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twoidiotwriters1 · 2 years ago

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Copycat: Genesis —(Marvel Fem!Oc)

A/N: The classics duo reunites -Danny

Words: 1,767

Phase Six Masterlist

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

Listen to: ‘Ode to a Conversation Stuck in Your Throat’ -by Del Water Gap

xi: The Last Phase

Cat got up, her entire body felt like she'd been carrying thousands of rocks on her back, it was stiff and cold. "Did it work?" She coughed.

"Looks like it..." Peter was studying their surroundings, but he made no attempt to get up and investigate properly.

"Did Edith come along? We need her!"

"She could've fallen somewhere around us... but I can't see..."

That's when Cat realized it was pitch-black, the only reason why she was able to see him was thanks to her mutated eyesight. "EDITH!" She yelled out.

A light ignited several feet ahead of Peter, the A.I.'s voice was like music to her ears.

"Hello, C.C."

"Holy shit!" Peter jumped when he saw Cat's eyes in the dim light, the greenish reflection coming from them was unnerving. "You've always been able to do that?"

"Do what?"

"The Gollum eyes," he said with a weird voice.

She was amused by his comment, but also a little insulted. "You never noticed 'cause I wear goggles at night, precisely so I can protect them from bright stuff," then she added in a quiet voice, "Peter thought it was cool, not ugly."

"I never said it was ugly," he was quick to correct. "It caught me off guard, that's all. But it's lucky, I didn't bring a flashlight or my phone, and we need to see where we're walking to get out."

"Grab Edith," she requested in a cold voice. "I'll get us out."

The mention of his seemingly perfect variant made Parker desperate to get back to her good graces, but he was only making things worse. "You can teleport, though..."

"I know," she struggled to ignore her increasing heartbeat. She couldn't wait to see her friends again. "Get up, let's hope Mouse is in good hands..."

E.D.I.T.H. was able to track M.O.U.S.E. and Cat was delighted to find out he was in the city. The place where he was, though, she didn't identify it.

"Maybe it's Kate's apartment?" Parker suggested.

"She said she'd move out," her eyes darkened. Maybe Kate had decided to stay in case she came back, Cat didn't want that. "We should be careful."

Breaking into the apartment was easier than they thought it'd be. The window had been left unlocked. Parker walked into the building like a normal person, she'd forbid him from using his powers in this universe.

"So... is this Kate's apartment?"

"No," she couldn't hide the smile that formed on her face. "This place screams Peter Parker."

The young man looked around hesitantly. "It does..?"

"Oh, you wouldn't know," she brushed it aside. "It's like trying to hear your own voice. But look," she pointed at the picture on the nightstand. "That's us."

Parker grabbed the photograph and stared at it with a strange look in his eyes.

"My first birthday party," she told him. "That's my old dream team."

"Yeah, I remember them," he looked at her.

Cat beamed, it was nice being able to remember her youth. "Look at how young we look! Man, that was a good night. I had my first kiss at that party."

Parker was saved from having to hear how happy she'd been with his variant when the front door opened. Peter walked into the apartment with his head down, he was fixing his camera, swearing under his breath. He closed the door with a kick, and Cat shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She hadn't made any noise, but the young hero froze at the movement.

Peter's head snapped up and his eyes widened. "C.C?!"

Her smile grew. "Webs!"

"Holy shit!" He forgot about his camera and rushed to her, he hugged her tight. "You're alive!"

The young man lifted her off the ground and squeezed her as close as he could. Cat laughed and returned the gesture, she was also half-crying. When he put her down, he handed her the camera and cupped her face, examining the scars that were left where the inhibitor used to be.

"'M—phine!" She tried to speak with his hands still pressing her face.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" He exclaimed in shock. "You just vanished— and I just, I didn't—"

"You didn't know if I'd died," she moved his hands away from her.

"Yeah," his gaze softened. "I thought I'd never see you again."

She gave him a little sad smile. "I know how that feels."

Peter realized what she meant and understanding washed over him, he couldn't imagine going through five years of not knowing without going a little crazy, no wonder she'd changed after the blip!

"Where have you been? You have no idea—"

"Yes! Exactly!" She squeezed his wrists, giving him a look. "I need to know what happened after I disappeared."

"Sure! One question, though," he pointed at the ceiling, Parker had jumped as soon as he heard Peter walking into the home. "Is Peter three up there, or have I gone completely crazy?"

Parker spoke from above them. "Hi Pete, I'm not a hallucination."

She scowled. "He wants to ask you for a favor, but if I can give my opinion, it'd be best to send him back empty-handed."

Peter looked up at the older version of himself with confusion. "You okay, man?"

Parker jumped off the ceiling and landed next to her. "Cat can't go back to her apartment, and you two don't fit in here."

Peter looked at her with a guilty expression. "That's right— we need to talk, C..."

"I can sleep on the couch," she offered quickly.

"The couch's not even large enough to fit the two of you in a sitting position," Parker pointed out.

"I don't sleep much anyway," she gave Parker a harsh look. "Let's share the bed, Pete, it wouldn't be the first time—"

"Pete's girlfriend—"

"Peter doesn't have a girlfriend. MJ forgot about him, remember?"

"Having you in here will only distract him!" He seemed to be talking from experience. "No, you need to find another place."

Peter interrupted their argument. "He's got a point, C. If Kraven tracks me down, he'll find the both of us— it's better if we're not in the same place."

Cat's shoulders fell. "So you haven't found him?"

"It's not that we haven't found him," Peter grimaced. "We're hiding from him."

She felt terrible, it was all her fault. "Tell me where are the others."

"Well, after I failed to stop you, you know, like every Tuesday," he taunted her, "Kate took Nightcrawler to Harley's place and they did their best, we assumed you were alive cause I saw when Parker saved you from getting hit by a truck, but you went missing after that..."

Peter told them E.D.I.T.H. could not be found either, and when they checked the traffic cameras they saw a weird detonation had taken place, but people didn't know what had caused it, and he wouldn't have known either if he hadn't seen that same thing happening years back when Strange's spell had malfunctioned.

"Edith's tracker died when you left, so we lost track of Russo and Kraven," he sighed. "Kate had to leave the city that night, she's hiding with Yelena in L.A. and they report back to me every week."

"Kurt?" Cat held her breath. "He's..?"

"Rocket picked him up two days after that," Peter looked out the window and pointed at the sky. "He's safe."

She held his hand. "He's okay?"

Peter smiled at her a little, his gaze bright and adoring. "You saved his life, C."

"It was my fault in the first place," her eyes darkened, "Where are Billy and Kraven?"

"Hang on, so Kurt and Kate are fine," Parker interrupted their talk. "What about you and her friend Keener?"

"Kraven doesn't know my identity, so I'm safe as long as I'm careful," Peter shrugged. "I take Mouse with me every night during patrol and get its fleas to follow me around to make sure I'm not being observed."

"And Harley?"

"Well, he has a whole trope of bodyguards watching his every move," he explained briefly. "I don't think he's in danger as long as you stay out of Kraven and Billy's sight."

"If they gave up on finding me, that means they moved on to their next target, and I don't like that," she said in alarm. "'Cause, the next thing was a secret lab full of mutants."

"You mean one that's real?" He frowned, "not another trap to try and lure you in?"

"What are you guys talking about?" Parker inquired, she hadn't mentioned that part of the whole story.

"While I was working for Stark industries I got intel that someone was hunting down mutants, but instead of going and investigating myself, I sent other heroes. They didn't think I'd do that. When Bucky told me Kraven had something to do with the lab I knew it'd been a trap—"

"Kraven was planning to corner her in that place like she'd cornered his brother," Peter added. "But she was smarter than them."

"I wasn't," she made a face, "I knew someone was following me and I still showed them Kate, and they'd already gotten Kurt by the time they went to get me— I only pushed back his plans a couple of hours, but they got me—"

"You got away in the end, again," Peter insisted. "And you took the only mutant they'd caught apart from you—"

"But if they got new ones already—"

"They don't."

"How do you know?"

"I told you, Kate and Yelena keep me posted."

"And how do they know?"

"Yelena's questionable friendships."

"Okay, then what's their plan?" She scowled.

"Well, it's only been a month, C," he raised a brow, "I don't think they'd given up, maybe they're waiting for you to show up at their doorstep, that's what you always do," he put one hand on her shoulder, "but they're one step ahead, and you have no suit and no weapons. It wouldn't be wise to go after them alone."

Parker got to his feet. "Okay, so what do we do?"

"We, are doing nothing," she pointed a finger at him. "You're going home."

"Jane—"

"She's right," Peter said. "Your world needs you. It's got no heroes apart from you, right?"

"No," he said, giving her a reproachful look. "Could use a bit of help, from time to time."

Cat avoided his eyes. "I need a place to stay, Peter."

"We could call—"

"We're not calling Harley," she was quick to reply. "Nor Happy."

"I wasn't going to say any of those," he frowned. "I don't have their numbers!"

Cat tilted her head. "You don't have Harley's number?"

"No!" He exclaimed. "Why would I?"

"You know Kurt—"

"I know Kurt cause he's a mutant but Harley is just a guy— not like I've had any opportunity to introduce myself—"

"Would you like that?" She inquired. "I could help you out, is he the CEO of Stark industries already, or—"

"You're sidetracking," Parker warned them.

"Sorry! It's just that Cat knows a lot of people and she thinks I know them too but..." Peter tilted his head. "Wait. Hang on a minute— I know one!"

"Really?" She questioned, having no clue. "Who?"

"Daredevil!"

Next chapter—>

Taglist.

@mikaelsonwhxrebae @ieatpanicattacksforlunch @jesuswasnotawhiteman @siriuslysirius1107 @greengarsstuff @itsyagirl01 @23victoria @espressopatronum454 @jkthinkstoomuch

#twoidiots writing #marvel #marvel fic #marvel fanfic #marvel fanfiction #marvel original character #copycat fic

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starryevermore · 3 years ago

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slip of the mind ✧ colby brock

angst city™ library

pairing: colby brock x fem!reader

summary: colby can never remember what he forgot.

word count: 1,604

warnings?: angst, no happy ending, don’t ask for a part 2, colby has a bad memory, poor communication, not proofread

Colby meant well. You knew that. But, sometimes, it felt like he didn’t give a single shit about you. Like you were more of an accessory than a girlfriend. Someone to post on Instagram, to use in clickbait titles on YouTube, to do cute trending challenges on TikTok. Less and less you felt like someone Colby genuinely loved. And you tried to not fault him too heavily. He was a busy man. Of course he wouldn’t have time to just lay around and spend hours upon hours with you. He had the duo channel he had to film on and travel for. He had XPLR Club to post on. He had the duo merch and his personal merch to work on. He had to keep up appearances on his other socials. He had meetings upon meetings upon meetings. And, on top of all that, he had to take care of himself—eat, sleep, workout. By the end of the day, he’d be so wore out that he barely had time to process the day. Most days, by the time you got to see him, he was already dead asleep in bed. And, if there was one thing you’d learned in dating Colby, was that nothing could wake the man.

