#hmmm i need to make a tag for my balls

[sillyfreakx5]

anti radqueer ball! :3

(I'm not an anti, just a radqueer who wanted to draw a ball)

[wholoveseggs]

Kinktober - {Day Eight}

{<- kinktober masterlist}

18+ ---- {Masterlist} {Tag-List} {Kinktober}

{Elijah Mikaleson x M!Reader} Request {Anon}: Elijah x Male reader Daddy kink, size kink, first time, praise kink, spanking, choking and rimming reader receiving

~ Congrats Anon you are the runner up in the greedy awards! First, for sending me this mere moments after I posted my kinktober list & second, for all the kinks! I LOVE U AND U GET A CERTIFICATE (see the bottom of this post for your reward) ~

1.5k words - Kinks: male!reader, daddy kink, size kink, first time, praise kink, spanking, choking and rimminggggg

It all happened so fast, one moment you were on a nice date, with a man that made your heart skip a beat, and the next, you were face down in his bed, with a nice firm hand coming down hard on your ass.

Elijah had been nothing but a gentleman, paying for your meal, holding your hand, being effortlessly sweet and sincere. But when you finally got him behind closed doors, you met the beast that he was hiding beneath those layers of gentlemanly charm.

It took him no time to pin you to his bed, stripping you of your clothes, kissing down your neck and sucking and biting marks into your skin. You let out a soft whine as he bit down, just at the base of your neck, before he pulled away.

"On your knees, baby, relax for me."

The command was simple, and it went straight to your cock, as you scrambled to do as he said, presenting your ass for him. You were nervous, no doubt, you'd never done anything like this before, and while you were enjoying every moment of it, you couldn't help the little voice of insecurity and doubt in the back of your head, that was telling you that you weren't good enough for him, that he would be disappointed with how little experience you had, or that he would find your body unsatisfactory in some way.

The power of his tongue quickly erased all of those thoughts from your mind, as he licked a hot stripe down your spine, his hands holding you firmly in place, so that you couldn't move an inch, while he explored every curve and dip of your body.

He moved further down, until his tongue was probing at your rim, and you let out a choked sob, the sensations were unlike anything you'd ever felt, and they were only enhanced by the feeling of his scruff, scratching along the skin of your ass and thighs, adding to the delicious mix of pain and pleasure.

"Good boy."

Those two words made you melt, you were desperate for more, for him to keep praising you, for him to tell you how good you were, and how well you were doing.

You gripped the sheets, trying desperately to hold yourself together, as he slipped his tongue inside, stretching and preparing you, his fingers digging into your skin, keeping you right where he wanted you.

You wanted to reach down and touch your aching cock, to get some kind of friction, but you didn't want to risk him pulling away. To even lose the feeling of his touch for a second was torture, and the longer you waited, the more you needed him.

He seemed to sense your desperation, reaching down to gently cup your balls, giving them a gentle squeeze, making you arch up into his touch.

He chuckled against your skin, and the vibrations made you shudder. You could feel him grinning, and he pressed a soft kiss to your thigh, before he spoke.

"Such a pretty boy, so eager for me. Tell me, have you ever had someone inside you before?"

You shook your head, your throat suddenly dry. He smiled again, replacing his tongue with his finger, working you open, the feeling of his fingers inside of you was so much different than his tongue, and the slight burn of the stretch, was making you see stars.

"Have you ever thought about it? Wanted someone to fuck you like this, to make you theirs?"

You whimpered, nodding again, and he laughed, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to the back of your neck.

"Hmmm, that's what I thought," he groaned, his hand coming down on your ass again, the sharp pain only made the pleasure even more intense, and you knew that you wouldn't last long, if he kept going.

He pulled his fingers out of you, and you were left empty, needing something, anything, to fill you.

He stood, stripping off his shirt and pants, his hard cock springing free. He was huge, thick and long, and the sight of it made you salivate. He leaned over your body, pressing his chest to your back, his hands wrapping around your neck, squeezing gently, and you gasped, bucking up into his hand.

He smirked, moving one hand to your jaw, holding it in place, while his other hand trailed down your body, wrapping around your cock, giving it a few firm strokes, and you moaned, grinding back against him.

"You want it baby? You want my cock inside you?"

You nodded, unable to form words, you could feel him, hard and aching against your back, and all you could think about was him being buried deep inside you.

You needed it.

You needed him.

He chuckled at your desperation, grabbing the lube from the bedside table and slicking up his cock, rubbing it against your ass. You moaned, bucking up, trying to get more of him, but he held you firmly in place.

He lined himself up with your hole, the tip brushing against you, teasingly. He was big, and you tensed up, expecting him to be rough, but he was gentle, his hands massaging your hips, soothing the sore muscles, and making you relax, and let him take control.

His lips were warm and soft, trailing down your neck, leaving marks as he went, and he slowly pushed in.

"Shhh, easy, sweetheart, relax."

You did, and he eased in, his cock filling you, stretching you. The stretch was incredible, and you felt so full, so complete, with him buried deep inside of you.

He waited a moment, letting you adjust to his size, before he started moving. He started slow and gentle, easing his cock in and out of you, his movements steady and measured, each thrust sending jolts of pleasure through you.

"Fuck, so good baby, taking me so well. So good, so perfect, just for me."

You nodded, unable to do much else, too overwhelmed with the sensation of his cock filling you, and his hands, holding you down, his voice whispering sweet praises in your ear, his mouth on your neck.

Your body was trembling, your legs shaking, and you knew that you weren't going to last long. His hand moved to your cock, stroking it in time with his thrusts, his pace increasing.

"That's it, do you like the way I stroke your cock, while I fuck your pretty little hole?"

You whined, and he smirked, leaning down and biting at your earlobe, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin.

"Tell me, baby. Do you like the way my cock feels inside you?"

You nodded, and he laughed, the sound rumbling through his chest, his hand moving from your neck, to grip your hair, yanking your head back, forcing you to meet his gaze.

"Use your words," he growled, and you whimpered.

"I love it, Daddy, please, fuck me harder, faster."

He grinned, leaning down and capturing your lips, kissing you deeply, his tongue slipping past your parted lips. He was relentless, pounding into you, his cock hitting your prostate, and making you cry out, his grip on your hair tightening, the slight pain mixing with the pleasure.

"Are you gonna come for me? Gonna be a good boy and come all over Daddy's cock?"

You nodded, the feeling building, coiling in your belly, and it didn't take long for the dam to burst, your orgasm crashing over you, and making you see stars. Your cock pulsed in his hand, shooting ropes of cum all over the sheets.

Your body was shaking, and your knees buckled, and he released your hair, his hand moving to wrap around your throat, and he pulled you back, flush against his chest, his lips pressing soft kisses to your neck, his hand coming down to stroke your cock, as he fucked you through your orgasm.

He groaned at the feeling of you clenching around him, and he was soon coming undone too, his cum spilling inside of you, filling you, and making you shiver, the feeling making you moan, and buck back against him, milking every drop from his cock.

He stayed inside you, holding you close, his breath ghosting over your neck, his hands gently running up and down your sides, soothing you.

You relaxed, melting back against him, the feeling of him pressed against your back, his arms wrapped around you, made you feel safe and warm, and loved.

He reached down, gently pulling out, and he kissed the top of your head, before getting up, returning moments later, with a towel. He cleaned you up, wiping away the evidence of your activities, his hands gentle, and soft.

The two of you fell into bed, and he wrapped his arms around you, pulling you close.

"If this is what you're like after one date, I can't wait to see how you'll be after a second," he chuckled, and you laughed, snuggling into his side, burying your face in his neck, and inhaling his scent.

"So you're saying there is a chance for a second date?"

"Absolutely, sweetheart, as long as you can keep up."

Did you think I was joking about the certificate?????? I WOULD NEVER

{<- kinktober masterlist}

[ghuleh-witch]

Fandom: Ghost Rating: General Warnings: none Relationships: Copia x female!Reader Additional Tags: established relationship, comfort, fluff, no beta WordCount: 775 Summary: Copia takes care of you while you're sick. Notes: Copia can be read as Cardinal, Papa, or Frater.

Ao3 || Masterlist

Copia knew exactly how you liked your tea: One tea bag (black tea, preferably Irish Breakfast tea), two spoonfuls of sugar (it has to be a little spoon and not a big spoon), and just a tiny splash of whole milk. He knows it by heart and has watched you make your cup of tea every morning since you moved in with him a year ago, but he was nervous as he stood in front of the stove waiting for the kettle of water to whistle. You were sick in bed with a nasty cold and had asked him to make a cup of tea.

“It’ll help my throat,” you croaked as you made sure to cocoon yourself in a pile of blankets. 

He, ever the caretaker, hurried to fulfill your request. Copia repeated the steps over and over. He had your favorite mug prepped with the tea bag, the jar of sugar, a little spoon, and the carton of whole milk that was specifically for your tea. As he rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, he heard you let out a harsh cough from the bedroom. Seeing you so ill made his heart clench. If he could snap his fingers, he’d take your place because he just wanted to see you happy and healthy. He knew the tea would cheer you up though. That’s why he needed to get it just right for you.

The shrill whistle pierced the air, and he turned the stove burner off and poured the boiling water into the black mug that read: Resting Witch Face . Copia let the tea steep, debating whether to ask you if you’d rather have honey than sugar if it was for your throat, but he knew that if you wanted honey, you would have said so. He stuck to your recipe, trusting that you knew what you wanted. He put the two spoonfuls of sugar into the tea, stirred it, and then added the splash of milk. He frowned as the tea turned a lighter color than you usually drank. “Too much milk,” he muttered as he removed the tea bag. 

A minute later, he was returning to the bedroom with the mug in hand, as well as a bottle of cold medicine. “I have your tea, amore ,” he said, setting both the mug and medicine down on your nightstand. “Added too much milk, I think. Mi dispiace .”

“It’s okay,” you groaned as you sat up and reached for the mug. “It will still be delicious either way.” You held the mug in between your hands, allowing the steam to clear your sinuses, even just temporarily. You took a tentative sip of the hot beverage as Copia measured out some of the syrupy medicine. “Do I have to?” You whined, scrunching your face at the artificial cherry-flavored medicine.

“ Si, amore ,” he said, sounding apologetic. “I know you hate this shit, but it will help with your cough and help you get some sleep. You need the rest if you want to get better.”

You put the mug of tea down and reached for the metal water bottle filled with cold water that sat next to your box of tissues. “Let’s get this over with,” you sighed as you took the little cup of medicine. You pinched your nose and knocked it back before quickly chasing it with water. You could still taste the bitterness of the syrup and the sickening cherry flavor. The medicine made you gag a little, but you got it down. “There. All gone,” you said once you swallowed it all down. 

“Good girl,” he said, cupping your cheek and giving it a little pat before moving his hand to your forehead. “No fever at least. That’s good.” 

“Still feel like a truck ran me over,” you said as you snuggled back against your pillows. You reached for your tea again and took another sip. “How long is your meeting?”

“I shouldn’t be more than an hour, and then I’ll be right back here with you. I’ll make some soup for dinner and we can have cuddles while we watch a movie.”

“Hmmm can’t wait. But you better get going or else you’re going to be late for your meeting,” you replied. You went to go set your tea down but Copia took it from your hand and took a sip out of it. “Hey, you’re gonna get sick too now.”

“Then we can be sick together. It’ll be worth it if I can spend the whole day in bed with you,” he said before pressing a kiss to your forehead and leaving you to rest.

[soul-eclectic]

Have you already shared your alonzostrap headcanons? Also do you have any fic recs with them?

i have not !!! lemme run through em rq ehehe

there will be a LOOTTT under the cut....so for everyones sake, here is this small doodle of them:D feel free to scroll past if you dont wanna read my rambling

i think that alonzo is a very heavy sleeper, and munkustrap is NOT. i feel like alonzo would toss and turn and snore real loud, and munkustrap is just curled into a ball snoozing quietly... when he wakes up, which is earlier than it should be, the only thing keeping him from getting up is alonzos dead weight. alonzo would totally sleep for 12 hours at a time, and munk would only get a solid 6 lolll ((it was also SUCH a learning curve for him to tune out alonzos snoring))

alonzo, whos usually always showing off or restraining his emotions to seem Cool, really allows himself to let all of that go with munk! he is very comfortable putting his bravado away for a time. he knows that munk doesnt see him as someone who needs protection, which makes him feel more sincerely confident:) one of alonzos words is "uncertain" so i play into that a loott for them

meanwhile, munkustrap feels very protected with lonz...i wouldnt say he sees him just as a shoulder to lean on, but where alonzo was a street cat who Knows His Stuff, munk kind of lets the reigns go. he does NOT usually like being taken care of by any means but he is comfortable letting alonzo do so! he still struggles to communicate his needs though, i think. the only reason alonzo can usually tell is just because being near eachother is second nature

though i think when they met, alonzo disliked munkustrap just as much as he disliked every other stranger cat he met on the streets. he could tolerate him being around, but he didnt really have friends so he was under the assumption that munk would tire of alonzos one word responses eventually, and leave. also, alonzo was and still is very much the "i dont need help" type lol

meanwhile munkustrap was absolutely ecstatic to find another cat his age that he didnt already know!! he reeeaally wanted to get to know alonzo, and maybe show him the junkyard one day for fun. sooo imagine munks suprise when alonzo shows up to the junkyard one day after a bad run in with macavity

he offers alonzo his own sort of guest den, but is even MORE shocked when alonzo asks to stay with him in his den.!!!!

long story short....they were roommates....unfortunately nothing happened for a very long time because alonzo didnt think munk liked him like that, and vise versa. it happened veeerry slowly, with more touchiness and words of affection...i think they had a "what are we" phase

uuuhhh heres a thing. first 2 panels are earlier in the timeline if it wasnt obvious by munks collarlessness !!! also gus. hiii gus

my fic recs...hmmm...im gonna have to go with

- Did It Hurt when You Fell From Heaven? by OnTheFritz

- Moments of Happiness by OnTheFritz (again)

- Sick Days by OnTheFritz (sorryy, they made a lottt of the alonzostrap stuff on the tag)

- A Pattern of Timeless Moments by Immasari

i cannot find my most favorite one for some reason...this is so sad idk where it went

[the-fiction-witch]

Just the Three of Us

Media The Artful Dodger

Character Jack Dawkins

Couple Jack X Reader

Rating Flirty + Mild Smutty

I sang myself a little melody as I worked, needle between my fingers the thread bound around it tight and the thread unwinding slowly from the spool on the table. Cold blood painted my hands straining my nails and fingertips. My skirt was around me snuggly trying not to get blood on it but I'm sure I would at some point, My shirt sleeves were forced and balled up high in the hope of preserving my sleeves from the blood. The only sound was my delicate singing barely forming words, my voice bouncing off the cold stone walls, the gentle sound every so often of carts and horses passing outside visible only with the tall windows out to the street, and some sounds of beds and chairs being moved in the hospital above me. The one light hung above where I worked as the body of Mr Ashwood laid on the table, he had come in a few days ago complaining of... well frankly I don't know what he was complaining of, I hadn't heard. But he had passed away in the days between so now I was here to sew it together and prep his body ready to be taken and buried in the spot his family had chosen for him. 

I rather enjoyed being down here in the morgue, as dark as that would seem a place for a young lady to be comfortable. But I don't know something to... peaceful down here.

I will say, my assistant didn't help. 

Well, I say assistant... Tag along.

When I first came to tend to the body, A certain... someone, Tagged along. It had begun innocently with him simply standing over the body with me and explaining the work they had already done in surgery that I would now need to avoid, slowly but surely he had grown closer, his hands settled on my waist, his head moved to my neck breathing down on me, until we reached the state we stood in now.

His hands on my waist his fingers pressing into my corset bones, his body pressed up against my own, his head in my neck often making contact with the cotton of my shirt, making the only other sound that echoed around the stone morgue walls the familiar smack of a kiss against my shirt.

I wasn't frightened or annoyed, I mean I'm mildly bemused by him but that tends to be my typical reaction to him. As this was a fairly normal occurrence, I was often down here dealing with bodies and Jack was often down here... I assume because I was. That and hiding down here got him out of work he didn't want to do. And today was no exception, he had come down with me I think half to see me and half to avoid working, and somewhat just for some attention. Which I wasn't giving to him, I was far too busy. 

The issue is I think somewhere in Jack's mind my wording of the phrase 'Right I'm off to the morgue to sort this body,' gets lost and arrives in his mind as 'Take your pants off I'll be in the morgue' or something else equally as inviting. But I suppose a lot of the things I say probably sound inviting to him, I know every time I even mention the storage cupboard he jumps up like a bloody six-year-old hearing the word ice cream. But the storage cupboard had been a place we had not much visited lately as we had been too many close calls there recently. But here in the morgue was still safe at least for now. 

His kisses grew more passionate leaving a trail of kisses up and down my neck, which made me roll my eyes a little. 

"Pray tell, there a reason your slobbering all over me Dr Dawkins?"

He chuckled in his sly way, "Becuase I've missed you," he whispered in my ear, "Haven't you missed me too? Hmmm?" He asked rubbing the tip of his nose down my exposed neck, 

"I have missed you, But you don't see me coming up to you where you're working and trying to bite you like a bloody vampire, now do you?"

"Only because it would get us caught," he smirked, 

"You could at least help Jack,"

"I am helping,"

"Yourself."

"I'm helping. I'm keeping you company."

"I have plenty of company, organs and bones what other company do I need?" I laughed, "Also what happened to his liver?"

"Sneed took it."

"Why?"

"You ask him," He shrugged, 

"Isn't that the fourth one he's taken?"

"Sixth actually."

"Why?"

"He's... doing something I don't know." 

"I can always tell between you."

"Can you? What Mine are alive?" he chuckled,

"Not always." I laughed playfully batting his head with my own "No I can though, look at this. You'd think he was cutting with a bloody butter knife."

"Hummm" He chuckled giving me more kisses,

"Yes?"

"Nothing."

"Speak Jack or I'll cut your tongue out," I warn,

"Bloody."

"Yes?"

"What would your father say he heard you uttering such language?" he laughed, "You never used to talk like that till you met me."

"Ohh you think that you're rubbing off on me?"

"No, I can do it if you want me too?" he smirked pushing his hips against my own so much it made me hit the table, 

"Excuse you?" I warned "You shall not be rubbing off on me you dirty little wombat," 

"Of course, I do apologize," he said, "I'll just have to fuck you instead then?" He smirked holding my hips tight and thrusting his hips into my own until he pinned me against the table and started to board-line hump me 

"Oi!" I complained, "I. am. busy." I reminded him trying to get his hands off I did manage to move them from my hips for a few seconds and in response, he grabbed my breasts "Jack!" I yelped forcing his hands off "Would you kindly take your penis elsewhere Dr Dawkins." I complained and the moment I set my needle down a moment he simply lifted me

"Up we go little lady"

"Ahhh Jack!" I squealed and sat me down on the empty table beside where I was working and quickly standing between my legs 

"Come on, you know you want to as badly as I do" he smirked "And how often do we get time just the two of us?" he smirked rubbing his nose on the bridge of mine 

"It's not just the two of us." I glared, he looked confused so I glanced back to the table I had been working at and the body that lay on it, he glanced back but smirked at me 

"I'm sure he won't mind," He smirked, pulling me to his lips, I wanted to argue with him but I melted very quickly wrapping my arms around him sitting my elbows on his shoulders as it did not coat him in blood as we passionately kissed he was the hungrier of our kiss but I kept up with him as much as I could the two of us kissing for what could have been an hour with no sign of letting up, his hands found there way up my skirt stroking my thighs suggestively so I wrapped my legs around him locking my ankles at the base of his back as our kisses got even more intense our gasps the only sound other than the clacking of our lips. 

I heard the door and immediately pulled back much to Jack's frustration but he saw the door, as Tim stood having come to collect the body, he saw us and of course what we were doing. "I uhhh I'll come back later." He said quickly turning around and shutting the door behind him, 

I sighed in relief it was only Tim, someone who already was well aware of what me and Jack I got up to and not someone who would have caused us to get into trouble, like Prof, or Sneed, or Christ my father! 

