyes and nose and mouth in horrible spidery tendrils. You’re distantly aware that you’re shaking and pray that he can’t hear you. “That is interesting. You moved, and then you came back to where I put you.”

“What?” Seeker asks. She sounds… scared, at least a little. Then again, given how you acted right before he showed up, you might have something to do with that. Oops.

“You are fearful.” observes the Impostor slowly. “That is also interesting. Why?”

Because you’re a creepy cat-shaped toothpick, that’s why, you think, desperately hoping Seeker doesn’t say something stupid in response.

“I’m not!” Seeker insists before jumping right into interrogating him. “Who are you? Why did you put me up here anyway? And what’s with your ears?” You would laugh at her last question- you almost forgot about that line- but you’re just too terrified to find any amusement in this.

“Ears.” the Impostor repeats.

“Yeah, you’ve got big, long ears. Is there a reason for that, or… are you just gonna keep staring at me?”

Their conversation seems to be back on track to how it was in canon, so you tune it out for now. Your lungs are starting to burn, so carefully, quietly, slowly, you allow yourself to breathe. Luckily, the Impostor doesn’t seem to hear you, which is weird considering how ridiculously large his ears are. (This time, you can feel nigh-hysterical laughter bubbling up in your throat at your internal quip, but you force it down.)

“The Seeker. That is you,” says the Impostor, drawing your attention back to their conversation.

“Is that my name, or my job?” Seeker asks.

“I will wait up there. Return if you find the truth.”

“Woah woah woah, hang on!” Seeker shouts, earning a slight smirk from you despite your fear. There’s the Seeker we all know and love. “What makes you think I’m just gonna do what you say?”

“You have something else to do?” the Impostor asks rhetorically. You hear his footsteps receding, and the creeping feeling of his presence leaves with him.

Once you’re sure he’s out of earshot, you sigh in relief (cliched a thing to do as it is) and sag back against the column, parts of you that you didn’t even know were tensed relaxing. If there was any upside to you being scared out of your mind for the past however many minutes, it’s that the majority of your existential panic over what might have put you in a world that is, as far as you know, supposed to be fictional was rerouted into being afraid of the Impostor.

There’s a sudden fwump noise, and a pair of bright yellow eyes are abruptly staring into yours as two floppy ears sort of swing awkwardly down and smack you in the chest and stomach. All you need to do is glance up to see that Seeker apparently thought it would be a good idea to flip her head upside down and over yours to stare at you, instead of just getting off the pillar and approaching you from the front like a normal person. “Okay, back up a little there, Seeks,” you say, instinctively leaning away from her.

Seeker grumbles but complies, pushing herself down off the column again and flopping inelegantly into a seated position next to you. “So. Talk.” she demands.

You sigh, pinching the bridge of your nose. “Where do I even start?”

Judging by the look she’s giving you, Seeker clearly thinks it should be obvious. “Uh, how about… who are you? What are you? Where’d you come from? What’re all these weird fabric things you’re wearing?”

“I’m a human, and these are clothing. Do you not know what clothing is?”

“Not like that.” Seeker pokes your hoodie. “Why were you hiding from that bossy weirdo- what’d you call him, ‘Darth Noodlecat?’”

You can’t help but laugh a little at that- you almost forgot you called him that in your panic to hide. “No, that’s just… an insulting nickname I came up with for him on the spot. I don’t know if he has an actual name, but I just call him ‘the Impostor’ or ‘Impaxter.’”

“You sound like you know him.” Seeker observes.

You shrug as nonchalantly as you can. “I guess you could say that.” You can’t exactly tell her the truth, after all. Given that she’s probably only a few minutes old at this point, and also that she’s Seeker, she’s probably pretty gullible, but you doubt she’d believe you if you told her she was the main character of a webcomic- though, if she did, you have a feeling it’d result in quite the ego trip. Speaking of which… “You don’t happen to have any stupid voices in your head telling you to do dumb things, do you?”

“Uh. No? Is that something I’m supposed to have?”

“No, it just means things are going to be simultaneously easier and harder for us.” That is strange, though- why did she ask Impaxter the same things as she did in canon without them prompting her? Furthermore, the only reason you can think of why she wouldn’t have the askers telling her what to do is because you’re here, which raises a whole lot of other questions. On the other hand, if it means that Seeker’s going to do what you tell her to as if you were the askers… well, you can figure that out later. Right now, you need to come up with an excuse for why you’re here and then try to make things better. Other than exposing Impaxter earlier, though, you’re not sure there’s much you can do right now with what you know- last time you saw it update, the comic had only gotten up to-

Seeker snaps her fingers in front of your face several times again, bringing you back to reality. (Your new reality, anyway.) “Right, sorry. Uh… do you have any other questions?”

“Why’s that guy an ‘impostor?’” Seeker asks impatiently.

“Long story short, this world belongs to someone called Pax- nice dude, made a lot of cool stuff. Now that guy’s there in his world acting like it belongs to him, and I don’t know where Pax is, hence…” You shrug. “The Impostor. Or Impaxter- y’know, combination of ‘impostor’ and ‘Pax.’”

“Did you know this ‘Pax’ guy?”

“Not really?” While you can be honest, there’s no reason you can’t leave a few things out here and there. She wouldn’t believe the full truth anyway. “I never met him in person, if that’s what you’re asking. I… know some things about this world and the people who’re supposed to be in it, but not a lot, and I can’t say how I know them, either.” Tone is everything, and if yours just so happens to make Seeker interpret “I can’t say” as “I don’t know,” then that’s her problem. “I don’t know how I ended up here, but I don’t think I’m supposed to be here.”

“Yeah, that’s the general feeling I’m getting off of you.” Seeker nods.

“Wait, what? What do you mean by that?”

Seeker’s eyes narrow as she stares at you more closely, simultaneously demonstrating how little she understands the concept of personal space. “I… don’t really know? I dunno how to explain it, it’s just that… just looking at you makes me feel like you shouldn’t exist.”

“Huh.” You don’t have much of anything to say to that. You know what she’s saying is true on some level- you shouldn’t be part of this story- but yet, somehow, you are. “…okay, I have an idea.” you say, shaking your head. “I’ll help you figure out what happened to this world, and in return, you’ll help me figure out why I’m here. Sound like a deal?”

“…I mean, what are you gonna do if I say no?”

You hadn’t thought about that, actually. You should be able to find Fen as long as you get to that pipe thing and wait for him, and if he doesn’t show up, you think you know how to get to the door into the Family’s hallway, but you have no clue what you’d do after that or how you’d convince them to help you out. “I dunno. I guess I’d be kind of screwed.”

Seeker sighs reluctantly. “Alright, fine. I guess if helping you out means that… um, the Impostor has to wait longer to find out what happened to this place, it’s worth it.”

“That’s the spirit!” You try to give her a reassuring grin, but even you can tell it’s shaky. For a moment there, you were genuinely concerned she’d refuse to help you.

“Just, uh, one thing. What’s your name?” Seeker asks. “Do you even have one?”

You’re about to answer, but you realize with a shock that you don’t know what it is. You remember what your life before waking up here was like, you remember your family and friends, you remember every other detail of your however many years of existence- just not your own name. That seems like a very specific and arbitrary thing for whatever (or whoever) brought you here to make you forget, but what with how implausible everything else that’s happened to you in the last few minutes is, you’re inclined to set it aside for now.

“I don’t know.” you answer, brow furrowed. “I… don’t think I remember?”

“Well, how about ‘Speaker,’ then?” Seeker suggests. At your confused look, she adds, “Because you’re a weird… thing speaking to me, and it rhymes with Seeker!”

“Speaker?” You can’t stop a small grin from spreading across your face- somehow, that feels right in a way you can’t quite describe. “Yeah, that works. Alright, ‘Speaker’ it is, then.”

“Okay!” Just like that, Seeker immediately jumps on to a wholly different topic. “You said you know about this world and stuff, right?” At your hesitant nod, she continues, “Alright, so where should we go first?”

“Uh…” You consider. It’d be a good idea to find Fen as soon as possible- he probably has the best chance out of anyone at figuring out what the hell’s going on- but you also don’t think it’d be a good idea if Seeker skipped any of the memory orbs. With your luck, whichever one she missed would probably contain some major plot-relevant information that wouldn’t have become apparent until the end of the comic or something like that. “There’s some ruins in the fog over…” You spin in a circle, trying to figure out which way she would’ve headed originally. “Thataway. It’s probably a good place to start exploring, I think there was some important stuff going on there.”

“Alright,” Seeker nods, and just like that, she’s up and heading towards the ruins, and you hastily follow her, your mind immediately spiraling back into what comes next. At the very least, you can probably predict what’s going to happen in the near future, but everything after that is going to be more difficult to figure out as it diverges from the original comic- just Seeker knowing that the Impostor isn’t Pax is going to change a lot of things right off the bat as soon as the two of you encounter Fen. Furthermore, you think you remember the creator saying that the comic was about halfway done maybe a month ago, so that’s a lot of lore and plot you know nothing about that you’ll have to improvise your way through. While Seeker seems to have bought everything you told her, you have a feeling the Family’s going to be a bit more inquisitive about how you know the things you do know, and you’re not sure what you’re going to do then. You sure as hell can’t tell them they’re fictional characters, that’s for certain, but you don’t know what else you can tell them- pleading ignorance is only going to take you so far, and-

Your thoughts and worries are abruptly cut off by a sudden tug on your hair- not painful, but hard enough to make you flinch. You whip your head to the side and glare at Seeker, who raises her hands and takes a step back, face full of feigned innocence. “Don’t pull my hair.”

“I didn’t know if it was attached to your head!” Seeker protests. “It’s weird.”

You almost want to laugh, but it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to give her the satisfaction. Her antics were a lot funnier when there was a screen separating you, that’s for sure. “Just. Don’t, okay?”

“Okay!” Seeker keeps her hands raised, a slight whining tone entering her voice.

“Okay.” you repeat, shaking your head. I have a lot of work to do.

[seolcs]

           °✧｡× :  (   moon  gayoung  +  cis  female  +  she  /  her  )   ───   welcome  to  roselake  village  ,  SEOLA  LIM  !   oh  ,  well  ,  i  suppose  you’ve  been  here  for  ALL  YOUR  LIFE  ,   so  perhaps  you  already  know  your  way  around  the  town  .   well  ,   you  are  the  TWENTY  THREE  year  old  LIBRARIAN  ,  though  ,  right  ?  the  harvest  sprites  told  me  about  you  !  they  said  you  DO  believe  in  the  harvest  goddess  .  oh  ,  my  .  well  ,  that  explains  why  they  also  said  you’re  quite  BEWITCHING  and  SEDULOUS  ,  but  can  also  be  a  bit  ENIGMATIC  and  MERCURIAL  .  either  way  ,  you  should  be  a  wonderful  addition  to  our  island  !  i  guess  i’ll  leave  you  to  it  now  ,  but  if  i  need  you  ,  i  suppose  i’ll  just  look  for  you  at  THE  MAGIC  SHOP ,  yeah  ?  we  hope  you  love  it  here  as  much  as  we  do  !  oh  ,  and  remember  not  to  go  into  the  tulsy  woods  !  the  distorted  hum  of  opera  music  just  out  of  reach  ,  dirt  caked  underneath  fingernails  ,  eyes  that  know  more  than  lips  tell  !  ✧ 

━  ˙ ˖  ☆     QUICK  STATS  !

full  name  :  seola  lim  .

nickname(s)  :  lala  (  yea  like  the  teletubby ...  it  was  a  childhood  nickname  </3  )

zodiac  :  pisces  sun  ,  virgo  moon  (  click   !  )

sexuality  :  bisexual  . 

occupation  :  librarian  &  witch  .

birthplace  :  roselake  village  ,  maine  .

current residence  :  roselake  village  ,  maine  . 