He did try, though. You tried to have monthly date nights. They usually weren’t anything special. That just wasn’t how the two of you were. Sure, sometimes you’d go out to a nice restaurant or something like that, but usually you were snuggled up in the movie room, watching something that was just released on Netflix or maybe HBO Max. Or you were out on his balcony, pointing at the stars, talking about the kind of philosophical matters that only make sense when you’re so tired you have to fight to keep your eyes open and every little thing makes you giggle like a bunch of middle school girls at their first big sleepover.

But the longer you dated him, the harder it was to work things out like that. You both just got busy. He had a job that he couldn’t exactly clock out of. And you worked a more traditional nine to five. By the time he’d wake up, you were already gone. And by the time you’d get home, he’d be just getting in the zone in his work. It’s like you were two planets orbiting the sun, just passing each other by during every revolution.

You grew used to it. It no longer bothered you when he forgot your birthday until the day was nearly over. It didn’t hurt quite as much when he showed up to a date late, say something about how he was busy editing and it slipped his mind. It didn't sting when he would spend a week without talking to you because he was off in another time zone filming. You knew he wasn’t trying to hurt you. And, for the most part, some of these things couldn’t be helped. You’d certainly forgotten your fair share of important events. It felt hypocritical to hold his mistakes above his head, to act like you were superior.

This though?

This hurt.

It was your three year anniversary, and Colby swore he was going to make it one to remember. You didn’t care, you knew he was going to be busy all week. You didn’t want to give yourself false hope. But it was his idea, and the stubborn little shit loved to have his way. He planned the whole thing out himself. Since the day fell on a Saturday this year, you didn’t have to work, so he was going to order your favorite breakfast. Then, after you ate, he’d take you out shopping and let you buy anything you wanted and he’d pay for it. He’d take you out for lunch, maybe a walk along the beach if the weather was good (and it probably would be good, because he was obsessively checking the weather app and knew every detail one could possibly know from the hourly forecast).

But when the day came, none of it mattered.

You woke up to Colby shuffling around the room, stuffing flashlights and other things into a backpack. “What’re you doing?” you asked.

“Oh, me and Sam are going to this abandoned theme park!” he said, his pretty blue eyes lighting up. “It’s so fucking cool—”

But you’d already tuned it out. You should’ve known better than to get your hopes up. Part of you wanted to gently remind him of the day, to let him know he already made plans. Then you looked at his face, saw how happy he was, and you couldn’t help but feel like he never was that happy with you. And, if exploring abandoned places with Sam brought him more joy, then who were to stop him?

“Be careful,” you said. “Don’t want another mugshot collection, do ya?”

“Oh shut up!” he laughed, his cheeks burning pink.

“Probably wouldn’t be as iconic since you’re not wearing your Justin Bieber shirt,” you mused.

“Hey now, it could still be iconic!”

“Sure, if you say so,” you said as he walked over to you. He leaned down, pressing a kiss to your lips. “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

And, just like that, he was gone.

You weren’t going to sit around and feel sorry for yourself. You didn’t need to have your boyfriend with you to have a good anniversary, right? So, you dolled yourself up, and decided to have the best day you could have. You did all the things Colby said he’d do with you, just...by yourself. And perhaps it was a bit petty of you to post pictures and videos of your day on your Instagram, but you felt like it was deserved. Colby probably wouldn’t even see the stories until the day was nearly over anyways.

Perhaps the highlight of your day, though, was finding a cute little flower stand as you were about to head back home. They weren’t horribly expensive, you picked out a cute bouquet. After all, if your boyfriend wasn’t going to get you flowers, you could do it yourself.

When you got home, you found a vase in a cabinet and filled it with water, placing the newly bought flowers in them. You spent a few minutes arranging the flowers until they were to your satisfaction, before snapping a pic to post on your story. Colby still wouldn’t see it, but it was a nice memory to have, you reasoned.

The day soon came to an end, and you retired to bed before Colby got home. Close to midnight, though, you heard him and Sam come in, and Colby’s deep voice asking, “Hey, did you get flowers for Kat or something?”

“Nah, I didn’t get those,” Sam said.

“Huh, weird. There’s no card or anything on them.”

“Maybe Y/N knows?”

“Oh, true, I’ll go ask her.”

Soon, the light from the rest of the house flooded into the room as Colby pushed the door open, his heavy footfalls clunking against the floor. “You awake?” he whispered.

“Uh huh.”

“Do y’know who got the flowers?”

“I bought them,” you said. “Wanted to treat myself.”

“Ah, I see.” He stepped out of the room for a moment, shouting down the stairs, “Y/N got the flowers!”

Sam shouted back something, acknowledging what Colby said, before Colby shut the bedroom door, starting to get ready to go to bed.

As he took off his shoes, he asked, “So, how was your day?”

“Good,” you said. “Did some shopping, went to the beach.”

“Oh, that sounds fun,” Colby said. “Sam and I had fun too. You really need to come with us on our next exploration. Sam’s gonna try to get Kat to come, too, and it could be like a girlfriend edition, you know?”

“Yeah, it would just have to be on the weekend, but I’d be down.”

It kind of hurt, to not say what was bothering you. But, you also knew that nothing could be done of it now. What would you get out of saying Colby forgot your anniversary? He couldn’t go back in time and stop himself from forgetting.

He finally crawled into bed, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you close. The small display of affection felt so foreign to you that tears started to well up in your eyes. You couldn’t remember the last time Colby just laid down with you and held you.

You almost thought he didn’t notice until he said, “Is everything okay?”

You nearly said that it was, that he didn’t need to worry about it, that it was just stress or some other bullshit excuse. But, you also didn’t care enough to stop yourself from saying the truth.

“Happy anniversary,” you whispered.

“Happy...oh my god,” Colby said, his voice laced with drowsiness. “Y/N...”

You mustered up all of your acting ability from that one semester of theatre in undergrad and pretended to snore. You didn’t want to talk about this anymore. It would only hurt more.

“I’m going to make this right,” he swore. “We’ll do something tomorrow, anything you want.”

But it came as no surprise when you woke up, and he was already districted with something else. You supposed that, when it came to you and your relationship, you’d always take the back burner. That plans would be cast to the side, that it would always be a slip of the mind.

And, you didn’t know how much longer you could delude yourself into thinking that it was okay when it wasn’t.

#colby brock #colby brock imagine #colby brock x reader #colby brock x you #colby brock x y/n #colby brock x female reader #colby brock x fem!reader #colby brock fanfic #colby brock fanfiction #colby brock fluff #colby brock fic #colby brock fan fiction #colby brock angst #starrywrites #starryevermore

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evanox · 3 years ago

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LL M4 as Identity V players

as far as I'm aware there's only 2 other people in this fandom who play idv but will that stop me from sharing my brain worms with everyone? No. Also thank you @mauve-days for brainstorming with me 🥺

(IDV is an AsYmMetRiCaL ✨h o r r o r✨ game where 4 survivors have to decode 5 ciphers to get to freedom, all while trying to escape the hunter and avoid getting sent back to the manor—basically dead by daylight but for kids /hj)

Felix Iskandar Escellun

His starter survivor was Lawyer because he was too nervous moving around the map without knowing where the hunter is; ended up becoming really good at it—figured out cipher rotations and became really great at communicating through vc to make it all work; if you don’t understand what “I’m in top broken” means then why are you even playing with him?

All Felix wanted is to decode in peace but he always spawned closest to the hunter so he tried out Priestess, realized he really enjoyed being a kiter and laughing at the hunter’s face after dodging all their hits. Is Priestess broken? Yes. Will that stop him from getting really smug after a good kite? No.

Eventually moved on to Painter... idk he has the same smug vibe as Edgar mains, he just LOVES placing a portrait right before a pallet; probably mains Embalmer and Novelist too but mostly for the Aesthetic; dabbled a little in Mind’s Eye bc he loves a challenge

Scary good at juking

Doesn't enjoy playing hunter as much, however he does like playing Violinist and Photographer once in a while

Ended up getting really invested in the lore so he dabbled in all the characters who have diaries until he completed their deductions; had to ask for Sage’s help to complete the Thief diary though because Felix couldn't pull off the flashlight deduction

Has an extensive list of theories of how the characters are connected; collects map descriptions and character birthday letters, probably has them printed out to pin on a board to connect them with yarn; yes the Orpheus plot is driving him insane

Atropos' Ropes was his favorite event

Loves playing the king role in Tarot even though it can be stressful,, why does he like being chased and captured so much 🤔

Getting manhandled by a friendly hunter makes him blush so much but you don’t need to know,, will hide in lockers and wait to get carried and he gets SO upset if the hunter ignores him

Does he write fanfic? Yes, yes he does. Probably started out as a vicdrew stan

Anisa Anka

Starter survivor was Gardener bc look at her!! So cute!! Also she feels the daddy/mommy issues on a spiritual level but shh no one needs to know

Was a little too trigger-happy with breaking chairs she forgot she actually had to decode; was very confused as to how the hunter always found her

Currently Coordinator and Enchantress main, with a little Barmaid on the side (because she's hot); tide turner never leaves Anisa’s persona builds—overall she loves playing support and rescue (and Pretty Girls); an overwhelming sense of safety washes over everyone who matches with her because they know she won’t let them down

Feels SO guilty when she gets downed and keeps spamming “Sorry..” and “Don’t rescue me!”,, even if her kite lasted an impressive 4 minutes

Sometimes she says “fuck it we all win or we all die” and decides to detention rescue. She deserves to go crazy go stupid once in a while don’t hold it against her

As for her hunter gameplay, she’s a terrifying Geisha—can pull off the butterfly-dash through walls on any map,, her fingers are just really fast 🤭😳 probably plays trump card blink>teleport

Very sweet and hands out ties generously, gladly spares the last survivor if she already secured the win. She’ll leave you some stickers on your chair so you won’t feel too bad about getting downed

But she’s absolutely unforgiving in Tarot; takes her role as a Knight very seriously

Enjoys doing friendly duo hunters with Elowen as marymichiko, but Elowen is not as friendly the moment the survivors start pulling out their guns