"So? Where were we?" Jack smirked trying to get back to our kiss

"We can't, if Tim found anyone could, we have to stop." I told him pushing him away and getting back to work "Besides I need to finish this body up." I said but before I had even picked the damn need up 

"Nope, off we go little lady." He smirked picking me up in his arms I again squealed but he ignored me 

"ahhhhh jack!" I whined, "Where are you taking me!"

"To bed. where that bossy little butt belongs" He smirked... 

[mstepenwolf]

ask game: tagged by @godzilla-en-mexico (thank you!)

do you make your bed: very rarely to be honest

what's your favorite number: 3 and 7

current job: behavior technician/special ed aide

if you could go back to school, would you: it's taking me so ridiculously long to finish uni that i will most likely need a big break from everything academia related after.

can you parallel park: barely, i'm still getting used to being on the road daily honestly

a job you had that would surprise people: hmm, maybe a front desk representative at the hotel in a very politically saturated area...

do you think aliens are real: i really hope they are!

can you drive a manual car: nope, and i doubt i'll learn any time soon

guilty pleasure: i used to dislike american rap but it's been growing on me since the start of pole dancing practice

tattoos: zero but i plan on getting at least one some day

favorite color: at the moment dark shades of red and green

favorite music genre: mixture of everything. indie rock, folk, synth-pop, dream pop, r&b... really depends on the mood.

do you like puzzles: i love puzzles, when i have my own place i will frame and put the finished pieces on the walls 🖤

phobias: difficult to answer this one, life feels so unreal at the moment that i genuinely don't know what is rational or not rational to be afraid of. i do feel uneasy around heights though.

favorite childhood sport: i used to play tennis, the feeling of the tennis rocket hitting a ball was very satisfying.

do you talk to yourself: only when i'm super excited or terribly devastated.

favorite movies: Suspiria (2018), It's Only The End of The World (2016), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Mirror (1975). there are definitely more that i'm forgetting.

coffee or tea: hmmm, impossible to pick one. my current favorite is jasmine tea.

first thing you wanted to be when you grew up: children's books writer and illustrator. especially books about faeries.

tagging @dasha1l1 @peachiyyy @obsessioncollector @gabri-el and everyone else who would like to participate 🖤

[serickswrites]

Make Me Your Villain XXII

Master list here (includes chapter links, summary, and character bios)

A/N: ok gang, this chapter is......dark. Like very, very dark. Pay attention to what Nova's refrain is over and over. This will be important in coming chapters as we still have quite a bit of story left to cover. Full confession, I wrote this scene first. This was the first thing I had pop into my head. And then I had to write to get here. And a little afterwards to wrap everything up. I've put the tags below here (and in the tag section), but if any of them are squicks for you, you can always pm to ask what happened in the chapter. Please enjoy!

Warnings: captivity, torture, restraints, blood, wounds, injury, self sacrifice, gore, blood from the mouth, character death, potential mcd, temporary character death

Jude returned not long after that. The brief interlude from Liam’s torture hadn’t been enough. He needed more time. And Nova was going to try and buy him some time, no matter the cost. Henry should be here soon, just perhaps not soon enough for her. But Liam is who mattered more.

“What were you two lovebirds chatting about, hmmm?” Jude said as he stopped midway in between Liam and Nova. “Anything good?”

“Just about where we will go on vacation after defeating you today,” Nova said quickly, not allowing Liam to speak. He needed time. She could feel the pain he was feeling. Feel all the injuries. He couldn’t endure another torture session.

But she could.

Jude rolled his eyes. He smiled. “I think I could go on vacation to Tahiti, or perhaps Bali? I don’t know though, I’m sure the celebrations here will be long, so I might not get away for another month or two.”

Liam opened his mouth to speak, but Nova beat him to it. “The only place you’re going is a hole in the ground.”

Jude’s smile faded. “Sweets, I think it’s your turn. Thank you for volunteering.” He took two steps towards Nova, his hands balling into fists. Nova braced for the pain.

“Leave her alone! You’re beef is with me, Jude!” Liam said angrily.

Jude only had eyes for Nova. Her plan had worked. “I’ll see to you soon, don’t worry. But I think I’m going to shut that pretty mouth of hers up for good.”

“Doing that won’t stop them from knowing about you. Doing that won’t stop the people from finding out what kind of monster you are. Because Nova’s right, we are getting out of here. And when we do, I will rain down hell on earth here. And then the people will know exactly what you are.”

Jude turned, eyes flashing with rage. “I wouldn’t say such things if I were tied up and powerless.” No! Liam needed time. Nova needed to keep Jude’s attention on her. She had to buy Liam time. To buy Henry time.

Liam’s eyes flashed. “I am never powerless. Not as long as I have my voice. I will never stop fighting you. And I will win. I will emerge victorious. I will always emerge victorious over you. Because you are nothing but a pathetic low life. A bottom feeder who thought they could rise above. But you will never win.”

“HOW DARE YOU!” Jude roared, taking two steps towards Liam. His clenched fists rising as he stepped.

“You are a soul sucker. A low life. There is nothing glamorous or wondrous about your power. You don’t have any of your own. You just suck the life out of people. Just like you’ve sucked the life out of this town.”

Nova could see the shadows at Liam’s feet growing and shifting as they started to rise. His eyes found hers and he nodded slightly. She could see Liam clumsily form sharp blades with his shadows, slowly growing them in size as he tried to lift them. She could feel her power once more, truly feel it. She began to glow, her light seeking to heal the tiny life growing inside of her.

Jude’s attention never left Liam. “I will end you. And when I do, the people will see the monster you were. And the town will heal. The people will heal. We will all heal and rejoice.”

Just as Nova breathed a sigh of relief, feeling the baby settle once more and she was ready to turn her healing to Liam, she saw Jude’s fist fly towards Liam’s chest. Her heart seized in her chest as she watched Jude’s fist punch through Liam’s chest, his forearm disappearing completely. No. No. NO. NONONONONO.

Blood filled Liam’s mouth as he gasped and choked. “I’ve stopped time in this moment, Liam. You won’t die until I’m ready for you to die, but you will feel pain, ” Jude said as he stared up into Liam’s eyes. This couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t happening.

Liam sputtered for air, blood dribbling down the corner of his mouth and chin. Jude leaned in close, but his voice carried. “I have your heart in my hand, Liam. It’s a delicate thing, your heart. Both physical and metaphorical,” Jude said with a chuckle.

“Please, please, please,” Nova’s words echoed in her ears. She sounded so far away. She wasn’t aware she was even speaking. “Please, I can heal him. Please, don’t kill him. Don’t hurt him. Me. You want me. You can have me. Please.” She couldn’t rip her gaze from Liam’s. Couldn’t tear her eyes away from watching pain fill his eyes. She could fix this. She had to fix this.

“I’m keeping you alive for this moment, Liam, so you can hear her pleading for your life. So you can hear her offer up her life for yours. So you can hear her despair, her screams, and her heartbreak.”

Liam’s eyes flickered away from hers for a moment to stare down into Jude’s as he gasped for air. His pale eyes found hers once more. His eyes were filled with a profound sadness as he stared into hers. No. This wasn’t happening. She could fix this. She could make Jude listen. She had to make Jude listen.

“Please, please. Jude. Please. Anything. I’ll give you anything. You can have my powers, my life. Please. Please just let him go. Don’t kill him. Don’t hurt him anymore.”

Jude looked over his shoulder with a wicked grin before he spoke again. He turned back to Liam. “Most of all, I’ve stopped time in this moment so you can hear me tell you that while your speech was pretty, and you waxed eloquently about how good would always triumph over evil, that you are wrong. Evil wins. You have failed. Evil wins because I always win. I always told you I would win because I’m evil. I don’t have to follow the rules you live by. So, Liam, you have failed. And I win.”

Jude’s arm twitched as Nova felt him release the time freeze. With growing horror, Nova watched as the light died in Liam’s eyes, his shadows suddenly evaporating, as Jude ripped his arm from Liam’s chest. No. NO. NO. NONONONONONO.

Blood spurted from the wound, flecking Liam’s jaw with bright red droplets, his arms falling forward as he slumped over, his limp hands no longer holding him off the meat hook. His whole body was limp as he hung on the hook, blood dripping from the tip of the hook and the hole in his chest onto the floor.

“NOOOOOOOOO!” Nova barely heard herself scream over the ringing in her ears. This wasn’t happening. There was still time. She could heal him. She still had time. She just had to get to him. She could heal him. She could heal anything.

“Oops,” Jude said as he tossed a gob of bloodied tissue onto the ground. He wiped his hand on his trousers. His arm was coated to the elbow with Liam’s blood. “Such a shame,” he said as he kicked out at Liam. Liam’s body swung on the hook, his head lolling with the movement. His jaw was slack and blood still dripped from the corner of his mouth and lips. “I wanted to spend more time getting my pound of flesh from your hide.”

Nova stared into Liam’s lifeless eyes. Stared into the eyes that were the color of the sky at dawn. Stared into them and couldn’t find any trace of the man she loved. She could heal him. She just needed to get to him. She could heal him. He wasn’t really dead. Not when he had her. She could save him. She had the power. She just needed to get to him.

“No matter,” Jude said as he released the chain used to suspend the meathook. Liam’s body dropped to a heap on the floor. Jude kicked Liam’s body once more. Liam didn’t cry out. Didn’t do anything except lay there and bleed. Like a corpse. He wasn’t dead. Not really dead. She could save him. She could heal this. She could heal anything. Jude smirked down at Liam, grabbing his body by the hair and began to drag him towards the door.

“Where are you taking him?”

Jude stopped. He released his grip on Liam’s hair and Liam’s head dropped, bouncing off the tile floor with a sickening crack. “Don’t worry, sweets, I’ll be back to finish you off soon. After all, you shouldn’t have to live without your lover for long.”

Nova didn’t relent. “Where are you taking him?” She would find him. She would heal him. And then she would kill Jude with her bare hands.

“Where all the town can see my triumph. Where the town’s people can see him. Can curse his name. Can spit on him. I’m going to put Liam where everyone can see. Where they can rejoice and sing my praises. And where they can dance with joy at the knowledge that the villain plaguing our fair city is dead.”

“The only villain plaguing this city is you, you fucking monster.”

Jude smirked again. He leaned down and grabbed Liam by the hair and began to walk towards the door once more, dragging Liam’s limp body behind him. “Such a mouth you have, sweets. How I look forward to you screaming his name and begging me to end it.”

Nova was alone again. Only this time it was so much worse. She began to sob as the reality of what just happened set in. He wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be dead. It was all her fault. She could save him. She could heal him. She could heal anything. He couldn’t be dead.

Tags: @dutifullykrispyland@jesssmolfur@parad0xical2@st0rmm@keeper-of-all-the-random-things

@pigeonwhumps@gala1981@allylovessweets@whumpitywhumpwhump @giggly-evil-puppy

@cravesunconditionallove @mousepaw @jumpywhumpywriter @ay5ksal @celestialsoyeon

@hufflepuffwritingstuff2 @anightmarishwhump @steh-lar-uh-nuhs @knightinbatteredarmor @pedro-pedro-pedro-pedro-pe

@whump-me-harder

[vintagelacerosette]

Tag games 🌷💖

I was tagged to do 3 tag games so that you to these darling buttercups thank youu 😍

Evie @energievie Jess @jrooc Jessica @guinguin1984

Kat @mybrainismelted Ice @spookygingerr

Rare and unusual tropes/AUs either/or game!

Highlight the one you’d like to read or write in bold (or a colour)

---

Demon au or shapeshifter au

clones or bodyswap

medieval au or edwardian au

steampunk au or cyberpunk au

gothic horror au or monster au

arranged marriage or rebound romance

reincarnation or immortality

circus au or theatre au

body sharing or telepathy

regency au or western au

dreams or psychic visions

farm au or spaceship au

meeting for the first time later in life or reconnecting later in life

gods au or superheroes au

epistolary or crossover (none)

pirate au or spies au

Thank you for these questions Evie 🥰 & thank you for saying either won't get upset at the choice I needed to hear that lmao 😂

A little game for you today: imagine you’re friends with both Ian and Mickey (I’m talking hanging out at their apartment, going out for drinks, the whole nine yards). Which one of them would you take with you for the following activities and why? No cheating 😅 Only of them because I promise you the other won’t get upset.

But first…

Name: Myn

Age: 28

Location: Terra Australis

And now, for the activities:

Fishing: Ian - I think he'd be more outdoorsy & I'll get him to put the bait on & then just read books & relax while he does most of the work lol & he'd be enjoying himself

Rom-com marathon in the park: Mickey - I he's can he a secret soft & had to endure watching them bc of Mandy. This is a chance he gets to watch without the survival mode in his childhood

Clubbing: Mickey - Listen, i know Ian's the club king buuuut, I'll bet last night's bottom knows how to throw it back with all the practice he gets on Ian lmao. I just need to get him a nice kind of drunk & look at us gooo

Wine tasting: Mickey - Ughh I'm not a fan of wine I got that gene that makes red wine so bitter but taking Mickey would be hilarious with all that snark

Escape room: Mickey - Absolutely in agreement with every one our boy successfully escaped prison y'all. Give him a room he can escape lmao

A day at the spa: Mickey - our guy can be a little ball of stress so I think he'd need some relaxation. But how he'll react will be a wild card lol

Office Christmas party: Ian - This guy would be charming as heck & we'd have a good time haha

Darts competition: Mickey - Hmmm this one I found hard lol they're both good aim with all they shooting they've done lol. But, I think I'll go with Mickey bc I think he'd have fun

Treasure hunt: Ian - I feel like he'd be so resourceful & stay on task

Assembling IKEA furniture: Ian - He'd be so reliable if I get confused lol

Monster Movie Tag Game👻

Curse of the Massive Werewolves 🐺

Sooo uh is it bad my mind went & thought kinky...? 😂

Not tagging anyone but feel free to play if anyone wants to!! 🥰

[foibles-fables]

fanfic writer questions

Thanks for the tag, @uhhhyaenbyjade!!

1- How many works do you have on AO3?

Sitting at 79, currently!

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 363,375

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Like, ever? Lots of them over the past twenty years, hahah. Currently it's mostly Horizon that's got me by the throat, but I've also put out a couple one-offs for Stray Gods and Control over the least year. Besides those, I'd say my main claims to clownery would be Legend of the Seeker and Warrior Nun. I'm also finally dipping my toes into the ATLA scene after missing the boat for way, way too long.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I'm gonna remix this question a little bit and pick the top one from my an amalgamation of my five most prominent/recent fandoms, since otherwise Warrior Nun dominates due to sheer fandom size-- 1- Because the Light Is Close (Warrior Nun) 2- The Weight of Us (Legend of the Seeker) 3- rest like you belong here. (Horizon) 4- brave this time (Stray Gods) 5- dream geometries (Control)

5. Do you respond to comments?

I do!!! Gotta lavish my genuine gratitude on you lovely, wonderful, amazing folks who take time out of your day to read and hype up my silly writing.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oh hmmm. If we're talking recently (like, written since 2010) it's gotta be so i'll stay half away (Horizon). That comic, man. lmao. lol. OH! Or waiting through daybreak (Stray), because that cat game is an emotional wrecking ball

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

TOO MANY OF THEM, LATELY? I feel like I need to dive back into a bittersweetness era, because wouggghh have my endings been tooth-rottingly sweet. Recently I'd pin this title on entering light (Horizon).

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not directly on the fics or to my face, which is nice.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Hell yeah! Overwhelmingly sapphic, usually of the more esoteric variety re: language. Using sex as a character study is my passion.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Not in many, many moons have I written a crossover. And the only time I ever did, it was from two shows in the same universe, lmao.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge, thankfully!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

For the first time recently, yes!!! So freakin cool! Check out this Mandarin translation of eye for eye, tooth for tooth (Control).

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not a fic, but I gotta thank Meg for being my cowriter on Talanah's FOTH path!!!!

14. What's your all time favorite ship?

don't make me choose between Cara/Kahlan and Aloy/Talanah. please

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Sorry to that one early Warrior Nun fic I left hanging after a single chapter

16. What are your writing strengths?

Emotional immediacy, prose-craft, evocative syntax, lyricality

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

MY SPEED. OUGGHHHH. Also I am actively trying to get better at dialogue, along with location/setting descriptions

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I'd tackle it if it fit the scope of the fic, and only with the guidance of someone fluent in said language!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Written for and posted? The Xenosaga series at age 11, baybeeee. I wrote plenty before that without posting, however.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

This legitimately changes on the daily. It's impossible for me to choose, so I'll just toss out if you held yourself up to the light (Horizon) as today's contender.

No-pressure tags: @mehoymalloy @tjerra14 @finrays @sssammich @askweisswolf and anyone else who sees this and wants a go! Just tag me as your tagger!

[serial-tickler]

15 questions for 15 friends:

Thanks for the tag @androgynousangeldreamland 😌

1. Were you named after anyone?

Nope! Not as far as I know!

2. When was the last time you cried?

Honest answer? A couple days ago. I've been struggling lately, but we keep marching on 🫡

3. Do you have kids?

No, I don't have any kids! But I'd love to have them one day 😊

4. What sports do you play/have you played?

I've played soccer, baseball and basketball! I know my way around balls, alright! (no diddy 🤣)

5. Do you use sarcasm?

Occasionally, I wouldn't say I'm lost in the sarcasm-sauce though!

6. What is the first thing you notice about people?

Probably the way they carry themselves, if that makes sense? Whether they seem confident or whether they don't, stuff like that. I think that's the first thing I notice.

7. What's your eye color?

I've got blue eyes, but not from the spice! ✨️🪱 (if you get the reference, you're my type of person 😉)

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

Oh lord... that's such a hard one!! I love horror movies... I even go as far as to watch them all alone in complete darkness 🤣😎 but if someone put a gun to my head I'd probably pick happy endings! (and not just cuz i'd want it to end happily for me!! 🤪)

9. Any talents?

Hmmm... I'm naturally good with money, is that a talent? 😂 my aunt always says "you have both Dutch and Chinese blood. You were destined to be good with money!" However, not everyone in the family seems to have that talent lmao! I feel like I'm also a pretty good cook, among other things, and I have a pretty dang good memory (which can be both a blessing and a curse tbh haha)

10. Where were you born?

Born and raised in Holland 🌷🧀🍃 (I was actually born in the house I live next to rn)

11. What are your hobbies?

I love reading, writing, playing video games, hanging out with friends, being in nature and stargazing! 🌟

12. Do you have any pets?

I've got a doggo and a lil lovebird! 🐶🦜

13. How tall are you?

I believe I'm like 5'10", maybe a bit taller depending on the shoes I'm wearing!

14. Favorite subject in school?

Hmmm, it's been a while, but I really loved biology! Wanted to become a biologist for a little while. Unfortunately, I dropped out of chemistry (because I SUCKED at it) but that was before I found out I needed it to study biology in college 😅😂

15. Dream job?

I want to be involved in a lot of different things. I love growing food, writing, tech, nature, art, and the list keeps going tbh!! My dream job would be to be involved in many different things! I hope to make enough money to be able to do so one day 😌

Whoever reads this, join in and pass it on if you can! But don't feel obligated! I dont even have 15 mutuals on here, so i'm tagging a handful of people I think are cool! @ticklishsoftie @sensitivemarie @hunnybunny2424 @biggirlpositive @dreamykirb @daisylovestickles @noonejustr

[roxannarambles]

Title: Picnic in Paradise

Ship: Nemona x Juliana

Tags: Pokemon battles, fluff, flirting, pre-romance, action/adventure, 2nd Person POV/Present Tense

Warning Tags: some cursing (english and spanish), blood/injury

Wordcount: 17k

Notes: Set during postgame/has major spoilers for the main story

You're busy making sandwiches and packing a picnic basket in your dorm. Nemona is sitting on your bed watching because the last time she tried to make something in the kitchen, she baked a cake with 2 cups of vanilla extract instead of 2 teaspoons, so she's a bit wary of cooking now.

