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happylady215 · 4 years ago

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Have I fallen in love with him...?

Mitsuhide x Reader

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(English is not my first language. So, I'm sorry if there's any bad grammars 😅😅)

✧༺♥༻✧✧༺♥༻✧✧༺♥༻✧

(Reader POV)

Spring has come. Many beautiful flowers were blooming. Spring is the most beautiful season. Besides enjoying the beauty of flowers, spring is the season where you meet the people you miss or your true love.

…. At least, that’s what I heard from people around here. I was in the middle of preparing to open my teahouse. I have a teahouse located in Azuchi. My shop is not always crowded, but, many people like the food here. This teahouse is the last legacy of my parents. My parents… they died 3 years ago, and it makes me a little lonely everytime I remember them.

While waiting for customers to come, I drink a cup of hot tea. “I’m bored…” The spring wind blew and hit my face. It feels really nice. I closed my eyes, remembering something. “Speaking of spring, it always make me to remember that person…” Yes, spring is the first time where I met that person, my only childhood friend that I missed a lot. “I really want to see him again…”

(Around 10 years ago)

I was playing in a meadow full of flowers. At that time, I found a very large cherry blossoms tree. “It’s so big..!” I thought, while staring at it in amazement. My feet move automatically into that direction. “I wonder how old the tree is?” “I don’t know, maybe almost a hundred years old?” I hear someone answered my question. I was startled and immediately turned my body.

There was a boy who seemed 2-3 years older than me. His eyes were golden, he has silver hair and long lashes. Where did he come from? I’ve never seen him at all. Ah, he actually handsome too, but, why does his smile looks sly like… a fox?

“So you see me as a fox, huh?” he grin.

Wha-?! How did he know what I was thinking about?!

“Are you surprised because I know what were you thinking?”

AGAIN?????

“H-hey, how did you know what I was thinking?” I asked him.

“Because I’m ‘Satori’, a mhytical creature who can reads people minds. But don’t worry, I won’t eat you.”

Is he being serious? Or just joking? I can’t tell. He just keep smiling.

“Don’t lie to me, there’s no way you’re a monster or anything.”

“Oho? I thought you will get scared with this kind of thing, little mouse.”

“As if! I won’t get scared by that! And, ‘little mouse'?? Did you see me as a little mouse?”

“Didn’t you see me as a ‘fox’ too, earlier?”

Damn, he’s right. I tried to search another topic to change the subject.

“Hey, where are you from? I’ve never seen you. And, are you a noble? Your clothes looks expensive.”

That boy paused for a moment.

“I’m just a merchant son. And yes, I’m not from here, I came here to visit my distant relatives. But sorry, I can’t tell you where I come from.”

“Oh, I see”

“Then, what’s you’re name?”

“Hmmm? Why do you want to know my name, little mouse?”

“You don’t want to be called ‘fox’ forever by me,right? And I don’t want to be called ‘little mouse’ by you either.”

“Shouldn’t you introduce yourself first before asking other people names?”

Ughhh..! how long will he tease me like this?! How annoying!

“My name is (y/n)… (full name). "

“My name is Mitsu, nice too meet you little mouse.”

“Hey, didn’t I tell you that I don’t want to be called ‘little mouse’? And introduce yourself properly, will you? At least, tell me your full name.”

“Hoh~? Since when I will call you by your name? And since when I will introduce myself properly?”

“OH, WHY YOU-“

Since that day, Mitsu and I always meet each other and play together. We always meet under that cherry blossoms tree. We became close friend very quickly. He always tease me until make me angry, but he actually has gentle side too. He always cheer me up every time I feel sad, he always protect me whenever someone bully me. But, one day he must return. That day, he came to me to say goodbye. I’m sad. Of course. He’s my bestfriend, how could I not sad?

“Mitsu… will you come here again…?”

“I don’t know.”

“Can we meet each other again…?” my body is a little bit trembling, trying to hold back my tears.

Mitsu noticed that, and then, he hugged me. And slowly, he gently stroked my head.

“Little mouse, I promise that someday we will meet each other again. No matter how long it is, we will meet. I will find you.”

“You’re not lying, right?” I hug Mitsu tightly.

“This time, I’m not lying.”

I can’t hold back my tears anymore. I’m crying while hugging Mitsu. Mitsu kept silent and still stroking my head. He’s gentle touch make me comfortable, it makes me feel calmer.

“Good bye, (y/n)…”

And that’s the first and last time he called my name.

(Back to present)

“Iss..? Miss..? Excuse me? Hello?”

“Huh? Ah!”

“Oh my god, are you tired? You shouldn’t have to open your teahouse if you’re exhausted, dear.” Apperantly there’s a customer who wake me from my nap.

“Oh, no. I’m perfectly fine. Do you order as usual?”

“Yup, as usual, please. I’ll sit on the bench outside, okay?”

“Okay, please wait.”

I can’t believe I fell asleep, and my customer is the one who wake me up. Gosh, this is embarrassing. Why did I dream about that again? Even though I try to forget it. ‘We will meet each other again’ he said. Hah, how funny. It’s been years and we haven’t meet again.

…….

Oh, come on! Why am I keep missing him? This longing makes me uneasy.. Can we really meet again? I’ve been waiting too long. Was it just a lie that time?

“Thank you for your visit, please come back anytime.” I bowed my head to the customer who just walked out of my teahouse.

“Excuse me.” Ah, I guess there’s another customer.

“Yes? May I help you-“ I gasped. My eyes widened staring at the person in front of me in disbelief. Otherwise, that person also looked at me with a look of disbelief.

“M-Mitsu…?”

“Little mouse…? Why... Are you here...?”

Yes, there’s no mistaking it. This person is Mitsu, my childhood friend that I missed a lot since that day. I didn’t answer his question. Instead, I immediately run to him and hug him tightly and can’t hold back my tears once again. Finally… finally, we meet again..! I’m so happy.

“Little mouse, we should go inside first.”

I think my eyes a little bit swollen, it hurts a little. Fortunately, today only a few customers came here. I’m glad they didn’t have to my ugly appearance, now. “Little mouse, how did you ended up here? Aren’t you not from Azuchi? I tought you live in another village a little bit far from Azuchi?” Mitsu ask me while comforting me. His voice sound very gentle. “This teahouse is mine, Mitsu. Our family decide to move to Azuchi, not long after you return to your home. I think it’s 3 months after that.” “Oh, I see… so that’s why I can’t find you..” he mumble. “Did you said something, Mitsu?” “Ah, no. it’s nothing.”

And after that, he explained everything. That time he can't tell his real name because he actually on a secret mission with his father. His real name is Mitsuhide, Akechi Mitsuhide. Oda Nobunaga’s left-hand man that called as ‘Silver Kitsune’, many bad rumours surrounded him. I can’t believe that the ‘Silver Kitsune’ is my childhood friend!?

“How about your family? Are they healthy as usual?”

“Ah, about them… they died 3 years ago because of illness.”

“…. I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay. By the way, why did you keep calling me ‘little mouse’? Did you forget that I don’t like being called that??”

“Hooh… You hate it? I thought it’s cute, though.” Finally he smile again.

“Geez, it’s not cute!”

“I’ll call you whatever I want and you can’t deny it.”

He’s teasing me again.

Since then, Mitsu always came to my teahouse when he wasn’t too busy. We chat and spend time just like when we were kids. Oh, how miss am I to feel this atmosphere.

“Mitsu- ah, no. I mean, Mitsuhide.” I still not used to call him by his real name.

“You can call me ‘Mistu’ like you always do. I don’t mind at all.”

“Oh, okay. Mitsu?”

“Yes?”

“Are you aware that you have been called ‘Silver Kitsune’? Did you know that there’s many bad rumours surrounded you?”

“Of course I’m aware, little mouse. Because I’m the one who spread those rumours.” He answerd it calmly. He seems very calm I must say.

“What..?! Why did you do that?”

“It’s just part of my job as Lord Nobunaga’s left-hand man, you don’t need to know the details.”

“… still… Don’t you ever feel angry or qualmish by those rumours?”

“What do you mean?”

“People said you have intimidating and cold gaze that makes people scared of you, no ones know what you think, people called you ‘Kitsune’ or ‘Snake’ and anything. Don’t you feel angry?”

Actually I’m the one who angry to hear such rumours.

“Oho? I didn’t know that my rumours became that much. How fascinating.” He chuckle.

“Hahh… nevermind, forget it.”

“But it seems, that you angry with those rumours, little mouse?” It seems he read my mind.

“Of course, I am.”

“Oh? Please do tell the reasons.” He seems interested to hear my reasons.

“Because they’re wrong. You maybe often to tease and trick me, but you never do anything harmful to me. You always protect me. You have gentle side too, you know? You actually care about other people, but you never let anyone see that side of you. I even like it when you’re beside me, Mitsu. I love your gentle touch when you stroke my head. It makes me feel safe and comfortable. But yeah, I’m always comfortable when we’re together.” Unconsciously, I smiled when telling the reasons.

Huh? Why is he even silent? And also lowered his head instead? “Mitsu, what’s wrong?” When I was about to touch him, he slightly back away from me while covering his face. “Hey, what’s wrong with you? Are you sick?” I feel a little bit panic because he didn’t answer me at all.

“Ha…. Haha…Hahahah….” He chuckled.

“Mitsu?”

“Oh, dear. You've never changed a bit since we’re a kid, huh? Always being a straight forward and speak what’s in your mind.”

He finally showed his face. And I’m a little bit surprised what I saw.

His cheeks were painted with blush to the tips of his ears. This is the first time I’ve seen him like this. The usual Mitsu I’ve known always looks calm and cool.

Ba-thump Ba-thump…!

Oh,god why my heart is pounding right now? I feel my cheeks become hot too.

“Little mouse.”

“Y-Yes!?” dammit, why am I become nervous suddenly??

“Why are you blushing too? Yo’re like an innocent teenager, you know?”

“Hah? Shut up, and stop smiling you-“

“But that’s why I like you since we were kids.” He take one of my hand, and lifted my chin with his other hand. “(y/n)?” this is the second time he call my name.

“Yes?” I felt my cheeks became more hot, because he brought his face closer to me.

“I like you since childhood. You are my first love, who I always miss since then. (y/n), I love you from the bottom of my heart. Will you be my life companion forever?”

“Are you teasing me right now?”

Without any warnings, he suddenly pull me closer and kiss me. He kissed me slowly and gently. It feels nice, I don’t hate it at all. Instead, I feel very happy. It feels like my heart could explode anytime.

After that he release me.

"Do you think I was teasing or lying to you, right now?” he smirk.

My heart is pounding harder right now. What is this feeling? What is this euphoria? I can’t think anything but him. Have i… Have I fallen in love with him….?”

#ikesen #ikemen sengoku #akechi mitsuhide #ikesen mitsuhide #fanfic #ikesen fan fiction

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syilcawrites · 4 years ago

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A prompt (dunno if I should've messaged or sent a note, but eh, I'm used to asks):

Following the defeat™ of Ganon à la Link and Zelda, our favourite pair have settled in Kakariko Village for a bit as a temporary reprieve.

Then disaster strikes.

It starts with spaced-out sniffles. Then as hushed whispers come on the light snorts of a nostril attempting to impede the flow of an oncoming river of muscus. Rising to a crescendo, a throat reddens and sputters in an attempt to relieve an unending roughness that hinders speech and catches on food.

Link has the common cold.

Never has the hero felt so demeaned, so disrespected by the gods. His bones and blood and mind were forfeit the moment he drew the Sword as a child, of that he came to know and accept. But to now be impeded by snot and sebum - no affront could be greater.

So, stubborn as he is, he attempts to go on about his day, training, cooking, collecting - but, of course, fails spectacularly, his condition worsening. Looking from afar, Zelda finds that she's had enough and tends to the matter directly.

Ensue whatever great stuff you wanna write about.

TL;DR: Link gets mildly ill, worsens it by overexerting himself and Zelda has to force him to rest; magic ensues.

Sorry if that was way too detailed or exact for a prompt... I just have so many ideas of my own that I want to write but I just don't have the time right now. Sho, I'm keeping to plans aplently. ☺️

a/n: i loved this prompt and how detailed it was thank u for sending me this it was so fun to write sfauihhaifs sobs... I hope to see your writing someday!!! And hope you enjoy this lil fic (’:

ao3

to chase away a cold

It's been a little over two months since Calamity Ganon had been defeated. Paya had been kind enough to let them stay in her room for the time being, while Zelda recuperated from… well, everything. And it had been quiet around Hyrule since—the significantly decreasing amount of monster attacks had been a blessing for their short trips; they had run into little to no problems, fortunately, ever since they reunited.

But then, it started with a sound that Zelda could only affiliate with to a mouse squeak.

Her wide eyes flit to the ground, where Link was sitting atop of a futon that Paya had laid out for him. He didn't look at her as he continued shining away at his weapons, his back still facing her, pressed against the mattress of the bed Zelda was on.

She shrugged it off, resuming to mess around with the Sheikah Slate in her hands. Perhaps she was just hearing things… it wouldn't be surprising, since she hadn't officially settled into being back in her own body yet—

Zelda's ears perked up as the peculiar squeak happened again. But this time, the bed shook a little. She quickly lowered the Sheikah Slate from her view once more, her eyes narrowing.

"Link, was that you?" she asked, poking his back with her big toe.

He shook his head and shrugged.

Suspicious.

——————————————————————

The next morning, Zelda awoke at noon.

Which was, of course, normal for her. She was never an early-riser to begin with, even before the Calamity.

But Link? He was always up the moment the sun rose. She was a light sleeper, and always heard him get up, despite his best efforts to be quiet. And he never missed a day to leave a couple of fresh wildflowers in the vase next to the bed for her before she would get up to start the day.

But today, the wildflowers at the bedside had been the ones from yesterday—beginning to grow flaky and brown.

And Link was still sprawled on the futon next to the bed, obliviously sleeping away.

"Link," Zelda whispered, leaning over the bed. But he didn't budge. Weird. "Link!" Zelda leaned over a bit further to shake his shoulder. "Get up!"

"Hah?" He flinched, startling himself awake. He sniffled as he looked over at her with glazed, sleepy eyes.

"It's past noon. I thought you were going to help Cado—"

"Noon?" he gasped, scrambling up from the futon. "I told him I'd come by at eight," Link mumbled, fumbling for his tunic and trousers. "We might have to go to the Great Fairy Fountain tomorrow instead, I promised I'd help him find his cuccos today." His voice sounded a bit heavier than she remembered.

She waved her hand at him, shrugging as she stifled a yawn. "It's okay, go help him. I'm sure he's waiting." Zelda quirked an eyebrow up as he sniffled again—he was doing that a lot more recently. "If you need a hand, I can help."

"No, you're still recov—" Suddenly, Link's face contorted up in a way that she had never seen before—he whipped around and sneezed into the crook of his elbow.

"Did you catch something?" Zelda asked, shifting off of the bed to place a hand on his forehead. But with each step she took closer to him, he took one away from her as he shook his head fervently.

"I'm fine," he insisted, pulling his cloak over his shoulders, still facing away from her.

Suspicious.

——————————————————————

Zelda sat outside on the steps of Impa's home, eating pickled plum with her as the both of them watched Link run around Kakariko, trying to find Cado's precious, missing cucco's.

"It is beyond my understanding as to why Link even tries," Impa scoffed, handing Zelda the plumpest pickled plum of the batch. She still didn't have much of an appetite, but Impa had been as observant as she always was, and usually only offered Zelda bite-sized foods that she knew she wouldn't have trouble eating. "Cado loses his cuccos as least twice a month."