━  ˙ ˖  ☆     BACKSTORY  !  (  tw  :   vague  mentions  of  an  accident   )

she’s  a  fraternal  twin  <3  if  u  read  julie’s  intro  u  know  ,  but  seola  and  sora  are  the  daughters  of  roselake’s  mayor  !   she  was  born  a  whole  ten  minutes  after  her  sister  so  she  takes  pride  in  not  being  the  hag  ...  sora  is  so  brave  for  her  sacrifice  

so  their  dad  is  the  mayor  !  he’s  been  roselake’s  mayor  for  a  while  now  ,  keeps  getting  reelected  bc  why  fix  something  that  seems  to  be  working  right  ..  aha  more  about  that  later  ...  &  their  mom  is  a  witch  !  only  on  the  down  low  though  ,  she’s  not  open  about  practicing  magic  &  is  much  better  known  for  and  adored  for  her  philanthropy  around  roselake  !  both  sora  and  seola  have  the  ability  to  use  magic  ,  but  while  the  gift  seemed  to  come  naturally  to  sora  ,  seola  high  key  struggled  with  it  /:

their  mom  was  a  very  patient  teacher  but  that  didn’t  stop  seola  from  feeling  inferior  to  both  her  sister  as  well  as  her  powers  in  general  .  she  very  much  felt  like  a  big  flop  ,  and  as  a  kid  &  preteen  she  struggled  a  lot  with  jealousy  and  frustration  and  just  feeling  second  best  in  a  sense  ?  basically  she  really  felt  like  she  was  letting  everyone  down  when  in  reality  the  only  person  who  was  putting  pressure  on  her  was  herself 

in  good  old  2010  ...  13  year  old  seola  &  sora  snuck  into  tulsy  woods  (  even  though  their  dad  always  said  never  to  go  in  there  )  to  play  around  with  their  magic  ,  got  into  an  argument  ,  and  that’s  when  seola  accidentally  ended  up  hurting  sora  really  really  badly  ): 

after  the  accident  seola  wanted  to  give  up  magic  forever  ,  but  her  mom  convinced  her  that  the  best  way  for  her  to  get  over  her  fear  of  ever  hurting  someone  again  was  to  practice  .  so  while  sora  got  closer  to  their  father  ,  who  had  covered  up  the  accident  in  the  woods  and  used  it  to  spread  his  own  agenda  ,  seola  got  much  closer  with  their  mom  

determined  to  get  better  at  controlling  her  abilities  and  also  super  terrified  that  she’d  hurt  someone  like  she’d  hurt  her  sister  if  she  didn’t  ,  seola  practiced  and  practiced  ...  then  she  practiced  some  more  .  while  most  people  her  age  were  going  through  high  school  focused  on  going  to  college  afterwards  ,  seola  was  counting  down  the  days  til  she’d  be  free  to  do  nothing  but  learn  as  much  as  she  could  about  being  a  witch  

it  was  around  this  time  she  also  started  to  get  ...  suspicious  about  her  dad  and  his  intentions  .  she  was  grateful  that  he  didn’t  tell  the  truth  about  the  accident  ,  scared  ppl  would  have  viewed  her  as  a  monster  if  they  knew  what  really  happened  ,  but  the  way  her  dad  was  acting  about  tulsy  woods  was  super  suspicious  especially  with  everything  happening  with  the  harvest  goddess  and  the  sprites .  basically  ...  seola  suspects  he  might  have  something  to  do  with  whatever’s  going  on  in  the  woods  ... 👁️👁️

after  high  school  seola  stayed  in  roselake  !  she  didn’t  go  to  college  like  sora  ,  much  to  her  dad’s  dismay  ,  but  she  did  take  some  online  classes  here  &  there  (  mysticism  and  rituals  ,  alchemy  ,  some  history  ones  ,  as  well  as  a  medieval  monsters  literature  class  ...  just  for  fun  <3  )  she  also  snagged  a  job  at  subtext  as  a librarian  ,  mainly  for  that  sneaky  access  to  all  the secret garden  books  

initially  she’d  just  been  curious  about  her  own  magic  ,  since  she  knows  it  doesn’t  come  from  the  harvest  goddess  like  a  sprite’s  magic  does ,  but  with  everything  going  on  she’s  extended  her  research   to  include  both  the  goddess  &  the  sprites  to  see  if  maybe  she  can  understand  whatever  her  dad  is  trying  to  do  in  roselake  

━  ˙ ˖  ☆     PERSONALITY  +  TIDBITS  !

not  2  be  cliche  but  she  really  is  a  mysterious  girl  SJDBWJBDJW  since  she’s  haunted  by  the  idea  that  she’s  essentially  always  on  the  brink  of  losing  control  and  hurting  someone  again  like  she  did  with  her  sister  ,  she’s  got  a  very  elusive  personality  .  she  tries  her  best  not  to  get  too  close  with  anyone  ,  but  unfortunately  for  her  it’s  the  kind  of  cool  and  detached  air  about  her  that  usually  makes  people  curious  to  know  her  ,  especially  since  her  twin  sister  is  so  seemingly  open  &  very  focused  on  her  reputation  in  roselake  .  seola’s  always  tells  herself  stuff  like  oh  to  be  a  fly  on  the  wall  ...  😔  but  the  reality  is  she  doesn’t  want  to  be  invisible  to  people  at  all  ,  she’s  just  traumatized  from  the  accident  in  tulsy  woods  /: 

so  you  have  her  enigmatic  persona ... versus  her  deep  desire  to  be  understood  and  loved  despite  whatever  dangerous  and  uninhibited  thing  she’s  convinced  lurks  around  inside  her .  yeah  ...  she’s  not  so  good  at  following  her  own  don’t  get  too  close  with  people  rule  SJDBWJDJW  most  of  the  time  what  ends  up  happening  is  her  pushing  those  who  are  already  close  away  ,  only  to  reach  for  them  again  later  ,  only  to push  them  away  ...  you  get  it  .  it’s  easy  to  write  her  off  as  a  moody  rich  girl  if  you’re  not  in  her  circle  ,  but  it’s  deeper  than  that 

she’s  got  a  bad  habit  of  fixating  on  things  and  then  letting  them  consume  her  .  sometimes  it  works  to  her  benefit  ,  like  focusing  so  hard  on  practicing  her  magic  and  finally  becoming  good  at  it .  most  of  the  time  ,  though  ,  her  curiosity  morphs  into  obsession  ,  and  it’s  very  easy  for  her  to  get  overwhelmed  and  feel  lost 

she  has  a  big  old  soft  spot  for  creepy  or  spooky  things  and  people  ,  100%  believing  that  more  often  than  not  the  stuff  we’re  afraid  of  is  stuff  we  just  don’t  understand  .  sometimes  ,  though  ,  her  attraction  to  the  “  dark  ”  is  a  manifestation  of  her  own  internalized  belief  that  there’s  something  wrong with  her  &  that  she’s just  as  capable  of  bad  as  she  is  good  ... cannot  believe  freud  just  possessed  my  body  like  that  😳 

if  she  was  an  animal  she’d  for  sure  be  a  cat  JSBDJWBDJW  comes  &  goes  as  she  pleases  ...  affectionate  &  warm  on  her  own  terms  ...  sometimes  she  brings  people  weird  gifts  that  are  only  really  gifts  in  her  eyes  ...  yea  <3  

high  key  has  a  huge  guilt  complex  bc  of  that  juicy  unresolved  childhood trauma  !  that  and  the  fact  that  she’s  pretty  sure  her  family  is responsible  for  hurting  so  many  other’s  in  roselake  ...  it’s  a  lot  .  so  even  though  she’s  not  as  warm  and  friendly  as  sora  is  ,  she’s  just  as  kind  ...  maybe even  too  kind  sometimes  ,  she  just  feels  like  she  has  a  lot  to  prove  &  make  up  for  yk  

voted  most  likely  to  dump  you  &  say  it’s  not  you  ,  it’s  me  ):  

big  fan  of  creating  ambiance  she’s  all about  turning  of  the  big  lights  and  turning  on  a  lamp  ... maybe  lighting  some  candles  if  she’s  feeling  crazy  idk ... 

if  you  don’t  know  she’s  a  witch  you  probably  think  seola’s  about  to  drop  the  hottest  skincare  line  of  2020  because  she  do  be  collecting  those  herbs  and  oils 

━  ˙ ˖  ☆     WANTED  CONNECTIONS  !  (  all  open  to  all  genders  )

BEST FRIENDS  :  technically  sora  is  always  gonna  be  her  number  one  best  friend  🥺  but  i  would  really  love  for  seola  to  have  at  least  one  person  who  really  truly  knows  her  ,  someone  she’d  drop  anything  for  to  help  them  if  they  needed  &  vice  versa  !   

CHILDHOOD /  FAMILY FRIENDS : open  to  muses  that  grew  up  in  roselake  !  maybe  their  parents  are  friends  ,  or  maybe  they  were  just  neighbors  or  in  the  same  classes  in  elementary  school  .  i  have  ...  lots  of  ideas  for  this  trope  hehe  <3  give  me  someone  who  seola  pushed  off  the  swings  when  they  were  tiny  and  now  they’re  still  sworn  enemies  to  this  day  ...  childhood  friends  that  stayed  close  ,  but  after  the  accident  in  tulsy  woods  seola  distanced  herself ,  someone  who  was  technically  her  first  love  who  she  probably  had  a   little  wedding  ceremony  with  when  they  were  like  five  with  candy  rings  ,  childhood  friends  that  grew  apart  and  now  it’s  sad  and  awkward  ,  childhood  friends  that  stayed  close  and  have  embarrassing  stories  to  tell  about  each  other  ...  i’ll  stop  here  JSDBJWD    

CONFIDANTS  :  the  one  person  seola  keeps  finding  herself  talking   to  about  the  things  she  usually  keeps  inside  &  they  do  the  same  with  her  .  i  think  it’d  be  funny  if  both  of  them  find  it  weird  to  do  things  like  go  out  to  lunch  or  shop  together  because  that’s  not  what  they’re  used  to 

SUBTEXT  :  people  who  know  her  from  the  library  !  maybe  your  muse  spends  a  lot  of  time  there  so  they  recognize  seola  (  or  maybe  they  even  go  just  to  see  her  )  ,  maybe  your  muse  needed  help  finding  something  once  and  seola  helped  them  out  &  now  they’re  kinda  pals  ,  or  maybe  your  muse  is  someone  seola’s  requited  to  help  her  out  with  her  own  research  with  the  secret  garden  books    

FRIENDS  THAT  DATED  :  maybe  things  just  ended  amiably  between  them  ,  or  maybe  it’s  like  an  “  everyone  told  us  we  should  date  so  we  tried  it  and  boy  was  that  the  weirdest  thing  we  ever  did  ”  situation  .  either  way  the  outcome  is  they’e  still  friends  <3

CAHOOTS :  what  is  this  you  might  ask  ?  someone  seola  can  be  in  cahoots  with  .  she  has  a  possibly  dangerous  idea  that  no  one  else  is  likely  to  say  yes  to  ?  she  goes  to  your  muse  .  your  muse  has  an  idea  no  one  in  their  right  mind  would  say  yes  to  ?  they  go  to  seola  .  these  two  are  in  cahoots  !  