It doesn't matter, of course; you're happy to pack a picnic. You've promised Nemona you're going to take her on a very special trip somewhere this afternoon to catch pokemon. She's very excited and can hardly sit still, asking you questions about where you're going, but you keep insisting it's a surprise. However, you can only repeat that it's a surprise for so long.

"Gimme a hint at least??"

"Hmmm . . . there are very, very strong pokemon there."

She swings her feet with glee and it's the cutest thing you've ever seen.

"Aw, right! Is it Colonnade Hollow? I hear there's a lot of dragons there."

"Nope."

"Hmm. . . Casseroya Lake?"

"Nope!"

"Huh. Well . . . I know there are some pretty tough water types if you swim far enough out to sea . . ." 

You giggle and say she's never going to guess.

"Okay, give me another clue then!"

You think a moment, then say,

"It's absolutely gorgeous there."

She clasps her hands together.

"Oh, it's gotta be one of the Ten Sights of Paldea then! The Leaking Tower? No, Fury Falls!"

Grinning, you finish bagging up the fruit and tucking it into the basket.

"Nope! You should just give up and let it be a surprise, Nemona."

She balls her hands into fists and stamps the floor lightly,

"Arghhh! C'mon, you just wanna torture me! Pleeeease, Jules? What if I need to pack something special, you know, like a jacket or something? You gotta tell me where it is, it's just practical!"

You decide to put Nemona out of her misery, because it was clear she wasn't going to let up anytime soon.

"All right, all right. If I tell you, you gotta promise to stay cool, though, okay? This is our little secret."

She seems confused about what exactly you mean, but she quickly and loudly agrees,

"Our secret, yeah, of course!" You hold a finger to your mouth.

"Shhh!"

She nods and repeats quietly,

"Our secret."

You glance around a moment, as if expecting there to be someone else lurking in your dorm room-- though with Penny's penchant for spy equipment, it's not an entirely unfounded concern--then come closer to Nemona.

"Okay, so the place we're going to is . . ."

You hesitate, and she watches you with intense expectation. You lean in close to her, just for dramatic effect, and whisper,

"Area Zero."

Nemona gasps, her eyes gone wide. Quickly, she asks,

"R-really? Can we do that? Isn't it still off-limits to everyone unless you have official business there?"

"Well that's where the secret part comes in," you say, amused. Nemona grins, looking both thrilled and uncertain at once.

"Oh my gosh Juliana I had no idea you were such a rebel."

You giggle. The truth is you aren't, not normally, but you know exactly how badly Nemona wants to return to the place, as she talks about it pretty much all the time with such a wistful gleam in her eye. And you were willing to do just about anything to make it happen for her.

Even if it meant bending a few rules.

"Well, the whole place wouldn't even still be there if we hadn't gone down and stopped the Time Machine, right? The shields would have eventually failed and Paldea would have been completely overrun with a massive population of ancient pokemon. So, I mean, we kinda earned a little extra trip down there, don't you think?"

Nervously, she drums her fingers on her knees.

"I . . . guess so?"

You decide to stop pussyfooting around and just be blunt about it with her.

"Okay, look. The truth is I don't think they want us down there because we're students, so they're technically responsible for our safety, yadda yadda, but the place isn't exactly well-watched. Like, at all. Nobody's gonna see us if we sneak in for a few hours. And I get the sense that Clavell and everyone else wouldn't exactly be that ticked off even if they did somehow find out. We are two of the very select few of people in Paldea who are actually more than capable of handling ourselves down there."

You clearly were winning Nemona over, not that you'd expected it to be particularly difficult. She nods and says,

"Yeah, that's true." You go back to the kitchen to finish up packing the picnic basket. As you do, you add on,

"Anyhow, we'll have Koraidon with us and can always bail if we run into any problems. Though with the Time Machine shut down, I expect the population down there has stabilized, since no new pokes are being pulled in."

Honestly, you were almost as eager as Nemona was to see Area Zero again. The time you spent down there had been incredibly rushed and tinged with anxiety over what Arven was going through. But even then, the glimpses you had caught of that hidden garden paradise were spellbinding. You knew Penny had no desire to return, and Arven understandably didn't want to go anywhere near it again. But to you and Nemona, the thrill of adventure was such an alluring siren song.

When you glance up again, Nemona has that familiar gleam in her eye, and she looks as amped up as a Pawmot mid-battle. She doesn't have to say anything more-- you already know-- but she says it all the same.

"All right, I'm in. Let's do it!"

Once you finish carefully packing the picnic and your backpack for the trip, the two of you walk to the outskirts of Mesagoza. It's a beautiful spring day, sunny and warm, with just a few fluffy clouds in the sky and a slight breeze. It's going to be perfect, you realize. You give your Koraidon the picnic basket and he grabs it by the handle in his mouth, like the bestest boy he is, and then you both hop onboard, with you in front and Nemona tucked behind you. You encourage Koraidon to hit the throttle, and then you're off, galloping through Paldea like a couple of trainers on a mission. The thrill of dashing along at top speed on Koraidon honestly never gets old; you love the press of speed against your body, the blur of scenery flying by, the way Nemona cackles in glee and holds onto you so tightly.

When you take an unexpected turn and veer away from the main path, Nemona asks you about it, but you say that you know a shortcut. Koraidon crosses the river in one mighty bound, then goes straight for the curve of the mountainside. You grin, excited and nervous at once, hoping your shortcut would work out all right. Koraidon kind of had a heavier load than usual, but he was pretty good at adapting.

"Hold on tight!" you shout, before the pokemon leaps and digs his claws into the earth, clambering straight up the mountainside. Nemona yelps in surprise and clings tightly to you as you both go vertical, bouncing roughly back and forth as Koraidon bounds and climbs. It was honestly a pretty rough ride whenever you took a mountain like this, and that's why you normally didn't; but you were far too eager to spend a solid hour following the flat paths before reaching your destination. You had plans today, darn it.

Luckily, Koraidon is an absolute beast and he scales the mountain like it's almost nothing. He doesn't even drop your picnic basket. (You make a mental note to give him extra treats later on)

As you reach the summit, you don't even slow down, instead shouting to Koraidon,

"Let's fly, Scarlet! Yip yip!"

He leaps, straight into the vast, foggy void below, unfurling his mighty wings; and as you glide peacefully over the Great Crater of Paldea, Nemona laughs and squeezes you against her.

"The best shortcut ever! You're amazing, Jules."

Your heart skips at the praise; you always get such a fuzzy feeling and a stupid smile when she says nice things about you, but you try to ignore it so you can focus on not flying straight into a wall or anything. You carefully aim Koraidon, squinting at the land below, trying to recall the landing spot you'd used the last time. The strange fog that shrouded the crater is dense and impossible to see through at first, but as you descend, the world below snaps back into focus. You're able to recognize things before too long, and you guide Koraidon to a nice, wide stretch of land to touch down on.

And then you're here again. You dismount from Scarlet and Nemona scrambles down as well, positively beaming. The two of you just take it in for a moment.

There's such a strange feeling to this place. It isn't something you can easily put to words. It feels . . . eerie, almost; the air sort of has this heavy feeling to it. Maybe because it's more humid down here? No, that isn't it. Yes, it's definitely more humid down here, but that isn't the cause of the strange feeling. The whole place, it feels so . . . foreign. The way the sun shines down so brightly from the dense fog above you, perhaps. The way the air almost seems to shimmer with some sort of power. The feeling of . . . some kind of energy, buzzing, like it's at a frequency tickling just below your ability to hear.

Something like that. Maybe it has something to do with all the weird crystals down here. Or all the ancient pokemon, perhaps.

You realize Nemona had sprinted ahead of you and you rush to catch up to her, not wanting to lose sight of her. You find her at the edge of the cliff you landed on, pressed right up against the old, rusted chain link fence as she looked out at the magnificent vista below. You come up beside and join her.

"I can't believe we're back," she says, her voice low and hushed, as if speaking too loud would disturb the peace of this place. She turns and looks to you, and you feel your heart stutter in your chest; it must be something about the lighting here, the way the air sparkles or something, because you've never seen her eyes look so stunning before, like honeyed gold. She's smiling like you've given her the best gift in the universe by bringing her back here.

You cough, desperately trying to ignore your mushy internal thoughts.

"Y-yeah! I mean, that view, it's, it's crazy!"

You aren't wrong, of course. The place is gorgeous. The land here seems to curve and twist downwards into a huge spiral, perhaps due to how the meteor disturbed the earth long ago. It's incredibly lush and green, thick with meadows speckled in wildflowers and trees, and huge waterfalls dropping down into the earth like lacy, sparkling curtains of water and light.

Despite all that, your focus isn't really drawn to the amazing scenery, but rather, your best friend overflowing with excitement.

Nemona grabs your hand and exclaims,

"C'mon, I can't wait any longer! Let's go exploring."

You laugh as she pulls you along, and you head down the grassy path, deeper into Area Zero, with Scarlet following close behind you.

For a while, the three of you just enjoy some hiking through the verdant landscape. Unlike your previous trip here, you're free to take your time now, and you can investigate whatever tickles your fancy. You pass by herds of curious Girafirag and some Raichus, and then find a swarm of Venomoth and Frosmoth enjoying the wildflowers. Further into the field is a whole group of Jumpluff and some Floettes, drifting along on the warm spring breeze. The path curves downward and past a small waterfall, which Scarlet happily stomps through, and then just past that, you run into your first ancient pokemon of the day.

They are several of the strange-looking Jigglypuff. For the most part, they look like the blobby fairy you are already familiar with, but they have long, flowing manes of pink hair that look a lot like ponytails; they also have larger, wilder-looking eyes and little fangs. When they catch sight of you, they bristle and let loose some ear-piercing shrieks.

"Hello again!" Nemona calls, waving at them, as if their shrieks were just a friendly greeting. Outloud, she muses,

"Y'know, they kind of freaked me out the last time, but they don't seem so bad now. I think they actually might be way cuter than normal Jigglypuff!"

You laugh.

"You have interesting ideas on what's cute."

Nemona snorts and nudges you with her shoulder, teasing,

"Says the girl who gushes over every weird bug she finds."

"Bug types are adorable!" you protest, hurrying to keep pace with Nemona and out of the path of the angry fairies. Nemona grins back at you, saying,

"They are. And I love that you made me realize that, 'cause I didn't used to think so, but I do now. Oh! There's more of them. Wow, there's so many!"

You pass by more of the ancient Jigglypuff, which are gathered under some trees, their huge, yellow eyes glaring at you as you walk by. You try to remember what Arven had called them, before. He said he'd gotten the names out of his mom's old Scarlet book.

"Scream Tails, I think Arven called them? It's definitely descriptive, I guess."

"Yeah, it suits them. Oh, Jules, look!"

Just a little further up the path, Nemona spots one of the strange, enormous Volcaronas. You perk up in excitement.

"Ooh! Let's get a closer look!"

Of course, you don't need to tell Nemona twice. You both hurry ahead and draw closer to the huge insect, watching it crawl onto a rock.

It holds its pair of wings closed up tight, which seems so strange to you, compared to a normal Volcarona. You aren't sure if it can even fly with them, to be honest. It's possible the creature is too heavy to be supported by its wings; it certainly looks far bulkier than modern Volcarona.

Of course, even stranger than its wings is the fact that the bug has a spiky green tail and almost lizardlike feet. It goes against everything you know about bug types. 

Nemona asks,

"What did Arven call these?"

You pause a moment to recall.

"Slither Wing, I think."

She nods.

"Right. I never had the chance to fight one the last time, but I remember you said the Sada AI had one? Was it strong?"

You think back to your battle that day and wince.

"Well, at the time, I thought it was a Bug/Fire type, so I sent my Klawf in, but it packed quite a punch with Low Sweep. And my Rock moves didn't seem to be doing supereffective damage, so I suspect it's a Fighting type, weirdly enough."

Nemona's eyes widen.

"Whoa. A Fighting/Bug? That's so cool!"

"Yeah, I know, it's really rare."

Nemona groans.

"Urggh! Coming here is so much fun but it also kind of sucks. I want to catch one so bad!"

You glance to her.

"So why don't we?"

She frowns.

"Because we'd get found out! I'm pretty sure people would notice if we started using super funky pokemon from the stone ages."

You cross your arms and give her a sneaky smile, saying,

"Yeah, but if we caught them and only used them to battle each other down here . . ."

Nemona thinks about this for a second. Then she grabs you by the shoulders, gushing,

"Oh my gosh you're a genius Jules! We can have our own private Paradox Tier down here!"

You laugh and tell her fondly,

"I wasn't gonna bring you here and not let you catch anything. I promised last time I'd help you improve your pokeball throws, right? I'm keeping that promise."

Delighted, she turns back to the Slither Wing.

"Perfect! I wanna start with this guy. I wanna see what he can do!"

You consider things a moment. "Hmm. Let's start with something a little easier, for practice. Then we'll work our way up to him."

She gives a self-conscious grin.

"Ah, yeah, you're probably right. Okay, lead the way, sensei!"

You both hike a bit further into Area Zero, locating a nice, wide open space with a herd of Girafirag. They seem like the best species to practice on down here; pokemon that are too small would be tricky to catch, and so would anything flying, but you also don't want a pokemon that is too dangerous or too skittish. Girafirag seem to fit the bill.

Next, you ask Nemona to throw a pokeball just to show you how she normally does it. After she demonstrates for you several times, you hum,

"Mmmhm. Okay, yeah. I can see the issue. Well, it looks like several things at once. Right, let's start with the basics, then."

"The basics?" she asks, a little bit of anxiety in her eyes. As confident as Nemona normally is, you know she tends to feel a little self-conscious about her throwing skills.

You nod.

"Yeah. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll pick things up fast. A lot of people end up struggling a bit with throwing pokeballs. It's just because their throwing habits from when they were kids tend to stick with 'em, you know?"

She nods, looking a little more at ease with your reassurance.

"Yeah, that does sorta sound like me."

You come close to her and pull out a pokeball, getting into throwing position.

"Ok, so, start by standing like this. Your feet should be this far apart, the same width as your shoulders, see? And your hips and shoulders should be aligned."

Nemona studies you and then imitates your position.

"Ok, check!"

You tell her,

"Good. Stay relaxed, though, bend your knees a little. Yeah. Just a natural stance, good."

You hold your pokeball up and say,

"Next, let's make sure you're holding the ball correctly. You need to hold it with these three fingers."

Nemona laughs a little, asking,

"Wait, really? I can't just hold it like this?"

You check how she's holding her pokeball and shake your head.

"Nah, that's not as effective. I know it seems kinda weird and it might feel a bit funny at first, but this'll make it so much easier once you get used to it."

She gazes intently at your hand and tries to imitate your grip.

"Okay, like this?"

You turn your wrist and show her,

"These two curled behind. Middle finger here, index here. Hold it out here in your fingertips."

She frowns, shifting the ball in her hand.

"It doesn't feel very stable that way, though?"

You pocket your own pokeball and reach out, taking the ball from her.

"Sorry, it's kind of hard to explain verbally. Here."

You take her right hand in both your own hands; she's wearing the black and pink fingerless glove that she usually does, but from the way it feels, you can tell it shouldn't interfere with her throwing. You gingerly turn her hand palm-up and move her fingers into position.

"These two, they're going to stabilize the ball, that's what it rests against. And you want to hold it here, all along here. It's not in your palm at all."

Absent-mindedly, you let your thumb stroke along her long fingers, idly thinking how pretty her hands were. Trying to shake off the brief distraction, you tip your chin up a bit to look her in the eye and ask,

"Um, make sense?"

It's only then you realize just how close you're standing together, hardly a breath apart. Nemona looks at you, but her gaze, which is usually so perfectly steadfast, suddenly seems strangely hesitant. You can't help but notice that her cheeks seem a bit pinker than usual. After a pause, she answers,

"O-oh. Yeah. I, y-yeah, I get it now."

Still holding her hand, you realize you're feeling a tad warm, all of a sudden. You give a nervous laugh and fumble to grab the pokeball back from your pocket.

"R-right, so. Um. Here. Give it a try."

You shift a half-step back to put a bit more space between you two and watch as she slots the ball into position in her hand. She asks,

"Is that okay?"

She turns her wrist for you to inspect her grip, and you beam at her, saying,

"Yeah! That's perfect! Just like that, you got it."

She grins, buoyed by your enthusiasm.

"Great! Do I get to actually throw the darn thing now?"

You laugh.

"Yeah, I think you're ready. Okay, so here's how you throw."

You back off a few paces to make space and swing your arm in a neat arc, demonstrating a few times.

"Here's the wind up, and then, zoom!"

She imitates the motion, and you have her repeat it several more times.

"Good, but you don't want your arm to go too straight. Your elbow should bend a little."

She adapts quickly to your feedback and soon has the basic motion down. You next spend some time directing her on how to step forward during the throw and move her hips, then you work on improving her wrist motion. It takes a little while, since there's a lot of things to focus on simultaneously when they're all put together. But Nemona is attentive and patient, not to mention highly motivated.

After she's done enough practice and seems to have the motions mostly down, you say,

"Okay! I think we're ready to give it a try on some actual pokemon."

Nemona snatches up a pokeball and eagerly follows you back over to the herd of Girafirag. She looks so excited, almost like a kid who is about to catch her very first pokemon, and you find it terribly endearing.

"So we're not gonna try and weaken them, right? Since I'm just practicing my throws."

You nod.

"Yep. Just choose a target and give it a shot."

"Heheheh, okay. Let's see . . ."

You watch as she seems to pick out one of the stragglers in the herd, then cautiously approaches. The tail of the Girafirag perks up and gazes at her warily, before the Girafirag's main head turns to look at her too. Nemona settles into position and aims. Then, she winds up and takes a shot--

The ball sails cleanly through the air and bops the Girafirag on the forehead, pulling into the ball. Nemona immediately leaps into the air and cheers,

"YEAH!! Did you see, Jules? How was that? That looked so much better than my usual throws!"

You laugh as she bounds back to you and you tell her,

"That was fantastic! Great work, my dear student."

She giggles,

"Thanks!"

You hand her another pokeball.

"Here, let's keep going. We should practice until you get used to it."

She goes to throw another ball at the Girafirag while you study her form.

"Good, good. But remember to keep your wrist loose."

"Yeah, okay."

She throws another, this time the ball sailing way past her target. She mutters,

"Whoops, heh heh, kinda overshot there."

Even though it had missed her target, it had been an awfully impressive throw otherwise.

"Dang, Nemona! You've got a heck of an arm on you. You're definitely gonna be great at long-distance catches."

She glances back at you, looking quite pleased with the praise. She asks,

"You really think so?"

You nod,

"Yeah, here, back up a bit, let's see how far you can go."

You have her practice hitting the Girafirag from further and further away, and it doesn't take Nemona long to start hitting her targets consistently. Once she gets used to flicking her wrist at the apex of the throw, she's able to put even more power behind it. You're proud at how quickly she's picking it up, although you're not surprised. Once Nemona put her mind to something, she usually excelled at it.

It seems like she's really enjoying pushing the limits of how far she can throw and eventually asks you to join in, so you both start hucking balls at the Girafirag, turning it into a contest. Although you have more experience and your aim is sharper, she absolutely bests you on throwing distance when compared to your noodly arm.

You watch as she squints, going for another long throw, narrating it as she does so;

"Aaaand . . . there's the windup . . . and the pitch . . . BAM!"

The ball rockets through the air with almost frightening velocity, striking the ground and missing a fleeing Girafirag, but not by very much.

"Yeah! Okay, that missed, but came pretty darn close. This is so much more fun now that I know what I'm doing!"

You laugh, pleased to see her so happy and doing so well.

"You really are improving so fast. Once you're used to aiming you're gonna be a monster."

Nemona flashes you a grin, answering,

"Well, it helps that I have an amazing teacher."

She tosses another ball; you both should probably stop soon, since the herd of Girafirag are starting to grow rather annoyed with your practice session, but you suppose a few more minutes won't hurt.

"Your stance is getting a bit sloppy. Make sure to move with the throw."

"Yeah! Okay."

She tries again, but her motion is still a bit stiff. You come up behind her and tap her hips with your fingertips, saying,

"Here, move from here. We start like this and then swing with the throw, right?"

