#her chapters feel like a cat video that's too long

[nutelloona]

damn I really couldn't care less about Izutsumi

[angsthology]

“oh, god, no...” — or an alt title: three people bonding over random things as alex makes a horrible decision

one of his worst ideas ever. he’s never doing it ever again.

a/n ckckckckcck i love u dino anon but i was a bit stumped on where this could go BUT i give u surprise to make it more fun i love love love alex my i wanna say pookie but i cant take that word seriously. also im guilty of oversharing roolore in these suposedly shorter chapters. and now that im realizing things this kinda suck lawl

THE KANGAROO(KIE) VS. THE WORLD

after a long day of media, roo was finally free to do whatever she pleased (that being going back to her hotel and pass out until whatever time her body wakes up). currently, she’s slipping on her backpack and taking her phone out, scrolling mindlessly on her contacts until she found the right name.

“where the hell are you?” she starts, holding her phone to her face. “alright. you wanna watch a movie ‘til we pass out?” she paused waiting for an answer as she walks out of the building, “‘kay, i’ll meet you out front.”

just as she clicked her phone off, she looked up to be met with a face that just… stood there with a smile—making her jump and scream in surprise, catching the attention of people around.

when she collected all her life (that had been scattered when she got spooked) she took notice of the source of her heart-attack. he smiled innocently still, as if he’s done nothing wrong.

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!”

alex, the culprit in question didn’t falter (though he did flinch a little bit at her outburst), he saw this one coming and to be quite frank, he did this to himself.

“i deserved that.” he closed his eyes in acceptance of defeat. alas, he brushed it off, he moved to her side and slung a hand around her shoulder. she was about to shrug him off but decided against it. “how would you feel about helping me pick my next hair color?”

that piqued her interest, she finally looks up to come face-to-face with him again, though now a smile graced her face like a cheshire cat.

his face fell. he was starting to slowly regret his decision.

without another word, a large grin still etching her face, she fished her phone out of her pocket and started scrolling through something. when alex tried to take a peek, she immediately moved away to prevent him from doing so mumbling something along the lines of ‘corporate secrets’.

he made a face at her words. but when she finally showed him her screen, he felt as if the face he made before was a bit premature.

“what the hell is that?!” he exclaimed.

she moved her phone so she could see the picture for herself seeing not what she had opened before but rather a video instead, “oh, sorry, this was from my pitbull concert. he’s great, isn’t he?” she happily showed him the video again.

he gave her another face.

“right, uh, here.” she showed him the correct picture.

he paused. “…what is that supposed to be?”

looking at the picture again, she took a second to think about it then shrug, “neon green/yellow-ish, give or take.”

his mouth drops at her direction. “what do you mean?”

“what do you mean, ‘what do i mean’?” she takes a look at his shocked face then decided to continue, “i mean: neon green/yellow-ish!” pausing, thinking back her words, “give or take!” she pauses again and re-clarified much calmer, “okay, maybe a bit more faded and muted.”

he shook his head, non-verbally ending that part of the discussion.

“where are we even going to get that kind of color?”

she shrugs, “i know a guy.”

the two girls were now currently sitting on the couch, the doberman peacefully laying between them—her eyes too, like theirs, glued to the television playing jurassic park when suddenly a knock came, shifting all three of the girls’ attention towards it.

roo was about to get up to check who it was. being who she was, she had to be extra careful who to let into her living quarters.

“it’s me!” the other side announced.

she looked away from the door and blinked, her brows screwing together in thought until she realized who that voice belonged to.

“alex?” she tested the waters.

“yeah!”

she sighed, her eyes then looking expectantly at the dog that lied beside her, tilting her head as if she were the dog asking their owner for something.

the dog whimpers as if groaning at her request. alas, she jumped off the couch begrudgingly walking towards the door and jumping up to open it.

“he— huh?” alex stopped in his tracks when instead of seeing his friend right behind the door, she was way far sitting on the couch with her friend. she greeted him nonetheless then motioning her hand towards the dog that sat quaintly besides the door, smiling up at him happily.

“oh!” he raised his brows in surprise then bending down to pet the dog who happily accepted, “who’s this fella?” he asked in a high-pitched voice, his accent stronger than usual.

“that’s jet, she’s mine.” roo answered from the couch, jurassic park long forgotten. “what are you doing here?” she asked the brit.

alex then moved his attention away from the dog, his hand still petting her chin, “uhm—i need your help.”

“with what?” her voice slightly gurgling from taking a sip of her drink.

he then holds up the boxes of hair dye with a forced awkward smile.

she gave him a look, “what about your girlfriend?”

“busy today,” he shrugged.

“then do it tomorrow.” she counters.

“okay, fine, i’m bored and alone.” he confessed.

she wanted to help; she really did but—

she groaned loudly; head thrown back to rest on the back of the couch.

“would you believe me if i say my ass is glued and have already morphed into this couch?”

“i would, actually.”

suddenly, from far behind on the other side of the couch—her presence almost forgotten—nika made herself present, “i’ll help. my ass is getting tired of the couch and i’m pretty good with handling people’s hair; i actually spent a summer working in my mom’s salon once.”

roo the gasped, turning around to face her friend with her jaw slack in shock—sarcasm written all over her face—“you had a job? like an actual job? once upon a time?”

“oh shut the fuck up,” she waved off the racing driver and stood up from her seat on the couch over to the other. “now get up, let’s do this.”

about a half an hour into their attempt, nika and alex had set up a mini salon chair using one of the hotel’s dining table chairs with a layer of plastic sitting on the ground. the latter sat on a chair in the middle of the room with a cloth draped over the top of his body. if anyone were to come in through the front door right now, they would assume kidnapping with a side of chemical testing. nika herself had changed into one of her uglier shirts incase they would accidentally get some dye on it.

the alfa romeo driver, on the other hand, still sat where she was the entire time unmoving and un-helping, now having the large dog sat on her lap feeding treats off of her hand while the other scratches the dog between her ears.

“alright. i think that’s all of your hair.” the girl stepped back from her friend’s friend’s hair, admiring the work she’s done. “now we wait. —good luck al,” she said as she took off the plastic gloves that were now mostly green.

alex—whose chair was facing the door for some reason—gripped the chair with his two (clean) hands and moved it around along with himself so he can face the couch. “so…” he looked between his co-worker and her friend, “does she just… go everywhere with you?”

“yeah.” she answered shortly before continuing, “you guys have wags i have… this.”

he looked at nika again, “no offense to you, but—”

“it’s fine, have you met her?” she shrugged pointing at the little shit she unfortunately calls a friend.

he chuckled then continued, “what about daisy-mae? i thought she was your best friend?”

“she is. this one’s just fit baggage claim. plus—daisy’s a serious scholar she’s still very busy getting her degree.”

from the kitchen sink, nika scoffed, “yeah, while she’s stuck with me around the world, mae’s stuck with atticus in college.”

alex the jumped into the conversation at the familiar name, “oh! the drummer, right?”

“yes.”

“oh—hey,” nika turned around from the sink and walked to the closest counter to the two friends, “there’s still quite some left, who wants it?”

as if sensing an idea in the air, jet jumps off roo’s lap and ran into another room.

said girl sighs, “man, knew jet was too smart for trips like this. should’ve known i should’ve brought bennie instead.”

as if the dog heard her, a bark came from the other room.

“whatever. i guess that’s one option out the window,” she turns to nika over the counter, “do me!” she smiles happily.

“alright. your death wish.”

alex, who was momentarily smiling, dropped his previous expression, “wait what—”

te1enoviyuhs

liked by daisymaerose, selvnika, and 836,735 others

tagged: selvnika and lilymhe

te1enoviyuh some notes from yours truly:

lilymhe why did u have to dump babysitting duties

and gooddyeyoung thank u for the hair dye i love hayley williams 🥰

and uh i guess awstenknight thanks for the hookup and free dye

and to everyone else!!!! hey. dump acc just dropped

see all 836 comments.

backbiteroo WHO LET YOU DO THIS

te1enoviyuh backbiteroo myself. i am a grown woman.

selvnika the nika salon is now open for business 🥰

te1enoviyuh selvnika i hope you bankrupt and close

selvnika te1enoviyuh kiss yourself.

norrislftv selvnika ??????

norrislftv OH

alex_albon why was i not tagged 😕 i thought we were twins now

te1enoviyuh alex_albon hm. sure. u wish

daisymaerose hi jet

liked by te1enoviyuh

gaslytv what does... alex mean... when he said... twins...

schupastry this is so random but so cute

awstenknight youre welcome grinch

te1enoviyuh awstenknight 🖕

lilymhe 😬😬 i apologize for having a job

te1enoviyuh lilymhe don’t apologize for that. apologize for not taking ur kid to work.

lilymhe te1enoviyuh that i won’t apologize for.

50kidgaroos BABE WAKE UP NEW DUMP ACCOUNT JUST DROPPED

taglist; @treehouse-mouse @disneyprincemuke @yansbolobao @leilanixx @judespoision @vellicora @bborra

[lazyjellyfish300]

DD pt 3 part 2 of 2

Fem reader x Miguel O'Hara who is your Uber driver

This art was commissioned to accompany this chapter by the incredibly talented @/ejpuki on Instagram. Please go support the original artist!

Pt 1 , Pt 2 , Pt 3 1 , Part 4 , Part 5

Synopsis- fem reader drinks too much and the bartender calls a random Uber for her which happens to be Miguel O'Hara himself. Her friends suck and ditch her. There's a lot of tension on the ride home...

TW: MINORS DNI, some blood, little.violence, suggestive content ,age gap (reader 26, Miguel 34), this one is a sad one, inspired by the original comic

-----

Over the next few days you two text back and forth and talk on the phone. You feel so happy and excited about this budding romance between you two. It's been so long since you felt safe enough to let yourself catch feelings for a guy. You flood his phone while he's at work. Miguel isn't used to someone texting him so often but it's kind of cute how you update him on every little thing that's happening in your day and he has to try not to burst out laughing in the break room at some of the Instagram reels you send him. 

Your text convo: 

Miguel (pookie 🐻❤️) : Why tf would you send me a video of a banana cat with that sad music 😂😐🤨 and who is that white guy that's always randomly showing up at the end of videos with that whistle tune playing? 

You(amor ❤️): it's a meme babe you don't get it😂😂😂 it's supposed to be random, that's what makes it funny af. And that's Josh Hutcherson. You've never seen or read Hunger Games?! 

Miguel(pookie 🐻❤️): no, I haven't. Your sense of humor is a little broken I'm afraid. 🤨 You kids and your memes. 

You(amor ❤️): my sense of humor is just fine 😂LMAO you're only like 8 years older than me. 😂 we're watching it immediately! And we're going to Barnes and Noble to get you a copy. 😇 

Miguel(pookie 🐻❤️): hmmm fine.😌 When would you like to, cutie? ❤️

You(amor ❤️): This weekend please? ❤️❤️❤️

Miguel(pookie 🐻❤️): I'm so sorry, I'll have Gabi with me. But she'll be at her mom's next weekend. Can we do it then? ❤️ 

You(amor ❤️): that's okay I totally understand! ❤️ Yes please! I'm so excited ❤️ I miss you... 

Miguel(pookie 🐻❤️): perfect. I miss you more. ❤️

--------- 

Next Friday

Miguel drives to work, his heart like a dead weight in his chest and his mind racing with different scenarios on how he's going to tell his boss he's had enough. This isn't what he signed up for. The project he was overseeing at work was trying to create these "special abilities"in humans. One of the test subjects passed away this week and he'd be lying to himself if he said it wasn't messing with his head. He had nightmares about her. She couldn't have been older than 19. Her blue eyes frantic as she realized she might not make it off the lab table alive. Her horrified screams ringing in his eardrums. Miguel's fist clamped tighter around the steering wheel as he choked back a sob. He felt this was his burden to shoulder alone. He knew he was falling for you steadily now, and he didn't want you to go crazy worrying about him. He knows you love to try and fix people, a lot of times to your detriment and couldn't stand to see you in that position or live with the fact that he put you there. 

 He really didn't care for his boss, Tyler Stone either. Tyler Stone was the 6'3, blonde haired, blue eyed, egotistical vice president over Research and Development at Alchemax. He and the other higher ups just spent all day figuratively (and possibly literally) sucking each other off in boardroom meetings for the hard work everyone underneath them was doing. He was a businessman, not a scientist, and it became clear to Miguel that profit came first for him over scientific discovery and advancement, and his cronies shared the same philosophy. 

Miguel faced the man now, sitting in his office. Tyler sighed and walked over to his decanter set that sat in the corner of his office on top of a polished mahogany drink cabinet. 

"Care for some bourbon?" He asked, rolling up his sleeves.

Miguel pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded, closing his eyes for a moment. 

"It pains me to hear that you're wanting to leave, it really does." Tyler says as he pours the bourbon in two short, square glasses. 

"I chose you because I believed you could handle it. Your track record doesn't lie, Miguel. You were top of your class at Columbia University. I've seen your research and read your thesis that you did with them. You know Dain was actually the one that submitted your nomination to me when I was looking for someone to promote?" Tyler hands the glass of bourbon to Miguel who murmurs a low thank you. 

"My point is, if you leave, I got no one to replace you, and that makes my job even more tough." Tyler takes a sip of his bourbon and makes a small face. "I'm going to bat for your little science project every time I meet with the board of directors. I'll be honest with you, they're ready to trim the fat." Tyler's blue eyes bore into Miguel's over the rim of his glass. "But I tell them that this process, is worth the wait. We won't have these superhuman abilities lined up for purchase on shelves tomorrow. But give or take a few years we will be the first to break 100 bil in quarterly revenue when we roll this out to the public.  My point is, I'm willing to do whatever I gotta do to keep this project afloat because I've ran the numbers, I've seen what guys like you and Dain can do. It's a worthwhile investment."

Miguel takes a sip of his bourbon and winces. Fuck it, he downs the rest of the whiskey, his throat on fire. He holds out his empty glass to Tyler who takes it and goes to refill it, his back turned to Miguel.

 "I'm sorry...." Miguel finally says. "I've made up my mind. I'm flattered that you think I'm the right person for this job, but I'm telling you, I don't want to be the guy who all of this is riding on anymore. I'm not gonna gamble if people's lives are the chips."

Tyler's face went dark and he started tapping the side of his glass, his back still turned to Miguel.

Since when did this fucker grow a conscience? He knows he wouldn't be doing this job if he wasn't getting paid for it either right? He'd given Miguel and his team resources that any group of scientists would give their left kidney for. It was thanks to him in those board meetings that those ungrateful bastards even still had a job. And now their hang up is human test subjects? 

Tyler handed Miguel back another glass and said nothing as he watched Miguel down it. Miguel winced again as he finished his liquor, throat still on fire and cheeks starting to flush. 

Tyler turned back around, looking at the now setting sun on the horizon. "I'm afraid I can't let you go." He said calmly. 

Miguel raised an eyebrow, then suddenly his face turned white when Tyler held up an empty vial of Rapture, his back still turned to him. Tyler spoke again, his back still facing Miguel. "Alchemax is the only distributor of Rapture. Leave if you want, but I'm going to have to be forced to let the board know and involve law enforcement when they realize one of their silly little scientists couldn't keep his hands out of the cookie jar and became a needy little addict." He took a long sip. 

"You're not gonna make me look like a weak little bitch in front of the whole board. I don't lose, Miguel. You're not gonna fuck this up for me." 

Enraged, Miguel shot up, shattering the shot glass in his hand, blood gushing out of his fingers. "You fucking piece of shit!" 

Tyler remained calm. "You wanna hurt me? Go right ahead. I used your sign in to get this vial from the lab. The access history and empty vial next to my dead body will just deepen the hole you dug yourself. Either do as I say, or throw away your freedom right now and kill me before you even had a chance to see your little girl go to Prom." 

Miguel paused. This fucker was playing chess with him. Tyler took another sip. "It'd be a damn shame if you did. Especially about that new slutty girlfriend of yours. Did you even get to find out what her pussy feels like?"

That was it. Miguel threw his chair against the wall, the wooden legs splintering into the cabinet Tyler was leaning up against, a neutral expression on his prick face as he sipped more bourbon. 

Miguel turned and left the office, and slammed the door so hard the receptionist let out a small squeak of terror as Miguel tore down the hallway, rage seething out of his ears. 

  "Aaron?" Tyler asked in his cold expressionless voice. 

A short, balding man in his mid-thirties with green eyes and thick black rimmed glasses stepped out from behind a two way mirror in the corner of Tyler's office. 

"You rewrote the code in Machine A-2099 in sector 8, right?" 

"Yes boss." 

--------

You hummed happily as you lit a few of your favorite vanilla almond scented candles on your coffee table. You went all out with a smorgasbord of treats for your movie date night with Miguel including popcorn, gummy worms, Milk Duds, Pretzels, M&Ms, beef jerky, and root beer floats. As soon as you got off work, you cleaned the whole apartment top to bottom and put fresh sheets on the bed. You checked your phone anxiously.

Text convo: 

Miguel (pookie 🐻❤️): Good morning beautiful ❤️ how'd you sleep? Have a great day, I'll be at your apartment at 8 pm. 

You(amor ❤️): you just made my whole morning!🥰🥰 Good morning handsome! I slept great! I'm so looking forward to movie night tonight. I have a bunch of treats and goodies for us to snack on too. 😇

Miguel (pookie 🐻❤️): that sounds wonderful, baby. ❤️ Driving to work now, I'll text you when I get there but I'm not going to be able to talk much today. I have a meeting with the boss and a bunch of other stuff related to the project I'm overseeing. Just wanted to let you know not to worry ❤️ I'll call you at 6! 

6 pm came and went and you felt sick to your stomach. 

You(amor ❤️): Babe? Everything okay, I tried you twice. 

Nothing. 

You (amor ❤️): Miguel? It's 9 pm. Are you okay? Please just call or text me to let me know everything's okay...

It was now 10 pm. He wasn't coming. Your stomach lay in knots. You had called him 28 times with no answer.

What's happening? Is he cheating on me? Did he get into an accident? Is he dead on the side of the road while I'm hundreds of miles away and can't do anything?

He gets busy at work but he always, always checks in with you. You can't help but fight back tears at his untouched root beer float sitting next to yours. You knew going into this that you had to jump, knowing you were gonna fall and he might not be there to catch you. Well, here you were with a small dagger in your heart on what was supposed to be your second date. You couldn't help but let yourself get in your head. His rejection of you this time confirmed everything you feared about yourself. You laid down on the couch and sobbed quietly to sleep. 

------

That same night at Alchemax

Miguel's painful screams reverberated off the tiled floor of the genetics lab at Alchemax. The tall powerful man he was, was writhing on the floor in agony. It was as though his blood had turned to acid. His whole body felt on fire. Please God, if I'm supposed to die right now just take me already. He hadn't felt pain this intense ever before in his life. His eyes turned bloodshot, foaming at the mouth as his saliva bubbled and splurted out in incoherent gasps. 

Aside from his screams, the machine responsible for his pain let out a low beep. Miguel knew that a copy of his original DNA sample was logged into one of the gene altering machines that he set up when he was first put in charge of Tyler's superhuman project. He knew that as long as he had a drop of Rapture in him, he'd remain an addict defenseless against his new dependency Tyler forced on him. He had tried in vain to rewrite his current biology back to the original, but Tyler was one step ahead. Tyler knew nothing about science or how DNA worked, but it didn't take much to convince Miguel's bitter, jealous subordinate, Aaron Delgado to sabotage the machine. Very little was known about what type of effect that might have on a human, so there was a good chance he'd just die. Just what they wanted. Aaron and Tyler's smug faces entered the lab, watching Miguel suffer and taunting him, even pouring up another round of bourbon while they waited for the show to end. Yep, he'd be dead in just a few more minutes. They had an alibi and a cover up ready to go. They'd post his job opening by Monday and then they could pretend like this never happened. Miguel suddenly became still, his chest seeming to freeze in place, no longer rising and falling with his normal breathes. 

Gabriella, my little girl...I'm so sorry....I love you more than anything 

His eyes became glassy with tears. He was on his way to finding happiness with you too, only to have the rug pulled out from under him, now he was going to die here, alone. And those who killed him would never know justice behind their corporate wall of privilege and greed that would surely protect them. He uttered your name, his lips barely moving before his eyes fell closed and saw only black.. 

----

Pt 4 coming soon! Thanks for the support 🖤

@mysteris-things

[syrikif]

Gamer Etiquette

Kodzuken x Streamer!Y/N

Pairing: Kenma Kozume x Fem!Reader

Genre: SMAU, Written Elements, Strangers to Lovers, Romance, Fluff, Humor, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Streamer/Youtuber AU

Upcoming content creator/streamer, Y/N, has gone viral for lots of things. Her infamous dumb moments, her blended cookie recipe (which tastes better than it sounds), the way she rages at her friends during games, and about a hundred more.

But her most recent viral moment? Accidentally knocking famous streamer, Kodzuken, off the Bedwars map and making him lose his two year winning streak.

Now with more attention (and hate) than she ever asked for, her only option left is to go to the source: the man himself, Kenma Kozume.

Previous | Masterlist | Next

Chapter 8 (b): Little Things

Word Count: 2243

It’s past three in the morning.

Kenma ended his stream only minutes ago, having spent the past seven hours playing a hardcore Pokémon Nuzlocke (as decided by his viewers). 

And he’s not even tired. 

He sighs as he relaxes back into his gaming chair, his fingers idly messing with the strings of his hoody as he watches all the messages coming through on his discord server.

He frees one hand and leans forward just enough to grab his mouse, opening a clip that one of his fans sent in the chat. Kenma realizes shortly into the video that it’s from one of his own streams, an older VOD that’s most likely still up on his neglected YouTube channel.

He makes a mental reminder to start posting on the website more often; his fans clearly like watching the videos after all, regardless of the lack of uploads.

Kenma watches his past self yell almost incompehnsibly at the game he’d been playing, a soft smile coming across his features as he picks up on Kuroo’s voice quietly taunting him underneath all the screaming.

“Some things never change,” he mumbles to himself as the clip ends with the two roommates arguing over each other.

And suddenly it all feels so bittersweet, a sense of nostalgia filling his chest and leaving a sour taste in his mouth. Because while things may not have been easy then, they were simpler somehow; less demanding of Kenma despite the fact that he’d had so many more pressing responsibilites.

He hears himself sigh and briefly wonders when exactly he’d started getting so old.

It’s almost laughable - Kenma reminiscing over his college years at the age of twenty-four.

He releases a low breath, his gaze straying from the chat to the list of active users on the side of the screen. Unsurprisingly, there aren’t as many people online as there usually is and one name manages to catch his eye.

Kenma rarely ever cares to check on things like roles and ranks in his server, he has moderators for that very task after all. But there is a role that he personally made himself when the server was first created, strictly for the purpose of having his friends in one place.

No one has been added into that level in years.

Until now.

Now there’s Y/N.

Kenma isn’t the person who placed her there (he didn’t even know she’d joined his server before this very moment) and the only other people with the ability to do so are his mods.

With this realization he remembers the message he’d recieved from Moe, one of his very first moderators, from earlier that day.

“You can thank me later.”