"Maybe we should build him a bigger fence," Zelda murmured, giggling as she watched Link wrestle with a cucco he was trying to drag over to Cado's little coop. "They wouldn't be able to fly as easily."

"Those little buggers will always find a way," Impa scoffed, shaking her head. "And—"

A loud sneeze caused the both of them to flinch—Link's well-fought battle against the cucco ultimately failed, and Zelda watched the aftermath of it with pity. He stared in defeat as it scampered away, back into the bushes.

"Link's been a little weird, hasn't he? He hadn't even stirred by the time I was awake," Zelda inquired, plopping another pickled plum into her mouth, chewing slowly. His jog was a little slower than usual, and he had to pause every five minutes to catch his breath—that never happened before.

"He's been staying up a little later than usual, hasn't he?"

Zelda nodded—he wanted to take her to several locations that were a bit further than their usual trips, so they had been mapping out the most efficient way to go about their mini excursion. While Link was an early bird, Zelda was more of a night owl… it did make sense that he would be a little off recently, with a shift in his sleeping schedule.

After he spoke to Cado, probably to apologize for not getting them all today, Link stumbled—he stumbled—a bit on his feet as he made his way to the cookpot, since dinner was just around the corner.

Suspicious.

——————————————————————

By the time Link went into the room to retire for the day, Zelda had already situated herself on the futon. She was lying on her stomach, humming, as she plotted out the last of their destinations for the upcoming trip. She craned her head to the door when she heard it creak open; he looked even worse than earlier.

"How was your bath?" Zelda asked, sitting up.

"Good…" he said, sniffling, a little confused. He pointed at her, quirking an eyebrow up.

"You're sleeping in the bed tonight—and!" Zelda pointed at the cup of tea sitting on the desk next to the bed. "You should drink this up before you go to sleep. The trip can wait until you get better."

"What do you mean? I'm fine," he muttered, rubbing his nose.

"Link, having a cold is a perfectly normal thing to catch—and you just made it worse by trying to hide it. Which you were terrible at doing, by the way." Zelda grabbed the cup and held it out to him, waiting. "Plus, I added some extra ingredients that I think could possibly increase the potency of the medicine—"

"I'm not sick," he said, shaking his head with noticeable effort. "I don't need it, I'm fine. I—I feel better than I've ever had before, actually." He sneezed—and the cough that accompanied it sounded just as painful.

"But I made this specifically for you," Zelda muttered, lowering the cup a bit. Before she could continue to convince him to drink it, he had already grabbed it out of her hand and taken a large gulp out of it.

"You didn't put something weird in this, right?" Link asked, sniffing it. At least he tried to sniff it, but his nose was closed up. She laughed at his scrunched up face as he continued to try to smell it.

"It's a secret," she said, patting the top of the bed. "It's been a long day, you should rest."

He took one more long gulp before handing the cup to her with a satisfied sigh, his smile a little woozy. Zelda quickly grabbed it from him and stared into it—he had drank the whole thing in two gulps. He was supposed to drink it slowly.

He flopped over on top of the bed, burying his head into the pillow.

"This bed is really comfortable," he said, his voice muffled as he rubbed his face into it.

"Hey, you're going to get snot all over my pillow if you do that!" Zelda scoffed, tugging at his sleeve as she twisted around.

"It smells like you," he murmured, looking at her with half-lidded eyes as he strained to keep them open.

"Oh? And how do you know what it smells like if your nose is clogged?" She brought her arms over the bed and folded them together to rest her cheek against them. She had never witnessed him getting sick, even before the Calamity. And to see him acting a little aloof brought warmth into her chest—even though he hadn't recovered every memory, he still treated her with familiarity, which she appreciated. She was afraid of being thrown into a world so familiar, yet different.

But he stayed, even though he didn't have to.

"Hmmm... I can just feel it," Link muttered as he closed his eyes, pressing deeper into her pillow.

"You can feel what my pillow smells like?" Zelda snorted, trying to hold in her laughter. Instead of responding to her, he began snoring.

Zelda would have to remember that including a few sprinkles of nightshade acted as an excellent way for someone to fall asleep quickly.

#zelink #botw #breath of the wild #yes I will be making graphics for the prompts #because they're fun asfhjvf #syilca answers #my fanfics #zealouslinkage

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zirkkun-uthcs · 4 years ago

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Matchup requests?!? One husband for me please lol.

Anyway, um. I love to learn... just about everything. Science, religion, sociology history, etc. I also love to compete and can get pretty intense about games (I'll compete at other things too though).

I have ptsd though and other mental illness. People are difficult ._.; I just want to feel safe. And feel that I can mess up sometimes without terrible consequences. And that I'm not inadequate even though my mental health makes it hard.

I'm known for being very straight-laced and rule abiding (though figuring out now just how much this ties into ptsd HMMM 🤔). Especially when I'm stressed. Probably could use someone slightly more chill than me lol. But still someone who wants to do good things. (You could say I strive to be neutral good but may end up more lawful neutral sometimes).

I love hiking and nature photography! And I hope someday to finish my engineering degree when my brain starts hating me lol

(Thank you!! ✨)

One husband coming right up -- and I think for you Underfell!Sans would be a very fitting choice!

+ despite the fact he’s definitely very lazy, he is actually really intelligent and really knowledgable on a lot of different subjects. while maybe not the most invested in dedicating time to studies, he’d definitely love to do some casual activites to learn new things, like go to museums, watch documentaries, or just visit new places in general!

+ Fell has a lot of trauma on his plate that he struggles with, too. frankly, he finds that coming out and expressing that to be one of the most genuine forms of trust someone can express. he’ll definitely work with you through it, and maybe try to ease it off with some empathetic jokes, and he’s going to constantly tell you that you’re definitely not inadequate. messing up’s normal, y’know? ‘s not like i haven’t screwed up a lot, too. doesn’t make ya a bad person. he’s definitely got your back, no matter what happens.

+ if you want someone chill to help you avoid rules, then Fell is definitely your man. he’s honestly very tired of rules, so he’s definitely going to be your number one person to tell you that sometimes taking a step back and doing whatever you want for once is very stress-relieving -- even if it does feel stressful at first. and don’t worry, Fell’s the last guy to try and convince someone to do something terrible.

+ oh, he’s still very lazy though, so hiking? well, he might need a bit to adjust to that. but, he does really like seeing the photographs you bring back, and he loves seeing what more of the Surface looks like; so he’s willing to make the sacrifice.

#undertale #undertale headcanon #underfell #underfell headcanon #underfell!sans #matchup #uthcs headcanon #zircon answers #anonymous

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your-rose-highness · 4 years ago

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Tell me what is love (ch-8)

Chapter 8

Taeyeon was at her friend’s party when a call from baekhyun surprised her. He never calls unless in emergencies, and mostly they were about Sarang. Excusing herself she made he way out of the crowd before answering him.

“Where’s Sarang?”

“Wow, no hello, no where are you? Sarang is with Heechul Oppa.”

“That’s very responsible of you Tae. Heechul Hyung of all people?

Taeyeon hung up without responding. Baekhyun was being so difficult these days that she was losing her mind. She picked up a drink from the bar and drank it furiously before someone sat beside her.

“Trouble?”, smirked Changmin.

Changmin had always had a soft spot for Taeyeon. When she had just joined the company, he had spotted her as someone with a lot of passion and watching her grow both as an artist and as a person had been a delight for him. When she was dating Baekhyun, he was a little disappointed. He had expected her to focus on her career when she had just begun climbing fame. With the news of her dating and later marriage and children, her popularity had suffered and she had to begin from zero.

“Ah. Oppa. Nothing just, married couple issues, I guess.”, she smiled, taking another sip from her glass.

“Honestly, Tae, don't get me wrong. Why did you rush into this?”

“I told you, I was pregnant.”

“Do you realize how huge of a problem this is? How could you be so careless? You were just at the peak of success.”

“I was scared, Oppa. I was scared and Baekhyun proposed.”

“Did he?”

“What do you mean?”

“He didn't propose to you. Nor did you actually accept.”

“What is the use of thinking about these things? We’re a couple now.”, she sighed. “ Moreover, we have a child now. You know how these things will be twisted now if we decide to separate.”

“I didn't even say that you should. But if that’s what you're even thinking about. Well, there’s a problem, love.”

“But…”

“Look, ill just say this. Before the two of you, no one would have dreamed of marrying and having a baby at this age. Two members of popular idol groups and from the same company. How scandalous is that? But few fans have supported and have stayed loyal. Maybe after divorce, it’ll be another thunderstorm, but if you only you can bear through it. Maybe, just maybe, it’ll be how it was. At least, on the bright side, you won't be as miserable.”

Baekhyun called up Heechul to make sure Sarang was still with him. On confirming, he quickly drove over and brought his daughter home and bathed her.

“What would my princess like for dinner today?”

“Cake!”, Sarang chimed.

“Ey, a cake isn't a meal. What about jjajangmyeon?”

“Yes yes yes”, the little one danced. Baekhyun laughed and quickly began boiling the noodles.

“Sarang do you remember Aunt Hye hee?”

The little girl shook her head silently, while busily trying to climb a chair so that she could see what her father was cooking.

“Well, I met her today and I feel really happy. Kind of how you make me feel, get it? All fuzzy and rainbows.”

“Daddy, I want an elephant.”, Sarang cried.

“What! Of all the things in the world? How about I get you a plushie?”

“Elephant!!”

“Elephant plushie allowed only.”

Baekhyun was always too busy to spend time with his daughter, but when he could he loved playing with her. The last time he was home, Sarang made him playhouse and him to come into her play den for tea and chips. He was tired but playing Sarang was the best thing on the planet for him. Today he was Sarang’s patient as Dr.Sarang checked his temperature.

Taeyeon came home then and Sarang ran over to her mother.

“Hey, you're home.”, baekhyun mumbled, tidying up after Sarang.

“Yeah. did she eat?”

“Yeah. made her some jjajangmyeon. Did you have dinner or should I make you something?”

“I did. Are you free tomorrow?”

“ Yeah. Why?”

“I have a schedule at 4 am tomorrow. Will be back by 3 pm. If you're home, then I don't need to drop her at my mother’s.”

“Cool. no issues.”

That’s it. Silence. This was how the couple spoke to each other. Mostly about Sarang.

The couple went to bed at the same time after months and it was always awkward.

“How’s work?”, asked Taeyeon

“Good.”, he sighed, “the agency wants us to begin individual projects now. So, I’m thinking about finally trying to get that solo, you know.”

“Baekhyun do you think we are okay?”, she blurted.

Baekhyun looked at her blankly, knowing very well what this was about.

“I really think we should talk about this. Not just for us, but for Sarang. We can't let our issues get to her.”, she continued when baekhyun didn't answer.

“Hmmm.”

“Hmmm? C,mon baekhyun!” she exclaimed, agitated

“I don't know what to say.”

“Do you still love me?”, she asked, turning towards him.

Her blunt question startled him and he was caught off guard.

“Look, we… I don't know…”, her voice trailed as she tried to find words.

“Do you think we should separate?”, he asked softly, still unable to meet her eyes.

“I mean if that would make us less miserable, yes.”

“It’ll get very complicated.”

“It will. But I think we can support each other on this one thing, don't you think? We got married against everyone’s wishes too. It was difficult but we overcame it all.”

“The company, our members, the team..?”

“Seriously, baekhyun? Will this matter when its too late? We’re miserable right now. Coming home shouldn’t have to be this stressful.”, Taeyeon stated.

“Do you currently like someone else?”

“What?”, Taeyeon turned to him furious. “Is that why you think I’m asking for a divorce? Wow, I can't believe I got married to you. No wonder Hye hee left you so easily. You're still a child, baekhyun.”, she spewed, hurt. Picking up her coat and purse, she rushed out of the bedroom without glancing back.

Baekhyun quietly peeped into his daughter’s room finding her peacefully asleep. He sat by her bed once again, resting his head beside hers.

“Sarang. My little princess. I wanted to be everything I couldn't for you. But look here, what do we have? A loser. I've done everything for this life I have and have lost everything in return. Now, possibly, your parents will gamble a happy normal family for you. Are we too selfish? I can say I’ve pushed it this far. I’m at fault. She’s right, I’ve dealt with this almost childishly. But was it all my mistake? Or was it fate? I’ve lost everything. Everything.” baekhyun sobbed uncontrollably.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey good morning, hye hee”, Jaebeom welcomed her with a smile when she visited them the next morning.

Hye hee felt extremely apologetic towards him for Baekhyun’s behavior yesterday, but Jaebeom had been more than okay.

“It’s fine! He might have been surprised to see me. Also, celebs are afraid to be seen right. Green smoothie?”

“What with leaves?”

“Where else will it get its pretty green hue from? Hahaha. Don't worry, it won't taste bad, I’ll add berries in it. Jaein is still in bed, by the way, she made me watch reruns of harry potter last night with her. We watched the first three, after which I had to force her to go to bed. Can you imagine? A patient!”

The kitchen seemed different with Jaebeom moving around. Hye hee had been so used to just jane in this house, and the world knew she never cooks. She set the bunch of tulips she got for jane in a glass. Tulips were jane’s absolute favorite. She never had a specific color preference, so hye hee got her a mix and match of the colors at the florist.

“They certainly do brighten up the space.”,Jaebeom’s voice startled her.

“Oh sorry. Here’s your smoothie.”

“Wow, really vibrant.”, hye hee chuckled.

They sat at the dinner table while sipping on the smoothies. He was right, it didn't have that bad healthy taste that green smoothies usually did.

“So, you're also a journalist?”, asked Jaebeom.

“Yes, journalist aspiring to be a writer someday.”

“Oh, that’s cool. I’m a video producer.”

“Wow, anything I could have seen that you produced?”

Turns out, Jaebeom had worked with many filmmakers and also assisted music video producers.

“No, I’ve never worked with the artists directly. You see my work is mainly behind the scenes. Once my team receives the tape, we edit and add effects. It takes months at times, depending on the company’s reference.”

“That’s super cool. I've always wanted to learn how to edit.”

“Maybe I could teach you sometime. Of course, the professional level will take longer.”

“Oh, no. the basics are just fine for me.”

“What about you? Where are you working right now?”

“I got sacked out of my old one. The company went bankrupt. I’m trying to find another one right now, but no luck so far.”

“Would you consider working for scriptwriters by any chance?”

“Yes! Anything at this point.”

“Alright, I’ll get back to you after I speak to them. Last I heard they were looking for an assistant scriptwriter. You have a good typing speed too. A bonus.”

He hadn't mentioned anything about yesterday’s occurrences and it made her fidgety.

“Are we going to ignore what happened?”

“Hmm?”, he innocently asked, genuinely surprised.

“About baekhyun?”

“Oh! Look, I need to admit, I didn't fully trust you when you said you were friends with an EXO member, but seeing Baekhhyun did startle me. I did a google search about him after coming home. He has a daughter, eh? He’s quite young for being a dad.”

“Yeah. they had her immediately after marriage.”

“Yeah… you don't quite see that in the entertainment business. You were friends, right?”

“Best friends since middle school.” she stated.

“Whoa, now that’s something.” he smirked.

“What?”

“I’m sorry if I seem intrusive, but did you guys date?”, he asked, a smile on his lips.

Hye hee was taken aback by his question. How did he know?

“Okay, I’ll take that as a yes. Yeah, it did seem as such.”

“He was just worried about me, with the things happening”

“Probably.” Jaebeom softly said, the smile still playing on his lips.

She loaded her guns to shoot back answers when Jane entered the room. She looked very weak, now that could be because of the medicines or that she didn't sleep enough last night.

“Hello, my dear muggles.”, she croaked as she took a seat beside hye hee hugging her.

