#gosh i do love my job though like most days its just. at worst its kinda

[dykedragons]

bro talking w other queer + autistic ppl is rlly a healing thang... like at work im usually pretty quiet and masking all the time but then i met an acquaintance who also works there (different department, i never see them) and it was like oh yeah! haha! im alive again! i remember how to speak! amazing!

[penkura]

Hi! I saw that your requests are open!

Would you be alright writing headcanons for a GN!Reader(Fem is fine too if it's a struggle) for Sanji and Zoro with an idiot reader? The type to throw themselves in danger, believe people at face value, able to succeed a mission by failing all the instructions ect.

Im a big fan of idiot readers because I am one myself, if you could add some cuddling in there too I would be so grateful

Take care!

Hi!! Gosh, this was fun to write lol. Sanji and Zoro are my boys, they would both def end up with idiot readers lol. I hope you like it! :)

Sanji

You, an idiot?

His precious, darling beloved?

Never, he’d fight anyone who said you were! He’d never call you that himse—

Oh there you go again, throwing yourself in front of Luffy. Haven’t you learned he’ll be fine?

You do it every time, and even after Sanji and the others tell you to stop being so self sacrificing, they get enough of that with Zoro

Its fine, its fine, Sanji knows you just want to protect your friends

Its even fine when you nearly fall for an obvious scam of some woman needing money to pay off debtors, and it just happened to be the same amount in your hand

Thank goodness he was nearby and able to grab your hand to get you away from that, telling you what was going on

You felt really stupid for that, but it was fine, no problems, Sanji kept you from losing your money, Nami would’ve killed you both if you had

Its not fine when you end up injured this time, jumping in front of him when an enemy throws a spear at him

It barely grazed you when you pushed Sanji out of the way, but he’s still horrified knowing it was because you were protecting him that it happened

No matter how many times Chopper tries to Sanji that you’ll be okay, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been, he’s still upset with himself for being distracted by another enemy

Sanji wants to distract himself but you won’t let him leave you alone, dragging him into the bed you’re staying in that night and demanding cuddles since you’re hurt (not that hurt but still)

He’s glad to obliged, holding you close and burying his face in your shoulder while you stroke his hair

“Sorry I worried you, Sanji.”

“You’ve got to stop throwing yourself in front of people…”

He just doesn’t want to lose you

Zoro

He’s the one that calls you an idiot the most

In a loving way the majority of the time, but other times he really does mean it

The day you almost got swept away to another crew because on of their members tried to sell you a sob story about needing medicine for a sick kid?

Yeah you were an idiot for that one

The time you run to protect Nami, shoving her out of the way and receiving a deep gash on your abdomen

Zoro knows you want to protect people, to protect your family

But you should let him handle things sometimes!

He was on his way to protect Nami himself, but of course, you being you, ended up jumping ahead and pushing her away from the Marine attacking her

After all the Marines are taken care of, Chopper has you in the infirmary on Sunny immediately to assess your wounds

You got the worst of it, good job!

Zoro hears you got the worst of it, say your prayers because he’s pissed

Not entirely at you, partially at the Marine that got you, but still at you too

“You’re lucky his weapon didn’t have poison on it or somethin’!”

“I don’t think the Marines use poison, Zoro.”

“That’s not the point!”

You let him go off, telling you everything that could’ve gone wrong

It’s rare for even you to see this side of him, but it’s nice to know he cares this much

Eventually Zoro calms down, taking a deep breath before he walks back over and drags you into a hug

“You’re such a damn idiot you know?”

You nod, but smile, “but I’m your idiot, right?”

He rolls his one good eye and nods himself

“Yeah, you’re my idiot.”

He wouldn’t change a thing if it meant you were his and he was yours

Though he would like you be a little more careful in the future

[twisted-king]

Hello! Since you also write genshin, I've thought about reader or F!S/O being from Teyvat. But that isnt really the main point. How 'bout their F!S/O is from Sumeru and is strictly bestfriends with Cyno and Alhaitham. How would Trey, Azul, Jade, Floyd, and Jamil feel about their F!S/O having boy bestfriends back at her world? Maybe if they're jealous, reader tries to comfort them by saying that Alhaitham is engaged(to Kaveh)XD Lol

You dont have to do this if its to much♡

Oddly specific but I like the cut of your jib!

Also can be read as genter neutral, I don't reall mention gender on this one?

Trey, Azul, Jade, Floyd, and Jamil X F!SO from Teyvat

who is also besties with Cyno and Alhaitham

Trey Clover

Well youre from a whole different world! Magic seems to exist in some capacity at least.

He doesn't know what a Zatyun peach or a Sunsettia is.

But he tries v hard to make you things that remind you of home sometimes!

He actually does a pretty good job at it too!

And thats where the issue arives.

Whenever he asks about your homeland he knows he is going to hear about your best friends

He's trying SO hard to be normal about this

Trey loves you so much but, he gets a little jealous!

You've done so much with these two!!!

"And Cyno's jokes are the absolute WORST! I swear some of the things he says are worse than Ace's!" "Oh that's... nice!"

but they're your best friends! He really shouldn't be jealous.

"I still don't understand why Alhaitham is so jacked, like all he does is read books all day!"

He really shouldn't be jealous

"And I'm kind of glad its never too hot around here! Like I know he works primarily in the desert but like put a shirt on sometimes! You know?"

But damm its hard.

He tries to be subtle (not really)

"So have you ever like... done anything with one of these guys?" "What do you mean?" "Like have you dated one of them..?"

oh.... OH!

You laugh at that, he's embrassed "Oh gosh NEVER! They both have boyfriends anyhow! Alhaitham is engaged!" "Oh."

You nod and give him a little kith

Wow he's relieved!

Azul Ashengrotto

He loves learning about you and your home world! Truly!!!

Azul thinks your mind is briliant, you're so smart and quick on your feet due to years of travel!

With travel comes a lot of experiences

a lot.

without him.

He's playing it cool though! suuuper cool

"Oh I remember Alhaitham would never answer anything that wasnt formatted or completed properly! maybe you could do the same? it would certainly free up some time, no?" "Of course it woudl free up some time, dear... But" "buut?" "Well it wouldn't be fitting of my benevolent nature now would it, my love?"

Azul keeps trying to prove he's a better boyfriend than your old friends

He needs you to know he's the best option for you <3

"And could this 'Cyno' make you a delightful seafood pasta like this?" "No, not really, he was more into rice." "I see..."

Oh hey he made you curry and rice

You know, by the way. He is NOT sneaky

After another bout of showing off, you finally say something.

"They have boyfriends, you know?" "huh?" "Cyno and Alhaitham? they have partners. You don't have to be jealous." "Why would I be jealous, dearest?"

DENIER

Denies his jealous to this day but he gets happier after you reassure him.

Jade Leech

Yeah he's super cool about this!

for the most part...

He's extremely interested in learning about the flora in your world!

and he thinks those vishap creatures you compare him to sound rather interesting.

Jade being rather curious in nature comes in handy! since he doesnt seem to get jealous.

His questions are... odd, though. they kind of make sense?

"Cyno once took out like-- 10 guys in like a MINUTE! it was so cool! "Is he that fast in the depths of the sea?" "No-" "I see..."

Sometimes he's a little less slick though

"OH my gosh Alhaitham is so weird about soup! He hates the stuff because it could get on his books of all things!" "Does he consume beverages as he reads? tea perhaps?" "Yeah, sometimes." *Pleased eel noises*

He's just being careful :)

Jade often prefers to dicuss your best friends while in the kitchen. he likes spending this time with you!

And he has his knives and mushrooms at his disposal.

*chop chop chop* "And so Haitham and I used to skip out on akademiya meetings together-" *chopchopchop-* "But Cyno would ALWAYS 'catch' us just before the meeting would actually ends-" *ChopChopChopChop-* "So then he'd bring us to Kaveh, Alhaitham's fiance to-" "He has a fiance?" "yeah,why?" "no reason." *chop~ chop~ chop~*

He's still keeping the information from his... questioning in mind.

Can't be too careful, after all.

Floyd Leech

He loves his shrimpy's stories!!!

He hates his shrimpy's stories :((

Floyd is reaaal conflicted. He thinks you're so interesting! your world seems like fun!! he wants to go there with you.

But not with those men you keep talking about

"So sometimes there are these HUGE mushrooms that kind of act like a launchpad! they're super springy." "Eh? Jade might like soemthing like that... OOOH! do ya think if I throw someone (Ace) on one of those they'd still bounce?" "Yeah they would! one time while going after a criminal, Cyno had to-" "Eeeeh I'm bored. You coming to my next game?"

Subtlety? not THIS eel

He audibly groans when you bring them up sometimes.

But he still loves hearing you talk! so it really confusing sometimesz

"So genius invocation uses 8 elements, 7 from the nations, one is omni. Usually the cards are based off of vision users like Diluc of mondstadt, Arataki Itto, from Inazuma... OH! there is one of my best friend, Alhaitham, he's dendro and Cyno's is electro, its actually" Oh he's no longer looking at you.

You get an idea... "There is one of Haitham's fiance, Kaveh" "Oh really?"

GOT HIS ASS

You're his girlfriend, you know him best.

He's a little less weird about listening to your stories now, he's way more enaged.

He still tugs you closer to him when you mention other men, but thats kind of normal for him now.

Jamil Viper

A confident king? He's not really jealous. He knows he can be better than them.

Plus they're just friends to you.

But in all honestly he like... doesn't care too much about Teyvat.

You're here now, with him. not them.

Don't get him wrong, Jamil likes hearing about what your world!

There's only oneee little thing he doesnt love hearing.

"Sometimes I miss the food from Teyvat... Cyno always made the best Tahchin." "The best you say?" "Yeah! he shaped it like a pyramid every time he made it!" "Have you ever tried mine?" "You make tahchin!?"

He's smug, you'll love his cooking more than that Cyno's.

He serves you a plate of tahchin, golden brown, perfectly seasoned, barberries topping the rounded rice dish "So, what do you think?" "This is so good! I kind of miss the padisarah petals though.."

The hell is THAT?

"Is it... not up to your expectations, my flower?" "No its delicious! I think I just miss the way my friend would make it.."

He's a little grumpy about it!!

Jamil gets kind of huffy with you next time you're together.

He's not ignoring you but just don't bring up food for a while.

Snake man will just respond with "Why don't you ask Cyno." when it comes to cooking for the next day or two...

[fatuismooches]

HIHI!!! it’s 1am but i come to you with that fluff thought i promised ya :DD (..and an angst one, it’s okay!! dottore will wipe all of our tears </3 ). i’m sorry if i’m like!! brainrotting too much!! you’re so fun to hear the opinions of, and i love talking about this

dottore with fragile reader would be so soft, i like to imagine he really does put in the effort for those picnic dates that you always talk about. Does it mean carrying you there and making a spot where it’s much warmer rather than the cold unforgiving winter in snezhnaya? having a segment travel all the way to liyue for a snack? yes. it also means kissing your forehead as he extracts blood from you, clutching your hand when he knows you’re nervous, holding you no matter how busy he is. He can have you on his lap while he works, no matter how sick you are- it’s worth it to hear his true assistants thoughts. You’ve always been the most important. (dottore probably does not like the replacement assistants and purposefully makes their jobs harder…or the segments pester them because they love you just as much).

…on the other hand

on that traveler finding fragile reader note…omegatorre deleting all/most of the other segments probably meant it was much much easier for traveler to even get to that area in the first place. normally, the lab and area would be swarmed with dottores, but because of omegatorre- now zandik will have alot less. He can’t put as much energy into creating segments because he’s focused on the cure, but *now* traveler is with who he loves most, and he has to stop them. you’re right!! la signora, childe, etc had someone that drove them to become their worst to protect their memory, futures, etc- you are everything to dottore. you’re everything to zandik. ofcourse traveler has to win somehow, escape somehow, its their story after all- so now all zandik could do, is grab you, run, and fix this.

- 💌

(x) 💌 ANON OMFG I LOVE U… ANGST + FLUFF THE TWO THINGS THAT WILL KILL ME SOME DAY 😭💕💕 dottore + fragile reader lives in our head rent free huh

oH MY GOSH THOUGH THE PICNICS- You’re so right. Fragile! Reader tends to get super nostalgic about their Akademiya days/when they weren’t sick. So a lot of times they daydream about how they use to catnap and tease Zandik under the sun while he just muttered about how “this is a waste of time” (even though he secretly enjoyed it.) And now you just think about how these things are probably never gonna happen again for a long time :( but Dottore and the clones are like. We’re going to make it happen anyway. Since it’s quite difficult for you to leave the lab, makes me think about how once I said he built a specific room for you to emulate the outside world’s scenery. He literally got the same spot you two used to go to replicated for you 🥺 And hehe you’re so right about the clones. Mfs would do anything for you even if it means going halfway across Teyvat for Fried Radish Balls. (They make it back in record speed too😭 and present to you your snack as if it’s worth more than gold)

I just love the idea of Dottore being a genuine doctor with fragile! reader 😭 like it’s funny and cute to think about him doing legitimate doctor things and not the illegal ones. Taking blood - he’s a bit surprised when he finds out you’re kind of scared of that and needles and such. Doesn’t know what to do at first but he decides to just ramble on about his experiments and discoveries (Dottore knows you enjoy it) to distract you and then gives you a little kith and chuckles when you’re surprised it’s over that quickly. (Now im just thinking abt fragile reader running away since they might not like all the shots and medicine he has to give them) Also checking your heartbeat - every time he gets hella smug and cocky because your heart always races so fast when he’s so close to you “Oh? Is everything alright? Your heart is going rather fast… certainly not normal. I wonder, what could be the reason?”

Sitting on Dot’s lap while he does work >>> Even with all the clones he has he still gets stuck checking some boring papers every once in a while, and you just like. Sit on his lap and peer at them curiously. Also bothers him by pulling his little cheeks and kissing them <3 and nod enthusiastically as he discusses science stuff. (No fr all the dottores despise the regular Fatui assistants and some of them have gone missing 💀)

Okay angst… I’ll never get over the clones being deleted im in tears (I pretend I do not see it) Zandik never missed his clones more than in this instance. Sure, they fought a lot and caused problems sometimes. But he knew that nothing would ever happen to you because they would protect you at all times. And now it just so happens that damn Traveler had to come at the worst time possible, when security was low. Of course he knows the Traveler not trust him whatsoever and he doesn’t like them either, so the idea of you being with them alarms him more than he liked to admit.

No one is immune to desire. Not Archons or humans. And you are what he desires and loves wholly, so he won’t let anything hurt you. He may be at a disadvantage, but he is the Second Harbinger for a reason. 

[inonetoomanyfandoms]

Our skyy 2 overall mini ratings

This is just me giving my unneeded opinions. This is all relatively at face value btw.

NLMG: 7/10

Would never expect anything else from the doomed delusional lovers. I honestly really loved Palm in particular in this. Would’ve loved more context for background characters (aka why the fuck is Marc there) but I liked watching them work together a helping others again. Otherwise was good.

SIMM: 4/10

They dragged it too much for my liking. Cute but highly annoying by the time we reached like the end of ep 1. Would’ve been better with just one ep or if they also did sky in your heart. It would’ve been nice to see Prince and Fah again. Also robbed of Sean and Maitee

The Eclipse: 6/10

I think khaofirst’s chemistry saved this. I loved seeing them all together but AkkAyan’s emotional constipation is showing and isn’t solving idk. I also would like to know why they uncomfortably suggested a relationship between Wat and Teacher Sani. Like I know they’re out of school but still. Neo is still gorgeous as ever and Thua still gets on my nerves.

Vice Versa: 7/10

I think the main reason I liked this a lot was cause the lack of product placement. I thought it was actually super cute and I loved Puen and Talay taking care of a child together. I don’t think that would be legal though but yknow. Also I’d love to understand the thought process of giving your nephew to your friends to solve their marriage problems. But apart from that honestly I actually enjoyed it.

MSP: 8/10

I’m too biased to make a legitimate opinion on this so I’ll save my breath. I thought it was a great a idea to swap and I really think they delivered tbh. I just think though that the original series nailed the casting cause as much as I love fourth playing Tinn he just couldn’t nail it like Gemini. This applies the other way around although I do think Gemini did a slightly better job at playing Gun. Literally only problem I have was that it was little awkward.

That and that fucking bullfrog song getting stuck in my head at worst possible times.

ABAAB: 7/10

I understand the timing of it airing but that was cruel to put it in between MSP and BB like cmon. Because a boss and a babe is great and actually the our skyy was pretty damn good considering everything. Gun needs to chill though this man. Also I don’t think I’ll ever get over how cute Zo is. Like if I was Thi I would also treat him the same way he’s so cute. But it really did feel like a nice little special (two) episode, it was nice.

Bad Buddy and ATOTS: 8/10

I am also too biased here to give a stable opinion. This fed all my dreams and more. I loved the parallels both to themselves and also across shows. I understand how phupha and tian are a lot more emotionally constipated than patpran my gosh. But honestly I really loved it despite its rush. They did however spend way too long lost. Like they could’ve fit a bit more character development in those times but I guess you gotta make up the budget so.

Overall thoughts:

giving many 7/10 but honestly most of these were just simply good. Not mind boggling great but I wasn’t disappointed.

Obviously pretty much all of these were rushed and half baked in some sort of way but that was expected considering it’s only two episodes and they’re trying to cater to headcanons and fan service at the end of the day. The callbacks and domesticity of the shows is pretty evident of that.

Overall it was fine to be honest. It was relatively true the way the characters are and it gave us just that extra bit people would like. I can’t complain about being given exactly what I was expecting.

I can’t wait to see all of the actors again!!!

(especially baby Ohm I love him so much)

[beautifulterriblequeen]

In the blood moon huntress sneak peeks runaan isn’t wearing that one jacket over his other clothing. Do you think at that time he might not be the assassin leader?

aaaaaaaaaaaaaa I can't believe we finally get to peek inside the tree house, anon! Naturally, we make our visit on the worst day, though.

Runaan's shoulder markings are the same in BH as they are in the show ~9 years later, and he gives Rayla that really angsty explanation about how he takes responsibility for doing the killing that needs done so no one he loves has to do it in his place. I've been curious when Runaan got that job, but both of these details seem to reinforce the idea that he's had it for quite a while, since even before Lain and Tiadrin left for the Storm Spire. Gosh he started young, and that's very angsty of him.

I think what probably happened to divest him of his outer layers was some version of what we all do when we come home from a job that requires a uniform: we peel it off the moment we can, because we want to be ourselves now. We're off the clock.

Runaan doesn't want to be Thee Assassin Leader Tee Emm when he's at home with Ethari. He just wants to be Runaan. He does still have his vest on, though, unlike in the sketch of them dancing together. Wow, this dance really happened on a deltoids out kind of day, huh?

I figure the more layers Runaan has shed from his full assassin uniform and the messier he lets his hair get, the more comfortable he is unless we're talking about the dungeon which we are not. So here in his own kitchen where he is safe and surrounded by loved ones, he's not anticipating needing Hard Mode, but he's not soft enough to dance at the moment, either.

Rayla's wearing a couple of layers when she comes down (up?) for breakfast,

and in the show, all of Runaan's assassins have the same kind of multi-layer shirt business going on: an underneath layer or two and their vest hoodie over it. Most seem to have a shirt - vest - hoodie combo like Rayla and Runaan.

Where I'm going with this is just here: Take off Runaan's long tunic and its pointy-buckled belt, and he's basically dressed like everyone else. There's a branching-tree motif on that tunic, and I've thought for a long time that it must be part of Runaan's leadership indicators. Is it because he lives in a tree? Is it the "trunk of the family tree" thing, now that we're picking up the vibe that his whole extended family are apparently assassins? Both?

So, metaphorically speaking, Runaan's tunic is probably the heaviest piece of his uniform. He wears it when he must, even in Lunabloom when he's out in the forest with little Rayla. But in the privacy of his own tree, he doesn't need or want to wear it, and off it goes. Maybe because, in a way, he's inside the tree either way. Yeah, seeing how that could be tied together now. Tree = assassin leader house, so assassin leader = elf in the tree-pattern tunic.

Runaan may be able to take off the tunic, but he can never really shed his awareness of his responsibility, his duty, or his choices, because his home is the tree his tunic represents. He sleeps inside his duty, he wakes inside it, he eats breakfast inside it.

This. Is horrible. Thank you, anon, for prompting me to have this terrible angsty realization, Grazie lo detesto.

Ahem. I do apologize, I chased my headcanon rabbit and I deserved the hole I fell into there. Sorry for dragging you with me but only because I didn't know about the dropoff so I couldn't warn you in time.

So it seems clear to me that Runaan definitely is the assassin leader in BH. How long that's been the case, I dunno, but it would be great to find out! Even from just a single line of dialogue that doesn't delve into it at all.

But now I'm wondering.... Runaan's bowblade is missing - at least to us - and I've hoped we get to see it again at some point, but so is his tunic of leadership. Where's that? And what does that mean for the Moonshadow assassins, storywise? Are they going to get a new leader? Is it going to be someone who hunts Rayla down, or Runaan? Or will they be so very soft and inexperienced because Runaan never made anyone else stab when he could do it himself? - a Moonshadow Kasef? I don't think they'll convince Rayla to do it, and I'm not sure they'd even want to try. But what I wouldn't give to see Rayla in a long Tunic of Importance someday!

Thanks for the ask, anon. Runaan's story is absolutely packed with angst, and it seems it started young for him. I spent half an hour in an MRI machine this morning and it was the most relaxed I've been in literally months, so... here's hoping Runaan can catch some sleep in that coin I guess. I get the feeling he's going to need it.

[bag-of-broadway-snacks]

So I finalky finished my Starlight Sequence Comparisons. And just a disclaimer: I think all the actors/actresses listed are amazingly talented. I am only rating one performance so who knows why they sounded like they did at any given time. Also note that these are my opinions! So don't freak out at me.