BAD  INFLUENCE  :  i’d  love  for  someone  who’s  trying  to  get  seola  to  dabble  into  darker  magic  /  abandon  her  quest  to  figure  out  what’s  going  on  in  the  woods  and  save  the  harvest  goddess .  she’s  pretty  hard  to  sway  if  she  thinks  she’s  doing  the  right  thing  ,  so  bonus  points  if  your  muse  is  good  at  manipulation  and  has  a  convincing  case  that’s  more  than  just  oooh  be  bad  ;)  

SPRITES  &  MAGICAL  BEINGS  :  sorry  human  muses  ...  these  are  not  for  you  </3  i  would  love  if  any  of  the  other  witches  /  wizards  helped  seola  on  her  journey  to  practice  her  magic  and  get  better  at  it  !  maybe  someone  who  knows  what  really  happened  with  sora  in  the  woods  but  still  decided  to  help  her  /  not  judge  her  ,  OR  maybe  someone  who  knows  what  she  did  and  is  now  scared  of  her  /  doesn’t  think  she  should  be  doing  magic  still  at  all  .  as  for  sprites  i  think  seola  would  be  super  curious  about  them  &  the  harvest  goddess  ,  so  maybe  some  sprites  who  are  willing  to  talk  about  their  abilities  with  her  and  their  connection  to  the  goddess with  her  &  are  maybe  even  working  with  her  to  try  and  figure  out  what’s  going  on  in  roselake  .  then  on  the  reverse  of  that  maybe  sprites  who  think  seola’s  too  nosy  for  her  own  good  ,  or  who  don’t  trust  her  because  they’re  also  starting  to  get  suspicious  about  the  mayor  ,  or  maybe  they  just  don’t  trust  any  magic  that  doesn’t  come  from  the  harvest  goddess  

MAYOR LIM  :  if  you’re  trying  to  get  to  her  father  for  whatever  reason  ,  sora’s  definitely  the  easier  ticket  in  ,  but  maybe  your  muse  is  trying  to  be  less obvious  about  it  so  they  try  through  seola  !  i  would  also  ...  really  love  someone  she  can  sneak  off  with  during  town  events  where  her  dad  is  involved  when  she’s  supposed  to  be  with  her  family  promoting  that  shiny  lim  reputation  hehe 

SISTER  SISTER  :  connections  through  sora  !  this  is  ...  always  the  best  part  of  having  a  sibling  in  the  same  rp  you  get  to  make  connections  through  them  so  give  me  all  sorts  of  stuff  it  could  be  dramatic  like  your  muse  hurt  sora  &  now  seola  hates  them  or  it  could  be  wholesome  too  !  not  2  be  cliche  but  ...  love  triangle  anyone  ...  just  kidding  ...  unless  ?  🙈  

THE  BIG  EX  :  seola’s  first  real  relationship  ,  and  first  real  heartbreak .  everyone  before  them  had  been  an  unofficial  thing  ,  but  your  muse  was  the  real  deal  .  maybe  one  or  both  of  them  ruined  it  by  being  too  scared  of  their  feelings  to  stick  around  ,  maybe  secrets  and  insecurities  got  the  best  of  them  ,  maybe  one  of  them  was  willing  to  try  but  the  other  wasn’t  .  either  way  it  ended  badly  ,  and  whether  those  feelings  are  resolved  or  not  ...  the  world  is  our  oyster  baby  !  

HOOKUPS  :  friends  with  benefits  and  it’s  not  awkward  between  them  ,  friends  with  benefits  and  it’s  super  weird  between  them  because  they  may  be  crossing  over  into  real  feeling  territory  ,  one  night  stands  /  hookups  that  were  huge  mistakes  ,  one  night  stands  or  hookups  that  were  or  are  being  kept  secret  for whatever reason  ,  someone  who  leads  seola  on  but  never  gets  serious  about  her  ,  or  someone  she  leads  on  but  she  never  gets  serious  about  because  every time  they  get  close  to  anything  real  she’s  pushing  them  away  

WILL  THEY  WON’T  THEY  :  a  friendship  that  always  teeters  on  the  line  of  something  romantic  !  maybe  they’re  both  oblivious  to  the  chemistry  /  tension  or  maybe  they’re  aware  of  it  because  they  get  jealous  when  they  hear  about  the  other  being  with  someone  else  …  maybe  they  refuse  to  do  anything  about  it  because  they  don’t  want  to  complicate  things  or  maybe  they  purposefully  cross  lines  when  they  feel  that  jealousy … could  be  more  angsty  or  it  could  be  more  wholesome  depending  on  which  way  it  goes  😈

i  wont  lie  to  u  ive  been  writing  this  all  day  ...  but  we  finally  made  it  baby  😭😭😭  im  sosososo sorry  for  the  length  &  the  wait  ...  also  i  feel  like  my  charas  always  change  a lil  once  i  actually  start  plotting  &  writing  so  sorry  again  if  u  see  me  finally  writing  as  seola  on  the  dash  and  ur  like  lit  rally  who  is  that  ... JSDBWJBDWBDJ  please come message me on discord to plot  ! @ seulgi ily ʕ´• ᴥ•̥`ʔ#8172  maybe ...  give  this  a  like  if  u  wanna  …  do  that  ?  thank  u  for  reading  all  this  ur  so  brave  for  that  stay  sexy  stan  loona x  

[dreamhimcloser]

Aeon - JiKook

Word Count: 9.5k words Rating: PG-13 Summary: The Rat was the first in Buddha’s race, which by timeless standards should mean that your family will be much more looked up to than they actually are. It's a damn race after all, the winner gets the chicken dinner, right? Wrong.  Genre: Fluff-ish? Also, Seokjin is a diva Note: I’m not really back from Hiatus, that’s important to say. The exchange was fucking amazing and I need time to find myself at home again, but this thing has been sitting on my computer for a year now and I felt inspired, so I gave it life. The ending is not really edited because I cringed at myself. It’s been in my head for a while, hope you guys will like it♥

Your frustration with the day began right in the entrance to your university. You could already feel the signs of the power struggle in the air, along with the countless oblivious students walking right through it as they go about their day. You didn't know if you were lucky for being aware, feeling the signs and treading your steps. Those who belonged to the cycle of the Zodiac were pretty rare, and you were in the bottom of that food chain.

As the ancient story goes, Buddha wanted to hold a race for his departure from Earth. It's ridiculous that this is the beginning of the biggest pain in your life in the present. He invited 12 animals to compete in said race, and they were given one year in the cycle by the order of their arrival.

The Rat was the first, which by timeless standards should mean that your family will be much more looked up to than they actually are. It's a damn race after all, the winner gets the chicken dinner, right? Nah. The Rat was invited by the Cat but didn't wake him up in the morning of the race. It got too excited about being the smallest animal to be invited into such a big event, and completely forgot about his careless friend. That already marked you as a traitor by relations.

If that's not enough bad juju by itself, the Rat was aware of the shortness of his feet and probability in winning the race, so he took advantage of the Ox's gullible personality and rode on his head. A simple jump from his head to the finish line brought the Rat his sweet victory and his successors' despair.

Coming first means shit if all of this is considered.

That's why most people has no idea why some avoid you like a plague. You weren't sure how they'll react knowing this avoidance comes from the ancient sins of one Rat.

Through the cycles, the other animals competed over who hates the Rat decedents most, though you'd think they'd never want to race again after the first time. The Cat was a prominent contester, but the cats in your life didn't treat you badly. Jooheon gave you the same dimpled grin he offers every living being, and even some florals. Hoseok sent you his notes when you were down with the flu for a month without you even having to ask.

For a reason not quite known to you, your enemy during this cycle was the Horse. Most potently shown in your relations to one Park Jimin. He's a silver Horse, which is rare within their kind and higher-ranked. There were other Horses in your university but they reserved their behavior to disturbed looks and nothing more, which didn't really bother you.

It's not that Park Jimin was evil to you or anything, you've never seen him anything but kind to anyone he interacts with. The problem came from the one "protecting" him from you. Since he's a Horse you never tried to actively speak to him but that damn dog, Jeon Jungkook, detested your presence even if you were simply minding your own business on the other side of the room. Even Kim Taehyung stood between you a few times, and he's a Dragon – usually flashy personalities and not that much of a need to handle the animal politics. He was accepting of you if Jimin wasn't in the room though, so you figured it was Jungkook moving him as a piece to have something else protecting poor little Jimin from you.

As always, both pairs of eyes immediately set on you as you walked through the door, while Jimin kept chatting with Hoseok as if he didn't feel the mood shift. Taehyung offered you a small smile, but turned back to the conversation without much else. Jungkook gave you nothing but daggers. The conversation they took part in was loud as they always were, and per usual getting louder when Seokjin walked into the room, exchanging high-fives with the other four like a weird fucking ceremony before he came to sit with you.

Somehow Seokjin, the Snake that rode on the Horse's leg and pushed the Horse to the seventh animal in line, wasn't too dangerous to be around Jimin.

"What's up, loser?" Seokjin flopped down next to you, tossing a small, peach-flavored milk carton onto your lap.

You eyed the milk. "I really don’t get why I'm the only one turning them hostile when I walk into a room."

"You should try being this handsome," he replied with a smirk, placing his thumb and index finger in a V sign at this chin. You narrowed your eyes at him, resisting the urge to smack his hand right into his face.

Your argument was stopped short with the teacher walking in with a shit-eating grin. This poetry class was supposed to be easy, but as you soon learned looks can be deceiving. The teacher seemed to have a special, warm place in his heart for keeping his students at the edge of their seats at terrible peril. He didn't even try hiding how much he enjoyed making his poor students suffer.

And what greater suffering he could bring than a partnered poem analysis paper, already troublesome by itself before he added in the fact he chose the pairs instead of giving students that liberty. That asshole knew how anti-social you were, and the groans coming from the collective of students just made him smile wider.

"Why can't we choose though?" Jungkook complained, his arm wrapped around Jimin's chair. It was easy to guess who his preferred partner would be, and a short laugh from the professor showed he knew the answer.

"Because I paired the weak with the strong," The professor waved his papers at Jungkook, "To give some of you imagination-less people a standing chance to pass my class. Some of you, Jungkook, are in the gray zone.

The chuckles made Jungkook turn sharply back, his eyes locking with yours for a split second though you never made a sound.

"I hope you get Jungkook," Seokjin whispered to you, opening the abandoned milk carton and handing it back to you. "He will probably kill you if he spends too much time with you."

"Since when are fucking Dogs my enemies?"

Just as the words left your mouth ended, your name was called. The professor paused for a second that made you hold your breath – he wouldn't be as evil as to pair you with Jungkook, right? The answer, to your great despair, was worse. The name called after yours was Park Jimin.

"What the fuck?" Jungkook exclaimed, making Jimin jump a little at his side.

The professor looked at Jungkook like he just won the lottery. His eyes were twinkling, he could barely hold himself together from how giddy he was. The pairing in itself was logical, Jimin's weak points fit your strong points and vice versa, but it was clear as day from the mere atmosphere in the room that working together wasn't an option. The professor turned to look at Jimin, "Do you have a problem with this?"

"No," Jimin answered simply, making Jungkook's head snap to him.

The professor turned to you, and before he could open his mouth again you shook your head. You knew by instinct that if you'll ask to switch partners he'd probably give you Jungkook, and at least Jimin was able to be civil. It could only be worse for you.

"Great, so it's decided," The professor determined before going forth with his list. Their group started to exchange whispers right under the professor's nose, but he was in too good spirits to call them out for it. Their small, frantic voices seemed to be music to his ears.

"Wow, I jinxed you didn't I," Seokjin gasped but didn't sound sorry in the least. "Jungkook looks like he's about to have a stroke."

You signed, "I bet he's trying to find a way to make me disappear before I get to exchange one word with Jimin."

 Your phone vibrated on your thigh, making you slide your headphones off. "Did you text me?"

"No," Seokjin replied with a bored voice. You hit pause on the video you were watching, though you really wanted to know if the McDonalds worker noticed the twins switching on him as he turned away for a second. Another vibration came though before you pressed the unknown number.

hey its jimin 03:23

You turned to Seokjin with wide eyes, which he didn't notice for a few moments. Words failed you so you made a small sound that turned his attention away from his phone. "Ah, did he text you already?" You nodded. "That was fast, I literally just gave him the number. I thought it'd take him longer to fend Jungkook off before texting you."

"Couldn't you warn me?"

"And miss that?" He pointed at your face with a pleased devil-smile. "Never."

You turned back to your phone, wondering why the hell your best friend is so annoying. You could choose better, and somehow this hate-love relationship is what kept you going. At rare times he was actually a good friend, so maybe you saw through the douche to the darling within. Like, deep within.

Hey 03:26

Smooth.

im gonna cut to it my rents r prejudice n doesnt wnt me alone w/u

so is it ql if we do da project in my house? 03:27

Sure. When? 03:27

im sorry. 03:28

His apology made you frown. It didn't come as a surprise to you that his parents wouldn't want their silver son meeting a Rat in their natural habitat. It's almost 2020 and there are still a lot of… opinions on what new ways the Rats found to mislead the other animals. You could offer the library as a neutral spot, but you didn't know if Jimin even knew where it is.

saturday? 6 ish? 7 ish? wn ure comfortable ish? 03:29

You couldn't help but chuckle at the swarming messages. You always saw Jimin texted real fast and half-finished sentences, but being on the receiving end of that was a brand new experience.