“I heard about your Hogwarts adventures.”, hye hee chuckled.

“Good. now that you're here, you’ll stay the night and watch the rest with me. You like the 4th movie anyway.”

“Yeah, that's great, another night with no sleep.”,Jaebeom cheekily added.

Baekhyun hadn't called her all day and it bothered hye hee a little. Suho might have said something to him about it. Had he known that baekhyun spent the night at hye hee’s? Though she wasn't home, a spectator would add things differently.

Jaebeom stepped out to get some groceries when she decided to spill everything to her best friend.

“So, you suspect this could be a fan’s doing?”, jane guessed.

“Why else would people patrol outside my house? They are not even sure how I look seeing they attacked you.”

“This is dangerous. You should talk to baekhyun about this. I’m shocked that he didn't see this coming. But, hey, on the bright side, he still has fans.”, she joked.

“What should I do?”

“Nothing. As Suho said, try to keep a bit of a distance. You are too caught up in your head with him. Live your life a little, please? Baekhyun isn't everything. He has his life spread out before him and it looks glorious. What about you? You’re still focused on him.”

When hye hee didn't answer, Jane continued, “I’m sorry if I was too blunt, but this is the truth and you have to face it sometime.”, she clarified, softly caressing her arm.

“I know, you mean well. I guess you’re right.” hye hee exhaled.

“Not taking the SM job then?”

“Actually your brother said he’d try to talk me up with his scriptwriters. Maybe it’ll work, fingers crossed.”

“Jaebeom? My brother? Actually, that reminds me, it’s kind of odd to see my brother so friendly with you. He’s usually very quiet, a stark opposite of me.”

“He’s been very kind, even though he half wanted to kill me after he found that you were in the hospital because of me.”, hye hee giggled.

“Now that sounds more like him.”, jane laughed.

Hye hee decided to spend the day at Jane’s after having lunch that Jaebeom bought for them. Jane was happy to have people in the house after so long that her brother decided to stay as well. It was quite a fulfilling day. The siblings shared each other’s embarrassing stories, Jaebeom played his guitar, turns out he has a very attractive voice as well.

After dinner, they all curled up to watch the rest of the harry potter movies. Halfway through the fifth part, Jaebeom realized jane was asleep with her head on hye hee’s lap. He carried her to her room and joined hye hee to finish the rest of the movie.

“Whoa. that is intense every time I watch it.”, sighed hye hee.

“Another Potterhead?”

“I cried when I didn't get my Hogwarts acceptance letter.”

After a while, the two of them decided to get some hot chocolate before bed.

“You're lucky! I bought marshmallows today.”,Jaebeom chirped looking through the grocery bag. Meanwhile hye hee made the hot comforting drink, taking it out to the balcony, where they sipped the hot drink with the gentle cool breeze touching their skin.

“So, do you have a boyfriend?”, Jaebeom asked, still looking ahead.

“No. not right now.”

“What a pity. Any man would be lucky to have you. I’m sure you've been asked out.”, he met her eyes. Hye hee was mesmerized and something about him seemed to draw her out of her shell.

“I wasn't ready.”, she simply put.

“Ah. no one quite reached your heart, then.”, he said letting out a throaty chuckle. “I get that, it’s quite the same for me. I see no point in dating for the sake of it. Unless its someone that stirs up your heart in ways unknown to yourself.” he glanced at her again, with the sweetest smile ever.

“Alright. I’m off to sleep. If you need anything, I’m here in the living room.”, he wearily said.

She watched him grab his bedding and spread it on the floor, as the couch was too small for him. Something about Jaebeom was very enticing to her, almost addictive. Shaking away her bothersome thoughts, she decided to call it a night. Maybe tomorrow would be a good day for everyone.

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mosylufanfic · 4 years ago

Text

What Happened at the Party

Bwhahahahaaha. This is for the Breakup theme.

What Happened at the Party

When she saw the familiar little green car, Caitlin felt her stomach lurch. Her friend Iris, who'd driven up at the same time as her, gave her a worried glance. "You gonna be okay?"

"Fine!" Caitlin said breezily. "Fine."

"Uh . . . huh," her friend mumbled. "Look, if you just want to stay for a little while, Barry would totally understand."

"It's been a year since Cisco and I broke up," Caitlin said. "We dated for a year. You know there's that formula where you grieve the end of a relationship for half the length of time the relationship lasted?"

"I mean, that's like a guideline, really, " Iris said.

"Okay, a guideline. By that guideline, I'm well beyond the grieving period and I'll be just fine."

"If you say so."

The door opened and Barry lit up, swooping in to kiss Iris. Caitlin, well used to their grand romantic gestures, waited patiently until they came up for air. "Hi, Barry," she said.

"Hi," he said, eyes zeroing in on the dish she carried. "Oooohhhh. Pie?"

"Mmhm. Chocolate peanut butter."

"Nice," Barry said. "Okay! So! Fun fact. Cisco's here."

"It's okay," Caitlin said. "I saw his car."

"And he brought somebody."

Caitlin's stomach dropped.

"Wait," Iris said, holding up a hand. "This is Cisco. He's friendly. He's probably introduced you to half the people here today. Did he bring somebody or did he bring somebody?"

Barry looked baffled for a moment. "Whichever one means he has a new girlfriend?"

Caitlin felt her stomach go ice-cold.

"Oh shit," Iris said. "Babe, you didn't tell me he was dating someone new."

"He said it's only been a couple of weeks, so they're all kissy and huggy and snuggly -"

Iris hissed at him and turned to Caitlin. "Should we hate her? We can hate her."

"No," Caitlin said. "I'm sure she's very nice. Cisco's always had good taste in partners, mostly." She hesitated.

"This isn't a Lisa situation," Barry said promptly. "I checked. No Lisa vibe."

"See?" Caitlin said. "No Lisa vibe. What's she like?"

"Uh, her name is Kamilla, and she's like a photographer, I think? Oh, and she's vegan. That's all I got."

Caitlin mustered up a smile. "Great."

Barry cocked his head. "Great, like, you think she sounds awful and that's great? Or -"

"Look, I still care about Cisco and I want him to be happy. So great means great. I'll go out there and I'll say hello, and I'll meet her, and it'll be - "

"Great?" Iris suggested.

"Fine," Caitlin said firmly.

They looked at her doubtfully.

"I can handle this, guys, I promise. It won't be like last year. Thank you for the heads-up, Barry." She lifted her pie. "Usual place?"

"Yeah, you know where it is," he said, waving her through.

He turned to Iris. "You think this is going to be okay?"

"Hard to say," she said. "And by the way, honey, we need to work on your definition of fun fact."

Caitlin dropped off her pie at the dessert table and circulated through the party, smiling and greeting people she knew. She chatted with someone about their new dog, another person about their job, a third person about the weather.

The whole time, some internal radar was zeroed in on the man across the backyard. Who he was talking to. How he laughed. The bright smile on his face.

How his arm had never left its spot around the waist of the cute girl cuddled up to his side.

As far as she could tell, he didn't even know she was here.

Which was fine by her.

"Hmmm?" she said, vaguely aware that someone had asked her a question.

"I said I'm surprised you came," Sara repeated. "After what happened last year."

"Nice," said her girlfriend.

"What? I'm just saying. It was kind of a blowout."

Caitlin grimaced. "I know. Cisco and I had been on the rocks for a few weeks but that was - " She shook her head. "We should have saved that fight for home." She gripped her elbows and raised her chin. "But we agreed, after we broke up, that we wouldn't put Iris or Barry in the middle of things and we could be cordial to each other, which is what we're doing."

"Okayyyyy," Sara mumbled and took a drink.

It wasn't as if their breakup was the only thing that had ever happened at Barry's annual birthday bash, Caitlin thought, making her excuses and going off to say hi to someone else. She and Cisco had also met here, five years ago. The click had been immediate, almost audible. They'd made plans to hang out within minutes of meeting, had been fast friends by the end of the week.

And two years ago, they'd kissed for the first time - there, around the side of the house where it was quiet and green and smelled like roses.

But Sara was right. Last year, it had all fallen apart.

Sometimes Caitlin tried to track where or how their relationship had collapsed. After all, they'd been good friends for three years before they started dating. But what had been so good at the start had turned bad so gradually that before she knew it they were fighting more than they were talking and the thought of him made her stomach knot instead of bringing a smile to her face.

Then she'd said those terrible words, under that tree right there, where she'd dragged him so they wouldn't be fighting in the middle of the party: "You know what, maybe I don't even want to be with you anymore."

And he'd said the equally terrible words: "Maybe I don't either."

Then it had been all icy silences and stiff texts letting him know that his stuff was on her porch and he could leave hers in its place. Such an awful end to something that had been the best part of her life for so long. Sometimes she thought she missed the friendship as much as she missed the romantic relationship.

The smell of the grill tempted her in its direction, and she was almost there when she realized with a lurch of horror that Cisco and his new girlfriend - what was her name? Kamilla, that was it - were already walking up.

She thought about running in the other direction.

But this would have to happen sometime, and she was hungry, and it was best to get it over with now instead of later. Especially since later, it might be just them, and she didn't know if she could grit her teeth and act cordial without other people around them. At least it was just Barry, who was running the barbecue grill, and if she slipped up he wouldn't blame her.

"Hey, Barry," Kamilla said. "Can you put on a veggie dog for me?"

Cisco hugged her closer. "Go ahead and put one on for me too."

She turned a beaming face toward him. "Babe! You don't have to."

"Yeah, babe, but I wanna kiss you later and you don't like the taste of meat."

She giggled. "Baaaabe."

"Hey, Caitlin," Barry said rather loudly. "Your usual?"

"Yes, thank you," she said, pretending not to notice that Cisco had jerked like someone had tasered him. "Oh, Cisco, hi. I was wondering if I'd see you here today."

Barry coughed, although that could have been some smoke getting blown in his face, and tossed a turkey patty next to the two veggie dogs.

"Hey, Caitlin," Cisco said. Was it her imagination, or did he grip Kamilla's waist a little tighter? "When did you get here?"

"A little while ago," Caitlin said. She smiled at Kamilla. "Hi, I'm Caitlin."

"Kamilla," Cisco's new girlfriend said, smiling back. "So how do you know each other?"

Cisco jumped in. "She’s - ah - she's an old - we dated for about a year."

Clearly, this was new information to Kamilla, from the way the smile on her face went rigid for a split second. But Caitlin had to give her props for recovery. "Hi, Caitlin," she said. "Nice to meet you. So when was this? In high school?"

"Nope," she said. "We broke it off - what, Cisco, about a year ago now?" She was proud of herself for the breeziness in her tone.

"Mmm, yeah, about that," he said, as if he hadn't stormed out of this exact party and she hadn't gone inside to cry in the bathroom for an hour.

"Oh," Kamilla said, sounding only a little bit strangled.

Had he seriously not warned her that Caitlin was going to be here? Or maybe he hadn't given it, or her, a single thought since they broke up. Caitlin considered glaring at him, but thought it might get misinterpreted.

"Well!" Kamilla said. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too! How did you meet?"

"Oh, he came into the bar where I work," Kamilla said, beaming at Cisco. "I thought he was going to spend the whole night hitting on college girls but he spent it talking to me."

"So you're a bartender?"

"Day job," Kamilla said. "I'm actually a photographer."

"You should see her work," Cisco said. "It's really artistic."

"That's so interesting! Do you sell any?"

"Just a few prints online, a little stock photography, you know. But I'm hoping to get a show someday. What do you do?"

"Oh, I'm a research scientist," Caitlin said.

"Oh," Kamilla said rather faintly. Was she bored or intimidated? Caitlin had gotten both. "Neat! Researching what?"

"My focus right now is on gene therapies that can hopefully stall or reverse the progress of multiple sclerosis."

Cisco's eyes lit. "Seriously? That's great, I know you wanted to get into that area."

Warmth spilled through her chest, and she smiled at him. He'd always been like this, even at the end. "Yes, I was really happy to get assigned to that project."

"How is your dad doing these days?"

"He's using his cane a lot more lately, but he's also on a new medication that's really helping with his fatigue." She glanced at Kamilla and explained, "My dad has MS."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Kamilla said in that particular hushed, funereal way people had when they'd never had to think about chronic illness even once.

Caitlin kept her smile pasted on. "It’s okay. He's had it all my life. It's just something we've always lived with, as a family."

She thought about asking after Cisco's parents, but at that moment, Barry chirped, "Veggie dogs up!"

He held out two plates to Cisco and Kamilla, their dogs bunned up and ready to go. "Caitlin, it's going to be a few more minutes for yours."

"Oh, sure," Caitlin said. "That's fine."

"Let's go hit the potluck table, babe," Cisco said.

"Oh yes!” Kamilla cried, with outsize enthusiasm given that she probably couldn’t eat ninety percent of the offerings. “Caitlin, it was nice to meet you."

"You too!" Caitlin said, and turned toward Barry. "So how is life at CCPD these days?"

He chatted with her about his job for a moment or two, then said in a low voice, "So that was okay."

"Sure," she said.

He looked sympathetic. "You want cheese?"

"No, I'm all right." She picked up a plate and held it out for her turkey burger, thinking well, that's over.

She sat on the steps of the deck, next to somebody she'd known in her grad program. They chatted about minor scandals in the science world and she ate her turkey burger in slow, careful bites, not tasting a single one.

She wandered by the potluck table, stood staring at the side salads and chips and veggie trays that people had brought. She took a carrot stick and laid it on her plate. It looked small and withered and alone.

So unbelievably alone.

She added a celery stick. That didn’t seem to help. She tipped them both into the trash and decided it was time for dessert.

The dessert table was in the kitchen, so she went inside, air-conditioned air washing around her. She wanted sugar, badly. Chocolate, cookies, popsicles, whatever people had brought that would rot her teeth and block the tears.

She checked on her pie and was gratified to see that her little sign saying "Contains peanuts!" was still there, and that one quarter of the pie was already gone. She had made two pies, leaving one at home in the fridge because she'd known how this would go, so she skipped over it and checked out what else was on offer.

Chocolate chip cookies. Individual ice cream cups in a cooler. Mini eclairs in their Costco box, still frozen in the center. A shining chocolate cake in a plastic carrying case. Yes, yes, all of it.

"Hey."

She looked over, then away, quickly. "Hi," she said a little overbrightly, to the parfait she was scooping onto her plate. Shit. He knew she ate sugar when she was upset. But she also liked desserts in general. Maybe she would get away with this.

He was alone. Where was Kamilla? Bathroom, maybe?

Act natural.

He said, "I, uh - "

"Which one did you bring?" He'd always liked cooking, trying out new things. Sometimes that had been a cause of friction, like when he used every pot in the kitchen and it turned out terrible and they'd wound up going to the drive-thru at nine o'clock at night.

"There," he said, pointing at a box with a clear plastic lid.

"Donuts!" she said.

"Mmhm. Kamilla and I made them together."

"Oh," she said.

They'd attempted to cook together a few times but since cooking was how she relaxed and disconnected, it hadn't gone well.

She opened the box. "Well, I've never had vegan donuts but I'm sure they'll be interesting."

His hand reached past hers and gently closed the box. For a moment, she thought, you don't even want me touching something you made with her? Then he said, "They're not great. Trust me."

“They can’t be that bad."

He shook his head, very solemn. "Vegan donuts are donuts of sadness," he said. "I have learned this."

"I'm sure there are some vegan donuts that are good."

"Proooooobably," he allowed. "But these are not it." He grinned at her, and instinctively, she smiled back.

"Okay," she said, leaving the box closed.

He chose a mini-eclair for himself and bit it in half. “So are you here with someone?”