OLC (Ray Shell, Lon Satton)

-Okay so I'm biased in this case but Ray has always one of my favorite Rustys he has an credibly powerful voice with amazing diction. So easy to understand him and because of that you can connect with the emotion that the Starlight sequence is supposed to bring. The actor playing Poppa here also did a marvelous job he kept his voice very powerful and clear. Sometimes actors end up dropping off when Rusty starts singing but he didn't have that issue. I really liked both performances here. Overall one of the best performances of the Starlight sequence. 10/10

NSE (Greg Ellis, Lon Satton)

-Okay so for this production I still thought Rusty did very well. His voice wasn't as powerful as I like and he had a bit of a slurr to his words. However, I could still understand him very clearly thanks to his good diction. Overall I had no problem with his performance, I thought he did good. My problem with this performance is Poppa. Lon Satton was returning to the role and, for whatever reason, despite his amazing performance in the original London cast, he amped up and sounded way too much like a boy band gospel singer. And it just takes me out of the performance because the Starlight Express is supposed to be this God, this Heavenly being and that's why the powerful booming voice really works. It's supposed to leave you breathless in wonder not make you feel like you're in a concert. I have a problem with actors over singing in general so Poppa over singing here kind of took me out of the experience and its a shame because Rusty did fine here. He was just being out shined. 7/10

1988 Bochum (Steven Skeels, Trevor Georges)

-This is another performance I really like. But I do have one issue with it. Although Poppa and Rusty both sound very good, Poppa was a bit too loud, so I couldn't I almost couldn't hear Rusty most of the time. So you have this effect where it sounds like the two voices are competing rather than coming in for a harmony. though they're both singing different lines Poppa and Rusty should be feeling the exact same emotions so they should complement each other. It's always difficult to do Duets like this where you're singing two different lines over top of each other, so I can understand the difficulty they had here with moderating Poppa's voice to accommodate Rusty. So overall it was a very good performance I only had very minor issues with it. 9/10

1987 Japan/Australia (Bobby Collins, Richie Pitts)

-So this is how I die. All right now just a little disclaimer, I love Bobby Collins. I love his performance in a lot of songs from Starlight Express. However, I do not like how during the Starlight sequence, he sounds like Sandy from Daria singing The Starlight sequence. I have no idea what happens to Bobby during the song but he looses a lot of the emotion in his voice and he suddenly gets weird diction too it. I just don't like it. Poppa here had his own issue, he sounded like he was tense during the whole song and singing a bit too much from his throat. So while I like both of the singers in other numbers they just didn't come together to make this a good listen. I can see the appeal to some people, but not for me. It's not the worst performance favorites. 5/10

1991 Bochum (Colin Munro, Stevie Woods)

-I don't have too much to say about this one. I will say it almost had the opposite problem of another version. Rusty was a little bit too overpowering, but not so much that was noticeable for the whole song. Overall both Poppa and Rusty were very good singers, the diction was there. I could use a little more emotion but other then that I don't have many complaints. Good job for both of them. 9/10

2007 UK (Oliver Thornton, Michael Samuels)

-

Oh my gosh, okay this one is so beautiful. Rusty had wonderful voice that actually reminds me of Ray a little bit. Poppa brought home the whole number, he had this deep, booming, enchanting voice that I personally look for. My only nitpick is at the climax of the song, Poppa didn't quite reach that last note so the song didn't have that full on hit you in the chest feeling, but honestly that's so minor. 10/10

2015 Bochum (Kevin Kohler, David E Moore)

-

Another number that starts stellar! Poppa did so good here, he kept such a strong voice that really hit. It was more aggressive I'm usually used to but I honestly thought that fit the song as well. Kevin Kohler, of course, did good as usual. Unfortunately, he was just no match for Poppa and when it came time to sing his part of the climax you just could not hear him at all. A little bit of a shame but I mean with how loud Poppa was being, anyone would have trouble overpowering his voice. That would have to be fixed with mics rather than just singing alone. Overall its very good preformance. I love the energy that both actors kept up during the whole thing. I only have the one complaint. 8/10

2017 Workshop (George Ure, Mica Paris)

-This is just kind of a fun one for me. Rusty here short of sounds like a bratty teen. He has this problem throughout the whole Musical and I don't know if it was the day or that's how he usually sounds, but it was not my favorite performance for this song. Momma did fairly well for the most part. You can hear in her voice she was having trouble hitting her notes. I wouldn't be surprised if her vocal range was a little higher than was written for the Starlight sequence. As this was the first time Momma had sung to the public, are l I think it was a great first impression. I don't have much to say about this as it of course wasn't professional since it was just a workshop. So, I'll give it a 9/10.

2019 Bochum (Blake Anderson, Bianca Atalaya)

-This version is so underrated. Momma's voice is just as powerful as the original London cast. She sounds gorgeous and she really brought in a lot of emotion. Rusty here as well had a lot of emotion the voices collide and it just hits you. I really loved it. My one complaint is that Rusty did start off a little bit shaky. I was worried for a little while that he wouldn't be as good as he ended up being towards the end of the song. Really good tweaking it would have been perfect. 9/10

30th Ann. (Dan Ellison, Reva Rice)

-And to top it all off, this version may be like my favorite of all time. Dan Ellison as Rusty always puts a smile on my face. He really has earned his hype in the stex fandom. He's got a voice that carries so much emotion and projects like nobody's business. Ms. Reva Rice also does so beautifully as Momma in both productions I've listened to her in. She absolutely hits it out of the ballpark every time. I certainly hope that they'll release an album at some point. Its a gorgeous performance and deserves that sort of preservation that many others have gotten. 10/10

I had fun with this and if you want me to talk about any other songs let me know and I will!

[blisslilywrites]

𝑖'𝑚 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒.

➵︎ Being in a long-term relationship has its struggles, but you’re not willing to let those struggles get in the way of being with the person you love

Pairing: ProHero!Shinsou x Reader Word Count: 1k [one-shot] Genre: angst(?) with some fluff at the end Warnings: shinsou being insecure

A/N: umm first time trying to write anything remotely angsty..hopefully it’s not that terrible *crosses fingers* -lily

He unlocked the door to his apartment and walked in. It was dark. Empty. Just as it always is. 

Turning on the lights, he put the work papers on the nearby counter and dragged himself to the couch. Not even bothering to change from his tattered and slightly burnt hero costume, he lay down on the soft couch, closed his eyes, and let out a long, deep sigh. 

Hero work never did seem to be appreciated enough, especially if it came from heroes the media deemed “unlikeable”. He was one of those heroes. With a villain-like quirk and a not so charismatic disposition, Mindbreaker was never able to get the praise or acclaim he should’ve. Usually, he would try to not let these things bother him much and just do his job. Today though, he wasn’t focused and a civilian ended up in the emergency room. He messed up, and the media wasn’t letting that slide. 

His agency had tried to smooth things over and told him to go home and get some rest.

“It’s been a tough day for you. Don’t worry, we’ll handle things here until you feel better,” his manager had told him.

Until he felt better…

‘But when would that be’ he wondered to himself.

After a while, he opened his eyes again and got up, shuffling to the kitchen. There, he made himself a cup of espresso and pulled out his phone.

The screen lit up. 4 missed calls and over 20 texts, all from the same contact, ‘y/n<3’. Seeing them, he turned off the phone and set it down on the table. 

Silently, he drank his coffee and debated whether or not he should call you back. It was around early morning for you and there was a possibility you were already awake. Chances were you’re still asleep though.

Not wanting to wake you up and not wanting to confront the things he said last night just yet, he decided not to call.

Last night…

He remembered he felt anger, blinding anger. Or maybe it was jealousy. No, he felt both angry and jealous but what he felt most was insecure.

It caused him to lash out, as it always does. And as always, he regretted it. 

Again, it was the media.

Lately, there’s been rumors of h/n dating another popular hero in their hometown. He was tall, handsome, charismatic, and everything else the media deemed the ‘perfect hero’. He also happened to be childhood friends with y/n.

He clicked the phone shut upon seeing another article on the dating rumour. He knew rumours were just rumours but he still couldn’t help but feel red with anger whenever he saw this particular one. The worst part of all this was that he knew this other hero spent a lot of time with you. You two would often be paired for missions as your quirks complemented each other. Your agencies were also located close to each other which made things convenient for hero work. 

He knew all these things because you told him yourself. 

It should’ve been him who’s agency is close to you, who’s on missions with you, who you can come home to, who can be by your side, always. It should’ve been him.

He decided to call you. Your voice always helped calm him down and he knew you’d help him out of the jealousy and insecurity. That’s one of the reasons he loves you. You’re always there to help him, even if you’re miles away, you’re still here for him. 

Pressing your contact, he pulled the phone up to his ear. It rang once, twice.

“Hey babe, what’s up?”

“Nothing much… just wanted to hear your voice.”

In the background, he heard someone else talking to you.

“Sorry, what was that again?”

“It’s fine, I’m just missing you that’s all kitten.”

“Aww, I miss you too baby but we’re going to see each other in no time.”

“10 days isn’t no time. It’s a long time. Too long.”

“Hey c'mon, we’ve been over this— just a sec I’ll be back.”

The only sound that came from the phone was white noise. Then, bits and pieces of your voice, along with someone else’s.

“Oh my gosh— is great…”

“No problem— y/n— for you…”

He knew that voice.

From there, things went downhill.

It’s been almost an entire day and he hasn’t sent you a single message. It’s not that he didn’t know what to say but more because he didn’t know how to say it.

If he knew how, he’d tell you he truly was sorry and that he regretted it. He’d ask for your forgiveness. He doesn’t want things to be like this for the two of you. 

He’d go on to tell you the stress of not being able to see you, to hold you, was too much. He’d tell you he misses you. He misses you so badly it hurts. 

But then, he’d tell you he’ll wait the 10 days, because he loves you. 

‘I love them and I can’t even call them back’ 

Rubbing his eyes, he decided to go get some sleep, try to at least. Before he could get into bed, the doorbell rang. 

He trudged over to the door in confusion. Barely anyone ever came to his apartment. Maybe it was his manager coming in to check on him. Unlocking the door, he pulled it open. It wasn’t his manager.

Standing there, cheeks and nose all red from the cold, was you. You were just as beautiful as he remembered, more even. 

“Hi…” 

He stared. Your voice never failed to take his breath away, but hearing it in person after so long was something different. It was as if his brain had forgotten how to think and his mouth forgotten how to speak. He simply stared at you as his heart thumped in his chest.

“Hope you don’t mind me coming a little off schedule,” you said with a light smile.

That smile seemed to have knocked something into him and he immediately wrapped you up in a tight hug. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered pulling you closer. “I’m sorry, I just… really missed you.”

“It’s ok Hitoshi, I’m here now.”

A/N: umm didn’t really know how to continue this so uh i’ll leave that up to your imagination lol. hope you guys enjoyed tho..as crappy as it is

[iris-westallen1]

The Happiest Day Of Our Life

‘’Well today was the worst day ever’’ iris said as she dove right on the couch. Barry just sat there staring at his beautiful wife so mesmerized he didn’t even realize she was talking to him but he couldn’t help it he was married to the most gorgeous woman on the planet he still doesn’t know how he got this lucky to have her in his life… ‘’ BARRY!!’’ he was immediately withdrawn from his thought blushing and rubbing his neck a habit he had formed since he was little.    ‘’ are you even listening to me’’ iris said with a slightly annoyed face mixed with concern.

‘’ sorry honey but it’s your fault I wasn’t paying attention’’ Barry cheekily replied.

‘Look at him looking so smug with that cocky smile ugh I could just slap him and fuck him at the same time, gosh why is he so hot making my ovaries explode’’ iris thought to herself.

‘’ you know honey cocky is not a good look on you’’ said a smiling iris

‘’oh, you love it and me’’

‘’ well, I supposed that is true’’ iris slaps his knee as she get’s up from where she was laying on the couch to come snuggle into Barry’s side ‘’ hmmm I missed you today’’ iris said as she coos into Barry

‘’ babe I am sorry your day didn’t go as you wanted it to.’’ Barry strokes her arm and side ‘’ do you want to tell me what was going on’’

‘’ I know it might sound petty or whatever but its team citizen if I can even call it that Kamilla’s gone and Allegra she’s never there she’s always at star labs and I get that she ha powers and whatever but I would like her to take her job more seriously and not for her personal gain, I feel bad for what happened to her cousin I seriously geniounly do but the only time you hear her talk about the citizen is if she needs something from us and its making me seriously regret promoting her.’’ Iris took a deep breath she knows how this might sound and it might just be her hormones but she is seriously tired of Allegra’s behavior.

Barry saw how distressed his wife was about this so he decided not to say anything until she has gotten it all out her chest.

After taking a deep breath iris continued ‘’ so today I was in the office getting ready to go investigate karma, Kramer whatever the fuck her name is and I find myself missing and employee so I called her just to learn she is hanging around frost and Caitlin for what reason I do not know I’m her mentor not them I’m not paying her to hang out with them and I was just like you know what its fine so I just left her and went about my way to go investigate Kramer in doing that surprise surprise my dad is investigating her with Cecil when I was the one who brought this case to him and he brushed me off like it was nothing. And that’s another thing I am so fed up with my dad.’’ At this point iris is bawling her eyes and all Barry wants to do it take that pain away from her.

‘’ my dad hasn’t been acting like my dad for a while now and it took me getting stuck in a mirror to realize it. You know he never once asked me how I was doing when I came out of the mirror, he just brushed it aside like I wasn’t gone for 3 months he could at least show some emotions.’’ Her voice was cracking at this point ‘’ h- ho- how I- is it * sniff sniff* that his more of a father to you than he is to meeeeeeee’’ her chest and shoulder moving frantically.

Barry finally goes in soothing her ‘’ I am so so sorry you feel this way, how long have you been holding this in and I didn’t even notice, I am so sorry baby, just let it all out’’ Barry said as he rubs his hands in soothing circles on her back ‘’ just let it out I’m here’’

When she is calm enough she continues ‘’ I just feel so neglected as a daughter by him and Cecil Cecil doesn’t even try to bond with me, she’s been with my dad for so long and I don’t even know anything about her and when we do talk she always uses her powers to invade my privacy and when she does that she can’t even be subtle about it she always has to my extra and do to much’’ by this time iris is finished crying now what she feels is rage towards these people. ‘’ she is literally everywhere when there was still  a team citizen was still a thing she became our ‘lawyer’ and no one even asked her to no offence to her but she suck as a lawyer’’ Barry starts laughing and nodding his head because it the truth. ‘’ I’m serious hahaha but it’s funny though but seriously I don’t even know why we hired her as your lawyer for your trial she couldn’t even win it she had to use ralph pretend to be devoe for her to win and I thought she was the best Caitlin and frost are dumb to hire her as a lawyer she couldn’t even win their case and if she cant win any of our case what is her use at star labs her powers are useless there no offense she could be home with Jenna and speaking of Jenna it sucks that we never see her they never talk about her unless its to say they are talking to their babysitter so instead of her to go take care of her child she’d over here acting like a child and sticking her nose in everyone’s business. I am so sick of her.’’ Barry just sat there looking at iris and after hearing all she said he can’t help but see the truth in what she’s saying, how could he have been so blind to this. As he continues to rub her back iris gathers even more courage to finally let this all off her chest ‘’ after cisco left the one person at star labs besides you I could stand was gone he was my sunshine twin he would always try to cheer me up when we lost Nora and even when I lost you to the speed force he was always there for me and I miss him and I miss Kamilla because she understood me we where becoming close friends before we got stuck in the mirror together and now we have an unbreakable bond because of that experience and now she’s gone too not only did I lose my best worker but I lost my best friend too. All of a sudden Iris seemed to get angrier Barry didn’t know why but his about to.

‘’ Caitlin and frost’’ she said their names with as much annoyance as she could muster up ‘’ they are the biggest entitled people I have ever met before frost was a thing it was the way Caitlin always looked at me like I was beneath her or something like she couldn’t get rid of me fast enough then frost came and bitch tried to kill me because she wanted dick and some other issues I had never did anything to her never spoke to her but all of a sudden she wants to kill me why I have no idea and what pisses me of is the way we just forgive her just because she did the right thing in the end and blasted Savitar she came to h.r funeral and she left to go find herself or whatever you went into the speed force and she abandoned me, Wally, cisco, and dad to fend of the bad guys on our own. Then Caitlin came up in her in her high horse to bring you out of the speed force like she’s been here all along, then she lost frost with the whole devoe thing Caitlin literally put your life and gypsy’s life in danger all because she wanted frost back and despite my better judgment I went up to her during the baby shower we threw for Cecile to offer up my help to find the bitch frost for her and she was just snarky with me saying no she will find her I just gave up on that hoe what still confusing is how she can perform all this surgery’s she’s doing since she hasn’t done them since med school like isn’t she a bio scientist or whatever like how did she become team doctor she literally has no experience in that field all she does is just stitch you up with pretty much all of us can do now and she acts like she has the most important job there dragging Allegra and Cecile along with her.’’ Iris shakes her head ‘’ you know what’s do funny’’ iris asked Barry ‘’ what’’ Barry genuinely curious ‘’ that whole frost trial and how Caitlin was like we have to get her out she’s my sister, since when though, anyways they arrested frost for a crime that she actually committed its not like she didn’t commit them she literally tried to kill me and she wanted her to go Scot free when you went to prison for a crime you actually didn’t commit it just pissed me of and instead of dumb bitch to just take the cure she volunteered her self for life in prison thinking she was doing sum, I might not like Kramer but what she did to frost was not a bad thing she all she did was try to make frost take responsibility for her actions. But she never does like always she literally gets out of prison after like two days.’’

‘’ and another thing that pisses me off is the way they treat Chester that boy is so sweet and deserves to be treated with kindness so that why it irritates and makes me so angry to hear that Caitlin was yelling at him for getting hit even sue warned Allegra not to pursue after her cousin but she did anyways and brought her to star labs without our permission knowing she’s a dangerous criminal when her and Allegra get into it she blast Chester who was just there to bring them snacks and somehow Caitlin made it Chester’s fault? Like how does that even make sense. I am just sick and tired of all of this. I am supposed to be happy right now basking in love with my husband trying to conceive our daughter and we can’t even have the privacy of knowing if were pregnant or not because of Cecile invading your thoughts once again the negative result you got was meant to be shared with me not her and I know this is wrong but I am glad that the test came negative because it would be so unfair of her to know that I am pregnant before I know all because she’s nosy.’’ Iris finally finished her rant with a deep breath, she looks up at Barry and all she finds in his eyes are adoration, understanding, anger, disappointment, and love.

‘’what?’’ iris asked

‘’ you are the strongest person that I know’’ Barry whispers to her ‘’I don’t know how you let this in for this long because one thing I know for sure is that I certainly would have burst long ago.’’

‘’ I am so sorry that you’ve had to keep this all in for this long’’ Barry said caressing her cheeks ‘’ and I’m sorry If you felt like you couldn’t tell me, thank you for bringing it to my attention and after listening to you things need to change for one our personal life needs to stop being discussed at star labs where everyone can hear and the second is that Caitlin needs to not be our doctor and she is certainly not going to be delivering our baby and most importantly we need to set boundaries for Cecile’’

‘’ thank you, babe, for listening to me and letting me get this rant of my chest, I feel so much lighter.’’

‘’ its my job iris there is no need to thank me I will always be on your side ALWAYS.’’

[thdorkmagnet]

Trust, Promises, and Resets

Welcome all to my first Undertale fanfic! This one took a bit to finish but I’m really, really happy it’s done and ready to be shared with the world! Just a short and sweet one-shot about Frisk and Sans dealing with resets and all the baggage that comes with them. Wanted to put my own personal spin on a very classic concept for the Undertale fanbase. This was also some much needed practice at writing these characters, hopefully I nailed them. 

Anyways enjoy!

Disclaimer: Undertale and all its characters belong to Toby Fox. All Rights go to him. 

The glow from the screen was starting to hurt Frisk’s eyes, the neon pop of orange color starting to burn into their retina, still they refused to turn on any lights, forcing themselves to remain sitting in the dark. They couldn't let anyone see them while they did this, not mom, not dad, not Undyne, not Alphys, not Papyrus, and not Sans. Definitely not Sans. Frisk had worked so hard to gain his trust, they would hate to ruin all the progress they had made with the skeleton.

Frisk let out a long sigh, staring at the word and trying not to lose their cool. 'Reset'. The word taunted them, a constant nagging at the back of Frisk’s mind, the power and hurt contained in such a simple word. Five letters that could make or break the world, that had the power to uproot so many lives. And Frisk alone held this power. 

They let out a slow, shaky breath, trying to keep their calm. It's okay, it'll all be over soon and this temptation won’t haunt me any longer. They thought, though the reassurance felt hollow. 

Slowly they raised up trembling fingers, reaching out towards the button. Time seemed to slow, a steady ringing in Frisk's ear, the room around them shuddering as if the fabric of the world was unraveling. The button seemed to be gleaming back at them, the cursed words beckoning them to press it and redo it all over again. To finally satiate the curiosity they were plagued by. Just let this be over, Frisk thought, the words desperate in their head. Just let it finally end!

Knock, knock.

The steady rapping of the wood outside Frisk’s door startled them, causing them to jump in place, looking towards the closed door in panic. They racked their brain, trying to match a friend to the sound, each Monster having their own unique knocking style. Toriel’s was steady and calm, more like a melody than a knock really. Asgore was strong and powerful, often making the walls around it shake with every rap of his knuckles; it definitely didn’t fit the goofy but lovable Monster Frisk had grown to know and love. Alphys was always so gentle Frisk could barely hear it and most times wouldn’t even hear the even quieter call after from the shy scientist. Undyne forgoed knocking altogether, prefering to kick the door open with no warning (Frisk still remembered the incident where poor Blooky had been on the other side). Papyrus often did the same but when he did knock it was rapid and enthusiastic, like he was just beyond excited and couldn’t wait to enter. None of those matched up with this particular knock so that just left…

"heh, you're supposed to say 'who's there', kiddo." 