6-ish sounds good. Send me your address, I'll be there 03:30

He sent it, and you had no idea where it was. A quick look at the map revealed that he, in fact, lives in the middle of a forest and it shouldn't have surprised you this much. Silver Horses were known to crave the wild, not at all city creatures. That would stand against the fact they moved to Seoul from Busan, but you guessed education was stronger than their will to be free.

"We're meeting on Saturday," You informed Seokjin, who hummed as a distracted response. "Save me some food."

"As if Jimin will let you leave his house without feeding you," Seokjin laid his phone in front of him, finally focusing on you. "You clearly don’t know him."

"His loyal watch-dog makes sure of that," You rolled your eyes. "Did you know he lives in the woods?"

"Of course, I've been to his house before."

"Of course you were."

"You'll like it, it's a really big house, whole wall made of glass like the forest is inside. Also, Jimin's bed is really comfortable. Not that you'll get to try it unless you'll be a good girl."

You contemplated throwing your mouse at him. "We're doing a project and then our lives will go back to being absolutely separate. His parents won't even allow him the option of being near me where they can't control, you think his bed would be good?"

"His bed is good."

Seokjin offered to drive you there, claiming that the road is too complicated for you to navigate though. He listened to your whole rant about how you're great with directions as he fiddled with his keys. In the end he didn't leave you much choice and after seeing how complicated it actually was, you were kind of grateful. The forest really wasn't forgiving for first time arrivers. Seokjin informed you that he also had to have help the first time he visited, so you felt better about yourself.

Seokjin stopped in front of the house, giving you a knowing smile, "Now you're glad you agreed, right?"

"Wow yes thank you," you exhaled in one breathe, sliding out of the car with your bag in hand. "You're the best."

"What else is new?" Seokjin obnoxiously winked right before he drove off. He almost drove right on your foot, but you assumed the swag in the action was worth it for him. Fucking Snakes.

The front door seemed to loom over you, warning you of where you're headed. Each Zodiac made their own aura around their homes, and this one was new to you and quite overwhelming. You never got to measure the Horse aura before since all the Horses steered clear of you, getting it so strongly at once wasn't exactly welcoming. It's a good thing Horses were prideful people, so logically you knew there is no risk in stepping inside.

Keeping that idea in your head, you rang the doorbell, almost cringing at the choir of bird sounds that announced your presence. Of course Horses would have chippering birds as their doorbell. You barely managed not to roll your eyes as the door opened.

"It's you."

Jungkook gave you a bored look, leaning against the door he opened. He looked you up and down, maybe to be intimidating. You found it strangely amusing.

"Jimin is at dance practice."

"Did I get the time wrong?" You quickly pulled out your phone with the intention of checking Jimin's message. "I thought – "

"You didn't," Jungkook cut you off. "He was supposed to be here."

You stared, not sure how to progress from here. Jungkook seemed to be perfectly fine with letting you wait outside until Jimin came back and he was forced to treat you well. You weren't sure what he was going to do, but waiting awkwardly felt terrible.

Jungkook seemed to sense the struggle as he moved aside with a sigh, "Come in, I guess."

"Thank you," You side-stepped him, bending down to take your shoes off before entering farther. Jungkook gave you a quick look, walking to the end of the corridor, where he stopped to wait for you.

You tried to be subtle as you watched his actions, wondering if he really did hate you. With Jimin not being the room he seemed more calm around you, acting more like he just wasn't sure how to act rather than despising you. You knew the rumors about Rats didn't form a good image, and the fact that you're pretty rare is not helping. When people met you for the first time they were sure they already know everything you're about and had no intention to really get to know you as a person, not a zodiac reference.

"You can wait in the living room," Jungkook said the moment you started walking his way. The light coming from the end of hallway already hinted where the glass wall that Seokjin was talking about was, but you didn't quite expect the spectacle that was revealed to you. The last rays of sun filtered through many leaves, throwing calm shadows over the cream color-themed living room. Everything looked so polished and expensive, you could easily see Jimin in this space. You've never seen his parents so they were face-less figures in the image in your head, but they were loving and kind, like their son.

Well, to non-Rats, anyways.

Jungkook watched you, averting his gaze only when you turned to look back. He looked almost bashful as he took a sit on one of the couches, slipping out of his slippers and placing his feet on the edge of the coffee table. He looked less elegant than Jimin, but somehow Jungkook's Dog aura was also present in this space, as if he's a part of it. Thinking back, you've never heard Seokjin going to Jungkook's place or meeting Jungkook's parents. It made you wonder.

You took your seat on the same sofa, but in a safe distance from him. You awkwardly moved your attention to your socks, wondering if you should have chosen more presentable socks than the Line Friends ones you were currently wearing. You glanced at Jungkook to find him checking his phone, a small smile adorning his features. This could be the first time you saw him actually smiling, as you were usually watching their group from behind. It didn't look bad on him, this look. It was no secret that he was handsome, making a perfect visual trio with Jimin and Taehyung. You just never got to see it like other people did.

He glanced your way, finding your attention is on him made both of you embarrassed. You were used to watching people, your status as a Rat made you learn that observing people from a far would keep you safe from getting hurt. You got good at reading people, and Jungkook didn't seem like much of a challenge. He was sitting so comfortably, he must have been a household member, if not living here. Which would probably be a safe bet.

"Are you waiting for Jimin too?"

Jungkook's eyes darted to you and back to his screen. "Sort of."

"Um," You started, not knowing if you should actually ask this. He was obviously listening to you, though he wasn't looking your way. "I was wondering, do you live here?"

That caught him off guard. You could clearly see the Dog in his reaction, his eyes now trained at you with a soft wonder in them. Dogs were people of instincts, not calculating situations like you. You could tell that you were right, but something about his reaction made you feel like you spoke too soon, trying to be friendly with someone who is not really willing. You were somehow intrigued by him, a fact that wasn't surprising as all the Rats you knew were attracted to Dogs.

Jungkook was still looking at you though a few moments passed. Your anxiety wasn't liking that, making you defuse the situation. "None of my business, never mind. Sorry for asking."

Jungkook frowned. You chose to look at your socks again, so you couldn't judge the wheels moving in his head. Before he could settle on a choice of what to do with your question, his phone buzzed. Quick tapping sounds filled the silence before he announced, "He's on his way now."

"Great. You know, you don't have to wait with me if you have other things to do," You offered, wiggling your toes in the fluffy carpet. "I won't move from here."

"Nah, it's fine," he answered in a casual voice, which you've never heard from him before. You chanced looking at him and his eyes were already trained on you, but they weren't hostile. He looked like he was contemplating, and quickly a decision was made, "You're more polite than I thought you'd be."

You blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know," Jungkook responded truthfully, ignoring another buzzing of his phone in favor of holding your gaze.

You were having trouble processing where this conversation is going, his easy look showing that he didn't quite have a clue either. It just wasn't anxious for him to be in this position. "Well, I'm glad to prove you wrong, I guess."

Even looking at him, you weren't quite certain what was going through his head. A part of you wondered if the attraction between Rats and Dogs was mutual, and having no other presences around made it easier to sense each other's auras. Maybe he was experiencing something new with you as well.

Maybe he reached out to you with that, and you should try as well. "I know the Rat's image is strong, but I'm honestly not a bad person. I have no intention of harming or tricking anyone."

"I figured, otherwise Seokjin wouldn't be so fond of you," Jungkook lifted his legs, folding them beneath him on the couch. "Actually, he asked me to be nice to you."

"Is that why you're trying to have a conversation?" You chuckled, but it stopped soon when you saw the strange look he gave you. Your mind provided a question that you knew you had no time to linger on, but you had to speak to Seokjin about what he told Jungkook.

"Sort of. He said that if I'll actually try not to push you away I'll see you're actually really good, better than him. Just more guarded."

"Seokjin said something nice about me? How uncharacteristic for him."

Jungkook made an amused sound, and you're ashamed to say it felt like a small victory. "He insisted enough for me to pay attention."

You nodded, not sure what else to say. You did make a mental note to thank Seokjin later. He jokes around a lot and it's usually in your expense, but he really does care about you. He must have known how nervous this made you and tried to make it easier. Being the middleman, he knows you and them well enough to be able to bridge temporarily until you could be civil with Jungkook, and maybe even complete this assignment without too much of a fight.

Jungkook looked like he had something else to say, but the soft sound of the opening front door, followed by Jimin announcing that he's home, stopped him. Instead he chose to push to his feet and walk to the hallway.

"You've been nice?" Jimin tapped on Jungkook's chest, a wide smile on his face. His smile never wavered when he looked at you, confidently walking towards you. "Sorry for being late, dance kinda makes me forget about time."

You didn't miss the slight tension that resided in Jungkook's shoulders as Jimin neared you, but he said nothing even when Jimin sat right next to you, dropping his bag at his feet. You've never been this close to him, but just looking at him you knew Jimin would smell amazing – you just didn't know how good it'll be. The scent that came off of him reminded you of the freshness of nature, like he just galloped through the woods like the Horse he is.

It was quite a nice image.

"It's okay," you reassured him, snapping out of your thoughts. "I didn't have to wait long."

Jimin leaned closer, his voice dropping to a whisper, "Was he really nice to you, though?"

You nodded, eyes widening at how close he was. His skin was amazing, his eyes shining at you with pure happiness and amusement. He turned to Jungkook and they looked at each other for a few moments. You didn't know what it meant, but Jungkook seemed to catch on, walking back to the couch just to get his phone back. "I'll be upstairs."

You felt like maybe this decision answered your earlier question, but there is no way to know for sure as Jungkook disappeared up the wide staircase at the far end of the space. His departure left you alone with Jimin, whose attention came back to you.

"Is it okay if we stay here? My room is a mess," Jimin watched your face as you nodded. He seemed content with your answer, pulling the one notebook he used for every subject you shared together. Not that you've been keeping tabs, but yeah, you knew that.

You pulled out your supplies as well, feeling very conscious of the amount of attention you're getting. Maybe that's why people who spoke to Jimin alone were a blushing mess, being around him was like being under a spotlight, with absolutely no judgement attached. It's like he just genuinely enjoyed focusing on you.

"The prof was smart putting us together, I'm pretty bad at poetry," Jimin announced as he flicked through his notebook to find an empty page. "I just don't get hidden meanings and feet and stuff. But you've always been good, I still remember that poem you wrote about the sky."

You blinked at him, taken aback. You wrote remembered the poem was well, it was due in your first class. First year, first semester, before you thought Jimin ever noticed your existence. He seemed amused at the surprise in your face, finally settling on a page and leaning back on the couch. You followed, though a lot less comfortable than him. You decided there's no possible answer to what he told you and instead began pitching ideas for your analysis. You were given a poem that you read five times before meeting up with Seokjin, so you had a pretty good idea what you wanted to focus on. Jimin looked at you with an ever-present smile, drinking in all you had to tell him. He wasn't embarrassed to ask you questions, even if he was asking about the most basic things. You worked hard to not make him feel like it's too basic to be confused about at this point, just to keep him cheerful and excited to learn.

Somehow you felt like he really was learning from you, as minutes ticked by and he used the new information you've given him. It was obviously his weak subject, but he seemed to find your knowledge and merge it with his joy to find a good middle that allowed you to work him like dough. The idea you came up with seemed solid, Jimin adding his own, smaller ideas to give it a better structure. Working with him was easy, you bounced ideas off of each other, Jimin allowed himself to joke around with you, and the atmosphere stayed light. Before you noticed, hours went by and you were sitting more comfortably, Jimin's calm acceptance made you feel almost welcome in his home.

Jimin giggled at one of your ideas as he allowed his notebook to fall into his lap, giving up on doing more work in favor of conversation. "Honestly when you told that prof he was wrong I almost laughed right in his face. I'm closer, so I would've probably gotten kicked out of the class too."

"He said frogs are the symbol of freedom!" You defended yourself, bringing your own notebook to lie against your chest. "I couldn't just let this nonsense go."

"I know you couldn't," Jimin leaned his head against the sofa, eyeing you with a smile. "I noticed you're not shy to say what you wanna."