"O-oh. Haha. Right."

You settle your palms on her hips and gently coax her body with your hands, showing the motion,

"Here, like this, straight, and then swing! Twist the hips."

She giggles as you twist her hips, twisting your own body along with her; her ponytail flutters into your face and you think she smells slightly of vanilla.

"Okay," she says, her tone light and amused. You suddenly feel startled at your own boldness, like your brain has only just now kicked in-- oh god you needed to stop doingthings like this-- and you quickly pull your hands away from her.

"Uh, y-yeah. So. Yeah! Um. Try that out."

You back off to give her enough space. She pauses for a bit, positioning herself, and then steps into the throw very nicely, the pokeball gliding through the air and striking a dawdling Girafirag, before popping back open again to release the cranky creature. You praise,

"Yeah! Just like that, exactly!"

She turns to you with a pleased little smile.

"I think I'm getting the hang of it, sensei."

There's something so playful in her eyes. Ignoring the little flutter in your chest, you nod and say,

"I, ah, I agree! In fact, I think we can call this lesson complete. You've passed the exam with flying colors!"

She pumps a fist, looking as thrilled as if she'd passed an actual exam at school.

"Yeah! Thanks for all the help, Juliana. Seriously, this is gonna make things so much easier for me."

You smile at her fondly.

"Of course, Nemona. Anytime."

You hear irritated noises from the nearby Girafirag and your focus is reluctantly drawn away from Nemona.

"Ah. We . . . might wanna give these guys some space now. I think if we annoy them any longer they might try to trample us to death."

Nemona frowns, answering,

"Oh, right. Hm, I hope they're okay."

As you two leave the herd behind, you say,

"I'm sure they'll be okay now that they have a chance to rest from our onslaught."

She chuckles, saying,

"Yeah, it's the ancient pokemon that gotta worry about us now."

You notice she's rubbing her right wrist with one hand, an unconscious movement you've seen her do before a lot, so normally you'd think nothing of it; however, in the moment it brings a concern to mind. Reluctantly, you ask,

"Hey, um . . . Nemona? We didn't practice for too long, did we? I don't want you to get hurt or anything."

She looks confused for a moment and you gesture awkwardly to her gloved hand.

"Oh! That. No, I'm fine. Just a habit of mine to rub it like that, heh. I'm good, though, it's, it's usually only an issue when it's flaring up."

"Oh," you say, relieved to hear it. Honestly, you've been curious about it before, but it had always seemed sort of rude to pry. She doesn't seem too uncomfortable, though, and after a moment, she volunteers more information, probably sensing your curiosity.

"It's an autoimmune joint problem. Y'know, when your body gets confused and attacks itself?  It makes me tired sometimes, too."

You think back to the times she spoke of Naranja Academy's stairs with such trepidation, and then to all those other little moments she needed to rest when you were out and about, and suddenly you feel a bit stupid.

"Oh. Man. I . . . dunno why I didn't realize that was a chronic issue. Jeez. I'm sorry."

She laughs and shrugs it off,

"Nah, don't worry about it. I don't ever talk about it, there's no reason you'd know."

You reply,

"Yeah, but still . . ."

You pause, both of you quiet a moment. You venture to ask,

"How bad does it get?"

She glances away. It seems like the topic is not her favorite to dwell on, but after a bit, she answers lightly with a shrug.

"It's a pretty mild case, compared to other people. I'm on medication that helps. Doesn't cure it or anything, but it helps control it."

"I see."

You think for a moment, digesting this new information. Quite frankly, you've always admired Nemona's raw enthusiasm and energy, and now knowing she maintained that while also having health issues just made you admire her even more. But you don't want to say it, because you're worried it might come off sounding condescending somehow.

Eventually, while the two of you hike along, you tell her,

"Well, if you're ever having a flare-up and need a break or anything, you can always tell me, ok? Your health's your own business of course, but. You don't have to push yourself for me, is what I mean. You never need to."

It's a bit awkward and hard to explain, but she seems to understand your intent just fine. Smiling gently, she says,

"Sure. Thanks, Jules."

You feel another spike of affection, honored that she's comfortable enough to share this kind of stuff with you. Then something gleams in Nemona's eye, and you glance ahead to see what she's spotted. It's a small group of Slither Wings, crawling among the wildflowers.

You grin, turning to ask,

"Ready to put our lesson to good use?"

She nods, as eager as ever.

Over the next hour, the two of you hunt down and capture ancient Pokemon for your collection. The Slither Wings and Scream Tails are abundant and are the easiest to find and subdue. You have to travel a bit more to find the ancient forms of Amoongus and Magneton, but it doesn't take too long. The last ones are the hardest, and you must venture all the way into the beginnings of the cave system before you can find Great Tusks and Flutter Manes, but once you do locate them, the feeling is quite victorious. The only ancient Pokemon you're aware of that you're missing is the terrifying version of Salamence that the Sada AI had referred to as "Roaring Moon." However, since you both have collected a team of six Paradox Pokemon, you decide to stop your catching session for now. You could spend some other day hunting down the illusive Dragon; for now, you both were eager to spend time with your new partners and see what they could do.

Despite the fact that the ancient pokemon are undeniably very aggressive and harder to tame when compared to a typical wild-caught pokemon, they warm up to you faster than you expect. It seems food is a common language that any pokemon understands, and after some treats and coaxing, you both are able to win over your new friends. For the most part. There are still some occasional hiccups, and you're bitten a few times by the Brute Bonnet (it seems meaner than the others), but for the most part they behave surprisingly well. Well enough for a practice battle, in fact.

Nemona is absolutely pumped for your first battle together with the ancient pokemon, and you both settle on some basic rules beforehand. First, no training past a level cap; you both should be on equal footing here. Second, no items during battle or held items. It would take too long to sort those out, everything would just be simpler and quicker without them for now.

Third, you agree to no move limits. Any TMs you happen to have on hand are fair game, if you manage to teach them in time. You both have thirty minutes to go off somewhere and prepare, and then you'll meet up for the fight.

Those thirty minutes are sheer chaos as you rush to consider the move sets of all your team members and your strategy. The thing about this fight is you know Nemona's exact team-makeup and all its weak points, but so does she. It's kind of weird trying to prepare for that, because in a way it's almost too much information. You scribble notes on a pad of paper (you always had it in your bag; Nemona teased you for being a "boomer" and not using a Notepad on your phone instead, but your typing was always kinda slow and pencils were just easier). Your notes are pretty messy but at least you have a rough outline on your strategies.

Then it's time to battle. Nemona wants the battle to take place somewhere cool, so you guys wander around for a bit before finding a truly aesthetic location: a shallow pool of water that eventually meets up with the cliff face, dropping into a magnificent waterfall that flows down into the deep pit of the cave system. It's gorgeous to look at, and surrounded by soft grasses and trees, Gogoats grazing placidly and Buizel frolicking in the water.

The water is so shallow and tranquil here that you can easily walk into it without even getting your shoes too wet, so you both walk out into the middle of the water pool to stage your fight. The Gogoats and other nearby Pokemon all seem to pause and watch in curiosity; it feels like there's an audience for this unique occasion in Pokemon battling history.

"All set?" Nemona asks, grinning at you from the other side of the water pool. Behind her, the water roars into a waterfall that dips into the shimmering void of the caverns.

You smile and nod.

She reaches down to her pockets to grab her first pokeball, and with a fling, sends out her lead. You do the same, and your pokemon drops to the ground with a small splash.

You've both sent out your Slither Wings, and laugh at the coincidence.

"All right, battle of the bugs, let's go!" You point and shout your command to your new partner,

"Okay, Spike, Flare Blitz!"

Nemona's eyes widen and she issues a command to her own pokemon.

"Slither Wing, use--"

She doesn't get a chance to even finish, as your new pokemon is especially feisty. It cloaks itself in a shroud of flames and goes barreling after its opponent immediately, just breaking into a dead run and charging. Nemona yelps in surprise and her pokemon tries to dodge, but it hardly has the time to even blink before your pokemon crashes into it in a furious fireball. Not that bugs actually blinked.

Nemona crosses her arms, commenting mildly,

"Starting off strong, eh?"

You grin proudly. Her Slither Wing is a dazed mess on the watery ground, and you call for your pokemon to return to your side of the battlefield.

"Good job, Spike! Let's get ready for the next one."

However, you make a mistake. You shouldn't have been so confidant.

Because Nemona's pokemon, despite looking absolutely crushed, still hasn't fainted. You see it struggle on its fluffy little legs, and Nemona helps it back up to its feet. She pets its head, cooing to it,

"Good boy, there you go! Such a good boy. You took that like a champ."

"How . . . how is it still going?" you ask, in disbelief. You hit it with a Flare Blitz, for pete's sake.

Nemona points, ordering her pokemon.

"Slither Wing. Acrobatics!"

You watch as it twitches its tail and then charges, splashing through the water, running faster and faster, until it's only a blur.

"Oh--"

It strikes your pokemon like a bolt from the blue, crashing into it, then turning faster than the eye could detect and smacking into it, again and again. The attack is devastating. But of course, Slither Wing was four times weak to Flying. Not to mention the Flare Blitz recoil.

"Damn," you say as Spike faints and you return it to its ball.

"I wish I had an Acrobatics TM on hand."

You really thought the Flare Blitz would have been enough, but oh well.

"They definitely built these pokes to be tough," she says, as her Slither Wing waddles back over to her, looking quite exhausted. You consider your options a moment, then smile. Choosing a ball, you toss it.

"ChompyMcBiteyFace, go!"

Your Brute Bonnet materializes and Nemona chokes on a laugh.

"Jules, what kind of name is that?"

You stick a tongue out.

"Hey, at least I named mine!"

She huffed,

"I was busy thinking of strategy, not names!"

Well, that was a valid point, you supposed. You sigh, "All right, well. Whatever."

You lean down and whisper your command to the vicious-looking mushroom creature.

"Ok McBitey, Sucker Punch!"

The pokemon readies itself. You look to your opponent eagerly.

Nemona raises a brow, then holds up a pokeball.

"C'mon Slither Wing, that's enough."

You watch as her pokemon returns and say,

"Aaaw . . ."

"Jules, that Sucker Punch was totally obvious, it's not like Brute Bonnet is gonna outspeed."

You sigh,

"Okay, I guess that's true. Can't blame a girl for trying."

You watch as Nemona ponders for a moment, then selects another pokeball.

"Great Tusk, go!" The purple and pink elephant appears on the battlefield, and quickly turns to glare in the direction of your pokemon with its beady, yellow eyes. Nemona mutters an order to her pokemon, and then she gazes across the field at you, looking eager and expectant.

You consider what Nemona's likely next move is. Brute Bonnet has very decent defenses, so she'll have to hit it pretty hard. Of the available options to Great Tusk, it seems most likely it will use its supereffective STAB, so a fighting move. The best it has at this level naturally is Brick Break, but you're betting she taught it Close Combat.

You realize you have the opportunity for a great prediction. Grabbing the empty pokeball, you order your McBiteyFace to return. Then you toss another ball.

"Okay, Fluttershy!" The strange, ethereal ghost materializes, ready to face its opponent. You wait, hoping you've guessed right. From across the battlefield, Nemona nods, telling her pokemon,

"Go!"

The creature charges, crashing through the pool of water and swinging its tusks at your Flutter Mane violently, back and forth, again and again, whipping itself into a frenzy. But its efforts are entirely fruitless. The attacks simply phase straight through the ghost, harmlessly.

You're feeling pretty smug about your successful prediction as Great Tusk meekly returns to its master's side, looking very frustrated about its futile attacks. You call out lightly,

"Okay, so the Sucker Punch was obvious, but you didn't see that one coming, eh?"

She doesn't respond to your teasing the way you expect; oddly, she doesn't seem bothered in the least by it. In an even tone, she answers simply,

"Yeah, guess not!"

There's a funny feeling prickling at your neck. Nemona isn't smiling or anything; her expression is neutral, but you can sense something is off. She's holding something back, at least, that much is for sure.

Ugh, since when did Nemona start learning how to keep a poker face?

You turn to your Flutter Mane. Well, regardless, Nemona's next course of action is pretty clear. She'll have to switch out now; she knows Flutter Mane can outspeed and wipe out Great Tusk with a single Dazzling Gleam. But that's also what gives you the perfect opportunity, and a chance to possibly sweep the entire game.

You lean in and quietly murmur your command to the wispy purple ghost;

"Calm Mind."

Then you look to see what your opponent will do. You know even if Nemona does have Tusk stay in and attack for some weird reason, your Flutter Mane can survive one hit from most of the moves in its arsenal. Maybe not a steel move, but you're pretty sure Nemona doesn't have any Steel TMs in her bag. You're feeling pretty confidant.

But when you catch Nemona's gaze, your confidence quickly wavers. There's something gleaming in her eye, something terribly excited, and all her efforts to keep a straight face are quickly melting away as you watch.

Oh, no, what have you missed?

Nemona points and shouts her orders to her Great Tusk:

"Stomping Tantrum!"

Your Flutter Mane closes her eyes and begins to glow from the effects of Calm Mind, and you struggle to recall which move Stomping Tantrum is. It isn't as bad as Earthquake, but wasn't there something weird about it? Something to do with--

The enraged pokemon tears into your Flutter Mane, trumpeting and stamping so hard into the ground that chunks of earth go flying in its wake. The ghost crumples like a wet paper towel.

Ah. Right. The power of Stomping Tantrum doubles if the pokemon's previous move failed. You remember now.

You sigh, realizing your mistake. You should be annoyed, but Nemona is bouncing in glee and it's impossible to be annoyed with a sight like that.

"How'd you know I'd Calm Mind, though?" you call. You had to teach that move with a TM.

Nemona just crosses her arms, grinning, and says, "You always go for the setup, Jules."

You grumble at that. Guess you needed to switch things up a little.

Honestly, after losing such an important pokemon-- you consider Flutter Mane to be the crux of your team-- you don't feel like your chances are great, but you're still going to give it your best shot. You send out your Scream Tail next to try and handle the Great Tusk. Lucky for you, you get an attack drop with your first Play Rough. Scream Tail can tank the Earthquakes long enough to take the Great Tusk out, which is a good start.

However, your Scream Tail's weakened after all that, and Nemona switches her Flutter Mane in to easily finish it off. You decide to send out your Sandy Shocks next; you know its Heavy Slam can destroy Flutter Mane. Of course, Nemona knows as well, and she switches to her own Sandy Shocks. It's the second time you both have the same species facing off against each other, and once again, you get lucky and outspeed, destroying her Sandy Shocks with an Earth Power. Nemona demands to know why the heck your pokemon are always outspeeding hers, and you joke it's because she can only catch the slow pokemon.

"Oh, I'm getting youfor that," she threatens, grabbing up her next pokeball.

She sends out Brute Bonnet. You tease her she's gonna get you with literally the slowest Paradox Pokemon there is. As fun as it is to joke around, though, it's actually kind of an awkward pokemon for your team to take on. Your own Brute Bonnet doesn't have the coverage moves for it, and you don't fancy the thought of sending your Great Tusk out to take the incoming grass move. But if you leave Sandy Shocks in, it will be toast too. Not to mention Sandy Shocks doesn't have any decent moves for touching Brute. As many weaknesses as the Grass/Dark type has, Sandy Shocks has quite a shallow move pool for coverage and can't exploit those weaknesses.

You spend several minutes puzzling over it, until a possible solution finally occurs to you. You aren't sure if it will work, but maybe, just maybe . . .

Screw it, it's worth a try.

You reach into your bag, pulling out the charged Tera Orb. You and Nemona had already stepped away a bit further from the battle than usual, the moment you'd decided to send Sandy Shocks out, for safety reasons. It really wasn't a good plan to stand in a pool of water while electric pokemon were on the field, after all. However, after considering things, you call out to Nemona.

"Um, we might wanna step even further back. This might get a bit intense."

You both get a little more distance, and then, you fling your Tera Orb as hard as you can.

Watching the Terastilization process is always a treat, but down here in Area Zero, it seems even more dramatic than usual, the energy flowing not just from your Tera Orb but from the air all around you. Your Sandy Shocks crystallizes into an Electric Tera type, and its power seems to pulse from within, glittering and bright. The incoming Giga Drain does minimal damage, thanks to its now pure Electric typing. Of course, you still don't have any moves that are stellar against Brute Bonnet, but it no longer had any moves that were great against your poke, either. It was a war of attrition, now.

To give yourself the best chances, you start off with Electric Terrain. Nemona orders her Bonnet to Thrash, and you wince as the hit connects with your pokemon. You hope Sandy Shocks can last long enough. You issue your order-- Thunder. When the sparkly, Terastallize-powered bolt of lightning comes crashing down on the Bonnet, the resisted attack still doesn't seem to hit anywhere near hard as you'd like, despite all the buffs. This is gonna take a while.

However, lady luck is smiling upon you, it seems, because during the next turn, the Brute Bonnet lets out a shrill cry and struggles to move. It seems the Thunder has immediately struck it with paralysis. Yes!

And then you find even greater luck; when the Bonnet manages to move the next turn, it stumbles and falls, exhausted from the confusing effects of Thrash and the paralysis combined. You're able to clear it out with three Thunders. The method is a bit crude, but it gets the job done in the end.

And then, Nemonafinally makes a major mistake. She sends out her Flutter Mane. It's obvious she expects to clear out your injured Sandy Shocks with just one hit. And it very nearly does. 

. . . but it doesn't quite. Your Sandy Shocks is able to hit her Flutter Mane with a Thunder before going down the next turn. It does a huge amount of damage. Suddenly, you're full of hope. You might actually be able to win this one. You send out your own Brute Bonnet.

Nemona switches to her Scream Tail, taking a hit from your Bonnet's Payback. The next turn, her Scream Tail uses Play Rough and Nemona gets a little of her own luck-- a critical hit. Well, at least the luck had evened out, you suppose. Your second Payback weakens the Scream Tail a fair bit, and at this point, both pokemon are looking pretty worn down.

You have to keep Bonnet alive. It's your win condition. It can finish off the rest of Nemona's team with its Sucker Punch. She of course knows that, though. And you only have four Sucker Punches left to use. She might try to stall you out.

You think for a bit, then decide to switch to Great Tusk. On the same turn, she switches to her Slither Wing. She goes for Acrobatics, but afterward, her Slither Wing falls to your Earthquake. She brings her Flutter Mane in next, and can easily finish off your Great Tusk.

You bring your final pokemon back in, your weakened Brute Bonnet. You have to Sucker Punch.

She swaps out to her Scream Tail, wasting one of your Sucker Punches. You're down to three. The next turn, she must try to attack, because your Bonnet finishes her Scream Tail off.

Two.

She lets her final pokemon back out onto the field. You think you have this in the bag. You tell your Bonnet to Sucker Punch again.

She reveals she has a setup move. She has her Flutter Mane use Calm Mind.

One.

The battle has ended up being ridiculously close. And now, you both are staring each other down fiercely, trying to read the others' mind. Now that electric pokemon moves are no longer a risk, you've both returned to standing in the shallow pool of water your pokemon were using as a battle arena; it made for a rather aesthetically-pleasing backdrop for such an intense moment.

You have two choices; Sucker Punch, or a non-priority attack. If she tries to Calm Mind again and stall out your Sucker Punch, you can use Payback and win. If she tries to attack you, you can use Sucker Punch and win.

It's an absurdly difficult mind game. You aren't exactly a huge fan of really deep mind games-- they feel like they twist your brain into knots-- but Nemona looks like she's having the time of her life. Her eyes are fiery and her grin looks practically giddy; she can't even hold still, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"What's it gonna be, Jules? Sucker or no Sucker?"

You groan. Maybe if you can get her to talk, it'll help.

"I dunno, mi tesoro. What move do you want me to do?"

She laughs. Outloud, she muses,

"Hmmm, you're probably thinking I'll switch it up and just attack this turn, so you'll Sucker Punch. But I've probably already decided that's what you'd wanna do. So maybe I'll Calm Mind again, and you should Payback. But then again, maybe I've predicted that you've predicted my prediction and--"

"NEMONA, STOP."