She meant to say a simple no, but it came out as, “Oh, he was busy today.”

“Oh? He? Someone I know?"

She swallowed, panic bubbling up. “No, you wouldn't know him. I work with him.”

“Another Star Labs workaholic?”

That shouldn't have stung as hard as it did, but it brought back a nasty echo of their hissed fight over by the barbecue grill last summer, as he'd accused her of never having time for him. Her voice went chilly as she said, "He doesn't work at Star Labs and neither do I anymore. I took a job with Mercury."

"You? You left Star Labs? The most prestigious, well-paid research lab in the Midwest?" he asked, echoing what she’d always recited as reasoning for sticking with her job.

"I decided to value my mental health more than money and prestige. Mercury is much more supportive of their employees' work/life balance."

He blinked. “Wow, that’s - that’s great.”

She picked up a spoon and started scooping something out of a random bowl onto her plate. "So how are you? How are your parents?"

"I'm good," he said. "My parents are . . . they were good, the last I saw them."

She glanced at him quickly. Ever since she'd known him, he'd been at his parents' beck and call, running every time they texted. During that last terrible argument, she'd snapped back that he might see her more if he wasn't constantly canceling dates because his parents needed him. "Did they move?"

"No, I just, ah, I went low-contact with them. Haven't really talked to them in about - " He considered. "About a month now."

"Oh," she said, looking back at her plate. She'd gotten Chester's dreadful candy bar salad with the pineapple. Ugh. Gross. "Any - um - any particular reason?"

If he’d broken off contact with his parents because of Kamilla, after all the times his mother had been rude to Caitlin, calling her things in Spanish she wasn’t supposed to understand . . .

He laughed, but it held no mirth. "They stood me up for my birthday dinner because Dante needed help buying a car." He shrugged. "I kind of figured out that I was never going to be their favorite or their priority. No matter what I did."

She put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well . . ." he mumbled.

"It's their loss," she said. "Is it better for you?"

"Hurts like hell," he said. "But yeah. It's better."

"You seem happy," she said. "I mean, in general."

"I am."

"Good. I'm glad." She realized she was still holding shoulder, and removed it so she could portion herself some of Iris's ambrosia. "Kamilla's nice," she said brightly.

"She is! Yeah. She is."

"How long has it been?"

"Oh, like a month now? It's really good. I can see this going the distance, you know?"

She felt like she'd swallowed razor blades. "That's great."

He smiled at her. "Hey, you know what, we should double-date."

"We should what?"

"Yeah, me and Kamilla, you and your guy. We should grab dinner together or something."

"Oh. Well, actually - " He lives in London. He has a moral objection to eating out. He's in training to go to the moon. He - "We really aren't like that."

"Like what?"

"Dating. It's just . . . casual." She smiled. "You know? No strings attached kind of thing. When we've both got some free time and need to blow off steam."

He blinked a few times. "You? You have a fuck buddy."

She hated that term. It made her skin crawl. Cisco knew that perfectly well, so she just shrugged. "I guess you could call it that." She ate a grape out of the ambrosia, licking it clean of whipped cream and biting it in half. "Sorry, I don't think a nice foursome dinner is in our future. But it was nice seeing you."

She strolled off, hoping like crazy that Cisco didn't mention this fictitious casual sex partner of hers to anybody else.

She made herself do one more circuit of the backyard. She had no idea who she saw or what she said. She was focused on not looking like she was about to run away.

Even though she was.

Iris found her dumping her plate into the kitchen trash. "Heard the first face-to-face went down," she said. "You okay?"

"I came, I saw him, we were cordial. I survived," Caitlin said. "And if I go home and dive face-first into a pint of Cherry Garcia and a bottle of wine, that's nobody's business but my own."

Iris put her arm around Caitlin's shoulder and hugged her gently. "That whole grieving process guideline?"

"Whoever made that up is full of shit."

Some hours later, Barry dropped into the lawn chair next to Cisco. "Hey, man. You awake?"

"Yup," Cisco said, head tipped back, eyes closed. He swung his beer bottle lightly between his fingers. "Almost outta beer though."

Barry considered it. "How many of those have you had?"

Cisco tipped it up and drained it. "Almost enough."

"You okay to drive?"

"Mmmmmm. Might hafta crash on your couch. 'Zat okay?"

"You know it is." Barry nudged him. "You don't even have to use the couch. You and Kamilla can use the guest room."

"Mmmmm." Cisco dropped the bottle to the grass. "Sh'left."

"She what? She left?"

"Called an Uber. Kinda mad at me."

"Why?"

"Says I didn't give her a heads-up Caitlin was gonna be here. Or that we dated. Like, c'mon, we've only been together a week and a half. People have exes. It's a thing."

"Still, she might've appreciated the heads-up."

Cisco sighed. "Yeah, I guess, I just . . . I didn't wanna talk to her about Caitlin. It's like, sore. Who wants to talk about their last ex?"

"A lot of people," Barry said. "Especially when she's going to be at the same party, which you knew, cuz I told you."

Cisco sighed again, more heavily. "Okay, yeah, maybe you've got a point. I'll call her tomorrow and apologize. Plus she has nothing to be afraid of. Caitlin doesn't want me back." He swung his bottle again. "So wait, you know who this guy is?"

"What guy?"

"The guy she's dating now."

Barry cocked his head. "Kamilla?"

"Nnnnoooooooooo," Cisco drawled. "Kamilla's dating me. Caitlin's dating . . . some dude. Actually not dating. She's all like, 'ha-ha, we're not like that.' They're friends with benefits or something."

This was the first Barry had heard of it. He opened his mouth to say so when Cisco plowed on with the tenacity of the sloppy drunk.

"Which, what the hell, man? I suggested friends with benefits years ago and she was like no, I don't do that, it doesn't work for me, I need to be in a relationship. Took me another six months to man the fuck up and ask her out for realsies. Who's this guy that's getting her to settle for less than what she wants?" He wagged his finger in the air. "You! You should find out who he is, Bare. You should find out who he is and kick his ass."

Barry smiled at nothing. "You could kick his ass. I mean, you're the one who seems to think it should be done."

"C'mon, I can't do that, then everyone would say I was just jealous. M'not jealous. Just, she deserves better than, than, you know, some dude who just wants to get laid. Just like a friendly ass-kicking. C'mon."

"Okay, maybe."

"I'm not jealous. I'm with Kamilla."

"Mmmmhmm," Barry said, eating some pie. "I can tell. You're totally over Caitlin."

"Totally," Cisco said, and lifted his head, looking around blearily. "Hey, where'd m'beer go?"

FINIS

#Cisco Ramon #Caitlin Snow #killervibe #fanfiction #killervibeweek20 #mosylufanfic lives up to her damn name #breakup AU #bwahahahahahaha #the flash

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neshatriumphs · 4 years ago

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V. The Venom

“I can’t see through his eyes again!” Amelia complained. “You must’ve known that we would have this issue when I sent him on this quest,” she fussed at The Cat.

“Perhaps, if I knew what your intentions were, I might have known what information you needed,” Samantha said, smoothly.

“Withholding information could result in Simon’s death. Do you WANT that on your head?”

“Simon isn’t going to die,” Samantha said, but she did worry. A blood oath… That was a risk that Simon never should have taken and had he consulted with her, she would have been vehemently against it. She had confidence, though… Simon would either do what needed to be done to survive, or he would at the very least die for something he believed in. She didn’t like that option nearly as much. “What is it that you think we could do to help him?”

Amelia pulled a necklace from the liquid in her basin. “Find him and deliver this to him. Tell him never to take it off.”

“What does it do?” Samantha wondered.

“Do you want him to live, or not?” Amelia asked, shaking the necklace angrily in The Cat’s face. Samantha took it and slid it onto her own neck, then hopped onto the ledge and out of the window.

It would take her no time to find Simon. A familiar always knew where their spirit human was, but on those little cat feet, it would take her far too long to run. She twinkled a moment, with green smoke coming up around her, and was carried away by it, and replaced outside of a cottage. She approached and bumped into a barrier. “Hmmm…” She pulled the necklace off, buried it in the dirt and attempted again. This time, she walked straight through.

Samantha was not expecting to hear what she heard whenever she entered the cottage, undetected, but it was a welcome sound - Simon laughing. It wasn’t hard, but it was real. She could tell. She looked to see what he was laughing at… who was more like it. It was her. The Princess.

“Shut up!” She squealed. Samantha hid to take a look. The Princess had her feet in a soaking bowl, while Simon rested on a nearby cushioned seat with the widest smile on his face that Samantha could ever remember seeing.

“Your feet look like the consequences and repercussions,” Simon said.

“Of what?”

“NAME SOMETHING!” He said and laughed again.

“You know what… I am a dancer and I’m a free spirit. My feet look like this because they’ve worked hard my entire life!”

“You have MAGIC! There's no acceptable reason that your feet should be like that!” He was laughing harder now, until he noticed Samantha and he stopped.

She approached and sat on his lap. The Princess stared at her, she looked back at the woman. Simon collected Samantha and said, “I’m going to put her outside…” Grace nodded. She heard him outside ask, in his lowest whisper, “What are you doing here?”

“You left something important behind,” Samantha said and uncovered the necklace. Simon picked it up. He had never seen the thing before in his life. It must have been from Amelia. “Now, put it on and don’t take it off…” She wondered if he would be forbidden, when he tried to cross the threshold again. Soon enough, that was answered. Simon groaned in pain, with his skin burning and he took the necklace off. “Well… wear it whenever you’re outside of that barrier.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know, but I’ve been told that it is urgent.”

Grace stepped outside and asked, “What’s the problem, Simon and The Cat?” Samantha poofed away into a cloud of green smoke. Simon was surprised. She just left him? Just like that? Grace was waiting on an answer.

“She gave me a necklace, but I can’t bring it through. I don’t think it’s dangerous. Just… I guess it has too much conductor’s magic,” he answered honestly. Getting her to trust him was going to take telling the truth here and there.

“Lemme see it.” He held it up in the moonlight. She looked into it and saw herself. She began to pose into it and kiss at her reflection. Simon was annoyed. He snatched it back and put it in his pocket. “It’s for spying. It can’t pass the barrier, because that would violate my solitude spell. I was very shocked that your cat was able to come in, but then again, she IS made of natural magic. She left before I could pin down a strand, though.”

“What does that mean?” He asked, defensively.

“It’s like tracing her back to where her magic originated… like to find out who you stole her from.”

He was angry now, “She’s been with me my entire life!”

“Okay, so who your parents stole her from…”

Simon reached out and was knocked across the grounds. Grace sighed. At this point, there was no need to go help him up. He knew not to try to attack her. She went back into her cottage and waited for him to come back.

He hit the barrier and grunted, “Dammit!” Then tossed the necklace to the ground and stormed inside. "Don't talk about my parents!"

"You don't even know them, Simon. They could have been scandalous rascals!"

He was furious, but he’d already hurt himself reaching out for her too angrily, so he simply smirked and said, “Your feet are scandalous rascals.”

“STOP TALKING ABOUT MY FEET! They’ve got character!” She whined, folding her arms. Simon kneeled in front of her and held his hands out in front of him. Runes on his wrist glowed and he stuck his hands into the water. “Simon!” the water bubbled, but didn’t heat up and Grace removed her feet, reflexively and saw that they looked sloughed and smoothed. She hadn’t seen her feet be this soft and flawless since she was a girl. “What did you do?”

“I healed them,” he said.

“Where did you steal the magic to do that?” She asked.

“Just… say thanks. Your feet are now as beautiful as the rest of you.”

She blushed, but she was frustrated. “Please, don’t ever use that kind of magic on me without my consent again. I’m disappointing enough to my mother without adding magical tainting."

"What's disappointing about you? Aside from those gargoyles you called feet?" She kicked him and he caught her foot and cradled it. "Really. What's your mom's problem. I watched everybody fawn over you all day."

"I'm supposed to be a queen of the One someday. By now, I should have been married, made whole by my soul mate, with child, and ready to ascend to the throne someday, raising my child to do the same."

"You're too young to be married! You've barely lived yet."

"A princess's life is doing what her kingdom needs. But, my soul mate died, and the One never revealed another… and all of the suitors are not powerful enough to make into a king… but… I may have to settle. I only have a few more years. If I turn 21 and have no heir, my parents will have to look outside of our house for my successor. I'll be the first queen who didn't put a Monroe born on the throne."

"What's so special about the Monroes?"

"We're descended from the original witches. There were certain families, descended from them, with natural Magic. Many have faded away. Some have married non-magical and evolved into blended families. The Monroes have never yet done this. We're the oldest of the natural magic families and the… purest…"

"That only comes with high concentration of inbreeding."

" No. That's not true. We've had seers to help guide us in order to avoid that. They get someone with natural magic for us to breed with. Then, a priestess intertwines our destinies. We're raised to be the person who completes the other. Our marriage is preordained by magic and our consummation is the fulfilment… but, my soul mate got sick when I was young and we lost him." She pulled her foot back. "And, now you know most of my flaws."

"Those aren't flaws. We're magic, Grace. We should be able to write our own destinies! Your mother is disappointed because she's weak."

"You've felt her magic. You know that isn't true."

"Her magic is wasted on someone so easily controlled. You're an amazing witch. This place doesn't deserve your power."

She smiled and flicked his ponytail with her fingertips. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up. You're not so bad, for one of them. Tomorrow… would you like to come to the fair with me?"

"Fair?"

"Yes. It's a gathering that the natural witches have to share our gifts with each other. You seem recovered, and you haven't left, so… one day of fun should be… nice."

"Go to the fair with you, as your guest?"

"Yes."

"Okay…"

"Thank you for my pretty new feet." She left through the curtain and he saw the glimmer of her vanishing. He couldn't help but to smile… until he felt a sharp pain in his armpit. He held himself and looked in the mirror.

The veins looked like vines pulsating with the venom of the blood oath. Holding himself, he went outside and picked up the necklace. Maybe this was helpful? He put it on his neck. Nothing seemed different.

But, on Amelia's end, she could see everything that the pendant pointed at, and she could sense through Simon's contact with it that he was in pain. He formed his fingers to try to conjure up something to allow the pendant into Grace's cottage. Amelia noted and assisted him from where she was. He got passed the barrier and looked at his infected wound in the mirror again. Amelia was standing behind him and startled him. "Amelia!"

"You're supposed to get close to her without letting her into your head. You're making yourself ill by not doing that. You'll die before you even have a chance to strike."

"She's trusting me. She asked me out on a date tomorrow. Is there a way to slow down this venom?"

"Yes. Succeed. Gain her trust, get close, kill her. Don't let her destroy what we've built."

"What if… I mean… she doesn't seem to be a threat. She's a powerful witch, but she doesn't even understand her own power. They've raised her to be a babymaker…"

"One way or another, Simon, if you don't destroy her, she will destroy you."

"I'll take her out as soon as I can. She has a very strong protective spell by her mother…"

"Kill the mother, end the protection."

"Acknowledged." Amelia faded from behind him in the mirror. He tried to address his throbbing armpit, but it was no use. The magic of the blood oath probably set out against him for helping Grace earlier. All he did was make her feet nice! He took a potion for the pain and got some rest. He had a date with a princess tomorrow and she'd have a date with death...