"You noticed?" You shifted, bringing your legs up between your body and Jimin's, leaning your head the way he did.

Jimin hummed, looking at your legs before returning to you. "Maybe I don't look like it, but I'm pretty observant. And being a Rat, you were interesting to me."

You willed your face not to blush, deeming it too embarrassing. "You wanted to watch the enemy?"

"I wanted to watch the possible friend," Jimin corrected with not a bit of shame. "I don't believe in that Zodiac enemy stuff, it's stupid to judge for something that was done millions of years ago. The fact is you've never been not nice to anyone who didn't deserve it. You're frank and your thoughts are heard, but there's nothing wrong about that. I think you're really funny, and nice, and a good person to be around."

You found no words to reply with, so you simply stared at him. Your lack of response didn't matter to Jimin as he leaned closer, the same amused glitter in his eye. "I'm glad I get to see I'm right."

"Ah," Jungkook's voice came from the stairs, making both of you jump a little farther away from each other. You looked at the newcomer in alarm, expecting him to explode at you for even daring to come so close to Jimin. His eyes were trained on you and he seemed conflicted, but when they moved to Jimin they softened immediately. You noticed Jimin had this kind of effect on him, like he was easily softening Jungkook's rough edges.

"I'm kind of hungry, what are we ordering?" Was his chosen response. Jimin didn't miss a beat in naming a restaurant that you weren’t familiar with. Jungkook slurped and rolled his eyes but didn't argue, which lead you to believe this response was quite popular with Jimin.

"Is there anything you can't eat?" You turned to confirm that Jimin was talking to you, shaking your head as a response. You remembered Seokjin being clear on Jimin liking to feed people, so you weren't really surprised when it came true right before you.

When Jungkook was busy ordering the food, Jimin declared that "study time is over". He turned the TV on and flicked through Netflix, asking for your opinion on which movie to watch. "I'd ask Jungkook but he'd probably say a Marvel movie," Jimin giggled, flicking past another rom-com.

"I like Marvel," you commented.

"I know, Spiderman is your phone background," you snapped your head in his direction just to catch his victorious smile. "Observant, I told you."

"Marvel movies are great, you're not wrong," Jungkook affirmed, throwing himself on Jimin's other side.

"But we can watch something else once in a while," Jimin whined, throwing one of his legs across Jungkook's, who naturally moved his hand to rest on Jimin's thigh, close to his knee. You felt Jimin's eyes on you, which told you he noticed you saw but didn't move Jungkook's hand away. You felt like it was a hint, but the situation made you so embarrassed you refused to think about it.

"How about this?" Jimin paused on a movie starring Ryan Reynolds, which you agreed to immediately. Again, your reaction was not missed by the others. Jimin didn't wait for Jungkook's approval to start the movie, settling against the other as the movie started. When the food arrived Jungkook stood up immediately, throwing the whining Jimin's leg off of him in the process.

"Does our skinship bother you?" Jimin asked immediately when Jungkook was out of earshot.

"Nope."

"Good," Jimin's hand came down twice on yours, a contact you weren't expecting. Jimin giggled at the look on your face, but nothing else could be said as Jungkook came back into the room. The rest of your visit held the same kind of calmness, until Seokjin called you to tell you he's waiting outside, liberating you to think without anyone watching you.

 Jimin texted you when you were on the way back, asking you if you're free to meet again soon. Seokjin was telling you a very long story through the entire time you were texting, and you were only half listening. He noticed, but didn't mind much.

"Hey Jin," you lowered your phone, intentionally interrupting him in the middle of a sentence. He stopped with a huff, but didn't complain farther, which gave you the okay to continue. "What did you say to Jungkook? He said you asked him to be nice to me."

"Just that."

"Shut up, I know you," You watched him, examining his face. You knew this boy too well, he knew exactly what you were referring to and he wasn't going to let it go easily. "What did you say?" You insisted.

"Honestly? Not much," He shrugged his shoulders, fingers lightly tapping on the wheel. "I called to ask him to be civil because you didn't choose this either. The important part of the conversation," Seokjin paused just to be dramatic, his finger pointing at your face for emphasis. "is what he said. And before you start pushing, I promised him whatever he says is safe with me."

You whined but knew your best friend too well to assume anything you can do will get him to change his mind. He was sassy but trustworthy, and if he promised Jungkook he won't say anything, he won't even break down for you.

 The second time you came to Jimin's house, you drove your own car. You were a lot less nervous than the first time since you kind of knew what you were walking into. The birds at the doorway seemed welcoming now, and Jungkook even gave a small smile as he opened the door.

"He was too lazy to get up," he said as a way of explaining, leaving you to get out of your shoes since you already knew where to go. You followed shortly after him, just a little surprised to see Jungkook's stuff were spread next to Jimin's.

"Y/N!" Jimin threw his arms up from the spot where he was laying on the sofa. He just barely pushed himself into a sitting position to give you space to sit besides him. "Are you okay with Jungkook staying with us?"

"Of course," You responded, pulling your notebook out.

"Good," Jimin's hand came down on yours again, with Jungkook watching but not saying a word. "He could use some help as well, he got partnered with that Kris guy that is too cool for school."

"Jimin," Jungkook's voice held a warning that Jimin simply swatted away.

"It's just Y/N, it's fine. She'll help you not to fail," Jimin grinned at Jungkook before turning the same grin to you. "Spending half the time on our assignment and half on his is okay?"

"Sure," You smiled back, daring to smile at Jungkook as well. He stared back, and only managed to chuckle when he turned away from you.

"Great!" Jimin clapped, opening his notebook to show you he already progressed with your ideas. You pulled it from his hands, examining what he wrote down to find he did a pretty good job. You were kind of surprised to see the improvement. Jimin was smarter than you considered him to be.

Jimin's lead allowed you to slip back into the comfortable conversation you had last time, making wonderful progress with your ideas. Jimin started building an outline as you spoke, structuring your ideas in a coherent manner that will make writing the assignment easier for the both of you, no matter who took which part. Jungkook was watching you occasionally, and you couldn't miss the affection he held for Jimin. It just blossomed out of him with no effort. There was no hostility left in him for you, and even laughed at your jokes.

When Jimin said he's stepping out to go to the bathroom, you simply leaned back against the sofa to continue working on your formation. You felt Jungkook had something to say again, and you peaked over the notebook to see him already looking at you.

"I," he began, and you lowered the notebook to give him your full attention. "I do live here. I didn't answer you last time and it was rude, sorry."

"It's okay," You smiled.

"My parents died when I was young and Jimin's parents took me in," he continued, the rubbing of his hands together showing his awkwardness. You wondered why he was telling you this very shortly, since you wanted to actually listen to him. "I owe a debt to them. Jimin told them we have a Rat in class after the first day of Uni, and they asked me to make sure you don't come near him. So… I went a little overboard. I'm sorry."

You nodded slowly. You didn't know why he was being this open with you, but you appreciated the honestly. You figured no one expected having a Rat in their class since your kind usually sticks together and avoids big cities from the fear of being excluded within them. "It's okay," you reassured again, and Jungkook seemed to breathe out in relief. He smiled, flashing his bunny-like teeth in sincerity.

"Thank you," He glanced down at his hands, still rubbing them against each other. "I'm glad I listened to Seokjin, and I'm glad Jimin was right about you. I was acting so stupid."

"It's – "

"Jungkook project time!" Jimin shouted as he walked back to you, interrupting whatever moment you were sharing with Jungkook. He chuckled and handed you his notebook, which you accepted. Jungkook's poem was a little harder than yours, you could see the complications in it. Jimin helped you speak to Jungkook easier, to find ideas. As you were talking he was writing down important things to form into a proper paper later. The new information you accumulated was still residing in your head, to be thought of more deeply later.

For now, you just enjoyed their presence.

 You noticed you're slipping slowly. The first thing that caught your attention is how easy the road to Jimin's home became with each time you visited. Honestly there wasn't much left to the assignment you were doing and Jungkook's part in his was complete two visits ago, but here you were, dropping by again in the clear pretense of having to work on it.

Another thing that alarmed you is how easy it was to be in their presence. You stopped hanging out in the living room a long time ago, preferring Jimin or Jungkook's bedroom instead. They didn't even bother opening the door for you – since they always invited you when Jimin's parents were out there was no risk. You could just walk into one of their rooms, hang out with them, talk about everything and nothing. Jimin always made sure you're comfortable, keeping his "is this okay" questions as his tool to do it. Jungkook connected to you more naturally, he tried things like lying on your thigh with careful eyes judging your reaction but with no words.

In opposition to everything you thought you'll go through in preparing this assignment, this was easy. It was nice, warm, and it kinda felt like you found your own little room in their lives. Going to classes also became easier, since you didn't need to be careful. Taehyung was taken aback when Jungkook called you to land a perfectly good joke and earn your laughter, and Hoseok accepted it without question. Seokjin proposed moving closer to them in the class-space, but Jimin waved him off, carrying his stuff to where you were usually sitting in the back of the class. His reasoning was that moving away from the professors is more rational than moving closer.

Somehow even the non-Zodiac people in your class seemed to notice the shift. Of course they had no idea what caused the animosity between you and Jungkook to begin with, but the friendship that rapidly grew between you was a dirty contrast to what you were to each other before. You noticed people glancing your way, eyebrows raising as Jungkook allowed himself to be a fool while sitting right on your left. Jimin tried to settle on your right, but one look from Seokjin told him he didn't earn the ability to come between you yet. Instead he used to stand in front of you and Jungkook during the break, leaning against the row in front of you with each of his legs touching one of Jungkook and yours.

You were continuedly surprised at how easy it was. You kind of hated yourself for complicating this easy routine you had. The most blurring alarm in your head wasn't oriented there at all, but in the depth of your stomach. See, whenever Jimin laid besides you in his bed, his legs touching yours and pure sunlight pouring from his eyes as he giggled at you, you felt butterflies. Every time Jungkook laid his head on your thigh or cracked jokes at you just to see you smile, you felt butterflies. Every time you crammed together on Jimin's bed to watch another non-Marvel movie, you usually in the middle because Jimin kept insisting that if one of you falls it's not gonna be you, you had butterflies. It's like you couldn't keep this simple, couldn't enjoy what you got without secretly craving more.

Because you liked both of them at the same time, you felt biased when you noticed the little sparks going off between them. You noticed Jungkook's affection for Jimin a long time ago, but only when you started getting to know them better did you notice Jimin's affection for Jungkook. It wasn't in the look he gave but in the actions he took. It's like he knew what was going through Jungkook's head, knew that his friend wasn't good with words, and he became his mouth or acted automatically to solve whatever problem Jungkook never uttered. You could see their friends were aware of it too, always teasing Jimin that him and Jungkook are such soulmates that they had no use for words.

They never refuted that, and you believed no lie could cover that obvious truth.

And it made you jealous.

Not mad jealous, not something that came between the three of you. It was just this secret passion to get in on their secret, to tap that frequency that they communicate through and help Jimin please Jungkook, get that same look that Jimin gets, to be in the middle not because you could be physically harmed, but because that's your natural place.

This kind of horrible wishes made you consider skipping town and never seeing anyone again. You were accepted by them completely, but you were still a Rat. You needed to remember that, needed to remember that you're actively avoiding Jimin's parents because they hate you, not being friends with them from the beginning because Jungkook protected Jimin from you. This place that you accumulated in their lives – it's not permanent. It's not actually yours.

With this heavy feeling in your chest you tapped in the code to the apartment, leaving your shoes at the door in the empty spot they kept for you. The sun was pretty nice today, so they'll probably be in Jimin's room. As you climbed the stairs, you could hear faint music coming from the almost closed door – they usually leave it wide open when you're over. You stared at it for a second, wondering if you should knock. You lifted your hand to do so when a soft moan came out of the room, making your heart skip a beat. You looked above your shoulder to find Jungkook's room was empty. The fisted hand you lifted to knock made soft contact with the door, mindlessly choosing to simply push the door open and come face to face with whatever you're going to find.