She giggles, and you decide to just pick something because it isn't worth this headache. You lean down to your Brute Bonnet, who is looking rather impatient with all this waiting. Quietly, you mutter to him,

"Okay, ChompyMcBiteyFace. It's all up to you now. I want you to use . . . Payback."

When you lean back up, Nemona asks,

"You ready?!"

You nod, trying to look confidant. It's important, because pokemon can pick up on a trainer's nervousness. You give McBitey a trusting smile.

Nemona gestures dramatically and shouts to her Flutter Mane,

"Okay Flutter Mane, GO!"

You shout for your Brute Bonnet to do the same. The little grass pokemon charges with a scream, splashing across the battlefield, leaping at the ghost with all its primal might. Your heart is in your throat as you watch, holding your breath.

There's a bright, almost blinding flash, as Flutter Mane uses its Dazzling Gleam, striking the Brute Bonnet down instantly. He collapses into the pool of water with a splash and a tiny groan. Your heart aches at the sight for a moment, disappointed at your loss and his.

But then, Nemona gives a delighted squeal of joy, and she jumps up and down, splashing in the water, shouting,

"Yeah yeah yeah yeah!!! Flutter Mane, great job! Oh my god Jules, my heart was racing so fast, I had no idea which move you were gonna use, I thought for sure I'd picked wrong!"

And you can't possibly remain feeling disappointed, because that fight was actually superfun and it came right down to the wire and also, good god, as much as you loved how excited Nemona got when she lost to you, when she won sometimes it felt even better. She rushes up to you and grabs you by the shoulders and you laugh; she's splashing water on you but you don't even care.

With her dorky big smile, she tells you,

"Good game, girl!"

You grin and tell her,

"Yeah, thought I had you for a second there, but you're getting better at that poker face. Or just confusing me too much to predict you."

She taps her head with a finger and intones,

"Never let 'em know your next move."

"Pshhh. Getting tips from Arven's playstyle."

Nemona guffaws.

"Aw, now c'mon, he's gotten a lot better lately, actually!"

"Yeah you're right, that was a low blow. Don't tell him I said it."

Nemona takes her pokeball and returns her Flutter Mane to its ball, and you do the same with your fainted Brute Bonnet. After you finish healing up your team, she eyes you excitedly and asks,

"So, ready for round two?"

You laugh. Of course that's the first thing she asks. You blurt out,

"Anyone ever tell you that you're like a Mudsdale?"

She tilts her head, smiling but confused.

"Uh?"

You point finger guns at her, saying,

"'Cos damn girl, you got stamina."

Before it even finishes leaving your mouth you already hate yourself, dear god, somebody shove you into a pokeball so you can hide. It doesn't matter, Nemona laughs at your stupid joke, she is such a merciful friend. You awkwardly add on,

". . . but seriously, I'm kinda starved, I think we should break for lunch."

You glance around to try and spot your giant lizard motorbike friend, which usually isn't too hard to do. He is pretty huge and bright red. You quickly see that he's snoozing under the shade of a nearby tree, having grown bored of watching the battle, it seemed.

Nemona nods, saying,

"Hm, yeah actually that's a good call. I didn't even notice how hungry I was."

Lucky for you two, you packed a very nice picnic lunch. You both retreat to the shade of the tree with Scarlet and settle down on the nice, soft grass. It's such a scenic location that it almost feels ridiculous, like out of a storybook. You can watch the huge waterfall flowing down into the inky blackness of the sparkling caves deep below, and the Gogoats are still grazing nearby in the fields. The trunk of the tree you're sitting under is encrusted in beautiful crystals, which have dozens of shiny faucets that sparkle a rainbow of colors. It's perfect.

You set out all your picnic goodies onto the grass, but Scarlet keeps shoving his face into everything, so you give him a few treats to snack on and then return him to his ball. Then you and Nemona enjoy the bocadillos you packed, soon ending up in conversation about various things; how classes are going, the hijinks that Team Star has been up to lately, the gym leader gossip you've heard about from your art professor, etc. Nemona tells you about these videos online she's been watching of the gym leader battles from Galar and gushes over how their battle format is truly the best one of all the regions, and then she speaks longingly of how she wants to visit there. You both spend some time scheming over when you might make a trip out there together. Then the conversation drifts to various other topics.

". . . okay, and get this. I ran into Professor Raifort in the library the other day, y'know, and she was telling me more about those stories of the Treasures of Ruin she was so obsessed with. And how these ancient treasures were cursed with the collective total of humanity's sins or whatever, and they became these terrifying pokemon that brought destruction and misery in their wake, wherever they roamed, right? She said they were sealed away in some shrines across Paldea with really powerful magic or something."

"Dang. Is it just a legend or . . .?"

You shrug.

"I dunno, you know how myths are, people make the wildest crap up but half the time they end up being right 'cos pokemon are just that weird."

"True."

"Anyway, after she told me all this, she was talking about how she found the supposed locations of these shrines, and these magical stake thingies that need to be located and pulled outta the ground, and then she just . . . flat out told me to go see if I could find them all and pull the stakes out and unleash these ancient, uber powerful cursed pokemon of evil on modern Paldea. Just for funsies and because she thought it'd be cool, and like, what do you even say to that? I mean, holy crap, dude. Talk about unhinged."

"Whoa."

"Yeah. I thought about maybe telling somebody? Like Director Clavell or something? I mean, encouraging students to unleash ancient evils is probably against some rule, right? But I wasn't sure if she was serious or not. It's always hard to tell with her."

"Yeah, that's . . . that's pretty crazy Jules. I knew she was pretty passionate about the history of the Paldean Empire, but that does seem to be taking things a bit far."

"Right?"

Nemona looks thoughtful for a moment, and then adds on quietly,

"Although . . ."

You raise a brow.

"Although what?"

A sneaky little smile overcomes her features, and she admits,

"I mean . . . it would be kiiiinda cool . . ."

"Oh my god Nemona."

"What? You can't deny it, you have to feel at least the tiniest bit curious, right?"

"Nemona, I'm not opening Pandora's Box and destroying modern civilization because seeing a super strong legendary pokemon would be cool!!"

She laughs, pointing out,

"You don't know it would destroy civilization though, you said yourself how much people make stuff up and exaggerate! They might just be really strong pokemon that are perfectly catchable!"

"Yeah, maybe! But also maybe they will kill all the crops, boil the seas, bring about the ten plagues, curse my family and my entire lineage for the next twenty generations or whatever."

Nemona sighs, looking much like a child being told they can't eat ice cream for dinner.

"Yeahhhh . . . I guess you're right."

You finish up your sandwich and grab a section of sliced orange from your bag while Nemona looks lost in thought, dreaming of terrifying legendary pokemon. After a pause, she says,

"Although you do still have that Master Ball Director Clavell gave you, right?"

You hesitate, thinking about the supremely expensive pokeball that was currently stashed in your dresser drawer back at your dorm. She kinda did have a point . . .

You quickly shake your head, sputtering,

"Gah! No! C'mon, Nemona, stop, we shouldn't tempt fate!"

Nemona laughs again.

"All right, all right."

Trying to change the subject, you carry on,

"Anyway, I've been talking too much. I don't think you've even told me yet how your classes are going right now."

You two share several classes but you know she has a few that are different from yours. She answers your question breezily.

"Oh, pffft, well there's not much to report there. Other than my French midterm, there's nothing I'm worried about. It's not like Mr. Jacq's paper has me worried, haha. It's the same exact material as last semester."

You frown, confused.

"Wait . . . you had his class last semester?"

Nemona looks briefly caught out, as if she let slip something she didn't mean to. Reluctantly she answers,

"Uh, heh, well, y-yeah."

Whoa. It's hard to imagine Nemona actually flunking a class, especially if it has anything to do with pokemon. She must have had a rough semester.

You tell her,

"Eh, I've had a class I had to repeat before, there's no need to feel bad or anything."

Nemona smiles sheepishly at you.

"Well, I uh, I didn't really . . . need to repeat it, I got top marks and everything, I just . . . wanted to?"

Your confusion only deepens.

"But if it's the same exact material, then . . . why?"

Her eyes shift away. She answers cryptically,

"Well, I needed to fill out my credits for this semester to remain a student full-time."

You're still not getting it. Maybe Naranja Academy had some weird rules? You came from Unova, so you weren't super familiar with Universities here.

"Okay, but shouldn't there be enough classes for that without you repeating any?"

Nemona fiddles with an orange skin from the slice she's already eaten. With a self-conscious smile, she admits quietly,

"There's not many classes left I haven't had at least once by now."

You stare at her. "Uh??"

She sighs, briefly burying her face in her hands, then looks back up at you.

"Okay, so. I only have like two core required classes left to graduate. I could finish up anytime I want, really. I've been intentionally taking things really slow, padding out my semesters with a bunch of electives and sometimes even repeating classes."

"Okay . . . but why?"

She leans back against the crystal-encrusted trunk of the tree you're sitting under. Heaving another sigh, she says,

"Mmm. I dunno. I guess mostly because . . . I had no idea what I wanted to actually do once I finished school, you know? When I became a Champion a few semesters back, things felt . . . kinda empty after that. My professors and La Primera, they all encouraged me to pursue a career as a Gym Leader or an Elite or whatever, of course. Sounds perfect, right? But I wasn't actually sure if I'd enjoy it. Gym Leaders have to deal with a ton of inexperienced trainers, you know? And while I do enjoy mentoring trainers, it's maybe not what I want to spend all my time doing?"

She pauses, before continuing,

"I really craved a challenge. Like, a really, truly good challenge. I wanted somebody who would push me to my absolute limits and make me strive to be even better. I knew there had to be someone or something out there who'd do that for me. Or at least . . . I hoped so? So. I . . . was kinda just spinning my wheels for a while at school, trying to find something that would satisfy that wish, I guess."

You ponder that. It's definitely something you can relate to. You also struggle with knowing exactly what you want to do with your life after you finish school. But it's honestly surprising to hear Nemona had felt the same. To you, it always seemed like she had everything figured out in her life.

Your friend nudges your shoulder and gives you a little smile.

"And after I met you, well. I finally got to fulfill that wish. I'd found my best friend and rival for life, someone who could meet me at exactly where I was and push me to be even greater. And I made other amazing friends this semester, too, and had so many incredible experiences. God, it makes me so glad I waited. It feels like the pieces are starting to come together, finally. I'm still not exactly sure yet what I wanna do in the future, but . . ."

She trails off. Glancing around at the idyllic scenery, she grins and jokes,

"Well in this exact moment, I kinda just wanna stay forever down here in super cool ancient pokemon paradise with you."

"Oh," you say, your face heating up. Returning to her train of thought, she concludes,

"But, yeah, I decided I'm going to pad out my remaining semesters long enough so I can graduate at the same time you do. And then we can finish together."

She says it so simply, like it's a logical, easy thing to do, but you're overwhelmed with emotion. She wants to wait for you. She's this incredibly talented trainer and person who could probably go anywhere and do anything in life, because she has the drive and the skill, but she doesn't want to do it unless you're there with her.

You emit a little squeaky noise, trying to push through the thoughts tangling up in your brain.

"N-nemona that's . . . I don't know what to say, that's . . . th-thank you? That's so incredibly sweet and. You don't have to do that--"

She takes your hand and gives it a squeeze, her smile dazzling as she tells you softly,

"Of course I don't have to. I want to."

You're certain that you're bright red by now, and you desperately try to get the language centers of your brain working again.

"I-I-I, uhh, I-- t-thank you, Nemona."

She giggles, clearly endeared by how flustered you are.

"No, thank you. Seriously. You've done so much for me. You've been such an incredible friend and rival. And you're always so sweet and so generous. Like, look at all this! You brought me out here and arranged all this, too. Taught me how to throw pokeballs, packed this amazing lunch-- I don't think I've mentioned yet, those bocadillos were phenomenal? You been taking lessons from Arven or something?"

You glance away, confessing,

"W-well, I, kinda asked him to let me borrow some Herba Mystica from him for today . . ."

Nemona gives a little gasp.

"Really? That explains it. But jeez, Jules, why'd you go through all that much trouble? I would have been fine with just some plain 'ol ham sandwiches or whatever!"

"I wanted today to be special," you say, firmly. She deserves something special. She deserves super amazing trips and all the fun stuff. That's why.

You . . . also possibly have a few ulterior motives tucked away in the back of your mind that have to do with making it feel sorta kinda possibly like a date, but you aren't gonna say that part outloud.

"Well, you definitely succeeded there," she say, and oh, the expression she has was going to melt your heart to goop, a blobby little happy puddle of Goomy. Your thoughts stop working for a bit, but you have a vague sense that you're forgetting something. Something . . . to do with today's plans?

"Dessert!" you suddenly blurt. At Nemona's startled expression, you add,

"Sorry, heh, I, I got something special from Cortondo's pastry shop!"

She looks immediately eager.

"Ooh, really?"

You dip into the picnic basket and pull out the paper-wrapped goodies that had been tucked in the far back.

"Bizcocho de Limón," you say, handing her one.

"Made with their special olive oil. I haven't tried it yet but Katy was going on and on about how much better the olive oil was when compared to using butter."

Nemona unwraps the paper, not wasting any time and biting into the soft lemon cake.

"Nmmmhhh," she groans, not leaving any ambiguity about whether it was a hit or not.

"I'm going to assume that means you like it," you chuckle. She swallows the bite and gives you a grin.

"This really is the perfect day."

Her nose is dusted with the powdered sugar from the cake and you can't keep a straight face, sniggering.

"What?"

"You got a 'lil somethin' . . ."

You reach out and gingerly try to brush the sugar off, but it's only smudging it around, and halfway through the act you end up getting lost in her eyes. All those sappy thoughts you'd been trying so hard to suppress are back, and your heart kicks up speed.

She's gazing at you, with the sweetest of smiles, and she's not looking away. You think perhaps you've stopped breathing. Almost imperceptibly, you start lean closer; or perhaps she leans closer to you? Time seems to slow down to a crawl.

There's a strange sort of growling noise from behind you. You notice it, but only vaguely, and in the moment you don't really stop to think about it.

The next moment, all is chaos.

Something enormous erupts, almost as if it was from the very ground you were sitting on, crashing between you and Nemona-- you hear a loud, splintering crunch that you only later realized was the sound of your picnic basket being crushed-- and your arm is caught up in the motion, a sharp, white-hot pain of your skin being torn. You barely have enough time to gasp for breath and try to process what was right beside you: the body of some kind of creature, bright green and purple, four limbs that are long and sinewy, and claws. Big, curved, purple claws.

At this point you have processed your most imperative task:

Run.

You struggle to clamber to your feet, Nemona doing the same, and start to run. A quick glance back and you see enough to realize the pokemon looks like some kind of giant cat, like a lion or something. It's briefly hampered, apparently struggling to shake the shredded remains of the picnic basket off its face--

Oh. Its teeth. Those massive, curved purple thorns on its face are teeth. Like some kind of saber tooth tiger.

You utter a curse and keep running. The pokemon spits out the last bits of picnic basket and starts to pursue you, quickly picking up a loping run. Its strides are long and you know it will catch up to you soon. You needed your pokemon.

You glance back again, trying to spot where your bag ended up in all the chaos. You can't see it anywhere, but you see Nemona's bag, sprawled open in the dirt near the tree you'd been under, its contents spilled all over. You couldn't get to it, the tiger was closing in on you.

You trip during your frantic search for your bag, tumbling painfully to the ground. Your heart drops to your stomach. You twist and try to get up, but it's too late. The pokemon is a mere few feet away now, snarling, approaching you in a stalk. Its eyes are hot pink, its pupils narrowed into slits; its ears are flattened and it's bearing wickedly-curved purple teeth.

Your pulse is pounding in your ears, and once again, time seems to slow to a crawl.

"¡Oye! Get away from her, you tonto del culo!"

You glance up. Nemona isn't far away, but it's clear she didn't have the time to recover her pokeballs and she looks terrified for you. You realize you're probably going to die. You try to think of something meaningful to say in the moment, but your mind is utterly blank.

Nemona reaches down and picks up a rock, before shouting again and chucking it with all her might at the creature. The rock beans the tiger right across the head, hard. It gives an outraged scream, quickly turning to face her.

"Yeah, that's right! Leave her alone, come get me, cabrón!"

You're horrified. You cry out,

"Nemona, it's going to kill you!"

She ignores you, still taunting the tiger and sidling slowly to the right, trying to lead it away. It's stalking up to her and you don't know what to do, all you know is you can't stand by and watch your best friend get disemboweled right before your eyes. You're about to charge forward, but in the split-second before you do, Nemona suddenly dives to the ground. You think it's just a last-ditch effort to evade the beast, but then you see her throw something she's recovered from the ground. 

There's a familiar sound, and a pokeball bursts open. Her Great Tusk materializes.

You want to sob in relief. Nemona shouts,

"Tusk, Close Combat!"

The precious moments when the tiger is distracted with Great Tusk do not go to waste. Your friend immediately climbs to her feet and darts away, going through the mess of her bag to locate where her other pokeballs had rolled away to. You want to rush to help, but first you need to give the pokemon a wide berth to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

As you run, the Great Tusk charges into the saber tooth tiger with all its might, trying to tear into it with its tusks. The tiger is surprisingly resilient, though, and strangely doesn't seem to take much damage from such a powerful move. It retaliates, biting down on Great Tusk's soft underside, sinking its purple fangs deep. The elephant gives a pained shriek.

Fortunately, Nemona has recovered another pokeball, because Tusk faints almost immediately after that. She shouts, "Uh, go!" and flings it, obviously not sure which pokemon it is.

Her Scream Tail immerges, and you think to yourself that it's a stroke of luck. Scream Tail was pretty bulky, so it should last at least a little while. Nemona orders it to use Play Rough. By now, you've been able to move around the battling pokemon and reach Nemona. You want to hug her, but you know now was Not The Time, so you just call out tersely to her.

"Nemona."

She looks up, then rushes to you. She pushes a few pokeballs into your shaking hands.

"H-here. I'll look for the rest. I don't know where your bag went, I think it might have gone over the cliff, so hopefully my team'll be enough."

As she runs off your attention is drawn back to the battle; it seemed Scream Tail's Play Rough hardly did anything. The tiger swipes at the puffy pink fairy with its long claws, and Scream Tail seems to deflate like a balloon. You realize the clawmarks embedded deep into Scream Tail are oozing with a purple liquid. You mutter,

"Oh, shit, right. It's a poison type."

Grass/Poison, from the looks of it; its limbs, which had seemed so muscular and sinewy, seemed to in fact be made of entwined vines, and its fluffy fur is embedded with dark leaf patterns. Its ears are large and triangular and they extend down to its face almost like a mask, in a way that reminded you a little of Meowscarada.

In fact . . . as it narrowed its pink eyes and glared at you, you realized it looked a lot like Meowscarada. A really jacked, beastly, saber-tooth tiger version of one, at least.

Scream Tail's fainted form returned to its pokeball, and you threw another. Flutter Mane appeared, graceful and serene even during such a terrible situation. You tried to think of what moves it might have that would be useful. You weren't gonna mess around with any Calm Minds, you needed to get some damage off.

"Uh, Mystical Fire?" you try, and Nemona's Flutter Mane responds to the command. It turns and descends upon the tiger, creating a huge curtain of flames to crash down upon it. You watch in relief as the tiger flinches from the attack, the flames singing its leafy fur and limbs-- finally, some actual damage. You shout for Flutter Mane to use Mystical Fire again, but the tiger leaps into the air and slashes the ghost with its claws before it can react. There's a crisp, sharp noise, the familiar sound of a pokemon landing a critical hit, and Flutter Mane goes down.

Damn. This thing was tearing through Nemona's team like it was nothing. You throw your other pokeball, sending Brute Bonnet out to face its fearsome opponent. You're not sure of its full moveset, and you shout,

"Brute Bonnet, just hit it as hard as you can, give everything you've got!"