Kenma had been confused at the time, even assuming that she’d texted the wrong person and not bothering to respond.

Now he understands.

There’s only a moment of hesitation, his cursor hovering above that unmistable gray symbol, before he finally just clicks.

He isn’t sure how long he waits, long enough to feel a sense of dread beginning to sink in but too short to dwell on the feeling.

And it’s futile really, the way Kenma tries to hide his grin from the camera when Y/N finally answers the call wearing cat ears and a blanket that seems to swallow her whole.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she suddenly says, her gaze deepening into a glare.

Kenma wants to laugh because she probably knows exactly what he’s thinking right now. “Like what?” He does his best to appear nonchalant, leaning back into his seat and running a hand through his hair as he stares at her through the screen.

She looks different like this.

Or maybe he just isn’t used to seeing her on video.

“Like I’m some little kid or something,” Y/N huffs, her eyes rolling back as her blanket falls to her lap.

“More like a little cat,” he mutters almost unthinkingly. He watches her eyebrows furrow, her head tilting as his words reach her ears.

“Huh?”

Kenma shouldn’t tease her. He really really shouldn’t. “It’s fitting,” and yet he’s completely incable of resisting, “Kitten.”

Y/N’s jaw quite literally drops, her eyes widening as her face turns a satisfyingly bright shade of red.

And Kenma can’t help but think that she looks so- so- (what was the word?) something.

“Wh- what did you just?” She shakes her head, “You- why would you- ugh!”

Cute.

Yes. That’s the term.

Kenma thinks she looks cute right now.

The realization is slow to hit, his mind even slower to catch on as he watches Y/N fan her face and cup the skin of her cheeks.

It isn’t even the right word, honestly - to kenma - she looks adorable, cute was just the first thing that came to mind.

Why did it come to mind?

“You’re the one wearing cat ears,” he defends. He’s not sure what he’s defending at this point (himself? his thoughts? his weird obsession with cats?); he just doesn’t want her to take it the wrong way.

What would be the wrong way? Flirtaitiously?

But, if she were to flirt back, Kenma doesn’t think he’ll care.

“You piss me off,” Y/N suddenly announces, her voice full of exagerated annoyance, but there’s no doubt that she’s smiling at him - because of him.