You really shouldn't have been so surprised when the scene revealed itself to you. Jimin was lying on his back, legs wrapped around Jungkook's waist, who was lying on top on him. They were almost fully dressed – almost because Jungkook wasn't a fan of wearing shirts inside the house. You swallowed thickly as you watched Jungkook's tongue slipping for a second from the seam of Jimin's lips, just to return inside as Jimin's fingers pressed into his skin, bringing him impossibly closer. You couldn't move, couldn't think when you watched Jungkook's fingers weave in Jimin's hair, pulling his head to a better position to kiss him deeper. After moving his head, Jimin's now open eyes could easily find you standing in the doorway, mouth slightly open and your hand still on the door.

You felt adrenaline shoot right through you as he pushed slightly at Jungkook's chest. Jungkook's head turned your way, but before you could see his expression you already removed yourself from the door. Your hand barely met the railing as you hurried downstairs, trying your hardest to ignore your name being called behind you. Just as you reached the last step, almost out of this situation completely, you felt determined arms wrapping around you to pull you against a stable chest. You knew it was Jimin from the smell of his hair as his head rested on your shoulder, adding pressure to stopping you from leaving.

"Please wait," He said softly into your clothed shoulder, his palms rubbing your sides. You obeyed, but only because you had to catch your breath after what felt like running a marathon. You heard Jungkook's familiar, heavier steps coming down the stairs, though he was a lot slower than Jimin. He stopped close by, but not close enough for you to see him.

"Y/N," Jimin pleaded with the sound of your name, making your heart ache. You could make out tinkers of regret in the syllables, the pained feeling washing over you and forcing you to place your own hands on top of his, calming him down. It worked immediately, as he lifted his head from your shoulder to peer at your face. "Is this weird?"

You had no idea what to say, your mouth opening slightly just to close again.

"Is it making you uncomfortable?"

You tried to calm your mind, just as desperate as Jimin to know the answer to that. A dull throb in your stomach told you that no, it didn't make you uncomfortable. It made you excited, and not in the innocent way. Seeing them like this, together, kissing, it felt right. It felt like something you wanted to see again, something you wanted to experience for yourself. Just another thing you wanted to be a part of.

"No."

Jimin breathed out against your throat, making you shiver. His hands felt more confident, moving along with yours to rest on your stomach. You could see a movement from the corner of your eye, but Jungkook stopped before he'll be too close. "We want you to stay. Is that okay?"

You relaxed your back to Jimin's chest, nodding your head. Jimin turned you around and you saw Jungkook's face for the first time – his eyes were wide and fearful as he stood there, not knowing what to do. You couldn't help but smile at him just to calm him down, your hand reaching out to him as well. He held it softly, taking one more step down to be closer. "It's okay," you reassured him, finally earning a smile from him in return. He led you back upstairs, with Jimin still attached to your back. It was awkward, but you felt like Jimin needed that so you powered through.

You only blushed a little when they led you back to Jimin's bedroom, noting how messy the sheets were from their movements on them just seconds ago. Jungkook walked around the bed to climb on the other side, but he didn't lie down until you settled in the middle. Instead, he waited until he could lie on your thigh again, fingertips tentatively brushing over your jeans. This was the most Dog you've ever seen him, almost pawing at you to make sure you're not mad. You fought the urge to play with his hair, feeling like it's too intimate after what you just witnessed. Your decision to place your hand on his shoulder instead did not go unnoticed by Jimin's careful eyes.

"How about Spiderman Homecoming?" Jimin's soft voice made you chuckle.

"I'd love to."

Jimin settled on your left, taking your hand in his the moment he turned on the movie and tossed the remote away. He leaned his head against your shoulder, playing with your fingers with both his hands. You stayed in silence as the movie started but you weren't really watching. You were too focused on everywhere your body made contact with them, the memories floating in your head, the meaning behind it.

Their friends must have known about this… thing. You didn't actually know what you walked into and they didn't seem to care about it. It also seemed rational for Jungkook to be so protective of his… boyfriend? Friend with benefits? You really had no idea what to call it. It felt like a lightbulb just turned on in your head, shedding light on things you didn't know were hidden in the unknown. You felt stupid for not putting the clues together, but they did seem to be pretty skinship-y with you as well, so how were you supposed to know?

Jimin's fingers slipped between the gaps of yours, securely holding your palm against his. You looked down at your hands – this is the first time he didn't simply play with your fingers. You never actually held hands before. Jimin noticed your shift, lifting his head to meet your eyes. You felt like he was trying to communicate something to you, and it frustrated you that you weren't on the frequency yet to know the words he didn't say. Jungkook tensed against your leg, obviously feeling the new, confused energy. He moved to push his nose against your thigh, asking for something. Again, you didn't know what.

Jimin lifted your joined hands to place the back of your hands against his lips. He didn't kiss it, just held it there as if he's hiding a part of his expression. You could see regret attaching itself to his expression, and you really didn't like it. As an instinct, feeling like there's nothing you could say to make this better, you pulled at his hand until you could press a kiss against his skin. It was small, but you felt like it was so meaningful. The relief replacing the guilt in Jimin's expression informed you he got it as well.

"Thank you for staying."

You felt like Jungkook's palm, spreading over your thigh, was attempting to say the same thing.

 "Yeah, they've been dating for a while now," Seokjin shrugged your terror off.

"And you never thought to tell me," you deadpanned, throwing the closest thing you could grab at his face.

your pencil bounced off of his chest, completely not harmful but still earned a frown. "I thought they'd tell you when they're ready. It seems like they were."

"You think they decided to tell me like that?" You heaved a sigh, nothing allowing the tightness in your chest to be released. Your mind conjured the image of Jimin's sad face as he waved you goodbye that day, like he thought this was the last time you'll be seeing each other.

You really hoped it wasn't.

"I mean, they knew you were coming," Seokjin began, fingers tapping on your knee. You wondered if your sigh made him worry, since he looked not annoyed but a little concerned now. "Jungkook is a moment kind of guy, but Jimin is more calculated than that. He would have stopped whatever it is before you came, if he didn't want you to see."

"But why?"

You could tell there was something Seokjin wasn't telling you. He just tapped on your knee, saying nothing that could help.

 my partner asked me to change something you have time tomorrow at 5? 14:10

You saved Jungkook's number a while ago, but this was the first text messages between you. Jimin was the one usually texting you for the both of them, or you talked over in the group Jimin opened for the three of you. Nonetheless, you couldn't jump fast enough on an opportunity to feel like everything is okay between you.

Sure, see you then. 14:10

You were surprised to find Jungkook in Jimin's room, but with no Jimin to be found. Another missing ingredient was his work stuff, since he just sat around on Jimin's bed on his phone. The moment you made your presence known he threw him phone on the bed, watching with as you crawled next to him.

"I didn't really need help, it was an excuse," Jungkook confessed.

You puffed the pillows behind you, settling beside him. "Why do you need an excuse to hang out?"

"Didn't know what else to say," he shrugged, shimmying closer until your shoulder touched his arm.

You chuckled, touching his leg with yours. "Just say you want to hang out, it's enough."

"I want to hang out."

You laughed, looking at Jimin's glowing stars stuck to the ceiling. The silence wasn't uncomfortable like you feared but pleasant. Jungkook's leg touched yours a few times, but the touch didn't remain as he pulled away. You said nothing to that either, just letting him find his comfortable place since you knew it was harder for him to shake it off than it was for you.

"I didn't get to spend a lot of time near Dogs," Jungkook mused in a light tone, turning his body more towards you to get your attention. You simply looked at him, waiting for him to continue. "But I heard there's this thing, with Rats."

You blinked, knowing that the look on Jungkook's face meant he was testing the waters with something that he's not sure how you will react to. "What thing?"

"An attraction," he paused, evaluating each altered muscle in your face. "Like, a physical one."

You hummed, needing to look away from his intense studying. You didn't know where he's going with this, but your heart started high-key hammering in your chest. "Yeah, that's a thing. I heard about it, but you're kind of the first Dog I've been close to, so I'm not sure."

Jungkook made a small sound, almost like he was frustrated that you're not saying what he wanted you to say. He tried again, sitting up a little to get a better look at you. Your heartbeats became louder to your own ears, making you feel like you're trapped under his attention though you could very easily get away. "Do you," he began, eyes drilling into yours. "Do you feel it?"

You held your breath, not sure what to say. Just the last time you were here you saw how much him and Jimin are feeling for each other, why would he ask you this now? Do they know you have feelings for them and that's what he's trying to get at?

Jungkook licked his lips in a flash. "Jimin," Your heart dropped at the mention of his name as guilt creeped in. "He told me to ask." You frowned, taking in how much closer Jungkook is leaning now, never relenting. "Is it okay if I kissed you?"

You felt like every muscle in your body just hit pause. You looked at him, at the anticipation he now showed after asking the question. It was so not him, he would just do things when his calculated consequence was worth the risk – they must have talked about it, as you know them Jimin must have insisted this is not worth the risk no matter how many calculations he made, he had to ask instead of do. And he did, and you could see how uncharacteristic of him it was as he anxiously waited for your response.

You felt your body move, your instincts taking the wheel to getting what you desired for a long time now. You felt yourself nod, and Jungkook needed no more. He kissed you immediately, hands sailing from your shoulders to your neck, until they could spread across your jaw and cheeks. You felt him tilting your head – like he's done with Jimin – as he moved his body closer to encase you in. He pressed you against the pillows behind you, the body weight on top of yours feeling right enough for your hands to find his waist, asking for more. He complied, tongue moving past your lips to stroke at yours. He made an approving sound from the back of his throat, and you responded immediately with a breathless sound of your own.

You were so focused on the sensations you almost missed the dip of the bed from your left, where Jimin usually is.

Jimin.

You broke apart from Jungkook, not missing his displeased sigh right before he pressed his nose to your shoulder. Right above his you found Jimin's face, with a wild twinkle in his eye and a wide smile pressed painfully tight to his cheeks. "Why did you stop?" he asked cheerfully, crawling closer.

"Because it's weird when your boyfriend is watching," Jungkook answered instead of you, his face still hidden.

"It's not weird, it's nice." It only took one tap of Jimin's hand on Jungkook's head for him to lift his head, pecking his boyfriend centimeters from your face like this is absolutely normal. Jimin's hand came down next to your head as he made sure his amused face is the only thing you could see. "Is it okay?"

You knew what he was asking and knew that Jungkook was watching. Looking at him you found he wore the same expression he had before, like he was waiting for what's to come on the edge of his seat. He nodded at you, rapid motions that were meant to lead you just agree.

So you did.

Jimin's kiss was much less passionate than Jungkook, he just enjoyed the touch, the permission he was granted to have another piece of you. It didn't last long either, but the look he gave you – Jungkook's look – set your mind at ease.

He and Jungkook shared a moment, both still holding you, and you got it now. This time their plan worked. "We want you," Jungkook blurred out, eyes shifting to you as Jimin giggled against his shoulder. "I know you probably understood on your own, but it's important for me to say."

You smiled at Jimin's fit of happy little giggles and at the blush spreading across Jungkook's cheeks. "I want you too."

[grace13star]

Better Get Superstitious (Chapter 1)

Logan Dennison is a firm believer in science, and the facts are that no one can come back from the dead. Witches and magic could never exist, he's known this since he was a kid. But after a sudden move to Salem, Massachusetts, suddenly everything he's ever believed is challenged by a talking cat, a cute believer, and a trio of undead witches from the 17th century. What's a skeptic to do?

Character(s):Logan Sanders, Virgil Sanders, Patton Sanders, Roman Sanders, Remy, Mitchell (Cartoon Therapy), Toby (October, Sanders Shorts)

Relationship(s): Analogical (Virgil/Logan)

AO3  Prologue  Here  Chapter 2  Chapter 3  Chapter 4

“And no one ever found out what happened to Roman Binks,” Mrs Kelley said, flicking on the lights. She’d turned them off for atmosphere or something. “It is said that to this day, a black cat guards the black flame candle, the same candle that, if lit, would bring back the Sanders brothers from the dead.”

Logan scoffed before he could stop himself.

“Oh, do you have something to say, Mr Dennison?” Mrs Kelley asked.

The class turned to look at him, giggling at his being called out.

“I am well aware of the belief you all have here in Salem. Black cats, witches, whatnot. It’s just that there is no scientific proof for any of this.” The class broke into whispers.