Frisk choked on a gasp. No! Not Sans! Anyone but him! 

Frisk moved to press the 'continue' button, hoping to hide the evidence before it was too late but to their surprise the door swung open way too quickly and they wanted to slap themselves for forgetting the improvements the lazy skeleton had made on himself. At first, old habits had persisted, his movements slow and tired as if he hadn’t slept in years rather than constantly. But as he and Frisk grew closer, slowly and surely they had watched the life return to the small skeleton. Not to say he didn’t have his moments of laziness. He was still the same Sans he always was, able to nap at any time or place (usually on the job), preferring to be carried around by Papyrus rather than walk, and cracking puns whenever the opportunity presented itself. But he was more energetic, Frisk might even go as far as to say happy. The smile permanently plastered on his face didn't seem forced anymore. It felt natural and real. 

In fact, just the other day Papyrus had been praising Sans on his much needed enthusiasm and Frisk had been right there with him, proud to see their friend truly happy and at peace. 

But in this moment, so close to getting caught, Frisk selfishly wished for the old Sans back, if only to prevent the catastrophe that was coming as Sans stepped into the dark room.

"heya, kiddo. what'cha doin' sitting in the dark? don't tell me we’re both going knock-turnal, heh." Sans froze as he finally took in the scene, his eye sockets widening in what Frisk could only assume was fear. They knew how it must look, sitting in the dark in front of the screen that could undo years of Sans’ life. It was an incriminating scene to walk in on and Frisk cursed themselves for not locking the door, barricading it with anything and everything they had on hand to avoid this outcome. They had been careless. They had thought the house was empty while Toriel went out for groceries but clearly they were wrong. And now Sans would pay the price. 

Sans’ eye sockets, which had only a second ago shined with life and the promise of hope, dimmed till they were void, empty spaces, no light able to seep through the blackness. Frisk had seen that look enough times to know exactly what it meant. It meant they messed up. And the consequences were that vacant expression. How many times had Frisk seen it before? They had lost count. And all the hope and trust they had built up in Sans shattered and died in an instant. Just like that. “oh,” was the only word that escaped Sans’ mouth and it sounded forced and choked at that, as empty and hollow as the black voids his eyes had become. What had Frisk done?

“Sans, it’s not what it looks like.” Frisk hoped that Sans would listen to them, let them explain and maybe make things right again. But they knew that wasn’t the case, Sans’ broken mind had already jumped to the worst possible conclusion, just like it always did. Frisk wasn’t entirely sure this was fixable but they had to at least try. “I wasn’t going to-”

“heh, it’s okay, kiddo. i get it. knew it was a matter of time, guess i just wasn’t prepared for it to be today.” There was nothing in the skeleton’s voice. No laughter, no emotion. It was just hollow. How long had it been since Frisk had seen Sans this bad. This empty. It was as if the skeleton wasn’t even there at all, just a shell made of bones pretending to be him. He looked so fragile and tired, a gust of wind could probably blow him away. 

His bony fingers rubbed at his eyes for a few seconds and… oh gosh, were those tears? Frisk had really screwed up this time. Sans’s hands were back in his pockets and he tried to look casual, normal, and if not for the emptiness in his sockets Frisk might have believed it. And there was that smile, that dead smile that Frisk had worked so hard to wipe away. It was instinct for Sans, a defense mechanism against the emptiness in his soul. Just smile and joke it off as if nothing was wrong. Oh man, what was Papyrus gonna say when he saw that look was back? He had confided in Frisk once about how much it hurt him to see Sans that way. Miserable but closed off. It must have been torture watching from a distance as his brother slowly tore himself apart. 

“just, uh… do me a favor, okay kiddo?” Sans continued. “as your pal, just let me have one last trip to grillby’s before you… y’know. let me ketchup one last time before it all goes back.” The pun was painful for Frisk to hear. Normally they would laugh at how bad it was and then would follow up with something like, “Well I know those guys relish your company,” and then Sans would chuckle and say something equally as terrible and on and on it would go. But Frisk didn’t even smile at the joke, they just watched the skeleton sadly, feeling their soul shudder in pain, their sins crawling on their back. 

Before Frisk could give their answer, Sans had turned and left the room, the skeleton surprising Frisk again with his speed. Frisk was in the hallway a second later, chasing after their friend, desperate to make things right. "Sans, please wait!" 

A formation of bones appeared between the two and Frisk jumped, for a moment terror flooded through their soul. In a flash they were back in that dreaded room of yellow, the empty echoing halls torn and destroyed as thousands of bones jutted out of every crevice, breaking the once fancy hall apart. They could smell the blood in the air, could feel the bone lodged deep in their chest. The pain was unbearable as their soul was ripped apart and scattered to the wind and the last thing they saw before it all went to black was the glowing angry blue in their opponent's eyes, the words, 'dirty brother killer' echoing in their head. 

Frisk shuddered as they forced the memory back, burying it deep inside themselves. This wasn't the time for relieving the past, Sans needed them in the present. The bones protruding through the middle of the hallway and separating Frisk from Sans were a light blue, passing through them wasn't an option. That just left reasoning then. Darn, Sans was impossible to reason with in this state. But what choice did Frisk have? 

"Sans, please just let me explain." They had to make him see. Show him they weren't doing what he thought. 

"seeya 'round, kiddo," Sans said, looking back over his shoulder, giving his typical teasing wink, only now it wasn't playful. It was wrong. This was all so wrong. 

Frisk blinked and suddenly Sans was no longer in the hallway. They had been expecting him to use a shortcut but it still shook them to be alone. To suddenly be standing in the middle of their house, wracked with guilt and with no one to help provide any sort of comfort. Not that they deserved it.

Why? Why hadn't they taken more precautions? Why hadn't they made sure there was no chance of someone coming in on them? Looking back on it, Frisk felt stupid. Of course they would get caught! They had practically been begging for it. They hadn't even bothered to lock their door. Clearly Frisk had wanted this to happen! 

For a few moments Frisk just stood alone in the hallway, clenching and unclenching their fists, trying to think of a way to make things up to Sans while simultaneously cursing themselves for creating this mess in the first place. Just when Frisk was ready to slam their head into the nearest wall to try and release the image of Sans’ empty expression that circled their head, a loud voice rang throughout the quiet household. “HUMAN! SANS! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAVE RETURNED!"

Papyrus walked in through the front door (thankfully not breaking it down in his excitement) a proud, friendly smile permanently plastered on his face. Normally Frisk would be overjoyed to see him but right now, his undaunted kindness only made them feel worse and even more scummy. They didn't deserve a cool friend like Papyrus after what they had done to his brother.

The skeleton froze when he spotted the state of the hallway and the dozen or so bones jutting out of the floor. "WHAT HAPPENED HERE? DON'T TELL ME YOU ASKED MY LAZYBONES BROTHER TO SPAR WITH YOU?! BECAUSE WHILE I APPRECIATE YOU TRYING TO HELP HIM GET IN SOME MUCH NEEDED EXERCISE, I'M NOT SURE TORIEL WOULD APPRECIATE YOU DOING IT IN HER HOUSE!" Papyrus paused, a frown briefly flashing across his face as he added, "TRUST ME, I WOULD KNOW."

Frisk said nothing, keeping their head lowered in shame. They didn't want to admit what they had done, not to Papyrus. They had already promised Sans not to breathe a word about 'resets' to his brother, the least Frisk could do was not betray Sans' trust anymore than they already had. 

Papyrus took notice of his friend's sad demeanor and immediately took it upon himself to cheer them up. The skeleton swept his scarf behind himself dramatically before loudly declaring, "BUT NOT TO WORRY TINY HUMAN, FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL HELP YOU CLEAN UP BEFORE THE LADY TORIEL RETURNS FROM THEIR SHOPPING QUEST!!"

Frisk gave them the bare minimum of a smile, more of a grimace than a full on grin. "Thanks, Paps," was all they could think to say and they nearly flinched at their own sorrowful tone. Geez, since when had they gotten so bad at lying? Back in the Underground they had had the ultimate poker face, only Sans couldn't see through their blank expression. Now they'd be lucky to fool a blind bat with how obvious they were being. Then again, Frisk would hardly consider themselves to be emotional at all back then, feelings besides determination had been hard to come by. Frisk wondered if maybe the Monsters had been helping them this whole time and they hadn't even noticed.

Papyrus, seeing how distressed their dear friend still was, took a better look at the situation, hoping to piece together what exactly had happened to trouble Frisk so greatly. A quick glance around and Papyrus noticed something off. "WHERE IS SANS?"

Frisk bit their lip but hesitantly explained, "He went to Grillby's."

Papyrus let out a long sigh, shaking his skull despite the situation. "THAT LAZYBONES. HOW TYPICAL OF HIM TO MAKE A MESS AND LEAVE ME TO PICK IT UP. HE'S LUCKY HE'S GOT SUCH A COOL YOUNGER BROTHER LOOKING OUT FOR HIM," the skelebro added boastfully. 

Frisk shook their head, trying desperately to find some way out of this conversation without admitting to Papyrus what they had done. But no matter what scenario they thought up, they just couldn't come up with anything but the truth. So finally, the young human admitted reluctantly, "Actually me and Sans… had a fight."

"oh," Papyrus replied, for just a moment losing his loud, boisterous attitude. But then, in the blink of an eye, it was back as the skeleton was able to leap high into the air, doing a ridiculous spin as he went, which would normally get a chuckle out of Frisk. He was somehow able to completely clear the railing for the second floor, landing perfectly on his feet in front of his human friend. "NYEH HEH HEH, DO NOT FRET, HUMAN, FOR YOUR GREAT AND COOL FRIEND KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT TO DO TO FIX THIS PROBLEM!"

"You do?" Frisk asked.

"BUT OF COURSE," Papyrus continued, taking on a heroic pose. "IT IS THE DUTY OF ALL ROYAL GUARDS TO HELP OUT OTHERS IN NEED! ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ARE SUCH DEAR AND IMPORTANT FRIENDS SUCH AS YOU!"

"Papyrus I don't-" Frisk started to interrupt but their skeletal friend was already lost deep in his rant. They were past the point of no return, Frisk often wondered at times like this if even a reset had the power to stop Papyrus. 

"I CAN DIVIDE UP OUR PLAN INTO THREE EASY STEPS: STEP 1. LOCATE SANS, STEP 2. PERSUADE HIM TO TALK USING MY WORLD FAMOUS APOLOGY SPAGHETTI (WHICH I WILL GRACIOUSLY LOAN TO YOU), AND FINALLY, STEP 3. AND THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE, YOU BOTH APOLOGIZE AND AGREE TO BE FRIENDS AGAIN."

 Frisk shook their head, feeling annoyance bubbling up in their chest, but not at Papyrus. Never at him. "That's not gonna work, Paps! Sans is really upset at me and I deserve that! I really messed up! I wouldn't blame him if he never spoke to me again." The young human hung their head, letting the shame of their actions wash over them.

But Papyrus being Papyrus didn't let this stand, aggressively putting a comforting hand on their shoulder and declaring, "I WILL NOT ALLOW SUCH TALK, FRISK! AS YOUR COOL BEST FRIEND AND SANS' BROTHER I ASSURE YOU WHATEVER YOU DID IS NOT ENOUGH TO RUIN YOUR FRIENDSHIP WITH HIM."

"But how do you-"

"HOW DO I KNOW? WELL IT'S VERY SIMPLE HUMAN, BECAUSE YOU TWO CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER!! I KNOW YOU TWO LIKE I KNOW MY VERY OWN COOL MIND, NYEH, AND I CAN SEE HOW HAPPY YOU TWO ARE TOGETHER!" Papyrus knelt down so he was level with Frisk, giving them a reassuring grin, his eyelights dancing. "YOU'RE OUR VERY DEAR HUMAN, AFTER ALL, AND I KNOW THAT'S HOW SANS FEELS TOO! SO YOU SEE, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR!"

Frisk took a moment to let that sink in, their guilt ridden mind tossing around this idea with skepticism, while their heavy soul flooded with hopeful optimism. They were torn between both and their body couldn't seem to decide which one to listen to more. "You really think he'll listen to me?"

Papyrus nodded energetically. "OF COURSE!! I'D BET IT ON MY GREAT AND POWERFUL NAME, NYEH HEH HEH!"

Frisk couldn't help but smile, a common side effect from being around the enthusiastic skeleton for too long. It was just what Frisk needed, to smile despite the uncertainty and anxiousness of the situation. It made them feel stronger. It made them feel determined. 

Once that feeling took hold, drowning out all the negative fears and worries, Frisk knew what they had to do. It wouldn't be an easy option, in fact, it would most likely be terrible but they were determined to make it up to Sans. To regain one of the most important friendships they had. Papyrus was right, they needed Sans just as much as he needed them.

So, after taking in a long breath for courage, Frisk looked up to their skeletal friend and simply asked, "Can you give me a ride?"

…

Grillby couldn't think of the last time he had seen Sans so miserable. The bartender had seen every single side of his friend over the years, both good and bad, even the parts he was quick to hide from everyone else. But even someone as mysterious and secretive as Sans had to break sometimes and, well, it was always in Grillby's company. The flame Monster had debated with himself many times why that was, maybe because Papyrus never came into his bar so Sans didn't feel the need to keep up the act, maybe it was the copious (and to be honest disgusting) amounts of ketchup Sans consumed that helped loosen his metaphorical lips, or maybe the skelebro just found Grillby's presence comforting. Whatever the reason, Grillby was always happy to be there for Sans, for both the good and bad days. 

And today was one of his worst. If memory served, the last time Sans had been this depressed was when they were still living underground. To everyone else he probably seemed like his normal, comedic self, greeting the regular patrons both monster and human with his typical lazy wave hello. But Grillby had seen something off immediately in his old friend. He could tell something was eating the skeleton alive and whatever it was was leaving a heavy toll on poor Sans. 

The skeletons' eye sockets were shrunken with whatever terrible emotion was plaguing him, his cheekbones stained with dried tears he had hastily tried to rub away. His smiling mouth was twitching which Grillby knew from past experiences was Sans desperately wanting to frown but his unique body structure making it impossible to do so. 

Sans looked small, even more than usual, slumping forward as if it was everything he could do to stay upright. To see his dear friend in such a pitiful state made Grillby's soul feel like it was splitting in half.

Of course, asking Sans what was wrong did nothing, the skeleton was a natural born liar. He had quickly shrugged the series of questions off, his smile so believable that anyone who didn't know Sans as well as Grillby did would have believed it. "you know me, i'm always bone-tired, heh."

The other monsters and humans accepted this answer immediately, some even laughing at the poor excuse for a joke, but Grillby wasn't so easy to convince. But he hadn't bothered to push the subject, since it was clear Sans was not in a sharing mood. Instead he just patiently took his order (ketchup as usual) making a mental note to keep an eye on his friend. Today was a busier day at the bar though, so Grillby was sadly not able to watch over Sans as closely as he wanted. Still, at the very least, Sans didn't seem to be getting any worse. But he also didn't seem to be getting any better, either. 

Grillby had just made up his mind to try and talk to Sans after closing time, when the pleasant sound of ringing filled his ears thanks to the bell that hung above the door, alerting him a new customer had entered. Grillby glanced over at them quickly, trying not to take too much attention off of the customer who was ordering, but he couldn't help but take note who had entered his humble bar. 

The human called Frisk had stepped into Grillby's establishment, looking unsure and nervous, a rarity for the determined young child. He could tell Fisk didn't want to be in there and Grillby could only assume it had less to do with his bar and more of Sans himself. After all, Frisk always seemed right at home there, Sans would often bring them along during his regular visits and Frisk would have a smile on their face from the moment they walked in, until they left with Sans. 

Now things were starting to come together. The reason for Sans' terrible mood had to be related to Frisk. The skeleton always seemed happier when the kid was with him, so the fact they had both come in separately… it was clear to Grillby the two had to be fighting, although over what was anyone's guess. Sans and Frisk always seemed to get along swimmingly, Grillby hadn't even seen the two raise their voices at each other. Sometimes Grillby could swear Sans saw himself as Frisk's dad the way he would indiscreetly fuss over them. It was hard to imagine the two weren't on speaking terms. 

Frisk glanced around at the crowded bar clutching a large plate wrapped with tin foil against their chest, clearly searching for someone when their eyes met Grillby's. The human gave him a questioning look, which the fire monster returned with a pointed finger towards the front, where Sans sat, still looking small and miserable.

Frisk gave them a halfhearted nod of thanks before slowly pushing their way towards the skeleton. Grillby watched them until an impatient customer grabbed his attention and he was forced to resume focus on his job, though he still cast an occasional glance towards the pair to see how things developed.

When Frisk reached Sans, they hesitated, taking in the sorry sight of their skeleton friend. Sans was slumped onto the bar, his face resting in his boney arms, which meant Frisk's presence had gone unnoticed so far. Normally, anyone would assume the skelebro was asleep, drinking himself to exhaustion but Frisk saw through that. For one thing, he wasn't snoring, which was a telltale sign of Sans lost in dreamland. And Frisk could also see his body shaking, ever so slightly, almost invisible to the naked eye. Sans wasn't sleeping, he was crying, and making it look like his typical lazy demeanor.

Frisk spotted the bottle of ketchup beside him and nearly gasped as they saw it was unopened. Not a drop was missing from Sans' favorite drink and that was a very bad sign. This situation was more serious than Frisk had initially thought. Normally the skeleton would get drunk to hide the terrible feelings welling up inside him, but if he was ignoring the monster-equivalent of alcohol then he must be in a really, really bad place and Frisk wasn't completely sure they could pull him out of it. 

Well that thought faded as quickly as it came, replaced with 'determination' and Frisk thought of Papyrus who was waiting outside. He believed Frisk could make this right and so they wanted to believe it too. And if they couldn't… well, Papyrus had mentioned as Frisk hopped out of his car that if they took longer than thirty minutes, he would come in after them.

Having the enthusiastic skeleton for backup allowed Frisk to finally take action, they set the plate of apology spaghetti down on the bar before climbing up onto the stool next to Sans. The skeleton didn't acknowledge them at first, still pretending to sleep. "Sans," Frisk whispered, causing their friend to flinch. Frisk wasn't sure if it was because he hadn't been expecting someone to call his name or because it came from Frisk themself but it hurt either way.

The skeleton slowly raised his head as if it drained him to do so. "oh heya, kiddo, heh, wasn't expecting to see you here." He tried to sound natural but it was clear by the grating edge to his tone, Frisk had been right, Sans had been crying. "guess you were really fired up for some of grillbz cooking, huh? or maybe something was burger-ing you?'' Sans let out a few halfhearted chuckles, his eye sockets glued to the countertop.

"Sans," Frisk began, keeping their voice steady. "I came cause I needed to tell you something about earlier."

"oh, heh, you're ready to reset already. Guess that's fair, i couldn't bring myself to get that last final drink but… seems like I'm just delaying the inevitable. thanks for waiting on me, kid. i'm… ready when you are."

"Sans, no! That's not what I mean!" Frisk exclaimed, growing frustrated, but not at Sans, at themselves for causing this whole stupid mess. "You're not listening to me! I'm not resetting!" They hadn't meant to raise their voice, they really hadn't but it seemed to be the only way to get through Sans' thick skull.

Sans stared at them long and hard, his piercing black sockets trying to read Frisk like a book and the human did their best to portray trustworthiness in their body language, making a point to keep their eyes locked with Sans' sockets. After a few endless minutes of judgement, Sans finally asked, "and your really bein' honest with me? because you can tell me if not, i promise i can take it."

Frisk shook their head, their small hands clenched into fists on their lap, wrinkling the pant leg in their strong grip. "I'm telling the truth. I don't want to go back, I don't ever want to go back! I couldn't ask for a better ending. Everyone's happy and finally getting to live life thanks to me. Papyrus gets to drive his car every day, even though he's really slow and keeps getting tickets." Frisk smiled warmly as they thought of the hyperactive skeleton, tears beginning to form at the corners of their eyes as they thought of what all would be lost if they ever gave in. "Undyne finally has the freedom to do more than fight all the time and can watch as many stupid awesome animes they want. And Alphys is so confident she doesn't stutter or talk bad about herself anymore. Mettaton's more famous then he ever was Underground and it's even better because now he gets to share that popularity with Blooky and Shyren. And every day, mom and dad look so happy just getting to garden or teach instead of trying to carry everyone's burdens on their shoulders. And Papyrus and I can both see how much better you are since coming to the surface and I would never want to take that away from you or anyone." 

Frisk sniffed, wiping their eyes on the back of their sleeve, trying to recover enough to continue. Sans just watched them with growing concern, petrified by their tears since the skeleton had never once seen them cry in the entire time he knew them, which was probably more than anyone else, human or monster. So the fact he was seeing this now left him completely off-guard and clueless as to how to react. He made several moves to comfort them but talked himself out of it at the last second, not wanting to make things worse. 

Still the fact he noticeably cared was enough to provide a small sense of comfort to Frisk and they were grateful for it. "But it's not just the monsters," Frisk continued as soon as they got their voice back. "This is the happiest I've ever been in my life! I have a real family and friends that love me and take care of me and I don't ever want any of that to go away!"

Frisk continued to sniffle, trying to keep the sobs buried at the back of their throat, the sadness returning faster than they could stop it, this time stronger than before. Tears ran down their cheeks and they hiccuped out the rest of what they had to say. "B-But no matter what I do or how much I say I won't, you always think I'm gonna reset everything. I can't convince you! Am I really that bad a person that you can't ever trust me?!" With that, the floodgates burst open and Frisk began to sob uncontrollably, doubling over in their seat and weeping pitifully into their hands. 

The moment their sobs began, Sans knew he could no longer just sit and watch, now was the time to act. Without a word the skelebro reached over and swooped Frisk into his arms, holding them in a tight but loving hug against his chest. He cooed soothing words into their ear while rocking them back and forth in his seat. He had an arm protectively around their frame, while the other he ran through their short, brown hair. Sans didn't even care that his favorite jacket was now soaked in the kid's tears, all that mattered was comforting his kiddo.  