No, he really wouldn’t mind at all.

~~~

“Favorite color?”

“Oh come on.” Kenma rolls his eyes, taking a small swig from the can of soda he’d grabbed from the mini-fridge just beside his desk. “You know my favorite color.”

Y/N gives him an incredulous look, “Um, since when?”

Kenma’s eyebrows raise, “Um, since the first day we met?”

“You’re literally lying,” she says with a mouth full of some sort of food. He doesn’t know what she’s eating at this point; first it was chips, then tomato soup, a thin slice of pie (Kenma’s sure that she was trying to rub it in his face), and now it seems to be a kind of fruit.

He’s never seen someone eat so many diverse snacks in one sitting.

Y/N’s eyes suddenly widen, “Shut the fuck up.”

Kenma’s at a loss for words, and he’s sure that Y/N can see the disbelief in his features as he sets the drink on his desk.

“No, like seriously shut up.” She lifts one hand, using her index finger to point at Kenma - or (more accurately) the camera of her webcam.

He blinks. “I didn’t say anything.”

“I’m trying to think here, okay? So shh,” she glares at him.

Kenma makes a show of pressing his lips together, mimicking the motion of zipping them up and tossing aside the key.

He can see Y/N trying to suppress a smile at his actions, a small huff of a giggle escaping her own lips when he pretends to struggle against the imaginary lock on his mouth.

Her face suddenly lights up with recognition, “Red!”

Kenma’s charade breaks. “That’s what you were trying to figure out this whole time?”

“I was right?” She suddenly looks confused, more confused than when she didn’t even know the correct answer.

“Obviously.” His head tilts, “Did you just guess or something?”

A sheepish smile, “Or something.”

“You just guessed, didn’t you?” It’s not really an actual question at this point, they’re both all too aware of what she did.

“Well I mean- kind of?” She shrugs, a clumsy movement that makes her appear so much younger than she probably is. “To be honest, I just happened to remember that Nekoma’s colors were red and black. So,” she hangs on to the word for a brief second, “Lucky guess?”

“Well what’s your favorite color?”

Y/N had suggested a scuffed form of twenty-one questions, a version with no drinking (not that either of them were against it, Kenma just doesn’t have any alcoholic beverages in the house) and no limit on how many questions they could ask.

It’s been years since Kenma had gotten to know someone like this.

She hums with consideration, “I’m not sure. I like all of them.”

“That’s such a cop-out answer,” he light-heartedly scoffs.

“Oh don’t even,” Y/N straightens in her seat, the black cat ears slipping further back on her head. “At least I didn’t make you play a ten minute guessing game,” she retorts.

Kenma tsks, “That was not ten minutes.”

“Well it felt like it. So hah!”

He laughs as he stretches out his legs, adjusting the waistband of his sweatpants when he notices that they’re off-center. He looks back up at the screen, eyes fixated on the way Y/N tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“How old are you?” Kenma asks out of mere curiosity, because he knows she must be at least close to his age, but he feels so much older in comparison to her cheerful nature.

She’s staring intently at something off to the side, scrutinizing whatever happens to be there. “Twenty three.”

Only a year younger, maybe even less depending on her date of birth.

But-, “Wait,” his eyebrows furrow. “Didn’t you date Sugawara in high school?”

He regrets bringing it up the moment he’s finished speaking, mentally cringing at the idea of talking about her ex’s.

Y/N groans, her face falling into her hands. “Don’t remind me.”

“That bad huh?” And if Kenma’s being honest with himself, he feels strangely . . . relieved.

“Like I love the guy,” Oh. “In like a totally platonic sort of way though,” she suddenly rushes to explain.

Kenma nods, “Right.” He pauses for only a brief second. “So you were a first year when you started dating then?”

Y/N’s head tilts with obvious bewilderment, “What? Oh,” she laughs. “No, I was a second year. I just have a really late birthday.”

“Oh okay,” he releases a small breath of relief. He isn’t sure what he would’ve done if he found out that one of Y/N’s boyfriends was a sick fuck that preyed on first-years.

That’s something he couldn’t let himself overlook, no matter who it was.

“Why’d it end then? Was he not,” he hesistates, “Good to you?”

They’re getting into dangerous territory now; it’s none of his business why their relationship didn’t last, but it feels like it should be. And he supposes that if they’re going to be friends and if he’s going to come into contact with said ex-boyfriend, then it would be better to know anyways.

Right?

Who is he kidding? That’s just an excuse.

He has no real reason for wanting to know, but that’s not going to stop him from asking.

Y/N shakes her head, a thoughtful expression painted across her features. “Nothing like that. It was almost like he was too good to me, you know? It was a good relationship but it was like so good that it was uneventful and boring. We just don’t mesh well romantically.”

Kenma nods as though he understands when really - the truth of the matter is that - his only relationship had ended on such bad terms that he hasn’t dated since.

“And you’re twenty-four right?”

“Yeah,” he confirms without thinking. Then his eyes narrow on her form, “How do you know that?”

She sighs deeply, as if even the mere thought of it is taxing. “Sho has not shut up about you since we met, it’d be more shocking if I didn’t know that at this point.”

Kenma smirks, “All good things I hope.”

“Please,” she rolls her eyes, “That man is practically singing your praises.”

“What the hell does that even mean?” Despite the confusing choice of words, Kenma feels himself chuckle at the idea of one of his closest friends boasting about him to a complete stranger.

“He just like won’t stop talking about how cool you are, or how you’re so fun to be around. Or how you’re the most awesomest - yes he used that word - person he’s ever met.” Kenma’s disappointed when she unexpectedly stops, her hands raising to massage the skin of her temples. “It’s honestly starting to get annoying. Like you’d think he was trying to make me fall in love with you or something,” she snorts.

Is it working?

The words are on the tip of his tongue, his stomach turning at the possibility of her responses.

Kenma swallows thickly, “So what? He’s trying to set us up?”

Some questions are better left unasked.

“I guess so?”

“That’s a little weird.” Only a little bit though.

Y/N smiles then, but it’s mischevious and temptingly playful. “Really? You don’t think we’d look good together?”

His mind races at the implication behind her words, his body growing warm from her teasing tone of voice. And he abruptly feels so thirsty, his tongue brushing across his lips as he watches the way her lashes flutter when she blinks.

“Now I never said that,” he murmers in return and he can’t tell if his voice is as throaty he feels like it is.

Her gaze flickers down somewhere below his face, and Kenma silently berates himself for his choice of lazy clothing, before slowly trailing back up.

Her voice is soft when she speaks, her eyes never straying from his. “Neither did I.”

Kenma’s breath catches in his throat.

He forces a smirk, “I guess we can agree on one thing then.”

Her grin comes back in full force, wicked and full of invitation, “I suppose we can.”

Yeah, Kenma definitely doesn’t mind when she flirts.

Taglist: @crazy-people-are-here, @existential-traveller, @peachesncats, @royalz658, @musicluverr, @tamimemo, @leathernourishingshoepolish, @captaincyberqueen, @dellalyra

Any names in bold are unable to be tagged.

[claymorexpunisher]

Brats Have More Fun (5/?) (18+ Fic)

DISCLAIMER: This is NSFW/has NSFW elements. If that's not your thing, keep scrolling. I try to tag my work appropriately, so if you choose to click on my work regardless, use your own discretion. Thank you for the love and enjoy this cheesy porno! 🥂

Pairing(s): Damian Priest/Fem. Reader

Summary: Bratty Reader thinks she's being cute by shamelessly defying the orders of her vampire boyfriend, Damian...

Chapter Tags: 18+, smut, orgasm denial, kink, sadism, masochism, flogging, sex toy, g-spot stimulation, vampire!Damian, human!Reader.

Word Count: 1,430

Prev. Part

Damian was very much the walking motto of ‘if they wanted to, they would…”

He lived by it, not just whenever I needed affection or a shoulder to cry on, but also when it came to handing out punishments.

Or in today’s case- funishments.

That was one of the most exciting aspects of dating a vampire; he could be anywhere at any given time in under 2 seconds if he so wished.

And sometimes I either forgot that he could, or I chose to forget and got him riled up any way that I could.

Today as we were texting back and forth, our conversation got increasingly flirtatious and my mouth got smarter, daring him to set me straight.

Being a smartass, I let Damian know that I was up to no good, wanting to bring myself some much-needed relief even though he’d explicitly told me to wait till he arrived the following week.

Naturally that was a bit too much of an agonizing wait for me, so I decided to take matters into my own hands…

I thought I was safe because Damian was currently on the road with WWE.

But one minute I was getting comfortable in our bed, in one of Damian’s T-shirts, giggling to myself after sending him a soundless video of myself with my legs spread wide atop the bed sheets and my fingers toying between my legs.

My sensitive clit was snug between my middle and ring finger, ready to make me burst.

Giggling because upon noticing the blue check mark that signaled to me that he had seen my little video message, I knew I was in deep shit.

Another thing I had definitely forgotten, was the manually and app-operated vibrator that rested snug inside my pussy.

Of course, I hadn’t forgotten that it was there necessarily, considering that every time I so much as breathed, the curved tip of the toy brushed right up against my sweet spot, making me moan softly every so often.

I could hear how wet I was, and the crude only served in making me that much more aroused.

My skin was hot to the touch, feeling tingly, as if every nerve ending before Damian even appeared.

My amusement was short lived as not 5 seconds later, the toy thrummed to life inside of me, causing my body to momentarily lock up as my mouth now hung open, the sudden pleasure trapping any tangible sound except a choked-off whimper and needy pants.

As a moan was finally ripped from my lips, a familiar deep chuckle flooded the bedroom.

“Why do you do this to yourself every time, nena?” Damian asked, his tone amused, his phone in his hand, and his brows raised halfway up to his hairline.

His face was openly playful, like the cat who caught the canary unaware as he watched me writhe and moan and pant, already feeling dangerously close to the edge.

“I don’t-… I cant- fuck!” I tried to come up with a smartassed reply now, but nothing came to mind as the pleasure ricocheted, the toy relentlessly buzzed against my sweet spot, making beads of sweet collect along my brow and on my neck, damn near every part of my body thrumming along with the vibrations of the toy.

My eyes stayed open for all 2 seconds, long enough to watch him slowly saunter into our bedroom, his brown eyes almost black as he came closer, hungrily licking his lips like a panther ready to pounce.

They closed again as Damian’s expert fingers danced teasingly along the insides of my thighs.

I whined desperately as his touch suddenly disappeared and my heartbeat picked up its pace as he moved from the edge of our bed to our closet, pulling out some of the secret compartments where we kept more toys.

Watching him grab a flogger and begin to twirl it slowly in his hands made me forget about wanting to cum momentarily.

My gaze focused on him, salivating at the way the flogger moved smoothly in his hand and the way his muscled arms flexed with each motion.

But I snapped out of it once he came back to the edge of the bed again.

“What’s your color?” Damian asked simply, trying to gauge if I was still up for what he had in store.

“Green.” I nodded and noticeably gulped at the sight of the anticipatory quirk of his lips.

He had chosen the one with the thickest tails and so I knew that it wasn’t going to hurt terribly, and yet my heart still skipped a nervous beat for what else he had in mind.

Damian ordered me to keep my legs spread, the toy still buzzing inside of me, and I jumped the first time the strands of the flogger landed along the insides of my thigh, dangerously close to my sensitive pussy.

“What’s the one thing I asked you to not to do while I was gone?” Damian asked, his tone now suddenly severe as I cried out only in slight pain as the tails of the flogger came into slight contact with my labia as he began to swing it closer and closer to my pussy.

My back arched as the flogger suddenly hit the toy, shifting it inside of me and nudging that much more against my sweet spot.

I nearly forgot that Damian had asked a question before I made myself remember.

“Uh… yo- you told me not to cum until you got back from being on tour- ungh, I’m sorry!!” I whimpered; my voice shaky as I bit my lip to the point of pain as the tails of the flogger momentarily zapped my clit.

Damian shook his head as he suddenly stopped his strikes with the flogger and flipped over in his hand, now using the handle of the flogger to tease my clit.

I cursed, groaning and whimpering from somewhere deep in my gut at the combined feeling of the toy zinging against my sweet spot and the firm handle of the flogger working the sensitive bud between my legs.

“You said that last time, princesa… I don’t know if I believe you.” Damian tsked, his voice still firm but his eyes gave away the fun he was having.

We both knew this was what I wanted.

What we both craved sometimes.

I craved to be tamed and put in my place and he craved to fulfill that for me...

“No, I- I am! I promise!” I keened, obediently keeping my hands on the sheets even as Damian settled himself between my legs, tossing the flogger to the side and replacing it with his mouth as his hands rubbed the spots on my thighs that were warmer due to the impact of the flogger.

His tongue swirled and swirled, and my stomach tightened and tightened.

 My breath quickened as I once again came dangerously close to cumming, but I let out a groan of disappointment as Damian stopped.

“Nooo. Don’t stop, please!” I begged.

Damian smirked at the desperation in my voice, surely using his powers to dive into my mind and hearing me cuss him out.

And he reached for his phone that he had set on the bedside table, but at this point, I didn’t know if I was grateful or pissed off that the buzzing against my sweet spot abruptly stopped.

I wanted to obey but I was desperate to cum.

“What number am I thinking of? 1-10.”

Oh no...

My heart sank into the pit of my stomach as soon as the question left Damian’s lips, now knowing what he planned on doing.

The toy’s settings went up to 11.

If I guessed wrong, the toy would be set on the next highest setting.

“A-are you sure you have time for that?” I replied, my jaw trembled, and my teeth chattered as the need for release increasingly became too much.

“I could get to the next town in about two seconds if I wanted to. But you know that, don’t you, baby?” Damian purred, knowing I just wanted to move things along.

“In the meantime, why don’t I-… we,” he amended, chuckling to himself. “-have some fun… pick a number, princesita.” He said in a condescending tone.

His tongue rested on one of his gleaming fangs that sprung out before I could blink, that look of hungry desire never leaving his dark eyes.

I was quickly finding out that his motto wasn’t just ‘If they wanted to, they would’…

It was also ‘fuck around and find out’…

Next Part

[da1e3e]

˚✿˖°𝑲𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝑳𝒂𝒅𝒚⋆˚✿˖°

| ⋆ Sypnosis: You were chiling in your humble home, when it comes time for your cat to take her daily stroll through the neighborhood. Not long after, It started raining. After an hour- almost two, you hear your cat mewing at the door. You open the door to not just find your wet kitten, but a wet gentleman as well.

| ⋆ Inspired by the Enha Kitten Video here ⤑ ✧˖°ʚ 🐈 ɞ✧

| ⋆ Pairing: Non!Idol Jungwon x Fem!Reader

| ⋆ Genre - Fluff!

── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─ ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

⋆ Just coming from a relaxing morning shower, you dress in comfy house clothes, putting on your favorite scented lotion. rubbing your work tension away with it, you finish up and head to the living room. Your candles were also lit, a vanilla and coconut essence roaming through your place, lighting up it’s homey aura. You sat on your comfy sofa enjoying the scents, begining to read a book. Finally, You were on vacation leave, so there was no work for you for the next week. No kids, no guy to stress you out- Life was going amazing for you.

Just as you began another chapter, you feel a small body cuddling your feet. Feeling soft, mellow, fur You look down to see Willow, your fur baby mewing, letting you know it was time to let her out. Usually around a certain time in the day, you let her out to explore. You didn’t want to deprive her by making her stay in the house all day, and besides- she only wondered around the neighborhood. You smile, placing soft strokes on her, picking her up and carrying her to the door. You set her down, opening your screen door for her. “Just Don’t be too long okay, Willow?- I heard that it’s going to be raining today.” You speak, hoping your fur baby would understand. She then gave a purr of assurance, rubbing her soft ears on your ankles. With one last circle around you, she was gone, sprinting around the corner. You close your screen door, locking it and going back to finally begin that chapter.

After a bit, you notice it started to rain like the news predicted. And it wasn’t just raining, it was pouring down. You didn’t seem to mind it at first, but then it started thundering causing you to lose your focus on the book every now and then. Eventually, you decided to crack the door close a bit, also taking a break from reading. You sigh, checking your phone to see what time it was. It was currently 4pm, being an hour since Willow left. You walked to the door once again, hoping Willow would be right there when you got there, but to your suprise, she wasn’t. Before you began to worry, you also reminded yourself that this wasn’t the first time she was late. You just had to give her another hour and a half. That cat would survive in a tornado if she got sucked in, she’s a strong girl, you dismissed. You decided to clean, since you had the relaxing sound of rain to keep you motivated.

After cleaning, it was time for you to begin preperations for dinner. You turn some music on to get you into the zone, sliding through the billions of songs you had. You slide your head phones, sinking in the jams you knew and loved. You cut up some cabbage, placing it in a pot along with some enoki mushrooms. You then begin to cut up some meat, when you start to slowly hear quiet mews. “What the hell…” You slide your headphones off, wondering if you were crazy or you actually heard mews. The mews then got louder, as well as a the sound of a person whispering. You slide the lid of the pot back over it, putting your headpones on the counter. Slowly creeping towards the door, you feel your heart start to race. You didn’t know what to put of the sounds you just heard. “Willow?” you call, slowly opening the door. You open the door to see Willow… purring the arms of… a man. “Hello! I’m sorry to show up like this but…I believe this is your cat. She was uh… chilling with me and my friends and refused to leave so I figured I’d just bring her back.” He gives a nervous smile, holding your sopping Willow out to be collected. You look up at the sky, then at the two, seeing water falling off of them as if they were like rocks underneath a waterfall. Not even worried about him being a total stranger, your motherly instincts kick in. It was raining- no pouring down and he was kind enough to bring Willow back. “Come in quickly!” you demand, opening the door for both of them. At first the male hesitated, but he figured it would be harmless. Plus he walked, so if left he was just gonna get even wetter.

“I’ll get some clothes out for you to get changed, just give me one second-” You stress, rushing to your room to find the male some clothes. You knew if he didn’t get out of those clothes, he was going to get sick. “Oh please- you don’t have to—” He starts, but then You cut him off, shouting from the hallway. “Just shush okay! I don’t want you getting sick- you at least need to stay until the rain stops.” The male then shuts his lips, accepting his fate. You dig through your closet, finding the perfect plain white t-shirt, along with some oversized pajama pants that were gifted to you, but were too big. You then make your way back into the living room, handing him the clothes. “Here, you can use these—” You begin, but get interupted by his sudden movements. He grabs your hand, holding it for a brief moment, his eyes fixated on you. “Thank you.” He chimes, looking at you with puppy eyes. For a moment, you get mesmerized, not realizing how charming he was until now. You had been more worried about getting him in the house, then actually paying attention to him. “Y-your welcome, I mean it’s the least I can do for you b-bringing Willow back. But Uh- the bathroom is down the hall on your right!” You almost squeak from being flustered. He then smiles, making his way to the shower.

You go back to making dinner, unfortunetely being unable to get his puppy face out your head. You slap your cheeks, sighing hoping it would help you calm down. “Let it go y/n!” you mumble to yourself, knowing damn well you simply just couldn’t. He was good looking AND adorable. Double kill. You look to a Willow that was now dry- sitting on the counter. “This is all your fault! I told you not to stay out too late!” You point at her, playfully scolding her. She then rubs her face on your finger, giving you sweet mews. You melt into her sweet touch. “mew~” She responded, not a single care about your situation. You sigh, giving her light pets on her chin.

Once everything was done for dinner, you put everything on low that way it would stay warm. As you were feeding Willow, you finally hear the bathroom door open. Looking up, you were met with a tall, semi- muscular male. His hair was dripping onto the tee as he was trying to dry it with the towel, as well as the tee leaving a bit of his abdomen showing from the his arm was flexed up. Was it you, or was he REALLY good looking…You didn’t notice how much you were staring, until he was directly in front you. “I’ll put my wet clothes outside so they don’t mess your floors up, is that okay?” He spoke with a honeyed tone, finally snapping you out of your gaze. “y-yeah! that’s perfectly fine.” You jump up, averting your eyes from him. What were you? like 14- staring at him like a horny teenager. You scolded yourself in your head, hoping he didn’t notice. “When you come back, I have a fresh bowl of home made noodles for you.” You announce, making your way into the kitchen. You begin making his noodles, giving him the best pieces of everything. You even gave him one of your finest bowls. One thing about you was, you were very considerate and charasmatic. You would give somone the clothes off of your back if you had to. You then place the bowl on your island, placing the chopsticks in nicely.

The male then comes back, sitting at the island, looking down into the bowl. He fell into silence, until he finally look up. “I just realized I didn’t properly introduce myself— I’m Yang Jungwon, I live a couple houses down.” he chimed, bowing his head. “That’s right- I apology, nice to meet you Mr. Yang, I’m y/n.” You coo, bowing back with courtesy. You then begin fixing yourself your bowl of noodles, somehow feeling a pair of eyes burning through your back. Sending chills through your body, you turn around to shake the feeling, seeing a flustered Jungwon looking away as soon as your gaze lands on him. You grin, “your not slick, I seen you.” “what?” The male acts confused, slurping up a handful of noodles. You chuckle at first, but then your mom mode activates once again. “Slow down— I don’t need you choking.” You scold, your face now becoming serious. Grabbing your bowl of noodles, you place them on the island, across from the male, begining to eat. You were starving, you and Willow usually ate together, so you’ve been busy waiting for her. Silence then falls upon you both, leaving you with nothing but the sound of pure rain, and slight thunder. “You know, as long as i’ve lived here, in this neighborhood- I have never seen anyone come or go into this house.” The male admited, breaking the silence. “Yeah, probably cause I’m always at work…” You sigh, knowing that was definitely the reason. That left you to think,You never got any days off foreal. You were hard working, and very independent. But i mean you had a house to pay for, as well as a cat to care for. So really, you were doing just as the rest of society was enslaved to do. Realizing this, your smile fades slighty. Jungwon notices, starting to feel a bit bad himself. While he did work too- he still made having time for friends and family a priority. “Ahh, it’s understandable. you rather be hard working kitten lady than to be a hardly working kitten lady.” You look at a humurous winking Jungwon. You chuckle, regaining your soft smile. You could tell he tried to make you feel better. For someone you just met, you couldn’t help but feel so happy to just have him there.

After you both ate, talking the rest of the day away- the rain finally stopped. Something you almost wished would never happen. It was nearly pm, as you both didn’t realize how much time went by. You were both laughing and talking as if you guys had been friends forever. For once in a long time, you actually enjoyed yourself. And you hated to admit, but you began to admire how much of a smooth talker he was. “You should definitely come hear us sometime, yeah?” He insisted, looking at you with his famous puppy eyes. “I definitely will.” You agree, with a promising tone. You both then lock eyes for a brief moment, making your heart begin to race. You quickly look away, feeling your blood rush to your cheeks. You shyly clear your throat, letting a nervous chuckle leave your lips. A smile appears on the males face, him finally getting up. “Well, It’s time for me to be on my way. I really appreciate you taking me in, despite not knowing me.” The male coos, sounding a bit sad to be leaving. He began flatening his once ruffled up shirt, waiting for you to also get up. “Of course, I really appreciate you bringing Willow home.” You replied, also a bit sad that it was time for him to go. You and Willow both walk him to the door, your eyes never leaving his form. “Be safe okay— Oh and wait!” You ran back into the kitchen, grabbing a pen. You grab his hand, begining to write your number on it. “Call me if you ever need anything- and don’t be afraid to stop by okay.” You chime, smiling. You could tell he was surpirsed by your offer, but deep down inside, it was exactly what he wanted. He then he smiled, nodding. He then walked through the door, picking up his moist clothes, begining to amble down your pathway. Your eyes never left him, until he made a quick pause by your mailbox, turning around. “I’ll see you soon, Kitten Lady.” He whispers, giving his final smile and wave.

[demonic0angel]

The first chapter of Ghost Games is out!

Tags (I couldn't tag some of you T-T): @kiracandephoenix, @emergentpanda-blog, @hilariousseagoat, @starlightcat04, @krzys2000, @samaraistop, @cat-in-a-fedora, @tkiesai, @lordfirecat2004, @kitkat-4772, @mad-hatter5709, @tired-0f-1ife, @fuyuthefoxwriter, @hellodimond, @cosmicentity27

————

He opened his eyes to green. Startling, he sat up straight in his seat.

He looked down at himself, turning his limbs this way and that. He was wearing a black and white tracksuit and he was sitting alone on a row next to the window. Outside was complete and utter darkness. Instinctively, he knew that he should be careful and so he cautiously turned his head to look around.

He was sitting in a bus, one that was filled with creatures and monsters and people. Most of the seats were filled, but it wasn't too packed. Behind him, there were two normal-looking people. He didn't know what was exactly normal, but his subconscious seemed to know.

One of them was a boy with a green mask, wearing an outfit that was red, yellow, green, and black. His hair was black and he was charming, looking barely 14 years old. The person sitting next to him was a pretty teenage girl with long red hair, a turquoise headband with pants the same color and a black turtleneck.

She was awake and she was also staring at him with blue green eyes.

"Hello," she said cautiously.

He couldn't help but smile. "Hello. What's your name?"

She stared at him unabashedly, her expression was surprisingly gentle. "I don't know. You?"

"Same." She was familiar to him in a good way. He knew instinctually, that she was annoying and occasionally a nuisance but also the one person he could trust without hesitation. It was a strange feeling, like he loved her but he didn't know why.

"Do you know why we're here?" She asked and he shook his head. She sighed, closing her eyes to lean back against her seat. Then she opened her eyes again and said, "I can't remember anything. This... this situation isn't normal at all."

He shrugged again. A few moments later, the boy sitting next to the girl stirred and woke up. His eyes were covered with his mask, but he could tell that the boy was looking around at everything with a sharp gaze.

"Hello." He took the lead in introducing himself as he noticed the girl's shyness.

The boy paused, staring at him with wide white eyes. "... hello. My name is Robin."

Surprise filled him. "Robin? You know your name?"

"... I suppose so. You don't?"

"No," the girl shook her head. "The two of us don't remember anything. Do you know what's going on?"