Never ever stays for post chat fights; drops a “gg!” and dips out of the channel so fast. Absolutely rejoiced over the update to automatically exit the chat when the match ends

Likes listening to Felix’s lore info dumps, that’s how Anisa came to love Gardener. Cried a little over Soul Weaver, Disciple, and Geisha’s stories. Her favorite events were probably the Christamas and Lunar New Year ones

Sage Lesath

Starter survivor was Thief bc Sage was the only one ballsy enough to backward-kite, made many jokes about "flashing" the hunter

Loves harasser-type characters, absolute menace that he is, but also plays Mercenary because he loves being your knight in shining armor—yes he'll flame your ass in post chat if you steal rescues

Will joke about bringing build 69 in pre chat to stress everyone out

Flirts a lot in pre chat too

He plays Cowboy often just to flirt with others, randomly lassoes survivors in duos; also likes playing Patient because going nyoom with the hook is fun and follows all Psychologists like a lost puppy

Absolutely hates decoding,, what do you mean he has to stay in one place for most of the game? Sage loves to be involved in the action and will annoy the hunter until they switch targets,, will only stick at a cipher machine if he wants to flirt with a teammate

However he did pick up Explorer but ONLY to piss off Rime when the latter is playing hunter during tournaments; Sage kept hiding from Rime once and insisted on making the match last 45 minutes instead of surrendering... even though all his teammates were already dead

Suicide matches and basement parties with his griefer buddies whenever they’re feeling chaotic; they’ll bring a full harasser team (or sometimes even troll comps,, full Lawyer team bc why Not) to torment the hunter before surrendering

Has tried out hunters like Sculptor but absolutely flopped; if it needs a lot of planning, tactics and practice he's out

However. He's somehow S badge Smiley Face and Gamekeeper—the simpler the hunter, the better his gameplay apparently

If he's in the mood to go friendly he'll bring Ripper with the umbrella accessory to carry survivors bridal style

Rime Solano Varela

Started out as That Doctor main; steals rescues all the time, NO tide. Rescues even if his teammate got downed 20 seconds into the game. At least he has the decency to bodyblock?

Got bullied for always stealing rescues so he said fuck it and moved on to hunter faction permanently, in fact he developed a deep hatred for survivors and will go off on tangents about how unbalanced the game is whenever given the chance,,, Priestess his beloathed,,

Had to play Hell Ember until he could afford another hunter and it made him want to bang his head against a wall... that is, until Rime learned how to actually play Hell Ember and became scary good with it; made it to A badge once

His first hunter was Axe Boy,, idk something about Robbie mains is very menacing and fits Rime's vibe so well

Evolved into an absolutely terrifying Dream Witch and Sculptor main, since they were at the top of the meta

Eventually got bored with the well-known meta and started practicing with other hunters to flaunt how skilled he is no matter the hunter; still keeps his DW and Sculptor skills polished though

No Sage, your jokes about maining Gamekeeper aren’t fucking funny

Participates in tourneys often and is very well-known across the fanbase; never anticipated “gamer/streamer” as a hobby and fun pastime but here we are

Always delighted by watching survivors cower in fear in pre chat when they match with Rime; will rotate through all his hunters with the visit emote like it’s foreplay if it was supposed to be painful and evil and you actually die at the end

NEVER goes friendly and never grants easy ties; but he also doesn’t bleed survivors out unless you REALLY pissed him off by being disrespectful in pre chat

In fact he gets weirdly defensive of any survivor who gets bullied in pre chat, MIGHT give you a draw if you all gather at the asshole’s chair and spam emotes

BONUS: Tulsi Ain

Mechanic main and her multitasking is crazy; whether it's kiting or decoding, she always makes the best use of her doll; she’d really rather stay as far away from the action as possible though

Doesn’t rage at games often but if you bring the hunter anywhere near her after she kept pinging her location/cipher progress, she will cuss you out with every language she knows (while muted) then ping a sarcastic “Thank you!”

You think stealing rescues from Sage is bad? Try touching Tulsi's connections when she's playing Prisoner, it's the only time she goes ham in post chat

Started playing Guard 26 because he's super cute, but she's absolutely terrifying as a Mad Eyes main,, her map control is insane

Mike/Gramme

Mains Undead and everyone hates him for it

#felix iskandar escellun #sage lesath #anisa anka #rime solano varela #last legacy #fictif last legacy #fictif #last legacy felix #last legacy rime #last legacy sage #last legacy anisa #last legacy headcanons #last legacy tulsi #tulsi ain

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savnofilter · 4 years ago

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Another Year Together

Todoroki x 『GN』Reader

↬ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢ(s): intoxication, mentions of partying too hard, injuries and cleaning said injuries, crack (?), fluff.

↬ᴡᴄ: 2.5k [10 mins].

↬ᴀ/ɴ: ahhhh i was bummed that i dont have any sfw shouto reqs *cough cough* send some- *cough cough* anyways so i made up a scenario of my own! i have more fluff ideas i'd love to put out but this may be the birthday fic or i'll post something else tonight if i can~ every time there needs to be a party, just know either mina or kaminari threw it. also its a little rushed because i wanted to get this out tonight and this is the longest sfw piece ive ever written. ;; pffft hopefully you all will love this as much as i loved writing it, happy birthday shouto!

"Stay still." Shouto muttered to you as you squirmed away from the harsh sting the disinfectant alcohol caused your bruised skin.

"Mmmnhmm... M' sorry." You utter haltingly, your leg jerking once more from the sudden sensation. You look up at him with puppy eyes, guilt-stricken as you have already broken your promise.

He stared at you for a few seconds before his gaze softened as you stuck out your bottom lip with a sorrowful look on your face. As he smooths the cloth over your exposed thighs, he softly sighs under his breath, expertly concealing the roll of his eyes. Todoroki was relieved that your reflexes were still in shape, the abuse of the liquor not interfering much with your cognition... at least not too much.

You two shared the same birthday. He had no idea that celebrating your big day of turning 21 would've been so hectic. As many things between you and Todorooki, you guys took today as a competition. The day started with you both trying to one-up each other since Todoroki’s lucky day was yours as well. First, your day with a breakfast made by him -- with the assistance of Bakugo of course. You couldn’t help the warm swell in your heart at how much effort he had put into it but it wouldn’t top you! While you two interned at the same agency it was pretty easy to surprise him with a big B-Day lunch and an obnoxious bouquet.

“This is a little too much…”

“There is no such thing as too much for you, Sho.”

Truthfully, he felt that way because he wanted to wow you as well. He was glad that today was a calm day concerning his patrol watch, giving him time to map up his day today and think about all the other miscellaneous thoughts that roamed his head. The painting he had saved for this momentous day sat in the back of his head as he patrolled the streets, the small accessory along with it sitting next to the rest of his pee-pee pouches making him grow nervous. I had kept the small item with him in fear of losing it, the last thing he needed was it to go missing under his watch.

You on the other handheld no qualms about goofing off for the day. Now, you weren’t entirely wasting away the day, you just simply knew how to let loose. With the great news you’d be staying in the office you had more than enough time to help plan and finalize Todoroki’s surprise birthday party. You bit your lip as you checked in with your longtime friend, Kaminari, to host the momentous occasion. Your mind was mostly occupied with the thought of the party and the small but significant present that you had in your desk draw. You and Todoroki had the same mind, the only thing setting you apart is you somehow being more… airhead than him.

Impossible, right? Not at all. That’s how it explains why he was busy cleaning up your injuries.

After being sent home early you had taken him out to lunch for some soba and well, boba as a great lunch treat — simple enough. You both were full upon going back home, giving you two a few hours to snuggle up and nap to rejoice with the sleep you two had lost from over the time having part-time heroes. Holding back the excited news of the party was hard to do, the first thing you did when you woke up was jump up and usher him to get up as well.

“What -- why??” Shouto glared as he was forced to sit up, rubbing his eyes with the free hand that you didn’t use to pull him up.

“C’mooonn! I just have one more thing to show you for today!” You beam brightly. Your facial expression was as bright as ever like you hadn’t just slept for 4 hours before that. Everything in his body wanted to resist but he couldn’t as he wouldn’t bring himself to. It took but only an hour for the both of you to get ready, sending Kaminari a quick text to make sure that everything was set for sure.

“Honey, I know this might sound a little odd but I need you to put this on.” You hand him the blindfold once you find him dressed and ready. You couldn’t help but grin at his confused face when he stares at the piece of fabric.

“I thought you said we were going out?” He asks mildly confused, taking it and putting it on anyway.

You paused and gave yourself a moment to think about his response, your cheeks feeling hot at the insinuation. Todoroki’s small giggle makes you feel better about your flustered words, rolling your eyes annoyed when he teased you like that. “Just hold onto my hand okay?” You instruct, hand coming up to hold him as an example. He nods his head as he follows your lead, more excited than what he led on.

The trip from your apartment down to your car didn’t take too long, the assistance of helping him not trip over his shoes harder than you thought. It was hard to keep back your laugh as he fumbled here and there, the most highlight of your experience was helping him in his care (like he usually did with you) and even buckling in his seat (not something he did for you). You were practically buzzing in your seat in excitement as you took off as soon as you were ready, the journey to his place not too far from your own. You bobbed your head to the music of the radio as you vibed along with the beats, fingers tapping the steering wheel as you mumbled the lyrics to whatever song played. Had it not been winter time in Japan you would’ve had the windows down, but you had to settle with the subtle and gentle breeze of the heaters on your skin instead.

“We’re here.” You announced your arrival. You used the keycard Kaminari had given you as the entrance to his apartment complex and zoomed-in irresponsibly. It was easy finding a parking space on the higher levels conveniently the same as his home. You hopped out and helped Todoroki out from his seat and helped him to the elevator. “Promise me to have fun, okay?” The question was simple enough, but your level of fun always exceeded his.

The sentence made him turn in your direction with confusion heavy on the top of his head. You took out the key from your pocket and jiggled it into the lock. As soon as he was about to open his mouth you yoinked the blindfold off his eyes, the first thing his eyes seeing your cheerful grin and everyone popping up from their hiding places and throwing the decorations up that they held in their hands.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”

Todoroki was taken back from the whole thing. How many people were there, the familiar faces, the decorations, and just overall effort that was put into this. He couldn’t help but look over at you with the same adoration he normally did when you looked the other way. He was greeted by so many of his friends and mutuals, the overwhelming amount of gifts that sat on the table, and the arrangement of food and drinks that sat up in the spacious room. In the back of his head, he knew he would have to keep an eye on you, and he was right.