It randomly occured to Sans that this had to be quite the sight for the other patrons of the bar, a small human child sobbing into a forever-grinning skeleton monster. Not that he particularly cared what anyone thought of his and Frisk’s friendship. Still he did take a quick glance around the bar to see if anyone had noticed the situation. Sure enough, the outburst had attracted the attention of every monster and human inside, a few of them seemed putoff by the sight like Sans expected but most just looked concerned, especially the regulars. The dogs had all started whining in concern, Lesser Dog's neck stretching out towards Frisk. Even Grillby had stopped what he was doing to watch the scene play out, Sans reading the worry from his flaming face. 

The skeleton quickly returned his attention back to Frisk as they began to shake and hiccup, their sobs slowly dying down in strength. Sans listened to their choked breaths before he decided to try and risk a joke, hoping it would lighten the mood and lift the kid’s spirits a little. “well, call me a half-eaten plate of cookies because now I feel pretty crumby.” Between their sobs, Frisk let out a little laugh, small and halfhearted but it was music to Sans’ ears. He would take any form of joy over listening to them cry a moment longer. Heck, he would prefer a reset over the soul-breaking sobs bursting from his poor kid, especially since he was part of the cause of their tears. 

He waited until they had recovered enough to listen, saying in a soft, gentle tone, “listen frisk, i’m so sorry i made you feel that way… that i didn’t trust you. I know you may not believe it but i probably trust you more than myself, heh.” Sans gave Frisk a little squeeze for reassurance. “so please don’t blame yourself for this dumb comedian’s mistake, babybones.”

“You aren’t dumb,” Frisk spoke up, their voice muffled by Sans’ jacket. 

“and you aren’t a bad person,” the skeleton monster countered.

Frisk finally pulled their face out of Sans’ jacket, staring up at him with tear-stained vision. “So… you aren’t mad at me?” 

Sans almost laughed out loud at the question, the ridiculousness of it all astounding to him. Here he was trying to comfort Frisk after causing them to cry, all because he couldn’t accept that his time in the underground was finally over, that Frisk really wouldn’t reset and trap them all down there again. If anything they should be mad at him, not the other way around.

“of course i’m not mad, kiddo,” Sans finally replied, rubbing a hand up and down Frisk's back in a soothing motion. “ i just got a little too sans-itive back there.” The two both chuckled at the joke, a real, genuine smile returning to Frisk’s face. That’s better, Sans thought with relief. He did a quick scan around the rest of the bar and saw that everyone else had visibly relaxed too, now that Frisk had finally stopped crying. 

Since he got the kid calm he figured now was as good a time as any to get some answers so he set them back in their own seat while asking, “so, uh, if you don’t mind me askin’ what were you doing before, if you weren’t trying to reset?" 

Frisk tensed, biting their lip and looking down at their lap but thankfully there were no more tears like Sans worried there might be. The human child took a long moment, building up the courage to say, shifting uncomfortably in their seat and not meeting Sans’ eye. Clearly it was something they didn’t want to discuss. Sans was about to change the subject and be done with it but Frisk spoke up just in time. “I was… trying to find a way to destroy the ‘reset’ button,” they admitted sadly. 

Sans blinked, the only shock and surprise he let show on his face. He wasn’t expecting that. “uhhh, okay seems a bit weird since you yourself said you never wanted to reset again,” the skeleton responded finally.

“Yeah, but…” Frisk paused, their eyes flooding with fear while their small fingers fiddled with the front of Sans’ jacket, clenching and unclenching the fabric in their grip. All at once they seemed so very far away, lost in their own world and Sans feared he wouldn’t be able to reach them from where he was, he feared it was a path Frisk was trying to walk alone. 

“kid?” Sans whispered worriedly, cupping their cheek in his skeletal palm. Frisk’s eyes refocused, snapping them out of whatever horrible vision they had just been shown and they hesitantly met Sans’ gaze. “c’mon, tell me what’s wrong.” 

Frisk took in a deep breath, in and out, before admitting, “I-I’m afraid of m-myself.” 

Again this was not what Sans was expecting but he made sure not to let his surprise show on his face, knowing Frisk needed unflinching support at this time. “what, a nice kid like you? What could you possibly have to fear about yourself?”

“T-That I’ll reset anyways. That I’m not determined enough to keep this happy ending. That’ll I’ll… ruin everything,” Frisk said, their eyes filling with shame. 

Sans gave them a small pat on the head. “but i thought you were determined not to reset? that you’re happy the way things are.”

“But what if it doesn’t last?” Frisk asked, clutching Sans’ jacket so tightly their knuckles turned white, their eyes pleading and desperate as they looked to their skeletal friend for answers. “What if something goes wrong a-and I stop being happy? And then the temptation comes back and I can’t stop myself from-from going back there.” Frisk was starting to hyperventilate and Sans started rubbing circles on their back again, trying to keep them breathing regularly. At this rate he wouldn’t be surprised if the kid passed out on him. “I don’t want this to end Sans, I don’t want to disappoint you or break our promise but the fact that I don’t know for sure terrifies me!” 

Sans took a minute to respond to that, keeping a blank expression while inwardly battling with the turmoil that was threatening to crush him. On one hand, he was afraid of the exact same thing, too. Afraid of waking up back underground, powerless to stop it, completely at the whim of an unpredictable human. And yet, Sans could tell Frisk needed comfort, reassurance, and he was the only one who could provide it, the only one who understood what they were going though. It had never once occurred to Sans that Frisk might be going through the same fears he was and he wanted to slap himself for being so self-centered he hadn’t even noticed the struggles his dear friend was going through on their own. 

And despite his fears, what he said to them before rang true. He believed in Frisk. Sure they had messed up before (heck wasn’t like he was exactly Mr. Perfect either) but they had worked so hard to make up for past mistakes and then some. Without them, Sans wouldn’t be free, his family and friends would still be trapped underground, slowly losing their hope of ever seeing freedom for themselves. Sans had judged Frisk more times then he could count, but that last time, before they broke the barrier and declared they would never reset again, he could see they were determined to do right. There had been resolve in their eyes that day at the Judgement Hall, filled with the strength to do good. They held themselves taller than they ever had before and the way the light reflected off their skin and clothes, they looked like a real hero, like… an angel. That was the moment Sans knew things would be different this time, the first time in a long line of resets he allowed himself to hope. Small and fragile, yes, but it was what started him down the right path to fixing himself and he had needed that more than he even knew at the time.

So if he wasn’t willing to return the favor, then he’d be a real, bone-ified jerk. Heh. Not to mention a massive hypocrite. Besides he was positive if Frisk started crying again then he would start weeping some very unmanly tears, too, and he did not want to explain to the other patrons of the bar what caused his own water works, especially Grillby. He was already pushing it by coming there in such a depressed state, if the bar owner caught sight of him crying… well, he might just have to find a new place to drink his favorite brand of ketchup just to get him off his back. 

Sans wasn’t exactly the most experienced when it came to cheering people up, despite his jokes and pour sense of humor he was too much of a cynic to do much of that, but he had a pretty good idea what to say to the kid to ease their mind a little. So, one deep breath later, he gave their hair a good, long ruffle, not enough to hurt them but still strong enough that they were tipped slightly forward by the action.  

When he was finished, Frisk seemed taken aback by his response, their hair standing up at odd angles and their eyes wide with confusion but Sans’ plan had worked, he had successfully drawn their attention away from their own troubling thoughts and that was a win in his mind. “c'mon, kiddo,” Sans began, giving them a fake scolding look (which wasn’t easy to do when you are always smiling). “what kinda talk is that? thought you were supposed to be the ‘most determined’ or whatever. you seriously trying to tell me you're afraid of some button after literally coming back from death itself dozens of times?” 

Frisk didn’t respond, just staring at the skeleton blankly, so he decided to continue on with his speech, making sure the message sunk in deep. nah, sorry not buyin’ it.” He shook his head before putting on a warm smile, one he knew Frisk would recognize. “the frisk i know is way too stubborn for that. so stop tellin’ yourself otherwise.” 

“But Sans, what if something happens? What if things go wrong and ‘resetting’ might be easier?” Frisk asked, fear flooding their vision for a moment as they gripped his jacket fearfully. 

But Sans just shrugged it off, reassuring his kid, “then we’ll deal with it. i’m sure between the two us, we numbskulls can come up with some kind of solution that doesn’t involve resetting.” 

Frisk smiled a little at the pun but they were too focused on the rest of that sentence to comment on it. “‘We’?” they repeated in a small voice as if uncertain they had heard Sans' right.

The skeleton just nodded his head, winking down at his human friend. “that’s right, kiddo. no matter what happens or if things go terribly right or terribly wrong, i'll be right there by your side, so that we can face it together.” 

“You mean it?” Frisk asked hopefully. They wanted to believe that. They wanted so badly to believe they weren’t be alone in dealing with this anymore. But after everything they had done to Sans, even if he didn’t blame them, Frisk just couldn’t accept that as the truth.

“of course i meant it. What kind of dunkle would i be if i wasn’t there to help my kid through a crisis?” he winked playfully at his kiddo but it still didn't quite get through Frisk's barrier.

They at least gave a small halfhearted smile at the nickname they had made up for Sans but they just weren't convinced. After all, Sans had proven he was a pretty good liar. How could they know for sure he was telling the truth? That he wasn't just saying what they wanted to hear like adults tended to do.

The skelebro could see the doubt on their face and so swept them up into another tight hug before saying, "i'll be here for you, kiddo. no matter what. i promise."

Frisk’s mouth dropped open at the word ‘promise’. Sans hated making promises. He avoided committing himself to pretty much anything just to avoid the responsibility and consequences promises brought with them. Despite that, it was obvious promises were something Sans regarded highly, because when he did make them, he did not take them lightly. They were the only reason he hadn’t just disposed of Frisk the first time they met. In all the resets and all the different outcomes Sans had never once spoken those words to them and Frisk had honestly believed he never would. So for him to say those words without force or question or any kind of convincing blew Frisk's mind! 

Frisk pulled out of the hug, so they could show Sans their disbelief, giving him a look resembling a gapping fish. The skeleton couldn't help but chuckle at the odd expression (not that he blamed them) before giving their hair another good ruffle. "yeah, yeah, i know. 'i hate makin' promises','' he shrugged as he repeated his old words back to himself. "But if it helps ease your mind and keeps this from happening again…" Sans gestured around the bar, stopping at the unopened bottle of ketchup. "...then i guess it's worth it."

Frisk let out a long puff of air, their face relaxing for the first time in an hour. "So I guess you really condi-meant it," they replied and the two burst into laughter. Sans' laugh roared around the fairly-sized bar, drawing many questioning eyes onto the pair but neither noticed nor cared. All the stress and tension that had built up within them was finally able to be let out, a normal, pleasant calm falling over the pair. 

From where he stood cleaning out empty shot glasses, Grillby smiled to himself, happy to hear Sans' laughter in his bar again. The place always felt empty without it, even if the skeleton was a bit of a handful. 

"you have no idea how much I pro-missed hearing that laugh of yours, buddy, heh," Sans admitted jokingly, winking down at the giggling Frisk. This only made them laugh harder until there were tears in their eyes. 

Seeing that now was the right moment for it, Sans offered the kid his hand to shake. "so how's about it, frisk, partners against time?" 

Frisk smiled and nodded vigorously, taking the skeleton's outstretched hand. A loud fart noise echoed through the bar, any newcomers there stopping what they were doing with a look of disgust. Grillby's happy smile turned to an annoyed frown, facepalming in utter frustration and disappointment. He made a mental note to talk to Sans on a day he was doing better because at this rate he was gonna scare away all of his business. 

Frisk and Sans, on the other hand, both snorted, trying to hold in their laughter. But when Sans flipped over his hand revealing the whoopie cushion taped onto his palm the two lost it, laughing uncontrollably at the prank, Frisk holding their stomach from lack of oxygen. 

Finally, their roars of laughter died down to a low rumble, then a scattering of chortles. Once Frisk and Sans had worn themselves out, they both just took a moment to catch their breath, panting heavily and grinning ear to ear (or non-ears in Sans' case). Once the skeleton could speak again, he lazily stated, "welp, better get back home before pap freaks out and goes lookin' for us." Sans quickly swiped up the ketchup bottle off the counter, popping the lid off and finally taking a massive gulp from the bottle before sliding it away into his jacket for later. No use letting it go to waste, after all.

“Ummmm,” Frisk mumbled, looking over at the clock on the wall, quickly reading the time. It was only a few seconds till 7:30, right when Paps had said he would come in. “About that-” 

Just as the clock switched over from 7:29 to 7:30, the door to the bar busted open, the loud noise startling human and monster alike, a silence falling over the place as all turned to see who had so hastily entered their place of relaxation. Papyrus stood proudly in the doorway his scarf waving in the wind somehow, despite there not being any wind to speak of. The door itself was now nothing but splintered wood from where Papyrus had kicked it open and Grillby hung his head in defeat, already dreading another phone call to the very frustrated door repair man. The skelebro ignored all the confused and judging stares from around the bar, his focus on his brother and friends spotting them near the back. “SANS! HUMAN! DO NOT FEAR FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM HERE TO HELP YOU SOLVE YOUR DIFFERENCES AND BECOME BEST FRIENDS AGAIN!” the skeleton declared loudly. 

“bro?” Sans asked in confusion, an eyebrow slowly raising. He glanced over at Frisk, who offered a sheepish expression as the only means of explanation. “so, you got my bro in on this too, huh?” Sans commented before passing it off with a shrug. “heh, guess i can’t blame you, he is too cool to go without.”

“OF COURSE I AM!” Papyrus agreed, putting a hand to his chest. He quickly snapped out of his self-congratulatory praise though and returned focus to things almost as important as he was. “BUT DON’T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!" he scolded, moving his gloved hands to his protruding hips. "SANS, I DON’T KNOW ENTIRELY WHAT THE TINY HUMAN DID TO UPSET YOU BUT I’M SURE WHATEVER IT WAS IS NOT ENOUGH TO STOP BEING THEIR FRIEND. IF YOU DID STOP BEING THEIR FRIEND YOU WOULD FEEL BAD AND WHEN I WAS OUT HANGING OUT WITH FRISK YOU WOULD PROBABLY LAZE AROUND AT HOME AND I DON’T NEED ANY MORE EXCUSES FOR YOU TO BE LAZY.”

bro, it’s fine,” Sans spoke up, trying to sound as reassuring as he could. “frisk and i already worked things out.” 

“OH.” Papyrus paused for a second or two, letting that process, before he stuck a dramatic pose and proudly declared, “WOWIE! I’M EVEN BETTER AT THIS THEN I THOUGHT! NYEH HEH HEH!”

“you sure are, bro,” Sans agreed, pulling the bottle of ketchup out and taking a small sip. 

“You’re the greatest, Papyrus!” Frisk added, smiling up at the tall skeleton.

“WELL YES I AM, THANK YOU FOR NOTICING, TINY HUMAN FRISK!” Papyrus picked Frisk and Sans up and pulled them into a loving hug. “AND YOU AND MY BROTHER, even though he is very lazy, ARE VERY GREAT AS WELL, NYEH HEH HEH!” 

Frisk hugged the skelebro back while Sans just hung loosely from his arm, already fighting sleep, but still smiled nonetheless. “we’re only cool cause we hang out with you, bro,” Sans said, his words already starting to slur. 

“SANS ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GOING TO SLEEP RIGHT NOW? YOU JUST MADE UP WITH FRISK! WE MUST CELEBRATE ANOTHER VICTORY FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS.” 

“you know me, bro. I’m… the best at being la….zzzzy,” Sans began to snore loudly and Papyrus let out an over dramatic sigh. Frisk covered their mouth to keep their giggles from escaping, finding the two skeletons immensely funny and entertaining. There was never a dull moment with them around. 

Papyrus put a gloved hand to his forehead, before commenting bitterly, “I CAN’T TELL IF THAT WAS MEANT TO BE A PUN OR YOU ARE JUST REALLY THAT LAZY.”

“bit of both,” Sans muttered in his sleep. 

“OKAY, YOU LAZY BONES, IT’S TIME TO GO HOME AND PUT YOU IN YOUR PROPER BED, SINCE MY ARM DOES NOT COUNT AS ONE,” Papyrus declared, already stomping towards the door. 

“Wait, Papyrus, can’t we at least get something to eat first?” Frisk asked, sheepishly, rubbing their stomach. “I’m really hungry.” 

“NOT TO WORRY, HUMAN. FOR TGE GREAT PAPYRUS ALWAYS PLANS AHEAD, NYEH HEH HEH! YOU CAN EAT MY APOLOGY SPAGHETTI ON THE WAY HOME."

Frisk made a face, trying their hardest not to let their disgust show. Although Paps’ cooking had gotten better since getting to the surface, it was still mostly inedible. And the smell of burgers and fries had already filled their nostrils, making their stomach growl in want.

Luckily, Sans already had a solution to this dilemma, his right eye lighting up blue, unseen by Papyrus, thanks to how he was draped over his bro's arm. The plate of unopened spaghetti then also turned the pale color to match the skeleton's eye, before it suddenly scooted itself across the bar and onto the floor below. There was a shattering sound heard from Grillby's side of the table, said monster watching the plate fall before whipping his head in the direction of Sans, fuming with anger. 

Sans shrugged to the fire monster, hoping he would take that as an apology, while telling Papyrus, "sorry, bro. already are it all. you know apology spaghetti is my favorite spaghetti. you can taste the remorse in every bite."

Papyrus gasped, setting the human down so he could hold Sans at arms length (startling the older brother) his eyelights somehow sparkling with joy to convey just how happy he was to his brother. "OH SANS, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HAPPY THAT MAKES ME TO HEAR YOU SAY THAT, NYEH HEH HEH! I ALMOST FORGOT HOW MUCH YOU ENJOYED MY COOKING! YOU ARE THE BEST BROTHER I EVER HAD!"

"heh, pretty sure i'm your only brother, too," Sans mentioned.

Papyrus began spinning them in a circle, which Sans' body instantly disliked, the place where his stomach would be groaning in protest. "OH BUT IT'S TRUE! I'M CONFIDENT EVEN IF YOU WEREN'T MY ONLY BROTHER YOU WOULD STILL BE THE GREATEST BECAUSE ONLY THE BEST BROTHER WOULD LOVE MY SPAGHETTI SO MUCH!"

Sans put a hand over his smiling mouth, trying to keep his dinner down. "paps, ya think you could stop with all the spinning before this spaghetti turns into seafood?" The skelebro asked miserably. 

Papyrus did stop, looking at his brother in confusion. "WAIT, HOW WOULD IT DO THAT?"

Sans shrugged nonchalantly, despite his pale complexion, his face beading with sweat, and his groaning insides. "because, uh, y'know cause i was gonna throw it up."

Papyrus frowned at his brother muttering, "FIRST OF ALL, SANS, THAT IS DISGUSTING. SECONDLY, WE ARE SKELETON MONSTERS, FOOD JUST TURNS INTO MAGIC. WE PHYSICALLY CANNOT THROW UP."

"i hear ya, bro, but the rest of me just can't stomach it," Sans replied simply.

Papyrus stared at him blankly before shouting, "OH MY GOSH, SANS! THAT ONE WASN'T EVEN CLEVER!"

"hey, you can't blame me for the bad puns, bro," Sans pleaded, although there was not a hint of remorse or regret on his face. "i'm just too excited to get to spin more time with the great papyrus." 

Papyrus smiled, saying brightly, "WHY THANK YOU SANS, I KNOW I'M VERY GREAT-" However, he froze upon realizing the pun his older brother had just made. "SANS! WHY MUST YOU RUIN OUR MOMENTS WITH YOUR INFERNAL PUNS!" Papyrus stomped his foot once in anger, while Sans just rolled with laughter. He was soon having to clutch his front, his rib bones aching from the uncontrollable laughing fit.

Papyrus just rolled his eyes, knowing there was not much more he could do about his brother's obsession with terrible puns. In all honesty though, Papyrus would happily endure as many terrible jokes as it took if it meant getting to see his brother this happy. Not that he would ever, ever admit it to him. 

Papyrus felt a small tug on his scarf and looked down to see Frisk staring up at him with a hopeful expression. “Soooo, does that mean I can have something to eat here?” They put their hands together in a pleading motion, begging with their eyes to try and break through the skeleton’s barriers. Papyrus avoided their eye for a moment, seeming to think it over. 

From behind the three, Grillby crossed his arms, staring at Papyrus long and hard as he waited for the skeleton’s answer, the flames around his head burning a little stronger than normal. The least Papyrus could do after breaking his door (again) was buy something so that Grillby could afford to replace it. Still he didn’t voice this out loud because Papyrus was Papyrus and he really couldn’t stay mad at him for long. He was as charming and naive as he was destructive. With a combo like that, Grillby figured he would be paying for a lot of repairs if it meant having the skelebros around.

Sans, however, would be getting a firm lecture from him once they were alone because his bar was not a trash can, nor should it be treated that way. Although even Sans was difficult to punish, if Grillby had a right mind he would have banned them both ages ago, but he had a soft spot for the skeletons so he tolerated all their strange antics and pranks even if he probably shouldn’t.  

Finally, Papyrus seemed to reach a decision as he said in a halfhearted tone, “VERY WELL, SINCE I KNOW YOU TWO LOVE THIS PLACE, for reasons i don’t quite understand, WE MAY EAT SOMETHING HERE BEFORE GOING HOME TO MY SPAGHETTI.”

Frisk hugged Papyrus’ leg, saying excitedly, “Thanks, Papy! You're the best!” 

“I KNOW, NYEH HEH HEH,” Papyrus replied warmly, giving them a loving pat on the head before sending them off to order.

Sans finally stopped laughing long enough to call over to the kid, “hey, frisk, buy me a burger would ya?” 