The boy shook his head and he looked honest as he said, "No, I don't know anything. All I remember is that I was called Robin."

He couldn't help but grin. "Mind if we borrow the theme?"

Robin blinked and shook his head.

Before he could say anything, the girl brought out her hand for a handshake. "Then call me Nightingale."

He blinked and swallowed back the word on his tongue. "Call me Sparrow."

Robin smiled.

Before they could ask each other more questions for information, the speakers overhead crackled and the bus began to slow. The driver got off of his seat and turned around to gave the passengers.

Nightingale gasped when she saw him.

Half of his face had melted into a fleshy pulp while the other half had completely rotted off to show off a shiny skull. He was wearing a neat green uniform as he spoke, his voice echoing eerily, "Welcome, passengers, to the Night Bus. All you need to know is that you will be connected to a system which will tell you everything you need. Complete the scenario and survive. If you accomplish this...." His messed up face pulled and twisted into something like a mockery of a smile. "Maybe good things will come your way."

In that moment, a screen popped up in Sparrow's vision.

It was light green and semi-translucent, like a video game pop up.

It read:

[Welcome! Thank you for choosing to participate in the Nightmare Games! To earn a wish, complete scenarios! Earn cards to help you, unlock different paths and endings, and make parties! The system will be here to provide information for scenarios and keep track of you and your things. Good luck!]

"Party?" Sparrow said aloud in surprise and Robin, from behind him, voiced his confusion.

Sparrow felt a bit silly for knowing what it meant while Nightingale and Robin looked distinctly confused. "It's like... when you make friends in a game, you can make a party together." He turned back around to investigate his system notification, but it only seemed to be there as a message and nothing else.

Nightingale tapped on his shoulders and when he turned to her, she was looking at him with bright eyes. "How do we do that?"

Sparrow smiled awkwardly. "No clue."

She sighed then, dejected, but didn't say anything as their systems rang with more notifications.

[The next scenario will now begin. Uploading information...

East High School

Objective: Survive for a week within the school while uncovering the urban legend.

You will be given the role of a 'student'.

As a newcomer, here is a hint: At 12-3 AM is when it is most dangerous.]

The bus stopped and the passengers growled and hissed at each other, trying to leave. Robin went ahead and Sparrow quickly followed, not wanting to be left behind. Nightingale hesitated only for a moment before following.

Sparrow asked them if they got the same hint and they all nodded. Looking around at everyone else, the three of them were conspicuous. Nightingale was taller than them both, but even she couldn't offset the fact that they were the only children in the group. A creature with a wolf for a head sneered at them.

"I wonder how the three of you got here," he said it like he was deliberately provoking them.

Robin and Sparrow bristled, but only Robin quickly calmed.

Sparrow raised an eyebrow and snarked, "I could say the same to you, furball."

He had a faint feeling of deja vu like he should've been speaking another language to this wolf person, but he quickly brushed it off. His memories were all gone, so these feelings were only irritating to him.

The wolf guy growled at him, and a person with blue skin quickly pulled him back. "Don't argue with a kid." With that, they walked away.

Sparrow was furious at the thought of being underestimated, especially so because their tone was blatantly mocking. He was almost about to run after them and start yelling when Nightingale curled her hands around his shoulders and said, "Don't make a fuss."

Sparrow, despite feeling like she was irritating, obediently listened to her. Robin patted him on the back in comfort.

The passengers all left the bus in an disorganized manner. Around them were several more buses, filled with creatures and humans and other things. They were all likely players as well.

Sparrow tried his best to count them and only reached 30 before he gave up. The school in front of them was large, enormously so, and it say on top of a large barren hill. There were concrete sidewalks all around, but the high school looked oddly alone and creepy. The sky was a dark gray, covered with heavy clouds and the wind blew against them, stinging with its chill.

There was a sharply dressed woman who was waiting for them in front of the school.

"Students!" She said sharply. "You're late!" She beckoned them with a clawed finger. "Come, follow me."

They all did so. As they trekked up the hill, one of the bus passengers approached the woman with a flattering smile.

"Hello, Miss. Could I ask—"

"You will call me Madam." She interrupted curtly. Looking closer at her, she had deep bags underneath her eyes and sunken in features. "I am the principal of East High School. As students, you will respect authority." Then she went on to ramble about the rules of the school. Both Robin and Nightingale looked like they were listening properly to her long winded spiel, so Sparrow let his mind wander as he silently observed the other bus passengers.

Was this some sort of game? The system seemed to imply that it was, but Sparrow felt like he couldn't be too careful. The feeling of knowing but not knowing made his emotions a storm. The paranoia and danger he felt in an unknown situation twisted with trust in himself and strangely enough, his two companions. The familiarity as well as the strangeness of the situation created a confusing concoction.

They all continued to follow the principal as she led them around the school. It looked as though it used to be this beautiful and amazing institution but now it looked desolate and strange. They hardly saw any teachers or students as they walked around.

The school itself was an oddly built place. The facilities were out of reach for many of the students. For example, the football field was a drivable distance away, and the fine arts building was built across the parking lot. But who was Sparrow to judge?

He didn't even have memories.

The tour ended at the dormitories, which was located right next to the cafeteria but was only attached to half of the classrooms. The other half was still some distance away. The entire thing was very inconvenient.

"What a weirdly built school," Robin said aloud.

"You think so too?" Sparrow asked, as Robin nodded.

The principal beckoned to the bus passengers and said, "Ladies, over here!"

Nightingale looked at them for a moment before she stepped forward with a few more people. The assortment of females left with the principal, leaving the males behind in a cluster. Sparrow noticed the people around them looking at him and Robin with sharp eyes, as if they were about to bite into them the moment they lowered their guard.

"Uhm," Sparrow started, pinching Robin's sleeve to get his attention. Robin glanced at him through the white lenses of his mask. "Do you wanna room together?"

Robin smiled. "Sure. Let's go pick out a room."

They quickly left and found a small room to themselves before locking the door and then picking a bed. The room they were inside was very small, with two beds on either side of the wall and a window in the middle. Two desks and cabinets were placed on opposite sides of the room and two doors, one for a small closet and a bathroom attached.

Sparrow collapsed on top of his bed, but Robin didn't touch his yet. Instead, he was looking around the room and inspecting everything.

"What are you looking for?" Sparrow asked.

"Clues," Robin answered as he rifled through the empty cabinets next to the beds. "We have to find out what the urban legend is to get out, remember?"

Sparrow got off the bed and nodded, swiftly picking up his mattress to look underneath it. Together, the two of them scoured the entire room but didn't find anything. Sparrow scratched his head and said, "Maybe the urban legend isn't about the dorms? Should we look at the library?"

Robin nodded. "Good idea, Sparrow. But... it's becoming dark out and the curfew is 7." They both turned to the single window outside that barely showed the darkening horizon and then at the clock on the wall, which had two hands that were nearing 7 o'clock.

Sparrow clicked his tongue and then said, "Why don't we just sneak out?"

Robin eyed him. "You weren't listening at all to the principal, were you?"

Sparrow avoided his sharp gaze. "... no."

Robin sighed but didn't sound angry. "We can't act rashly. Her words seemed to imply that as long as we don't get caught, we'll be fine but..." Robin hesitated. "I... I don't know what could happen. I don't have any memories and this is something I have never experienced before. I think. So it's better to just listen for now and find out the limits of what we can do in the morning."

It seemed as though the lack of memories made him more unsure of everything, but Sparrow could tell that he was experienced. His demeanor and attitude was calm and professional. Compared to Sparrow's go-with-the-flow plan of everything, Robin seemed more put together and mature than him.

But because of that, Sparrow also hesitated. "... okay. Then let's spend a night here and see what happens tomorrow? Maybe we can talk to Nightingale or something? Since she's in the girls' dorm?"

Robin nodded again. "Let's do that." They found uniforms in the closets and toothbrushes in the bathroom that was attached to their room.

Sparrow stared at his reflection within the bathroom. His face was young, and his eyebrows were black, contrasting with his silvery white hair. His eyes glowed green and he looked a little inhuman. Soft freckles lit up like stars when he tilted his face.

He was like some strange star given human form.

He didn't hate it, but he definitely knew that he wasn't normal. When he opened his mouth, he even had fangs.

"Are you done?" Robin called from behind the bathroom door and Sparrow hurriedly went to brush his teeth.

The two of them prepared for bed in relative silence and went to bed. Sparrow found it odd and funny that Robin still wore his mask to sleep but he didn't mention it as they both laid there.

As Sparrow laid on his bed in the darkness, everything was much too quiet and the reality of his situation hadn't quite set in yet. He still felt dazed and confused. He was also filled with the urge to find someone to hug and get comfort from.

"Robin?" He asked.

There was a soft hum of acknowledgment from the other bed.

"..." he didn't know what to say. He just felt anxious, like he needed to say something.

Robin then made a shushing noise. "Just sleep. I'll protect you if anything happens, okay?"

Sparrow's heart felt a little sore. They didn't even know each other.

"Me too." Sparrow said. Then softer, he said, "Thanks."

"Of course. I'm Robin after all."

That seemed to have mean something, but Sparrow didn't know what. What did robins have to do with anything?

Still, as if his name held some sort of magic when said aloud, Sparrow's eyes began to drift close. Finally, he fell asleep into a deep sleep.

At least, that was until he woke up with the sound of a shrill, mournful wail of a man.

Both he and Robin snapped their eyes open and sat up. They took one look at each other through the darkness before they scrambled out of bed.

Just what was going on?

||||||||||||||||||||||||||

*looks at my other fics and chuckles awkwardly* I make no promises to finish this. If there are any questions, feel free to ask!

This fic is inspired by this AU.

Thank you to my beta @meditating-cat! I seriously appreciate it!

[paper-gold-theories]

Villainous Headcanon: Miss Heed Unbearable Personality is like Kitten from Teen Titans

Out of all the cartoon characters, I imagine Miss Heed's personality to be like Kitten from Teen Titans from the "Date With Destiny" episode especially after Chapter 10 of The Risky Heist:

Both Miss Heed and Kitten have a spoilt and unbearable personality, their expressions are somewhat similar see images below), wear pink and have a pink esthetic (I kinda imagine Miss Heed having a pink limo like Kitten) and Miss Heed liking cats having a cat headband while the character's name is Kitten and sometimes pretentiously acts like one.

Her relationship with her father is also something like Kitten and Killer Moth! Mr Kelly. does love her daughter (why wouldn't he help clear her name and get out of rehab if he doesn't) however is an extremely busy with his work making him unable to give much attention to his daughter, causing him to overcompensate by giving her whatever she wants. (Like giving her a credit card without a limit at the age of seven)

This led her to become an extremely selfish, spoilt, and demanding brat, who wants to get everything that she wants without caring how others feel or how much it makes other people suffer to get it.

I kinda imagine her father caving into her unbearable requests as hero and her obsession of getting GoldHeart. (like the clip in the video below.

Miss Heed: If I'm going to be a popular heroine, I NEED a popular hero boyfriend too! AND YOUR GOING TO GET ONE FOR ME!

Mr. Kelly: Now, Cec-Heed, be reasonable! You don't seriously expect me to --

Miss Heed: And I don't want just any popular hero!

Miss Heed: I want the best, most popular, charismatic, coolest, and handsomest hero!

Miss Heed: The one that no other girl can get!

Miss Heed: The one who would drive EVERYONE wild jealously when they see us together!

Miss Heed: I want GOLDHEART!!

(Note: Here are the video sources I got the images and video clip above from (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) I clipped out some highlights as I can't I can't include everything. But you should check it because there're more totally hilarious clips showing Kitten's anger and obnoxious behaviour which I headcanon Miss Heed resembles out of her public persona. 😂)

This is also why he hired an agent at the start for Miss Heed when she wanted to become a hero. So that he can focus even more on his work, have a more bearable medium to deal with his daughter's demanding requests, and is able to deal with his daughter's HORRIBLE TANTRUMS, and personally not deal with the monstrosity his daughter grew up to be as much as possible.

Flug mentions in his journal that she is quick to anger when things don't go her way and for as long as he knows her she wants to be the centre of attention and will do whatever it takes to get it. So I kinda imagine her to be like the scene in the video last 2 clips (above)

If that's the case she must be an utter unbearable NIGHTMARE of a friend and student for Flug and her schoolmates to deal with or just generally everyone around her.

No wonder she needs a perfume to make people like her ( 😂jk/)

This is why I theorised that GoldHeart has been avoiding Heed as much as possible and not interacting with her as much as possible, unless necessary. That's why you don't see him in any of Miss Heed's social media posts despite her crazy obsession. As he does not want to deal with her annoying and unbearable personality, despite the importance of Miss Heed's formula, that she stole from Flug, in his plan to end Villainy. 😂

And probably cringes every time he actually has to interact with her.

Also if he were to ever be forced to go on the date with Heed he would react the same way and have somewhat of the same facial expressions (below) like Robin being forced to go on a date with Kitten, having to deal with her, obsessive, pretentious, annoying and unbearable personality and also (shipper headanon) Flug would be Starfire, the one thst GoldHeart would rather go on a date with.

[whumpy-wyrms]

The Last Lab Rat #9: Alone - part 1

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content: lab whump, captivity, nightmare (italicized), parent death mention, isolation, fear of abandonment and death, sensory deprivation, starvation, emotional whump, claustrophobia, escape attempt, needle mention, winged whumpee

sorry this took so long i’ve been busy irl but hopefully i’ll be back posting weekly chapters soon. also today is Dew’s birthday!! i’m gonna draw something but i might post that a bit late but happy birthday Dew!! silly guy

—

Dew woke up sprawled out among his pile of blankets on his bed. He yawned and sat up, stretching out his wings with a sigh of contentment. He sleepily rubbed his eyes and flopped back on the bed. That was the best sleep he’s had since…

Wait.

Dew’s eyes shot open, remembering last night and the days before. But when he expected to see the scientist standing over him with needles and knives, he saw nothing. Literally nothing. Dew sat up in bed, still groggy from his rest, and looked around. His eyes were open, and they were working— looking out the window, he could see the faint red glow of a few digital clocks and other machines— but the light was off. All of the lights were off, and the scientist was nowhere to be seen.

This had never happened before. Anton had always arrived super early in the mornings to check on his favorite little lab rat. Even if he wasn’t in his room waiting for Dew to wake up, he was still working in the lab on other things Dew couldn’t comprehend. The lights were always on, usually dimmed in the mornings before the experiments began, but the only time the lights were all completely off was at night. But it wasn’t night.

Dew looked out at the glowing digital clock: 8:12AM. Anton always woke Dew up at 7. He was late.

Whatever was going on this morning, Dew was too tired to do anything about it. He flopped down into bed and snuggled under the covers. He’d take advantage of this strange start to a day. A bit of extra comfort now would make up for hours of painful experimentation that would surely happen later. Dew closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

. . .

Dew woke up. He was sleeping in a bed, but the blankets were fluffier, and green and brown… not white like the ones on his bed in the lab. He sat up, bumping his head against the… ceiling? Where was he?

Dew opened his eyes. His gaze fell to his old minecraft themed bedspread he had as a kid. On the walls were posters for his and his roommates favorite shows and bands and video games. The light was off, but the sun was shining through the windows, and he basked in the warmth on his skin. He was home.

But how? Dew spread his wings and glided off of the top bunk, feeling the soft carpet under his feet. He took a look around. Everything was almost the same as he left it, but his friends were nowhere to be seen, and neither was their cat Sir Bonkles. But that didn’t matter right now. Dew could cry. He was back.

Dew ran though his old house– no, his home. Anton’s lab wasn’t his home and it never would be. He ran to the living room and saw Layla sitting on the couch with Sir Bonkles purring in her lap. Mars’s enclosure sat on a table against the wall, the ball python curled up inside. Dew caught the smell of something cooking, and looked in the kitchen to see Hayden and Sawyer painstakingly trying to make breakfast for everyone. Wait, Sawyer was here?

“Hey,” Dew said.

“Oh, hey Dewdrop!” Layla exclaimed, pausing her show.

“Where’ve you been?” Hayden asked. “We missed you.”

“I… I um, I was…” Dew’s mind flashed with memories he’d rather forget. Memories of fear and pain, of being kept in a room, trapped in a lab, memories of failed escape attempts and needles. So, so many needles. Memories of his captor taunting him about how nobody was coming to rescue him. Dew tried blinking away the tears forming in the corner of his eyes, but they fell anyway. “Weren’t you looking for me?”

“Of course we were!” Sawyer said. “I didn’t stop looking. I’m happy you’re back, Dewey.”

“W-wait, how’d I get h–”

“Oh!” Layla exclaimed, looking out the window. “Scooby Dew, your parents are here!”

Dew’s heart skipped a beat. All his strange excitement for being back immediately vanished and was replaced with a sense of dread oozing through his body. This wasn’t right. “W-what…?”

The door opened, and Dew’s mom and dad walked in, holding bundles of balloons. They looked just like Dew remembered them… not from the funeral, but back when they were alive. They looked happy. They were smiling. They were alive.

Oh. It was a dream.

This was all just a dream.

“Everyone’s so happy you’re back, Dew!” Hayden said, bringing Dew a plate of chocolate chip pancakes. “We have to celebrate, you’ve been gone such a long time.”

Of course it was a dream.

“Yeah, we have a whole season of our show to catch up on!” Layla exclaimed, patting the spot next to her on the couch. Dew sat down. “And I’ve gotta show the progress I’ve made on the game we’ve been working on. I can only code so much, you’re the writer Dew, you gotta help us!”

Of course he wasn’t actually out.

“Oh! Dew,” Hayden said. “That new video game you’ve been waiting for was released! You missed it, we were gonna play it together, remember?”

“Hey Dew,” Sawyer said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I wanted to say I forgive you for what you said to me a few months ago. I know we haven’t talked, but I would still like to be your friend.”

No. He wouldn’t say that!

“Stop!” Dew exclaimed, jumping from the couch and flaring his wings out. Everybody stopped and stared. It was eerily silent.

“Th-this isn’t real! This is just a dream! It’s just a fucking dream!”

He heard his parents talking. He couldn’t understand what they were saying to him, their words were jumbled and their voices didn’t sound quite right. Dew tried to look away, tried to squeeze his eyes shut but he couldn’t help but glance up at them. From a distance they looked familiar. A distant memory, nostalgic, a blurry photograph taken from far away. But up close they were blank, their faces jumbled and unrecognizable. Dew rarely made eye contact with people, he always had trouble remembering faces and after his parents died, he avoided looking at photos of them because it was too painful. A constant reminder of what he would never see again. That was five years ago. They only haunted his dreams now.

“N-no… you’re not real. J-Just leave me alone!”

Everybody disappeared. The room was empty, and Dew was alone again.

“Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck!” Dew cried. He opened the front door and looked at the sky. It was weird. Not a normal sky. But he didn’t care.

Dew took off. He flew through the air at a speed that felt faster than light itself. He felt the wind blowing through his feathers and a flock of birds surrounding them as if he was one of their own. The trees were tall, never ending as they stretched up into the sky with him. But he eventually flew higher than those too.

But it wasn’t real. Dew wasn’t flying through the sky and clouds and air like he’d always wanted, he was having a dream in Anton’s lab. And he knew this.

But he didn’t care. He flew and flew and planned to fly forever, higher and higher and higher. It felt so real, he hoped he would never wake up. That way, everyone would get what they wanted. Dew could fly forever, and Anton could use his body as a test subject, unable to resist.

But after a while, the more he spiralled, the more the sky turned colors and his flesh warped around him, the more the birds started talking to him in human words, and his nonexistent watch displayed numbers that didn’t exist, the more this fucked up reality faded away.

The last thing he saw before he woke up, was a little mouse in his hands, telling him the words, “I’m sorry.”

. . .

Dew gasped awake. “Dammit!” He screamed into his hands as tears flowed down his cheeks. It was just a dream. It was just a fucking dream.

Dew grabbed the blanket and yanked it over his head, curling into a ball and squeezing his eyes shut. Anton had to be in his room now, watching him, mocking him. He had another bad dream that was almost making him burst into tears, how pathetic was that? But it was too hot under the blanket, too suffocating. Dew threw it off of him, almost falling off of the bed by the force of his throw. If Anton was there, he would’ve laughed… Wait, he still wasn’t there?

Dew wasn’t expecting the lights to still be off in his room. He wasn’t expecting all of the lights to be still off. It was pitch dark in the lab. Dew blinked a couple times, maybe his eyes hadn’t adjusted to the dark yet? No… nothing had changed. Dew looked out the window to the glow of the clocks. 11:24AM.

Okay. This was fine. Anton was over three hours late. He had probably just slept in from being woken up last night. This was fine. Dew couldn’t see anything, not even his hands frantically waving in front of his face. This was fine.

Maybe the power went out? No, that wouldn’t explain how the clocks were still working, or why Anton was nowhere to be found.

Dew looked up towards the door, at where the camera would be. If Anton wasn’t in the lab, he would surely be watching him through that, right? That was how he found out about Dew’s nightmare last night, after all.

Oh shit– Dew cringed. How could he have been so stupid? Asking Anton to stay with him last night? What was he thinking?

Dew hated Anton. He hated him! He’d always hated him and sometimes the thoughts of killing him and escaping were the only thoughts that got him through this hell. But thinking about what had happened last night, it wouldn’t make any sense for Anton to just abandon him like this. The scientist wasn’t the type of person to just forget, or sleep in, or decide to take a random day off. He had a rigid schedule that he stuck to, and he seemed to never want to spend too much time away from his test subject if he didn’t need to.

Dew was his test subject though. Thinking about it like that made him want to cry, but at the moment, stuck in Anton’s lab, it was true. He was a test subject, and the scientist controlled every part of his life. Dew needed Anton if he was going to survive here. Anton knew he needed him. Dew didn’t want to die, but he surely would if Anton didn’t take care of him. As much as Dew didn’t want to admit it, didn’t want to need Anton, he did.

“H-Hey!” Dew yelled, hoping the camera also had a microphone. “Why are all the lights off? I’m- I’m hungry!” Dew felt silly screaming into the air at nothing, but what else could he do?

“...I know you’re watching me!” Dew lied. “Stop ignoring me!” Nothing happened. “If- if this is some trick or- or experiment, like if you wanna see how I react to isolation or something, well, your cover's blown! I know what you’re planning now so you might as well come feed me!”

Silence.

Dark, suffocating, eerie silence.

“...Anton!” Dew shouted, not even at the camera anymore. He ran to the wall that looked over the lab and banged on the glass. “Anton! Anton! Anton?…” His screams died down after a little while, when he was sure he wouldn’t get a response.

“Just fucking great,” Dew sighed to himself. He stood in his room, suddenly feeling claustrophobic in this dark void. It was a small room, and there was almost nothing to do but wait until whenever Anton showed up. Dew didn’t understand what was happening, why, of all days, Anton just… Wasn’t here. But it was fine, he supposed, it meant he’d be free from pain for a little while.

Even if Dew did have something to do, it was impossible to see anything. He didn’t want to just go back to sleep though, after two terrible dreams in a row. And besides, he’d gotten a lot of sleep by now. He was wide awake.

Dew paced his room, trying to calm down. He was hungry, but he could go a few more hours without food, it was fine. Dew held his arms out in front of him, feeling the walls for the bathroom door. Dew was thankful Anton had removed that chain from his ankle a few weeks prior, at least now he wouldn’t have to worry about tripping over it in the dark.

Brushing his teeth was easy in the dark, and so was showering. It was a routine, a pattern. Not being able to see didn’t change anything. And Dew liked the dark, he’d always loved being in small, dark spaces, it had always been a comfort to him.

It was only until recently that he first felt the creeping fear of the dark, a cold chill go crawl up his spine whenever it was too dark to see what was lurking behind him. It didn’t make sense; Anton was the only other person here. But still, Dew hated the constant feeling that he was being watched, even in the darkness.

It was only until recently that he had grown to hate confined spaces. His growing wings needed to stretch out, and Dew was forced to spend his time out in the open. Yet another thing his captor took from him.

But that was fine. That didn’t even matter. There were so many more things that were more important than not being able to have slumber parties with his friends in the tiny room under the stairs anymore, or listening to music in his dark closet.

The shower helped Dew’s racing heart, but did nothing to get him out of this… situation. It was strange, wanting the things that hurt him; the too bright lights to turn on and Anton to walk through the door. It meant pain, most likely, and fear… but it also meant he wasn’t alone.

Dew almost hated being alone more than being with Anton.

And he hated that.

Dew didn’t have any dishes, so he cupped his hands under the cool sink water and sipped it from there. At least he knew he wouldn’t die from dehydration. But he still had no food.

He checked the clock. 13:23. He learned how to read a 24 hour clock at this point, it was a little over 1pm. Anton was over six hours late.

This wasn’t fine anymore. Of course it wasn’t. Where could Anton possibly be? Dew thought of all the things that could've happened to his captor to keep him from coming down here, and it just didn’t make sense. Anton hadn’t left Dew’s side for almost two months straight, why had he suddenly abandoned him?

Maybe he got caught? Maybe Dew’s friends or the authorities finally found him and locked him up… but then why weren’t they coming to Dew’s rescue? Did Anton destroy the keys to the lab? Was Dew now stuck here forever, his friends on the other side of the door, waiting for some miracle to open it?

Dew shook those thoughts away. Of course they weren’t. Of course, they must still be looking for him, but he’d know if they found him by now. They wouldn’t need a key to open a door when they could just kick it down.