“That’s ‘cuz science isn’t looking,” a new voice said, stopping the whispers.

Logan looked over to see a kid who was, for some reason, wearing sunglasses inside and sipping a Starbucks frappuccino that was still cold despite it being last hour.

“Halloween was based on an old pagan ritual called All Hallows Eve,” sunglasses kid said. “It’s a time when our world and the spirit world are closest. It used to be a huge deal. Then candy companies took over and turned it into a childish holiday.” He took a long slurping sip of his frappuccino then shrugged. “It’s a conspiracy.”

The class laughed but they applauded as well, wolf whistling and being generally unruly. The boy sitting behind sunglasses kid rolled his eyes, but there was a smile on his face. Mrs Kelley joined in the applause, nodding at the kid.

“Well said, Remy,” She said. “Alright then, I know you’re all excited for Halloween, but we still need to get through English.”

The class groaned good-naturedly and started pulling out their stuff.

The girl behind Logan- Mary? Marie?- tapped his shoulder. When he turned, she handed him a folded up piece of paper.

There was a little doodle of a brain on the front, with a small ‘V’ under it.

Logan unfolded the note and was greeted with a phone number written in glittery purple gel pen.

hey babe! hmu any time u want. xoxo remy

He physically cringed at the abbreviations and lowercase.

He turned to Remy who waved at him cheekily, then blew him a kiss. The boy behind him swatted his shoulder, then mouthed ‘sorry’ at Logan.

Wow, he was really cute.

No, stop it, Logan. No random crushes. How are you supposed to get into Harvard if you’re caught up in a relationship?

English passed pretty easily, even though it wasn’t his best subject, and before he knew it, he was unlocking his bike to head home.

A loud laugh caught his attention. He looked over and there was Remy and the cute boy. Cute boy was laughing into his hand, a stark contrast to Remy who was all but bellowing with glee.

“Hey, Remy, right?” He called, jogging over.

“Ah, it’s the skeptic!” Remy exclaimed, peering over his sunglasses. “What’s up, babe.”

“I just wanted to make sure there weren’t any hard feelings over our little debate in class.”

“Nah, girl, you’re all good. Besides, they weren’t even my arguments.”

Logan frowned. “No? Then who-”

“That was all V here,” Remy said, lightly punching cute boy’s arm. “He didn’t feel like talking in class, so he wrote it down and I said it.”

Logan turned to cute boy- V- and tried to maintain eye contact without blushing. “Well, I enjoyed your arguments very much. This school doesn’t have a debate team, so I feared I would get out of practice.”

“Don’t mention it,” V said, shuffling his feet. His cheeks were bright pink, probably from the brisk wind whipping across the courtyard.

“Okay, hate to break up whatever sexual tension that’s happening here,” Remy cut in, “but I gotta know. You don’t believe in any supernatural thing?”

“No.”

“The Sanders Brothers?”

“I believe they were people that lived here once, but I don’t believe they were witches.”

“Not even on Halloween?” Remy asked incredulously.

“Especially not on Halloween,” Logan said stubbornly.

“Okay, Remy, let’s not scare the new guy off too soon,” V said.

“It’s fine, I should get going anyways,” Logan said. He handed V a scrap of paper. “Trick or treat.”

He hopped on his bike, waved, and then left before either of them could stop him.

He’d had a few days to get used to the town, and in that time he’d found a shortcut through the cemetery. It was a bit of a bumpy ride, and there were a few hills, but he could handle it.

Logan was so focused on riding that he almost missed when two people stepped in front of him. He slammed the brakes in just enough time to not hit the blond one.

“Halt!” One of the said. “Who are you?”

“Logan Dennison,” he answered.

“Where ya from?” blond guy said. “Haven’t seen ya anywhere before.”

“Los Angeles.” At their blank stares, he sighed. “LA.”

“Oh, wow,” the other one said. “Tubular.”

“I’m Toby,” blond kid said. “This is Mitchell.”

Mitchell grabbed Toby by his shirt collar. “How many times I gotta tell you, man? It’s not Mitchell, it’s Ice. Ice!” He let go and Jay turned back to Logan.

“Uh, this is Ice.”

Mitchell- Ice- turned around so Logan could see his hair- on the back of his head, the word Ice was shaved into his hair.

“So let’s have a butt,” Toby said, practically leering at Logan.

“I don’t smoke,” Logan said, leaning away from him.

“They’re very health conscious in Hollywood,” Ice laughed.

“LA is not-”

“You got any cash...Hollywood?” Toby asked, ignoring him.

“No.”

“You don’t got any cash, you don’t got any smoke...what am I supposed to do with my afternoon?” Toby asked, as if everything was Logan’s fault.

“Maybe you could learn to breathe through your nose,” Logan said, getting fed up. He just wanted to go home, was that too much to ask? Also, his grammar was heinous. Would it kill him to use the proper tense?

Toby laughed until Ice stopped him. “Woah, look at those cross trainers.” He looked up at Logan. “Let me try ‘em on.”

Logan went to push past Toby, but he wasn’t exactly one for physical confrontation.

He was left with a bad attitude riding home in his socks.

He opened the door a bit forcefully and breezed past his parents in the kitchen.

“Hey, Logan! How was school?” His mom called from where she was unwrapping their plates.

“It was fine,” He replied, not stopping.

Before he was fully up the stairs, he heard his father ask, “Was he not wearing shoes?”

“Must be some form of protest,” his mom answered.

Logan pulled the door to his room closed and leaned against it, sighing.

Once he’d collected himself, he pushed off the door and started feeding his fish. “Hey, guys,” he greeted.

He flopped on his bed and groaned loudly. He grabbed a pillow and pressed it against his face and screamed into it. He had homework, but that could wait until he was done with his current crisis.

He was just starting to relax when something burst out of his closet.

“Boo!”

He barely kept himself from screaming. “Patton!”

Patton, his younger brother giggled. “I scared you, I scared you!”

“Mom and dad told you to stay out of my room!” Logan exclaimed.

Patton stuck out his tongue. “Don’t be such a crab.” He scrambled on top of Logan’s bed and started jumping. “Guess what? You’re gonna take me trick or treating!”

Logan sighed. “Not this year, Pat.”

“Mom said you have to.”

“Well, she can take you herself.”

“She and dad are going to a party at the Town Hall.”

“Well, you’re eight. Go by yourself.” Logan pulled out his desk chair and his notebook to start on his math homework.

Patton jumped off the bed and came over to the desk. “No way! This is my first time! I’ll get lost. Besides, it’s the full moon. The weirdos are out!” He hugged Logan’s arm causing him to draw an unnecessary line on the page. “Could you forget about being a teenager for once? C’mon, we used to have such a spooktacular time trick or treating! Remember? It’ll be like old times!”

“The old days are dead,” Logan said, deadpan.

“It doesn’t matter, you’re taking me anyways,” Patton said triumphantly.

“Wanna bet?” Logan muttered, erasing the line.

Patton just smirked at him.

Patton ran down the stairs to meet their parents, Logan following at a much slower pace.

“Let’s go, hurry up. The witching hour’s about to begin.” Their dad grinned. He applauded Patton’s costume. “Wow, you look boo-tiful!” Patton giggled. He was wearing a black and orange dress with a matching hat in the stereotypical witch style. Then dad turned towards Logan. “And, what are you supposed to be?”

Logan was wearing jeans and a sweater and looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. “I’m a rapper,” he deadpanned.

“You gotta have a hat on sideways, then,” their mom said, coming out of nowhere with a baseball cap. She plopped it on his head. “There we go.”

“Okay, smile!” dad said, holding up his camera. “Say...Halloween!”

“Halloween!” Patton chorused.

Logan didn’t smile.

If anyone doubted that Salem, Massachusetts loved Halloween, seeing it now would make a believer out of them.

Practically every house had gone all out on the decorations. Everyone you looked, there were spiderwebs, lights, blow-up witches, you name it. Hundreds of kids ran in the streets- which had been blocked off just for the trick or treating- yelling and shouting to their friends. At every house, someone waited just inside the door, eager to give out free sugar.

“C’mon, Lo-Lo, lighten up!” Patton said, practically skipping through the streets.

“Can we just get this over with?” Logan muttered. He didn’t want to ruin this for his brother, but he also didn’t want to be there.

Patton continued on, hopefully not hearing him. “Let’s go this way!”

Logan looked in the way his brother was pointing and froze. “No, not that way, Pat.”

Of course, he was ignored. Logan had no choice but to follow his brother towards Ice, Toby, and a group of their friends.

Ice spotted Patton and cut him off. “Ding, ding!” he said. “Sorry, kid, everyone’s gotta pay the toll.”

“Ten chocolate bars, no licorice,” Toby grinned.

“You’re not being very nice,” Patton said.

“Whatever. Cough up the candy, kid.”

“No!” Patton stamped his foot. “Logan, tell them to go away.”

The teens turned their attention to Logan, and twin grins of glee spread across Ice’s and Toby’s faces.

“Hey, Hollywood!” Toby said.

“You’re trick or treating?” Ice asked.

“I’m taking my brother around,” Logan said, very uncomfortable with this situation.

“That’s nice. Woah, I love the costume. What are you, a New Kid on the Block?” Ice grinned.

Patton tried to keep walking, but Toby stopped him.

“Dude, just pay the toll.”

Logan had had enough. “You know what, here.” He shoved his own candy bag, half full, into Ice’s chest. “Pig out. Let’s go, Patton.”

He grabbed Patton’s hand and started in the other direction.

“Hey, Hollywood!” Ice called to their retreating backs. “The shoes fit great!”

“Are you okay, Pat?” Logan asked.

“Yeah,” Patton said quietly. “I kind of want to go home now.”

“Hey, come on.” Logan said. He kind of hated those kids for ruining his brother’s night. “How about we go to one more house. Then we can leave, okay?”

Patton thought for a minute, then nodded.

They looked around and saw a huge house.

“Woah!” They both said.

“Rich people always have the best candy,” Patton said matter-of-factly.

“Well, guess we’re going there, then.”

The door was wide open and there were people coming in and out, some in costumes, so Logan assumed it was okay to just walk in.

The entryway itself was huge, but that didn’t compare to the huge front hall they stepped into.

There was a huge chandelier hanging over them, and a carved staircase that probably cost more than the Dennison house. The only thing that ruined the whole rich mansion vibe was the Halloween decorations covering everything.

Patton spotted a huge plastic cauldron and ran over to it. “Jackpot!” He gasped, reaching in and pulling out multiple full-size candy bars.

“Logan Dennison?”

Logan looked up at the sound of his name and met eyes with V. He was standing at the top of the stairs, wearing some old-timey Victorian costume.

“Oh, hey!” He said. “V, right?” He tried not to blush when he noticed his hair was pulled into a ponytail.

V started down the stairs. “Virgil, actually. V’s a nickname.” He looked Logan up and down. “I thought you weren’t into Halloween?”

“I’m not, just taking my brother around.”

Virgil waved at Patton. “Hi. I’m Virgil, I’m one of your brother’s friends.”

Logan flushed.

“Hi!” Patton exclaimed. He waved.

“You guys want any cider?” Virgil asked, crossing his arms.

“Yes!” Patton exclaimed. Logan nodded.

Virgil went into the next room and came back holding three cups of cider. He handed them out.

“Thanks.” Logan’s mind raced for some kind of conversation. “Um, how’s the party?”

“Boring,” Virgil said, rolling his eyes. “It’s just a bunch of my parent’s friends. They do this every year. I’m on candy duty. Speaking of.” He turned to Patton. “I love your costume!”

“Thanks!” Patton beamed. “I really like witches. We just learned about those brothers in class.”

“Oh, yeah, the Sanders Brothers,” Virgil smiled. “Yeah, I know all about them.”

“Really?” Logan asked.

Virgil shrugged. “My mom used to run the museum. It’s closed down now, though.”

“Well, why don’t we go?” Logan said before his brain caught up with his mouth.

“What?” Virgil and Patton said at the same time.

Well, no going back now. “Teach us about the Sanders Brothers. Make a believer out of me.”