“I THOUGHT YOU ALREADY ATE MY SPAGHETTI?” Papyrus questioned his brother in confusion. 

A few drops of sweat ran down his skull as Sans tried to think up a response to that, finally settling on, “i got a ton of room left, bro.”

“SANNSSSS….” Papyrus growled in a warning tone. 

But this didn’t stop Sans at all as he finished his joke with his signature wink, “a skele-ton.” 

“UGH, WHY DO I EVEN BOTHER?!” Papyrus shouted out of annoyance for his lazy brother. 

“c’mon you can’t stay mad at me, bro. we both know you love my puns,” Sans said, giving his brother a little pat on the shoulder. 

Papyrus sighed dramatically. “I SWEAR SANS I WILL DROP YOU AND THEN YOU WILL HAVE TO WALK YOURSELF HOME,” the skeleton threatened, though they both knew it was just a bluff. Papyrus would never drop his one HP brother for any reason, especially over a couple of bad puns. And even if he did, Sans had his shortcuts. But the older skeleton bro knew the real reason such a threat would never come to pass.  

“no, you won’t. you love carrying me around,” Sans pointed out in a nearly teasing tone. 

“I ADMIT NO SUCH THING,” the tall skeleton stubbornly responded, even though they both knew the truth.

“thanks for being there for me and the kid, bro,” Sans suddenly said, his tone switching from joking to serious in an instant. “it really means a lot to me.” 

“YOU ARE WELCOME, BROTHER,” Papyrus replied sweetly. But his jovial tone turned bittersweet as he added a bit sadly, “I’M JUST GLAD YOU AND THE HUMAN AREN’T FIGHTING ANYMORE. I KNOW YOU TWO ARE VERY CLOSE SO SEEING YOU UPSET AT ONE ANOTHER IS VERY DIFFICULT TO WATCH.” 

Sans didn’t respond to that, just watching as Frisk cheerfully spoke to Grillby, who was busy preparing the food, their light smile and happy laugh making Sans feel hopeful again. It was strange, all the years of darkness and despair, of endless resets and depression and death, they felt so far away when Frisk smiled. It made him want to smile too and keep smiling forever. There was still a lot to do to put himself back together but it no longer felt impossible. And it was all thanks to his kid, Frisk. 

“UM, I KNOW YOU DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED,” Papyrus reluctantly spoke up, cutting through Sans’ thoughts. “BUT DO YOU THINK YOU TWO WILL FIGHT OVER WHATEVER IT WAS AGAIN? BECAUSE IF SO THEN I SHOULD KEEP SOME APOLOGY SPAGHETTI READY FOR IF OR WHEN THAT HAPPENS.” 

Sans thought that over for a moment, looking up at Frisk again. Grillby had just finished with their order consisting of two burgers, some fries, and a vanilla milkshake for Papyrus. The human child must have felt their eye sockets on them because Frisk turned and waved over to the pair, smiling truly and genuinely at their very dear friends. And that look was all it took to give Sans his answer. “nah, bro. i think me and frisk are done doing the same thing over and over again. it’s time to start doing somethin’ new. and i for one am really set to start livin, heh.” 

A/N: Yes the last line was sorta a pun. More of an inside joke though XD

[agentwhiskeysdarlin]

12 Days of Christmas with Jack: Day 1

Pairing: Jack Whiskey Daniels x OC (kind of, written in second person though)

Rating: PG (general rating for the whole series)

Warnings: FLUFF the whole series is fluff, brief mentions of family passing

Word Count: 1,589 (this was suppose to be a drabble series y’all)

Author’s Notes:*cracks knuckles* here comes a hella long note section to start this off with. My lovely friend, Charlotte ( @clint-aww-no-barton​ ) and myself came up with this little series idea. I promised myself if I ever did a longer series I would not do it as a reader name insert so I came with with an OC kind of. Legit just has a name. I did try to make it more gender neutral but it may lead slightly more a female. Most things I tried to keep in mind or not add in so everyone could read it and enjoy it, plus it was a lot easier to write out with a name inserted. This series will be posted over the next 12 days with the last day posted on Christmas Eve. I am serious pray to the writer gods I can keep trucking it to get it completed for all of you. The beginning of some days may not have all this mess before it, I’m not sure how I will go about that yet but gosh I hope all of you enjoy this. It has been fun (and stressful cause its me let's be real). Charlotte thank you for putting up with me during all this and already thank you for putting up with me in the future. I am going to put this in its own masterlist under Jack’s name so you will click on it and it will take you to another one with all the parts. I will also link the previous part because it will have a connection throughout. Now that I typed another story I hope you all enjoy!!

Series Summary: Agent Jack Whiskey Daniels of Statesman agency has not been a fan of Christmas for a long time. Ever since the day he lost his wife and unborn baby the holiday always left him alone and cold. His coworker Ryder finds this out and is determined to make him fall in love with the holiday again. Follow Ryder as they set up different holiday activities to bring the Christmas spirit back to Jack’s life. Will feelings blossom? Will Christmas end up being Jack’s favorite holiday after all? 

  “Wait you’re telling me Jack doesn’t celebrate Christmas at all?!” You stared in shock at Ginger who sat across the break table from you.

  “Hasn’t for awhile as far as we all know. He has no family to spend it with so he either goes off somewhere tropical or covers Statesman for emergencies so we can spend time with our families. We have all tried to invite him to things but he won’t have it,” she shrugged her eyes full of sadness as she spoke.

  “That’s so sad. Someone needs to revamp his Christmas spirit,” a smirk played on your lips and Ginger stopped chewing to look up at you.

  “I mean you can try Ryder but I don’t know if he is going to take to it.”

  “Oh he will. I’m going to make sure of it. That man deserves to have a good Christmas and I’m going to make damn sure he does,” you smacked the table under you lightly.

  Ginger let out a laugh at your determination.

  “I wish you all the luck.”

  You gave her a smile and continued your lunch. When you were finished you went back to your desk to work on some more paperwork for Tequila. You had been working for Statesman for a few years now as a secretary. You helped the agents with the paperwork and the rest of the desk work some of them couldn’t sit still long enough to do. You loved your job. They were all incredibly sweet to you and treated you like one of the family. Jack and yourself especially had taken a liking to one another right off the bat. Constantly flirting and finding excuses to be together or hang out but as Christmas grew closer you noticed a slight change in the usually perky cowboy. You had finally broke down and asked Ginger about it exposing Jack’s distaste for the holiday season. You understood completely and didn’t want to overly push the ordeal on him but you wanted to at least try to bring his spirits up. You sat a notepad in your reach so when a thought ran across your mind you could jot it down. After the day came to a close you had twelve ideas to bring Jack’s Christmas spirit back and you were going to give all twelve a shot.

***

  There was two solid rings before his southern drawl interrupted the third one, a smooth hello making you smile slightly.

  “Hey Jack. Are you busy today?” You asked cautiously.

  “Not a thing darlin’ what’s wrong?”

  “Weeeell there is a leak and I’m not sure where it is coming from or how to even fix it.”

  “I’ll be right over alright,” Jack was urgent with his words and you could already hear him getting up and moving around.

  “Thank you so much Jack it sure would be a big help,” you tried to hide the smirk in your voice.

  “It ain’t no problem darlin’ see you in just a few.”

  You spoke your goodbyes before hanging up and glanced over your apartment. Everything was already set up for your little plan for the day. You almost felt bad lying to Jack but you weren’t sure if he would come over if you told him the truth of your plans for the day.

Your normal all out Christmas decorations were out and soft Christmas music played from a bluetooth speaker in the kitchen which was already set up as well. You thought Christmas cookies would be something small and simple you could ease Jack into this little plan you had for him. You were just finishing up getting things out and tying an apron around you when there was a knock on the door. You smiled before hurrying to the door and opening it. Jack stood there in casual wear but still topped off with a cowboy hat, his toolbox in hand. His eyebrows knitted together at the sight of you.

  “Okay I lied to you to get you over here,” you gave him an innocent look as you moved for him to come in.

  “What is going on Ryder?”

  “Ginger may have told me how you were always alone on Christmas and never cared for it because of it so I thought maybe I might do a few things for you so that you are not alone and to well maybe get you back into the spirit,” you fidgeted with your hands and looked up at him.

  “Oh Ryder you don’t have to do this darlin’,” he shook his head and gave you a chuckle.

  “No I want to. I can’t even think of you being alone on Christmas Jack or even during the season. I know what it’s like and I’m not letting it happen,” your voice was firm and a smile tugged at his lips.

  “So what’s first on the list then?” He glanced you over as he set his toolbox down and took his hat off.

  “Christmas cookies, small and simple,” you smiled and pulled the apron you had been hiding behind you out for him.

  He chuckled before putting on the apron and following you to the kitchen where you had already made the dough and had it rolled out and ready to cut.

  “I did the worst part but now we get to cut them out and decorate them,” you were beaming and Jack couldn’t hid the smile that spread across his face at your excitement.

  “I think I can manage doing this,” he glanced over the cookie cutouts that were spread all over the counter next to the dough.

  He picked up a Christmas tree one and carefully placed it down in the dough moving it slightly to get it all the way through before carefully pulling it up. You smiled even wider as he picked up the Christmas tree and smiled showing it to you.

  “See perfect!! Now just place it behind you on the pan and after we get enough we will bake and decorate!”

  The two of you cut out cookie after cookie, re rolling the dough when need be until the two pans you had prepped were full. You slid them carefully into the ready oven and then it was time to wait.

  “You can fix yourself a drink and relax. I’m just going to clean up a bit,” you spoke brightly to Jack before moving around the kitchen and dumping bowls in the sink.

  You had gotten everything used in the already soapy warm water when Jack came up next to you.

  “You wash and I’ll dry?” He gave you a smile and you couldn’t help to return it.

  “We can do that.”

  You started to wash things off and then handing them to Jack. You realized after a few moments that he was humming the Christmas song that was playing and you couldn’t help smiling to yourself. You washed the last bowl off and handed it over to Jack whose hand brushed yours and you swear you felt a shiver run down your spine. You glanced up at his eyes when he didn’t move his hand away either and caught him watching you. The two of you stood there froze in a stare down and you felt the butterflies erupt in your stomach. You let your eyes move from his to his lips for a mere second and then he was leaning in slowly. Just as the two of you were a few short inches apart the timer on the oven went off causing the both of you to jump and clear your throats. Jack took the bowl from you finally and began to dry it off as you rushed to the oven to remove the now baked cookies. You planted them on the counter and looked back at Jack with another wide grin. You pushed your little moment to the back of your mind for later and made yourself focus on the task at hand again.

  “Time to decorate!!” You were all too excited and Jack let out a laugh as he came back over.

  You moved around the kitchen quickly getting the icing, the sprinkles and metal tips for the icing. You fixed some icing up for Jack before handing it to him and getting a very questionable look from him.

  “I’m going to show you. I promise it’s not super hard.”

  You fixed your own icing and started to instruct Jack on how to pipe the icing onto the cookies. You watched him and smiled at how well he was doing. You couldn’t help but to giggle slightly watching this cowboy pipe icing.

  “What are you laughing at?”

  “Just seeing you of all people pipe icing is just wholesome,” you shrugged and elbowed him earning a smile from him.

  The two of you kept decorating until all of the cookies were done and you stepped back to look over your creations.

  “I don’t think they are half bad,” Jack spoke with excitement.

  “I think we did good too. Now to eat them!”

  You both grabbed one and very softly hit them together before taking a bite and sighing at how good they tasted. You quickly fixed the both of you some milk and you finished your cookies and downed the milk. 

  “Hey Ryder I really appreciate this,” Jack turned to you as he set his glass down.

  “You’re welcome Jack. Trust me I have much more up my sleeve,” you gave him a smirk as you turned to him.

  “Oh darlin’ of course you do.”

Tagged list: @jimmythegirl​ @arcadianempress​ @discogrrl​ @immundusspiritu​ @someplace-darker​ @thisis-theway​ @ohpedromypedros-main​ @scribbledghost​ @fioccodineveautunnale​ @spookyold-saintjm​ @ahopelessromanticwritersworld​

ANYONE ELSE WHO WANTS TO BE TAGGED PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!

[badger-writes]

Star Wars OC Ship Week 2021 - for light and love

uhhhh Hello! 😄

This fic and all its chapters was written for Star Wars OC Ship Week's inaugural year 2021, an event spotlighting OCxEC romances & platonic friendships helmed by @findswoman! It's also the first time I've personally ever taken part in an event week so I hope I do a good job! 😅

Whether you're a High Republic fan or you just want to see the big lizard get smooches, hope you enjoy! Leave comments and kudos if you do! Looking forward to sharing all I've written over the course of the week w/ y'all!

1 - How They Met

It all started, as these things do, in a medical bay.

Kelto Lem, a Jedi healer, had been busying himself with organizing the implements and instruments of the first aid wing in the Halls of Healing. This was light work, and peaceful, which suited him fine. Rarely, if ever, were there emergencies in the Jedi Temple of such scope and scale as to totally overwhelm the medical ward, and to the best of his recollection they had never occurred in the early morning, when dew was still settled on the trees and grasses of Monument Park. This made it an optimal time for preparing the ward for most of the day’s eventualities well ahead of schedule; this making good sense to him, he settled into this habit as a padawan and had never quite given it up. In time, it became almost a meditative practice for him - refilling stores of fresh bandages, taking stock of available pharmaceuticals and herbal remedies, refilling the kolto canisters…

And so it was in the middle of this daily routine that he was interrupted by the door sliding open. He turned to look and nearly dropped the medical scanner he was holding - for two reasons.

 The first: his guest was built like a permacrete E-Web bunker. Broad and tall, with an implied physicality that not even Jedi robes concealed, the visitor - a Trandoshan - strode into the ward with an aura of stern command, stolid orange eyes locking upon Kelto almost immediately. His emerald scales shone with a slight luster as he walked, the claws of his toes clicking against the tile floor, until he came to the edge of the biobed in the center of the room less than a foot away from the resident healer. The sheer weight of his presence made Kelto feel small by comparison - he, a shorter pale-scaled Rodian with stripes of deep blue running along his jaw and neck, who wore a satchel of first aid essentials on his hip everywhere he went and tied back his spines in a long, narrow topknot ending in a spiky pom where they escaped the hold of the strip of linen which restrained them.

The second: he was covered in scorchmarks.

“Star’s End,” Kelto said, when he could finally get his (dry, dry) mouth to work correctly. “What in the world happened to you?”

The Trandoshan rumbled, mouth pulling to one side in chagrin. It was a deep, bassy sound, and it landed straight in the pit of Kelto’s stomach. 

“A… mishap with the duelling droid,” he grunted, in the sibilant speech of his species. “I was not focused. Lost sight of my present. It seized the opportunity, as you can see,” he added, gesturing to his scorched robes.

“You were training? This early? Chee,” Kelto said, shaking his head. “And I thought my morning habits were odd - jump up on the bench, here, I’ll patch you up.”

He turned away to fetch some burn relief supplies, piling them on a tray. When he turned back, the Trandoshan had sat upon the biobed - and his tunic was resting carefully folded on the bench beside him.

“Ahghg,” he said, and everything on his tray rattled as he short-circuited.

The Trandoshan gave him an odd look. “Yes?”

“Oh, nothing. Nothing. I’m fine,” Kelto stammered. “Let me just, uhhh… set this down here.”

He let the tray’s repulsorlifts catch it in midair, so that it would hover at his side. Then he took a ball of fluff and daubed it in a squat open vial of kolto, letting the excess drip off and trying not to think too much about the barrel-chested masterpiece of physicality sitting just within arm’s reach to his right.

“So, how did this happen, Master …?”

“Knight, actually,” the patient replied. “Not master - not yet, anyway. And as I said, I was training.”

“Only a Knight? ...Well, I guess if you were a Master, you wouldn’t have ended up - err, you know what, forget I said that.”

With kolto-ball and medigauze dressings in hand, Kelto turned to his patient and gave him a quick once-over. There were injuries in areas roughly corresponding to the placement of scorch marks on the surface of his clothes, but fortunately, most of them didn’t seem too severe - the robes acting as a layer of insulation against the worst of it. Quite intentionally, he started on the outside limbs, an attempt to spare himself another hot flush provoked by looking straight on at his patient’s torso. Sskeer didn’t even flinch when he touched the wet medical fluff against an abrasion on the side of his arm.

“I train on one or two levels above the normal training setting,” the Trandoshan offered, by way of explanation. “Thus, my injuries.”

“Ah,” Kelto murmured, mostly to himself. “A masochist.”

Sskeer grunted reproachfully. “The training settings are designed to hold back. There will be no such reprieve in the field. Therefore, I train the body to anticipate the presence of harm - to become numb to its threat, and then, to surpass it.”

“So you’re fine with the pain?”

“Pain can be ignored. And my people have thick hides. I endure.” 

“Well, I’m no duelist, but in my estimation you could probably stand to bump back down a few levels,” Kelto observed, winding a bandage around his forearm. “At least until you can defeat one of those saber-happy droids.”

Sskeer hrrred. The sound landed in Kelto’s gut again. “Bold words from a nurse.”

“Bold enough to be a Knight, like you.” The Rodian retorted, flashing him a smirk - and turning away immediately when the sensation of being perceived became too much. (His cheeks were so warm - was it supposed to be so hot in here?) Falling silent, he took one of Sskeer’s wide, thick-fingered hands in his own, turning it to inspect the green welt on its back.

“I did not realize you had risen to Knighthood as well,” the Trandoshan offered as Kelto dressed his injury. “If I offended, it was not by intent.”

“It’s fine. I’d rather people forget, honestly. Most people, they see a Jedi and think, ‘wow! Laser swords! Magic powers!’ - but that’s… never really where I felt comfortable.”

“You feel your place is here.”

“It’s where my talents lie, I think. I’ve sort of been drawn to the healing halls ever since I left the creche. And… well, to be honest, I like being able to help people doing this. So… I guess it’s true what they say, about the Force having a path for us all, and all that.”

Sskeer hummed. “That is good.”

“Yeah, and I remember when I was little, Master Rancisis came by the ward and said a-- I’m sorry, am I rambling? I’m rambling, aren’t I? I’ll just shut up and tend you--”

“It’s fine.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I just dropped basically my whole backstory on you--”

“It’s fine,” Sskeer said - firmly, but patiently. “Really.”

And Kelto believed him.

It’s funny, he thought suddenly, how quickly you can get comfortable with someone else. A moment ago he could barely stand to meet Sskeer’s gaze - now, though, he could look him straight in the eye without feeling like wilting. Sskeer had surprisingly deep eyes, he noticed, for how small they were. Deep and dark. Like he could dip into his pupils and fall forever --

Oh gosh, there’s a huge green mark right on his temple. How did he miss that??

Kelto dunked a fresh puffball in the healing fluid and held it up to the Trandoshan’s brow, cradling it in his long, sucker-tipped fingers. This time, when it touched his skin, Sskeer flinched and barely suppressed a hiss. On instinct, Kelto shushed him - a habit picked up from soothing much younger patients, when he got his start tending the younglings’ skinned knees and broken bones.

“This one’s not so bad, I think,” he murmurs. “Just needs a little kolto to help keep it clean. Just put some ice on it every few hours for the swelling and it’ll go away soon.”

“And this?”

“Hm?”

Sskeer gestured again to a long line of angry green flesh across his trunk.

“OH Force,” the Rodian cried, slapping a hand against his forehead. “I completely missed that somehow, thank you so much, I’m so sorry. Gods, I’ll get right on that--”

The Trandoshan surprises him with a chuckle. “Rather absentminded for a healer, aren’t you?”

“D-don’t judge!” Kelto sputters. “I’ve been distracted.”

“By what, exactly?” Sskeer asked, with a smirk.

“... J-just lie all the way down, please?”

Sskeer leaned back onto the biobed, hands resting behind his back. Now the whole of his broad, stocky abdomen lies prone under the glowlights, throwing the long diagonal burn across his trunk into stark, unmistakable relief.

“Why is this one so much worse,” Kelto wonders aloud.

“I wouldn’t call it ‘worse’. As I said, I endure.”

“I’m sorry, this doesn’t look like a giant, stinging saber-welt to you?” Kelto peered closer at the mark, hesitantly plying the flesh of the Trandoshan’s belly under his fingers. “...Actually, wait. This is almost a first degree burn. What kind of training saber makes marks like these?”

Now it was Sskeer’s turn to fall quiet and avoid eye contact.

“...You… did something pretty dumb, didn’t you.”

“...When my performance against the droids began to suffer, I… disabled some of the limiters on the droids,” Sskeer growled, at length.

“Y-you did WHAT?”

“I thought it would motivate me to improve,” he shrugged.

“So when I called you a masochist earlier and you didn’t really deny it--”

This time, Sskeer almost snarled. “It’s no crime to seek out a proper challenge.”

“Oh, and if every adrenaline junkie Padawan jumped off the High Council Tower, you would too?”

“Will you just stop arguing and fix this?”

“I--” Kelto groaned. “Okay, whatever, big guy. Just - just hang on.”

He arranged his hands on either side of Sskeer’s wound - one above on his chest, one below on his stomach. Then he sucked in a deep breath through his snout and released it slowly, letting his eyes fall shut as he exhaled. 

He was panicking, he knew. Overcorrecting. There was no reason to take things this far when he was literally standing in a room filled with other, more practical solutions - and certainly not over something so silly as a shouting match with a Knight he barely knew. But by now, good sense and training had momentarily fled him. 

Here, in this moment, Kelto sank into the Force and let himself be guided by the simple instinct to help.

He took another slow breath in, and out, and began to concentrate.

And then…

Sskeer sensed it before he saw it. He craned his neck over his chest to see - and rose up on his elbows, watching intensely.

With preternatural speed, the hideous burn across his torso lightened, shrank - and then vanished. In its place only unblemished scales remained.

Like he’d never even been touched.

Kelto let out one final, explosive breath - and almost collapsed. Sskeer jolted to his feet and grabbed his arms, cradled his back in one arm, steadying him on his feet until he could recover.