The group had gathered to get some cake to get it out the way, the bonus of ice cream filling your tummy with happiness. As soon as you had finished your dessert plate, you declared everyone should loosen up; since no one objected, you went straight for shots. First, it was one, two, then it was two at once, then it was some straight from Mina’s belly button. You held no restraint at your alcohol intake, taking the immature opportunity to drink to your heart’s content. While you were liberal with your amount, Todoroki decided to take in practically none. The verses of your habits are almost amusing to watch like your two contrasting but similar personalities.

Later in the night when the mayhem had started. You and a few friends decided to dance on a few more dangerous surfaces, guaranteeing the sacrifice of one of them being Kaminari’s glass table.

“Holy shit—” Mina quickly rushed to your side, the same drunken posture and smile on her face as she tried to help you up, careful not to get the same glass shards that scattered the floor. “Are you okay-?!”

“YO Y/N WILDING!” Denki tries helping you up too, the help of the duo helping you somewhat.

You stumbled to get up, the flashlight of other people’s phones making you weary. “I-I’m fine-” You managed to let out, standing as you tried to clear your head and drink the water handed towards you. Either the H2O in that cup gave you courage or you simply went crazy. “let’s go again!”

Todoroki was left speechless upon watching you continue to party on, knowing damn well he'd have to stop you soon. He wasn’t one to attend parties, and most times when he did they always ended up like this. It seemed after your fall that the knock had given you a sign to calm down at least, deciding to drink more beverages that didn’t hold liquor in it. After some time he had managed to get you in his lap, holding you as he monitored your well-being.

As much as your reckless behavior would have annoyed someone else, he found it almost endearing. Well… not really in the sense you were drinking yourself silly, but in the fact that you still had the spirit to keep up and party even after the effects of your last hour of madness. It wasn’t long till you had gotten comfortable in his arms you had successfully partied yourself to sleep. Todoroki was careful in lifting you, thanking everyone from attending before quietly slipping out from the apartment.

He took a deep breath as he somehow managed to find your car, maneuvering to get you into the car and hopping in on his side to drive you home. Todoroki made sure to drive carefully in hopes that you wouldn’t barf all over his car that you had used to get there. The drive back was much quicker than when you two had headed up since it was practically dead at night and the streets empty. He liked drives like these. A part of him was sad that you weren’t awake for it.

Your boyfriend repeated the same process when he had pulled into your apartment complex, picking up your body and bringing you up to your shared home. He was dedicated to getting you situated, prepared to take care of you as much as he needed to. That’s how he found himself tending to your scrapes and bruises right now.

“You know I’m never going to let you drink again.” Shouto teases you, smirking lightly at your sad expression.

“You’d never!” You argued back with the same teasing tone, moving to cross your arms, stifling the pain as you did so.

Todoroki snorts at your dedication to hold up the act, nodding his head as he finished cleaning up your legs. “You’re right. But don’t expect me not to monitor you from now on.”

A smile tugs at your lips at his words, uncrossing your arms. The lingering drunk feeling still played in how you thought and spoke but not managing to affect how effortless it was to talk to Shouto. You blushed when he picked up your hands, kissing the back of your hands as he spoke to you once again.

“I have a present for you.” He mutters against your skin, eyes trained on the fresh bandages before looking up at you. He wasn’t looking for an answer and he didn’t wait for one either. He hoped that you couldn’t tell that he was weary, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small velvet box.

Your eyes widened at the realization of what he held in his hand, your heart beating faster as you sat up in your chair. “Sh-Sho?”

“It’s not what you think.” He responds almost defensively. Shouto bites his lip in anticipation, fiddling with the little box. “... it’s a promise ring,” Todoroki concludes. He felt like he had to explain himself for the slightly expensive jewelry. “If you don’t want it-”

You had engulfed him in a hug, pulling him tight against you as you had started to sob. You couldn’t think of words for how happy you were. The only thing that had taken over your body was actions. You nuzzled your face into his neck once his arms wrapped around your shaking your body. His hands soothingly rubbed your back, letting you get out what you wanted. He couldn’t help but laugh when you pull away with the most love-filled face he’d ever seen you make.

“You okay?”

“I’m perfect!” You hastily wiped your face with the help of Shouto, shakily laughing once he leaned into pepper your face with kisses.

“I was afraid that I scared you,” Shouto admits. You shake your head as you grab his hands, placing his palms on your cheeks, appreciating his soft palms.

“No… your hands are really soft…” You mumble. Your mind went blank as you tried to remember the next line you were going to speak, pouting as you looked around for the answer. The shock of him handing you the ring has successfully shaken you into processing your brain a little better, the heavy impacts of your drinking still lingering on.

“Are you okay?” He asks, worried. You nod your head in affirmation.

“A kiss could cheer me up.” You give him the same puppy eyes that you used before, weaponizing your cuteness to your advantage. He slightly cringed at the thought, hesitating before leaning in and placing a soft kiss against yours. He prepared himself to taste the alcohol against his lips. He pulled away once he deemed it ready, wiping his mouth and getting the ring he kept in his hand the whole day.

“I think you owe me by wearing the ring for making me kiss you.” He huffs, slipping the ring on your finger, his heart beating at the sound of your giggle.

“Nah you love me without the ring~”

“Yes, but I’d prefer you with it on.” He stands up and holds his hand out for you, taking you into his arms once again for the night and carrying you to your room. “For now get some rest, okay?” He sat you down on the bed and got you changed out of your clothes, sneaking in a few playful kisses here and there to make you laugh. Shouto’s main focus was just to get you situated to sleep peacefully for the night.

“G’night, Sho…” You mutter to him as you got comfortable in the sheets. Although the returning soreness didn’t go away you had managed to close your eyes and get comfortable.

“Goodnight.” He watched you until you fell asleep before leaving the room to prepare for you the pain medication you’d need in the morning for your impending hangover.

You never needed the promise ring to let you know he loved you; his actions always told you so.

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timeaftertime-chriscornellfanfic · 4 years ago

Photo

Chapter 36 - She Lives In All The Things That I’ve Known

Discovery Park Seattle Washington, July 20 1990

(Andi is 20, Chris is 26)

ANDI: "Come on babe this is stupid," Chris whines as he tries to peak through the blindfold, " I already know where we are,"

"Ok Mr. 'know it all' where are we then? -And hey! no peaking," I say as I lead him through the grass.

"We... um... we are outside," He says with a smirk.

"No shit Sherlock," Jeff chortles and Chris frowns looking in the direction of Jeff's voice as I laugh.

"Would you just tell me where we are?" Chris says as he stumbles a little because he still can't see through the blindfold.

"We're almost there," I giggle as I continue to lead him down a small hill with Jeff behind us. A few steps later we finally reach sand and I turn back to face Chris, still holding his hand while Jeff runs ahead towards the fire.

"Ok, stop," I say when I place my hand on his chest, feeling him flex through his plain black t-shirt. "You can look,"

He reaches up and lifts the blindfold just a little to peak at me and smirks, then takes the blindfold off completely flipping his long curls that had fallen across his eyes.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!" Everyone shouts from the fire pit.

"What the-?" Chris laughs when he sees everyone. "Did you do this?"

"I had a little help from Susan," I say as Susan walks up to us.

"Hey girl," She says sweetly to me when she places her hand on my shoulder.

"Hi," I turn and smile at her as she embraces me in a hug.

"Don't worry, Stone had the same reaction when he showed up too," Susan says when she pulls away from me and Chris chuckles.

"Happy Birthday Chris," Susan smiles, and lifts herself up to place a quick kiss on Chris's cheek.

"Thank you," Chris says shyly.

"C'mon," I say to Chris as I pull on his arm and he just gives me that shy smirk as we head towards the fire pit.

*****

Sitting around the campfire, the entire gang of us laughing, drinking sometimes even singing while the glowing flames from the fire crackle and roar, I sit on a blanket in front of Chris sipping my beer while he is firmly planted on one of the logs that some of the boys brought over to sit on.

"Fuck, man you didn't have to get me anything," Chris says as Kim passes him over a box with a ribbon wrapped around and an envelope with Chris's name scribbled across the front.

"Of course I did, it's your fucking born day alright?" Kim says and takes a sip of his beer.

"Dude -"

"Just open it," Kim says and Chris laughs. He takes the box from Kim setting it on his lap while I watch and sip my beer.

Chris flashes me a raised eyebrow and then slowly opens up the box first. Kim glances at me and I suppress a smile because I know exactly what is in that box.

"Holy shit, no fucking way," Chris smiles as he pulls out an original copy of The Beatles Sgt. Peppers album that was actually signed by Paul McCartney." Babe, look" Chris smiles and had it over to me. I take it from him and look it over. Kim had only just told me about it and it was really fucking cool to see it in person.

"Sorry it's not John or anything but - "

"Oh my god, no...! this is amazing," Chris smiles and gives Kim a hug. "Thank you,"

"You're welcome. I know it's not quite what Andi got you but -" Kim starts but I glare at him and shake my head to try and signal that I haven't given Chris my gift yet. "- um wait no... what am I thinking - ?" Kim chuckles as he tries to cover up that he let it slip. Chris pulls away and looks back and forth between us both.

"What? Wait... what'd ya get me?" Chris asks me.

"Ok... well... ok, give me a sec," I say and hand him back the record. He takes it from me and I rise from the blanket, take one last sip of my beer as I adjust my leather jacket, I lean down to him and give him a quick kiss on his lips and make my way around Layne, who was laughing with his girlfriend Demri Perrott on his lap, then head away from the circle, to the red '86 Chevy van - the one that we use to tour in now and for such camping trips like this - and slide open the large door to retrieve Chris's gift. I honestly didn't exactly know how to wrap it so, I just wrapped a red ribbon around it and tied it with a bow.

Once I have it, I slide the door shut and try to figure out a way to carry it back to the fire without him seeing what it was. Once I'm able to hold it behind me I walk back to the fire.

"Babe?" Chris smiles at me confused as I reach the blanket and stand in front of him while everyone else continues on with each other. I carefully bring it around and hold it out for him and instantly those blue eyes of his light up with wonderment.

"Holy shit," Chris says. It was a 1989 jet black Duo Jet Gretsch with a solid white pick guard - a re-issue of the 1955 model.

"I thought maybe you would like one of your own," I say as he takes it from me still wide eyed.

"Baby...?" He trails off just staring at the guitar he held in his hands. I then sit down beside him where Kim once sat - he seemed to be off somewhere, probably drinking a six pack with Jerry behind the van or something - and I swing my leg over so that I was facing Chris.

"How did you...? I mean where did - how...?" Chris attempts to speak still looking over the guitar.

"I have my ways," I smirk, moving just a little closer to him. He pulls off the red ribbon, rests it across his lap and begins to pluck at the strings.