#AU Infinity Train #Infinity Train #Nesha Fanfiction #Infinity Train Fanfiction #fics #Intertwined by Nesha

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midlifemusingsfromthemidwest · 4 years ago

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Charlatans, Liars, and Frauds

Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction, and this is one of those times. I have long been an avid reader of the trashy British tabloid that masquerades as a newspaper, The Daily Mail. Every morning for years, I have enjoyed reading the DM as I drink my morning coffee. I read the stories and laugh at the acerbic comments, as the Brits do have a way with words. When Meghan Markle arrived upon the scene while dating Prince Harry, suddenly every story was about them. As an American, I was amused by their painting of her as a star and well-known actress, because no one, and I mean no one, outside her immediate family and friends, had ever heard of this chick. Not only that, no one I have ever talked to watched the show Suits, where she played a supporting role. Suddenly, Meghan Markle was everywhere, and quickly I came to the conclusion that she was a complete social climber who was dating poor dumb Harry to advance her desire for fame. In the comments of the Daily Mail, someone mentioned a Facebook group devoted to shared dislike for Meghan, and on a lark, I joined it. The group was known as Meghan Markle The Charlatan Duchess, often shortened to MMTCD. I'll be honest, the group was a lot of fun as women from all over the world dished and bitched about what a fraud Meghan Markle was. We laughed at her horrific wigs and her clothes that cost millions, yet were always ill-fitting. We chuckled over how dim Harry was, and we guessed how long it would be before the divorce proceedings were started. Some of the women believed more outlandish tales such as that Meghan was born a man, that she wore a moonbump and was never pregnant, and that Archie (I am still scratching my head over that choice of name…Archie????) was, in fact, a doll, and not a real boy. Maybe Meghan should have named him Pinocchio instead of Archie. All in all, it was good fun…not nice, yet good fun.

Now, the interesting part of the story is that the founder of the group was a woman who referred to herself as "Lady L”. Lady L claimed she was a high-ranking member of the British aristocracy with strong ties to the British Royal Family. She wrote in flowery prose about how she felt compelled to start a facebook group to help expose Meghan Markle as a fraud and charlatan. She was single-handedly going to save the British monarchy from the grubby clutches of the American interloper. Lady L claimed her grandmother had been a lady-in-waiting to the Queen, and that she had a huge ancestral home outside of Edinburgh. In fact, she often wrote that once Meghan and Harry divorced, she was going to host a huge party for the group in her ancestral pile in Scotland, oooh la la! Sadly, some women in the group actually started saving money for the trip so they would be able to afford to go. Seriously, shame on her for that. She wove the tale that she was a successful antique shoppe owner (notice the British spelling, which meant it had to be true), and that she came to the United States every year to buy antiques for her stores and shipped them back to the UK. Um, what? Why in the world would someone come from the UK, where antiques simply had to be older and more valuable, to the United States to buy antiques that were generally far less old and far less valuable. How odd, and the first red flag that made me think the Lady wasn't all she proclaimed herself to be.

After some time, Lady L introduced us to her cousin, Lilly Beth, whom she had recruited to help run the group, as Lady L simply couldn't keep up with it all by her little old blue-blooded self. Shortly after that, Lilly Beth became the self-appointed Queen of the group with every member hanging on her every post, all while competing for her attention. Lady L rarely posted in the group once Lilly Beth was brought on board to run the place. Occasionally when the group members became unruly, Lady L would pop in and shout at everyone to stop whatever they were doing to anger her, post a giant red angry emoji, and then "feck off" back from whence she had come. Lilly Beth claimed that her husband, fondly known as “Mister”, worked for the Crown and that she had "grown up with Wills and Harry." Hmmmm….ok then, it seemed somewhat implausible, but I was game to play along on the off chance it was true. Maybe she was just some rich bored British aristocrat hiding behind a laptop. I had been a member for just a few weeks when the group was rocked by a Daily Mail article that doxed or exposed, several anti-Meghan private citizens in a story that shared the pictures, names, and even twitter names of several women who happened to be members of the group. I still believe that Meghan Markle's people were behind the doxing, and it made me dislike her even more. The members of MMTCD panicked, and most of us then created fake facebook profile identities and rejoined the group under nom de plums. It might seem like an overreaction, but many of the women in the group whom I had become friends with were successful professionals. They didn't want to see their faces and names publicly shamed on the Daily Mail for having the audacity to dislike Meghan Markle. Not only that, but it was quickly become the modus operandi of Meghan and her band of flying monkeys, I mean supporters, to harass, defame, dox, and call every person who didn't like her a racist. Despite the influx of anonymous Facebook profiles, the group MMTCD flourished.

Over the next year, Lilly Beth became increasingly over the top, and she was an incessant braggart. She claimed that her husband, Mister, not only supposedly worked for the Crown, but that he also was a member of the House of Commons, owned a village, and that he had even surprised her with a mansion in upper New York where they would summer, amidst the ungodly heat and humidity. Who in their right mind would summer in New York where it is 100-plus degrees when one could be in much more temperate UK? Mmmhmm…sure. As time went on, Lilly Beth bragged more and more and more. She claimed she brought their entire household staff with them to the United States to the new mansion. She bragged that her daughter Violet was friends with Prince George and that there was a possibility she could even marry him someday. My goodness, was it possible that our humble Lilly Beth could someday be the mother-in-law to a future King? Would we all get invitations to the wedding? Should I start saving for a bespoke dress? She bragged that she was invited by the Queen herself to an upcoming ceremony—and that the queen had insisted that she attend. Well, goodness me, wasn't Lilly Beth becoming more and more important with every passing day? She would regale the breathless fans of hers in the group with tales of how Cook would whip up ten-course meals, and how she was ordering bespoke gowns. She tooted her own horn more than Meghan Markle, and that is no easy feat. Lilly Beth kept us up to date on her pregnancy and her newborn, "Master Jack" and even shared pictures of him and his sister little Violet with bright auburn hair and vivid green eyes, clearly photoshopped and poorly at that. The list of Lilly Beth's tall tales was vast. They included that she had met Kate several times, Mister was a RAF pilot, Cook make enough stew for their entire village of shut-ins, Mister waved rent for the entire village because of covid, she was a barrister, she was a buyer for an auction house, she was a violinist, she could sing beautifully, she was a muse for a famous artist, she got her ice cold milk straight from the village dairy (insert eye roll here), and on and on.

A monster was born. The more attention Lilly Beth got, the more she loved it, and the bigger the tales got. Not only that, but she also started getting sloppy. Her use of British words began to slip, her photoshopping skills were appalling, and her tales were becoming increasingly unbelievable. With each embellishment, I became even more convinced that Lilly Beth was a con artist who was no more a British aristocract than I was. During this time, Lilly Beth also set up a second group where she and other group members would verbally duke it out with Meghan Markle fans and then try to recruit members to come to their defense. It was like watching an episode of Jenny Jones show when it devolved into a fistfight amongst the guests. I got to the point where I posted less often, and I would go days or weeks without visiting the group. When I did, I would post and fly out of there. The entire group became like primary school kids trying to outdo each other to attract Lilly Beth's attention with their tricks. Watch this, Lilly Beth…No, watch me, Lilly Beth…Look at this Lilly Beth. A few times, I knew Lilly Beth was lying and full of "shite" as she would put it. Once, she said her husband, Mister, had been at a wine-tasting with Harry and that Harry had come in "knackered." I asked why Harry was tired, and she said, Nooooo, knackered means he was drunk. Hmmm…while I don't pretend to be British, I do have Brits as friends and have only heard of knackered meaning tired. As usual, when questioned, she slithered away and stayed gone for several days.

Finally, the beginning of the end happened one day when two former members who were booted from the group—something that happened on a weekly basis for one offense or another— blogged on tumbler some of Lilly's supposed "tea." Tea was the term the group used for inside information. The supposed inside information was a bit like the overly vague guesses of a carnival psychic. If the “tea” was specific, then it was usually a rewording of a DM or other tabloid story. Then, shortly after the Tumblr brouhaha, Lilly Beth posted that someone on twitter was saying she lived in Alaska and that Lady L lived in Arizona and how hilarious it was that someone was making such crazy accusations. She laughed maniacally about it…LOLOLOLOL!!!!! This was her trademark over the top response to anything even mildly humorous. Then, the balloon popped, the air escaped from the overstretched bladder in a split second with a whoosh. When members tried to access the site all that was there was a message that the group been archived. Like the carnies they were, the frauds scurried off into the shadows leaving behind hundreds of confused and incredulous former members. It turned out that Lady L and Lilly Beth were no more connected to the British Royal Family than am I. In fact, they were a mother and at least one of her daughters, posing as British aristocrats all the while living in the United States. For a year and a half, they had perpetrated a gigantic fraud on hundreds of unsuspecting, and some suspecting like myself, women from nearly every continent and country on the planet. Former members quickly found other groups to join to maintain the friendships formed within MMTCD. Everyone wondered, why would these women have gone to such lengths to fabricate such intricate and detailed lies? What was their end game? Were they setting the group up for financial fraud, were they data-mining for identity theft, were they just stroking their egos, or were they creating an alternative reality vastly more interesting than their mundane, sad lives? I doubt we will never know, but how very ironic that two complete charlatans and frauds created a group dedicated to uncovering another charlatan and fraud. Isn't it ironic, don't you think?

#MMTCD #Charlatans

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wheremytwinwatches · 5 years ago

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[Where My Twin Watches]: Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Episode 47

Last time: Winry interrupted Ed’s Sandwich Time, Pride told Al to take a nap, and Bradley got Operation Valkyrie’d. Onwards!

Narrator’s saying how Al was captured by the Goths on Promised Day Eve, and now he’s floating in the Whitespace. Probably not a good sign. A voice (Truth?) tells him to wake up- [Pride]: “It’s too soon for you to die. We aren’t done with you yet. There’s still so much work we have in store for you.” Well. This is going to be a cheerful episode, isn’t it? Episode 47 - “Emissary of Darkness” Way outside of Central there’s a ramshackle village, a bunch of people in rough clothes working the land. Wait why are you asking what the town is called Ed, are you lost? Central is like, clearly visible over the trees. Never mind then, guess this is where Beard’s been hanging out instead of Uncle’s stomping grounds. Sorry dude, but your lunch is getting interrupted by your estranged son and his- I mean, Greedling’s crew. So last time they saw each other it was over Mama Elric’s gravestone while Absentee Anime Father chided Ed for burning down the house. How’s this conversation going to OH SHIT [Beard]: “Edward, I didn’t thi-”

So Beard goes flying from, let’s be honest, a well-deserved punch. I mean we know that he’s on the side of the good guys now, but still. Absentee Anime Father has some explaining to do. Beard’s meeting his son’s new friends ([Lion/Gorilla]: “Ha, no.”), quickly identifies Greedling’s Goth nature and whoosh the Shiny Glasses are back. Eh, this is Beard we’re dealing with after all, guy can’t just give backstory without pulling up his Mysterious Shields. Later that night Beard’s finished storytime, Lion and Gorilla are sitting in shocked silence while Ed struggles with- oooh yeah. He’s spent a large chunk of his life searching for a Philosopher’s Stone to repair his and Al’s bodies, and now learning that he was raised by a “living stone”? Hell, conceived by it. Then Beard offers himself to restore his son’s bodies wat. Oh Leto thank you Ed, the young man’s yelling about how he’s not going to sacrifice innocent souls to fix something that’s their own fault. Beard’s proud to hear his son feels that way. Right, now that everyone’s caught up on the past, what’s going to happen in the future? Apparently there will be a solar eclipse tomorrow that Uncle’s going to “harness for his scheme”. What, is he going to overthrow the Fire Nation? Beard says he needs Ed’s help- [Ed]: “Help you?! Now look here, I’m gonna stop that bearded bastard, but I’m not doing it because you want me to help you! Our best chance at beating this guy is to team up, and that’s the only reason I’m even talking to you right now!” Yeesh. So Ed’s still harboring a lot of ill will towards Beard, storms off after that diatribe as the rest of Greedling’s crew heads off. Except Ed pauses oh yeah Granny asked him to pass on a message, Mama Elric’s final words: [Mama Elric]: “Sorry I couldn’t keep my promise… but I’m dying first.” Argh. And when Ed spins around to keep yelling at Beard, he sees the living Philosopher's Stone staring up at the night sky, crying. Out in the ramshackle village, Ed and the Chimeras are eating while the two men try talking him into giving Beard a chance, maybe ask why he took the Absentee Anime Father route. Ed’s still awfully bitter though, not helped by Greedling jumping into the conversation, pointing out the irony of Ed’s father being his early Quest Item. Ed says there’s more to it than that. Back at the campfire Beard’s thinking about the family picture, when Mama Elric was talking about how someday she’d grow old, that she’d be right there when he left for his Mysterious Mission. But we know how that all turned out. And it has to be said, he’s probably thinking about how he’s one of the most powerful beings in the setting. Maybe he could have healed her illness if he had stayed home? Yes at the cost of using his Philosopher’s Stone blood, but it’s still there. For now, Beard sits talking about how she stayed with him, how he wasn’t there beside- wait. [Beard]: “Tomorrow, ‘Trisha…” DEATH FLAGS WAVE WILDLY Like holy crap, the dude’s sitting by a campfire on his own the night before a big mission, looking at a photo of his dead wife and talking about how he wasn’t around. That’s… wow. Calling it now, Beard’s going to bite it. Taking all bets, I’ll bet Tephi a new book of her choice that Papa Elric will be gone inside of five episodes. The Dramatic String Music is starting up. Ed’s getting red cloth aw buddy why are you going back to your old red cloak? I liked the white outfit, you could have pulled off a good Gandalf.