“Nice catch,” Kelto panted, when he’d finally recovered.

Sskeer was looking at him differently, the Rodian noticed through the blur of lightheadedness. Looking with him with something like awe.

“That was… quite a feat,” the Trandoshan noted. “It seems you were correct to follow the path of the healers.” 

“Y-yes, well,” Kelto murmured sleepily, “we all have our own special talents.” 

His eyes trailed back to Sskeer’s chest, fingertips idly following their gaze down his trunk. They tickled, just slightly; Sskeer registered an unexpected, but not wholly unpleasant shiver down his spine.

“Think we’re all done now,” the Rodian mumbled. Then his big, sea-blue eyes blinked - slowly, then rapidly, like a Wookiee propeller-engine starting up - and he realized his hand was just shy of cupping one of Sskeer’s pecs.

“UM,” he said loudly, jumping away. “YEAH, so, all done. Clean bill of health. You should be completely fine within the next day or so, and then you can go get your butt handed to you by the training droids again, right? Yup, glad to help, have a nice day, May the Force Be With You and all that jizz, ahaha~”

The Rodian became a flurry of hyperactivity around the ward, re-stocking and re-checking shelves and cabinets for reasons Sskeer could not divine. To appear busy, he supposed - and discourage his continued presence.

It was, he decided, reather endearing. 

Sskeer let the flustered healer flail a moment more before saying, “I don’t think you ever shared your name.”

When he looked over his shoulder, Kelto’s face looked as bright as a Life Day orb - only much, much greener. “Huh?”

“Force healing is no small feat,” the Trandoshan observed, slipping his tunic and tabard back over his shoulders. “To have seen it performed is a privilege; for something as small as my own self-inflicted injury, and after my own stubbornness - an honor. 

“I’d prefer to thank you for it properly, and to apologize. But for that, I must ask your name.”

The Rodian stared. Then coughed, turning to lean back against the counter before him. “Uh, well… That’s … kind of you, but I - you know, we’re Jedi and all. W-we don’t really serve for gratitude’s sake.”

“For the sake of a fellow Jedi, then, and a friend?” 

“…Friend?”

A bemused head tilt. “Are we not?”

“W-well, that’s moving a bit quickly, isn’t it? I mean - we don’t even know each other’s names.”

Sskeer stared.

“Sorry. Sorry. I’m not dumb, I swear, I’m just -- panicking.”

The Trandoshan gave him a funny look. (It was kinda cute, Kelto noticed, when his nose scrunched up like that.) 

Just spit it out. Spit it out. Spit it out. You’re blowing it. Just spit it out spititout spititout---

“My name’s Kolto,” he said -- and groaned.

“Your name,” Sskeer echoed, “is...‘Kolto’?”

“Noooo, no, not ‘Kolto’ - Kelto! Kelto! My name is Kelto. Kelto Lem. I just - I’m just called ‘Kolto’. By - certain people.”

“Because… you work with kolto?” he ventured. “Or because it happens to sound similar?”

Kelto sulked, crossing his arms. “Because Torban Buck thinks he’s funny.” 

Understanding dawned. “Ah. Yes, he certainly does.”

“Mmmmgh. Well, now that I’ve botched my own introduction, I guess you know me. So you can leave me to my shame, now, I guess.” Kelto returned to the business of managing the ward - opening and closing cabinet doors slightly harder, this time.

A wide, three-fingered hand landed on his narrow shoulder, making him jump.

“Thank you, Kelto Lem,” Sskeer said. “Truly, you’re a credit to the Order.”

His voice was deep and warm. Kelto swore he could feel his breath tickling his ear.

“A-anytime,” he replied, spine locking ramrod straight.

He senses Sskeer’s presence pass by behind him, and imagines it’s what little Rodian swamp-fish feel like when big surface trawlers pass by, and catch them in their wake. “And perhaps when I continue my training,” Sskeer added, “I will remember to return here, for my wounds to be dressed.”

“Orrr you could crush those droids and never need to come back here again!” Kelto shakily returned.

“I’m sure I could, at that,” Sskeer chuckled. And the door slides shut behind him.

The moment Kelto was certain he was alone, he took a little paper cup and pours himself a drink of cool sinkwater. It takes gulping down two full cupfuls before he cools down, sinking heavily on his elbows against the counter.

“‘Kolto’,” he muttered, scoffing. “God damn it.”

[normieexclusive]

How My MC wins the boys over:

Ah, um, this really went off from the original story line. This was also supposed to be a short simple thing but then I started thinking and two hours later Im left with a bunch of messy notes and thoughts

The first to fall victim is:

Mammon turns out to be easy, literally MC just shows him an ounce of kindness and he takes it and runs. 

Unconsciously MC gets much softer around him then the others (A combination of total trust in him and wanting to show how much love he deserves despite his brothers treating him harshly) 

 hes the one that gets the most kisses, the most hugs, and its great for them at first because they get to make fun of the dumb ass second born getting doted on but some silly little human and (while denying it constantly) loving it. 

But then the others start to actually like MC and Mammon can nearly feel the six pairs of eyes glaring him down as his Human showers him with all the affection before going about their day. 

(There’s one moment where, while Mammons sitting on the floor and MC is on the bed and he's making fun of one of his brothers that MC just grabs him by the back of his shirt collar- with only a finger- pulls him in between her legs (So his back is to her) and gives him a kiss on the top of his head as she coos "Mammon, be nice to your brothers" and he shuts down for the rest of the day) 

Second, but the bestest of friends!:

With Levi its by being a grade A nerd and overthinking.

 She reads all of TSL for their big quiz, and watches the movies with Beel and mammon, but on top of that the nerd goes back to the books and starts to annotate everything. 

She starts digging for any bit of subtext she can find and jotting down notes in the margins, in her notebook, on sticky notes. 

It becomes enough of an issue that she has to buy a new set because the first (Old and used) ones she got off of akuzon are ruined with her messy scrawling.

 During the quiz they are evenly matched (if only because shes given such easy questions. Shes pissed but at the same time oh gosh she is really not up to Levis level) and somewhere along the way she just... Goes off about this theory of hers and reading the subtext because she needs to get this out and it seems like Levis the only one that can really keep up with her 

(She tried to talk to Mammon and Beel but, honestly, they're as helpful as you'd think)

 She forgets about the whole quiz and yanks out her vandalized book in order to debate with Levi about a part. Levi is horrified at the state of her TSL book and nearly goes apeshit right there, but then she shows just how much of a nerd she truly is by showing him the much nicer version she brought along

("And its even signed! Can you believe that! I didn't order a signed one cause they were too expensive but somehow the boxes must have gotten switched up! Ah! Levi! You have a shrine in you're room for them right! You should have these copies, I think you'll take more care of them then I can!")

Whenever they have a conversation its gibberish to everyone around them but they get it and that’s what matters.

(They spend nights just in his room and no one knows what they're doing so they assume the worst. The others always send Levi dirty looks when it happens, and Levi always looks a little more refreshed after every one.

They're having anime/gaming/TSL marathons but Levi lives for the jealousy that rolls off his brothers so hes not telling them anytime soon)

Somewhere starting after her pact with Levi and after the Lucifer/Satan Body switch:

The whole fiasco with Levi actually leads to Satan warming up to her!

 He had initially brushed her off as a soon to be Lucifer Lapdog (and also kind of dumb) but now he's interested. 

Someone whos capable of dissecting a book like that has to at least have some ability to reason, he just cant figure out if that moment was a fluke or if shes actually smart. 

He refuses to start a conversation with her like a normal person and instead resorts to pranking her at every opportunity hoping to see if she’ll think her way out of it (He does leave some hints for when ones about to happen, but gets frustrated when she walks right past them)

 It backfires on him tremendously because, somehow, they never seem to work! it goes to the point where it becomes rube goldberg levels of pranks that are always almost-but-not-quite misses because she bent down at just the right time to pick up a shiny rock. 

Satan is at his wits end and ready to rip someone apart

 his pranks start to extend to the others, it’s only after mammon mentions such that it finally clicks in her...

That same day she willingly walks into a pie in the face and Satan nearly cries. 

After he starts to rile her up more often with words. He learns very quickly that she is a fantastic debate partner and, if he can find the right button to push, he’ll get her going for hours as they go back and forth

(And!! Even better!! Not only does she listen to everything he says and waits her turn! But Shes willing to change her opinion when she thinks he has a better point. When she loses She’ll come back hours later to drag more information out of him.

That’s usually not the case though, because Satan finds way too much enjoyment out of playing devils advocate and will simply choose whatever is opposition her POV. 

He tried to argue about how she couldn't possibly like a flavor of candy she was eating because he didn't like it and nearly gave her an aneurysm)

(To his complete embarrassment, though, he has gotten hard during one of their debates and nearly lost because she looked fucking amazing as she shouted at him)

A bond that starts right at their first meeting and grows throughout her entire time there:

Beel is scary at first, and Lucifer- for some forsaken reason- made it her job to make sure Beel doesn't clean out the fridge every single day.

Shes scared of the man that seemed more then willing to eat her, but shes more scared of whatever punishment Lucifer would deal if she didn't at least try.

 So she goes

 It only takes her one run in with Beel and his puppy dog eyes (Because how could she just stop him like that!! How awful of her!!) for her to figure out that

 A: this man is harmless and...

B:she knows what hunger pains feel like and the guilt wells up

Still she knows she can let him go so she spends her grimm allowance on buying ingredients to cook with and makes him huge meals as "offerings"

 It doesn't always stop him from eating half the fridge, but sometimes it seems like he's willing to actually savor what she makes. 

It gives her enough time to save the ingredients for dinner that night. (and If Beel sometimes wanders over to the kitchen while shes watching so shell make something for him, well there’s no harm done

The bastard pavlov dogged her and shes none the wiser) 

Slow and steady, the pieces fall into place naturally:

Asmo turns out to be another easy one, to her shock.

Even with MCs jealousy over how stunning Amso looks and how easy it is for him... they just seem to drift to each other

Starts with a comment on Asmos sharp eyeliner one day, and Asmo asking MC what shampoo she uses. 

Then the next day the same brand shampoo (And conditioner) will be left outside his door. And after MC will walk into the bathroom first thing in the morning only to wonder whom the fuck applied eyeliner to her in her sleep

It starts with days where they greet each other in the morning, to Stopping to chat for a few moments before heading on with their morning routine, to them walking down together, to Asmo fussing over her disheveled look after just waking up ‘-seriously Asmo not everyone can just roll out of bed like some Demons and look stunning’ - to ‘MC move over a scooch I need more room’ ‘Asmodeus this is my bed’ ‘Well how are we both supposed to fit when its so small!’, to weekly spa days and Gossiping about the others.

Its such an smooth transition that they both feel like it had always been as it was- two friends whispering secrets to each other late at night, pinky promises made over arbitrary things, laying so close that they can feel the others breathing. If maybe he leaned in a little closer they would--

--Oh... She fell asleep again. 

And he curls up next to her, blanket wrapped around both of them (That is, until Asmo hogs it later) and sleeps peacefully

A build up of trust, and a moment of venerability that finally knocks down his walls:

Swallows her pride for Lucifer

Its hard to explain in words for her, but she tells him of her family.

A family that is good but dosnt care, that used to leave her alone for hours on end when she was far too young. She says it with a smile too, admits that it helped her become as independent as she was, that she could cook for herself before she was 10.

She tells him of her younger brother. Someone she tried her best to love as much as she could only for him to, one day, just stop talking to her. Years trying to build back an abruptly cut connection only for him to snap one day and change his tune to something much worse. A family that watched as he screamed at her, berated her and never did anything. How she still stood tall, how she swallowed back every tear and tried to talk to him with a steady voice- only for him to become angrier.

How, when he did try to snap at other members, she was always there to stand between them. How she was the one to chase him off or take the yelling despite her family never doing the same for her. How she was the stable rock of the family where no one was for her.

Physical violence was only once, but it was enough for her to know things would never change.

She was like him in a way, same but different.

and She cant bear to see the same thing happen to him.

She wants to help, she knows shes just a little, useless human but please she needs to help. She cant bare leaving another broken family behind without helping. Her life had been stagnate before them, unbearably lonely, and she just wants them to be happy, even if that means without her

 even if it means she has to shove her nose where it doesn't belong

So... please... Please... Talk to Belphie. Please. He said he just wants to tal--

(She had earned Lucifer's respect not too long ago, and - to everyone's shock- the revel of what she came upon does not bring upon Lucifer's fury. Instead, he feels a deep understanding that he’ll never say aloud

Shes still going to get lectured, though. But he is too.) 

It takes time:

Spends what probably amounted to most of her time in Devildom with that little fu--

(No, No. Belphie needs help, she needs to reel it in for now.)

She gets what it means to be lonely. Despite her distrust of the man who caged up in a place where the bad people are, you know, supposed to be caged up and tutored feels like she needs to do something- if only to make sure he doesn't lose his mind from the isolation.  

(Rethinks a lot of her life and how she spent just hiding away from everything. How she would lock her door and never come out unless the sounds of another fight reached her. Thought about how it probably messed her up more then shes willing to admit and refuses to let the same thing happen to him

Oh sweet summer child)

Less trusting of him when its reviled that hes the seventh born, but more willing to help. If only for Beels sake

Brings stuff up to his room, a toy, a fluffy blanket, food that she snagged last minute. He complains hes cold one day and she yanks off her own sweater for him

(It all gets flushed down the toilet when she leaves, he scrubs his skin raw thinking about how his room smells disgustingly like that fucking human now) 

And then, one day, it just... changes: 

A human stands between him and the fucker that locked him up in there, his brothers that never knew he was there. All of them watching him with such pity in their eyes and he didnt want it- he didnt want their p-

The door was unlocked.

He was free.

Just like that.

it made no sense. He learns that they-- She-- spent hours dancing around Diavolo, deals were made. A room where it was just her and The Prince of Hell, promises not even Lucifer knew (And some part of Belphie relished in the fact that it was eating away at the fucker) 

("All those hours shouting at each other paid off” She looks to Satan with a smile. A joke he was not privy to. Lucifer huffed but said nothing. 

How much had changed since he was locked up?) 

A slow, downward spiral 

They're never alone, someone is always with her or with him (Beel sticks to his side like glue. after so long he finally gets to sleep next to his brother again) 

He finds food in the fridge with the words “For Beel <3″ in this awful chicken scratch handwriting. Mammon’s screaming interrupts his naps one day and he wakes up to see her smothering the second born in kisses. Her shouting wakes him up as her and Satan pass, her voice becoming high pitched as they argue about... the number of toes humans are supposed to have???? (she sits down next to him and rips off her shoes in a fit of rage, demanding that Belphie count with her because what the fuck-

Satan sneers at her feet and tells the only actual toes are her two big ones, the rest are just digits.)

There’s traces of her everywhere. Layers of clothing haphazardly thrown about after a day at RAD and then neatly placed away. A mention of her name at the dinner table before shes there. Not even his and beels room is safe from her- he can smell her scent on Beels pillow. Faint, but a awful reminder of the human down the hall. 

He hates it, he wants to throw it all away. He wants to erase her memory from his home, he wants to ripe her apa--

A blanket is draped over him one day, and he cant bring himself to open his eyes to see who did it...

She talks to him, Or more like at him. The longer he stays freed the harder is it to hide his distaste towards Humanity and- especially- to her. He thinks shes dense, because he knows his brothers sense there’s something wrong (Levis tail wraps around her when hes too close, Lucifer stands between them, Amso pulls her by the waist. Close to him, further from belphie) But she doesn't. She pushes closer. She asks him questions.

She never touches him, one small blessing in Hell. 

Beel believes him when he bashfully admits one night that he may start to enjoy his time spent with human. And for a moment he feels guilty about the lie but its all for a greater goal

When its just the three of them, Beel leaves for a moment too long. To get snacks, to grab something from another room, it doesn't matter. This was the moment he waited for. 

She smiles at him, all kind and gentle (And the words that leave her lips are unheard through the blood rushing through his ears) and leans forward

He puts his hands around her neck

She goes limp.

He-

He needed to-

He couldn’t squeeze.

Beel comes back with the biggest grin on his face, arms full of snacks (”Here MC I got your favorite”) He sits on the opposite side of Belphie, leaning into him with enough weight that his own shoulder presses against MCs, mushing her against the wall. 

Despite her smile he can feel her shaking.

[when-are-you-coming-back-steve]

I’m inpatient so, backstory Part 1

Mochi had a good life honestly. Well if you didn't think too much into it. They learned things that others apparently didn't learn but that just meant they were smart right? They grew up in a house that had a stable income and everything was perfectly normal, they were perfectly normal. Except other kids didn't know how to hide from the cold alone outside, they didn't know how to manipulate someone, they didn't know how to blend into the shadows or know how to eavesdrop without anyone even knowing you exist. The others didn't know that everyone was constantly in danger of the others, they trusted and they loved not realizing the secrets they handed out freely. But it's not a big deal, she was just a little different, a little smarter, that's what everyone else said. 

They were a good kid with good grades with a normal family and was completely normal. They weren't like the kids who were constantly beat, they weren't thrown insults. She wasn't a genius or a prodigy and she wasn't stupid, she seemed to have a mind slightly off. 

No one batted an eye when they started writing down in notebooks, why would they? Mochi didn't exist. But Mochi had faced the consequences of talking and accidentally dropping that said knowledge, it wasn't something they needed having happen again. All the information in their mind needed an outlet though, somewhere to be reliably stored and shared so they started the notebooks. 

It was filled with everything they needed, information on different people, info on places, analysis, murder plans, and escape plans, animals and technology, anything that came into their mind. 

What does any of this have to do with the Chaos family? Well it went like this.

Mochi was watching the latest thing that caught their attention; the chaos family. To be honest the family scared them, quite an accomplishment but very concerning. Mochi knew Sal, a far off neighbor, thought they were a mafia family, but that wasn't what scared them. They were just too authentic and trusting. Some of the members would only be there for a few days and a spot at the table was there, every part of people coming out and then appreciated. Everyone listened and cared and it was wrong. Nothing was sugar-coated, but why would it when most of it was so nice. Mochi couldn’t understand how they did that. So they spent much of their time now trying to find info on the family.

One of the members, who they seemed to call Cenn or Renn, was working on a project from ver work while the kids hung out at the playground. Cenn was their favorite to watch, they don't know why. Maybe it had to do with how much ve ended up telling their projects out loud, it was always fun to work it out while watching vem. Ve had just told the lawyer, Green, about ver most recent project, so they excitedly got to work. Apparently, they got too excited as their shaking caused their notebook to fall loudly against the ground. 

Cenn’s head turned to my direction, where they sat frozen on my tree, and then looked down at the notebook, “Need any help?”

Mochi immediately became stuttering and waving their hands around, “I..Its...no..yeah..it's fine…” 

Apparently it was Mochi’s unlucky day because Cenn was already picking up the notebook, and even worse, the page it was turned to was the same page that held their answer to Cenn’s project. What was supposed to be a small glance became a stare as Cenn saw the name of the page. As much as they wanted to, Mochi couldn’t stop vem from reading it. And so for a minute Mochi sat tense as the tree and Cenn read the stupid notes until,

“What is this?”

“Well, you see, just some notes for an idea, it's nothing.”

“..I’ve been working on this thing for a hour, how long have you been taking these notes.”

“Just a little while, a few minutes? I just overheard a little and my mind ran off I guess, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, this is great. I didn’t even think of this.”

Oh no. This was not supposed to be a conversation. Time for an escape route. The layout of the park ran through their head as they tried to think of a good reason to leave. 

“I’m sorry but I really got to go, y’know mum probably wants me home by now.” The lie came out naturally. 

“Really? Where do you live?” Shit. Where do they live again? Is it better to lie or tell the truth? No time, just answer ve are waiting, 

“Oh uh over there.” And they pointed. Towards where they most definitely not live. Mochi pointed towards the town with the worst crime rates, and that's including the Chaos family. Great.

Of course a wave of concern crossed Cenn’s face. A kid, walking towards there, alone, at sunset? Not a good idea. “Would it be okay if I walk you there?”

Yeah no. This was already completely off script. So of course in their panic induced brain, they flipped on the tree to grab the notebook and jumped off towards where they pointed. Mochi started running backwards when their wits came back, “I should really get home now. Run home y’know. Mum probably wouldn’t like that, stranger danger right?” and turned around to sprint around the block. 

That went great.

``````````````````````````````

Of course, when Mochi was around Cenn again, ve saw them and came over. 

“Did you get home okay?”

“Yeah great. Thank you.”

“I was wondering actually, do you have any more notes on my project?” A whole page maybe. 

“Just a little bit, nothing really.”

“Do you mind if I read it.” Absolutely yes. 

“Yeah..no..um you can read it.” Yes, hand vem the notebook that has everything that proves you stalk their family, great idea. Mochi knew this was a terrible idea, so they went to minimize the damage, opening to the right page before handing it to vem. Thanks to anything holy Cenn only read the page they gave. Hopefully ve would read it, hate them and leave. A million different scenarios ran through Mochi’s mind of what they should do, when Cenn decimated every single plan by taking out a flyer?

Mochi's eyes were already scanning the page, when Mochi saw "Hiring"

What in the ever living.. 

“What?” 

“Well, I’m swamped with work, and honestly this is the best thing I’ve seen in years.” W h a t.

“Okay?”

“So, I could use someone with a brain like yours to get some of this work off my back," Cenn handed them the flyer and said, "Here. Just think about it.:

 ```````````````````````

Ok, ok, ok. No or yes? Interaction is hell but it would get me more information. It is just helping Cenn right? No reason to actually interact with more of the family.

This is a bad idea. The worst idea possible. But..

The poster stared through Mochi. In big bold letters “Hiring” and under that, “Advisor for Maxx Chaos needed.” 

They should just write it down. Look out for new people around the chaos family. But..