So what was it then? Where the fuck was Anton? Was he in trouble? Did something happen? Dew supposed the worst possible thing would be if something bad did happen to Anton, and he wasn’t around to help Dew. At all. That thought, that feeling of sheer abandonment and knowing that if Anton disappeared, nobody would ever find your body, deep underground in the secret lab.

Dew laid down on his stomach, resting his head in his arms while his wings fidgeted nervously above him. He felt his stomach growl with hunger and he wished he had his music to listen to… If not that, then humming his favorite songs until Anton showed up would have to do.

Because he would show up, and Dew would have the slight comfort of knowing he wouldn’t die here, at least not abandoned and all alone.

. . .

Dew couldn’t take it anymore. How long had it been? It was 6PM already. Eleven hours after Anton was supposed to wake him up. He’d hummed the lyrics to probably 100 songs by now, all of them jumbling together as the minutes slowly ticked by. He felt like he was going insane, there was absolutely nothing to do. There was nothing to see, to hear, taste, smell… it was torture.

Dew wished he’d asked for a notebook, or a book to read, or anything to make his time here less boring. But he’d usually spend time with Anton in the lab during the day, and resting during the night, too tired from the experiments to do anything else. So he never bothered to ask for things to keep him entertained. How he wished he did now… even if it was too dark to see it.

The only sound he could hear besides his rapidly beating heart and racing thoughts was the air conditioning start up every hour. The white noise drowned out some of his spiral, but it was no use.

Eventually Dew decided to take another shower, to feel the warm water turn freezing cold and smile as Anton’s water bill went up. But that got boring quickly too. He kept the water on though, the silence he onced loved turning suffocating.

Dew stared at the clock. 19:45. It’d been over 12 hours. He’d stopped trying to sleep a while ago. Dew was curled up in a ball on the floor in the corner of his room. He stared at the camera with hatred in his eyes.

“I bet you think this is funny, huh,” Dew spat. “You found out last night I hate being alone, so you thought you’d leave me all alone in the dark today, huh? With no food? Or stimulation, o-or company? You just wanna torture me now, is that it?” Dew wrung his hands through his hair, squeezing his eyes shut at an attempt to hold back tears.

“You think– that maybe being ‘nice’ isn’t working, it’s not making me want to stay here willingly… So you decided to abandon me, make me see how much I need you and d-depend on you. S-so that when you come back and feed me, I-I’ll want to stay because I can’t stand being alone– all fucking alone in this cage! You wanna see me break, is that it?! You want me to be compliant and obedient while you fucking experiment on me like some animal?!

“I’m not an animal… I’m a person, Anton! I’m a person and I know you know that! I know you have this strange fucking– perception of me and sometimes you treat me nice but the other times you treat me like I don’t even have a fucking mind! You don’t make any sense! I don’t understand you!

“But if this– if all this is some trick to get me to willingly take part as a test subject like you want– It’s not working! I won’t fall for any of your fucking tricks again! Go fuck youself! Go fuck yourself and go die! I’ll kill you, you hear me!? When I get out of here I will fucking rip you apart!”

Dew hadn’t realized he stood up, but he found himself standing in front of the door, staring at the camera as tears flowed down his cheeks– he hadn’t noticed he started crying either. Dew grabbed the camera and yanked it from the wall, throwing it to the floor and laughing as it smashed into pieces.

“Fuck. Fuck!” Dew collapsed to the ground and cried in a ball. Anton wouldn’t be happy about him breaking that. But the scientist couldn’t even see him now. He wasn’t watching him anymore.

He wasn’t watching him anymore.

Dew’s breath hitched at his sudden realization. He was alone. He wasn't being watched. If Anton had been watching through the surveillance camera, he’d surely come down to see what happened to it. But if he wasn’t… He wouldn’t know it was even broken.

Dew’s heart sped up. He uncurled himself from the floor and stood on trembling legs. He was alone. He wasn’t being watched. Nobody was here to stop him. He could escape.

Dew frantically started to try and open the door, kicking it and banging on it. He moved his hands and felt along the walls, as if he’d push a brick in and unlock a secret entranceway. He knew it didn’t make sense, nothing did right now. He was starving, he felt like a feral animal, proving the scientist right as he picked up the chair and threw it at the door. When that did nothing, he then threw it at the glass wall, but that too, was too strong. Dew tried picking up his entire bed frame, but he wasn’t strong enough. He hadn’t eaten all day. He was starving and weak and exhausted.

The air conditioner started up again, signifying the endless passing of time that never seemed to stop. The sound of cool air flowing through his room just reminded him how trapped he was—

Wait a fucking minute.

Dew looked up to the corner of his ceiling, above his bed and to the left. Of course he saw nothing, the room was still dark. But he knew what was there. He knew what’d always been there since day one but the thought never even occurred to him to try and open it. He was too short, too weak to pry open the metal hinges. Especially not with Anton watching through the camera or being in the lab all the time. But now… he was all alone. He could reach the vents now. He could. He could go through them and the scientist would never know because he wasn’t here.

Dew’s wings fluttered in anticipation. Excitement. Suspense. Hope. This wasn’t like the other times he’d tried to escape. He didn’t randomly decide one morning that today would be the day, he didn’t impulsively decide to escape and run and be chased and get hurt. This was controlled. This time, he was alone. He was by himself and Anton was nowhere to stop him or mind control him or hurt him. Dew could escape and there was nothing Anton could do about it because he was gone.

And at this point, Dew didn’t care where Anton went. He was done waiting around for his captor to come back. He had a plan now. This was the chance he’d been waiting for.

Dew waited another half hour, making sure he truly was alone. Maybe a part of himself tried to talk him out of it, told him he’d just be hurt more, worse than before for escaping. But he ignored that part of himself, the part that tried to keep him safe, the part that saw himself as just a test subject.

He couldn’t wait any longer and let that part of himself win. He took a glance at the clock– 20:16, 8PM– before he hopped up on his bed with nervous, shaking legs. He was too short to reach the vents with his arms, so he grabbed the chair in the corner and stacked it on his nightstand and climbed on top of that. If he fell from there, it would hurt, but not as bad as what Anton would do if he caught him escaping.

Dew took one last look towards the direction of the window, down where the door to the lab would be. If it opened now, he could just hop down and pretend everything was normal. He could wait until Anton arrived like the good test subject he was, but Dew knew that wasn’t gonna happen. Fuck that shit. This was it, no going back now.

Dew’s wings fluttered as he jumped in the air and grabbed the bars of the vents with his hands. His legs kicked out and knocked over the chair, having nothing to step on, but that was fine. His wings kicked into action and despite his room being so small, and despite not being able to see where the walls began, he was flying. He positioned himself upside down, hands gripping the vent, feet placed on the ceiling, on either side of it, and pulled with all his strength.

The vent suddenly swung open, causing Dew to fall backwards, but he expected that to happen and he was ready. His wings flapped rapidly as he lunged himself upward, through the hole in the ceiling, and into the unknown.

He collapsed in the small, cold, metal space. He closed the latch back up, covering his tracks, and began to crawl through the tight tunnels. It wasn’t as a tight space as Dew was expecting, which he was thankful for. There was enough room to sit up and turn around if he needed to. It was still dark, and he had to hold his arms in front of him to not bump into a wall, or fall down a sudden turn.

Despite the high stakes situation, Dew couldn’t help but smile. Crawling through the vents like he was in a heist movie was something Dew had always wanted to do. He just hoped it would end with him making it to the surface.

He was crawling for a few moments until he found his first turn, his sense of direction was abysmal so he had no idea what way to go, so he just chose a direction and kept crawling.

A sudden, terrifying thought occurred to him. The lab was located underground, deep, deep underground. If Dew never found an exit, if Anton never got him out of the air ducts, Dew would just die here.

He gulped that thought away. He couldn’t think like that, he wasn’t going to die.

After more twists and turns, he found an opening. He couldn’t see what was out the other side, as the lights were still off, but he didn’t want to be in the vents anymore. So, with the bit of strength he had left, he kicked it open and jumped down, his wings softening the landing.

Dew was out. Dew was out of his room and even though he was hungry, that didn’t matter anymore— nothing mattered now except escaping the lab.

Dew looked around frantically, recognising the familiar feeling of the tiles on the floor, and noticing the glow of the clocks closer to him. He was in the lab. Alone.

It was around 9PM. Dew didn’t think anymore, not about his hunger, not about Anton, not about what would happen to him later, only about finding a way out. He ran to where the clock was, that was a good start. He tripped over some boxes on the floor but regained his footing quickly, fueled solely on adrenaline.

He made it to Anton’s desk, and felt around for anything. He opened drawers until he found a flashlight. It clicked on and Dew let out a sigh of relief. Finally, he could see.

First thing first was finding out what fucking day it was. Dew tried to keep count, but only had a rough estimation at this point. He shined his flashlight over Anton’s desk, picking up a small bag and stuffing it with papers, files, tape recorders, any evidence that would be helpful once he gets out of here. He found a small blank notepad, and a pen, and stuff that into his pants pocket as well. And then his eyes landed on a calendar.

Dew looked at the calendar. All the days that had passed were marked with an ‘X’, except today: October 3rd. It was October already? Dew realized in horror. 

Dew flipped through the calendar a few pages until he got to August. Some of the days had writing over them, important events Anton was waiting for, Dew supposed. One of the days was circled with a blue marker. “New test subject day!” it read. Dew felt sick. Anton had planned it, written the day he was gonna kidnap him down on his calendar like it was any other special event.

Dew had been taken around the beginning of August, and it was already October. Dew felt numb. How had he let eight weeks pass like it was nothing? How could– How hasn’t anybody found him yet? Surely people have been looking, right?

Dew crumpled up the calendar in his hands, tears freely falling down onto it. He’d been here so long, he only just realized his birthday was already two weeks away.

Dew missed out on seven consecutive gamenights with his roommates. He missed over 40 days of work. He missed feeding Hayden’s snake every Wednesday. He missed sitting on the couch with Layla to watch a new episode of her favorite show every Friday, with Sir Bonkles purring on his lap. He missed out on long nights awake playing video games with Sawyer. He missed playing with Sawyer’s dog. He missed Sawyer.

“C-calm down,” Dew told himself. Breaking down wouldn’t help his situation now, he had to focus.

He’d see Sawyer, and Hayden and Layla and all their pets later. He’d reunite with his best friends and confess his most likely unrequited love to them later. Now was not the time to think about all this.

Dew stood up on shaking legs, forgetting about the half-assed bag of evidence he made, and pointed his flashlight towards the direction of the door. He was hungry, he hadn’t eaten in a full 24 hours, but Anton was gone. He was so close, he could just leave if he got the door open.

He shined the flashlight to a nearby shelf, jump scaring himself at the sight of needles, but he shook that fear away. He didn’t have time for fear. Dew took a deep breath and looked over the various strange tools and weapons, any of these outta get that door open.

Just as Dew was heading towards the door with a crowbar in hand, the lights suddenly turned on, briefly blinding him. Dew stopped in his tracks, dread pooling in his stomach, acutely aware of the situation he was in. He hadn’t felt this sense of pure terror before, almost animalistic, this deep sense of dread that made a chill crawl up his spine and his entire body tremble in terror.

He was caught.

Anton was back.

—

:)

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[cannibalsforbreakfast]

Cruel Summer - Chapter 2

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

Summary: The "Eddie Munson is a speedway racer" high school AU no one asked for, but you're getting it anyways. Enemies to friends to lovers | No-Upsidedown AU | Fast cars, fast times | Reader moved from "the city" to Hawkins

Tags [will be updated as things progress]: swearing, underage drinking, dangerous driving, Jason sucks as usual, mentions of weed, light angst, misunderstandings, reader is afab, not sure if I'll have smut yet or not, no use of y/n

CH2: 4k

-- -- --

Strange voices are saying (What did they say?) / 

Things I can't understand”

Three days later, Robin was still – for some godforsaken reason – trying to get you to give Eddie another chance. Really, you didn’t know why. 

You’d stomped back the full two miles from the track to your aunt and uncle’s house out of sheer stubbornness, needing to walk off your anger. Robin had gone with you as far as the main road, but then doubled back to get the car. She’d offered to drive you back, too – obviously – but you’d waved her off. To be honest, you were also a little upset with her for having such a shitty friend. And his actions weren’t her fault, to be sure, but you knew that if you’d gotten in the car you’d just have taken out your feelings on her. 

You’d hoped the walk would have given you a chance to cool off, but it had almost achieved the exact opposite. By the time you’d gotten back nearly an hour later, you were hot and sweaty, streaked with brownish dust from the track and in a decidedly foul mood. Unlike the city, Hawkins, Indiana, didn’t have much to recommend it in the way of visual appeal – just a lot of single-story bungalows and long stretches of straight road, broken up with occasional copse of woods. What it did give you was a lot of time to think.

Think about how quick Eddie had been to dismiss you as someone so obviously beneath him, you could only have been a hooker. Sure, you were familiar enough with ignoring cat-calls on street corners and appreciative whistles on the rare occasion you went out, but the near instant disregard the racer had for you was something entirely new. And it had gotten under your skin. He’d gotten under your skin. 

Not that there’s anything wrong with sex work, you’d rationalized to yourself during a short pause to work out a sharp stone that had found its way into one of your shoes. Perfectly respectable profession. Oldest job in the world. 

Maybe you were so upset because Robin and Steve had been so welcoming, you couldn’t see why they’d be friends with someone like that. And it made you question if they also thought that way about you, that their kindness had just been a veneer over the same sort of scorn, and then you felt guilty that you’d even doubt your cousin like that. Robin wore her heart on her sleeve, and you knew she couldn’t put on an act like that.

The resounding conclusion was – even if you thought he was sex incarnate and in any other world would have been interested in learning how silky his hair was, or if his lips were as soft as they looked, or if the hint of tattoo at his collar bone was just a trick of the light – that you didn’t need to spend any more time with Eddie, thank you very much. 

Robin, your darling cousin, however, clearly had her mind fixed on reconciliation.

You were sprawled on the floor of her room, carefully painting your nails a sort of reddish-pinkish-orangish color. Robin was lying on her bed, scootched far enough over her head dangled off the edge, upside-down. You found her room comfortable, homey. Even if she had a strange obsession with tacking movie posters to her walls – “Sixteen Candles,” “The Blue Lagoon,” “Alien,” and “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” Maybe she got them for free from her shift at Family Video. 

“Look, I know Eddie had a bad first impression,” she started.

“Robin, he thought I was a hooker, ” you interjected. 

“And yeah that’s bad ,” she agreed. “He was a dick. Absolutely, total asshole, But I promise he’s not usually like that.”

You finished off the pinky on your left hand and scrutinized your work, blowing gently to help the coat dry. You swapped the cap and brush to your other hand and started on your right thumb, tongue poking out slightly in concentration – this was always the harder side. 

“If I’m just here for the summer, I don’t need to be spending my time with someone who doesn’t respect me.”

Robin huffed, ruffling her shaggy bangs. “He just has…stuff going on. Trust issues? He’s nice once you get to know him.”

“We all have trust issues, that’s not an excuse for bad behavior.” You finished off your non-dominant hand and gave your nails a critical look, looking for smudges. “And all of this is stuff you’re just saying about him, it’s not like it’s proof or anything.”

An altogether too-scary smile spread across your cousin’s face. 

“Soooo,” she said, “hypothetically, then, if you could get proof that Eddie was actually nice, then you’d give him another friendship chance?”

You rotated to give Robin a decidedly suspicious stare. What was she up to? “I suppose…” you said slowly.

She clapped her hands together, rolling over to her stomach and kicking her legs in glee. “Then it’s decided, we’re going to a party at Jason’s this Saturday.”

You blinked, dumbfounded. “Um, and why would we do that?”

“Because it will be fun. And Eddie will be there, so you can interact in a more normal-person way and see that he’s not a total dick and then this weirdness can end and we can all hang out over the summer like normal friends who aren’t fighting,” Robin proclaimed triumphantly. 

A sense of dread sank into your chest. This was not exactly how you’d planned this conversation to go. But given Robin’s unbridled glee, you didn’t really see how you could get out of it. Well, you could point-blank refuse to go – you didn’t think Robin could physically force you there. But then again, you had to actually live with her the whole summer and didn’t need that disagreement to put a damper on your slowly flowering cousinly friendship as well.

Plus, you knew the effect first impressions had, even when they were wrong. 

Especially if they were wrong. 

So fine, you’d go to this party and give Eddie another chance. And if he was a dick, again ? Well, you could at least tell Robin you tried. 

“Fiiiiiiiiine,” you gave in. “We can go. But Robin, don’t you usually hate parties?”

Your cousin colored faintly. “Well, yeah, they’re not usually my thing. But Nancy will be there. She’s a friend, and I said I’d go to hang out because she doesn’t always like them either but Jason is in her class so she felt she had to go and I didn’t want to let her down.”

You nodded sagely as your cousin continued to ramble on. If her predilection for movies starring attractive women suddenly made much more sense to you, you didn’t need to let on. 

Saturday rolled around far sooner than you would have liked. Despite Robin’s optimism and what you thought was misguided faith, you didn’t actually have that much experience at school parties (these would have necessitated invitations, which – due to your less-than-stellar social status – weren’t in huge supply back in the city). But you figured the fact you were someone new, and not from Hawkins, would grease the social wheels at least a little bit. 

Plus Robin’s insistence you had to look “hot as fuck” wasn’t hurting, either. She’d raided each and every one of the suitcases you’d brought for the perfect party outfit, ultimately forcing you into a dress you’d impulse-bought one weekend when you’d been flush with parental-guilt Christmas money. It was short, red and – you knew from one ill-advised and slightly desperate makeout by the bleachers after one school dance you had bothered to go to – hugged your curves in all the right ways. She also insisted you find an exact color match for your lipstick, eyeing you critically as you swiped the shade over the plush of your lips, then dabbing off the excess with a small piece of tissue paper. Honestly, for someone whose own style was more “vintage grandpa” than “harlot” she was highly involved in your aesthetic for the evening. 

You stepped back from the mirror, fluffing your hair a bit. OK, so maybe you didn’t look half bad. And it was good to dress up every now and again, you rationalized to yourself. Do something different.

When you and Robin finally pulled up in her car across the street from a classic red brick, multistory house in what was certainly the nicer side of town, the party was already in full swing. 

“Exactly to plan,” Robin said as you both scootched out of your seats. You surreptitiously checked the back of your dress to make sure it was still covering all the essential bits before following her up to the mansion. Bits of the party had spilled out the front door and onto the precisely manicured lawn, with teens in various states of inebriation flopped on the grass and giggling. Sounds of someone retching could be heard from behind a bush. 

The two of you slipped through the unlocked front door and instantly you were confronted with a wave of bodies and booze. There was a game of beer pong being played on what looked like a highly expensive wooden table in the dining room, and the kitchen was cluttered with classic red solo cups and bowls of mysterious punch. Music pumped from speakers, and everywhere there were clusters of people in twos and threes, chatting and “accidentally” brushing up against each other. 

It was a lot, and you blinked in a dazed fashion at the heaving display of humanity in front of you. 

“I FOUND NANCY,” Robin yelled in your ear, dragging you back to the present moment. “LET’S GO.”

Your cousin strode purposefully off to the kitchen and you followed in her wake. A pretty doe-eyed girl with brown curls cascading down her back gave Robin a sweet smile as you approached. You could see why your cousin was – in all likelihood – smitten. 

“Hey Robin, you made it,” the girl said. “Is this your cousin?”

“Yeah, hi, it’s nice to meet you,” you said, giving Nancy a small wave. “Feels like the whole town’s here.”

“Oh yeah, Jason’s parties are legendary,” she agreed. “Especially since his parents head away for a couple weeks every summer. Do you want some punch? I couldn’t tell you what’s in it, but it smells alright.”

“Sure.” She ladeled some of the pinkish liquid into a cup and handed it to you. Sniffing, you could smell a decent bit of tequila, and probably there was vodka in there as well, in addition to the juice. Not something you’d be having a lot of. Still, you took a small sip – to fit in.

“Anyone else we know here?” Robin asked, scanning the crowd. 

“Know? Probably everyone,” Nancy replied. “Care about? Probably just Steve, he went downstairs with Jason and the rest of the basketball guys, I think.”

“Anyoneeeee else?” Robin prompted.

“Uhhh, no, don’t think so?” Nancy gave Robin a searching look, but ultimately shook her head. 

“Ugh, oh well,” Robin grumped. “Let’s go find dingus.”

Glasses in hand, the three of you trooped down the carpeted stairs to the basement rec room. Here, plush but luxe-looking suede couches were shoved to the perimeter of the wide room, stuffed with even more teenagers smunched up against each other. The largest couch had been commandeered by a squad of – you could clearly tell – jocks. Something about the way they sprawled their limbs without a care for who else might be in the way. 

Steve was amongst the group, too, and he waved when he spotted you in the doorway, grin spreading across his face. 

OK, so he was clearly a bit sloshed , you thought to yourself. 

“Heyyyyy, you guys made it! Come say hi to the guys. Guys, you know the girls.” Steve gestured broadly to you all, nearly spilling whatever unholy concoction was in his cup.

“Haven’t seen you around before. It’s Jason, nice to meet you.”

Jason stretched out his hand to you, which you took, meeting his eyes. He had a chiseled jaw, swoosh of blonde hair charmingly spilling across his forehead in a pretense of disarray but savagely parted on the other side. A calculated smile that didn’t reach his eyes. You had no reason to, but you disliked him immediately. 

“Pleasure,” you managed to say before extricating your hand from his. “You guys must be the basketball team Steve’s mentioned?”

“Gonna be the champs this year again,” Jason boasted. “This here’s Patrick, Chance, Josh and Andy.” Each guy grunted vaguely in your direction as Jason pointed them out. “And I’m the captain.”

“Of course you are,” you demurred. 

Robin huffed. “Are you muppets going to make us stand here all night? Move over Steve!”

Despite her smaller size, your cousin was able to bully Steve over, making room on one end of the couch for the three of you. You wound up squished between Steve and Jason – you didn’t really enjoy the feeling of being the middle sardine, but you also didn’t want to be that person and make a big deal about it. 

Steve, Robin, and Nancy started bickering heatlessly to themselves about something or another, leaving you out of the conversation and sipping your punch slowly. You did have to admit – after a half glass or so the fruity concoction was growing on you, lending a faintly blurred, surreal quality to the space. 

“So, what brings you to Hawkins?”

Jason’s question cuts through the fug of your drink and you swivel to face him, as much as you could. 

“Oh, um, I’m just staying with Robin – she’s my cousin – and her parents for the summer while mine are traveling. Normally I live in the city.”

He grimaces sympathetically. “Guess they travel a lot for work?”

If only. You take another sip and make a noncommittal noise. “Mm, yeah, something like that. Yours must be pretty chill to let you throw this party tonight, it’s fire.”

Jason looked around the rec room, like a king surveying his bawdy court. Again, you couldn’t quite put your finger on it, but there was something about him that made you feel like tiny spiders were crawling over your skin, even though – logically – he’d done nothing wrong. Maybe it was the sense you got that he knew he was rich, handsome, athletic, and that there was a lot in life that was his due because of it. Earned or…otherwise. 

“Yeah,” he eventually said. “Long as I keep my grades up and don’t lose the summer job, folks don’t really mind what I do on the weekends while they’re at the country club.” His lips twitched into a smile. “Not a bad deal, huh?”

You agreed, from experience. “Could be way worse. So,” you deflected, “tell me who’s who. You must know everything about everyone here.”

The next fifteen minutes, and the rest of your drink, passed with Jason pointing out different people and giving you the lowdown on who they were, who they wanted to be, and their pecking order in the Hawkins High social scene. At some point Robin, Steve, and Nancy had popped back upstairs to get another drink. With yours also empty, you figured it was a good idea to go find them. Standing up, you wiggled your empty cup. 

“Going to get a refill. Also…the bathroom?”

Jason jerked his head. “Around the corner, at the end of the hall. Can’t miss it.”

You staggered to your feet and pushed past Steve’s ungodly gangly legs, muttering, “Scuze me, bathroom, ’scuze me, sorry, ope, sorry,” until you made it through. You slipped through the door and looked down the hall – which unhelpfully went in both directions, with doors at both ends – eventually veering right and gingerly pushing the door open to find, yes, it was indeed a fairly serviceable bathroom. No one had puked in it or anything, yet. 

Locking the door behind you, you did your thing. God, it seemed like rich people who wanted to flaunt their wealth bought the nice toilet paper. Three-ply and everything. For the basement bathroom. Jesus. 

Washing your hands, you stared at yourself in the vanity mirror. Your hair was holding up OK, as was most of your makeup. You reached into your bra to grab a small tube of lipstick – where else was it supposed to fit? And you had the cleavage to pull it off! – and swiped another coat on your lips where the cup had smudged some off. There. Still looking put together. 

Heading back down the hallway, you had almost reached the light spilling from the rec room when a sudden burst of laughter made you pause in the shadows, hidden behind the wall. Something about it had your self-preservation senses tingling. You had a sense a shoe was about to drop. 

Somehow, in a few minutes you’d been gone, the basketball team had gotten even more inebriated.

“Don’t fuck with me, Jason, I know you’d tap that.”

It was Patrick. Or Chase. They’d sort of blurred together in your mind, their slurring voices all sounding the same.

“I know you would. Hell, I would. In that short little dress, ass and tits on display. You know she wants it, Jason.”

A hot flush of shame flooded your face. Chase-or-Patrick continued, oblivious to your presence just out of sight. 

“I fucking bet you $20 that if I get one more drink in her, it’ll take nothing at all for her to go home with me.” 