Virgil’s eyes darted between Logan, Patton, and the candy bowl. After a minute of thought, he sighed. “Yeah, okay. Let me get changed real quick.”

He disappeared up the stairs, leaving Logan and Patton alone.

“Ooh!” Patton exclaimed. “You liiiike him!”

Logan flushed. “What? No, I don’t.”

“You do! You like, like, like, like, like, like, like-”

“Okay, that’s enough!” Logan grabbed his brother and covered his mouth with his hand. A split second later, he dropped the younger boy. “Did you just lick me?

Virgil led the way up the path to the old cottage.

It wasn’t as far from town as Logan had expected. They’d been able to walk there in under twenty minutes. But even though it wasn’t that far away, being in the woods made it feel a lot more isolated than it should have. The yelling of trick-or-treating children had disappeared, and the only sounds were their footsteps and leaves rustling.

“Legend says,” Virgil said in a spooky voice, “that the bones of a hundred children are buried within these walls.” He unlocked the door and ushered everyone in.

“I can’t see,” Patton announced.

“There should be a light switch somewhere,” Virgil said, feeling along the wall.

Logan found a display of lighters and flicked one on. This must have been a gift shop at one point. He held out the small flame to the wall and helped Virgil find the switch.

The lights flickered on, revealing the cottage in all of it’s dusty glory.

“Wow,” Patton said, drawing the word out in awe.

“This is the original cauldron,” Virgil said, motioning towards it. “They would have slept upstairs. Ooh!” He moved over to a display case. “This is the spell book of Damien Sanders. It was given to him by the Devil himself.” His voice was quiet, but the pitch rose and fell in a way that made it almost hypnotic to listen to. “It’s bound in human skin and contains all the recipes for his most powerful and evil spells.”

“Gross,” Patton whispered.

Logan spotted something interesting. “What’s that?” He asked, pointing at it.

Virgil looked up. “Oh! That’s the Black Flame Candle.”

Logan noticed a placard near the candle and moved over to read it. “The Black Flame Candle. Legend says that on a full moon it will raise the spirits of the dead when lit by a virgin on Halloween night.” He raised the lighter, a weird compulsion coursing through him. “Want to light it?”

“What? No!” Virgil said, alarmed.

“Logan, it’s a full moon tonight!” Patton added.

Logan’s hand moved to light the candle, but before he could do anything, a pitch dark shape pounced on his head.

Patton screamed and Virgil shouted. Logan fought with the thing on his head, eventually managing to throw it off of him.

“Stupid cat!” He exclaimed. There was a strange sense of rage filling him that made it hard to think.

“Okay, Logan, you’ve had your fun.” Virgil sounded scared. “Let’s go, now.”

“Logan, he’s right, let’s go.” Patton said.

“Oh, come on,” Logan said angrily. “It’s just a bunch of hocus pocus.”

“Logan, I’m not kidding!” Patton exclaimed. “It’s time to go!”

Before anyone, including himself, could stop him, Logan lit the candle.

Virgil’s intake of breath could be heard across the room.

For a second, nothing happened. The flame flickered normally, a bright orange color. Then Logan blinked and it was black.

Around the room, the fake electric candles popped one by one, plunging the room into darkness for a second. The floorboards started to move under their feet, bucking up and down. Green light shone from underneath them.

Then, just as soon as everything started, it was done.

“What happened?” Logan asked.

“A virgin lit the candle,” Patton said dryly.

All the actual candles suddenly flared with light. Flames roared from under the cauldron, and they heard footsteps outside.

The small group ducked behind things as the door swung open, revealing three men wearing cloaks of different colors.

“We’re home!” The leader announced.

[grimalkinmessor]

Nine Lives

(This is the first chapter of a fic I'll probably never post, but I wanted out there anyway. I tried my hand at a fix-it then lost inspo, wcyd?)

Tony woke up in an alley. Which was surprising for a few reasons.

One, he was pretty sure he died not that long ago. Like, actually died. Fade to black, tunnel to the light, the whole shebang.Two, even if he had somehow been resurrected, he was sure that his body hadn't been dumped in an alleyway. He would hope that he meant more to Pepper than that, anyway, even dead.

Dead…

However, the most surprising thing about waking up in a dirty alley wasn't the fact that he was alive--it was the fact that he'd woken up without opposable thumbs. Or any thumbs, for that matter. Or fingers. Or, you know, anything that would've indicated that he was human. No, Tony had not woken up in his own body, but rather one with four legs, black fur, and a fucking tail. 

"What in the hell?" Is what Tony meant to say, but instead it rumbled out of his chest as a disturbing yowl. He tried to stand up, but just ended up just toppling over onto his back into something wet.

Shooting up into the air with much more force than normal, Tony instinctively let out another alarmed yowl and scrambled away from the puddle he'd fallen into. Only to run straight into something coarse and yielding. Startled, Tony fell backwards again, but managed to catch himself with more agility than he'd ever known himself to display before. He shook his head, bewildered, and looked up to see that what he'd run into was a backpack. 

A backpack? Just sitting in an alleyway, next to the dumpsters? From the ache starting up in Tony's skull, he could tell it was full of textbooks, so it couldn't have been abandoned. 

Yeah, okay, maybe hyper-fixating on a backpack was just a cheap way to keep from looking too closely at his current situation--seriously, what in the utter, actual hell--but he was going to take it. Fortunately, Tony didn't have to ponder his own shitty diversion tactics for very long, because a loud crash sounded above the alleyway. It spooked him enough that he almost went bolting under the dumpster, but Tony refrained. He started around the other side of the backpack to peek over it at whatever was making the noise. 

His eyes widened at the sight of a familiar red and blue suit stumbling to a stop at the end of the alley. 

"Peter?" Tony blurted out, but it came out as a questioning 'mew'. He rolled his eyes. "Right. No English. Wonderful." He watched carefully as Peter quickly changed out of his suit and into his normal clothes again, then walked over to pick up his bag.

"Oh, thank God, nobody stole it this--oh. Hello there." Peter blinked as he caught sight of Tony peeking over the lip of his bag. He ventured forward slowly, hands up, and crouched in front of his backpack. "Where'd you come from, huh? I haven't seen you before, and I know my strays. Are you friendly, or are you here to pilfer my backpack?" Peter mused, half-joking as he hesitantly reached out towards Tony's head.

"Your things wouldn't get stolen if you wouldn't leave them in alleys, you know," Tony replied as he hopped up on top of Peter's backpack. "I know you probably can't understand me, but honestly kid. And no, don't pet me." He swatted at Peter's hand as it crept towards his newly twitchy ears.

"You're talkative. Most strays just glare at me," Peter continued, head tilted to the side as he sat back on his haunches. "So you're just here to steal my bag then. I mean, it doesn't have any food in it, so I don't think you'd want it." 

"Okay, maybe not the most effective strategy for communication," Tony murmured. "I can't do sign language, kid, I don't have hands anymore. You're gonna have to work with me on this." With that, he hopped from the bag onto Peter's knees. There was a precarious moment where his balance tipped, but steadied himself by pressing his fingers--okay, nope, those were claws, he was drawing blood, stop. He hurriedly lifted his…paws (still ignoring that) and huddled up against Peter's stomach. He folded his legs down, then took a moment to try and figure out how to do the purring thing. It took a few tries, but he eventually got it down.

"Uh," Peter said intelligently. His hands fluttered over Tony's now tiny body indecisively before eventually settling on his back. Tony decided to allow that. "Hi? You don't have a collar, but I'm starting to think you're not a stray. Not if you're this comfortable around humans." His thumb rubbed tentatively at Tony's ribs. "...Were you abandoned?" 

Well. If it convinced Peter to get him out of this Godforsaken alley so he could start working on a way to make himself a real boy again, Tony would roll with it.

He gave a mournful meow, and rolled his eyes when he felt Peter practically melt. The kid was way too soft hearted.

Peter wrapped his arms carefully under Tony's legs and stood up, cradling him in his arms. "Oh, we're not supposed to have pets but...well, maybe I can convince May." Peter finally relented. He grabbed his bag, stuffed his suit inside it, then adjusted his grip on Tony and began to jog out of the alley and down the street. 

"Phase one, complete," Tony mused as he settled in for the walk. Though phase one of what, he didn't really know. He didn't have a plan, really. But that was okay, because Tony didn't like plans anyway. He could wing this. He'd done more with less. Just, you know, not as a cat.

Tony was still going to damn well be the most intelligent cat to ever exist.

•✴️•

After a short argument with Peter's aunt, in which both of them had been nearly reduced to tears, Tony was tucked into a small nest of blanket on the end of Peter's bed with a bowl of Cheerios and a bowl of water set on the floor. 

"Sorry, we didn't have any cat food. I'll get you some tomorrow, buddy. But good news! You get to stay!" Peter flopped down on his bed and nearly upended Tony, who meowed in offense and dug his claws into the comforter. Peter winced as Tony glared at him. "Sorry." He rolled over on his stomach and put his chin in his hands, peering at Tony thoughtfully. "You need a name, don't you?"

"Not really, but since I can't object I feel like you're going to give me one anyway," Tony huffed tiredly. 

Peter grinned, like he'd understood the gist of Tony's lamenting meows, and tipped his head. "Don't worry, I won't bequeath unto you something embarrassing like Sprinkles or Fluffy," He replied imperiously. Before Tony could react, Peter had scooped him out of the blankets and set him on the bed in front of him. Brown eyes studied him for a moment, and the smile slowly dropped off Peter's face. Reaching forward, Peter ran his fingers through a patch of fur on Tony's chest. "It's a perfect circle."

It was a whisper, but as close as he was, Tony had no choice but to hear it. He was considering batting Peter's hand away, because being pet was demeaning, cat body or not, when Peter spoke again.

"Like a tiny arc reactor."

Tony froze. But Peter just shook his head after a moment with a raspy laugh. When he looked at Tony again, his eyes were watery. "Sorry, heh, I-I just see him in everything nowadays. Including, apparently, coincidental markings on stray cats. God, Parker, get it together." Peter ran his hands through his hair and tugged harshly. Tony swatted his hand, no hesitation this time. Then kept swatting, because he felt the need to smack some sense into the kid.

"Ow--Ow! Alright! Geez, you're mean. Those claws are way too sharp." Peter nudged Tony back away from him, out of swatting range, and inspected the nicks on his hand. He huffed in amusement, but it sounded weak. "You look a bit like him, though. You know, for a cat. You even have his beard," Peter noted as he scritched a finger beneath Tony's jaw. Tony bit him. "You act like him too." Peter's smile was wry.

"Because I am him, kid. This isn't rocket science. Actually, this isn't science at all. I'm not really sure what this is."

"I think I'll name you after him too, what do you think?" Peter hummed as he pushed Tony abruptly onto his side to get a pet in and yank his hand away before Tony could register things again enough to scratch him again.  

"Okay, don't shove me, that's rude," Tony scolded as he rolled back to his feet. "And it'd certainly make things less confusing. It'd be a damn sight better than Fluffy."

"Midas," Peter said after a minute, his expression gone soft and tired. "Your name can be Midas. After the modern man himself, hm?" He hummed as he stroked Tony's side again.

This time, Tony was too stunned to protest. 

Peter scooped him up and held him to his chest as he laid back against the headboard. He began idly petting Tony's scruff as he stared at the ceiling. "So, what do cats need? You need a proper bed, and some cat food--"

"Um, no," Tony denied, and dug his new claws into Peter's stomach.

"Ow! Quit it, will you? What, you don't like cat food? Did your previous owners feed you from the table? Are you one of those spoiled kitties?" Peter huffed.

Tony just pushed his claws deeper into the kid's shirt in response. Despite the assault, Peter didn't toss Tony off him. He gently pried the tiny paw off his torso and held them away from him.

"Definitely need to get you a scratching post. Dull these suckers down." Peter smiled, lopsided and tired as he wiggled Tony's paw around a little.

"I'd also like a computer that I can operate without actual fingers, if you plan on buying me things," Tony replied wryly. "It'd be a nice change of pace."

"Yeah, you're right. Declawing is actually a serious problem, I won't do that to you." Peter gave him a soft smile.

Tony felt his ears pin back against his head, something in his chest going warm and gooey. This kid would be the death of him.