"Happy Birthday," I lean in and whisper in his ear, moving a few of his curls and placing my lips to his earlobe. He leans back into me, then turns and places his lips on mine, soft and gentle at first and I deepen the kiss as I cup his face in my palm, feeling his stubble on his cheek and the beginnings of his moustache against my lips. After a couple of moments, he pulls away and leans into my ear.

"I love you so much baby," He whispers sending shivers all over my body.

"And I love you baby," I say quietly and he places a kiss to that spot under my earlobe as the laughter from everyone and the fire roaring fills the summer night air.

*****

"Ugh, I need to pee, Andi will you come with me?" Demri says as she bounces over to me sweetly, her gorgeous dark hair all around her. Ever since Xana decided to basically cast me out for whatever reason, Demri and I have become closer. I guess, according to Demri, Xana has a habit of turning on her friends like that.

"Um, sure," I smile at her. I lean into Chris who was laying down on the blanket beside me puffing away on a cigarette while he and Jerry converse about pretty much anything a drunken mind would come to, and let him know I was taking a walk with Demri.

"Hey, don't get lost ok?" Chris raises his eyebrow at me, pulling me back to him and I giggle as he places his lips on mine.

"Don't worry Chrissy, I'll keep her safe," Demri winks at him when I attempt to get to my feet. She takes my hand to help me up and we laugh as Chris just shakes his head at us and chuckles as he takes another drag of his cigarette.

We leave the campfire and head towards the wooded area that was near the shore of the Puget Sound. Once the light from the campfire no longer lit our way, Demri flicks on the flashlight as we try to find the perfect spot for her to go pee.

"You think we're far enough away yet?" I ask.

"Yea, ok I think this is good enough. I'll go first," She says and hands me the flashlight. To be honest I didn't really have to go myself but maybe I should just in case. This is probably the only thing I absolutely hate about camping. Having to pee in the woods. Usually once I'm drunk enough I pretty much don't care at that point, but I still hate it. After she finishes, she comes back over and takes the flashlight while I go and take my turn.

"So are you excited to marry Chris finally?" Demri asks with a smile when I pull my jeans back up.

"Yea, yea I am actually," I giggle.

"My god, September is coming up quick... do you have your dress yet?" She asks.

"No, I should probably get on that eh?" I say as I walk over to her.

"Well yea, I mean Susan and I are definitely going to be there with you, and I'm so happy you asked me to be your brides maid, But we should go dress shopping, I know the perfect little place for a dress," She says sweetly.

"You know you two can wear whatever you like... I mean I feel kinda bad that I can't buy all three dresses,"

"Awe no, Andi it's ok, you're not obligated to buy us anything, it's your day," She says and I giggle as she wraps her arm around my shoulder and touches her temple to mine. She is so sweet. I love Demri so much.

"Andi?" She asks after a few moments of us walking.

"Yea?" I say as I make my way through the low hanging branches.

"What is it like to time travel?" She asks. I wasn't exactly expecting that kind of a question so it caught me a little off guard.

"Oh, um... well... it's um - "

"I mean, I just never actually seen you do it so, I mean Xana told me about the time she saw it happen, but..." She says.

"Oh, well um... it's kind of hard to explain really," I say as we walk slowly through the woods.

"I just think it would be so cool to actually travel through time y'know? See what the future would be like, or revisit a place you always loved..." She says thoughtfully.

"It can be, but sometimes..." I trail off, not exactly sure how to tell her that most of the time I hate it. I hate how it's always taking me away from Chris and that I hate how it's always taking me to places I'd rather not go.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to - " She stops us and looks at me with those dark eyes full of worry.

"No, no it's ok. I mean... I know it probably seems like the best gift someone could ever have, to be able to travel like that but in reality, it's not exactly practical. If I could control it, maybe I wouldn't find it hard, but I can't so it can really suck sometimes," I explain.

"Yea, I get ya," She says. "But, I just think it's incredibly romantic how Chris has known you since he was so young and just how you time traveled to meet him for the first time,"

"Well... technically I had already met him, then I time traveled and that's when he met me... and... my god it's complicated to explain," I say and she giggles.

"It's ok I know what you mean," She smiles.

"Wait what time is it?" I ask.

"Um, I don't know... after 1am I think,"

"Shit, I need to get back to the van," I say and we walk a little faster.

"Is everything ok?"

"Yea, yea I just forgot to take my meds, that's all," I say. We finally make our way out of the woods and back to the campfire and I head straight to the van as I hear Chris asking Demri where I was going. I reach the van and slide open the door to see Kim passed out in the back, so I reach for my duffle bag and try not to wake him up.

"Babe, you ok?" Chris says a little slurry as he walks up behind me.

"Yea, yea I'm fine, I just needed... um... nothing actually," I say as I push my curls behind my ear while Kim groans, then begins to snore.

"Demri said something about medication, or something" Chris says placing his hand on my lower back while I unzip my bag.

"Um... yea, well it's nothing really... just something my doctor gave me to um..." I try to think of how to explain that I didn't exactly tell Chris about the Lorazepam that I was prescribed.

"To what?' Chris asks and I finally pull out the bottle.

"It's to help with my seizures... so I don't time slip," I practically whisper as I open up the bottle and pour out two tablets into my hand and place the bottle back in my bag.

"I thought you couldn't take any medication for it?" He asks as I grab a bottle of water from the cooler. Kim groans again and I wince trying to remember to be quiet.

"I can, it's just that nothing had worked before so I just never took anything. I just y'know, I would play instead," I whisper as I look up at him and place the two pills in my mouth and take a sip of water.

"When did you start taking them?" Chris asks. I give him a look, wondering why he's asking so many questions so I turn back and close the van door to make sure Kim doesn't wake up.

"Just recently. I had them for a while but I just didn't take them until after the time slip in Germany. We were so busy and I didn't have time to relax and just work on music so I started them the night I came back from that time slip, " I explain.

"Ok... why didn't you just tell me then?" He asks. I honestly don't know why I didn't tell him.

"I didn't think it was a big deal," I shrug as he keeps his eyes on mine, seemingly searching to see if I'm really alright. "I'm ok Chris I promise... if you hadn't noticed, I haven't had a time slip since the bus in Germany so they must be working,"

"I know...," Chris says as he pushes a few stray curls out of my eyes.

"The only reason I'm taking these is so I don't slip. I'm just so worried that what if I get so nervous at our wedding that end up time slipping, or what if something happens and we end up not getting married at all, or something changes and I'm totally different or -"

"Baby, it's ok, I get it," He says and I look at his chest, seeing my engagement ring on the silver chain that lays against his plain black shirt. He then draws me into his arms and I place my cheek against his chest, my arms wrapping around him through his soft black jacket. His arms feel so amazing around me. I wish he could just hold me forever and never let me go. Too bad I always seem to disappear even when I feel the safest with him.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," I say quietly.

"You need to start trusting me with telling me stuff. You know you never have to hide anything from me. If you're going to be my wife, we need to tell each other everything, no matter what ok?"

I sigh against him hearing his deep voice through his chest that sounds so soothing. He's right. I'm so used to travelling through time and not telling people anything because I can't tell people anything. Even when it's a matter of life and death.

"Why do you even want to marry me?"

I didn't exactly mean for that to come out but it's true. Why would he want to? Why would he want someone like me?

"Because I love you more than anyone I've ever loved in my entire life. Because I can't for one single second imagine my world without you in it. No matter when or where you are, I know you will always come back to me,"

"How do you know that?" I ask, my brow furrowing as I look up at him and he cups my face in his palms.

"I have no idea," Chris smirks and I couldn't help but giggle. " I just do,"

#time travel #Time After Time #alternate universe #also on wattpad #also on ao3 #chris cornell #chris cornell fanfiction #soundgarden #soundgarden fanfiction #alice in chains #layne staley #demri parrott #fantasy #grunge fanfiction

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booksneedcaffeinetoo · 5 years ago

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Book Review: House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) by Sarah J. Maas

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

This review is going to be LITTERED with SPOILERS because idk how to talk about this book without giving away the whole plot.

Consider yourself officially warned.

I’m still debating on my rating, but for now here is my review. Fair warning: it is rant-y and ramble-y and hasn't been edited yet. I'll clean it up when I come back for a rating.

As always, content warnings are listed at the bottom!

Overall Positives:

• SJM has actually included a few gay characters….now they are all very minor side characters (Isiah, Fury, Juniper, and Declan) who are only present for maybe 3% total of the novel, but at least they exist??? So she gets points for actually having gay characters who aren’t killed off. You can say that she’s making an effort.

• The banter between Bryce and Hunt was pretty funny

• That scene with the knock-off My Little Pony dolls was funny

• I think there might've been a reference in the book to First Aid Kit (the sister folk duo) and it made my heart squeal because I love that band SO MUCH!

• Bryce actually has a great relationship with her mom and her stepfather! And they are both alive! And stay alive! I’m actually struggling to recall a book I’ve read where the main character in the book has a). both parents alive and b). a great relationship with them both. So that was really refreshing!

• Hunt in a sunball cap.

• Bryce and Hunt taking photos together. Way too adorable.

• Ride or die friendship. I love books that emphasize the importance of friendship.

• That LIGHT IT UP DANIKA LIGHT IT UP LIGHT IT UP scene....like i felt that...her happiness. so sweet. i teared up at that scene ngl....

• Pretty good depiction of grief. How even after years the pain of losing your friend doesn’t go away. How some people cut themselves off to cope and others don’t. How some take out their anger on the closest target. How some people remember the dead one’s birthday and other don’t. etc. etc.

• It really was a slow burn because they like didn’t even kiss until 75% into the 3,000 page book.

• Rhun is my favorite character in this book. He’s a goth softie king. I also loved the Demon Cat. And Fury. And Declan. And Flynn. And Isaiah. And Hunt. And Lele. And the dog. And Jesiba. And Randall. And….well….that’s about it….