This time, you did hear Jason. “Deal, but only if you get her panties as proof.”

You felt the flush spreading to suffuse your whole body, setting your heart pounding in your chest, so hard it echoed into your hears until the thump-thump of your blood and your shame was the only thing you could hear. 

What was it about you, exactly, that always seemed to give people the wrong idea. Was it your clothes, your hair, your eyes, your lips, the way you laughed, the way your chest fit your clothes, the length of your hem, how you smelled, if you had nail polish on or not. 

Or was it just something in your very essence where boys thought they could say anything, do anything, to you and it was OK? That it was fucking acceptable?

You stood, paralyzed and faintly trembling, unable to move, unable to decide if you should go back in, pretend you didn’t hear anything, plaster on a smile and fake-fake-fake your way through it, or go upstairs, find someplace to hide away until Robin was ready to leave. 

The kids at Hawkins, it turned out, were just the same as the shit school you came from. 

Feeling tears start to puddle in your eyes, you raised one hand to swipe at them angrily. 

“Don’t ever let ’em see you cry, Dots.”

You flinched, slowly pivoting to see Eddie standing behind you, as if he’d materialized out of the darkness. He was in black again, all Doc Martens, dark denim and a faded black band T-shirt, short sleeves revealing the pale stretch of his arms, broken up with what looked like a patchwork of tattoos. Bats. A creeping black spider. Something else, with fangs.  

“How much did you hear?” you asked, dully. “Enough to think I’m still somebody’s hired hooker, Eddie?”

He studied you pensively, noting the tears still stuck, glittering, to your lashes. “No, and Robin blistered my ears for hours, setting me straight. They’re all assholes, you know. Not worth it.”

“Well you’re an asshole too, so don’t worry, I’m pretty sure I got the vibe,” you snapped peevishly. Eddie gave a startled bark of laughter in response.

“Yeah, Dots, I’m an asshole too.”

“Also it’s too late – you’ve already seen me cry. The other day, remember?”

“I know,” he admitted quietly. “But unlike them, at least I own my own asshole qualities.”

You almost thought it could have meant, “I’m sorry.” Almost.

Eddie shifted, stuffing his hands in his back pockets, taking advantage of the silence to study you. You felt the force of his gaze trace you from your quivering lip to the flare of your hips and down, down, down the length of your legs. The two of you were still standing just in the shadows, set apart from the carousing happening just a wall away. Someone could walk out and stumble upon the two of you any moment. Laughter coming from the rest of the party burst like little Champagne bubbles against the rushing in your ears. What was this? You didn’t know. But unlike your first meeting, you didn’t get the same acrid sharpness wafting from the boy in front of you. More a sense of surprising vulnerability, like the two of you recognized something of yourself in the other. 

“What’re you doing here?” you deflected, not ready to face whatever the feeling was.

“Oh, Hawkins’ favorite small-time dealer is sufficiently tolerated wherever he goes, Dots.” Eddie pulled an expertly rolled joint out of his back pocket, letting you see it was just weed before it disappeared back where it came. “They don’t have much time for me otherwise, ’cept when Mummy and Daddy are away and they need something to take the edge of suburban mediocrity off. And I’m happy to oblige…for a price.” He flashed a grin, sharp as a knife and twice as lethal. “Call it a side hustle.”

You pushed: “Yeah, but what are you doing down here ? Rather than, I dunno, out in a back alley doing a shady deal.”

“Hey, all of my deals are done in nothing but the most high-quality of tiled bathrooms, thank you very much. But also, Robin and Steve are upstairs with Nance, sent me to find you.”

You glanced at the open door to the rec room. You knew you should probably go back in there, pretend like you hadn’t heard anything, if you wanted any part in Hawkins’ teenage scene while you were here. Spend the rest of the evening fending off increasingly drunk and stupid attempts at seduction until you could bow out at a socially respectable hour and go back to the bed you’d been loaned for the summer. But…

“I don’t want to go back in there,” you admitted, quietly. 

“Then fucking don’t,” Eddie said immediately, like it was easy. And maybe for him it was. “Fuck their bullshit and whatever they think about you. No matter what you do, they’ll think it anyways.” He jerked his head toward the stairs leading back up to the kitchen.

“Come on, they’re all waiting for us – for you. Steve always gets way too fuckin hungry when he’s high, so they’re talking about ditching early and going to Benny’s for milkshakes instead. Plus,” Eddie magically pulled Robin’s car keys out from another pocked and jingled them at you, “as the most sober one here, I’m the designated driver. So this time I really can give you that ride, Dots. And Benny’s makes a mean chocolate milkshake, you can’t say no to that.”

Somehow the few minutes you’d spent in hushed conversation with Eddie, the night had become something more forgivable. No matter what he’d assumed the first time you met, there was nothing in his gaze now that indicated you were being treated like an object, like someone on display for everyone else’s enjoyment. So maybe you could re-evaluate your first impression of him. You decided you’d see what he was like over a late-night milkshake and then decide if Robin’s desired friendship-mending experience could happen. 

Chocolate was your favorite flavor, after all. 

You gave Eddie a little nod, and the way his eyes lit up in relief made the inside of your stomach do a little flip-flop. He made a grand, sweeping motion with his arms toward the stairs. 

“Ladies first,” he intoned. 

You giggled, and started to head up when something occurred to you. “Eddie,” you said, “is my mascara smudged?”

You still almost expected him to blow your question off, but instead he leaned forward to cup your chin gently with his fingers – the cool of his metal rings making you jump slightly – and title your face into the light. With you being a step or two above him, you were suddenly eye-to-eye, and the full force of his amber gaze caught yours, and held it.

“No,” he said, all seriousness. “They won’t know you’ve cried.”

“Don’t tell them.”

Eddie released your chin and gave you another one of what you were gradually realizing were his trademark half smiles. “A gentleman never betrays a lady’s secrets.”

“What about an asshole?” you quip, smiling so he’d know it was a joke. 

“An asshole would save them for the right moment.”

“And which one are you in this moment?”

Eddie cocked his head, jerking his chin at you to head upstairs. “You’ll have to have that chocolate milkshake and find out.”

You rolled your eyes and turned to head upstairs and find your drunken cousin and friends, to save them from their own stupidity; Eddie followed on your heels. 

Somehow , you thought, I hope I haven’t made a big mistake.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 3

Next time: You get a job, and Eddie learns something about you.

[p3ski]

Pairing: RK900/Gavin Reed

Tags: Post Pacifist Ending, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Slow Burn, Smut, Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Masterlist

Read on AO3 here:

Summary: A lot has changed since the revolution. Crimes against androids are now being treated with greater severity, with many being subject to the same penalties as crimes against humans. While anti-android attitudes are on the decline, transforming the mindset of an entire city is no simple task.

A reluctant Gavin Reed and his new partner RK900 have been assigned to investigate a string of disturbing murders. Despite the shift in Detroit's social climate, Gavin still holds reservations about whether or not androids are truly alive. Will his developing feelings for 'Nines' prompt a shift in perspective?

Warnings: Graphic Violence, Depression/Self Destructive Behaviour, Smut

Word Count: 3.3K

Actually Decent (3)

[12:47 pm] HEY gav

[12:47 pm] guess what

[12:48 pm] me and Jasmine are finally official 

 

Gavin glanced down at his phone, scanning through the messages he had just received from Tina, scoffing fondly. After a few moments of deliberation, he fired off a playful response:

 

You:

that's great ti

and the last nine months of you hooking up in the supply closet didnt count because…?

 

As the reply was sent, Nines emerged from the kitchen, deftly sidestepping the assembly of cats congregating at his feet. Carrie seemed determined to trip him up, intercepting his path with every movement. Wendy supported the efforts, trailing closely behind, batting her tail. 

The android was wearing one of his favourite lounging tops, an old graphic t-shirt of Gavin's that he hadn't worn in years. It depicted a montage of famous horror icons drawn in a cartoonish style. Their arms were draped around each other as they posed for a group photo, pulling faces at the camera. 

 

Actually Decent (2)

Because its finally on the socials <3 <3 <3

this is the best day of my life

 

Observing his approach, Gavin couldn't help but marvel at how Nines managed to look so effortlessly good whilst wearing a beaten-up shirt that was at least fifteen years old—paired with a set of baggy sweatpants that looked like they'd lost a fight with a swarm of moths. 

He supposed it helped that the garment was a tad too short, teasing at a small sliver of midsection every time he raised his arms. It was downright pornographic, and he intended to write a letter to CyberLife regarding the issue. Either a complaint or a thank you. He hadn't decided yet. 

"The popcorn is in the microwave," Nines smoothly informed, scooping up the most placid of the cats, Nancy, into his arms. He stroked her soft brown fur in long, affectionate brushes before skillfully finding the sweet spot between her neck and ear. The cat melted into the touch as the android moved his fingers with well-rehearsed precision.

"Okay, cool, now all we gotta do is find something to watch," Gavin mumbled, tearing his attention away from the appealing sight long enough to trail his thumb across the power button of a chewed-up television remote. 

The action was delayed, however, as not seconds after setting down his phone, it fired off again, demanding his attention with a precession of frenzied dings:

 

Actually Decent (7)

I might ask her if she wants to move in with me 

thats the next step after socials right?

OMG

GSVNI

G AS VIN

GAVIN*

Is it too early to propose?

 

Nines had reached the sofa, tutting frustratedly at the pair of legs strewn across the thoroughly claw-marked cushions. He nudged one of the offending limbs with his knee, continuing to scratch behind the ear of an increasingly vocal Nancy. "Move."

Gavin huffed indignantly, although a playful roll of his eyes assured it wasn't serious. He raised his legs, allowing his partner to sit before casually slumping his feet across his lap. Nines, having anticipated this, lifted up the fluffy mound that was purring appreciatively in his arms. Once settled, he placed the cat in the junction between his feet.

As he replied to Tina, the android claimed the forgotten remote and proceeded to flick through channels, searching for something of interest.

 

You:

How very lesbian of you.

Yes its too early you freak.

 

Actually Decent:

:( Sad.

we could have had a joint wedding.

When you and Nines get married, are you gonna take his name, or are you gonna keep yours?

 

You:

Nines doesn't have a last name 

and he's basically taken mine already

 

Actually Decent:

Awww, that sucks. I thought Gavin Serial Number 

313 248 317 - 87 had a nice ring to it.

I'd definitely take Jas’ surname. Mrs and Mrs 162 441 229. Really rolls off the tongue don't you think <3 

 

"I'm not seeing anything I think we'd particularly enjoy," Nines commented, as he made a subtle gesture towards the TV.

Gavin looked up to inspect the screen and was assaulted with a visual barrage of rapidly changing images, blurring into each other at a dizzying rate. His eyes ached, and his forehead pulsed as he vainly attempted to process what he was seeing. "Jesus , slow down. We don't all have advanced optical units; I can't take shit in that quickly."

The pace of the flicking decreased, albeit marginally, as Nines glanced over at him—a mischievous smirk pulling at his lips. "I'm struggling to recall the last time you asked me to slow down."

The seductive resonance of his voice betrayed the double meaning with transparency. It left Gavin to splutter incredulously, mouth gaping in disbelief before he matched his partner's expression with his own crooked smile. "We literally did it this morning, asshole. God, you’re insatiable."

"I see no reason why we can't also partake this afternoon. It is my day off, after all." Carefully so as not to disturb the cat, Nines had begun trailing his free hand across the inside of one of the man's legs. Starting at his ankle before migrating up the taut muscle of his calf. 

It didn’t matter how much time they spent together; the seemingly endless endurance of his libido was something that Gavin was still adjusting to. The android had been permitted decidedly less time to indulge in carnal pleasures, and had made it clear since the beginning of their relationship that he was intent on making up for lost time.

"Easy, Casanova," the man said lowly, suppressing the emergent groan that was building in his throat as the hand brushed the inside of his thigh, seemingly intent on trailing further. "Let's watch a movie first, and then I'll think about it. Give my body a chance to recover."

He squinted at the television again, making another attempt at assigning sense to the disorientating mess being hurled in his face. The rate seemed to have increased significantly in the wake of their playful exchange, and he knew for a fact Nines was doing it on purpose.

Having had some fun at his partner's expense, he eventually relented, handing the remote back to Gavin with quiet complacency. The frenetic blur of images halted, settling on what seemed to be an antique evaluation show. A well-dressed couple engaged in an animated conversation with a heavy-set man in a garish bright suit. They were sharing a bewildering level of enthusiasm over what looked to be a teapot.

Oh, Hell no.

Gavin switched the channel quickly, grimacing as he did so. The sour expression only deepened as the next show involved another suburban, button-down couple chatting menially with a dour-looking host. The only discernible difference seemed to be that the subject of interest was now determining which shade of indistinguishable beige paint should be used to decorate a downstairs bathroom.

After breezing through a few more channels of equally mind-numbing programming, he grew increasingly defeated, grunting under his breath in frustration. "Ugh, you're right. This is all trash—the joys of Daytime TV, I guess."

"If you would pay for a streaming service or two, then you wouldn't be at the mercy of public broadcasting."

"What do I look like, a millionaire? Those sickness paychecks only go so far. I don't have streaming money."

"You'll be back at work and earning your full pay soon enough." The android reclined back in his seat as Nancy kneaded her claws into his lap, seeking a comfortable position. Ultimately, she sank down, curling into a tight ball. "Perhaps you ought to treat yourself; I'd be happy to split the cost."

"Animal shelter money doesn't really constitute ‘rolling in it’ either, Nines."

His partner tutted at the persistent pessimism before seeking out another compromise. "Alright, fine. Then we can watch one of your DVDs."

"We've watched the entire collection more times than I can count. I wanna find something you haven't seen yet."

"Truly, I don't mind what we watch as long as we do it together."

Gavin pointed to his throat and made a prolonged retching noise. "You and the sappy crap."

Nancy, who had begun dozing against his leg, roused slightly, her tail bristling and amber eyes scanning her surroundings. The noise was not enough to prompt her to flee, as a soothing stroke from Nines ensured she settled back down. 

He shot his partner an incredulous look, to which Gavin responded by prodding a heel into his abdomen. "Oh, don't give me that look, I'm kidding."

"I know you are. You'd be utterly devastated if I ever relented on the ‘sappy crap’" There was a brief crackle of static, which marked a shift in tone towards the end of the sentence. The typically smooth, measured resonance of his voice adopted a more abrasive quality. 

Gavin scowled, noting the uncanny familiarity as he sunk further into the cushions. "I do not sound like that."

"You sound exactly like that—It is a sample of your voice."

"Bullshit. You pitch-shifted it, and now you're just trying to mess with me." Returning his attention to the television, the man continued to trawl through the increasingly dire options. He was on the brink of admitting defeat when an unwelcome image asserted its presence, filling the screen from corner to corner:

 

Dimitar Petrov stood at a wooden stand, fixating on something out of view. His hazel eyes appeared relentlessly cold, darkened with detached cruelty. A nervous-looking man in an ill-fitting blue suit stood to his side, running his fingers anxiously through spiked black hair. Gavin felt his chest tighten as the once-jovial air surrounding the couple dissipated, replaced by an unpleasant tension.

He’d forgotten what day it was—and suspected he had done so consciously, at least to some extent. Not wanting the unwelcome reminder of the events that took place several months ago to dampen the mood.

After the initial shock waned, he sat himself upright, focusing his attention on the screen. The camera panned over to a gallery filled with solemn faces, with the corresponding attendants sitting in respectful silence. A few voices broke through, with the laboured sobs of one attendee proving particularly disruptive. Gavin recognised her as Stephenie, the sister of Jennifer Parkins — the Reaper's only human victim. 

Focus then shifted to an older man on the opposite end of the room, looming over the proceedings with a stern expression. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, have you reached a verdict?"

"We have, Your Honor."

 

An anticipative breath lodged in his throat as Gavin leaned closer. The forgotten remote was still clutched in his grasp, trapped in an increasingly tightened vice. Then, a hand found his forearm, stirring his attention just enough that his focus pulled away from the screen.

As their gazes locked, Nines gave his arm a tentative squeeze before softly addressing him. "I suggest we find some lighter viewing. Perhaps a psychological horror."

"Doesn't get much more horrifying than this fucker," the man seethed, glowering at the television as the camera focused back on Dimitar. He quietly reassured the android, resting a hand across his in a placating gesture. "It's okay, I wanna hear what they say."

 

Any lingering noise in the court dissipated as an effort was made by the more hysterical onlookers to quiet themselves. The foreperson stood from his chair, a paper clutched in his hands. His eyes were narrowed as he gave it a cursory scan before finally addressing the courtroom. "In the Case of The Androids Of Detroit Versus Dimitar Petrov, we find the defendant… Guilty of all charges."

The gallery stirred back to life as ripples of sounds echoed through. Gasps of relief mingled with more vocal affirmations as tearful spectators embraced each other. 

"The court accepts the jury's verdict. Dimitar Petrov, you are hereby convicted of sixteen counts of first-degree murder. Given the severity of your crimes, the court sentences you to life in prison without the possibility of parole."

With a defeated sigh, the blue-clad lawyer slumped in his chair, casting a weary glance at a man on an opposing bench. The figure in question, decked head-to-toe in ostentatious maroon, quietly gathered his papers, nodding in measured satisfaction. Dimitar seldom reacted to the verdict save for a cruel sneer. A set of bailiffs emerged at the stand, flanking him on either side before placing their hands on his shoulders and leading him away.

 

"Fucking good," Gavin remarked, exhaling the fraught breath that he had been holding during the deliberation. "Exactly what that piece of shit deserves."

As he said this, a high-pitched ding could be heard from the kitchen, which he recognised as the microwave. The man stood up from his semi-reclined position, grunting as he did. Though he made an effort to withdraw his feet slowly, the action proved enough to finally disturb Nancy. She dropped to the floor and plodded away towards the kitchen, presumably in anticipation of food. Nines was visibly saddened by her departure as his hand hovered longingly where she had been resting.

"Need to get a new couch; the support on this one is terrible." Gavin craned forward, pressing his hands to the small of his back as the bones emitted a soft crack. "My back is killing me."

The android transitioned from displeasure to amusement in rapid succession as he let out a terse snort.

"Hey, don't laugh," the man retorted, levelling him with an accusatory look. "It's completely reasonable for me to want to sit on a comfortable couch."

"I'm not laughing because it's unreasonable. I just think you're being a tad dramatic."

Gavin scoffed, spinning on his heel in a deliberate show of theatrics, accompanied by a flagrant eye roll. Advancing toward the kitchen, a distant mewl could be heard, accompanied by a more exuberant yowl of impatience—easily recognisable as Tiffany. 

"It's all part of ageing, Nines, and it's only getting worse from here. You still gonna want me when I look like a wrinkled ball sack?"

"That would imply you don't already."

"Ooo, harsh .” He emitted a sharp hissing noise, clutching his chest in a show of exaggerated offence. "I'm thirty-six, you smug asshole."

"Thirty-seven in a few weeks.”

"Yeah, don't remind me," he growled as his playful demeanour started to wane. "I found another grey hair this morning. That's five now."

"Ahh yes, a sure sign that false teeth and an orthopaedic pillow loom closely on the horizon."

"If you keep teasing, I'll have to bump my midlife crisis ahead a few years."

Emerging into the kitchen, the sounds of anticipative yowls grew, and he made a detour en route to the microwave. A growing congregation of hungry cats gathered at his feet, glassy eyes staring up in anticipation.

"Gavin, none of that matters to me," he heard Nines protest from the other room. The playful joviality of his voice was absent, replaced with something more sincere. “Your appearance may change, but you will be the same person—and I will continue to adore you.” 

"Easy to say when you're gonna spend the rest of your life looking like an underwear model."

As the cupboard creaked open, he heard a flurry of movement from another room, followed by the frantic plodding of feet. A frenzied blur of black and white came screeching into the kitchen, thunderous paws losing grip as the cat collided head-first with a wall.

 

Goddammit Richie. 

 

"If you knew I would age the same as you, that my physical appearance would also be subject to change, would you feel any differently?"

His hand stilled on the handle. Bristling at the unexpected question, he swiftly abandoned his current task, much to the vocal chagrin of his pets. "No, of course not. Why the hell would that change anything?"

Then a realisation struck him. He had never been one for overt sentiment, with Nines having comfortably taken that role in the relationship. That being said, the negligence he had demonstrated at failing to express that particular affirmation—several months after its emergence—couldn't really be excused.

"Nines…I love you. You know that, right?" 

The confession was met by a weighty silence, which left Gavin with a disquieting sense of unease. He quietly receded back through the kitchen and peered his head around the corner of the doorway, seeking to gauge his partner's response.

Nines was staring at him, eyes glossed with ill-concealed sentiment, as his lips were pulled into a small, grateful smile. Everything about his softened expression seemed to exude adoration—and unyielding devotion. "I do, but it feels truly wonderful to hear you say it."

The draw of his voice was magnetising, compelling the man to abandon everything he had been doing. He hurried back to the couch and, without another word exchanged, straddled his partner's hips, capturing his mouth in a fervid kiss. The android groaned appreciatively, mingled with a static-like charge, as he kissed back with matched enthusiasm. 

"What about the popcorn?" Nines gently teased, having pulled back just enough that the words danced enticingly against the man's lips.

"Fuck it, that can wait," Gavin murmured, his mouth running a languid path across the length of his jaw. "The movie, too. I've had enough rest."

Then Richie—who the couple had long since surmised was the embodiment of chaos tenuously masquerading as a cat—barrelled his way through the living room. His trajectory was only halted as he jumped onto a windowsill, knocking over several ornaments with a brush of his tail.

Rather than stopping there, he somehow managed to scamper his way up one of the curtains, getting his claws embedded at the top and marking it with sizeable tears as he tried to wriggle free. In the process, the rail above dislodged, collapsing to the floor, taking the curtains, and a still-attached cat with it. 

Anything that remained on the windowsill was promptly displaced, including a succulent that Tina had gifted Gavin as a Get Well Soon gift. The plant hit the floor with a crack, shattering into a mess of dirt and ceramic.

 

Goddammit Richie.

 

He emitted a deep groan into his partner’s shoulder as the android shared in his discontent, albeit with a more subdued resignation. "That's a shame; I rather liked that plant."

Carefully, he encouraged his partner off his lap so they could both stand to inspect the damage. As he did so, Wendy came charging out of the kitchen, being chased by Carrie, dashing in front of the couple and almost sending them toppling over. 

"You know, with all these additional bodies, conditions are getting rather cramped."

Picking up the curtains, Gavin noted in frustration that the flimsy support beam had been warped as a result of the impact. "I'm gonna move out soon…before I lose any more of my fucking deposit."

Nines stood to his side, conducting a survey of the room. His attention was drawn to the distinctive scratch marks etched across nearly every wooden surface, as well as a large indent in the plasterboard beside the door. "I’m afraid it might be a bit late for that."

Gavin grumbled in begrudging acknowledgement. He set the mangled curtains back on the floor, determining them to be beyond salvaging, as he folded his arms over his chest. "Don’t get me wrong, this place is a shithole, but it kind of sucks to leave so soon. I only just moved in."

"You’ve been here for almost a year," Nines smoothly corrected.

"Yeah, but I only just finished unpacking."

There was a lull in the discussion as his partner fell silent, lips pursed thoughtfully. At times like this, he missed the days when flickers of light on his forehead would seek to betray his line of thinking. The android was much harder to read without his LED, although he respected his decision to remove it —seeking to shed all superfluous reminders of his past. 

Mercifully, this had extended to his CyberLife jacket, which had found itself on the receiving end of Gavin's lighter. It had been an extremely cathartic evening for both of them.

"Well, my home is larger than yours," Nines eventually said, his voice carrying with it an air of measured rationale. "You could always stay with me for a while. Until you find other living arrangements."

The invitation caught Gavin off-guard as his folded arms slackened, falling limply to his sides. "You’d let me move in with you? Seriously?"

"I see no reason why we could not reach some sort of ‘agreement.’"There was a teasing edge to this as the android leaned forward, deftly cupping his jaw and capturing his lips in a stolen kiss. "On the promise that you might make some effort to be a touch more organised."

The man snorted at the suggestion, brow raised incredulously as he leant his weight into the affectionate touch. "Not happening. Nice try, though."

"The arrangement needn’t be temporary…" Nines continued, his gaze flickering to the side as though claimed by a sudden rush of uncertainty. "You could stay indefinitely, should you like."

It was Gavin's turn to fall silent. In his previous relationships, moving in together hadn't even been a consideration until a full year of established dating. Even then, he had met the suggestion with marked resistance. 

With Nines, nothing about their relationship had ever run as conventional, making the swift progression seem oddly fitting. Any fleeting reservations he may have held soon deserted him, yielding to the trepidation in his partner's eyes. 

It occurred that he had never felt so deeply compelled to commit himself to someone, and it would be foolish to dismiss the significance of that. 

"I guess we’re together most nights anyway, so it makes practical sense. Might take you up on that offer."

"I hope you will," Nines replied, his voice airy and drawn out, like a gracious sigh. He wrapped his arms smoothly around his partner, pulling him close. "I love you, Gavin."

"I know you do—schmaltzy bastard."

[truths33k3r4]

( TW for blood, needles, stitches, minor surgery, vomiting- not graphic cause ewww )

CHAPTER 13 - A Prick and a Pull

Who knew a little splash of blood could completely end a conversation dead in its’ tracks?

.. Well, now Leo and Lotus did.

Leo’s face twisted into a small grimace as he quickly jolted his foot away from the slowly growing crimson puddle on the floor. After shaking off the excess blood like a cat shaking it’s paw in the snow, Leo drew his attention to Lotus’ incision. 