The feisty mushroom pokemon turns and rushes headlong into battle. As fast as it can, anyway. The top running speed on its little legs wasn't exactly the greatest. The tiger chomps down on Brute Bonnet before it can do anything, and you cringe in sympathy. Bonnet counterattacks as hard as it can, flailing back and forth as it uses Thrash. The tiger roars in anger and slashes at it, and then down it goes, as fast as all the others.

What level was this beast? You feel a cold sense of dread creep in, pondering that question. All you'd been able to do so far was buy a little time. You flinch in pain and rub your arm, feeling a sticky wetness, and glance down. Oh right, you'd been injured in the initial attack; your arm was still a bit torn up and bleeding, although at least the cuts didn't seem to be too deep.

You look back up when you hear the tiger growl, and, oh crap, you're out of pokemon to throw at it. That's not good.

Fortunately, Nemona returns once more to rescue you, right on time. It seems she had to wander all over to recover her supplies, because she's on the opposite side of the angry tiger as you are. She has her bag, though, and a pokeball in hand. Brightly, she calls,

"All right Sandy Shocks, let's go!"

The weird, primitive form of Magneton lands on the ground, its parts spinning and whirring. It's hard to believe your lives might depend on this goofy-looking pile of magnets. You call out to Nemona,

"I think it's Grass/Poison, it has some kind of biting move and a poison move-- Cross Poison? Poison Jab? Not sure, that's all I really know! It's KOing most things in just one hit!"

"All right," she calls back, not looking discouraged by this report. Pointing to her pokemon, she orders,

"Let's even things out a bit. Sandy Shocks, hit 'em with Thunder Wave!" The little collective of metallic creatures spin and point their magnets, building up energy, walking along the ground in a strange wiggly gait; then they fire a weak beam of electricity, zapping the growling tiger. You feel relieved that the beast finally has a status condition on it. Hopefully it would slow it down.

"Now, Earth Power!" Nemona commanded, as the tiger turned to face its new opponent. You could see Sandy Shocks building up energy for the special attack, the power building between its three heads; before it can get the attack off, though, the tiger lunges, and it bites down hard on the primary head. It certainly doesn't seem like biting is something that would work on a creature made of metal, but the metal of Sandy Shocks must be different, somehow-- it was a Ground type, after all, not Steel. There's a gross crunching sound and the three heads vibrate and shriek, their eyes rolling around wildly, and it seems to take massive damage. Your brain struggles to figure out why-- what move was it using? Ice Fang? Surely you'd see the ice, then?

Despite the damage, Sandy Shocks does not perish immediately, and it manages to finish powering up its move; the ground around it and the tiger distorts and shifts and shakes violently, before bursting open with the attack, lava boiling out. The tiger seems to take a really solid hit, but Sandy Shocks does faint from the aftermath.

Nervously, you call to Nemona,

"Uh, how many pokes do you have left?

Like you, she had brought some of her usual partners on this trip as well, not just her new Paradox team. You hoped she had managed to recover those too. Nemona pulled out a pokeball from her pocket and gave you a weak smile. She said,

"Um . . ."

You curse under your breath.

"Seriously?"

She shouts back, "I think some rolled off the cliff along with yours. Look, it's fine, we can make this work!"

You're not so sure about that, from the looks of things. But Nemona throws the ball, sending out her last pokemon-- Slither Wing. Sounding full of confidence, she commands,

"Okay, Slither Wing! If this is Grass/Poison, let's go for an Acrobatics!" The ancient bug pokemon flaps its wings and dashes towards the tiger, preparing to strike. Before it can hit, though, the tiger slashes at it viciously, ugly purple streaks of poison marring its fuzzy body. Fortunately, this doesn't bring the bug to a stop; Slither Wing counterattacks, slamming into the tiger again and again at intense speeds, ruthlessly. You watch with hope gleaming in your eyes.

When Slither Wing is finished with its assault, the tiger looks very bruised and worn down. Giving a strangled cry, it bites into Slither Wing's hide, trying to stop its attacker. Slither Wing flaps its wings furiously and struggles in the tiger's grip. It looks as though the bite isn't doing too much damage, but the poison is slowing Slither Wing down by now.

"I don't suppose you have any heals left?" you tensely call to your friend.

She shakes her head. Ah. That's . . . not the best. Nemona hasn't given up, though.

"Let's give him a taste of his own medicine, Slither Wing! Leech Life!"

 You watch as Slither Wing battles to wriggle free from the tiger, stirred by Nemona's commands. It somehow manages to slip free from its jaws, then it turns and latches its buggy mandibles onto the tiger's neck. The tiger roars and jerks, but it seems paralysis is finally slowing the monster down. Slither Wing drains some of its lifeforce, feeding itself. It's obvious Nemona hopes to preserve the longevity of her last pokemon this way, in lieu of any potions.

"Good work, Slither Wing! Let's go for another Acrobatics now!"

The ancient moth releases its foe, looking a little rejuvenated, despite all the poisoned scratches on its body. You start to think Slither Wing may actually have a chance of winning this. It seemed it was a very stubborn bug.

The moth prepares its next attack, backing up a little so it can get a running start against its foe. Judging by how tired the tiger looks, you're guessing this could very well be the finishing blow of the match.

Slither Wing charges, emitting its strange, gurgling cry, wings flapping furiously. You can't look away, and hope this will finally be it . . .

. . . but it isn't. Despite the paralysis, the tiger is able to rouse itself once more. And before Slither Wing can strike, the tiger lashes out with an attack. But this time, it was a new attack. There's a dusty white cloud of smoke that's whipped up from the action, and the tiger leaps up and smacks Slither Wing around with its paws, over and over, without even using its claws in the process. The move looks very familiar.

Oh, no. Play Rough.

After the tiger is finished batting the moth around, it's clear the poor thing has fainted. The pokemon dissolves into energy, returning once more to Nemona's pokeball. You can't believe it.

"Son of a-- this thing is nigh invincible!" you shout, disgusted. Even after all that, it was still going!

The tiger's magenta eyes dart to you when you shout. The pupils narrow to slits and it growls.

"Oh, for fuck's sake--"

Battered, beaten, and paralyzed, the saber tooth tiger from hell is stalking towards you, still with pure malice and rage shining in its beady eyes.

Trying to keep your voice calm, you call out,

"Uhhhh, Nemona? You sure you don't have any pokemon left?"

You can see she's digging through her bag, but she looks frantic. You can hear her muttering,

"No, no, no, no!"

You start to back away, wondering if there's anything nearby you could run to. Some rocks, some trees. This thing could probably climb trees twice as fast as you. It was no use.

The tiger is bearing its purple fangs at you, and they're dripping in poison. You suppose they'll soon be clamping down on your neck.

You hear Nemona suddenly cry out.

"Wait! Wait, yes! Oh my god, Jules, hold on! I'll save you, I've been training for this moment!"

You're confused at first, because she pulls out a pokeball, and you thought she'd run out of pokemon. But then it hit you; she has an empty pokeball. Oh, of course. Why didn't you think of that sooner?

You watch as she carefully takes aim at the distracted tiger. She has a perfect back shot from her position. She takes a calming breath, then swings her arm, stepping smoothly into the throw, and sends the ball soaring. You watch the nice, clean arc of the ball sailing towards the tiger, flying, and then--

The ball thwacks a rock right behind the tiger with a loud crack, shooting off into a random direction. You hear your friend's high-pitched shout,

"Oh, jodete! Oh, shit!"

If the situation wasn't so dire, it would have been funny, honestly. But as it was, the tiger quickly turns around, angered at having things flung at it, apparently. It snarls and begins stalking towards Nemona instead.

"Nemona, look out!"

She was busy grabbing a second ball. To your horror, the tiger is stalking faster. Much faster.

"It's OK I got it, hold on--"

She's taking aim with the ball. The tiger crouches, performing a little butt wiggle that looked remarkably similar to when your Purrloin was about to pounce on its toy. Oh, oh no. No, no, no!

You break into a dead run towards them, not sure what to do, but you have to do something.

The tiger roars, leaping, paws outstretched, at the same time Nemona stumbles and falls backwards, flinging her pokeball, screaming,

"AAAAAAA!!" A bright flash of light and the tiger dissolves into a puddle of energy, which is sucked into the pokeball. The ball drops to the ground, its center button lit red.

 You both stop perfectly still and stare, breathlessly, as the ball wiggles.

Once. Twice.

Thrice.

You wait. The seconds feel like ages.

And then, in the stillness of the air, there's a tiny but unmistakable 'click.'

For a short while, neither of you speak, and instead just stare dumbly at the pokeball on the ground. Nemona had landed on her butt on the ground, and so she sat there, eyes wide, catching her breath, staring. Eventually, her eyes lift up to yours.

You take a shuddering breath when she meets your eyes, suddenly overwhelmed, your throat tightening as you rasp out,

"Oh my god Nemona I was gonna be so mad if you got yourself killed for me."

You rush up to her, helping to pull her to her feet, and she's smiling and laughing, what was wrong with her, how could she be laughing? You pull her into a fierce hug, the unshed tears stinging your eyes. Nemona's voice is muffled against you as she says,

"I'm so sorry, I thought that was gonna be heroic as heck, with me swinging in to save you and I just end up being a total dweeb and missing!"

You quickly pull back so you can face her and demand,

"Why are you apologizing?! That was heroic, that was the most heroic crap I've ever seen! You ran up to a beast like that and threw a freaking rock at it like it was nothing! And then everything else? I didn't even think to try and catch it because my brain had blanked out so much! I would have been dead without you!" After your outburst, Nemona smiles a bit bashfully and answers,

"Heh, well I guess it wasn't bad. I'd do it again, y'know."

You stare at her. Your heart's still pounding from almost having a tiger maul you to death-- or almost mauling Nemona to death instead. You feel a little sick.

"This is all my fault," you realize aloud. Sounding concerned, Nemona asks,

"What do you mean?"

You look at her and say emphatically,

"All of this. Oh, god. I was such an idiot. I just wanted this to be a perfect day for us. Planned it all out so carefully. But I should have taken the risks more seriously. You could have died. I-I . . . I'm so sorry. N-nemona, I . . ."

The tears are running down your face as you speak, and she reaches for you, saying,

"Hey, hey, hold on now, Jules."

When she touches you, you give a tiny sob, and she pulls you into a hug.

"Shh-shh, hey . . . take it easy, okay?"

You break down, crying into her shoulder while she soothes you, soft words of comfort as she rubs little circles into your back. You always thought Nemona was like an electric-type, so bubbly and energetic; but now you think she must be made of pure steel, to walk away from all that still smiling.

Her voice is gentle as she tells you,

"We're okay, it all worked out. Don't be so hard on yourself, all right?"

You try and utter a protest, but it comes out all whimpered and nonsensical against her. She continues,

"Look, I can't say that was my favorite encounter with a pokemon just now, but I certainly don't blame you for it. Every trainer knows there are risks to going outside and seeking out pokemon. That's just part of the deal."

You suck in a breath and finally get out,

"Y-yeah but-- I-- I was the one who convinced you to come down here--"

She interrupts gently and says,

"I wanted to. I'm gonna be real honest with you, Juliana, if you hadn't invited me down here, I would have snuck in alone sooner or later. I had been planning to for a while now."

You choke a laugh and say,

"Nemona!"

"I know, I know. I don't always make the best decisions. But I'm telling the truth. It's actually pretty good that you came down here with me, because I probably would have ended up as cat food without your help. Okay, more like definitely. I wouldn't have nailed that second pokeball throw, at any rate."

You pull back from the hug and try to wipe your face on your sleeve without it getting too gross. You tell her,

"Please promise me you won't do that anymore, just go off on your own like that. I care about you too much. Tell someone, tell me at least."

At first it looks like she might object to your request, but then she seems to consider it more seriously. After a moment, she smiles softly, answering,

"Okay. Okay, I promise. If I get the itch to go do something stupid, we can do it together. Or reconsider the plan, if it's way too wild."

You hug her again, saying,

"Okay. Thank you. I promise I'll do the same. And we'll be a little more careful next time about trips to forbidden zones full of ancient unseen horrors."

Nemona laughs.

"Okay. Fair enough."

After a few moments, you add quietly,

"I'm still sorry our day got ruined like that, though."

She answers you breezily. 

"Pffft! Are you kidding me? This was still the best day I've ever had."

You lean back a little from the hug, still holding onto her, and say in exasperation,

"Nemona--"

But when you see her eyes, you realize she isn't kidding. She isn't kidding in the slightest.

"What? Everything was amazing. The trip out here, the gorgeous views, the hiking, teaching me to catch like a pro, the battling? Just hanging out and talking? And that picnic, oh, man! It was perfect, Jules."

You laugh, completely at a loss for words, at first. Eventually, you shake your head, saying in a fond tone,

"You really are something else, Nemona."

She chuckles and answers confidently,

"As if you don't feel the same. I know you had just as much fun today."

You snort another laugh, but then pause to consider it. Now that the imminent danger is over with, and Nemona is safe and sound in your arms, well. The terrifying ordeal doesn't seem so bad, anymore. You think back over the entire course of your day with her.

Quietly, thoughtfully, you muse,

"Yeah. I guess you're right. It really was perfect."

Nemona grins, saying,

"Yeah! Exactly."

After a beat, her smile turns into something playful. You both have still been in a half-embrace, and she slides her hands down your arms a little more, tugging you just a bit closer to her.

"My only regret is that mean tiger didn't let us finish dessert."

You blink and it feels like your insides turn in a dizzy little flip-flop. After a nervous giggle, you manage to reply,

"Don't worry. I'll buy you more next time we're in Cortondo."

Looking very pleased, she says,

"I'm gonna hold you to that."

You nod,

"Please do."

There's a few moments of silence, and Nemona still has not let you go, and your thoughts are just buzzing happy static, and you begin to wonder if perhaps you should try to--

"Oh! Uh, gosh, let me get my first aid kit out for your arm. Jeez, I forgot about that," Nemona says, and you're so confused at first, until your lagging brain finally remembers that yes, your arm did kind of get a bit torn up and bloody. You feel briefly and irrationally angry about your stupid arm being distracting. Stupid tiger.

"Also I guess we'd better get to work finding the rest of our pokeballs," Nemona adds as she digs through her bag. You blink.

"Oh. Yeah. Ooof."

You're not looking forward to it. If your bag really did drop off the cliff, it could be . . . damn near anywhere down there in the massive cave system below you.

"Hey," Nemona says, pulling you from your thoughts. You look to her. Gently, she tells you,

"Don't worry. We'll find them. We've got the scariest tiger around to help us out, right?"

You chuckle weakly, then reach down to pick up the pokeball from the ground.

"Yeah, that's true."

Nemona helps you clean off the dried blood and disinfect your wounds and then dress them properly. Fortunately, it seems you just scraped your arm up on the ground in the madness, and the tiger hadn't actually gotten its claws into you. If it had, you'd probably be much worse off, considering how toxic that beast was. When you're finished, you two begin your search for your lost items. First, though, you hand Nemona the tiger's pokeball. When she gives you a curious look, you say,

"Well, you caught it, right? He's technically yours. Or she."

She laughs.

"I guess so! I'll have to think of a proper name."

"Hmm. Maybe something like 'Hellcat?'"

Nemona agrees the name sounds perfect.

After a quick confirmation that your supplies are nowhere nearby, you both begin your descent to the Area Zero caves. It's definitely unnerving to be traveling around without a proper pokemon team as backup, but Nemona did find a single revive buried in the recesses of her bag, and you spotted and gathered a good pile of berries along the way. So you weren't completely and totally helpless. Obviously, if your searches end up being fruitless, you'll need to hail a taxi (Nemona still had her cell phone) and get help. An unappealing scenario, since you're pretty sure Director Clavell was going to be pretty upset.

However, something amazing happens. Maybe it was to balance out all your foul luck with the tiger attack. You and Nemona have barely even entered the mouth of the cave when you hear a familiar draconic trill echoing through the space. Then Scarlet is bounding right up to you, your bag hanging from his mouth by the strap. You're stunned at first. Scarlet drops your bag in front of you and starts licking your face, looking extremely happy that he found you.

"Didn't you return him to his pokeball? I don't understand," Nemona says, petting the giant dragon. You pick up your bag. It looks a bit beat up, but otherwise is intact. You look through it, and find all of your pokeballs and stuff are in there.

"Well. He knows how to come out of his pokeball on his own," you think outloud.

"He does?"

"Yeah. He used to do it all the time when Arven made sandwiches. He must have sensed something was wrong, when my bag fell off the cliff."

"Wow. What a smart boy!" Nemona praised, rubbing under the dragon's chin as he cooed happily.

"When it fell, my stuff probably went all over, I had my bag zipped open. It looks like he went around and put all my stuff back into the bag," you say, noticing how some of the potion bottles looked as though they'd burst open and a few other things were roughed up. It must have taken him a while. Dang, Scarlet really was the bestest boy in the world.

"And I have no idea where the bag fell, but it could have been anywhere in these caves-- Scarlet probably had to wander for a while to find his way out! He probably remembered how to get around from before. Oh, man, Nemona, look!"

There were extra pokeballs in your bag. A quick check near the button showed that they had Nemona's engraving on them.

"He found your pokeballs too! Oh, my god, I was so worried, and he did everything for us."

You immediately hug the feathery dragon, giving him a kiss.

"You're a hero, Scarlet! Man, you are getting so many treats for this."

You and Nemona check all your pokeballs to confirm that everyone is accounted for and safe.

And then, it's surprisingly easy after that. You both decide it's probably enough adventure for one day, climb aboard your dragon, and stroll your way out of there without a care in the world.

By the time you've made it back to Mesagoza, the sun is setting on the horizon, and you're starting to feel a little worn down from the day's activities. You and Nemona decide to stop at a food vendor and grab some badly-needed dinner. You eat at a table in the main plaza (Scarlet with his own kebab as well), inhaling the food and talking about ancient pokemon, mostly just your wild speculations about the past and what the Professor Sada AI had found there. When you're finished, you two ride Scarlet up the rest of the stairs and then return to Naranja Academy.

It's really only when you start walking through the halls of the school that exhaustion truly starts to catch up to you, and when it hits you, it hits hard. You had run around a ridiculous amount today and had some pretty intense moments, so it only made sense, really. You can see Nemona's as tired as you are. No longer running on pure adrenaline and now after a heavy meal, it was a pleasant but full-bodied sort of exhaustion. You both chatter about silly subjects as you pass through the halls of the dorm building. Nemona tells you about last year when the school had Slowpoke Races, and from her dramatic re-enactments, it sounded like it had been an amazing thing to witness. Or Nemona was just really good at telling a story. You suspected the latter.

And before you know it, you've reached Nemona's dorm room. You have both already agreed it was time to just get some rest, but there still is a disappointed pang in your chest when realizing you now had to part. Nemona gets the key from her bag and then turns to you, hugging you and moaning dramatically,

"Juliaaaanaaa . . . I'll miss yoooou . . ."

You giggle and say,

"I'm going to see you again tomorrow."

Muffled against you, she says,

"Oh. Right. Well. Okay then."

You laugh again. She releases you and grins.

"Still. This . . . this was literally the best adventure I've ever had. So . . . thank you for inviting me."

"Of course," you say. She looks so happy, and your heart feels light as air.

"And I . . . hope we get to have another adventure like that really soon. Maybe minus the scary pokemon trying to eat us thing, but you know what I mean," she says. You nod your head.

"Absolutely."

Nemona continues to hang there, looking reluctant to actually enter her room. She's gazing at you in a way that makes your knees feel weak. Which is pretty much just always. For the thousandth time, you think about telling her, finally telling her about your massive crush on her. Just say it. Just ask her if . . .

"Well," she finally states, awkwardly,

"Um . . . goodnight!"

You feel like you've just missed your chance at something really important, and your heart lurches in your chest as she unlocks her door.

"W-wait, Nemona."

She turns.

"Hm?"

She looks at you, and your thoughts are screaming. Say it. Say it. Just say it.

"N-nevermind," you mumble, like the world's biggest coward.

She chuckles and squeezes your shoulder.

"Get some rest, Jules. We're both pretty out of it by now, I think."

You nod, rasping,

"Yeah."