A job would help pay for notebooks. This job would allow more information on the Chaos family. It could be fun, working on Cenn’s projects. 

And look at that they already sent a quick text to the number on the poster, “Need a resume?”

Oh no. What are they doing? Their resume is atrocious, nothing of substance just random facts, it would probably scare anyone off. 

The phone beeped, “A resume, you say?”

And well gosh, you can’t leave the Chaos Family on read.  So they quickly copy and pasted the resume. 

Once again a terrible idea. 

“Wow. If you want to you can be my advisor.” 

And that's how you destroy a Mochi. What in the world?

“What's the hours?”

“Always. Come to the address listed as soon as you can.”

...Mochi is right outside the house. How long is an acceptable amount of time till someone should arrive? Can’t be too early or too late, don’t want to make it worse.. And the choice was out of their hands. 

“Who are you?” Oh no. A member of the family, wondering why in the world I’m standing in front of their mansion. 

Guess the best time is now. “I’m the new guy, well Cenn’s advisor? Ve told me to come a.s.a.p.”

“Cool! Come in, ve are probably in the meeting room. Good luck!”

The person dragged them in and they left. Mochi is left alone, in a mansion, with no direction. A meeting room. 

It is a little concerning how nobody gave more than a glance at a random person wandering around in the house. But they found the room with little ruckus. Well things were blowing up in some hallways but it is the Chaos family. Mochi turned the handle to the door that said “Meeting room” and started the job. 

[roseskiesandbutterflies]

Pain Is So Close To Pleasure (modern!Queen x platonic!reader) - Chapter 2

Summary: As a recently promoted Soloist for the Royal Ballet, you move closer to Covent Garden with your three-year-old daughter, Rose. But your new neighbour turns out to be the last person you'd expect to pop up on your doorstep.

A/N: This chapter, but really this whole fic, has such a specific vibe and I love it?? Like I can relate to a lot of the things I describe, and I don’t know if that’s a me thing, or a British thing, or just a thing. Anyways I’m here for it. And if you’re not British and don’t relate to this fic in the way I do, and you’ve wondered what it’s like to live in Britain, this might give you a rough idea.

The chapter count for this crept up again because I’ve had about two or three more ideas for this. I think now would be a good time to mention that I’m treating this as more of a load of one-shots set in the same verse, rather than a story with a plot. That’s why it will start to seem more like a series of vignettes, not as a storyline.

As always, I hope you’re all doing okay with everything that’s going on, and I hope to have another update for you all soon. I hope you enjoy!

Warning(s): swearing

Word Count: 3.3k+

Inspiration: Incandescent by @immistermercury on AO3, Outed by @platawnic on Tumblr, Rock Angel by @mirkwoodshewolf on Tumblr, Brian’s Instagram, Modern Times Rock ‘N’ Roll by @rhapso-kei on Tumblr and AO3, this silly lockdown business, the fact that I should have gone to see Queen over two weeks ago but it’s fine

Taglist: @bhmay @briarrose26

Series Taglist: @banana-tree-freddiemercury @lillycarlyn (darling you didn’t say which taglist so if you want me to put you on the perm one then let me know)

Ask to be on either! Make sure to specify!

You popped your head round the door to the studio and smiled to yourself when you found it void of people. You switched the lights on, the charcoal-grey clouds outside casting a darkness over the Opera House; uncharacteristic for midday, but then it was London, and it was February. You couldn’t expect too much from good old British weather.

It wasn’t often that you had the opportunity of having a studio all to yourself, so when you did, you simply had to make the most of it. The way your timetable for the day had worked out meant that you had a longer lunch break than everyone else, not by much, but fifteen minutes was more than enough time to go over a routine you’d crafted yourself. So, seeing as you could afford to eat later on, and everyone else was either in the canteen or some café in Covent Garden, you decided to book one of the studios for your own use.

You connected your phone to the mostly unused speaker in the corner of the room and quickly found the song. Time was of the essence here, and you were most conscious of that. You lightly ran to the centre of the room, making sure you weren’t facing the wall-length mirror for watching yourself dance made you rather self-conscious, replacing passion with technicality. This dance was your own, you had created it, cradled it, held it oh-so-close to your heart; unlike anything you’d ever done professionally, this dance was all about the enthusiasm and the love with which you danced.

Freddie’s voice rang out through the studio, clear as day and filling each and every particle with the richness of his voice. The singular note was soon accompanied by harmonies and then the familiar piano motif of Somebody To Love. You smiled despite yourself as you began the routine.

You promised yourself that one day you’d perform this to someone, even if it was just Rose. But that day was a long way off yet.

The way you danced was unlike how you had ever done so on stage. You performed with a vivacity that many dancers lost so early on in their careers when they valued the physical quality of their dancing over the raw emotion of it. You considered yourself quite lucky that you hadn’t yet surrendered to that particular temptation.

You considered this song to be a crescendo in and of itself, just building and building as its many layers unfolded. You’d made sure that this was reflected in the choreography. Each section was grander a more extravagant than the last. You quite liked the simultaneous challenge and familiarity of it; it made for a good dance to return to when you found your head overflowing with your thoughts and anxieties. You made more and more use of the space as the song progressed, like you were contained by an invisible circle that gradually grew.

When the third verse came around, and Freddie’s voice temporarily faded into silence, fooling the nonchalant listener into thinking it was the end, you had a second to pause. You used it to inhale deeply before starting the fouettés that accompanied the acapella. One, then another, then another, more, more, more until you genuinely thought you were going to fall over. You persevered, however, pushing through all forty of the turns, and even though by the end you wanted nothing more than to lay on the ground and watch the world spin, you couldn’t stop yourself from beaming because holy shit you’d never done them all before. You shook off the feeling, allowing yourself to revel in it later; right now, you had the rest of the dance to get through.

You breezed through the rest of it, the highest jeté seeming insignificant compared to the dizzying hell you’d just put yourself through. When everything quietened down once again, and Freddie faded back into his falsetto, you came to a still in the centre of the ‘stage’, going up on pointe and gradually raising one leg into the air so that it was parallel to your upper body and then to your face. When the music kicked in again, you dropped it back down and returned to your original flow. With the last tiny piano chord of the song, you did a cheeky little jump with the biggest grin on your face, before curtseying to your non-existent audience.

Or so you thought.

A slow clap sounded from the doorway and you whirled round to look at the intruder, blushing furiously with the embarrassment of being seen without knowing. Your smile made a comeback, however, when you recognised the face.

“Wow, that really was something, (Y/N),” Brian whistled, “I’m impressed, truly.”

“Thank you,” you ducked your head, panting heavily. Your muscles screamed with exhaustion, and even though you wanted to just lay down and maybe have a nap, you stayed strong, refusing to appear rude to Brian.

Somehow, he seemed to read your mind, “You can sit down, you must be knackered. Don’t mind me.”

You smiled at him gratefully before sinking down in the corner of the studio next to your bag and grabbing your water bottle with desperation. You gestured to the spot next to you which he took gladly. “How much of that did you see?”

“Pretty much all of it,” he laughed, “I was about pop in for a chat but I saw you put the song on, and I thought I might as well watch.”

“Gosh,” you muttered, beginning to take off your pointe shoes to relieve your aching feet. You’d had back-to-back classes all morning and doing a routine such as that one after all of that just didn’t help.

“I didn’t know you guys danced to non-classical music,” he said.

You managed to get one shoe off, and you started on the other one, wrinkling your nose at the quite frankly disgusting smell that Brian was politely showing no reaction to, “We don’t. Well, I haven’t heard of it anyway. Even if people did somewhere, it would be an awfully long time before the Royal started doing it.”

He shot you a confused look, “Then how…”

“It’s my dance. I choreographed it a while back,” you shrugged, not really understanding what the big deal was, “That’s probably the best run I’ve done of it.”

“Wow, I,” he ran a hand through his hair, “That looked like something from an actual ballet.”

You ducked your head again with the kind of embarrassed pride that comes with compliments, “Thanks, Brian, that means a lot. I only made it a while ago. I,” you laughed self-deprecatingly before saying, “I’d just done quite possibly the worst audition of my life, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how shit it was. So, I just freestyled to some of my favourite songs and that happened.”

“You just made that up?” he asked incredulously.

“It wasn’t nearly as good as it was just then. I’ve been working on it for months until it became what you just watched. It’s been my little side project,” you mused, shoving your phone and both of your pointe shoes into your ballet bag. You poked your head up and peered through the huge window on the opposite wall, cringing at the heavy rain and how that wasn’t a good mix with the non-waterproof trainers you were now putting on, “Oh, shit, I thought it wasn’t going to rain until later. I don’t think I packed my umbrella,” you said, forgetting about your shoes for a second and rifling through your bag.

Brian placed a hand on your arm, “Relax, I have one, we’ll just have to share, if that’s alright with you?”

“Thanks,” you looked at him gratefully before returning to doing your laces.

“Where are you going anyway? You haven’t finished work already, have you?”

“Oh, I wish,” you laughed sadly. You did love your job, but today was just one of those days where you had no energy and just wanted to cuddle up on the sofa with a cup of tea and a box of Quality Street chocolates all to yourself and binge watch Miranda on Netflix. “No, I didn’t bring any lunch with me, so I thought I’d have a look and see which cafes have free tables. You’re more than welcome to join me if you want.”

About five minutes later, you found yourself running through Covent Garden Market while it was hammering it down with rain, sharing an umbrella with Brian that was way too small for the both of you. You were trying your hardest not to slip on the shining cobblestones beneath your feet, while also trying not to knock into any other pedestrians who, like you, were also running for cover. It wasn’t long until you reached your destination, a café that was a favourite haunt of yourself and Rose. It served at Rose’s Friday treat after she had finished preschool for the day, when the weather wasn’t too good and you couldn’t go to the playground in St James’s Park. You also frequented it on bank holiday weekends or half-terms where you’d been in the flat for three days straight and were in desperate need of some fresh air but had absolutely nothing to do.

You held the door open for Brian, hearing the little bell ring when it came into contact with the door, and you grabbed the umbrella from him as he entered. You shook it rather aggressively outside and popped it into the bucket next to you, filled to the brim with the umbrella of fellow patrons who unluckily got caught in the rain and had dived into the nearest establishment for sanctuary. You made your way to the only free table left while Brian queued up to order your food and drinks.

This wasn’t actually the first time you two had done this, though it was the third. The first time had been rather awkward, as from the second you put your shoes on to leave to the second you said goodbye, you were both repeatedly stopped by people wanting to talk to Brian. And even though neither of you ever complained, you had later admitted to each other that you had found it rather annoying. The second time wasn’t as bad, though at one point you had been stopped by a guy from some tabloid you’d never heard of asking for an interview. Much to your amusement, and Brian’s embarrassment, the guy had actually been looking to talk to you instead of him. You’d politely declined, offering to do it another time, but as soon as you’d sat down to eat, you teased Brian mercilessly about it, and still did every now and then. All it took was for you to say Brian look I’m more famous than you for him to blush furiously and ask you to please change the subject. Considering this was the third time now, the initial shock of oh my God I’m just casually having lunch with Brian May this is fine had passed. Now it was merely having lunch with a friend. Just that that friend just so happened to be an international icon. No big deal.

You looked up to see Brian making his way over to you, carrying a tray of food, and you smiled when you noticed that he’d remembered from last time when you’d told him what, in your opinion, was the best food this particular café had to offer. He sat down opposite you and plonked the tray down on the table, as you both started to work out who’s food and drink was who’s.

“How’s work been this week?” he opened up the conversation as he stirred his latte that had fake milk in it because I don’t know if their milk is locally sourced, (Y/N)!

“Not too bad, actually,” you said, taking a sip of your own drink and cringing when it scalded your tongue, “We’re just in our last week of rehearsals for The Winter’s Tale right now. Someone got injured on Tuesday, and our first performance is next Tuesday, so that’s not exactly ideal. But we’ll get through it, it’ll be fine, I’m sure,” you shrugged. The show must go on, you supposed. Pun not intended.

“Listen, (Y/N),” he started, his more serious tone intriguing you already, “I need to talk to you about something.”

You nodded slowly, “Okay…” You weren’t all too sure where he was going with this, and it was impossible to tell if the news he was about to impart was good or bad.

“I know this is very sudden, and there’s no guarantee that this will even happen, but I thought I’d ask you first,” he rambled for a moment.

“What, what are you on about?” you laughed impatiently.

He took a deep breath and said, “I have a business proposition for you.”

**************

The after-school pick-me-up was carnage at the best of times, let alone on a Friday which also just so happened to be the last day of half-term. Parents crowding around the doorway, desperate to reunite with their child and careless of who they had to shove out of their way in order to reach them. Children spilled out of the school, arms full of lunch boxes and month-old paintings that were meant to be rainbows and dragons but resembled something similar to an oil spill. Teachers waved goodbye with the odd word to the overly concerned parent, not-so-secretly relieved that their week off was edging closer, and hurrying everyone off because the sooner they left, the sooner half-term started. Something which parents had very split feelings over.

Not for you, however. You were more than happy to get Rose to yourself for the week, finding the flat way too still and silent and void of a child’s laughter for you to find remotely comfortable. And even though half-term would always mean a busy show week for you due to the sheer amount of families desperately needing something to do, you were still grateful for the time you got together. That may or may not be because you had spent the far majority of your adult life being a parent, but you weren’t complaining.

As per usual, you heard Rose’s shout long before you saw her face, but you decided that you wouldn’t have it any other way when you saw her run straight towards, “Mummy!”

You crouched down and hugged her tightly when she collided into your arms, almost overbalancing from the sheer force of it, “Hello, darling, did you have a good day?”

She pulled away and grinned at you, “Yeah! We had a dance party and we played games and we played musical chairs and I won and I got some chocolate!”

“Oh, wow, that’s really good Rose, well done you,” you bopped her nose and turned to the things she was holding, “What’s all this?”

She thrust a piece of sugar paper under your nose, “I did a glitter painting yesterday and it’s dry now! It has every colour in the whole world!”

You took it from her and looked at it, pretending to inspect it like a pretentious artist and putting on the poshest voice possible, “Well, I do think it’s rather splendid, if I do say so myself. Absolutely spiffing.”

She dissolved into giggles, “Mummy, you’re silly.”

You gasped in mock offence as you took her hand and started to lead her out of the crowd, “Excuse me, I’m not silly! I’m a very serious grown-up, don’t you know?”

“I don’t want to be a grown-up! Grown-ups are boring. I want to be little forever and ever and ever.”

“I’m a grown-up, do you think I’m boring?” you asked.

“Only sometimes,” she said very seriously, “Only when you talk about boring grown-up stuff.”

You chuckled slightly, “What about Rog and Bri? Are they boring?”

She laughed again as if you’d just said the funniest thing she’d heard all day, “No! They’re fun because they give me ice cream and they think of really good games,” she paused for a second, “Mummy, are we going to the park today?”

“Well, it is Friday so if you want to go then we’ll go. It is a very sunny day today,” you said, frowning when you noticed Rose’s face, “What’s up, sweetheart?”

She pouted as if deep in thought, “I don’t think I want to go today.”

“It’s perfectly alright if you don’t want to, darling. It’s half-term next week so we can always go another day,” you assured her, “Why don’t you want to go?”

“I feel a bit tired,” she said sheepishly, “I don’t want to fall asleep on the swings and fall off!”

“Oh, baby,” you said, heart swelling with the simultaneous silliness and adorableness of her logic, “I’d catch you before you fall, don’t worry. But we can go home if you want. We’ll find something else for your Friday treat.”

Her eyes lit up, “Can we have cookies? The nice ones with the big chocolate bits?”

“Good idea, darling, we can have cookies,” you did a quick mental run-through of what your biscuit tin was looking like at the moment and said, “I don’t think we have any of those ones at home so we’ll stop off at the bakery on the way home.”

“Yay!” she squealed before singing, “We’re having cookies! We’re having cookies!”

Rose spent the entire journey home singing that song, and even though you wanted nothing more than to never hear that tune again, you wouldn’t dare burst her bubble of joy. Besides, you didn’t think you could tell her to stop if you tried; she really was that cute. Or maybe you just told yourself that, so you didn’t feel like a terrible parent. You guessed you would never know. At least the lady who worked at the bakery found it endearing that a child could be that excited for something as relatively simple as cookies.

By the time you’d shoved the key in the door and the two of you had spilled into your flat, it was around half past four and Rose was positively exhausted, despite her best attempts to look and sound awake. You’d decided to have the cookies with some milk you’d warm up once you’d sorted out Rose’s stuff and gotten her changed from her long day at preschool. Then you just supposed you’d have some cuddles, and, with any luck, she’d fall asleep because the poor girl really needed it.

You put the radio on in the background before snuggling down on the sofa with her comfortably in your lap and your favourite honey-golden blanket draped over the both of you.

“I love you, Mummy,” she murmured against your chest before nibbling on the cookie that was bigger than her hand.

“I love you too, baby,” you said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head and feeling her snuggle in more, as if that was even possible. You suddenly remembered your lunch with Brian, and the news you needed to impart, “I had lunch with Bri today,” you started, feeling her nod and carrying on, “He had a very cool idea, darling.”

“What was it?” she whispered, large, curious eyes looking up at you.

“He asked me if I wanted to work on a film, and I said yes,” you smiled, watching her face light up with the muted excitement that was usually paired with some element of confusion.

“A film? Is it a big film? Like Tangled?” she asked, suddenly much livelier than before.

“Yes, sweetheart, a bit like Tangled, except there’s going to be real people in it instead of animated people,” you explained.

“What’s the film about?” she was getting more curious by the second and it just made your heart leap with pride.

“It’s about the band that Rog and Bri are in, darling. It’s the story of how they got famous,” you grinned.

“Who are you in it?”

“Ooooooh, I couldn’t possibly tell you that yet, I’ve got to keep it a secret,” you said judiciously, smiling when she pouted at you, “I’ll tell you another day, sweetheart, don’t you worry.”

“Promise?” she asked hopefully.

You brought her into a hug again and whispered, “Promise.”

[longitudinalwaveme]

Power Outage

The Flash stars in: Power Outage

Dramatis Personae

The Flash (Jay Garrick), the wise, benevolent hero of Central City

Joan Garrick, Jay’s intelligent, charming wife

Captain Cold, the earthy, practical leader of the Rogues and Central City’s worst villain

Golden Glider, a thrill-seeking, deceptively charming thief and little sister of the above

Weather Wizard, a lazy, dimwitted crook who works with Captain Cold

Script

Act I

(Enter Jay and Joan)

Joan: Honey, I’m worried about you.

Jay: Why? Any particular reason?

Joan: I don’t like how you’ve decided to protect Central City all by yourself while Barry and Wally go on vacation together for two weeks. You’re not as young as you used to be, you know, and I don’t want you to get hurt chasing down supervillains who are half your age.

Jay: Why didn’t you tell me that earlier, honey?

Joan: Well, Barry and Wally seemed so excited to be able to get away for awhile, and you seemed so happy to have a chance to come out of retirement, so I was afraid I would disappoint you if I said anything about it.

Jay: Joan, you know me better than that. Sure, I do love a little crime fighting, but that’s not nearly as important to me as you are. If I’d known that you were that worried about me, I would never have agreed to come out of retirement.

Joan: Well, it’s too late for you to change your mind now-Barry and Wally are already halfway to England, and you can’t leave the city unprotected.

Jay: I’ll be careful, Joan.

Joan: Oh, I know you will, dear. You couldn’t have survived this long as a hero if you hadn’t.

Jay: And you’re sure you’re okay if I go out?

Joan: I suppose. I just worry about you.

Jay: I know, and that’s why I’m so careful. I know that you’re waiting for me, so I can’t take any unnecessary risks. I can’t bear the idea of my dying and leaving you all alone.

Joan: Oh, Jay, I don’t worry about you because I don’t want to be alone-I worry about you because I don’t want you to be hurt.

Jay: Every hero risks that, Joan. It’s part of the job.

Joan: I know, but you’re just so athletic and you love to run. I’d hate to see you get injured and lose your ability to exercise.

Jay: Have I ever mentioned that I’m blessed to have you for my wife?

Joan: Every day, dear, every day-and I’m blessed to have you for my husband.

Jay: Thank you, darling. I love you so much.

Joan: I love you, too.

(Jay and Joan kiss, then Jay’s phone rings and he pulls it out)

Jay: Hello? Hello, Commissioner. Yes, I am filling in for Barry and Wally while they’re on vacation. Yes, I’ll be at work protecting the city soon. Mmm-hmm. Uh-huh. Yes, I’m sure I’m still up to the task. I may be old, but I’m as fast as ever. Oh, it’s no problem, Commissioner. I love Central City-I certainly don’t mind protecting it. Thanks, but that won’t be necessary. I don’t need any money. Mmm-hmm. Uh-huh. Tell your wife happy birthday for me. I’ll be sending her flowers soon. And send Officer Johnson my condolences. No one should lose their wife that way. Mm-hmm. Uh-huh. All right, Commissioner. I’ll be watching for them. Okay. Okay. Good-bye. (Jay puts phone away)

Joan: What did the Commissioner tell you?

Jay: He was just checking to make sure that I was ready to protect the city-and to warn me that Captain Cold broke the Golden Glider out of jail, and that they and the Weather Wizard are on the loose.

Joan: Captain Cold and Weather Wizard I remember, but who is Golden Glider?

Jay: If I recall correctly, her name is Lisa Snart. She’s a former ice skater who apparently got bored with her career and decided to turn to crime-and she’s Captain Cold’s little sister.

Joan: A supervillain who’s a woman? Why, I never!

Jay: Villany isn’t exclusively the department of men, you know.

Joan: I suppose that’s true. How dangerous are they?

Jay: It’s hard to say, but since Captain Cold likes to avoid attention, they’re unlikely to try anything too diabolical.

Joan: Well, that’s one good thing, I suppose.

Jay: Agreed. (Pause)  Well, I’d better get going. Love you, Joan.

Joan: I love you, Jay. Good luck!