It wasn’t a lot of blood.. Just what happens when you have a deep cut in your body and you have nothing to stop the bleeding. A thin stream had trickled down Lotus’ leg and slowly began to drip off the side of the surgical table.

‘ I should’ve covered the incision with something.. MAN I SUCK AT THIS. ‘ Leo self- scolded himself.

The strange thing was Lotus didn’t even notice it.. Guess she got too caught up in the so-called ‘conversation ‘ between her and Leo.. If you could even call it that..

Lotus tried to turn herself over to see what it was that made Leo jolt back, but instead jolted herself as another burning sting shot up her leg in protest of the movement. 

‘ ..OK… NOT GONNA MOVE ANYMORE.. NOTED. ‘ Lotus mentally stated as she let out a slight hiss from the pain.

After Leo promptly cleaned up the small puddle and what was remaining on his foot, he brought his focus back to Lotus.

“ Ok.. I’m really sorry Lotus, but I have to stitch you up before it gets infected.. “

Lotus’ shoulders raised the smallest bit.

Leo knew she was scared.. Heck, HE WAS THE REASON she was scared. It was his mistake that brought her so much pain.. Her fear was totally valid thanks to Leo’s awful track record today. 

“ I promise- I’ll go as fast as I ca- “

“ NO, LEONARDO. “ Lotus nearly shouted. 

Leo��s eyes filled with shock at her sudden impulsive reaction to his words.. He was used to her being so.. soft spoken. Blunt, yes, but never fiery or passionate.

Lotus’ shoulders were now completely up as her head began to subtly recoil into her shell. Not completely, but enough for Leo to notice.

“ YOUR MEDICINE DOESN’T WORK. It wore off -  It’s useless. “

Lotus gulped down the lump building in her throat of dread for what she was about to say.

“ You said it will take you 2 minutes? “

Leo nodded.

Lotus paused.

‘ Am I really gonna do this?...

The medicine didn’t work.

It still really hurt. ‘

Lotus subconsciously stroked her left thigh to relieve the pain that was building once again.

‘ It’s only two minutes. 

It will be fine.

I’ve been through worse.

I’ve survived worse.

A prick, a pull, and done.

IT’S TWO MINUTES.

A PRICK, A PULL, AND DONE.

…

…. This.. is gonna SUCK EDAMAME BEANS. ‘

“ I don’t need any numbing. Just start. “

Leo’s already wide eyes somehow grew in size as he processed what Lotus said.

“ I- You- You want me to stitch your leg with NO lidocaine???? “ Leo was nearly huffing as he ran through the scenario of what it would look like for Lotus to get stitches feeling… EVERYTHING. He tried again to talk her out of it.

“ Lotus- it’s just one pinch- and then I’ll work as fast as I can!! Don’t you at least want the CHANCE of not feeling it???? Maybe if I work fast it will last long enough! “

Lotus stayed quiet, taking a minute or so assessing Leo’s option.

… But her mind was already made up.

“ No.. thank you. ‘ She spoke in a huff. “ It’s a matter of the mind here Leo. I’m not going to lie to myself thinking that your dumb meds will work when it was just PROVEN that they don’t.

I just gotta tough it out. “

Lotus curled her arms around herself attempting a self hug, as she laid her head onto the surgical table’s pillow.

“ It’s just two minutes. Do your worst.“ 

Leo’s face became flushed with agony and shame. 

Normally, the phrase “ do your worst “ is used in a sarcastic tone. A comedic context. Something two friends would say to each other whilst playing video games, or forcing the other to eat something gross at a sleep over.

But Lotus spoke with no sarcasm. There was no humor to water down the potency of her words. Nothing to make it more bearable. 

Leo’s eyes attempted to form more tears, but the wells remained dry. He pulled a small rolling stool underneath himself and turned to face Lotus’ incision.

“ .. Are you sure?.. You’re going to feel everythi-”

“ YES. DO IT. “

Lotus braced every muscle despite all the protest of her incredibly sore body.

“ NO PAIN. NO GAIN. JUST DO IT. “ She choked out through gritted teeth.

Leo let out a silent sigh as he reached over to the cupboard and pulled out a package of needles and a spool of thread. 

‘ IT’S JUST.. TWO.. MINUTES.. ‘

Lotus shut her eyes as she listened to the faint sounds of Leo opening a bottle.

The putrid fumes of rubbing alcohol filled her senses.

With everything that had happened, the horrible burning pain, the constant fight against her nightmares and memories, and the dread of what was occuring NOW.. One couldn’t blame her for what happened next. 

The growing knot in her stomach took the horrid smell as the signal to vacate its’ contents.

It began with Lotus letting out a small gag, to which Leo IMMEDIATELY dropped the bottle onto the rolling table, and reached underneath for a small basin, handing it to Lotus in a panic.

( As the oldest brother of four, he was well-versed in knowing the tell-tale signs of nausea. And.. what came up with it. )

He gently rubbed Lotus’ shell, trying his best to bring her any comfort he could. He could feel under his hand that she was shaking more harshly now. Under such bodily distress, it certainly made sense.

She was completely exhausted.

After Lotus’ stomach was squeezed empty, she placed the basin to her side and hid her face in her crossed arms.

“ I hate this.. I hate this…. “ She squeaked as she began to sob into her arms. 

‘ Why is this happening.. WHY CAN’T MY STUPID BODY DO ANYTHING RIGHT- Why- WHY AM I LIKE THIS- WHY DID IT WEAR OFF… ‘

Lotus’ mind filled with question after question. An action to which nothing responded. No answers. Nothing. 

The void remained still and steadfast; The darkness covering up any chance of answers being given.

Lotus had heard many times at the lab various people shouting out the names of deities. Usually when they accidentally dropped something, or if an experiment proved successful.

On their podcasts or tv shows there would be characters praying to a god. Asking for direction or guidance or answers.

That’s how you knew it was just a tv show. Their questions were always answered. All of their problems magically were taken away thanks to their so-called faith. Thanks to their god.

And all Lotus could sense in her mind was darkness. Unrelenting stress, fear, shame, and anxiety. 

No answers.

Just endless silence.

‘ There is no way there’s a god out there.’

She heard a snip of scissors.

Lotus’s mind was yanked back to her horrible reality in an instant.

“ Try not to brace your muscles.. It will hurt worse. “ Leo spoke to her.

Before she could react, Leo inserted the needle. 

Lotus grasped onto the sides of the surgical table with both hands, squeezing as hard as she could to somehow relinquish the pain. A quiet whimper escaped her lips.

This pain was different. With the implant removal, it was more of a sharp burn accompanied by the frigid cold of the tweezers.. 

But this.. This felt as though someone stabbed into her leg with the thin edge of an iron-tip pen. 

Over and over again. 

With each stitch came a small snap of her skin, and with each needle prick came a tightening pull of the thread. 

For once, that day, Leo’s calculations were correct. 

Lotus’ incision took about 3 stitches to fully close, coming to around 2 minutes to finish the full procedure.

But as Lotus understood quite thoroughly, PAIN SLOWS TIME.

Seconds disguised themselves as minutes and hours. It felt like an eternity as Lotus dug her hands deeper and deeper into the surgical table’s rim. 

Every time the needle pierced into her skin she let out a sharp hiss, followed by a long whimper as Leo tightened the stitch.

It was awful.

‘ IT’S JUST TWO MINUTES.. IT’S JUST TWO MINUTES..’

Leo ( for once ) kept his word with moving as fast as he could. His hands worked swiftly and smoothly as he finally snipped off the remaining strand of thread.

NOW it was over.

Hohohohooo I had FUNN with this one. :)

If you have any questions about my story, the characters, whatever, you can send me an ask! :)

To God be the glory!

Masterpost <- PRIOR CHAPTER NEXT CHAPTER ->

[noroi1000]

Hi hope your doing good can I ask for a request for the Nyan cat series. I’m curious about how Gojo and Geto turn into cat and do they still have their sorcerer powers even if they’re in cat form. I was hoping you can write a chapter on how they got this transformation abilities and the reason why they were interested in Y/n since in the first chapter they just suddenly appear in her apartment. Sorry if it’s too much to ask. Love you 💖

Nyan IX

"Suguru! Suguru!"

"What?"

The dark haired man entered his friend's bedroom when he called him. He didn't know why Gojo preferred him that way, but there had to be a reason.

Even if it may turn out that he found a video and wants to show it to him.

"Suguru, do you remember our mission a few days ago?" He said with a smile.

"How could I forget something that happened recently? Hurry up and tell me what it is. I'm a little busy." answered him.

"okay okay. But do you remember that cat we met when we got back?"

"The one on the street? Black and white? Yeah. I think it was homeless, really."

"I know. That's what I'm all about. But do you know what was wrong with it?"

"Hmm?"

"Didn't you feel a strange aura?"

The dark-haired man was silent, agreeing with his friend.

"So, that cat was a curse."

"what?" He grunted, looking at him strangely. "It was just a normal cat, you know… Did you eat too much sugar or what…?"

"It really was a curse! I gave it a piece of food, and you did the same! Then the cat disappeared!'

"It just went away…"

"Oh! look!"

The white-haired suddenly began to focus too much when he was sitting on the bed. He closed his eyes and calmed his breathing.

He started thinking about the cat. Until suddenly he felt a different feeling in his body. He's done that twice already. And it all worked. It will certainly be the same now.

Suddenly, white smoke appeared around the sky in a second, enveloping him. Not letting Geto see him. Even as he, alarmed, screamed and came closer to check what had just happened.

As the smoke cleared, he saw a white cat sitting on the bed. The same blue eyes he'd known for so long. Disheveled fur. But that's not logical. It's impossible for his best friend to turn into a cat!

Geto walked over to the bed and picked up the animal, watching it.

The white cat placed one soft paw on his nose, and a kind of smile appeared on his fluffy face.

"Satoru?" he murmured.

The cat meowed happily.

The moment smoke appeared around, Geto's hands were more burdened. Because Gojo appeared in front of him.

"see it? I'm a cat!" he said happily.

"This is not normal. What happened to you? Why is this happening?"

"Suguru, calm down. This is fine. See if you can too!"

"It does not make sense…"

"Please… Just think that you want to be a cat…" The white-haired man looked at him with pleading eyes.

Even though Suguru didn't want to do it, he did it.

And then a black cat appeared in the black smoke and jumped around, surprised at what had happened now.

"Suguru! That cat was a curse! We fed it, so we got a reward! We can be cats!"

Gojo suddenly saw a curse coming out of the floor in front of him, and a dark aura surrounding the black cat.

"Hey! Stop! But at least we know our techniques work while being cats!"

The curse lifted as the other man began to think that he wanted to be human.

He had changed, and now looked at his best friend reproachfully.

"Don't look at me like that, it's not my fault! We're not cursed! We can only turn into cats!"

It was true. The cat they met was a curse. However, it was a positive curse.

A creature that gave rewards for anything good for it. And if someone abused a "homeless cat" they would be killed. By a curse.

By giving him food, they both set the cat free, so he didn't have to wander around the world as a curse.

For this good deed for the animal, the cat's energy transferred to them, and made their reward the ability to change their body into a cat's body. Keeping everything except the looks.

It was some sort of reward, if you like cats. If anyone is going to talk about them, they don't mind any pets. And now that they can be cats themselves, they can see what it's like to sleep all day.

Only there is no one to caress them all day and stroke them. There is no one to take care of them and let them cuddle. There is no one to stroke their surprisingly very soft fur.

"I expected you to have long fur as a cat, Suguru." Said the white-haired, laying down on the bed.

"And I didn't expect you to be a cat… But such fur reflects the whole of you."

"Right? My paws are soft and pink! Cats are generally soft!"

"And sometimes mean…"

"Suguru, you don't like cats…?"

"I didn't say I don't like them. I don't like cats that are mean enough to bite and scratch anyone. I'm not that kind of cat." growled at him, turning sideways. He wanted to go and get back to his business.

"Oh yeah! We're nice cats! Both of us! Soft, well-groomed fur, adorable paws. We think like humans as cats!"

"Satoru, we are human. The only thing that sets us apart is that we're sorcerers… Do what you want, but I won't be a cat. At the first possible moment that I can get rid of it, I will get rid of it…"

Seeing the dark haired man leave, Gojo looked at his back and thought how to dissuade his friend from this idea.

He didn't want to give up being a cat. Even though he only turned into it three times, he didn't mind getting the cat energy.

After all, it's some sort of reward for giving away the leftovers of his chicken sandwich to the cat sitting on the bench. They gave him food, they gave him water to drink.

Gojo thought it was fun to be a cat. And if they got this skill just because they helped the cat, that's even better. New power for so little help.

He is the strongest sorcerer, they are the strongest. Therefore, the new power will be good for them. Even if on the battlefield, a cat can't do much. But at least they'll be cuter, and they'll also be able to get into smaller places than as humans.

They could also make Yaga nicer to them since the principal has a soft spot for soft objects. Mascot or cat, both are soft.

Maybe they could also manage not to live with just two people…

Suddenly, Gojo had an idea, and before his friend was out of sight, he spoke up.

"Suguru!" he shouted. He stopped. "As a cat, you could check out that girl you like in town."

Feeling a slight blush spread to his cheeks, he turned to Gojo, glaring at him.

"As cats, we can see it better from a closer distance. Without putting us at risk of being stalkers."

"…"

"Do you agree? We're cats."

"…Fine…"

Sitting in a tree, they both watched the window on the first floor of the building. There were several desks outside the window.

Employee desks. They both knew who to look at.

Girl having a desk next to the window.

They were so happy that they couldn't be seen between the branches.

It might have looked silly at first, because Geto climbed the mountain as a cat in a matter of seconds, and Gojo was following him.

He liked the feeling of his tail as he flew.

Of course, that wasn't normal because cats can't fly. That's why he couldn't fly for a long time, because it would cause anxiety and other people.

They stayed on one branch and watched.

They saw your face perfectly.

Gojo had no doubts why his friend liked you. There was no doubt. You were pretty, you could smile, and your smile was so pretty. You were also hardworking, and you also had some character. Because not long ago they both knew how you threw a pen across the room because you couldn't concentrate and you had problems with documents.

Turns out they both took an interest in you.

They sat like that in the tree for two weeks. They watched for an hour and then went home.

Sometimes they also passed by as people.

Seeing you leave work and go home.

That's how they knew where you lived.

When they came back to their house one day, they had to talk.

"Suguru… Do you like her?" Gojo asked, looking at the floor.

"Yeah… Even more so… I think I'm in love…" he murmured with a slight smile, answering him.

"You're in love, huh…" Gojo placed his hand on his cheek. Feeling his skin warm up. "Sorry to say it, but she… I liked her too…"

"I noticed."

"huh?" He looked at his dark haired friend who was smiling.

"I know you fell in love with her too… And I don't mind… Basically, if it wasn't for your idea of ​​being cats to learn more about her, I would never have said I fell in love."

"But it-"

"Maybe she likes cats?"

"So you…"

"I saw your tail while she was talking to that other guy. I behaved the same. That's why it's okay. If I couldn't make my friend happy, what kind of best friend am I?

Gojo smiled.

"Maybe she'll want two cats, and two guys."

One day they went to your house, sitting next to the front door of your apartment. Wanting you to invite them in. That you take care of them. Like two poor cats that need love.

Because they both needed your love.

They got in by teleporting, and they stayed in your living room. Waiting for you to come back.

And when you walked in, they smiled.

Even as you searched for their true home, you held them and hugged them. They felt your touch. And they knew you wouldn't leave them. They knew you would take them in.

And the moment they feel that you genuinely love them as your cats, they will show you what they really look like.

And they will be sure that you will love them too.

[blorbologist]

Cat's Cradle, Chapter 14

Ch1 ... Ch13

The kittens, now old enough to go without food for a little more time, are somehow even more of a torment on Percy’s nerves than they were before. 

“Vex!” he calls, shrill. “We have fugitives!”

“They’ve started learning to walk, Percy,” she tosses back. From the kitchen, given how she echoes. “Of course they’ve escaped. They can’t get far.”

“Velcro was in the middle of the floor!”

He does not have to hear her sigh to know she makes it. He assumes she pads down the hall, slips over the babygate silent as ever, because she appears in the doorway. Finds him sitting on the floor with his convict in his lap, the tiny blue tom wiggling viciously as he tries to resume his grand exploration of the room. 

Percy, in turn, is greeted with Vex in an apron. Which is half of why he avoided cooking with her to instead give the kittens supper, because good gods is it a cute look on her. The kiss the chef reads like an invitation, or an instruction manual. A recipe for disaster. 

“We’ll need a box,” he declares around the lump in his throat, plopping Velcro back in the basket. Or trying to - the kitten clings, wailing in outrage, until Percival relents and lets it sit in the crook of his leg. Corralled, for now. 

“Or a playpen,” Vex muses, tapping the spatula to her lips. Her eyes flit to something, not Percy but past him, and she grins. “I’ll leave you to figure that out yourself. I’m sure you can manage, my clever man.”

She leaves him fumbling long enough for Velcro and Spanner to stumble out and mewl in surprise at how cool the floor is. 

--

With a soft playpen set up, Percy feels a lot better about leaving the kittens unsupervised, even if only for short bursts. 

Such as an impromptu brunch with friends. It is a rare stroke of luck, for time off to line up so adeptly. Perhaps easier, without Vax’ildan’s graveyard shifts leaving him dead tired all day or Keyleth’s numerous projects tripping her up. Emptier, too.

“Okay,” Scanlan is saying, sipping loudly on a mimosa. “But you’re sure it’s alright? Kaylie says she hasn’t seen your truck at the workshop in, like, a week.”

“You have your daughter spying on him? Creepy.” Grog makes a show of scoffing, shoveling pancakes into his mouth. Despite the attention on him, he makes to swipe the french toast off Pike’s plate before she dissarms him with her own fork. 

“No - she’s just invested, alright? Won’t stop talking about that shitty day.” Scanlan shivers. “Not that I blame her - I’d be pretty fucked up, too.”

Pike hums in agreement. “Is the cat doing okay? You said her name was…?”

“Curio.” Percy takes a bracing sip of his coffee. “Recovering well from the surgery, seems eager to get out of her crate and stretch her legs. Those she has left, at least. I worry she will ruin the stitching if given that freedom, however.”

“Oy, here’s a thought-” “Manners.” Scanlan rolls his eyes, finishes chewing and swallows before continuing: ”Why don’t we stop by? I mean, you and Vex won’t shut up about these guys, and I don’t know about you guys but I could use some cute in my life. And chicks dig kitten pics.”

Percy hesitates.

So far, these kittens have been theirs. Vex’ahlia and Percival’s little charges, in their own little world. Sure, they had brought them to the vet, and Kaylie’s keen eye had saved Curio’s life. They certainly shared more than enough pictures and videos for all their friends to know many kittens by name. 

But there is something about inviting others into this little nest that has a part of him bristling.

Grog tilts his head. “I’d like to,” he admits. “Wouldn’t it be good for them to, like, meet more people? Help them get more specialized.”

“Socialized, Grog.” Pike pats his knee. 

Percy nudges Vex, who has been slipping into a food coma. She’s so exhausted it pains him to see. “Vex’ahlia, dear, what do you think?”

She stifles a yawn against her hand. “I don’t mind either way,” she admits. “If you guys do come over, though, keep it down - I think I’ll be having a nap, if that’s alright.”

Even the goliath of a man, all tattoos and muscle, seems to read the reluctance in Percy’s gaze. “I’ll be gentle with them,” he promises. “I can be real gentle with the little things.”

Percy sighs. Smiles. “That’s true, yes.” 

--

“When we said little, I didn’t think - woah,” Grog breathes, eyes blown wide and enraptured by every little hair on the kittens’ heads. He and Pike are both on their knees peering into the playpen. Bleary from their nap, the litter is content to wiggle and chirp. Even the one in Scanlan’s hands is well-behaved.

“Hah! Look - he’s spitting at me.”

Or perhaps not, but that’s a perfectly reasonable reaction to Scanlan. 

“She,” Percy corrects with a glance. 

“Ohh, I like them spicy.” He only evades getting an elbow in the gut when Pike stops herself, clearly remembering the precious cargo he holds. 

Having Scanlan for scale really puts into perspective just how small these kittens are - even in his hands they’re fragile, even without a tremor beneath them they wobble. Percy’s heart lurches in his chest when they move - but no, Scanlan’s just sitting more comfortably, with his back to the bed. 

He offers a finger from his free hand for greeting. The verdict is ‘disgusting, I hate it’ until he scratches under that impossibly small chin. “What a cutie patootie. What’s her name?” asks Scanlan.

Pike, peering now over his shoulder, glances between Percy and the kitten. “That’s Bauble, right?” She beams when he nods, pleased they remembered. 

“You can hold one, if you’d like,” Percy offers as Scanlan declares, “I’m gonna get Kaylie a kitten.”

“No - no, you’re not.” He swallows his snappy tone - half the kittens are sleeping, and so is Vex. “You can’t just give someone a lifelong commitment.”

Grog giggles - all head turn to find he’s stuck his hand in the playpen, where a curious Ratchet is clumsily batting at it while Screwdriver watches wide-eyed and hopelessly confused. 

“Ain’t that what happened to you?” says Grog. “With Kaylie?”

Scanlan rolls his eyes. “I was joking. Wasn’t I?” He rubs his nose into Bauble’s fur. “Oh, wow, she smells like cuteness! And kind of milky?”

Percy relaxes a little as Pike leans over to get a good sniff of kittendown too, scooting into Scanlan’s side for a better angle to coo and cuddle. 

That does bring up a thought he’s completely neglected up to date. The kittens are… goodness, not quite two weeks? Two more months and they’ll be old enough to adopt out. How in the hells is he going to find enough homes - good homes - for six kittens? And Curio, too. If matching a half-dozen cute, playful little cats will be a challenge, how will they possibly get someone willing to take on a disabled, probably traumatized adult cat? 

He can practically feel his blood pressure spike. Percy carefully leans over the edge of the playpen to pluck Screwdriver (still watching Grog’s hand with something like awe) and settle her in his lap. His hands are shaking, but so is she, so it’s fine. 

(What if they choose wrong? What if the owners can’t care for the needs of the shaky kittens? Gods, Screwdriver wobbles so much - what if she falls, what if they let her outside, what if -)

“Oop, gotta tinkle.” Percy’s hand jerks up to see Grog stand and dust off his hands. He coos when Ratched stumbles after him, mewling. “Aww, I’ll be back. Where’s the bathroom Percy?”

“It’s to the right, Buddies,” Pike says, delicately running her fingers from Bauble’s head to her little pointy tail. Scanlan’s eyes are on her, not the kitten, and he looks quite like the cat that got the cream.

“Thanks, Pikey!”

Screwdriver mimics his glance up at Grog, which - yeah, sweetheart, he is very big, hm? Percy makes sure to lavish her with extra pets for her bravery. There’s nothing to be scared of, it’s Grog. 

And then Percy remembers, and scrambles to his feet, clutching her to his chest.

“Wait! Don’t go in the-”

He hears the bars of Curio’s crate rattle from here and breaches the doorway just in time to see Grog sheepishly shut the door behind him.

“Guess I’ll hold it in,” he says.

[dullahandyke]

Hang on actually before I hit post limit.pinned post so I can edit this and have my tumblr thoughts even tho I'm post limited

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6.40PM

Yup okay hit the post limit <3 new followers please know this is normal

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6.47PM

Anonymous asked: did they put bugs in him again

Yknow it's hard to tell but I think they might have. Guys we need to get riku dewormed again, this keeps happening to him :(

Anonymous asked: I forgot I had notifs turned on for your blog . Oopsie daisy

HAHAAAAAAAA ANON I CACKLED.... flattered u have urgent coverage on which large surface I'm thinking abt being slammed into at any given time but ig this is an object lesson in paying too much attention to me or something

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8.06PM

Listening to a queer history podcast and it's so funny they're explaining to me what yuri is... I know ❤

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8.14PM

on my laptop now bcos i gotta study for this stupid test..d. and then afterwards theres a powerpoint im actually rlly gonna enjoy presenting but i gotta facking put it together, augh

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8.51PM

niche complaint but it sucks shit when animanga do the 'character suddenly becomes hot as part of a daydream/joke' gag and they dont go full bishie. give that man a delicate jawline NOW!!!

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9.13PM

really happy with this sticker on my laptop. whenever im feeling down i just rememebr that this man got a lobotomy

[ID: a black frame meme featuring Hajime Hinata from Super Danganronpa 2 at the chapter 1 cabin party, smiling and holding a glass of orange juice. It is captioned, "This man, got a lobotomy.]

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9.18PM

whew im a sneezy girl. the sneezing sneasler. wait thats a pokemon. ritalin on friday unless i have a heart murmur

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9.37PM

@effervescentleaf asked:

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9.39PM

i know im constantly posting abt my beard but its still weird as hell to consider that i have a beard that other people can see. when people look at me they see androgyny. what the fuck. i keep being drawn to people with beards and make-up/long hair/jewelry/whatever the fuck else as my favourite examples of gender non-conformity and like. IM that. im that with my stupid eyeliner. what the shit

also that reminds me im not gonna have time to do my eyeliner before my class test tomorrow :/ now i Could just go without it bcos i'll have a presentation later in the day that i should probably be serious for. but where is the fun in that. i will be wearing a hawaiian shirt instead of a t-shirt and thats all that can be expected of me <3

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9.55PM

i probs need to eat a proper meal but the call of pop tarts it is so great.... sighhhh i got the bread out the freezer for soup so ill see if thats defrosted. and if not. squints. cup noodles. kinda want the cup noodles anyway but the soup is gonna expire soon so i gotta be fuckinnn responsible and nutritious or whatever

sidenote i kind of rlly enjoy having just one long ledger of posts all day. kind of fun

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11.51PM

Ugh fuck my gay life I gotta make a PowerPoint... I'm tired I'm a bit sick i gotta sleeeep... wanted to make it fancy but ig that's fucked :(

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12.01AM

I saw a video of a cat and now I miss bubbles :( bubblesssss... I'm going home tomorrow tho so I'll see her then :)

[thedreamworldlibrary]

Dreamers of Myths & Legends Chap. 5-Pokeball Heist!

Next chapter! Next new team member on the squad! I get excited writing the chapters of the new team members because holy crap I go so in detail on those chapters. This fanfic was 18  pages long and that’s possibly my longest one!

Thanks to @gigilefache for being my beta reader!

Enjoy!

Eric hummed as he cooked breakfast for his daughter and the researchers. He decided to make waffles and scrambled eggs with some fresh fruit. Carly on the other hand was making breakfast for Ridley, Oddity, and the researcher’s newest member, Sprigatito.

“There. Done,” Carly sighed, finishing making the Pokemon their breakfast. “Okay, breakfast is ready!” She put the tray of Pokemon food down, as Ridley, Oddity, and Sprigatito ran downstairs. “I hope you all like it, it’s Pokemon food sprinkled with fruit and a zest of Oran Berry.”

Ridley and Oddity’s eyes sparkled and started to eat their breakfast, which made them sigh happily at how good it was.

“Eevee!” Oddity exclaimed.

“Aipom!” Ridley exclaimed too.

Before she could eat, Sprigatito wanted to thank the young girl for making her breakfast, “Meow!” She exclaimed as she nuzzled onto Carly’s knee, thanking her for the food.

Carly squeaked and stepped back from Sprigatito and hid behind her father.