See, Lion and Greedling agree with me, the Goth of Avarice even calls it flashy. But no, Ed’s all “this may be our final battle”, so he wants to do it in what he considers ‘style’. Fine, just promise no cars this time around. The Greedling Crew’s leaving? What about Beard, the Living Philosopher’s Stone you’re supposed to work with? Ed’s saying that the others can bail if they want ([Greedling]:”Hey now, I’m the boss!”). If they’re after restoring their bodies- [Gorilla]: “These bodies do have their perks. To be honest I really don’t mind staying like this.” [Greedling]: “Hahaha! Yeah, now that’s the spirit!” YES. THANK YOU. So anyway, the Chimeras are all “we’ve got nothing better to do, might as well help save the world” and Greedling’s… not telling Ed why he wants to go back to Central? Eh whatever, after his tiff with Bradley I don’t think he’s going to try and team up with the other Goths again. Wouldn’t put it past him to try and claim the title of Fuhrer in the chaos though. But even if he tries pulling that I think Ling would protest, and he’d have to deal with Roy Mustang (aka the guy who killed Lust) and Armstrong the Great. So yeah, I don’t see that happening. Lion pauses in the road, Ed looks around to see the holdup- Al! Did you get away from… oh no. No glowing red eyes? Walking out a dark, shadowy forest? Seen captured by the Goths and “worked on” by Pride? And yup Ed’s questioning how Al’s here when he was over with Sideburns in the East, and Greedling starts freaking out. Totally-Not-Possessed-Al ever so calmly says he needs to talk with Ed while the Creepy Strings start up, turns towards the forest- Ling yells at Ed to back up. Let me say that again, Ling yells at Ed to get away from the armor. Greed why are you trying to keep Ling from warning Ed? Crap shadows leaking from the armor and SHADOW SPIKES EVERYWHERE, Greedling and the Chimeras just barely dodge before they retract back to the armor, which slowly turns around to face the shocked Crew and then grows way too many eyes. We’ve seen Pride massacre Muggles in the tunnels, hold Riza hostage, chase after Uncle’s counterpart. Now we’ll see him actually fight. Mid-ep pictures of a grumpy Greed and a very unimpressed Grumman. Whaaaa? The Fuhrer’s remains haven’t turned up yet? Why wherever could they HE’S ALIVE DAMNIT. Oh hey General Grumman continues to be competent, he’s personally overseeing the search since he “won’t be able to comfortably sleep at night ‘til I see his corpse with my own eyes”. You go, trope-savvy General. But wait, what about leading the Eastern/Northern forces to Central? Uh. Hmmm. Well. Seems that General Grumman’s conniving extends to his “allies” as well. He just “has” to stay and oversee the search for the Fuhrer, meaning his troops are stuck with him. If Roy and Armstrong the Great make their move now, Bradley’s still-intact leadership (along with Uncle) will capture them. Then Grumman can step in to fill the power gap. [Grumman]: “They’ll take the fall as enemies of the state, while General Grumman will heroically come riding in on a white horse. I’ll let the youngsters dive head-first into danger and do all the dirty work. And then I’ll take my rightful place as leader of this country without any risk.” Holy shit. So Grumman is actually a conniving old schemer who plans to use the good guys to make his own power play. Not quite as bad as Raven, but damnit man I liked you. Thankfully Sideburns suspects Grumman’s motive and is withholding his trust. Back to Greedling’s Crew and Armored!Pride. Greedling confirms that it’s his “oldest brother” piloting the armor now, Pride shows off Al’s sigil. So now Ed has to fight his unconscious brother, and hold his punches so he doesn’t disrupt the sigil. This isn’t going to be easy. But at least he has backup- [Gorilla, hiding behind a tree with Lion]: “Our animal instincts are telling us to stay the hell away from that thing.” [Lion]: “It’d probably be smart for you to run too!” Well, this is the First Goth. It’s not really fair for me to expect them to fight it, even Toad and Boar kept to the sides against Envy. But Ed can still fight, and since he’s a Sacrifice then Pride can’t land any killing blows. Unfortunately Pride knows that, and that people can survive without all of their limbs… Pride’s just standing there as shadow blades strike all around the dodging Ed, who’s talking about keeping the Goth away from the slums. He Earthbends up a wall but Pride just smashes right through it and YIKES thank goodness Ling had his Ultimate Shield or he’d be dead, but Pride just latches on to his limbs and tells Ed to stand down or he’ll hurt Ling and the villagers. But Ed’s smiling? [Ed]: “I think it’s about time I start winning some of these fights for a change!” He transmutes the ground wait there are sparks heading straight toward the village OH! Well, it kinda sucks in the long-term that Ed shorted out their electric grid, but for the short term? No bright lights means… well it would mean no shadows if it wasn’t for the moon and stars. Or not? Apparently the moonlight is so weak that there aren’t any shadows near the forest anymore, all of Pride’s limbs vanish. Ed and Greedling exposit that they can’t see anything in the darkness, but Pride can’t cast without the strong light-source. What’s this about Pride’s shadow? Oh, so he’s controlling the armor by touching the armor’s shadow! Meaning that Pride’s just inside the tree-line, and Al’s armor is free from his influence. Quick, grab it! Oooh, but this means that our heroes are going to have to fight, maybe even kill an apparent child. Yeesh. Anyways, apparently the sky is “completely overcast” so that resolves the moon/star issue nicely. For now, Pride waits- Lion! Haha, looks like their noses are all better after Ed’s chemistry lesson. Holy Leto Lion is just unloading on Pride, the Goth chides him for attacking a child but Lion yells that he knows full well what Pride actually is, along with his animal instincts that are blaring “WRONG WRONG KILL IT BEFORE IT KILLS YOU”. Outside the trees Ed and Gorilla meet up, the chimera says they need to book it. But what about Al? He should be free from Pride’s control now, without shadows to manipulate it should be safe to grab the armor and run. But Gorilla urges caution. Moving along the trees they run into Greedling who’s wondering how they tracked him down LOOK OUT GLUTTONY! So just as Lion’s using his superhuman smell and sight to hunt down Pride, Gluttony’s been used for his enhanced sense of smell to track down Greedling. Who tells Gorilla to start fighting? Dude this is Gluttony, if anything you’re the best equipped to fight him seeing how Ling took the first edition down way back when. Except yeah Greedling doesn’t have the sight or smell to fight in the dark. Fight well, Gorilla! Holy Leto he’s actually fighting well, Gluttony’s getting tossed around- [Gorilla]: “Now for the final blow!” *WHAM* [Ed]: “Why, Mister Gorilla? Weren’t we sticking close to avoid attacking each other?” Ah. Never mind then. Greedling’s thinking over how Gluttony’s got the upper hand in the dark, and they’re all screwed when the lights come back on for Pride. Except ha! Like I said, Ling’s the best counter for Gluttony as he can sense the Goth and beat him once before. Let him CRAP Ling just lost an arm oh right Goth so he could regrow his limb (sorry, souls that got used up for that fix). Wait can Ling access the Ultimate Shield? Let’s come back to that, thankfully doesn’t need it right now as Ling’s fancy Xing martial arts are knocking Gluttony down. Greed even compliments him, impressive. But now Gluttony’s mad, and oh yeah he can do that whole pseudo Gate of Truth thing. Look out for the Eraser Gun! And now Ed’s the one who can’t see the danger, Ling and Gorilla can only talk ominously about “something bad coming”- Flash of someone running by? Beard finally catch up with the group and die heroically? Wait. Wait wait WAIT. Flashes of a speedy figure, metal blades that slice through Gluttony- EASTERN MUSIC STARTING UP OH LETO PLEASE TELL ME FUCK. YES. [Ling]: “I’m glad to see you’re ok. I was wondering when you’d find me, Lan-Fan.” The ninjas are back, baby! With a badass upgrade!

#wmtw #where my twin watches #full metal alchemist #full metal alchemist brotherhood #fmab #fmab 47 #ranubis

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journeysintowebcomics · 6 years ago

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Worm Liveblog #97

UPDATE 97: Conspiracy

Last time Skitter seems to have managed to convince Parian to give her a chance. Does Flechette know? I’m not sure. She’ll find out sooner or later, anyway. So, what will happen now that Parian may actually lend the Undersiders a hand? You won’t find out today! Today it will be an interlude. Let’s get started!

It’s August of 1986, a couple decades before present day. What character may be this one, I wonder? It’s a female character, seems to be quite young at this point so they must be an adult right now. Let’s see...looks like she’s under some sort of treatment.

Somewhere along the line, they had stopped telling her that the chemotherapy would make her better. The smiles had become even more strained. There was more emphasis on making her comfortable. Less explanation of what was going on.

Oooooh that sounds rather...terminal. Death may be coming someday. There aren’t that many diseases that need chemotherapy as a treatment, so chances are it’s cancer. Golly, the interlude just started and it’s already throwing some heavy stuff at me!

This sick girl pretends to be asleep when her mother comes, and although she hates doing that, it’s better than pretending she’s okay enough to endure conversations. The silence gives her mother carta blanche to start talking, though. That can’t be much better than what this girl hoped.

“Becca,” her mother murmured from behind her. “You awake?”

Becca? Hmmmm...doesn’t sound familiar. I can’t remember a character that’s named Becca or Rebecca. If there’s one, I may have forgotten.

“You’ve been so brave,” her mom whispered, so quiet she was barely audible.

I’m not brave. Not at all. I’m terrified. I’m so frustrated I could scream. But she couldn’t. Everyone had painted her as being so courageous, so noble and peaceful in the face of the months of treatment. But it was a facade, and she’d passed the point of no return. It was too late to break composure, too late to stop making bad jokes, faking smiles of her own. She couldn’t complain or use her mother’s shoulder to cry on because everyone would fall apart if she did.

She was their support.

That’s quite the heavy load on a deathly sick child. I can’t imagine what that’s like, having to swallow all your frustration and then realizing you can’t let it show because everyone thinks you’re taking it much better than you actually are. It’s even more harrowing when you’re a child, I guess. You know what? This is a rather fitting situation for a trigger event. The thought of death looming above you, all that pent-up frustration, the physical and mental suffering...there’s plenty of stimuli here. Since this person must have survived until the present day – I guess – then she must have survived this sickness.

“My little superhero,” her mother said.

That’s quite the thing to say in this story.

The mom’s choice of words makes Rebecca realize she’s dying. It brings the expected mix of emotions: anger, relief...especially anger at the situation and at others, for not telling her sooner she’s dying. It affects Rebecca enough for her to cry once her mother leaves. It’s dark, she’s seeing the cityscape from her window, and there’s so much she hasn’t done at her age, and so much she’d like to do again.

It struck her that she would probably never get to eat there again, never get a special kids meal with the dinky plastic toy that was meant for kids ten years younger than her.

Oh. She’s older than I thought she was. From the way she was being treated, I thought she’d be like...eight. From this it sounds like she’s like thirteen or fourteen. Still rather young, but she’s not so young people would think they can hide the truth of her situation from her. No wonder she’s frustrated!

There’s a series of things she wished she could have done. Get fast food, read a book in a series, see a movie adaptation, have a real boyfriend...it’s the tragedy of dying, you always wish you had done more than you did.

While Rebecca is letting her pain and sadness show in a manner I’m sure nobody else has, she hears a voice nearby, offering her morphine. It’s a voice she doesn’t know, and turning around confirms it’s a stranger. Hmmm...

“I’m going to increase the drip just a little, Rebecca Costa-Brown.”

Rebecca Costa-Brown? I’m pretty sure if I had seen that full name somewhere before I’d remember. Costa-Brown is quite a memorable name. So, there are two possibilities: either Rebecca Costa-Brown is a character that’s been around before but whose name hasn’t appeared yet, or she’s a character hasn’t made her first appearance yet.

The description of the person who is currently messing with the IV bag is familiar. I’m like 50% sure this was how the Doctor from Cauldrom was described. If so, then that’d mean Rebecca is involved with Cauldron, possibly as an employee. Or maybe, if this is the Doctor, she’s putting some power serum into the IV bag, meaning Rebecca would be a superhero under Cauldron’s thumb.

Rebecca confirms this person in her room isn’t one of her doctors and barely has much time for more before she feels the effect of the morphine. Guess it really was morphine and not soup of superpower. If I’m taking correctly the way this woman said ‘Not yet’ to when Rebecca said she wasn’t one of her doctors then...yeah, I’m growing increasingly more certain this is the Doctor from Cauldron.

Yup, she is. She’s here to make a deal with Rebecca, and she says she can make superheroes. This interlude is happening during the time superheroes were a rarity – in a relative term –and it was predicted in a couple decades there’d be thousands. Well, she’s not wrong, by now all over the world there must be thousands and thousands of parahumans.

By now it’s very clear the offer she’s going to offer Rebecca is to give her powers. She’s showing her the risks of giving powers. This wouldn’t be happening if Rebecca was going to be an employee and not a hero, I think. Photos are shown, parahumans that’d fit the Case 53s very easily. It’s possible it’s precursors of them, or maybe they were already being called Case 53s.

This here is still the early stages of the power serum. Two out of seven die horribly, four experience physical changes that ensure they won’t be in society anymore as normal people, and one gets powers without further consequences. Pretty low odds, all things considered. The Doctor tries to sweeten the deal by saying she could mix things up so there’d be less change of physical changes and there’d be restorative effects – meaning Rebecca here would be healed. Well doesn’t that sound too good to be true?

“I’m not asking for money. Only that you take this leap of faith with me and help me build something. I know the risks are great, I wouldn’t normally ask someone to face them, but I suspect you don’t have much left to lose.”

So, I don’t doubt Rebecca has been in the hospital for quite some time already. It’s to be expected, what with her very deadly illness and what not. Cauldron may be able to access to her medical records. That said, I do wonder why she was the one they picked. It’s unlikely Rebecca is the only child with a terminal illness in the entire world. Maaaaybe it’s more of a geographical thing, and she was the only viable candidate in this part of the world? Or perhaps something about her psychological and emotional state made her a better candidate than other sick children? I really wonder why Cauldron picked her and not someone else, hmmm...

The Doctor was right, though: she doesn’t have anything left to lose, she’s on the verge of death, and in Rebecca’s opinion she already looks so awful she may as well be one of the monstrous parahumans from the photos. Why not to go out in a blaze of glory or possibly be saved even if in the end she looks like a monster? She accepts.

The interlude changes to the next day. The very first line says things went well. Congratulations, Rebecca! You have powers. And it seems the Doctor was right about heightening the chances of everything going just peachy. I wonder what powers she got!

Rebecca extended one arm. Her skin was a healthy pink, her hand thin but not so emaciated as it had been.

“I’m better?”

“I would guess so. In truth, I’m not sure how the regeneration affected the cancer, it might even have exacerbated the symptoms. For the time being, however, you seem to be well.”

This is going to be one hell of a thing to explain to Rebecca’s parents. One day their daughter is dying of cancer and looking like she’s in slow agony, the next day she’s heaps better and may be cancer-free. I don’t doubt the happiness of having her alive and better would triumph over most emotions, but there’ll be a lot of demands for explanations.

Since it still is relatively early in Cauldron’s projects, they don’t even have yet a way to categorize the results. They’ll have to test the serum a few more times. Well, if they need people with nothing to lose, there’s no shortage of them in the world. They’ll find all the test subjects they want.

Oh, well then! Looks like the way to avoid giving explanations to the parents and the doctors is to not be there at all. The Doctor asks Rebecca to stay with them for two years, and then she’ll be free to decide if she wants to return or not. Hmmm...I wonder if the teenager who is with the Doctor right now joined under similar circumstances to Rachel’s.

And so, Rebecca stayed with Cauldron for two years. Before I continue, let’s see what powers she has...so, from what I see here, there’s strength. There may also be some physical immunity, so she doesn’t get hurt. I’m not sure if her mental processes are better now than before, because the reason why they feel sharper and faster now could be that her illness had her so numbed she didn’t notice a decrease in mental processing speed. So far there’s nothing particularly noteworthy or unique, no parahuman character from Worm comes to mind.

So, around one year and half pass.

“Alexandria,” the Doctor called.

It seems Rebecca is Alexandria! Alright, that’s fun! This should be an interesting interlude to read. It also confirms further the ties between the big fishes of the Protectorate and Cauldron go way back.

Alexandria waited patiently as Contessa adjusted her cape, then strode through the door. The Doctor was there, of course. Professor Manton, too. The boy with the math powers was there, standing next to a boy who was staring off into space.

Contessa may be the teenage girl who was with the Doctor. I see the Siberian’s real body is here, from the time he was an investigator in Cauldron’s payroll. There’s also...the Number Man, perhaps? Maybe he was like Rebecca – a teenager or preteen who was brought into Cauldron’s forces.

Turns out Hero™®© is here! He really was with the rest as a Cauldron hero. Legend is also here, and it doesn’t seem like Eidolon is around. Maybe Eidolon will arrive later into the group. So, by now Alexandria has managed to build a reputation of some sort. She also has a nice costume already, possibly provided by Cauldron.

The Doctor spoke, “She’s as strong as any parahuman we’ve recorded. Flies at speeds that match your own, Legend. Near-perfect memory retention, accelerated processing and learning.”

So she does have increased mental processing. Alright!

Oh, Eidolon is here already. Alexandria was the last person to join this group, then. So, the reason why all the powerful capes and also Manton and Possibly-The-Number-Man are here is because there’s a proposal Alexandria wants to make. The newcomer wants to propose something! This should be interesting.

She starts by saying how this room has the most powerful parahumans in the world, and that parahumans would tend to be villains because of the traumatic events they go through. That’s rather true, a trigger event sure would bring all kinds of negative emotions. Taylor wanted to be a hero because she had heroic role models – the Protectorate and others of their kind. I’m sure others were like that too, but yeah, most new parahumans would choose to be villains because of their traumatic experiences.