• I have recently been getting more and more into Urban Fantasy so I am excited and glad that this book is UF. I also like how it takes place in a different world with a different history (although for some reason I went into this book under the impression it takes place in New Orleans…)

Overall Negatives:

• If I ever have to see the word “alphahole” again it will still be too soon. I get that she was going for meta and trying to poke fun at how the trope in so many UF books includes an alphamale love interest….but it just doesn’t really work because none of the guys she was calling an alphahole was actually acting like one??? Okay so this is kind of ramble-y but whatever. When I think of an alphamale love interest acting like a…*shudders*…. alphahole I think of the stereotypical shifter romance/erotica novel where the guy likes wants to punch any guy who stands too close or talks to his mate. I think of him making outrageous claims, always posting a guard, never letting her leave the house, etc. all without any cause. Having a literal demon serial killer who (at this point in the book) you believe RIPPED APART AN ENTIRE PACK OF WEREWOLVES and is killing everyone who is close to working on the same case as you and you are a half-fae who NEVER carries a weapon with you, doesn’t have magic, and no one beside your mom, stepdad, and dead bestie know that you can turn into a flashlight at will…..yeah it makes sense that the people who care about you would like you to have a guard. But that’s not “alphahole” behavior. Nor is when you’re starving yourself from guilt him being concerned and wanting you to eat, or wanting you to try to take care of yourself….that’s not “alphahole” behavior, it’s being a good friend/sibling. If someone wanted a guard on her PRIOR to her investigating the murder than yeah….that would be “alphahole” 100%. But that’s not what happened…one of the highlights of the book was Hunt calling out Bryce by telling her that she is actually the “alphahole” here.

• Fucking sunball = baseball. WHYYYYYY I thought it was soccer for so long until Hunt tossed on a “sunball cap”

• I thought that Violet Hall from Pucked was the most infuriating main character I have read in a long time until I met Bryce fucking Quinnland. It is a pet peeve of mine when a character acts like someone (usually lazy or a partier) and then gets pissed because people think they are how they act??? Like, if you act like an asshole then don’t be shocked if people think you are an asshole. Also she was someone who was terribly selfish and stupidly reckless for no reason for 99% of the book. Yeah she’s ride or die for her friends which is supposed to be her best quality but she is just terribly rude to so many people. Like take Lele for example. Bryce treated her horribly until Hunt was sold again, then was friends with Lele for like a week which someone equated to Lele being willing to die for her???

• Part two of that bullet above^: Why was everyone willing to die for Bryce? Maybe I hate Bryce because she reminds me too much of Jane Salone from The Bold Type with her ‘I’m always right’ attitude. But yeah, everyone is willing to die for her. I don’t get why though. Also everyone wants to fuck her. She can’t walk down the street without like five dudes wanting to fuck her. It was so annoying. Also how the hell has she not died by age 25!?!? There is a different between being bitchy with your algebra teacher versus being bitchy with some guy who could smite you before you blink. And all of them are like ‘oooh she’s not afraid of me like everyone else how charming’ and I’m just like NO. That’s like if I intentionally pissed off some mafia dom and instead of making an example out of me for dissing him in front of his mafia bros, he’s like ‘oooh you’re sassy wanna fuck?’ MAKES NO SENSE!!!

•Part three of the above^: okay before someone comes at me and says ‘well would you be saying the same things if she was a guy doing an acting this way’ well probably. I love the KATE DANIELS (Magic Bites) series. And Kate is a no-nonsense, can come across rude, and gives zero fucks what anyone else thinks about her. Kind of like Bryce, but less bitchy and has the power and skills to back up her recklessness. (No one around Bryce learns of her secret lightbright gift or of her sharpshooting skills until the very end so I am maintaining my ‘she’s reckless’ viewpoint based on everyone around her not knowing of her abilities when she does all of this dumbshit). Kate also is a fucking martyr who runs towards danger even when the odds are against her. Just like Bryce. But I love Kate and hate Bryce. So…yeah I think it was just a Bryce issue. It took until about 41% with the whole phone-Sandriel thing for me to stop finding her insufferable….but I still never really liked her after that...I could stand her for the occasional paragraph or two

• Speaking of martyrs…why is everyone one in this book!?!? NOT EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE A MARTYR!!!

• Another reason I hate Bryce (yes I’m back on that Bryce shit) is because after Hunt broke her heart he immediate thought upon learning who he was going to be sold (back to his old owner who is a sadistic fuck) her thought was good, he deserves it and all he did was break her heart and not want to be a slave anymore and kept something he knew would destroy you (which yeah, keeping that secret furthered his cause but still…) and I just????? Have???? No words???? Like girl you have a RIGHT to be PISSED but jfc that doesn’t equate to TORTURE.

• Ugh and then her whole ‘take me instead’ bullshit was so reminiscent of that Jules and Emma whipping scene from Lady Midnight I almost gagged for the level of cheese and martyr-syndrome

• Why is everyone described as “brown,” “golden brown,” or “tan”?! It’s like SJM is trying to not make everyone white but doesn’t want to fully commit…

• And was anyone uncomfortable/cringed at the ‘white angel wings are supreme to any wings with color’ bit....

• I hate books where the werewolves can talk outloud in human form. I cringed.

• Why was the calling people by their last name thing not consistent? I’ve read books before where characters flip between using another character’s first and last name, but there is context behind why they choose one or the other: the professional setting, if the person is happy or upset, who is being addressed, etc. But you’ll get Hunt calling Bryce “Bryce” and “Quinnland” within a sentence of each other? And literally every character did stuff like this. It was weird and not consistent at all.

Negatives About the Plot:

• This book really felt like three books in one: Part One (first 12ish%) being the day leading up to the Pack of Devil’s murder. And I do mean like every boring thing that happened. Part Two (the next 66ish%) being the murder investigation. Part Three (the last 22ish%) being where all the action occurred. The book felt like it couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. The summary promised a murder investigation so I was expecting it to be a KATE DANIELS-esque plot. But nothing of true importance really occurred during that investigation. We got some cool flashbacks with Danika, and some sweet moments between Hunt and Bryce…but that’s it. SJM isn’t Brandon with a Stormlight Archives (The Way of Kings) complicated interwoven plot. I think the book as whole would have been better if it was about 300 pages shorter.

• Nothing in the plot of true importance happened until the last 100 pages or so.

• I mean we literally got every single thing that happened during every single day of their investigation…it was….too much detail.

• When I got to 80% like every other chapter felt like the book should end. It could’ve ended on a cliffhanger. Like right after Hunt was found on that boat. But nope….

• Figures. SJM can’t have a main couple unless they both are super special. Did anyone else feel like she just recycled parts of ACOMAF in this book? Hunt: has wings and super special powers. Bryce: absorbs some super-fae juiced up power from a cauldron—er….I mean arch—to get extra powers and become the most super cool and super special fae in all existence because god forbid we have a heroine who isn’t the most physically powerful person ever. I mean, to hell with mental strength. Must be physically magically powerful or you’re no good!

• The only plot points that surprised me were the hunt being at the drug bust (because we got nothing from his povs that he was remotely interested in going back down that revolution road especially after his whole meeting with Briggs…still iffy with this one, because his thoughts in that cell sound like he actually was on board with it until he called it off because the drug is too dangerous but his call to the viper queen said she owed him a favor so…..) and Micah’s weird horn hard-on. Literally nothing else surprised me...

• I really though Reid would play a bigger role considering Bryce used to date him and is fam is responsible for that drug....but nope. The dude is like never even mentioned.

• Ugh...that villain speech. Maybe I'm just like...what's the point? Why not just zap the bitch why do you need to tell her your life story!?!?!

• Also let's be real, Danika's password never would have been allowed to be that simple nor remain unchanged for 2 years. But whatever.

• It’s also pretty cringe that Bryce freed Lele just for her to die…………..

• Why is Jesiba’s shop impenetrable (the building and cameras) until it’s convenient for it not to be…I mean it sounded like nothing could break into her building or the cameras but then… Micah just easily waltzed in there and Declan easily hacked into the security cameras….makes no sense but okayyyyyyy…..

• ....or about how the dog can teleport and undo locks until once again it's convenient for him not to be able to so she can dramatically save the day (look I also have issues with her valuing her pet's life over Lele's in that scene...also isn't the dog supposed to be like terrifying, it could've fought while her and Lele got out. not really sure how the water which delayed him like two seconds helped more than her dog would've....look, i love pets and i don't want him to die but i don't want Lele to die either!)

• Bryce and Hunt literally never have a talk about everything???? Like I get the world almost ended but neither of them had a thought like I know we need to talk about everything that happened on the boat. About if his love for Shahar trumps his love for me. But that can wait… Because those were all fears she had before but now vanished???? I get not wanted to have verbal talk but a thought from Bryce would’ve been nice.

• How can you run, carry a sword, and shoot a gun all at the same time? Still trying to figure out the logistics of that all....

• Why is SJM's adult book the least smutty thing she has written so far!?!?!?!?

• The love saves everyone and everything line is so fucking cheesy I can’t.

My Overall Feelings:

• The book couldn’t choose a plot. Did it want to be a crime book? Did it want to be ACOMAF? Who the fuck knows.

• This would have worked better as a TV series than a book. Especially that scene where Bryce is trying to save the city and everyone is just watching it happen on the jumbo screen at the summit. In book form it was just….weird….and felt disruptive...and someone could've started flying to help out. Plus I like watching shows with characters like Bryce but hate reading books with characters like her if that makes sense...

• Also if the summit is just between the leaders of CC then why did Sadriel have to be there? Why does it happen only every 10 years? Why does it have to take place outside of the city if no other leaders from other places are present?

• Why don’t we get a map of all of the other countries that were mentioned?

• This book was wayyyyyy too long. It would have been much better if it was reduced to 500ish pages instead.

• Also the character’s flip-flopped with their character development way too much. It wasn’t consistent.

• This is definitely one of the better SJM book’s I’ve read, but it won’t be one that I’ll reread. It is too long with too many boring bits in the middle.

• But hey! If you love SJM then you’ll probably love this book…

Content Warnings and Trigger Warnings: restricted eating, self-harm, drug use, alcohol consumption, implied rape, mentions of abusive relationships, suicidal thoughts, depression, emesis, slavery, terrorist attacks, grief, gun violence, death, murder, violence, torture

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#this review is so long it ran out of space on goodreads lol #book review #house of blood and earth spoilers #crescent city spoilers #crescent city #house of blood and earth #booksneedcaffeinetooblog

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nyacat39 · 8 years ago

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Things Forgotten Chapter 4

Link to Previous Chapter

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Questions are Asked... Some Answers are revealed, yet new questions arise.

It was nearly 11:30pm now and the two had watched more than just the ghost movie. They had gone through Netflix before finding some movies in the “Children's” Section to help calm Barry down. They ended up doing a running commentary on some of the movies.

Well more like Barry did a lot of talking and Rachel would join in on one or two comments here and there. After the last movie, Rachel was about to get ready for bed when Barry seemed to remember something.

“Hey Rachel…” She glanced over at him with a confused look. “Whose Doctor Danny?”

Rachel blinked at the name.

“Who?”

“Oh uh… Well last week before your blackout… You said ‘Doctor Danny’ before passing out… I just forgot to ask the last few times we saw met up,” Barry explained allowing Rachel to think the name over for a moment.