When you get back to your dorm, you don't really feel like thinking anymore. You take a long shower and make some chamomile tea and climb into bed, to scroll mindlessly through social media for a while and give yourself a chance to wind down for the evening. It doesn't take long for the drowsiness to settle in, but you delay actually shutting your lights off. Despite all your efforts, your thoughts are still churning, keeping you awake. Time gets away from you. Eventually you realize it's getting really late, so you plug your phone in with a sigh and turn out your lights.

A few minutes later, your phone buzzes with a text. You check it.

It's from Nemona.

hey I've been thinking, I'd like to give you Hellcat

Your brow furrows and you gaze at the text for a second before typing out a reply.

Why?

You watch the little elipses flash as she composes her message.

well I never would have caught them without your help! it could be my thank-you gift :) for everything.

You sit there, thinking. Or trying to think, anyway. Exhaustion has started to erode your ability to do so. And you're still feeling pretty disappinted at yourself from chickening out earlier when talking to her.

Suddenly struck with inspiration, you type out,

how about we share them? we both worked together to catch them, so it makes sense.

After a brief pause she responds quickly.

omg jules

you're so smart. that's perfect.

we can raise them together <3 <3

well mayne not 'raise'

more like 'tame' haha but you know whati mean

it's probably a two-person job anyway tbh lol

Deciding you need to be a little more honest about your feelings, you respond to her,

yeah, exactly.

plus its a good excuse to spend more time w you

After a few beats, her message pops up.

haha what?? you dont need any excuses jules, you know you're always welcome at zona nemona

You type out your response quickly.

yeah. well. yeah thats true.

guess i still look for excuses

my mind's kinda been in the nemona zone 24/7 lately

ahaha

You stop and stare at what you just sent, and the regret is instantanoues. Not that honest, not that honest! Oh, god.Maybe she wouldn't notice?

Nemoma's reply is short:

24/7?

You want to scream. You try to compose a reply. How do you backpeddle on something like that? Maybe you should just come clean? No, this was a terrible way to do it. But, it's better then nothing. Still, maybe you should--

You're still trying to compose a reply when Nemona texts,

that's a lot!

Your fingers hover over the keyboard, your sentence only half-complete: I was just

Thirty seconds or so later, she texts,

i don't think even my mind is in the nemona zone 24/7 and im nemona, haha

You feel like it's getting harder to breathe.

jules

are you still there

Okay, for god's sake, just say something! Anything! You erase your old message and start again.

sorry

sorry I

I just mean I've been really enjoying spending time with you and I think about you a lot and. sorry if that came out sounding weird.

Ok, that salvaged it. Possibly. You hoped.

A minute later, your friend replies,

no, dont worry, it wasnt weird

I've been really enjoying our time together too

and

I think about you a lot too!

almost as much as pokemon battling, haha

Your heart skips at her final message. It was possible she was just joking around, but it didn't seem like it. It . . . really didn't seem like it.

You type out:

wow. that's like probably the biggest compliment I think you could give me

Nemona replies right away.

asfhgk

cmon jules

if that's what you think, well

be prepared, cos I'm gonna give even bigger ones in the future ;)

Okay, you weren't sure before, but now it seemed pretty clear, this was not a drill, Nemona was genuinely flirting with you. Right? Yes??

Your heart picking up speed, you tell yourself: okay, okay, don't mess this up. be cool. You carefully compose your next messages.

oh? I'll be sure to prepare myself

but I also gotta be sure to live up to the hype

I could start by taking you back to Cortondo for more Bizcocho de Limón

so there aren't any more rude interruptions

we could sit at the watchtower nearby

it's kinda crowded in town, but it's nice and peaceful at the tower

You sit and wait in tense anticipation.

sounds good to me

i look forward to it <3

..and I'm sure you'll live up to the hype :3c

You get a big stupid grin, feeling triumphant. She continues,

g'night for now, jules

see you tomorrow

Laying there in bed, with the glow of the phone lighting up your smile, you answer her.

gnight, mi tesoro

[sorryimananti-romantic]

so i just read ur guerilla fic and OMGGG WOWOWOWOWEEEEE IM SO BLOWN AWAYYYYY

ngl i went in like expecting this to be the typical cold hearted serial killer and naive goody good reader BUT HOLY SHIT i think i just fell in love w the way u give ur characters such depth and complexity like 🤯

god there's so much i want to put into words and i genuinely love how you flow everything together and the whole story is so cohesive and a delight to read and im just having a ball reading it all the way through (and maybe shed some tears when mc panicked after yunho "took the blame")

also read the bonus scenes and- if i may say this, i wish u kept those in 😭 the buildup and the aftermath was truly something i needed for them and... i don't need to talk abt the smut part bc OOOOHHH MY GODDD.... now listen i usually read smut and ngl i read guerilla bc it popped up in the tags and that scene was brain churning spine melting toe curling piece of edging i've ever read like he just fingered her and it's got me rolling in my bed this much lord-

also if i may ask bc im kinda slow but which atz was which doctors? 😭 ik it's dumb but i got mingi psychiatrist and yunho surgeon and the rest is definitely between the lines but i can't recall any them to save my life rn 😭✋

haha omgg 🥹🥹 thank you so much i read this like thrice im smiling like an idiot rn 😭❤️ yes one thing about me is i wont settle for a typical trope just like that i gotta put in some ✨twist✨ some spice if you must hehe thank you so much for the feedback love <3 haha yes yunho is such a sweetheart when he tried to take the blame like imagine having someone who would quite literally kill for you 😩🤌

bro only the deleted scene was actually deleted the bonus scenes i had in my head but never wrote and and the word count was already a whopping 28k tumblr starts glitching when it gets so high 😭 believe me i wanted to make this a solid 50k word 2 part fic but i was like who's gonna read that 😭 (might write a part 2 one day 👀 with all the spice and smut and how their relationship is hmmm im so tempted rn bc i should be starting a new wip but my headspace is still filled with serial killer yunho he's so 😩❤️)

LMAO IM GLAD THE LITTLE SMUT MADE YOU FEEL ALL HOT AND BOTHERED like this was just the beginning of their relationship and he's already exploring choking for pain vs choking for pleasure KFHSHDJSJA CAN YOU IMAGINE THE UNHINGED POSSIBILITIES??? (again im so so tempted to write a pt 2 😭)

haha omg atz as doctors okay so yeah i mentioned mingi as psychiatrist, yeosang as a nephrologist right? i wrote down all the roles for them and i wish i had gotten the opportunity to explore more of that! but wooyoung as a dentist, seonghwa for paediatrics, hongjoong eye specialist, san ent specialist and jongho gynaecologist hehehe

[bteezxyewriter12]

Still Here/ 12

Pairing- Hongjoong x Named Reader

Word count- 5k

Includes- Domestic fluff, bathtub sex, fingering, cock warming, riding, multiple orgasms, implied shower sex, fluff, ghost happenings/paranormal stuff, protective Hongjoong

Yh/w/n- Yunho wife's name

Tag List- @mingtina @jaxxmine @yeosayang @delightfulmoonbanana @tannie13 @y00nzin0 @marsstarxhwa

@yeosxxx @seokwoosmole @jjongsbebe @wisejudgedragonhairdo @meowmeowminnie @woo-stars @borntowalkaway @usagionthered @san-realblkwife @seonghwasstar @jejeyeppeo @soulseobi05 @kpop-bambi

@umbralhelwolf @fairygirl18 @jo-hwaberry @a-teez-4-exo @jejeyeppeo @soibean1922

Masterlists- check out for more fics

📝Series Masterlist 📝Masterlists

📝 ATEEZ Masterlist 📝 Hongjoong Masterlist

One month later

Hongjoong POV

"So....movie night?", she asks

I nod, "Sure baby. Whatever you want"

"Disney?"

"You know I love Disney", I laugh

"What movie?", she asks

"Hmmm last time we watched The Little Mermaid. And Beauty and the Beast before that."

"Yeah. Do you want to watch a princess movie?", she asks

"Yeah jagi. I'll watch a princess movie with my princess"

She giggles, "You're so cute Joongie."

I just smile at her

"And you're my prince", she says, kissing my lips softly

I kiss her back, loving how her lips feel against mine

"I'll always be your prince", I smile

"I'll always be your princess", she replies, smiling too, "How about Tangled?"

I nod

"Yay", she cheers

My god, she's so fucking adorable

She gets the movie on and I sit back on her bed, leaning against the headboard

I came home from the studio really late to find her waiting up for me

I haven't had much time to spend with her the last few days, as I've been writing lyrics and making music to start our new album

Every time I've come home, she's been asleep and I usually just go right into bed and hold her

She's human, she needs more sleep than I do and I have no problem staying up and just keeping her in my arms

Holding her is one of my favorite things to do

But tonight she wanted to spend time with me and of course I want to spend time with her

Always

Movie night is perfect

She comes closer to me and I put my arm around her when she lays her head on my chest

She takes my other hand, laces our fingers, holding on tightly while we watch the movie

Since she moved in, we've been watching Disney movies

I've only seen a few and we're slowly getting through all of them

I didn't know I'd love Disney but I do

I haven't seen Tangled before though

"Baby", she says about half an hour into the movie

"Yeah jagi?", I ask

"Your nail polish is coming off"

I know

I just haven't had time to redo it

"Yeah jagi. I didn't have time to fix it yet"

"I'll do it", she says

"You wanna?", I ask, surprised

She knows I wear nail polish but she's never done my nails before

I usually do it myself

"Yeah Joongie. I can do it for you."

"Yeah ok baby.", I agree, actually excited

She moves to get up but I stop her, "Where are you going?"

"To get nail polish remover and my nail polish"

"You wanna do it now?"

She shrugs, "Why not?"

I guess there's no reason to not do it now

"Yeah ok"

She leaves for a second, coming back with remover and cotton balls

"Gimmie", she says, holding out her hand

I move mine to hers and she takes off the old nail polish

Then she goes to our walk in closet and pulls out five big plastic bins, pulling them on our king size bed

"Jagi what-"

"My nail polish", she says taking the lids off the boxes

My eyes pop open at how much she has

I knew she had a lot but not this much

"That's a lot Jo"

She shrugs, "You know I like doing my nails. And it's nowhere near as much as the make up I have"

I'll agree there

I gave her another room in the house for her makeup room

It's fine, the house has like six extra rooms

"I've always wanted to get one of those nail racks like they have in salons but I've never gotten around to it", she says

"Yeah that'd look nice with them hanging on the wall", I agree, "I'll get you some and you can put them up in your makeup room"

"No Joongie. You gave me so much already. I'll get them"

I shake my head, "No I'll get them. It's not a big deal baby"

"Joongie-"

"Please jagi?", I ask, "You're my princess. Let me spoil you"

"You already do Joongie! So much"

I shrug

She's the love of my life, of course I'm going to spoil her

I love doing it, I want to spoil her more and she fights me on it, showing me she doesn't care about my money at all

She always says the things I get her she can get on her own

Which is true but I like buying my girlfriend things

She deserves everything and I want to give it to her

"Then a little more shouldn't matter baby"

She crosses her arms, glaring at me with her eyebrow raised

I give her my best puppy face and she sighs, relenting

"Fine"

"Great", I smile widely, making her crack a smile, "Now let's see all the nail polishes"

She takes off the tops of the bins, her nail polish is organized by color with different brands

"What color do you want?"

"I dunno", I answer, looking through her polish

She has a lot that I want to try, some of the colors look cool

"There's so many I can't pick"

"Hold on", she says, disappearing into the hallway

She comes back in a minute with a medium plastic box

"Take out all the ones you like and I'll keep them in here for you to try"

"I...really?", I ask

"Yeah baby. This is my Joongie nail polish box", she answers smiling

She really is the best girl I could ever ask for

"Ok jagi, if you're sure"

"I'm sure baby. Go nuts"

I smile and start pulling out all the ones I want to try, putting them in the box

When I'm done the box is filled to the top

"Done baby?"

I nod

"Ok"

She puts the lids on the big boxes and I put them back in the closet so she doesn't have to carry them

Then she sits next to me, with the box of polish

"Which one Joongie?"

"I was thinking green?"

"Ooo yeah, I don't remember you wearing green recently"

"I haven't"

She pulls out all the green polish I picked and I choose an emerald looking one

"Ok Joongie. Gimme your hand"

I give her my hand and she takes it gently

"Your baby finger?", she giggles

"Whichever ones you want jagi. You can do more than one"

It doesn't matter to me as long as at least one is painted

She opens the polish and paints my ring finger, then moves to my middle finger and pointer finger

Then she takes my other hand, painting my thumb and pinky

I never thought I'd be doing this with my girlfriend

I never thought she'd want to paint my nails

I was afraid she'd think it was dumb when she asked me about it but she didn't

At first she actually thought I just did it for myself, because I wanted to and she was fine with that

She didn't think I was weird or creepy or feminine

But after I told her why I do it, she was proud of me for supporting a cause I felt passionate about

Everything I ever felt about myself that I thought a girl would make fun of me for or wouldn't like, isn't a big deal to her at all

She really loves me just the way I am

That is something I didn't think I'd find being an idol let alone a vampire, and I'm very aware how lucky I am

I'm never letting her go

As she puts a second coat of polish, she says, giggling, "You should paint my nails Joongie"

Huh

I never thought of that

I could, I know how

And I want to

"Ok jagi"

"I was kidding baby"

"I'm not. It's a great idea. You're doing mine and I'll do yours"

"You really want to?"

I nod

She shrugs, "Ok. Let me finish you first"

She gets a clear top coat and paints it over the color

"Let it dry for a minute"

I nod then ask, "Can you put my hair in a ponytail?"

"A ponytail?"

"Yeah jagi. I don't want my hair falling in my face while I do your nails"

"Ok baby"

She goes behind me and starts gathering my hair

I close my eyes, feeling her hands in my hair

Feels good

"Done", she says a few seconds later

She comes back to sit in front of me

"You look so handsome with your hair like that baby", she tells me

"Yeah jagi? You like it like this?"

If she likes it like this, I'll wear it like this more often

"Yeah Joongie. I do, a lot. ATINYS love it too"

"Ok jagi, I'll wear it like this for you more"

She gives me an adorable smile, "Only if you want to"

I do, I'll do anything to make her smile, to make her happy

I nod then ask her, "What color do you want?"

She shrugs, "I don't know. You pick"

I have an idea but I don't know if it's cringe or not

"How about the green you painted mine?"

A smile forms on her face, "Like couple nails?"

I nod, "Yeah"

"Yeah Joongie! That's such a good idea"

"Yeah?", I ask

She nods, "It's so cute baby"

I'm so glad she's good with it and didn't make fun of me

But I should know her by now

I know she's not like that and I shouldn't ever be nervous around her

I shake the bottle of nail polish, then open it and take her hand, kissing the back of it

"Joongie", she giggles, "Such a gentleman!"

I just smile at her

Holding her hand in one of mine, I take the nail polish brush and start painting her nails

She watches me as I brush the nail polish on her nails

"You're good at this Joongie", she praises

"Thanks baby. I do this for some of the guys too"

I finish one of her hands, so I take her other, kiss the back of that too and paint those nails

When I finish, I hold her hand up and gently blow on her nails to help dry them

After, I put a second coat of green, then the clear top coat

"Done jagi"

"Thanks baby", she says, holding her hand up and looking at her nails

"You did an amazing job baby. You should do my nails all the time"

I have absolutely no problem with that

I move her hair behind her shoulder, running my fingers in it

"Ok jagi. I will"

She grins at me, then leans towards me, kissing me softly

"You're the best Joongie"

I love when she says that

I try to be the best for her, try to be everything she needs and wants

"Want to finish watching the movie?", I ask her

She nods, so we settle back in her bed and unpause the movie

A little bit later, she takes a pillow, puts it on my lap and lays down

I smile down at her, running my fingers in her hair as we watch the rest of the movie

When it's over, I look down at her to find her asleep

It had to be because of playing with her hair

That makes her fall asleep almost immediately

I move her gently, holding her in my arms while I move the pillow to her side of the bed

Laying her down, I kiss her forehead, then get up and shut the tv off

Putting the blanket over her, I shut the light off then get into bed next to her

I cuddle into her back, putting my arm around her and snuggling into the back of her neck

I close my eyes, feeling myself falling asleep right away

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

Two weeks later

Hongjoong POV

"Jagi?", I call, coming into the house after practice

"In the kitchen!"

I walk in to find her at the stove cooking something

"Hi jagi", I say, pressing a kiss to her cheek

"Hi baby", she smiles, softly, "Are you hungry? Do you want blood?"

"I can get it baby", I answer

She rolls her eyes, "Oh stop Joongie. When are you going to realize the blood thing doesn't bother me?"

Yeah, I don't know if I could ever get used to that

She's around now when I have to drink it

I try to do it when she's sleeping or out or in another room

I know she's trying hard to show me that it doesn't bother her since we moved in together, but it's still strange

"I know jagi but-"

"Oh shush and sit down", she scolds, pointing to the dining room table

"Yeah ok", I give in

Sitting, I watch her get a blood bag out and cut it open with a scissor

I watch her face for any discomfort or grossness when she pours the blood in a mug

There's nothing

No nose scrunch, no lip curl, no disgusted face, no eyebrow raise

Nothing

She just puts the mug in the microwave for two minutes

Then she cleans up the blood bag and continues to finish cooking her food

When the microwave goes off, she pulls out a food thermometer, placing it in the mug to check the temperature

She frowns, taking the thermometer out and putting the cup back in the microwave for another minute

I'm completely shocked watching her

She's shown up with a warm cup of blood for me before but I've never watched her get it ready

It's like she's just cooking something else

She's extraordinary and I feel so loved, so accepted

She's the best

The beeping sound signals the microwave stopping and she repeats the whole thing with the thermometer

She drops the thermometer into the sink, then comes to me giving me the mug

She kisses my cheek, then goes to get her food, bringing it to the table and sitting with me

I'm just in awe of her

"Don't just look at me baby. Drink it", she urges

"Thank you jagi", I say softly

"Of course baby", she says, taking a bite of her food

I take a sip of the blood, warm just how I like it

"So pretty baby", she says suddenly, squeezing my hand

"Huh?"

"You're eyes. Pretty green"

I just smile, "Well you have those beautiful brown ones jagi"

She snorts, "Your brown is prettier than mine Joongie"

I shake my head, "No baby. You know I love your eyes. Don't say anything bad about them"

She just smiles, "Ok baby"

When we finish eating, she washes all the dishes

"Jagi, I need a shower. Do you wanna come?"

She nods, "Yeah baby but let me use the bathroom first before we do"

I nod, "Sure baby"

She goes to the master bathroom in our room, while I wait

I hear the shower turning on, knowing she's getting it ready for us

After a few minutes the shower turns off and I hear, "What the fuck?"

She sounds scared and I immediately run into the bathroom

"Jagi what's wrong?", I ask, checking for any threat

She points to the mirror, "It's..it's not there anymore"

I glance at the mirror to see nothing there

"What's not there jagi?"

"It was here! I turned the shower off and I saw..."

"Saw what baby?", I ask, wondering if she's getting sick

"A girl. Dressed in white. Her face...dead and decayed"

Uh what?

I raise my hand to her head to check for a fever

"I'm not sick Joongie. I saw it"

"Uh ok baby. I don't see anything though"

"Joongie...I think we have a ghost", she says

I raise my eyebrow, "A ghost?"

I haven't seen any evidence of ghosts, ever, in my entire existence

While lots of supernatural things do exist, I thought ghosts were fake

She nods, "Yeah"

"But nothing weird has happened", I say, trying to think if I've seen anything ghostly

"Well....because it happens when you're not around"

"What?"

Things have happened to her?

Here?

"Things happen Joongie. Things like this. The girl is just there. Stuff moves by itself. Things are in one place and when I turn away then turn back they're in another spot. Cabinets open on their own. I get weird messages written on the mirror telling me to run and get out. I feel like someone is touching my arm or shoulder but nothing is there. Your instruments start playing by themselves. The tv or radio turns on and off by themselves"

Ok why hasn't she said anything until now?