Jay: Thank you. Good-bye, dear.

Joan: Good-bye, darling. (Exit Jay) I hope Jay knows what he’s getting into. He’s been retired for a long time, and those villains are young enough to be our children. If he gets himself into trouble, I’ll never forgive myself. (Pause) Well, standing around here and worrying isn’t going to change a thing, so I might as well start making some plans of my own!

Act II

(Enter Captain Cold and Golden Glider. Weather Wizard is asleep onstage, and a doll and a large necklace are sitting next to him)

Cold: Stop trying to peek, sis. You’ll ruin the surprise!

Glider: I’m not peeking!

Cold: Oh, what the heck, go ahead and look.  

Glider: (Sees presents) Oh my gosh! Lenny, you didn’t!

Cold: Happy birthday, sis.

Glider: (grabs the necklace) How did you afford this? It’s beautiful!

Cold: Uh….about that….

Glider: You stole it for me, didn’t you?

Cold: No! I robbed a bank and used the money to buy it.

Glider: How come the Flash didn’t stop you?

Cold: I got lucky, I guess.

Glider: (Picks up doll) And what would this be? Cold: You don’t recognize that?

Glider: No. Am I supposed to?

Cold: Seriously? You asked for that for your birthday and Christmas like every year!

Glider: I did?

Cold: Uh-huh. Don’t you remember? When I couldn’t find it for your sixth birthday, you cried for like ten minutes and then Lewis beat the living daylights out of both of us because you woke him up.

Glider: Lewis beat the living daylights out of us on like every one of my birthdays. That doesn’t narrow things down much.

Cold: It’s still got the tag on it. Maybe that’ll help you remember.

Glider: (Reads) “Lucy”. (Pause; laughs) Lucy? The doll I was obsessed with as a kid? But she went off the shelves when I was eight years old. How did you find this one?

Cold: Well, I’ve been scouring garage sales and thrift stores and stuff for the thing around your birthday every year since you were eight. The odds were in favor of me finding one eventually, especially given how popular the thing was when you were little, and I finally found this one two weeks ago at that creepy Goodwill downtown.

Glider: Are you telling me that you’ve been trying to find this doll for me for 25 years ?

Cold: Of course. Given how much misery the stupid thing caused for both of us, I couldn’t’ve lived with myself if I hadn’t.

Glider: So even though, in the same general time period, you’ve given me 4 different cars, several dozen necklaces, and several thousand dollars in cash, you still felt obligated to get me a doll that I wanted when I was eight just because you couldn’t get me it then?

Cold: Well, yeah. Don���t you remember that I promised you I would get it for you someday?

Glider: Vaguely.

Cold: Well, I finally did! Don’t you like it?

Glider: No. (Cold looks upset, then she hugs him) But I do like you, Lenny.  I’m glad you think so much about me. You’re the best big brother in the world.

Cold: Okay, enough with the mushy stuff. I didn’t break you out of prison just to celebrate your birthday, you know.

Glider: Ooh, do you have a heist planned?

Cold: You’d better believe it, sis.

Glider: Hurrah! This day just keeps getting better and better! What’s the angle?

Cold: I’ll tell you as soon as I wake up Mardon.

Glider: What’s he doing here? Didn’t he win the lottery or something?

Cold:  He did, but now he’s broke-again-and needs a place to stay. Again.

Glider: There’s a shock.

Cold: (To Wizard) Yo, Mardon, look alive! We’ve got a job to pull! (Wizard doesn’t respond. Cold throws a pillow at his head)

Wizard: What time is it?

Cold: It’s two in the afternoon, you lazy bum. Get up- we’ve got a job to do.

Wizard: But I’m still tired, Cold! I just spent two weeks without a roof over my head!

Cold: Yeah, because you spent all your cash on parties, gambling, and cars you couldn’t afford. Again.

Wizard: I was doing it to impress my new friends!

Cold: The friends who skipped town as soon as you ran out of money?

Wizard: Yeah.

Cold: I rest my case. Honestly, Mardon, why I bother to keep you around is beyond me.

Wizard: Because of my charming personality and dashing good looks?

Glider: Definitely not that.

Cold: It’s because you have a wand that can control the weather, you doofus!

Wizard: Uh, about that. I may have accidentally kind of broken the wand a couple days ago.

Cold: HOW?

Wizard: Well, I was robbing a gas station when the thunderstorm I created to short out the power grid got a little out of control. I got struck by my own lightning, and the wand flew out of my hand and into a tree and snapped in half. And, uh, I didn’t even actually manage to rob the gas station, because when the wand broke, the thunderstorm cleared up before it could take out the power. Well, that and I was still recovering from the whole getting struck by lightning thing. So yeah. No more weather powers.

Cold: Can’t you just-you know-fix the wand?

Wizard: No. I don’t know how it works!

Cold: What do you mean you don’t know how it works? You’ve been using it for like 14 years!

Wizard: I stole it from Clyde, remember? He’s the one who built it! I don’t have a clue how he made it or how it actually produces its effects- I just know it works. Er, worked.

Cold: Clyde?

Wizard: You know, Clyde! My older brother who was better than me at everything!

Cold: Okay, then we’ll just ask him to fix it.

Wizard: We can’t. He’s dead, and he was kind of a recluse, so it’s not like he had any partners who were watching him build the thing.

Cold: Are you telling me that your wand is permanently broken?

Wizard: Yeah, that’s what I’m telling you.

Cold: Well, that’s just great. Now I’m going to have to change my plans, and it’s all because the man who had the most powerful weapon in the world was enough of a brain-dead moron to both never learn how the thing worked and to break it!

Glider: And on his little sister’s birthday, too!

Cold: Yeah, and on her birthday, too!

Wizard: Sorry?

Cold: You know what? If you don’t have your wand, then you’re useless to me.

Wizard: You’re kicking me out?

Cold: Not yet. You’re one of us, after all-but you aren’t getting a cent from our heists until you figure out a way to either fix the wand or provide some other asset to them, and if you can’t do that in a month, then you’ll have to find someone else’s basement to live in. I ain’t running no charity here, Mardon.

Wizard: Are you saying I’m not a good thief without my wand?

Cold: No, I’m saying that you were a mediocre thief with the wand and that you are a terrible one without it. Powers or no powers, you’re pathetic.

Wizard: Nobody talks to the Weather Wizard like that! Nobody! (Punches at Cold. Cold catches his punch, and then Glider knees Wizard in the abdomen. Wizard falls to the ground and Cold “freezes” his left leg to the ground with his gun.)

Cold: Well, maybe no one talks to the Weather Wizard like that, but until or if you fix the wand, you aren’t the Weather Wizard, you’re just Mark Mardon.

Glider: And we can talk to an idiot like Mark like that all we want.

Cold: See you after the heist, loser.

(Exit both)

Wizard: (Breaks ice on leg and sits up) How can this be happening to me? A month ago, I was a millionaire and the most powerful crook in the world, and now look at me. I’m broke and my wand is broke and now Cold says I ain’t even the Weather Wizard anymore. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was right about me bein’ a pathetic idiot. (Pause) Oh, who am I kidding? They’re right. Without the wand, I’m nothin’ more than stupid, pathetic Mark Mardon. (Pause) I need a drink or something. Anything would be better than sitting around thinking about how bad my luck’s been lately-or working to try and fix the wand!

Act III

(Wizard is sitting at the bar of a restaurant. Enter Joan)

Joan: Nothing like a nice cup of coffee to take my mind off my worries. (To Weather Wizard) Excuse me, sir, but is this seat taken?

Wizard: Huh?

Joan: I was wondering if this seat was taken.

Wizard: It’s not.

Joan: All right, then. (Sits down next to him) I’m Joan Garrick. Who are you?

Wizard: Name’s Mark. Mark Mardon.

Joan: Are you here by yourself?

Wizard: Yeah. You?

Joan: Well, I normally come here with my husband, but today I’m alone, too.

Wizard: Why? You have a fight with him or something?

Joan: No. He’s just filling in for some friends at work today.

Wizard: Are all your other friends busy, too?

Joan: No. As a matter of fact, after I eat lunch here, I’m going to my friend Betsy’s house to help her sew some clothing for her latest grandchild.

Wizard: Boy or girl?

Joan: Girl. Her name is Maria, and she’s only a month old.

Wizard: Is she cute?

Joan: All babies are cute, Mr. Mardon-just like all brides are beautiful.

Wizard: Not according to my baby pictures!

Joan: Oh, hush! (Pause) So, why are you here alone?

Wizard: Trust me, it’s not by choice. I can’t stand being alone without my power.

Joan: Have you fallen on hard times, then?

Wizard: Yeah. I’m pretty much broke, and my friends have made it pretty clear that they won’t give me any money until I can help them, which I can’t.

Joan: Are you sure these people are your friends?

Wizard: (Shrugs) They haven’t kicked me to the curb yet.

Joan: Don’t you have your own home?

Wizard: Not any more!

Joan: Oh, dear, you are in a mess, aren’t you?

Wizard: No duh, lady.

Joan: Is there anything I can do to help?

Wizard: Not unless you’re a millionaire.

Joan: No such luck, I’m afraid.

Wizard: Too bad. I could use that money. (Pause) You always start conversations with random strangers in restaurants?

Joan: No. You just seemed to need some company, and since I was alone, I decided to provide it.

Wizard: Why? There’s nothing all that special about me-at least not the way I am now.

Joan: Because I know how it feels to be lonely. My husband is wonderful, but he’s also very busy, so I spent a lot of time by myself before he retired.

Wizard: Why do you love him so much if he spends so much time away from you?

Joan: Because he’s a good man who sacrifices himself for me. The least I can do is make sacrifices for him in return. After all, a big part of love is being willing to sacrifice your own desires for the people that you love.

Wizard: That sounds like an awful lot of work, lady.

Joan: Sometimes it can feel like it, I’m afraid-but it’s worth it to experience genuine love.

Wizard: I think I’ll pass.

Joan: How can you say that? Haven’t you ever loved anyone?

Wizard: No-and no one’s ever loved me, either, except maybe my older brother, Clyde-and that was only ‘cause he felt bad for me.

Joan: Felt bad for you-why?

Wizard: Because I was a lazy bum right from the start, that’s why. No ambition-not that there would’ve been much of a point in trying, what with Clyde bein’ a genius and a great athlete and all. Even if I had decided to try, Mom and Pop would’ve liked him better, ‘cause I never coulda been as good as he was. The only thing I was ever good at was getting lucky.

Joan: You sound almost proud of yourself for that!

Wizard: Well, it beats feeling terrible about myself.

Joan: Not if it keeps you from improving yourself.

Wizard: Now you sound like Clyde.

Joan: Well, in that case, I would suggest that you listen to your brother on occasion.

Wizard: I can’t. He’s dead now.

Joan: Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.

Wizard: Don’t be. It was a while ago, and I was never real close to him anyway. He was too perfect.

Joan: Aren’t you close to anyone?

Wizard: No one I don’t work with.

Joan: Well, if you don’t mind, I plan to fix that.

Wizard: But you don’t know anything about me!

Joan: I know that you have a dead brother, some questionable friends, and a somewhat self-destructive lifestyle.

Wizard: Oh, believe me, you don’t know the half of it.

Joan: And I won’t pry. Are you up for continuing the conversation?

Wizard: I guess. (Pause) You are the weirdest woman I’ve ever met.

Joan: I know-but I’d like to think I make decent company anyway.

Wizard: You’re better company than my partners, at least.

Joan: That’s always nice to hear. So, is there anything you particularly like to eat?

Act IV

(Enter Cold and Glider)

Cold: Okay, sis, I’ve taken out the alarms. Are you ready for the biggest heist of our career?

Glider: You bet, Lenny! This is so exciting!

Cold: And you’re sure you’re not mad about us doing this on your birthday?

Glider: Of course not! In fact, I can’t think of a way I’d rather be spending my day.

Cold: (Aside) I could think of several ways I’d rather see her spending her day, but if this makes her happy, I can’t refuse her. (To Glider) I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself. Now let’s move!

(Enter Jay Garrick)

Jay: Stop in the name of the law!

Cold: Well, well, well. Look who it is. It’s Grandpa Flash. Aren’t you retired?

Jay: As long as criminals like you are roaming the streets, I’ll never be truly retired.

Glider: Wow. You sound like a really bad Saturday morning cartoon show.

Jay: Perhaps that line was a bit hackneyed, but then again, so are supervillainous bank robberies. It’s not like the two of you invented that idea, you know.

Glider: No, we just perfected it.

Jay: I’ll give you one chance to surrender peacefully.

Cold: And I’ll give you the same chance, Grandpa Flash. I don’t particularly want to beat up an old man like you.

Jay: Old or not, I would never surrender to a criminal.

Glider: Okay then, Grandpa-let’s dance!

(Starts “skating” around him)

Jay: (Knocks her down) I don’t dance with anyone but Joan, miss.

Cold: Leave her alone, old man! (Shoots at Jay and misses)

Jay: You’re good, son. It’s quite a pity you decided to waste your talents on crime.

Cold: Don’t call me son! (Shoots wildly and misses badly)

Glider: (Gets back on her feet and tries to hit Jay from behind, but he catches her punch) Let me go, you old geezer!

Jay: Sorry, daughter. I’m afraid that’s a no can do. You’ve violated the laws of our fair nation, and you must pay the penalty for your actions.

Glider: (Aside) Is this guy for real? (Breaks Jay’s hold) Only if you can keep ahold of me! (Captain Cold finally manages to hit Jay while Jay is attempting to recapture his sister)

Jay: Nice try, son, but I’ve gotten out of worse traps than this before! (He breaks free)

Cold: DON’T CALL ME SON! (Starts shooting wildly again as Glider begins to enter the bank)

Jay: (Dodges Cold’s blasts and grabs Glider) Oh, no, you don’t, child.

Glider: (Steps on his foot; Jay screams and releases her) Oh, yes, I do.

Jay: (Aside) As much as I hate to admit it, Joan’s worries may be more valid than I wanted to admit. These younger villains are wearing me down pretty well. (Manages to grab the Glider again, only for both to be hit by a wild shot from Cold, who runs over and smashes the ice around his sister. Jay vibrates free a few seconds later, but both villains have moved out of his way in the meantime)

Glider: (Aside to Cold) How is it possible that this old guy is harder to fight than the other two?

Cold: (Aside to Glider) Never mind that-just get into the bank! (He starts shooting again and Glider moves towards the bank, only to be stopped for the second time by our hero. Cold stops shooting when this happens to avoid hitting his sister again)

Glider: We’ve got to stop meeting like this, Grandpa.

Jay: Well, if all goes as planned, child, you won’t be meeting me for several years.

Glider: Why do you keep calling me child? I’m your enemy, not some dopey little kid.

Jay: Force of habit, I’m afraid. After all, you and your brother are young enough to be my children-though I would have raised my children to have better manners.

Cold: SHUT UP, FLASH! (He rushes at Jay, who dodges him, manages to keep a hold on Glider, and then handcuffs both of them)

Glider: Well, this is turning out to be a lousy birthday!

Jay: It’s your birthday?

Glider: Yeah.

Jay: Then I am sorry that you and your brother were foolish enough to break the law on it, child.

Cold: Stop calling her that.

Jay: Why? It’s not an insult.

Cold: It’s what Lewis used to call her. If that’s not an insult, I don’t know what is.

Jay: Who?

Cold: Our “father”. He treated us like trash. If that’s being someone’s child, I’d rather die.

Jay: (Aside) So that’s why he kept-pardon the horrible pun-losing his cool. When I called him son, it seems I was bringing back some ugly memories. (To Cold) Very well, then. I’ll stop calling her child.

Cold: Good. No one upsets my baby sister.

Glider: Before you take me away, old man, would you mind bringing me something real quick? It was the best birthday present I’ve ever gotten.

Jay: I’m afraid I don’t trust you two enough to leave you alone here. If you want to see it, I’ll have to take you with me.

Glider: (Aside) Well, it was worth a shot- and I do want to see it. (To Jay) Okay, that works. The gift’s in our hideout on Seventh and Main.

(Cut to hideout)

Jay: Which one is it?

Glider: The doll. (Jay hands it to her)

Cold: But I thought you said you didn’t like it!

Glider: Lenny, she isn’t the present-the fact that you spent 25 years looking for her is. Having a brother like you was the best present of all.

Cold: Aww, shucks. It was nothing, sis.

Jay: Now who sounds like a bad TV show?

Glider: It’s still you, gramps.

Jay: Unfortunately for the two of you, you still have quite a debt to pay to society. Let’s get you back where you belong.

Act V

(Joan and Wizard are still sitting at the counter. Joan has a cup of coffee now)

Wizard: And then I got a concussion.

Joan: (Aside) Well, one thing’s for sure: this fellow wasn’t kidding when he said that I didn’t know the half of his self-destructive lifestyle! In fact, I’m slightly surprised he’s still alive. (To Wizard) And this was before you dropped out of high school?

Wizard: Two weeks after, actually.

Joan: I’m starting to think you might need more help than I can give you, Mr. Mardon.

Wizard: Told you. (Pause) And just call me Mark.

Joan: Well, Mark, have you ever considered seeing a counselor?

Wizard: You mean a shrink? No way, lady. I’m stupid, not crazy.

Joan: Going to a counselor doesn’t mean you’re crazy. In fact, a lot of the time, it means that you’re smart enough to realize that you need help to change.

Wizard: Who said I wanted to change?

Joan: No one-but by your own testimony, you’re responsible for the mess you’re in right now, and nothing will get better for you until you decide to change your life.

Wizard: Seriously, are you sure you never met Clyde? Because you sound just like him.

(Enter Jay)

Jay: Hello, Joan.

Joan: Hello, sweetheart. What a pleasant surprise!

Jay: Well, I already recaptured Captain Cold and the Golden Glider, so I decided to stop by and visit my lovely wife.

Joan: Oh, Jay, stop flattering me.

Wizard: Your husband is the Flash?  

Joan: Oh, I can’t believe I forgot to mention that! Mark, this is my husband, Jay Garrick, the first Flash. Jay, this is Mark Mardon. He and I have been having a little chat.

Jay: Joan, get away from him-now!

Joan: Why? He’s not bothering me.

Jay: Joan, Mark Mardon is the Weather Wizard!

Joan: You’re a supervillain?

Wizard: Yeah.

Joan: When were you planning on mentioning that fact?

Wizard: Well, I wasn’t planning on mentioning it at all, because I assumed that you knew who I was. Although, now that I think about it, your not knowing would explain why you didn’t freak out when you saw me. (Pause)  No hard feelings, right?

Joan: I’m not sure what I’m feeling, honestly.

Jay: How long have you been here together?

Joan: About an hour, I think.

Jay: And you never recognized him?

Wizard: Well, in her defense, I’m out of costume and you and I haven’t fought much. There wasn’t all that much of a reason for her to recognize me without my gear.

Jay: And you didn’t realize that she was my wife?

Wizard: Nope. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her before.

Jay: Son, if I find out that you’re lying about that and this was a plan to kidnap her or something, you will regret it.

Wizard: Kidnap her? Why? I don’t hate you nearly enough to do something like that-and besides, I’d have to be crazy to kidnap her now. My wand’s been broken for a week, and I can’t fix it, so I’d have to have a death wish to make you angry at me.

Jay: You can’t control the weather any more?

Wizard: Sadly, no-and that means that you won’t be hearing from the Weather Wizard again. Without the wand, I don’t have the talent to be a supervillain, and if word got out that one of the Rogues was back to picking pockets, I’d be the joke of the underworld. I’d rather quit crime than go through that sort of humiliation.

Joan: Well, while I certainly don’t admire your reasoning, I’d say that quitting crime is the best life decision you’ve ever made, Mark. At the very least, it’ll certainly make the city safer.

Wizard: Okay, so now what happens?

Jay: I don’t know. That would depend on whether you’ve committed a crime since you got out on parole four months ago.

Wizard: Why would I tell you if I had?

Joan: Because if you do, he’ll be a lot less angry than if you lie to him and he finds out later.

Wizard: You make a good point, lady. (To Jay) I tried to rob a gas station by knocking out the power, but before I could actually knock out the power or do anything, I got struck by lightning and my wand broke, so I didn’t actually try to steal anything. Is that attempted robbery?

Jay: I’m afraid we’ll have to let a jury decide that, son.

Wizard: And since I don’t have my weather wand, I ain’t about to get humiliated by trying to escape from a guy with super speed and then failing.

Joan: You know, for a man with such limited common sense, it’s amazing how practical you can be when it helps you save face.

Wizard: Well, considering I already lost a million dollars and my powers, I’ve kinda had my fill of being laughed at and called an idiot for the year.

Joan: So, you can change after all.

Wizard: (Shakes head) Lady, you’re something else. I’m not sure if it’s a good something else or a stupid something else, but you’re something else.

Jay: All right, son, time to go.

Wizard: (To Joan) See you around, lady. It was nice talking to you.

Joan: I suppose I’m glad you appreciated it. Good-bye, Mark.

(Jay exits with Wizard, then returns)

Jay: Are you alright, Joan?

Joan: Yes, I’m fine. He didn’t really do anything to hurt me, after all.

Jay: Oh, thank goodness. If he’d hurt you, I’d never forgive myself.

Joan: See, now you know how I feel!

Jay: Why, Joan, I think you’re right!

Joan: Have I ever mentioned that I love you?

Jay: I’m not sure. You know how our memories get at our age.

Joan: (Laughs) Well, then, Jay, I love you more than you can imagine.

Jay: And I love you to the moon and back.

(They kiss)

Joan: Oh, that reminds me-I need to go to Betsy’s house! My, I can’t imagine what she’ll think when I tell her that I had coffee with a supervillain!

Jay: The same thing that I do: that you’re the bravest, kindest woman on the face of the Earth. (Pause) Do you want me to take you to her house before I go back on patrol?

Joan: Oh, of course!

Jay: Then your chariot awaits you, my lady.

Joan: Oh, Jay, that’s so cheesy!