Nothing turned up for a little while before a headache began. Barry was worried as she looked in pain from the headache… it almost felt like the last time.

“Rach-” Barry began, only for the blond to snap out of it with wide eyes.

“He… He was my therapist… years ago.” Barry blinked at that, he had not expected an answer like that at all. He watched as she turned to him with her eyes still wide. “What… what caused me to say that name?”

Barry shifted a little at the question. He remembered that it happened after he told the story of the haunted church… and he was naturally just uncomfortable talking about it.

“Tell me… please…” the desperation in her voice and what little could be seen on her face caused him to give in.

“I’ll… I’ll just get to the main points of the story,” He sighed and leaned back trying to get comfortable. He took a deep breath to prepare himself before he finally got around to it.

“I went to the church Nick goes to often… you know to visit that Reverend Black guy. I was in the library and I accidentally broke something. I freaked out and grabbed a book to pretend that I was reading when I heard someone coming in. The guy called my bluff instantly and well… he was this freaky ass doctor covered in blood… Though aside from that… the guys eyes really freaked me out the most.”

“His… eyes?”

“Yeah… I remember them most… Mostly because he stared in my mine… His left one seemed normal but his right… it… it was like someone shoved two different-”

“Eyes together.” Barry paused after the two spoke at the exact same time. Rachel also seemed to pause and rub at one of her temples, eye’s narrowed in confusion.

“... Okay how did you know what I was gonna say… I don’t think I’ve ever even told Katie that part… wait did I?”

“I… I don’t know… it… seemed right to say.”

A silence fell between the two, both trying to figure out what that was all about. Barry suddenly thought of something different from what Rachel was thinking.

Is… this because I haven’t taken my medicine?... What’s going on?

“Maybe we found something that gets through your blackouts!” Barry exclaimed suddenly very excited and proud. Rachel blinked at that but also realized… she did remember something from when she was close to turning thirteen. She’s never remembered anything from that time… except for her parent’s death… and waking up in the hospital months after her thirteenth birthday.

An idea came to her immediately as she turned to Barry.

“... Could you take me to that church?”

Barry jumped at that.

“What?!” Rachel flinched at the volume of his voice and immediately avoided eye contact. The pink haired boy quickly apologized before he revised what he said. “Why… would you want ME, to take you to a haunted place?”

“... When you spoke about the ghost you saw… I remembered a few things… If… If I could see the ghost for myself then… then maybe I could remember some more,” she answered quietly, her gaze still away from Barry’s face and seemed to be more focused on her own hands on her lap.

Barry was hesitant, looking at his friend for a moment… He suddenly raised his own fist and punched himself in the face, startling Rachel.

“Fffff- Okay… ow… I’ll help.”

“Did… you have to punch yourself?”

“Nah… I had to punch a coward… But just to be safe. Cereal you ready for walkies?”

The white puppy barked happily and started running around at the mentioned walks. Rachel however couldn’t help but smile a little… despite the words entering her head that always helped to add the hint of sadness in her smiles.

….

Barry nearly lost his nerve when they parked near the church. The old Gothic building looking so much more creepy at night with little light from the streetlamps to brighten it up at all. He was half tempted to punch himself again when Rachel opened up the passenger side door and jumped out. Cereal’s leash in her hands and the small dog following her out as she did.

“AH wait!” Barry quickly pulled the keys out of his car’s ignition and went into the glove compartment to pull out a flashlight from within. He exited the car soon after and followed after the blond. He turned the light on only for it to flicker a bit… as he was about to hit it though a light flashed in his face as Rachel held up her cellphone with it’s flashlight app activated.

“... Your phone is charged right?” the blond asked as Barry stared blankly before quickly slapping himself for being an idiot. Rachel flinched as he did that.

“Sorry… I wasn’t thinking.” A bark came from his dog, who immediately got the attention of the pink haired boy, who tried to shoosh his dog. “Cereal no, we’re trying to be stealthy.”

“I don’t think flashlights help with that…”

“... So we should turn the lights on in the church?”

“That’s an even worse idea Barry…” Rachel then handed the leash over to the proper owner and the duo, plus the dog, went right up to the door for a moment before reconsidering that idea.

“... Maybe someone left a window unlocked?” Barry suggested and noticed that Rachel was already ahead of him looking for one. Sucking it up he followed her with his dog by his side, only to stop when said dog started sniffing around like he needed to go.

“Hold up, can’t let Cereal go inside yet.”

Rachel paused at that only to blink and face Barry after noticing something.

“Uh Barry…”

“Hm?”

“Cereal’s sniffing a cross…”

“Yeah and…! Cereal no!”

It was too late… the dog had relieved itself on the cross making Barry’s jaw drop and Rachel to just look away. The little white dog finished up before trotting over to Barry with happy pants while the pink haired boy continued to stand there in shock.

“... My dog’s going to hell for that…”

“Probably…” Rachel simply responded before noticing… something in one of the windows. It… looked like a figure of a kid standing in the shadows of the building. She was about to point her phone’s light at it only to watch it raise it’s hand and… unlock the window before leaving quickly. She glanced back to Barry, wondering if he noticed the figure as well only to see he was still fussing over his pet… and seemed to be begging to God to forgive the little guy for following nature’s call.

Glancing back and forth between the window and Barry for a bit she decided to speak up finally.

“… This window’s unlocked…” She wasn’t sure if telling him that someone had unlocked it for them was the best thing to say at the moment… but if it turned out that someone was dangerous she was at least prepared this time. Barry perked up at the sound of her voice and saw the latch for the window was indeed up, allowing it to be opened.

“Whoa, that’s lucky!” Barry flinched at how loud his own voice got… maybe he really wasn’t good at this whole sneaking around thing after all. After making sure no one was going to appear and question them, they opened up the window. They were completely thankful that it didn’t have a screen that needed to be taken care of. It was clearly big enough to crawl through but the biggest problem was how high it was… Rachel would need a little boost to get in with her shorter height.

“... Mind helping me up?”

“No problem.” With a grin Barry, easily lifted her enough that she could get through the rest of the way on her own. With a mild drop to the ground she was able to stand up straight and lean out the window a bit for Barry to hand her Cereal. As soon as he brought the dog inside she thought she heard something… no someone saying her name.

She turned and tried to find the source of the voice… it wasn’t Barry’s at all, that much she knew. She also knew something was causing Cereal to feel uneasy as the tiny dog started to growl in her arms at nothing. Rachel was starting to feel a little uncomfortable in there as when she shined the light all around the room there was no sign of another living being other than her and the dog. Barry soon crawled his way in and noticed how both Rachel and Cereal seemed on edge.

“What’s wrong?”

“... I… thought I heard someone say my name…” Barry’s face remained blank for a moment… before he tried to get out through the window he JUST came through in a panic. Rachel had to stop him… thankfully she did but Barry was still kind of freaked out.

“What if it was the doctor ghost?” Barry shuddered while Rachel thought it over for a bit while Cereal continued to growl at nothing. Barry was more worried about that as he knows his dog… and his dog doesn’t just growl at nothing.

“But… how would he know my name? I’ve… I’ve never been to this church before…”

“Please don’t make this creepier then it already is,” Barry pleaded as he took his dog back from the blond, the presence of the tiny dog making him feel a little more brave but not by much. Rachel didn’t seem to hear him as she was more uncomfortable with whatever had said her name.

Taking a deep breath Rachel straightened up and began walking off, Barry noticing this quickly and following close behind. He was looking around with discomfort and it didn’t help that his dog was still growling at nothing… only to seemingly stop and glance around confused. Barry really didn’t like that part.

“Actually you know what, let’s go back. I mean-”

“You can go back if you want… I’m not stopping you,” Rachel cut him off quickly. Barry hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath and following her.

“... You still need a ride and I don’t abandon my friends remember…”

The blond paused at that and looked down. Of course she remembered… most of the time that is. There was one time she swears she will never forget though.

“... Sorry…”

It was all she felt that could be said at the moment… until she saw someone behind Barry. She was about to say something until the person poked the pink haired boy, causing said boy to scream.

“Are you trying to wake the dead?” it was a child’s voice asking the question. The kid didn’t look older than 12, he had a playful smirk on his face and it showed in his green eyes. His auburn hair looked messy, like he hardly ever took time to brush through it or always wore something over it. He wore a closed jacket with a red scarf, a pair of blue jeans and some black boots.

“HOLY-” Barry started to loudly say only for both the kid and Rachel to stop him.

“Shhh.”

“... A-Are you a ghost?” Barry asked after quieting down, his heart pounding in his chest. The boy gave him a deadpanned look.

“I don’t know much about ghosts… but I’m pretty sure if I was one I wouldn’t have poked you. Pretty sure we also wouldn’t be having this conversation right now either.”

Rachel could have sworn she saw a small smirk crossing the boy’s face… But then again the kid did kneel down and beckon towards Cereal so it could have been more towards the dog then anything else.

“Bullshit… I had one with a ghost once!”

“Oh? Huh the more you know,” the kid looked kinda surprised before he started petting the small white dog, who in turn started sniffing at him before wagging his tail happily to the attention.

“... What are you doing here anyways?” Rachel finally asked. The boy smiled up at her.

“Oh I heard a rumor of this place being haunted. So I made a bet with a few friends. I prove this place isn’t haunted by staying the night, and I get twenty bucks.”

“It is haunted kid,” Barry growled, causing the boy’s smile to fade into a look of disinterest when he looked over to the pink haired boy.

“Coming from a guy with Pink hair and screams like a girl at a minor poke in the side…”

“First off, I lost a bet. Secondly I was expecting this place to be empty.”

“Oh then who unlocked the window for you?” the kid smirked as Barry tried to come up with a retort only to pause and actually try thinking about it.

“... That was you I saw... wasn’t it?” Rachel asked. Barry turned towards her quickly with a “What the fuck” look on his face.

“You saw someone unlock a window and you didn’t tell me?!”

“.... We got in didn’t we?”

“You’re welcome.”

Barry was starting to notice a minor pattern with how this kid spoke… mostly with how nice and friendly he sounded when talking to Rachel… and how annoyed he sounded when talking to him.

This kid is out of his league… she’s also a lot older then you kid, Barry thought to himself and holding back on actually punching the kid… after all he only has four things on his list of things to never punch. Friends are number one, Elderly are number two, Children are number three and finally he will never punch the disabled.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in bed though kid?” Barry asked, his tone dripping with his growing annoyance with the kid.

“Well I was till I heard some yelling outside.” Barry grew embarrassed at this, before straightening up.