The Doctor cut in, “And I’m producing more heroes than villains. For now, the proportion favors us, and you’ve been able to keep the criminal element in line. For the most part. But even as I expand my operations, I have come to the realization that I can only produce so much. And the rate of parahuman growth is expanding. The next twenty years are projected to produce a total number of six hundred and fifty thousand people with powers, worldwide.”

Sounds about right. It’s a lot of people. True, compared to the total population of the world it doesn’t seem like a considerable amount, but when you consider the amount of power each one has and what they can do, 6500 parahumans are way too many. Can you imagine how awful things would be if there were 6500 powerful villains all over the world?

Since Alexandria and the Doctor worked on the numbers, I’m sure they’re right. Things like these are easier when you have fast processing speeds in your brain. At the rate parahumans keep happening, the heroes Cauldron makes will be outpaced. I find interesting that what they are focusing is in that Cauldron makes heroes. Perhaps this group isn’t the threat they had seemed at first? It could be rather interesting, really.

So, to avoid the inevitable, Alexandria says they should be what the governments are trying to do: regulate. As expected, the reactions to such suggestion aren’t of joy and immediate cooperation.

Turns out having Legend as the leader was Alexandria’s idea. Either Legend or Hero™®© would have worked. Alexandria didn’t look as kind and positive as the candidates to leader, and Eidolon was too powerful. Alexandria is also the one who thought and planned how to incorporate parahumans into society. From what I have seen in Worm I can see it worked decently well!

Looks like the Protectorate and the Wards were also Alexandria’s idea. It really is like everything in parahumans’ lives was planned by Alexandria. II never thought a single person, superpowered or not, could have so much involvement in society.

“I expect we’ll be able to employ the remainder of the plan, the eight-stage integration of parahumans with the public, because I will be in a position of power in the government. I, my civilian self, can be in charge of the government-sponsored superhero teams within eight years.”

Could she still be holding that job, I wonder...does that mean Alexandria may have a job in the PRT in a national level, perhaps?

To give everyone else some time to think about her proposals, she prepared booklets and is willing to give them time to think about the plans. It’s a foregone conclusion there was enough support for it to happen, but I’m intrigued about if someone in the Protectorate objected! Eidolon did, of course. Did he change his mind at some point? What do Legend and Hero™®© think? So many questions and most likely there won’t be any answers!

Ah, the parahuman who can make portals is called the Doormaker. For a moment I thought I had read ‘Doormaster’. That would have been kind of cool, haha. This interlude is taking in an era when the building in Côte d'Ivoire still hadn’t been built – or at least I imagine that’s that place, because the Doctor says that will be her base of operations in the future.

“Where is it?”

“Another Earth.”

“Like Earth Aleph? The one Haywire opened the portal to?”

I’m not sure I like the thought of getting other Earths involved in this story, honestly...I mean, it’s okay for worldbuilding and stuff, but I hope it won’t have a big role in the story or anything. I just feel there’s too much already involved in this story to need something like alternate Earths. It would kind of...bloat the story?

Once everyone leaves, the Doctor and Alexandria talk. Turns out Alexandria and the Doctor kept a few things to herself about the long-term goals. Oho, keeping secrets, Alexandria? How devious! She’s turning out to be more calculating and with a bit of a devious streak, I like her.

“You have your end of the project. I feel they’ll come around. Focus on that. I’ll handle the projected issues on my side of things. Just need to find the right individual. Someone I can groom, perhaps. Between you and I, one of us is bound to succeed.”

There’s something very sinister about the Doctor saying anything about having someone to groom. I’m sure by the time things reach the present she already has someone, but can you imagine if she didn’t? Who in the present would she choose? Not Skitter, I think, because Skitter already has a million people going after her, but yeah.

Almost two years have passed, and Alexandria doesn’t feel particularly compelled about returning home. I still am curious how exactly they covered up Rebecca being gone all of a sudden. I feel bad for Rebecca’s parents – or at least for her mother, since she was the one that appeared in the story. Her daughter was dying of cancer and then she was gone or went away, and now she won’t return. That must hurt a lot.

December 13th of 1992. Something huge is coming out of the ground. It’s a bizarre, terrifying creature I’m pretty sure is an Endbringer, because the description reminds me a lot of Leviathan. Leviathan was aquatic, this one clearly is related to ground. The descriptions mention obsidian and magma.

His skin was crusted with black stone that might have been obsidian, layers of what might have been cooled magma sloughing off of him as he planted his feet on the ground and stood straight.

‘Straight’ might have been too generous. He was built like a caricature of a bodybuilder, or a bear-human hybrid. He rippled with muscle, his skin gray, thick and leathery like the hide of a rhinoceros or elephant. His black obsidian horns were so heavy his head hung down. They weren’t rooted in his forehead, but in the middle of his face, a half-dozen curved shafts of black crystal twisting their way out of his face and back over the top of his head, some ten feet long. A single red eye glowed from between the gap in two horns, positioned too low. His mouth was a jagged gap in his lower face, twisting up to a point near his temple, lined by jagged horn-like growths that were too irregular to be called teeth.

His claws were the same, not hands in the conventional sense, but mangled growths of the same material that made up his horns, many of the growths as large as Alexandria herself. He could flex them, move them, but they were clearly weapons and nothing else.

Can someone send me an image of this beast, please? I’m curious to see how the fans depicted this thing.

The Protectorate is here, and so is the team of local heroes. The exact place they’re at is unspecified. The maybe-Endbringer roars, already injuring one of the heroes, and then points at that person with a claw. That’s a death sentence immediately:

The man ignited from the inside out, flame and smoke pouring from every orifice as he was turned into a burned-out husk in a matter of seconds. His skeleton disintegrated into fine dust and ash as it crashed to the ground.

...okay, I’m sure at least one person must have ended traumatized by this sudden death. Goodness, that’s horrible!

Soon Alexandria is targeted directly, and although she’s invincible, it seems she still needs to breathe. She actually was in danger for a moment while Behemoth – it is Behemoth! – drove her into the ground with fire. Interesting weakness...to think one of the most powerful heroes could die by, say, drowning.

There’s major oil fields near the huge monster that clearly has fire powers to some extent. I’m already marking those oil fields as a total loss, I’m sure those will explode.

Behemoth doesn’t control fire or rocks or earth or lightning. There’s a better way of having all those abilities under the same name.

Her eyes widened. Not individual powers. Those were all the same power. She pressed one hand to her ear, opening communications to the rest of her team. “He’s a dynakinetic! He manipulates energy! No Manton limitation!”

I didn’t even know that word existed. Clearly they managed to make Behemoth surrender. No idea how, but they did! Too bad I don’t get to see how, because the moment ends there. Oh well. Maybe it was like it happened with Leviathan – they hit the Endbringer enough and with enough force to convince it to turn around and leave after it caused widespread destruction.

They’d been right after all. Dumb luck had created a parahuman as dangerous as what the Doctor could create by design.

It’s not like I ever thought Cauldron had created the Endbringers, but it’s somewhat of a relief it’s confirmed they didn’t. Also, what kind of traumatic event would create something like an endbringer? Was this the moment it emerged for the first time? Was the person who turned into Behemoth under the ground? Maybe it was a worker from the oil fields or something.

Next scene. Alexandria swears on the constitution to defend the United States. This must be a public event of some sort, and since it’s her cape identity swearing, I imagine this is the end result of her plan to bend to the government’s regulations – regulations she would impose through her civilian identity. Things went according to plan, I guess!

Her mother is here. Doesn’t seem to me like she returned home, but at least she did see her mother again. That’s the least she could have done, so I’m glad about it. So, this was the moment they founded the Protectorate in front of everyone. Judging by the way everyone is cheering, they did manage to way the public’s feelings about parahumans towards supporting the heroes.

That was a short scene, it changes to seven years later. It takes me a couple lines to realize what this moment may be: the Siberian when it killed Hero™®© because the setting is what I kind of remember it was. Alexandria feels sick because they’re leaving a victim be with whatever’s there. Despite Alexandria’s gray alignment – as far as I’m concerned – she really wants to save lives. Nice to know she has the right purpose despite everything.

Until recently they didn’t know Manton was the Siberian’s real body, but it seems Alexandria thought she was familiar. She may have seen Manton’s daughter before. It was just a feeling of familiarity. I also notice Manton didn’t hesitate to brutally murder someone he had worked before in Cauldron. Did Cauldron care one of their best creations was killed by Manton?

As anyone may have imagined, Hero™®© dying was shocking to everyone. Panic ensued on the bystanders, it was a frantic moment. It’s the kind of situation that would cause more victims, I’m ready to scroll down and see something along the lines of ‘the Siberian lunged through the crowd, tearing apart several unfortunate bystanders’.

Alexandria moved in close, hoping to stop Siberian, to catch her and slow her down, saw Siberian swing, pulled back out of the way.

Her visor fell free, clattering to the ground. Then she felt the blood.

Saw, in her one remaining good eye, the chunks of her own face that were falling to the ground around her, bouncing off her right breast, the spray of blood.

...okay, it’s more or less what I expected, but it happened on someone I didn’t think it would. Alexandria has gotten mangled! Thank goodness Eidolon has some healing powers, but still! That must hurt!

The next day, it is said Eidolon’s healing couldn’t do much. She has lost her eyesight in one eye, it will be replaced with a glass eye. Can glass eyes see? I don’t think they do, from what little I know. Anyway, the glass eye isn’t what’s important here. What’s important is that the Doctor told Alexandria who exactly the Siberian’s real body is. Alexandria knew all along, yet Manton was left to go around and join the Slaughterhouse Nine, and killing who knows how many people. Trying to save people, huh, Alexandria? By letting a mass murderer go around freely? Well, I imagine Cauldron insisted Manton should be free to do whatever he wants, I guess.

“I suppose he thought he was qualified to oversee all that. Despite my strict instructions that staff weren’t to partake. Or he had other motivations. It could have been a gift from a father trying to buy his daughter’s affections.”

So what happened to his daughter was his own fault. He’s taking out his grief over whatever happened to her, and it was his own fault. It’s rather tragic, but I can’t really feel any sympathy over this because I don’t know Manton at all. The Siberian’s role in the story has been to be a mass murderer and no more. It’s a shame, really, because Manton has all the traits of the kind of villain you would feel pity at.

Eidolon maybe knew. I suppose Legend was the only one who didn’t know. Eidolon also knows about the plans and projects Alexandria and the Doctor are concealing. Whatever they are sure didn’t please him. Mr. Wildbow sure is beating around the bush when it’s about those plans! They must be quite a shocking swerve, then.

As I thought, the Doctor says they should let Manton do whatever he wants.

“So long as he’s active, people will be flocking to join the Protectorate-”

Alexandria slammed her hand on the stainless steel table beside her cot.

I’m just glad Alexandria didn’t accept that right away. I’m very glad about it. Unfortunately her objections will be ignored because Manton was left to do whatever he wanted until present day, but it means a lot that she didn’t approve at all.

“You’re right,” the Doctor said. “I… must be more shaken by Manton’s betrayal than I’d thought. Forget I said anything.”

As if!

It seems that by the time they saw the Siberian for the first time the Doctor still didn’t have the individual she wanted to turn into...whatever she’s trying to do. Instead she’s now thinking about making the right individual. Perhaps through giving that person powers? In that case, if someone in the present is this individual, then their powers were given by Cauldron, perhaps?

It’s present day, and bombs are raining down. I think it’s the present because this brings to mind the bombing against the Slaughterhouse Nine.

I was wrong, it isn’t. Alexandria is somewhere else that isn’t Brockton Bay, and she’s bringing people into Cauldron the same way she was brought in: find someone who is on the brink of death and offer them life. In the case that’s written right here in the text she doesn’t tell exactly what will happen, but that’s because the guy he rescued was almost dead. In Cauldron’s cells, there are many who are Case 53s, or at least that’s my guess because they’re monstrous. They all have alterations to their memories and fabricated weaknesses, too. The guy Alexandria rescued is given the dose of serum, and he starts undergoing changes. It’s not pleasant, although any powers he gets aren’t shown.

The irony of placing others in the same situation she used to be in isn’t lost on Alexandria. I bet she never thought she’d ever do this too.

Ah, now it is the present day! They’re talking about Manton and about Jack’s role in the end of the world. They just finished their talk, and were ready to stop.

The Doctor turned to Eidolon, “You want another booster shot?”

“Probably another Endbringer attack coming up, it’s best if I’m in top form.”

“A month or two, either Simurgh or Behemoth if they stick to pattern,” Alexandria said. She watched as Legend strode out of the room. Eidolon paused, then gave the hand signal. No bugs, and Legend wasn’t listening in.

So the other Endbringers are bound to attack someday? Goodness, one big problem more for the already filled future of Worm. Maybe the problem of knowing the number of arcs ahead is that I keep wondering when there’ll be enough time to cram all the plotlines that are being opened. My guess is that the arcs will get even longer and longer!

That aside, they’re all actively hiding stuff from Legend. He already suspects it, that’s obvious thanks to the lie detector he had been using, but I’m sure they’re hiding a lot of huge stuff. He’s not going to take it well once he realizes the extent of what they’re hiding. Heck, I’m the reader and I’m sure the secrets I have seen so far are just a small part of their bunch of secrets.

“We’ll manage,” the Doctor replied. “In the worst case scenario, we’ll explain the circumstances, explain our plan.”

“He won’t like it,” Eidolon spoke.

“But he’ll understand,” the Doctor said. “If the Terminus project is a success, the end of the world isn’t a concern. And I believe we will succeed.”

I’m pretty sure that the Doctor’s plans of grooming someone and the Terminus project are the same thing. I suppose this means she got someone – possibly the guy Alexandria saved -- and now the project is underway. There’s a chance they’re different projects, but yeah, I’m reasonable sure it’s the same.

“So that leaves only my end of things,” the Doctor said.

“Coil,” Eidolon said. “And if he fails?”

Ah, there it is. The Cauldron plotline is starting to be tied with Skitter’s plotlines. I was looking forward to finding out how it would be. Perhaps something Coil is doing in Brockton Bay is very important for Cauldron? He does have a huge money debt towards them. Maybe he would do a favor or two for them, even if money isn’t really something he cares a lot about – I imagine. He always can make more.

The end of the world is a troublesome matter because it gives no more time for projects. That should mean the Terminus project will end in the span of the next two years...interesting.

“If we assist him-”

“No,” the Doctor spoke. “If we assist him, there’s no point.”

“In short?” Alexandria leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “He doesn’t even know it, but everything rests on his shoulders.”

You know what this means? Skitter is going to inadvertently ruin the Protectorate and Cauldron’s plans at once. Whatever Coil has to do or they’re relying on surely needs his resources and everything he has, so if he loses it, he won’t be able to do anything. It’s possible that simply being alive is enough for him to be of use to Cauldron, but I don’t think so. I really can’t wait to see how Skitter ruins everything and possibly dooms the world when she defeats Coil. This is going to be fun.

That was the interlude. It was pretty interesting! I was glad to see more of Cauldron, honestly they’re starting to be the most interesting force in this story. Even more interesting than the Undersiders, I’d dare to say. I hope they and their plans appear more often in the story.

Next time I suppose the next arc will start? Last chapter had a nice ending for an arc, I would be kind of surprised if the arc continued further.