Which is what I ask her

"Because I...I wasn't sure if these things were really happening at first. And then I didn't know if ghosts really existed. And I just hoped they would stop. And I...I didn't think you'd believe me"

That shocks me

Why wouldn't I believe her?

Of course I would

"Why would you think that baby?"

"Because you never said anything about weird stuff happening here and you've lived here for years. I didn't know if you'd think I was making stuff up"

I pull her to me in a tight embrace, "I would never think you'd ever make anything up baby ok? Don't be afraid to tell me anything. I'll always believe you ok?"

"Do you?", she asks

I nod, "I do baby. And look nothing like what you're saying has ever happened to me here. But if you say they did, then they did"

"What are we gonna do?", she asks

"We can ask Yh/w/n to do a spell or something to see if there is a ghost or something like that ok? I'll text him and ask them to come tomorrow ok?"

She nods, holding onto me tightly

"We can leave if you want jagi. We can go to the dorm"

She shakes her head, "I don't want to leave our house baby. I don't want this thing to think it won"

I don't see how that matters but if she wants to stay, we'll stay

"Ok jagi. We'll stay and I'll text Yunho ok?"

She nods, hugging me tightly

I'm upset that this is happening, especially to her and I'm upset with myself for not noticing anything

"Do you still want to shower baby?", I ask

"Well yeah but a little later", she says, pulling away from me, tugging me with her

She brings me to the bathtub and I notice that it's full of water, bubbles in it

"Did you do that?", I ask

She nods, "For you"

"For me?"

She nods, "I dunno, I know you don't get tired or sore from practice but I thought it'd be a good idea? To relax?"

I smile widely, "Thanks jagi. You're coming with me right?"

"If you want me to"

"I do baby"

She nods, smiling softly

We get undressed and I go in the bathtub first, the water nice and hot

Sitting down, I lean back, then hold her hand, helping her get in too

As she sits, I pull her back against me, her back to my chest and wrap my arms around her

She leans back on me, turning her head, kissing my jaw soflty

"Water feels good jagi?", I ask

She nods, her head against my shoulder, her eyes closed, "Good for you baby?"

"Yeah", I agree

I like baths, when I have time for them

Normally with the whole idol thing, I don't, so showers it is

But I have taken baths for the majority of my two thousand years life

Showers are modern things and I've gotten used to them

And honestly it feels so much better being in a bath with someone else

Leaning my head against the wall, I close my eyes, moving my fingers slowly along her thighs

It's nice to just relax like this with her

"How was practice baby?"

"Good. We learned the choreo for Paradigm. It's intense, lots of moves in quick succession"

"Was it hard?"

"Not too bad. Some parts I had to redo a few times to get it right but with practice it'll be fine"

"I don't know how you can coordinate your body like that. I can't even take in all the moves when I watch you guys. I'd never be able to do it"

"You would jagi", I say, believing that one hundred percent, "If it was broken down for you and you'd practiced each part, you'd get it. I know you would"

She giggles, the sound so cute, "You have too much faith in me"

"Not too much", I joke, "Just enough to know I'm right"

She laughs, turning her head and kissing my cheek, "Ok baby. You're right"

"I know I am", I agree, kissing the top of her head

We sit in the warm water together, comfortable silence around us

I'm just enjoying the feel of her against me and I wonder why we haven't done this before

And if we can do it more often

After a little while, I feel her shiver against me

"You ok jagi?", I ask

"Mmm hmm", she answers, continuing to tremble

"You're shaking baby", I tell her

"Because...because your hand....", she trails off

I notice then that I'm moving my fingers along the inside of her thigh

I get it, she's turned on

Smirking, I move my fingers to her pussy, running them along her little slit

"Ffff", she whimpers

"So wet jagi", I tell her

And it's not from the water

Her juice is sticky and it feels different from the water

"Joongie", she whines, pushing her head back on my shoulder, her eyes closed, biting her bottom lip

"Does my pretty baby wanna cum?", I ask, rubbing her clit

She nods, "Yes baby"

"Alright jagi. Anything you want"

Moving my hand down, I slide two fingers into her waiting pussy, feeling them get swallowed and throbbed on instantly

"So horny baby", I smirk, "You wanna cum bad"

She nods, her body shivering when I pull my fingers out, then plunge them back in, right into her spot

I can find her spot in my sleep

I move slowly, dragging in and out of her pretty hole, massaging her spot when I go back in, wetting my fingers so fucking much

As I fuck my fingers into her, I move my other hand around her waist, rubbing her little pulsing clit

"Oh god", she whimpers, her cunt clenching around my fingers hard

"Feels good baby girl?"

She nods slowly, moaning so fucking erotically

Leaning my head down, I kiss the side of her neck, licking the skin before I suck on it

"Jjj..Joongie", she whimpers, her hands moving, one gripping my wrist, the other my leg

"So close baby", I murmur, moving my fingers faster, "Gonna cum all over my fingers?"

She nods, "Yes...yes"

"That's my good girl. Cum for me"

She moans, her pussy throbbing hard around my fingers, her cream all over them

"Good girl", I praise her, pressing on her spot as she orgasms

Only when she finishes do I pull my fingers out

"Wanna sit on my dick jagi?"

She nods, moving, lifting herself up, her hand holding my cock up

She sinks on me, enveloping my length in her warm pulsing cunt

"Oh my god", I moan softly, pleasure running in me right away

She starts to bounce but I stop her, pulling her back against me

"Just stay baby", I tell her, "I'll make you cum"

Moving my hand back down, I play with her clit, feeling her drench my cock

I grope her boob with my free hand, pinching her nipple, feeling her shudder against me

Turning her head she reaches her arm up, around my neck, fingers in my hair, guiding me to her lips

She kisses me hungrily, her tongue down my throat, fingers twisting in my hair

Falling into her kiss, I revel in the feeling of her lips

In the feeling of her tongue against mine, her hard nipple in my hand, her pulsing clit against my fingertips, her spasming pussy clamped around my cock

Moving my fingers faster, I moan in her mouth, the pleasure intensifying the harder she clenches my cock

It feels so good, I wanna cum so bad

Just her pulsing can get me there

It's crazy how in tune my body is to hers

Just having my dick in a pussy would never have made me cum before

I needed so much more stimulation

Now I can cum just from eating her pussy

It's because I love her, because she turns me on like no one else, because I can't get enough of her

Because she's my everything

And I wouldn't have it any other way

Her small body shakes against me, the water in the tub sloshing around us but I don't stop playing with her clit

Not until she cums

I want to feel her orgasm more than I want to cum

"C'mon baby, don't keep me waiting", I whisper, before taking her lips against mine again

Her hand moves over mine that's gripping her breast, squeezing with me, moaning in my mouth

Her cunt pulses get so tight, she's so close

Just a little more

A few more passes over her clit has her coming around my cock, throwing me into massive pleasure

Kissing her desperately, I keep moving my fingers fast, coming and shooting my cum inside her orgasming pussy

My god it's so fucking good every fucking time

Both of us pull away from each other's lips, breathing hard as the pleasure fades

Leaning my forehead against hers, I wrap my arms around her waist, hugging her

"I love you", she whispers

"I love you jagi", I answer back, pressing a kiss to her nose

She smiles, turning to me, cuddling closer

"Wah the water is cold"

I chuckle, "Well we've been in here for awhile baby"

She pouts, making me laugh more

"Aww jagi. How about we go in the shower, clean up and then we can cuddle and watch another Disney movie?"

"That sounds like a great idea", she smiles

"Good baby. C'mon", I say

I quickly stand up with her in my arms and in the next second we're in the shower with the water running

"Holy shit", she says, looking pale, her hand on her stomach, "That was...fuck"

"Jagi? Are you ok?", I ask, worried I did something wrong

I never moved with my vampire speed with her before

Maybe it hurts humans

"Nauseous...that was....fast", she gasps

"Oh fuck, I'm sorry baby", I apologize, panicking

"Just....give...a few....seconds", she wheezes

"Ok jagi", I whisper, holding her, rubbing her back, doing anything to help her

After a few minutes, she breathes in and looks up at me

"Jesus Christ"

"I'm sorry baby"

She nods, "I know baby. It's ok. Just next time, gimme a warning so I can prepare"

"Yeah baby. Of course"

"So where were we?", she asks, giving me a weak smile

"Showering. But if you want to get out and lay down-"

She shakes her head, "No, I'm ok"

"Are you sure?"

She nods, "Besides, my vampire boyfriend had to make up for making me nauseous"

I blink, "Uh how?"

"Hmm well you look so fucking hot with that water all over your body and hair, so I'm thinking you use that vampire strength, hold me and fuck me against the wall"

My mouth drops open until my brain processing what she's saying

Then I smirk, grabbing her hips and lifting her up, her legs and arms wrapping around me

"I can do that baby", I murmur, then press my lips against hers

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

Shaking in my arms wakes me up, the TV still paused on the Aladdin movie I stopped when she fells asleep

Something is wrong

My eyes immediately move to her, her small body spasming

I can hear her heartbeat accelerated, like it's going to burst out of her chest

"Jo?", I call, panicking

She's facing away from me and I sit up, moving her on her back

Her eyes are closed, her arms shaking, her legs locked straight and her fists opening and closing on the sheets

She's sweating so much, she's soaked through her pj tank top and underwear

She's having a nightmare or a night terror, something

"Jagi", I call louder, trying to shake her arm, "Joanne, wake up"

She breathes hard, pain on her face

"Joanne!", I shout, "Open your eyes! Wake up"

She's not waking up and I'm so fucking scared

Why isn't she waking up?

Suddenly she screams loudly and I smell blood

Four deep scratches appear on her upper arm going all the way down to her elbow

What the fuck?

This...this isn't a nightmare

This is more

It's that fucking ghost, spirit, whatever it fucking is that she was trying to tell me about

It's after her, it was trying to scare her

And now it's hurting her

More scratches appear on her- her chest, her thigh and it's scaring the fuck out of me

"Leave her alone!", I roar at whatever the fuck is hurting her and keeping her unconscious, "Get off her!"

Her little body stiffens as she starts choking

Her mouth is wide open, trying to breathe in, her breaths ragged

I see dark purple marks forming on the side of her neck

She's being choked

"Let go of her!", I shriek, grasping at her neck but there's nothing for me to pry off her

"Jagi", I yell, tears blinding me as I completely panic

I hate seeing her like this

Hurt by something I can't see, can't stop

"Let her go!", I shout, "Or I swear to God, I will find out whatever you are, I will make you solid and I will fucking tear your apart"

I hear a laughing sound that makes the rage in me boil over

"Do not fuck with me! I will make you wish you stayed dead! Leave her alone!"

The next thing I know she's sitting up, screaming my name, her eyes wide and open

"Jagi, I'm here! Baby", I call, pulling her to me, holding her, so relieved she's alive

I can't stop crying, holding her as she sobs and gasps for breath

After this, I know I have to find out what the fuck this thing is, what it wants and how to kill it

It will never hurt my baby again

This I swear

[rollercoasterwords]

Hello!

are you having a good day?

just curious, are you writing something at the moment? i know ur writing this rotten work (which is amazing btw) but i feel like i remember u mentioning ur writing something else as well, but i'm not completely sure.

also, this has probably been asked already so here's a picture of my cats to make up for possibly repeating an already asked question

omg the cats!!!! so precious they are napping together <3 <3 <3 curled up so nicely into little balls.....tails tucked in and everything....i love them please kiss their little foreheads for me <3 <3 <3

and to answer ur question--yes!! 'this rotten work' is, obviously, a current wip since i was too impatient to wait to post the chapters lol, but to be completely honest i.....have not written a single word of it in like. 3 months at this point lol. like i haven't even started chapter 3 which is partially bc i got distracted by the cowboy fic that i finished back in january + partially bc i got burnt out and needed a little break + partially bc i was also just busy in jan-feb with grad school apps + travel BUT. also partially bc all the writing i have been doing since jan has basically just been on my other main wip, which i have been posting abt on this blog under the #wfrau tag but have not yet started posting on ao3.

basically i had the idea for a fic where remus competes in an underground werewolf fighting ring and that's how he + sirius meet; it spiralled and has now become a voldemort-won au where voldemort's been in power since 1965 so the marauders never met + instead all grew up separately. sirius's friend takes him to an illegal werewolf fighting ring one night; sirius meets remus; sirius inserts himself into remus's life + things spiral from there <3 plot-wise it's sort of divided into 3 parts in my head rn; eventually the Order will get involved and the plan is for it to turn into a horcrux-hunting fic! fun <3

anyway i initially was like "oh i'll just write the first ch to get it out of my head and then i'll focus on the zombie fic and write this on the side, then once i finish the zombie fic i'll start posting this one." but then i wrote the first ch and i was like ok....just one more ch. and then i wrote the second ch and i was like hmmm one more ch....and then i wrote the third ch and i was like um one more and then i wrote the fourth ch and i was like um one more and now. it is sitting pretty at 34k words and i'm just admitting defeat and apologizing to the zombie fic + putting her on the shelf for the forseeable future as this other wip consumes my brain. i'll probably start slowly posting it on ao3 once i finish ch 6 (which is sort of like. Part I of the fic) and sort of write ahead as i post, or at least that's the tentative plan rn!

[dogueteeth-fhr]

WIP Not-Wednesday

Thanks @silvery-bluish for the tag!

I'll forward this to @wonda-fhr ! As always, not pressure to participate ;) <3

Hmmm let's see what I've got for my WIPs that I can share a bit of!

ACT 1

a Tokyo Ghoul!AU FHR series I started on a little while ago. WIP title for now, I think i like the idea of setting up the story as "acts 1 & 2" for Rebirth & Retri. Here's a lil snippet from it I might publish soon once I get the "scenes/chapters" planned out more. Riding heavy on Tokyo Ghoul's "tragedy" quote for my titles on this WIP lol.

He beams, sunshine and smiles, the thousand-watt smile that melts hearts, melts hers a little too. She can feel the smile grow on her face, feel the way that damnable knot between her shoulders loosens a little still, after all of these years, and shit, that's a complication she doesn't need. Didn't and doesn't, not back then and not right now. His hand lands on her shoulder, friendly and comforting. To anyone else but her.

It feels like a lasso. A leash. A noose. Leading her to the front gates, dragging her to her doom. To the gates. The gates. That.

The gates in the Rangers' HQ that scan for RC cells.

Standard. Necessary. No, not standard. State-of-the-art.

Always the best for the Rangers.

Her pulse grows cold. Is she pallid? What does her face look like? Is it terrified, is the the mask crooked?

Last time. Last time, last time, years ago, the RC scanners were still new tech. Not strong enough the pick up her trace, the trace of a half-ghoul. But that. That was almost ten years ago.

A decade is long enough to make improvements.

stray.

Collection of small segments that talk about both of Isa's escapes from the Farm. Alas I'm still working on this! Just haven't made much progress as of late since my brain is rather fried but here's a little snippet!

The stars are beautiful.

Most places she's been deployed have swallowed their stars. Shot them down, trapped them in little plastic and glass containers, anchored to the earth to light roads and pavements and rooms. Kept like animals poached from the wild. Surrounded by wall and window cages in the comforts of humans' homes to chase away the dark. So many caught, so many brilliant stars brought down by man, leaving the skies above filled with an inky emptiness.

But here, in the Nevada desert where man could not remain, where they couldn't take and claim, not the stars nor the arid land, the night sky celebrates with the splendor of galaxies above her head. She stares into the wonder of purple-pink clouds of cosmic dust and the glittering shine of stars, motionless and quiet. She should be running. She should be taking advantage of the darkness that she had waited so long for, curled into a small ball beneath a pile of road debris to keep hidden in the light of day. She never understood the concept of beauty before; it was a uniquely human perception. Less-thans can't afford to think about such things. But she might understand it now. Just a little.

kiss & tell (it's called: freefall)

Another snippet from a piece of the "freefall" series I'm taping together in my free time! Hehehe so many good moments in this series it's always so hard to pick a snippet without potentially spoiling a part of the series's story.

"That's not the point!" He cries out, tossing his arms in the air and biting back the sting of regret when she flinches in the corner of his eye. Regret, then anger. Anger aimed at himself for regretting that. She does not deserve his sympathies right now.

"I get that you're not sorry. I get that you're going to do it again, even if I don't agree with it, even if I wish you would be sorry. What I want to know is why, Cerrísa. Please." His voice cracks, and he can see the way her face falls at the sound. "Please, explain yourself, Cerrísa. Because I'm running out of ways that I can understand you, and I want to give you the benefit of the doubt, that you're not just doing this- killing people- for shits and giggles. Please."

He's almost in front of her now, taller and casting a shadow over her but he feels minuscule in front of her, begging for understanding. She refuses to look him in the eye, and he hates that she's chewing on the already-cracked part of her lip, and he tries not to think about how the metallic taste would feel echoed in his own mouth. Her mouth opens and closes a few times, and every time it falls shut, he feels a little bit of hope within him die.

[iantimony]

tuesday!

listening: like everyone and their mother i listened to the new hozier songs this week. they're fine! i dont have any particularly strong feelings about them either way yet, i think i need to relisten to them a few times for it to really get processed, but they were good enough that i'll certainly listen again. i also went and relistened to wasteland, baby because of it and that album still slaps. also, this cherry wine cover:

is very good. i also relistened to the staves' album dead & born & grown because i realized i have windows facing west hehe. what else...my partner's citypop playlist was my music for driving home from the airport on sunday? i wont link that one i'm not sure if it's public or not. and then gym playlist this week was just one of the spotify-made mixes that kinda slams tbh, very early-00s to 10s metal/emo music lol

i've also gotten back into twilight mirage after a bajillion years. it's good! none of the characters really stick in my head besides tender sky and fourteen fifteen unfortunately but hopefully as i listen more they'll become more distinct entities in my head.

reading: i finished the birthday of the world while i was visiting my grandma for spring break!

"solitude": hmmm. this one was interesting. it left me with a lot of questions but i think that might have been the point. 6/10.

"old music and the slave woman": i think i might have benefited from more background, i was mostly able to piece together the factions but i definitely had to puzzle over it a bit. apparently there are a lot of links to stories in another collection, four ways to forgiveness, and i'm thinking that i might have wanted to read those first. 4/10.

"the birthday of the world": title story! felt very different from all the other stories in the book, probably because this one and the following novella are the only two set outside of the hainish universe. i liked it. no strong feelings in any particular direction, i don't think. 5/10.

"paradises lost": the novella! i LOVED this one. i dont know if i was somehow exposed to it as a kid, or i learned about generation ships as a story concept from somewhere else, but i often thought about writing a short story about what religion on a generation ship would look like and turns out what i was envisioning already exists. the concept of the cult of bliss felt very realistic and almost obvious in hindsight as something that was bound to happen. i know it's left open on purpose but i reallllly want to know what happened to the ship after it left. i really loved the themes of this one. 9/10.

watching: i watched an episode of the mystery show 'vera' with my grandma when i was visiting lol. it was cute! very kitschy, genre fodder! i liked it! i was very confused because the closing quip/shot seemed to be about the titular character...shoplifting a jacket or something???? like she asked her coworker if she looked any different and he was like ? and she was like ok great and the final shot is her sitting in her car seat and annoyedly ripping the tag off her jacket, so like, ???? not sure if that's a Thing that people know just from watching a lot of it but shrug.

making: iiiiii did not work on my knitting project at all LOL but i did make my neocities site! here she is! still very in progress but hey :D

misc: trip to visit grandma/s and family went fine! everyone is doing well. back to the grind this week.

oh so the gift from my SO: he likes metalworking and similar things so he made me this necklace!

it is, apparently, titanium with embedded sapphire ball bearings! the ball bearings glow in the dark after UV exposure and they're the prettiest shade of teal, it's also a very satisfying fidget texture-wise. he asked me a few months ago what my favorite constellation is and i went "......cassiopeia i guess?? why???" "oh no reason" this was the reason. it's very nice i love it so much

finally, ive started noting down my workout stuff on my dreamwidth page as well! i thought it could be cool to keep track of what weights i'm using over time, what exercises i like and don't like, etc. so that's on there tagged as gains. huzzah