“At home?”

“The bet remember you idiot?” The kid smirked as Barry was so close to punching the kid but held himself back.

“You’re so lucky I don’t hit kids..”

“... Aren’t you parent’s going to be worried though?” Rachel spoke up, the kid glanced over to her with… an almost sad look?

“Nah, they just think I’m at a friend’s place is all… so you gonna continue this twenty questions without introductions?”

“... God damn it this kid is like a mini Nick…”

“... What?”

“He’s a friend of ours… I’m Rachel Gard-... Stewarts…” Rachel said catching herself before saying her last name she had before she got adopted… she still wasn’t used to the last name “Stewarts” even after all these years. But it was still better to use as for some reason she had reporters trying to get interviews with her for a while until she moved.

The kid didn’t seem to react to her almost slip up, but instead smiled.

“Edward Kingsley. Call me Eddie please.”

“We’re seriously doing this?” Barry questioned, to annoyed with the kid to even give a proper introduction of himself to the kid.

“He’s Barry McCoy… and his dog Cereal Killer.”

“RACHEL!”

“Serial Killer?”

“... He kills cereal boxes.”

“Cereal box- OH Cereal Killer,” Eddie laughed. Barry pretty much groaned while staring up to the ceiling… almost begging to a silent god to give him strength to endure this.

….

Nick was back at home, wide awake and on his laptop. A pair of reading glasses on his face as he looked up cases involving the recent Back Alley Murders.

Every killer has an MO… There’s gotta be something that connects all these cases together aside from the multiple stab wounds… and the location. Nick thought to himself, having already gone through one night before with no sleep and was approaching his second… an average thing by this point.

It’s usually harder for his friends to detect when he’s missed his first night, as he’s learned to better handle it… the second day though he knows for a fact both his family and his friends will be trying to get him to go to bed. He promised himself he would go to bed… when he picked up what connected all these killings or even any hint that this could have been done by multiple people.

“But Nick, that’s something for the police, not a seventeen year old…” Yeah well a Seventeen year old would normally not be in Law School this early either, and it’s called research… Am I seriously talking to myself in my head now? Nick paused his work at that thought, his expression going from confusion to wide eyed realization.

“I’m more tired then I thought….” Checking the time his laptop displayed he swore that he would try to wrap up in the next hour to head off and get some sleep… maybe.

Gazing back at his search window he scrolled through the links that he had already checked out, and checking a few other ones here and there only to back out as it was apparent they wouldn’t give him the info he needed. Going through he stopped at one in particular.

It was of a news article from six years ago. Pushing his glasses up a bit he began reading through the article… finding more of the story on how the original Back Alley Murderer got caught… and the girl who survived. Rachel Gardner.

He knew that was Rachel’s name before she was adopted… but he never expected her to be in anything big like this… or even at the site of a building collapse.

She was found with a gunshot wound in her side, passed out from loss of blood and sent to a hospital… at the hospital it seemed that when she woke up she practically begged to see the murderer… Stockholm Syndrome? Doctors found traces of some unknown hallucinogenic in some of the blood along with even more minor traces of some poison… What the hell was going on?

Nick was curious… and infuriated at the same time. This was something that had happened to his friend from a past she barely remembered… but at the same time he wanted to question her more on it so he could find out just WHAT happened. Though he doubted he would ever get those answers. After all Rachel’s memories weren’t a reliable source anymore… not with her blackouts being a constant thing that just removes said memories when triggered.

“DAMN IT!”

“Hey Nick! I know you don’t sleep but some people in this house do so shut up!” the voice of his sister shouted back at him. Before he could retort back the stern voice of his father broke through to both of them.

“IT’S 1:28 AM BOTH OF YOU GO TO SLEEP!”

“Sorry dad!” Joan called out, before presumably turning over in her bed and trying to go back to sleep.

“Sorry…” Nick muttered, but didn’t follow through with what his father told him to do. Instead he turned his attention back to the news article… and the picture it had of his friend when she was Thirteen.

… She doesn’t look that bad with long hair I guess… but it feels weird that it’s not shoulder length. I wonder though…. Is there any way to at least jog her memory?

Curiously he opened up a new search window and began looking for ways to try and jog someone’s memory. He bookmarked a few that seemed promising… but scoffed at one entirely.

Hypnotism… that’s just plain stupid.

Still engrossed in his own research he jumped at the sound of his cellphone ringing at… 2:53 am?

“Shouldn’t whoever you are be asleep?” Nick asked immediately when he answered the call.

“... You know Barry and Katie would be saying the same thing…” It was Rachel’s voice on the other end. Suddenly it didn’t surprise him as much that she would be calling him… after all Barry was more likely than not asleep and she DID witness Eric’s murder… unless she had a blackout then this is a lot more confusing.

“... What’s wrong?” There was a pause at the other end of the phone.

“Um…… theoretically speaking… how… how would one defend themselves from a ghost?”

Silence… Nick couldn’t believe what he had just been asked. Rachel… one of his most rational friends… was asking him something so irrational it made his brain hurt trying to even ponder just what caused her to even THINK of asking something like that.

“... Why the hell are you asking me this?”

Silence was on the other end of the line… though listening carefully he could pick up the sounds of rustling papers and other almost unidentifiable noises… only to hear Barry’s voice in the background asking something he couldn’t pick up completely.

“Did Barry set you up to this?”

“.... No….”

“Then why the hell are you calling me at nearly three in the morning for something as stupid as this?”

“.... Don’t tell Katie….”

“... What are you doing?”

“... Barry and I… snuck into the church… and got attacked by a ghost…”

Nick was quiet. He was trying to process just what he was told by his blond friend. It made absolutely no logical sense to him. Being attacked by ghosts? Sneaking into a church at night? The fact that Rachel believed in ghosts?

“... What kind of drugs did your doctor prescribe you?”

“.... Antidepressants…. Last I checked….”

Nick groaned.

“Okay… What the hell did you two DO in the church to ‘get attacked’ then?”

“... You don’t believe me.”

“You called me at three in the morning asking about ghosts, which do not exist. I’m going to have a hard time believing anything about that.”

The line went dead at that. Nick pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing his reading glasses up as he did… only for him to realize after a little while that he was kind of an asshole at the end there. Clearly she sounded kind of scared and was honestly looking for advice… and he was a dick who didn’t even try to humor the idea of spirits to try and calm her down. Hell she was attacked and had seen a murder HOURS AGO and was probably still paranoid about that.

“Damn it…” He picked his phone up again and dialed her number. Mostly to apologize for how much of an ass he was… only for it to go to voicemail. He tried again at least two more times, getting the same result and practically slamming his head on his desk.

I really fucked up if she’s doing this… Taking a deep breath he speed dialed Barry’s number, knowing he would have his phone and that he would be with her. After the first two rings the line was picked up.

“Yo, whatcha still doing up?”

“Don’t play dumb Barry… You know Rachel called me… could you just put her on the line for a moment?”

“Wha- OH that’s right her phone died. Alright give me a minute and I’ll put you on speaker.”

Nick paused as that… he… hadn’t upset Rachel enough to cause her to hang up… and not answer his calls? Her phone just died…

“Alright you’re on!”

“Do you seriously have to yell?” an unfamiliar child’s voice was heard in immediate response to Barry’s loud voice.

“Shut up Nick Jr.!”

“And will you quit calling me that!”

“... Sorry you have to deal with that Nick.”

“... Who the hell is this ‘Nick Jr.’?”

“MY NAME IS EDDIE! Christ is that to hard to remember?”

“... No it’s actually pretty easy to remember…”

“Don’t go taking Nick Jr.’s side on this!”

“For the hundredth time it’s EDDIE!”

“Will someone explain what the hell is going on?”

“Forgive them Nicolas… Children will be children after all.” The voice of Reverend Black seemed to stop the other sounds going on…

“HEY!”

Except for that comment from both Barry and this Eddie he heard on the phone.

“Reverend Black? What are you doing up?”

“Well your friends were none too quiet… to the point I woke to the sound of a teenage girl screaming bloody murder. To my surprise it wasn’t the girl who screamed, and my Library was in ruins.”

“... We’re helping pick it up before we leave…”

Nick was now trying to process exactly what the fuck was going on now… and was having trouble picking it up at all. He wanted, no needed to figure out just what the fuck was going on. Screw curfew laws, he was driving over to the church right now and seeing this disaster for himself. He didn’t bother telling them or even saying anything as he hung up the phone and proceeded to exit his room to grab his dad’s keys.

He had just started the truck and left immediately… forgetting how most of his family consists of light sleepers… and how his sister watched him drive off with their father’s vehicle from her window.

….

As soon as Nick arrived he hurried right into the church… only to slam into the front doors as they were locked.

“Fuck… Going around… ugh.” Nick groaned in slight pain. He turned around and walked away from the doors. He rounded his way to the back of the church knowing for a fact if the Reverend was in, that’s where he would have more likely than not come in… after all the front of the church had stairs while the back was wheelchair access.

Nick ran around, not really paying attention to the opened window as he hurried. When he got to the back, he tried the door and boom he got a stroke of luck with the door being left unlocked. With the door open he went right inside and navigated by memory to the Library… Oh wait… the lights were on.

Wow I’m out of it… He thought for a moment before making way to the Library. When he entered it looked like a disaster zone. Books were thrown everywhere, some bookshelves had fallen, a few of the potted plants were smashed on the ground… basically it looked more like a Tornado had blown through rather than two teenagers and a… whatever age this Eddie kid was.

Speaking of which the three mentioned people, he was pretty sure with the number of people that he heard over the phone that the auburn haired boy was Eddie, were picking up… or at least stopped to stare at him as he entered. Reverend Black was the only one who didn’t look as surprised as the others… and instead looked rather disappointed… and had Eddie’s dog sleeping on his lap.

“You know I would have been more surprised if you actually stayed home like any other person,” the Reverend spoke, the other three still more confused on just why he was even here.

“... I had to see what the hell just happened… and I still have no idea what the fuck happened here…”

“Being completely honest that’s a piece of information I would like to know as well,” the priest responded, casting his gaze over to the three other occupants of the room… all but one shifted uncomfortably under said gaze. Rachel simply averted her eyes to her hands that held some of the fallen books, allowing the clear bruise on her face to be made seen… but also for Nick to notice that her hand seemed to be injured.

“... Well we got attacked for starters…” Barry started… Which to Nick it meant everything was going to go downhill from there.

#angels of death #satsuriku no tenshi #angel of slaughter #rachel gardner #fanfiction #angel of slaughter ray #ocs #fanfic #things forgotten #things forgotten au

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