Next time: next update

#worm #worm liveblog #webserial #webserial liveblog #liveblog

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seokmatthewz · 6 years ago

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50 questions tag

tagged by: @parkseonghwa thank u, joo joo the fool

i’m tagging: @wooyuong, @ateezsbitch, @atiteez, @sug-er, @surans, @officialrenjuns, @ultvisual, @mingictzen, @sonqmingi, @softmingis, @prettyseonghwa

1. What takes up too much of your time?

my fucking bitchass schoolwork

2. What makes your day better?

all the groups i stan and inna and all my moots and pals and looking at pics of mingi and jongho longingly while hoping for them to post someday

3. What’s the best thing that happened you today?

uhhhhhh i sat on my couch and watched 3 seasons of the office nonstop fjkdslf i didnt do anything rip

4. What fictional place would you like to go?

uhhhhhhh i dont remember wht its called but the soul reaper realm in bleach?? badass as shit i wanna see it

5. Are you good at giving advice?

apparently i’m good but only if u want rlly blunt advice bc i Will tell people like it is and i get that that’s not always appreciated fdkjfdk

6. Do you have any mental illness?

i have diagnosed adhd and social anxiety and god ive definitely been depressed, im just a cocktail of mental illness fkdjfld

7. Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis?

nope

8. What musician inspired you the most?

hmmm probably either jonghyun or tablo

9. Have you ever fallen in love?

yeah :/ twas a time

10. What’s your dream date?

my dream date is stargazing its so sexy and fun ugh

11. What do others notice about you?

uhhh idk tbh ppl seem to notice my nose a lot?? shes ugly as hell

12. What is the annoying habit you have?

i am very clingy and whiny and kinda narcissistic djklflkdf

13. Do you still talk to your first love?

nah, i haven’t talked to her in like 4ish years now

14. How many ex’s do you have?

15. How many songs are on your playlist?

i dont ever make playlists but therere maybe 400 songs on my phone??

16. What instruments can you play?

i played the violin and guitar but my school has no music program so ive gotten rusty :(

17. Who do you have the most pictures of?

xuxi,,,,,,and close runner ups mingi and jongho also me

18. Where would you like to go before you die?

uhhh to a fansign for nct or ateez or gugudan i just wanna hold one of my ults’ hands before i die

19. What is your zodiac?

leo!!

20. Do you relate to it?

sometimes i do sometimes i dont i feel i really exemplify my scorpio rising tbh

21. What is happiness to you?

happiness is just being able to be still and not worried about anything in the back of your mind

22. Are you going through anything right now?

kinda??? but its just bc im a dumbass and should do my schoolwork on time kfdjdkjfkdljf i Hate my film teacher

23. What’s the worst decision you’ve ever made?

speaking to anyone i knew in middle school

24. What’s your favorite store?

forever 21 all i do is buy big pants there

25. What’s your opinion on abortion?

i support it, i think people should have a right to control what happens to any part of their body

26. Do you keep a bucket list?

nah i just figure out what i wanna do when it comes time to do it

27. Do you have a favorite album at the moment?

ology by gallant or smyle by kyle

28. What do you want for your birthday?

cash or an nct lightstick

29. What are most peoples first impressions of you?

i am frequently told that i’m intimidating which is ??? ive never gotten it

30. What age do you seem according to most people?

people thought i was in my 20s on here???? generally ppl seem to think im older than i am

31. Where do you keep your phone while you’re sleeping?

in my parent’s room since theyre paranoid about me using it at night for some reason

32. What word do you say the most?

idk probably something stupid like ‘dude’

33. What’s the oldest age you would date?

i’m 17 so im at the awkward age where if i date older than me im dating an adult so at the current moment probably 17

34. What’s the youngest age you would date?

a year younger at most

35. What job/career do most people say would suit you?

something artistic

36. What’s your favorite music genre?

rap and r&b are my two biggest faves

37. If you could live in any country in the world where would it be?

hmmm maybe sweden or something?? its kinda sexy there but way too cold, idk tbh i like canada

38. What is your current favorite song?

look back at it by boogie wit da hoodie ft. park woojin

39. How long have you had this blog for?

almost 4 years i think???

40. What are you excited for?

i’m excited to finally fucking graduate hell yeah!!!

41. Are you a better talker or listener?

listener i am very bad at conveying what im trying to say in words rip me

42. What is the last productive thing you did?

i filmed my film project woo!!

43. What do you want for Christmas?

cash money babey!! and i’ll probably get it bc my family doesnt know how to shop for me hell yeah

44. What class do you get the best grades in?

english!!

45. On a scale from 1-10, how are you feeling right now?

if i wasnt stressed like a 9 but with the stressed like a 5

46. What can you see yourself doing in 10 years?

i wanna teach esl so maybe i’ll be somewhere in china??

47. When did you get your first heart break?

uhhhh prolly in the 8th grade

48. At what age do you want to get married?

i dont reeeeeeeeeeeally wanna get married?? idk i feel like its kind of a waste of money

49. What career did you want to have as a child?

i wanted to be a bet but i have a fear of blood so that went out the window quick

50. What do you crave now?

shrimp toast dumplings from a restaurant i love

#tagged #thank u ma'am

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mischiefandspirits · 6 years ago

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From the Start: The Poisoned Chalice

It was supposed to be a one time thing. Arthur let the sorcerer run off with his life in return for him saving Arthur’s. He had never expected to see the boy again, especially not only two days later in Gaius’s chambers.

“He's getting hotter,” Gwen called out.

“Hmmm, liffrea, wuldres wealdend, woroldare forgeaf.”

Gwen frowned at the mumblings that quieted as Gaius grew closer. “What language is that?”

Gaius leaned closer to try to hear, but Merlin had stopped.

“I couldn’t hear. Likely none. The fever may have taken hold. I’ll brew him something to soothe his mind,” he said, his hand on Merlin’s wrist. His frown grew. “His pulse is weaker.”

“Oh Merlin,” Gwen said, wiping his brow.

“Ar’ur. I's d’rk. T’ d’rk,” he slurred and Gwen’s began to worry anew. The potion Gaius had given him earlier had quieted his words to nearly inaudible hums earlier, but it seemed to be wearing off as he was slowly growing agitated and she could just catch his words. “F’om’m f’gif’um ‘n f’der b’rme. Fr’mum feoh’ft’m.”

She opened her mouth to call to Gaius, but stopped as she spotted something glittering near the edge of Merlin’s bed. She pulled back the covers and barely held back a gasp at the swirling orb of light floating above his hand. She quickly threw the blankets back over him, tucking them around him so no light escaped. She glanced over her shoulder and relaxed when she saw Gaius’s back to them.

“Merlin,” she whispered, staring at the boy’s face.

Magic! Merlin had magic! But Merlin was… Merlin. He was sweet and kind and… How could he have something as evil as magic?

Suddenly she remembered something Morgana had told her.

“You know, I approve.”

“Approve, My Lady?” Gwen asked as she filled the lady’s goblet.

“Of your crush on Merlin. He’s such a sweet boy.”

Gwen blushed. “I don’t have a crush on Merlin.”

“Of course,” Morgana said with a wink. “He is a sweetheart, though. I hope someday I can find a man who would do for me what he tried to do for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“You haven’t heard?” Morgana asked, bringing her goblet up to her lips as if to hide the smirk she was obviously wearing. “Merlin burst into a council meeting and announced -- in front of the king, no less -- that he was a sorcerer and had been the one to save your father.”

“He did what!?”

“Apparently he couldn’t stand to let you die and was willing to lie on your behalf.”

Gwen blushed at the memory even as the realization sunk in. Gwen, like Morgana, had assumed Merlin had been lying on her behalf, but Merlin was a sorcerer so maybe none of it had been a lie.

“Lea’m, Afur,” Merlin mumbled, shaking his head.

Gwen grabbed the cloth and dunked it in the bucket of water.

Merlin had known her father was well before she’d told anyone. She’d known he had, but she’d never considered why. She’d just let him run off with his silly joke about being psychic.

“Go. S’you’s’f. F’ll’ the li’t.”

And if Merlin had done this, saved her father and then tried to save her when she took the blame, could she really think magic was evil? Could she think Merlin was evil?

“F’ster. G’ fas’r. Fo’w the ‘ight!”

“Hush, Merlin. It’s okay. Arthur will be back soon.”

“M’v’. Cl’mb.”

“Everything will be okay, I swear.”

Merlin relaxed into the bed and Gwen peaked under the blankets. She sighed with relief when she saw the orb fading to nothing and covered him back up.

“I swear.”

“He’s back!” Gaius and Gwen looked up as Morgana peaked in the doors for just a second. “Arthur’s back,” she reiterated before ducking out again.

The two shared a look before Gwen followed after her mistress. They raced into the courtyard, only to see Arthur being led off towards the dungeons by a group of guards.

“Arthur,” Morgana called out, rushing towards him.

“Halt, My Lady,” a guard said, stepping between them.

“Out of the way, I need to speak to Arthur.”

“Apologies, but it’s the king’s orders. Prince Arthur is not allowed any visitors.”

“That man,” Morgana growled. “Where is he?”

“Waiting for the prince in the dungeons, My Lady.”

“Take me to him!”

The guard hesitated, but bowed under her glare and led her off. Gwen didn’t follow, knowing her presence was likely only to anger the king. Instead, she returned to Gaius with the news.

Arthur reached through the bars desperately for the flower he’d risked so much for.

Why, though? My father is right, isn’t he? Merlin is just a servant, and a sorcerous one at that. Why should I, the prince, have risked my life for him? a demanding voice said from the back of his mind. One that sounded much like his father.

Because Merlin has saved my life at the risk of his own. And not for the first time, either. So what if he has magic, a second voice countered, this one with Morgana’s snippy tone.

But I’m the prince, I have a duty to my people!

My people, including the boy dying up in Gaius’s rooms!

“Just shut up,” he hissed, stretching out his hand just a little farther. “Yes!” he grabbed the stem with the tips of his fingers and drew it back into the cell with him. The elation lasted for all of a moment before he remembered exactly where he was.

Locked in a cell with no means of getting the flower to Merlin. He’d failed. He’d disappointed his father, angered him into locking him up, and for what?

He let his head fall against the bars.

So much for their great destiny. Take that, you crazy old dragon!

“Merow.”

Arthur looked up to see yellow eyes staring at him. “Oh great, you’re here. As if things couldn’t be worse.”

The cat chirped and slipped through the bars to nuzzle Arthur’s knee.

Arthur sighed and scratched its ears. “At least you’ll keep the rats away while I’m in here. Unless you’re as useless as your idiot creator.”

It purred and leaned into his hand.

“Though if you really want to be useful, you’d take this up to Gwen and Gaius,” he said, waving the flower in its face. “I’d even give you a name if you can pull that off. Maybe stop kicking you out of my rooms.”

The cat tilted its head, eyes following the flower.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” he snorted, moving to get up.

The cat jumped forwards and snatched the flower out of his hand before darting through the bars.

“Hey!” he shouted, but the cat disappeared into the shadows. “Perfect. There goes Merlin’s last hope.”

Gwen bit her lip as she approached the kitchens. This was a bad idea, a really bad one, but what else could she do. Merlin needed the flower and her best chance at getting it from Arthur was pretending to bring him a meal. She’d worked the dungeons before when the kitchen-maids needed an extra hand. The guards wouldn’t think anything of it.

If she was discovered to be lying though…

“Churrrr.”

Gwen jumped and looked over to see a cat perched on a console table next to her, licking its paws. She smiled as she recognized it as the one who’d been haunting Arthur’s chambers as of late. At least, according to all the other serving girls that worked the area. They swore it was Arthur’s, but Gwen couldn’t see the prince keeping a cat. If anything, she thought it was likely Merlin’s. He seemed the type to take in strays.

“Hello, little one. I don’t have anything to give you, sorry. I need to -” Gwen cut off as she spotted the yellow flower resting at the cat’s feet.

There was no way…

Gwen picked the flower up and spun it in her fingers.

It looked just like the picture in Gaius’s book.

“Where did you get this?”

The cat ignored her, starting to clean its face.

Gwen stared at the cat for a beat before shaking herself and running down the hall back towards the court physician’s chambers.

Merlin rolled his eyes as he glanced at the prince to see him still staring at the cat curled up on his desk. “Are you going to do that all night?”

“I still can’t believe it listened to me.”

“I told you he’s smart.”

“And I told you it’s magic.”

“Right… So what are you going to name him?”

Arthur scowled. “Are you even sure it’s a boy?”

“You’re free to double check.”

Arthur crossed his arms and shot the warlock a look.

“Perhaps -”

“Palug is still a stupid name, Merlin.”

“It’s fitting,” Merlin muttered under his breath, turning away.

A few moments passed in silence before a knock came at the door.

“Enter.”

The door opened and Gwen stepped in. She curtsied and said, “Apologies, Your Highness, but can I speak to Merlin for a moment. It won’t take long.”

Arthur waved her off, not looking up from the cat. “Fine, he’s getting on my nerves anyway. Just make sure he’s back in time for dinner.”

“Thank you,” she replied, glancing between him and the cat in bemusement.

Merlin led her out with a snicker.

“Why was he staring at that cat?” she asked as they started down the hall.

“He’s trying to figure out a name for him and it’s taking all his brainpower,” he teased.

“You shouldn’t talk about the prince that way,” she said playfully. “So it is his then?”

He opened the door to Arthur’s servant's quarters with a nod. “If you ask Arthur, he’s mine, but you don’t see him swiping at Arthur every time he goes near it. In fact, he adores the prat. So yeah, he’s Arthur’s.”

Gwen giggled. “It doesn’t really swipe at you.”

Merlin raised an eyebrow and pulled up his sleeve to show faint scratch marks. “He does. He also climbs all over me while I’m trying to work and yowls at me if he sees me with food. Honestly, it’s like having another Arthur around.”

Gwen giggled again. “I’m sorry.”

Merlin shrugged. “At least he’s cute, unlike His Royal Highness. So what did you need?”

Gwen’s amusement immediately fled her. “I-I wanted to say thank you.”

Merlin’s blinked. “Me? I should be thanking you. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you, Gaius, and Arthur.”

Gwen shook her head. “That wasn’t what I meant. I wanted to thank you for-for saving my father when he grew ill during that plague.”

Merlin felt his heart skip a beat. “Your father? I have no -”

“Merlin, it’s alright. I know.” She glanced at the doors before stepping closer to him. “When you were ill, you summoned a ball of light to your hand.”

Merlin’s eyes widened.

“It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone. I swear. It’s the least I could do after you saved my father and then tried to turn yourself in when I was accused.”

“I swear, Gwen, I never meant for you to -”

“I know, it’s alright,” she pulled him into a hug and he quickly returned it.

They parted after a moment when something occurred to Merlin. “You said I summoned a light? Did Gaius see too?”

“No, I hid it under your blankets. No one saw.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you. ”

Merlin smiled at her, then turned to walk through the door to Arthur’s room.

“Merlin,” he heard Gwen squeak.

“You were right.”

“I usually am, Merlin. You’ll need to be more specific.”

The warlock rolled his eyes. “I was the one that summoned the light for you.”

“Obviously. Who else wou-” Arthur cut off with a choke as he glanced past the boy. “Merlin!”

Gwen stepped up to Merlin’s side, looking between him and Arthur with terrified eyes.

“So… Gwen knows. As does Arthur.”

“Merlin!” two voices shouted.

A final note since I've gotten a few questions about this: FtS is request based. That means I'm putting out chapters based on requests by you guys. As such, this story isn't going to be chronological as you guys aren't requesting them in chronological order. It's actually fun for me because I've got the story planned out all the way until "The Changeling" and am currently rewatching “The Castle of Fyrien” to take notes at the time of posting this so I can put in a few references to events that you guys haven't seen yet to incite your curiosity. In fact, the next chapter is skipping all the way to series 3, so brace yourselves for some surprise character appearances!

Additionally, I went back and edited Merlin's age in the last chapter. It seems I forgot Merlin would still be sixteen at the time of those events. Oops!

#merlin emrys #Arthur Pendragon #gwen pendragon #arthur knows #The Poisoned Chalice #fts story

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