Sprigatito was confused and felt hurt wondering why Carly stepped back.

“Sorry darling,” Lewis spoke up as he came downstairs. “I should’ve told you, Carly has a fear of touching Pokémon.”

Sprigatito sighed and looked down. Lewis gave a light chuckle as he petted the Grass Cat Pokémon. It made her feel better.

“It’s okay Sprigatito. I like you, I just can’t touch you.” Carly explained hoping to cheer for the Grass-type Pokemon.

Sprigatito understood and went over to the other two Pokemon eating their breakfast.

“Eevee! Vee!” Oddity exclaimed telling Sprigatito to try Carly’s breakfast.

Sprigatito went over and took a bite of her breakfast and smiled at how good it tasted as she started to eat with the other two Pokemon.

Lewis smiled as he sat down and soon Wiatt and Oliver came down. “Morning.” Oliver said, letting out a yawn.

“Morning you two!” Lewis exclaimed. Oliver and Wiatt sat down as Eric and Carly brought over breakfast for the boys. 

However, Eric saw someone was missing. “Uh, where’s Sara?” He asked.

“She’s up in the room. She is waiting for a phone call.” Wiatt said, starting to cut into his waffle and eating it.

Lewis knew what the phone call was and got up from the table. 

“You okay?” Oliver asked, looking up at his best friend.

“Yeah. I’ll be back darlings. Just going to check on Sara.” Lewis said. He left the kitchen and went upstairs to check on the female researcher.

Sprigatito and Oddity looked at one another and decided to check up on Sara too. Ridley watched his friends leave and saw they left some of their breakfast left. He shrugged and decided to eat their breakfast too.

In the researcher’s room, Sara stared at her Rotom Phone and waited for it to ring. She got up earlier than usual so she could look her best for her phone call. Feeling like it took forever, her phone rang and quickly she answered it.

On the video call, was a person with dark skin, dark brown eyes, and messy dark brown hair with two white flicks framing their face. They wore a blue t-shirt and wore a purple beanie.

“Celio!” Sara exclaimed.

“Morning Sara! How is everything at Mr. Gale’s research center?” Celio asked.

“Great! We’re currently researching mythical Pokemon.” Sara replied, but she didn’t seem so pleased about it, “wasn’t something I expected but one of the researchers wanted to do it.”

Celio chuckled and soon the sound of bleating came into view. “I know you’ve been excited to talk to her.” They said looking at whoever made the bleating noise. Celio moved their Rotom Phone over to a Skiddo who looked happy to see her trainer.

Sara chuckled seeing her Pokémon looking all happy and healthy. “Skiddo!” She exclaimed.

Skiddo bleated in joy and started to jump in joy seeing her trainer again.

Lewis slowly opened the door and smiled seeing his best friend in her phone call with their caretaker and Pokémon.

“How has she been doing?” Sara asked.

“Fine.” Celio replied, but soon she frowned, “However…” 

Sara was confused as to why her caretaker paused like that. “Is something wrong with Skiddo?” She asked.

“Since you left Skiddo would be in your room all day and wait for you. She’ll eat, but not a lot, and will sleep all day.” Celio explained.

Sara saw in the video called Skiddo walking around before going to the floor and looking down. She frowned seeing her Pokémon like this.

“Aww, I miss you too Skiddo,” Sara replied. “Celio, if you’d like I can make it back home to Santalune City right away! I’m sure Eric would understand.”

“That’s why I called you,” Celio said cutting off their child. “I was thinking of sending Skiddo over to you to help you out with your research?”

Sara’s eyes widened, “but before I left. I left Skiddo with you so you can have help with the DayCare Center.” She explained.

“I know, but I feel like you two need to be together. I’ll be fine, don't worry.” Celio said, reassuring Sara.

Sara felt tears in her eyes and smiled. Her best friend was finally coming along with her. “Alright. Send her over and I’ll go pick her up.” She said, accepting it.

Celio smiled and gave a light chuckle, “Skiddo come over here! I’m sending you to Sara!”

Skiddo overheard and smiled widely as she ran over to Celio, knocking them down. Sara flinched at the scene and worried for her caretaker. “Are you okay?”

Celio had swirls in their eyes as Skiddo looked concerned for them. “I’m fine. I just forgot about Skiddo’s strength.”

Skiddo chuckled nervously, forgetting her strength too.

Sara smiled and chuckled. “I can’t wait!” She cheered jumping from her bed. However, she was so excited she forgot that she was on the top bunk and banged her head on the ceiling, fell off, and rubbed her head in pain.

“Eevee!” Oddity exclaimed running over to Sara.

“Ow. Ow. Ow.” Sara repeated in pain.

“You okay darling?” Lewis asked.

“I’m fine.” 

Oddity and Sprigatito went over to the girl to see if she was okay. Sara gave a small smile and petted the two Pokemon. “Hey you two, would you like to meet a new friend?” She asked.

The Pokemon duo’s eyes widened when hearing about a new friend that would be joining them and got excited. Sara chuckled seeing the two were excited to hear about Skiddo coming to join them.

Lewis smiled, “I’m guessing Celio is going to bring over your Skiddo so she can be part of the research team.” He guessed.

Sara smiled and nodded. “I’m so excited! I’ve been missing her for a long time!” She exclaimed.

Lewis gave a light chuckle seeing his friend happy. 

“Come on.” Sara said, as she grabbed his hand and started to go down the stairs, with Sprigatito and Oddity not far behind, “we got to get to the Pokemon Center and pick her up!”

“But Sara, what about breakfast?” Lewis asked.

“Breakfast could wait!” Sara replied, too excited to eat. She and Lewis passed by the kitchen, which was noticed by the others before Sara came back, still dragging Lewis. “Oliver, Wiatt! Hurry up you two we have to get to the Pokemon Center!”

Wiatt was surprised, he swallowed his food without chewing it. He drank some orange juice to wash it down. “N-Now?!” He exclaimed.

“B-But we’re still eating.” Oliver reminded her.

“No time!” Sara yelled. “Hurry up, slowpokes!”

The boys saw Sprigatito and Oddity following behind and they stopped to tell the boys they were going to the Pokemon Center. “Eevee! Vee!” Oddity exclaimed, telling Wiatt to hurry up.

Wiatt and Oliver looked at each other and sighed, seeing the two weren’t gonna enjoy their breakfast after all.

The four researchers were walking to Celadon City when Celio texted Sara that it was the Pokémon Center they sent Skiddo. Sara hummed as she walked ahead of her friends excited to see her Skiddo again. Her friends on the other hand were tired as they didn’t have much breakfast and had no energy.

“Darling, I know you're excited to see Skiddo, but we haven’t eaten breakfast yet,” Lewis said.

“I mean we did, but not enough of it,” Oliver added.

Sara turned to her friends with a glare, “Guys I haven’t seen Skiddo in a while. I want to know if she made it safe here.” She explained.

Wiatt sighed, “Skiddo is your best friend, right Sara?” He asked.

Sara gave a small smile and nodded. “I’ve had her since I was a little.” She revealed. “She helped me through a lot.”

“I guess you two are like me and Oddity,” Wiatt revealed as he petted his Eevee.

“Vee.” Oddity sighed.

“Yeah in a way,” Sara replied.

“I understand why you're so excited, it’s almost like seeing an old friend you haven’t seen in years,” Wiatt stated.

“Right, and I can’t wait for Sprigatito and Oddity to meet her! They’ll love her!”

Sprigatito and Oddity smiled excitedly to meet their new friend.

However, once arriving at the Pokemon Center, Sara screamed, “WHAT?!” so loud that people outside the Pokemon Center heard it.

“W-What do you mean Skiddo didn’t arrive?” Sara asked, shaking like she was gonna faint. The guys stood behind her hoping they would catch her if she fainted.

Nurse Joy sighed, “I’m sorry, but it's not just you. A lot of trainers have been missing Pokemon using the transporter lately.” She explained looking at the transporter. “When trainers call me to send their Pokemon in or trainers go transport their Pokemon to someone else it glitches a bit, but where the Pokemon goes is unknown.”

Sara looked distraught over Skiddo going lost. She knew she would have left the facility for a bit to see her Skiddo in person.  

Even though Wiatt didn’t get along with Sara from time to time. He knew how close Sara and Skiddo were and would feel the same if something happened to Oddity.

“How did it happen?” Wiatt asked.

“Well, every month the Pokemon Transporter gets checked up every month to make sure it’s working properly.” Nurse Joy explained. “However, a trio of workers came by earlier than usual and told me there was an emergency at all Pokemon Centers and they should be checked. They did their job and said it was all fixed, after that Pokeballs wouldn’t get to their exact location.”

The researchers all looked at each other and nodded knowing Nurse Joy was tricked. “Did you by any chance see who the people were?” Sara asked.

“They were very weird looking, and they left a business card for me in case I call them back or recommend them to the other Pokemon Centers.” Nurse Joy replied. She pulled out a poorly made business card that looked to be drawn by a kindergartner.

The business card had drawings of Team Rocket in a maintenance worker outfit, but even though the card was poorly drawn Wiatt and his friends didn’t recognize the trio.

“Who was hired, professionals or a daycare?” Sara asked, insulting at the art style.

“Beats me. I never heard of them.” Oliver said.

Soon the sound of running interrupted the four researchers as three young boys ran to Nurse Joy with the look of worry on their faces.

The first boy had fluffy light brown hair, pale green eyes, and a bandage on his cheek. He also wore a pink shirt, black trousers, and gray shoes.

The second boy had fluffy black hair and had pale hazel eyes. He wore a dark brown vest over an orange short-sleeved dress shirt, gray jeans, and black shoes.

The last boy had fluffy dark brown hair and blue eyes. He wore a lilac shirt, light blue shorts, and purple sneakers.

From the looks of their hairstyles, the three boys seemed to be triplets. 

“Nurse Joy!” The boys exclaimed at the same time.

“Did our Pokemon come back yet?” The boy with the pink shirt asked.

“Yeah, we need to do more practice battling!” The boy with the purple shirt added.

Nurse Joy sighed, “I’m sorry boys, I haven’t gotten a word about your Pokemon yet.”

“Aww.” They sighed.

Sara frowned sympathizing with the boys, “Lost your Pokemon too, huh?” She asked.

The triplets nodded in reply.

“This is Jake, John, and James.” Nurse Joy introduced the triplet boys. “They’re regulars at the Pokemon Center, asking questions about Pokemon, and even doing practice battles outside so they come here to heal their Pokemon.”

“Hello.” The triplets said at the same time.

“Hi, boys,” Sara replied. “I’m going through the same thing with my Pokemon.”

“Yeah, we transferred our Pokemon here yesterday, and they still haven’t returned!” Jake explained.

“Look, maybe there’s a logical explanation about this,” John reassured his brother. “Maybe they got teleported to a different Pokemon Center and we just have to ask Mom and dad if they can take us there.”

“I’m afraid not.” Nurse Joy spoke up. This caused the brothers to turn to the nurse. “I’ve called every Pokemon Center in the region, even in Johto, but none have seen the missing Pokeballs anywhere.”

The triplets and Sara frowned and sighed knowing that’s one question answered. “But where have they gone?” James asked.

Meanwhile, miles away from the Pokemon Center, Team Rocket was up to their no-good tricks. Like from the business card, it was them who messed with the Celadon City’s Pokemon Transporter and all the Pokeballs we’re being teleported to them.

“Look at all the Pokemon we got!” Meowth exclaimed.

“I know we’ve done this trick repeatedly, but we were successful this time!” Team Rocket’s James added as he added the Pokeballs into the bag.

“Plus, we made sure our teleporter was away from the city,” Meowth added. “That way we got a headstart to make our getaway.” 

Jessie got done packing her set of Pokeballs and glared to see the guys hadn’t packed up yet. “Hey are you two gonna slack around, or help pack up the Pokeballs?” She asked.

“Wobbuffet!” Wobbuffet shouted.

“That means you too!” Jessie yelled.

“Wobba!” Wobbuffet sighed. Meowth and James sighed as well and went back to putting the Pokeballs back into their bags. 

Back at the Pokemon Center, The group decided to have an early lunch since they didn’t finish their breakfast. Sara just stared at her food, still sad as there was nothing to do about her missing Skiddo.

“Darling,” Lewis spoke up.

Sara didn’t even look up and just stared at her food.

“Aren’t you gonna eat?” Lewis asked again.

Sara sighed, “No. I’m not hungry.”

The boys looked at each other and felt bad for the girl.

“Sara come on, you gotta eat,” Oliver said to his friend.

Sprigatito paused from eating went over to Sara and jumped on her lap. She was surprised till the grass-type Pokemon started tapping her paws on Sara’s chest. “Huh?” Sara asked confused.

“Meow! Meow!” Sprigatito called out pointing at her toe beans.

“You want me to touch them?” Sara asked.

Sprigatito smiled, “meow!” she beamed.

“O-Okay,” Sara said, and she did what Sprigatito told her. The female smiled blissfully as Sprigatito’s toe beans were so soft to touch. As she did a nice aroma smelt the air making Sara feel more relaxed. “This smells good! Thank you Sprigatito!”

“Meow!” Sprigatito replied, as a yout welcome before joining Oddity back to eat.

Lewis leaned over to his Pokemon, “Is that your way of cheering up people, darling?” He asked.

“Meow!” Sprgiatito replied, as a yes. The group laughed, and Sara felt better and decided to eat.

Lewis smiled seeing his best friend cheer up again, and gave Sprigatito a pet on the head. “Thank you, darling.”

Sprigatito smiled, purring at the pets. 

“We are not going all over Kanto by ourselves!” John yelled. The researchers turned to see the triplets having lunch too and discussing ways to find their Pokemon themselves.

“Hey, isn’t that the triplets we met earlier?” Sara asked.

“It is,” Wiatt replied, nodding.

“Come on, someone knows something that happened.” Triplet James said. He then let out a gasp, “If it’s a band of Pokemon thieves, we can take them down and save the Pokemon!”

John looked horrified at his brother, “how do we fight bad guys without Pokemon?” He asked.

“With our Bewear hands of course!” James exclaimed.

John groaned and looked at Jake, “you have any ideas, Jake?” He asked.

“Uh…no sadly,” Jake replied.

Sara got up from her seat and went over to the brothers. “Hi, boys.” She said, causing the boys to turn to her.

“Oh! Hi Miss.” John said.

“You three still bummed out about your Pokemon, huh?” Sara asked.

“Yeah.” The triplets sighed.

Jake looked up at the girl, “Miss. Do you miss your Pokemon?” He asked.

Sara nodded, “Yeah. I’ve had her when I was around your guys’ age.” She said.

James smirked, “So you want to fight Pokemon hunters and get our Pokemon back?” He asked.

Sara chuckled nervously, “Not fight, but find a way to track our Pokeballs down.”

The triplets thought for a bit until Jake got an idea. “What if we send another Pokeball and find a way to track it.” He suggested.

John thought about it, “but how are we gonna track it down?”

“We put a tracking device on it,” Wiatt suggested as he and the rest of the research team came by to join the conversation.

“Great! Now how are we going to find a Pokeball?” James asked.

The triplets and Sara thought for a bit till Jake got an idea. “I got an idea.”

The four turned towards Oddity and Sprigatito with a creepy smile on their faces. The two Pokemon turned white as a ghost as they cried out in fear and ran into their trainer's arms shivering.

Lewis and Wiatt looked at their Pokemon and held them tight as they gave a small glare at the four. “Darling, Sprigatito went through a lot!” Lewis scolded, reminding his best friend about Sprigatito’s past. Lewis looked down and petted the Grass Cat Pokemon, “I’m not gonna put her back in her Pokeball and send her to who knows where the Pokemon have been transported.”

“And Oddity hates being in his Pokeball,” Wiatt added.

“Well, how are we going to track down our Pokemon then!” Jake exclaimed.

Oliver smiled, “maybe we don’t need a Pokeball with a Pokemon in it.” He said.

The group looked at the tallest member of the research team wondering what plan he had in store to find everyone’s missing Pokeballs.

Later, Oliver used a spare empty Pokeball and put a tracking device inside before putting the Pokeball in the transporter. “Now we just put the Pokeball here, and…” he clicked the button to send it over. Once the Pokeball was transported, Oliver went on his Rotom Phone and saw the Pokeball was sent into the middle of the woods.

“Odd, I’d assume the location would be an unknown building, not in the middle of the woods,” James said.

“It could be someone built a handmade transporter and put a device so the Pokeballs would be sent to that location then here.” Oliver thought.

“Come on! Let’s go find our Pokemon!” Jake exclaimed as he ran out of the Pokemon Center, and his brothers followed.

“W-Wait boys!” Lewis yelled chasing after them. Oliver, Wiatt, and Sara chased after the triplets and hopefully, they could catch them in time.

“Don’t worry Skiddo, we’re coming.” Sara thought.

Back with Team Rocket, the trio was done packing up all the Pokeballs. “Finally, that took us forever!” Team Rocket James exclaimed.

“Yeah. Glad that was the last of the Pokeballs.” Meowth added.

“Alright, let’s get-” Jessie was cut off when she and the rest of the trio turned around to see their transporter send out another Pokeball. Team Rocket looked down at the Pokeball that rolled out of their transporter machine.

“Great!” They both sighed. 

“Well, who is willing to unpack their Pokeballs to make room?” Meowth asked.

Without hesitation, Jessie and James pointed at the Scratch Cat Pokemon. “You!” They both exclaimed.

“Me?!” Meowth exclaimed.

“Yes, you!”

Meowth groaned in disappointment, unraveling his bag and hoping he had room in the bag to fit the last Pokeball. However, due to how many Pokeballs were in the bag, everything spilled out. Meowth screamed and quickly gathered all of the Pokeballs before any of them rolled away. “Phew…That was close.” He sighed.

“Now come on, let’s get-” Jessie was cut off as the recently sent Pokeball opened and showed a tracking device. “Hmm…What’s this?”

“Looks like a tracking device,” Meowth answered.

Soon, Team Rocket heard footsteps coming by and looked up, freaked out. “The Pokeball should’ve teleported right here,” Oliver said. He and his friends and the triplets and Team Rocket stared at each other for a few seconds.

After staring at each other for a while the two parties screamed. “The twerps!?” Team Rocket shouted.

“Team Rocket!” Wiatt and the researchers shouted, knowing it was them all along.

“So you three were the ones who stole the Pokeballs, including my Skiddo!” Sara yelled.

Wiatt growled, “Give the Pokeballs back, Team Rocket!” He demanded the trio of villains

“Eevee! Vee!” Oddity added, hoping Team Rocket would listen to him.

Team Rocket glared and decided to jump into their motto now.

“Prepare for trouble, we’re one step ahead!” Jessie started.

“And make it double, don’t lose your head!” Team Rocket James exclaimed.

“To protect the world from devastation.” Jessie continued.

“To unite all peoples within our nations.” Team Rocket James continued as well.

“To denounce the evils of truth and love.”

“To extend our reach to the stars above!”

“Jessie!” Jessie exclaimed.

“James!” Team Rocket James exclaimed, as well.

“Hey isn’t that my name?” Triplet James asked, cutting into the motto.

“Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!” Jessie yelled.

“Surrender now or prepare to fight!” Team Rocket James added.

“Meowth, that’s right!” Meowth finished.

“Wobbuffet!” Wobbuffet exclaimed.

Triplet James’s eyes sparkled seeing a villain had the same name as him. “Wow, it’s amazing that there’s someone with the same name as me, and he’s a bad guy!” He beamed.

“Aww thank you!” Team Rocket James replied, smiling at the kid.

“Jimmy, you gotta remember whose side you're on,” Meowth said.

“Right, sorry!”

“Same here bro,” John said, reminding his brother.

“Yeah, remember they’re the bad guys and stole our Pokemon!” Jake replied. To make sure he turned to Team Rocket.  “Uh…you're the ones who stole the Pokeballs did you?” 

“What do you think, twerp?!” Meowth yelled. “See all these Pokeballs we stole here from the Pokemon Center! That was us!” He exclaimed. 

“We used a special link cable we attached to the inside of the transporter machine so instead of the Pokeballs being transferred to the Pokemon Center.” Jessie started.

“They’ll be transferred over to us.” Team Rocket James finished.

Wiatt and the group glared at Team Rocket for their evil plans. However, Sara was mad that her Skiddo was in their hands, and wouldn’t give it back.

Seeing Sara angry, upset Oddity and Sprigatito. The two growled and ready to battle Team Rocket to save the Pokeballs.

“Don’t worry darling, we’ll get them back,” Lewis said, determined to get his best friend’s Pokemon back.

Team Rocket smirked and grabbed their Pokeballs too, ready to battle as well. “So the twerps want a battle, huh?” Jessie asked.

“Don’t worry, this will be easy.” Team Rocket James added.

“Alright, Gourgeist let’s go!” Jessie exclaimed.

A super-sized Gourgeist came out of Jessie’s Pokeball, “Gour, Gourgeist!” 

“Carnivine, you're up!” Team Rocket James yelled. However, the second Carnivine came out it went ahead and latched on to James’s head and biting on it. “Seriously! Not in front of the children!”

Carnivine quickly let go and joined Gourgeist to battle against Sprigatito and Oddity. The latter group of Pokemon growled and were ready to fight.

“Let’s go, Sprigatito use Leafage!” Lewis commanded.

“Oddity, let’s use Shadow Ball!” Wiatt commanded. 

Sprigatito jumped up and released Leafage from her neck shooting them at Team Rocket’s grass-type Pokemon. While Oddity released Shadow Ball from his mouth and launched it at Team Rocket’s Pokemon.

“Dodge it!” Team Rocket yelled.

Carnivine and Gourgeist dodged the attack, but it went towards Meowth who got hit and dropped his bag filled with Pokeballs.

“Hey you two when it comes to dodging, make sure it doesn’t hit me!” Meowth yelled.

“Gourgeist, use Dark Pulse!” Jessie commanded.

“Carnivine, use Bullet Seed!” Team Rocket James commanded.

Gourgeist fired a beam of dark purple rings from her mouth, while Carnivine shot small little seeds from their mouth.

“Dodge it!” Lewis and Wiatt yelled.

Oddity and Sprigatito jumped dodging the moves, with Sprigatito using dance moves to miss.

“Oddity, use Shadow Ball once more!” Wiatt commanded.

Oddity launched a Shadow Ball attack towards Team Rocket’s Pokemon, which pushed them back towards their trainers, also knocking the bags of Pokeballs off them.

“Alright, Sara, go find Skiddo. Lewis and I can battle them from here.” Wiatt said.

Sara nodded and went to the pile of Pokeballs, trying to find the Pokeball her Skiddo was housed in. She turned each of the Pokeballs she picked up to the front looking for Skiddo’s Pokeball as it was different from the others.

Oddity saw the young trainer desperately look for her Pokeball and decided to leave the battle to help her.

“Oddity, where are you going?” Wiatt asked.

The Eevee sniffed each of the Pokeballs until he saw one Pokeball that had a pink flower sticker on it. Tilting his head he grabbed with his mouth and went over to Sara.

“Eevee!” Oddity muffled.

Sara turned and her eyes widened seeing the Pokeball in Oddity’s mouth. It was  Skiddo’s Pokeball.

“Oddity! You found her!” Sara beamed. Oddity dropped the Pokeball in Sara’s hand and in return, she petted him on the head.

“Vee! Eevee!” Oddity beamed.

Sara gave a light chuckle and looked down at her Pokeball. Giving a determined look she was ready to take over the battle.

Lewis and Wiatt decided to let the female researcher battle Team Rocket take over the battle and stepped back a bit.

“Alright, let’s begin shall we,” Sara said. “Skiddo! Let’s go!” 

Sara threw her Pokeball and her Skiddo came out of her Pokeball. Once landing, she turned back and smiled at Sara. The latter smiled, feeling tears in her eyes, seeing her Skiddo was safe and sound.

“So that’s Skiddo,” Wiatt said as he grabbed his Rotom Phone to scan Skiddo into the Pokedex.

Skiddo, the Mount Pokemon. A grass-type.

It’s one of the first Pokemon to live in harmony with humans. It would give people rides on its back to transverse on mountain paths.

Team Rocket glared seeing it was no longer a two-on-two but now a two-on-three battle. “Big deal! You have three twerpy Pokemon, but we can still handle them with our Pokemon!” Meowth yelled.

Lewis and Wiatt were ready to help out Sara and Skiddo but were stopped by Oddity and Sprigatito.

“Eevee! Vee.” Oddity said.

“Meow. Meow.” Sprigatito added.

“Are you saying you want to let Sara and Skiddo battle Team Rocket themselves?” Wiatt asked.

“Vee!” Oddity replied.

Wiatt and Sara looked up, as the boy gave his friend a nod to battle Team Rocket.

Sara nodded back and turned to face her Pokemon, “Just like old times, right Skiddo?” Sara asked.

Skiddo bleats and smirks ready to fight.

“Gourgeist, use Leech Seed!” Jessie commanded.

Gourgeist launched a seed at Skiddo, but the Mount Pokémon stood still and took the Leech Seed. However, instead of draining energy, it boosted Skiddo’s attack before the Pokemon broke free from the seeds.

Jessie and Gourgeist looked shocked that their attack didn’t do anything.

“Carnivine, use Vine Whip!” Team Rocket James commanded.

“Carnivine!” Carnivine shouted launching vines as Skiddo caught them with her horns, causing another boost to Skiddo’s attack.

“What’s going on?” Jake asked.

Lewis’s eyes widened, “I know what Sara’s doing. She is using Skiddo’s Sap Sipper ability!” He exclaimed.

“Sap Sipper?” John asked.

“An ability Skiddo has, darling. Anytime Skiddo gets hit with grass moves it will boost her attack.” Lewis explained.

The triplets smiled and turned to Sara and Skiddo. “So that means Skiddo is gonna be strong!” Jake exclaimed.

Team Rocket looked frightened as Skiddo was ready to fight. However, Jessie wasn’t going down without a fight.

“Alright if grass moves won’t work!” She started, “Gourgeist use Dark Pulse!” 

“Skiddo dodge and use Vine Whip!” Sara commanded.

Skiddo ducked the Dark Pulse, and soon vines came out of her leafy mane and grabbed Gourgeist. Skiddo then threw the Pumpkin Pokémon into a nearby tree. Due to the double attack boost it hurt Gourgeist.

“Alright, Carnivine use Razor Leaf!” Team Rocket’s James commanded.

Carnivine shouted while launching Razor Leaf at Skiddo.

“Dodge it! And use Take Down!” Sara commanded.

Skiddo jumped to the left before running over to Carnivine as a yellow aura appeared. She then slammed into the Bug Catcher Pokemon, who then flew back into Gourgeist and Team Rocket, slamming them into a tree.

“Alright, let’s finish this with Bulldoze!” Sara yelled.

Skiddo then stopped her hooves on the ground as a shockwave of rocks on the ground headed toward Team Rocket. The evil team screamed, fearful of the attack headed towards them, and sent them off into the sky.

“If it wasn’t for that tracking device, we’d be winners!” Jessie yelled.

“We would’ve gotten away with it if it wasn’t for those meddling twerps!” Team Rocket James yelled.

Meowth sighed, “Wrong catchphrase James. We don’t say that…we usually say…”

“Team Rocket’s blasting off again!” Team Rocket yelled as they blasted off into the sky, and a star twinkled.

The triplets cheered for Sara and Skiddo seeing they won the battle and saved the Pokemon.

Heck, even Wiatt was impressed seeing his friend being a very skilled battler. “She’s…good,” Wiatt said.

“That’s Sara for ya, darling,” Lewis replied.

“We did it!” Sara cheered.

Skiddo ran over to her trainer, as the latter kneeled and hugged her Pokemon tight, nuzzling her. Sara laughed and teared up a bit. It was a mix of emotions for both of them; reuniting after being apart for so long, as well as winning a battle against Team Rocket.

By sunset, the researchers brought back everyone’s Pokeballs back to the Pokemon Center. They told Nurse Joy the truth about Team Rocket pretending to be mechanics to fix the Pokemon Teleporter and that the nurse will call the right mechanics to fix it up, and hopefully they’ll have something set up so Team Rocket won’t try the same nasty tricks again.

“Thank you so much for finding the missing Pokeballs.” Nurse Joy said. “I’ll send a notice to trainers who’ve lost any of their Pokeballs that they’ll be transferred over to them at the nearest Pokemon Center.”

“That’s great!” Wiatt exclaimed.

“Found them!” The triplets yelled. The four researchers turned to the triplets and saw they had found their Pokeballs.

“Glad you got your Pokemon back?” Sara asked.

The triplets nodded. Then triplet James spoke up, “Hey Miss! Could we battle your Skiddo one day?” He asked.

“Sure, hope you got some strong Pokemon, because she’s strong!” Sara beamed, petting her Skiddo.

Skiddo bleated in reply, ready to take on some challengers.

“Now, now boys. Aren’t you supposed to be heading home? It’s getting late.” Nurse Joy reminded them.

“Oh right! It’s almost dinner time!” Jake asked.

“Thanks again, Miss! Good luck!” John yelled as he and his brother ran home.

“Bye, guys! Hope to see you again!” Wiatt yelled.

“Eevee! Vee!” Oddity yelled, saying goodbye as well.

Once seeing the triplets off, Sara turned to the boys, “Well, shall we get going?” She asked.

The boys nodded ready to get back to the facility, have a nice dinner, and get some sleep. 

Before they left, Skiddo used her vines to lift Oddity and Sprigatito on her back. The two Pokémon smiled and thanked Skiddo. The latter belated in reply. Skiddo looked at her trainer and used her vines to wrap Sara’s hand almost like holding it.

Sara looked down as Skiddo smiled and belated. Sara smiled back and started to run back to the facility, “come on! Let’s go!” She beamed. She and Skiddo ran giving her a head start while the others followed long behind them.